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Inaction Against Absentee
Police Apathy?
Campaign for bypoll hots up
Cong secy, 6 others join HJC
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Cong has a dig at Bishnoi
Local issues missing, rue voters
Palace on Wheels Project
Shifting of dyeing units a distant dream
‘Anomalies’ in Pay Proposals
Nurse makes a scene at police station
Fed up with power cuts, villagers hold up traffic
Irregularities in wheat procurement
Burning of Stubble
Scrap SEZ, says panchayat
Fire victims await relief
Mother’s Day celebrated
Surjewala harps on development
Man done to death by sons
2 youths held for robbery
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Inaction Against Absentee
Rohtak, May 11 The court has directed the Haryana financial commissioner-cum-secretary (education) to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the said employee and take action against the officials/officers responsible for taking a lenient view regarding the matter. The case pertains to one Jai Singh, who was serving as a clerk at the office of the district education officer, Rohtak, and transferred to a government high school in Jhajjar. He was relieved on February 23, 1995, and asked to join his new place of posting. He, however, did not join duty for about 10 months. In the meanwhile, he made representation(s) to the authorities concerned against his transfer and also moved a local court, which dismissed his plea. The said employee preferred an appeal against the order in the court of the District Judge. The court passed an interim order on May 23, 1997, directing the respondents to dispose of the representation made by him by a speaking order within a week. In an order dated May 30, 1997, the authorities concerned adjusted the appellant at a place
of his choice. The appellant, however, pursued the matter to get the 10-month period treated as on-duty instead of leave. The case came for consideration before the fast-track court of Additional District Judge M.M.Dhonchak. In its judgment delivered recently, this court observed that the appeal preferred by the appellant (Jai Singh) was “wholly bereft of any merit and by approaching the Civil Court, the appellant had made sheer misuse of the process of the court”. The court also affirmed the findings rendered by the lower court as correct, legal and factual and dismissed the appeal with costs. In its judgment, the court maintained that “It appears that by treating the period of absence of the appellant as leave of the kind due, officials/officers responsible for the same have shown a sort of commitment to encourage indiscipline in a department which is saddled with the onerous task of building the nation. This court fails to understand as to why such a lenient view was taken against the appellant when he was absent from his duty for about 10 months without any rhyme or reason and what restrained the authorities concerned from initiating proceedings against him.” The court has directed the Haryana Financial Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Education) to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the said employee, take action against the department officials/officers “responsible for taking a lenient view which tantamount to bestow largesse to the appellant as this has the tendency to breed indiscipline in government service”, and submit his report to this court on
August 20. |
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Police Apathy?
Panipat, May 11 The father of the girl, Abdul Rehman, and mother Nasir Aara have been running from pillar to post for the past 40 days but till date all their efforts have proved futile. They alleged that the police was deliberately going slow in tracing their daughter as the son of a policeman was involved in the kidnapping. Abdul Rahman, a resident of Ashok Vihar colony, said his daughter, Chand Aara, had gone to Arya College, but did not return home. Hours after their daughter went missing, their neighbour, Akeel Ahmed, and his uncle Rasul Ahmed called them up and told them that Chand Aara had met with an accident and that she was lying near the local bus stand. The father said as they reached the bus stand, Akeel’s son Imtiaz and one of his uncles met them there and told them that Chand Aara was at Delhi bus stand. Following this, the girl’s mother accompanied them to Delhi, where she was told that Chand Aara was at Sarai Kale Khan. As the mother got suspicious and confronted those accompanying her, they allegedly threatened to eliminate her and her only son. She somehow managed to come back from there and narrated the whole incident to her husband, following which they reported the matter to the police, but the police allegedly refused to register a case. It was not until April 15 when the family members and relatives of the girl staged a dharna outside the SP’s office, the police registered an FIR in this regard. Meanwhile, the son of the accused cop, who is believed to be involved in the crime, met the girl’s parents and told them that they would get their daughter back only if they would give in writing that they would not initiate any action against them. Rehman said even as they repeatedly named the cop’s son in the FIR, the police did not list his name in the report. Despaired by the apathetic attitude of the police, the girl’s parents met the chairman of the National Minority Commission during his recent visit to the city, who immediately asked the district police chief and the deputy commissioner to recover the girl in not more than 24 hours. But till date, the police had not initiated any action in this regard, Rehman alleged. The girl’s family even moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which summoned the police chief on May 1. The hearing on the petition was deferred till May 25 as none from the police department appeared in the court. The parents stated that they had approached all top functionary of the state government including the state governor, but till date no action has been initiated to trace their girl. The DGP’s orders in this regard had also failed to move the cops, they alleged. They rued that in case a proper action was not initiated, they would be left with no other option but to commit suicide. |
