24122024-ATR-01.qxd 12/23/2024 11:51 PM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune FORECAST DENSE FOG MAX 19°C | MIN 6°C YESTERDAY MAX 19°C | MIN 6°C CHRISTMAS PROCESSION SPREADS MESSAGE OF PEACE JINGLE BELLS TO THE BEAT OF DHOL, PAHADI NATI, LANGAR COLD WARMS UP CHANDIGARH’S SPIRITS A grand and vibrant procession marked the beginning of Christmas celebrations in Abohar. P3 Come X-mas and the oldest churches in the region become melting pot of eastern and western sensibilities. P4 Even though mercury dipped, human warmth is palpable at Christ The King Cathedral Church, Chandigarh. P4 » » » SUNSET TUESDAY 5.32 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7.28 AM TUESDAY | 24 DECEMBER 2024 | AMRITSAR 28-year-old’s bullet-ridden body found MC polls end, political posters continue to deface walls in city Our Correspondent Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service Tarn Taran, December 23 The Sadar police found a bullet-ridden body of a man from a canal distributary from near Deo village here on Monday. The body has been identified as that of Lovepreet Singh (28) Sheru, a resident of Patti Lamian Ki, Khadoor Sahib. SHO Sub-Inspector Avtar Singh Sandhu said the victim had left home on Sunday by informing his parents that he was going to pay obeisance at Gurdwara Tahla Sahib, Chabba, but he failed to return home even till this afternoon. The family members started looking for him and came to know that a dead body of a man had been found flowing in the canal distributary and it was that of Lovepreet Singh. SHO Avtar Singh said Lovepreet’s chest was ridden with bullets. The police have registered a case under Section 103 of the BNS and Sections 25, 27, 54, and 59 of the Arms Act. Amritsar, December 23 Despite the civic body elections having concluded on December 21, properties of the holy city continue to be marred by hoardings, billboards, flex boards and other publicity materials installed by candidates of all political parties. These materials were meant to be removed within a stipulated time after the elections, but they continue to deface the city’s roads and streets. Indu Aurora, a city resident, said it’s the responsibility of the contesting candidates and their parties, regardless of their win or loss, to remove these materials immediately otherwise, the district administration should take action. “The Deputy Commissioner needs to issue strict instructions in this regard. There should be a cleanliness drive in each part of the city and ask the candidates, who deface private residences and public spaces, to remove all the posters, flags and hoardings,” said Indu Aurora. These posters can be seen at Meeting to be held in Chandigarh today to mobilize support Tribune News Service Hoardings and poster of political parties still dot various areas in Amritsar on Monday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR prominent sites like Novelty Chowk, MM Malviya Road, and the city’s entry points, including the Golden Gate and New Amritsar Chowk. Narrow streets and markets are badly defaced with posters banners and flags. “The civic body authorities seem to have forgotten to remove these materials, and if they don’t act soon, the cityscape will suffer further. They should issue notice to all the candidates to remove their posters and boards on their own,” said Sandeep Singh, a resident. The advertisement wing of the municipal corporation claims that they are removing the hoardings on a daily basis, but it would take some time for them to remove all the posters. Rain brings cheer to farmers in Tarn Taran PHOTO: GURBAXPURI Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, December 23 Drizzling was reported from different parts of the district on Monday. While every section of society has welcomed rain, officials of the Health Department has alerted people to take special care of children and elderly persons who face respiratory problems. Mild rain started at about 5 in the morning and lasted till 9 am. Harpal Singh Pannu, Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), said while Tarn Taran received 3mm rain, Patti subdivision areas got 2mm rain. Same amount of rain was reported from many other parts of the district. The CAO said it was the first rain of the winter season, which will be beneficial for farmers as it will help increase yield of the wheat crop. The CAO said it will not only remove particles of dust and pollution from the envi- A farmer in happy mood after rain in Tarn Taran on Monday. ronment, but will also mitigate the effect of frost that attacked the wheat crop a few days earlier. The farmers will get relief as their crop will get rid of the Farmers vow to continue protest until demands met pink warm disease, which was affecting wheat crop in certain parts of the district for the last few days. Tejindpal Singh, a farmer of Rasulpur village, said rain washed the dust off crops as a result of which the fields of wheat were shining. He said rain is the best fodder for the wheat and vegetable crops. He said vegetable crops were affected by frost a few days back, but rain will have positive effect on these crops. Gurpreet Singh, a farmer of Sabhra village and former member of the Zila Parishad, said rain will help increase milk production too as milch animals will get healthy fodder. The Tarn Taran Civil Hospital Senior Medical Officer said mild rain is also beneficial for human beings, but elderly people and children need to be given proper attention and care to save them from intensified cold wave conditions. The SMO said elderly people and children must prefer to remain at home and stay warm. They need to wrap up warm to avoid being affected by cold, cough and respiratory problems. Amritsar, December 23 A massive protest was held outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Monday with thousands of farmers, workers, trade unions, youth, women leaders, and activists participating in it. The protest was organised by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and various other organizations to pressure the Central Government to address their demands. The protesters demanded that the Central Government must take immediate action to save the life of Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a farmer leader who has been on a hunger strike for over the last 25 days. They also called for the repeal of