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Bhargo Camp regularisation
A day before exams, DAV students struggle to get roll numbers
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Pradeep Kaur death case
Defence Colony
Snatchers injure policemen, arrested
Better Jalandhar: mid-day meal-I
Missing child restored to maternal
grandparents
Congress workers continue protest against former mayor
More yields bring smiles for farmers this year
Ramgarhia college
holds placement drive
Karl Marx’s birthday celebrated
SDM’s gunman killed in mishap Feedback Twelve donate blood
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2 more months given by HC
Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, May 5 In its submission, the MC officials stated that the Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer and his SDMs, who had been serving as Assistant ROs, had got busy in the election work. They said that even as two meetings had been held to fix the allotment rates in the area, these could not yield a conclusive decision. A petition on the matter had been filed in 1998 by the the Citizen Welfare Society on which Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had ordered that the regularisation should be done via a proper sanction and on a payment of the requisite amount to the authorities. It had also asked the MC officials to remove any construction, which it considered to be unauthorised. The scope of the order had also been enlarged to include action on other unauthorised constructions existing in Jalandhar. The court had sought the status report showing compliance with a chart annexed of all detected unauthorised constructions taking place and action taken in this behalf along with photographs of the site. The first of such report should be filed at least three days prior to the next date of hearing on May 2, it had said.
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A day before exams, DAV students struggle to get roll numbers
Jalandhar, May 5 A large number of students have been running from pillar to post to get their roll number slips. A day before the examinations, students were forced to waste their crucial time in the university. A BBA student said this was the time that he had kept for the final revision of the syllabus. He is still struggling to get the roll number card from the college since yesterday as he had to get all the dues cleared. "I had never expected that I would have to go through such a situation. This is an absolute inconvenience for thousands of students," he added. Another student, who is due to appear for BSc examination after two days, said he had never faced such a situation before. This is the time to sit at home or in library and do intense reading. Apart from this, there has been a lapse on students' part. They should have got their dues cleared from the college so that they did not face any harassment at the last moment, he added. College principal, Dr BB Sharma, putting all the blame on the GNDU, said this all happened due to the negligent attitude of the GNDU staff since they didn't issue any roll number till the last moment. We have nearly 7,000 students struggling at the last moment to get their roll numbers. This is the time do final reading. "Instead of issuing roll number cards, the GNDU just asked us in an email to prepare the roll number cards. It is the duty of the university to prepare roll no. cards, not colleges. My clerical staff have been working overtime to do so," he added. The principal said for the convenience of students, a proper tent had been installed. Also, extra supply of drinking water had been opened. Meanwhile, we have got to know that the GNDU has lack of staff to perform such tasks, which eventually led the students to face this trouble, he added.
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Two accused remanded in police custody
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, May 5 Pradeep Kaur (29) had allegedly committed suicide at her Green Avenue residence on Saturday, leaving behind a suicide note, accusing the duo and their son Amritpal of blackmailing her with an MMS clip. However, the police did not arrest Amritpal, as they could not find any concrete evidence about his alleged role into Pradeep’s suicide. “The two have been remanded to two days’police custody. Now, we will try to link various events to form a complete series of unfortunate incidents that forced Pradeep to take this extreme step. We are also sending a team shortly to Pathankot, Pradeep’s hometown for conducting a detailed investigation into the case,” said Rajinder Sharma, SHO, Division 1, police station. Meanwhile, Harvinder Singh, Pradeep’s husband has slammed the police for not arresting Amritpal even though his name has been mentioned by Pardeep in her suicide note. He has also accused the police of conniving with Gurmej Singh, a head constable in Pathankot. “Even though he is facing serious charges against him, they did not put him behind bars and gave him a chair to sit outside next to the other police staff in the open verandah of the police station. They are treating him like a staff member and not like an accused in a suicide case. This is quite shameful. The police seemed to have lost all sensitivity towards the tragic incident that has happened in my family. My eight-month-old children have lost their mother forever,” said Harvinder Singh. Dilawar, the eight-month- old son of Pradeep, developed a serious stomach infection, following which he was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The children are on bottle feed since the day their mother died.
