TRIBUNEINDIA...Chandigarh

C H A N D I G A R H
& V I C I N I T Y

Wednesday, July 22, 1998

weather n spotlight
today's calendar

Learning the hard way
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — In a city which boasts of high standards of education there are some schools which are even devoid of proper accommodation and basic amenities...

UT returns Home Secretary panel
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Home Secretary of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, is likely to continue in her present position probably well beyond October when her tenure comes to an end...

Jain urges govt to implement PGI-JAC pact
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — Mr Satya Pal Jain, local MP, has urged the union government to implement the agreement arrived at between the management of the PGI and the Joint Action Committee of the employees of the institute signed last year by a five-member committee of the union health minister...

MIG (super) flat price cut
by Rs 45,000
SAS NAGAR, July 21 — PUDA has decided to reduce by Rs 41,000 to Rs 45,000 the prices of MIG (super) flats in Sector 70 here with the allottees expressing dissatisfaction over the amount reduced...

Landscaping advisory
panel recast
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Chandigarh Administration has reconstituted the Landscaping Advisory Committee...

Gilhotra's plea adjourned
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jasbir Singh, today adjourned to July 24 the application moved by Mr J.C. Gilhotra, a former Chief Engineer of the Punjab State Electricity Board who was also on deputation with the Chandigarh Administration as Superintending Engineer, for the cancellation of warrants of arrest issued against him...

Journalist bereaved

Three bailed out in lottery case

Corporation Beat

.............

Learning the hard way
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — In a city which boasts of high standards of education there are some schools which are even devoid of proper accommodation and basic amenities.
A tell-tale sign of the authorities' indifference to quality education is the sector 7 Government High School where students are forced to attend their classes under trees due to inadequate accommodation.
The situation becomes worse when the rain comes. Faced with the problem of accommodation, the school authorities are left with no alternative but to huddle students in a verandah outside the classroom. "Sometimes, when it rains continuously, we even have to send them home", said one of the teachers.
A visit to the school by the TNS revealed that more than half of the 800-odd students of different standards were busy attending their classes under trees on the school premises. The reason for this is that the school building, which was constructed in 1971, had only 10 rooms which were not adequate to house all students. The helplessness of the school authorities in providing classrooms to the students could be gauged from the fact that blackboards have been raised on boundary wall of the school.
A teacher on the condition of anonymity, lamented that despite a number ofrequests to the higher authorities as regards accommodation nothing had been done so far.
According to sources, the school building was constructed in 1971 to house a primary school. But later it was upgraded to the level of a high school in 1980, but no expansion of the building was undertaken even as the number of students increased with the introduction of new classes. Another official of the school pointed out that at least 10 more classrooms were needed as there were at least two sections of each class.
Sources said that though the staff strength was 35 in the school, there was no staff room for the teachers. Similarly, the practical work of the home science stream was affected as there was no home science lab. Another problem that confronted the school authorities was that of the small boundary wall. Some students taking advantage of its height manage to slip away from classes.
Mr Des Raj Aneja, president of the Sector 7 Residents' Welfare Association, complained that though association members here repeatedly requested to the authorities crashed to solve the problems pertaining to the school, nothing had been done.
When contacted the DPI (Schools) UT, Mr D.S. Mangat, said the process of expansion of the school building was on, and he had sent a proposal to the engineering department regarding the requirements of the school.

MIG (super) flat price cut by Rs 45,000
From Kulwinder Sangha
SAS NAGAR, July 21 — PUDA has decided to reduce by Rs 41,000 to Rs 45,000 the prices of MIG (super) flats in Sector 70 here with the allottees expressing dissatisfaction over the amount reduced.
The allottees had wanted a total withdrawal of the hike of Rs 2.20 lakh which they described as "completely unjustified."
The scheme for MIG (super) flats was floated in 1995. The income eligibility was fixed at 2,661 and above per month and the tentative cost of each flat was to be Rs 6.30 lakh. Work on the flats was to be completed by April, 1997.
The flat allocation was done in December, 1995, and flat numbers were given in February this year. In March, the cost of each unit was escalated by Rs 2.20 lakh with the monthly instalment working out to be nearly Rs 10,000. Interestingly, the income eligibility was Rs 2,661 and above.
Sources said here today that following representations from allottees the Finance and Accounts Committee of PUDA refixed the sale price of the 684 MIG (super) flats which was approved by the Chief Administrator.
Earlier the prices fixed for the ground, first, second and third floors was Rs 8,50,000, Rs 8,10,000, Rs 7,93,800 and Rs 7,85,700, respectively. The monthly instalments were Rs 10,544, Rs 10,103, Rs 9,901 and Rs 9,800, respectively.
After the refixation of the prices the tentative sale prices of the ground, first second and third floor comes to Rs 8,05,400, Rs 7,67,000, Rs 7,51,600 and Rs 7,44,000, respectively. The monthly instalments work out as Rs 10,045, Rs 9,567, Rs 9,375 and Rs 9,280.
The recovery period will be 13 years and 25 per cent of the amount will have to be paid before an allottee takes possession of the accommodation.
Mr Ajay Walia, convener of the Super Association of Residents Welfare, a body formed by MIG (super) flat allottees, today criticised PUDA for selling "poor quality" flats at exorbitant prices. He claimed that "substandard" materials had been used in the flats. According to PUDA specifications, the wood to be used was "hollock" but allottees had sent a sample to the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, for testing, the result of which indicated that the wood was "Jamun," he added.
The association spokesman said the allottees had been given an indication at a meeting with the Housing Minister that the prices of the flats would be brought down by "at least 10 per cent." He regretted that this had not happened.

