Saturday, April 28, 2001, Chandigarh, India





THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
H A R Y A N A

Agencies delaying payments: traders
Hisar, April 27
The delay in issuing gunny bags and lifting procured wheat is causing hardships to farmers and traders here. Earlier, procurement agencies used to issue gunny bags to traders in advance. But this time the bags are being issued only after procurement. 

Chautala launches video conferencing facility
Chandigarh, April 27
The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today inaugurated the video conferencing facility at the e-governance centre in the civil secretariat here.

STATE OF EDUCATION-II - A TRIBUNE SURVEY
‘Coaching’ teachers face stick
Chandigarh
College lecturers of Haryana, beware! If you give tuitions, you may be in big trouble. After adoption of the UGC model code of conduct for the teaching community in the state, the Haryana Directorate of Higher Education has decided to crack the whip on those teachers of government colleges as well as private government-aided colleges who give tuitions.

Sex ratio ‘lowest’ since Independence
Sirsa, April 27
Some of the important statistics recorded in the Census Report 2001 of Haryana show that the areas which are considered to be backward have made progressive leaps in the field of female literacy and those areas also have a better sex ratio than the so-called advanced areas.

Still bearing cross of forefathers
Hisar, April 27
Rohnat village, near here, has been paying the price for en masse participation in the country’s First War Independence for the last 144 years.



YOUR TOWN
Chandigarh
Faridabad
Hisar
Kaithal
Karnal
Rohtak
Sirsa

Sonepat


EARLIER STORIES

 

Ordinance on vehicle tax okayed
Chandigarh, April 27
The Haryana Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, approved an ordinance to levy local area development tax on the entry of motor vehicles purchased outside Haryana and brought into the state for use or sale.

Student’s appeals fall on deaf ears
Karnal, April 27
The repeated appeals of Nirmala Devi, whose career was ruined by unscrupulous elements running unrecognised private schools, have so far proved to be a cry in the wilderness. 

Strikes in HAU campus banned
Hisar, April 27
The Civil Judge (Senior Division) Mr Sanjeev Kumar has imposed an interim ban on strike or taking out of procession in and around Haryana Agricultural University campus.

Power station fire causes Rs 3 cr loss
Faridabad, April 27
The fire which broke out at unit three of the thermal power station here yesterday causing a loss of over Rs 3 crore has “exposed” the “seriousness” of the authorities regarding safety measures and preventive action at such units.

Police remand for magistrate
Rohtak, April 27
Mr R.S. Chahal, City Magistrate, Kaithal, was remanded today in police custody till May 3 by a court in Jhajjar. He was arrested from his office yesterday by the Jhajjar police on the basis of prima facie evidence of his involvement in an inter-state scandal of fake registration of stolen vehicles.

4 castes included in BCs’ list
Chandigarh, April 27
The Haryana Government has decided to include four new castes ,including one from the Muslim community, in the list of Backward Classes in the state.

SUCI workers hold protest march
Sonepat, April 27
Workers of the Socialist Unity Centre of India took out a protest march on Wednesday to mark the foundation day of the party.

Complainant told to pay Rs 1,000
Kaithal, April 27
The District Consumers Dispute Redressal Forum here has directed a complainant to pay Rs 1,000 as compensation to the respondent for filing a false complaint.




 

Agencies delaying payments: traders
Our Correspondent

Hisar, April 27
The delay in issuing gunny bags and lifting procured wheat is causing hardships to farmers and traders here.

Earlier, procurement agencies used to issue gunny bags to traders in advance. But this time the bags are being issued only after procurement. A local trader said the bags were being provided 24 hours after procurement. They were thus being forced to keep wheat in the open.

The farmers have to guard their stock the whole day. Sukhpal, a farmer of nearby Dhansu village who had come to the local grain market to sell his produce, complained that there were hundreds of stray animals in the mandi who damaged the wheat lying in the open. No steps had been taken to check the animals from entering the mandi, he added.

The traders said lifting of the procured wheat was going on at a slow pace. The arrival of wheat in the mandi had been increasing since the past week. It had created problems for them, they said.

