• Factory owner robbed
• Undertrial escapes
• HATRON to start courses
• UGC panel to visit City

• Anniversary celebrated
• Murder suspects identified
• 6-yr-old raped, murdered
• Vehicle thieves nabbed

Power cut not for VVIPs
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Sept 8 — Haryana which is in the midst of shortage of power has two sets of rules. One for the VVIPs, which include ministers and senior bureaucrats, and the other for the commoner.

The Haryana State Electricity Board which has now been dissolved and replaced by two corporations has imposed a three-hour power cut to meet the needs of the agriculture sector.

But in Faridabad, considered the Manchester of Haryana and having a population of 16 lakh, the power cut is not for the VVIPs. Whenever a minister or senior bureaucrat is in the town, there is no power cut around the area of the Circuit House where they stay or visit in the other parts of the city. For example, there was no shutdown when Mr Atar Singh Saini, Minister, and Mr R.S. Verma, Chief Secretary, were here on September 2 and 5, respectively.

Then there are certain areas which have been exempted from the power cut. These include Mini Secretariat which houses Government offices and courts, Bachat Bhavan where the office of the Deputy Commissioner is located, the Haryana Urban Development Authority, Red Cross Bhavan, Thermal Power Complex and the colony of the Haryana State Electricity Board.

In addition to the scheduled power cuts, electricity supply plays hide and seek. On Sunday power failed at least six times in Sector 17 due to the outdated transformers and cables which burn out frequently. A senior official of the central government who lives in NH-4 complained that the voltage in their colony was so low that it damaged costly electrical appliances.

Reliable sources in the electricity department claim that there is no power shortage but the government has no funds to purchase electricity from the NTPC and surplus states.

Crimes for ransom on rise: Sampat
From Our Correspondent

FATEHABAD, Sept 8 — A former Haryana Home Minister and Indian National Lok Dal legislator from Fatehabad, Mr Sampat Singh, has expressed concern at the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Speaking to mediapersons here this morning, Mr Sampat Singh said what was alarming was the new trend whereby crimes were being committed for ransom.

Mr Sampat Singh said a sense of insecurity had been gripping the people in the wake of such heinous crimes. He said the government had itself admitted in the state assembly that crimes like kidnapping, atrocities on women, rapes, dacoities and theft were on the rise.

He said the criminals these days possessed better vehicles, better arms and better communication system than the police. But the HVP-BJP government had been adopting an indifferent attitude towards this development, he alleged. No new vehicle had been purchased by the government. The police force was neither given updated tools nor training to combat criminals.

The Lok Dal legislator regretted that the cops were being meted a shabby treatment. They were being paid a very paltry amount in the name of various allowances. He added that the gap between the police and the public was widening, thereby making the task of the police even more difficult.

Mr Sampat Singh said that the reasons for a sharp rise in the crime rate were socio-economic. Cases registered during prohibition, he said, were the single biggest reason for this situation. About 10.5 lakh youths were booked by the government under the Prohibition Act.

Now these youths, he said, were living with a stigma of having been to jail and were not getting any jobs. They were taking to crime out of frustration.

He suggested that the government should revoke the cases registered against these youths and give suitable jobs.

Sirsa mill supplied adulterated oil ?
Tribune News Service

HISAR, Sept 8 — Most of the adulterated oil, which led to the spread of dropsy in Delhi, is said to have been supplied by a local oil mill in Sirsa.

According to police sources, one of the accused in the adulteration case held by the Delhi police, Kamal Kumar Aggarwal, is reported to have admitted that he had purchased 30,000 litres of mustard oil from the said company in Sirsa.

This has created panic among the wholesale suppliers of mustard oil, most of whom are reported to have stopped the sale of the particular brand. The district administration in Sirsa conducted raids on several places to seize the adulterated oil. However, no details of any seizures were confirmed by the authorities. The raids were conducted by a special team of the Food and Supplies Department and samples were collected from various places.

Most of the cotton and ginning mills in Sirsa have installed oil extracting instruments, which are used during the off season for the extraction of the mustard oil. These firms have been supplying oil to Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab.