UT returns Home Secretary panel
By Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Home Secretary of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, is likely to continue in her present position probably well beyond October when her tenure comes to an end.
According to informed sources, the Union Territory Administration has returned the panel of three IAS officers sent to it by Haryana for possible replacement of Mrs Gupta. The panelists were Mr Hardip Kumar, Mr Roshan Lal and Mrs Surina Rajan.
The sources say the UT Administration has written to the Haryana Government that the post of Inspector-General of Police in Chandigarh has been upgraded from that of the rank of DIG to IG. Therefore, the UT needs an officer of appropriate seniority (preferably in the super time scale) as its Home Secretary, who is the supervisory officer of the Inspector-General of Police.
Though the post of IG has been upgraded, that of the Home Secretary is yet to be upgraded, for which the UT Administration has written to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Mrs Gupta is already in the super time scale and the post of Home Secretary has been upgraded only for her. Since the upgradation of the post is personal to her, no other Haryana officer can hold this post till its upgradation by the MHA.
The UT Administration is believed to have written to the Haryana Government that it would inform the latter when the post of Home Secretary is upgraded by the MHA, meaning thereby that no fresh panel should be sent to the UT till the post of Home Secretary is upgraded.
That the UT Administration is keen to retain Mrs Gupta well beyond her normal tenure was clear when it requested the Haryana Government to accord one-year extension to Mrs Gupta. The State Government had initially agreed to the UT Administration's request and had conveyed its written consent.
However, within a month of its accepting the UT Administration's request the Haryana Government changed its mind for reasons best known to it. A panel of three officers was sent to the UT with a request that Mrs Gupta should be relieved at the end of her tenure.

Campus Beat
PU writes to principals on new courses
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — Panjab University in a letter to principals of affiliated colleges has asked them to apply for the Bachelor of Business Administration and the Bachelor of Computer Application courses at the earliest. The university has decided to commence the courses from the 1998-99 session.
The applications will be scrutinised by a committee which will see if the colleges seeking affiliation have the necessary infrastructure before giving them permission to go ahead. The university has also announced the admission schedule.
Dr Deepak Manmohan Singh, Dean, College Development Council, said the normal admissions without late fee would be held between July 27 and August 1. Late admission with the permissions of principals will be held between August 3 and August 8. The candidates will be required to pay Rs 75 as late fee in this case.
Admissions on payment of late fee of Rs 400 will be allowed with the Vice-Chancellor's permission between August 10 and August 21, he added.
Permission for starting the courses was cleared by the Syndicate which met on July 18. The move would solve the problem of "dual affiliations", sources said.
Certain colleges affiliated to PU had resorted to affiliations of Punjab Technical University for these courses. After the problem was highlighted at a Senate meeting earlier this year, a committee was constituted, which recommended that PU should start its own courses.
Seats filled: Barring one, all seats in various reserved categories were filled on the second day of counselling for the Bachelor of Engineering and the Bachelor of Architecture courses here.
Counselling was held for sports, terrorist victims, freedom fighters, handicapped, defence and backward class categories for Punjab Engineering College, the College of Architecture and the Department of Chemical Engineering in Panjab University, Prof D.K. Vohra, coordinator said.

