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December 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Plenty of schemes but no check on crime Ludhiana, December 19 While the present SSP, Mr Harpreet Singh Sidhu, has initiated his own schemes like reconstitution of certain wings, constable beat system and formation of salahakar samitis, several well-meaning schemes which were at the fruition stage have been forgotten and ignored or abandoned. Even the much-needed tenant verification scheme, which is being considered as significant in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Parliament and launched by the Delhi and other states’ police forces have been discontinued in the city. Ludhiana was one of the first city in North India where the scheme was launched. The ignorance of the scheme can be quite costly as the Delhi police must have realised now. A number of other officers had more or less followed the same pattern as adopted by the present incumbent but what surprises one is that the much-needed schemes were left mid-way without logic. Not only the time, energy and resources invested in the scheme have gone waste but the objectives with which they were launched have also been lost. While the officers seem to be
concentrating on their plans as a prestige point, the criminals continue to flourish. The present administration has the dubious distinction of ignoring all the previous schemes and launching several of its own. No one now talks about the Hopeline and NRI helpline schemes initiated by Mr Dinkar Gupta. Ms Gurpreet Deo had launched a special accessibility scheme of the police officers during her tenure as the SSP of this police district, but if the present status of the accessibility of the police officers is taken into account, then the scheme seems to have completely forgotten. Even SSP Kuldip Singh had launched a special scheme of accessibility but that too has not been followed. He had put up white boards outside the office of the police officials. On these board, the official, before going outside, used to mention the time he can be expected back or which officer to contact in his
absence. The scheme has now been abandoned, causing problems for the complainants. Ms Gurpreet Deo had given directions that all police officials should
definitely be in office during the normal office hours and available to the public at any hour. She herself followed it religiously. But now there is no set
SSP Kuldip Singh had started a scheme to eliminate the hurdle of talking first to the operator and then to the police official by ordering that all the police officials below the rank of the SP would pick up the phone themselves. Today, in order to talk to even an Inspector , one has to go through the operator. The much needed tenant-verification scheme, launched by Mr Kuldip Singh, has also been abandoned. The scheme, though controversial, was generally welcomed by the citizens. Most of the crime occurring in the city has been committed by the migrant labourers who form the majority of the tenants. It was aimed that if the police has records like name and photographs of the tenants, it could help in checking the crime rate. A number of landlords violating this scheme were booked by the police but now the scheme has been left mid-way. One of the major casualties of the different choices of the various officers has been the media. It was started long ago in the city that the mediapersons would be given a crime file of the cases registered daily. Every officer made his own plans. Some deputed an official of the SP rank, others deputed only an ASI or an SI. The officials have their own choice of briefing mediapersons about the cases. Most of the times cases bringing problems for the police were ignored. However, the scenario was never as bad as in the present times. |
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Mini Rose Garden in eye of storm
Ludhiana, December 19 Alleging that senior MC officials in the horticulture wing, as well as certain functionaries of the ruling BJP, had siphoned off huge funds claimed to have been spent for the development of the park, the District Youth Congress (Urban) activists burnt an effigy of Mr Sat Pal Gosain, Deputy Speaker, Punjab Assembly, in whose Assembly segment (Ludhiana East) the park is located. The YC followed it up by holding a rally at the MC headquarters here and submitted a memorandum to the authorities, demanding a high-level inquiry into the working of horticulture wing of the civic body, in specific context of the Mini Rose Garden. According to Mr Sarbjit Singh Bunty, senior vice-president and Mr G.S. Arora, general-secretary of DYC, the development of the park had proved a God sent opportunity both for some of the officials and senior BJP functionaries, who had filled their personal coffers at the cost of the MC. “Serious malpractices have been committed in the civic work and purchase of plants and massive funds have been misappropriated.” While Mr Gosain has maintained a studied silence over the allegations levelled by DYC, the area councillor, Mr Parveen Bansal, also of the BJP, has termed the politically motivated propaganda as ‘most unfortunate’. He said attempts to involve a leader of the stature of Mr Gosain in Mini Rose Garden project, showed the desperation of the YC functionaries. “Everyone is well aware of the conduct of the local YC and Congress activists, who had, not long back, made an unsuccessful bid to forcibly occupy the land adjoining the same park, where a disposal depot is located at present.” Mr Bansal, while maintaining that all allegations of misappropriation of funds were unfounded and far from truth, remarked that he would rather welcome any probe in the project, at any level. If someone was found guilty, he should be proceeded against according to law but if the allegations were proved false, the YC activists should be prepared to face the music, he added. The erstwhile vegetable garden of the Central Jail has been converted into a sprawling park in an area of 3 acre at a staggering expenditure of Rs 91.5 lakh. Planned by Dr APS Gill, a retired Professor of Landscape and Floriculture from Punjab Agricultural University here, the park has been designed on the pattern of famous Pinjore Gardens. It has four terraces, including one for parking, red stone footpath, a long three-terraced canal, having main sculptured fountain and four other fountains in a geometrical design in the upper and lower terraces. According to officials of the horticulture wing, the park has various new varieties of roses, along with new species of ground covers, shrubs, well grown trees along the boundary as well as specimen trees in the lawns.
