Chandigarh, May 11
The BJP has decided to keep its alliance with the Kuldeep Bishnoi-led HJC irrespective of the outcome of the 10 parliamentary seats in the state. Though the BJP has indicated that even as it honoured its commitment of seat sharing in the parliamentary poll in the 8: 2 ratio, it may re-negotiate the seat sharing in the Assembly poll. As of now, the formula is to contest 45 seats each in a 90-member House.

Haryana BJP President Ram Bilas Sharma has clarified to the media that the BJP was not going to change its alliance partner. “We will hold a meeting after the LS results are out on May 16 and work out the modalities for the seats to be contested by the BJP and the HJC in the Vidhan Sabha elections due in October this year”. He, however, hinted that there could be some adjustment on the number of seats each party would contest based on certain factors such as winnability.

Out of the 10 parliamentary seats in Haryana, the BJP has contested eight while the Sirsa and Hisar seats were contested by the HJC with the support of the BJP. Bishnoi, son of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, is locked in a fierce electoral battle against INLD candidate and former Chief minister Om Parkash Chautala's grandson, Dushyant Chautala. So far the BJP that did not expect to do as well as it is projected now did not mind Bishnoi being projected as the non-Jat alternative to head a government in Haryana.

There are rumours that the HJC-BJP is entering into an agreement where the two parties if voted to power would share power in which Bishnoi would be the Chief Minister for the first two-and-a-half years. Senior BJP leaders, however, say no such agreement has been arrived at yet. Hoping for good results for the BJP on account of the Modi wave, Haryana BJP leaders feel they would be in a better position to bargain for more seats from the HJC.

Meanwhile, politics in Haryana is getting aggressive in anticipation of an early elections in case the Congress fails miserably in the LS results. The Congress in the current Lok Sabha has nine of the 10 seats while one seat (Hisar) is with Bishnoi.

Former Haryana Minster of State for Home Gopal Kanda (currently on bail in the Geetika suicide case ) has floated the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) with a view to contesting the Assembly poll .

Former Union Minister Venod Sharma too has floated a political outfit called the Haryana Loksewa Panchayat (HLP). He has in the past indicated his intention of providing a non-Jat forum in terms of a political alternative in the state. He is expected to turn this outfit into a political party closer to elections or may even join hands with any other political partly like Kanda’s HLP to contest the poll against the Congress. Sharma has indicated his desire to join hands with the BJP and said he “wants to see Modi as the Prime Minister".

Fatehabad, May 11
Several organisations from Ratia in Fatehabad have decided to launch a renewed agitation against the reported indifference of the authorities to pollution of the Ghaggar flowing near the town.

The Jat Samaj Sabha, which is leading the drive against the pollution of the Ghaggar, has started mobilising support from other social organisations of the town for the purpose.

Balbir Bara, president of the sabha, Kulwant Brar, its vice-president, and Naib Singh Mandher, general secretary, told mediapersons after a meeting that the association would contact sarpanches of villages affected by the pollution.

Dariya Singh, sarpanch of Bharpoor, Jarnail Singh from Malwala and Kuldeep Singh from Chimmo, who were present in the meeting, alleged that residents of all villages falling along the Ghaggar were fed up with the stink in the air and the pollution of subsoil water.

The members said action committees for launching the agitation would be constituted in all villages of the area by May 20. Pollution in the Ghaggar had been the bane of Ratia residents for long. The authorities had not been taking any step to improve the conditions, saying it was an issue concerning three states.

In March this year, over 7,000 voters residing in wards located near the Ghaggar had announced that they would neither cast their votes, nor allow any political leader or election official to come to their wards, till the authorities accepted their long-standing demand of checking pollution in the seasonal river.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Youth Federation, which spearheaded the campaign, alleged that the highly polluted water containing industrial waste passed through the stretch of Ghaggar near their houses.

They alleged that they were unable to eat and sleep due to the stench in the area. The residents had ended their boycott and participated in the elections after parties assured them of a solution after the elections.

