The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Defying norms, langars rampant GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 Despite repeated warnings, 'langars' (free community food) continue to be distributed on the roadsides in defiance of the norms. One such langar was organised at the Lawrence road today causing inconvenience to the commuters. Rickshaw pullers, autorickshaw drivers and local residents thronged the place. Some passers-by too were made to halt vehicles in the middle of the road, thus disrupting the flow of traffic. The issue was raised in the MC House meetings many times wherein it was deliberated that a token fee would be imposed on the organisers but it could not be implemented. The MC had issued ‘stern directions’ to be followed before organising these events, which included cleaning the venue post event, preserving the safety of normal commuters and public property. The damage to the public property could invite legal action. But it has gone unheeded. On almost all Gurpurbs, especially the birth anniversaries of Guru Nanak Dev, Guru Ramdas, Guru Gobind Singh and the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev, langars and ‘chhabeels’ were installed in every nook and corner of the city. Besides, free food is distributed on Shivratri, Janamashtami and Nimani Kasti. It is generally noticed that the stalls offering food and water are installed on the road itself. Taking cognizance of the leftover eatables, disposable plates and glasses being left unattended on the streets and by the roadside after the event, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora and other officials had made a special proposal for levying cleanliness charges from the organisers, but it was also outrightly opposed. Nonetheless, the other conditions for maintaining cleanliness and prevention of damage to public property too were also not adhered to. Safai karamcharis of the MC too have given a representation to the authorities against it as they have to undertake the mammoth task of cleaning the spot post programme. Guidelines for the organisers Prior permission is a must before organising 'langars' and 'chhabeels' Stalls/tents to be installed at least 10 to 15 feet away from the road The organisers must ensure that the flow of traffic does not get hampered, no damage to public property Refuse, leftovers and garbage to be thrown into dustbins and not on roads Only clean potable water and hygienic food should be served The violators of these guidelines would be punished as per the law
	Day 1: Polio drops administered to 1,65,009 children in holy city Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 The Health Department today administered polio drops to 1,65,009 children on the first day of the pulse polio immunisation drive. The drive in the city was inaugurated by Dr Karanjit Singh, Director, Health and Family Welfare, Punjab. He administered polio drops to a newborn child at the Civil Hospital here. Dr Karanjit Singh said the department has identified around 38 lakh children in the state who would be immunised during the drive. People must cooperate with the department in making the country polio free. District Immunisation Officer Dr Jaspal Kaur said a total of 1,436 booths were set up in the district. The department had also arranged 46 transit booths and 38 mobile units. The department has identified a total of 3,34,537 children residing in 4,69,237 homes with a total population of 25,83,826. Dr Jaspal Kaur said they have covered 48 per cent of the targeted children on the first day of the drive and would be covering the rest of them in a door-to-door campaign during the next two days.
	Couple hit by car, driver booked Amritsar, February 23 A rashly driven car hit a couple crossing the road, leaving the woman critically injured while their minor son had a miraculous escape on the Albert Road. The victim, identified as Ranjit Kumar and his wife, were returning from the railway station after dropping their mother. The police have registered an attempt to murder case against the unidentified driver who sped away from the spot. The police have reportedly identified the owner of the car (PB-02-AW-5980) which hit the couple. Ranjit Kumar said they had parked their vehicle on the roadside just opposite a restaurant for dinner after dropping his mother. He said the car which came from the Chheharta side rashly turned towards Albert Road and first hit his wife and then him. At that time, he was carrying his son. His wife sustained serious head injuries and was admitted to the intensive care unit of a private hospital. He also sustained injuries on his shoulders and arms. Nishan Singh, in-charge, Circuit House police post, said a case under Sections 307, 279, 337, 338 of the IPC has been registered against the accused. “During the probe, the owner of the car was identified as Jia Lal Khanna,” he said. — TNS
