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April 10, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Testing time for INLD after Tau’s death Tributes paid to Devi
Lal Privatisation move unites employees Agroha Trust to form
units in all states CPM to observe protest week |
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Haryana hoteliers seek
incentives Haryana jawan falls to
ultras’ bullets in J&K Muslims seek burial ground Police remand for six robbers Pay damages to
farmers, firm told Protest over opening of liquor shop
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Testing time for INLD after Tau’s death Hisar, April 9 The most important fallout of the Tau’s death is likely to be felt at the party level. Though the INLD leadership does not admit it, a large number of disgruntled supporters, especially village elders, did not sever their ties with the party because of their loyalty towards Devi Lal. Now that he is no more, it remains to be seen whether Mr Chautala will be able to keep them in the party fold. Though the departure of such elements is unlikely to affect the party’s fortunes at the moment, they will certainly make a difference in the long run. Moreover, there are hundreds of families in the countryside all over the state which kept voting for the INLD under the influence of elderly family heads because of their loyalty to Devi Lal. The younger generation of these families moved towards other major political parties but the elders kept pressurising them to vote for the INLD at least so long as the Tau was alive. The number of such families is quite large and the party will have to work hard to retain their support in the post-Devi Lal era. Devi Lal’s death has also added to the insecurities of many senior INLD leaders who during the Tau’s lifetime could always count on his support in case of differences with Mr Chautala. These leaders had been groomed by Devi Lal and their working relationship with Mr Chautala continues to be tenuous essentially because of the diametrically opposite styles of functioning of the father and his son. Many of them might not have made it to the Assembly last year had Devi Lal not intervened on their behalf. They will now be completely on their own. For that matter, Mr Chautala too finds his top spot a shade lonelier. Despite his virtual retirement from active politics, Devi Lal continued to be his family’s political trump card which could be used whenever the political exigencies so required. The patriarch’s death has snatched it away from his family. His sons and political heirs will now be judged also on their own merit even though they will continue to benefit politically from their lineage. The Chief Minister will now also find himself increasingly involved in national politics at the Centre, especially when he plans to field INLD candidates in Uttar Pradesh and later in Rajasthan too. This in turn will increase his dependence on his two sons to run the party and the government in Haryana. It remains to be seen how well he dons the mantle of his father at the national level as a farmers’ leader. |
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Tributes paid to Devi
Lal Ambala, April 9 A number of people turned up at Mohda to pay respects to Devi Lal. “Ch Devi Lal amar rahe” and “Jab tak sooraj chand rahega, Tau tera naam rahega” were the slogans which were raised by the people when the urn was brought here this morning by some leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Among others, MP Faqir Chand Mullana, MLAs Anil Vij, Balwant Singh and Veena Chhibber, district INLD president Surjit Singh Sondha, Mr Sucha Singh Baknaur, IG Hari Singh Ahlawat, Commissioner Maha Singh, Deputy Commissioner D D Gautam and SP Sandeep Khirwar were present to receive the ashes. The convoy proceeded to the Punjab border at Saddopur where its Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, and DGP Sarbjit Singh received the urn. Punjab police personnel reversed arms and the police band played the last post. The convoy then proceeded further into Punjab. The Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam, said that the people of Haryana could pay their respects to the urn which will leave Delhi tomorrow. The urn will enter the district on April 11 at 10.30 a.m. It will reach Saha at 11.15 and go to Panchkula after passing through Shahzadpur. Panchkula
The ashes of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal would be received by officials of the district administration at the Ambala-Panchkula border village, Bagwali, on April 11. Giving details after a meeting of the officials, Deputy Commissioner Jyoti Arora said that the function would begin at noon and the ashes would subsequently be taken in a procession to various villages, including Mauli, Bator, Barwala, Sultanpur, Jaloli, Naggal, Alipur, Mattanwala, Bhanu, Ramgarh, Nada and Majri before entering the city. In the city, the procession would pass through Sector 1, Sankhla Chowk, the road dividing Sectors 4 and 11 as also that dividing Sectors 10 and 11 before being taken to the Janjghar in Sector 10. After this these would be taken to Ambala. SAS NAGAR
