Jalandhar, September 16
The Freedom Fighters’ Successor Association, Punjab, has urged the All India Congress Committee (AICC) President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, to pressurise the UPA government to announce a special package for freedom fighters and their successors.

Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Tejinder Singh Thind and Ms Jaswant Kaur, the president and the patron of the association, respectively, said that the package demanded by them should have a provision for grant of an amount of Rs 5 lakh apart from allotment of a plot or a piece of land on the pattern of riot victims, terrorist victims, Kargil martyrs.

After the death of a freedom fighter, his widow should be granted an on-the-spot payment of Rs 50,000 for performing his last rites and for enabling her to fulfill other commitments.

The association leaders said that though the government had reduced the reservation for successors of freedom fighters from two to one per cent, it should be raised to five per cent and that the freedom fighters and their wards should be inducted in various government boards and organisations.

Lakhan Ke Padde (Kapurthala), September 16
Over 500 students of two schools located in the village were forced to keep waiting under the scorching heat for about three hours for the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, at Lakhan Ke Padde here today.

Capt Amarinder Singh was scheduled to come here at 11 am to lay the foundation stone of the rural water supply scheme, but he arrived at Lakhan Ke Padde village over two hours late.

The students of two schools, Government Senior Secondary School and Dashmesh Public Model School, were brought there around 10.30 am to welcome the CM.

There was no arrangement to provide the drinking water to the students.

When asked, the acting principal of the government school, Mr Jaspal Singh, said that the school came under the purview of the panchayat and the students were brought there at its behest.

Interestingly, most of the students were unaware of who was coming.

Some of the students told the journalists that the PM was arriving there. They were given the Congress party flags. They waved the flags as soon as Capt Amarinder Singh reached there.

Apart from laying the foundation stone of the rural water supply scheme at Lakhan Ke Padde, Capt Amarinder Singh also laid the foundation stone of a Rs-32-lakh water sewerage treatment plant at Ramgarh village, the native village of the DCC Chief Sukhpal Singh Khaira. 

Later addressing the public gathering at Nadala, Capt Amarinder Singh announced setting up of a government college in Dhilwan, upgradation of the dispensary to Primary Health Centre. 

He also announced 100 per cent drinking water and sewerage facility at Begowal and Bhulath. 

Renowned Punjabi singer Pammi Bhai was specially called for the entertainment of the crowd gathered at the rally at Nadala.

The Punjab PWD and Education Minister, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, also laid the foundation stone of commemoration gate and fifty-bed hospital in the memory of Baba Prem Singh Muralewale at Begowal. The hospital would be constructed by Baba Kashmira Singh’s Jan Sewa Trust.

Phagwara, September 16
It is an exercise aimed at bringing the best out of underprivileged and needy students. In a major move to give wings to the career dreams of children belonging to economically-weaker sections of society, the Punjab government has prepared an action plan to start coaching classes for them free of cost.

For this purpose, an amount of Rs 10 crore has already been earmarked. The state government has also decided to set up a helpline to provide counselling and guidance to students in order to boost their academic performance.

According to the action plan, underprivileged students from Classes IX to XII will be provided extra coaching. Also, special classes would be conducted to help them prepare for various entrance examinations like PMT, CET and AIEEE. The Director Public Instructions (Schools) will call applications through school principals and then identify beneficiaries on the basis of candidate’s economic, social background and academic performance in the lower examination.

Initially, coaching would be imparted at government high school level, said sources. “The move would enhance academic potential of children lacking support at home and provide them a better opportunity to realise their goals,” said a senior Education Department official, while talking to The Tribune. It would also help students from all backgrounds compete for admissions and jobs on an equal footing, he added.

The plan was prepared in a meeting held in connection with the implementation of the recommendations of a sub-committee on education. Dr Kamaljit Singh, DPI (Colleges), and Ms Harcharan Kaur Brar, DPI (Secondary), were part of the sub-group. 

