Saturday, October 31, 1998

HC panel on fee structure
New Delhi, Oct 30 — The Delhi High Court today appointed a three-member independent committee, headed by a retired High Court judge, to go into various aspects relating to fee structure in public schools.

Third front in Dec, says Karunanidhi
CHENNAI, Oct 30 — The third front, opposed to the BJP and the Congress, will take a concrete shape in December this year, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M. Karunanidhi said last night.

• H.R. Khanna’s house burgled
• J&K foodgrains buffer stock
• 3 UP SDMs suspended

Victims’ kin remain without relief

NEW DELHI, Oct 30 (UNI) — Despite a long wait since the November 1984 riots which overtook the Capital a day after the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31 and a string of committees set up to probe the unprecedented violence, a large number of families of the victims still await compensation.

“The 14th anniversary of the riots falls on Sunday, but till now not a single person has been punished for the carnage which claimed 2,733 lives as per the final official records,’’ Mr H.S. Phoolka, member-secretary of the Justice Narula Committee, set up by the then Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana in 1993, lamented.

In the case of Bhajan Kaur vs Delhi Administration, Justice Anil Dev Singh of the Delhi high court in his judgement of July 5, 1996, had enhanced the compensation from Rs 20,000 to Rs 3.5 lakh and directed that the balance amount of Rs 3.2 lakh be paid to the families of those killed within a period of four months.

Talking to UNI, Mr Phoolka expressed surprise that a sizeable number of the affected families had been denied this compensation amount on “technical grounds” in spite of the fact that the Delhi Government had accepted the judgement and did not file any appeal in the Supreme Court.

“The government has wrongly rejected the claim for compensation of those victims for whom FIR of “missing” was lodged ... The enhanced compensation of Rs 3.3 lakh has not been paid in such cases despite the fact that initial compensation of Rs 20,000 was paid to them,’’ said Mr Phoolka who pointed this out to Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj in a letter written on October 23 on behalf of the committee which had been sending its recommendations on the issue to the Delhi Government at regular intervals.

A large number of people whose compensation claims were rejected, have approached the High Court and in a recent judgement in the case of Surinder Kaur vs Delhi Government, the court directed that since the initial compensation had been paid to the petitioner, the enhanced compensation of Rs 3.3 lakh should also be paid to her.

“This judgement should be followed in all such cases so that the hapless victims are not forced to rush to court,” he said.

Mr Phoolka, standing counsel of the Central government in the High Court and also the convener of the Citizens’ Justice Committee set up in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, 1984, suggested the constitution of a one-man commission under a retired district judge to decide the cases where the government had rejected the claims or disputed them.

“Under no circumstances, the victim’s family be forced to go the court and incur heavy expenses on litigation,” he said.

“The 14th anniversary of the riots falls on Sunday, but till now not a single person has been executed for the killings,” he said.

“We are pursuing the case with a motto that nobody should consider himself above law however high he may be as also to let the lumpen elements realise that they cannot take advantage of mob frenzy to commit such heinous crimes and go scotfree. Politics of violence cannot be tolerated in the largest democracy in the world,” he said.

Regarding punishment, he said five persons were awarded death sentence by the trial court and the Delhi High Court recently confirmed the sentences of three of them while setting aside in the cases of two. Appeals of the three who have been awarded the capital punishment are pending in the Supreme Court which has confirmed life imprisonment for six other accused. “In cases of about 200 persons who have been awarded varying sentences ranging from three years to life imprisonment by the trial court, appeals are still pending in the High Court,” he said adding that evidence was being examined in cases against some political leaders.

Elaborating on how the figure of those killed in the riots was computed, Mr Phoolka, who has fought the cases of many victims, said the number of deaths recorded by the police was 1419, while the Delhi Administration had put the toll at 2,310. The report of the Citizens’ Justice Committee, an umbrella organisation of several human rights bodies, said 3,870 persons were killed.

In view of the varying figures, the one-man inquiry commission of Justice R.N. Mishra, the then Sitting Judge of the Supreme Court, recommended the constitution of a committee to verify the lists supplied by various bodies, he said.

Subsequently, the government appointed the Ahuja Committee which in its report, submitted in 1988, put the number of those killed at 2,733 which has since been accepted as the final official toll,” he explained.

Mr Phoolka said Justice Mishra had also recommended the constitution of two more committees to inquire into the allegations regarding omission in registration of criminal cases, particularly in the light of wide variance in the toll given by the police and the Delhi Administration and also to probe the role of police.

