A day of celebration for Chhapar Mela organisers
Our Correspondent
Mandi Ahmedgarh,
September 17
Even as Chhapar Mela concludes yesterday, devotees continued visiting the Guga Mari Shrine to pay obeisance to the snake, the embodiment of Guga Peer.
However, for organisers of public utility services, the day emerged as occasion for acknowledgments and felicitations. As majority of cops deployed to ensure security of the devotees and owners of vends and stalls had returned, maintaining law and order proved a litmus test for the Chhapar Chowki police.
Officials were seen busy in arranging necessities for the policemen who had rescheduled their programme and stayed overnight. Jatinder Sharma Happy Baba Ji, convener of langars and public utility services, said over a dozen social and religious organisations had extended help to supplement arrangements made by the administration. According to an estimate, about five lakh persons had partaken langar at the mela site during the past four days, and some of the camps would be continued for another couple of days.
Appreciating gesture shown by the organisers in providing free food, pure drinking water and medical facilities during the mela days, Deputy General Manager, SBI, Arun Yadav had advised the staff posted at Dehlon, Seohra, Raikot, Jodhan, Phullanwal, Dugri road and Doraha branches to coordinate with the service providing organisations during the mela days.
Office-bearers of Social Welfare Organisation, led by Tarsem Garg and Dr Sunit Hind, felicitated the volunteers extending support in organisations of medical camp and mobile first aid units during the event.
Booklet highlighting govt achievements proves helpful
The handbook published by the Public Relations (PR) Department of the Punjab Government proved as a 'friendly tool' for office-bearers of civic bodies and various parties in regime.
Besides using the book for seeking support for probable candidates for the forthcoming assembly elections in their respective segments, they have started approaching the authorities for grants and facilities mentioned therein.
Former president municipal council Ravinder Puri and vice-president municipal council Kedar Kapila said some social workers from their areas had approached them and demanded certain services from the authorities at the civic bodies. These social activists had come to know about the facilities from the handbook of achievements of the state government, which was distributed at Chhapar Mela by PR officials.
An office-bearer of the SAD and former councilor Dilshad said "Information about various developmental works and various social welfare schemes initiated by the government has equipped us with the potential to harness support for the party on the basis of facts and figures provided in the handbook," said Dilshad.