According to rough estimates, on an average, 300 tins of mustard oil are supplied to Delhi from various mills in Sirsa.

Recently, a special team of the Crime Branch of the Delhi police visited Sirsa. It reportedly collected samples from several places.

Aravali project a success
From Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, Sept 8 — With the first phase of the ongoing Aravali project in Haryana nearing completion, the Haryana government has approached its financier, the European Union (EU), for money for the second phase of the project.

According to the Minister of State for Forests, Haryana, Mr Jagdish Yadav, although talks for the second phase of the project were in the preliminary stage, the response from the EU was encouraging as the EU was satisfied with the implementation of the first phase.

The Chief Conservator Forests and Project Director, Aravali Project, Gurgaon, Mr J.P.L. Srivastava, said that already a blueprint for the second phase had been prepared. According to the blueprint, the second phase would be for another 10 years and require a grant of Rs 150 crore.

The Aravali Project was launched in 1990 to rehabilitate the Aravali hills. It covers 294 villages in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari, Bhiwani and Mahendergarh districts in the state. The major portion of the Aravali hills in the state are common lands under the authority of elected village institutions, the panchayats.

The authorities are sanguine over the EU finally approving the proposal for the second phase of the project. They cite a recent report of the Haryana Remote Sensing Application Centre (HARSAC), Hisar on forest cover during the pre-project phase and the present.

According to Mr Jagdish Yadav, the study revealed that the total green cover had increased from 9,451 hectares in 1990 to 41,022 hectares in 1997 a net increase of 334 per cent. The Directorate of the Aravali Project along with scientists associated with the HARSAC today presented here data and maps by way of illustrations.

Mr Jagdish Yadav told newsmen that the Aravali Project had sensitised the people on environmental issues. He said the government had started a Rs 126 crore community Forestry Project in the state for the plains areas, the targeting were panchayat lands.

The minister said that the total forest cover in Haryana had increased by eight per cent since it was carved out from Punjab in 1966. At the time, the area under forests was three per cent. Although the present figure for forest land in the state was much below the national average positive developments should not be discounted when considering that the climate was not as conducive to forests.

Mr Yadav said that the government will take stringent measures to ensure that municipal councils and the Haryana Urban Housing Development Authority (HUDA) ensured space for greenery before approving its housing schemes.

Government "has failed" on all fronts
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will lead a delegation of his party MPs and MLAs to the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, on September 10 to demand a judicial enquiry into "the fast deteriorating law and order situation in the State, the recent police recruitment and frittering away of State resources by the Bansi Lal Government for illegal gains of its Ministers and MLAs."

Stating this here today, Mr Chautala said his party would also pressurise the Centre to implement the Shah Commission report on the reorganisation of Punjab and Haryana as well as for the early completion of the SYL canal through a central agency.

The Shah Commission had given Kharar tehsil, including the Chandigarh capital project, to Haryana.

Criticising the Bansi Lal Government for its "failure on all fronts", Mr Chautala said the law and order situation in the State had been fast deteriorating with a steep increase in various crimes. The State police had failed to make any breakthrough in any of the crimes.

Mr Chautala also demanded a CBI inquiry into the recent recruitment of police constables. He said many athletes of national and international standards, who had cleared physical tests had not been selected as constables.

Alleging that the State Government had been invoking ESMA indiscriminately, Mr Chautala said even college and university teachers had not been spared.

He also alleged that the State Government recently transferred cane-growing area of 82 villages from the Saraswati Sugar Mills, Yamunanagar, and the Cooperative Sugar Mill, Karnal, to two private mills, one of which is owned by the family of an influential Chandigarh-based Congress politician, for "extraneous considerations". When certain officers protested against the "ill-advised move" the government shunted them out of their posts.

Mr Chautala said the Indian National Lok Dal would contest the Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi on its own and would not enter into any electoral alliance or adjustment.

He also announced that the party would celebrate the 85th birthday of the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Devi Lal, as "Prerna Divas" by organising a state-level rally at Rewari on September 25.

