Amritsar, April 2
Even as the mother tongue of Dr Akhtar Hussain Akhtar, Editor of Punjabi monthly, Lehran, published in ‘Shahmukhi’ (Persian script to write Punjabi in Pakistan’s Punjab) and ‘Gurmukhi’ (script to write Punjabi in Indian Punjab), is Pushto, yet he preferred to do M.A in Punjabi from Panjab University, Lahore .

Lehran has become a cultural bridge between East and West Punjab. After the initiative taken by the monthly Punjabi magazine to publish literature in ‘Shahmukhi’ and its transcription in ‘Gurmukhi’ script, many Punjabi writers in Pakistan have started following the trend.

Dr Akhtar, has endeavoured to teach Gurmukhi alphabet to the readers through his magazine so that the gap between Punjabi writers and readers of both the Punjabs could be bridged.

Some of the books which have been published simultaneously in ‘Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi’ scripts included ‘Bolde Athru’ by Amin Malik and ‘Kurlandi Tan’ by USA-based Pakistani writer Ashraf Gill.

Talking to The Tribune here, Dr Akhtar said initially most of Punjabis used to taunt him for his Pushto accent but he took up the challenge to complete his MA in Punjabi. Consequently, his sustained efforts brought out Lehran Punjabi.

Though Dr Akhtar has been publishing Lehran Punjabi in Persian script since 1965, yet the publication of its transliteration in ‘Gurmukhi’ is a recent development. He said the editorial board of the magazine had been making relentless efforts to impart training in learning ‘Gurmukhi’.

Mr Mohmmad Sadiq, a resident of Lahore, who has been working as Assistant Editor with Lehran, said that he had done a lot of research on the legendary Punjabi poet Waris Shah for the past 30 years. Mr Sadiq who can recite ‘Heer’, an epic by Waris Shah by heart, said the poet had depicted the composite Punjabi culture so beautifully that nobody could match him in this feat. He said the picturesque village scenes; the description of the beauty of Heer and the portrayal of Ranjha, were marvellous.

He claimed that the latest research in Pakistan had revealed that Waris Shah had written three copies of ‘Heer’ one of which was kept in Lahore Museum. He said his organisation used to organise competitions on poetry of Waris Shah every year at various places in Pakistan.

Another member of the Editorial Board of Lehran, Mr Ashiq Rahil, is also a renowned Punjabi writer in Pakistan. The three-member Editorial Board also visited Guru Nanak Dev University and the School of Punjabi Studies in the university to engage more Indian writers for contributing regularly to the magazine.

Amritsar, April 2
"Communists feel insecure and continue to face grave threats in Pakistan, both from the fundamentalists and the government", this was stated by Mr Imdad Qazi, general secretary of the Communist party of Pakistan here today.

In the city along with the fraternal delegates from foreign countries attending the 19th Communist Party Congress Mr Qazi revealed startling facts about political parties in Pakistan with special reference to his party members who faced threats of "elimination" and destruction of life and property from terrorist outfits affiliated to Talibans and Mujahideen.

The communist leader disclosed that fundamentalists consistently threatened them. "The government too operates covertly, harassing our activists. While intelligence agencies shadow us heavily to keep tabs on party activities".

Talking about 'persecution' he said communists had faced "harassment" from the inception of the party till 1985.

Recalling some incidents he alleged that a general secretary of the party Hassan Nasir was tortured and killed. Another activist Nasir Abbas was tortured in 'Shahi Killa' and he later became mentally deranged. "Throughout the subsequent reigns of Yahya Khan, Sikander Bakht, Zia-ul-Haq, Ayub Khan and even during. Z.A. Bhutto's regime, communists in Pakistan suffered tremendous persecution till the party was legalised in 1986", he added.

Like them, other opposition parties like Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and Nawaz Sharif's Muslim League were both being run by members who were pursued, pressurised, jailed, lured, muzzled and forced to toe the government line, he said.

Explaining the reasons for this he said the communists had given a call after 9/11 terrorist attack on WTC, USA to "oppose" the George Bush regime and expose Bin Laden. This had brought communists on the hit-list of fundamentalists who supported Talibans and the government that offered assistance to the USA.

