Bathinda, August 21
The staff of the Red Cross De-addiction Centre and Methadone Centre, located on the premises of the Civil Hospital here, has not bee paid salaries for the past three months.

Meant to take addicts on the path of de-addiction, the employees at these centres now find their motivation flagging.

The Methadone Centre, which is among the five such centres in the country, has been functioning since February this year.

A UNODC project, the centre is run daily even on holidays, irrespective of the weather conditions.

"This is because the centre is meant for intravenous drug users who are put on a dose of methadone to wean them away from drugs. For one year, they have to be administered methadone without skipping it for a single day. This is why we have to be here, no matter what happens," said an employee while explaining the work at the centre. Currently, the centre has 57 patients visiting regularly.

The same set of employees is also running the 25-bed de-addiction centre where there are a number of patients from places as far away as Rajasthan.

The staff last got their salary in the month of April. "After that, we haven't got even a single penny. All of us are married and we have responsibilities to shoulder. There is no motivation left and at times we feel like leaving the job," confessed one of the employees.

All the employees are overworked and have long duration of working hours. With no salaries coming, the in-charge of the centre has written to the Deputy Commissioner, who is the chairman, Red Cross Society as well as to the Civil Surgeon a number of times. It is learnt that the in-charge has even stated that the centre can not run if such conditions persist.

Sources said a venture of the Red Cross Society, the Chandigarh-based Society for Service to Voluntary Agencies (SOSVA-N), Punjab, was earlier funding the centre. Also, the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery management was donating Rs 2.40 lakh every year.

The administrative set-up was with the Red Cross, while the SOSVA funded the project.

However, the SOSVA stopped funding the project this year. The Chairman, Red Cross, then wrote to the management of the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery to take over the project and provide complete funding.

"The refinery gave a cheque to the Red Cross in April on the basis of which we were given the salaries. However, no money came after that," added another employee. Secretary, Red Cross, JR Goyal said the refinery would soon give more aid and all salaries would be paid.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery said it was supposed to give the cheque for further grant today, but since the Deputy Commissioner was out of station, the cheque could not be given. "We just provide the funds and it is up to the discretion of the Red Cross Society on ways to use it. We are not aware that the salary is completely dependent on us," he added.

However, the employees laid emphasis on streamlining and regularising the salary disbursal procedure so that they do not face any problems.

Bathinda, August 21
Irate over the inefficient working of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB), the residents of Paras Ram Nagar locked the sewer disposal machinery room and blocked traffic in the area for over an hour at around 9 am.

For the last two months, the area beyond the railway track, especially Paras Ram Nagar and Partap Nagar, are facing the problem of overflowing sewerages. People from all walks of life, including shopkeepers, local residents and a municipal councilor, staged dharna against the officials. The commuters had to face a lot of problems due to the dharna with traffic getting blocked till the railway underbridge.

The PWSSB officials swung into action. Workers reached the spot and immediately cleared the places where the sewer lines were blocked. At Bhagat Ravidas zero number street, sewage has been overflowing for the last two months and has accumulated, posing problems for the residents. The condition worsens during the rainy season.

Former municipal councillor Vijay Kumar said the corporation as well as PWSSB officials have been informed many times about the problem. "But no one came to clear the blockage," he said. Since the area lies in ward numbers 41, 42 and 43, no councillor is ready to take the responsibility for getting the work done single-handedly.

In-charge, Canal Colony police station, UC Chawla, SDO, municipal corporation, Kishore Bansal and sewerage board SDO Ashwani Kumar reached the spot. People informed them about the problems and threatened to intensify their stir if the demand was not met.

The major sewer blockages were subsequently removed and the residents assured that the manholes too would be cleared soon.

Bathinda, August 21
Gone are the days when a Friday could make or break the career of a Bollywood actor. With filmmakers, and even actors, gearing up to release their films on days other than Friday, the proverbial 'Filmy Friday' is slowly losing its relevance.

Bathinda, August 21
Following allegations of non-cooperation levelled by the excise officials against the railway authorities, a meeting was held today to sort out the matter. The meeting was attended by the Divisional Railway Managers (DRM) of Ambala and Ferozepur and the Excise and Taxation Commissioner of Punjab.

Providing respite to the DRMs, the court of the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner-cum-Joint Director, Investigation, Faridkot and Ferozepur Divisions, also ordered the release the salary of the DRMs following the assurance of cooperation.

Rs 500 each from the salary of the DRMs and two other senior railway functionaries was attached by the commissioner's court a few days ago.

The railway officials also submitted an affidavit wherein they assured every possible help and cooperation to the excise officials as per the prescribed rules and regulations.

"We have been relieved from the orders of salary attachment following the assurance to cooperate with the excise officials. Now the matter stands resolved. All the pending issues too would be sorted out," said Naresh Goyal, DRM, Ferozepur Division, after attending the meeting.

