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Chautala abused power for personal gains, says Chhatarpal
CLP plans no-trust motion against Chautala
Mid-day meals: Congress to take up issue with HRD Minister
Haryana plans board for old, infirm
Police fails to nab wheat scam accused
Law remained unmoved
as litigant was mowed down
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Second language status for
Punjabi demanded
Registration of FIR in Rangiya Mandi case ordered
CJM Duggal dead
M.S. Saini Chairman of HPSC
Snag in three units of thermal station
HIV cases cause concern
Inter-school drawing competition
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Chautala abused power for personal gains,
Hisar, November 30 Prof Chhatarpal Singh levelled several serious allegations against Mr Chautala and his two sons at a news conference here today. He said the Chief Minister had taken loans to the tune of Rs 40,000 crore, putting the state under a mammoth financial burden. The Congress leader alleged that a major chunk of the funds received for various development purposes had been pocketed by Mr Chautala and his sons. The tall claims regarding the development of the state were hollow and baseless, he said, adding that the exercise was merely an eyewash. The former minister cited the example of the village development committees which were first formed and later disbanded by the Chief Minister. He said the INLD loyalists were made office-bearers of these committees. He remarked that the money spent by these committees was kept out of the purview of audit, which indicated the intentions of the Chautala regime. Prof Chhatarpal Singh alleged that as the chairman of the high-powered purchase committee of the Haryana Government, Mr Chautala made crores of rupees by way of commission in the purchase of power and other things. He stated that the Chief Minister took 10 per cent commission in various construction works for which no open tenders were ever called. The Congress leader maintained that Mr Chautala had usurped Rs 8 crore raised from the state residents to bail out former Fiji Premier Mahender Chaudhary. He termed the toll tax barriers near Khanak as “goonda tax barriers”, alleging that these were illegal. Prof Chhatarpal Singh asserted that the Devi Lal Trust established by the Chautala family was a means to accommodate their “benami” property worth crores of rupees. He demanded that the Chautala government be dismissed at the earliest and criminal proceedings initiated against Mr Chautala and his sons. |
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CLP plans no-trust motion against Chautala
Chandigarh, November 30 At a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) held here today, it was decided to bring a no-confidence motion against the Chautala Government in the winter session so that party MLAs could get sufficient time to highlight various acts “omission and commission” of the government. However, it is not known if the no-confidence motion would be moved tomorrow or day after. Prominent among those who participated in the meeting were a former Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal; the Haryana Congress president, Mr Bhajan Lal; and the officiating Leader of the CLP, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav. Later, Mr Bhajan Lal and Capt Yadav met the Governor and submitted him a memorandum against the Chautala Government. Another team of Congress leaders led by Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, a former Haryana Congress president, met the Election Commission of India in Delhi and submitted a memorandum similar to the one submitted to the Governor here. The Youth Congress president, Mr Randeep Surjewala; a former MP, Mr Surender Singh, and the Congress MLA from Palwal, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, accompanied Mr Surjewala to the commission. In the two memorandums, the Congress urged the Governor and the Election Commission not to allow the Chautala Government to hold the panchayat and municipal elections in the state before the next Assembly elections. The Congress said the panchayat elections before the Assembly elections would give an undue advantage to the ruling party as these grassroot level elections would act like an “exit poll”. They would also divide the community and could lead to large-scale violence. The party also accused the Chief Minister of announcing several schemes with an eye on the Assembly elections. There was no budgetary provision for these schemes nor there was any
financial sanction. The Election Commission was urged to announce the elections at an early date so that the code of conduct could come into force. The memorandums also alleged that the government was recruiting persons without following proper procedures. Capt Yadav later told newsmen that the party would bring an adjournment motion on the law and order situation in the state. He said the party also planned to bring a number of call attention motions. He said his colleagues would endeavour to put the chargesheet submitted by the Congress to the Governor against the Chief Minister recently on the record of the Vidhan Sabha. Capt Yadav, however, did not disclose the party plan to bring the no-confidence motion against the government. It is learnt that during the debate on the motion, the Congress MLAs would try to read chapters from the chargesheet so that its contents would go on the record of the House. He said his party would oppose tooth and nail if the government re-introduced the three Bills returned by the Governor to the House for reconsideration. |
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Mid-day meals: Congress to take up issue with HRD Minister
Chandigarh, November 30 The officiating Leader of Opposition, Capt Ajay Yadav (retd), said that the CLP, at its meeting today, had decided to move only one call attention motion during this session of the Vidhan Sabha. “We want an answer from the government on how officials of the department concerned could be careless enough to give substandard meals to school children,” he said. Capt Yadav added while the government was continually announcing new schemes to please voters without any budgetary provisions for the same, it was unable to streamline implementation of a scheme which was being funded by the Government of India. Meanwhile, another Congress MLA, Mr Karan Dalal, said that the party would take up the matter with the Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr Arjun Singh, and seek action. “This is an issue that directly concerns the common man. The government cannot wash its hands off the matter by merely withdrawing the fungus and worm-affected stocks of food grains,” he maintained. Stating that the government should conduct a probe into how the substandard foodgrains reached the school, Mr Dalal added that the responsibility for the lapse, at whatever level it took place, should be fixed. He favoured registration of a police case against the guilty. Also, Mr Dalal suggested that powers to run the scheme be delegated to village panchayats who were in a better position to monitor its proper implementation. |
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Haryana plans board for old, infirm
Chandigarh, November 30 Official sources said a Bill would be passed in the state Assembly session starting from tomorrow for setting up the board. They said the board would be called the Board of Haryana Health Care Workers and it would consist of a chairman and seven other members. The sources said according to the proposed Bill, the chairman and in his absence a person elected by the members of the board from amongst themselves shall preside at every meeting of the board. All questions at a meeting of the board shall be decided by the votes of the majority of members present. In case of equality of votes, the chairman or the person presiding the meeting, in addition to his vote as a member of the board, will have a second or casting vote. The board will have a Registrar and all employees of the board, including the Registrar, shall be deemed to be public servants. The Registrar will maintain the records regarding the names, addresses and qualifications of every health care worker together with the dates on which qualifications were acquired. Every person possessing bona fide degree, diploma or certificate from any university, board or institution in pharmacy or in health sciences and providing their services to old, infirm, disabled, incapacitated or needy persons in Haryana shall be enrolled with the Registrar on payment of a certain amount of fee. Every health care worker shall get his enrollment renewed after every five years after paying a fee. If a health care worker fails to get the enrollment renewed after five years, his/her name would be removed from the register. It has been proposed that the Registrar, at least once in every five years, would print the name and qualification of the health care workers enrolled with him. The government, the sources said, can take action against the board and entrust its work to another agency if the board is found to be indulging in abuse of power. It was learnt that four more Bills were in the pipeline to be tabled during the Assembly session. While three of these Bills are related respectively to advancing panchayat, municipal committee and municipal corporation elections in Haryana, the fourth Bill was to give impetus to use of Punjabi as second language in the state. The bills regarding advancing elections of panchayats and urban local bodies were passed in the last session of the Assembly. These have been referred back by the Governor and the state government has decided to present the Bills in the House again for voting. |
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Police fails to nab wheat scam accused
Panipat, November 30 The FIR was filed against Panipat Assistant Food and Supply Officer (AFSO) Bhoop Singh and two inspectors, Ashok Bajaj and Ajit Singh, at Model Town police station under different sections on Friday. They are accused of selling in the open market about 12,000 quintals of wheat, which was stored in one of the department’s rented godowns situated on the Gohana road. District Food and Supply Controller (DSFC) Dharamvir Singh Goyat had written to the SP for registering the FIR against the accused after a departmental inquiry into the scam was conducted by Panipat District Food and Supply Officer Anita Kharb. Mr Goyat said that Bhoop Singh had been booked as he was responsible to give a stock report every fortnight, but he had not been filing any report about the quality and quantity of the wheat stock for the past some time. Similarly, Ashok Bajaj and Ajit Singh had been booked as they were custodian of the stock and each of them had one set of keys of the godown, he added. The scam had been continuing for the past several weeks, the sources added. Admitting this, the DFSC said that he had been informing his head officer from time to time about the
AFSO. |
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Law remained unmoved
as litigant was mowed down
Chandigarh, November 30 Yet another irony is that Masta was killed, shot point-blank by three killers, on the very day of the hearing of his writ, a hearing whose turn did nor come. All that the hapless Masta got from the court was an adjournment and, in the evening, shots, one of them in his head, which left him dead. This is not all. For the past over one week, the petition filed by the son of the deceased, seeking protection for his family and himself, is also awaiting turn. The reason: Chief Justice Mr Justice B.K. Roy has not attended court after the Divali vacations. "This case is a very sad comment on the lackadaisical manner in which our judicial system works. Can there be a better reason for a court to act than threat to somebody's life? Cases like this do not put our judiciary in good light. The system needs reforms," laments advocate Rajvinder Singh Bains. Mr Bains was counsel for the deceased and is now awaiting hearing of the writ filed by the deceased's family. Mr Masta, a senior leader of the Congress and close confidant of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, had been apprehending threat to his life from his political rivals, including a sitting MLA in Haryana, Mr Shashi Ranjan Parmar. He first escaped death, when the son of an alleged henchman of Mr Parmar, one Karamvir Singh, shot at him. On February 9, 2004, Karamvir's son Rahul allegedly fired at Mr Masta and injured him seriously. But, for some strange reason, Rahul was not named in the FIR. Between August 16, 2004, and September 30, Mr Masta approached a long list of police officers and others, pleading that his attackers be arrested and security be provided to him. When these missives did not yield any result, he moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking security. On October 15, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Mr Justice B.K. Roy referred the matter to another Bench as one of the Judges recused himself from the case. The case was then ordered to be fixed before some other Bench. On November 5, the Bench of Chief Justice Mr Justice B.K. Roy and Mr Justice Rajive Bhalla failed to hear the matter as its turn did not come. It was simply adjourned to November 19. The same day, November 5, he was killed, at Bhiwani, at a spot which is at a stone's throw from the local police station. Incidentally, among the three accused in the murder is Rahul, who had earlier also attacked him. "It is as if the killers were waiting for the court's inaction," remarks Mr Bains. On November 19, when the petition finally came up for hearing, the petitioner was no more and it was withdrawn. Now, Puneet Masta, the deceased's son, who resigned his job to protect his father, has moved a fresh petition in the High Court, seeking investigation by the CBI into the incident. He has also sought protection for his family and himself. His petition is also awaiting hearing. |
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Second language status for
Punjabi demanded
Ambala, November 30 Dr Gasso said Punjabi teachers and lecturers should be appointed in all government and
goverment-aided schools and colleges in the Punjabi dominated districts of Haryana. He claimed that the Punjabi dominated districts are Ambala, Panchkula, Yamuna Nagar, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Sirsa, Fatehabad and parts of Hisar, Jind, Panipat, Kaithal and Faridabad. “None of the colleges in Panipat, Faridabad, Jind, Narwana,
Ladwa, Jagadhari provide the facility for teaching Punjabi,” he said. He further added Punjabi language should be made compulsory for atleast two years, at any stage, upto Class X level. “The annual budget of the Haryana Punjabi Sahit Academy should be increased upto Rs 2 crores. Punjabi departments may be set up in all universities of Haryana. Punjabi Bhawans may be constructed in all district headquarters of the state,” he said.
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Registration of FIR in Rangiya Mandi case ordered
Ambala, November 30 In his complaint, Mr Lalita Prasad stated, “Batto Devi had died a natural death, and in order to falsely implicate and defame the complainant and his family members, all accused persons hatched a criminal conspiracy on September 21. They, in conspiracy with each other, caused post-mortem injuries on the dead body of Batto Devi.” “The police had investigated the matter and found the allegations in the FIR No. 249 dated 22/09/04 to be false
and submitted a report under Section 173 of the CrPC on 21/10/04 for its cancellation but did not record the FIR
for committing the offences of fabricating false
evidence.” The complaint further states “the accused persons in criminal conspiracy had willfully, malafidely and with ulterior motives had caused post-mortem injuries on the dead body of Batto Devi and as such fabricated the false evidence.”
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CJM Duggal dead
Fatehabad, November 30 A large number of people, including SP Saurabh Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner Nitin Kumar Yadav, Additional District Judge Randhir Singh, Civil Judges Ritu, Y.K. Bahl and Parveen Kumar, SDM Subhash Sheoran, City Magistrate Varsha Khanag-wal, MLA Swatantra Bala Chowdhary and local advocates reached the hospital after hearing the news.
The District Bar Association held a condolence meeting under its president Ravinder Tayal.
The association has decided to suspend court work for two days at Fatehabad and Tohana. |
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M.S. Saini Chairman of HPSC
Chandigarh, November 30 Dr Saini is currently a member of the commission. He also resigned today from the membership of the commission. Dr Bangar has not gone unrewarded. His wife, Santosh, will be made a member of the commission to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dr Saini. She will also be administered the oath of office by the Governor tomorrow. |
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Snag in three units of thermal station
Panipat, November 30 The Chief Engineer of the thermal, Mr M.S. Dhanda, said that steps were being taken to get rid of the problem at the earliest. He further claimed that the problem would be sorted out by tomorrow evening. All the seven units generate as much as 2.50 lakh units of power every day. However due to the technical problem as much as 72 lakh units could not be produced since yesterday. |
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HIV cases cause concern
Sirsa, November 30 Inquiries revealed that of the total 5,168 blood donors, 15 were detected with the virus. According to the records at Shiv Shakti Blood Bank 83 such cases of the total 22,215 voluntary donations were detected since August, 2000, till August this year. Six such cases were detected last year at the local Civil Hospital. “The problem seems to be serious as donors do not know the status of their blood,” says a city-based doctor.
Talking to the TNS, the Director (Blood Safety) of Shiv Shakti Blood Bank, stressed the need for spreading awareness regarding HIV/AIDS. |
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Inter-school drawing competition
Ambala, November 30 Around half a dozen schools including
P.K.R. Jain Public School, Dayanand Public School, DAV Public School and Ambala Public School, participated in the competition. In group A Raghav stood 1st while Harpreet and Gurvinder secured 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. In group B Indu was declared 1st while Ankit was 2nd and Kulwant remained in the 3rd place. In group C Shiristi won the 1st position while Mahak and Shivam were placed in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
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Saviours Club to organise
Ambala, November 30
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Fire in godown
Ambala, November 30 |
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