Bathinda, September 15
The newly appointed World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for South East Asia region, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, an international diplomat and a health official, has a Bathinda connection.

She is fondly remembered for gifting Bathinda its first lush green recreational centre in the form of Rose Garden in the year 1979 during her two-year stint as the administrator of the then Municipal Council.

A Punjab cadre IAS of the 1975 batch, Khetrapal's stint saw the foundation stone of the Rose Garden being laid by the then Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal. Till a few years ago, a plaque bearing her name was installed near the entrance of the Rose Garden. However, it has now been removed.

Sadhu Ram Kusla, the assistant project officer (APO) in the office of the ADC (Development) under the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), who was a new appointee in the department in 1979, recalled Khetrapal as an officer who always encouraged her subordinates. In 1979, the DRDA was known as Small Farmers Development Agency.

Vijay Kumar Mittal, who retired as cashier from the Municipal Corporation, recounts: "Khetrapal was a hardworking lady who developed the Rose Garden exhibiting keen interest in the project."

In the absence of an elected body, the state government had appointed an administrator in the city from 1975 to early 1980. Khetrapal had remained the administrator of the Bathinda municipal body for two years.

Rameshwar Chander Kalia, an accountant at the corporation, remembers that he saw Khetrapal monitoring the project at the site for the entire day. "She even used to clear her dak (daily communiqués received from various quarters) while overseeing the work at the Rose Garden," he added.

An Indian delegate has regained the post of Regional Director of South East Asian Regioan countries after a long gap of 44 years. Earlier, India occupied this post from 1948 to 1968. However, since 1968, India has not occupied the post of the Regional Director.

Bathinda, September 15
Pocketing Rs 14,000 in lieu of helping a woman by staging a dharna in protest against the state government and the district police cost dear to the state president of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), who was booked today under cheating and corruption charges.

In a complaint to the police, Jasvir Kaur of Balraj Nagar said her daughter was cheated by a resident of Barnala over the pretext of marriage. The boy, a student of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur College of Engineering and Technology, Fatehgarh Sahib, was booked for cheating by the police.

The woman said the police, however, did not arrest the accused boy and she discussed the matter with LJP state chief Kiranjit Gehri, who allegedly assured her of extending a helping hand in lieu of Rs 14,000.

The woman stated that Gehri asked her to pay him the amount so that he along with his party workers could stage a protest against the Bathinda police in order to build pressure on them to arrest the boy. The woman said she arranged for the money sought by Gehri by selling her gold ornaments for Rs 15,000. Gehri, however, kept delaying on his promise over one pretext or the other. And repeated requests made to him to return Rs 14,000 bore no fruit.

A case under Section 420 of the IPC and Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act-1998 has been registered against Kiranjit Gehri at Kotwali police station.

Investigating officer in the case, DSP Gurmeet Kingra said, "We are still investigating the matter and the accused would be arrested soon in this regard."

Gehri, however, claimed innocence and said that the police case was a move to suppress the voice of Dalits as he used to take up the issues pertaining to the community.

Bathinda, September 15
Belying the claim of free treatment, cancer patients today accused the hospitals of not sharing information about having received sanction for free treatment-of up to Rs 1.5 lakhs-under the Chief Minister's Cancer Relief Fund.

Under the scheme, cancer patients can avail of free medical care at hospitals which are empanelled under the scheme.

The aid is fixed after the estimated cost of treatment is forwarded from the district level to the Health Department and Rs 20,000 to Rs 1.5 lakhs is then transferred by the state government into the account of the hospitals.

The hospitals, after getting the sanction, have to provide free treatment, medical facility or medicines up to the sanctioned amount. Though the health department officials claim that a copy of the letter of sanction is sent to the Deputy Commissioner, Civil Surgeon and the patient, most patients remain unaware of the fact.

TNS today procured a list of cancer patients in Bathinda during the past two years. A random call to the patients revealed that they were yet to receive information about free treatment. Patients who were aware of the sanction were not clear about the actual amount. Many of the patients had died during treatment and their relatives informed that they paid the entire bill of the hospital as they were not aware of the sanctioned limit.

"We failed to avail the benefit of free treatment up to Rs 1.5 lakh despite repeated requests to the hospital authorities and the doctor," said Kulwinder Singh of Jhanduke village. Kulwinder lost his father to cancer in January last year.

Kulwinder said the doctors at the private hospital in Mohali did not inform him about the sanctioned limit of Rs 1.5 lakhs and kept pestering him to pay the medical bills.

"The doctor rebuked me and said that he felt insulted as the matter had been taken up with the health department. Irate over our complaint, the doctor asked us to pay Rs 50,000 before the body was released," Kulwinder said.

Similar views were expressed by cancer patients Gurmeet Kaur of Bajak village, Gobind of Kotshamir, Darshan Singh of Dhadde village, Usha Rani of Nai Basti, Gurjeet Kaur of Pitho village and others.

Darshan Singh, whose wife is suffering from cancer, said he got free chemotherapy at a Ludhiana hospital and got the benefit of a mere Rs 7,500. But on paper, an amount of Rs 83,000 was sanctioned and transferred into the hospital's account.

It is pertinent to mention here that a case of cheating was registered against assistant professor of Baba Farid Baba Farid University, Dr Manjit Jaura yesterday. Jaura has been accused of cheating by asking a cancer patient to get treated by him at a private hospital in Bathinda. The patient spent Rs 5 lakhs on treatment and failed to get the benefit under the scheme despite sending the documents through the accused doctor.

