Ludhiana, May 8
After demolishing illegal structures in Zone D yesterday, the Municipal Corporation teams today razed many illegal structures in Zone C. At Giaspura, the MC officials, accompanied by a heavy police force, razed four buildings. These buildings housed around 12 shops and four residences. The drive went off smoothly as there was no resistance.

Women protesters being frisked away by the police in the Daba area; and (below) an MC worker disconnects an illegal electricity connection. Tribune photos: Himanshu Mahajan

A policewoman pacifies a woman, whose house was demolished by MC workers; and (below) an illegal structure being removed at Giaspura in Ludhiana. Tribune photos: Himanshu Mahajan

Though the MC employees, policemen, JCB machines and tippers had been stationed near Sherpur Chowk since 9:30 am, the demolition at Giaspura started around 12:30 pm and continued till 4 pm. After demolishing structures at Giaspura, the teams moved towards Daba Road.

With a heavy police force accompanying the MC teams, residents "surrendered" to the situation and started vacating houses. Beds, sofas, utensil, suitcases and other household items, which the residents had removed a few minutes before the demolition, were lying on the entire road.

Sukh Ram, while removing household things from a house, said: "Look at the destiny. We never thought this would happen to us as the MLAs and councillors always supported us and promised they would plead our cases. None of them is here to help us now. If we were to be uprooted like this, the government should have rehabilitated us. This is simply a pick-and-choose policy of the authorities. We, being the soft targets, have been uprooted while the authorities were doing nothing against influential encroachers".

14 structures at Daba Road demolished

On the Daba Road, the JCB machines razed around 14 illegal structures (houses). The affected persons cried but didn’t offer much resistance with so many policemen around. "How can God be so cruel to us?" said a helpless resident.

‘A pick-and-choose policy’

The area MLA, Simarjit Singh Bains, said it was the government's pick-and-choose policy. "I am against encroachments and have pleaded to the area residents to adhere to the High Court's decision. But they could have been given some time to move. Notices were served on them in 2011. On Thursday, they suddenly went into action and razed the structures. The authorities have targeted the poor and weaker sections," said Bains.

Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Congress MLA, said two of the leading industrialists here had allegedly encroached upon public land. Can anyone dare to remove those encroachments? Two educational institutions have encroached upon the public road. Will those ever by removed? The policy should be equal for every encroachment and this pick-and-choose policy is nothing but the autocratic functioning of the government and its officials," said Ashu.

Gogi slams Bains

Meanwhile, Gurpreet Gogi, councillor from the Ghumar Mandi area, where structures were razed on Wednesday, blamed Simarjit Singh Bains, Independent MLA, for not coming to the rescue the residents of his area. "The police took me to the police station when I tried to resist the drive but Bains never turned up when the poor needed him the most on Thursday." alleged Gogi. Despite repeated attempt Simarjit Singh Bains could not be contacted for comments.

Ludhiana, May 8
It has been more than two months since Ranjit Singh (59), principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Latala village, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into Sirhind Canal but the Khanna police have failed to act against the “MLA of Dakha” whose name had been mentioned in the suicide note.

Paramvir Singh, Ranjit Singh’s son, said while the police were quick to register a case against school clerk Perminder Kaur, her husband and Gurmail Singh of Government Senior Secondary School, Kalakh, no action had been taken against Dakha MLA and a few others whose names had been mentioned on the suicide note.

Apprehending threat from the persons named in the suicide note, Paramvir said he was shocked to find out that the persons, including Sattu, Daljit Lala, Chairman Gurmukh, who were named in the suicide note, were seen canvassing for Manpreet Singh Ayali, MLA, Dakha, during the Lok Sabha elections.

“I just want the police should conduct a free and fair investigation and find out who is the person (MLA-Dakha) who pressurised my father so much that he committed suicide,” said Paramvir Singh, while demanding a probe by the CBI or any independent agency.

Paramvir further said whenever he asked the police about the progress in the case, they answered in negative.

He said it had been more than two months since the diary, on which his father wrote the suicide note, was sent to handwriting experts but the report has not arrived yet.

Malkit Singh Dakha, former Congress MLA of Dakha, had distanced himself from the controversy. He maintained he was out of power and had not interfered in the government’s working for the past seven years.

