|
|
|
|
|
Rs 10,000 crore plan for state villages finalised:
Sukhbir
Beant Singh’s assassination case |
|
|
Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Days after more than 20 schoolchildren died in Bihar,
The Tribune examines the working of the food plan in Punjab
Complaints of ration siphoning go unheard
Other problems
Health Dept collects food samples
Sidhu to assist Gadkari in Delhi elections
Dismiss Maluka, demands Bajwa
PPCC to start mass contact from July 22
Red card facility for ZP members
Rajpura village school remains waterlogged, students stay out
DSP murder case
|
|
Beant
Singh’s assassination case
New Delhi, July 19 Hawara was the mastermind behind the blast by a suicide bomber in which 17 persons were killed and 15 injured at the entrance of the 10-storeyed civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995. Hawara has challenged the October 12, 2010, judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Upholding his conviction, the High Court had commuted the death penalty awarded by the trial court to life term. The CBI has already approached the Supreme Court, challenging the commutation of the death sentence. The appeal filed in 2011 is pending in the apex court, contending that the crime fell under the category of the “rarest of rare cases” warranting a death sentence. A Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and SA Bobde today passed an order granting leave and clarifying that the appeals by the CBI and Hawara through SS Rawat would be heard together in detail. Senior counsel Sushil Kumar said Hawara had pleaded that the High Court had commuted the death sentence after acknowledging that he had not made any confessional statement, that there was no recovery from him and the scene of crime had not been proved. Under such circumstances, the High Court should have acquitted him instead of commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment, the senior advocate said. The High Court had upheld the death sentence awarded by the trial court to Balwant Singh and confirmed the life sentence given to Shamsher Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Lakhwinder Singh.
|
|||||
|
Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Days after more than 20 schoolchildren died in Bihar,
The Tribune examines the working of the food plan in Punjab
Ropar, July 19 A visit by The Tribune team to three schools at Bindrakh, Mandwara and Burjwala villages found that the wheat and rice supplied to these were infested with weevil (‘sursari’). Finding it unfit for consumption, the staff at the Government Primary School in Mandwara village objected when the supply was being delivered. They even returned a major portion of the 4.59 quintals of rice after noticing the insects in the bags. But, they had to accept some quantity to keep the scheme going as the food material was running out of stock. Teachers said the cook deployed at the school had been spending hours to clean the rice. Similarly, the raw wheat supplied to the school was found to be full of moisture and insects. Teachers were busy shifting the rice and wheat to the rooms as the products were kept in the sun for drying when The Tribune team reached Burjwala village where both primary and middle schools are situated in the same complex. While the wheat grains supplied to both the schools were found to be discolored and full of moisture, as if having remained exposed to rains for a long period during storage, insects were visible on top of wheat and rice bags. The quality of these two food items sent to the schools was not only inferior but on several occasions the bags were found underweight too, alleged a teacher. Ropar mid-day meal coordinator Chanranjit Singh, when questioned on the supply of insect-infested wheat and rice, said no school had so far lodged any complaint.
|
|||||
|
Complaints of ration siphoning go unheard
Jalandhar, July 19 nOn October 29 last year, the residents of Daroli Khurd village in Jalandhar wrote to the Director General of School Education about the alleged malpractices at the local government primary school. A key charge was the appointment of an illegal candidate as the school management committee vice-chairman to allegedly facilitate the headmaster in the wrongdoings. nIn May 2011, the gatekeeper of Mandi Fentonganj senior secondary school in the district wrote a letter to the principal alleging he was being harassed as he had refused to sell 31 sacks of ration at a grocery store. The letter was also sent to the District Education Officer as well as the Deputy Commissioner. nOn July 24 last year, the school managing committee chairman of the same school reprimanded the principal through a letter, questioning the irregularities found in the mid-day meal the same day. Almost a year down the line on July 17 this year, District Education Officer (Primary) Kuldeep Sharma finally did follow-up action on the repeated complaints about the same school. He along with the mid day meal coordinator conducted checks at the school. Though some cases were highlighted, experts in the field of programme implementation claimed several schools, particularly in rural areas, had been following the illegal practice. They alleged the students were being fed sub-standard food, thereby defeating the very purpose of the nutritional food scheme. The letter sent by the gatekeeper of the Mandi Fentonganj School clearly mentioned that he had been asked to sell 15 sacks of wheat and 16 of rice by the school authorities, including the principal. The letter also mentioned that less quantity of food was being served to students.
|
|||||
|
Other problems
Children at some schools in Gurdaspur have complained that poor quality seasonal vegetables were being served to them. “The quality of rice and wheat is alright but the vegetable being served to us is not up to the mark. Sometimes, rotten vegetables are served. We complain to our teachers, but requests to the supervisory staff to improve the quality often go unheard,” a student of a school in the border belt said. District Education Officer (Secondary) Inderjeet Singh, however, rubbishes the claim: “I myself visit schools from where we receive such complaints. Fresh vegetables are cooked everyday and the question of rotten vegetables being served simply does not arise.”
