The Gurdaspur administration, it seems, has shifted its headquarters from the District Administrative Complex (DAC) to villages particularly those bordering the international border. Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ishfaq has asked his officials to fan-out in the countryside to urge villagers to get inoculated. The DC has a tough task on his hands. “We want Bharat to beat India. I want more villagers to get vaccinated as compared to people living in urban areas,” remarked an officer. While tech savvy and digitally aware city dwellers have managed to get their shots, thousands in rural areas are being left behind because of the technology barrier. Registering on the official Covid website, villagers say, has been a challenge for almost all of them. Like Harbans Singh of Dorangla village. He says he has an old phone sans an internet connection. Harbans is not alone for there are thousands like him who cannot avail the benefits of technology. “Two thirds of India is rural. If you do not vaccinate these people in adequate numbers, there will be a huge reservoir of susceptible persons which the virus or any new variant can attack and then come back to urban areas,” revealed a doctor. Yet another facet is that the under-funded and ill-equipped rural health care infrastructure puts villages at a further disadvantage. The government has allowed the private sector to administer the shots giving people in cities the option to pay and get vaccinated at a private hospital but rural areas have few such facilities.

Braveheart remembered

For the past 21 years, Assistant Commissioner (Excise) Rajwinder Kaur Bajwa has never forgotten to pay homage to her late husband Major Balwinder Singh Bajwa. She is the same woman who has bootleggers on the run in this border district where production of hooch is a rule rather than an exception. Her daring raids, particularly on liquor smugglers operating their ‘businesses’ from swampy areas where raiding parties often get unnerved, have become part of folklore. Earlier, this week Bajwa and her family garlanded the bust of her husband at ‘Fish Park’ in the presence of civil and police officers. She is the proud wife of a proud husband who died fighting insurgency in J&K. Incidentally, Bajwa is unhappy at the way the media still writes ‘Fish Park’ when in all official records it has already been renamed as ‘Martyr Balwinder Singh Bajwa Park’. On the occasion, she reminded all and sundry that “we sleep peacefully in our beds at night because tough men, like her husband, stand ready in battlefields.” “Heroism does not always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history,” she said. Pointing to her husband’s bust, Bajwa reminded everybody standing around her that, “A coward dies a thousand deaths. A soldier dies just once.” Everybody in Gurdaspur agrees with this as stories of the Major’s courage and resilience can still be heard in the labyrinthine lanes of this city—a good 21 years after he laid down his life. Indeed, as they say, good soldiers never die, they just fade away. Just like the Major.

Batala cops donate blood

Your blood is replaceable, your life is not. This was the motto of the Batala police as they organised a one-day blood donation camp. Senior officers including SSP Rachpal Singh and DSP Parvinder Kaur were present. DSP Kaur was standing near a young man who was busy sending messages on his phone. The officer said: “When you can share messages, why can’t you share blood? After all, life is all about sharing, isn’t that true?” The man was left dumbfounded. Later, it was revealed that before he left the venue, he had donated his quota of blood. He surely deserved a pat on his back. And quite rightly, the DSP did pat his back leaving him flummoxed at the turn of events. Indeed, every blood donor is a life saver including this young man! The bottom line is that blood will keep circulating forever but only if you keep donating it.

— Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal