The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Govt schools: change is unwarranted

The Punjab government has decided to hand over 4,181 government schools to zila parishads and panchayats. But most of the educationists, government school teachers, sarpanches and ETT trained youth are apprehensive about the change, as Deepkamal Kaur found during a survey conducted by Jalandhar Plus

Ms Inderjeet Kaur, Principal, MGN Public School, Kapurthala

“I do not think the move to assign the job of administering government schools to zila parishads and panchayats is a positive one. I strongly believe that people who do not have any educational background cannot run any school. The work should have, instead, been assigned only to top-ranking educationists who would have taken the job as their top priority. It is only the educated lot that has the ability to understand various lacunae in the system and to find out solutions to the problems.

Government schools have been an utter failure as no one has taken the initiative to get involved in the uplift of the schools. The government, of course, has been spending money but not in the right way.

A state government official was recently quoted in an English daily, saying that the government was bearing an average cost of Rs 600 per school student per month. I am ready to accept the challenge of running two government schools efficiently even if the government gives me Rs 400 per child on monthly basis.”

Mr Sanjeevan Singh Didwal, science teacher, Government Middle School, Talhi Mohalla

“Everyone knows that the condition of government schools in the state is deteriorating and an effort is needed to revive them. But by handing over the schools to zila parishads and panchayats, the government is simply trying to shirk its responsibility, which is not done. The government must assure that the schools have sufficient resources to meet the requirements for creating a conducive atmosphere. Many schools do not have buildings, while others have just one teacher on the verge of retirement.

The Central and state governments must prioritise the school education. The government has been drawing funds from the World Bank, but these are not being used in the right direction. Earlier, the schools had been given to district boards in 1956, but the system did not work out. These were then shifted to the Education Department, but the things worsened. Now, I think that panchayats may be able to handle schools as they have been showing interest earlier too, but not zila parishads. Panchayats may also be able to offer some land and resources through the Rural Education Development Committee, but zila parishads will be totally helpless.”

Ms Rita Bawa, Principal, Kanya Maha Vidyalaya

“The decision of the government to hand over schools to zila parishads and panchayats will only worsen the situation. Such a responsibility should have been given to educationists and experienced administrators, many of whom would have volunteered to accept the challenge. Earlier, philanthropists had been doing a good job by donating equipment to schools, but the trend has slowed down in the recent past.

Now, I wish whatever the government does, it must make the authorities concerned accountable. The performance of schools must be checked after every small duration and decisions taken accordingly. It is high time that the government takes a sound decision in this regard while considering the opinion of eminent educationists. The performance so far has not been up to the mark. The government’s aim of assuring education for all through its Sarv Sikhya Abhiyan scheme has also not been able to meet the target, as a number of deprived children of age group less than 14 years can often be seen working as child labourers.”

Mr Beant Bhadna, district president, Unemployed Elementary Teachers’ Union

“We have defied the proposal very strongly through our agitation. We are unhappy that no one has ever pondered on its ramifications. If the Education Department that has a huge infrastructure has not been able to perform, how can the government think that panchayats that have so limited resources would be able to improve the situation?

Even while the panchayats had initiated the recruitment process recently, we were not satisfied with the procedure that was being followed. We were being allowed to fill forms for appointment in our own district only. There were many eligible candidates from Mansa, Muktsar and Faridkot, but the number of vacant posts in these districts is far too low. We had requested that such candidates be adjusted in other neighbouring districts where the number of posts was relatively high.

Now that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has cancelled the recruitment process, we have demanded that the appointments be made soon, but through the Higher Education Department directly.”

Ms Balbir Kaur Bansal, sarpanch, Bundala village

“I am dead against the decision. The government has not given us any authority. Instead, they will make us do clerical work. Sarpanches do not have adequate resources to pay the teachers. We have not been informed about any grants coming to us for the purpose. I am educated, for I have done MA in psychology, but most sarpanches and panches cannot even spell their names. How does the government then think that they will be able to manage schools?

If the government was to take such a decision, then it should have at least changed the qualification criteria for panchayat members during the elections. Graduation should have been the minimum qualification for anyone to become a panchayat member. If panchayats have to do recruitment, how will uneducated members on the panel be able to judge suitable candidates for the purpose?

