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| Monday,
October 30, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Misgivings on autonomy to
colleges 201 poor girls of Kaithal married Rohtak: extortionists’
new destination Fleecing, thefts on
trains Regularise services of teachers:
leader |
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Temple demolition: plot auction on Oct
31 Cop driving ‘stolen’ scooter
identified
Flesh trade racket unearthed; 2 held 3 killed in
accidents Man gets life term for killing wife
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Misgivings on autonomy to
colleges FATEHABAD: A recent initiative of the state government to grant autonomy to some selected colleges has caused widespread apprehensions among teachers. Even senior officials of the Education Department have not been able to remove these apprehensions. The Directorate of Higher Education, Haryana, had written to 20 colleges of repute informing them of its intention to refer their names to the University Grant Commission (UGC) for conferring on them the status of autonomous institutions. The concept mooted in 1966 by the Kothari Commission on Education was incorporated in the New Policy of Education (NPE) in 1986. The concept aims at providing autonomy to some colleges of repute in the matter of admission, designing syllabi as per specific needs of the area, conducting annual examinations and declaring results of various classes. Some prominent colleges from this area, including D.N. College, Hisar, CMK Girls College, Sirsa, and M.M. College, Fatehabad, are among the 20 colleges selected for the purpose. Many of the colleges, that have been selected for this purpose, have yet not sent their consent to the government. Mr R.K. Sehgal, Principal, Government College for Women Fatehabad, says the move is
impractical. Mr Sehgal opposed the move in two meetings held for this purpose in Chandigarh. These meetings were attended by the Education Minister, the Director, Higher Education, and the Financial Commissioner, besides principals of all government colleges. Mr Sehgal says, “We Indians don’t have the moral character required for the success of the policy”. He feared that we may not be able to keep secrets which is the first and foremost requirement in conducting examinations. He added that the administration of colleges may succumb to social and political pressures while declaring results. He says the lack of infrastructure, staff and sufficient funds can hamper the implementation of the policy. He said, instead, the government should take steps to eradicate copying during university examinations. Dr P.S. Sangwan, a noted surgeon of the area and president of the managing committee of C.M.K. Girls College, Sirsa, welcoming the concept said it would succeed only if its implementation was foolproof. Dr A.P. Madan, Principal M.M. College, however is all praise for the move. He says the concept was incorporated in the NPE to achieve academic excellence by waving of stereotyped syllabi and examination methods. Dr Madan says as against 17 universities and 600 colleges in the country at the time of Independence, there are 254 universities and 10,700 colleges in the country. The Indian system of higher education, he says, is the second largest in the world catering to more than seven million students through 3.5 lakh teachers. He opines that it is high time that certain powers are decentralised and pressure on the universities reduced. Notwithstanding the claims of the advocates of the policy, there are apprehensions in the minds of teaching community regarding the fallouts of the move. These apprehensions have gained credence by the remarks of some educationists that have added instead of removing mist from the issue of implications of the policy. Mr R.S. Chowdhary, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, during his recent visit to Fatehabad, is reported to have told certain journalists that powers of the college managements of privately managed and government-aided colleges, regarding appointment and removal of staff would increase, once the colleges were given autonomy. We went on to say that these colleges will get the status of “deemed universities”. The first observation has obviously raised apprehension in the minds of teachers of the privately managed government aided colleges. But the advocates of the autonomy do not agree with the inference drawn by the Vice-Chancellor. They term this as a misconception and add that the services of the college teachers are governed by the security of Services Act 1993 with its amendments and hence the college managements are not going to get any powers of appointment or removal. Whatever autonomy the policy gives, is in academic spheres, they say. They also refute the VC’s claim that the autonomous colleges would get the status of “deemed university” and say that a deemed university has a number of post graduate courses, vocational courses and professional courses. |
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201 poor girls of Kaithal married KAITHAL, Oct 29 — The Haryana Government has earmarked Rs 1 crore under the ‘Kanya Dan’ scheme to provide financial assistance of Rs. 5,100 to girls belonging to Scheduled Castes and Rs. 10,000 to widows belonging to Scheduled Castes, Vimukt jatis and destitute living below the poverty line to enable them to marry their daughters. This was disclosed by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, while presiding over a function organised by the district administration, voluntary organisations and panchayats to solemnise the marraige of 201 poor girls of the district here today. He said Rs. 98.40 lakh had been incurred to provide assistance to 984 widows under the scheme. Mr Chautala called upon the people, especially youths, to join hands with the government in eradicating dowry menace. He expressed his gratitude to the voluntary and social organisations, especially the employees who had contributed their one-day salary for this noble cause. Later, the Chief Minister presided over the ‘Sarkar Aapke Dwar’ programme held at Panchayat Bhavan and redressed the grievances of 36 panchayats and local people. He assured that sufficient funds would be made available for the development of Kaithal district. He also assured the municipal councillors that the municipality would also be provided adequate funds so as to undertake developmental works speedily. While addressing a press conference, Mr Chautala refuted the allegation of opposition parties that the industries were shifting to other states. He said 29 large-scale and 1670 medium and small-scale industrial units had been set up in the state in the past one year. |
