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Kisan Call Centre
Kabaddi player stabbed to death
FCI all set to tackle monsoon
Couple dies, son escapes unhurt as bus hits motorcycle
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Govt fails to increase devp pace: Cong MP
Upgrade of MC: Villagers submit memo to Tikshan Sud
Patwari held taking bribe
Tractor recovered, 1 held
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Kisan Call Centre
Jalandhar, June 23 The government entrusted the task to the Aircel, a telecom company. A team of “experts” provides answers to the queries of farmers from Punjab and Haryana, with a different set of experts for both the states. Farmers in Punjab now call the scheme “Chitta Hathi” (or white elephant) for the numbers either stay busy or the phones are never picked up despite the fact that the government made a huge investment for the project. The five phone lines are not considered sufficient to handle the volume of calls made by the farmers from the entire state and sources say the people recruited for the job by the company are freshers. Jaswinder Singh Sangha, General Secretary of Jalandhar Potato Growers Association, is disillusioned as far as the number is concerned. “It’s just to show. The numbers never work. Nor do I think the government is serious about helping people.” Raghubir Singh, a farmer based in Pholariwal village, said, “No one’s bothered about picking up the phone. The common man deals with his problems on his own, the scheme is proof of this.” Avtar Singh Sidhu, a Nawanshahr-based farmer, said, “I am lucky I have numbers of PAU and other experts to bank upon. But when a farmer without resources calls the number, his last hope is lost when he gets no answer.” Gursewak Singh Sandhu, Joint Director Agriculture (extension and training), Punjab and State Nodal Director, ATMA (Agriculture Technology Management Agency), said, “The scheme was started in 2004 by the Central Government for which Aircel was roped in. It’s not true that we are not receiving calls. Every month we get 4,000 to 5,000 calls. There was a problem sometime ago but now it’s no longer there. But we will get it checked.” Insufficient lines: “Yes five lines are considered insufficient for the state’s farmers and we will see what we can do about it.” Inexperienced staff: “Yes we are told the staff is underpaid. Talk is on to recruit experienced government people for the job. We have written to the government. We monitor. It’s for the government to take action. Talk about these issues has been going on for a year.” The Tribune team called both the numbers many times. The landline number was never answered while the mobile number was answered only after many calls. When asked why they were not taking calls, the attendant curtly answered, “You are not alone, everyone’s complaining of the same problem.” When asked for reason, he said, “It’s an exchange problem.” |
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Kabaddi player stabbed to death
Amritsar, June 23 An old enmity has been cited as the reason behind the incident and the police has registered a case under Sections 148 and 149 of the IPC against Kaka, Jindu, Happy, Mana, Ghona, Raman and four other unidentified persons. The accused fled from the scene after committing the crime. According to SHO Gurwinder Singh, the victim went to the village fair, where he was stopped by a group of boys who were known to him. “They got engaged in an altercation, which took a serious turn when the boys stabbed him with a sharp-edged weapon and he died on the spot,” he said. |
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FCI all set to tackle monsoon
The FCI has divided Gurdaspur into five centres, which are Gurdaspur town, Batala, Pathankot, Dinanagar and Dhariwal, to facilitate the proper storage of wheat and paddy. A senior officer disclosed that there were seven covered godowns and four covered and plinth complexes (CAP) in the entire district. All these seven godowns had a total storage capacity of 2.10 lakh metric tonnes (MT), while the total stock of wheat and paddy lying in these godowns was 1.99 lakh MT. Officials have made elaborate arrangements to ensure that water does not damage stocks lying in these godowns. Nahar Singh, Area Manager, Gurdaspur, said, “We have a scientific stock preservation system and have conducted pre-monsoon fumigation to ensure that insects do not breed in godowns. During the monsoon season food grains are scientifically stacked to prevent contact with water on ground if at all it seeps in godowns. During monsoons preventive and curative treatment with insecticides and fumigants is done periodically till stocks are dispatched or issued for consumption. At present, for preventive treatment, the FCI is using potent insecticides like malathion on the fortnightly basis and delta-methrin on quarterly basis. New tarpaulins have been provided by the engineering wing of the regional office at Chandigarh.” “At Gurdaspur town, where we have one covered and one CAP, we have ensured that tarpaulins covering the CAP are properly latched with nylon ropes. This ensures that the rainwater does not seep into the stocks during a heavy shower,” added Nahar Singh. S. Nagaswamy, Assistant General Manager (Quality Control), said, “At Dhariwal we have one godown and a CAP having a combined capacity of 27,770 MT. Here last month we noticed some tarpaulin sheets were broken. We immediately informed the engineering wing at Chandigarh and old tarpaulin sheets were replaced with new ones. The drains around the godowns have also been cleaned so that rainwater does not enter the complexes.” Nagaswamy, who undertakes regular checks of all godowns falling in this district, added, “At Gurdaspur town we have one covered godowns and all drains around it have been cleaned. Water cannot enter the premises. Similarly at Dinanagar, we have one godown having a capacity of 10,000 MT. There was a danger of leakage during the last monsoon season. However, we have managed to plug the seepage and now there is absolutely no threat of water entering the godown. Grains in our food and storage depots are properly and scientifically graded and preserved by qualified and trained personnel. We have taken all steps to ensure that the monsoon does not play spoilsport with the grains across all our godowns in Gurdaspur district.”
