Chandigarh,October 1
The bureaucracy is getting top heavy in Haryana. With the government promoting four IAS officers of the 1989 batch to the higher administrative grade of Rs 67,000-79,000, the number of Financial Commissioners-cum-Prinicipal Secretaries (FCPS) in the state has gone up to 35.

The promotion of the four IAS officers — Vivek Joshi, Mahavir Singh, Arun Kumar, Shiv Raman Gaur — is seen as an attempt by the government to keep senior bureaucrats in good humour and end stagnation at the middle and top levels. This would be the first time that 1989 officers would be in the FCPS rank, sources told The Tribune today.

Besides, the state boasts of eight Additional Chief Secretaries (ACS) — officers up to the 1982 IAS batch. Though the ACS basically perform the functions of FCPS, they were designated as such to end stagnation against the backdrop of the supercession of a couple of senior officers by PK Choudhery when he assumed the office of Chief Secretary on April 1,2012.

Last year, the government had promoted 1987batch officers Devender Singh, TC Gupta, Amit Jha, SN Roy, Avtar Singh, Rajiv Arora and Jyoti Arora to the higherer administrative grade (FCPS level).

Sources said though the current officers would remain in their posts till further orders, the possibility of an administrative reshuffle cannot be ruled out.

Chandigarh, October 1
The Haryana Congress has lost its advantage it had gained over its main rival the INLD after the sentencing of its supremo Om Prakash Chautala in the teacher recruitment scam. The decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, scrapping the recruitment of 1983 Physical Training Instructors (PTI) recruited by the Congress, has put the INLD and the Congress on an equal footing in the eyes of the people of Haryana.

The INLD leadership was accused of influencing the recruitment process and the Chautalas and others were jailed for committing irregularities in the process. The high court has also set aside the selection of the PTIs on the ground that irregularities have been committed.

The major difference in the two cases, however, is that in the case of the INLD, the party’s leadership is involved, whereas in case of the PTI scam, the onus of the wrongdoing is on the Haryana Staff Selection Commission and none else. Therefore, tagging of the working of the two parties as being the same would not be fair.

The Congress, however, will suffer a jolt after this decision in a pre-election year as it will have to change its political strategy to show itself to be better than the INLD. The Congress was banking a lot on making the “teacher scam” (in which the court has indicted Om Prakash Chautala and Ajay Chautala) as one of the main points of attack against the INLD. But now the Congress will have to defend its position.

The image of politicians has taken a severe beating with the people of the state bound to feel that “everyone is out to pursue their own interests”. The image of the ruling party following the change of land use CDs scam has taken a further beating which is likely to be a major cause for concern for the Congress in the next general election.

With the two main political parties getting tainted in the eyes of the people, the Haryana Janhit Congress and the BJP will benefit from this.

All recruitments in Haryana have come under the scanner as people are beginning to lose faith in the fair selection in jobs. The recruitment of thousands of schoolteachers during the Hooda government is being questioned. If any adverse finding is made on any of them by the court before the next elections, it will put the government on a back foot.

A lot will now depend on how the Hooda government handles the situation. The case pertaining to disproportionate assets against the Chautala is pending in the court. The government will now bank on the court to come out with a judgment that will give it a breather and turn attention on the Chautalas. 

Karnal, October 1
People aged above 65 will get 50 per cent concession in Haryana Roadways buses from January 1 next year. Old age homes will be constructed at Hisar, Sonepat, Rohtak and Kaithal , Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here today.

Claiming that the Haryana government was extending best facilities to aged people and freedom fighters, Hooda said the old age pension had been increased from Rs 200 during the INLD regime to Rs 700 per month. Freedom fighters were getting Rs 20,000 per month as pension as against Rs 6000 in Gujarat.

A scheme had been launched to give additional dose of calcium to women above 55 years to overcome calcium deficiency. The Maintenance of Parents Act was being implemented earnestly.

Over 900 senior citizens and freedom fighters from Karnal, Kurukshetra and Panipat districts were invited to the function where Hooda conferred awards on five senior citizens.

Uday Singh (103) of Jhajjar was conferred the Chowdhary Ranbir Singh Centenarian Award", Mishro Devi of Lohakalan village in Rewari the "Mother Teresa" award, Sumer Chand of Sonepat the Sardar Ballabh Bhai Bravery Award.

Sonepat, October 1
The police arrested Nishant of local Vishal Nagar for the rape of a girl from the same locality late last night from the town. After his medical examination in the Civil Hospital today, he was taken into police custody.

According to the police, the girl in her complaint yesterday alleged that she was raped by the accused after performing the “Maang Bharo” ritual with her. Later, he demanded money from her and threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed this to her parents.

She was medically examined by doctors and her statement was recorded before the magistrate.

In another case of sexual harassment of a college girl on the pretext of performing tantrik kriya on her, the police arrested two persons, Manish of local Chawla Colony and Vijay of Asawarpur village.

A complaint in the case was lodged by the girl here.

Fatehabad: A youth has been arrested for allegedly raping a married woman for six months in the Bighar road area of Fatehabad.

The accused, Surjeet, a resident of Ratta Khera, was arrested by the police yesterday and produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate today.

The judge remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.

The woman had lodged a complaint on August 16 that the accused had been raping her for the past six months by threatening her with dire consequences.

New Delhi, October 1
In the run up to next year’s general election, the Haryana Congress is all set to go online from October 6 with the official launch of the state party website at Chandigarh.

The website design has been approved by the AICC functionaries concerned. The website, a first for the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, will be a one-stop shop for anyone to acquaint himself with the nuances of Haryana Congress administration, structure and scope.

The website will have details of membership and leadership apart from a low down of important meetings and rallies to be held at the block, district and state levels.

With assembly elections due in the state next year, the online connection was considered necessary.

With the focus being on reaching out to youth voters in the web space, almost all state units of the Congress have set up their websites, Haryana being the latest in line. Importantly, the state Congress is behind both INLD and the HJC in having official web accounts.

The Haryana Congress website launch function will be attended by Congress general secretary in charge of Haryana Shakeel Ahmed, AICC secretary attached to him Asha Kumari and state PCC president Phool Chand Mullana. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is expected to be present.

Hisar, October 1
Stating that women need to go a long way in their struggle for equality in every sphere, leaders of the All-India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA) rapped both Congress and BJP, alleging that the parties had been ignoring women’s issues.

Addressing a gathering at the eighth state convention of the AIDWA here today, its national general secretary Sudha Sunder Raman said the women were not safe anywhere as the incidents of their physical exploitation and suppressing of their rights had been rampant across the country.

“The young girls are being killed in the name of honour. We have to face humiliation everywhere, be it home, workplace or public place. In such a scenario, we must wake up to the struggle to get our rights”, Sudha said.

She targeted the Congress and the BJP, stating that their leaders had been projecting themselves as vikas purush but when it came to forming the women-specific policies, they failed miserably.

The Women Reservation Bill has been pending in Parliament due to opposition from these parties”, she said.

AIDWA vice-president Jagmati Sangwan pulled up the Haryana Government, terming several of its steps anti-women. “NGOs such as Apna Ghar are exploiting young girls while the government honours its owner at various occasions. The representation of women in the teaching job was sought to curtail by reducing the quota to 33 per cent”, she said.

Chandigarh, October 1
Haryana has accepted the suggestion for allotment of fair price shops to acid attack victims.

Taking up the issue, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to take the final decision within six weeks on other suggestions also for the rehabilitation of acid attack victims.

The suggestions made by advocate HC Arora include a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to all acid attack victims; a monthly life-time stipend of Rs 5,000 to victims who have lost their eyesight; and allotment of fair price shops to such acid attack victims on a preference basis. He has also recommended horizontal reservation in government jobs; and direct reimbursement of medical expenses to the approved hospitals for treatment of acid attack victims.

As the matter came up for resumed hearing, the High Court directed the Advocates-General of Punjab and Haryana, along with the UT senior standing counsel to make appropriate recommendations to the governments on the basis of written suggestions submitted by Arora within three weeks. The Bench further directed the three governments to take the final decision on such recommendations within the next three weeks:

Taking up the matter, the Bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul issued oral guidelines to the representatives of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

Gurgaon, October 1
A Gurgaon labour court has asked the Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) management to pay monetary compensation to two workers who were wrongfully dismissed about 13 years ago.

AK Verma, Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court-1, Gurgaon, has ordered that Duli Chand Pathak of Gurgaon, who joined the company on February 18, 1985, and wrongfully dismissed after 15 years of service, be paid Rs 6 lakh as compensation in full satisfaction of all his claims for wrongful dismissal from service.