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Rohtak: extortionists’
new destination ROHTAK, Oct 29 — The criminal tendency of extorting money from affluent families through phone calls, which had spread a wave of terror in the industrial town of Gurgaon last year, appears to have developed in the town recently. This type of crime, which is common in metropolitan cities, entered Haryana last year when certain industrialists and financially well-off families received threatening calls in Gurgaon. The residents, especially those having sound financial position, got terrorised as the extortionists attacked and even killed some persons who ignored the calls and did not pay the extortion amount. However, the crime was subdued as the government and the police focussed its attention on such incidents and busted an inter-state gang found responsible for such crimes. According to sources certain affluent families in the town got such calls near Divali. They were reportedly threatened of dire consequences in case of non-fulfilment of the demands. In one such case the owner of a renowned C T scan centre here received a threatening call on October 25. The extortionist asked the doctor to reach a certain place and put the money bag on a specified spot if he wanted to save the lives of the members of his family. The frightened doctor sent his children out of the town and confined himself into the house. He also reported the matter to the SSP, Mr P.K. Aggarwal. However, the unidentified caller could not be traced as he did not ring again. When contacted, the doctor admitted that he had got such a call. When asked about the amount and the place specified by the extortionist he evaded the question by saying that it could be a mischief by somebody. Earlier, the owner of Madras Hotel located at Shiela bypass here received a threatening call in the same manner nearly 15 days ago. A case in this connection was registered at Civil Lines police station here. Several such cases might have gone unreported because of the fear of the extortionists. When contacted the SSP said only two persons in the town had received threatening calls in the past 15 days. However, he ruled out the possibility of such a gang being active in the town. |
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Fleecing, thefts on
trains PANIPAT, Oct 29 — Resentment prevails among the rail passengers travelling particularly from Amritsar via Panipat to Katihar in the Barauni Express and up to Kharbanga in the Flying Mail as they are deprived of their cash and valuables allegedly either by law enforcement agencies on duty or pickpockets, particularly at Panipat railway station. Law enforcement agencies have allegedly failed to perform their duties in running trains, particularly from Ambala to Delhi during which journey the Brauni Express has a halt at Panipat station only. It is alleged that nazrana is demanded from general second class passengers, mainly labourers during checks and they are forced to part with their money. If they refused, they are allegedly taken to toilets and searched to recover what ever money is on them. Long-distance general coach travellers are reported to suffer most. They generally ignore the fleecing to avoid any more trouble. When the staff on duty was asked to comment, one of them it was part of their duty to check the belongings of the passengers. But he kept quiet when asked about their responsibility of not permitting anti-social elements, to board the train and travel along with these labourers. Reposts of cases of pickpocketing in trains are not lodged with the GRP by these labourers for fear of seats in general compartments getting lost and misbehaviour by the staff on duty. Moreover, these poor labourers are more concerned with their journey as halt of these
trains is hardly two to five minutes and they do not wish to pick up any fight. |
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Regularise services of teachers:
leader YAMUNANAGAR, Oct 29 — The Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh (HRAS) has demanded the regularisation of the services of temporary and ad hoc teachers. Mr Pardeep Sarin, district president of the sangh, in a press note issued here today said the Haryana Government, on the eve of Haryana Day on November 1, would announce compulsory computer education from Class IX and English from primary classes. He said the government should also announce the regularisation of the services of the ad hoc teachers. He said the Haryana Government had promised that there would be no retrenchment of temporary and ad hoc teachers. He said since the announcement of the list of appointment of Sanskrit, Punjabi, drawing, Hindi, PTI, and JBT teachers, there was uncertainty among the ad hoc teachers, so they were forced to seek help from the judiciary. Mr Sarin said the deployment of non-teaching staff on population census duties next month would hamper the work in schools. He appealed to the government that it should assign this task to voluntary organisations. He also demanded release of the DA instalment and payment of bonus to classes III and IV employees. Mr M.P. Singh, district secretary of the sangh, said a meeting of the executive would be held on November 4 here to decide the further course of action. |
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Temple demolition: plot auction on Oct
