Amritsar, October 20
Sparing a thought to lighten up the streets of the holy city, the MC has deputed its special teams to rectify or replace the defunct streetlights.

There are around 65,000 light points in the city, which are being monitored by special teams, including 12 patrolling teams. Besides, there will be six electricians, two SDOs and two JEs, who will be on their toes round the clock till Diwali. One SE-level official will supervise the whole job and will be assisted by two Xen- level officials.

MC Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal has given them three days’ time to make sure that all streetlights should work before Diwali and has directed to terminate the contract of the maintenance firm, if it does not perform up to the mark.

It has been learnt that streetlights have reached up to 80 per cent localities of the holy city.

There are 16,000 light points in north, 13,000 in west, 12,000 in central, 11,000 in south and 10,000 in the east constituencies. According to estimates, around 8,000 light points are non-functional.

Xen MPS Bedi will take care of the north, east and south areas, whereas Xen Subhash Sharma will keep an eye on the west, central and some wards of south.

The MC has been releasing Rs 16 crore per annum to the streetlight department. Out of this, Rs 11 crore is spent to foot the electricity bills, whereas an amount of nearly Rs 2.5 crore each is spent on maintaining the streetlights of five constituencies.

MC Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said, “We have given special attention to streetlights. Our aim is to make each and every light functional. We have identified around 6,000 light points, which need immediate attention. Officials have been made accountable for any lapse. They have been directed not to switch off their phones at least till Diwali and it will be their responsibility to attend to the residents’ woes pertaining to lights in their localities. Besides, we have also tightened the noose around those contractors who shirk work. They will be blacklisted for any negligence in performing their duties.”

In case streetlights in your locality do not function, call SOS numbers: SE Anurag Mahajan: 98151-27814, Xen MPS Bedi: 97807-00187, Xen Subhash Sharma: 96460-50707.

Amritsar, October 20
Activists of the Kisan Sangarsh Committee (KSC) staged a protest against the power corporation’s move to shift electricity meters to pillar boxes outside houses. The activists stated that the power corporation should first install power meter display screens inside homes before shifting the meters outside.

They also complained about the irregular power supply to tube well connections. They said power was supplied for around four hours, which was not sufficient. The KSC also demanded from the government that more tube well connections should be released to the farmers.

The farmers also criticised the state government for increasing VAT on diesel and the central government for its decision to de-control the diesel prices. KSC leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said a memorandum listing demands of the farmers was submitted to the power corporation officials.

Amritsar, October 20
Even as incidents of fake travel agents fleecing gullible people of their hard-earned money on the pretext of sending them abroad keep hitting the headlines on a regular basis, people learn little from such instances. More and more residents are falling prey to such travel agents. The past week witnessed around half a dozen similar cases of fraud in which the victims lost lakhs of rupees to fraudsters.

In the latest incident, the victims were Deepak Kumar of Palampur, Himachal Pradesh and Jugal Kishore of Batala, Gurdaspur. They stated to the police that Arun Marwah of Roop Nagar, Gate Hakima, and Ashwani Kumar of Tibhar road (Gurdaspur) had robbed them off of Rs 6.5 lakh on the pretext of sending them to Singapore on a work permit for nine years. However, they handed them a tourist visa of one month. In a similar incident, Yadwinder Singh of Chetanpura told the Jandiala police that the accused, Ranjit Singh of Jandiala Guru took Rs 6.20 lakh and his passport from him in January to send him abroad, but he neither sent him overseas nor returned the money.

Ramanjit Singh of Dodhala has a similar tale to tell. He told the Kathunangal police that Ajaib Singh of Dasuha took Rs 8.50 lakh from him for sending him to France. But he neither sent him there, nor returned the money. Kanwalijit Singh was defrauded of nearly Rs 2.40 lakh in a similar fashion, though he proved lucky as the accused returned half of his money. He stated to the Division A police that the accused, identified as Amarjit Singh of Ekroop Avenue, Majitha road, took Rs 5.26 lakh from him to send him abroad. However, he failed to do so. He returned Rs 2.86 lakh to him.

Ajay Kumar of Gawal Mandi on the Ram Tirath road fell prey to a similar gimmick, allegedly played by Palwinder Singh of the Putlighar area. He stated to the Cantonment police that the accused took Rs 2.26 lakh from him to send his wife, Veena, to England. However, the accused did not send her there, nor returned the cash.

