Jhajjar, September 6
Taking a lenient view in the matter of gross violation of rules, the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) authorities have forgiven PKSD College, Kanina (Mahendragarh), against which serious allegations of receiving donation in lieu of appointments to its various teaching and non-teaching posts were proved in an inquiry carried out by the university.

The college’s provisional affiliation had come under threat when the university issued a show-cause notice to it wherein the college was asked that as to why its provisional affiliation should not be withdrawn under clause 27 of Statute 38 of the MDU Act in view of its involvement in unlawful and undesirable activities like extracting donation in appointments.

The notice was served on the basis of an inquiry report revealing that 12 out of 14 teachers during the investigation had agreed that their close relatives such as father, father-in-law or husband in case of female teachers had donated a significant amount to the college.

According to reports, the college, after receiving the notice, had urged the university to take a sympathetic view in this regard pleading that it is purely based on self-financing and not getting any sort of grant from the government and the UGC. Besides, the college also assured not only to follow the rules and regulations strictly in future but also work under the guidelines of the university as well.

Considering the reply, the university authorities took a lenient view in the matter and let off the “guilty” college unpunished merely issuing a warning that strict action would be taken if it violates the rules in future.

Earlier, the authorities had constituted an inquiry committee after receiving several complaints alleging that appointments of lecturers at PKSD College had explicitly been made by receiving huge amount of donations from candidates. The complainants had also submitted affidavits along with other documentary proof in support of their complaints.

The committee, during the investigation, found as many as 14 such pages in cash books of the college wherein it had been clearly mentioned that who was the donor and for whom the money was donated as the names of teachers or employees were mentioned in description and particulars in bracket in the cash register.

In its findings, the committee said the management of the college had obviously received donations in lieu of appointments of teachers and it denied the contention of the college that the teachers were appointed purely on the merit basis, as the university professors were also part of the selection committees.

“It is a matter of concern for the university that the college has secured the approval of so many teachers where the malpractices in selections are prevalent. Hence, an appropriate corrective action in case of all appointments in the college is warranted,” suggested the committee in its report submitted to the university authorities.

The committee had also mentioned that the management had explicitly made it a policy that anybody would be appointed in the college only after depositing a huge donation. Such practice must be immediately stopped and the university might initiate proper action against the college management, the committee had recommended. 

Ambala, September 6
With no solution in sight, it seems that the menace of stray cattle and shabby parks have become an integral part of Ambala Cantonment.

Two years ago, the local Municipal Corporation Sadar had signed an agreement with a company, Social Promoter, that in return for installing advertisement hoardings of various types, the company would ensure the removal of stray cattle, installation of dustbins and maintenance of local parks etc.

Though the municipality limits are dotted with advertisement hoarding of all shapes and sizes, its two big parks, Subhash Park and Indira Park, are in bad shape while stray cattle roam around freely on roads disrupting traffic.

While the civic authorities blame the company for the deteorating condition of the city. Representatives of the company hold the civic authorities responsible.

Talking to TNS, Ashok Kumar, one of the partners of the company, stated the present condition was due to the recent floods and rains the city witnessed.

“We have just installed benches in the park and the repair work of footpaths is also under way,” he stated.

Denying that the state of affairs was so bad, he stated that the agreement made in June 2008 was for seven years and the company was doing the work in phases in place of all at once.

“The problem of stray cattle is here to stay,” said Ashok, adding that a part of the agreement clearly stated that the civic authorities were to provide the company with a place to impound the cattle, which Ashok claimed had not been done so far.

“We have even written to the authorities six months ago, but yet to receive any details. We have, therefore, stopped impounding cattle as there is no place to keep them.”

Painting of electricity poles, he said, had not been done this year as the MC had verbally communicated to them that they would be changing the poles this year.

Incidentally, the MC House was dissolved in March this year after the formation of a corporation and in the absence of new councillors, the 
problem is not being highlighted, claimed former councillors.

