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Taxi driver’s murder
Sewerage board rubbishes Shital Fibres' claim
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Labourer falls to death
Death in Manhole: Five months on, victim’s family waits for justice
Factory collapse: ESIC fails to get claims
Demolition drive
Snatchers on prowl
From schools
Canada-based organisation criticises Nanhi Chhan
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Taxi driver’s murder
Jalandhar, April 28 The accused have been identified as 26-year-old Manjit Singh of Jalandhar, 22-year-old Kulwinder, alias, Sabi of Grossian village in Mehtpur and 23-year-old Ajay Kumar of Nagra village near here. Manjit Singh is also a taxi driver. The other two accused have a criminal past and several cases have been registered against them at various police stations of the district. After arresting the accused, the Basti Bawa Khel police handed them over to the Dehradun police. Lakhwinder Singh, assistant sub-inspector of the Basti Bawa Khel police station, said during preliminary investigations, three accused had confessed to the crime and they had also named two other persons who live in Dehradun and were relatives Ajay. Following a tip-off, the city police arrested the accused from different localities. The police was able to nab the accused with the help of a woman relative of one of the accused, Ajay, and the mobile call details of the deceased. The accused confessed that they had murdered the taxi driver with the aim to loot his SUV. The police said after hacking the driver to death, the accused handed over the looted SUV to their accomplices in Dehradun.
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Sewerage board rubbishes Shital Fibres' claim
A statement by the factory management that appeared in newspapers pointed finger at officials of the sewerage board. Contradicting the statement, officials said the work was done about two years ago and it could in no way have led to the collapse. They said the pipes were laid 15 feet deep, six feet away from the factory boundary line and it could have in no way led to the collapse. Countering the charges, Viney Mukol, XEN of the board for the Focal Point area, raised questions over the points raised by the factory management. "If that be the case, why is it so that the other factories in the same lane which have the same pipe passing through their service lanes on backyards have not collapsed? We have been doing the digging work all across the district, why have the other buildings not collapsed? There were electricity poles in between the factory and the excavation site, why these poles not fell?" he questioned. Asked if there were any chances of a leakage at the site as was also claimed by the factory directors and Focal Point Extension industrialists colluding with him, he countered: "That cannot be the case. The pipe is 15 feet deep and has a compaction of the soil over and around it. Even if the factory management is not ready to buy our stand, the inquiry teams can excavate up to the site for their satisfaction." The XEN added, "So far, I have been able to satisfy the inquiry team as some members had called me after reading the Shital factory statement in media. Some residents of the area on behalf of the factory owners have also filed an RTI application on the matter seeking details of the work at the site." The statement by the Shital group read: "The site investigation conducted by the teams of structural consultants of esteemed credence have proven that the reason for the collapse of the building is due to unplanned excavation work done around the building by a governmental agency which was in violation of the settled architectural norms." The management of Shital Fibres in its statement had also claimed that the firm was "duly registered under the Factories Act, the ESI Act, the Provident Fund Act, had requisite permissions to operate under the PPCB and was duly complying with the Labour Act and the Electricity Act." After this, Anurag Verma, Commissioner, Jalandhar Division, who had been looking into the inquiry, had issued a notice to Shital Vij asking him to show the documents in five days. Verma said: "There can be just two options. Either the firm has the papers of the factory, or not. Natural justice demands that the owner be given an opportunity to produce these in the next four days. The Deputy Director, factories, has pointed out violations in his report. In any case, we wanted to give Shital a chance to plead his case and not directly crucify him." Notably, Verma is proceeding for eight-week training and his predecessor SR Laddar has taken the charge. He would be handling the next part of the inquiry as well. Other factories also have 100 pc coverage
n It was not just the Shital Vij's 81-C unit that was characterised by blatant violations of having 100 per cent built-up area, almost all nine factories on nearly 20 acre industrial empire owned by him and his family around the collapsed factory site in Focal Point Extension stand apart from the remaining 337 plots on account of clear defiance of the same bylaw, that does not allow more than 65 per cent coverage. Factory numbers D-60, 61, 3, 4, 11 and 13 all have 100 per cent built-up area. Some of these factories even go vertically up to six floors. Another unit owned by Shital Vij on the Gadaipur Road, which is the factory outlet of Shital Collections, too, has cent per cent covered area. Factories or fortresses!