Teachers’ appointment not by contract: HC
by Rajendra Sharma
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court has given a blow to the exploitative system adopted by government departments, boards and corporations in filling regular posts on a contractual basis by ordering the Haryana Government to offer ad hoc appointments, to teachers working in its Technical Education Department.

Under this newly contrived system thousands of persons possessing prescribed qualifications had been engaged on a paltry consolidated salary. These hapless people worked longer than the prescribed working hours and at times were not even paid salaries for months. They could not voice their grievances because they could be thrown out any time.

This issue had been raised by Mr Shamsher Singh and certain other lecturers working in the Technical Education Department of Haryana. In response to an advertisement and requisitions sent to employment exchanges they had applied for the posts. They were selected by a committee constituted by the state government and were placed in the running scale of Rs 2200-4000. They had joined duty between September, 1995, and January, 1996. However, their services were terminated in March, 1997, following the appointment of regular lecturers recommended by the Haryana Public Service Commission.

The state government again informed them that they should come and join duty against vacant posts. They were given intimation for joining the duty on the basis of their selection made in 1995 and 1996 and no fresh selection was made. The appointment letters issued to them said that they were appointed "on a contractual basis till December 31, 1997, at a consolidated salary of Rs 5,500 per month". They contested this government order before the high court, pleading that they were initially appointed and placed in the running scale of Rs 2200-4000 together with all consequential benefits but now they were denied the regular scale and other benefits attached to the post.

The stand of the government, on the other hand, was that the petitioners had no right to claim a regular pay scale. They were appointed against posts that had fallen vacant following the retirement of certain lecturers or against the creation of the new posts. The government also contended that once the petitioners had accepted the contractual appointment, they had lost their right to contest the government decision.

The petitioner-lecturers opposed this stand by informing the court that even after the lecturers who were recommended by the Haryana Public Service Commission had joined, posts still existed. Therefore, the government action was illegal and arbitrary. "We accepted the appointments on a contractual basis as we had no choice but to give our assent to the contract for the sake of livelihood."

Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Iqbal Singh, who had heard the petition, held: "We do not find any justification for the government to appoint teachers on a contractual basis on a consolidated salary for a fixed term when the nature of duties performed by them while being appointed on a contractual basis were the same as were being performed if they had been appointed on ad hoc basis before re-employment. When the petitioners were appointed on an ad hoc basis in the running scale of Rs 2200-4000, their appointment was made by a selection committee constituted by the government".

The judges observed that this decision of the government rebelled against the doctrine of equality enshrined in Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. It is settled fact that persons holding similar posts and discharging similar duties are entitled to similar wages when nature, quality and quantity of their work are the same.

The Bench declared as illegal the condition regarding contractual appointment incorporated in their appointment letters. Therefore, such appointments were struck down. The Bench ordered that the petitioners should be placed in a regular pay scale with all consequential benefits.

Before parting with the judgement, the judges observed: "We would like to say that education is the bedrock of a nation. A country is built not on bricks but on brains, not on cement but on high values of life, character and enlightenment..... It is a deplorable state if the teachers have to come with a begging blow in front of the court."

Attempt to grab dera land foiled
From Our Correspondent

KAITHAL, Sept 8 — There is resentment among residents of the town and followers of the Dera Baba Sheetal Puri here, over alleged attempts by certain unscrupulous elements to grab dera property worth crore of rupees by forcing the ailing Mahant Sukhdev Puri, to sign away the property.

An alleged attempt to kidnap the ailing mahant and take him forcibly to Kaithal tehsil was foiled by followers of the mahant, a few days ago was foiled. The kidnappers were taking the mahant before the Tehsildar Kaithal about documents on which they had already obtained his signature through misrepresentation a day before, but were thwarted by his followers.

Sukhdev Puri, who was till recently looked after the famous 'Dera Sheetal Puri' was bedridden following a paralysis attack a few months ago and had given power of attorney and executed a will in favour of Baba Vishwanath Puri, a mahant of the same sect.