He claimed, that in the same year, Pak communists were able to garner 18 positions of district Nazims (mayors) besides its 150 councillors won municipal elections throughout Pakistan and got the Nazim's post in NWFP. "We are ready for the forthcoming elections in August and determined to give a fight to the ruling party."

While advocating peace and an end to the arms race and acceptance of reality of Partition between India-Pakistan, the communist leader said the Kashmiri Committee had invited them and improving trade and cultural ties would eventually resolve the Kashmir issue.

The party, which had filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan for asking president Pervez Musharraf to shed his Army uniform as President and had accused Mr Shaukat Aziz Pak Prime Minister, of "rigging" elections and bungling election funds, said it was against terrorism in any form.

As many as 32 communist delegates from 14 countries, including Vietnam, Greece, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Korea, Bangladesh, Syria, Australia, Portugal and Pakistan were honoured by Mr Satya Pal Dang, veteran communist leader, Mr Amarjit Asal District General Secretary CPI and Dr S.P. Singh Vice-Chancellor GNDU.

Sangrur, April 2
Comrade Jagjit Singh Layalpuri, National General Secretary of the Marxist Communist Party of India, inaugurating the party state-level conference here today made a scathing attack on the policies of the “imperialist” globalisation, being perused by the Congress and the BJP, under the garb of economic reforms. He said these so called economic reforms had ruined the weaker sections of the society to benefit a few.

Comrade Layalpuri, addressing the delegates at Longowal village near here, lamented that the two main Communist parties of India, the CPM and the CPI, were unfortunately supporting the Congress-led UPA government, betraying the cause of working classes and the Communist movement.

He also called upon all Communist parties and groups to unite at one platform and develop an independent revolutionary Communist movement in the country, instead of tailing behind the Congress.

Comrade Kuldip Singh, secretary of the Punjab unit of the MCPI, presented a political and organisational report of the party.

It contained a report on financial and socio-economic crisis which the state was undergoing and the resultant poverty, unemployment decreasing standards of living of masses.

The fourth state-level delegate conference of the party began today at Longowal village, about 20 km from here. At least 200 delegates from various districts of Punjab are taking part in it.

Commencing the conference, Comrade Ganda Singh, a veteran Communist leader and freedom fighter, hoisted the party flag. After that the delegates placed flowers on martyrs’ column, especially erected in memory of the comrades, who had laid down their lives in revolutionary struggles.

Mr Kiranjit Singh Sekhon from Sangrur, Mr Prem Singh Nanwa from Patiala and Lakhwinder Singh from Ludhiana, were elected as members of the presidium to preside over the two-day state-level delegate conference and conduct the proceedings.

Mr Mangat Ram Longowal, Mr Pawan Kaushal and Mr Ajaib Singh were elected as members of the steering committee for the delegate conference.

Tributes were paid to Communist leaders who had passed away. A two-minute silence was observed in their memory.

Amritsar, April 2
The Kalash (urn) containing holy water of Brahm Sarovar of Katasraj, an ancient Hindu temple of the Mahabharta period in Chakwal district (Pakistan), has been placed in the local Durgiana Temple for ‘darshan’ by the devotees.

Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, brought the ‘kalash’ from Pakistan recently.

Mr Surinder Arjun, working president, Shri Durgiana Temple Committee, said while talking to The Tribune here today that Capt Amarinder Singh was the first Chief Minister of Punjab to visit the Katasraj temple in Pakistan where he had donated Rs 11 lakh for the maintenance of the temple. The ancient temple is in a dilapidated condition and needs immediate repairs. Normally, in Pakistan Sikhs are not allowed to visit Hindu shrines due to a hidden agenda of the Government of Pakistan.

Mr Arjun said with the sole efforts of Capt Amarinder Singh, the Government of Pakistan had agreed to earmark Rs 2 crore for the renovation of the Hindu shrines.

The ‘kalash’ has been placed in the sanctum sanctorum of the Durgiana Temple for the benefit of the devotees.

The temple management has decided to take around the ‘kalash’ in a ‘shobha yatra’ through the lanes and bazars of the walled city from Monday morning. Later the holy water from the ‘kalash’ will be mingled in ‘sarovars’ of different temples of the Holy City.

