The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Staff shortage bane of college
From Sushil Manav

FATEHABAD: The local Government College for Women is faced with a plethora of problems. These range from a shortage of staff to the lack of some basic facilities.

Although the institution, set up in July, 1998, is still in its infancy, it has attracted a number of students, largely because it is the only girls’ college in the area.

The college was started in the building of Government Girls Senior Secondary School after the then Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, accepted the demand of the people of this area for such an institution at a public rally organised by his party. As the byelection to the Fatehabad assembly seat was at hand, the government decided to immediately start the college without caring to create the necessary infrastructure.

Initially, 246 students took admission to the college which had only BA (part I) and B.Com (part I) classes in that year. It had provision for the teaching of English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Punjabi, political science, economics, home science, mathematics, history and commerce. The government sanctioned the posts of principal, lecturer (12), clerk (one) and class IV employee (five) for the college. The student strength swelled to 450 the very next year and second-year classes (arts and commerce) were started. But the number of lecturers remained unchanged. Now when third-year classes have been introduced this year, the student strength is expected to cross 700.

The institution claims to teach home science as a subject, considered important in a girls’ college. But there is no lecturer in that subject. There is a fairly well-equipped laboratory, but it is of no use in the absence of a teacher.

The government colleges at places like Bhattu Kalan and nalwa have more teachers than the institution here despite having fewer students.

The problems of the college do not end there. It lacks amenities like clean toilets and a common room for the students. There is a library, which is housed in a part of the staff room, but no librarian. The building, too, is in bad shape.

The principal, Mr R.K. Sehgal, says government sanction is needed for at least 24 posts of lecturer against the present 12. He says the college has only two lecturers in English and requires at least two more. It needs two lecturers in home science and one each for the commerce, economics and political science classes.

Despite all odds, 95 per cent of the students cleared the annual examinations in the very first year of the college. This year 92 pc of the students passed the BA (part II) examination conducted by Kurukshetra University.

Cops at the receiving end
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Aug 24 — Policemen seem to be increasingly becoming the “soft target” of road-rage incidents and cases of violence in the district if the recent crime statistics are any indication. At least six police officials have been killed or injured in these incidents in the past several months.

The district, considered one of the most crime-prone areas of the state, has always been in the news on the crime front.

A Sub-Inspector and a sepoy have been crushed to death in cases of road-rage incidents in the past one week. The first incident took place a few days ago near Bamnikhera village, near here, when a truck driver when asked to stop at a police naka crushed Sub-Inspector Rattan Singh and sped away. He died on the spot.

In another incident on Monday last, sepoy Sombir Singh, deputed in the NIT police station, was crushed to death by the driver of a truck on the Badkhal road. The sepoy had reportedly chased the truck on a two-wheeler after it had hit a Maruti car injuring two persons. When he came in front of the truck after intercepting it he was crushed. The incident took place in full public view and has sent a “shock waves” among local residents. They say that if a policeman is not safe what will happen to a common man.

Similarly, a police party which had reportedly gone to arrest some persons in connection with illegal slaughtering at Dhauj village in the district some days ago was attacked with stones, resulting in injuries to two policemen. No arrests have been made so far. A similar incident was reported at a village near Bathin last year when a police vehicle was set afire by some anti-social elements. However, the policemen escaped.

Another “shocking incident” took place in May, 1998, when a police party was fired upon by some car-borne criminals near Ballabhgarh. The car and a truck had been asked by policemen to stop for checking near a village, when the occupants of the car, believed to be escorting the truck loaded with animals, opened fire. The police opened fire in self defence resulting in the death of one of the occupants of the car. The policemen were later assaulted by a mob using stones and bricks at Dhauj village, who came in support of the suspects. A probe was ordered into the incident following which Randhir Singh, a constable, was indicted. Family members and sources close to the constable maintain that he had opened fire in self defence and to stop the vehicle. They claim that while other members of the police party, who also opened fire were “spared,” only the constable was held guilty and no ballistics experts were consulted.

Municipal engineer accused of corruption
From Our Correspondent

PANIPAT, Aug 24 — Ex-president of the BJP Yuva Morcha Rajesh Bhatia and BJP general secretary Suraj Prakash alleged that the Nagar Parishad of Panipat has become a den of corruption.

Both leaders alleged that after taking the oath of chief ministership, Om Prakash Chautala, confirmed that the state would be made corruption-free, but in the absence of election of president of Nagar Parishad, officers are minting money.

They charged that engineer Narender Kumar Jindal with misusing his office and making crores of rupees.

On the G.T. Road, behind State Bank of India unauthorised construction on 4½ acre land of Ballimal Naval Kishore is a clear example of violation of Haryana Urban Act 1975 as requisite development charges had not been recovered, they said.

