Bathinda, January 10
Pieces of plaster falling from ceiling, seepage discolouring the walls of rooms, broken windows or windows without glasses, doors having left the concrete bindings, loose electrical fittings and wiring, broken water pipeline causing seepage, trees (even peepal) growing on the external walls and more!

(From right to left) Door frames have started coming off the concrete walls; broken panes have defeated the purpose of the windows itself; one of the dwelling unit that may crumble any time but the authorities concerned do not seem concerned. Tribune photos: Pawan Sharma

This is not a description of the remains of any old house. It is about the quarters where over 40 employees of a Central government department reside along with their family members, including kids.

Welcome to Bathinda’s Post and Telegraph (P&T) Colony where at least 46 postal employees along with their family members are leading lives, rather ‘miserable’ lives.

During the prevailing severe cold conditions when mercury touches the freezing point now and then, cold waves make their life horrible in dilapidated houses wherein windows sans glasses do not provide any barrier to the chilly winds.

Some housewives improvised to put a cardboard or paper in the place of glasses as temporary arrangements to save their kids from catching cold.

Many complained that falling of pieces of plasters and concrete from walls and ceiling have been a regular feature for the last several years while many in an preventive measures themselves broke the hanging pieces to avoid harm from a lurking danger.

The annual repair and maintenance of the houses at the postal colony Bathinda have not been carried out for the last 10 or more years, claimed that residents.

No civil and electrical repair work had been done during the last 10 years, said a postal staff on the conditions of anonymity while showing the conditions of his house to the Bathinda Tribune on the latter’s visit to the colony on Sunday.

There are 46 units or quarters for the postal staff in the P&T Colony. The quarters have been divided in to two types B and C. The conditions of almost all the houses are bad.

When asked to show which of the houses have problems like water seepage, broken pipelines, broken doors and loose electrical wiring posing threat etc. They corrected, “Ask, which house does not have these problems.”

Interestingly, the house of the superintendent of post, Bathinda, is also in the same colony.

The postal staff said 10 per cent of their basic salary is deducted as house rent and the license fee in this regard has also been increased some three months ago.

The union of the postal employees, Bathinda, has been raising the issue with the higher authorities several times but nothing concrete has been done so far, claimed the union leaders.

Sources in the postal department, however, said the Regional Office at Chandigarh, has sanctioned the amount for the civil and electrical repairs of the P&T Colony, but the work in this regard is yet to begin.

Sources said as per the letter dated October 7, 2011, Rs 5.98 lakh have been earmarked for electrical maintenance and Rs 11.98 lakh have been sanctioned for the external repair.

The postal employees fear that if the maintenance work is not started soon then the problem may be put on back burner. “The approval could be enforced only till March 31. After that, the matter may be left for next budget and a new approval would have to be sought,” a senior postal official said.

Efforts made by the Bathinda Tribune to contact the postal officials concerned at Chandigarh and Ambala for their version, however, could not be materialised.

Bathinda, January 10
The District Education Officer (Secondary) has warned teachers to stay away from political parties in order to avoid any disciplinary action from the department.

In a letter issued to all the principals of government schools in the district, DEO (Secondary) Harbans Singh Sandhu has stated that his office had received complaints that some teachers were involved in political activities.

The DEO had ordered the teachers to stay away from any kind of political activity. Some of the teachers are allegedly part of the crowd seen at various political gatherings.

“Being involved in any political activity is violation of the election code of conduct,” the letter states.

Sidhu said his office had so far received complaints against four teachers.

“The complaints are being probed. If the allegations mentioned in it are found to be true, teachers may end up facing action from the department,” he said.

Meanwhile, sources in the department said most of the complaints received were those that have arisen out of personal enmity.

“Complaints mentioned do not hold any water. However, these are being investigated,” added the sources.

The DEO has also directed that the government schools would remain open on January 29 and January 30 (the day of polling).

The polling parties will reach respective polling stations – most of which are located in government schools – on January 29.

All the school principals have been directed to coordinate with the polling parties in every possible manner and provide them arrangements for proper ventilation, water and other things.

Bathinda, January 10
Only 18 candidates from different political parties as well as independent candidates have filed their nomination papers from various Assembly constituencies in the district till today.

The filing of nomination papers for the current Assembly elections had begun on January 5. While eight candidates filed their nomination papers yesterday, 10 candidates did it today.

There are six Assembly constituencies in the district, namely Bathinda (Rural), Bathinda (Urban), Rampura Phul, Talwandi Sabo, Bhucho and Maur.

From the Bhucho Assembly constituency, the Congress candidate Ajaib Singh Bhatti filed his nomination papers before the returning officer (RO) of the constituency Bhupinder Singh (ADC) in his office here today. Bhatti is a sitting MLA from Nathana Assembly constituency. Following delimitation of constituencies, he has been given the party ticket from Bhucho this time. Besides Bhatti, his wife Manjeet Kaur has also filed her nomination papers.

