Tarn Taran Diary: Move to renovate government school building

With the change of name of the Chohla Sahib government school after a freedom fighter, village elders have come forward to renovate the school building collectively. The Government Elementary School, Chohla Sahib (Boys), has recently been renamed as Desh Bhagat Sucha Singh Government Elementary School, Chohla Sahib (Boys). The move was initiated more than three years back but the decision has materialised only recently. Village elders and residents, specially the family members of Baba Sucha Singh and organisations such as Baba Sucha Singh Memorial Society, Chohla Sahib, and other sections of society, have come forward to renovate the school complex. They held a meeting and decided the erect an attractive gate for the school and to improve its playground which often gets filled with waste water entering from the village drains. School head Sukhwinder Singh Dhami said that in the meeting, the participants announced to donate a sum of Rs 39,100. A ceremony was also performed to initiate the renovation work. The school head said that the renovation has taken the shape of a social movement and more people were coming to participate for the common cause, specially in the memory of freedom fighter.

SAD a divided house in Khadoor Sahib constituency

As the 2024 Lok Sabha elections draw near, new political equations are coming into play even at the local level. In the border district of Tarn Taran, Khadoor Sahib Vidhan Sabha constituency has become a political hot spot for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) where two groups have come forward claiming to be the political heirs of SAD leader Jathedar Ranjit Singh Brahampura, who was the unchallenged leader of the party not only in Tarn Taran but also in surrounding areas.

Before the delimitation, there were five Vidhan Sabha constituencies in Tarn Taran district, namely, Tarn Taran, Patti, Naushehra Pannun, Khadoor Sahib and Bhikhiwind, but with the implementation of the recommendations of delimitation commission, these got reduced to four — Tarn Taran, Patti, Khadoor Sahib and Khemkaran (Khemkaran replaced Bhikhiwind). Previously, Khadoor Sahib was a constituency reserved for the SC category which was converted to a General constituency after the delimitation.

Ranjit Singh Brahampura, as the unchallenged leader, had his links in every corner because of his large number of relatives and near and dear ones. During Ranjit Singh Brahmpura’s life time, Alwinderpal Singh Pakhoke, former SGPC chief and his nephew (sister’s son) besides his son (adopted) Ravinder Singh Brahampura, former MLA, were considered to be in race to become his successor.

In the Vidhan Sabha by-election from Khadoor Sahib held in February 2016, Ravinder Singh Brahampura was the SAD candidate leaving behind Alwinderpal Singh Pakhoke. Ravinder Singh Brahampura won the election. Though both are close relatives but have been struggling to lead the constituency with the proper authority of the party high command which has not yet announced anything.

Recently, in the ‘Punjab Youth Milni’, organised in Chohla Sahib village, a part of Khadoor Sahib constituency, with the efforts of Ravinder Singh Brahampura, Pakhoke along with Gurbachan Singh Karmunwala (member SGPC), Gurinder Singh Toni, former Zila Parishad member and some senior SAD leaders preferred to stay away. Pakhoke was claiming that he is the leader of the party from the constituency while Ravinder Singh Brahampura too was making claims of leading SAD in the constituency.

A division is being witnessed in the party at the grassroots level in Khadoor Sahib which is also the headquarters for Lok Sabha constituency. The differences between Ravinder Singh Brahampura and Alwinderpal Singh Pakhoke are not new but these have persisted for years. Even during the life time of Ranjit Singh Brahampura, when he parted ways with the SAD with the formation of SAD (Taksali), Pakhoke remained loyal to the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Wall of kindness has very few takers

The ‘Wall of Kindness’ in Tarn Taran is being dealt with rather cruelly. The efforts of the district administration in setting up this ‘wall’ has not brought about the desired results. Three years back, a call was given to the donors that in case they have spare clothes, they should deposit them here which will then be offered to the needy as per their requirement. The administration set up the wall on the roadside outside the office of the SDM. No one was given any information about its aim, it was written only on the sides of the booth erected. As a result, few were aware of the initiative of the administration. Very rarely were people seen coming here to take clothes but some donors did come here to deposit their spare clothing unnoticed. Because of the mismanagement of the administration, the clothes were seen lying outside the booth, getting damaged by the vagaries of the weather. SDM Rajnish Arora said he was going to send all these clothes to the jhuggi-jhonpri wallas in Muradpur to help the needy. (contributed by gurbaxpuri)

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