Bathinda, December 13
Despite the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to open night shelters for the destitute before the onset of the winter, the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda (MCB), is yet to come up with a night shelter.

While the biting chill and frost have started setting in, the MCB is still "working" on providing the night shelter. During a meeting of the MCB House convened on November 4, the corporation passed a resolution for setting up a night shelter on the directions of the court.

In a survey conducted in 2010, the corporation found 41 homeless people.

During the meeting held earlier on January 6 this year, it was decided that land be taken from the railways for the shelter. In a letter to the corporation, the senior divisional engineer-II, Northern Railways, Ambala, refused saying its vacant area would be utilized for future expansion.

The BMC Assistant Commissioner then reported that there is an old octroi post and adjoining rooms being used as a store. It could be used a night shelter. It was proposed that the store be shifted to a shop on the Amrik Singh road and the House had duly passed the proposal.

Setting up of a night shelter could resolve the major issue of housing for the homeless who die due to cold. The chairperson of the non-government organization (NGO), Sahara Welfare Society, Vijay Goyal said that every year, nearly 10 to 15 people die directly or indirectly due to the cold. "Setting up of a night shelter will be helpful for us also. At times, we do not have enough place to make a homeless person stay," he said.

Chairperson of another NGO, Naujawan Welfare Society, Sonu Maheshwari said that as per the medical records, only one person has died due to the cold in 2010. "However, the night shelter should have been constructed long ago to meet the demands. A shelter house alone cannot serve any purpose. The Corporation should also ensure that these destitute get proper medical care and support," he added.

Meanwhile, the Assistant Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Kamal Kant said that two rooms near the octroi post are being readied to be set up as night shelter. He said that the project would soon materialize. "An additional toilet will be constructed with one of the rooms near the octroi post," he said. Meanwhile, a visit to the site of the proposed night shelter revealed that the rooms to be used a shelter are locked up.

Bathinda, December 13
If the mercury's mood on Tuesday is any indication, the chill, which set in on Monday, is now likely to stay. The news emanating from the weather room today also hinted at it.

The sudden plunge taken by mercury yesterday surprised all, including the residents, making them to drag out pullovers and quilts from the cupboards and bringing smiles on the faces of wheat cultivators who waited for the southward movement of mercury for the last 15 days.

Continuing its yesterday's behaviour, mercury remained below normal at the minimum level on Tuesday, recording 4.2 degrees Celsius in the morning.

The day's maximum was 23 degrees Celsius, as per the Agro-met department of the PAU regional station, Bathinda. As far as the forecast for the next two to three days is concerned, the weather is likely to remain mainly dry.

There would be no significant change in temperature in the next few days while shallow fog or mist may be witnessed in isolated places in the region, the weatherman said. — TNS

Bathinda, December 13
While the government is yet to wake up to the threat posed by the dipping mercury that exposes the poor and the homeless to biting cold, the non-governmental organisations (NGO) in Bathinda are coming forward to extend their helping hand to the needy.

From distributing blankets to arranging wood for the bonfire, the NGOs have planned it all and would do what is expected of them

The Sahara Jan Seva has been distributing blankets among the poor for the last ten days. Vijay Goyal, the chairman of the NGO, said that like every year, his volunteers would move around in the city and distribute blankets to the poor and the needy.

He claimed that the organisation gave clothes to a poor and also ensured medical aid to him on Monday night.

He also claimed that his NGO distributed over 1,000 blankets last year.

"Besides distributing blankets, volunteers of our NGO also ensure medical attention for the poor who fall ill due to the cold wave conditions," Vijay Goyal said, adding that wood for the bonfire would also be arranged at important places in the city.

Another NGO, Naujawan Welfare Society, also come forward to help the poor. Sonu Maheswari, chairman of the society, while claiming that distribution of blankets among the poor at night was going on, said wood would be placed at the railway station, bus stand, Hanuman Chowk and other spots, for bonfire, to help the needy and homeless in beating the chill. However, the distribution of the blankets and bonfire do not prove to be sufficient when the mercury touches the freezing point in the area. 

Bathinda, December 13
From next week, the Tehsil office, the Farad Kendra, and the Patwarkhana will reportedly function under one roof on the ground floor of the new extension block of the Mini-secretariat here. The furnishing of the ground floor for housing the tehsil office, Farad Kendra and the Patwarkhana is almost complete. The artisans and the labourers are busy giving finishing touches to the work these days.

