Amritsar, November 19
Pointing out lapse on the part of the district administration, the District Education Officer (DEO), Secondary, Surjit Singh, said the schools in the district had totally ignored the Right to Education (RTE) for all.

It is pertinent to note that the notification of the Punjab Government specifically quoted that no capitation fee would be charged by any private school of the state and no screening test would be taken before admitting a child in the school. The directions also clearly state that no teachers would be allowed to take private tuitions and no student should be given corporal punishment.

DEO Surjit Singh rued that it was a matter of grave concern that hardly any school in the district has been following these directions because of lack of any concrete policy matters initiated by the district administration to implement them.

“I have also brought it to the notice of Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, KS Pannu, to make sure that the parents don’t face the ‘autocratic’ attitude of the managements of the private schools,” he said while adding that the notification also recommended that the education up to middle level should reach each and every home.

“It has been observed that the private school have more or less become ‘business houses’. There is no uniform fee structure. “Taking advantage of this leniency, the school managements ask for hefty donations from the parents before giving admission to their wards,” he added.

Nevertheless, the Punjab Government directions also demanded that no child should be detained up to the middle level examination and certification has to be granted after evaluating the overall performance of the child, which included his achievements in extra curricular activities too.

Showing concern about the limitations prevailing in the government school infrastructure, the DEO said though the government initiated to introduce several projects, due to poor infrastructure and study methodology, the parents too had been left with little option but to fall pray to cruel private school managements.

“The need of the hour is to make the maximum utilisation of government school infrastructure and making the study methodology more efficient. Then and then only the mindset of parents would change and they would be able to make full utilisation of government oriented schemes, specially designed for the students”, he said.

There are 90 secondary, 105 high, 147 middle standard schools in the district, which have been catering to as many as 97,000 students up to Class XII level. The state government has made provision for free education up to middle level, besides mid day meal, free books and other scholarship schemes.

The DEO also informed about the forthcoming national school games to be hosted by the district and scheduled to be held from November 27 to December 2. “We would be hosting events under the age group of u-14, 17, 19 categories in the disciplines of hockey, handball, softball, dodgeball and kho-kho. We have started chalking out the programmes for boarding and lodging of hundreds of students, to be turning up from different states”, he said.

Amritsar, November 19
Levelling serious allegations against the local civic administration, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) member Harpal Singh Bhatia alleged that gross misappropriation of funds has been committed by the authorities in the garb of overall development of the Amritsar city.

Citing the solid waste management project, he reiterated that the Municipal Corporation officials have overlooked stipulated norms to favour certain private agencies. “I have documentary evidences which speak that rules were twisted while allotting work to these companies,” he said.

While showing documents of a probe conducted for various developmental projects of the city, by the Chief Vigilance Officer on the recommendation of Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, Bhatia said despite finding irregularities to the tune of Rs 100 crore committed by MC officials, no action has been taken yet.

On the other hand, MC Commissioner DPS Kharbanda clarified that all the work given then has been scrapped by the government a year ago and new procedure under the cluster basis has been adopted as per Government of India’s instructions.

“All development works have now been initiated simultaneously with areas falling in Ajnala, Gumtala, Ramdass, Batala and Beas etc. Moreover, the matter under question is being scrutinised by the court and decision in this respect is being awaited,” he said.

Amritsar, November 19
Abhinav… Abhinav… Abhinav! The DAV Public School campus was filled with this name as soon as he entered the school gate.His school mates along with Principal Neera Sharma warmly received Abhinav Dudeja, who came back with a silver medal in individual category at the 56th National Swimming Championships, held at Solapur in Maharashtra.

He won a silver in 100 m backstroke in the under-17 category which saw a participation of more than 500 swimmers from all over India in his category while nearly 5,000 swimmers took part in other swimming events.

Just a few months prior to this, Abhinav had won 2 medals at “CBSE Nationals” held in Jaipur with one gold in 50mts backstroke and a silver in 100mts backstroke.

It would not be exaggerated to say that sports runs in the Dudeja family. Abhinav’s grandfather was a table tennis state champion in 1950s and his father Ajay Dudeja remained an unbeatable inter-university marathon champ for four years. His elder brother Raghav Dudeja (19) has been a national-level swimming champion.

