Jalandhar, August 3
While the official date for the starting of the meritorious school is August 4, it doesn’t seem probable classes might start tomorrow. Eighty students reported to the school with bag and baggage today, but while their luggage was kept at the school, they were turned back to their respective districts and areas because the work on the building isn’t yet compete.

While officially students of the meritorious school were to be summoned and provided stay at the hostel since August 2 and 3. Due to unfinished work, students had to be turned back and asked to come later.

Sources said some basic fittings and knick knacks were yet to be finished due to which the authorities took the decision that the students weren’t supposed to stay.

While initially as many as 501 students – across all districts from Punjab – had applied for the admission in meritorious school in Jalandhar, after counselling, the number was reduced to 405.

The Deputy Commissioner inspected arrangements at the school about two days ago and checked it yet again.

Meanwhile, the fittings at the hostel don’t seem to be the only hurdle for the school to start tomorrow. So far, none of the class IV employees or cooks at the hostel have been hired.

While it might take 15 to 30 days for the contract for the cooking arrangements to be finalised, barring the 18 lecturers at the institute, none of the other additional staff have been hired yet either.

Only the contract for the sweepers at the school (and hostel) has been given to Sulabh International, which shall be providing sweepers for the hostel.

The arrangements for the stay of the girls shall be made inside the school, while all boys of the school shall be staying at the Meritorious School shall be staying at Youth Hostel in Burlton Park.

Sources said the work at the hostel shall be finalised by tomorrow so that children might at least start their stay here and the classes might still take some time.

As many as 300 students are expected to start their stay at the meritorious school tomorrow and their paperwork is to be finalised tomorrow itself.

Among the teaching staff at the school, there will be two lecturers each for maths, English and biology and DPE, while four lecturers each have been appointed for physics and chemistry. For commerce, there will be three lecturers and for Punjabi, there will be one.

While the largest number of pre-counselling applications for the school had been received from Hoshiarpur (234), the number of applications received from the district (144) was way less than was expected. Barring this, the students applying from other districts were as follows - Kapurthala (29), SBS Nagar (47), Pathankot (20), Moga (16), Ludhiana (one), Muktsar Sahib (two), Bathinda (one), Fazilka (four), Gurdaspur (two) and Ferozepur (one).

Sources said even after the arrival of all students, it might be four or five days before classes begin. 

Jalandhar, August 3
Around 10 lakh liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) customers of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) in Punjab have heaved a sigh of relief as the company has resumed its LPG supply to the district after more than a month.

The company had to suspend its LPG supply to the entire state for a short while after the fire outbreak incident occurred at Bathinda refinery on June 20.

“The refinery caters to our entire LPG supply in Punjab. After the fire outbreak incident at the refinery, it was disrupted for a while. We tried to continue it from our reserved stock for a while, but later had to redirect it from the Reliance, Essar and Pepa refineries in Gujarat,” said SK Rai, senior regional manager, HPCL, Punjab. He also said that now the state was receiving around 30 to 35 trucks of LPG and the bottling was being done at the company’s bottling plant at Bathinda and Hosiarpur, respectively.

“Now, we are getting consistent supply for the past five to six days,” said Simarjeet Kaur, president, LPG Federation of Punjab. A few days ago, reports were received of consumers picking up regular quarrels with company distributors in the state. “We actually faced a lot of harassment from customers. They kept on accusing us of poor service and even threatened to complain against us to company officials. Even when we tried to inform them about the seizure in gas supply due to the fire incident at Bathinda refinery, they took it as an excuse for the poor service delivered to them,” said an agency person. — TNS

Jalandhar, August 3
For the betterment of construction labourers, the state government is all set to release a sizeable amount of money this month which will be distributed among beneficiaries under various schemes.

This information was given by Cabinet minister Chunni Lal Bhagat today.

He said the state government had released Rs 1.03 crore for around 30,271 registered construction labourers under various schemes and this amount would be distributed among the beneficiaries within this month only. Under the scholarship scheme, the government had allocated Rs 50.03 lakh to around 1,253 children of these labourers for their education and skill upgradation.

The minister further said that under the shagun scheme they would pay Rs 20.61 lakh to 141 poor girls in the form of shagun on their marriage. He also said that 21 beneficiaries would get Rs 21 lakh under ex-gratia assistance scheme and under the cremation scheme, family members of 25 beneficiaries would get Rs 2.20 lakh.

