Punjab the worst offender: Study

CHANDIGARH: Families in Punjab don’t look after their elders nor does the state government.

These are the findings of a Helpage India study released on Monday. “We wanted to get a 360degree view on this law, its working at the ground level, and understand how it was being implemented in the states,” said Mathew Cherian, chief executive officer of Helpage India.

The study found Punjab had the highest number of petitioners in the age group of 80-plus compared to only 9% in Haryana. Most cases of physical abuse were also reported from Punjab along with the most maintenance-related petitions.

Bhavneshwar Sharma, the state head for Punjab, Haryana and J&K, said Punjab has one of the lowest old age pensions in the country — it was recently revised to ₹750 a month. Both Punjab and Haryana lack an old age policy, which entails a home for the aged in every district. As of now, Punjab has only one state-sponsored home for the elderly in Hoshairpur. Helpage has two homes in Patiala and Gurdaspur with 37 residents, where they live free of cost. JALANDHAR: Rajneesh Arora, a former vice-chancellor of the Inder Kumar Gujral Punjab Technical University (PTU), was arrested on Monday for irregularities in appointments and financial bungling during the SAD-BJP government’s tenure.

“We arrested Arora from his house in Amritsar this morning in an embezzlement case during his tenure as PTU V-C,” Vigilance Bureau SSP DS Dhillon said.

Kahan Singh Pannu, officiating as the PTU vice-chancellor, ordered an inquiry in May after getting complaints of irregularities of funds and appointments during Arora’s tenure.

Vigilance officials said that a case was registered following an inquiry report submitted by former IAS officer SS Dhillon to the state government in July, indicting Arora for financial irregularities and bypassing norms to appoint consultants.

Sources said the probe looked into complaints that the Delhi campus of PTU incurred an expenditure of ₹1.65 crore and candidates with links to RSS were made faculty members.

Technical education minister Charanjit Singh Channi had in September written to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, recommending the registration of an FIR against him on the basis of the report.

A vigilance probe was ordered. Arora was a member of various committees constituted by the UGC/AICTE.