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MC House completes two years
250 institutes get notices
Women’s torture case
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Students take a peek into space science
MC removes encroachments by vendors at Gopal
Nag
Punjab Roadways employees to intensify their protest
Revised property tax doesn't impress industrialists in city
Religious organisations protest Malerkotla incident
Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana enter final of badminton meet
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Development takes backseat in city
Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 24 Now if the question is reframed and the same person is asked to enlist the failures of the civic body with a Rs 550-crore annual budget, he does not even need to pause for a while and rethink before coming up with a long list. Bad roads
The potholes on city roads have been getting larger for the past two years. While earlier people had been dying here in vehicular collisions, of late thanks to the MC, there have been numerous incidents wherein people have lost their lives or have got badly injured after their vehicles skid on the scattered pebbles of the road. Just last week, an Alto car broke down near the bus stand after sinking into a deep crater. The incidents have led to much scare in the minds of commuters while plying on city roads. Bad roads even became the main issue against the ruling party even in the recent Lok Sabha polls, leading to the massive defeat of the SAD candidate. Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal had to even apologise for the roads during his meeting with public representatives of the city. Mayor Sunil Jyoti had to face the wrath of residents on the Facebook even as he tried to do an image makeover for the MC in the run-up to the polls. The councillors are being forced to take their delegations to the mayor and commissioner for repeated reminders of road repair works in their areas, but to no avail. Even yesterday Congress councillor Balraj Thakur went to the MC office accompanied by residents of Khurla Kingra, demanding that a road work, which had been lying pending for three years, be completed. Even the new roads which have been constructed recently, including those near Doaba Chowk in the Mayor’s own ward, have sunk. No waste management
There has been no betterment in the management of solid waste. Heaps of garbage have only started becoming larger and more stinking. The dumping site at Wariana has stretched to some more kilometres and the mounds have risen higher. The MC has been jumping the deadline for the past two years for the starting of the solid waste management project by JITF company buckling under the pressure of safai karamcharis. The machinery and staff purchased by the company have been waiting for a year to move, but no such orders have come as yet. The matter has reached the office of Deputy CM and the National Green Tribunal as well, but to no avail. Brakes on city bus
Even as the city had shot to fame about five years ago for being pioneer in starting the City Bus service in the state, this achievement has now rather become more of a shame for the Jalandhar MC. Despite the fact that a plan to purchase as many as 128 new buses had been approved under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission scheme of the Centre for an amount of Rs 53 crore, the project has not been able to move as the city does not still have a CNG plant over which the matter is with the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The contract for old buses was extended for a year, but the buses got completely out of order after which the contractor himself left the job on July 31. Other pending projects, including 3G fish aquarium, have seen no progress. The only positive points perhaps have been the starting of the Chandan Nagar RUB and some headway in the Nehru Garden renovation project. Fatalities on the rise
There has been no control on fatalities because of the failure of the MC in checking sewage water contamination. Four diarrhoea deaths occurred this year in Bhargo Camp and Gandhi Camp areas and several people were taken ill. Children continue to fall in open manholes. Thankfully, two children who had fallen into open manholes in two recent incidents, including those at Sheetal Nagar and at Basti Sheikh, were safely pulled out by passersby. Even after incidents of death due to electrocution two years ago, the streetlight boxes continue to have open wire ends, inviting for incidents of the sort with MC officials and contractors learning no lessons. There have been at least six deaths due to dog bite and over a dozen due to snake bites in the past one year, primarily in Basti areas, but there has been no solace as the MC has failed to keep the dog catchers on toes for immunisation and not acquired land for setting up a dog pond. The MC has also failed to keep a check on unsafe buildings in the city. A man lost his life in Basti Danishmandan last month after the roof of his house fell on him. There were two more incidents of roof collapse in the last month, but there was a miraculous escape. Water problem
The areas which have been reeling under water shortage or rainwater accumulation continue to face the same problems. The storm water sewage is yet to be laid in most parts of the city owing to which a rainy day becomes more of an issue of worry rather than respite from high temperature. Photos with women carrying empty pitchers and buckets continued to appear in the media but the authorities have failed to move. No improvement in recovery
Despite several amnesty schemes announced by the Local Bodies Department for the recovery of pending water bills, property tax Version
Mayor Sunil Jyoti could not be contacted for comments. Senior deputy mayor Kamaljit Bhatia, however, agreed that the city had rather slackened on development rather than progressing which was a grave issue for the ruling alliance and all members of the House. |
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250 institutes get notices
