Jalandhar, August 2
Exposing the fiscal health of the district health department, the Civil Hospital on Saturday was found to be cutting down on the refreshment expenses of Rs 50 per head to be provided to the blood donors who have been coming to the hospital's blood bank to donate blood for the last three years.

While the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has made it mandatory to provide refreshments to all blood donors immediately after they donate blood and the money has been included in the blood transfusion charges prescribed by the state government as refreshment charges, the Civil Hospital is allegedly violating the norm for the last few years.

"I am a volunteer blood donor at the Civil Hospital here. I have donated blood many times here. Leave alone refreshment, they didn't even ask whether I was feeling comfortable after donating blood or not. The only thing they say is to wait for two minutes and then you can leave," alleged Anurag Mankand, a businessman from Phagwara.

Another donor Sonu from Jalandhar also said that never in the last few years was he offered any refreshments by the hospital authorities.

According to the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) guidelines for blood transfusion in the country, it is mandatory to provide refreshments to anyone who donates blood at the place of donation itself so as to keep him under observation of the medical experts for at least 15 minutes. "The policy was formulated keeping in mind the first time donors who constitute around 60 per cent of the total blood donations in the country to provide them an 'all is well' atmosphere. This becomes more important for replacement donors who mostly bleed under a lot of stress and pressure to provide replacement for the blood they buy to save the life of their known ones," said Vitin Puri, president, Hindustan Welfare Blood Donors Club, Phagwara. He also informed that it is important to keep the donors under observation for some time as they may develop some weakness or nervousness after donating blood.

Dr Kailash Kapoor, Medical Superintendent, Civil Hospital, confirmed that no refreshment was being provided to the donors for the last few years but assured that things would soon be streamlined. "I have already informed the District Blood Transfusion Officer (DBTO) to start a coupon system under which the donors would be given coupons that would entitle them to get refreshments including of a glass of juice/lassi and a pack of branded biscuits in the canteen inside the hospital premises," said Dr Kapoor.

The donors, while slamming the move, said it will not serve any purpose. "No one is hungry for free refreshments. It is either voluntary donors who belong to the upper strata of society and donate of their own free will or the replacement donors who are under lot of stress. Do you think anyone would like to walk down to the canteen located miles away from the blood bank to get free refreshments? This is a smart move by the hospital authorities to save money," alleged Neeraj Bakshi, a voluntary donor.

Bakshi also informed that last year too, the coupon system was started by the authorities but with the hospital staff misusing them to buy refreshments for themselves, the practice was stopped within days of its implementation.

According to the official data received from the Civil Hospital authorities, its blood bank does a transaction of around 800 to 1,000 units of blood in a month. Around 250 to 300 people, including the volunteer and the replacement donors, visit the bank every month.

The bank constitutes around 10 to 15 per cent of the total blood donations of the entire city in a month and the rest of the blood transfusion takes place through various blood donation camps organized by various social welfare societies in association with the district health department.

While the society organizing the camp provides refreshments to the donors and the health officials who visit the camp, it is the district health department that reimburses the entire amount after the former submits the refreshment bills to them.

Some donors have also alleged that most of the time, the refreshments provided at most blood donation camps are far less than the amount prescribed by the state government. 

Jalandhar, August 2
The NRI Sabha, Punjab, on Friday, forced a Patiala-based travel agent to return Rs 10 lakh to Sukhwinder Singh, a Jalandhar-based jewellery trader. The travel agent charged from him on the name of getting a schooling visa (study visa for under 18 years) for his children for Canada. Sukhwinder Singh approached the NRI Sabha for help when the agent refused to return his money after his children were denied visa by the Canadian Government, 15 days ago.

“I approached the Coastline immigration in Patiala to obtain schooling visa for my children. He told me to deposit $400 initially as admission fee for both the children. Later, they charged approximately $22,000 (Rs 12.42 lakh) as yearly expense after handing me two receipts of $200 each confirming their admission to ‘Canada School of Education’. It was only when I received a visa denial letter from the Canadian High Commission, I tried to find information about the school on the internet but could not find,” alleged Sukhwinder Singh. Later, when the agent refused to return the money, he approached the NRI Sabha for help. He also revealed that the agent was a public face in Punjab as he was appearing on an immigration programme on a prominent Punjabi channel every day.