Similarly, under the LTC scheme, 18 beneficiaries would get Rs 36,000. He made an appeal to the construction labourers that they should make full use of these schemes and come forward to avail the benefits. He told officials of the Labour Department to organise special camps where they should create awareness among the labourers about these schemes so that they should get financial help. 

Jalandhar, August 3
About 1,472 schools in the district come under the school health programme. From the prevalence of anaemia among schoolchildren to their battle with cancer, heart problems and other ailments — every single aspect of the health of students of government schools is expected to remain under the eye of the doctors under the school health programme.

Starcast of upcoming Punjabi film ‘Aa Gaye Munde UK De’, Jimmy Shergill and Neeru Bajwa, during a visit to Jalandhar on Sunday. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

The state of the school health programme is in a shambles and the prime cause for it is the reduced visits of doctors to government schools.

Infrastructure

A ramshackle clinic in the Basti Gujan area continues to house the school health clinic for the past many years. About three run-down rooms, which cry for paint and ceilings that drip in the rains form the basic infrastructure of the clinic.

A few days ago, a tank at the clinic was broken causing a major spill-over of water and inconveniencing staff. While the officials concerned wrote to the civil surgeon regarding the problem, so far they have not been shifted to any better accommodation.

However, there are speculations that they might be shifted to a centre on the 120-feet road and the clinic will be converted into a community health centre for the area.

As far as the equipment is concerned, the clinic has its own dental chair. The dental doctor at the clinic has no class-IV worker or helper to assist her. The doctor handles everything on her own. The clinic doesn’t have a generator or inverter.

Staff

The school health clinic has three medical officers, including one female medical officer, and one dental doctor under the National Rural Health Mission. Only one staff nurse and one class-IV worker are there at the clinic. There is no opthalmic or ENT officer at the clinic. While students from far flung areas do not visit the clinic, those from nearby areas who do visit with ENT or opthalmic complaints are turned away.

ARSH Clinic

In the past one year, about 100 yellow cards (which means a student has been referred to the Civil Hospital or other special health centre for better treatment) have been issued to about 100 students suffering from drug addiction or other problems.

While the Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health (ARSH) Clinic is not directly under the school health programme, it also treats adolescent cases, whether under schools or not and it is an essential element of the health of schoolchildren.

Sources say almost all the schools in the district, especially those in rural areas, are the worst affected as far as the ARSH counselling is concerned. A rural doctor, on condition of anonymity, said, “Visit any senior secondary school and you will find that the boys are the worst affected. Many are drug addicts and the principals have a hard time in handling them. When any ARSH doctor delivers a lecture, the senior ones have to be seated separately because they create a lot of ruckus. Many principals have told the doctors that they were unable to handle these students.”

Medical officer of ARSH Clinic, Dr Simranjeet Kaur, said, “Earlier, there used to be a problem of drug addiction but things have streamlined to a great extent now. Boys have improved except for a few. Most of the government school students come from poor backgrounds, so they have to be made aware of hygiene and sexual responsibility. Many of them have never received moral education and listen intently. ARSH lectures have had a positive impact on many of these students.”

School visits

Till two years ago, the school health staff were regularly paying visits to schools. The system was recently changed, restricting visits to only once a year. This has resulted in adverse affect on the health of students.

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, experts said, “Proper reports about schools and collection of information about their health and various ailments they are suffering from depend largely on the motivation of visiting doctors. The mid-day meals are bad, water samples generally fail, students are anaemic and on top of it, restricting the visit of doctors to just once a year is like a nail in the coffin of the school health programme. Now, schools are asked to send in their respective reports. Most schools put whatever they want in their reports. Teachers do not feed iron and folic acid tablets to students. Regular monitoring and visits are highly essential for the programme.”

Meanwhile, a teacher from a government school in a rural area said, “Since February or March, the doctors under the school health programme haven’t conducted a single check up of students. We are being asked to pick up iron and folic acid tablets from the Civil Hospital. This is a very bad way of handling things. Regular monitoring has to be an essential part of the school health programme to make it successful.”

New officials

The school health co-ordinator was changed some time ago. The new official said he wanted to improve the programme to a great extent. He says efforts are on to increase check-up of ailments among students so that more and more receive treatment.

Assistant health co-ordinator and co-ordinator of the school health programme, Dr Surinder Kumar, speaking on the dramatic reduction in school visits by doctors, says that is a decision by higher authorities.

He said the school health programme was being run according to the guidelines issued by the state and currently all the functions under it were properly handled.

