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MGNREGA: Admn cuts a sorry figure
Police staff living in dingy, filthy conditions
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Is Jalandhar equipped enough?
Scheme to attract hockey spectators
Unaffiliated primary schools can apply for affiliation till Oct 12
Action against unapproved colonies: Colonisers meet MCJ Commissioner
Woman alleges torture by husband, in-laws
Three killed in road mishaps
Workshop on drunk driving held
BJP Mahila Morcha to hold protest on Friday
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MGNREGA: Admn cuts a sorry figure
Jalandhar, October 6 The flagship programme of the Central Government has completely been given a dark corner by the district administration since its launch here. The projects initiated by the administration in different blocks had been facing difficulty, with workers seeking employment under the scheme levelling various allegations against the executing authorities. There were protests by job seekers in Nakodar and Mehatpur blocks last year who had alleged the use of machinery instead of manual labour by the authorities concerned. Since the chances of money embezzlement were negligible, Tarsem Peter, president of the Pendu Mazdoor Union, Punjab, alleged that neither bureaucrats nor sarpanches, associated with the government, were interested in implementing the scheme. Hundreds of employment seekers in different blocks were being ignored by the administration, as they had not been issued job cards as yet, he claimed. Interestingly, in certain villages, panchayats officials have taken job cards of scores of job seekers in their possession, denying them employment, Peter alleged. Sources in the administration revealed that the district administration had been focusing on the renovation of traditional water bodies, land development, rural connectivity and flood-control protection under the projects taken up under the MGNREGA in its 11 blocks comprising Adampur, Bhogpur, Jalandhar (West), Jalandhar (East), Lohian, Mehatpur, Nakodar, Nurmehal, Phillaur, Rurka Kalan and Shahkot. Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Puneet Bhardwaj admitted that being an NRI belt, no big projects were taken up under the scheme as the administration could give employment to only 5,000 job card holders. Playing safe, Bhardwaj, however, claimed that two villages - Seechewal and Singha - were selected by the administration, but the representatives preferred to visit Wadala Johal village in Amritsar district, where a number of projects had been taken up under the MGNREGA scheme, he added. “People in the district do not want to work for daily wages of just Rs 166 a day, so this scheme failed to work,” the ADC added.
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Police staff living in dingy, filthy conditions
Jalandhar, October 6 An example of the conditions under which employees of the Punjab police are living is a three-storyed building located in the Jalandhar police lines opposite the ISBT. Pitiable and dingy conditions of the living quarters of police personnel at the police lines here are enough to highlight the carelessness of the home department of the state. A visit to the building by a Tribune team revealed basic facilities almost lacking at the place. One could sense the plight of the living conditions of police personnel at the entrance to this three-storeyed building. As one moves further, the sorry plight of the building itself gets unfolded. It was found that in a room, where two or three persons can live comfortably, the department has bundled about 10 police personnel and in almost all rooms, policemen are living like this only. The prevalence of insanitary and unhygienic conditions in toilets and bathrooms of these living quarters is another serious issue. Though there is no signboard outside toilets or bathrooms, foul and nasty smell from a distance can easily give the judgement that one is standing near to them. At many spots, loose and hanging naked electrical wires were also noticed, which may put the lives of public guards to risk. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarter) Navjot Singh Mahal said earlier the plight of the building was improved. If any problem persists, same would also be looked into soon.
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Is Jalandhar equipped enough?
Jalandhar, October 6 But the infrastructure available with the Animal Husbandry (AH) or the Forest Department isn’t adequate for a district which sometimes gets five to 10 stray animals during the dry season (when There is only one tranquillising gun available in the district to deal with a violent or berserk animal, be it wild, domesticated or
stray. Currently, the only department possessing the tranquillising gun is the AH department. The forest department does not have any "dedicated" equipment or veterinary staff to deal with such emergencies, even though experts say seeing Jalandhar’s need, a dedicated forest team trained in veterinary work and possessing all infrastructure is certainly
required. While there are many districts where local NGO experts help out the government in such tasks, in Jalandhar, the total lack of non-governmental experts also causes the forest department’s heavy reliance on the AH
Department. The AH department only has one tranquillising gun and a few reusable needles which were being used when an animal needed to be tranquillised.
The same gun was being cleaned every time after use and then being used
again. And if two contingencies happened in the same day, the department had no choice but to first clean the gun and then use
it. Sources said the department needs at least another long-shot rifle because tranquillising an animal running around at a distance required a more sophisticated
weapon. Director Inderjit Singh Gumman, however, said the one tranquillising gun was enough to tackle the needs of the department and they also kept on
making demands for updating equipment from time to time. “It’s extremely costly and imported equipment and it takes some time for the new equipment to arrive after we place our demand. The gun costs Rs 2 lakh or more and a single needle costs Rs 3,500. But they are adequately serving the purpose for the moment. We also have all the requisite drugs for the purpose.”
