Now, Irrigation Dept works can be tracked through software

A step towards transparency

• Will help curb malpractices
• Officials can check the status of the work of cleaning and de-silting of drains and give their suggestions
• They can also see what kind of works are going on in particular area and track their progress

Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, May 28

After facing flak for its alleged failure in controlling flood-like situation every year during the monsoons, the state Irrigation Department has this year developed a software – Punjab Irrigation Work Information System (PIWIS) — to keep an eye on all ongoing works of drainage and other wings of the department.

Officials have been told to upload pictures of all ongoing works once every week on the software so that the higher-ups sitting in Chandigarh could monitor the situation. Sources said the access of this software has also been given to Chief Minister’s Office, Chief Secretary and Secretary (Irrigation). An Executive Engineer said the software had started functioning about a fortnight ago, which was developed and maintained by the Irrigation Department itself.

About the functioning of this software, he said, “For instance, if the work of cleaning and de-silting of drains is going on somewhere or sub-surface drainage system is being installed, we have to upload three pictures of different angles from the site. It is easy for the higher officials to check the status of the work and give any advice.”

He added, “Earlier, we used to send hard copies of status reports of the ongoing works. Now, this software has sped up the pace of work. It will also show what kind of works are going on in any particular area and that too with just a click.”

Notably, this software would help in curbing some malpractices as well. “The department has earlier received a number of complaints that the cleaning and de-silting work of drains was not done, but the bills were claimed. Even some people had complained to the Chief Minister in this regard. This software will definitely keep a check on such practices,” added a senior officer of the department.

KS Pannu, Secretary (Irrigation), Punjab, said, “The Irrigation Department is a big department having eight chief engineers of different wings. When I took the charge of the department, I found that works were being done by different wings in a disjointed manner without a central command and surveillance. Hence, I deputed newly recruited young engineers to develop software for proper monitoring of works in the department.”

“It is now implemented and giving good results. In the days to come, measurement book shall be written online and linked to work monitoring system and automatic bill generation and then linked to state treasury for payments. All inspections will be recorded online,” Pannu added.

Courtesy: The Tribune

Pensioners storm Badal’s function

A SAD activist tries to pacify an elderly woman at Mohlan village in Muktsar on Monday. Tribune photo

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Mohlan (Lambi), May 25

The delay in disbursement of old-age pension and allegations of deletion of the names of some genuine beneficiaries today rocked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s Sangat Darshan programme at Mohlan village in the Lambi assembly segment.

The police personnel deployed there did not allow the protesting pensioners to meet the CM. Irate, they raised slogans and disrupted the Sangat Darshan programme. Notably, the pensioners have not got their monthly dues of Rs 250 since September last year. 

When the administrative officials and the police failed to convince the protesters, it forced the Chief Minister to announce from the public address system that the pension amount would be disbursed within two days.

He even sent Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police and SAD’s district president Dyal Singh Kolianwali to pacify the protesters.

When the protesters refused to relent, the CM got annoyed and left the venue in a hurry, saying, “I am sanctioning funds for the development of your village and you must sit silently.”

The elderly protesters alleged they never got the full pension amount. “We are never allowed to apprise the CM of the matter. If the state disburses pension for five months, we get it for two months,” alleged Bhagwanti of Mohlan village.

Another pensioner Bhajan Kaur alleged: “I am in my seventies, but they had declared me ineligible for old-age pension.”

Badal said: “The beneficiaries will get the pension amount within the next two days. The beneficiaries whose names have been deleted, but claim themselves eligible can approach the deputy commissioner concerned.” The officials concerned said the pension disbursement got delayed because of verification and re-verification of beneficiaries.

Courtesy: The Tribune

25% old age pensioners found fake in Muktsar; Names of 13,410 of 52,782 beneficiaries deleted

25% old age pensioners found fake in Muktsar

Names of 13,410 of 52,782 beneficiaries deleted

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, May 19

Over 25 per cent people, who availed the benefit of old age pension scheme in Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s home district Muktsar, have been found fake and their names have been deleted from the list of beneficiaries.

Of the total 52,782 old age pensioners in the district, 13,410 have been deleted and 39,372 have been found genuine following re-verification of pensioners.