Faridabad, May 11
The quality of drinking water in Faridabad has deteriorated, with 96 per cent of samples taken last month having failed the test. This is the second time this year that over 95 per cent samples have failed. In February, 98 per cent samples had failed.

Sources said the Health Department took 208 samples from various sources in the district last month, 201 of which failed the test. The test focused on chlorination and did not cover brackishness and fluoride content. Samples taken from 120 tube wells in Panhera Khurd were found to be unfit for human consumption.

Samples were taken from tube wells in Palla, Ballabgarh and Kheri Kalan, where the quality of water was poor mainly due to high fluoride content. As many as 163 of the 165 samples of potable water taken from various areas of the town were found to be unfit for human consumption in February.

The authorities seemed helpless even though there was acute shortage of water in the town due to delay of the Ranneywell project, said Satish Kumar, a local resident. The municipal corporation did not have the right to impose water charges due to the failure to supply clean drinking water, said KL Gera, a social activist.

When contacted, the Deputy CMO said the failure of a large number of water samples was an issue of concern. He said the number of samples taken each month could vary and the water sample failure rate was 80 per cent in over a year. He said the information was given to the Public Health Department and the municipal corporation.

Faridabad, May 11
The quality of drinking water in the town seems to have hit a new low. There are reports of some reverse osmosis (RO) water filter manufacturers withdrawing the facility of warranty to consumers. The warranty condition is reported to have been made ineligible in localities where total dissoluble solvents (TDS) has crossed permissible limits.

“I approached a showroom selling RO equipment here recently. I was shocked that the dealer put the condition that one-year warranty would be given only if the TDS was below 2,500 as the company had instructed them not to pass on the warranty to residents of areas where the water quality was very poor,” said Pradeep Kumar of Sector 8. He added that the RO installed at his residence a few years back had was out of order due to high salinity in the piped water supplied by the municipal corporation.

RK Gupta of Sector 10 claimed that the drinking water supplied from the nearest tube well was not only brackish, but had a high level of fluoride as well, forcing his family to switch to bottled supply of water from private companies. He said almost all households in some blocks had either been dependent on RO water or bottled water as tap water was unfit for human consumption.

The heavy fluoride content in the water was an issue of concern, said Ravi, a shopkeeper at Sector 7. He said it damaged all items it came in contact with, including taps and pipes. He said the promise of clean and potable water had not been kept for several years.

“Households in many sectors spend between Rs 2,000 and Rs 4,000 on bottled water each month due to the poor quality of water,” said Yogesh Sharma, a local lawyer. The TDS in water supplied from tube wells in a majority of sectors was higher and this was perhaps the reason RO equipment manufacturers had withdrawn warranty for new machines, he added.

The ambitious Ranneywell water project, costing Rs 493 crore, is running behind schedule. It is not expected to bring any relief due to the delay in completion. The average demand of water in the town is around 350 million litres a day.

Sonepat, May 11
Taking serious note of the complaints about contamination of sub soil water from a number of villages located near the Bari industrial zone of the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) in the district, Deputy Commissioner Samir Pal Srow has constituted a joint committee of representatives from the administration, villages, industrial units and pollution control board, headed by Regan Kumar, Gannaur SDM, to test samples of the water allegedly being released by the industrial units of the zone.

The committee was constituted after discussions were held with the sarpanches of Lalheri and Rajlu Garhi villages, representatives of Bari industrial association and officials of the administration and those of the Haryana Pollution Control Board in a meeting at the DC's office on May 6 evening.

In the meeting, the sarpanches alleged that the dyeing units here were releasing chemically contaminated water in the open area as well as in the sub soil zone and it had resulted in polluted water, pumped out by the hand pumps and submersibles.

The DC asked the committee members to test samples of water in the government as well as private laboratories.

All the units must be inspected to ensure that untreated water was neither released in the open nor in the sub soil zone by the units. Strict action should be taken against any unit found violating the pollution norms, he said.

