Bathinda, June 20
The tall claim made by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) that the current summer season will be free of power cuts proved to be hollow today as the city witnessed unscheduled and unannounced power breaks.

Though the power demand has gone down considerably in the region after moderate rains hit various pockets of this district and its surrounding areas, the residents of various localities experienced longer power cuts in the morning and afternoon today.

Interestingly, the PSPCL temporarily shut its two units, one at Ropar thermal plant and one at the local Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), last night on account of sharp reduction in demand for power.

“The residents were happy when the PSPCL announced that this summer will remain power-cut free. But the ground reality is no different from the previous years,” said Mandeep Bhasin, a resident of the Power House road area.

The city had enjoyed the status of power cut-free zone during the SAD-BJP government from 1997 to 2002. Power cuts were minimal in 2009 when Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, contested the Lok Sabha elections from Bathinda, pointed out a section of city residents.

“When the PSPCL claims that it has made arrangements for enough power by entering into power purchase agreements worth Rs 1,200 crore, then why uninterrupted power is not being supplied to the residents of Bathinda,” asked Sanjeev Sharma, a civil works contractor.

Jaspal Singh, chief engineer (Distribution), PSPCL, Bathinda, said the power supply was being interrupted in some pockets due to breakdowns.

However, when asked why power cuts are becoming frequent for the past few days, he said he would check it with the field officials concerned and would take necessary steps to rectify the same.

Bathinda, June 20
The tall claims made by the senior authorities of the local Civil Hospital before the Punjab State Health System Corporation (PSHSC) and the state government seem to be coming to a naught when it comes to execution.

During a visit to the hospital today, it was found that patients and their attendants were jostling to get the OPD slip at the registration counter. An elderly woman, who had come to get herself examined for stomach ache, alleged that the staff sitting at the window was busy in gossip, replenished by cups of tea, and was paying scant attention to the poor patients.

The condition of the patients who were waiting outside the cabins of the doctors was awful as in the absence of adequate sitting arrangements, a large number of them were either sitting or lying on the floor.

Sitting on the floor at the entrance of the orthopaedic section, Pawan Kaur of Natt village rued that she had been awaiting her turn since morning but neither had the doctor come nor had any para-medical staff enquired about her back pain.

“We wanted to know when the doctor will come but the nurses moving around replied quite rudely. Is this how the health facilities— about which the government keeps boasting—are being extended to the people,” asked Ajaib Singh of Kotli village and Jaspal Kaur of Pakka Kalan village.

The scene outside the cabins of the general physicians was similar. Patients lamented that they had been waiting for their turn for many hours as one of the three doctors was on leave.

Patients admitted in the wards exposed another chink in the functioning of the hospital. They alleged that the assisting staff deputed in the wards is always reluctant in using the supplied (free) medicines and surgical articles and puts pressure on the attendants to bring each and every item from the medical store, be it cotton, bandage or gloves.

Further, the waiting lounge meant for patients was being used as parking lot for private vehicles of the hospital staff. Stinking lavatories exposed the standards of hygiene maintained at the hospital.

Sources in the hospital said various equipment, including the X-ray machine, a mammography machine, a fully-automatic bio-chemistry analyzer and a dental chair, had been lying defunct in the hospital for the past two months.

The authorities, with the intention of sending a message across that the new building of the OPD section was going to be inaugurated soon, had shifted these machines there. But even after getting no intimation from the PSHSC about the date for inauguration of the new OPD block, they had not brought the equipment back to cater to the visiting patients.

It was informed that the only radiologist, who has been recently appointed as senior medical officer (SMO), was also on leave for few days.

Deputy Medical Commissioner (DMC) Vinod Kumar blamed the shortage of staff as one of the main reasons behind the whole affair. He claimed that it could be sorted out only by the higher authorities in the PSHSC. About improper service in wards, the DMC claimed he would ask for the report and put things in order. However, parrying a query related to the machines locked in the new OPD section, he said the building would be inaugurated soon. 

Bathinda, June 20
Responding to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-20 that strives to prevent casualties in road accidents worldwide, the state government, following the directions of the Union Government, has started roping in students, social organisations, private companies and other institutions to sensitise the road users.

The Director General of School Education, Punjab, has recently directed all district education officers (DEOs) and the heads of all government schools in the state to involve their students in the project and make the Road Safety Decade a success in Punjab.

The school heads have been told that initially, the teachers would inform the students about the traffic rules during the morning assembly. Then, the DEOs and the school heads will tie-up with the traffic police to arrange school-level training camps on road safety.

Later, the trained students would hold rallies in cities and towns to create awareness on traffic rules and road safety.

A number of NGOs and educational institutions have already taken up the issue of sensitising road users in the region. They target students and professional drivers and inform them about the correct behaviour on road. But the effectiveness of such steps has always remained low.

