Jalandhar, November 5
Despite a strict ban imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the commercial use of tractor-trailers in the state, maximum violations of this rule are being done by various government departments only, which are executing various projects by hiring private-run tractor-trailers.

Many unemployed youths and gullible farmers are also being dragged into various illegal trades like sand mining etc in connivance with political leaders and government officials by the illegal use of tractor-trailers. These youths, who are free after the crop season is over, are being lured by local politicians for some quick buck to execute small government works.

Enforcement agencies, meanwhile, show their helplessness due to political pressure and the absence of a well-defined policy on the use of tractor-trailers in the state.

“We are helpless. Whenever we catch any such violator, most of the time it was found to be of some government department only. Later, officials of the department concerned call us and pressurise us to release them without challan,” said a Traffic inspector.

The Municipal Corporation (MC) of Jalandhar has so far awarded road cleaning contracts, worth Rs 21 lakh, to the tractor-trailer owners. Along with paying Rs 500 as daily hiring charges to them, the corporation is also paying additional labour charges and cost of diesel to these contractors.

When contacted, Mayor Sunil Jyoti showed ignorance about any such ban of the High Court. “This is news to me. This is true that we are hiring tractor-trailers for various purposes, but I am totally unaware of any such ban by the Punjab Government or the High Court. If it is there, it would be duly respected and executed lawfully,” said Jyoti.

Apart from the MC, many other government agencies like PWD, PUDA, PSPCL etc are also using tractors for non-agricultural purposes. While the PWD and PUDA use tractors to ferry all sorts of building material of construction and demolished buildings, the Punjab Water Supply Board (PWSB) uses tractors to ferry huge tanks of water during shortage in various localities. Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has also been seen sometimes carrying transformers or other electrical materials on tractors to various localities. Some private contractors with their political and bureaucratic contacts also manage small-time contracts from these government agencies regularly.

In Jalandhar district, only 1,425 tractors have being registered for commercial use, whereas 21,754 tractors have been registered for agricultural use since 2008. As Punjab is an agriculture-dominated state, villagers here own a large number of tractor-trailers, which they rent out when not in use at farms. Since most of the political leaders in the district belong to the rural area only, they make use of these tractors and unemployed youths from villages to earn huge bucks by using them in executing various government contracts. In return, they just pay a meagre amount to these young hard working men.

Although, the government has banned the use of tractors for commercial purposes, it has done it without formulating any well-defined policy for the same. There is no clear classification on the use of tractors in agricultural and horticultural use. There is no agency specified by the government which could verify the actual land records before sanctioning permit for its use in the agriculture sector. Unlike foreign countries, there is also no difference in colour which could be helpful to the enforcement agencies to differentiate them. 

Jalandhar, November 5
Diwali’s gone and the season has seen a marked change. A sweet chill has set in and, ideally, it would also be a time when doctors stop sweating about anymore impending outbreak.

But while the gastro and cholera nightmare of the city is certainly over, dengue cases continue to pour in.

In the season of diseases and outbreaks so far, as many as 67 patients have tested positive for dengue and 377 suspected dengue patients have been reported so far in the district.

The number of malaria patients reported until now has been 32.

While the diarrhoea and cholera outbreak in the Garha and neighbouring areas of the district had initially claimed five lives, the outbreak later also spread to other diseases like jaundice.

The additional suspected cases coming in during the Diwali holidays might add to the dengue total wherein the number of cases is expected to see a sharp rise in the coming days.

Meanwhile, even as doctors say Ludhiana saw the maximum number of dengue patients this year, Jalandhar also happens to be one of the districts with a substantial dengue reportage this week.

While until mid-September about eight dengue cases had been reported in the district, in the past month and a half, a dramatic increase has brought the current dengue figures to 67 confirmed cases.

However, the district authorities still continue to maintain a low profile.

District epidemiologist Dr Satish Sood said, “Compared to previous years, the dengue situation in the city is relatively in control this year. However, we are keeping tabs on the disease and all possible measures are being taken to keep it under control.”

Jalandhar, November 5
A number of plots holders and colonisers submitted their applications on the last date for applying for regularising unapproved colonies.

Municipal Corporation (MC) Jalandhar senior town planner (STP) Trilok Singh said a total of about 19,000 plot-holders and building owners and 155 colonisers had submitted application for regularisation till today.

As many as 168 colonisers had yet not applied so far for regularisation with the MC as a total number of 323 colonies had been identified as unapproved in the areas falling under the MC jurisdiction, he added. Trilok Singh said the MC had so far collected a revenue of Rs 15 crore from the applicants under the regularisation policy.

Every applicant would have to pay a fine with fixed fees for getting their plots and colonies regularised from tomorrow onwards, he added.

The state government had extended the last date twice for filing applications for regularisation.

