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Admn tightens noose on handloom units
Panipat, November 22 It became possible after the state authorities for the first time undertook a complete survey of these units. The step to streamline the entire industry was taken after the fire incident in an unregistered unit here on October 7 this year in which 10 workers were killed. The survey would focus to ensure the safety arrangements at these factories, which were otherwise overlooked by various regulating agencies. According to an official estimate, there are about 3,000 factories in Panipat. As the township has become a hub of handloom manufacturing business, several export houses have also set up their base here. Most of these export houses outsource their assignments to small units. Owing to the indifferent attitude of the regulating agencies, the town witnessed a haphazard growth of industrial units, developed in clusters in a complete violation of building byelaws. The interim survey report highlighted the poor working conditions, including the absence of fire fighting systems, poor electricity fittings etc in various units. In the preliminary survey, the authorities have identified scores of units that are not equipped with safety arrangements. Sharing the details of the ongoing survey with The Tribune, deputy commissioner Mahender Kumar said the administration had already identified 250 such units that completely lack the safety measures. Workers in these units had been denied any of the incentives under various labour laws, he revealed. “So far about 1,900 factories have been scrutinised and the rest of the work would be completed by next month,’’ the DC said, adding that the main objective of the survey was to nail the unregistered units. “Guidelines have been issued to the defaulting owners to fulfill their obligations and give workers their due, failing which action would be taken, he said.
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Animals play hide-and-seek at Kalesar National Park
Yamunanagar, November 22 In the past also, visitors to the national park were not lucky enough to see wild animals in natural habitat. The reason put forward is that the forest, which is too vast, has a difficult terrain. It has hardly any place where there is likelihood of the presence of animals. In other national parks, animals come to watering holes and visitors get a chance to see them. But in Kalsear, which is spread over 11,570 acres, there is no such accessible place. The forest department is now planning to a dig a pond and erect an overhead tank which could also be used as a watch tower, said sources in the department. “We hope when animals come to drink water at the pond, visitors sitting atop the tank would be able to see them,” said an official. There are cheetals, sambhars, barking deer, panthers and other animals in the forest. Often elephants from the adjoining Rajaji gardens, too, visit the place. Meanwhile, to overcome the problem of water shortage, the forest department has constructed several water guzzlers. It has also dug a tube well in the jungle. As much as Rs 20 lakh has been sanctioned for laying pipelines from the tube well to the guzzlers. “The work of laying pipelines in 4-5 km area would start very soon,” said Sat Pal Dhiman, wildlife sub-inspector, Kalsear range. Meanwhile, the two months’ time of the two hired elephants for patrolling the forest would be over on November 19. When asked if the department would renew the lease of the elephants, Dhiman said orders were awaited. He, however, claimed that the experiment of using tuskers to patrol the forest was successful. A large part of the forest was inaccessible on jeeps and wildlife employees were forced to patrol the area full of saal trees on foot, he said, adding that in the past, several wood smugglers were active here, but the department had succeeded in putting a check on their activities.
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Sirsa to see stone-laying spree
Sirsa, November 22 Among other projects, Hooda would lay the foundation stone of the railway over bridge, which is to be constructed with the cost of Rs 50 crore. The completion of the project is a long-pending demand of the locals as the two level crossings in the city always witness huge traffic jams. The Chief Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the construction of Sirsa bypass, which is to be built at a cost of Rs 20 crore. The Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court will lay the foundation stone for the construction of 200 chambers at the court complex. Hooda will also lay the foundation stone for power substations. This is probably first time that district will witness a plethora of development schemes taking final shape.
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Traffic hurdles turn death traps
Jhajjar, November 22 The residents of the town, shopkeepers in particular, have demanded its removal as many mishaps have occurred due to these hurdles. In a tragic incident, a 10-year-old girl died when she popped her head out of the window of a bus and got herself banged against a lurking pole on the Old Najafgarh road. The shopkeepers said the administration had put up these hurdles of about 7 ft in height to bar the entry of heavy vehicles in the main bazaar and railway road about two years ago. But its installation proved ineffective as the vehicles found other routes to gain entry into the main market. After a while, the horizontal bar connecting the two vertical poles was also taken off. Thus, even though the hurdles did not practically exist, the vertical poles remained stuck on the place. A shopkeeper, Rajkumar Chug, said within months of its erection, a canter had rammed into the hurdle at the railway road entry point. The police though challaned the driver, the damaged barricade was never repaired. A singular pole still stands in a corner of
the road. Three poles erected at the Lal Chowk (entry point to the main bazaar) always pose a threat of injuring the passersby. Surprisingly, one of the poles standing in the middle of the road has failed to get the attention of the authorities even though many senior officials must have passed through it several times. The shopkeepers demanded that the administration must remove these
poles to avoid any mishap in future.
