EDUCATION

Mixed response to computer course in schools
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Jan 12 — The recent computer education project for government school students, launched jointly by the Punjab Government and NIIT, at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Mansooran village, has received a mixed response.

Nearly 300 students have joined the course at the school which was formally launched on December 14. These students also include those from government schools at Tahli Sahib, Khandoor, Dolon and other villages falling within 4 km radius of Mansooran. Classes of such students are taken up after the school timings.

Some parents and teachers feel that the fee structure was somewhat high. ‘‘It is not easy for all parents here to pay Rs 960 annually for computer education, which is conducted just twice a week,’’ said a teacher of the school. Fifty per cent fee concession has been fixed for just 25 per cent of the students from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, whereas the ratio of such students is much higher, said another teacher.

Some parents also said that they since final examination of the students were approaching, they wanted their students to concentrate on their studies. ‘‘My son is to appear for Class XII board examination from March 12. Practicals would begin from the last week of this month. So I told him to begin with the course after he gets free from the examination,’’ said Ms Usha Rani, a parent.

The same project is now set to be launched at Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Jawahar Nagar, and Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Khanna. While five computer terminals have been sent to the Jawahar Nagar school, seven systems have been received at the Khanna school. A dot matrix printer has also been sent to each of the centres.

‘‘The two rooms meant for the centre have already been set. We have also applied for the telephone connection as per the requirements sent by the District Education Officer,’’ said Mr Nahar Singh, Principal of the school at Jawahar Nagar.

‘‘We are just waiting for the NIIT people to get their furniture and set the computers. We have already received the forms for registration and the admission will begin soon,’’ said Mr Mehma Singh, nodal officer at the school for the project.

The NIIT is also yet to start computer education for the residents close to government schools. ‘‘Evening model for the outsiders, including the fee structure, timings and syllabus is yet to be fixed by the officers at New Delhi,’’ said Ms Manjit Kaur, NIIT in charge for the project.

School observes death anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri 
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Jan 12 — To observe the death anniversary of late Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Lal Bahadur Shastri Social Forum organised a function at Lal Bahadur Shastri High School, Dhuri Lines, here yesterday.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ram Rattan Sharma, principal of the school, said, ‘‘Shastri ji served the nation dedicatedly selflessly and was an honest and able administrator.’’

The president of the forum, Mr Sushil Malhotra, encouraged students to adopt the ideals of the late Prime Minister in their lives. He said that Shastri Ji gave the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ and started the Monday fast to save foodgrains throughout the country.

Dr Shiv Gupta, general secretary, apprised the students of the social acitivities of the forum. He also told them about the various achievements of Shastri ji. He said, ‘‘Shastri ji was born in a poor family and after passing out of high school at Varanasi, he joined Kashi Vidyapeeth where he was conferred the degree of ‘Shastri’. Thereafter, he served as Home Minsiter in Uttar Pradesh government and also as general secretary of Indian national Congress. Later, he served as Union Railway Minister in 1952 and as Transport Minister and as second Prime Minister of India in 1964. After he passed away on January 11, 1966, he was posthumously honoured with the Bharat Ratna.’’

The forum honoured the principal, hardworking teachers and meritorious students with merit-cum-award of honour certificates and motivated them to fight for social causes.

COURTS

Labour Lok Adalat on Jan 19
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Jan 12 — At a joint meeting of officers of the Labour Department and the district adminstration held here today, it was decided that a labour lok adalat would be set up by the Labour and Employment Department on January 19.

While earlier it had been proposed that the adalat would be held at Ludhiana on January 18, the date has been rescheduled for the next day in today’s meeting which was held under the chairmanship of Dr B.C. Gupta, Secretary, Labour and Employment, Punjab. Also present in the meeting was Mr S.S. Channi, Labour Commissioner, Punjab, and Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana.

Elaborating the purpose of organising the Labour Lok Adalats, Dr. B. C. Gupta informed that nearly 18,000 cases relating to industrial disputes were pending in different labour courts of the state. He said that in routine work, such cases took a long time for the final settlement and in some cases the persons seeking justice attained the age of retirement or even passed away.

Dr Gupta said that to settle the cases on the spot, the department has decided to hold lok adalats where both the parties would be persuaded to reach the settlement through mutual understanding. He said that the settlement of the cases in lok adalats would also help in improving the relations between workers and employers. He called upon the affected workers to come forward for the early settlement of their cases lying in the labour courts.

He further informed that to maintain and improve the health of workers for hazardous industrial units, the department had decided to organise free medical check-up camps in collaboration with the Health Department of Punjab in all the districts of the state, and the first such medical check-up camp would be organised at Mohali on January 24.

MC restrained from charging property tax
Tribune News service

LUDHIANA, Jan 12 — A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Mr Justice H.S. Bedi and Mr Justice N.K. Sud has restrained the Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana from recovering the property tax from about 150 industrial units of Phase IV-A of the Focal Point area till January 19.

A civil writ petition was filed by the Phase IV-A Focal Point Association of Ludhiana, demanding that the MC should be restrained from charging property tax from its members. They said this was because the MC had not taken over the charge of maintenance from the Punjab Small Industries and Exports Corporation (PSIEC).

Mr Rajan Gupta, President of the association, said about 150 industrial plots were allotted in 1983 in Phase IV-A. According to the terms and conditions of the allotment, the PSIEC had to provide the basic services like streetlights, maintenance of roads and waste management. However, the area has not been handed over to the MC till today.

However, the MC started issuing notices in the early 90s to the industrialists for the payment of property tax. The fine for non-payment was a surcharge of 10 per cent. The property tax works out to be Rs 5,000 per plot.

The industrialists tried to convince the MC to take back its proposed taxes as it was not providing them with any service. The MC had issued notices to owners of about 2,000 industrial units of Phases V and VIII that were allotted more than five years ago.

Consequently, the association filed a civil writ petition in the High Court. The court has issued a notice of motion to the state of Punjab for January 19 in this regard.

CULTURE

Face to face with Hans Raj Hans
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Jan 12 — Malwa Sabhyacharak Manch (Punjab) had organised a cultural programme to honour eleven distinguished personalities from different walks of life all over India. Hans Raj Hans was one of the recipients of the award at the function held yesterday at Punjabi Bhavan.

In an informal talk, Hans Raj said, “I am delighted to have received the award. I always feel good when I come to Ludhiana for it has produced great singers like Yamla Jat and Kuldip Manak.”

When asked if he had reached the pinnacle of glory, he replied, “No. I am always striving for perfection and perfection always eludes one. Though I have name and fame, yet I feel I have miles to go before I sleep.” He further said that in his new album he was trying to promote traditional Indian instruments and also planning to sing songs written by Shiv Kumar Batalvi and Baba Farid. Replying to a question whether music was getting commercialized, he said, “Yes, music has become commercial. Everyday, new albums are created and they fade away as soon as they rise. I feel there should be an institution in Ludhiana which should teach only Sufi singing and pay attention to classical singing. I feel Ashok Chanchal, Makbool Bali, Barkat Sidhu and Pooran Shah are doing well in Ludhiana and they should be encouraged. One should not feel threatened by pop music as it is like a bubble that will burst soon, whereas our classical music is music given to us in ‘Virasat’. It represents the truth and truth will never die.”