Shortage of LPG
Jagdeesh Bhalla, in charge of the mid-day meal scheme in Gurdaspur, said the main problem being faced by the department was of LPG cylinders. “Earlier, we were given cylinders at subsidised rates. However, for some inexplicable reason, the subsidy has been put on hold, which means we have to pay Rs 1,200 for a cylinder. At times, the cooking staff has to use firewood in some schools instead of LPG cylinders,” he said.
Low wages for cooks
DGSE's dos and don'ts
Hours after the Bihar tragedy, the Director General of School Education dispatched a 10-point missive to all District Education Officers across the state asking them to strictly abide by the directions. The emphasis is on personal hygiene of cooks-cum-helpers and also on cleanliness of the store bins. (Ravi Dhaliwal in Gurdaspur)
|
|||||
|
Health Dept collects food samples
Chandigarh, July 19
Reports from Jalandhar said the Health Department had taken food samples for the first time in six years. School principals from Bathinda, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Tarn Taran said though health checks were undertaken regularly, the Health Department never took food samples for testing. The principal of a school in Bathinda said while the Food Safety Act had brought food items sold by “rehri wallahs” and eateries under scrutiny, a similar exercise was not carried out to check the quality of food served by the schools. Prabhcharan Singh, General Manager, Mid-Day Meals, Punjab, said the schools were being regularly checked and the health record of students maintained. “We also check the food quality.The state authorities in its annual report earlier this year had mentioned that regular checks were being maintained.” Most schools are faced with the problem of adequate storage facilities.
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
Sidhu to assist Gadkari in Delhi elections
Amritsar, July 19 Though Sidhu could not be contacted for comment, his wife, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, talking on the phone from Delhi said: “It is a positive development that will rid him of his suffocation." She said he had worked hard to strengthen the party organisation in New Delhi. She said Delhi had a significant Sikh population and Sidhu would help the party garner the Sikh votes. During his visit to Amritsar on July 7-8, BJP president Rajnath Singh had described Sidhu as a prominent leader of the party. He had said that Sidhu’s “services will be utilised in future.” Sidhu was conspicuous by his absence during Gujarat CM Narendra Modi's first rally as BJP campaign committee chief in Madhopur on June 23. He had also skipped the party's executive meeting in Amritsar on July 7-8. He has been keeping away from his constituency since February. In April this year, his wife had announced that he may quit politics as he is feeling “sidelined” in the political system because of his honest ways. She had hinted that he may not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. During his brief visit to the city on May 9, Sidhu had expressed his displeasure with the way his favourite projects had been “scuttled” in the city. The cricketer-turned-politician was removed from BJP’s national executive by party president Rajnath Singh. His archrival in the state BJP, Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, was made state vice-president.
|
|||||
|
Dismiss Maluka, demands Bajwa
Chandigarh, July 19 In a statement, Bajwa said the central probe team had found Maluka guilty of misappropriation of funds given under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). He said the Punjab Congress had highlighted the misappropriation of funds by the minister and that its stand had been vindicated by the probe panel report. The PPCC president said the books scam had proved that the CM did not practice what he preached. Accusing Badal of being morally corrupt, he said the Chief Minister was shielding Maluka and other corrupt ministers in his Cabinet. Earlier, Animal Husbandry Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike, who was patently guilty of embezzlement in border area development funds, was protected by the CM and later given a clean chit by the Vigilance Bureau. Senior Congress leaders, including party spokesperson Sukhpal Khaira, vice-presidents Tarlochan Soondh and Charanjit Channi as well as general secretaries Fatehjang Bajwa and Kushaldeep Dhillion, at a press conference here, said if the CM failed to dismiss Maluka forthright, the party would be constrained to launch an agitation.
|
|||||
|
PPCC to start mass contact from July 22
New Delhi, July 19 Bajwa will himself cover four assembly segments every week, two in Malwa and one each in Doaba and Majha. State Congress leaders today told Rahul that they had instructed their cadres at the assembly segment level to make a list of the unemployed youth in their area and see whether they had been given allowance as promised by the SAD in its poll manifesto. “The SAD has been selling UPA schemes as its own. We need to counter their false assertions... Our top focus will be to educate people on the National Food Security Ordinance and the direct cash transfer scheme,” Bajwa told TNS after the meeting. The Punjab Congress sought special tax holiday for the state’s six border districts - Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Taran Taran, Ferozepur and
Fazilka.
