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Financial crunch may hit Moga schools
Villagers oppose setting up of liquor factory
Man murdered over illicit relationship
DC office employee union to move HC
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Labourer attacked by pet dogs
Patient’s kin lodge protest against doctor
BSF seizes six kg heroin
MIMIT holds third convocation
Doc gets 4-yr jail term
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Financial crunch may hit Moga schools
Moga, February 24 At a time when arguments are gaining ground for making qualitative improvements in the mid-day meal scheme, the dilly-dallying by the government in releasing funds may result in the scheme not achieving its full potential. An official of the education department revealed there are as many as 92,180 students studying in 620 primary and middle schools that are being covered under the scheme in the district. For the last five months, as many as 1400 cooks hired at the local level for preparing the meal in these schools, have not got their remuneration for lack of funds. A remuneration of Rs 1,000 per month is paid to a cook as per the official policy. The total sum pending against their remuneration in the district amounts to Rs 14 lakh, the official said. Besides, the bills of ration including cooking oil, cooking gas, sugar, salt, vegetables, pulses and other items worth Rs 61 lakh are also pending for the last many months. The teachers of these schools are paying from their pockets or buying on credit to prepare the mid-day meal for the children. A teacher who is paying the money from his pocket for the last couple of months said on the condition of anonymity that in the coming days, he may not be able to do so, which would lead to the closure of the scheme in his school. District Magistrate B Purushartha said he has already written to the state government to release the funds to clear the backlog of the pending bills. He said normally, the funds are released by the finance department to the education department from where it is distributed as per the requirement in the districts. The finance department should release the funds immediately, he said. It may be mentioned that in April 2001, the Supreme Court gave a landmark directive converting the mid-day meal scheme into a legal entitlement, the violation of which could be taken up in a court of law. It means that the funds for the scheme can not be blocked by the government or any other agency. |
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Villagers oppose setting up of liquor factory
Fazilka, February 24 The villagers say that the distillery, proposed to be set up in the inhabited areas of village Kotufangia by a private firm at a cost of Rs 96 crores, would cause pollution in the area. State vice-president of BKU, Surjit Singh Dhabana and district unit vice- president Gurinder Singh expressed the fear that the subsoil water would get polluted and the villagers might have to face dreaded diseases like cancer due to the polluted waste of the factory. The villagers announced that they would not allow the factory to come up "at any cost". The villagers have pleaded that the road on which the factory was proposed to be set up, has been named after a famous saint, Baba Nand Singh. A gurudwara is situated on the same road. By setting up a liquor factory, the religious sentiments of the villagers would be hurt, they have reasoned. The villagers had also opposed the move during the public hearing for setting up the distillery on February 10 followed by a traffic blockade recently. "We were assured by the PPCB authorities that our problem would be resolved but to no avail. So, the villagers have been compelled to carry on their stir until the problem is sorted out," said Dhabana. |
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Man murdered over illicit relationship
Bathinda, February 24 The deceased, a farmer, had been visiting the house of the woman despite protests by her neighbours. The farmer lost his entire 12 acres of land due to his relationship with the woman. As per the Investigating Officer (IO) Sukhdev Singh at Diyalpura police station, the deceased Sikandar Singh had an illicit relationship with the woman Harbans Kaur. "The illicit relationship was an open secret in the village and Sikandar used to visit the house of Harbans Kaur, who is around 50 years old now. Sikandar lost his entire 12 acres of land due to the woman and was now working as a labourer in the fields of other landowners," said the investigating officer. He said that Gurmel Singh alias Pappu lived near the house of Harbans Kaur and the illicit relationship did not go down well with him as his growing children were questioned about the relationship by the villagers. He said though the crime is not yet proved, it is alleged that Gurmel took way Sikandar and killed him along with some other villagers and threw his dead body in a water channel near Jandwala village. The IO said a case under sections 364, 302 and 34 of the IPC has been registered. When questioned about the role of Harbans Kaur in the case, the IO said, "Since the murder took place due to Harbans Kaur as she had an illicit relationship with the deceased, she too has been booked in this case". No arrests have been made in this regard so far. |