State Programme Officer of Cancer Control Cell, Chandigarh, Dr Jai Singh, while admitting to the problem, said so far no written complaint has been received in this connection so far. "We immediately redress the problems of patients who either contact me or call at our helpline number 0172-5012357," he said, adding that the department would not spare any hospital for such acts.

Out of 36 hospitals, 16 hospitals are empanelled and an amount of nearly Rs 50 crores has been disbursed so far.

Bathinda, September 15
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Member of Parliament from Bathinda, today urged the Union Government to immediately announce the project to tackle the problem of waterlogging in Punjab as a "national project" besides releasing a package of Rs 960.62 crore without delay.

Presiding over sangat darshan programmes in the district, the Bathinda MP said it was Punjab which had brought the country out of food crisis after independence and made the country self-sufficient on that front. She added that the Centre should adopt a proactive approach to help the Punjab government.

During her sangat darshan programmes at villages Kot Bhara, Chanarthal, Gehri Bara Singh, Ramnagar, Maur Charat Singh, Yatri and Marhi, Harsimrat said the farmers of Punjab worked hard to fill country's food bowl, but the state was paying a heavy price for it as the level of groundwater in the state was getting depleted.

The MP said that the state government welcomed the invitation extended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Punjab Chief Minister to visit Delhi for a discussion on the issue. She said that a team sent by the Central Government has already visited the affected villages and assessed damage to crops on thousands of acres due to waterlogging.

Along with Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Irrigation Minister of Punjab, the MP laid the foundation stone of the grain market at Chanarthal. Addressing the gatherings at sangat darshan programmes, she accused the Congress-led UPA government of fleecing the 'aam aadmi' with unprecedented price rise, inflation and corruption.

The MP also distributed sewing machines to the students who have completed their courses under the Nanhi Chaan programme besides distributing grants to villages for development work.

Bathinda, September 15
A mentally challenged woman, who was found abandoned near platform number 6 of Bathinda railway station on Saturday, has given birth to a baby boy.

Writhing in labour pain, the woman was lifted from the platform by the volunteers of the NGO, Sahara Welfare Society, after much persuasion.

"On Saturday afternoon, we got a call that a woman was writhing in pain near platform number 6. When we went there, she refused to accompany us. At around 6 pm, her condition deteriorated and we rushed her to the Civil Hospital and admitted her to the Women and Children Hospital," said the president of the NGO Vijay Goyal.

Since the woman was in a serious condition, she was referred to the Government Medical College at Faridkot. The volunteers of the NGO, however, pleaded with the Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr BS Gill and the woman was treated at Bathinda.

At around 11 pm, she gave birth to a baby boy. Her condition is serious and she is undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of the Women and Children Hospital.

Goyal said that people are calling him seeking adoption of the new-born baby. "Giving child for adoption is not in our hands. To save the woman is our first priority. We have already informed the district administration about the woman and her child," he said. The NGO is awaiting the response of the district administration and further action to locate her whereabouts will be taken only after the woman recovers fully.

Bathinda, September 15
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravcharan Singh Brar would be on All India Radio (AIR) FM Bathinda 101.1 MHz as the guest on weekly phone-in programme-- Bathinda's development and its challenges-- on September 16.

In a press statement issued here, station director Rajeev Arora stated that SSP Brar would discuss various issues including his efforts to improve the law and order situation in the city.

Listeners, who wish to speak to the SSP during the show, can call AIR FM studio at the phone number 0164-2240331 between 4 pm to 5 pm. Earlier, MLA Bathinda (Urban) Sarup Chand Singla, former Mayor Baljit Singh Beerbehman, former senior deputy mayor Tarsem Goyal, MLA Bathinda (Rural) Darshan Singh Kotfatta, officials of the municipal corporation, health department and the BDA have been guests on the radio show. — TNS

Bathinda, September 15
In Jaspreet Singh's own words, he has risen from the fringes of the Bathinda district to reach the centre stage. Few would believe that a boy from nondescript Kotli Ablu village would go to South Korea to participate in an international sporting event and win a medal for the country.

Jaspreet, a second year students of BA at the Government Rajindra College here, has just achieved this feat. He was recently selected as part of the Indian contingent that participated in the World Tae kwon do Hanmadang 2013 competition, which was held in South Korea.

"The Indian team comprised 38 members and the team won a total of 12 medals, including one gold, two silver and nine bronze medals. I won a bronze medal in the Knife-Breaking senior I category," Jaspreet told Bathinda Tribune.

Some five years ago, Jaspreet Singh was introduced to the sport during the annual schools sports competitions.

"I trained in tae kwon do for the first time to prepare for the school sports competitions and never left it. Now, I have been training under Somdutt Surya and Sandeep Kumar Surya," he added.

And this is not the first time that he won a medal at an international event. "Last year too, I was a part of the Indian team which participated in a competition held at Phuket in Thailand. I had won a bronze medal at that competition as well. The medal was real encouragement and pushed me ahead to do better," he added.

Jaspreet is still undergoing training for the higher level of the sport and at the same time, has cleared tests which have made him a certified trainer.

In fact, at the recently held 59th School Sports competitions, the martial art champion was called as a referee at some of the tae kwon do competitions held in Muktsar.

Hailing from a small town on the outskirts of the district didn't deter his spirit, he said. "My elder brothers and sister supported me and still encourage me a lot. It is because of my family, college and trainers that I have been able to win at international competitions," he said.