Jalandhar, August 2
Ahead of Raksha Bandhan, the Department of Posts has come up with special envelopes for the occasion and introduced a new speedy, traceable parcel facility, which would ensure smooth exchange of rakhis and gifts for NRI siblings settled anywhere across the globe within four days.

The rakhi special envelopes have rakhi patterns printed on the cover and have self-adhesive strips. These have been priced at just Rs 5 each and are being sold on the stamps counter. These can be used for sending rakhis via ordinary, registered or speed post.

Perhaps in a bid to give tough competition to the private courier firms having a rolling business in this NRI belt, the department has come up with a modern document and parcel facility, “World Net Express”. A joint enterprise of India Post and Deutsche Post DHL, it has just been introduced in a few cities, including Jalandhar, Amritsar and Chandigarh.

The facility has come up with an array of features, including multi-mode “trace and track” options using toll-free number, mobile SMS, web (on indiapost.gov.in) and email. The best part is that it comes with tamper-proof and weather-proof plastic flyer packs.

The whole idea of the makeover is perhaps to compete with the private courier services in the NRI belt. Giving details, Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Jalandhar Division, Avtar Singh Pahuja said, “The best part of our World Net Express is that we are getting a smooth transit even across Italy, wherein Punjabi families are settled in large numbers. With other modes, there have been some glitches during custom clearance in the country.”

Explaining the trace and track facility, Pahuja said, “The parcel is sent using bar code. A bar code reader used at all transit points helps in its automatic tracking. There are softwares which help in sending across automatic alerts to the senders through SMS, email or any other service he takes.”

The charges for sending the parcels across are significantly on the higher side, but Pahuja responds saying, “We have a class of customer which demands sure-shot quick delivery and good presentation. To them cost does not matter. This service is actually meant for them.”

The officer said the trace and track facility had also been added to speed post round-the-clock on indiapost.gov.in. “One just needs to fill in a speed post number on the web and the status of the parcel can be immediately known. We are now planning to extend the facility soon for registered post as well,” he added.

Jalandhar, August 2
The students of Government Primary School, Reru, situated on the Jalandhar-Pathankot bypass, despite having enough classrooms are forced to sit in the verandahs in this humid and sultry weather and that too on the floor.

Reason: A part of the school building has been encroached by Government Ayurvedic Dispensary and the other has a Sub-Post Office of the village. Besides a huge pool with wild growth of hyacinths, dirt and filth adjacent to the school building is another problem for the students.

Such is the extent of the problem that the school despite having enough infrastructure and facilities is forced to operate from a small part of their own campus. On the other hand, local people and villagers visiting the dispensary and post office further lead to unwanted nuisance and interference in the school.

Talking to The Tribune, officiating Head Teacher of the school Shalini said owing to the dispensary and post office they had to keep the school gate open throughout the day. “Many a time the students just manage to flee from the school during the lunch break, but we are helpless. Sometimes the influx of the visitors is quite high, which leads to disturbance in studies. However, somehow we are managing the show,” she said, adding that at times they felt as if this was a public place.

“Initially when the school started it had a meagre strength of around 20 to 30 students. However, now the school has 183 students with 38 others studying in its Special Training Centre,” teachers said.

Further talking about the pool, the Head Teacher said last year one of their students while playing accidentally fell in it. “We had a tough time saving that student as he was badly trapped in the filth and slush. Our duties in this school goes beyond teaching as we have to take extra pains to ensure the safety of the students too,” the teachers maintained.

When asked, Dr Madan Lal, serving at Government Ayurvedic Dispensary, Reru village, said, “Even we are not comfortable functioning in a makeshift arrangement from this school building. We cannot examine the women patients in this open room. Even half of our apparatus always remains packed owing to lack of space.”

Dr Madan Lal said they shifted in the school building when it was lying deserted. “Later, the school started functioning and since then we are here,” he said.

Sub-Postmaster Gurmeet Kaur from the Sub-Post Office, Reru village, said they too had taken up the issue with their department. “It was a collective decision of the villagers to shift the post office in this building as the school was not functioning,” she stated.

The post office has been functioning from two new halls constructed on the terrace of the school, while the dispensary is functioning from a single room. Both the post office and the dispensary were shifted to the school in 2005. Earlier, the dispensary was functioning from two rooms of the school.

Councillor of Ward 3 Paramjit Singh, under whose jurisdiction the school falls, said, “The school building was constructed by the villagers with an approximate budget of Rs 13 lakh. I personally took up this issue and got one of the rooms vacated for the school use. As far as the pool is concerned, the work on laying the sewerage is going on in full swing in my ward and soon it would be filled with mud. We have a proposal to construct a park in place of the pool,” he added.

Assistant Commissioner of Jalandhar Municipal Corporation D.P. Bhardwaj said, “Till date nobody approached us with any complaint in this regard. We will surely look into the matter.”

Jalandhar, August 2
Garbage is one thing that the people of this city find in plenty at every square and street. Barring a few posh areas, garbage dumps abound everywhere here. Initially, people complain, but gradually, the corporation’s apathy compels them to live with the muck.

Residents of BSNL Colony near Shashtri Chowk in Ward No 30 have been facing a similar predicament for the past few years.

One of the two main gates of the area has been playing a garbage dump, making the lives of the residents of the colony miserable.

Anil Kumar, a resident of the colony, says, “The colony gate is being littered with garbage thrown by hotels and dhabas in the neighbourhood for the past many years. Sometimes stray dogs even bring in bones and smelly waste from the dump inside the colony. We even tried to stand outside two three times guarding the gate to prevent people from dumping waste. At times even kicking up fights, but the litter bugs haven’t budged. It seems no one’s interested in addressing our problems. In the rains, a lot of garbage from the street enters into our homes causing more unhygienic conditions. We can’t even step outside. We have personally stopped waiters and rickshaw-pullers from dumping filth here, but they come back late at night and dump the waste.”

“On the top of it, people from neighbouring Sehdev Market got a public toilet made right next to the boundary of the colony some years ago and that has added to the smell and filth,” Anil Kumar added.

Another resident, Santosh Kumar, says, “The dirt is a cause of the increase in flies and mosquitoes. Also it’s a place where stray animals gather, making it difficult for elders and children to pass by.”

Kuljit Singh Babbi, Congress councillor from Ward 14, who has a shop in Sehdev Market, says, “The garbage is a nuisance for the shopkeepers. It is a major issue threatening the health of the people of the area, but the MC has never given the issue due attention.”

Talking about the public bathrooms, Babbi says, “They were made eight years ago and were clean then. Now they are dirty and run down but the MC doesn’t take any step to fix the degradation.”

Area councillor Raminder Kaur Dhindsa says, “We are aware of the problem and as soon as the fresh dumps come up in the city, the problem will be fixed.”

“The new dump will be covered and will be at a distance of 20 feet from the existing dump. We’ve been raising the issue of garbage time and again,” Dhindsa adds.

Have they taken any action against the hotels? “They have been told not to throw garbage on the spot in question.”

Have any notices been issued in this regard? “The Mayor has ordered that parties that litter public places be challaned.”

Interestingly, though Babbi claims that the shopkeepers of Sehdev Market have hired sweepers to get the bathrooms cleaned, councillor Dhindsa says the sweepers are being paid by the Municipal Corporation.

Jalandhar, August 2
Mayor Rakesh Rathour is reportedly interested in contesting the upcoming Assembly elections from the Jalandhar Central Assembly constituency, at present being represented by a former Local Bodies Minister, Manoranjan Kalia.

Rathour also did not rule the possibility of his contesting the next elections from this seat as he told The Tribune that “whatever responsibility the party entrusts to him, he will act in accordance with that”.

Though he also tried to get the BJP ticket from this seat even during the previous Assembly elections in 2007, he did not succeeded in getting the ticket that time. On the other hand, Kalia refused to comment on Rathour’s aspiration to contest from this seat.

He said: “The elections are scheduled to be held months later, so it is too early to comment who is interested in contesting from this seat.”

Recently removed from the Cabinet unceremoniously, Kalia has been contesting from the Jalandhar Central Assembly seat since 1992. While he lost twice in 1992 and 2002, he succeeded in registering victories in the 1997 and 2007 Assembly elections.

He is nowadays concentrating on his own constituency with meeting various people of the area to solve their issues.

His supporters are also confident that Kalia would be reallocated ticket from this seat as several senior BJP leaders, including Sushma Swaraj, are reportedly favouring him.

Jalandhar, August 2
When Kranti Pal promised that after a week’s work, he and his team would come up with two plays, one thought it would be the same old stuff that one usually see at the end of workshops. A week certainly wouldn’t be enough for a grand or professional production.

But the two productions at the end of his workshop, dedicated to the legendary playwright Gurdharan Singh, defied belief.

The plays “Agnivarsha” (by Girish Karnad) and Shakespeare’s Macbeth (in mime) were certainly better than what the audience was expecting.

After having seen it on the big screen (the Bollywood film with the same name) one didn’t think the play would impress. But it sure did.

The actors gave measured performances and the costumes were probably the best that Jalandhar has seen in a long time.

The tribal touch was evident and the performances of some of the known faces of the city were also better than that usual glimpses Jalandhar gets of them.

Mrikula and Zorawar’s chemistry has certainly improved after their last outing in “Sabse Udas Kavita”.

The cherry on top was Vikramjit Lucky. He impressed as Arvasu, the naïve brother of Paravasu.