Srow urged the villagers to use the water being supplied by water services and sanitation department and assured them that the supply of water would also be increased.

Rohtak, May 11
Local residents and commuters were put to inconvenience as a stretch of the Delhi-Fazilka National Highway 10 passing through Rohtak was blocked for a public meeting of former Union and Haryana minister Venod Sharma here today.

Sharma was here to open the office of his new outfit, the Haryana Loksewa Panchayat, and one side of the national highway was blocked with impunity to facilitate his address to the gathering. The administration was either not available for comment or pleaded ignorance about the matter.

Sharma stated in his speech that it was time to abolish the interview regime in selection for government jobs. “What is the need of conducting interviews if the aspirants are to be selected on merit?” he asked. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s old aide launched a scathing attack on the Hooda-led state government.

The former Congress leader, who was forced to resign as Haryana Power Minister following the conviction and imprisonment of his son Manu Sharma in the Jessica Lal murder case, said his organisation would launch a struggle against the interview system.

He questioned the intention of the Hooda regime behind selecting candidates for government service on the basis of interview. He affirmed that his association with Hooda was quite old and they were still friends even though he had chosen a different role for himself due to the prevailing situation in the state.

Talking to mediapersons, the former minister said he would decide on forming a political party after consultation with members of his core committee. In response to a query, he said he was not in the race for becoming the Chief Minister.

Chandigarh, May 11
State Congress chief Ashok Tanwar has called a meeting of all sitting Members of Parliament, legislators and district and block presidents on May 14 to take stock of the party position and decide the strategy for the Assembly elections slated in October this year.

Sources say the main idea for calling the meeting is to constitute booth-level committees. This issue has been hanging fire for long and insiders believe that the party has lost a lot of ground since the Congress government was re-elected in the 2009 Assembly elections.

Holding that the cadre strength has gradually eroded over the last nine years since the Congress first came to power in 2005, sources say building up the party and readying it for Assembly elections is a challenge for the party. Appointing block-level agents for the party is on the agenda as well.

The sources claim that the issue of anti-party activity will be taken up. A number of candidates fielded by the Congress are learnt to be unhappy with the campaigning by local leaders during the elections.

Though some of them have conveyed their displeasure about the lack of cooperation from Congress leaders to the high command in private, no complaint has been received by the party office against any senior leader.

Soon after the state went to the polls and allegations of anti-party activity began flying thick and fast, the party leadership invited complaints from aggrieved candidates. While a few complaints were received, a majority of those dealt with anti-party activity at the level of workers.

The party leadership at the Centre intends to shortly set up a complaint cell to deal with any kind of complaints of anti-party activity to rebuild the faith of the party cadre in the system.

Jind, May 11
The Jind police have assigned all investigations of the Dhanauri village sexual assault victim’s suicide case to an inspector, posted as SHO of Garhi police station. The step has raised questions about the seriousness of police in dealing with the case as many believe that they cannot expect fair investigation from a same-rank officer.

Though police personnel claim that there is nothing wrong in it as it is being done under the supervision of the DSP of Narwana, sources say since the same rank investigation officer may twist facts by keeping the supervisory authority in dark, there are chances of denial of justice to the deceased woman.

Some legal experts wondered how senior police authorities of Jind could claim that the investigation was going on in a transparent manner when they had appointed an inspector to probe the role of other inspectors posted in CIA and CID in the case.

“Had the senior authorities of Jind been serious to probe the allegations of the victim and provide her justice, they would have appointed senior officers to probe the case,” said a legal expert.

Though fearing unnecessary harassment no villager of Dhanauri is willing to speak openly, some farmers, on the condition of anonymity, said a brother of the victim had left his home on Friday as the policemen were allegedly threatening them to compromise with their booked colleagues.

“What has terrorised us the most is the fact that no senior authority, either from the police or the government, has bothered to take any action against the cops who are working as per their own wishes,” alleged a middle-aged farmer.

Puran Chand, Narwana DSP, confirmed that Somvir Dhaka, Garhi SHO, an inspector rank officer, has been conducting all investigations under his supervision.

