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Cong workers on hunger strike
Many Congress workers have paid property tax, water & sewer bills
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City college students achieve top positions
beti bachao campaign
BOS receives best society award
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Cong workers on hunger strike
Bathinda, December 23 Pointing out that the Congress had exempted the residents of the district from paying sewer and water bills, Jassi said starting new year, the party would ensure that the connections were restored and would also stage a gherao of the official who would cut the connections. He added that the ruling SAD-BJP government had discontinued the exemption to fill its coffers and had asked the residents to pay the bills without any prior notification. He also accused the state government of selling prime properties in the district and now levying heavy taxes on its people to run the state. He further said while the state government had proved that it was not serious about the development of the state, the MCB was also proving that it was not willing to shoulder the responsibility of its people. Taking a dig at the state government hailing Narendra Modi as BJP’s next prime ministerial candidate, he pointed out that while Modi had recently said that providing toilet and sewerage facilities was more important than building temples in the country, the Punjab government has started disconnecting sewer connections. Jassi requested the public not to take seriously the statement made by the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal about bringing projects worth Rs 65,000 crore to the state. He said the Deputy Chief Minister was habitual of making promises and then forgetting them. Prominent among those present at the hunger strike were Ashok Muar, KK Aggarwal, Kulbir Sidhu, Chiranji Lal Garg, Hari Om, Yashkiran Sharma, Ravi Garg, Jagtar Sidhu, Mohan Lal, Suresh Bansal, Nand Lal, Bhagwan Das Bharti, Rupinder Bindra and others. |
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Many Congress workers have paid property tax, water & sewer bills
Bathinda, December 23 Rs 12 crore due of the city's sewer and water bills lie pending with the MCB. These include defaulters who have not paid their bills for the last 10 to 12 years. Since the bills' recovery is one of the main sources of income for the corporation, the MCB has started a special campaign to plug the connections of defaulters who refuse to pay. Acting on it, from December 18 to December 20, the MCB teams plugged 21 connections in the Nai Basti area of which 20 people cleared their dues, while one is yet to pay. Similarly, 24 connections were plugged in the Vishal Nagar area of which 19 have made the payment and five are due. Today, the MCB teams plugged two connections each on GT road and in Vishal Nagar, one in Hargobind Singh Nagar, six in Nai Basti and one, that of the Maharaja Hotel, that had bills pending worth Rs 1.5 lakh. Not only are the people paying the bills, the Congress workers sitting on strike too have paid their dues. Three of the Congress senior workers, who deal in real estate and own a couple of commercial land holdings, have paid the water and sewer bills. Interestingly, the Congress workers have also paid property tax, which the state Congress leadership has been opposing and has held agitations against. The former Congress councilor Jagrup Singh Gill said the agitation was started without taking the actual affected group of defaulters into confidence. "The Congress should have gheraoed the teams that plug connections and expressed its solidarity with the people. Instead of misguiding people in the name of protest, senior party leaders should set an example," he said. The former MLA, Harminder Singh Jassi, who is spearheading the hunger strike, said Congress workers will sit on hunger strike from December 23 to December 27. He said the Congress government had waived sewer and water bills of houses in less than 125 square yards of area. "Bills are being issued to such houses too, which is not right," he said. However, when confronted that the Congress workers sitting on hunger strike have paid the bills as well as property taxes, Jassi agreed and added, "Even Congress workers had to pay property tax as no commercial transaction could be done without getting clearance from the government for which paying property tax was must," he said. Jassi, who himself does not own any property in the city, added that he does not need to pay property tax or water and sewer bills. He claimed that the 51 people sitting on hunger strike with him have not paid their bills. The former claimed that after December 27, the party will display its office number in public asking people to seek their help whenever the MCB teams go to plug the connections. The Congress will gherao the MCB teams, he said. During a visit to his ancestral village Mehraj recently, former CM Captain Amarinder Singh said that taxes such as property tax should be charged from the rich or those who can afford like him or his party leaders, but not the poor. With their senior state party leader asking them to pay, the "rich" district Congress workers should not shy away, pay the taxes promptly and ask the other "rich" to pay as well. |
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City catches the chill as icy winds lash region
Bathinda, December 23 Although the weather cleared and the sun shone bright on Monday after almost a gap of five days, winds blowing at the speed of five kilometres per hour made sure that the city residents shivered throughout the day. Thanks to the sunshine, the maximum temperature rose a little to 16.2 degree Celsius as against Friday's 12.8 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature was recorded at 8.4 degree Celsius today. As per the forecast released by the agri-met department of the regional station of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Bathinda, the region will get no break from the cold as the weather is expected to remain the same for the next 48 hours. The forecast also indicated possibilities of a thick envelope of fog engulfing several areas of the region on Tuesday morning and chances of light showers in isolated parts. Farmers happy with the change in weather
The cold weather may have thrown normal life out of gear but has so far brought good news for the farmers. Chief Agriculture Officer of Bathinda district, Dr Rajinder Singh Brar, was of the view that the intense cold wave was beneficial for the wheat crop. "The fog which is coming in the form of water droplets for the past three-four days is also favourable for crops. However, rainfall would have delayed the process of germination in the wheat belt. It was good that it didn't rain," he said. Talking about the kinnow belt, he said the weather had brought good news for the orchardists as well. Chill in the air is beneficial for the kinnow crop and even light rainfall would not cause any harm to the fruit. Markets hot up
With the dip in temperature, the sale of woollens has increased by several notches. "While in the first week of December, we were not too happy, the sale of woollens has shot up significantly in the last one week. As the temperature dipped suddenly and the weather has remained cold till now, overcoats and jackets are much in demand," said Gagan Ahuja, owner of an apparel store in Dhobi Bazar. The cold wave has also spelt boosted sales of geysers, heaters, blowers and water heating rods. |
