Rohtak, January 31
The Beniwal Gotra khap panchayat yesterday ordered that a marriage solemnised in violation of gotra (surname) norms be annulled.

The panchayat declared the marriage of Satish of Kheri Meham with Kavita of Bhagi-Behror in Bhiwani district invalid. It asked the parents of the couple to abide by the order within 28 days or face “exile”.

The panchayat, describing the man and woman as siblings, ordered that they severed their matrimonial ties forthwith. It declared that the couple’s son, Raunak, would remain with his mother while the groom’s family would pay Rs 3 lakh to his mother for his upbringing.

The father of the groom has appealed to the panchayat to reconsider the decision. Sources said the panchayat had accepted the appeal and another meeting was likely within a couple of days. As punishment, a shoe was placed in the mouth of Azad Singh, Satish’s father, claimed a kin pleading anonymity. “The panchayat announced that the couple were now brother and sister and the girl be taken back by her parents,” he said.

The panchayat was reportedly presided over by Hawa Singh Beniwal. Hundreds of villagers were present. The panchayat said that since members of both Beniwal and Berwal gotras resided in the village (Kheri), there existed brotherhood between them and, hence, matrimonial ties could not be allowed. Kavita’s father, Rajvir Singh who was present at the meeting, told mediapersons that Hawa Singh pronounced the diktat while another panchayat member, Virender Singh, forced a shoe into Azad Singh’s mouth.

This is second such incident in the district in the past three months. A panchayat had ordered the “exile” of a couple at Garhi Ballam village in the district on November 1 last.

A joint panchayat of the Garhi Ballam and Sundana villages had directed a couple to leave the village for violating the gotra norms. The boy hailed from Sundana while the girl to Garhi Ballam, 2 km away, in Kalanaur subdivision.

The couple had to leave the village under pressure. No formal complaint was lodged with the police or the district administration.

Tribune News Service

Sirsa, January 31
The All-India Students Federation (AISF) today condemned the diktat of Khap Panchayat, declaring a couple as brother and sister in Meham Kheri, Rohtak district. It demanded action against those responsible for it. A meeting of the state council of the AISF held here today urged the state government to initiate action against members of the Khap Panchayat. Roshan Lal Suchan, state convener, who presided over the meeting, alleged that the state government had been encouraging Khap Panchayats by not taking any action against them.

“It’s sheer vote bank politics that stops the government from proceeding against these panchayats,” he alleged.

The members decried the increasing trend of privatisation of education and alleged that the government was hand in glove with private institutes in fleecing students. “On the one hand, education is getting increasingly out of bounds for the common people and on the other, no fresh recruitments are being made,” the AISF leader alleged.

He claimed that there were that 25 lakh unemployed youths in Haryana, but the state government was doing precious little to fill 2.5 lakh vacancies in various departments. Suchan said the 27th annual convention of the AISF would be held at Puducherry from February 13 to 15, in which over 1,000 delegates would participate. 

Sirsa, January 31
Thirty-five-year-old Ramanjit Kaur (name changed) works as “Bal Sewika” in one of the 64-odd crèches run by the district authorities through Bal Bhawan in the district.

She has to reach the crèche in Sirsa from her neighbouring village on all working days before 9 am and look after 25 kids between 0 and 5 years of age till 5 in the evening.

For all this, she is paid a meagre salary of Rs 1,400 per month. Spurned by her husband, Ramanjit Kaur has to look after her son studying in class X. To add insult to the injury, she has not received her salary for the past four months.

She in not an isolated case of gross exploitation of women working in crèches run by Bal Bhawan here.

Like her, over 60 others have been working for this meagre salary, less than Rs 50 a day for eight hours in a day.

Each of the 64 crèches run by the Bal Bhawan authorities have one helper each, besides the “Bal Sewikas”.

The helpers are paid even abysmally at Rs 600 per month.

The government pays Rs 2 per child per day to these “Bal Sewikas” for providing nutritious diet to children coming to their crèches, but that too has not been received for more than three months now, and these poor workers are expected to spend from their pocket till funds are received from the government.

What is even worse, they have no right to raise voice against their exploitation. While holding a meeting today, they did not forget to request mediapersons not to publish their names.

“Anyone who raises her voice is harassed by the officers in the Bal Bhawan and are threatened to be shown the door,” said a Bal Sewika.

“We look after kids of others throughout the day, but our own children remain neglected,” said a Bal Sewika.

“How can we manage our families in just Rs 1,400 a month that we get these days when prices of commodities are soaring day by day,” said another Bal Sewika, who is a widow and has three daughters to look after.

They alleged that the government increased the wages of anganwadi workers from Rs 1,200 per month to Rs 3,000 per month in March last year, but their salaries had not been increased.

