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Thursday,
May 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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BKU condition for cops’ release Get me released, DSP pleads CM warns anti-social elements Hooda dares Chautala HVP seeks Chautala’s ouster |
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| Bhajan may be Haryana PCC chief New Delhi, May 22 Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal tops the list of leaders being considered by the Congress high-command for appointment as the new PCC chief in the state. Divorced to get united Grant for publication of Urdu books hiked HC judge visits district courts Haryana to build more houses for employees A fusion of East and
West
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BKU condition for cops’ release Kandela, May 22 “More than 70 BKU activists are currently in jail. The state government must release them first if they want us to free the two police officers and other hostages”, Mr Nain told TNS. Hundreds of BKU supporters in groups of 20 to 30 are also roaming about in the streets of this village weilding lathis, spears, swords and other weapons. The police could be found at Kithana, which is about 20 km from Kandela. The stretch between Kithana and Kandela and beyond has no presence of police or any other representative of the state administration and is completely under the control of the BKU. In two places on this stretch trees have been uprooted and used to block road to stop vehicular traffics from passing through the area. Vehicles can get past this barricades by climbing down to the agricultural land lying below the road and then climbing up on the road again when it is free from such obstacles. Mr Nain, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by the Haryana Police and even a reward has been announced for anyone facilitating his arrest, is moving about with impunity in this territory. He takes part in the meetings being held round the clock in a school compound at Kandela on the issue of “Chautala’s betrayal of farming community”. The BKU chief, surrounded by his supporters, talked to TNS in one of the houses of the village. He said their demand was writing off of all pending power bills of the farmers. As for the fresh electricity dues, Mr Nain said the BKU wanted rationalisation of the agricultural tariff structure. According to the BKU chief, the subsidy given in power supply to the agricultural sector was also a myth. He claimed that for most of the major power-generation plants in the region, money had been taken from the farmers. “ For instance a sum of Rs 136 crore was given by the Agricultural Marketing Board for the construction of the Panipat thermal plant. Then in December 1996, the AMB gave Rs 36 crore to the state government for better supply of power”, he said. The BKU leaders assembled at Kandela also showed a paper, signed allegedly by Mr Ajay Chautala, MP, and Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, Agriculture Minister of Haryana, which was stated to be the ‘Kandela agreement’ singed between the Haryana Government and the BKU on January 31 following the earlier agitation by farmers at Kandela in December. “Mr Ajay Chautala had agreed in the document that he would come to Kandela on March 1 and sort out the issue of pending bills but he did not keep his word. The power situation in the village was abominable so why should the villages give money to the Haryana Power Utilities, Mr Nain asked. He added that the government had already backed off from the agreement signed on January 31, therefore how could the villagers trust their words that situation would improve if they cleared their pending bills. While claiming that Mr Chautala did promise free power and water to farmers in his election speeches during the last Assembly election, Mr Nain and his comrades also fumed at the Opposition. “ They must do more for our agitation and not simply confine themselves to issuing statements”, he said. “All 29 villages of the Kandela Khaap are supporting our agitation — we are ready for any eventuality. We believe in non-violence but the Jats are also a martial caste who will not remain meek spectators if attempts are made to rough them up”, Mr Nain said. |
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Get me released, DSP pleads Kandela, May 22 Mr Nagar, DSP, Panchkula, who was taken hostage along with his wife Rajwanti and his gunman, Amrik Singh, by BKU activists on May 20, said the authorities were apparently under the assumption that he had deliberately fallen into the clutches of BKU. “They are assuming this because I hail from Khandhokheri village of Jind, which is also the ancestral village of a senior BKU leader. But they must understand that it is not a friendly match. Who knows what will happen to us if the agitation is not amicably settled”, a visibly nervous Mr Nagar said. He said he had talked to the Range IGP after being taken hostage, but the IGP reportedly asked him why he went to the village despite knowing about the trouble going on in that area and than hung up the phone without further conversation. Mr Nagar, who has been held captive along with his wife in some house of the village, said he was going to Jind to appear as a witness in a case when he was taken hostage at Kandela. His gunmen Amrik Singh, who has been kept on the ground floor of the same house, was wearing uniform and therefore there was no trouble in identifying him as a police officer. His wife Rajwanti, who was on the verge of tears, said her husband might be from a village of that area but in the prevalent mood of the villagers such
