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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Wednesday, February 3, 1999 |
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Uninterrupted power by June 30:
Bansi CHANDIGARH, Feb 2 — Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal assured the Vidhan Sabha here today that his government would fully honour its commitment to providing round-the-clock power supply by June 30. Panel on unorganised labour sought ROHTAK, Feb 2 — The President of the Bandhua Mukti Morcha, Swami Agnivesh, has demanded the setting up of a national commission for the unorganised labour who constitute 93 per cent of the total work force in the country. |
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Haryana to
develop village tourism Govt
run by CM's son: Jindal Haryana
youth Cong panel formed Haryana
Govt's policies anti-poor: sangh BSP's
threat to gherao ministers |
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Uninterrupted power by June 30: Bansi CHANDIGARH, Feb 2 — Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal assured the Vidhan Sabha here today that his government would fully honour its commitment to providing round-the-clock power supply by June 30. He said the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam had already successfully tested its transmission system by making 24- hour supply on three days in November (25 to 27). It had been found that the highest shortfall in the supply was 34 lakh units on a single day. Mr Bansi Lal said by June 30 the HVPN would arrange an additional supply of 89 lakh units from various sources. He said two units of the Faridabad gas based power plant of the NTPC would be commissioned and begin supplying 58 lakh units daily. Refurbishment of the ongoing four units of the Panipat Thermal Plant would be completed which would generate 14 lakh units of power daily. Additional 10 lakh units would be daily arranged from Punjab and 7 lakh units from Himachal. Mr Bansi Lal was replying
to the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor's
Address to the House and the criticism levelled by Mr
Sampat Singh, a former Irrigation and Power Minister, in
particular. |
Panel on unorganised labour
sought ROHTAK, Feb 2 — The President of the Bandhua Mukti Morcha, Swami Agnivesh, has demanded the setting up of a national commission for the unorganised labour who constitute 93 per cent of the total work force in the country. Addressing newsmen here today, the Swamy said workers in the organised sector had forums to redress their grievances. The workers in the unorganised sector should not be included in the national labour commission that the Centre propose to set up. He pleaded for a uniform minimum wage for the workers in the country. Presently, various state governments have different minimum wage rules. He said a single day's salary paid to a Class IV employee at the Centre after the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations should be the minimum wage in each state. The Swamy said mine workers in Haryana had been denied the minimum wages and the inter-state Migrant Workers Act, the Contract Labour Act and the Bonded Labour Abolition Act had not been enforced despite the judgements delivered by the apex court in 1983 and 1991. Swamy Agnivesh said politicisation of religion and communalisation of politics had posed a big danger to the social fabric of the country. He said casteism was taking roots in all religions and continue to build tension. The caste-based and gender-based inequality had affected nearly three-fourths of country's population. He said the Arya Samaj condemn all types of violence and demand exemplary punishment to those indulging in violence in the name of religion. The Swamy said unfortunately the VHP and the Bajrang Dal had assigned themselves the role of spokespersons of all Hindus. But the Hindus, by and large, have not accepted these organisations as representatives of Hindu ethos, he said. The veteran Arya Samaj leader said the issue of conversion could not be tackled in isolation from the caste oppression. It was not surprising if the people who have been ill-treated and oppressed leave the Hindu fold. Rather than resenting the humanitarian work done by Christians, Hindus should work for social justice and make Hinduism a liberating and empowering force for Dalits. The Swamy demanded that
prohibition should be enforced in the entire country and
not in isolated states. He said that Mr Bansi Lal, who
came to power on the promise of implementing prohibition
should have resigned as soon as prohibition was lifted.
