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Fake Stamp Paper Case
Ludhiana, July 1 Fearing that the police may pick them up for investigation, at least half a dozen deed writers have gone underground for the past two days. Ravinder Pal’s close friends and associates said on the condition of anonymity that they could not sit peacefully until his police remand was over. Some of them were not even going to their houses at night and kept calling one another throughout the day to find out if they were safe following the police raids at various places. Several others were making frantic calls to mediapersons to find out the latest in the case. “I do not know if Ravinder Pal was giving me fake stamp papers. I had bought these from him only twice when I was short of papers on a Sunday and when the treasury was closed. I am scared the police may question me,” a stamp vendor said. “Those who have their offices in the new courts complex panic whenever they see a police vehicle approaching them. We feel like running from the place,” another vendor said. Sources said revenue officials had also gone wary and were checking stamp papers. “We have to be careful. We have learnt a lot in the recent past. We feel we can take time to register a document, but can’t accept a fake stamp paper,” a tehsildar said.
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PSEB buckles; reinstates JE
Ludhiana, July 1 Though the reinstatement orders were received this morning at the divisional office, the decision was conveyed to the agitating staff last evening after a meeting of trade union leaders and employees of the Focal Point division with engineer-in-chief BS Bath and deputy chief engineer HS Randhawa. As a result, the line staff had resumed duty. Although senior officials of the PSEB were tightlipped about the entire episode, sources said the JE had admitted to his fault and had reportedly apologised for his conduct. Requesting anonymity, a PSEB official said: “Everyone knows that the JE is guilty and his behaviour with the public and one of his colleagues was unlike a public servant, but in the prevailing circumstances, we had no choice but to ignore his misconduct since a confrontation between employees and the PSEB would have caused inconvenience to the public.” Following the suspension of the JE, employees along with trade union activists had sat on a dharna and the line staff had struck work. Senior officers at the divisional office were detained inside their office till late in the evening on Monday. With no one to attend to the complaints of disruption in power supply and closed feeders, thousands of city residents in several localities had to go without power for nearly 14 hours on the intervening night of June 29 and 30. |
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Customs still to clear shipping bills worth crores
Ludhiana, July 1 According to information, about 4,000 shipping bills were pending with the customs department. Duty drawback worth Rs 60-70 crore had not been disbursed to exporters of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Srinagar region. An official of the department said on the condition of anonymity that after the embezzlement of Rs 10 crore by a fake agent in the department, work was being undertaken “very cautiously”. Chairman of Export Promotion Council SC Ralhan said the department had started clearing the backlog, but the process was not yet completed. “We have been assured that the backlog would be cleared soon. Exporters will have another meeting with officials as recession has hit exports badly,” said Ralhan. The pending bills are being cleared after going through the credentials of the exporters. The department had earlier claimed that the bills would be cleared by June 10. |
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Youth takes to cough syrups in a big way
Machhiwara, July 1 They then sell these off to junk stores. Residents of these areas said the bottles were a testimony of the use of drugs and intoxicants by the youth in large numbers. Wrappers of tablets of various kinds are also found along the bottles even as there is no hospital or dispensary near these areas, but dhabas and small hotels. The residents said addicts came to these dhabas and hotels to consume drugs and threw away the bottles and wrappers. “There is no check on young boys and girls who roam in the area in luxury cars and take drugs for a kick,” Gurdeep Singh, a resident of Machhiwara, said. A thousand bottles of cough syrup is only the tip of the iceberg as the rest gets thrown in the canal, drains and garbage dumps. This was going on right under the nose of the authorities concerned, but no action had been initiated, the residents rued. Drug inspector Rajesh Suri said he had not received any compliant in this regard. “We have not conducted any raids at Samrala and Machhiwara as there was no formal complaint. We were unaware of the problem,” he said, adding that whenever the team raided a particular medical store, the accused would stop selling illegal drugs and would get away with it. |
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Drugged labourers return to ransacked homes
Ludhiana, July 1 They were shocked to see their rooms ransacked and some of them broke down. Gian Bahadur, caretaker of the rented room that had been taken by the accused two days ago, was the worst sufferer. The accused decamped with Rs 35,000 he had saved over the past few months. The other labourers lost between Rs 500 and Rs 2,000. A loss of even Rs 100 is big for them as they slog it out in the sweltering heat. Meanwhile, the police is still searching for the accused. Sources said the victims had given the description of the accused and a sketch would be made. The police was investigating the whereabouts of listed criminals specialising in this kind of crime. The location of members of the “Jeharkhrani” gang was also being ascertained to find if they were involved in the crime. |
