HEALTH

PGI to keep tab on staff attendance
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 11
In what is likely to make some difference to the administrative efficiency of the PGI, the institute will soon have compulsory acquittance rolls to keep a tab on the attendance and absence of its employees.

The matter was discussed at a meeting in the PGI here today. The meeting reportedly chaired by the Director, PGI, was attended by more than 100 employees of the institute, which included nurses, doctors, accounts officers, heads of various administrative units and account clerks. The Deputy Director Administration is also said to have been in the meeting along with the Superintending Hospital Engineer.

The move has been made to ensure that only those employees get their salaries paid who have actually worked during the month for the institute. According to sources, in the recent past there have been instances where employees have been paid their salaries even when they were not working for the PGI anymore.

Sources also confirmed that at least in one such instance, recovery of a large amount is reportedly being made from two salary clerks of the PGI for having sanctioned salary to an employee for years after she had stopped working in the hospital.

The move is also likely to make the system of disbursement of salaries anomaly-free and prove a vital link between various administrative heads of the institute and the accounts branch, which is responsible for giving salaries to the PGI employees.

These rolls will be essentially lists of the employees who have attended the office during a month, and those who have not for various reasons. Sources also state that a discussion to this effect whether a list of absentees will be enough or a total record of all those who were absent and present be kept was also taken up.

Since maintenance of acquittance rolls will also need the head of the department to send duly filled detailed proformas, some of the faculty members attending the meeting suggested that maintenance of these records be disbursed among the heads of various duties eg the nursing head of a particular department might be asked to maintain such a record and send it to the head of the department to be sent to the accounts branch.

Sources stated that some of the employees present at the meeting were hesitant in agreeing to the ideas of maintenance of acquittance rolls since it would imply an extra workload for them.

The PGI does not reportedly have a reliable system of ensuring that salaries are paid only to the people who are attending to their duties regularly thorough the month. Some employees at the meeting were, however, wary that the acquittance roll idea might also not work since the authorities who sanction leaves etc for various employees are many and varying and took an inordinately long time. So compiling that data for the preparation of the acquittance roll might be a problem.

SPORTS

GGS beat MCM DAV in handball
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, January 11
The GGS College for Women, Chandigarh, outplayed MCM DAV College for women, Chandigarh, 14-10 with the first half score at 8-3 on the second day of the Panjab University inter-college inter-zonal handball (women) tournament played on league basis here at PU grounds.

The scorers for winners were, Asha 5, Ritika 3, Upma 2, Gagandeep 2, Mandeep and Gurpeeet one each for losers Neeta 8, Sandeep and Ashdeep scored one each. In another league match, the MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36, defeated the GTB Khalsa College for Women, Dasuya, 18-12 with first half score at 9-4. Neeta was the top scorer with 12 points, while Sameena and Ashdeep scored two goals each, Sandeep and Sarbjit scored one goal each. For losers, Prabhjot scored four, Rashpal three, Baljeet and Seema two each while Kamaljit scored one goal. In other matches of the day, GCW, Ludhiana beat GGSW, Chandigarh 27-16, while GCW, Ludhiana defeated GTBKW, Dasuya, 30-08.

Body-building contest

The eighth sub-junior, 11th Junior ‘Mr Chandigarh’ and Ist handicapped body-building championships will be held tomorrow at DAV College Auditorium, Sector 10, at 4 pm. The weighing in will begin at 9 am at the venue.

Cycling championship

The Chandigarh Amateur Cycling Association will organise Chandigarh Mountain Bike cycling championships for senior, junior and sub-junior in both boys and girls sections at Sukhna Lake, beginning at 8.30 am.

Annual sports day of DAV-7
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, January 11
It was a show of equilibrium, displaying the co-ordination between body and mind, which was put up by the students of C L Aggarwal DAV Model School, on the occasion of the Annual Sports Day and prize distribution function held on the school premises in Sector 7 here today.

The show started with a welcome song by the tiny tots followed by floor exercises and drills ,including flower drill, flag drill and gymnastics by the senior students. Another major attraction of the evening was students performing an ancient martial art called Lazium which was performed by warriors to strengthen their body muscles, preparing them for hand to hand combat.

There was a Garba dance item based on a film song ‘Boli Tara Dhol Baje’ presented by the students of Class VI and VII and bhangra by the senior students. Students of nursery and KG recited Gayatri Mantra.

School manager Ravindra Talwar gave away prizes for academic excellence while Justice AL Bahri, who presided over the function, gave away the prizes to the students who excelled in co-curricular activities.

Principal Mrs. Pramila Dhar read out the school report, highlighting its activities during the current academic session. On this occasion, Mr. A L Bahri also released the school magazine, Srijan-2001. 

Handball team on dharna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 11
Students of the university handball team who are being denied a chance for participation in the handball meet, Commonwealth Games, in Malaysia by Panjab University, sat on a ‘dharna’ in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office here today.

The protest is being organised by the Panjab University Students Union. Malwinder Singh Kang, PUSU president, said the team had won a medal at the national level. However, the university was citing shortage of funds as reason for not sponsoring the deserving team.”

The protest dharna by the PUSU included the whole of the handball team yesterday. Today Rachpal Singh, Mandeep Singh, Shaminder, Devinder Singh and Shiv Dayal Singh, all team members, at the dharna. “We had approached the student council but no helping hand was extended.

“We will sit on the dharna indefinitely till the university helps the students”, they said.

Prof Nirmal Singh, DSW, met the students.

ADMINISTRATION

EC postpones firemen’s interviews
Our Correspondent

SAS Nagar, January 11
The recruitment of additional personnel for the local fire brigade seems to be jinxed. The process has been stalled for the second time in about a year and a half.

This time, after the completion of the physical fitness test of 7,000 applicants in the third week of December last year for 33 posts of firemen, the Election Commission has now ordered the Municipal Council authorities not to begin the interviews of the candidates who had been shortlisted for the purpose.

The council had written to the commission about a week ago seeking a clarification on whether the interviews could go ahead. Although an official letter has so far not been received by the council, it is learnt that the council’s Executive Officer has been told verbally by the commission authorities not to hold the interviews till the Punjab Assembly elections are over.

In 2000 the recruitment was stopped midway by the Local Government Department authorities as certain formalities had not been completed.

There has been an acute shortage of firemen since 1996. Only five regular firemen are available at present against the sanctioned strength of 39 and when weekly offs and leaves are taken into account, the work is sometimes handled by just one regular fireman.

In order to keep the work going, the Municipal Council, under whose jurisdiction the fire brigade comes, had employed 20 raw hands on three months’ contract in September last year. The contract period has been extended twice since then.

The area of operation of the fire brigade extends over the entire Ropar district.