Jalandhar, May 9
A total of 558 government employees will be on job to count votes in the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency in the office of Deputy Director, Land Records, Kapurthala Road, on May 16.

The process will start at 8 am for which randomisation of staff would be held the same day between 4 am to 5 am in the District Information Office of the administrative complex.

ADC Gurdaspur Adipta Kartik today held training for the Assistant Returning Officer and nodal officers in Jalandhar. It was decided that 14 tables would be set up for the counting of six assembly segments and 10 tables for the remaining three. Each table would have a counting supervisor, a counting assistant and a micro-observer for the job. There would be nine separate counting centres in the same complex and a separate media centre for time-to-time updates.

A rehearsal for the counting staff is scheduled to be held on Sunday at Apeejay College. The counting centres would be readied on May 13.

The political parties have been asked to give authorisation to their counting agents for all assembly segments three days prior to the counting. On the counting day, only the observers, ROs and AROs would be allowed to carry their mobile phones in the halls.

Today’s meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam, MC Commissioner Manpreet Singh Chattwal, Joint Commissioner Gurmeet Singh, ADC HK Nagpal, SDM Phillaur Jasbir Singh, SDM Shahkot Dr Sanjiv Sharma, SDM Nakodar Pritpal Singh, AETC BK Virdi, CA Jalandhar Development Authority HS Kandhola, election tehsildar Karnail Singh and director NIC AS Kalsi.

A badly injured Baljinder Sharma in Kapurthala. A Tribune photograph

Kapurthala, May 9
Protesting against alleged police inaction in an attack case on Civil Hospital staff here on Sunday and demanding adequate security on the premises, the doctors and paramedical staff have submitted in writing to the Civil Surgeon that they would be forced to paralyse all health services, including emergency duties, from Monday if their demands were not accepted.

Five days ago staff nurse Sarabjit Kaur and peon Baljinder Sharma were attacked with sharp-edged weapons by two youths, injuring them badly while they were on duty giving daily dosage to the 100 addicts registered under a United Nations programme at a drug de-addiction centre in the hospital.

The hospital is running a pilot project on imparting Methadone Maintenance Therapy wherein addicts are required to visit the hospital for 365 days consecutively and take the dosage in front of the staff.

The peon suffered sharp injuries on both his hands and has even undergone surgeries for the same. The nurse, too, sustained injuries and is extremely scared to get back to duty. While an FIR has been lodged under Sections 307, 323, 324, 380, 353, 186 and 34 of the IPC at the Kapurthala city police station against youth Deepu Kara and Sunil, alias Neelu, of the Shergarh locality (identified on the basis of Platina bike they came on), no arrest had been made so far.

Recovering after the incident at his place in Sheikhan Mohalla, Baljinder Sharma said the youth asked for free dosage which he said could be given only to patients getting duly registered after completing the formal procedure.

Recalling the incident, he said, “They asked me who is Sharma and I said there is no one here by that name. Within a fraction of second, they took out swords and hit me mercilessly on my arms. They even tried to attack the nurse with the sword, but I somehow helped her escape. However, she suffered some injuries in the melee and is extremely terrorised after the episode. The attackers took along some bottles of the drug as they left.

Dr Sandeep at the Civil Hospital, too, has condemned the barbaric attack on the staff and has said that with hardly any security for the staff, it might even be difficult to carry on with the UN project.

SHO Kapurthala City Naresh Kumar said his teams had been consistently conducting raids at the houses of the accused. We should be able to arrest them soon, he added.

Jalandhar, May 9
In a bid to kill a woman, the Adampur police today nabbed four persons, including her parents and two brothers. The woman sustained over 90 per cent burn injuries and is undergoing treatment at the trauma ward in the Civil Hospital.

The accused have been identified as Vidya Sagar and Asha Rani, parents of the victim woman, her two brothers, including Vipan Kumar and Dinesh Kumar. A case of attempt to murder was registered. Sources said the woman was allegedly burnt by her parents and brothers last night after a brawl over some borrowed money. Sources added that the woman had reportedly given nearly Rs 9 lakh to her parents for constructing a shop at Kupur village. Even after several years, her parents had failed to return the money to her.

The victim, who recorded her statement before the magistrate last night, stated that her parents had called her to collect the money, but failed to keep their promise. When I asked them to give the borrowed money, my parents indulged in arguments with me. They later brought some inflammable substance and put me on fire, the woman alleged. The accused have been sent in judicial remand.

Jalandhar, May 9
On a day that marks the very western avatar of the celebration of motherhood, mothers and children across the nation shall celebrate Mother's Day. But even as the romantic versions of the day will be marked by an exchange of classy cards, cosy pink gifts and quaint parties for those who go all the way for "mama", an alternative reality unfolds in old-age homes.

