Bathinda, December 16
Following the issuance of letters by the state government yesterday enhancing the pay-scales and the grade pay of different categories of the ministerial staff, the members of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union (PSMSU) were seen in an upbeat mood here today. Many of them were also seen congratulating each other though the government has not fulfilled their all demands so far.

It may be recalled that the members of the PSMSU were agitating for the past one year, by holding dharnas, observing pen-down strikes, carrying out protest marches and going on mass casual leaves, for getting their pay-scales revised in view of enhancement in the qualification of clerks from senior secondary to graduation.

However, despite the issuance of letters, enhancing the pay-scales and the grade pay, the PSMSU is still demanding a grade pay of Rs 4,800 for senior assistants and Rs 5,400 as grade pay for superintendents grade –II.

According to the letters issued by the Department of Finance, Punjab, yesterday, the grade pay of clerk and steno-typist has been revised from Rs 2,400 to Rs 3,200 with initial pay of Rs 13,500. Similarly, the grade pay of junior assistant and junior scale stenographer has been increased from Rs 3,200 to Rs 3,600 with initial pay of Rs 14,430. The grade pay of senior assistant has been revised from Rs 3,800 to Rs 4,400 with initial pay of Rs 17,420. Further, the grade pay of superintendent grade-II has been hiked from Rs 4,200 to Rs 4,800 with initial pay of Rs 18,250 and the grade pay of superintendent grade-I has been raised from Rs 5,000 to Rs 5,400 with a revised pay band of Rs 15,600- Rs 39,100 (with initial pay of Rs 21,000).

The revised pay band and grade pay of the ministerial staff have been revised with effect from December 1, 2011.

Talking to TNS here today, district general secretary of the union Kewal Bansal said the union was still hopeful that the state government would accept their demand regarding enhancement in the grade pay of the senior assistant and the superintendent grade II, during the cabinet meeting to be held tomorrow at Chandigarh.

He said earlier they were demanding grade pay of Rs 5,000 for clerk, Rs 5,400 grade pay for junior assistant, Rs 6,000 grade pay for senior assistant with pay band of Rs 15,600- Rs 39,100, Rs 6,600 grade pay for superintendent grade-II with pay band of Rs 15,600-Rs 39,100 and Rs 7,400 grade pay for superintendent grade-I with pay-scale of Rs 15,600-Rs 39,100.

Bansal said though the state government had given them higher grade pay and pay-scales, these were still not up to their expectations. He urged the state government to do more for the ministerial staff as they were the backbone of the government machinery.

Bathinda, December 16
Bathinda district will get a grant of Rs 4.62 lakh for painting messages pertaining to the Right to Education (RTE) Act-2009 on the walls of government schools in the district.

Banking extensively on this mode to popularise the RTE, the office of Director General of School Education (DGSE) has decided to release grants worth lakhs to all districts in the state.

In Bathinda, a total of 660 schools have been selected - 394 primary and 266 upper primary schools - and Rs 700 would be given to each school under the Community Mobilisation Fund.

Deputy state project director, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan Authority, Punjab, has issued a set of instructions to the district education officers (Secondary) specifying the amount of grant to be released to identified schools.

Earlier, the government has widely publicised Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) using the same mode. Walls of most of the schools and even panchayat-owned buildings in villages don SSA slogans that motivate people to get their children educated.

Under the RTE Act, which imparts free and compulsory education to students in the age group of 6 to 14 years, the government has been making efforts to ensure that not only government schools but private schools too follow the practice.

The government has directed the private schools to reserve 25 per cent of seats for children from the economically weaker section of the society. However, most of the private schools are shying away from implementing the same.

While the admission procedure for kindergarten classes has begun, there is no word on admitting children under the RTE.

Sources in the District Education Office revealed that private schools have been demanding government to "compensate" them for the students they would teach free.

"No private school indulges in charity. The private schools say that they are ready to teach children (from economically weaker section of society) free, if the government pays their fees or compensate them economically," said the officials.

In a fresh set of instructions, the Punjab government has made it mandatory for all the new upcoming schools to implement the provisions under the Act. The implementation would be reviewed and new schools would be awarded recognition accordingly.

Though the District Education Officer (Secondary) is empowered to check these schools and ensure implementation of the RTE, little is being done. "Most of the private schools enjoy political or bureaucratic patronage. No one is ready to listen. The DEO can just ensure that instructions reach private schools. To get these implemented is impossible for government employees," added another official.

Meanwhile, DEO (Secondary) Harbans Singh Sandhu said efforts were on to implement the RTE in letter and spirit.

