Homework for kids or parents?
By A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — Those were the days when kids loved their vacations. Getting up late in mornings, watching television all through the day, visiting relatives, going to hill stations, or reading comics, were some gifts which vacations brought along. But, things have changed today. Little kids are given a long list of holidays’ homework along with the notice of summer vacations. Most of the assignments listed in these lists are completed by parents themselves.

Mr Navraj Singh, a parent, said, “We have to cancel our plans for vacations as kids get a lot of homework.” He said that most of the homework was being completed by he and his wife. Going to garden for collecting dry stems, bark of trees, fruits, leaves and making a tree using them, is an assignment given for vacations to his daughter studying in UKG. He wondered how could a child of UKG do this. He criticised school authorities for giving such assignments.

Mr Deepak, an educationist, justified the role of the schools. He said “If kids can play video games and solve puzzles then why can’t they do such assignments.” He said parents compared homework given to their children with the homework they used to get, but did not realize that their children had more awareness on various topics. He said that it was foolish on part of parents to do homework for their children.

Mrs Ritu Sharma, also an educationist, said, “Today’s kids are much more aware and clever than before. They are more smart and can easily handle tough assignments themselves.” She admitted that schools allotted difficult assignments for vacations but children could manage these very well, if given a chance. She advised parents not to do assignments for their children but help them instead.

Mrs Manjit, mother of two children, said, “Most of my time is consumed in completing holidays’ assignments of my children, gathering quills, pasting pictures of aeroplanes, plants etc.” She said teachers never gave second thoughts before giving such homeworks. “Make a landscape using various waste material available in the house”, reads an assignment in her daughter’s school diary. Her daughter is studying in KG.

Mr Charanjit Singh, a parent, said that he was fed up of finding pictures of rare species of animals for his child studying in Class I. He said, “It is very difficult to go to Central State Library, consulting books on animals, jotting names of animals and birds and searching in markets for their pictures. He said how could such small children do difficult homework. He requested school staff to think of parents before giving such assignments.

All set for polytechnic admissions
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — The last date for the submission of admission forms to four polytechnics and industrial training institutes in the city have been announced along with the admission procedure and date of interview.

The Central Polytechnic, Sector 26, is offering three-year courses in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering along with architectural assistance, electronics, communication and engineering and a one-year diploma in production engineering. The total seats for all engineering courses run at the polytechnic are 225 in number, which includes the one-year diploma as well.

In the Government Polytechnic for Women, Sector 10, with engineering and non-engineering courses, and 200 seats to its credit, the courses provided include architectural assistance, electronics, interior decoration, library science, modern office practice and pharmacy.

While the last date of applying for the admission to two polytechnics is July 1, a detailed admission schedule will be notified later in consultation with the Punjab State Board of Technical Education, Dr SK Aggarwal, Director of Technical Education, UT, informed. He said the admission will be carried out on the basis of a joint entrance test to be conducted by the PSBTE.

For the two institutes of industrial training, admission will be conducted on the basis of merit in the respective qualifying examinations since applications for the courses can come from students who have completed Class VIII, Class X, and Class XII depending on the course selected for study. The prospectus and forms for these courses will be available from July 4, while the last date for the submission of application forms is July 16.

There are 24 courses being offered by ITI, Sector 28, and there are 436 seats for all engineering trades. These are electronics, electricians, fitters, mechanic instructors, radio and television, refrigeration and air-conditioning, draftsmen (civil/mechanical), wireman, motor mechanic, tool and dye maker, mechanic diesel, mechanic tractor, carpenter, plumber, foundryman, letterpress machine minder and hand compositor with 16 seats each in the courses.

There are 32 seats each in English, Hindi and Punjabi languages for the course of stenography, 20 for computer operator and programming assistant, and 12 each for the course of machinist (composite) and welder.

At Dev Samaj Polytecnic for Women, Sector 21, there are 25 seats available in the six courses run at the institute. The courses include fashion designing, textile designing, interior designing, office management and nursery teachers’ training. These courses are available to graduate as well as under-graduate students. The last date of submission of forms for the one-year graduate courses will be decided once the result is declared while the last date for the two-year course for under-graduates has been fixed for July 27.