Ludhiana, May 8
The Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Rauni, Ludhiana district, has been without general and Ayurveda physicians for the past four months. The entire village is dependent on three nurses for their health problems. One permanent post of nurse is lying vacant.

The MBBS doctor deputed at the centre went on leave four months ago. According to sources, though the doctor has taken medical leave for undergoing some treatment in Mumbai, in fact, she has gone abroad and is extending her leave period. The department is unable to depute another doctor since she has not put in her papers.

Kulwinder Kaur, a nurse appointed under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) at the PHC, said: “We are working overtime to fill this void. It is not possible for us to deal with all cases. We give prescriptions to patients suffering from fever or common cold and refer complex cases to the Civil Hospital, Khanna,” she said.

Senior Medical Officer, Dr Laxman, said: “I am aware of the fact that the doctor

has been on leave for the past four months but we cannot appoint another physician till the post stands vacant,” he said.

Civil Surgeon Subhash Batta said: “The doctor is on leave and taking leave is everybody’s right. They cannot raise a question on that”. When asked about the problem faced by villagers, he said he put doctors from the nearby centres on duty at the Rauni centre from time to time and himself visited the PHC. No doctor can be appointed as the said doctor is on leave”.

Ramandeep, another nurse, said they had been putting in every effort to run the centre but sometimes even they are unable to handle the situation.

Hardev Singh, a villager, said: “What is the purpose of setting up these primary health centres if they are to remain without doctors? Every time a member of my family falls sick, we have to travel to Khanna for treatment. Though ailments like stomachache and headache are looked after by the nurses of the PHC,” he said.

Ludhiana, May 8
With fewer persons coming forward for blood donation in the city, shortage of fresh blood is one major problem faced by patients of thalassaemia. Children, who undergo transfusion every two or three weeks, need fresh, not stored, blood.

Thalassaemia is a hereditary disease of the blood caused by genetic defects in a patient’s body, which results in the production of an abnormal form of haemoglobin, thus causing anaemia.

It is a genetic blood disorder in which children cannot make enough red blood cells (RBCs) and they need to undergo RBC transfusion every two or three weeks.

These children must be given blood on time otherwise they will become weak, dull and inactive. The concept of 20 or 25 persons adopting a thalassaemic child is being advocated.

“Our goal is to prevent thalassaemia major in children. Hence, testing is very important before marriage. Prevention is important and we are asking couples to get them tested. Instead of getting the “kundlis” matched, the families should get the blood of prospective bride and bridegroom tested before marriage,” said Dr Shruti Kakkar, Assistant Professor, Paediatrics, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital.

The major cause of the disease is consanguineous marriages among high risk groups who are not tested on time.

Pre-natal testing and genetic testing are being carried out and when the results are negative, the decision to terminate the pregnancy is not accepted by many, experts said.

Meanwhile, the Christian Medical College and Hospital celebrated International Thalassaemia Day by holding a medicos voluntary blood donation camp. More than 200 units of blood were donated by medical students, interns, residents and faculty members.

Dr Abraham G Thomas, Director, CMCH, said 28 thalassaemic children had undergone bone marrow transplant with a 91 per cent success rate. It is also mandatory for all women attending the ante-natal clinics to undergo screening for thalassaemia.

Dr Joseph John, Head, Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplant Unit, said the best time for bone marrow transplant in these children was between two to seven years even though age is no bar.

The day was also celebrated at Government School, Giaspura, under the aegis of SPS Apollo Hospitals and the Round Table India and Ladies Circle India. Around 100 students of 8th and 9th standard, along with their mothers, attended a seminar with the children’s anemia and blood disorders super-specialist, Dr Priyanka Gupta.

Dr Gupta emphasised the facts Punjab fell in the thalassaemia-prone belt and had the highest number of thalassaemic children in North India.

She informed mothers about the symptoms of the disease in which a child can become pale, have jaundice, feeding problems, growth retardation, liver and spleen enlargement, hormonal imbalance, bony deformities and susceptibility to fractures.