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Roadways buses defy court orders
Bhiwani, November 22 The court had made it mandatory to equip every bus with a first-aid box and fire extinguisher. But the compliance was only for a limited period and today hardly any roadways bus adheres to the rules. Even at the time of implementation of the orders, these facilities were provided only on long-route buses and buses plying in the rural areas were ignored. Though the roadways has a first-aid box in almost each bus, these have perhaps not been opened for months. The medicines might have expired, but least care is taken. It is a general complaint that hardly any medicine or first-aid is given by the driver or conductor to any passenger in emergency. The state of these facilities is worst in the buses registered with the roadways sub-depots. A roadways official said in compliance with the court’s orders, conductors were provided with a first-aid box costing Rs 500 each. It contained cotton, bandage, antiseptic, disposable injection kit and few other medicines. However, this system failed to work due to the theft of medicines. Several drivers had lodged such complaints and they were provided with fresh
medicines. Similarly, each driver was given a fire-extinguisher cylinder, which they had affixed besides their seats. But in most of the cylinders gas discharged and the drivers deposited it to respective workshops for refilling. However, no one attempted to get these cylinders reissued nor the workshop authorities bothered to do the needful. Passengers here feel that the government and roadways authorities should not play with the lives of the people. “If these equipments are stolen these should be replaced immediately,” said Narottam Bagri of Bhiwani, who travels to Rohtak twice or thrice a month. He said the government was making it mandatory to equip every private vehicle with a fire extinguisher and first-aid box and on the other hand, its own buses were flouting the rules.
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Haryanavis don’t spare seats meant for women
Yamunanagar, November 22 The transport commissioner, M Ramshekhar, says it is the responsibility of conductors to get the seats vacated for women. The conductors, however, say they have not been issued any such
instructions. In most of the cases, women passengers prefer to travel standing than arguing with the male members occupying the reserved seats. “It is better to travel standing than asking the person sitting on the reserved seat to vacate,” says Sunita, a B.Com final year student of a local college. Poonam Dhiman of Yamunanagar says the rule in roadways buses is simple: if a seat is vacant occupy it else travel standing. The transport commissioner says seats from 6-20 have been reserved for women in all buses. “Women must get their seats and relevant orders have been issued to general managers of all depots. It is their duty to ensure that women passengers get the reserved seats,” says Ramshekhar. He, however, clarifies that men could occupy the seats if vacant. “But men must vacate the seats for women or else the conductor should ensure the same,” he adds. Sources in the roadways say information regarding the reservation has been displayed in all buses. However, in large number of buses it has disappeared. A conductor admits that the plate has been removed. “Women passengers often used to point at the information plate and asked us to get the seats vacated. But conductors have no orders to get the seats vacated. So it was better to remove the plates than arguing with passengers,” says the conductor. Hari Naryan Sharma, state president of the Sarv Karmchari Sangh, says the seats have been reserved but no system has been placed to implement the orders. He says bus drivers and conductors are not given the copies of the
reservation orders.
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Delay in work on Badarpur flyover
Faridabad, November 22 Various echelons in the government and the ruling party appear to be contradicting themselves on the start of work on the project, making the opposition see red and an opportunity to run down the establishment in the process. However, the upshot of the ugly development is that the common man on the street is the sufferer and the Faridabad’s envisioned faster pace of development is taking a serious beating. The flyover project was conceived during the regime of the NDA government. The need of the flyover arose in the context of heavy traffic jam at the Badarpur border, the only entry point while coming to Faridabad from Delhi. The general view is that the construction of the flyover will facilitate the smooth flow of traffic, which will invite investors and usher in a fresh spell of development and modernistion of Faridabad. What has got the goat of the opposition parties is the contradictory statement from the government side and the MLAs and the Congress MP from Faridabad. In fact, political statements and posturings on the flyover issue had started in 1993-94. The BJP, which is in the vanguard of agitation on the issue, alleges that there are two counts on which the project is being scuttled by the Congress. First, on the political ground as the BJP-led government at the Centre had conceived the project. Second, that business and commercial establishments of a good number of persons, including those associated with the ruling party, fall along the way which will be dislocated in case the flyover comes up. The BJP’s charge is that due to the apparent neglect of Faridabad by successive governments, it has lost its status as a major industrial centre in Asia. It is trying to gather public support by saying that Gurgaon and Noida, the other cities in the National Capital Region, have overtaken Faridabad in terms of development and modernisation.
