H A R Y A N A

Haryana sugarcane headed for Punjab
AMBALA, April 10 — Unable to sell their excess surgarcane produce, some farmers in the region are now selling their sugarcane to middlemen at a lower rate and the sugarcane is eventually being sent to Punjab.

Graft case against Dangi filed
CHANDIGARH, April 10 — A former Haryana minister, Mr Anand Singh Dangi, has been booked under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly wrongfully allotting land to certain persons when he was the Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister in the Bhajan Lal Cabinet in the mid-nineties.

Haryana to start community policing
MADHUBAN (Karnal), April 10 — The Haryana Police would soon introduce “community policing”, a new concept in order to check crime and create better liaison with public.

5 killed, 13 hurt in mishaps
KAITHAL, April 10 — Five persons, including a woman and a girl, were killed and 13 others injured in a head-on collision between a roadways bus and a four-wheeler near village Narar on the Kaithal-Karnal road 6 km from here, this morning.

No plan to set up fun city: CM
GURGAON, April 10 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has tried to steer clear the issue of construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal project, saying that the dispute between Haryana and Punjab for sharing of the Ravi-Beas waters is under the consideration of the Supreme Court and his government will abide by its pronouncement.

Tumultuous welcome to Khalsa March
HISAR, April 10 — The tercentenary Khalsa March which started from Panchkula on April 8 was accorded a tumultuous welcome in this historic town. Thousands of people received the yatra at Gurdwara Singh Sabha at Nagori Gate.

• 4 PROs promoted
• Haryana posting
  
  
  
  

Haryana sugarcane headed for Punjab
From Rahul Das
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, April 10 — Unable to sell their excess surgarcane produce, some farmers in the region are now selling their sugarcane to middlemen at a lower rate and the sugarcane is eventually being sent to Punjab.

A visit by The Tribune to the villages showed that the farmers who had produced sugarcane in excess of the ‘bond’ with the sugar mill, preferred to either take their produce to Punjab or sell the produce to middlemen who made a killing by buying at a lower rate and selling it off at Punjab.

Posing as a landowner keen to sell his sugarcane stock, this correspondent met a middleman on the Jagadhari road. The middleman said he would buy the sugarcane at a lower rate on cash payment.

The middleman said he would pay Rs 92 per quintal for the early variety of sugarcane and Rs 90 for the late variety. “You will have to bring the sugarcane early as the season is going to end soon. The payment will be made on the spot,” he said.

To a query, he said one could take the sugarcane to Punjab. “There youma get payment up to Rs 112 per quintal for the early variety. But it all depends on various factors,” he stated.

Sitting cross-legged on a cot and supervising the operation of loading sugarcane on two trucks, the middleman said villagers from Dukheri, Khoda, Durala, Muglai, Modha, Modhi and Chudiala had already sold him their sugarcane stock.

He even offered to send a tractor-trolley to the person’s village to collect the sugarcane if he did not have any conveyance. “Also, if you are interested I can supply 8436 varieties of sugarcane at a reasonable rate so that you can have a good yield,” he stated.

The villagers said they were forced to approach the middleman as the payment was immediate and in cash. “If the sugar mills too start making payment in cash, then we will approach them. But there, the payment takes a little time. Also as we had produced excess sugarcane in the hope of getting a good price, the excess stock had to be sold off a comparatively lower rate,” a villager said.

The farmers also said that a part of their produce is also picked up by jaggery manufacturers. “But this year, some small jaggery unit owners have not gone in for production as they do not make much profit after buying sugarcane from us at a higher price,” a farmer stated.

The General Manager of Naraingarh Sugar Mill, Mr Hem Raj, said the villagers had to make booking in advance. “The farmers have to enter into a bonded agreement by which a certain amount of sugarcane has to be sold to us. At least 85 per cent of the bond has to be sold to us and if they don’t do so, we charge a penalty of 20 per cent on the remaining amount,” he said.

Regarding the excess sugarcane produced by farmers, he pointed out that the sugarmill was not bound to buy all the stock of the farmer. “We have a system under which if a farmer feels that his produce is going to be more than the bond, then he can submit to us in writing. We consider the merits of the case and then an additional bond is signed. The signing of the additional bond means that the farmer now has to supply the additional sugarcane in a stipulated period,” Mr Hemraj said.

He stated that reports of middlemen operating in the region had been brought to his notice. “We complain to the officials concerned whenever we receive any report of any middlemen since the buying and selling of sugarcane is not permitted,” Mr Hemraj said.

The Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr Ram Niwas, stated that middlemen are not allowed in buying and selling of sugarcane. “We have taken action against middlemen and we swing into action whenever we receive any complaint. Some farmers who produce excess sugarcane than their bond, sell off the excess stock to middlemen,” he said.

Mr Ram Niwas stated that there had been a little delay in payment to farmers by the sugarmills. “Middlemen are not permitted and we crackdown on middlemen whenever we receive specific complaint,” he stated.

Graft case against Dangi filed
By Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 10 — A former Haryana minister, Mr Anand Singh Dangi, has been booked under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly wrongfully allotting land to certain persons when he was the Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister in the Bhajan Lal Cabinet in the mid-nineties.

The case was registered at the Vigilance Police Station, Ambala, after an enquiry conducted by senior officers of the State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) following allegations levelled by certain MLAs on the floor of the House.

Mr Dangi, who had come to be know as the hero of Meham after the mayhem in that constituency in the early nineties, has a long-standing political rivalry with the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, though at one time Mr Dangi was a protege of the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Devi Lal.

Along with Mr Dangi the FIR has named two retired Tehsildars, Mr Didar Singh and Mr Jagdish Rai, and Mr Narinder Singh, Mr Harish Kumar and Mr Ishwar as among the accused persons.

Mr Dangi has filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court expressing dissatisfaction over the CBI enquiry into the murder of Mr Amir Singh, Independent candidate, and subsequent violence in Meham. He has urged the court to order the CBI to reinvestigate the case. Sources close to him allege that Mr Dangi has been booked to pressurise him to withdraw his writ petition.

However, INLD sources refute the allegation and say there is no connection between Mr Dangi’s writ petition and the case against him, they said, the vigilance enquiry against Mr Dangi started after the matter was raised by elected representatives of the people on the floor of the House.

The FIR against Mr Dangi alleges that over 1405 acre was allotted to 94 persons by the Rehabilitation Department from the period between January 1, 1995 and June 21, 1996.

The SVB scrutinised 24 cases in which it found that Mr Dangi along with certain officials of his department allegedly violated rules, norms and the procedures while issuing allotment orders. The land was allotted to “ineligible persons” on the basis of forged and fake general power of attorneys (GPAs).

The enquiry also allegedly revealed that 356 acres was allotted in Ambala and Panchkula districts. In these cases neither the legal heirs were verified nor the persons holding GPAs were residing at the places mentioned in the documents.

The FIR alleges that while Mr Ishwar held GPA in 10 cases, Mr Narinder in two cases and his brother in one case. It alleges that the files in these cases were directly called from the tehsildar, sales, Ambala, by Mr Dangi and the allotment was approved on the same day adhering to the rules, procedures and regulations.

The malice of bogus claims by migrants from West Pakistan and allotment of land to ineligible persons who project themselves either as the legal heirs of the claimant or their GPA holders dates back to the eighties in Haryana when a close relative of an influential persons had the claim business a highly profitable proposition.

The names of various revenue and rehabilitation ministers had been figuring in the racket from time to time.

Haryana to start community policing
From K.G. Dutt
Tribune News Service

MADHUBAN (Karnal), April 10 — The Haryana Police would soon introduce “community policing”, a new concept in order to check crime and create better liaison with public.

This was stated here today by Mr S.P.S. Rathore, Director-General of Police, Haryana, while addressing the trainees at the 41st passing out parade here.

Mr Rathore stated that in the new scheme each beat head constable would be in charge of 200 houses in an area. He would liase with citizens under his beat to know about the activities of the anti-social elements in the area. This would also help police intelligence in the area. It would be easier to identify and nab criminals.

The DGP stated that the state police would enter cyber age soon. The effort would be to follow modern system of crime detection in view of the introduction of computers.

He declared that steps would be initiated to end corruption from the state force. He called upon the constabulary to work with honesty, discipline and dedication.

Mr R.N. Vasudeva, Inspector-General and Director, Police Training College, stated that 55 training courses would be introduced and these would lay stress on human rights, liaison with people and good conduct towards women.

As many as 239 officers and cops passed out in the parade. These included 50 Sub-Inspectors, 239 Assistant Sub-Inspectors and 151 constables and head constables.

A cultural programme was also organised by the trainees.

Mr Ajay Chautala, MP and son of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala said policemen in Haryana employed the best of facilities in the country.

He also gave away the prizes to participants.

