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| Saturday,
November 25, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Rathore’s removal
sought High Court 75 gram samitis
constituted Decision on gram samitis welcomed 10 more dismissed as strike
continues |
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Haryana plan to check
prisoners’ escape Hisar slums to get dispensary Bahadurgarh sans basic amenities 1,000 posts of teacher
lying vacant Realising electricity dues, Haryana way
7,256 sponsored for bank loans Staff shortage hits
college functioning Cinema hall raided,
films seized Paroda’s removal “groundless” Bank official held for graft Ban on entry of
heavy vehicles Lawyers’ convention Scouts’ rally to be
held at Karnal 4 arrested for hooch deaths 6 peddlers held, drugs seized
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Rathore’s removal
sought HISAR, Nov 24 — Dr Rajender Singh Malik, president of the Hisar circle of the BJP, has demanded immediate removal of Mr Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore, Director-General of Police, from his post. In a press note issued here today, he said the DGP had no right to continue in his post after his implication in the Ruchika molestation case by the CBI. He said the state government was setting a wrong example by allowing Mr Rathore to continue in his post even after filing of a charge sheet in a court. Mr Malik demanded that other police officers who had helped Mr Rathore terrorising Ruchika’s family should also be booked. BHIWANI: Mr Balbir Singh Grewal, president of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Haryana, has urged all Opposition parties to unite for the removal of Mr Rathore from his post. In a press note issued here today, he held Mr Rathore responsible for the suicide of the tennis player, Ruchika. He alleged that Mr O.P. Chautala was shielding a police officer who had been chargesheeted by the CBI. |
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High Court CHANDIGARH, Nov 24 — Mr Justice M. L. Singal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to the Haryana Government and other respondents for January 21 on petition filed by the Civil Surgeon of Kurukshetra and stayed the operation of the decree passed by the trial court in a failed tubectomy (nasbandi) case. Raj Rani, a resident of Kurukshetra, had undergone tubectomy operation in connection with the family planning drive but it failed. She became pregnant and bore a child. She filed a petition in the trial court which directed the Civil Surgeon to pay her Rs 30,000 as compensation. The Civil Surgeon challenged the order in the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge and the latter upheld the trial court’s decree. Notice to Haryana
in murder case Mr Justice Amar Dutt of the High Court today issued a notice of motion to the Haryana Government and other respondents for November 29 on a petition by the Palwal MLA, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, for sealing the entire record relating to the death of Ms Sumitra Chaudhary in September. Mr Dalal alleged in his petition that the present government was inimical to him and was trying to nail him in a criminal case and might tamper with the record of the case. The police had already booked Mr Dalal and his brother and their close relatives in the murder case. Mr Dalal had been granted interim anticipatory bail till November 29. Status quo in
promotion case A Division Bench of the High Court ordered the status quo in a promotion case filed by two petitioners, Mr Sadhu Singh and Mr B.L. Grover, both Under-Secretaries in Haryana Civil Secretariat, who had sought the quashing of the seniority list prepared by the state government on May 17. The petitioner had made Haryana’s Chief Secretary and 77 others some of them retired Under-Secretaries, as respondent in the case. Some of them were due for promotion to the post A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Amarbir Singh Gill and Mr Justice V.S. Aggarwal, while handing down the order, ruled “the status quo qua the petitioners” and issued dasti notice to the state government for November 27. The petitioner demanded the quashing of the impugned seniority list as well as promotions of the respondents. The petitioners termed these actions as contravention of the law laid down by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the Ajit Singh versus State of Punjab and Sube Singh Bahmani versus State of Haryana cases. The petitioners also sought promotion as Deputy Secretaries by correcting the seniority list. |
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75 gram samitis
