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Shifting of overcrowded jail: govt loses the plot
On the eve of railway budget, residents board a train of expectations
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GMC grapples with acute shortage of teachers
Recovery of drugs from inmate at the Central Jail
Poor facilities at
railway station haunt passengers
Police stations turn into junkyards
NGO: Hike tax on tobacco products
Health dept covers 79% children during polio drive
Peddlers held |
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Shifting of overcrowded jail: govt loses the plot
Amritsar, February 25 The present jail was meant to accommodate a maximum of 1,500 inmates, but there has been manifold increase in the strength of inmates, which at present is close to 3,600. The authorities were already facing a tough time to accommodate this extra load of inmates in the present premises, and this was the basic reason to upgrade the jail infrastructure. Secondly, the establishment of supporting infrastructure, including a hospital, de-addiction centre and the accommodation for jail staff and doctors, too would consume space in the proposed premises. With lesser space available at the new location, this basic idea of shifting the jail appeared to be defeated, said an official. Once the jail is shifted, it would be equally cumbersome for the police personnel to ferry undertrials to the court for hearings. The route to the court remains overcrowded, reason police officials. “The distance between the present jail site to the court is hardly one and half kilometre, whereas the new jail location is approximately six kilometres away from the court. Besides being a crowded route, it has a railway crossing on the way. It will not be easy to transport undertrials to the court,” viewed a police official. The officials felt that it would also be not economically viable to erect matching infrastructure at the new place. Instead, the infrastructure at the existing site could be enhanced to meet the need. Earlier too, the government had planned to shift the jail to a cooperative sugar mill land at Bhalla village. But the decision was strongly opposed by the local farmers, forcing the government to withdraw the move. Now, the consent over shifting the jail to a new location was achieved during a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. This land would be transferred in favour of the PUDA, which has been entrusted with the task of constructing the new jail. Nevertheless, the Improvement Trust would gain from the deal. This chunk of land, meant for a dairy development scheme, was lying defunct for the past several years following the government’s notification regarding shifting of dairies out of the city limits. Bharat Bhushan, Superintending Engineer, Improvement Trust, said the land, which was purchased for about Rs 7 crore two decades back, would now fetch Rs 36 crore after it is handed over to the PUDA. “A resolution to transfer the land to the PUDA was passed in the meeting held recently and the amount gained will be used for development schemes,” he said. Jail Superintendent Amrik Singh Waraich said the move to shift the jail had been taken by the government. “It will take two years to shift the jail to a new location,” he said. Reliable sources said the government had plans to develop the existing jail land for a housing project through the PUDA. The site is a prime location (on the international airport road) and a number of real estate developers has established multistory housing projects on the route. Moreover, after Hotel Radisson Blue, a five star hotel, came up, the prices of the land have increased manifold. The plot thickens
Earlier shifting move
Earlier too, the government had planned to shift the jail to a cooperative sugar mill land at Bhalla village. But the decision was strongly opposed by the local farmers, forcing the government to withdraw the move.
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On the eve of railway budget, residents board a train of expectations
One of major demands, put forth by the residents, was that of key rail links. A Sikh devotee, Surjit Singh said all the three Takhts in Punjab, including Akal Takht, Keshgarh (Anandpur Sahib) and Damdama Sahib (Bathinda) were not connected by the rail. He said a large number of devotees visit the holy city from across the country and world to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple and Akal Takht. “However, there is no further rail connectivity to Anandpur Sahib and Bathinda.” He said a better train connectivity would translate into increased tourists’ activities at Bathinda and Anandpur. He said it would also meet the long demand for a rail link between the holy city and the Malwa region. Dr Varinder Bhatia, a local resident, said extension of the freight corridor to Amritsar would provide a better connectivity between the industrial town and the rest of the country. He also wished that dedicated freight lines should be upgraded or accelerated to avoid congestion on the operative routes. He added, “The Railway Ministry should follow a PPP (public-private partnership) model to boost its growth.” Dr AL Adlakha, a city resident, demands a rail link between Amritsar and Ferozepur via Tarn Taran-Mahalam. He said the proposal to lay 25-km track from Makhu to Patti had not seen light of the day. He said operationalisation of the rail link between these two districts would reduce the distance between Ferozepur and Amritsar from 196 to 82 km. He opined that the same line (Amritsar-Ferozepur link) could be extended to Mumbai and Gujarat. He said it would shorten the distance between the holy city and Mumbai by 240 kms. Even the distance between Jammu and Mumbai would be shortened by 267 kms. He said the same rail link could further be linked to Gujarat, which has ports. He also wished extension of Amritsar-Chandigarh Superfast train to Kalka.