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2 women run over by truck
Khanna, July 1 Princy and Rani Mankoo were trying to cross the GT Road on a two-wheeler when an oil-laden truck hit them. Both died on the spot. Relatives of Princy said she had recently finished B.Tech and was to marry an NRI. The bodies were cremated this afternoon amid heart-rending scenes. The police has initiated action against the truck driver. A large number of accidents take place near Lalheri Chowk due to the chaos created on the GT Road by encroachers. |
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Councillor’s bail
plea adjourned
Ludhiana, July 1 The councillor was booked in January on the complaint of Amrik Khan of Lohara village. He was arrested a few days ago, when he was embroiled in the controversy of beating and stripping of a tehsildar and had surrendered before the DC. He was facing accusations of trying to grab wakf property and hurting religious sentiments. |
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Long queues at petrol stations
Ludhiana, July 1 Ashok Sachdeva, district president of the petrol pump dealers association, stated that the price of petrol had gone up by Rs 4 per litre while diesel had gone up by Rs 2 per litre. Petrol, which was available for Rs 44.95 per litre, will now cost Rs 48.95 and diesel has gone up to Rs 32.53 per litre from Rs 30.53.
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Traffic Blues-III
Ludhiana, July 1 Not only are they under immense pressure to perform, but long working hours on roads are also making them sick due to polluted air. Even as they are threatened by violators who drop names and are even accused of taking bribe, reports of the recently conducted health test by Cipla found a majority of traffic cops suffering from skin and respiratory diseases, besides sunburn. “Just stand at a roundabout for an hour and you will realise what it takes to be a traffic cop. Managing maddening traffic in temperatures as high as 42 degrees Celsius is not easy,” a cop posted at Jagraon bridge said. Further, they have to work for 12 hours on the trot and longer, if the CM has to visit the city. Senior police officials agree that staff crunch is a major impediment towards the regularisation of traffic. A senior traffic cop said on the condition of anonymity: “It has been more than a decade since the department conducted fresh recruitment. The vehicular traffic is increasing each year, and it’s adding to our problems.” “Every time we try to challan a vehicle, we are handed over a mobile phone and the person on the other side instructs us to let the traffic offender go,” cops deputed at Fountain Chowk said. But there are times when the methods of conducting a challan drive come under scrutiny, besides bullying by cops who forcibly take away the keys of a vehicle. Nitin Malhotra, a resident of Vikas Nagar, said: “I got scared when a traffic cop suddenly appeared in front of my vehicle. I stopped it and the cop just took out the keys and rudely asked me to park the vehicle in one corner. I asked him if I was a terrorist whom he stopped in this manner. This further infuriated the cops and I was challaned heavily.” |
Farmers feel the heat as arhtiyas go on strike
Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 1 With any produce barely arriving in the market, no purchase or sale was mediated by the commission agents. What to talk of lending money to farmers they (commission agents) did not even accept the repayment from them today. Organisers of other business organisations, including commercial banks had to bear the brunt of the strike, as the farmers being refused advances by the commission agents failed to keep commitments with these organisations. Investigations by The Tribune revealed that the commission agents in this part of Ludhiana and Sangrur districts had shunned their work on the first day of the five-day strike, the call for which was given by the organisation’s state body. Terming decision of direct payment to the farmers, a gross injustice with the traders, office-bearers of the Arhtiya Unions of the town and surrounding areas apprehended that this would shatter the economics of all business organisation in case the commission agents didn’t receive repayment of advances given to the farmers. The trend besides affecting the commission agents would also affect genuine farmers, as they would not get advance for funding inputs for the next crops, argued the commission agents. Surinder Kumar and Khet Pal, president and the patron, Arhtiya Union, alleged that the successive government, in an attempt to please a few defaulters had created an unsavory situation. Even genuine farmers who had been dealing with the commission agents as family members were against this decision. Accusing the bureaucrats of misguiding SAD and BJP leaders, they alleged that the defective procurement and payment policies had created unwanted hostility among the commission agents and the farmers. Instead, these policies had been benefiting dishonest traders and farmers, they added. Claiming that neither the commission agents nor the farmers were in favour of direct payment to the producers, the speakers, including patron Khet Pal, president Surinder Kumar, secretary Sarabjit Singh Chhappar and Avtar Sharma, apprehended that direct payment would harm the relationship between the arhtiyas and the farmers. “While the commission agents keep giving advance to the farmers according to their needs, they will hesitate in doing so in case the repayment is not assured,” argued Khet Pal. Jagraon: With the state government finally deciding to give the payments of the produces of the farmers directly to them through