The procurement agencies have also failed to make payments within 72 hours as was promised by the state government. The traders said their payments had been pending for the past eight days and they were facing difficulties to make further payments to the farmers. They demanded that the government ensure timely payments.

Hafed and the Food and Supplies Department are procuring wheat in the grain market. According to sources the gunny bag store of Hafed is situated at Hansi, 25 km from here, and the officials were unable to supply the bags in time. The officials said the bags were not being supply in advance to the traders as these were being provided to the farmers for bringing their produce from the fields. This made the job of wheat inspecting difficult since the quality could only be checked in the open.

The officials said though they were trying to make payments as soon as possible it was impossible to make all payments within 72 hours. There were several formalities to be completed before issuing cheques to the traders.

Mr Balraj Mor, SDM, yesterday visited the grain market and met the farmers and the traders to hear their grievances.
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Wheat purchase: gunny bags substandard
Our Correspondent

Fatehabad, April 27
Haryana Commissioner and Secretary Transport R.N. Prasher, who is Administrative Secretary for this district visited here today and reviewed development projects in this district.

Mr Prasher reviewed wheat procurement and expressed satisfaction over it. Deputy Commissioner O.P. Indora informed the Secretary that 3.85 lakh metric tonnes of wheat was procured in the district till today. Figure was of 3.9 lakh metric tonnes up to this date last year.

The Secretary also reviewed construction of the mini-secretariat building and irrigation water supply. He also inspected potable water supply system of the Public Health Department. He reviewed power situation and issued instructions to check theft of power.

Addressing first meeting with the mediapersons after taking over as DC here today, Mr Indora said despite a loss of three working days due to rains, the procurement agencies have been able to procure sufficient wheat to meet target.

Mr Indora said that there was problem of transportation of procured wheat at Tohana in this district, but he added that he had taken up the matter with the Food Corporation of India and the situation improved now. He said lifting of wheat was on and there was no glut in any grain market.

Meanwhile, there was a complaint of supply of inferior gunny bags in Rattia grain market. Traders and farmers alleged that the bags were not up to the mark. The DC admitted that some bags in a consignment received from Kolkata were of inferior quality.Top

 

Tardy wheat lifting, arhtiyas go on strike
Tribune News Service

Faridabad, April 27
Problems for the farmers bringing their produce to Palwal Mandi in the district are increasing. The arhtiyas have gone on strike in protest against the unusual delay in the lifting of purchased wheat from the mandi by various agencies.

The arhtiyas who went on a strike yesterday, have decided not to work until April 29. They have claimed that the agencies had failed to lift about 2 lakh quintal of wheat already purchased. Besides this about 3 lakh quintal of wheat was lying in the mandi, waiting to be procured.

According to the Arhtiya Association, it is not possible to work in mandi till the procured wheat was removed, as there was no space left. A large number of tractor -trailers laden with wheat have been waiting near the Mandi for their turn.

The authorities on the other hand have been trying to clear the procured wheat and persuade the arhtiyas to resume their work. As a result hundreds of quintals of wheat was lying in the open.

A similar situation is reported to be prevailing in other mandis, including Hodal, Hassanpur, Hathin and Ballabgarh. It is alleged that the procurement and lifting of wheat has been slow, and the farmers are being harassed unnecessarily.

It is learnt that the inadequate storing space and the problems regarding godown facilities have been one of the main reasons behind it. It has also been reported that the arrival of large stocks of wheat from neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have led to the glutting of mandis.Top

 

Wheat procurement in full swing
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 27
The procurement of wheat in Haryana mandis is in full swing. About 3.36 lakh metric tonnes of the commodity had arrived on April 26 alone.

Stating this here today, a spokesman of the Food and Supplies Department said about 23.92 lakh metric tonnes of wheat had arrived so far in the mandis as compared to 21.81 lakh tonnes during the corresponding period last year. He said the procurement agencies had purchased almost the entire wheat stocks (23.89 lakh metric tonnes) at the minimum support price while traders had bought only 2,922 metric tonnes.

