Jalandhar, January 10
The demolition drive which is being carried out by the municipal corporation authorities for the past more than a month has perhaps become the longest and the most effective of the lot.

Even today, MC men were busy operating JCB machines as they removed temporary and permanent encroachments in Rainak Bazaar, Sheikhan Bazaar and the market near Gopal Nagar. The ramps were broken and shops, with illegal extensions in the front portions, partly demolished.

As a result, the market areas have all of a sudden started looking wider and spacious. A very few roadside vendors are seen and those too in the evening after the day-long operations are over. The regularity of work in this direction has brought cheers to commuters and visitors to the market areas who wish that consistent efforts must go on.

Further relieving the commoners, MC commissioner C.S. Talwar today held a meeting with the representatives of hotels in his office, asking them to create their own parking areas within their compounds rather than using the corporation area for the purpose.

In good sense, he told them, “Money power is not above the rule of law. You all have been served notices and you must comply. I am happy that some of you have already started making efforts in this direction. I want the rest also to reform before we actually pursue any further action.”

Talwar said all big hoteliers, including Radisson, Leo Fort and Kamal Palace, had been called for the meeting.

The commissioner said his next line of action was to implement the resolution passed recently, declaring three roads as no-parking zones. “Action is likely to commence tomorrow or within a few days,” he said.

The first road is the GT Road, Company Bagh to Namdev Chowk to railway crossing, near Sadar police station. The second road is from Bhagwan Mahavir Marg to HMV College Chowk (Gurdwara Oxford Hospital, Tagore Hospital and BBC Heart Care not included). The third passage is from Namdev Chowk to Sky Lark, Masand Chowk to Geeta Mandir (religious places not included). 

Jalandhar, January 10
A resident of Talhan village, near Jalandhar, Harbans Kaur (50) is a classic example of women empowerment. She also plays a doting father to her two daughters. An illiterate Harbans Kaur, after being deserted by her husband nine years ago, turned to football stitching at the village centre, thus transforming herself into a skilled worker from a housewife.

This rural woman not only sustained the socio-economic pressures all these years but also equally helped her daughters to study up to class XII, before the latter joined their mother in stitching footballs to generate extra money for the family.

This is not the only case. Football stitching has become a vocation which unites a large number of rural women of this village. A fruitful way of livelihood through which these women feel self-motivated and make both ends meet.

Aided with requisite skills, as many as 73 women of the village come to the centre to stitch footballs daily. Sewing one football fetches Rs 18 to Rs 22, depending upon the quality of the material used. They stitch three to four footballs in a day, which are exported primarily to European countries.

The football manufacturing companies daily supply raw material (fine cut pieces) through one of their suppliers, who also teaches them the art of stitching footballs. The rural women are provided two to three (18 to 32 pieces) footballs daily, which they stitch between 12 noon and 6 pm.

“It has been nine years since I have been stitching footballs here. Earlier I used to look for work in the fields as a daily wager but then somebody told me about the centre. After that it has been a long and continuous journey. I am happy that I managed to educate my both daughters and at present they are supporting me financially,” said Harbans Kaur.

Though girls below 18 years are barred from stitching, many girls come along with their mothers to help support their families. “Earlier I used to sit idle at home but I started coming to the centre with my mother about two years ago. At present I am earning Rs 2,000 per month. I feel happy that I am contributing something to my family’s income,”  says Rajvir Kumari, daughter of Harbans Kaur.

Puts in 38-year-old Manjeet Kaur and mother of four, “As my husband is also a daily wager it was difficult for me to make both ends meet but ever since I joined this centre, the financial condition of my family has improved. At least I am able to send my children to school now.”

But stitching football is not an easy task as it requires approximately three hours of work as well as the required skill too. Admits 18-year-old Reena, a class X pass ut, who joined the centre six months back.“In the beginning I could stitch only one football a day but gradually I picked up speed. Now I can stitch up to three 
footballs easily.”

