Bathinda, October 22
After running out of fuel following dues of Rs 50 lakh, the Bathinda police is now out of the reach of common man as all its telephone lines at the control room, including 100, have been disconnected following non-payment of bills.

Earlier, the police faced embarrassment as they expressed their helplessness in reaching a crime spot due to the lack of fuel and now people are unable to approach the control room also.

Sources said the Police Department failed to pay the bills to the telephone company that had a tie-up to provide telephones at the control rooms.

People who failed to call at 100, fumed at the tall claims of the state government and the Bathinda police which had announced to provide world-class facilities for the local residents.

“Neither any PCR cop nor the control room was available on Thursday when my cousin met with an accident on Bhatti Road”, said Bhupi Brar, a resident of nearby Matta village.

He added that DGP Sumedh Saini was in the city and the entire police force was in his service. Similar views were expressed by many other city residents.

Senior police functionaries, when contacted, said not only Bathinda but five other districts had a tie-up with the company and talks were on to resume 100 service to the people.

Senior officers, including SP (headquarter) Jasvir Singh and SP (detective) Naveen Singla said talks at the ADGP level were on with the local police functionaries and it seemed that the service would restart in a day or so. The officers, however, expressed their helplessness in revealing the amount pending for the telephone bill.

“The tie-up with the company HCL is at the state level and the exact amount of bill pending is yet not ascertained”, said SP Jasvir. Singla said the department had offered alternate numbers to the public, including landline numbers of BSNL and mobile phone numbers.

Singla said Punjab Police Housing Corporation was supposed to look into the payments. The amount pertaining to Bathinda control room is less than Rs 1 lakh, he said.

Apart from four landline telephones of the Police Control Room, one landline number of Woman Helpline is also disconnected.

Meanwhile, the police personnel can be contacted at 98784-21400l, 75080-18100, woman help lines-0164-2214020, 0164-2215020, 0164-2216020, 0164-2219300 (fax) and 0164-2214006 in case they fail to connect to 100.

Bathinda, October 22
On the second day of the 59th Punjab State School Games, matches were played at different venues. The tournament is being organised under the supervision of the Education Minister of Punjab, Sikander Singh Maluka, District Sports Officer Karam Singh Sandhu, District Education Officer (Secondary) Harkanwaljit Kaur and Assistant Education Officer (Sports) Pavittar Kaur.

The Education Minister and the District Sports Officer met the players participating in the matches which were organised at the Maluka Sports Wing grounds.

In the boys' category in hockey, Bathinda beat Hoshiarpur 8-0, Sports School Ghudda beat Fatehgarh 3-1 and Fatehgarh drew level with Moga at 1-1

In the girls' category in hockey, Mansa beat Ajitgarh 5-0, Badal Wing Muktsar beat Barnala 13-0, Muktsar beat Bathinda 3-0, Sports School Ghudda beat Sangrur 3-1 while Ajitgarh got a walkover as the Fatehgarh team did not reach the venue. Mansa also got the points as the Fatehgarh team did not arrive.

In the hockey matches for boys, played at the Giani Zail Singh sports ground, Ferozepur beat Muktsar 3-1, Sangrur beat Mansa 4-0, Chheta Wing beat Fazilka 7-0, Sangrur beat Roopnagar 4-1 and Fazilka Wing beat Muktsar 1-0.

At the Malwa College ground, Ludhiana beat Barnala 5-0, Jalandhar beat Faridkot 6-0, Jalandhar beat Malwa School Ludhiana 4-0 and Amritsar beat Ajitgarh 2-0.

In the boxing matches for the 28-30 kg category held at the Multipurpose Sports Stadium, Manjit Singh from Barnala, Lakhvir Singh from Faridkot, Dushyant from Sports School, Ghudda, Vishal Sharma from Patiala, Kulwinder Singh from Bathinda, Navi Rana from Ropar and Sahil Kumar from Amritsar won their matches.

In the 30-32 kg category in boxing, Gurepeet Singh of Ludhiana, Karanvir Singh of Patiala and Vikas Kumar of Bathinda won. In the 32-34 kg category, Jaspreet Singh won. In the 34-36 kg category, Gurpreet Singh of Patiala, Jaspreet Singh of Bathinda, Satinder Sharma of Barnala, Sukhdep Singh of Sangrur and Jugraj Singh of Tarn Taran won their matches.

In the 36-38 kg category, Gursewak Singh of Mansa, Manish Kumar of Patiala, Manraj Singh of Tarn Taran and Kuldeep Singh of Barnala emerged the winners. In the 38-40 kg category, Kartik of the Sports School, Ghudda, Harpreet Singh of Sangrur and Amritpal Singh of Tarn Taran remained the winners.

