Not on my watch!

Gurdaspur Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC) Rajwinder Kaur Bajwa is an officer known for her daring and audacity in squaring off with villagers actively engaged in manufacturing illegal hooch. The experience and expertise she carries in tackling the menace are well-known to villagers involved in the nefarious trade. However, the raid she conducted on the other side of river Beas in Qadian the other day surely takes the cake. Armed with nothing but just a tip-off, Bajwa led a team of officers that included ETO Rajinder Tanwar that crossed the river Beas to reach Budha Bala village in Qadian. Just to be on the right side, she made sure some police officials too accompanied her. Her tip-off turned out to be firm as villagers were busy producing hooch. The site is carefully chosen because it is rare that cops and excise officials attempt to cross a river. The second advantage, if one can call it so, is that bootleggers can easily spot a party coming across the river. This time Bajwa’s team turned the tide. The squad pounced upon them and sealed four working stills, also known as ‘Bhatthis’ in local parlance. Officials accompanying her claimed 200 litres of liquor and thousands of litres of ‘lahan’, a raw material used in producing the final brew, were recovered. The villagers ran for their lives and the cops are still out there trying to trace them. Later, Bajwa informed the media as to how the term ‘hooch’ came into existence. “Hooch actually means inferiors quality whiskey. The term originated in the late 1800s as a shortened version of ‘hoochinoo’, a distilled beverage from Alaska (USA) that became popular during the Klondike gold rush.”

five of hospital staff

feted by outgoing SMO

Dr Bhupinder Singh, Senior Medical Officer of the Pathankot Civil Hospital, superannuated after putting in 32 years of spotless service. A soft spoken and affable man, the doc, on the day he left the hospital one final time, not only bid adieu to his staff but also handed over certificates of appreciation to five of his colleagues for being in the forefront of fighting Covid. They were Dr Punit Gill and Dr Sakshi Salgotra and staff nurses Navjot Kaur, Poonam and Nisha. Dr Gill, while waxing eloquent on the work of Dr Bhupinder Singh, had also some words of wisdom for the common man in these dreaded times of the pandemic. “The world is going through some unprecedented times as the normal has been upended by the arrival of the deadly virus. But hope can always help pull people out of the most difficult times. It is a powerful force and can also prove to be a source of reassurance. We need both reassurance and hope to make certain that this too shall pass. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands in times of challenge and confrontation. Lets join hands and fight the virus together,” said Dr Gill.

Old is gold!

‘All depends how determined we are to be successful’. A prime example of this age-old adage is Baba Sukha Singh of Khajala Udhowal village in Batala sub-division. He converted his ‘rehri’ into a rickshaw and rode it to Delhi to be with the protesting farmers. He claimed he took thirty one days to reach the national capital. “I am part of the farming community and hence it was my duty to stand by my brethren in their hour of need,” he said. Indeed, every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. (Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal)