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| Tuesday, October 31, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Haryana writes to Centre
Computerised grievances redress
centre Sirsa to be placed on
website Staff strike hits office
work Cong elections arbitrary:
Hooda Nov 9 to be Legal
Services Day |
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Bid to free
undertrial, 4 arrested 3 polio cases reported in Haryana this year Haryana postings,
transfers Commission agents
warned by Admn Proposal on hospital
staff cleared 2 killed in mishaps,
2 commit suicide
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Haryana writes to Centre
CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The Haryana Government has written to the Union Government to treat the state on a par with Punjab on the issue of the relief package for paddy growers, making it
operative from September 21 and not October 22. The Centre had announced a package for the paddy growers of Punjab in which, among other things, the yield of rice from paddy was reduced from 67kg of rice per quintal of paddy to 64kg. The concession was to be applicable from September 21, the day from which the government agencies started procuring paddy for the current season. However, while announcing a similar package for the paddy growers of Haryana, the Centre fixed the date of implementation as October 22. The Haryana Government argued that if the date of implementation was not advanced, the state agencies would suffer a huge loss on the quantity of paddy purchased by them during the period between September 21 and October 22. Moreover, since the climatic and agronomic conditions in the two states were similar, there should not be any differentiation in the relief package. An official spokesman clarified here today that the Centre had reduced the out-turn ratio of paddy for government procurement agencies only. The concession would not be available to private millers because they(millers) purchased paddy purely on commercial considerations. The millers purchased paddy above the minimum support price of Rs 540 a quintal only when the quality of paddy was good. In the case of poor quality paddy the millers purchased it at rates much below the minimum support price. Therefore, the spokesman said, there was no point in allowing the lower out-turn ratio of rice and paddy to the millers also. On the other hand the agencies had to purchase paddy of even relatively poor quality at the minimum support price as a measure aimed at the welfare of the paddy growers. Therefore, they deserved the concession. Meanwhile, the state Food Department has invoked the Rice Control Order to make it mandatory for the millers to mill the paddy purchased by the government agencies. Now they will have to use 40 per cent of their milling capacity to mill government paddy. They can use the remaining capacity to mill their own paddy. The delivery of rice to the FCI by the millers will also be in the same ratio. Earlier, certain district administrations had told the millers to first put their entire milling capacity at the disposal of the government agencies to mill their paddy. The millers had retaliated by not purchasing paddy, which led to congestion in the mandis, putting pressure on the government agencies. The department then intervened and implemented the 40:60 ratio orders. Meanwhile, the alleged suicide by a paddy grower in Ambala district has evoked a sharp reaction from the Haryana Krishak Samaj. The farmer had allegedly committed suicide by consuming a pesticide after he could not sell his paddy at the Naneola mandi in the district. In a statement issued here today the general secretary of the samaj, Mr Satpal Kaushik, said the incident had exposed the false claims of the Centre and the Haryana Government regarding their concern for the plight of the paddy growers. Mr Kaushik said the incident had proved the samaj leaders correct. The samaj had been saying that farmers were being forced to sell their produce below the minimum support price. He demanded that Rs 5 lakh should be paid to the family of the deceased farmer as compensation. He also alleged that while the cost of production of various crops had gone up by 50 per cent in the past one year, the market rates had come down considerably as compared to last year. He also demanded bonus for the paddy growers. |
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Computerised grievances redress centre REWARI, Oct 30 (UNI) — Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala today said that his government, after having launched the “Sarkar aapke dwar” programme to redress the grievances of people at their doorstep, would now utilise information technology to speed up the process. The Chief Minister was addressing a function after dedicating to the people a computerised complaint centre known as Samadhan and an information unit known as “Soochna doot”, the first of its kind in northern India. The Samadhan would enable residents of Rewari to get their grievances concerning any department recorded for which a computerised receipt would be issued to the complaintant and it would bear the date by which the grievances would be redressed. This time bound system would not only check delays in the redressal of grievances, but also provide one-window service to the people. The “Soochna doot” would provide information on self-employment schemes, preparation of ration