Know your candidates — VII

Mr Rajinder Srivastav
(Shiv Sena)
A matriculate from Kanpur, the 26-year-old Rajinder Srivastav is the Organising Secretary of the Chandigarh unit of the Shiv Sena (Bal Thakeray group).

Engaged in various social welfare activities, he organised the marriage of five orphan girls. Besides, he has been working for the improvement in basic civic amenities in colonies and villages. Extension of "lal dora" and regularisation of houses already constructed outside "lal dora" in all 22 villages of the union territory, more powers to panchayats, old-age pension to all senior citizens, suitable employment to all unemployed youth, an end to the contract system in various government departments and enforcement of the Minimum Wages Act in all government and private offices in the union territory are some of the points on his election manifesto.

Mr Manphool Singh
(Samajwadi Party)
A former Haryana minister, Mr Manphool Singh has now decided to shift his area of operation to Chandigarh. Twice member of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha during 1982-87 and again 1987-90, he was a member of the Council of Ministers of Mr Devi Lal.

A graduate, Mr Manphool Singh is committed to the welfare of weaker sections of society. He is promising to get Chandigarh the status of a state, getting all buildings constructed in violation of the Periphery Control Order or outside ''lal dora" regularised.

He also promises to get the leasehold system abolished, all employees of the Administration transferred to the Municipal Corporation will be treated on deputation, employment for unemployed, pucca houses for slum-dwellers, pucca booths for rehri workers and ownership rights to those who have bought plots, housing board units on general power of attorney.

Mr Manphool Singh claims support of Balmikis, other backward classes and weaker sections of society.

— To be concluded

Nutrition, exercise, positive attitude must
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 1 — The Adviser to the UT Administrator, Mrs Vineeta Rai, today inaugurated a two-day "Parent Nutrition Education Programme'' at the Government Institute for Mentally Retarded Children, Sector 32, as part of the nutrition week.

The highlight of the programme is a nutrition exhibition on the theme "Child's Health, Nation's Wealth'', organised by the Dietetics Department of Government Medical College Hospital, Sector 32. The 'Pumpkin boat model' depicting five food groups and another model showing constituents of a balanced diet comprising cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits on one side for health and calorie-dense foodstuffs like potato chips, cold drinks, fried snacks and sweets of equivalent calorific value on the other hand, excessive consumption of which may lead to obesity, were the major attractions. The display of a variety of nutritious packed lunches, which the children can carry to school as well as some other nutritious supplements also drew the attention of the visitors to the exhibition.

A talk on balanced diet was delivered by the Chief Dietician, GMCH-32, in which she stressed on the need to make a conscious effort towards consuming a balanced diet, if one was to remain healthy. The importance of exercise and a positive attitude in life was also emphasised.

Later, an 'Open Forum' in which the parents of the special children were free to seek guidance regarding feeding and behavioural problems of their children from the experts of the Department of Psychiatry, ENT, Pediatrics, Clinical Psychology , besides few special educators was also organised. Most of the questions pertained to the liking and disliking of various foods by these children; chewing and swallowing problems, inability to express needs and social stigma associated with taking these children for social gatherings.

Parents were educated that instead of giving solid food, semi-solid foods, which can be easily swallowed and digested, should be given. However, later children can be trained to chew food properly by using behavioural and reinforcement techniques. The problem with regard to their inability to express their needs was also discussed at length and they were asked to interpret the indirect cues to know about their needs and also fix a schedule for food, without waiting for him to ask for it. The experts also made efforts to clear certain misconceptions associated with nutrition.

While discussing the problems faced by parents in social gatherings, they asked them to accept the fact that their child is mentally retarded and should make efforts to provide him the best psychological atmosphere and training.

Various experts who participated in the discussion were Chief Dietician, Mrs Manju Mathur, Head of the Psychiatry Department, GMCH-32, Prof B. S. Chavan; ENT Consultant Prof Arjun Dass; Child Specialist, Prof Veena Parmar and clinical psychologist, Ms Harprit Kaur.

Amenities elude commercial sites
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 1 — Even as the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) proposes to auction prime commercial property in Sector 9-C here, several areas around the sites auctioned in the past continue to be bereft of basic amenities.

Several allottees while talking to the Tribune News Service alleged that though they had paid lakhs of rupees to the civic body and the Estate Office by way of instalments for the commercial property, basic facilities continued to elude them even after several months of the auction. Repeated representations to the civic body to provide the facilities had fallen on deaf ears, with the result that they were being put to loss as they could not commence operations or rent out their premises.

A visit to the sites near the CITCO petrol station in Sector 9-C, which were auctioned by the MCC early last year, revealed that though a majority of the buildings had been completed, the authorities were still to start work on the construction of roads, parking lots and release water and electricity connections. There were no takers for the buildings on the rear side as they did not have any approach road.

Mr M.P. Gupta, one of the directors of a private firm which had constructed a showroom in the area, complained that he did not have any approach to the front or rear side of his showroom. With the MCC yet to start work on the construction of roads and the parking lots, he had to cross mud and uneven ground for about 150 yards to reach the showroom.

He rued the fact that though he had paid Rs 90 lakh to the MCC, besides Rs 4.55 lakh per year as ground rent, yet the civic body seemed to be least bothered to provide basic amenities despite repeated representations to it.

Mr Gupta claimed that he applied for the electricity connection in March but was yet to hear from the Electricity Department.

Meanwhile, a number of markets in the city continue to be without proper entrances and parking lots, putting the shopkeepers and general public to a lot of inconvenience. The booths in Sector 33 do not have any parking lots and the showrooms behind the booth market are without a proper entrance.

Similarly, the booths in Sectors 43-B and 38-D face similar problems in the absence of a parking lots. A portion of the Sector 20-C market continues to be without proper entry.

Staff shortage delays work
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Sept 1 — Those who have been visiting the Department of Telecommunication in Sector 5 to submit forms for new connections are a harassed lot. Most of them have been visiting the office with forms and drafts for payment for over a fortnight now.

The head of the office, Mr Mewa Singh, says: "It is impossible for us to collect these forms because of a shortage of staff. Most of the employees are away on a computer training programme and will be back after 15 days. In such a situation, we can do little to help the public in spite of wanting to finish the work quickly.''

He adds that there is not enough staff to carry out the routine chores and that his department cannot think of adding to the already existing workload. "We are at the receiving end since persons get agitated every time they are turned away and accuse us even though we are not at fault. We took a few forms today and will be taking a few more after a couple of days but the working will be normalised once our men return,'' he says.

Meanwhile, the public is agitated at the apparent indifference of the authorities concerned and their inability to commit on when they will take the forms. Mr Manish Rana, a resident of Sector 15, says he has already visited the office four times in the past week but to no avail. "They keep telling me to return every other day with the promise that the forms would be taken. However, till date, the form is with me and nobody in this office has given me a definite date.''

Mr Bhupinder Singh of Mubarakpur said that the department had promised new connections in about a month's time. He added, "It has already taken over a fortnight to submit the form and it is not likely to be submitted in the next week, going by the statements of the officials.''

Mr Ravinder Goel, a resident of Sector 12, says, "These persons should have put up some notice, stating that the forms would not be collected while the employees were away. They should also have given us a specific date on which the process would begin. Nobody has been assigned the responsibility of informing the public and people keep returning to the office, hoping that their cases would taken up one day.''

The head of the office has instructed the staff to inform the public that their cases would be taken up once officials concerned returned from their training.