Punjab Unaided Colleges Association (PUCA) continued its relief efforts in the flood-affected areas of Punjab. A PUCA delegation led by Dr. Anshu Kataria, President PUCA & Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, personally visited schools in the Ferozepur–Fazilka belt and distributed financial aid of around Rs 3 lakh among the affected schools.
On the occasion, Mrs Virpal Kaur (PCS), SDM Fazilka was Chief Guest and Sh Ajay Kumar Sharma, District Education Officer (Secondary) Fazilka was Guest of Honour. Dr Anshu Kataria presided over this event. PUCA distributed cheques of Rs 25,000/- each to affected schools, including Govt Primary School Gulabewali Bhaini, Govt Primary School Rete Wali Bhaini, Govt Primary School Dona Nanka, Govt Primary School Mohar Jamsher, Govt Primary School Dhani Sadda Singh, Govt Primary School Dhani Mohna Ram, Govt Primary School Gudder Bhaini, Govt Primary School Ghurka, Govt Sen Secondary School Jhangar Bhaini, Govt High School Ghurka etc.
On the occasion renowned educationists including State Awardee Chanchal Kataria, Rajeev Makkar, Satish Kumar, District Education Officer (Elementary) Fazilka Parminder Singh, Deputy DEO (Elementary) Fazilka Parmod Kumar BPEO Fazilka 2 were also present. Virpal Kaur, SDM, Fazilka while addressing all appreciated Punjab Unaided Colleges Association and Dr. Anshu Kataria for their commendable efforts in supporting flood-affected schools of the Fazilka–Ferozepur belt.
She lauded PUCA’s initiative as a strong example of social responsibility in the education sector. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Kataria said that education should not suffer because of natural calamities and assured that PUCA will continue to stand by the needy schools and students.
Earlier, PUCA had already contributed Rs 11 lakh to the Punjab Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to support families hit by the floods. This time, the initiative was further strengthened with the contribution of Adesh Group and Collegedunia, who partnered with PUCA to extend a helping hand.
It is to be mentioned that Dr. Anshu Kataria belongs to the Muktsar–Fazilka area. He studied at DC Model School (1983–88), Fazilka. His father, Late Prof. Roshan Lal Kataria, taught at MR College, Fazilka for some time, and during that period, they were running Red Rose Restaurant near Partap Bagh, Fazilka. Later, Dr. Kataria studied in Jalalabad (1988–91) and completed his graduation from Government College, Muktsar. He worked for many colleges and served as CEO at Swift Group.
In 2007, he started the Aryans Group of Colleges considering his long career in education. Owing to his contributions, all Punjab Technical Colleges elected him as President of PUCA in 2015, and later, he also became in 2016 President of the Federation of Self Financing Technical Institutions (FSFTI), All India.