H A R Y A N A

CSD canteens within reach of civilians now
AMBALA, July 5 — The Army CSD canteens, meant for the Army personnel and exservicemen, have also come within the reach of civilians. Many of the items of these canteens, mostly cosmetics, are sold at cheaper rates to shopkeepers by some “professional” card holders and brokers having links with employees of some of the canteens. Barring a few, most of the canteens are located at Ambala Cantt.

Victim demands tighter security
AMBALA, July 5 — “There is a need to tighten security so that burglaries do not take place and people feel safe,” said Mr R.K. Khosla, whose house was burgled recently.

Bandh against proposed taxes
KURUKSHETRA, July 5 — The Kurukshetra Action Committee, at its meeting here today, unanimously decided to give a bandh call for July 7, in protest against the implementation of the Haryana Government’s proposed new house tax, fire tax and professional tax policy.
 A memorandum will be submitted to the Deputy 
Commissioner in this regard.

Plan to relocate dyeing units
PANIPAT, July 5 — The Haryana State Pollution Board with representatives of the Japanese Government at a meeting held in New Delhi on June 30, has decided to constitute four teams for the survey of polluting dyeing and chemical printing units in the residential areas of this district.

Acute shortage of power in Bhiwani
BHIWANI, July 5 — The city is facing an acute shortage of power. A detailed working plan was prepared under a World Bank loan scheme for the regular supply of electricity during the Bansi Lal regime. Since then the condition of the M.C. Colony feeder and the Krishna Colony feeder has deteriorated.

Cleanliness drive yields no results
PANIPAT, July 5 — Despite the nagar parishad conducting a cleanliness drive for 13 days, the situation of the city remains the same. Garbage is seen at every nook and corner of the city and can lead to the spread of cholera, jaundice, malaria and other water-borne diseases

Civil body’s plea to reintroduce octroi
YAMUNANAGAR, July 5 — Yamunanagar Municipal Council has passed a resolution urging the state government to introduce octroi in Haryana once again.

Widow’s murder: 4 brothers held
HISAR, July 5 — The police has arrested four more brothers in connection with the murder of a widow and her two sons in Mayyer village.

Body to highlight social issues
ROHTAK, July 5 — A section of residents, including intellectuals, have set up a body known as Nagarik Manch Rohtak to highlight social issues.

CSD canteens within reach of civilians now
From Our Correspondent

AMBALA, July 5 — The Army CSD canteens, meant for the Army personnel and exservicemen, have also come within the reach of civilians. Many of the items of these canteens, mostly cosmetics, are sold at cheaper rates to shopkeepers by some “professional” card holders and brokers having links with employees of some of the canteens. Barring a few, most of the canteens are located at Ambala Cantt.

According to reliable information, there are some brokers in Delhi who manage to get cosmetic, domestic and many other items directly from a few companies which are supposed to be sold only through the CSD canteens. They supply those items to important cities of Haryana and Punjab. Apart from this there are some carriers at local level who get cosmestics items and other goods from the local canteens in sufficient quantity. There are about 20 carriers in Ambala Cantt who take down orders placed by different shops every day and supply these by arranging items from different canteens.

Most of the items available in the CSD canteens are almost 15 to 18 per cent cheaper than the items available in the open market as these are exempted from CST and 12 per cent ST. Moreover, the margin of profit being kept by the distributors, wholesalers and retailers is also saved in buying from these canteens. There are some items like shampoos, blades and squash which have profit margins of 25 to 30 per cent.

Although there are some restrictions on the card holders to purchase goods upto a limit at one time, there is no binding on how many times and how much quantity can be purchased by a card holder in a month. The canteens do not have ready records of their card holders to check how much goods were purchased by which card holder at what time in the month.

Generally, professional card holders purchase goods from different canteens several times in a month. Carriers are offered 3 to 5 per cent commission. The rest of the 10 per cent profit margin is enjoyed by the shopkeeper who is also a investor in the game. Recently, in Sadar Bazaar, when a customer purchased a Park Avenue Cologne from a general merchant, he found that “For CSD Only” was printed on the pack. When the customer protested, the shopkeeper offered him a 30 per cent rebate on it. The customer was satisfied and the shopkeeper also escaped a controversy.