In the 40-42 kg category, Virender Singh of Sangrur, Roman Singh of Faridkot, Pavittar Singh of Amritsar, Jivanjoit Singh of Patiala and Ramandeep Singh of Ropar won their matches.

In the 42-44 kg category, Balkaran Singh of Barnala and Bikram Singh of Mastuana Sahib emerged the winners. In the 48-50 kg category, Ravi Kumar of Mansa, Gursewak Singh of Faridkot, Kartar Singh of Tarn Taran and Gurpal Singh of Bathinda were adjudged winners.

The matches were held under the supervision of the conveners Balvir Singh, Jagdish Singh, Bhupinderpal Kaur, Rajinder Kaur Poohli, Bhinderpal Kaur Lehra Sauda, Amritpal Sekhon, Gobind Das, Surinder Singh Multania, Nazar Singh, Sukhjinderpal Singh, Ranjodh Singh, Gurpreet Singh, hockey coach, Balwinder Singh Mann and others.

Bathinda, October 22
It was duty before rituals for the women staff of the Civil Hospital who, despite a restricted holiday of Punjab Government on the occasion of Karva Chauth, worked today.

All the gynaecologists at the women and children hospital were on a fast but performed their duties as well. Beside the doctors, the lady health visitors (LHV), ANMs and nurses performed their duties too. A number of women workers of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) also attended to their daily duty.

“Today was a day like all other days, the only difference being the fast. But being a doctor, work comes first,” said radiologist Dr Anu Garg from Max Hospital.

For others like psychiatrist Dr Nidhi Gupta, it was the long queue of patients that made her work. “I was away to Chandigarh on official duty on Monday, due to which my patients had suffered. I did not want to keep them waiting today as well. So like all other years, this year too I preferred to work on Karva Chauth,” she said.

Most of the fasting women left the offices by around 2 pm.

Similarly, the young women cops, posted with the Women Armed Special Protection (WASP) squad also observed fast. One such cop who was recently engaged and was observing fast for her fiancée today, on the condition of anonymity, said “I could not say no to work. My partner and I were on duty for the whole day and we drove on our patrol route too. Now I am looking forward to wear the new suit tonight that my would-be in-laws have gifted me,” she said, adjusting her helmet.

Bathinda, October 22
On the third day of the pen down strike being observed by the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) office staff union, the agitating workers announced that they would stage a district-wide protest on October 24.

On the third consecutive, work at the district and block-level offices remained suspended due to the strike. The office staff has accused the state government of ignoring the SSA and RMSA schemes and flinching from paying its 35 per cent share of the total expenditure on the schemes.

They flayed the state for spending crores on other activities such as organising cultural extravaganzas during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Kabaddi World Cup but not caring about paying the salaries of teachers in time.

Bathinda, October 22
Holding Big Bazar, Value Retail Limited, Mittal Mall and Future Value Retail Limited guilty of providing deficient service, the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum directed them to pay Rs 5,000 to a consumer.

In his complaint to the forum, advocate Mohan Lal Garg said he had purchased a Koryo Air Conditioner of one ton capacity for Rs 19,940 in May. The AC was to be installed in his chamber in District Court Complex.

The seller promised to install the AC without any charges but the mechanic, after installing the same, told the buyer to pay a bill of Rs 1,630.

Although the AC was to be installed the same day, it was installed after three days and the faulty installation led to a jarring noise. He later came to know that the gadget had a manufacturing defect and its outer-door unit required to be replaced, he added.

Despite repeated requests for over a week, the seller kept on lingering the matter over one pretext or the other. The complainant finally moved an application in the Consumer Forum, seeking directions against the seller to pay compensation and fine, Garg said.

The opposite party pleaded before the forum that there was no deficiency on their part and the air conditioner was in a working condition without any major defect.

They pointed out that the gadget was installed within three days of the sale and the same was fitted within the stipulated timeframe provided by the company to its customers.

They said the complainant got upset for being asked to pay Rs 1,630 which was being charged for the spare parts, including a pipe, pipe cover, nut bolts, tape etc.

Though there is no policy of the opposite parties refunding the cost price of accessories but in view of dragging them in the forum, the seller decided to refund Rs 1,630 but the complainant refused and demanded Rs 5,000. The seller also replaced the “faulty” AC.

Keeping in view the facts, circumstances and the evidence placed on file by both the parties, the forum observed that the outdoor unit of the air conditioner in question was not replaced for maintaining good consumer relation by the opposite parties.

The forum added that the complainant however failed to place any evidence to show any offer of free installation. In such circumstances, the direction for refund of Rs 1,630 could not be given to the opposite parties, but the complainant was entitled for compensation on account of harassment and cost of the complaint.