The cavalcade carrying the mortal remains of the late Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal were received at the Phase VI by the senior members of the Punjab Cabinet and officials of the district administration led by the Deputy Commissioner, Ropar. The Chief Minister, along with his ministerial colleagues and the urn carrying the ashes of the messiah of farmers, passed through the barrier at 1 p.m. Before the cavalcade was to pass through the town, there were confusion among the officials of the local administration regarding the arrangements to be made to welcome those carrying the urn. KHARAR
Rich tributes were paid to Chaudhary Devi Lal here today when the urn containing his ashes were being taken to Kiratpur Sahib. The ashes were being accompanied by Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Mr Sukhbir Badal, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Mrs Satwant Kaur Sandhu, Mr H.S. Mattewal and many other prominent persons. |
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Devi Lal’s ashes to reach Sonepat today Sonepat, April 9 According to official sources, the ashes will be accompanied by Mr Abhey Singh Chautala, MLA, and the Town and Country Planning Minister, Mr Dhirpal Singh, and these will be received on the Haryana-Delhi border near Kundli village by leaders of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and admirers of Mr Devi Lal. The “rath” will be taken in a procession to the city via Bahalgarh Chowk. On reaching Subhash Chowk in the heart of the city, it will be given a welcome by leaders of political parties, social and religious organisations as well as trade unions and a number of government employees unions. The “rath” will pass through Kharkhauda town, Sisana, Silana, Farmaba, Bhaiswal, Gohana town, Mundlana, Shahpur, Khubru and Ganaur town in the district, before entering Panipat district through the Haldana border. Meanwhile, a former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, has expressed deep sorrow over the death of Mr Devi Lal and said that he was a great leader and fought against the British regime during the freedom struggle of the country. Talking to mediapersons here last evening, he said Mr Devi Lal was a messiah of the farmers and workers. Mr Rajbir Singh Dahiya, Chairman of the Sonepat Zila Parishad, Mr Sukhbir Singh Farmana, a former Chairman of the Zila Parishad, Mr Jaipal Arya, a former MLA, and the Sarvajatiya Vikas Manch, Haryana, have also condoled the demise of Mr Devi Lal. Jind, April 9
Dharamsala, April 9 |
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Chautala to visit Tejakhera Sirsa, April 9 During his stay in the village, the Chief Minister will also visit the birthplace of his father, who was born in Tejakhera village, a sub-habitat of Chautala village, named after Mr Devi Lal’s grandfather Mr Teja Ram. Mr Chautala has taken the decision to remain in his ancestral village for a day because number of people from this area were reaching Delhi to express their condolences. Now the local people and those of surrounding areas who want to express their condolences can do so at Chautala village on April 12 and they need not rush to Delhi for this purpose. A procession with urn containing the ashes of Mr Devi Lal will be reaching Rori village in the district on April 12 at 5.30 p.m. and halt at Dera Jagmalwali for the night. Mr Subhash Goyal and Mr Abhay Singh Chautala will accompany the procession. On April 13 a procession along with the Haryana Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, would reach Sirsa at 1.00 p.m. after passing through Odhan, Panniwala Mota, Kharia, Rania, Jeewannagar and Ellenabad. Thereafter, the procession carrying the ashes of Mr Devi Lal will go to Ding More and Fatehabad. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Amit Jha, said the urn contains the ashes of Mr Devi Lal was being taken to various places in the state so as to enable the people of Haryana to pay their homage to their beloved leader. He said a beautifully decorated ‘rath’ will carry the urn. It will be followed by vehicles carrying his followers singing bhajans and kirtan. The religious preachers recite sermons for the peace of the departed soul. The ashes of Mr Devi Lal were being sent to various regions and will be immersed in sacred rivers all over the country. The ‘rasam pagri’ ceremony and ‘shardhanjli sabha’ will be held at Kisan
Ghat, New Delhi, on April 17. |
