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| Monday, March 13, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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1
killed in panchayat poll violence Farmers'
hopes soar with INLD Govt Power
sector needs clear policy Hisar’s
‘Shabnam Mausi’ Long
working hours, low wages 8
parishad members elected unanimously Ex-minister
denied corruption charges Chautala
promises cyber state |
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| Students told to gear up for IT
revolution YAMUNANAGAR, March 12 — Dr Ravindra Kumar, Secretary and in charge, Northern Regional Office of the University Grants Commission, presided over the annual prize distribution function of Mukand Lal National College here yesterday. Speaking on the occasion he exhorted students to keep pace with fast changing scenario in the field of education as information technology had revolutionised the concept of education. Foundation stone of engg
college laid Haryana
Tourism staff on strike Gang
of Bawarias robs house BJP
releases list of nominees YC
voices concern over crime
|
1 killed in panchayat poll
violence ROHTAK: The panchayat poll in four blocks of Rohtak and Jhajjar districts was held on Sunday. The second phase of the elections will be held on March 16 for the rest of the panchayats. According to reports, no untoward incident was reported in Rohtak district where elections were held to elect more than 50 sarpanches. Elections to gram panchayats at Kalanaur and Lakhanmajra blocks were also held peacefully. However, it is learnt that polling was disrupted at Badani village in Jhajjar district for several hours due to snatching away of ballot boxes by some persons. Polling to elect 71 sarpanches in Jhajjar block and 61 sarpanches in Bahadurgarh block was also held today. Proper security arrangements had been made to conduct the polls peacefully, according to the district authorities. SIRSA: Polling for 107 panchayats out of 132 and 33 panchayat samities out of 53 went off peacefully barring a few minor incidents. Elections for 543 panches out of 1,221 were also held. In Kurangawali village in the district, the entire polling party, along with the Presiding Officer, was arrested under Sections 420, 406, 120 b and 34, IPC, and Section 135 of the Election Act. The polling staff is reported to have been involved in the misplacement of 31 ballot papers. The DC and the SP took immediate action in the matter and a fresh polling team was deputed. The missing ballot papers were replaced by fresh ones. In another case, in Mallewala village the ballot papers were found to be bearing the names of the candidates who had withdrawn their nominations. On complaints, the district Election Officer rectified the mistake and initiated the election process. FARIDABAD (TNS): Repoll was ordered at a number of places on Sunday in the panchayat elections in the district after incidents of snatching of ballot papers and boycott by voters. Reports said at Piali
people snatched ballot papers and set these on fire. At
Garhi Kheri also ballot papers were snatched. At
Majhghar, villagers did not allow anyone to vote. A case
was registered against two policemen belonging to other
districts for interfering in the poll process. |
Farmers' hopes soar with INLD
Govt PANIPAT, March 12 — Mr Bhagat Singh’s brush with politics which made him campaign vigorously for the INLD candidate in the recently concluded assembly poll was propelled by a deep-seeded desire to see change in his native village, Bhakharpur. An ex-sarpanch of Bhakharpur village in Sonepat district, he was confident that things would improve in his village, the non-functional handloom centre set up some years ago would once again get alive with the rhythmic sound of the wooden loom, once Mr Om Prakash Chautala assumed the mantle of Chief Minister. But after the defeat of the INLD candidate in the Kailana constituency (Bhakharpur falls in Kailana Assembly segment), Mr Bhagat Singh lost hope. "It does not matter whether we are INLD loyalists or not. The fact is that the Congress candidate has won and we now feel that not much will be done for us by the present government," he says candidly. There are many who will dismiss Mr Bhagat Singh as a pessimistic. Mr Rakam Singh of Bhadowal Majri, who, despite being a staunch Congressman all his life, canvassed this time for INLD’s Kartar Singh Bhadana and has high hopes from the Chautala government. "It is a party of farmers and should work for their welfare. However, the recent hike in agriculture inputs and diesel by the Centre will prove to be a bane for the peasants. For five years when I was sarpanch of this village, not a single penny was provided to us by the state government for development works. Small things repair of schoolrooms were what we were asking for. The only relief has been the cementing of the boundary of the village pond after he (Mr Chautala) gave his nod for the same at the "Sarkaar aap ke dwar" programme. We have been assured that more funds will