No Principal in four city colleges
Asha Ahuja

Ludhiana, July 21
The new academic session has begun, but at least four city colleges — Arya College for Boys, GGN Khalsa College, Devki Devi Jain Girls’ College and Guru Nanak Girls’ College, Model Town — still do not have a Principal at the helm. They have senior most teachers acting as Principal.

“Administration of colleges can improve only if there are confirmed Principals at the helm, as the students and staff tend to be lax otherwise,” says a retired lecturer on the condition of anonymity. Managements find acting principals more easy to control, more so in colleges where groupism in the management makes it difficult for it to reach a consensus on appointing the Principal.

In Arya College, Mr V.K. Meha, was removed from the post of Principal as he was not favoured by a group. The other group appointed Mr M.M. Sharma the Principal, but he was also removed due to factionalism. Presently, Mr Jiwan Ahuja is the Acting Principal of the college.

The Management of Guru Nanak Girls’ College has two strong factions one led by Mr Gurbir Singh, son of late Chief Minister Gurnam Singh, and the other led by Mr Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal. The stronger faction presently is that of Mr Gurbir Singh. Ms Charanjit Mahal, Acting Principal, is the chosen candidate of this faction.

In GGN Khalsa College, too, the management is divided into two groups. One group favours the candidature of Mr T.S. Anand as Principal, while the other supports Mr Amarjit Singh Dua, although he does not belong to the college. Since no consensus has been reached, Mr Dua has been appointed Dean College development Council in Guru Nanak Dev University. Mr Gurbir Singh is the Acting Principal of the college.

In Devki Devi Jain College, a Principal was appointed, but she soon had to retire so Ms Kamla Jain is now the Acting Principal.

All these colleges advertise the post of the principal from time to time, but, somehow, never find a suitable candidate. Every time, a request is made to the university to allow the Acting Principals to continue.

For a better administration of college affairs, the university wants regular Principals with Ph.D degrees and five years of teaching experience to be appointed.

LBP to hold rallies from July 28
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 21
The Lok Bhalai Party (LBP) will hold district wise rallies from July 28 onwards to protest against the massive fee hike in the colleges in the state. According to party chief and MP Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, the hike will rob the poor students of an opportunity to pursue higher education. Our endeavour will be not only to rollback the hike but also urge the state to start schemes for imparting quality education for the poor and needy students.

He said party workers would picket the district headquarters from 10 a.m. and would later on submit memorandums to the DCs. The protests would continue till August 14. The schedule would be : July 28 - Ludhiana, July 30 - Bathinda, July 31 - Mansa, August 1 -Moga, August 4 - Patiala, August 5 - Hoshiarpur, August 6 - Amritsar, August 7 - Faridkot, August 8 - Muktsar, August 11 - Ferozepur, August 13 - Fatehgarh Sahib, August 14 - Ropar. A state-level dharna will be held in Ropar, he added.

He also appreciated the efforts of those organisations which were resisting the fee hike and urged various student’s bodies to come in the open to oppose the move.

Student unions urge govt to withdraw fee hike
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 21
The Ludhiana Students Union today blocked the Ferozepore road for half an hour in the morning to express resentment against fee hike. The 1000-strong crowd of students raised slogans against the Congress Government and presented a memorandum to Mr Anurag Verma, Deputy Commissioner.

Mr Tanvir Singh Dhaliwal, president, Ludhiana Students Union, said the hike was a setback to students from poor families. Students of Government College for Boys, GGN Khalsa College and Arya College participated in today’s march.

SVM School celebrates annual day
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 21
The management and staff of Sanatan Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Civil Lines, organised the school’s annual prize-distribution function here today. Students presented a colourful cultural programme on the occasion. A Haryanvi dance presented by the school girls enthralled the gathering. A choreography based on students’ life was also liked. Besides, the students presented Punjabi folk songs and dance items.

The school students who received prizes for their performance in academic, sports and cultural functions included Himanshu, Kashish, Dimple, Rahul, Gagandeep, Preeti, Neha, Isha, Sahgun, Deepak, Dinesh, Johny Puri and Gaurav.

Ms Sadana Sharma, Principal, read the annual report of the school highlighting the achievements of students in co-curricular activities such as debates, poetry recitation and painting contests.

On the same day, a playway-cum-nursery block of the school was inaugurated by the chief guest, Mr Rakesh Pandey, Punjab Minister for Printing and Stationery. The students also organised an art and science exhibition.

Mr Prem Chand Gupta, the president of school managing committee, Mr C.L. Sachdeva, manager, and principals of some other aided schools of the city were also present on the occasion.

Man gets 7 years for dowry death
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 21
A fast-track court has sentenced Parminder Kumar of Payal to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment for the death of his wife, Shivani, just four months after the marriage. The cause of the death was poisoning.

Pronouncing the judgement, Mr A.S. Kathuria, held that the prosecution had proved the guilt of the accused. The accused was booked under Section 304-B and 120-B, IPC, on February 7, 2000, at Payal police station on the statement of Mr Pardeep Kumar of Fatehgarh Sahib, brother of the deceased.