B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Protest mars Teacher’s Day celebrations
Faridkot, September 5
Teacher's Day celebration in Faridkot today was marred by a protest rally attended by the teachers of three Adarsh schools in the district. They agitating teachers condemned the "insensitivity" of Punjab government toward the schools which were earlier being dubbed as the dream project of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Teachers of Adarsh Schools hold protest in Faridkot town on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

SSA teachers observe black day in Abohar
Abohar, September 5
Resentful that the Punjab government has been treating them as contract labour for the past six years, SAA, RMSA and CSS teachers today wore black badges amd organised a rally at Nehru Park to celebrate Teacher's Day as black day.

Sale of cotton crop begins on happy note
Fazilka September 5
The fresh arrival of cotton has begun in Fazilka grain market, one of the largest cotton markets of northern region. The traditional cotton growers are delighted as the market has opened with a higher price as compared to previous year.

Bulgarian scientists to attend seminar on herbal technology
Moga, September 5
Two senior scientists, Vaselina Gadjeva and A Zheleva from Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, are visiting the Indo-Soviet Friendship College of Pharmacy at Moga to participate in an international seminar on the topic "Recent developments in herbal technology" being organised in collaboration with the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, and the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, on September 7.

Staff shortage
Woman cop works as sentry
Abohar, September 5
As vacancies in the police stations in the region could not be filled despite the repeated announcements made by the state government during the last six years, women cops have now been put on sentry duty at the police station here.

Acid attack victim’s condition worsens, no help from govt
Moga, September 5
The condition of the local woman who had suffered 70 per cent burns during an acid attack by her estranged husband has further deteriorated. Under treatment at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana, Mandeep Kaur reportedly fell unconscious after a face surgery.

Protest mars Teacher’s Day celebrations
Irate over unpaid salaries, Adarsh School teachers in Faridkot district wear black badges, hold rally
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, September 5
Teacher's Day celebration in Faridkot today was marred by a protest rally attended by the teachers of three Adarsh schools in the district. They agitating teachers condemned the "insensitivity" of Punjab government toward the schools which were earlier being dubbed as the dream project of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Wearing black badges, these teachers demanded that the state government should pay them their salaries for the last five months as they have not been paid since April this year. Terming the private management of the Adarsh schools as failure and a source of embezzlement, fraud and swindling of government funds, the teachers asked the state government to fulfill its promise made a month back.

Last month, Punjab government had announced to take over the control of all the 24 Adarsh schools in the state and hand over the control to a separate board, being constituted in the education department. The board would have vice-chancellors of two universities, DGSE, DPI Punjab and the education secretary as its chairperson.

"But in the last one month, there was no move towards the constitution of this promised board and the functional condition of the Adarsh Schools was deteriorating with each passing day in the absence of funds to pay salaries to the teachers and to meet the other recurring expenses," said Amandeep Singh, state general secretary of Teaching and Non-Teachers Employees of Adarsh Schools’ Union in Punjab.

The teachers and students in all Adarsh Schools are perturbed these days. They joined these schools amid euphoria but two years down the line, the teachers and the students both face a piquant situation as the teachers are without salary and the students without books and other study material.

“More painful is the fact that the state government seems to be least bothered about the dream project of the Chief Minister which has now completely derailed," said Amandeep Singh.

The Adarsh schools in the rural areas were established under the public private partnership mode in which the monthly cost of operations was to be shared by the state government and private managements in the ratio of 70:30. Panchayat land was to be provided to build the schools. The students were to be provided books, uniform, meal and transportation free of cost. The monthly cost of each student was calculated at Rs 1,680 and it was to be borne by the state government and the private management in the ratio of 70:30.

But after huge frauds were detected in the functioning of some schools where fake teaching and non-teaching staff recruitments were made, students were charged for text-books, uniforms and transportation, some school managements relinquished their managerial roles. But it left the teachers and students in the lurch in the absence of funds to run these schools in the last five months in Faridkot.

Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, Ravi Bhagat said he was concerned about the problems plaguing Adarsh schools in the district and the state government was also working to solve this tangle.

SSA teachers observe black day in Abohar

Abohar, September 5
Resentful that the Punjab government has been treating them as contract labour for the past six years, SAA, RMSA and CSS teachers today wore black badges amd organised a rally at Nehru Park to celebrate Teacher's Day as black day.

They shouted slogans decrying the government for pursuing anti-employee policies, delaying payment of salaries for the past two months and not withdrawing criminal cases against the protesters at Bathinda.

District president of the union Parwinder Singh Brar said services of the teachers who were recruited by the Education Department after selection of thousands of teachers under the Sarva

Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhymik Shiksha Abhiyan and Central Sponsored Scheme, have been regularised and full grades offered to them but they were denied their due despite the repeated assurances by the Chief Minister and the Education Minister. — OC

Sale of cotton crop begins on happy note
Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka September 5
The fresh arrival of cotton has begun in Fazilka grain market, one of the largest cotton markets of northern region. The traditional cotton growers are delighted as the market has opened with a higher price as compared to previous year.