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Campaign for bypoll hots up
Sonepat, May 11 After a hectic campaigning by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for Congress nominee Jagbir Singh Malik and by INLD supremo and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala for party candidate Dr K.C. Bangar during the past few days, MP Kuldeep Bishnoi, president of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) yesterday addressed election meetings in half a dozen villages in support of party candidate Dharam Pal Singh Malik. Bishnoi criticised the Congress leadership in general and the Chief Minister in particular for working against the interests of farmers and the common man. In order to give boost to the election campaign of party candidate Pradeep Sangwan, senior BJP leaders, including former union minister I.D. Swamy, state general secretary Abhimanyu, addressed election meetings in different villages. They squarely blamed the Congress-led UPA government at the centre for the rising prices of essential commodities. Meanwhile, the district administration has introduced a number of measures to ensure compliance of the model code of conduct of the Election Commission and to hold free and fair elections in Gohana assembly constituency, which will go to polls on May 22. In pursuance of the directions of the commission regarding prevention of defacement of property, District Magistrate D.P.S. Nagal has issued orders that any defacement of public or private property without written permission of owners of private buildings would be prosecuted under Sections 425,426,427 and 433 of the IPC, Section 133 of the CrPC and also under the Haryana Prevention of Defacement of Property Act and Municipal Laws. |
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Cong secy, 6 others join HJC
Karnal, May 11 Dharampal Singh Dachar, secretary of the HPCC, Dilsher Singh and Sube Singh, general-secretary and secretary, respectively, of the Karnal district Congress committee (urban), Sukhdev Singh Sharma, secretary of the DCC (rural), Avtar Singh, vice-president, block Congress committee (urban), Megh Singh Balmiki and Sube Singh, vice-president and secretary of the BCC, Assandh, respectively, joined the HJC (BL) in the presence of party chief Kuldeep Bishnoi. They had jointly sent their resignation to Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi. In a scathing attack on Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Dachar alleged that only Hooda’s family was given priority at the cost of dedicated workers. He said the Congress leadership had fielded those candidates who had contested against the Congress in the past. He alleged that owing to the “confused” leadership Kuldeep Sharma, who had left the Congress and subsequently lost the last parliamentary elections from Karnal, was appointed as the working president of the state party. Bishnoi welcomed the new entrants and said it was timely decision to reveal the real picture of the Congress. He alleged that the government machinery was pressurising the panches and sarpanches to vote for them. |
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Cong has a dig at Bishnoi
Rewari, May 11 Addressing a press conference here today, he claimed that while the victory margins of the Congress candidates in Gohana and Indri would be quite big, the fight was at present neck and neck between former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and Congress nominee Ranjit Singh in the Adampur segment. He said owing to “certain clinching factors” Ranjit Singh could eventually steal a march over his Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) towering rival Bhajan Lal in Adampur. Having a dig at Kuldeep Bishnoi’s “political chicanery”, Vidrohi said it was something unscrupulous on his part that while being a Congress MP, he was openly asking people to vote for HJC candidates in these byelections. He wanted to know that when Parliament was in session and Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was very much in Delhi from April 15 to May 5, what prevented Kuldeep Bishnoi from going to Delhi to tender his resignation from the Lok Sabha membership in person to the Speaker. |
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Local issues missing, rue voters
Indri (Karnal), May 11 Indri, with an estimated 1.40 lakh voters, is considered to be one of the most backward areas of the state. People allege that successive governments have failed to develop this rural belt. The voters of this assembly constituency that falls along the Yamuna said besides improving hygiene and education facilities, the area needed other basic facilities. Party nominees indulge in mudslinging to gain power and forget local issues, rued a woman near Bibipur Bhramnan village. Sher Singh, a voter from Dera Silighar village, wants an ITI setup for the rural youth. “In the absence of a technical education institute in Indri, the local youth with little financial assistance have as no means to prepare themselves for employment,” he said. |
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Palace on Wheels Project
Chandigarh, May 11 At a recent meeting between Union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Union minister of tourism and culture Ambika Soni for equity participation in the project, senior officials of the state were apprised of the tentative cost of
