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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Friday, December 18, 1998 |
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Widespread resentment among
Dalits |
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Ex-minister
booked for corruption Cheaper
treatment needed' for kidney stone Minister
unhappy with Wakf Board's functioning Staff
shortage in consumer court |
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Widespread resentment among Dalits ROHTAK, Dec 17 — Gangrape of a Balmiki girl at Kiloi village and alleged murder of a 23-year-old Dhanak boy, Vikas Dabla, in the town has caused widespread resentment among harijans. Mr Ram Mehar, co-convener of the HPCC (SC cell) has condemned the incidents and called upon the Safai Karamchari Unions in the state to observe strike on January 1, 1999 to protest against these incidents. He has also convened a meeting of Scheduled Caste and backward class workers here on Saturday to draw up future course of action. Mr Ram Mehar, in a statement here today, alleged that the school going daughter of late Ved Pal Balmiki of Kiloi village was abducted on December 12 by certain youths of the same village while she was returning home from school. She was, he alleged, confined in the house owned by Dalpat Singh and gangraped for more than 48 hours. The three alleged rapists, he said, were in the age group of 20 to 24 years and belonged to the dominant caste. The girl was admitted in the local medical college and hospital and unable to speak, he added. He said that when the girl was admitted in the hospital, she was wearing boys trousers and shirt, her hair were bobbed by a barber of the village, he further alleged. Mr Ram Mehar said that body of Vikas Dabla, a 23-year-old son of the late inspector of police O.P. Dabla, was found in bushes near the new bus stand on December 11 under suspicious circumstances. He described the death of Vikas as "killing of a Dalit young boy" and charged the police with not arresting the killers so far. The Congress leader has
demanded immediate arrest of the killers of Vikas Dabla
and the rapists of the Balmiki girl besides financial aid
to girl's mother. |
Villagers foil drive against power
theft ROHTAK, Dec 17 — The Haryana Vidyut Parsaran Nigam's (HVPN) drive against power theft in the district was abandoned yesterday when inhabitants of Khirwali village pelted stones on power staff, beat them up with lathis and forced them to leave the village. Nearly six policemen, headed by an ASI, who accompanied HVPN officials, also made a retreat when villagers started pelting them with stones. At least eight officials of the raiding party, including SDO, Ram Avtar Gupta and constable Rameshwar received injuries in the attack. Thirty officials of the HVPN, headed by the Superintending Engineer, Mr H.K. Sharma, including Executive Engineer, Bhartender Bhardwaj and three SDOs — Ram Avtar Gupta, B.L. Babbar and Chander Bhan Kohar, descended on Khirwali, near here, at 2.15 p.m. and raided the houses of about 12 villagers who were allegedly drawing power direct from the transmission line. The officials removed meters of erring consumers seized the "service wire" and asked accompanying lensmen to photograph the irregularities. The action attracted the villagers who gathered on the scene and started throwing stones on the raided party. A few of the irate villagers armed with lathis (dandas) beat some HVPN officials up thereby forcing them flee. The drive ended at 3 p.m. The glass panes of the officials vehicles were smashed and the villagers allegedly made unsuccessful attempt to snatch the removed meters and motors as well. Mr H.K. Sharma left the village when villagers started throwing stones. He reported the incident to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr P.K. Aggarwal, immediately on arrival at the district headquarters. By the time additional police force reached Khirwali, HVPN officials had left for Rohtak. The police has registered a criminal case against 10 villagers but no arrest was made till the time of filing this report. Electricity consumers of
Khirwali owe over Rs 61 lakh to the HVPN. They have
reportedly not paid electricity bills for the past over
two years on the "directive" of the Bharatiya
Kisan Union. |
Shopping centre on school land! ROHTAK, Dec 17 — The government has reportedly decided to transfer the land and building of Government Senior Secondary School to HUDA for construction of a shopping complex. The office of the District Education Officer, constructed at a cost of Rs 16 lakh in 1996 on the school campus, will also be transferred to HUDA. The school has approximately eight acres of land which is used by students for sports activities. Situated near the sabzi mandi, the school was set up in 1890 and is believed to be the oldest educational institution of the town. It has about 350 students on its rolls. The office of the school principal was constructed last year at a cost of Rs 3 lakh. The government proposes to construct a new school beyond the railway lines on the Bhiwani road. This move will not only inconvenience the students, who will have to travel on extra kilometre to reach the school, but also expose them to traffic hazards. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Kumar, told TNS that the new school building would be constructed by HUDA on 7.5 acres that it will purchase from the municipal committee at a rate of Rs 500 per square yard. The municipal committee, however, is unwilling to sell this land which is used at present for dumping garbage. "The refusal of the municipal committee is irrelevant in view of the government decision", Mr Anil Kumar claimed. The municipal committee would earn about Rs 2.5 crore by selling this land. It will then purchase 35 acres on AME road for dumping garbage, Mr Kumar said. Justifying the decision to shift the school building, Mr Kumar said that the present building was in a dilapidated condition and at least Rs 1 crore would be required to reconstruct it. This cost could not be borne the Education Department, which had only funds worth Rs 19 lakh. The district unit of the
BJP has, however, opposed the transfer of the school
building and land to HUDA and described the government
decision as ‘anti-people’. The district party
president, Mr Pardeep Jain, said that the school grounds
were also used by elderly citizens for morning walks. |
Ex-minister booked for
corruption HISAR, Dec 17 — The Hansi police has registered a case on corruption charges against a former minister Mr Amar Singh Dhanak for allegedly accumulating wealth disproportionate to known sources of his income. Police sources said a Deputy Superintendent of Police will conduct investigation into this case. Mr Dhanak, who was the Public Works Minister in the Bhajan Lal's cabinet lost elections to Mr Jagan Nath from Bhawani Khera. He subsequently resigned from the Congress and joined the then Samajwadi Party of Mr Om Parkash Chautala, that now has been rechristened the Indian National Lok Dal. This is the second time a case against any minister from Hansi under the Corruption Act has been framed. Earlier Mr Amir Chand Makkar of the Congress was also booked under the same act. Police sources claimed that Mr Dhanak had accumulated huge moveable and immovable property disproportionate to the known sources of his income, by misusing his official position as the PWD Minister in Bhajan Lal's cabinet. The sources claimed that Mr Dhanak owned a spacious kothi in Panchkula, one in Hansi, besides owning hundreds of acres of land in Gherai, village, Siwani and a couple of other villages. He also owns one luxury Contessa car, one Maruti Zen, besides two other types of cars. Most of the property is said to be registered as "benami". Mr Dhanak also owns a gas agency in Chandigarh. Mr Dhanak was said to be in Delhi. Repeated attempts to contact him proved futile. However, his supporters claimed that the case framed against him was politically motivated and alleged that the government was resorting to witch-hunting. They alleged there were so many sitting ministers against whom there were serious allegations of corruption, but the government had not ordered any investigation against them. Meanwhile the police has
registered an FIR against Mr Dhanak in Hansi police
station. The FIR was filed after confidential reports on
the assets owned by Mr Dhanak were received. |
'Cheaper treatment needed' for
kidney stone PANIPAT: The existence of stone disease is much more in the north western belt as compared to the southern part of the country. India suffers from lack of trained urologists and there is dire need for more experts. For a population of 80 crore Indians, there are only 1,200 urologists whereas Germany has 5,000 urologists for its population of just 8 million. Moreover, there are few opportunities for training urologists in India, even though it had made big strides in technological advancement for treating the stone disease. Even specialists from the western world and the USA admit that Indian doctors did not lag behind in any way compared to their Western counterparts as far as the treatment of the stone disease is concerned. These and other conclusions were reached at a two-day international conference of urologists which concluded at the P.R. Stone Centre here earlier this week. Over 200 delegates both from India and abroad who delved deep into various reasons of the existence of the stone disease in India and facilities for its treatment, stressed the need for more inter-change of medical experience between India and the West. An interview with a cross section of medical experts showed interesting results of the medical facilities available in the country. Dr Mahesh Desai, Head of the Urology Department of Nadia Kidney Hospital, was of the view that stone disease was more prevalent in the western region from Jammu to Gujarat. This was because it was known as the "stone belt". People suffered from it because of high temperatures, climatic conditions and also water, which contained a very high level of salts. He was of the view that the presence of the Thar desert nearby was also a