Subsequently the baba is reported to have withdrawn the power of attorney under the influence of some persons, then again restored it. But some miscreants, who had their eyes on the valuable property, including hundreds of acres of agricultural land, did not like this and tried to get the documents executed in their favour. This sparked resentment with followers of the dera thronging to it in large numbers. Following this incident a deputation of sadhus and town people met the SP, Mr Sudhir Chaudhary and apprised him of the situation. The SP ordered the posting of police at the dera.

Factory owner robbed
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Sept 8 — Some labourers of a chemical factory near Sampla about 20 km from here, today robbed the factory owner of Rs 1.50 lakh in cash.

According to police sources, the owner of the factory was disbursing the salary of workers in the morning when he was relieved of the money by some of the workers who tied him with a rope and snatched the briefcase containing cash. It is reported that the culprits fled in Maruti car of the owner.

While a case has been registered the suspects could not be identified.

Undertrial escapes
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Sept 8 — An undertrial prisoner lodged in Rohtak district jail escaped from the police custody from the court complex at Jhajjar town this morning.

According to a report, the undertrial identified as Sukhwinder of Ritoli village had been arrested in a case registered under Section 397 of the IPC. He was being produced at a Jhajjar court. A case has been registered against the policemen identified as Sunhera Singh, Dayanand, Dharmender and Dharamvir under Sections 223 and 224 of the IPC in this regard.

Meanwhile, in another incident a student of the local Gaur Brahmin College was injured when he was allegedly knived by some outsiders during a scuffle between two students of the same college.

Telephone subscribers a harassed lot
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Sept 8 — Telephone subscribers in the town are sore over the "apathy" of the Telecommunication Department towards their problems.

An emergency meeting of the Telephone Upbhogata Sangh was held here today under the chairmanship of Dr R.K. Keshwani to discuss various problems and chalk out a strategy.

Mr Yashpal Panwar, executive president of the Sangh, alleged that the fault in a connection was not rectified for several days despite the subscriber's repeated visits to the department. He said a person had to wait for four to six months to get his telephone connection shifted.

They alleged the dealing employees usually evade the subscribers on one pretext or the other. This leads to corruption. Besides, the people had to stand in long queues for several hours to pay their bills.

Mr Panwar alleged that the department had not published the telephone directory for the past about five years while several telephone numbers had been changed.

3 kidnapped minors recovered
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Sept 8 — The police has recovered three minor girls aged between five and seven who were kidnapped from Delhi and brought to Basia the red light area of Agra for prostitution. Earlier the Faridabad police had recovered five other girls from Agra and restored them to their parents.

Two women, Geeta who had kidnapped the girls from Delhi and sold them to Chand Bai who bought them in Agra, have already been arrested and remanded to police custody. Both women are stated to be prostitutes.

Mr Mohammed Akil, Suptd of Police Faridabad identified the three girls as Lalita (6) daughter of Brahma, Alka (7), daughter of Homi and Surabhi (5), daughter of Narsingh. All the girls were living in a jhuggi cluster near the Inter State Bus Terminal in Delhi. Alka has been restored to her parents.

Earlier Sanehi (11), Mamta (10), Pooja (6), Babli (6), and Koku (7), all of them from Delhi and had already been restored to their families.

Mr Akil said the girls were enticed by Geeta by offering them sweets and taken to Agra and sold to Chand Bai, who planned to rear them to puberty then sell them to brothels for prostitution.

Action against 20 recommended
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The Haryana State Vigilance Bureau has recommended departmental action and recovery of funds from 20 gazetted officers and three officials who have been found guilty in four cases of revenue leakage involving over Rs 6.17 lakh.

A spokesman of the bureau today said the bureau had recommended registration of criminal cases against three gazetted officers and two others. It had also recommended departmental action and recovery of money from two gazetted officers and one official in another inquiry.

He said the roadways wing of the bureau had checked 199 buses of Haryana Roadways and 84 passengers were found travelling without tickets. A sum of Rs 6480 was realised from them as penalty amounting to 10 times the fare.

Farmers to get seeds at subsidised rates
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH,Sept 8 -- The Haryana Government will provide 1.96 lakh quintals of high-yielding certified seeds of various crops to the farmers at subsidised rates during the forthcoming rabi season.

