Jalandhar, March 26
There seems to be a big difference emerging in the income and expenditure of the Municipal Corporation (MC) over the past six financial years.

While the income of the MC has fallen over the years, the expenditure has gone up exponentially. The net income of the civic body was Rs 271.5 crore in 2008-09. Rather than going up, it has come down by Rs 31.91 crore, with the actual income figures of 2012-13 standing at Rs 239.7 crore. The income of the MC has rather been very sloppy all this while. It fell to just Rs 171.62 crore in 2009-10, gained somewhat at Rs 208.13 crore in 2010-11 and again dip at Rs 199.87 crore in 2011-12.

On the contrary, the expenditure of the MC, which stood at just Rs 152.40 crore in 2008-09, rose substantially each year. It went up to Rs 185.13 crore in 2009-10, Rs 217.74 crore in 2010-11, Rs 247.96 crore in 2011-12 and Rs 240.44 crore in 2012-13. The expenditure outlay of the current year is expected to touch a whopping Rs 338.85 crore, making everyone ponder as to where the money is going, especially with dilapidated roads all around.

In fact, it have been the grants and loans received by the MC which have been adding to the overall income. While a big amount of Rs 100.07 crore was received in 2008-09, the grant amounts remained at just Rs 12.46 crore, Rs 27.09 crore, Rs 18.32 crore and Rs 47.11 crore in the subsequent four years.

Jalandhar, March 26
The tehbazari wing of the Municipal Corporation (MC) today removed various temporary encroachments in Banda Bahadur Market near Workshop Chowk here.

The tehbazari team, led by supervisor Vikrant Verma, removed extended counters, sun sheds and other encroachments in front of the milk bar, a sweet shop and a medicine shop at the place.

Verma said the shopkeepers had illegally extended their premises to 15 feet towards the road which had now been cleared. 

Jalandhar, March 26
In a society where girls are still considered nothing more than a liability, three well-qualified sisters, one of them a practising doctor in the United States of America (USA), have set an example for others by opening a first-of-its-kind special school for adults in the city.

This is to help their 34-year-old intellectually disabled brother suffering from autism and others like him to lead an independent life. With an humble beginning of five patients, they are also planning to start some rehabilitation programmes shortly with the support of the Regional Institute of Mentally Handicapped (RIMH), situated in Chandigarh.

The school will provide absolutely free education and vocational courses to its students and will run on the donations given by various people and welfare organisations.

“As a sibling of an intellectually disabled child, I had actually experienced the void very closely. Although there are a few schools for the mentally disabled children in the city, there are no schools or rehabilitation centres for the adults in the entire state of Punjab. What would they do after schooling? This void actually motivated me to open a school, especially for my brother and many more like him, who find no place to learn some self-sustaining course to lead an independent life of their own,” said Dr Navneet Kaur Bhullar, a medical specialist in the USA. She said, along with her sisters, she was planning to expand the infrastructure with the help of the RIMH.

“Presently, we are designing a special curriculum with the support of the RIMH on the guidelines of ‘TEACHH’, a special programme of the University of North Carolina on autistic children. Very soon, we would also be introducing vocational courses like waste-flower management, candle making, paper recycling and food packaging etc."

When asked why only Jalandhar, she said her family doesn’t want to leave the city where they had been staying for ages. Both me and my younger sister, who is a psychiatrist in Bangalore, used to feel helpless and frustrated for our brother. Sometimes, we did try to find out various rehabilitation opportunities to enable him to live a respectable life in society, but could find none,” said Dr Bhullar.

The sisters, after finding no way out, decided to do something themselves. They contacted the National Trust, a statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to help people suffering from Multiple Disabilities. Fortunately, a meeting of the State Nodal Agency Centres(SNACs) was taking place at that time. During the conference, they met the officials from the RIMH at Chandigarh who motivated her to start a school for adults, the first-of-its-kind in Punjab. “They assured me complete technical support with the help of local NGOs in the city. I, along with my sisters, took the final plunge on Tuesday,” said an elated Dr Bhullar.

Various NGOs, working in the field of special education in the city, have also welcomed the move and assured their full support to the three sisters. “This is actually a much-required step, as we do not have anything for adults suffering from autism or other intellectual disabilities. Presently, we have around 150 such people suffering from various disabilities in the entire district. This school will definitely show them a way to live a respectful life in society,” said Amarjit Singh Anand, chairperson of the Chanan Association for the Mentally Disabled Children.

While the school is all set to welcome its special students, many of them may not be able to reach there, as the school presently does not have any conveyance of its own. “It would be great, if someone could provide free of cost pick-up and drop facility to these children in the city so that our effort benefits maximum people suffering from multiple disabilities,” said Dr Bhullar.

Jalandhar, March 26
Suspecting the involvement of domestic helps in criminal activities, the city commissionerate police have issued instructions to the landlords, households and residents to provide details of the tenants, domestic helps and servants to the police.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rahul S, in his orders, prohibited the engagement of domestic helps, tenants, or part-time servants without getting them registered at the police stations concerned.

“It has been noticed that such persons sometimes play the main role in committing crimes or sometimes become partners in criminal conspiracy. Considering all these facts, the police have been making it mandatory for the landlords, owner of business establishments to get their tenants and servants registered at the police station concerned,” the DCP stated. — TNS

Jalandhar, March 26
With Congress fielding 67-year-old Chaudhary Santokh Singh from the Jalandhar Reserve Parliamentary constituency, the Dalit-dominated Lok Sabha segment is all set for a fierce poll battle.

Considering the fact that Balmiki community is already divided over support to the SAD-BJP candidate Pawan Kumar Tinu, the Congress move to shift the sitting MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee to Hoshiarpur is being viewed as an apt decision by the party high-command.

