Amritsar, February 28
The lack of coordination between auxiliary nursing midwives (ANMs) and sarpanches poses a health threat to villages in the entire district.

Funds worth around Rs 1.5 crore, meant for village health and sanitation committees (VHSCs), are lying unused in the entire district. Under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), each village health and sanitation committee is provided a fund of Rs 10,000 every month to ensure better sanitation in the villages.

But the control over money has always been under dispute as it is disbursed through a joint account in the name of the ANM and sarpanch concerned.

The money is meant to be used for cleaning streets, sewerages and other sanitation activities in villages. With the money not being properly used, sanitation services are affected in most of the villages.

Auxiliary nursing midwives in the Health Department said the matter worsened after an incident in Tarn Taran district wherein an ANM, working at Chhinna Bidhi Chand Sub Centre, was allegedly slapped by the husband of a sarpanch on the issue of control over money.

"The sarpanch’s husband wanted the control over the money, so that it could be spent as per his wish. However, the ANM opposed any such move knowing that ANMs are responsible for the money and can be questioned during the audits," said an ANM on the condition of anonymity.

After the incident most of the ANMs were reluctant to withdraw the money from the accounts. "Importantly, the sarpanches do not use the funds for which it is granted," said the ANM.

District Family and Welfare Officer, Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar said, "The village health and sanitation committees have failed to utilise the funds. Taking note of that, there would be meetings involving health officials, sarpanches and ANMs. These meetings would be held in various clusters."

He said villagers would also be educated on various other schemes.

The meetings would also be attended by the Civil Surgeon, zila parishad chairman, programme officers.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal conducted a meeting to review the NRHM project. Performance of various blocks and programme officers were evaluated during the meeting, said Civil Surgeon Dr Manjit Singh Randhawa.

A sniffer dog at work. Photos: vishal kumar

Amritsar, February 28
Just a few steps away from the Majitha Road police post, thieves broke the wall of Punjab National Bank, but failed to break open the bank safe. They then demolished the rear wall of an adjoining medical store and decamped with Rs 91,000 cash on Monday night.

The bank and the medical store are located within the premises of Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. The CCTV footage revealed that two persons, their faces covered, entered the bank at 12 midnight and tried to open the iron almirah and the safe. Unsuccessful, they left at 2.15 am.

In the absence of any surveillance during the late hours, the robbers took their time to dismantle the 13-inch wide wall to gain entry into the bank.

It is still being investigated whether the miscreants were same who break the rear wall of the adjoining store or it was the work of their accomplices.

Another slip was that the bank was only equipped with the manual security alarm system, which functions only when someone presses the button. It did not have provision to hoot automatically if somebody attempts to gain forceful entry or break open the locks.

Kuldeep Singh, the owner of the medical store, said he had shut the shop at around 9 pm last night and his son Dilraj Singh had opened it at about 8 am today only to find a big hole on the rear wall.

"They partly demolished the rear side of the wall and took away Rs 91000 from the cash drawer. We have to check whether some medicines or vaccines have been stolen or not," said Dilraj Singh.

Rajeev Kumar, the manager of PNB branch said after failing to open the safe, they tried to break the locks of steel almirahs too. But they were not successful in that attempt too. "The dents on the door of almirahs clearly indicate that they had attempted to break its locks", he said.

Capt Dilbagh Singh, security in charge of PNB's district bank branches, said the security hooter work only when somebody presses the button. "We have a day time alarm system. A 24-hour automated security system is not installed here because it gets operational at a slight vibration. And the hooters create unnecessary panic," he said.

Additional Commissioner of Police (North) Gurnam Singh admitted that there was a lack of surveillance in the area. He said vital clues collected by fingerprint experts and the dog squad would help crack the case.

"Only the fingerprint report would ascertain the exact number of culprits. The circumstantial evidences point that they had done recce before executing their plan. The culprits have left behind some clues. A case has been registered in this regard", he said.

Amritsar, February 28
With the Amritsar Municipal Corporation leaving the anti-rodent plan midway, rats continue to haunt the residents of the holy city.

The MC, which chalked out a programme to end the menace last year, failed to take any follow-up action.

The MC has planned to identify the rat-breeding points in the city and put aside funds (Rs 3 lakh) to purchase special anti-rodent drugs.

Few years back, some pesticide companies, which came up to tame the menace, withdrew. The idea of rat-catching cages at sensitive points too could not bear the desired results.

Consequently, rats continue to damage sewerage pipes causing leakages, contaminating the water supply and destroying the green belt. Rodents are also damaging pipes of a new underground sewerage system, being laid by a Japanese firm under JAICA project.

In February last year, a survey was conducted to identify the rat-breeding points.

The MC had initiated door-to-door drug distribution campaign. The MC also involved the area councillors and the general public as well. It was learnt that only 200 kg of anti-rodent drug, costing about Rs 40,000, was procured. But nothing happened after that.

The menace is particularly serious in Lala Wali Gali, Katra Ahluwalia, Katra Sher Singh, Chhati Khui, Lala Wali Gali, Kutcha Kalyan Dass Bhatia, Dharek Gali, New Golden Avenue and even in posh areas like New Amritsar, Nehru Shopping Complex on Lawrence Road.

The situation is also alarming at Company Bagh where the roots of rare trees were damaged by rats.

Showing concern, Dr Amrit Adhlakha, a resident, viewed that there are uncovered bins next to rainwater drains. "If rats die in the drains, it could even lead to plague. Similarly, they can puncture pipes and lead to severe contamination of water supply," he said.

AMC Commissioner Dharampal Gupta admitted that no follow-up action could be initiated on the issue, but assured to take it up on priority.

"At present, no such anti-rodent plan is being followed, but I will personally intervene to initiate this campaign," he said.