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College
teachers end strike Ludhiana, December 19 Addressing a press conference, Prof K.B.S. Sodhi, president of the union, said that even though their demands had not been fulfilled, it was decided in the interest of the students that the colleges be re-opened. He, however, said that the agitation in the form of chain hunger strike will continue at Matka Chowk in Chandigarh from tomorrow till December 30. During the chain hunger strike, 10 members of the Joint Action Committee will take part at any given point of time, which will include four members of the PCCTU, four non-teaching employees, one principal and one member of the college managing committee. Prof Sodhi said that the executive members will hold a meeting at DAV College, Chandigarh, on December 31 and decide the further course of action. The union president said that their demand over implementation of pension-cum-gratuity scheme had been fulfilled only verbally, and in case the government does not send them any notification within the next 10 days, the Joint Action Committee will hold a dharna in the constituency of Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab. He also said that the members may go on chain court arrest after December 31. Besides, he said task forces will be sent to various constituencies for launching an aggressive campaign against the government. The committee has also decided to hold a ‘Save higher education’ convention at SD College, Chandigarh, in which students, their parents and teachers will be invited and made aware of the ‘‘anti-education policies’’ of the government. Professor Sodhi said that the staff of all colleges was much worried over the non-fulfilment of their demand of enhancing the grant-in-aid to the colleges. He said that while colleges should be getting 95 per cent aid, the government had declared that only 50 per cent grant would be sent to them. Besides, he said that quarterly aid to the colleges was not being given to them. As for the current session, aid was sent for just the first quarter and payment for two quarters was due. Under such circumstances, Prof Sodhi said at least half of the aided colleges would not be able to pay salaries to their teachers from January onwards. He said that reserves of most of the colleges in rural areas had already exhausted and the managements had expressed difficulty in payment of the dues to the staff. The union members also blamed the Punjab government of misappropriation of funds by not distributing to them the amount of arrears sent to it by the Centre in March this year. The members said that even though nine months had passed and several reminders had been sent to them by colleges and teachers, nothing was being done to pay the arrears for the
While narrating their experiences in Central Jail at Burail, four executive members from Ludhiana, who had been released yesterday, including Prof Sodhi, Prof Kuldip Singh, district convener of the union, Prof Kamaljit Singh from Guru Teg Bahadur College, Dakha, and Prof V.K. Bhardwaj from Arya College, said that they were not treated well. They said that while hard criminals were being given proper diet, furniture, newspapers and TV sets, the teachers were provided muddy water. The teachers said that they had to pool their money and get food for themselves. Blankets given to them were also rough and shoddy, they said, resulting in restless nights. The teachers said that they had written to the jail superintendent to provide them better facilities, but there was no response. However, the teachers were satisfied with the polite and courteous behaviour of the jail staff. The teachers also appreciated the efforts of Prof Parminder Singh and Prof Gurmeet Singh Kahlon for arranging rallies in their absence and rightly implementing their plans. |
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HDFC enters insurance business Ludhiana, December 19 Speaking at a function, Mr Deepak Satwalekar, Managing Director and CEO of the company, said: “The HDFC has entered the lucrative business on the basis of a customer and industry survey, which had indicated a great scope in the area. The positive response of the customers in Chandigarh has encouraged us to advance the launching in Ludhiana. The pre-launch surveys in the region indicate that as much as 41 per cent of potential customers in Ludhiana are keen on buying a life insurance product from a private company.” Speaking about the product range of the company, he said: “We would try to cater to customised needs of different segments. The buyers could add optional rider benefits like critical illness, accidental death benefit and more with the basic plan. The company was offering the customers a choice of 5 plans, including endowment assurance,
money back, term assurance plan, loan cover term assurance and single premium for whole life. The loan cover term assurance plan had been specifically designed for HDFC home loan borrowers, to help his family repay the outstanding housing loan in case of death.” Earlier, Mr Maninder Sood, branch manager for the Chandigarh and Ludhiana branches of HDFC Standard Life, said: “The life insurance premium as per centage of gross domestic savings is expected to increase from 6 per cent to 18 per cent in the next 10 years. It is expected to grow by about 18-20 per cent every year with pension premium income going by about 20-30 per cent.” The company would have two distribution channels — individual consultants/agents and corporate agents to capture the market, he added.
