Ambala, July 7
The power crisis in Haryana took a serious turn after harassed residents blocked traffic on the NH-72 near Kala Amb late yesterday night for more than three hours.

Taking law into their hands, they later pelted vehicles with stones and also set a police post on fire after locking a few police personnel in it.

Two police personnel, a constable and a head constable were injured in the attack.

To control the violent agitators, the police also fired in the air. The incident started about 10 pm yesterday when residents of nearby areas in Kala Amb started protesting against power shortage. They demanded that they should be given power from Himachal Pradesh in place of Haryana.

To press for their demands, they blocked the national highway. A few pelted stones at the police post and vehicles stranded on the highway, breaking windowpanes of few vehicles.

When the police tried to control the situation, the mob locked a few personnel in the police post and set it on fire. A part of the building and some wooden furniture was damaged in the fire. The personnel, however, escaped after removing a pane of the room they were locked in.

The mob also damaged two police and some private vehicles plying on the road.

Additional forces were rushed in from Mullana, Shazadpur, Naraingarh and Saha. Things were finally controlled about 1 am.

However, agitators alleged that the police used force though they were protesting in a peaceful manner.

The police later arrested 24 persons They have been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Meanwhile, one company of the Haryana Armed Police, 4 PCRS and 2 SHOs have been deployed at Kala Amb as a measure of security.

Chandigarh, July 7
Industrial production in Haryana has been seriously hit because of erratic power supply to the industry.

The irregular power supply and increasing cost of captive power generation has reportedly led to a huge dip in profit margins, besides bringing down the industrial output by almost 20 per cent.

Government officials claimed that they had made adequate arrangements through short-term power purchase from other states. However, reports from across the state revealed that the industry had been facing unscheduled power cuts and peak load restrictions.

The state power utilities had not announced any cut in power supply, but cuts ranging from five to six hours a day were being imposed.

Ashok Lavasa, financial commission (power), Haryana, however, said only one to two hours of power cuts were being imposed on the industry.

“The daily demand of power in the state is around 940 lakh units (LUs). Though there is a shortage of 200-400 MW of power (depending on the daily demand), the power situation is quite comfortable, as we have made power purchase agreements with state electricity boards of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh. Besides, we have also commissioned 600 MW of power this year at Yamunanagar, taking our installed capacity to 4,668 MW,” he said.

He further said to fulfill the growing demand for power in the agriculture sector, the government would sign short-term power purchase agreements in the coming weeks.

“There are no scheduled cuts on industry, power supply may be disrupted only because of local technical snags,” he added.

However, O.P. Khurana, president of the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, rued that erratic power supply to industry and frequent tripping was taking a toll on production. “We agree that there is a shortage of power. Only if the government were to regulate the power cuts, we would ask our labour to work in shifts when uninterrupted power is available,” he said.

With the cost of diesel having increased last month, the industry said the cost of captive power generation had gone up to Rs 10 per unit as compared to Rs 4.56 per unit being supplied by the state power utilities.

“This has made captive power generation economically nonviable, thus hitting the industrial production. Also, the industry is getting premium diesel, as the availability of normal diesel is now restricted. This has further increased the cost of captive power generation,” said C.B. Goel, former president of the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Panchkula, July 7
Haryana education minister Mange Ram Gupta has dissociated himself from the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan. Annoyed with the functioning of officials, the minister has stopped attending to the files related to the scheme.

Gupta said he had taken the decision in disgust, after officials refused to take corrective steps on the “anomalies” in the scheme.

In fact, the minister was “forced to take the harsh decision” when state project director Neerja Shekhar released an instalment of Rs 43 lakh to an NGO in March, said sources.

The NGO had conducted a “shiksha adhikar yatra” in the state last year. While the NGO was paid Rs 83 lakh as the first instalment for the purpose on March 31 last year before the start of the yatra, the second instalment of Rs 43 lakh was released on March 31 this year even as many district project coordinators (DPCs) filed the reports on the said yatra registering their dissatisfaction.

The reports sought by the education commissioner from additional deputy commissioners about the working of the NGOs in their districts were not awaited before releasing the instalment. The education commissioner had asked all districts for the reports after receiving complaints against the NGOs working under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.

The directions were issued after irregularities were reported from Kaithal, Sirsa, Narnaul and Mewat last year following which the then state project director, Raja Shekhar Vundru, was transferred and an inquiry into the matter handed over to the state Vigilance Bureau.

Interestingly, while Vundru was transferred, his wife Neerja Shekhar was posted as the state project director, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.

The yatra was a mobilisation campaign to sensitise parents of out-of-school children with the help of village education committee (VEC) members regarding the children’s right to education. The NGO was to be given Rs 1,250 per school catchment area.