Four more committees — Jain-Banerjee Committee, Potti-Rosha Committee, Jain-Aggarwal Committee and Kapoor-Mittal Committee — were set up before the constitution of the Narula Committee in December 1993 under Justice R.S. Narula, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court.

HC panel on fee structure
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Oct 30 — The Delhi High Court today appointed a three-member independent committee, headed by a retired High Court judge, to go into various aspects relating to fee structure in public schools.

A Division Bench of the High Court, however, refused to permit any further fee hike. Forty per cent hike in public school fees was allowed by the court in December last.

The Acting Chief Justice, Y.K. Sabharwal, and Justice C.K. Mahajan, pronouncing their order on petitions in support and against steep hike in tuition fee and other charges against public schools, disallowed further fee hike till the decision of the independent committee.

Justice Santosh Duggal will head the three-member committee.

The Bench said tuition fee will be decided by the schools in consultation with the parents’ body and a government nominee. No permission is required from the Director of Education before or after the decision on fee structure is taken, the court said.

The order said the Delhi Education Act prohibits transfer of funds from schools to any societies and hence steps should be taken to prevent this.

The court also directed the government to curb commercialisation of education. Criticising the commercialisation in public schools, the Bench ordered the Director of Education to take steps to prevent this.

The High Court, in an interim order in December, had allowed the schools to raise their fees by a maximum of 40 per cent in view of the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations.

A PIL was filed by the Delhi Abhibhawak Mahasangh, a body representing parents of students of various public schools, seeking a direction to the schools to withdraw the “exhorbitant” fee hike.

Subsequently, several public schools under the banner “action committee for unaided public schools” moved court stating that the hike had become inevitable after the pay commission recommendations.

According to the Director of Education, the schools were not allowed to charge fee by more than Rs 200 per month per student, but the fees in most of the schools were much higher than the prescribed level.

Besides the school fee, the director had also restrained the schools from charging computer fee which it considered was part of the monthly fee.

Development fee and building fund could not be charged more than once and that too not exceeding more than Rs 500. The admission fee or re-admission fee should not exceed more than Rs 200, the Director of Education had submitted to the court.

Third front in Dec, says Karunanidhi

CHENNAI, Oct 30 (UNI) — The third front, opposed to the BJP and the Congress, will take a concrete shape in December this year, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M. Karunanidhi said last night.

Talking to reporters here on his arrival from Delhi, he referred to the meeting he had with CPM general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet and CPI leaders A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja on Wednesday on the formation of the third front.

Mr Surjeet had briefed Mr Karunanidhi on his talks with several national leaders, including Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) president G.K. Moopanar in this regard, he added.

Asked if Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Tindivanam Ramamurthy’s statement, demanding the dismissal of the DMK Government in the state under Article 356 of the Constitution was aimed at establishing a tie-up between the Congress and the AIADMK, he said: “I do not know anything about it”.

He, however, said there was nothing new in the Congress’s demand as several state governments had been dismissed under Article 356 of the Constitution in the past under the Congress rule at the Centre.

Mr Karunanidhi denied that Tamil Nadu had been cheated on the Cauvery water issue as alleged by Marumalarchi DMK (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko and said the recent accord on the issue had reinforced the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s interim award of 205 TMC ft of water to the state.

Replying to a question, he said the tribunal had turned down Karnataka’s contention that the release of water should be measured at the Billigundulu gauging station. The tribunal had made it clear that Karnataka should ensure the release of 205 TMC ft of water in a regulated manner at the Mettur reservoir. Tamil Nadu was firm on its stand and nobody could violate the tribunal’s ruling, he added.

Referring to the Guru Pooja celebrations for Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, Mr Karunanidhi said some state ministers would attend the function. Muthuramalinga Thevar was a freedom fighter and he did not belong to any particular community.

Answering a question, he said several caste organisations in the state could not be banned. However, processions, held by such organisations, would be banned if they had the potential to trigger violence.

On the setting up of the second international airport here, he said Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee had assured him that the project would be cleared if private initiative was available and urged him to make efforts in this regard.

Amphitheatre inside temple planned

NEW DELHI, Oct 30 (UNI) — Flouting its own conservation laws and guidelines, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) proposes to construct an amphitheatre close to the Chitragupta temple in the premises of the Western Group of Temples in Khajuraho to stage the much sought-after cultural festival.

Asked about the project, a senior archaeologist of the ASI told UNI that the tourism departments of both the Centre and Madhya Pradesh wanted the venue of the Khajuraho festival to be shifted inside the temple complex.

The festival, organised every year in the month of March attracts thousands of international tourists. The illuminated temples in the backdrop would give a better view, he added.

However, the proposed construction would contravene the Government of India’s gazette notification of the year 1992 banning any construction within a range of 100 metres of the protected monuments under the ASI Act.

The amphitheatre is being built to organise cultural shows during the Khajuraho millennium festival. The year-long festival is being organised to commemorate the 10th and 11th century monuments completing 1,000 years of existence and for attracting more tourists to Khajuraho.

The construction of the amphitheatre would not only defeat the move that began in the 1980s for shifting the Khajuraho festival venue out of the temple premises but also would be detrimental to the conservation process of the thousand year-old monuments, said Mr B.M. Pandey, a retired director of the ASI.

“This act is unpardonable and should immediately be abandoned,” Mr Pandey added.

The Khajuraho festival was earlier being organised inside the Western Group of Temples premises but later in the ‘80s was shifted out fearing damage to the monuments.

Conservationists alleged that the amphitheatre was being built in the premises under the pressure from the tourism and hotel lobbies. “They are the people who have no love for monuments. They only know how to exploit it commercially. They must have impressed upon the government to take such a step”, Mr Pandey alleged.

India, UNICEF sign agreement

CALCUTTA, Oct 30 (PTI) — India and UNICEF have signed a new agreement with effect from January envisaging a $ 300 million aid over the next four years, according to UNICEF’s new country representative, Mr Alan L. Court.

The agreement was signed in New York in September, Mr Court said. Separate plans would be drawn up with the states after the master plan was formulated with the Government of India.

The allocation of the states would depend on the plans drawn up by them and the implementation of previous plans would be the yardstick, he said.

The work plan for West Bengal, based on the state plan, would be drawn up in November.

Previous budget proposals for West Bengal and Assam had varied between $ 4 million and $ 6 million.

Describing the agreement as “moving into a new plane”, he said it would provide a comprehensive cover in the areas of child health, the status of women, water supply, sanitation, education, nutrition, child labour and child trafficking among others.

These areas were the monitors of progress in a country’s development, Mr Court, who is on his first visit to West Bengal after assuming office in August, told reporters last night.

Asked about political interference by governments in implementing the world body’s programmes, Mr Court said “the stronger the democracy, the better it is for children as democracy provided a mediating effect on governments.”

Mr Court said India was on track for some of the goals set by UNICEF by 2001 while it was lagging behind in some quarters.

Stating that the condition of children and women in a country were the parameters of progress, Mr Court said half of the world’s working children lived in India and child labour was perpetrating poverty.

He said: “The bottomline” of UNICEF’s new approach would be to reduce the country’s infant mortality rate (IMR) to below 50 per 1000 live births from the existing 72.

The outcome of the agreement would be to improve the birth weight of children in the country. Forty per cent or one-thirds of children in India were underweight. “For any underweight child in the world, two are born in India”, he said.

Another measure of progress was the maternal mortality rate (MMR). The third indicator was child labour and attendance in schools.

Forty million children in India had never been to school and another 40 million dropped out after enrolment, he said, adding that West Bengal, however, had a good record in primary education.

Relating child labour to poverty, Mr Court said “young children never earn enough to get out of the poverty circle and in turn perpetrate poverty.”

UNICEF aimed at helping the governments achieve the goal of the world plan of action for children and to comply with the convention on the rights of the child, he said.

IFWJ for five-fold rise in wages

NEW DELHI, Oct 30 (UNI) — The Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) has demanded a five-fold increase in the wages of journalists saying that the increase in the gross revenue of newspapers during the past 10 years had been “tremendous.”

Presenting its memorandum before the Manisana Wage Board during the hearings today, the IFWJ also demanded that journalists should be paid 100 per cent neutralisation in dearness allowance and 50 per cent of the basic wages as house rent allowance.

The IFWJ also demanded a ban on the appointment of journalists on the contract system saying it had “struck at the root of the freedom of the Press and hit the economic interests of journalists.”

It urged the wage board to introduce risk allowance, children’s education allowance, Sunday allowance, telephone allowance and increase the existing night shift allowance.

Also, the retirement age should be increased to 65 years and the pension scheme launched as a third benefit.

It endorsed the demand of the UNI and the PTI employees’ federations for an increase in wages and allowances of news agency employees.

Govt plans for women unfruitful: President

AHMEDABAD, Oct 30 (PTI) — President K.R. Narayanan today expressed concern over the non-implementation of several government sponsored programmes for poor and women over the last 50 years due to “bureaucratic hurdles”.

He said since Independence, several programmes like Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) and the Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), were launched to improve the social and economic conditions of the deprived classes.

