B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Leave laptops, give us benches to sit: Students
Faridkot, December 17
Making a mockery of the promise made by the ruling combine in its election manifesto a year back that class XII students would be provided with laptops, many government schools in the area are sans benches for students to sit upon.

Girl students of senior secondary classes attend their classes sitting on floor in a government school at Kotkapura on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Sikh Regiment, NGOs honour war widows
Abohar, December 17
War widows of the region were honoured during a function organised by some NGOs, in association with the Sikh Regiment, at the Ramlila Grounds in the neighbouring Sriganganagar today. They were presented cheques of Rs 21,000 each and mementoes.

Traders accuse govt officials in Fazilka of harassment
Abohar, December 17
Scores of traders who assembled at the Geeta Mandir Complex here lambasted the state government for allegedly pursuing policies which were against the trading community.

5 burglaries in a day
Muktsar, December 17
Five cases of burglary were reported to the district police on Saturday and one the next day. In all, burglars decamped with valuables worth over Rs 7 lakh.

Pensioners peeved at state govt
Abohar, December 17
The Punjab Government Pensioners’ Association criticised the state government for its apathetic attitude towards its pensioners.

Leave laptops, give us benches to sit: Students
Girl students of classes XI & XII of Kotkapura school attend classes sitting on a cold floor in winter
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, December 17
Making a mockery of the promise made by the ruling combine in its election manifesto a year back that class XII students would be provided with laptops, many government schools in the area are sans benches for students to sit upon.

Consequently, a large number of girl students aged between 16 and 18 years have to sit on the floor during the chilling winter.

In the absence of desks and chairs, many students of government senior secondary schools for girls in this area have started bringing from their homes, floor mats to sit so as to escape the chill.

In Dr Chanda Singh Marwah Government Senior Secondary School for Girls in Kotkapura, where 1,865 students are enrolled, almost all the 522 students of classes XI and XII are without any desk and chair.

Almost similar is the situation at Government Senior Secondary School for Girls in Sadiq where over 200 girl students are forced to sit on the floor in absence of furniture. While most of the classes under middle standard have adequate desks and chairs, there is no furniture for senior students.

Under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a flagship programme of the Government of India, almost all schools have been provided with furniture for students of elementary classes up to middle standard. However, there is no such provision for the students from classes IX to XII.

It is quite strange that while the state government is promising laptops to its students, thousand pupils have to bring their own floor mats to school to attend classes. "First of all, one needs a comfortable environment and space for learning," said a teacher.

Amarjit Singh, DEO (Secondary), Faridkot, said the details of shortage of furniture in government schools were being collected under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan(RMSA). "We are hopeful of meeting the shortage in the coming days," he added.

The RMSA is another flagship programme of the union government that was launched in March 2009 with the objective of enhancing access to quality secondary education.

Sikh Regiment, NGOs honour war widows
Our Correspondent

Dignitaries present a cheque to a war widow during a function held at Sriganganagar. A Tribune photograph

Abohar, December 17
War widows of the region were honoured during a function organised by some NGOs, in association with the Sikh Regiment, at the Ramlila Grounds in the neighbouring Sriganganagar today. They were presented cheques of Rs 21,000 each and mementoes.

Colonel Praveen Kumar was joined by Lieutenant-General JS Dhillon (retd), Colonel Shishpal Singh, Colonel BS Bhatti (retd), BSF commandant Manjit Singh Chimni (retd), district police chief Santosh Chalke, Civil Defence chief warden Nirmal Jain and other dignitaries in laying wreaths and offering floral tributes to the soldiers who had laid down their lives during the 1971 war against Pakistan. An Army contingent reversed arms, sounded bugle and offered salute in a traditional ceremony.

Eminent industrialist and social activist Bajrang Dass Aggarwal presented a cheque of Rs 1 lakh to Abhimanyu Singh of Pallu for qualifying the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam. Aggarwal had announced the prize in the past to encourage the youths in the region to join the NDA.

Traders accuse govt officials in Fazilka of harassment
Our Correspondent

Abohar, December 17
Scores of traders who assembled at the Geeta Mandir Complex here lambasted the state government for allegedly pursuing policies which were against the trading community.

Presiding over a meeting held here, an industrialist and a leading cotton merchant, Suresh Bansal, and the president of the All Traders Beopar Mandal, Ashwani Kumar Jhunthra, said the officials of the Excise and Taxation Department, the police and the Municipal Council had been harassing the traders on flimsy ground.

Intriguingly, some of the officials have managed to stay here beyond the tenure prescribed for a particular town.

The traders alleged that information sought under the RTI was being denied by officials of the Excise and Taxation Department posted here as well as those at the headquarters. The appeals in this connection remained unattended, they alleged.

They also criticised some businessmen for inviting administrative and police officials to get their new establishments inaugurated. Expensive gifts and mementoes were given to such officials to escape action in future, the traders alleged.

5 burglaries in a day
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, December 17
Five cases of burglary were reported to the district police on Saturday and one the next day. In all, burglars decamped with valuables worth over Rs 7 lakh.

Gurmel Singh of Chhateana village stated that when he came to his shop on Sunday, he found it ransacked with 47 tyres worth Rs 4.75 lakh missing.

Deepak Chawala of Surgapuri reported to the police that on the intervening night of December 13 and 14, some unidentified persons decamped with cloth worth Rs 90,000 from his shop.

A local resident Timpu Kumar stated that two persons, namely Fateh Singh and Angrej Singh, snatched his Pulsar motorcycle on Wednesday.

Further, Ajit Singh of Buttar Bakhua lodged a complaint that thieves decamped with grocery items worth nearly Rs 4,200 from his house.

A Gidderbaha resident, Sandeep Singh, also lodged a complaint that one Ravinder Singh had stolen taps worth Rs 3,500 from a gurdwara.

A local resident Ram Nath reported to the City police that when he came to his liquor shop on Sunday morning, he found it ransacked with valuables worth Rs 1.10 lakh missing.

It is learnt that nearly 170 thefts have taken place in Muktsar district till date this year.

Some residents of the district have demanded that the police patrolling must be intensified especially during the night hours to curb such incidents.

"The senior cops must make rounds of the city at night so that the policemen deployed on patrolling duty remain alert," said a local resident, Ajay Kumar.

Pensioners peeved at state govt

Abohar, December 17
The Punjab Government Pensioners’ Association criticised the state government for its apathetic attitude towards its pensioners.

Speaking during the Pensioners Day celebrations in the Teachers’ Home here today, the chairman of the Association, Captain SK Dutta (retd), and the president of the pensioners’ body, DS Khaira, regretted that the government was denying the 50 per cent DA on pension besides holding back the third instalment of the revised pension. They urged the government to enhance the monthly medical allowance to Rs 1,000 as health services had become dearer.

On the occasion, veteran pensioners Madan Lal Lakhotia, Chiman Lal Dawra, Roop Chand Gupta and Mohinder Kaur were honoured.

SDM Vipul Ujwal, superintendent of police Varinder Singh Brar, senior medical officer Dr Sandeep Gilhotra and former SDM BL Sikka conveyed good wishes to the pensioners. — OC