Earlier the ‘kalash’, which was taken to Chandigarh straightway, was brought at the local Ram Talai Temple by Mr Yash Bansal, a close confidant of Mr H.S. Hanspal, president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Later it was taken to the Durgiana Temple in a religious procession amid chanting of ‘shalokas’.

Jalandhar, April 2
A hoax bomb call to the Civil Lines-based branch of Punjab National Bank not only left its employees terrified but also kept the police on tenterhooks for about two hours today.

Panic gripped bank employees as soon as the unidentified caller told a senior bank official that he had placed a bomb in the basement of the bank’s building. Following this, the security officer of the bank informed the police control room. A police team led by a DSP along with the dog and anti-bomb squads got the building vacated before search operation began.

As the news about “presence” of a bomb inside the bank spread relatives and friends of bank employees started making enquiries about their loved ones.

The scare, however, was short-lived as the dog and anti-bomb squads failed to find any explosive inside the bank during its two hour-long search operation.

The bank started functioning from 12 noon. The account holders and others were allowed to enter the bank after being frisked by police officials.

Mr Rajpal Sandhu, SP (city), said it was merely a crank call as no objectionable or explosive material was found inside the bank.

Bathinda, April 2
Even as the Congress Government in the state has been repeatedly making claims of eradicating corruption in all its departments, it has become more and more prominent in almost all departments of the state government.

A number of cases of corruption have been reported from Bathinda, Muktsar, Mansa, Faridkot, Ferozepore and Moga districts in the recent past. However, the under the table deals involving government officials do not become illegal until these officials fall in the Vigilance Bureau (VB) trap. Information gathered by this correspondent revealed that the Bathinda Range VB, which includes Bathinda, Mansa and Faridkot districts, has managed to register about 51 corruption cases in the year 2004 under the Prevention of Corruption Act against persons working in government-run departments.

The VB team has remained on its toes during the current year also and managed to arrest as many as 12 persons till March 31, for accepting bribe.

From the figures it became evidently clear that the menace of corruption was very much prevalent in the Revenue Department as during 2004, 16 officials of this department had been nabbed by the VB.

Apart from it the police too could not save itself from the stigma of corruption as six policemen were nabbed due to their involvement in corruption cases during the last year. While three sarpanches of different villages were caught for misusing the grants allocated to the respective panchayats.

As per the details provided by VB, four persons, who were witnesses in various corruption cases registered against the government officials by the VB, were involved in criminal cases after they retracted their statements on the basis of which the corruption cases were registered against the government officials. Mr Amrik Singh Waraich, SSP, VB, pointed out that these four persons had also taken prize money from the state government for facilitating the arrest of government official by the VB while taking bribe.

Information revealed that four persons of the local body had been booked last year. Two persons each from the Health Department, Cooperative Department, Veterinary Department, Forest Department, Education Department, the PSEB, and one person each from FCI, PRTC, Food and Supplies Department and Punsup had been booked during the year 2004.

Interestingly, during the current year also, Revenue Department gave its maximum contribution to the list of corruption cases as three persons from this department had been booked just in the past three months. Employees of Telecom Department, PRTC, PADB, irrigation and canal department, local bodies, Social Welfare Department, Sales Tax Department, MES, Bathinda, and a former sarpanch too have been booked in different corruption cases. It was also revealed that an official of the rank of Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) had also fallen into the trap of VB while accepting a bribe of Rs 1.25 lakh.

Mr Waraich said though the VB had been keeping a constant vigil on the activities of government employees, yet they could not suspect the loyalty of any official until they got some proof of corruption.

Mr Waraich pointed out that VB had been getting constant support from common people and this support had helped them a lot in trapping corrupt officials. He said a number of district level seminars and meetings had been organised to create awareness and to motivate people to curb corruption.

Patiala, April 2
In a major policy shift, Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) in all five districts and three police districts in Patiala Zone have been asked to exercise restraint while proceeding against members of families charged under various dowry crimes.

The district police chiefs have been directed by Patiala Zonal Inspector-General of Police Rajinder Singh to arrest the accused in such cases only after a comprehensive inquiry.

Sources said these directions had been passed after a survey by the police revealed that a large number of false cases were being filed by women against their in-laws.

