Institute for mentally retarded improves
By Mohit Goswami
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 30 — It has been a year since Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, took over the Government Institute for Mentally Retarded Children in the same sector.

Managed by the UT Education Department, the institute did not have trained staff to handle the mentally retarded children who require special care. Teachers at the institute had only done BA and BEd courses. Due to lack of transport facilities, only about 50 per cent of the 35 enrolled children used to come.

Many improvements have taken place since the GMCH took over. Earlier, it did not have even a telephone, a water cooler or furniture. Now it has all these, along with a computer and an Internet connection. It also has a bus for its students.

The institute now has qualified staff. Persons who have completed diploma or degree courses in mental retardation have been appointed. They have the ability to comprehend and the knowledge to tackle this special category of children. Others are given short orientation courses.

Students are charged Rs 50 per month. There is a hostel as well, with hostelers paying Rs 300 per month.

According to Ms Vani Venkat, officer in charge, teaching mentally retarded children requires methods different from that for normal children. Those brought for admission are put through a preliminary investigation and their adaptive skills and level of functioning are tested. A case file of each child is prepared.

A thorough examination of the child is conducted by pediatricians, psychologists, psychiatrists and other specialists. An assessment of the progress of the child is conducted every three months. Case presentations are held every Saturday. The mentally retarded are classified into five grades according to their level of retardation.

The institute has five special educators and one teacher each in tailoring and embroidery, cooking and baking, craft and music. Children are also taught caning chairs and making candles. Proper care is taken to rehabilitate them in society.

According to Dr B. Chavan, Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the GMCH, there are 8,000 to 10,000 mentally retarded persons in the city. But very few come to the institute for consultation. For such persons, the institute provides home-based programmes. Camps are held at different places to make the people aware of mental retardation.

The institute is organising a sport meet at the Sports Complex, Sector 46, a painting competition and a cultural programme to observe World Disabled Day.

The mother of a mentally retarded child who is being sent to the institute, on the condition of anonymity, says the facilities offered are good but leave much to be desired. The child is issued an identity card on the basis of which treatment and medicines are provided by the GMCH free of cost. But she had to dish out around Rs 7,000 as the authorities refused to give medicines, saying that these were out of stock. The teachers do not put much effort in instructing the children as they get regular government salaries, she alleges.

Probe sought into constructions
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Nov 30 — Shopkeepers in an undeveloped part of Phase 3B2 market here have sought a probe in the construction of a parking lot and a footpath being undertaken by the engineering wing of the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA).

They allege that during construction of the footpath in front of showrooms 86 to 95, certain portions have been left to give benefit to the owner of showroom 92. Mr Hardeep Singh, a shopkeeper in the area, says by erecting an iron grill adjacent to showroom 92, displaced tiles of the footpath in front of showrooms 91 to 86 have been ignored.

On being made aware about the issue by the shopkeepers, Mr Dipinder Singh, Additional Chief Administrator (ACA), visited the market today and assured them of uniform development of basic amenities in the market.

The ACA instructed Mr J.J. Kumar, Executive Engineer, to verify facts about the parking lot. Shopkeepers lament that no provision for rain water gullies has been made in the parking lot.

Music nite plan draws flak
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Nov 30 — The decision of the Chandigarh Administration to go ahead with the proposed Music Nite on December 4 at Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, has both from players and coaches.

One of the budding players present at the coaching centre, said, "We consider the pitch a temple and if it is destroyed just for staging the show of this kind, respect for the sport hasn't been shown.''

One of the coaches said, "Throughout the year, we toil hard, but things go astray in a few moments." A high-level delegation headed by Mr Ramsekhar, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Director for Sport of the UT Administration, and Mr P.S. Gill, SDM, visited the stadium in the evening along with Superintendent of Police, Mr Baldev Singh, and many other civil and police officials reviewed the arrangements for the show.

The plan is to erect the stage near the centre pitch and put thousands of chairs in the middle of the ground. Double-sized barricades will be set-up to stop the entry of crowd into the seats meant for the VIPs as their will be virtually endless.

Another unpleasant part of this nite is the free entry to the nite allowed by the organisers. As most perfomers at the nite will be folk singers, a heavy rush of rural youth from nearby villages and towns of the city is expected. This increases chances of a stampede and further damage to the stadium cannot be ruled out.

Much of the damage will be caused by digging the ground for making security arrangements for policemen who will be present in heavy numbers. At SAS Nagar sometimes back, the administration had decided in principle not to give clearance for holding any such nites due to chaos at earlier such shows.

More than 120 cricketers daily undergo practice at the stadium, which is the home ground of famous players like Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma, Ashok Malhotra and Yog Raj who nowadays is coaches youngsters at this place.

Meat sellers face unhygienic conditions
From Our Correspondent

DERA BASSI, Nov 30 — Meat sellers here are conducting their business from wooden shacks in unhygienic environment. Shacks have been serving as meat shops for the past seven years for want of a proper site for a meat market.

These shacks are situated along the highway and the dust raised by speeding vehicles settles on the meat kept for sale. Shacks have been built on the ground which is lower than the road level. Rain water accumulates around these and creates problems for the meat sellers and customers.

Though the municipal council is charging rent and other levies from these shopkeepers, they have not been provided with water or electricity connections. Since water is used in large quantities in this trade, traders have to fetch water from nearby sources and sometimes even pay for it.

Besides charging Rs 100 per month from each trader for doing the business on municipal land and Rs 3 for each animal slaughtered, the municipal council collects Rs 3.75 per animal as octroi. According to traders, the municipal council shifted them to this place seven years ago but gave them no facilities.

They allege that the municipal council has constructed five shops for them in the town but these have later been allotted to motor mechanics. Despite representations asking for a better site, the municipal authorities have ignored their pleas, complain the traders.

Mr Jagjit Singh Dalli, President of the Municipal Council, said the council had made a proposal in 1997 to construct a meat market on the Dera Bassi-Barwala road. The council had also passed a resolution to the effect but butchers did not agree to shift to the site and the council had to drop the proposal.

Plan to shift cremation ground
From Bipin Bhardwaj
From Our Correspondent

ZIRAKPUR, Nov 30 — The Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat proposes to shift the cremation ground from the populated area to the banks of the Sukhna choe soon. The panchayat will spend about Rs 4 lakh on the construction of a new cremation ground which will serve villages that have been merged to form the nagar panchayat.

The old cremation ground, next to the office of the Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat, has been a cause of concern for the residents for many years. It has a government primary school in front of it. Besides, the ground is also used as a garbage dump by residents.

According to an old resident, Mr Mohinder Singh (65), the villagers started cremating their dead at this site when the population was small and the site was part of the shamlat land. With the passage of time, the population grew and now it was surrounded by shops and residential houses on all sides. With the rise in population, the number of dead brought for cremation had also increased. Besides, the smoke that rose from pyres and the wails of mourners had a gloomy effect, particularly on the children in the primary school.

Shopkeepers complain that the neighborhood of a cremation ground is not a proper site for business. Smoke rising from the pyres enters houses and gives residents a very uneasy feeling.

"Previously, this area on the main road was barren and desolate and was used for cremation. Now the village has expanded and also the Nagar Panchayat has been formed. So it should be shifted to another site away from the populated area, says Mr Ramesh Kumar, President of the Zirakpur Market Association.

Mr Pradeep Kumar, another shopkeeper, says when the cremation ground is shifted, the site should be used for a hospital or a post office