Jalandhar, March 19
Following an eve-teasing incident on the campus late last night, students of Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jalandhar today staged a dharna outside the administration block and demanded suspension of a non-teaching employee of NIT, whose son was allegedly involved in this issue.

The incident took place late last night when students had gathered to enjoy the musical night of Punjabi singer Gippy Grewal on the concluding day of 'Utkansh-2012'.

The teasing incident took place when the son of a non-teaching employee, attached with the Electronics and Communication Engineering department, was at the NIT campus to watch the function. The youth, who was a student of a local polytechnic, had come along with 12 'outsiders' at the event.

This youth reportedly passed lewd comments and also tried to touch a girl, who was a student of the Computer Science Engineering department of NIT. It was also learnt that following this 'incident', the girl slapped him in a fit of rage.

The youth in retaliation slapped the girl back. At this, the members of discipline committee comprising NIT students intervened in the matter.

The girl informed her friends following which there was an altercation between the parties. The tussle intensified and the outsiders reportedly threatened the NIT students with dire consequences.

Since, all the students were busy enjoying the function, the eve-teasing incident did not come to fore till late night. However, some of the faculty members, who got to know about the incident, intervened to sort out the matter on the spot.

It is also learnt that before the function began, the 'discipline committee' members had stopped the same group of boys from indulging in any kind of indiscipline, especially eve teasing.

In the morning, agitated students staged a dharna on the campus and demanded suspension of the non-teaching employee. Earlier, students assembled at the Centre Seminar Hall and held a meeting to chart out their memorandum against the employee. They forwarded a written complaint to the NIT Director.

In their complaint, the students demanded that if any 'untoward' incident takes place with the girl or any of the other students of the campus, the non-teaching staff and the NIT authorities would be held responsible. "The outsider boys teased a girl student on the campus and then they also threatened the boys. This is sheer hooliganism, hence action should be taken at the earliest," they added. Meanwhile, the NIT authorities also held meetings to reach an amicable solution. No classes were held throughout the day. 

Jalandhar March 19
Following a few minutes of protest by shopkeepers of Naya Bazaar against the youths who allegedly thrashed some shopkeepers of the market, a compromise was reached between the parties today.

The youths, who resorted to hooliganism in the market on Saturday, tendered apology and assured before the police that they would not repeat the same.

Sources said the shopkeepers resorted to the protest after the alleged youths, after the Saturday’s incident, today began to exhibit their strength.

During the protest, shopkeepers to call for a city bandh tomorrow, sources said. Meanwhile, the police deployed large posse of police in the market to prevent any untoward incident.

Kuldip Oberoi, a local councillor, along with scores of other shopkeepers and the alleged youths today held a meeting with the ADCP, headquarter, Navjot Singh Mahal. Oberoi said youths have tendered their apology before the shopkeepers in the presence of the police and also assured that they would not repeat such incidents.

The police said a case against ten youths has been registered and those would be disposed of as per law. 

Jalandhar, March 19
Understaffed, overburdened and without salaries for the past six months, the aided school teachers are a particularly perturbed lot.

The clamour for timely release of salaries and doing away with anomalies has already risen among teachers’ unions with the Akali-BJP government coming back to power.

The aided school teachers also reiterate the demands they have been making to the government time and again.

Since the Harayana Government (like the Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan governments) has also merged its teachers with the government’s education department, the aided school teachers across the state have again pressed on their demand to be brought under the direct purview of the government.

The reasons for this demand, they claim, are many.

A plethora of vacant posts need to be filled and teachers also say they are sick of the fact that they are always the last ones to get the allowances and salaries (that too not without some struggle) while teachers under the government get it much quicker.

In the state there are more than 9,000 sanctioned posts of teachers but only 5,100 are filled while about 4,000 are vacant. Many more retirements are expected this year.

Among the 53 aided schools in the city, there are about 2,500 sanctioned posts of teachers and currently only about 900 are filled.

There are schools where out of total sanctioned strength of teachers only 10 per cent are working (like a Jalandhar school where 6 teachers do the work meant for 60 posts).

Being brought under the government’s purview, they say, will ensure timely salaries and less struggle to get their little dues and allowances cleared. They say it will also save the government the allotment of government staff currently on duty to take care of the paper work etc. of aided schools.

Gurcharan Singh Chahal, state chief of the Aided School Teachers Union, says, “We are just waiting for a formal announcement regarding the education minister of the state. We will then go meet the minister and ask the government to address our long pending demands.”

District chief of the union Kulwarn Singh states, “Since 2003 there have been no fresh recruitments and the 4,000 vacant posts are all where teachers retired. Teachers haven’t received salaries since October 2011 either. It’s high time the government took notice.” Manish Aggarwal, a teacher at the Doaba Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar says, “Every time we have to get our salaries and allowances cleared we have to struggle and request the concerned departments.”

Jalandhar, March 19
For a city which has only one prestigious government-run library to boast of, the Guru Nanak District Library clearly hasn’t received the treatment it deserves.

Popular among readers despite its dilapidated state, it has always been preferred due to the regular flow of books and newspaper lists being regularly updated according to public demand.

But the inordinate delay in its repair and renovation, spanning decades, has angered regular visitors and caused many precious books to rot, even as it still awaits money for the requisite repair work.

There is tons of paper work and a long list of letters sent to the DPI (C) and the PWD department by the librarian, which, though answered, haven’t translated into benefits.

