J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Bajwa may opt for loyalist Vij as
DCC president
Pathankot, August 23
Negotiations have begun among senior Congress men to install the President and other members of the District Congress Committee (DCC). Ever since Pathankot was carved out as a separate district from Gurdaspur before the assembly elections, it has been without a proper DCC following which discontent is spreading amongst the party cadres.

New hospital building awaits inauguration
Nawanshahr, August 23
Though the SAD-BJP government has fulfilled its promise of providing better healthcare services by setting up a 100-beded hospital equipped with ultra modern facilities here but the narrow approach road from the Jalandhar- Nawanshahr- Chandigarh highway to the new hospital building has been causing delay in making it operational. Besides, ban on mining has caused considerable delay in completing the construction work especially the earth filling of the sprawling compound of the hospital.

Girl commits suicide
Hoshiarpur, August 23
Neharika (22), daughter of Surinder Kumar, committed suicide by hanging herself with the ceiling of a roof at her house in Mohalla Tagore Nagar, yesterday. The police said Neharika's maternal uncle Lokesh and maternal aunt Rekha said after the death of Neharika’s father Surinder Kumar, her mother left her at their house and disappeared. Neharika missed her parents which led to depression. Due to frustration she committed suicide. — OC

Bajwa may opt for loyalist Vij as DCC president
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Pathankot, August 23
Negotiations have begun among senior Congress men to install the President and other members of the District Congress Committee (DCC). Ever since Pathankot was carved out as a separate district from Gurdaspur before the assembly elections, it has been without a proper DCC following which discontent is spreading amongst the party cadres.

Former president of the Pathankot Congress Committee and senior Congressman Anil Vij has emerged as the frontrunner for the post of the DCC President. He is a known loyalist of Gurdaspur, Member of Parliament (MP), Partap Singh Bajwa. Sources disclosed that the later would like to have one of his men as the president ahead of the general elections. It is pertinent to mention here that Pathankot district is part of the Gurdaspur Parliamentary seat of which Bajwa is the sitting MP.

“If Bajwa seeks re-election, it is important for him to have his own man as the DCC Chief. In the 2009 Parliament elections, the Congress faced a lot of problems in Pathankot. It got a wafer thin lead from Pathankot and Narot Jaimal Singh assembly segments (now rechristened Bhoa) while it lost from the Sujanpur seat. All the three seats falling in Pathankot district hold immense political significance for the PPCC Chief and it would benefit him if one of his loyalists is at the helm of affairs as the DCC Chief,” remarked a senior Congress man.

Former MLA Raman Bhalla is also in the fray but his detractors claim that he no longer enjoys the confidence of the party cadres after he lost the last Vidhan Sabha elections by more than 20,000 votes. Moreover, his wife has already been adjusted as a vice-president of the Punjab Congress Mahila Wing.

A slander campaign launched by Vij’s opponents in the form of sending e-mails and sms to the party high command has not gone down well with top leaders in New Delhi. “The vilification campaign against Vij is being termed as a case of gross indiscipline by the men who matter in the AICC. Instead of going against Vij, it is actually helping him in his endeavour to become the president,” added a top Congress leader.

Other probable candidates in the fray are Vinay Mahajan, Rajbir Singh, a confidant of Rajya Sabha MP Ashwani Kumar, Sukhdev Wadehra, a former Chairman of the Punjab Communication Limited (PCL) and Balbir Fatehpuria, who belongs to the SC category and contested unsuccessfully from the Bhoa seat.

An insider disclosed that yet another reason which may swing the balance in favour of Vij is the work he has done for the town during his tenure as the MC Chief including the launch of regular anti-encroachment drives and the setting up of a Gaushala on circular road.

New hospital building awaits inauguration
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, August 23
Though the SAD-BJP government has fulfilled its promise of providing better healthcare services by setting up a 100-beded hospital equipped with ultra modern facilities here but the narrow approach road from the Jalandhar- Nawanshahr- Chandigarh highway to the new hospital building has been causing delay in making it operational. Besides, ban on mining has caused considerable delay in completing the construction work especially the earth filling of the sprawling compound of the hospital.

The Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal and the then health minister, Luxmi Kanta Chawla had laid the foundation stone of the hospital building on March 28, 2011 and the target of completing the construction was fixed for December 28, 2011 at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

The most intriguing aspect associated with the selection of the site for such a prestigious project is that the approach road from the main highway to the Civil Hospital is only 11 ft wide. The process of acquisition of the land for ensuring wide approach road and the legal wrangles associated with it has virtually been delaying the shifting of the hospital in new building.

“The process for providing at least 60 ft. wide approach road from the main highway to the civil hospital is going on and the issue is likely to be resolved by December this year, said Civil Surgeon, Dr Dharam Pal.