Jalandhar, September 8
Almost two months after the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar (MCJ) started a single window system at its Suwidha Centre for collection of house tax, water supply and sewage charges, and birth and death registration, the centre is devoid of basic amenities.

This part of the MC administrative complex, which houses the Suwidha Centre, is without the provision of even the basic facilities like drinking water and toilets. Since the Centre is located in the basement of the complex and is not directly connected with the main building, the employees as well as the visitors face much problem on this account.

There is no token system and the visitors have to remain standing in long queues waiting for their turn. In fact, there are no chairs provided for the visitors, many of whom include women carrying their newborn babies for their birth registration.

There is a help-desk for the applicants of the water supply and sewage bills but none for the applicants of birth and death registration who are there in large numbers, especially for a correction in the certificates. This has rather helped the agents sitting outside the centre make a good buck through the day.

Further, accessibility is yet another problem with the Centre. There is just a staircase for reaching down the basement of the complex. There is no provision of a ramp or an elevator in the building which often leads to a lot of problem for the elderly and the disabled.

Gurmeet Kaur, who had come to get the name of her son Ashu registered, lamented, “Since there were no chairs available for her to sit, she had to lay the child on a table with a feeder”. Sant Ram, an octagenerian, said that he had great difficulty in climbing up and down the stairs to reach the Centre for depositing his dues.

Jalandhar, September 8
Flouting all norms, Mahinder Bhagat, a son of Punjab Deputy Speaker Bhagat Chunni Lal, is stepping into his father’s shoes to perform the latter’s official duties. A claimant for the BJP ticket from Jalandhar West constituency, in lieu of his father, for the forthcoming assembly polls, Mahinder Bhagat has been proactively attending the inauguration functions and laying foundation stones in place of his father.

While the octogenarian BJP MLA remains confined at home claiming ill-health, it is his middle-aged son who is hogging the limelight at all social, religious and political events in the city where his father is actually invited as the chief guest.

This, despite the fact that the son had even been recently divested of his post of Chairman of Medium Industry Development Board. Even as MLA Bhagat Chunni Lal was to preside over a meeting with the MC officials and eight BJP and SAD councillors of his constituency, it was Mahinder Bhagat who chaired it, defying all norms. Getting the feel of being an MLA himself, he questioned the SEs and XENs of the various branches of the MC for not getting the works expedited in the wards falling in Jalandhar West constituency.

He asked them to give deadlines of all pending works, insisted on getting tenders cleared and getting work orders passed at the earliest. He pressed for getting all works through before the forthcoming polls. The meeting continued for over two hours, with the Mayor Rakesh Rathour, representing the same party, joining in during the last 15 minutes. Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Bhatia and Deputy Mayor Parvesh Tangri did not turn up “owing to some pre-occupation”. The wards represented by the SAD leaders Bhatia and Tangri also fall in the same assembly segment. As the meeting was over, an official who otherwise claims that he had become quite used to the MLA’s son’s interference, buzzed, “I really wonder as to in which capacity Mahinder Bhagat was chairing the official meeting. If I cannot attend the office some day due to poor health, I will not send my son in my place. Likewise, if Bhagat Chunni Lal was unwell himself, he could have postponed it or even taken the meeting at his own place.” A supporter of the Bhagat family confided, “Bhagat Chunni Lal had undergone a heart surgery about two years back but he has recuperated and is fine. Had he not been fit, he could not have assumed as the Deputy Speaker of Vidhan Sabha. It is his son who has been persisting that he remain at home so that he is able to move around and garner mileage for the next polls.” The Mayor, when quizzed about the MLA’s son chairing the meeting, said, “Actually Bhagat Chunni Lal is not keeping good health. That is why his son came over.” On the contrary, Mahinder Bhagat claimed that his father’s health was perfectly okay these days. “We together have been attending meetings with our supporters for the past over a week. Today’s meeting in MC was not to be attended by my father. The councillors were to come on their own but they insisted that I accompany them in the capacity of the state BJP’s vice-president. So I went along”, he explained. Papa gives him the drive! As an MLA of Jalandhar South (called the Jalandhar West constituency after delimitation), Bhagat Chunni Lal had been allotted an Innova car which his son had been independently using to attend functions in the city. After Bhagat Chunni Lal was taken as Deputy Speaker three months back, he was allotted a Camry car and was asked to give back the Innova. But the Bhagats continued to retain the Innova till yesterday. As the duo used both the cars for their visit to Chandigarh yesterday, the Innova was retained there. Mahinder Bhagat replied, “My father did not have a Gypsy for the security personnel. So we were told to use the Innova till that time. Yesterday, they gave him a Gypsy in lieu of the Innova.”