When contacted, Balwan Rana, Jind SP, said five inquiries had been conducted in the case by various senior officers of the state, but in all inquiries the deceased woman failed to prove her allegations and the accused got a clean chit.

Fatehabad, May 11
Alarmed by high instance of hepatitis C, the health authorities have stopped holding of blood donation camps in Ratia area of Fatehabad district. In a recent survey conducted by doctors from PGIMS, Rohtak, on a limited sample of people, 1,584 persons were found infected with the disease.

Sources in the Health Department said during a recent visit, a team from the state headquarters directed the health authorities in the district to stop holding blood donation camps in Ratia as a disturbingly higher percentage of blood units collected were found infected with hepatitis C and B.

Confirming this, Civil Surgeon Dr Suraj Bhan Kamboj said the instances of hepatitis C being reported from Ratia were more than what the Health Department routinely witnessed in other areas and the holding of blood donation camps had been temporarily stopped in the area.

Survey teams of the PGIMS, Rohtak, which visited Ratia in March 2012 took blood samples of 7,469 suspected cases and during the rapid tests, as many as 1,848 were found positive for hepatitis C.

Rapid test being lesser trustworthy, the samples of those found positive were sent to the PGIMS for the enzyme-linked immune sorbant assay test, considered a confirmatory test for the infection. This test had confirmed that 1,584 patients were infected with hepatitis C.

New Delhi, May 11
Families of Dalit rape survivors from Bhagana village in Hisar district today protested outside Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s residence, demanding rehabilitation after social boycott and atrocities by Jats for the last two years.

As many as 70 Dalit families were displaced from Bhagana two years ago when Jats in the village decided to boycott the community. Since then, they have been staying outside Hisar’s mini secretariat to seek justice.

“Despite the boycott by Jats in the village, the Dhanak community decided to stay back. On March 23, four Dalit girls belonging to the Dhanak community were abducted and gangraped for two days by Jat boys. This is the result of not leaving the village,” said Rajini Tilak, member of an organisation called Sexual Violence and State Repression.

The protesters were stopped by the Delhi Police outside Hooda’s official residence on Pant Marg, Central Delhi.

While five of the accused have been arrested, the protesters, who had been on dharna at Jantar Mantar since April 16, claimed that neither the state nor the Centre had worked to end the continuous violence and social boycott of Dalits for the last two years.

Besides strict punishment to the accused, the families of the victims are demanding high-level judicial inquiry into the incident, fast-track courts in Delhi for the case, Rs 1 crore compensation to all rape victims, free education and government jobs for them. According to the Dalit protesters, the influential and land-owning Jat in their area had made their existence impossible. “We want the government to rehabilitate us. They (Jats) are harassing us and not letting us live peacefully. Our children have stopped going to school from the fear of obscene remarks. They also do not let us work,” said Virendra Bagoria, another leader protesting at the site.

Sirsa, May 11
Despite a ban, burning of wheat stubble continues with impunity throughout the state. The government agencies responsible to implement the orders have been looking the other way.

The Tribune noticed harvested fields set on fire at several places on the Sirsa-Fatehabad portion of the National Highway-10 as well as on the Kulan-Jakhal road in Fatehabad.

Stubble burning is not only injurious to human health due to environmental hazards, the process is also harmful for farmers as several friendly pests that save crops from harmful pests, get burnt in the fire.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the state government to take immediate steps to stop burning of wheat/paddy stubble in the fields.

Recently, Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Anshaj Singh and Fatehabad Deputy Commissioner DK Behra had issued prohibitory orders banning burning of wheat stubble on the fields.

However, the Agriculture Department or the Pollution Control Department, who are supposed to take action against erring farmers do not seem to be perturbed over the violation.

“Basically, this is the duty of the Pollution Control Department to check this menace. On our part, we launched an awareness campaign a fortnight ago when we informed the farmers about the ill-effects of straw burning on their fields and on the environment,” said Wazir Singh, Deputy Director (Agriculture), Sirsa.