Jalandhar, September 24 Flooded with complaints from people working in various school/college buses that the educational authorities were not contributing to their provident fund despite working for them for many years, the EFPO has served these notices. A copy of the notice clearly stated that failing to supply the information to the office in seven days, the educational institutes will face a stern legal action that, too, without receiving any further warning notice. Dheeraj Gupta, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, while confirming this to The Tribune, said as per the provisions enshrined under the EPF & MP Act, 1952, the principal employer (educational institutes) of these contractual employees employed by contractors, the onus lies on the educational institutes to ensure the extension of the statutory PF benefits to all employees or all eligible employees of even contractors from their date of joining the duty. “Failing to supply sought information within seven days, the department will be constrained to initiate 7A Enquiry for the purpose of determination of dues under EPF&MP Act, 1952, from the date of joining in respect of eligible staff (driver & other staff) engaged with school busses and other vehicles on the basis of information received from the District Transport Office (DTO). Notably, the regional EFP office, covering four districts of Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr had recently asked the respective District Transport Officers (DTOs) to provide details of the school bus owners/contractors in their respective districts. The move was taken to extend social security benefits to the employees As of now, the DTO Jalandhar and Hoshiapur have only submitted details of transport staff, in which details of over 178 schools of Jalandhar and over 100 schools of Hoshiarpur had submitted details, while details from Nawanshahr and Kapurthala district were pending. As per the orders, even if a school has employed contractors for buses, even then the schools will be responsible to deposit the PF of the transport staff and they just cannot avoid the duty of depositing the PF. Details to be submitted
As per the notices served to educational institutes, they have to submit details, including name of the driver or other vehicle staff, date of joining, monthly salary, employees provident fund number, vehicle number and the name of the agency with address, if the vehicle is engaged through a private contractor or agency. Institutes may face action
If information supplied by schools establishes that they are not extending proper PF benefits to their employees since the date of joining, the schools, colleges concerned may face prosecution. Failing to supply the sought information within seven days, the department will be constrained to initiate 7A Enquiry for the purpose of the determination of dues under the EPF&MP Act, 1952, from the date of joining in respect of the eligible staff (Driver & other Staff) engaged with school buses and other vehicles on the basis of information received from the District Transport Office (DTO). |
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Investigation has no mention of electric shocks, says SSP
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, September 24 Deputy Superintendent of Police, Bhulath, Mukesh Kumar had been assigned the investigation. SSP Dhanpreet said although on the basis of the complaint, the ASI had been placed under suspension, investigation was being conducted into the genuineness of allegations. Our preliminary investigation, as of now, has no mention of electric shocks given to the women. I have thoroughly inquired from the police officials, who told me that electric shocks were not given to the women. Let the DSP Bhulath complete the investigation, which will actually finalise whether the allegations were genuine, she said. Yesterday, Raguvir Singh was suspended for allegedly torturing two women, namely Sham Kaur, 57, and her daughter-in-law Jeet Kaur, 25, of Lakhan Kholey village in the Subhanpur area. The ASI had allegedly given electric shocks to the women for extracting information about a burglary. The DSP said to find the genuineness of the allegations, he had also got the women’s injuries examined from a doctor. “In the doctor’s report, there is no mention of injuries from electric shocks. It seems the allegations levelled by the women are not genuine. I will submit my final report to the SSP, Kaputhala,” he added.
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Students take a peek into space science
Jalandhar, September 24 Through EDUSAT and TV sets in government and private schools, for the first time, students watched live the high profile government space venture. While officials maintain that the event, just like the special address on Teacher's Day, was met with enthusiasm and exuberance across schools, the picture wasn't so rosy in some other schools. From receiving only transmitters (ROTs) in about 100 schools in the district, the transmitters have been installed in over 200 schools, some of which have both a TV set as well as the EDUSAT system. Due to the short notice at which the schools were informed, most of the schools without an ROT had to miss out on the transmission this morning. A number of schools in the district could not watch the much-hyped programme because they either did not have an EDUSAT system or the audio quality of the equipment was not good enough which caused them to borrow TV sets or do with lectures. Schools like the Government Senior Secondary Schools, Shankar, Bharsinghpura, Randhawa Masandan, Khiwa and Government High School, Kolar, could not witness the programme because they did not have the required systems. There are others who could not watch the transmission properly or had to borrow TV sets at the spur of the moment due to the problem in transmission. At the Government Senior Secondary School (Boys), Khiwa, the EDUSAT system was stolen about a year ago and a new one hasn't been allocated so far. Sources said the students of the school had to make do with a mere lecture and a newspaper report in the absence of an ROT or EDUSAT system. While the school had borrowed a student's TV set during the PM's Teacher's Day address, this time they couldn't borrow one because the information about making the programme mandatory was received only yesterday. Other schools like the Government High School, Dayalpur, had to borrow from their neighbours because the quality of transmission was not clear. Notably, the school has complained many times about it to the Education Department. Despite the glitches, about one lakh students in the district saw India's inspiring successful foray into the orbit of the planet Mars which was relayed directly from Bengaluru. Graphic depiction of the process and a brief history of the project started giving them an insight into the scientific elements and details of the mission. The telecast included an over 20 minute long speech by the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, co-ordinator of the district EDUSAT Jagtinder Sohal said, "We are glad that the students will now be able to become a part of such opportunities. For the past few weeks, the department has worked hard to ensure that EDUSAT systems are installed properly in every school. However, if some schools are still facing glitches, we shall fix them soon." Unlike the previous time, the programme today was supposed to be seen only by the students of senior secondary and high schools. After receiving the message last afternoon, officials of the department conveyed it to the schools only last evening. With the Modi Government's specific emphasis on EDUSAT, which delivers programmes to thousands of schoolchildren on special days picked by the PM; sessions from the centre are slowly becoming a regular feature.
