Autorickshaws to have meters
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 14 — Autorickshaw drivers of the city, notorious for not operating their fare-meters, have been given a time limit by the Chandigarh Police to get their meters calibrated or install new meters.

The new police chief, Dr Kiran Bedi, had set an item on her agenda to get autorickshaw-fare-meters operational. The SP (Traffic), Mr Balbir Singh, said that a meeting between police authorities and autorickshaw drivers had been held last week. The drivers were told to get their meters operational.

A time-frame had been set for them. Once it lapses, action would be initiated against them. There already was a fixed rate structure in Chandigarh, but these drivers never followed it, said police authorities. Since the meeting, autorickshaw drivers, are busy installing meters. Some of them are even getting these calibrated from the Weights and Measures Department of the Chandigarh Administration.

The real test for the police will, however, be the successful implementation of the scheme. Allegations have been made that many autorickshaws are owned by policemen themselves, so, no action is initiated.

Last week, Chandigarh Police had invited complaints and suggestions to improve the working of autorickshaws that were operating without meters and taxi drivers who refused to carry passengers at rates fixed by the administration. A large number of complaint cards were distributed among the public. These cards were also available at pre-paid-fare facility counters at the railway station, Inter-State Bus Terminus, Sector 17, PGI and Traffic Lines, Sector 29 .

The cards could be mailed to the Superintendent of Traffic, Police Headquarters, Sector 9. Prompt action would be taken, a spokesperson of the police had then said.

Tercentenary fills youth with pride
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 14— With the celebrations of 300 years of the Khalsa having reached its peak with the younger generation queuing up to buy memorabilia like coins, scarves, T-shirts and greeting cards, TNS spoke to a cross-section of young persons to find out if this day had any significance for them or was it another holiday.

"I am delighted about the fact that this 300 years of the Khalsa has occurred during my life-time. All these celebrations make me a very proud Sikh. My religion was always in my heart but the tercentenary has made me understand the heritage of the Sikhs. And this is not only about awareness of the religious tenets but the basic understanding of equality," said Bhupinderjit Singh, a 20-year-old student.

Someone who shares his pride, 21-year-old Jeetinder Singh, said, "The celebrations and fervour have aroused positive feelings in our generation. The pride that we feel is not only about belonging to a particular community but about the world recognising the tenets of the Khalsa and its positive aspects coming to the fore."

When scholars are bemoaning about the younger generation not following all the tenets of the religion by the book, these youngsters seem to be clear about what being a Sikh' means to them.

"I may not be a fully-practising Sikh, but it dwells in my heart. I went to Anandpur Sahib to participate in the celebrations.I pray regularly and believe in Sikhism. These 300 years of the Khalsa have made me more inquisitive about my religion and my history," said 19-year-old Praneet.

Her younger brother, 18-year-old Simar Bir Singh,added, "I add a lot of importance to these celebrations.Going to Anandpur Sahib was overwhelming. I now plan to wear a turban and grow a beard. I am asking my parents to tell me more about the history of the Sikhs."

"I regret having missed the opportunity of going to Anandpur Sahib because of my examinations. But I have been reading about it and have been taught about it, but to experience it is a different experience. In my family, everybody is very religious.But what is amazing is that persons from all religions and communities are part of these celebrations, making the thing global," said 19-year-old Shreya.

Mrs Nitendera Dutt, a housewife,said, ''The celebrations mean cherishing the cultural values that instil confidence in us. We require to celebrate such days to remind us that religion is all about humanism and equality. Since I come from a defence forces background, I have culturally stayed away from the roots of my religion, but this has given me a chance to know it better."

Premier voluntary organisation
By Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, April 14 — The Panchkula Aggarwal Sabha is the perfect example of how and what a determined and socially committed group of people can do to help the community at large. Established in 1991 through the efforts of a low profile government employee, Mr Satya Kumar Gupta, the Sabha has come to be recognised as a premier voluntary organisation of the district in the span of just eight years.

Things started moving for the Sabha after it was allotted a six kanal plot in Sector 16 by the Haryana Urban Development Authority in 1994. Next year the construction of Aggarwal Bhavan, spread over 33,000 sq ft covered area, began. The bhavan, which serves as a “dharamshala with star facilities” to the community at large in Panchkula, comprises, among other things, two big halls and 28 fully-furnished rooms with attached bathrooms.

