Hisar, October 3
Three days before the hearing in the Supreme Court after the two-member inquiry committee's report in the Mirchpur violence case, Dalit residents started migrating from the village last night after getting information of the withdrawal of the CRPF from the village.

The district administration swung into action and reached the families, urging them to stay and denying that the CRPF was leaving the village. Following the assurances, the villagers decided to stay on.

Around 35 families decided to migrant from the village last night after they came to know that the CRPF, deployed in the village up to September-end, was leaving the village.

As the news of migration of Dalits reached the district authorities, Hansi SDM Narender Pal, DSP Sidharth Singh and the CRPF Commandant stopped the villagers near Kheri Chopta village. The officials assured them that the CRPF would stay in the village. After persuasion, the families agreed to return home.

Mirchpur resident Joginder Kumar said they came to know that the CRPF would leave this morning as its duration of stay ended on September 30.

"We feel threatened and the situation is not normal. Upper-caste Jats may resort to violence again. We cannot risk our lives in the absence of security," he said.

Hisar ASP Manisha Chaudhary said the CRPF would stay in the village till further orders and there was no question of leaving.

Terming as a rumour the CRPF departure, the ASP said administration and police officials told the residents that the CRPF would remain deployed, after which they returned to their houses.

Village peace committee member Chander Prakash said the situation was normal and not even a minor incident had occurred after the violence three years ago.

"People of the Dalit community have started their lives afresh and have been engaged in various activities to earn their livelihood. They have been working in the fields of upper-caste people and their children are regular in school," he said.

A two-member team appointed by the Supreme Court visited the houses of Dalits on August 5 and recommended in its report the need to take steps for the resettlement, rehabilitation and employment of Dalits who had been victims of the violence. The Supreme Court is likely to take a decision on the recommendations on October 5.

Faridabad, October 3
The face-off between the government and farmers agitating for higher compensation for land acquired for a rail freight corridor entered the third day today. The farmers raised anti-government slogans.

They alleged that the government was following the Land Acquisition Act in fixing the compensation to them. The Railways had acquired 450 acres at 19 villages of this district for its Dadri-Mumbai freight corridor.

Farmers had rejected the compensation amount announced by the district authorities. They had begun an indefinite dharna near the Mini-Secretariat here.

They had constituted a Kisan Sangharsh Samiti to spearhead the agitation. They were annoyed at the fixing of the amount on the basis of last year’s circle (collectorate) rates.

Tipper Chand Sharma, convener of the samiti, said the farmers of Gurgaon and Palwal districts were given compensation on the basis of current year’s rates.

They said there was no uniformity in collectorate rates in adjoining villages. They pointed out that the rate was Rs 1.44 crore per acre at Faridpur and Rs 56 lakh per acre at Sadpura, which had a common panchayat.

Meanwhile, the agitating farmers got a shot in the arm today, with leaders of the INLD, the BJP and the BSP joining them in the dharna.

Chandigarh, October 3
Rice millers of Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Faridabad and Palwal districts are up in arms against the government for holding back their milling charges. They have suspended purchase till their payment is released.

Sources said the payment had been withheld following a preliminary inquiry by the CBI. The CBI report mentions that the additional bonus of Rs 100 per quintal on the MSP of Rs 645 and 675 for coarse and fine paddy, respectively, for the year 2007-08 had not been released to farmers by private millers.

While, the total amount pending allegedly runs into nearly Rs 50 crore, sources said the millers owed Rs 18 crore to farmers in Kaithal alone.

Officials in the Food and Supplies Department said the Centre had announced a bonus of Rs 50 per quintal on the MSP in 2007-08 and another Rs 50 per quintal was announced in November that year after procurement was over in the state.

This amount was released by the FCI to private millers for payment to farmers. However, farmers, especially of Palwal, complained that this bonus had not been given to them.

Though it remains to be decided if a regular inquiry will be initiated in the case, the FCI has deducted the amount of non-released bonus from the payment given to Haryana, claiming that the millers are under the latter’ purview. The state government's Food and Supplies Department has, in turn, cut this amount from the milling charges of 2012-13 released to the millers.

At a meeting between the rice millers and officials of the Food and Supplies Department it was decided that the withheld amount of the millers would be released.

