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National Child Labour Projects
Khalsa College celebrates 100 years of academic journey
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Violation of labour laws ‘goes unchecked’
BoB made to pay for errors
Child pampering and discipline
Polluted locality: Health officials submit report
It’s mostly a fall this week
Young World
NRI found dead in house
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National Child Labour Projects
Jalandhar, February 4 Lack of seriousness, inefficient implementation of the project can be gauged from the fact that it has been almost a year since the government released funds to run it. Unfortunately, India has witnessed a substantial increase in the child workforce from 1991 to 2001. As per the last census, there were 12.7 million economically active children in the age group of 5 to 14. They number 30,000 in Jalandhar alone. To rehabilitate the children, the Centre initiated the National Child Labour Scheme in 1988. Such children were identified through surveys, withdrawn from work and sent to special schools opened for them. As many as 27 special schools, with a capacity of 50 each were opened in Jalandhar. The government promised to provide, besides formal education up to the primary level, a stipend of Rs 100 per month, a daily diet of Rs 5, some vocational training and regular health check-ups for the kids. The project went on well for the first couple of years but the grants started dwindling in the years to follow. The situation became so grim that in March 2007, the schools had to shut down for some months owing to the lack of funds. When each school has 50 students, a monthly budget of Rs 6,700 (towards the salary of five employees - a peon, two academic teachers, one vocational teacher and a clerk),
Rs 200 for paying electricity/ water bills and contingency each is required, besides
Rs 10,000 for stationery. First, the grants given were inadequate and secondly, it failed to provide even the basic requirements. “Though it is a good project, funds are not being released regularly, leaving the NGOs in a lurch. We are trying our best to help the needy children but find it very difficult in the absence of government grants. The government gives only Rs 800 per month for accommodation. So, we roped in certain primary schools. After their school hours are over, evening classes are held for these poor kids,” said Mohan Singh Sachdeva, ex-District Governor of the Rotary Club India. He is in charge of six special schools being run in Jalandhar. But it was not solving their problems. The principals of the primary schools were too possessive to lend the required number of classrooms or the available infrastructure, he said. “Though the infrastructure is of no use to them after 3 pm, the school authorities lock the classrooms and toilets. It becomes quite a problem for the girl students and teachers. That’s not all, in some cases, the electric supply is also not provided and the poor children are forced to study in the dark or to sit outside in the open without blackboards,” said one of the teachers, preferring anonymity. The teachers have other grievances too. Compared to their regular counterparts, they get meagre salaries. A teacher employed under the NCLP gets only Rs 1,500, well below the minimum wage set by the state government. “For the past 11 months, we have not received even that. This has forced us to look for other options for a livelihood,” she added. The nutritional component, which was Rs 2.50 per child per day, was doubled in the 10th Plan to Rs 5. “We have heard that the government is planning to hand over the nutrition scheme to the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, which gives a diet of Rs 2.25. It seems more like a formality than a serious attempt to help children,” commented a social activist. The NCLP envisaged awareness campaigns against child labour and enforcement of child labour laws. Regular surveys to check the implementation of the project and health check-ups were to be conducted. There are other issues too. The 27 schools can accommodate only 1,400 children. What about the rest who have just dreamt of schools but haven’t attended any? Those who get a chance are not much lucky either. “What will these kids do after passing Class V? The government should admit them in government schools for free,” added Sachdeva. |
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Khalsa College celebrates 100 years of academic journey
It is this rich legacy of rare literature which stands in the archives of Guru Nanak Dev Library of the local Lyallpur Khalsa College. The college has books issued during the pre-partition days which act as a testimony to the 100-year-long academic journey of this institution from Pakistan to India. A product of the Indian renaissance of the 19th century, which blossomed through the Singh Sabha Movement in Punjab, is all set to celebrate its centenary on February 5 and 6. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would grace the evening on February 6 in a cultural programme “Jashan-e-Shatabdi”, while former students of the college Punjabi singers Malkit Singh and Sarbjit Singh Cheema will regale the gathering.
