• Civic staff PF deductions ‘not credited’
• Rs 12.8 lakh penalty for power theft
• Royalty on silica being evaded
• HCS aspirants resentful

• Haryana House session ends tomorrow
• Guinness Book recognises claim
• Four of family die in mishap
• Two held for murder

MLAs’ area scheme may be revived
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — The Education Minister, Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, told the Haryana Vidhan Sabha here today that the government would reconsider the introduction of MLAs’ local area development scheme.

Mr Ram Bilas Sharma gave this assurance to the House when Mr Kailash Chand Sharma (Independent) demanded restoration of the scheme which not only assured proper development of the area but also emphasised the MLAs’ importance.

However, Mr Charan Dass Shorewala, Finance Minister, had earlier told the member that there was no proposal under the government’s consideration to reintroduce the scheme. The member had said that people of the area had to rely on the MPs' Development Fund for even small matters.

In reply to a question by Mr Anil Vij (Ind), Mr Shashi Pal Mehta, Industries Minister, said there was no proposal under consideration for extension of Ambala cantonment’s industrial area. The reason, he said, was that Saha, merely 10 km from Ambala cantonment, was being developed as an industrial growth centre, for which the Union Government had given its sanction and had made available Rs 50 lakh for its development.

Mr Karan Singh Dalal, Public Works Development (B&R) Minister, told Mr Anil Vij that in spite of the fact that the Ambala-Jagadhri highway was in a bad state, he could not commit its recarpeting because of the shortage of funds. However, he assured that it would be repaired at the earliest. In fact, the government had decided that all state highways should be repaired as early as possible. Village link roads could not be taken up for repairs for want of funds. This work, he said, would be taken up after March.

Mr Sat Pal Sangwan (HVP), who had demanded the opening of a government college for women at Bhiwani and Charkhi Dadri, remarked that Mr Mr Ram Bilas Sharma had never replied to his question in the affirmative during the past more than two-and-a- half years. Today again, he said, the minister had replied in the negative.

Mr Harsh Kumar, Minister of State for Irrigation, had told Mr Kapoor Chand Sharma (BJP) that it was true that some villages of Shahabad constituency faced the problems of their fields being water logged though the area did not have a flood problem. He said a number of schemes were under the governments’s consideration to tackle this problem.

Minister's reasons for Annual Plan cut
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — The Haryana Finance Minister, Mr Charan Dass Shorewala, today informed the state Vidhan Sabha that during the current financial year central assistance to the state had dropped by Rs 354 crore and the state's share in central taxes was also likely to go down by Rs 127 crore.

Replying to the debate on the Budget estimates for 1999-2000, Mr Shorewala said besides a sharp drop in central assistance, the state government had to bear an additional expenditure on helping civic bodies and sugar mills, on strengthening the police force and on increase pensions to freedom fighters. As a result of this, the Annual Plan for 1998-99 had to be revised downward from Rs 2260 crore to Rs 1800 crore. He claimed that even this amount was 44 per cent more than what was spent in 1997-98.

He said the state had pegged the Annual Plan for 1999-2000 at Rs 2300 crore and the Planning Commission had not objected to it. He said Rs 1472 crore would be spent on creating infrastructure in the power, irrigation, roads and transport sectors. Another Rs 525.43 crore had been kept for social services.

Mr Shorewala said the statement of the Leader of Opposition, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, that Rs 511.97 crore of the current Annual Plan was to come from external assistance was wrong. This amount depicted the total expenditure on those schemes for which external assistance was to come. The Planning Commission had not given any indication that due to economic sanctions there would be any fall in external assistance, the Finance Minister pointed out.

Denying the allegations levelled by Mr Chautala that the revenue collection had dropped due to corruption, Mr Shorewala said there was a general recession in the economy and this had affected the state also. But till December last income from taxes had been Rs 1383 crore as against Rs 1337 crore collected during this period in the previous financial year.

No compromise with bad elements: VC
Tribune News Service

ROHTAK, Feb 8 — Lt-Gen O.P. Kaushik (retd), Vice-Chancellor, Maharshi Dayanand University, today declared he would have no compromise with those wanting to disrupt the peaceful academic atmosphere on the campus.

Presiding over the inter-college cultural competition held at Shri Lal Nath Hindu College here, he reiterated his resolve to continue the drive against "bad elements" on the campus. "My only aim is to take this university to the top among the 238 universities in the country", he said amid applause from the participating students and teachers.

General Kaushik regretted that complaints were being made to the Chief Minister by certain ministers that the Vice-Chancellor did not listen to the ministers and politicians.

He claimed after he took over as Vice-Chancellor, the work culture and academic atmosphere had been restored on the campus. More than 1.23 lakh pending degrees were despatched within 90 days after his assuming charge to the qualifying students and today no degrees remained pending.