Welcoming the Road Safety Decade, activists of NGOs, namely the Sahara Jan Seva, the Naujwan Welfare Society, the Asra Welfare Society, the United Welfare Society and the Hanuman Seva Samiti - pointed out, “Besides awareness, there is a requirement of improvement in the science of traffic engineering as it is the fundamental problem with road safety in our country. Meanwhile, it is high time for the government to strictly crack down on those who do not care for the law.”

Faridkot, June 20
If one does not get the desired information under the RTI Act from any information officer after paying the mandatory fee, one could now approach the Consumer Forums at the district level instead of going all the way to the state information commissioner at the state headquarters.

The District Consumer Redressal Forum of Faridkot, while setting a new precedent, has in a landmark judgement imposed a fine on an information officer of the local District Transport Office and has also ordered the IO to provide the information asked for. The decision was passed by the President, Consumer Forum, Ashok Kumar and Member HL Mittal on Monday in a complaint filed by Ashu Kumar Mittal, a local lawyer.

The lawyer complained that he had sought information regarding preferred numbers from the DTO office in 2010. The IO refused to provide the asked information on the ground that the application had been written in English and that the Punjab Government had ordered that all official work conducted in the offices has to be done in the Punjabi language only. However, instead of appealing to the State Information Commission, for which, he would have had to go to Chandigarh, the complainant approached the Consumer Forum, which admitted his complaint.

The Forum has now ordered the IO to pay Rs 1000 as fine for harassment that the complainant has faced and also provide him the required information that he had asked for within the next 30 days.

Meanwhile, the President of the Forum said many people once denied information by the information officers prefer to let the matter rest for they do not want to travel to Chandigarh. “However, this case is an example for all such people that in case they are denied information on flimsy grounds, they can approach the local consumer forums which would take up their problems immediately,” he added. 

Fazilka, June 20
Graduate Welfare Association, Fazilka, (GWAF) has provided five lightweight Ecocab modern rickshaws to five rickshaw pullers of the town in a function organised at the local Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Park here yesterday.

GWAF president Umesh Chander Kukar, secretary, Navdip Asija, Municipal Council, president, Anil Sethi, industrialist, Sanjeev Nagpal, BSNL, SDO, KK Mittal, Rakesh Nagpal, president, Sarhad Social Welfare Society, Paramjit Singh Warer, organising secretary, Youth Akali Dal, were present on the occasion. Asija said as per the Punjab Government’s instructions, the Ferozepur DC has called a meeting on June 29 with nationalised banks to disburse loan for Ecocabs under the DRI (differential rate of interest) scheme. — OC

Abohar, June 20
Encroachers have once again started occupying public spaces under the very nose of the local administration despite their claims of having ended the menace from the city during anti-encroachment operations.

No one it seems bothers about the yellow line that had been marked at an estimated cost of Rs 50,000 on the main roads to regulate the vehicular traffic.

The Municipal Council had recently managed wide publicity for cleaning of Dr Ambedkar Chowk, better known as Ghantaghar Chowk, located on the congested railway road by removing huge stacks of watermelons and a few rehris to keep the city clean and free from encroachment.

The projection raised by a cheese shop near the Ghantaghar was also demolished. The ruling BJP, in a memorandum submitted to the Local Bodies Minister, had alleged that a Congress councillor from Nai Abadi area had vested interest in illegal allocation of the shop during the previous regime.

The vigilance cell of the department was yet to complete its investigation. Many eye brows have been raised over allowing the cheese seller to reconstruct the projection, affecting the main road, within two days of its demolition.

The illegal occupants are returning and attempting to rebuild such structures, including a large number of eateries and makeshift stalls on public places like Aggarsein Chowk, Circular road, Shaheed Udham Singh memorial, bus stops, main roads, streets, greenbelts, footpaths and other areas. Key places where the phenomenon is evident include railway road, Rani

Jhansi market and old grain market yards. Thousands of pedestrians who have to return home in the Nai Abadi, Arya Nagar, Sidhu Nagari, Ahuja Nagari areas and commuters who go to the railway station in the evening find it difficult to pass through the main bazaar and railway road.

The residents sent numerous complaints to the district administration about the encroachments. However, no action has been taken so far.

Some of the social activists said Amit Dhaka, a young IAS officer, who served as SDM here last year, had taken effective measures to remove encroachments from the city but after his transfer, recklessness on part of the municipal council and traffic police badly affected the whole campaign and gave confidence to the encroachers to carry out their illegal activities.

Fazilka, June 20
Perhaps the only bureaucrat, who was a recipient of the prestigious civilian awards of the country, Padam Shri and Padam Bhushan, the legendary nonagenarian of Fazilka, Kunwar Surinder Singh Bedi (96), passed away in Mohali on Thursday night.

For his contribution during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars as the District Magistrate and Commissioner of Jullundhur Division, Bedi was honoured with the highest civilian awards of the country.

Born in the Montgomery in the famous Bedi family of undivided Punjab, and the son of Baba Hardit Singh Bedi and grandson of Sir Baba Khem Singh Sahib Bedi, he migrated to Fazilka after the partition along with his three elder brothers.

