Bathinda, May 22
Following a pre-announced call, more than a dozen activists of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) courted arrest outside the SSP office here today.

They have been staging a dharna outside the Mini-secretariat here for past few days demanding release of all 20 persons, including seven Dalit women, arrested from Selbrah village on the charge of assaulting cops over ‘illegal’ opening of a liquor vend at the village. They are lodged in the Central Jail, Bathinda.

A group of the LJP activists, led by national general secretary (Youth wing) of the party Jagdeep Singh Gill, marched towards the SSP office this afternoon raising anti-establishment slogans on the way. Taking a preventive measure, a police party, which was already stationed there, rounded them up and took them to the Civil Lines police station. They were released in the evening after the police noted their names and addresses.

State president of the LJP Kiranjit Singh Gehri said the protest would continue till all the residents of Selbrah booked in a ‘fake’ case were released. He said the party had slated a state-level meeting for May 25 at Jalandhar to discuss the further course of agitation. He said state president of the Dalit Sena Ram Chander Pawan was scheduled to visit Selbrah village on June 1 to meet the aggrieved residents.

Moga, May 22
In the absence of a slaughterhouse, the residents of the Moga in the heartland of the Malwa belt of Punjab are forced to eat 'unhygienic' meat slaughtered by the shopkeepers on their premises exposing the non-vegetarians to health hazards.

The district administration has turned a blind eye to the sub-standard supply not only to the consumers on counter sales but also to the upmarket eateries, shops and restaurants in the town.

The local Municipal Council mooted a plan to construct a slaughterhouse a few years back but it could not work out probably due to a local-level nexus between the health authorities, meat sellers and the politicians holding key-positions in the local body.

Deputy Director of the Animal Husbandry Department Dr PC Mittal, while admitting that there is no slaughterhouse in the town, revealed that his department has requested the administration and the local body authorities many times to set up a modern automatic slaughterhouse but to no avail.

"On our side, I have fixed the duties of our veterinary officials to keep an eye on all the privately managed slaughterhouses and collect the internal organs for routine checking for stamping the animals," he said.

There are as many as 16 registered meat sellers, who slaughter animals on their own premises but many more are thriving illegally in the absence of checking by the authorities concerned of the administration.

Insiders in the business revealed that the unauthorised meat sellers, not registered with the civic body and the Health Department, pay monthly bribe to the authorities concerned for allowing them to operate in their areas.

The animals are slaughtered under unhygienic conditions by the meat sellers compromising on the health of consumers.

A random survey of the meat shops in the town revealed that the mutton being sold at shops in various localities does not carry the requisite stamp of the Animal Husbandry Department. It has also come to notice that the registered shopkeepers sometimes sell meat without waiting the report of the veterinary officers with regard to the checking of internal organs of the slaughtered animals.

Moreover, there are hygiene standards and established practice methods to guide butcher shop owners in the way they should go about preparing and selling meat items but these are being given a go-by in Moga.

One could also openly see in many localities meat sellers openly cut and chop animals for their meat and then hang the saleable portion in front of their shops for customers to pick and choose.

Dr KS Gill, a private medical practitioner and former president of the Municipal Council said in the absence of a proper slaughterhouse, the meat sellers are playing with the health of the people. "The district authorities should take stern action against unhygienic sale of meat in the town," he said.

Dr Gill said when he was the president of the civic body, he had proposed to set up a slaughterhouse either in the meat market on the Railway road or on the Amritsar road but the nexus between the meat sellers and various authorities of the administration did a leg pulling to the proposal.

Bathinda, May 22
Members of the Sarkari Schools Ph.D Adhayapak Front, Punjab, today assembled at Muktsar to chalk out a strategy to build pressure upon the state government to give them three increments recommended by the Pay Commission, Punjab.

They also demanded special promotion for eligible Ph.D degree holders or the government announces 25 per cent reservation for the degree holders in case of promotions.

The leaders also clarified that the fake degree holders from unauthorised universities were in no way linked with the Front and it held no responsibility for such cases.

The meeting was presided over by state media secretary of the union Dr Parminder Taggar. Dr Jaswant Singh Faridkot, Dr Sarabhjeet Singh Kundal, Dr Harjinder Singh Surewalia, Dr Rajbinder Surewalia, Dr Kulwinder Pal Singh and Dr Satish Kumar Giddarbaha attended the meeting.

Bathinda, May 22
Propagating Lasik surgery as a boon for those with poor eyesight, the Bathinda Ophthalmological Society held a seminar here today.

Discussing the benefits of the Lasik to offer predictable and permanent correction of refractive errors, Prof SM Bhatti, president of the Punjab Ophthalmic Society and principal of the CMC, Ludhiana, also emphasised upon the need to motivate people to pledge their eyes for donation after their death.

Dr Bhatti said, “India is host to one-third blind population of the world. Majority of the blinds are below 30 years of age that makes this tragedy more poignant.”

Dr JS Thind and Dr Sangeet Mittal also spoke on the occasion. As many as 52 delegates took part in the seminar. — TNS

Moga, May 22
Malwa belt of Punjab has the highest number of breast cancer cases among women in the state.

Revealing this to The Tribune, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, roving international ambassador of the UK-based NGO, Roko Cancer, working in Punjab in collaboration with the state’s Health Department, pointed out that his organisation has examined 35, 165 women by organising over 275 free camps during the past two years.

Adding that mammography tests of 7,202 women were conducted in the camps, he said 472 cases of breast cancer tested positive besides 2,159 suspected cases.

“Out of the positive cases over 75 per cent of the women belong to the Malwa belt of the state suffering from breast cancer,” he pointed out.

The women having a family history of breast cancer, or obesity, a check-up is recommended before their mid-30s.

The NRI further added that his mission is to work with like-minded organisations and trained volunteers to spread awareness on cancer in India, UK and other countries.

Meanwhile, senior vice-president of the Shiromani Akali Dal and former Education Minister Jathedar Tota has flagged-off a fully-equipped mobile breast cancer detection unit during a cancer detection camp held at Mehal village in Dharamkot area of the Moga district on Sunday.

The mobile unit would be based at Moga and going to villages in the Malwa belt of Punjab conducting breast cancer mammography tests in the rural areas free of cost.

Amritsar, May 22
The Khalsa College management has issued show-cause notices to 41 teachers who participated in the ongoing hunger chain strike being observed to protest the proposed conversion of institute into a private university.

The management claims the staff participated in dharna after submitting casual leaves citing some “urgent/personal” work. Stating their conduct as “violation of the relevant conduct rules, besides being an anti-establishment activity”, the notices, signed by principals of three Khalsa Society-run institutions, demanded the “violators” to give a written explanation within two days to evade action.

Abohar, May 22
The residents of the border village Mohar Sona, who have been reluctant in sending out their daughters to continue their education after class VIII, can expect relief by the next academic session.

Mohar Sona is famous for the battle of Asafwala during the 1971 war where the 4 Jat Regiment lost 82 of its troops in combat. Here, the Sutlej flows in a narrow stretch and is barely 15-feet in depth, forming a creek area called Pattan by the locals.

The Tribune had many a time highlighted the miseries of the village in its columns. The Director General of School Education has recommended upgrading of 162 elementary schools as high schools and Mohar Sona figures in the list.

As per the copy of the recommendations made to the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Authority, as many as 14 government elementary schools in the Ferozepur district are expected to be upgraded as high schools.

The villages to be benefitted include Mohar Sona, Dhira Ghara, Balel Ke Hasal, Nau Behram Sher Singh, Shehtirwala, Rohedianwali, Bhagsar, Dhingawali, Haripura, Buyianwala, Heeranwali, Buh, Chak Ghubai alias Tangan and Shamaspeer Baksh Chauhan.

In other border districts, an equal number of government elementary schools (14) are likely to be upgraded in Amritsar while Gurdaspur would get a major chunk with 33 schools in the rural areas.

Mansa, May 22
The Mansa police arrested two persons for their alleged involvement in smuggling of opium after receiving a tip-off in connection with their activities last night.

Mansa SSP HS Mann in a press note issued here today, said the accused, identified as Raghubir Singh alias Lalle and Parmod Kumar, had been trying to sell one kilogram of opium, which they had brought from an unknown person from Rajasthan.

A police team led by Paramjit Singh, SHO, Sadar police station, arrested them. The accused, who had bought one kilogram of opium for Rs 50000 were trying to sell at a rate of Rs 80000 per kilogram.

Parmod Kumar, hailing from Rajasthan, was also arrested for smuggling of opium by the district police in the past as well. Parmod Kumar developed relations with Raghubir, who was once accused of rape case, in the jail. A case in this connection had been registered under the NDPS Act and efforts were on to extract more information in connection with contacts and modus oprandi.