Jalandhar, November 17
Even as SAD MLA Pargat Singh had proposed it through the last Municipal Corporation (MC) House meeting that the site for setting up energy plant for the solid waste management project be changed from the present site in Jamsher owing to the demand of residents there, BJP’s Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi today hinted otherwise.

Joshi, who was here to see the demonstration of waste lifting from the dumping site in front of PIMS on Garha Road said, “As of now, I have got no alternative land site. A committee had been formed by Pargat Singh to look for a new site. They have not done any acquisition so far. Till the time this exercise of looking for an alternative site remains, we are considering the setting up of plant at Jamsher site only.” The minister’s version was corroborated by Mayor Sunil Jyoti and MC Commissioner GS Khehra, who came along at the site.

Asked as to when the new chairmen of improvement trusts would be appointed since half of the tenure of the present government was over, he said, “I feel that bureaucrats are doing a fine job.” Told that they were all having the charge as an additional work and were getting frequently transferred, he said, “It is for the BJP president Kamal Sharma and his SAD counterpart to see.”

On the issue of delay in issuing notification for the implementation of revised property tax, he said it would be done in the due course of time. On the matter regarding poor response to the NOCs by residents, the minister evaded a direct reply, saying, “The notification was issued by the Housing Department and we just adopt it.”

Regarding the merging of the distribution of power bills with water bills, Joshi said it would be started as a pilot project in Nawanshahr, Ferozepur and Amritsar soon, after which it would be replicated in other districts.

Housing Dept to check encroachment: Joshi

Shown an encroachment done by CPS Avinash Chander at a hotel site of the Jalandhar Development Authority right in front of the site where he was standing, Anil Joshi said, “It is for the housing department to see” and he looked towards Khehra, who is also the JDA Administrator. Khehra told the reporters in front of the minister that it was a temporary encroachment which would be got lifted any time and that he would have to check if it was a hotel site or a green belt as per the map. Further quizzed that if all residents in the neighbourhood could also do a similar encroachment, Joshi told Khehra to check it up and get it removed. Joshi was also apprised of the fact that his department’s Deputy Director based at Ludhiana Babita Kler, too, resided in the same house. The SAD CPS has got constructed toilets of concrete and two tents for police accommodation at the JDA site. 

Jalandhar, November 17
Patients at the Civil Hospital here and also in the government hospitals at the sub-division level had a harrowing time today as the medical specialists of the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) held an agitation against the state government’s approach towards their long-pending demands.

The doctors have demanded to build a specialist cadre of doctors as done in the Central Government, to rename the NPA as Special Medical Pay and to count it as basic pay as done in the Central Government.

They have also demanded to revise the basic pay grade of doctors, to provide 15 per cent conveyance allowance to doctors, to increase the academic allowance for the specialists and relaxation in the service bonds.

According to Dr Raman Gupta, ENT specialist and state coordinator of the Specialists Association, the government is not bothered about the welfare of the specialist doctors in the state. “Presently, there is only a difference of Rs 660 in the pay scale of specialist and non-specialist doctors. Also, the government is giving 15 per cent higher qualification allowance to those doctors recruited after 2001 and not to those who have been recruited before that,” said Dr Raman Gupta. He also said that due to this disparity in the state government’s policy, the state was facing an acute shortage of medical specialists all over.

The specialist medical services in the state have been impeded for the past two years as the government has not been able to get specialists doctors. Presently, there are only 900 medical specialists in the state against the required strength of 1,400. Due to very less difference between their salaries and non-specialists, there are not too many takers for the government job. Recently, the state government received only five applications against the 295 posts advertised.

Jalandhar, November 17
Even though drunken driving and over-speeding are the main causes of accidents across the district, the police have so far not employed either alchometers or speed meters to check accidents caused due to these problems.

Activists of NGOs Child Helpline and CHITRA said this here today while addressing a press conference to observe Road Traffic Day for Accident Victims.

The activists said the state government had been unable to put an end to the accidents at as many as 350 black spots on the state and national highways of the state which were notorious for accidents.

Chandan Arora, father of Aarush Arora, who lost his life after being crushed under a school bus some months ago, and Major Singh, whose child was among the six children killed in an accident at Gohir village last year, were present on the occasion.

On the occasion, activists also commemorated journalist Jasdeep Singh Malhotra who lost his life in a road accident last year.

Speaking on the occasion, Surinder Saini, activist, Child Helpline, said while Chandan had been going from pillar to post, tracing the lost file of his son with the Jalandhar police, so far it hadn’t been traced. While the NGOs were also instrumental in filing a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, demanding the proper regulation of school transport in the state, the results had been glum so far.

Saini said while the Punjab and Haryana High Court had also recently slammed the state government for not carrying out the inspections of school buses, of all the states - Punjab, Haryana - and the UT, Chandigarh, which were issued instructions by the HC on the matter of road transport, Punjab fared the poorest.

