Jalandhar, December 14
Intense lobbying is on for the two BJP member seats in the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) of the municipal corporation, the names for which are to be cleared in the house meeting, likely in the next week.

Since the committee has the power to award or reject contracts worth crores of rupees, for various works, the two party seats are considered very important.

The councillors have a chance to stay on the committee for a period of two-and-a-half-years. The old committee was dissolved on September 12, making way for a fresh appointment, which is done only in the house, the meeting of which is being put off for quite sometime.

While councillors Sunil Jyoti and Ravi Mahendru have been batting for a second run, there are quite a few councillors who have been trying for their own chance.

Sunil Jyoti has his claim, “We have not just been passing the agenda items just as it is. We have been thoroughly going through the minutest details, judging what will be in the interest of the public. We have been scrutinising the financial aspects too, ensuring proper utilisation of each and every penny of public money and making sure that we are able to save as much as possible.”

Mahendru too has been beating his own trumpet, “I have not allowed any development work in the city to get discontinued for unnecessary reasons and have been doing my work with full interest. I just hope that the party shows faith in my work”.

When asked how he felt since the appointment had become a hot issue, Mayor Rakesh Rathour had a very diplomatic reply, “We are waiting for an order from the party high command. Whatever be the decision, we will abide by it.”

He added that the meeting scheduled for December 17 had now been put off for another four-five days, for there are a few resolutions in the agenda, which has somehow not been got cleared.

While usually the decision in this regard is taken by the local core committee of the party, district BJP president Subhash Sood does not seem to have got involved as of now, as he pointed out, “Since the matter has not come to me as of now, I cannot comment on it.” 

Jalandhar, December 14
The residential colony, for police personnel, adjacent to the police station division no 2, will soon get a facelift.

The Local Bodies Punjab Minister Manoranjan Kalia, on Sunday, promised a park for the colony residents, besides proper street lights, uninterrupted power and water supply.

The minister has asked the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation (JMC) to prepare an estimate for the renovation of the staff quarters and for the proper disposal of sewage in the colony.

Kalia is perhaps the first ever local minister who visited the staff quarters of the police personnel and heard the grievances of the families.

The minister also directed Rakesh Rathour, Mayor of the MC, to submit a comprehensive report (including the estimated cost) on various required development works in the colony within two days.

He also emphasised on the development of a park for the recreation of the colony children.

The minister earlier had also released a grant of Rs 1 crore for the various development works undertaken in the staff colony at Jalandhar Police Lines.

The minister said out of Rs 700 crore, a sum of Rs 500 crore has been spent on various development works in the city in the last three-and-a-half years.

A sum of Rs 110 crore was sanctioned on water supply and sewerage systems in the city, he added.

Besides officials of the MC, senior police officers, including city Police Commissioner Gaurav Yadav, were also present on the occasion. 

Jalandhar, December 14
Central Government pensioners have urged the Centre to open a CGHS dispensary in Jalandhar for the benefit of over more than 53,000 pensioners of the region.

They have petitioned the Prime Minister and the Union Health Minister drawing their attention to the plight of the pensioners living in the state that does not have even a single such dispensary.

V.S. Jolly, secretary-general of the All-India Central Government Pensioners Association, said they had been writing to the government quoting facts and figures and the benefits of having one such facility in Jalandhar in view of thousands of pensioners living in the region.

The dispensary would also cater to the needs of over 52,000 government employees serving in 41 Central Government offices in the city alone, he pointed out.

The Directorate-General of Health Services had cited resource constraints in setting up the dispensary in the state but had assured that a health insurance scheme for the CGHS covered and non-covered areas would be introduced soon, he added.

“We have replied that the government can takeover the existing 10-room dispensary of the Posts and Telegraph Department since the latter has been requesting the government to do so for the past many years,” Jolly said.

With the opening of the facility, the medical expenses of the serving employees would also be reimbursed here itself, he pointed out.

Incidentally, such a dispensary was opened at Jammu due to political considerations even though the number of beneficiaries was far less than Punjab, he alleged.

Jalandhar, December 14
The local unit of the IMA has been declared as the “best branch” in the state by the Awards Committee of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), during PIMACON, a state-level conference of the IMA, organised at Kapurthala on December 12. The branch has been declared best out of the total 60 branches of the state.

Dr Upinderjit kaur, Finance Minister, Dr D.S. Cheema, Adviser to Chief Minister, and Dr S.S. Gill, Vice-Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), felicitated the team of the IMA, Jalandhar, led by its president Dr Sanjeev Sharma.

“This branch was selected for the honour for the best academic work, CMEs and community involvement programmes launched by the local unit during the last one year,” said Dr Sanjeev Sharma.

Dr Yash Sharma, former state president of the IMA and former member of the Punjab Medical Council (PMC), was also honoured for his relentless efforts to pursue the state government to amend the PMC Act.

Dr H.S. Mann of the IMA, Jalandhar, was also honoured for his outstanding work done for the awareness and better implementation of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act in the district. He was the Chairman of the PNDT Committee of the local unit.

The prize was jointly received by the team of IMA, Jalandhar, including president Dr Sanjiv Sharma, secretary Dr T.S. Randhawa, finance secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma, Dr Kamal Kishore, Dr Kapil Gupta, Dr Pawan Gupta, Dr Yash Sharma , Dr S.P.S. Grover, Dr G.S. Gill and Dr H.S. Mann.

Jalandhar, December 14
Scores of old students of the Government Arts and Sports College, Jalandhar, today, gathered from across the state to participate in the college’s golden jubilee celebrations.

Though the function was scheduled to begin at 5 pm at the college hockey ground, majority of the old students (most of them in their 50s) preferred to gather as early as 3 pm.

Many of them were busy getting their names registered under the Old Students Associations (OSA) and connecting with old students.

The proud members of the OSA were given ties and batches bearing the tag ‘Sportsians’, while many even contributed voluntarily to the development of the college.

Old students later inaugurated a Golden Jubilee Block and a language lab on the premises of the college.

The college has produced national and international sports stars in the world in various disciplines.

Recalling old days, Brigadier Gurinderjit Singh, an alumnus of the 1964 batch, spoke about their favorite hangout ‘Bhaiya’s Milk Shop’ where they would get milk for a mere 75 paisa.

“It is after a gap of around 50 years that I am meeting my old pals. At college we would get a healthy diet worth Rs 2 per day and practice hard for better results. This is a special occasion for all of us”, he added.

SSP Vigilance, Jalandhar, Surjit Singh Grewal, also a former student of the college, donated Rs 10,000 for the college and was happy sharing his fond memories.

“This is an occasion for the college to connect with old students. I would feel happy to stay connected with my alma mater forever and provide every possible help whenever required”, he said.

Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, advisor to Chief Minister, Punjab, was the chief guest, while an impressive band display was also made to celebrate the golden jubilee celebrations.

Cheema was accompanied by a host of senior bureaucrats, including some former students.

Principal Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary highlighted the journey of the college and said the college was founded in 1961 as State College of Sports at the initiative of the then Chief Minister, Punjab, Pratap Singh Kairon.

“It was the founder principal Som Nath, who laid the foundation of this prestigious institution. While the college was started as a sports institution, the change in academic curriculum later led to the renaming of the college as Government Arts and Sports College”, she maintained.

“We wish to stay connected with all our former students in future too and we hope this attempt will go a long way”, she quipped.

It needs mention here that Karamjit Kaur joined the college in the year 1977, when the college was on the brink of closure, with a mere strength of 140 boys. It was in the year 2003 that she took over as the principal of the college.

“It is sad that despite having world class sports infrastructure, our college has mere 23 sportspersons, while students from other colleges visit our college daily for the best sports facilities”, she added.

The college was made co-educational in the year 2002, when two separate directorates - sports and arts - were made. She also highlighted that after 2003, the college focused on enhancing the strength of the college.

“At present, we have a strength of 718 students, out of which 402 are girls and 293 are boys. This is the only college where students from financially weak backgrounds can afford quality education. But we feel bad for the poor status of the college as far as sports is concerned. The college has been the frontrunner in churning out international sports stars and we wish to see it back in its days of glory,” she maintained.

Among others who attended the function, were Dr Ajaib Singh Brar, Vice chancellor GND University, Amritsar, Dr Daljit Singh, director, Doordarshan Kendra, Sarojini Gautam ADC (development), director sports, Pargat Singh and many others. 

Jalandhar, December 14
A wave of joy swept the Nakodar belt when in the elections to Guru Nanak National Management Committee, the panel backed by Revenue Minister Ajit Singh Kohar was defeated by the panel headed by senior Akali leader Kuldip Singh Wadala this evening.

The poll was ordered by the Supreme Court after a long and protracted legal battle fought for more than a decade in various courts. Set up in 1969, the committee presently runs two colleges and a school on 35 acres of prime land and has over 4,000 students, including 2,500 girls, on its rolls.

Interestingly, the Wadala group also enjoyed the tacit backing of former Congress minister and sitting MLA Amarjit Singh Samra and among those defeated include Naib Singh Kohar, a son of Ajit Singh, for the post of senior vice-president. The Kohar group could not bag any seat.

The poll assumes significance since the institutes have been built on the land donated by good Samaritans of this backward area for furthering the cause of education, especially for girls. The Kohar group had been at the helm of affairs for the past many years and the people were reportedly not happy with their performance.

The election for choosing members was held on November 9 and as anticipated most of the elected members were from the Wadala faction. This was repeated again today when the wining group polled 16 votes to 10 polled by Pritam Singh Sarinh of the Kohar faction. Others winners include Varinder Singh Khaira (secretary) and Manjinder Singh (cashier).

Wadala said this should not be viewed as a political fight, but that of fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the area. Being a backward belt, education was of the utmost importance and they would ensure that the youth should get the best 
in this field.

Jalandhar, December 14
The SAD (Panch Pardhani) has flayed the government for implicating close friends and relatives of its chairperson, Bhai Daljit Singh Bittu, in false criminal cases.

C.S. Sujon, general secretary of the outfit, said the latest instance was the registration of a case against UK-based United Khalsa Dal general secretary Lavshinder Singh Dallewal for the murder of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat leader Rulda Singh.

Attempts were being made by the intelligence agencies and the police to get Dallewal extradited to India. Incidentally, the British police had already questioned Bhai Paramjit Singh Pamma and four others in the murder case, he pointed out.

All this was being done to discredit those leaders and workers who were fighting for the release of Sikhs rotting in prisons in the country on trumped-up charges. The present development was a crude attempt by the agencies to deter and demoralise those fighting for the rights of such persons abroad also, he added.

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