Bathinda, February 20
The setting up of the Central University of Punjab in Bathinda has been a matter of pride for the state. But the prestigious institute has had its share of roadblocks which it is earnestly striving to overcome. A part of the development thrust for the region, the university has, at times, hindered by the problems that have plagued the region.

The decades-old image as a backward region coupled with the high level of air and water pollutions are proving to be major roadblocks that the university has been encountering.

The problem is so severe that the university authorities are finding it tough to convince highly-qualified staff to join the university.

Admitting the fact, Vice-chancellor of the university Dr Jai Rup Singh Gill said the university had planned to introduce seven new courses in the academic session 2010-11 but due to the non-availability of deserving faculty, none of the courses could be started.

Besides offering handsome salaries, the university provides a furnished transit accommodation to the new faculty members free of cost for the first three months so that they do not face any problem in finding a suitable accommodation. Despite this, most eminent educationists hesitate to come here, rued the Vice-chancellor.

It has been informed that against the total sanctioned posts of 66 teaching faculty members, the university has only 14 at present.

The VC further said, “It is not that the university lacks infrastructure or facility but there are a number of roadblocks prevailing in region as well as the system, which hamper our move.”

Gill cited the backward image of the city, pollution, health concerns, absence of fast connectivity, poor basic infrastructure and unavailability of trained and skilled personnel in all fields as the major reasons behind the unwillingness of people to move to Bathinda.

“Whenever media reports about the pollution and cancer in the region, people get afraid and show reluctance to join here,” he added.

The VC also blamed the lack of political commitment to cleanse the system as the reason for the blemished face of the region.

Narrating the origin of the university, Dr Gill recalled that the university started its functioning from a camp office in April 2009, which happened to be his residence. In November 2009, it shifted to its city campus — the closed Bacospin mill spread over 35 acres.

The Punjab government had acquired about 562 acres of land at the ancestral village of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal — Ghudda (Bathinda) — to set up the main campus of the university on 500 acres of the land but the land has still not been transferred to the university.

Well-equipped with an air-conditioned library, which has a range of 3,000 books and subscribes to various international and national journals and thousands of e-journals, the university is at present functioning from its transit campus located on the outskirts of the city.

The best part of the university is the nominal fee structure and fellowships and contingency grants to all students joining the M.Phil.-Ph.D. integrated programme. The university follows the semester system with complete internal evaluation and continuous assessment.

The university, at present, has a total strength of 45 students and offers courses in four schools. The university authorities are in the process of starting seven more courses in the coming session.

Mansa, February 20
The patron of the Nanhi Chhaan Foundation and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal today announced that she would impress upon the state government to set up at least one degree college for girls in every constituency of Punjab to open avenues of education.

Addressing an impressive all-women first district level conference, organised at the Nehru Memorial College here, she said education alone could get women equal rights in society. Citing the examples of brave women like Rani Laxmi Bai and Mai Bhago, she motivated thousands of women attending the conference to stand up for their rights and protect their identity in society. “Until and unless women say a big no to the social evils of dowry and female foeticide, they cannot achieve the goal of gender equality in the country,” she said, adding: “Nanhi Chhaan mission has made a beginning in society to bring about attitudinal change amongst people regarding their preference for the male child. Now, I am happy that this message was percolating down to the remote villages of Punjab.”

Announcing a state-wide programme, Harsimrat said the Nanhi Chhaan Foundation would organise an all-women rally in every district of the state to take across this message to every women of Punjab.

Besides promising to impress upon CM Parkash Singh Badal to sanction additional colleges so that each constituency should have one girls’ college, the MP announced that she would represent the womenfolk to make the government introduce new welfare schemes and implement the already announced schemes like pensions, lavatory at each house, school buses for girls etc. She distributed saplings to the participants of the conference to plant them in their respective villages with a vow to protect the girl child as well as nurture the plant throughout their life.

Faridkot MP Paramjit Kaur Gulshan and State Information Commissioner Jaspal Kaur Bhunder also addressed the gathering.

Edu dept officials fail to keep promise

The event left a number of girls dejected as they were invited to the venue with the promise of getting bicycles from Harsimrat Badal but had to return empty-handed. Officials of the District Education Department called the girls in the morning and asked them to ride the bicycles to the venue where they had planned to formally hand over the keys of the bicycles to the girls through Harsimrat. However, due to some reason, the plan did not fructify and the girls were directed to ride the bicycles again and park them at a distant office. Abiding by the directive, the girls rode the bicycles in the rain and returned empty-handed.

Rain played spoilsport: On the one hand, Harsimrat cut her speech short and summed it up in minutes while on the other hand, there was a commotion at the venue as finding themselves caught in the rain, women started jumping over the chairs. In the process, several women lost their ear rings and necklaces.

Barnala, February 20
Help continues to pour in for the three children whose parents died of AIDS. The 
Tribune had published a news item on October 24 last year, ‘Kids struggle to make ends meet after parents die of AIDS', wherein the sorry plight of the three sisters, had been highlighted.

