'An opportunity to serve city residents'

I have been given an opportunity by residents of Chandigarh to serve them. I am looking forward to giving my best to the city. I will sit down with party leaders and chalk out a plan for the future.
— Kirron Kher, winner 

‘AAP factor lead to my defeat’

The AAP factor changed the situation, leading to my defeat. The dragging of my name in Railgate and a sustained campaign against me for almost a year dented my image and vote bank. It is part of the game. Such things happen in a democratic set-up.
— Pawan Kumar Bansal, Congress candidate

‘It's a moral victory for Aam Aadmi Party'

It is not a defeat. I see it as a moral victory for the AAP in Chandigarh. The AAP managed to get more than one lakh votes, which is a victory in itself. We will continue to work for city residents and solve their problems
— Gulkirat Kaur Panag, AAP candidate

‘I wanted to see Bansal defeated'

}I am thankful to the over 15,000 voters who believed in me. My main motive was to see Bansal defeated, which has happened. The Modi wave seems to have had an impact in Chandigarh, resulting in Kirron Kher's victory. I am not disheartened at all. This is my first election and there are many more to come.~ — Jannat Jahan, BSP candidate

Chandigarh, May 16
Despite the Modi wave that swept the entire country, including the city, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) managed to put an impressive show by getting 1,08,679 votes of the total 4,53,455 polled in the elections for the Chandigarh parliamentary constituency.

The AAP got 23.97 per cent of the vote share, just 2.87 per cent less than the Congress, which got 26.84 per cent of the vote share. The BJP's vote share was 42.20 per cent.

In the 2009 parliamentary elections, BJP candidate Satya Pal Jain had got 1,02,075 votes. He had lost to Congress candidate Pawan Bansal. AAP candidate Gulkirat Kaur Panag (35) did a lot of leg work by doing padyatras. She was able to target the 23,000 first-time voters, including those in rural areas and colonies, thus eating into the vote bank of the Congress.

The road show by Arvind Kejriwal added to the tally of the AAP candidate. Though at the third position, the AAP candidate was just 13,041 votes behind the Congress candidate.

Despite being tagged as an “outsider who will return to the tinseltown”, Gulkirat put up a good show and made a significant dent in the Congress vote bank.

“A large section of voters, especially youngsters, who were against the Congress due to the anti-incumbency factor, voted for the AAP as they did not approve of the “outsider” BJP candidate,” said a political analyst.

As details of area-wise polling percentage trickled in today, it showed that the AAP led in Dadu Majra, Sector 25, Khuda Ali Sher and Sector 61 and was ahead of the Congress in nine rounds. 

Chandigarh, May 16
Hit by the anti-incumbency factor and the Railgate campaign by the Opposition, veteran Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal’s political career could get hit by the outcome of today’s results.

Before BJP candidate Kirron Kher ended his long spell, he had won the Chandigarh seat four times (three times in a row). He had won the seat in 1991, lost to Satya Pal Jain in 1996 and 1998, and won in 1999, 2004 and 2009 consecutively.

With a 15-year stint as MP, the 65-year-old Congress leader was banking on development works undertaken during his tenure. It was a battle between an old warhorse and greenhorns in politics, fielded by the BJP, the AAP and the BSP.

Political analysts believe that dissidence in the party, which had come to the fore at the time when the name of the party candidate for the Chandigarh seat was being finalised, could again gain ground.

By the time the next General Elections is held, the outgoing MP will be 70 years old. 

Chandigarh, May 16
For more than a decade, House No. 64 in Sector 28 — the residence of former railway minister and former Member of Parliament Pawan Kumar Bansal — has never witnessed a deserted look as it did throughout on Friday.

The house, where local Congress leaders used to sit all day long throughout the year, saw a handful of people sitting around Bansal and pondering over what went wrong in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

“I am accepting the verdict of the people of Chandigarh and will continue to attach myself with them,” said Bansal, who finished second after Kirron Kher by securing 1, 21,720 votes.

As the day approached, at around 3pm, Bansal addressed a small group of Congress workers and thanked them for their support.

On the other hand, the mood turned joyous for Kirron Kher, as the counting proceeded at the polling station in Sector 26.

Dressed in a white saree and wearing a broad smile, Kirron arrived at the polling booth, while displaying oodles of confidence.

Later, in the afternoon, winning by a clear majority, she came back to the counting station and collected her winning certificate. “I am happy that ‘we’ have won. It is a mandate of the local masses. I will perform my best to meet their expectations,” said Kirron, the new Member of Parliament, before setting out for her winning march rally around the city.

