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F’kot jail drags its feet on paying power bills
Funds for repair of Mukt-e-Minar
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Army jawan dies while rescuing brother
MC chief’s residence gheraoed
Today’s India is not what we fought for: Freedom fighter
Amar Singh Sukhija was in jail with Giani Zail Singh.
ML Dhingra remembered
Abandoned girl child dies
Baby girl found in Gidderbaha
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F’kot jail drags its feet on paying power bills
Faridkot, August 17 In the last 10 months, after the construction of a new jail in Faridkot, which houses over 1700 inmates, the jail authorities have not paid even a single electricity bill to the Powercom. Because of this, the electricity bill has now accumulated to over Rs 52 lakh and the Powercom authorities are ‘helplessly’ sending reminders, one after the other. If the jail authorities are to be believed, Rs 25 lakh of the Rs 52 lakh electricity bill is the liability of the construction company which was given the task to construct the jail, spread over an area of 72 acres. “When the building was handed over to the jail department, the construction company had already used electricity worth Rs 25 lakh for various construction work. It is now the responsibility of the construction company to pay this amount and the remaining Rs 27 lakh is the financial obligation of the jail department,” said Tejinder Singh Maur, Jail Superintendent. However, a senior official at the Omaxe Ltd., India’s leading real estate company, which constructed the jail building at a cost of over Rs 112.44 crore, said the company has nothing to do with the payment of electricity bills. “During the construction work, our company never relied on electricity from Powercom. We have our own big generator sets for uninterrupted power supply,” said the company’s official. Caught in this dispute, the Powercom authorities are time and again sending reminders to the jail department and apprising their higher authorities of the need for necessary action. “The Powercom had already issued a notice to the local jail authorities. The electricity connection is in the name of the jail superintendent. We are waiting for the directions from the higher authorities,” said Daljit Singh, Executive Engineer, Powercom in Faridkot. It is not just the electricity bills. The Faridkot jail owns over Rs 25 lakh in unpaid bills for vegetables and grocery items. About this unpaid amount, Tejinder Maur, the jail superintendent, said as the vegetable and grocery firms had not provided their value added tax (VAT) number on their bills, so it led to the delay in the payment. |
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Funds for repair of Mukt-e-Minar
Muktsar, August 17 Deputy Commissioner Paramjit Singh said a proposal had been sent for granting of funds for the immediate repair of these religious monuments, which has been finally approved. “A sum of nearly Rs 2.34 lakh has been sanctioned to restore the glory of these monuments. The officials of Markfed would utilise the funds to repair these monuments,” said Paramjit Singh. It may be mentioned that the Mukt-e-Minar, located adjacent to the District Administrative Complex (DAC) was built after spending nearly Rs 5 crore in February 2005 on the 301st martyrdom day of the ‘muktas’. But, due to its poor upkeep, not only the rings girdled with the ‘khanda’ had rusted, the complex had also turned into a haven for the drug addicts. Even the gates built in the memory of ‘muktas’ were facing defacement. |
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Army jawan dies while rescuing brother
Abohar, August 17 Ramesh was presently posted with the Grenadier Regiment at Kapurthala. As per available information, Inderaj Ghotia, the elder brother of the Army jawan, had entered the deep septic tank to bring out the gold locket of his mother. As he was trapped, his neighbour Ishwer Chander, along with Ramesh Kumar, entered the tank to rescue him. As none came out, scores of villagers thronged the place and dragged Ishwer Chander out A police official, BR Meena, who reached the spot with other cops, said an ambulance was called in to shift the rescued persons to the civil hospital but the Army jawan had died by then due to asphyxiation. Green Social Welfare Force volunteers from Sidhmukh succeeded in dragging out the Army jawan later using a JCB machine. The bodies of the deceased were cremated after conducting an autopsy. |
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Muktsar, August 17 A demonstrator, Parampal Kaur, said, “We had brought the matter to the notice of Municipal Council authorities a number of times, but to no avail. So finally, we staged a dharna and raised slogans against its president.” Meanwhile, senior vice-president of Municipal Council, Satpal Pathela, arrived and pacified the protesters. — TNS |
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Today’s India is not what we fought for: Freedom fighter
Faridkot, August 17 Before Independence, the Praja Mandal Movement fought against feudal princes and the British administration for the rights of the people. Amar Singh Sukhija, a close associate of Giani Zail Singh in Faridkot, feels that today’s India is not the nation of their dreams. He is deeply troubled by the all-pervading corruption. In the last 66 years, Sukhija never availed of any benefit as a freedom fighter. No pension, no reservation for his children. His logic is simple: “My participation in the struggle for freedom was not aimed at getting any benefit. It was due to a patriotic chip in my system that got activated at that time,” he said. But in his twilight years, he regrets that corruption has increased and some like Anna Hazare, who is fighting for a strong Lokpal to check corruption, is being demoralised. “In the dusk of my life, I see no ray of hope. The country is leaderless. In politics today, there is no one who is above suspicion like Caesar’s wife. Our political leaders are suspected of wrongdoings,” laments Sukhija. “If earlier it was the British who were plundering us, today it is the desi Angrej. Many of those who are ruling us today, were the tutelage of British during our fight for freedom,” says
Sukhija. |
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Abohar, August 17 This was hailed as one of the first acts of revolution in the Indian independence movement in the 20th century. During a function held at Sawan Public School here, principal Savita Ahuja was followed by teachers and scores of students in remembering the great martyr. — OC |
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Abohar, August 17 The girl was found near the city bypass and was immediately shifted to the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital. As the hospital did not have a paediatrician, the doctors advised the NGO to shift the child to a private clinic. The child, who was suffering from a problem in respiration system, was admitted to the Jyoti Nursing Home. Unfortunately, she could not survive the disease, the doctors said. — OC |
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Muktsar, August 17 Davinder Singh, SHO, Gidderbaha police station, said, “The baby was found wrapped in clothes. The residents of Tilak Nagar informed us about the baby lying unattended on the road.” A case has been registered and investigations are on, the police said. — TNS |
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The nation marched into its 66th year of independence. As a ritual, the Tricolour was unfurled at various places. But for 89-year-old Amar Singh
Sukhija, a freedom fighter who spent many months in jail with Giani Zail Singh, former President of India, during the Praja Mandal Movement before Independence, this is not the India that he had dreamt of.