A number of elderly women (many from well-to-do families) are being abandoned by their families in the twilight of their lives. Some have been abandoned for property, others because their children don’t feed them and many because they found doors of their homes closed after recovering from an accident or treatment at a hospital.

At the Apahaj home, in Jalandhar, The Tribune caught up with some abandoned mothers.

Shila (70), who has been living in the ashram for 12 years, came along with her husband (who died four months later of a heart attack). “I have three girls and three sons. One of my sons has utensils' business, and the other two drive auto-rickshaws. My sons-in-law are also into business. They mistreated us so we came here. When kids don’t take responsibility, there’s no one else one can complain to. They come to meet at times. But I won’t go home even if they ask. My husband forbade me to enter their house ever again.”

Surjit Kaur (80), living at the home for a year had six children (a son died yesterday), her three sons run cloth businesses and daughters are married. Her husband, a mason, died a few years ago, after which her kids' behaviour changed. “I left myself after I saw they were not interested to keep me. I stayed active, worked earlier, now I also try to do so. It’s a glum existence here, but what can one do when the ones you nurture don’t pay heed.”

Janki (70) from Amritsar was turned out after she had an accident which caused trouble in her knees. Living at the home for the past over two years, she has two sons. “They didn’t care for me and my trouble increased. They listened to their wives. One drives an auto-rickshaw and the oother a taxi. One of them lives with his in-laws. I feel better, safer here. None of them comes to see me.”

Balbir Kaur, formerly a resident of Raipur village in Kapurthala, has four children (two daughters, two sons), she said, “The elder's a soldier in the military, the younger one’s a doctor. Both my sons’ wives didn’t like me. They used to feed me crushed bones from the cremation ground in my milk after a village magician told them something. They wanted the house, wanted things their way. My life was made a living hell until I did not leave. It’s better not to have kids than have like these.”

Chand Rani (75) has two sons and two daughters. While her sons run a grocery store in her village, her daughters are married. “My husband died 22 years ago. I brought up my children. But now they don’t want to keep me, it’s their will. My husband was a machine man, a very good person. I have had a very beautiful youth. Never thought I would end up here.”

There are others like Shila Sharma (80) from Amritsar, Ram Pyari (65) from Agra and Bimla from Delhi who have lost husbands and children, but their relatives are not keeping them. The women at the ashram are paid Rs 250 as old-age pension and Rs 50 as allowances from the ashram.

Jalandhar, May 9
While the Model Town police was holding a press conference regarding the arrest of two women thieves and recovery of stolen gold from them, a theft victim barged into the SHO's room and alleged that the police were showing less recovery of gold.

Addressing media, SHO Shital Singh said the police had brought two women thieves on production warrant and during questioning, the women confessed that they had orchestrated theft at Narinder Bajaj's house in Model Town on November 7 last year and had stolen gold and cash.

The police also recovered gold ornaments weighing around 5 gm.

The alleged women thieves had stolen 53 tola gold and Rs 13,000 from their house in November last year. "When police division No. 2 nabbed these women in some criminal case in April this year, a police official Vir Singh had told us that about 30 tola gold had been recovered.

But now the police are claiming that only 5 tola gold was recovered," Narinder Bajaj asked the SHO Shital where the remaining recovered gold had gone now.

Bajaj later also met Commissioner of Police, who assured them the requisite action to recover the remaining gold.

Jalandhar, May 9
The city police today nabbed a travel agent for allegedly duping a person of several lakhs on the pretext of sending him abroad.

The accused has been identified as Paramvir, alias Happy, of Kapurthala. The other accused, Anita, is at large.

Retired DSP Charan Singh had filed a complaint with the police that the accused had promised to send his nephews Rajpal and Harpreet to Canada, and for that, they had paid him Rs 4.50 lakh. The agents failed to arrange visa and also refused to return their money. The police said raids were being conducted to nab the other accused. — TNS

Jalandhar, May 9
Thirty seven years old intellectually challenged 'child' Varun (name changed) is contended in his own little world at the Prayaas School being run by the District Red Cross Society from the last 30 years but little did he realise that an unscrupulous fight has recently started between his parents and the district administration on the issue of taking his future responsibility.

Whereas the district administration in a decision taken momentously has decided to spur him out from the school following no vocational course available for his age on the premises, his parents citing his volatile behaviour and their busy lives have refused to take him back. Unfortunately, this is not only the case of Varun, the future of around 24 more children like him from the same school now hangs in the air and now no one from their families are ready to take them home in summer vacations starting from June 1 as they fear that the administration will not take them back when the school reopens in July.

"It is after all a school and not an orphanage where we can keep the children throughout their lives. They can learn only up to a certain age and now since they have crossed that age, it is time for them to take them back and make them independent with the vocational training they have taken in school. This is shocking that although, we have taken care of them for almost 25 years, now their own parents are running away from their responsibility," said Parminder Beri, member of the District Red Cross Society.