Bathinda, December 16
Taking a leaf out of James Cameron's book and inspired by his mega hit 3-D venture ‘Avatar’, many Bollywood filmmakers are announcing their next projects in this technology.

Farhan Akhtar's next film, ‘Don 2 - The Chase Continues’ starring Shah Rukh Khan will be released worldwide in 3-D format this Christmas, but movie goers in Bathinda will have to settle for its 2-D version, courtesy lack of theatres supporting the 3-D format.

The next few Bollywood 3-D films — Raaz 3, Joker (starring Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha), Sher Khan (starring Salman Khan, Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif) and many others - will also meet a similar fate in the city theatres as the multiplexes here are yet to install the 3-D screens required to run these films.

One of the factors contributing to the lack of 3-D screens in the city is the financial viability of offering the option to the viewers. Considering the cost of a 3-D screen, which is almost 400 per cent higher than that of a normal screen and the money is adjusted against the price of movie tickets, installing a 3-D screen means a lot of investment and hence, reaching a break even point is a big problem. Also, watching a 3-D film required the use of special glasses. The active glasses cost between Rs 1,800 and Rs 4,500 a piece. Then, there are disposable ones that cost about Rs 26-Rs 53.

Gopal Singh, the manager of the Fun Cinemas in the Mittal Mall here, blamed the absence of this technology in Bathinda on the lack of awareness.

He said, "Although many Bollywood 3-D films are lined up to be released in December and next year, we are not planning to bring the technology to Bathinda right now. As of now, people in Bathinda are content with watching films in the 2-D format. Although almost all Fun Cinemas across India have been upgraded to support the format, and the future of cinema lies in 3-D, bringing the technology to the city will take some time."

Another big player in the field of cinema in Bathinda is the multiplex chain Big Cinemas and its screens located in Zirakpur and Jalandhar will soon have the 3-D technology.

Tushar Dhingra, chief operating officer of the Big Cinemas, while speaking over the phone from Mumbai, said, "This technology has taken the world of cinema to a different level altogether. We are planning to install 3-D screens at our Jalandhar and Zirakpur centres very soon but we have not planned the same for Bathinda yet. Although the movie goers in the city may be interested in the format, one has to look at the returns on investment as well."

It seems Bathinda's residents will have to wait for a while to watch a 3-D film. 

Bathinda, December 16
Lawyers were allocated chambers at the judicial complex here today. Adopting transparency in the entire allocation system, the draws were taken out in full public view, in the presence of the district and sessions judge SK Aggarwal and other judicial officers.

The proceedings of the day were video-graphed. As soon as a chit was selected, it was first flashed on the LCD screens and then announced.

President of the Bathinda Bar Association Rajan Garg said almost 95 per cent of the Bar members have been provided with chambers and efforts were on to get chambers allocated to the remaining lawyers.

A total of 364 chambers and 40 booths were allocated today. The 40 booths included 32 smaller ones and eight bigger booths. The construction of these booths had started in the year 2007.

The advocates contributed Rs 1.65 lakh for chambers, Rs 1.50 lakh for big booths and Rs 1.20 lakh for small booths.

Besides, the state government had given a grant of Rs 2 crore. There are around 900 lawyers registered with the Bathinda Bar Association.

Bathinda, December 16
The unemployed linemen, who have been staging a dharna and observing chain hunger strike in support of their demands since December 5, outside the Mini-secretariat here, were still ignorant of whether the state government has filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court yesterday or not, as promised by the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to the union leaders, some days ago.

The SLP was to be filed by the state government on December 15 to get the stay on the recruitment of the linemen, imposed by the High Court, vacated.

The unemployed linemen have been demanding the appointment of 4,000 linemen in the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). Talking to the TNS here today, state president of the union Pirmal Singh said they had no information so far as to whether the government had filed the SLP or not in the Supreme Court.

He said they were awaiting information in this regard from the government. In case, the SLP is not filed by the government so far, they would certainly go to Moga on December 18 to gherao the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at the SAD’s rally there, he added.

Pirmal said they also expected from the state government that besides filing the SLP, it should also adopt other measures to recruit them.

He also said they would not lift their dharna and end chain hunger strike until the government accepts their demand and appoint them in the 
PSPCL.

Meanwhile, a large number of unemployed linemen under the banner of the Unemployed Linemen Union (Punjab) today took out a protest march here, raising slogans in support of their demands and against the state government for not accepting their demand.

They started their march from the Mini-secretariat that passed through the Mehna Chowk, Fire Brigade Chowk, Mall Road, Hanuman Chowk and Bus Stand Chowk before culminating at the dharna site.

The protesters also blocked the vehicular traffic at the Bus Stand Chowk.

In today's dharna, unemployed linemen from the Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala districts participated.