Bathinda, October 27
Members of the Punjab Adarsh Schools Teaching and Non-teaching Staff Association today blocked the Bathinda-Barnala road for over five hours.

The teachers squatted near the Bibi Wala chowk and disrupted the traffic from all the directions. Commuters on the road had a tough time as traffic was diverted through slip roads.

They had to take longer routes to reach their respective destinations.

The dharna started at around 11.30 am and continued till 4.30 pm. The protesters lifted the dharna following an assurance by the SDM, Bathinda, Rambir, to bring a solution to their problem by discussing it with senior functionaries in the government.

The protesting teachers alleged that the sanctioned salaries do not reach the teaching staff and others working at Adarsh Schools.

"At many schools, the teachers are told to repay a certain amount. This should be probed by government agencies concerned to punish the guilty. Though the practice has been curbed at several schools, it is still continuing in some schools of Punjab,” said the president of the association, Nachhattar Singh.

He said there were 45 Adarsh Schools in Punjab. The central and state governments share the expenditure incurred to run these schools in 70:30 ratio.

The state government had, however, given its 30 per cent share to some private people who were now controlling these schools at their own will, the president of the association added.

The issue of irregularities in disbursal of salaries and misuse of other funds had already been brought to the notice of the Punjab Government but no action has been initiated in this regard so far, the teachers alleged.

The teachers demanded that cases should be registered against the wrongdoers and unprecedented punishment should be awarded to them.

The agitators Gurpreet Singh, Saran Kaur, Priyanka, Surinder Kaur, Baghel Singh Chaoke, Geetanjli, Arun, Jaskaran and members of various other organisations supporting the teachers said it was the responsibility of the Punjab Government to bring these schools under the wings of the Education Department. The protesters said the contract system had failed on all fronts and the government must think to keep the corruption at bay in these schools.

The agitating teachers threatened to intensify their agitation if the government failed to redress their problems. (See also P2)

Bathinda, October 27
The Unaided Staff (Aided Schools) Front, Punjab, today took out a protest march in the city and staged dharna near Sirhind Canal on Bathinda-Goniana road.

The members of the Front said the state government had failed to look into the interests of the teachers working in aided schools.

The protesters said earlier, the government announced that the services of the staff in these schools would be regularized but so nothing has been done in this regard.

The unaided staff of these schools is paid meagre salaries but pressure is put on them to work more than the aided teachers.

State adviser of the Front, Jagnath Singh Dhaliwal, said while the chief minister himself studied in the aided schools of Punjab where now hundreds of poor children are studying, the CM is not doing enough for the betterment of these children.

Vice-president of the Front, Sukhdeep Singh demanded that the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan be implemented in these schools. The students in these schools must be given uniform, books, bags and bicycles. Computer labs should be introduced in these schools and the services of teachers deployed for computer teaching should be regularised.

Jasvir Kaur, president of the Talwandi Sabo block, alleged that the Member of Parliament Harsimrat Kaur Badal claims to be working for the betterment of women but the womenfolk in her own constituency are not getting their genuine rights. She said the government is talking about one teacher for 30 students, they are teaching up to 100 students in these schools for a long time and these teachers are paid just Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 per month.

The teachers said they would intensify their agitation and would barge into the rallies of the leaders of the ruling parties if their demands are not met.

The agitating members of the Front include Sultan Singh Amritsar, Gurpreet Singh Talwandi Sabo, Iqbal Singh Mansa, Surinder Kumar Sandhwan, Harpreet Singh Wandar, Didar Singh, Rajinder Ludhiana, Hardeep Patiala, Harpreet Singh Faridkot, Mandeep Muktsar, Baljeet Kaur Mansa, Pankaj Fazilka, Harpreeet Singh Tarantaran, Baldev Singh Sangrur, Lakhwinder Moga, Sushma Barnala, Jaspreet Singh Rupnagar, Kulwant Gurdaspur, Baldeep Malkana and Bhagwant Singh.

Meanwhile, the Special Trainer Teachers' Association also protested today and threatened to intensify their stir if their demands were not met soon.

