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| Tuesday, April 25, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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INYC
chief lashes out at Chautala Governor’s
assurance on Saraswati Project Woman’s
status ‘rises’ HVPN
pensioners seek better deal Power
regulatory measures relaxed |
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| Poor-quality water in Ambala... AMBALA, April 24 — The residents of Ambala cantonment have not only been facing the acute shortage of drinking water even before the arrival of summer but in several areas they have also been getting the contaminated water these days which may lead to major outbreak of water-borne diseases in the city. Discharge
of more water opposed Harried
farmers seek better fire-fighting mechanism Chautala,
Badal assure help to drought-hit Governor
to unveil ‘yaksha’ statue Hisar
hottest in Haryana College
teachers await pension Oil
firms to release LPG connections Haryana,
UP to build pillars along Yamuna Entrance
tests from May 27 Cop
injured in accidental fire Haryana
amends order
|
INYC chief lashes out at
Chautala SONEPAT, April 24 — The President of the Indian National Youth Congress, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, lashed out at the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, and charged him with backing out of his pre-election promises made to the people in general and the farmers in particular. Addressing a party workers’ rally here last evening, Mr Surjewala said Mr Chautala had promised to give free electricity and water to the farmers, but after coming to power, his government had launched a campaign for the recovery of payment from the farmers who were being harassed and put in jails. He said Mr Chautala had grabbed power in the state by giving false promises to each section of the society, but the people would not tolerate him any more. He (Mr Chautala) would face the same fate as Mr Bansi Lal had faced earlier, he added. Mr Surjewala decried the recent hike in the prices of rationed commodities, petroleum products, urea and fertilisers and said the policies adopted by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre were taking its toll on the common man. He declared that his party would hold its first national-level protest outside Parliament House in Delhi on May 2 against the anti-poor and anti-people policies of the government. He appealed to the party workers to take part in the rally in large numbers, and express solidarity with the Congress on the issue. Mr Ashok Sharma,
President of the HPCC Disciplinary Committee, Mr Jitender
Singh, MLA (Kailana), Mr Sukhbir Singh Farmana, Mr Ganga
Ram and Mr Bhaley Ram, both former MLAs, were also
present in the meeting. |
Governor’s assurance on
Saraswati Project YAMUNANAGAR, April 24 — The Haryana Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad, has promised that for the restoration of the Saraswati Project in Haryana, he would not only approach the state government but also the Centre. The Governor was speaking today at a function organised at Sri Adibadri Narayan Temple, about 40 km from here, by the Saraswati Nadi Shodh Sansthan, Haryana, a voluntary organisation devoted to research related to the restoration of Saraswati river in Haryana. He said he would also take up the matter at a meeting at Kurukshetra with Mr C.P. Thakur, Union Minister for Water Resources, on April 28. Similarly modalities are also being prepared at the departmental level to give a shape to the project, he added. The Governor urged the people, voluntary organisations and the researchers to come forward for the completion of big projects as the government alone could not execute such big schemes. Mr Darshan Lal Jain, President, Saraswati Nadi Shodh Sansthan, submitted a memorandum to the Governor in which he requested that the Saraswati restoration project should be materialised with the co-operation of one and all. The Governor assured the President to put forward the memorandum to the state government. Earlier the Governor visited many tirath sthals of Yamunanagar district namely Kaleshwar Mahadev Math, Tirath Purohit Kapal Mochan and Sri Adibadri Narayan Temple and paid his obeisance. The Governor also directed the district administration that problems relating to public health and managements should be solved on priority. Mr Balwant Singh and Mr
Kanwar Pal, both MLAs, Mr Manik Sonawane, Secretary to
the Governor, Mr Rajeev Sharma, Deputy Commissioner,
Yamunanagar, SP K.K. Sindhu and Mr Faqir Chand Aggarwal,
former Deputy Speaker of Haryana, were also present. |
Woman’s status
‘rises’ KURUKSHETRA: Contrary to the common belief that involvement of women in panchayat raj institutions is only marginal and superficial, a research study conducted by the Women’s Studies Research Centre, Kurukshetra University, in November, 1999 has shown that despite numerous obstacles, women panches and sarpanches feel that status of women has improved as a result of 33 per cent reservation of seats for women in panchayati raj bodies. Most women appreciated the spirit of the reform, even though they were not aware of the Constitution. The research centre’s, Director, Dr Reicha Tanwar, said that five of Haryana’s very backward blocks in Sirsa district, namely Sirsa, Rania, Nathusari Chopta, Ellanabad and Odhan were selected to conduct an exhaustive study of the grassroots implementation of reservations and its related issues like cooperation of the officials and male members of panchayats with women representatives etc. Research teams of the centre collected data on the basis of detailed scientific questionnaires, personal