The police have registered separate cases of cheating against the culprits, who are at large. Police officials said they were conducting raids to arrest the accused. HS Brar, ADCP (special), a senior police official, pointed out that the people should verify the credentials of the travel agents before trusting them and handing over their money to them. 

Amritsar, October 20
Whatever the pledges made every year to “say no to crackers”, but come Diwali and the noisy celebrations are bang on. But this time the guilt of disappointing the eco-brigade seems to be weighing hard on the residents’ minds. As strange as it might sound, but the Diwali is turning ‘greener’ every passing year, with the city NGOs and volunteers endorsing a clean and noise-free Diwali aggressively.

Voice of Amritsar, an NGO, launched its One-child One-tree campaign that encourages children to have a safe and green Diwali. Starting the campaign with Cambridge school, a process has been put in motion to restore the green cover of Amritsar.

Seenu Arora, the president of VOA, says, “The Deputy Commissioner along with the District Forest Officer has promised to provide us 10,000 saplings to be distributed to all schoolchildren and it will be ensured that these saplings grow into trees. The campaign will ensure that the youngsters are sensitised towards trees and environment. Instilling a sense of responsibility towards preserving their ecology, a healthy practice to adopt or plant trees instead of adding to the air pollution during the festival, the campaign is just a beginning.

Celebrating the festival by initiating a Diwali-cleaning in the city, students of Springdales collaborated with the NGO, My Mother Most Beautiful, to clean the city as a part of the Swachh Vidyalya Abhiyaan. Consequently, the students, accompanied by Sushil Gupta, founder of the NGO, cleaned the stretch of road from Income Tax Chowk to Circular Road to Company Bagh and back to Income Tax Chowk.

Mission Aghaaz, another active eco-NGO in the city, too, has been promoting eco-friendly Diwali celebrations. Appreciating the residents’ concerns and efforts to support a clean, green Diwali, Dipak Babbar, from Mission Aghaaz still feels that more initiatives are needed to control the pollution caused in a single day of Diwali festivities. “According to reports, at least 30-40 per cent more pollutants are added to the air on Diwali by just burning crackers. We need to adopt community and individual measures to ensure that the festival is enjoyed in its true sense,” says she.

Voicing the same thoughts is Esha Kakkar, a Greenpeace volunteer from the city. “Amritsar is clouded with smog every year on the Diwali eve and days after that. The unhealthy habit of bursting crackers should be replaced by green celebrations,” she says. Like? “Diwali could be more fun with rangoli, diyas, flowers, sweets, decorations, new clothes. There are hundred other nice ways to celebrate the festival. Why burn the hard-earned money on something that will do no good to anyone?” she asks. Any answers? 

Amritsar, October 20
CITU activists today held a protest outside the Provident Fund Commissioner’s office alleging siphoning off of the workers’ provident fund by their employers.

Addressing the protesters, CITU leaders Amrik Singh, Sucha Singh Ajnala and Narinderpal Chamiyari alleged that transporters and many mill owners did not deposit the employees’ contribution to the PF account.

They added that this was done in connivance with the employees of the PF department. They claimed that the amount ran into crores of rupees.

The CTU leaders maintained that they had been raising the matter of not opening the PF accounts of employees serving in various transport companies since March 2014, but to no avail, forcing them to take to the path of protest.

Amritsar, October 20
A cross section of the holy city believes that necessary preparations and preventive measures should be taken by government agencies and local residents to thwart any untoward fire incident and ensure a happy Diwali.

They feel that responsibility certainly lies with the government to make available all technological and scientific material to douse any fire breakout. However, the onus also lies on individuals. Traders must invest some money in installing a small fire extinguisher and buckets of sand. They can also put in extra efforts to ensure that combustible material is removed from the place to prevent it from catching fire.

Amritsar, October 20
As the power to sanction child care leave (CCL) to women government employees, working in the Education Department, is entrusted to director public instructions (DPI), they are facing problem in availing the facility as and when required.

The leave is given to a teacher when her child is ill or having exams. However, in case a child is ill, the mother has to get the same sanctioned from the DPI, which in routine takes weeks. A teacher who had recently applied for the CCL said, “The CCL in case of illness of child is required immediately. By making such rules as getting it sanctioned from the DPI, the department is in a way denying the facility to an employees.”

