Tarn Taran Diary: No end to stray dog menace in district

The administration lacks sincerity when it comes to providing relief to residents from stray dogs in the district. One can see 10 to 15 dogs in every nook and corner of the rural and urban areas. Around five years ago, four-and-a- half-year-old Maninder Singh was mauled to death by stray dogs at Kairowal village. Then the administration had assured residents to tackle the menace, but nothing happened on the ground. Last year, the administration sterilised 585 stray dogs in Tarn Taran, Patti, Bhikhiwind and Khemkaran. This year, only a resolution has been passed to sterilise 300 dogs in Tarn Tarn. Sanitary inspector Baljinder Singh said according to a rough estimate there were only 600 stray dogs in the urban areas in the district. The administration has done nothing to provide relief to residents of the rural areas. Dr Sudeep Dhawan, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, said the department was yet to do anything in this regard. The administration has no information regarding the number of stray dogs in the rural areas.

Comrade with bank balance of Rs806

Comrade Darshan Singh Chabal had represented this Vidhan Sabha segment four times and served at the grassroots level. During his 20 years tenure, he made no movable or immovable property. At the time of his death in 2000, his bank balance (State Bank of Patiala, Chabal) was only Rs 806. He was first elected in 1952, then again in 1969, 1977 and 1980. As his honesty was often discussed during the meetings of the CPI, EMS Namboodiripad, who was sworn as a Chief Minister of Kerela in 1957, came to visit Comrade Chabal at his village. He had a kutcha house whose roof was supported with wooden planks. He could have constructed a pucca house after his elder son got a job in the Education Department in 1971. He had no other movable or immovable property in his name throughout his life. He represented Tarn Taran and Attari constituencies in the Vidhan Sabha. Those were the times when MLAs used to travel by buses. During the Assembly session, he used to travel by the bus from Attari via Chabal- Chandigarh. Those days, every roadways bus had two seats reserved for the MLAs /MPs. After deboarding at Chandigarh bus stand, he used to march on foot to reach the Vidhan Sabha. He left school in Class VIII due to poor financial condition of the family as his father was a farm labour. Later, he joined the Communist movement and fought for the country’s freedom. Comrade Chabal was sent to the prison for eight years by the Britishers and he lost four children due to lack of proper care.

Girl bags Canadian scholarship

Pawanpreet Kaur of Goindwal Sahib and Tanya Sharma of Fatehbad brought laurels by obtaining 7.5 bands in IELTS. As a result, Pawanpreet got scholarship worth CAD 10,000 from University of Canada West, Vancouver, Canada. Belonging to a family of marginal farmer, Pawanpreet obtained 90 per cent in Class XII and 87 per cent in graduation. Pawanpreet said her mentor was Dr Ramandeep Kaur Randhawa, who made her quite efficient in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Tanya obtained 9 bands in listening module with 7.5 bands overall in IELTS. Tanya scored 96 per cent in Class XII and was a district topper. Her father runs a small shop in Fatehbad village (near Goindwal Sahib).

(Contributed by Gurbaxpuri)

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