n Most of Shital's factories have been built like four to six-storeyed well-guarded fortresses with a huge sliding gate. His factories are marked by certain other common features as well, including religious flags on the top and small gardens outside the buildings with iron railings shaped in letters 'Ram'. A day after the entire administration left the site this Tuesday, the working of all surrounding factories resumed normally. Shital's son Abhishek, however, said the factories were being cleaned. "We have not yet started operation." Wait-and-watch mode
n Despite glaring violations in other factories, officials seem to be on a wait-and-watch mode seemingly busy with paperwork and filing reports. Deputy Director, factories, Parmal Singh has not initiated any action on the remaining factories claiming that he was not empowered to seal any premises on such ground. SDO of the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation Ltd (PSIEC) Gurmit Singh said he would not take any action on his own. "I have submitted a report to Commissioner, Jalandhar Division, Anurag Verma, who would further send it to the Chief Minister for any further action," he replied. Manager of the Department of Industries Sunil Kumar said: "Only three factories, including Shital International, Shital Fibres and Chinar Forgings, are listed with us as medium enterprises. Even if the remaining units are not registered with us, we cannot initiate action as the MSME Act, 2006, does not make it mandatory for an industrialist to get registered with us," he said indicating that the laws had big loopholes. |
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Labourer falls to death
Jalandhar, April 28 Hailing from Patna in Bihar, the deceased has been identified as 28-year-old Sunil Yadav. He is survived by his wife and two children. Initially, the police was suspecting a foul play, but after the statements by a company engineer and the deceased’s wife, the police said it was an accident. Bhagwant Singh Bhullar of the Surya Enclave police station said after calling it a day on Friday, Sunil forgot his phone at the construction site. He said when Sunil was returning after taking his mobile phone, he slipped on the stairs of the fourth floor and fell down. Sunil fractured his right arm and sustained serious head injuries. He was rushed to a nearby private hospital where he died a few hours later. After coming to know about Sunil’s death, his wife fell unconscious. The police has initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC.
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Death in Manhole: Five months on, victim’s family waits for justice
Jalandhar, April 28 The incident took place on November 25 when the boy fell into an open manhole on the Basti Peer Dad road while he was returning with his father and siblings from a religious place. Chief Vigilance Officer VP Singh conducted the inquiry, but the report is yet to come. Even as the family got Rs 2 lakh as compensation - Rs 1 lakh from the DC and Rs 1 lakh from the Municipal Corporation - Sagar’s parents said neither officials nor the councillor have been held responsible for dereliction of duty. Clinging onto Sagar’s picture at their residence in Maharaja Garden, his mother Sonia said councillor of ward No. 42 Kirpal Singh Buti had not visited them even once to mourn the death of their son. “I wonder how insensitive he is. Instead, residents of the area had gone to his place a day after the incident, but they were not allowed to meet him,” she had whit tears in her eyes. “He could have at least come later after the situation had calmed down. A day after the incident, he got the manhole covered, thinking he had done his duty,” said Sonia. Now that the MC elections are round the corner, Sonia said: “We have decided to oppose him. We do not have our votes, but we will ask people to vote against him to teach him a lesson.” The family says the file moved against officials seems to have got lost on the tables of the secretary, the director or other officials of the Local Bodies Department during transfers at the time of elections as a copy of the report is yet to come. Residents of the area say as the victim was the son of a labourer, no social or welfare organisation raised a voice on the matter to ensure justice for the poor family. MC Commissioner BS Dhaliwal confirmed that he had not received the report. Dhaliwal, however, said he would check the status on Monday. Sources in the local bodies department revealed that officials had recommended show-cause notices against two sewerage supervisors, two JEs (one of B&R and other of O&M), and one SDO of the O&M wing for dereliction of duty. The JE of the B&R wing was being roped in as the manhole cover was said to have broken during the construction of the Kutcha Kot colony. n Sagar’s father Kanshi Ram is a labourer in a factory. Sonia works as a maid in some houses. Sagar was the youngest of their six children. Sagar’s mother Sonia said she had bought a plot from the compensation amount at Ferozepur where her parents are settled. n Councillor of ward No. 42 Kirpal Singh Buti said he had not gone to the house of the victim as he was stopped by the police. “I wanted to attend his cremation, but again I was stopped. As the issue subsided, I again tried to visit the family, but I was told that the family had shifted to some other place,” he added, claiming that he had helped the family get compensation from the administration as well as the MC.
