EDUCATION

Declamation contest held
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 22
Students from more than 15 schools participated in an inter-school declamation contest organised by the Private School Welfare Association here yesterday.

Nearly 64 contestants were divided into four groups. In the first group, Daljit Singh from Shishu Model High School won the first prize, followed by Nishu Verma from Pooja Model High School and Gurpinder Singh from Simran Model High School.

In the second group, Sadhika Berry from K.D.M. School stood first, Mukesh Kumar from Pooja Model High School won the second prize and Sandeep Singh from Lord Shiva Public High School was declared third. Ankit Kumar from Tulsi Vidya Mandir, Navjot Kwatra from Mrityujanam Shishu Model High School and Priyanka Kaushal from Saini Public High School were declared first, second and third, respectively, in the third group.

In the fourth group, Atul Kumar from Tulsi Vidya Mandir, Lalita Rani from Vivek Vidya Mandir, Geeta Rani from M.D. Public School and Jairaj Singh from Adarsh Vidya Mandir High School won the first, second, third and forth prizes. Ms Inderjeet Kaur Bhatti, Deputy District Education Officer (primary), gave away the prizes.

Release salary, demand teachers
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 22
Mr Harnek Singh Grewal, president, Government Primary Teachers Association, yesterday condemned the state government for not paying salaries to thousands of teachers working under ‘Operation Black Board’ for the past five months.

In a press note issued here yesterday, Mr Grewal said these teachers were facing great hardships as they were not able to pay their monthly bills for electricity, telephone and so on. Moreover, they have also to deposit fees of their school and college-going children. But they were unable to do so because of the wrong policies of the government, he added.

He said as Dasehra and Divali were approaching but these teachers were penniless. He demanded an early release of their salaries failing which the teachers would have to adopt an agitational approach.

Contests for visually impaired
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 22
Over 35 visually impaired students participated in cultural contests organised by the Maa Saraswati Cultural Society for the Blind at Gurdwara Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib, Link Road, here today.

In the junior poetry contest, Poonam from the Vocational Rehabilitation Training Centre (VRTC) stood first, followed by Gagandeep Kaur from the Government Institute for the Blind (GIB) and Prateekha from the VRTC. In the senior group, Ajay Singh from Andh Vidyalaya, Jalandhar, was declared first, followed by Anu from Ramgarhia Girls’ College and Navneet Kaur from the VRTC.

In the junior light music category, Rajinder Singh from the VRTC clinched the first prize, Manjit Kaur from Government Senior Secondary School was declared second and Baljinder Singh from Andh Vidyalaya, Jalandhar, stood third. In the senior group, Vivek Monga from Ramgarhia Girls’ College stood first, Mandeep Singh was declared second and Sohrab Singh from the VRTC got the third prize.

In the declamation contest for seniors, Ritu Bajaj from Ramgarhia College stood first, followed by Anu Monga from the same college and Anuradha from the VRTC. In the junior group, Raju from the VRTC, Narender Singh from the same centre and Harpreet Kaur from the GIB won the first, second and the third prize, respectively.

Mr Amreesh Jain, Deputy Commissioner (Customs) was the chief guest. Mr Joginder Singh Sidhu, manager, Braille Press, Mr Sharwan Kumar Sharma, president, Nishkam Sewa Samiti and Ms Sangeeta Sehgal, general secretary of the society, were also present on the occasion.