From the Bathinda (Urban) constituency, Ranjit Ram of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) filed his nomination papers before the RO of the constituency-cum-SDM HS Kandhola while his wife Laxmi Devi also filed her nomination papers from the same constituency.

From the Bathinda (Rural) constituency, state president of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Kiranjit Singh Gehri filed his nomination papers before the RO of the constituency Dr Abhinav Trikha (ADC - Development). Besides Gehri, Harbans Singh of the BSP and Sarup Singh, an independent, also filed their nomination papers from the constituency.

From the Rampura Phul Assembly constituency, two independent candidates, Manjit Singh and Jaswant Singh, today filed their nomination papers. Jagdip Singh filed his nomination papers from Maur constituency as an independent candidate.

Bathinda, January 10
The Bathinda Postal Department is preparing for the coming Assembly elections as the department plays a crucial role in the election process.

As per the sources, the postal department here has been instructed to make arrangements for the booking of registry of nearly 5,000 postal ballots schedule to be reach the department on January 16.

The department is making special preparations for ensuring the registry of the “all-important” documents.

“The department may open extra counters for the purpose,” sources said, adding that the number of extra counters would be decided in a day or two.

Sources in the department further revealed that one counter books 500 articles on any given day. Considering the number and importance of articles, more staff may also be deployed for the purpose, sources added.

With the withdrawal of Under Postage Certificate (UPC) by the Department of Post in March 2011, the postal ballot now would be sent through registry.

When the UPC system was in operation, the postal department was not responsible for delivery of the articles.

While with registry, the department would be responsible for booking and delivery of the articles.

The department would also make arrangements to deliver all the postal ballots at their respective counting place before the counting date, sources said.

Bathinda, January 10
The Punjabi NRIs living in various parts of world are keeping a tab on the political razzmatazz in the state through their relatives and friends besides following the media reports religiously.

After the visit of People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) president Manpreet Badal to Stetson Bowl in Surrey (Canada) last year for canvassing, the NRIs are showing keen interest in knowing the latest developments taking place in the state on the political front. The NRIs have a significant influence on their family members living in India and suggest them the candidate they should vote for.

“I have been calling my friends back home to know whose mandate would be more favourable for the NRIs. Though some parties are in a juvenile stage, they have a capacity to grow and form their own government, may be after five years or so. However, we want instant result,” observed Jasmine Smagh, a resident of Canada while talking to TNS.

Interestingly, though Punjab elections have failed to encourage NRIs to register themselves as voters, they are showing significant interest in gathering information about the political developments in their home turf.

In Bathinda district, not even a single NRI is a registered voter. Further, only 64 NRIs have registered themselves as voters in the entire state of Punjab.

Few overcautious NRIs have even decided to make the next investments in the state only after the new government is formed.

“My sister is coming from Italy and she plans to invest money in the real estate sector. However, she has decided to take a plunge only after March 4,” said Bhupinder Tony, who runs a shop near Fauji Chowk here.

Bathinda, January 10
Continuing their date with the chill, the residents of Bathinda again experienced a freezing morning on Tuesday when mercury dipped, to touch 0.6 degrees Celsius.

The phenomenon also caused frost in many parts of the area.

The day’s high was 16 degrees Celsius, as per the agri-met department of the Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), regional station, Bathinda.

The information received from the weather room on Tuesday hinted that the region may shiver in the biting cold conditions for at least three more days.

The report also claimed that the dip in temperature may also cause the frost to make a comeback.

Although the sun, to the relief of many, shone bright throughout the day, the chilly wind played spoilsport and thwarted the plans of the Bathinda residents to bask in the sunlight.

The speed of the wind, which was expected to have relented a bit from yesterday, was recorded at 2.5 km per hour today. The speed of the wind proved enough to force residents to remain indoors.

As per the forecast, the weather is likely to remain dry for the next three days.

The report also hinted that the mercury may dip even further in the coming days. The weathermen added that fog and mist may also be witnessed during the morning and evening hours in the isolated parts of the region.

The weathermen also predicted that the mercury may dip to hover around freezing point or sub-zero level.

The report, however, said there may be a possibility of rain and thundershowers after the next three days in isolated parts of the region.

It may be also be mentioned here that the frost also wreaked havoc in the rural areas of the region during the beginning of last week.

Last week, the region recorded one of the worst weather conditions of this winter so far.

Bathinda, January 10
The Naujawan Sabha and the Punjab Students Union (Shaheed Randhawa) have decided to mobilize the youth for the ‘Pagri Sambhal’ conference to be organized on January 27 at Barnala.