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ATM installed in violation of rules in green belt
Rachna Khaira Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, May 5 The space was allegedly encroached and covered within house No. 337/338, belonging to PK Mohla, a retired Commandant from the Border Security Force (BSF), who further rented the space to the PNB without taking the necessary permission from the MC. The encroachment came to light when Sanjeev Dhaam, one of the neighbours, sought information over the type of land use from the MC through a Right to Information (RTI) query. Along with him, many other residents were also found to have completely encroached upon the entire green belt area behind their houses. The MC, in its reply given in January this year, had disclosed that no permission was sought from them to open the ATM in that area. Although the MC, in its reply, had accepted the fact that the ATM is illegal, being opened in a residential area, it did not reveal the actual land use by mentioning that since the colony was developed by the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT), the MC does not have the details of the colony's layout plans. Trilok Singh, senior town planner, and Ramesh Chabra, assistant town planner, both evaded the query, saying that they did not remember the actual land use marked for the area. More surprisingly, the lease deed between Mohla and the PNB was made on January 10, 2012, after the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a civil writ petition number 9917, had declared the entire area, including its surrounding buildings, as a residential area. The CWP was filed by M/s Radhey Buildwell Private Limited to get permission to construct a shopping mall on the Cantt Road adjoining Defence Colony. The High court, in its order dated November11, 2011, had observed that since the area in question was adjoining Defence Colony, which is a development scheme and the houses on the road were residential and no commercial construction had been approved on this stretch of the road. Even then, the agreement was made between Mohla and PNB to operate an ATM from the encroached area of his house that is situated in the centre of the colony. The bank also, without checking the actual land use, had hired the space for its ATM. PK Mohla confirmed that he had not taken any written permission to open the ATM in his house from the MC. "Many officials from the corporation visited the site, but they never told me that a written permission was required to run an ATM from my home," said Mohla, hinting towards a possible illegal money transaction. Confirmed sources in the neighbourhood revealed that after the RTI query was filed by Sanjeev Dhaam, Ramesh Chabra, assistant town planner, had visited the site and even ordered to demolish the illegal construction, but nothing was done to remove the illegal encroachment from the green belt. In fact, the Deputy Commissioner's office has also sought information twice from the MC on the status of demolishing the ATM, but the corporation seems to be in no mood to adhere to the Deputy Commissioner's order.
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Snatchers injure policemen, arrested
Kapurthala, May 5 While havildars Jaswinder Singh and Ranjit Singh got minor fractures, the snatchers themselves got injured, were caught and are now admitted in a hospital. A bike, mobile phones, pistol and a dagger were recovered from the accused. SSP Kapurthala Inderbir Singh said the Talwandi Chaudharian police received a complaint at 10 pm yesterday from Partap Singh of Nathupur village, saying he and his distant relative Jatinder Singh, aka Ladi, had gone to Goindwal Sahib on their bike PB-09-U-2186 and were on their way back when they were intercepted by two bikers. The complainant alleged that his chain was snatched at gun-point by the masked men, who were riding a black Pulsar bike. The alert complainant said that at the spot, he recognised the snatchers as Prabhdyal of Saidpur and Gurvinder Singh of Tibba village, as he had already been introduced to them by his relative Ladi on an earlier occasion. He said even during the incident, while he rushed to escape, Ladi who had connived with the accused kept standing at the spot. While the bikers were held while breaking barricading, Ladi was later arrested by the police. The trio has been booked under Sections 392, 120-B and 34 of the IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act at the Talwandi Chaudharian police station. |
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Better Jalandhar: mid-day meal-I Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, May 5 The mid-day meals provided in schools across the district have been lauded for quality of food served and clean kitchens. But it is the flip side which often attracts attention as well as causes controversy. More than 1.5 lakh students in the district studying in 1,527 schools consume mid-days meal daily. As many as 2,950 cooks in the district prepare and serve the meals to the students. About 200 schools in the district are served by a Bengal-based NGO. The cooking cost is Rs 5 for an upper primary student and Rs 3.34 for a primary student. The consumption of the mid-day meal ration per month for the district is about 125 to 140 metric tonne. Quality of food
