07032024-ATR-01.qxd 3/7/2024 12:08 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune 3 DAYS ON, TEACHERS ATOP TANK REFUSE TO DESCEND LIVE-WIRE FENCING IN 6 JAILS, PUNJAB TELLS HIGH COURT Live-wire fencing has been completed in six jails, while process is underway in 10 others, Punjab tells HC. P3 MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 23°C | MIN 8°C YESTERDAY MAX 23°C | MIN 6°C JANHVI TO STAR ALONGSIDE RAM CHARAN IN RC 16 State general secretary of DTF meets agitating teachers and assures them that they will fight for them. P3 FORECAST Production co Mythri Movie Makers welcomed her on board on X and wished her a happy birthday. P4 » » SUNSET THURSDAY 6.33 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:49 AM » THURSDAY | 7 MARCH 2024 | AMRITSAR Tarn Taran, March 6 The Sarai Amanat Khan police on Tuesday arrested a watchman-cum-security guard of a school for molesting a 9-year-old girl of the school. The accused, identified as Kewal Singh, worked as a watchman of a private school at Kasel village. SHO Inspector Rajinder Kaur recorded the statement of the victim’s mother. In her statement to the police, she stated that on Monday, her daughter was playing near the school when the accused took her to the top floor of the school and molested her. A case under Sections 354 and 8 of the POCSO Act was registered against the accused. SSP Tarn Taran, , Ashwani Kapur said in case there was any lapse on the part of anybody else strict action would also be taken against him. The school is run by a reputed charitable institution. — OC Dist farmers gear up for Gram panchayats show solidarity with farmers, urge govt to accept demands Mar 14mahapanchayat Our Correspondent Seek creation of public entity to buy, export basmati Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 6 Ahead of the Kisan Mahapanchayat at Ramlila Ground in Delhi on March 14, the farmer unions associated with Sanyukt Kisan Morcha have started their preparations. The farmer leaders stated that they would go to Delhi in trains this time. Addressing a gathering, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha leader Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala said, “Farmers from across the country will participate in the panchayat to demand MSP for various crops.” Ajnala said that the farmers can also go in their personal cars. Ajnala stated that if the government tries to stop farmers from reaching Delhi by stopping trains or buses, then they would initiate their dharnas at the place where they are stopped. He also criticised the Punjab Budget and termed it as too meagre to fulfill the demands of the people. He added that the agriculture sector has again been ignored as the government has allocated a total of Rs 13,784 crore for it which is only 6 per cent of the budget. “The agriculture sector’s contribution to state GDP is nearly 30 per cent and it provides 60 per cent jobs, still the government has betrayed the agrarian community,” he added. He added that giving MSP on basmati alone could help Punjab government generate revenue of Rs 40,000 crore. “Punjab government can create a public sector entity which can buy basmati and export it to other countries. Presently, this is being done by private players,” he said, adding that mining of sand and gravel could also be done by the public sector. Ajnala further stated that to improve the fiscal health of state, the government should not provide power subsidy to the farmers with land holdings of over 10 hectares (25 acres). He said that the state has 58,000 farmers who have more than 25 hectares of land and own nearly 8 lakh hectares collectively. Tarn Taran, March 6 Gram panchayats of the area have been coming forward to cooperate with the agitating farmers under the banner of ‘Dilli Challo’ agitation. The panchayat of Piddi, Chutala and other villages in the meetings organised in their respective areas called upon the Union Government to accept all the demands of the agitating farmers without delay. In Piddi, a village gram sabha was organised under the leadership of Suwinder Singh, sarpanch of the village. Farmer leader Satnam Singh Pannu and Bibi Devinder Kaur were among those who addressed the meeting and urged families to send at least one member for the Delhi march. In Chutala village, the GURBAXPURI Watchman held for molesting minor girl Farmers’ leader Satnam Singh Pannu addresses the gram sabha in Piddi village in Tarn Taran. meeting was chaired by Mehar Singh, village sarpanch. Farmer leader Sawinder Singh Chutala and others spoke on the occasion. The panchayats supported the demands of the agitating farmers. The pachayat representatives assured the farmers of all help and condemned the indifferent attitude of the Union government. The panchayats also paid tributes to young farmer Subhkaran Singh who fell Couple dies in road Akal Takht Jathedar forms panel 77 phones seized mishap near Daburji for shifting Dibrugarh jail detainees from Central Jail Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 6 A couple was run over by a speeding truck in Daburji area here on Tuesday late evening. The deceased were identified as Amandeep Singh (40) and his wife Harpreet Kaur (35), both residents of the Laxmansar chowk falling under the Division C police station here. They were returning home on a scooter after paying obeisance at a gurdwara. The police have booked the driver, identified as Gurpreet Singh of