College Principal Dr Jaspal Singh Randhawa said the college earned the name of being a pioneer in the field of education through its blend of tradition and modernism. “Apart from making significant strides in academics and sports, the college has stood up to the motto of providing education with a missionary spirit and promote Punjabi culture and language,” he added. Sant Attar Singh of Mastuana laid the foundation stone of Khalsa High School, Lyallpur, now known as Faislabad (Pakistan), in 1908. However, at the place now stands Government Municipal Degree College, Faislabad. The school was converted into a college in 1924. The college was reestablished in Jalandhar in 1948 after partition with the support of the Management of Doaba Khalsa High School. Among its alumni who made it to the top slot are Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Lt-Governor of Puducherry Iqbal Singh, Umrao Singh, Balbir Singh, Buta Singh, Malkit Singh, Sarbjit Cheema and Chandni Toor. Bollywood actor Prithvi Raj Kapoor also studied at Khalsa High School, Lyallpur. The college is best known for its Department of Physiotherapy where healthcare facilities are offered at subsidised rates. The institution is also synonymous with excellence in sports. The college recently established a tie-up with the Punjab and Sind Bank Hockey Academy to promote the national game. The management is planning to start an engineering institute and a university in the coming years. Work on the KCL Institute of Management and Technology is on with an estimated cost of Rs 3 crore. The institute affiliated to the PTU would run management courses as per the AICTE norms,” said Governing Council president Balbir Kaur.
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Violation of labour laws ‘goes unchecked’
Jalandhar, February 4 Organiation convener Hari Muni Singh alleged that if a complaint was filed with the Labour Department, instead of looking into the matter and addressing the grievance, the authorities took bribe from the factory concerned and threw the complaint in the dustbin. There was no attendance record of labourers in 90 per cent industrial units in Jalandhar. When they were not registered as workers with a factory, the question of getting incentives didn’t arise, he claimed. “There have been numerous cases where a worker, who went on leave due to health reasons and tried to avail medical benefits after rejoining, was thrown out of the job without any valid reason. Forget about the incentives, the workers don’t even get the minimum wages set by the state government. It is sheer violation of human rights and labour laws,” Singh added. Two months back the committee submitted to the Assistant Commissioner a list of those factories which violated labour laws, but it had not received any reply as yet. Charging the Assistant Labour Commissioner with corruption, Singh said the Joint Action Committee had filed complaints against him with the Punjab government and the Labour Minister. “We have also demanded an enquiry into his work and sought his transfer to some other place. Despite all the requests, we have not got any answer from the government,” Singh said. |
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Labour organisations up in arms
Jalandhar: A joint picket and protest march were organised by seven rural and agricultural labour organisations at Jalandhar and Nakodar to raise voices against anti-people policies of the government and the injustice being meted out to the labour class.
“The labour on whose shoulders lays the burden of development, hitherto belongs to the most deprived section of society. Despite numerous assurances by various political parties and poll promises, the unorganised labour continues to be the worst suffers of industrialisation. Though the government funded schemes like NREGA promises to ensure 100 days of employment, in the absence of it an unemployment allowance, a majority of the needy is either unaware of the proper functioning of the schemes or are not being covered under them,” said Pendu Mazdoor Union district secretary Kashmir Singh Ghugshor. District president of the union Hans Raj Pabhvan said the labourers should be provided with job cards, employment under NREGA, temporary residence at construction sites and toilets at workplace. One should ask the authorities that if the slum dwellers could afford a respectable living why they would spend their lives in dingy, dirty slums, he said. Union president Tarsem Peter condemned the anti-people policies of the government and demanded grants for the construction of houses for the poor. He said, “In these times of rising prices of essential commodities, the poor are finding it almost impossible to make both ends meet. The government should provide domestic gas, flour, pulses and edible oil at cheaper rates to the labourers,” said Peter. — TNS |
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National conference on high energy physics
Jalandhar, February 4 Addressing resource persons Chief Guest, Director General Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala, Dr. RS Khandpur said there is a serious need to co-relate the scientific development progress with employment. He also stressed upon the modernisation of labs for quality research. Dr. Bikash Sinha from Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata, presented his key-note address on ‘The Mini Bang and The Big Bang’. He said under extreme conditions of high hadrons density and high temperature, collision of two nuclei at the large hadron collider is expected to create a new state of matter - Quark Gluon Plasma. “The condition thus created is rather similar to the universe, a microsecond after the big bang”, he added. In his address, Dr. J Pasupathy from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, spoke on ‘Classical Particles to Quantum Strings’. He said the development of physics in the last century has lead us to the Standard Model based on quarks, leptons and gauge fields whose interactions are described using methods of quantum field theory. Dr. BS Acharya, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, presented his paper on ‘The Status of the India-Based Neutrino Observatory’. He said the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) collaboration aims to set up an underground laboratory for neutrino physics and other experiments requiring low background events. Dr. Bindu A. Bambah, University of Hyderabad, presented his paper on Physics of the Big and the Small: Particle Physics and Cosmology. Among other prominent scientists were Dr. CP Singh, Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi, who presented his paper on QCD Phase Boundary and critical point, Dr. Pooja Saxena, University of Delhi, presented her paper on “Improvement in the Performance of Silicon Sensor for Future High Energy Physics Experiments”.
