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| Monday, June 26, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Bhajan
out of race? CM ‘ousted’ Devi Lal
from politics A university off the track Father discounts suicide angle 10 hurt in lathi charge in Sonepat Study blows myth of happy family PM to inaugurate energy centre |
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Case registered against
cops Wish for ‘fair’ husband
lands her on deathbed Police remand for
‘land-grabbers’ BJP threatens stir against new
taxes Principals oppose professional tax Pay bills or forfeit salary
|
Party chief’s post CHANDIGARH, June 25 — If the current enrolment in the Haryana Congress is an indication, the former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, seems to have opted out of the race for the post of party President. The last date for the enrolment of members was June 10. According to informed sources, Mr Bhajan Lal, who is considered to be the main challenger to the present incumbent, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, or his supporters has not taken much interest in enrolling members or in the renewal of old members. So much so the block units which the constituencies of Mr Bhajan Lal (Adampur) and of his elder son, Mr Chander Mohan (Panchkula) fall are faced with the prospects of being declared "dead". Under the party constitution, if the membership in a block is less then 50 per cent of the polling booths in the block, no delegate to the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) will be elected from that block, which, in party jargon, is declared to be dead. The President a of State unit is elected by the PCC delegates. Hence, the contenders of the post try to ensure that maximum number of their supporters should be elected PCC delegates. The sources say about 80 per cent of the membership has been done by Mr Hooda or his supporters to ensure his continuation as the President of the Haryana Congress. Meanwhile, there is an appreciable fall in the membership of the Haryana Congress. The sources say about eight lakh persons have enrolled themselves as members of the party against about 22 lakh persons who were enrolled as members of the party about three years ago. The sources give several reasons for the fall in membership. The party constitution has been amended to raise the membership fee. Earlier a person could become an active member of the party by enrolling 25 primary members (read by paying Rs 25) the membership fee was only Re 1 which has been raised to Rs 3. Now an active member has to pay Rs 75 for 25 primary members besides subscription for the party house journal and the cost of the receipt book. Secondly three years ago the Haryana Congress was in an upswing mood. Now it is a demoralised lot after the drubbing it received at the hands of the INLD-BJP combine in the last Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. Still the party has been able to collect about Rs 3 lakh more this year as membership as compared to the time of last enrolment. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the AICC is upset over the controversy generated by the constitution of a Shadow Cabinet by Mr Bhajan Lal, who is the leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha. The high command, it is believed, feels that the controversy could have been avoided if Mr Bhajan Lal had consulted Mr Hooda before forming the Shadow Cabinet. Mr Hooda had dissociated
himself from the Shadow Cabinet by saying that Mr Bhajan
Lal had not taken the PCC into confidence. |
Special story ROHTAK, June 25 — Maharshi Dayanand University that came into existence in 1976 appears to have diverted from its designated track since day one. The university was conceived with the object promoting the study of life sciences with the late renowned physician, Dr P.N. Chhuattani, as its founder Vice-Chancellor. But when Dr Chhuttani declined to accept the post, the thrust of life sciences was pushed to the background. The unitary and residential character of this university was also changed into a teaching-cum-affiliating one when all colleges located in southern Haryana were affiliated to it in 1978. And life sciences became a mere department of the university with nearly 50 students on its rolls in the just concluded academic session. Interestingly, the government has been appointing either IAS officers or political activists as Vice-Chancellors of this university ever since it was established. After Dr Chhuttani declined the offer, the then government appointed Mr M.L. Batra, a retired Chief Secretary and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, as the founder Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University on April 23, 1976. Barring Prof Ram Gopal, who took as Vice-Chancellor of this university on April 21, 1985, none of the Vice-Chancellor had the academic background needed for this coveted post. The university calendar is silent about the academic qualifications that a person should possess for becoming Vice-Chancellor of this university, now named after the great social reformer and founder of the Arya Samaj, Swami Dayanand Saraswati. Although Dr L.N. Dahiya, who remained Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the university from March 2, 1994 to March 2, 2000 and possessed the requisite qualifications as well, he was not a favourite of the ruling party bosses. Although the Vice-Chancellors were appointed on political considerations, most of them were not allowed to complete their term again on political considerations. Only the Vice-Chancellors having local clout and military background and the capacity to outmanoeuvre the political bosses could complete their full terms. Mr Devi Lal, Chief Minister of the Janata Party government in 1977, wanted to get rid of Mr Hardwari Lal and hence appointed the latter Vice-Chancellor of this university on October 28, 1997. He completed his first term and had to seek the intervention of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for completing the second term in parts. Another notable thing about these Vice-Chancellors had been their tendency to trigger off controversies and get themselves embroiled in these. Mr Hardwari Lal initiated one and somehow managed to get out of it following prolonged legal battle. Prof Ram Gopal fell a prey to it and was forced to resign within 10 months after he took over as Vice-Chancellor. Lt. Gen G.C. Aggarwal (retd), though a highly qualified person, was not allowed to complete his full term. A former Surveyer-General of India, he was the personal choice of the then Governor, Mr H.S. Brar. Besides Mr M.L. Batra,
the IAS officers who had held the post of Vice-Chancellor
in this university included Mr J.D. Gupta, Mr P.P.