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Bhiwani Congress ticket up for grabs
Bhiwani, November 22 Since 1977, the erstwhile pocket borough of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal’s family, Bhiwani saw the win of Bansi Lal himself thrice in 1980, 1984 and 1989. His son Surender Singh won the seat in 1996 and 1998. It was usurped by Indian National Lok Dal’s Ajay Singh Chautala in 1999. Five years later, Kuldeep Bishnoi scored a surprise win from this seat. Now, when Bishnoi is all set to float his own political party hopefully next month, there are several contenders for the Congress ticket. Among the forerunners is Shruti Chaudhry, daughter of the late Surender Singh and Haryana tourism minister Kiran Chaudhry. She has been active in the constituency after her mother was elected to the state Assembly from his father’s Tosham constituency over two years ago. Shruti’s chances have also been bolstered by the impending visit of Congress President Sonia Gandhi on November 28 to address a rally and unveil a statue of Surender Singh. Should Shruti get the party ticket, the constituency will witness an interesting contest involving the progeny of the three Lals of state’s politics provided Ajay Singh Chautala also contests this seat. Bishnoi has already declared that he will contest from Bhiwani whenever the parliamentary election is held. Shruti can be a formidable candidate going by the statistics. Her father late Surender Singh had contested the seat in 2004, and ended up as a runner up with a vote share of 30.6 per cent. Bishnoi had won by getting 33.4 per cent of the votes polled. Now that Bishnoi is without the traditional Congress vote bank, and Ajay Chautala would be in the fray minus the burden of incumbency factor, it will require a massive swing in Bishnoi’s favour for him to emerge victorious. The Bhiwani constituency has had a chequered history. Even though it has been a Bansi Lal fortress, it humbled him in the favour of Chandrawati in 1977. She got 67.62 per cent of the votes polled against Bansi Lal’s tally of 29.91 per cent. Since then no candidate has been able to surpass Chandrawati’s feat. Bansi Lal came close to it in 1989, when he polled 60.13 per cent of the votes. Bhiwani has always witnessed heavy turnouts. In the past three decades, the lowest turnout was 62.81 per cent in 1991, and the highest being 73.7 per cent when Chandrawati won. In 2004, the turnout was 73.07 per cent when Bishnoi won. Bansi Lal and Surender Singh have together won from here five out of nine elections since 1977. In between Bansi Lal’s former protégé Jangbir Singh won in 1991. But the constituency elected rank outsiders Ajay Singh Chautala and Kuldeep Bishnoi none of whom hails from the district although Bishnoi comes from his father’s Assembly constituency Adampur which is a part of the Bhiwani Lok Sabha segment. Though it is uncertain when the constituency will go to poll next, Bishnoi, Chautala and now Shruti are already on the move winning friends and influencing people.
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Experts for moong as additional crop
Karnal, November 22 Dr Dalip Gosain, Head, KVK, says in the paddy-wheat rotation system, where farmers have been harvesting two crops of paddy followed by wheat, new interventions are being worked out so as to save irrigation and reduce use of inorganic inputs. The KVK has tried different varieties of summer moong, namely Pusa Vishal of the Indian Agriculture Research Institute regional station located here, Moong SML-668 of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and Moong Asha of Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, recommended for summer months of April-June after harvesting of wheat crop followed by single crop of paddy. The KVK has been conducting successful trials in Nagla Rodan village of Indri block since 2005, wherein experts introduced growing green gram (moong) in the months of August-November, which is an unusual season for growing of moong. In 2005, Pusa Vishal was introduced by Surinder Singh of this village. The seed was sown in the second week of August and was harvested in the first week of November 2005. A yield of four quintals was obtained and Surinder sold it for Rs 8,000. Similar trials were repeated at two locations in the same village in 2006, and moong was sown in August and harvested in the second week of November, the harvest this time was lower than previous year by 0.5 quintal per acre. Farmers who cultivated the crop the second time were suggested that the dates for growing moong could not be delayed beyond third week of August. Seeing the success and the intervention made by the KVK in Nagla Rodan village in 2007, around 70 acres of the total land of the village is now under moong cultivation. Jasvinder Singh of this village, who had cultivated moong in half acre using the seed procured from a local farmer, got a yield of 1.25 quintals. This resulted in the farmer using the certified moong seed to get more harvest. Another farmer of the village Jaspal Singh had grown moong SML-668 in 12 acres in August-November 2007 and got a yield of around 3.5 quintals per acre. Jaspal said he had not faced any problem in selling his produce in Indri for Rs 2,000 per quintal. For harvesting of moong variety SML-668, employment could be provided to local rural women for around 150 days paying them Rs 60 per day. Jaspal Singh was happy telling The Tribune that the dried moong plants which remain as a waste after the harvest could be sold for Rs 300 for one acre of land. The scientists of the KVK suggested that the farmers after harvest of wheat could grow fodder for animals or dhencha for green manure followed by paddy then green gram that could be a sustainable agricultural production system.
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Jind farmer sets record in mushroom cultivation
Jind, November 22 Japan Singh (54) of Shanpur village of Safidon subdivision is one of them. He is not only a leading grower of mushrooms in the entire state but has also emerged as a role model for farmers wanting to take up new avenues. With a monthly production of about 60 quintals of high-quality mushrooms, Japan Singh has already become an expert and students from several agricultural universities and institutes in the region come to consult him. Japan Singh, who owns just two acres of land, has been in the category of a small farmer, but this did not desist him from undertaking new experiments. In 1991, he decided to take up mushroom farming for which he did not even get support of his family members. But he thought otherwise and decided to go ahead with his plans. A literate farmer, Japan Singh, had done matriculation way back in 1972. He had some knowledge about new developments and emerging techniques in the field of agriculture, and this made him to dedicate half of his land (one acre) for this work. A shed was set up for the preparation of a special bed used to grow the new crop. The main ingredients used in this process include dry fodder of wheat and rice plant (tura) and cow dung, which are mixed under a certain temperature and condition. The total number of sheds (for beds) which were six till last year has risen to 10 this year, enabling Japan Singh to produce two quintals of mushroom per day. He became the first individual farmer in the entire belt to achieve this feat, claimed an official of the department concerned. Though the ingredients used in the process produce a tangy smell that may not be liked by many, Japan Singh has overcome these hurdles and has started reaping the fruits, said a local farmer. It is reported that the mixing and rotting work takes a time of about 18 days and this process involves certain machines such as turners, which produce a temperature up to 60 degree Celsius. Japan Singh says the local produce is known as “Button Mushroom” and the plant of the crop has a lifespan of about eight months. The plant starts giving the fruit after 25 days. The rest of four months in the year are used to prepare the seed of the crop, which earlier had to be bought from places like Hisar and Solan. It is claimed that it is perhaps the first time that seeds are being prepared locally and it is Japan Singh, who has taken the initiative. According to him, the total income varies between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh in the year while the cost of production is around Rs 1 lakh. He, however, laments that there has been no direct or indirect support from the state government, even if there is a natural calamity. It may be mentioned that the government provides insurance cover and financial help to the farmers in case of loss to mainline crops like wheat and paddy. The price fetched by the locally grown mushrooms ranges between Rs 50 and Rs 60 per kg and it is mainly supplied to markets in Panipat, Karnal, Chandigarh and Ludhiana. Stating that students and experts from various institutes keep visiting his farm, he says a team from Haryana Agricultural University (HAU), Hisar, has recently visited his farm. Japan Singh says he want to expand the work and is ready to provide help to his fellow farmers if the government comes forward to provide financial help for setting up chambers, as one chamber costs Rs 3 lakh.
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BKU threatens stir on paddy bonus
Karnal, November 22 Farmers expressed displeasure at the late announcement of the Rs 50 bonus per quintal of paddy crop by the Central government. They said the main beneficiaries of the bonus would be businessmen, as they had already sold their paddy, long before it was announced. They demanded that market committees should distribute bonus. Farmers demanded that the government should announce the bonus, while the purchase of crop was going on, as it would benefit them directly. Referring to the arrest of Mahender Singh Tikhet by the UP police, they said the registration of false cases against their leaders should be stopped. They threatened to launch a nationwide protest if their demand was not met. The farmers also demanded that the pending payments of sugarcane be released immediately. “The setting up of special economic zones
(SEZs) on agricultural land should be stopped and the next of kin of farmers who were martyred at
Nandigram, should be paid Rs 10 lakh, as compensation and given a government job,” said Sewa Singh
Arya, district general secretary, BKU.
