Rain water problem on school premises
From A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The absence of a passage for rain water, non-availability of drinking water, lack of maintenance, shortage of staff and mischiefs of slum-dwellers have made miserable the state of students and teachers of Government Primary School at Palsora Colony here.

The water remains stagnant on the premises of the school, which emits unpleasant and bad odour. Children have become vulnerable to the unhygienic conditions as this has increased the risk of the outbreak of any epidemic.

The waterlogging on the premises has virtually converted the playground into a pond. It has led to breeding of infectious insects and flies.

The indifference of the authorities concerned has aggravated the problems of the school. In spite of having water taps and toilets, it lacks water supply. Stating that the absence of water supply forces the children to drink unpotable water, the teaching staff, mostly women, add that "due to lack of water supply we have to face a lot of hardships."

The school, which also provides education to adults, has an old block as well as a newly constructed building. The old block in use for teaching purpose is in a dilapidated state.

According to sources, since the inception of the school in July,1992, the Education Department has neither provided the services of a sweeper nor of a watchman. In spite of a provision for a peon, the school hardly has his service round the year, allege sources.

The premises of the school is utilised for imparting education to about 760 students of primary classes as well as to give adult education to around 55 students. The shortage of staff has put an extra burden on the teachers.

Sources say contrary to the provision of 11 teachers for 11 sections, only eight have been deputed to do so in the first session which runs from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Likewise, in the second session (12 noon to 6 p.m.) only four teachers look after the students of six sections.

Stating that cattle of the slum-dwellers pass though the passage on the premises, teachers demand safety and hygiene of the children. They also demand removal of the cattlesheds from the premises.

Besides, a cluster of slums, raised illegally by miscreants on the school premises, has added to the worries of the staff and students. The residents of about 200 slums could be seen living here under unhygienic conditions.

Residents say that the absence of a viable path has resulted in the intrusion of their cows and buffalos onto the premises of the school.

The absence of toilets has forced them to use the premises of the school for defecation and urination purpose, say slum-dwellers of the locality known as Lal Bahadur Shastri Colony.

Theft of electricity has also become a common phenomenon resulting in loss of revenue to the administration. According to slum-dwellers, the Estate Office has done several surveys but to no avail.

Dispensary cries for repair
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, July 21 — The government dispensary in Sector 11 here, which has several medical and health officers along with the office of the District Chief Medical Officer, is in a miserable state due to lack of maintenance on the part of the PWD.

The dispensary is well equipped with doctors, other staff and medicines. But almost every room in the building is badly leaking as there has hardly been any repair work done eversince the dispensary became functional.

There are two doctors in room No 12 who attend to regular OPD patients everyday. The roof of the room has been leaking for the past several months and it is almost impossible for the doctors to function on a rainy day. The same is the condition of the registration-cum-medicine disbursement room. The leakage in these rooms has damaged many medicines.

The condition of toilets is even worst. The toilet room used by medical officers is in a dilapidated state.

There is growth of wild grass and shrubs on the rooftop of the building.

Large puddles of stagnant water after a heavy downpour can be seen in the front and rear courtyards of the dispensary as there is no provision for the water disposal. Patients and doctors fear that the leakage from fan and light points could cause a major short circuit, leading to some mishap.

The building, which was constructed by HUDA, is to be maintained by the PWD. An annual allocation is given to the district PWD to ensure annual repair of all hospitals and dispensaries in the area.

So far only the General Hospital in Sector 6 here is on the records of the PWD for repairs. Maintenance and the major repair of all dispensaries and health centers has not been undertaken by the PWD owing to some controversy between HUDA and the PWD.

The Civil Surgeon, Dr H.C. Nagpal, said the matter was brought to the notice of the authorities concerned several times but no action had been made so far in this regard. The result is that no annual or special repair of dispensaries and health centres is carried out by the PWD.