The Sabha spent just about Rs 62 lakh on the bhavan, said to be the minimum cost of construction of its class. Perhaps the main reason for containing the cost was the guidance provided by a philanthropist, Mr Amar Nath, a civil contractor by profession, who took over as the President of the Sabha in 1995.

While a fee of Rs 11,000 is charged from anyone desirous of holding a marriage in the bhavan or any other celebration, not a paisa is taken for “pagri” or “kirya” ceremony. The fee is inclusive of water and power charges.

The Sabha runs the only funeral van service available in Panchkula and Manimajra. A fixed fee of Rs 250, which is less than that charged by the Red Cross Society, is taken for the van. It also makes arrangements for cremation of all unclaimed bodies recovered in Panchkula district.

The Rajya Sabha member, Mr Lachhman Singh, who had been a representative of the Kalka constituency in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha for a number of terms, has given an ambulance van to the Sabha out of the local area development funds available to him as an M.P. He symbolically handed over the keys of the van to the General Secretary of the Sabha, Mr Naresh Mittal, today. The van will be formally dedicated to the citizens of Panchkula by the local Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Saroj Siwatch, on April 18 at a function to be organised by the Sabha.

When Mr Lachhman Singh wanted to give the ambulance to the Sabha, a bureaucratic wrangling held up the good work. In the objectives of the scheme, it is stated that an M.P. can give an ambulance to either a hospital or a reputed voluntary organisation like Red Cross Society of Rama Krishna Mission. The credit goes to Mrs Siwatch for overruling the objection by certifying that the Sabha was a reputed voluntary organisation of the area.

The Sabha has decided to provide round-the-clock ambulance service by engaging two drivers. A very nominal fee of Rs 100 will be charged for taking a patient to a hospital, irrespective of the distance involved.

The Sabha which got a boost in 1997 when it succeeded in uniting two factions of the Aggarwals in Panchkula, has also stepped into the service sector. It has arrangements with the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam for collection of electricity bills of the citizens of Panchkula. Its request for similar arrangements for collection of telephone and water bills are pending with the Telecom and HUDA authorities. Anyone can deposit his bill along with the cheque at anytime of the day, a big convenience to office-goers. No service charge is levied on the facility.

A marriage bureau is also run by the Sabha under the guidance of Mr Shambhu Nath Gupta, a social worker, besides an employment bureau for placement of unemployed youth in the private sector.

The Treasurer of the Sabha, Mr Raj Kumar Gupta, says so far about Rs 1 crore has been collected by the Sabha from Aggarwals residing in Panchkula and Manimajra and spent for the benefit of all communities without any discrimination of religion and race. The Sabha gave donations to the Deaf and Dumb School, Raipur Rani, and the Panchkula District Red Cross Society also.

Dr Mittal says the future plans of the Sabha include the provision of airconditioning the Bhavan which will be made self-sufficient for marriages, along with an ultra-modern kitchen.

No sight to end of govt-colleges war
By Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 14—There seems to be no solution in sight to the first ever agitation of its kind, launched by the management and principals of the non-government aided colleges of Punjab and Chandigarh.

It has already led to the postponement of the examinations of BA, B Sc and B Com of PU for this session while the fate of the post-graduate examinations hangs in balance.

The issue of the gradual withdrawal of the 95 per cent grant to colleges is unlikely to be resolved soon , with the government busy in the tercentenary celebrations of the formation of the Khalsa panth.

The grant is is essentially used to pay salaries of the staff and footing the expenses of the house rent allowance, contributory provident fund, medical allowance and dearness allowance .

Already, the government owes the colleges a sum of Rs 9.78 crore from the session of 1997-98 and an additional Rs 12.56 crore with the ending of the present financial year of 1998-99 on March 31. This has affected payment of salaries to the staff employed in rural and semi-urban colleges in Punjab and they have reportedly not received their salaries for the past four to six months.

The second major problem being faced by the colleges is that when the grant-in-aid scheme was initiated by the Badal government in 1978 with effect from 1977, it was decided to review all teaching and non-teaching posts of these colleges every five years. However, the last review was done in November 1981 and since then, about 500 teaching posts and approximately 300 additional non-teaching posts have been created .

