Jalandhar, August 11
For years, the commuters in the Transport Nagar area in the city have feared driving their vehicles in the area. It is notorious for its deep and wide potholes which are big enough to cause vehicles as big as cars to overturn.

Earlier, the Improvement Trust and now the Municipal Corporation (which finally took over the area in March this year), had done nothing for the development of the area.

A majority of the establishments in the area include shops, offices, warehouses etc. The commuters here are a harried lot, as the unkempt roads here are probably the worst in the city.

Deep potholes stretch from end to end on roads, leaving a very small margin for vehicles to pass by. The base of vehicles, including cars and trucks, often touches uneven roads, causing serious damages to machinery.

Happy Sandhu, president, Truck Operator Union, Punjab, said, “The area is a pool of water in the rains. It is impossible to even enter it. It is impossible to judge the pits with such gaping holes and constant inundation. Serious damage to vehicle base is routine. Cars overturn on a regular basis. Two permanent cranes have specially been put up at the area, especially for this purpose. It is an irony that while cranes have to be installed to rescue turned vehicles, the roads continue to be hideous for years. Earlier, it was under the Improvement Trust but despite having been shifted under the municipal corporation for months, there is still no respite.”

Bobby, who owns an establishment in the area, says, “We have held dharnas, lodged complaints and even stopped traffic, but the roads of the area stay the same. The area has been languishing for the past two to three years, but no one has thought of improving things. My own car hit the road and I had to get vital machinery changed after paying a hefty price.”

MC Commissioner Vinay Bublani said since the MC had taken over the area recently, works had not started so far. The work, he said, would begin after the rains.

When asked what had been done of the sum of over Rs 1 crore, which had been transferred to the MC by the Improvement Trust once the area came under the MC’s jurisdiction this March, he said the MC waited for the clearing of some pending court cases. Once the rains stop, works in various areas, including Transport Nagar, would begin, he said.

Jalandhar, August 11
In order to give a complete face-lift to the existing Sports School and College at Jalandhar, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the sports department to develop thee institutes as "Sports Institute of Jalandhar" for grooming budding players of the region to compete in national and international sporting events.

Presiding over a high-level meeting of the sports and education departments to develop an "Integrated education and sports hub" on nearly 40 acres of land on Kapurthala Road in Jalandhar on Saturday at the Chief Minister’s residence, the Chief Minister said this "Sports Institute of Jalandhar" would be completely different from the Centre of Sports Excellence to be developed in the city.

Expressing concern over the dilapidated infrastructure in Sports School and College, Badal said these institutes were established to produce world-class players from the region, but with the passage of time, they had lost their sheen. He said the need of the hour was to develop both the Sports School and College on the lines of the newly set up Sports School at Ghudda near Bathinda to provide ultra-modern sports facilities to the young players.

Laying thrust on the complete overhaul of these premier sports institutes, the Chief Minister asked the officers of the Sports Department to rope in experts from the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, to advise them for this Herculean task. He said apart from the athletics track and grounds for football, volleyball, basketball, hockey and other games, students should be provided an ultra-modern gymnasium for the sporting activities.

Likewise, the CM also said that the existing swimming pool in this institute must be converted into a world-class all-weather one so that it could be used throughout the year.

The Chief Minister also said that the existing boarding and lodging facilities in both schools and colleges should be expanded so that more and more sportsperson could avail this facility.

Jalandhar, August 11
Taking no cue from the recent incident wherein a city realtor, under depression, killed his entire family, including his disabled son, the city administration has still not woken up to the needs of its special children and their depressed parents. There is not even a single rehabilitation centre in the city for the disabled children.

The Local Level Committee (LLC), formed in the district under the National Trust Act, 1999, has not implemented any scheme in the past 14 years since its inception. Also, in the absence of any check or monitoring by the city administration, most of the special schools in the city are running without professional educators and prescribed syllabus specially designed by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI).

Many schools in the city are running special classes to provide education to the disabled children. Also, four schools are running exclusively for these children. But unfortunately, none of the school is following the complete guidelines of the IEDC scheme prescribed under The Persons and Disabilities Act 1995. As per the guidelines provided under the Integrated Education for the Disabled Children (IEDC) scheme to the schools having disabled students, there should be special educators and modified syllabus approved by the RCI. Entrances and toilets should be modified for disabled access through the introduction of ramps and handrails. But none of the schools has incorporated these guidelines in its building structure.

“Most of the schools are only working as daycare centre, as they do not have special teachers and are not following the modified syllabus prescribed for the RCI. They are charging high fees from the already stressed parents in the name of providing special care and education to their wards. Despite having a strict provision of six months' rigorous imprisonment for people running these schools without proper guidelines, no action has so far been taken against any of them. Parents also don’t check the RCI guidelines before putting their wards into such schools,” said Amarjit Singh Anand, president, Chaanan Association for Mentally Challenged Children, Jalandhar.

