25032023-LT-01.qxd 3/25/2023 12:53 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune RAIN PLAYS SPOILSPORT AT AGRI VARSITY KISAN MELA BACK TO THE ROOTS: RUBINA VISITS TEMPLE IN HIMACHAL BIG B RESUMES WORK AFTER RECOVERING FROM INJURY Since it started raining early morning there was thin attendance, even chief guest failed to make it to event. P2 Rubina Dilaik shared a glimpse of her hometown in Himachal where she had gone for her sister’s wedding. P3 The veteran actor had broken his rib cartilage while shooting for an action sequence in Hyderabad. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 26°C | MIN 16°C YESTERDAY MAX 24°C | MIN 15°C SUNSET SATURDAY 6.41 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 6:23 AM SATURDAY | 25 MARCH 2023 | LUDHIANA Pvt school student alleges molestation by principal Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 24 A Class VI student of a private school at Kailash Nagar here was allegedly molested by the principal of the school. The mother of the victim has alleged that instead of filing an FIR against the school principal, the police were putting pressure on her family to reach a compromise. FIR NOT LODGED The victim’s mother has alleged that instead of filing an FIR against the principal of the private school, the police were putting pressure on her family to reach a compromise. Her mother alleged that she was a widow and have two daughters. One of her daughters was a Class VI student of the private school where she (the girl) used to clean the premises also. With the money she got for doing the work, she had been depositing her fee. She said recently when she was not at home, the Principal came to their house and asked her daughter to clean the school in the evening. When the victim went to the school, the suspect allegedly molested her and tried to rape her, alleged the girl’s mother. She said though he was detained by the police after the matter was brought to their notice, instead of lodging an FIR, the police wanted the family to reach a compromise. Estimated budget of ~1,062 cr unanimously approved by MC Harshraj Singh Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 24 In the last meeting of the current sixth House today, the Municipal Corporation (MC) approved an estimated budget of approximately Rs 1062.66 crore for the upcoming 2023-24 financial year. No new taxes have been imposed and no major new projects were announced for the city. The estimated budget approval process was quick, with no detailed discussion during the meeting, which lasted less than an hour. For the next financial year, the MC plans to spend approximately Rs 473.40 crore on development and other committed expenditures while around Rs 565.30 crore is planned for the establishment and Rs 12.30 crore is allocated for contingency expenses. The estimated budget as per the agenda prepared by officials was previously around Rs 1,043.66 crore, but it was increased to Rs 1,062.66 crore for 2023-24 during the meeting. The MC aims to generate a maximum income of Rs 610 crore from GST shares, Rs 120 crore from property tax, Rs 90 crore from municipal tax on electricity, Rs 20 crore from cow cess, Rs 50 crore from additional excise duty and Rs 60 crore from water supply and sewerage charges in the next financial year. It also plans to sell properties worth Rs 20 crore. However, the civic body has Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu addresses the MC’s House meeting in Ludhiana on Friday. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN INCOME SOURCES (2023-24) EXPENDITURE ON DEVELOPMENT WORKS Share of GST ~610 cr Property tax ~120 cr Municipal tax on ~90 cr electricity Advertisements ~12.10 cr License fee (u/s 343) ~2 cr Rent ~3 cr Tehbazari ~5 cr Composition/building ~65 cr regularisation fee, CLU etc Other misc income ~5.36 cr Sale of property ~20 cr Income of O&M cell ~60 cr Additional excise duty ~50 cr Cow cess ~20 cr Roads Bridges/ projects Streets and drain related works Street lights Parks Development of slum areas Buildings, library, public toilets not taken any concrete steps to increase its income from advertisements as it is only expecting to generate Rs 12.10 crore from advertisements during the 2023-24 financial year. Nothing has ~38 cr ~9.5 cr ~80 cr ~5 cr ~10 cr ~50 lakh ~1.5 cr been planned to generate income from vacant advertisement sites in the city. For 2023-24, the MC plans to spend Rs 38 crore on road projects, Rs 9.50 crore on bridges, Rs 80 crore on streets and drains, and Rs 10 crore on park development. The meeting was headed by Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu and MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal. Later, the Mayor announced that the budget was approved unanimously. The approved estimated Budget will now be sent to the Department of Local Government for final approval. The MC House had approved an estimated Budget of Rs 1034.23 crore for 2022-23 in March 2022 but the government then sanctioned only Rs 968.13 crore. Later, the MC revised the budget to Rs 983.13 crore for 2022-23. Highest collection An official said the MC had witnessed a record all-time high recovery of property tax during the 2022-23 financial year. As of March 24, the civic body has recovered over Rs 115 crore as property tax, exceeding the annual recovery target of Rs 100 crore. This is the highest recovery of property tax during a financial year since the tax was introduced by the government in 2013-14. The recovery of dues by branches, including water-sewer user charges, building branch, rent/tehbazaari fee, advertisement tax, and license fee, is higher compared to the financial year (2021-22), the official said. The Mayor and the MC chief have praised residents for supporting the civic body by paying taxes on time. Councillors during the House meeting in Ludhiana on Friday. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN Mayor commends councillors for working unitedly for city Civic body’s sixth House tenure will come to an end today Ludhiana, March 24 Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu commended all councillors for working together for the betterment of the city, irrespective of their political affiliations, during the last General House meeting of the MC’s sixth (current) house on Friday. The tenure of the MC House is scheduled to end on March 25. In the meeting, Sandhu also praised ‘Safai Sainiks’ (safai karamcharis and sewer men) for their important role in keeping the city clean, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Mayor urged residents to support the authorities in maintaining cleanliness and greenery of the city by avoiding the use of banned plastic carry bags and single-use plastic items that negatively impact the environment and human health. During the meeting, Shiromani Akali Dal Councillor Harbhajan Singh Dang raised concerns about stalled projects approved under the councillor quota works. He urged that the projects should begin soon and be inaugurated in the presence of the councillors concerned. Jaspal Singh Giaspura, leader of the Opposition in the MC House, pointed out that the civic body’s financial condition was poor as payments of approximately Rs 150 crore to contractors for various development works were still pending. He also requested that the AAP government should release funds to the civic body at the earliest. Police freeze drug DMCH working under scanner, complaint filed peddlers’ properties SIT forms special investigation team to probe allegations of ‘embezzlement, cheating, forgery’ worth ~1.63 crore Nitn Jain Tribune News Service Nikhil Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 24 The Police Commissionerate, Ludhiana, have frozen properties valued at Rs 1.63 crore of three drug smugglers. The properties include both commercial shops and residential houses. Commissioner of Police (CP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu said the police had adopted a policy of zero tolerance against drug smugglers and seized the property of three peddlers arrested in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) cases. He said the properties of Hoshiar Singh of Lalton Kalan, including three residential houses and a shop in Lalton Kalan, worth Rs 1.08 crore, a medical shop, two vacant shops on 100 sq yards belonging to Satnam Singh of New Sunder Nagar, and a house of Vikas Kumar, a resident of Ashiana Colony was frozen by the police. Sidhu credited ADCP-2 Suhail Qassim Mir for pursuing the properties’ attachment process in minimum possible time. Sidhu said the police had invoked the Section 68-F of the NDPS Act to freeze the properties. Now, the freezing of the properties of the accused would deter them from further indulging in such activities and it would also send a strong message to other peddlers in society. The Commissioner of Police said property seizures would break the backbone and the economic support system of the drug peddlers. “It is just a start, in fact we are pursuing many more such cases with the authorities concerned and will freeze more properties of smugglers worth crores in coming days. We have already compiled lists of properties of other smugglers,” Sidhu added. Ludhiana, March 24 The functioning of the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), a premier 1,326-bed (inclusive of 800 teaching beds) tertiary care teaching hospital, here, has come under scanner with a police complaint alleging “misappropriation of funds, forging documents, account books, records, fudging accounts and cheating the poor patients”. Taking cognisance of the matter, Commissioner of Police (CP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu, has constituted a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to conduct a thorough probe into the serious allegations and sought a report before proceeding further in the case. However, the managing society of the leading medical college and hospital, established in 1964, has vehemently denied the allegations as “totally false and baseless”. In a complaint to the Ludhiana Police Commissionerate, a local resident, Anil Kumar Sachdev, has alleged that the accountant and assistant Dayanand Medical College & Hospital in Ludhiana. ASHWANI DHIMAN general manager (finance) in connivance with others were “cheating the poor and needy patients and misappropriating hospital funds while fabricating and forging invoices and records”. Accusing them of committing offences under Sections 420, 468, 471, 477-A and 120-B of the IPC, the complainant further alleged that the suspects were “cheating and playing fraud” for the past several years not only with the institution but also with the public and patients, majority of whom were poor. “The suspects in connivance and conspiracy with several others are misappro- priating funds and, in turn, cheating and fleecing the government and the poor patients,” Sachdev alleged while also accusing the suspects of “making investments beyond their known financial means”. The complainant urged the police to register an FIR into the matter to investigate the allegations and punish the suspects as per law. Confirming the receipt of the complaint, CP Mandeep Singh Sidhu told The Tribune that since the DMCH was a premier referral hospital in the state, a three-member SIT has been formed to probe into the allegations. STF arrests 4 smugglers with 2.23 kg of heroin Ludhiana, March 24 The Special Task Force (STF) wing of Ludhiana nabbed four smugglers and seized 2.23 kg heroin from their possession. The suspects have been identified as Satinder Singh, alias Shinda (40), of Koom