contribution. The scheme for running the new Palace on Wheels train was formulated by the Department of Tourism of Punjab and cleared by the Ministry of Railways. Sustained efforts resulted in the inclusion of Kurukshetra and Pinjore, all places of historical interest, on the route of the Palace on Wheels project. Sources added that while a proper route was yet to be chalked out for the Palace on Wheels, it will pass through Haryana before entering Chandigarh and go into Punjab. While Kurukshetra would be on the train route, tourists would be taken to Pinjore through special buses. The Rs 31-crore project of the Punjab government has an investment of Rs 13 crore by the state, while Rs 7 crore will be put in by the Union government for the promotion of tourism. The rest will be contributed by the Railways for developing coaches with five-star facilities. The Railways would construct special platforms at the said stations for the Palace on Wheels that would be meant exclusively for tourists. However, the Railways has asked the respective state governments to bear the recurring cost of the project, an issue which is still open to debate. The entire work for taking the tourists around the destinations would be outsourced by the government to
private players. Meanwhile, in Himachal Pradesh, a few private parties have expressed interest in converting the Kalka-Shimla train into a Palace on Wheels project. However, this is still at a nascent stage. |
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Shifting of dyeing units a distant dream
Panipat, May 11 It was in 2002 that the HUDA had been asked to carve out an industrial sector where more then 650 industrial units, including 511 dye houses, could be shifted. As of today, more then 400 industrialists have been allotted plots in Sector 29 Part II, but none have moved their establishments to the new sector, informed HUDA officials. These officials were responsible for developing the sector and providing basic infrastructure to the industrialists here. The dyeing units continue to operate from the residential areas in the city causing damage to the environment. Officials of the Pollution Control Board said a common effluent treatment plant with a cost of over Rs 16 crore had already been commissioned in the industrial sector. This could help improve the city environment, but the reluctance on the part of the industrialists had thwarted the efforts to check the ever-increasing pollution level in the city, the officials said. As per an estimate, over 1 crore litres of polluted water is discharged into open by these units, endangering the lives of residents and resulting in contaminating of the underground water. A visit to the areas where dyeing houses are located revealed that there were hardly any open spaces that had not been rendered useless by the affluent coming out of the dyeing units. President of the Dye-House Owners’ Association Yashpal Malik said it was the absence of proper infrastructure in sector 29 Part II, which was preventing the industrialists from shifting their base. However, SDM and administrator of the HUDA Shakti Singh said the requisite infrastructure, including power, sewage, water and roads were ready in the sector. He said despite this, not even a single industrialist had so far shifted to the new sector. It was learnt that recently the dyers’ association moved the court seeking a stay on the shifting of the units. Following that the industrialists were given an interim relief by the court, which directed the dyers and the HUDA to sort out the matter
through dialogue. Meanwhile, officials of the board stated that all-out efforts were being made by them to pursue the industrials to shift to the new sector. However, the efforts have failed to yield any results till date. |
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‘Anomalies’ in Pay Proposals
Chandigarh, May 11 The IPS officers of the state have formed an association, ostensibly to fight “injustice” done to them by the commission. The first general body meeting of the association was held at the Panchkula police lines today. While director-general (DG) Ranjiv Dalal was made the patron of the association, DG (Prisons) John V. George was unanimously elected its president. Over 50 officers from all over the state participated in the meeting. IG (Modernisation) B.S. Sandhu was made its secretary-general. Besides the pay scales of senior officers, the association decided to raise the cause of the constabulary which, it said, had been given a raw deal by the commission. Association sources say at present a constable is equated with a JBT teacher in the pay scale. But the commission has put constables on a par with Class IV employees, though over the years, the educational qualifications of the constables have steadily gone up. Even graduates and post-graduates are joining the police as constables. The sources say if society expects civilised behaviour from the constables, they should be given their due status. To take up the cause of the constabulary forcefully, the association constituted a three-member committee under the chairmanship of its senior vice-president V.B. Singh, ADGP, law and order, with Sandhu and AIG, administration, Charu Bali as its members. The committee would draft a memorandum on behalf of the constabulary and submit to the state government, urging it to give better pay scale to the constables than what had been recommended by the pay panel. While the pay scales of IPS officers are fixed by the Union government, those of the constables of the state police are fixed by the states themselves. Earlier, the IPS officers had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda seeking his help in undoing the injustice done to them. ADGP, CID, P.V. Rathee, informed the meeting that Hooda had yesterday written a personal letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, pleading the cause of the IPS officers. Rathee was elected vice-president of the association. The main grievances of the IPS officers are in regard to the pay scales of the DGP and DIGs as well as the lowering of the status of district SPs vis-a-vis DCs. They do not agree with the commission’s argument that since the DCs have t