Caprihan, Mr T.D. Jogpal and Mrs Anita Chaudhary. Mrs
Chaudhary had held the charge, in addition to her duties
as Commissioner of Rohtak Division, from March 2 to June
4. She has been succeeded by Maj Bhim Singh (retd), a
favourite of the Chief Minister, Om Parkash Chautala. |
CM ‘ousted’ Devi
Lal from politics FARIDABAD, June 25 — Mr Joginder Singh Hooda, president, Haryana Vilang Sangh, has blamed Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, for inducting anti-Devi Lal people in his Cabinet. He urged Mr Chautala to dismiss those ministers immediately for the sake of party’s unity. Otherwise he warned that these untrustworthy ministers would prove to be the downfall of the Chautala ministry with the help of Congress party. These disgruntled ministers and MLAs had already started hobnobbing with Opposition to bring about the downfall the government. While addressing a news conference at Magpie Tourist Complex today he also cautioned Mr Chautala to have control over his two powerhungry sons — Mr Ajay Chautala and Mr Abhay Chautala. He warned against their interference in government affairs as most of IAS lobby in Haryana government resented their interference in government workings. Mr Hooda, who is a close follower and companion of Mr Devi Lal, said Mr Devi Lal who was at the helm of country’s affairs and Deputy Prime Minister during the V.P. Singh government had now become a zero in country’s politics due to Mr Chautala’s unprincipled and anti-people and anti-farmers’ policies. He said that it was strange that Mr Chautala, while supporting the Vajpayee government also criticised him for increasing the cost of fertilisers, cooking gas and diesel prices. Mr Hooda also asked Mr
Chautala to clarify his stand towards the state unit of
the BJP and its state leaders who are tarnishing the
image of the Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana by
levelling charges of corruption, political interference
in police and administration and non-developmental work
in the state. |
Father discounts suicide angle REWARI, June 25 — "My son can never do a thing like this", says the wailing father of deceased AC-II Rajesh Yadav posted at NSG Manesar (Gurgaon). Rajesh Kumar died under mysterious circumstances a night prior to his departure with Union Home Minister L.K. Advani on his foreign tour. The NSG has made it out to be a case of suicide. But the explanations and the statements of witnesses and NSG officials contradict their claim of suicide. Rajesh Yadav, the only son of his parents hailing from Kutbapur village in Narnaul, was an enterprising officer. He got married barely three months ago. His father, Mr Banwari Lal, is a reputed retired teacher. Rajesh had his schooling at Sainik School, Kunjpura, and had done Master in English literature. He had endeared himself to his superiors and subordinates alike by his amicable behavior, dutifulness, initiative and sincerity. A day before he was to accompany Mr Advani on his visit to Israel and Canada he was in high spirits. He had a telephonic talk with his father on June 11 at 9.45 p.m. He was happy and eagerly looking forward to going abroad with Mr Advani. His parents and wife too were overjoyed at Rajesh’s selection as part of a special commando team. He had promised to bring something memorable for them from his foreign tour but that was not to be. On June 12 the parents of Rajesh were informed that their son had met with an accident and was in a critical condition. His father rushed to Manesar but found that his son had died. Officials told him that Rajesh had committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan. They told him that when a vehicle had come to fetch him in the early hours of June 12 he was found hanging in his room and that they had to break open the door of the room. Rajesh’s father requested the authorities to show him the body of his son. They put him off, telling him that it had been sent for a post-mortem examination at Civil Hospital, Gurgaon, whereas it was still lying in the Manesar police station. It is inexplicable as to why Rajesh’s father was not shown the body of his son. When he asked them to show him the room where he had allegedly hanged himself, they again put him off, saying that the key was not with them. But on his insistence he was taken to the room after at least two hours. To his dismay Rajesh’s father did not find any signs of being broken the door. When he asked how they had managed to open the door, they told him they had done this with the help of a piece of brick lying there whereas there were no signs of breakage of the door. This suspicion became all the more deeper when he found the balcony door of Rajesh’s room open. If the balcony door was open there should not have been any need to break open the front door. The distraught father returned home. Rajesh’s body was taken to his native place at about 8.30 p.m. on June 12. As is the custom cremation cannot take place at night. So the grieving family wanted to perform the last rites the next morning. Even then the father was not allowed to see his son’s body. For reason best known to the NSG authorities and as an afterthought they sent a team of officials from the NSG HQ to fetch Rajesh’s body to get a repeat post-mortem done by a board of doctors at AIIMS, New Delhi. Shockingly enough the body was never taken to AIIMS. Rather it was re-examined by the same doctor and his