Jalandhar, September 16
Hard work has finally paid off 25 city students who have cleared the prestigious National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), the result of which was declared today. These students, who are now in Plus One, have acquired a distinction of being among the India’s top bright 1000 youngsters in their age group.

These students include eight from Apeejay School, eight from MGN Public School, six from Innocent Hearts School, two from Dayanand Model School and one from Police DAV Public School.

The 25 students are Jagdeep Sehgal, Anmol Behl, Treman Singh Sikand, Tarun Dalia, Harsimar Singh, Tejiswini, Nanda Malhotra and Gaurav Puri from MGN Public School, Sahil Sareen, Sahil Chawla, Dhananjay, Abhishek Saini, Arish Sareen and passouts Rishab Gupta, Anmol Singh and Tanveeer Kaur from Apeejay School, Sahil, Preet Simar, Sarthak, Anirudh, Sidhant and Ayush from Innocent Hearts School, Ashish Uppal from Police DAV Public School, and Ameet Singh, Jatin Joshi from Dayanand Model School.

The candidates had cleared a series of tests before clearing their interviews that were held from July 28 to August 1.

Having finally made through the whole process, the students are now entitled for a scholarship scheme under which they will get some financial assistance in the form of a monthly scholarship and an annual book grant.

These candidates will be given financial assistance up to Ph.D level in social sciences, basic sciences and commerce. Among them those candidates who pursue professional courses like engineering, medicine, management and law, will receive financial assistance up to Master’s degree.

But it has not been an easy task for the candidates to make it to the finals. As the students tell The Tribune, “We had to first appear in a state-level written test in which thousands of students appeared in Punjab alone on November 28 last year. Those who qualified in the test finally appeared for the national-level written test held on May 14.”

The students said that though they did not acquire any special coaching for the purpose, they were imparted an informal training in the school. Jagdeep Sehgal, a Plus One (non-medical) student from MGN Public School, said, “There were questions to test our mental ability and scholastic aptitude, with items from sciences, social sciences and mathematics of the level of Classes IX and X. This was followed by an interview in which I was asked simple questions to judge personality traits.”

The school principals said that they were now preparing their next batch that would appear for the state-level test to be held in November this year, and the national-level test to be held in May next year. 

Phagwara, September 16
The Phagwara police has busted an inter-state gang of cheaters and arrested five persons, including two women, on the charges of cheating a villager Amandip Singh, a resident of Nakodar, on the Phagwara-Jalandhar Highway here today.

The victim, who had lodged his complaint with the Sadar police on Thursday, alleged that the accused had cheated him of Rs 1.50 lakh on the pretext of making the money triple.

Phagwara ASP, Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill, said here today that on a specific information, a police party led by Chaheru police post incharge Sikander Singh, in a special checking near Chaheru village on the Phagwara-Jalandhar Highway, intercepted an Indica car and arrested five members of the gang, including two women.

They were identified as Jaswant Singh, a resident of Nanakmatta locality in Uttaranchal, Amarjit, alias Kaku, a resident of Lambra village in Jalandhar district, Sheetal from Kala Sanghia in Kapurthala district, Manjit Kaur from Jalandhar, and Parkash Kaur, a resident of Uttaranchal.

The ASP claimed that Rs 1 lakh had been recovered from the gang members who were quite active in Punjab and other adjoining states. The kingpin of the gang Pritam Singh and his other accomplice Purshottam Lal, both residents of Uttaranchal, were still at large, added the ASP.

The gang members confessed to have cheated Amarjit Singh, a resident of Ludhiana, of Rs 1.10 lakh, a property dealer of Nakodar of Rs 2 lakh, a petrol pump dealer of Ferozepore of Rs 3.50 lakh, residents of Moga and Nainital of Rs 1 lakh each. Apart from that, they also confessed to have cheated the residents of Nakodar, Nainital, Ganganagar and Batala of around Rs 14 lakh on the pretext of triple their money.