Jalandhar, October 19
After the Deputy Commissioner of Jalandhar banned auto-rickshaws from ferrying school children, the Jalandhar Auto-Rickshaw Union has decided to knock the doors of court for justice.

Before going to the court, auto union representatives said they would also apprise the local MLAs about their demands, and if they have no solution, then they have no other alternative but to go to the court for justice. Terming the decision as a deliberate attempt to give a jolt to their daily bread, the union members are fuming.

Notably, a committee was recently formulated by the DC to oversee the stringent adherence to traffic rules among school transport in the district schools. It was also categorically declared that strict action would be initiated against the school principals whose students were found travelling in auto-rickshaws (as this was not permitted by the law). DC KK Yadav, along with District Transport Officer RP Singh, had formulated a committee headed by the DTO to ensure proper adherence to rules formulated for the safety of school students in various means of transport and vehicles. The Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar, Additional Commissioner (Traffic), Senior Police Official (rural), DEOs (secondary and elementary) and NGO representatives Surinder Saini and Sanjay Goyal were made part of the committee.

Pritam Singh, president of the Auto Rickshaw Union, said although they respect the law but the decision has put the employment of thousands of auto-rickshaw pullers in jeopardy. "Bypassing this order, the district administration has played a joke on the poor auto_rickshaw pullers, who have been earning their daily bread from this profession. If the administration continues to stick to its decision, auto drivers will have no other option but to move court," said Singh while requesting the district administration to take back their decision.

He said by issuing a warning to the school principals to discontinue auto-rickshaw service, the authorities have played a joke on the poor. "Now, school principals have been telling parents of schoolchildren to discontinue auto-rickshaw service. After the orders, many parents have already withdrawn autos for ferrying their children to schools and after Diwali, school autos will be banned," said Singh.

Banning auto-rickshaws clearly means the administration tried to extend benefit to transporters owning school buses. All school children who were taking auto rickshaw service will now have to shift to buses. It will give a huge benefit to the transporters, the auto union representatives asserted.

Jalandhar, October 19
For the beneficiaries of the Education Department’s Inclusive Education Programme (IED) and those running it, it’s going to be a bad Diwali.

Owing to the non-payment of salaries to Inclusive Education Volunteers in the Education Department for the past seven months, the Inclusive Education Programme run by the department has taken a big hit. The special and handicapped children dependent on the care of the volunteers have thus been left without a recourse.

Over 115 Inclusive Education Volunteers haven’t received their salaries for the past seven months. The same is the status of about 1,500 volunteers across the state, owing to which work in the department has greatly suffered. The teachers have complained to the DEO in this matter too and recently, volunteers from across the state held a rally in Kharar.

However, members say despite repeated requests, their union hasn’t been able to secure a meeting with the DGSE so far.

After regular requests for the payment of dues and wait of several months, the volunteers boycotted the special assessment and training camps (since September 20) as well as their additional task of taking care of home-based children with special needs, from September 11.

While the teachers carry on their respective duties at the about 100 resource rooms (for special and handicapped children) across 19 blocks in the district, the suspension of duties with respect to home- based children has affected over 300 children with special needs in the district who were being visited by the 
IED volunteers.

Notably, the primary task of the IED component of the education department is to reach out and bring in special needs children to schools and give regular lessons to them so that they are gradually integrated into the mainstream. Similarly, after the school hours, the volunteers visit homes near their schools where they provide therapy and skill training to special needs children, who cannot go to school due to some handicap or due to being bed-ridden. Every Inclusive Education Volunteer has three home-based children allocated to them. Teachers said while they visit home to home, they sometimes even had to incur their own personal costs for travel or transport for kids without worrying of expenses, the present state of affairs had crippled them financially.

Meanwhile, even as the volunteers still attend to their respective resource rooms, their suspended visits to the home-based children have left these children and their parents without any recourse.

The parent of one such child said, “We are poor and can not afford high-end treatment or facilities for our child but the work of the volunteers greatly improved our child’s health. The boycott of this work has certainly cost us a lot. We hope they get their salaries soon so that their visits resume.”

Speaking to The Tribune, an Inclusive Education Volunteer said, “For the last seven months we have not received our salaries. While our salaries are already less, this has greatly affected our work. Many of us are the sole bread winners. There are volunteers whose husbands pursue labour. The fees of our children have not been paid. We are even paying for the students from our resource every month when need be or at times when they need transportation because these children require special care. While the IRTs (Inclusive Resource teachers) have received their salaries, we are the only ones being left out.”