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Chautala launches video conferencing facility
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 27
The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today inaugurated the video conferencing facility at the e-governance centre in the civil secretariat here. Later, the Chief Minister used the facility from his office on the fourth floor of the secretariat building and interacted with officials at Gurgaon and subsequently with the Resident Commissioner of Haryana Bhavan at Delhi.

Mediapersons, bureaucrats and the entire Haryana Cabinet were present as the Chief Minister video-conferenced with the Divisional Commissioner and the IGP at Gurgaon. The Deputy Commissioners of Gurgaon, Rewari, Narnaul and Faridabad, three sarpanches and two journalists also talked to the Chief Minister from Gurgaon through this facility.

The voices from the other side were clear, though when the Chief Minister spoke, his voice reverberated in the room where two giant television sets and a roving camera were kept for transmission and reception of images and sounds. Mr Chautala asked the Divisional Commissioner, Mr L.M.S. Salins, to give a report on the “Sarkar Aapke Dwar ” programme, while the IGP, Mr R.S. Dalal, was asked to improve the law and order situation.

Mr Chautala asked the the Deputy Commissioner of Faridabad to strictly follow the state government’s policy regarding the employees who were appointed on an ad hoc basis and had now resorted to agitation. He enquired from the Deputy Commissioner, Tewari, about the procurement process while, the Deputy Commissioner, Narnaul, was told by the Chief Minister to ensure the availability of drinking water. To a question put by a scribe from Gurgaon, Mr Chautala said he would like Haryana to be the cyber capital of the country with Gurgaon as its headquarters. Mr Chautala also had interface with three sarpanches, namely Mrs Vidya Devi of Wazirabad, Mr Anil Kumar of Jagatpur and Mr Ram Avtar of Manesar.

Subsequently, the Chief Minister was linked to Haryana Bhavan, New Delhi. Mr Chautala asked the Resident Commissioner, Mr Madhu Sudhan, to fix his meeting with Union Agriculture Minister, Nitish Kumar.

He was then linked to Kurukshetra, where the Chief Minister had a word with the Divisional Commissioner, Ambala, about wheat procurement. Hisar was the next centre in line for an interface with the Chief Minister but the link kept snapping as Mr Chautala felt he had enough video conferencing for a day. Rohtak, which was the fourth divisional headquarters to be linked through video conferencing facility, was not attempted to be connected due to some technical problems.

While at present only the four divisional headquarters and the Haryana Bhavan, New Delhi, have been linked with the Chandigarh centre, Mr Chautala, said that soon the government would try to link the district headquarters through this facility. Thanks to the facility, people would not have to come to Chandigarh for government related-works, the Chief Minister said. He said the facility would be available to the common man soon with the purchase of a mobile e-van which would be going to rural areas as well as to the towns.

Mr S.Y. Quraishi, the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, and also the chairman of the centre for e-governance, requested the Chief Minister to dedicate video conference facility to the people of Haryana. He said there were six state-of-the-art servers and 75 computers in the e-governance centre. A total of 1123 employees as well as ministers and MLAs had been given training in information technology in the centre, he said.

In his welcome address, Mr L M Goyal, Chief Secretary, said the system would curtail expenditure and bring transparency.

An official note issued in this connection said the facility set up at the Video Conferencing Centre at Chandigarh and Cyber Centre, Haryana Bhavan, New Delhi, would have common pool facilities for ministers, secretaries, heads of department and other senior functionaries of the state government.

Through this facility, the Chief Minister would be able to interact with the people of 15 to 20 villages in a single day and the “Sarkar Aapke Dwar ” programme would get a new dimension, the pressnote added. 
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STATE OF EDUCATION-II - A TRIBUNE SURVEY
‘Coaching’ teachers face stick
Y.P. Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh
College lecturers of Haryana, beware! If you give tuitions, you may be in big trouble. After adoption of the UGC model code of conduct for the teaching community in the state, the Haryana Directorate of Higher Education has decided to crack the whip on those teachers of government colleges as well as private government-aided colleges who give tuitions.