bear a lot of political pressure, they should be paid more. The IPS officers say, in reality, it is the SP who has to face greater political pressure than a DC. They are also agitated over the fact that the commission had not kept their parity with the IAS officers for empanelment for the central deputation. The likely delay in their empanelment would result in reduction in the central deputation quota. Not that the IPS officers were concerned about their own self. George urged the officers to work for the better delivery system so that the people should have a positive view about them. Agreeing with his colleague, Dalal said the IPS officers should live up to the expectations of the people and must discharge their duties sincerely before raising demands for themselves. The other office-bearers of the association are DIG (crime), O.P. Singh (joint secretary) and SP, telecom, H.S. Doon (treasurer). ADG, crime, Sharad Kumar; IG, HAP, P.R. Deo; IG, railways and commando, K.K. Mishra; DIG, CID, Rajbir Deswal; SP, Panchkula, Sandeep Khirwar; and SP, Railways, Bharati Arora, were elected as executive members. |
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Nurse makes a scene at police station
Yamunanagar, May 11 The nurse was accompanied by her brother and sister. On her complaint, the police had registered a case of rape on May 7 against four persons, including a woman. Today’s incident followed an altercation between her and police personnel. The sudden turn of events caught the cops off guard. When they could not decide what to do, they drag the nurse inside the police station. Her sister and brother were present outside the police station. Later, women cops were summoned to the police station. On May 7, the nurse had alleged that she had gone to the house of one Sonia. After some time, Sonia left the house and three men raped her. DSP R.S. Yadav said the nurse works at a private hospital. She had married a Panipat resident in April 2007. After some time, the relationship ended and she settled in Yamunanagar. Here she met Sonia, who was living with a man in Baba Colony. Later, Sonia deserted the man and the nurse started living with the man. In her complaint, the nurse alleged that on May 6, she had gone to Sonia's house. She had alleged that there she was raped by three men. The police had booked Sonia, her husband Balwinder and two other men. Yadav said the police would also inquire why she tore off her clothes at the police station. |
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Fed up with power cuts, villagers hold up traffic
Gurgaon, May 11 The protesters, including women and youths, ensured the complete disruption of vehicular movement on the busy road by stationing two trucks in the middle as well as digging the sides of the road to create hurdles to those trying to pass. This left vehicles in long lines stranded on both directions. Sensing trouble, DCP (South) Inder Singh Saini reached the spot with his force. But nothing unsavoury happened. The blockade lasted about three hours and was lifted after A.K. Jain, superintending engineer (operations), DHBVN, assured the protesters about uninterrupted power supply during day time. The protesters alleged that they had remained almost without power since March 20. An angry housewife, Omwati, said they had been facing cuts from 7 am to 8 pm. The situation was no better even during nights. All this caused a lot of misery, especially to women, because this affected the supply of drinking water. “We are forced to go about 2 km daily to fetch water for drinking and household chores,” she alleged. This is the second time that power-starved villagers resorted to such a protest on the issue during the past week. They had also blocked traffic on last Wednesday. But the situation showed no improvement. Notably, angry villagers of Badashahpur had even resorted to violence recently when some of them barged into the sub-station premises and beat up the staff on duty, besides damaging the equipment and office furniture. A police case was also registered. |
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Irregularities in wheat procurement
Jind, May 11 It is reported that there had been a difference of at least 200 gm in the weight of empty bags, which benefited the agencies procuring such material from manufacturers. The allotment of contracts of packing, lifting and transportation of wheat bags to warehouses has also led to a stiff resentment as this has caused an unusual delay and a risk of damage to the procured wheat. Sources revealed that problems related to procurement of wheat in mandis had perhaps been mainly man-made and due to faulty decisions and irregularities involved. A commission agent, on the condition of anonymity, claimed that farmers and agents had been at receiving end due to certain corrupt practices. He said the weight of an empty bag, which had been purchased from manufacturer or supplying agencies, was 467 gm but on record, it was 667 gm. The excess weight of each bag thus came out to be 200 gm. This turned out to be massive when millions of bags were procured in the state every year and there was no guarantee of the weighing scale being free of any error. A minor error in weighing could also result in massive difference when it comes to larger scale, said a source in the local grain market. He said there was hardly any regular checking of scales, especially during the procurement season. |
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Burning of Stubble
Fatehabad, May 11 Those who had defied the government orders and burnt their straw surreptitiously were saved from the wrath of the fire, as the fields surrounding their houses were free from dried up straw that worked as highly combustible material for the
fire to spread. A woman and 10 head of cattle had perished in fire and over a hundred houses were burnt in the fire on Tuesday. Earlier, a similar fire had caused havoc in the Jakhal region of the district
