Bathinda, May 10
Stinking toilets, stale food, unkempt playground and a school closed before its scheduled time - these were some of the shocking facts that an inspection team found when it visited two of the reputed private schools in the city. The surprise inspection led to accusations and a protest by the principals and teachers of the private schools.

Mould on the frozen carrot found at the mess of the school’s hostel

A team of the Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights paid a surprise visit to the Delhi Public School (DPS) and the St Joseph’s Convent School here today. The team was accompanied by a team of policemen and the District Education Officers, secondary and elementary education.

Interestingly, after the inspection of both the schools got over, the schools levelled allegations against the team which has put several question marks on the way these schools are functioning. The entire process was videographed by the inspection team.

Speaking to Bathinda Tribune, a member of the Commission, Dr Jaswinder Singh, who was leading the inspection, said the team was shocked to see the lax and careless attitude of the management of the schools.

“The DPS is a school of national standing but we were disappointed by what we saw today. Little attention has been paid to sanitation. Sweepers began cleaning the school premises when we started the inspection. The playground has also been lying unkempt. The condition of toilets on the school premises was also bad,” he said.

“While there are close to 8,000 books in the library, only 50 of them were in Punjabi. The library did not have even two Punjabi newspapers. The school management was a little reluctant when we told them that we wanted to visit the girls’ hostel and the mess. To our dismay, we found mould on carrot, stale tofu (soya paneer) and many other frozen edibles in bad condition,” he said.

“When we visited the hostel we found that some of the doors were without locks and some of the beds didn’t even have bedsheets while pillows were without covers. We also located a couple of empty sachets of ‘chutki’ under the bed cover. The school principal brushed the matter aside by saying that it was just a mouth freshener. As many as 12 van drivers employed by the school didn’t have licence,” he added.

However, the Delhi Public School principal, Arunjee, refuted the charges.

“A team of close to 10 persons, including the DEOs, visited our school in the morning. They went around the school and also spoke rudely to two of our teachers,” said Arunjee.

“They insisted that they wanted to check the rooms where the teachers reside. I pointed out that there was no need for doing so but they went ahead and checked the rooms. All the rotten and stale food which was found by the team was to be discarded and hence, it was kept aside,” he added.

Sister Helen D’Costa, the principal of the St Joseph’s Convent School, had reached home after winding up the school when she was informed that an inspection team had visited the school and wanted to see her.

“When I reached my office, the team members started questioning me as to why the school had been closed earlier than the scheduled time (1.30 pm). I told them that some parents had requested that children be given time to prepare for the exam scheduled for Saturday and so the school was closed at 11.30 am. I didn’t understand the process at all,” she said.

Questioning the principal’s decision to close the school early, Singh said, “We reached the school at around 1.15 and noticed that there was complete silence. We learnt that the school was closed earlier than the scheduled time just because parents had requested the school management.”

“We inspected the schools to check if the interests and rights of the students were being safeguarded by the institutions. We have given them time till tomorrow to complete all the necessary documents and send them to us,” he added.

DEO (Secondary) Harkanwaljeet Kaur said the department was intimated about the inspection only in the morning. “I was told that I had to accompany the inspection team. It was a routine checking to verify if the schools were adhering to the RTE Act and whether attention was being paid to the rights and interests of the students or not,” she said.

Fact file

• A team of the Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, accompanied by policemen and District Education Officers paid a surprise visit to the Delhi Public School (DPS) and the St Joseph’s Convent School.
• While at DPS, it found stinking toilets, stale food and unkempt playground, they found the St Joseph’s Convent School closed before the scheduled time.
• DPS principal Arunjee claimed that all the rotten and stale food which was found by the team was to be discarded and hence, it was kept aside.
• Sister Helen D’Costa, the principal of the St Joseph’s Convent School, said some parents had requested that children be given time to prepare for the exam scheduled for Saturday and so the school was closed at 11.30 am (instead of 1.30 pm).

Bathinda, May 10
In its bid to fight against the spread of malaria and dengue, the Health Department is setting up gambusia fish hatchery.