However, many district project coordinators showed their dissatisfaction over the yatra.

In the report from Fatehabad, it has been stated that four or five boys had visited the district on July 7 for the yatra and a majority of the school heads had stated that no activity in their area was conducted by the NGO. Similar reports were filed by the DPCs from Karnal, Panchkula and Narnaul.

The Rewari additional deputy commissioner even asked the NGO volunteers not to conduct the yatra when he found their objectives “aimless”.

Surprisingly, the noting on which the payment of Rs 43 lakh was released mentioned that the first phase of the three-phase yatra commenced on April 6, 2007, and covered more than 3,700 schools in 12 districts. The second phase was inaugurated the very next day in Ambala. However, it is anybody’s guess how the NGO managed to organise the meetings with parents and VEC members in 3,700 schools in 12 districts in a day.

The expenses on the yatra include Rs 45,000 on a press conference. And Rs 1, 13,758 have been showed against the expenditure on the inaugural function of the second phase of the yatra in Ambala on April 7 last year. Enquiries, however, revealed that the expenditure on the function was also borne by the district project unit, Ambala.

State project director Neerja Shekhar, however, denied any irregularity in the release of money to the NGO.

Gurgaon, July 7
A poor Gurgaon family’s request for financial assistance following the murder of its only son by a gang of serial killers is pending for around two years despite the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office, courtesy official apathy.

Since May 21, 2007, the PMO sent four reminders seeking information in the case, but the office of the Gurgaon deputy commissioner did not bother to respond. So much so that all these reminders were untraceable in the deputy commissioner’s office. “My office could not locate any such communication from the PMO, but we will try again,” said deputy commissioner Rakesh Gupta who was provided with the dates of the reminders. The last reminder sent by the PMO on June 5, 2008, a copy of which is with The Tribune, had asked the deputy commissioner’s office to expedite the work for speedy processing of the family’s request.

The bereaved mother, Anita Jain of the Adarsh Nagar locality, had submitted a petition to the Prime Minister for financial assistance after their representations to the local authorities as well as Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, whom the family approached with a delegation of city residents, yielded no positive response. The shattered family is running from pillar to post since losing its son Sachin Jain (19) in 2006. He was murdered by a notorious Maxi cab gang after giving him a lift while he was returning home from office. His highly decomposed body was found in a gutter after a week.

“Our lives are shattered. He was a hardworking boy and we had high hopes from him. He had just begun his professional career with an international fast food chain and aspired to do an MBA in hospitality for career growth. He was lined up to join a management training programme in the US in March 2007,” said his father Sunil Jain, who runs a small workshop in a rented space here for 30 years, repairing agricultural tools and hand pump machines. He earns around Rs 4,000 a month. 

Yamunanagar, July 7
High tension prevailed in the district after six assailants allegedly opened indiscriminate fire leaving five persons injured, two of them seriously, following a row over panchayat land at Bhatli village in Jagadhari today.

The two seriously injured included sarpanch of Bhatli village Rajbir Singh and a former sarpanch, Sant Ram.

The other three injured villagers identified as Ram Kumar, Sonu and Johni have been admitted to a private hospital. The condition of Rajbir, who reportedly received three bullet injuries, is said to be critical. The police has arrested one accused in the case.

The incident took place about 11 am when the assailants forcibly tried to take possession of a panchayat land.

When the villagers, including the sarpanch, objected to the move, they opened fire and ran away from the spot.

However, villagers managed to nab two of the assailants and beat them up. Later, the situation aggravated when angry villagers blocked the national highway for four hours alleging police inaction.

The villagers burnt the assailant’s car and damaged a private bus. They also pelted stones on police personnel.

The villagers alleged that policemen were sitting inside their vehicle at the spot when the assailants opened fire.

Earlier, they had submitted a complaint to the tehsildar regarding the panchayat land, but nothing was done in this regard.

A heavy police force was deployed to control the aggrieved villagers. Deputy commissioner Nitin Kumar Yadav and SP Dr C.S. Rao also reached the spot to pacify the villagers.

Rao said one of the accused, Narinder Sharma, had been arrested under the Arms Act.

Refuting the allegations, he said the police reached the spot as soon as it received the information about the incident. It arrested an accused and was investigating the role of others. Rajbir was undergoing operation till the last report was filed in. 

Karnal, July 7
Held responsible for their alleged failure in diagnosing the disease of the late Khalid, an undertrial from Pakistan, the Haryana government has asked the health department to initiate disciplinary action against four doctors.

The home department has recommended minor penal action against the jail superintendent of the Modern Central Jail Complex, Bhondsi, Gurgaon district. Two of the guilty doctors are posted at the Bhondsi jail hospital while the other two are posted at the General Hospital, Gurgaon.

