The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

GC-46 Principal given warm send-off
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 31
Major D.P. Singh, Principal of the Sector 46 Government College, retired here today after putting in 10 years of service.

Though the DPI (colleges), Mr K.A.P. Sinha, has decided to give one of the other heads of the local government colleges the additional charge of this college till a fresh appointment, he has refused to reveal the name of the new principal.

Sources had said Ms Mohini Sharma, Principal of the Sector 42 Government College for Girls, might get the additional charge of the Sector 46 college, but, when contacted, she denied having received any such information.

Since the Administration’s earlier decision to give a college principal the additional charge of another institute had invited litigation, there are chances that the next senior most perlecturer of arts and science, Prof S.C. Nijahwan, will be made the acting Principal of the college. The DPI, however, ruled out service extension for Major D.P. Singh.

Meanwhile, teachers and the other staff of the college gave Major D.P. Singh a warm send-off here today. Students of the college also participated in the farewell party.

Drying up of funds blow to NSS
Kulwinder Sangha

SAS Nagar, July 31
The National Service Scheme (NSS) has suffered a major blow at Government College here with Punjabi University cutting off funds for the purpose over the past two years.

Activities under the NSS have been heavily curtailed and there is lack of enthusiasm among student volunteers. The lack of funds has adversely affected the interests of students as weightage is given to NSS certificate holders at the time of admission to various courses.

Sources say that funds have not been received from the university after 1997 when an assurance was given that the expenses incurred by the college on the NSS would be reimbursed. The NSS wing then took loans from the college to help the activities going. However, no reimbursement for about Rs 25,000 spent under this head, has been received so far from the university. The hardest blow to the scheme came when in 1999 the university said that no grants would be given for the scheme and the NSS wing would have to make its own fund arrangements if it was interested in holding camps.

It is learnt that grants for the scheme have not been released by the Central Government for the past two or three years.

Under the NSS, at least 10 one-day camps and one 10-day camp should be organised wherever needed, including villages and slums. The aim was laudable: creating awareness in the areas where camps were held and encouraging dignity of labour.

The student volunteers did community service and also benefited through the reservation of seats in institutions. Three types of certificates are given — A, B and C — depending on the work done by the volunteer concerned. Seat reservation in institutions for those having obtained such certificates extends up to 3 per cent.

In 1999 one of the NSS students of the college, Shahnaz Singh, was among 10 selected from the whole of Punjab for taking part in the Republic Day activities in Delhi.

The drying up of official funds has led to a situation where the number of yearly camps to be held had to be drastically cut. The holding of 10-day camps has totally ceased while in the case of the 10 one-day camps to be organised annually, only three or four are being held and that too on the college premises. However, at least one blood donation camp is organised by the NSS wing every year, the expenditure on which is reimbursed by the PGI.

Following acute fund shortage, various implements used by the volunteers have not been repaired. Besides, students have to go without proper refreshments while at work, not to speak of giving them the usual mementos for their contribution to community service.

Earlier, when funds were easily available, a daftri and a peon were attached to the NSS wing and also given an honorarium. With the stoppage of the honorarium, employees are reluctant to lend a helping hand in NSS activities.

After 1999 the NSS wing of the college has been struggling for survival and the few activities it has been engaged in have been dependent to a large extent on the help provided by the Parent-Teacher Association.

COURTS

HIGH COURT
Auction of society land ordered
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 31
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today ordered that the land allotted to a Ludhiana-based educational society at concessional rates for the construction of a school would be sold by public auction.

Pronouncing the orders, Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice Ashutosh Mohunta of the High Court also dismissed the petition filed by the Child Welfare Educational Society challenging the orders directing the resumption of plot allotted to them.

The Judges observed: “It has been found that the usage of the site as a school is just a formality. There are 25 hutments on the land. A room has been given on rent to the Department of Food and Civil Supplies. On a consideration of these facts, it has been found that there has been a misuse of land allotted for a special and specific purpose at concessional rates”.

The Judges added: “We had asked counsel for the Ludhiana Improvement Trust whether or not the land would be sold in open public auction after an advertisement. Counsel has assured us that the land shall not be allotted to any individual. It shall be sold by way of a public auction. In this situation, it is clear that the land shall not be allotted to an individual to help or favour him.... The needful shall be done at the earliest”.

Notice to AG on operators’ sack

On a petition seeking the registration of a case against Punjab Technical University Vice-Chancellor H.S. Gurum on the allegations of harassing two data entry operators, Mr Justice V.M. Jain of the High Court today issued notice of motion to the Punjab Advocate-General for August 21.

In their petition, Paramjit Kaur of Jalandhar and Meena Bhamra, two operators, had alleged that the VC had used derogatory language. Counsel for the petitioners had added that the services of the petitioners were terminated without any notice as they had dared to lodge a formal complaint against the VC with the Secretary of Technical Education.

Counsel had further added that first information report in the matter was not registered against the VC even though a number of complaints were forwarded by the petitioners to the authorities.

Plea against VC dismissed

A petition filed by the organising secretary of International Human Rights Organisation, Dr Balwant Singh, seeking directions for declaring Punjab Agriculture University Vice-Chancellor Dr K.S. Aulakh’s appointment as illegal, was dismissed by a Division Bench of the court today.

Giving a ruling, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice S.S. Nijjar and Mr Justice J.S. Khehar, observed: “To say the least, it needs to be noticed that not a single word was uttered during the course of arguments in respect of proficiency of the VC so far his field of specilisation is concerned.... At the time his name was considered by the Board, he was holding the office of the Pro-VC. In the background of the uncontroverted position, we find no justification in the allegations levelled by the petitioner”.

In his petition against the state of Punjab and other respondents, Dr Balwant Singh had alleged that the procedure prescribed for the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor had not been followed.

Supply power to tubewells
Our Legal Correspondent adds

A Division Bench of the High Court today directed the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam to release within six months electricity connections for tubewells to a resident of Jhajjar district, along with other farmers whose applications have been pending for a decade.

In his petition before the Bench, comprising Mr Justice Jawahal Lal Gupta and Mr Justice Ashutosh Mohunta, Mr Dhanna Ram had alleged that the application for the connection was submitted in 1998 followed by the test report in 1991.