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City GRP station faces staff crunch
Strong winds bring down temperature, uproot hoardings
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Area councillor writes to PUDA, civic body
Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan’s ambitious project battles staff, outreach problems
Three CRPF companies deployed in city
Basant Nagar water samples fail
from schools
Additional police force deputed
Snakes create panic in Phagwara locality
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City GRP station faces staff crunch
Jalandhar, October 15 The only police station of the city has 22 sub-police posts, which have been constructed to keep a watch on hundreds of kilometres of railway tracks spread in four districts, including Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala and Phagwara. The City GRP station alone has 100 police personnel, while its 22 sub-police posts, spread in four districts, have only 250 policemen. Station House Officer (SHO) BS Randhawa said they faced a huge problem to reach the incident spot on time. “The city police station and 22 other police posts are being headed by me and whenever any incident occurs in our jurisdiction, being a head of the GRP in four districts, I have to reach the spot to initiate legal proceedings,” he said. In the GRP limit, about 400-km-long railway tracks fall and on many occasions, we find it difficult to reach the spot on time and investigation gets delayed. In few of the recent incidents, when they reached the spot, they had to face the public wrath. A GRP official, requesting anonymity, said whenever the government deploys their policemen on VIP duty, their problem gets aggravated. “Due to the overburden of work, they are being forced to sacrifice even those leaves for which they are entitled,” he regretted.
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Strong winds bring down temperature, uproot hoardings
Talking to The Tribune, Mukul said he was standing at the chowk, waiting for the traffic lights to turn green when the pipe fell near him. Luckily, it did not hit him. His case was not an isolated one. A number of road users had a narrow escape when many illegal hoardings and banners were uprooted during the strong winds. A number of illegal hoardings and banners have been put up by various political and religious organisations in different parts of the city. While these hoardings and banners create nuisance in normal days, these caused a lot of inconvenience, especially to the road users on Monday. The political hoardings carry the photographs of the leaders of almost every political party, including the ruling Akali Dal, BJP and the opposition Congress. Interestingly, a number of such hoardings carry the photographs of Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal and Mayor Sunil Jyoti, who are responsible for making the city free of such illegal hoardings and banners. Mayor Sunil Jyoti could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. |
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Area councillor writes to PUDA, civic body
Jalandhar, October 15 Following the publication of a detailed news-item in this regard in Jalandhar Tribune on October 4, the councillor of ward number 31 Raminder Kaur Dhindsa has written separate letters to PUDA Additional Chief Administrator Sarojini Gautam Sharda, MC Commissioner Vinay Bublani and Mayor Sunil Jyoti for taking appropriate action to remove the encroachments by the junk dealers at PUDA Complex and Meanwhile, thanking the councillor for drawing the attention of the authorities concerned towards one of the main problems areas, social worker and secretary of Rajinder Nagar Welfare Society, Gurmeet Singh, expressed the hope that the entire area would now become free from encroachments done by junk dealers. Highlighting the problem, Jalandhar Tribune had stated that a number of automobile junk dealers, located on the Ladowali road between Alaska Chowk and Ladowali Chowk and at PUDA complex, had encroached the footpath and parking lot right under the nose of the authorities. Automobile dealers had dumped various parts of old cars on the footpath, parking lot and a portion of the adjacent road, causing a lot of inconvenience to the public. As a result, several pedestrians face a lot of inconvenience between Alaska Chowk and Ladowali Chowk due to these encroachments. Several motorists also expressed surprise that the automobile junk dealers had encroached upon the parking lot and a portion of the road located near the DAC complex and no government authority was making this road free of encroachments for the convenience of the road users on their own. Mayor Sunil Jyoti said he would not allow anything which was illegal to continue. First, a request would be made to the automobile junk dealers to remove the encroachments on their own. If they failed to do so within the stipulated time, the MC would not hesitate to take appropriate action against them, he added. |
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Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan’s ambitious project battles staff, outreach problems