The 23 new colleges that have come up since November 1981 in Punjab have not been covered under the grant-in-aid scheme. The staff of these colleges are not getting the regular pay-scale, let alone the UGC scale, except those of colleges opened by 'influential ' managements, sources point out.

Further, in the notification issued by the Punjab Government on March 24, 1999, all these colleges have been left unconsidered for the payment of UGC pay-scales. These form the body of unaided colleges in the region.

At present, the agitation is led by the 139 non-government aided colleges and 23 unaided colleges, which cater to 80 per cent of the student population of the state, while the 44 government colleges serve the remaining students.

Moreover, these government colleges are concentrated in a particular area and are more in number around Punjabi University in comparison to Panjab University and Guru Nanak Dev University. It is for this reason alone that the authorities are a lot more confident about conducting exams announced by Punjabi university than its counterpart in the state and the city.

Most of these colleges have ample political backing with some being supported by the Congress and others by the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party alliance. The Sanatan Dharm Colleges led by Pandit Mohan Lal, a former home minister, along with the 14 DAV colleges in the state are a force to reckon with. It will be impossible for the Finance Department of Punjab to turn a blind eye to their demands.

The colleges have been asked to muster their own financial resources which will primarily be possible with a fee hike. However, this will only result in a fall in the number of students joining the under-graduate classes in the rural and semi-urban areas where the fee is about Rs 3000 per year.

In city colleges, the fee, funds plus tuition charges, is between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 for the BA courses and the various vocational courses, respectively, run by the university.

Meanwhile, there are no pending grants as far as the seven non-government aided colleges are concerned and there is no announcement of any cuts in the grant being received by these colleges from the Chandigarh Administration. Non-payment of salaries is not an issue but the non-release of UGC pay-scales and the non-implementation of the pension-cum-gratuity scheme is posing a problem.

This has already been implemented in the colleges of Punjab by the government under the Service Security Act, 1974.

The vice-chancellors of the three universities are playing a neutral role and the charge of higher education is with the Chief Minister, Mr Prakash Singh Badal.

What is noteworthy is that the Management Federation of Punjab and Chandigarh of these colleges has Mr Prakash Singh Majithia, Revenue Minister of the state, as the President and Mr Badal the Vice- President and still the issue is hanging fire.

Summer fruits in demand
By Umesh Ghrera
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 14 — With the rise in the mercury level the sale of melon, watermelon, mango and cucumber is increasing in the city. Unexpectedly the prices are not as high as compared to the prices in the previous years.

This season, the good news for fruit lovers is that the king of fruits — mango — which, last year due to a poor yield and high prices, had become a luxury, is within the reach of the common man. Mangoes are being sold at between Rs 20 and Rs 30 a kg depending upon the variety.

The prices are expected to come down within a couple of weeks, opined Mr Om Prakash Chawla, President of the Subzi Mandi Arhtias Association, Sector 26. During the corresponding period last year the fruit was priced at between Rs 40 and Rs 50.

In Mr Chawla's opinion : "The chances are that the prices of some varieties of mango may even drop further." During summer all fruits are likely to be cheaper this year, for the production is expected to be high," he added. However, Mr Vijay Kumar, a commission agent in Sector 26 , said that due to rise in demand the drop in prices may not be much

Such is the boom this time that commission agents in the Sector 26 market say around five to six truckloads of fruit and vegetable unload in the city daily. A good portion of this is supplied to Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.

The arrival of trucks is expected to go up within the next couple of weeks. At present the varieties of mango available in the market are "sufeda" and "tota pari." The "langra and "dasehri" varities, considered as delicacies by mango eaters, would arrive in the market early next month.

Similarly, watermelon, which is popular with the people for its cooling effect, is expected to show a fall in price. "Namdhari", a hybrid variety, which has a striped outer surface, is priced at Rs 10 a kg, whereas the local variety is available at Rs 8 in the retail market. The other varieties of the fruit, which have started pouring in, are "matira" and "madhina", said Mr Bachan Lal, who gets his supply directly from Delhi .

He said that watermelon is in great demand in the city. "This year the fruit has arrived a little earlier and because of the searing heat its demand is more," he added. The hybrid variety of the fruit, generally preferred over the local variety, comes from Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Watermelon vendors can be spotted along roadside at many places in the city. They offer the juiciest varieties of melon at reasonable prices. Says Bachan Lal, a vendor in Sector 30: "We offer quality melon at cheap rates. The fruit is costlier in the super markets and, thus, people prefer to buy it from us."

