06042026-JTR-01.qxd 05-04-2026 22:38 Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune PUNJAB RECORDS LOWEST FOREST COVER AT 6.59% ENSURE REGULAR PTMS & RAISE LEARNING STANDARDS ITALIAN DRAMA FEEL MY VOICE TRENDS CHARTS Punjab has lagged behind even Bihar in maintaining forest area, with Haryana also reporting higher coverage. P2 Address academic stress, lack of motivation among students and provide support to families below poverty line. P3 The Netflix film is quickly emerging as one of the platform’s most talked-about new dramas. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 29°C | MIN 15°C YESTERDAY MAX 26°C | MIN 14°C SUNSET MONDAY 6.50 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 6:09 AM » MONDAY | 6 APRIL 2026 | JALANDHAR HEALTH & WELLNESS The Tribune is starting a Q and A column to address your health-related queries. Please mail your questions (not exceeding 40 words) at healthandwellness@tribunemail.com. The Tribune’s panel of doctors will answer all your healthrelated concerns. Paddy season ahead, farm sector on PSERC priority Allows emergency power cuts to maintain grid stability Tribune News Service INBRIEF FOUR ARRESTED FOR MURDER BID Phagwara: The police have arrested four miscreants on the charges of attempt to murder and firing. The accused have been identified as Sukhdev Singh of Mundi Cholian village, his brother Harpreet Singh, Kalu of Nahl village and his brother Nikka. Navjot Singh of Mundi Chohlian village complained to the police that he was going to Lohian Khas in his car with his friends on the night of March 23. The complainant said when crossing the Chitti Bein, he saw five accused with covered faces on the road. He said one of the accused came in front of his vehicle and opened fire. He said the accused had assaulted him on March 16, too. OC IN-LAWS' HELD IN DOWRY CASE Phagwara: The Nakodar police have arrested Santokh Singh of Nupur Chatha village and his wife Kulveer Kaur in a dowry harassment case. Complainant Amandeep Kaur of Pasla village had filed a complaint that her husband Sanpreet Singh, father-in-law Santokh Singh, and mother-in-law Kulveer Kaur had been harassing her, demanding more dowry, and had thrown her out of the house and threatened her with dire consequences. A case has been registered against the accused. OC TWO BOOKED FOR CATTLE THEFT Phagwara: The Nakodar police have booked two persons for stealing cattle. The accused has been identified as Charanjit Singh of Billi Chao village and resident of Mohalla Mehtabgarh, Kapurthala. Balbir Singh, a resident of Billi Chao village, complained to the police that the accused stole his two buffaloes on the night of April 2. A case has been registered against the accused. OC UP MAN DIES IN ROAD MISHAP Hoshiarpur: A road accident on the Hoshiarpur-Jalandhar route claimed one life and left another seriously injured. Victim Ashok Jaiswal from Udham Singh Nagar and his colleague Amardeep from Bareilly were going to duty on a bike when a truck hit them near Chak Gujran. Ashok was declared dead at the hospital, while Amardeep was shifted to a private hospital on the Chandigarh road due to critical injuries. The truck driver fled the scene. oc 3 ARRESTED FOR ILLICIT LIQUOR SALE Phagwara: The Mehatpur police have arrested three villagers on the charge of selling illicit countrymade liquor. As many as 245 bottles of hooch were recovered from the possession of the accused. A case under Sections 61/1/14 of the Punjab Excise Act have been registered against the accused. oc Jalandhar, April 5 With the paddy sowing season set to begin in June, the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) has accorded priority to agriculture supply, directing that farm feeders be given preferential treatment during periods of high demand. The electricity regulator has also permitted emergency power cuts to maintain grid stability, officials privy to the matter said. The order comes amid rising electricity demand in the state, including in major agricultural and industrial centres such as Jalandhar, where summer load typically puts additional pressure on the distribution network. According to an official letter dated March 25, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has projected an unrestricted peak demand of around 17,873 MW during the current fiscal year, compared to a peak demand of 16,670 MW recorded on July 5 last year. The commission observed that while power availability is expected to remain just adequate, unforeseen outages of major generating units or constraints in the transmission network could necessitate temporary load regulation. The commission has Women during a health card enrollment camp in Jalandhar. FILE Women outnumber men in health card enrollment 16.19L women covered so far, compared to 15.52 L men Rishika Kriti Tribune News Service The order comes amid rising electricity demand in the state. FILE allowed PSPCL to regulate power supply strictly in exigencies such as sudden breakdowns of generating units, transmission bottlenecks or any mismatch between demand and