Teachers stated that 15 day CCL should be sanctioned at the level of district education officer (DEO), who is the district head. As per the existing rules, the DPI can sanction CCL of 15 days. For one month CCL, the power has been entrusted to Secretary, School Education. Education Minister can sanction CCL upto three months. The CCL for more than three months can be sanctioned by the Chief Minister.

In many departments like Government Medical College and Government Dental Colleges, the CCL is sanctioned at the level of Principal. Jagdish Thakur, general secretary, Punjab State Ministerial Staff Association, said, “In the Health Department the CCL is sanctioned at local level. Getting a leave sanctioned from state heads is not an easy job. Moreover, the district heads can easily check the urgency of the case.”

He said there was no point in announcing facilities for the employees when the procedure to avail the same was an uphill task.

Teachers said the government should change the procedure and power to sanction 15-day CCL should be entrusted to district heads.

A former official of the Education Department and general secretary of the Punjab Employees Rights Protection Society, BR Preenja said, “By the time the DPI will sanction the CCL, the reason for which it is required will already be gone.” He said if the government announced CCL facility for employees then it should ensure they get it in case of an emergency. 

Amritsar, October 20
Employees of the Municipal Corporation rejoiced after getting their salary cheques and decided to abanbdon their plan to shutdown public utility services as announced earlier for protesting non-payment of financial benefits in the wake of festive season.

Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora announced a special emergency package of Rs 10 lakh for each councillor.

When questioned about the weak financial position of the Municipal Corporation, the Mayor said, “I am even ready to raise a loan for them. Come what may, our councillors are answerable to the public, who voted them to power. All genuine pending civil works will be executed on a priority basis.”

Nonetheless, this emergency grant can be claimed by any councillor, who intended to get petty works done in his/her ward, which includes repair of internal roads, rectifying the sewerage system or drinking supply line etc. A councillor will have to submit a file for the work to be done with estimated cost and the grant will be released instantly.

Throwing a light over the poor fiscal health of the MC, the Mayor said ill-conceived policy matters of the government needed a thorough review with the changing times.

“It was truly justified for the MC workers to raise a hue and cry about not getting their salaries. Despite the fact that festive season is on, we are helpless. Instead of giving our workers Diwali gifts or festival advance as the precedent was, we were not in a position to give them their salaries. This implies that a gross lacuna was there in our system,” the Mayor added.

He said the MC’s income had decreased for the past three years whereas the expenditure had risen manifolds. During 2007-12, the MC had received Rs 100 crore even before the first general house meeting. Thereafter, another grant of Rs 350 crore was released. In the present tenure, even the first installment was not released by the government, said the Mayor.

“Earlier, the MC used to foot electricity bill between Rs 60 to 70 lakh per annum. Now it was Rs 2.5 crore per annum. The situation became grim after the abolition of octroi and implementation of VAT formula. Earlier, we used to collect Rs 50 to Rs 60 lakh per day as octroi, but after the introduction of VAT, our income has come down to Rs 11 crore per annum. For the past three months, we were just getting between Rs 7 crore to Rs 9 crore,” he said.

On the other hand, the collection from the house tax and property tax too could not be made as expected, despite earnest efforts of MC officials. “In addition to this, we had to regularise the services of contractual staff, which has further burdened our pocket. Consequently, it became difficult for us to even pay salaries of our employees. I demand from the government to regularise the release of our VAT dues on time so that such a dismal situation does not arise,” said Arora.

Amritsar, October 20
In its drive to check sale of adulterated and substandard foods, the Health Department today collected 10 samples of sweets. A team led by district health officer, Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon, inspected food shops at Dobourji and Jandiala Guru.

Kahlon said during the inspection apart from collecting samples, shopkeepers were made aware of the stringent food safety laws. He said a few shopkeepers, who were selling food items in unhygienic conditions, were issued instructions to take proper corrective measures.

The department has so far collected 71 samples during this month. Kahlon said all the samples had been sent to food testing laboratory in Chandigarh. He said reports would be available within a fortnight.