cards, driving licence and on various development schemes of the government, including their modalities and benefits. Mr Chautala who also presided over a “Sarkar aapke dwar” programme at Bawal in Rewari, redressed the grievances of 146 gram panchayats and sanctioned a number of development works and announced an assistance of Rs 11 lakh for the municipality to undertake these works. He assured farmers of adequate supply of power for sowing rabi crop and reiterated the commitment of the government to provide adequate canal water for irrigation. He said watercourses would be bricklined by the government and it would also undertake their repair. He said steps were also being taken to ensure the supply of 70 litres of drinking water per capita per day. He said a special campaign had been launched to remove encroachments from public land. The projects sanctioned by him for various villages of the area included pavement of village streets, construction of boundary walls for schools and village ponds. He also announced to upgrade schools at Bolni, Tihara, Sanjharpur, Mohanpur, Nangaltej, Badhrana, Shahpur, Sathana and Khandoda villages. “Vridh vishram greh would be constructed in the villages of Paragpura, Dharchana, Shekhpur-dulhera, Asra ka Majra, Garhi-Bolni, Mamdia Thethar and Daliyaki, he added. |
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Sirsa to be placed on
website SIRSA, Oct 30 — The Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, will inaugurate a website on Sirsa at a function to be organised at the local Panchayat Bhawan tomorrow. Mr Chautala will also release a compact disc of the district on the same day. Stating this here today, the Deputy
Commissioner, Mr Amit Jha said, through this website the people would be able to get all important information regarding the history, culture, religious and tourist places and the administrative set up of the district. Besides this, the website would also have detailed information of the welfare schemes being run by the government through its various departments like the District Rural Development Agency, the District Social Welfare Department, the Welfare Department. Announcements made by the Chief Minister during his “sarkar apke dwar” programme would be placed in the website. Information can be easily sent or received from all over the world through this website, the Deputy Commissioner said. Highlighting the benefits of the CD, Mr Jha said, the list of old age pension, widow, handicapped beneficiaries and people living below poverty line would be recorded in the CD and carry minute detail like age, number of members, their age, occupation of the families of those beneficiaries. The Chief Minister will also inaugurate a English training course for
primary teachers at the local BRC Model Senior Secondary School tomorrow. In the first phase, the training will be imparted to 450 teachers on experimental basis and thereafter, all the 21,00 primary teachers would be trained, Mr Jha said. The duration of the course will be of six months but the teachers would be allowed to join their duties after the completion of three months training. |
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Staff strike hits office
work CHANDIGARH, Oct 30— No meaningful work was done in most of the Haryana Government offices here, which opened after remaining closed for four days on account of Divali holidays, coupled with the two-day weekend. Work virtually remained suspended because of the ongoing pen-down strike by employees belonging to the general categories and Backward Classes, which are demanding the implementation of the Supreme Court judgement in the Ajit Singh Janjua case regarding the reservation for the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes in promotion in government service. The Supreme Court had ruled against the policy of accelerated promotion, as the reservation policy is known in the official terminology. The State Government, in pursuance to the judgement, had reverted certain employees about a fortnight ago. However, the reversion orders were stayed, evoking loud protest from the employees belonging to the general categories and the Backward Classes. They went on a pen-down strike to demand implementation of the judgement. On return from his foreign visit, Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, formed a committee under the chairmanship of Mr S.Y. Qureshi, his Principal Secretary, to examine the judgement. However, the striking employees were not satisfied with it. The employees held rallies at three places in the city today to press their demand, despite the Chief Secretary, Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, holding a meeting with their leaders. He is believed to have told them that the State Government was bound to implement the Supreme Court judgement but was seeking certain clarifications. He urged them to withdraw the agitation. The response of the employees is not known. |
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Cong elections arbitrary:
Hooda ROHTAK, Oct 30 — Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, a former minister and follower of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, has described the organisational elections of the Haryana Congress as unconstitutional and arbitrary. Demanding cancellation of the elections, he has in a letter, urged Congress President Sonia Gandhi to order fresh elections which should be conducted in a fair and transparent manner. The letter was released to the Press here today. Charging the state returning officer, Mrs Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, with conniving in rigging, he said the entire election process was conducted in a “clandestine” manner in a room at Haryana Bhavan in Delhi. Party members were neither informed about the dates of the filing of nomination papers nor given an opportunity to contest the election of the delegates, he wrote. “It was very shocking that many of the delegates elected in these elections were not even primary members of the Congress”, he said. He said 25 former ministers, 35 former MLAs and 10 former MPs were not given a chance to contest elections as a delegate for the Pradesh Congress Committee. Mr Hooda said two persons, who had joined the Congress only eight months ago had been elected PCC members. They were Mr Sri Krishan Hooda, a former INLD legislator, and Mr Ishwar Singh, a former MLA of the Haryana Vikas Party. They had been elected delegates from Rohtak (Rural) and Guhla, respectively. The party constitution, he said, stipulated that a person could become a PCC member if he had remained as primary member of the organisation for two years. |
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Nov 9 to be Legal
Services Day CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 —The Haryana State Legal Services Authority today decided to observe November 9 as Legal Services Day to apprise people of various facilities provided by it. The Executive Chairman of the authority, Mr Justice V.K. Bali, a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said it was on this day in 1995 that the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987, was enforced in the country. The people could approach the Legal Services Authority or legal services committees at district and sub-division level to seek justice. The judge said free legal services could be availed of by those with annual income of less than Rs 25,000, those belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes, women and children, mentally retarded, disabled, victims of communal riots, floods, droughts, earthquake and industrial disaster, victims of moral turpitude and bonded labour, industrial labour and those in jails, juvenile homes and mental hospitals. Mr Justice Bali said persons could avail of the facility of a lawyer at the expenses of the government. Also, the court fee, expenses of preparing various documents and calling witnesses besides other expenses of the case were paid on behalf of the beneficiaries. He said legal aid programme was implemented in all legal courts to provide free legal aid. |
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Bid to free
undertrial, 4 arrested ROHTAK, Oct 30 — Nearly 10 accomplices of an undertrial managed to free him while he was being taken to in the sessions court at Gurgaon today. Later, the police arrested five of them, including the undertrial. Those arrested are undertrial Ranvir of Ladhaut village and his accomplices, Rajesh, Ram Niwas, Rajiv and Saleem. According to police sources, a police party was taking the undertrial to Gurgaon in a bus in connection with a case of dacoity when eight youths stood up from their seats and surrounded the police party. One of them fired on the police team while the others snatched two stenguns and a magazine from it. A head constable and constable were injured. The incident took place near the relay centre of the All-India Radio near Madina village. The assailants freed the undertrial and drove away in a jeep which was following the bus. However, they had to leave the jeep due to some technical snag near Mokhra village. The incident was reported to the police control room following which the assailants were chased and nabbed. Three of them managed to escape. |
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3 polio cases reported in Haryana this year AMBALA, Oct 30 — Despite intensive efforts made by the government and non-government organisations, paralytic poliomyelitis is still endemic in India. This was stated by Dr D.S. Jaspal, president of the Haryana unit of the Indian Medical Association, here today. Talking to mediapersons he said the recent report of WHO revealed that India was a major source of carrying this virus in many parts of the world considered polio-free. He said the latest date of 1999 showed that the problem of polio was now confined to only 30 countries belonging to South Asian subcontinent, West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. India, Nepal and Bangladesh are among the 30 countries having polio cases. In 1998, India was accounted for more than two-thirds of the total polio cases. This figure came down to 39 per cent in 1999, he added. Dr Jaspal said that 90 per cent children in Haryana had been covered under universal immunisation scheme. During 99-2000, 5.5 lakh infants were given oral polio immunisation. He said polio programme was intensified in the state in 99-2000 by increasing number of rounds from two to four by addition of house to house component of two rounds. It was observed that 18 to 22 per cent children were covered during home to home. He said in Haryana three cases of wild polio virus were reported in March and August this year at Gurgaon, Panipat and Fathebad. Thereafter two rounds of mopping up immunisation were conducted at Gurgaon, Faridabad, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Rewari in Haryana and Alwar and Bharatpur in Rajasthan during July and August this year.  |