The forum directed Big Bazar, Future Value Retail Limited, Mittal Mall and Future Value Retail Limited, Vikrohli, West Mumbai, to pay Rs 2,000 and Vinod Goyal, Panasonic Service Center, Nai Basti, to pay Rs 3,000.

Bathinda, October 22
The six-day theatre festival, organised by Natyam— a theatre group from Jaito (Faridkot), began here today. This time around, the group has dedicated the festival to the 100 years of the Gadhar Movement.

On Tuesday, the group organised a street play ‘Samajhdaar Log’ at five venues in the city. These included the Dhobi Bazaar, Mehna Chowk, near Haji Ratan Gurdwara, Ajit Road and Hazura Kapura Colony.

Speaking about the play, Kirti Kirpal, director of Natyam, said “Samajhdaar log is a satire on the current state of affairs in the Indian political scenario. The play showed what all a person needs to do to become a political leader and dwelled on the kind of promises that the leaders make and then forget. It also depicted how the leaders use the political structure and bend the rules to serve their vested interests.”

The group plans to present another street play ‘tamasha-e-Hindustan’ on Wednesday. The play will be held at Government Rajindra College, DAV College, Model Town, Mata Jivi Nagar and National Colony.

While talking about whether people were losing interest in street plays, Kirti Kirpal said, “There is no meter to gauge whether the public’s interest in street plays is increasing or decreasing. We can only blame the fast-paced life that everyone is leading these days. While earlier, street plays used to be a-hour-and-a-half-long, now we shorten them to 15 minutes.”

“No one has the time to watch a street play. It is on us to encapsulate in 15 minutes whatever we wish to convey,” he added.

The theatre plays will begin on Thursday and the plays will be staged at the Balwant Gargi Open Air Theatre, Rose Garden.

Bathinda, October 22
The authorities of Guru Gobind Singh Refinery (GGS) today gave aid for the de-addiction centre run on the Civil Hospital premises and the evening schools run in the Beant Nagar area of Dhobiana Basti, at Bal Bhawan in Ganesha Basti and in Panchayat Bhawan near the multipurpose sports stadium.

General manager, Human Resource Department, Ravi Yadav and public relations officer Waheguru Pal Singh gave a cheque of Rs 5 lakhs for the de-addiction centre and Rs 1.86 lakhs for the evening schools. The cheques were presented to Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav.

Yadav said the de-addiction centre receives a large number of patients every year who want to shun drug addiction. This year, till October, 637 patients have undergone treatment so far.

In the year 2009, 887 patients received treatment at the de-addiction centre. In 2010, 816 patients underwent treatment. In 2011, 773 patients received treatment and in the year 2012, 789 patients underwent treatment.

He added that the aid for the evening schools is being put to philanthropic use for educating children belonging to the poor and the downtrodden section.

Secretary, Red Cross Society, Col (retd) Mukhtiar Singh Kular and project coordinator, de-addiction centre, Roop Singh Mann thanked the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery officials for extending the financial help.

The refinery had been donating Rs 20,000 per month from the year 2009 to 2011 to meet the expenses of the project. It was also being funded by the Society for Service to Voluntary Agencies, North (SOSVA-N), Punjab. However, in the year 2012, SOSVA withdrew its grant and Guru Gobind Singh Refinery stepped in by donating Rs 5 lakhs annually.

With the grant received, employees of the de-addiction centre - who have not received salaries since April this year - can now heave a sigh of relief. They will be given salaries from the grant received. Battling the odds, the de-addiction centre has been finding it difficult to make both ends meet.

As per the decision of the Punjab government, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, will take over the centre. Earlier, the BFUHS was to take over after the 50-bedded tertiary care de-addiction centre was to be constructed.

However, keeping in view the dwindling resources, the BFUHS will take it over by the end of this year.

Bathinda, October 22
Former municipal councillor and ex-chairman, Improvement Trust, Bathinda, Jagroop Singh Gill today circulated a pamphlet listing his targets, achievements and work left pending in his ward number 44 through a pamphlet circulated in the area.

Taking a lead over his contemporary MCs in the city, Gill has talked in the circular about the targets that remained unachieved due to the alleged wrong policies of the state government. He has also taken a dig at the former Congress MLA Harminder Singh Jassi by pointing out his absence from the constituency, leaving the people to fend for themselves.

Aiming at yet another term as the MC of his ward, Gill has broadly divided his address to the people in four parts including the issues during the MC elections, works completed, works pending and issues raised that benefit people in more ways than one.

Meanwhile, former Congress MLA Harminder Singh Jassi questioned Gill's remarks in the time when Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections are already over. "Gill should have spoken at that time. When there was a dispute over booth capturing in Gill's ward, I stood by him. It was I who stood by him and put pressure on the district administration to declare the result of his ward, which was getting delayed,” Jassi said.