Planning Commission splurges Rs 35 lakh to upgrade 2 toilets

June 6, 2012

ToiletNew Delhi, June 6: The Yojana Bhavan toilets are causing a stink of a different kind. The Planning Commission, which estimated a poverty line figure of Rs 28 per day per person, lavished Rs 35 lakh on refurbishing two toilets in its headquarters.

For good measure, the commission has admitted in an RTI response, it has spent Rs 5.19 lakh in installing an access control system in the toilets. The facility, installed while the toilets were renovated recently, is aimed at limiting access to only those people who had smart cards.

According to data given to RTI activist SC Agrawal, 60 smart cards were issued to Plan panel officials.

The commission had also decided to install CCTV cameras in the corridors leading to these toilets as the officials said there were instances of pilferage in the washrooms. Estimates have been sought from the CPWD.

The disclosure comes on the back of reports that Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had spent over Rs 2 lakh per day on foreign travel between May and October 2011. Another report said that he undertook 42 official trips aggregating 274 days between June 2004 and January 2011 at a cost of Rs 2.34 crore.

Refuting the inferences drawn, Ahluwalia had said that foreign travels are needed for discharge of official duties.

In its response, the Plan panel has said the system in the toilets is still to be made operational. However, sources said that the door access system was disabled within hours of the toilets being declared fit for use after protests from people working on the floor.

A note from the commission officials proposing the upgrade of toilets last year shows that the two toilets to be renovated as a pilot project and after execution of the work, decision on renovation of other washrooms would be taken.

Times View

At a time when the government is ostensibly in the midst of an austerity drive, it seems unacceptably extravagant for Rs 35 lakh to be spent on a couple of toilets. What adds to the irony is the fact that it the same Planning Commission that informs us that it is possible for Indians to survive on sums as measly as less than Rs 32 a day.

Surely it cannot fail to see how absurd the situation is. If the government advocates belt tightening, examples must be set at the very top of the hierarchy. Such examples of splurging rob its message of any meaning.



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News Network
February 16,2020

Gorakhpur, Feb 16: Two unidentified policemen allegedly raped a 20-year-old woman in a hotel room near a railway station in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur.

The incident took place on Thursday after which the woman informed her family members. The FIR was registered in the matter on Friday, police said.

A case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including gang rape has been registered against two unidentified police men at the Gorakhnath police station, they said.

No arrests have been made so far in this connection, the police added.

Members of various political parties including Congress, Samajwadi Party, BSP and Purvanchal Sena staged a sit-in demonstration at the office of the district magistrate (DM) demanding suspension of all staff members of the Gorakhnath police station as well as a magisterial probe into the matter.

"The girl is undergoing treatment at the district hospital. She has made serious allegation of rape by two policemen. During investigation we found that the hotel has CCTV footage and also took the statement of guard," SSP Gorakhpur, Sunil Kumar Gupta said.

"Prima facie, the woman went to the hotel room willingly with some men. However, a probe is underway and culprits won't be spared," he said.

The woman told media that both the policemen thrashed her and accused her of being involved in prostitution.

She claimed that she requested them to leave her but they beat her and raped her. Later, they asked her to go home in an autorickshaw.

The survivor also told media and investigating policemen that she will be able to identify the hotel room where the crime took place as well as the two policemen who allegedly raped her.

The woman said she runs coaching classes at her home and her father is a labourer.

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Agencies
May 28,2020

Mumbai, May 28: Twenty four doctors and three others staying in a south Mumbai hotel were rescued after a major fire broke out in the five-storey building, officials said on Thursday.

The BMC has arranged temporary accommodation for emergency and essential service staffers, including doctors and nurses, in various hotels and lodges in the city due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This hotel is one such facility.

The fire broke out at Hotel Fortune near Metro Cinema late Wednesday night and was brought under control after nearly three hours early Thursday, fire brigade officials said.

“The fire spread from the first to the third floor of the hotel, a fire brigade official told PTI. It was a level-2 fire and eight fire engines were rushed to the spot, he added.

The fire was confined to the electric wiring and cables in the electrical duct, false ceiling in the lobby and the common passages on the first, second and third floors of the hotel, he said.

The 24 rescued were resident doctors at a local hospital who were provided temporary accommodation in the hotel, while the three others were guests of the hotel, he said.

The fire broke out at 11 am and wasbrought under control at 1.40 am, the official said. Cooling operation is underway at the hotel, he added.

Five doctors were rescued using fire brigade ladders and breathing apparatus sets, the official said.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known, the fire brigade official said.

On April 21, a major fire broke out in a lodging room of Hotel Ripon near Mumbai Central, which was being used as a quarantine facility by the civic body.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Bareilly, Jan 9: In a bizarre development, a woman has been arrested for inflicting 101 cuts on her sister-in-law in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district, the police said on Thursday.

The woman was practicing exorcism to cure her father who had been ailing for some time.

The woman, Moni, was helped by her husband Mooli and brother Raju in the act, which happened on Tuesday.

The sister-in-law Renu who suffered the cuts, was given 300 stitches on her face and other parts of the body by the doctors.

Renu has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where her condition is said to be serious.

Moni, 30, has been sent to jail while Mooli and Raju are absconding.

Baradari police station officer inspector Naresh Tyagi said that a complaint had been filed by Renu's brother under section 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC.

"We will record Renu's statements in a day or two once she is stable and in a condition to talk to us. We have sent Moni to jail," the inspector said.

Renu, a resident of Ganghora village in Bareilly, was married to Sanjeev around eight years ago.

Her father-in-law, Jagdish, fell ill a few months ago.

"Accused Moni, who practices exorcism, decided to cure her father by initiating the act. Going by superstitious beliefs, they inflicted as many as 101 cuts on Renu's face and body. It cannot be ruled out that they wanted to sacrifice her to complete the act," police inspector said.

On Tuesday night, the accused had locked Renu's husband and mother-in-law in another room when they tried to stop them from making her a scapegoat.

When the accused trio started inflicting cuts on Renu, she struggled to get out of their clutches and somehow managed to escape from the house.

She had run a short distance when she collapsed and became unconscious. A police constable on patrol reportedly spotted her and she was taken to a district hospital. Once regaining her consciousness, she narrated her ordeal to the police who then informed her parents.

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