Rohini Gupta as Nithilai was also charming. The actors were agile and their performances were theatrical, not melodramatic, a difference Jalandhar usually isn’t able to gauge.

“Macbeth”, by comparison, wasn’t as impressive, the stealth in the black devils slowly got the better of the audience.

But the transformation of the characters from the scheming murderers to the scared and confused people getting entangled in their own web of deceit and guilt wasn’t as smooth as it should have been, especially since it was a mime.

Jatinder Suri was the surprise package in both the plays. His comic timing on stage is as perfect as his outrageous gags on “Comedy Circus”. In all it was a great theatre and the kind Jalandhar needs more of.

Nakodar, August 2
The Primary Health Centre (PHC) of Mehatpur, 8 km from Nakodar, which provides medical care to the residents of around 130 villages, is in a deplorable state and lacks facilities.

Cannabis and other weeds have grown all over in the swampy area inside the centre. Residents living near the PHC have seen reptiles and other dangerous insects in the centre.

When this correspondent visited the centre, he found the entrance to the hospital blocked because some private function was going on and reached the PHC from a narrow street. From the main road to the premises of the PHC, patients are forced to use a ‘kacha’ road and in case of emergency, no one knows what will happen to the patient.

There is also another road, which got blocked due the emergence of a swamp and weeds on the premises in the last three years.

Cracks were noticed in the old building. When contacted, Shashi Ahluwalia, Senior Medical Officer (also a paediatrician), said Rs 50,000 were allotted to the PHC for the annual maintenance of the building, which was a meagre amount to keep infrastructure in a good condition.

Even the water tank of the centre cries for repair and developed cracks at many points. The PHC has only eight beds in the patient ward and no provision for cooler or attached bathroom is there at all. Pigeons were seen flying inside the rooms.

The PHC also lacks manpower. The SMO revealed that the PHC had only one Medical Officer, two pharmacists, five staff nurses and some others administrative members.

“Earlier the PHC had two posts of Medical Officer, but one was later abolished,” she said.

Health Department sources said the PHC had no posts of other specialists and sometimes they needed to call an eye specialist from the Uggi hospital in emergency.

The centre does not have main entrance gate and stray animals, including dogs, roam about on the premises of the hospital. The SMO said they had asked the higher authorities to construct boundary walls around the centre to prevent the invasion of animals and other strangers.

“In last month, we did 18 child deliveries and registered 2,588 OPD patients because of its large jurisdiction,” she said, alleging that though Mehatpur had five panchayts and NRI base, but nobody came forward to help the centre financially.

Local residents alleged that due to the availability of cannabis inside the centre, some youths were often seen plucking cannabis to use them a drug.

Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar, H.K. Singla when contacted, said, they had already sent a proposal to improve the infrastructure and increase staff to the Director, Health Department, but yet to get approval for the same. He urged the local panchayts to come forward to destroy weeds emerged on the premises of the PHC.

Kapurthala, August 2
Two delegates from the UK Wendy and Elizabeth visited MGN Public School, located on The Mall here, under the UK-India Education Research Initiative, a student-teacher exchange programme undertaken by the British Council.

A ceremonial welcome was given to them by playing the school band. School Principal Kamlesh Kour Multani presented them a bouquet.

The guest visited activity labs. They lauded the dance performance by tiny tots.

The delegates were also taken on a round to the Primary Section, where they interacted with students and teachers in the classes. Besides appreciating the school environment and discipline, they applauded quality education being imparted at MGN. In the end, senior students of the school enthralled them by presenting giddha.

Jalandhar, August 2
Suratgarh Area clinched the overall championship and bagged the rolling trophy of Western Air Command (WAC) Inter Area Badminton Championship 2011-12 held here at Air Force Station, Adampur, on Friday.

In the finals, Suratgarh Area beat Bathinda Area in singles and doubles matches. In doubles, Suratgarh beat their rival Bathinda Area by 18-21, 21-13, 21-14 while in singles, Suratgarh Area beat Bathinda Area in two straight sets by 21-6, 21-14.

Another singles match was won by Bathinda Area by beating Suratgarh Area in two straight sets by 21-9 and 21-8 scores. Bathinda Area and Pathankot Area won silver and bronze, respectively. During this championship five players were selected to represent WAC for the forthcoming Air Force championship.

Jalandhar, August 2
The local Lyallpur Khalsa Collegiate Senior Secondary School organised a prize distribution ceremony for its meritorious students on July 29 at the college auditorium. Punjab Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan was the chief guest on
the occasion.

Jalandhar, August 2
The NRI Sabha, Punjab, today gave a joint party in the honour of outgoing Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner S.R. Ladhar and the newly appointed Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner Anurag Verma.

President of the NRI Sabha Kamaljit Singh Hayre accorded a warm welcome to Anurag Verma and commended the efforts of Ladhar for the welfare of the NRIs of Doaba region during his tenure.