Forest Department The Forest Department is dependent on the AH department to tackle an emergency. While the AH department is authorised only to deal with situations involving livestock etc, it has no choice but to tackle situations involving wild animals too, because the forest department has no tranquillising guns or veterinary experts of its own close by (in the
district). The other nearest sources where a tranquillising gun or a trained veterinary expert is available are at least 30 to 40 minutes away - enough time for damage to be done.
These places are - either the Tiger Safari at Lodhuwal village in Phillaur, near Ludhiana or the wildlife division at Hoshairpur. However, the forest department says it is competent to deal with any eventuality. Divisional Forest Officer Vishal Chauhan said, “While we don’t deal with situations involving livestock, we are competent to tackle wild animals. Our first line of defence, while tackling such animals, is mechanical or hand-held traps. Our first priority is to catch them for which we have trained staff
and ample equipment comprising nets, traps, cages etc.” “Calling in of trained medical experts is only the second line of defence which is only done when required. We call in veterinary experts trained at Chatbir Zoo either from the Tiger Safari (at Lodhuwal village) or inform the Chief Wildlife Warden and are provided veterinary experts from Hoshiarpur. These teams do not take more than 30 to 40 minutes to come in. Plus, usually in Jalandhar, only small wild animals stray in.”
Notably, Chauhan is responsible for three districts, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr, and the two forest centres are the only places where help can come in these three districts.
Flashback In November last year, at least five sambars strayed into the city within a span of two weeks. A few months ago, a bull went berserk in one of the city areas and injured one man. Two incidents (of two bulls going berserk), yet again, have happened in the last two
days. Forest officials say it is normal for five to 10 wild animals stray into the city during the winters or the peak (dry)
seasons. At least 15 to 20 stray wild animals have been tranquillised by the Animal Husbandry Department’s veterinary experts in the district so far (although they are
meant to deal with only livestock). While the department claims that they are trained, sources say tranquillising is a field which needs regular updates and fast advancement technological equipment and the department staff has certainly not been keeping up as much as it should be.
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Scheme to attract hockey spectators
Jalandhar, October 6 The unveiling ceremony of the Nano car and other prizes was performed today by MLAs Dr Daljit Singh Cheema (also former adviser to the Punjab Chief Minister) and Pargat Singh at a special function at Punjab Press Club today. The tournament is starting from Thursday at the local Surjit Hockey Stadium here at Burlton Park. Nano car sponsor NRI Amarjit Singh Tut, Dr Cheema and Olympian Pargat Singh jointly handed over the key of the car to Deputy Commissioner-cum-president of Surjit Hockey Society, Priyank Bharti, along with SDM-cum-organising secretary of the society, Iqbal Singh Sandhu. Dr Cheema, who is also the chief adviser of the society, said Surjit Hockey Society was doing an excellent job in uplifting the national game of the country and also creating interest among the spectators. Olympian Pargat Singh said: “Though the society is giving cash award of Rs 3.50 lakh (sponsored by US-based NRI Amolak Singh Gakhal, chairman, Gold's Gym), Rs 2.50 lakh (sponsored by Charanjit Singh Channi, chairman, CT Group) and Rs 20,000 (sponsored by Ranbir Singh Rana Tut of Victoria Garden) to the winner, runners-up and the best player of the tournament, respectively, he will recommend the case to the government that the cash prize given by the society to the finalist may be given by the Punjab Government by enhancing the present cash amount in the interest of promoting hockey in the state.” Priyank said the main idea to start the lucky draw coupon scheme was to attract and create more interest among the general public to promote the national game of hockey. The spectators would get daily lucky coupons till October 19 at the entry gate of the stadium, while players would be issued lucky coupons on the day of their first match. The organising secretary of the tournament, Iqbal Singh Sandhu, said no gate money would be charged from the spectators who would come to witness the matches. Jaswinder Singh Sangha, Satish Jain (Haveli Group), Paramjit Singh Pinta, Joginder Singh (developer), Varinder Singh Nirwal (Toronto-Canada), Manjit Singh Buta (Talhan) and Ashok Sachdeva (Luxmi Filling Station, Ludhiana), the sponsors of other prizes like motorcycles, refrigerators and LCDs, were also present on the occasion. Renowned singer Gurdas Maan would entertain the spectators before the start of the final match on October 19 at 5.50 pm onwards, he added.
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Unaffiliated primary schools can apply for affiliation till Oct 12
Jalandhar, October 6 It is imperative for the said schools to be affiliated with the government as per Section 18 (1) of the Right to Education Act (2009). But while unrecognised private schools, belonging to the said category, have been mushrooming in every nook and corner of the district, there is still a long list of such schools which haven’t bothered to apply for affiliation. While there are about 450 unaffiliated private pre-primary, primary and upper primary schools in the district, only 122 have been affiliated with the Punjab Government so far. The rest 328 schools are yet to be affiliated with the government. Ashok Grover, SSA, project coordinator, said, “While the said 328 schools have already applied for affiliation with the government, teams of the education department have started the process of verification of these schools to check whether these are functioning as per the guidelines of the RTE Act.” “However, a number of other schools have come to our notice, which are unaffiliated private primary schools but still have not applied for affiliation. The deadline has been extended keeping these schools in mind.” In case any of these schools fails to apply for affiliation or does not meet the requisite conditions of the RTE Act (2009), they will cease to function after March 31, 2013, which is the deadline for their approval. The conditions that these schools have to meet include the presence of trained staff, libraries, laboratories (science, computer etc.) and playgrounds etc in these schools.