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Privatisation move unites employees Faridabad, April 9 The signs of unity were evident in a two-day biennial conference of the All-Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union here recently. The union is a wing of the Sarva Karamchari Sangh considered as a Left wing federation. While a workshop on alternatives for power privatisation was the main attraction, it drew various leaders, including its president. Members of the Punjab Electricity Board Technical Service Union also attended the workshop. Talking to media persons, the SKS president, Mr R.C. Jagga, and HKM chief Dhara Singh admitted that there was an urgent need for united campaign to prevent the authorities from following “anti-employee” policies. They said privatisation would harm the employees’ interests. Mr Dhara Singh said he would discuss with other leaders the setting up of a joint action committee. Criticising the state government on the retrenchment issue, they said the authorities were forcing the employees to adopt agitational means. One of the leaders of the SKS said it was for the first time in the past few years that leaders of the SKS and the HKM had agreed on the need for unity. Earlier, speakers at the workshop assailed the state government for the privatisation of power utilities, claiming that neither the power situation nor its supply had improved so far. Mr B.S. Meel, general secretary of the electricity Employees Federation of India demanded a stop on the restructuring and privatisation of various state electricity boards on the “directions” of the World Bank. He said foreign investment in the power sector would only increase power rates and it would be out of reach of the poor. The members adopted a resolution demanding the dismantling of power corporation to rebuild a state power board, filling of vacant posts as per work load, regularisation of services of adhoc staff, raise in bonus and allowance, withdrawal of charge sheets against staff and removal of anomalies in the pay structure. |
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Agroha Trust to form
units in all states Hisar, April 9 He said there would be six zones spread over the entire country. The committee had nominated conveners for all zones. He said Mr Bajrang Dass Garg of Hisar had been appointed convener of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir, while Mr Sawrup Chand of Mumbai would be the convener of Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Bihar and seven north-eastern states. Mr Goenka said Mr Naresh Gupta and Ms Renu Aggarwal of Delhi would look after the affairs of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh while Mr B.D.Goyal of Mumbai had been asked to form units in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Mr Satya Prakash of Mumbai would be the convener of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The committee had nominated Mr Shyam Lal Goyal of Indore as convener of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, he added. He said the committee had sanctioned the installation of elevators for
pilgrims at Agroha Dham. The committee also passed a resolution demanding the issuance of a special postage stamp in memory of Maharaja Aggarsain, founder of the Aggarwal community. |
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CPM to observe protest week Rohtak, April 9 At its two-day state committee meeting that concluded here yesterday, the party criticised the state government and the Centre for not effectively intervening in checking the deteriorating living conditions of the farmers and labourers. The party will organise rallies and meetings in every town of the state during the protest week to mobilise public support against the hike in power tariff and to increase awareness about the Tehelka expose and corruption in government circles. The Haryana CPM alleged that the trend of mechanised crop harvesting had resulted in massive reduction of employment opportunities for landless labourers. The state committee demanded the launching of the “food for work” scheme by putting an end to the contract system in all developmental activities at the government and panchayat level. The party expressed concern over the decline in the sex ratio in the state. The party stated that against a marginal improvement in the sex ratio at the national level from 927 to 933 females per 1,000 males, Haryana had recorded a decline in female population from 866 to 861 females per 1,000 males during the past decade. |
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Haryana hoteliers seek
incentives Karnal, April 9 Mr Manbeer Choudhary, president of the association, said here today that such a committee could function under the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Tourism, for coordinating the activities of the private hoteliers and solving their problems. Mr Choudhary demanded that exemption in sales tax for hotels, clubs, resorts and restaurants be given for seven years. He urged the Haryana Finance Corporation and HSIDC to extend loans for tourism activities at lower rates of interest. He further demanded that financial assistance up to Rs 10 lakh should be given to all kinds of tourism related outlets, including small hotels, restaurants, fast food outlets and self-employment schemes. The president also urged the government to allow free lease of government land adjoining hotels and other tourism units for beautification and landscaping. He further demanded exemption of electricity duty for new hotels up to seven years. Mr Choudhary also demanded that 15 per cent capital investment subsidy should be given to eligible hotels, clubs and other units for three years. He maintained that a progressive tourism policy would help the government attract investment in hotels, clubs, resorts and other tourism units. He maintained that effective lowering of hotel occupancy rates because