She said if a thalassaemia test was a must before marriage to prevent such ailments in children. The cost of treatment can vary from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per year, which may not be affordable for many families. The only cure is bone marrow transplant, but its cost can be as high as Rs 10 lakh apart from the medication the child has to take for a long time.

Ludhiana, May 8
Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal has instructed private school managements to abide by rules of the Education Department and avoid burdening parents by increasing school fee.

The Deputy Commissioner also pacified protesting parents and asked them to sort out issues amicably.

The parents, who have been protesting against fee hike by private schools, met the Deputy Commissioner today.

Following the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner told the managements of schools, including Sacred Heart Convent School, Bhatian, Sacred Heart Convent School, Jamalpur (Sector 39) and Bal Bharti School, Dugri, not to hike fee.

The parents alleged that the schools had commercialised education. They said in the name of building funds, the authorities were cheating them.

The parents said the school managements forced the students to buy books and stationary from particular shops. They added that the schools did not give fee cards before admissions and humiliated students who did not deposit fee on time.

"They don't even provide medical facility to the students," the parents lamented.

The Deputy Commissioner said he would meet the managements of Sacred Heart Convent School, Bhatian, and Sacred Heart Convent School, Jamalpur (Sector 39), on May 12.

"We are hopeful of resolving the issue soon. Despite our efforts, if plans do not materialise, I will write to the state government to take action against the school managements." The management of Bal Bharti School did not turn up for the meeting, so the Deputy Commissioner asked the parents to file a written complaint against the school.

Ludhiana, May 8
Principal Secretary, School Education, ordered to shift the classes of Government High School, Chawani Mohalla, to Government Senior Secondary School, Kundanpuri, on Wednesday. The building of Government High School, Chawani Mohalla, was declared unsafe by Public Works Department but the classes were going on in the 190 square yard building.

In her orders, Anjali Bhawra, Principal Secretary, School Education, stated that as per the report of officials of Sarav Shiksha Abhiyan, the condition of school building is pathetic as the water accumulates during the rainy season. There is need to reconstruct the building. So keeping the safety of students in mind the students of school should be shifted to nearby school building of Government Senior Secondary School, Kundanpuri. The shifting will be temporary and the school will be run in the evening shift.

“The possession of school will remain in the hands of school head and he will have the authority for the assets of school,” added Anjali Bhawra.

Sukhdir Singh, president, Nav Chetna Bal Bhalai Committee, appreciated the move of Principal Secretary. “The students were studying under the risk of life. The building was declared unsafe. We demanded that new building should constructed within time. So the study of student does not suffer,” said Sukhdir.

Sahnewal, May 8
The scholarships for SC students, which the students were expecting to receive at the beginning of the session, finally arrived after the culmination of the academic session. But as per the latest development, majority of the cheques are now being sent back as they have expired and the banks have refused to accept them.

As per the information gathered from a local college, the date of issuance of the cheques was January 27, that carried a validity of three months. It reached the colleges between 2nd and 10th April. At such a short notice, the colleges found it difficult to contact the students as the academic session is over and they have stopped coming to the colleges. Till the time the cheques were actually issued to the students and their parents, they had crossed their valid period and were returned by the parents.

Surinder Singh, father of Ramandeep Kaur, who got an SC scholarship cheque of Rs 3,000, rued, “The government has ever been playing a cruel joke on us. All these concessions and scholarships are farce and what appears on the surface is all deceit. The government thinks that we are fools and we do not understand its tactics. I went to the bank but the bank officials said that the cheque has already expired as its validity was for three months. My contention is that when the cheques were prepared on January 27 why were they sent after two months to the colleges?”

“What good sense do these scholarships hold when we cannot get timely help and more so we are being befooled as the scholarships distributed, in majority of the cases, have crossed their valid date and hence cannot be encashed,” shared Balvir Singh, another parent.

“I got a call from the college where my daughter was studying. I am a labourer employed in a factory and had to take special leave to receive the cheque and get it cleared on the same day but I was astonished when the bank people said that it can no longer be cleared as the cheque has crossed it valid period,” shared another parent. “If the government has announced SC scholarships then why scholarships are not released in time?” The students have been eagerly waiting for these scholarships and now when they have arrived, they are of no use. “We have no other option but to send all such cheques back to the DPI

office as they have either not been collected by the students or have been returned due to expiry of time period,” said Dr Narinder Sidhu, principal, GNN College, Doraha.

