Mohali, February 23
An alleged scam involving collection of funds by the Mohali District Education Office (DEO) to organise a district-level function to honour government teachers is staring the education department in the face.

The scam was uncovered when certain schools objected to the “forcible” move of the higher authorities to collect funds in a covert manner. The district education officials had reportedly collected lakhs of rupees.

Under the banner of the Sikhya Pratibha Award Committee, SAS Nagar, a body constituted by the education department officials to “squeeze” funds from the teachers, all heads of government schools in the district were asked to arrange funds for the event.

Education Minister Upinderjit Kaur today gave away the awards at a ceremony held at Manav Mangal Smart School in Phase IX here.

When asked about the wrongdoing, the minister said she would inquire into the matter if anyone complains. District Education Officer, Mohali, Niranjan Singh, was not available for comments.

“Since the function was organised at Manav Mangal School, the department did not pay any penny. “Money was spent on buying the awards and souvenirs. Where has rest of the money gone? It should be inquired,” said teachers.

In the past few days, meetings were organised to convey the message of fund collection. School heads were given receipt books for the purpose. In some of the cases, the school heads had to pay from their pocket, as the collection has to be made from individual teachers. “Each and every penny collected from the teachers should be accounted for. It is totally an unethical act on part of the education department. The district education officer should be asked about it,” said some teachers.

Not only the fund collection, the selection criteria for honouring the teachers has also come under scanner. In some cases, teachers with poor track record have been honoured.

Chandigarh, February 23
The UT Estate Office has hit upon a unique idea to check encroachments on the prime commercial land by leasing or renting the space for religious places in city.

If talks in the UT Estate office are to be believed, soon it will be a reality. The estate office is reportedly evolving a process wherein all new religious places and even those existing on illegal premises will have to pay rent/lease amount for the premises.

The move comes following the administration decision to crack a whip against those religious places which were occupying either government land or were on other illegally occupied land.

Also some religious organisations accepted their inability to purchase the land for religious places at the market prices.

While the encroachments in the name of religion are rampant in the city, the administration has been time and again making efforts to keep a tab on them.

With politicians of all hues allegedly patronising encroachments in the name of religion, officials have been facing the uphill task of getting the prime location land worth crores vacated.

There are around 144 religious places in the city to which notices had been issued.

It must be recalled that recently a demolition drive was conducted to remove religious structures around Sukhna Lake. A few days ago, around 10 religious structures were demolished in Sectors 29 and 47. More recently, three illegal religious structures were demolished in Sector 63.

If the proposal gets green light, it would also put an end to the risk involved mostly in removing the illegal religious structures.

It must be recalled that last year, former ADC IS Sandhu and other officials also got hurt while trying to get some encroachments removed at a gurdwara in Sector 38.

Chandigarh, February 23
As Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee presents the Rail Budget tomorrow, there are great expectations among people. A wide spectrum of people Chandigarh Tribune talked to felt that services need to be improved, particularly minimising the delay of trains.

People in the region are generally sore that during the last three rail budgets, not even a single special train has been introduced for Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Many people from Bihar demand a direct Chandigarh-Patna train.

City residents’ biggest demand is having trains linking the city to various metropolitan cities. Ashok Pradhan, an industrialist, stressed the need for the early completion of the Chandigarh-Ludhiana rail link, as the traffic flow on the Chandigarh-Ludhiana road had increased manifold.

Infrastructure at the city railway station calls for immediate attention. Vipan Juneja, a commuter, expects more platforms, fans, water-coolers, adequate seating arrangements, and, of course, proper sanitation, while Sushma Sharma, a passenger, expects more booking and reservation counters in the wake of increasing rush.

He suggested that there should be increased number of the air-conditioned coaches in all trains. Besides, the two-tier AC coaches also need to be increased and the fare needs to be rationalised. He was supported by Gurpreet Singh, who said even the first-class AC seats need to increased and the fare needs to be rationalised. “The first-class AC travel is costlier than air travel,” he pointed out, adding that most of the seats go vacant. Most of the people said the Railways need to ensure that the trains are not delayed unusually. Mahak Juneja observed, “Nobody is sure about the timings of trains in India, while in countries like Japan people set their watches by the arrival and departure of trains.”

Karnail Singh, an ex-serviceman, suggested that the Railways should run dedicated trains for the army personnel. He said earlier there used to be special military compartments in all trains. But these have been done away with, leading to a lot of harassment of soldiers. He said the Railways need to go a long way in improving the services and making the journey comfortable. Rajbeer Kapur maintained that while it is not possible for the Railways Minister to do wonders in her second budget, she can certainly do better this time. “Let us hope that she does not make false and bogus claims like her predecessor, only to be debunked later,” he remarked, hoping that the budget will ensure that the Railways chugs according to modern times and needs.