However, the release comes with the rider that the millers submit indemnity bonds that they had released the bonus in question so that paddy purchase can start. Also, if any farmer still claims that he has not received the bonus, the miller will be liable to make the payment.

Meanwhile, state government officials will meet FCI and ministry functionaries tomorrow to resolve the issue.

The inquiry had cleared Ambala, Yamunanagar, Sirsa and Fathehabad districts as far as the release of bonus was concerned.

BD Bansal, a spokesperson of the Haryana Rice Millers Association, said following the government assurance, paddy purchase by private millers would resume tommorrow.

Chandigarh,October 3
The Hooda Government is set to give a major relief to the owners of commercial and residential property in property tax.

The Haryana Cabinet will approve tomorrow the recommendations of a high-powered committee headed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala on property tax.

Official sources informed The Tribune that the earlier formula of calculating the property tax on the basis of the collector’s rate for residential property above 250 square yards and commercial property would be done away with.The high rate of property tax in major cities, including Gurgaon, Faridabad and Panchkula, had agitated the people, forcing the government to form a high-powered committee to rationalize the property tax.

The sources said the property tax now would be based on the size of residential and commercial property.A slab system is set to be adopted for the property tax on industrial and commercial establishments.

Certain sections and institutions, including religious properties, orphanages, alm houses, municipal buildings, cremation/burial grounds, residential buildings up to 250 square yards owned by ex-servicemen or families of deceased soldiers, ex-servicemen and ex-central paramilitary force personnel would be given a 100 per cent rebate in the property tax

In June last year, the government had imposed a notional property tax of Re 1 per square yard for houses up to 250 square yards and flats up to 500 square feet. The self-occupied houses were, however, given 50% concession.

However, the linking of the property tax of bigger houses and commercial buildings with the collector’s rate was resented.

The property tax was scrapped in 2010 by the Congress government. As a consequence, the Central Government stopped the release of central grants. Even the 13th Finance Commission had termed the abolition as a “wrong” step and against constitutional provisions.

The Hooda Government was forced to impose the property tax to get central grants amounting to over Rs 750 crore, particularly under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNRUM).

Hisar, October 3
The scheme of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) to install pillar boxes in the village has evoked a protest at several villages in the district, with residents expressing reservations about replacing electricity meters.

The Haryana Kisan Manch stated that several villages, including Shiswala, Bhiwani Roila, Bhachra, Ralwas Khurd, Hiranwas, Kirtan and Sarsana, had been opposing the installation of pillar boxes. Manch leader Ramesh Singh said people were getting inflated electricity bills after replacing existing meters with pillar boxes.

They said the DHBVN had made the consumer liable in case of meter defect, but the DHBVN should own up as it was installing the meters to replace existing ones. They added that no protection of pillar boxes exposed the risk of electrocution, especially during the monsoon.

A DHBVN spokesperson said the scheme was launched in the interest of consumers. "Many villages have been opting for the scheme voluntarily as the DHBVN has decided not to forcibly install pillar boxes," he said.

New Delhi, October 3
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Haryana on a petition by Karmvir of Sonepat, seeking to get his minor daughter married under the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937.

A Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and SA Bobde stayed criminal proceedings initiated against him and his family by the District Protection Officer-cum-Child Marriage Prohibition Officer, Sonepat, said Nikhil Jain, counsel for the petitioner.

The marriage was slated for April 5, 2013, but the ‘nikaah’ was stopped by the police at the instance of the district official. The official filed a case with the court of the Judicial Magistrate, Sonepat, under Section 13 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, upon which the magistrate passed an order on April 9, restraining the girl’s parents from getting her married before she attained the age of 18.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed Karmvir’s appeal, forcing him to approach the Supreme Court. In the petition filed in the Supreme Court, Karmvir acknowledged that his daughter was 17 years and three months old on the day of the proposed marriage as she was born on January 10, 1996.

He maintained that under the Shariat Act, he could hold the marriage of his daughter upon her attaining puberty and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, under which the minimum marriageable age for girls was 18, was not applicable to his family. The 2006 law was a general Act while the 1937 Shariat law was a special Act and as such, general provisions should yield to specific provisions, it was contended.

Chandigarh, October 3
Acting on a petition filed by “some of the 6,000 private unaided schools in Haryana” against the closure of institutes after the issuance of show-cause notices, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ordered status quo.

