Delhi underground

Justice delayed
When it comes to paying electricity bills,there is no difference between the common man and the courts,seen as the upholders of justice. Till June,the Patiala House courts owed the NDMC more than Rs.3.5 crore as electricity and water bills. It was only after constant reminders and threats of cutting off electricity that the Bar Council started paying parts of the bills. The court,however,still owes a lot of money to the civic body,said sources.

Power nap
Mike Fennell,President of the Commonwealth Games Federation,was rather amused by the wide coverage that his unfortunate nap – during a presentation on the Commonwealth Games – received in the Capital’s media. According to a senior Delhi government official,who met Fennell the next morning,the CGF President was reported to have joked about how that fact that he fell asleep during a presentation appeared to be receiving more coverage than the presentation itself.

Wedding feast
After Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit likened preparations for the Commonwealth Games 2010 to an Indian wedding a few weeks ago,the Lieutenant Governor invoked another interesting analogy. At a lunch hosted by the L-G for the CWG delegates,the L-G is said to have compared Delhi to a large kitchen. “When a meal is being prepared,there are some dishes in the kitchen which are made and some in the process of being made. However,at the end of the day the meal served is perfect,” he is believed to have said,indicating that Delhi would leave no stone unturned by the time the Games start.

Road blocked
A particular section of the Gurgaon-Faridabad bypass road near DLF phase I (Gurgaon’s garbage dumping ground) remained closed from 9 am till late in the evening on Saturday. Surprisingly,the two traffic cops stationed at the entry refused to let even ambulances and school buses enter except for a few garbage dumpers. When asked,they refused to divulge reasons why the road was blocked and said it was by order of the Police Commissioner,Gurgaon. However,when the police chief S S Deswal and DCP (traffic) Satender Gupta were called to confirm the reason behind it,the two were clueless! Meanwhile,commuters were harassed by the indifferent cops stationed at the barricade.

Tweaking the rules
With nursery admissions round the corner,Rukmini Devi Public School in Pitampura announced its admission for pre-primary and pre-school by detailing the criteria for awarding points. They have mentioned that they will award 20 points to children from sister institutions. The school will also admit kids who are two-plus. While technically,they are not wrong in admitting such young children because they have used the term “pre-school” in the advertisement on their website,they could be cashing in on paranoid parents who might just flock to the school to ensure that their children have a seat. The children can first attend pre-school and then be promoted to pre-primary. As per a High Court order,the minimum age for admissions to pre-primary is three years. Many city schools flouted government norms last year by interviewing children,which is banned in the city schools by court orders,and by assigning such criteria that would only favour a certain section of the society. Parents had complained that the age criteria in schools did not conform to the Directorate of Education’s guidelines.

DoE guidelines
Last year,the Directorate of Education in its guidelines on nursery admissions in the city had said that schools need to follow a uniform schedule for admissions to regularise the chaotic admissions process. But by the time they sent the circular to schools in November,many schools had already closed their admissions process. These schools then notified the DoE post admissions,and they were not penalised. This year again,the DoE officials are charting out guidelines but are not sure when they will be released. Many city schools,meanwhile,are in a limbo and are keeping their fingers crossed. “We are trying to comply,but this is a race. We need to start the admissions soon,” a principal said. “If the DoE does not do it in time this year again,more confusion will ensue. We’re going ahead with admissions this month. We will notify when we get the circular.” This also explains the schools’ whimsical attitude when it comes to admissions. The DoE is a toothless tiger when it comes to enforcing anything,a parent noted.