Saini said the ambitiously started WHO-funded RS 10 road safety project, which was started in Jalandhar, (following it being chosen as one of the two cities in India – Hyderabad and Jalandhar – as being adversely hit by accidents) also proved a damp squib as the state was eventually unable to run it. He said the Punjab Government could not provide utilisation certificates for the funds used in the project owing to which it eventually closed down.

Notably, the WHO withdrew the RS 10 project from the district owing to the lack of coordination between the District Health Department and the Traffic Police. While the traffic department lacks equipment to date, the trauma centre at the Civil Hospital lacks even basic equipment.

SK Kapoor, an activist of CHITRA, said it was strange that none of the NGOs or members of the District Road Safety Committee were called for a function held to observe Road Traffic Day for Accident Victims yesterday.

The parents of the children who died in road accidents were given compensation on the occasion.

Jalandhar, November 17
To discuss the future course of action over the issue of safai karamcharis barging into the last MC House meeting and disrupting it in-between, Mayor Sunil Jyoti called an all-party meeting of the councillors on the issue at his official residence in Model Town here this evening.

While the Congress councillors boycotted the meeting, almost all councillors of the SAD and BJP turned up and expressed their desire to take up the matter seriously and even get an FIR lodged against the sanitation employees over the matter. The safai karamcharis had barged into the meeting hall on November 3, stood up on the tables of the councillors, flung water bottles on councillors and warned them of dire consequences against the implementation of the solid waste management project which was to get functional from the next day.

Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Bhatia was more vocal, as the safai karamcharis had strewn garbage in the room and had tried to disgrace him in his office. They were later spared by the officials.

The councillors were of the view that despite heavy security, the meeting had got hampered. Women councillors pointed out that they felt much insecure, seeing the ruckus created in the hall and they would not attend further meetings till proper security arrangements were made from next time on.

The councillors were also angry that the four MLAs, who are also members of the House, including minister Bhagat Chunni Lal, CPS KD Bhandari, former minister Manoranjan Kalia and SAD MLA Pargat Singh, did not turn up for the meeting.

The councillors finally decided that they would meet again in the presence of their legislators on Friday to take the final decision in the matter.

Jalandhar, November 17
Taking a suo motu notice of the people sleeping on roads, Rana Kanwar Deep Kaur, Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Jalandhar, checked the conditions of Raen Baseras in the city.

Finding most of these closed and empty, she later visited the bus stand and the railway station and directed the respective authorities to take these needy people to the nearby Raen Baseras under the Domoria flyover and near the Choti baradari police station.

Jalandhar, November 17
Aided School employees, headed by district president Arvind Bains, today held a dharna in front of the district treasury office. The employees submitted a memorandum to the district treasury officer to be forwarded to Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa.

The employees protested the delay in releasing their pending arrears. The employees said the third instalment had to be released on August 2014, as promised by the government.

Even though the government, in an affidavit submitted to the High Court, had said the final installment of the arrears would be released by August 31, in papers, the instalment was released but the treasury office withheld it.

The employees said even though the instalment of government employees were received within the first year, aided schools staff had to run from pillar to post to get it released.

Union PRO Manish Aggarwal said revised grade pays for government employees were implemented in October 2011, but aided school employees were still not getting them.

They said finally, the employees, including the class four staff of aided schools, knocked the doors of the court to get the grade pay revised, but despite the HC decision on the instalment to be released in three months, they had yet not got the revised grade pay.

KK Bansal, Deepak Sanan and Sanjiv Kumar said the primary wing of aided schools had also not got the instalment.

Last year, the instalment had been released but due to treasury restrictions it lapsed on March 31.

Primary schools employees have not received their salaries since April 2014, due to which they are undergoing severe financial constraints and finding it difficult to run their homes.

Employees reiterated their demand for merger, which they have been airing for the past few years.

They said they would be able to work better if the aided school employees were merged with the government schools.

Jalandhar, November 17
To prevent the anti-social elements from buying acid and using it for attacking people, the Jalandhar Commissionerate has issued orders to regulate the sale of acid in the city.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police, under powers vested on him under Section 144 of the CrPC, issued the orders.

The DCP in his order has categorically stated that anybody who wants to sell acid must get a licence from the Police Department.

Sources said police officials are also conducting a survey to update its record about the number of acid sellers in the city.

The orders also stated that sellers, after obtaining a licence, have to maintain a register to record the name of the buyer, quantity of acid purchased, purpose of buying acid, date of sale, photo of buyer, mobile number and photo ID. They have to submit complete details of the sale with the police station concerned every day.

The orders were issued to prevent miscreants from using acid for attacking people. The orders will remain in force till January 16.

Acid attack incidents

On July 15, Neeta, a government school teacher, and a resident of Talwandi Mehma in Kapurthala, was injured in an acid attack by Paramjit, when Neeta had turned down his marriage proposal.

On June 4, three motorcycle-borne youths threw acid on 21-year-old Shiv Sena activist Naveen Talwar while he was on way to work.

On October 4, 2013, in a bizarre incident, a 50-year-old woman Jatinder Kaur who was returning from a gurdwara became a victim of acid attack by a motorcycle-borne youth at Waryam Nagar. The incident was taken as an act of revenge by the miscreants against whom the victim had raised an alarm in a suspected snatching bid.