cheques, the arhtiyas (commission agents) today decided to go five days strike from today onward. The government has taken this initiative to bring transparency in dealing with the farmers and it want to express its willingness to check the increasing suicide cases among the debt-ridden farmers. The arhtiyas and other associations are opposing this decision as they lend unsecured loan to the farmers throughout the year and pay the price for their (farmers’) produces after deducting the loan amount. The farmers are also said to be taking the arhtiyas side as they had a bitter experience of the cooperative sugar mills where the government (sugar mills) directly bought the sugarcane from them and have not paid the dues for the past eight years. Moreover, the direct distribution of bonus amount to the farmers through purchase agencies this year had fallen flat and the amount was finally given to arhtiyas for distribution. The farmers that were given the cheques are still to get their payment. At least 100-odd arhtiyas and members of other associations today gathered at the market committee of the Asia’s second biggest grain market in Jagraon and took out a protest march toward the SDM’s office and also presented a memorandum to him in this regard. President of the local Arhtiya Association, Darshan Singh Sidhwan, Apar Singh, Vijay Kumar Jhanji, Amrit Lal Gupta, Bhushan Lal, Raj Kumar Bhalla and others said all arthiyas would go on strike from today onwards till July 5. They said all unions and associations, including that of the cloth merchants, karayana and pulses dealers, farmers’ union, accountants’ unions, fertiliser dealers were supporting the agitation. However, when a Tribune team visited the grain market, they found that farmers were suffering the most. Though the harvesting of maize and sunflower was going on. There wasn’t any buyer or seller due to the strike. Today, about 5,000 bags of maize and 2,000 bags of sunflowers were bought to the grain market. Darshan Singh of Dangian village said they he had bought about 100 bags of maize but were reloading it, as they didn’t want to wait for five days. Similarly, Arjan Singh of Beed Balo ki village was also seen reloading his produce of sunflower. A large number of farmers have, however, decided to wait for a day before taking their crop back. Kamaljit Singh Malla, chairman, market committee, Jagraon, said the new formula wasn’t acceptable to the arthiyas. Moreover, besides being an anti-Arhtiya move, the formula was anti-farmers as well. Meanwhile, arhtiyas of Raikot and Mullanpur Dakha have also decided to go strike. Khanna: The arthiyas of Khanna today stated a dharna on the call given by the Sangharsh Committee of Punjab Arthiya Association. The committee decided to launch a protest against the decision of giving direct payment to the farmers by the Punjab Government. The arthiyas alleged that the decision would create a rift between the arthiyas and the farmers. The protest was headed by Sushil Kumar Sheela and it was decided during the dharna that no crop would be sold or purchased by the arthiyas. Former chairman of the market committee Harbans Singh Rosha, Mohit Goyal, Bhalinder Singh, Ranjeet Singh, Rajkumar Sahnewalia, Ranveer Sood, Surjit Singh Kohli, Harnek Singh Benipal, Manpret Sofat, Yadviner Singh Libra and others were present.
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Power Crisis
Ludhiana, July 1 It was on Friday that a group of industrialists called on Hira Singh Gabria, Minister for Jails and Tourism, who represents Ludhiana (Rural) Vidhan Sabha segment, and presented him bouquet as a mark of protest instead of staging a dharna or protest rally. Gabria was initially unhappy at the way industrialists had gone to him and claimed that he had made rich contribution for the industry of the town. After discussion, he mellowed down and then met the industrialists and discussed the problem thread bear. The same group of industrialists went to meet Manish Tiwari, who has been elected MP from Ludhiana, and presented a bouquet to him on Saturday. However, Tiwari was allegedly annoyed over their Gandhigiri and told them they had no moral right to seek to his help. Rajneesh Ahuja, President, Focal Point Industrialists Association, said they told him that he had sent them SMS that people of town were always welcome to meet him for their problems and they were shocked at his arrogant attitude. Tiwari also maintained that it was the duty of the state government to resolve their problems. Rajneesh Ahuja told The Tribune today that they told Tiwari that being a public representative it was his duty to listen to their grievances. According to Ahuja, they also met Chief Parliamentary Secretary Harish Rai Dhanda, who listened their problems patiently and organised a meeting with PSEB officials. He also promised to take up the matter with the Chief Minster. The industrialists also called on Deputy Speaker Satpaul Gosain and Harish Bedi, MLA. Ahuja said the industrial production had been crippled and there was no industrial activity at all. PD Sharma, President, Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has in a letter to the Chief Minister held him responsible for the current crisis and opposed the free supply of power to the farm sector. In a separate letter to the Union Finance Minister Sharma has alleged that the Income Tax Department has started checking the purchase of power by the states through the Power Trading Corporation and also deducting TDS, which was wrong. The industry should be helped and not allowed to close down, he has emphasised. The PSEB has announced 12- hour power cut for the urban areas while the industries will face closure for three days in a week. The arc furnaces will get power for 10 hours daily. The water supply to the town has been badly hit by the power cut.
