Blast rocks Sector 34; alert sounded
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARHJune 30 — Sounding of a general alert, intensification of police patrolling and checking of vehicles at sensitive places have been introduced in the city. These steps have been necessitated following a major blast in the Sector 34 City Sub Centre this afternoon.

The senior functionaries of the administration held a meeting under the chairmanship of the Home Secretary, Mr N.K. Jain, where the law and order situation arising out of this blast was reviewed. Among those present at the meeting were the Inspector-General, Mr S.K. Singh, all three Senior Superintendents, Mr Asad Farooqui, Mr Ajay Kashyap and Mr C.S.R. Reddy, and the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramsekhar.

The meeting reviewed the security measures in the Union Territory.

The blast, the first after August 31,1995, has been condemned by the local units of various political parties.

An official press note of the administration said that the bomb blast, which occurred at 12.30 p.m., damaged one car and five two-wheelers. There was no casualty. Three persons suffered minor injuries, out of which two have already been discharged and the third is under observation.

"A general alert has been sounded. members of the public have been advised to be vigilant and keep a watch on suspicious objects or persons and inform the police control room about the same," the note said.

In fact, this has been the third major bomb blast in the Union Territory during the past nine years. In the first incident, an attempt was made on the life of the then Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Sumedh Singh Saini, near the local head office of the State Bank of India in Sector 17 through a powerful car bomb.

The second incident that took place outside the high security Civil Secretariat building led to the assassination of the then Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Beant Singh, and several others on August 31,1995.

Though no motive has been attributed to today's blast, sources in the police said that it was probably to create a scare and dispel the general feeling that the phase of terrorism was over.

Within half an hour of the blast, almost all senior functionaries of the Police Department had descended on the site. Most of the Councillors of Chandigarh Municipal corporation, including the Mayor, Mr K.K. Addiwal, also rushed to the spot after adjourning a sub-committee meeting. Leaders of the local units of some of the parties, including BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal, also were among the first few to arrive on the spot.

Though the police could quickly trace the owners of vehicles damaged in the blast, it was at a loss to establish the identity and ownership of a Bajaj Chetak scooter, which it suspects had the powerful bomb strapped inside its boot. Though no timing device was found anywhere near the spot, the police worked on various leads and clues, including the suspicion that four persons were seen running away fro the scene of the crime in an Armada. Subsequently ,a hunt for an Armada was launched in the city. After a while, the search was widened to all other four-wheelers, especially those with registration plates from outside Chandigarh.

Though the police and forensic experts were unable to pinpoint the placement and type of the bomb used in the blast, all they could infer was that it was a high-explosive device. Even the dog squad did not lead the investigators anywhere.

Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, President, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, has expressed deep concern over the blast. "Such incidents are the handiwork of anti-national and anti-social elements to spread panic among the peaceful citizens.

Mr Joginder Singh Sawhney, Mr Amarinder Singh and Mr Devinder Singh, all from the All-India Shiromani Akali Dal, also condemned the bomb blast and termed it as a mischief to disturb the peace and tranquility of Chandigarh. They urged the Chandigarh Administration to take immediate steps to avoid recurrence of such incidents. They also appealed to the residents to be more vigilant.

8 thieves held, vehicles recovered
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR June 30—The local police has achieved a major breakthrough by arresting eight thieves of the 16-member inter-state gang stealing vehicles and by recovering 16 vehicles worth Rs 25 lakh from their possession.

The gang used to steal new vehicles and sell them at a high price after getting these registered at Chandigarh with the help of forged documents. While more vehicles are expected to be recovered from the gang members still at large, the recovered ones include a Sumo, three Maruti cars, a Maruti van, one Ceilo car, and 10 two-wheelers.

Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Jaskaran Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ropar, said the gang, with Balbir Bansal, a resident of the city working as a typist outside the office of the Registration Authority at Chandigarh, used a novel method to deceive people. They would sell stolen vehicles which were registered on the basis of forged sale letters purportedly issued by vehicle dealers. The police has also recovered stamps from Balbir Bansal, responsible for involving educated youngsters in his 'business' and also making them steal or snatch new vehicles, for which he paid a handsome amount to them, said the SSP.