Jalandhar, September 8
Coming as a major reprieve for the masses and a deterrent for those trying to forge documents, Municipal Corporation (MC) Jalandhar has started the process of digitisation of birth and death records. In the first phase, which has already started, the MC will scan records from 2004 till the current year.

AS Dhaliwal, Superintendent Engineer (SE), MC, handling e-governance projects, said, “We are planning digitisation of records for quite sometime. It got delayed as the local department was earlier planning to award a single contract for the ULBs of the entire state. But now the work has been segregated.”

Grabware, a local company, is contracted to do the job against an amount of Rs 6 lakh. As per the contract, the company will scan the current manual records, which is in Punjabi, plus translate the records to English by using a software. The scanning is being done by taking digital photographs of the pages using a remote and uploading the same in the computer.

Rajesh from computer section of the MC said, “We are facing a small problem in translating the records in two different languages. Certain names like Manjeet which can even been written as Manjit are likely to be misspelt. For such cases, we will give one-time chance to the residents to get any corrections done.”Dr Varinder Kalia, Birth and Death Registrar, said, “Records from the year 1950 to 1972 were available in Urdu. In this phase we have to translate Urdu to Panjabi and English. Old pages usually turn brittle and hand writings tend to become illegible and that’s why digital recording will be a success.”

The records will be available at the click of a mouse and the residents, if wish, can get a duplicate copy of their birth certificates for various usages as in schools, passport and visa processing, making correction or registration of death. The manual system is time consuming as it takes days for the officials to find old records.This force people to take numerous rounds to the office to get the work done.

The manual entry of records will continue till December 31, 2011 (which is also the deadline for the job). All entries from January 1, 2012 will be done digitally. The certificates to be provided for the purpose will also be digitally produced with a scanned copy of the manual entry at the backside. The scanned copy will prove vital for quick reference in future and also for ensuring its authentication.

Although the company will not levy additional charges for maintaining database for the first year, the annual maintenance contract for the same has been given out for Rs 12,000 a year then on. The companies will also take on the re-binding charges as hardbound recording books are opened for scanning.

Even as the sex ratio of Jalandhar district has come at 913 in the latest census report and child sex ratio (0-6 years) has come at 874, the record of the births and deaths for the city registered at MC office for the past seven years puts it quite low between 834 to 850.

Jalandhar, September 8
Although various authorities concerned are busy in identifying breeding grounds for dengue larvae, the Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar and health authorities have yet to take note of another possible major breeding grounds --- the water pools of the fountains, which are installed at nearly all major roundabouts and intersections of the city.

Despite the fact that the large water pools beneath such fountains can easily be turned into a major breeding ground for the dengue larvae, hardly anybody either from the MCJ or health authorities have bothered to drain out the water from these pools, especially during dengue season.

The negligence is being committed despite the fact that the authorities concerned are well aware that such pools can become source of disease for the thousands of commuters, who pause and pass by such roundabouts and traffic red lights. The practice of keep such fountains running even during the dengue seasons is in contrast to the various sensitization campaigns initiated by the Municipal Corporation, through which it preaches the residents of the city to clear off the stagnant water pooled in and around their homes.

“Some of such fountains are out of operation and water accumulated beneath them was not drained out since long. The authorities are spending heavy amounts to ‘teach’ us how to maintain our surrounding clear and how to practice various dengue preventive measures. However, what prevents them to take decision to put off these fountains for few days, till the dengue treat subside”, said Kamal Sharma, resident of the city.

Dr Varinder Kalia, Health Officer, MCJ, said he has already written to the corporation officials to treat the water pooled beneath such fountains. He admitted that a good volume of water has been accumulated in some fountain sites after a spell of heavy rain in the last 2-3 days.

“I will definitely alert the Operation and Maintenance wing of the MCJ about the possible danger and recommend them to put off all the fountains located in and around the city for few coming weeks,” said Dr Kalia.

Dr RL Bassan, District Health Officer, said the department is shortly dispatching teams to identify the fountains in the city, pooled water beneath which can easily be served as a breeding hub for dengue larvae. “We will recommend the corporation authorities the needful after ascertaining the quality of the water being used to run the fountains”, said Dr Bassan.