The government feels that now when all the demands of the college teachers, including pay scales and other benefits, like pension and arrears recommended by the UGC, have been accepted, the teachers have no case in not giving their best to their institutions and students.

To deal with the lecturers of government colleges is not much of a problem. In case a government teacher is reported to be giving tuitions, he or she can be transferred to some other station. There is no such transfer policy for teachers working in the private government-aided colleges.

The directorate’s efforts to take the help of principals of the private government-aided colleges to check the menace of tuitions have not met with much success. Recently the Income Tax Department raided the premises of an Ambala-based college teacher, known to give tuitions. When the directorate asked for a report from the Principal of the college concerned, he expressed ignorance about the incident or the teacher involved in writing, though the raid was publicised in newspapers. The Principal also informed the directorate that he would not be able to help.

The government feels that when it pays 95 per cent to the private colleges as grant-in-aid, their managements must come forward to help the former in making teachers conscious of their duties towards students.

It is seriously considering a proposal to ask the managements and the principals of private colleges to give a certificate or an affidavit to the effect that no teacher employed by them was giving tuitions, before grant-in-aid was released to them. This step, feels the government, would put pressure on the managements to have control on the teachers.

On an average, the government pays Rs 20,000 per teacher to private colleges as grant-in-aid. It feels that if a teacher is committed and really wants to help his students, he should give free tuitions, which could be done after college hours on the college premises itself.

The teachers engaged in tuitions have already started feeling the heat. According to reports many college teachers have restricted or stopped giving tuitions all together, with the result many students, whose parents can afford it, have started taking tuitions in the neighbouring states.

But the teachers giving tuitions are not likely to give up without a fight. According to informed sources, many of them have joined hands to seek the help of ruling party politicians. The sources say so far the politicians have not shown much inclination to intervene, knowing the interest of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to make the state’s education system meaningful. 
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Sex ratio ‘lowest’ since Independence
Our Correspondent

Sirsa, April 27
Some of the important statistics recorded in the Census Report 2001 of Haryana show that the areas which are considered to be backward have made progressive leaps in the field of female literacy and those areas also have a better sex ratio than the so-called advanced areas. The falling sex ratio in the state has generated concern. According to the latest census, the sex ratio at 861 in the state is the lowest since Independence placing Haryana at the bottom among major states with only Delhi at 820, and Chandigarh and Daman & Diu, Union Territories at 773 and 709, respectably falling behind.

Out of the 19 districts in Haryana, only seven have shown some improvement in the sex ratio. Jind at 15 has jumped from its 18th position in the 1991 census to 12th now. The other districts which have shown improvements in the sex ratio are Gurgaon (3), Faridabad (11), Bhiwani (2), Fatehabad (9), Mahindergarh (9) and Kaithal (1). Karnal maintained the status quo, though it lost its rank by one.

All districts, except Karnal, falling on the Delhi-Chandigarh route have suffered a setback in their position showing a fall in the sex ratio. Although Sonepat showed a decline only by one, Panipat slipped to the 18th place from the 14th with a fall of 22; Kurukshetra stipped to the eighth position from the sixth with a fall of 13 points whereas Ambala showed the highest fall of 34.

Though seven districts have shown an upward trend in the adult sex ratio, it is hardly significant when the sex ratio in the 0-6 age group is taken into account. All these districts have also shown a sharply declining trend like the rest of the districts. Ambala with a fall of 104 has shown the maximum decline in the sex ratio sending out alarm belts to the administration for taking timely action. Jind has also shown a decline of 40. In this category the districts which have recorded lesser falls as compared to the overall fall of the state (59) are Faridabad (28), Gurgaon (32), Hisar (34), Jind (40), Fatehabad (43), Bhiwani (47) and Panchkula (53).

The overall adult sex ratio of Haryana is 861 and only 10 districts, with Mahindergarh leading, have better adult sex ratios. The districts which have better sex ratios are Gurgaon (874), Bhiwani (880), Rewari (901), Fatehabad (886), Sirsa (882), Karnal (864), Yamunanagar (863), Ambala (869) and Kurukshetra (866). Although Mahindergarh with 919 is closest to the national (993) figure, the facts speak otherwise in the 0-6 age group sex ratio with a sharp fall of 78.