The furnishing of the ground floor has been done at a cost of about Rs 1.30 crore, for which the money was provided by the Punjab Land Records Society (PLRS) though the tender was floated by the PWD B&R. The date for the completion of the work was fixed as January 10 next but it will reportedly be completed before time, i.e. by next week.

Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav said today that the complex was almost ready. The finishing work would be over in the next five to seven days. However, he said no decision had been taken yet on the dignitary who would inaugurate it. According to an official, with the shifting of the Tehsil office, Patwarkhana and Farad Kendra to the new tehsil complex, the people will heave a sigh of relief as they will get all the revenue-related works and revenue records under one roof.

The furnishing of the ground floor includes the floor, false ceiling, installation of air conditioners, the LCDs with cable connection in the waiting halls, steel furniture, vertical blinds, paint work and wall panelling. In one waiting hall (registration section), there will be about 150 steel chairs while in the second waiting hall (Farad Kendra), about 60 chairs would be placed. The halls would be centrally air-conditioned.

Besides, there will be a dry pantry (canteen) for the convenience of the public. An official told this reporter that the Tehsil complex was being prepared on the pattern of corporate offices, so that the people could be provided with all types of facilities and conveniences under one common roof.

On the ground floor, there will be rooms for the offices and courts of the Tehsildar and Naib Tehsildar, staff of the tehsil branches, a photo room, thumb impression counter, a fee counter, a delivery counter, a store room, a conference hall, Farad Kendra and work stations for 34 Patwaris etc.

On the ground floor, a provision for installing a lift has also been made as the new extension block is a three-storey building. 

Bathinda, December 13
To check the sale of drugs in the city, a team of three drug inspectors, Lakhwant Singh, Prabhdeep Singh and Nisha Rani, today inspected medicine shops at the Gandhi Market here.

The inspection was conducted on the instructions of Civil Surgeon Dr Iqbal Singh. During the inspection, medicines worth Rs 1.73 lakh were seized by the team from a medicine firm.

In a press note issued here today by the Health Department, it was stated that during the checking, the team seized medicines (tablets Alto 0.5 and Eqbron) from M/s Gobind Pharma, Gandhi Market, Bathinda.

The Civil Surgeon said the cost of the seized medicines is about Rs 1.73 lakh.

These medicines were seized for violating the provisions of the Drug and Cosmetics Act 1940 and the Rules 1945. The medicines were seized as the firm could not produce the sale and purchase records, he added. The Civil Surgeon and the drug inspectors warned that strict action would be initiated against all those found selling intoxicants in the district. 

Bathinda, December 13
On the second consecutive day due to the pen-down strike by the medical laboratory technicians and the mass leave agitation by the pharmacists in support of their demands, the health services in various parts of the district, including local Civil Hospital, were adversely affected as neither the medicines were distributed among the patients, nor the laboratory test of the patients were done in the hospitals and health centres.

As the laboratory technicians were on pen-down strike for 48 hours since Monday and they had even paralysed the emergency services, the patients had to suffer a lot.

Many of them had gone to private laboratories for the test where they paid higher charges than that of the hospital. At the local civil hospital, the laboratories also did not function and remained closed. However, the blood bank functioned with the technicians, arranged by the hospital authorities here.

Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Civil Hospital, Dr Satish Goyal said they had today called three laboratory technicians from the local Max hospital to the blood bank here to run it smoothly.

However, the biochemistry laboratory and the haematology laboratory, situated on the first floor of the new OPD block here, had not functioned for the second consecutive day, he added.

Regarding non-functioning of dispensary at the civil hospital here due to the mass casual leave by the pharmacists, the SMO said no medicine had been distributed from the dispensary today.

However, he said they had tried to run the dispensary for supplying medicines to the patients with a pharmacist, appointed for the Jan Aushadhi store. But, she was also stopped by the agitators from doing so, he added.

Meanwhile, on the call of the Medical Laboratory Technicians Association, Punjab, district general secretary of the association Resham Singh Jalal said they had extended their pen-down strike up to December 17. The laboratory technicians also staged a dharna today on the premises of the hospital here and raised slogans in support of their demands, including higher grade pay for the laboratory technicians, senior laboratory technicians.

Members of the district unit of the Punjab State Pharmacists Association today also staged a dharna on the premises of the Civil Hospital here in support of their demands.

