Jalandhar, March 7
Like all other schemes the Social Welfare Department’s Shagun Scheme in Jalandhar is also hanging fire due to the much-cited reason of a financial crunch.

Nearly 2,900 beneficiaries of the scheme in the district are still awaiting the amount to be disbursed by the department. It is learnt that 2,965 cases of people who applied for the benefit of the Shagun Scheme between March 2009 and January 2010 are still pending and are to be cleared.

As per sources, the district authorities had sent an estimate of Rs 4.44 crore to the state authorities.

However, the amount is yet to be received by the district authorities.

“It is true that beneficiaries have been waiting for their money for the last few months. However, we at the district level and are unable to do anything, as the money has to be arranged for only by higher authorities. We have sent our demands to the authorities. There is no delay on our part,” said District Welfare Officer Rajinder Singh. In addition to this, 2,083 beneficiaries applied during December 2006 to March 2007 and have also been waiting for the amount for the last four years.

However, nobody in the office was able to specify the exact reason behind the long delay.

This scheme was aimed at giving a benefit of Rs 15,000 to girls belonging to Scheduled Caste families at the time of marriage. However, the prevalent view in the Dalit section is that non-payment of benefits is not due to the financial crunch but owing to the negative approach of the government towards Dalits.

“Money meant for such schemes usually remains locked in the accounts of the government. It is due to the same reason that nearly all welfare schemes for Dalits are lying defunct,” said Satnam Singh Kainth, president of the Bahujan Samaj Morcha.

Amritsar, March 7
Education is still a distant dream for children belonging to rural strata and they constitute about 60 per cent of the total population in India, said Prof A.S. Brar, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, during a scholarship grant function held in the university campus today.

As many as 46 students of the university, who faired well in a written test, were awarded scholarships by the Nishkam Sikh Welfare Council of Guru Nanak Dev University branch.

“The bitter side of the truth is that the constantly widening gap between the rural and urban segment has belied the claims of the government as well as various NGOs. Consequently, the rural students are more deprived of education facilities and infrastructure as compared to their urban counterparts,” said the VC.

The university recently gave a fee concession to 510 students and soon would start some vocational courses to make students self-dependent.

The VC said the university, in its continuous endeavour for deprived students, has proposed with the government regarding IIT entrance test training of 50 to 100 students from rural background with family income less than Rs 2 lakh.

“With this move, the maximum students from rural background would be attracted to join institutions of higher learning of the country,” he said.

Elaborating other initiatives, the VC said the university would also start personality development course for all the students of the university except management students. 

Jalandhar, March 7
To raise charity for the deprived members of society, the CT Group of Institutions today organised its third CT half marathon this morning.Youngsters and students had reached the venue early in the morning to catch the glimpse of Punjabi singer Gurdas Maan and Manmohan Waris who flagged off the race from CT Shahpur campus at 6.30 am. Elderly people also participated in run.

The funds collected from the marathon would be distributed among Pingalwara, the Red Cross, Apahij Ashram and other NGOs. Manhar Arora, director, corporate relations and placements of the institute, said, “We collected approximately Rs 5 lakh which would be soon forwarded to the respective organisations for development works.”

The marathon culminated at the CT Maqsudan campus after passing through Dulhan Palace, Urban Estate, Cool Road, Aggarwal Dhaba, Masand Chowk, Guru Nanak Mission Chowk, Nakodar Chowk, Football Chowk, Workshop Chowk, DAV College and the CT Group of Institutions.

The organisers had made adequate arrangements for energy drinks, water, fruits and medical assistance for the runners. Policemen had been deputed at various points.

Meanwhile, a race for the special children from Prayas School was also held at CT Public School, Maqsudan. The participants were given prizes and certificate.

Results: Men - Ramesh More (first, Rs 21,000), Tejinder (second, Rs 11,000) and Joginder (third, Rs 5,100); women - Amanjit Kaur (first, Rs 21,000), Gagandeep Kaur (second, Rs 11,000) and Ishwarhjot (third, Rs 5,100). Consolation prizes of Rs 1,100 each were given to seven runners in both men and women categories.