There were seven seats in the sports category for PEC; three for chemical engineering and; one in College of Architecture. The seat for terrorist victim in chemical engineering remained vacant.
Counselling for students with ranks between 1 and 500 will be held tomorrow.
Botany (M Sc Honours): Admissions to the first year of Botany M Sc. (Honours School) will be held on July 28, an official release said.
Applicants will have to attend an interview in the department from 10 a.m. onwards, according to the head of the department.
Aptitude test: An aptitude test for admission to MA I (Urdu) will be held on July 23 at 10 a.m., Dr M. Shakeel Khan, head of the department said.
Those who want to apply for a certificate, diploma and advance diploma courses in Urdu can submit their forms till July 27, the chairperson, added.
Chairman German dept: Mr Jeewan Kumar Sharma has taken over as chairman of the Department of German Studies from today, a press note said. Mr Sharma has been to Germany under a UGC scholarship and has been on the guest faculty of University Business School.
Prof R.C. Sobti has taken over as Dean, Alumni Relations on July 13 the press note added.
Centralised admissions: The final merit list of candidates recommended for centralised admissions in MA I or Semester I to departments of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology, Economics, Geography, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Public Administration, Psychology and Sociology will be displayed on July 26.
Candidates on the merit list will be admitted provisionally subject to fulfilment of the eligibility condition on July 27 and 28. Seats of candidates who do not deposit the fee till July 28 will be declared vacant and offered to candidates on the waiting list.
Interviews will be held from July 22 to July 24. Interviews for candidates with reference numbers from 1 to 1000 will be held on July 22. Candidates till serial number 2000 will be interviewed on July 23 while the rest will be interviewed on July 24.

Corporation Beat
Obtaining permission made easy
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has opened a single-window service for obtaining permission as regards private functions in parks.
An applicant does not have to inform the fire department prior to seeking permission from the MC.
This announcement was made by Mr Gian Chand Gupta, Mayor, while addressing a press conference here today.
The MC will send information regarding private function of an applicant to the fire department on its own. The responsibility of ensuring safety norms will now be fixed on the tent dealer, the Mayor said. A counter has been opened in the corporation office where a clerk will provide information regarding the space available and the map of the area, Mr Gupta said.
The Mayor said that the move would save inconvenience to the common man who has to go to three separate offices for seeking permission for ground. The MC has also prepared cheques of people who had not received their security amounts which they paid while seeking ground permission. "Earlier security money was often not refunded. The MC has prepared 408 cheques worth nearly Rs 4 lakh. People can contact the office directly to seek the security refund", he added.
The MC has also decided to refund the security amount of fresh applicants for ground permission within a month of the receipt of report of no-damage after the function.
The Mayor announced that Rs 12 crore would be spent on carpeting of roads in the current financial year. Tarring on V6 roads in 32 sub sectors in southern part of the city had been completed. The carpeting of all roads likely to be completed within this financial year. Construction of roads in Bapu Dham, Mauli Jagran and Dadu Majra had already started. Inner roads of Colony no. 5 would be upgraded. The MC also has a proposal on a 'green belt' in Sector 46.
The causeway between industrial area and railway station road would be inaugurated during the Golden Jubilee fortnight beginning on August 1. The filtration plant of Sector 39 which had a capacity of 30 million gallons per day would have an additional capacity of 15 MGD by August 15. The community centre of Sector 46 would be inaugurated during the same period, the Mayor claimed.
Mr Gupta said six of the total 20 tubewells proposed for the city had already started functioning.
Surat councillors: A team of eight municipal councillors from Surat are on a visit to the UT MC to study its functioning. The team of Art and Culture Committee is headed by Mrs Veenaben Joshi.
Visitors said after the reported plague incident in Surat that residents had taken it upon themselves to make Surat the cleanest city in India. Safai karamcharis work round the clock. While regular employees clean garbage during daytime, the MC employs "karamcharis" on a contract basis for cleaning during night, a visiting councillor said.

Crime File
Fellow student stabbed
From Tribune Reporters
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — Bimal, a Class IX student of Gyandeep Model High School, Sector 20-C, was allegedly stabbed by a fellow student, Tejinder Singh, following an altercation over some trivial issue, here today.
According to reports, the incident took place in the afternoon when Tejinder allegedly attacked Bimal with some sharp-edged weapon. Bimal was immediately taken to the Government Hospital, Sector 32, where his condition was stated to be out of danger.
According to Vikas, Class X student of the same school, prior to the incident, both Tejinder and Bimal indulged in a scuffle on the school premises.
When contacted, the Principal of the school, Mrs S. Deswal, confirmed the incident. She said Tejinder had been a "quarrelsome" student and was even expelled from the school last month.
According to Sector 19 police station officials, no case has been registered as both parties reached a compromise.
Suicide: Savita Kumari (13), a resident of Sector 15, was brought dead to Government Hospital, Sector 16, on Monday after she allegedly consumed poison.
Killed: An unidentified youth, who was knocked down by a Maruti car near Mattaur Chowk on Tuesday morning, succumbed to his injures at the PGI.
A case under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A, IPC, has been registered.
A police spokesperson said the victim, aged between 23 and 25, was 5'-9" tall and was wearing a white shirt and grey trousers.
Cases solved: At least five cases of theft which took place during the past six months have been solved with the arrest of Joginder Singh, alias Rajinder, a resident of Kangra.
Stolen goods worth over Rs 2 lakh have been recovered from him. They include a colour TV set, a VCR, a stereo and gold jewellery.
The SP, Mr Alok Mittal, said the accused had earlier been arrested by the Chandigarh police in December 1997, and had been lodged in Burail Jail. Since then he had been living in rented accommodation in Mani Majra.
Eveteasing: Balwinder Singh has been booked by the police on a charge of eveteasing, sources said here on Tuesday.
A case has been registered. The accused has been released on bail.
Scooter stolen: Mr Vijay Kumar of Sector 39 has alleged in a complaint that his scooter (CH-01A-9202) has been stolen from Sector 40.
A case has been registered.
PANCHKULA
Assault: Mr Vinay Sharma and his son Vivek were reportedly assaulted by three motorcycle-borne youth when they objected to an act of public nuisance by the latter in Sector 11 here on Tuesday morning.
While Mr Sharma was beaten, his son was injured in the head with a sharp-edged weapon.
A case under Sections 324 and 34 of the IPC has been registered.