Speaking at the inauguration of Women’s World Banking global meeting here, he said though they were aimed at employment generation, creation of productive assets, upgradation of technical and entrepreneurial skills and raising the income level of the poor, the programmes failed to produce the desired effect.

The President said following the failure of government agencies, non-governmental agencies were being involved in the execution of the schemes.

The constitutional status and power conferred upon local self-government institutions like panchayats had given a new impetus to the people’s participation in the developmental programmes at the grassroot level, Mr Narayanan said.

Due to reservation for women in panchayats, nearly a million women got berth in the local government and in due course they were expected to make substantial impact on the participation and empowerment of women in development, he added.

The President said at the heart of the banking was the strategic concept of micro-credit. It had been the experience almost everywhere in the world that big financial institutions and banks did not address credit needs of small men, not to speak of poor women.

In fact, it had been shown that less than 2 per cent of low income entrepreneurs were served by the formal banking and financial institutions, he added.

Mr Narayanan praised the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for introducing the self-help linkage programme in the country.

He said recognising the potential of the unique linkage programme, the government had asked NABARD to promote and finance 2,00,000 self-help groups in rural areas over the next five years. This would cover a population of four million poor.

Shatru gets bail in defamation case

AMRAVATI, Oct 30 (PTI) — Film star and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha has been granted bail by a court of Chief Executive Magistrate after he made a personal appearance before the court in a defamation case.

Chief Executive Magistrate Poojari granted bail to Sinha after he made a personal appearance before the court yesterday and furnished a personal bond of Rs 3000.

The court of the Chief Executive Magistrate had ordered Sinha’s arrest following his failure to appear before the court in a case filed against him for making defamatory remarks against the Marwari community.

The next hearing in the case has been posted for November 30.

Abhay Kotecha, who had filed a civil suit against Sinha, told PTI that the actor had made defamatory remarks against the community in an interview published in Stardust magazine some eight years ago.

Romesh phoned MP before arrest
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 30 — Just before his arrest the self-styled property dealer-cum-politician Romesh Sharma allegedly got in touch with a recently elected Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh.

The Member of Parliament, who had recently floated his own party and is also known to have widespread business interests in Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly known to be very close to the All-India Bharatiya Congress president Romesh Sharma. The two allegedly also had some common business interests, sources said.

According to the available reports, after the joint team of the Delhi police and the income tax authorities carried out a raid at the Mayfair Garden residence of Romesh Sharma early last week, the first person he got in touch was the MP. Romesh Sharma, according to sources, telephoned the MP just before he was taken into custody.

The sources said Romesh Sharma called up the MP on his mobile phone and spoke to him giving the details of the happenings in his house. The police, the sources said, had the evidence of this conversation. It had verified the mobile phone number and it was found to be registered in the name of the MP.

The sources said the MP was among regular visitors to the residence of Romesh Sharma. The police was reportedly trying to verify further connections between the two. Besides the MP another former independent Lok Sabha member from Haryana was also among the regular visitors.

The sources said the police was also verifying the connections between the former Lok Sabha member, who lost in the last elections, and Romesh Sharma.

Meanwhile, Romesh Sharma, was today remanded to five-day police custody by a Delhi court. The crime branch of the Delhi had sought the custody of Romesh Sharma from the court today, as it wanted to question him in connection with some of the cases pending with the department.

Of the 14 cases being investigated by the Delhi police against the president of the All India Bharatiya Congress party, two were today transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The first case pertains to the forcible acquisition of a helicopter by Romesh Sharma. Sharma had taken the helicopter on rent from an MP, Mr Suresh Rao and did not return the helicopter.

The helicopter had been taken on rent from Mr Suresh Rao when Romesh Sharma was contesting the parliamentary election from Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh, in 1996.

The second case was about the visit of Dawood Ibrahim’s mother to Delhi and the assistance provided by the suspect in getting a passport issued to her within a day. Both the cases were earlier being investigated by the South district police.

Two other cases were also transferred to the crime branch of the Delhi police from the Special Task Force of the Home Ministry. The cases being investigated by the crime branch include the acquiring of two prime properties — the C-30 Mayfair Garden house and Jai Mata Di farm in Chattarpur.

The questioning of complainant, Mr Suresh Rao, and perusal of the papers seized from the residence of Romesh Sharma had revealed that he had close connections with mafia dons like Dawood Ibrahim. Most of these properties were acquired and transferred to his name. Romesh Sharma allegedly used his connections with the underworld dons living abroad to threaten people and acquire their prime properties.

Samata may go it alone : Fernandes

NEW DELHI, Oct 30 (PTI) — The Samata Party today said it would go it alone in the next month’s Assembly elections in four states if it was not able to clinch an understanding on seat sharing with its ally, the BJP.