Similarly near bus stand a shopping complex was also sanctioned by the same municipal engineer, despite knowing that land is disputed and case was in the court for title of ownership. The Nagar Parishad is reported to have allowed the construction on the basis of wrongly approved plan by the municipal engineer, they alleged. Moreover, construction has been done on parking site also but with the connivance of Mr Jindal the Parishad took no action.

They further alleged that another factory was constructed unauthorisedly value of which was assessed by Nagar Parishad at that time around Rs 38 lakh against actual valuation of over Rs 1.5 crore and with the connivance of Mr Jindal, the case was settled after reaching a compromise in open court with a penalty of only Rs 4000 inflicting revenue loss of Rs 25 lakh on Nagar Parishad.

The BJP ex-president and general secretary also alleged that the officiating municipal engineer mutilated official records.

They demanded that the corrupt officer should be immediately transferred and a thorough probe against him ordered.

95,000 looted, three injured
From Our Correspondent

SIRSA, Aug 24 — Five armed men allegedly forced their way into the house of an audio cassette seller, Nazar Singh, injured the owner, his wife and son and looted Rs 95,000 in the local Jagdamba Colony last night.

According to information given by Nazar Singh today last night at 9 pm, when his son Rinku opened the door of their house in response to a knock, Krishan, his former business partner, Sunil and his brothers Sanjay and Kanphora allegedly forced their way inside and started beating them up. They then looted Rs 95,000 kept in the steel almirah.

Nazar Singh said he had earned this money by selling cassettes at Phalgaon during the Amarnath Yatra. Earlier, he and Krishan did business together at Phalgaon during the yatra, but due to some dispute this year he had gone there alone and earned Rs 1.5 lakh, which he had deposited with the Bhandar Sewa Sangh of Barnala.

The matter has been reported to the police.

In another incident, a woman has allegedly been murdered with a sword by her in-laws in Kutabgarh village of the district.

According to information received today, the incident took place last afternoon. Richpal’s wife, Harjinder Kaur, had returned from her parent’s house the day before. On learning this, Richpal’s father and other members of his family reached the house ware Harjinder was staying. Pulling her out of the house, they allegedly killed her with a sword.

Pirated textbooks being sold openly
From Our Correspondent

PANIPAT, Aug 24 — Pirated, cheap textbooks for students of class I to Class XII are daily being openly sold in this district as a result the sale of government book depot has been reduced by about Rs 12 lakh during 1998-2000.

No action has, however, been taken by law enforcement agencies. The department is reported to be under the control of the Chief Minister.

In June an officer from Chandigarh, accompanied by Panipat Sales Depot Manager Madan Lal Jain, raided about a dozen bookshops and got cases registered. However, no follow-up action was taken, with the exception of Capital Book Depot, whose controller has been arrested.

It is alleged that a bookseller of Salarganj Gate supplies pirated textbooks to book depots.

It is reported that when the racket came to the notice of the Chief Minister, he directed Commissioner P.R. Kaushik of the Printing and Stationery Department for action which resulted in the raids. It is also alleged that effort was made by the Panipat Sales Depot Manager to recover pirated books but could not succeed due to the “non-cooperation” by officials of the Education Department.

Fashion does not matter much here
From Rahul Das
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, Aug 24 — Fashion in Ambala, especially among the youth, is outdated and the clothes worn seem to have been caught in a time warp. Despite being near Chandigarh, Ambala does not seem to have moved forward in fashion. When it comes to fashion for girls here, salwar kameez is the preferred outfit, with a varying hemline hovering at the knee-level and an extra dash of colour in the chunni adding colour to the dress.

While pastel shades are in everywhere, printed shades continue to be popular in Ambala. Even simple and elegant dresses are the order of the day all over. It should not come as a surprise to find girls in intricate heavily embroidered suits at social events. If you expect to see girls wearing the popular wrap-arounds and tank-tops, Ambala is the wrong place to be in. If one talks of fashion, Ambala is perhaps in the dark ages, not affected by the world-wide haute couture and oblivious to the latest designs taking the fashion world by storm in India and abroad.

It is not all bad news for fashion here. In the cantonment area, one can still spot young girls wearing cool dresses. The reason is obvious. The children of defence personnel grow up on a liberal diet of broad-minded individualism and they carry themselves off well. So the western outfits like skirts, minis and trousers look fine on them.

The traditional mindset is even reflected in a beauty pageant, Miss Ambala, to be held soon. A promise of the organisers is that there will be no exposure by the participants, who will have to wear only Indian dresses. There are a few shops where one can hope to buy western outfits for girls, those too not of the latest design.

The Principal of Gandhi Memorial National College, Ambala Cantonment, Dr I.D. Shukla, said, "Ambala is surrounded by villages. More than two-thirds of the students in local colleges are from villages and so students wear traditional clothes. There are no established fashion garment shops in Ambala," he said.