A large number of devotees visits the holy city from across the country and the world to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple and Akal Takht. However, there is no further rail connectivity to Anandpur Sahib and Bathinda. A better connectivity will translate into increased tourists’ activities at Bathinda and Anandpur. — Surjit Singh Extension of the freight corridor to Amritsar would provide a better connectivity between the industrial town and the rest of the country. I also wish that dedicated freight lines should be upgraded or accelerated to avoid congestion on the operative routes. — Dr Varinder Bhatia
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GMC grapples with acute shortage of teachers
Amritsar, February 25 The college is short of 17 lecturers. Only 13 posts are occupied against the sanctioned strength of 30. Besides a four-and-half-year MBBS degree, the college also runs doctor of medicine (MD) and master surgery (MS) in various specialised streams. Besides teaching, the faculty also has to attend to patients at out patient departments (OPDs), conduct surgeries at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Bebe Nanki Mother and Child Care Centre and Eye Hospital. With all the work, teachers are overburdened and education of students is a taking a hit. A senior faculty member on the condition of anonymity said, “It cannot be expected that all is well, especially when the faculty is disgruntled as promotions are long due.” Medical College Principal Dr SS Shergill said they had written to the government to fill the vacant posts. Dr Madan Mohan of the PCMS Association said if the government starts to fill 60 per cent of the quota from its cadre, there would be no dearth of teachers. About two years back, the Medical Council of India had warned the college on derecognition owing to the shortage of staff. With the government planning to increase intake of students in the MBBS course, the situation might go worse. Dr Shergill said, “Students’ intake cannot be enhanced without arranging for more teachers.”
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Recovery of drugs from inmate at the Central Jail Tribune News Service
Amritsar, February 25 It has been learnt that Harjinder had met the warden a few minutes before he was caught with the heroin. The warden has not been arrested so far. “We will investigate the role of the warden. So far, a case under Section 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against both with the Cantonment police station,” said Jail Superintendent Avtar Singh. Mobile phone seized from inmate
The Amritsar Central Jail staff had recovered a mobile phone from an inmate, identified as Bohar Singh, a couple of days back. A case under Sections 420 of the IPC and 42 of the Prisoners’ Act has been registered against him. The jail staff seized the phone during a routine checking on February 23. Bohar Singh was talking over the phone at the time of the raid. Before the jail staff could catch him, the accused took out the SIM card and threw it in the toilet. Heroin seized
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Poor facilities at railway station haunt passengers On the eve of the railway budget, Amritsar Tribune reporter Neeraj Bagga and photographer Sameer Sehgal find out the conditions at the railway station which was set to be developed into a world-class station
Even as the Amritsar railway station was proposed to be developed into a world-class station way back in the 2009 railway budget, the facilities at the station are either missing or poorly maintained. On the eve of the railway budget, residents and passengers hoped the situation to change this time around. Besides the 2009 budgetary allocation, the Central Government had also prepared a plan to upgrade this station in 2006. But plans have not changed anything on the ground. Insufficient number of toilet sets, inquiry windows and wheelchairs for the disabled belie the tall claims of the authorities. Insanitary condition Of the six platforms (1, 1-A, 2, 3, 4, 5), only platform number 1 has toilets. On the remaining platforms, passengers and visitors had been left to urinate in the open. With a public toilet remaining in a deplorable condition, second and general category passengers face a lot of inconvenience. Another toilet for women is locked. The toilet at entrance of the railway station on the railway link road needs immediate repair and cleaning. Poor condition of road
The approaching road inside the railway station is full of potholes. Stranded water at various spots inside the complex proves that the drainage system has gone ineffective. A shopkeeper, Shiv Kumar said many complaints had been filed with the authorities to repair the drainage pipes at the entrance to the railway station. He said a team of the officials visited the site and said a patch of the sewerage line need to be replaced and it would take time. Traffic mismanagement
A resident, Kulwant Singh said the traffic chaos outside the railway station was a regular thing. He said the authorities must pay immediate attention to traffic regulation. No facility for handicapped