interviews and case studies. About 50 women sarpanches and 100 women panches were interviewed in the study. Over 98 per cent of the elected women members in Chopta, Ellanabad and Odhan blocks said that their status had clearly been enhanced in their village following their being elected to the panchyat. All women sarpanches were of the view that irrespective of the political affiliations of their families, women panches tended to support the women sarpanches. In Sirsa and Chopta blocks, women sarpanches were instrumental in starting sewing and tailoring centres. Likewise women sarpanches of Rania block collaborated with the local authorities to successfully organise blood donation camps, lectures for women on health and nutrition. Without exception, the women representatives felt that the strongly patriarchal structure of rural society was an important and effective obstacle, but of almost equal importance also was that majority of women representatives were illiterate. Due to lack of education and training, the women stressed that they were unable to understand the intricacies of the system particularly those related to finance and government procedure. Most of their time was spent in tracing the ‘gram sachiv’ through whom their entire functioning was rooted. They said that having only six to eight gram sachives in each block was not adequate and hence all matters got delayed. The study also shows that though over 90 per cent women entered the election because of prompting by male members of their families and 98 per cent contested because of the reservation of seats, but interestingly once elected over 65 per cent women felt that they would not like to be treated as ‘dump spectators’ and ‘rubber stamps’. Almost 90 per cent of the women representatives also were keen on contesting the elections to panchayats again. Dr Tanwar pointed out that it is this subtle but significant change in attitude that indicates a bright future of women’s political participation. Dr Tanwar said that it was very heartening to note that almost without exception all the women sarpanches and panches felt that though ‘Purdah’ (veil) was a deep-rooted tradition in their region, yet it did not hinder their functioning and contribution to their role. The survey further
reveals that more than 85 per cent women panches and
sarpanches felt that the government had not given any
meaningful training in order to educate them about their
roles, duties, responsibilities and powers as members of
panchayats. A majority of the women panches and
sarpanches (almost 95 per cent) were in the age group of
40 to 45 years. Although women from the younger
generation have a significant number of matriculates, yet
they were kept out of the elections held in 1994 as they
happened to be either unmarried or young brides, still in
veil and expected to stay within the confines of the
house. |
HVPN pensioners seek better
deal YAMUNANAGAR, April 24 — Mr K.L. Vig, President and Mr B.D. Amber, General Secretary at a meeting of the Pensioners’ Association, Haryana Vidyut Parsaran Nigam (HVPN), here yesterday, said there was resentment among the pensioners of the HVPN. They said though the Haryana Government had agreed in principle to follow the Centre’s pattern, there was a dispute regarding the pension of those who retired between January 1, 1996, and September 30, 1996. The Central Government had issued clarification in October 1999, regarding the pension of all such employees on fresh pattern. But after more than seven months these instructions had not been implemented by the Haryana Government they added. They said the Central Government had also issued instructions regarding the grant of dearness relief to the re-employed or employed family members. But even after nine months these instructions had not been followed. They said the demand for the grant of LTC, uniform house rent of Rs 100 p.m. and medical allowance at the rate of Rs 250 p.m. on the pattern of the Punjab Government was required to be implemented by the Haryana Government. The union leaders said
the HVPN had provided electricity concessions to their
employees and stop the concessions soon after the
employees were retired. This extremely insults the
sentiments of the retired employees while the UP State
Electricity Board is extending this facility to its
employees. |
Power regulatory measures
relaxed CHANDIGARH, April 24 — The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) today relaxed power regulatory measures which it had enforced on April 22.The chairperson of the Haryana Power Utilities, Mrs Meenaxi Anand Chaudhry, said here today the relaxation had been possible because of the increased availability of power from the projects of the Haryana Power Generation Corporation (HPGC) and the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB). She said restrictions imposed on all categories of consumer, including industries, between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. had been completely withdrawn.During the day (9 a.m. to 7 p.m.), no regular power cuts would be imposed. Only if there were any grid constraints or less availability of power, short duration power cuts might be imposed. She said peak-load
restrictions and the supply timings on the rural feeders
would, however, remain unchanged. |
