Jalandhar, July 22
In a tragic incident, the owner of a house at Gopal Nagar here was killed this evening when a slab of concrete and iron mesh fell on him while he was getting the old portion of his house dismantled during the renovation work at the place.

Arvinder Pal Singh had been simultaneously getting his old house dismantled as he had been raising a new construction in the same 2-marla portion. The mason was standing outside the house when the incident occurred at about 5 pm. It took the residents about half an hour to pull his body out of the rubble.

The owner, who has a medicine shop, was watching the progress of the work when the old construction gave way perhaps due to the rain.

The house owner was undertaking renovation without getting the revised building plan approved. Municipal Town Planner Tejpreet Singh said the records would have to be checked to ascertain whether approvals had been taken.

MC Commissioner Manpreet Singh Chattwal said the owner had been using the material from the old construction for the new portion. He was standing close to the old building when the slab fell on him. SDM-1 Rajdeep Singh Brar went to the site to take stock of the situation. Police force too was deployed. Meanwhile, officials of various departments checked and got removed all protruding projections from the walls of the old building to ensure the safety of the neighbours and passersby.

Jalandhar, July 22
Ignoring the orders of the Deputy Commissioner, principals of most colleges today failed to make it to a meeting called by him with regard to the implementation of a post-matric scholarship scheme.

Most principals chose to send their teachers or even non-teaching staff to attend the meeting, which did not go down well with Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav.

Getting to know that the principals had chosen to miss the maiden meeting with him, he told about 40 staff members, other than principals, vice-principals or a representative from the college management, to leave the venue of the meeting. He said he had thought that he had called the principals, hoping that most of them would come at least for the introductory meeting.

At this, there were just four college representatives left. These included those from DAV College, Bhai Mati Dass College, Guru Nanak College Sangh Dhesian and the Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women. The Deputy Commissioner asked each of them about the number of SC students being admitted under the scheme, asked them about the pending dues from the government and maintenance allowance coming in the accounts of the students. The DAV College authorities said they had admitted 557 students against whom an amount of Rs 1.9 crore was due from the government as college fee and funds, of which Rs 63 lakh had already come to them.

The DC clearly told the principals that no fee should be levied from a low-income SC student. He said even if the last year scholarship amount was yet to come to them, they must realise the social responsibility towards society and offer free admission to poor students. “If I am there to take keen interest in your financial and other problems, I also want you to ensure that no poor SC child is deprived of higher education for want of money,” he told them clearly.

Jalandhar, July 22
Gearing up to launch the e-district project in Jalandhar in a phased manner, the district administration has planned to start it with the dispensing of pension services on the online mode.

The administration today started a training programme for the staff of District Social Security Office, Child Development Project Office and Executive Officer of municipal councils in the district administrative complex under the e-governance programme. The staff was provided hands-on training in processing the files received online and transferring these to the department concerned.

Amit Monga, district e-governance coordinator, said once the scheme was implemented, the applicants would be able to submit online applications under the old age pension scheme, widow/destitute pension scheme, handicap pension scheme, dependent children scheme and the National Family Benefit Scheme. The applications could be sent from home or from any of the 164 Gram Suwidha Kendras across the district. The Kendras are currently engaged in taking applications for Aadhar cards, payment of electricity bills and other jobs.

He said the applicants would also be able to check the status of their applications after having got their file numbers. “Once the application was processed, the applicant would be informed about it and he would even be able to get the certified copy of the pension eligibility online,” he said, adding that even the staff would feel convenient, as they would be able to process the files from anywhere provided they had the net facility. Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav got the three-day training formally started today.

Jalandhar, July 22
Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav visited the Punjab NRI Sabha office today. Apart from announcing various reforms pertaining to the welfare of NRIs, he also informed that soon the administration will start a vocational training programme by the National Academy of RUDSETI (NAR) for the youths who have just returned from Iraq.

“Most of these boys are traumatised and need support to become self-sufficient. We have contacted RUDSETI, the institute that is already providing free vocational training to the unemployed youths to induct these youths in their forthcoming courses. We will also help them in getting loans to start their own business later,” said Yadav.

He also informed that due to lack of awareness, the district administration has received only three applications so far but now with the administration contacting them personally, the number of youths opting for this rehabilitation programme will increase manifold.

On being asked about the long delay that the NRIs encounter while getting the Nativity and the Overseas Citizen of Indian Origin (OCI) certificate here in the state, he said that recently a major reform pertaining to this has been announced in which instead of the NRI himself, any of his blood relation can come and apply for the same. He said a proposal pertaining to this has been sent to the state government to make smooth the process of acquiring these documents here in the state.

“We are in the process of streamlining the 47 services provided exclusively to NRIs by the state government and with the implementation of the e-district project, the problem of facing undue delay will cease to exist,” said Yadav.

Talking about the post of District Revenue Officer (DRO) lying vacant for the last so many months, he said that around 100 cases pertaining to NRI affairs are pending due to the vacant post and efforts are on to fill the post soon.

The DC lauded the NRI Sabha for having a large database of around 7,500 members across the world and assured his full coopertion in the Sabha’s affairs.