Wearing tight jeans by girls is not permitted in GMN College. Dr Shukla explained that the decision was taken in the light of an incident a few years back. "People here have welcomed the decision to not allow tight-fitting clothes in the college," he said. In other colleges, one can still hope to spot a few girls wearing jeans, but that is a rarity.

Kritika says the word fashion does not carry much meaning here. "I wear jeans and I am considered to be modern and fashionable. Nobody would have noticed me if I had gone to Chandigarh," she said.

Sonia, her friend, points out that she sometimes wears jeans while going out with her friends. "But I have never worn jeans when some guests come to our house as we are from a traditional family where wearing western outfits is not encouraged," she states.

Ms Vandana, a National Institute of Fashion Design instructor, observes that people in Ambala are not fashion conscious. "Pedal-pushers are popular elsewhere, but you will not find anyone wearing these in Ambala. Even stretch jeans are on their way out and slight bell-bottoms are in, but here there is no such fashion development," she says. She says shirt collars are in, but not in Ambala. "Square and V-necklines are in and so is 3/4 sleeve. In Ambala, girls still wear full sleeves, which is definitely out," she adds.

'Liberate' Chauhan dynasty palaces
From Our Correspondent

REWARI, Aug 24 — To lend support to the campaign of the Samrat Prithvi Raj Chauhan Foundation for the liberation of historical palaces of the Chauhan dynasty at Neemrana and for the return of the mortal remains of Samrat Prithvi Raj Chauhan from Afghanistan to India, former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar on Tuesday visited Neemrana which lies on the N.H. 8, 42 km from Rewari in the Alwar district of Rajasthan. He planted two saplings of Kalpatree in the Vijay Bagh which belongs to the late Maharaja Rajender Singh Chauhan who was the last descendant of Samrat Prithvi Raj Chauhan. He exhorted the gathering to give co-operation to the movement saying that preservation of historical monuments was essential for the integrity and glory of the country.

Mr Chandra Shekhar, who was to address a press conference at Rewari could not come to Rewari and had to go back to his ashram at Bhondsi near Gurgaon due to sire in his blood pressure. The press conference here was addressed by the national convener of the foundation, Capt Vikram Singh who said that a “Rashtriya Gaurava Raksha Mahayajna. would be held at Neemrana from September 28 to October 5 for the peace of the soul of Samrat Prithvi Raj Chauhan whose mortal remains had been lying interned in mausoleum at Ghazni in Afghanistan for the past 800 years.

He said that retired Army generals of Rajasthan and other areas would call on President K.R. Narayanan on August 25 to invite him to participate in the Mahayajna at Neemrana.

Meanwhile, the foundation had made a representation to the Rajasthan Chief Minister urging him to acquire the historical Neemrana Palace from its present owners and convert it into a national monument.

Cong leader’s bodyguard convicted

KURUKSHETRA, Aug 24 (UNI) — Satpal Singh bodyguard of a former Haryana Congress minister Devender Singh has been convicted and sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 by additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) M.C. Mehra here today.

The CJM, delivering his judgement, said if the accused, a Haryana police constable, failed to pay the fine he would have to undergo imprisonment for another six months. The amount of fine, if recovered, would be paid as a token of compensation to the family of the complainant, he observed.

According to the prosecution, Harish Chander, (24), was killed by a bullet fired from the carbine of Satpal in May 1992, in Thanesar during a brawl between the father of the deceased and his neighbourer Gurmail Singh and his son Mithu. Mithu was killed by the cop who was on duty at the residence of Mr Sharma in connivance with Gurmail Singh.

The Thanesar city police had registered a case against Satpal Singh under Section 304-A of the IPC on May 14, 1992, where as the complainant wanted the case to be registered under Section 302 of the IPC.

The police had recovered the carbine used in the crime along with two empties from the site of the murder.

Satpal Singh had pleaded not guilty and sought lenient sentence on various grounds. The court, however, held that the accused deserved no leniency as he had committed the crime as a police personal.

BDPO to deal with MC affairs
From Our Correspondent

BHIWANI, Aug 24 — The Block Development and Panchayat Officer, (BDPO) Loharu, has been appointed administrator of the Loharu gram panchayat and has been empowered to deal with municipal committee affairs.

Mr S.K. Setaia, SDM (C), said all arrangements would be made by the BDPO. According to him, works of sanitation, water supply, electricity and cleanliness of streets would come under the administrator who had been authorised to recover fee. He would issue receipts after collecting outstanding house tax. The house tax would be charged on half of the existing rates.

Woman beaten up by police
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Aug 24— Resentment prevails among residents of Sikri village over the alleged beating up of a married woman by the police.

The protesting villagers who blocked the national highway were cane-charged yesterday. At least six persons, including three women, were injured in the incident.