given to us now. Let's see how things really turn out to be," he says with a certain amount of scepticism. For a party that boasts of having its base in villages, expectations are high. A better support price for crops (the paddy hangover is still on their minds), consistent power supply, better health facilities, upgradation of village schools and basic amenities is what most people expect the Chautala government to provide. Many like Mr S.C. Bhatia of Bhakahrpur, an Under-Secretary with the Agriculture Ministry, thinks that besides upgrading basic amenities in the villages, the new government should place the problem of unemployment and illiteracy high on its priority list. "Land-holdings are too small. There are no alternate avenues for jobs. In such circumstances, the government should work out more avenues for jobs. Again stress should be laid on education in villages to chisel out a better new generation," he opines. For some like Mr Jaspal Singh of Noorwala village, repair of the 11 km Barsat road which passes through his village is of prime importance: "Can you believe it this road has been repaired four times but on paper only! There is no sewerage disposal mechanism in this village which is slowly taking the shape of an urban slim. We don't want to get into bigger issues. For us little things matter the most." Says Jai Bhagwan Jangra of Khijarpur Ahir village: "With Mr Chautala fulfilling the demands of every section of society after taking over the reins of the state last year, the common man saw better times ahead. Of course, we are not in favour of free power and water but we want good quality and consistent electricity. When we go in for sowing paddy in May-June, the power should be absolutely smooth. That's what we hope for." Jai Bhagwan Sharma of Chandoli village expects the new government to make up for the paddy debacle and exert pressure on the Union Government to reduce the prices of diesel and fertilisers: "Chautalaji identifies himself with the farmers and it is apparent that we expect better things for farmers from him. So far it has been disappointment for us. The prices of urea, have been increased by the Centre. The diesel rates are too high. We know that state government can only plead with the Centre on these issues but they can do their bit by reducing power tariff or by making an effort to get us better support price for the crops." An elderly Sultan Singh
of Bhodwal Majri says: "Chautala has doubled old age
pension. I just wish Devi Lal lives for many more years.
Who knows I may get yet another raise!" |
Power sector needs clear
policy CHANDIGARH, March 12 — With the Haryana Government failing to come out with a clear cut policy for the power sector, there may not be a quick end to the chronic power shortage in the State. While the Governor’s Address on the inaugural day of the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly mentioned that the state government would give highest priority to the power sector, it did not give any clear picture of the State’s power policy, experts here observed. Mr Mahabir Prasad said the government was seriously pursuing the new power generation projects, including the 500 MW coal-based Yamunanagar Thermal Power residual plant at Panipat. The Panipat project is privately owned and the government apparently is agreeable to private sector’s participation for generation of power. The Governor also spoke about power sector reforms (introduced by the former Bansi Lal regime) and "restructuring the age-old state electricity board by segregating it in three separate companies". Experts, however, point out that there was no mention in the Governor’s address about privatisation of the distribution network, which was one of the important pre-conditions set up by the World Bank for funding Haryana’s power sector reform programme. All that the Governor’s Address stated about distribution was that 50 over-loaded and 11 KV feeders were being renovated and 5950 distribution transformers were being added. Even though the Chautala-led Government has apparently abandoned its 1996 poll promise of free power and water to the farmers, it is unlikely to increase the power tariff for the farmers, which is yet another important milestone under the agreement signed between the World Bank and the former HVP-led regime. An infuriated World Bank has already suspended its loan instalment to Haryana for carrying out the reforms in the power sector. For privatisation of the distribution network, tenders were invited in last June when Mr Bansi Lal was still in power. By July the HVP Government was replaced and no further work has been carried out in this direction since then. The World Bank is also insisting that three power sector companies must sign the necessary legal documents with the World Bank for the loans being received by Haryana. The Haryana Government,
which has been managing so far, on borrowed power and its
loans to the Centre on this account is piling up, has
only said that it will review the power reform programme.
