Bathinda, January 28
If the SAD-BJP government has its way, the 67 colonies notified as illegal in the district would be legalised before March 31 this year. The government machinery has also been set in motion to frame guidelines to prevent the mushroom growth of such colonies in future.

At a meeting held with the Bathinda Estate Agents Association today, the Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Sarup Chand Singla claimed that illegal colonies, which have more than 40 per cent development, would be legalised soon.

Singla also promised that the collector rates for Bathinda will not be revised in April this year and a meeting would be held with the deputy commissioner soon wherein the revised rates would be rolled back.

Of the 67 listed illegal colonies, 44 are situated within the limits of the Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB). The Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) had declared these colonies as illegal in June last year. The list of populated colonies included even those areas that came into existence much before the Punjab Urban Development Agency (PUDA) came into existence in 1995.

Following the court orders, the government had imposed a blanket ban on the registry of land sale deeds in these colonies. Since June last year, people had been blaming the government for bringing the real estate business to a halt.

The matter was repeatedly raised at the general house meetings of the MCB with almost every municipal councillor objecting to the orders of the government. Keeping in view the MCB elections slated to be held in June this year, the regularization of the illegal colonies will be music to the ears of the colonisers as well as those affected.

Besides the real estate agents and the common man, even the government was losing a large chunk of its revenue due to the ban imposed.

The property dealers had been opposing the ban and were asking the government to formulate a policy so that the genuine customer does not shy away from the market.

Information collected reveals that till October 31, 2012, Rs 50.49 crore was collected through stamp duty and registry fees, whereas in the corresponding time period in 2011, the figure was Rs 59.07 crore. Instead of registering an increase, the income slipped by Rs 9 crore. This has dented the revenue.

In June last year, the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) had notified 67 illegal colonies in the city and given a notice of 15 days before demolishing them. The notified colonies were deemed to have violated section 20 of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act (PAPRA), 1995.

The colonisers developed these colonies without obtaining the required licence and converted their respective pieces of land into small plots and started developing illegal colonies, which is a criminal offence.

The BDA had termed such colonies as unauthorised under section 39 of the PAPRA Act and ordered the demolition of the colony within 15 days of the notice being issued on June 4.

Bathinda, January 28
A resident of Boha in Mansa is running from pillar to post to find his 16-year-old daughter, who he alleges was kidnapped by a man who is also a resident of Boha.

In a complaint to the police, Vinod Kumar said his daughter was a class XI medical student and had been living in a paying guest at Ajit road in Bathinda. She was kidnapped by the accused on June 26, 2012.

A case under sections 363-A, 366 and 120-B of the IPC was registered against the main accused Sukhjeet Singh, his parents Surinder Kaur and Harbans Singh, sister Narinder Kaur, brother Deepu and a relative Kuldeep Singh.

The case was registered at the Civil Lines police station. The girl was kidnapped near Ghorewala Chowk from where the bicycle of the girl was recovered.

The girl's father said except for the main accused and his brother, the others had been arrested by the police. Those arrested, however, managed to come out on bail. But the main accused has not been arrested and the police has also failed to recover the kidnapped girl.

The father said the police is not willing to investigate the matter properly. "We fear that our child could have been murdered and the accused might have dumped his body somewhere," the father said.

Vinod Kumar said the accused is of a criminal bent of mind and a case under various sections of the IPC has already been registered against him at Boha police station in July 2012.

The girl's father said an action committee comprising social workers from various districts of Malwa has assured the family of all possible help. He said a dharna in this regard will be held near the district administrative complex if the police failed to recover his daughter from the clutches of the kidnapper.

Bathinda, January 28
Three confirmed cases of swine flu have been detected in Bathinda district. The latest to suffer from the H1N1 virus is a resident of Barnala, who had come to the Bhucho area to attend a wedding.

"The patient suffered from symptoms of swine flu following which he was admitted to the hospital. His tests have confirmed that he is suffering from the disease," said the Civil Surgeon Dr Ajay Sahni.

Earlier, two patients were reported from the district including one who was admitted to the Adesh Medical College and another from Paras Ram Nagar.

The health officials claimed that they have initiated steps to prevent the disease from spreading. The rapid response team is visiting the households in the areas where the two local patients reside and medicines are being distributed in the neighborhood.

Besides the Civil Hospital, the doctors at the community health centres (CHC) and primary health centres (PHC), have been trained to deal with cases of swine flu and give the required medicines.

Also, a swine flu ward has been established at the Civil Hospital to quarantine the patients visiting the hospital. The health department has also issued a list of symptoms that could be a sign of the onset of swine flu.

The symptoms of swine flu include fever, cough, diarrhoea, vomiting and laboured breathing. If anyone is found suffering from any of these symptoms, he should report to the nearest government healthcare centre.

Doctors suggest that as a precaution, one should cover one’s mouth while sneezing or coughing. After touching the nose, eyes and mouth, wash your hands with soap and water.