They have been holding a dharna here by taking mass leave, demanding a pay-scale of Rs 10,300-34,800 with a grade pay of Rs 4,800 for pharmacist, Rs 15,600-39,100 with Rs 5,400 grade pay for chief pharmacist-grade-II and Rs 15,600-39,100 with Rs 6,600 grade pay for chief pharmacist grade-I, 25 percent of the basic pay as non-dispensing allowance, Rs 500 per month as academic allowance and Rs 1,000 per month as patient care allowance. 

Bathinda, December 13
The unemployed linemen, who have been staging a dharna and observing a chain-hunger strike since December 5 outside the Mini-secretariat here in support of their demand regarding the appointment of 4,000 linemen in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), today announced that in case the state government fails to file the special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court by Thursday (December 15), they would gherao the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at the Moga rally of the SAD on December 18.

While talking to the TNS here today, state president of the Unemployed Linemen Union (Punjab) Pirmal Singh said they expected that the CM would keep his word by filing the SPL till Thursday in the Supreme Court to get the stay on the recruitment of linemen, imposed by the High Court, vacated. But, if the state government adopts dilly-dallying tactics this time also, they would be compelled to gherao the CM on December 18 at the Moga rally.

Pirmal Singh said the unemployed linemen had been waiting their recruitment in the Electricity Department of the state for the last 14 years but to no avail so far.

“The state authorities had not been paying attention towards the careers of the linemen for a long. This was the reason that in over 12 years no post of the lineman was advertised by the state government,” he added.

He also said, “The financial health of a large number of unemployed linemen was so pathetic that many of them were even unable to fulfill their basic needs. Many of them had children whose school fee could not be deposited in time due to unemployment.”

“On the other hand, the state government authorities, despite advertising posts of lineman in January last, could not fill the posts due to delay in the recruitment process,” he added.

He said the government had also issued an advertisement of its achievements, in which, it was mentioned that the government had given jobs to over 8,900 persons in the Electricity Department during its tenure, which was not true as it had given jobs to about 1,300 persons only so far.

Meanwhile, the chain hunger strike and dharna by the union members today entered its ninth day here. However, they were adamant that they would not lift their dharna and end chain-hunger strike here till they got jobs. 

Bathinda, December 13
Under the banner of the Punjab Government Drivers and Technical Employees Union, drivers of vehicles of various government departments today staged a dharna outside the Civil Hospital here in support of their demands.

They participated in the dharna by taking mass leave. They also raised slogans against the state government. In the dharna, the drivers of vehicles of several officers, including DC and the Civil Surgeon, also took part. The dharna was staged under the leadership of the district president of the union Gobinder Singh.

Due to the strike, several vehicles of the government departments remained off the road. Their demands include pay-scale of Rs 10,300-34,800 with Rs 3,200 as grade pay, promotional channel for drivers, regularisation of services of daily-wage drivers and others

Bathinda, December 13
Three youngsters were killed in a road accident on Monday night near village Senewala.

As per the details, the speeding Maruti car of the victims rammed into a truck stationed at the roadside, resulting in the death of all the three car occupants.

The deceased have been identified as Harinder Singh, Harman Singh and Tejinder Singh. While Harinder and Harman were from village Bangi Kalan, Tejinder was from Laleana. Harinder and Harman were first cousins, while Tejinder was their aunt’s son.

Family members of the deceased refused to get any case registered. Police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 Cr Pc.

Bathinda, December 13
The Canal Colony police has busted a gang of vehicle lifters and arrested three accused while five are absconding. Station House Officer (SHO) GS Romana said the gang has been active in the state since long and has lifted many vehicles from different districts. He added that 7-8 cases are registered against each of the accused. The three arrested accused have been identified as Kushal Kumar alias Chhina from Amrik Singh Road, Ajay Kumar from Sanguana Basti and Deepak Kumar from Tibba Basti Jogi Nagar.

Police has recovered three vehicles from their possession. A motorcycle and a Palio car does not bear any registration number. Efforts are on to nab other accused.

“Kingpin of the gang Satish Kumar alias Romy is a notorious criminal. All have been booked under various Sections of the IPC,” said police officials.

Bathinda, December 13
The Pyare Lal Karnail Singh Memorial Charitable Trust, Bathinda, on Tuesday donated 60 classroom chairs to the Anganwadi Women Training Centre here.