Bathinda, December 5
With tracks strewn with garbage, railway protection force assistance room locked, non-functional taps, Bathinda junction seems to have gone back to its old ways. Barely a week after the junction was cleaned and made spick and span for the inspection visit of the General Manager of the Northern Railways, it has got back its old face.

Kiosks selling tobacco products lining the boundary wall, vehicles parked right in front of the ‘No Parking’ board opposite to the ticket window and several other blatantly flouted rules would not make one believe that all these were not to be seen anywhere a week ago when the station was being readied for the inspection visit.

When the Bathinda Tribune visited the junction, it found the RPF assistance room locked. RPF inspector, RK Kanojia, said, “We are short-staffed and have only three RPF personnel for the assistance room. Two of them are on leave and the third one comes in the evening shift.”

He also maintained that removing the kiosks lining the outer boundary wall of the junction was not the work of the RPF. “Our area of jurisdiction ends with the boundary wall. We can’t control the activity outside the boundary wall of the junction,” Kanojia said.

The Bathinda junction may be Asia’s biggest junction but that doesn’t help it from facing an acute sanitation problem. While the contract of the earlier firm handling the sanitation work ended on August 25, the railway authorities floated a new tender on August 12. As the new tender is yet to be given to a firm, the station is relying on temporary solution.

“Sanitation is a major problem at the station. We have only 20 cleaners, hired on contract, to take care of the station. While 12 of them work during the day time, four work during the evening and the other four work during night shift. Littering by the passengers due to lack of civic sense is another big problem here,” said the station superintendent, Pradeep Sharma.

Talking about the anti-social elements roaming around the station, he stated that the boundary wall of the junction was like the India-Pakistan border. “There’s a tussle between the Railway Protection Force and the civil police personnel regarding the issue of security just outside the railway station. While the RPF says it is not liable for what’s happening right outside the boundary of the station, the civil police say it is not its headache,” said Sharma.

“If we need to get rid of the anti-social elements and the unauthorised kiosks lining the outside of the junction boundary wall, both the RPF and the civil police will have to work in tandem. If all of us will keep rolling the ball in the others’ court, the blame game will never stop,” he added.

Bathinda, December 5
While the police are seizing drugs and busy arresting drug smugglers, the prices of contraband have shot up drastically.

Sources said the availability of drugs still prevails but stakes are too high to procure and consume.

“While the access to medicinal drugs has come to naught and poppy husk, opium and heroin are available at a very high cost,” said an employee at a drug de-addiction centre, pleading anonymity.

He said those addicted to opium or poppy husk are now shifting to heroin.

The addicts, who have money, are shelling out more to obtain the contrabands while others go all the way to nearby states like Haryana and Rajasthan to consume drugs.

DSP (D) Ranjeet Singh said the addicts have also devised ways to smuggle drugs from the neighbouring states.

“Recently, a vehicle was confiscated for hiding drugs in an oil tank. The illegal consignment was kept in a special designed tank case within the oil tank,” he said.

The police swung into action a few months ago to crack whip on the drug addicts after the Deputy Chief Minister announced to make Punjab drug free.

Sources said such knee jerk reactions fail to eradicate drugs completely but increase the cost of contrabands.

The drug addicts said those supplying the drugs have stopped entertaining them over the phones the use of which lands them in the police net.

SSP, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, said the police will leave no stone unturned to eradicate drugs and everyday large hauls of drug consignments are being seized with arrests of peddlers.

Recently, a vehicle was confiscated for hiding drugs in an oil tank. The illegal consignment was kept in a special designed tank case within the oil tank
—Ranjeet Singh, DSP (D)

Bathinda, December 5
The Bathinda district administration will tomorrow present its model of keeping a tab on election expenditure management (EEM) of candidates put to use during the 2012 assembly elections.

From entire Punjab, only Bathinda and Mohali districts have been invited to share their experiences in the focused group discussion (FGD) being held to study the best practices of EEM for documentation purposes.

Confirming this, Deputy Commissioner, Kamal Kishore Yadav, said during the 2012 elections, the district election office had meticulously maintained records of the expenses of candidates and also voters were motivated to vote on merit basis only. “The Election Commission of India (ECI) was impressed with the working and wants more inputs regarding this,” he said.

He added that documentation of good practices in all areas of election management is one of the key focus areas of the ECI. The ECI is engaged in curbing influence of money power in elections during the general elections to assembly and parliamentary constituencies. In the 2012 elections, under the monitoring mechanism, the ECI had set up monitoring cells with 24X7 toll free complaint centres and quick reaction teams.

The FGD will discuss different aspects of the working of these teams at the time of 2012 elections. It will focus on reasons people go for bribe in the state, impact of measures taken under the EEM programme, possible improvements necessary for furthering the cause, media view about programme and its implementation and working method of monitoring cells. Based on the study derived from these discussions, the ECI is expected to formulate strong measures to curb flexing of money in elections.

