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Rs 239 crore MC budget presented amidst uproar
57 held for begging, sent to night shelter
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2 snatchers held
Three fake travel agents booked
Apple variants on display at festival
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Rs 239 crore MC budget presented amidst uproar
Amritsar, March 29 Discontentment in the opposition camp came to the fore over the documents about the allocation of funds during the last budget meeting of the MC were distributed among the members of the house. The leader of the opposition Congress party Ranjan Aggarwal raised the question as to why the documents presented speak only about Rs 180 crore and there was little mention of the remaining fund allocation of Rs 38 crore. Malik said the total expenditure of the MC for 2011-2012 was Rs 184.55 crore, out of which Rs 98.85 crore had been spent on various development works in the city. "The state government is the authority to allocate funds and every single paisa spent on the development projects is accounted for according to the government guidelines," he said. Malik said income through house tax which was Rs 5.17 crore in 2002-2007 during the Congress regime has escalated to a whopping Rs 18 crore, the water supply from Rs 8.41 crore to Rs 16.50 crore and for the building wing from Rs 2.76 crore to over Rs 9 crore and on advertisement from 6.9 lakh to Rs 1 crore. Another Congress councilor Narinder Tung asked about the fate of Centre-funded development projects like the introduction of solid waste management project, the city bus service, the magnetic pod and the obsolete sewerage and water network. Malik said last year 34 per cent of the budget was kept aside for development works. "Now the proposed budget will have 36 per cent share which will be spent only on the development works and to provide quality life to the residents by way of basic facilities like roads, sewerage and water network. We plan to keep aside separate head to clean the sewerage system. Under this head a special drive will be launched from April 10 to May 31 for de-silting and draining of sewerage pipelines," he said. The stray dog menace and the non-functional streetlights also led to an uproar in the House, both from the opposition as well as the ruling party members. The councillors rued that despite spending Rs 26 crore last year only on the maintenance of streetlights, there is no visible difference. "Due to inefficiency on part of the streetlight wing, a major portion of the holy city is engulfed in the dark, thereby putting the residents to vulnerable conditions," Sukhminder Singh Pintu, the BJP councillor for Ward no 11 said. Malik directed the officials to be attentive in the future and asked them to take disciplinary action against the guilty staff. "We will raise the income and financial assistance from the banks besides government grants for better execution of development works,” he said. Income
House Tax: 22 crore; water supply and sewerage charges Rs 20 crore; Cess (petrol, diesel, electricity) Rs 16 crore; excise duty Rs 13 crore; building fee and development charges Rs 9 crore; building Rs 12 crore; selling MC property Rs 25 crore; financial assistance Rs 84 crore; bank loan Rs 8 crore and advertisement Rs 2 crore. Expenditure
Salaries Rs 124.36 crore; gratuity and balance Rs 11.58 crore; electricity and telephone expense Rs 17.20 crore; fire brigade Rs 4.25 crore; health services Rs 3 crore; garden and landscaping Rs 5.25
crore.
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57 held for begging, sent to night shelter
Amritsar, March 29 The district administration, in collaboration with the Red Cross Society, had initiated the shelter home for beggars on February 12, 2010. The shelter being run from Old Karam Singh Ward provides three meals, clothes and medicines to the inmates free of cost. Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development), Amit Dhaka, met the inmates today. He said the shelter home has since its inception provided facilities to 1,713 beggars so far. He said of the total 760 inmates have been rehabilitated. At present the strength of beggars at the shelter is 84. Thakur Randhir Singh of the Red Cross said the beggars are also encouraged to abandon begging and work as labourers to lead a life of dignity. Despite all efforts made by the administration and the Red Cross Society, the administration has so far been unable to discourage people from begging.
