The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

SPORTS

GGDSD-32 win tennis title
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, January 4
It was Saurabh Singh who became the darling of the crowd when he enabled his college GGD SD College, Sector 32, in wrapping the Panjab University inter-college tennis title by overpowering Punjab Engineering College, Sector 12, 3-1. PEC got second place while DAV College, Sector 10 secured third place. Earlier, DAV College, Abohar, bagged the PU Inter-college Yoga Championship while PU campus was at second place and SD College at third position.

Results: tennis (finals) — GGSDC-32 b PEC-12 3-1 (Saurabh b Vaibhav 6-0, 6-2; Gursewak lost to Sarbrinder Singh 4-6, 2-6; Saurabh and Ankur b Sarbrinder and Vaibhav 6-0, 6-4; Gursewak b Vaibhav 6-2, 6-2).

Badminton meet

A five-member Chandigarh badminton team will take part in the Senior National Badminton Championship to be held at Lucknow from January 7 to 11. Mr Surinder Mahajan, a Sports Authority of India senior coach will accompany the team as coach- cum -manager. The team is: (men) — Rudra Kaushik, Deepak Sidhu and Ashish Sharma: (women) — H. Sarda Devi and Mala Gaba. This was stated by Mr BD Gandhi, Chairman, selection committee of the association.

Cycling championship

The Chandigarh Amateur Cycling Association will hold the Chandigarh Mountain Bike Cycling Championship at Kaimbwala slopes, behind Sukhna Lake on January 12, starting 8.30 am.

The events to be conducted includes: senior-four lap cross-country massed start race, point-to-point time trial; junior (under-18), two lap cross-country massed start race; and junior (under-16) two lap cross-country massed start race.

During this meet, the cyclists will be selected for the National Mountain Bike Cycling Championship to be held at Chandigarh from January 24 to 27. Entries close on January 10 with Mr Rakesh Mohindra at C-80, Sector 14, Chandigarh.

ADMINISTRATION

‘Schemes for scavengers implemented poorly’
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 4
The Vice-Chairperson of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, Ms Manju Chandra, has asked the district administration to give contracts for operating Sulabh Shauchalayas to those engaged as scavengers or their dependents.

She was presiding over a meeting of district officials and representatives of the scavenger community here today. She is on a two-day visit to the district for reviewing the poverty-alleviation schemes of the district administration for these scavengers.

She said the government had allocated a lot of money to liberate and rehabilitate the scavengers and their dependents from their hereditary occupation of manually removing night soil and filth. She said, if the scavengers were given contracts for running Sulabh Shauchalayas, they would be able to help other members of their community.

She, however, criticised the district administration for its alleged unauthentic report on the number of scavengers and their dependents in the district. Yesterday, officials here had said their survey had revealed that this figure in the district was 361. While 143 of these were, later, found ineligible on account of having moved out of the district, being minors or defaulters, the remaining were identified as beneficiaries under this scheme.

She said her own findings had showed that the total number of scavengers were at least five times more than the figures supplied by the local administration. She asked the Additional Deputy Commissioner and the SDM to update the list at the earliest.

“In most districts of the country, the implementation of these poverty-alleviation schemes is poor. Even the Supreme Court has taken a strong view of it. In some districts, where the NGOs are working, they are reportedly getting huge grants from the Ministry of Human Resource Development and Social Welfare, but these are not being used in the right direction,” she said.

Meanwhile, officials said they had given computer training to at least 22 members of the scavenger community. They have given 13 such persons loans for buying taxis and they have also been given loans of upto Rs 50,000 to set up their own businesses.

Decks cleared for VVIP suites construction
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 4
After minor hiccups, a project to construct suites for the VVIPs on the premises of the Punjab Raj Bhavan accommodation is going on fast pace with one of the four blocks near completion. A total of four blocks at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore are to be constructed for the VVIPs, who visit the city on way to different destinations in the region.

It has been observed in the past that there was not adequate accommodation for the Prime Minister, Home Minister and other VVIPs from the security point of view. The new complex, covering an area of 3.5 acre, would also have a helipad for the convenience for the VVIPs.

A senior official in the Punjab Government said in the past there has been problem of inadequate accommodation for the visiting VVIPs in the Raj Bhavan, Due to security reasons, arrangements for stay of the protected persons at different places in the city was a headache for the security agencies. So they often flew to their destination after brief stint in the city.

The work on the project had been delayed due to 32 trees standing on the earmarked land. After a series of meetings between the officials of the Punjab Government and the UT Administration, a clearance to cut the trees was given by the Adviser to the UT Administrator. The architectural designs and drawings of the four single storey blocks were also cleared by the Chief Architect, Punjab. Earlier, shifting of a mini zoo from the land had delayed the project.

Sources in the Punjab Government said that against the initial plans of constructing a two storied blocks, the design of a single storey blocks were approved due to security reasons.