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| Tuesday,
December 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Child workers surveyed for drug abuse AN exploratory survey on drug abuse among child workers conducted by a team from Panjab University has warranted a larger survey among male and female child workers besides working out a consolidated strategy by central and state governments as well as non-governmental organisations to stop the exploitation of children. A total of 200 drug abusers and 200 non-users were surveyed in Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar over a period of three and a half years. Rural and agricultural workers were excluded from the survey. Data for the study was collected with the help of a systematic interview schedule filled in by researchers on the basis of the respondents’ verbal disclosures. The study has concluded that children work due to poverty for the sake of survival and are exploited by their employers and families. Work conditions, wages and work itself are not all satisfactory and create an atmosphere of drift or behaving like adult models, the study adds. Talking about the study, the project director, Prof Jitendra Mohan, said drug abuse by child workers is a reality and can be ignored at its own peril. “Removing or preventing a drug-abuser from work is not the solution to the problem. Instead efforts should be made to provide them part-time education or vocational education,” he added. It was the number of working hours which need to be controlled, he opined. Stating that there is a need to actively involve the government at various levels as well as NGOs, Prof Mohan said children involved in drug abuse need emotional support. For this, he felt that NGOs, with support of the government, need to form groups at the local level for interaction with affected children. Education, recreation as well as sports are the topics they should involve themselves with in order to get the affected children back into the mainstream. The study also reveals that the general awareness about their future, even among older children was absent. Parents and friends are the main initiators of pushing children into drug abuse, implying that the socio-cultural environment is conducive to bad habits, the study notes. It is an “in-thing” to smoke, drink or take drugs in the group to which the children surveyed belong. While laws, both national and international, are important, the study states that more than their enactment, it is their adherence, knowledge and accompanying social action which is necessary. The study has suggested that since the issue of drug abuse is multi-dimensional, it should be tackled at different levels with the joint collaboration of various agencies by pooling resources, manpower and knowhow so that a meaningful social action can be taken up. The study has been forwarded to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the Department of Social Work, Delhi University, and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). |
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Dec exams postponed in colleges Ludhiana, December 3 Students from 12 local colleges, who resumed their classes after a 15-day break due to the National Games, were told to again go on a week-long vacation from tomorrow. While the students had been preparing for the examination for the past fortnight, it was announced that the examinations have been postponed but no fresh datesheet was announced. The announcements were made in the wake of a call of ‘‘cease work’’ given following a meeting of representatives of the joint action committee formed by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU), the Federation of Principals and the Non-government College Managements Federation held at DAV College, Jalandhar, yesterday. At the meeting convened by the PCCTU, members of the federations of Principals and managing committees offered their full support. The members said they would be joining the rallies to be held in all districts from December 4 to 10 to press their four major common demands — implementation of the pension-cum-gratuity scheme, revision of grant-in-aid to the colleges, review of posts after 1981 and covering unaided colleges in the grant-in-aid scheme. It was also decided that members of the joint action committee would hold a meeting at Guru Nanak National College, Doraha, on December 9, while on December 10 all members would hold a rally at Matka Chowk, Chandigarh. Much confusion prevailed in some of the colleges where the examinations were scheduled to commence today. While some colleges conducted the examinations, others cancelled. Students of Ramgarhia Girls College, Millerganj, who had come prepared to appear in their first examination, were told that the examinations had been cancelled. Ms Harmit Kaur, Principal, said the examinations would be held later. She said while the students would be staying back home, teachers would be coming to college to mark attendance and later join the rallies daily. At Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, the first theory examination of all classes was conducted today but they were told that the following tests would be held sometime later. Ms A.K. Bansal, Principal, said since the protest would begin tomorrow and students had come prepared for the examinations, it was decided that the examinations be conducted today. Moreover, it did not make any sense to conduct classes for a day, she said. She further said the teachers would be complying to the unanimous decision taken by the joint action committee of the teachers, students and managing committees. At Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women, an assembly of the students and teachers was held in the morning and the decision was conveyed to them. The Principal and teachers pledged their support for the common cause and the students were told to keep in touch with the decisions taken by the college. At Arya College, while no dates of examinations had been announced earlier, the students were told today that the examinations would commence from December 12. However, uncertainty prevails among the students even still due to repeated closing down of the colleges and increasing agitation among the teachers, principals and managements against the Punjab Government. Meanwhile, members of the executive committee of the PCCTU went to Chandigarh to court arrest and the other local members were preparing for the first rally to be held in front of the residence of Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Minister of Technical Education, tomorrow. |
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Non-teaching staff of pvt colleges to go on strike Ludhiana, December 3 Stating this in a press note, Mr Jagdeep Singh, secretary, said the members were demanding the payment of arrears after a revision of pay from January, 1996, to March 1999, house rent allowance for employees of rural private colleges as per the recommendations of the Fourth Pay Commission and the sanction of pension-cum-gratuity scheme on a par with government employees. The union would also observe a strike on December 14 and 21, he said. |
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School holds annual function Ludhiana, December 3 The kids presented a puppet show in which they depicted various day-to-day activities through dolls. “Medha”, an action song was presented by the kids as they staged a scene on a rainy day. “Aao khelen” was an item in which the kids played various games, including ring-a-ring roses. One of the most fascinating programmes was the story of “Lion and the mouse” presented by the kids dressed as lion, mouse and hunter. Tiny tots sang the song “Dadi Amma Maan Jao” in which the grandchildren try various tricks to please their granny. Besides, one minute games were also played in which the kids had to perform various activities like threading beads and arranging blocks in one minute. Dr I.J.S. Jaswal, Head of the Department of Human Development, Punjab Agricultural University, was the chief guest. Ms Anju Taneja, Principal, said it was ensured that all kids participate in the function. |
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School celebrates
gurpurab Samrala, December 3 The programme was organised by students. After the bhog ceremony, they presented shabad kirtan in Rag Bahar and Mia Malhar, which left the audience spellbound. Apart from this, anecdotes from Guru Nanak Dev’s life in the form of “sakhis”, presented by children, were highly appreciated. They also presented “varalap” in the form of questions and answers to explain the sayings of Guruji, and it was highly appreciated by the audience. Sant Baba Makhan Singh Ji, Chairman of the school, too, spoke about the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev. In the end, Guru Ka Langar was served to all students.
