Bathinda, February 18
Three women were arrested today for trying to carry out an abortion illegally in the Balla Ram Nagar area here.

Acting with alacrity after receiving a tip-off, the Thermal police, along with members of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) cell, conducted a raid on the dingy Guru Nanak Clinic located near street number 10 of Guru Gobind Singh Nagar in the Balla Ram Nagar area.

During the raid, the police team and doctors from the Civil Hospital came across a six-month pregnant female and three women, who claimed to be nurses.

Headed by the assistant civil surgeon, Dr Kundan Pal from Civil Hospital, Bathinda, the team took the pregnant girl into custody. She was then taken to the Women and Children Hospital where she has been admitted.

The acting SMO, Dr Satish Jindal, formed a board of doctors, including Dr Alka and Dr Ritu, who were asked to examine and treat the patient.

The team then rounded up the three nurses and sealed the clinic.

All the instruments used in the process of carrying out the abortion were sealed along with other items and equipment found in the clinic.

Thermal police station SHO, Kabal Singh, said the three women had been arrested and booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.

"The three arrested women are trained midwives who can only assist in child birth but cannot carry out any procedure, such as abortion," he said.

The arrested women have been identified as Ramandeep Kaur, a resident of Ranjit Nagar area, Paramjit Kaur and Khushboo.

Meanwhile, the case has opened a Pandora's Box for the police as the expectant girl is said to be a minor.

The girl told the hospital staff that she was 16 years old. Though an ultrasound is yet to be conducted, the doctors treating her said her pregnancy seemed to have advanced beyond five months.

Sources in the police said the girl was a student of class VII of a school in village Gobindpura.

Her father had died a few years ago after which her mother re-married. Sources said the step-father had admitted the girl at the Guru Nanak Clinic on Sunday night and added that her step-father may have violated her.

Meanwhile, SHO Kabal Singh said police was yet to yet to talk to the girl about her whereabouts and the pregnancy.

"At this stage, we cannot say anything. It will take us some time to record the girl's statement and ascertain if she has been violated," he added.

Bathinda, February 18
The Guru Nanak Clinic in Balla Ram Nagar, from where the three women were arrested while trying to conduct an abortion today, had been operating illegally in the area for the last five-six years.

Run by people not trained to conduct any procedures, the clinic had been cocking a snook at the health officials for the past six years.

Located on the main road, the signboard of the clinic is bereft of the name of any doctor or any other person running it although the fact that normal deliveries are conducted at the clinic is written outside.

Despite there being such glaring violation of rules, the health department never thought of checking the place.

Neighbours said the clinic did not remain open throughout the day and had a limited number of patients.

Sources said the patients were brought to the clinic and then ‘admitted’ at the residence of one of the nurses running it.

In the case which came to light during the raid, the 16-year-old pregnant girl had been administered medicine on Sunday night and was to undergo an abortion today.

The arrested women, Ramandeep Kaur, Paramjit Kaur and Khushboo used to work at the same private nursing home on GT Road.

While Ramandeep and Paramjit had left the nursing home a few years ago, Khushboo had left the place around a week ago, the owner of the nursing home said.

Sources said more persons could be involved in the racket that used to target vulnerable people from rural areas and conducted abortions in the clinic.

Police said the possibility of sex-selective abortions being carried out at the centre could not be ruled out. To ascertain the facts, the police will investigate the role of the doctors.

Police are also investigating to find if any local doctor is associated with these nurses or has been in touch with them.

In the due course of investigations, police officials will check the qualification certificates and documents these nurses possess that make them eligible to hold such medical procedures or medical check-ups.

Samples of cotton swabs, gloves and needles disposed off openly near the clinic were also collected. Proceedings may be initiated against the arrested nurses for disposing of medical waste irresponsibly in the open.

The arrests have once again brought forth the menace that quackery poses to medical profession. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has been repeatedly raising its voice against quackery, but the state government has done little to check the menace.

In the garb of degrees in naturopathy earned from little known or fake institutes, quacks have been minting gold.

A number of quacks dot areas in the city that are beyond the commercial epicentre of the city.

Areas like Amarpura Basti, Parasram Nagar, Hazura Kapura, Jogi Nagar and Kheta Singh Basti have a number of quacks practicing.