5 killed, 13 hurt in mishaps
From Our Correspondent

KAITHAL, April 10 — Five persons, including a woman and a girl, were killed and 13 others injured in a head-on collision between a roadways bus and a four-wheeler near village Narar on the Kaithal-Karnal road 6 km from here, this morning. Those killed have been identified as Satnam Singh (45) Kakhvider Kaur (55), Kashmira Singh (32), all residents of Patti Afghan, Suresh (30); driver of the four-wheeler, resident of Harsola and Komal Preet (10).

Out of the five seriously injured referred to Medical College, Patiala, have been identified as Gurcharan Singh, Surjeet Kaur, Gurcharan Kaur, Balwinder Kaur and Amarjeet. Eight others, including Bus Driver Chandi Ram, Bachan Kaur, Kartar Singh Kashmir Singh, Amarjeet Kaur, Ajmer Singh, Balwinder Singh and Jagir Singh have been admitted in the Civil Hospital Kaithal.

According to information, the accident occurred today at 8.30 a.m. when a four-wheeler no. HRO8GA/0201 carrying some passengers from Dera Patti Afgan to Ruksana village who were to attend Bhog ceremony of their relative collided with the bus, when the four-wheeler was overtaking some other vehicle. The impact of the accident was so severe that the four-wheeler was torn into pieces and the bus fell into a ditch.

There were screams and blood but the injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital in another Haryana Roadways bus which arrived on the scene and some other vehicles.

After getting the information Mr Ram Pal Majra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Leela Ram MLA, SDM Narender Singh and DSP Amir Singh Sabarwal and DPRO Rajbir Singh reached the accident site.

On getting information about the accident, workers of the Shiv Sena the Sewa Sangh, some press reporters and others offered to donate blood. Mr Narender Singh, SDM and DSP Amir Singh who reached the Hospital called some private doctors also to help in the treatment of injured patients.

In another accident Raj Kumar of Chandigarh who was returning from Bhanmori Mandir killed when the Maruti Car in which he was travelling with some other persons met an accident near Kalayat this morning. He was shifted to Civil Hospital, Kaithal where he died.

No plan to set up fun city: CM
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, April 10 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has tried to steer clear the issue of construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal project, saying that the dispute between Haryana and Punjab for sharing of the Ravi-Beas waters is under the consideration of the Supreme Court and his government will abide by its pronouncement.

Talking to newsmen here last evening, Mr Chautala said that the Eradi Commission had given an award which favoured Haryana.

However, he said the Union Government should intervene for expediting the construction of the SYL canal. Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had initiated the canal’s construction and in maintaining the continuity in the administration,Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee must make efforts for the completion of the project, he added.

Mr Chautala’s apparent defensive posture was in marked contrast to his utterances on the SYL issue when he was in the Opposition. He used to say that he would work actively to get things done in favour of Haryana within a time-frame, if his party come to power.

In response to a question on the government’s move to set up a fun and far city in Gurgaon, which is being opposed by the Congress, Mr Chautala said that there was no such proposal. However, he added that the government would think of measures to increase its revenue. A member of Mr Chautala’s Cabinet, Prof Sampat Singh had recently stated that the government was planning such a city.

He stated that in case any village wanted to switch over to a different block, its newly elected panchayat would have to pass a resolution for consideration of the government. The government had decided to give more powers to the Panchayats and the Municipal Councils, he added.

Tumultuous welcome to Khalsa March
From Tribune Reporters

HISAR, April 10 — The tercentenary Khalsa March which started from Panchkula on April 8 was accorded a tumultuous welcome in this historic town. Thousands of people received the yatra at Gurdwara Singh Sabha at Nagori Gate.

The town was decorated to suit the occasion. Flags, banners and buntings dotted the skyline all along the route. The sky was reverberating with slogans of “jo bole so nihal, sat sri akal” and “Wahe guruji ka Khalsa, wahe guruji ki fateh”.

Children from different schools of the town formed long queues on both sides of the road, greeting the yatra with cheers. People had created special pandals offering water, juice, sweets, fruit and food to the yatris. Haryana Agricultural University had also set up a pandal where water and tea was offered to the devotees.

The yatra was late by about three hours. However, this did not diminish the interest of the people awaiting to receive it.

Earlier, long convoy of cars, motorcycles and buses was received at Agroha by officials of the local administration. The authorities had geared up for the occasion. There were no traffic jams in the town. Traffic was regulated right from the morning and police personnel could be seen all along the route controlling traffic.

