Chandigarh, April 30
Panic gripped among students of two government schools, Government Model School-28 and Government Model School-37, about the food served to them under the mid-day meal scheme here today. The students reportedly suspected some foreign material into the food served to them.

There is always a natural process of germination in soyabeen or rajmah. This suspected material is part of that and it is in no way a ‘worm’ as it seems to be — Expert, Ambedkar Institute

The food samples were sent to the office of the DPI (S). DPI (S) S K Setia engaged the chefs and nutritionists from five private and government agencies, Government Home Science College-10, UT Guest House-6, Hot Millions, Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management-42, besides experts from the Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology- 42 to inspect the food samples in the presence of mediapersons.

After verifying food samples, they declared that the food did not contain any foreign material. “There is always a natural process of germination in soyabeen or rajmah. This suspected material is part of that and it is in no way a ‘worm’ as it seems to be”, said T K Razdaan from Ambedkar Institute.

“During the cooking process too, the whole soyabeen or rajmah are mashed to make them tasty. During this, the sprouts of the beans and pulses comes out and it start flouting on the top”, said Nirupama of Home Science College.

The DPI said, “Our aim of engaging these experts is to ensure if the food is actually contaminated or not. Otherwise, out of panic, the students will not ready to eat the food.”

Meanwhile, the samples of the food served in Government school-37 three days back, which was also reportedly believed to be infested with worms, have been sent for the laboratory analysis at government laboratory and its report is awaited.

Ashish Bose, representative of CIHMCT, the institute where the food was prepared, also appeared to clarify their position. “It was the sprouts only which was mistaken to be a worm. We undertake the cooking process in hygienic conditions and children’s interest is our prime priority and duty, which we sincerely abide by.”

Meanwhile, the students of Class V of GHS-37 did not eat the food and it was served to labourers engaged in the construction at the school.

Chandigarh, April 30
Iqbal Singh, a JBT teacher with Government High School, Sector 40-A, has been suspended by the education department for being absent for a long period of time without getting his leave sanctioned.

Earlier also, Iqbal Singh was served a show-cause notice dated August 10, 2006, on charges of negligence in performing his duties. But he was let off and given one more chance. Now, he proceeded on leave from March 8 last without getting the same sanctioned.

Confirming this, DPI (S) S.K. Setia said, “We have formulated a policy to deal with these habitual absentees. In majority of the cases, these teachers ask for leave extension on false pretext and come back after several years to join the duty. Ultimately, they move court and the matters become complicated. We took this step to discourage teachers from adopting this sort of practice.”

Earlier also, Iqbal Singh was served a show-cause notice dated August 10, 2006, on charges of negligence in performing his duties. He was reportedly in the habit of not taking his classes regularly and not behaving properly with his colleagues and parents of the students. But he was let off on the instance of giving one more chance. Now, he proceeded on leave from March 8 last without getting the same sanctioned.

As per the latest directions of the education department, no teacher will be allowed to stay on leave for long. It would be granted only in unavoidable circumstances like medical emergency etc.

The school heads have been instructed to ensure the compliance of the directions in this regard. 

Chandigarh, April 30
Around 75 special children got an opportunity to interact with normal children at a special session held at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Sector 27, here, today.

A special child Jasmeen was happy to find a friend in Swati Sharma, a student of Bhawan Vidyalaya. Together they made a painting on the theme “Heart with message”. “Actually, I got inspiration from my mother who works for the vocational cell for such special children at Shivalik School-41.”

Sunil from Saket School, Chandi Mandir, impressed everyone by displaying his speciality of making paintings with his feet. He was helped by his Class X Vivek High School students - Jaskaran, Shayad and Chetan.

Another special child Kanika Walia stood tall in the crowd because she could speak in English. “I learnt English at Karuna Stain-11 and would help my father running our business,” said ambitious Kanika. Suman, Rekha and Sunil exchanged contact numbers of their normal friends.

“This effort has a real sense of integration and such programmes should be conducted regularly,” expressed Kiran Srivastava, special educator, Aashi School run by the Army Wives Welfare Association.

“This nationwide endeavour of ours will bring together thousands of these special children in the main stream of society. I believe that these children, too, have skills, needs and rights and the normal children need to be made aware of this,” expressed Diana Tholoor, the founder of the Chrysallis Performance Arts Centre for the Challenged, Bangalore. This centre, established in 1999, provides a platform for children with special abilities.

The Panjab University Non-Teaching Employees Federation will organise May Day Rally on Wednesday morning at the basement gate of the Administrative Block as per set practice. Representatives from all associations and unions affiliated with the federation will address the members and declare their agenda for the coming year. According to president of the Panjab University Non-Teaching Employees Federation Dharampaul Sharma, the specific problem faced by the university employees was shortage of the staff. “It is becoming difficult day by day to meet the increased workload. The only solution is to fill up all vacant budget sanctioned non-teaching posts as it had been done on the teaching side. Whenever the university authorities open new courses, institutes or give affiliation to new colleges, immediate steps should be taken to recruit need-based staff instead of making adjustments within the existing staff.

In interest of the institution, the federation requested the authorities to take immediate steps in this regard otherwise the whole system would collapse and students as well as the staff would be the sufferers. —TNS  

Chandigarh, April 30
To mark World Dance Day, the Chandigarh Institute of Performing Arts (CIPA) in collaboration with the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, organised a dance competition “Jhoom jhoom ke naacho re” at Kala Gram, Mani Majra, last evening.

About 40 contestants in age group of 5-40 years from various cities took part in the competition. The show commenced with a pooja dance by Devanshi and Priyanka followed by a “tandava nrit” by Amit Chaudhary from Ambala. Thereafter, the mega dance competition was thrown open to aspirants.

Results: 5-11 years - Devanshi Gautam; 11-15 years - Chahat Chouhan; 16-25 years - Mayur; 26-40 years - Dr Meenal Singla; duet category - Sandeep and Rekha, junior category Lotus Dance Academy and senior category Christ Dance Group.