Chandigarh, May 4
Surbhi Malik, a resident of Sector 7, has secured the fourth rank in the UPSC examination. Daughter of Yudhvir Malik, a 1983-batch IAS officer and Financial Commissioner with the Haryana government, Surbhi did her economic honours from Lady Sri Ram College and then pursued MSc from the London School of Economics.

“Since 2009, I have been preparing for civil services and have managed to clear the exam in the second attempt,” said Surbhi who did not take up a job in London just because she wanted to be an IAS officer and serve the people.

Shiv Anant Tayal, who has ranked 68th, stood fifth in the tricity. A graduate from IIT-Bombay, Shiv Anant, always wanted to be an IAS officer and work for the welfare of society. Shiv Anant said although he was disappointed after he could not crack the exam in the first two attempts, his parents stood by him and motivated him to achieve his dream.

Shiv Anant’ s father Harbans Lal Tayal is a scientist at the DRDO in Delhi while his mother Kamini Tayal is an associate professor at MCM College. He cleared the exam in his third attempt.

Piyush Singla, a resident of Sector 70, Mohali, managed to secure the 84th rank. A doctor by profession, Piyush started preparing for the UPSC in 2010 during his internship after he was posted in rural areas, which made him realise that a lot needed to be done for society. “I want to bring more transparency and accountability in the administration,” he said. Followed by him was Ranjanvir Kapoor who bagged 92nd rank.

Dr Navjot Khosa, who secured the 95th rank.

Shivanant Tayal, who succeeded with the 68th rank.

Undeterred even after getting married, Navjot Khosa (28), a resident of Phase V, Mohali, secured the 95th rank. After pursuing bachelor in dental sciences from Government Dental College, Amritsar, she decided to crack the exam which was always her childhood dream. It was her third attempt.

“It was difficult to maintain patience and keep trying for the exam, my husband and in-laws stood by me and encouraged me to achieve my goal,” Navjot added.

Others among the top 100 include Neha Arora with 97th rank. Speaking on the growing number of students clearing the UPSC exam, Parveen Bansal, managing director, Abhimanyu Institutes, said these results were exceptionally encouraging.

Chandigarh, May 4
Only 100 tonnes out of the total city garbage of more than 300 tonnes could be disposed of in the garbage disposal plant in Dadu Majra today.

Reason: After 10:30 am, the door-to-door garbage collection association employees blocked the gates of the plant and did not allow a single Municipal Corporation (MC) garbage-lifting vehicle to enter the plant.

Meanwhile, residents are being forced to live with the stink of their houses, as household waste is not being collected for the past few days. Inconvenience due to this was faced by city residents whose garbage had not been collected by employees for the past three days, as they are demanding the fulfilment of their demands by the MC authorities. Though the residents had been requesting the authorities to make alternative arrangements to lift the garbage, till date no action has been taken.

Manoj Sinha, a resident of Sector 21, said, “Not just me, I see residents in my entire neighbourhood carrying packets of waste in their houses and rushing to the disposal cans in the corner of the streets or in the neighbourhood. The cans are overflowing and bags can also be seen lying in the open grounds at many places.”

The door-to-door garbage collection association employees today staged a protest at the entry point of garbage processing plant against the MC authority’s project of hiring the contractual employees for the collection of garbage from Sector 22. They are alleging that the MC was not implementing its promise of adjusting all employees of the association while hiring the staff for collecting the garbage under its new project.

No fruitful results came out even after rounds of meetings were held between the representation of the employees and the MC Additional Commissioner Sunil Bhatia today. Sunil Bhatia accepted that no results had come out of the meetings held between the employees and the authorities till the report was filed. Clueless about the controversy going on between the association and the MC authorities, plant representative RD Sharma said after 12 noon, the management had to shut down the plant as the employees of the association did not allow the garbage vehicles to enter the premises of the plant for processing. He said even after a number of reminders to the MC authorities to take action to resolve the issue or ask the employees to vacate the entrance of the plant, no action was taken against them.