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No takers for focal point scheme Ludhiana, December 18 Enquiries at the Dhandra Focal Point near here revealed some interesting facts. Only 15 entrepreneurs had been able to get the possession of their industrial plots out of 100 odd youths who were selected by a committee chaired by the ADC (Development) to invest in this focal point. Elaborating on the causes of the failure of the scheme, officials, of anonymity, at the District Industrial Centre said, ‘‘The government has imposed a condition that industrial plots will be leased out at a rate of Rs 10 per square yard per annum only to residents of the village concerned. In case adequate number of youths do not come forward to set up units, second preference will be given to youths of neighbouring villages. It is very difficult to find suitable entrepreneurs.’’ Since the rural youth generally lacked risk capacity and entrepreneurial skills, they preferred jobs in the private sector in the city. The result was that there were no takers for industrial sheds and industrialists willing to pay higher prices for these plots, were unable to invest there, they added. Interestingly, the government had decided to set up 39 rural focal points in 11 blocks of the district. It had promised the entrepreneurs that they would be also provided capital subsidy on fixed assets with an upper limit of Rs 50 lakh, exemption from paying electricity duty for 5 years, price preference and 24-hour electricity supply from rural feeders. The government also promised that a separate seniority list would be prepared to disburse subsidy. Industrialists said they had not received a single penny all these years. Official sources said the government had not disbursed any capital subsidy or any other grant promised at the time of launching that scheme. Banks were also not ready to provide loans to new entrepreneurs, resulting in low rate of success. Some village panchayats which had donated their land for the project, were demanding return of their land. One of industrialists at Dhandra Focal Point, said, ‘‘The scheme was undoubtedly a novel effort by the pro-rural government. Due to lack of proper attention of the Industries department and disbursement of subsidy, the scheme has virtually failed, resulting in indebtedness and unemployment for hundreds of youth. The government may have to pay a heavy price for the failure of the scheme in the ensuing elections.’’ |
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3 ‘satta’ bookies held Ludhiana, December 19 On Monday, the Division Number six police arrested Rajinder Singh, alias Bittu, a resident of Dashmesh Nagar, for accepting “satta” bids. The Kotwali police nabbed Sagar Dutt, a resident of Surinder Nagar, and the Shimla Puri police arrested Niraj Kumar, a resident of mohalla Isher Singh Nagar, for similar offences the same day. |
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Cong panel interviews ticket aspirants Ludhiana, December 19 Those who appeared for various seats in the Ludhiana Parliamentary constituency included for Ludhiana West, Mr Harnamdass Johar, Mr Pawan Dewan, Mr Ajit Singh Chawla, Mr K.K. Bawa, Mr Gopal Bhushan Gupta, Mr Amarjit Singh Tikka, Prof Satish Sharma, Mr Jeevan Dhawan and others. For Ludhiana East, Mr Surinder Dawer, Mr Rajinder Singh Basant, Mr Ashwani Sharma, Mr Pappi Prashar, Ms Indu Prashar, Mr Shyam Sunder Malhotra, Mr Jagmohan Sharma, Mr Om Prakash Malhotra and others. Although Mr Rakesh Pandey has already been renominated from Ludhiana North, besides him Ms Meenakshi Saini and Mr Suresh Rudra appeared for interview for this seat. Those who appeared for Ludhiana Rural include, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, Mr Malkiat Singh Birmi, Anand Swaroop Singh Mohi and Mr Ashok Garcha. In the rural segment the main candidates who appeared for the interview