Jalandhar, November 5
He always took pride in his sinewy body but hadn’t ever dreamt it would, one day, take him far enough to share screen with Bollywood siren Mallika Sherawat.

Big-bodied, straightforward Jagjit Singh Athwal, who recently made his spot in the top five of the TV series The Bachelorette - featuring actress Mallika Sherawat - was in the city today to visit an institute of dance, music and acting today.

Competing with the best in India as well as abroad to win the admiration of Sherawat on the show, this former-cop believes it was his honesty which made him last so long on the show.

Having begun his training as a model at the institute here, Jagjit had been earning accolades in various body-building championships right since his police days.

Born and brought up in Amritsar (Vachhoa village), he pursued his education in Jalandhar and landed a job as a policeman here in 2000. He became a sub-inspector in 2005.

His father Balkaar Singh Athwal is also a retired inspector with the Punjab Police.

Right from the start, he stood out for his various successful outings bagging the titles of Mr India (body building) consecutively from 2001 to 2003 and Mr Asia, a championship held at Bangkok.

A visit to Canada in 2009 for the World Police and Fire Games altered his life forever.

“During the Canada games, some of my relatives settled there said I should take up full-time modelling. The praise from all quarters gave me a boost. I began working as a model and eventually a fitness trainer in Canada,” he said.

He was also roped in as a model for the brand Calvin Klein at Vancouver.

Last January, during his visit to India, a chance meeting with the casting director of the show "The Bachelorette" brought him the golden opportunity to hit the small screen as a prospective suitor for none other than Mallika Sherawat.

While his forthrightness on the show earned him accolades, it later also brought trouble.

“One of the participants called all of us others fake, telling Mallika that we were there just for the limelight. I was peeved and stood up telling him he had no business speaking for the rest of us. That impressed Mallika and she presented a rose to me during that episode,” he blushes.

While a slap on a co-contestant’s face when he allegedly maligned Jagjit’s family got him out of the show for violent behaviour, he says, “I am happy that I stayed real. There were many others whose behaviour altered dramatically the moment cameras turned on,” Jagjit says.

On Sherawat: She is a simple human being. In the sessions and dates we went on, she said she struggled a lot to be where she is. She also believes people are not as judgmental about actresses from established families revealing, as they are for outsiders. She told us that her motive for the show was choosing a simple, small-town person who wouldn’t be fake because most Bollywood men were,” he quips.

With offers pouring in, his future plans: Films in Punjab and South have been offered and reality TV offers are also coming. 

Jalandhar, November 5
With as many as 100 complaints pouring in each month from NRIs across Punjab regarding their tenants not evicting their ancestral properties back home, the passing of the Punjab Security of Land Tenures (Amendment) Bill, 2013, by the Vidhan Sabha recently has come as a major relief.

The NRIs have a common refrain that they want to maintain their ancestral property in the state so that their subsequent generations remain attached to their roots but they often end up losing such properties to tenants many of whom refuse to vacate their premises later.

Bakhtawar Singh, a resident of Hoshiarpur, said his NRI son-in-law owned eight shops in the city, all of which had been occupied by the tenant since the past four years.

A Power of Attorney holder, he said, “The tenant has not even been giving any rent for the shops. We finally lodged a complaint against him with the police but have not got any help. I just hope that the new amendment gets regulated at the earliest for bringing us a quick relief.”

Narinder Kumar Khanna, a Phagwara-based NRI, said he too was facing a similar problem with regard to his property at Amritsar.

“I am a British national. I won the case in the lower court and then in the district and sessions court. The matter is now in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.”

“My passport has been withheld for the past over eight months and I am unable to move back. Since I am an NRI, all those persons I am dealing with have been trying to fix monetary deals with me to settle the case. I read about the passing of the Bill in newspapers yesterday and feel that there will be some relief for others like me,” he rued.

President of the NRI Sabha Jasvir Singh Gill said he was receiving such complaints on a daily basis.

“The number of such complaints a day ranges from five to 20. Now, I have been telling each of them to wait for the notification of the amended Act. We have been told that the cases would now be dealt out of court with the SDMs that can be a big boon since the matters can be cleared fast. But all those cases which have been already listed in the courts will be dealt as per the previous pattern.”

Other members of the sabha, including Kamaljit Singh Hayre and Pritam Singh Narangpuri, said the issue of the NRIs with regards to their properties sold out or leased were abound and the amendment could come as a major relief to them.

Jalandhar, November 5
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has ordered Tara Homeopathy Clinic to refund the treatment charges of Rs 19,800 with Rs 10,000 compensation to a patient for issuing misleading advertisements and deficiency in services.

Sanjeev, a resident of Pucca Bagh, had on January 1 this year lodged a complaint in the forum against the clinic manager at Lajpat Nagar here and its Vadodara-based office.