Apart from the DC, members of the civil society from different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) too, will be participating in the meeting to be held in Chandigarh tomorrow.

During the 2012 elections, the district election office had meticulously maintained records of candidates’ expenses and voters were also motivated to cast votes on merit basis only. The Election Commission of India (ECI) was impressed with the working and wanted more inputs
—Kamal Kishore Yadav, Deputy Commissioner 

Bathinda, December 5
Serious allegations levelled by a city resident against an ASI has put the police claims to nab thieves under scanner. Accusing a policeman of 'usurping' stolen goods, including gold, cash and electronic goods worth nearly Rs 3.5 lakh, a resident of Model Town Phase-I, is demanding a high-level probe against the ASI's functioning.

The complainant, Parminder Singh, said he registered a case at the Cantt Police Station after 100 gm gold, Rs 45,000, five mobile phones and two laptops were stolen from his house two years ago.

He said the thieves involved in the theft were arrested by an ASI and had also recovered the stolen gold. The ASI however, did not mention the recovery on record in the case.

The recovery came to light when the thief was arrested by the CIA and during interrogation he revealed that he (the thief) had already handed over the stolen goods to the ASI, including gold.

Parminder procured the CIA's findings of the arrested thief under the RTI which revealed that the thief, during interrogation, had informed that the stolen goods were in possession of the ASI.

The information also revealed that the main accused in the theft, Amandeep Singh, was arrested by the CIA, who had admitted to have handed over a gold necklace to the ASI and a pair of earrings to, Veeru, his accomplice.

A team of the CIA staff and the ASI conducted raids but failed to find Veeru. The RTI information revealed that the thief had admitted to drop jewellery in the police vehicle in which he was brought to the police station.

The police report submitted by the ASI however, claimed that the golden chain recovered from the arrested thief was artificial jewellery.

Parminder alleged that the accused thief, Veeru, too roams freely in Model Town and is never arrested by the police. He alleged that the ASI initially admitted that he had recovered the stolen goods recovered from the thief but later on he refused.

The complainant said that the police have no authority to hide the stolen goods recovered from the thieves and also have no right to declare any gold artificial.

He accused the ASI of influencing the enquiry against him with a phone call to senior policemen from an SAD Cabinet Minister.

DSP (D) Ranjeet Singh said the file of investigation against the ASI is pending with SP (D) Naveen Singla.

Singla when contacted said that he was probing the matter and truth would come out in few days.

Bathinda, December 5
A team from the School of Public Health, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, will be reviewing the ongoing health schemes and works at the Civil Hospital, Bathinda, from January 6 to January 10.

The team’s visits is a part of the state health department exercise of conducting inspection of 10 Civil Hospitals as well as review the works done in 12 Civil Hospitals.

From the availability of infrastructure to salts, all kind of things would be checked at the hospital. The proforma of inspection and review mainly lay emphasis on availability of adequate facilities as well as patient comfort is being taken into consideration.

However, the hospital staff members lamented that instead of laying emphasis on infrastructure, the visiting team should also inspect the strength of working people available.

For instance Civil Hospital, Bathinda, has diagnostic facilities, such as ultrasound and X-ray available, but the lack of permanent radiologist mars the diagnostic works. The hospital has currently outsourced services of a private radiologist. But he is available only for two hours on working day. Similarly, the number of safai sewaks and class four employees is lesser than required.

“Our infrastructure is complete and in many terms better than the ones present in other Civil Hospitals of the bigger cities. But good infrastructure alone does not serve the purpose of providing good health services. The team should highlight problem of lack of staff in its report that will be submitted to the state government,” said one of the doctors at civil hospital.

Meanwhile, the SMO, Dr Satish, said all the records are already in order and the hospital was ready for the PGIMER team’s visit. 

Our infrastructure is complete and in many terms better than that of other Civil Hospitals of big cities. But good infrastructure alone does not serve the purpose. The PGI team should highlight a shortage of staff in its report that will be submitted to the state government
—A doctor at civil hospital 

Bathinda, December 5
A 68-year-old male patient suffering from multiple blockages in all three arteries of heart was successfully operated at the Max Superspeciality Hospital.

In a press statement issued here today the hospital spokesperson claimed that the patient Banta Singh was suffering from severe chest pain and doctors advised him to undergo urgent bypass surgery. Singh underwent the Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery on beating heart and got a second life on his birthday on November 25.

Dr Ashok Kumar Jayant said in conventional pump coronary artery bypass surgery, the procedure is performed on a heart stopped by medication and the life of the patient is maintained by a heart-lung machine. The beating heart bypass surgery is a safe and proved option for elderly patients.

He added that elderly patients, as compared to the young patients, carry a greater burden of risk factors and reduced functional levels of all organ system. Beating heart surgery reduced the risks associated with the use of the heart-lung machine.

The surgery allowed faster improvement and complete relief from symptoms for several years.