It is, however, obvious that the government is still
undecided on its power policy. |
Hisar’s ‘Shabnam
Mausi’ HISAR, March 12 — The victory of Shabnam Mausi, a eunuch, from Sohagpur Assembly segment in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh, may be news for many but not for the residents here. Hisar has its very own Shabnam Mausi in the person of Shobha Nehru, a sitting Municipal Councillor, who is also a eunuch. Shobha is seeking re-election in the forthcoming elections. Shobha Nehru had hit the headlines during the last local bodies’ elections, when she defeated Jagdish Bagri from Ward 9 in 1995. However, this time she will be contesting from Ward 14. It has not been a smooth sailing for Shobha as her nomination from this ward was challenged by Ms Basanti Devi of the BJP as "Ward 14 is reserved for women candidates". Ms Basanti Devi had challenged Shobha Nehru’s nomination in the court of SDM, Mr Balraj Singh, who decided in Shobha Nehru’s favour. The Deputy Commissioner and the District Returning Officer, Mr Apoorva Kumar Singh, yesterday upheld the SDM’s decision allowing Shobha Nehru to contest from the ward, reserved for women. Ms Basanti Devi had challenged her nomination on the pretext that she was not a woman. But, Shobha Nehru argued, since the Election Commission of India had already categorised her as a "female voter" according to her voter identity card, she had every right to contest from the ward reserved for women. In the voters list also Shoba is listed as a female voter. A matriculate, Shobha Nehru was born and brought up in Bangalore and later settled in Hisar. She is quite popular among people here and is respected as a leader. Shobha Nehru appears to be too confident about her victory, "Otherwise why should my opponents challenge me on a non-issue", she asks and adds "it is the love of people 'which has forced me to shift from Ward 9 to 14". She promises, "I will ensure that the faith and confidence that people have reposed in me is not betrayed." Her stint as a councillor so far has been well appreciated by the people as she has always stood by them. However, Shobha is not
the only eunuch contesting the municipal elections from
here. Another eunuch, Hasina is also trying her luck from
Ward 17 for the first time. Although both Shobha and
Hasina belong to the Congress. They are not contesting on
the party symbol. Their hopes have soared particularly
after Shabnam Mausi’s victory. |
Long working hours, low wages PANIPAT: Thousands of labourers, including children, working in showrooms, industrial units, business houses and shops in this district are not getting emoluments and other amenities commensurate with their hard work. They are deprived of fixed working hours, minimum stipulated wages, holidays and other facilities admissible to them as per the law. As per information, there are about 20000 child labourers. This number will swell if those working with private bus owners, maxi cabs drivers etc are taken into consideration. Such workers who have to put in 10-14 hours of hard work daily initially get hardly Rs 500 to Rs 600 per month. After they put in a few years in service, their monthly wages are increased to Rs 1200 to Rs 1500. Their routine starts early in the morning around 8 am and they are forced to work up to 8 p.m. Those working in hundreds of hotels and restaurants such as those on the national highway No 1, from Kundli border to Ambala, have to work till midnight or even late. Those working in hotels located at Samalkha or here have to work for 24 hours at a stretch. Their main job ranges from cooking of food, cleaning of utensils, serving of food and other allied services. There are no fixed working hours for such workers. Holidays and working hours are fixed by the owners of these "dhabas". Salary is around Rs 800 to Rs 1500 depending on the nature of work. No off day is fixed for such workers as work at these ‘dhabas’ gets almost doubled on holidays and other gazetted holidays. These workers do not have a suitable forum to present their demands. They cannot raise their voice lest they should lose their jobs. Besides working at ‘dhabas,’ they have to clean utensils, sweep floors and wash clothes in the houses of their employers without any extra remuneration. One of such a labourers, Manoj Kumar (12), working in a ‘dhaba’ said their jobs were at the mercy of their employers. No labour workers union comes to their rescue and their employers do not get their workers registered with the labour office. Even Labour Department officials do not bother to ascertain the number of such workers who are denied even the basic facilities. It is distressing that
there is no forum to attend to the working conditions of
unorganised labour. |
8 parishad members elected