Kalan, Manpreetpal, alias Pretti (25), of Jamalpur, Mohit Saini (22) of Moti Nagar and Navpreet Singh (23) of Jamalpur. A case under the NDPS Act was registered against them. STF AIG Snehdeep Sharma in a statement issued said a tip-off was received that the suspects in Maruti Ciaz car (bearing registration number DL2C AW 7284) were on the way to deliver heroin to their clients near Katani Kalan. The AIG said the police laid a naka near the Partapgarh chowk where the car was stopped. During a search, 2.23 kg of heroin was found concealed beneath the dri- ver’s seat of the car. During questioning, Satinder said he was unemployed and he was into the notorious trade for the past few years. Manpreetpal said he was facing several cases. A year ago, he came out from jail on bail and again started the illegal trade. c m y b Mohit said he was facing over six cases of drug smuggling, attempt to murder, etc. He started the trade a few years ago to become rich in a short span of time. The suspects also confessed that the consignment was supplied by a big heroin continued on page 2 “The SIT, comprising JCP (City), DCP (Investigation) and ADCP Operations, will submit the inquiry report within seven days,” Sidhu said while adding that further action would be initiated as per the findings of the probe panel. DMCH secretary Prem Gupta said: “We have zero tolerance for corruption and wrongdoings. I challenge that not even a small bungling can take place in our institute as there is a three-tier system of audit in place.” “Some bad elements were behind making such frivolous complaints to further their own interests,” he said. DMCH accountant Umesh Gupta and AGM (finance) Munish Kalia also denied the allegations while claiming that a “transparent system was in place with regular IT and GST returns being filed as per the proper accounting methods.” They also termed the complaint as “false and baseless”. From a school to medical college, hospital Having an imposing complex of modern buildings and equipped with all kinds of modern facilities for providing excellent care to patients and training to undergraduate and postgraduate students, the hospital’s all clinical departments, along with diagnostic laboratories, provide round-the-clock services on its campus. A retired Captain, Dr Banarsi Dass Soni, had started Arya Medical School from a rented accommodation here in 1934, and in 1936, the management of the medical school was handed over to the Arya Samaj before shifting it to its own building in 1937. The institution was recognised for the LSMF (Licentiate of the Punjab State Medical Faculty) in 1938 and in 1964, Arya Medical School was made a full-fledged MBBS college by the name of the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital. Duly recognised by the Medical Council of India for the MBBS and several specialty and super-specialty courses, and affiliated to the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, as many as 100 students are admitted to the MBBS course every year through NEET. Class XII student ends life Ludhiana, March 24 A Class XII student, Vikrant , died by suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his residence in Dugri late on Thursday evening. ASI Hazur Singh said on Thursday, Vikrant was alone at home as his parents had gone to market. In the evening, when his parents returned, he did not open the door. It was only when it was broke open, they were shocked to see his hanging body. They raised the alarm and called the police. The ASI said the deceased was under depression for the past few days. Suspecting no foul play, inquest proceedings under Section 174, CrPC, were initiated by the police. — TNS Councillors and Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Gogi praised the Mayor for working beyond party lines to enhance the city’s infrastructure. While addressing, Gogi assured the councillors that they would work together and the government would soon release Rs 200-250 crore funds. The meeting was also attended by MLAs Madan Lal Bagga, Ashok Prashar Pappi, Rajinderpal Kaur Chhina, Kulwant Singh Sidhu, Senior Deputy Mayor Sham Sunder Malhotra, Deputy Mayor Sarabjit Kaur Shimlapuri, among others. Leaders of different parties offered sweets to the Mayor after the meeting as the MC House would complete its tenure on Saturday (March 25). — TNS Chain snatcher, goldsmith nabbed Ludhiana, March 24 Within 48 hours of a chain snatching incident in the Gurdwara Nanak Parkash area, the Police Commissionerate, Ludhiana, on Friday arrested the snatcher and recovered the gold chain from the suspect. Besides, the police have also held a goldsmith for buying the stolen item from the suspect. The suspects have been identified as Gurpreet Singh of New Azad Nagar and jeweller Narinder Pal of Golden Avenue, Dugri. Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu said on March 21, Sapna Dhawan of New Guru Angad Dev Colony, near Shimlapuri, had complained that an unidentified man riding a Honda Activa scooter had snatched her gold chain weighing 12 gm, following which a case under Section 379-B of the IPC was registered. He said the police arrested Gurpreet in the case and seized the two-wheeler used in the crime. Sidhu said the police had also booked jeweller Narinder Pal for buying a gold chain from the suspect. Narinder had also been arrested in the case. He had no previous criminal history. Sidhu said special emphasis was being laid to eliminate the street crime from Ludhiana and said the police had worked out a detailed strategy to catch snatchers. The CP warned jewellers against buying valuables from snatchers, else they would face action. The police said when the police party went to nab the suspect, he tried to run and fell on the ground, which caused him a fracture in one of the legs. — TNS