As far as women’s literacy is concerned, 15.84 per cent more women in the state are literate than they were in 1991. Thereby, Haryana has improved on the national average by 2.15 per cent. The latest census shows that there are eight districts which have lesser literacy rates than the state. The districts which are below the state average of 56.31 in the field of women literacy are Gurgaon (48.23), Bhiwani (53.5), Hisar (52.09), Fatehabad (46.40), Sirsa (50.31), Jind (48.97), Mahindergarh (54.61) and Kaithal (47.6)

These are the districts where a World Bank District Primary Educational Project (DPEP) has been going on since 1993. The districts namely Sirsa, Hissar, which included Fatehabad at that time, Jind and Kaithal which were taken up in the first phase of this project, have shown the maximum gap in the female literacy. The districts where the DPEP was introduced in the second phase in 1997 are closer to the state literacy rate among women. Hence there is also a need to review the project to ensure maximum utilisation of the borrowed funds.

Although female literacy in the state has improved by 15.84 per cent during the past decade, 10 districts have shown lesser improvement in female literacy than that of the state. These are: Gurgaon (13.35), Faridabad (14.68), Panchkula (13.81), Rewari (14.91), Yamunanagar (13.92), Jhajjar (13.76), Panipat (15.70), Rohtak (14.94), Ambala (11.70) and Kurukshetra (14.20)

Haryana, thus, is advancing towards acquiring an edge as far as the sex ratio is concerned the govt needs to make sure that female foeticide is banned.Top

 

 

Still bearing cross of forefathers
Raman Mohan

Hisar, April 27
Rohnat village, near here, has been paying the price for en masse participation in the country’s First War Independence for the last 144 years. The entire land and all houses belonging to the then residents of the village were confiscated and auctioned in 1857 by the British as a punishment for revolting against them by joining the forces under the command of the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar.

The descendants of the villagers have so far neither been compensated nor their lands have been returned to them. Thus, for all practical purposes they officially continue to be children of “baghis” even after more than five decades of Independence.

The revolutionaries of this village were directed by Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar on May 29, 1857, to attack British forces and capture Hansi, Hisar and Tosham. The villagers brought together revolutionaries of the other neighbouring villages and attacked the three places. They captured the treasury and released the prisoners. The same day these revolutionaries killed 12 high-ranking British officers in Hisar and 11 in Hansi.

In retaliation the British despatched Platoon 14 to the area which let loose a reign of terror in the villages. The British forces set Jamalpur, Kharar, Alipur, Hajampur, Bhatol, Rangran and Mangali villages on fire. Rohnat came in for harsher treatment. The British forces fixed a canon atop a sand dune in Putthi Mangal Khan village and razed Rohnat to the ground. Hundreds of people were burnt to death. Certain surviving revolutionaries were taken to Hansi, 12 km away, and crushed to death under a road-roller.

After the revolution failed, the then Deputy Commissioner of Hisar, William Khuwaja declared Rohnat a “baghi” village on September 14, 1857, and the Tehsildar of Hansi was asked to furnish details of the land in the village to seek permission for auctioning the village. The then Chief Secretary gave the go-ahead on September 13 itself. The entire village land measuring 20,656 bighas and 19 biswas was auctioned on July 20, 1858. Only 13 bighas of land on which a pond was situated were spared.

The land was purchased in the open auction by 61 residents of nearby villages for just Rs 8100. Most of the surviving “baghis” were forced to flee. For 90 years till Independence their descendants lived as outcasts in other places and had problems marrying their children because of the fear of the British.

The descendants of the martyred revolutionaries have been running from pillar to post to seek justice since Independence in 1974. The villagers have since met all Prime Ministers from time to time but the government has failed to give them compensation. In 1966, the then government of joint Punjab identified 57 plots in Hisar Bir for allotment to the affected families. However, that very year, Haryana came into being and the orders remain unimplemented still.