Bathinda, February 18
Aiming to remit nearly Rs 38 crore grant lying almost unused, the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) has initiated steps to accelerate the process to disburse the money meant for construction workers under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.

The building workers having done 90 days construction work in a year, are entitled to various 
welfare schemes including `1 lakh ex-gratia, `50,000 for partial disability, upto `30,000 per year indoor medical facilities for families, yearly and monthly scholarships for primary and higher education for their children, purchase of computers, televisions and many other schemes.

The state levies one percent cess on the total cost of a building (private and government) through the B&R, Municipal Committees and Corporations. The cess is used for the welfare of the construction workers including masons, labourers, painters, plumbers, carpenters, electrician and even the munshis of building contractors.

Only those labourers, who get themselves registered with the labour department with 90 days of work even intermittently, in an under-constructed building could avail the benefits. The department managed to pay Rs 4.57 lakhs out of the total nearly Rs 38 crores cess collected so far.

With the efforts of the DLSA, 7,66 workers were registered in Bathinda in the month of January only and on Saturday, 30 beneficiaries were handed over cheques worth Rs 34,100 in Bathinda.

The officials of the DLSA said they helped the labour department by giving registration forms, advertisement material and hold seminars and awareness programmes in rural and urban areas.

There is only one labour inspector in Bathinda who is supposed to look after the entire circle comprising Bathinda and Mansa districts.

Civil Judge (Senior Division)-cum-secretary of the District Legal Services Authority, Kawaljit Singh said the welfare schemes comprised under the Act are being publicised aggressively by them.

"We are holding seminars wherein people are made aware of the schemes meant for the poor construction workers,” Kawaljit said.

He said anyone, including the village sarpanch, lambardar or the mason, could give confirmation of 90 days work done by the workers to get them registered with the Labour Department. After paying a nominal fees of Rs 25 and then Rs 10 monthly, the workers become eligible to avail the schemes.

Kawaljit said the workers could also get interest-free loan upto Rs 30,000 for the marriage of their children, interest-free loan for bicycles, sewing machines, fans, television, computer and purchase of wheat and also leave travel concession (LTC) of upto Rs 1,000.

The advertisement material bearing phone numbers of DLSA (0164-2212051) and the phone number of labour inspector (94174-43543) have also been circulated among the people to help them enquire about the schemes.

District Legal Services Authority officials said labourers are urged not to send their children to work but send them to schools by availing benefits under the scheme.

Bathinda, February 18
Aiming to make the students aware about the need to preserve the environment, school students have been asked to send in their entries for the International Children's Painting Competition organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer and Nikon Corporation.

The theme of the competition is “Water: The Source of Life. Where does it come from?” Students winning the global competition and those winning the competition from the different world regions will be honoured at an international ceremony.

The information was shared with all the school heads in a letter sent by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) in Ahmedabad under its Paryavaran Mitra project.

Through the various activities organised under the programme, the project aims to make students aware, attain information and knowledge about issues pertaining to sustainability and have a better understanding of their environment.

The competition is open to all the children who are between the ages of 6 and 14 years. The students of the region can send their entries to Satwant Kaur, regional information officer at the United Nations Environment Programme, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in Thailand.

Bathinda, February 18
The zonal office of the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA) today held a workshop on the Right to Information (RTI) Act today.

Project coordinator Mandeep Singh welcomed the officials of various departments participating in the workshop and briefed them about the issues to be discussed at the workshop.

MGSIPA resource persons Darshan Singh Bajaj and Dr Jagsir Singh Talwandi Sabo made the officials aware about the various aspects of RTI. They said officials should consider giving information under the RTI ACT as part of their duty.

He said under the RTI, any citizen of India can seek information from the offices of the government, non-government organizations or social organizations across the country— except Jammu and Kashmir — where the government has given land or funds.

They added that the complete address of the applicant and fees meant for the application should be submitted. He added that from January 13 onwards, anybody can pay the fees through e-postal and get the information under the Act.

The officials concerned are also empowered to charge additional fees for the papers used to give information under the RTI Act. They added that though the information has to be provided within 30 days of submitting the application, but if it is related to someone's freedom or life, the information has to be provided within 48 hours.

With the passage of time, as people are growing aware of their rights, the use of RTI to seek information has also grown. The officials present were also told about the kind of information that could be provided under the Act and the one that cannot be provided. He added that when an officer seeks extra charges for providing RTI information, the time period would not be included in 30 days. Instead, extra time would be provided.

