20052024-ATR-01.qxd 5/20/2024 12:54 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune NECESSARY TO DEFEAT BJP-LED COMMUNAL FORCES, SAYS LEFT MangatRamPasla,nationalgeneralsecretary, RMPI, said that the Constitutional traditions ofthe country were under threat. P3 » ACTRESS EVA LONGORIA WANTS TO BE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE SHE LOVES “I want to work with people I love,” Longoria said at the Cannes Film Fest, naming friends Kerry Washington and Gabrielle Union.P4 » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR UMA IS AT THE CANNES FOR THE PREMIERE OF HER FILM OH CANADA Uma Thurman graced the red carpet at the Cannes Film Fest for the premiere of her latest film, Oh Canada. P4 » MAX 44°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 44°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET MONDAY 7.23 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:30 AM MONDAY | 20 MAY 2024 | AMRITSAR Residents of 550 villages lament as LS aspirants miss rural issues in discourse Manmeet Singh Gill Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 19 When it comes to election campaign, every candidate in the fray is promising to convert Amritsar into a world- class city with state of the art facilities, but residents of at least 550 villages in the Lok Sabha (LS) constituency, feel left out as they complain that their concerns seldom find mention in discourse of political parties and their candidates. Nearly 60 per cent of the population of the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency lives in the rural areas, but the prime focus of political parties and candidates is the city and its residents, lament village residents. They complain of poor road connectivity, health facilities, schools and even power supply. Residents said earlier, specialist doctors were available at the A bridge on a drain without any safety grill at a village in Amritsar district. TRIBUNE PHOTO primary health centres and community health centres in the rural areas, but they were shifted to the city. “Presently, most Mohalla Clinics have Community Health Officers some of whom are not even MBBS. In case of an emergency, people have to travel to the city for treatment,” said Raman Kumar, a resident of Daoke village in the border belt. “It may sound weird to city dwellers, but none of the villages have waste collection system. Dumps of waste can be seen alongside roads in almost every village,” Jasveer Singh complained, while adding that none of the political parties or candidates were even concerned about the issue. A resident of Mohawa village Gursevak Singh said, “Seven school children had died in September 2016 after a school bus fell in a drain. Even after eight years, over two dozen bridges on the drain are without proper railings. None of the candidates has even promised to install railings.” He said the condition of roads in most areas was poor. The rural residents said a state of the art railway station, better air connectivity and development of tourist facilities find space in discourse of political parties, but the problems in villages were often ignored. “No doubt, better air connectivity and increase in flow of tourists is good for city’s economy, but why there is silence over issues such as depleting water table. Presently, people are forced to dig tubewells upto 400 feet deep. The cost of installing one tubewell is at least Rs 2 lakh. Why are they promising canal water for agricultural fields,” said another village resident. Two booked for defrauding man of ~27.14 lakh Drug peddler arrested with 598 grams of heroin Tribune News Service Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, May 19 Two swindlers have allegedly defrauded a person of Rs 27.14 lakh on the pretext of depositing his fee in a Canadian college. The victim — Harpreet Singh of Ganga Singh Nagar in Tarn Taran — has brought the matter to the notice of the district police. According to infromation, the suspects contacted Harpreet at a local IELTS centre. Harpreet deposited the amount as asked to be paid as fee for a Canadian college, but the suspects embezzled Rs 27.14 lakh paid by the victim. The suspects were identified as Des Kumar Kamla Yadav, a resident of Flat No. 303, Evershine City, Vasai East Palgarh (Maharashtra); and Vivek Soni, a resident of E-160 Lower Ground, Disuza Kailash, New Delhi. Amritsar, May 19 The Amritsar (Rural) police arrested Kirpal Singh, a resident of Rorawala Kalan village, falling under the Gharinda police station here today after recovering 598 grams of heroin from him. Satinder Singh, SSP Amrit, sar (Rural), said Kirpal was intercepted by a patrolling party in Rorawala Kalan village following a tip-off. Preliminary investigation revealed that he used to receive the contraband smuggled from Pakistan through drone, the SSP said. “He has no previous crime record and has been arrested for the first time. His backward and forward links are being established to expose the entire trans-border module,” the SSP said, while adding that a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Actwas registered against the suspect. The suspect in custody of the Amritsar (Rural) police on Sunday. Kirpal was produced before a duty magistrate and brought on police remand for further investigation, the SSP said. 2 held in Ajnala firing case 3 of Jalandhar family booked for duping Old enmity cited as reason behind incident ex-serviceman, his relative of ~42.33L Tribune News Service Congress leader (centre) Pawan Khera addresses the media in Amritsar on Sunday. VISHAL KUMAR Cong to hold election rallies in state on lines of BJP rallies for Modi: Khera Amritsar, May 19 Congress leader Pawan Khera today said that senior leaders of his party would hold rallies in Punjab on the lines of election rallies being organised for Prime Minister Narendra Modi here from next week. Flanked by