Besides asking the district police chiefs of Patiala, Sangrur, Barnala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Ropar, Jagraon and Khanna, which fall under the Patiala Zone, to exercise restraint, all have also been asked to take dowry cases under the ambit of the community policing programme.

This system has already started yielding results with 4,698 disputes being referred to various districts in the zone last year. As many as 3,673 cases were solved through reconciliation. The community cell solved another 369 cases through mutual divorce.

Zonal IG Rajinder Singh, when contacted, said it had been decided to change the police strategy with regard to dowry cases after reports that in some cases, members of the accused family had committed suicide because of the humiliation suffered by them. He said the force had been given specific directions on how they should react after a dowry case was registered.

“The SSPs have been asked not to raid the house of the accused after registration of a dowry case. Instead, the accused should be called for a meeting”. He said it was also seen that sieze of dowry items did not help and that the items remained in police stations for years.

He said the police officers had been asked not to sieze such items. In order to ensure transparent functioning of the investigation officer in the case, the directions now held him responsible in case he made arrests not needed in the case.

The Investigating Officer would also be responsible for removing names of accused or relevant Sections from the FIR, if not proved, to ensure speedy and quick justice to the accused.

Chandigarh, April 2
In an open letter to the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, the PSEB Engineers Association has drawn his attention to the “exploitation” of power consumers in Delhi following the unbundling of the Delhi Vidyut Board.

The Chief Minister has been requested to have a close look at the happenings in the power sector in Delhi before going ahead with his plan to unbundle the Punjab State Electricity Board. Even the Congress, which is the ruling party in Delhi and the BJP have started urging the authorities concerned to stop the “loot” of the power consumers there.

With a view to unbundling the PSEB, the Punjab Government has already started the process to get six power companies registered with the office of the Registrar of Companies in Jalandhar.

The association stated that following the unbundling of the Delhi board in 2002, three private distribution companies( discoms), owned by firms with big names, were engaged to distribute power in Delhi. The Delhi Transmission Corporation ( Transco), a government company, was forced to sell power to the discoms at 150 to 160 paise per unit bought from the grid for up to 276 paise per unit by it(Transco).

The private companies sold the power, bought at such a low price, to the power consumers at an average of Rs 4 per unit. Now there was demand by the private companies to increase the tariff by 30 to 60 per cent.

The association told the Chief Minister that myths that privatisation led to the supply of power to consumers at affordable rates, it would bring the power sector out of the red and competition and open access would lead to cheaper power had been exploded in Delhi.

Kapurthala, April 2
Postponing Suvidha Camps seems to have become a habit with the district administration here. One such camp that was to be held yesterday in the grain market of Fattu Dhingra village for 33 villages falling in the vicinity was cancelled reportedly for a weird reason.

The administration was to allot houses of five marlas each to the homeless villagers from Scheduled Caste families in the area, but since the formalities required for the purpose could not be completed in stipulated time, the camp was postponed for the next week.

This is the third time that such a camp has been postponed. Last month, too, a camp that was to be held at Kabirpur village of Sultanpur Lodhi was cancelled twice as the MP, Rana Gurjit Singh, and the SSP, Mr Arun Pal Singh, who were to attend the camp, were busy with some private functions. Residents of 65 villages had felt harassed as the camp was postponed twice.

This time, too, the villagers, who had been awaiting the camp meant for their convenience, were left high and dry as they felt that their work pertaining to various departments would get delayed further. The preparations were in full swing as the tents had been erected for the purpose and the tables had been laid. But owing to orders from the administration, it was announced that the camp had been postponed.

No fresh dates for the camp have yet been announced though the insiders said that it would tentatively be held on April 7. A senior officer confirmed the reason for cancellation of the camp, though he wished not to be quoted.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Verma, did not answer the phone call while the ADC, Mr Paramjit Singh, passed the buck to the District Welfare Officer. The District Welfare Officer said that he was not aware of the reasons. He said that allotment of the houses was decided at the BDO level. The BDO of the area could not be contacted as his cell phone was out of order.

Goniana Mandi, April 2
With two persons arrested during the agitation reaching the local Civil Hospital for medical examination and the action committee announcing an indefinite strike in the area, the private bus stand controversy seems to be far from over.

