Jalandhar, July 5
Thanks to administrative apathy, after a day of toil, sportspersons who we hope to see as national and international stars, go back to a corridor strewn with cow dung and a stinking, unkempt, unclean room full of muck.

The shameful state of Government Arts and Sports College, Jalandhar, is an evidence that the government is apathetic to the problems beng faced by the students.

Athletes, gymnasts and other sportspersons, who have played for the state and national level (some serving the state for five to seven years), are living in horrendous conditions.

A makeshift hostel in the gymnastics wing of the college houses about 15 to 20 sportpersons in little cramped rooms situated close to bathrooms, which are plagued by every possible ill. Some players have been living in the same room for three to four years.

Situated right next to the bathrooms are their rooms and students say these were formerly bathrooms or stores.

The building itself wears a rather abandoned and unkempt look due to lack of cleaning or sweeping for ages and the rooms are even worse.

Damp-walled corridors are piled with garbage, dust, cobwebs and even cow dung. The rooms drip during rains and most of the electric joints hang loose.

The rooms are extremely dirty and cramped. Beds are placed amid chipped tiles, stinking corners, dripping ceilings and a bathroom attic used to store out-of-use furniture.

There is no water supply in the hostel and the students have to rely on the nearby swimming pool for bathing purpose.

An in-house gymnasium is no better. While the equipment, thankfully, is new, the gymnasium windowpanes are broken and ceilings drip.

The hostel has a capacity of about 110 students but four to five students put up in a single room. All walls and corridors wear a dank look and water is splattered all over the rooms.

Talking about the pathetic state of the college hostel, the college Principal, Dr Paramjit Kaur Jassal, said the makeshift hostel did not fall under her jurisdiction. She said, “The sports college has no hostel. Players who live there are not college students but are those accommodated by coaches. We are not responsible for the affairs at the makeshift hostel. While the government had announced new hostels for boys and girls, the process hasn’t even started as yet. The last allocation announced to us was Rs 67.68 lakh about a month ago for college repairs. This amount, too, hasn’t been received so far. It is meant only for construction work.”

The Tribune talked to players at the hostel who clearly said they were studying at the college.

Gurdeep Singh, principal of sports school, also said something similar, “About 110 students of the school stay in the school hostel. It falls under the sports department. We are responsible only for the school. However, on students’ complains, we have often brought the issue to the notice of the sports department.”

District Sports Officer Rakesh Kaushal said, “Allocations of Rs 42 crore were made for the sports college, including the hostel, in the budget this year. The plan is to build two hostels for boys and girls with a capacity of 150 occupants each. Along with hostels, money for a gymnasium, swimming pool and a change of turf had also been announced. But without funds the work cannot be started. Once the funds arrive, students shall get state-of-the-art facilities.”

Problems Room situated right next to bathroom Damp-walled corridors are piled with garbage, dust, cobwebs and even cow dung Rooms are dirty and cramped. Beds are placed amid chipped tiles, stinking corners, dripping ceilings and a bathroom attic used to store out-of-use furniture No water supply Gymnasium windowpanes broken, ceilings drip

Jalandhar, July 5
With financial condition of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation in a precarious state, the civic body has now decided to sell about a dozen of its properties, including the residence of the Municipal Commissioner, to generate funds. As per the agenda of the general house meeting scheduled to be held on July 9, it is proposed that sale of the vacant land of the MC through the open auction is a good way to improve the fiscal health of the municipal body.

The agenda, item number 49, clearly mentions that either the vacant properties of the MC should be handed over to the Improvement Trust, Jalandhar Development Authority, PUDA or Punjab State Power Corporation Limited as per the collector rates, or else these properties should be put for auction.

Here, it is pertinent to mention that on June 18, the MC had sold off its commercial property in Maqsudan for Rs 4.96 crore. Earlier, on June 17, the civic body had sold off six shops at Dr BR Ambedkar MC Complex, generating revenue of Rs 1.67 crore. Meanwhile, as per the information available, the Adarsh Nagar residence of the Municipal Commissioner is presently vacant. Municipal Commissioner Vinay Bublani is putting up in some other government accommodation in the Baradari area.

Congress councillors have already announced to oppose the above mentioned resolution at the general house meeting. Leader of the Opposition in the Jalandhar MC Jagdish Raja said, "It is ridiculous to sell off the residence of the Municipal Commissioner. We are against selling of government property and will oppose the resolution tooth and nail."

The proposed civic properties for the sale are in Lamma, Basti Bawa Khel, Dhanowali, Chhoka, Paragpur, Mitthapur, Dakhoa, Garha Chappar, Chak Jinda Chappar and Dhanowali Chappar villages, besides commercial plot near Guru Nanak Library, Basti Mithu Sahib Chappar and the residence of the Municipal Commissioner.