Pathak, who joined MSIL as a Technician (level-3), had contended that he was an active member of the union and his services were terminated in an illegal manner with effect from October 6, 2000, despite his being a permanent employee and his work and conduct being quite satisfactory. He was getting a monthly salary of Rs 17,206 at that time.

In a similar case, the court has ordered the MSIL management to pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to Ishwar Dayal Yadav of Gurgaon, who joined the company as an Attendant on October 16, 1986, but was dismissed after 14 years of service.

He was also an active member of the union and contended that his services were terminated in an illegal manner . He was getting a monthly salary of Rs 13,483 per month at that time. 

Yamunanagar, October 1
More than 35 students of DAV Girls College were injured as their college bus overturned near the railway overbridge on the National Highway 73 this afternoon.

The injured were immediately rushed to the civil and private hospitals. The college principal and members of the management reached the spot and helped in rescue operations.

It was learnt that the driver of the bus, which ferries college students on the Ghaloni route, lost control over the vehicle while trying to avert a collision with a motorcycle coming down from the railway overbridge.The vehicle overturned, injuring 35 students along with the driver and the bus attendant. A police team reached the spot and initiated the rescue operations.

Sirsa, October 1
Former Haryana minister and Sirsa MLA Gopal Kanda, who is on interim bail for a month after spending more than a year in Tihar Jail for his alleged role in Geetika Sharma suicide case, has so far spent nearly six days in his constituency, besides attending the Assembly session that lasted for four days.

Kanda got bail on September 5 and it ends on October 4, though he has already applied for its extension and a Delhi court will take up the case on October 3.

Though during the bail period, Kanda has been keeping a very low profile and avoiding the media, he found himself in an unsavoury controversy when Executive Engineer of Sirsa Municipal Council SK Goyal, whom he got transferred to Bhiwani, alleged that he had been victimised because he did not follow the former minister’s directions to clear a fake bill worth over Rs 60 lakh given by a contractor close to him.

Kanda could not be contacted, but his younger brother Gobind Kanda denied Goyal’s allegations.

During his release on interim bail, Kanda saw his supported candidate’s ignominious defeat in bypoll for ward 8 of the Municipal Council, Sirsa.

The former minister also suffered another embarrassment, when he was not invited for a rally addressed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at Kharia in Sirsa on September 29, though he had come to the town, especially to participate at the public meeting.

After his release from Tihar Jail on September 5, Gopal Kanda had arrived in Sirsa in the wee hours the next day and left for Chandigarh to attend the Assembly session on the Friday morning.

The former minister returned to Sirsa by late night and then spent his Saturday and Sunday in Sirsa.

The former minister met people who came to his residence to congratulate him for his release while some others came with requests of their transfer or complaints against some officers posted in Sirsa.

During his speech in the state Assembly, Gopal Kanda lambasted the functioning of the Sirsa Municipal Council, alleging large scale irregularities in it.

Later, Kanda’s office claimed in a press note that the former minister had got the EO SK Goyal transferred to Bhiwani.

Kanda came to Sirsa again on September 20 and remained in the town for three days, though this time very few people went to his residence to meet him.

Again, when Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda visited Kharia in Sirsa to address a political rally on September 29, Gopal Kanda arrived in Sirsa in the morning, ostensibly to attend the rally, but neither he nor his brother Gobind Kanda was seen there.

Later, it was revealed that rally organiser Ranjit Singh did not extend him any invitation for his “Jan Shakti Rally”.

Sirsa, October 1
Former bureaucrat MP Bidlan’s entry into the BJP has raised many eyebrows in the state. Bidlan joined the BJP in the presence of its state president Ram Bilas Sharma at Kurukshetra yesterday.

Bidlan’s supporters are linking his entry into the BJP with his possible candidature for Sirsa parliamentary seat in the 2014 parliamentary elections.

Bidlan, as Sirsa DC, was the chief guest at the annual function of DAV Public School at Dabwali on December 23, 1995, when a fire broke out and devoured 442 lives, mostly of children and women.

He was accused of exhibiting cowardice in the face of duty, as in stead of remaining in the town to see the rescue operations, he allegedly left the pandal with the help of his security staff.—TNS