Kirron was accompanied by her sister, Kanwal Thakar Kaur.

While her counterpart from Bollywood, Gulkirat Kaur Panag of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), attended the entire proceedings at the counting centre since morning.

She reportedly entered into a heated argument after some human error was found in the EVM machines and voter list. After the final results were announced, Gul congratulated Kirron and left the premises wearing her signature smile.

‘‘All the best to the winner,’’ said Gul while leaving to address her workers at the party office in Sector 21.

In the evening, at around 4pm, Kirron rallied off her victory march along with her supporters.

The rally commenced from the counting centre in Sector 26 to the party head office Kamlam, Sector 33.

Chandigarh, May 16
Tense and exciting moments were witnessed throughout the day at the counting centre as officials on election duty remained on their toes to keep the situation under control.

The counting — which commenced with much curiosity and anxious moments — ended with triumphant BJP workers shouting “Modi Modi” once the counting was over and the results were announced.

While former Congress MP Pawan Bansal made a brief appearance in the morning at the centre, Kirron came to the counting station twice, in the morning and evening, just before the declaration of the final results.

It was the AAP candidate, Gul Panag, who was at the counting centre throughout the day, eagerly writing the total votes and making calculations side by side on a paper.

Clad in a white kurti and jeans, and glued to a chair throughout the day at the centre, Gul kept making calculations after every round. She remained engrossed in calculations, refusing to talk to mediapersons.

“Please excuse me, I am very busy as there is no one else to count for me,” she turned off mediapersons by saying it in a rather straight and harsh tone. The disappointment on her face was much evident.

The counting was delayed twice owing to human errors in the electronic voting machines.

While the Congress workers raised a hue and cry near Table No. 1 alleging that the machine and the written toll showed different figures, the AAP workers, too, raised an alarm due to the mismatch of the seal numbers.

Both the issues were later sorted out by the officials.

The Congress supporters —who were earlier hoping that the figures might twist to their side — started exiting the station one by one after 2pm. Disappointed, almost all the Congress workers had left the centre by 4pm.

Even though three rounds were left for the final results to be announced, the BJP workers entered the counting station with a huge box of sweets at around 3.30pm.

While they served laddos to some mediapersons and fellow workers, they were turned out by the polling officials as the counting was still on, and were asked to return once the results were out.

Minutes before the winning candidate was to be announced, Kirron entered the counting station clad in a white and green sari and was given a warm hug by her rival candidate Gul Panag, who congratulated her.

Chandigarh, May 16
Jubilant BJP workers took out a procession from the counting centre in Sector 26 to the BJP office in Sector 33 after the results were announced.

The winning candidate, Kirron Kher, led the procession and was greeted with garlands.

Traffic snarls were witnessed on the way from where the procession passed. The procession progressed from Sector 26 to St. Kabir School, Transport Chowk then to the Sectors 18/19/27/28 roundabout.

The procession took a left turn from the press light-point, went straight to the JW Marriot roundabout, and then to the Sector 35/34 intersection, from where it turned left for the BJP office in Sector 33.

Traffic was brought to a halt as the BJP workers danced and rejoiced on the way.

The party workers rejoiced outside the party office and distributed ladoos among all.

Chandigarh, May 16
BJP-SAD candidate Kirron Kher was ahead of her opponents Congress’s Pawan Kumar Bansal and AAP’s Gulkirat Kaur Panag, in all the 19 rounds and in postal ballots in the counting of votes for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat today.

Not even in a single round, Kher’s opponents managed to march past her. The victory margin, which started with 252 votes in the first round, finally ended with 69,642 victory margin votes.

Interestingly, AAP candidate Gulkirat Kaur Panag managed more votes than Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal in nine rounds and also in postal ballots.

There were total 138 ballot votes out of which Kirron Kher got 67 votes, Gulkirat Kaur Panag got 43 and Bansal only managed 20 ballot votes.

The analysis of round-wise voting reveals that only in round one, Bansal was involved in a contest with Kirron Kher. In round number one, out of 27,373 votes, Kirron Kher got 9,752, Bansal 9,500 and Gul Panag 5,707 votes.

After that there was no looking back for Kirron Kher. Thereafte,r in every round she was way ahead of her rivals with a margin between 1,000 and 6,500 votes.

There were 519 booths and in every round counting takes place in 28 booths. In 19th round counting was done in 15 booths. 