She said, "The society is presently struggling hard due to the shortage of funds as no grant has been received by the Central or the state government since 2009."

However, the parents have their own concerns and restrains to welcome these children back in their families. "Every year we do bring our children home for summer vacations but this time we are showing reluctance as the school authorities may not take them back after the vacations. They have decided to eliminate children above 15 years of age permanently from the school. This will create lot of problem for us as our children require behavioural therapies in the absence of which they may get volatile and can hurt somebody. Also, we are all busy with our jobs and have nobody to look after them. We can't even leave them alone with the attendants for obvious reason," said Sarvesh Bharati, father of 23-years-old Bhavaya.

He said, "Since, the parents cannot take care of the children, it is the job of the administration to look after them throughout their life."

"We will provide them with all the financial support by getting donations from various people. But they should not expel our children from school. We need their help to take care of our children," said Gursharan Singh, brother of 22-year-old Mandeep Kaur.

Also, the parents have lamented the fact that the school authorities have not involved them ever into the behavioural training of their children.

"We were never told about the ways to provide them behavioural therapy, nor were we informed as to how to control their occasional volatile behaviour. Now, instantly, they informed us to take them back which could prove to be dangerous both to the child as well as to us," said Ashish kumar, brother of 36-year-old Nitin.

The parents have also accused the society for not offering any vocational training to these children that could enable them to live independently after their deaths.

"Even after spending so many years in the school, these children are still dependent on others. What was the administration doing in all these years? Giving reins to the so called 'limelight hungry' high profile social workers in the society, they have played with the lives of these unfortunate children. So many times, we have offered them our help in the day to day working of these children but no one called us till date," said Heera Lal, father of 34-year-old Dinesh.

Now, the school authorities have called a meeting with the parents on Saturday on the school premises to reach an amicable end. However, confirmed sources at the society have revealed that presently the district administration has decided to hold its decision of purging the overage children from the school as it has recently moved certain proposals to the state government those if sanctioned, could improve the financial condition of the society up to an extent that would enable them to retain these children by introducing some professional vocational training for them.

While confirming this, R Venkataratnam, Divisional Commissioner, Jalandhar, said a proposal has been sent to the state government for the adoption of Prayaas School by the Department of Social Security. Also, a renovation grant of Rs 20 lakh after getting cleared from the state government for the school renovation has now been sent to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for the release.

"The school is in a deplorable condition hence violating the human rights of these intellectually challenged children. But now, things are turning well. We are hoping that with the approval of these two proposals, we may be able to introduce some vocational trainings for these children in near future while giving them better conditions to live in," said Venkataratnam. However, on being asked about the expelling the overage children from school he said, the matter would be decided only after the Saturday meeting between the society members and the parents.

Jalandhar, May 9
The Health Department raided Hotel Leo Fort in the city today after it received a complaint of stale food being served at a marriage reception party on late Thursday night.

A team of health officials took nine samples of various food items and sent these for testing at the State Public Health Laboratory in Chandigarh.

The team also found the kitchen filled with cockroaches moving freely over the left over food items kept in open and the dustbins filled with garbage lying near the open food items. However, the hotel authorities while clarifying their stand said the health officials raided the hotel just before the cleaning process was about to begin after the breakfast time.

Complainant Amit Khanna had booked the hotel for his marriage reception party. He invited over 200 guests for the party. He deposited an initial amount and promised to pay the rest after the party. However, according to him, the hotel authorities served stale food, including snacks and were not listening to him despite making repeated requests. "The guests started complaining immediately after the food was served. I went to the manager and informed him about the foul smell coming from the food but he did not pay any heed. I made so many requests to the hotel staff but everybody seemed to have become deaf and dumb at that time. I felt so embarrassed and disgusted as many of my guests left the party without having dinner," said Amit Khanna.

However, according to witnesses, the fight started immediately after the party was over and the hotel authorities demanded the rest of the payment from Amit Khanna who refused to pay them as he claimed that they had served stale food. He refused to pay rest of the amount and accused them of serving stale food. Following this, a fight started and police was called at the venue.

The police on arrival took control of the situation and informed the Health Department about the matter.

Jalandhar, May 9
Planning to install a silver gate of 15 feet high and measuring about 100 kg of pure silver, the management of Geeta Mandir in Model Town today started the process of weighing silver coins and ornaments already in the kitty.

Members of the temple management committee Arun Walia, Dheeraj Ghai, Sameer Loomba and ML Sharma said that the offerings by the devotees in cash or silver ornaments would be accepted for the same.

"The moment we reach a value with which we can go ahead with the work, we will assign the job to an architect who had designed the Golden Temple arcade,” they said. — TNS

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