Kapurthala, June 21
Following recovery of two children reportedly working as bonded labourers, a case has been registered against the owner of a cafeteria here today.

The Labour Department had first recovered the children - Chhottu and Mintu - on June 18, but had taken no action against their employer Satpal Malhotra.

Now the case has been registered on the directions of the Kapurthala SDM.

The children, whose age is around 10 years and hail from Purnia district of Bihar, were being sent to Children Home. They reportedly told the officials that they had been taken to cafeteria by a person on April 18 and they were told that they would be paid Rs 2,500 a month for working in the cafeteria.

But the cafeteria owner, Satpal Malhotra, did not pay any wages to them and rather started locking them up in the night after making them work from 8 am to 11 pm.

At this, ADC GS Khaira asked SDM Kuldeep Singh Chandi to personally probe the matter.

Later, the SDM ordered the police that a case be registered under the provisions of Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act-1976, Child Labour Prohibition and regulation Act and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act-2000.

Jalandhar, June 21
A 16-year-old boy today died in a road accident and his two friends sustained serious injuries after the bike they were riding had a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer on the GT Road near Sanjay Gandhi Nagar this afternoon.

The two youths, Jagtar Singh (21) and Om Parkash (21), residents of Ajit Nagar here, who sustained serious head injuries, are struggling for life at a private hospital.

The deceased has been identified as Sukhwinder Singh, alias Sukha, son of Inderjit Singh.

Bimal Kant Sharma, Inspector, Division No 8 police station, said the youths were going to their homes on a bike (PB 09 F 6434) when a tractor-trailer (PB 08 BS 5335) coming from the wrong side collided head on with their vehicle.

The tractor-trailer driver has been identified as Narinder Singh of Deri Wala village in Tanda, Hoshiarpur, the police said. A case had not been registered as the injured were unfit for giving any statement.

Jalandhar, June 21
Coming to terms with the huge loss that they incurred in the tragic fire incident of Azad Sabzi Mandi, the vendors have started selling vegetables at the same site, despite facing a lot of difficulty in running the show in the scorching heat. The market was reduced to ashes on June 12 night.

The vendors have started selling vegetables by sitting on the floor and are looking forward to their next meeting with MLA Pargat Singh for some financial aid. Pargat is likely to meet the vendors after the Budget Session.

Sadly not all the vendors could afford to start their shops. But those who have started maintained that they had been without any penny for the past many days, hence despite the soaring mercury had to start business. The market begins in the morning and goes till late at night.

“It was difficult to make both ends meet as we could not work for more than a week. Now, we have started sitting on the floor and selling vegetables. We have pinned all hopes on our area councillor for relief, else we will be ruined,” said Satpal, a vendor.

Another vendor, who had put up a fruit stall, said with little means all that they could do was start the shop by sitting on the floor. “It is really difficult to work during the afternoon hours, but we will have to overcome this problem. We keep on sprinkling water on the vegetables and floor to maintain little coolness, but then mercury has been soaring and we are actually finding it difficult to sell vegetables,” said another vendor.

Even cantonment residents had faced a lot of problem in the past one week when no vegetable and fruit was available in the area market. Azad Sabzi Mandi is the sole vegetable market in the cantonment catering to the needs of the residents, soldiers and people residing in the nearby villages.

Jalandhar, June 21
The Punjab Budget has made lofty promises for those in the education sector.

Ideally, teachers and school staff should have been beaming, but given the government record and the city’s peculiar problems, many are sceptical about the final outcome.

Teachers say even as dramatic promises like tablets to all Class XII students heighten hopes, no mention of aided schools, NABARD scheme, vacant posts and upgrade of decaying infrastructure makes them doubt the seriousness of the government’s approach.

Manish Aggarwal, a teacher at a Jalandhar-based aided school, says, “Barring the budget allocated to the Mid Day Meal (Rs 253 crore), there is nothing in the Budget that will help aided schools address their financial concerns. The Finance Department has constantly been ignoring us resulting in lack of pay parity between us and government employees and the budget does nothing to address any of these recurring problems.”

Parminder Nath, principal, Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sarih, says, “The building which houses the NABARD school on our premises has been lying vacant for the past two to three years, because there are no teachers to teach students and hence no students. The building’s infrastructure is also poor as the wood of doors and windows is ridden with termites. It’s the same story for schools in our neighbourhood (Littran, Heran, Jandiala Samrala) NABARD schools too. There is an acute shortage of staff and students are few. Constant abandonment is turning buildings to ruins. But NABARD doesn’t even feature on the government’s budget priority list.”

Out of the total 24 NABARD schools in the district, only four are doing well while the rest are said to be in a bad shape.

Notably, even to this date, students at many government schools manage without furniture in the district. About 100 Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) schools alone lack furniture, the number goes much higher if primary and senior secondary schools are also included.

Sanjiwan Dadwal, headmaster, Government High School, Patara, says, “Tablets might give temporary kick to students, but the basic problems at schools need to have been addressed. Majority of the schools in the district do not have proper science labs and only about one per cent of city government schools have proper libraries. There are no grants for better labs or libraries in schools, two of the basic needs of a school. Some students still languish in unsafe buildings (case in point being the Government Senior Secondary School, Nurmahal). The government’s prime thrust should have been on infrastructural soundness and filling of vacant posts.”

District Education Officer Neelam Kumari, however, says things look positive.

“Indeed there is an acute shortage of staff. About 15 to 20 per cent of the posts in schools in Jalandhar are lying vacant and that problem needs to be addressed. Infrastructural problems also exist at some places. But there is a positive side to things too. There is a 10,000 increase in the student strength (government schools) in the district as compared to the last year. Things are looking up and we only hope the allocations of the budget will come in handy for further progress.”

Jalandhar, June 21
Lovely Professional University in association with Punjab Technical University would host 3rd Bharatiya Vigyan Sammelan & Expo from October 11 to 14.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal recently reviewed the preparatory arrangements of the conference and announced a grant of Rs 50 lakh for hosting the event. Punjab Governor Shivraj V Patil would be the chief guest on this occasion.

The conference would be held under the theme of ‘Science for Global Development’ in collaboration with the Vijnana Bharti, Punjab Technical University and Punjab State Council of Science and Technology.

As many as 3,000 scientists, academicians, technocrats and other innovators from leading universities, institutes and colleges from across the country would be participating in this mega science congress.

LPU Chancellor Ashok Mittal said the conference is being held so as to provide a common platform to scientists and academicians. “The conference will focus on environment, renewable energy, science & technology, agriculture & horticulture, veterinary sciences, water & energy management, Indian medical systems & tele-medicines, bio, nano and other emerging technologies”, he said.

The conference would also have discussions on vital issues concerning Punjab, namely drinking water, replenishment of fast depleting groundwater table and cleaning of ponds.

Badal has asked the LPU to take up the topics of potable water, health care, hygiene, depleting water table, air, water and vehicular pollution.