From villages to cities, visits to schools have often revealed sub-standard meals being served to students. There have been incidents wherein ration in schools has been found to be having bugs and insects. The quality of the food varies from school to school. As per the guidelines, all schools are supposed to get A-grade food. Staff at various schools say teachers compromise on quality, resulting in students eating bad food. In many schools, sub-standard food is served wherein students refuse to eat it but teachers force them to consume it. The staff of some schools said they were being provided bad food by the NGO. They said they were left with no option but to dump it. At some schools, the staff also bought biscuits and alternate food from their own pockets to feed students. Ration pilferage
Despite pilferage of ration from schools, no action has been taken in this regard. At a school with a strength of over 1,000 students, where at least 40 kg of food should ideally have been served, less than 20 kg food was found to be served to students. The staff said they were doing so because students did not eat much. (ideally 100 gm for primary classes students and 150 gm for upper primary students, has to be served). Nineteen block managers across the district keep a check on the mid-day meal arrangements. Sources say while at places food is fit to be served on a dining table, at others, corrupt staff steal a part of the ration. Schools also indulge in selling of ration to accommodate other expenses - electricity, stationary - out of the mid-day meal funds. The honesty of the staff concerned is the key factor in determining a good mid-day meal for a school. Cooks and helpers
Ever since 200 urban schools in the district had started getting the mid-day meal from the NGO, the cooks cooks allege they have become a harried lot. Cooks at a school said, “Teachers tell us we have no business sitting around idle. Because we are not cooking anymore, we are being made to sweep floors. We are asked to sit at the gates (primary schools have no watchmen) and we are asked to wash utensils. That is not our job. Many times the issue has been brought to the notice of the DEO office, but teachers threaten us to keep quiet.” Cooks/helpers get Rs 1,200 per month, less than the minimum wages. Officials of the Education Department, however, refute these facts. "As they work for less than eight hours a day, their wages are paid accordingly. They are just supposed to serve food and leave. No one has told them to stay after that. Many skip duties even during that time. They are wrong to say that they are asked to sweep floors and work as watchmen," the officials said. Supply chain
Ration for mid-day meals makes way to schools through PUNSUP contractors. Every block has contractors of its own. The contractors further give transport contracts and ration arrives through tempos. At many places, members of the supply chain are corrupt. If the area has a good PUNSUP inspector, things are under control, but a corrupt inspector causes a chain reaction of pilferage. "Ration arrival at every school is given a go-ahead by the head teacher. At times, the contractors and teachers have a mutual understanding to carry on their corrupt practices. Either bad quality ration is accepted or lesser ration is accepted. Once the teacher okays the arrival, the block education officer or assistant block manager can't raise an objection. Corrupt PUNSUP contractors, especially those who have their own ration depots, keep ration at their own homes or godowns. Their usually take out 2 to 3 kg of ration out of every sack of 10 kg. The result is the block collectively gets less ration. If 100 sacks are to be supplied and even one kg is taken out of every sack, the result is a big theft. In certain blocks this theft goes unchecked,"said a school employee. So far, the contract of a PUNSUP contractor has never been cancelled, even in blocks where complaints have been made. School management committees
Many school management committees (SMC) across schools are mere puppets. Raising objections, some ABMs say, "Mostly, school management committees are dummies handpicked by school staff to sign documents. Illiterate labourers (parents of students) are chosen as SMC members so that they can't understand school finances or raise objections to ration pilferage. Parents chosen as SMC members are coaxed or threatened to toe the line of the school if they want their wards not to suffer. So they end up being mere means to actually facilitate theft or ration." Demands have been raised time and again that district authorities stringently supervise the formulation of SMCs and give freedom to ABMs and BEOs to act against the wrongdoers. Positive side
Teachers across the board say barring the recent problems regarding the mid-day meals from the newly-hired NGO, the state of the mid-day meals has actually improved in a number of schools, especially those preparing food themselves. The staff say the money for the mid-day meals has also started arriving on time nowadays as compared to the past when it was months behind. New manager
