Bathinda, February 11
An amount close to Rs 2 crore would be spent on training of the members of the school management committees (SMC) under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan (RMSA) in Punjab this month. The office of the Director General of School Education-cum-Project Director has issued directions regarding the non-residential training programme to be held for two days in all the 22 districts.

Interestingly, the funds will be wasted on reminding the SMC members of the government senior secondary and high schools about the work and functions of the SMCs. The topics that may be discussed during the training sessions have already been issued as directions to all the government schools in the past.

Information regarding the RMSA scheme, formation and responsibilities of the school management committees which are responsible for implementing the RMSA scheme, information about the various schemes being run under the RMSA, clauses of the Right to Education Act, traffic rules, creating an addiction-free society, extending a secure environment to girls, special schools for meritorious students and several other topics will be touched upon during the two-day training programme.

The programmes will also focus on the state government’s anti-checking campaign, promoting sports in schools, remedial coaching for the academically weak students of Classes IX and X, extending potable water and toilet facility for the students in schools and other similar issues.

The training sessions may be seen in the light of the ever-increasing complaints against the non-functional school management committees.

In an interview with The Tribune, Punjab Education Minister Siklander Singh Maluka had accepted that the school management committees had not been functioning properly and took little interest in the development of the schools and in following the directions issued by the office of the DGSE.

DISTRICT FUNDS SMCs
(in lakhs)

Amritsar 12.12 202

Barnala 5.6 86

Bathinda 10.50 175

Faridkot 4.44 74

Bathinda, February 11
No lessons seem to have been learnt from the death of 14-month-old baby Rooth, daughter of an agitating EGS teacher, who died on February 6, while her mother was protesting against the government demanding a job.

Members of the state ASHA Workers’ Union sat on dharna with their young children in the chilling cold on February 10 demanding fixation of minimum salary.

President of the ASHA Workers Union, Amarjeet Kaur, said the ASHA workers, who are the backbone of the health services in the state, were facing a lot of problems and are being paid bare minimum wages.

“We are paid on the basis of incentives despite the fact that we run all the grassroot level schemes of the Health Department. From registration of pregnant mothers to institutional deliveries to many other programmes, all are being run by the ASHA workers,” she said. The ASHA workers are demanding a fixed salary from the government. There are 18,500 ASHA workers in Punjab of which 850 are in the Bathinda district.

When asked the reason behind bringing children to the dharna site in the cold, Amarjeet Kaur said the young children cannot live without their mothers and hence, have to be brought along. “We will sit on dharna with our children at night also,” she added.

Not taking chances this time, the district administration is holding talks with the ASHA workers. ADC Rajiv Prashar said the Civil Surgeon has been requested to counsel the ASHA workers to send back the women who have come with children. “The duty magistrate has requested them to exclude children from dharna as it is too cold for them to be outside at night,” he said.

Meanwhile, district president, NRHM Employees’ Union, Parminder Singh, said keeping in view the preparation of the last week of Rooth’s death, the government should make sure not to create a situation wherein people are forced to include their children in the agitation. “After all, we live and earn for our children,” he said.

Similarly, trade unionist NK Jeet who had supported the movement of the agitating AIE and EGS teachers said it was high time for the district administration and the police to ensure that none of the children at the ASHA workers’ dharna site met the same fate as Rooth. “The protesting staff should be provided with all kinds of things to keep their children warm during the dharna,” he said.

However, Dr Paramjit Singh Ramana said that due to sheer poverty and unemployment, people have become insecure. “People know that the blackmailing has worked once and they will not hesitate to use it for a second time too. Solution does not lie in lifting dharna but to find the root cause of such dharnas and eliminate them,” he added. 

Bathinda, February 11
Members of the 13 different unions of the Punjab government employees today held a convention against the state government at the Grain Market today.

Protesting against the government to discuss their 16 main demands, the union members had decided to take out a protest rally in the city. However, before the rally could be taken out, the district administration intervened and assured the agitating unions of getting a meeting fixed with Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.

CM Badal will meet the union members on February 18. Before that, the union members, under the Punjab and UT Employees Union Sangharsh Committee, are expected to meet the a senior government official on February 13.

The unions are objecting to the government’s move of putting a full stop on removing anomalies in the salaries and allowances of its employees, pushing back annual promotion by 12 months, dividing pensions into two groups of employees retired before and after December 2011, slashing pension commuting rates from 40 per cent to 20 per cent, ban imposed on permanent recruitments and exploitation in the name of contract system.

Besides, the unions are also opposing privatisation of education, health, transport, power, water supply as well as outsourcing various works. They said as more than one lakh vacancies are lying vacant, the existing workers are overburdened with work. They are also demanding fixation of minimum wages for ASHA workers, Anganwari staff and midday meals staff.

The representatives of different unions who participated in today’s meeting included Prof Jaipal Singh from the College Lecturers’ Association, Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal from the PRTC Workers’ Union, Gurcharan Singh Chahal from the Aided School Teachers’ Union, Shyam Lal Sharma and Lakhan Ram Maur from the PSEB Employees Union, Ranjit Singh Hans from Chandigarh Employees Federation, Kartar Singh Pal from Punjab and the UT Action Committee, Gurmail Singh Chandar from SC/BC Teachers’ Union, Jaswant Singh Sandhu from Thein Dam Workers Union, Om Prakash from the Suwidha Centre Employees’ union, Balbir Saini from ITI Union and Chandan Grewal from Safai Mazdoor Federation.

Bathinda, February 11
Bank employees today observed a shutdown on the second day in the wake of their demands before the Union Government affecting the banking sector and hitting transactions.