One of the general merchants of Ambala city said the goods supplied for these canteens should have the “For CSD Only” printed on it in bold letters. Earlier, it was a regular practice, but, now there are dozens of items especially cosmetics and eatables which do not carry this print. Such goods can be sold in the market easily as neither the customer nor any official can raise any objection.

Many of the general merchants have expressed concern over the sale of CSD cosmetics items to some shopkeepers. Such shopkeepers sell these items at cheaper rates since they get these at 10 to 12 per cent less price from the carriers. That is why they easily give discount from 3 to 5 per cent to customers.

According to information, there are some “commercial” card holders who purchase certain profit-paying items from different canteens twice or thrice a week. A few of them are running their own shops. According to a general merchant, if the canteen issues a pass book to a card holder in which the entry of the items and date of purchase are entered it will be enough to check such “professional” customers.

The government loses the CST and state sales tax on the goods being sold in the open market rather than in canteens. The government has exempted the goods being supplied to the CSD canteens from the sales tax. The government offers this concession so that the Army personnel and the exserviecmen can get goods at cheaper rates.

Some of the canteens do not have enough beneficiaries, but, the invoice obtained by them from the CSD depot is almost double the requirement of the number of the beneficiaries.

Victim demands tighter security
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, July 5 — “There is a need to tighten security so that burglaries do not take place and people feel safe,” said Mr R.K. Khosla, whose house was burgled recently. Mr Khosla, a resident of Model Town in Ambala city, said the burglary had proved that there was a need for intensified patrolling, both in day and night. The house was burgled when the Khosla family had gone to Delhi. When the family returned from the trip, they found that thieves had taken away a colour TV, two gas cylinders, suit pieces, expensive saris, Rs 6,000, 40 gm of gold and imported perfumes and cosmetics. He said the provision of streetlights would go a long way in preventing such crimes.

Bandh against proposed taxes
From Our Correspondent

KURUKSHETRA, July 5 — The Kurukshetra Action Committee, at its meeting here today, unanimously decided to give a bandh call for July 7, in protest against the implementation of the Haryana Government’s proposed new house tax, fire tax and professional tax policy. A memorandum will be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner in this regard.

The action committee also decided that its members will hold a demonstration in front of panchayat bhavan here where the Thanesar municipal councillors will meet to pass the resolution regarding the implementation of the proposed tax policy.

According to another decision, the action committee will burn the proposed house tax forms being circulated by the house tax surveying teams, in front of Municipal Council, Thanesar, tomorrow and a public meeting will be organised near Moti Chowk here after burning the forms.

Plan to relocate dyeing units
From Our Correspondent

PANIPAT, July 5 — The Haryana State Pollution Board with representatives of the Japanese Government at a meeting held in New Delhi on June 30, has decided to constitute four teams for the survey of polluting dyeing and chemical printing units in the residential areas of this district.

Talking to “The Tribune”, Mr Dahiya, Executive Engineer of the District Pollution Control Board, said here yesterday that a scheme had been finalised to solve pollution problem in Haryana, particularly in Panipat, by the dyeing and printing units.

The representatives of the Japanese Government told the state pollution control board to submit a project for shifting of such units from the residential areas to newly developed industrial areas. Cost of the project would be borne by the Japanese Government in the form of soft loan to be repaid in around 50-60 years.

The executive engineer said the Haryana Government would provide help to entrepreneurs for shifting their units on subsidised rates which would be finalised soon.

The teams would conduct the survey before July 10, and the units in residential colonies would be taken into consideration for relocation, he said.

Mr Dahiya said the entrepreneurs should cooperate so that the survey could be completed in time and a separate industrial area, exclusively for dyeing and printing units, could be set up.

Acute shortage of power in Bhiwani
From Our Correspondent

BHIWANI, July 5 — The city is facing an acute shortage of power. A detailed working plan was prepared under a World Bank loan scheme for the regular supply of electricity during the Bansi Lal regime. Since then the condition of the M.C. Colony feeder and the Krishna Colony feeder has deteriorated.

The HVPN had planned to build three new feeders so that the load could be divided equally. The then Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, had approved the scheme, but no progress has been made so far. The functioning of the MC Colony feeder has been improved partly and a new 33 KV feeder at Hanuman Gate has been built. As the work has not been completed on this feeder, the consumers could not get the required relief.

