• Plea to dismiss govt
• Strike call : 12 detained
• Separate panchayat sought
• 'Withdraw' fee hike

• Gang busted
• Free eye operation camp
• Blindness prevention
• VC's action criticised

HVP tirade against Yadav continues
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — While the ruling Haryana Vikas Party today continued its tirade against the sacked PWD Minister, Dr Dharamvir Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition and President of the Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya), Mr Om Prakash Chautala, demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, in view of the allegations levelled by Dr Yadav against him.

The Public Health Minister, Mr Jagan Nath, who belongs to Bhiwani district, defended Mr Bansi Lal by saying that Dr Yadav's allegation that Bhiwani was getting preferential treatment at the cost of other areas was baseless.

He said Mr Bansi Lal was a "vikas pursh" who treated the entire State alike. He said though in May, June and July last several villages of Mr Bansi Lal's Assembly constituency of Tosham did not get drinking water for several days, the Chief Minister did not divert water from other areas to his constituency.

Mr Jagan Nath said the condition of Tosham or the other six Assembly constituencies of Bhiwani district was no different from that of Ahirwal. The Public Health Department had spent the maximum in Ahirwal only. In police recruitment all sections had been given representation. He invited Opposition leaders to visit and themselves study the situation there which was no different from that in other areas of the State.

Two more ministers, Mr Attar Singh Saini and Mrs Kanta Devi, hailed the sacking of Dr Yadav, who, they said, realised that he would be indicted in an enquiry ordered by the Chief Minister and started levelling false allegations against Mr Bansi Lal . They claimed that nobody could believe the baseless and false allegations levelled by Dr Yadav against Mr Bansi Lal.

Special drive in Sonepat for photo I-cards
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Sept 14 — The district administration has decided to launch a special programme from September 22 to September 28 for providing photo identity cards to the electorate of Sonepat district who had failed so far to get themselves photographed for the purpose.

Mr P.K. Mahapatra, Deputy Commissioner, said here today that the electorate belonging to the Sonepat, Rai and Rohat assembly segments, would be photographed between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily at 16 centres set up for this purpose. In Sonepat city, the electorate living in Ward Nos 1 to 20, would be photographed on September 22 in the office of the Sonepat Municipal Council whereas the electorate living in Ward Nos 21 to 26 and the villages of Lehrarar and Bayyanpur would get this facility on September 23 in Hindu Kanya Vidyapeeth, Sonepat.

The electorate of Pinana, Salarpur Majra, Naina Tatarpur, and Mohana villages would be photographed on September 24 at Government Primary School, Mohana village. Similarly, the electorate of Bohla, Salimpur Trsuli, Juen, Mahra, Bhatana Zaffarabad and Chatana villages would be photographed on September 25 at Government Senior Secondary School, Juan village.

The electorate of Ward Nos 29 to 31 of Sonepat city and the villages of Sandal Khurd, Tharu Uldepur, Chatia Aulia, Sandal Kalan, Jahri, Tharia, Shazadpur, Kilorad, Hullshri, Knizarpur, Jat Majra, and Barwasni would be photographed on September 26 in the office of the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, Sonepat.

The electorate of the Rai assembly segment, would be photographed at the centres set up at Government School for Boys, Murthal, Sanskrit High School, Bahalgarh, High School, Barota, Block Development and Panchayat Officer's office at Rai and a High School on the Narela-Kundli Road. However, no date has been mentioned for the purpose.

The electorate of the Rohat assembly segment would be photographed on September 22 in Government School, Hastgaon village, at Parmana school on September 23, at Kheri Dahiya village on September 24, at the Block Development and Panchayat Officer's office on September 25 and Mandauri village on September 26.

If the electorate had lost their identity cards or their such cards had any mistakes, they could also get themselves photographed again by depositing a fee of Rs 14 but they would have to produce copies of the FIRs lodged with the police.

Court pulls up ASI in dowry death case
From Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, Sept 14 — A Sessions Court here made a scathing observation against a police officer charging him with colluding with the accused in fabricating evidence in a dowry death. It sentenced the accused, Mr Bansi Lal, and his mother, Mrs Shanti Devi, in connection with the alleged suicide of his wife, Sarla Devi, to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and seven years, respectively.