Also, avoid going to crowded places and maintain a distance of one meter from people suffering from cough, runny nose, sneeze and fever.

One should also take complete rest, be physically fit and deal with tension effectively besides taking plenty of water and nutritious food

Doctors also suggest that there should be no physical contact with the affected patient in the form of handshake, hug or kiss.

Medicines without prescription should not be taken. Avoid spitting in the open.

For schools and colleges, it is suggested by the health officials that in case a student or staff member is found to be suffering from symptoms of swine flu, he should be advised to stay at home for 7 to 10 days and recover.

The caretakers of students in schools and colleges living in hostels are advised not to panic and wear a mask. The hostel should not be vacated.

The educational institutes should inform the nearest healthcare institute and take precautionary measures instead of closing down the institute.

Any student or staff member, who has returned from foreign tour and is found to be suffering from any of these symptoms, should be advised not to come to the school or college and go for proper treatment.

Bathinda, January 28
While the state suffers from a shortage of 38 per cent specialists and 26 per cent general doctors, not enough doctors are keen to join the state services.

The government recently sought applications for the posts of 141 general doctors and 111 specialists. However, the doctors who were selected did not join. The government repeatedly gave them a chance to join for six months. Finally, the appointments had to be cancelled and a fresh process to make the appointments is being initiated.

President of the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA) Dr Hardeep Singh said the entire recruitment process failed to yield the desired results as the doctors are disenchanted with government jobs.

"While the doctors selected are not keen to join, there is no figure of the attrition rate. The government should come out with a figure of the medicos who joined but left within six moths," he said.

The report of the task group of the Punjab Governance Reforms Commission on health and medical education says the state has 38 per cent less specialists and 26 per cent less general doctors than is required. It recommends that the specialists should be paid more than the general doctors and rural medical officers. Presently, all the doctors are drawing the same salaries.

The report lays emphasis on the urgent need to fill the vacant posts as per the state norms and increase it further as per the Indian Public Health Standards.

It has even agreed that the sanctioned staff strength in the state health sector is inadequate to provide the required services.

However, PCMS doctors said the recommendations will remain confined to paper. "The government should come out with practical reforms that are applicable. On the one hand, the government wants to revive the state health sector and on the other, it issues regressive policies such as new postgraduate eligibility criteria for admission to MD and MS courses and incomplete notification of PG increments to specialist doctors," said Dr Jagroop Singh, general secretary of the district unit of the PCMSA.

The government has increased the number of years of rural service for admission to PG courses from three to four and six years but the number of eligible, difficult and more difficult stations has been decreased.

The new rural service condition for the PG admissions has demoralised doctors serving in the rural areas. Those recruited after 2008 would be adversely affected as they will not be able to derive the benefit of the eligibility criteria, he added.

The PCMS doctors demanded that lack of assured career progression is the biggest dampener in joining the state health services. They demanded that the administrative jobs should be revived in the PCMS cadre.

At present, the medical superintendents of government medical colleges are basically teachers who have to do clinical work too besides performing the administrative tasks.

Bathinda, January 28
The Bathinda unit of the SC/BC Teachers’ Union held a meeting at the Teacher's Home today under the presidency of Swaranjit Singh, district head of the union.

Addressing the gathering, Swaranjit Singh said the newly appointed lecturers of NABARD schools have not been paid their salaries since July 2012. He said the government should ensure that the teachers are paid their salaries on timwe. He further said that SC/BC students should be given two sets of uniform each for winter and summer.

The union also expressed its concern over the reported remarks made by eminent scholar Ashis Nandi at the Jaipur book festival and said that if the allegations are found to be true, the law should be allowed to take its course.

Bathinda, January 28
Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta (Sidhupur) today took out a rally to protest against the non-redressal of the long-pending demands of farmers.

Addressing the rally, district general secretary of the union, Mukhtiar Singh Kubbe, said the Central Government was devising various ways to spell trouble for the farmers of Punjab.

The union leader said the farmers of Punjab were forced to use tubewells for drawing water as they failed to get water from the canal. He said that 70 per cent of the water of Punjab has already been distributed amongst its neighbouring states including Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Bikaner.

Senior vice president, Kaka Singh Kotra said the farmers of Punjab were so dependent on tubewells that there are nearly 14 crore tubewell connections in the state which has also lead to the drastic decline in the water table.

The leaders demanded that the ‘snatched’ water be restored to the farmers of Punjab so that the declining water table is maintained and the extra burden of power and diesel charges be lifted.

Press secretary Jagdeep Singh said the Powercom was not releasing enough electricity to the farmers of Punjab which forced the farmers to be dependent on the use of diesel.

The farmers said the Central Government had played a cruel joke with the farmers by raising the wheat price by Rs 65. The farmers said the wheat price should be fixed as per the price index or as per the Swaminathan report. The farmers added that it is important to increase the price of farmers produce as the cost of inputs for the crops has increased many folds during the past just few years. While the price of DAP, used as fertilizer, increased from Rs 400 to Rs 1200, the diesel prices too have increased many folds but there has been little increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The farmers said they would intensify their agitation if their demands were not met by the government soon.

Bathinda, January 28
Ambulance 108 Workers Union today met the Bathinda Tehsildar Subhash Mittal and submitted their charter of demands.

The drivers and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) of the union demanded that their salaries be increased as per the notification issued by the Punjab government.

They said the private company, under which the 108 ambulances were being run, is not giving them the increased salaries.

While the in-hand salaries of drivers was Rs 6,000, that of EMTs was Rs 6,700. During training period, the EMTs were told that helpers would be provided to them for first aid purposes, but no helper has been given yet.

The ambulance association threatened to launch a stir if their demands were not met and they are paid the increased salaries by January 31.

Bathinda, January 28
Guru Gobind Singh College of Education, a constituent college of Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo, organised a Red Ribbon Club workshop in the campus. Youth services Department of Punjab and AIDS Control Society, Chandigarh, collectively established the Red Ribbon Club for AIDS awareness and drugs addiction awareness in the society.

The programme was presided over by Dr Kamaljeet Singh Sidhu (assistant director, Youth Services, Bathinda). The programme was conducted under the guidance of the Vice-Chancellor of GKU, SK Ahluwalia. Dr Narinder Singh (educator UNO), Dr Surinder Kumar (District Educator) and Dr Mohan Lal (SMO, Talwandi Sabo) were the main resource persons during the workshop.

Mata Sahib Kaur Girls College, Guru Gobind Singh College of Education, Guru Gobind Singh College of Engineering & Technology, Guru Gobind Singh Polytechnic College & THK Jain College, Raman Mandi were chosen to be a part of the club.

There will be a peer group of seven members (one teacher, six students) in the colleges. The group will spread awareness about AIDS and drug addiction.

The Youth Services Department also distributed cheques of Rs 2,500 to each college. 

Bathinda, January 28
The Kaleidoscopic Club of Bathinda will be hosting a photography exhibition at the Government Rajindra College. The exhibition will be inaugurated by the Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, Kamal Kishore Yadav, on Tuesday.

The club had organised a photography competition last year and the results were announced in October. The chosen entries will be on display at the college till February 2. The exhibition will remain from 10 am to 3 pm for the college students and staff members and from 3 pm to 6 pm for the general public. 

Bathinda, January 28
The state-level meeting of Punjab Kabaddi Association was held in Bathinda today wherein Punjab Education Minister, Sikandar Singh Maluka, who is also the president of the association, laid out the strategy to make the sport drug-free.

He told the gathering that five-member committees have been formed in Malwa, Majha and Doaba to promote kabaddi as well as make it free from drugs.

Emphasis would be laid on growing association with youngsters so that they can be kept away from drug addiction, he said.

The committees will keep a watch over teams playing from district level to state level to ensure that no player is a drug addict.

He added that special efforts were being made to popularise the national-style kabaddi along with the circle-style kabbadi, which is being played in the state.

To attract more youngsters towards the national and circle-style kabaddi, district-level and state-level championship prizes have also been fixed.

Bathinda, January 28
Punjab Technical University Inter-College Zonal Cricket Championship started at the Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh Campus today.

Six teams of various engineering colleges of West Zone Pool (D) are participating in this event. The teams include Baba Hira Singh Bhathal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lehragaga; Baba Farid College of Engineering and Technology, Bathinda; Aryan College, Banur; PTU Giani Zail Singh Campus, Bathinda; Aklia Institute of Engineering and Technology, Bathinda and Kings College, Barnala.

In the first match held today, the team of Baba Farid College of Engineering and Technology defeated the team from Baba Hira Singh Bhattal Institute, Lehragaga.

Assistant District Sports Officer, Bathinda, Sukhdev Singh Bhullar, was the chief guest at inaugural function.

Addressing the students on the occasion, he highlighted the importance of sports in students’ lives and insisted that all institutes must understand the vital role of sports in grooming and development of students.

Campus director, Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal, wished all the participants luck and advised them to compete in the true spirit of sportsmanship and fair play.

President (sports) of PTU GZS campus and chief coordinator of the event, Prof Bhupinder Pal Singh Dhot delivered the welcome address.

Registrar GS Bath, head of various departments, SS Brar, game in-charge cricket Dr Bal Krishan, coordinator Department of Textile Engineering Dr Rajeev Varshney, assistant game in-charge cricket Parveen Chander, assistant president sports Dilbagh Singh, DPE sports Jastinder Singh and many others were also present on this occasion.

Bathinda, January 28
Police has booked two persons for stealing copper and other material from a transformer installed in a farm in village Kothe Budh Singhwala.

The accused were arrested red-handed with the help of the residents of the area. The total cost of the stolen material is nearly Rs 25,000.