As members of the panchayat, we can always propose to the government to allot more teachers or improve the existing facilities, but we cannot supervise them.”

Dhoni bats his Jalandhar connection right
By Anuradha Shukla

Labourers working to give shape to bats at the Beat All Sports factory in Jalandhar. — Tribune photo by Pawan Sharma

BAS. Does the name ring a bell, if it does it is because over the years many international cricketers have been using the bats made by BAS or Beat All Sports, a Jalandhar-based company.

The cricket sensation, Mahinder Singh Dhoni, uses the bats manufactured by the company. The bats came into the cricketer’s life eight years back. Dhoni has even come down to the city twice to get the bats himself. The bat from BAS also apparently proved lucky for him as after making his debut in a match against Bangladesh where he was out for a duck on December 23, 2004, Dhoni scored 148 runs against Pakistan at Vishakhapatnam with his BAS bat.

Dhoni visited the city from Chandigarh, where he was playing home series for the East Zone, to get a bat from the BAS factory unit in the Industrial area here.

He also stayed for a night with the owners of BAS factory, Kohli family, as the bat was being manufactured for him. He took two bats and the next thing we knew, he knocked off the Pakistanis scoring 148 runs with his BAS bat, at Vishakhapatnam.

Now at number one, the cricketer still regards the family of the BAS, says Mr Ramesh Kohli, the eldest of the three brothers. “Dhoni was sent the BAS kit when he came into contact with our Ranchi dealer Paramjit Singh eight years back,” Mr Kohli said. “Since then the cricketer has been using our bats,” he added.

The Kohli family, which came from Sialkot in Pakistan after Partition, began the venture at an investment of Rs 400 or 10 dollars only.

Mr Des Raj and Mr Mulk Raj Kohli, two brothers of the family, had established the factory in 1950, says Mr Ramesh Kohli.

The company’s bats have also been used earlier by the cricket stars like Kapil Dev, Parveen Amre, Krishnamachari Shrikant, Madan Lal, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Ajay Jadeja, Manoj Prabhakar and now by Saurav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh.

The bats are also known as “sixer bats”, as the players using these over the decades have been known for making brilliant sixes on the field with these bats.

Sachin Tendulkar had also visited the factory when he was 15-year-old before making his debut in his international career. He still uses the gloves made by the factory, Mr Kohli claims.

His friend Vinod Kambli has also been a regular user of the bats. Not only the Indian stars, but the players of teams like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and New Zealand, also use BAS bats, Mr Kohli claims.

The wood used in the bats is the English willow imported from Britain and the handles are made of cane wood that are imported from Singapore and Malaysia, he says.

Disabled honoured

Harpal Singh, who had earned fame as a football player, but lost both his legs in an accident, was honoured by the former DGP, Mr Mahal Singh Bullar, at a special ceremony held at the Hans Raj Stadium.

Harpal Singh is son of Swarn Singh, former wrestling coach, with the Punjab Police. Harpal is pursuing his studies at the Lyallpur Khalsa College, in B.Sc second year. The boy was given Rs one lakh as felicitation amount by Mr Bhullar. Prior to this, Arjuna Awardee, Mr Randhir Singh Dheera, DSP Jagjit Singh, and the Lyallpur Khalsa College, too, have provided him some relief amount. Two minutes silence was also observed on the occasion in the memory of Olympian Madho Singh Pahalwan.

Six selected for Delhi athletics camp

Six Punjab junior players have been selected by the Athletics Federation of India for the National Athletics Coaching camp to be held at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium from April 26 to May 25th. Those selected include Inderjit Singh from Ludhiana in 400 meters, Gurinder Singh from Sangrur in 100m, Gurlep Amber Singh from Ludhiana in discuss throw, Ajaypal Singh from Bathinda in javelin throw, Karamjit Singh in shot put, and Jaskaran Singh in 100 m. They have been asked to report for the camp in Delhi on their own.