constituted YAMUNANAGAR, Nov 24 — Seventyfive gram vikas samitis have been constituted in the district, the process for which was started from November 15 by the state government. Mr Rajiv Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, said here yesterday that Block Development Panchayat Office (BDPO), Tehsildar, Naib Tehsildar, SDO and others have been appointed as supervisors of the samitis. He said it would be beneficial for the people of the villages as they would be able to directly communicate with the Chief Minister because the development funds would be sent to the gram vikas samitis directly through cheques and would be deposited in a separate account. The accounts would be operated by sarpanch and two other members of the Samitis. He added that the samitis need not take permission from officers for development works at their villages. The money would be made available to them and the plan of the work would also be made by them. He further said engineers could give only technical advice. He said a graduate from the village would be appointed by the samitis as gram vikas assistant and the panchayat concerned would give him suitable honorarium. This assistant would lookafter the electricity bills, old age pension and meter reading also so that the complaints of the villagers relating to the subjects could be solved. He said the apprehensions of some people about the samitis were baseless because the sarpanch of a village would be the head of the samiti and it would include a woman, one Scheduled Caste and one Backward Class panch as members. In addition to this, one ex-serviceman and two prominent persons of the village chosen by the gram sabha would also be the members of the samiti. In the case of development of school, the principal concerned would be included as an additional member. |
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Decision on gram samitis welcomed SIRSA, Nov 24 — The village panchayats in Haryana will not have to run after government departments for taking up any development work in their village, thanks to the decision of the state government to constitute Gram Vikas Samiti’s in every village, which would be headed by the sarpanch of the village. According to the INLD district president, Mr Padam Jain, the samitis will have one member each from the panchayat belonging to the Scheduled Castes woman and a backward class person besides an ex-serviceman and two other prominent persons of the village as its members. The engineers working with technical departments of the government will only provide technical guidance to the panchayats executing the work. The process of constituting the Samitis of the district had begun from November 15 and after the formation of all samitis, the government would send the amount directly to the village panchayats through a cheque, which would be deposited in a bank under separate account named as Gram Vikas Fund. An unemployed youth, possessing a graduate degree, of the same village would be appointed as an assistant to look after the accounts work of the samiti. In addition, he would also perform other works like disbursement of old age pension, distribution of electricity bills and taking the reading of household electricity meters in the village. The assistant would in a way, act as a bridge between the government machinery and the panchayat. He would also inform the villagers about the visit of officers of the district administration and other dignitaries to the villages, Mr Jain said. The district INLD chief further said the samitis would get the work done according to the needs of their villages as they were better aware of the requirements of the village. This step would also help in curbing corruption prevalent in the government departments and the works would be completed in the stipulated time without any delay, he said, adding that the construction cost on the works done through these samitis would also be expected to come down as compared to that of government departments. The sarpanch of Kharian, village Mr Ram Kumar and sarpanch of Kagdana village, Mr Vijay Singh, termed the decision to form village samitis as a step in the direction to realise the dream of “gram swaraj”. Similarly, the sarpanch of Jamal, village Mr Munshi Ram, was of the view that the sate government had made efforts to involve rural people in matters of governance by giving more financial powers to the Panchayati Raj institutions. The noval idea of the Haryana Chief Minister regarding formation of Gram Vikas Samitis and giving more financial powers to the Panchayati Raj institutions was widely appreciated here. |
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10 more dismissed as strike
continues CHANDIGARH, Nov 24—As the Haryana Government dismissed 10 more of its employees, the pen-down strike by the staff belonging to the general categories and backward classes threatened to assume dangerous dimensions on the ninth day of its second phase today. Undeterred by the dismissals, employees belonging to these categories in the Haryana Civil Secretariat, the mini-secretariat and other offices did not work. As usual they held a day-long rally outside 30-Bays Building, where several Haryana Offices are located. An unfortunate aspect of the ongoing stand-off between the government and its employees is the dragging of the name of the state Governor, Babu Parmanand,