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BoB made to pay for errors
Jalandhar, February 4 In her complaint, Sukhdev Kaur said she, her husband Gurnam Singh and son Sukhjinder Singh had opened a joint account (number 1281) and an individual account (number 5029) with the Bank of Baroda. She alleged that a fraud of amount of Rs 2.99 lakh lying in the individual account was committed by the bank officials. The plaintiff said she had deposited Rs 99,000 on April 29, 2006 and deposited receipt was duly issued by the officials. An amount of Rs 1 lakh on May 24, 2006 and Rs 1 lakh on subsequent date was shown to have been withdrawn by the complainant from the bank where as the amount was never withdrawn. She said she had deposited Rs 3 lakh on May 29, 2005 in her joint account, the receipt of which was duly issued. But she said the amount was not shown to have been deposited in the bank record as it was clear from the statement of account. Similarly, she said that she had not withdrawn Rs 1 lakh on April 24, 2005 and Rs 1 lakh on October 7, 2005 as wrongly shown in the balance sheet supplied to her. There were other withdrawls of Rs 20,000 and Rs 70,000 for which there was no entry in the passbook. The account holder said she had requested the bank officials to maintain up to date record of the account many a times, which they did not do. The bank officials controverted the allegations and resisted the claim. They said a fraud was committed by unscrupulous officials and a huge amount of bank money was misappropriated. “An FIR was lodged and accused was convicted and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment by the criminal court. A notice was displayed on the notice board of the bank inviting account holders to file their claims supported by documents in respect of any amount which may not have been reflected in the passbooks and for which they were in possession of pay-in-slips or counterfoils. |
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Child pampering and discipline
The need to be loved is exceptionally strong in all human beings. From childhood to old age, humans want to be loved by those around them, and the love given to a child is more important than any material good the family can provide. Love - or lack of it - has a profound effect on the life of a child. His mental capabilities, fluency of speech and observations of life are all affected by it. A child who knows he is loved has a great headstart in life:
Bringing up a child is definitely not an easy task as it needs a lot of patience and analysis. On asking a child counsellor whether one should pamper the child or not, she replied, “Why not? The child deserves to be pampered by you. He should feel the love of the parents.” However, she warned that excessive pampering led to spoil children. Pampering does not mean ignoring your child’s mistakes, giving in to every whim or allowing him to take stupid decisions. If your child demands something expensive and you want to buy it, do so, but do tell him how much work went into earning the money to buy it. Even if you are rich, never meet expensive demands without attaching this lesson. Is your child overly
pampered? Parents often pamper their children without realising it as they try to provide them with everything possible. This is especially true with parents of the only child. What they fail to realise is that excessive pampering leads to damage since such kids invariably develop personality problems. Tips to identify a pampered child
One of the most serious personality disorders brought on by excessive pampering is temper tantrums. These do not have any physical or genetic root; they are simply a hallmark of an over-pampered, spoiled child. Sometimes, the parents of such children do not have enough time to spend with them and therefore over compensate with gifts. The parents of an only child invariably fulfil all demands automatically. Love your child without spoiling him
Children need to be taught discipline without being denied the freedom to evolve their individual paths. Above all, they need support and unconditional love to help them develop into happy and confident human beings. A fine balance will make your child a responsible and intelligent person. |
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Making of a Maerikle
Jalandhar, February 4 Debates turned into something more serious in January 2009 and a miracle happened. Director Rahul Joshi was 15 to 20 documentaries old but wanted to think children cinema. Ramnita Saini Sharada had hoards of stories up her sleeve. One worked and “Maerikle” (nope it’s not some new foreign word just a new way to pronounce miracle) was born. A story of four kids and their exploits across a village in search of a miracle. The shooting began at the Bari village in Hoshiarpur (10 km from Talwara) on November 11. Then began the adventures. Joshi was met with opposition from the villagers. “The sarpanch asked me to get permission from the authorities and most of the women thought I would steal their kids (laughs). So the beginning was pretty rough but I did indeed get the permission and kept up efforts to befriend the village folk,” he says. By the end of it, he was “bhaiya” for every kid in the village and “beta” for almost every old woman. He auditioned in the area to shortlist four kids - Guria (Avneet Singh, Jalandhar), Gopu (Gagandeep Singh, Jalandhar), Sanju (Sanjay, Paliri village, Talwara) and Manu (Abhinav, Banbhutaar, Talwara). The rest of the cast and crew came from Jalandhar and surrounding areas. The shooting itself wasn’t without
