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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Sunday, October 10, 1999 |
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Future of 4,500 Haryana MCs’
staff uncertain FATEHABAD, Oct 9 — Future of nearly 4,500 Municipal employees in the state is uncertain after the decision of the state government to abolish octroi. The employees fear starvation in case the government does not accommodate them suitably after the abolition of octroi. Reasons for INLD-BJP win SIRSA, Oct 9 — If election results of the Lok Sabha in Haryana are any indication, the Indian National Lok Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party alliance has proved to be a formidable one. This primarily has been because of the "total transferable vote" between the two parties. |
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Hooda explains reasons for rout ROHTAK, Oct 9 — Commenting on the factors responsible for the defeat of the party in the state in the Lok Sabha elections, the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Mr Bhupender Singh Hooda, said the "false" promises made by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to the electorate extending support to the Bansi Lal government by the party and later its withdrawal, and "politicisation" of the Kargil conflict by the INLD-BJP combine mainly led to the party's defeat. Daylight robbery near Panipat Youth
lynched on mistaken identity 3-yr
jail term for mill owner Inter-state
gang of thieves busted Youth
injured in explosion Campaign
to use community toilets Mental
health plan launched Reduce
market fee, says Beopar Mandal Eye
bank in Ambala HCCI
supports CM’s move on diesel Deworming
dose administered |
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Future of 4,500 Haryana
MCs’ staff uncertain FATEHABAD, Oct 9 — Future of nearly 4,500 Municipal employees in the state is uncertain after the decision of the state government to abolish octroi. The employees fear starvation in case the government does not accommodate them suitably after the abolition of octroi. Talking to reporters here today, Mr Poonam Chand Ratti, president of the state unit of the Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh said that the municipal employees were worried about their future as the government had not yet made it cleared how it planned to utilise the services nearly 4,500 Municipal employees in the state who would be rendered jobless after the abolition of the octroi. Main worry of the employees was that the Municipal Committees in the state did not have any alternative source of income. Mr Ratti said that the abolition of the octroi was within the purview of the state government but he added that a debate was held earlier at the national level on this issue and a meeting of the Chief Minister was held under the chairmanship of the WB Chief Minister Mr Jyoti Basu and it was decided that the Central government should compensate for the losses if the octroi was to be abolished. But in the case of Haryana, he said, nothing of this sort was going to happen. Mr Ratti said that it appeared that the decision to abolish the octroi had been taken in haste as the most of the municipalities were already facing a grave economic crisis. He said that about 60 Municipal Committees in the state did not have the resources to pay salary of their employees. He said that the Municipal employees in most of the towns had not got salary for the past five to six months. Allowances like leave encashment, PF, gratuity etc had not been paid for years. Due to economic crisis, the Municipal Committees have not been able to contribute their share for the pension of the retired employees. This had put a question mark on the way existence of the pension scheme. The Nagar Palika
Karamchari leader said that the sangh had launched an
agitation in the state on December 16, 1996 on these
issues and the agitation continued till March 4, 1997.
The Bansi Lal government, he said had tried to crush the
agitation by repressive methods like invocation of the
ESMA but could not succeed in its motives. He said
ultimately three BJP ministers of the Bansi Lal
government entered in to an accord with the Municipal
employees but the accord was never implemented and about
200 criminal cases were still pending against the
employees and 24 safai karamcharis of the Palwal
Municipal Committee were still under termination. He said
that the government had still not implemented the
recommendations of the Fifth Pay panel in the Municipal
Committees. The employees, he said had a lot of hopes
from the present government and they hoped that the
government despite an economic crisis would show
political determination to improve lot of Municipal
employees forced to live in poverty due to the policies
of successive governments. He said that a state level
meeting of the sangh would be held at Charkhi Dadri on
October 10 to discuss these points and to plan a future
course of action. |