cause. About 20 per cent of the kidney disease required treatment. In this case, lithotripsy was the latest treatment through endoscopic method. Although, this treatment was costlier than open surgery, it was easier and safer. He maintained that enough indigenous equipment was available for removal of kidney stone through lithotripsy and about 400 medical experts were available in the country for this job. There was, however, dire need to teach young doctors about the new technology. He said that for flexible uretrorenoscopy, there were little funds available at government hospitals and little expertise. Dr Andreas J. Gross from Germany disclosed that 40 per cent of the cases in Germany had metabolic stones as compared to only 5 p.c. in India. However, only 3 p.c. of the German population suffered from stone disease. Out of it, only 10 to 20 per cent needed surgery. The technology there was much more advanced, but it has been found that Indian doctors in this field were more experienced as compared to Germans. He pointed out that more exchange of doctors between Germany and India was needed as far as the treatment of kidney stone disease was concerned. However, it was admitted that the treatment of kidney stone in an advanced manner started from Germany and Indian doctors went there to learn from them. Dr Gross, who has visited India on more than eight occasions, stated that patients in India were at a disadvantage to get medical treatment as compared to the Germans. In the case of Germany, there was 100 p.c. medical insurance which was available to each citizen above 45 years and all types of medical facilities as well. Specialists in urology were available after every 30 km and emergency services were available within eight minutes to a patient. Dr S.K. Sharma, Head of the PGI's Department of Urology, stated that the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP, parts of Jammu and Kashmir were considered the endemic stone belt. Although, population-based data regarding the stone disease was not available, every third patient who visited the PGI's Urology Division suffered from stone disease. Dr Sharma maintained that newer techniques of treatment were available in almost all premier institutions and major hospitals in the region. Besides, facilities in the private sector were also available. He maintained that the development of shock-bear lithotripsy and key-hole surgery for removal of stone had almost brought near-total revolution in its treatment. Although, some of the newer modalities were not within the reach of common patients, yet facilities were available in government hospitals. India was not lagging behind in any way as far as the availability of the latest equipment for the treatment of the disease was concerned. Dr Sharma declared that the Indian Society of Urologists had 1300 urologists on its rolls, but these were inadequate as compared to the population. Therefore, there was more need for training more urologists. The country today produced about 100 urologists per year. The doctor : patient ratio need to be improved in the foreseeable future. Dr D.N. Kalla, Head of the Department of SMS Medical College, Jaipur, was of the view that prevalence of stone disease in Rajasthan was due to its extreme climate, food habits of the people and water supply. Facilities for treatment of the disease were available in medical colleges of the state and the latest technology was also available to the common man, but there were only 35 trained urologists in Rajasthan, which reflected poorly on the doctor : patient ratio. He admitted that in the private clinics, the treatment was costlier as compared to medical colleges. But in government hospitals treatment for the removal of kidney stone was free. There were only nominal charges for those who can easily pay for the treatment through the latest technological methods. Prof N.P. Gupta, Head of the Urology Department, AIIMS, Delhi, said the latest treatment for the treatment of kidney stone through shock-wave lithotripsy was available in AIIMS since 1986. About six cases were treated through this method and about three cases through uretrorenoscopy per day during the past 10 years. The institute received a large number of cases from north India including Bihar, Orissa, Nepal and Rajasthan etc. The cost per patient came to about Rs 7,000 per patient. He maintained that in view of the large size population, the number of urologists was not sufficient. Dr Pawan Gupta, a pioneer in introducing flexible uretrorenoscopy in Haryana, stated that the state needed more urologists for catering to patients' needs. The hospitals in Haryana also needed trained urologists so that illiterate did not fall a prey to quacks who claimed to remove kidney stones through indigenous methods. He was also of the view that the treatment needed to be made more cost effective and cheaper if it was to reach the common patients in the rural areas of Haryana. Dr David M. Albala of
Loyala University, Chicago (USA), stated that about 10
p.c. of USA's population suffered from urological