|
|
Red card facility for ZP members
Chandigarh, July 19 Sources said the administrative department worked late into the evening yesterday to make the entry passes with the help of the field staff. The passes were handed over to the Rural Development Department yesterday to be distributed among the zila parishad and panchayat samiti members today. A top official said the passes, prepared as per the wishes of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, would ensure that the elected representatives had hassle-free access to the civil secretariat and the mini secretariat. Rural Development Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra said his department wanted to ensure that the elected members had free access to ministers and senior functionaries as they were the “true torch-bearers of grassroots democracy.” Sources, however, claimed the government had opened the pandora’s box. There could now be demands to give the red card facility to councillors and sarpanches as well. The sources said that those with the red pass were not subjected to security checks and this measure would result in a sharp increase in the number of persons gaining entry into the secretariat without a security check. Red card-holders are also allowed access to the second floor of the secretariat on which the offices of the Chief Minister, Deputy CM and senior functionaries are located. As of now, there are only two kinds of entry cards for gaining access to the secretariat. While the red card is issued to department heads and boards and corporation chiefs, the green card is issued to the non-secretarial employees.
About the facility
|
||
|
Rajpura village school remains waterlogged, students stay out
Patiala, July 19 Padao village is situated very close to the National Highway no. 1 in Rajpura and mainly consists of people belonging to the poor sections. Most of the families in the village cannot afford to send their children to city schools. The villagers have been facing the problem of waterlogging for many years. However, it got aggravated after the construction of an overbridge on the highway. Furthermore, there is no proper draining system due to which the water gets accumulated and it becomes difficult for the students and staff to reach the school. The teachers have no option but to wait till the ground gets dry. One of the students said, “During rains, we prefer not to wear shoes to the school as we have to cross waterlogged areas. Moreover, it gets really slippery and we are at a greater risk of falling and getting hurt.” Villager Balwinder Kumar said the school authorities had written to the Patiala Deputy Commissioner almost three years ago, seeking grant for the school so that some drainage facility could be provided. "However, we haven’t been sanctioned the amount as yet due to which the students have to study under unhygienic conditions." “There's a risk of outbreak of vector-borne diseases due to stagnant water. Even the boundary wall of the school is in a bad shape and can collapse anytime,” said Ram Singh. Village sarpanch Veer Singh said, "We have not received any grant from the authorities yet. I paid for the levelling of the area outside the school premises. Two water pipes have been laid so that water does not accumulate in the school.” Harnek Singh, secretary, BDPO office, said they
had done the needful as of now. However, he said the problem was bigger
and could be solved only after receiving a suitable grant.
|
|
DSP murder case
Chandigarh, July 19 The two contended they were not the prime accused in the case; and the allegations against them were based on an exchange of phone calls with the other accused. Opposing the bail plea, counsel Harpreet Sandhu and Ramdeep Partap Singh asserted on complainant Kashmira Singh Gill’s behalf that the two were involved in changing and fabricating the number plates of the vehicle driven by the DSP before he was murdered. The vehicle was driven away from the scene of crime. DSP Gill and Monika, a resident of Ludhiana Model Town, were brutally murdered at Agnihotri farmhouse near Golf Link Apartments on Hambran Road, 7 km from the city, on February 1 last
year. The case will now be heard on July 31 at a trial court in Ludhiana.
— TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
The SAD will field its candidates for the Delhi assembly elections in alliance with the
BJP, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal told mediapersons after administering oath to 2,731 members of 146 panchayat samitis and 331 members of 22 zila parishads at the Grain Market here today.
The Supreme Court today admitted for detailed hearing an appeal by Babbar Khalsa terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara, challenging his conviction and life imprisonment for his role in the assassination of Chief Minister Beant Singh.
Hawara was the mastermind behind the blast by a suicide bomber in which 17 persons were killed and 15 injured at the entrance of the 10-storeyed civil secretariat in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995.
The authorities in Ropar have failed to learn any lesson from the Bihar
incident where 23 students died after consuming mid-day meal. Wheat and rice
infested with insects were supplied to several government schools in the
district under the scheme. A visit by The Tribune team to three schools at
Bindrakh, Mandwara and Burjwala villages found that the wheat and rice supplied
to these were infested with weevil (‘sursari’). Finding it unfit for consumption, the staff at the Government Primary School in Mandwara village objected when the supply was being delivered.
A sulking Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP, may have distanced himself from his party in the past few months, but the BJP continues to place faith in
him. He will assist former BJP president Nitin Gadkari in the Delhi assembly elections.
Though Sidhu could not be contacted for comment, his wife, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu, talking on the phone from Delhi said: “It is a positive development that will rid him of his suffocation."
Patiala, July 19
The issue of “underpaid” cooks is also threatening to snowball into a major controversy. “We are paid a meagre Rs 1,200 per month. We have asked the authorities on innumerable occasions to increase the honorarium, but nobody seems to be listening to us. Now, we are planning to hold a massive protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office to get the honorarium increased,” a cook-cum-helper said.
