Jalandhar, February 21
Development works to the tune of Rs 23 crore were given a nod by the Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) of the Municipal Corporation here today.

The meeting was attended by Mayor Sunil Jyoti, Municipal Commissioner Manpreet Singh Chatwal, Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Singh Bhatia, Deputy Mayor Arvinder Kaur Oberoi and BJP councillors Ravi Mahendru and Bhagwant Rai Prabhakar.

At the meeting, all 50 items on the agenda were passed. The total amount of the work for the 50 agenda items stands at Rs 13,39,70,000. Apart from the agenda items, another 46 resolutions for undertaking development works to the tune of Rs 10,81,00,000 were also passed. It was decided at the meeting that the patch work on roads would be initiated once the weather became conducive.

It may be mentioned here that while stating that the MC had undertaken the patch works worth Rs 1 crore, an item was tabled in the last F&CC meeting for undertaking patch works of more roads at a cost of Rs 52 lakh. At that time, the F&CC member Ravi Mahendru had stated that the roads where the patch work had been done should be listed out, while expressing his apprehensions that the patch work was not visible on the roads. In today's meeting, six roads were listed where the patch work was done. On the suggestion of Mahendru that there must be some committee to monitor whether the patch work was being done properly, the Municipal Commissioner agreed. "A committee comprising the officials of the rank of the XEN, SDO and JE would be constituted," he said.

Jalandhar, February 21
In what seems to be a big failure, the District Sports Department miserably failed to look after the children who were here to take part in the sports trials from Wednesday to Friday, held for admission to the lone Sports School of the state in the city.

Neither was there any facilitation centre at the venue nor did the administration cater to basic needs like food and refreshments of around 200 students who had come to the city for the trials. Also, no medical team was deputed by the Health Department to take care of the children in the event of any injury or illness.

"There is no arrangement of any food-stall nearby or inside the venue. Although a market is there at some distance, we do not prefer to leave the ground as all of us want to practise till the last moment. I just had a cup of tea in the morning and now will have dinner, as the trials would be finished only after 6 pm," said Gunjot Singh (name changed), who had come from Jammu for the hockey trials.

He also revealed that most of them were staying at various local gurdwaras, as no accommodation arrangements had been suggested or offered by the district administration.

Shockingly, before the district administration could realise the need of these children who were in urgent need of refreshments during the day-long trials, many street vendors made use of the opportunity and barged into the trial venues of Sports School and Burlton Park and could be seen selling adulterated fruit juices and unhygienic food to the children.

The trials of Sports School are tough and the children a require regular dose of food and liquids to maintain their energy levels.

"The arrangements here are quite pathetic. Even if the administration cannot provide them water and refreshments free of cost, they could have arranged some refreshment stalls selling healthy snacks at a fair price. Since most of them are outstation students, it is very difficult for them to go out and eat during the trials fearing some sudden health disorder," confirmed Sukhveer Singh Grewal, former India national hockey coach and member of the selection committee.

Rakesh Kaushal, District Sports Officer, said there was no such policy by which the administration could provide any such support to these children. There is no policy that entitles these children to have refreshments during their appearing of the trials for Sports School. We are unable to help them in this regard, he said.

Meanwhile, the district administration is also expected to do the same during the state-level sports trials which would be conducted on Saturday and Sunday for the day scholar and the residential wings in the whole of Punjab. More than 700 students are expected to visit the city from all over the state on these two days, and the administration is going to miss on their welfare too!

Jalandhar, February 21
After their strong protest and traffic blockade outside the DC’s office yesterday, work finally began on issuing orders for the appointment of members of the AIE/STR Teachers Union here today.

Only 45 teachers received orders for the issuance of their appointment letters today even as officials had pacified them yesterday on the promise that all 287 AIE/STR teachers in the district would receive their appointment letters.

While a list of 120 teachers was put up at the notice board today, of them orders were issued for only 45.

Kuldeep Kumar, head of the union, said, “The treatment of the department with teachers has been very careless as if they are unwilling to work. Yesterday, they kept us waiting until 2 pm and then the DEO (P) left. While they had said the letters would be issued by 12 noon today, we were kept waiting again. And at 12 noon, merely the counselling had started.”

While there are 287 AIE/STR teachers in the district, the orders of only 45 were issued today and the rest would be released subsequently.

DEO (Primary) Kuldeep Kumar said, “Every single detail, papers and information of all teachers has to be checked. The process takes time. We were up last night for the job and today also right now, the process of checking the papers of the teachers is on. By evening today, we shall be trying to take the process as further as we can. Most possibly we are distributing the papers to all the teachers by tomorrow.”

All teachers whose cases would be cleared will fall under the Education Department and they will join at various government primary schools.

Jalandhar, February 21
Following the Punjab and Haryana High Court's order to remove part of the encroachments at the controversial Sudama Market near Jyoti Chowk before February 23, the Municipal Corporation (MC) had issued a notice to the Market association to remove the encroachments after demarcating the area on Thursday, failing which they were warned of police action.

Following this, BJP MLA Manoranjan Kaalia, joined by Joginder Tony, BJP councillor from ward No. 35, staged a protest along with booth-owners at the venue and was said to be pressurising the MC till late Friday evening against their proposed police action on the booth owners on Saturday in case of their failure to remove encroachments from the demarcated area. Earlier, the booth-owners also blocked the Old GT road and only after the police intervention, open the road to traffic after many hours of traffic congestion.

