Jalandhar, August 19
It was the fourth day of floods in villages around Lohian and only kar sewaks were witnessed plugging the breach in the Dhussi bundh by making a Ringh bundh along the Sutlej at Mundi Kalu village.

When villagers of the flood-affected areas were asked who were these kar sewaks, the answer came “volunteers from nearby villages, NGOs and followers of Baba Seechewal and Baba Kashmira Shah. They work from 9 am to 7 pm. They are the ones who are providing us food and water and helping us to plug the breach.”

Though it is the responsibility of the Punjab government to provide all help, the district administration, it seemed, has washed its hands off involving the official machinery in some major relief activities.

Jalandhar deputy commissioner Ajeet Singh Pannu, who remained at the breach site at Mundi Kalu village along the Sutlej for a major part of the day today, expressed his satisfaction with the pace of relief measures being undertaken by the flood-hit villagers, their brethren from far-off places and NGOs.

When asked why labourers were not engaged to do the service, the DC replied the administration had not much to do when the people and NGOs are doing a commendable job. “If we are getting good service free of cost from kar sewaks, why should we spend money on labourers? Besides, they are more dedicated,” he added. The villagers said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and other ministers promised compensation during their visits to the site, but rued they required help now and not after the situation was brought under control.

Paramjit Singh, a resident of Darewal village, said, “Residents from the nearby villages like Badliwara, Chachowa, Wara Jaggir, Motipur and Nilhaluwal are providing us food and water. The main concern of the flood-hit villagers is scarcity of fodder for their livestock.”

Jeet Singh (85), a volunteer from Thata Tibba village in Kapurthala, said, “Our village has been providing food and water to the villagers for the past two days. Being old I cannot do much, but at least washing utensils is something which I can manage. In fact, every person is contributing his bit to mitigate the sufferings of the flood-affected villagers.”

Similarly, Nichattar Singh from Chak Chela village in Jalandhar, said half of his village population was busy with voluntary services. He said women and girls were cooking at homes, while men and boys were distributing food and water at the site.

Meanwhile, the flood situation in the village around Lohian remained under control with water receding in the Sutlej today even as large tracts of agricultural land remained submerged in flood-hit areas.

Medical officer Dr Rajinder Gill said six teams, including mobile teams, were providing treatment to residents. “We are getting complaints of skin infection and chest problems, which are due to stagnant water,” he said, adding that chlorine tablets were being provided so that residents could make water safe for drinking.

Nawanshahr, August 19
The local MLA, Jatinder Singh Kariha, while endorsing the views of the SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal that the SAD workers should come forward to assist the rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected areas, said here today that the prompt action by the district administration and exemplary efforts put in by residents of the villages along the dhussi bundh helped in thwarting the apprehension of breaches in dhussi bundh along the Sutlej in the district.

Kariha said there were a number of sensitive points at Dhangerpur, Tajowal, Mandala and Chakli Sujatpur villages and residents of the villages in the bet area had been apprehending floods. But the villagers dedicatedly worked around the clock to plug the possible breaches to save themselves from the fury of floods.

A youth, Baljit Singh, lost his foot while plugging a possible breech in the dhussi bundh at Mandala village. He was taken to Ludhiana for treatment.

The MLA said he would take up the matter with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and SAD president to provide financial help to the youth. — OC

Jalandhar, August 19
With an initiative to upgrade the dwindling standard of education in the district the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has launched remedial coaching of upper primary level for weaker students.

Under the scheme extra classes would be carried out separately through qualified education volunteers in all government upper primary schools. A letter in this regard has been issued to all district education officers (DEOs) in Punjab by the state project director of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.

The remedial coaching classes will be for weak students from classes VI, VII and VIII who have scored less than 55 per cent marks in their last examination held during March. According to information available from SSA officials, the coaching classes would be conducted in three subjects, namely maths, science and English. The time-bound four-month coaching classes started on August 16 and will conclude on December 15.

Talking to The Tribune, district project coordinator, SSA, Rajiv Kumar Joshi said, “Usually the students face difficulty in these three subjects. Through remedial coaching classes emphasis would be laid on clearing the basic concepts of maths, science and English. Until the students learn the fundamental concepts of these subjects, we cannot expect a good result from them,” he said, adding that every year a majority of students failed to pass these subjects thereby bringing a bad name to the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB).

For this purpose the SSA officials have earmarked nearly 431 upper primary schools in the district. “Remedial coaching would be conducted throughout the week except for Sundays for two hours daily on the school premises after the school hours,” he added.

And to execute the remedial coaching classes the SSA officials have especially taken the help of “education volunteers” who would be paid a monthly salary of Rs 1,800. It is noteworthy to mention here that even last year too the SSA had launched remedial coaching classes from December 1, 2007, to January, 2008, and covered 49 primary and 22 upper primary schools.

To make these coaching classes a success the process would be monitored regularly by school heads, cluster head teachers (CHTs), block resource persons (BRPs), district resource person (DRPs), DEOs (elementary) and DEOs (secondary). “The feasibility of the coaching classes would be assessed from the comparative report of the performance of children in the quarterly exams to be held in September and December,” maintained Joshi.

Chandigarh, August 19
The Punjab government has amended guidelines for admission to medical colleges in the state after the entrance examination had been held. This has raised doubts among the candidates as well as the academia that the move was undertaken to benefit certain individuals.

The entrance examination, (PMET-08), was conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, on June 22 and the result thereof was to be declared on June 27 or earlier. A notification exempting candidates in a reserved category from appearing in the written test was issued on June 27.

This could imply that a candidate in the said category, who appeared in the examination but did not perform well, would be able to get admission. Also, a candidate who did not appear for the test could seek benefit. The university conducts entrance examinations for admission to MBBS, BDS, BAMS and BHMS courses in medical, dental and ayurvedic and homoeopathic institutes.

On April 29, a corrigendum (No.5/3/08-3HB111/2728) was issued by Jagjit Puri, secretary, department of Medical Education and Research, which included reservation for tsunami victims, cancer patients and the AIDS affected. This corrigendum was to partially modify the notification issued in March for the conduct of PMET-08.

On June 27, five days after the entrance examination was held, the secretary issued another corrigendum (No.5/3/08-31HB111/3997), further modifying the notification and the earlier corrigendum to the affect that candidates in the aforementioned reserved category were not required to take the entrance test as mandated in the notification.

Punjab government sources said the university had also received an application under the Right to Information, seeking details of the admission guidelines, notifications concerned and names for candidates granted admission under this category. So far the university has released the name of one candidate who has been selected in the cancer patient quota.

This has prompted parents of some candidates to contend that amendment of the admission guidelines after the examination has been held is not legally tenable.

They have also contended that inclusion of ailments in reserved categories would open a pandora’s box and there would be no end to demands for including other serious ailments in the reservation list.

Nawanshahr, August 19
The residents of a colony situated behind the KC Palace on Rahon Road here are sore over the deplorable sanitary conditions prevailing in their street.

Choked sewerage gutters have been causing stagnation of water in the street, subsequently proving a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Foul smell, emanating from the stagnant water, has become a great nuisance. The local MC authorities are not doing anything about it, they alleged. — OC