It may be mentioned that after the Finance and Contract Committee meeting yesterday, members had a special meeting with the representatives of the association to resolve the deadlock but no success could be achieved.

Chandigarh, May 4
Municipal corporation Joint Commissioner Rajiv Gupta, who had joined only four days ago, has been repatriated. A communication in this regard has been received from the Punjab government by the UT Administration.

The post has been lying vacant for the past one year and its additional charge is being held by Additional Commissioner Lalit Siwach. Sources in the UT Administration said the Punjab government had sent a communication to the UT Adviser to Administrator, KK Sharma, to relieve Rajiv Gupta and Sandeep Hans, DPI (Schools) at the earliest.

Sources said around six months ago the name of Rajiv Gupta was proposed by the Punjab government for sending him on deputation to the UT Administration. But his case was rejected by the authorities. Recently, when he was asked to go the UT Administration, Rajiv Gupta was reluctant. He was posted in Jalalabad as an SDM which falls in the constituency of the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, Sukbhir Badal. The sources added that DPI (Schools) Sandeep Hans was also to be relieved as his tenure was over.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government has relieved the SDM of Chamkaur Sahib, Upkar Singh, who will join the UT Administration soon. The request of UT Administration Joint Secretary (finance) Saudagar Singh Khera for going back to his parent state Punjab has been rejected by the Administration. The sources said as he was going to retire in November this year, he wanted to go back to his parent state.

Panchkula, May 4
The recently opened government dispensary in Sector 16 does not have any physician, forcing the residents to visit Government Hospital in Sector 6 for treatment.

According to information, the dispensary has specialists for dental, opthalmology and skin diseases, but lacks the services of a physician. As a result the people in the area have to go to the General Hospital, Sector 6, for treatment. Even the patients with minor ailments, like cold and fever, were being referred to the Sector 6 hospital in the absence of any physician at the government clinic.

Subhash Papneja, general secretary, Sector 16 Residents Welfare Association, said that they had urged the health authorities to start medical facilities at the dispensary on October 28 last year, as the same had remained non-functional for about an year despite its completion. He said that they had brought the matter before the Financial Commissioner Health On December 10, and the dispensary was started after they again raised the issue before Director General Health Services Dr Narveer Singh on January 30 this year.

Papneja said that the dispensary not only caters to the residents of Sectors 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, but also to the slums dwellers of Budhanpur and Rajiv Colony near Sector 16. He demanded that a physician be posted at the dispensary early so that residents don’t have to pay huge bills being charged by other practitioners.

When contacted, Dr VK Bansal, Civil Surgeon, said that the dispensary in Sector 16 was a part of the OPD facility of General Hospital. He said that the OPD from this dispensary would again be shifted to GH-6 after the construction of the new OPD building was completed.

Mohali, May 4
The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) has decided to fix the allotment price at around Rs 6,100 per sq yd for plots in the Chief Minister’s pet residential scheme at Anandpur Sahib. 20 per cent of the plots are likely to be put to auction while the rest will be allotted by draw of lots.

Sources said that GMADA was all prepared to float the scheme. A preliminary report had already been prepared in this regard. The brochure for the project and the advertisement material were ready and it will be opened to the public in about two to three weeks time. The project was discussed at length at various meetings with the Chief Minister and the layout plan of the residential complex had also been approved by Badal.

Plots of various sizes on a 10-acre chunk of land, which was a part of the 25-acre area which was used for parking of vehicles during hola mohalla celebrations would be allotted. There was a plan to allot 197 plots by the development authority. Of these, 158 would be allotted through draw of lots while the remaining 20 per cent would be put to auction. Sources added that out of the 158 plots, 101 would be offered to the general category while 24 of these would be reserved for the scheduled castes. Over 10 plots would be reserved for riot-affected persons, seven for the defence category and four each for legal heir of defence personnel and disabled persons. The plots would also be reserved for sportspersons, gallantry award winners and freedom fighters. Seven to eight banks, including the HDFC, Axis, State Bank of India, State Bank of Patiala and Punjab and Sindh Bank will tie up with GMADA for funding the scheme. It is learnt that GMADA had earmarked 13 plots of 500 sq yds, 16 plots of 400 sq yds and 14 of 320 sq yds. The maximum number of plots was for the 200 sq yds category and the figure here stood at 70 while 38 were earmarked for 250 sq yds and 46 for 150 sq yds category.