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State’s first
Gurgaon, November 22 Talking to The Tribune, IMT Manesar estate officer Manoj Pal Singh said in the first phase, there was a proposal to construct three dormitories and 12 dwelling units to accommodate about 700 persons. The deadline of this three-storey complex is December 2008, which will be constructed on 5 acres of land at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore. He added that the concept of LHC was very popular in China as the management could requisition its employees immediately in case of emergency. With the coming up of a number of multinational companies the housing demand in this area would increase manifold. Manoj Pal Singh said this type of facility would help in increasing the output of the industrial units and also save employees from the hassles of travelling from Delhi and Gurgaon. In many cases, the executives do not take up jobs at places where they have to travel long distances. He further told that there would be 36 dormitory units and 192 dwelling units in the LHC. He said they were in the process of finalising the procedure to allot these dormitories. “Either we can allot these dormitories to individual employees or give each floor to one particular industrial house to manage it independently”. He said there was good response about this project and we were hopeful of creating more such colonies to meet the growing requirements of industrial manpower. Manoj Pal Singh also revealed that exclusive dwelling units would also be constructed for managers and senior managers, so that they could live with their families in the township. Both dormitory complexes and dwelling units would have three floors and enough parking spaces. The estate officer said in order to attract more workforces at this place, 545 plots for setting up residential units had been allotted by the HSIIDC. As per the deadline, at least 370 such residential units would be completed by November 2008. We hope that 15,000 people would have their independent accommodation by that time which would boost development in this industrial town. Many more private developers are also coming up with service apartments to accommodate more industrial workforce.
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10 pc of Ambala students suffer from eyesight problems
Ambala, November 22 The programme, which is being run to test eyesight of students of government schools, has shown that all is not well. About 10 per cent of the students are found to be suffering from various eyesight problems. This means that nearly 8,000 government school students, out of 80,000 who were tested, are having eyesight problems. Some of these students even require surgical intervention. Deputy commissioner Mohammad Shayin says the programme is unique in several aspects. Not only are all government school students being covered, medical treatment will also be provided to the needy students, he says. The programme has been fully implemented in Ambala district, which will now be followed by systematic implementation in other districts. The programme ran in Ambala from November 12 to 19. Dr Archana Kumar, president of the Health and Vision Society, says the programme was implemented in three phases. In the first phase, teachers of 780 government schools in all blocks of the district were taught to test eyesight through sight chart. The students who were not able to fully read the chart were referred for the second stage. In the second stage, the students congregated at Farookha Khalsa School in Ambala Cantt where their registration was carried out and then a thorough check of eyesight was undertaken. A team of experts was also present at the spot to provide assessment of child’s vision. It was observed that most of the children’s vision improved after wearing glasses. Those students, who still required medical intervention, were referred to PGI, Chandigarh, and free treatment would be provided to them. Shayin says the district administration will make suitable arrangements for taking them to PGI and bringing them back. The programme will be run in all 20 districts of the state. Computerised records of each student will be maintained. The programme aims at ensuring that government school students do not suffer from eyesight problems. An interesting aspect of the programme is that all government school students have been targeted and their vision will be rectified. Also, methodical efforts have ensured that the government schools located in the rural areas are not left out.
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Nursing a grudge over discrimination
Rohtak, November 22 They assert that while the nurses working at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) at Rohtak are being given certain facilities, others working in the field are being denied the same. Talking to The Tribune, joint secretary of the Nursing Staff Association, Haryana, Santosh Malik, pointed out that a state-level convention was held at the PGIMS
in May 2006. “The nurses had put forward several demands before the government, including the grant of a uniform allowance, specialty allowance, special increments for nurses having higher qualifications and the provision of nursing risk allowance,” she maintained. According to the association, the Chief Minister had agreed to their demands, but the authorities concerned fulfilled these only in case of the nurses serving at the PGIMS. These include a uniform allowance of Rs 350 per month, a specialty allowance of Rs 100 per month for the nurses serving at operation theatres, burn units, maternity wards and emergency wings and a nursing risk allowance of Rs 1,200 per month. The association kept on waiting for the grant of these facilities to the other nurses serving at various state hospitals for months, but in vain, Santosh said. “Finally, we came to know that the government’s decision to provide these facilities had been implemented only for the PGIMS nurses, which is highly discriminatory as we have the same qualification, training period, grade and duties,” she asserted. She said the association office-bearers had brought the matter to the notice of the Chief Minister during his recent visit to Rohtak. “The Chief Minister has assured that he would seek the relevant record from the officials
concerned and look into the matter,” she added.