The information procured from a senior officer in the district administration revealed that the maximum number of fake beneficiaries was detected in the Gidderbaha block, where 5,849 people were found availing the benefit illegally. It was followed by 2,867 fake beneficiaries in the Lambi block, 2,466 in Malout block and 2,228 in the Muktsar block.

Sources say the reason behind such a large number of fake beneficiaries was the result of political pressure. The number of deleted beneficiaries included those not fulfilling the age criteria, absent or dead.

The verification process of pensioners had started in December last year. The task of verification and re-verification of beneficiaries had been given to the Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) who had further assigned it to the tehsildars and other officials.

The total number of genuine beneficiaries after the re-verification process is 39,372 in Muktsar district. It included 17,178 in Malout and Lambi blocks, 14,113 in the Muktsar block and 8,081 in the Gidderbaha block.

Genuine beneficiaries are awaiting pension since September last. Naresh Kumar, District Social Security Officer, Muktsar, said, “The re-verification process has completed and above 13,000 pensioners are found ineligible. Their names have been deleted from the list of beneficiaries now.”

“Further, the department will release the pension amount of four months - September to December - within a week,” added Kumar.

Courtesy: The Tribune

Cameras installed at police stations in Muktsar defunct

Cameras installed at police stations defunct

Fails to serve purpose

• A recent visit to the Sadar Muktsar police station revealed that not even a single camera installed there was functioning.
• The Station House Officer admitted the fact that the cameras had gone out of order.

"I am unaware whether cameras have been installed at the police stations. If the cameras are installed and not working, it will be repaired within a short period," says Kuldeep Chahal, SSP, Muktsar.

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, May 20

Though the Muktsar police today claimed to have solved the Muktsar bus molestation case with the help of CCTV cameras installed on the outskirts of the town, it is totally unaware about the status of cameras installed at the police stations.

Notably, a number of cameras were installed at various police stations a few years ago. However, a majority of them were not working since long and the purpose behind their installation was getting defeated.

A recent visit to the Sadar Muktsar police station revealed that not even a single camera installed there was functioning. Even the Station House Officer (SHO) admitted the fact that the cameras had gone out of order.

Talking to The Tribune, a senior police officer said the cameras were installed at the police stations with not just the aim of keeping an eye over the movement of people visiting there but also to record the activities of the police.

Muktsar SSP Kuldeep Chahal said, “I am unaware whether cameras have been installed at the police stations. If the cameras are installed and not working, it will be repaired within a short period.”

Bus molestation case lodged at behest of student leader, say police

Claim complaint linked to Faridkot bus damage case; victims cry foul

‘Chinks’ in police theory

• The bus number mentioned by the complainants in the FIR does not match with the bus shown in the video
• The CCTV footage shows a girl and her father got off the bus at Kotkapura bypass at 12.24 pm while the footage of the suvidha centre shows the time as 12.40 pm
• On the other hand, the victim got the receipt of her Aadhaar card enrolment application at 12.10 pm

Archit WattsTribune News ServiceMuktsar, May 20

The district police today gave a clean chit to the bus conductor of New Deep Transport in a molestation case.

The police have initiated the process to cancel the FIR lodged against him for allegedly molesting and forcing two minor sisters of Kotli Sanghar village to get off the bus on May 13.

The police linked the case with the incident of vandalising of a bus by some students in Faridkot a few days ago. They claimed activists of the Punjab Student Union had concocted this story by lodging a false police complaint to put pressure on New Deep Transport owner to withdraw the Faridkot case.

Addressing the media today, Kuldeep Chahal, Senior Superintendent of Police, Muktsar, said: “During the investigation, it has been found that Gagan Sangrami, a leader of the Punjab Student Union, had concocted the story to put pressure on New Deep Transport owner to withdraw the Faridkot case.”

The SSP played a CCTV footage that showed that a girl wearing a red suit along with a man had got off the bus (PB-30 E 9948) at the Kotkapura bypass. Another CCTV footage of cameras installed at the district suvidha centre was played, which also showed that the girl along with a man had gone there.