Bathinda, February 18
A legal literacy and legal awareness camp was held at the St. Xavier's School under the supervision of district and sessions judge-cum-chairman, District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) Jaspal Singh.

Civil judge (senior division)-cum-secretary, DLSA, Kawaljit Singh presided over the camp. Speaking on the occasion, he made the gathering aware about the provisions of the Building and Construction Workers Welfare (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act, 1996 and about the different welfare schemes and social security schemes meant for construction workers in the unorganized sector.

He said that any construction worker involved in construction activity is eligible to get himself registered with the Punjab Building and other Construction Workers Welfare Board. He added that the registering authority under the rules is the assistant labour

commissioner or the labour inspector of the circle concerned. The gathering was informed that construction workers include plumbers, carpenters, welders, electricians, technicians, painters etc.

The judge said the DLSA has formed teams consisting of advocates and para legal volunteers to hold awareness camps. He also informed the gathering about the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act and protection of the rights of senior citizens. Advocate Babita Gupta told the gathering about the provisions of Right to Information Act (RTI).

Father Ivo Dias from St, Xavier's School also addressed the gathering. Secretary, DLSA, Kawaljit Singh assured that more awareness camps will be organized. Free literature pertaining to various schemes of the DLSA as well as welfare and social security schemes was also distributed at the camp.

Bathinda, February 18
The fourth foundation day celebrations of the Central University of Punjab (CUP) began amidst gaiety and fervour at the city campus, here today. The beginning of the celebrations was marked by the first annual athletic and sports meet which was held in the university campus a few days back.

An on-the-spot painting and poster-making competitions for the students of local schools have been scheduled at the campus on February 19.

The competition will be followed by poetry recitation and music (solo and group) competitions which will be held on Februray 20.

On February 21, dance (solo and group) and Indian traditional dress competitions will be organised from 4 pm onwards. To meet social obligations towards society, a blood donation camp has been scheduled on February 22 from 10 am to 4 pm.

After the blood camp, an evening of Sufiana Kalaam has been planned wherein Gurmukh Singh Sehgal will entertain the audience from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm.

Debate and paper-reading competitions will be held on February 26 from 10 am to 1 pm, followed by a cultural programme in the evening.

The final ceremony will be held on February 28.

Bathinda, February 18
Police has registered a case against some unidentified persons for stealing copper wire, worth nearly Rs 50,000 from a transformer installed in Bhagiwandar village.

In a complaint to the police, Gurpiar Singh said on the intervening night of February 14 and 15, some unidentified persons entered the agricultural farm belonging to him and his neighbours where the transformers are installed and took away the costly copper wires.

Bathinda, February 18
A meeting was organized by the Sangharsh Committee, Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP), Bathinda, under the leadership of Satpal Goyal.

Issues like promotion for unskilled workers who have been working on the same post for the last 15-20 years, filling up of vacant posts of clerical and technical personnel and recruiting retired personnel were discussed at the meeting.

The committee said that units I and II of the thermal plant has been closed by the authorities due to excessive production of electricity and on the other hand, the city is experiencing frequent power cuts.

Bathinda, February 18
An entrepreneurship awareness camp was held at Government Polytechnic College today to motivate the students to opt for self-employment. The North India Technical Consultancy Organization (NITCON) Ltd, Chandigarh, organized the camp for the final year students. Around 66 students participated in the event.

The camp was held in collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad, and the Union Ministry of Science and Technology.

Principal Yadvinder Singh said the main reason behind holding such workshops was to motivate the students to become self-employed rather than hunt for jobs, he said.

Assistant general manager, NITCON, Vijay Arora said only two to five per cent of the students, who pass out from technical colleges, are able to start their own ventures. — TNS

Bathinda, February 18
Olympian Dr Tirlok Singh Sandhu has joined as the director (sports) in Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo. He has got a brilliant and outstanding sports career and represented the country in basketball at the Moscow Olympics in 1980.

He participated in the 1982 Asian Games and was a silver medallist in the 3rd Princes Tournament held in Bangkok. He was awarded the Best Player of Services award in 1982 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He was also declared the basketball ambassador and awarded by Ronald Reagan, the US president.

Prior to his joining the Guru Kashi University as director, sports, he was the deputy director (sports) at Panjab University, Chandigarh. — TNS