“Surinder Singh Bedi was in the 15th generation of the direct lineage of Baba Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji,” claimed nephew Mohinderjit Singh Bunty Bedi of Fazilka.

The highlight of the career of this IAS officer was his considerable contribution, planning and liaisoning skills with Army officers during the two Indo-Pak wars as the District Magistrate of Amritsar and Commissioner, Jullundhur division.

He was honoured with Padma Shri in 1965 and Padma Bhushan in 1971. An alumnus of Chiefs College and Government College Lahore, he was awarded the most sought Rivaz medal as the best all-round student at Chiefs College in 1936. He not only excelled in academics but in sports as well. He developed his natural sporting ability particularly in the shooting arena and won the national Trap Shooting Championship in 1951-52. His love for sport took him into sports administration where he served as the President of the Punjab CricketAssociation and continued as a life member of the PCA. In the literary field, he loved Urdu poetry. His favourite of course was the poetry composed by his elder brother, renowned international Urdu poet Kunwar Mohinder Singh Bedi ‘Sehar’.

Barnala, June 20
Barnala police has arrested two fake journalists after they tried to blackmail a local Municipal Councillor (MC). However, one of their accomplice managed to escape.

Giving details, Rupinder Bhardwaj, DSP Barnala, said acting on the complaint lodged by a BJP MC Dheeraj Kumar that some journalists of a news channel were trying to blackmail him, Barnala police arrested the two fake journalists Lakhwinder Singh and Karanpreet Singh.

He added that their accomplice identified as Raj Kumar managed to escape from the spot.

The DSP further added that the police is investigating the matter and also trying to nab the accused, who remains at large.

Fazilka, June 20
After staging a massive rally before the office of of the Director, Health Services, Punjab at Chandigarh on Friday evening, Ravinder Luthra, convener, Sangharsh Committee, Punjab State Pharmacist Association State unit and Shashi Kant its district president, issued a joint statement here recently.

They disclosed that the pharmacists would burn the effigies of the Director, Health Services before the offices of all the 20 civil surgeons of the state on June 30 to protest against the indifferent and adamant attitude towards their long-standing demands. 

Bathinda, June 20
State president of the Aggarwal Sabha, Punjab, Charanji Lal Garg, claimed that during a meeting of the Sabha held at Kotkapura today, members of the executive committee authorized him to constitute a political committee of the Sabha that would further decide the issues related to the coming assembly polls.

Speaking further, Garg said the committee members unanimously decided to vote for him, irrespective of political affiliations.

It was also decided that if any of the member formed a parallel group or organization, his membership would immediately be terminated, he informed.

Bathinda, June 20
Residents of ward number 46, particularly those belonging to street number one of the Janata Nagar, today staged a demonstration outside the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) office. Led by the councillor Shakuntal Devi, the residents alleged that they were being discriminated against by the BMC authorities in the allocation of development budget. They also accused the senior officials for suppressing their years-old demand of laying sewer lines in the colony.

During the dharna, one of the agitators, Shabbo Rani fainted and was rushed to the Civil Hospital. However, the BMC Commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta refuted the allegations and said the BMC was already working on the project in the colony, to which all the streets were to be connected.

Abohar, June 20
The local police find itself in a piquant situation after it received a complaint from a boy, who sought action against those who murdered him in his previous birth.

Avtar Singh, a-seven-year-old boy of Lalianwali village of Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, has lodged a complaint with the local police alleging that he was murdered by a financier and his associates of the area in his last birth and hence, legal action should be taken against them.

Avtar Singh, who claims that he was Subash Kumar in his last birth, said his father's name was Fakir Chand and they were residents of Rajanwali village of this sub-division. He alleged that he was murdered by a financier of this are with the help of his associates.

Varinder Singh Brar, SP, Abohar, said the law of the land did not permit the police to entertain this complaint. He, however, said the police authorities were finding ways to dispose of the complaint legally.

Hence, legal opinion was being sought from the district attorney concerned on it.

He added that Satwant Singh, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Punjab Police, who met Avtar Singh, had also told him that what Avtar Singh had narrated to him in connection with his murder in last birth, was a concocted story and hence, could not be relied upon.

Brar said the police authorities were trying to go into the depth of the matter to find out as to how such thing surfaced and who was behind this game.

He added that he had also asked the sleuths of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the matter. Information gathered by the TNS revealed that in August 2003, a body of Subash Kumar, who was son of Fakir Chand, was found lying on the rail track on the Abohar-Seetogunno road.

The kin of the deceased had succeeded in getting a criminal case registered against a financier of the area along with his associates.

However, the police that carried out an inquiry found that neither the financier nor his associates were involved in the mysterious death of Subash Chand.

Information revealed that before lodging a complaint Avtar also visited Rajanwali village and went to the house, where he lived in his last birth as per his claims. He also recognised a number of residents of the village by name.