According to the Congress leaders, by fielding Santokh, their party would not only manage to handle the anti-incumbency wave prevalent against Kapyee but will also get support of a large section of the Balmiki's, who are not happy with the SAD-BJP government.

Meanwhile, what makes the poll battle more interesting is the BSP factor as party's heavyweight Sukhwinder Kotli is in fray from the Jalandhar Reserve seat.

Since, the announcement of Tinu as party candidate one month back, Akali Dal was claiming to be on a strong wicket for fielding a young, strong and politically experienced candidate. After the BSP announced Kotli as its candidate, SAD leaders had claimed that it would be beneficial for the party nominee, as Kotli will eat into the vote share of Congress.

However, the developments in the past two weeks have changed the political scenario here. The revolt of SAD former vice-president Hans Raj Hans against Tinu, announcement of a section of the balmiki community to oppose Tinu and the Chaudhary Santokh's candidature has given a major boost to the Congress cadres. The party leaders are of the view that Congress chances have really brightened up in Jalandhar.

A perusal of the votes of the different communities brought to light that presently there are about 15.5 lakh voters in Jalandhar. Out of the total voters, about 3.5 lakh are Adidharmi/Ravidassias and nearly 1.75 lakh are Balmiki/Mazhabis. All the three main candidates - Tinu, Chaudhary Santokh and Kotli are Adidharmi. For the Akali Dal, the main cause of worry is the resentment prevailing within the balmiki community over the issue of ignoring issues of the balmikis by the SAD-BJP government. Two days back, the Punjab Deputy CM and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal had made a desperate attempt to placate Hans, who was opposing Tinu's candidature stating that latter is a "fanatic" and had worked against him in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Though Sukhbir had announced that Hans would be overseeing the election campaign of Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur, the latter still remained "non-committal", as far as extending support to Tinu is concerned. A large section of the Balmiki representatives led by member of Punjab Safai Mazdoor Federation Pawan Bawa had openly announced that they are not satisfied with the Sukhbir's assurances and would make sure that Tinu loses election by atleast 1.5 lakh votes. According to the political experts, under the present circumstances, it would be an interesting poll battle in Jalandhar with SC votes once again proving to be a decisive factor in the election.

Contrary to Congress viewpoint, insiders in Akali Dal have said that fielding Tinu, who is Adidharmi, is part of an election strategy by the Akali Dal and this move will be a complete "game changer". Senior SAD leaders told The Tribune, "By giving ticket to Tinu, the party will get the support of Adidharmi/Ravidassias, who are more in number than balmikis. Also, it would be wrong to perceive that the entire balmikis are only Akali Dal's vote bank. Hence, claiming that division in the balmiki votes would badly affect Akali Dal is something difficult to digest." 

Jalandhar, March 26
Staff across the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) schools haven't been paid their salaries for the past 15 months, even though several requests have been made both to the labour department and the education departments on the issue by teachers.

As per the Labour Department claims, currently 27 schools are running in the district. All these school have 50 students each. Apart from the staff salaries, the students of the NCLP schools also haven't received their stipends of Rs 100 per month - which were termed as the very reason for which students would be lured to the project, during its outset.

Staff members of some NCLP schools said, "Even a day's delay in attending to the errands assigned to us or submission of reports regarding schools, earns us a rap from the department. But now that our own salaries have been pending since January 2013, no one is answering us on the issue."

While all the schools in Jalandhar have been assigned to various NGOs, some of them were earlier chipping in by paying salaries to staff during delays, but now even that has stopped. "Some NGOs chipped in earlier but regular delays are difficult to handle. Staff and students are literally surviving without any of the money promised under the project for a long time. To add on it, sometimes there is months' long delay in the provision of budget rations as well," said an NCLP school teacher.

Prof Anup Watts who runs NCLP school under the NGO Citizens' Welfare and Protection Council, Jalandhar, said, "The very denial of salaries to staff and stipends to students robs the project of its spirit. The zeal which marked it when it took off isn't evident anymore. The mid day meal is the only main reason for which students still keep visiting schools. It has also been a long time since a representative from the centre visited here. The last time one came was about one-and-a-half years ago."

While NGOs which are still running a fair show at the schools are still managing to keep students coming, staff say at a number of NCLP schools attendance has also taken a hit due to these irregularities.

Project Director NCLP Inderjit Singh said, "It's been some time since the salaries arrived but the amount has now been sanctioned and the staff will get their salaries within a week."

He, however, said there is no delay in mod day meals being received from the education department.

Jalandhar, March 26
The Department of English of the DAV College in association with the National Mission for Manuscripts is organising a three-day national seminar on manuscripts from March 27.

Principal BB Sharma said, "The seminar will lay thrust on the manuscripts of Punjab and to deliberate on the issue, scholars from various parts of the state as well as the nation will be attending the event being held at the college. They will be deliberating on content language and scripts of various manuscripts dating to different centuries. The seminar will also be accompanied by an exhibition of manuscripts at the college."

Dr Anup Watts, seminar coordinator, said: "Resource persons from across the nation will talk about Punjabi manuscripts of various genres and themes. They shall be highlighting efforts concerning their better understanding, conservation and preservation and will shed light on the significance of manuscripts in research, socio-economic life of individuals and their role as cogent, authentic source of information."

Resource persons will include scholars from Srinagar, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Uttar Pradesh, Patna, Orissa and a number of towns in Punjab, including Mohali, Amritsar and Chandigarh, will participate in the seminar. JS Grewal, former VC, Guru Nanak Dev University, Chandigarh and PK Mishra National Mission for Manuscripts, New Delhi, will also attend the seminar. —TNS