The SSP said: “The man seen with the girl has been identified as her father Jasvir Singh. The complainants changed their statements a number of times. Earlier, they had stated that both sisters had gone to Muktsar. Then they claimed that the elder one went to the suvidha centre with her father.”

“Besides, a differently abled boy, Manpreet Singh, whose has been named in the complaint as eyewitness was not even present in Muktsar at that particular time. He had gone to Bathinda. We have tracked his cell phone location.”

---

SSP’s clarification

The complainant might have noted a wrong number. Further, the suvidha centre in charge has given in writing that the timing of CCTV cameras was running nearly 20-30 minutes in advance, which has been corrected now.

— Kuldeep Chahal, Senior Superintendent of Police, Muktsar

Free run for private buses in Muktsar; Not a single vehicle challaned in a year

Free run for private buses in Muktsar

Not a single vehicle challaned in a year

A passenger boards a private bus. File photo

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, May 18

It is no surprise that not a single private bus has been penalised for violating traffic rules in Muktsar in the last one year. Notably, only those buses were penalised which were plying without paying the motor vehicle tax. The number of such buses too was negligible. Sources in the Transport Department said the situation was almost same across the state.

Hardeep Singh, District Transport Officer, Muktsar, said: “We regularly issue challans to collect motor vehicle tax from bus operators, but I am not aware about the number of challans issued to private buses for other violations.” The sources said the large number of private buses plying in the district either belonged to the Badals or to their close aides.

STC seeks daily report

Following the Moga molestation incident, the State Transport Commission (STC) has swung into action and directed all DTOs to send a daily report on action taken to remove curtains and tinted glasses from buses. In Muktsar, curtains have been removed from a number of private buses in the past several days. Besides, the transporters have been told to remove tinted glasses or face strict action.

Directions to school buses

The Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has issued a 10-point direction to the Transport Department to follow while permitting school buses to ferry students.

These instructions included that the driver must have the driving licence of the category of the vehicle he is driving, the presence of an attendant above 18 years of age, he must be matriculate and must have got first aid training and the vehicle must be equipped with fire extinguishers. Besides, the attendant has to assist students to cross the roads. In buses ferrying girls, the attendant must be a woman. The telephone numbers of the district transport office and the transport company must be displayed on the bus.

Training for conductors

The Transport Department is planning to impart gender sensitive training to all private bus conductors at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration (MGSIPA), Chandigarh. The training, as being planned, would be of one day.

Courtesy: The Tribune

Muktsar molestation case: CCTV footage contradicts complainant’s version

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, May 16

The Muktsar molestation case took a new turn with the victims’ father and the bus owner and the police giving different statements.

While the complaint says two girls and a differently abled man got off from the bus on Wednesday afternoon, the bus owner claims none of them travelled in the bus and the police, after going through CCTV footage, claimed a girl and her father had alighted from the bus at the Kotkapura bypass.

Victims’ father, who filed the complaint, said: “My daughters had gone to Muktsar to get enrolled for Aadhaar cards on Wednesday. On their return journey to Kotli Sanghar village, the bus conductor first passed some casteist remarks and then molested them. When my daughters objected, he forced them to get off the bus. A differently abled boy from a neighbouring village also alighted from the bus. We even have two tickets of the bus.”

Bus owner and SAD leader Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon claimed: “The girls did not even travel in the bus. They have alleged that the conductor molested them in the moving bus in the presence of their father which is absurd. It is a plan to defame me and pressure me to withdraw case against some students who vandalised my bus in Faridkot.”

Kuldeep Chahal, SSP, Muktsar, who has examined the CCTV footage of a camera installed at the Kotkapura bypass, claimed: “We found that only a girl and her father got off the bus at 12.24 pm on Wednesday.”

We have sought the CCTV footage of a camera installed at the Suwidha Centre in Muktsar where the girls had gone. It will also help us in validating the complaint.”

The SSP said the driver and the conductor too belonged to the SC community, so the case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act could not be registered.

A case under Sections 354 and 506 of the IPC had been registered against the unnamed conductor at Sadar Muktsar police station, he said. The complainant alleged the incident took place around 2 pm, but the police claimed that the girl got off from the bus at 12.24 pm.

Courtesy: The Tribune