Bathinda, May 15
A meeting of the District Health Society was held under the presidentship of Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Mohammad Tayyab at the meeting hall of the office of the Deputy Commissioner, on the premises of Mini-secretariat here today.

During the meeting, the activities and the schemes, being run by the health department, were reviewed.

Among others who attended the meeting were Civil Surgeon Dr Ajay Sahni, district health officer Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa, district family welfare officer Dr Ravanjeet Kaur Brar, district school health medical officer Dr Kundan Kumar Paul, district TB officer Dr Ashok Monga and district immunisation officer Dr Manpreet Kaur Rupal.

Matters relating to the registration of the expectant women and their ante-natal check up were discussed at the meeting.

To increase the number of institutional deliveries, senior medical officers (SMOs) of the hospitals and the health centres were asked to prepare the lists of the expectant women, who came to hospitals every month.

It was also decided to ensure the deployment of ASHA workers at all places. Under the school health programme, the rural medical officers were told to check every rural school as per the health programmes, given to them.

The district education officer asked the health authorities to organise training for the nodal teachers, regarding eyes and dental care of the students.

The gathering was also informed that awareness, regarding dengue disease, was being created by the newly-constituted teams of the health department and the municipal corporation through door-to-door visits to ensure that the spread of dengue disease is checked in the ensuing dengue season.

The participants were also told that under the revised national TB control programme (RNTCP), it had been made mandatory for the health providers to notify the district health authorities about every tuberculosis case so that no such case was left unaccounted and untreated. 

Bathinda, May 15
Members of the DAV College Retired Teachers Association, Punjab, will not vote/support and would rather oppose the nominee of the DAV College managing committee in the Punjab University senate election, to be held in September, 2012.

This was proposed by Prof Rajnish Kumar, president of the association at the association’s maiden convention held at the PGSD College for Women, Jalandhar recently.

Retired teachers of DAV Colleges of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Batala, Nakodar, Dasuya, Abohar, Malout and Bathinda participated in the convention.

It was also decided that the association will approach DPI Colleges, Punjab, to withhold the grant of all DAV Colleges of Punjab since the colleges were violating the direction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court with regard to the payment of retiral benefits to the retired teachers.

The association also announced that by using the RTI Act, its general secretary would seek information with respect to unnecessary expenditure done by the principals of the colleges and administrative charges being paid to the managing committee, from the principal of different DAV Colleges of Punjab.

Prof Satish Kumar, general secretary, pointed out the DAV management was adopting means to delay gratuity and leave encashment, which according to the HC was the liability of the management.

While all the other colleges affiliated to Punjabi University, Patiala, are encashing leaves w.e.f. January 1, 1990, the DAV College, Bathinda, which is also affiliated to the University, the leave encashment has not been implemented. Similar is the case with the DAV Colleges affiliated to the GNDU, Amritsar.

The Association demanded that the leave encashment be done according to a uniform pattern and a uniform cut-off date in all colleges affiliated to different universities.

The members of the union alleged that the gratuity, which has been enhanced from 3.5 lakh to 10 lakh, w.e.f. January 1, 2006, was being denied to the DAV teachers who retired between January 1, 2006 and July 31, 2009.

The members said some of the teachers, who retired after this date, were not been paid the enhanced gratuity while all the teachers who retired from government colleges had got enhanced gratuity.

Talking about the arrears of the revision of grades w.e.f. January 1, 2006, Kumar said the Punjab government was yet to claim the amount of 359 crore from the centre as 80 per cent of the amount of the arrears was to be paid by the centre.

Prof. Satish Tandon of DAV College, Jalandhar (convenor, GNDU area), Prof IK Sukheja of DAV College, Bathinda (convenor, Punjabi University area), Prof YP Makkar of DAV College, Malout (convenor, Punjab University) also spoke and elaborated on the demands of the association.

It was unanimously decided that the convenors would write to the vice-chancellors of their respective universities highlighting the demands of the association and would also point out how various DAV Colleges were flouting the university rules.

The association members appreciated the gesture of the management and the principal of the PGSD College for Women for giving the conference hall to the association to hold the convention. Interestingly, The union was not granted permission to hold the convention at DAV College, Jalandhar. 

Bathinda, May 15
Despite tall claims of the civic authorities to check the stray cattle menace, there seems to be no letup.

A large number of stray cattle can be spotted any time of the day on almost all the busy intersections of the city roads.

Despite the rising number of deaths due to road accidents caused by the stray cattle, hardly any move has been initiated by the district administration or the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda, to rein in the stray cattle.

Expressing concern over the rising number of cattle in the city, Mayor Baljit Singh Beer Behman said the process of shifting the animals was underway.

“We are planning to purchase a vehicle in which the animals could be shifted. Earlier, we had shifted many animals to a dera at Roomi Wala village and now we are planning to shift these animals to Faridkot as well,” he said.

The Mayor added that the farmers from nearby villages left these animals in the cities to save their crop. “Farmers, in their bid to get rid of the animals, bring and leave them in the city areas and add to the chaos on the city roads which also lead to road accidents,” the mayor said.

The three cattle sheds in the city are filled to their capacity and now there is no room to adjust more cattle in the sheds.

Non-availability of fodder due to fund crunch has also proved to be instrumental in increasing the number of stray cattle on city roads.

A visit to the Rose Garden Chowk, Bibi Wala Road, Tinkoni, Mansa road, Dabwali road, Multania road, Parasram Nagar and various other points revealed that the cattle move around leisurely, without any check.

Manveer, a victim of road accident due to stray cattle, said his car collided with a black bull near Bibi Wala Chowk two months ago and his daughter, who was sitting on the front seat, was seriously injured.

