The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	One teacher for 200 pupils in Muktsar school Archit Watts Tribune News Service Muktsar, July 14 Even as the state and the Central governments are talking much about the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the reality is quite the opposite. There is only one teacher for 200 students at a government-aided school, the Khalsa Primary School, near the grain market here. Interestingly, the school falls in Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's home district. The RTE Act says that there should be one teacher for 30 students in primary schools. But in the school here, Darshna Devi is the lone teacher, who not only imparts education to 200 students but also does other clerical works. Most of the students enrolled in the school belong to the lower strata of society and the SC/ST communities. Nearly 150 of them attend the school daily and a majority of them don't have uniforms. The students of all classes sit together on a kuccha floor. Mats they sit on are not clean. On a visit to the school, TNS found the students sitting under a big tree, attending their classes collectively. All the five classrooms were dirty and the toilets were stinking. In absence of any RO system, the students are forced to drink contaminated water from a handpump. The sad saga of the school not even ends here. Though the school provides mid-day meal to its students, as three cooks have been hired to serve the purpose, the school does not even have a peon. A social activist, Ashok Mahindra, who lives just opposite to the school, alleged, "Most of the times, I see the students cleaning the classrooms." Darshna Devi said, "The school had a sanctioned strength of five teachers till last year. However, three teachers have retired and the fourth is on leave without pay for three years." She said recently, she had hired two more "teachers" to run the school, whom she claimed to have promised to give salaries from her own pocket. She admitted that they were not qualified to teach the students. "These girls are not qualified and are only class X or XII pass. But, I have hired them on Rs 500 per month because they help me in keeping an eye on the students," Darshna Devi said. "As I am about to retire early next year, this school will shut down as the government has not been recruiting new teachers in the aided schools for the past long time," she added. There are 45 students in class I, 52 in class II, 43 in class III, 32 in class IV and 28 in class V. When contacted, District Education Officer Gurinder Kaur said, "I was not aware about the fact. I will definitely try my best to provide more teachers to the school. But, I will have to check the rules, whether the department can deploy more teachers in a government-aided school, as there has been no recruitment for the past long time." She said the district has five government-aided schools. A government-aided school is the one that is managed by a private committee but its functioning is controlled by the state government. The recruitment of teachers is also done by the government, which provides 95 per cent aid. The rest 5 per cent is funded by the school management.
	News analysis: Dasuya byelection Early start helped BJP ensure a thumping win Naveen S Garewal Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 14 An early start coupled with a well-conceived strategy helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) register a victory with a thumping margin of 47,000 votes in the Dasuya byelection. Ever since the bypoll date was announced, BJP state president Ashwani Sharma and his core team, including constituency incharge MP Avinash Rai Khanna and general secretaries Ajay Jamwal and Manjit Singh Rai, had been camping in Dasuya. All this while, they stayed with their party workers at their houses and sensitised them about the need for personal contact with each voter. Coordination with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) went on alongside. While the Congress was still deciding its candidate, the BJP had completed three rounds of campaigning in all 262 villages of the assembly segment. Emotionally charged up, the BJP cadres pitched in as byelection date was declared a day ahead of the 'bhog' ceremony of Amarjit Sahi, former Dasuya MLA whose death last month necessitated the bypoll. As the BSP did not field a candidate, BJP's SC leaders Bhagat Chunni Lal and Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Som Prakash accompanied the party nominee, Sukhjit Kaur for filing nomination papers. This helped the BJP garner the support of a large number of SC and BC votes. The party resorted to a three-pronged strategy. It first divided the constituency into 11 zones, each headed by ministers Bhagat Chunni Lal, Madan Mohan Mittal, Anil Joshi and Surjit Jayani and senior leaders Manoranjan Kalia, Tikshan Sud, Arunesh Shakar, Som Prakash, KD Bhandari, Rajinder Bhandari and Bhoa MLA Seema Devi. Secondly, office-bearers of various BJP morchas and cells, MLA candidates who lost in the recent assembly elections and heads of various corporations and boards in Punjab were told to campaign at the booth level. Besides, several leaders focused on the vote bank of different communities. A minister in Himachal Pradesh, Ramesh Dhwala, ensured Chang votes for the party. CPS Som Prakash, Bhoa MLA Seema Devi, Khadi Board chairman Vijay Sampla, SC Morcha state president Avtar Singh Sekri and Gau Sewa Board chairman Kimti Lal Bhagat were asked to garner SC votes. BJP ex-MP Suresh Chandel, Industries Board chairman Raghu Nath Rana, Jalandhar Mayor Rakesh Rathore and ex-MLA Vikram Thakur mobilised Rajput votes. The BJP also organised a meeting