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Factory collapse: ESIC fails to get claims
Jalandhar, April 28 So far, only one claimant has approached the ESIC and her form clearance procedure has also been handled poorly. The ESIC officials said pension forms could be cleared only once the factory owners or the district administration have authenticated that a labourer worked at the factory. Interestingly, so far, the ESIC has not contacted the factory management regarding the form authentication process. Reason: They are unable to reach them, say ESIC officials. The only claimant - Chandrawati, widow of Bhagwan Dass -who approached the ESIC, was sent off to get the pension form authenticated on her own from Vani Vij, wife of Shital Vij, one of the directors of the factory. This was done contrary to the ESIC's earlier claims that the ESI officials themselves would arrange to get the forms authenticated. So far, the ESI officials have acquired the post-mortem details of some of the labourers from the Civil Hospital. Statements of 13 injured labourers have also been recorded. Talking to The Tribune, Joint Director, ESI, sub-regional office, Jaswinder Singh Dhanda said: "We have only received one claim so far -Chandrawati, wife of deceased labourer Bhagwan Dass. We got her pension form filled yesterday and sent her to Vani Vij to get the claim authenticated. We don't know whether the claim was authenticated or not." When asked why the ESIC did not get her form authenticated, Dhanda said: "It is not possible to approach the factory owners. Though we have been highlighting the issue on radio and other means." The ESIC has now approached the DC to get the forms authenticated. "We have asked the Deputy Commissioner to authenticate the forms of the labourers since the factory owners are difficult to reach," Dhanda added. "Since tracing labourers who have left town or are living in remote places is also one of the problems, we have asked the DC to provide us with a list of all the injured and those killed in the incident. We will also dispatch a letter to the CM in this regard," Dhanda said. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti said: "The ESI will be given the list. The forms of labourers from the list will also be authenticated as soon as possible." |
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Demolition drive
Jalandhar, April 28 The MC had used a large force while evicting the dwellers on March 21, but they have somehow returned and have put up temporary sheds still blocking the passage for the residents of Gujral Nagar and adjoining New Vijay Nagar and Shakti Nagar. Since the jhuggi dwellers had tried to prevent action on that day by pelting officials and JCB operators with bricks and flinging tin sheds, officials have not had guts to visit the area all over again and get the road evicted. The jhuggi dwellers have erected a counter at the entrance of the colony as a barricade, have put up a banner atop and have been doing round-the-clock vigil. None of the residents with whom this correspondent tried to contact wanted to have his name quoted, apprehending threats from the migrants. But they all said, "We clearly believe that they have been getting patronage from the administration as well as the politicians. The jhuggi dwellers were allowed to settle on the road for decades. How was it that they even had power connections?" "Even still the administration is not doing anything and has been silent on the issue ever since. If that remains the attitude, the nuisance will continue to prevail and encroachers will get emboldened to even erect permanent structures all over again. In any case, it will set a wrong precedent", they said. Manjit Kaur Kahlon, area councillor, is much upset. "I have time and again requested the authorities to get the land cleared after demolition but to no avail. The women in the nearby colonies feel much insecure and have stopped using the lane. The fact that the encroachers have even using the road even as open urinal further is a big nuisance for the passersby", she said. MC Commissioner BS Dhaliwal said the jhuggi dwellers have been demanding a rehabilitation plan. "But we have nothing to offer, for there is no policy to re-settle encroachers. We are waiting and will get them removed shortly," he commented. Asked if the migrants could be housed in night shelters, he said it could not be done as per the policy.
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Snatchers on prowl
Jalandhar, April 28 Surprisingly, in a majority of the incidents, miscreants looted the residents, especially women, at gunpoint. On Friday, two bike-borne miscreants snatched gold earrings from a woman at Kalia Colony, Phase II. They took the woman at gunpoint and robbed her of her earrings. Similarly, two schoolteachers were robbed of gold rings at gunpoint by two motorcycles-borne youths on the Kartarpur-Jandesarai road on Thursday evening. Before fleeing, the accused also fired in the air. On Wednesday, a driver of Senior Deputy Mayor was looted of cash, an ATM card and other important documents by two bike-borne miscreants. Bike-borne miscreant also robbed cash and gold ornaments from a couple on the Phagwara road on Tuesday night. Four car-borne miscreants also attempted to loot a journalist with a vernacular newspaper at gunpoint last Saturday.
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From schools
Jalandhar, April 28 Awareness rally
An awareness rally ‘Stop child labour’ was held at St Soldier Degree College. Principal Veena Dada flagged off the rally which started from the college campus. As many as 150 students participated in the rally. They carried placards and cards with the messages ‘Say no to child labour yes to education etc’. They also spread awareness about the ills of child labour among villagers, owners of shops and industries, not to give work to children below 18 years of age. They asked them to help these children to study for the progress of our country. Visit to school
Students of IVY World School, Jalandhar, of grade III, visited a blind school and spent the morning there. During their visit to blind school, they observed blind students reading Braille. Students interacted with the children and shared their experience with great enthusiasm. Ad mad show
An inter-house ‘Ad Mad Show’ was held at DIPS, Karol Bagh. Five participants were there of each house to present their ads. Each house exhibited a theme through the advertisement really making the show a lively one. The show was judged on four parameters of theme, dialogues, acting and costumes. Children participated actively in the show totally maddening the spectators with their novel ideas to highlight their school. Every effort of the children was worth praising as it was spiced up with satire, humour, a new hope and moral. |
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Canada-based organisation criticises Nanhi Chhan
Jalandhar, April 28 The organisation, which is engaged in the welfare of girl child and women, has come up with a movie depicting the plight of the women and children in Punjab. Makhan Tut, general secretary of the organisation, who was in the city, showed a movie 'Maaye Ni Main Kinnu Aakhan' to mediapersons today. The movie is based on the plight of women and girl child depicting their poor conditions at the hands of the in-laws after the death of their husbands and parents. Talking to the Tribune, Tut said greed of a male child in the families is the main cause of disproportion of the gender ratio in Punjab. Narrating a real life story of Satnam Kaur, a resident of Jagdev Kalan village in Amritsar district, that had been included in the movie also as a stroke to the femicide, Tut said that the woman was kicked out of the house by her in-laws after she refused to abort a female foetus. Satnam Kaur had been running from pillar to post for justice to her daughter, who is almost 18 months old now, he claimed. Like Satman, Tut regretted that hundreds of such women were facing the same fate at the hands of their parents and in-laws, but their agonies are unsolved. He also expressed displeasure, saying that what to talk about the help received from the Nanhi Chhan, even Harsimrat Kaur, chairperson Nanhi Chhan, had not even expressed sympathy for Satnam Kaur and her daughter who is living with her widow mother. Tut said the Mamta Foundation of Canada has provided an assistance of Rs 50 lakh to the Unique Home, an orphanage for girls being run by Parkash Kaur in Jalandhar and Rs 30 lakh to the Jyoti Sarup Ashram being run by Dr Harminder Singh at Kharar.
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Jalandhar, April 28
Jalandhar, April 28
