Jalandhar, May 22
Unidentified persons attempted to burn alive four members of a family by pouring some inflammable substance at the entrance door of their house at Sultanpur Lodhi last night.

The targeted family members were reportedly out of danger as they sustained minor burn injuries. All were undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital in Sultanpur Lodhi.

The victims were identified as Deepak (22), Amit (18), Radha (20) and Veena (51). Veena is a mother, while former three were her children. Veena’s husband Subash is employed as a night security guard. As per the police, some old enmity was said to be the reason behind the murderous attempt.

The injured admitted to the Civil Hospital, Sultanpur Lodhi. A tribune photograph

Harpreet Singh, inspector, Sultanpur Lodhi police station, said they had received information about the incident last late night and they immediately reached the spot and started investigation.

The victims alleged to the police that they were suspecting the role of persons named Ladoo, who was their old neighbour. They were having an enmity with the alleged person and he could be behind the murderous attempt. Meanwhile, the police have launched a manhunt to nab Ladoo, who was reportedly a resident of some village in Sultanpur.

Sources said the miscreants seemed to have poured petrol at the entrance door of the house. The fire which initially damaged the door later took in its fold furniture and some other valuables.

As the fire broke out, tension gripped the locality people, who came out and informed the police about the incident. After reaching the spot, the police launched a search operation in the nearby localities, but couldn’t find anybody.

A case under Sections 307, 436 and 342 of the IPC was registered against the unidentified accused and efforts were on to trace them.

Jalandhar, May 22
While their counterparts in other districts of the state have received their salaries, the staff of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) schools in Jalandhar has been sans salaries for the past 17 months. The NCLP school staff today submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam here, demanding the payment of their salaries. They threatened that if their demands are not met this time, they will strike work and sit on dharna outside the DC office.

Notably, while the staff has formally requested the DC twice for the payment of their long-pending dues, it has not been released so far.

The NCLP School Staff Welfare Committee stated that in the 27 NCLP schools running in the district, the staff, which includes teachers, clerks and helpers, among others, had been without salaries for the last 17 months.

While the grants arrive from the Centre, the role of the local authorities comes into question since salaries have been paid in other cities where the NCLP project is being run.

NCLP committee member Iqbal Singh said, “We have approached both the DC and the project director many times. While the staff at Ludhiana and Amritsar have received their salaries, we are unable to understand why ours is still taking so much time. As many as 135 staff in the 27 NCLP schools in the district are highly demoralised. We can’t sustain our families and more delay in releasing the salaries will affect the studies of the students as well.”

While queries from the NCLP Project Director in April had revealed that the salaries of the staff would arrive within a week, the salaries are yet to be released even after a month.

Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam said, “It was brought to my notice and the last time I checked with the Project Director, he said it had been held up due to some objection in the grants. But we will sort out the matter and get it released.”

Project Director, NCLP, Inderjit Singh said, “I have been checking with the Centre daily on the issue and we have been awaiting the grants. We are also worried about it. Even a couple of days ago, I received an SMS that the process of releasing the grants has been initiated. I believe the elections might have delayed the release of grants. We are expecting them anytime now.”

The project director said the staff in other districts had also not received 
their salaries. 

Jalandhar, May 22
Following the controversy and repeated complaints regarding the insanitary arrangements prevailing at the kitchen where the food for the mid-day meal is prepared in the district, the Civil Surgeon, Dr RL Bassan, inspected the arrangements at the kitchen in Khurla Kingra today. Amost a month after the controversy initially began raging, the Civil Surgeon conducted the first surprise inspection of the mid-day meal kitchen today.

The Civil Surgeon was accompanied by DHO Balwinder Singh and Food Inspectors Harjot Pal Singh and Sukhdev. The NGO tasked with distributing mid-day meal to primary schools has been distributing food to about 200 government and government-aided schools in the district since February this year.

While the Civil Surgeon found the cooked food to be fine, he found the premises and some of the storing and washing spaces insanitary, regarding which the instructions were issued to the staff on duty.

Talking to The Tribune, Bassan said, “The repeated news reports have indeed bothered me as well and I wanted to conduct a surprise check to determine the true arrangements of the mid- day meal kitchen. While I tasted the food and it was fine, I did find the hygiene at some of the cooking, storage and washing spaces in the kitchen. The floor of the place where food is being cooked was very unkempt. Flies were also seen to be hovering at the place where the utensils were being washed. The NGO has been asked to get a new floor near the cooking space constructed and to get new tiles at the place where utensils are being washed. They have also been asked to keep utensils clean. All this work shall be completed in the vacations. Cooking employees have also been asked to keep their hair short, fingers and hands clean and to wear gloves and use fresh and washed clothes, aprons and napkins.”

The Civil Surgeon said he would also write to the DEO to ensure timely distribution and other arrangements of the mid-day meal.

Regarding complaints about the timings of the supply of the mid-day meal, Bassan said, “We have also asked the NGO that fresh food be at proper time at schools and teachers also shouldn’t wait too long to serve it. The NGO has also been instructed to ensure more care during transportation so that food doesn’t go bad.” 

Jalandhar, May 22
The man behind the spectacular success of Pushpa Gujral Science City, Dr Raghbir Singh Khandpur, has been relieved from services today. He was the founder Director General of the PGSC and served for 14 years.

Prior to this, he was the Director General, Centre for Electronics Design and Technology of India (CEDTI), of the Union Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. Apart from this, he was the founder director of CEDTI, Mohali (now CDAC), which is the first ISO-9002 certified organisation of the Ministry of Information Technology.