last week. A cross section of farmers, whose properties were burnt revealed that those who religiously obeyed government orders on ban ended up losing their houses while those who had burnt it clandestinely were saved from the inferno. Farmers said due to a ban on the burning of wheat straw this year, a continuous layer of dried up stuff was standing in the fields. |
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Scrap SEZ, says panchayat
Jhajjar, May 11 The farmers opposed the creation of SEZ being promoted by the Reliance Industries in Jhajjar and Gurgaon districts and demanded that the project be scrapped. The meeting was presided over by president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Mahender Singh Tikait who urged the farmers in Haryana to raise a banner of revolt against the SEZ. Addressing the panchayat, the farmers leader cautioned the government of “serious consequences” if it continued the project. “The state government has invited big corporate houses to grab the agricultural land, which is not acceptable at all,” he maintained. The panchayat demanded in its resolutions that the policy of SEZs be scrapped altogether because it was against the interests of the farmers and could lead to serious food scarcity in the country in the near future. “There is no rationale behind setting up so many SEZs in a small state like Haryana,” the panchayat said, adding that the land which had been acquired by the government and corporate houses must be returned to the farmers. Mahavir Gulia, president of sangharsh samiti which organised the panchayat, maintained that Reliance Industries had been trying to grab the land in 22 villages of Jhajjar district and about 18 villages of Gurgaon district. “We have launched an awareness campaign during a week-long kisan yatra in Haryana against the SEZ policy,” he said. As a result, Reliance, which targeted to grab about 25,000 acres in these two districts, has failed to befool the farmers. So far, they have acquired only 6,700 acres, he said. |
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Fire victims await relief
Fatehabad, May 11 Many victims lost all their belongings in the inferno and have nothing to eat and no roof to take shelter. The authorities have yet not come forth with any announcement regarding financial aid to them and have only said that the loss was being assessed. One woman was burnt alive, over a dozen cattle were charred and scores of houses burnt either partially or wholly in the incident. Most of the victims whose properties were gutted in the fire were from the labour class. Paramjit Kaur, wife of a landless farm labourer, lost all articles she had purchased for the marriage of her daughter Suman Rani. Her daughter, who is 18, was scheduled to be married next month. She had purchased clothes, beddings, pressure cooker, bicycle, some ornaments etc for the occasion. Kuldip Singh (26), a landless farmer, also lost his new refrigerator, cooler, television, bedding and clothes etc in the fire. There are many such affected people in urgent need of help. But the authorities are still to come out with details of relief, if any, to be paid to the victims. |
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Mother’s Day celebrated
Kurukshetra, May 11 The museum had put up an exhibition on various dimensions of great mothers. The title of the exhibition was “The versatility of the motherhood”. CEO of the Kurukshetra Development Board Sanjeev Verma inaugurated it amidst 50 mothers and two girls. Verma said: “We all should be concerned about the declining sex ratio in Haryana, especially in Kurukshetra.” In view of the prevailing psyche of people, it was essential to educate the girl child to sustain the world for posterity. Mother was the embodiment of activity, power and force. By virtue of all these attributes, she protected her children from onslaughts and demonic influences. |
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Surjewala harps on development
Sonepat, May 11 Talking to mediapersons here today, Surjewala said the government had submitted two major schemes for drinking water and sewerage facilities to the National Capital Region Planning Board for Gohana constituency involving an amount of Rs 56.57 crore. |
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Man done to death by sons
Yamunanagar, May 11 Sources said the police was told about the murder on the phone by an anonymous caller. When the police reached the spot, it found the body of Phool Chand lying in a pool of blood on the floor. The reason behind the murder is believed to be a piece of land. The two were at large when reports last came in. Meanwhile, Rajkali (72), widow of Phool Chand, had to go to the civil hospital to identify the body as villagers did not cooperate in the identification of the body. In another incident, Preeto Devi (22) of Pinora village here lost her life in a clash between two groups. On the complaint of her husband Pala Ram, a case of murder has been registered against five persons. The sources said Pala Ram had a dispute with Praveen, Rajinder, Dhani Ram and Karan Singh. This morning, the five, armed with batons and rods, reached the house of Pala Ram and allegedly attacked the family, following which Preeto Devi died. |
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2 youths held for robbery
Kaithal, May 11 SSP Anil Kumar Rao said Ashu and his uncle, Furkhan, residents of Shikarpur of Muzaffarnagar had brought jaggery and sugar in a tractor-trailer for sale in Haryana. They had concealed their sale proceeds under jaggery in the trolley. When they were returning after selling jaggery, two motorcycle-borne youths armed with pistols overtook their vehicle and signalled them to stop. One of the youths shot at Farukan, who was driving the tractor and threatened them to hand over the cash. Furkhan asked his nephew to hand over the cash to the dacoits. |
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