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Acute shortage of staff
Muktsar, February 24 More than 16 years have passed since this politically and religiously significant land of 40 Muktas (liberated ones) was accorded the district status in 1995. But the functioning of the district administration and in all the sub-divisions--- Muktsar, Malout and Gidderbaha-has been affected badly due to shortage of staff. Work in the offices here is being performed by nearly half of the sanctioned strength of employees. "We have lodged a number of protests, handed over memorandums to the CM and others concerned but to no avail. So, we have decided to file a writ petition in this regard after the completion of the election process," said Varinder Dhosiwal, general secretary, Ministerial Staff Association, DAC, Muktsar. He said other districts like Mansa, Barnala, Tarn Taran and Mohali, that have a similar area, have almost the double of the sanctioned strength of employees. "It seems the district is being victimised. Not only is the numbers of sanctioned posts less but also, the sanctioned posts have not been completely filled," said Dhosiwal, adding that the employees were now collecting funds to move the High Court. Expressing resentment, a number of employees working in the DAC said, "Though the ruling Badals doled out huge funds for development works in the district during their present tenure, yet they failed to fill the vacancies." An employee of the food and supplies department said, "People usually argue with us for delay in their work. But they don't know that we are much less in number and are working under pressure. So, we need a permanent solution." |
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Labourer attacked by pet dogs
Faridkot, February 24 Under Section 289 of IPC Indian Penal Code, a pet owner is liable to be punished with imprisonment up to six months if found negligent of taking guard against probable danger to human life. “Necessary action will be taken as per the law,” said Narinder Pal Singh, SHO, Faridkot. Pet owner Tejinder Singh Maur maintained that his pets had attacked the farmhand “after an attempt to steal them.” However, the advocate involved in the incident, Parshotam Betab said with over a dozen employees at his farmhouse and police guards on duty, it was amazing that any one like him, an advocate or his petty servant, would try to steal the dogs. |
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Patient’s kin lodge protest against doctor
Malout, February 24 Levelling a number of allegations against the doctor, the protesters first gheraoed the hospital at iron market and later, went to the police station. However, they did not lodge any formal complaint in this regard, as the family members of the patient had gone to attend him at Ludhiana. The protesters alleged that the doctor negligently operated the patient for appendicitis, which led to further deterioration of his health as a result of which he was referred to the DMCH in Ludhiana. Till the filing of the report, the public was enraged over the matter and was again in a mood to lodge protest against the doctor. Sources said the doctor, who was earlier not admitting to his fault, opted to go to Ludhiana to soothe the nerves of the angry family members. |
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BSF seizes six kg heroin
Sriganganagar, February 24 Speaking to the media at Hindumalkot this evening, officiating DIG of the BSF MB Khan said the alert Desert Scorpions were deployed with the 192nd Battalion of the BSF following the seizure of 18 kg of heroin worth Rs 90 crore in the international market on January 23. The BSF squad noticed two persons near pillar number 278/3 along the Zero Line at 2 am today. After being challenged, they fled under the cover of darkness. The BSF fired 17 rounds. Four rounds were fired on this side as two persons were noticed moving in the mustard fields. Later on, during spot inspection by the security men, the contraband was found deserted along the border fencing. |
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Malout, February 24 After the dignitaries had assembled, the academic procession entered the hall accompanied by drum beats and tunes of the bagpiper played by the institute’s band. Dr Dilbagh Singh Hira, Dr Nirmal Singh, principal, MIMIT, Dr Sanjeev Sharma, registrar-cum-convener, co-conveners Ashwani Bansal and Vikas Singla, were part of the procession. Principal Dr Nirmal Singh congratulated the alumni and exhorted them to attain success. Degrees were conferred on the students of various disciplines of B.Tech (CSE, ECE, Mech, IT) and MBA. Merit certificates and medals were presented to those students who had made a rich contribution to academics. Dr Dilbagh Singh Hira delivered the convocation address at the end. — TNS |
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Faridkot, February 24 In a complaint to the vigilance department, Tarsem had alleged that he had applied for the post of librarian-cum-storekeeper in the education department and he needed a medical certificate to send it to the department. — TNS |
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