Ballot Votes

Total postal ballots: 138

Kirron Kher: 67

Gulkirat Kaur Panag: 43

Pawan Kumar Bansal: 20

Not even in a single round, Kher’s opponents managed to march past her. The victory margin, which started with 252 votes in the first round, finally ended with 69,642 victory margin votes.

Chandigarh, May 16
The BJP candidate, Kirron Kher, who emerged as the winner of the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat by bagging 1,91,362 votes said the country had shown that they wanted a change. Tribune Reporter Amit Sharma spoke to Kirron Kher on her victory in Chandigarh.

How do you see your win in Chandigarh?

I feel that it’s the blessing of God and the people of Chandigarh that helped me win. Now I feel responsible towards people of Chandigarh.

What factors led to your thumping victory?

The hard work of party workers made everything possible. Moreover, the people were fed up of the Congress rule and they wanted a change. They came out in large number and voted for me and I am thankful to them.

Now what are the challenges you are going to face?

Fulfilling all the promises made to residents and undo wrong done by the former MP. I will also take assistance from AAP candidate Gulkirat Kaur Panag and Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal while dealing with problems of the city.

Your take on your party’s performance at the national level ?

The party has performed extremely well at the national level. Due to the corrupt UPA Government, people of the country wanted a complete change and so they voted the Congress out. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party made a clean sweep during the 16th Lok Sabha elections creating a sensation across the country. Given the anti-incumbency factor and the Modi wave, the party created a history. Residents share their excitement over the results.

‘We have reposed faith in Kirron’ Reaction on the local Lok Sabha election results

Chandigarh, May 16
Local Congress leaders were expecting defeat for Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal in 2014 Lok Sabha elections as there was ‘Modi Wave’ in the country but they had not imagined that BJP-SAD Candidate Kirron Kher would defeat Bansal with record margin of 69,642 votes.

Besides the Modi wave, factors like the divided Congress unit, resentment by different associations and groups for Pawan Kumar Bansal’s candidature, Railway Bribery scam, united show by senior BJP leaders and successful election rally of Narendra Modi ultimately scripted the victory for Kirron Kher.

The strategy adopted by the BJP’s senior party leadership also helped the BJP to win the Chandigarh seat after a gap of 15 years.

Before the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP was divided into three camps - Sanjay Tandon, Satya Pal Jain and Harmohan Dhawan. Everybody was eyeing for the ticket from the Chandigarh seat. To end the fight, party senior leaders brought in Kirron Kher to contest from the city. Initially, there was some resentment but ultimately party senior leaders handled the situation well and these leaders lent their full support to Kher. The role of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteers also helped Kirron Kher win the seat. It was for the first time in the history of Chandigarh elections, when the RSS volunteers were actively campaigning for the BJP candidate.

The successful rally of Narendra Modi on the Sector-34 exhibition ground for Kirron Kher also filled the BJP-SAD workers with energy and they kept the momentum till the voting day. Narendra Modi had held a rally for Kher whereas Congress president Sonia Gandhi cancelled her rally in Chandigarh for Pawan Kumar Bansal. 

Panchkula, May 16
Very few in Panchkula know that their Prime Minister to be, Narendra Modi, during his struggling phase had stayed in a closed one-room house in Sector 7, Panchkula, for five years. Modi moved to Panchkula in the middle of 1995.

It was a kind of exile period for Modi here, who was the state general secretary in Gujarat when he was sent out of the state as the organising secretary of north due to political reasons. Known to a Rajasthani family here, he used to come to their house and even cook for himself and them to ward off his loneliness.

“He needed support as it was a kind of exile for him. It was then he met Mahavir Prajapati (now dead) and the then general secretary of the state here,” said Gyan Chand Gupta, the then president of the state BJP.

As Modi had no place to live, Mahavir offered him a place to stay in his house No. 614 in Sector 7, but Modi refused. He then offered Modi to stay in a one-room house in an additional plot in Sector 7.

“Though he stayed the one-room house, but would have meals with us. He would cook “Sabudana khichdi” for us,” said Sharda Prajapati, wife of Mahavir. Mahavir died in 2007 due to prolonged illness.

Modi would sleep on a mattress on the floor. He would make political strategies in the closed room,” added Sharda.

After a five-year long struggle in Panchkula, in 2000, Modi moved to Delhi. After becoming the Chief Minister of Gujarat in the first term, Modi visited the family again in Sector 7 to re-live his memories.

Realising that his fast friend Mahavir was serious and had kidney problem, he even rushed to Hyderabad where Mahavir was operated upon.

The room now houses a family that stays on rent who is happy to say that they stay in the house where Modi lived.