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MC removes encroachments by vendors at Gopal Nag ar
Jalandhar, September 24 Most of these encroachments at Gopal Nagar are done by flower vendors, who have been into the flower trade for the past several years. Many a time in the past, the MC had planned to remove these encroachments but due to political pressure, the MC couldn’t start the drive. Sources said there were more than fifty flower vendors whose makeshifts shops had been removed now. Initially, shopkeepers launched a protest when the MC team reached Gopal Nagar. But the police force didn’t let the shopkeepers hinder the operation. —TNS
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Punjab Roadways employees to intensify their protest
Jalandhar, September 24 Speaking with Jalandhar Tribune, Jagdish Singh Chahal, general secretary, Punjab Government Transport Workers’ Union, said the state government was all set to lead down the Punjab Roadways. They have a vicious plan for it. He alleged that the government has decided to close four depots in Punjab, including Jagraon, Patti and one each in Jalandhar and Amritsar. By doing so, the government wants to sell the government land. Apart from this the debt free 571 Punjab State Bus Stand Management Company (PUNBUS) buses have not been merged into Punjab Roadways fleet. Consequently, Punjab Roadways is left with only 333 buses in its fleet, which are too less as compared to the other state transports. As per rule, debt-free PUNBUS buses has to be merged to Punjab Roadways. He said permits to private bus operators are not being issued as per the rule and regulations. Despite of the fact the Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the department on the same issue several times. Chahal said in order to benefit the private bus operators, a majority of them belong to one or the other mainstream political leader, the time schedule has been changed numerous times. There used to be deferent shift for government buses that has been changed. Private buses have been given the time in government buses shifts. He said certain immediate actions are required to save the Punjab Roadways.
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Revised property tax doesn't impress industrialists in city
Jalandhar, September 24 Speaking to Jalandhar Tribune, Khel Udhyog Sangh president Ravinder Dhir said before the Lok Sabha elections, the present Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal had committed that they would abolish property tax from the state if the NDA was voted to power. However, the promise remains unfulfilled. "Our immediate reaction to the development is that the government has failed to meet its promises. However, we have called a meeting to discuss the issue further," he added. Similarly, Gursharan Singh of the Federation of Jalandhar Industrial and Traders' Associations said the government had made false promises to woo the voter. They had promised to abolish the property tax from the state. Yet they have failed to do so, he added. Gursharan Singh said the tariffs have not been cleared as yet. A meeting will be called to discuss the issue once the tariffs are made clear. However, no tax for the vacant plots and certain other clauses are acknowledgeable, he added.
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Religious organisations protest Malerkotla incident
Jalandhar, September 24 Hindu rights groups accompanied by the representatives of Gau Raksha Sewa Samiti had gathered at the Sodal railway crossing. Initially, they sat on the railway track and started raising slogans against the cow slaughter incident in Malerkotla. But within minutes, they were removed from the track by the police. Some protesters were taken into custody by the police while some sat on a dharna near the railway track. The protesters were demanding the arrest of the accused involved in cow slaughter in Malerkotla. Notably, there were reports that activists of the religious organizations had stopped trains in Phagwara in the morning. Due to this, the movement of some trains like the Dadar Express, Jammu Tawi, Amrapali Express, Swaran Shatabdi and Pathankot-Delhi Express were reportedly affected.
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Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana enter final of badminton meet
Jalandhar, September 24 Even after losing their first game, the team made a decisive comeback in the subsequent two games by winning both – with the match today being a close call. In the second semifinal match, Delhi Girls defeated former champions Chandigarh in a one-sided match to ensure a strong position for themselves in the finals. In the Narang Cup, Delhi Boys’ team defeated Rajasthan with 2-0 to enter the finals while owing to the dismal performance of Punjab, Haryana bagged an easy 2-0 victory to breeze the way into the finals. In the Chaddha Cup Delhi Girls’ team beat Chandigarh with 2-0 to make their way into the finals whereas Haryana beat Himachal Pradesh with 2-0 to get to the finals.
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The Municipal Corporation today initiated a drive against encroachments by vendors at Gopal
Nagar. An MC team carried the anti-encroachment drive along with a large posse of police force.
Several religious organizations held peaceful protests against the reported cow slaughter in
Malerkotla. They sat on dharna near the railway track at Sodal railway crossing. However, the protest didn't affect the railway traffic.