The International Polytechnic for Women, Sector 35, offers diploma courses in textile designing, interior designing and display, fashion designing, beauty culture and hairdressing, tourism and ticketing, and journalism and mass media and admissions will carry on till July 30.

Also, on the same premises, for 40 seats in each of the courses, the Central Institute of Engineering and Vocational Studies is running degree courses in computer science and engineering, electronics and communication, mechanical engineering, and diploma courses for electronics and communication, and mechanical engineering, according to Wing Commander P Prabhakar, Director of CIEVS.

City lacks national level pool
By Arvind Katyal

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — Chandigarh is a city which does not possess a national level swimming pool. The pools of the Sports Department in Sector 23, and in the Lake Club, Sector 6, are all practice pools only. Surprisingly, till now not much emphasis has been laid on creating infrastructure in these pools.

Also there is absence of any direct affiliation of any of these associations with the national body, which hampers a swimmer from the UT to participate straightway in the nationals.

The existence of parallel associations and infighting has hit this sport. The real sufferers are the swimmers who never bother to take up this game seriously, said Mr JS Negi, Senior Swimming Coach of the department, at the Sector 23-C pool.

The only option left with swimmers is to either participate from Punjab, Haryana or any other neighbouring state. One of the girl swimmers said she had never thought of becoming a national class swimmer as it never came to her mind. There are intricacies involved when you participate in from any other state. These include domicile requirements, such as if you want to participate from Punjab, you first need to play in the district championship, then in the state and only afterwards the swimmer is permitted to play in the nationals.

The Sector 23-C pool is the oldest and its length is measured in yards instead of metres. As Mr Negi says, “It is not even a proper practice pool”. When asked about the huge rush of young swimmers at the pool, Mr Negi said that this is only for vacations and in July many of them will disappear.

The Sector 23-A pool near the Government Yoga Centre has Ms Jasjit Kaur as the coach.She also admitted that in the absence of any national standard pool, the swimmers of Chandigarh are a harried lot. It is 25 metres in length and has six lanes. The trainees, mostly young boys and girls,come in the morning and evening and there are separate timings for trainee members and general members, who are charged double the amount, which is Rs 250 from a trainee for the full season.The season is from April to October and in the off season, the coaches are given the office or inspection jobs.

Ms Kirandeep Kaur, Mr Harsimran Bedi and Ms Himanshi Chopra are away for nationals at Jodhpur and are not representing Chandigarh. Puneet Rana and Kirandeep secured medals in the last national school games by representing Chandigarh which is their only representation status, said Ms Jasjit Kaur.

The centre at the Lake Club utilises the services of Mr Paramjeet Singh and it also has rush during the summer season , where mainly children of members come.

The filteration plants at these centres give heavy expenditure to the authorities which is manned by the public health department. The expenditure, running into lakhs, has not borne the desired results.

But there seems to be a ray of hope for swimming fans of Chandigarh. As Mr JPS Sidhu Joint Director, Sports, Chandigarh Administration, said that an all-weather swimming pool of international standards is on the anvil in Sector 42 . The drawings for the same would be ready in another couple of days. In the proposed swimming pool, whole the year swimming can be done and the pool whose total project cost runs into few crores will in all probability ready by two years.

Mismanaged library
By A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, June 26 — The Central State Library in sector 17 here, which attracts a large number of book lovers, cries for attention. The members speak highly of the behaviour of the staff but want facilities to be upgraded.

Mr Prem Chand, a member of the library, who has been visiting the library for the past one year, complains that books in the circulation section are not easy to locate. He says generally the staff has no knowledge about books registered in the index. He suggests that some chairs be placed along the shelves so that senior citizens who outnumber other visitors can sit and look for books.

Ms Taniya, a college student, criticises the authorities for neglecting the reading room. She points out that the tables are full of dust. The reading room is frequently shifted from one place to another. She also complains about difficulty in locating books in the circulation section. She says most of the books are torn.

Anukriti, a visitor to the library, demands clean drinking water in the library. She says there is only one water cooler which has been placed amidst choked drains with fruit skins floating around. She says the toilets are in a bad condition. A motor cycle is parked in the toilet, causing inconvenience to the users.