Mr Bansi Lal and Mrs Shanti Devi, residents of village Seewari in Mewat area, were facing trial for the offences punishable under Section 498-A IPC (cruelty and harassment), 304-B, IPC (dowry death) and 306 IPC (abetment to suicide) in the court of the Additional Sessions Judge, Dr Bharat Bhushan Parsoon.

The father of the deceased, who was the complainant in the case, stated in the court that the in-laws had been maltreating her daughter for more dowry, even after 10 years of marriage. The in-laws persisted for a scooter.

It was further alleged that demands for dowry were raised immediately after the marriage, and on having not been met, maltreatment and torture to the deceased started. After marriage the deceased had also once come to her parental house and stayed there for 14 months. The in-laws took her away only after giving an assurance to a panchayat that the bride would not be harassed. After a fortnight of her return to her matrimonial place Mrs Sarla Devi allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself.

The father of the deceased alleged that although the in-laws had assured the panchayat of better conduct they continued to harass her for bringing less dowry. He further stated that after learning the news of the death of his daughter he rushed to Seewari and found her body alone on a cot. All the members from the in-laws side were missing from the house. He also performed the last rites of his daughter.

According to the father of the deceased, he had given a television, sofa-set, dressing table, two gold earrings, one fan, an electric iron, 100 utensils, two boxes, two pairs of pajeb, silver necklace, sufficient clothes and Rs 7,000 in cash as dowry in the marriage.

Counsel for the in-laws, however, took the stand that there was absolutely no demand for dowry. It was also alleged that the deceased was having an affair with someone and had been forced into this marriage resulting in frustration and her consequent suicide. It was canvassed before the judge that there had neither been any maltreatment nor teasing of the deceased, much less for bringing less dowry.

Rejecting the stand of the in-laws, Dr Parsoon observed that if the husband was doubting the fidelity of his wife there was no reason for him to have come with his father and other relatives to her parents’ place to take her back after 14 months of her stay there. It also cannot be said that the deceased was not having any liking for her husband and was frustrated because she allegedly could not marry the person of her choice. Rather, the circumstances are otherwise. Had she developed hatred for her husband, there was no reason for her to rejoin him after 14 months of her staying away from the matrimonial home, he added.

The judge upheld a version against the in-laws with regard to a "suicide note" purportedly written by the deceased and reportedly discovered by Assistant Sub-Inspector, Arjun Singh, of Faruk Nagar police station, during the investigation into the case. The suicide note was submitted in the court as an evidence during the trial of the case. It was alleged that the document was a "mischievous fabrication which was surreptitiously" introduced by the investigating officer, as he had intentionally colluded with the accused to favour them.

The judgement order reads: "Clearly the investigations are not only faulty but also tainted on this score and smack of clear favouritism and not lack of knowledge or expertise by the investigating officer". The judge further observed that even authorship of the document having not established, it having been traded as a "suicide note" by the officer was highly "intriguing".

Chautala 'misleading' Advani
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — The Haryana Government today accused the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, of misleading the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, on the law and order situation in the state.

Claiming that the law and order situation in Haryana was well under control, an official spokesman said here today that Mr Chautala had highly exaggerated the crime statistics in his memorandum submitted to Mr Advani recently. He said certain vested interests were trying to mislead the people by presenting wrong statistics of crime.

He said Mr Chautala's claim that 510 murder cases and 259 cases of attempt to murder were registered from April, 1998, to July, 1998, was far from truth. Only 327 murder cases and 127 cases of attempt to murder were registered during this period. Similarly, Mr Chautala had claimed that 261 cases of rape, 344 abduction, 252 cases of loot, 5373 of dacoity and 2095 of theft were reported, the spokesman said these figures were only 106, 218, 172, 2061 and 949, respectively.

Describing Mr Chautala's memorandum as a political gimmick, the spokesman said 41,487 cases were registered up to July 31 this year against 61,617 cases registered during the corresponding period last year — a decline of 20,130 cases. During this year the cases of attempt to murder declined by 44, those of rape by 32 and of attack on government employees by 21.

Asserting that it was not fair to define the law and order situation in terms of incidents of crime, he said the real law and order situation was related to the mafia of organised crime, land mafia and "gundaism" at public places. The present government had completely eliminated criminals associated with organised crime and land mafia. Most of the criminal gangs had been busted.

Good response to new college
From Sushil Manav

FATEHABAD: The commencement of the newly setup Government College for Girls at Fatehabad has fulfilled the long-felt demand of residents. Most parents, who were reluctant to send their girls to a co-education college, in the town are now happy having a college exclusively for girls.

The college started functioning here on July 7, 1998. The Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, had promised to start a girls college here at a rally held in September last year on the eve of mid-term poll for the Fatehabad Assembly segment. Though the government lost the bypoll, it kept its promise.

Mr C.L. Sehgal, Principal of Government College, Bhattu Kalan, in this district was given the dual charge. A part of the building of the local Government Senior Secondary School was allotted to the college and admissions were started.

Mr R.K. Sehgal, one of the seniormost lecturers in English in the state and his wife Mrs Popil Sehgal, were deputed here from Government College, Hisar. The Director of Higher Education, Haryana, issued telephonic orders for their deputation.

Initially, only two classes, BA part-I and B. Com-part-I, have been started. But even then the college evoked a good response. As many as 246 girls got admission in the college. The college is housed in two blocks consisting of 11 rooms, an open space and a playground. There are 12 posts of lecturer, including for a lecturer in physical education.

Though it has started functioning it is faced with some teething problems too, that need immediate attention of the authorities concerned. It needs immediate grants for library books, furniture and setting up of a laboratory for home science students. The college needs some more posts of lecturer. There is no lecturer for students of vocal and instrumental music. Neither there are teachers for sociology, psychology and philosophy. The teachers as well as students have to use a common toilet. One block of the building consisting of five rooms needs immediate repairs.

But despite all these shortcomings, the teachers have been managing the college well. Though the teachers of this college had their sympathies with the striking college teachers, none went on strike lest the college may face closure immediately after its start.

Mr R.K. Sehgal who officiates as principal in the absence of Mr C.L. Sehgal who has a dual charge, told The Tribune that they have found the people here cooperative and always willing to help the institution. He said some philanthropists had donated some furniture for the college. As many as 20 ceiling fans were donated by the Mansa Devi Trust, Panchkula, which is headed by the D.C., Panchkula, Mrs Saroj Siwach, a daughter of Chief Minister Bansi Lal. Mr Sehgal is optimistic that the college would get permission to start more classes in arts and commerce faculty next year.

Probe suicides: Surjewala
Tribune News Service

ROHTAK, Sept 14 — Braving torrential rain and humid conditions, thousands of farmers and landless agricultural labourers today staged a dharna under the banner of Haryana Krishak Samaj demanding lowering of interest rate on agricultural loans and an inquiry into suicides committed by farmers because of poverty.

Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president, Haryana Krishak Samaj, later told newsmen that at least 40,000 farmers and landless agricultural labourers had committed suicide in the state in the past two to three years because of their inability to repay bank loans and money borrowed from private moneylenders.

He regretted that the state government had taken no steps to order an inquiry into these deaths although he had given specific information about the names and villages of many of such farmers. He regarded the suicides by farmers in Haryana a tragedy bigger than the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Demanding lowering of the rate of interest on advances to the agricultural sector below 8 per cent, Mr Surjewala said the nationalised banks were charging 24 per cent and cooperative banks 17 per cent interest from farmers, whereas these banks were getting money from Nabard at an interest of merely 4 per cent.

Mr Surjewala strongly pleaded for enforcing the principle of "Daam dupatt" strictly so as to, ensure that the amount of interest did not exceed the principal amount of the loan. This, he said, had been necessitated as the nationalised banks were charging compound interest from agricultural borrowers.

He said the nationalised banks in the country had "fattened" at cost of farmers, traders and industry. He demanded that the rate of interest on lendings to the trade and industry should also be lowered below 8 per cent, if the Indian economy was to survive and the products manufactured in this country had to compete in the international markets.

The former PCC chief said paddy crop had been damaged in most parts of the state for want of timely monsoon. The unseasonal rains had damaged the cotton crop for the third year in a row.

Therefore he demanded enforcement of moratorium for three years on recovery of agricultural loans and waiving of interest for this period.

The Krishak Samaj further demanded abolition of laws that empowered cooperative banks to detain a defaulter for 40 days. Similarly the law authorising nationalised banks to auction the land of the farmer should be abrogated.

Mr Surjewala strongly pleaded for making a provision in the banking laws for advancement of loan to landless agricultural labourers and village poor for the discharge of social obligations like marriages and deaths.

Earlier, the farmers and labourers, who came from all over the state, took out a procession from the Chhotturam Park and raised slogans in support of their demands.