“We were not in favour of this agreement. It is evident now that no good has come of it,” stated Onkar Nathi, a former councillor of the MC Sadar.

Hisar, September 6
With the computerisation of 13 operation subdivisions in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Hisar, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has enabled online registration of complaints.

Managing Director Sudhir Rajpal said recently that after providing the facility of online payment of bills in 18 subdivisions, the facility of online registration of complaints in 13 subdivisions would make it easier for consumers to register complaints.

Consumers can avail this facility through DHBVN’s website www.dhbvn.com. For registration of complaints, the consumer has to go to “consumer section” and click on “Online payment and billing details of subdivisions”. The customer is then required to enter his account number to register the complaint. On registration of complaint, the customer will get a unique request ID on the printable acknowledgement slip. With the help of the ID, the customer can also track the status of his complaint on the website.

Rajpal said with the computerisation of the subdivisions, working of the subdivisions had changed positively. An information counter had been provided at each subdivision where an official equipped with a computer would provide all necessary information and forms to the consumer.

In case of non-availability of forms, the person could provide printouts.

The status of a complaint can also be known from this section as it maintains the flow of inward and outward applications in the system and enters details of the grievance. The official at the information counter receives the complaints and applications and forward these to the consumer help desk for resolution.

The consumer clerks at the help desk are equipped with PC, scanner and printer. The CCs handle all types of consumer grievances, processing of new applications and generating various orders. The consumer help desk also provides the status of unresolved requests.

The MD said the customer care officer (subdivisional officer) would monitor the status of consumer grievances.

Bhiwani, September 6
A state-level convention on social reforms organised by the Haryana unit of the All-India Kisan Sabha at Mundal near here called for developing a society based on the principle of equality and free from exploitation.

A resolution passed at the convention enlisted a number of social evils that needed to be addressed for equitable development of all sections of society, including women, members of the Scheduled Castes, minorities and other weaker sections.

It pointed out that discrimination based on gender, caste, religion and other sectarian considerations were holding back society. It called upon the masses to launch a social reform movement against dowry, female foeticide, ostentatious display of wealth in marriages, obscurantism, superstitions, expenditure on death-related ceremonies and alcoholism and drug addiction.

The convention expressed concern over repeated instances of honour killing at the behest of unconstitutional caste panchayats in the state. It urged saner citizens to oppose such inhuman and irrational actions of khap panchayats.

It strongly condemned all political parties, which directly on indirectly supported “inhuman, barbaric and unconstitutional acts in the name of social traditions”.

The resolution said there was urgent need for launching a broad-based social reform movement in Haryana.

The speakers also criticised the policies of ruling parties who allotted prime land for building caste-based dharamshalas but were reluctant to give even a 100 yard plot for a library.

Chandigarh,September 6
A delegation of the French Trade Commission has called on Haryana Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh to explore the possibilities of cooperation between French companies and companies based in Haryana in the agro-food industry both in the agriculture as well as food processing according to the needs of the state.The delegation was led by Jerome Desquiens, head of the Agro Food Department for India at the French Trade Commission, Embassy of France. The other members of the delegation were Jean-Philippe Thiney, trade officer at the commission and Raj Anand, general manager of Promosalons, French company promoting major French international trade fairs.

The delegation also discussed the presence of Haryana in SIAL, Paris, SITEVI and SIMA Fairs of France and also extended invitation to visit French pavilion to be set up in the agro-tech fair of the CII to be held in December.

Parmavir Singh assured Haryana’s full cooperation to the delegation. He said most Haryana farmers were small and marginal and whatever technology would be found suitable for them, it would surely be adopted. He also assured cooperation in the food processing units, which would benefit the entrepreneurs and the people of the state.

Jerome Desquiens said the French Trade Commission realised the importance of the Indian agriculture sector, especially the food bowl of India, Haryana. Hence, they had come to ensure participation of Haryana in these fairs for adoption of French technology to boost the Indian agriculture competitiveness besides promoting Indo-French partnerships.