Jalandhar, October 19
Eighty-nine-year-old Charan Das's muddy fingers roll over the wet clay as he finds his way on his potter wheel to churn out beautiful diyas. Like him, over 130 odd artisans work all day, bringing the city's very own Kumhaar colony inside the cantonment area come alive every year before Diwali.

"The British army relocated us here from Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh to build army barracks while establishing the Jalandhar cantonment in 1848 after the first Anglo-Sikh War, when the British settled in North India. At that time, our ancestors used to build massive barracks with the help of mud that used to last longer even than the present day barracks made up of bricks," revealed Dass, the oldest members of the Kumhaar community.

While informing the arrival of 'Flower Pot' culture in India, he said that it is the Britishers who used to develop huge nurseries and hence brought the 'mud pot' culture in India. "Till today, flower shows were being held across the country in almost all the cantonments established before independence. This is one legacy that the Indian inherited from the Britishers and we feel fortunate to be a part of it," said 70 years old Sohan Lal.

However with time, the community also underwent changes in terms of ideologies and technology. "I still remember, I voted for a pair of bullocks, the election sign for Jawahar Lal Nehru's in the first general elections held in the country in 1952. That time, there used to be a Jungle and I actually do not remember now where exactly I went to cast my ballot," said 75 years old Mithan Lal, another potter.

Even though the pottery is dying a slow death in urban areas, these artisans are keeping the old art alive. "I am carrying forward our family legacy. But nowadays we are facing lot of problem in getting good quality mud from nearby areas. Also, the kids in our family although know how to make diyas but are not as much interested as we were as they feel that the profession has very less reward as compared to the efforts one puts in while making various products," said Dass. But he showed satisfaction over the eternity of the pottery art due to it having religious and ethnical significance. 'the art will go on till the time, people will worship God," said the old potter.

Also, the pottery community feels that people should use more of mud utensils at home. "Nowadays, we do not want to use any pottery utensils in our homes but spends a huge amount of money to eat in them in various traditional theme based restaurants. Eating food in mud utensils saves us from various diseases like cancer and eye disorders," said Mithan lal. He also said that no one matches the taste of food like the one made in mud utensils. "We recently introduced a 'traditional chaatti' from Meerut that can cook food on gas stove also," said lal.

So, on Diwali, here is the salutation to one of the traditional art and their artists who are busy burning the midnight oil in their homes to make numerous colourful diyas to illuminate our houses on this Diwali.

Famous legends

"Kumbha" and "kalasha" mirrors the symbolic cosmic universe and is used from rituals that begin with birth, marriage and death. The vessal making tradition goes back in time and history to the primordial kalasha or pot that carried the nectar, amrit for Gods, after the churning of celestial oceans when the world was first formed.

Another legend describes the making of the first pot required by the god at the time of Shiva and Parvati's marriage. A potter was called to make a celestial Kalash but he had no tools or material. So Lord Krishna gave him the Sudharshan chakra, for the potter's wheel, and his janaeu for the thread to cuts the pot off the wheel. Parvati rubbed her skin gave it as clay while the celestial tortoise gave his shell as the serpent. 

Jalandhar, October 19
With the BJP top brass rooting for a 'Swadeshi Diwali' and calling for the people to abstain from buying Chinese material, the national clarion call certainly has no affect on the city markets. Majority of the shops in the city continue to bring in and sell Chinese material - especially in terms of Diwali lights and light installations.

While some view the sale of Chinese material as a shortcut to rake in the big bucks, other shopkeepers are not so happy with the Chinese invasion of the markets.

Ram Singh, a shopkeeper in an old bazaar area of the city said, "We really appreciate and respect the PM's call for swadeshi material. But at least here we can't do with just the desi material. Chinese material is cheap and pretty user friendly. There is enormous demand for it because it is light on the customer's pocket. We cannot do away with it even if we want to, so we have to get it. As far as the promotion of swadeshi lights is concerned, the variety is really limited. Unless there is a real ban on Chinese material, we doubt whether it would stop coming to the local market."

Vanit, a trader dealing with light installations and light strings in the old bazaar area, said, "It's true that Chinese is not good for the economy. But we can't help it. All the customer asks for is Chinese material. We ourselves are not happy with it. Its quality is not as good as the branded stuff. And certainly it lasts one Diwali or so. While Chinese material also goes to other countries, in India, it seems like the refuse is coming in and the customer is paying for it as per availability. I am all for the Swadeshi material but for that customers also have to choose Swadeshi and at the administrational level there should be certain checks which do not allow the arrival of substandard material."