	2 booked on charge of duping youths Amritsar, February 23 Youths are being duped by unscrupulous travel agents on the pretext of sending them abroad. In a recent instance, Pardeep Sharma of New Ranjit Pura and Maninder Singh of Defence Colony, fell victims to the swindlers. The accused were identified as Raminder Singh and Harinder Kaur of Sandhu Avenue, Chheharta. The victims alleged that they took Rs 7 lakh from Raminder and Rs 9 lakh from Maninder Singh. A case under Sections 420, 406 and 34 of the IPC has been registered at the Chheharta police station. No arrests have been made so far. — TNS
	Now, book sand on phone Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 The district administration has planned to begin the booking of sand at designated places from February 24 onwards. The residents can book their requirement of sand for Rs 2,470 per 100 cubic feet from 9 am to 6 pm on phone. Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat said the decision has been taken to ease the process for the general public as a large number of people had complained that getting sand for construction was an uphill task. The residents can contact Daljit Singh at Grain Market, Tagra, on his phone number 9815453492, Sarabjit Singh at Grain Market, Harsha Chinna, on 9872193637, Daljinder Singh at Grain Market, Mudhal, on 9855480996, Satnam Singh at Grain Market, Chamiari, on 9855824632, Sarabjit Singh at Mall Mandi on 8054984496, Prabsharan Singh at Vegetable Market, Vallah, on 98551-27680 for booking of sand in their respective areas. Bhagat said the system would check the sale of sand by the roadsides as people would no longer have to go to the market to purchase sand. The system would allow the people to buy from their homes. In the present scenario, even as sand was being sold at a very high price, many shopkeepers had encroached upon the roads to stock sand which was causing problems for the commuters. The administration had earlier banned the sale of sand by the roadside but in the absence of an alternative system, the ban could not be implemented successfully. Bhagat said ban on the sale of sand byn the roadside would be enforced strictly as an alternative system has been devised. The district administration has already allotted the tender to a private firm to transport sand from quarries in Hoshiarpur district to the spots designated for selling it in Amritsar.
	Forum asks insurance firm to pay Rs 12 lakh Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed a private insurance company to pay Rs 12 lakh to the family members of an insured person who had purchased the policy from it. The forum has also directed the company to pay Rs 2,000 as litigation expenses. Sawinder Singh, a resident of Paris Avenue, Chheharta, had filed a complaint against Aviva Life Insurance Company Limited stating that his mother Paramjit Kaur had obtained three policies: one for Rs 5 lakh against an annual premium of Rs 25,258, another for Rs 4 lakh against an annual premium of Rs 20,206 and a hird Rs 3 lakh against an annual premium of Rs 15,232. He stated before the forum that before effecting the policies, the insured was medically checked by the empanelled doctors of the opposite party and only after that were the policies issued. He stated that his mother suddenly fell ill and she was admitted to a hospital on December 26, 2011. She died on January 9, 2012. The complainant being the nominee, lodged a claim with the opposite party but the opposite party rejected the claim of the complainant on the ground that the mother of the complainant was suffering from diabetes mellitus and hypertension for six years and cholecystectomy for two years. The complainant alleged that his mother was not suffering from any such alleged diseases. The opposite party in its reply filed that Paramjit Kaur willfully and fraudulently concealed the material facts regarding her health condition at the time of purchasing insurance policies. The company stated that the insured Paramjit Kaur had died within a few days from the purchase of the insurance policy. The forum observed that the opposite party could not produce any evidence that the insured had knowledge at the time of taking the policies that she was suffering from the aforesaid diseases. Moreover, it was the duty of the empanelled doctors of the opposite party, who medically examined her before issuing the aforesaid policies to point out that she was suffering from any such disease. It stated that the repudiation on the basis of history recorded in the hospital records is illegal and arbitrary and the same could not be treated as substantive material to base any decision. The forum ordered that the claim was wrongly repudiated and the company should pay the amount within a month of the decision failing which the complainant would be entitled for a 9 per cent interest on the amount from the date of the filing of the complaint till the payment is made.