Chandigarh, May 16
As BJP candidate Kirron Kher won the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat with record margin of 69,642 votes, the social media was abuzz with the BJP’s victory in the City Beautiful.

While BJP,SAD leaders and actors were posting winning pictures and messages on their social networking sites, the Congress and AAP leaders went silent on thesocial media.

BJP-SAD workers are posting messages like ‘Kamal Khil Gaya hai’ ‘Mission 272 + accomplished. I repeat mission accomplished!!!’ ‘Dil garden-garden ho gya’and ‘Namo namah....finally a stable government n an efficient PM’.

In AAP, it was only AAP candidate Gulkirat Kaur Panag who posted her views on her twitter account, “We will continue to conscientiously serve the people of Chandigarh and remain committed to our fight for a corruption-free India. It was our first election in the UT and we have ensured that with more than1 lakh votes, we are a voice that cannot be ignored”.

Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal and BSP candidate Jannat Jahan Ul-Haq did not post any comment on their social networking sites.

On the other side, BJP candidate Kirron Kher’s husband Anupam Kher posted on his twitter account, “Congratulations to Kirron Kher for winning the Chandigarh Parliamentary seat by a margin of more than 69,000 votes. Jai Ho. Achche Din Aa Gaye”. 

Chandigarh, May 16
The 13 lesser-known faces of the city — who contested for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh — failed to put up an impressive show. All the candidates together managed to bag 12,654 votes only.

Barring three candidates, who managed to secure votes in four digits, no other candidate could touch the figure of 1,000 votes.

Reena Sharma (32), an Independent candidate, got 2,643 votes while securing the fifth position among the total of 17 candidates in the contest.

A housewife, Reena highlighted issues such as dwelling units for people living below poverty line and eradicating corruption as part of her agenda.

Another Independent candidate, Shamsher Singh, a rag-picker, performed relatively well from the remaining candidates by bagging 2,054 votes.

Shamsher, who contested the elections for the first time, believes that a large number of people showed faith in him.

The Rehabilitation Housing Scheme and regularisation of contract workers were his key issues.

Kanwaljit Singh of the CPI (ML) bagged 1,968 votes. 

Panchkula, May 16
The Modi wave worked in Panchkula district after local BJP candidate Rattan Lal Kataria got 82,451 more votes than Congress candidate Raj Kumar Valmiki here.

In the entire Ambala constituency, Kataria won with a margin of 3.47 lakh votes from which he got a total of 1,29,782 votes in the Panchkula and Kalka segments.

The counting for the Panchkula and Kalka segments began at the two venues - Bel Colony and Government College for Girls in Sector 14 at 8am. By 3 pm, the results were out.

While the highest that is 71,750 votes were polled by Kataria in Panchkula city, 58,032 were polled by him in Kalka. The number of voters in Panchkula and Kalka was 3,50,258.

Kataria is a veteran BJP leader. He was the MLA from Ridore, Haryana, and also the an MP from the Ambala constituency in 1999.

From the very first round, Kataria was leading the race with a considerable margin from the other opponents. There were 13 rounds in Panchkula while 14 rounds in Kalka.

While Congress's Raj Kumar Valmiki took the second position in Panchkula district by getting 47,331 votes. He got 23,458 votes in Panchkula city and 23,873 votes in Kalka.

AAP candidate SP Singh faired well in Panchkula than the established INLD by securing 15,800 votes in Panchkula, whereas INLD candidate Kusum Sherwal managed to get just 10,597 votes.

In Kalka, INLD got 14,496 votes while AAP got only 7476 votes.

Celebrations went viral across the district after Kataria's win. His wife Banto Kataria and Kataria himself went to various Sectors with party workers to thank voters.

Davinder Mahajan, president of the Residents' Welfare Association in MDC, Sector 4, said: “We are happy that the MP is from our sector.”

After the sixth round in Panchkula when he was leading from a big margin, Kataria visited the Bel Colony with his supporters. Though Valmiki visited much before than Kataria and saw that the former was lagging behind, he refused to say much to the media.

Tight security arrangements

The Panchkula police had made tight security arrangements for the counting of votes on Friday. Commissioner of Police Ajay Singhal visited the two counting centres to check the deployment of the police force. Police personnel in a large number were deployed near both centres.

Panchkula, May 16
After wining the Ambala seat with a considerable margin, BJP candidate Rattan Lal Kataria is flying high on the ‘Modi wave’. However, his close rival and a Congress candidate seems to be unable to ‘digest’ the defeat.

