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e-TRIP troubles traders
Multiple drug resistant TB patients emerge as challenge for Health Dept
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Cong condemns plugging of sewer, water connections
Rachna clinches gold in hammer throw
Children get tips on clay modelling
Central Excise offices to remain open till Dec 31
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e-TRIP troubles traders
Bathinda, December 26 Talking to TNS, a cross-section of the traders and small-scale industrialists said the e-TRIP system has burdened them with extra paper work. As per the rules, a batch of goods is set moving only after its details are logged on the e-TRIP portal and the forms are duly filled. "Due to the slow server, we cannot order the goods to move as no entry has been made in the server. A couple of times, I have failed to deliver my goods on time because of this problem. Last week, my consignment got delayed by 72 hours. It not only tarnished my image as a trader but also led to losses," said a trader pleading anonymity. The industrialists argued that e-TRIP was not required in times when excise barriers already existed at the inter-state entries such as Doomwali, Talwandi Sabo and Kaliawali in Bathinda district and several other barriers across the state. They added that the list of objects provided in the e-TRIP listing was not exhaustive. It does not mention a number of objects that are otherwise transported. For the objects, which are not found in the list, an 11 digit code ending in 1111 is used. "But the taxation officials, who physically check these goods, say that the project description does not corroborate with the listing, which again is a problematic issue. The government should make the system easier to deal with and ensure that the ambiguity is done away with," he added. Highlights
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Multiple drug resistant TB patients emerge as challenge for Health Dept
"These patients become MDR patients because of their laxity in taking medicines for curing TB regularly. With a history of being stubborn at not taking medicines on time, they become very difficult to handle at times," said the District TB Control Officer Dr Ashok Monga. He added that while the number of new TB cases reported every year was declining, the number of cases receiving MDR treatment was on the rise. These MDR patients pose a greater risk to the other healthy people around as they spread more infection. In one such case, an MDR patient in a nearby village had been undergoing treatment. He left the treatment midway and stopped taking medicines. Thereafter, the health authorities sent volunteers of some NGOs to motivate him to continue the treatment. "The patient started quarrelling with us and even abused us. He accused us of defaming him and making his TB status public, which invited social stigma. At last, none of us could motivate him to re-start the treatment. He is still suffering from the ailment but refuses to take medicines," added the doctor. In cases where the TB patient is a young female, parents prefer to travel to far off places for medication. "The long distance visits camouflage their purpose of visit thereby not revealing the TB status of their child in the neighborhood. But the patients coming from far are unable to maintain the continuity of treatment and end up getting converted into MDR patients. In a way, to escape social ostracism due to TB, they end up pushing their child into MDR TB which is very difficult to cure," added Dr Monga. There are 370 DOT (directly observed therapy) centres in the district wherein the DOT providers track down TB patients ensuring that the latter take medicine regularly. In cases, such as in remote villages, where a DOT centre is not available, the DOT providers or NGO volunteers are roped in to provide medicine and monitor the patient. Highlights
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City-based entrepreneur overcomes bumpy ride to weave success tale
Bathinda, December 26 It was an obsession for the young Lachhman, which made him pedal 40 kms everyday on a bicycle to Bathinda from his village Khara near Muktsar in the middle of the night presuming it was dawn. Mehta's journey began with repairing bicycles in 1959 after which he graduated to the sale of mopeds, bikes and cars. He has recently added a showroom of trucks to his kitty. The Mehta family owns a motorbike showroom of Hero Honda, Tata car showroom and 26 car showrooms of Renault and Chevrolet across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. He recently set up a truck showroom of Ashok Leyland in Bathinda. The early years