Chandigarh, February 23
In yet another example of mismanagement in government-run hospitals, vital clinical lab equipment, biochemistry semi-auto analyser, used for various tests, including blood sugar and lipid profile, has been lying defunct for the past several years in the Civil Hospital, Mani Majra, and Community Health Centre, Sector 22, causing undue harassment to patients.

Instead of repairing these machines, the hospital management made temporary arrangements to get the samples tested at the Sector 16 Government Multi-Speciality Hospital. Call it official apathy or red tape, so inherent in government functioning, the temporary arrangement has more or less become permanent as it continues for the past three years.

Things got worse as no annual maintenance contract (AMC) was taken on these machines, sources point out. However, the machines were purchased in 2003.

The staff, which carries the samples from one place to another, said, “It’s a complete waste of time. And as for patients, the results of a test otherwise available the same day are taking much longer, causing unnecessary harassment.”

Sources in the Sector 22 Community Health Centre claim that the hospital administration has been apprised of the problem on numerous occasions but nothing has happened. They admit that patients could be served much better, with reports being given on time, only if the machines are functional. On an average, 20 samples each are collected from the Civil Hospital, Manimajra, and Community Health Centre, Sector 22.

Hospital medical superintendent Dr NK Arora admitted that biochemistry semi-autolyser is non-functional in both centres due to some technical problem, adding that these cannot be rectified and hence the machine need to be replaced. “We are in the process of placing the new order,” he added.

Chandigarh, February 23
In a bid to tighten noose around erring private schools, the UT administration today apprised the CBSE of various loopholes in the functioning of Ajit Karam Singh International Public School (AKSIPS).

Earlier, the CBSE board had disaffiliated Shivalik Public School.

Senior officials said the department had found the school erring on various fronts like the mandatory reserve fund, 15 per cent reservation of seats for the economically weaker section and violation of building.

“They have persistently been violating all norms and despite repeated notices, the school authorities never bothered to rectify or reply. So we were forced to do so. This information will help the CBSE decide whether to continue with its affiliation,” said a senior official.

It may be noted that the board disaffiliated Shivalik Public School in January. Following this the department inspected the school and submitted its report to the CBSE.

After being apprised of the violations, the administration has decided to take stern action against such schools and recommend disaffiliation. According to sources, after AKSIPS, notices have been issued to five other well-known schools. They have been told to rectify their flaws and report to the department at the earliest, failing which they will face similar action.

Meanwhile, the school authorities have expressed sheer ignorance about the fact, as HS Mamik, president, Independent School Association, said, “We have not received any information yet. The administration should use the same yardstick for all schools. It should verify all facts before pointing fingers at us.”

Chandigarh, February 23
Prior to any meeting of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation sub-committee, every chairman should consult the councillors about the important issues that they want to discuss in the meeting for the development of their area. This was decided at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Mayor Anu Chatrath here today.

Chairpersons, vice-chairpersons, members of the finance and contract committee, senior officers and respective member secretaries of sub-committees attended the meeting.

The Mayor advised all the chairmen and member secretaries of the sub-committees to prepare a list of suggestions received from the councillors before holding a monthly meeting so that these could form a part of the agendas. She also stressed the need for proper co-ordination of each department of the MC for smooth execution of the development works. The mayor said the chairpersons of the sub-committee should accompany at least three members of the committee along with officials concerned during site visits.

During the meeting, some members suggested that the authorities should take repairs of V5 and V6 roads, construction of boundary walls around parks to check cattle menace, provisions of paver blocks in the back lanes of hotels, provision of water harvesting in MC buildings, launching of water saving campaigns and appointing of security guards in parks on priority.

Chandigarh, February 23
Despite scattered rain in the city and adjoining areas of Punjab and Haryana today, warm weather will stay at least till the weekend, the Met office said today.

This morning, the city recorded a minimum temperature of 14.6 degrees Celsius, six degrees above the normal, and the minimum dipped by 3.2 degrees C from yesterday’s 11.4.

“Till 8.30 am, the city experienced 0.8 mm of rainfall and there is nothing unusual about it. But the cloud cover will help the minimum temperature to stay above the normal level,” said a Met official.

The official said cloudy weather conditions since Monday afternoon was the main reason behind the mercury jumping to 14.6 degrees Celsius today from 11.4 degrees Celsius recorded yesterday.