He demanded judicial inquiry into the incidents of
smuggling of liquor during the prohibition days. He
claimed that if a referendum was held, 75 per cent of the
Haryana population would vote for enforcing prohibition. |
Panipat leads in fish production PANIPAT, Feb 2 — Haryana is one of the leading states in the country in fish seed production. More than 17,000 persons were engaged in fish farming and fish production had increased to 32,000 tonnes from village ponds. The annual fish production in Panipat district has touched a new high of 1450 tonnes and 352 families in the district have adopted fish farming to supplement their income sources. Disclosing this, Mr Anurag Rastogi, Deputy Commissioner, said 389 hectares areas had already been brought under fish farming. A fish market had been opened in Panipat town recently. As many as 20 retail shops and five wholesale booths had been provided to transport fish from different villages to Panipat market and other markets. He said the government had also formed a Fish Farmers Development Agency to promote fish culture as a subsidiary occupation. To provide timely supply of fish seeds, he said, four seed production units had been set up at Sodhapur, Karans, Pasina Kalan and Patti Kalina. Such units were being set up at Shera and Rasalu villages also. Fish seed production had reached upto 26.75 lakh in the district, he added. He said the fishery had
become very beneficial for the small and marginal farmers
and people of weaker sections as this occupation had
generated employment for unemployed youth. As many as 327
persons had been given training in fish farming in the
district so far, out of them 157 belong to Scheduled
Castes families. During the training, they were given a
stipend of Rs 7 lakh also. The department and agency had
also released subsidy amounting to Rs 40 lakh for
construction and renovation of fish ponds. |
Haryana to develop village tourism SURAJKUND, Feb 2 — Haryana Tourism which pioneered the concept of highway tourism in the country now plans to tap the tourism potential of the much talked-about villages in the state. Mr S.K. Misra, Chairman, Special Tourism Promotion Board and the man behind the annual Surajkund Crafts Mela said that time had come to give special attention to the development of village tourism. He said the pilot project on village tourism was expected to be launched by autumn this year. In an interview to The Tribune, Mr Misra said non-government organisations had been entrusted with the task of carrying out surveys in various villages of Haryana. “We have already identified three or four villages including Banchari on the Ballabgarh-Mathura route and another on the Shekhawati route. These villages are being selected on the basis of various factors including their cultural heritage and historical significance. Banchari, for instance, has a tradition in performing arts. Similarly, the arts and heritage properties on the Shekhawati route offer a lot of tourism potential.” Mr Misra said like the Surajkund Crafts Mela, the experiment would be an “exercise in coordination. We have already spoken to officers in departments like Health, Education and Forests to focus on the development of the villages. The response has been good.” He said they had also asked Deputy Commissioners to recommend villages for the project. The NGO teams would explain the concept to the villagers and gauge their response. “Once this preliminary exercise is over, we will set up a unit and appoint a manager. We will promote tourism by constructing dwelling units which project the village architecture. Educated and unemployed men and women would be trained to work as waiters and housekeepers respectively. The project would be ultimately entrusted to the village community.” Mr Misra who has served as Secretary, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of India, said he was optimistic about the project. “This is not a mega-budget project and we hope to finance it with our funds. The National Cooperative Development Corporation has written to us saying that they want to amend their Act to bring tourism within the purview of financing.” Enumerating the advantages
of launching the project, Mr Misra said it would generate
employment, arrest migration from villages to urban
areas, give villagers a sense of dignity, ensure them
better quality of life and have a cascading effect on
other villages. |
Govt run by CM's son: Jindal YAMUNANAGAR, Feb 2 — Mr O.P. Jindal has predicted the fall of the Bansi Lal government any moment. Talking to newsmen here today at Canal Rest House Mr Jindal President of the newly formed Sarv Jatiya Party said 25 MLAs of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP), out of total 35, were disappointed with the policies of the government and may unite in a forum any moment. A businessman turned politician who has a turnover of Rs 2200 crore in India, Mr Jindal claimed that 14 MLAs of the HVP had joined hands on December 31 to dislodge the present government. He alleged that the state government was being run by his (Bansi's) son Mr Surinder Singh and his daughter. He said the Chief Minister had nothing to do with the development work but was only inclined to please MLAs. He said his party would contest all 90 seats in Haryana and will not go far alliance with any political party. He claimed that number of leaders of all the political parties of Haryana were interested to join the Sarv Jatiya Party. Mr Jindal was here today to constitute the first district unit of the state of which Mr Ramesh Chand Chamola and Naresh Khurana were elected as President and General Secretary of the district, respectively. Labh Singh Chauhan will be the President of the Radaur Constituency. By February-end all