A seminar would be organised next year in Chandigarh on animal genetic to share French experience in the field, he added.

The director, animal husbandry, said the technology for silage making, clean milk products and modern housing were some of the other areas where the state look forward for French collaboration. Animal identification and field performance record keeping for genetic improvement of livestock were other priority areas for the state.

The Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Roshan Lal, and Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Hardeep Kumar were also present during the meeting besides the representatives of the CII.

Sirsa, September 6
Karnal MLA and president of the Haryana Pradesh Mahila Congress Sumita Singh said on Saturday that participation of more women in mainstream politics would ensure cleansing of several social evils from society.

Sumita Singh, accompanied with Tanu Singh, in charge of Haryana affairs in the All-India Mahila Congress, was here in connection with the annual convention of the district unit of the organisation.

“Lay special emphasis on the education of girls, as the real empowerment comes through education only,” the MLA said addressing women activists of the organisation.

She said social evils like dowry, female foeticide and child marriage could be prevented only if the women were educated and empowered.

Sumita Singh said the state had taken several steps for providing better education and other facilities to women and these steps, she claimed, were becoming models for others.

Haryana, she said, was the only state to have an all-women university at Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat and Kalpana Chawla Medical College, coming up in Karnal, would provide an impetus to women’s education.

She said “Ladli” and “Indira Gandhi Priyadarshani Vivah Shagun Yojna” were some of the many schemes launched by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government for the benefit of women.

She said district-level conventions were being organised in all districts to rejuvenate the organisation and added that this was the fourth in the series.

Lauding the activities being taken by the mahila Congress,

Tanu Singh said this was one of the best state-level bodies. Shilpa Verma, district president of the mahila Congress, said the organisation in Sirsa had been active in the social fields too besides its activities in the political field.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, District Congress President Malkiat Singh Khosa, Hoshiari Lal Sharma and Bhupesh Mehta were present on the occasion.

Kurukshetra, September 6
Dr Pawan Sharma, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Kurukshetra University, has been selected to present his research paper on “A Benzene sulfonamide Group in the Major Groove Improves the Stacking Efficiency and RNA Recognition of 5-Phenyltriazole-Substituted Oligonucleotides” at the XIX International Roundtable on Nucleosides Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids (IRT 2010), scheduled to be held at Lyon, France, from August 29 to September 3.

IRT is the largest congregation of nucleoside chemists from all over the world which brings industrial and academic chemists and biologists together and provides an overview on cutting edge research in medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, synthetic and therapeutic applications of nucleosides and oligonucleotides as well as diagnostics and novel materials.

Dr Pawan has been invited for presenting a research paper for the third consecutive time. He had earlier attended the XVII Roundtable in 2006 at Bern, Switzerland, and XVIII Roundtable in 2008 at Kyoto, Japan.

Sonepat, September 6
As a mark of tribute to Hav Rajesh Kumar of Lath village, who sacrificed his life fighting terrorists Bhangawa forests of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir, the village Government High School will be named after him, said Deputy Commissioner Ajit Joshi while giving away an ex-gratia payment of Rs 25 lakh to his widow, Bita, here recently.

Rajesh gunned down three terrorists in the encounter before laying down his life and saved the lives of other unit members. Acknowledging his supreme sacrifice, he was honoured posthumously with Ashok Chakra, the highest gallantry award during peace, by the government of India.

Bita informed the DC that she had a son and a daughter and both had been admitted to Delhi Public School, Sonepat, by the Commanding Officer of the regiment and she had been assured that all expenses of their education up to graduation would be borne by the regiment.

The DC advised her to deposit the money in a fixed deposit.

Hisar, September 6
Conjunctivitis and malaria cases are on the rise in the district due to high humidity.

The local General Hospital here has reported that 30 per cent of those visiting the OPD had conjunctivitis. Those most prone to the illness were school children.