The septuagenarian businessman points out that he was ahead of his schoolmates and was promoted twice from class I to III and then to class IV and VI to get the matriculation certificate at the age of 14 in 1958. At the age of 15, Mehta got a job in the research and development (R&D) wing of the irrigation department during the construction of the Sirhind Canal for a salary of Rs 82 per month. But he was shown the door after the floods in 1960. Reminiscing of old times, he said, "I was paid Rs 82.50 as salary to ascertain the quality of work done in terms of cement and sand used for the canal by extracting the sample of construction material." When pushed out from the department after the floods, he opened a cycle repair shop near the bus stand in Khara village. However, the less number of bicycles in the area disappointed him. Mehta then decided to put his R&D prowess to use and came to Bathinda. For days together, he used to stand by the roadside observing the number of bicycles passing through the city. He finally zeroed in on the court road near Bathinda bus stand where the maximum number of bicycles passed in a day. He paid a rent of Rs 13 per month for the shop. Things began improving after the bus stand shifted near his shop and Mehta soon bought a shop in the same area. After repairing bicycles for seven years, Mehta began selling bicycle parts in 1967 and soon became a wholesale dealer. It was from here that he started scaling the ladder of success, stepping on one pedestal at a time. A bicycle dealership was followed by that of mopeds, generators and compressor sets. When the first moped - Hero Majestic - was introduced in Punjab in 1978, Mehta was among the 17 sub-dealers across the state whose first showroom was inaugurated in Ludhiana. Before that, he had a range of bicycles like Raleigh, Robin Hood, Hercules, Philips, Atlas, RMI and Hero. The entrepreneur emerges
During his stint as a cycle mechanic, he got many offers to work in the already established shops, but refused. "I wanted to be my own boss, which I still am. I prefer to work on my own." He offered the car segment to his younger son, trucks to his grandson, bicycle showroom to his elder son while he himself loves to look after the bike showroom. "People offered me jobs as they knew I had the passion to work. Even today, I know which box holds which tool," adds Mehta who has 40 workers in his bike showroom but is still well versed with every nook and corner of his shop like the back of his hand. He boasts of getting top awards in the district, state and country from his dealers to provide the best service and for being the front-runner in topping the sale of bikes, bicycles and cars. "Every time I got the first position either in providing the best service or in sale, I was awarded with foreign visits," he said. Having toured 26 countries, he has now assigned the job of touring to his grandson and remains busy as a member of the income tax advisory committee of Punjab, general secretary of the excise and taxation advisory committee and with his commitments as the senior vice-president of Bathinda Auto Dealers Association. Success because of family
Attributing his success to the support received from his family, Mehta remembers the story of Robert Bruce who won the battle against England in his seventh attempt after watching a spider that failed to weave its web six times in a row but succeeded the seventh time. "Keeping in mind the six attempts, I sold nine constructed houses in the late 1960s to purchase a 15 feet by 75 feet shop situated in the heart of the city in 1973," says Mehta, who now pays an annual VAT of Rs 6.5 crores and Rs 20 lakhs to 22 lakhs as income tax. "The shop was too wide and people mocked at the imposing empty spaces. I fixed a goal for myself that I would fill every nook and corner and I did it with sheer hard work and dedication," says Mehta. After his marriage in 1961, he bought a shop and later his own house and there was no looking back for him. He got the dealership of Hero Honda Motorcycle in 1984 and Tata cars in 2000 and the trucks in 2012. Message for the youth
Usually contacted by educational institutions of Malwa to share his success story with students, Mehta tells the children, "Don't dream of greener pastures abroad. With the sweat of your toil at home, you can be the best in the world". He also insists on following a faith and believing in the Almighty as well as believing in oneself. |
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School education gets a boost
Nikhila Pant Dhawan Tribune News Service
Bathinda, December 26 The year began with an uproar over the rationalisation policy issued by the state education department as it stated that the teacher-student ratio should be 1:35 in primary schools, 1:40 in high schools and in senior secondary classes, it should be 1:50 while the Right to Education (RTE) Act states that the teacher student ratio should be 1:30 in middle schools. The revised rationalisation policy issued by the education department also met with the same fate as it was based on the number of rooms available in the school and stated that a school could hold only as many classes as it had rooms and since the schools couldn't stop admitting students, they would have to adjust more students in the rooms available. In an attempt to save its teachers from being shunted, several schools in the district either took to dividing available rooms into two or turning store rooms or other rooms meant for office work into classrooms. The state school education department also failed to make sure that its own orders were implemented. School heads were asked several times to compile a list of the rooms and buildings on their schools premises declared unsafe by the Buildings & Roads (B&R) department. The Director General of School Education (DGSE) had to send repeated reminders for the implementation of the rule but the schools defied the orders openly. Making the sordid state of affairs in the government schools in the district evident was the fact that books, to be provided free of cost to students under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, reached the schools four months after the start of the academic session. More delayed was the release of funds for uniforms for students under the SSA. The funds reached the schools in the second week of December. The state education department, however, scored when it came down heavily on the teachers of government schools who had been absent for long period from the school. Several such 'absentee' teachers were first notified and then dismissed from service by the department. The mid-day meal scheme in the district suffered a major upheaval after the state education department suddenly announced that it was giving out the work of preparing and distributing meals to a private firm from West Bengal starting October 1. While the mid-day meal cooks in the schools protested against the decision, the new firm delivered the food later than scheduled for the first few days. The year ended on a positive note as Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal laid the foundation stone of a residential school for meritorious students on the premises of the Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University Campus, Bathinda. Highlights
The state education department, however, scored when it came down heavily on the teachers of government schools who had been absent for long period from the school. Several such 'absentee' teachers were first notified and then dismissed from service by the department. |
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Cong condemns plugging of sewer, water connections
Bathinda, December 26 Sitting on hunger strike opposing these bills, the former Congress MLA Harmandar Singh Jassi said that whole connections of poor people were being plugged, no action was being taken against the leaders of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) who have not paid their dues of big commercial establishments and bungalows. The Bathinda unit of Congress has now decided to form a 21-member committee that will protest against the MCB teams that go for plugging sewer and water connections from the first week of January onwards. This committee would also gherao the MCB teams who plug connections. Jassi said that people should not pay sewer and water bills and property tax till the time senior BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal leaders clear their dues. He claimed that the bills of Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP offices were still pending and added that MCB has made no efforts to claim pending bills form the government departments. Talking about the row over construction of government school in Dhobiana Basti area Jassi said that if the land was controversial, the Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal should not have laid foundation stone of the project at that place. Prominent among others present with him included Ashok, Mohan Lal Jhumba, Iqbal Dhillon, Tinku Grover, Makhan, Varinder Sandhu, Ganda Singh, Rajesh Dimpy, Jagmeet Singh, Kishan, Rupinder Bindra and others. |
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Rachna clinches gold in hammer throw
Bathinda, December 26 Thrower KM Rachana got gold medal in hammer throw. Manjit Singh of this got gold medal in 800m run. Suneel Parshad got silver medal in 5,000 m race. Students from Malwa College, Bathinda, Amanpreet Kaur Jathol bagged bronze medal in discus throw. President of the District Athletics Association KPS Brar lauded the achievements of athletes. Principal Prof Darshan Singh and Dean RC Sharma from the Malwa College of Physical education, respectively, Director Dr Shardev Singh Gill and Dean Prof NK Gosain from Malwa College felicitated athletes for their performance. |
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Children get tips on clay modelling
Bathinda, December 26 Artiste Yashpal Singh and Charanjit Singh from
Jaito, Gagandeep Kaur from Bathinda, Shikha from Rampura, Sukhwant Singh and Amardeep Dolly from Bathinda and Krishan Singh from Ratia taught different forms of art to the children. President of the society Amarjit Singh said this was the first ever exclusive workshop being held for the children. “Our aim is to give free hand to the children. Children here are not restricted to using one form of the art. They can use any method that they love,” he said. He said during the workshop, participants would be exposed to all genres of art. |
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Central Excise offices to remain open till Dec 31
Bathinda, December 26 In a press statement issued here, Superintendent, Central Excise and Service Tax Range, Veer Parkash stated that the office of the Central Excise and Service Tax Range, room number 118-119, Central Revenue Building, Bathinda, will remain open on all days from December 26 to December 31 including Saturday and Sunday for any enquiry or consultation regarding the voluntary compliance encouragement scheme
(VCES).
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Bathinda, December 26