Jasvir Singh Gill, president, NRI Sabha, proposed to the administration to set up a single window system for the NRIs at the sabha office or at the DC office on the lines of Suwidha centre. “Presently, the NRIs have to rush between the DC office and the Police Commissionerate and even to Suwidha centres to get various approvals. This wastes a lot of time and resources. With the opening of the ‘NRI Suwidha Window’, we will be able to deliver them quality service in the shortest possible time,” said Gill. He also proposed that the district administration should provide a direct link to the sabha on the administration’s website.

Jalandhar, July 22
Punjab and UT Mulazim Sangharash Committee today organised a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office, where they burnt copies of Punjab Budget 2014 to protest against the “anti-employee policies” of the state government.

While addressing the gathering, committee convenor Harinder Singh Cheema said due to the anti-poor policies of the state government, the economic condition of Punjab has been on the verge of collapsing. Ministers and bureaucrats have been provided with more facilities and enormous salary packages. Yet the people, who have been struggling to manage two square meals a day, have been deprived of basic facilities.

Besides, Punjab Roadways Joint Action Committee organised a meeting under the leadership of general secretary Jagdish Singh Chahal to decide the future course of action in order to get their demands fulfilled.

Convenor Amrik Singh Gill said, “The state government is going to shut down four out of 18 Punjab Roadway depots from the state in order to benefit the private transporters. The government is making very cruel plans to let the Punjab Roadways down.”

Reiterating the long pending demands, Amrik Singh said their demands, including 571 debt-free PUNBUS merging with the mainstream Punjab Roadways, buying 300 new buses for PUNBUS fleet, providing jobs to the kin of deceased roadways employees, regularisation of PUNBUS employees, terminating the recruitment on contract basis and promotion of staff have not been fulfilled, in spite of the fact that these demands have been accepted in the meeting.

Jalandhar, July 22
A 25-year-old youth was found dead near the Gadaipur canal today. Initially, the police were suspecting foul play behind the death, but during investigation, policemen claimed that it seemed to be a case of natural death only.

The deceased was identified as Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Amrit Vihar here. The victim was a driver by profession.

The police said the victim was lying dead near the Gadaipur canal in the Industrial Area. Initially, the police division No. 8 eight officials reached the spot, but after the police found that the area fell under the jurisdiction of police division No. 1, the investigation was transferred to them.

The youth was lying dead near the canal. We thoroughly checked the body to inquire if he had any injury marks. Our investigation says it is a case of natural death only, the police said.

Asked if kin of the deceased suspected any foul play behind Jaswinder’s death, the police said they did not suspect the role of any person behind the death. Inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC were initiated by the police.

If in the postmortem report, any foul play behind death comes to the light, we will conduct the further investigation accordingly, the police added.

Jalandhar, July 22
Thieves struck at a house in Quilla Mohalla last night and decamped with cash and valuables worth lakhs.

Surinder, the house owner said, his all family members had slept downstairs last night and when they woke up today, the burglary came to light.

After locking us inside the room, the burglars went upstairs and decamped with 7 tolas of gold, Rs 15,000 and some valuables, the victim alleged.

Notably, several incidents of burglaries were reported in the same locality with same modus operandi. — TNS

Jalandhar, July 22
The building branch of the Municipal Corporation today sealed the showroom of Yamaha company on the Bhagwan Mahavir Marg near the BMC Chowk.

Municipal Commissioner Manpreet Singh Chattwal said the company had not paid the change of land use dues for a long time. The owner had reportedly converted the residential property into a commercial one without paying the requisite amount to the MC. The MC staff had reportedly been asking the owner of the showroom to pay their dues for long.

The staff accompanied by the police got the showroom closed and sealed it this morning.

Senior Town Planner Tirlok Singh said that the exact amount of the change of land use dues would be calculated after the owner of the premises puts up a file for the clearance of the case.

Jalandhar, July 22
Undergoing a massive transformation, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to upgrade all its 211 telephone exchanges in the Jalandhar Division, comprising Kapurthala and Nawanshehar.

To begin with, it will first upgrade five of its telephone exchanges at the Central Telegraph Office (CTO), Model Town, JP Nagar, Jalandhar Cantt and Urban Estate.

“The migration to a higher network will be seamless from the customer’s point of view. Once the NGN is in place, users can expect much improved voice quality and broadband experience,” said SK Nigam, general manager, BSNL, Jalandhar Division.

“The migration to IP-driven packet-based switches and servers will set the stage for Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) that is touted as the next level in telecom evolution. The FMC breaks down the distinctions between fixed and mobile networks and provides customers seamless inter-operability of wired and wireless voice and broadband services at home, office or while on the move,” he said.

Jalandhar, July 22
To maintain the ecology and generate positive health, 'Van Mahotsav' was organised today at the Composite Hospital, BSF, Jalandhar, by planting ornamental, shade, fruit bearing and medicinal trees.

The event was inaugurated by Dr Alaknanda Ashok, president, BSF Wives Welfare Association (BWWA), Punjab Frontier BSF, and Ashok Kumar, IG, BSF, Punjab Frontier.

Dr Alaknanda Ashok, president, BWWA, emphasised on the role of trees against global warming. Speaking on the occasion, the IG, BSF, laid importance on planting trees as the prime responsibility of the BSF for environmental protection.