Doctors have advised heads of offices and schools to send back all those suffering from the viral infection. The spread of the infection has boosted the sale of dark glasses.

Ghirai and several other villages in this district have reported a rise in malaria and viral fever patients. This is mainly due to waterlogging in the villages because of heavy rains. An official spokesman said arrangements were being made for fogging in select villages.

Sirsa, September 6
Scenes of a mentally ill man kept chained at his residence in Panniwala

Ruldu village in Sirsa or a mentally unsound woman delivering baby under a tree near Lehrian village of Fatehabad are enough to shake the inner self of individuals with human sensitivities.

Innocent faces of special children in an institute for their rehabilitation arouse mixed feelings of sympathy and compassion.

During the last census in 2001, there were 4,55,040 persons with various kinds of disabilities in Haryana. Out of these, 49,595 had mental disability.

Faridabad district topped in the matter of mentally challenged persons with 3,794 affected, while Panchkula had the minimum 1,249 such persons. Sirsa and Fatehabad had 2,996 and 2,154 persons, respectively, with mental disability. There are no figures available for the mentally ill people.

There is very little social security for persons with mental disability in India, despite the enactment of various laws.

The Union government is soon going to enact a new law relating to the rights of the physically and mentally challenged people and the organisations. NGOs involved in the welfare of such people have been demanding that the new law should include social security cover for mentally challenged people.

Mental health undeniably is the most precious possession for the development of society and its absence represents a great burden to the economic and social functioning of the nation.

In both low and high-income countries, there is a long history of people with mental disorders being stigmatised along with their families.

“Mental health did not find its appropriate place in national and state health planning till 1982 on the misconception that the prevalence of mental illness is low in India,” said Dr Rajeshwari, an associate professor in the geography department of Kurukshetra University, who has worked extensively on health-related issues. The National Mental Health Programme, she said, was formulated in 1982, with the objective of improving mental health services at three levels.

At the primary level, this is early detection while at secondary level, it is adequate treatment, and at tertiary level, it is the rehabilitation of patient within the community and hospitals.

“However, this programme did not make any headway. Mental hospitals are inadequate and are in poor shape in terms of care provided and hygiene. Mental health must form an integral part of total health programmes and should be in all policies and programmes,” Dr Rajeshwari added.

As far as people with mental disabilities are concerned, several NGOs have been working in India for the welfare of people with autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities.

The NGOs also get funding from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. However, there is an acute shortage of teachers with special education in this field. According to the Rehabilitation Council of India, 385 institutes have been providing special education courses to cater to the needs of over 2 crore people with mental disabilities.

Moreover, the funding from the ministry too is delayed. “People are not willing to take teaching of special children as a profession due to poor salaries. A special educator with bachelor degree gets Rs 5,000 per month against over Rs 25,000 received by teachers in normal schools,” said Surinder Bhatia, secretary of Disha, an institute for special children in Sirsa.

Bhatia said though the government provided funds for NGOs working in this field, these were normally delayed for two or more years.

Kaithal, September 6
As many as 564 students from 63 private and government schools participated in a painting competition organised by the District Child Welfare Council under the aegis of Indian Child Welfare Council recently.

Amneet P. Kumar, deputy commissioner and chairperson, DCWC, was the chief guest. She appreciated the efforts of the participants. Jai veer Dhanda, DEO, was the special guest and Anil Malik, DCW officer, presided over.

In 5-8 age group (green segment), Arushi of OSDAV, Kaithal, was declared first, Disha of Darshan Academy came second and Anshuman of RKSD Public School attained the third position. In 9-12 age group (white segment), Neetu of Jat Senior Secondary School stood first, Nikita Gulati of Darshan Academy second and Niharika of RKSD School came third.

In 13-16 age group (blue segment), Aruna of Government School, Patti Afgan, was declared first, Ruby of OSDAV School stood second and Asha of Government School, Guhla, remained third. In 5-10 (yellow segment), Meenu of Government Primary School, HUDA, Kaithal, was declared first, and Meenu and Reetu also from this school were declared second and third, respectively. In 11-18 age group (red segment), Asha from Jat Senior Secondary School attained the first position and Karan from Darshan Academy came second.