The members of the Association said meetings with the chief minister and senior government functionaries have failed to yield results. They said the teachers are not being paid salaries for a long time. The process of showing the door to teachers is on and to protest against this, they have decided to launch a massive agitation soon.

Bathinda, October 27
Dearth of reader-oriented books and intelligent publishers ail the Punjabi literature leading to its stunted growth, says Sahitya Akademi awardee Baldev Singh Moga, who is also known as Baldev Singh Sadaknama.

He was in the city to participate in a book fair organised by the National Book Trust, India (NBT).

Baldev Singh is known for his works Sadaknama, Anndata, Lal Batti, Kachchiyan Kandan and his column Sadaknama that appeared in Amrita Preetam's magazine Nagmani for a span of 19 years.

A teacher-turned-driver-turned-author Baldev's Sadaknama is a memoir of a truck driver and the life seen through his eyes.

Enchanted by the "rich" truck drivers from his village, Baldev left his government job as teacher and moved to Kolkata to drive the four-wheeled heavy transport vehicle throughout India.

"My village near Moga had several truck drivers, who would drive trucks in Kolkata. When they used to return to the village, they were as rich as today's NRIs. It was that glitter and family needs that made me quit my government job of six years to become a trucker. I started from a scratch and today I don't repent what I did," says the man whose memoirs are the only extensive work in a regional language about lives of truck drivers and prostitutes in red light areas.

Baldev's accounts of prostitution in Lal Batti touched many hearts and so did his work Anndata, which was translated into English by the Punjabi University, Patiala, as Anndata — The Provider, a story of farmers of Punjab.

The Bharatiya Jnanpith Foundation translated Anndata into Hindi while the Sanjh Publications, Lahore, translated Lal Batti into Shahmukhi.

Baldev is now busy penning the second part of Anndata, which would cover the last 10 years of Punjab's agriculture wherein fertile lands had been acquired for mega projects leaving farmers richer for few years, but poorer for whole life.

Talking about the dearth of Punjabi readers, Baldev said Punjabi authors as well as publishers were responsible for the stunted growth.

"We lack reader-oriented works and intelligent publishers. Most of the authors come out with Punjabi books to get jobs as they get to earn marks fixed for every book published. These writers go to publishers, pay for the book that has to be published and the work is done. On the other hand, publishers never go through the scripts that they publish, except for people like Mohan Singh Rahi and Bhappa Preetam Singh," he adds.

He says while these factors are responsible for the downfall of Punjabi literature, the English publishing houses have removed these two hurdles and are doing roaring business. "English publishing houses have an army of professional editors and copywriters. They even encourage maiden writers, which we lack," he says.

Bathinda, October 27
The Education Department, Punjab, has sought from all government schools, a list of teachers who have been absent since long without any specified reason.

The orders came in the wake of the surprise checking that the Director General of School Education (DGSE) teams conducted a few days ago wherein many teachers were found running on long leave.

During the inspection conducted, the teams had come across cases wherein some teachers were found absent since long and their contracts were not renewed in 2012-13.

It was noticed that the names of many teachers appeared in the attendance registers of the respective schools and were marked absent. The schools heads have been directed to strike off these names in order to avoid any confusion.

Meanwhile, additional director of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) Parampal Kaur Maluka said the department did not aim at taking action against such teachers by suspending them or showing them in bad light.

"Our prime aim is to bring improvement wherever it is possible. We avoid suspending teachers as it does not serve any purpose. The suspension of teacher leads to loss of students he or she teaches. Moreover, the suspended teachers are given arrears from their time of suspension and hence, they don't suffer any economic loss even," she said.

Maluka said the need of the hour was to sensitise teachers towards the needs of their students. In one of the schools she visited, a seven-year-old girl student had lost her mother and the school authorities, unaware of this loss, did not offer any solace or a word of endearment to the child.

"There was no teacher in the class and instead some students of senior classes were monitoring little students, including that child. When we entered the class, she started studying even as she was distressed. Students are like our own children and every teacher should realise this," she added.