On August 22, 2011, a middle-aged woman Archana suffered serious burns at Doaba Chowk after her estranged husband allegedly threw acid on her. Notably, after the attack, no one came to her rescue for 10 minutes even as the victim screamed with pain and shouted for help.

On September 11, 2011, Seema (23) received burn injuries after two youths threw acid on her, burning her face and upper part of the body.

Jalandhar, November 17
A joint effort by the police, district administration, Transport Department and society is needed to curb road accidents resulting in a large number of deaths. Hollow rhetoric on public functions and tall claims about traffic engineering are not going to serve any purpose.

Yesterday, when World Remembrance Day for Road Traffic Victims was being observed at the Police Lines, Jalandhar, for the first time in India by the Punjab Police, Transport Minister Ajit Singh Kohar, President of NGO ArriveSAFE, Harman Sindhu, Jalandhar Police Commissioner Yurinder Singh, coordinator, Punjab State Road Safety Council (PSRSC), Manmohan Luthra, DPI Colleges, Dr Mohammad Raffi, Jalandhar DCP Naveen Singla and other officials of the Transport Department vowed to save precious lives on roads by strictly implementing road safety measures.

Attention towards road safety measures

I have often seen that the traffic police are more interested in issuing challans than streamlining traffic on city roads. Issuing challans for violating traffic norms is fine but the police should also pay attention towards smooth flow of traffic smooth on city roads. More challans should be issued for drunken and rash driving because these two factors are the foremost cause of road crashes.

There should be effective patrolling near the bars and ahatas during night to keep a tab over drunken driving. Being a resident of the city, I urge the police to implement road safety measures practically not theoretically.

Ram Parkash Dua, businessman

Parents should rein in their children

I strongly feel if parents understand their responsibilities towards their children and condition them to follow traffic rules then road crashes will be reduced to a considerable extent. Parents buy new sports bikes for their children who are not even eligible for holding driving licence. These immature children drive rashly and negligently and often cause road accidents.

The police should also set up nakas outside schools to enforce traffic norms and keep a check on underage driving. The schools should not allow minor students coming to schools on bikes.

Kewal Krishan, city resident

Heartbreaking reports about road mishaps

Every morning when I read newspapers, my heart turns wistful by reading eight to ten news reports regarding road accidents. The government is paying attention to the issue and holding several meetings with transport and police officials to devise strategies to curb rising road accidents. I have also categorically told DTOs across the state to issue driving licence only after proper training test and to those who have passed at least Class X.

Special instructions have been issued to school authorities not to send their children on ‘ghrukas’ (assembled vehicles used as a mean of transportation). But it has been noticed that parents hardly bother about safety of their children.

Ajit Singh Kohar,Transport Minister

Need to fight together

Time is ripe to pay attention towards road accidents. It hurts when we read and hear about accidents, which sometimes take lives of all the members of a family. I urge residents not to involve themselves in rash and risky driving because the practice cannot only imperil a person’s life but it is quite probable that it can cripple lives of others on road. I still remember when a car of a mediaperson from Ludhiana met with an accident in which a reporter had died.

Yurinder Singh, Commissioner of Police

Road safety a part of syllabus

To make the youth aware of the ill effects of rash driving, road safety will be made a part of the syllabus in the colleges and universities from the next academic session — 2015. A full-fledged chapter about road safety comprising lessons on the rules and regulations of traffic will be introduced in the subject — Environment. Instructions have already been issued to the schools and colleges in this regard. The decision was taken in the recent meeting of Punjab State Road Safety Council (PSRSC) in Chandigarh.

Dr Mohammad Rafi, DPI, Colleges

PSRSC takes vital decisions

In the recent meeting of Punjab State Road Safety Council (PSRSC), the members had suggested several ways to improve road safety. The main decisions taken by the council include affixation of lights on tractor-trailers, cycle industry was asked to manufacture white or other bright coloured cycles to prevent road mishaps as black coloured cycles are prone to mishaps during the night. Road safety will be a subject in the next academic session in colleges and universities and proper training test of drivers has been made mandatory before issuing driving licence.

Manmohan Luthra, Coordinator, PSRSC, Punjab

Documentary on road safety

A documentary ‘Life after Them’ made by students of GNDU, Ladhewali campus, has received accolades from academicians during a competition at Chitkara University in Rajpura, last week.

The documentary was made by students of MA (Honours) Journalism and Mass Communication, third semester namely Karan Kumar, Sandeep Singh, Sukhmanjot Singh, Irfan Lone and Arun Singh.

These students worked overnight to shoot the seven minute short film. Students interviewed bereaved parents of a four-year-old child Aarush, who had died after falling from a running school bus on August 1 this year.

Aarush’s father, Chandan Arora, has categorically stated in the video about the step-motherly treatment of the city police, which have yet not registered a case against the school management for violating the norms of the Supreme Court on school buses.