Bathinda, March 18
The District Election Committee has fixed rates for samosa at Rs 5 and kachori at Rs 6 per piece and a glass of tea for Rs 6. The rates are part of the list of 23 items whose cost has been fixed and the list circulated among the political parties.

It is an exhaustive list covering rates of sound systems, propaganda material such as pamphlets, hand bills, posters and cutouts, hiring vehicles to be used for campaigning, furniture, salary of drivers, hiring charges of hoarding sites, food and even siropas (scarves).

A team consisting of the ADC (Development), District Food Supplies and Control Officer (DFSC) and Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC) conducted a field survey before fixing these rates.

District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav said all the candidates declared so far and political parties are following these rates.

Before a political rally is conducted, the party concerned is asked to list its budget for the rally to be held. Thereafter, a video team of the Election Office goes to the event site and videographs the entire function.

Officials concerned have been trained to add voice-over to the video holding mikes wherein they describe the scene.

“The officer lists the number of things present at the venue such as furniture, number of sound systems, crockery etc. The taped video is then handed over for video viewing that works under the assistant returning officers (ARO),” said Yadav.

After viewing, the recording is submitted to an accounting team that calculates the fund spent on holding the event, corresponding it with the rate list that the election office has prepared.

Interestingly, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not fixed any expense limit for the political parties. Till the time candidates are not declared, all such billings go into the account of the political party concerned, which has no limit. However, after a candidate is announced, the expenses are counted in his or her account which is up to Rs 70 lakh.

The rates quoted for hiring vehicles do not include the fuel (petrol or diesel) filled to run them. Those charges are calculated separately. Intriguingly, in order to circumvent the spending on hiring vehicles, a SAD MLA residing in the city has collected vehicles that have outlived their utility. These vehicles have just been painted anew to give them a fresh look, whereas they have outlived their road lives.

Bathinda, March 18
In an attempt to appease all the Congress leaders and workers of Bathinda and colour them in bright hues of oneness, Congress-PPP joint candidate for the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, Manpreet Singh Badal, chose to celebrate Holi in the district by playing with colours with the Congress and PPP leaders and workers.

Reaching out to the former Bathinda MLA and general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committtee Harminder Singh Jassi and president of the Bathinda District Congress Committee Sohan Lal Jhumba, the PPP president played Holi at the Congress office in the city.

It is pertinent to note here that Jassi had been a frontrunner in the race to get the Lok Sabha ticket from Bathinda seat till the PPCC and PPP leadership joined hands and proposed the name of the PPP president Manpreet Singh Badal to take on Harsimrat Badal during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

During the initial leg of campaigning by Manpreet Badal, Jassi, although present at the venues, kept himself aloof raising many an eyebrow regarding his unhappiness with the PPCC leadership choosing Manpreet over him.

On several occasions, when asked about sitting at a distance from Manpreet, Jassi had remarked that he was not a star-struck child and was giving others a chance to meet and greet the Congress-PPP candidate from Bathinda.

On Monday, however, the leaders celebrated the festival together. Jassi and Manpreet not only smeared each other with colours, they also went to a temple at the Post Office market to pray before moving going through the Dhobi Bazaar and the Post office Bazar to celebrate the festival with residents and shopkeepers.

Accompanied by wife Veenu Badal, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, PPP district president Sukhdev Singh Chahal and others, he addressed the shopkeepers and alleged that while the state government was spending crores of rupees on organising summits, it was oblivious of the ground realities and problems being faced by the shopkeepers and other traders.

He also accused the state government of indulging in misleading politics and showing the dream of a healthy industrial sector to the residents of the state while the reality was the fact that the state was reeling under economic trouble and its industrial sector had suffered several setbacks.

He also alleged that the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat had become a matter of prestige for the Badal family and the family as creating an atmosphere of fear while building pressure of its residents to bring back the Badal bahu into power.

