Bathinda, March 14
The Director General of School Education (DGSE) has sacked six government teachers of the district for being absent from work for a long period without prior information. The dismissed teachers were given a time period of 30 days to present an explanation through a public notice. Four of the six suspended teachers did not respond to the notice, while the reply of two was found to be unsatisfactory.

In his order, the Director General of School Education (DGSE)-cum-project director Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan, Kahan Singh Pannu, stated that these absentees (teachers) have vitiated the learning atmosphere in the schools where they were posted.

The orders have been issued as per the directives of the Supreme Court that anyone found absent for long time may reasonably give rise to an inference that such service is intended to be abandoned by the employee, being a case of abandonment of service and no notice or inquiry is required.

The dismissal is in sync with the Supreme Court orders wherein dismissed employees have been considered "not-keen" to work with the department.

Suspended employees, who did not respond to the notice of department, include Simarjit Kaur, a science mistress of Government Senior Secondary School, Ghumman Kalan, who has been absent from duty since August 21, 2006. Rituraj Kaur, a social studies mistress of Government Senior Secondary School, Jodhpur Pakhar village, has been absent since October 5, 2009, while Ripudaman Kaur, a social studies mistress at Government High School, Sekhu village, has not been reporting to the duty since February 8, 2010. Gurvinder Singh, agriculture master, Chak Ram Singh Wala is absent since February 10, 2010 and did not respond to the notice served on him.

Sarabjit Kaur, a social studies teacher of Government Senior Secondary School, Sangat, has been absent from the duty since February 18, 2008. The authorities concerned were found her answer to the show-cause notice as unsatisfactory.

Similarly, Neelam Rani, a maths mistress of Government High school, Gill Kalan village, has been absent since September 28, 2008 and her answer to the notice was also not up to the mark following which she has been dismissed by the school education department.

Government teachers welcomed the dismissal of the absentees stating that this should be framed into a policy. "From now onwards, a policy should be framed that a teacher found absent for a specific time period is to be considered having resigned from the job. It will deter many other teachers from being absent from duty without prior information and will ring alarm bells for others who are already absent from duty.

They added that technically, there were no vacancies as these teachers were only "absent". So, no new appointments were made in this regard.

"The absence of teachers has affected the studies in many institutions, especially in rural schools," added another teacher.

Bathinda, March 14
The district administration has earmarked the Transport Nagar here as the venue to stage peaceful protests and dharnas after taking prior approval from the government.

Any individual or organisation who wants to air his grievances can sit on dharna only at an allotted place in Transport Nagar. On March 7, the state cabinet had agreed on the issue that each district should have a designated place for protests so that it would not disrupt the normal life.

The State Home Department has conveyed the cabinet decision to the District Magistrates and it was implemented last night when a posse of cops removed a tent perched by the Sakharta Mission Teachers outside the District Administration Complex.

As many as 28 teachers, including their leader Gurdev Dhilwan and 17 women teachers, were arrested in the morning when they reached the Deputy Commissioner office to protest the removal of the tent. The teachers, who have not been paid salary for almost a year, were sitting on a dharna outside the complex since November, 2012.

District Magistrate KK Yadav said the orders issued by the Principal Secretary (Home) barred any person from staging dharnas anywhere as they like and especially on roads, chowks or outside the government buildings as it amounted to harassment of the public.

He said the designated place for staging protests should have water supply and toilet facility as per the government decision and Transport Nagar has all basic facilities. This decision had been taken for the benefit of the demonstrators only.

The administration clamped down on the teachers after almost crushing the agitation of the farmers who have not been allowed to stage protest anywhere in the district for the past few days. The action also came after 15 different organisations of employees, farmers, labourers and social workers, including the Sakhrta Mission teachers, have announced their open support for the agitation of the farmers.

Gurdev Dhilwan said the organisations rejected Transport Nagar as the venue for protests. "Transport Nagar is not safe for women. The government wants to discourage us from staging protests. We will continue dharna. If any untoward incident happens, the government will be responsible for it," he added.

He said the administration had given them permission earlier to sit outside the DAC but the permission was revoked.

The decision was arbitrary and undemocratic. "The police men not just removed the tents but threw away mattresses and belongings of the teachers. We were left soaking in the rain," he said.

Bathinda, March 14
The annual athletic meet of Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo, concluded today. Olympian Jugraj Singh was the chief guest on the occasion. Jagdish Kumar Bishnoi, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Talwandi Sabo, who is himself a former Olympian, was the guest of honour.

Like on the first day, various track and field events were held on the concluding day.

Director, Sports, GKU, and a member of the Indian basketball team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Dr Tirlok Singh Sandhu, delivered the welcome address.

Chairman of the university Gurlabh Singh Sidhu, managing director Sukhraj Singh Sidhu and the vice-chancellor SK Ahluwalia were also present on the concluding day of the athletic meet.

Along with the students of the university, the teaching and non-teaching staff also participated in the events. The chief guest, while addressing the audience, asked the students to take part in sports along with academics. Olympian Jagdish Kumar Bishnoi said the players must take part with sportsman's spirit.

Chairman Gurlabh Singh Sidhu said a sound mind exists in sound body. Therefore, sports is as important as academics. Director, sports, Dr Sandhu and the head of the physical education department, Dr Ravinder Sumal, said the university had provided the students with a nine-lane track of 400 meter with 84 meter straight lines, which will make the students more comfortable at the national and International level.

Gursewak Singh from the department of physical education and Dhramveer Kaur were the judges at the meet.

The engineering college of the university lifted the overall championship trophy while the physical education team was the runners-up.

The championship trophy in the men's category was lifted by the physical Education and B.Tech team. The engineering college team stood first in the women's championship. Gursewak Singh and Dharamveer Kaur were declared the best athletes.

Vice-chancellor SK Ahluwalia congratulated the staff and the students for making the event successful. Director of the campus, Dr Narinder Singh, deans, heads of departments, teaching and non-teaching staff as well as the students were present at the meet.

Public relations officer of the university Sukhdevinder Kaurra conducted the stage. The athletic meet will be held in the first week of March every year.

Bathinda, March 14
The Computer Teachers Union (CTU) today welcomed the decision of the Punjab government to provide computers to the heads of all government schools.

In a press statement issued here today, the president of the union Balkaran Singh stated that the union has been demanding for long separate computers for office work. Earlier, the computers at labs were being used for official work, which hampered computer education in schools. Since most work in the education department is done online, at least one computer in the lab had to be exclusively reserved for official purposes. — TNS

Bathinda, March 14
The seven-day NSS camp began for the students of the diploma wing of Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh Campus (PTUGZS), Bathinda.

Assistant Director, Youth Services, Punjab, Dr Kamaljit Singh Sidhu inaugurated the camp. Addressing the students, Dr Sidhu made them aware of the importance of NSS and the contributions made by NSS volunteers during natural calamities like earthquake and floods.

Principal, Polytechnic wing of PTU GZS campus, Darshan S. Sidhu welcomed the guests and motivated the volunteers to develop good moral character. Programme officer Surinder Singh Khela briefed about the scheduled activities at the camp.

Registrar of the PTU GZS campus, Gurpreet Singh Bath also addressed the volunteers advising them to become good citizen and take part in social activities. Coordinator, NSS, Gagandeep Kaur thanked the guests and the volunteers for taking part in this laudable venture. NSS programme officer Tejinder Singh was also present on the occasion.

Campus Director Dr Jasbir S Hundal appreciated the initiative of the NSS wing.