Jalandhar, October 15 Even as NGOs whine about the shortage of special educators, the government sector which, comparatively, has many of them, has failed to provide schools with the requisite infrastructure for the special ones. The Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)-run CWS (Children with Special Needs) project, being run in the district, is a very thoughtful programme envisioned for the special. Even as the programme has been successfully started in most of the centres (schools) chosen to house a resource room (the unit where special children are provided education), the CWS battles a plenty of demons which slow down the proper growth of the project. Staff shortage, no funds, lack of proper reach are some of the basic problems. In many cases, the special educators are a bullied, cornered lot who are bossed over by the staff of the school they get to work in. Teachers, in most cases, say, schools' staff are condescending towards them and their "good-for-nothing" students, treating them badly and giving them shabby rooms - in some cases only verandahs to hold classes in. Student transport allowances (much like the long-pending stipends in the National Child Labour Project of the education department), have not been received for the past many months, even as it is a big motivation for parents to send their children to these schools. Number game There are 7,600 special children across the district who are to be catered to by the CWS project, as per surveys conducted by the CWS staff. Out of these, only about 825 children are currently studying at resource rooms. Staff While the staff recruitments had begun in 2005, the CWS project began running in schools in the year 2007. Most of the staff is working since then. The CWS project, divided in the 19 blocks of the district, has a total of 100 resource rooms running in the district. There were earlier 103, but three were closed down due to the shortage of students (at least eight are needed to start a class). While the Right to Education Act states that each block needs to have at least three inclusive education resource teachers (IERTs), there are way less presently working. Out of the 76 sanctioned posts, only 29 are currently filled. Jalandhar is short of 20 IERTs. While there should be 60 IERTs in the district, presently, only 40 are working. The number of inclusive education resource volunteers (IERVs), however, is 100 (sanctioned posts are 105). Bullying As seen in the cases of government primary schools at Bhargo Camp, Basti Danishmandan among others, the staff at these schools are denied the requisite space needed to house a resource room. At Bhargo Camp, a room, half of which is being used as a store room to store utensils of the mid-day meal and keep other stuff, has been given for the CWS project. There is constant interference from school staff, students sit on tattered rugs and there are no toys or recreational thongs provided to children to play with. At Mithu Basti, while the staff have a room now, until recently, they did not have any. At Basti Danishmandan, the resource room is mostly being run from a verandah. The CWS coordinator says this problem is prevalent in at least 30 to 35 schools across the district. “Schools themselves do not have space for their children. The resource rooms are indeed considered secondary, as seen.” Sources reveal that school staff consider these students unimportant and hence are not serious about the kind of space they need to study. They are given step-motherly treatment and the worst rooms. Some even think that the concept of "education" to such students is ridiculous. Sources say their general attitude is that these children are not insightful enough to be educated. Infrastructure Schools do not have furniture for resource room children. Toys, stationery,
uniforms and books to these children are seldom distributed. While other schools' children come in uniforms, they do not get uniforms. In all the schools that The Tribune visited, special children were seen in civvies even as school children wore uniforms. Toys and games are also available for the special only at select schools. Grants Across schools in the district, resource rooms
have not received the transport allowance (Rs 250) for the past five to six months. Hearing aids, spectacles (for vision impaired students) among other things have not been received. Staff revealed that while some students come from areas away from the school, many parents send them only because they get the transportation allowance. Since schools haven’t received it for the past six months, now parents have stopped sending children to school. While the grants for the surgery of at least 35 to 40 children (cerebral palsy, orthopaedic) are to be made available every year, this year, so far, no grants have been received for
the same. In 2012 six students have been operated, but grants for more surgeries are awaited. Also, since no Jalandhar hospital is empanelled, students have to be taken to CMC, Ludhiana. Mainstream dropouts While teachers’ eventual target is to shift these (and other home base - home tutored - students) to the mainstream, teachers often admit that this is easier said than done. All staff members give plenty of examples where a student being shifted to the mainstream ended up being a dropout. Preeti, a vision-impaired girl, taking a resource room class at a local resource room, dropped out of school days after being shifted to a regular school because she wasn’t properly cared for. Officialspeak Vishal, coordinator of the Children with Special Needs project in Jalandhar, says, “We are working to address the problems of as many children with special needs as possible. Mostly slum areas have been seen to have many children who need care. Though the number of children in resource rooms is hitherto limited, we plan to recruit more volunteers in the future to make more provision for new areas where children might need a resource room.”
