02072026-LT-01.qxd 7/2/2026 1:20 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune HEALTHIER HEART: EXPERTS URGE COOKING OIL SWITCH WHY ANAEMIA IS A THREAT TO WOMEN OF ALL AGES SUNNY GETS ANOTHER TAREEKH ...THIS TIME ON OTT Nutrition experts are urging families to rethink oils and fats they use in their kitchens. P3 As many as 57 per cent Indian women from 15 to 55 and beyond are anaemic, and the numbers are rising . P3 He says, “IKKAis not just a courtroom drama. It’s a story about relationships, & difficult choices life forces you to make.” P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 37°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 38°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7.28 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:25 AM » THURSDAY | 2 JULY 2026 | LUDHIANA 1.48L benefit under women grant scheme Over ~52.19 cr deposited in their accounts in district by AAP govt Historic day for state, says Sisodia Shivani Bhakoo Sukhpreet Singh School head booked for beating kid after father complainsabout high fee Tribune News Service Nikhil Bhardwaj Ludhiana, July 1 Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday described the launch of the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana as a historic day for the state, saying the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in the state had fulfilled another major poll promise by beginning the disbursal of monthly financial assistance to eligible women. Sisodia was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of a Sanatan Bhavan at Chhawani Mohalla, opposite Chand Cinema, in Ludhiana. The project, to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 1.30 crore, was inaugurated by Sisodia, along with Punjab Ministers Aman Arora and Hardeep Singh Mundian, in the presence of Ludhiana North MLA Madan Lal Bagga. MLA Ashok Parashar Pappi, Mayor Inderjit Kaur, Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Jain and Municipal Commissioner Ojasvi Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 1 The much-awaited government scheme, the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana, was rolled out on Wednesday across the state by the AAP government, under which 1,48,339 beneficiaries in the district benefited. A total of Rs 52,19,35,500 was deposited in their accounts by the AAP government on Wednesday. The total number of women beneficiaries in the district, as of June 30, is around 4.43 lakh. Funds will be deposited in coming days in accounts of all beneficiaries. Today, the money deposited into the accounts of 1,48,339 beneficiaries is for the next three months. Of these beneficiaries, 97,060 women are from the general category while 51,279 belong to the SC category. The data of the beneficiaries and the amount deposited is being compiled by the Department of Social Security and TOTAL BENEFICIARIES IN DIST CONSTITUENCIES Atam Nagar Dakha Gill Jagraon Khanna Ludhiana Central Ludhiana East Ludhiana North Ludhiana South Ludhiana West Payal Raikot Sahnewal Samrala 21,931 48,608 58,070 41,366 35,784 13,200 25,402 24,789 21,657 13,524 46,783 27,009 32,576 32,355 (AS ON JUNE 30) Development of Women and Children, Punjab. Talking about the milestone on Wednesday, AAP MLA Madan Lal Bagga said the promise that the AAP government made during the 2022 Assembly elections has been fulfilled today and for the next three months, the amount of Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,500, respectively, has been deposited in accounts of eligible women. Manish Sisodia, along with other AAP leaders, during an event in Ludhiana on Wednesday. Alankar were also present. Addressing the gathering, Sisodia said the first instalment under the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana had started reaching bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). He said eligible women would receive Rs 1,000 per month while women belonging to the Scheduled Caste category would receive Rs 1,500 per month. Calling it a landmark initiative, Sisodia said it was a proud day not only for the state but also for the entire country. He said the AAP government had fulfilled another commitment made before the Assembly elections and would continue implementing guarantees promised to the people. “The AAP government believes in delivering what it promises. While other political parties remained busy pursuing their own interests, we have focused on fulfilling our commitments to the peo- ple,” he said. State AAP president and Cabinet Minister Aman Arora said the Sanatan Bhavan would be constructed over about 6,600 sq ft on a site measuring nearly 10,500 sq ft, at a cost of around Rs 1.30 crore. He said the facility would emerge as a centre for religious, social, cultural and community activities. Once completed, it would provide modern infrastructure for religious functions, community gatherings and public welfare programmes. Ludhiana, July 1 After a man had lodged several complaints against a private school principal for charging high fees and forcing parents to buy books from a particular shop, the latter retaliated by punishing and beating his son for past several months. After the father of the child got to know about the same, he sent complaints to the Chief Minister, Education Minister, District Child Protection