Education officer dies
Amritsar, July 19
Noted writer, educationist and Deputy District Education Officer (Elementary), Jasbir Singh Jass, died of a cardiac arrest late on Wednesday evening. His wife Ajit Kaur has alleged that the district DEO is responsible for his death. She alleged that her husband died due to the extreme mental pressure exerted by the accused on her husband over a long period of time.

Amritsar, July 19
A building in the Gwalmandi area, which houses high revenue earning District Transport Office and District Food and Civil Supplies Office, is a perfect picture of neglect.

These offices don’t just lack requisite infrastructure, but incidents of vehicle-lifting and attempts of snatching haunt government employees here. Even employees of an investigating agency, which has an office in the building, fall prey to anti-social elements.

While stray dogs and pigs can be seen taking a “stroll” in the building complex, employees say they have even spotted snakes in the complex. “Now with the monsoons arriving, the kutcha ground in the front and rear side of the complex will turn into a pool and we will be left to wade through the water-logged ground to reach the offices,” said an employee of food and civil supplies office.

The rooms in these offices are so congested that it often leads to suffocation. A large number of people visit these two offices. The condition gets worse during power shutdowns, said another employee. Adding to the woes of the employees, there is no proper drinking water facility in the building, said an employee of district transport office. “The employees in the offices contributed from there own pockets to install water purifier and cooler when our repeated requests for the same fell in deaf ears,” said another employee. “The government implemented the Right to Service Act recently, but it forgot to provide requisite infrastructure here” employees said.

Wild growth of congress grass and other weeds make it dangerous for employees.

Amritsar, July 19
The district administration has ordered all the institutions and departments under its jurisdiction to put up 'no smoking area' boards in their premises by July 24 failing which action would be taken against them. An inspection team of the state government is scheduled to arrive in city during the first week of August. The administration has announced that the city would be smoke-free by August 15.

Addressing a meeting of the officials Additional Deputy Commissioner Supreet Singh Gulati said, "A task force of the administration would challan those found smoking at public places. Even the shops selling tobacco products illegally would be taken to task."

He said public places would be covered with banners and posters to urge the general public not to smoke at these places. He said the administration aims to make the city smoke-free by August 8. He said the state inspection team is likely to declare the city smoke-free by August 15. The process was initiated by Punjab State Tobacco Control Cell through a letter during the first week of June.

As per the conditions laid down by the cell, every department in the city must have a display board warning the public against smoking. The cell had also asked the administration to strictly implement the laws to control sale and consumption of tobacco and tobacco products. The cell has asked the administration to get the names and addresses of the officials authorised to listen to the complaints in each office on the boards.

Civil Surgeon, Amritsar, Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai said, “The use of tobacco in public would be strictly curbed as passive smoking too is a cause of great concern.” 

Amritsar, July 19
The state government has appointed Deputy Commissioner as administrator of the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT). The move is not likely to prove effective immediately as the Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal is on leave for a training programme. The AIT authorities received the written order, dated July 18, from the Local Body office in Chandigarh today. The charge has been delegated to the Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, Priyank Bharti, who visits the city twice a week. He is not likely to be burdened with another additional charge.

A senior AIT official, on the condition of anonymity, said the Trust has taken up various infrastructural development works in the city while many of its own schemes are behind schedule. In this scenario, the appointment of an administrator is a welcome step but additional charge would not meet the purpose. The AIT needs a full-time administrator to clear the backlog of projects.

As per the rules of the department of Local Bodies, the term of a chairman is for two years and powers of finance above Rs 10,000, approval and disapproval of projects vest with him. Officials of contractors and private concerns which have been engaged in various development works in the city complain that their projects are getting delayed in the absence of a chairman. They said they require approvals from the chairman and delay of more than 25 days means financial penalty to the Trust as per the agreement.

Entry for all India tenders for designs of the multi-purpose sports complex ended on June 28. The date for the meeting of the consultancy firms to present a detailed project report of these designs can not be fixed since the chairman is a key member.

Amritsar, July 19
Noted writer, educationist and Deputy District Education Officer (Elementary), Jasbir Singh Jass, died of a cardiac arrest late on Wednesday evening. His wife Ajit Kaur has alleged that the district DEO is responsible for his death. She alleged that her husband died due to the extreme mental pressure exerted by the accused on her husband over a long period of time.

Amritsar, July 19
Historic Town Hall has virtually been taken over by encroachers. The building houses the MC office and other public utility offices. Temporary hutments have been erected in the premises. Strategically located near the Golden Temple, the Town Hall is also important from tourism point of view. It was for this reason that the Department of Tourism decided to have it as the starting point for its much-publicised Heritage Walk. The building is a reminder of the colonial rule.

A majority of the encroachers are lemonade vendors who have parked their rehris her permanently. Their business hours stretch from 8 in the morning till late in the evening.

One of the vendors said, “The administration has not made any arrangement of drinking water here, despite it being the starting point for the Heritage Walk. We are at least providing the visitors with the option to have lemonade at Rs 10 per glass.”

Another vendor said, “Who can stop us from using this place, they are our avid clientele who enjoy ‘almost free’ drinks for letting us be here.” The vendors hailing from other states have erected tarpaulin sheds for their families in the premises.”

The entrance of the building has been encroached upon by parking contractors who have even tied temporarily strings to facilitate parking of two wheelers. They have encroached parking space of the Mayor and his staff. The lemonade vendors are the latest addition to the list of encroachers. Meanwhile, the residents feel that due to haphazard parking within the complex coupled with such illegal encroachments, fire tenders cannot enter here in case of an emergency.

Dharampal Gupta, AMC Commissioner said, “It must have been a recent development. It is a total nuisance and an illegal practice. The encroachments will soon be removed.

Amritsar, July 19
A majority of the patients examined at the free dental fortnight check-up camp at Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital suffer from dental caries. The desease is responsible for tooth decay. As many as 350 patients have been examined during the fortnight so far.

The officiating District Dental Health Officer Dr Jasmine said, “Of the total 350 patients examined till date at least 45 per cent were found suffering from dental caries.” She said people must brush their teeth twice a day to keep them healthy. She said wrong technique of brushing the teeth can cause scratches in between the gums and teeth, which can also act as a breeding ground for germs. “Everybody should develop the habit to gargle mouth with water after every meal. It is necessary every time we eat something,” she said.

After dental caries, a maximum number of patients were found suffering from gum diseases. “We have discovered that people are suffering from multiple gum diseases,” she said. Most of the problems of stomach and food pipe are a result of unhealthy teeth.