Accusing the Election Commission of “being under pressure”, he alleged that the autonomous body had been failing miserably in working on the complaints filed by the opposition parties.

He also demanded that to make sure that the polling is conducted in a fair and transparent manner, CCTVs be installed at polling stations in Bathinda district.

Bathinda, March 18
President of Punjab youth wing of the PPP, Devinder Singh Dhos, today reached Bathinda to campaign for the Congress-PPP candidate for the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, Manpreet Singh Badal.

Addressing the gathering, Dhos stated that duties will be allocated to the leaders and members of the PPP youth wing and exhorted all to leave no stone unturned in assuring victory of Manpreet Singh Badal in the elections.

He also stated that to ensure victory of their candidate, booth-wise committees will be formed soon and asked the workers to make sure that elections are conducted in full transparency. He added that he would begin campaigning for the elections in Talwandi Sabo starting March 20.

He also agreed that the party was missing the presence of comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann, who had recently left the party to joined Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aamdi Party (AAP).

He also stated that the PPP president tried his best to retain Mann in the party. In an attempt to keep Mann from leaving, Manpreet has even offered to give him the PPP ticket from Bathinda.

He also extended a hand of friendship towards all the Congress leaders and workers and stated that this was the time to come together and fight against the Badal family. 

Bathinda, March 18
The Bathinda Cooperative Bank Employees Union today held a dharna against the government in support of their demands and raised slogans.

President of the union Labh Singh Brar and general secretary Sukhmandar Singh Dhaliwal said that the employees are demanding an additional increment on computerisation of the branch, as is given to the others.

They also demanded increase in grade pay, filling up of vacant seats, issuance of pending ex gratia of the last five years and implementation of the revised scales. 

Bathinda, March 18
Around a decade after a complaint was filed against two doctors and a couple in connection with female foeticide following sex-determination test, a local court on Tuesday awarded three years imprisonment to the doctors and couple. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 on all the accused.

The order was passed by the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Yukti Goyal.

Complainant’s counsel advocate Rajnish Rana said that the case was filed by the project officer of the PNDT Cell, Sadhu Ram Kusla. The cell was formed in 2003 to check the ever rising female-feticide and sex-determination cases in the district in view of the dismal male-female sex ratio.

Kusla moved an application in the court following the detection of sex-determination by a city doctor and consequent termination of the pregnancy by another doctor at nearby Bhucho Mandi.

The advocate stated that Dr Harmesh Lal of Parampal Diagnostic Centre, Dr Harjeet Kaur of Bhucho Mandi, the couple from Bhucho Mandi, Satnam Kaur and Sukhpal Singh were accused of being involved in the act.

The woman got herself diagnosed at Parampal Diagnostic Centre where she came to know that she had a female baby after which she got the pregnancy terminated from Bhucho Mandi.

The application against all the four persons, including the couple and two doctors, was moved under the PNDT Act and MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) by Kusla. The lawyer stated that a form, (Form-F) is to be filled by every doctor diagnosing a patient using the ultrasound machine at their clinic or hospital.

These forms are sent to the office of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) with a copy to the office of Deputy Commissioner and further to the PNDT Cell. The ultrasound of pregnancies with more than 12 weeks, wherein sex of a child is determined, is scrutinised by the cell. To check the illegal practice, the address of those who undergo ultrasound test, after 12 weeks, is procured and sources are deployed to keep a tab, whether the pregnancy is continued or terminated. The checking authorities rely upon ANMs (Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery) patients and other sources to check the termination of pregnancy.

“Those cases are suspected in which pregnancy is terminated soon after the ultrasound and sources are deployed to reach at the depth to know from where the pregnancy is terminated,” the lawyer said.

He pointed out that though there are numerous loopholes and taking advantage of the lacunas people involved in the illegal act manage to avoid punishment.

“Since neither the person undergoing ultrasound reveals anything nor do the doctor, about illegal practice, so, it becomes tough to act against them,” the lawyer added. He pointed out that the opposite party in the case also tried to contest their case but failed to get any relief.