His coach Rajinder Kumar Lovely said Abhinav had rare talent of speed, precision and consistency. “This is the combination of requisite ingredients required to be a champ, and he has got them. Another plus point in him is that he intends to grasp instantly. Whenever I point out his mistakes he makes a concerted effort to improve. That is his most positive point. Therefore, as a teacher my interest in him grows at all times”.

While acknowledging his success humbly, Abhinav said he intended to be an Olympic champion to bring Amritsar on the global map. “Though Guru ki nagri has its own significance but it would be my humble tribute to the city if I could able to put the name of the holy city on the Olympics records”, said Abinav confidently.

Though his dreams are big and he finds inadequate aquatic infrastructure in the city. He lamented that the city has not established a single ‘all-weather pool’ for practice in the chilly winter months.

“With just 5 month’s practice in normal pool, I afraid that my dream of bringing Olympics medal might not get shattered, “ he reiterated while adding, “But I have heard that the Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu is very enterprising officer. I have decided to bring this shortcoming to his notice. He can be of great help for sportspersons like me”.

It is to mention that a city like Sangrur has three indoor pools and has produced top swimming champions. “I have observed that the swimmers from Maharashtra, Gujarat or Kerala has only one advantage that their respective governments have provided them with sufficient infrastructure otherwise, our (Punjabi) built is stronger than them,” he told.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Abhinav won five medals, including three golds and two silvers, and set two new records at the “Engg Gurcharan Singh Memorial-Open State Swimming Championships” held at Ropar.

Last year, Abhinav had won 5 golds and set 2-new National records in the "34th Junior Punjab Swimming Championships" held in Ludhiana where he was declared "Best Swimmer".

The same year in June he secured the 6th position in 50 m backstroke at the "43rd International Children's Games held in Athens, Greece".

He had also set a new record in CBSE National Swimming Tournament in 2008 in Vadodara (Gujarat) winning 12 medals in various categories of swimming.

Amritsar, November 19
Stigma associated with epilepsy and lack of awareness about its possible treatment is putting the life of many epilepsy patients in danger as people often avoid visiting qualified doctors and instead prefer to go to quacks for treatment, Dr Rajneesh Sharma, Head of the Department of Neurology, Government Medical College and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

On the occasion of World Epilepsy Day, Dr Rajneesh Sharma said at present, 50 million people suffer from the disease and majority of them are in developing countries. “India has an estimated 10 million patients and the fact that about 2.4 million cases of epilepsy are added to the list every year in the world - the number is pegged at one million in India - is a matter of serious concern.”

He said experts think that the government should launch a massive awareness programme to make people aware about the various aspects of the disease and its treatment.

He pointed out that sometimes due to ignorance, people make the patient smell onions or dirty shoes since they believe that it would terminate the epileptic seizure, instead of providing any first aid measure.

They sometimes pour water in the mouth of the patient during seizure, which could enter the respiratory system, leading to serious complications, he added.

“Nothing should be placed in the patient’s mouth and he should be made as comfortable as possible,” said Dr Sharma.

Epilepsy is a neurological problem and should be treated by expert neurophysicians and epileptologists, he added.

Meanwhile, a free check up camp was organised at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, in which more than 100 patients were provided consultation and medicine to mark the day. Dr Sharma said the camp was part of the programme to provide awareness about various aspects of epilepsy to the general public.

Dr Rajneesh Sharma said about 70 per cent epilepsy patients can be successfully treated with anti-epileptic drugs, while after 2-5 years of successful treatment, drugs can be withdrawn in 60-70 per cent of the cases.

Amritsar, November 19
Tan Takia, written by Shiromani Kavi Parminderjeet, and Supna, Sheesha, Lehar, the first poetry book of Dr Vikramjit, were released at a special function organised by Akhar Kav Kabila in association with the Virsa Vihar society here.

The two books were released by Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu, along with famous Punjabi critic Dr Satinder Singh Noor, Dr Mohanjit and Ajaib Singh Hundal.