Madan Lal, a supplier and representative of a leading firm,said, “I regularly visit the centre and bring raw material for manufacturing 200 hand-made footballs. Apart from this, children of these women are provided free tuition as well. “The factory owners have specially arranged for two government school teachers from the village for this purpose. This initiative has virtually helped nearly 70 children belonging to poor families perform well in their education,” he added.

Jalandhar, January 10
This is a special school for ordinary children, fighting poverty and abuse. The place provides a learning opportunity to those who did not get a chance to go to regular schools. The reason may be financial constraints or time schedule. But the children from slums who study here are a happy lot. For, hope floats for them in this school.

Free Coeducational Mission School, run by Kavita Singh under the Educational Welfare Mission, an NGO, is a school which does make a difference to children living in slums.

Started in December, 1999, with just eight students, Kavita never thought that one day she would have the responsibility of 270 students.

Being run in shops constructed under the stairs of the cricket stadium in Burlton Park, the school is run with the help of donations and contributions.

No fee is charged from the students and they are given books and clothes, all free of cost.

But now the students are studying with a fear in their mind. The school can be closed any day as the area where it is being run belongs to the municipal corporation and not owned or rented by them.

Talking to The Tribune, Kavita said, “The NGO is working for a noble cause and does not have enough resources to buy a piece of land and to construct a school on it. In fact, we are occupying just a few shops and rest of them are with the MC.

These shops which are being used to run the school had been lying vacant for so many years. Why didn’t MC put these shops to use earlier?”

“Now if the school is closed what would happen to the future of these children? The children studying in higher classes work in the morning and then whenever they get free from their work they come to the school. This opportunity is not provided in other schools. If they ask us to shift to some other place, these children, who do not have enough resources to travel, will be deprived of education. Above all, what about the girl students as it was very tough to persuade their parents to send them to school and now if the school is closed they will again be lost in darkness with no opportunity to grow,” said Kavita and her daughter Disha.

Meanwhile, MC commissioner C.S. Talwar said, “The area has been encroached upon by the NGO. Kavita did file a petition in the high court last year but they lost the case. It was just on humanitarian basis that the MC has allowed them to be there and on their request we have permitted them to be there till March 31. However, the decision has yet to be taken. We plan to give these shops on rent to generate revenue.”

“Besides, if the NGO needs space, it can write applications to the departments like PUDA, improvement trust, etc and ask them for land on lease,” he added.

Jalandhar, January 10
The anti-fraud cell of the railways arrested Manoj Kumar for allegedly running an unauthorised railway ticket booking centre at the railway road here on Wednesday.

The railway police along with a four-member team from Baroda House, New Delhi, seized 111 tickets, out of which 84 were cancelled and 27 reserved. These tickets amounted to Rs 48, 432 and Rs 19, 319, respectively.

An FIR under section 179 of the Railway Act has been registered against him. The team also seized 67 slips and four filled reservation forms. — TNS

Jalandhar, January 10
Vineeta Singh, a student of class XI of Police DAV Public School, and teacher Rupinder Singh participated in Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS), a 10-day exchange programme. They spent four days in Tokyo and rest of the days at Ehime Prefecture. The group visited the National Assembly, Imperial Palace, Orange, Budhist Temples and Coke factory.

They stayed with a host family to get a first-hand experience of the Japanese family system.

Jalandhar, January 10
Reliance Communications and Yahoo! India has come together to offer Yahoo! OneSearch, Yahoo’s leading mobile search product, to Reliance mobile users across India.

Krishna Durbha, head - sales and marketing, applications, solutions and content group, Reliance communications said through Yahoo! OneSearch, Reliance mobile users will be able to access news, financial information, and weather conditions, flight status information and flicker photos.

Also available to the users are local search, web images, websites, mobile websites, Yahoo! answers and Wikipedia on Reliance Mobile World for handsets that are powered by WAP, Java and Brew.

Yahoo! oneSearch delivers a search experience specifically designed for the mobile phone by delivering relevant results and instant answers in a user-friendly interface, anytime, anywhere without requiring PCs connected to the internet, he added.