troubles. Sartaj stayed at the village during the entire duration of the shooting (which ended on December 1). He had a close brush with a barahsingha, his pet dog was killed (by wild animals), nights at the serai were heavily punctuated with strange sounds from the jungle but none of this deterred him. Produced by his own firm, Lens Sense Productions, the film subtly touches the issues like environment preservation and organ donation. Made with the international film fraternity on mind, Rahul plans to take it to various international film festivals. The film is slated to make an entry at the New York International Independent Film Festival and the European Film Festival (Las Vegas) in April. Does he expect awards? “I’m sure, we will win some,” Joshi quips. We say Amen. |
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Polluted locality: Health officials submit report
Jalandhar, February 4 It is pertinent to mention here that residents of the locality were agitating against the pollution-generating industries in the area and on Monday a team of health officials visited the area to ascertain the pollution levels. Talking to The Tribune, District Health Officer Dr Roop Lal said, “We have submitted the report to the departments concerned. The levels of all kinds of pollution are quite high and conditions are not favourable for human living.” On the other hand, a group of industrialists, most of whom are owners of small-scale industries, said that this area was designated as industrial one and resentment of residents was not genuine. “We have ‘no-objection certificates’ and the required approval issued by all the departments concerned and we keep our infrastructure updated,” said Kultar Singh of the Prem Nagar Manufacturers Association. |
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It’s mostly a fall this week
Jalandhar, February 4 Both onion and tomato witnessed a fall in prices. Onion was priced at Rs 23 per kg last week. But his week onion remained at Rs 21 per kg. Tomato also witnessed a decrease of Rs 9 per kg this week. Tomatoes remained at Rs 16 per kg this week as compared to Rs 25 per kg last week. The price of capsicum also came down. Capsicum remained at
Rs 42 per kg last week. However, it also saw decrease of Rs 6 per kg this week, with its prices slashed to Rs 36 per kg this week. Price of radish remained nearly same as that of last week at Rs 8 per kg. Prices of peas and
garlic also witnessed a recognisable fall. Garlic remained at around Rs 100 per kg
this week. Price of garlic was Rs 120 per kg last week. Similarly, peas remained at around Rs 15 per kg this week against Rs 17 per kg of last week. Price of carrot remained the same at around Rs 12
per kg of last week. Prices of ginger remained nearly the same. However, the price of potato witnessed a decrease in Rs 1 per kg. Potato remained at Rs 8 per kg last week. |
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Young World
Jalandhar, February 4 Romantic poetry
The Postgraduate Department of English of the local Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya organised an extension lecture on ‘Life and literature with special reference to romantic poetry’. Sai Kaushal from Kurukshetra University was key speaker who enlightened the students about the direct link between life and literature. He said romantic literature tries to translate the spiritual link between God, man and nature by putting into words. Students honoured
The outstanding students of Kamla Nehru College for Women, Phagwara, were honoured by the government on Republic Day. Anu Bajaj of MA (Economics), Parminder Kaur of MA (Political Science), Pardeep Kaur of BA (Punjabi Honours) were honoured for topping the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, while Manpreet Kaur was awarded for being the Best Player in National Junior Ball Badminton Championship. The Giddha team of the college was honoured with a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 2,000. Farewell party
The students of the local Police DAV Public School bid adieu to the students of class XII. The students presented a colourful cultural programme. A modelling show was presented by the students of XII. Shivangi was adjudged Miss Police DAV while Ambir was declared as Mr Police DAV. Yoga competition
The students of Police DAV Navjot Kaur of class IX and Rohit Basak of class VI represented Punjab in 2nd Lukulish World Yogasana Championship and were instrumental in the victory of the Indian team. The championship was held at Andheri Sports Complex, Mumbai. PM’s guest on R-Day
Kanwal Kochhar, a Class X topper of the local Innocent Hearts Public School, enjoyed the privilege of watching the Republic Day parade from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s box. The boy was there as a guest of the Prime Minister. The certificate of appreciation of the proud achiever reads: “This certificate of appreciation is awarded to Kanwal Kochhar for witnessing the Republic Day parade, 2010, from the Prime Minister’s box at Rajpath, New Delhi, as a guest of the Prime Minister.” |
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NRI found dead in house
Jalandhar, February 4 Janda allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the railing of the stairs last night. He was a former kabbadi player. He used to sponsor sports tournaments like Guru Gobind Singh World Cup. Division 6 SHO Sakkattar Singh said that it looked like a case of suicide. He had two domestic helps who left him after serving dinner and found him dead at 7 am. A case has been registered under section 174 of the IPC. Police officials said that Janda’s friend Hardev Singh revealed that Janda was duped of Rs 7 to 8 crore back in Germany and was upset over the issue. He was supposed to join his family back in Germany in a few days. Janda’s family has been informed about the mishap, the police said.
— TNS |
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Jalandhar, February 4
Jalandhar, February 4