In 1970 the Haryana Government gave Rs 1.25 lakh to the entire village as symbolic compensation. That is all. Some years later, the then Chief Minister announced a compensation of Rs 64.32 lakh to the villagers, but it remains unpaid till date because of “paucity of funds.”

The Shaheed Gaon Rohnat Committee headed by Hav Bhale Singh Boora Arya (retd) is still fighting for justice. The committee was recently asked by the government to supply copies of documents of the auction. After months of searching the documents were found in the regional repository here. These have since been forwarded to the government and further action is still awaited.
Top

Ordinance on vehicle tax okayed
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 27
The Haryana Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, approved an ordinance to levy local area development tax on the entry of motor vehicles purchased outside Haryana and brought into the state for use or sale.

An official spokesman said the rate of the tax would be the difference between the rate of sales tax applicable in Haryana and the sales tax charged in the state from where the vehicle had been purchased.

He said this tax would help check the diversion of trade from Haryana. It would also compensate the loss of legitimate sales tax revenue. Such a tax was already in existence in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra and certain other states, the spokesman claimed.

He said the tax would be charged on motor vehicles which were not more than 15 months old. This would be a one-time levy. If the tax had been paid in any local area, it would not be charged for some other local area or in case of re-entry in the area where it was originally charged.

The spokesman said it had been observed that a number of persons in Haryana took advantage of the lower rate of sales tax in other states while purchasing motor vehicles and deprived Haryana of sales tax revenue. He said while a uniform rate of local sales tax was applicable at the rate of 12 per cent on motor vehicles in the states and union territories, some states were not charging this rate.

Top

 

Student’s appeals fall on deaf ears
K.G. Dutt

Karnal, April 27
The repeated appeals of Nirmala Devi, whose career was ruined by unscrupulous elements running unrecognised private schools, have so far proved to be a cry in the wilderness. Her appeals to the higher authorities in the state during the past two years have so far brought forth no positive response.

Her father, Mr Sohan Veer Singh, has been running from pillar to post to get justice for his distraught daughter. The local authorities seem to have turned a deaf ear to the repeated pleas of both Nirmala Devi and her father. The girl has brought to the notice of the authorities through affidavits that she was a student of Class XII in a privately unrecognised school located at Sector 6 in Karnal.

It was in 1999 that she had appeared for practical examination in physics and moral education in a school located at Bara Gaon village. The owner of the Sector 6 school used to admit students for various classes but when ultimately the examinations of the Haryana School Education Board were held the students were made to appear from the senior secondary school located in Bara Gaon.

This modus operandi was used by the proprietor of the Sector 6 school as it was not a recognised school. While the school in Bara Gaon was recognised. It seems that both the proprietors acted in unison to attract students and then make them appear for the Board examinations from the school which was recognised.

Surprisingly, the practicals of Nirmala Devi in the above mentioned subjects were taken on the same day at the same time and at the same place. There was not even a minute’s differences of the practical examinations as alleged by the girl and her father in different affidavits. To add to the woes of the girl student, she was shown absent in the physics practical examination.

The girl was aghast when the result was declared. She was shown absent in the physics practical examination which was held at the same time, in the same school and on the same date, where the moral education practical was held. She alleged bungling in the whole process.

The students appearing along with the girl had submitted affidavits that Nirmala Devi had appeared in both the practical examinations and was present in the school on that day. The co-examinees who had filed affidavits before the District Consumer Forum include Sushil, Paramjit, Rajesh Kumar, Jasbir Singh and Vijay Singh.

The father of the girl, after the result approached not only the board authorities but also the Haryana Governor, the Chief Minister, the DGP, the Commissioner, Rohtak Division, the SP, Karnal, and a number of other officials of the Haryana School Education Board at Bhiwani to seek justice.

Mr Sohan Veer Singh maintained the education board at Bhiwani conducted an inquiry in the case on August 18, 1999. The inquiry was conducted by Mr H.L. Oberoi.

Sadly, the contents of the inquiry report have not been brought to the notice of either the girl or her father. The father has also made allegations against the proprietor of the school at Bara Gaon.