Raj Kumar Valmiki, the Congress candidate from the Ambala seat, who unsuccessfully contested the elections, has blamed former MP Kumari Selja and her lobby of a few party leaders for poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections.

Valmiki accused Kumari Selja for abandoning the constituency during her tenure.

She neither brought any major project to the constituency nor could maintain the existing ones in the past 10 years, Valmiki alleged.

Talking to The Tribune, Valmiki claimed that district presidents of the the Congress in Panchkula, Yamunanagar and some other block- level leaders acted on Selja’s directions. The ‘lobby’ had already cornered itself from the constituency and preferred to campaign for Congress candidates contesting elections in neighbouring states.

“The party had earlier planned to field Ashok Tanwar, president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, from Panchkula, but finalised my name at the eleventh hour. In the process, a lot of time was wasted that affected the campaign adversely,” Raj Kumar Valmiki claimed.

Ruling out any incumbency factor against the Congress government in Haryana, Valmiki claimed to have still done better in a short span of time.

When asked if he will contest the ensuing Vidhan Sabha elections in Haryana, Valmiki said: “I will follow the directions of the party high command. If given a chance to contest the Assembly elections, I will definitely go ahead.”

Going by the voters, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) candidate, Kusum Bala Sherwal, has accepted the defeat and claimed to have a good experience in contesting the election.

“Though the ‘Modi wave’ worked across the country, the INLD has its voters intact in a majority of the assembly constituencies in Haryana,” she claimed.

She also ruled out the apprehension that the Indian National Lok Dal has started losing its roots in the state with party supremo Om Prakash Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala lodging in jails.

In many states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat it was a clean sweep by the BJP so was the affect in Haryana also, she added.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate SP Singh was in high spirit by getting about 63,000 votes in the constituency. By getting four seats in Punjab, the AAP has registered its presence and filled the gap that was created by the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress in the past many years, he said.

The BJP failed to play the ‘Modi card’ in Punjab, claimed Singh.

Mohali, May 16
Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) ‘broom’ has swept the Congress from its stronghold Mohali and Kharar segments of the Anandpur Sahib constituency.

The tremendous support of voters from both the segments to the AAP saw its first-timer candidate Himmat Singh Shergill getting the highest number of votes (96,085). He trailed old warhorse Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, SAD-BJP combine candidate, to the second spot with 93,888 votes and Congress veteran leader Ambika Soni to number three with a total of 74,747 votes in Mohali and Kharar.

The difference of votes between Shergill and Soni is 21,338. The difference of votes between Shergill and Chandumajra is also of 2,197 votes.

Notably, the voters of Mohali and Kharar segments had paved the way of the victory for Congress candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu in the 2009 elections. Then, the Congress got a lead of over 50,000 votes from the area, which proved crucial in the Bittu’s win.

The local Congress leaders admitted that the AAP has upset their calculations this time.

Voters from the Mohali segment favoured AAP candidate Himmat Singh Shergill by giving him the maximum number of votes (50,987). Here, he got a lead of 7,273 votes from Prem Singh Chandumajra, who tried to woo voters here by presenting himself as a resident of Mohali, and remained at the number two position with 43,714 votes in Mohali.

The Congress could get only 35,564 votes from here. The difference between Shergill and Soni votes in the Mohali segment is of 15,423 votes.

Though the AAP has the upper hand in the total number of votes in the Kharar and Mohali segments, the SAD gained from the Kharar segment this time.

In the Kharar segment, Chandumajra got the highest number of votes (50,174). Shergill remained at the second spot by getting 45,098 votes, while Congress leader Ambika Soni has to satisfy with 39,183 votes. Here in Kharar, the difference of votes between Chandumajra and Shergill is 5,076, whereas the difference between Chandumajra and Soni is 10,991.

Congress MLAs from Kharar and Mohali, Jagmohan Singh Kang and Balbir Sidhu, respectively, said the AAP had upset all their equations in the entire parliamentary constituency.

Both leaders said: “We did not expect this result. The anti-incumbency factor certainly worked in favour of the AAP, but it upset our calculations and the votes as well”.

Comparison with 2009 elections: SAD is a gainer and Congress is a loser in the Mohali segment

In all, the SAD-BJP is a gainer while the Congress emerged as a loser this time in the Mohali segment, if the statistics of the 2009 and the 2014 elections are compared. In 2009, the SAD-BJP combine got 34,471 votes from the Mohali segment. This time, it touched 43,714 mark, which means a gain of 9,243 votes.