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Small saving schemes a boon for postal dept
Small savings schemes offered by the postal department are safe and secure avenues for keeping the savings of citizens, especially in semi-urban and rural areas and in turn they are also rolling out huge money. People prefer investing in small savings as interest rates of small savings in post office is higher than banks. Among small saving schemes, Five Year Post Office Time Deposit Account and the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme have proved to be popular. The Post Office Monthly Income Account (POMIA) Scheme is also popular among people. While the Recurring accounts are also available with banks but people prefer to open their accounts with post office due to higher interest. There has been a demand from different sections of the people for restoring the element of bonus on POMIA. There has also been a demand that the Five Year Post Office Time Deposit Account and the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme should enjoy the same tax treatment as is applicable to five-year bank deposits. "The income earned by India Post through the sale of such instruments and money transfer services has grown significantly in the past few years. Ludhiana generated Rs 6.32 crore revenue from small saving schemes last year," added VK Raizada, senior superintendent, Post Office.
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Unsafe Drinking
Water
Ludhiana, July 1 The copies of the order delivered on June 22 by Justice RS Mongia, chairperson, and Justice Baldev Singh, member of the commission, have been sent to the respondents for the compliance. Pran Nath Bhatia, a BJP leader and a former councillor, along with Arvind Sharma, a resident of the E Block, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, developed and maintained by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) here, had filed a complaint before the rights panel against poor chlorination of the water supplied to the residents through nearly 450 tube wells in various parts of the city. They had alleged that chlorination dosers of more than half the tube wells were non-functional and further that the submersible pumps being put into service to augment the water supply, had no provision for chlorination dosers. The complainants had maintained that the condition of tube wells in the colonies maintained by the LIT was worse because the water supply having been handed over to the Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation Board; there was no supervision on operation of tube wells and chlorination dosers. Thus, residents of colonies, which were still under the control of the Trust, were more vulnerable to water-borne infections and outbreak of diseases due to the unsafe water. The complainants averred it was all more regrettable that the civic authorities, the district administration and top officials of the LIT were aware of the threat being posed to the citizens due the supply of unsafe drinking water, but still no one had taken remedial measures in this direction. The complaint will come up for the next hearing on July 23 when further action will be considered on the basis of the status report sought from the deputy commissioner and the municipal commissioner.
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Govt to set up memorials to Kuka martyrs
Ludhiana, July 1 He asked District Development and Panchayat officer, Mahinder Singh Grewal, to identify the land for constructing the memorials in the native villages of these martyrs, so that the case can be sent to the Punjab government. He said seminars would also be organised by various departments, educational institutions with the cooperation of the writers. A state-level committee has been constituted headed by Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, and the district-level committee headed by the deputy commissioner. In order to name main roads after martyrs of the Kuka movement, the additional deputy commissioner asked Mahinder Pal Gupta, Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, for necessary action in this connection. The Additional Deputy Commissioner asked District Public Relation Officer, Subhash Gupta, to organise a seminar with the cooperation of writers and poets. He also said such seminars would be organised in colleges and schools and meeting of principals of colleges would shortly be called. A hoarding of the Kuka Movement will be installed at the entry of the government offices. The District Food and Supply Controller was asked to install such hoardings at petrol stations, gas agencies etc and civil surgeon to install such hoarding in the hospitals and dispensaries. He said the supreme and unparalleled sacrifices of the 66 Kuka martyrs blown after tying them to the British cannons, would always remain an inexhaustible source of inspiration to all those who have the courage of conviction. He further said the Kukas occupy a prominent place in the history for they were amongst the first to initiate non-cooperation, as the political weapon against the British rule. Later, Mahatma Gandhi adopted the idea for the freedom struggle.
