H A R Y A N A

Haryana poll campaign panel revamped
CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, has reconstituted the Election Campaign Committee of the Haryana unit of the party under the chairmanship of Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, a former president of the Haryana Congress.

INLD-BJP combine 'would be wiped out'
SONEPAT, Jan 6 — Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president of the Election Campaign Committee of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), has predicted that the INLD-BJP alliance would be wiped out in the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.

Haryana BJP men to meet PM today
CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — A delegation of Haryana BJP leaders will meet the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, tomorrow tangibly to apprise him of the political situation in the state.

SYL canal issue to be main poll plank
ROHTAK, Jan 6 — The amended voters' list for the panchayat elections will be published on January 15 whereas the list for the assembly elections will be published on January 7.

Directive on new voters
CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — Mr T.D. Jogpal, State Election Commissioner of Haryana, has issued a directive to the District Electoral Officers that any person who has become entitled to be registered as a voter on attaining the age of 18 on January 1, 2000, may apply for the inclusion of his name in the existing list of voters.

Haryana poll campaign panel revamped
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, has reconstituted the Election Campaign Committee of the Haryana unit of the party under the chairmanship of Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, a former president of the Haryana Congress.

A former MP, Mr Inderjit Singh, will be the convener of committee, which comprises 73 members and seven permanent invitees.

The members of the committee are Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mr Bhajan Lal, Mr Sultan Singh, Ms Selja, Mr Birender Singh, Mrs Kartar Devi, Mr Harpal Singh, Mr Bansari Dass Gupta, Mr Ramji Lal, Mr Lachhman Singh, Mr Dharampal Singh Malik, Mr Balbir Pal Shah, Mr Chiranji Lal Sharma, Mr Avtar Singh Bhadana, Mr O.P. Jindal, Mr Khurshid Ahmed, Mr Jai Prakash, Mr Dharambir Gauba, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, Mr Jagdish Nehra, Mrs Shakuntla Bhagwaria, Mrs Prasanni Devi, Mr Anand Singh Dangi, Mr Zakir Hussain, Mr Nirmal Singh, Mr Chhatarpal Singh, Mr Randeep Surjewala, Mr Rajesh Sharma, Mr Chakravarti Sharma, Mr J.P. Nagar and Mr Suresh Gupta.

Ms Sushiela Sharma, Mrs Ravinder Kaur Gill, Mr Kuldeep Sharma, Mr Chander Mohan Bishnoi, Mr B.R. Ojha, Mr A.C. Chaudhry, Mrs Chandrawati, Mr Phool Chand Mullana, Mrs Daya Chaudhry, Mr Narendra Singh Yadav, Dr Ram Parkash, Mr Harmohinder Singh Chatha, Mrs Krishna Dahiya, Mrs Shanta Ranga, Mr Bachan Singh Arya, Mr Tejinder Pal Mann, Mr Subhash Chaudhry, Dr K.R. Punia, Mr Mange Ram Gupta, Prof Rati Ram Chaudhry, Mr Raj Kumar Balmiki, Mr Vijay Kaushik, Mrs Sharda Rathore, Mr Ranjit Singh, Mr Verender Singh, Mr Sham Singh Chauhan, Mr Sandeep Singh, Mr Vasudev Sharma, Mr Hari Singh Saini, Mrs Pushpa Mahant, Mrs Uma Bishnoi, Dr (Mrs) Stella, Mr Tara Singh, Mr Karamvir Saini, Mrs Poonam, Mr Mohinder Partap Singh, Mr Rampal Singh, Mr Baldev Balmiki, Mr Dharam Bir and Mr Jai Narain Verma are the other members of the committee.

Mr Rajiv Gugnani, Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Jagdeep Singh Cheema, Mr Gyan Sahota, Col H.S. Sirohi, Mr Kamal Sharma and Mr Satpal Singh Sheokand will be the permanent invitees.

The first meeting of the committee will be held here on January 8 at 11 a.m. in the party office. The AICC General Secretary, Mr Moti Lal Vohra, will attend the meeting.

INLD-BJP combine 'would be wiped out'
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Jan 6 — Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president of the Election Campaign Committee of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), has predicted that the INLD-BJP alliance would be wiped out in the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.

Addressing a meeting of party workers here yesterday, he said people were fed up with false promises of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, as none of them had so far been fulfilled. He accused Mr Chautala of misleading people on one pretext or the other.

