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| Friday,
January 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Foul play alleged in HSIDC
allotments Legitimising upgraded schools — HUDA
style Dangi’s remand
extended Farmers ‘terrorised’ into paying power
bills HVPN’s disclosure scheme
“not for all dists” Man gets 1-yr RI in drugs
case Canal tail-end fields
left dry: farmers |
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‘Demolition squad’
stoned
4 soldiers killed in accident 2 killed in group
clash
Cleanliness drive Shakuntla
Jakhu
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Foul play alleged in HSIDC
allotments GURGAON, Jan 25 — The present process evolved by the Haryana Government to allot the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation’s (HSIDC) plots/sheds in its industrial estates in the state smacks of foul play and has raised eyebrows. The interviews of those who had applied for industrial plots in Gurgaon, held in Delhi today, are alleged to be shrouded in mystery. Apprehensions in various quarters are that the HSIDC authorities will indulge in pick and choose policy while keeping up the “facade” of transparency in the exercise of final selection of the prospective allottees. The HSIDC has been taking interviews of the applicants for the industrial plots in its estates in the state following the increased demand, especially from the entrepreneurs whose units have been forced to close in Delhi. The apprehensions of the general public are not without reason. The HSIDC has not adopted any creditable and accepted mode of advertising details with regard to the ongoing interviews. Also, there has been no general information for the interested investors about the available plots, in any part of the state. Those who apply for the plots are not sure when they will be called for the interviews. They do not have any creditable means to know and judge the criterion adopted by the HSIDC in sending call letters. Fundamentally, they are also not sure whether the authorities have adhered to the concept of right to equality, while ignoring the claims of the applicants. According to sources,the same has happened regarding today’s interviews. In absence of any published official information sources said the HSIDC took interviews for disposing off about nine industrial plots in Udyog Vihar (HSIDC), Phase 1, 1V and V located in Gurgaon. By way of the information to the general public, only application forms in the shape of booklets have been made available. The forms are published by the HSIDC. A scrutiny of one of the standard forms revealed that it does not provide information about the schedule (starting or cut-off date) for applying for plots. There are no details about which plots on exactly on which site the concerned plots are available and in what sizes. According to observers, the HSIDC has “suppressed information from its side” in the form.Although the charge for each of the form is exorbitantly pegged at Rs 100, the HSIDC has chosen to be frugal with the contents in it. What has agitated the interested buyers is that even if the application form has not provided any basic information, why have the authorities not made the records public by other means. What has stumped them is that wrong telephone numbers of HSIDC headquarters have been printed in the application forms. The discerning ones feel that the present method leaves enough room for corrupt practices and subterfuges. They wonder why the government has abandoned the policy of public auctioning of the plots and the attendant transparency. More so when there is rush for the plots and there will many claimants for one plot. Also, many wonder when the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) disposes of its plots by draw and auction, why are the HSIDC plots exempted from this same public policy. There are many others who argue as to what will stop the authorities from favouring some in matters of allotments (read the sites). There is no yardstick for the general public to judge the possible maladministration on the part of the HSIDC while adjudicating the merits for allotting the plots. Also, the government will be hard pressed to refute apprehensions that the HSIDC has invited some applicants for the interviews by accepting their application in back dates. The general view is that there should have been some creditable committee for deciding on the merits.Yes,a committee having representatives of inter-government agencies, including the HSIDC, is interviewing the applicants.To many,such bodies cannot stop the vested interests from rigging the entire process. Those understanding the nuances of the concepts of administrative law and public policy feel that the state government and its agency, the HSIDC, is indulging in a crude form of dispensation. The method goes against the democratic grains, as it gives enough latitude for misuse of discretionary powers by the administrative authorities. The socially accepted dictum that “Justice should not only be done,but seems to have been done” has been thrown to the winds with regard to the interviews being held so far. |
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Legitimising upgraded schools — HUDA
style CHANDIGARH Jan 25 — A policy to “legitimise” the “illegal” upgradation of schools in Haryana — where over 85 per cent have done so — without prior permission of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is on the anvil. The ball has been set rolling by HUDA itself which has suffered unaccountable losses owing to upgradation of schools without permission and violation of building by-laws at the premises. Sources in HUDA said the process of identifying these schools in the state began a month back and, according to information received from the estate offices in the districts, very few have adhered to HUDA by-laws in running these. While schools have already been issued show cause notices under Section 17 (3) and 17 (4) of the HUDA Act for erring, officials said a penalty would be imposed on the schools for doing so though reversion to the permitted category at this stage was completely ruled out. A lenient view by HUDA for legitimising the violation has also been taken on account of faltering of the Education Department as well as in referring cases to HUDA. While all these schools have been granted permission by the Education Department, Haryana, in the case of government schools, and the Central Board of Secondary Education in case