Ludhiana, January 6
A 14-year-old student was killed and 10 other children sustained minor injuries after an overloaded auto-rickshaw, ferrying students of Harkrishan Public Senior Secondary School, overturned on the Gill Road here today.

The victim, identified as Gagandeep Singh, a class-VIII student of the school, was sitting beside the driver, Manpreet Singh, when the mishap occurred.

The incident took place around 8.30 am when the auto-rickshaw driver lost control of the vehicle and it overturned near the Zone-C office of the municipal corporation.

According to an eyewitness, Gagan’s head hit against the road and was trampled under the weight of the auto-rickshaw and other students. A profusely bleeding Gagan was taken to a nearby private hospital for treatment.

According to the hospital authorities, he was referred to a multi-speciality hospital as his condition was critical. However, Gagan was declared brought dead on arrival at the hospital.

According to sources, the auto-rickshaw overturned after the driver apparently applied brakes to avoid a collision with a motorcyclist.

Kulwinder Singh, a resident of Gill Road, said 14 schoolchildren were travelling in the auto-rickshaw when the incident took place.

The residents informed the school authorities about the incident. The school authorities further informed the parents and closed the school for the day.

The investigating officer said the auto-rickshaw driver fled the scene, leaving the injured children behind.

It was learnt that Balwinder Singh, who operates a school van, was the real owner of the auto-rickshaw and had hired Manpreet Singh to ferry the students to school.

Angered parents later gathered outside the school, protesting against the authorities for not taking action against private school van and auto-rickshaw operators who had been flouting rules with impunity and indulging in overloading of vehicles.

The police has registered a case under Section 304 A of the IPC against the auto-rickshaw driver.

Ludhiana, January 6
Pall of gloom descended on victim Gagandeep Singh’s house located in a street near Panna Pakore Wala the on Gill Road after the news of his death broke. A large number of residents gathered outside the house to share their grief with the family. Victim’s father Gurmohan Singh, a government school teacher, and mother Paramjit Kaur were inconsolable. Paramjit said her son had left the breakfast in between and had told her to cook his favourite dish for lunch.

Trying to hold back his tears, Gurmohan Singh said he was about to leave for school when a resident broke the news of the accident.

“All hell broke loose on us. Without wasting any time, I went to the hospital only to receive my son’s body. Why has God been so cruel to us?

Why has he snatched my child?” lamented Gurmohan Singh.

Gurmohan’s elder brother Gurdeep Singh said: “Our world has come crashing down. Somebody has cast an evil spell on the happy family. Like any other child, he was also excited about Lohri. He was planning to fly kites along with his friends in the locality. But everything has turned into a never-ending gloom.”

Gagandeep’s elder sister Varinder was in a state of shock. Curled up in a corner, she refused to speak to anyone about the incident.

The victim was yet to be cremated till the time filing of the report.

In order to save a few rupees, we are risking the precious lives of our children.”

According to sources, Gagandeep’s father Gurmohan Singh had ensured that his son sat on the back seat, but when other students occupied the auto-rickshaw, he felt suffocated and decided to sit next to the driver. Had Gagandeep remained seated on the back seat, he would have been alive.

Kamaljit Soi, a road safety expert who has been vigorously campaigning against the overloading of school vehicles, says: “It is strange that the parents who provide the best of the facilities to their children pay scant regard for their safety. How can they see their children being stuffed in school vehicles like sardines?”

Prem Singh Sokhi, director of the school administration, said the auto-rickshaw and school bus drivers had been told not to indulge in overloading of vehicles, but they flouted the rules.

“We will take strict action against the erring driver and ensure that concrete measures are taken to avert such accidents in the future,” he said.

On if he was aware about the strictures issued by the ACP (Traffic) Sandeep Sharma, holding the school authorities accountable for any accident caused by overloading of auto-rickshaws, Sokhi said: “Yes we are fully aware of the orders issued by the ACP.”

We have sent notices to private auto-rickshaw and school bus operators directing them to abide by the rules. However, they have failed to adhere to our directives. We will now initiate an intensive drive to challan overloaded school vehicles~

— Ashwani Sharma, District Transport Officer

Ludhiana, January 6
Defacement of public, government and private property through pasting of posters during elections has been the norm in the past. And most of the times, the erring candidates used to get away with it. But not any more, as the Cabinet Minister and SAD candidate from Atam Nagar constituency, Hira Singh Gabria, is set to face action from the election commission for defacing government property. The District Election Officer (DEO) will soon serve a notice on Gabria for violating the model code of conduct and defacement of government property.

The DEO has decided to initiate the step after a large number of posters of the politician were found pasted on the divider of an under-construction expressway along the Sidhwan Canal, near the Dugri area, here. The posters were pasted on the divider, besides other parts of the constituency, yesterday.

The area residents soon brought the matter to the notice of the District Election Officer, Rahul Tewari, who directed the Ludhiana MC Commissioner to get these removed at the earliest.

As per the rules, posters cannot be pasted on any public, private or government property and a case under the Defacement of Public Property Act can be registered against the violator.