He also said Mr Chautala had no right to announce concessions as he was heading a government of defectors.

Mr Surjewala declared that the Congress would not enter into any alliance with the HVP as the party had already faced defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections due to its alliance with Mr Bansi Lal.

He disclosed that the party would consider the issue of an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), if there was any suggestion in this regard.

The Congress leader disclosed that party leaders would meet the Haryana Governor soon to reiterate their demand for the dismissal of INLD-BJP alliance government, headed by Mr Chautala and the imposition of President's rule to ensure a free and fair assembly poll in the state, which was not possible if the present government continued to remain in power.

He denied any rift among partymen as all Congress leaders in Haryana were united and would work for the success of the party candidates in the assembly elections.

Mr Surjewala also disclosed that the party would finalise the names of the Congress candidates for the elections by the end of the current month and it would give top priority to youths and members of the backward classes.

Haryana BJP men to meet PM today
By Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — A delegation of Haryana BJP leaders will meet the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, tomorrow tangibly to apprise him of the political situation in the state.

The meeting will be held amidst hardening of the Haryana BJP's attitude towards the Chief Minister and INLD chief, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, as reflected in deliberations at the emergency meeting of the party's Election Campaign Committee held in Kurukshetra on January 4.

Several BJP leaders took exception to what they described as the "overbearing attitude" of Mr Chautala towards the BJP and its leaders. Informed sources say the BJP leaders were particularly cut up about Mr Chautala's reported unpleasant comments about a senior BJP leader, Mr Sita Ram Singla, at Gurgaon. The BJP leaders did not like the manner in which Mr Chautala announced the candidature of his party's nominee from Gurgaon and that of the BJP's nominee from Sonepat recently.

The sources say the leaders were of the view that first the number and names of seats to be shared by the BJP and the INLD should be decided. Only then the names of the candidates should be made public. The meeting asked the five-member election committee of the party to discuss these issues with Mr Chautala within next few days and reach some definite conclusions.

The committee comprises the BJP president, Mr Om Prakash Grover, a senior party leader, Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, organising secretary, Mr Manohar Lal Khattar, the general secretary, Mr Om Prakash Dhankar and a senior leader, Swami Indervesh.

Tomorrow's delegation will consist of these committee members besides all the five party MPs from the state and certain other senior leaders like Mr Kailash Chand Sharma, Mr Chand Ram, Mr Ishwar Singh and Mr Mahender Singh Lather.

The Kurukshetra meeting, the sources say, was of the view that if Mr Chautala offered less than 35 seats to the BJP, the latter should contest the Assembly elections on its own. Interestingly, the RSS top brass in Haryana, which was also in a conclave of its own in Kurukshetra on January 4, is believed to have advised the state BJP leadership to contest the elections on its own in the absence of an "honourable" agreement with the INLD.

The sources say certain BJP leaders averred at the meeting that instead of a five-year plan the party should prepare a 10-year plan to widen its base in the state, particularly in the rural areas. It should not aim at coming to power in the next elections itself. They also informed the meeting that if the BJP decided to contest the elections on its own, many leaders of other political parties, who had influence in their respective areas, were willing to join the BJP.

A view was expressed at the meeting that in case of an alliance with the INLD, the BJP should insist on contesting a large number of rural constituencies so that the party's area of influence could be widened.

SYL canal issue to be main poll plank
From Jatinder Sharma

ROHTAK, Jan 6 — The amended voters' list for the panchayat elections will be published on January 15 whereas the list for the assembly elections will be published on January 7.

The qualifying date for enrolment as voter in the two lists is January 1, 2000. Those who have become eligible can apply to the District Electoral Officer for the inclusion of their name in the list for panchayat elections by January 10.

The state election commission appears to be gearing up to hold the panchayat elections by February 28 as directed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, the final date for holding the panchayat elections will be decided by the state government.

The state BJP appears to be making SYL its major poll plank in the ensuing assembly elections. The party will also impress upon the Prime Minister tomorrow to find a solution to the vexed issue which is the lifeline of Haryana.

By raking up the SYL issue, the party appears to be aiming at strengthening its base in southern Haryana, the worst-affected region due to the non-completion of the link canal. It also aims at conveying message to the rural voters that the BJP is not a party of the urbanites alone.

The state BJP leaders want the Vajpayee government to initiate some action to resolve the issue so that it could claim that the BJP alone could solve the problems confronting the peasantry.