The Akali Dal MLA from Nathana, Mr Gura Singh, who was also present at the hospital, assured full support to the committee. The injured, Ramesh Kumar Mattoo, who is also the Committee chief, and Bhagwant Singh alleged that during the agitation the police got them thrashed by men of a private contractor. They alleged that some policemen pulled their hair and held their arms and asked them to beat them up. They flayed the police for cane-charging the agitators who were protesting in a peaceful manner. They demanded those who “beat them up in connivance with the police” should be brought to book. Sources said a three-member panel led by the Civil Surgeon had been formed for their examination. They said the police had got them medically examined earlier too, but it was reportedly meant to cover up the matter. Now, committee had got a court order for the same.

Meanwhile, a number of protesters today gheraoed the Municipal Council president, Mr Sadhuram Romana, and demanded his resignation. Mr Romana said he would soon hold a meeting to find out a solution to the matter. SAD leaders also met the SSP and the Deputy Commissioner yesterday in this regard. They assured the SAD delegation of swift solution after a thorough probe.

Meanwhile, the committee members said being situated on the highway the bus stand was “illegal”. They alleged that various government departments, including Town and Planning, had rejected the proposal of the construction of a bus stand there, but the administration went ahead with it. They said the local residents had never asked for the new bus stand as the existing one was already far from the township. They said the new bus stand was another kilometre away from the town and it was unsafe for women to board a bus from there at night. They said they had been paying rickshaw-pullers Rs 5 as fare to the old bus stand, but they would charge them Rs 20 for the new stand.

They complained that the new bus stand didn’t have termination points and buses halt anywhere and leave. They said it was unfair on the part of the police to first cane-charge the peaceful agitators and then book them under Section 307 of the IPC.

Rajpura, April 2
Goods, including cloth bales and garments, worth lakhs were destroyed in a fire that broke out in a handloom store in Shastri Market here this morning.

Residents and shopkeepers of the locality noticed smoke billowing from the store. They informed the store owner, Mr Ramesh Chawla, who informed the fire brigade authorities.

Mr Malwinder Singh, Fire Station Officer, Rajpura, said two fire engines were pressed into service. It took over one-and-half hours to bring flames under control.

A number of residents and owners of adjoining shops help in extinguishing fire.

The cause of the fire could not be ascertained yet.

Phagwara, April 2
A 13-year-old school boy Karan Parbhakar, had to be admitted in the local Civil Hospital today after he consumed sedatives after being refused admission in a school.

Mr Rajinder Parbhakar, father of the boy, told mediapersons in the hospital that his wife Anu Parbhakar had gone to Jain Model Senior Secondary School yesterday in order to seek provisional admission in class IX for their son as the middle standard results were yet to be declared. Karan was an old student of the school.

However, Mr Ashok Jain, secretary of the school management, bluntly turned down her plea for admission by saying that the boy was dull. Mr Prabhakar said today he himself went to the school alongwith Mr Sanjeev Bugga, senior vice-president of Nagar Council, Phagwara, but Mr Jain not only refused to give admission to the boy but also used objectionable language against “me and my son”, alleged Mr Parbhakar. Dejected by such treatment Karan consumed several tablets of sedatives. We found him slumping on the ground and rushed him to the hospital”, he said.

Mr Jain, however, denied the allegations. When Mr Jain came to the hospital, an angry crowd mobbed him and he had to be whisked away in his car by the police. Meanwhile the president of the school management, Mr Kimti Lal Jain, was seen pacifying the mob.

Sub-Inspector Upinder Kumar, who was dealing with the case, said a case would be registered only after recording the statement of the boy after he ragained consciousness, his father and others.

The Chief Medical Officers, Dr Subhash Kumar and Emergency Medical Officer, Dr Harnarinder, who were looking after the boy said the condition of the boy was stable. 

Abohar, April 2
Hari Lal, a migrant from Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh, was found dead in his bed with multiple injuries at Sadhuwali village on the Abohar-Sriganganagar road last night.

It is learnt that Hari Lal, a bachelor and a farm labourer from Bishanpura village in Gorakhpur district, had been working in the fields of a farmer at Sadhuwali village for last few years. Yesterday he did not report on duty. Anxious co-workers visited his room at night. To them it appeared that Hari Lal was sleeping with a small lightweight quilt covering his face. But they were stunned on finding that he had been killed. A blood-stained piece of wood was found in the room. The body had multiple injury marks.