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Kin create ruckus after newborn dies
Bathinda, December 23 On December 18, the child suddenly developed some medical complications following which she was taken to a private hospital in Veer Colony. On Sunday night, while under treatment, the condition of the child grew serious and he was taken to Max Hospital at night. The doctors at Max Hospital declared the child dead at around 5 am. The child's relatives alleged that she had died at the Veer Colony hospital itself and to save its skin, the hospital authorities referred the child to Max Hospital. The deceased's relatives protested against the doctor. SHO, Kotwali, Dinesh Kumar reached the hospital and tried to pacify the agitating family members. Later, the matter was resolved. |
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Protests kept cops on their toes
Nikhila Pant Dhawan Tribune News Service
Bathinda, December 23 Without doubt, the year 2013 belonged to protests – by teachers, farmers, students, nursing students, pharmacists, unemployed linesmen, PSEB engineers, lawyers, anganwadi workers, mid-day meal cooks and several others. The protests not only disrupted work in the offices, they also caused traffic chaos in the city apart from keeping the city police and traffic police on toes. As the employed and unemployed members of several teachers unions staged dharnas and protest rallies throughout the year, they were rounded up, jailed, locked inside the Teachers’ Home, denied entry into the city and assured of meetings with either the Education Minister or with the Chief Minister. Stronger than their will to get their way was the state government’s will to discard their demands. Farmers of the district also took the path of protest to try and make the government relent and heed their demands. Compensation for the families of the farmers who committed suicides, increasing the maximum support price of wheat, demanding concession in electricity rates, compensation for damaged crops and several other reasons brought the farmers to the city and staged protests several times in 2013. School and college students of the district also made their presence felt this year as they took up the cudgels against the police inaction in the case wherein a student was allegedly beaten up by bus operators. Students got together and staged protests outside the DC office, at the bus stand, on the Bathinda-Mansa flyover and several other places. When no other dissatisfied lot came up, various religious and social non-government organisations of the city observed complete bandh protesting against author Inder Singh Ghagga who wrote an article allegedly insulting the Hindu gods. Demanding that the jobs of the pharmacists and class IV employees deputed at rural health and medical hospitals be regularised and their salaries be increased, pharmacists from across the district assembled and sat on strike for more than 20 days. The agitation intensified after one of the pharmacists committed suicide. Demanding powers for the judiciary, decrying the police action against the son of a senior lawyer and the then-SGPC member Sukhdev Bahia, condemning an SHO posted in the city for allegedly misbehaving with a senior lawyer and bar association members, the lawyers staged strikes, protests and stalled work for several days throughout the year. Often criticised for making unpalatable food for the students and siphoning off raw material, mid-day meal cooks of the district protested against the state government’s decision to give the contract of preparing and providing mid-day meal to the students of schools falling under the Bathinda municipal limits to a private firm.
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City college students achieve top positions
Bathinda, December 23 While eight students of electrical engineering, six of electronics and communication engineering, two of information technology, five of civil engineering, and one from the mechanical engineering department of the college added their names to the list of the first 20 toppers in Punjab in their respective trades. Chairman of the college Charanjit Singh Brar while congratulating the students announced concession in their fees. Director Surjeet Singh Brar and Satgur Singh Mann, additional director Harvinder Singh and staff members Neelam Rani, Prabhjot Singh, Amanjot Kaur, Namarta Khosla, Shahanazbir Singh, Muninder Singh Romana and Manpreet Singh were also present on this occasion. |
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MSD organises annual festival
Bathinda, December 23 The little kids expressed their feelings towards their parents by acting on the song ‘Om Sai Ram’. The fest included exhibitions on the themes such as wonders of science, art and craft, maths, English and Punjabi culture. Games like joker race, banana race, senior citizen race, cake race and others kept the students entertained. While the meritorious students were felicitated, prizes were also given to the students and their parents who bagged the first three places in various games and competitions. |
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Depot holders to continue stir
Bathinda, December 23 The association of local depot holders arranged a meeting of Gujarat state president of the ration depot holders, Prahlad Modi and younger brother of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The younger brother of Gujarat CM revealed the policies adopted by their government and said their government gave Rs 110 on transportation for every quintal of ration besides a commission of 33 paisa on every litre of kerosene. The commission on the kerosene oil will soon be increased to Re 1, he said. Of 6.32 lakh depot holders in India, 26,000 are in the Punjab state. State president of the Punjab Ration Depot Holders Association, Gurjinder Sidhu, speaking on the occasion said the depot holders of Punjab were running into losses to carry out the Atta Dal scheme in the state. He said their association would continue the strike until their demands were not met. |
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CHC holds street play
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, December 23 The play laid emphasis on getting the sex determination tests conducted as a crime and talked about the sex selective abortion. Block extension educator Lakhwinder Singh talked about the PNDT Act and the punishment associated with it in the wake of its violation. SI Ajmer Singh appealed people to give an impetus to the campaign, run for saving the girl child. Health worker Darbara Singh, ANM Mandeep Kaur, ASHA workers and villagers were also present.
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BOS receives best society award
Bathinda, December 23 Padamshri Dr Daljit Singh, a reputed eye surgeon from Amritsar, was also bestowed with the Best District Society award. The academic and social activities of the Bathinda chapter, which has 58 eye surgeons of the area as its members, were lauded by the Punjab Ophthalmological Society. Dr Amrit Sethi, president, Bathinda Ophthalmological Society, said the honour had come to the city for the 10th time. Dr Prabhdev Singh Brar, member of the Bathinda chapter was elected unanimously as president of Punjab Ophthalmological Society for the year 2015. The next annual state conference was also allotted to the city. |
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