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Couple dies, son escapes unhurt as bus hits motorcycle
Tarn Taran, June 23 The Harike police has registered a case under Sections 304A, 279, 427, 337 and 338 of the IPC against Roop Singh, driver of a PRTC bus (PB- 29K, 9108) allegedly responsible for the accident. Jagtar Singh and his wife Balwinder Kaur with their son were going to the nearby Sarhali village on a motorcycle when the bus hit their motorcycle from the front. Balwinder Kaur died on the spot, while Jagtar died on way to a hospital. The driver of the bus fled after the accident. Man killed
Pathankot: Rohit Mahajan (26) was crushed to death when a truck hit the scooter he was riding near Chakki Bridge on the Pathankot-Jalandhar road here on Wednesday. The body was handed over to his family after postmortem. The police arrested the truck driver. |
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Govt fails to increase devp pace: Cong MP
Hoshiarpur, June 23 Alleging this, while addressing mediapersons at her residence, MP from Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat Santosh Chaudhary pointed out that at the fag end of the regime the pace of development was promoted by the ruling parties to attract electorates in the elections. But the SAD-BJP government had miserably failed in every field. Vacant posts of teacher and doctor in the education and health departments, respectively, had been lying vacant since long. One hundred block development and panchayat officers were functioning against 145 posts. Due to shortage of staff almost all Union Government-sponsored schemes had been affected badly, due to which beneficiaries of these schemes suffered a lot. She alleged that the money sent by the Union Government under its various schemes was being misused by the state government despite reminders by the ministries concerned to utilise the money strictly for the matter it was sent.
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Upgrade of MC: Villagers submit memo to Tikshan Sud
Hoshiarpur: Inhabitants of 18 villages, located on the periphery of the town, demanded to upgrade the Municipal Council to the Municipal Corporation by including the areas of their respective villages in the town.
A deputation of Mohalla Ramgarh, Chohal Panchayat, New Colony, Chohal, JCT, Chohal, Adamwal, Shergarh, Ravidass Nagar, Kotla Gaunspur, Ajowal, New Abadi, Bassi Gulam Hussain, Shanti Nagar, New Bank Colony, Bassi Purani, Ram Colony Camp, Chhowni Kalan, Rasoolpur, Bassi Balon, Qila Baroon and Nandan on behalf of their respective panchayats presented a memorandum to Punjab Local Government and Industries Minister Tikshan Sud here on Tuesday. Sud assured them that he would discuss this issue with the Chief Minister to get their demand accepted. —
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Patwari held taking bribe
Amritsar, June 23 Gurmeet Kaur had got job in the Police Department on compassionate grounds after the demise of her husband. She had a dispute over a piece of her land, which was lying mortgaged. The patwari assured her of getting her paper work done, but demanded Rs 10,000 for the job. The DSP, Lakhbir Singh, said a case has been registered against the patwari. — TNS |
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Tractor recovered, 1 held
Batala: The CIA staff have recovered a stolen tractor from Kashmir Singh, alias Kulwant Singh, resident of Shankerpura village. A case under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC has been registered at Civil Lines police station. His two accomplices, Balkar Singh, alias Bari, and Bhagdev Singh, alias Golu, are yet to be arrested, Gurdeep Singh, SSP, said on Thursday. —
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Gurdaspur, June 23