19042026-JTR-01.qxd 4/18/2026 11:13 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune CBSE CLASS 10 TOPPERS CREDIT CONSISTENCY, FOCUS FOR SCORES RESIDENTS DEMAND REOPENING OF DEFUNCT MUNICIPAL LIBRARY USE AI IN A CONSTRUCTIVE AND CREATIVE WAY: SANDRA BULLOCK Most students said they relied on NCERT textbooks, revising them multiple times & solving previous years question papers. P2 Guru Nanak Library under the Municipal Corporation was once considered a key knowledge hub in Phagwara P3 Sandra Bullock has called for embracing AI and adapting to its growing influence while being cautious about its risks. P3 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 37°C | MIN 22°C YESTERDAY MAX 38°C | MIN 22°C SUNSET SUNDAY 6.58 PM SUNRISE MONDAY 5.54 AM » SUNDAY | 19 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. INBRIEF MAN, KID INJURED IN ROOF COLLAPSE Phagwara: A man and his young daughter were injured after a portion of the roof of their house collapsed in the Bhagatpura area on Friday night. The incident occurred while the family was asleep. House owner Harinder Singh said the building was very old and had not been repaired due to financial difficulties. Both suffered minor injuries and were given immediate first aid. OC GOODS WORTH ~3L DESTROYED IN FIRE Phagwara: Goods worth Rs 3 lakh were destroyed after a fire broke out at a house in the Mutiyarpura area on Saturday. The incident took place when the house was locked. House owner Pooja said neighbours noticed the blaze and quickly informed the fire brigade. A fire tender reached the spot and extinguished the flames. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. OC backseataseducators Union demands ~1 cr compensation Teachingtakesanon-academic duties juggle multiple for deceased ETT teacher’s family Rishika Kriti Tribune News Service Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, April 18 Amidst publicly expressed resentment by teachers over piling of multiple non-teaching duties on them and protests against the MStar app, educators have now expressed serious concerns over the mounting pressure on them concerning the Booth Level Officer (BLO) duties. They have also demanded Rs 1 crore compensation from the state government for the family of a Patiala-based teacher who died of a heart attack recently. Members of the Government Teachers Union alleged that pressures concerning BLO duties, mapping and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work took a toll on the deceased teacher. Government Teachers Union Punjab president Sukhwinder Singh Chahal said, “Before formation of the Aam Aadmi Party government, state Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and all his senior colleagues had announced that teachers in Punjab will not be deployed on non-educational and nonessential duties. Four years after formation of the government, teachers are still not doing work which they are supposed to do.” Union secretary Gurbinder Singh Saskaur said, “Pradeep Kumar, an ETT teacher, who was posted at the Government Primary School, Hasanpur Kamboa, died of heart attack a week ago. He was given additional work of the BLO. The pressure of mapping and other work given by the government under SIR took a toll on him.” Union press secretary Karnail Phillaur said, “Teachers should not be assigned any non-academic work. But the Punjab Government and the district administration are imposing such duties on teachers. The BLOs are forced to work under pressure and have to attend unnecessary meetings and undergo training. The SIR work is based on statistics. Youth found dead in K’thala village, drug overdose suspected Kapurthala, April 18 A young man was found dead under suspicious circumstances at Bagaria village in Kapurthala district, triggering concern among residents who suspect a drug overdose behind the incident. The deceased has been identified as Samuel, alias Sunny. According to villagers, the youth was allegedly struggling with drug addiction, and his sudden death had raised fears of substance abuse once again claiming a life in the region. The incident has created an atmosphere of panic, as similar deaths have been reported from the nearby areas recently. Sources revealed that Samuel had fled his home earlier and had been staying at his sister’s village, Bagaria, where his death was reported. Villagers claim that his health had been deteriorating due to drug use, and they suspected that an overdose might have led to his death. However, the exact cause of his death will be confirmed only after arrival of the postmortem examination report. Earlier, the police had taken Samuel into custody and reportedly offered to get him admitted to a de-addiction THREE BOOKED FOR FRAUD Fire at scrap godown, migrants get trapped Phagwara: A case has been registered against three individuals on the allegations of property fraud following a complaint by a woman in the Goraya area. Complainant Manjeet Kaur Gill of Jasso Majra told the police that the accused allegedly manipulated records related to her father’s property and got its ownership transferred in their names. On the basis of a preliminary inquiry, a case was registered against accused identified as Jarnail Singh of Sargundi village, Rajinder Kumar of Gohawar village and numberdar Bakshi Ram of Sargundi village in this connection. OC Tribune News Service MAN BOOKED FOR ABDUCTING GIRL Nakodar: The police have registered a case against an individual for abducting a minor girl on the pretext of marriage in the Mehatpur area. According victim’s mother of Gosuwal Tibba village, her 15-year-olddaughter was allegedly enticed by the accused, identified as Harsh of Balapur village in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh. The accused reportedly persuaded the girl with promises of marriage and took her away without her family’s consent. Following the complaint, a case under Sections 137(2) and 96 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered against the accused in this regard. OC ONE HELD FOR SELLING LIQUOR Nakodar: The Bilga police have arrested a villager on the charge of selling illicit liquor. Investigating Officer Amrik Lal said 40 bottles of liquor were seized from accused identified as Sandip Singh of Goduwa village. A case under Sections 61/1/14 of the Punjab Excise Act was registered against the accused, the IO said. OC Teachers are forced to show statistics at meetings.” Union members, including finance secretary Manohar Lal Sharma, Patiala district president Jaswinder Singh Samana and Paramjit Singh Patiala demanded that the state government should give Rs 1 crore compensation to Pradeep Kumar’s family. They said his wife and children should be given jobs immediately. Union leaders said if the state