the National Agricultural Marketing Policy, which they claimed is anti-farmer and anti-labourer. The protest was led by prominent leaders of various Members of farmer unions during a protest in Amritsar on Monday. organizations, including Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala, President, Jamhuri Kisan Sabha, and Dr Parminder Singh, senior leader of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Ugraha. The leaders accused the Modi-led Central Government of ignoring the concerns of farmers and labourers and instead promoting policies that benefit only corporate interests. They demanded that the Centre should resolve all outstanding issues related to the farmers’ movement, as per the agreement made on December 9, 2021. The protesters called upon the Punjab Government to withdraw the National Agricultural Marketing Policy and to hold a special session of the Legislative Assembly to discuss the issue. The SKM warned that if their demands were not met, they would launch a nationwide protest. A meeting will be held in Chandigarh on December 24 to mobilize support for the protest, stated the leaders. The protest was marked by colourful flags, slogans, and a strong show of solidarity of the participants. The leaders thanked the workers and farmers for their participation and pledged to continue the struggle till their demands are met. Gearing up for Xmas Devotees visit the illuminated St. Paul's Church ahead of the Christmas celebrations in Amritsar on Monday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR Pay property tax till Dec 2024 saw teachers protesting throughout year over pending issues 31 to avoid penalty: MC Neha Saini Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, December 23 The residents should pay property tax to the Amritsar Municipal Corporation by the end of December otherwise they will have to pay penalty. MC Commissioner Gulpreet Singh Aulakh said, “The property owners have just eight days left to pay property tax without penalty. We urged people to settle their dues by December 31 to avoid a 10 per cent penalty. To make it easier for you, the municipal corporation’s main office at Ranjit Avenue and Citizen Facilitation Centres (CFCs) in the zonal office will remain open for tax collection till December 31 even on Saturdays and Sundays. You can also fill out the PTR of property tax online, making it even more convenient.” “We have urged the residents not to miss this opportunity to avoid the penalty and take advantage of last week. Pay your property tax on time and support the development of your city,” said Sushant Bhatia, Secretary of the MC. Amritsar, December 23 Last week, state Education Secretary Kamal Kishore reportedly issued an order citing the “rule of no work, no pay”. This came as a warning to teachers of the school education and higher institutions, stressing that participating in agitations, demonstrations and protests would invite wage cuts as it adversely affects students’ education. This is being seen as a response to protests by teacher unions over various demands, including regularisation of jobs and pay scale revisions. This also defines the year 2024 in context of teachers vs the Education Department. 2024 can be described as a year of protests for teachers of public education system, and the entire year saw demonstrations and protests led by state bodies of Democratic Teachers Front, Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union and Computer Teacher union against the promised perks by the state govern- DTF members who kept protesting against the state government throughout the year in Amritsar. ment. The year started with the General Elections and ended with the civic body polls, which brought several issues voiced by teachers under spotlight. DTF Punjab opened a front against the Punjab Chief Minister and the Education Minister for ignoring the demands of teachers for the last two and a half years. DTF district president Ashwani c m y b Awasthi said pending regular orders of the Other Distance Learning teachers and 14 Hindi teachers of state cadre and failing to meet vacancy demand of the teaching faculties in the schools have long been ignored. Their demand to fill vacancies of ETTs and master cadre teachers in government schools across the state saw several protests across different schools in Tarn Taran, Patti, Khadoor Sahib and Bhikhiwind subdivisions. Also, stressing on the revival of allowances that were stopped, reinstatement of the Old Pension Scheme and wage hike for mid-day meal workers remained unsolved. The relay fast of computer teachers in government schools, who have been protesting in Sangrur for several months, was another highlight. They have been demanding merger with the education department despite being regular. Their other demands include implementation of the 6th Pay Commission, besides a government job for family members of 100 deceased computer teachers. 1158 Assistant Professors and Librarians Front of Punjab, have been demanding that appointment letters should be issued to 344 assistant professors (142 of Punjabi, 154 of English, 30 of Hindi, 15 of geography and three of education) and 67 librarians, who were waiting for the same for the past several months. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had upheld the recruitment process of 1,091 assistant professors and 67 librarians on September 23 this year. Over 600 assistant professors had already joined their duties in government colleges. The protesters also urged the state government to complete the recruitment process of 1,158 assistant professors and librarians by issuing appointment letters to the remaining selected 344 assistant professors and 67 librarians. The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union also held protests in the later half of the year, with key demands of teachers, including the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations and the release of enhanced grants. They criticised the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) for the delay, noting that files regarding the fixation of the Seventh Pay Commission have been pending for the last year. Lack of action on the part of Director, Higher Education, the Secretary, Higher Education, and the Minister for Higher Education despite the notification being issued two years ago also came in for criticism..