Hisar, October 22
The Haryana Government incurred an expenditure of over Rs 1 crore for medical bills of former legislators during the last financial year, which had gone up six times in the last eight years.

According to information procured under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from the Assembly, the expenditure on medical bills of former legislators for 2012-13 was Rs 1,04,58,889.

The expenditure for sitting legislators for the corresponding period was Rs 32,75,284. This put the total medical bills for sitting and former legislators at over Rs 1.36 crore.

The medical bill expenditure on former legislators had gone up six times in the last eight years. An amount of Rs 16,89,604 was reimbursed to former legislators for medical bills during 2004-05.

This amount kept rising at a healthy rate every year except 2010-11, when it came down by 12 per cent compared to the year before.

Information procured by RTI activist Naresh Satroria revealed that former legislators were reimbursed Rs 18,24,889 till September this year and sitting legislators were reimbursed Rs 1,38,063.

This was in sharp contrast to the total medical budget of the Health Department for the entire population of the state, pegged around Rs 52 crore.

Haryana Civil Medical Services Association president Dr Kuldeep Singh said the total budget for purchase of medicines at government hospitals was around Rs 52 crore.

“The cost of medical services has gone up drastically. The annual turnover of medical stores in Rohtak is around Rs 1,000 crore,” he pointed out.

“How can the government provide good healthcare facilities to the people with such a small budget for medicines at government hospitals?” he asked.

Gurgaon, October 22
Haryana may feel the pinch of darkness in the days to come as the authorities have refused to buy electricity from Tata Power’s Mundra ultra mega power project (UMPP) at enhanced rates.

The peak electricity demand for Haryana for 2012-13 was 7,432 MW while the state got 6,725 MW. Punjab faced a shortfall of about 18 per cent during this period.

Tata Power supplies a contracted capacity of 380 MW to Haryana, 475 MW to Punjab, 1,805 MW to Gujarat, 760 MW to Maharashtra and 380 MW to Rajasthan.

Sources say state power utilities have opposed Deepak Parekh panel recommendation of procuring power from the UMPP with compensatory tariff.

They have stated that if the cost of power from Tata’s project becomes prohibitive, there will be an unconditional option for state utilities to decide on non-procurement.

It has stated that it will pay additional tariff from the date of the final order of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and not retrospectively. The state pays much more to other sources to meet its replacement and spot power requirements.

The new compensatory tariff (Rs 2.9 to Rs 3.1 per unit) is considerably lower than the current market rate of Rs 4.1 to Rs 4.5 per unit for providing replacement power and among the lowest of the 30-odd sources of thermal power supplying electricity to Haryana and Punjab.

The authorities of the Mundra UMPP, which meets about 3 per cent of the country’s total power requirement, had approached the CERC to seek a resolution for the major impasse affecting the UMPP and other imported coal-based power projects that got impacted due to extraneous factors.

Sirsa, October 22
Hoardings welcoming Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Vijay Rath Yatra were smeared with black paint by unknown persons as the HJC supremo’s campaign continued in the district for the second day today.

Those who damaged the hoardings did not touch the pictures of Kuldeep Bishnoi, his father Bhajan Lal or BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narender Modi, but smeared black paint on the faces of Bishnoi’s cousin and former parliamentary secretary Dura Ram and some local leaders.

Devi Lal Manjhu, campaign manager of Bishnoi’s Vijay Rath Yatra condemned the incident.

Local HJC leaders, however, hinted that the hoardings could have been damaged by former party leaders who recently quit the HJC due to differences with Dura Ram and local office-bearers of the party.

Chandigarh, October 22
Alleging that he is being victimised for taking on Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Rabert Vadra for his controversial deals with DLF in Haryana, IAS officer Ashok Khemka has shot off an 11-page letter to Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery.

Khemka has claimed in his letter that Chief Minister's Principal Secretary SS Dhillon along with senior officers were 'hounding him' for taking on Vadra. Apprehending '10 chargesheets and 10 criminal complaints in courts' against him to 'sully' his reputation, Khemka has said that this "witch-hunt' must stop.

Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery said: "He(Khemka) has sent the letter and my office has received it." PSCM Dhillon also confirmed the receipt of the letter and said that there was nothing vindictive in proceeding against Khemka. "This is purely an administrative matter as per the principles and policies of the state government. There has been no deviation and the same yardstick is applied to all such cases," Dhillon asserted.

The letter is being seen as Khemka's response to the government move of serving a second chargesheet on him for "poor wheat seed sale" during his tenure as MD of the Haryana Seed Development Corporation.

"If the inability to sell huge inventory of wheat seeds of unwanted varieties at a high price is ground for chargesheeting me when posted in the sale season, then is not the failure of SEZ, Nano city, Edu-city, KMP expressway or the poor performance in education, e-governance, power, law and order, atrocities on SCs not a greater reason to chargesheet the IAS officers concerned at the helm of affairs? It will be the first time in the state that an IAS officer of 23-year seniority will be chargesheeted without proper examination of the issues on your file or seeking his comments. I request the issues be examined in an honest, impartial and dispassionate manner, consistent with the best

Traditions of all-India Services," the letter says.

