B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Education, health officials sans DD powers in Fazilka district
Fazilka, October 13
Resentment prevails among the pensioners of the education department and the officials of Health Department for not providing drawing and disbursing (DD) powers to the civil surgeon and the District Education Officers by their respective departments. These officials have to dependt on their counterparts in Ferozepur for financial matters.

Survey by college students in Muktsar reveals long road ahead in field of education 
Muktsar, October 13
As per a survey conducted by the students of Khalsa College of Education, Muktsar, who volunteered to participate in the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), the present education scenario in the district presents a gloomy picture.

Dasehra celebrations: Malout BJP chief says not invited
Muktsar, October 13
The ruling SAD-BJP alliance today presented a divided face during the Dasehra celebrations in Malout town, which was attended by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. It raised eyebrows as not even a single executive member of the saffron party or their office-bearer had come to attend the function organised by the City Welfare and Cultural Club.

Education, health officials sans DD powers in Fazilka district
Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka, October 13
Resentment prevails among the pensioners of the education department and the officials of Health Department for not providing drawing and disbursing (DD) powers to the civil surgeon and the District Education Officers by their respective departments. These officials have to dependt on their counterparts in Ferozepur for financial matters.

Civil Surgeon Dr Baldev Raj has not been paid the salary for the last five months ever since he assumed charge as the first civil surgeon of the newly carved Fazilka district. Besides him, Assistant Civil Surgeon Dr DK Bhukkal and District Family Planning Officer Dr SK Parnami are still deprived of their salaries for the last two months for want of DD powers. “Hopefully, the DD powers will soon be sanctioned as the case has been pending with the Accountant General's office for permission,” said Dr Baldev Raj.

“More than two years have elapsed after the raising the status of Fazilka to district headquarters but the government seems to have adopted a callous attitude towards the much needed education and health facilities in the district,” said general secretary, Pensioners’ Association, Om Parkash Sharma. He regretted that the pensioners have to visit to Ferozepur for reimbursement of their medical bills. 

  Survey by college students in Muktsar reveals long road ahead in field of education 

Muktsar, October 13
As per a survey conducted by the students of Khalsa College of Education, Muktsar, who volunteered to participate in the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), the present education scenario in the district presents a gloomy picture.

The survey report stated that though the state government was spending huge sums of money on elementary education but it was not being reflected in the learning achievement of the students.

It further stated that there was an urgent need to look into the quality aspect of elementary education apart from spending a huge amount on the expansion of school education in terms of quantity.

Dr Tarlok Bandhu, principal of the college, said the ASER survey is the largest annual survey of children studying in rural schools of India. It is facilitated by a non-government organisation, ‘Pratham Education Foundation’. The survey is conducted every year since 2005 and seeks to understand the level and status of education across the country with special emphasis on the learning outcomes of children. The college has become a partner in the survey for the first time.

As many as 60 students had gathered information about the basic facilities available in the villages, schools, household facilities, enrollment information for the children in the age-group of 3-16 years and testing of children in the age-group of 5-16 years in language.— TNS

 Dasehra celebrations: Malout BJP chief says not invited
Archit Watts/TNS

Muktsar, October 13
The ruling SAD-BJP alliance today presented a divided face during the Dasehra celebrations in Malout town, which was attended by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. It raised eyebrows as not even a single executive member of the saffron party or their office-bearer had come to attend the function organised by the City Welfare and Cultural Club.

Manohar Lal Nagpal, BJP president, Malout, said, "Though we have pact with the SAD, yet we were not invited to attend the function. So, none of us had gone there, not even our district president. But, we did not stop anyone."

He further said that it had never happened in the past and was surprising for them too. "During the sangat darshan programme of the Chief Minister, we accompany him. But it is a surprise that neither the district administration nor the club executive invited any of us," said Nagpal.

Asked whether he had gone to attend the function anywhere else in the district, he said, "No, I preferred to go and meet my relatives."

Meanwhile, during his speech, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal exhorted the people to take a pledge for eradicating all social evils on the sacred day of Dasehra.

He called upon the people to take a vow for eradicating social evils like drug addiction, female foeticide and dowry on the one hand and checking environmental degradation on the other to ensure that Punjab remains a clean, green and pollution-free state.

Those who accompanied the CM included local MLA Harpreet Singh, SGPC member Dayal Singh Kolianwali and club president Dinesh Garg 'Tony', who is an office-bearer of the SAD.