The sale of cucumber is mostly centered in the two main shopping centres in Sectors 17 and 22 and the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT). A slice with salt and some "masala " sprinkled over it is available between 50 paise and Re 1.

Mountaineer plans adventure school
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 14 — Captain Man Mohan Singh Kohli, led the first successful Indian expedition to Mount Everest with nine men reaching the summit. Described as one of the six major achievements of India after Independence by the then Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, it was a record which India held for 17 years.

After carrying out a massive operation on a global basis to popularise trekking in the Himalayas, with 15 Himalayan expeditions under his belt, Captain Kohli’s focus has shifted to establishing a school to promote adventure-training programmes in India. Open to the youth between 16 and 24 years, the Centre of Outward Bound India has been opened at Chennai, while a centre in the north is likely to come up at Morni hills.

Captain Kohli, on his way to Anandpur Sahib, is taking with him a picture of himself with an inset of Sikh Everesters, to present to the Chief Minister, Mr Prakash Singh Badal. This will be put up in the museum at Anandpur Sahib, he says. He has been honoured with “Honour of the Khalsa’” on the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa panth.

He will also take the opportunity to request the Chief Minister to give him land at the Gobind Sagar for his adventure centre. “It will serve the purpose of the trekkers, enable water sports and be an effective platform to propagate the philosophy of Guru Gobind Singh. Hopefully, something will come out of the project. We can consider naming it Guru Gobind Singh Outward Bound India,” he says.

Outward Bound, a non-profit educational organisation, has 60 centres in 30 countries. It will run three types of programmes, comprising student leadership, management development programmes for executives and international Himalayan expedition. In addition, it plans to start programmes in yoga and meditation. “Though we realise that there is tremendous potential for family programmes, we will begin them once the student programmes are launched. We will go one step at a time,” he comments.

“Safety is paramount and we teach the children to take up challenges and overcome them. Our effort is to infuse spirit into the hearts and minds of the youth. It is mental strength that keeps one going jsust like it did when we were climbing up the Everest,” he nostalgically recollects.

Living under danger from fire
From Our Correspondent

SEONK (ROPAR), April 14 — The fire which broke out in the forests near Seonk village has proved the inefficiency of the Forest Department of Punjab. The fire affected more than 2000 acres in Seonk, Perch and Nadha villages.

The fire started on Sunday from Nadha village and spread to adjoining areas allegedly due to negligence in controlling it. The higher authorities of the Forest Department got the information after three days of the incident.

At least one house and a 'jhuggi' were reportedly burnt as the fire turned to Seonk village. No loss of human life or cattle was reported. When this correspondent visited the villages, forest officials and fire-fighters were trying to extinguish the fire. The workers of the Forest Department were trying to control the fire with the help of branches.

Villagers complained that no official visited them. "Though some official vehicles have come here, so far we have not been offered any help", said Mr Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Seonk village. Residents said that the fire-fighters reached the spot only when the villagers informed the authorities about the incident. Fire-fighters were called from Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Ropar.

Mr R.S. Awasthi, Deputy Divisional Forest Officer, who was in the village, said that the Shivalik Hills were prone to fire from April till June. Such an incident could happen again if rains did not come early.

The Conservator of Forests of the Shivalik circle, Mr H.S. Gujral said that the forest land in the area was privately owned under the provisions of Sections 4 and 5 of the Land Preservation Act, 1900. Such forests were used by communities and the forest officials worked only as 'managers'. He further said that the residents hardly co-operated with them. He admitted that the department was ill-equipped to tackle any serious situation.

No exact assessment had been done of the loss. It would take another four days to do it, but no loss of any wildlife was reported so far, said Mr Gujral. Fire, in most of the area was under control, he added.

The Perch area falls under Nadha forest block, while Seonk is under Jayanti Majri forest block. These blocks have only one forest guard each. The guards have no vehicles to patrol more than 4500 acres. They lack wireless sets to communicate in case of an emergency.

Mr Bhag Singh, Sarpanch of the Perch village Panchayat said that the area needed special care as it was covered by forest from three sides. He further suggested introducing a training programme for the villagers to tackle forest fire.