Poor-quality water in Ambala AMBALA, April 24 — The residents of Ambala cantonment have not only been facing the acute shortage of drinking water even before the arrival of summer but in several areas they have also been getting the contaminated water these days which may lead to major outbreak of water-borne diseases in the city. A large quality of water is being wasted in underground pipelines. In some areas the pipelines were laid down around 100 years back and are not fit to carry the pressure of the water. Sometimes these get clogged the flood the streets. In some areas the pressure is so low that even the residents of ground floor do not get sufficient water. The people alleged that the Public Health Department does not bother about the complaints. The Citizens Council in a statement has urged the Public Health Department to dig more tubewells before setting of summer to meet the need of the residents. The president of the council, Mr N.C. Jain, said that a large number of tubewells in the cantonment area were either out of order or their water level had gone down considerably. The council further urged the district administration to take up this issue on priority level, otherwise the time is not far when the people of Ambala cantonment will have to face acute shortage of drinking water. The council has also
urged the defence authorities of Ambala to come to the
rescue of the civil population as their tubewells have
extra capacity for supplying water. |
The crisis also grips Kalka KALKA, APRIL, 24 — With the rise in mercury, the problem of water shortage has again taken in its grip the residents of this town. In most of the areas of the town, the supply has been restricted to once a day. The pressure of the water supplied is very low. There is also no fixed timing of water supply. The department concerned seems helpless. A number of persons have installed motors to lift water but the department concerned does not seem serious to tackle this menace. The post of SDO in the Public Health Department office has been lying vacant for the past 3 months. The SDO of Pinjore Circle has been given additional charge of Kalka, who hardly visits the place. The Public Health
Department has divided Kalka into two zones. One zone
gets water twice a day and its pressure is so high that
it easily reaches second storeys of houses. The second
zone gets water from two old wells, which have low water
table. |
Discharge of more water opposed CHANDIGARH, April 24 — On a petition expressing apprehension regarding large-scale destruction of life and property in Rajasthan if additional water was discharged through Ottu Weir situated on the border with Haryana, Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar and Ms Justice Bakshish Kaur of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today fixed May 9 as the next date of hearing after issuing notice. Seeking directions to the state of Haryana against discharging more than 20,000 cusecs of water through the weir, the petitioners, Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, (a Jaipur based registered society) and Hanumangarh resident Gurtej Singh, had earlier alleged that the irrigation and drinking water facilities would also be adversely affected. Claiming the capacity of
Ottu weir to be 20,000 cusecs, counsel for the
petitioners had added that the Haryana Government’s
action in increasing the discharge capacity by
constructing a new weir was directly threatening to
infringe on their fundamental rights. Counsel added that
the areas downstream would be devastated by floods as a
consequence. |
Harried farmers seek
betterfire-fighting mechanism AMBALA, April 24 — The weather is hot and dry. The crop is now being cut and placed in neat bundles in some places while in others, the crop is still standing. It takes just a smouldering beedi or a carelessly flicked matchstick to set the field on fire, burning to ashes the hard labour of the farmer. In the recent past, specially with the onset of summer, there have been several incidents of fire in rural areas and the affected farmers have seen their hard work go up in flames. Villagers opine that while the fire-fighting infrastructure is in place in urban areas, precious little has been done for the rural ones. A visit to the villages reveal that paths to the fields are largely inaccessible as they are narrow and winding and there are no well-maintained water bodies from which the fire-fighters can draw water. The villagers also do not know how to react when a fire starts and begins to engulf their field. Mr O. P. Thakur, a villager of Barara block, said lack of awareness coupled with the speed with which the flames spread, fanned by winds, leads to a scorched earth. "Nothing can be more painful for a farmer than to see his hard work go up in flames," he said. While villagers feel that fire fighters do not reach in time, Fire Service personnel maintain that they are quick to respond to calls and the delay in reaching a particular village is due to the location of the fire. "Sometimes we have to stop the vehicle at a distance and then unroll the hose to reach the fire as the area is inaccessible," a fire fighter said. The Fire Station Officer in charge, Ambala Sadar, Mr A. K. Sharma, explained that there could be several reasons for a field to catch flames. "While carelessness is a major culprit, at times, some farmers after using the combine to cut the crop, set the field on fire to clear the waste. The result is that the nearby standing crops also catch fire, which spreads quickly," he said. He suggested that smoking should be prohibited from near standing crops and fields, specially during the summers. "People light beedi and huka and then do not properly extinguish them. This can lead to a fire in the field," he said. "Fire fighters need
a water body or a pond from which they can draw water to
battle the flames. The Panchayat must ensure that such a
water body is maintained in summers so that in case of
any emergency, water can be used to snuff out the flames.