Eye clinic

The assistant health co-ordinator said, “It is true we do not have any ophthalmologist at the clinic right now but all the functions are being managed effectively by the eye mobile unit of the district. Before I joined, all teachers in the district were trained to check eye problems among students. So, as far as the National Blindness Control Programme is concerned, they tell us about children who need spectacles and the eye mobile doctors duly provide them with the requisite spectacles.”

Yellow cards

Students suffering from heart problems, cancer or other ailments are regularly being referred to the Civil Hospital or the PGI or other medical institutions depending upon the seriousness of the problem.

Jalandhar, August 3
Despite the repeated instructions by the police to maintain a complete record of sale and purchase of second hand mobile phones, mobile shop owners hardly seem bothered about the issue.

Even the police, who are supposed to take action against the violators, have restricted themselves to issuing orders.

The city has hundreds of mobile shops dealing with the sale and purchase of old mobile phones. As per the orders, a shopkeeper will be charged under Section 188 of the CrPc if he violates them.

However, as per police sources, till now the police have not registered even a single case against any shopkeeper for violating the instructions.

On March 11, former DCP Rahul S had directed the mobile shop owners to maintain a proper record of sale and purchase of second hand mobile phones. He had clearly stated that no shopkeeper would buy any second hand mobile without verifying the IMEI number and original mobile bill.

During any transaction involving second hand mobile phone, shopkeepers must get the identity proof of the person concerned to keep it as a record.

The DCP also told the shopkeepers that the record must include the name of seller or buyer, father’s name, house address, identity proof, signature or thumb impression and IMEI number.

As the previous orders were not being adhered to, present DCP Naveen Singla again issued orders on August 2 with the sole motive that if criminals use these second hand mobile phones, the police would be able to trace them through IMEI number and other identity proofs.

Several mobile shop owners said it was a burden to maintain records of sale and purchase of old mobile phones.

“As of now, we are not maintaining any special register to record the sale and purchase of mobile phones as the police orders are not being intimated to us. The police should deliver a copy of the orders to each mobile shop owner,” a shopkeeper said requesting anonymity. 

Jalandhar, August 3
Punjab State Veterinary Inspectors’ Association held a meeting today in which they decided to stop work from tomorrow until their jobs get legal recognition.

Speaking to Jalandhar Tribune, a representative of the association, AS Kahlon, said veterinary inspectors look after 80 per cent of the work in veterinary hospitals and dispensaries, but there was no legal recognition for their work.

He said there were around 2,000 veterinary inspectors in Punjab, who have been working as per the Veterinary Act, after getting required training.

Kahlon said there had been a notification issued by the Animal Husbandry Secretary in 2011 that the work of artificial insemination would not be done by the veterinary inspectors. The Animal Husbandry Department did not circulate the notification among the veterinary inspectors, he added.

The inspectors still do the same job until now. “We have been illegally made to work even after the issuance of the notification. But the credit goes to veterinary doctors,” he alleged.

Kahlon said veterinary inspectors were willing to do the work as they had been doing but they want credit for the job and legal recognition.

The meeting was presided over by state president Barinder Pal Singh Kairon, who said veterinary inspectors would not work until the government accepts their demand.

They will hand over their kits at the tehsil head quarters on August 4 to protest over the issue.

Jalandhar, August 3
The upcoming Punjabi film ‘Aa Gaye Munde UK De’ directed by Manmohan Singh is all set to hit screens on August 8. The cast, including Jimmy Shergill and Neeru Bajwa, was here today for promotion.

The film has been shot under the Yashraj banner.

Addressing the media, lead actor Jimmy Shergill said certain issues related to the NRI community were explored in the film. However, he was reluctant to reveal what those issues were.

The film is a romantic comedy that depicts a boy, who attempts to impress his lover’s father by posing as an NRI and flaunting a fake NRI tag.

The sequel of ‘Munde UK De’, by the same director and with the same cast, has been shot at locations in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

Jimmy says Roop (himself) and Disha (Neeru) fall in love with each other who make a perfect couple. However, Disha’s father Dilip Singh (Om Puri), feels that the NRI is the only suitable match for his daughter.

He believes that NRIs are more educated, classy and cultured.

The dialogues of the film have been written by Rana Ranbir.

Jimmy believes that the scripts and stories of certain old films are far better than many of the new films. That is the reason why he wants that films should be remade on old scripts and themes.