include Mr Darshan Singh Brar, Mr Kirandip Singh Ghalib and Mr Gurdeep Singh for Jagraon, Mr Gurkirat Singh and Mr Harnesh Singh Mangewal for Payal, Mr Ishwar Singh and Ms Baljinder Kaur for Koom Kallan, Mr Malkiat Singh Dhaka, Mr Mohinder singh Kalyan and Mewa Singh from Dhaka and Mr Gurdev Lapran, Mr Gurmeet Singh and Mr Taranjeet Singh for Kila Raipur Assembly segment. |
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Training programme on industrial sewing machines Ludhiana, December 19 According to a press note, the programme was inaugurated by Professor Jagir Singh Bhullar, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Industries), Government of Punjab. He appreciated the efforts made by different agencies in the development of skills of unemployed youth. Mr Hira Singh Gabria, MLA, expressed happiness while sharing his experiences regarding the unemployment conditions of the rural youths. Mr J.S. Kullar, Director, SISI Ludhiana while addressing the gathering said the industrialists should maintain the quality of the products to compete in the international market. Mr Vinod Thapar, president, FEKTA, welcomed the dignitories and other participants. Mr S.S. Bedi, Assistant Director, SISI, Ludhiana, elaborated the theme of the training programme and shared his experiences. During the three-month training programme, two months’ training will be provided at the training centre on different industrial machines like overlock, folding, lockstitch, cutting, stitching and finishing. The syllabus for the training has been prepared by officers of the SISI, Ludhiana, who will also supervise the training programme by visiting the training centre frequently. One-month shop floor training would be arranged in different industrial units to enable them to know the working of the units. On the occasion Prof Jagir Singh Bhullar announced a grant of Rs 50,000 and Mr Hira Singh Gabria Rs 1 lakh for the training centre. |
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Lajpat Rai raps POTO critics Ludhiana, December 19 In a statement issued here today, Mr Rai regretted that these parties and leaders were using issues of the national interest as an instrument to blackmail the government. He said, these parties were blaming the government for its alleged failure to prevent the December 13 suicide attack of Parliament House, without realising that how their stand can harm the national interest. He pointed out, it was the alert security system that not only prevented the terrorists from executing their deadly designs, but also killed all of them. He regretted that instead of appreciating the sacrifices made by the security staff they were issuing statements that could demoralise them. |
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Martyrs remembered Ludhiana, December 19 The function started with havan.Swami Shobhanand, while delivering the keynote address, said Ram Parsad Bismil jumped into the freedom struggle after getting inspiration from the founder of Arya Samaj, Swami Dayanand Saraswati. He was a great revolutionary and a promising and intelligent young man, he said. In order to pay a
befitting tribute to such martyrs, “we must work for eliminating terrorism and putting the country on the path of progress,” he added. Mr Roshan Lal Arya, in his presidential address, said 75 years ago, Bismil and Ashfaaq Ulla Khan, had kissed the hangman’s noose with smiles on their faces. He said the incident clearly established the fact that both Hindus and Muslims fought for the freedom of the country. We must give up the politics of communal hatred and work for making a strong India by forging communal amity among various religions and sects, he added. He said the young generation should learn from this great tradition of sacrifices. Others who addressed the function included Mr Rajiv Nayyar, president, Private School Welfare Association, Mr S.K.Chawla, Mr Gurcharan Arora and Mr Kuldip Singh Bishth.