Bathinda, March 18
The union members of the 108 ambulance service were elected, here today. Pankaj Chaudhary was elected as its president, Sukhjinder Singh as vice-president, Jagdeep Singh as secretary and Parminder Singh as cashier.

Addressing the gathering, president Pankaj Chaudhary said that against the requisite eight hours, the workers were being made to work for even 12 hours a day and they were not being paid overtime for the same.

Pankaj Chaudhary said the management has promised them a hike in salary, which has not been issued yet.

They threatened to launch a stir if their demands were not met.

Bathinda, March 18
DAV College, Bathinda, organised an annual awards function today. As many as 120 students were awarded for their achievements in the field of academics, cultural activities, sports, NCC, NSS and allied activities.

Dr SS Gill, Vice-Chancellor of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, was the chief guest while Swami Survya Dev was the guest of honour. After giving away the prizes, Dr Gill, in his speech, exhorted the students to work for excellence and develop a professional edge without losing sight of the values which have sustained society over the years. Dr Gill also appreciated the college administration for expanding its educational network and providing quality education at the doorsteps.

Principal Dr JS Anand said more postgraduate courses would be introduced. Other notable personalities present included PD Goyal, vice-chairman of the LMC, Vimal Garg, Dr Satwant Kaur Bhullar, Prof PK Verma, vice-principal and Prof Varesh Gupta. Prof Parveen Kumar read the welcome address.

Bathinda, March 18
The festival of colours Holi was marred by numerous road accidents in and around the Bathinda district yesterday.

The festival turned sour in the house of 34-year-old city dentist Dr Dheeraj Dixit who met with a serious road accident while on his way to Bathinda from Mansa in a car with his family members.

Dixit along with his wife, Navdeep Kaur, who is a lecturer, a five-year-old daughter-Jiya and brother-in-law, was on way to Bathinda from Mansa in a Hyundai i20.

Dixit was behind the wheels and lost control over the vehicle as it approached Bhainibagha village of Mansa moments after he picked up his wife, daughter and brother-in-law from Mansa Khechiyan, midway between Bathinda and Sunam. His wife, Navdeep, daughter and brother-in-law had come from Sunam on a bus while Dr Dheeraj had gone to pick them up from Bathinda.

The recently purchased car came to a screeching halt and it tripped over to the opposite side of the road after hitting a tree.

Dheeraj’s family members said that his brother-in-law, who was sitting beside him, died on the spot while Dheeraj’s wife and daughter escaped with minor injuries. The front portion of the door beside the driver’s side was smashed which led to Dheeraj’s brother-in-law’s death. The child and his wife were sitting on the rear seats. The dentist was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Mansa, with the help of some passerby after almost an hour after the accident. Dheeraj is the only son of his parents and has been practicing near Gurdwara Qila Mubarak for the last few years.

“Lack of medical facility and security by the police proved instrumental in delaying first aid to the accident victims and there was hardly anyone at the hospital,” Varun, one of the dentist’s cousins, who helped in shifting a profusely bleeding Dheeraj to Max Hospital. Precious hours were lost in the shifting, the cousin said.

Dr Manoj Manjhi said the patient was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the initial 72 hours are quite crucial. “He is responding to the treatment but in a very slow manner,” Manji said.

President of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa Vijay Goyal said that there were five to six similar road accidents reported in and around the city.

“Lack of pro-active approach by the authorities and the state government to keep a tab on the rising road accidents, especially during the festive occasion, leads to the loss of precious lives,” Goyal said.

He pointed out that a 60-year-old man Santram was hit by a speeding car on the Mall Road and was rushed to the Civil Hospital. Besides, a pedestrian, who was identified as 70-year-old Bhan Singh, was hit by a vehicle near the Fauji Chowk and two persons on a scooter received injuries under Multania Flyover.