Dumped garbage causes concern
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, July 21 — Garbage and waste material dumped by the Haryana Government Printing Press in Sector 5 here has become an eyesore for the passers-by.

The decaying garbage has resulted not only in a pungent smell allaround but has also brought into focus the irresponsible attitude of the authorities concerned.

The dumping exercise was carried out by the PWD which was undertaking a warehouse construction work on the premises of the Government Press here. The department in an attempt to remove the wastes from the construction site, had dumped large quantities of garbage in Sector 5. The process continued for nearly three days, till it was stopped by HUDA on a complaint made to it by some residents.

HUDA in a letter to the Controller of the Government Press on June 29 reportedly directed him to stop unauthorised dumping in the area and recommended its disposal in Sector 24, near the Ghaggar. Neither the Government Press nor the PWD or HUDA is ready to take any initiative to remove the garbage.

The area where dumping was done is opposite a filling station in Sector 8. Just near the large heaps of stinking garbage are parks of Panchkula. The Government Press has no warehouse where material could be stored. Hundreds of costly paper rolls lie in the open.

The Controller, Printing and Stationery of the Government Press, said the department had written to HUDA several times to ensure removal of the waste from the premises but no action had been taken by it. All three departments — the Government Printing Press, the PWD and HUDA — are passing the blame on to one another and evading responsibility.

Faulty telephone lines,indifferent authorities
From Our Correspondent

MANAULI (SAS Nagar), July 21 — There is communication disruption for days together in rural telephone exchanges of Mullanpur and Manauli. The subscribers in more than two dozen villages here are a harassed lot due to the indifferent attitude of the authorities concerned.

Mr Surinder Singh of Manauli village says the only way of communication in emergency for residents of the area does not function properly. Telephones are not functioning properly for the past one month.

During the rains, Manauli and some other villages are cut off. A nullah swells during the monsoon and causes floods in the area.

Telephone services should be rectified without delay, demand subscribers. Many subscribers say telephones stop functioning whenever there is a power failure.

Subscribers of Mullanpur telephone exchange complain of similar problems. They point out that the maintenance staff takes weeks to rectify snags. A public call office (PCO) owner blames the telecom department for negligence, causing losses to PCO owners. People prefer to go to Chandigarh to make STD calls as lines remain busy here.

Mr Khushwant Rai, Deputy General Manager (Telecom), and Area Manager, SAS Nagar, agrees that there are problems in the rural telephone exchanges. Lack of manpower is the reason for the problems in different rural exchanges, he clarifies. The department has decided to post an additional staff member in every rural exchange, he adds.

He says stealing of telephone cables is another reason for problems. Cases of theft have been reported near Mullanpur village.

Manauli exchange has not been properly equipped, resulting in frequent failure in the exchange. Now optical fibre cables have been installed at the local exchange which will benefit subscribers.

The roof of the rented accommodation, which houses the telephone exchange at Mullanpur village, leaks during the rains. The Deputy General Manager says the department is unable to arrange a new building as the village panchayat has not provided it with a piece of land for construction.

More students opt for non-medical stream
From Our Correspondent

SAS NAGAR, July 21 — More students have opted for the non-medical stream this year in class XI in Government College, Phase VI, here. Last year, commerce had been the main option.

Admission to various classes is on. July 27 has been fixed as the last date for admission to class XI.

So far, the college has admitted 52 students in the arts stream, 60 in science (out of which 45 have opted for non-medical) and 29 in the commerce stream.

As far as marks are concerned, the college has fixed no cut-off per for science and commerce streams. Any student securing 50 per cent or above can get admission. At the graduate level the college offers only arts and commerce courses. Last year BSC (home science) was introduced in the college. Only four students had taken admission. This year, 5 students have taken admission so far.

Mr S.S. Gulati, Principal, said last year BSc (home science) had been introduced after the admissions were over. “This year, we hope to get more students but only after the seats in Home Science College, Sector 10, Chandigarh, are full,” he said.