He further said that Balbir Bansal, acted as a coordinator of four gangs, two of which stole vehicles and the other two got them registered with the help of forged documents.

Those arrested by the police on a tip-off include Hardip Singh, Balwinder Singh, both of Morinda, Rajinder Singh of Nabha, Narinder Singh of Rampur Taprian near Kurali, Baljinder Singh of Sector 4 Panchkula, Vinod Kumar of Bassi, and Narinder Singh of Sector 37 Chandigarh.

The other members of the gang, who are still at large are Sukhvir Singh of Alipur near Nabha, Rajwant Singh of Macchipur Theri near Kharar, Jaswinder Singh and Sukhwinder Singh of Phase X Mohali, Harnek Bal, Raj Bal and Kewal Bal of Phase VII, Mohali.

Mr Jaskaran Singh said a Tata Sumo (HR-26-H-4099) was stolen by the gang members on the night of June 27 near Dharampur in Himachal Pradesh after posing themselves as Gypsy-borne policemen.

About the members of the gang, he said most of them were educated young men and were roped in the 'business' by Balbir Bansal, himself a law dropout. He said Harnek Bal and his two brothers were basically residents of Majitha and were notorious for indulging in smuggling of drugs and had recently shifted to the city, where they posed themselves as rich men.

He said Balbir Bansal charged Rs 16,000 for getting the stolen vehicles registered with the registration authority at Chandigarh and prepared sale letters with the help of a computer.

A case has been registered.

Rush at income tax counters
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 — a large number of income tax payers thronged the special counters set up by the Income Tax Department in the Sector 17 Plaza here on the last day of filing income tax returns today.

Braving bad weather, hundreds of persons queued up at the counters. Many persons could be seen making enquiries and clarifications at the facilitation counter. Some persons had to go back disappointed as they had not filled up the forms correctly.

Officials said despite inclement weather for the past couple of days, the response was good. over 90,000 persons had filed their returns till yesterday, informed Mr Ashwani Luthra, Commissioner of Income Tax. He claimed that over 1 lakh returns had been filed till today. The exact figure was being compiled by the department.

The department had set up eight special counters for eight wards, besides the facilitation counter, for the convenience of the public on June 21 in the Plaza as there was rush at this time of the year. Most of the tax payers, who filed their returns since June 21 comprised salaried class.

It had been the same in earlier years. In 1997-98, the department had received a record 1.66 lakh returns till March 31. The salaried class formed a major part with the UT being the administrative headquarters of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, besides having some Central Government offices.

PU revises admission schedule
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 — Panjab University has revised the schedule of admission to the BA, BSc, B. Com, BSc(Hons School), MA, MSc, MSc(Hons School), M.Com, LLB (first year) and all other courses, except BSc (Engineering), M.Phil, certificate and diploma courses in the teaching departments of the university and the affiliated colleges.

While the last date for the receipt of admission forms has been fixed for July 15, the process of admission would be from July 23 to 28. The late admissions to be permitted by the Joint Admission Committee or the Chairman of the department concerned with a late fee of Rs 100 will be allowed from July 29 to August 3, while the late admissions allowed by the Vice-Chancellor with a late fee of Rs 500 can be entertained from August 4 to 31.

Teaching work will start on July 29 and trial of students seeking admission under the reserved category of sports will be held on July 21 at 9 a.m.

Rain water inundates drains
From Our Correspondent

ZIRAKPUR June 30 — A spell of showers this morning caused a lot of inconvenience to residents of this area. The showers left drains and other low-lying areas inundated with rain water.

The uneven Zirakpur-Patiala road virtually turned into a lake. The shopkeepers had to pull down their shutters till 10 am. They were able to open their business establishments only after the clouds cleared. It took a long time for PWD workers to drain the water to some extent as the gullies were blocked with sand and other solid refuse from the market.

Mr Sunehri Lal, President, Market Welfare Association, complained that the rain water formed cesspools on the road for days together. Speeding vehicles left the commuters, waiting for buses, smeared with mud and dirty water. The water made the area slippery and full of slush and stink, he added.

