Jalandhar, April 25
Facing flak from the residents of the city over the issue of bad roads, an attempt of Mayor Sunil Jyoti to reach out to the masses via social media for an image-building exercise seems to have rather boomeranged on him.

While he has managed to get appreciation from his well-wishers, some residents have not spared him and showered all their angst against him through Facebook (FB). People have been posting comments telling him that they will not vote for the BJP for being fed up with bad roads.

There are others who have been asking him questions as to why the road work had not been completed in the stretch falling in front of their houses and there are still others posing him questions about the durability of the road work.

Residents of Rama Mandi are the ones to have expressed the maximum grouse. They have invited the Mayor to their area to show the condition of roads. Residents of Raja Garden, Kapurthala Road and other areas, too, have raised a similar voice.

Jalandhar, April 25
The inauguration of the much-awaited 50 MLD sewerage treatment plant (STP) near the leather complex was delayed yet again today, as officials claimed that the STP wasn’t ready.

Meanwhile, environmentalist Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal had come to the place to inaugurate it.

The STP, the inauguration of which has constantly been delayed, was left un-inaugurated because the requisite arrangements to get it started were still incomplete.

However, the same was only told to the environmentalist at the last moment after he reached the spot. Interestingly, officials, distributed laddoos over the un-inaugurated STP.

Sant Seechewal, while talking to The Tribune, said, “They have constantly been postponing the starting of the STP. It was first supposed to be inaugurated on March 31, then on April 20, then the date shifted to 22nd and then 25th. As you can see, it remains un-inaugurated. Yesterday, they told me only the work for the inflow of water into the STP was yet to be done and that would be completed by starting a generator today. But that didn’t happen and the inauguration has been further put off.”

Superintending Engineer SP Garg said, “The work of the inflow of water (from the Kala Sabghian Drain) couldn’t be completed today because it is a risky procedure and needs some time. The electricity work could also not be completed because the power would first have to be cut for that and industries would suffer. So we would now do it on Sunday when industries are closed. The inauguration would take place probably on Monday or after the elections after the work was completed.”

Jalandhar, April 25
After the visit by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) team, led by Rana Kanwardeep Kaur, Civil Judge-Senior Division and Secretary, DLSA, at Gandhi Vanita Ashram and the State Protective Home at Basti Gujan, around 108 girls, including three pregnant and three nursing mothers, narrated a horrific account of their stay inside these "special care" homes.

In their statement given to the DLSA team on Friday, most of them accused the administration of forcing them to stay in severe unhygienic conditions. Also, the DLSA team recovered thousands of outdated sanitary napkin packets, hundreds of unused undergarment sets, unstitched suits and notebooks hidden in various rooms of the ashram. The DLSA has prepared the final report and will send it to High Court on Monday.

The girls, in their statement given to the DLSA investigating team, highlighted that they were forced to follow the unhygienic practice of using old and discarded cloth during their menstrual cycle and were also not given any undergarments to wear for long. Most of the girls staying in these "special care" homes are between the age group of six and 33.

The team, on the second day of its visit, recovered a massive stock of outdated sanitary napkin packets thrown into a dark room of Gandhi Vanita Ashram with insects and pests crawling into them. However, the DLSA team distributed "unmentionable" garments found fit to wear to the girls immediately on recovering these from a cupboard in the same campus. The team also found hundreds of sets of new footwear hidden in a big trunk which was also distributed to the girls immediately by the DLSA team.

“So many times we have asked the warden to provide us garments to wear under the clothes. Despite taking measurements so many times, we were not provided any stuff till date. Although a massive stock of unused stuff is available inside the campus, it was never issued to us on time,” said a girl staying in the Children Home for Girls. However, the DLSA team on recovering it from the hidden boxes immediately distributed it amongst the girls.

The girls had also accused the warden of not allowing them to go to school on time and involving them in kitchen work due to staff shortage at the ashram. “We are not allowed to go to the school on time. Also, we were not being provided notebooks despite having its huge stock available in the ashram. We are forced to cook food in the kitchen after the cook here retired a few years ago,” said 
another girl.

When questioned, Jaswinder Kaur, chief warden, failed to respond as to why the stock was not issued to the girls on time.

In the State Protective Home located at Basti Gujan, the situation is no different. There were three mentally challenged and three nursing mothers out of the 64 girls staying in the home that were not provided any special care inside the home. Although the treatment of one of the mentally challenged girls was further refused by the Civil Hospital six months ago, she has not been shifted to a mental hospital till date. Also, no special attendant or counsellor has been appointed for them to take care of the individual needs of the other two girls and the three underage nursing girls with kids less than 1.5 years of age. 

Jalandhar, April 25
“I was sold by my parents for Rs 50,000 to a couple as they required money to take care of my two brothers,” said 18-year-old Meena from Patiala, presently living in the State Protection Home at Basti Gujan in the city. “It is an unsafe world but now it is my home,” said the brave girl who is now getting ready to face the world on her own.

It is a tale of simple happiness interrupted by unimaginable tragedy. Meena was just 14 years old and was happy in her own little world comprising her parents and two brothers living in a makeshift accommodation in Patiala. Suddenly, one day her parents took her to a "swanky" home in Fazilka and after introducing her to a "not-so-noble" couple, left the house by saying that they would be back in the evening after finding a suitable job for her father. “They never came back. I still remember the face of my mother when she turned around and waved at me the last time while crossing the main gate of the house,” said Meena.