While chances of getting funds are still remote, currently, the library is stuck in a brand new dilemma.

A piece of information sought by the DPI (C) is yet again causing a delay in its repair dreams pending for decades.

The librarian had asked for the repairs in a letter addressed to the DPI (C) on September 27, 2011.

The Deputy Director (Colleges) had in turn demanded to know under which budget head the expenditure for the initial construction of the library was made - also asking for the then budget details of the library - in a letter sent to the librarian on January 23, 2012.

The librarian then sent a letter to the PWD asking for the information demanded by the DPI (C) on March 16, 2012. As the librarian says he awaits an answer, the PWD says it hasn’t even got the said letter.

The Tribune has copies of both the letters. Librarian GS Kahlon says it’s been about 27 to 28 years since any repair work was undertaken in the library.

“Barring some urgent repairs during the time when the Virsa Vihar was being constructed, the library has not been repaired for about 28 years. Many parts of the library badly need repair.”

While many of the library books have blackened due to constantly dripping water, others have rotted.

The librarian says the ceiling of the main hall, earlier, was damp and dripped only during heavy rains. But now, it constantly drips during the rains.

Kahlon said the cement from the top of the roof has also chipped off, which adds to the dripping. Also, the building has been defaced due to cement chipping off from its crown. “It’s been the same since I came (about 18 years ago),” Kahlon says.

Talking on the issue of the budget details demanded by the DPI (C), Kahlon says, the first librarian who was working at the library has passed away. The library itself doesn’t have any document which can provide the information demanded.” The building of the library was constructed by the PWD (the construction completed in 1979-80), as per Kahlon’s letter to the XEN, B&R. XEN PWD, B&R, Rajinder Singh, when contacted, said, “Kahlon had talked to me regarding the said letter in a phone conversation, but we never received the letter.”

Talking about the repairs of the library in general, the XEN said, “We can only make estimates for the library’s repairs but we cannot carry them out.” Once the DPI (C) receives the information demanded, further requests for funds will still have to made to the Secretary, Punjab Government.

Jalandhar, March 19
With Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal scheduled to visit Bhagat Singh’s ancestral village Khatkar Kalan on March 23 on the occasion of the martyrdom day of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh and other political parties also planning their rallies, the event is certainly going to be a political affair.

The administrative officials today took a round of the site to plan the venue for the rally. The rally would be held in the garden area and fields on the backside of the museum.

With Badal turning up on the occasion, Akali-BJP ministers and leaders from the area will also certainly attend the event. It will be for the first time after having formed the government that Badal will address any public rally. Nawanshahr Deputy Commissioner Shruti Singh confirmed the schedule of the CM. The event had been a big political mela last year as well as all parties had held mammoth rallies after Manpreet Badal had announced to launch his PPP at the site. He had later put off his own rally for March 27.

Youth organisations, village panchayat and other social bodies have also already earmarked plans to hold enactments, vaar singing and other programmes to remember the historic day.

Jalandhar, March 19
Acknowledging the need to pay special attention to the ignored sections in society, the Health Department, in its special three-day migrant pulse polio drive, sent teams across areas with majority of migrant labourer populations to administer polio drops to children below five years of age.

Civil Surgeon Dr Avtar Singh Jarewal said 55,479 children were administered polio drops on the first day of the three-day long drive.

As many as 1,133 pulse polio teams, along with 127 mobile teams visited 1,08,816 houses to feed drops to children below five years of age.

On duty in the sensitive Kazi Mandi area, Dr Surinder Kalyan, AMO, while talking to The Tribune said, “In the previous years, areas full of slums and sensitive migrant populations were difficult to handle. We also had instances of people refusing to get their children get the drops administered. But regular drives have sensitised people and it’s easier to carry out drive now. Our teams in the area visited 2,866 houses and 1,479 children were administered drops.”

Dr Dalip Kumar, Director, Child and Family Welfare also visited various city areas like Sanjay Gandhi Nagar, Industrial Area and Lamma Pind Chowk area, to take stock of the situation.

District Immunisation Officer Dr Rita Jairath said teams constituted by Dr Gagan Khosla, Assistant Civil Surgeon; Dr RL Bassan, District Health Officer as well as other health officers supervised the said teams in various blocks and health centres of the district.

As usual, owing to staff crunch, self-groups, nursing students, aanganwari workers and Asha workers also played a huge role in carrying out the drive.

On the second day of the special pulse polio drive for migrant labourers across the city, pulse polio drops were administered to 48,388 children across the city. As many as 92,967 houses were visited today. Civil Surgeon Avtar Singh Jarewal said 68 per cent of the target set by the health department has been met. The rest will be completed by the third day of the drive tomorrow.

Jalandhar March 19
A two-year-old girl child was mowed down by a speeding truck in Focal Point Area this morning.

The deceased was identified as Preeti, the daughter of Raghunath of Sanjay Gandhi Nagar. The deceased's father is a daily wager.

Raghunath said her wife Anju along with her daughter was heading to the market to buy household items when the incident happened.

When they were near a private hospital on the highway, a speeding truck from behind crushed her daughter to death. The girl died on the spot.

The errant truck driver fled after the accident, sources said. The girl's body has been sent for the post-mortem examination at the Civil Hospital.

The police after impounding the truck has registered a case under Section 304 A of the IPC against the truck driver, who was identified as Govida. Raids are being conducted to nab the accused.