06052026-JTR-01.qxd 5/5/2026 10:51 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune MLA OPENS SPORTS GROUND IN NANGAL SHAHIDAN LABOURERS DEMAND BASIC FACILITIES, FAIR PAY The workers have collectively demanded the establishment of a waiting space equipped with essential facilities. P3 PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 33°C | MIN 20°C YESTERDAY MAX 33°C | MIN 19°C GOLD SAREE, DIAMOND BLOUSE & A MANGO PURSE Jimpa stated that the government is developing around 3,100 sports grounds in the first phase across Punjab. P2 FORECAST Created along with Gaurav Gupta, Isha Ambani’s ensemble was inspired by Ajanta frescoes and pichwai painting. P4 » » SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.10 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:37 AM » WEDNESDAY | 6 MAY 2026 | JALANDHAR HEALTH & WELLNESS The Tribune is starting a Q and A column to address your health-related queries. Please mail your questions (not exceeding 40 words) at healthandwellness@tribunemail.com. The Tribune’s panel of doctors will answer all your healthrelated concerns. INBRIEF CAR, CASH, PHONE TAKEN AWAY Phagwara: The police have registered a case of alleged carjacking after a resident was dispossessed of his car and belongings near the Phagwara bypass on Monday. Yuvraj of Mahilpur told the police that he was driving his car when, near a KFC outlet on the bypass, a Swift car intercepted his vehicle. Two persons were travelling in the Swift. One of them Gagandeep Singh of Todarwal village reportedly stepped out, dragged him out of his car and drove away with the vehicle towards the Jalandhar bypass. The stolen car reportedly contained a mobile phone and a purse with about Rs 10,000. OC BIKE STOLEN FROM TEMPLE PARKING Phagwara: A vehicle was reportedly stolen from a temple parking near Phillaur. Nitish Kumar, resident of Ludhiana, stated that he had visited a temple in Phillaur along with his wife. He had parked his motorcycle (PB-10KJ-0428) in the parking area before entering the premises. Upon returning after offering prayers, he discovered that the motorcycle was missing. The police have registered a case. OC MINOR GIRL ABDUCTED Phagwara: The police have registered a case following the alleged abduction of a minor girl in Nakodar. The complaint was filed by a migrant and residing at Dera Gurvinder Singh in Fatehpur. He reported that his minor daughter was allegedly taken away by an unidentified individual. The authorities stated that the minor was kept in wrongful confinement by an unknown person. Acting on the complaint, the police have registered a case. OC TWO ARRESTED IN ANTI-DRUG DRIVE Phagwara: The police conducted two separate antidrug operations, leading to the arrest of two individuals and the recovery of a significant quantity of narcotic substances. In the first incident, a team apprehended an accused during routine patrol near Apra. The accused Amndeep Kumar of Mandi village near Phillaur was allegedly found in possession of 60 intoxicating tablets and 149 capsules. Meanwhile, the Goraya police arrested another youth Kish Bagga of Paddi Jagir and recovered 35 intoxicating tablets from him. oc PISTOL, ROUNDS RECOVERED Hoshiarpur: The Bullowal police arrested a person during routine patrolling. A .32 bore pistol and three cartridges were recovered. The accused has been identified as Amanjeet Singh of Bhatthe. He has been taken into custody and his car has also been seized. oc Teachers penalised for delay in uploading Class IX, XI results Say non-academic duties, lack of training, poor infra led to portal lapses Rishika Kriti Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 5 Teachers across Punjab have expressed concern after being penalised for failing to complete the final submission of Class IX and XI results on the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) portal. While the data had been uploaded within the deadline, teachers said penalties were imposed for not clicking the final submit button in time. Teachers insist the lapse was not due to negligence but the result of being overstretched by multiple non-academic assignments, including Census, SIR and BLO duties, in addition to responsibilities under Mission Samarth and daily data entry and attendance on the MStar app. As per communication issued by the PSEB for the new academic session, schools were required to upload and finalise results between April 1 and 30. Delays attracted a penalty of Rs 200 per student, rising to Rs 1,000 between May 1 and 15. Corrections after May 16 were allowed under prescribed conditions until admissions close. Members of the Democratic Teachers Front after submitting a memorandum against the duties of BLO and Census works at the DC office in Jalandhar. FILE The board also clarified that students from other boards with incomplete or incorrect documents would be marked as “Result Later on Eligibility (RLE)” until verification and issuance of a registration number. School heads were directed to ensure accurate data entry, verify details before final submission and make corrections within the timeline. Transfer certificates can be generated only after uploading Class IX and XI results, enabling admissions for the next session. However, teachers argue that the rigid deadline failed to account for ground realities. Gurpreet Singh Dhot, a senior secondary school teacher in Malsian block, Ferozepur, said, “Many a times, Bengal won, Punjab next: Khanna Hoshiarpur, May 5 Former MP Avinash Rai Khanna congratulated BJP workers on the party’s victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections and thanked the people of the state for their support. He said under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has made significant progress in economic growth, development, security and global standing. Khanna added that the welfare policies of the Modi government have strengthened public trust in the BJP . Referring to the election results, he stated that the BJP has achieved a remarkable success that has surprised the Opposition, adding that public trust is the party’s biggest achievement in West Bengal. He expressed confidence that the BJP will ensure all-round development, strong law and order and peace in the state. — OC we avoid clicking the final submission tab as the portal allows corrections before the deadline. However, this time, we were overburdened with multiple duties and the deadline slipped. In my school alone, data of 136 students remained pending, pushing the penalty to Rs 27,200 which is now being asked to be paid from our own pock- ets, despite the lapse being due to excessive workload rather than negligence.” Mohinder Kaurianwali, general secretary of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), said teachers are increasingly being reduced to clerical roles. “Such pressure inevitably leads to lapses that are then unfairly penalised. At the same time, government dues to the PSEB under the RTE quota remain unpaid, raising questions over whether such penalties are being used to bridge financial gaps,” he said. Ravinder Singh, district president of the BEd Teachers’ Front in Jalandhar, said such penalties have become routine. “Many teachers are not adequately trained to handle online systems and schools lack infrastructure. With limited computers, teachers rely on personal devices. There is no budget support, yet the penalty is recovered from teachers,” he said. Teachers argue that while the system demands strict compliance, it fails to provide the time, training and infrastructure needed, leaving them overburdened and penalised. Help pours in for athlete Maya Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 5 A moving story of resilience and determination recently published in The Tribune has drawn widespread support, with Maya’s journey from poverty to competitive athletics striking a chord with readers. The report highlighted that she wore professional spike shoes at the U-20 Federation Cup — an emotional milestone made possible by her mother, who sold her jewellery to afford the essential gear. Following the publication of her story, support began pouring in. Among those moved was Col Satnam Singh, who reached out with the intention of helping the young athlete pursue her dreams. In another significant gesture, members of the sports industry stepped forward to assist Maya. Ravinder Dhir, a senior industrialist associated with the Khel Udyog Sangh, announced that the organisation would provide her with financial aid of ?20,000 along with a track suit as he was moved by the news reports published on her. Hailing from Sitto Gunno village in Abohar, Maya comes from a family of farm labourers. Growing up in extreme financial hardship along with six sisters and a THE TRIBUNE IMPACT 19-year-old athlete Maya. brother, education and sports once seemed out of reach. The family lived in a single room provided at the fields where her father worked and none of her siblings attended school. “I only started going to school when I was 10, after my father managed to build a small house for us,” Maya had shared, reflecting on her early struggles. “We were deeply moved after reading about her mother’s sacrifices. It is important for us to support such determined athletes,” Ravinder Dhir said. City trust member booked for breach of trust Jalandhar, May 5 The police have booked a member of the Des Raj Marwaha, Smt Santosh Kumari Marwaha Charitable Trust at Mohalla Gobindgarh here for an alleged criminal breach of trust. Trustee Satish Kumar Kapoor, who is one of the trustees. The trust is engaged in social work. Complainant Balraj Gupta, who too is a trustee, has submitted that the donations of the trust were kept in the account with Canara Bank, Mai Hiran Gate. In 2019-20, Kapoor started giving much of his time to the works of the trust and gained the confidence of other members. They said all records, proceeding registers and other works were handled by Kapoor. They said a few months back, they noticed that there had been some illegal withdrawals of more than Rs 6 lakh from the account of the trust. This had been done after adding his family members as trustees, for which no consent had been given by other trustees. The accused had also raised unauthorised loans over FDRs by making false statement of loss of original FDRs. They said the original FDRs were in possession with the trustees. — TNS First-ever drug, socio-economic survey From flood-hit village to PAU graduate sees lukewarm response in Jalandhar BTechGattaMundiKasuand jail warder Gurpreet of chases civil services dream have benefited from for the first time. Rishika Kriti Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 5 Punjab’s first-ever drug and socio-economic survey began on a modest note in Jalandhar on Tuesday, with only 128 responses recorded across nine constituencies on day one. Among these, Jalandhar Cantonment reported the highest participation with 25 responses, followed by Phillaur (17) and Shahkot (16), indicating a slow initial uptake. The survey is being conducted at the polling booth level, with each enumerator assigned to cover households under a specific booth. Officials said the exercise aims to collect accurate, ground level data on the extent of drug abuse while assessing the socio-economic profile of affected families, including income, education and living conditions. Digital push with AI-enabled recording In a notable shift, the exercise is being carried out through a dedicated digital application installed on devices provided to enumerators. The app features an AIenabled tool that records verbal responses in real time alongside manual entries. Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Technical glitches disrupt rollout The survey seeks detailed information on household structure, family composition, sources of news, social media use, education, employment, religion, caste, land ownership, debt and migration. It focuses sharply on drug abuse, asking whether any family member is affected, duration of addiction, access to Nasha Mukti or OOAT centres, distance from such facilities and treatment status. It also attempts to map the broader ecosystem of substance abuse by asking about prevalence in the area and awareness of supply sources. Sections on crime and safety examine whether crime is common locally and if any family member has experienced crime along with its nature. Feedback on schemes and governance A major component of the sur- vey focuses on public feedback regarding flagship government schemes, including ‘Yudh Nashiyan Virudh’, ‘Mukhya Mantri Sehat Yojana’, 300 units of free monthly electricity, ‘Sarkar Tuhade Dwar’, ‘Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra Yojana’, pension schemes, free bus travel and ‘CM Di Yogshala’ scheme. Respondents are also asked to evaluate essential services such as electricity and water supply, power cuts, access to clean drinking water, functional toilets and availability of basic infrastructure, including roads, transport, healthcare, schools and colleges. The survey further seeks public opinion on governance priorities, asking respondents to identify five works of the Bhagwant Mann-led government they value most, the top three issues needing urgent attention and services they c m y b The first day was marred by technical glitches in the app, with several enumerators facing difficulties in logging-in and accessing the questionnaire. “Enumerators need to log-in their details for the questionnaire to appear. As it was the first day, some faced issues while entering details, leading to glitches. We are reaching out to resolve these problems,” said Jaswinder Seth, district coordinator in Jalandhar. Staff shortage adds to concerns According to officials, 1,926 enumerators are required to cover 16.46 lakh voters across nine constituencies in Jalandhar. However, only 1,162 have registered so far, of whom 490 have been trained while training for another 281 is underway. The situation is further complicated by the fact that teachers, who constitute the majority of enumerators, are already engaged in Census, SIR and BLO duties, slowing efforts to bridge the gap and raising concerns over the survey’s pace in the days ahead. Jalandhar, May 5 At 24, Gurpreet Singh has already weathered storms that would have broken many. The son of a labourer from Gatta Mundi Kasu village, Gurpreet’s life has been shaped by relentless hardships, financial struggles, emotional strain and repeated displacement after devastating floods damaged his home three times since 2019. Each time the waters rose, his family was forced to rebuild from scratch, often taking shelter in temporary tents and enduring difficult conditions. Yet, instead of giving in to despair, Gurpreet turned adversity into motivation. Determined to rewrite his family’s future, he pursued education with unwavering focus. Despite financial constraints, he secured admission to Punjab Agricultural University, where he completed his B.Tech in biotechnology. He took loan to complete his education. Today, he serves as a warder in the Jail Department, but his ambitions stretch far beyond. “I am preparing for Excise Department exams, but my ultimate dream is to clear the civil services,” Gurpreet says with determination. Even during his student years, Gurpreet found time to give back. He tutored children in his village, encouraging them to stay committed to their studies regardless of circumstances. “I want kids of my village to become something and do something good in their lives,” he says. His former teacher Kulwinder Singh from Government Middle School, Mundi Cholian, recalled Gurpreet’s school days, describing him as exceptionally hard working. “He used to participate in science competitions and Gurpreet Singh, whose house was damaged thrice during floods in Jalandhar. always put in sincere effort. His success proves that even without resources, passion and dedication can take you far,” he says. Gurpreet remains grateful to his teachers, crediting them for their constant support and encouragement during his toughest years. “His story continues to inspire the youth in nearby villages, showing that perseverance, education and a strong will can overcome even the harshest challenges and change destinies,” said his former teacher Kulwinder Singh.