Following the news, a doctor of Barnala came forward and proposed to extend the financial assistance to the kids besides providing them with the medical treatment free of cost. Secretary of the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Barnala branch, Dr Raj Kumar Jindal, revealed to The Tribune that two NRI brothers of Ludhiana, Ajit Singh Grewal and Sukhjinder Singh of Andlu village, who are businessmen in England and the US, respectively, have come forward to help the destitute children.

He added that the MLA of Qila Raipur Jasbir Singh Khangura had asked them to help the ill-fated sisters after reading the news report.

“The two brothers came to us to meet the three sisters. About three days ago, we helped them meet the needy children. They gave them kitchen gas connection, clothes, fruits, sweets and also took their account number to provide them with financial assistance from abroad,” said secretary, Indian Red Cross Society, Barnala branch.

Deputy Commissioner of Barnala Arshdeep Singh Thind also confirmed the gesture made by the two NRI brothers.

The news item had deeply moved a local doctor, Dr Ashok Kumar Singla, a medical officer in the Police Lines. He met the Deputy Commissioner Arshdeep Singh Thind, also the president of the IRCS, in this connection.

Dr Singla expressed his willingness to financially support the three sisters by offering them Rs 1,000 every month and also free medical treatment.

Notably, the parents (father Soma Singh and mother Rani Kaur) of the three sisters, Jasbir Kaur (13), Amritpal Kaur (11) and Simran Kaur aka Munni (8), had died of AIDS in April and August, respectively.

Dr Ashok Kumar Singla pointed out that he was moved to tears by the plight of the three sisters. 

Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal plants a sapling at the Nehru Memorial College in Mansa on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Muktsar, February 20
A two-day heritage festival (Virasat Mela) was organised here on Sunday at the Guru Nanak College for Girls, Sri Muktsar Sahib, in collaboration with the Punjab Sangeet Natak Academy under the aegis of the Punjab Arts Council.

The patron of ‘Nanhi Chaan’ mission and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal presided over the function while the chairperson of the Punjab Arts Council, Bibi Harjinder Kaur, was the chief guest on the occasion.

As many as 25 colleges participated in the contests in different sections. The college campus was given a rustic look, with mud houses and ancient utensils. In her speech, Harsimrat Kaur Badal asked the youth to preserve their heritage along with academic growth. Dr Tejinder Kaur Dhaliwal, principal, and S. Jagjit Singh Sidhu, additional secretary, local managing committee, thanked the guests.

Moga, February 20
The political scenario is witnessing rapid changes in the Malwa belt of Punjab with the assembly elections approaching nearer after the passage of four years of the SAD-BJP government in the state. The ruling SAD has obviously suffered a jolt after the exit of former finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal from the party.

His ‘Jago Punjab Yatra’ has got a fairly good response across the state, particularly in the Malwa belt, and threatens to pose a formidable challenge to the ruling party.

The President of the state Congress unit and former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh is facing intra-party challenge from the former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar, who has a good influence in the Malwa belt. Both of them have recently indulged in a ‘verbal duel’ over the Captain’s assurance of the party ticket to sitting MLAs in the coming assembly elections.

Though the Captain has buried all differences with the former CM and leader of the opposition in the Assembly Rajinder Kaur Bhattal but Brar has for quite sometime been a constant headache for him. Brar was an aspirant for the post of PPCC president but the high command chose to rely upon the Captain which appears to be the bone of contention between the two leaders.

Now, Brar is eying a key position in the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the party. Earlier also, he was a special invitee in the CWC for the past many years but could not make his presence felt in the state. He also lost the last Lok Sabha elections from the Ferozepur constituency.

Despite the fact that Brar has failed to make his presence felt within the party after many consecutive political failures, political observers feel that he has a mass base in the Malwa belt, particularly in the Faridkot, Muktsar, Moga and Ferozepur districts. His younger brother Ripjeet Singh Brar is also a sitting Congress MLA from the Kotkapura constituency in Faridkot district.

So, after the exit of Manpreet Badal from the SAD, Congress could not afford to have a prolonged 'fight' between Amarinder and Jagmeet as Manpreet has started making a dent in the mass base of both the SAD and the Congress, the main political parties, in the Malwa belt.

The policy makers of the Congress realise the importance of Jagmeet Brar, who has the ability to take on both Sukhbir Badal and his cousin Manpreet Badal, provided the party high command accords him ‘respect’. Sources close to Captain Amarinder Singh revealed that the former Chief Minister too wants Brar to be adjusted in the AICC so that he could smoothly run the party affairs in the state.

In a political rally at Faridkot recently, the Captain publicly praised Jagmeet’s younger brother Ripjeet , which seems to be an indication that he wants to burry all the differences with the Brar brothers.