While many universities in the country have not declared the results for the past two or three years, Maharshi Dayanand University has laid a fixed schedule for conducting examinations, declaration of results and admissions.

General Kaushik exhorted the students to update their knowledge and improve communication skills as acquiring degrees alone was not enough in today's competitive age. He advised them to have faith in Indian culture and values which made this nation survive amid aggression from various invaders in the past.

He complimented the people who migrated to India at the time of Partition for the progress made in every field and said the university would offer full financial assistance to any student for research on the working habits of these migrants. He also advised the students to shun casteism and prepare themselves for the challenges.

5 Haryana Bills passed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — The Haryana Vidhan Sabha today passed five Bills by voice vote and without any debate.

The Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar (Amendment) Bill, 1999, aims at bringing the university at par with Maharshi Dayanand University and Kurukshetra University in the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor and Registrar.

The Bill provides that a selection committee will be appointed by the government consisting of one nominee of the Chancellor and two nominees of the Executive Council. The committee would prepare a panel of at least three persons, from which the Chancellor shall appoint the Vice-Chancellor on government advice. The Registrar shall also be appointed by the Chancellor but on government advice.

The Haryana Lok Pal (Amendment) Bill, 1999, seeks to change the nomenclature of Lok Pal to that of "Lok Ayukta". This has been done at the Union Government's behest.

The Punjab Warehouses (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 1999, enables the Haryana Warehousing Corporation to provide easy credit to farmers against their stocks deposited in the warehouses of the corporation.

The Punjab Excise (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 1999, provides for compounding of cases registered during the period from July 1, 1996, to March 31, 1998, when prohibition was in force in the state.

The Punjab Village Common Lands Regulation (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 1999, provides for adjudication of question of title of village common land.

Railways to review safety measures
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, Feb 8 — Railway officials have decided to review safety measures in view of the detection of about 9 kg RDX and PTN at Shahabad Markanda bridge last evening.

The Senior Divisional Safety Officer, Mr M.S. Chalia, told this correspondent a meeting would be held with the government railway police of Haryana and Punjab and the officials of the Railway Protection Force to discuss the sites which needed security strengthened along the tracks. He said a meeting in this connection would be held shortly.

Mr Chalia said though the key men of the department kept an eye on any suspicious looking objects on the tracks yet their main job was to check mechanical faults. It was only during special patrolling that such checks were carried out.

The SP, Railways, Mr Attar Singh Ahlawat, said the police had found some clues in the case and was hopeful of rounding up the suspects soon. He said a three-member investigation team had been constituted by the Inspector-General, Headquarters, Dr John V. George. Dr George visited Shahabad today for on-the-spot investigation. The police has been asked to conduct house searches in the area to detect possible hideouts of the suspects.

Mr Ahlawat said part from the RDX and PTN, detonators, battery and a time device were found on the spot. The time device had been fixed to cause a blast. The police had found a similar explosive device near Lord Markendshwar Temple located close by on November 16 last year but the case had not been solved as yet. He said the police had stepped up vigilance.

The Divisional Railway Manager, Mr Vijay Kumar, said traffic on the route was normal after it was restored around 11.30 p.m. yesterday.

Plan allocation ‘meagre’
Tribune News Service

HISAR, Feb 8 — Haryana seems to be heading for tough times, if the amount of budget allocated to various departments and schemes is an indicator. This is also obvious from the fact that there is only an increase of Rs 40 crore in the state plan over the last year.

In the last financial year, the state plan was fixed at Rs 2260 crore, while this year it has been raised to Rs 2300 crore. Senior Indian National Lok Dal leader, Prof Sampat Singh, pointed out that this was a "nominal and negligible increase in the plan estimates".

He said, this amounted to an increase of less than 2 per cent, while the inflation rate was about 8 per cent. The state had also witnessed a decline in the per capita income during the last financial year. While the per capita income in 1997-98 was Rs 4049, it came down to Rs 3997 in 1998-99. This is for the first time that the per capita income in the state had come down.

The INLD leader pointed out that this was primarily due to the decline in the agricultural production in the state. Agricultural production witnessed a massive decline of 8.4 per cent last year. The maximum decline was recorded in the oil seed production. The oilseed production came down by 58.6 per cent, followed by cotton 25 per cent and sugar 16.3 per cent. Both are cash crops and have an impact on state's economy.

Contrary to the claims of the Chief Minister of providing round the clock electricity to the state by June this year, the power generation had come down by 346 million units (kwh), he pointed out, adding that the consumption per capita units in the state had also came down from 462 to 438 during the past year.