availability that could threaten grid stability. The commission has, however, made it clear that routine or scheduled power cuts will not be allowed. Any load shedding must be only emergency based, short in duration and used only as a last resort to manage real time system stress. To ensure transparency, the PSPCL has been directed to inform consumers in advance wherever possible through SMS, email or public notices and also upload such information on its website. It has further been asked to report details of any emergency measures, including feeder-wise impact, duration and reasons within one month of such action. While agriculture feeders have been placed high on the priority list, particularly during the paddy season, the order does not prescribe a fixed number of supply hours. Instead, it emphasises that farm supply should be protected as far as possible while balancing overall system requirements, officials said. The commission has also allowed the PSPCL to impose penalties ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 500 per kVA on consumers violating load restrictions, ensuring compliance during emergency situations. Leopard kills 16 lambs in Barapur, 8 missing Our Correspondent Garhshankar, April 5 A leopard struck in Barapur village, killing 16 lambs in a farmer’s enclosure, leaving only two lambs alive. The incident occurred at the farm of Gurdeep Singh. He had left the 26 lambs in the enclosure while taking his goats to graze in the nearby forest. Upon returning in the evening, he found 16 lambs dead with deep bite marks on their necks, while two lambs survived. The remaining eight were missing and are believed to have been carried away by the leopard. Gurdeep’s farm is located near a school, adjacent to the forest. Locals have frequently reported sightings of the leopard in and around the village over the past several months. Village Sarpanch Santosh Kumari, former sarpanch Surinder Pal, Panch Jasveer Kaur and other residents said despite repeated requests to the Forest Department to capture the leopard, no action has been taken. The attack has caused significant financial loss to the farmer, raising concerns among residents about the safety of livestock. Efforts to contact forest rangers and the beat in-charge have so far been unsuccessful. Villagers are urging the authorities to take immediate measures to prevent further attacks and ensure the safety of their animals. Jalandhar, April 5 In a notable trend emerging from Jalandhar’s health card enrollment drive under the Mukhyamantri Sehat Bima Yojana, female beneficiaries have outnumbered male enrollments, pointing to a wider reach of the scheme among women as the district maintains a steady pace in card generation across its subdivisions. According to official data, over 16.19 lakh women have been covered so far, compared to 15.52 lakh men, indicating wider participation of women in the scheme. In terms of family coverage, 15.12 lakh families have been enrolled across the district. The authorities generated 31.75 lakh health cards, including new and reissued cards between February 2 and March 31. The Lineman electrocuted Talwara, April 5 A wave of grief swept through Talwara today as 22-year-old assistant lineman Sarabjeet Singh died after receiving an electric shock while on duty. The incident occurred at Dhar, where Singh had gone to repair a faulty power line. Sarabjeet of Bhumbotad and the only son of his elderly parents, joined the department just 3-4 months ago. His sudden death has left his family devastated and the local community in mourning. Family members and local leaders have urged the authorities to conduct an investigation, questioning whether technical negligence may have contributed to the accident. OC Dead lambs in Barapur village. momentum has continued in April too with 25,656 cards issued on April 1 alone, official data revealed. As per subdivisions wise performance, Phillaur recorded the highest daily generation with 696 cards, followed by Nakodar at 688 and Shahkot at 533. In the urban belt, Jalandhar Central reported 530 cards, while Jalandhar West and Jalandhar Cantt 436 and 347 cards, respectively. Kartarpur and Adampur subdivisions recorded 522 and 601 cards, reflecting steady but uneven progress across regions. Data on the mode of issuance shows that Common Service Centres continue to be the primary channel, accounting for 2,820 cards generated on March 31. Sewa Kendras and district administration staff contributed 2,019 cards while hospitals generated only 32 cards, indicating that institutional enrollment remains limited. Officials attribute the rise in numbers to ongoing field level efforts and mobilisation. They said camps are being set up on a rotational basis to cover the maximum areas, with around 60 camps held each week in Jalandhar and adjoining regions. With a substantial number of beneficiaries already covered, the focus is likely to remain on improving coverage in low performing areas and strengthening access to ensure that eligible residents are not left out, officials added. The scheme provides families with cashless medical treatment of up to Rs 10 lakh per year at government and empanelled private hospitals, as part of the government’s effort to make quality healthcare more accessible. 