 |
| Tuesday, October 24, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
|
Recruitments leave politicians
sulking Job scheme ‘misused’
to benefit rich Parmanand visits
GJU campus Pay toll tax to cross new
flyover 11 cr drainage scheme for
Sirsa |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Mishap in front of MUL, driver
dies Poll roll revision
from Nov 2 Trauma centre
for Karnal Dilemma over
baby’s birth Ensure MSP for Haryana
farmers, Hooda asks CM Relief package
belated, says Krishak Samaj Vidrohi seeks ban on fund collection Karamchari sangh
threatens stir Without pay for 3 months,
staff protest Teachers resent UGC decision 3 held for rape of minor
|
|
Recruitments leave politicians
sulking FATEHABAD, Oct 23 — The recent recruitments to the Haryana police from this district have received public admiration for the transparency observed in the selection procedure and due to the fact that a number of youths who had excelled in various sports and other co-curricular activities have been selected. Preference was also given to those who were computer savvy and those who belonged to very poor families. While the recruitments have allegedly left some politicians of the ruling INLD “sulking” as they had been hoping to “induct” some of their supporters, the selection procedure has received applause from a number of social organisations, panchayat and zila parishad members. Even the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, praised the recruitment during his visit here yesterday, and declared that if any one could prove the role of money in the selections, he would get him his money back along with interest. A glance at the list shows that most of the candidates selected have been sportsmen of their college, university or state. The candidate at merit number one is a state-level athlete and secured the fourth position in the state-level sports event in the 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres and 800 metres events. The boy at merit number three was a university-level player and remained third in the university in the javelin throw event. He is a graduate. The boy on merit number four is also a graduate and has passed a computer course and on merit number five was a state-level player of kabaddi and handball and university-level player of football. Of the 32 candidates selected against open seats, 16 are graduates. One has passed diploma in physical education and at least three are those who have done various computer courses. Some of them are pursuing their post-graduate studies. In some cases, preference has been given to poor and needy. A son of a retired school master who died recently has been selected. A son of labourer and a fatherless boy has also been selected. At least 25 out of the 32 are sportsmen. In all, there were 80 seats of constable in the district out of which 37 were open and the rest reserved for various categories. But eight seats out of 12 for exservicemen remained vacant as no suitable candidate could be found for these posts. Similarly, five more posts in various categories remained vacant as seven candidates were rejected at the time of medical check-up. The transparency in the recruitment was possible largely due to the upright and unbending SP, Mr Shrikant Jadhav, who refused to budge under pressure from politicians. Mr Jadhav said the efforts had been made to induct able and efficient youths in the police. |
|
Job scheme ‘misused’
to benefit rich SONEPAT, Oct 23 — Lack of proper planning has rendered the Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojna unless. Actual beneficiaries have been left out and the greedy have allegedly gained in connivance with bureaucrats, politicians and bankers. According to official sources, unscrupulous elements misuse this scheme to defraud banks. The bureaucrats and politicians have allegedly pressurised the banks to depart from the rules and regulations to benefit the wrong candidates. The processing of the applications gets delayed at different levels and recommendations of the task force committee are not honoured by the bank authorities. Under the scheme, educated unemployed youths were to be sanctioned loans up to Rs 35,000 to set up industries or start a business. The government, however, liberalised the rules and the applicants were not required to furnish any surety or guarantee for the loans. Officials, however, maintain that only genuine applicants were given the loans. But, the list reveals that only influential persons or their relatives or those who enjoyed the support of political bosses got the lion’s share and real aim of the scheme to provide help to the poorer sections of the society remained a dream. In some cases, candidates who running some business and were not eligible for the loans were accommodated under political pressure. Meanwhile, the
district unit of the Non-Employed Persons Sangh has alleged that bank officers of Punjab National Bank and other bank managers had harassed loan seekers. It has demanded a probe into the racket by transferring the bankers allegedly involved in the racket. |
|
Parmanand visits
GJU campus HISAR, Oct 23 — The Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand, who is also the Chancellor of Guru Jambheshwar University, visited the university campus last evening for the first time after becoming the Governor. During the visit, he addressed the professors, deans, heads of departments and officers of the university. Dr R.K. Chauhan, Vice-Chancellor, Dr H.L. Verma, Pro-Vice Chancellor, and the Registrar, Mrs Deepti Umashankar, apprised the Governor of the educational, technical, engineering and scientific achievements of the university. The Governor asked the faculty to encourage research which the commoner could use. Research for the sake of identifying problems was of no use, he added. The Governor also went round the Religious Study Centre-cum-Library of the university where he enquired about the maintenance and functioning of the library. He also paid obeisance to Guru Jambheshwar after whom the university had been named. The Governor also planted a sapling in the university campus. |