Admitting that the “Bal Sewikas” have not been receiving their salaries for months, Deputy Commissioner Yudhvir Singh Khyalia said the funds come from the central government under a scheme and are usually delayed.

Jhajjar, January 31
The Deputy Principal Secretary to Haryana Chief Minister, RS Doon, said information regarding the announcements made by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had been made available online.

Therefore, officers should regularly monitor the progress of the works initiated as per the announcements.

He said this while reviewing the progress of developmental works during his visit to Jhajjar yesterday.

He also visited Badhsa village in the district, the site where construction works on AIIMS -II is underway. He was apprised about the construction of the same and also about the site plan of the new bus stand in Jhajjar.

Doon directed the officers concerned to timely complete the developmental works being carried out in the district. He also took a report on the construction works on thermal power plant in Jhadli and Khanpur Khurd from the officers concerned.

He was informed that work on the Railway line from Rewari to Jhajjar would be completed by March-end.

He was also informed that the entire length of the Rewari-Jhajjar-Rohtak Railway line would be completed by December this year.

He was also told that the diversion road from Bahadurgarh via Sampla connecting the Rohtak road would be completed by March 31.

With its completion, vehicles from Rohtak and Bahadurgah would not be required to enter the city. Doon directed the officers not to compromise on the quality of developmental works. Any carelessness in such case would invite stringent action, he warned. 

Chandigarh, January 31
Haryana seems to be marching ahead eyes closed to this one record it certainly can’t be proud of --- eye donation. For the nearly 10,000 blind in the state requiring corneal transplant, there are only a handful of donors.

Till 2009 December-end, there have been only 650 donations for which 300 keratoplasty (corneal transplant) operations have been performed. In the past couple of years, the number of eye donations has been as low as 172 and 270, abysmally poor given the requirement.

Of the eyes usually donated in a year, 40 per cent are found unfit for transplant and are rejected. This further brings down the number of transplants that actually take place.

Explains Dr Ramesh Dhankar, co-ordinator with the State Blindness Control Programme: “There is a huge gap between demand and supply. Forty per cent eyes that are donated are of no use. The state’s performance when it comes to eye donation is very poor, but donations at the national level are no better with only 40,000 eyes donated for nearly 1.5 million patients requiring corneal transplants. “The best example for eye donation that comes to mind is that of Sri Lanka where it is mandatory to donate eyes.”

Realising that the state had not made any substantial headway in eye donation in Haryana over the past many years, the government has not only launched an awareness campaign but also decided to provide the facility of eye donation in every district hospital, lest proper infrastructure is a bottleneck.

“All you need to do to donate eyes is dial 102, which is also the contact number for our ambulance service. Now, we have in place in every district a rapid response team which has been trained to collect eyes. All our hospitals at the district headquarters are now become authorised eye collection centers.

This facility has become operational since January 26,” says Anuradha Gupta, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister.

For any call received at 102, the rapid response team visits the site and collects the eyes. It is the team responsibility to ensure that the eyes reach the eye bank at the PGIMS, Rohtak, within the stipulated six hours before they waste away.

At the eye bank in Rohtak, all set to have a regional centre of Ophthalmology shortly, a list of patients with priority to children (up to 18 years) requiring corneal transplants is ready for keratoplasty to be carried out without delay. Further, to overcome lack of awareness on eye donation, the department intends to carry out a sustained campaign comprising radio jingles. It will approach village health and sanitation committees and panchayats to reach out to the people. With this initiative, the government hopes to see light at the end of the tunnel. 

Chandigarh, January 31
Daredevils of the Border Security Force (BSF) will display their stunts in a synchronised and synergistic display of mind, body and machine coordination at Vachhar Stadium, HAP, Madhuban, on February 2.

The daredevils will be demonstrating their skills for the first time in Haryana on the special invitation of Director General of Police Ranjiv S Dalal.

The daredevil team was formed in 1990 aiming to display daredevil shows like riding 350 cc motorbikes. So far, the team has performed at various national occasions throughout the country and brought laurels to their elite force.

Since its inception, the team has recorded its name in the Limca Book of World Records and has become known to the whole nation.

The team has created a world record by carrying 40 men on a Royal Enfield 350 cc motorbike and covered a distance of 325 m in 48.11 sec in New Delhi on March 17, 2006.

It set up a world record again by carrying 27 persons on three motorcycles up to a distance of 1 km in 1 minute and 16 seconds. The daredevil shows on motorbikes shows their efficiency, marksmanship and dedication towards extra-curricular activities also.

The contingent of the BSF daredevil comprises 60 men and will be commanded by Inspector Gurjit Singh. 

Sirsa, January 31
Kalpana Chawla, who perished with space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003, possessed qualities of both head and heart.

VS Malhotra, a former professor with Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, who was Kalpana’s teacher, has several anecdotes to tell about her.