According to her, her life turned upside down after that. She was forced to wake up at 4:30 am and work till late in the night. “At certain point of time, I used to get only two-three hours of sleep. The family even started beating me for some little damage done to the house. One day, they even kicked me on my face,” revealed the poor girl. She also said that it was only after a few months that she was informed by her owners that she was sold by her parents to them for 
Rs 50,000.

She finally decided to run away and one day got an opportunity as well. She went straight to a police station at Fazilka and asked them for help. The policemen later brought her to the State Protective Home here in the city.

“My parents were called, but they refused to accept me. Now, I am getting ready to face the world on my own. Although they preferred their sons to me, still I love my mother the most in the world,” said the determined girl. But when asked if given a chance, would she like to go back and stay with her parents? “Never in this life,” she replied with tears in her eyes.

Jalandhar, April 25
Till now, parents of schoolchildren have been expressing their resentment over the fee hike but today parents of the studetns studying in two private schools jointly declared that they would move the High Court if the school authorities didn’t decrease the fee.

Parents of the students studying at CT Public School and Shiv Jyoti Public School said if the schools did not decrease the fee and tell them why the annual charges were being charged, they would submit a memorandum to the DC.

“If the authorities still don’t listen to us, we would move the HC,” they said.

The parents have been expressing resentment over the fee hike for the past few days. Parents of the students studying at Shiv Jyoti Public School had held dharnas and blocked roads, asking the school authorities to do away with the building charges of Rs 2,000 from this session.

Sachin Kumar Wadhwa from CT Public School said, “We have approached the school three times on the issue and also submitted a written request on April 15 - the last day for the submission of the school fee of the present quarter. The school has 1200 students and they have been collecting Rs 7,000 annual charges from all students (barring some concession to consecutive siblings) which are very few. So what does the school need the Rs 84 lakh amount for? If we also include Rs 2,000 taken as building charges from this year on (and the Rs 1,000 for the ID card and stationary charges), then the amount gets to Rs 1, 20,000,00. We at least deserve to know why these extra charges are being levied when we are already paying tuition and admission fee.”

Narender Soni from the Shiv Jyoti Public School alleged, “There has been hefty fee increase this year. There are no set standards for increase in fee. For a couple of years it stays the same, then it suddenly increases a lot. We keep complaining but the school authorities do not pay heed to us. While this year fees have been hiked by 25 per cent, facilities, by comparison are very basic.”

“All we want is that the indiscriminate rise in the fee shouldn’t take place without any information to parents. We shall now knock the doors of the HC,” he said. 

Jalandhar, April 25
Even as the Lok Sabha polls are drawing near and the candidates have already unfolded their agenda before the masses, the NRI diaspora is peeved with the fact that none of the candidates so far from across the state has made any commitment for ensuring safety of the Punjabi community settled in the Philippines.

There have been reports of as many as six Punjabi money lenders settled in Philippines getting murdered just in the last four months. Bhupinder Singh (27) of Gurusar Sadhar near Ludhiana was killed in Manila on April 4. Ram Pal of Nijjran village in Kala Sanghian near Jalandhar was done to death on February 17.

Kulwant Singh of Maheshwari Sandhuan village near Moga was murdered on January 6. Navjot Singh Gill (26) of Jandiala near Jalandhar was shot dead on January 7 while he was collecting loan repayments from his clients there. Kulwinder Singh of Dangian village near Jagraon, who was working for a financier there, too was shot down on January 17 in a similar incident this year. On December 25 last, Jugraj Singh Raja (43) of Gajiana village in Moga had met the same fate.

Member of the NRI Sabha Pritam Singh Narangpuri has said that none of the political leaders from the state making it to the Lok Sabha had ever raised any question pertaining to the unabated murders of the Punjabi youth in Philippines. No candidate from Doaba dominated by the NRIs has taken the matter on their agenda during their ongoing poll campaign. No Parliamentarian has ever thought of sending a delegation to Philippines or even gone to meet their embassy representatives here or get started any talks at the level of External Affairs Ministry.

Daljit Singh Sodhi, District President of NRIs, Kapurthala, said, “What for have we were electing our representatives for the Centre, if they nowhere raise an issue for our community? There is no point in making an External Affairs Ministry if they are not working in the interests of Indian community settled abroad. In Kartarpur alone, there have been 12 youth killed. Every year, there are some one or two youth from this town losing a young family member in Philippines.”

The NRIs have been raising a support for themselves on the issue through a Facebook page ‘Stop Punjabi Indian criminal gangs in Philippines.

The page reads, “Hundreds of legitimate Punjabi and other Indian ethnic groups have been directly threatened by Punjabi mafia and Filipino criminals working for Punjabi mafia operating in Manila, Cebu, Davao and many other cities. It is therefore requested of the Philippine Government to live up to its international obligations to protect ethnic minorities within its borders by issuing biometric passports in line with the international standards.” 

Jalandhar, April 25
Some miscreants today stole cash and valuables from an SUV parked near the TV centre.

Shivraj Singh, owner of Roto Auto, alleged that he had parked his Toyota

Fortuner in front of his showroom this morning and when he came out after a few minutes, he found a windowpane of his car broken.The miscreants had decamped with a bag that contained Rs 62,000, a laptop and some essential documents.