KAPURTHALA, Nov 24: Forty eight employees and five officers were found absent in a surprise check conducted by the district authorities here on Monday.Deputy Commissioner Usha R. Sharma told mediapersons today that four teams headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner S.S. Bains, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) G.S. Aulakh, SDM N.S. Baath and districtdevelopment and panchayat officer were directed to conduct surprise check following complaints of non-availability of officers and employees.The DC said that four teams conducted raids at 10 district offices and found 48 employees and five officers absent from duty. The raid was conducted at 9.30 a.m.The officers who were found absent include PSEB XEN Ravi Kamboj, District Welfare Officer Akhwinder Singh, XEN provincial division S.S. Thind, District Food and Civil Supplies Controller Bhupinder Singh and BDPO Baljit Singh.She said that a report had been sent to the concerned secretaries for initiating disciplinary action.Meanwhile, resentment prevails among the officers of the Punjab State Electricity Board over the surprise checking as according to them, the board being an autonomous body does not come under the supervision of the district authorities. Kamboj, when contacted, said that the PSEB officers started work at 7 a.m. and continued till late in the night to monitor power break downs. He said he was present at the grid station when the raid was conducted and his entire staff was also present in the complex.Pact likely to be signed:Jalandhar: An agreement is likely to be signed between the Sports Goods Foundation of India, the International Labour Organsiation (ILO) and the UNICEF in February next year in Atlanta to prepare a final blueprint of a project aimed at phasing out child labour from the sports industry in Jalandhar within three years.A two-day workshop which concluded here last evening, discussed the modalities of the project, while envisaging the setting up of a "skill development institute" with the help of the Technical Teachers Training Institute (TTTI), Chandigarh for improving the technical skills of about 10,000 children engaged in the sports industry here.Representatives of ILO, UNICEF, FICCI, the Labour Ministry and the sports industry participated in the deliberations.Punjab Chief Minister P. S. Badal, who graced the workshop on the last day assured the sports industry of all help from the state government for such a programme for rehabilitating children engaged in the sports industry.The initiative by the sports goods industry in Jalandhar was taken, following a ban slapped on imports by some western countries after reports by a London NGO that Indian-made footballs were stitched by children. The Jalandhar sports industry has been reeling under the impact of the ban for about one-and-half years now.P. C. Sondhi, the coordinator of the workshop said that the proposed project to phase out child labour was also aimed at the social protection programme to compensate the income of the families of child labourers.ILO representative, M. P. Joseph said that a monitoring system was also being set into motion for proper inspection of the units employing child labour in the sports industry.Special tutorials would be arranged for children to rouse their interest in studies.Among others who participated in the deliberations included Andre Gorgemans, secretary general of the World Sporting Goods Federation, Van Haarlem of the ILO, B. S Rathore, head of TTTI, Chandigarh, Venkat Ratnam, Labour Commissioner, Punjab and Chitra Chopra, joint secretary, Labour Ministry and Gerry Pint of the UNICEF.