Also, the village youth must be motivated to learn about
fire-fighting procedures so that they can also assist the
firemen. The volunteers can also undertake damage control
exercise till the time we reach the site," Mr Sharma
said. |
Chautala, Badal assure help to
drought-hit Chandigarh, April 24 — Mr Om Prakash Chautala has stated that Haryana will extend all possible help to meet the severe drought situation prevailing in Gujarat, Rajasthan and other parts of the country. The Haryana Chief Minister said that when he meets the Prime Minister on April 26, he would enquire about the items urgently required for the drought-hit areas. He added that he was also in touch with the Chief Ministers of these states to know about their immediate requirement so as to tide over the crisis. Mr Chautala added that the state government would also try to provide water to the areas of the state adjoining Rajasthan and try to meet the fodder needs of the drought-hit areas. Punjab is keen to extend all possible help to drought hit states especially Gujarat and Rajasthan. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, told newspersons here today that he would soon talk to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to know that what kind of help was required to drought hit states so that arrangements could be made accordingly by the Punjab Government. Reacting to reports
regarding a large-scale influx of migrants from Rajasthan
to Punjab from Ganganagar side, Mr Badal said he would
also discuss this issue with the Prime Minister. |
Governor to unveil
‘yaksha’ statue KURUKSHETRA, April 24 — The Haryana Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad will soon unveil the statue of one of the four yakshas which were the guardian deities of the Kurukshetra before the Mahabharata war. The Board has decided to install the statues of four yakshas at the four corners of the city heartland which fell into a radius of “five yajanas” on all sides. This area was bounded by two rivers — the Saraswati and the Drishadwati — and was known as Samantapanchaka. This was guarded by four yakshas called dwarpals or guardian deities during those days. Mr Girish Arora, Chief Executive Officer, Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) told TNS today that the four yakshas were named as Tarantuka, Arantuka, Kapila and Machakruka. The statues were being built in Jaipur and the KDB was in the process of installing them. The yaksha cult here could be traced back to the days when it acquired its name. This had been described in a verse common both in Mahabharata and Vaman Purana. Mr Arora said even British scholar Cunningham had identified “Tarantuka” statue with “Rantuka Yaksha” which was found in the North-East corner of Kurukshetra close to Bir Pipli village. The KDB to provide a definite identity to the land of Mahabharata, as it was known in the olden days, had decided to identify all four sites where these yakshas stood guard. It is learnt that there are different views regarding the origin of yakshas. In Mahabharatas (Adi Parva) it was found that the yakshas took birth after Lord Brahma’s birth from the “Viraat Purusha”. Another passage in Adi Parva of Mahabharata says that yakshas were the progeny of sage Pulatsaya. Archaeological evidence confirmed the presence of yakshas cult in Kurukshetra. The yaksha image provided the earliest specimen of “Lithnic Art in India”. the yakshas could be distinguished by their colossal areas, massive built, muscular strength, a bulging belly, a turban on the head, scarf thrown on shoulders and arms with a knot around the chest. Furthermore, dhoti fastened with a girdle formed part of lower garment. The yakshas wore heavy ear rings, heavy torque, flat triangular necklace and armlets. According to Mr Arora,
the yaksha sculptures had been recovered from the places
scattered all over Kurukshetra and even across its
boundaries. |
Hisar hottest in Haryana CHANDIGARH, April 24 (UNI) — With westerly disturbances moving towards north Pakistan and upper air cyclonic circulation disappearing from Punjab and adjoining Rajasthan, the day temperatures rose by 2 to 5 degrees Celsius above normal in most of north-west region during the past 24 hours. Jaisalmer and Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan turned out to be the hottest places with mercury shooting to around 43.4°C, 4°C to 5°C above normal. Barmer with 43.4°C, Jaipur with 42.3°C Udaipur, Ajmer and Jodhpur reporting 40.2 to 40.5 °C were the other hot places in Rajasthan. Hisar with the high of 42.3°C, 4°C above normal, was the hottest place in Haryana. Delhi (Safdarjung) and Palam reported the maximums at 39°C and 40.1°C respectively, 2°C above normal. However, there was still good news for the people of Himachal. Weathermen here forecast a light-to-moderate rainfall at isolated places in the state during the next 24 hours. In the plains, the day temperatures were likely to rise by another 1°C to 2°C during the next two days because of mainly dry weather conditions, forecasters said. Tourists from the plains, thronging the state capital Shimla and its surrounding areas were welcomed by sharp rain accompanied by thunder storms. Shimla and the surrounding areas reported 23.7 mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours. The weather remained pleasant throughout the day in the town. Sundernagar reported 8.1 mm of rainfall during this period. The day temperatures in and around Chandigarh rose to 37.2°C from yesterday’s 35.8°C and was 2°C more than normal. Patiala in Punjab and Ambala in Haryana too were hotter today as the mercury rose to 38.5°C and around 38.4°C respectively, Patiala reported traces of rain overnight. Jammu reported 0.7 mm of