of lower taxation and incentives and infrastructural facilities in the state would attract more entrepreneurs in tourism industry. Mr Choudhary regretted that although tourism has been recognised as an industry, no incentives or benefits had been extended to private hoteliers as was being done in the neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. He further disclosed that at present there are 15 classified hotels, including one five star in Gurgaon, one four star in Karnal and 13 three star in Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh and Rewari. Besides, there is a network of hotels and restaurants of the Haryana Tourism Department. Ambala, April 9 Sepoy Virender Singh sacrificed his life fighting anti-national elements in the valley. A pall of gloom descended upon Dheen village, about 30 km from Ambala Cantonment, when the news of his death reached here. The family, which was still trying to cope with the tragedy of his father, Hav Paramjit Singh (retd), being done to death about three years ago, is shattered. Hav Paramjit Singh (retd) used to ply a van and he was allegedly murdered near Sarsawa and the van was stolen. Twentythree-year-old Sepoy Virender Singh had joined the Army in February, 1999, at Ahmadnagar with 14 Horse. On April 3, Sepoy Virender Singh went for his second posting to Doda as he had been attached with 8 RR. He had recently come home on 15-day leave. On April 7, his family members got a phone call that Sepoy Virender Singh had been injured in militant action and he had been airlifted to the Command Hospital. When the family called up the hospital, they were informed that the soldier had breathed his last before reaching the hospital.
His body is yet to arrive at Ambala.
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Muslims seek burial ground Panipat, April 9 It has been highlighted in the memorandum that over one lakh Muslims are working as labourers in and around Panipat and most of them are living with their families. If someone dies, the body is taken at least seven km away to villages for burial. The government had already paid around Rs 3 crore to the Wakf Board as land acquirement money and it was deposited in the board account, they said. |
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Police remand for six robbers Panipat, April 9 According to information, the six members of the gang of robbers were recently arrested by the Delhi police and during police interrogation they ‘confessed’ to having committed a robbery at Jhatti Pur Gupta Textiles about six months ago. On their confession, they were handed over to the Panipat police for investigations into other cases of looting and robbery in the district. During preliminary interrogation, the gangsters — Ashok Kumar of Delhi, Naresh Chaudhry, Virender Kumar and Ramphool, all three from Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh, Rafiq of Purlia, Virender of Aligarh district and Dharam Pal of Siroha village in Bulandshahr — ‘confessed’ to their involvement in the Gupta Textiles robbery incident. The ring leader, Ramesh, is reportedly lodged in Tihar Jail.
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Pay damages to
farmers, firm told Kaithal, April 9 Complainants before the forum here alleged that they had purchased sunflower hybrid seeds from the Haryana Agriculture Department through the Deputy Director, Agriculture and Agriculture Development Officer. The seeds were procured through a Delhi firm and were sold to the farmers through the Agriculture Department. The farmers said they suffered huge losses as the supplied seeds failed to germinate even after 30 days, and they demanded a compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre and Rs 5,000 for the harassment and mental agony suffered by them as a result of crop failure.
UNI |
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Protest over opening of liquor shop Sonepat, April 9 According to informed sources, smugglers have pressed into service scores of cars and other vehicle for carrying country liquor and English wine which enters the district daily in absence of any checking by officials of the Excise Department. The shopkeepers of Subhash Chowk held a meeting yesterday in protest against the opening of a liquor shop in the main
bazaar and warned the authorities concerned of gheraoing the liquor vend and the authorities concerned if the shop was not closed. |
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Minor raped Fatehabad, April 9 The girl’s father has lodged a complaint with the police. He said that his 14 year-old daughter had gone to a nearby place when Kirpal Singh, a village youth, allegedly raped her. The police has registered a case and got the girl medically examined. |
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Train passengers hurt by truck Rohtak, April 9 According to information, a truck loaded with bricks came to grinding halt close to the railway track and its front portion scraped against the side of the train, causing injuries to train passengers standing at the doors of the train. The injured have been admitted to the PGIMS. |
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