Some institutes remain open

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 20

Although the Punjab Government ordered state mourning and declared that all offices and educational institutions will remain closed in the wake of Amritsar train tragedy, many private schools in the city remained open on Saturday.

Government schools were closed, but many private schools and colleges at Civil Lines, Sarabha Nagar, Pakhowal Road, South City were open.

Amrita, whose son studies at a school in Sarabha Nagar, said she waited for a communiqué from the school, but didn’t receive any message and hence had to send him to school.

The result of the Ludhiana Sahodaya School Complex Group Dance Competition (folk), which was scheduled for today at Green Land Senior Secondary Public School, Jalandhar Bypass, was declared without any performance with the help of lottery system due to the Amritsar tragedy.

Rajesh Rudhra, chairman of the Chain of Green Land Schools, Ludhiana, said the dance performance would not be held due to the Amritsar tragedy. He decided to have a lucky draw instead. He called one participant from each team and their teachers. Total 12 teams were present. The slips were numbered from 1 to 12 and folded in their presence. The participants picked up the slips and the results were declared accordingly.

Rudhra told the participating schools that in the wake of sad atmosphere prevailing in the state, they cannot have dance or music at the institution.

Principal Baldeep Pandher said the decision taken by the chairman was commendable, as they could not have had celebrations in the wake of this tragedy.

Overall, the running trophy was bagged by GNI Public School, Gujarkhan Campus, Model Town, Ludhiana. The first runners-up trophy went to Waheguru Public School, Lalton Road, Ludhiana, and second runners-up trophy was given to Adarsh Public School, Rajpura Road.

A condolence meet was held at Kamla Lohtia SD College, which remained open to express grief over the loss of human lives in Amritsar during Dasehra celebrations. A two-minute silence was observed in the memory of the deceased. Principal Bimlesh Kumar Gupta, on behalf of the management, staff and students, described the entire incident as unfortunate and conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved families.

Similarly, Principal Satwant Kaur Bhullar with the entire staff of DAV Public School, Pakhowal Road, organised a sacred ‘havan’ on the campus to pray for the salvation of the departed souls. She conveyed her heartiest condolences to the victims and their families.

Bhullar expressed concern on the negligence of safety measures. She said ignorance and negligence often lead to catastrophic consequences. She urged teachers to guide students about various safety measures and instructed them to be vigilant while performing their duties.