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Faculty development programme
Ludhiana, July 1 As many as 100 delegates from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh participated in the programme organised on the inaugural day of the nodal centre. The institute will be elemental in dispensing training to medical teachers from various medical colleges, including Punjab Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttrakhand. Dr SS Gill, Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, inaugurated the nodal centre. He said lack of proper teachers is a problem that should be tackled at the earliest and suggested ways to attract good medical teachers. "We need role models in the form of teachers who should generate good professionals and I am hopeful that CMC will live up to the expectations of medical fraternity in faculty development programmes," Dr Gill added. As part of the initiative, it has been decided to cover 100 per cent of medical teachers with basic course in medical educational methodology, which would be conducted in-house by each medical college. About 20 per cent of the faculty would be taken for an advanced course, which would be conducted at MCI nodal centres. The nodal centres would be responsible for providing technical and expert support to the medical college attached to them, monitor the training provided by the medical colleges and conduct advanced courses. Dr Sunil Singh, principal of CMC, provided information on development of medical education at the college. Dr Abraham Thomas, director of CMC, said a medical doctor does not become a teacher but has to learn a lot to teach the undergraduates. While Dr BS Aulakh, member of executive committee, MCI, also highlighted the importance of nodal centres and encouraged the medical fraternity to take advantage of this nodal centre in order to impart medical education that would produce good doctors. Dr Tejinder Singh, who has been involved as a member of the expert group of the MCI for faculty development is the co-ordinator of the nodal centre.
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Docs seek 3 pc more for health in budget
Ludhiana, July 1 In a communication to the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the IDPD pointed out that quality health care to all the citizens was the responsibility of the government, which has not been met yet. IDPD held a national consultation meet on “National Health Bill, 2009” and “National Health Policy, 2002” at the India International Centre, New Delhi, in May, wherein extensive deliberations were held by a number of medical experts, legal luminaries and social activists. The participants had strongly recommended that the present budget was not sufficient to address the pressing health needs of the community. It needed to be enhanced to at least 3 per cent of GDP with the final goal of 6 per cent, as per the recommendations of the WHO. Experts said human resource was the most important resource of the nation and improvements in the health of people would subsequently increase productivity, ensure stability and lead to happier, healthier and prosperous nation. The doctors have forwarded a request to the government to ensure at least 3 per cent of GDP for health in the current fiscal year.
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Fee Hike
Ludhiana, July 1 In the memorandum they have urged the authorities to check the compliance of terms and conditions on which NOC were given to schools by the state education department to get affiliation from the CBSE, to check whether fees and other charges are collected under the heads prescribed by the department as per rules, to check the collection of funds and to check sale of materials like bags, calendars, shoes etc. Parents were agitated against the fee hike in unaided privately managed schools from a long time. Strong resentment prevailed among them over the fee hike with the implementation of the Sixth pay commission. The managements of private schools had raised the tuition and admission fee so much that it was beyond the reach of the middle class and the salaried section of the society.
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From PAU
Ludhiana, July 1 As many as 50 seats for BSc (biotechnology) have been filled up from among 215 candidates who appeared for the entrance test. A record 177 candidates appeared for the 10 seats in MSc biotechnology, said Dr MS Aulakh, dean, College of Agriculture. None of the universities of Punjab had more than 17 applicants per seat, he added. Dr Aulakh said all the seats for BSc biotechnology got filled up in the
first counselling after entrance test on June 29. Seeing the great rush of candidates for the course, the date for second counselling might be changed from
August 31 to accommodate meritorious students.
Appointed
Dr Harminder Singh Sidhu, research engineer in College of Agricultural Engineering of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has been appointed hub manager for a major research project. The project has been undertaken by International Rice Research Institute, Philippines, and will focus on South Asia. A total of five scientists from India have been selected for the project.
Meeting
PAU Kisan Club, working under the guidance of directorate of extension education of Punjab Agricultural University will hold a state-level meeting on July 2. According to officiating director of extension education, Dr Daljit Singh Dhillon, PAU, scientists would deliver talks on maize and baby corn cultivation, kharif pulses, IPM control of cotton pest, and cotton diseases.