Officer and District Education Officer (DEO), following which a case was registered against the suspect. The suspect was identified as Samuel, principal of St Thomas Senior Secondary School, Brown Road, Ludhiana. The complainant Bharat Bhushan, a resident of Field Ganj, told the police that his seven-year-old-son studies in Class II in the school. The school was not adhering to directives of the Education Department. Fee was being increased against the norms and parents were forced to buy books from a particular shop. “Being a parent, I decided to stand against the school management and lodged complaints with the Chief Minister, Education Minister, District Child Protection Officer and the DEO. Since no action was taken for the past over one year, I filed repeated complaints. Enraged over the same, the principal warned me to withdraw the complaints or face dire consequences,”he alleged. He alleged that when he did not bow down to the pressure, the Principal started torturing his son. “He was not allowing my son to sit in the class. Most of the time, he forced my son to sit in an empty room for hours and sometimes at the reception without any reason. My son’s study was getting affected. I also approached the principal and urged him to mend his ways but he did not listen and continued to harass the boy. He even used to beat my son without any reason,” the complainant said. He alleged that later, he filed a complaint on the child continued on page 2 Man, paramour found dead in Khanna hotel Lab technician killed as Police suspect murder-suicide; victims checked into hotel on Wednesday morning Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 1 A man and a woman were found dead in Greenland Hotel, Khanna, in Ludhiana district on Wednesday afternoon. The victims, who were married, were allegedly in an illicit relationship. They had checked in the hotel room early on Wednesday morning. It was only when the couple did not come out of the room for long, hotel staff knocked on the door and when nobody responded, they raised the alarm and informed the police. The woman’s body was Cops conduct a probe at the hotel in Khanna on Wednesday. found on the bed while the other body was lying on the floor as both had firearm injuries. Cattle feed plant GM, 2 firm owners bookedfor misuse of subsidised urea Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 1 Major action has been taken in the case of alleged misuse of subsidised urea in the state. The Khanna police registered a case against several suspects, including General Manager and other employees of the Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producer Federation Limited cattle feed plant on GT Road, Bhattian, Khanna; owner of Indo Organics, from Gidderbaha, Muktsar; owner of Manisha Trading Company, Bhajanpura, New Delhi. This FIR was registered at Khanna’s City Police Station 2, based on the statement of Agriculture Development Officer Gurpreet Kaur. On the instructions of SSP Darpan Ahluwalia, the police intensified the investigation and other officials and private company employees might also face the music. Preliminary investigations have revealed that subsidised neem-coated urea, intended for agricultural use, was supplied to cattle feed plant instead of technical-grade urea, which is required for industrial use. As per the allegation, the subsidised urea was used for industrial purposes, thereby taking unfair advantage of government subsidies. It is likely to cause a loss of crores of rupees to the government treasury. A team from the Agriculture Department raided the Khanna Cattle Feed Plant and took urea samples and recovered 1,340 bags. The investigation revealed that bags of technical-grade urea were filled with subsidised, neem-coated urea for agricultural use. The copy of the FIR, which is with The Tribune, stated that after samples were sent for testing, the report was received from the Fertiliser Testing Laboratory. It is suspected that the bags of technical grade urea present in the feed factory were filled with agriculture grade neem-coated urea, available on subsidy to farmers for agricultural use by the Central Government. Only agriculture grade urea available on subsidy is coated with neem oil, whereas the quantity of the oil in technical urea for industrial use should be zero. Technical urea supplier companies Indo Organics, Manisha Trading Company, misused the semi-coated urea fertiliser available on subsidy by printing technical urea bags for their financial gains and the unauthorised fertiliser has been sold to feed factory through tender at an expensive rate in connivance with the GM of the cattle feed plant and other officers/employees in a conspiracy. The SSP said the subsidy amount on neem-coated urea fertiliser available to farmers had been used for personal gains in an illegal manner, thereby committing fraud and misappropriation of government money. “The cooperative cattle feed plant had earlier floated tenders to procure technical grade urea but urea supplying firms by hatching conspiracy supplied subsidised neem coated urea and cleverly packed the same in bags labelled as technical grade urea,” she said. Preliminary investigation of the police suspected that the man first shot the woman dead and then he shot himself. The room was locked from inside. A 9mm