Reasons for INLD-BJP win SIRSA, Oct 9 — If election results of the Lok Sabha in Haryana are any indication, the Indian National Lok Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party alliance has proved to be a formidable one. This primarily has been because of the "total transferable vote" between the two parties and better understanding between the workers of the two parties at the grassroot level, apart from the top leadership. This has been proved in almost all constituencies. Outstanding example has been Sirsa. Despite the fact that the Congress campaign in this reserved constituency remained quite low profile, yet the Congress candidate from here Mr Om Prakash Keharwala polled 1,99,545 votes. This was only about 15,000 less than those polled by Ms Selja in 1998. It was almost a cakewalk for the INLD candidate Dr Sushil Indoora, who defeated his Congress rival by a huge margin of 2,21,654 votes. The margin has not been increased due to any erosion in the Congress vote bank. But mainly due to the en bloc transfer of BJP vote to the INLD. The Congress has strong base among the Scheduled Castes and backward classes in this constituency, which constitute 50 per cent of the total electorate. Ms Selja secured 2,15,521 votes in the 1998 elections. She was said to be a strong candidate. Besides Ms Sonia Gandhi had also addressed an election rally in her support. Compared to that, Mr Keharwala's campaign was low-key, rather half hearted. Still he managed to get almost two lakh votes, only 15,000 less than that of the previous elections. This time the contest was straight, while in 1998 it was a triangular one. The BJP candidate Mr Hans Raj Swan had polled 1,84,562 votes in 1998. This time, the votes of the BJP appears to have gone to INLD candidate. At that time Dr Indoora had secured 3,09,451 votes and the victory margin was 90,000. He got over four lakh votes this time. Adding the number of votes polled by Mr Swan in 1998 to with those Dr Indoora got this time, clearly indicates that the vote has been transferred en bloc. It has been a similar case in Hisar, Rohtak, Karnal and other constituencies. A comparative look at the figures of this time and those of 1998 clearly indicates a positive trend in favour of the combine. Moreover it has been described as "the rural-urban combine without any mistrust", between the INLD and BJP workers. It was aptly described
by a Congress leader, who is also a former minister, that
while the INLD and the BJP workers and leaders worked in
a way as if they belonged to a single party, the case was
quite different in the Congress where one leader saw the
other with mistrust. |
Daylight robbery near Panipat PANIPAT, Oct 9 — Three persons of Delhi were robbed of Rs. 1.05 lakh in cash, national savings certificates of Rs 10,000 and other belongings, including credit cards, driving licences, mobile chargers and clothings, by three car-borne robbers in a daylight robbery near Babarpur nullah on the outskirts of Panipat town on the G.T. Road today. According to the police, three persons — Niveet Kumar, Sanjeev Majumdar and Avaneesh Sharma, Director of Simex India (P) Limited, were going to Kurukshetra from New Delhi in a white Maruti Zen car to distribute salary to the staff of the company. After crossing Panipat, they halted near Babarpur nullah when three robbers stopped their Maruti Zen car in front of their parked car and threatened them at pistolpoint to hand over the cash and valuables. One of the robber even asked his accomplices to shoot them. After committing the robbery, they speeded towards Karnal. Before fleeing from the scene, the robbers dared to threaten passersby who had gathered there on seeing the looting incident. The victims lodged a
complaint with the city police station. After registering
the case under Section 392 of the IPC, the police
launched a manhunt to nab the robbers. One police party
left towards Karnal and Kurukshetra and another party led
by the SHO Rajender Singh Rathi left for Delhi. |
Big rush for KU distance
education KURUKSHETRA: There is a big rush of admission seekers to the correspondence courses of Kurukshetra University. Large crowds of students can be seen making a beeline to the directorate situated in sylvan surroundings near the sprawling Sports Stadium on the university campus. With the last date for admission to about 60 courses run by the directorate ending between 35,000 and 40,000 students have enrolled themselves for distance education courses, according to Mr L.C. Gupta, Director of Distance Education. Mr Gupta disclosed that the sale of prospectuses is likely to touch 60,000 copies. The directorate has progressed by leaps and bounds during the past one year or so. A comparative study of admission seekers show that students have shown more interest in studying through distance education than by attending regular courses in a college or university. For instance till September 1996, the total enrolment in the directorate was only 4316 students. This touched a new figure of 17,844 by September 1997. By September 1998, the figure of admission seekers touched 23,880 for the 1998-99 session. This steep rise shows that more youngsters prefer studying through correspondence courses. Another reason may be the quality of education being provided by the directorate here. Mr Gupta disclosed that numerous steps have been taken to make distance education more popular, qualitative and cheap also. The director stated that to provide a wider horizon to students, the directorate has entered into a number of collaborative arrangements with institutions of repute. He disclosed that the directorate here had collaborated with Wisedom Educational Institute, Dubai, to cater to the needs of Indian students, labourers and other employees working in Abu Dhabi and other areas in the Gulf. The Wisedom Educational Institute had opened centres of the Directorate of Distance Education of Kurukshetra University at Doha and Abu Dhabi for enrolment of students from Gulf countries. Furthermore, the directorate has entered into an agreement with Zee Education (Zee TV) to enrol students and provide them coaching as well as study material. The Zee Education Programme of the directorate has proved a hit with all section of society. To provide cheap employment-oriented education to the needy at their door-step, the directorate has introduced professional courses like BCA, BBA, PGDCA and CCA. This has added to the glory of the institute. More courses are being planned in the near future. Students seeking admission to these courses feel that they