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Paddy sowing picks up
Machhiwara/Khamano, July 1 Sultry weather had left people high and dry. But, the pre-monsoon rains gave them the much-needed relief. People are hopeful of getting a respite from unscheduled power cuts that had added to the woes. As per an ordinance passed recently, the government had banned paddy transplantation before June 10. Right after that the paddy transplantation work began with a full swing. Delayed monsoons, however, played a spoilsport and subsequent power cuts forced the farmers to opt for generators thereby burning a hole into
their pockets. Earlier, it used to take nearly 10 to 12 hours to water an acre but now it has reduced to just five to six hours, said a few farmers in Khamano. They added that the yield of the crop would also increase if paddy were sown in this season. They had already sown PUSA-44 variety of paddy in the villages. The varieties that can be sown later on are PR11, 201, Basmati PUSA 1121, Govinda and Haryana Kesri beside a few costly hybrid seeds. A seed seller owner in Machhiwara, Sanjeev Kumar, said the farmers were preferring Basmati PUSA 1121 as this crop had fetch good money in the past few years and could be sown later on. The seeds of this variety need less water and are ready for sowing in 20 to 25 days, he added.
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Heavy rain brings respite
Mandi Ahmedgarh, July 1 The civic authorities claimed to have strengthened the sewer system to cope with the situation. Though the downpour threw normal life out of the gear, exposing the inadequacy of the infrastructure in checking flooding, especially in the low-lying areas, the residents got a respite after a long span
of heatwave. The downpour flooded the low-lying areas, including the Railway,
Mahavir, Dehliz roads, Gandhi and Bhagat Singh chowks and the municipal office. Employees had difficulty in reaching their offices. A large number of two-wheelers, too, were found stranded.
Ravinder Puri, councillor, Municipal Council, claimed that the authorities had made adequate arrangements to cope with the situation, but some of the low-lying areas remained flooded due to unavoidable circumstances.
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Rs 1.35 lakh relief for farm labourers
Raikot, July 1 He said the cheques meant for the Shagun Scheme would be distributed in this month. Those who received the cheques today were Ram Adhar of Bopa Rai Khurd village
(Rs 30,000), Gurmail Singh of Jalaldiwal village (Rs 10,000), Rachpal Singh of Raikot
(Rs 10,000), Chamkaur Singh of Bassian village (Rs 75,000) and Darshan Singh of Raikot
(Rs 10,000).
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Bhambri is mkt panel chief
Amloh, July 1
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Swine Flu
Ludhiana, July 1
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City Concerns
Ludhiana Tribune had sought people’s reaction to the incident wherein Maj GS Benipal (retd), a tehsildar, was beaten up inside his office, recently. He had only “refused to register their revenue document out-of-turn”. This is what a cross section of the residents has to say on the issue.
Brutal attack on Maj GS Benipal for his upright and honest conduct by Youth Akali leaders, has shocked most of those residing in Punjab. It has become amply clear that politics still remains the last refuge of the scoundrels. The unholy nexus between swindlers, scoundrels and politicians has created a sense of insecurity among the peace-loving people of the state. Courage being a rare commodity, masses usually takes things lying down and is bothered about their bread and butter only. The courage and conviction shown by Major Benipal deserves ‘kudos’ from public and incentives from the government. A gallantry award and incentives to him from the government would be a step in the right direction. Besides this, steps should also be taken to check forces indulging in hooliganism and corruption. On one hand it would inspire bureaucrats to emulate Benipal and on the other it would demoralise anti-social and corrupt forces of society. Persons like Major Benipal are the real heroes who should be honoured by people, religious-cum-social organisations and NGO’s. KBS Sodhi, Talibanisation of Punjab
The incident of beating up and dragging the
government official from his office shows, how goons are ruling our state. Ruling party is openly shielding them. If people don’t oppose it, that day is not far when nobody will be safe and our state will just be like Taliban-ruled state. Sukhminder Singh, Shameful act
I live in Melbourne, Australia, and read The Tribune daily. It is shameful for us that the law and order situation has come to this stage. One cannot leave out anyone free from the charge of its less than satisfactory role, including politicians, bureaucrats and even judiciary. It hurts that our society is living in conditions worse than even animals. Looks like we have forgotten the meaning of being civilised. Raghbir Singh, Fair probe must