district units will be established, he added. |
Haryana youth Cong panel formed ROHTAK, Feb 2 — In order to mobilise the youth of the state and provide a thrust to the programmes of the Congress party, the Haryana Yuva Congress Campaign Committee has been formed. A former President of the state unit of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), Mr Sandeep Singh was made the convener of this committee at a meeting of youth held here today. A 51-member committee has been formed giving representation to all sections of the youth from various parts of the state, according to a spokesman of the new committee. He said a three-member presidium has also been constituted to coordinate the programmes of the party and the committee in the state. He clarified that the committee would function only till the new body of the state youth Congress was set up by the party high command. He observed that unnecessary delay in announcing the new body of the state unit of the youth Congress had been caused a vacuum type of situation in the state and there was no one to coordinate and organise the activities of the youth for past about a year. Following resurgence of the Congress party in various parts of the country, it was necessary to propagate and launch the policies and programmes of the party in the state. Mr Sandeep Singh said the committee proposed to organise at least four zonal youth public meetings in the last week of February. While the presidium comprises Mr Pradeep Singh, Mr Satish Kumar Lakki (both from Rohtak) and Mr Bijender Singh of Panipat, the 51 members include two to four members from each district. They criticised the recent
hike in the prices of the PDS items and the cooking gas
by the Central Government. Demanding withdrawal of the
hike the committee has alleged that the decisions had
proved that the BJP-led coalition Government had been
functioning on the "directives of the
capitalists". |
RI for two in accident case JIND, Feb 2 — Ms Neelima Shangla, Chief Judicial Magistrate, today awarded two years' rigorous imprisonment to Krishan Kumar and Kanwaljeet Singh and a fine of Rs 5000 each for causing the death of Subhash and injuries to Kailash in a road accident. They were held guilty of rash and negligent driving. In August, 1995, Subhash and Kailash were going on a motor cycle when the autorickshaw driven by Kanwaljeet Singh hit them. At the same time Krishan Kumar, who was driving his jeep, hit Subhash from behind. Subhash and Kailash were injured in the accident. They were referred to
hospital at Rohtak where Subhash died. |
Bar strike end in sight PANCHKULA, Feb 2 — The two- month-old strike by members of the District Bar Association over lack of provision of chambers for lawyers at the judicial complex coming up in Sector 1 here is likely to end soon. A meeting in this regard was held between officials of the district administration led by the Deputy Commissioner and executive members of the Bar Association here today. Earlier the Bar Association had been objecting to the decision of the administration to provide its members with land on which they had to raise chambers on their own while the administration had been sticking to its point. The lawyers had held a protest march. Sources in the administration called the meeting after Justice R.S. Mongia of the Punjab and Haryana High Court chaired a meeting in which Justice G.S. Singhvi, Justice V.K. Bali, senior officials of the state government and HUDA officials participated. It was agreed at the meeting that the land for the construction of chambers would be provided by the authorities in the judicial complex area. The construction cost of the chambers would, however, have to be borne by the lawyers. The terms for providing
land and modalities for the construction of chambers
would be mutually decided by the representatives of the
Bar and the district administration. |
Painters' exhibition opens at
Surajkund CHANDIGARH, Feb 2 — An exhibition of 20 painters and sculptors was inaugurated today by the Chairman of the Haryana Tourism Promotion Board, Mr S.K. Mishra, at Surajkund Crafts Mela. The works of prominent artist and sculptors namely Ashish Kumar Sarkar, Dattareya Apte, Jagdish Chander, Bishan Bhardwaj, Jai Zharotia, Jyoti Ranjan Panigrahi, Naresh Kapuria, Pooja Broota Tranna, Prem Singh, Shanti Dave, Shella Makhjani, Shukla Sawant, Subrata Kundu, Surendra Pal Joshi and Viren Tanwar, Ashok Prajapati, Kishan Kaw, Latika Kett, and M.C. Enas have been displayed at the exhibition. Mr Mishra interacted with these artists and appreciated their creations. The Art Director of the exhibition, Mr Naresh Kapuria said the painters would work on their paintings from February 7 to 13 at the open field ambience of the mela. Each artist would make two paintings during this period, one of which would be donated to Haryana Tourism, which has encouraged them by giving an honorarium of Rs 10,000 to each painter. This works would be displayed in Delhi and other parts of the country, later on. Mr Mishra also witnessed a
colourful cultural programme on the occasion. Mrs Keshni
Anand Arora, Managing Director, Haryana Tourism and Ms G.