could pursue their studies in a better manner while sitting at home instead of entering the portals of a university. A student, Arti, who was here to seek admission to a professional course, told TNS that study through distance education has cost her much less than a regular course. The directorate has taken numerous steps to streamline the system of providing education here. For instance, a computerised inquiry, counselling bureau, prospectus sales counter and bank counter have been opened for the convenience of the students. The directorate has also simplified the procedure of admission and the admission form. At the directorate, comfortable seating arrangements have been made for filling forms by admission seekers. A huge parking lot for vehicles has been created. A makeshift canteen, which provides snacks at cheap rates, has also been opened. A survey made by this correspondent indicates that students from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and other adjoining areas have come in large numbers for admissions this year. This speaks volumes for the popularity of the courses. The Vice-Chancellor, Dr
M.L. Ranga, says that numerous steps are underway to
provide better facilities to the students of distance
education. |
Hooda explains reasons for
rout ROHTAK, Oct 9 — Commenting on the factors responsible for the defeat of the party in the state in the Lok Sabha elections, the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Mr Bhupender Singh Hooda, said the "false" promises made by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to the electorate extending support to the Bansi Lal government by the party and later its withdrawal, and "politicisation" of the Kargil conflict by the INLD-BJP combine mainly led to the party's defeat. Commenting on the "controversial" issue of extending support to the Bansi Lal government, Mr Hooda said the decision was taken by the party high command. Besides, he added, several leaders of the state unit of the party had favoured the decision. Later, the decision to withdraw support to the Bansi Lal government was also taken by the party high command as the then Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal had failed to fulfil his promise made to the party. Describing the hike in
diesel prices as "anti people" the HPCC chief
said the farming community would be the worst affected by
the hike. Besides, he pointed out, the hike would affect
the common man as almost all essential commodities would
become costlier due to an increase in the transportation
charges. |
Youth lynched on mistaken
identity FARIDABAD, Oct 9 — A mob last night killed a youth from Mathura mistaking him to be a member of the dreaded "kachha-banian" gang at Bhangola in Palwal subdivision on the national highway. Reports said Manak Chand (22), a student, was coming to Faridabad in a truck. On the way, the truck driver stopped at a dhaba to have food. Manak Chand, who was in a hurry, decided to board a bus. While he was waiting for the bus, villagers, armed with lathis, arrived and started beating him, thinking that he belonged to the "kachha-banian" gang which had killed four persons last week in the nearby Prithla village. The injured youth was taken to a police station by the villagers. However, he died after making a statement that he was innocent. Enquiries made by the police from Mathura also confirmed his innocence. A case under Section 302
of the IPC has been registered but no arrest has yet been
made so far. |
3-yr jail term for mill owner PANIPAT, Oct 9 — The Special Environment Court, Hisar, has sentenced the owner of the local MIKA woollen mill to three years' imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,500 on him on the charge of releasing polluted water in open drains. In another case, the Pollution Control Board has obtained orders for the closure of the Mahajan processing unit here on a similar charge. However, the owner of the unit has obtained stay from the court. This was disclosed by the Superintending Engineer of the board. He said on the
complaints of residents of the colonies located around
Assandh Road, two samples of the released water were
taken by the board and both were found to be poisonous.
The Deputy Commissioner was also informed about it. |
Inter-state gang of thieves
busted FARIDABAD, Oct 9 — The police has arrested five-members of a gang of thieves responsible for a large number of thefts in Delhi, UP, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Mr Mohammed Aquil, Superintendent of Police, identified them as Shahida, Ayub, Asghar, Major Khan and Zaved Khan, all of Faridabad district. The gang leader Mulla is still at large. Four pistols and a number of cartridges were recovered from their possession. A Tata Sumo was also recovered. The arrested persons admitted during interrogation of having stolen three tractors, one jeep, one truck four Maruti cars' and other household goods. The Police in Delhi, Rajasthan, UP and Maharashtra had been informed about the arrest of the gang. The police has also
arrested Jatin Sirohi (25), of Bulandshahr who is
reported to have murdered at least 12 persons in western
Uttar Pradesh during the last 10 years. He started
killing people at the age of 15 after his brother and
sister-in-law (bhabhi) were murdered in Sehatpur village. |
Youth injured in explosion SONEPAT, Oct 9 (PTI) — A youth was injured when a mini-bomb exploded in Issapur Khueri village yesterday, about 40 km from here, the police said today. The incident occurred
when Dhanpat's daughter went to a field to collect
fodder. She saw a ball-type object there and brought it
to her house. Her brother Satish Kumar began playing with
it and removed its pin resulting in the explosion. He
received injuries on his hand and foot, the SSP, Mr K.