He said railway officials agreed to provide the documents pertaining to the import of taxable goods through various trains at different railway stations. "Though we cannot provide the details of the past seven years, we did agree on giving the details of the goods imported since January 2012," Goyal said.

Excise officials had earlier accused the railway officials of not cooperating with them in revealing the quantity of taxable goods being brought by various traders through the trains at the railway stations.

The excise officials said the traders adopt train routes to evade taxes by bringing goods worth crores every year. The parcels, without supporting documents, were brought in the custody of railway officials at different railway stations and the excise officials were not authorised to inspect those goods, the excise officials had alleged.

The Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner-cum-Joint Director, Investigation, Faridkot and Ferozepur Divisions, YS Matta had directed the railway authorities to release the data pertaining to the import of goods through trains during the last seven years.

Despite repeated reminders for over two months, the railway authorities had expressed their helplessness in providing the data.

Bathinda, August 21
Upset over the illicit relationship of his daughter with her cousin and consequent suicide committed by his son-in-law on Sunday, a man with the help of his brothers allegedly killed his 33-year-old daughter on Monday.

The police has registered a case under Sections 302, 201 and 34 of the IPC against the deceased's father Mukhtiar Singh and uncles Gamdoor Singh, Falel Singh, Balvir Singh and Guru Singh, all residents of Lehra Bega village.

Earlier, the Kotfatta police had registered a case against Veerpal Kaur and her cousin Bhagwan Singh for abetment to suicide.

Veerpal Kaur was married to one Najam Singh of Bhagu village and during the past few months, she had allegedly developed illicit relationship with her own cousin.

As the news spread in Bhagu village, her husband lost his nerve and consumed some poisonous substance last week. He died in Bathinda Civil Hospital on Sunday.

Nathana SHO Sandeep Singh said the woman belonged to Lehra Bega village falling under the Nathana police station. He said the police learnt about Veerpal's murder through its sources.

"We were told that the woman has been murdered and the family members cremated the body in haste without informing many people in the village. Even relatives were not informed about the cremation ceremony," Sandeep said.

The SHO said the villagers informed the police that Veerpal's father and uncles were upset over the suicide by Najam Singh. They told the villagers that the illicit relationship between Veerpal and her own cousin was intolerable. They reportedly decided to kill the woman and brought her back to their village on Monday and disposed of the body by cremating it during night.

The police officials said no arrest had been made so far and efforts were on to nab the persons behind the alleged killing.

Bathinda, August 21
The Bathinda Local Centre of Institution of Engineers organised a seminar on alternative energy resources at Kartar Colony here today.

Chief engineer, Bathinda Zone, Brigadier SS Kahlon, presided over the seminar. The chief engineer of the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda, HP Singh, EIC RS Dhillon (retd), chief engineer (retd) Niranjan Singh, the executive director of the NFL, Bathinda, KB Verma, the director of the PTU GZS Campus Dr JS Hundal and several members of the corporate field associated with the Bathinda centre attended the event.

As many as four members deliberated on the issue through their presentations. Dr Sanjiv Aggarwal, the head of department of civil engineering, PTU GZS Campus, introduced the concept of green building to the audience. Purshotam Doijode from the MES, Bathinda, dwelt upon suggestive solar energy applications for the region.

Dr Manjeet Bansal from the PTU GZS campus spoke about the use of hydrogen power.

BK Jindal from the Punjab State power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), Bathinda, elaborated on the innovations in alternative energy resources.

Brig SS Kahlon concluded the seminar with his comments and Rakesh Verma, honorary secretary of the centre, proposed the vote of thanks.

Bathinda, August 21
Dr (Lt Col) GPI Singh joined as the vice-chancellor of the Adesh University, Bathinda. Dr Singh served as a specialist in the armed forces for nearly 28 years including faculty in Armed Forces Medical College, Pune.

He was professor and head at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Ludhiana, for about 10 years and Director Principal of Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Bathinda for three years before being designated as the Vice-Chancellor of Adesh University.

Dr HS Gill, Chairman, Adesh Foundation and Chancellor, Adesh University, said Dr Paramjit Singh has joined Adesh University as registrar.

Dr Paramjit Singh is professor of chemical engineering from Panjab University, Chandigarh, where he had the distinction of serving as the registrar for nearly 
seven years.

Bathinda, August 21
Three boys have been booked by the police for teasing and harassing a girl of Dikh village.

The complainant, a Class X student, said some boys used to tease her while she returned to her house from her school.

To avoid confrontation and further harassment at the hands of the boys, she was sent to her aunt's house on Surkhpeer road in Bathinda.

However, the three boys, namely Raju, Jeewan and Amni, reached there when her aunt was not at home and started harassing her. They tore off her clothes. However, her aunt returned in the meantime and the accused fled from the scene.