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A tribute to Sir Chhotu Ram
He opposed the demand of the Muslim League and the leader of the Congress Party for separating Ambala Division from Punjab. Although this would have resulted in the formation of a new province consisting of Western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Ambala Division where the Hindu Jats could be dominant and would have been in the political interest of Chhotu Ram because he was the tallest among the political interest of the Hindu Jats in Northern India, but he opposed this demand for the sake of the unity of Punjab. The acceptance of this demand could have been given the Muslims an absolute majority in Punjab. Similarly, he strongly opposed the demand of the “Azad Punjab” made by the Akalis who advocated the transfer of Muslim majority districts of the western Punjab to the North-West Frontier Province. He also opposed the suggestion of Lala Lajpat Rai that Punjab should be divided into two provinces on communal basis. This demand had been made by Lala Lajpat Rai because he felt that the Muslim majority was dominating the Hindu minority of Punjab. But Chhotu Ram regarded such a division against the interests of Punjab. The above account makes it clear that the unity of Punjab was more important for Chhotu Ram than the interests of Hindu Jats or his own political interest. Chhotu Ram was also vehemently opposed to the partition of India. Although partition could not be averted, Chhotu Ram’s plea for Punjabiyat, which he tried to use in Punjab of pre-independence period, remains relevant even after 60 years. It could have solved the problem of communalism in Punjab. It could not only be useful in resolving boundary and water dispute between Punjab and Haryana but could also be helpful in normalising relations between India and Pakistan.
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Inside Babudom
Chandigarh, November 22 The special secretaries have always grumbled with regard to the designation and wanted to be designated as secretaries. In the overstaffed bureaucracy of Haryana, the senior-most officers are called principal secretaries and that way there is not much scope of any confusion creeping in from the step of re-designating special secretaries as secretaries. However, post of secretary also exists in the state and at present a secretary and a principal secretary exercise similar powers. It is expected that even after abolishing the post of special secretary, the state government will make a distinction between the re-designated special secretaries and their senior officers designated as secretaries. Principal secretary of the irrigation department reportedly wrote a letter to the chief secretary on the subject of reviewing the post of special secretary. The letter prompted the office of the chief secretary to start an exercise on the issue. One major problem with the post is that since it is not a cadre post, participation of a special secretary in any meeting with central government officials or officials of another state government creates confusion in the minds of the latter with regard to where exactly the representative from Haryana figures in the official hierarchy. Sometime back, the accountant-general (audit) also wrote a letter to the state government on the creation of the post of special secretary. The letter said while the state government was having power to create posts carrying duties similar to IAS cadre posts, the power could be invoked for increasing the number of posts already included in the cadre schedule. If a post with designation did not figure in the cadre schedule, it could not be created by the state government, the letter stated.
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37,403 cases settled in Lok Adalats in Jind
Jind, November 22 Besides, as many as eight Lok Adalats have been held in the rural areas in the district, leading to the settlement of about 1,839 disputes. The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) has also activated its cell of providing free legal aid and counseling for women under which several women advocates have been attached with various police stations in the district to provide help to the victims of rape and other crimes against women and children. The contact numbers of such lawyers have been made public. According to details made available by the DLSA, while the concept of Lok Adalats and conciliation centres (samjauta sadans) has become quite popular and helpful to a large number of litigants over the years, the efforts made by the DLSA to create legal awareness among the people has been largely welcomed by the residents. The next Lok Adalat in the series is scheduled be held at three places in the district on December 15. “The number of people approaching the free legal aid and awareness has been growing and the success rate has also been going up,” says Sanjay Khanduja, Chief Judicial Magistrate and secretary of the DLSA. He says a total of 46 applications have been received so far this year in which legal aid has been provided in 39 cases. The number of such applications last year was about 56. The process of holding legal literacy camps in the district has also been gaining momentum with as many as 66 camps already been held so far this year. According to Khanduja, the cell for providing free legal aid to the victims of rape and crime against women has been made active with the attachment of about seven women advocates with all 12 police stations in the district. He says the list of such advocates has been made public with contact numbers of the legal counsellors, who have been asked to provide help to the victims at any point of time. The CJM says the permanent and continuous Lok Adalats, also known as “samjauta sadans”, have also been proving effective in disposing of disputes. The sadan here has been able to dispose of 128 cases so far, against a total of 140 last year. It is added that about 274 legal awareness cells and 287 legal aid cells have been set up in schools and colleges in the district.