government and the district administration did not pay immediate attention to these demands, teachers, along with the BLOs, would launch a large-scale agitation against the ruling dispensation. Jalandhar, April 18 A fire broke out at a scrap godown on the Kala Sanghian road here on Saturday. There were families of migrants from Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal living in shanties around the godown who got trapped in the fire. Though there was no loss of life in the incident, a few migrants suffered minor burn injuries and were quick- ly provided medical relief. As many as six to seven fire extinguishers were pressed into service to douse the flames. At least four children got trapped in the fire and were rescued with the help of villagers from the area who quickly came for their help. Along with the Fire Department teams, the police also turned up for the rescue operation which lasted for nearly an hour. Officials of the Fire Department said recyclable scrap items collected door-todoor were being dumped in the yard. They said some inflammable item from within the dump perhaps led to the fire, especially since the day temperature had also been rising. Maninder Singh, Assistant Divisional Fire Officer, said, “We sent six to seven fire extinguishers to the spot after refilling them. The operation continued till around 10.30 pm. Shanties were completely destroyed in the blaze.” Yudh Nashian Virudh: Cyclothon calls upon society to unite against drug abuse Deputy Commissioner Varjeet Walia participates in cyclothon along with officials, students and residents in Jalandhar on Saturday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: MALKIAT SINGH Jalandhar, April 18 Under the anti-drug campaign “Yudh Nashian Virudh” being run by the Punjab Government, the district administration, in collaboration with APJ School, organised “Cyclothon 4.0” today to spread awareness against drug abuse. Around 2,000 participants took part in the cyclothon, giving a call to every section of society to unite against drugs. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Varjeet Walia flagged off the cyclothon from APJ School. The DC, along with officials, also participated in the cyclothon and urged people to build a strong mass movement against drugs. Addressing gathering on the occasion, The DC said under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab Government had waged a war against drugs, with support coming from all sections of society. He sought public cooperation, adding that the initiative was aimed at uniting people against the menace of drugs and encouraging youth to adopt a healthy lifestyle. The DC said participants from Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and other districts took part in the cyclothon. He expressed hope that these energetic youths would act as beacons of change and spread awareness against drugs in every household. Participants, cycling clubs, officials and employees who contributed to the success of the event, along with officebearers of the District Olympic Association, were honoured. The youngest cyclists who participated in the cyclothon were also felicitated. Children with special needs from Red Cross and Prayas School also took part in the cyclothon. Folk singer Dalwinder Dayalpuri and Ravi Dara, Assistant Director, Youth Services, motivated youth to stay away from drugs through performances. The cyclothon was organised in three categories — 5 km, 10 km and 21 km — starting from APJ School, Model Town, and concluding at the same venue after covering designated routes, where participants were warmly welcomed. — TNS c m y b centre. However, he allegedly fled from the custody out of fear and later reached Bagaria village. Bholath SHO Bikramjit Singh said no official information regarding the case had been received so far. He added that appropriate action would be initiated once formal intimation was received and the matter would be thoroughly investigated. — OC Jalandhar, April 18 Ahead of the commencement of the digital census, drug and economic survey and Booth Level Officer (BLO) duties expected to begin from this month, educators in Jalandhar have flagged growing concerns over the mounting load of non-academic assignments, warning that it can severely disrupt classroom teaching. Teachers said frequent deployment for surveys and administrative work would reduce teaching hours, hampering students’ academic progress. The situation is expected to worsen further with Municipal Corporation election duties and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work also in the pipeline, raising fears of prolonged academic disruption at the beginning of the new academic session. Kulwinder Singh, district president, Democratic Teachers Front, said, “Nearly 75 per cent of the teaching staff in the district is likely to be diverted to these duties till May. In my school, there are only four teachers of which, two have already been assigned BLO and SIR duties while another is likely to be engaged in the upcoming census work, leaving the entire school functioning Students come out after attending a class at a government school in Jalandhar. FILE PHOTO with just one teacher. This is a critical academic period, but teachers are continuously being pulled out of classrooms for non-teaching work. The direct impact is on students whose learning is getting compromised.” Karnail Singh Phillaur, district president, Government Teachers Union, said, “The burden is particularly severe on schools operating with limited staff. In many primary schools where only one or two teachers are posted, even deployment of a single educator can bring classroom teaching to a halt.” Voicing similar concerns, another government school teacher pointed out the strain on small staff setups saying, “In schools with just two teachers, if one is sent for duty, the entire workload falls on the other. Managing multiple classes simultaneously is not practical. Students end up losing out on structured teaching.” Instead of demanding complete exemption from such duties, teacher unions have suggested practical measures to reduce the impact on academics. These include assigning duty to only one member in case both spouses are government employees, exempting expectant women and mothers with children below two years and ensuring proportional distribution of duties across departments rather than relying heavily on teachers. They also proposed that only one teacher per school be deputed on such work at a time and those who were assigned duties be relieved from school for at least half-a-day to manage their workload. Additionally, teachers have sought the provision of dedicated operators to handle online work, which adds to their administrative burden.