sentiments would be of no value. Mr Nagar said his captors would not object to setting his wife free but initially she did not want to go leaving her husband at the mercy of the BKU agitators. “Finally she has agreed to go to Panchkula where our two children are staying”, Mr Nagar said. (The BKU supporters assembled in the room were in fact decided to put the woman in a press correspondent’s car to be dropped at Panchkula but later changed their mind and said that she would be released formally by BKU leaders). “We are moved from one place to another. We have no freedom to talk or to go out”, Mr Nagar said. He said they were coming to Jind in a taxi which was damaged by the mob when they were taken hostage. “I asked the BKU activists to release the driver but he is probably still in the village as he cannot go leaving his car here”, the police officer said. |
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CM warns anti-social elements Chandigarh, May 22 The Chief Minister was replying to questions of mediapersons after laying the foundation stone of Nirman Sadan Haryana in Sector 33 here today. He said if these anti-social elements did not desist from confronting the government, it would be forced to deal with them with an iron hand. The government, he said, could not be a mere spectator to incidents of kidnapping of government officials and burning of vehicles and a police post. He said it appeared that such elements had no faith in the rich Indian cultural heritage as they had kept even women and children in illegal confinement. Mr Chautala appealed to the farmers to avail themselves of the new liberal scheme of paying only one-fourth of the arrears of power bills to get three quarters of the arrears waived as its date would not be extended beyond May 31. He urged them not to be misled by anti-social elements and pay their arrears by May 31. The government would take action against those not clearing their dues by the end of this month. While taking exception to the statements of the Haryana Pradesh Congress president, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, inciting farmers not to pay their bills, Mr Chautala said that it was an offence to ask someone not to pay for the services. Mr Hooda should not mislead responsible citizens and that too at a time when he himself had been paying electricity bills. He said it was wrong to say that two persons had died as a result of the police action at Kandela. One of them had died due to cardiac arrest and the other, Ram Sarup of Shimla village, because of an injury caused by a sharp edged weapon. Mr Chautala said leaders of the opposition were bent upon disturbing the peace in the state. They had even offered liquor to the anti-social elements who resorted to violence. They also attacked a police post at Nagura and the injured included a Deputy Superintendent of Police, a Sub-Inspector and a constable.
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Hooda dares Chautala Chandigarh, May 22 Mr Hooda said here that Mr Chautala had challenged him to give such a call and now he had accepted the Chief Minister’s challenge. He was prepared for any action against him by Mr Chautala but he would not stop fighting for the cause of the farmers. He said the credibility of the government was at stake because it had backtracked from the agreement which was signed on its behalf by the Agriculture Minister, Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, and the INLD MP, Mr Ajay Singh Chautala, who also happened to be the President of the youth wing of the ruling party. Blaming Mr Chautala squarely for the present situation under which the farmers were not paying their electricity dues, Mr Hooda said the farmers were instigated by the INLD leader for doing so when he was in the Opposition. He said it was the responsibility of the government to hold negotiations with the agitating farmers. It must release all arrested farmers so that an atmosphere conducive for holding talks with the farmers was created. Mr Hooda also demanded a package of concessions for those who had been paying their electricity dues regularly. He said his party would organise a “kisan mahasammelan” at Sonepat on June 23 for chalking out a strategy to defend the interests of the farmers. He alleged that Mr Chautala entered into an agreement with the BKU in January in view of the impending Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, where the INLD planned to field its candidates in a large number.
