Karnal, October 28
For more than a month now a viral fever, suspected to be encephalitis, has claimed 90 lives in the paddy belts of northern Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.

Many teams of the Union Ministry of Health, comprising paediatricians and virologists, have been studying an epidemic-like situation in both states. However, the killer disease was yet to be established at the clinical level in Haryana while Uttar Pradesh has made a little breakthrough by identifying one of the viruses that was possibly responsible for a few of the recent deaths due to high fever.

Even as the symptoms of fever suggest Japanese encephalitis or brain fever, not even a single case has yet been established in Haryana and the districts of Saharanpur and Mujaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh with the fact that the reports of clinical tests were being kept in the laboratories for months.

Past experiences show that it has been a recurring trend in the paddy belts but the local authorities never respond properly. Last year also, more than 200 deaths were reported during the same season from western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

It appears to be that the respective district administrations, officials of the Public Health Department and Local Bodies were completely unprepared during the current season to tackle the situation. Had these government agencies prepared themselves for preventive measures by launching an awareness campaign and a cleanliness drive, the situation would have been a little better.

The presence of a fairly large population of dairy animals and unhygienic conditions creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes in the rural areas of the region has raised the level of concern among the public. The complete failure of the authorities to take adequate steps in this connection indicates an abdication of responsibility in the job.

After the deaths were reported in the media, the senior authorities were trying to conceal the facts by giving completely off the track statements irrespective of the growing panic among the public.

Above all, the most important matter of concern arising out of the situation was that neither Haryana nor Uttar Pradesh has a single specialised testing facility to enable the health authorities to diagnose the disease in time so that a speedy preventive action could be taken. They depend either on the National Institute of Virology, Pune, or the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi, for diagnosing the viruses.

With the ever-increasing population, small states like Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal could establish a joint regional laboratory with ultra-modern facilities to tackle the disease.

Two more die in Karnal

Two more deaths were reported in the district due to viral fever during the past 24 hours taking the total death toll to 16 in Karnal. Bunti (4), son of Jeet Ram of Tikri Kailash village, near here, was brought to the district Civil Hospital on Tuesday evening for treatment. He died late last night. The District Malaria Officer, Dr D.P. Goel, said they were trying to establish the exact cause behind the death.

In another case, Suman (25), daughter of Mahinder of Sita Mai village of Nilokheri sub-division, Karnal district, died in the PGI, Chandigarh, this morning. She was suffering from high fever for the past few days.

Kurukshetra, October 28
Four-day state-level Haryana Day celebrations were inaugurated by Mr Satbir Kadian, Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, in the university auditorium here today.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Kadian, chief guest, recounted how after coming into existence as a separate state in 1966, Haryana had made tremendous progress in the filed of education, industry, transport, irrigation, health and social welfare.

He also appreciated the efforts of Kurukshetra University for reviving the ancient culture of Haryana. In the presentation of Haryanvi cultural programmes, the use of modern instruments, of music should be encouraged, he advised.

The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Dr A.K. Chawla, said there was a lot common between the cultures of Punjab and Haryana and an attempt should be made to integrate the two to make them more colourful. The artistic talent today had a professional value as job opportunities were abundant in films, TV theatre and modelling, he added.

Dr Chawla urged the young artistes to keep honing their talent and bring fame to Haryana. He extended his good wishes to the participants in the celebrations success and congratulated the gathering on Haryana Day.

The Director of the Youth and Cultural Affair Department, Kurukshetra University, Mr Anoop Lather, welcomed the chief guest and gave a brief account of how Kurukshetra University had come to be known as the confluence of cultural programmes on Haryana Day since 1966.

The Dean, Students Welfare, Dr R.K. Sabharwal, proposed a vote of thanks for the chief guest, the Vice-Chancellor, the Registrar and all other distinguished guests and participants.

Agroha (Hisar), October 28
Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has announced that Agroha will soon be linked to the railway network. He said a survey would be conducted for the purpose in the next three months.

Mr Yadav was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the annual Sharad Poornima fair at Agroha dham today. Appreciating the contribution of the Agarwal community towards strengthening economy, he exhorted them to work for the uplift of the downtrodden. He compared Maharaj Aggarsain with Mahatma Buddha.

Earlier, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President was welcomed at the Hisar airport by several members of his party holding lanterns, their party symbol. Talking to mediapersons at the airport, Mr Yadav said Mr Lal Krishan Advani had been made BJP chief owing to the “frustration and depression” in the party.

He said this had again exposed the real face of the BJP. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was “not happy with this development,” he added.

At Agroha, the minister lamented the increasing vulgarity in movies and various satellite channels. “One cannot enjoy a film with one’s family these days,” he remarked. The RJD chief maintained that Ms Rabri Devi had been made Chief Minister of Bihar to emphasise the importance of women power.

Mr Yadav delivered a long speech, which he himself termed a “discourse.” He hailed the sacrifice made by the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, by not accepting the post of Prime Minister.