Expressing his views on Parminderjit’s creation, Dr Noor pointed out that the poet had beautifully used signs in his creation. Relationships serve as the central points in these books and only responsible persons, who understand the intensity of human relations, can do justice to such a magnificent book.

While appreciating the efforts of Dr Vikramjit, he said, “He starts from truth and that is his strength.”

Dr Mohanjit, famous literary personality, while speaking on the occasion, said Dr Vikramjit is an emotional person and that depicted in his book.

Amritsar, November 19
The Postgraduate Department of Economics, DAV College, Amritsar, launched a lecture series on Indian economy, which was inaugurated by Principal Dr K.N. Kaul.While elaborating the purpose of the said lecture series, Principal Kaul said it would broaden the horizons of the faculty members as well as students.

The first lecture of the series was delivered by H.S. Walia, Associate Professor, DAV College, Amritsar, on the topic ‘India Shining - Some Pointers Towards Reality’.

Prof Walia said there was no doubt that Indian economy had witnessed an impressive growth in the recent years.

The growth rate in the 11th plan is likely to be above 8 per cent and India is the second fastest growing economy in the world after China, but the growth has not been ‘inclusive’ as fruits of growth have not trickled down to the poor people or masses. Poverty, inequality, unemployment and hunger loom large in India despite six decades of planned development. Citing latest UNDP Human Development Report-2010, Prof Walia stated India ranks 119th among 169 countries studied to compare the development of human resources.

“Thus India falls in lower strata of countries with medium human development as far as the Human Development Index is concerned.” The Human Development Index is a composite index which measures the growth in education and health related indicators along with income.

The components of index include life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate, combined gross enrolment ratio in all segments of education, income.

In terms of all these indicators, India ranks below even the countries like China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Namibia, Maldives, Tajikistan and Vietnam. He added that the extent of inequalities make the HDI even lower by 30 per cent. There are acute inter-regional, inter-caste, inter-religious groups and gender related inequalities. World Hunger Index (2010) shows that the India ranks 67th out of 84 countries studied, pointing out that there are alarming levels of hunger.

The report reveals that 22 per cent of India population is undernourished, 43.5 per cent of children below 5 years are under weight. Moreover, gender inequalities lead to multiple deprivations of females in the society.

“All these facts make the shining growth story of India, a dismal one. So, in order to make the growth story ‘self-sustained’ and ‘inclusive’, there is an urgent need to set right the ‘Lop sided’ and ‘Rootles growth’. This needs frontal attack on poverty, inequality and un-employment and also more allocation of resources to the social sectors like Education and Health,” he said.

Amritsar, November 19
The first war of Independence - Kuka Lehar - was started in April 12, 1857, from Behani Sahib.Kuka Lehar was a movement against the Britishers, for the freedom of the country.

These views were expressed by Harvendra Singh Hanspal, president, Namdhari Darbar and Member, National Commission for Minorities, while speaking at the day-long symposium on the biographical writings on Namdhari Guru Ram Singh.

This symposium was organised by Namdhari Guru Ram Chair of the Guru Nanak Dev University, in the conference hall of the Guru Nanak Bhawan.

Prof AS Brar, Vice-Chancellor presided over.

Dr Joginder Singh, convenor of the symposium, welcomed the chief guest and other participants.

Prof Piara Singh Bhogal and Prof Paramjit Singh Judge, Suwaran Singh Virk, Prof Parminder Singh, Atma Ram, Swaran Singh Snehi and Prabdiyal Singh Randhawa also presented their views on the occasion.

Haspal said Kuka Lehar is a part of history and it can’t be separated from Sikh History. He said only anti-Sikh elements differentiate between Kuka Lehar and Sikhs. He said it is the need of hour to unite together to strengthen Sikhism.

Prof Brar said the contribution of Namdharis in the freedom struggle and social reforms is commendable.

He said the Kuka Lehar is a movement of the common man, which is still needed.

He exhorted Namdhari Chair to translate literature written in English into Punjabi. Dr Harish Chander Sharma from the History department and professor in charge, public relations, proposed a vote of thanks.