Justice Rajesh Kumar Jain of the High Court also issued notice for October 21 while taking up the petition filed by Jhilmil Phulwari and other petitioners against Haryana and other respondents.

No less than 49 schools have moved the High Court on the ground that they had earlier received the Haryana Chief Minister’s nod for carrying out the activities provisionally, besides applying online for recognition.

Claiming that the schools were located in remote, disadvantageous and geographically tough areas of the state, the petitioners contended that they were into providing elementary education and even playway facilities from pre-nursery to class VIII.

They added the Chief Minister in April this year ordered that all private unaided schools, which were yet to get recognition, would continue provisionally for the 2013-14 session. They had also applied online for recognition and their applications were pending decision. The footnote of the form made it clear that it was to be considered as a provisional recognition certificate.

However, they were shocked to receive show-cause notices in July for action against them for alleged violations of the Haryana Education Rules, 2003, as amended from time to time. Inquiries revealed that the notices were issued following the filing of a petition in public interest.

The schools claimed that the notices were merely eyewash as the authorities had already made up their mind to close the schools. Their worse apprehensions came true when the orders of closure were received. 

Gurgaon, October 3
A student at the ITM University here has invented a device that can aid women in distress. The device made by Nitish Aggarwal, an information technology engineering student, can be used by a woman to instantly inform the police and seek help in the event of need.

Nitish says pressing a switch will send the victim’s location and a distress message to the police control room and other registered mobile numbers via a GSM-transmitter module. “Suraksha” is a simple device which is easy to carry. The prototype has been tested successfully.

A provisional patent has been received for the project. Work to miniaturise the device and embed it in watches, jewellery and mobile phones is in progress. The device, when not in use, will be locked so that no unnecessary signal is sent.

A voice command is sufficient to unlock it. The device can be actuated by voice, switch or force. Even if the device is thrown with force, it will start functioning, using force sensors. The same will be achieved by a voice command in case the device is not near the user.

“The basic idea is to flash a warning message and instantly give the location of the victim to the police and her family and friends so that any untoward incident can be averted and the culprit apprehended,” says Nitish.

Further development on the device is taking place under the aegis of Technologia, a technical society of the ITM University, mentored by faculty members Charu Rana and Sidharth Bhatia.

Fatehabad, October 3
A youth developed physical relations with a girl in the name of marriage at his house in Khajoori Jaati village for four days. When his family did not approve of their relations, he allegedly pushed the girl into a canal.

The girl somehow saved herself from drowning and narrated the incident to the police today. The police booked Krishan Kumar and his friend, Anil. The boy belongs to the Bishnoi community while the girl is a Rai Sikh.

The 20-year-old victim, who is under treatment in a government hospital, alleged that Krishan Kumar lured her away from her home near Bhirdana village and took her to his house on Sunday.

He allegedly raped her for four days. On Wednesday night , Krishan and his friend, Anil, left with the girl for her village but they allegedly pushed her into Sidhmukh canal near Kajalheri village around 11pm.

The girl, however, managed to come out of the canal. She spent the entire night on the canal bank till some villagers noticed her this morning. While Krishan has been arrested, efforts are on to arrest Anil. 

Kurukshetra, October 3
Three employees have been arrested on the charge of stealing oxygen cylinders, following which 92 cylinders worth Rs 8 lakh have been recovered from their possession.

The police said Rajinder Prasad of Sector 13, HUDA, reported to the police on September 26 that oxygen cylinders had been stolen from the godown of KGP Gas Agency at Sector 2, HUDA.

After registering a case on the directions of district police chief Y Puran Kumar, the investigation was assigned to a police team led by crime branch II in charge inspector Jagbir Singh.

Following the receipt of a tip-off during the investigation, the police arrested Baljinder of Muniyarpur, Jaipal of Pipli and Mahinder Singh of Umri from near the new bus stand here on the evening of October 1.

They were yesterday produced in court, which remanded them in police custody for one day. They had been working with the KGP Gas Agency.

Reportedly confessing their crime during interrogation, they told the police that they had stolen oxygen cylinders from the agency godown.

The police recovered 92 stolen oxygen cylinders worth Rs 8 lakh from their possession. The trio was today produced in court, which remanded them in judicial custody.