Mr Sohan Veer Singh has all relevant records, including the receipts of school fees, the examination fee, the monthly bus fee which he used to pay and the photographs of his daughter along with her co-students in the school.

Though the girl had to lose two precious years yet the powers that be are sitting tight on such bunglings.
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Strikes in HAU campus banned
Our Correspondent

Hisar, April 27
The Civil Judge (Senior Division) Mr Sanjeev Kumar has imposed an interim ban on strike or taking out of procession in and around Haryana Agricultural University campus.

According to the order the ban will be enforced till May 1.

Students of College of Agriculture have been agitating for the introduction of agriculture as a subject at the school level for the past several days.

The university authorities had filed a petition against Rajender Sharma and Bijender Sharma, former presidents of the HAU Students’ Union and eight other student leaders for creating trouble in the campus.

They alleged that the agitators were disturbing the peaceful atmosphere of the university by taking out procession inside the campus and locking the gates of the colleges forcefully.

Seeking a ban on the agitators’ activities in the university the authorities had alleged that these students were also blocking traffic on the gates of the university, which had been causing inconvenience to commuters too. The authorities had also expressed fear that the agitators might damage university property.

The court issued notice to these student leaders for May 1 for filing reply in this regard.

Meanwhile the students today took out procession from the university gate number 4 to the mini-secretariat and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. They raised slogans against the state government and university authorities. They also held a meeting there.

Addressing the agitators their leaders alleged that the authorities had adopted undemocratic ways against their agitation. They said that a delegation of the students would meet the Human Rights Commission soon. The delegation would register a complaint against the university authorities. The delegation would apprise the commission of their eviction from hostels by the university officials. 
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Power station fire causes Rs 3 cr loss

Faridabad, April 27
The fire which broke out at unit three of the thermal power station here yesterday causing a loss of over Rs 3 crore has “exposed” the “seriousness” of the authorities regarding safety measures and preventive action at such units.

The fire completely destroyed a transformer of the unit at this plant. While the exact cause of the fire is being investigated it is learnt that a short circuiting and poor condition of a transformer led to it. The incident led to the loss of generation of about 10 lakh units of power daily which means a lot to this industrial town where daily consumption of electricity is around 50 lakh units daily.

The residents are likely to witness more load shedding and power cuts while the mercury has already been hovering over 40°C.

According to Thermal Power Plant and Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) sources, replacement of the burnt transformer and other equipment could take a month. The expenditure on the damage and replacement charge could total up to Rs 5 crore, sources said. This is perhaps for the first time that a transformer of this size had been burnt down at a power generation unit a senior official of the HVPN said.

When contacted the Superintending Engineer of the Dakshin Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (DHBVN) Mr V.K. Aggarwal said: The main reason of the fire is not known at this stage, but it could have been due to some internal fault besides the fact that the equipment had been very old. He claimed that other transformers were saved due to prompt action. But on other hand sources revealed that fire fighting system at the plant had been nearly outdated and the plant had no foam based fire fighting equipment to deal with chemical fire like this. It is learnt that fire tenders were rushed from nearby Air-Force station and some industrial units like Escorts. The district Fire Department office is reported to be in a pathetic state due to shortage of fire tenders and equipment. The authorities have to depend on fire tenders of private companies or Air-Force station in case of fire incident. It is stated that if preventive measures were followed, such an incident could have been avoided.
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Police remand for magistrate
Vipin Sharma

Rohtak, April 27
Mr R.S. Chahal, City Magistrate, Kaithal, was remanded today in police custody till May 3 by a court in Jhajjar.

He was arrested from his office yesterday by the Jhajjar police on the basis of prima facie evidence of his involvement in an inter-state scandal of fake registration of stolen vehicles.

He was charged with preparing fake registration of nearly 100 stolen vehicles in liaison with agents and a case under Sections 420, 468, 471, 379 and 120-B of the IPC was registered against him.

Mr Mohammad Akeel, SP, Jhajjar, said as many as 15 vehicles had been recovered and seven suspects arrested. He admitted that cases of fake registration of vehicles had been detected in some other towns also. He said during interrogation, the suspects disclosed that they belonged to a gang which was operating in different states. The suspects revealed that they used to steal vehicles, especially Maruti cars, from Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat and sold them as new vehicles by preparing forged documents in connivance with registration officials.