disease. But the incidence of stone disease was not as
high as in India. Sufficient medical facilities and the
latest techniques of treatment was available to almost
all Americans. He admitted that the cost of treatment was
very high in the USA. He also maintained that trained
urologists were available in India and the treatment with
new technology was also available. However, he stressed
that eminent physicians needed to know new techniques and
there was need for interchange of medical experts between
USA and India. |
Minister unhappy with AMBALA, Dec 17 — The Haryana Minister for PWD, Civil Aviation, Fisheries and Wakfs, Mr Jaswant Singh, has expressed displeasure over the functioning of the Punjab Wakf Board. He conveyed his views during a visit here yesterday. Mr Jaswant Singh, addressing a press conference said that disputes over Wakf properties in the state had been possible only with the connivance of Wakf Board officials. He directed officials to take proper action in the matter. He said that he had ordered a probe into the affairs of the board at Panipat. But things were not moving in proper way even now. He disclosed that Rs 132 crore would be spent on the repair of roads in the state till March 31, and the repair would be carried out as per priority fixed by the government. He said that a new fish market would be opened at Yamunanagar after such markets at Panipat and Faridabad. He claimed that the resignation of Mr O P Jindal from the Haryana Vikas Party would have any adverse fall-out on the government. Mr M K Khan, chief executive officer of the Wakf Board who was also present at the press conference, said that a plan to open mini-universities at different universities in the region was on the anvil. In Haryana, such universities would be opened in a Mewat area, Sadhaura, in Punjab at Malerkotla and in Himachal Pradesh at Nahan, Chamba, Bilaspur and Nalagarh. He said that the board had
planned to execute projects to the extent of Rs 800 crore
in the next few years. He said that such universities
would provide professional, technical and modern
education. Mr Khan said that the board was facing 6000
court cases of which 1400 were in Haryana. He said that
the central government was holding a probe into deposit
of Rs 2 crore in the Standard Chartered Bank by a former
administrator of the board, Mr Feroze Khan. The money was
deposited within a few days of Mr Khan taking over the
charge in June last. He denied any knowledge of any
pay-offs in the depositing of money in UTI by another
former administrator. |
Staff shortage in consumer court YAMUNANAGAR, Dec 17 — Owing to the 'non-cooperative' attitude of the state government and the district administration, the consumers of this region are not getting any relief from the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum Yamunanagar at Jagadhri. According to information, a separate court was set up at Jagadhri on November 24 last year for handling consumer complaints. A separate post of the rank of District and Sessions Judge was created for this purpose. However, it is learnt that 1200 cases pertaining to Yamunanagar district are pending before the consumer court at Jagadhri as there is no permanent staff available. Cases are not disposed of due to non-availability of a stenographer, typists, superintendents, etc. While in Punjab, the government has constructed separate buildings for consumer courts, nothing on these lines has been done in Haryana. Even the President of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has not been allocated a residence as yet despite a number of requests in this regard. It has been suggested that a consumer forum should be housed in the Yamunanagar mini secretariat and judicial complex, which are under construction. In Haryana, there are separate consumer courts at all district headquarters, except Narnaul, Jhajjar and Fatehabad. When this correspondent contacted Mr S.K. Gupta, President of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, he admitted that cases were lying pending since 1994 owing non-availability of steno, typist and superintendents. He, however, claimed that
in the past about one year, 247 cases had been decided. |
Night bus service suspended HISAR, Dec 17 — Haryana Roadways has suspended its night bus service between Hisar and Chandigarh from yesterday, a spokesman of the local depot of Haryana Roadways said here yesterday. He said the service had
been suspended due to bad weather and the fog. The bus
service will be resumed immediately as soon as the fog in
cleared, he said. |
Residents block traffic GURGAON, Dec 17 — Residents of Badshapur blocked traffic on the Gurgaon-Sohna road in protest against the accidental death of a two-wheeler rider, Rohtash Singh, today. According to information available, Rohtash, an employee of the Public Health Department, Haryana, was going to Gurgaon on his scooter when he met with an accident with a Canter. He died on the spot. The SDM, Mr R.C Pawaria,
and the DSP, Mr Pala Ram, reached the village and brought
the situation under control. |
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