Residents in the city feel that this year’s winter is strange with thick fog in mid-December, severe chill and foggy conditions in the month of January and a sudden rise in the maximum temperature during the last couple of days. But, the weathermen termed it as nothing unusual and added that winter was far from over.

“People will experience a cold spell again. The Tuesday morning rain will bring back the chill soon,” an official said.

The weathermen have predicted partly cloudy sky with the possibility of thundery development during the next 24 hours in the city.

Chandigarh, February 23
A committee constituted to look into the copying case of MPhil thesis of a student of the History Department, Panjab University, has recommended the cancellation of the degree of a student. The proposal has been forwarded to the syndicate now, which will discuss the matter on February 27.

According to Item 7 in the Syndicate agenda, the committee, which consisted of the Dean, University Instructions, Dean, faculty arts, Prof Shashi Sharma, Dr Surinder Singh and Controller of Examinations, met on January 8 2010 and decided that either the M.Phil degree should be cancelled or the student should re-submit the dissertation.

The committee constituted also observed that the student had copied most of his dissertation from ‘Haryana portion’ of the PhD thesis of the Dr Premjit Singh, which was submitted in 2007.

The para 52-53 of the Panjab University Act 24 on page 9 of the PU calendar, Volume 1, 2007, was quoted by the committee, which says that if a person who has already got a degree, diploma, etc has been convicted, the title or the mark of honour would be cancelled.

Meanwhile, some fellows pointed out that the committee should have brought to light the name of the Supervisor, as well. “No mention has been made about the Supervisor under whom the dissertation was written, which is absurd, while the student has been penalised,” said a student.

Chandigarh, February 23
The PEC Mess Workers Union along with the Revolutionary Youth Association raised slogans against the PEC management in labour court today. The union members and some student supporters also marched through the campus to mark the protest.

“They are being given the wages strictly as per the stipulated Act, besides this, they are being given perks also but they are adamant,” said a senior PEC official. Manoj Datta, Director, PEC, was unavailable for comment. The PEC management without any dialogue asked for extension of the date.

“We are 132 members and we want a 25 per cent hike on our minimum wages and 15 per cent increment on the bonuses. The administration agreed to give us the minimum wages set by the government in 1998. But now we are not being given the benefits of the Fifth and the Sixth Pay Commission. The prices of sugar have soared from Rs 20 to Rs 50 per kg and our pay is just Rs 3,500. How do we sustain our families?” said Ashwani Kumar, general secretary, Mess Union.

“We are being asked to work from 7 am till 9 pm. It totals to 14 hours and it is not human. Moreover, they have even reduced our casual leave from 20 days to 10 days. It is like a dictatorship that is working on the campus. The authorities have their personal parties and they expect us to work,” said Harish Kumar, mess employee.

Since all messes in the campus have not been operating, do the students go without food? The management has deployed staff at the mess with food from outside. But at the Kurukshetra hostel only 12 students came in to have breakfast says the deployed mess staff.

“I feel the strike is justified. Most of us are managing the food from somewhere in the market,” said Riddhima Dutta and Ansuya Ahluwalia, from Vindhya hostel.

“I even went with the union for the protest march. How can you expect any person to survive on meagre wages? To support them we have decided not to eat at the mess, “ said Sabir Ali, from Kurukshetra hostel.

Vivek Singh and his friend Nitin Kumar said, “We ate at the student center today. If the strike continues, we’ll see what to do. But we as far as I know no one in the hostel are crying for food. We see that the mess workers are fighting for their rights and we are willing to cooperate.”

In between all this chaos the food shops in the PEC market are earning good business. Kartik Sood of Combo, a food joint, said, “I think there is an increase up to 10-20 per cent in the sales.”

Chandigarh, February 23
The Readers and Writers programme organised an interaction with Dr Sawaraj Singh today. Singh, an author, has penned 20 books. His main concern is that the western perspective of events is dominant till date. Even now the eastern perspective has to be screamed in order to be heard.

He coined the term multi-polar world. The Presidents of America, Russia and China are now using this term. The world was bi-polar with two super powers - America and the Soviet Union. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world became uni-polar with the only super power, the USA. At that time it was said the uni-polar world order would not last long and would soon be replaced by the emerging multi-polar world order, which will have different lower centres.

China, the European Union and Asia have emerged as new centres of power. While South America and South Asia are in the process of growing as powers. The South Asia alliance has potential because the countries have a common value system and they can thus work together successfully. Also the South Asian countries have the advantage of following the footsteps of the European Union.