He said students opted for Chandigarh college as the local college was affliated to Punjabi University.

Only students who did not get admission in Chandigarh come here. Students came from Fatehgarh Sahib, Bassi Pathana, Morinda, Chamkaur Sahib and Sanghol sought admission because they found the fees in private colleges higher than in a government college.

As many as 150 students have taken admission to BA (part-1) so far. For admission to B. Com an entrance test had been conducted by Punjabi University. Though the result was out, the college received no information in this regard so far.

The result of BA (parts-I and II) and B. Com (parts-I and II) has not been declared so far. Mr Gulati said though the college had fixed July 24 as the last date for admission at the graduate level, it would have to give 10 working day’s time to students to seek admission after the declaration of the results.

Treated worse than unskilled workers
Home Guards neglected lot
By Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 21 — Home Guard volunteers in Haryana today are a spiritless lot. Earning just Rs 50 for a day's duty, their position is even worse than that of an unskilled daily wage earner who gets at least Rs 68 as the minimum wages.

The Home Guards, who do duty parallel with the police, feel neglected when they compare themselves with their counterparts in Chandigarh or Punjab, who are getting a much better deal.

Promises made by successive government's to hike their daily wages is yet to materialise. During an inter-district sports meet of the Home Guards Department in November, 1998, the then Home Minister had promised to increase their daily wages to Rs 75.

Sources say that the position of the volunteers, numbering around 14,025, was the outcome of the apathy of the government towards the Department of Home Guards and Civil Defence. Acute financial crunch, shortage of uniforms for the volunteers and shortage of staff at different district headquarters has badly affected the functioning of the department.

Further burdening the department, the government, against two IPS cadre-posts — a Commandant-General and a Deputy Commandant-General — with the department, had posted seven senior IPS officials to run the department. to add to the financial burden two of these officers were promoted recently. A Home guard volunteer on the condition of anonymity, said while the government was spending lakhs of rupees on the officers their plight had never been noticed. Comparing their nature and hours of duty to the cops of the Haryana Police, the volunteers lament that while a constable gets around Rs 6000 as pay besides other facilities, they were getting a raw deal even as they worked for longer hours than the cops. Employed for a maximum period of three months at a stretch, a volunteer gets Rs 50 as daily wages. His family is not entitled to any compensation if he died on duty or he is injured in a mishap while on duty. Often employed on election duties and other odd jobs they are never paid any travelling allowance (TA) or dearness allowance (DA)

Admitting the government's apathy, officials of the department say that though Home Guards were an auxiliary wing of the state police performing important duties like manning traffic and election duty, the department continued to be in a state of total neglect. As the state police was short of adequate force to handle the forthcoming elections, the government had sought at least 23,000 Home Guards volunteers against 14,025 volunteers enrolled with the department.

Sources said the district-level offices of the Home Guards in Fatehabad and Jhajjar districts were without District Commandants and the subordinate staff though the staff had been sanctioned. The posts of the Districts Commandants of Gurgoan, Ambala and Bhiwani districts had been lying vacant for the past over two years. As a stop-gap arrangement the work of the District Commandants was being looked after by other officials.

Besides, five posts of District Commandants, one post of Senior Staff Officer and two posts of Junior Staff Officers were laying vacant for over four years. Enquires reveal that there was an over 60 per cent shortage of summer and winter uniforms and other mandatory gear for the Home Guard volunteers in different districts. For example, in Rohtak district only 975 shirts were available against a requirement of 3,072 shirts. Similarly, in Yamunagar district against a requirement of 1,890 trousers only 392 trousers were in stock. At times the Home Guard volunteers had go on duty in civil clothes using arms badges of Home Guards.

The SP (Administration), Home Guards, Mr K.K.Mishra, when contacted said a proposal to increase the daily wage to Rs 62.50 had been sent to the Home Department. A proposal to reserve certain quota for the Home Guard volunteers in the vacancies in the state police had also been sent to the government.