"I expect an understanding. In case it does not materialise, we will field our candidates to what ever extent possible," the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, told reporters here.

Stating that a "verbal" agreement had been reached with the BJP on seat adjustments in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Mr Fernandes said "discussions are still on and the matter may be settled in the next three days."

On use of Article 356 in Bihar, he said options were still open. "When we chose not to send back the cabinet recommendation to President, we had said it was being done for the time being," he said.

It was for the union Cabinet to decide when it would make the recommendation again, he said, maintaining his party still stood for the dismissal of Rabri Devi government and holding of fresh elections to rid the people of the state of anarchy and chaos.

At the press conference, some prominent JMM(M) leaders, including Raj Kishore Mahato, former MP, joined the Samata Party in presence of the Railway Minister Mr Nitish Kumar.

Mr Kumar claimed the entire JMM(M) would soon merge into the Samata Party which always stood for a Jharkhand state.

Facing a volley of questions on spiralling prices, both the union ministers tried to defend the government’s position saying corrective measures were being taken in this regard.

They said the coordination committee of BJP’s allies will meet shortly to discuss these issues.

J&K foodgrains buffer stock
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 30 — The Food Ministry is planning to build up the buffer stock of foodgrains in Jammu and Kashmir at an early date.

The Union Food Minister, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, has assured the Food Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, who called on him here today, that the Centre would be making necessary arrangements for completing movement of foodgrains to Jammu and Kashmir on an urgent basis.

The Food Corporation of India would be despatching 20 rakes of common rice (40,000 tonnes) to Jammu and Kashmir for meeting the requirements of the state for November and December. The despatches of rakes would start from November 1. In addition 50 truck loads of rice would also be sent each day from Punjab to the Kashmir valley.

3 UP SDMs suspended

LUCKNOW, Oct 30 (PTI) — The Uttar Pradesh Government has suspended three subdivisional magistrates (SDMs) on charges of corruption and selling prime industrial land at throwaway prices by “Manipulating records.”

Orders have also been issued for taking departmental action against the three SDMs, Mangoram, Tulsiram and Vijay Kumar, presently posted in the districts of Varanasi, Siddharthnagar and Bulandshahar, respectively, an official note said today.

The officials, according to the note, had caused a “loss to the state exchequer running into crores” while posted at Dadri and Greater Noida.

“They are charged with selling off prime industrial land at throwaway prices by manipulating the records,” it said.

H.R. Khanna’s house burgled

NEW DELHI, Oct 30 (PTI) — Burglars broke into the South Delhi residence of former Supreme Court Judge H.R. Khanna in the wee hours of the day and decamped with some cash and valuables, the police said.

The burglars gained entry into his Panchsheel Park house through an opening in the window around 4 a.m. today and ransacked the room adjoining Justice Khanna’s bedroom, the police said.

A wrist watch, gold cross pins and Rs 750 were reported missing, the police said.

Justice Khanna said the burglars rummaged through his suits in search of valuables after taking them away from a steel almirah kept in his room.

A case of burglary had been registered and further investigation was in progress, the police added.

Male pageant
JAIPUR: The city is all set to host the first international male pageant show to be held here on Saturday at Raj Mahal, the 200-year-old palace of the erstwhile Kachawa rulers. The event would focus on promoting Indian culture, heritage and tourism globally, Director of the show, Anshuman Swami, told reporters here. — PTI

PAC starts ‘Ganga yatra’
DEHRA DUN: An extensive yatra has been undertaken by hundreds of members of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) from Gaumukh to Varanasi as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the PAC. Titled, “The PAC golden Jubilee Ganga Yatra, 1998,” the expedition began from Gangotri in the Garhwal Himalayas on October 25 and will culminate in Varanasi on November 20, according to Mr Manoj Kumar, DIG (PAC), Kanpur. — UNI

Naxals blast 4 houses
HYDERABAD: Naxalites of the banned People’s War Group (PWG) blasted four houses and kidnapped a rival faction member, while an extremist was shot dead in an encounter with the police in separate incidents in Andhra Pradesh since Thursday night. The police said that the Naxalites blasted four houses belonging to Krishna Rao at Develandu village in Adilabad district by using explosives. They asked the inmates to come out and blasted the houses as the landlord was not falling in line with PWG ideology. —UNI

Parliament House library
NEW DELHI: Completion of the Rs 88 crore Parliament house library complex is likely to be delayed by six months as architectural and structural plans of domes of the building have not yet been finalised. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which is constructing the building, has floated a global tender for finalising the plans of the domes, official sources said on Friday. —PTI