The SYL issue is also the centre of discussion at the "shakti sammelan" organised by the BJP at Rohtak on November 21.

Besides the state BJP chief, Mr Om Parkash Grover, others who will meet the Prime Minister tomorrow include Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, Mr Manohar Lal, Mr Om Parkash Dhankar, Mr Kailash Chand Sharma, Mr Chand Ram, Mr Ishwar Singh, Mr Mohinder Singh Lather and all party MPs from Haryana.

Directive on new voters
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — Mr T.D. Jogpal, State Election Commissioner of Haryana, has issued a directive to the District Electoral Officers that any person who has become entitled to be registered as a voter on attaining the age of 18 on January 1, 2000, may apply for the inclusion of his name in the existing list of voters.

The Election Commissioner issued the directive following a high court judgement last month on a case related to holding of the panchayat and municipal elections, an official press note here today said.

It added that the SEC had also directed the Deputy Commissioners and District Electoral Officers (Panchayat) to decide these applications by January 14. By January 15, the supplementary list of additions must be published and subsequently the names may be added to the existing list, the SEC told officials.

Power cuts irk residents
Tribune News Service

AMBALA Jan 6 — Local residents are up in arms against the State government due to power cuts during the past several days.

Mr Vijay Prakash, a resident of Vashist Nagar in Ambala Cantt, alleges that the power cuts range from 2 to 3 hours at one time.

Every time they lodge a complaint with officials of the Electricity Department, the stock reply they get is that there is a fault in the main line. Therefore, they are unable to improve the situation.

Says Mr Vijay Parkash: “A few days ago my mother died. A large number of friends and relatives visited our house to mourn her death. Since there was complete darkness, I had to borrow a generator to lit my house.”

The woes of small and big industrialists are no less. Frequent power cuts have added to their miseries.

Seeking anonymity, an industrialist says: “We have to pay salary to our employees without getting any work. We cannot blame them because the employees cannot work without electricity. This has been going on for the past seven days. There is little hope of the situation improving in the near future.”

A large number of industrialists have installed generators in their units. The operation of generators causes noise and air pollution, much to the discomfiture of those who live in the neighbourhood.

The operation of generators, the industrialists, say is very costly. One hour operation of a generator costs at least Rs 17. The generator consumes a litre of diesel, selling at Rs 14 per litre apart from lubricant valued at Rs 3.

Residents and industrialists say that the frequent power cuts that they have been facing belie the government’s claim that it has been supplying uninterrupted power supply in the entire state.

Woman panches' role negligible
from Sushil Manav

FATEHABAD, Most woman members of panchayats in Haryana virtually play a negligible role in their respective panchayats. Personal, social, technical, economic and administrative constraints are in most cases responsible for negating their participation. Most of the women felt frustrated after being elected.

These are the findings of a research on "Participatory role and constraints of women in panchayats" by Ms Deepti Aggarwal, an M.Sc student in the Home Science Extension Education of I.C. College of Home Science, Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar. The research was conducted under the guidance of Dr (Mrs) Indu Grover, Dean, College of Home Science and Extension Education.

Talking to this reporter, Dr Indu Grover and Ms Deepti Aggarwal said the main objective of the research work was to study the profile, participatory role and constraints of women in panchayats. The locale comprised 12 villages drawn from four randomly selected blocks of Hisar district through random sampling. The sample comprised 12 women sarpanches and 48 women panchayat members. The requisite information was collected with the help of structured interview schedule.

Regarding the profile, most women in panchayats belonged to a low age group, were illiterate, belonged to other castes, were married and had a large family, came from joint families or those with a political background besides a majority of them had low scientific outlook, no outside occupation, had small and marginal land holdings and an annual income of less than Rs 50,000.

The analysis of extent of participation was examined under six categories ranging from nil to very high on nine major schedules of panchayats, that is, social, economic, political, educational, public work and civic amenities, agriculture, trade and commerce, sanitation and medical relief and judicial activities. The revelations were interesting but presented a gloomy picture of the success of the panchayati raj system in Haryana. Fifty per cent of women panchayat members never participated in social activities of panchayats, 69.44 p. c. had never taken part in economic activities, 48.05 p. c. had no role in political activities, 64.44 p. c. had no participation in educational activities, 57.22 p. c. had no participation in public work and civic amenities, 70 p. c. had no share in agriculture activities, and 46.60 p. c. of women had no role in sanitation and medical relief activities.