On receiving a complaint from Sukhwinder Singh, the NRI Sabha immediately called the agent from Patiala and forced him to return the money. Riding high on the success, the sabha is now planning to open a special help desk for the people to file a complaint against the illegal travel agents in the state. “This will help to tighten a noose around the illegal travel agents duping youth in the state,” said Jasveer Singh Gill, president, NRI Sabha, Punjab.

Despite repeated attempts, the agent himself could not be contacted but when The Tribune spoke to Karamjit Singh, his partner disconnected the phone without giving a reply to the allegations made by Sukhwinder Singh. 

Jalandhar, August 2
In the ongoing case over the dumping of garbage and cleanliness in cities and towns including Nakodar, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has said it will be compelled to issue contempt notice against the Punjab officials concerned as well as the civic body for not complying with its directions.

A Nakodar-based environmentalist, Gaurav Jain, had filed a petition before the National Green Tribunal regarding the issue of cleanliness and unscientific dumping of waste in the town.

In its directions, the NGT said there was a clear violation of the orders of the tribunal dated May 24, 2013 by the authorities concerned. The applicant brought to the NGT's notice certain photographs, which show there is an indiscriminate and unscientific dumping of municipal solid waste (MSW) at the site in question. The applicant submitted that this is causing serious health hazards, public nuisance and stink to an extent that it is difficult to live in the vicinity.

The NGT further said, "Prima facie, we are satisfied that the state of Punjab is failing to discharge its statutory function and has disobeyed the orders of the tribunal. Before we initiate any proceedings against the government and the corporation, we would grant one week's time as prayed for to these respondents to ensure compliance of the order and to immediately ensure that the MSW already lying at the site is kept in a scientific manner and as per details stated in the order dated May 24, 2013."

The NGT also directed the authorities concerned to ensure that in future, dumping is strictly done in accordance with the MSW rules and the orders of the tribunal. 

Jalandhar, August 2
The residents of Chhoti Baradari Part 1 have been resentful over the irregular power supply in their locality. People living in the area said they seemed to be undergoing punishment for residing in that locality as they have been experiencing more than eight hours of power cuts in a day.

Apart from irregular power supply, residents said there are around five transformers on a stretch less than half a mile. These transformers are subject to frequent breakdown. Despite several complaints to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) officials besides online complaints, the problems have not been rectified.

Residents said it appears that the PSPCL officials are waiting for a mishap to take place.

SP Kler, a retired CBI SSP, said he bought property in the locality as it was among the posh areas of the city. After constructing a house, he moved in a year ago. "I have been having an awful experience. I am not able to drink water cooled in the refrigerator as it doesn't work at all. Besides, the inverter cannot be charged properly. My two sons are preparing for civil services and they cannot concentrate on their studies due lack of power supply," he added.

Kler said he made around 15 online complaints in July besides resorting to other methods to lodge the complaint. However, their grievances have not been redressed. "I have complained to the PSPCL to fix the problem as the transformer in front of my house keeps sparking, but nothing has been done," he said.

Another resident Ajit Singh Ghuman said an electricity transformer was set up adjoining the wall of his house, which keeps sparking often. "On my complaint to the PSPCL, they said the building of my house has been wrongly constructed. How can my building be wrongly constructed in a PUDA approved colony?"

He said they now wanted him to pay for the expenditure incurred on relocating the transformer as the PSPCL does not have the funds for it.

Deputy Chief Engineer Gopal Sharma said renovation was in progress and therefore, they had to shut down power supply for a while.

He said the malfunctioning transformers would be set right soon. 

Jalandhar, August 2
After almost a week of running around and facing denials, Scheduled Caste (SC) students seeking admission in various schools today finally got the nod of colleges for free admission under the Post Matric Scholarship scheme today.

The prompt pursuit of the issue by the district administration is largely responsible for the colleges finally bowing down. The authorities of Lyallpur Khalsa College today accepted the documents of the students seeking it and have assured that they will be given admission after the deposition of a (refundable) security amount of Rs 1,500.