Sirsa, September 6
A recent notification of the Urban Local Bodies Department can go a long way in checking the menace of mosquitoes in urban areas of the state.

The notification, named the Haryana Municipal (Control of Vector-Borne Diseases) Byelaws, issued on May 24, 2010, empowers the health authorities to take certain actions against the owners and occupiers of the households, who allow water to stagnate thereby providing conditions favourable to the breeding of mosquitoes.

“We have received copies of the byelaws and served a few notices, including one to the Haryana Roadways, where larvae of mosquitoes were found in unused tyres,” said Sheel Kaushik, deputy civil surgeon, (vector-borne diseases), Sirsa.

Mosquito menace has been affecting large populations in Haryana during and after the monsoon over the years.

Diseases like malaria have always remained a cause of concern for the

authorities and in the recent years, dengue, another vector-borne disease, too, has been making people ill and resulting in several deaths.

Mosquito population increases not only due to water stagnating due to rains but also due to water allowed to stand still in households in uncovered storage tanks, coolers, tyres and other places.

The byelaws provide that “no person or local authority shall keep or maintain within such area any water whether standing or flowing in which mosquitoes breed or are likely to breed”.

The byelaws provide that the natural presence of mosquito larvae in any standing or flowing water shall be a sufficient proof that mosquitoes are breeding in such water.

Under the byelaws, the deputy civil surgeon (vector-borne diseases) and the chief sanitary inspectors have been the authorities to issue notices to owners, requiring them to take measures to remove conditions favourable to mosquito breeding.

In case the owner fails to take such measures, whether physical or by treatment of the water through chemical means, the DCS (VBD) or the

inspector may initiate such measures on their own after giving such notice. The reasonable expenses for such acts would be payable by the owner.

“The byelaws prohibit owner or occupier of any house, building, shed or land to keep any bottle, vessel, canes, or any other containers, broken or unbroken, in such manner that is likely to collect and retain water causing the breeding of mosquitoes. The byelaws also require the borrow pits required to be dug at the time of construction and repairs to be so cut as to ensure that water does not stagnate there,” added Kaushik.

The DCS (VBD) and the CSI have been given the powers to enter any premises after giving a notice in writing for inspection.

The Haryana Municipal Act, 1973, also provides for the imposition of fine for breaches and continuing breaches of such nature. The fines, which were nominal earlier, were later increased 10 times by an amendment in 2005.

Kaithal, September 6
Population control is a must for the country so that speedy development can be ensured. A number of countries have been able to strengthen their economic base by controlling their population. This was stated by Naveen Jindal, MP, while addressing a public meeting in a village, here, recently.

Jindal, who has successfully fought a legal battle to get the right of hoisting the National Flag by citizens on their residential and business premises, said population control was the need of hour and a nationwide campaign should be launched to create awareness among people. He gave a call to every citizen to join this campaign.

The MP said the UPA government under the guidance of UPA chairperson Sonia Gnadhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had launched various welfare schemes that had started showing positive results.

He said “ladli”, Rajiv Gandhi Bima Yojna and Indira Gandhi Kanyadan Shagun Yojna were some of such schemes. He said the government with special stress on women education had launched Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan to eradicate illiteracy. By providing education social evils like female foeticide could be checked. He also heard public grievances during this tour.

Tejinder Pal Mann, a former minister and DCC president, said the Centre and state government had given priority to rural development which had started showing positive results.

During the tour, Jindal sanctioned money from the MP Local Area Development funds for various development schemes in Deoban, Jakholi, Kasan, Taragarh, Guliana and other villages. The development projects for which funds have been allotted include pavement of village streets, construction of chaupals, cremation ground and drains.

Jindal also announced to grant funds to youth clubs from his own pocket for sports kits.