	Textile manufacturers mull contempt case against state govt Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 Entrepreneurs of the border districts in the state are irked with the SAD-BJP coalition government over the inordinate delay in non-disbursal of capital subsidy of around Rs 12 crore under the Industrial Policy 2003. The Textile Manufacturers' Association (TMA) is contemplating filing a contempt of court petition against the government. TMA general secretary, Hardit Singh Makhni, said: "There are about 121 claimants for the capital subsidy from Amritsar and Tarn Taran and the rest belong to Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Ferozepur. Early release of funds would have helped these industrialists to compete with their counterparts in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, who are better placed due to the extension of tax holiday." They maintain that the government was investing over Rs 7 crore in raising a new entry gate to the city on GT road from the Jalandhar side when one already exists. However, when it comes to aiding existing industries, it does not have enough money. Makhni said a single bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had in its decision on May 20, 2011 made an announcement in favour of the industrialists. However, the state government appealed against the decision before a double bench of the HC. Meanwhile, industrialist Kamal Dalmia said a delegation of entrepreneurs from the the border region met Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal at Chandigarh on September 6, 2012. "Sukhbir instructed the then Principal Secretary, Industry, AR Talwar to withdraw the appeal. A month later, they again contacted Talwar but nothing came out. “After agriculture, textile is the second largest employment offering sector. Instead of bolstering it into an engine of growth, the government is ignoring it,” he said.
	Better amritsar public toilets—i Public convenience or inconvenience? The dilapidated state of public toilets shows the negligence by the Municipal Corporation and the Improvement Trust towards basic civic amenities. Amritsar Tribune delves into the problem and its causes GS Paul Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 Public convenience seems to be the last item on the civic authorities’ agenda, as they have completely failed to take care of the city's basic needs as far as public toilets is concerned. Ironically, though men, somehow, manage even without toilets, it becomes extremely difficult for the women when they are out of home. The MC and the Improvement Trust share the liability of providing public conveniences to the residents of the holy city and tourists. Astonishingly, the MC, on its own, never spared a thought to build a single public toilet for women and persons with disabilities in the entire city. This attitude of the MC was revealed after PS Bhatti, president of a local NGO, Pollution Control Committee, filed an application under the RTI Act. The MC, in its reply, had admitted that this essential service is missing even in shopping markets or residential areas. Out of a total of 65 wards, which fall within the MC's limits, 43 wards don't have public toilets. These wards are 1 to 19, 25, 27 to 36, 38, 39, 43, 44, 50, 57, 59, 60 and 61 to 65. Though MC officials argued that this information was now obsolete as number of public toilets were built later, after Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, an NGO, was roped in for the purpose of providing toilet facility at key locations of the holy city, yet a random round of these sites revealed that most of these toilets are either locked or non-functional. Further, the official documents divulged that the “provision for public toilets or urinals” was very much there in the site drawings of the wards, but the MC could never make these a reality. For example, there was provision for constructing seven toilets at the Truck Stand on GT Road, but only two could be constructed. The ones provided by Sulabh were paid services. In January 2012, acting on a petition filed by Ajay Kumar through an NGO, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued directions to the local Municipal Corporation to provide adequate public toilets and urinal facilities in the holy city as prescribed under Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976. The petitioner in the case was also a person with a disability. But till date, the MC's reaction is awaited. MC Health Officer Dr Yogesh Arora admitted that public toilets in most of the wards were not feasible due to old topography of the city or due to interference by the Archeological Survey of India. He showed concern when informed about the Sulabh public toilets which were found to be locked. Superintending Engineer, Improvement Trust, Bharat Bhushan agreed that there were not enough public toilets but the scenario would be changed shortly as a number of toilet units would be opened shortly. The situation was similar at the railway station, bus stand and other prominent places The railway station also has no sufficient provision of toilets for passengers. In the absence of these facilities, people resort to defecateion in the open and urinate along the walls, thereby polluting the environment. The inspection report of the Railway Board reveals that there is no provision for public toilet at platform numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5. Identical was the situation at the ISBT (Inter-State Bus Terminus), as it too lacked hygienic urinals. Three major shopping complexes, Nehru Shopping Complex, District Complex, Ranjit Avenue, and Dharam Singh Market near the Golden Temple, do not have functional toilets. All these complexes come under the jurisdiction of the Improvement Trust. The historic Company Bagh, the only place where residents take a stroll in the morning or evening, does not possess even a single toilet which could be found to be functional. The one which appeared to be somehow in order was found to be locked. Superintending Engineer, Improvement Trust, Bharat Bhushan said, “Nevertheless, the situation is not so grim. Adequate arrangements were made at the Nehru Shopping complex as we have prepared two sets of toilets there and handed over the keys to the traders' association. They assured us aboput its upkeep. Very soon, we are going to handover toilets in C Block of Ranjit Avenue and a Sulabh toilet at Lawrence road too would be made functional from tomorrow onwards.” NS Gabharia, former Deputy Station Superintendent, Railways, said, “The situation had been bad for the last two decades. There used to be one public toilet each on platform number 2 and 4. But these are non-functional for last two decades.” PS Bhatti, president, Pollution Control Committee said, “The statements of officials carry no weight. Just take a random round of the city and you can well judge the ground realities. The logic behind putting the Sulabh public toilets under lock was that most of these toilets were located on key roadsides and were being built with the idea of earning a huge revenue by erecting big advertisements and hoardings. Since, the High Court has put a blanket ban on affixing such hoardings by the roadside, the Sulabh agency didn't find it to be a viable idea for providing service as the ‘advertisement earnings’ stopped flowing in.”