Further, Captain Amarinder also had to go on the backfoot after assuring party tickets to sitting MLAs in the coming assembly elections after Jagmeet became vocal against him saying that it was a prerogative of the party president Sonia Gandhi to finalise the list of candidates. The Captain clarified, “Being a sitting MLA will not necessarily be the sole criteria for choosing a candidate for the party ticket.”

The way political situation has rapidly changed within the Congress and the SAD during the past couple of months in the Malwa belt and across the state, it appears to be beyond any doubt that the Congress high command would encourage and convince Brar by adjusting him in the AICC to neutralise the possible affect of Manpreet Badal on the party's prospects in the Malwa belt. 

Fazilka, February 20
With the completion of the Fazilka-Abohar rail track, which is going to be become operational in the days to come, the hope of introduction of some new trains amongst the residents of this area has been kindled.

The Northern Railway Passengers' Samiti patron Mahashya Dev Raj, president, Dr Amar Lal Baghla, vice-president, Raj Pal Gumber, general secretary, Sham Lal Goyal and the members have sent a memorandum of demands to the Divisional Rail Manager (Ferozepur).

The members have demanded that new trains from Sriganganagar to Delhi, Lucknow, Haridwar and the state capital Chandigarh via Fazilka should be announced in the railway budget.

Besides, the train running between Jammu to Ferozepur should be extended up to Fazilka. A new train from Fazilka to Bathinda between 6-7 am and from Bathinda to Fazilka at 4 pm should be introduced for the convenience of the passengers. Dr Baghla has also demanded from the railway department that floor-level of platforms at Fazilka, Mandi Roranwali, Lakhewali, Bariwala and Kotkapura should be raised. These low-lying decade old 
platforms were laid when the meter gauge line was in use. Due to low-level platforms, the passengers particularly the aged and the ailing, experience great difficulty in boarding the trains.

The Samiti members have rued that there is no water and rest room facility at platform number 2 at the Fazilka railway station.

They also demanded that an enquiry window be set up at Fazilka since the commuters often did not get proper reply from the persons attending the calls at telephone number 131.

Fazilka, February 20
The Punjab Roadways seems to be indifferent towards the two historical and tourist places of Fazilka. Despite repeated requests, it has not so far introduced any bus route from Fazilka to JCP Sadiqi and Asafwala War Memorial on national highway 10.

Notably, hundreds of people from Fazilka, nearby and far flung areas visit the Sadiqi joint check-post, 16 kilometers from here, to watch the retreat ceremony daily in the evening.

Most of them also pay obeisance at the war memorial, which falls between Fazilka and the Sadiqi JCP.

However, no bus is plied on this route. The visitors have to either use their own vehicles or they have to hire vehicles which cost them dear.

A cross-section of the visitors and president and general secretary of the war memorial committee Asafwala (Fazilka) Sandeep Gilhotra and Mohan Lal Paruthi have demanded that a bus from Fazilka an hour before the retreat time should be introduced on this route.

On the other hand, te local Punjab roadways officials, seeking anonymity, said that about two years back, there was a bus facility on this route but it was withdrawn following the shortage of staff and due to less number of buses.

Abohar, February 20
Sukhwinder Kaur was adjudged the best athlete during the IXth annual athletic meet held at Bhag Singh Hayer College for Women located at village Kala Tibba near here. She topped in 100 metre, 200 metre race, long jump and 110 metre hurdles and was awarded trophy by the presiding officer Ramandeep Kaur Brar.

The students mesmerised a huge gathering by performing yoga besides displaying superb skill in other events. Sonu Nokhwal was declared the best commander while Amandeep Kaur was honoured for participating in the Republic Day parade at Rajpath in New Delhi this year.

The winners in different competitions included Malkiat, Sheenam, Salma, Garina, Shakila, Jyoti, Rishu, Poonam, Gurmeet, Monika and Mamta. Among the teachers Navjeet Kaur and Sonia were declared winners in the tomato race while Amit Lota and Anand excelled in the event among the male staff.

Principal Dr Parminder Sharma welcomed the guests. Prizes were given by the chief guest Colonel Dilbagh Singh, former commanding officer of the second Punjab Independent NCC Company.

Ferozepur, February 20
In a function organised here at the Government Industrial Training Institute ( ITI) for Girls recently, around 26 youths belonging to the BPL families, were given appointment letters and a warm send-off.

They had successfully completed training in plumber’s job at the skill development centre being run by an NGO, Bhaskar Foundation here under the Swarn Jayanti Gram Rozgar Yojna, a special project approved by the Ministry of Rural Development.

Vikram Kantore, project manager, Kamal Sharma, general secretary, BJP, spoke on the occasion. Sharma thanked Sanjay Ganjoo, CEO, Bhaskar Foundation, for providing free training to the youths under the Centrally sponsored scheme.

Earlier, Amit Sharma, DGM, Bhaskar Foundation, welcomed Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav, who was the chief guest. Ravikant Gupta, chairman, ITI and other officials were present. — OC