The police has registered a case under Section 302, IPC on a complaint lodged by Radheyshyam, brother of the victim. The body was handed over to the relatives of the deceased after the postmortem.

In another incident, some residents of Panjawa village near the national highway, rushed to the link road last night on hearing the cries of somebody. Kashmira Singh said they could spot only two bicycles there at about 8.30 p.m. In the morning, other residents noted that one bicycle was lying beside a body in the shrubs. The victim was identified as Kirpal Singh (34), son of Mr Joginder Singh, a Rai Sikh community member of Tootwala. village. It appeared that Kirpal Singh had been beaten to death due to professional rivalry or some other reason. Mr Rajwant Singh, Sarpanch of the village, informed the police.

A case under Section 302/34, IPC, has been registered. The body was handed over to the family after the postmortem.

Chandigarh, April 2
The gang allegedly involved in the kidnapping of 18-year-old Prabir had plans to carry out other abductions also. As of now, efforts were on to extradite the wife of an accused from England. One of them was a former terrorist, while another had been declared a proclaimed offender in a different case in Rajasthan. None of the accused was prominent member of any political party.

Addressing a press conference this afternoon, Punjab’s Director-General of Police S.S. Virk said ransom of over Rs 1 crore had been paid to the gangsters for securing Prabir’s release.

Out of the total amount, Rs 89 lakh had been accounted for. Approximately Rs 30 lakh was recovered from accused Kulwant Singh alias Kanti, while Rs 20 lakh was recovered from suspect Sukhjinder Singh. The rest of the amount was used by the two for different purposes, the DGP elaborated.

He added that the police had zeroed in on the accused even before the boy was released but had to withdraw because the boy’s safety was at stake. He further added that special teams were dispatched to different places, including western Uttar Pradesh, for tracking down the accused.

In fact, the team members managed to reach STD booths from where phone calls were being made and ultimately the police succeeded in nabbing the accused.

Mr Virk added that accused Kanti’s wife had left for England soon after the kidnapping with her son. Approximately Rs 35 lakh was transferred to England through hawala transactions.

Chandigarh, April 2
The Director- General of School Education (DGSE), Punjab, has instructed the principals concerned to collect six months’ fee in advance from students in government schools where computer education is to be imparted under the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) project.

Besides, the government has increased the work hours of all schools covered under the project by 35 minutes. The principals have been directed to change the timetable of their schools accordingly.

Students of Classes VI to VIII are required to pay Rs 120 and those in Classes IX to XII Rs 150 as the first instalment of fee for six months. The first instalment is to be collected in April and the second in October. Under the project, computer education has been introduced in about 1,350 government schools.

The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, was to inaugurate the project in Patiala today, but the function was cancelled at the last moment for unknown reasons.

Interestingly, the entire fee collected for computer education is to be deposited with the office of the DGSE. Cheques or drafts are to be sent in the name of the “DGSE Government of Punjab”.

The principals will be only performing supervisory duties. Every task, even minor ones such as the paying of Internet charges and the purchase of stationery, will be performed by the office of the DGSE.

A principal said that the Chief Minister’s office should ask the DGSE’s office why it was not allowing even the least functional freedom to the principals with regard to computer education.

The DGSE’s office has informed the schools that recurring expenses, including the salaries of teachers and Internet and stationery charges, would be sent from the head office to the schools in two instalments.

As the Punjab Government has approved the convergence of the ICT project and the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), all administrative expenses on the ICT project would be met by the District Education Officers (Secondary) from the management cost of the SSA.

There will be two theory and two practical periods per week. For practical classes, two lectures should be clubbed together by adjusting the timetable accordingly. Interestingly, according to the instructions of the DGSE, two students, and even three in exceptional cases, can be asked to share one computer during the period. The principals have been advised to split classes into two groups in case the number of computers is inadequate.

In the case of long-duration power cuts in the rural areas, the principals have been told to re-adjust the timetable accordingly. But no solution has been suggested if the power cut continues throughout the school hours. The principals have been told to buy chairs for the computer laboratories from the PTA or amalgamated fund.