31 FARIDABAD, Oct 29 — The recent decision of the Haryana Government to handover a plot of HUDA here for the reconstruction of a temple is seen as a major “setback” to the anti-encroachment drive. The HUDA authorities which had purchased this plot in Sector 28 here in 1974 had earmarked it for auctioning for the development of a nursery school. The date of the auction of this plot with some other plots has been postponed to October 31. It is reported that the authorities concerned have to bring some changes in the conditions for auction of this plot. Earlier, the reserve rate per sq yard for this plot had been kept around Rs 2,000, but as the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, during his visit on October 24 had announced to give the plot to a religious organisation for building a temple, the authorities have been forced to change the terms and conditions for the sale of the plot. The Chief Minister had announced that the plot would be allotted at a rate meant for building religious structures instead of the earlier (commercial) stated rate. The Akhand Paramdham Samiti, which had constructed a temple here and had been agitating against the demolition of the temple, had sought the intervention of the Chief Minister and other organisations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal. It may be recalled that the HUDA had already allotted a plot for the construction of a temple to the VHP in the same sector. While the allotment was done in 1993, the temple by the Akhand Paramdham Samiti was raised about five years ago. A section of local residents have resented the decision of the state government to ‘back track’ on such matters. They claim that this would set a bad precedent. SONEPAT: A former Haryana minister and senior Congress leader, Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, on Sunday demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court into the alleged demolition of a temple and desecration of idols in Sector 28 at Faridabad and stern action against those found guilty. In a press note issued here, he urged Mr Om Prakash Chautala to take immediate steps for the reconstruction of the temple at the same site. He also accused the Faridabad administration of hurting the religious sentiments of the people. The Congress leader also made a fervent appeal to the people in general and religious organisations in particular to maintain peace and harmony keeping in view the prevailing circumstances in the state. He alleged that the district authorities were misleading Mr Chautala over the demolition of unauthorised constructions and structures on public, municipal and panchayat lands which had led to resentment among the people. |
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Cop driving ‘stolen’ scooter identified AMBALA,
According to information, the scooter (HR-05-0095) belongs to Mukesh Gupta, an officer in the Excise and Taxation Department. It was stolen from his residence in Sector7, Urban Estate, Ambala City, on March 15. An FIR was registered with the Urban Estate police post in this regard. After the incident, Mr Gupta visited the police post several times to enquire about his vehicle, but he was informed that no clue was found so far. Mr Gupta told that when he was passing through Mahesh Nagar, Ambala Cantonment, today morning, he noticed that a police official was driving his scooter. Mr Gupta told that he immediately stopped the scooter and asked the cop about it. According to Mr Gupta, the ASI told him that this scooter was recovered a year back and was lying in the police station. He also disclosed that he had been driving for the past six months. After this incident, the ASI visited Mr Gupta’s house and asked him to take back his scooter. Mr Gupta refused to take it back. He said he had sent a telegram to the Superintendent of Police, Ambala, demanding an inquiry into the matter. He demanded that action be taken against the
ASI. |
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Flesh trade racket unearthed; 2 held
AMBALA The police acting on a secret information, raided a house in the Preetnagar locality of the town where two girls, including a minor one, were detained for the unethical job. Both the girls had been brought from West Bengal, who were recovered during the raid. The police has arrested house owner, Manjit Kaur and Madan Lal, who acted as middleman in selling out the girls, while the third one was absconding. The girls, Alpna (20) and Mamuni (16), stated that they belonged to Nadia district of West Bengal. They were sold out by a gang headed by Kubri Mausi at Calcutta to Madan Lal, Manjit Singh and Manjit Kaur. Later, they were kept at the house of Manjit Kaur. The police booked all three, including Manjit Kaur, and had started investigation. |
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3 killed in
accidents SONEPAT, Oct 29 — Two persons, including a driver, were killed and another injured when a truck overturned on the GT Road near Bahalgarh, 10 km from here, yesterday. According to a report, the truck was loaded with iron rods and was on its way from Delhi to Panipat. It hit a big stone lying on the road and the driver lost control. The truck struck the divider and overturned The victims have been identified as Bhagwan Singh, the truck driver, and his associate, Daulat Singh. The injured person was immediately hospitalised and his condition is stated to be out of danger. According to another report, Sahib Singh, a rehriwala, was killed and his associate Radhey Sham sustained injuries when they were hit by a car on the GT Road near Palo Munyari, 16 km from here, yesterday. The injured person was admitted to a hospital. |
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Man gets life term for killing wife ROHTAK, Oct 29 — A man found guilty to killing his wife has been awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000 by the Sessions Court here. Additional Sessions Judge Shiva Sharma recently held Om Prakash, a resident of Karonth village in the district, guilty of murdering his wife. According to the prosecution, the victim, Shakuntala, was married to Om Prakash and her sister, Nirmala, was married to Ram Niwas-a brother of her husband. Om Prakash and Shakuntala had two sons Sunil and Sandeep. Shakuntala went to her parental home about seven years ago after her husband started suspecting her character, which had led to frequent quarrels between the couple. Nirmala deposed that Om Prakash and his younger brother Sarwen were seen abusing Shakuntala on September 1, 1996, at their house. Sunil was also an eyewitness to this, she said in her statement, adding that Sarwen caught hold of Shakuntala and Om Prakash hacked her to death with an axe. The proceedings against Sarwen had been dropped after he died during pendency of the trial. |
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35 roadways staff members honoured SONEPAT, Oct 29 — As many as 35 employees of the Haryana Roadways were honoured for their contribution to the rise in the income of the Sonepat depots by Mr H.C. Jain, General Manager of the Haryana Roadways, at a function held here yesterday. According to official sources, prizes are given to employees every month. |
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