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People, admn remember usefulness of ‘Chhaper’ in times of floods
Faridkot, August 21
Facing the threat of floods due to the incessant rain that has damaged their homes, roads and crops, the talk in the rural areas and the administrative circles now centres around the village ponds, commonly known as "chhaper" or 'tobas'. These water bodies were known to reduce the risk of floods.

MLA for construction of bridge over Sutlej
Ferozepur, August 21
Guruharsahai MLA Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi today said the state government had failed to provide any relief material, including fodder for the cattle to the flood-affected farmers, whose standing crops were damaged.

Medical officers up in arms against govt
Patiala, August 21
Medical officers-cum-lecturers at Rajindra Hospital are gearing up to fight against the authorities for ignoring them over the years.

Bandhu joins as Principal, Khalsa College of Education, Muktsar
Bathinda, August 21
Dr Tarlok Bandhu, associate professor at Malwa Central College of Education for Women, Ludhiana, has joined as the principal of Khalsa College of Education, Muktsar.

Medicos to protest on Aug 26
Fatehgarh Sahib, August 21
Members of the Punjab Medical Practitioners’ Association (PMPA) will hold a dharna against the state government on August 26 for not fulfilling their demands.

Sarpanches honoured
Barnala, August 21
Three ex-servicemen, who were elected sarpanches of their respective villages in Barnala district in the recently held Panchayat elections, were honoured by a former president of ex-servicemen wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal Gurjinder Singh Sidhu here.

Body of interstate gang’s kingpin found in canal
Abohar, August 21
The body of interstate gang kingpin Vikram Singh of Tarn Taran, who had been dismissed from the Army service a few months back, has been found in the Kanwersain lift canal near Loonkaransar on the Sriganganagar-Bikaner Highway. He, alongwith two others, had jumped into the canal on Monday to escape arrest.