The first lot to arrive was a heap of five quintals of cotton brought by Gaurav Kumar of village Karni Khera. It was purchased at Rs 4,851 per quintal by the private traders.

"It is being considered a good price for our produce as compared to the previous years," said Gaurav Kumar. Notably, the cotton was purchased at the rate of Rs 4,201 per quintal on this day the previous year.

According to experts, the farmers are going to get a better price of their produce this year for reasons more than one. The long staple variety of Fazilka area is considered to be the best in the region. Hence, cotton has been sold at a higher price in the Fazilka market for decades.

The main reason for the expected higher price is that the price of the cotton is fixed on the basis of international pricing. "Cotton is exported in abundance. The exporters get the amount in dollars. The dollar has gone stronger as compared to rupee," said Dina Nath Sachdeva, a cotton expert.

It is stated that the cotton crop had been extensively damaged in many parts of China due to heavy rain. China is also the major producer of cotton in the world.

"The union government would not allow the prices to come down in an election year to appease the farmers," said Vijay Chhabra, the owner of a cotton factory.

There is another aspect of the trade too. The traditional farmers and experts expect 20 per cent less arrival due to different reasons. The area under cultivation has come down as the farmers have switched over to guar crop in the hope of getting a better price. Secondly, the standing cotton crop in thousands of acres of land has been damaged due to recent floods.

"The overall scenario for the cotton producers is going to be encouraging this year," said traditional cotton grower, Pritam Chand, of village Shahpura.

Bulgarian scientists to attend seminar on herbal technology

Moga, September 5
Two senior scientists, Vaselina Gadjeva and A Zheleva from Trakia University, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, are visiting the Indo-Soviet Friendship College of Pharmacy at Moga to participate in an international seminar on the topic "Recent developments in herbal technology" being organised in collaboration with the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, and the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, on September 7.

Parveen Garg, chairman, ISF College, said the objective of this conference is to create a regional network between India and Bulgaria to employ cutting-edge technology for scientific validation of its rich traditional knowledge base of plant-based medicines.

The conference would also deliberate on the possibilities of collaborative ventures to solve mutual problems pertaining to herbal drug development, standardisation and quality of herbal medicine products, besides mutual interactions for healthy and competitive corporate tie-up between the two nations.

The Drug Controller General of India, Dr GN Singh, and senior scientists SS Handa, former director, IIIM, Jammu; SP Vyas from Dr Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar (MP); Dr Sanjeev Kumar, assistant director of the National Medicinal Plants Board, New Delhi; AN Kalia; Rakesh Sharma, Ashish Baldi and Parveen Bansal, all renowned pharmacy scientists, would also participate in the seminar.

India and Bulgaria are committed to identify major advances in herbal technology and to exploit commercially the research being carried out in these countries. — TNS

Staff shortage
Woman cop works as sentry
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, September 5
As vacancies in the police stations in the region could not be filled despite the repeated announcements made by the state government during the last six years, women cops have now been put on sentry duty at the police station here.

Notably, six women cops, most of them alumni of local educational institutions, were recruited and provided with two-wheelers gifted by private traders to launch a special patrolling drive to check eve-teasing and other petty crimes. More such cops were to be recruited but the existing staff is seldom found around local schools and colleges even as hundreds of miscreants keep teasing girl students at the time of opening and closing of institutions.

Most such elements are found roaming in vehicles with fancy numbers. Scores of incidents involving snatching of chains and purses from women remain untraced.

As the sub-division has the residence of two MLAs, a former president of the state BJP and the chairperson of a state board, many cops have been assigned the VIP duty. But the authorities had not bothered to fill even 60 per cent of the sanctioned posts, sources said. This has forced them to deploy women cops on sentry duty now.

Acid attack victim’s condition worsens, no help from govt
Kulwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service

Moga, September 5
The condition of the local woman who had suffered 70 per cent burns during an acid attack by her estranged husband has further deteriorated. Under treatment at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Ludhiana, Mandeep Kaur reportedly fell unconscious after a face surgery.

The victim, attacked on July 31 along with her father who suffered 30 per cent burns, lost her vision in the assault.

While her bill at the hospital has been mounting, the state government has failed to provide her any relief to Mandeep, claimed her counsels Chamkaur Singh Brar and Amit Ghai. This despite directions by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to provide a monetary relief of Rs 3 lakh to the victims of acid attack.

“We have submitted medical bills amounting to Rs 10 lakh to the state authorities, but not a rupee has been reimbursed,” the counsels said.