“The accident took place at around 9.30 pm when I failed to notice the bull standing in front of the car. The windscreen was completely damaged and my daughter’s head hit the windowpane,” he said.

He added that the bull, roaming freely on the road, might have injured many more people.

Sukhveer Singh of Ajit Road, another victim of cattle menace, said it has become quite difficult to walk on the roads especially during the morning and evening hours.

He said dumping of garbage by the roadsides, encroachments on roads has led to more accidents.

While the cattle remain stationed around the garbage, the encroachments on the roads leave little space for the commuters to drive.

The Ajit Road residents and victims of the road accident blamed lack of a pro-active approach by the authorities concerned, wrong policies of the Punjab Government and the local authorities behind the rising number of deaths due to road accidents caused by stray cattle.

Bathinda, May 15
The deputy commissioner-cum-chairman of operation and maintenance society, Bathinda, Kamal Kishore Yadav today formed four committees to maintain the district administrative complex (DAC) in a smooth manner and provide facilities to the people, visiting the district administrative complex to get their work done at the various offices.

These committees will look after the arrangements, relating to sanitation, drinking water, electricity, plantation, sitting chairs for common masses, and other such aspects at the district administrative complex. These committees were formed at a meeting of the operation and maintenance society, Bathinda. In this meeting, besides others, Bathinda SDM Rambir and district transport officer Bhupinder Mohan Singh also took part.

The deputy commissioner said the district town planner would prepare a plan for improving the look of the district administrative complex while the committees would function for making other arrangements. He said after the issuance of clearance certificate about the works by these committees, payment would be made to the contactor, engaged for executing the works.

In the sanitation committee, the district revenue officer, executive engineer (Public health) and assistant commissioner (municipal corporation) have been included.

In the electricity and lighting committee, the executive engineer of the electricity wing of Public Works Department, the executive engineer (Powercom) and other officials have been included.

Bathinda, May 15
The Hotel, Restaurants and Resorts Association, Bathinda, hosted a felicitation ceremony for the Punjab Education Minister, Sikander Singh Maluka recently.

While addressing the gathering, the president of the association, Satish Arora, raised the issue of promoting tourism in the region. Pointing out that the tourism department had already received funds for setting up a tourist information centre, he asked why the department was delaying the process.

He raised the demand for starting the tourist information centre at the earliest.

He also requested that permission be granted for starting gaming activities near the thermal lakes to give tourism in the area a much needed shot in the arm. Sikander Singh Maluka assured the association that the government would look into their demands and would soon start work on it.

Also present on the occasion were the head of the Punjab Beopar Mandal, Rajendra Kumar, Mandal's city president, Janak Raj Garg and the association's general secretary, Anil Thakur, among others. 

Bathinda, May 15
The SC/BC Adhyapak Union, Bathinda, under the presidentship of Pawan Kumar Multania, has requested the Punjab Education Minister, Sikander Singh Maluka, to make sure that the vacant posts of principals in the state's government schools were filled at the earliest.

In a press statement released here today, the union said if the government wanted to unlift the standard of education in its school, it should fill the 550 vacant posts of principals in the government schools in Punjab.

The union also argued that those teachers who were promoted to the posts of lecturers in the year 1993 were yet to be promoted to the posts of principals while those who became lecturers in the later years have already been promoted.

It also demanded that there should be 3 per cent quota for the physically-disabled lecturers and under this quota the lecturers should be promoted.

Talking about the Departmental Promotion Committee, the union alleged that the committee had conducted a meeting for filling 226 posts of principals by promoting lecturers but the education department took out a list of only 116 names.

The union has demanded that the education department bring out another list bearing the names for the remaining 110 posts that have been lying vacant in the schools. 

Bathinda, May 15
After the environment and natural farming festival organised at the Teachers' Home here from May 11 to 13, the Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM) believes that there is a consensus that environmental and health crisis must reflect in the farmers’ movements and kisan unions must support natural farming.

The KVM will organise the next Kudrati Kheti-Vatavaran Utsav in October this year at Jalandhar.

This information was given at a press conference jointly addressed by Umendra Dutt, executive director, KVM, Dr GPI Singh, convener, Environmental Health Action group and Director, Adesh Medical College, Bathinda and Hartej Singh Mehta, vice-president, KVM.

It was also informed that a separate indigenous seed festival and farmer owned seeds shall be organised before the next cropping season.

The organizers were happy at the response, particularly to the organic sales counters. Organic produce worth over Rs 1 lakh was sold at the fest.

It was also informed that the KVM will shortly formalize its marketing network through producer companies of farmers and their own marketing systems.

Bathinda, May 15
A junior engineer, employed with the Powercom, was booked by the police today for negligence in duty which resulted in injuries to a villager.

In his complaint to the police, Kewal Singh of Jeewan Singhwala village said he had informed the Powercom authorities about the live electric wires passing through his agricultural fields.

However, no action was initiated in this regard despite informing the authorities many times.

The complainant added that he received injuries after he came in contact with the live wires and had to be hospitalised.

The matter was brought to the notice of police and a case was registered in this regard against the erring JE, Karamjit Singh, employed at Kotshamir Grid. A case under the section 337 of the IPC has been registered against him. No arrests have been made by the police so far.

Bathinda, May 15
Three persons and some unidentified women have been booked by the police for beating Kewal Singh of Lelewala village. The accused have been identified as Baljeet Singh, Jagjeet Singh both brothers, Major Singh and some unidentified women.

A case under Sections 324, 323, 342, 148 and 149 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Talwandi Sabo police station.

In another similar incident, seven persons have been booked by the police for beating up Gurmel Singh of village Raike Kalan village. Gurmel accused Babu Singh, Toli Singh, Kaka Singh, Pappu Singh, sons of Buta Singh and some unidentified persons.