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2 snatchers held
Amritsar, March 29 A case under Section 382, 411 IPC, 25/54/59 of the Arms Act has been registered against them at the B-division police station here. Those accused have been identified as Surinder Singh (24) of Jaspal Nagar, Sultanwind Road and Harjinder Singh (28) of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar. Their accomplice has been identified as Baldev Singh (24) of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar. The police has also seized two .12-bore pistols, a motorcycle and 20 pieces of gold earrings from their possession. Vikram Sharma, in-charge, CIA staff, said the accused were released on bail and had confessed to have
committed as many as 40 snatchings from various parts of the city. He said the accused were nabbed during a checking near Mata Kaulan Hospital on the 100-feet road. They were wanted in a number of cases registered against them at A and B Division besides Sultanwind Police stations. “They had committed four snatchings near the bus stand, eight in Partap Nagar area, four in 100-feet road, eight at Shivala Road, three near Alfaone shopping mall, three in Tej Nagar, six in Golden Avenue and four in Sharifpura area,” Sharma claimed. Raids are being conducted to nab Baldev Singh, he said. Meanwhile, two unidentified persons snatched the purse belonging to Amritpal Kaur of Drummanwala Bazaar, today. She and her children were on way home at the time of the incident. She alleged the accused snatched her purse carrying her ATM and PAN card, cell phone, a digital camera and cash.
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Three fake travel agents booked
Amritsar, March 29 The owners of the travel agency had run away with more than Rs 15 lakh and the passports of the victims, which they had deposited with them for visa formalities. In November, 15 victims had lodged a protest against the police outside Kotwali police station in this regard as the police had failed to register a complaint and arrest the accused at that time. The victims had resented that despite submitting the video clip showing an employee of the firm receiving the payments from them, the police did not take action. The victims alleged that they were issued fake visa papers and contract documents. Bhupinder Singh and
Palvwinder Singh from Ludhiana rued that after getting lured by a newspaper advertisement of the travel agency that the Al-Abdullah Construction and Transport Company in Kuwait was looking for helping hands, the victims paid Rs 70,000 each to the agency for the job. Satwinder Singh of Baba Bakala said, "We were told that we will be flown to Kuwait from a flight to take off from New Delhi on November 21, but it was not to be. They said they had taken loan at a heavy interest from a local money lender to pay the travel agency. They had given Rs 80,000 each. After finding the travelling agency locked on November 20, they broke open the door and managed to trace the address of the woman employee through a photocopy of her voter's identity card lying in the office. It was through this card that they caught hold of her at her house. The police has now booked Sukhjit Singh, who was the owner of the agency located at Goyal Plaza market at Katra Ghania, along with Gagandeep Singh of New Azaad Nagar and Sonia of Khuh Suniara, an employee of the agency. A case under Section 420, 467, 468, 471 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at Kotwali police station in this regard. Meanwhile, 10 more persons have been booked by the city police in four more separate cases registered at various police stations over the past two days for allegedly duping four persons on the pretext of sending them abroad. Sarwan Singh Bhullar of Akash Avenue lodged a complaint with the Cantonment police station that Gurinderpal Singh, his father Makhan Singh and mother Daljit Kaur took five lakh from him to send his son to Canada. However, they neither sent him to Canada nor return the money. A case has been registered. Victims include Paramjit Singh of Officers Colony, Balwinder Kumar of Khiala Kalan village, Ram Tirath Road and Gurcharan Singh of Krishna Square.
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Swine flu lab gets financial nod
Amritsar, March 29 Though the project witnessed several delays, it was getting delayed for want of financial sanction from the state finance department though it had received the requisite administrative sanction earlier. In the absence of any facility the only option is to send swine flu cases for testing to the PGI, Chandigarh. The official deadline to set up the laboratory was November 2011. The move to set up H1N1 diagnostic lab was initiated in 2009 on the request of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Later the union health minister had given a nod to the project. The laboratory was slated to be built at a cost of approximately Rs 50 lakh. Later the GMC had earmarked and got a suitable building vacated to set up the lab. Further a team of experts from Punjab Health Systems Corporation and PGI had also inspected the said building in March 2010. A report was later submitted with the Directorate of Research and Medical Education. Though no cases of swine flu have been reported from the city, medical experts feel because of the city witnessing large number of visitors from abroad as well as other states, the transmission of the virus cannot be ruled out. Government Medical College principal Dr SS Shergill said, “We have received the required financial sanction and the lab will come up soon.” He said the lab will start functioning within a month and a half. He said the building needs few alterations to suit the lab before the machines are installed. “We have got the machines and these will be installed once the building is ready,” said Shergill.