Army shooting team

Commanding Officer of the Army Marksmanship Unit, Infantry School, Mhow, Colonel I.J. People, talking to media persons in Jalandhar on Monday. — Photo by S.S. Chopra

The Army Shooting team, which took part in the national shooting trials held at the PAP shooting range, has made its mark at various championships. Addressing media persons, the Commanding officer of the Army Marksmanship Unit, Infantry School, Mhow, Col. I J People, said that the budding shooters of the Army like the shot gun shooter Ms Seema Tomar, pistol shooter Saroja Kumari, Havildar Vijay Kumar, Subedar Pemba Tamang, have given superlative performances in various shooting championships. The likes of Sepoy Hari Om, Sepoy Om Prakash, Sepoy Himanshu, and Sepoy Kanchang Gurung have performed well giving credence to the aim of the army to win an Olympic gold medal in shooting. He said that Rs 60 crore, sanctioned by the Central government, is being spent on 10 sports disciplines with an eye on an Olympic berth.

Western Air Command Hockey

The Western Air Command Inter Area Hockey Championship would commence from May 1 to 6 at the Adampur Air Force Station venue. Seventeen teams from various areas of the command will take part in the Hockey championship. The tournament aims at selecting the potential players who would represent the Army in the forthcoming national hockey championships.

35 selected

As many as 35 girls have been selected for the National Sub Junior Women Hockey championship to be held in Karnataka from May 17th. The trials for selecting the probable for the team were held at the DAV sports grounds on April 24. The selected girls will join the camp before the championship, scheduled to begin from May 2 at Gurdaspur.

The team would represent the state in the National Sub Junior Women Hockey Championship to be held in Hasan in Karnataka, Rajinder Singh Jr, Vice-president of the Punjab Women Hockey Association and the former Indian coach, said.

Swimming wing

Swimming has begun in the Government Sports College from April 25. A swimming wing has also been set up along with the Sports School in the college by the Director Sports, Mr Pargat Singh. The swimming, which begins from March 1 every year, was delayed because the college has been demanding a sports wing for long, according to the college swimming coach, Mr Om Prakash.

Baba Seechewal aims at eradicating social evils
By Arun Sharma

Baba Seechewal

Sant Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal has called on the people of the state to vote for the political parties who gave preference to the health facilities, various education issues and the preservation of water resources.

Baba Seechewal said the candidates from any party should be voted to power if he or she promised to take care of the issues in the interests of masses.

Baba, who is involved in mobilising the people towards preserving the environment and got sobriquet of ‘Sadkan wala baba’ earlier and then ‘Nadian wala Baba’ has made a miracle in the area of Sultanpur Lodhi and nearby through his social works.

Born on February 2, 1962, in Seechewal village Baba left his college studies in between and devoted to the service of his guru, Sant Avtar Singh Ji, and after his demise, he was anointed the Mahant of the dera.

Although there was no binding on him, he decided to observe celibacy in order to devote his full time to the welfare of mankind.

Apart from the building and the maintenance work of the religious places, he has been involved in the task of preparing new roads, path and ways to join different people and places. During the process, he got a sobriquet ‘sadkan wala baba’ from the local people. Thereafter, to combat pollution in the state, he proposed a modern kind of sewerage system in the cities and villages. Through his practical programs, he shows the way to clean and keep clean the polluted waters of the Kali Bein and rivers.

Baba Seechewal, being considered a simple, straight forward, clear-hearted and transparent personality, has made it a mission to take care of the environment in the state.

Besides motivating the people of surrounding villages and towns not to throw the pollutants in the Bein, while encouraging them to clean it from its starting point at Dhanoa village in Hoshiarpur district, Sultanpur Lodhi, Baba also took care of preserving the old trees. He has also launched beautification drives at various places.

He now plans to open new schools and colleges to eradicate intellectual and spiritual illiteracy. He is arranging sports programs to develop physical as well as mental health among the people.

Baba Seechewal, in order to make the surroundings pollution-free following the concept of pure water, pure air and clean earth, streams, and rivulets, has started making the people aware and motivate them to stop polluting these natural resources.

He is working in the direction to build pathways on the banks of the rivers, and beautify these with flowers plants.