|
Pay toll tax to cross new
flyover FARIDABAD, Oct 23 — Residents and other users will have to pay for the facility of a new flyover constructed to link the National Highway with the New Industrial Township (NIT) area here. The flyover constructed by the private sector at a cost of Rs 24 crore will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala tomorrow. The flyover is the fourth one in this industrial city of the state. Known as Bata Flyover, it will provide access to the NIT area which has a population of over 10 lakh. Earlier, two flyovers known as Neelam Flyover and Badkhal Overbridge have been linking the two parts of the town which is divided by the main railway lines connecting Delhi and Agra. Another flyover at Ballabgarh town has linked rural parts and National Highway No. 2. But the main concern that seems to be worrying the local residents is the idea of toll tax on the new flyover. It is stated that tax would be applicable on every type of vehicle and it would continue for seven years or till the total cost of the flyover is recovered. According to several persons, the rate of toll Tax is very high and it would prove a major burden on the people, for whom the overbridge had been constructed. According to the district authorities, the toll tax structure ranges from Rs 5 to Rs 50 per vehicle and if one intends to cross more than once, the owner could pay one-and-a-half times for crossing the flyover both ways. Heavy vehicles like road rollers, earth movers and cranes (multi-axle) will have to pay Rs 50, trucks, and trailers Rs 30, while pick-up vans, motor cars, buses and tractor trailers will be charged Rs 20 per trip. Jeeps cars, motor (auto) rickshaws will have to pay Rs 10 and the two-wheelers, including motor cycles mopeds, and scooters will be charged Rs 5. For this, toll tax barriers have been set up. The flyover has been constructed by the Transport Corporation of India (TCI) infrastructure company in a period of about two years. The authorities claim that the construction had been completed about five months ahead of schedule. They have also claimed that the old Neelam Flyover will not be closed for two-wheelers and light vehicles as speculated. It would be closed for heavy vehicles only. |
|
11 cr drainage scheme for
Sirsa DARBA KALAN, Oct 23 — Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, while redressing the grievances of the panchayats of Darba Kalan Assembly constituency today announced that in order to resolve the water logging problem of eleven villages of this area, a 32 km long drain from Tarkanwali village to river ghaggar would be dug up at a cost of eleven crore. He said this drain besides draining brackish water from water logged areas would also help in flowing out excess rain water from the flooded areas during the rainy season. He said that it would enable to reclaim 20,000 acres of water logged land belonging to Tarkanwali, Nathusari Kalan and Khurd, Ludesar, Makhosrani, Daba, Manakdewan, Nehrana, Nehranwali, Kairanwali and Banmandori villages which would become fit for cultivation. The saline water of these villages would fall into the Darba Ghaggar main drain through three link channels namely Banmandori link drain, Ludesar link drain and Kairanwali link drain. The Chief Minister also announced that in order to ensure sufficient potable drinking water to the people in these areas, six new waterworks would be constructed at a cost of Rs three crore. The government would make every endeavour to provide irrigation water to the tail-end of minors and watercourses in the state so that farmers did not face any problem during the ensuing rabi season. He said the government would also take up repair and construction of watercourses all over the state at its own expenses. During previous regimes the farmers had to bear the cost of repairs. The Chief Minister said the government had entrusted more powers to Panchayati Raj institutions for the all-round development of rural areas. Gram sabhas will be organised in the village from November 15 to constitute committees which would have sarpanch, panch, ex-sarpanch and prominent citizens of the village as its members. These would superwise. He also made inquires about the progress on various announcements made by him during the first phase of this programme. He announced that as per the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, only those schools would be upgraded which fulfilled norms. Vacant Posts of teachers would be filled by November 15 and new teachers would have to serve in rural areas for at least 5 years. They would not be transferred during this period. Teachers working in urban areas who had not served in rural areas would also have to serve in rural areas. The Chief Minister instructed that local bus services be streamlined and the bus at all the villages. He also ordered the construction of a small bridge near Jorkiyan and setting up of a permanent police post at Kagdana village for the benefit of villagers. |
|
Mishap in front of MUL, driver
dies GURGAON, Oct 23 — Singara, a driver of Asnil Transporter, engaged with the Maruti Udyog Ltd died in an accident this afternoon in front of the factory gate. Members of the Maruti Udyog Employees Union (MUEU), spearheading an agitation against the