	Drainage of rain water acquires political hues Akali-Congress stand-off in village, residents block Bathinda-Amritsar road with uprooted paddy Balwant Garg/TNS Faridkot, August 21 The drainage of the accumulated rainwater in a village acquired a political colour today in Faridkot with a stand-off reported between the Akalis and the Congress. After the standing paddy crop in the field of a Congress leader was uprooted in Machaki Mal Singh village in the presence of the police at the alleged instance of an Akali leader, tension is mounting in the village. As hundreds of men, women and Congress workers blocked the Bathinda-Amritsar road by placing the uprooted paddy crop in the middle, senior police and civil officials rushed to the village to defuse the tension. Tension has been simmering between the Akalis and the Congress supporters in Machaki Mal Singh for over a month after a Congress supported candidate was elected as sarpanch in the village. Much to the chagrin of the Akalis, the tension following the election of Congress candidate as sarpanch escalated a week back when there was heavy rainfall. As there was some problem in the drainage of accumulated rainwater in the village, two Congress and Akali leaders accused each other of encroaching upon the village common land and blocking the route for the passage of rainwater. With political rivalry at the heart of confrontation between the two groups in the village, tension was at its peak today when in the guise of removing the encroachment; paddy crop on a long stretch of land was uprooted with the help of a JCB machine. Gurinderjit Singh, the Congress leader in the village, alleged that the paddy from his field was uprooted at the instance of an Akali leader, Pritam Singh, as he harbours grudge against him after the villagers elected a Congress candidate as the sarpanch. Accusing us of encroachment, the Akali leader used his influence and the standing crop on my field was uprooted," he alleged. However, Pritam Singh alleged that a big chunk of village common land was under the illegal possession of the Congress leader and there was no escape route for the rainwater and it was causing floods in the village. Gurinderjit accused the Akali leader of encroachment. "We are ready for the demarcation of our land but there should also be demarcation of the Akali leader's land to establish who is occupying the common land," he said. Ravi Bhagat, Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, said efforts were being made to defuse tension. The revenue department has been directed to make the demarcation so that the panchayat land can be evacuated. He said police force was sent to the village to control the situation.
	People, admn remember usefulness of ‘Chhaper’ in times of floods Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, August 21 Facing the threat of floods due to the incessant rain that has damaged their homes, roads and crops, the talk in the rural areas and the administrative circles now centres around the village ponds, commonly known as "chhaper" or 'tobas'. These water bodies were known to reduce the risk of floods. As the ponds that used to help in preventing floods and drought, have been encroached upon or filled up, there is nothing in the village to retain water for short periods, allowing for better control of the storm water. "Village ponds were highly useful for the natural recharging of groundwater. Now, these have fallen prey to the land grabbers as in most villages, these ponds were either silted or filled up and encroached upon," said Balbir Singh, sarpanch of Sibian village in Faridkot district. Balbir Singh, a retired Army man, said the encroachment of ponds in the rural areas was rampant but government officials and the village panchayats remain a mute spectator. "There has been no effort to preserve these natural endowments. There were four ponds, spread over 12 acres of land in Sibian village. These ponds had the capacity to retain flood water but now a major portion of these ponds have been encroached upon. All my efforts to erect boundaries around these ponds to check encroachment came to a naught as the revenue department failed to demarcate the water bodies," Balbir Singh said. If earlier, these ponds were recharging the groundwater, now the sewerage dumped in these ponds is polluting the groundwater in the surrounding areas, said Umendra Dutt, executive director, Kheti Virasat Mission (KVM), which conducted studies about the fast vanishing ponds in the rural areas of Punjab. Taking a serious view of the encroachment of common land in the village which includes ponds, the Supreme Court had on January 28, 2011, directed the state governments to prepare schemes for the eviction of those occupying the village common land and restore them to the community. The apex court had asked the states to submit compliance reports in the next four months. But the direction of the Supreme Court failed to prevent the encroachment of ponds and the village common land. Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, Ravi Bhagat said the administration will conduct a study about the encroachment of ponds in the district. Even the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology is of the opinion that village ponds need to be deepened and made bigger as these can play an important role in conserving the natural ecosystem, said Umendra Dutt. Some time back, the Council had conducted a study to determine the quality of water stored in village ponds and develop a strategy for its optimum utilisation, he said.
	MLA for construction of bridge over Sutlej Our Correspondent Ferozepur, August 21 Guruharsahai MLA Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi today said the state government had failed to provide any relief material, including fodder for the cattle to the flood-affected farmers, whose standing crops were damaged. Sodhi, who visited Dona Mattar, Gajniwala, Raja Rai, Gatti Mattar and other villages which have been marooned by the swollen Sutlej, said he would take up the issue regarding the construction of bridge near Dona Mattar with the Ministry of Home Affairs ( MHA). In the absence of the bridge connecting these villages with the mainland, the farmers face immense hardships, especially during the monsoon when the river is in spate, he said, adding that the government should provide adequate compensation to these affected people. Sodhi also said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had promised to provide electrification to these villages. However, nothing has been done due to which the farmers grope under darkness during nights, he added.
	Medical officers up in arms against govt Gagan K Teja Tribune News Service Patiala, August 21 Medical officers-cum-lecturers at Rajindra Hospital are gearing up to fight against the authorities for ignoring them over the years. Medical officers said they were doing emergency duties, besides maintaining records of medical stores, bio-medical waste, Right to Information Cell, medical-legal cases and Central Registration office, which was responsible for the entire record of admissions, birth and death rate and preventable disease. They rued that they were still being ignored. These medical officers, nearly 60 in number, have been teaching for 15 to 30 years but have not been promoted yet. They have been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Government Medical College, Patiala, for the past many years but they are not being provided any teaching experience certificate by the Medical Education and Research Department. Expressing anguish, president, Medical Officers-cum-Lecturers’ Association, Rajindra Hospital, Dr Darshanjeet Singh Walia, said while the government was raising a false alarm that there was a shortage of teaching staff in the medical colleges and laying stress on direct recruitments, they were not being inducted into the teaching cadre despite years of experience. “Though we are eligible for teaching and have been doing it for years, we have not been inducted into the teaching faculty because of the policies of the Medical Education Department. The government has not held the Department Promotion Committee meetings for eight years following which we have been sidelined,” he said. General secretary of the association Dr Varinder Verma said while the teaching faculty was only doing the OPDs and taking classes, they were being made to slog day and night without any benefit. “We are the only ones who are doing emergency duties and don’t even get casual leaves, forget about summer and winter vacations. Even the paramedical staff and Class IV employees working with the teaching faculty get these leaves and we, despite doing 90 per cent work in the hospital, are being completely ignored,” he said. One of the medical officers said though they were not supposed to take classes, they were still doing it for so many years. “Now that the government has increased the timings of medical colleges, the teaching faculty has asked us to prepare a roaster and take classes. Why should we take classes when the government is not even giving us experience certificates? The government needs teachers and we are eligible for it, but still they are adamant,” he added. The Principal, Rajindra Hospital, Dr KD Singh, said the timings had been increased for the benefit of the students and patients and medical officers-cum-lectures should not have any issues. “As far as giving teaching experience certificates and their induction into the teaching faculty is concerned, they are all higher level issues and we cannot do anything about it. Since they are already taking classes, they should continue to cooperate with us,” he added.
	Bandhu joins as Principal, Khalsa College of Education, Muktsar Tribune News Service Bathinda, August 21 Dr Tarlok Bandhu, associate professor at Malwa Central College of Education for Women, Ludhiana, has joined as the principal of Khalsa College of Education, Muktsar. A doctorate in educational psychology, he has a teaching experience of 20 years and has served at Malwa College for 16 years. Serving for the second term as a member of Panjab University Senate, he represents the staff of technical and professional colleges. Dr Bandhu was elected member of Panjab University Syndicate from the law faculty in December 2012. He has played a key role in paving the way for colleges to become research centres of Panjab University. Bandhu is a native of Rampura Phul in Bathinda district.