Dr RS Jhanji, principal, AS College, Khanna, said, “Releasing the SC scholarship cheques in the month of April makes no sense at all. When the entire data is uploaded by September 30, the cheques should be released, in all cases, by October or November. But if cheques arrive in April, it is impossible to contact students and the purpose of giving SC scholarships by the government stands altogether defeated. The department needs to speed up the process and makes it time bound.”

Dr Swaranjit Singh, principal, GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sudhar, expressed, “What is the good sense in sending the scholarships so late? Even if the cheques are reissued, will it be possible to contact such students again?”

Deputy director, Colleges, Jagtar Singh said, “All such cheques may be sent to the Social Welfare Department from where these can be re-validated.”

Ludhiana, May 8
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has instructed schools to create awareness on health risks associated with tobacco consumption.

In a circular issued to heads of CBSE-affiliated institutions, Director (academic, research, training and innovation) of the board, Dr Sadhana Parashar, asked schools to observe World No Tobacco Day. The board has directed school heads to enforce Section 6 of the Indian Tobacco Control Act COTPA, 2003, which prohibits the sale of tobacco products near educational institutions.

The CBSE advised schools to create awareness through competitions such as poster making, cartooning, essay writing, story writing and quiz. The board officials said they would felicitate winners on May 31 (World No Tobacco Day). The officials said the schools could make a 4-5 minute video with jingles highlighting the effects of tobacco consumption and send it to the board.

Parashar said India was the second largest consumer of tobacco products in the world. "The National Family Health Survey 3, 2006, indicates an increasing prevalence of tobacco consumption in India, with 57 per cent of men and 10.9 per cent of women reportedly consuming tobacco. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), 2006, stated that 14 per cent of children in the 13-15 age-group consumed tobacco. The figure is expected to rise. So the CBSE has asked schools to make students and public aware of the effects of tobacco products.

Doraha, May 8
With its purpose to achieve the target of financial inclusion, the Doraha branch of State Bank of Patiala has launched mobile ATM vans in two villages and aims to spread it to other villages as well, in the coming months. The project was formally launched by Rajeev K Sharma, deputy general manager, Ludhiana Zone. Sunil Dutt, branch manager, said, “To begin with, we have launched these mobile vans at Deep Nagar and Jaipura and have begun educating the villagers regarding the facilities provided in these vans. As we wish that none of the villagers should be bereft of the facilities being provided by the bank or suffer due to physical or some other handicap, we have made banking facilities available at their very door step.

The vans will be available on Saturday and Sunday and with the increase in awareness and dependency, we shall try to make it available for them every day. We will introduce it other villages as well.

Apart from this, our business correspondent will move door to door in each of the surrounding villages to facilitate the villagers regarding the schemes, banking facilities including loans and the system of deposition or withdrawal, when and where required.”

Deputy manager Amritpal Singh said there had been instances where the elderly or the women folk found it difficult to visit the town especially to undertake their banking transactions. Hence, the bank decided that such category needs to be especially facilitated through this mode and more customers and villagers will be informed about the schemes and facilities being offered by the bank.”

SS Hans, assistant general manager; Ajit Singh, sarpanch, Deep Nagar; Nirmal Singh, sarpanch, Jaipura and Gagandeep Singh were present.

Ludhiana, May 8
Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Preet Nagar, who was refused mutation of a bank-attached property, has accused revenue officials of transferring the title of one such property without registering land deed.

A person, who buys such properties, is given a sale letter by a bank.

Gurmeet Singh, who purchased an attached property, said he went to the sub-registrar office to get his land mutated, but officials told him that he would have to get the deed registered first.

Gurmeet said he showed them a sale letter, but they turned him away.

Referring to a case pertaining to the mutation of land, Gurmeet said he knew a patwari who had mutated a property in Kanungo Circle Gill I on the basis of a sale letter issued by a bank.

Gurmeet filed a complaint with the Tehsildar (South), seeking an inquiry into the matter.