A solitary toilet for the handicapped is lying in a deplorable condition. It seems the toilet has not been cleaned for a long time. There are few wheelchairs available at the railway station. However, these wheelchairs are of little use as the platform numbers 2 to 5 do not have ramps. Insufficient ticket windows
Officialspeak
The matter of constructing more toilets in the platforms will be taken up with the higher authorities. Recently a portion of the railway foot overbridge, which had been lying closed for decades, was opened for the public on platform number 1. Naresh Chander
Goel, Divisional Railway Manager
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Police stations turn into junkyards
Amritsar, February 25 As per the norms, the police department has to auction these vehicles after following the procedure such as issuing notification and taking permission from the court when no claimant was found for three years. A police official preferring anonymity said every police station on an average have over 100 vehicles, including two wheelers, cars and trucks. These vehicles are either confiscated by the police for various reasons (involved in accidents or violating traffic norms). A number of them are case properties which are required to be presented before the court as and when needed. Normally, the owners of the vehicles did not turn up to take back the possession of vehicles after completing the formalities. The police sources said one of the main reasons for this piling up of these vehicles is that most owners refuse to claim their vehicles once they get their insurance money. Further the thieves who stole these automobiles also destroy the chassis and engine numbers. Once the chassis and engine numbers are erased, it is difficult to track the vehicle’s owner. Amrik Singh Pawar, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, said last week a meeting was held by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in this regard in which it was decided to dispose of these vehicles either by tracing the owners of the vehicles or by initiating the process of auction. He said a list is being prepared for tracing the owners and if it would not be possible to trace them, the process of auctioning would be initiated.
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NGO: Hike tax on tobacco products
Amritsar, February 25 At the bi-annual meeting of VOTV at Delhi recently, the NGO’s patron Dr Prahlad Duggal said Punjab Government must levy a tax of minimum 50 per cent to make these things costlier. There had been studies which had proven that increase in the price of tobacco products would result in a decrease in their demand too, he added. The matter of ineffective ban on sale of gutkha in Punjab was also raised in the meeting. “Actually there is no ban on gutkha sale on ground in Punjab and the vendors are selling it to their regular customers in a clandestine manner. The authorities are looking the other way,” said Duggal, adding that a resolution with an appeal to the state government to effectively enforce the ban across the state was also passed in the meeting. He said Global Adult Tobacco Survey, conducted by World Health Organisation, had revealed that 11.2 per cent of the population of Punjab used tobacco in its various forms. He said at least 30 per cent of the tobacco users would die of tobacco related diseases.
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Health dept covers 79% children during polio drive
Amritsar, February 25 District Immunisation Officer Dr Rajan Verma said the polio immunisation teams had visited 2,74,199 homes and given polio drops to 1,05,324 children. The teams would be doing a door-to-door check in the remaining areas to ascertain that all the children are covered, he added. The department had immunised around 1,57,379 children at the various booths set up on the first day of drive for immunisation, yesterday.
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After the state government gave its go-ahead to shift the Amritsar Central Jail to a new location, questions are being raised over the feasibility of the idea.
Reason: The new site, which is a defunct land belonging to the Improvement Trust on the Chabbal road, is smaller in size (67 acres) as compared to the existing jail area (93 acres).
The Government Medical College in Amritsar is grappling with an acute shortage of teaching staff.
The GMC has only 38 professors against the sanctioned strength of 52. Two posts of additional professors are lying vacant.
The college has only 43 associate professors against the sanctioned strength of 63. Similarly, there are only 31 assistant professors against the need of 59.
The college is short of 17 lecturers. Only 13 posts are occupied against the sanctioned strength of 30.
Amritsar, February 25
Amritsar, February 25
Residents speak
A daily passenger, Sonu felt that there was a need to increase the number of ticket windows. He said ticket counters were lying closed at Railway link road, outside Durgiana Temple and Katra Bhai Sant Singh.