District Health Officer Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa said the fish feeds on malaria and dengue larvae thereby proving one of the best methods of preventing the outbreak of the two vector-borne diseases.

The project is being executed under the National Vector Borne Disease Control Program (NVBDCP) for which the Municipal Corporation, Bathinda (MCB), has given a grant of Rs 90,000 for setting up a water tank near the Civil Surgeon’s residence within the precincts of the Civil Hospital.

Municipal commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta said the amount had already been sanctioned.

A gambusia fish produces over 1,000 eggs in a span of a year and becomes adult enough to breed within 2 to 3 months of being introduced in a pond. Fish will be collected from the hatchery and released into fresh water bodies like village ponds, across the district.

Senior medical officers (SMOs) of different blocks will be designated to direct the male multi-purpose health workers to release these fish into ponds.

The Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) will develop the pond with specific dimensions that will be completed within a week. Keeping in view the ensuing monsoon, construction will be done speedily to expedite putting the project on track.

“Once the pond is developed, we will get in touch with the fishery department asking for the number of fish seeds required. Thereafter, the fish will be bred and further taken to other water bodies,” said Dr Randhawa.

The fish could survive only in fresh water and not in puddles of stagnant or sewer water.

Meanwhile, the Health Department has asked people not to allow water from accumulating in their areas as it provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Bathinda, May 10
The retail and wholesale chemists here observed a complete bandh today due to which patients had to rely on the Jan Aushadhi Centre at the Civil Hospital for purchasing medicines.

In a joint press statement issued here, the president of the Retail Chemists Association, Bathinda, Ashok Kumar Balianwali, and the president of the Wholesale Chemists Association, Arun Kumar Singla, claimed that the strike was a complete success.

The president of the Bathinda District Chemists Association, Nand Lal Kansal, said the chemists were mainly agitating in support of four demands, including no reduction in trade margins as proposed in the new drug policy, not making it mandatory for a chemist to have a qualified pharmacist at the shop while selling medicines, chemists not to be held responsible for errors of manufacturers and no foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pharmaceuticals trade.

Nand Lal Kansal said the chemists shops at Raman Mandi, Goniana Mandi, Bhagta, Maur Mandi, Bhucho Mandi, Talwandi Sabo, Sangat Mandi, Nathana and Rampura Phul also remained closed today.

The chemists are also protesting against the new drug policy as far as their profit margins are concerned. Earlier, retailers used to get 16 per cent margin while wholesalers got eight per cent on the drugs sold with prescription. On the other hand, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs earned the wholesalers a margin of 10 per cent. The OTC drugs fetched retailers a profit margin of 20 per cent. The new drug policy has also reduced the margin on scheduled and non-scheduled drugs to five per cent for wholesalers and 15 per cent for retailers. Further, the chemists alleged that traders were being framed in criminal cases for spurious and sub-standard drugs for which they claimed they were not responsible.

Bathinda, May 10
Leaping forward to declare Bathinda as a smoke-free district, the Health Department has decided to involve education sector, hospitals (private and government), hospitality sector (hotels, bars and restaurants), the government and private offices besides transit zone bus stand and railway station authorities to curb smoking at public places.

During a meeting with the representatives of these sectors, the health authorities motivated them to ensure that smoking does not take place at public places. The authorities asked them to take steps to prevent youngsters from taking up smoking at later stage of their lives.

The nodal officer of the project, Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa, said the emphasis of the project was on educating the younger generation and dissuading them from smoking at public places, thereby saving passive smokers from the harmful effects of smoking.

Dr Randhawa said smoking was prohibited in public places under Section 4 of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).

Section 6 of the Act lays emphasis on saving the future generation by discouraging the use of tobacco products and educating them to oppose the peer pressure.

Under Sections 6A and 6B of the Act, all schools are to be kept smoke-free and tobacco or the products made from it could not be sold to people below 18 years of age.

Under Section 5, vendors cannot allure public by putting up glow signs or advertisements that encourage consumption of tobacco. Section 7 makes it mandatory to have a pictorial depiction regarding the ill-effects of smoking on packets of cigarettes and tobacco products.

