Jalandhar, March 24
An unprecedented move by Mayor Sunil Jyoti to clear the Rs 552.82-crore budget at a House meeting in barely five seconds this noon triggered a protest by the Congress councillors, who tore and burnt the copies of the agenda.

Ruing that the Mayor should have at least got the voting done to see who all were with him, Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Raj Raja announced that he would move a writ petition in the court, challenging the move of the Mayor to pass the budget in this manner and Commissioner Municipal Corporation (MC) for allowing this 
to happen.

“We all had come here for a discussion on the budget and offer some suggestions. We also had some objections and queries on the expenditure and income listed in the agenda. The Mayor could have at least given us some hearing,” he lamented.

Not just the Congress leaders, even BJP councillor Kishan Kochhar lodged his protest, making a statement that seeing the conduct of the meeting in this way, he had decided that he would never return to the House again.

Barely had the Mayor announced that the budget be read, his close aide, Joginder Singh Tony, in an apparent pre-planned move, said, “Let it be all pass”. The Mayor did not wait for any response of the councillors even for a second and immediately left the meeting hall. All the councillors were left standing and raising their voice that this was not done.

Dalwinder Kaur, a Congress councillor from ward No. 8, too, showed much annoyance, “It was a sheer insult to have called us all here for this drama. If the budget was to be passed like that, where was the need to call us all here?”

Congress councillor Balraj Thakur, too, was too upset. He had come to show a poster to the Mayor, reading that the land left for park at Mithapur village be spared and not put in the list of saleable properties of the MC. But he did not get a chance to show it to the Mayor.

Soon after the Mayor left, the Congress councillors led by Raja group stayed in the meeting hall and tore the copies of the agenda in front of the media present there. The Congress’ Dynamic group, led by Sushil Rinku, went outside the hall and burnt the copies there.

Pre-planned move

Clearly indicative of the fact that the move of the Mayor was a pre-planned programme, Jyoti ensured that the attendance of all 48 of the total 60 councillors had been taken on the register. He also got served tea and snacks even before formally starting the meeting.

MC employees protest

Even as the meeting was yet to begin, the MC safai karamcharis, led by the Punjab Safai Mazdur Federation, held a protest outside the meeting hall. They raised slogans against the Mayor and the Punjab Government over the issue of solid waste management. The cops deputed for the meeting had to close the gates, but the federation members just kept banging the doors. Soon after the Mayor left the meeting, the employees followed him to his office, raising slogans against him. Later, a few representatives, including Chandan Grewal and Pawan Baba were called by the Mayor in his retiring room for a meeting.

They kept persisting him for the cancellation of the solid waste management project, but the Mayor told them that he was helpless on the matter, especially with poll code already in force. Congress councillors, led by Raja, had got a signed proposal for the same to be presented to the Mayor during the meeting, but it could not be presented as no one got any time for the same.

Some objections Cong was to put up

Councillor Balraj Thakur said he had come prepared to raise some objections in the budget. “The biggest anomaly in the budget is that the expenditure on the establishment is far too high than the norms of having a maximum percentage of 35 per cent of the total income. The income projected by the MC is Rs 479.45 crore which includes the amount after the sale of properties and grants to be received. The actual budget, however, is just Rs 279.45 crore. The amount allocated for the establishment is 58.28 per cent of the actual income. His other objections included earmarking Rs 15 lakh for the computerisation of the branches which he said was far too less, not having been able to receive a single penny as additional excise duty in the first three quarters even as the project amount stands at Rs 9.89 crore and incurring just Rs 67,000 as advertisement tax against a proposed amount of Rs 20 lakh for the year.

Post-budget meeting of SAD-BJP councillors

After the House meeting, the Mayor, subsequently, held another meeting only for the SAD-BJP councillors in his own meeting hall. His detractors from his own party Ravi Mahendru and Kishan Kochhar, however, stayed away. Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Bhatia did not turn up owing to the death of his sister-in-law.

