The Tribune – Martial arts display steals the show

Gatka and huge turban
Tribune picture

Tribune News Service

Anandpur Sahib, March 28. A magnificent display of horse riding and martial art skills by thousands of Nihangs marked the last day of the six-day historic Hola Mohalla festival here today.

Over 30 lakh devotees paid obeisance at various gurdwaras during the festival, which started on March 23 at Kiratpur Sahib after which the celebrations shifted to Anandpur Sahib on March 26.

The most significant event of the festival was the procession of Nihang groups belonging to the Budha Dal, Harian Velan, Damdami Taksal and the Tarna Dal. The procession began from Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib gurdwara at 2 pm.

Nihangs exhibited their horse riding and martial art skills and sprayed Holi colours on the people all along the way.

The procession halted for a while at gurdwara Kila Anandgarh Sahib at Agampur before it concluded at the Charan Ganga stadium where the Nihangs again displayed their skills. Baba Budha Dal distributed prizes and cash rewards among the winners.

Earlier, the bhog ceremony of “akhand paths” was performed. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh delivered his message to the masses urging them to fight social evils like drug addiction and female foeticide.

A police team, which was formed to check the menace of begging during the festival, nabbed nearly 100 beggars and pick pockets.

Shopkeepers and vendors did a brisk business in the town.

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The Tribune – Badal for all-party meeting on terror

Emphasises on need for cooperation between the Centre and states to tackle gun culture

Dharmendra Joshi & Neeraj Bagga, Tribune News Service

Jalandhar/Amritsar, April 29. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has urged the Centre to call an all-party meeting to discuss reasons behind several youths taking to terrorism.

Stressing upon the need to take “sincere” steps to tackle poverty, illiteracy and unemployment, Badal, who was in Jalandhar to attend a Shaheed Parivar Fund function, said these factors made youngsters prone to adopting gun culture. “The Union Government should call a meeting to discuss measures to eradicate root causes of terrorism,” he said.

Badal said security forces, including police, paramilitary forces and the Army, alone cannot tackle the menace. “The Centre and state governments should chalk out a strategy to deal with unemployment,” he said.

However, the Chief Minister did not speak anything about the policies adopted by the SAD-BJP government to deal with such issues.

About rising drug addiction and corruption, he said the society could not get rid of these evils without active public participation.

Calling for proper sealing of international border to check smuggling of drugs from Afghanistan, he said the sale of poppy husk in neighbouring Rajasthan should also be banned.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, CPI national executive member Dr Jogendra Dayal, Congress Legislature Party leader in Punjab Assembly Sunil Jakhar, Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal, BJP spokesman Manoranjan Kalia, Himachal Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha chief Anurag Thakur were also present on the occasion.

In Amritsar, the Chief Minister said the SAD-BJP government was committed to revitalise the state’s education system in the next two years.

Addressing a gathering during the convocation of Khalsa College, the Chief Minister said complete transformation of the education system was a priority. He said his government was aware about the need for quality education in today’s competitive age. He said he had already directed officials of the Education Department to submit a report regarding the requirement of infrastructure, staff and other things needed for a complete overhaul of the primary, secondary and higher education in the state.

The Chief Minister claimed that as a result of concerted efforts of the government, Punjab, which earlier ranked 14th in the field of education, now ranked third in the country. He said due to tough posture of the Union Government, Punjab was denied permission to create scientific storage (silos) for foodgrains.

Calling for a change of guard at the Centre, Badal urged the people to reject the Congress-led UPA in the next Lok Sabha elections to safeguard the interests of Punjab.

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The Tribune – A series on government performance: Youth; It’s a long queue to education, jobs

With little growth in private jobs, government employment remained the only option. Skills the youth possess are not what the industry needs, and private higher education is beyond the rural students’ reach. Result: rampant unemployment, drug addiction.

Ruchika M. Khanna, Tribune News Service

India pins much hope on its young demographic profile, expecting to take on the world with cutting-edge human resource, but Punjab — once at the forefront of development in the country — has failed to capitalise this asset.

In fact, the condition of the youth has become a blot of sorts on the state, which has earned the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of unemployment and drug addiction in the country, besides witnessing mass migration of youth to greener pastures abroad.

Though the unemployment or underemployment has more to do with the near collapse of the once-robust economy of Punjab, successive governments in the state have also failed to provide any fresh avenues for jobs by attracting large industrial investment.

The only jobs on offer for the young in recent years have been in the government sector, where the numbers are too few to count.

With the education system in the state — school, college, technical as well as university education — failing to keep pace with the needs of the industry, most big industrial houses in Ludhiana and Jalandhar have been unable to find the required skill sets among Punjabi youth. The majority of them thus hire their workforce from outside the state. It is not uncommon to find Punjabi youth with degrees in engineering or business management accepting clerical jobs in private companies.

Though not sufficient, the government did make efforts towards developing the education sector, facilitating the opening of three new universities. It set up 13 new colleges in backward and rural areas, besides other institutes.

Several welfare schemes, such as the Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme, were also introduced to promote education among girls, who were also given bicycles in Classes XI and XII to contain their dropout rate. However, not much was done to improve the course curriculum either in schools or colleges.

While there are no verified figures available, it is estimated that nearly 70 per cent of the youth in the state are unemployed or underemployed. The number of unemployed youth is put at 25 lakh. There is also a large population of people who are past the age of being called “youth”, but are still unemployed.

This huge chunk of young and restless unemployed population is also considered to be a factor behind social ills such as drug addiction and the practice of seeking dowry.

SAD manifesto check

Promises kept

- Vacancies in government sector filled.

- Opening of higher-education institutes such Indian Institute of Technology (Ropar) and Indian School of Business (Mohali) facilitated.

- Promotion of sports by building stadiums, encouraging games such as kabbadi to keep youth off drugs.

- Colleges opened in rural and backward areas.

Ignored 

- Foreign collaborations for quality education for joint degrees in various courses.

- Education for employment in the IT sector through bridge courses in rural areas.

- Training in latest skills to semi-employed workers and youth.

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