Strict action would be taken against shopkeepers, if their samples were found lacking in quality, he added. He said employees of the Health Department would be keeping a close eye on the sweet shops in city during Diwali festival. Instructions had also been given to check sweets being transported from outside of the city, Kahlon said.

Amritsar, October 20
The local BBK DAV College for Women lifted the A division overall championship trophy while Shahzada Nand College, Amritsar, clinched the B division trophy during the A Zone Youth Festival, which was held on the campus of Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) today. A zone includes affiliated colleges of the Amritsar district.

In A division, Khalsa College, Amritsar, remained runners-up and Guru Nanak Dev University Campus, Amritsar, stood third.

In the B division, SDSPM College for Women, Rayya, remained second and Khalsa College, Chawinda Devi, stood third.

Tejinder Singh, SDM, Amritsar, presided over the valedictory function. Prof Amarjit Singh Sidhu, Dean, students welfare, was also present on the occasion.

While addressing student artistes, Tejinder Singh said, “These festivals not only promote cultural heritage among youth, but also channelise their energy towards constructive activities.” He congratulated Dr Jagjit Kaur, director youth welfare, for her efforts in successfully organising the youth festival.

Tejinder Singh and Dr Jagjit Kaur also honoured winners with trophies they had won in various contests. Dr Jagjit Kaur presented a memento to the chief guest. 

Amritsar, October 20
For the first time the Community Policing Resource Centre (CPRC) will facilitate tourists at its five Suvidha Centres situated across the holy city. The decision was taken during a joint meeting of the CPRC and the Tourism Department held here on Friday. Officials of the Tourism Department led by district tourism officer Balraj Singh raised the question of inconvenience faced by tourists visiting their city on their vehicles. Balraj also raised the issue of tourists being overcharged by shopkeepers, autos, hotels and others.

He said Punjab Roadways would soon press into service two buses to ferry tourists to showcase the Retreat Ceremony at Attari village. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Baljit Singh Randhawa, also Community Police Officer, said, officials at these centres would extend full cooperation in guiding and helping tourists. He said they would even instruct tourists to be vigilant of pick-pockets and snatchers.

In response to the Tourism Department’s query, Randhawa assured that the traffic police deployed on duty would be instructed to remain courteous while dealing with tourists.

“The staff at Suvidha Centres will be asked to receive the tourists as guests and they must return as friends. Soon display boards and hoardings will be put up to guide the tourists to Suwidha Centres,” said CPRC secretary Surjit Sharma. “These five centres are situated at the police station in Civil Lines, police station Sadar near Amandeep Hospital on the GT Road, police station D Division, police station C Division and police station B Division. The latter two centres are situated close to the Golden temple,” he added.

Amritsar, October 20
Ahead of Diwali, preparation of edible sugar toys has picked up. A few decades ago, sugar toys were a popular sweet dish, but now they are sold only during the Diwali festival. With the availability of myriad kind of sweets in the market, the demand for sugar toys has decreased considerably.

A majority of shops dishing out edible sugar toys (khand wale khidone) are located at centuries old Mishri Bazaar, situated close to the Golden Temple.

Proprietor of a shop, Bhupinder Singh, said only handful of people were now preparing these edible sugar toys while the others had switched over to different trades. He said people purchased these toys as it was a tradition, but a customer did not buy more than one or two pieces.

“There are about six shops engaged in making small bowls of edible sugar. These bowls are used as a symbol of good luck (shagun) during festivals or other occasions. All these products are sold in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Once a thriving market of edible sugar toys, it has only a handful shops engaged in the preparation of these age-old eatables as their demand has reduced drastically,” added Bhupinder.

Another trader, Harbans Lal, said once preparing edible sugar toys used to be a roaring business, but now only a couple of shops prepared these. He said most of the shopkeepers had now shifted to the business of preparing “mishri” and “meethe channe” for gurdwaras and phuliya, makhane, pickles, jam and murabbe.

He said these products were a healthy diet for the people as sugar was heated at 400°Celsius. These toys, small bowls and patashe were made from sugar and were given distinct colour, shape and taste depending upon the intensity of heat, he added.

The change in eating habits of the people was the major reason why the trade had disappearing, Harbans said, adding that unlike chips and snacks, these edible toys were never sold in packets and no one ever highlighted the nutritious value of these products. — TNS