Residents stand by mishap victims

Residents of Tarn Taran district, which remained part of Amritsar district till June 2006, have shown solidarity with the victims of the Amritsar train tragedy, which snuffed out around 60 lives on Dasehra festival. The tragedy left a number of people injured. 

As many as 10 local youths donated blood at the Government Medical College, Amritsar, for the injured, said Jatinder Kumar Sood, former president of the local Municipal Council. The youths went on waiting for their turn on Saturday for hours together and came back late evening with a sense of satisfaction after donating blood. The donors denied disclosing their identity. A number of youths, led by Harpreet Singh Kot, paid rich tributes to the departed souls by lighting candles. The district administration has tightened security arrangements after the accident. Also trains are passing through the district after the mishap. 

Education Department restores aid 

The Education Department has restored the grant-in-aid of Sri Guru Arjun Dev (SGAD) Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Agara Pichada. The grant-in-aid was withdrawn by the department more than two years back leveling allegations of mal-administration and “financial irregularities” committed by the school administration and the management committee. The grant-in-aid scheme was launched by the state government in January 12, 1967 by the then Chief Minister Lachhman Singh. The school was established in 1956 by social activists of the area. The role of the educational institution has been highly praised by residents on number of occasions.  During the academic session of 2016-2017 when the school was delisted from the list of aided schools, there were 600 students in the school (Class VI to XII). The next session saw only 560 students in the school. During the current 2018-2019 academic session, the school has left with only 470 students. Only two teachers, one clerk and two peons are working against the covered posts under grant-in-aid policy. Other teachers and employees of the school are paid by the management.

“Keeping in view the future of students, who are still enrolled in the school, I undersigned (Secretary Education) restored the grant-in-aid of the school with immediate effect,” said Krishan Kumar, Secretary, School Education Department. The District Education Officer (Secondary) has been appointed correspondent of the school by the department. 

The residents and the school staff have expressed their satisfaction over the new development and the bills for the payment have been deposited in the office of the District Treasury Officer (DTO). 

Panghura installed for abandoned infants   

All is set to install a ‘Panghura’ very soon for bringing up the unwanted kids. The scheme would be managed by the district Red Cross Society and the Health Department. The cradle would be installed outside the local Civil Hospital. The administration informed that the identity of the persons concerned would be kept secret. A  person, who wants to leave a child at the facility, would have to a ring bell after keeping the kid in it at the Civil Hospital.