colleague at Civil Hospital, Gurgaon. The doctors said the death of Rajesh was a case of suicide by hanging. But when Rajesh’s body was taken for the last rites, his parents and relatives were stunned to find no signs of suicide by hanging like bulging eyes, stretched neck and out stretched tongue. The suspicion of Rajesh’s parents was confirmed by the accounts given by his colleagues to the Manesar police. They reported that Rajesh had been cheerful at the time of dinner on June 11. Under such circumstances the question of committing suicide does not arise. Two employees of the NSG, Mr Raj Kumar, the mess-in-charge, and Virender Singh Rawat, Head Constable, have given written statements that Rajesh was happy at 9.30 p.m. on June 11 and told them that he had a telephonic talk with his father and every thing was fine at home. Rajesh had also told his father on phone that he had enough money to see him through the foreign tour. Surprisingly, the police recovered just Rs 34 from Rajesh’s room. Also, no suicide note was found. It seems a probe is
requested to solve the mystery behind Rajesh’s
death. |
10 hurt in lathi charge in
Sonepat SONEPAT, June 25 — The police resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse an irate mob of lottery buyers and sellers on Railway Road here yesterday. As many as 10 persons were injured. The incident occurred when a contingent of the police, headed by Mr Rameshwar Dayal, Assistant Sub-Inspector, conducted a surprise raid on lottery shops. When the lottery buyers protested the police began to chase down and beat those raising anti-police slogans. The situation became tense and the police had to resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the crowd. The police took four lottery sellers and some other persons into custody. A press photographers who managed to photograph the lathicharge was reportedly roughed up by the police. He was later set free after the intervention by other mediapersons who reached the venue. The incident has caused widespread resentment with demands for immediate suspension of the policemen responsible. Meanwhile, the Lottery Sellers Association has strongly condemned the police action and urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala to order a high-level probe into the incident and stern action against erring police officials. It alleged the police
had taken away about Rs 20,000 in cash and lottery
tickets worth several thousands rupees during raids
conducted on shops of lottery sellers in different parts
of the city. |
Study blows myth of happy family YAMUNANAGAR, June 25 (UNI) — A study has found a shift in social values and cultural ethos of the public in post-green Revolution Punjab and Haryana blurring the stigma attached to drinking and narcotics. Liquor has emerged as a ‘social lubricant' in Punjab and Haryana, concluded the study conducted for the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment by Yamunanagar-based Utthan Institute of Development and Studies to assess the impact of liquor and drugs on women and children. The study which covered all institutions and hospitals in Haryana and Punjab for drug addicts and alcoholics and made field studies in five villages to assess the prevalence rate and community support networks available, found that 84.72 per cent of men in the age group of 20 to 40 drink or use narcotics. Dr P.K. Bajpai, who headed the study team,’’ says "We are living in a pathological society which requires immediate corrective measures. Social control mechanism has failed, no one should expect control from the state which is too remote to act.’’ The study found no linkage between the growing social malaise and the breakdown of the joint family system. More than 70 per cent of those consuming alcohol or using drugs lived in joint families. The area under the study was also found to be prone to multiple drug abuse. About 52 per cent of the spouses of drug addicts and alcoholics were found to be anaemic, 64 per cent suffered from restlessness and 29 per cent from allergy. Drug addicts and alcoholics unhealthy sexual practices led to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and other genital infections on the one hand and lead to psychological disinterest towards sex on the other. This further led to unsatisfactory sex and psycho-emotive problems most of the times leading to extramarital relations and family breakdowns. About 80 per cent of women reported acute dissatisfaction on several fronts. The study noticed that some 64 per cent of alcoholics beat up their wives, are suspicious of their character (68 per cent) and non-responsive to their needs (70 per cent). Their wives are generally unsatisfied about 74 per cent say their lives are vary different from what they had expected and about 68 per cent did not find the "hero of their dreams." Mutual frustration is so acute that about 88 per cent do not take their spouses along with them on recreational or social visits. The majority of women feel themselves captive in the cage of the four walls of their house and burdened with the bread-earners role. About 96 per cent of women feel ashamed of the behaviour of their husbands and some 77 per cent complain of loneliness, 81 per cent experience grief while 64 per cent experience angry. About one third of the
children of alcoholics and addicts develop guilt feeling
and about half avoid group and social participation.