Kuldeep Singh Khaira, a resident of Atam Nagar constituency, said it was sad that candidates were blatantly violating the model code of conduct and defacing public as well as private property.

“During the last Assembly elections, the Shimlapuri police had booked a candidate for defacing public property. This time, too, a case should be registered against those defacing public, private or government property,” said Khaira, also an RTI Activist.

Tewari said the matter was already in his notice. “I have directed my staff to serve a notice on Hira Singh Gabria for defacing government property. Besides, I have also directed the MC Commissioner to get these removed at the earliest,” he added.

Ludhiana, January 6
Levelling allegations of corruption against a senior Congress leader, 23 Congress workers, who had applied for party ticket from Atam Nagar constituency, today gave a two-day ultimatum to the party high command to rethink their decision of allotting ticket to Malkit Singh Birmi, a former minister.

They alleged that Birmi had not even applied for party ticket from Atam Nagar, yet he managed to get the ticket.

“We will not accept him as a parachute candidate. A total of 23 people had applied for party ticket from Atam Nagar, but Birmi, who was an applicant from Ludhiana East, secured the party ticket from the constituency,” rued Krishan Kumar Bawa, former chairman of Housefed, while addressing a press conference here today.

Bawa also accused local MP Manish Tewari of “using” them for ulterior motive. “When Manish contested the 2009-Lok Sabha elections, he urged me to go and work in Atam Nagar. My house is located in Ludhiana West constituency, but still I agreed and started working here. At that time, Tewari had told me that if he could come down from Delhi and contest, why couldn’t I contest from Atam Nagar. I had even opened an office in Atam Nagar,” claimed Bawa.

The Congressmen accused Tewari of “promising” ticket to 10 other applicants. “He used us at the time of Lok Sabha elections and when he won, he ditched us. He even misguided us in Delhi,” alleged Palwinder Singh Taggar, another applicant.

Bawa alleged that Tewari not only misguided them, “but even played with the emotions of Congress workers. He lobbied hard to get ticket for those, who had come from other parties, but ignored Congressmen like us, who are victims of terrorist activities. So now we have given a two-day ultimatum to the Congress high command to rethink about Birmi’s candidature from Atam Nagar because even he is not keen on contesting from there. But if the high command fails to do so, we will have to think of some other options”. Bawa claimed that two block presidents and 11 ward presidents were supporting their group.

Birmi said though there was some resentment amongst Congressmen of the constituency, “a large number of people are supporting me. If I have got the ticket, all of us should get together and forget the differences so that we can defeat the SAD and form a Congress government.”

Manish Tewari could not be contacted for comments.

Ludhiana, January 6
If the Congress high command made a last-minute change in the list of party candidates for Assembly seats in the Ludhiana city, and Pawan Dewan, a close aide of party MP Manish Tewari and president of the District Congress Committee (Urban), was replaced with Bharat Bhushan Ashu in Ludhiana West Assembly segment with an intent to curb rebellion, the move seems to have backfired if voices of dissent on many other local seats and an open revolt over yet another seat are any indication.

While the list of Congress candidates for Ludhiana carries no big surprises, and almost all nominees are on the expected lines, the rebel factor, it seems, will weigh heavily against the prospects of the party as quite a few senior Congress leaders, and many more party councillors, are flexing their muscles to make things difficult for the official candidates.

If former minister Malkiat Singh Birmi has clinched the issue in his favour from the Atam Nagar Assembly segment, it is the significant presence of Ramgarhia community that has gone in his favour, as he seemed to be the best choice in the given circumstances. He will, however, have to work hard to take along those party functionaries who could not make it.

In Ludhiana West, the firebrand Congress councillor, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, managed to tilt the balance in his favour even though he was pitted against Pawan Dewan, who had the full backing of Manish Tewari.

But party circles assert that the threat of rebellion that Ashu used to secure party nomination, can very well work against him as well, and it will not be a smooth sailing for him.

In Ludhiana North and Ludhiana Central, the party has chosen to bet on old horses, as both Rakesh Pandey, a former minister and a known Bhattal loyalist, as well as Surinder Dawar, a former parliamentary secretary, are not new to electoral politics.

Among the two, Pandey stands at comparatively firmer ground, whereas Dawar will have to grapple with an open revolt by at least a dozen sitting and former councillors from the Ludhiana Central constituency.

Gurmel Singh Pehalwan, the Congress candidate from Ludhiana East, and Ashok Parashar Pappy, his counterpart in Ludhiana South, are new faces, although Pehalwan, a former office-bearer of the Bahujan Samaj Party, had unsuccessfully contested Assembly election on the BSP ticket in 2007.

To what extent these two can mobilise the party cadres to their advantage is yet to be seen.

Among other Assembly segments falling in the district, Amrik Singh Dhillon from Samrala is a veteran of many elections, sitting Congress legislator and a leading hotelier Jasbir Singh Khangoora will contest from Dakha, and two former ministers Malkiat Singh Dakha and Ishar Singh Meharban have shifted to Gill and Jagraon, respectively, post delimitation.

The party has fielded Gurkirat Singh Kotli, a grandson of slain chief minister Beant Singh, from Khanna, while Vikram Bajwa, a son-in-law of Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, leader of the Congress Legislature Party, will be the party nominee from Sahnewal.

Lakhbir Singh Lakha and Gurcharan Singh Boparai will contest from Payal and Raikot seats, respectively.

Ludhiana, January 6
The research and teaching fellows at Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) have expressed their displeasure towards authorities for putting them on election duties. The research and teaching fellows said since they were on contract of six months, they can not be put on such duties as per guidelines of the Election Commission.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Jatinder Singh (name changed on request), a research fellow said in 2009 during the Lok Sabha elections, the research and teaching fellows were assured by the authorities that their names will not be sent for elections in future. "Still, we have been asked to report for the election duties", he said.

Another teaching fellow said they were on contract with the authorities for six months and as per the Election Commission guidelines, contractual employees could not be put-on election duties. "In July, they had sought the details of the research and teaching fellows and we had gone to the registrar and had requested him to excuse us as we were on contract. The authorities had assured us that we will not be put-on the election duties, still they sent our names and we have been asked to report," said the fellow adding that it had became very risky for them to perform duties.

“Last time, a research fellow was the presiding officer at a venue where a shooting incident had taken place and a constable had died. Since the research fellow's statements were to be recorded, he could not go abroad for further studies till the issue was settled. We are still students and for us, career is more important. The authorities should keep everything in mind before putting us on election duties," said another fellow at the PAU.

Ludhiana, January 6
As many as 4,500 teachers, recruited by the education department between April 28, 2011, and January, 2012, have not received their salary for the past eight months.

They were appointed under the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) sponsored scheme. The Punjab government was to appoint 7,654 teachers, but only 4,500 were recruited in NABARD-sponsored 351 schools. Now, the DPI doesn’t have a proper data regarding the approval of budget for these posts.

“We met Darbara Singh Guru, former principal secretary to the Chief Minister, before Diwali, and he had assured us that the government would release our salary soon. But nothing has been done in this direction so far,” said Teerth Singh, a union leader.

“Now, the DPI has assured us that our salary would be released within a few days. The official has demanded data from various districts regarding the sanctioned posts of NABARD teachers,” said Gurvinder Ratan, president of the 7,654 Teachers’ Union.

District Education Officer Sudesh Bajaj said, “We have sent the data to the DPI’s office. I hope that issue is resolved soon.”

Ludhiana, January 6
The 57th National School Games Athletics Meet is all set to be organised from January 18 to 23 in the city. Assistant education officer Rupinder Singh said it was the first time that such a meet was being hosted by the state. Around 5,000 students from all over the country are expected to descend to the city for the national sporting event. The students would be participating in different athletic events in U-14, U-17 and U-19 categories.

A meeting was held at a city school in which deputy director sports, assistant education officers of various districts of the state and principals of the government schools were directed about the gearing up for the meeting. The schools in the district had been asked to spare 10 rooms at the schools to make stay arrangements of the visiting students and accompanying staff.

"As many of the contingents are coming from different schools, they would also need rooms for mess, so that they can cook food according to their own tastes," said a principal of a government school.

The schools were also asked to make arrangements for the preparations of the cultural events for the inaugural programmes of the National School Games event.

Ludhiana, January 6
More than 24 doctors and paramedical staff of homoeopathic, ayurvedic and allopathic wings have been put on election duty. An ayurvedic doctor said, “We come under emergency services, but still we have been put on poll duty.”

While an allopathic doctor, working in a government dispensary, said, “In my 20 years of service, I never received a letter from the election office, but when a got one, I was taken aback.”

However, another gynaecologist said, “Every time I receive a letter I have to request the authorities to exempt me from the duty as I come under emergency services. It is a time consuming exercise. I wonder why the officials concerned do not keep it in mind before shooting off letters.”

Rahul Tewari, District Election Officer, said, “A number of departments have handed over the list of employees to us. While preparing the list, they must have forgotten to exempt the emergency staff from the election duty.”

Ludhiana, January 6
Poll fever has gripped everyone in the city. Even the places of entertainment such as cinema halls have started wearing a deserted look. As the election scene is hotting up, people are getting more involved in it and leisure activities have taken a backseat for the time being.

Confirming the trend, Jagdish from orient theatre, said they were expecting a heavy rush this weekend as Don 2 was being screened. “But to my utter surprise, the turnout was quite low,” he said.

Kanika, a Class VI student, said, “Sonam Kapoor is my favourite and I wanted to watch “Players”, but since my dad is busy campaigning these days, I could not watch the movie.” Kanika’s father’s friend is contesting the elections.

Jaanish, a Class IX student, said these days nothing else but news and poll analysis was seen on the television.

A ticket seller at another theatre said, “Cold weather and elections are playing a spoilsport.”

“Earlier our club members used to watch a film every fortnight, but now discussing state politics and making a critical analysis interest us more than watching a film,” said Surinder Singh Grewal, member of Zarokha Club, formed by senior citizens.