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Bihar officers visit disaster site
She borrowed money to travel to Jalandhar
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At last, help comes from industrialists
Rescue teams still hope against hope
Have banned dangerous pesticides: State to NHRC
DEOs go on protest leave
Gypsum traders threaten to stop imports
Duped in the name of ‘Nanhi Chhaan’
PF interest rate up
Centre to be asked to repatriate officers
SSA teachers protest pay disparity
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Bihar officers visit disaster site
Amar Chatterjee, Bihar’s Deputy Resident Commissioner in New Delhi, Jagmohan Mishra, Manager Bihar-I, and Kaushlendra, Labour Inspector, reached the disaster site this afternoon. They were surrounded by labourers, each trying to narrate his tale of woe.
Her hands folded, Pasho Devi, whose 18-year old son Pankaj is among those trapped under the debris, requested the officers: “Hamar bete ko bacha lijiye” (Please save my son).” She seemed hopeful that the officers would ask the ‘fauj’ (army) to locate her son at the earliest. Chatterjee met Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti. He was told that at least 70 labourers were inside the factory at the time of the mishap. “The Bihar Government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh for the next of kin and relief for the injured will be announced too. “We have started preparing a list of those dead and injured and will stay here till the rescue work is over ”, he said, adding that the Bihar CM might visit Jalandhar soon. On the issue of children working in the factory, Chatterji said: “This is the responsibility of the District labour Department to check if any child labourer was employed. As of now, we are concerned about those trapped under the debris”. Labour Inspector Kaushlendra interacted with the labourers and took their cell numbers so as to assist them in every possible way.
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She borrowed money to travel to Jalandhar
Jalandhar, April 20
Hoping that it was not their last meeting, she came to the city clad in a red saree this morning and went around looking for him at the Civil Hospital and Devi Talab Hospital where the survivors are being treated. Having not found him there, she reached the factory site around noon. Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw huge machines pulling down the rubble and digging out bodies. “We got a call on Sunday night shortly after the incident that the factory in which my husband was working had collapsed. I kept on calling on his cell phone, but it remained switched off. I borrowed Rs 4,000 from a money lender came here,” said Chandrawati, who is employed under a MNREGA project in UP. “My husband should be having salary in his pocket, which I have been told he got that day. He had last called me on Saturday saying he was yet to get his monthly dues and would send Rs 3,500 home for her and their three children,” she said. Pramod Kumar’s brother Guddu too was at the site waiting for his brother to be rescued. “We both worked on the cutter machine. I had myself managed to come out six hours after the incident with the help of rescue teams but my brother’s fate is still unknown,” he said, showing an ID card of Parmod, which he had left home that day owing to which he could not even get his salary. “I too have not got it either. But, I am not interested in getting it anymore. All that I am waiting for is to see my brother alive or take his body and leave for home in Bihar in case he has died,” said Guddu. Yogendra, who has come from Bihar, today himself spotted the body of his brother Rahul in the rubble along a side wall. Mukesh Kumar, who works in another local factory, claimed he was on leave for the last five days and was waiting for the bodies of his three cousins trapped in the rubble.
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At last, help comes from industrialists
Jalandhar, April 20 Besides, the industrial associations would also provide jobs to the victim families, said Leader Valves joint managing director Poornima Beri. The industrialists also decided to provide free of cost education up to 10+2 to the children of the victims at Guru Nanak Public School being run by their association. Besides, they have also set up relief centres near the collapsed factory and at the local Civil Hospital to provide 'langar' and other assistance to the relatives of the victims. The associations also made arrangements to provide board and lodging to the visiting relatives of the victims, they added. Aggarwal said they would initiate measures so that such events did not recur in the future. "The associations will call a meeting of all unit owners and will ask them to get their buildings checked by architects and adopt safety measures in case any deficiency is found," he said.
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Rescue teams still hope against hope
Jalandhar, April 20 National Disaster Response Force Commandant Rajendra Kumar Verma said, “Though there is remote possibility of finding any survivor, we always keep on hoping for miracles to happen.” Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti said four more bodies were extricated from the debris today. Verma said five bodies had been spotted in the rubble, which were being pulled out. So far, the death toll from the Jalandhar building collapse incident stands at 19 while the count of those rescued from the rubble is 62.
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Have banned dangerous pesticides: State to NHRC
New Delhi, April 20 Responding to the NHRC orders, the Punjab Government has informed the commission that it has “banned the manufacture, import and use of pesticides which are very injurious to health, withdrawn registration of some such pesticides and restricted the use of other hazardous pesticides.” The state also told the commission that it was educating farmers on the judicious use of pesticides. The state’s response follows NHRC's suo motu cognizance of reports that excessive use of pesticides was causing cancer among the farmers of Punjab’s Malwa region who had to travel to Bikaner in Rajasthan for treatment. “The NHRC was concerned that close to 100 cancer patients were going daily from Bathinda to Bikaner by train just because they managed free treatment only across the border,” the commission said. On the directions of the commission, Punjab sent its first report on September 20, 2011, but it was found to be insufficient. Consequently, the NHRC asked the state for comprehensive action, including banning carcinogenic pesticides, controlling the use of less hazardous pesticides, education the farmers on the use of pesticides and conducting regular health checkups in the area. Responding to these orders, Principal Secretary, Health, Punjab, admitted in his report, received earlier this month, that the consumption of pesticides was high in Malwa on account of the cotton crop grown there. The report stated that during the past five years, the use of pesticide had come down with the farmers switching over to BT cotton, which required only 20 per cent pesticides as compared to other varieties. “Farmers are being trained on judicious use of pesticides even as some dangerous pesticides have been banned or their use has been restricted. As for providing cheap treatment for cancer, the Punjab Government has started giving financial assistance to cancer patients from BPL families under the State Illness Fund,” the state government has informed the commission, which has now called for a survey of the disease.
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DEOs go on protest leave
Ludhiana, April 20 They also said that “demoting” a DEO to school principal was unjust. Service rules clearly state that the posts of Principal and DEO come under the Punjab Education Services (PES) Group A. There are 1,554 posts of Principal and 37 of DEO Primary and Secondary) in the state. Earlier, the pay grade of DEOs was more than that of principals. But after the service rules were revised, the Principals and DEOs were placed in the same scale. JS Aulakh, former president of the Gazetted Educational School Services Association alleges that the selection of DEOs now is in the hands of politicians as any principal can be made DEO without considering seniority. He has taken the issue to court.
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Gypsum traders threaten to stop imports
Amritsar, April 20 A group of Indian traders led by Rajdeep Uppal, Amritsar Exporters Chambers of Commerce vice-president, today met Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) and Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) officials at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) to sort out the matter. He, however, failed to break the deadlock. Uppal said the gypsum being imported from Pakistan was being unloaded in the open on uneven ground, which looked like a dump. There were no sheds and platforms for unloading gypsum, but despite that the CWC was burdening the traders with “excessive handling charges”. He said they had already agreed to pay the CWC 25 per cent of the rates that they had negotiated with the labourers. Apart from it, the CWC was charging Rs 200 per truck for the entry of trucks loaded with gypsum from Pakistan as well as another Rs 200 per truck for entry of empty Indian trucks meant for lifting gypsum. “The CWC is also charging Rs 3 per tonne as storage charges, which go on increasing with each passing day. For instance, if gypsum is lying in the ICP for over 24 hours, they will charge Rs 9 per tonne for the second day and so on,” he said. Uppal said most ports gave at least 72 hours to importers to lift goods like gypsum. “We are asking them to give us 48 hours and not to impose these charges. The government should first create infrastructure and then charge traders for using it.”
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Duped in the name of ‘Nanhi Chhaan’
Moga, April 20 Hundreds of forms have been sold at Rs 15 each at the Suvidha Centre here during the past few months. These forms, duly completed, were accepted by employees/contractors of the centre along with Rs 300 in cash from couples with daughters. Sources said the employees promised to provide a grant of Rs 1 lakh to couples with a girlchild, Rs 2 lakh to those with two daughters and Rs 3 lakh to those with three daughters. “There is no such scheme to provide financial aid to couples with daughters,” said a Social Welfare Department official. When contacted, Moga Deputy Commissioner Arshdeep Singh Thind claimed that no such forms were sold by the Suvidha Centre. “These forms could have been sold prior to my posting here last week,” he said. The DC said he would look into the matter and take appropriate action against those found guilty. An employee at the Suvidha Centre, Mohit Arora, said a few months ago these forms were sold by a contractor who was given the task to run the centre. “Now, the centre is managed directly by the district administration and we are neither selling nor accepting the controversial forms under the so-called Nanhi Chhaan scheme”, he added.
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PF interest rate up
Chandigarh, April 20 The rate of interest payable from April 1, 2011, to November 30, 2011, would be 8 per cent, said official sources.
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Centre to be asked to repatriate officers
Chandigarh, April 20 He was sidelined when the SAD-BJP combine came to power in 2007 and was posted as Director, Tourism and Cultural Affairs. He later opted for Central deputation. Sources said the state was also keen on the repatriation of senior bureaucrats Arun Goyal (1988 batch) and Ravneet Kaur (1985 batch). Goyal, who was considered close to Badal earlier, has remained Ludhiana DC as well as Secretary, Housing and Urban Development . Meanwhile, Vikas Garg, DC, Patiala, has been posted Special Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation. GK Singh, DC, Ropar, is now DC, Patiala. Mohinder Singh has been attached with the Department of Agriculture for appointment as Secretary, Punjab State Agriculture Marketing Board, Chandigarh. Dr Abhinav, ADC (D), Bathinda, has been posted as DC, Gurdaspur. Pardeep Agarwal, ADC, Ludhiana, goes as Deputy Commissioner, Ropar. HK Bansal has been posted as Joint Director (Internal Vigilance), VB, and Dinesh Partap Singh, AIG, as Joint Director (Administration), VB.
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SSA teachers protest pay disparity
Patiala, April 20 The protesting teachers gathered at Nehru Park and took out a protest rally up to the Deputy Commissioner's office raising slogans against the state government. Vikramdev Singh, district vice-president of the SSA/RMSA/CSS Teachers' Union, said the Punjab government had sent a project report to the SSA India regarding revision of their pay scales. "They state government has fixed our pay at Rs 29,625 in the proposal, but the SSA India raised an objection to it during the project approval board meeting in New Delhi and asked the Punjab government to notify its share of 35 per cent for paying salaries. The Central government would pay the remaining 65 per cent, but even after almost two months, the state government has not issued any notification in this regard," he said. He said the government has been seeking grants worth lakhs for appointment of head teachers in primary and middle schools run under the SSA. But so far the government has not made any appointments. "The funds are lying unused," he added. The union members handed over a memorandum to district officials, demanding immediate intervention in this matter. These teachers have been demanding equal pay for equal work and regular jobs as their counterparts have already been regularised in a few states.
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Finally, various industrial associations of the city today came forward to help the tragedy victims.
Narinder Singh Saggoo and Sharad Aggarwal, presidents of Industrial Focal Point Extension Association
(IFPEA) and Northern Chamber of Small and Medium Industries (NCSMI) respectively,
said
Jalandhar, April 20
Following directions from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in respect of growing cancer incidence on account of indiscriminate use of pesticides in Punjab, the state government has banned the manufacture, import and use of pesticides injurious to health.