Bathinda, February 2
With an increase in the misuse of rail travel concessions by travellers, and passengers travelling without tickets, the passenger transportation has become more of an obligation for the Railways.

Last year, the Bathinda railway station recorded Rs 15,73,96,996 as passenger earnings and Rs 28,74,73,358 as earnings from transporting goods. The figures show that the Railways is earning profit from freight transportation.

The Railways offer travel concessions to various categories of travellers like physically-disabled, cancer patients, students, senior citizens, sportsperson, freedom fighters, etc. In most of the cases, the travel concessions are being misused by passengers.

“While checking tickets, I once found a girl travelling on a ticket with concession for cancer patients, which is 50 per cent in the first AC and the second AC and 100 per cent in the third AC and the sleeper class. When I called the railway team of doctors, she immediately admitted that she was not a cancer patient," a TTE said.

Mahesh Thakur, Commercial inspector of the Railways, said, "There are people who misuse the concessions provided to them. We have come across many cases but we cannot challenge them as they support their claims with medical certificates.”

He added, “Once I came across a person with a severed thumb. He and his co-passenger were travelling at a concession of 75 per cent, each. He had a medical certificate due to which I could not take action against him.”

There are a total of 50 types of concessions for passengers from different sections of the society. The concessions vary from 25 per cent to 100 per cent, depending upon the category that a passenger falls in.

About 15 kinds of concessions are there only for patients and those accompanying them.

Orthopaedically-handicapped/paraplegic persons, differently-abled and visually-impaired persons and those accompanying them are given 50 per cent concession in the first AC and the second AC travel.

Thalassemia patients, heart patients, kidney patients, TB/Lupus Vulgaris patients, non-infectious leprosy patients and haemophilia patients are given 75 per cent concession while AIDS, sickle cell anaemia patients are given 50 per cent concession for travelling in sleeper class.

As many as 250 persons were fined in January for travelling without tickets. 

 

Fact file As many as 15 kinds of concessions are only for patients and those accompanying them. Those who are orthopaedically-handicapped/paraplegic, differently-abled or visually-impaired or are suffering from thalassaemia, heart and kidney diseases, TB/Lupus Vulgaris, non-infectious leprosy, haemophilia, AIDS and sickle cell anaemia, and those accompanying them are given concession on railway tickets.

Bathinda, February 2
The rising number of beggars in and around the Bathinda railway station is causing a rise in criminal activities in the area.

Apart from troubling the passengers, the beggars and other anti-social elements also steal and snatch their goods.

Agreeing that the beggars and sadhus were creating a nuisance at the railway station, the officials of Bathinda police and railway police said they tried to identify beggars and sadhus with criminal background and drove them away but they resumed their activities after a few days.

A section of complainants said despite bringing the matter to the attention of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Bathinda police, no action had been initiated to rein in the criminal activities at the station.

"The railway and the city police claim that since the beggars do not have any permanent address it is difficult to trace them,” said Aman, a city resident.

Recalling a recent incident, he added that a beggar tried to snatch his iPod near the entrance of the railway station in the early morning hours.

Rohit Singla, a resident of Rampura, said a beggar approached him and asked for alms and started abusing when he refused to give him money.

The passengers also complained that the sadhus in and around the station sprinkled water on them and cursed them.

Railway Protection Force (RPF) in-charge at the railway station, Ajay Rajpal, claimed that the RPF had been driving the beggars away from the railway station. "We had recently told many beggars to pack off from the area but they camp by the boundary wall adjoining the railway station,” Rajpal said.

He, however, refused to acknowledge the fact that the beggars and sadhus were involved in criminal activities in and around the station. The volunteers of NGO Sahara Jan Sewa said since the city residents had been giving these beggars and sadhus old clothes, food and alms, their numbers have increased over the months.

"Earlier, the number of these beggars was quite less but now there must be more than 200 beggars and sadhus present in and around the railway station,” said NGO president Vijay Goyal.

He added that most of the beggars consumed liquor and entered into brawls and abused each other.

"At present, there is no check on the rising number of beggars and criminal activities in one of the busiest areas of the city. It seems as if the authorities pity them and and let them roam around without any check,” Goyal said.

Kotwali SHO, Jaspal Singh, said despite receiving numerous complaints against beggars and other anti-social elements in and around the Bathinda railway station, there is hardly any way out.

“We catch them and produce them before the SDM. But they release themselves from the clutches of law by paying Rs 50 as fine. Within a few days of being caught and released, they resume their activities,” Jaspal said.

He also pointed out that people offering food and money to beggars were in fact encouraging anti-social elements. "People should refrain from helping or giving alms to such people,” the SHO said.

Bathinda, February 2
Taking its cue from the Delhi incident wherein a 23-year-old paramedic student was gang-raped and brutally beaten up, the management of the Government Rajindra College has decided to build a separate canteen for girls on the premises of the college, to make the girls feel safe.

Interestingly, since its inception almost half a decade back, the college had separate canteens for boys and girls. However, about two years ago, the then principal of the college decided to turn the boys’ canteen into the common canteen.

Talking to the Bathinda Tribune about going back to having a separate canteen for girls, the college principal Vijay Goyal said, "Earlier too there were separate canteens for boys and girls. To maintain decorum and ensure safety of the female students and staff members, we decided to make the girls' canteen functional again. Since the old canteen was in a dilapidated condition, we are building a new one."