While establishing institutions to provide help to the poor, the needy, orphans, widows, and the aged, the Baba is also making efforts to check crime and drug addiction.

Teachers condemn assault on GND Varsity dean
Tribune News Service

The All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (AIFUCTO) has condemned the physical assault on Dr Gurnam Singh, Dean of Academic Affairs and former President of Guru Nanak Dev University Teachers’ Association (GNDUTA) in Amritsar yesterday.

The AIFUCTO General Secretary, Dr V.K. Tewari, decried the “failure” of the police personnel to apprehend the assailants. The AIFUCTO expressed serious concern and worry at the incident. Mr Tiwari called it “a planned, murderous attack” on the senior academician, who is a well-known political and social scientist.

The AIFUCTO demanded immediate arrest of the culprits to restore confidence of the employees and the students. While wishing Dr Gurnam Singh a speedy recovery and good health, the apex body of teachers declared that it would join the protest action to be observed by the GNDUTA.

Meanwhile, Dr Tewari has welcomed the decision of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on directing the state governments to fill all regular posts lying vacant in universities and colleges across the country. He said that the apex body of teachers had been persistently arguing that non-filling of posts due to various reasons, including bans imposed by state governments, had seriously hampered teaching and research in the institutes of higher learning. He said that the Chief Secretaries should act fast in accordance with the letter of Mr Sudeep Banerjee, Secretary, MHRD, and do the needful before the next academic session.

Dr Tewari also welcomed the acceptance of the AIFUCTO plea for exempting Ph.D and M.Phil holders from clearing NET. On March 7, the AIFUCTO delegation led by Dr Tewari had met Prof B.Mungeker and pleaded for making changes in NET examination of the UGC.

Young world
Mind-mapping as memory aid
By Deepkamal Kaur

Eklavya School organised a workshop on mind mapping for parents at its Nakodar Road campus on Wednesday. Ms Nilima Shah, a former pre-primary principal of Eklavya School, Ahmedabad, was the resource person. Ms Shah talked about mind maps that could be used as tools for thinking and learning. She said these could be used as topics for improving ways of taking notes.

“These help us make associations easily and save time, as just one map could reveal the whole event planning, lesson details or any other topic. These can also work as check lists and help recollect from the memory,” she added.

During the workshop, the participants were given interesting topics and they enjoyed making creative mind maps.

Block-building

Students of St Joseph Convent School, Cantonment Road, organised a block-building competition for the tiny tots of LKG and UKG this week. The kids brought blocks of various shapes and colours and tried to assemble them in various ways. Students tried to form various shapes such as those of car, train, animals and basket.

Book exhibition

An exhibition was organised by the members of Bal Sanskar Kendra at Seth Hukum SD Chand Public Senior Secondary School, Kapurthala Road. During the exhibition, books, manuscripts and pictures on life and teachings of spiritual leaders were showcased. Students were told about different yoga exercises. They were also told about the importance of guru mantra. Books were distributed among the students and they were told to make use of these for inculcating ideals, morals and values taught by saints. The aim of the exhibition was to revive the forgotten culture and traditions, and inculcate among the students the moral values, said the school principal.

Baby show

MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar, organised a baby show on Saturday. The show had participants from four categories in the age group of six months to four years. The little ones were adjudged on the basis of their physical health, including height, weight, immunisation and feeding history. Children in the age group of three to four years showed their talent in the given one minute.

Among kids in the age group of one to one-and-a-half years, Abhishai Austin clinched the title of “baby prince”, while Kismat bagged the “baby princess” award. For kids in the age group of two to two-and-a-half years, Anhad Bawa was chosen for “baby prince” title, while Tabassum Sharma was selected for “baby princess” title.

In the category of kids falling in the age group of three to three-and-a-half years, Kushagra Diwan was declared the “baby prince”, while Kritika Saini was selected as “baby princess”.

Among participants in the age group of four to four-and-a-half years, Lakshay Chetal bagged the “baby prince” prize, while Parneet Kaur was selected as “baby princess”.