Sumeet, one of the committee members, said they wanted to make the youth aware about the poll-time inducements offered by the political parties and candidates to gain their votes.

The drive will target the colleges located in the villages. Mobile exhibitions will also be held at Government Rajindra College, ITI and the regional centre of the Punjabi University, besides other colleges for the purpose. — TNS

Bathinda, January 10
In a bizarre incident reported at the Phool police station, some excise and taxation employees were beaten up in village Bhai Rupa on January 4.

In his complaint to the Phool police station, the excise and taxation commissioner, Bathinda, Pawan Garg, said a team of department officials had gone to conduct raids at village Bhai Rupa, where the incident took place.

Bhola Singh, Satnam Singh and some other unidentified persons from the village beat up the employees and prevented them from performing their duties.

Elaborating on the incident, Garg, in his report, added that the officials had recovered three bottles of illicit liquor from the village. The accused, reportedly, beat up the officials and took the bottles away with them.

Police have booked a case under sections 353, 186, 341, 323, 506, 148, 149 of IPC and 61/1/14 Excise Act. No arrests have been made in the case so far.

Bathinda, January 10
Under the voter awareness campaign, launched by the district administration, poster making, slogan writing and debate competitions were held in various educational institutions of the district.

Students took part in the competitions with great enthusiasm. The competitions were held in government schools in Bathinda and Goniana Mandi.

Besides, Nodal Officer of the programme, Kumar Amit, and district project coordinator of Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration Punjab, Mandeep Singh, also spread awareness among the students at these programmes. They asked the students to tell their family members to cast votes in the upcoming assembly elections.

They also told the students that the Constitution had provided the people with a right to elect their representatives and hence, they should exercise their right to franchise as it is not only their right to vote but also their duty to vote.

Kumar Amit said the winners of these competitions would be honoured at the district level Republic Day function on January 26 so that they became a source of inspiration for others.

Bathinda, January 10
The agitating leaders of the Unemployed Linemen Union Punjab warned the state government that if it did not take requisite legal measures to get the unemployed linemen recruited in the days to come, then the union members would be forced to oppose the candidates of the SAD-BJP alliance whenever they would address the gatherings in their respective constituencies.

Meanwhile, the dharna and the chain hunger strike by the unemployed linemen outside the Mini-secretariat here today entered its 37th day.

These unemployed linemen have been agitating since December 5 to get about 4,000 unemployed linemen recruited in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL).

Despite the cold wave in the region, the agitating unemployed linemen have been spending nights in a tent, put up by them since the beginning of the dharna.

Besides braving the chilling cold, they have also been preparing langar daily to provide food and tea to the participating agitators.

According to the leaders of the agitators, since they are unemployed, they had no money to bear the expenses being incurred by them at the venue of the strike.

They claimed that they didn’t have money even to pay the rent of the tent they were using and serve food to the participants.

The union leaders also said that to fight the paucity of funds, they had been collecting money from their colleagues (who are now employed), besides collecting ration from the villages.

Vipin Namdhari, a leader of the unemployed linemen, said that it seemed that the Punjab government was not serious towards the recruitment of the unemployed linemen as it had not been fulfilling any of its promises, despite several assurances.

He also criticised the PSPCL authorities for not issuing appointment letters to around 30 physically-challenged unemployed linemen.

He said if the state government did not issue appointment letters to them soon, then the union would be compelled to intensify its agitation.

Bathinda, January 10
At the on-going National Social Service (NSS) camp going at the Government Rajindra College, a fire fighting and safety drill was organised today.

The drill was conducted in the presence of the Assistant Divisional Fire Officer, Baldev Singh.

During the drill, the officials of the fire department gave students fire fighting tips. They told the students how different measures were used to extinguish fire emanating from different combustible materials.

They told the students that if any kind of oil (including petrol, diesel) caught fire, using water to extinguish the fire would be a wrong decision as oil is lighter than water and the fire would spread with the water.

While suggesting precaution was better than cure, the officials demonstrated various ways of extinguishing fire.

Also present at the drill were Prof Ashok Mittal, Prof Usha Kiran, Prof Pardip Kaur, Prof Ramesh Pasrija, Prof Keshavanand and Prof Manvinder Singh.

Bathinda, January 10
Having not been given salary for the last six months, the staff of District Institute of Educational Training (DIET) has gone on a pen-down strike. In a press statement issued here, the DIET employees stated that the Punjab government has not been paying them salaries on time for the past many years.

“Staff members of all the DIET institutes, located across the state, are left paupers on festivals like Diwali and Lohri,” said the spokesperson. He added that none of the employees have got arrears of the revised pay grades due to which many class four employees are forced to borrow money at high interest rates to make the ends meet.

The DIET staff members have gone on indefinite strike and said that their demands be fulfilled soon.