Among others who addressed the demonstrators included Mr Jagdish Nehra, Mr Virender Singh, Mr Tejinder Singh Mann, all former ministers, and Mr Randeep Surjewala, MLA.

Plea to dismiss Bansi government
From Our Correspondent

REWARI, Sept 14 — The Haryana Pradesh Janata Dal president, Mr Ved Parkash Vidrohi, has urged the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to impose President's rule in the state by using Article 356 of the Constitution.
Mr Vidrohi said Haryana was a fit case for the use of Article 356 in order to dismiss the "corrupt and dictatorial" government of Mr Bansi Lal. He said if the "misrule" of the Bansi Lal government was allowed to continue, it would make life unbearable for masses.

Strike call : 12 detained
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Sept 14 — In the wake of the strike call given by the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh and workers union of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) for September 16, at least 12 persons have been taken in custody from different parts of the district.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Aggarwal, said preventive steps had been taken to thwart any attempts by agitationists to disrupt normal life. The Duty Magistrates would ensure that essential services were not disrupted.

Plea for separate panchayat
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Sept 14 — Residents of Jaswantgarh village in Barwala block, near here, have demanded a separate panchayat for their village. At present Jaswantgarh and Dabkori villages have a joint panchayat. In a representation to the Deputy Commissioner, they said the development of the village had been suffering as a major portion of the earnings of the joint panchayat was diverted to Dabkori village.

They said a distance of eight kilometers had to be covered to reach Dabkori village after crossing two seasonal rivulets.

The village had a population of more than 550. Besides, there were enough resources in the village to generate an income of Rs 30,000 each year, they added.

Withdraw fee hike, school told
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Sept 14 — The Sonepat District Consumers Disputes Redressal Forum has told the increase in tuition fee and other monthly charges as illegal and arbitrary and directed the Principal of Holy Child School, Sonepat, to withdraw the notice of February 21, relating to a 80 per cent hike in the fees etc.

Delivering its judgement in the case, the forum, however, allowed the school authorities to increase the fees and other charges by 30 per cent of the rates which existed prior to March 31. The forum also directed them to refund the excess amount if already charged or adjust the same in the fees for the coming months.

Free eye operation camp from Sept 19
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Sept 14 — The Lions Club of Sonepat is holding its 26th free eye operation camp at Shiva Hospital near Hindu College for Boys on September 19 and 20.

A noted eye surgeon of Delhi, assisted by two local eye surgeons, will perform the operations.

The club will bear all board and lodging charges of the indoor patients. They will also be provided with food, fruits and milk etc, besides spectacles, free of cost.

Rs 600 cr to be spent on
blindness prevention
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 14 — An amount of Rs 600 crore will be spent for the prevention of blindness in the world by the International Association of Lions Club.

Mr Naresh Aggarwal, International Director of the club, while talking to newsmen here yesterday said out of this amount, Rs 200 crore would be spent in India.

Giving statistics, Mr Aggarwal said there are 40 lakh blind persons in India and if preventive steps were not be taken immediately, the number of blind persons would double in 20 years.

Gang busted
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Sept 14 — With the arrest of four armed youths, the anti-crime branch of the district police yesterday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of robbers and dacoits operating in parts of Haryana and Delhi for the past few months.

Mr K. Selvraj, SP, said the arrested persons had been identified as Suresh, Ravinder, Rakesh and Sunil — all residents of Butana village. The fifth culprit, Rajinder, who is also a resident of the same village, is at large.

The police had seized a pistol and three cartridges from Suresh and a case under the Indian Arms Act had been registered against him.

VC's action criticised
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Sept 14 — The Maharshi Dayanand University Teachers' Association (MDUTA) and the Maharshi Dayanand University Non-Teaching Employees' Association (MDUNTEA) have condemned the "arbitrary" style of functioning of the Vice-Chancellor in connection with the "unjustified" changes in house allotment committee.

Mr Vazir Nehra, president of MDUTA, and Mr Kartar Singh Dhankar, president of MDUNTEA, in a joint statement here today criticised the Vice-Chancellor for ordering the replacement of Mr Nehra by Mr S.S. Chahal, president of MDU Teaching Departments Teachers' Association.

Terming it as a mischievous move, both leaders sought immediate withdrawal of the said order and threatened that the university administration would be responsible for the consequences if an attempt was made to convene a meeting of the house allotment committee without withdrawing the orders.