I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to assault a government official in his office till those involved have backing of the higher-ups, particularly politicians. The unfortunate incident that we witnessed where Major Benipal was beaten up inside his office, in June, is a telling comment on the state of affairs in the city. The government should table an inquiry report into the matter, at the earliest. A fair probe should also be carried out to put the accused in the dock. It’s important to set examples of strict action in order to avoid any such incident in future. GS
Baath, Streamline admn set-up
Even if one was to think of thrashing the tehsildar, in the city, recently, as a stray incident, we also need to ponder on the incident of violence during the election campaign of the recently concluded parliamentary elections. A few names are being repeated in both incidents. It means that the administration needs to tighten its grip on the law and order situation. Without naming any individuals, we need to think about streamlining the administrative and the police system, as a whole, in the city for a public to have faith in governance. I feel getting done the government jobs, out of turn, is a widely accepted practise. This often leads to officers finding themselves in a piquant situation. I also feel that not just the public a change is also needed on the front of the government officials handling public cases. Let there be a common treatment of all public by stopping VIP or VVIP treatment to a few. In the immediate context, it will be fair in case the enquiry was completed at the earliest. Tejinder Singh, Attack on
officer’s dignity
Brutal attack on Tehsildar, Major Benipal, who happens to be an ex-commissioned officer, by Akali workers led by two Akali councillors’ Simarjeet Singh Bains and Kanwaljeet Singh, was a clear sign of misuse of political power. Further, it also reflects ‘gundaraaj’ being perpetrated by small time politicians. Besides the attack on humanity, it was also an attack on the dignity of an officer who refused to entertain unjust demands of local politicians of the ruling party. Moreover, question mark over the safety of an employee whether he or she is employed by government or private employer has also been put by such incidents. To get done a particular task, which is totally illegal as per law and order, is a sign of dictatorship. First of all, former officers of the military shouldn’t take up below status job with the government. Secondly, if the circumstances force them to do all this, they should avoid the use of military title before their name. State government must know the fact that Tehsildar rank is junior even to that of a Lieutenant of the army is status as well as in terms of pay scale. Misuse of political power signals abuse to the democracy as it shows a dangerous shift of priorities of the ruling governance from real issues towards futile, waste and forceful activities. State government as well as city administration instead of misusing the political power, should concentrate other problem such as overcoming the scarcity of water and electricity, cleanliness drive, strengthening as well as checking the preventive and security measures etc., as our security personnel’s instead of preventing the crime and criminals, are being attracted and forced to make more and more money in many ways of public harassment. Besides this, there are many bigger problems to work on, rather than piddling details about one’s private life. Ravi Chander Garg,
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Assault 400 booked, none identified
Ludhiana, July 1 Though the police booked more than 400 persons for the attack, not a single one has been identified or detained so far. The unruly mob was protesting against the murder of Sachkhand Guru Ramanand in Vienna. They were forcing a “chakka jam” on the highway as mark of protest. While a group targeted vehicles and another damaged railway tracks, this unruly mob chose the Toll Plaza. Toll Plaza manager Jagmohan said the police had so far not done anything in the case, “We hope that the cops will identify the assailants so that in future the national property could be saved.” Police sources said the case was being investigated.
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National Soft Tennis
Ludhiana, July 1 In the girl’s section, Uttar Pradesh outplayed Maharashtra 2-0 to clinch the title in the team event while in the boy’s section; Maharashtra got the better of Uttar Pradesh to annex the title. In the girl’s doubles final, Taruka and Samia outnumbered Pragya and Deepshikha, also from Uttar Pradesh to romp home as champions. Srilekha and Atiya from Uttar Pradesh, Megha and Ria from Andhra Pradesh jointly shared the third spot. In the boy’s section, Atul and Navneet from Uttar Pradesh emerged as champions while the pair of Amit and Rohit from Chandigarh had to content with the second position. The third place was shared by Avinash and Aditya from Madhya Pradesh along with Amit and Ahubhashish, also from Madhya Pradesh. In the girl’s section (singles), Taruka came out triumphant to bag the title while Samia of Uttar Pradesh finished runners up. Mehga from Uttar Pradesh secured the third position. In the boy’s singles, Navneet and Atul from Uttar Pradesh secured the first and second positions, respectively, while Ahad from Madhya Pradesh stood third. JS Khangura, a Kila Raipur MLA, along with Kuldeep Singh, Addiction Deputy Commissioner, and DIG, Sharad Satya Chauhan, distributed prizes among the winners.
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Ludhiana, July 1