Students uproot poles installed to earmark parking area for temple in GCG ground

The decision to convert a portion of the ground of the Government College for Girls (GCG) into a parking lot has sparked off a controversy resulting in students uprooting poles installed to earmark the space for the parking for Durga Mata Mandir. The portion of the sports ground, measuring 109 ft x 498 ft (nearly 6,000 sq yards), has been allocated to the temple parking.

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Students under the aegis of Punjab Students Union (PSU) uprooted the poles and also questioned the principal on allotting the portion of the college ground for parking and had also submitted a memorandum with the Deputy Commissioner in this regard.

They also staged a protest and raised slogans against MP Sanjeev Arora and demanded an immediate rollback of the plan. The ground has been allocated to Shri Durga Mata Mandir Trust for parking and the construction was already underway for the same with the installation of the poles and fence.

Last month, Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora had suggested that the college ground, situated opposite Durga Mata Mandir, can be used as a parking facility to address growing traffic congestion. Arora had written to Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, requesting for allotment of the same after he had received a representation from the temple Trust.

Students locked the gate and handed over keys to the principal and demanded an FIR against the contractor who has started the illegal construction without any permission.

“We will not allow illegal construction on the ground. The college has only one ground, where sports meet, events and cultural activities are conducted. Turning it into a parking lot is a blatant attack on students’ future. If the administration wants more parking space, the vacant space of the railways or space near Guru Nanak Stadium can be converted into parking areas,” said Ramandeep Kaur, a student of GCG and member of the PSU.

The move has sparked outrage among students and hostellers, who are raising security concerns and protesting the loss of their space. Further, the students added that the city was already a concrete jungle and it was at the college that they find some open space where they play and hold sports activities freely and now, the government was snatching that too from them.

“On the one hand, the government is encouraging students to participate in sports and shun drugs and on the other, it is taking away playgrounds from us,” said Ranvir Singh, PSU state president.

No written permission given: Principal

Principal of the GCG Suman Lata said students have locked the gate and handed over the keys to her. “No written permission has been given for converting the ground space into parking lot and the higher authorities should be aware about the decision. It was only verbally that MP Arora asked me for letting some part of the ground for parking while nothing in written has been done and no agreement has been signed,” she said.

The ground was often used for holding exhibitions and other events and the permission for the same is sought through the Deputy Commissioner and an amount is earmarked as rent per day for the same, she added.

Meanwhile, an alumni of Satish Chander Dhawan Government College supported Government Girls College teachers and students to prevent encroachment on the college land. Brij Bhushan Goyal, organisation secretary of the Alumni Association of SCD College, said the girls college groomed the likes of Kamla Chowdhary, who was the first woman PCS officer from joint Punjab in early 1960s. The college gave many good teachers to many colleges and schools in the state. Instead of setting up any institute for competition preparation and sports facilities, the government has become a mute spectator to the plan to encroach the ground portion,” he said.