Amritsar, February 28
With the mall culture catching up in the city, residents are turning their commercial and even residential properties into plazas and complexes to cash in on the new trend. Rising number of shoppers and tourists are fuelling this trend.

Property developers, attracted by the huge flow of young population and tourists, are building malls at a faster rate. As many as two malls-cum-multiplexes and numerous shopping malls are operational, while 15 more are in the pipeline.

Starting from posh localities of Mall Road and Lawrence Road, the trend could be observed now inside the walled city. Many residential buildings at BK Dutt Gate, Shakti Nagar, Bazar Tokeriyan Wala, Katra Bhai Sant Singh and other areas have been converted into commercial complexes.

A readymade retail shopkeeper, Parminder Singh said shopkeepers have to upgrade themselves keeping in view the demand of shoppers. He observed that shoppers want big showrooms with enough space.

Even though the first shopping mall in the city was Ebony, but Alpha G Corp set the set by opening Alpha One, a mall equipped with multiplex and a five star. Soon Celebration Mall, Ritu Wear and many others sprung up to cater various segments of shoppers.

Dr Prodipta Sen, executive director and retail head, Alpha G Corp, said pilgrims coming from across the world to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple make Amritsar a global city. "The influence of big malls was pushing local traders to change and upgrade accordingly."

As per the data available with the Punjab Industries Department, proposal for about 28 malls with investment running in crores are to be set up in Amritsar. General manager Surjit Singh said two of these malls with an investment of Rs 110 crore were operational. While 15 other projects were under the implementation stage. Tata's mixed use shopping mall Trilium is under construction on Circular Road.

An industrialist, APS Chatha said these malls would have to invent strategies to change people's attitude to buy branded items, which are generally very costly. He said at present youths were more interested in buying these items. "The holy city is an emerging market, so it has its bumps," he said adding that the investors have to be cautious to establish a balance on demand and supply.

A housewife, Deepti said shopping has never been so delightful in the border town. She recalled that her family made a point to visit the malls to enjoy the pleasure of shopping during sojourns to Delhi. The same fun and high end shopping is now available here. She said many a time they visit the malls on Sunday for recreational purpose as well.

Amritsar, February 28
Keiran Mulhall, the Lord Mayor of Coventry city, United Kingdom, visited the historic Khalsa College here today.

He headed the delegation from the UK who came to engage in talks with various mayors of India. Harjinder Singh Sehmi, a Sikh councillor of Coventry, and his wife were a part of the delegation.

During the visit, Keiran Mulhall showed special interest in Khalsa College’s heritage building and history. Dr Daljit Singh, principal of the Khalsa College, welcomed and honoured Mulhall and his wife Kim Goudie.

They visited the Sikh History and Research Museum at the campus and were impressed by the rare books, documents, manuscripts and hand-written ‘Birs’ of the Guru Granth Sahib. Mulhall paid special attention to the weaponry belonging to the Sikh Raj at the museum.

Dr Daljit Singh said it is a honour to welcome the mayor who appreciated the Sikh history and culture. The mayor in return bestowed the flag emblem of Coventry to Dr Daljit Singh.

Mulhall appreciated the cultural heritage building of the college and the collection of books at the Sikh museum. Miss Jane, Rani Harjit Kaur, Harvinder Singh Saundh, Harmandeep Singh Bhatia and Harsimranjit Singh Bhatia also accompanied the delegation.

Amritsar, February 28
The BJP’s CA cell has flayed the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) proposal to put those bank branches out of the purview of independent chartered accountants who have a total advance up to Rs 20 crore from the annual statutory audit.

BJP CA cell national co-convener Sanjay Kapoor in a communication to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee appealed to stall the move as it would set in corruption in the acclaimed banking system of India.

He reasoned that majority of bank branches have lesser advances but they have huge deposits of public money. Audit on those were essential to detect fraud, he added. He said scams like 2G spectrum, commonwealth games and others came into forefront following effective auditing. Moreover, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, apex auditing body, has not mooted any such proposal, he said.

Ahead of the crucial budget session, the BJP CA cell evinced its disapproval against any attempt to reduce audits in banks. Kapoor said if this decision was to be implemented then about 90 per cent of bank branches would be out of the purview of audit.

He said ever since the nationalisation of banks in 1969, the provision of auditing banks by independent chartered accountants has ensured timely identification of irregularities in the system and to provide suitable corrective measures.

He said Indian auditors helped a lot in strengthening the banking systems during the worldwide economic recessions which wiped-out even giant banks of the USA.

They have made timely identification of non-performing assets (NPAs), provided remedial measures and also helped in curbing malpractices and irregularities.

He said investors rely heavily on these audit reports before investing in any venture.

Amritsar, February 28
Indian Tea Association (ITA) held “India Tea Road Show” in the city today.

ITA chairman CS Bedi said the road show was held as a part of their pan-India programme to popularise tea consumption. He said the next road show would be held in Delhi on February 29 and in Kanpur on March 1.

Similar road shows were held in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Jaipur earlier this month.

He said tea production has reached a saturation point. They need new technology and replacement of plants to increase the production. He said the industry is also facing labour shortage.

Amritsar Tea Association president Chota Bhai Patel said quality was the biggest concern of the traders and consumers.

Amritsar, February 28
The Department of Multimedia of BBK DAV College for Women acquired maximum positions in the top ten slots in the fifth and seventh semesters of Bachelor of Multimedia.

Khusboo Soni and Namrata Sahrma jointly bagged the first position in seventh semester of Bachelor of Multimedia in Guru Nanak Dev University as both of them garnered 696 marks out of 700.

Rhythm Chopra of the same college secured the third position with 693 marks. Meenal Manchanda and Srishti Bajaj secured the ninth and tenth positions, respectively. Meenal acquired 683 marks while Srishti got 680 marks.