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Villages to be digitally mapped for planned progress: CM
Two students drown in waterworks tank
Teachers unpaid, students bereft of books in Adarsh Schools
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State compensates farmers having land near int’l border
Rain ruin
Minor among 8 held with stolen bikes
Army holds drawing competition for girl students
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Villages to be digitally mapped for planned progress: CM
Muktsar, August 4 Addressing a gathering during sangat darshan programme at Badal village late last evening, the Chief Minister said the digital mapping would enable the state government to ensure the planned development of villages in a holistic manner. "Initially, only two assembly segments, Lambi and Jalalabad, have been covered under the project. After the success of the project in these two areas, it will be implemented throughout the state for ensuring the comprehensive development of the state," said Badal. The Chief Minister said that under the project, all data related to ponds, disposal of waste water, infrastructure in villages, marking of houses and level of streets, among others, in every village of the state, would be collected. "After the collection of the relevant data, a software will be prepared which will help in carrying on the development process in the villages easily and expeditiously," maintained Badal. He further said that the project had been initiated keeping in view the futuristic needs of the state, and added that the entire development work in the village in would be conducted through this process future. "In this age of computerisation, digital mapping will help a person get any detail regarding his village. With just a click, any villager will be able to know about the status of development work in his village or about the level or direction of any new street or water disposal project," he added. An official of the rural development and panchayat department said a clear pictorial view of the location, measurement of village common land and the extent of encroachment would also be available through satellite imaging and digital mapping, which would help the senior officials monitor the requirement of every village sitting at the headquarters. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister disbursed cheques for Rs 7 lakh to 22 needy persons belonging to Muktsar district. |
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Two students drown in waterworks tank
Abohar, August 4 As per available information, Monu (10) along with Deepu (8) of the same school were reportedly noticed proceeding towards the water works at 1 pm on Saturday. Their parents began a search as the boys did not return home till 6 pm. After the sunset, bodies of the two children were found floating in the tank. Their school bags and footwear were also spotted near the tank. Since no staff was present at the water works, it is believed that they might have jumped into the tank for a bath even as it is prohibited under the rules. The victims were sons of daily wage earners. The police has initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC. |
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Teachers unpaid, students bereft of books in Adarsh Schools
Faridkot, August 4 It is not only the students who are without books in these Adarsh schools which were started in April 2011 with the aim of endowing the poor in the rural areas with high quality school education. Even the teachers are without salary since April 1 this year. As there was not even a single penny that the Government GGS Adarsh Senior Secondary School at Mallan and Middumaan received in the last four months, the teachers are contributing from their own pockets to buy the stationery and photocopies of the books to teach the students. In the absence of funds, the Mallan school with a strength of 525 students has not paid the electricity bill since October 2012. The school, being run from a rented building, was unable to pay the rent since April 1 this year. All 22 teachers in Mallan school and 41 teaching and non-teaching staff in Middumaan Adarsh School got their last salary on March 31 this year. Even before that, the teachers got 68.5 per cent of their total salary in the last financial year. Waiting for the arrears of last year and salaries for the current year, the teachers are now spending money from their own pocket to meet the recurring expenses to run the schools. But there is some thing more to worry about for these teachers. As both these schools are still not affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the teachers are worried about getting the Class IX students registered with the CBSE for their board exams the next year. Registration of Class IX students with the CBSE is mandatory for the board exam and this registration is not possible until a school is affiliated with the CBSE. Namrata Goyal, principal, Adarsh School, Mallan, said the school has informed the authorities including the Deputy Commissioner, the District Education Officer, the Director General School Education and member secretary, Punjab Education Development Board, about the problems the school is facing in the absence of books for the students and salary for the teachers. "Despite that fact that we got no plausible response, the teachers are continuing with their duty of teaching the students," she said. "Sometimes, teachers decline to take classes because of no salary but thinking that it would imperil the future of the students, they hold classes," said Jai Pal Uppal, the officiating in-charge of Adarsh School in Middumaan. Ravi Bhagat, Deputy Commissioner, Faridkot, said he was aware of the problem which started after the private management of these schools abandoned the project, amidst the allegations of fiddling with enrollment figures. The state government pays 70 per cent of the monthly expenses of the Adarsh Schools. The state government is in touch with private managements to run these schools successfully and modalities are being worked out, said the DC. State of affairs