The yatra which started from Panchkula on April 8, after passing through various places in the state, will culminate at Yamunanagar on the auspicious day of Baisakhi, April 13, to mark the birth of the Khalsa. A grand function is scheduled to be organised there on that day. Chief Minister, Om Parkash Chautala will preside over the concluding ceremony.

FATEHABAD: A warm reception was accorded to the Khalsa March on its arrival at Fatehabad here on Monday. A large number of people had gathered on both side of the national highway where the Khalsa March passed through. Senior officers of the district administration led by Deputy Commissioner Anil Malik were present on the occasion.

Earlier, the Khalsa March which was flagged off from historic Nadha Sahib Gurudwara near Panchkula entered Tohana subdivision of Fatehabad district via the Balyala border and passed through the main bazars of Tohana, and Ratia subdivision on its way to enter Sirsa district via Sardulgarh (Punjab) yesterday.

Specially erected welcome gates, pandals, chhabils and langars marked the Khalsa March.

SIRSA: Deputy Commissioner Amit Jha and other senior functionaries of the district received the Khalsa March at Rori as it entered the district amidst chanting of “Bole so nihal, sat sri akal” and “Waheguruji ka khalsa, waheguruji ki fateh” on Sunday.

Mr Jha termed the Khalsa March as a unique example of communal harmony and brotherhood. The march received tumultuous response from people throughout the route.

The Jathedar of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Giani Kewal Singh, performed the “ardas”.

The Jathedar presented siropas to Agriculture Minister Jaswinder Singh Sandhu and others.

Traders ‘evade’ market fee
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, April 10 — The market committee of this city has been suffering a huge loss of revenue on account of the evasion of market fee by arhtias of the vegetable and fruit market.

It is reported that several truckloads of vegetables and fruits are received daily by traders and they sell the same without making entries in their registers, thereby evading the market fee. Some officials of market committee are said to be in league with these traders.

It is also alleged that such traders never present their account books for inspection as a result of which the officials feel helpless in probing public complaints against them.

Resentment prevails among the arhtias of the vegetable and fruit market over overcharging them at the time of renewal of their licenses and inspection of books etc. They alleged that market committee staff were forcing the arhtias to give Rs 500 in addition to Rs 60 as the renewal fee. Similarly, they are being forced to give Rs 1,000 at the time of inspection of books.

Promotions in Treasury and Accounts Dept
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 10 — The Haryana Finance Minister, Prof. Sampat Singh disclosed here today that the Treasury and Accounts Department had accorded 100 per cent promotion to its staff.

He said that this had been done with a view to streamlining working of this department. Prof Sampat Singh hoped that this gesture of the government would motivate the staff to provide speedy and efficient service to the people of the state.

Giving further details, the Director of the department, Mr. Vivek Joshi, enlisted the 222 employees who had been promoted in all. This included 19 chief accounts officers, 46 section officers, two treasury officers, 12 assistant treasury officers, 17 accounts officers, 15 assistant superintendents, 19 assistants, one junior auditor, 16 assistant treasurers, 69 clerks and 6 Class-IV employees.

BKU: improve power supply
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, April 10 — The district unit of the BKU today expressed concern over the unannounced power cuts and erratic power supply in the rural areas of the district and urged the state government to take effective steps for ensuring round-the-clock power supply to the farmers during the harvesting season.

In a press note it alleged that the officials of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) stationed at Murthal, Ganaur, Bahalgarh, and Rai subdivisions have created a power crisis by diverting the power to some selected industries. The same situation prevailed in Kharkhauda, Bhatgoan and Gohana areas.

The BKU also threatened to launch an agitation if the farmers were not supplied regular power for running tubewells and harvesting and thrashing of wheat crops.

Sandhu’s death mourned
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 10 — The Haryana Agriculture Minister, Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, today mourned the death of Mr. Jasde Singh Sandhu, Chairman of the Punjab State Subordinate Services Selection Board.

In his condolence message the minister described Mr Sandhu as a seasoned politician, an able administrator, a great patriot and a popular Akali leader who strived for the uplift of the poor and downtrodden.

4 PROs promoted
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 10 — The Haryana Government has promoted four Public Relations Officers, Mr K.C. Wadhawan, Mr Hem Raj Diwan, Mr Om Prakash Sharma and Mr Vijay Kumar Sandilya, as Deputy Directors with immediate effect.

Haryana posting
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 10 — The Haryana Government has posted Mr V.S. Kundu, IAS, Joint Secretary, Finance, as Director and Joint Secretary, Sports, Students, Youth Welfare Department against a vacant post with immediate effect.