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Consumer forum sans building
The forum has been functioning in an indoor stadium for the last 15 years
Ferozepur, November 21
The office of the Ferozepur Consumer Forum functioning on the premises of the indoor sports stadium. In the absence of any suitable accommodation, the district consumer forum has been functioning on the premises of the indoor sports stadium complex for the last fifteen years.

The office of the Ferozepur Consumer Forum functioning on the premises of the indoor sports stadium. A Tribune photo

State BJP suspends Bathinda worker from primary membership
Bathinda, November 21
As a fall-out of the controversy surrounding BJP chief LK Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra, the BJP state unit has suspended its worker Sunil Singla for wrongly posing himself as the media in-charge, whereas the party has not entrusted him of any such job.

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	Consumer forum sans building The forum has been functioning in an indoor stadium for the last 15 years Anirudh Gupta Ferozepur, November 21 In the absence of any suitable accommodation, the district consumer forum has been functioning on the premises of the indoor sports stadium complex for the last fifteen years. The arrangement has not been causing inconvenience only to the visitors but also to the hundreds of sportsmen. The accommodation sans proper court room besides there are no facilities for the lawyers, visitors and the record room. The matter has been brought to the notice of the state government and the district administration umpteen times. However, no action has been initiated to provide an adequate accommodation for the functioning of the forum. At the moment, the forum which was set up here in 1996 is paying monthly rent of Rs 2,250 to the sports department for the use of the stadium premises. According to the information, the issue had been earlier raised in the Punjab Assembly also by Sukhpal Singh Khaira, MLA, in the form of a starred assembly question regarding which the then Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Avtar Henry had assured the house of taking necessary steps to select a suitable site for construction of its building or else provide alternative accommodation. The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chandigarh, has also written to the department of Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (CPA branch) to provide requisite building for the forum. The district consumer forum has also send several letters to the Deputy Commissioners for allotment of around 4,000 square feet of land for construction of the office building but without any tangible result. Sources disclosed that as per the Central Government scheme titled, “Strengthening Consumer Fora” under integrated project on consumer protection, the entire expenditure of the construction of the building for the forum upto upper ceiling of Rs 1,200 per square feet or Rs 48 lakhs would be borne by the Central Government provided that the land is provided by the state government, still the government has failed to act in this regard till now. When contacted, Sanjay Garg, president, District Consumer Forum said that he had already written to the district administration to provide suitable accommodation for the forum in the new district administrative complex (DAC), adding that he was hopeful that the matter would be resolved soon. Deputy Commissioner S. Karuna Raju said that though there was no provision kept for the office of the consumer forum in the new DAC. However, he would make efforts to provide some space to the forum once all district offices are relocated there.
	State BJP suspends Bathinda worker from primary membership Megha Mann/TNS Bathinda, November 21 As a fall-out of the controversy surrounding BJP chief LK Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra, the BJP state unit has suspended its worker Sunil Singla for wrongly posing himself as the media in-charge, whereas the party has not entrusted him of any such job. The notice served to Singla stated that he got news reports carried in media posing as the media in-charge, whereas the party had not given him any such charge. “The media in-charge is only supposed to disburse information provided by state or district chiefs and not issue anything on his own name," the notice served states. Singla has also been held responsible for getting wrong reports about Advani's yatra published. “He hurt the party’s image and violated the discipline. The action has been taken against him after a thorough state-level enquiry into the matter,” said the BJP district president Gulshan Wadhwa. Wadhwa added that neither Singla was given any media charge nor he was given an other designation at the district level. The notice served also states that Singla had been indulging in a similar act before also and was verbally directed to mend his ways. As per the orders of state BJP president Ashwini Sharma, Singla has been suspended from the primary membership of party. He has also been served a show cause notice and given seven days time to explain why he should not be expelled from the party. Meanwhile, when contacted, Sunil Singla said that he has not got any such notice from the party. “I am not aware of any such kind of suspension. I have not been served any notice,” he said.
	Voting to elect youth Congress delegates begins Tribune Reporters Bathinda, November 21 The polling process to elect president, vice-president and three general secretaries for each booth-level committee of the Youth Congress began in different Assembly constituencies of the district today. On the first day today, from booth number one to 16 polling was held in Bathinda (Urban) Assembly constituency while there are 179 booths in this constituency. Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) for the elections to this constituency Gopi Chauhan said the polling for the remaining booth-level committees would be held in phases till November 28. The ARO for electing booth level committees of Bathinda (Rural) Assembly constituency Bal Krishan said out of total 120 booths, from booth number one to 20 elections were held today for electing booth level committees. However, the number of delegates could be known finally after the completion of the election process. Fazilka: Tension prevailed during the voting to elect the youth Congress delegates here today. The members of two factions continuously thronged the polling station at Garib Chand Dharamshalla on the Bikaneri road here today. One faction of the youth Congress is led by the outgoing block president Ranjam Kamra while the other faction is supported by a former Fazilka Congress MLA. A large number of youth Congress members and senior local Congressmen were visible making tense gestures at each other. A verbal duel between the two factions also took place at the beginning of the election. There were elaborate security arrangements as police personnel were deployed in large numbers to prevent any untoward incident. Despite the ban on the presence of senior Congressmen above 35 years of age, they were present in large numbers, including former municipal councillors. The elections for 710 delegates of the Youth Congress are to be conducted from November 21 to 27. Of the total 142 booths, elections for 20 booths would be held daily. — OC
	Rs four lakh looted Tribune News Service Faridkot, November 21 Two days after the miscreant's looted Rs 10 lakh from a former police inspector in Faridkot, the robbers today looted Rs four lakh from an employee of a shopping mall here. Two armed motorcyclist targeted Gurdeep Singh at the door of a nationalised bank when he was reaching the bank to deposit the cash. Before Gurdeep Singh could enter the bank, the miscreants snatched the money bag and fled. Though the security guard of the bank fired two rounds at the robbers but they escaped unhurt. Rather, the robbers opened fire with their pistols at the security guard. The guard also had a narrow escape. A case has been registered against two unidentified looters. Sources revealed that the two youths have been taken into custody for interrogation by the police.
	18-year-old murdered Tribune News Service Bathinda, November 21 In a gruesome incident, an 18-year-old boy of Sirki Bazar was murdered by some unidentified persons in the heart of the city at Heera Chowk near Sirki Bazar. The youth was repeatedly stabbed with a sword by some people who chased the boy at around 10.15 pm. The deceased has been identified as Raju who was on a leisurely walk near his house and was heading towards his residence. Some people carrying sharp-edged weapons attacked him, said the residents of the area. As per the volunteers of the Sahara Jan Sewa who rushed the victim to the Civil Hospital, the youth was lying in a pool of blood before they took him to the Civil Hospital. “We got a phone call by one of the bystanders and a team of the NGO reached the spot within a few minutes. We took the victim to the hospital where he was declared dead,” said Sandeep, one of the volunteers. He said that the officials at the Kotwali police station had been informed of the incident. Residents came out of their homes in panic and gathered around the place where the youth was attacked. Police officials said they were trying to ascertain the reason behind the attack. The father of the young boy had died a few years ago and he was living with his mother. The residents said the boy was jobless and had left his studies sometime ago.