B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Not under RTI ambit, claims Faridkot Adarsh school
Faridkot, November 25
Already mired in many controversies, Adarsh schools in Faridkot have now stirred a new debate. Claiming that these are private institutions, the management of Adarsh schools has denied providing information under the RTI Act, saying they are not under its ambit.

Ordinary buses touted as luxury vehicles
Muktsar, November 25
A number of private bus operators in the district are misleading the passengers by presenting their ordinary buses as integrated deluxe coaches made by one of the leading manufacturers -Mercedes Benz.

An ordinary bus being used under the name of an international luxury brand of automobiles, parked at Muktsar bus stand. Photo by writer

Charged up: Punjabi singer Sarabjit Cheema performs on the concluding day of the Virasat Mela at Sports Stadium in Bathinda on Sunday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Fazilka sugar mill yet to pay for last year’s purchase
Fazilka, November 25
The sugarcane crushing season is likely to begin in the first week of December but the management of the local Fazilka Central Cooperative Sugar Mills is yet to pay the balance amount of the cane purchased during the previous year to the farmers.

Free prosthetic, ENT check-up camp held
Fazilka, November 25
Local NGO Social Welfare Society and Balajit Dham, Fazilka, organized a free prosthetic and ENT check-up camp along with Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti, Ambala, today.

World Cup Kabaddi
DC reviews arrangements for matches to be played in Fazilka
Fazilka, November 25
For the first time after getting the district headquarters status, Fazilka is all set to host four international kabaddi matches during the World Cup slated to begin next month. The matches would be played at MR Government College Stadium on December 9.

The West Point School in Kotkapura celebrated its 12th Founder's Day on Saturday. Brigadier Rakesh Sharma, station commander, Faridkot cantonment, was the chief guest on the occasion while Muktsar MLA Karan Kaur Brar presided over the function. A Tribune photograph

Labourer dies as bore well caves in
Abohar, November 25
A daily wage earner died while five other workers were rescued as a bore well that they were trying to recharge, caved in at a village located close to the international border last evening.

Husband booked for circulating lewd MMS
Abohar, November 25
One Manpreet Singh of Anand Nagari here in Abohar has been booked by the city police under Section 294 of the IT Act for allegedly preparing obscene MMS of his wife due to estranged relations and circulating it through mobile phones and internet.

Not under RTI ambit, claims Faridkot Adarsh school
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, November 25
Already mired in many controversies, Adarsh schools in Faridkot have now stirred a new debate. Claiming that these are private institutions, the management of Adarsh schools has denied providing information under the RTI Act, saying they are not under its ambit.

These schools are 'substantially financed' by the state government for the payment of salaries to their employees and to meet other expenses. Therefore, their claim to being a purely private entity has stirred a debate.

"An educational institution that is receiving 70 per cent of the operating costs from the government is deemed as getting 'substantial funding'. So, it comes under the provisions of the RTI Act," said Mangat Arora, an advocate who was denied information by an Adarsh school.

The schools are intentionally ignoring their obligation under the RTI Act to cover up financial irregularities, alleged Arora.

Under a new initiative in public-private partnership to promote quality school education in Punjab, the state government started setting up Adarsh schools some time back. As per the agreement, the students are to be given free-of-cost education. Rs 1,600 are to be spent on every student per month on an average. While the state government contributed 70 per cent funds, 30 per cent was the responsibility of the private management.

But in some Adarsh schools, the management was making fake enrollment of the students and recruiting teachers only on paper to get funds from the state government. Even the students were not spared and were charged in the name of providing them with uniform and books which are rarely available, alleged Arora.

"On September 15, I sought information about financial transactions in Government SAS Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Pakka, in Faridkot. A month later, on October 26, the school demanded Rs 250 as extra fee to provide the information. But instead of providing the information, on November 10, SAS Education Society, Mohali, declined to provide the information, saying the school is a purely private institution and providing information is an unwarranted invasion of its privacy," said Arora.

Ordinary buses touted as luxury vehicles
Private bus operators fleecing passengers by making false claims
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, November 25
A number of private bus operators in the district are misleading the passengers by presenting their ordinary buses as integrated deluxe coaches made by one of the leading manufacturers -Mercedes Benz.

With "Mercedes Benz - Travel with the Star", written on both sides of these buses, the tactics of the operators is a clear case of forgery inviting legal penalisation but in the absence of any departmental check, the operators are seeking to allure passengers to rake in the moolah.

"Last week, I boarded a bus with Mercedes Benz written outside. Later, I came to know that it was an ordinary one. The bus operator had made a false claim about the standard of the bus. Though the conductor did not charge the actual fare of an integrated coach, still travelling in an ordinary bus with claims of Mercedes Benz proved disappointing for me," said Rahul Singla.

Similarly, another passenger, Ranjeet Singh Dhillon, said, "With white paint on the body, the bus looks similar to an original integrated deluxe bus, which proves helpful for transporters to attract the passengers. I also fell victim to this bogus claim last week, when I boarded a bus for Kotkapura."