Also, there is no rehabilitation centre for mentally challenged children in the city. The nearest respite to such people is a shelter home in Kapurthala which itself is in a very shabby state. In case of some emergency like in case of Gurpreet Kaur (found at the city railway station last year), people are sent to the state protective home. Important facilities like OPD/assessment clinic, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and psychological services are not available in city in the absence of a rehabilitation centre. “The rehabilitation of such children is very important as they have to be made independent in the lives of their parents. Who will take care of them after us? For the rehabilitation of such children, a huge set-up is required which only the government can provide,” said Jaswinder Singh Khurana, parent of a mentally challenged child.

It was also observed that the Local Level Committee (LCC), formed under the directions of the National Trust Act 1999, has still not been made fully operational even after 14 years. Although the committee has been formed under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner, nothing concrete has been done for the welfare of the special children. The parents of special children are facing a lot of problems to get health policies for their wards under the Nirmaya scheme, which was introduced by the Government of India after private insurance companies refused to provide health insurance to these children. In the absence of the LCC in the city, the parents are forced to get health policies for their wards either from Ludhiana or Hoshiarpur.

District social security officer Rina Uppal, who recently took charge, however, showed complete ignorance of the matter. However, Satish kapoor, who had earlier worked as a DSSO, claimed that parents don’t approach the LCC due to lack of awareness. “We haven’t received even a single application under Nirmaya Scheme. Parents don’t come forward. This cannot be done without the cooperation of parents," said Kapoor. Due to this lackadaisical approach of the district authorities and the parents, not only the present but also the future of these special children hangs in balance.

No check by admn

In the absence of any check or monitoring by the administration, most of the special schools in the city are running without professional educators and prescribed syllabus specially designed by the Rehabilitation Council of India

x

Jalandhar, August 11
As the 67th Independence Day is approaching, city is getting into the fervour of the Tricolour. Hotels, restaurants, malls and markets have all draped themselves into the theme of Tricolour. While some hotels and restaurants are offering Tricolour theme parties and cuisines, malls and markets are offering Independence Day discounts to its customers. Schools and colleges are also celebrating Independence Day by organising colourful cultural programmes and fancy dress competitions.

We are offering a discount of up to 70 per cent on our various products and a gift voucher of 300 rupees on a shopping worth 1947 rupees or more. Independence Day coincides with Raksha Bandhan and so customers get attracted to such offers during this festive season and buy more. It also attracts more footfalls to our place,” said Ajay Arora of Mom and Me in Model Town.

An Independence Day special sale is also going on at Ritu wears where they are offering a discount of up to 50 per cent on most of the items. Also, some special brands inside the mall are offering free gifts on purchase of their product up to a specified amount. “I just got diamond mascara free while shopping here. Although they are taking out old stuff in this sale but it is still worth buying as the stuff is really good and the discount offered on these items is huge," said Ritika Vinay, a housewife.

Most of the malls and markets are flooded with Tricolour theme dresses. The mannequins in the shops, malls and boutiques are wearing Tricolour combinations with national flag in their hand. By embellishing our shops with Tricolour balloons and national flags, we celebrate the spirit of independence. “So many people had made the supreme sacrifice of their life to gain freedom, they should be remembered every minute and not only for one day,” said Gurmeet Singh, a shop owner at Lajpat Nagar Market.

Also, during this time parents are rushing to markets in search of Tricolour dresses and accessories to be worn by their children in their school functions. “Most of the schools are having independence day functions. Tricolour dupattas, white caps, green tops, Tricolour bangles and small replicas of our national flag are in huge demand nowadays. We have to cater to all these things in large quantities in our shops,” said Manjeet Kaur of dress designs in Jawahar Nagar. Beauty parlours are also not behind to cash on the Tricolour fervour. They are offering Tricolour nail art, tattoos and face art designs to be worn on 15th August.

Jalandhar, August 11
A three day teacher’s awareness camp is being organised at the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall as a part of the campaign to prepare for the ‘Mela Ghadri Babeyan Da’, which will begin from November 1.

The camp started on Saturday, on the second day of the camp, Prof Harish K Puri, head of the Kabir chair of the Guru Nanak Dev University and an acclaimed historian, said the Ghadar leaders freed us from an imperialist set up and made us dream about freedom, the state of affairs post 1947 and the role of corporate in the brewing political storm, warn us that coming times might require us to formulate our own new paths.

Addressing teachers Prof Puri said the shackles of poverty and corruption took Indians abroad, where on being constantly looked down upon, a new revolution took root and forging ties with revolutionaries from other countries, they formed ‘Hindi Association of Pacific Coast’ and started the ‘Ghadar’ newspaper, laying a sound basis for the freedom struggle.

On the occasion, general secretary of the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Committee Dr Raghubir Kaur spoke on the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh and raised questions on the role of Mahtama Gandhi during the martyr’s execution.