4 held with heroin during vehicle check Phagwara, April 5 The police have arrested four youths in Kapurthala and seized heroin during a routine hi-tech checkpoint operation, while a separate case has been registered following the recovery of four mobile phones and prohibited items from inside a central jail. SSP Gaurav Toora stated that the arrests were made during a late evening vehicle-checking operation. A car approaching from the Amritsar side was signalled to stop. Upon inspection, four occupants were found inside the vehicle. During the checking, one of the occupants allegedly attempted to discard a small packet on the roadside. Police personnel immediately recovered the packet containing heroin. The substance was later confirmed to be approximately 30 gram. The accused were taken into custody and a case was registered. Meanwhile, Assistant Superintendent Joginder Pal has stated that during a night search operation, four mobile phones along with accessories were found concealed in a bathroom near Barrack Number 4 of Kapurthala Central Jail. Further inspections led to the recovery of additional suspicious packets. — OC Education Dept eases workload for SOE teachers, sparks discontent Rishika Kriti Tribune News Service Jalandhar, April 5 After the School Education Department issued fresh directions prioritising School of Eminence (SOE) teachers for core academic responsibilities, non-SOE teachers have raised serious concerns, describing it as a clear preferential tilt. Their concerns follow the department’s directive that lecturers and master cadre teachers posted in SOE schools be largely exempted from additional duties, a move they fear could widen workload imbalances across the government school system. The directive issued by the Director, School Education (Secondary), Punjab, on April 2, said SOE teachers are already engaged in multiple admission-related and academic responsibilities, including school visits, stu- dent identification, counselling, PACE programmes and competitive exam preparation initiatives and online mock test analysis. It further states that assigning them additional external duties will affect their primary academic roles and the overall functioning of SOE schools. However, while the order aims to protect SOE teachers from excessive non-academic assignments, it simultaneously places greater reliance on non-SOE teachers for tasks such as marking, evaluation and other administrative responsibilities wherever they are available. This shift has caused unease among non-SOE teachers, who say they are increasingly being asked to handle duties that were earlier distributed more evenly across the teaching workforce. A Schools of Eminence in Jalandhar. PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH Teachers representatives argue that while SOE institutions are being developed as flagship centres of academic excellence, the rest of the school system should not be treated as a support base to c m y b adjust workloads, which could affect classroom teaching quality in non-SOE schools. The directive also pointed out that admission process for Classes IX and XI in SOE schools has begun following the declaration of entrance exam results on March 25. Hence, with lecturers already involving in outreach and counselling activities, the department’s clarification appears to be an attempt to streamline their roles. Vikramdev Singh, state president of the Democratic Teachers Front, said, “Teachers in non-SOE schools are already overloaded with non-academic duties such as pre-SIR work, BLO duties, digital census training and the state’s economic and drug survey duties. Despite this, they are being given even more responsibilities, while SOE teachers are largely being exempted. With around 117 SOE schools compared to nearly 18,000 government schools across Punjab, this clearly shows an uneven approach.” Such selective exemptions are discriminatory as the government appears to be focusing more on its flagship School of Eminence project instead of the entire government school system. At a time when the new academic session has just started, it is unfair that SOE teachers are being relieved of extra duties while non-SOE teachers continue to carry an increasing workload. Should teachers and students in non-SOE schools not be treated equally?, he added. Karnail Singh Phillaur, district president of the Government Teachers Union, said, “The move exposes a clear structural divide within the government school system, where specialised institutions like SOEs are being given focused academic support, while non-SOE schools are left to manage a disproportionate share of administrative and examination-related duties. At the same time, around 60 per cent of headmaster’s posts and nearly 70 per cent of principal’s posts are vacant across Punjab, further weakening the system,” Phillaur said.