management, were quick to cite the incident as an example of the cavalier approach of the management towards its employees. Singara, reportedly died as the car carrier which was parked in front of the factory gate in neutral gear, rolled and crashed with a pillar of the gate. The driver was crushed between the rolling carrier and the pillar. The MUL management stated that the accident occurred due to negligence of the deceased
driver, who was not an employee of the MUL. The police has registered a case. Meanwhile, dozen of workers and members of the MUEU today alleged to newsmen that a section of the leaders of the union were playing into the hands of the competitors of the MUL. The
workers, who claimed that they were initially taking part in the agitation withdrew after they were convinced of foul play by the union leaders and interference of the competitors of the MUL. The management authorities,
however, made guarded response to the charge of outside hand in the ongoing agitation. It said it had no concrete evidence to concur with the charge. However, if some tried to work against the interest of the company by tarnishing its image and impeding its
production, their loyalty was bound to be questioned, the management added. The timing of the agitation and the events preceding it have also raised suspicions in the minds of a section of the authorities of the MUL. October marks the onset of auspicious days and festivals, including Divali. All enterprises look forward to more sale of their products. According to
records, there has always been rush for purchase of cars during the days preceding Divali. A senior management official said that due to slump in the daily production of cars on account of the agitation, the company was not able to meet the demand in the
market. With products like Maruti Zen facing competition from brands like Matiz and Santro, the competitors are bound to benefit from the labour problem in MUL. A section of workers said they were convinced of the union leaders playing in the hands of MUL’s competitors as they had not served demand notice to the management. The leaders had always kept the workers in the dark about their talks with the management. Even all the office-bearers were not part of the meetings with the management. They refuted the charges levelled by the union leaders that the management had kept the workers and apprentices in illegal confinement and was forcing them to work. According to them, in some cases the union leaders were dissuading the workers from reporting for their duty. The MUL management took newsmen around the factory complex to show that no worker had been kept in illegal confinement. The management today expressed the confidence that the daily production of cars would reach to 1000 cars by Saturday. In normal times the company produces 1400 cars each day. The management continues with its tough stand against the workers who were dismissed or suspended. The action taken against them was unrelated to the ongoing agitation. They resorted to acts of violence on some of the workers who did not want to associate with the agitation, it added. A few days ago, a worker died in the factory premises and a body of an apprentice was found near a railway crossing. The two deaths occurred on the same day. The viscera of the worker has been sent to Karnal and the report is still awaited. Indications from hospital sources are that he had died of a cardiac arrest. The postmortem was done here. The body of the apprentice has been sent to the Rohtak Medical College and Hospital for postmortem. The apprentice, had left the factory for a medical check up. He did not report for duty the next day. His body was found in a nullah near a railway crossing. The union has urged the Governor for a judicial probe into the two deaths. The union has made an issue of the deaths. |
|
Poll roll revision
from Nov 2 CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — Special revision of the electoral rolls of all 90 assembly constituencies in Haryana will be undertaken from November 2 this year to January 2 next year. The Joint Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana, Mr R.K. Rao, said as per the directions of the Election Commission of India, the publication of the draft rolls would take place on November 2 and the period for filing claims and objections would be between November 2 and 30. He said the special campaign dates would be November 11, 12, 25 and 26, whereas the disposal of claims and objections and preparing and printing of supplements would take place on December 30. The final publication of the electoral rolls would be on January 2 next year. He said the rolls of each constituency of relevant part or parts thereof, as the case might be, would be available for inspection with the designated officers at all polling stations, the offices of the Deputy Commissioners, Subdivisional Offices, (Civil), District Election Officer, Electoral Registration Officers, Revenue Tehsildars and District Public Relations Officers, and patwarkhannas, panchayat ghrars and municipal committees from November 2 to November 30 during normal office hours. |
|
Trauma centre
for Karnal KARNAL, Oct 23 — The Union Government has sanctioned a sum of Rs 1.50 crore for setting up a trauma centre at Karnal. This was disclosed by Dr M.L. Ranga, Minister of State for Health, Haryana yesterday. He said this centre, between Chandigarh and Delhi on the G.T. Road, would save accident victims. Such cases at present had to be removed either to the PGI, Chandigarh, or to the Medical College, Rohtak. He admitted that as the number of accidents had been increasing with increasing traffic, there was need for modern facilities in all the hospitals and health centres between Chandigarh and Delhi. The minister said in order to provide better medical facilities to the rural poor, the state government had recruited 200 doctors during the past two months. Each primary health centre in the rural areas has a doctor now. Dr Ranga further disclosed that it has been ensured that a dental surgeon was appointed in each block of the state. The minister said the European Commission would be providing medical aid for three districts in the state. The district of Karnal is one of them. Under the scheme all expenditure relating to medical facilities, including buildings, staff and transport etc. would be funded by the commission. Dr Ranga said it was being envisaged to bring more districts under the purview of the European Commission. |
|
Dilemma over
baby’s birth YAMUNANAGAR, Oct 23 — A peculiar situation arose when a newly appointed JBT teacher delivered a baby one day after joining her service. According to official sources, the department concerned is now in a dilemma whether or not to grant her six months maternity leave as per government rules because she has only one day service to her credit. The District Primary Education Officer, had issued her an appointment letter for Government Primary School, Mehar Majra, in Yamunanagar district. According to the information, the teacher got herself examined at the Civil Hospital, Yamunanagar, after receiving the letter. It was mentioned in the medical report that she was pregnant. According to rules of the state government, a lady teacher can go on maternity leave for six months for the birth of the first two children. Mr P.L. Bhabbar, District Education Officer, Yamunanagar, revealed that the case has been brought to his notice and as per state government letter CS IIR No. 43/14/98-I GS-I dt. 5/4/99 such a privilege exists. |
|
Ensure MSP for Haryana
farmers, Hooda asks CM CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, chief of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), has asked Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala to desist from “playing with the sentiments” of farmers. In a statement issued here today, Mr Hooda said that during the Sunam byelection in Punjab, Mr Chautala had asked Punjab farmers to bring their paddy to Haryana mandis. However, soon after, the entry of paddy from Punjab to Haryana mandis was banned, Mr Hooda said and added that subsequently the same trick was played by the Haryana Chief Minister on farmers of Uttar Pradesh. He said farmers in Haryana were already facing a lot of hardship. While in the northern areas farmers were finding it difficult to sell their produce at remunerative prices, the southern districts were reeling under a drought-like situation. He asked the Chief Minister to stop “doling out sugar-coated promises” and ensure that the Haryana farmers received the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce without any difficulty. In another statement, Mr Hooda said that BJP President Bangaru Laxman’s recent statement made at Bahadurgarh, saying that Mr Chautala should take the initiative to resolve the SYL tangle, clearly showed that Mr Chautala was not interested in any solution to the contentious issue. |
|
Relief package
belated, says Krishak Samaj CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Haryana Krishak Samaj has described the relief package for paddy growers of the state as a belated step taken by the Centre and the state governments to suppress the anger of the farmers. In a statement issued here today the general secretary of the samaj, Mr Satpal Kaushik, said the farmers had already sold two-thirds of their produce at distress rates. The so-called package , he alleged, would now be used by the powers that be to favour their favourites. Mr Kaushik alleged that the Centre and the state had been indifferent to the plight of the paddy growers even though the sale of paddy had started about a month ago. The growers had been protesting against the low price of paddy. The package, he said, did not say anything about the compensation admissible to those farmers who had sold their paddy below the minimum support price as had been done in the case of Punjab. |
|
Vidrohi seeks
ban on fund collection SONEPAT, Oct 23 — The President of the Haryana Pradesh Janata Dal (U), Mr Ved Parkash Vidrohi, yesterday criticised the forcible collection of funds in the name of Red Cross, Child Welfare Council and the Olympic Association by the officials of various government departments in the state. He alleged that the money was being misappropriated. In a statement issued to the press here, he demanded an immediate ban on such collections as it tarnishes the image of the government. He urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to intervene in the matter and asked for scrutiny so that the money received from the public does not go into the pockets of the officials. He also criticised the bureaucrats for going to foreign countries on the plea of promoting the sports. Mr Vidrohi suggested that the presidents of sports organisations should be appointed from sportsmen only and the bureaucrat should be barred from becoming presidents. Sports events are not properly promoted due to lack of knowledge on the parts of the bureaucrats. The JD leader also expressed concern over the non-payment of support price of paddy and added that the government had failed to safeguard the interests of the farmers. He criticised the Chief Minister for the sad plight of the farmers as he had not taken effective measures to ensure that the paddy, cotton and other kharif crops were not sold less than the support price. He asked the partners of the NDA government at the Centre to put an end the anti-farmer policies. |