Bathinda, October 27
The police has booked four persons for blackmailing and unlawfully obtaining money from a resident of Nai Basti.

In a complaint to the police, Tarun Jain said his father was a contractor and the accused had been threatening him on one pretext or the other. The accsued took away Rs 20,000 in cash and a gold chain from Tarun’s father.

The complainant stated that the extortionists were now demanding Rs 50,000 from him.

The matter was brought to the notice of the police and a case under Sections 382, 384 and 506 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered against the accused, who have been identified as Deepak Kumar of Vishal Nagar, Varun Dalmia of Namdev Road, Inderbir of Dhobiana Basti and Amandeep Singh Deepu.

The accused were brought to the police station and produced in the court.

Bathinda, October 27
Jnanpith awardee Prof Gurdial Singh today inaugurated the nine-day book fair of the National Book Trust, India (NBT), at the Punjabi University Regional Centre.

Speaking on the occasion, he said great writers get influenced by the society they live in and their writings were true reflection of people around them. "Authors like Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Fyodor Dostovesky have penned masterpieces of their times, all of which are mirror of society," he added.

Author Baldev Singh Sadaknama spoke about his famous writings. He said he highlighted the hidden heroes, lesser-known people in his writings giving them voices and identities.

The general secretary of the Punjabi Sahitya Academy, Ludhiana, Dr Sukhdev Singh Sirsa, and story writer Jaspal Singh Mankhera also spoke on the occasion. Dr Satnam Singh Jassal talked about the six books released today, while Surinderpreet Ghaniya spoke on the importance of books.

In meet-the-author programme visitors interacted with Prof Gurdayal Singh and Sukhdev Singh. Prof Loknath, Desraj Kali and others asked questions to these authors in an interactive session.

Earlier, Dr Buta Singh Brar from the Punjabi University Regioinal Centre welcomed the guests.

Bathinda, October 27
A new computer lab was inaugurated at the DAV Senior Secondary School today. President, DAV Managing Committee, New Delhi, HR Gangadhar and social worker Sudesh Gangadhar inaugurated the new lab. Vice-chairman, DAV School, Bathinda, Dr KK Nauhria, chairman Dr JS Anand, principal SS Bhullar and others were also present on the occasion.

An exhibition of paintings of class VI students was held. The guests and the parents of the students appreciated the efforts made by the school.

Bathinda, October 27
As many as 241 cases were amicably settled and an award of Rs 29,032,000 given away at the Lok Adalat held here today.

District and sessions judge SK Aggarwal said 294 cases were presented before the court of which 241 were settled.

He said Lok Adalats are held on the last Saturday of every month at the courts of Bathinda, Phool and Talwandi Sabo. He said the main aim of the Lok Adalat was to amicably settle disputes thereby saving the money, time and efforts of the litigants. Except for cases of a serious and criminal nature, all others can be brought to the Lok Adalat for quick disposal. Cases pending in the courts for long can also be brought to the Lok Adalat by moving a simple application in the respective courts.

Aggarwal said on December 15, a mega Lok Adalat will be held.

Prominent among those present at the Lok Adalat included the additional district and sessions judge Sukhdev Singh, additional district and sessions judge Dilbagh Singh Johal, Lachhman Singh, additional district and sessions judge (fast track court) HS Lekhi, civil judge (senior division) Harinder Kaur Sidhu, chief judicial magistrate Harjit Singh, additional civil judge (senior division) Jasbir Kaur, special judicial magistrate HL Kumar, civil judge (junior division) Karan Garg, civil judge (junior division) Deepti Goyal, Jagdish Chander Sharma, Raj Gupta, Dr Raj Kumar Garg, Rakesh Narula, Pardeep Kataria, Gurminderpal Kaur Dhillon, Surinder Moga, Dr Sneh Bansal and Dr Chaman Lal Garg. 

Bathinda, October 27
Police have registered a case against five persons for making threatening calls. The complainant asked the police to trace the calls. In a complaint to the police, Chheena Singh of Diyalpura Bhaika village said he had been receiving threatening calls from some unidentified persons and the matter was brought to the notice of the police.