Jalandhar, July 5
Surprise inspection conducted by Education Department officials today exposed the state of affairs at various government schools here.

As many as 11 teachers were found absent from duty during inspections conducted at 32 district schools by a team of officials from the DGSE office, DEO (secondary) Neelam Kumari, District Science Supervisor Baljinder Singh and Deputy DEO Harjinder Singh.

While some of the students were found to have come late to their respective schools, one teacher had marked the attendance of the previous day. At another school, two teachers were found conversing as students roamed around in the nearby market.

Talking to The Tribune, Vijay Kumar from the DGSE's office said three teachers, each of Hindi, maths and computer, one clerk and a peon were found absent at Government High School, Dayalpur.

One teacher Government Middle School, Selkiana, and Government Elementary School, Dhak Mazare, respectively, was found absent. Four (three ETT and one head) teachers at Government Primary School, Parshurapmpur, were also found absent.

At Government High School, Dakoha, two teachers were seen sitting idle as children roamed around the school premises and market. A day before the Panchayat poll, schools in the district were found to have less than 50 per cent attendance. 

Jalandhar, July 5
Ram Sanjeevan, accused of murdering his brother Krishan Bharti, has been remanded in a two-day police custody.

Rama Mandi police station SHO Bimal Kant said Sanjeevan was produced in a local court today. "Ram Khilivan, the other accused in the murder case, is still at large. We have established contact with the UP police and a team of the police personnel will be leaving for Alawalpur, the native village of the accused, in Partapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh, today. We are hopeful of arresting Khilivan in a few days," said Kant, adding that efforts to nab Khilivan were on. He also said the police was making efforts to spot Khilivan's wife Geeta.

"Apprehending that Krishan and Geeta were having illicit relations, the accused had murdered the former. Search is on to trace Geeta," said a police official probing the case.

Jalandhar, July 5
Government lecturer Joginder Singh, who was assigned the election duty in the panchayat poll, said he was being made a scapegoat in the delay in printing of ballot papers case. He said his suspension had been recommended without his fault.

Talking to The Tribune today, the Punjabi lecturer at Government Senior Secondary School, Wadala, said, “I performed my poll duty with full zeal and I did not commit any dereliction of it as alleged by SDM-I Iqbal Singh Sandhu in his recommendation.”

Elaborating, he said, “As a supervisor, I was assigned the work of conducting elections at 12 villages, including Wadala, Khambra, Badshahpur, Tajpur, Bhagwanpur, Phulpur, Dhanal Kalan, Dhanal Khurd, Usmanpur, Alipur and Kadianwali. I finished my work of setting up booths at these villages at around 12 midnight on Tuesday. Subsequently, I could not fight sleeping due to my ill health. My phone was also on silent. I did not intentional ignore any call or text.”

“I performed my election duty throughout Wednesday and also went to Tajpur village in the evening to solve a dispute between two parties. Further, I, along with the returning officer (RO)-cum-JE, Water Supplies and Sewerage Board, Palwinder Singh, visited Phulpur village on Thursday to solve a dispute between two candidates. The dispute arose because they had equal number of votes. We persuaded them and one of them was elected through toss.”

The lecturer said, “I wholeheartedly performed my duty of conducting free and fair elections. I should not be made a scapegoat for the delay in printing the ballot papers. Action should instead be taken against those who are responsible for it.” The SDM-I recommended his suspension with immediate effect on the charge of alleged dereliction of his duty in the Panchayat poll.

In his two-page recommendation to Deputy Commissioner (DC)-cum-District Election Officer Shruti Singh yesterday, Sandhu said lecturer Joginder Singh had been attached with Palwinder Singh for the Panchayat poll.

Interestingly, admitting that ballot papers were not printed on time and polling staff was dispatched to respective booths without papers, Sandhu further stated that respective supervisors had been told by the ROs concerned to keep their mobiles on for getting directions about taking ballot papers to the respective booth as and when they were printed.

When the concerned ballot papers got printed at two am, RO Palwinder Singh made several calls to Joginder Singh, but he did not answer any call, he said.

Sandhu further stated, “When the RO brought the matter to my notice, I called him about 30 times in the midnight and sent three text messages, but to no avail.”

Stating that the supervisor had committed dereliction of his election duty, the SDM recommended immediate suspension from his lecturer post and action as per the service rules. Sandhu has also sent a copy of his recommendation to the state election commissioner and district education officer. Surprisingly, showing casual attitude in conducting the Panchayat poll, ballot papers of several blocks of Jalandhar and neighbouring three districts, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala, were printed at the eleventh hour.

Jalandhar, July 5
The city police booked five persons for attacking Jalandhar Improvement Trust executive engineer Yadwinder Singh here on Friday. The accused, including Rakesh Kumar and Inder Dass, assaulted Yadwinder when he along with his other staff members had gone to demolish their illegal shops at Basti Nau today.

