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Punjab CM’s Ludhiana visit: Students struggle to enter venue amid tight security
Over 17,000 students had a harrowing time entering the venue to attend the closing ceremony of “Khedan Vatan Punjab Diyan” on Thursday, amid heavy security arrangements at Guru Nanak Stadium in anticipation of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s visit
Over 17,000 students had a harrowing time entering the venue to attend the closing ceremony of “Khedan Vatan Punjab Diyan” on Thursday, amid heavy security arrangements at Guru Nanak Stadium in anticipation of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s visit.
With entry allowed from only two out of nine gates of the stadiums, long queues of school students were witnessed on the road till 5 pm and their teachers were seen having a hard time controlling them. Several parents and guardians who accompanied the players and students were denied entry citing security reasons.
Over 80% seats at the function were occupied by students of various government, private and aided schools.
Surjit Singh, whose grandson received a gold medal for softball at the event, said, “As the event will finish late in the evening, I accompanied my grandson to attend the function. But, I am not being allowed to enter.”
Sanjay Chawla, a resident of Machiwara, said, “After standing for 30 minutes in the queue, I was denied entry for not having an entry pass. However, many people were allowed in without passes through their contacts. By restricting entry for public, the government is promoting the VIP culture .”
Manpreet Singh, a resident of Upkar Nagar, said, “Even after getting passes for the event, I was unable to enter the venue as the gates are already flooded with school students.”
A teacher requesting anonymity, said, “As the event has been delayed till 8 pm, students will have to go through a hard time while returning home late in the evening.”
Traffic was diverted from Fountain Chowk and Durga Mata Mandir to reduce the rush on Club Road.
The district education officer had on Wednesday issued a letter making it mandatory for students of Classes 9 to 12 of government, aided and private schools and teachers to attend the event.