Landscaping advisory panel recast
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Chandigarh Administration has reconstituted the Landscaping Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of the Secretary, Engineering.
The committee will go into all aspects of landscaping of open spaces and gardens in the Union Territory. Besides, it will also recommend type of saplings to be planted on the roads and gardens, development of nurseries, horticulture museum and other related issues. Besides, the committee would also make recommendations on holding of flower shows and garden festivals.
The committee consists of the following member: the Secretary, Engineering (Chairman), the Chief Architect-cum-Secretary of Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chief Engineer, the Chief Engineer of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the Superintending Engineer (Planning), the Senior Town Planner — all official members; Mr Kulwant Singh, Mr H.S. Johl, Mrs Usha Saboo, Mrs Krishen Swaroop, Mr Rajnish Wattas, Dr K.S. Arya — all non-official members; the Deputy Conservator of Forests of Chandigarh will also be official member.
The Executive Engineer of Horticulture division no 2 will be the Member-Secretary of the committee.
The term of the committee will be one year.

Jain urges govt to implement PGI-JAC pact
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — Mr Satya Pal Jain, local MP, has urged the union government to implement the agreement arrived at between the management of the PGI and the Joint Action Committee of the employees of the institute signed last year by a five-member committee of the union health minister. Represented on the committee were two MPs — Mr Satya Pal Jain and Mr Venod Sharma.
Mr Jain in a statement here said that he had met the Union Health Minister, Mr Dalit Ezhilmalai, and apprised him of the situation in the institute. Mr Jain told the minister that a number of clauses of the agreement had not been implemented so far. The employees had been looking to the new government with hope and patience and expect the government to take an early decision on their pending demands.
Mr Jain added that there was anguish among employees, as some of their leaders suspended during the agitation last year, had not been reinstated yet and were now being threatened with compulsory retirement.
He told the minister that the situation should not be allowed to worsen. He also demanded immediate reconstitution of the governing body and the institute body of the PGI so that the normal administrative procedure became functional.
Mr Ezhilmalai expressed his wish to visit the PGI and Chandigarh to see for himself the situation at the institute.
He is expected to visit the institute after the Parliament session.

Journalist bereaved
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — Major Raghbir Singh Grewal (67), a cavalry officer who fought the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars, died after a protracted illness in Ludhiana on Sunday. He is survived by his wife two sons and a daughter. One of his sons, Naveen S. Grewal, is a special correspondent for an English daily.

Three bailed out in lottery case
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, has granted bail to Mr B.R. Bajaj, a senior Punjab cadre IPS officer, Mr H.K. Chugh and Mr Om Parkash in the 12-year lottery case.
The judge granted the bail to each of them on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 and a surety of the like amount.
These applicants had attached certified copies of the bail given to them by the Additional Sessions Judge when the case was registered.
The CBI had registered the case on the charge of flouting the instructions issued by the Central Government and had allegedly approved the private lottery of H.K. Chugh and Company at the bid of Rs 96 lakh by ignoring the highest bid of Rs 2 crore offered by B. Kumar and Company.
The bid of B. Kumar and Company was allegedly rejected on the ground that it did not enjoy a good reputation.

Gilhotra's plea adjourned
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Jasbir Singh, today adjourned to July 24 the application moved by Mr J.C. Gilhotra, a former Chief Engineer of the Punjab State Electricity Board who was also on deputation with the Chandigarh Administration as Superintending Engineer, for the cancellation of warrants of arrest issued against him.
Mr Gilhotra in his application stated that he had been granted ad interim bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Therefore, the move of the Administration to get him declared a proclaimed offender and attach his property had become infructuous.
Mr Gilhotra was apprehending arrest in connection with the kickbacks case registered by the Administration against certain officials of the engineering department.