into controversy. An effigy of the Governor was placed at the venue of the rally. Slogans against him were raised and a group of women, ostensibly the wives of certain striking employees, which came from the Sector 39 government residential colony, hurled shoes at the effigy. However, leaders of the employees expressed regret over the incident before newsmen and said there was no call from their side for such an action. The anger against the constitutional head arose from the alleged casteist bias on his part. The employees dismissed today were Mr Prem Sharma, Mr Chaman Lal, Mukesh, Mr Mahavir Fogat, Mr Prem Takshak, Mrs Shashi Sharma, Mr Dhoop Singh, Mrs Shakuntala Devi, Mr Dharamvir Malik and Mr Dharamvir Dhanda. The ranks of the striking employees are slowly swelling. A large number of employees of the Legal Remembrancer’s Branch joined the pen-down strike. The Drivers Association and the Personal Staff Association also extended their support to the strike. Employees working in the office of the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, too, extended their moral support to the striking staff. The employees are demanding the implementation of the Supreme Court judgement in the Ajit Singh Janjua case and reversion of certain Scheduled Castes employees, which was first ordered by the state government and subsequently stayed by it. A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has meanwhile ordered that the status quo should be maintained on the reversion issue. The next hearing before the high court has been fixed for November 27. |
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Haryana plan to check
prisoners’ escape SONEPAT, Nov 24 — The Haryana Government is contemplating to launch a plan to reduce the chances of undertrials escaping from police custody on their way from jails to the courts and vice-versa. Giving this information, Mr S.S. Deswal, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Railways, told mediapersons here today that every district jail would be connected through the use of information technology (IT) with the judicial courts and video cameras would be installed both in jails and courts. He added that the undertrials, instead of being produced physically before the trial judicial magistrate, would be shown on the video cameras to enable the judicial magistrates to satisfy himself about the identity and other details of the accused on the cameras. He claimed that it would eliminate the chances of criminals escaping from police custody. He added that this would also save the expenditure on the transportation and deployment of the police force. |
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Hisar slums to get dispensary HISAR, Nov 24 — After a long wait, many slums of the town will get a dispensary on Sunday when the Chief Secretary, Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, inaugurates it at Shiv Nagar near Mill Gate here. The dispensary will be run by a Trust. Despite a longstanding demand by the residents, the district administration could not provide proper healthcare facilities in Shiv Nagar, Vinod Nagar, Dhani Shyam Lal and the Barah Quarter Road, where one third of the total population of the town resides. Though there is a Primary Health Centre in the nearby Government colony but due to lack of staff and medicines it failed to serve the slum dwellers. However, in 1996 a community center was constructed in the area with financial help from the MPs local area development fund. There are four halls in the building. It also has a library, a bank and a veterinary hospital. A provision for housing a dispensary was also made. But after the completion of the building, the MP, who had provided funds developed serious differences with the then Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal. As a result, the government did not sanction staff and the building remained unutilised for four years. After the change of guard in the state, the municipal authorities suggested that the Salig Ram and Sushila Chetal Dharmarth Trust should open a dispensary in the building. The trust has been set up in memory of the late parents of Mrs Surina Rajan, IAS, Director of Local Bodies, Haryana. Mr Santosh Chetal, trustee, said the Trust would appoint a permanent doctor for the dispensary. The Trust would provide free medical aid to the residents. He said that the trust would hold a free medical check up camp on Sunday in collaboration with the Rotary Club. |
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Bahadurgarh sans basic amenities JHAJJAR, Nov 24 — Faced with apathy on part of the authorities towards its problems, the subdivisional town of Bahadurgarh is without basic amenities. This bordering town of Haryana, with population over one and half lakh, has been emerging as one of the leading industrial towns in the state. However, a major problem being faced by the residents here due to industrialisation is that of pollution and heavy traffic. Air pollution level has risen to an alarming extent. The residents are forced to inhale noxious fumes emitted by the factories situated in and around the town. A resident of Shastri Nagar said the water being supplied by the Public Health Department was inadequate as well as polluted. Apart from this, the Department was also unable to provide water connections in all the localities in the town. About five major colonies including Mohan Nagar, Basant Vihar, Rajiv Colony situated along the Badli and Jhajjar roads and the whole “line par” area apart from many newly established colonies on the periphery of the town were facing potable water crisis. A Mohan Nagar resident, Narender Kumar, complained that they had to depend on handpumps for water. The sewerage system here is on the verge of collapse. Apart from the unavailability of sewerage in most of the colonies, the existing ones always remain choked. A drain running through the town with perishing bodies of cattle and heaps of garbage in the water blocked for a long time has made life miserable for the residents. The residents also complained that on an average an eight hour power cut is being imposed