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HVP seeks Chautala’s ouster Hisar, May 22 Addressing newspersons here, he said senior police officers were being taken hostage by agitators, which showed that the law and machinery in the state had collapsed. The writ of the government no longer ran in several parts of the state, where villagers were running a parallel government. The government had neither the will nor the capacity to enforce law and order in these areas. The HVP leader said during the past four days, agitators posing as farmers had taken two DSPs and four other police officials as hostages in Jind and Rohtak districts. As a result, law and order had collapsed. The roads had been blocked by the agitators, who were not allowing anyone to cross the barricades they had put up. The government was just watching the situation as a bystander. He, however, clarified that by saying so, he was not supporting the agitators. Explaining his stand, he said these were political elements posing as farmers. He said the dispute was about payment of domestic power bills and not of tubewell bills. This clearly indicated that farmers were not involved in the stir. He blamed the Chief Minister for the problem because he said Mr Chautala, while in the opposition, had himself incited farmers against paying their power bills. He had promised to waive off the arrears and supply water and power free of cost to farmers if he came to power. This was the root of the problem, Mr Kanwal Singh said. He also criticised the government for its plans to abolish the slab system for tubewell power tariff. |
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Bhajan may be Haryana PCC chief New Delhi, May 22 Sources said the change might take place by the end of this month and could precede change of PCC chiefs in states like Uttar Pradesh. A new PCC chief has to be appointed in Punjab also. The high-command had been contemplating change in PCC leadership for some time due to string of reverses suffered by the party in the byelections held in Haryana. The party had also lost badly in the last Lok Sabha elections in the state. Sources said Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda had completed almost five years as PCC chief and the party rank and file was also feeling the need for a change. Former PCC chief Birender Singh and Mr O.P. Jindal, MLA, were among the other candidates being considered for appointment as PCC chief. If Mr Bhajan Lal becomes the PCC chief, Mr Hooda could be made CLP leader in a swap of roles between the two. But in case of Mr Birender Singh becoming the PCC chief, there would be a wider reshuffle with an AICC assignment likely for Mr Hooda. Congress President Sonia Gandhi would take a final decision on the new PCC chief after she meets leaders from the state who would be in the capital for the May 24 AICC session.
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Divorced
to get united Hisar, May 22 Hundreds of couples who were posted in different districts have exploited the provision by seeking divorce and then getting their spouses transferred to the same district as their’s so they could stay together and enjoy the marital bliss. There has been a virtual ban on inter-district transfer of certain categories of teachers for the past several years. These include JBT, Sanskrit, Hindi and classical and vernacular categories. The reason being that the number of teachers being very high, there was tremendous pressure on politicians for transfers every year. The lists became unmanageable and these transfers put a heavy burden on the exchequer. Besides, since not everyone could be accommodated, politicians ended up annoying more people than they could please. Ultimately, citing administrative reasons inter-district transfers were banned except in rare cases. However, fresh recruitments continued to be made all these years. These incumbents were posted in districts far from their homes wherever such posts were available. Over the years, these teachers got married. Most of them married fellow teachers in the hope that they could manage postings in one district so they could stay together. But this was not to be because the ban remained in force. Meanwhile, in 1997 the government permitted transfer of divorced and widowed school mistresses to places near their homes. The idea was that such unfortunate individuals be shifted to places where they could stay with their parents or other relatives. This led to a sudden increase in the number of suits for divorce filed in several districts, especially Rohtak, Sirsa, Hisar and Sonepat. This was so because a few years earlier hundreds of teachers had been recruited from these districts and posted outside their home districts where vacancies were available. These teachers invariably sought divorce by mutual consent to expedite settlement of the suit. Many magistrates were even approached to expedite the divorce since applications for such transfers could only be moved once a year at the time of general transfers. Inquiries reveal that