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State compensates farmers having land near int’l border
Fazilka, August 4 Notably, the farmers are cultivating their fields till the last inch towards the international border braving all odds. They are not allowed to cultivate tall crops like sugarcane and cotton for security reasons. Besides, the entry to their fields is also restricted and the terrain is tough. "Rs 1,33,65,000 has been disbursed among the farmers whose land falls across the barbed wire fencing. Disbursement work was completed recently," said Fazilka Additional Deputy Commissioner, Charandev Singh Maan. Due to the typical topography and limited options of farming, the standing committee on defence affairs had allowed compensation to these farmers at the rate of Rs 5,000 per acre. This compensation had been sanctioned by the Central Government and was paid up to 2002 during the tenure of the Atal Behari Vajpayee government. The compensation was later on withheld due to unspecified reasons. The poor farmers who had been cultivating their fields in these areas across the barbed wire fencing and between the international borders continued to demand compensation for the regular losses incurred by them. Their sustained pleas did not yield any results for about a decade. However, the state government, during its second tenure, has ultimately come to rescue of the affected farmers and has released a compensation of Rs 3,000 per acres to these farmers. The payment has been made by the Department of Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management, Punjab. Such compensation has been paid in all six border districts of the state. An amount of Rs six crores had been released by the Punjab government in March this year. The highest amount of Rs 1,48,80,000 was released for disbursement in Ferozepur district followed by Rs 1,33,65,000 for Fazilka district. "The initiative by the Punjab Government is a welcome step but it is not sufficient. The Central Government should come forward and pay the compensation which should be enhanced to a total of Rs 10,000 per acre," said a farmer Harbans Singh of border village Gulaba
Bhaini. |
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Rain ruin
Muktsar, August 4 Accompanied by Ferozepur MP Sher Singh Ghubaya, Sub-divisional Magistrate VPS Bajwa and other officials, Deputy Commissioner Parmjit Singh assured that the district administration would extend all possible help so that the farmers do not suffer any loss. Assuring people of adequate help, Ghubaya also said first, the rainwater would be drained and thereafter, the loss would be assessed. He also ordered the drainage department officials to install a lift pump to drain the water that has accumulated in the fields. |
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Minor among 8 held with stolen bikes
Abohar, August 4 The police intercepted the triple-riding bikers in Peelibanga town as the number plate carried an eye-catching Punjabi slogan, “Bapu kenda Bullet nahin lena, kudi kehndi Honda te nahin behna”. Interrogation revealed that the gang comprising Jagsir Singh, Sartaj Singh, Dharampal and Mangu Khan, all of them daily wage earners, along with a minor boy, are drug addicts and keep four sets of duplicate keys with them to steal bikes from outside banks and parks. The stolen bikes were sold out against a payment of Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000 each. The minor boy, a school dropout, spent the money on flirting with girls. His mobile call details revealed he had been chatting with girlfriends for 15-30 minutes. The police have recovered 16 stolen bikes and taken into custody some of the buyers also, sources said. Another police team nabbed Bansi Lal, Vinod Kumar and Kishan Kumar of Kesarisinghpur during a checking near the public park at Sriganganagar. So far, seven bikes allegedly stolen by them in different segments have been recovered. |
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Army holds drawing competition for girl students
Abohar, August 4 A total of 60 girl students of the school participated in two groups, expressing their novel ideas on the themes of national integration and environmental protection. The students participated expressed their thoughts with vibrant colours through their drawings. The competition was followed by a healthy discussion on the relevance of both the themes. The event concluded with prize distribution. The initiative by the soldiers was appreciated by the village panchayat. For most of the girls, it was their first chance to participate in such competition besides discussing about national integration and environment protection. “I will now take care of the saplings planted on the school premises," one of them said. — OC |
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