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Students ‘help’ to clean school
Sewermen’s kin get
job letters
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Stray cattle menace hits rail traffic in Muktsar
Bid to smuggle poppy husk
foiled
Man arrested for kidnapping his 2-yr-old daughter
Army takes Muslim clerics from J&K on ‘Watan ki
sair’
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Students ‘help’ to clean school
Abohar, November 23 Such work is normally assigned to volunteers under the National Service Scheme (NSS) on the pretext of inculcating in them dignity towards physical labour. But none of the private schools has an NSS unit barring a few model schools. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the school staff sought to explain that the state government had not been reimbursing even bills against electricity, drinking water and sewerage charges that is calculated according to the total area under the possession of schools that are paid 95 per cent of the approved staff wages. The staff strength in most aided schools has been cut to less than half as the managing committees were not authorised to recruit new teachers against the aided posts. There are schools which have just one or two teachers for 500 students. One school was shut down a few years back as all the teachers getting 95 per cent grant on salary had retired on superannuation of service. The Supreme Court recently directed the state government to fill vacancies in aided schools across the state within six months. But neither the teachers nor the managing committees hope that the government will follow the directions as it is yet to restore the pension benefit to the teachers who had retired after May 2003. An appeal by the state government had reportedly been disallowed by the apex court in this regard. The teachers in such schools revealed that the education department had directed to close the Red Cross and amalgamation fund accounts that were maintained by the private schools in post offices. The government further banned collection of funds under the head "Parents Teachers Associations". Recently, the state government had asked its ministers not to release grants to private institutions as one of its former cabinet member faced investigation for benefiting the institutions run by his own family. The members of parliament have not been generous to government aided schools, a study of the funds sanctioned by them during the past few years confirmed. "Under such conditions, we wanted the students to assist us in cleaning the school complex and carry bricks etc," the staff of the government aided school in question sought to clarify. |
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Sewermen’s kin get
job letters
Barnala, November 23 Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Barnala, Zora Singh Thind, deputy director, local bodies, Patiala, Ashok Sikka, president of Barnala Municipal Council Paramjit Singh Dhillon, executive engineer of Sewerage Board SS Bahia and Barnala DSP Harmeek Singh Deol were also present. ADC Zora Singh Thind said appointment letters were handed over to a member each from the bereaved families for a job in the local municipal council by the deputy director, local bodies, Patiala. |
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Stray cattle menace hits rail traffic in Muktsar
Muktsar, November 23 Most of the night trains are often seen running behind schedule because of the menace. Ironically, the administration seems to be waiting for a major mishap before swinging into action. The records of train arrival timings procured by The Tribune show that the last passenger train of the day, 74984, which runs from Fazilka to Kotkapura through Muktsar, has been able to reach the local railway station on its scheduled time (9:07 pm) only once thus far this month. As a result, passengers who have to board Punjab Mail from Kotkapura railway station to go to Delhi often miss it. A daily commuter, Ankush Deep, said, “I travel from Fazilka to Muktsar at night. The train never reaches Muktsar railway station on its scheduled time. Mostly, stray animals come on the tracks and train driver has to apply brakes in wait of the track’s clearance.” Last Wednesday, three animals were killed after getting crushed under the wheels of a moving train near Malout. Three days ago, an engine sent from Muktsar to Bariwala covered the distance of 20 minutes in an hour as several animals had blocked the track. Muktsar station master CL Meena said, “Drivers of night trains are having a tough in dealing with stray animals.” He, however, blamed the public for the menace saying throwing garbage near the tracks was the cause of the problem.
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Bid to smuggle poppy husk foiled
Abohar, November 23 Confirming the development, Hanumangarh district police chief Dr Ravi said the police became suspicious as truck driver Nirmal Singh of Seetogunno Road (Abohar) produced goods receipt issued at Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) to substantiate that the truck was loaded with cauliflower. They questioned why the vegetable was being transported from such a far off place to this remote area that grows tonnes of cauliflower. The driver's accomplice, identified as Vinod Bagri of village Malarampur (Sadulshehar), located on Abohar border, fled. The cops removed bags of cauliflower and found that 102 bags of poppy husk had been placed under the vegetable bags. The total weight of poppy husk has been assessed at 4,000 kg having a shelf value of Rs 35 lakhs. What has disturbed the police more is that poppy husk was earlier smuggled from Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts to Punjab through Abohar and to Haryana through Dabwali. But the drug mafia has now arranged its supply from Madhya Pradesh. —
OC |
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Man arrested for kidnapping his 2-yr-old daughter
Faridkot, November 23 Police sources said things were not quite working out for Ajay Kumar and his wife Charanjit Kaur. Therefore, his wife was staying with her parents in Dogar Basti, Faridkot, along with her daughter. They reportedly had differences over the custody of the child. It is alleged that the accused Ajay Kumar abducted his daughter from the house of his in-laws. Following a complaint by the child's mother, the police registered a criminal case under Section 452 and 363 (trespassing and abduction) against Ajay Kumar and his five accomplices. After Ajay's arrest and the recovery of the child, the police produced him before a court which sent him to judicial custody till December 7. "The police are searching for the other accused," said Jatinder Kumar, SHO, Faridkot city. |
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Army takes Muslim clerics from J&K on ‘Watan ki
sair’
Abohar/Fazilka, November 23 The trip has been organised in order to familiarize them with places of historic and religious importance. The tour is being executed under the aegis of Operation Sadbhawana which includes sightseeing at historical and religious places in Sriganganagar, Bikaner, Ajmer and Jaipur. At a reception held at Sadhuwali Military Station on Friday, the visitors said it was a unique experience to get an insight into the tremendous warmth of Punjabi culture and the extraordinary landscape of Rajasthan. The maulvis were happy to witness the functioning of the Army as a major facilitator in the facets of community development and national integration. While interacting with the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Amogh Division, Major General NC Badhani at the reception, the visiting clerics expressed their gratitude for providing them with an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the socio-economic and cultural heritage of the area and for the endearing hospitality extended. The GOC conveyed his best wishes to the clerics and asked them to carry forward the message of national integration and harmony. The visitors from J&K later also visited the War Memorial at Asafwala today to pay homage to the martyrs of the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Earlier, a welcome ceremony was organized by the local formation of the Army at Fazilka brigade headquarters. Brigadier Rakesh Raina interacted with the members of the group and conveyed his best wishes. "The Indian Army has been working to win the hearts and minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir especially in the areas affected by terrorism. The people of these areas do not get the opportunity to move out the disturbed areas and are deprived off seeing the various places that affects national integration," said the Army personnel. |
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Girls and boys studying in a government aided private school here were found cleaning wild growth, carrying bricks and pulling carts (rehri) to transport building material.
The Indian Army has organised "Watan Ki Sair" for 25 Muslim clerics (maulvis) of Rafiabad and Qaziabad tehsils of Baramula and Kupwara districts to
Sriganganagar-Bikaner-Ajmer-Jaipur. They will be back to their native places on December 3.