rainfall. |
College teachers await pension AMBALA, April 24 — The Haryana College Teachers Union has said that due to irregular payments, private college teachers should be paid their salaries through the government treasury. In a statement here today union President Shamsher Singh and General Secretary Sudershan Gasso said the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission should be implemented with immediate effect. In spite of having issued a notification regarding the family pension scheme in May 1999, not a single teacher has been given these benefits. The teachers demanded that the arrears for the revised pay scales should be paid in cash from January 1, 1998. They sought early fixation of the senior and selection grades for all those teachers who have fulfilled the conditions. The librarians, lecturers in physical education and the type writing instructors should also be given revised pay scales as per the UGC directions, they demanded. The following other
office-bearers were elected: Vice-President (KU zone)
— Prof D.R. Chaudhari, Vice-President (MDU zone)
— Prof M.N. Malik, Secretary ( KU zone) — Prof
S.S. Dhull, Secretary (MDU zone) — Prof S.S. Nandal
and Finance Secretary — Prof K.D. Sharma. |
Oil firms to release LPG
connections CHANDIGARH, April 24 — Oil companies will shortly release 1.12 lakh new LPG connections in Haryana. The Commissioner and Secretary of Food and Supplies, Haryana, Mr Dharambir, said here today that the state government had urged the oil companies to keep the thrust on small towns and villages while releasing the new LPG connections because it was an environment friendly fuel. He said about 40 per cent of the state’s population was already using the LPG in its kitchens. The state had 16.62 lakh connections of which 12.24 lakh were double cylinder. The oil companies had
recently allotted 25 LPG agencies and 18 filling stations
to kins of the Kargil martyrs in the state. |
Haryana, UP to build pillars
along Yamuna SONEPAT, April 24 — In view of the changing course of the Yamuna, Revenue Department officials of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh will get pillars reconstructed to demarcate the boundary between the two states.According to official sources, both Haryana and Uttar Pradesh Governments had approached the central government on the issue. The boundary pillars, it may be recalled, were constructed in December, 1975, but these were washed away during the floods. This led to a dispute between the two states and clashes among farmers during the harvesting season.Teams of the Revenue Department officials of both states have been asked to undertake the work for identifying the new boundary line and complete the work of refixing of boundary pillars after inspection of the site. Official sources added
that officials of Sonepat district (Haryana) and Baghpat
district Uttar Pradesh would visit the site on May 5. |
Entrance tests from May 27 CHANDIGARH, April 24 — The Technical Education Department, Haryana, will conduct entrance tests for admission to diploma courses in pharmacy, industrial and personnel management, hotel management, catering and nutrition and engineering and non-engineering. The test for the diploma in pharmacy, industrial and personnel management, hotel management and catering and nutrition will be held on May 27. The entrance test for engineering and non-engineering diploma courses will be held on May 28. Disclosing this here today Mr H.C. Disodia, Commissioner and Secretary, Technical Education, said the applicants would have to submit forms by May 12. The admission brochures could be obtained by post from the principals of all polytechnics in the state or from the office of the Director, Technical Education, on payment of Rs 250 and Rs 300, he said.Mr Disodia also said that diploma courses in industrial and personnel management and in secretarial practice, which were discontinued by the previous regime, had been restarted at Government Polytechnic at Mandi Adampur and Government Polytechnic for Women, Sirsa. He added that the
Haryana Government had earmarked Rs 41 crore for the
promotion of technical education during the current
financial year. |
Cop injured in accidental
fire KAITHAL, April 24 — A constable of the Haryana Police was injured in an accidental firing incident in the police lines here today.According to report, constable Surinder Singh was cleaning his gun when it went off accidentally and a bullet hit another constable Ravinder. The constable was admitted to the Civil Hospital and later referred to PGI, Rohtak. The guilty constable has
been suspended. |
Haryana amends order CHANDIGARH, April 24 — The Haryana Government today partially amended its order terminating the services of 14 Deputy Advocates-General and Assistant Advocates-General, including Ms Bimla Devi, sister-in-law of the Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh. The government today reappointed Mr Sunil Vashisht and Mr Anmol Rattan Singh as Assistant Advocates-General. Mr Suvir Sehgal and Mr
Devinder Bansal were appointed Deputy Advocates-General. |
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