He had said he had gone through an advertisement in a vernacular daily on July 12, 2012, which read, “Baldness can be eliminated within a few days, stop hair falling within a few days and grow permanent hair naturally. Get appointment of clinic and increase self-confidence. Tara Homeopathy Clinic in 11 states, 31 cities, 41 branches and 95 doctors.”

He said the insertion was repeated on July 16, 2012, and on July 23 the advertisement was repeated.

Allured by the advertisements, Sanjeev said, he went to the clinic and told them about his problem of hair fall and baldness.

“My head and hair were examined and they told me the problem could be cured after taking the full course. I was demanded Rs 19,800 to be paid in instalments to which I agreed”, he said.

He submitted receipts wherein he showed that he had made the first payment of Rs 300 on July 23, 2012, and Rs 6,500 the same day for the commencement of treatment for growing hair, eliminating baldness and stopping hair fall. He again made a payment of Rs 6,500 on August 20, 2012, as the next part payment.

He said he made a final payment of Rs 6,500 on September 24, 2012. During the course of treatment that started from July 23, 2012, and completed on September 24, 2012, he paid a total amount of Rs 19,800. He said after the receipt of each payment, he was given some homeopathic tablets, oil and shampoo in every sitting.

He said he used the medicines as directed to him, but neither new hair grew nor the falling of hair stopped.

“I was not given any OPD slip or prescription. There was no trained doctor engaged at the clinic. The misleading advertisements are still being published in newspapers just to fool people and to draw money from their pocket. All these advertisements are misleading and provide no relief,” he had alleged.

Upon notice, the counsel for the clinic, said before starting the treatment the complainant had registered himself after filling the registration form and giving consent. The doctor concerned of the clinic had given no guarantee regarding the result or the duration of the treatment.

The complainant also produced his photographs before treatment and after treatment from the perusal of which the forum found that it was evident that baldness of the complainant remained there and there was no improvement in his condition.

“In our opinion, the advertisements are misleading and tantamount to unfair trade practice. In fact, baldness cannot be removed even by homeopathy treatment. The version of the opposite parties is that while filling the registration form, the complainant has signed on the terms and conditions which provides that doctor of the clinic has given no guarantee to him about the results and duration of treatment. The opposite parties cannot take shelter of this unreasonable condition. They cannot evade their liability under the cover of the condition," it observed.

"In fact, the advertisements given by the opposite parties are deceptive and the claim misleading. The opposite parties have not led any medical evidence to prove that baldness can be removed by homeopathy treatment. In his affidavit, the complainant said he was given some tablets, oil and shampoo in every sitting and he used the medicines as directed but no result was produced. Rather adverse result produced and instead of growing the
natural hair, approximately 80 per cent more hair have fallen," it said.

"From the material on record, we are of the opinion that the opposite parties are guilty of unfair trade practice and also are deficient in their services. In view of the discussion, the complaint is accepted and opposite parties are directed to refund Rs 19,800 to the complainant along with Rs 10,000 in lump sum on account of compensation and litigation expenses. The payment be paid by the opposite parties to the complainant within one month from the date of receipt of copy of this order, failing which, they shall be liable to pay interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum from the date or order, till payment,” the forum represented by Jaspal Singh Bhatia and Darshan Singh pronounced.

Jalandhar, November 5
Mystery shrouds the death of a young girl on the CRPF campus here this morning.

Daughter of an ASI with the force, 12-year-old Ritika was brought for treatment by a CRPF jawan to Civil Hospital, where she died.

SHO Maqsudan Piara Singh said the girl's body had not been claimed by the family and was still lying in the hospital. Her father Jaswant Rai would come from Jharkhand tomorrow, after which further investigation would be done. We were told that she was living in a quarter on the campus with her mother. She had reportedly gone unwell all of a sudden and had a bout of vomiting, after which she was taken to hospital in the compound, then to Sacred Heart Hospital Maqsudan and finally to the Civil Hospital.

The exact cause of her death would be known after the postmortem, he said. — TNS

Jalandhar, November 5
The opposition Congress has flayed the ruling SAD-BJP alliance for the reported missing of a bronze statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel from the storeroom of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation (MC).

Reacting to the missing statute, DCC (Urban) president Arun Walia alleged that local BJP leaders were not caring for our national heroes.

Earlier, the incident of the mysterious disappearance of Patel’s statue came to light a few days ago when the Congress demanded to install the statue at Patel Chowk.

When MC officials tried to find it, it was found missing.

According to information, Patel’s statue was installed at the railway station about six decades ago. Later the statue was removed and was lying in the storeroom since seventies.

Mayor Sunil Jyoti said he had already asked the store manager to probe the incident.