Shopkeepers complained that water accumulation also affected their business as customers preferred to purchase items from the shops away from slush. After heavy rains, the sewerage flowed back, they added.

Mr Joginder Singh, a book seller, lamented that he had to bear a huge loss as the previous rain had damaged his shop. He said despite various requests, the PWD authorities had turned a deaf ear towards the problems.

Mr Gurnam Singh, a tent house owner, complained that the department had started the metalling of the road last month but left the work incomplete on the Zirakpur-Patiala road. This negligent behaviour of the PWD had put the shopkeepers, residents and commuters to much inconvenience.

Mr Naresh Garg, an electronics dealer, said the condition of the kutcha road in Gurdwara market deteriorated during the rains. The slush in the road made it difficult to cross through the market. Shopkeepers had levelled the road with soil but PWD workers removed it, saying it was illegal, alleged Mr Garg.

Mr C.J. Lal, Superintending Engineer, said the population of the town had risen manyfold and the sewerage system had been laid for less population. The government had declared the town a Nagar Panchayat and it was for the government to review the system, he added.

Rain brings woes
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 — Intermittent showers that lashed the city and its surrounding areas this morning not only threw normal life out of gear but also led to flooding of low-lying areas at various places.

Hundreds of vehicles were stranded at various flooded intersections which slowed down the movement of vehicular traffic on almost all major roads of the city. The worst hit was the intersections in southern parts of the city where the choked storm water gulleys added to the woes of road users.

Though no untoward incident was reported from anywhere, water entered some of the labour and unauthorised colonies. The worst hit were some localities of Mani Majra, parts of the Mauli Jagran and Maloya colonies. Even some roads leading to villages and colonies of the union territory were inundated. Power and water supplies to many areas were disrupted.

Complaints about faults in telephone lines were received from various parts of the city. There were complaints about leaking of roofs not only in government houses but also in some of the government buildings.

5-hr ordeal without power
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 — Nearly three-fourths of the Union Territory of Chandigarh remained without power for more than five hours this afternoon after a major snag developed in the 220-KV transmission line of the Punjab State Electricity Board between SAS Nagar and Kharar.

The power supply was disrupted shortly after midday when a high tension conductor snapped and fell on the circuits supplying power to the UT. Seventy per cent of the total power supply to the UT is routed through SAS Nagar substation. There are four circuits en route.

After snapping of the conductor, all four circuits of the UT were also affected. Some caught fire which reportedly travelled to the 66-KV transformer of the substation. While the fault in the transformer was quicky rectified, it took almost five hours for engineers to repair the transmission lines before the power supply was restored late in the evening.

The Chief Engineer of Chandigarh, Mr R.K. Jain, confirmed that the power supply had remained disrupted for about five hours and total supply was restored after rectification of the fault.

HUDA may extend deadline
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA June 30 — The June 30 deadline set by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) for residents to remove all sorts of encroachments, such as hedges, fences, grills, and tow walls from road berms in front of their houses in the urban estate, is likely to be extended further.

An official of HUDA said due to holidays in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the copy of the order could not be obtained. Earlier, HUDA had stated that the demolition drive would not be be launched till a copy of the order of the High Court was not received.

Workshop ends with function
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 —The concluding function of yet another children's workshop, 'Creative Camp', was organised today at St Joseph's Preparatory Block, Sector 9. The charming three to 10-year-olds danced and sang straight into the hearts of their families and friends present in the audience today evening.

The month-long workshop, with around 80 children, was organised by Ms Anupam Grewal and Ms Hardeep Nama, both school teachers. The workshop, according to the organisers, dwelled on the cognitive, aesthetic and the social and emotional abilities of the children, all of whom hailed from different schools.

The children went through various sessions of games, quizzes, spelling contests, elocution, group discussion, manners and etiquette. The various paintings, pottery and other works with the use of various materials — like paper frames etc — were put up near the stage for the parents to see.

The evening's programme kicked off with a colour song, in which children dressed up in resplendent colours sang about the rainbow, the sun and the flowers. This was followed by a skit titles 'Mathematical Fever', directed by Kuldeep Singh from the Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University.