Bhaini Gillan village, on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. ASI Ashwani Kumar, investigating officer in the case, said as the accused did not possess any driving licence, he was booked under Section 304 and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. Amritpal Singh, brother of the victim, said Amandeep Singh who runs a meat shop near Bakarmandi area and his wife had gone to pay obeisance at a gurdwara. He said when they were returning home, a speeding truck (PB-10-JB2089) driven by Gurpreet Singh ran them over. They were killed on the spot. Passersby nabbed the truck driver and handed him over to the police. The residents said the construction of a flyover at the spot was the major reason behind road mishaps. The construction work on the flyover has been discontinued for the past few days. They said the administration should make proper arrangements so that precious lives could be saved. Amritsar, March 6 The Akal Takht has constituted a sub-committee to take up the matter of shifting Dibrugarh (Assam) Central Jail detainees to Punjab. The development has come in the backdrop of family members of detainees meeting Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh today. Reports had surfaced that Amritpal Singh and nine others, charged under the National Security Act (NSA) and lodged in Dibrugarh jail, have been observing hunger strike from February 16, accusing jail authorities of infringing on their privacy by installing surveillance cameras in their barracks and bathrooms without their knowledge. Their kin too have been observing a hunger strike Family members of detainees at the Golden Temple complex. since February 22 at Heritage Street leading to the Golden Temple after their demand to shift the Dibrugarh detainees to Punjab jail was not met. After the meeting, Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh formed a sub-committee to coordinate with the state govern- ment and study the legal aspects of bringing the detainees to Punjab jail. The sub-committee includes senior SGPC officials Additional secretary Gurinder Singh would be the coordinator of the sub-committee. — TNS Amritsar, March 6 The sneaking of mobile phones and other prohibited material inside the Amritsar Central Jail has been continuing unabated if the recent seizure is anything to go by. Central Jail staff confiscated as many as 74 mobile phones from 74 jail inmates taking the total count of seized cellphones to 269 in the past two months. The inmates were booked by the Islamabad police here following a written complaint by Assistant Superintendent of Jail Sarabjit Singh on Monday. Of the 77 mobiles, 55 were keypad phones and 22 touch phones. Besides, the jail staff seized 55 SIM cards, 11 chargers, two mobile batteries, a dongle, 40 packs of bidis, four heater spring and a pointed weapon made of iron wires. A case was registered against them. The police said all the accused would be brought on production warrant for ascertaining how the prohibited material was slipped into the jail complex. On March 2, jail staff seized 54 mobile phones and on February 24, they seized 33 mobile phones. Similarly, 45 mobiles were seized on February 17 and 18 cellphones on January 28. On January 12, staff had seized 45 mobile phones. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar had already constituted a SIT which would investigate repeated seizures of mobile phones from the jail. ADCP Darpal Ahluwalia would investigate and DCP Dr Pragya supervise the probe. — TNS Police solve gun house Pharmacists protest over demands burglary case, 2 arrested Amritsar, March 6 Pharmacists from across the district on Wednesday staged a protest outside the Civil Surgeon’s office over Health Minister Balbir Singh’s alleged apathetic attitude towards the problems being faced by them. The protest was organized by members of the Punjab State Pharmacy Officers’ Association (PSPOA). The protest started at 12 pm and continued till 3 pm. Employees’ leaders accused Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 6 With the arrest of two persons after giving a chase for over 1000 km across five states, the city police on Wednesday claimed to have solved the Royal Gun House burglary case. Unidentified persons had decamped with 12 firearms, ammunition and cash from the gun house on the intervening night of February 21 and 22. Those arrested were identified as Ajit Singh, alias Golu (19), a resident of Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, who is currently residing at Kot Harnam Das here and Mandeep Kumar, alias Vada, of (20) of Khaparkheri village in Amritsar rural area here. Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the police recovered nine double barrel guns, three pump action guns, 21 cartridges and a sharp weapon from their possession. He said around 10 police teams chased the accused across five states/UTs before they were nabbed after technical and scientific investigations. CP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar addresses a press conference. “The police teams investigated the blind case and followed the trail of accused persons, who fled from Punjab the same day fearing arrest and went to Chandigarh, Panipat, Delhi, Agra, Ayodhya and Haryana/UP areas before returning to Amritsar,” he said. They had concealed the weapons and ammunition by digging a pit adjoining railway tracks near the vegetable market at Vallah. He said accused Ajit Kumar had also stolen 4.2 kg gold from the area under the B Division Amritsar police station along with his accomplices in October 2023. He came out on bail in December. Investigation revealed that Ajit was duped by a woman from Panipat of a huge amount and he wanted to take his revenge on her. The Police Commissioner said his links with criminal elements, gangsters or drug traffickers were also being ascertained. He said as per the owner of the gun house, some of the stolen arms had come for repair. He said they would be brought on police remand for further interrogation. the Health Minister of not implementing the demands already accepted by him. Palwinder Singh Dhammu, secretary of the association, said, “The attitude \of the minister towards their genuine demands is highly objectionable.” He said the minister is neither fulfilling the employees’ demands nor providing better medical services to poor people. PSPOA president Ashok Sharma said, “Nearly 520 posts of pharmacy officers are lying vacant in the state. Pharmacists are responsible for public health but the department does not have any interest in recruitment.” He said on the one hand, the workload on the existing pharmacists have increased due to shortage of manpower and on the other people are suffering as many government health facilities do not have any pharmacist. He said instead of making recruitment on a regular basis, the government is exploiting qualified pharmacists by hiring them on a contract basis or under Zila Parishads where they are being paid very less salaries. Ashok Sharma said the government had also assured them of restoring the old pension scheme but has failed to do so even as it had tried to take credit for the same by issuing advertisements and making statements in its political rallies. — TNS victim to Haryana police action at Khanauri border. The activists of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, Punjab, in a meeting held at Chabal, decided to send a third jatha for Delhi in the coming days. DTF protests govt’s move to close govt middle schools Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, March 6 Teachers of government schools across the district under the banner of Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) burnt copies of Punjab Budget to protest against announcement by the Finance Minister to close down government middle schools in the state. Partap Singh Thathgarh and Kashmir Singh Chohla, president and general secretary of the district unit of DTF while , addressing a meeting on the occasion, called the government’s step as anti-teacher and against the education system. The DTF leaders said with this step, the future of 2,670 government middle schools with more than 13,000 teachers and lakhs of students appeared to be bleak. The leaders said the employees have been sideline in the Budget, paving way for the private sector. The leaders said that even the ‘School of Eminence‘ was a kind of discrimination with the students. The leaders said that the government wanted to provide education just to two to four per cent of society to facilitate the entry of private sector. The leaders said that in spite of providing better facilities to all the 19,200 schools, the state government has adopted just 118 school under the cover of better facilities. Peer pressure, transit via border main causes of drug problem: Author Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 6 Dr Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, today released a book titled ‘Dynamics of Drug Addiction and Abuse in India’, authored by Prof RS Ghuman, Professor of Eminence at GNDU, Dr Jatinder Singh and Dr Gurinder Kaur. The book, published by Routledge, UK, was unveiled today in the conference hall of Guru Nanak Bhavan, GNDU. Speaking on the occa- c m y b GNDU VC Jaspal Singh Sandhu releases the book in Amritsar. sion, the Vice-Chancellor pointed out that though the problem of drugs was prevalent and a complex phenomenon, the students of GNDU to their credit have been free from the menace, mainly because of their involvement in studies, sports and other productive activities. Prof RS Ghuman shared the main findings of the book and highlighted drug menace as a global phenomenon and a systemic problem embedded in socio-cultural and politico-economic framework. “Punjab being on the transit route of drugs coming from the Golden Cres- cent (Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan), is also experiencing drug problem in the state,” said Prof Ghuman, adding that the study presented in the book spans over five states, namely, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Rajasthan. “About 89 per cent of the drug addicts in these states are in the agegroup of 10-35 years. The study says that the most worrisome aspect of the problem is saving adolescents and youths from being victims of drugs. Children as young as 10 years of age are falling victim to drug addiction,” he said. Dr Ghuman has been researching on the subject for the last few years and said that peer pressure is the most prominent reason for drug addiction and abuse and entails widespread social and economic cost for the individual, family and society. The study highlights that there is an urgent need to break the supply chain and the demand for drugs through determined and sustained efforts on the part of society and government.
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