Looking back 2022: With Bhagwant Mann's oath-taking, Nawanshahr district remained in spotlight

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Nawanshahr, December 27

From recovery of a large quantity of heroin to the arrest of government employees for misappropriation of funds to oath-taking ceremony of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at Khatkar Kalan village, Nawanshahr district hogged the limelight through the year.

Rs 3.5-cr upgrade for martyr’s museum

Martyr Bhagat Singh’s museum at Khatkar Kalan is set to be upgraded soon, and the deadline for the completion of Rs 3.5-crore upgrade project is December 31, though Tourism Department officials say it would be operational in January only

38-kg heroin seizure; co-op scam

The Nawanshahr police made headlines after it arrested two persons with 38-kg heroin concealed in the toolbox of a truck coming from Gujarat. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau also unearthed a multi-crore scam in a cooperative society Limited at Kajla village

CT scan facility at Dist Hospital soon

The District Hospital will soon have the CT scan facility for which the installation process is on. Civil Surgeon Dr Devinder Dhanda said patients would be benefited with the installation of the machine as 20 different kinds of tests would be performed

Schools with just one student

The Tribune highlighted in July that how Government Middle Schools in Dhaingarpur and Chak Guru of Nawanshahr had just a single student left. There was just one permanent teacher in Dhaingarpur school and none in Chak Guru when the report was filed

The district gained instant popularity in early 2022 as Mann decided to take oath of the Chief Minister’s office at Khatkar Kalan, the native village of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, who is the driving force of the politics of ‘badlav’ that the Aam Aadmi Party propagates.

The Nawanshahr police made headlines after it arrested two persons with 38-kg heroin concealed in the toolbox of a truck coming from Gujarat. As promised by the state government, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau cracked the whip on corruption by unearthing a multi-crore scam in Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited at Kajla village in the district. The VB registered a criminal case against seven persons in this regard. The three accused have been arrested so far.

In several cases, the Vigilance Bureau also arrested government employees who were involved in scams worth crores. In one of the cases, employees and elected representatives of a cooperative society had committed embezzlement of Rs 4.24 crore in connivance with each other causing a huge loss to society.

In another case, the Vigilance Bureau arrested an assistant field officer of Markfed, posted as branch manager at Banga for demanding a bribe of Rs 35,000. A VB spokesperson revealed that the accused had been arrested after investigation of an online complaint lodged at the CM’s anti-corruption helpline.

Martyr Bhagat Singh’s museum at Khatkar Kalan has always remained in headlines. The museum is set to be upgraded soon, and the deadline for the completion of Rs 3.5-crore upgrade is December 31. The aim is to bring it on a par with other big and famous museums and to increase the footfall by making everything digital in the museum. Everything will be designed and made in such a way that the visitors enjoy and feel lively. However, same promises were made in 2018 when the museum got renovated, but everything remained static. Tourism Department officials said the upgraded museum would be operational in January 2023.

On the healthcare front, the District Hospital will soon have the CT scan facility for which the installation process is on. Civil Surgeon Dr Devinder Dhanda said patients would be benefited with the installation of the machine as 20 different kinds of tests would be performed including the CT scan of head, neck, abdomen, lungs, etc.

The plight of government schools also came to the fore as The Tribune highlighted in July that how Government Middle Schools (GMS) in Dhaingarpur and Chak Guru of Nawanshahr district had just a single student left. The reason was lack of teachers. There was just one permanent teacher in Dhaingarpur school and none in Chak Guru when the report was filed. The teachers used to come on deputation for just one student.