	Experts speak on socio-legal developments at GNDU Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 A national seminar on "Socio-Legal Developments in India: Some Issues and Challenges" was organised by the Department of Law, Guru Nanak Dev University. This UGC-sponsored seminar was held at the Guru Nanak Bhawan Auditorium of the university. The seminar was conducted to provide students, researchers and faculty members an insight into the current legal issues of national importance. Justice JR Midha, Delhi High Court, was the chief guest. Prof Afzal Wani, Dean, Indraprastha University, New Delhi, was the guest of honour. Dr Luther Mark Rangrezi, Department of Legal Studies, South Asian University SAARC, New Delhi. delivered the key note address. Apart from Arun Kumar, CJM, Amritsar, senior faculty members of educational institutions from across the country participated in the seminar. In his inaugural address, Dr TS Benipal stressed upon the need for education to all and health to all as a solution to the major problems of the country. He said the educated and healthy citizen of any nation could contribute to the overall development of not only society but the nation also. Dr Luther Mark Rangrezi, in his keynote address, discussed the need to study law and society. Addressing the students and delegates, Justice JR Midha emphasised upon reforming the criminal justice system and consumer laws. He spoke on the need to involve the accused and the victims by the courts in the quest to ascertain the 'truth'. While discussing various themes for the seminar, he focused on the importance of consumer laws and their blanket applicability over the civil laws. His core area of deliberation was reforms in criminal jurisprudence. laying emphasis on deliberate need to reform criminal jurisprudence, he suggested that judges will have to come out of the orthodox systems of searching for the truth.
	Congress holds candlelight march for deceased farmer Tribune News Service Amritsar, February 23 Various Congress leaders led by PPCC general secretary SRS Lalli Majithia today held a candlelight march to pay homage to farmer Bahadur Singh, who died during a violent clash between the agitating farmers and the police. The farmers were holding an indefinite dharna outside the PSPCL office on the Airport road. However, the situation turned ugly when the farmers held the staff of the PSPCL hostage and refused to release them. The Congress party besides various farmer groups flayed the police for its action while the police officials said they were forced to use force for self-protection and to free the PSPCL staff. They said the incident brought out the true face of the SAD-lead ruling alliance. Majithia, while speaking on the occasion, questioned the government for staging Fateh Rally at Jagron at the cost of the state exchecquer when the economic condition of the state is dwindling. He alleged that the Badals were following in BJP prime ministerial candidate Modi's footprints by adopting his tactic of beating the farmers. Majithia said Badals can spend billions on agri summits, inviting farmers and agriculturalists from all over the globe and giving free of cost tube well connections to their henchmen but can't pay heed to genuine demands.
	State Ministerial Services Union to go on strike from today Amritsar, February 23 The Punjab State Ministerial Services Union has announced to initiate an indefinite strike from February 24. The union is demanding education allowance at par with Central Government employees, enhanced medical allowance and review of pay disparities. After a meeting of the union here today, general secretary of the Association Jagdish Thakur said, "All ministerial staff workers will be observing a pen-down strike on February 24 and 25 and afterwards, initiate a complete strike if the government doesn't respond." "The union has submitted its demand charter five times with the state government since January 2013. But the union has not received any response. The government is not even ready to hold talks,” he said. — TNS
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