Dr Khandpur has authored 10 books of international repute, which have received commendable reviews. He is the holder of six patents for innovative designs and has published over 60 research and review papers, which are well cited in foreign journals. Apart from this, he has been a consultant to the World Health Organisation and the UNDP. Speaking to Jalandhar Tribune, Dr Khandpur said accepting the offer of Punjab government, he had joined the PGSC on May 23, 2002. The only purpose behind setting up the PGSC was to encourage the next generation to take interest in science and technology. "What the PGSC has become today, was a dream at that time. Therefore, it was challenging to make this dream come true. However, it has been possible only because of the kind of team I got. We worked tirelessly for nearly three years. Consequently, PGSC was opened to the public on March 19, 2005. Now, when we look around, we hardly find such an impressive Science City. I believe we have been successful in achieving what we aspired to,” he added.

He said the PGSC has got a unique place in Asia as far as technology, art and exhibition are concerned. More than 25 lakh visitors from across the globe have visited the place. “We have always been working to free the people of superstitions,” Dr Khandpur added.

In a message to the youth of India, he said,“I want the younger generation to be away from drugs and superstitions and get attracted to science and technology". 

Jalandhar, May 22
Potato growers in the Doaba region seem to be rejoicing this season as they have been getting a higher price as compared to the last few seasons. One of the factors behind the higher price is that potatoes are being exported to Pakistan this season, through the Wagah border.

The crop had suffered around 15 to 20 per cent loss due to unexpected rains in winter which caused waterlogging in potato farms. Hopefully, the loss will be covered by the higher price this season.

Speaking to Jalandhar Tribune, Jagat Parkash Singh, a potato grower, said in the last few seasons, the rates of potatoes had never gone so high, which actually came as relief to the farmers whose crop had already been damaged due to rain. The wholesale price of good quality potatoes is Rs 15 to 17 per kg.

Last year, the wholesale price was nearly Rs 10 per kg. The other fact is that the area under the crop was 5 per cent less this year as compared to last year. Apart from Doaba region, the potatoes in Ludhiana and Amritsar districts are also of good quality.

Deputy Director, Horticulture, Dr Satvir Singh said 20,000 hectares of land in Jalandhar was under the potato crop this year. The higher rates of potatoes this year are proving to be encouraging for the potato growers. There are various factors behind the development. Potatoes are being exported to Pakistan this year which has come as a morale booster.

“Perhaps the potato crop in Pakistan has not been good. Therefore, the private contractors come to Punjab to procure potatoes as it costs them less here,” he added.

Dr Satvir Singh said the other thing is that the potato crop in other states, including Uttar Pradesh, has not been good. Therefore, Punjab’s potatoes are going for sale across the country.

He said the number of cold stores has increased in the region over the last few years, where farmers can save their crop for off season sale. They are forced to sell their crop at rates which do not suit them. 

Jalandhar, May 22
Continuing their tradition of holding camps to dig out sporting talent in various cities, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance is all set to launch the selection process for the Junior Football Camp (JFC) in Jalandhar for the second consecutive year. The firm has launched the selection process in the city for the second time and for the fifth consecutive year nationally.

This year, a talented teenager from the North Zone, which includes cities like Jalandhar, Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Dehradun, will get a chance to participate in the international football camp to be held in Munich, Germany, in August. In addition to this, cash prizes worth Rs 75,000 will also be given to the winning team in the zonal final.

The Jalandhar camp will target 1,500 students from across 25 top schools, football clubs and academies in the city. In addition, Bajaj Allianz will also conduct the selection process in Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Delhi, Kerala, Goa, Lucknow, Bangalore, Kolkata and the North East. Over, 40,000 youngsters will be targeted during the selection process that will take place in June and July across the country.

Trials (to be held at over 25 schools in the city) to select the best two-three players from each school - have already begun. The screening process started on May 6 and will continue till June 6. Open trials will be held on June 7 for students who were not part of the selection process. Students still interested in participation can give a missed call on the phone number - 022-3301-0033. Commenting on the initiative, Prabhat Tripathi, Zonal Manager, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, said, “The objective of the football camp is to provide a platform for young talent in football in India. Last year, Rahul Atwal from Jalandhar was chosen and got the opportunity to attend a training camp in Thailand. This year, the stakes are being raised and the winner will get a chance to visit Munich in Germany to train under coaches from FC Bayern Munich - one of the best football clubs in the world. The winner will also interact with football players from the club.”

Jigar Singh, former international football player, said the camp is a great opportunity for sportsmen to interact and learn from the best talent in the world.

Jalandhar, May 22
To protest the failure of the Government Railway Police (GRP) in nabbing the accused who abetted the suicide of a local industrialist Chandar Mohan Arora, the kin of the deceased threatened to intensify their stir against the railway police.

Annoyed over the lethargic approach of the police, the deceased’s kin also organised a candlelight march outside the GRP police station on May 18. The deceased’s wife, Parveen, had also threatened to sit on hunger strike outside the office of the Punjab Chief Minister if the police failed to arrest the accused within 72 hours.

Sagar, a kin of the deceased industrialist, said the ultimatum given to the police had ended last night and they were now discussing the further course of action with other members of the family. 

Jalandhar, May 22
A team of the Municipal Corporation (MC) today demolished an unauthorised structure at the Mithapur locality here.

Municipal Town Planner Tejpreet Singh said the owner of a residential plot had started constructing 10 quarters for labourers there without taking the due approval from the municipal corporation. He said the owner had been asked to stop the construction work, but he did not comply with the directions and went on to raise the walls till the ceiling.

He said even notices had been issued to him in the past after which the action was finally taken against him.