members of the District Congress Committee (Urban), Khera who is also the chairman of media and publicity Committee of the AICC, alleged that Modi was only attempting religious polarisation through his political speeches. He said since the BJP does not have any report card to show to the electorate in terms of party’s performance, its leaders were resorting to crass communalism. Khera said that Prime Minister Modi’s election campaign had run out of steam as his speeches were devoid of relevant issues and directed only at polarising voters. He said during his 10-year rule, PM Modi did not have anything to showcase but the “Rs 16 lakh crore dole dished out to his corporate friends”. He said a democratically elected Prime Minister who did not give interviews to the media during his two terms was now giving interviews. Casting doubts over Modi’s claim of sending his envoy to Israel to convey to its government that the people of Gaza should not be attacked during the month of Ramadan, he said it sounded strange that as Prime Minister, he neither uttered any words for the Manipur victims nor visited the place to express solace with the victims. — TNS Amritsar, May 19 Day after the Ajnala firing incident, the police have arrested two persons identified as Varinder Singh and Sartaj Singh in the case. An old enmity is cited to be the reason behind the incident. Lovely Kumar, the victim had sustained injuries on the hand during firing. The police booked five persons on charges of murder bid and the Arms Act, besides other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. Following the incident, Congress candidate Gurjeet Singh Aujla, who was holding a rally at MR Palace, Bhakha Hari Singh village in Ajnala, just near the firing spot, had accused the AAP leaders for intimidating residents to win the elections. Lovely told the police that he had gone to attend Aujla’s rally. The victim said he felt thirsty and went to have sugarcane juice from a vendor just across the road. He said suspects Amandeep Singh, Sartaz Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Varinder Singh and Bunty arrived on the spot in a car and attacked him with a sharp weapon, which hit his arm. Later, Amandeep Singh opened fire at the victim. A bullet hit victim on his hand while another hit the road near his feet. The victim managed to run away from the spot and save himself while the suspects fired several shots at him. Later, the suspects fled from the spot and the victim was rushed to a hospital for treatment. The SSP Amritsar (Rural) police said the victim told the police that he had an old dispute with the suspects and a case was registered in this regard. “We have arrested Varinder Singh and Sartaz Singh, who were admitted to a hospital, following medical examination and completing other legal formalities. Raids are on to nab their accomplices,” the SSP said. Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 19 In yet another immigration fraud, an ex-serviceman identified as Surinder Singh, a resident of Bikraur village, and his relative in Ajnala was duped by a Jalandhar-based family of Rs 42.33 lakh on pretext of sending their wards to the USA. The suspects even provided them visa documents which were found to be fake. Now, after over two-month long investigation by the Ajnala DSP the police have booked , three persons, including a woman, in this connection. A complaint was lodged with the police on March 5, 2024, against the suspects following which SSP Satinder Singh marked a probe to the Ajnala DSP in this regard. Those booked were identified as Satnam Singh, his son Jasbir Singh, and wife Gian Kaur, all residents of New Vivekanand Park, near Sabzi Mandi. They were yet to be PLAINT LODGE ON MARCH 5 A complaint was lodged with the police on March 5, 2024, against the suspects following which SSP Satinder Singh marked a probe to the Ajnala DSP in this connection. arrested while a case under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and Section 13 of Punjab Travel Professions Regulation Act was registered against them. SSP Satinder Singh said raids were on to arrest them while further investigation was in progress. Surinder Singh, the complainant stated to the police that he and his relative Gurpreet Singh came in contact with Jasbir Singh, his wife Paramjit Kaur and Satnam Singh a few months ago. They posed themselves as Italy residents who were now running their immigration business from Delhi. Surinder said after several meetings they lured them into sending their wards to the USA for which they sought Rs 70 lakh from them. Surinder said he gave Rs 6.5 lakh and passport of his son Shivnoor Singh to them on January 16. Later, both the complainants handed over Rs 45 lakh to the suspects on different occasions and through different means. Surinder alleged that the suspects handed over visas to them which were found to be fake. In fact, the suspects also booked flight for their wards, but later got it cancelled, he said. During investigation, Ajnala DSP found that after going through bank details and other documents, it was proved that they had defrauded the victims. Jasbir Singh was booked by the Qadian police in Gurdaspur case under similar offence last year. He was arrested and sent to the Gurdaspur jail. Though Satnam Singh had “debarred” his son Jasbir Singh in order to “hoodwink” cops and victims, but they were still in touch with each Infighting among Akali stalwarts worries SAD candidate Cheema LocalgovtdepttellsMCto reduce power expenses CAMPAIGN TRAIL Motors of tubewells repaired, water supply resumes in 5 localities Ravi Dhaliwal Amritsar, May 19 A number of localities of the city were not getting potable water as tubewell motors were dysfunctional for the last few days. After repeated complaints of residents of Kashmir Avenue, Basant Avenue, Gokal Avenue, Aman Avenue and Hindustani Basti the