pistol was recovered along with two magazines. Forensic team visited the scene. The woman has been identified as a resident of Tarn Taran. She got married eight years ago and had two children. The man belongs to Makhu in Ferozepur. According to sources, she was allegedly in an illicit relationship with the man, a distant relative. Her husband works at Gurugram and was informed by the police about the incident. The Khanna police have checked the CCTV footage to gather vital clues. The police are checking whether any third person visited the couple or not. SSP, Khanna, Dr Darpan Ahluwalia, said the woman’s family was yet to arrive. The police would record statements of both families. So far, inquest proceedings were initiated in the case. speeding vehicle hits bike Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 1 A speeding Maruti Swift car hit a youth’s bike near the Lucky Complex in Focal Point, Phase V, here. The impact was so severe that the victim fell onto the road and the car ran over him. The victim died on the spot. Later, the police arrested the driver of the car. In a statement to the police, the deceased’s maternal uncle, Yograj Masih, said his 21-year-old nephew, Rohit, a resident Car driver nabbed, vehicle seized of New Sarpanch Colony, Jamalpur, worked at a lab as a technician in Harnam Nagar, Model Town. On June 29, Rohit and Yograj were returning to the laboratory after completing their work. Yograj said Rohit was going ahead of him on his Hero Splendor bike. As he reached Focal Point, a white Maruti Swift car coming from the rear at a high speed struck the bike. Rohit fell on the road and the car ran over him, killing him on the spot. The Focal Point police acted swiftly and arrested the car driver, Taranjit Singh, a resident of Baba Deep Singh Colony, Royal Enclave, Chandigarh road. The police seized the car and the damaged bike. City resident moves rights panel over LIT’s ‘pick-and-choose’ policy in plot auctions Sukhpreet Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, July 1 Alleging discrimination in the allotment of residential plots by the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), a city resident has approached the Punjab Human Rights Commission after claiming that several highest bidders (L-1) were denied plots despite offering top bids while similar bids of other buyers were accepted. Ashish Chhabra, who has also submitted complaints to the Deputy Commissioner and other authorities concerned, alleged that he has been running from pillar to post for months seeking justice. He accused the LIT of following a “pick-and-choose” policy in cancelling auctions and demanded an independent inquiry into the entire process. According to the complaint, Chhabra participated in the LIT e-auctions conducted in October 2025, January 2026 and March 2026 for 40-sq yard residential plots in E-Block of c m y b Ludhiana Improvement Trust's 40-sq yard residential plots in Ludhiana. Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. The reserve price of each plot was Rs 24 lakh. He stated that in the October 2025 auction, he emerged as the highest bidder for one plot with a bid of Rs 24.30 lakh while another bidder, Naveen Chhabra, also became the highest bidder for a separate plot with an identical bid of Rs 24.30 lakh. However, both auctions were cancelled. In the January 2026 auction, Ashish Chhabra (Rs 25.30 lakh), Priti Chhabra (Rs 25.50 lakh), Shaleen Chhabra (Rs 25.40 lakh) and Tajinder Singh, who emerged as the highest bidder for two separate plots with bids of Rs 25.60 lakh and Rs 25.70 lakh, were also denied allotments after the auctions were cancelled. In the March 2026 auction, Ashish Chhabra claimed he offered the highest bid of Rs 28.70 lakh while Mohan Lal emerged as the highest bidder for another plot with Rs 28 lakh. According to the complaint, both auctions were again cancelled. The complainant said on every occasion, the LIT cited the same reason — “Auction cancelled due to low price as compared To earlier auctions”. However, Chhabra questioned the consistency of the decision-making process. Referring to auction records attached with his complaint, he alleged that plots in the same locality were sold earlier on marginal increases over the reserve price. He cited Plot No 247-E, sold in August 2025 for Rs 24.40 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 24 lakh, and Plot No 253-E, sold in October 2025 for Rs 29 lakh. He also referred to Plot No 15D, which was sold for Rs 45.60 lakh against a reserved price of Rs 45 lakh. He alleged that while these bids were accepted, several other highest bidders were denied allotments on the ground that the bids were too low. He further alleged that certain LIT officials were “hand in glove” with some beneficiaries and that different standards were being adopted for different bidders. Seeking intervention, Chhabra has urged the Human Rights Commission and the district administration to investigate the alleged irregularities, fix responsibility if any wrongdoing is found, and ensure that the cancelled plots are allotted in a fair and transparent manner. Chairman, Ludhiana Improvement Trust, Tarsem Singh Bhinder, said: “The case is already under my knowledge and we are already in talking terms with my head office and we will look into the matter”.