of the schools affiliated to the board, the boards have failed to refer these to HUDA which allots land to various categories according to norms laid down in the Act. “We are making it obligatory for the Education Department to send these cases to us after the schools satisfy their conditions. We will also give our opinion on whether the upgradation is possible in the cases or not,’’ the Chief Administrator, Mr NC Wadhwa, said. He added that parleys with the Education Department and the CBSE in this regard were on and soon a uniform policy, to be subsequently approved by the government, would be worked out after discussion. While the HUDA Act lays down that a nursery school could function from 0.2 acres of land, a primary one from 1 acre, a middle school from 2.5 acres and high and senior secondary schools from not less that five acres, the guidelines specified by the CBSE are different. Also, in most cases in urban estates, primary and middle schools have been upgraded to the level of senior secondary schools, a number of schools allotted land for nursery schools are running high schools at the premises. This is the result of violation of building by-laws and, in the absence of any check, gone unnoticed though HUDA plans to bring the “culprits” to book and retrieve all dues by levying penalty on the managements running these schools. Meanwhile, under the notices, the schools have begun providing their version justifying the violations in personal hearings at their respective Estate offices. |
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Dangi’s remand
extended ROHTAK, Jan 25 — The Special Judge, Mr Shiva Sharma, today extended the judicial remand of former Revenue Minister Anand Dangi till February 6. The Special Judge held his court in the premises of the district jail at the request of the Superintendent, District Jail, for conducting the remand proceedings. The former minister is facing charges under various Sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Superintendent, District Jail, had in his application apprehended law and order problem and drawn the attention of the court to the reports that Mr Dangi had, while in custody, addressed public on December 18 last. He also informed the judge that the Supreme Court had issued directions for the protection of Mr Dangi’s life who had allegedly apprehended elimination at the hands of the Haryana police. He sought clarifications from the court regarding the supply of food to Mr Dangi. The judge directed that kin of the former minister be allowed to meet Mr Dangi in a graceful manner twice in a week as provided in para no. 553(A) of the Punjab Jail Manual in a room or place as prescribed in it. The judge ordered that so far as eatables were concerned, the same would be supplied to Mr Dangi at the time of meeting and on other days at the main gate of the jail, where the accused would personally receive the eatables from his brother Mr Dharam Pal Dangi or his wife Sona Dangi. Another former minister, Mr Sri Kishan Dass, who is also in judicial custody since January 17, today withdrew his bail application. His counsel told the Special Judge that he would make fresh bail application after collecting details about the expenditure incurred on roads in Rohtak. According to the prosecution, Mr Sri Kishan Dass during his tenure as Cabinet Minister in Haryana got some land acquired, which was situated near his own land so that market/commercial value of his land shot up. The state government had sanctioned Rs 14 crore for the construction and repair of roads in five flood-hit districts of Haryana, but Mr Sri Kishan Dass got Rs 11.39 crore spent in his own constituency in the municipal area of Rohtak city alone to gain political mileage and an edge during elections. The rationale behind spending huge amount in his own constituency had not been justified by Mr Sri Kishan Dass, the prosecution alleged. |
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Farmers ‘terrorised’ into paying power
bills CHANDIGARH, Jan 25 — The lone RPI MLA in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, today broke his several-week-long silence to join issue with Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, in regard to the recovery of electricity dues without the use of coercive methods by the INLD government. Mr Chautala has been claiming that his government recovered about Rs 500 crore of electricity dues from farmers through persuasion, while the Bhajan Lal and the Bansi Lal governments had failed to collect dues from them despite the police firings at Kadma and Mandiali. Talking to newsmen here today Mr Dalal said the Chautala government had issued notices to about one lakh farmers in the state asking them to either pay their electricity dues or their land would be attached. Showing photo-copies of attachment notices to newsmen, Mr Dalal said, in Palwal subdivision alone, which covered three assembly constituencies of Palwal, Hathin and Hasanpur, as many as 1085 farmers had been issued attachment notices. Asserting that power consumers, particularly in the agriculture sector, were facing a crisis, Mr Dalal said the foundation of this crisis was laid down by Mr Chautala in 1992, when he not only promised to supply free power and water but also gave a call to the farmers not to pay electricity bills which would be waived off by his government. But once he came to power, he backed out of his promise. Mr Dalal said for the Kadma police firing in 1995 and the Mandiali police firing in 1997, Mr Chautala was as responsible as Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Bansi Lal. Now, to top the list of such methods, the government had issued attachment notices to the farmers, he said adding that earlier Mr Chautala’s father, Mr Devi Lal, too had misled the farmers to sell their lands when he had promised to waive off their loans. But once Mr Devi Lal came to power, he waived off only Rs 10,000 and the farmers had to sell their land to clear their dues. Mr Dalal said the power consumers in the urban areas had been terrorised by raiding parties of the power utilities. On the pretext of checking power thefts, officials of the power utilities were imposing heavy fines on hapless consumers. HVPN’s disclosure scheme