Lights from Rs 15 to Rs 2,000 are available in the market. While the simple small-bulb light string is as cheap as Rs 15, there are various varieties in these with flowered, big-bulb and other light strings available in a wide range of rates.

The variety in the branded or local made material is, however, very limited and the demand is not as high.

Barring these, Chinese lanterns, crackers, decorations and gift packs are also in vogue in the market.

However, Happy Jain, a cracker seller in the city said, "While some dealers might have stacked up Chinese materials at their shops, on the whole, the sale of Chinese crackers in the city has seen a major decrease. We are even getting some people who are specifically asking whether there is a reduction is sale of Chinese firecrackers. It might take some time for Chinese goods to be totally wiped out from the market, but it does have a major impact in the buyer's choices this year."

Meanwhile, DC KK Yadav said, "Even though we can't do anything regarding the sale of Chinese material since it is not illegal, we set up a special Diwali Mela initiative to promote the work of local students and artisans. All the administration can do is really appeal to people to stop buying Chinese material and root for Swadeshi. We are also getting an excellent response from the effort at Virsa Vihar and shall continue to collaborate for such initiatives to boost the local economy and encourage the crafts persons."

Slump bothers local market

With malls and big posh markets in plush localities stealing away the pre-Diwali buzz, shopkeepers in the older bazaar areas of the city sure feel ignored. Less than a week before Diwali, shopkeepers in the market complained of a great slump in the market - the kind which has never previously been witnessed.

Ashok Kumar, who sells Diwali decorations, festoons and decorative buntings in the old Imam Nasir area of the bazaar, said, "It's one of the glummest Diwalis we have ever had. There is a buzz in the market but no one's buying anything. While in the previous years, by this time we already had returns of at least 10,000 to 15,000 but this year, we haven't even had a sale of Rs 1,000 so far."

Ravi, another shopkeeper in the old bazaar area said, "The response at Diwali this year is 40 per cent of the previous years. The Mall Culture has certainly affected the market. However, we expect things to pick up in the coming days."

Jalandhar, October 19
Festive season is the best time for those involved in the business of food adulteration to sell their rotten, stale, spurious and fake food items in glittery packages.

Jalandhar, October 19
Keeping in view deteriorating power crisis in the state, the renewable energy products, including solar water heater, solar cookers, solar air-conditioner and solar power inverters seem to have been taken as an alternative by city residents.

A visit to the Apex Trade Fair organised at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall showed that there were four stalls of renewable energy products. A large number of people were seen enquiring about the products.

Talking to the Jalandhar Tribune, Vikas, a representative of Punjab Automobile (India), said they had been selling such products for the past couple of months. “The demand of products has been growing. We sell around 500 solar water heaters and 60 solar inverters every year. We have a cash-back policy, through which solar water heater costs Rs 16,500 and solar inverter costs Rs 30,000. Apart from this, the demand for solar air conditioner has also been growing,” added Vikas.

Amardeep Singh, sales officer with Solar First said that they assess the consumption of the family, and then suggest the suitable product. The whole power of the house can also be run through solar system.

A salesman of Solar First at stall said that they provide products at 30 per cent subsidy.

VJ Singh of SGR Engineering Company said they sell around 25 to 30 solar energy products every month. They sell the products at 30 per cent subsidy.

Avtar Singh, aresident of nearby village said he had been using the solar inverter for the past one year. Tired of the growing power crisis in state, his family opted for the product

“We are having a sigh of relief after the installation of solar power inverter. Our electricity bill has also been reduced”, added Avtar Singh. 

Jalandhar, October 19
After an assurance given by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of holding a meeting on October 29 at Chandigarh, the Pendu Mazdoor Union (PMU) has decided to postpone their indefinite protest. The PMU had decided to stage a protest today in Kartarpur, where the Chief Minister was to unveil the foundation stone of Jang-E-Azadi memorial.

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, union representative Kashmir Singh Ghughshor said they had planned to stage a protest against the state government in view of the long-pending demands, including implementation of land reforms, providing surplus land to landless labourers, providing one third of the panchayti land to landless labourers, providing 10 marla plots to dalits and labourers, providing a grant amounting to Rs 3 lakh for the construction of house, regular employment under the MGNREGS, providing unemployment allowance as per the qualification, providing blue card without any discrimination, and opening of ration depots at every village.

“All issues relating to dalits and landless labourers will be discussed with the Chief Minister in the proposed meeting,” added Kashmir.