During a visit to the local bus stand, an ordinary bus resembling an integrated deluxe coach of Mercedes Benz was found parked there.

The bus conductor denied being aware of the reason behind the claim. "May be it looks attractive," he tried to guess.

District Transport Officer, Muktsar, Bhupinder Mohan Singh, said, "If some transporters are duping the passengers through this, then strict action will be taken against them. I will personally go to the bus stand to check the buses."

Fazilka sugar mill yet to pay for last year’s purchase
Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka, November 25
The sugarcane crushing season is likely to begin in the first week of December but the management of the local Fazilka Central Cooperative Sugar Mills is yet to pay the balance amount of the cane purchased during the previous year to the farmers.

There is resentment among the sugarcane growers over the delay in the payment. As per officials sources, Rs 3.83 crore is yet to be paid to the farmers by the mill management.

"I have not received an amount of Rs 5.65 lakhs for the sugarcane sold to the mill which the authorities had assured to pay after the purchase of the cane during the crushing season of 2011-12," said Sushil Jain, a cane grower in village Singhpura.

"We hope to pay the remaining amount in the near future as the Sugarfed has assured of releasing the amount before the commencement of the coming crushing season," said the managing director of the mill, MS Sandhu.

"The state government has not declared the hiked state advised price (SAP) of sugarcane so far although the crushing season is about to commence. Instead, the government is thinking of shutting down the sugar mills, which are running in losses in Punjab, which is unfortunate," said Balwinder Singh and Ravinder Singh, both farmers, of village Chackpakhi.

"Keeping in view the increase in input cost, the Sugarcane Control Board, Punjab, should enhance the SAP from Rs 230 to Rs 300 per quintal," demanded the president of the Fazilka district unit of Bhartiya Kisan Union, Parduman Kumar Beganwali.

The area under sugarcane cultivation in Fazilka has increased. Sugarcane has been cultivated in 3080 hectare of land this year as compared to 2600 hectares of land in 2011-12. More farmers are keen to grow sugarcane but the delayed payment has disappointed them.

Free prosthetic, ENT check-up camp held
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, November 25
Local NGO Social Welfare Society and Balajit Dham, Fazilka, organized a free prosthetic and ENT check-up camp along with Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayata Samiti, Ambala, today.

Chief guest Swami Kamlanand Giri, Nirmala Jyani, wife of cabinet minister Surjit Kumar Jyani and Fazilka Additional Deputy Commissioner Charandev Singh Maan jointly inaugurated the camp.

In-charge of Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahatya Samiti, Ambala, RL Handa said out of 70 physically challenged who were examined, 25 have been identified to provide artificial limbs.

The follow-up camp would be held on December 23 to fix the limbs which would be prepared at the workshop of the Jaipur branch of the Samiti, added Handa.

The president of Social Welfare Society, Raj Kishore Kalra and camp chairman Shashi Kant disclosed that a team of ENT specialists comprising Narinder Sethi, Rachna Monga, Sangeeta, Narinder Bansal, Darshan Goyal, Om Chauhan, Surinder Pandey and Amar Singh examined 354 patients and provided free medicines to them.

World Cup Kabaddi
DC reviews arrangements for matches to be played in Fazilka
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, November 25
For the first time after getting the district headquarters status, Fazilka is all set to host four international kabaddi matches during the World Cup slated to begin next month. The matches would be played at MR Government College Stadium on December 9.

Fazilka Deputy Commissioner Dr Basant Garg, who took stock of the arrangements, said four kabaddi matches would be played at Fazilka.

Of the four matches, one match would be played between India and Denmark. "Committees of officials of various departments have been constituted to make arrangements to make the matches in Fazilka a success," said the DC.

"The stadium at Fazilka is ready to accommodate a crowd of 10,000 people. It would be suitably decorated for the World Cup," said Fazilka Additional Deputy Commissioner Charandev Singh Maan.

The matches were reportedly to be played at Jalalabad, the constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, but the venue had to be shifted to Fazilka district headquarters late on Saturday evening, as the construction of the stadium could not be completed till the commencement of the tournament.

Labourer dies as bore well caves in
Our Correspondent

Abohar, November 25
A daily wage earner died while five other workers were rescued as a bore well that they were trying to recharge, caved in at a village located close to the international border last evening.

As per available information, the bore well in the fields, owned by Mani Ram in village Chak 3Q (Mirzewala) on Sriganganagar-Srikaranpur road, was lying abandoned. Owing to shortage of canal water, he decided to get it renovated.

The sand caved in resulting in the death of a worker Pappu Ram.

A case has been registered by the police in this connection. 

Husband booked for circulating lewd MMS
Our Correspondent

Abohar, November 25
One Manpreet Singh of Anand Nagari here in Abohar has been booked by the city police under Section 294 of the IT Act for allegedly preparing obscene MMS of his wife due to estranged relations and circulating it through mobile phones and internet.

As per the complaint, the husband reportedly took the step as his wife had refused to withdraw the case registered against him earlier under section 498 of the Dowry Prevention Act.