With a make-shift stage and with the kids both on and off stage, it was difficult to distinguish the young participants from the young performers. The evening's programme had some hilarious moments when some kids accidentally got hold of the microphone and refused to let go!

The kids then presented a vigorous paper-dance on the popular Hindi film number, 'Koi Mil Gaya', followed by a 'group-ghazal', Jagjit Singh's 'Kagaz Ki Kashti'. The children brought the curtains down to this delightful show by singing their own version of Shania Twain's 'When'.

Low water pressure may stay for a year
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH June 30 — Residents of Behlana village may have to wait for one year before the problem of very low pressure of water supply that they have been facing since the past two months is solved.

Behlana falls under the Chandigarh jurisdiction.

Mr Darshan Singh, Sarpanch of the village, said that despite several complaints to the authorities concerned, nothing had been done.

The worst-affected are the low-lying localities of the village. As the water pressure remains very low, it does not reach the first floor. Mrs Kusum Rani, a housewife, said that the worst affected were the women, who have to bring water from the ground floor.

The villagers complained that though water tanks are sent occasionally, but it was not enough for the whole village as the supply is limited. They have to carry water from the tubewells in the nearby farms. At times, farm owners do not let them get water from the tubewells, added Roshan.

Sources in the Water Supply Department revealed that the failure in one of two tubewells had led to the water scarcity in the area. At present, water is being supplied from the Raipur Khurd boosting station.

For normal supply, a new tubewell bore is needed. About 400 yards of land is needed for a tubewell and boosting station and it may take at least one year.

More donations for troops
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh June 30 — As a gesture of human compassion and expressing solidarity with troops fighting in Kargil, various organisations have donated one day's salary to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

The senior residents, nurses, medical technologists and other staff of the PGI have donated one day's salary to the fund. While the Director of the institute has appealed to other organisations to donate liberally for the cause, a bank draft for Rs 6.53 lakh has been dispatched, according to Dr A.K. Gupta, medical superintendent.

The officers and staff of the Bureau of Indian Standards have donated a day's salary to the fund, according to Ms Renuka Salwan, deputy director of the organisation.

The staff of the UT Public Relations Department and the Central Polytechnic, Sector 26, have also contributed to the fund. The latter has will also organise blood donation camps, when required, for the troops.

The employees of the Sector 17 DO II office of the Oriental Insurance Company have donated one day's salary to the PM Relief Fund, besides prayers for the victory of the troops.

The Board Of Directors of the Chandigarh State Federation of Cooperative House Building Societies held a prayer meeting for early return of troops with flying colours.

The Panjab University Non-teaching Employees Federation held a mass rally to condemn Pakistan for creating the present crisis. About 3,500 non-teaching employees attended the rally.

The members of the federation unanimously resolved to request the university authorities to make a deduction equivalent to one day's salary from their salary bills for July to enable them to extend assistance to the victims of the Kargil action.

The local unit of the CTYC will put up a 1,000-metre long banner for a signature campaign for sending it to boost the morale of the troops fighting in Kargil.

Mr Nek Chand, creator of the Rock Garden, will be the first to sign the message tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the fund mobilisation centre set up in the Sector 17 has already collected Rs 30,000, besides goods and clothing items needed by the men at the front.

'Focus on crime, not challans'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 — Mr Satya Pal Jain, local member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, today advised the police to focus on checking crime in the city rather than spending its energies on traffic challans only.

In a written statement, Mr Jain said that he had talked to senior functionaries of the Administration and urged them to take strict action against the guilty. He also urged the senior functionaries to bring harmony and take steps to boost the morale of the police so that it could work like a united force to avoid recurrence of such incidents.

Earlier, Mr Jain visited the site of the blast and also the injured persons convalescing at City Hospital.

He condemned the bomb blast. "Whereas the nation was busy fighting the evil designs of Pakistan, unfortunately some people were playing the game of the foreign powers. The bomb blast shows that some people are still playing the game of anti-India forces and they want to divert the attention of the nation from Kargil to other areas. The unity of Indian masses will not allow such forces to succeed in their designs," he added.