Two new feeders were to be constructed at the 220 KV substation, Bapora road, here mainly for the benefit of the Shiv Nagar Colony, Mool Chand locality and the Krishna Soda Water Factory area, but the work on these feeders is still incomplete. Similar is the situation at the Patran gate area.

According to sources, the charge of the construction subdivision has been shifted from Bhiwani to Hisar. Earlier, the construction subdivision was under the Executive Engineer, Urban Area, who was responsible for every work directly.

The consumption during summer has increased by 20 per pent without a commensurate increase in supply. The city faces long power cuts and back outs. No new power connections is being allowed to the industrial sector due to a load problem.

Cleanliness drive yields no results
From Our Correspondent

PANIPAT, July 5 — Despite the nagar parishad conducting a cleanliness drive for 13 days, the situation of the city remains the same. Garbage is seen at every nook and corner of the city and can lead to the spread of cholera, jaundice, malaria and other water-borne diseases.

Water as deep as one foot can be seen on roads in the slum areas. Even in posh colonies like Sukhdew Nagar, Model Town and Bishan Swaroop Colony the condition is no better.

Drains and culverts are chocked and due to the rain, rubbish can be seen floating on the water collected on the roads.

It may be recalled that from June 13, the nagar parishad had inaugurated the cleanliness drive from Gandhi Nagar Colony and the Deputy Commissioner started the campaign with a broom in his hand. However, Monday’s heavy rain exposed the hollowness of the drive.

Under the drive, Gandhi Colony, Salarganj Gate, Pachranga Bazar, Idgah Road, Tehsil Camp, Fatehpuri Chowk, Gurmandi, Green Park, Ram Lal Chowk, Guru Nanak Pura, Pruthi Chowk, Sanjay Chowk, Kishan Pura, Sukhdev Nagar, Weavers Colony, Devi Mandir area, Azad Nagar, etc were cleaned. Ironically, even now piles of garbage can be seen in these areas.

The Congress MLA is also worried about the insanitary conditions as nothing was done by the nagar parishad despite repeated requests from him.

Civil body’s plea to reintroduce octroi

From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, July 5 — Yamunanagar Municipal Council has passed a resolution urging the state government to introduce octroi in Haryana once again.

At the meeting of municipal councillors yesterday under the presidentship of Ms Sangeet Aggarwal, it was unanimously resolved to have octroi introduced in the state on the Punjab pattern. The councillors said with the abolition of octroi all development activities had come to a standstill resulting in the delayed payment of salaries to the employees. Even the civic conditions had also been affected in the town because of a financial constraint, they added.

The councillors said no safai karamchari had been recruited as yet because of economic problems. Ms Aggarwal said the municipal council’s income from octroi was Rs 3.70 crore annually and if octroi was implemented again on the old pattern the council’s income would be between Rs 5 and 6 crore.

Widow’s murder: 4 brothers held
From Our Correspondent

HISAR, July 5 — The police has arrested four more brothers in connection with the murder of a widow and her two sons in Mayyer village.

The arrested brothers — Joginder, Karambir, Jugbir and Jasbir were produced in the court of Mr J.S. Sidhu who remanded them to judicial custody till July 16. The one of the brothers Dharambir had earlier surrendered to the police.

Body to highlight social issues
From Our Correspondent

ROHTAK, July 5 — A section of residents, including intellectuals, have set up a body known as Nagarik Manch Rohtak to highlight social issues.

Stating this the convener of the manch, Mr Shyam Sunder Pasrija, said here today that the manch would be a platform for taking up common causes.

He said the first issue to be taken up by the would be the “unnecessary” delay in the constitution of the Rohtak Municipal Council elections to which were held in April this year. He said even after three months, the body of the council could not be set up and the election of President had been “held up”.

As a result, the newly elected council has not been able to discharge its functions, leading to resentment not only among the members, but also local residents.

He announced that a ‘jan adalat’ would be held at the Bhiwani bus stand here on July to discuss the issue.

Earlier, Mr Gyan Singh, Mr Shubh Ram Balmiki, Mr Rajender Jangra, Mr Ram Singh Saini, Mr Devender Goyal, Dr Raj Kumar Behal, Mr Jeet Singh Dahiya, Mr Raghbir Singh Hooda, Mr Chander Bhan, Mr Ramesh Gandhi, Mr Virender Madhur, Mr Om Prakash and Mr Laxman Singh were elected members of the executive of the manch.