Pointing out that he was not afforded an opportunity to explain his part of the story, Khemka maintains that he was "publicly humiliated" with the announcement of a second chargesheet in the media.

The Haryana government had decided to chargesheet Khemka for alleged administrative misconduct in cancelling the mutation of the land deal between Vadra and DLF in Gurgaon by overstepping his powers. 

Fatehabad, October 22
In a case when Kavita was forced to deliver her baby on a road outside the local General Hospital after she was shown the door by doctors, the NHRC has served a show-cause notice on the Haryana Chief Secretary to explain why a suitable compensation should not be granted to the victim under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

The NHRC had taken notice of the case after the news “Woman shoed away by doctors delivers on road” was published in these columns on April 4, 2013.

The NHRC sent the notice after a report sent by the Director General of Health Services to the commission said that an inquiry by Civil Surgeon Suraj Bhan Kamboj has found lapses on the part of Dr Veena Batra and staff nurse Harjinder Kaur. The DG has referred the matter to the state government for initiating appropriate disciplinary action against the doctor.

The Director (MCH) intimated to the NHRC vide his report dated September 6, 2013, submitted on behalf of the Mission Director, Haryana, as staff nurse Harjinder Kaur was found lacking in her duties, a show-cause notice had been served on her with a clear stipulation that her services would be terminated if such a mistake was repeated.

The NHRC observed that the reports did not mention that any compensation had been paid or was proposed to be paid to the woman for medical negligence by the doctor and staff nurse. 

Gurgaon, October 22
An FIR has been lodged against the Max Hospital management and doctors for endangering a woman’s life by leaving a cotton bandage in her body. Shimoni Shroff of Vadorara, who was operated upon at this hospital in March, had constant stomach pain. When the pain became unbearable, she approached another private hospital, where the bandage was detected and removed through surgery.

The woman moved a local court, which directed the police to register an FIR against Max India Limited chairman Analjit Singh, senior consultant Kaushiki Dwivedi, gynaecologist Deepa Mahesweri, senior vice-president (human resources) Malvika Verma, director service Shubhro Banerjee and other directors. “A case has been registered, but no arrest has been made so far. It is a case of medical negligence and we have sought the comment of the Chief Medical Officer. His report will decide the future course of action,” said Hardeep Singh, SHO of the police station concerned.

The hospital authorities issued a statement, promising full support to the investigation It stated, “We cannot share the specifics of the case. The treatment was done with the consent of the patient. It is unfortunate that she has lodged a complaint. It is unfortunate that some unrelated persons have been impleaded as a party. We will cooperate with the investigating authorities when approached.”

Yamunanagar, October 22
The increasing number of dengue cases is keeping the authorities on their toes. Sources at the Civil Hospital here said around 15 suspected cases were reported in the last couple of days.

The confirmation of dengue was awaited, but the patients were being administered symptomatic treatment to ward off the ill-effects.

The health authorities said suspected cases were being kept under observation at various hospitals and there had been a rise in the number of requests for blood transfusion to bring platelet count back to normal.

The Yamunanagar health department confirmed that there were 27 cases of dengue while 106 patients with symptoms similar to dengue had been admitted to various hospitals in the district.

The samples of these patients had been sent for examination to ascertain if they have contracted dengue or were suffering from some other disease.

Three days back, 50-year-old Shafi Mohammad of Fazalpur village died due to dengue at the Chandigarh Medical College. Three policemen of the Hamid police post were rushed to Chandigarh for treatment of dengue and they were under medical attention there.

Chandigarh, October 22
Terming the allotment of more than one plots to applicants as a multi-crore scam, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed HUDA to file a status report. HUDA has been asked to specify how many plots-- under which category--have been allotted by it.

Setting a month’s deadline, the court directed HUDA officials to furnish complete information on the category under which the maximum number of plots were allotted. The court also granted six weeks to the committee set up by HUDA to resolve the matter in different phases.

The court made it clear that the committee would furnish monthly status reports on action taken against defaulters. The directions came after Justice Daya Chaudhary took up the issue of allotment of more than one plots under the reserved defence category on the basis of bogus affidavits.

Justice Daya Chaudhary made it clear to HUDA Chief Administrator AK Singh, present in the court, that they would have to resolve the matter within six months while taking legal action against the culprits, including the cancellation of allotments.

Justice Chaudhary asserted: “The act of HUDA is no less than that of a property dealer, which has collusion with lower to higher-level officers”. Addressing AK Singh, Justice Chaudhary questioned: “How did you fail to verify false affidavits submitted by persons along with their applications?. You verify many things when it comes to purchase of even a single shirt. Then how could such a mistake happen? You are representing HUDA and this is the matter of plots worth crores of rupees”.

Justice Chaudhary added: “Take action against all illegal allottees, whether they are defence officers, other reserved categories, press people, judges or advocates”.