Mr Nagpal, a staff member of the library, says there are more than one lakh books available in the circulation section and it is almost impossible for the staff to place them in right order. He claims that a regular check is maintained but it is not enough. He says visitors and regular members do not place books back on the respective shelves.

Another staff member says the children who visit the library during vacation to complete their home work and project work are mainly responsible for tearing the books. She accuses school authorities of encouraging children to paste original pictures. She also says the decision of the library committee to disallow the use of photostat machine for project work has also increased this activity.

Ms Bhasin, another staff member, says at times it becomes impossible to detect torn pages. She shows some book covers from which all pages have been removed. She says some students steal books. She suggests the installation of close-circuit cameras.

Another staff member says in case a member possesses a damaged book, he is asked to pay the cost of the book but in most of the cases, the fine is much less than the price of the book. He also says at times replacement of torn books is not available in the market. He says in case of delay in returning the book, a fine of 25 paise per day is charged.

Another employee says the amount deposited for security is only Rs 100 and in most of the cases, members are issued books worth Rs 1,000. He also suggests the use of close-circuit cameras in the library.

Check needed on food adulteration
From A Correspondent

PANCHKULA, June 26 — With rise in the number of cases of adulteration and food poisoning, it has become increasingly important to appoint a local licensing authority here, the demand for which has been overlooked so far.

Recently there was a case of adulteration and food poisoning at a birthday party here. This is not the first incident of such a nature reported in the town and brings into limelight the failure of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to appoint a licensing authority which could ensure prevention and preservation of food articles for sale and consumption .

The Prevention of Food and Adulteration Act, 1955, by the Government of India lays down that no person or establishment shall manufacture , sell, distribute or exhibit for sale any article of food, including prepared food or ready to serve food, except under a licence. In total defiance of these rules by HUDA, there is neither any system of licensing nor a local licensing authority here, for purpose of issuing licences to food outlets and other such commercial establishments which could ensure adherence of norms laid down under the PFA Act, 1955.

The District Health Services Department has been advising HUDA for the appointment of a local licensing authority since May 98. The first correspondence by the local health authority in this regard was made on May 5, 1998, to the Chief Administrator, HUDA, which was given a reply no earlier than three months. HUDA refused to accept the recommendation of the local health authorities on the pretext that it was not the local body to appoint a licensing authority in the absence of a municipal corporation here.

‘’In rural areas, these licences for food articles are issued by the Block Development Office and in urban areas by the municipal corporation. It is obligatory that HUDA should appoint a local licensing authority of its own, irrespective of whether it is a local body or not,’’ said Dr HC Nagpal, Civil Surgeon, Panchkula.

Since there is no system of licensing here, anybody is free to open outlets without any information or compliance of the laid-down rules. The only method prevalent to prevent food adulteration is that of “sampling” wherein food samples in specified quantities are collected randomly or at the time of a complaint and forwarded for bacterial tests to listed laboratories. There is only one government food inspector in the whole district entrusted with the collection of samples, inspection and also prosecution of default cases making the situation unmanageable.

There are over 700 such establishments in the district and if not possible to ensure adequate checks and balances for one person and that too without a licensing authority. Many food items are prepared and sold everyday in the most unhygienic and unlawful manner. A sound authority issuing licences for food articles and such commercial establishments would not only generate revenue for HUDA, but also help maintain health and hygiene.

Community centre neglected
From Our Correspondent

MULLANPUR-GARIBDAS, June 26 — The community centre here is crying for attention. The place is being used by local residents to park their vehicles. This has led to several problems for the residents as they feel it inconvenient to use the place.

At present, a tailoring institute is being run on the premisesof the centre. residents say the tailoring school should be transferred to some other place.

According to Mr Arvind Puri, a local resident, the institute has created problems as already there was not sufficient space at the centre .

the tailoring school should be provided a suitable accommodation, as it is for the benefit of the local girls who had to go to far off places for training earlier, he added.

Heaps of garbage outside the centre give it a shabby look. Mr Tejinder Singh, another local resident, said they have to face problems, particularly during rainy season ,to arrange functions.

A lot of water gathers near the centre and it becomes difficult to enter the building even after a mild shower. This is due to absence of drainage system in the village, he added.