more than 250 couples have sought divorce for this purpose. Mercifully, they are now together and happily married divorce notwithstanding. But they are beginning to feel the pinch now. The hasty divorces have created legal and other problems for them. Most of them bore children after divorce. This has created obvious legal problems for such children as legally they were born out of wedlock. Besides, being legally divorced, these couples are unable to show their spouses as their nominees in banks, insurance policies and other service benefits. Likewise, banks do not take into account the earnings of both spouses to calculate the amount of house- building loans. Yet, Haryanvis can always find a way out. One by one such divorced couples are now remarrying their divorced spouses to solve these problems. Such a remarriage can not result in transfer of the wife since there is no ban on remarrying your divorced spouse. |
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Grant for publication of Urdu books hiked Chandigarh, May 22 This decision was taken by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, while presiding over the general body meeting of the Haryana Urdu Academy here today. Mr Chautala is also the Chairman of the academy. The Chief Minister decided to constitute a committee under the chairmanship of the Minister of State for Education, Mr Bahadur Singh, to guide the research and to draft a specific agenda for the functioning of the academy in the changing scenario. The committee would also prepare the annual calendar for the activities of the academy. The members of the committee include the Vice-Chancellors of Kurukshetra University and Maharshi Dayanand University and an eminent poet, Dr Naresh. The general body decided to appoint the Education Minister senior vice-chairman of the Executive Council of the academy. The general body decided to enhance the grant-in-aid being given for the publication of books. It would be up to 75 per cent of the cost of publication or up to Rs 10,000, whichever was less. The amount of cash award for published books was increased from up to Rs 4,000 to up to Rs 7,000. It was decided that a sanskriti bhavan would be set up in the Shri Mata Mansa Devi Shrine complex in Panchkula, near here, to house offices of the Haryana Sahitya Academy, the Haryana Urdu Academy and the Haryana Punjabi Academy.
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HC judge visits district courts Ambala, May 22 Later, he addressed a meeting of the Bar Association, Ambala cantonment. The president of the association, Mr Davender Bansal, said that the bar and the Bench were supplementary and complementary to each other. He requested the judge that the number of local courts should be increased as the load of work had enhanced during the past several years. Mr Justice Jasbir Singh also met the people in PWD Rest House at Ambala city to hear their grievances. The Citizen Council, Ambala cantonment, led by its president, Mr N.C. Jain, submitted a memorandum to the judge.
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Haryana
to build more houses for employees Chandigarh, May 22 This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, while talking to mediapersons after laying the foundation stone of Nirman Sadan Haryana in Sector 33 here to house the offices of the Public Works Department (Building and Roads) and the Chief Architect. Nirman Sadan would be spread over an area of 3.22 acres and constructed at a cost of Rs 6.50 crore in a phased manner. Mr Chautala said that the state government would construct buildings on all those plots which it owned in Chandigarh. Mr Chautala said that the plot to construct Nirman Sadan had been lying vacant since 1988. The state government had already started the construction of MLA Flats in the city.
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A fusion of East and
West Ambala, May 22 Organised in collaboration with Phoenix Club last night, the fashion event “Walk N Rock 2002” was held to mark the fourth passing out batch of the institute. A major attraction of the show was Gladrag Mega Model 2002 Simran Sachdeva. The show was divided into eight sequences. The fashion show began with “Ada” round displaying the Indian tradition of saris beautifully done up with block printing. The second round included skirts and tops in frills inspired from the “Colours of Life”. The third round expressed the harmony of “Body n Soul” through lehengas while the fourth round inspired from the wild West included a blend of “Tenderness of Nets and Toughness of Denims”. A mixture of khadis and tie & dye was the inspiration behind “Charkha” round which was followed by the “Executive Round” designed by the second year students creating a chessboard on the ramp. Ethnic wear of Rajasthan formed the “Banjara Round”. The final round consisted of evening gowns reflecting the essence of fashion.
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Pay disbursement on May 31 Chandigarh, May 22
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