Members of all the bank employees and officers’ unions held a protest in the city carrying banners and raising slogans against the government. The procession passed through areas of Mall road, Dhobi Bazar, Hospital Bazar and the Railway Road.

Reacting on statement of the Finance Minister P Chidambaram that the Union Government had to see the welfare of the country and that the bank employees were not the only liabilities of the nation, the district convener of the Bank Officers’ Confederation, MM Behl, said the annual budget figures speak otherwise.

In the last six years, Rs 95,700 crore loans given to big industrial houses and businessmen have been written off.

He added as per the March 2013-14 figures, the annual allocation of Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) was Rs 27,200 crore, for mid-day meal Rs 13,000 crore, for the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) Rs 21,200 crore and for the MNREGA, Rs 33,000 crore.

“The total figure of all these schemes add up to Rs 94,400 crore, which could have been earned if the waiver was not granted. The Union Government should understand that in a country where only 40,000 villages have rural bank branches, the role of banking employees is crucial,” he said.

Another bank employee said owing to the increased role of banking in today’s economy, the bankers were overburdened with work and hence, should be paid accordingly.

Bathinda, February 11
The Bathinda Improvement Trust (BIT) would auction a passage meant for Malwa College on the Goniana Road opposite the National Fertilisers Limited (NFL) as commercial land on February 19.

Protesting against the move of the BIT, students and staff members of the college today held a dharna against the Trust. A college spokesperson stated that when the college building was under construction in 2003-04, some people with political influence tried to derail the work and even blocked the passage connecting the college with the main Goniana Road.

In the year 2005, the college management made a special request to the Trust for giving it a passage. As per the agenda passed on March 19 2005, the trust approved passage of 80-foot to the college building but it could not be implemented till date. In the same year on August 30, the Chief Town Planner (CTP) had also directed the college authorities to ensure that they give passage to the residents settled at the backside of the college.

“We are ready to pay for any kind of developmental charges that we are supposed to pay. We have submitted a request with the Trust seeking straight passage to the college from the Goniana Road. We have also given an undertaking to the Trust that we are ready to compensate for any loss likely to be incurred by the Trust in this regard,” said the principal NK Gosain.

The college management stated that it has over 1,500 students which includes 500 girl students. The agitating students said it had become very difficult to move on the stretch which is not motorable that connects the college with the main road. The Trust has decided to sell the passage in the form of four shops as commercial properties and their auction is scheduled on February 19.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Trust, Varinder Kumar Sharma, said the passage to the college would be given only as per the provisions of law. “The college management was allotted the passage in 2005, but did not pay for the charges imposed. Since the college did not respond, in a meeting of the Trust convened on April 2013, it was decided that the land be auctioned as a commercial property. We are open to settlement if the college pays its fee that has been pending for the last nine years,” Sharma said.

He added that the already 20-foot wide passage has been given for everyone to use, which is not being closed as of now.

Bathinda, February 11
The local police today recovered stolen and robbed goods in two separate cases. SSP Gurpreet Bhullar said a case was registered on January 18 at the Cantonment police station wherein a complainant reported that two unidentified young boys had snatched gold earrings of a woman. The boys on the pretext of enquiring about an address, took away the woman’s gold jewellery.

The SSP said the snatchers were also involved in robbing a Maruti Alto car at knife point from Suratgarh in Rajasthan and were arrested by the Rajasthan police.

The accused were brought to Bathinda on a production warrant by the police and during the interrogation, they admitted to having stolen a Honda Activa scooter from the Bathinda city. They had also snatched a purse from Veer Colony and were involved in some other cases of snatchings.

The accused also admitted that they had fled to Rajasthan after committing the crimes in Bathinda. They resumed their illegal activities in Rajasthan where they stole a motorcycle from Vijaynagar.

The police said that they have had recovered four grams of gold earrings and one stolen scooter from their possession. One of the main accused, Rajesh Kumar, is already facing similar cases registered against him at the Kotwali, Civil Lines, Cantonment, Thermal and Canal Colony police stations. The other accused, Baljeet Singh and Karamjit, too face similar charges.

The police said the accused are drug addicts and were involved in many other criminal cases.

In another similar case, the SSP said Amandeep Gupta, a resident of the Ajit Road, had complained that some unidentified men had robbed his driver of Rs 3.30 lakhs in February this year from near Jassi Chowk.

The police, after interrogating the driver, came to know that the canter driver had enacted a drama to usurp the amount and misguided the police as well.

The entire ‘looted’ money has been recovered by the police and a case has been registered against the canter driver, Gurdeep Singh Gora, a resident of Sehnewala village.

Bathinda, February 11
Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani today visited the Max Super-speciality Hospital where he reviewed the cancer treatment facility. A government spokesperson said the aim of Jyani’s visit was to ensure that Rs 1.50 lakh medical aide given to cancer patients under the Chief Minister Cancer Relief Fund was judiciously used and patients were being benefited.

Bathinda, February 11
The players participating in the annual athletics meet to be held at the Government Rajindra College on February 12-13 will have a tough time negotiating their way around the trees located inside the sports ground.

After the college lost its sports ground to the hockey astroturf stadium in 2010, it had been organising the athletics meet at the sports ground near the Sabzi Mandi. This year, however, the meet is being organised on the college premises.

Interestingly, the track looks quite unusual as it has been built around the trees which the organisers couldn’t axe in the absence of permission from the district Forest Department. Owing to the presence of trees on the ground, the organisers had to cancel the javelin throw competition.

“We sent a request to the District Forest Officer to allow us to cut down 15-20 trees to clear the ground, but the college management has not got any response yet. We were left with no option but to optimally use the area that we had,” said the head of the Physical Education Department of the college, Surjit Singh.

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