|
Karamchari sangh
threatens stir ROHTAK, Oct 23 — Charging the government with adopting a discriminatory attitude towards the municipal employees, the Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh has threatened to launch a statewide agitation on November 3. Addressing the employees of different municipalities yesterday, Mr Poonam Chand Rati, president of the sangh, alleged that the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had ditched the municipal employees. He said Mr Chautala used to assure them of timely acceptance of their “just” demands when he was in the Opposition. But he alleged that the Chief Minister backtracked after coming to power and dissolved 29 municipalities in the state. He alleged that the retrenched employees had neither been adjusted nor paid salaries for the past four months. On the other hand, the employees leader alleged that the Chief Minister tried to please the training community by abolishing octroi. Mr Rati further said the sangh would observe November 10 as “demand day” and send a 20-point charter to the government. Besides, he said a “jan jagaran” campaign would be started by holding district-level conventions from November 6 all over the state. |
|
Without pay for
3 months, staff protest HISAR, Oct 23 — Employees of the Haryana Pashudhan Vikas Board staged a dharna in front of the office of the chief superintendent of the local Government Livestock Farm today in protest against the non-payment of their salaries. Later, they took out a procession and submitted a memorandum in the office of the Deputy Commissioner. A large number of women also participated in the procession. Addressing the dharna, leaders said the employees were facing difficulty as the board had not release their salaries for the past 3 months. With Divali just three days away, employees would be forced to celebrate a black Divali, they added. They alleged since the formation of the board, the Animal Husbandry Department had been facing a financial crisis. They alleged the higher officials of the board were spending the money on unproductive projects. |
|
Teachers resent
UGC decision SONEPAT, Oct 23 — Government College teachers of the state are feeling cheated by the recent decision of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the directives of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to grant the benefits of “Carrier Advancement Scheme” from July 27, 1998 and November 6, 1998 instead of January 1, 1996. They expressed resentment against the failure of the UGC and the state government to promote them for the past many years. The Government College Teachers Welfare Association yesterday criticised the UGC and said it was ridiculous that the grades of the lecturers were revised with effect from January 1, 1996. But, the benefits of senior and selection grades were being given to the lecturers from July 1998. It described the decision of the UGC as an injustice and said the Central Government had already granted such benefits to its employees from January 1, 1996 on the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. |
|
3 held for rape of minor FARIDABAD, Oct 23 — The police has arrested three youths in connection with the rape of a minor in Ballabgarh town of the district. According to information a 13-year-old girl, studying in the sixth standard was lured away on some pretext by three youths from Subhash Colony of Ballabgarh town recently. The accused, identified as Vir Singh of Vishnu Colony, Satpal and Sanjay took the girl away in a car and allegedly gang-raped her. The police has registered a case under Section, 366, 376, 506 and 120-B of IPC after the victim told her parents about the incident. In another incident the police arrested eleven persons on charges of gambling at various places. An amount of around Rs 9000 was seized from them. A labourer identified as Birbal of Mainpuri in UP died after he was electrocuted in a factory. Sham Lal an employee of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam was seriously injured in a similar incident. |
|
Irrigation schedule
announced CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Haryana Irrigation Department today issued a rotational programme for the running of channels of the Narwana and Sirsa branch system for the rabi season. The rotation will commence from October 23 and last till May 2 next year. An official spokesman for the department said the irrigation schedule, which would be followed rigidly, had been divided into three groups of eight days
each. |
|
UN Day to be
observed today CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Haryana Government today decided to observe United Nations Day on October 24. A circular issued by the Chief Secretary said all heads of department had been directed to organise group programmes and raise the UN Flag along with the National Flag. |
|
Seats created for
Kashmir migrants CHANDIGARH, Oct 23 — The Haryana Technical Education Department today approved a proposal of the Union Government to increase two seats in each engineering branch, MCA, MBA, Architecture and Pharmacy, in all institutions approved by the AICTE and affiliated to Maharshi Dayanand University at Rohtak. An official spokesman said the additional seats now created would be exclusively meant for Kashmir migrants for the session 2000-2001. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 120 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