Despite the World Bank loan, losses on transmission and distribution were on rise. Prof Sampat Singh pointed out that the much publicised World Bank loan was only for transmission and distribution and not for generation. He said the transmission and distribution losses had risen from about 29 per cent in 1995-96 to about 34 per cent in 1998-99.

The INLD leader pointed out that the Bansi Lal government had reduced the allocation for welfare schemes also. He said, while Rs 2368.65 crore were allocated for various welfare schemes during 1998-99, only Rs 2090.27 crore have been allocated for these schemes for the next financial year.

Prof Singh criticised the government for putting undue burden on the farmers. He disclosed that the government had set a target of over Rs 7 crore to be collected as land revenue against Rs 1.3 crore in 1995-96. He said collections by virtue of different taxes had also increased by almost 100 per cent since the takeover of the Bansi Lal government from Rs 2529.43 crore in 1995-96 to Rs 4406.08 crore targeted for 1999-2000.

Lure of easy money ruining youth
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Feb 8 — Lottery trade has exploded to phenomenal heights and the lure of easy money has sucked in young too. The tragedy is that the lottery trade has been authorised by the government and every street corner has friendly lotterywalas.

The cancerous growth is attributed mainly to the advent of single-digit lotteries which unfortunately have again been authorised by various state governments. Investigations have revealed that since earlier a lot of satta was being played on the last digit of various lotteries, the state governments thought of a novel idea and launched specific lotteries on which money can be put on the last digit.

The result: Innumerable people can be seen standing at ramshackled stalls put up by lottery sellers at various places betting huge amounts every day. Innumerable houses have been ruined by the lure of lotteries till now and with the number of people playing on lotteries rising every day there seems to be no alternative available except to ban them.

The drawback is that there is no government legislation to control this trade and many a lottery organiser take state government authorisation that the proceeds of the lottery would be for some educational or charitable purpose.

Single-digit lottery is proving to be a major evil form of lottery has become immensely popular and thousands have been addicted to it.

Sources feel that only single digit lotteries could well be used to launder black money.

These lotteries have spread their tentacles in villages. This could result in increase in the crime rate in the region.

Man shot at, left in fields
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Feb 8 — A man was injured when miscreants shot at him. They then left with his tractor-trailer.

According to a report received here, Mamchand (50) working at a farmhouse in Bamboli village, about 15 km from here, came here last evening to unload the sugarcane at Saraswati Sugar Mill. After finishing his work when he was on his way back near Ghadouli two youths got down from a Maruti car and started firing at Mamchand.

The accused threw the seriously injured man in the fields and took away his tractor trailer.

According to the FIR lodged at Chhapar police station in Yamunanagar district Mamchand ran towards his village. A passerby who met him immediately informed the owner of the farmhouse about the incident. Mamchand was immediately shifted to a private hospital here where he is now reported to be out of danger.

Meanwhile, the farmhouse owner chased the miscreants. He traced the tractor-trailer near village Budli which was being driven by a youth. On being challenged the youth fled, leaving the tractor-trailer.

Mr Sheel Madhur, Superintendent of Police, Yamunanagar, informed The Tribune reporter here today a case under Sections 392 and 397 of the IPC had been registered against the accused. He added that when he reached the site he immediately summoned the district Inspector, the CIA Inspector, the DSP, Jagadhari, and ordered a nakabandi at all focal points. He further added that very soon the accused would be arrested.

Civic staff PF deductions ‘not credited’
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, Feb 8 — Mr Jai Bhagwan, general secretary of the Haryana Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh, has claimed that the civic bodies had not deposited about Rs 10 crore in the provident fund accounts of their employees.

Talking to newsmen here yesterday, he said the employees had not been paid salaries as per the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission as accepted by the state government. As per the agreement signed between the union leaders and the state government representatives on March 4, 1997, the employees were to be paid salaries before the seventh of every month but some of them had not received salaries for two to four months. He regretted that despite an assurance, the government had not withdrawn cases under ESMA against several employees.

Mr Sharma threatened to hold demonstrations outside the civic body offices on February 17 in support of the sangh demand. The employees would also wear black badges and hold gate meetings from February 22 to 26 in protest against non-implementation of the March 4 agreement. Dharnas would be staged in front of the offices of the Deputy Commissioners.

Demonstrations would be held in all cities on March 10 and memorandums given to all MLAs. On March 12, a torchlight procession would be held. The residence of the Local Bodies Minister, Dr Kamla Verma, would be gheraoed on March 14 if the demands were not accepted by then.

Haryana House session ends tomorrow
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Feb 8 — The Haryana Vidhan Sabha will adjourn sine die on Wednesday as it would complete its scheduled business by that time. Earlier, the Vidhan Sabha was scheduled to continue its session till February 12.

