Chandigarh, December 15
A growing debt burden, an ever-increasing expenditure and the growing basket of populist measures- a perfect recipe for fiscal turmoil that is beginning to stare Haryana in the face.

The finances are not coming in easy. Add to this the Centre’s restriction to keep the deficit below 3 per cent and the picture of the treasury is not as rosy as the government would want it to be.

The state is already weighed down with additional payments of Rs 1,200 crore as arrears for the Sixth Pay Commission, another Rs 500 crore towards dearness allowance, Rs 900 crore as employees’ pension and a further burden of Rs 2200 crore owing to the pay commission. Haryana is finding itself hard-pressed to juggle salaries. The nearly Rs 3,600 crore power subsidies , increase in old-age pensions and increased floor rates ,among other things, has forced it to explore options for resource mobilisation.

Finance Minister Capt Ajay Yadav, who heads the state’s resource mobilising committee, has held various rounds of meetings with different departments to deliberate on ways to mobilise resources over the past few weeks. The process is likely to end by December end.

Capt Yadav’s recommendations will be forwarded to the Chief Minister and then put before the Cabinet.

Though the VAT collections have risen by about 28 per cent this year and the excise collection is also up, these seem highly inadequate to meet the shortfall.

“I’m not saying that our financial situation in the state is bad but it is high time we start to tighten our purse strings. We are exploring the alternatives before us especially in the excise department. The increase in electricity rates, in rates of VAT for certain items and road tax are a part of the exercise to generate more finances,” Capt Yadav said.

Asked if this could translate into more taxes on the common man, Capt Yadav was evasive, saying resource generation was essential. “ The time has come to curb expenditure wherever possible since more money will be required to fund infrastructure projects. We will need to redo our entire budget because with the hike in floor rates land acquisition has become a far more expensive affair now. Then, there are social obligations.

The populist measures cannot be wished away. We will try to make the most of our available resources,” he maintained. In this balancing act, it is almost certain that Haryana will have to introduce more taxes to tide over the shortfall.

Panipat, December 15
Flood-hit farmers who suffered huge losses during the monsoon due to an overflowing Yamuna are yet to receive the compensation announced by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda even though three months have passed.

The district administration had conducted a survey to assess the loss on account of damage to crops and submitted a report to the higher authorities for the release of the compensation money. However, till date the farmers have not received even a single penny.

A number of villages in the Sanuli segment of the district were hit by the floods, following which the Chief Minister had announced compensation on September 15.

A breach had occurred in one of the embankments of the Yamuna between Pathargarh and Tamashabad villages, which had led to the inundation of over 400 acres of farm land in the area. Though no loss of life or property was reported, the Yamuna waters had damaged crops.

Since the sowing season was almost over, many farmers could not re-sow their fields. While others, who did mange to seed their farms again, had to take loans and the burden of interest became a nightmare for them. Their only hope was that the government would pull them out of the troubled waters.

Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat said the administration had sent a detailed report, but so far no compensation had been received at the district level. The district was hit by floods on September 10 this year, resulting in water accumulation in fields at Sanuli Khurd, Tamsahbad, Pathargarh, Rana Majra, Navada Aar, Navada Paar, Ramda Aar, Adhmi, Jalmana, Goyala and a few other villages.

Sureshpal, a resident of Adhmi village, said they had been running from pillar to post for the past two months to get compensation, but in vain.

Maha Singh, another farmer from Goyala village, said revenue officials had been maintaining that as and when the compensation amount would be released by the government, it would be disbursed among them. However, the wait was becoming a little too much for poor farmers, he added.

Jind, December 15
Mahender Singh, a proclaimed offender allegedly involved in an honour killing case, was got freed by a mob from police custody this noon. Accused of killing Vedpal of Singhwal village in August 22 last year, he was nabbed by the police when he came to cast his vote in the panchayat elections today.

A case against unidentified persons has been registered in this regard.

As soon as Mahender Singh was nabbed and bundled inside a police vehicle, a mob of the local residents gheraoed the jeep and took away the vehicle keys even before the police could react.

Outnumbered and overpowered by the mob, the cops could do little to prevent the accused from getting away.

Though more policemen led by a DSP were rushed to the village, house-to-house searches failed to trace the accused, said a police official.

Vedpal from the neighbouring Matour village, who married Sonia of this village against the wishes of her parents and the village panchayat, was lynched to death by locals when he came to take the custody of his wife. This occurred in the presence of cops and a warrant officer of the High Court.

While about 18 persons, including the parents of the girl and the head of a Khap Panchayat, were booked, Mahender Singh and Ramji were declared PO by the court.

The court had stalled the release of salaries of three officials for failure to arrest all accused. The police would take action against the villagers who had got the accused freed today, said district police chief Ram Singh Bishnoi.

Hisar, December 15
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes will ensure that all those responsible for the violence against Dalits at Mirchpur in April last are punished as per the law, Raj Kumar Verka, Vice-Chairperson of the commission said today.

Talking to mediapersons at Hansi, 24 km from here, he said it was the responsibility of the commission to ensure justice for members of the Scheduled Castes, but at the same time it wanted to make sure that no innocent was booked for the violence.

He said he had come to assess the situation for himself and to determine whether adequate relief had been handed out to the victims. He took a serious view of reports of pressure on witnesses to turn hostile. Anyone who was being pressuriszed could submit a complaint to the commission in the form of an affidavit. The commission could take legal action against anyone trying to influence witnesses, he added. Verka said those who died in the violence should be given Rs 20 lakh more as compensation. Those injured should get Rs 1 lakh each.

He termed as inadequate the grant of Rs 25,000 given to each of the injured. All damaged houses must be rebuilt and one member of each affected family should be given a government job.

Verka recorded the statements of Pradeep, son of the victim Tara Chand. He was accompanied by his lawyer.

Verka also had a meeting with senior officers of the administration and took stock of the security situation in the village.

Sirsa, December 15
In a mega eye camp organised by Dera Sacha Sauda here, over 1,550 surgical operations of poor and needy people had been performed by the evening today. The camp started on December 13 and 1,949 patients had registered for surgeries.

The dera authorities had made huge wards, separate for men and women, in its Sachkhand Hall, having dimensions of 2 lakh sq ft.

Twenty-five ophthalmologists, 10 of them from AIIMS, Delhi, and others from prestigious hospitals of North India, conducted eye surgeries almost round the clock in 10 operation theatres in the multi-speciality hospital of the dera.

Rewari, December 15
The police here has arrested an alleged imposter, identified as Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Himachal Pradesh, who used to steal suitcases and other goods of soldiers travelling on trains.

The police has also recovered several ATM cards and other goods of soldiers from him which he had stolen recently. He was yesterday produced in the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate RK Jain who remanded him in a judicial custody.