11092024-LT-01.qxd 9/10/2024 11:18 PM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune SPEAKER PRAISES CM FOR NEW AGRICULTURE POLICY LINK MC’S GST SHARE TO CITY’S POPULATION: MLA SHUKLA ON HIS DOCUMENTARY WHILE WE WATCHED Sandhwan said it was regrettable that the Centre had so far neglected the agriculture sector. P2 Abohar MC received only ~14.4 cr GST as its share from the state government last year. P3 Says journalist Ravish Kumar, with his dry humour, made for a great protagonist. P4 » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 34°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 25°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.35 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 6:04 AM » WEDNESDAY | 11 SEPTEMBER 2024 | LUDHIANA Ludhiana, September 10 Cyber criminals targeted a Mullanpur man and duped him of Rs 77,372. On the pretext of deactivating insurance service on credit card, the suspects defrauded the victim by making two transactions. Complainant Surinder Kumar of Mullanpur told the police that on June 28, he received a phone call from an unknown female caller who said she is an employee of credit card department of IndusInd Bank. “The caller said my credit card number has an activated insurance service and insurance charges of Rs 24,449 will be applied on the credit card after automatically generation of bill. If I do not want to continue it and want to close it, then a link is being sent on my mobile number from the bank which I should open and fill the form. Filling that form will stop your credit card insurance service,” added the complainant. He alleged that the accused sent him a link to deactivate the service. However, when he opened the link and filled the form as per the caller’s instructions, he got OTP on his phone after which two transactions of Rs 51,592 and Rs 25,780 took place on his credit card. After filing a complaint at IndusInd Bank, he lodged a complaint with the Ludhiana rural police. — TNS OPD services hit as doctors go on strike, patients suffer Submit property tax before Sept 30 to avail 10% rebate Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 10 The out-patient department (OPD) services remained suspended for the first half of the day at all public health centres, which included all community health centres, subdivisional hospitals and district hospitals for the second day in a row. Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA) doctors were on a strike, creating unwanted hardships for patients. In view of the persistent insistence of the government to moderate the call for a few days, the PCMSA had decided to shut OPDs for three hours. A meeting is called tomorrow with the Cabinet sub-committee to resolve the issue. Patients had a tough time as they longed for the arrival of doctors in the OPD. Moreover, after the OPDs became functional, not all the patients were able to see the doctor and many returned without consultation. Hemant Kumar of Transport Nagar had an appointment with the doctor but upon reaching the hospital, he came to know about Ludhiana, September 10 In Ludhiana, as many as 1.07 lakh property owners are yet to pay the property tax. With September 30 being the last day to pay the tax for the current financial year (2024-25) with 10 per cent rebate, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has appealed to the residents to submit their tax in time and avail the rebate. The civic body officials stated that around 1.07 lakh property owners are yet to pay the tax for the current financial year. They can avail 10 per cent rebate by filing the tax by September 30. MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi stated that the residents can pay the property tax at zonal suvidha kendras of the civic body. For avoiding long queues, residents can pay the property tax online too. The residents can visit the website — mcludhiana.gov.in for paying the tax online. He appealed to the residents to pay the taxes on time to avoid penalties. The collected amount is used for providing basic amenities to the residents and for tak- TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Man loses ~77K in cyber fraud Patients wait for doctors at a hospital as OPD services remained suspended for three hours. the strike. “I am waiting here since last two hours and I am not sure if I will be able to meet the doctor or no,” he said. Similar was the situation of Geeta from Karimpura who came to see her gynaecologist. “The doctor came at 11 am today and it’s already 1 pm and I am still waiting for my turn,” she said. The PCMSA moderated the first phase call by deciding to close down the OPD for the first half only. Moreover, the emergency and MCH services continued uninterrupted, said Dr Akhil Sareen, state president, PCMSA, Punjab. Notably, the second phase, planned from September 12 onwards may well witness a complete closure of OPDs and suspension of related services. EPFO launches call centre to address subscribers’ problems ing up development works in the city. The civic body officials further stated that the residents can avail 10 per cent rebate on payment of property tax for the current financial year by September 30. No penalty is imposed on payment of tax from October 1 to December 31. The department imposes a 10 per cent penalty on payment of tax from January 1 to March 31. The penalty is increased to 20 per cent and 18 per cent annual interest is also imposed, if the residents failed to pay tax for the current financial year by March 31. MC offices to remain open on weekends MC Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said to facilitate the residents in submitting the property tax before September 30, the civic body has decided to keep the suvidha kendras open on Saturdays and Sundays too. Apart from the working days, the MC suvidha kendras will remain open on September 14 (Saturday), September 21 (Saturday), September 22 (Sunday), September 28 (Saturday) and September 29 (Sunday). Married woman ends life, kin hold protest Ludhiana, September 10 The Ludhiana Regional Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched a dedicated call centre to register and address the grievances of over 22 lakh subscribers, both employees and pensioners, from over 15,000 registered establishments. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner (RPFC-1) Saurabh Swami said the minimum time of 48 hours and maximum time of five days has been fixed to resolve the grievances that will be registered at the call centre. He disclosed that the member employees, pensioners and employers can call at 01612423611 to register their grievances pertaining to the EPFO, which will be duly received and registered under the supervision of a senior officer for early resolution. JUST A CALL AWAY ■ Regional Provident Fund Commissioner (RPFC-1) Saurabh Swami sadi member employees, pensioners and employers can call on 0161-2423611 to register their grievances pertaining to the EPFO. The complainants would be intimated about the status and resolution of their complaints on their registered mobile numbers Swami said the complainants would be intimated about the status and resolution of their complaints on their registered mobile numbers. “In case the complainants are not satisfied by the handling or resolution of their complaints at the call centre, they can also approach the senior officials at the regional office,” the RPFC-1 asserted, while adding that the social media handles of the EPFO would continue to look at the complaints posted through those channels as well. “Our main motto is to provide trouble-free and prompt service to our subscribers as well as pensioners and that also preferably at their doorstep, wherever possible. The organisation is handling several crores of provident fund and pension accounts all over the country and is providing seamless and swift service to its subscribers,” Swami added. — TNS The PCMSA has once again conveyed the government that till the time the demands, specifically the ACPs and security arrangements are materialised through the required notifications, the call for the indefinite suspension of services will stay as the cadre now looks well poised for a decisive battle ahead, said Dr Sareen. Ludhiana, September 10 After a married woman ended her life by hanging herself at her in-laws house in Jamalpur yesterday, family members and kin of the deceased on Tuesday gathered outside the Focal Point police station demanding registration of case against her husband and in-laws. The deceased has been identified as Anjali (24). The deceased’s mother, Veena, said about two years back her daughter got married to a Ludhiana-based man and her in-laws started harassing her. Even her daughter’s husband would torture her. Due to the torture, her daughter committed suicide. Inspector Amandeep Singh Brar said after recording the statement of the deceased’s kin, appropriate legal action would be taken. — TNS Education priority for govt, not filling up of vacancies New models implemented but shortage of teachers has to be overcome Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, September 10 The ruling AAP government in state has always stated that education and health remain key areas in its list of priorities. For upgrading the education system in Punjab, several new models are being adopted by the government. These include ‘Schools of Eminence’, ‘Schools of Happiness’ etc. Sadly, filling up the vacancies in government schools as well as senior secondary schools seems to be last in the priority list of AAP government. The data shows that in Ludhiana alone, there are approximately 400 vacancies of lecturers in the senior secondary schools, which 400 SEATS VACANT The data shows that in Ludhiana alone, there are approximately 400 vacancies of lecturers in the senior secondary schools, which need to be filled up. In the absence of subject teachers in senior secondary classes, thousands of school students suffer in the Board exams. need to be filled up. In the absence of subject teachers in senior secondary classes, thousands of school students suffer in the Board exams. Stop-gap arrangements are being made by the Education Department in many schools due to which the quality of education is certainly suffering and it gets reflected in the final Board results of students, as those from private schools perform much better than their counterparts in government schools. The data (a copy of which is with The Tribune) shows that there is an acute shortage of lecturers in government senior secondary schools. The students studying English, Maths, social science, Punjabi etc. suffer as there are no permanent subject teachers available. “For example, in government senior secondary schools, there is an acute shortage of commerce lecturers. The figures till 2023 showed that there was a vacancy of approximately 20 commerce lecturers in the same school. Commerce teachers are needed in many other senior secondary schools too. Because of insufficient number of teachers, students are reluctant to choose commerce stream in many schools,” said one of the teachers at GSSS, Jawahar Nagar Camp, here. The press secretary of Government School Teachers Union Tehel Singh said that there were about 7,000 vacancies of lecturers in the schools. “Recently, after eight years, the department has given promotions and we hope that 2,000 posts of lecturers will be filled all over Punjab. Still, there would be a shortage of approximately 5,000 lecturers, which should also be filled up as soon as possible if quality education is to be provided to students,” said Singh. c m y b 6th Sep - 15th Sep, 2024 Miscreants open fire on father, son Ludhiana, September 10 Two bike-borne miscreants opened fire on a father-son duo near Dholan village in Jagraon on the intervening night of September 8 and 9. Both had been returning to Rumi village after serving langar in the hospitals of Jagraon and surrounding areas of the region. Fortunately, they didn’t suffer bullet injury and escaped unhurt. Complainant Jaswinder Singh said they run an organisation named Ekta Welfare Trust and daily go to different hospitals of Ludhiana, Moga and Jagraon and serve langar, distribute clothes and books etc. among the patients. On September 8, he was returning in the evening after distributing langar in hospitals. On the way, his vehicle broke down. He called his brother Arshdeep for help. His brother and father Jugraj picked him up and left the damaged vehicle with the mechanic for repair. They then drove towards their home in Rumi village. When they reached near Dholan village, two bike riders attacked the vehicle with a baseball bat and broke the glass, added the complainant. He alleged that after this, the accused stopped the bike a little ahead of the car and started firing indiscriminately at their vehicle. When he stopped his car, the attackers fled towards Raikot. The police was investigating the case. — TNS