particularly at night. The state of health services and transport infrastructure is also not up to the mark. |
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1,000 posts of teacher
lying vacant FARIDABAD, Nov 24 — About 1,000 posts of the teacher have been lying vacant in private colleges in Haryana and the management of these colleges are finding it difficult to run various academic courses. The president of the Haryana Non-Government College Management Association, Mr Ramkishan Gupta, said here today that the present policy and the government’s stand had resulted in numerous problems for the management of the government-aided private colleges in the state. He said there were about 108 private colleges at present and each had a shortage of nine to 10 regular teachers. He further said several new academic and professional courses introduced by the colleges in the recent past had not taken off properly due to the problem. Demanding that the ban imposed by the government ought to be withdrawn immediately, he said if this was not done than several colleges may be forced to stop certain courses. According to Mr Gupta, another major problem faced by these colleges had been the delay in the release of the salaries. He said several hundred teachers had been awaiting their salaries for the past two-three months and if the state government did not release the budget required for it soon the situation could turn to worse. He added that a meeting of the association had been convened at Maya College, Ladwa, in Kurukshetra district. Stating that the association could go to the Supreme Court in this regard. The association chief has also criticised the reported move of the state government to delegate more powers to the nominee of the Vice-Chancellor in the selection committees to recruit teaching staff in private colleges. |
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Realising electricity
dues, Haryana way CHANDIGARH, Nov 24 — To realise arrears of power bills from erring urban and rural consumers, the Haryana government today decided that facilities of cooperative loans, DRDA grants or loans, issue and renewal of ration cards, driving and arms licences, registration of vehicles, property with sub-registrar and mutation of land and sale of fertiliser and seeds through the government and government-owned agencies would be given to only those who did not have arrears of electricity bills outstanding against them or their family members. An official spokesman said it was proposed by Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, at a function recently at Hisar. Those who had paid electricity dues could avail the facilities extended by the government and the defaulters would have to clear dues before availing such facilities. Scheme guidelines will be issued shortly by the Power Department for adoption by all departments concerned and the Deputy Commissioners. The spokesman said from now onwards those who wanted to avail these facilities would have to enclose self assessed certificate of the electricity bill certifying that no arrears of power dues were outstanding against him or his family members. The spokesman added that the authorities concerned which are the Dakshin and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam would check the arrear column of the bill and the receipt submitted by the applicant to satisfy about electricity dues against the applicant. He added that in case of doubt, the authority concerned would refer to the Commercial Assistant of the office of the Sub Divisional Officer (Operation), Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam for verification. He clarified that in such cases where the applicant needed any such receipt, he would be required to contact the Commercial Assistant in the office of the SDO (Operation) and apply for the “no demand certificate”. |
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7,256 sponsored
for bank loans CHANDIGARH, Nov 24 — The Haryana Industries Department today sponsored the names of 7256 educated unemployed youth to banks for providing loans to start their ventures in the industries, services and business sectors under the Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojna during the first six months of the current financial year as against the target of 8600 applicants fixed by the Union Government for the current financial year. A spokesman for the Haryana Industries Department said under this scheme a person between the age of 18 and 35 years and educated up to eighth standard and having done any technical course of six months’ duration was eligible for the benefit. The annual income of the beneficiary and his parents should not exceed Rs 24,000. The maximum limit of the project cost in industrial activities was Rs 2 lakh per beneficiary. The beneficiary was entitled to subsidy at the rate of 15 per cent of the project cost, subject to the maximum of Rs 75,000. He added that a sum of Rs 4 lakh had been earmarked for the current financial year for the promotion of handicrafts in the state. The scheme was being implemented by the Haryana State Handloom and Handicrafts Corporation which had 23 emporium in the major cities of the country, through which handicrafts products of the craftsmen were being sold. |