An RTI activist, Amarjit Singh, said he had written to the Government of Punjab and the Chief Secretary, asking them to take action.

"The government is suffering losses and the revenue officials are to be blamed as they are not registering land deeds. We suspect the involvement of many officials. I have filed an application under the RTI Act to learn about such cases," said Amarjit Singh.

Savita, Tehsildar, sub-register office (South), said, "I have received a complaint. A probe will be conducted."

Ludhiana, May 8
HS Phoolka, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from the Ludhiana constituency, today urged the party volunteers to remove posters from their locality. Speaking from Varanasi, where he is campaigning for Arvind Kejriwal, he said, "We do not want government expenditure to be spent on removing our posters from the city. Taxpayers' money should be put to use. So I request all volunteers to remove AAP posters from their wards and localities."

He said, "We should help the administration in keeping the city clean.”

Phoolka organised roadshows in Hamirpur and Himachal Pradesh.

Ludhiana, May 8
Seeing Punjabi cinema doing well, property dealers and other investors jumped into the bandwagon to produce Punjabi movies, but because of the lack of experience of the film industry and its working and dynamics, many movies are struggling to find shows in multiplexes and cinema houses.

An industry insider said earlier when the movies were made, distributors used to approach producers for the screening, but as a lot of movies are being made these days, producers have to make efforts to promote movies.

A lot of new producers hoping to bag a good amount of profit are entering the market, without knowing the industry dynamics, invest crores. "But they do not spend enough on the promotion of the movies," another insider said. "Movies these days are just like products," he said. A good amount of the share is taken by the distributors while a major chunk of the profit is taken by cinema houses, showcasing the movies. So the profit margin of a filmmaker is reduced.

"The distributors vie for more shows from big production houses and Punjabi movies don't even get enough of the shows in the multiplexes. So the movies are doomed right from the day these are released," said another industry expert.

He said big production houses sometimes tried to book most of the shows while the other movies got sidelined. Because of the inexperience of filmmakers, even the movies with good content are not able to get enough shows and flounder. Actor Gaurav Kakkar said: "Producers allocate budget for wrong areas and while a movie is about to be completed, they don't have enough funds for the promotion and release of the movie." "If a movie has not been promoted well, it is bound to suffer. This is where the experience of the producers comes into play," said another actor.

If the movie is not promoted well, even good movies don't do well at the box office."My movie Mere Yaar Kameena has received 11 lakh hits on YouTube," said Kakkar.

Jagraon, May 8
In the absence of adequate parking space, chaos reigns supreme on various roads of the town.

There seems to be no end to the woes of commuters. Traffic jams are a routing affair here. Most of the areas have been developed in an unplanned manner. A majority of roads are narrow.

The town does not have a single public parking lot. Unable to find space, people park vehicles alongside roads. The haphazardly parked vehicles make the already narrow roads of the town congested.

The local residents hold visitors responsible for the traffic problems. "Shoppers park their vehicles in front of shops," said Jagmohan Rana, a local resident.

The visitors said inadequate parking space led to traffic jams. "Parking vehicles on roadsides is not safe, but we have no other option. The administration should take steps to ease congestion," said Sukhdev Singh Toor, a visitor. Despite repeated requests, the authorities have done nothing to provide parking space to the visitors.

Jagraon Municipal Council executive officer Davinder Toor said: "The civic body has been disbanded because it has completed its term. After the formation of the new municipal council, we will take up the problem.”

Khanna, May 8
The police have booked five persons for allegedly duping an NRI of approximately Rs two crore. Two of the accused have been arrested and identified as Ranjit Singh, a resident of village Doomewal, and Rajinder Singh of Amloh.

As per statement with the police Bhagwant Singh a resident of village Lalheri stated that he is a businessman based in Oman. He came in contact with Ranjit Singh at Delhi who lured him to invest money in property. Ranjit Singh told him that he along with four other friends deal in property and he agreed to invest money.

On the assurances of Ranjit Singh and others he deposited Rs 30 lakh in the account of Gurdip Singh and 1.83 crore in the account of Ranjit Singh. As per Bhagwant Singh after long time he demanded his money from the alleged accused. After his repeated requests the alleged accused give him cheques of Axis Bank of the required amount.