of the Valmiki Samaj, that was addressed by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, Avinash Rai Khanna and MLA Manoranjan Kalia. Ashwani Sharma, Industry Minister Anil Joshi, political adviser to CM Kamal Sharma, former minister Arunesh Shakar, BJP district president Umesh Shakar, Mahila Morcha state vice-president Neelam Mahant and former Talwara sarpanch Pinky Sharma focused on Brahmin votes. BJP state vice-president Varinder Kaur Thandi, former CPS Sukh Pal Nannu, Punjab Infotech chairman Harjit Grewal, PSIEC chairman Rajinder Mohan Chinna, PSIEC vice-chairman Sukminder Grewal and BJP Kisan Morcha chief Major Singh Detwal worked to ensure votes of the Jat and Lubana communities. The BJP also got the patronage of two prominent deras at Kamahi Devi and Datarpur, which ensured the presence of their representatives on dais at public meetings addressed by CM Parkash Singh Badal. Former Abohar MLA Dr Ram Kumar and Dasuya Mandal president Jaswant Papu mobilised around 3,500 Prajapati votes. They organised three rallies and a lunch of Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal with the Prajapti Samaj. BJP Bazigar Cell chief Dr Mulakh Raj Lalka coordinated with the Bazigar community. BJP national general secretary and MP JP Nadda, MP Avinash Rai Khanna and Punjab's Cabinet Minister Bikram Majithia along with his team focused on the party's traditional vote bank comprising the middle class literate people and intellectuals. As the BJP focused on media campaign to ensure a pro-alliance perception, Punjab BJP's media incharge Vineet Joshi camped at Dasuya to ensure that campaign information reached the media at Dasuya, Jalandhar and Chandigarh.
	Polls rigged, claim Capt, Manpreet Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 14 Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh today claimed the Dasuya bypoll had been rigged by the SAD-BJP combine whereas People's Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal alleged that EVMs had been tampered with by the Akalis. Both the leaders, however, could not come out with any proof to support their arguments. Amarinder Singh, in a statement, said, "The victory margin by which BJP candidate Sukhjit Kaur Sahi has defeated Arun Dogra of the Congress is unrealistic. It is enough to prove that the election has been rigged by the ruling SAD-BJP alliance." While campaigning in Dasuya in the run-up to the elections, Amarinder had claimed that the bypoll would serve as a referendum on the allegedly wrong policies of the SAD-BJP government. However, he today maintained that the SAD-BJP victory was not an endorsement of the government but "showed it could rig elections for a victory". The PCC chief alleged that the ruling alliance leaders, including Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, had got Dasuya garrisoned to defeat the democratic process. On the other hand, Manpreet Badal has sought a scientific and technical examination of EVMs, which, he claimed, had been tampered with. Manpreet demanded that the EVMs were still lying in counting centres and an immediate 'on the spot' analysis of "manipulative programming" and "tampering" of these machines be conducted. He said this should be done by outside experts. He said, "The EVMs have been converted into electronic vote manipulators by being programmed to automatically transfer votes from one candidate to the account of another. As the machines are still in Dasuya, they can be re-checked for consistency and accuracy." Manpreet alleged this was the second time in a row after the recent assembly elections that the Punjabis had been cheated in a democratic process. He said he would initiate a nationwide debate into the issue of EVM tampering.
	IIT-Roorkee team arrives to test underground water Archit Watts/TNS Muktsar, July 14 Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that the state government had decided to spend Rs 12 crore on extensive research on underground contaminated water. He said a team of experts from IIT-Roorkee arrived here today, which would jointly carry out a research with the officials of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) over the next two months. Dr Absar A. Kazmi, Associate Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Roorkee, who is heading the team, said, “So far, we have visited four villages and have found that village ponds are in a bad condition and are full of sewage, which require to be immediately cleaned. The sewage system in villages needs to be improved.”
	Demands met, IAC to end stir today Abohar, July 14 The stir launched by followers of Anna Hazare under the banner of “India Against Corruption” (IAC) on May 13 will be called off tomorrow. The agitation pressed for the demand to make the Abohar-Fazilka rail link operational and making provision for potable water at the railway station. IAC spokesman Ashok Garg said both the demands had been accepted. The Municipal Council had released two connections for filtered canal water at the platforms. Water would be further purified by RO system installed by the Seth Chhabil Dass Charitable Trust. — OC
	Youth beaten to death in Moga Faridkot: A youth was allegedly beaten to death after a minor scuffle by a liquor shop owner and his employees at Dhurkot village near Nihal Singh Wala in Moga on Saturday. The deceased has been identified as Gaganjit Singh (24) of Nangal village. The police said the victim was allegedly attacked by the accused after both the parties entered into an argument over some issue. The police has registered a case against Gora Singh, Mandeep Singh, Ganda Singh (all of Dhurkot), Goldy of Rauke and two other unidentified persons. An investigation is on, police sources said. — TNS