In their personal constraints, the women members felt that the pressure of household work, social and domestic responsibilities and sometimes ill-health of family members came in the way of performing their duties as panchayat members. In their social constraints, the women counted traditional dominance of men in panchayats, desire of their husbands and other male members of the family to work on their behalf and use them (women members) as a mere rubber-stamp. In technical constraints, lack of monitoring and evaluation, lack of knowledge of record maintenance and lack of knowledge of panchayat functions, duties and finances were the main factors according to most women.

In their economic constraints, women felt dependance on their husbands, lack of freedom to spend money on their own and lack of financial resources were the main factors of deterrence in their participation while as regards administrative constraints, lack of seriousness of panchayat meetings, lack of maintenance of records were listed as the main causes of their lack of participation in the panchayat activities.

Ms Aggarwal has suggested decentralisation of powers to the panchayati raj institutions, if the system is to succeed. She also suggested a positive attitude of both men and women in this regard. She has suggested that the women must now try to take up the new role of advocacy and leadership for the success of the panchayati raj system.

Doc found guilty of negligence
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Jan 6 — The state government has reportedly taken a serious view of the complaint and enquiry against a senior doctor of the Pt B.D. Sharma, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) here, in connection with the death of a prisoner in the institute last year. Action is likely to be taken by the government as soon as the final comments are submitted by the institute authorities here.

The District Magistrate here had conducted an enquiry into the allegation that the death of Jai Bhagwan, a murder convict undergoing life imprisonment in the district jail here had occurred due to the ‘non-cooperative’ attitude of Dr N.K. Sharma, Head, Department of Neurosurgery.

It is alleged that the patient, who was seriously ill, was not examined by Dr Sharma before his writing to the medical superintendent about the condition of the patient. The victim died soon afterwards.

According to information the victim, who had been suffering from hydrocephalous and blockage at the level of D3 and D4 had been operated upon on January 29,1999 and sent back to jail once he showed signs of improvement. But in jail his condition started deteriorating and he was taken back to the PGIMS on February 99 at the intervention of the court.

The medical officer of the jail and the pharmacist tried to contact Dr Sharma for the admission of Jai Bhagwan. But Dr Sharma, who was in the Operation Theatre on that day could not be contacted for a long time. Even when contact was finally made Dr Sharma allegedly did not bother to examine the patient.

Instead, he gave a typed letter to the jail doctor, addressed to the jail medical superintendent, stating that the patient did not need any neurosurgical procedure at present and the treatment at time of discharge, he continued.

The jail staff and its doctor were about to take the patient back when Dr S.B. Siwach, Professor and Head of the Medicine Department passed by. They requested him to examine the patient. Dr Siwach on examining the patient found that he had died.

The Medical Institute authorities constituted a three-member enquiry committee comprising of three senior doctors to probe the matter following a complaint from the Deputy Commissioner, Rohtak against Dr Sharma.

The enquiry committee concluded that Dr Sharma had erred in not examining the patient.

The state government has reportedly sought the comments of the director of the PGIMS in this connection.

Chautala lays stone for girls college
Tribune News Service

HISAR, Jan 6 — The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, laid the foundation stone of Government Girls College here. The college will be constructed at a cost of Rs 5 crore.

Speaking on the occasion the Chief Minister announced that Hisar will be developed into a model city. The college, with a covered area of about one lakh square feet, will accommodate about 2,000 students. About Rs 42 lakh has been donated by the people of Hisar, while Mr Devi Lal on his 86th birthday, also donated Rs 10 lakh.

He also laid foundation stones for Auto Market extension and the office complexes for the blocks of Hisar-I and Hisar-II. The Hisar auto-market is said to be one of the largest auto markets in Asia, with about 1,000 shops in it.

Earlier the Chief Minister watched the police show, which included several spectacular actions by the commandos.

The Director General of Police, Mr S.P.S. Rathore, presented a cheque of Rs 37 lakh to the Chief Minister for the relief of the cyclone-hit people in Orissa.

Others present on the occasion included the Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, Health Minister, Mr Om Prakash Mahajan, Food and Supplies Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh and the MP from Bhiwani, Mr Ajay Chautala.