unanimously SIRSA, March 12 — Eight zila parishad members, 38 panchayat samiti members, 59 sarpanches and 1,584 panches have been elected unanimously. This was stated here today by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Amit Jha. According to the District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Mr Amit Jha, as many as eight-members have been elected unanimously while the election for the remaining nine will be held shortly. Similarly, out of 138 panchayat samiti members 38 have been elected unanimously whereas 59 sarpanches out of 321 and 1,584 panches out of 2,948 have been elected unopposed. The Deputy Commissioner said in Odhan block nine panchayat samiti members out of 14, in Baraguda 13 out of 17, Sirsa 19 out of 24, in Nathusari Chopta 17 out of 22, in Dabwali 10 out of 24, in Ellenabad 16 out of 18 and in Rania out of 19, would be elected as the others had already found their way to the respective body. The counting for zila parishad and panchayat samitis will take place at four places on March 7. While giving these information the District Electoral Officer, Mr Jha, said counting for Sirsa and Odhan blocks would be held at the local Panchayat Bhavan whereas counting for Ellenabad and Badaguda blocks would be done at a local college, Rania block counting will be held at Patwar Bhavan and for Chopta block in the Library of a local P.G. Government National College. However, counting for Dabwali block would be taken up in MP College. Mr Jha said the counting
for panches and sarpanches would be taken up immediately
after the voting. |
Ex-minister denied corruption
charges PANIPAT, March 12 — Mr Jagbir Singh Malik, a former Haryana minister, alleged yesterday that a complaint against him and two others, including Youth Congress leader Raghubir Singh Sandhu, on the basis of which a case of corruption and forgery had been registered in the city police station, was politically motivated, self-contradictory and had been made with mala fide intentions. Showing the copies of the complaint and the FIR, Mr Malik pointed out that an anonymous complainant had said in his complaint that Rs 35 lakh had been siphoned off while purchasing 7,000 plastic bags of a biofertiliser from a firm at the rate of Rs 50 per bag. The total cost of the bags came to around 3.5 lakh only. How can a forgery of Rs 35 lakh be committed in a purchase of Rs 3.5 lakh, Mr Malik asked. He also pointed out that the complainant had mentioned in his complaint that action was initiated against the employees by the Director, Horticulture, on finding the mini-kits supplied by them underweight. "It proves the mala fide intentions and the selfish motives of the complainant whose efforts to cheat the department by supplying underweight bags did not succeed", he said. Mr Malik also made it
clear that as alleged in the complaint, Mr Sandhu was
neither his relative nor was close to him. The
allegations, he added, were politically motivated to
tarnish his image. |
Chautala promises cyber state KARNAL, March 12 (UNI) — Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala today said the new industrial policy of the state was not only being appreciated in the country but all over the world as it attracted investment of Rs 1600 crore by Honda Company at industrial township in Manesar, thus generating employment avenues for the youth of the state. Talking to mediapersons here, he said steps were being taken to make education job-oriented to provide the youth with employment opportunities in the state. He said information technology would be utilised for setting up cyber cities thus turning entire state into cyber state, laying special emphasis on the development of neglected areas. Mr Chautala expressed surprise at a media report that the World Bank is withdrawing itself from the aid programme from the state. He added that some time back some representatives from the World Bank had called on him to discuss these issues with him in a very cordial manner. He, however, added that his government had the right to review the terms agreed by his predecessor in the power sector which were not in interest of the state. The Chief Minister said the recent victory of his alliance parties was due to success of “Sarkar apke dwar” campaign. Almost all promises made during the campaign had been fulfilled while those remaining would be implemented soon. Mr Chautala assured that development works would be initiated in all 90 constituencies without any prejudice or party affiliation. He complimented the Opposition parties for listening to the Governor’s address calmly in the Assembly and hoped that cooperation would continue in other constructive works. He said he was the first
in the country to oppose hike in urea prices in the
Central Budget and preferred concessions to the farmers
on sales tax or agriculture implements instead of on
pesticides. |
Students told to gear up for IT