An FIR under various Sections, including 332, 333, 354 and 186 of the IPC has been registered against them at the police station No. five. Two of the accused Rakesh Kumar and Inder Dass were arrested, while the other three unknown persons mentioned in the FIR are still at large.

Jalandhar, July 5
A meeting of family physicians of Jalandhar was held at Hotel Ramada. Dr SPS Grover of New Ruby Hospital Pvt Ltd, Jalandhar, gave a detailed lecture on the role of diuretics (water pills) in treatment of high blood pressure (BP). In the elderly group of people with high BP, the first line of drug should be a diuretic.

In other age groups also this should be the first line of treatment along with other drugs, because in most people two or three drugs are required for control of high BP. If water pill is used there are decreased complications like heart attack, brain attack, peripheral blood vessels, kidneys, retina damage.

The incidence of high blood pressure is increasing every year. At present there are 13 per cent incidence of hypertension in young adults above 30 years of age. As the average age of population has increased to 68 years, the complications of hypertension have also increased. This is because of long duration of this disease. Proper control of this disease can prevent 20 to 30 per cent of heart and brain attacks.

The blood pressure should be kept 120/80 or lower. The BP between 120 to 140 (systolic) and 80-90 (diastolic) is called pre-hypertension.

Dr Grover said: “When BP is below 160/100, it is called grade I hypertension and above this is grade II. If the vital organs like heart, brain, lungs and kidneys are damaged, there is no treatment. So prevention is better than cure. Prevent the complications by treating silent hypertension.”

Jalandhar, July 5
Perturbed by the failure of the Power Corporation to provide eight-hour power supply to the farmers in the state, the leaders of the Jamhoori Kisan Sabha have announced to stage a dharna outside the offices of executive engineers of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) in Jalandhar.

In a meeting of the various farmer unions held under the leadership of Jamhoori Kisan Sabha vice-president Raghbir Singh, here today, the leaders strongly flayed the Power Corporation for not fulfilling the assurances of providing eight-hour power supply during the paddy season.

Giving further details, the representative of the Kirti Kisan Union Hardev Singh Sandhu said farmers would participate in the dharna in a large number. “Our other demands include the continuance of the scheme of getting the power load increased at the rate of Rs 1,200 per horse power for the agricultural pump sets and free power connection for the farmers having 2.5 acres of farm land. Besides, we also demand the earliest withdrawal of the decision to charge security for the domestic power supply connection as it is against the interest of the general masses, particularly the farmers,” said Sandhu.

Jalandhar, July 5
The worst polluted drain is virtually piercing the lungs of scores of city residents, who have been living in residential colonies located along its banks for the past couple decades. Thanks to the local district administration, civil body and the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) authorities, who have turned a blind eye toward this peculiar problem leaving the human lives at the mercy of God.

Carrying effluents, the drain emerges near from Kalia Colony, adjacent to the Amritsar bypass, crosses Bhagat Singh Colony, Babu Labh Singh Colony, Raj Nagar, Leather Complex and finally joins Kala Sanghia drain. Though the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation had launched an operation to clean the drain in January, yet the exercise remained futile as it hardly served any purpose, a senior official in the Municipal Corporation revealed.

The drain carries sever, solid waste, other trash dumped by the vendors of the vegetable market and public living along its banks thus marking the situation worse.

The worst affected are the inmates of the Red Cross School for Deaf in Maqsudan, who have been bearing the foul smell emitted from the drain carrying the sullage of the city since decades.

“Adjacent to the school, a sewer-line also discharges sewage into the drain further compounding the problem,” said Surinder Singh, a resident of Babu Labh Singh Nagar. The filth-carrying-drain has not only been a cause of the water-borne diseases, which spread indiscriminately but is also contaminating the underground water table to a large extent, residents lamented.

Cases of various skin diseases and insect-bites have witnessed a sharp increase among residents and their pets during the last couple of years, claimed Surya Kant, a resident of the BSF Colony.

Jalandhar, July 5
The Department of Industrial and Production Engineering of the Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, organised a technical education quality improvement programme (TEQIP) sponsored one-week faculty development programme (FDP) on “Human factors engineering (HFE)” from July 1 to 5.

Around 60 participants of various engineering institutes from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir attended the programme. Dr LP Singh, co-ordinator of the programme, said the specialised course had been organised realising the emerging importance of human factor engineering in the present industry as well as society.

He said there remains a lack of optimal interface between the automated system and the user i.e. the human, which leads to lack of comfort. A simple example is the long term use of the PC and the laptops, which leads to lower back pain. HFE plays a key role is such a scenario.

Dr Majumdar (DRDO, Delhi), a key speaker during the FDP, enlightened the participants on issues like importance of anthropometry, in design of space in shooter planes, army tanks, use of ergonomics in design of army weapons.