The decision of the Haryana Congress Legislature Party and the Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) Legislature Party to boycott the Budget session has helped the House in completing all its formalities early. The discussion on the budget was limited only to the ruling party members, there being none from the Opposition parties present in the House.

Four of family die in mishap
Tribune News Service

ROHTAK, Feb 8 — Four members of a family were killed in a head-on collision between a Maruti car and a Haryana Roadways bus near Kharawar village, 15 km from here, today.

The victims, who were travelling in the car, belonged to Rohtak. They have been identified as Mr Dayanand Jain, his wife Mrs Krishna Jain, his son Vipul Jain (10) and Vicky (7), daughter of Parmod Kumar Jain.

Mr Dayanand Jain, a cement dealer, was returning to Rohtak with his family after attending a marriage in Delhi when their car collided with the bus (HR 46/0188) coming from the opposite direction.

While Mr Dayanand and his wife died on the spot, Vipul and Vicky succumbed to injuries at the local Medical College Hospital.

Mr Fateh Chand, a resident of Urban Estate, Jind, who was also coming from Delhi with a friend in his car, informed the police about the accident. The police has registered a case against the bus driver.

HCS aspirants resentful
Tribune News Service

HISAR, Feb 8 — There is resentment among hundreds of aspirants who have appeared for the Haryana Civil Services examinations conducted by the Haryana Public Service Commission in December 1997 over the inordinate delay in the declaration of results.

Certain candidates told TNS here the HPS set a wrong precedent by completing the recruitment process in the state services in several years. They pointed out that the last appointments to the HCS were made in 1996 while the process had been started in 1992.

They said while it took not more than one year in neighbouring states for recruitment in state services in Haryana it took years. They said while the HPS had already advertised new vacancies, the old vacancies were yet to be fulfilled. They sought immediate declaration of the results and said the recruitment process should be expedited.

Royalty on silica being evaded
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, Feb 8 — The state government is being deprived of tax and royalty revenue worth lakhs of rupees by stone and silica mine owners who are mostly influential persons.

Reliable sources say due to the political clout of the owners the authorities turn a blind eye to the irregularities. According to a rough estimate, about 3,000 trucks laden with stone and silica daily go out of the mines to various places in Haryana and Delhi. Royalty to the tune of Rs 30 per tonne is charged on silica and Rs 12 per tonne on stone.

The mine owners load 25 tonnes of sand in each truck but the documents show only 12 to 18 tonnes. Thus, royalty for at least 10 tonnes is evaded. There have been cases when a truck has carried load a number of times on a single bill. The complicity of the officials in the evasion of royalty and tax cannot be ruled out.

It is alleged the policemen manning the post in the mine area are paid "suvidha shulk" so that they remain silent. This fact has been admitted by a senior official who say it is not possible to take action in the absence of any complaint.

The transport authorities are also not taking any action against the mine owners for overloading the trucks which have become a grave traffic hazard. The court directive in this connection is being openly violated.

Two held for murder
From Our Correspondent

JIND, Feb 8 — The district police has arrested two persons — Suresh Lamba and Ram Karan — involved in the kidnapping and murder of Mr Balbir Chand, a partner of a finance company at Narwana in this district.

Mr Ranbir Sharma, Superintendent of Police, said Suresh Lamba along with three other persons had kidnapped Mr Balbir Chand because of a financial dispute. He was shot dead later and his body thrown in a canal.

Mr Sharma said police parties were sent to Punjab, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, UP and Delhi to trace the kidnappers and the two were arrested from Chandigarh on Friday.

Guinness Book recognises claim
Tribune News Service

HISAR, Feb 8 — The Guinness Book of World Records has recognised world record claim in backward march by Vaidya Rattan Dev Jangra of Hansi.

The correspondence editor of The Guinness Book of World Records, Ms Amanda Brooks, has invited Mr Jangra to London in May this year to take part in the annual function of The Guinness Book of World Records.

In a letter to Mr Jangra, Ms Brooks says she has put on record the "very good performance" in backward march by him (Mr Jangra).

Mr Jangra set a world record in backward march recently in Delhi by covering 164 km in 21 hours and 40 minutes while walking backwards.

Rs 12.8 lakh penalty for power theft
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Feb 8 — Officials of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) today claimed to have detected a new device used for the theft of power at Ganaur, in this district.

A spokesman for the HVPN told mediapersons that a raid was conducted on the premises of a rice mill and a meter was found tampered with a remote control device. He alleged that the T.T. box of the meter had been linked with the remote control for stealing power.

A penalty of Rs 12.8 lakh has been imposed on the owner of the mill.

This is the second case of power theft in the state with this device.