Jalandhar, September 5
The Information Commissioner, Prof M.M. Ansari, has instructed the LIC Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) to furnish information to a client within 15 days under the Right to Information Act. The LIC had denied access to information.

Mr Balmukand Rai, a resident of Green Model Town, was refunded Rs 50 collected as handling charges along with a compensation of Rs 50 for filing an appeal to the Commission. He has sought a compliance report within 30 days.

Prof Ansari also directed the LIC (headquarters) to organise education and training programmes for the staff as mandated under Section 25 of the RTI Act. He said that this was necessary to avoid such mistakes.

Mr Balmukand Rai had alleged that his application was being delayed He was not told about the amount to be paid and the mode of payment for availing the information pertaining to a study on lost consumer cases. After a month he was asked to pay Rs 10 as handling charges. Finally, he was told that his application had been rejected under Section 8 (d) of the RTI Act and he was asked to appeal before the Senior Divisional Manager, Divisional Office within a month.

On December 1, 2005, he appealed before the Manager, Consumer Customer Relation, who has also been appointed as the Information Officer in the LIC.

The case pertained to study of lost consumer cases before different fora constituted under the Consumer Protection Act. In his application, Mr Rai had also asked the officer to inform him about the requisite fee prescribed for the purpose of supplying certified copy of the document.

The applicant, on January 2, 2006, again forwarded the letter to the Manager, LIC, saying that he had not been informed of the fee and supply of the copy of the document even after one month. The information he sought was not forbidden under the Act.

On March 8 the manager told Mr Rai that he had not paid the prescribed fee of Rs 10 and hence his letter did not fall under the Act. He was told to make the payment and be specific about the information.

He was further asked to pay Rs 50 as handling charges.

Mr Rai mentioned that no rule permitted the officer to take Rs 50 for handling. He, however, deposited Rs 60 on March 22.

On April 19, the manager told the applicant that his request had been rejected under section 8(d) of the Act. The section debars from disclosure of information such as commercial confidence, trade secrets and intellectual property, which would harm the competitive position of a third party.

Jalandhar, September 5
Tuberculosis (TB) and Brucellosis, the two deadly zootomic diseases, are gripping stray cows in Jalandhar and surrounding areas, posing a serious health hazard to residents.

So much so, that 20 to 30 per cent of stray cows, including, the ones in Gaushalas by some social workers, were afflicted with the two diseases, which, could prove to be highly contagious for human beings and could spread from animals to humans or vice versa.

The biggest threat comes from the milk of unregulated and stray animals, which, was finding its way to the market. “The threat is of enormous proportions keeping in view that there were over 1000 stray cows in the city and that 20-30 per cent of these cows were afflicted either with TB or Brucellosis. It is a different matter that unregulated animals, particularly, the ones in Gaushalas were well fed,” revealed a veterinary .

Another veterinary doctor said that the biggest problem in tackling the diseases among stray animals was that generally there was no way out for testing them. Things become more difficult in respect of Gaushalas where, people don’t want to get the animals checked. “TB can be transmitted from stray or unregulated animals to cows through human contact with their milk or breath. Even people taking milk from milkmen should consume it only after ensuring its double boiling,” said the veterinarian.

Balachaur (Nawanshahr), September 5
Tension gripped the town when a cow was allegedly killed at the nearby Mehmoodpur Mandaar village here yesterday.

Bakhshish Singh, a resident of the Mehmoodpur Mandaar village, told the police that the cow was eating the crop of farmer Ravinder Singh, who hit it with an axe. The cow was taken to a veterinary hospital by villagers.

Residents of the area condemned the incident.

The police have registered a case under Sections 429, 3, 8 and 9 of the IPC at the Balachaur police station.

Kapurthala, September 5
Dalits and panchayat of Rampur village are at loggerheads over the title of some land at the village. Several Dalit families have constructed their houses on the land.

While Dalits claimed that they were actual owners of the land, village Sarpanch Harjinder Singh said the four-kanal land was the property of the school. Dalit women forced the Patwari and Kanugo, who had comr to the village for demarcation of the land today, to leave the village.

Former sarpanch of the village Garib Dass, a Dalit, alleged that the sarpanch wanted to demolish their houses due to old enmity. Garib Dass claimed that the village panchayat had allotted the land to them in 1971. They constructed houses and started living there, he said, adding that the land had been registered in their favour.

The former sarpanch said Amrik Singh Bhuttar, personal assistant of Jalandhar MP, Rana Gurjit Singh, had also visited the village the previous day. No result came from the visit. 

Jalandhar, September 5
Teacher’s Day passed off amidst several protests in the city today. Members of the Unemployed B.Ed Teachers Union at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall criticised the government for not filling 37,000 vacancies. Mr Chander Shekhar, president, said the government had failed to keep its promise.

The members burnt the effigy of the Education Minister, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa.

The Government Teachers’ Union also held a protest and gave a memorandum to the District Education Officer. Mr Karnail Singh Sandhu, district president, said all incentives assured, including promotion schemes, bonus and medical allowance had not been given. 

Phagwara, September 5
The Phagwara police arrested two persons and recovered a stolen motorcycle from their possession at a check point on the G.T. Road here last night.

A police team headed by Balbir Singh and Nirmal Singh signalled two motorcycle riders to stop. The duo tried to escape, but were overpowered by after a brief chase. They were identified as Madan Lal and Maswan, residents of the nearby Kotrani village in Phagwara. The police found different registration numbers on the motorcycle and no registration certificate.