According to information, a police party had gone to the village in connection with the murder of a student. The police reportedly asked Guddi, sister of one of the suspects, to accompany it to the police station. The police abused and pulled the woman into the jeep when she and other villagers opposed the action. The said no woman cop was accompanying the police party and demanded the immediate release of the woman.

Policemen reportedly cane-charged the mob. They had come to lift the blockade. Three women were among several others who were injured in the incident.

Dalit Sena activists have condemned the incident.

	Cops beaten up From Our Correspondent FARIDABAD, Aug 24 — Some policemen who had gone to help the removal of encroachment in a nearby village were reportedly beaten up by local people. At least three cops were injured in the incident. A case has been booked against 25 persons in this connection. According to information, the incident took place at Dheeranki village on Tuesday. It is reported that a police party had gone to the village in response to a complaint lodged by one Heera Lal that some influential persons had encroached upon his land in the village Havildar Lal Singh and constables Manoj and Krishan were ‘beaten up’ when there was a heated exchange with them.
	Left protest against power privatisation From Our Correspondent ROHTAK, Aug 24 — Activists of the CPI and the CPM today staged a demonstration at mini secretariat here in protest against the move to privatise power. Addressing the protesters, Mr Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the CPM criticised the Union Government for ‘handing over’ the national economy to the multinational companies under pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. He alleged that step to dissolve the power board and handing it over to private companies would damage the economy and create problems for the consumer. The CPM leader alleged that people in the state were suffering from acute power shortage while the government was frequently increasing power tariff, meter charges, development charges etc.
	Postal delay affects college work From Our Correspondent SIRSA, Aug 24 — The Principal of Lord Shiva Pharmacy College here received letters sent through speed post by the All India Council for Technical Education after a month and a half. This led to delay in starting the pharmacy degree course. According to the Principal of the college, Dr. Kamal Bishnoi said the college could not reply to the queries of the AICTE within the stipulated time. The council letter dated July 6, was received on August 22. In addition to it seven other registered letters and a money order were also delivered to them late.
	Meritorious students to be honoured From Our Correspondent FATEHABAD, Aug 24 — The Kurukshetra University Vice-Chancellor, Mr R.S. Chowdhary, will honour meritorious students here at a function to be organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad on August 26. According to the president of the parishad, Mr A.K. Ummat, meritorious students of the district who have secured the first position in their respective classes will be honoured. A group song competition based on patriotic songs will also be organised on the occasion. Teams from Bhuna, Bhattu and Fatehabad will participate. Mr Chowdhary will also inaugurate science laboratories in the local M.M. College. The college Principal, Dr A.P. Madan, said the local INLD MLA, Mr Leela Krishan Chowdhary, would be present on the occasion.
	Three armed men loot gamblers From Our Correspondent JIND, Aug 24 — Three armed robbers looted lakhs of rupees from a gambling party in a house near the local main bazar yesterday. The exact amount of money looted is not yet known, but according to unconfirmed reports the robbers looted about Rs 4 lakh from the gamblers. Mr Rajpal Singh, SP, said after the incident, the gamblers raised an alarm but soon fell silent realising the illegal nature of their activity. Therefore, the gamblers did not report this incident to the police. The SP said the police had identified the robbers as Sukhbir of Bishanpura village, and Sanjay and Jagbir of Dhatrath village of this district. He said the police has arrested Sukhbir and recovered a knife from his possession.
	Cop injured in attack From Our Correspondent KAITHAL, Aug 24 — A police party was allegedly attacked and a constable injured at Ramgarh Pando village last night. The police registered cases under Sections 33, 353, 216 and 186, IPC, against Suraj Bhan and his wife Birmati and arrested them in connection with the attack. The SP, Mr Parbhat Ranjan Deo, told mediapersons here today that the police on getting information that Randhir, a murder suspect was taking shelter in the house of Suraj Bhan, conducted a raid on his residence. However, it was attacked and constable Nihal Singh sustained injuries. The police had to beat a hasty retreat. Meanwhile, a party of CIA staff has arrested two persons belonging to a gang of motor cycle thieves and recovered four motor cycles from them. In another incident, Rajesh Kumar (19) of Balraj Nagar locality allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train here today morning. The police has registered a case.
	22 officials found absent From Our Correspondent AMBALA, Aug 24 — As many as 22 officials of different government here were found absent when additional Deputy Commissioner Mahender Kumar made a surprise checking there today morning. According to a press release when the ADC conducted checking of Public Health Department (B&R), division no. 1 at 9.05 a.m. three officials, including a peon, were not present there. Similarly, seven employees were also found absent in the subdivision office of the same department. Some employees were also found absent in the electrical division, and the mechanical division. The ADC said that he had directed the head of the departments concerned to take necessary action against the absentee officials. The ADC directed all the officials to reach their offices by 9 a.m. and remain present there till 5 p.m.