A resident of Lahore, Khalid, alias Azad, died at the AIIMS on February 12 allegedly due to the negligence of the doctors posted at the jail and the General Hospital, Gurgaon.

In the inquiry report, the state prison department has reportedly held responsible five officials, including the jailor, for not providing adequate medical aid to the undertrial.

The ministry of home affairs had asked for a detailed report from the state due to the sensitivity of the case related to a Pak national.

Sources revealed that though the report was submitted to the centre by the state government a few months ago, no punitive action was initiated against those held guilty.

However, the inquiry report accessed by The Tribune quoted the medical analysis and firmly termed the incident as an evident case of medical and supervisory negligence, which had contributed to the worsening of the medical condition of the undertrial patient, Khalid, who was suffering from a “life threatening disease”.

The deceased undertrial was arrested from Faridabad on the charges of the Officials Act, Foreigner Act and the Passport Act and later confined in Bhondsi jail on May 25, 2006.

Sources in the state government revealed that though the deceased was suffering from a chronic liver disease, the doctors at the jail and the General Hospital failed to diagnose him properly.

The inquiry report stated that the deceased Pak undertrial was first medically examined on May 24, 2007, but “callous” doctors failed to detect the problem.

The ailing undertrial was admitted to the jail hospital and taken to the General Hospital on several occasions, but the doctors miserably failed to diagnose his ailment.

They also failed in administering proper treatment to the patient and no medical tests were conducted by the guilty doctors, the report maintained.

“The callous and negligent doctors failed to make use of the medical facilities like the essential investigations, including urine and blood tests, X-rays and ultrasound, at the General Hospital,” the report said.

The jail superintendent at the Bhondsi jail has also been nailed by his parent department. It was the jailor’s duty to provide support and care to all prisoners, the report said.

Hisar, July 7
A 23-year-old youth and father of a two-year-old girl, who has become a woman following a sex change operation, has said now his (or should we say her) main worry is the future of his wife and daughter.

Vishal, a resident of Juglan village near here, has now re-christened himself with a feminine name - Anu.

He underwent a sex change operation in Delhi on June 25 and is still under medication.

Anu said she was hopeful of finding a solution to the problem relating to his wife and child.

“Sadly, there is no law in India for children like my daughter. She will always be known as Vishal’s daughter,” Anu lamented. Interestingly, her daughter now addresses her as “bua” (aunty).

Speaking of her days when she was a male, she said: “She willingly married his wife four years ago. But, all these years, I was always a girl at heart. With every passing year, I was getting more and more depressed. Therefore, I finally decided to take the final step and luckily my entire family supported me.”

Clad in jeans and top, it is hard for anyone to imagine that two weeks ago she was a strapping young hunk. She looks like a young girl and even has a feminine touch to her voice.

However, she will never be able to become a mother in her new role as a woman. She has been taking hormonal therapy that will help develop her breasts. “That should take about six more months,” she added. The surgery costed her Rs 3 lakh.

A fashion designer, Anu as Vishal even worked as an instructor in an institute. She was still unsure of what she would do as a woman now, she said, adding that she would always take care of her wife and daughter.

Yamunanagar, July 7
Finally, after a delay of four months, the two units of Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Power Project of 300 MW each will be handed over to the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) this month.

The performance guarantee test on unit 1 of 300 MW will begin from tonight.

With the functioning of the two units, the state will get an additional power supply of 144 lakh units every day and it will help in reducing the ongoing power shortage in the state. After conducting the test on unit 1, the performance guarantee test will be conducted on unit 2.

The two units of the thermal plant were built by Reliance Energy Limited (REL).

As per the agreement, Reliance Energy Limited had to hand over the first unit to the HPGCL on November 19, 2007, and the second on February 19, 2008, sources said.

Fatehabad, July 7
In an early morning swoop on Ratia town in this district, the police today arrested three functionaries of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) in connection with incidents of rioting and damage to government property in the wake of the Ghaggar river bridge collapse in which two persons had died.

Those arrested were Mangat Ram Lalwass, state general secretary of the HJC (BL), Ramesh Garg, former president of the Beopar Mandal, Ratia, and district president of the beopar cell of the HJC (BL), and Vijay Kumar, president of the local Timber Merchants Association and president of the local chapter of the beopar cell of the party.

The police produced them before judicial magistrate Anita Dahiya, who accepted their bail.

The police had registered a case against 150 persons after a mob damaged government vehicles on June 17, when the authorities failed to recover the bodies of the two victims even after 30 hours.

They were booked under sections 147, 148, 149, 353, 186, 347 and 427 of the IPC.

The HJC (BL) leaders alleged that they had been framed at the instance of a Congress MP .