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Young
Voice
Life has been a series of mixed experiences for 35-year-old Rima Jain. She has already seen the best and the worst of times. Married while she was studying in her BA second year only she continued her studies after marriage and topped in Delhi University in commerce stream. Everything was going on well till December 23, 1999, when suddenly she received a phone call late in the night informing about the death of her husband, Sunil Jain allegedly at the hands of his own brother. Her ordeal started here. Only 33 and a widow, besides the mother of three small children. Left alone, still she did not give up pursuing the case to bring guilty to the book. This provoked hostility from her close relatives, resulting in the registration of several false cases against her, including one under Section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder), which was later quashed. Not just that, her five-year-old son, Bharat Jain was implicated in a forgery case, just to pressurise her to give up. But she did not and is still fighting with courage. Rima seems to have reconciled with the hard and harsh realities of life. She has taken over the business, which she had initially leased out for some time. She is leading a workforce of over 150 persons. Being a woman is another disadvantage in this male-dominated society. “People try to give you a raw deal as they presume you to be harmless”, she observes about her experiences. Yet she goes on, undeterred and not unchallenged. |
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Rally organised Ludhiana, December 19 Major Harchand Singh Nilon, president of the committee, in a press statement today said that leaders of all ex-servicemen unions of Punjab, including Atam Raksha Sangh, the Punjab Pensioners Association and the Railway Pensioners Association were
present. The members paid homage to the martyrs, including those who died defending Parliament on December 14. The members passed a resolution to form “Shakti” in which all the pensioners, including those belonging to defence, the railways and Punjab will join to fight the coming elections in Punjab. A committee was formed to superwise the elections in Punjab. The members of the committee included Col H.S. Kahlon, Mr B.R. Kaushal, Mr S.K.Sood, Maj H.S. Nilon, Mr Bakhtawar Singh, Mr Makhan Singh, Mr Ram Kishan, Mr Avtar Singh, Mr Surjit Singh and Mr Surjit Singh Jassowal. |
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Martyrdom Day
observed Doraha, December 19
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DPB to seek land from govt
Ludhiana, December 19 On this occassion Professor J.S. Bedi was honoured with the Principal Teja Singh Memorial Award, Mr Kulwant Jagraon with the Professor Puran Singh Memorial Award, Dr Sharanjeet Kaur with the Nanak Singh Memorial Award and Dr Ajit Singh Sikaa with the Dr Mohan Singh Deewan Award.
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72 constables promoted Khanna, December 19 |
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One killed in mishap Doraha, December 19 He was taken to Sidhu Hospital in an injured state and later shifted to the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, where he succumbed to his injuries. A case has been registered at Sahnewal police station under Section 304-A of the IPC. |
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Customer service is survival mantra: expert Ludhiana, December 19 He was speaking at a one-day management development workshop on ‘Performance Management and Management of Change’ organised by the Ludhiana Management Association ( LMA). The programme was organised as part of the management development series. Dr Shrimali, who is also a visiting faculty member of the Kellogs Institute of Management, USA, enlightened the participants on the concept of performance management and management of change. Elaborating the recent events affecting the business environment, Dr Shrimali said, ‘‘The management of the domestic companies will have to change their mind-set to stay in business. They will have to concentrate on quality of their products and services to ensure customers’ delight.’’ He disclosed that the net profit of the companies was no more dependent on the quantity of production, but on the value addition. They would have to develop innovative products to serve different segments of the market. He suggested on the basis of his studies that the top management of the companies should utilise their energy in developing innovative products, instead of indulging in day to day functioning. They should have a vision to serve the customers. Allaying the fears of the participants about the threat of cheap imports and MNCs, Dr Shrimali said, ‘‘The government has already opened the Indian markets for the foreign manufacturers. It is now up to the indigenous industrialists to accept the challenge by banking on competitive human resources. Since they cannot beat the foreign counterparts in technology or cheap capital, so they would have to cash on other areas.’’ Earlier, during his inaugural address, Mr V.K. Goyal, general secretary, LMA said, ‘‘The evolution of the concept of performance management as a new human resource management model reflects a change of emphasis in organisations away from command-and-control toward a facilitation model of leadership. This change has been accompanied by a recognition of the importance to the employees and the institution of relating work performance to the strategic and long-term mission of the organization as a whole.” Among others, Dr M.A. Zahir, Dean, Department of Human and Basic Sciences, PAU, and past president, LMA, Mr Mahesh Munjal, vice-president, LMA, Mr Rajinder Gupta, president, LMA, were also present in the workshop. |
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