Dr Anil Sud, paediatrician, and Ms Meenaksi Syal, lecturer of physics in Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyala, were the judges on the occasion. Mr R.S. Mehta, Principal, and Ms Kiran Mehta, KG in charge of the school, were the hosts for the event.

Earth Day

Sanskriti KMV School celebrated the Earth Day on the campus on Saturday. Tiny tots of pre-primary wing came dressed up as fruits, flowers and trees, and gave a message of preserving the flora. Poems based on the theme of protecting natural resources were recited. A talk highlighting the significance of conserving animal life was also presented. The students pledged to save the Mother Earth for the generations to come.

Pensioners sore over ‘apathy’ of UPA govt

Various associations of the Central government pensioners, and organisations of senior citizens have criticised the UPA government led by Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, for its “total apathy” towards 11 crore senior citizens, including 35 lakh Central government pensioners and family pensioners.

In a press note, the All India Central Government Pensioners’ Association and the Bharat Pensioners’ Samaj have termed the UPA government as the most “unfriendly” Central government so far. Mr V.S. Jolly, editor of monthly journal, Pensioners’ Friend, has blamed the PM for “total indifference” and said that he had forgotten his own written assurance given on August 19, 2003, as the leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha. He lamented that the PM had shown an “utter disregard” to the communications addressed to him by all associations and organisations in the past nearly two years.

Mr Jolly alleged that instead of giving any additional relief or concession, the government had withdrawn most benefits and concessions granted to them by the previous government (withdrawal of medicare re-imbursement facilities, reduction in interest rates on deposits in banks and post offices).

He said that the non-implementation of the government decision on lowering the age limit from 65 years to 60 years for the grant of status of senior citizens had put the government in a spot. He said that while the banks, railways and other government departments considered an Indian of 60 years as a senior citizen, the Ministry of Finance and the Income Tax Department were still considering senior citizens to be of the age 65 years or above. — TNS

Market Buzz

MCA 21 facilitation centre at Chhoti Baradari

MCA 21, an e-governance project of the Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA), was launched in the city with the opening of a facilitation centre at Chhoti Baradari here. Mr Pawan Kumar, director, MCA, Government of India, was the chief guest. Mr Rakesh Chandra, regional director, northern region, Mr Manmohan Juneja, registrar of companies, and representatives from Tata Consultancy Services were among those present on the occasion.

Canara Bank

Canara Bank has increased the interest rate on NRE rupee term deposit of one year to three years. The interest rate has been increased from six per cent per annum to 6.3 per cent per annum for the above-mentioned maturity period with effect from April 18, 2006. Also, the interest rate on FCNR has been revised upward and made USD 5.31 per cent for five years.

Spice Bumper

The Spice Bumper Pack, unveiled by Manoj Chopra, a Guinness record holder, a six-footer who is now preparing himself for the next “World’s

Strongest Man” competition and the WWF tournament, is a first of its kind bumper tariff pack in India that offers post-paid subscribers the opportunity to call any local Spice subscriber at the lowest ever tariff rate of just 10 paisa per minute. This is coupled with free talk time of 600 minutes to any local GSM mobile. This was stated by the company spokesperson here.

Tanishq offer

Tanishq has announced a special pre-booking offer, along with 10 per cent discount, on making-charges on select jewellery on the auspicious occasion of “Akshay Tritiya” at the booking price.

“Tanishq jewellery for Akshay Tritiya consists of designs where tradition marries modernity so that it appeals to a woman who wishes to buy precious Indian jewellery that suits her evolving tastes, claimed a company spokesperson.

During the offer period, customers would have wide-ranging options in traditional and contemporary designs in pure 22k gold. The “Akshay Tritiya” pre-booking offer is available across all Tanishq showrooms, starting from April 24 to April 30.

Anu Designs

Anu Designs, a Ludhiana firm, organised an exhibition of fancy linen bed spreads, quilts and cushions at Hotel Shangrila. Ms Anuradha Jain, owner, said that designer bed sheets and covers in different materials and texture were available with pillow covers, cushion covers and muslin covers. A variety of cushions with covers in satin and tissue material adorned with mirrors, ‘sippis’ and laces had also been exhibited in different shapes like mango, triangle and squares, she said.