Anupama, Mela Administrator, were also present. |
Varsity celebrates foundation day HISAR, Feb 2 — Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University (CCSHAU) celebrated its 13th foundation day today. A number of functions, including a book exhibition, were organised to mark the occasion. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof J.B. Chowdhury, pointed out that the major thrust of the university had been on boosting foodgrain production, besides addressing issues like environment protection and sustainable agriculture. The Vice-Chancellor disclosed that to achieve this goal, the university had drawn up a plan to tune its academic and research activities with the changing needs of agriculture at local and global level. He said, the university had made significant contribution in transforming the economy of the state. Prof Chowdhury said modern agriculture influenced by open market economy demand specialisation at academic level also. He said university courses had been revised according to these needs. He said a new plan, which would be implemented on a five-year basis to match with the agricultural policy of the country, also envisaged to start some vocational courses in plant protection, nursery and orchard management, landscaping and floriculture, vegetable production for marketing and post-harvest technology for fruits and vegetables. The university has been awarded best agriculture university award by the ICAR. Besides, the World Bank has also selected the university for an ambitious agriculture human resources development project, for revitalising the curricula and teaching methodology. The Vice-Chancellor also
inaugurated an exhibition of articles, research papers
and books authored by its faculty. |
Haryana Govt's policies anti-poor:
sangh BHIWANI, Feb 2 — The two-day workers' training camp of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh, Haryana concluded here yesterday. About 200 workers from state-level and district-level units of the sangh participated. Mr Sukomal Sain, General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Sarkari Karamchari Mahasangh, said due to the faulty economic policies of the Union Government the entire burden was laid on salaried class, labourers and farmers. Mr Sain said privatisation had reduced the size of various departments but employees' retrenchment had resulted in multiplying the problems of the salaried class. The Haryana Government was the first to implement anti-employee and anti-poor economic policies, the union leader said. He cited the example of Mandhiali where the state government fired at the farmers and framed false cases against them. In Dharuhera four workers died in police firing but no arrest had been made in this connection. He said the services of 34 nurses, who had gone on strike, were terminated. About 750 employees were suspended for taking part in a strike and false cases were framed. Mr Rajinder Sareha, General Secretary of the Tourism Employees Union Mahasangh was charged with false cases. The Working Committee of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh comprising 42 leaders were arrested when they were planning to hold a meeting in Hisar, he added. Mr Sain said a fine of Rs 15 lakh imposed on Mr R.C. Jagga, General Secretary of the union, by the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam was a blot on the fair name of democracy. He said the Akhil Bharatiya Sarkari Karamchari Sangh would fight this case. He praised the decision of the Jan Sangathan Manch, Hisar, to stage a dharna at Chandigarh in February and said he would himself join the deputation which would meet Mr Bansi Lal. At the camp a resolution condemning the spread of communalism was passed. The resolution further said the death of the Christian missionary and his two sons was the result of the vitiated thinking of the Bajrang Dal and the Sangh Parivar. It urged the people to work for communal harmony and peace. Mr Satbir, General
Secretary, of the sangh, addressed the camp and said
along with the Haryana Government employees, thousands of
farmers of the state would also participate in the dharna
to be held in front of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. |
1 sentenced to life