The Chief Administrator told the court that they had initiated the process of taking legal action against the defaulters. “We have registered 325 FIRs against 379 complaints. There are 188 defence persons out of 379 who have been issued more than one plots”, he said.

Haryana Advocate-General Hawa Singh Hooda suggested to the court that the committee set up by HUDA should be authorised to investigate the matter. “If anyone is found guilty, the committee will take the final decision against the person concerned”, he suggested.

The case will now come up on December 4. 

Chandigarh, October 22
Failure to file reply has cost Haryana dear in the Gurgaon and Faridabad ammunition depots case. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has slapped a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the state for not filing its reply.

The High Court also asked the authorities concerned to file minutes of meeting on the issue. The Bench was told that the ammunition depots in Gurgaon and Faridabad could not be shifted.

The High Court has already rejected the pleas for electricity and water meter connections for houses constructed in the restricted 900-metre zone around the IAF ammunition depot in Gurgaon.

The orders came during the resumed hearing of an ongoing petition filed in public interest against encroachments in prohibited zones around the IAF stations in Gurgaon and Faridabad.

Appearing before the High Court, some residents, who had constructed houses in the prohibited zone near the IAF’s ammunition depot, sought directions to the authorities concerned to provide them with power connections on the ground of right to equality.

They argued that a large number of residents, who had raised constructions in the restricted zone, have already been granted electricity and water connections. But, now the authorities have refused to grant them the facility.

Counsel for the Union of India, Onkar Singh Batalvi, told the Bench that encroachments in the prohibited zones in Gurgaon and Faridabad had been removed.

The matter had reached the High Court after a public interest litigation was filed by Suersh Goyal of Faridabad. He was seeking removal of constructions from the 100-metre area around IAF Station, Dabua, in Faridabad, as it was a protected zone under the Work of Defence Act. The High Court had also taken cognizance of a similar matter of on the construction activities within the restricted 900-metre zone in Gurgaon.

Sonepat, October 22
Additional District and Sessions Judge Manisha Batra has sentenced Rajesh of Nunan Khera village to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000 for raping of a minor girl of his village.

A resident of Nunan Khera village lodged a complaint on March 28, 2012, alleging that Rajesh enticed her minor daughter and eloped with her on the night of March 26.

Rohtak, October 22
As many as 53 applicants have been facing action for submitting false affidavits for allotment of residential plots in HUDA sectors here.

It has also raised a question mark over the process and given an opportunity to critics to reiterate their claim of malpractices. At least six residential sectors have already been developed here.

"Three FIRs have been registered so far, but it is perhaps for the first time that such a fraud has been detected," sources said. They added that this had caught the department on the wrong foot.

“Every draw of lots for residential plots has been a lottery for a handful while thousands of applicants remain empty handed. The application fee is returned without interest after between six and nine months,” said YS Dahiya, a social activist.

He said the expose had come after court intervention and it was the duty of the state government to review the process and probe all allotments made so far.

“I applied several times for a plot in HUDA sectors, but failed to get any even though my family spent a huge amount in the process,” said a retired Defence personnel on the condition of anonymity. He said the government should review its policy and formulate one that was free of loopholes. He demanded that the allotment process should be carried out by an independent agency.

Sonepat, October 22
The police has arrested three youths on the charge of helping candidates in solving questions with the help of mobile phones during examinations conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC).

The police has seized four mobile phones, some papers and a Scorpio car from their possession. A case under sections of the Information Technology Act and the IPC has been registered at the Gannaur police station.

The youths, Amit of Pipli village and Rajesh and Ajit of Bajana Kalan village, reportedly charged huge amounts from the candidates. They were today produced in court, which remanded them in police custody.

Rohtak, October 22
Five members of a family, including a woman and two children, died on the spot in a head-on collision between a multiutility vehicle (MUV) and a Haryana Roadways bus on the Rohtak- Hisar highway, about 20 km from here, today. Two bus passengers who were injured in the acccident had been admitted to the PGIMS hospital here.

The Xylo MUV, which was on its way to Rohtak rammed into a Haryana Roadways bus proceeding towards Hisar near the AIR signal tower located between Bahu Akbarpur and Madina villages, claimed the police. The deceased were identified as Manjit (24), his wife Sweety (21), their son Ankush (six months), Amit (22), a sibling of Manjit , Sagar(4), a nephew of Manjit, Amit and Xylo driver Rakesh.

It is learnt that the deceased were on their way to Samchana village near Sampla town to visit Amit's in-laws and escort back his wife to their house in Meham. Amit, a BSF constable, had come on leave and planned to bring his wife back to his house. Eyewitnesses and bus passengers said as a tyre of the Xylo MUV burst, the driver lost control over the vehicle. While all six occupants of Xylo died on the spot, two bus passengers---Sarwan and Roshan Lal--have been admitted to the PGIMS hospital where the condition of Roshan Lal is reported to be serious. The police has registered a case.