Episode's fallout in LS poll

Most believe that Monday's attempt of the Mayor to clear the budget in a huff and the subsequent Congress protest would go against him in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Councillor Des Raj Jassal pointed out that a similar step had been taken by Mayor Surinder Mahey, but his budget agenda too was returned by the state government, asking him to first get the consent of the majority of the councillors in the House.

Road deaths and condolences

Even as the names for offering condolences were being finalised ahead of the meeting, Congress leaders raised the issue that the name of Karan, a student of DAV College, who lost his life by falling from the bike he was riding on a potholed road, should also be included. Calling the incident "road terrorism", Raja said another youth from Palahi village of Phagwara Vijay Kumar, who had recently come to Jalandhar, had also died after a fall on a broken road. He said both names should be included, as these deaths happened owing to the carelessness of the Municipal Corporation. The Mayor, who was supported by the SAD-BJP councillors, however, said that all deaths in and around the city could not be condoled like that. They also said that the deaths should not be politicised like that. 

Jalandhar, March 24
Taking cognisance of yet another case of inordinate delay in the provision of information under the RTI Act to an appellant by the Education Department, the State Information Commission has issued a show-cause notice to Deputy DEO (Secondary Education) Harinder Pal, asking him to explain the cause for it.

The SIC has given a week's time to provide the information to the appellant and the date for the next hearing on the issue has been set as April 7, 2014.

The Deputy DEO has also been asked why a fine of Rs 25,000 under shouldn't be levied on him.

On November 17, 2013, appellant Anil Kumar Verma had sought information pertaining to the inspection of Government High School Dharoli Khurd by Surinder Pal Virdi, principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Padhiana. He had sought reports of the inquiry, copies of statements given by witnesses on both sides, among other documents concerned with the enquiry conducted by the principal at Government High School, Daroli Khurd.

While the appellant did not receive the sought information within the stipulated 30-day period under the act, he then filed a complaint with the commission on January 6, 2014.

State Information Commissioner BC Thakur has asked the Deputy DEO to appear with written submissions and action taken reports on the issue on the next date of hearing, that is, April 7, 2014.

The commission, in its order dated March 14, 2013, states, "During the hearing of this case, it is noted that neither the respondent PIO has put in his appearance in the commission, nor information has been supplied to the complainant till date though the complainant had filed RTI application with the respondent PIO-cum-Deputy DEO (SE), Jalandhar, on 17.11.13. It is further noted that a total lackadaisical approach has been adopted by the respondent PIO in providing information to the appellant. As such, a show-cause notice is issued to Harinder Pal Singh, PIO-cum-Deputy DEO (SE) Jalandhar to explain as to why penalty @ Rs 250 per day (sic) subject to the maximum of Rs 25,000 be not imposed upon him for not providing the information wilfully, intentionally and without any reasonable cause till date to the appellant though he filed an RTI application on 17.11.2013."

Notably, while the Jalandhar Education Department had been at the receiving end of many previous reprimands from the SIC, this is possibly the heftiest fine levied on a PIO in the recent past for the denial of RTI information.

Formerly also, the Education Department had received a number of rebukes and notices from the SIC.

Jalandhar, March 24
Peeved at the poor condition of roads, two recent deaths and innumerable accidents in the past months, a city resident has finally taken legal course against the Municipal Corporation (MC).

A resident of Old Railway Road, Raman Dutt has served a legal notice to Special Secretary of the Department of Local Government, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar, and Deputy Commissioner Jalandhar, asking them to get the roads constructed immediately.

The notice, which has been served through the president of the District Bar Association Mandeep Singh Sachdev, reads, “The condition of roads in Jalandhar is much deteriorated. Many accidents have happened and many innocent people have lost their lives. One can find damaged roads and pits after every 100 or 200 metres. The motorists have been falling and suffering injuries. For the same reason, the quantity of oil consumed by the vehicles is also increasing. Above all, a very bad impression is created among the people who presently come to Jalandhar from abroad and other parts of the country.”

