Ban on guides, guess papers to end Booty mafia

Ban on guides, guess papers advised to end Booty mafia
Lahore, June 23: A committee constituted by the Punjab chief minister for the elimination of Booty Mafia has recommended ban on guide books and guess papers to control the growing menace of use of unfair means during exams.

The committee has also recommended 100 percent increase in remuneration of supervisory staff and examiners and to award single tenure to officers serving the examination boards on deputation.

The recommendations were finalized in a recent meeting of the committee which was chaired by MPA Rana Muhammad Afzal. The other prominent members included MPAs Dr Saeed Elahi, Raja Muhammad Anwar who is also Chairman Taskforce on Elementary Education, the Secretary Higher Education, the Additional IG (Finance), the Additional IG (Special Branch) and the Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Gujranwala Muhammad Akram Ch.

During the meeting, Raja Muhammad Anwar informed the house that printing of guess papers and guides had badly affected the last examination of Class 5 and 8 conducted by the Punjab Examination Commission (PEC).

A consensus was developed among the participants that any one found publishing guide books one month prior to the conduct of exams would be prosecuted under law while about publishing or issuance of guess papers, the meeting observed, had already been banned and was not acceptable in any form.

After detailed discussion on different options of practical exam at matriculation and intermediate level, the committee recommended reduction of weightage of practical marks by 50 percent while the head examiner would check 33 percent of the answer books of practical exams instead of 10 percent.

Regarding the selection of officers for appointment in the BISEs on deputation on posts like chairman, secretary and controller of examinations, the committee unanimously recommended that only one tenure posting should be allowed after which the officers would be repatriated to parent department.

The committee also recommended that the services for the appointment of center superintendents and deputy superintendents would be hired from the education department while the invigilators might be hired from amongst the students of Government College for Elementary Teachers (GCETs), education colleges and other such institutions. Upto 100 percent increase in remuneration of supervisory staff and examiners was also unanimously recommended by the committee.

Commenting on printing of guide books and guess papers, Punjab Textbook Board (PTB) Chairman Sohail Masood said under the National Textbooks and Reading Material Policy 2007 multiple textbooks would be recommended while the examination would be curriculum-based. "Under this system there is no room for those printing guide books and guess papers", he said adding "The mafia involved is, therefore, opposing this policy". It is pertinent to mention that the prolonged stay of officers posted at boards on deputation has been a subject of criticism owing to which the government wants to change its policy now.

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LHC restores PU girls' hostel superintendent
Lahore: Justice Hafiz Tariq Nasim of the Lahore High Court on Monday suspending an order of Vice Chancellor Punjab University restored the services of a Law College lecturer as Superintendent Girls Hostel.

Suspending the impugned order, the judge also issued notices to VC PU and Principal Law College for July 8. The petitioner Khujista Rehan submitted that she was a lecturer of Punjab University Law College and was appointed as Superintendent Girls Hostel No-9 and additional Superintendent Girls Hostel No-10 for two years.

The petitioner's counsel Sardar Balakh Sher Khosa submitted that the petitioner was being victimized at the behest of Principal Law College Shazia Qureshi who was the second wife of the vice chancellor of the university.

The counsel said the employees of the university like petitioner were being victimized for no fault of them. The counsel said there was no complaint at all from any quarter against the petitioner as she was appointed as superintendent hostels on April 3, 2008 and according to the calendar of the university, her appointment was for two years.

He argued that if some adverse came into the notice of VC, then the petitioner should have been proceeded against through conducting a regular inquiry but in present case neither the petitioner was served with a charge sheet nor she was issued a show cause notice.

The counsel pleaded that as the petitioner was victim of VC and his wife, the principal, her possession of the residential premises was being disturbed with force, her electricity/water connections have been disconnected and even the petitioner was practically separated from taking the classes in the Law College.

He prayed to the court that the operation of order be suspended in the interest of justice.

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PU given more time to submit milk report
Lahore: At the request of Punjab University, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar of the Lahore High Court on Monday adjourned till June 30 the hearing of a petition against supply of adulterated milk.

The PU had to submit a report about the milk but as the vice-chancellor was not holding office, the report could not be submitted and the PU's counsel sought more time from the court. The petition was filed by Dr Muhammad Yaqoob Bhatti, central executive member of the Watan Party Pakistan through his counsel Barrister Zafarullah Khan.

The counsel had submitted that a very alarming situation was reported by the city district government food department which was also published in the national press. The report said that 80 per cent milk supplied to the market was poisonous.

The counsel said that according to data, out of 19,718 samples of the milk, collected by the food department in the last five years, almost 17,529 samples were found adulterated which meant that 80 per cent of the milk consumed by the Lahorites was adulterated or contaminated.

The counsel relied upon a report published in section of the press on Feb-4, 2009, which stated that dairy farms, milk supplying companies and other sources were adding various chemicals and unhygienic material in the milk.

The adulterants included urea, or melamine (30 per cent), substandard cooking oil (70 per cent), powdered Singharas (water chestnut) (40 per cent), unhygienic water (50 per cent), formalin, a chemical used by doctors to preserve human body (35 per cent), penicillin for enhancing thickness and fragrance of milk (47 per cent), hair-removing powder (29 per cent), zoonotic pathogens (27 per cent), and other adulterants, including soda bicarbonate to improve the taste, urea to lend it uniformity and melamine were added as protein booster. The News

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