He said the department had not received any specific complaint in this regard so far though in some cases, wheat stubble had been burnt on the fields accidentally.

Omvir Singh, Junior Engineer in the Pollution Control Department at Hisar, who looks after Sirsa and Fatehabad districts, said he received only one telephonic complaint this year.

However, when he reached at the fire site, he found it was accidental as he saw farmers trying to extinguish the fire.

“In such cases, the biggest problem before us is to collect evidence, as we do not get any proof of deliberate fire when we reach the fields. If we approach the court without enough evidence, our case will fall flat in the court,” said Omvir Singh.

Gurjeet Singh Mann, a progressive farmer from Kirpal Patti, however, maintained that normally, the farmers had no other option than burning wheat stubble on fields to prepare it for the next crops.

Terming most of the reasons that the authorities cite against burning of wheat stubble as exaggerated, Mann said, “If some friendly pests are burnt, so are the harmful pests as well as seeds of some harmful weeds.”

Mann maintained that the practice of burning stubble was on the decline now, as machines that cut the straw closely are available in the market.

Kurukshetra, May 11
The series of protests that began after the death of Ishandeep finally came to an end today after the agitating doctors and the Sangharsh Samiti negotiated on the issue.

Doctors of private hospitals of Kurukshetra district were on an indefinite strike since Thursday, demanding action against those who threw stones at Dr Bhola Hospital. The Sangharash Samiti had lodged a complaint against the doctors alleging that the latter were putting pressure on the family members of Ishandeep to withdraw their complaint against Dr Suresh Bhola.

Ishandeep had died due to alleged negligence of Dr Suresh Bhola during a leg surgery on April 24.

As per the negotiation, both the complainant parties have taken their complaints back in order to resume the medical facilities of the town, which have been on hold since Thursday due to the stir.

Kanwaljit Singh Ajrana, a samiti member, said, “A meeting was called in the presence of DSP Satish Gautam yesterday where both the parties decided to settle the conflict with mutual consent. However, the prime case of negligence due to which Ishandeep had died is still pending. The further course of action would be decided after the receipt of the viscera report which is likely to come within a month.”

Ambala, May 11
At least 700 students were awarded degrees during the convocation of SA Jain College in Ambala City here today.

Roshan Lal, Additional Chief Secretary with the Government of Haryana, was the chief guest on the occasion.

He conferred degrees on the passouts.

Dr Pradeep Sharma, principal of the college, read out the college report and elaborated on the college achievements in various fields.

Sushma Jain, Dean, faculty of sciences anchored the programme.

Kaithal, MAY 11
Three couples from poor families tied the nuptial knots at a function organised by the Anand Sewa Samiti on the Geeta Bhawan Mandir premises today.

The couples were provided utensils, furniture, sewing machines, items of jewellery and other articles of daily use.

The couples were administered oath against foeticide. Prominent persons of the town blessed the newly weds. Gaurav Wadhwa, samiti president, Rajiv Kalra and Raj Kumar Aggarwal performed the kanyadan.

Kamal Pruthi, samiti secretary, said all the arrangements were made by the samiti and the members raised funds from their own sources for the ceremony.

Heera Lal Sardana, Shiv Shanker Pahwa, Vinod Demla, Naveen Mittal, Prince Madan, Anil Ahuja, Parveen Arora and Krishna Gandhi were among those present.

Rewari, May 11
Though the Haryana Government is yet to give a nod to the proposed hike in the value added tax (VAT) on petrol to slash toll tax across the state, two social outfits have announced to oppose the hike at the state level.

While the Toll Tax Virodhi Samiti Rewari (TTVSR) will convene a meeting on May 18 to decide the further course of action against the move, the Toll Hatao Sangharsh Samiti Haryana (THSSH) has decided to launch the ‘shav yatra’ (funeral procession) campaign across the state if the government increases the VAT.