municipal corporation swung into action on the weekend and claimed to have resumed the water supply to these localities. Yesterday, residents of Mustfabaad in Ward No. 17 staged a protest against the MC over supply of contaminated water. Residents claimed that despite complaints, MC staff did not rectify the issue. MC Commissioner Harpreet Singh said, “Today, some complaints regarding break down of motors of tubewells in Kashmir Avenue, Basant Avenue, Gokal Avenue, Aman Avenue and Hindustani Basti have been received. Operation and maintenance wing of the MC have rectified the problem.” — TNS Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, May 19 He is a stickler for discipline. “For me, discipline is a bridge between goals and achievements,” says Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, SAD candidate from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency. At exactly 8.45 am, he is at the breakfast table carrying with him a bundle of newspapers, half of them in English language. As he savours his food, he scans papers one by one; the English ones come first. Whenever his cellphone rings, he puts papers asided to receive the call. He never misses a call. Almost all calls in the morning pertain to his day’s events. While having a glass of “lassi” he says, “I fail to understand why the Modi government says it should be ‘one nation, one election’. The phrase is a misnomer. The BJP talks about holding the parliament, Assembly and local bodies elections at the same time. It means there are three elections and not one. Daljit Singh Cheema addresses a gathering during a poll campaign in Gurdaspur. TRIBUNE PHOTO Hence the correct usage should be ‘One nation, simultaneous elections’. “ The doctor has some logic here! As Cheema prepares to leave the breakfast table, he gets a call from a local leader asking him for directions pertaining to the opening of the new SAD office in the city. Cheema makes it clear to him that being a candidate he would not be able to devote much time in the office. “This constituency is a big one. From Dera Baba Nanak till Dhar block, the distance is nearly 120 km. I will be busy travelling and presiding over meetings. I have to visit each of the nine Assembly segments at least four times. Hence, I will not have much time for the office work,” he tells the local satrap on the other side of the call. He also strictly orders him that he himself would choose workers to man the office. On his way to a gathering in Pathankot, Cheema confides how worried he was about the infighting among the Akali stalwarts of this area. He says, “However, after I met them individually, they agreed to work in unison. Unity does not mean sameness. It means oneness for a purpose. Lamps might be different, but the light is the same.” He is informed by his Man Friday, Jaskaran Singh, that the Pathankot Assembly seat is a Hindu dominated one. “Gurdaspur constituency is perhaps the only parliamentary seat in Punjab where the religious divide is so sharp. We have four Hindu dominated seats and five seats where the Sikhs are in a majority. I will have to walk like a trapeze artiste if I have to balance things. One mistake and the edifice may start crumbling,” says Cheema. For good measure, he asks former MLA Ashok Sharma to guide him through his Pathankot tour. His decision c m y b to ask a Hindu to lead his campaign in a Hindu dominated seat is a politically correct one. For his efforts, Sharma is rewarded with an important post in the party hierarchy. Towards end of the tour, somebody on cellphone informs Cheema that a middle-rung leader, close to former DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna, is giving trouble in Qadian. He is threatening to join the Congress. A call to Sarna is placed. An hour later, Cheema is informed that the leader says he would stay put in the SAD because that was his parent party and nobody leaves his parents. The call to Sarna had worked. Cheema arrives at his headquarters in Gurdaspur around midnight, fully exhausted and hungry. He is thinking of having a quiet dinner with close confidants where the next day’s routine can be discussed. However, much to his chagrin, Jaskaran informs him that a delegation of Christian leaders from Fatehgarh Churian wants to meet him. Cheema reluctantly agrees and this meeting goes well past midnight. Tribune News Service Amritsar, May 19 The Department of Local Governments has written to the municipal corporation (MC) to reduce its power expenditure. In a recent letter, officials of the department instructed the MC to reduce electricity costs of 548 tubewells and 85,000 streetlights. The department asked the MC to adjust the load of tubewells and streetlights as per the load sanctioned by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). Officials of the deparment have also sought a report on the corrected load of the MC after negotiations with PSPCL by May 22. Due to mismanagement, the MC has been paying a heavy amount to the PSPCL for the power bills. Outdated equipment consumes more power than the units sanctioned by the PSPCL. Officials instructed the MC to adjust the electricity load of the streetlights as per the The municipal corporation office in Amritsar. TRIBUNE PHOTO actual consumption and install capacitors to save the energy inorder to reduce the power expenses. The MC has been using 540 heavy load motors on the tubewells, a number of motors in sewage and water treatment plants. The Department of Local Government instructed the civic body to adjust the load of these tubewell motors accordingly so that the penalty amount could be reduced. The MC has been paying penalty for using energy over than the sanctioned load. The department also instructed the MC to replace the old machinery with new energy efficient machines and conduct an energy audit.
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