About half of the children develop a feeling of fear and
neglect and are depressed. About 60 percent of the
children of the addicts and alcoholics are reported to be
liars who have difficulty in adjusting to groups. The
children also develop denial syndrome (67 per cent) and
about 62 per cent do not see a role model in their
father. Because of alcohol/drug habits of their fathers
about 80 per cent of children say they do not enjoy their
childhood and almost half develop disinterest in their
studies. |
PM to inaugurate energy
centre GURGAON, June 25 — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is likely to visit Gurgaon to inaugurate a building in Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) premises on July 3 in village Goalpaadhi, about 20 kms from here. The building will be
operated by non-conventional energy sources. |
Wish for ‘fair’
husband lands her on deathbed ROHTAK, June 25 — Distressed over " dark complexion" of her husband a newly married woman reportedly tried to commit self-immolation at the Kathmandi locality here today. She received 100 per cent burns and was admitted to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences. Her condition is stated to be critical. According to reports Sunita (20), of Katesara village was married to Bijender (24), a barber, nearly two years ago. The relatives of Bijender told this correspondent that Sunita disliked her husband because of his dark complexion. They said she used to stay at her parents’ home for two to three months without informing her in-laws. This time also, they said, she had returned to her in-laws house only yesterday after spending three months with her parents. Bijender said he and his brother were not in the house at the time of the incident. He admitted that he was disliked by his wife because of his dark complexion. However, he denied having even quarreled with his wife. He expressed ignorance about the reason that prompted her to take this extreme step. Meanwhile, the duty
magistrate recorded the statement of Sunita at the PGIMS
today. |
Case registered against cops AMBALA, June 25 (PTI) — The Haryana Police has registered a case of dacoity against three constables on the charge of extorting Rs 1.65 lakh from a resident of Delhi at the Haryana-Punjab border here yesterday. The police said that one Kundan Kumar was stopped by three constables near Ambala City on the G.T. road. Later some miscreants in a car came and snatched the money from him, they said adding the constables referred to them as senior officers of the Punjab Police. The constables also told Kundan Kumar that if he resists they might kill him in false encounter and it is in his interest to hand over the amount to them without any confrontation. The miscreants are not
identified, the police said. |
Police remand for ‘land-grabbers’ PANIPAT, June 25 (PTI) — Eleven arrested alleged land racketeers have been remanded in police custody by the special duty magistrate up to June 28. The police yesterday produced them before magistrate, Parma Nand pleaded for their police remand for further investigation into the case. The alleged land-grabbers namely Mehtab Singh, Jeet Singh, Umed Singh, Rajesh, Rai Singh, Azad Singh, Angrez, Dalbir, Sikander, Surender and Vikram were arrested by the police on Wednesday night when attempting to take possession of a residential property worth crores of rupees in the local Model Town after abducting its owner Joginder Kaur and demolishing the house with a earth-mover. A case under various Sections of IPC and Arms Act was registered in the Model Town police station against the accused. Superintendent of Police
Kuldeep Singh Sihag, on the demand of a 21-member
committee of prominent citizens of the district, had
asked the Model Town police to record the statement of
the victim, Joginder Kaur. |
BJP threatens stir against new taxes ROHTAK, June 25 (FOC) — Describing fresh taxes recently imposed by the Chautala government as anti-people the district BJP unit has threatened to launch an agitation in case the taxes are not withdrawn. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held here under the chairmanship of the district unit president, Mr Manish Grover last evening. Reacting sharply to the
imposition of ‘unjustified’ taxes BJP leaders
alleged the step would force industrialists to move out
of the state. Besides, they alleged house tax, fire tax,
local area development tax, establishment tax and taxes
on education, dairies and cinema halls would adversely
affect the common man. |
Principals oppose professional tax YAMUNANAGAR, June 25 — The Haryana Non-government College Principals Association demanded that government to review its decision on professional tax and exempt colleges from it. In a press release today it said that most colleges are government-aided and not classifiable as either shops or commercial establishment. Many are charitable institutions being run on donations from the public and philanthropists. In fact the Government of Haryana met 95 per cent of their deficit. In a letter to the
Commissioner and Secretary Local Self Government, Haryana
Government it demanded withdrawal of the tax. |
Pay bills or forfeit salary SONEPAT, June 25 — The Haryana Government has adopted a novel way to recover the arrears of electricity bills from its employees. According to official sources, it has directed the district authorities not to allow the disbursement of salary of the government employees for the current month till they submit their report, accompanied by the recommendations from their heads of the departments that they have paid their electricity bills. The decision of the
state Government has caused widespread resentment among
government employees in this district and elsewhere in the
state. |
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