Selvraj, said. |
Campaign to use community toilets CHANDIGARH, Oct 9 — The Haryana Government today decided to launch a 10 day-campaign from October 12 to sanction new water and sewer connections in six major towns of the state falling under the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) with a view to ensuring optimum utilisation of sewerage network created in these towns. The towns are Panipat, Sonepat, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Yamunanagar and Karnal. Giving this information, the Minister of State for Public Health, Mr Jaswant Singh Bawal, said during the campaign people belonging to these towns would be motivated to use community toilets instead of open defecation. The farmers would also be encouraged to use treated effluents, which are rich in nutrients, for irrigation purposes. The minister said Haryana was much ahead of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi as regards completion of the first phase of various projects under the YAP, which was launched with the objective of abatement of pollution in the Yamuna. The project includes
schemes for construction of sewage treatment plants,
pumping stations, laying of interception and diversion
sewers, construction of low cost community toilets,
improved wood-based crematoria, bathing ghats and
afforestation. |
Mental health plan launched CHANDIGARH, Oct 9 — Haryana is conducting an survey to identify mentally retarded and physically handicapped. An ambitious Rs 1 crore pilot project on mental health programme has been launched in Kurukshetra district under which free psychiatric services and treatment will be provided to the patients. This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, in a message issued on the eve of "Mental Health Day". This year the theme of the day is "Mental health and Aging". Mr Chautala said the Health department had been implementing mental health programme as per the provisions of the Mental Health Act. Psychiatric services
with indoor facilities were available at Pt B.D. Sharma
PGIMS, Rohtak, and psychiatrists had been posted to
provide OPD services for mentally ill at Panchkula,
Bhiwani, Hisar and Faridabad. |
Reduce market fee, says Beopar
Mandal PANIPAT, Oct 9 — The president of the Haryana Beopar Mandal, Mr Laxmi Chand Gupta, has criticised the state government for misusing the market fee in politically sponsored works. He demanded that the market fee should be spent only for the welfare of farmers and mandi traders. He said this while talking to mediapersons here yesterday. He pointed out that the market fee was being meant for providing better link road facilities to the farmers for bringing their produce in the mandis and for providing public utility facilities in the mandis. But, he alleged that this amount was being diverted for other works. He demanded that the market fee should be reduced from 4 per cent to 2 per cent. Demanding abolition of maximum 13 per cent sales tax, Mr Gupta suggested that it should be replaced by three categories of sales tax rates. He announced that the
Haryana Beopar Mandal would organise a sammelan at
Sonepat on October 17. |
Eye bank in Ambala AMBALA, Oct 9 — For the first time in Ambala an eye bank has been established by a voluntary social organisation Ambala Citizens Welfare Council, Ambala Cantt, with the active cooperation of a renowned eye specialist, Dr Mahesh Manocha. The organisation has a
distinction of being a member of the Eye Bank Association
of India Hyderabad. A few eye transplanted operations
have been done at the bank. An Eye Bank Monitoring Cell.
consisting of eight members, with Mr Sunil Arora as
principal coordinator has been formed to supervise the
working of the eye bank. |
HCCI supports CM’s move
on diesel AMBALA, Oct 9 — The Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) has supported the demand of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, for withdrawing the hike in diesel prices. Mr N.C. Jain, spokesman for the chamber, said here in a press note, yesterday that the hike would affect the traders as well as the commonman. The chamber defended the
Chief Minister for abolishing octroi and demanded that
drinking water should be supplied free of cost to the
urban population. It also demanded that the sales tax
structure should be rationalised with reference to the
adjoining states. |
Deworming dose administered HISAR, Oct 9 — The administration here has launched a novel method to encourage people to admit their children to schools by providing them basic health care also. The programme was launched by the Commissioner Hisar Division, Mr Dharamveer, at Government Primary School, Gangwa. Giving details of the programme, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Hisar, Ms Sukriti Likhi, said, Hisar was a District Primary Education Programme District (DPEP). Under this programme steps were taken to popularise primary education by introducing the health check-up programme. Under this programme, health check-up was conducted in all schools of the district and children with various ailments were referred to the Civil Hospital. Under the programme, Ms Likhi said, 1.2 lakh children were examined and 25,000 of them were found to be suffering from various ailments. As a part of this
programme, the doctors suggested deworming of school
children. The programme was launched yesterday and the
deworming doses were administered to about 96,000
students in 484 primary schools of the district. |
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