Various officials have been deputed at different levels to report the implementation of the Act. Senior medical officers (SMOs) are nodal officers at the block level.

The Education Department will report about installation of no-smoking signages in schools and colleges. The hospitality industry will be answerable to the food inspector, who will further give an undertaking at the district headquarters that all hotels, bars and restaurants have installed proper signages and do not allow public smoking.

Bathinda, May 10
"Whether 'Sadda Haq' will break records at the box office or not, is yet to be seen, but the film has certainly broken a kind of record after being the only Indian film to be banned thrice and it is still being released," said Kuljinder Sidhu, producer and actor of controversial film 'Sadda Haq'. The film released in Punjab on Friday.

"The battle was long, but we came out victorious and now our victory is the victory of the entire film industry. We were discouraged by many and were asked to scrap the film and forget about its release. We were sure that the Supreme Court would rule in our favour since there was nothing inflammatory in the film," he added.

Expressing his surprise at the intolerance level of people, he said, " The Indian cinema has completed 100 years. Some of the leading filmmakers like Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap have spoken at various symposiums and accepted that they think twice before raising a serious subject in their films."

When asked if such protests and a ban on a film passed by the Censor Board of India curb the creative freedom of people in the film industry, he said, " The film industry is not isolated when it comes to curb the creative freedom. Salman Rushdie was scheduled to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival but wasn't allowed to attend the festival. Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi landed in a trouble after making a cartoon. Everyone is ready to curb everyone's fundamental rights."

Interestingly, after the Supreme Court ordered lifted the ban on the movie, the Censor Board changed the film's U-Certificate into A-Certificate. "This is surprising. I have heard about some of the adult films, which were given U-Certificate after removing objectionable matter. How did the Censor Board decided on changing our film's certification is surprising to me," he said. Undeterred the protests against the movie he said, "This battle will always encourage me to make films on more hard-hitting subjects."

Bathinda, May 10
The three-day Rahul Kaushal Memorial Fair began at the Teachers’ Home here today. ASP Alka Meena inaugurated the fair that will witness a number of activities over the next three days.

A visitor looks at a photograph during an exhibition at the Teachers' Home in Bathinda on Friday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

On the first day today, Alka Meena honoured photographers Jagjeet Singh Gobindpura, Chupsher Singh Gobindpura and Nirvair Singh, who has reached the seventh round of the Mission Cover Shot being telecast on the National Geographic Channel. Meena appreciated the photographs displayed at the exhibition.

On March 13, a Photowalk exhibition will showcase snapshots of the budding photographers and their experiment with lenses. The exhibition will be open for public from 10:30 am to 8:30 pm.

Prominent among those present at the function today included chairman of the Teachers’ Home Trust Jagmohan Kaushal, organiser of the Rahul Kaushal Memorial Committee Tony Batish, Dr SS Grewal, Dr JS Romana, Amardeep Gill, Harinder Singh Soni, Vikas Kaushal, Azim Shekhar, Lachhman Maluka, Harvinder and others.

Bathinda, May 10
The Millennium School, Bathinda, celebrated the Mother’s Day today. The day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. The day is dedicated to motherhood and a mother’s role in society is honoured on this day.

To mark the occasion, students' mothers were invited to the school. The students enthralled their mothers with a host of cultural performances, including dance performances, on the occasion. the students participated enthusiastically.

The stage was eventually handed over to the mothers who showcased their talent during the celebrations.

Their dance, drama and musical performances were applauded by all.

Speaking on the occasion, the principal of the school, Anju Dhawan, said, “Mothers are the most important part of our lives. A mother can never be thanked enough for showering an unconditional love on her child. Through the today’s programme we wanted the mothers to feel special.”

Bathinda, May 10
In the recently-declared IIT-JEE (mains) results, Armaan Singh Bhullar, a student of St Xavier's School, Bathinda, made his school and parents proud by scoring 330 marks out of 360.

With 330 marks, he has not only became the top scorer in Bathinda, but also scored 120 out of 120 marks in mathematics. — TNS