Virender Hooda, chief of the THSSH, said the campaign would be launched from Saanghi village (Rohtak), the native place of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, so as to expose his ‘misdeed’ among the people of his stronghold.

“The campaign will be carried out across the state under which ‘shav yatra’ of the Chief Minister would be taken out besides making the people aware of the ‘conspiracy’ hatched by the government to put extra financial burden on the common man,” said Virender, adding that the date of the launch would be decided by holding a samiti meeting after May 14.

He maintained that increase in VAT would take toll on lakhs of two-wheeler owners who are legally out of preview of the tax. They would have to bear the brunt of the government’s decision without any fault. “We will also make concrete efforts to associate two-wheeler owners with our ongoing campaign if the government hikes VAT on petrol,” he said.

On the other hand, Rajender Singh, president of the TTVSR, said, “There is no logic behind increasing VAT on petrol to make up for the revenue loss it will incur in case the toll tax is cut. Since the decision will affect the common man to a large extent, we will oppose it.”

Karnal, May 11
Theft of transformers has emerged as a big problem for farmers and the authorities of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) in the district.

Sources said nearly 590 cases of transformer thefts had been registered in 2013 and 339 cases this year.

Officials of the UHBVN said in the last two months, 332 transformers had been stolen.

TK Mahajan, Superintending Engineer, UHBVN, said: “Most of the thefts had taken place in the rural areas. The thieves sell copper wires and oil to scrap dealers. We have lodged all theft reports with the police.”

Even after welding clamps with the transformers, the miscreants still managed to commit the crime, he added.

“We have alerted our employees and the farmers, but it is not possible to keep an eye on all transformers,” said Mahajan and added that the UHBVN was losing nearly Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 per transformer.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) state president Sewa Singh Arya said: “Farmers are being harassed when they go to get a new transformer. They have to deposit 20 per cent of the total cost with the UHBVN, which is an extra burden on the farmers. The government should not charge for the new transformer.” He said nearly 250 farmers were still waiting for their transformers even after depositing the amount. “The farmers will not be able to irrigate their field without transformers as the paddy season is about to start,” he said.

A police official said they had arrested 28 members of eight such gangs and recovered stolen wires and other equipment worth Rs 53 lakh last year and this year, they had busted four gangs and recovered stolen wire and other equipment worth ~15 lakh.

“We are keeping an eye on people who were earlier involved in such crimes. We have busted many gangs and recovered stolen transformers,” said Superintendent of Police Abhishek Garg.

Gurgaon, May 11
“There is no written or verbal commitment whatsoever that the two parties will marry. Thus, party number 2 shall not be liable to accuse party number 1 of rape, molestation or sexual harassment in case of consensual physical relations during their live-in period or at conclusion of the same.”

This clause is the basis of the happy live-in relationship of 32-year-old software engineer Vineet Rana and his HR executive partner Rashika Pillai, who, like many couples, have gone in for a live-in contract. The contract is readymade and easily available across the cyber city like a rent deed.

It mentions financial liabilities of visiting friends and parents to those living together. What has made it popular like never before is the latest no rape clause. “We went ahead with it after the live-in partner of a common friend accused him of rape after she got pregnant,” says Vineet. Given that 17 of the 35 cases of rape registered in the last four months and over 40 per cent of the cases registered last year are of live-in relationships that went sour, local couples, especially men, are going in for live-in contract with the no rape clause to avoid being accused of rape on the pretext of marriage.

A software engineer accused her live-in partner of raping her for two-and-a-half years on the pretext of marriage. The accused, also an engineer, was arrested and sent to judicial custody. In another case, the 57-year-old CEO of a tour operating company was arrested on the charge of raping his live-in partner. She accused him of raping her for six years on the pretext of marriage.

A woman moved the police against her live-in partner of three years, an Air Force official, claiming that he had promised to marry her, but did not. The accused was arrested and sent to custody. An Air Force official was booked for rape on the complaint of his live-in partner, a doctor. She accused him of rape when she tried to end the relationship.