Students accompanied by tehsildar II went to meet the college principal today who assured them they would be provided admission. While students had alleged that the college was demanding Rs 15,000 until yesterday, they have now asked students to be present at the college with all their documents.

Students Mamta Rani and Devinder Kaur had been seeking admissions in the B. Ed class for the past many days, but either they were not able to meet the principal or even when they did, fee was being charged from them. Talking to The Tribune, Davinder Kaur said, “We have been after the college authorities for over a week, we first went for admissions on July 25. But we are very happy with the Deputy Commissioner taking our issue seriously. Our admissions have been facilitated now.”

SDM II Varinder Pal Bajwa said, “The key colleges regarding whom the students had come to us with problems have all finally granted admission to students. We shall also be pursuing cases of other students whose colleges haven’t given them admission as per the scheme within the admission deadlines. The Deputy Commssioner has taken the issue very seriously and it shall be made sure all colleges duly comply.”

Meanwhile, the SDM also said, “Colleges have also brought some of their problems to our notice. Many have told us the government has failed to provide them their share of grants for the students who received the benefits of the schemes in previous years. Their issues shall also be brought to the notice of the government so that the students get their due benefits without the colleges also facing any inconvenience.”

BSP activist Balwinder said, “Students have finally been assured of admissions on Monday. We laud the role of the administration in taking up a very positive role on the issue. Without that, students were in a very precarious position. We also demand that a committee be set up in the district so that students seeking the benefits of the Post Matric Scholarship scheme in future don’t have to undergo serious problems.”

Jalandhar, August 2
The city witnessed a colourful fashion show at the Kingfisher Ultra Punjab Style Tour held in collaboration with Storm Fashion Company. Noted designer Jatin Kochhar, known for his versatility and distinguished style sense, showcased his trail blazing collection 'Beautiful People'. He dedicated his exquisite collection to his family and the beautiful people adding colour to his life expressing the significance they hold for him.

Using an amalgamation of natural fabrics, lustrous sequin sheeting, brocade, net, jersey, delicate lace and rich synthetics, the 'Beautiful People' range shimmered on the ramp as hints of luminous gold appeared to highlight the ensemble taking it to another level of contemporary style.

Former Miss Asia Pacific World Himangini Singh dazzled as the showstopper. Ludhiana-based Sheetal Lyall, owner of the brand 'Kalp Kaya,' also showcased her collection 'Dawn to Dusk'. Capturing the sun and its vibrancy, Lyall yet again created phenomenal shades ranging from dawn to the dusk.

Former Miss India World Natasha Suri was at her glamorous best as she walked the ramp for Sheetal Lyall.

Jalandhar, August 2
The Commissionerate Police today claimed to have arrested three persons of an 11-member gang of snatchers involved in as many as 48 snatchings in Model Town and the Skylark Chowk area in the past one year.

ADCP-II Parminder Singh Bhandal said the trio had been presented in court after which they had been given a four-day police remand. He said gold jewellery and mobile phone sets had been recovered from the gangsters.

He said the kingpin of the gang was Ashok Kumar, alias Soti, of Kashi Nagar near Model Town who originally was an autorickshaw driver but got hooked to gambling. He has revealed that whenever he felt that money had gone short, he indulged in some snatching. Gradually, he became a professional snatcher, purchased a high pick-up bike and got more boys along, he said.

The ADCP added that even as Soti himself had confessed to having committed over 125 snatchings, they had officially linked him to 48 incidents only. The officer said CCTV cameras installed outside some houses where the snatching incidents had taken place led to the identification of the gangsters.

The cops said their another accomplice, Nannu, alias Sanjeev Kumar of New Model Town, specialised only in spotting the target areas and doing recce. The third arrested by the police is Balwinder Kumar, alias Kaku, of Dhaliwal Kadian village. The threesome had been booked under Sections 411, 413 and 414 of the IPC at the Division Number 6 police station.

The cops said the jewellers and mobile shops with whom the snatchers had been liaisoning for the sale of the stolen items would also be brought to task to make more recoveries and help families get back their expensive possessions.