According to sources, several HCS officials posted in different towns in the state might face the music as the suspects arrested had admitted links with certain government officials.

The SP, Jhajjar, said eight teams had been constituted to investigate the scandal. He said dozens of stolen vehicles were likely to be recovered with the arrest of other members of the gang soon.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of Police, Mr M.S. Malik, has summoned a detailed report from the Jhajjar and Sonepat police. The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had reportedly entrusted the inquiry to the CID yesterday.
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4 castes included in BCs’ list
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 27
The Haryana Government has decided to include four new castes ,including one from the Muslim community, in the list of Backward Classes in the state.

The state Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, accepted the recommendations of the Haryana Second Backward Classes Commission to include four castes, namely (i) Rangrez, also known as Lilgar, Nilgar and Lallari (ii) Dawala, also known as Soni-Dawala and Nyaaria (iii) Bhar, also known as Rajbhar and (iv) Nat (Muslim) in the list of Backward Classes. These castes have been added to the Backward Classes block ‘A’ list.

The existing list of Backward Classes did not have all names of the already listed castes. The Cabinet tried to improve upon the list at the meeting.Top

 

SUCI workers hold protest march
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, April 27
Workers of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) took out a protest march on Wednesday to mark the foundation day of the party.

Carrying placards and raising slogans, they marched through the main markets of the city and reached Sir Chhotu Ram Dharamshala at Kath Mandi, the venue of the public meeting.

The meeting was addressed, among others, by Mr Ashutosh Bannerjee, a member of the national executive committee and Mr Hari Parkash, secretary of the state unit of the party. They criticised the alleged anti-people policies of the Central Government and alleged that the BJP-led NDA government had failed to meet the people’s demands and control the price rise in the country.

They also condemned the privatisation move of the government and warned that the Left parties would continue their struggle against it.
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Complainant told to pay Rs 1,000
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, April 27
The District Consumers Dispute Redressal Forum here has directed a complainant to pay Rs 1,000 as compensation to the respondent for filing a false complaint.

Ram Dutt Sharma, a resident of Teontha village in the district, had filed a complaint before the forum alleging that he had purchased an LML scooter from a local dealer M/s Aggarwal Motors on July 1, 1999, and he noticed a manufacturing defect of leakage of fuel. He demanded compensation from the opposite parties.

In the case, the manufacturer did not appear. However, the local dealer pointed out that the defect was removed and no charges recovered from the complainant and in token of this, he had signed a satisfaction card.

The three-member Forum, presided by Mr H.K. Mudgil and comprising Asha Bindlish and Joginder Singh as members, unanimously decided to dismiss the complaint. 
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S.N. Roy is Sonepat DC
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, April 27
Mr S.N. Roy took over the charge of the Deputy Commissioner here yesterday. He replaces Mr Sudhir Rajpal, who has been transferred to Chandigarh. A farewell party was given in honour of the outgoing Deputy Commissioner at Police Lines here on Wednesday. Mr Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, Superintendent of Police, presented a memento to Mr Sudhir Rajpal on the occasion.
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Kaithal to have watchdog panel
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, April 27
A watchdog committee will be constituted to keep a watch on the on-going developmental works to identify the problems being faced by citizens and suggest ways to finding solution. This was announced by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Phateh Singh Dagar, while addressing mediapersons here on Wednesday, after taking charge. He said to ensure transparency in the functioning of the administration and various government departments, representation to different sections of the society would be given, so that the public felt their involvement in the decisions taken.
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Sonepat trust revived
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 27
The Haryana Government has revived the Improvement Trust of Sonepat and appointed its Chairman and members. While giving this information here yesterday, an official spokesman said the Chairman of the trust would be Mr Arun Gupta and the members would include Mr Hari Parkash Mandal and Mr Ram Phal Thakur. Ms Manju Bala (ward no. 8) and Mr Madal Lal (ward no. 9) would be the municipality members of the trust.
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