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Citizens’ Grievances I had applied for a plot in Urban Estate, Dharuhera, Sector 6, Part-II, vide application no. 1054508 and regd. no. BHDRO49662 and paid Rs 26,163 on 20.03.2006 as application money. I have written several letters to HUDA, but until now I have neither received refund nor any allotment letter, though the draw was held at HUDA, Rewari, on 31.08.2006. I request HUDA to refund the money along with interest. Gayatri What is this, Idea? I have an Idea mobile phone (no. 98120-29826) for the past 10 years, which is in the name of my wife who currently stays in the US. There is a discrepancy in the bill dated September 14, 2007. Item nos. 17 and 18 in the call details show that on August 31, 2007, a call was made at 11:05:26 for 28:13 minutes to 93120-93775 (unknown to us) another call on the same number made at 11:06:10 for 27:28 minutes. Both calls have been charged. How is it possible that first call is continuing and the other has started on the same number? The local idea office says they cannot help and the bill has to be paid and that two calls from one number to another same number can co-exist. This is beyond my comprehension. Dr S.L. Bansal Harassment – Tata Indicom style I am a Tata Indicom customer (9216176121). In August 2007, I made a payment of Rs 346 by cheque no. 652296 towards the monthly bill. The cheque was cleared on 10.08.07. However, I keep getting sms from the service provider to pay the bill or face disconnection. I made five complaints in their regard, but to no avail. I even produced my bank statement to the nodal officer, but it served no purpose and I still get messages regarding the non-payment of bills, which were already paid. Vibha Kapoor II I have a prepaid Tata Indicom mobile (no. 92555-83846). I had a balance of Rs 241.06 as on 5.11.2007 when I purchased another Rs 100 prepaid card. To my utter surprise, after adding Rs 100 the balance came to only Rs 87, leaving no clue about the previous balance of Rs 241.06. I complained, but in vain. Again I purchased a card of Rs 300 and after using it two days, I noticed the balance as Rs 240. But on 10.11.2007, I was again surprised when balanced reached to Rs 325, again no clue. Subhash C. Taneja Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at adalat@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Grievances, Haryana Plus, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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Seminar on Sufi poet from today
Chandigarh, November 22 While Governor A. R. Kidwai will inaugurate the seminar, education minister Mange Ram Gupta will preside over it. Mohammad Shafie Shakib, cultural counsellor, Iran Cultural House, and Ali Reza Ghazve, director, Iran Culture House, will be the guests of honour. About 10 Iranian scholars from Tehran and 10 Indian scholars, including Prof. Chander Shekhar, chairman, Department of Persian, Delhi University, will present their papers on the life, works and philosophy of Maulana Rumi.
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Movies This Week
Director: Vivek Agnihotri
Producer: UTV Motion Pictures Cast: John Abraham, Bipasha Basu, Arshad Warsi, Boman Irani, Raj Zutshi, Kushal Punjabi Music: Pritam Chakraborty The movie will be released today at Suraj-Panchkula, Sun City-Hisar, Nigar-Ambala Cantt, Liberty-Rohtak, Everest-Rewari, Bawa-Sonepat, DT City Centre-Gurgaon, DT Mega Mall-Gurgaon, SRS-Faridabad, SRS (Prestine)-Faridabad, SRS-Gurgaon. What to watch out for: A simple story with football background in which the characters fight the battle of hope through relationships, pride and their dreams. Pritam’s musical score is another highlight.
— Dharam Pal
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The legendry Jat leader from Haryana, Chhotu Ram, whose birth anniversary falls on November 24, played an important role in the politics of Punjab during the colonial period from 1923 to 1945. He was a great advocate of the unity of Punjab and regarded it essential for the unity of India. Therefore, he opposed all demands for the division or reorganisation of Punjab.