“not for all dists” FARIDABAD, Jan 25 — Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam’s (HVPN) voluntary disclosure scheme (VDS) about the defective meters and their replacement at reduced charges has not covered all districts of the state, while there have been large-scale enquiries from the consumers. They have also reportedly protested against the move of the nigam authorities to replace old meters without the consent or approval of the consumers. According to Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) sources, a large number of consumers had contacted the officials concerned about the scheme launched by the nigam in certain parts of the state from January 15. The scheme was reportedly launched for about 11 days only in which consumers having defective meters could contact the officials for replacement. The authorities were instructed to charge only one-third of the total penalty amount imposed in such cases. It is learnt that the scheme attracted several consumers and even residents of those districts where it was yet to take off, had shown interest in it. The Superintending Engineer, DHBVN at Faridabad, Mr V.K. Aggarwal when contacted said the above scheme had been launched in certain selected divisions. Claiming that his division had also sought the implementation of the scheme in this district also, he said he was told that it would be extended only if such an experiment was a success in other parts. Mr Aggarwal said his office had already replaced about 1000 meters found defective in two divisions in the district which comprised residential pockets of NH-2 and NH-5 of the NIT area. However, he added that his office was always ready to cooperate with the people who had any problem regarding the meters or power supply. On other hand residents of the NIT area where meters had been replaced or were being under the process charged that employees of the nigam had been forcing the consumers to buy a particular brand from a particular shop or place. |
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Man gets 1-yr RI in drugs
case NARNAUL, Jan 25 — Chief Judicial Magistrate Deepak Gupta has sentenced Dharampal Singh, of Shaidpur village to rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year and to pay a sum of Rs 5,000 for an offence committed by him under Section 27(B) (ii) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. In case of default in payment of fine, the accused will have to go further imprisonment for a period of three months. The judge further sentenced him to imprisonment for a period of one year and to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 for another offence committed under Section 27(D) of the Drug and Cosmetics Act. According to the allegations made in the complaint, on September 27, 1985, Drug Inspector R.K. Jain visited the shop of Dharampal, where the accused could not show a valid registration certificate or a licence for the sale of drugs. |
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Canal tail-end fields
left dry: farmers SONEPAT, Jan 25 — The claims of the district administration and the farmers over the supply of canal water at the tail-end villages of Gohana subdivision in this district are contrary to one another. While the farmers of the tail-end villages allege that the canal water does not reach their fields, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sudhir Rajpal, denies the allegation. The president of the Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Mr Hari Singh Khokhar, pointed out that on account of shortage of canal water, the rabi crops have been damaged to some extent. He demanded a probe into the farmers, complaints and action against the officials for misleading the state government as well as the people. Meanwhile, representatives of some farmers’ organisations have maintained that the canal water is not reaching the tail-end fields and they were facing hardships on account of erratic water supply during the rotation period. They also pointed out that most of the farmers have already completed wheat and now they need canal water for irrigation due to lack of winter rains. Irregular power supply was also hampering the running of tubewells, they said. |
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‘Demolition squad’
stoned FARIDABAD, Jan 25 — Officials of the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, had to abandon its move to demolish some illegal structures in the NIT area here yesterday when the ‘angry’ residents started pelting stones on the team in protest. However, no one was injured in the incident. According to a report the ‘demolition squad’ accompanied by about six policemen was forced to give up its move to demolish some of the shops built illegally on the MCF land, as a large number of residents assembled there started pelting stones after arguments. |
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4 soldiers killed in accident AMBALA The accident took place at about 8.45 am when the vehicle, which is utilised as a tank carrier, was hit by a train at an unmanned level crossing near
Suratgarh. Out of seven soldiers, four soldiers were killed and three have sustained serious injuries. The injured have been admitted to the nearby Military Hospital. 2 killed in group
clash KAITHAL, Jan 25 — Jai Karan (35) and Zile Singh (55) were killed in a group clash at Keorak village, 10 km from here, last night. According to reports, Jai Karan was having drinks at the residence of Pappu along with some others, when another villager Passa reached there and they had some altercation and Passa called his friends. Sensing danger Jai Karan ran away and took shelter in his house, which was reportedly attacked by Passa and his friends. They broke the door of the house. Jai Karan fired two rounds from his gun killing Zile Singh on the spot. He was chased by members of the Passa group and attacked with ‘gandasis’. He died on the spot. |
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Cleanliness drive CHANDIGARH, Jan 25 — The Haryana Government today decided to observe the Martyrdom Day of Father of the Nation of January 30 by launching a special cleanliness drive in the state. A spokesman of the Local Government Department said the campaign would be initiated by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, on January 30 from Hisar and other ministers would simultaneously launch it from other districts of the state. Shakuntla
Jakhu CHANDIGARH, Jan 25 — The Haryana Government today appointed Mrs Shakuntla
Jakhu, Special Secretary, PW (B and R) and Architecture Department, as Labour Commissioner, relieving Mr Sajjan Singh of this charge. |
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