Though India is currently among the 10 poorest countries of the world, now it is time for it to rise, he said.

Chandigarh, February 23
The two-day UGC sponsored seminar “Assertion of Regions: Exploring the Demand for New States” organised by the department of political science, Panjab University, concluded here today.

Prof Sudha Pai, Jawaharlal Nehru University, delivered the valedictory address.

In her address, Prof Pai, began with the historical background of the formation of states in India and then went on to look at the current demands. She also reflected on the deliberations at the seminar in the last two days. In the first session, Prof Ronki Ram questioned the use of the term “region” in the area of Indian politics generally and state politics specifically. Dr Ajay Gudavarthy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, presented a conceptual framework to make sense of the demand for new states in India. Dr Jagpal Singh, IGNOU examined the issue of the demand for Bundelkhand.

The second session focused on the experience of the new states that had been formed in 2000. Dr Amit Prakash, JNU, looked at the experience of Jharkhand. Dr Pampa Mukherjee presented her findings on her study of Uttarakhand. Dr Dharmendra focused on Chhattisgarh.

In the last session, Prof Surya Prakash, PU, presented a conceptual paper on the emerging demands for new states in the light of the historical developments and contemporary scenario. Dr Chander Nagar, Garhwal University, Srinagar, examined the ideology of the Uttarkhand Kranti Dal, one of the front-runners in the demand for the formation of the new state of Uttrakhand. In the final paper, Dhananjai, JNU, looked at the shifting bases of the demand for new states. Students, research scholars and faculty from various departments and colleges around Chandigarh participated in the deliberations.

Chandigarh, February 23
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed the ICICI Home Finance to pay Rs 30,000 compensation to Shashi Kala Gupta, a resident of Panchkula, for adopting unfair trade practice.

In her complaint, Gupta alleged that she took a loan of Rs 1.10 crore against her house from the ICICI Home Finance. It was sanctioned on December 12, 2005, for 10 years, repayable in monthly instalments of Rs 1,39,344 from February 1, 2006, at variable interest rate of PLR plus 0.25 per cent. She had paid the entire loan regularly till it was fully paid in February 2009.

During May 2007 to November 2007, she prepaid a part of the loan amount of Rs 80 lakh whereupon she was sent repayment schedule of 31 days to 50 days between the dates when the cheques were cleared from her bank and the date when the company gave credit for pre-payment. On calculation as per the repayment schedule, it was found that the company charged Rs 1,15,228 extra as interest by not crediting her account timely and by delaying the credit.

The complainant affirmed that in response to the letter dated December 27, 2008, issued by the company, she sent a cheque for Rs 1,14,733 along with her reply dated January 5, 2009. Thereafter, the pre-EMI schedule dated February 26, 2009, was issued by the company and as per which she got a credit of Rs 23,545 only from the company and was paid Rs 1,116 less. The matter was brought to the company’s notice and even a legal notice was served on them for refunding the amount of Rs 1,41,100, but in spite of that, her account was not settled.

In its reply, the finance company admitted the grant of loan and repayment thereof by the complainant in its reply. It stated that the credit into the account of complainant was given correctly and denied that any extra amount was charged from the complainant.

After hearing the arguments, the forum, headed by Jagroop Singh Mahal, asked the company to draw the statement of accounts and make the payment of the excess amount charged from the complainant along with the credit of part pre-payments.

Mohali, February 23
As many as 45 students were honoured at the 12th annual prize distribution function organised by the Environment Protection Society at Lawarence Public Senior Secondary School here today.

SR Chaudhuri, president of the society, said about 433 students from 12 schools had participated in the essay writing and painting competition on various topics related to environment as part of the National Environment Awareness Campaign 2009-2010.

Results:

Painting: Anjli Bajaj (Guru Nanak Foundation Public School, Chhappar Chiri) 1, Rubal Singh (Doon International, Sector 69) 2 and Ranjita (Gem Public School, Phase III B 2 ) 3. Essay writing (senior group): Simran Kaur (Shivalik Public School, Phase VI) 1, V Sruthi (St Soldier International Convent School) 2 and Sandeep Singh Punia (Paragon Senior Secondary School, Sector 71) 3.

Essay writing (junior group): Bikramjit Singh (Swami Ram Tirtha Public School, Phase IV) 1, Twinkle Aggarwal (Gem Public School, Phase III B-2) 2 and Akshdeep Kaur (St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 71) 3.

The award for the best essay was given to Priyanka Goyal of Shivalik Public School, Phase VI.