Meanwhile, Mr Jai Ram Joshi, a former President of the local unit of the BJP, also expressed his deep concern over the bomb blast.

He said that this explosion was the result of activities of anti-national forces who were playing in the hands of the ISI as Pakistan was bent upon creating disturbances. He said that the Chandigarh police should increase its vigilance so that such incidents were prevented.

Additonal Class XI section in
DAV College
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 — With a view to meeting the rush of students for Class XI in the non-medical stream, the management of DAV College, Sector 10, has decided to add an additional section for this stream from this session onwards. A decision to this effect was taken by the management in a meeting held here today.

The college Principal, Mr R. C. Jeewan said that the number of takers for the 480 seats in the non-medical stream were far too many as compared to the medical stream, which had 240 seats and only about 145 students seeking admission in it. The college has already exhausted all its seats in the non-medical stream at a cut off percentage of 78 and still there are many in the waiting list. The college has six sections in the non-medical stream. With this, the number of section will go up to seven.

While admissions in reserved categories have also been made, the college now plans to add a section of 30 to 40 students to accommodate those in the waiting list. The admissions to extra seats in the reserved quota were also made under the general pool.

However, the Principal said only those students who applied for admission as boarders would be given admission in this new section. He said in comparison to last year, the number of applicants for hostels had gone down. While 300 Class XI students had sought boarding facilties last year, only 112 had applied for these so far. This would put considerable pressure on the college exchequer, he said. Since the college would have to initially make do with the existing staff, particularly for teaching mathematics which is common to both groups, such adjustment would work out better. Hostelers would be able to attend classes even at odd hours, the Principal said.

He attributed the decline in numbers to 85 per cent reservation by both Punjab and Haryana in various technical courses for students who had passed their qualifying examinations from these state.

12,022 seek admission in Class XI
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 — A total of 12,022 admission forms for admission to Class XI have been received for 9,155 seats available in 28 schools of the city. Today was the last day of submitting forms at government schools in Sectors 23, 22 and 18 for the science, commerce and arts and vocational streams, respectively.

While the office of the District Education Officer has received forms in excess of the number of seats available in the faculty of science, commerce and vocational education, there is a shortfall of about 250 forms in the arts stream.

The department has received 3,660 forms for 2,700 seats in the science stream available in 17 schools, 2,510 forms against 1,080 seats in the commerce stream in 10 schools, 4,151 forms against 4,400 seats available in the 27 schools which are running courses in humanities and 1,701 forms against 975 seats in the vocational stream in 17 schools.

The DEO, Mr Brahmjit Kalia, said that the office would try to prepare a merit list by tomorrow. He said admissions would begin, starting with the science stream, on July 5. On the first day, students with 80 per cent and above marks along with those of the reserved category, irrespective of the overall percentage, would be interviewed in schools where they have submitted their forms.

Poppy husk bags seized
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR June 30 — The Chamkaur Sahib police has seized 42 bags of poppy husk and arrested three persons in this connection during a naka at Dugri bridge last night.

According to Mr Jaskaran Singh, SSP Ropar, the seizure was made from a truck which was stopped by a naka party headed by Parwinder Singh Dhillon, SHO. Those arrested have been identified as Kaka Singh and Gurmail Singh of Amarali village near Morinda and Satpal Singh of Solkhian village near Kharar, while Gurdial Singh, of Bilaspur village in Khumano and Surjit Singh of Samrala managed to escape under the cover of darkness. He said the poppy husk was worth Rs 9,26,000.

The accused were later remanded to police custody for three days.

A case under Section 15\61\85 of the NDPS Act has been registered.

Sub-committee to meet tomorrow
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 — The first meeting of the sub-committee constituted by Board of Finance at its meeting held on March 10, is scheduled to be held on July 2 at the Department of Physics, Panjab University. It will discuss issues of economising and augmenting the financial resources of the university.

To begin with, the committee will meet with only four members — Prof Paramjit Singh, Registrar, Mr M.G. Sharma, Finance and Development Officer, Prof I.M. Govil and Mr S.S. Gill, Joint Secretaries (Finance) of the UT and of Punjab. "Only local members are meeting for the time being to sift and compile the required information for initiating the process. Some information sought from the Registrar's office is still pending. A meeting of all six members will be convened after the required information is received and streamlined," Prof I.M. Govil, Chairman of the committee, said.