imprisonment BHIWANI, Feb 2 — The District and Sessions Judge, Mr Pritam Pal today sentenced Partap and Mahla of Bawani Khera, to life imprisonment on the charge of murdering Satbir. According to the prosecution, the father of the deceased, Sadhu Ram, had a minor quarrel with members of the family of the accused. Nursing a grudge against the family of the deceased, Partap and Mahla along with Krishan, Parkash, Khiali Ram, Lala Ram and Inder Singh gave a severe beating to Satbir resulting in this death. The judge also sentenced
Lala Ram to two years' rigorous imprisonment and for
beating Satbir's sister Krishan, Parkash and Khiali Ram
to six months' imprisonment. Inder Singh, another
accused, was released. |
BSP's threat to gherao ministers YAMUNANAGAR, Feb 2 — The Bahujan Samaj Party has threatened to gherao Haryana ministers as they have failed to protect the interests of the people of the state. Mr Aman Kumar Nagra, President, BSP, Haryana, while addressing a gathering in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner said today that Mr Bansi Lal had no moral right to continue as the Chief Minister of the state, as he had failed to fulfil his promises during elections. Mr Nagra directed the party's cadre-base workers to go to the grassroots level to solve the problems of the people. He said his party would contest on all 90 seats in Haryana in future. He also over-ruled any possibility of an alliance with any political party in Haryana. He termed the present government as anti-people. He added that the survey conducted by the Haryana Government regarding people living below poverty line had been a failure as the authentic report was not presented by the government. Mr Nagra demanded that the government should order a fresh survey to cover all sections of society. He further sought the withdrawal of ESMA cases against employees and the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission report. He gave a memorandum to
the Deputy Commissioner for forwarding it to the
Governor, Haryana, regarding the problems being faced by
the people of the state. |
Improve efficiency in offices: DC SONEPAT, Feb 2 — The district administration has taken measures to improve the efficiency and punctuality in government offices and schools, particularly in the rural areas of the district. This was stated by Mr P.K. Mahapatra, Deputy Commissioner, while addressing a meeting of the district officials here today. He said the measures include surprise checks in offices by senior officers and disciplinary action against those found absent from duty. The Deputy Commissioner asked the heads of the department to remain at their headquarters and not to leave without permission from the authorities. The Deputy Commissioner directed the authorities of all official agencies, especially the PWD (B&R), the municipal council, the market committee and the HUDA to undertake repairs of roads under their jurisdiction on priority basis. He also asked them to take steps to remove encroachments on public and municipal lands and demolish unauthorised structures. Mr Mahapatra directed the
DPRO to inform mediapersons about the holding of janata
darbars. |
BSP workers hold demonstration AMBALA, Feb 2 — Hundreds of workers of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), in support of their demands held a demonstration and took out a procession in the city yesterday. The BSP workers had threatened to gherao the Deputy Commissioner but she was not present in her office. The workers, led by the BSP MP, Mr Aman Kumar Nagra, submitted a memorandum to a district official listing their demands which included a re-survey of those below the poverty line and cancellation of the registration deed of a piece of land at Shahzadpur. The memorandum also sought
lifting of the ban on use of polythene bags and
withdrawal of taxes imposed in view of the prohibition in
Haryana, which had now been lifted. |
8 held for indulging in
prostitution FARIDABAD, Feb 2 — The police arrested eight persons, including four women, for allegedly indulging in prostitution in Dahua Colony yesterday. They have been identified
as Sukhdev, Yunus, Bablu, Yunus, Rama, Usha, Bharti and
Seema. They belonged to Dahua Colony and Jawahar Colony
and have been charged under the Immoral Trafficking Act. |
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