Two ministers on sticky wicket
Chandigarh: With the Cabinet expansion/reshuffle expected to be done before the upcoming Budget session, speculation is rife that two ministers might be given insignificant portfolios. One of them is already under fire from the Opposition, while the other is at loggerheads with the Congress top brass. Sources in the corridors of power said the controversial duo’s wings were set to be clipped.
Homecoming for Sherry
Patiala: Navjot Singh Sidhu visited his home town, Patiala, on Sunday for the first time after taking charge as a Cabinet minister. He held a closed-door meeting with CM Capt Amarinder Singh’s wife Preneet Kaur along with Deputy Commissioner Kumar Amit and other officials. The Local Bodies Minister later said that on June 3, he would announce major projects to be undertaken in Patiala. Earlier, Sidhu visited the Circuit House, where he was given a guard of honour by the administration. A red-carpet welcome, indeed.
Toy joy for anganwadi children
Hoshiarpur: The district administration is setting up a toy bank at the District Red Cross Society office for the children at anganwadi centres. Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujjwal has appealed to private schools, NGOs and the public at large to donate old or new toys. The initiative was launched recently from Garhshankar by SDM Hardeep Singh Dhaliwal and his wife Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal. They presented toys, baby chairs and eatables to 103 children in anganwadi centres of Billron, Bhajjal, Rampur and Parowal villages and Garhshankar city.
DCs’ tour books on the cards
Muktsar: Gurcharan Singh Sidhu, a freedom fighter’s son and a senior cop’s father, has a suggestion for Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. A progressive farmer, Sidhu wants that all Deputy Commissioners should be directed to maintain tour books. “In these books, the DCs should give a first-hand account of what they witness while travelling — the condition of roads, government buildings etc. A copy of this tour book should be sent to the Chief Secretary and the departments concerned. This practice was once being followed; it should now be revived,” says Gurcharan, who plans to meet the CM or PPCC chief Sunil Jakhar in this regard.
Now, ‘Jana Gana Mana’ in hospital
Fazilka: Taking a cue from the Supreme Court order on playing the National Anthem in cinema halls, a local doctor couple has started the practice in their hospital. “Our staff, all indoor and OPD patients join us in doing our patriotic duty,” say Dr Navdeep Jasuja and his wife Simmi, directors of Chandravati Hospital. Dr Jasuja, grandson of freedom fighter and educationist Master Hari Krishan Dass, says singing the anthem should be made compulsory in government institutions to make people feel proud of their country.
Fitness antidote to drug menace
Phillaur: Daljit Singh, a 28-year-old fitness freak, has been helping drug addicts undergo rehabilitation by giving them free access to his gym here. Daljit Singh, who hails from Pal Qadim village near here, trains about 20 addicts for two hours daily at World Fitness Point. These youths are under treatment at the nearby New Life De-addiction Centre. “I am inspired by my father, Bhajan Singh, who retired from the Punjab Police. He has dreams of a drug-free Punjab,” says Daljit. “Once these youths start following the fitness regime, most of them never return to drugs,” he adds.
Toll pangs for journalists
Nakodar: Toll plaza employees are not giving two hoots about the state government’s April 15 notification whereby accredited journalists have been exempted from payment of toll on highways. Most of these employees are refusing to acknowledge the newly issued pink accreditation cards. They argue that exemption is possible if the mediapersons produce the widely recognised yellow card. A toll plaza manager allowed a senior reporter to go without paying toll only after a PWD official told the former on the phone about the notification.