"Safety of the female students and staff members is our priority, especially after what happened in Delhi recently. The issue of safety doesn't arise because of the boys of our college, but because of the outsiders. Since the college's boundary has not been clearly demarcated on various sides, outsiders enter the college and crowd the canteen," he added.

Recently, a group of boys had entered the college and entered into heated arguments and fisticuffs with some of the college students. The college management has been regularly complaining about the fact that outsiders enter the college premises from the hockey stadium side or from the government quarters’ side.

"We can discipline the students of our college but we have no control over outsiders. It is in the interest of the girls that a separate canteen be made for them," said a faculty member on the condition of anonymity.

The principal added that ever since the old canteen for girls had been made functional again, there has been a decrease in outsiders entering the college. Since the girls have stopped going to the common canteen, and the boys are not allowed to go to the girls' canteen, the instances of outsiders crowding the common canteen have also decreased, he said.

"Although the girls are free to go to the common canteen too, they prefer having their own canteen," the principal said.

The owner of the common canteen said a separate canteen for girls has spelt loss for him.

“Earlier, the common canteen used to be crowded. Ever since the college management re-opened the old girls’ canteen, the sales at the common canteen have fallen drastically. Once the new structure of the girls’canteen is ready, the sales will look up again, hopefully,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the two chemistry labs in the college was also demolished recently and the lab is being built again. "The B&R department had come to inspect the college building and it found that the structure of the chemistry lab had turned unsafe. It is rebuilding the lab," said a faculty member.

Bathinda, February 2
One more patient tested positive for Swine flu at the Civil Hospital. Doctors at the hospital said a Mansa resident tested positive for the infection this evening.

Health department officials said three samples were sent for testing in the morning. While one tested positive, the reports of two local residents were negative.

District Health Officer, Raghubir Singh Randhawa said out of a total 27 samples collected so far, six had tested positive. “The patients diagnosed at an early stage are cured completely but the situation worsens when a patient comes to us at a later stage of the infection. So far, one death has been reported due to the disease in Bathinda,” he said.

Bathinda, February 2
As the festival of Basant Panchami nears, the Bathinda Association of NGOs (BANGO) has become more active in its campaign against the sale and use of China Dor in the city.

To spread awareness about the hazards of using China-made strings to fly kites, the BANGO is organising an awareness rally in the city on Sunday.

Inspector-General of Police (Bathinda zone) Nirmal Singh Dhillon will flag off the rally at Maharaja Agrasen Park. The rally will culminate at the old police station.

The associate NGOs of the BANGO, namely the Shahid Jarnail Singh Memorial Welfare Society, the Aasra Welfare Society and the Sathi Welfare Society, held awareness programmes at Guru Harkrishan Public School located near the Multi-purpose Sports Stadium, Kiran Public School and Deepak Public School.

The students were informed that Basant Panchmi is a festival to celebrate the change in season.

Volunteers of the NGOs told the students about how, in the recent years, many birds, children and elderly persons have either lost their lives or had been seriously injured by the China-made kite string.

The volunteers exhorted the students not to use China Dor. They also asked them to inform the NGOs if they come across a shopkeeper selling the banned kiteline.

Leaflets and posters carrying information regarding ill-effects of China Dor were also distributed among the students.

The principal of Guru Harkrishan Public School, Jatinder Kaur Sethi, and teachers Surinderjit Kaur and Parminder Singh; the principal of Kiran Public School, Kamaldeep, and a teacher Ashwini Thakur, and Chandra Kanta, a teacher in the Deepak Public School, assisted in holding the awareness programmes at their respective schools.

Bathinda, February 2
The Max Super Speciality Hospital, Bathinda, will organise a week-long cancer screening and awareness camp for the residents of the city and its surrounding areas.

Bathinda Mayor Baljit Singh Birbehman and Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav will inaugurate the camp on the World Cancer Day, February 4.

The camp, which will continue till February 9, will offer discount on cancer-screening tests like mammography, papsmear, X-ray, PSA and all types of radiology tests.

A team of doctors from the hospital, comprising radiation oncologists Dr Rajesh Vashistha and Dr Manjinder Singh Sidhu and surgical oncologist Dr Ved Prakash Kalra, would counsel people on their cancer-related concerns and educate them about the significance of early detection of the disease.

General manager (Operations) of the Max Super Speciality Hospital, Bathinda, Dr Aniruddha Suranglikar, said, "This World Cancer Day, we take upon ourselves the responsibility to educate people about the perils of different forms of cancer."

Dr Vashistha said, "It is essential to address the growing cancer burden on the region and to work on measures effective in controlling the disease. During the last one year, we have received 200 cases of cancer. The disease accounts for 33,318 deaths in Punjab, which could have been prevented if it was diagnosed earlier. With improving medical technologies, cancer has become manageable. However, people need to be educated that a cancer patient could be saved if the disease is detected and treated at the right time. With the Cancer Screening Camp, we aim at informing the residents of Bathinda and adjoining cities about the significance of screening for cancer."

Bathinda, February 2
The police has registered a case of cheating against three persons.

In his complaint, Parminder Singh of Guru Ki Nagri said Deepak Goyal, Poonam and Padma Devi, all residents of Dabwali (Haryana), duped him of Rs 6.26 lakh over the pretext of sending his son abroad. The complainant said neither the accused sent his son abroad nor they returned the money.