Bathinda, August 7
Members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta-Ugrahan today staged a protest against the rising input costs and lack of support by the state government to agriculture and allied businesses.

Senior vice-president of the union, Jhanda Singh Jethuke, addressed the members of the farmers’ union during the protest outside, held today outside the Mini-secretariat.

Jethuke demanded that Punjab be declared a drought-hit state and compensation to the tune of `10,000 to `25,000 be given to the affected farmers.

He said although the state government had promised eight hours of power supply to the agriculture sector, it had failed to provide uninterrupted power supply to farmers even for five hours.

“We demand continuous supply of power for at least 16 hours and the schedule of power cuts be released to the farmers in advance,” Jethuke said. He added that three hours of continuous power supply was better than eight hours of interrupted supply.

“Even before the water released in the fields covers half an acre of land, the power supply is snapped. When the supply resumes, it again takes a lot of time for the water to cover the fields thereby leaving vast areas unirrigated,” argued a farmer Jasvir Singh.

He said farmers who had lost their crops to the extended dry spell of weather should be given a compensation at the rate of `10,000 per acre. He also demanded compensation at the rate of `25,000 per acre for farmers who had lost their crops due to lack of power supply and had used diesel to run gensets.

He also demanded compensation for those working on land taken on contract basis and 50 per cent subsidy on diesel to farmers who were forced to buy the fuel for the generators.

They also demanded `10,000 as compensation for those engaged in allied industries.

The farmers’ leaders also accused the state government of minting money by charging exorbitantly for the increased power load of the electric motors installed to pump out groundwater for irrigation purposes.

They said the Powercom was charging `3,800 from the farmers who needed increased power load for the motorpump. They demanded that the power load be waived.

The farmers also submitted a memorandum to the Punjab Chief Minister in this connection through the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner.

Bathinda, August 7
When the American poet, Frederic Ogden Nash, in his popular work, “This Is Going To Hurt Just a Little Bit”, wrote about the plight of a patient sitting on a dentist’s chair, he must not have imagined that 30-year-olds would identify with his poem as they wait for their milk teeth to be extracted.

That’s true. People as old as 30 years are visiting dentists to get their milk teeth removed. Eruption of permanent teeth, a normal procedure that takes place at the age of six years in children, has started happening in early thirties and in some case, it has totally lost its significance.

“We have a large number of people in their early thirties, especially brides-to-be, who come with the problem of no permanent teeth to replace their milk teeth, which begin to unhinge,” said the senior dentist at Civil Hospital, Dr Naresh Singla.

Holding junk and processed foods responsible for the late eruption of permanent teeth, Dr Singla said children these days make least use of their teeth.

“Mastication (chewing) is one habit that makes the jaws exercise the most. Sadly enough, our children don’t know how to suck at the nodes of sugarcane or how to relish a corn cob, which taxes their oral health when they grow up,” he said.

Private practitioner Dr Dheeraj Dixit said he is treating an engineering student who lost her milk tooth recently, but a permanent tooth did not replace it.

“We opted for X-rays and internal examination, but could not found any trace of the permanent tooth. Now, we have decided to go in for false tooth or capping,” he added.

Most of the parents do not care about their children’s milk teeth and wake up to the problem at the time of the marriage of their children. This explains the reason behind an increased number of young girls opting for orthodontistry to get that beautiful smile on their big day.

Orthodontist Dr Pritesh Singla, who has done his post-graduation from Vidarbha, says he has seen more number of aged people with their milk teeth intact in Punjab than in Vidarbha (Maharashtra).

“In many cases even genes are to be blamed. A student at the Adesh Medical College has two of her permanent teeth missing. When we studied her case history, we found that not only her mother but her maternal grandfather also had same kind of missing set of teeth,” he added.

When to be alert?

• The milk teeth start falling from the age of 6 years and permanent denture replaces milk one till the end of 12 years. Parents are advised to take their children to orthodontist from 6 years onwards to ensure that permanent teeth start erupting at right age and if needed, intervention can be provided early.
• Dentists advise avoiding processed foods such as noodles, burgers, idlis, dosas and other flours that are ground as paste and then cooked.
• Children should be given sugarcane, raw carrot, maize cob, grams and peanuts. Instead of cutting fruits like apples and pears into pieces, children should be given whole fruit to gnaw at.

Bathinda, August 7
The schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have been directed by the board to observe a health and wellness week to promote healthy eating habits among the students.

In a communiqué to the all heads of schools affiliated to CBSE on April 24, the director (training), CBSE, had mentioned that to promote healthy eating habits amongst students, schools should form health and wellness clubs as part of the comprehensive school health programme.

The Board also suggested that carbonated drinks and aerated beverages available in the school canteens should be replaced with juices and dairy products which are healthier.

Taking an initiative, the St Xavier’s School, Bathinda, is celebrating the health and wellness week from August 21 to August 25. The week will be observed in the kindergarten as well as the senior section of the school.

During the week-long celebration, the students will be acquainted with the importance of healthy eating habits, and the nitritional values of fruits and vegetables.

Meanwhile, Silver Oaks School has planned to celebrate the week in the month of September, after the exams, principal Neelam Verma told Bathinda Tribune.

Bathinda, August 7
A 22-year-old youth, working as a truck cleaner, was found dead in the water works near the Railway Colony. The deceased has been identified as Mani, a resident of Partap Nagar.

Officials from the Canal Colony police station rushed to the spot and helped in fishing out the body. Police said an investigation would be initiated to ascertain the reason behind the death of the youth.

A case in this connection has been registered. — TNS

District and Sessions Judge SK Aggarwal flagging off the mobile van for legal literacy programme in Bathinda on Tuesday. A Tribune photograph

Bathinda, August 7
District and Sessions Judge SK Aggarwal flagged off the mobile van for legal literacy programme in the district. The van will act as a free legal aid clinic for various areas in the district. The van will make people aware of the MGNREGA scheme and facilities like the legal aid clinic, student legal literacy club and the Permanent Lok Adalat (public utility services).

Aggarwal said teams of advocates and paralegal volunteer will hold awareness camps in different villages and towns. "The main motive is to make people aware that the government offers free legal services to the downtrodden and there are many other ways to decide the cases rather than sweating them out in the courts," he said.

The awareness drive will continue till August 8. The District and Sessions judge called upon people to take the maximum advantage of facilities like mediation centres established in the district courts.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included the secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Kanwaljit Singh besides the lawyers. Kanwaljit Singh said camps would be held in Talwandi Sabo and Phool besides villages, schools, colleges and other places.

Bathinda, August 7
A woman sitting on hunger strike demanding the arrest of her husband and in-laws today called off her stir following an assurance by a DSP rank police official. High drama prevailed today outside the Mini-secretariat when the woman accused the district police of delaying the arrest of the accused. The woman, Nisha Rani of Chandsar Basti, had been demanding the arrest of her in-laws and was sitting on hunger strike since Monday morning. Meanwhile, local Congress leaders including former MLA Harminder Singh Jassi, have demanded justice for the woman.