Manoranjan Kaalia said he, along with Tony, had joined the protest against the forceful act proposed by the MC. "?What is the need to remove the encroachments forcibly when the booth-owners are ready to remove them amicably? I called the Municipal Commissioner many times to the market area to resolve the matter amicably with the booth-owners, but he did not turn up," said Kaalia. He has also raised voice against the MC's proposal to install a grill in the area between the booths and the footpath to avoid repeated encroachments on the footpath. "What is the need to install the grill. It will hamper the business of these booth-owners, as customers will not be able to visit their booths due to the fixing of the grill."

Manpreet Singh Chatwal, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, confirmed that proper passage would be given to the customers to enter Sudama Market. "We have received directions from the High Court to remove encroachments from the footpath on the Old GT road before February 23. We demarcated the area on Thursday and told them to remove it by February 21, in the absence of which we would remove them forcibly. Till late evening, instead of removing the encroachments, they were looking for political asylum, but the encroachments would be removed forcibly if they do not remove these on their own by Friday," said Chatwal.

Giving a month's time to the MC to remove the unauthorised constructions falling along Jyoti Chowk to Division Number 4 police station, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Commissioner of Police to provide adequate force to the authorities for the necessary action.

The interim order comes on a Civil Writ Petition filed in this regard by one Shashi Sharma on the matter in 2010. Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Judge Sanjay Palli have asked both Commissioner MC and Commissioner of Police to file a compliance report in the matter. The petition pertains to the removal of encroachments on the GT road from Jyoti Chowk to the Division Number 4 police station and on the street in Sudama Market near the police station.

Jalandhar, February 21
Activists of Punjab Jagriti Manch held a Punjab Jagriti March from Nakodar Chowk to Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall, here today, on the occasion of International Mother Tongue Day. Staff and students of more than 60 government and private educational institutions participated in the march.

While the Jagriti Manch has been holding similar events every year, the prime objective of celebrating the occasion of the International Mother Tongue Day was to exhort people to adopt and promote Punjabi language.

The members of the organisation have repeatedly raised concerns that the mother tongue has been losing ground to other languages.

Artists like Manmohan Waris, Lakhwinder Wadali, Kamal Heer, Malkit Singh, Diljit Dosanjh, Diljaan, Roshan Prince, Devinder Dyalpuri, Natinder Gill, among others participated in the march. The march also saw the presence of intellectuals, journalists and leading educationists of the city.

Activists of many social and welfare organisations of the state also actively participated in the march.

A cultural programme held on the occasion saw performances by many singers highlighting the importance of the mother tongue through renditions in the Punjabi language.

Jalandhar, February 21
The Aam Aadmi Party will use social media to strengthen its campaign in the state for the Lok Sabha polls. The party is all set to start an aggressive campaign on networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

There are around 38 lakh Facebook and around 2 lakh Twitter users in the state.

An IT conference of the party which took place here today saw IT representatives from across 22 districts, who came to the conclusion that this user base, if effectively influenced through campaigns, would be highly influential for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

AAP's state IT coordinator and district secretary Himanshu Pathak said, "There are more than 5 lakh Facebook users in Jalandhar, 6 lakh in Ludhiana, 4 lakh in Amritsar, 3 lakh in Patiala, around 3 lakh in Sangrur and 3 lakh in Bathinda. This voter base could be vital for the Lok Sabha polls. The party's social media campaign will inform voters about the rampant corruption and policies prevalent in the state government and spread awareness about the changes the AAP is planning to bring in the political system of the country."

The party will start a poster campaign in the state on the lines of the Delhi campaign.

The prime issues which the party is planning to highlight are corruption, drug addiction, irrational taxes and non-performing MCs causing a downward swing in the development graph.

The screening process of AAP candidates for the election campaign began from the city today.

factfile There are around 38 lakh Facebook and around 2 lakh Twitter users in the state. The party will start a poster campaign in the state on the lines of the Delhi campaign There are more than 5 lakh Facebook users in Jalandhar, 6 lakh in Ludhiana, 4 lakh in Amritsar, 3 lakh in Patiala, around 3 lakh in Sangrur and 3 lakh in Bathinda

Jalandhar, February 21
An inter-college Management and IT festival ‘Symphonic- 2014’ was organised at the KCL-IMT in which students from 30 colleges/institutes participated and showcased their talent.

The festival is the confluence of a wide spectrum of activities ranging from music, dance, fine arts and theatre to software development skills, thereby manifesting unity, healthy competition, harmony and and inculcating managerial skills among students.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Punjab, KD Bhandari, was the chief guest on the occasion. President, governing council, Sardarni Balbir Kaur, joint secretary, S Jaspal Singh Waraich, director, Academics, S Sukhbir Singh Chatha and director, KCLIMT, Dr SK Sood, inaugurated the event by lighting the ceremonial lamp.

Dr SK Sood welcomed the dignitaries, principals and faculty members of different colleges, sponsors and mediapersons. He said since the inception of KCL-IMT, they had always focused on the overall personality of students.

The following events were organised - group dance, choreography, skit, play, ad-mad show, debate competition, business quiz, cyber quiz, case study analysis, collage making, face painting, rangoli, dry flower arrangement, pot making, algo design, logo design, debugging and key board on fire.

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