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After 7 years in Lahore jail, Maharastra resident reunited with father
Amritsar, March 29 Harish said he had boarded a train to Pakistan by mistake and was arrested when he reached Lahore. He said he spent seven years at Kot Lakhpat Rai jail in Pakistan. Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said it was after a communication to the local police station in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra that they could contact Harish’s parents in Kurud village. He said the only person remaining is with the Red Cross Society and efforts are on to locate his family. Bhau Rao’s joy knew no bounds on meeting his son. Head Constable Naresh Maroti Sidam, accompanying him, said following a letter from the district administration, the police located the family and brought his father to Amritsar.
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A grimy walk to holy shrine irks residents
Amritsar, March 29 Even the roads around the Golden Temple, which attracts more people than Taj Mahal are often infested with mounds of garbage. A visit to the site reveals huge garbage heaps behind the langar hall and at the newly-built 'jora ghar' (shoe stall) in the direction of the Akal Takht. Neither the Municipal Corporation nor the SGPC has ever made any arrangements to get the surroundings of the shrine cleaned. Municipal Corporation authorities sometimes blame the non-cooperative attitude of the safai karamcharis, shortage of staff or discrepancies between the private garbage collecting firm and its employees. In the process, garbage keeps piling up on the roadsides, posing danger to the health of the residents. Under the JNNURM, considerable funding is being given to improve the urban conditions in the Walled City, but that could not bring about any change. Removal of garbage and cleaning of the roads is carried out in an arbitrary and unprofessional manner. Despite the fact that the residents themselves lack the civic sense so as to throw refuse at the designated place, yet it is the liability of the MC authorities to ensure that it should be removed. The MC had placed dustbins on way to the Golden Temple but these too vanished. The reasons must be best known to the authorities. In the absence of dustbins, people throw the refuse on the road itself. Garbage dumps at every nook and corner of the Walled city have become health hazards as mosquitoes and flies can be seen around the trash. With the threat of dengue looming large, the corporation needs to make alternative arrangements, feel residents. Other key areas like the Lawrence road, Mall road, Queens road, Circular road, Basant Avenue areas which are frequented by tourists the most, are also littered with garbage. Mounting heaps of garbage poses a serious health hazard for inhabitants. As the garbage is not lifted, residents resort to burning it against norms.
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Deadlock continues, varsity teachers’ stir enters Day 2
Amritsar, March 29 Meanwhile, teachers continued to with their protest and took out a march on the campus. Dejected by the VC’s “careless” attitude, the protesting teachers said they were being harassed even as the university was declared “Potential for Excellence” by the UGC due their continuous efforts and hard work. The faculty members also opposed the VC’s move to promote PhD students as professors from the rank of associate professor under the Career Advancement Scheme. “We will be more than willing to have a detailed, constructive and conclusive discussion on any invitation by the VC. However, we don’t have any intimation from his side. Instead, he left the city on some official tour,” said the teachers. “Since the elections of the varsity teachers’ association elections in December 2011, the VC has given time to meet the executive only twice, but never attempted to resolve the issues. The selection of the secretary, GND University teachers’ association, which has been approved by the general body of the teachers, was also objected by the VC. It is high time that the VC should focus on the long pending demands of the teachers, which have been communicated to him many times,” said Balwinder Singh, president of the teachers body. Even as the VC could not be contacted on phone, university Registrar Dr Inderjeet Singh said the VC had to leave for an emergency official meeting. “He will be back by 10.30 tomorrow. The teachers, if wish, can reach him anytime after that,” he added. However, the teachers unanimously decided to call a meeting of their executive committee at 3.30 pm tomorrow to decide about the future course of action and if need be, to intensify their agitation.
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Apple variants on display at festival
Amritsar, March 29 Procured directly from the United States, the apples are of high quality as per international standards of food quality. The apples are available in adequate quantity with attractive pricing and best deals till April 1. The event includes live demo of apple-based recipes on the use of these variants, highlighting their individual merits for business members
from the hotel, restaurants and caterers (Horeca) segment. At the festival, the varieties available include Apple Fuji, Apple Red Rome, Apple Washington, Apple Royal Gala, Apple Braeburn and Apple Granny Smith.
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