On the other hand, the Congress, which had got 60,032 votes, has been reduced to 35,564 votes in the Mohali segment, which means a loss of 24,468 votes.

NOTA option

As many as 1,957 voters of the Kharar and Mohali segments exercised ‘NOTA” option.

In Kharar, 890 voters opted for the NOTA option, while the number of such voters in Mohali segment is 1,067.

Mohali, May 16
While the first round counting of the Mohali segment votes brought cheers to Congress men, similar proceedings for the Kharar segment encouraged SAD supporters at the counting centre set up at Shivalik Public School at Phase 6 here today.

As many as 14 counting tables each were set up for counting of votes of Kharar and Mohali segments at the venue.

The result of the first round counting of the Mohali segment showed Congress candidate Ambika Soni having a lead of 375 votes with 3,579 votes more than SAD candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra (3,204 votes).

Himmat Singh Shergill of the AAP got 2,374 votes in the first round. However, the Congress supporters’ delight could not last long as Chandumajra got a lead of 1,263 votes after the culmination of the second round. The lead of the SAD leader continued till the end of the round 10.

The 11th round brought surprise when it was announced that AAP candidate HS Shergill was ahead of Soni and Chandumajra by 393 votes. His (Shergill’s) lead could not be broken till the end of the last - 16th round. Shergill grabbed the top position in the Mohali segment by getting a total of 50,987 votes.

On the other hand, Chandumajra, who got a lead of 2,483 votes in the very first round of the counting, maintained his lead till the end of the counting of the Kharar segment.

The counting for both segments begun at 8am, here, under the supervision of counting observer Varinder Kumar. Mohali District Electoral Officer-cum-DC Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu and SSP Gursharan Singh Sandhu, SP (City 1), Swarndeep Singh were also present at the venue.

“The counting process completed here smoothly without any problem”, said Sidhu. 

Chandigarh, May 16
State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has relieved the PGIMER Radio-Diagnosis Department from paying compensation of Rs 2000 granted by the District Forum on complaint of a Mohali resident.

Modifying the orders passed by the Forum the Commission directed the PGIMER to only refund Rs 581 to the complainant while setting aside directions of compensation for mental agony.

Complainant Brij Mohan Phondi, a resident Sector 68, Mohali, had stated that he visited the Oral Health Sciences Department of the PGI on September 17 in 2012. The doctor prescribed a CT scan. The complainant claimed that when he went for the CT scan on September 26, he was asked to bring certain medicines, which he purchased and handed over to the person concerned. The scan was done.

When the requisitioned medicine, contrapaque, was not injected to him, he questioned the doctor, who told him that the medicine was not required. The complainant asked the doctor to return the medicine, but the latter refused to do so.

The PGIMER stated that the doctor, after reviewing the plain CT found that the information which was required by the referring doctor was there in plain CT itself and contrast CT was not needed so the complainant was taken off the table.

The District Consumer Forum had directed the PGI to refund Rs 581.13 and pay Rs 2,000 to the complainant. In response to an appeal filed by the PGIMER against the forum’s order, the commission held, “The medicine was put in the injector but the same was not used as contrast CT scan was not required. While the PGIMER has submitted that this is done as a practice but nevertheless, it is a deficiency on the part of the PGI.” 

Chandigarh, May 16
DAV College Sector 10, Chandigarh has got approval from University Grants Commission, New Delhi, for running a community college on its campus. UGC has endorsed the advanced diploma course in medical laboratory technology course to the institute.

Revealing about the course principal of the college Dr BC Josan said the college got a grant of Rs 92.30 lakhs to start this course under community college scheme. He said the college will get Rs 42.90 lakhs in the first year and Rs 49.40 lakhs during second year from the UGC.

He stated that the main objectives of the community colleges are to integrate relevant skills into the higher education system and to provide skill based education to students currently pursuing higher education.

Dr Manju Dewan said community colleges would provide better job avenues to the students. She added that the college got collaborated with industry for providing assistance, training and placement to the students pursuing the course. She said the course will consist of four levels. She said fee of the course will be very nominal and scholarship will also be provided to the students undertaking this course.

Chandigarh, May 16
Panjab University (PU) has given another chance to those students who fail to fill up the PU-LL B (3 Years) course entrance test-2014 after depositing the fee.

The authorities have decided to re-open the website -<http://pglaw.puchd.ac.in/>- till May 19 for those candidates, who had deposited their fee for entrance test- 2014 well in time and but could not complete their forms online. — TNS