Ludhiana, November 6
Tall claims by the state government that there is enough DAP fertiliser with cooperative agricultural societies in villages have fallen flat. Farmers in the region are sore at the false assurances of the government.

They said every year there was a shortage of DAP fertiliser at cooperative societies, but the government always claimed otherwise. The farmers said the sowing of wheat took place late because of this shortage.

Sarabha Singh of Mandiani said in a section of the media, the government had advertised that there was no shortage of DAP in the state. “We were shocked to see the advertisement. How can the government cheat farmers like this when there is a shortage of the fertiliser in our village?” he asked.

Last year, the rate of DAP was Rs 930 per quintal while this year it is above Rs 800 per quintal. “Markfed is the only agency which supplies DAP to all cooperative societies in villages, but since we are not getting the fertiliser, the sowing of wheat will be late. Those who had purchased it earlier are already into the sowing process, but we are sitting idle,” rued Gurdeep Singh, another farmer.

The cooperative societies provide the fertiliser to farmers according to the land ratio. The farmers who have more land get more of it.

“Obviously, the rich farmers tend to gain. There is shortage of DAP and those who have money purchase it beforehand. It is small farmers like us who sufferer. We have complained to the agencies and are waiting for their response,” said Kartar Singh, a farmer of Mullanpur Dakha.

Bhartiya Kisan Union president Ajmer Singh Lakhowal said except for a few places, there was no shortage of DAP. He said agencies had enough stock to meet th farmers’ needs. “And wherever there is a shortage, we will supply the fertiliser in two-three days. We will make sure that the sowing of wheat is not affected,” he said.

Ludhiana, November 6
Courses like bachelor of computer application (BCA) and bachelor of business administration (BBA) were started in various colleges a few years ago to benefit students who wanted to move away from traditional courses like BA, BSc and BCom.

More and more students started opting for these courses as they felt that they would get jobs soon after the completion of the courses. But this was not to be.

The courses have started losing sheen as only a small percentage of students are actually getting into jobs according to their choice.

However, experts feel that such courses are still better than the traditional ones and there was a need to maintain quality, which was missing at a majority of institutes offering such courses.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Prof Ashwani Bhalla, general secretary, Punjab Commerce and Management Association, said both BBA and BCA had their relevance in their respective areas.

BBA was started to train students in management at the initial level. These were refined courses for the benefit of students and when the courses were started initially, many students got jobs right after getting the degrees. Students, faculty and the parents felt that these were much better than traditional courses.

However, the poor quality of education has started to take its toll on these courses.

Universities were providing affiliations to institutes without monitoring the quality of faculty, infrastructure, etc.

Besides, the outflow and inflow had also increased manifold.

“These courses are 100 times better than traditional ones. Many banks and financial institutions were providing jobs to fresh graduates. The authorities concerned need to monitor the way the courses were being handled at the institution level,” suggested Prof Bhalla.

Another senior educationist Tarsem Bahia said institutions were getting affiliations from universities through political clout. A majority of private institutions lack proper facilities, infrastructure, faculty and even principals.

“How can you run an institution without principal or faculty members? But many of them are. BBA and BCA gained popularity because of the employment avenues they generated. But now people considered these as useless because authorities had compromised with the quality. Instead of giving unnecessary publicity to institutes, the managements should start working for the uplift of courses and students,” added Bahia.