Union minister P.C. Gupta, Hisar MLA O.P. Jindal, Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, Zee TV’s Laksmi Goenka and Agroha Vikas Trust general secretary Bajrang Dass Garg were among those present on the occasion.

Before the arrival of the chief guest, magician Samrat Shankar entertained the gathering.

Rewari, October 28
The state Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) chief, Mr Lalit Kumar Gautam, said here today that the LJP was gearing up to provide a viable alternative to the people of Haryana who were now fed up with the dynastic as well as self- centric politics of the three Lals.

Addressing a press conference here today he claimed that the people’s response in almost all 75 Assembly constituencies which the LJP’s rath yatra covered during the past 45 days was warm and encouraging. People now wanted to get rid of those political parties who had brazenly fostered politics of nepotism and casteism during the past 25 years.

Elated at the success of the LJP’s Hisar and Karnal rallies (held on October 3 and October 17 respectively ) Mr Gautam informed that the rath yatra, which entered Rewari today, would cover the remaining 15 Assembly segments in the next two weeks.

The LJP’s third and final rally will be held on November 14, at Faridabad which will be addressed by the LJP’s national president and Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Mr Ram Bilas Paswan.

He further informed that the LJP would contest all 90 Assembly seats, the party nominees for which would be identified and groomed through a phased and meticulous exercise.

Criticising the policies being pursued by the BSP supremo Ms Mayawati the state LJP chief alleged that instead of serving the interests of the Dalit samaj, she was doing disservice to it.

Making mention of the treatment being meted out to the veteran leader Mr Kanshi Ram, Mr Gautam, on humanitarian grounds demanded, Mr Kanshi Ram to be examined by a panel of the doctors of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences ( AIIMS ) , New Delhi. He also wanted the National Human Rights Commission to take cognisance of the matter, as it was something grave.

Chandigarh, October 28
A former Haryana Congress President and MP from Rohtak, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today demanded a high-level inquiry into the procurement of paddy in the state by a neutral agency.

Mr Hooda, who visited several mandis of the state to have a first-hand knowledge of the problems being faced by the growers in the paddy procurement operations recently, alleged in a statement issued here that the irregularities in the paddy procurement this year was no less than the infamous Telgi stamp scam.

He alleged that the paddy growers were not getting the minimum support price (Msp) of their produce. Though they were getting receipts of the Msp of either Rs 590 per quintal or Rs 560 per quintal depending upon the variety of paddy, in reality they were being paid anything from Rs 500 to Rs 520 a quintal. The difference, he alleged, was being pocketed by persons enjoying political patronage.

Mr Hooda said because of the anti-farmer policies of the INLD Government a marginal farmer owning land up to four acre could never aspire to have a tubewell connection. Earlier, the government was charging Rs 20,000 per pole for releasing a tubewell connections, while now these had been fixed at Rs 1 lakh lump sum for each connection.

He said even if a farmer raised a loan of Rs 1 lakh, the government was not in a position to immediately release the tubewell connection. The government claimed to have released 36,000 connections till March 31, 2004, while its own documents revealed that in the past over four years, only 17,645 connections were released.

Mr Hooda also criticised the Chautala Government for not protecting the interests of those cane growers who supplied their produce to the private sugar mills in the state.

Jhajjar, October 28
A 14-years-old boy was killed and eight others were injured in an accident between a Maruti van and a tempo near Chhuchhakwas village in the district today.

According to information, the family of the deceased, Vikram, was returning to their village, Koyalpur, in a van from Gurgaon when a tempo coming from opposite direction collided with the van. While Vikram died on the way to hospital, eight other family members, Mahender, Vikas, Seema, Satish, Sanny, Priyanka, Neelam and driver of the vehicle Paleram, were referred to the PGIMS at Rohtak in serious condition.

The police registered a case against the driver of the tempo, Sunder Singh, a resident of Jahajgarh and arrested him.

Ambala, October 28
The Bharatiya Janata Party state secretary, Mr M.L. Sarwan, said today that the party was making a dedicated effort to reach out to Backward Classes.

Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Sarwan said earlier the BJP had not been able to establish a communication link with the Backward Classes. “The BJP is a non-communal, non-casteist party, but failed to establish a communication channel with the Backward Classes,” he said.

Mr Sarwan said now the RSS and the BJP were reaching out to the Backward Classes and celebrating Valmiki Divas was an example.

Ambala, October 28
A committee headed by the Ambala Cantonment MLA, Mr Anil Vij, has forwarded its suggestions regarding amendment to the Cantonment Board Act.

Among others, Mr A.K. Rajvanshi, Mr S.C. Bhatnagar, Mr Dalip Mittal, Mr Jagmohan Sharma, Mr Bhoop Singh and Mr Ajay Baweja are members of the committee.

Mr Vij said there should be 33 per cent reservation for women. He said taxes on residents of the Cantonment area should be in accordance with the state government taxation. He suggested that the MLA and the MP should be made members of the Cantonment Board and they should have voting rights.