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Haryana postings,
transfers CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The Haryana Government today cancelled the transfer orders of Mrs Urvashi Gulati, Commissioner and Secretary, Irrigation Department, who was transferred last week as Commissioner, Ambala Division, and Principal, Revenue Training Institute, Ambala, vice Mr Chander Singh. Mr Chander Singh, who was to take the place of Mrs Gulati in Chandigarh, has also been asked to stay put at Ambala. Mr R.R. Banswal, Project Director, Swaran Jayanti Shehri Rojgar Yojana, and Joint Secretary, Local Government Department and State Urban Development Society, has been appointed Joint Secretary, General Administration Department, and Inquiry Officer, Vigilance-1, against a vacant post. Mr S.C. Jain, Joint Secretary, Cooperation Department, goes as Joint Secretary, Home-1, vice Mr Shyamal Mishra, who has been posted as Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chief Executive Officer, District Rural Development Agency, Panchkula. |
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Commission agents
warned by Admn AMBALA, Oct 30 — The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam, today said that the district administration would take action against commission agents who buy paddy from farmers in Punjab at a lower rate and try to sell in the mandis here at a much higher rate. Action would be taken against all those commission agents who were indulging doing this malpractice. “It has come to our notice that some commission agents, especially in the mandis near the Punjab border buy paddy from the Punjab farmers at a cheaper price and then demand that the stock be bought by the procurement agencies here,” he said. He said instructions had already been given to the officials concerned to ensure that such malpractice did not take place in the mandis of the district. “Our efforts are directed towards ensuring that the Haryana farmers get the best price for their produce,” he said. Till October 29, 154552 tonne of paddy had arrived in the different mandis of the district as compared to 131594 tons of paddy arrival last year, a release said. Out of the total figure, 21983 tonne was of ordinary variety, 132296 tonne of grade A variety and 273 tonne was basmati. The paddy had been bought at the minimum support price by different agencies, the release added. The millers bought 44782 tonne, the dealers bought 11610 tonne, HAFED bought 47190 tonne, Food and Supplies bought 5820 tonne, Haryana Agro bought 13920 tonne, Haryana Warehousing Corporation bought 6580 tonne and Confed bought 24650 tonne. |
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Proposal on hospital
staff cleared CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — A modern 50 bedded speciality hospital being built by the Haryana Government with financial aid of Rs 10 crore given by the Sultan of Oman in Mandikhera village in the Mewat area will become functional during the next financial year. An official spokesman said the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today approved the proposal of the Health Department to create 123 posts of medical, paramedical and other staff, apart from bearing an annual recurring expenditure of Rs 1.10 crore on the hospital. |
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2 killed in mishaps,
2 commit suicide ROHTAK, Oct 30 — One person was killed and four others injured when a Tata 407 in which they were travelling rammed against a tanker near Rohad village last evening. The deceased has been identified as Rohtas of Delhi and driver of the Tata 407. The injured have been admitted to the PGIMS. In a separate incident, a truck ran over Pradeep (14) at Samargopalpur village. A case has been registered. The driver of the truck is missing. In another incident, two persons committed suicide by consuming poison last evening. They have been identified as wife of Ishwar Singh of Shora Kothi locality and Munish of Shivaji Colony here. The bodies have been handed over to the families after a postmortem examination. |
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1 shot dead FARIDABAD, Oct 30 — Mahender Singh, resident of Behrola village, near Palwal, 25 km from here, was reportedly shot dead by a group of about 10 persons. Old enmity is stated to be the reason behind the murder. Those named in the FIR are Hetram, Ved Prakash, Bal Kishan, Manoj, Satish, Dharam, Inder, Krishan, Jagdish and Shyam. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered. |
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New Fatehabad SP CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The Haryana Government today appointed Mr Hanif Qureshi, an IPS officer, Superintendent of Police, Fatehabad, vice Mr Siri Kant Jadhav with immediate effect. |
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Industrial plot
scheme floated CHANDIGARH, Oct 30 — The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) today floated a freehold industrial plot scheme for Gurgaon, Sohana, Rewari, Dharuhera, Faridabad, Hathin, Hisar, Bhiwani, Rohtak, Panipat and Bahadurgarh. An official spokesman said the scheme would remain open from November 2 to December 29. |
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