revolution YAMUNANAGAR, March 12 — Dr Ravindra Kumar, Secretary and in charge, Northern Regional Office of the University Grants Commission, presided over the annual prize distribution function of Mukand Lal National College here yesterday. Speaking on the occasion he exhorted students to keep pace with fast changing scenario in the field of education as information technology had revolutionised the concept of education. He said the Centre had realised the need for providing the best available infrastructure to educational institutions and private institutions could play a vital role in this respect. He also said industrial houses should come forward and contribute liberally. He said "Our students are second to none and there is a need to provide opportunities to them to enable them to deliver the goods." He added that proper encouragement and incentives to students would check brain drain. Earlier, the Principal
of the college, Dr Ramesh Kumar, welcomed the chief guest
and read out the college progress report. Ms Saroj Bala,
a student of the college who had been adjudged the best
athlete of Kurukshetra University was also honoured. Mr
Arun Agarwal, who had donated blood for 105 times was
also felicitated. |
Foundation stone of engg college
laid SONEPAT, March 12 — The Haryana Government is contemplating opening an engineering college at each district headquarter and education job-oriented in the state. This would not only provide the opportunities to the educated jobless youths for getting admission to these colleges but eliminate unemployment too. This was stated by Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister, while laying the foundation stone of Hindu Engineering College here last evening. The six-storey building of the Engineering College spread on 10-acre land, would be constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore. The first phase would be completed within five months and the classes in electronics, electrical engineering and computer science would be started during the current academic session beginning from July next. This college is affiliated to Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak. Mr Chautala said that the cumbersome procedures being adopted by the central government for the opening of engineering and medical colleges in the country was the main reason for the delay in opening such colleges in Haryana. He disclosed that despite heavy odds the number of engineering colleges had gone up from two to 17 in Haryana. Earlier, Mr Chautala
distributed cash prizes among girl students for their
contributions in the field of education and sports. These
include Miss Sunita Dahiya who had won gold medals in
various events during the past one year. |
Haryana Tourism staff on strike FARIDABAD, March 12 — Employees of Haryana Tourism working in all five hotels at Surajkund, Badkhal, Faridabad and Hodal today went on strike in support of their demands. However, a spokesman for the department claimed that normal working of the resorts had not been much affected. The strike was observed after Mr Digamber Singh, a gardener at Haryana Tourism nursery, Delhi, was suspended on the charge of misbehaving with and threatening a Junior Engineer on February 2. The gardener was also allegedly manhandled by the Junior Engineer. The employees are
demanding action against the Junior Engineer also. |
Gang of Bawarias robs house FARIDABAD, March 12 — A gang of Bawarias attacked a house in Daulagarh village in Palwal subdivision and looted jewellery after seriously injuring two persons on Friday night. The injured have been identified as Sunil and Anil. According to reports the culprits had escaped by the time the police reached the villages. Mayadevi, a relative of
one of the injured, identified one of the criminals from
a sketch shown to her by the police. The sketch had been
prepared by the police on the basis of statements of
villagers after the Bawarias had struck in Palwal
subdivision on December 31. |
BJP releases list of
nominees ROHTAK, March 12 — The district unit of the BJP has released a list of candidates for the local municipal council poll due to be held on April 2. The party has decided to field candidates for at least seven municipal committees and councils in the state. The district BJP President, Mr Pradip Jain, announced the names of 27 candidates who would be contesting on the party symbol. There are 31 wards in the town. Of these 14 wards are in the general category, nine are for women (general) six are reserved for SC and BC women. The Congress has,
however decided not to allot its symbol to any candidate
but to provide outside support to some. |
YC voices concern over
crime PANIPAT, March 12 — The state unit of the Youth Congress has expressed concern over the rising incidents of crime in the state. The spokesperson for the state unit, Mr Rajeev Ahuja, said in a press note that incidents like the robbing of the cashier of Paliwal Industries, attacks and robberies in Catholic churches in Samalkha and Panipat indicated the poor law and order situation in the state. Mr Ahuja said the Youth
Congress was willing to render cooperation to the new
government in tackling crime in the state. He added that
the government should strengthen the law enforcing
agencies to meet new challenges. |
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