The manager for the NGO serving food to students was recently changed. While the NGO caters to over 30,000 students, the change of manager has brought hope among the staff and students that the quality of food will improve. A recent change in the menu is also being viewed as a positive development. District mid-day meal manager Amarjit Singh says, "There will always be critics but the state of the mid- day meal has improved a lot. We are keeping regular checks and ABMs are checking arrangements and inspecting mid-day meals on day-to-day basis. We have also worked to streamline many other issues that the staff has mentioned regularly. The greatest need is for the staff to be vocal and come straight to us in case of problem rather than shouting among themselves." DEO Kuldeep Sharma (Secondary Education) says, "We are always trying to improve the quality of the mid-day meal and all problems regarding it are promptly addressed. With the new manager appointed for the NGO, the trouble with some schools is also likely to be addressed." |
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Missing child restored to maternal
grandparents
Kapurthala, May 5 After the preliminary inquiry, the police officials learnt that the parents of the child were involved in a matrimonial dispute. Consequently, raids were held at Manimajra, Chandigarh and Sangur. At 5:30 am today, the child was found by the police from his father’s house in Sangrur. SP(D) Diljinder Singh Dhillon said the status of the matrimonial dispute was still being checked. “Since the father is still a legal guardian of the boy, we are checking if he can be charged for taking away his son in that manner. Our prime responsibility was the safety of the child and to restore him back to the family, which we did,” he said. The boy is a nursery class student at a private school at Bholath. Sahibjit was seen enjoying the warmth extended by the women police officials with whom he stayed for nearly 11 hours, before being finally handed over to the maternal grandparents and a maternal uncle. The mother of the child had not come to the spot at Police Lines here as she was said to have gone to Chandigarh to appear in a court case relating to her marriage dispute today.
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Congress workers continue protest against former mayor
Jalandhar, May 5 The protesters showed bangles to police officials. They said the police had been playing in the hands of the ruling party as after registration of a case, no arrest has been made so far. DCP Tulsi Ram took the memorandum and tried to placate the protesters. On the other hand,
Sehgal, issued a press release this evening saying that he had been wrongly implicated in the case. He alleged that an inquiry was still on against him and he would get his rivals booked for trying to defame him. Tension at Sodal Temple
Tension prevailed at the Sodal Temple complex as two religious communities confronted each other with allegations of encroachment of property. ADCP 1 Naresh Dogra had to reach the spot with a heavy posse of police to pacify both the sides. The leaders of the temple committee alleged that the members of the gurdwara committee, operating from the same compound, had made an attempt to take possession of the land and had even manhandled a police security guard on duty. The gurdwara committee members, on the other hand, alleged that the guard misbehaved with them unnecessarily and sought action against him. |
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More yields bring smiles for farmers this year
Jalandhar, May 5 Balwinder Singh of Sarupwal village, who has nearly 150 acre of land under wheat crop, said he was happy with this development as they have had more yield this year. “I would say the hard work of the farmers has been paid off eventually,” he added. Talking to The Tribune, Dr Suttantar Kumar, Chief Agriculture Officer, said that a prolonged winter season this year provided optimum time to grain to get mature properly that led to the better yield. However, the
farmers were quite anxious because of sudden rain fall. He said nearly 1.69 lakh hectare of land in the Jalandhar district was under wheat crop. Last year’s recorded wheat production was 4.8 lakh metric tons. So far, the same figure had crossed, even though 10 per cent of harvesting was still to be done. “On an average 1.5 to 2 quintal per acre of production has been increased as compared to last year,” he added. |
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undergraduate classes, including BCom and BBA, thousands of students of DAV College are upset over the delayed issuance of their roll numbers.
Kapurthala, May 5
The mid-day meal scheme running across numerous schools in the country has fed millions of students.
The Kapurthala police today restored a missing 4-year-old boy Sahibjit Singh to his maternal grandparents at Bholath here after rescuing him from Sangrur early this morning.
The boy had gone to buy biscuits at 4 pm on Sunday but did not return. The grandparents of the child, Paramjit Kaur and Bakshish Singh, lodged an FIR against some unknown persons under Section 363 of the
IPC.