The notice further reads that during rains, the road craters get filled and movement of public gets even more affected. It has been further mentioned, “There was a statement given by you which was published in a newspaper that the construction of roads will be started from September 2013. It was further stated that the construction of the roads will be done by the Corporation on a priority basis. It was also cited that on getting loan from HUDCO, firstly dues will be paid to the contractors so that there will be no shortage of money for the construction of roads and that only end of rainy season was awaited.”

The notice reads that the construction of the roads should be done on a priority basis, failing which a public interest litigation would be filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The notice also touches on the issue of the problem of garbage lifting. Your officials have not arranged any alternatives for the lifting of garbage. Due to heaps of garbage kept on various roadsides, it has become very difficult for people to walk near these places. In many parts of the city like Bhagat Singh Chowk, Plaza Chowk, Alaska Chowk, PUDA Complex or Nakodar Road, Fish Market, one can find heaps of garbage and dust, it has been mentioned. 

Jalandhar, March 24
A railway halt near Lyallpur Khalsa College situated in the middle of the city has no entrance or exit gate from the last 20 years. The railway halt is located beneath the Khalsa College flyover. It is being used by 500 passengers everyday, including milkmen from nearby villages and students. They could be seen walking on the railway track to come out of the railway station. Although, the passengers are facing tough time from long; surprisingly, the railway authorities showed complete ignorance into the case.

A commuter enters the railway halt near Lyallpur Khalsa College through a broken wall in Jalandhar. A Tribune Photograph

"Earlier, there was a gate from the platform's side of the railway station but that was closed by the railway authorities around 20 years back after the alleged connivance with the Defence Colony residents. The railway authorities locked the gate with heavy metal barricades. They also constructed an extensive wall covering the entire station without leaving any entry or exit way from the platform's side," said SK Kapoor of Chitra, a centre for human rights initiative in the city.

He said, "The wall is being constructed deliberately leaving around 7-feet-wide stretch between the railway station and the Defence Colony boundary following which many residents have encroached upon the railway area by extending their house into the left over area. The centre has recently taken up the matter with the Ministry of Railways at New Delhi."

Although, the railway line was very old and constructed in 1885 by the Britishers, the railway station was built by Swaran Singh, ex-Foreign and Defence Minister of India, in 1975. Presently, it connects the city to Beas, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Lohian Khaas, Noormahal, Malasian, Shahkot, Bilga, Phillaur and Hoshiarpur. Every day around 5 trains enter and leave the station. Around 200 to 400 passengers coming to the station boards and de-boards the trains every day. But in the absence of any entry or exit gate, they are facing lot of difficulty. While one side of the railway station was closed by the wall constructed by the railway authorities, the other side of the railway station was barricaded by the Punjab Urban development Authority (PUDA) which is constructing two new office buildings of the Passport and the Excise and Taxation Departments in the land just opposite to the railway Station.

Due to this, the passengers, especially the milkmen coming from nearby villages are suffering lot of difficulty as they de-board the trains with tonnes of milk in the morning to distribute them in the city and getting out of the railway station becomes a mammoth task for them. Also, many students coming from far off areas and studying in various colleges of the city also de-boards the train from here only. The passengers could be seen entering and leaving the railway station by walking dangerously on the railway tracks for long or by jumping over the wall.

NC Goyal, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ferozpur Division, showed complete ignorance into the case and said, "Presently, there is no enquiry marked into the case and even if any marked long ago would have been completed in due course of time."

Jalandhar, March 24
On the occasion of the World Tuberculosis Day, a seminar was organised at Shaheed Babu Labh Singh Nursing Institute at the Civil Hospital today. RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon was the chief guest of the occasion.

Dr Rajiv Sharma, District Tuberculosis Officer, while addressing the gathering, said: "Although, TB is a deadly disease but with proper care and nutrition, it can be cured completely. To curb the menace, the Health Department has opened 25 microscopic investigating units, seven treatment units and one TB clinic in the district."

On the occasion, the nursing students made rangolis and performed a skit to highlight the causes and cure of tuberculosis.

RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon, gave away the prizes to the participants and the winners of the poster making competitions. Besides, the students, Dr Desh Raj, Assistant Civil Surgeon, Dr Gurmeet Kaur Duggal, District Family Welfare officer, Dr Harpreet Kaur, District Immunization Officer, and Dr Ashwini Gupta, District Leprosy Officer, were present on the occasion.

Jalandhar, March 24
SUWIDHA Centre is losing its sheen due to delay in the implementation of the e-governance project. The district administration has recently shifted a few services from the SUWIDHA Centres to the Municipal Corporation, Tehsildar office and the District Transport office, but due to the lack of interest by some officials, the percentage of backlog is increasing with each passing day.

"There is a dire need to improve the token system at the SUWIDHA Centers. The applicants have to stand in long queues since morning to get tokens issued for their work. The centre receives about 1,200 applications daily. The administration should introduce token machines at the earliest. The most affected are the nearly 200 applicants for learners' driving licence who have to daily stand in the queue for over two hours to get their work done. The worst are the days when the server goes down which is a frequent problem here. There have been days in the recent past when the applicants here had to wait for more than six hours to simply submit their application forms," said Mahavir Singh, a Private Hospital Employee

"Without the implementation of the e-governance project, the whole concept of the SUWIDHA Centre is a farce. Presently, SUWIDHA Centres are acting nothing more than a postman in the entire process. The 100 per cent electronic workflow will ensure single point interaction for the public. The certificates which presently take long to get signed by the concerning authority due to varied reasons, would be easily issued through digital signatures and could be printed by the SUWIDHA Centres. Also, the public can track the status of their application through the portal and the escalation metrics would ensure the adherence to the service level defined for each service. Until and unless, the whole process is put on line, there is no fun being calling it a SUWIDHA Centre for the general public," said Mani Sahota, a student.

"The SUWIDHA Centres in the rural areas are not having all the services under one roof and also do not perform the job in the stipulated time. There is shortage of staff as well in the gram SUWIDHA Centres and they are still not connected to the respective Public Utility departments. Infact, the staff sitting in the Gram SUWIDHA Centres themselves informed us to visit the respective departments directly to get the work done at a fast pace. The gram centres should be made more efficient and resourceful to get the speedy work done as promised by the state government," said Gurbax Kaur, a homemaker.

"The administration should open a felicitation counter for the illiterate people and those coming from rural areas. They face lot of difficulty in filling up the application form and either have to rewrite it many times or have to get it typed by paying anything between Rs 100 to 200 before submitting it at the counter. With the opening of the felicitation counter, many people would be benefited from it. The administration may charge a little amount but should depute somebody to help the public in filling the application form correctly," said Geeta Rani, another homemaker.

“There is a huge nexus going on between the notaries and the typists sitting outside. Most of the time, they type wrong matter and charge hugely for the typing and attestation services from the applicants. But later, when the SUWIDHA counter refuse to accept the incorrect or incomplete form, these people do not refund the money and instead offer a little discount to prepare the new set of documents. I paid Rs 1,500 for wrong forms which the typist refused to refund. Finally, I got them made again from my lawyer. There is no check on them or punishment prescribed in the court of law, said Mohan Singh, an NRI.

"The district administration should introduce courier service to send the documents directly to the applicant's home. Since most of the applicants have around two to three people that accompany them, the footfall in the small building remains too high causing lot of inconvenience to the actual applicants. The courier service will help in 
reducing the huge rush at the SUWIDHA Centres where people who want to collect the documents are more than the ones who want to apply. This will also reduce the unnecessary burden on the government infrastructure provided at the SUWIDHA Centres," said Harmandeep Kaur, a teacher.

"Lot of efforts is being taken to reduce the pending work at the SUWIDHA Centres. Besides, segregating the SUWIDHA services directly to some of the departments having the maximum queries, regular scrutiny is also being done through the weekly updated reports. Also, from April 1, the applicants can get the application forms directly through the SUWIDHA Centre at a much lesser rate than that being provided by the contractor presently. As far as the Gram SUWIDHA Centres are concerned, the complete project will only take off once the e-governance project conceptualised and planned by the centre government will materialise," said Varun Roojam, Deputy Commissioner.