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Three CRPF companies deployed in city
Jalandhar, October 15 To a query he said the CRPF had not been deployed either due to any militant threat or intelligence input, the current atmosphere in the state indicated otherwise. While Akalis and radicals are supporting the construction of Bluestar memorial, Congress leaders are opposing the same, especially after the outburst by Lt-Gen KS Brar (retd) against the Akalis for allowing its construction. The deployment of the CRPF further holds significance as the Punjab Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh said he had received a threatening call from Germany for speaking out against the establishment of a memorial commemorating those killed in Operation Bluestar. Sources disclosed that a senior police officer had earlier rung up Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar and disclosed that the latter’s name had come up for discussion during a meeting of a radical group in Germany. The sources said the discussion had centred on teaching a lesson to Jakhar for speaking out against the construction of such a memorial. The police officer requested Jakhar to take adequate precautions. The CLP leader is reported to have asked the state police to take appropriate steps if needed. Though radicals are spread over many countries, including the United Kingdom and North America, sources said there was a well entrenched group in Germany. Sources said this was because Germany was most liberal in granting asylum to such elements during the phase of militancy in Punjab. |
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Govt schools sans furniture
Jalandhar, October 15 Despite the fact that schools are receiving many grants on various fronts, furniture is still an area that hasn’t been paid any attention to. The government primary schools at Bhargo Camp, Basti Danishmandan (girls), Basti Mithu, Nahal, Abadpura, among others, are confronted with a problem of furniture. Some of these schools have at least some furniture, while others do not have any. The situation is no less worrisome in senior secondary schools. Jatinder Kumar, coordinator of Rashtriya Madhyamik Shikhsha Abhiyan (RMSA), which caters to students of Class IX and X, says, “We get regular grants for other things, but it has been sometime that we got grants for furniture from the Centre. About a 100 RMSA schools need furniture, but we haven’t received any grants. District Education Officer Neelam Kumari said, “We regularly keep sending demands sent to us about all the things that schools forward to us. We have filled demands for furniture too, but sadly it hasn’t arrived so far. The money for furniture comes from the Centre. We hope that this year we do get some furniture grants.”
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Basant Nagar water samples fail
Phagwara, October 15
Though the SMO had written to the Municipal Corporation, Block Development Officer and SDM to provide clean and fresh drinking water to the locality residents, but nothing has been done
till now. When contacted, SDM PP Singh said water tanks were being sent to the locality to provide clean drinking water to the residents. |
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from schools
World Vision Day Kamla Nehru Public School, Chak Hakim, Phagwara, organised a rally on World Vision Day. The rally was flagged off by Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh, SP, Phagwara, from the DSP office. As many as 1,450 students took part in the rally. Students of Arya Model Senior Secondary School, New Public High School, Sant Sarwan Dass Model School and Kamla Nehru College for Women also joined the rally. Students were divided in three groups and they marched on three different routes of the city carrying placards, raising slogans and singing songs, creating awareness among the people to protect eyes and to donate eyes. The rally came to an end at the PWD Rest House, Phagwara, where Dr Navneet Gulzar Singh Chaggar of Vasan Eye Hospital, Jalandhar, addressed the rally, informing the students how to take care of their eyes. The students also put a cultural show based on the theme of the rally. Kamla Nehru Public School also organised Jalandhar Sahodaya Inter-School Children’s Conference on Vision (eyesight) to observe World Vision Day. President, school managing committee, I.K.Sardana was the chief guest. Thirty different schools affiliated to the CBSE participated in the conference. The participants presented their papers on night blindness, eye diseases and disorders, eye donation, eyes exercises, contact lenses, eye care for children, eye illusions, eye care for computer users, etc. Doaba Public School, Parowal, got the first prize. DRV DAV Centenary Public School, Phillaur, got the second prize. Sanskriti KMV School, Jalandhar, got the third prize. Police DAV Public School, Jalandhar, and La Blossoms School, Jalandhar, got consolation prizes, while Kulpreet Kaur of Kamla Nehru Public School, Phagwara, got a special prize. The school Principal, P.K. Dhillon, congratulated the winners. Limca quiz
MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar, Jalandhar, won the Limica Quiz Contest conducted by Derek O’ Brian and his team. As many as 81 schools from Jalandhar district participated, out of which two teams of MGN school qualified for the second round of the quiz. In the second round, there were six teams from different schools. The team, consisting of Aakarshan Gupta and Rajbir Singh, were the winners. School principal Satwant Gakhal congratulated the team and applauded their efforts. Domestic violence
An NGO, Pahal, organised a special event at Nirmaan School where the issue of domestic violence was discussed. The NGO president, Prof Lakhbir Singh, said the month of October was being observed as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. He said the family structure had been adversely affected due to domestic violence. Former chairperson, Women’s Commssion, Gurdev Kaur was the chief guest. Science events
As per the recently announced lists by the Education Department, science contests started from today in the district. District science coordinator Sanjiwan Singh Dadwal said models on subjects like industry, nature and its care, transportation and communication, information and education techniques, health and environment, among others would be presented by students of senior secondary, secondary and elementary schools in events being organised in the district. While the contest started at Government Senior Scondary School, Phillaur, today, exhibitions will also be held at Bhogpur (October 17), PAP (October 19), Tagore Model Senior Secondary School - for Nakodar and Shahkot (October 22) and district-level events at Mithapur (October 25 and 26). |
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Additional police force deputed
Phagwara, October 15 Khakh said the force would be deputed at 12 different places, including Shri Hanuman Garrhi, JCT Mills, Arorian Talab, Bajigar Basti, Urban Estate, Arya High School, Government High School, Hadiabad Chowk, Bus Stand Chowk and Sugar Mill, and would remain on patrol duty round the clock.
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Snakes create panic in Phagwara locality
Phagwara, October 15 Repeated requests to various officials, including corporation Commissioner S.K. Singla and Executive Officer Adarsh Sharma, could not bear fruits. They alleged that the striking employees were not allowing the movement of a jetting machine to clean the blocked sewerage. The Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, too, was apprised of the problem, but nothing was done. The SP, Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh, assured of providing protection to the corporation staff for operating the jetting machine in the affected locality. The SDM, P.P. Singh, said he would soon send JCB machines to cut grass on the vacant plots to clear them of snakes. Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Local Bodies, Som Parkash was also informed about the problem, and he assured of early action.
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Strong winds blew across the city and surroundings, bringing down the temperature in the area today.
Meanwhile, Mukul Handoo of the Windsor Park locality had a narrow escape at BMC Chowk as an iron pipe fell near him.
While officials at the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) and Municipal Corporation Jalandhar
(MCJ) failed to wake up from their slumber to clear the Ladowali road and PUDA complex from the encroachments done by the junk dealers, the area councillor Raminder Kaur Dhindsa has come forward for drawing their attention towards the inconvenience caused due to encroachments.
An annual sports meet was held at St Soldier Kids Paradise, in which nursery, LKG and UKG students participated with true spirit of sportsmanship. Tiny tots showed their energy in different events, like lemon and spoon race, tortoise race, balloon race, three-legged race, tug of war, sack race, etc.
Jalandhar, October 15
Jalandhar, October 15