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Action against unapproved colonies: Colonisers meet MCJ Commissioner
Jalandhar, October 6 The meeting between the colonisers and the MCJ Commissioner was facilitated in the evening by the CPS and Jalandhar north MLA KD Bhandari, whom the representatives of REBDA had met earlier in the day. Mayor Sunil Jyoti was also present in the meeting. Vinay Bublani said it was decided in the meeting to hold a discussion between the representatives of the colonisers and the MCJ regarding depositing the required fees for approving unapproved colonies. An 11-member committee of the colonisers and a five-member committee of the MCJ have been constituted for this purpose and they would discuss the matter on Thursday, he added. While REBDA general secretary Rupinder Gill said the MCJ had postponed its action against unapproved colonies for a week, the MCJ Commissioner said action against unapproved colonies would continue. REBDA president Bhupinder Singh Bhinda, its chairman SP Arora and its general secretary Rupinder Gill said in the meeting that the issue regarding regularising unapproved colonies was under consideration of the state government, so the action against such colonies should be postponed. Earlier, the representatives of the colonisers met Jalandhar north MLA KD Bhandari in the morning in this regard. Meanwhile, Gill said the colonisers of various parts of the state also met CPS Som Praksh for making a policy of regularising unapproved colonies after depositing development charges.
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Woman alleges torture by husband, in-laws
Jalandhar October 6 “My in-laws used to taunt me that my parents have not given dowry as per their demands and family status. Initially, I was subjected to mental torture but later, I was maltreated and was also thrashed. They were demanding a luxury car and an air-conditioner,” she
said. The woman further said she was not even allowed to use her dowry articles at home and many a times, she was made to live under solitary confinement at the home for long
hours. She said despite filing a complaint to the Nakodar police station, no action was taken. The woman said her father-in-law holds considerable influence in politics, which he was using to influence the police
investigation. She has urged the SSP to order the registration of a case against her in-laws. |
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Three killed in road mishaps
Nakodar, October 6 Paramjit Kaur, who sustained serious head injuries, died on the spot. The other two also sustained severe injuries and were rushed to a nearby private
hospital. In the second incident, a pedestrian was mowed down by an unidentified vehicle near Chak Miglani village here. The deceased was identified as Jinder, resident of Mujafarpur village
here. The third mishap occurred on the Nakodar-Kapurthala Road near Talwandi Selem village. Sources said a five-year-old child was hit by an unidentified speeding vehicle. The victim sustained serious head injuries and was admitted to a nearby hospital where he breathed his last. |
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Workshop on drunk driving held
Jalandhar, October 6
As many as 90 taxi drivers of the city took active part in the workshop. Road safety specialists of the NGO and traffic police personnel apprised the drivers of the drawbacks of drunk driving. A demonstration was also held to highlight the disadvantages of
over-speeding. Sumit Kumar, a local taxi driver, who took part in the workshop, said such sorts of workshops should be held continuously to educate the motorists on traffic
rules. The taxi drivers vowed before road safety experts and traffic policemen that they would never resort to over-speeding and drunk driving. —
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BJP Mahila Morcha to hold protest on Friday
Jalandhar, October 6 State president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, Renu Thapar, and its Jalandhar district president, Urmil Vaid, said a strong protest would be held against the UPA government for ending the subsidy beyond six LPG cylinders. Addressing Mahila Morcha activists at the Circuit House here today, Renu and Urmil said: “It has become very difficult for the common man to make both ends meet due to steep hike in the prices of essential commodities.” Renu said Mahila Morcha activists would hold protests in various parts of the state on October 12 as part of the nationwide demonstration by the morcha against the UPA government.
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Rs 1 crore to a Himachal Pradesh-based school where he studied during his childhood, he seems to be having no heart for the staff of his department that has been providing security cover in Punjab, living under tough
conditions.
In view of the ongoing strict action against unapproved colonies, a number of city colonisers under the aegis of the Real Estate Builders and Dealers Association
(REBDA) met Municipal Corporation Jalandhar (MCJ) Commissioner Vinay Bublani and requested him to provide some relief to
them.
The city police in collaboration with NGO Arrivesafe organised a workshop on drunk driving at BMC Chowk here
today.
A large number of taxi drivers took part in the workshop, which was part of the World Health
Organisation-sponsored RS-10 (road safety) project.