The committee will also deliberate on the points suggested by the former Finance Secretary, Mr Rajan Kashyap, to augment resources of the university in addition to those already recommended by the Board of Finance. These were sent by way of a letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor.

In his letter, he had stated that the university should dispense with the facility of providing rent-free accommodation to all categories of employees of the university and increase the house rent to 10 per cent of the basic pay.

He had also suggested increase in the rent for the building rented out by the university for commercial purposes, review of cost-benefit analysis of the manpower among the teaching and non-teaching staff of all departments, reduction in vehicles and withdrawal of air conditioners and other luxuries, especially in camp offices.

There is a move to hike charges of the guest house and holiday homes. The sub-committee has been directed to recommend improvements in the financial position of the university by identifying measures to augment financial resources and effect economy.

"Most of the deliberations in the meeting will be in the light of the letter and will essentially revolve around the finalising action to be taken," a member added. The report of the meeting is to be prepared and put before the members of the Board of Finance at its next meeting.

Shifting of school protested
From Our Correspondent

KHARAR June 30 — A delegation led by Mrs Daljeet Kaur, MLA of Kharar, and Mr Preet Kanwal Singh, Senior Vice-President of the Municipal Committee of Kharar met Mr Swarna Ram, Minister of State for Education of Punjab, yesterday and protested against the Punjab Government’s decision to shift the only government middle school from Kharar to Mundi Kharar village recently.

Mrs Daljeet Kaur said that the school should be immediately brought back to Kharar. She also demanded that the existing government primary school in Mundi Kharar village should also be upgraded soon.

There is no government middle school in Kharar at present and this was the only school which was upgraded last year. A sum of Rs 2 lakh was spent by the Panchayat Samiti last month for constructing two rooms for this school.

According to a press note, the minister assured the delegation that the decision would be considered and no injustice would be done to residents of Kharar.

SNIPPETS

M.Com, MCA entrance test
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30 — Panjab University declared the results of master of computer application and M.Com entrance tests. The results will be available at the new enquiry building, the Computer Science Department and on the Internet at http/www.puchd.ac.in/result.

Five thieves arrested
From Our Correspondent

KHARAR June 30 — The Kharar police, led by its SHO, Mr Rajinder Pal Singh Sohal, has busted a five-member gang of thieves today following the recovery of tyres and electricity wires worth about Rs 2 lakh from their possession.

According to a press note issued here today by Mr Jaskaran Singh, SSP of Ropar district, the gang was active in this area and used to steal tyres of trucks and buses, besides electricity wires. The police has recovered 13 tyres and rims and six quintals of electricity wires from them. The members of the gang were Sadhu Singh and Kishore Singh (both of Khamano police station), Jasmer Singh (Landran), Hari Singh Bhadson police station and Gurmakh Singh of Malikpur village.

According to press note, this gang stole electricity wires from the area around Ballo Majra village and tyres from Gharuan village.

Panchkula CJM’s gesture
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA June 30 — The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Panchkula, Mr V.P. Gupta, has announced to donate his one month salary in the aid of the soldiers fighting intruders in the Kargil-Dras sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

Besides, the staff of the District public relations office here has decided to donate their one day’s salary to the War Heroes Relief Fund of the Chief Minister. The District Public Relations Officer (DPRO), Ms Raj Pannu, said a decision in this regard was taken at a meeting held today. A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of the martyrs of Kargil.

PSEB evaluation to be modified
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH June 30—Admitting that a majority of parents and students were not satisfied with the evaluation of papers, Dr Kehar Singh, Chairman of the Punjab School Education Board, said here today efforts were on to evolve a system which could satisfy the students and their parents.

Speaking at a function organised to felicitate him by ‘Sirnawan’, a magazine and Punjabi Alam, a local organisation, Dr Kehar Singh, said he was aware what students thought about the existing system and what the problem areas were. He said due to a faulty system, a large number of students, particularly belonging to rural areas, failed and consequently left education midway.