People’s Voice showed a film ‘Ten Days Which Shook the World’ on the Russian Revolution and the film ‘Ghadri Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna’ made by a Swedish cameraman. Kulwinder of People’s Voice spoke about the role of films in influencing society. Committee member comrade Jagroop discussed revolution in the evening session. Committee’s cultural convener Amolak Singh spoke about the lofty ideals of the Ghadarites and need of following those ideals in present times. 

Jalandhar, August 11
A meeting of the government schools laboratory staff union was held at the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall in Jalandhar. The meeting was headed by state president Jaswant Rai Cheharta. A large number of SSA employees working in the laboratories of government schools attended the meeting. Expressing their angst against the state government, employees said the CM Punjab had failed to deliver on majority of the demands made by the union.

The demands included the provision of basic pay scale, time scale and changing the name of their post to lab assistant among other.

The union said while the CM had told the officials to forward the demand to education minister Sikander Singh Maluka on March 2, 2013, the same had not been done so far.

Union leaders said if the demands are not agreed upon by September 7, then the course of a future struggle against the government will be announced during the state level meeting of the union to be held at Desh Bhagat Yadgaar hall on September 8, 2013.

Jalandhar, August 11
Nearly four months after the removal of a suspended dean (distance education), another senior official of Punjab Technical University (PTU) fell prey to the "harsh" orders of the university Vice-Chancellor last evening.

This time it was RPS Bedi, director (distance education) of the PTU, who was placed under suspension. An envelope from the VC was delivered by an employee of the PTU at the Bedi’s residence at about 6 pm.

Though Bedi was unavailable for comments, sources in the university revealed that Bedi had left his office at about 4 pm and got the suspension letter just after two and a half hours at his residence.

The reason for his suspension has not been mentioned. The letter, however, says that the reason will be disclosed in the charge-sheet to be filed against him, sources revealed.

RPS Bedi’s office, located on the third floor of the university building, was locked and sealed by the VC and his team this morning.

Apprehending that Bedi was instrumental in a public interest litigation (PIL), filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, against the VC for the misappropriation of funds and illegal appointments in the PTU, the sources said the director was targeted. Bedi was also ousted from his office last year.

Efforts to contact Dr Rajneesh Arora, the VC, proved futile till late this evening. Dr HS Bains, Registrar, PTU, however, confirmed Bedi’s suspension with immediate effect.

Bains said, “Yes, he has been placed under suspension.” When enquired about the reasons for the suspension, he said, “No comments.”

On April 18, the PTU had removed the suspended dean (distance education) from his post with immediate effect after he was found guilty for the allegation of misappropriating funds and disobedience.

Dean Dr NP Singh was placed under suspension by the PTU Vice Chancellor Dr Rajneesh Arora in May 2012, following which an inquiry was also ordered to Omesh Saigal, a retired IAS officer.

Jalandhar, August 11
The activists of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) blocked Jalandhar-Jammu national highway number 1-A protesting against arrest of BJP leaders Arun Jaitely and Avinash Rai Khanna.

The BJYM activists led by its state programme incharge Sushil Sharma accompanied by Ashu Sampla and Ashok Sarin Hicky blocked traffic by staging dharna on the highway at Pathankot chowk on Sunday afternoon.

The protesters also burnt effigies of PM Dr Manmohan Singh and Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah.

The blockade started at 2.05 pm and continued for nearly one hour. Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the road during the protest.

The protesters demanded imposition of President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir after dissolving Omar government as it had allegedly failed to deal effectively with Kishatwar violence.

Jalandhar, August 11
Not less than a month ago, the authorities of the Sports College had completely disowned that they had anything to do with providing proper hostel facilities 
to students.

The declaration made by CM Parkash Singh Badal to upgrade Jalandhar Sports College and School, collectively, as the Sports Institute of Jalandhar, has on one hand given hope, and on the other, raised skepticism among sportspersons because this isn’t the first time the ambitious plans are declared regarding the sports college.

While it had been announced that it would be developed as a sports hub and Rs 42 crore was allocated for the hostel in the budget as well as for two sports hostels, each with a capacity of 150 students, work for the same has not been started so far. The last allocation for college repairs also has not been received yet.

The Tribune had carried a story about the pathetic conditions of the Jalandhar Sports College where a store-cum-bathroom was the only available recourse for poor sportspersons looking for a place to stay inside the college. As many as 15 to 20 odd sportsmen stay inside the shoddy, dirty stores, which, sources say, were once bathrooms. The sports school hostel, in turn, which houses over 100 students, looks like a dilapidated haunted house and suffers from similar problems.

While the move to work out a total revamp for the sports college and hostels is much needed, it is clearly much belated as for years these students have languished in circumstances which seem more to belittle the budding sportspersons than to benefit them. But if the CM’s promises bear fruit this time then it will be a boon for sportsmen.