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Annual function Ludhiana, December 3 The programme began with Saraswati Vandana, followed by a song by kids of nursery sections. Tiny tots also presented a fancy dress show in which the kids came up on the stage dressed like a soldier, a doctor, a joker, a postman and national leaders. Class I students sang the song, ‘Chanda mama’. Primary section students also performed a qawwali. Students of the middle section presented a group song, “Kadam kadam pe naksh hai, vijay hamara laksh hai”. Students of the senior sections performed Haryanvi dance and the programme concluded with gidha by girls of Classes VIII and X. Various models displayed at exhibition included those on burglar alarm, digestive system, the US terrorist attacks, Punjabi culture and the heritage of India. Mr Mohinder Singh Kalyan, former MP, was the chief guest. Mr Charanjit Malhotra, Principal, and Mr Inderjit Malhotra, director, were also present on the occasion. |
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Pay compensation, BSNL told Ludhiana, December 3 According to the complaint, the BSNL remained unable to provide uninterrupted services for two consecutive years to Mr Sethi: He stated before the forum that he informed the SDO and the Area Manager in writing and through the telephonic complaints that the telephone was not working properly. Every time officials took more than 24 hours to remove the fault and, moreover, he had to complaint twice every month during the two years to get good services, he added. The consumer disclosed that the telephone remained dead for more than five days despite lodging complaint through telephone. He said he had applied for the CLIP facility on July 27, 2000, which was provided to him on August 3, 2000. Moreover, despite paying Rs 97 for the CLIP facility, including Rs 50 as installation fee in the bill issued on October 18, 2000, by the consumer, the respondent demanded the same charges in the bill issued on December 18, 2000. He pointed out that in the December bill the BSNL said charges were claimed till November 30, 2000, while as per the rule, the respondent could charge for CLIP facility for the period from August 8 to September, 2000, only. It was disclosed that a registered letter was also sent to the BSNL for rectification of the mistake but instead doing something he was advised to meet the Commercial Manager on May 22, 2001. When the consumer met the officer, he showed his helpless. It was alleged by the consumer that it was clear deficiency in services on the part of the BSNL. He demanded form the forum that it should direct the BSNL to refund the amount charged wrongly, to give rent rebate for the period during which telephone remained dead and to pay Rs 25,000 on account of compensation and Rs 25,000 as a cost of litigation. The BSNL pleaded that the excess amount charged from the complainant was refunded on August 8, 2001. The respondent maintained that as and when any complaint was reported, the same was removed. It was stated that there was no unnecessary delay in providing services to the consumer. The BSNL said there was no deficiency in services on its part as such the complaint was liable to be dismissed. The forum observed that according to the document placed, the consumer made 15 complaints in 2000 and 18 complaints between January 3 and July 14, 2001, which indicated that the telephone often remained out of order. The forum further stated that according to the fault cards, the telephone remained faulty and even non-functional for more than a month on many times during the two years. The forum held that there was clear deficiency in service on the part of the BSNL.
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Hans Raj Hans honoured Machhiwara, December 3 The mela was inaugurated by Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, MLA, Samrala, on Friday. Mr Ishar Singh Meharban, a former minister of Punjab, presided over the function. Manjit Roopowalia, Daljeet Kaur, Suman Datta, Balkar Sindhu, Ajay Deol, Roomy Gill, Gurmit Garry, Comedian Jaspal Hans, Nek Matranwala, among others, enthralled the audience. |
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Kids given polio
drops Amloh, December 3 The campaign was launched by Raja Narinder Singh, Public Health Minister. Medical and para-medical staff were assisted by teachers, anganwadi workers and Rotary Club members in accomplishing this task, said Mr Bahadar Singh Aujla, Block Educator.
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