“In a majority of cases, the accused and the victim have lived together for more than a year. The common factor is that the victim claims that the accused fooled her into going in for a live-in relationship on the pretext of marriage," says Police Commissioner Alok Mittal.

“The victims are educated professionals who opt for it. It is startling that after being into it for five years, the woman suddenly remembers that the man had promised marriage and she accuses him of rape,” says Rahul Sharma, a local divorce lawyer.

“We do not say all complaints are false, but in a majority of cases, rape is alleged when the relationship goes sour or there is a dispute. Though the accused get bail, the law does not come in handy. To avoid such a situation, couples are going in for contract with this clause as a safety measure,” he says.

Hisar, May 11
A youth of Moth village, Arun Sharma, tried to put his brother-in-law in trouble for marrying his sister against his wishes but fell in his own trap as the police arrested him for making extortion threats to a trader.

The Hisar police had launched a hunt after a cloth merchant got threatening SMSs and calls a few days ago from a mobile number. The police traced down the owner of the mobile number, identified as Rajesh, a resident of Moth village, but he denied making any threatening calls and even denied having the SIM card used in the crime.

During investigation, the police found that Arun had used Rajesh’s ID to procure the SIM card from Barwala town and had inserted it in Rajesh’s mobile set to make the threatening calls and send SMSs.

The police arrested Arun today who confessed to his crime and revealed the entire conspiracy to get Rajesh framed in the crime to take revenge as the latter had “lured” his sister and married her, despite opposition from his family.

SSP Sibhash Kaviraj said Rajesh, a computer teacher, had an affair with Arun’s sister who was his student. Both belonged to the same village but different castes. The duo eloped and got married in February last year even as Arun’s family opposed it. Matrimonial relationships within the same village are not acceptable in the rural Haryana society as the boys and girls are considered siblings.

However, Arun’s family subsequently accepted the marriage and accorded their consent but Arun was still nursing a grudge and thus hatched a plan to get his brother-in-law implicate in a criminal case.

Chandigarh, May 11
The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam(HVPN) has issued a notification regarding the payment of compensation in the case of fatal accidents of regular employees while on duty.

An official spokesman said today that Rs 5 lakh each would be given as compensation in the case of loss of life, permanent total disablement or loss of both major limbs. Compensation amounting to Rs. 2.5 lakh would be given in the case of loss of either limb.

A committee constituted under the chairmanship of the Director, Project, would decide the amount of compensation whereas Zonal Chief Engineer concerned would be the member and the SE/Admn-1 and the XEN concerned would be member-secretaries in the case of head office and field office, respectively. The member-secretaries would prepare the case for compensation and submit it to the committee along with documents.

Panipat, May 11
A conglomerate of five unions, the Haryana Roadways Karamchari Talmel Committee (HRKTC) threatened to restart its agitation if the state government did not implement its already in-principle accepted demands.

Stating this, Azad Singh Malik and Satpal Rohila, representatives of the HRKTC, said, “If the Haryana Government fails to implement our 11 demands, we will be left with no option but to restart our agitation at all roadways depots for two hours on May 23.”

Malik and Rohila said, “Our main demands include regularising nearly 9,000 contractual employees, mostly drivers, conductors and workshop staff, framing a bonus policy, withdrawing decision of issuing permit to ply private buses, increasing number of government buses to 10,000, constituting separate transport board for recruitments and filling vacant posts without any further delay.”

The committee representatives said the state government had accepted their 11 demands in November last year and had assured that these would be implemented within two months, but it failed to do so.

They said, “We again went on strike on January 20. Subsequently, a committee, headed by minister Randeep Surjewala, assured us in writing that their demands would be implemented within a fortnight but not even a single demand is implemented so far.”

“Subsequently, another meeting was held with Surjewala on May 6 and he sought three days’ time, but to no avail. We are left with no option but to restart our agitation,” they said.

“If our demands are not met even after May 23, we will hold a state-level convention in Kurukshetra on June 7 to chalk out the future course of action,” they added.