Chandigarh, July 25
Twelve renowned health institutes of the country have joined hands under the banner of Indian Council of Medical Research Partnership for Schools of Public Health (IPSPH), aiming at improving public health standards as well as creating jobs in this field in the country.

Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, regional director, World Health Organisation (WHO), South East Asia, will address the meeting of the IPSPH at the PGI on July 27. The directors of the AIIMS; the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi; and the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare are participating at the meeting.

Dr Plianbangchang will launch master’s of public health course at the PGI School of Public Health also.

The course is the first of its kind in the country to prepare a competent workforce of public health specialists, who have basic knowledge of public health principles and methods and ability to apply this knowledge to effectively meet the health needs of the community.

Right now, there are just 350 public health specialists available in the country while the demand is four times higher, said Dr Rajesh Kumar, head of the department of community medicine.

The admission to the two-year course, based on an entrance test, will be open to the students from non-medical and arts. With the total seats in the course are 12, 10 have already been enrolled, said Dr Rajesh Kumar.

The IPSPH partners have decided to exchange faculty and students between the partner institutions and by designing common curricula and entrance examination for the course.

Chandigarh, July 25
Lack of coordination between the Chandigarh sports department and the education department has once again adversely impacted the sports culture in schools.

While the sports’ wings at government schools will function from August 1 to January 31, 2008, those of coaching centres will function from August 1 to February 29, 2008

The sports department has allotted sports wings seats to various schools here without consulting the ‘School Sports Infrastructure’ report, prepared by the education department recently.

Due to this lapse, the sports department allotted seats to those schools which do not have the requisite sports infrastructure, while schools, which fulfill the required conditions, have been ignored.

However, director sports I.S. Sandhu has a different opinion on the matter. “This is a lapse on the part of the sports faction of the education department. Had they given us the report, we would have definitely done as was required. It is through them that the schools put forward their demands. However, there is always scope for improvement. If some concerns have gone unnoticed, we will revise them,” Sandhu said.

The education department had a different version of the story. S.K. Setia, DPI (S), when contacted, said, “No one from the sports department approached us. If they had done so, we would have given them the report. We will still send it to them so that the sports wings scheme could be properly utilised.”

Ironically, four government schools - GMSSSs (19, 32, and 47) and Government Model Middle School, Sector 46, had to refuse the sports wings’ seats allotted to them. The reasons were neither did they have a single student who was into sports of that particular discipline nor they did not have proper infrastructure. Of these schools, the one in Sector 19 was allotted 16 seats for hockey, the Sector 32 school was given 10 seats for cricket and the Sector 47 one was given 12 hockey seats. Government Model Middle School, Sector 46, was given 10 seats for hockey.

K.S. Bharti, assistant director, sports, conducted a survey of the schools and submitted a report to the department. His detailed report revealed that several schools lack proper sports’ environs.

Ten seats of football have been allotted to the Sector 22 GMSSS, which does not even have a suitable football ground. The education department survey also states that the outfield is unkempt and has rusty goalposts.

Despite having adequate infrastructure for football, hockey, volleyball, athletics, and good records in badminton, volleyball, table tennis, handball and kabaddi, GMSSS, Sector 35, has been totally ignored.

Similar is the case of Shivalik Public School in Sector 41, which has been overlooked, despite having excelled in swimming, shooting and gymnastics.

SD Public School in Sector 32, which has excellent infrastructure for badminton, has also been ignored.

The sportspersons of GMSSS-37 are also unhappy. Although the school has a well-maintained ground, a basketball court, a 400-m track and an indoor badminton hall, it was given 12 seats in handball. 

Chandigarh, July 25
This young lad is sure to make it big in the field of hockey and Indian national coach Joaquim Carvalho’s policy of including young players in the national squad has just added spirit to his aspirations.

Meet 17-year-old Harman Preet Singh, a promising player of the Sector 42 Chandigarh Hockey Academy. “I am unstoppable and am looking for the chance to prove myself,” Harman asserts.

And it seems that the golden moment for this lanky player is not too far away as his chances of getting selected in the u-18 India camp to be held in September this year are very bright.

“The final squad will be picked up from this camp. The selected players will represent the country at various national and international tournaments (junior level). I am sure I will get a place in the squad,” says Harman confidently.

This energetic player was selected in the India camp for the Asia Cup held at Bhopal last year. He also impressed the hockey aficionado by finishing second in the fitness tests conducted after the camp, in which over 40 budding players from across the country participated.

Harman has also showed his mettle during two different matches; first against the Multan Club team from Pakistan and the other against the German Army team, here last year. He netted one goal each in the matches. Harman was also part of the squads winning gold during the School Nationals in 2005 and 2006.

A big fan of Tuende Nooijer, Holland’s forward, Harman has been taking coaching under the supervision of Jasbir Bajwa. “I want to be like my idol,” said Harman.

Bajwa has big dreams for his protégé. “The way he controls the ball, his tremendous game sense, his dodging power and mental toughness will definitely catapult him to the senior national squad,” he said.

Chandigarh, July 25
The Hockey Stadium, Sector 18, is marked by water-logged entrance, cracked and clammy walls, humid gymnasium room, rusted workout machines - all this is good enough to show that it is neglected.

The stadium, which had enjoyed the status of being ‘the hub of the hockey’ few years back, is presently in a mess. Over 50 players come to the stadium for daily practice.

Entering the stadium is also a problem as the entry gate is blocked with water.

The blockage is due to chocked sewage outside the stadium. Showing injury on his knee, a hockey player Mukul rued, “I am one of the victims of this blocked sewage water as my bicycle has slipped twice here. In fact many other players have got hurt in the same manner.”

The indifferent attitude of the authorities reflects clearly when one enters the stadium. To start with, there are big cracks on the walls of the gym causing leakage of water in the room. The power switches give electric shocks. Even the exercise machines are rusted and needs to be changed.

“Nobody wants to put his or her life at risk working out here. There is no ventilation here the newly installed fans don’t provide any relief. Even the switch boards give electric shocks as the wires earth from inside,” said Varinder Singh, a sportsman.

Many glass shields of the window frame of the complex are broken. A glass pane is just hanging and can fall down causing severe injury to anyone standing there. The ignorant attitude of the authority concerned puts a big question mark on their working.

“We need a proper changing room for the girl players, a lighting system and the turf surface besides proper maintenance of the infrastructure,” demanded all the sportspersons.

When contacted S.K. Goswami, the hockey coach and in-charge of the stadium said, “I have personally visited the X-en office three to four times with a written application to solve the problems but the officer gives just assurance. No step has been taken so far.”