Stating this here today, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, Agriculture Minister, Haryana, said subsidy on certified seeds of wheat, mustard, toria, barley, gram lentil and other crops will range from Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 per quintal.

Elaborating the steps being taken for ensuring increase in production and distribution of quality seeds, he said, certain low yielding and disease prone varieties of seeds would be replaced by new high-yielding and disease resistant varieties. Usage of certified seeds helped increase the yield of commercial crops by 10 to 15 per cent.

The Minister said arrangements had been made for supply of seeds suitable for early, normal and late sowing conditions so that farmers did not face any problem. He said the task of production and supply of quality seeds to the farmers in the State was wholly managed by the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation (HSDC). This corporation provided certified seeds to farmers at reasonable rates through its retail network and other cooperative and agricultural institutions.

HATRON to start courses
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The Haryana Government has decided to start one-year and two-years certificate courses in computer science on trial basis at HARTRON work station, Ambala city and Sonepat, from the current session.

The Minister of State for Technical Education, Mr Jagbir Singh, today said admissions to these centres were being made by the Principal, Government Polytechnic, Ambala city and Government Institute of Engineering, Sonepat. As many as 100 students would be admitted in each course.

UGC panel to visit Chandigarh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 8 — The University Grants Commission (UGC) expert committee, headed by Dr Kanta Kumari, Joint Secretary, will visit Chandigarh on September 16 to consider Ninth Plan development proposals of government and non-government colleges affiliated to Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, and Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

The Haryana Education Minister, Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, said here today that the principals of those government and non-government colleges (on list of UGC under Section 2F) whose proposals could not be considered earlier for various reasons had been asked to present their proposals personally before the expert committee on September 16.

Freedom fighter anniversary
From Our Correspondent

BHIWANI, Sept 8 — Pt. Neki Ram Sharma was a rally point for those who wanted to see India free. Stating this a former minister of Haryana, Balwant Rai Tayal exhorted the people to save the country from the destructive forces.

Mr Tayal was addressing a well-attended meeting on the anniversary of freedom fighter Pt Neki Ram Sharma popularly known as 'Haryana Kesari'.

The anniversary was celebrated at Tilak Bhavan.

Murder suspects identified
Tribune News Service

YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 8 — All the four suspects involved in the murder of four persons of a family in Jagadhri have been identified, according to the SP, Yamunanagar.

He said that photographs of two of the suspects had been recovered, and computer sketches of all the suspects prepared.

Four different police parties had been sent to Bombay, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for apprehending the culprits. He appealed to the residents of Yamunanagar-Jagadhari to inform the police about servants, tenants and workers.

6-year-old raped, murdered
From Our Correspondent

BHIWANI, Sept 8 — A case of rape and murder of a minor child of Pichopa Kalan under Charkhi Dadri tehsil has been registered with Badhra police station.

According to reports, a six-year-old girl was abducted in the early hours on September 6 from her house when she was alone with her grandmother. A search was organised that day and the matter reported to the police yesterday. At 2 p.m. the father of the victim Roshan Lal detected a foul smell coming from behind the toilet door. He entered the toilet to find his daughter's body. The police was informed and the body sent for post-mortem.

No arrest has been made so far in this connection.

Three vehicle thieves nabbed
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Sept 8 — With the arrest of three persons, the anti-crime branch of the district police yesterday claimed to have busted a gang of vehicle thieves.

Superintendent of Police K. Selvraj told mediapersons here yesterday that the arrested persons had been identified as Ram Niwas alias Ramoo, Rajesh alias Raje and Manjeet, all residents of Rathdhanna village. One of the culprits, Manjeet, he said, had escaped from the District Jail, Sonepat, by scaling its wall and that he was allegedly involved in the murder case of Rajesh, a youth of Hassanpur village.

He also disclosed that the police had recovered two stolen motor cycles and one scooter from the possession of the culprits. During their interrogation, they confessed to having stolen these vehicles from different places of Sonepat city during the past two years.