Mohali, May 4
Tension prevailed outside the district court complex here today when a Municipal Council employee, who was part of a team that had gone to remove illegal rehris in the area, was manhandled.

The council employee, Kesar Singh, was later taken to the local Civil Hospital for medical examination.

Press secretary of the Municipal Employees Union Sanjivan Singh alleged that some lawyers had beaten Kesar Singh during which his turban also fell. He demanded action against the concerned lawyers.

He added that if an action was not forthcoming by 1 pm on Monday, the municipal staff would stage a protest in support of the demand.

Kesar said that four to five rehris were illegally operating from near the court complex. When the enforcement employees of the civic body tried to remove these rehris, some lawyers objected. When their demand was not met they allegedly entered into heated arguments and later attacked him.

However, the alleged lawyers said that the municipal team members had an altercation with them and allegedly came to attack them. They also made an allegation about certain municipal employees asking for a bribe from rehri owners. The police, including the SP, reached the scene to defuse the situation. The municipal staff as well as the lawyers has complained to the police. The police has started the investigation.

Chandigarh, May 4
Following the allotment of a dwelling unit in the Rehabilitation Colony, Sector 25, on the basis of bogus documents, the Estate Office has started a survey of the unallotted sites in the Sector-25 colony.

It was being seen whether any other allotment had been made on the basis of bogus documents. In yesterday’s case, it was found that on the basis of bogus documents, a beneficiary had got a water connection from the MC and was depositing the monthly instalment with a local bank.

Record of the Estate Office was also being checked. Officials in the Estate Office said complaints pertaining to the sale of flats in rehabilitation colonies and also the issue of renting out of the units in violation of the allotment rules had been pouring in. 

Mohali, May 4
The Punjab Homoeopathic Department organised a medical camp here today which was a part of a series camps, planned for the district.

Chandigarh, May 4
As the 39th death anniversary of legendary Punjabi poet Shiv Kuamr Batalvi falls on the intervening night of May 6 and May 7, leading cultural organisations have planned to pay musical tributes to the great poet. As per Harjinder Kaur, chairperson, Punjab Arts Council, the main function titled “Birha da Sultan” organised by Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi, ICCR, and S-4 Trust will be held at the Randhawa auditorium on May 5 at 6.30 pm. Star performer Rinku Kalia, winner of national Sa Re Ga Ma contest, 1997, will perform during the event.

Chandigarh, May 4
Hundreds of employees of different wings of the Chandigarh Administration have not got their salary for the month of April, thanks to the delay on the part of drawing and disbursing officers (DDOs) in getting acquainted with e-governance.

A number of employees of the engineering department, transport, police and other departments have not received their salary so far. The UT Powermen Union, Chandigarh, has even threatened to launch an agitation against the non-disbursement of salary.

Officials in the UT finance department said the delay in payment was more due to the delay on the part of the DDOs in getting acquainted with the e-payment system of salary. Out of the 200 DDOs, about 60 have been facing problem with the online payment of salary.

Despite the UT organising training programmes on the use of e-payment system, not even a single official attended the programme.

The system assists the administration in maintaining online access to salary details of each employee, ensure mobile-based information and online bank transfer of payment to individuals. It will also keep a check on fraudulent cases.

Under the previous system, the employees used to get cheques or cash. “With the beginning of the e-payment system, paper work will be less. Records of salary credited to the bank accounts will be maintained by the administration, hence there will be no fraudulent cases,” said an official in the UT Treasury. 

At least 50 challans were issued in Sector 22 during an anti-encroachment drive here on Friday. Also, 50 memos were issued during a drive in Patel Market, Sector 15.

Penalise quacks, demand doctors