Haryana to withdraw 17,000 liquor cases
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — The Haryana Government has decided to withdraw over 17,000 cases registered during the days of prohibition against those who were found in possession of up to 12 bottles of liquor of 750 ml each or equivalent quantity in other packings or 36 bottles of beer.

The proposal mooted by the Prohibition, Excise and Taxation department in this regard was approved by the Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, here tonight.

An official spokesman said here today that now nearly 27,000 cases involving possession of more than 12 bottles of liquor or 36 bottles of beer or those involved in production of illicit liquor, working stills and possessing ‘lahan’ would remain pending.

The Cabinet also allowed the Town and Country Planning and Urban Estate department to modify the auction policy of residential plots in the areas of mandi townships developed by HUDA.

Now 1,709 plots available in 12 mandi townships would be sold by a draw of lots as in the case of other residential plots of HUDA. The price of these plots would be fixed close to the market price as determined by the Price Fixation Committee of HUDA.

The Cabinet approved the proposal of the Cooperation department to set up a sugar mill at Gohana at an estimated cost of Rs 40 crore, which would be mainly financed by HAFED. The letter of intent for the mills was issued by the union government way back in 1993. The mill will have a capacity to crush 2,500 tonnes of cane every day.

It was decided to set up a livestock development board to improve the genetic stock of animals in the state. The fixed assets of the Animal Husbandry department pertaining to the breeding programmes will be transferred to the board, which will also be given Rs 1 crore to start its activities.

Resentment over donation tickets
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA Jan 6 — Residents of Ambala Cantonment have expressed concern over the compulsion of buying donation tickets for getting NOC from the Assistant Estate Officer for purchasing and selling property in the cantonment area.

They have stated that recently the Deputy Commissioner had announced that the people of cantonment area could get the NOC from the Assistant Estate Officer and it would be issued on merit basis. However, the officer concerned in this regard had directed them to buy tickets of Rs 1,000 for getting NOC for the plot measure of 50 yards, Rs 2,000 for 100 yards plot and Rs 3000 for the 200 yards or other bigger plots.

Many person alleged that the officer concerned had also forced the NOC seekers to purchase the donation tickets of the Haryana Olympic Association. They demanded the Deputy Commissioner to direct the officer concerned to stop this practice.

Haryana gets 65 lakh units of power from Faridabad
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 6 — Haryana is getting on an average 60 lakh to 65 lakh units of power daily from Faridabad gas-based generating station of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) after the commissioning of its two units of 143 MW each.

Disclosing this here today, Mr P P Pamneja, Managing Director of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGC), said the third unit of 146 MW capacity was expected to be commissioned by June which would provide an additional power of 35 lakh units a day to the state grid.

Mr Pamneja added that the combined plant load factor (PLF) of the Faridabad station and the Panipat thermal plant in April to November, 1999, recorded an increase of 6.17 per cent over the combined PLF of these two plants in the same period in 1998. Thus, 2950 lakh units of extra power was generated in 1999, he claimed.

Ambedkar front lobbies for lecturer
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, Jan 6 — The Ambedkar Teachers Front of Maharshi Dayanand University has asked the Congress party to field young, honest and dedicated persons in the coming State Assembly elections.

According to general secretary of the Front, Dr Ajmer Singh Kajal, a delegation of teachers had met the senior Congress leaders, including Mr Moti Lal Vohra, Mr Ajit Jogi, HPCC President, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mr Bhajan Lal and a former MP, Ms Selja. He said the delegation had appealed the party leadership to consider the name of Mr Satyawan Baroda, a lecturer of the university, as party's candidate from the Baroda reserved constituency in Sonepat district.

Student run over, killed
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Jan 6 — Kuldeep Singh, a student of S.M. Hindu High School, was run over and killed by a train while crossing the track near the school here yesterday.

According to the Railway police, the accident occurred due to dense fog.

The victim belonged to Thana Kalan village in the district.

According to another report, the Railway police also recovered the body of a woman from the track yesterday.

Sanskrit scholar dies at 81
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Jan 6—Mr Sat Dev Verma (81), an eminent Sanskrit scholar and husband of local MLA, Dr Kamla Verma, died last night at Yamunanagar.

Mr Verma had suffered a paralytic stroke last year.

Born on December 12,1918 at Atahar in Yamunanagar district, he was a Sanskrit teacher for 23 years at the local Mukand Lal National College.

He was Vice-President of Bhartiya Sanskrit Journalists Association, Delhi.