Patients undergoing surgery on beating heart usually recovered much more quickly and tend to suffer from fewer post-operative complications than those who were operated by employing the conventional heart-lung machine, added Dr Jayant. 

Bathinda, December 5
Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal, Director of the Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University campus, inaugurated the Idea Junior Championship League 2013, an inter-school sports championship.

The Bathinda zonal, held at Giani Zal Singh College stadium, saw students from more than 36 schools from the city, Rampura Phul, Talwandi Sabo and Bhucho Mandi compete in sports like athletics, volleyball, basketball, hockey and judo. The inauguration of the zonal finals received a phenomenal response from the participants, along with their coaches, parents and schools.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Hundal said, "Sports have always played an important role in our lives as they give our energy a positive direction."

He also admitted that drugs have captured Punjabi youth to a great extent and requested schools to encourage sports so that children can focus on sports and education and excel in their lives.

Teachers should also encourage sports in the curriculum so that children understand the importance of good health and keep themselves away from any sort of addictive, he said.

The winners of the zonal competitions were felicitated by the chief operating officer of the Idea Cellular in Punjab, J&K and Himachal Pradesh, Arul Bright.

Bathinda, December 5
Dr Arpanpreet Kaur, a veterinary surgeon at Civil Veterinary Hospital, Kotha Guru in the district, was one of the only four veterinary doctors to be felicitated during the alumni meet of the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) in Ludhiana.

She was also the only one from the district to be chosen for the award. Others who were felicitated were Dr Jivan Gupta (Patiala), Dr Harman (Tarn Taran) and Dr Devinder Kumar (Sangrur).

Addressing the gathering of as many as 350 doctors who studied at GADVASU, president of the Rural Veterinary Officers Association Dr Navdeep Singh said the university had felicitated all the four doctors for their work.

Amritsar, December 5
At least 13 samples collected by the Health Department from hostels and canteens in Guru Nanak Dev University here have failed quality tests conducted at a food-testing laboratory at Chandigarh. The department had earlier collected 21 samples from various canteens and hostels on the campus.

The District Health Officer, Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon, said three samples of boys’ hostel, six from the South Indian cafe, three from girls’ hostel and one from the Arts block cafe has failed on quality. Kahlon said strict action would be taken against contractors from whose canteen or mess samples have failed.

“We had issued warnings to them time and again previously after we had detected unhygienic conditions prevailing at these canteens previously. As they have not mended their ways, strict action will be taken against them,” said Kahlon.

During the earlier inspections on the campus, the department had found that students were being served salads on which fungus had grown. The canteen contractors on the campus are making a lot of money. They do not seem concerned about serving safe food.

Kahlon said soon they would be initiating a drive to collect samples from canteens in schools and other educational places. “The health of growing children is of utmost priority for the government and if they are being served unsafe or substandard food, the entire purpose of checking food adulteration in the city has failed,” he said.

The department had additionally collected 87 samples of food items from the city and its surroundings during November.

However, 31 samples from a total of 87 have failed on the quality criterion. The shops and brands whose samples have failed include Reliance Fresh and Best Price. Kahlon said that seven of the 31 samples which had failed on quality had been categorised as “unsafe for human consumption” by the food-testing laboratory at Chandigarh.

Another 19 have been marked of “sub-standard quality” and five as “misbranded”. Kahlon said legal and departmental action had been initiated against all shops whose samples had failed. The Health Department had collected six samples yesterday.

Kahlon said they had received a fresh complaint from a local resident, Rajesh Sidana, and samples were again collected from Reliance Fresh’s store near Bhagata-wala. 

Amritsar, December 5
The Municipal Corporation here has initiated the process to facilitate online submission of property tax. This has come as a respite for the city residents who had to queue up for hours to wait for their turn to deposit the fee. The MC today collected Rs 56.5 lakh as property tax.

The civic body, too, will get relief as it was unable to spare staff for the tax collection counters set up in different parts of the city.

The move was the need of the hour as the MC did not have adequate manpower to collect the taxes, despite its earnest efforts to induct officials from other departments. Long queues irked the residents and it was one of the reasons for their lukewarm response to pay their tax liability, observers said.

The MC has bifurcated the city into eight zones and set up collection centres. It is learnt that the online property tax submission facility has been introduced in almost every centre.

The MC had already prepared software which could show the prevailing collector rate of every area at the click of a mouse. This feedback would further help the residents to know the exact amount of tax applicable on their property. Meanwhile, in a clarification, MC officials stated that on commercial rental property, the rate of property tax was 10 per cent and there was no official confirmation about its decline.

The MC Commissioner, DPS Kharbanda, said the online facility had been introduced to not only curtail the heavy rush of tax payers, but it would also save the residents from depositing an incorrect amount which they generally did after self assessment.

“There are shortcomings still, but we have been trying our best to make the property-tax realisation an efficient process,” he said.