Jalandhar, September 8
Moved by an awareness rally organised by school students in the city on the occasion of Eye Donation Day, as many as 45 persons have pledged to donate eyes.

These volunteers came forward to donate eyes after they attended a rally organised by the students of St Soldier Divine Public School, in association with a prestigious eye hospital of the city yesterday.

"As many as six volunteers from the school management and 10 students of Class XI volunteered to donate eyes. Besides these, 30 shopkeepers and residents of nearby localities, through which the rally passed, also come forward for the cause," said Navjot Kaur, the school media in-charge.

Approximately, 168 students took part in the rally, which covered a stretch of four km.

The rally began from the school campus and passed through Ghaa Mandi, Model House and various other localities on the Kala Sanghia road appealing to the residents and shopkeepers to donate eyes.

The students also distributed pamphlets and registration forms required to avail consent of the patients to safely remove eyes of the donor from his/her body after death, during the rally.

Jalandhar, September 8
Legislations or special days such as the World Literacy Day seem to have little effect on the lives of over 300 children living in the slums of Indira Colony here.

The slums located on the Jalandhar-Amritsar by-pass have 700 families with five to seven members and over 450 children.

Most of these children go rag-picking or scrap-hunting or stay idle throughout the day because their parents are sceptical about sending them to school instead.

Only some students have received education through short-term education programmes started by different philanthropists and NGOs (currently a creche programme is being run for 50 children of the slum by the NGO Pahal in association with SOSVA).

Kheto Devi, president of the colony says, "While some of our children have been getting education luckily due to some NGOs, most of them either work or roam the streets. Very few get to study. Most parents here do not want to let go of the children who earn money for them. They don't want to part with the Rs 200 to 300 that the kids bring in. Many of our girls set out early with iron rods fitted with magnets to hunt for scrap and rags among other stuff. There are others who run little establishments selling artificial jewellery etc."

"While 50 to 60 parents in the colony send their kids to private schools, many of them are back to their homes when their parents are not able to pay their fee regularly. There are parents who beg for more time from teachers for them to be able to pay the fee but they are driven away," Devi adds.

Same is the fate for government school students, she says. "While 25 to 30 kids go to schools, everyday we hear of drop outs. So in all out of the 450, only about 100 to 120 children receive education."

In addition to this, both minor girls and women of the slums who do menial jobs are also very keen to study but they do not get a chance. While they acknowledge the fact that efforts put in by the NGO Pahal have brought in a lot of positive change in their habits, hygiene and lifestyle (it has been running the Reproductive Child Project in the area as well as providing many other medical facilities), they rue that the lack of adult education classes for them and to some extent parents' reluctance has played dampener to their growth.

Jamuna (17) says, "We used to dress and talk differently earlier but we feel more confident now because the NGO has taken up our cause. We want to study but that has not been possible so far. Though there has been a talk of adult education classes for students like us, we have not had the opportunity as yet."

Meenu (15) expresses a similar wish, and says, "For me it's more difficult because my parents think it's more appropriate for me to stay at home than study but me and most of my friends want education."

While the government schemes and Acts like the Right to Education are full of ambitious plans and instructions (like holding special programmes for slum and/or rural kids to train them for school education; mapping of areas to recognise children who need education and provide education to any student deprived of it) directed to increase literacy in the country, the over 450 children (along with the about 100 women interested in adult classes) in the Indira Colony are one of the grim examples of students deprived of their right to education in the city.

Jalandhar, September 8
To nab violators of the Copyright Act, the Punjab police conducted raids in various cities across the state and arrested 37 persons over the past two months.

DS Dhaliwal, state coordinator of the Indian Music Industry (IMI), said the Punjab police conducted raids at various locations in Chandigarh, Mohali, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Moga, Gurdaspur, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Nawanshahr, Mukatsar, Ferozepur and Rupnagar made the seizure.

A massive amount of pirated material such as 37 PCs, mobile chips, card readers, DVD writers each and other material used in piracy, were seized from their possession.

Dhaliwal said music piracy has been causing a loss of Rs 600 crore annually to the Indian music industry. The industry is witnessing new patterns of piracy such as mobile chip piracy, which leads to an estimated loss of another Rs 300 crore per year, he added.

Jalandhar, September 8
The district administration has begun imparting training to the youth to conduct rescue operations during natural calamities, especially floods.

The Revenue and Rehabilitation department has roped in experts of the National Disaster Response Force to hold a week-long programme from September 7. — TNS