“When she was selected for shuttle mission STS-107, we prepared a memento, on her request, to be taken to space. When the design of the memento was ready, we took the liberty of drafting a message on her behalf to future cosmonauts and mailed it to her for approval. “From stone tools to space ships is a fantastic journey.

“But far more fantastic journeys are bound to come. Perhaps, somebody from among you, my young friends, may be responsible for one. Strive hard! God bless you......Kalpana Chawla,” read the message.

However, Kalpana refused to take credit for the message that she had not authored. “The words on your quote are superb but are certainly not mine. Therefore, I have object on ethical grounds,” said Kalpana’s reply to 
Malhotra.

She suggested that either the credit of the quote be given to its author or consider any of the two alternative quotes sent by her, that read: “On the road from dreams to reality, wishing you the best journey,” or “The path from dreams to reality does exist. May you have the vision to pave it, the courage to find it, and the perseverance to stay on it. Wishing you the best journey.” Kalpana went ahead to select aeronautic engineering as her discipline at a time when it was not even popular among men as there were few openings and modest salaries.

“However, the size of pay cheque, prestige and status in society were absolutely of no consideration to her. She had developed a special liking for the flying machine and had fallen in love with the blue skies above,” Malhotra

Chandigarh, January 31
The state government has taken certain measures to control spiralling prices of essential commodities. The measures include strict enforcement of the Haryana Prevention of Hoarding and Maintenance of Quality Order, 1977, and upper limit on stocks, which can be possessed by a wholesaler or retailer.

Haryana Food and Supplies Minister Mahender Partap Singh said here recently that FIRs had been lodged against two firms, one in Ambala and another in Sirsa, for violation of the stock limits. He said the authorities had so far inspected 1,241 premises to check any violation of stock limits.

He said all district food and supplies controllers (DFSC) had been directed to monitor the price situation daily and strictly enforce the Haryana Prevention of Hoarding and Maintenance of Quality Order, 1977.

The DCs and SPs had been asked to monitor the checking being carried out by the DFSCs. He claimed that following the intense checking, price of sugar had come down by Rs 200 to Rs 400 per quintal.

He said out of a total of 9,303 fair price shops, 7,895 fair price shops had already been checked and irregularities were found in 2,018 shops. Action had also been initiated against the defaulters.

The Department of Food and Supplies had requested the Excise and Taxation Department to waive off VAT on imported sugar and on food grains issued under the public distribution system.

The Food and Supplies Department had decided to release wheat under the open market sales scheme to institutional consumers. The department had released wheat for Above Poverty Line (APL) consumers under the public distribution system at the rate of 10 kg per ration card at a rate of Rs 6.86 per kg and in addition to this, 10 kg wheat per ration card at a rate of Rs 11.75 per kg. The Confed had released 1,200 metric tonnes Urad Dal for distribution during this month. An equal quantity of Sabut Chana would be released next month for Below Poverty Line (BPL) consumers.

He said the state government was bearing a subsidy of Rs 650 lakh per annum on wheat being distributed to BPL and AAY families. The Centre had recently decided to sell two to three million tonnes of wheat and rice in the open market over the next two months. As soon as state receive its allocation, it would make it available to the people. 

Sirsa/Fatehabad, January 31
The government has accorded its approval for the constitution of five new panchayats in Fatehabad and one new panchayat in Sirsa district.

In Fatehabad district, two new panchayats - Bidhai Khera and Bhodia Khera - have been carved out of the erstwhile Dangra and Amina panchayats, respectively, of Tohana block.

Two new panchayats - Bhundran and Kanikheri - have been created from Digoh and Rahankheri, respectively, of Bhuna block and one more new panchayat - Khai - has been constituted from Mehmadki village of Ratia block, said Rajesh Koth, Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Tohana.

The total number of village panchayats under Fatehabad district had gone up from 240 to 245 now, said Koth.

In Sirsa district, a new panchayat - Bharokhan Dhani - has been carved out of Bharokhan village. With this, the number of total panchayats in the district had increased to 334 from the earlier 333. 

Sonepat, January 31
A newly married woman, Suman, was allegedly strangulated by her husband Harpal of Gannaur today. On the complaint of her father, Shishpal of Bilandpur Kheri village, a case has been registered against Harpal.

Shishpal said Suman was married to Harpal on November 23, 2009, and he spent a lot of money on solemnising the marriage and on dowry. He alleged that soon after her marriage, Harpal started torturing her for dowry and finally eliminated her.

According to another report, a simple altercation between the children of two families of Bhaira Bankipur village today resulted in armed clash between the elders of their families, resulting in death of one person, identified as Naresh, and injuring four others namely Rame and Bijender of Naresh’s family and Karan and Randhir of other family.

Naresh succumbed to his injuries while being taken to PGIMS Rohtak and the injured were admitted to a hospital.