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Staff
shortage hits
college functioning FARIDABAD, Nov 24 — At least 1000 posts are lying vacant in various private colleges of Haryana and the management of these colleges receiving financial aid from the state government have been finding it difficult to run various academic courses due to shortage of staff. Claiming this, the president of the Haryana non-Government College Management Association, Mr Ramkishan Gupta, told The Tribune here yesterday that the present policy had resulted in numerous problems for the management of these government-aided private colleges. He said there were about 108 private colleges and each college had a shortage of about nine-10 regular teachers. He said several new academic and professional courses introduced by the colleges in the recent past had not taken off due to the problem. Mr Gupta said another major problem faced by these colleges was the delay in the release of salaries. He said hundreds of teachers had been awaiting their salaries for the past two-three months and if the state government did not release the grant, which was 95 per cent of the total budget of the colleges, the situation could turn for the worse. He said a meeting of the association had been convened at Maya College in Ladwa town in Kurukshetra district on December 3 to discuss these issues. A strategy might be chalked out to tackle the situation. Stating that the association could go to the Supreme Court in the near future, he said all assurances made by senior government functionaries in the past had not been fulfilled. He also criticised the move by the state government to delegate more powers to the nominees of Vice-Chancellors in the selection committees to recruit staff. |
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Cinema hall raided,
films seized FATEHABAD, Nov 24 — The police last evening raided a cinema hall at Tohana in this district and arrested four persons, including the manager of the cinema hall, for showing a feature film in violation of the Copyright Act. The copies of the film have also been seized and sealed. According to reports, a police party swooped down on the premises of Balwant Cinema House when a show of feature film “Kurukshetra” was on. The show was closed abruptly, when the manager and the operator failed to show the valid permission certificate of the distributor. The district police chief, Mr Hanif Qureshi, later told mediapersons that Mr Joginder Kumar had lodged a complaint with the police that the film was being shown in violation of Copyright Act. Manager Manohar Lal and members of his staff, Vijay Kumar, Jasbir and Paul Singh have been booked under Section 420 of the IPC and Section 51, 52-A, 63, 68A and 14, 57 of the Copyright Act. |
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Paroda’s removal “groundless” FATEHABAD, Nov 24 — Mrs Indira Bishnoi, a former member of the Choudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University Board of Management, has termed the removal of Dr R.S. Paroda from the post of Director-General, Haryana Agriculture Research Council, as unfortunate. Talking to mediapersons here today, Mrs Bishnoi said there were certain rules to be followed before removing anyone from a government post. But in the case of Dr Paroda, neither was a notice issued nor a charge sheet prepared. He was not even provided an opportunity to be heard. Mrs Bishnoi termed the allegation of the Union Agriculture Ministry that Dr Paroda had been creating hurdles in the way of a probe into the purchase of computers as “baseless”. She said the statement of the minister was not based on facts as global tenders were invited for the World Bank-aided scheme and unless proper procedure was adopted, the World Bank would not have okayed the purchase. She said records showed Dr Paroda was not involved directly in any computer deal. She said as far as the files concerning dealers were concerned, the minister could have easily obtained these. She alleged that Dr Paroda had been removed as he had opposed the “bunglings” being perpetuated by the power that be in the ministry. |
Bank official held for graft AMBALA, Nov 24 — The Assistant Accounts Officer of the Postal and RMS Employees Cooperative Bank, Ambala Cantt, was arrested by the local police this evening. The Superintendent of Police, Mr K.K. Mishra, said that the officer, was arrested on graft charges. “An FIR has been lodged against him at PS Ambala Cantt,” he said. Mr Mishra said that the case pertains to fictitious bills amounting to Rs 1,04,000. |
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Ban on entry of
heavy vehicles AMBALA, Nov 24 — The District Administration has imposed a ban on the entry of heavy vehicles in the market area of Ambala City as well as Ambala Cantt. A meeting was organised by the Deputy Commissioner in Panchayat Bhavan this evening in this regard in which municipal councillors of Ambala City and Ambala Sadar, senior officers and citizens participated. After the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam, told mediapersons that the shopkeepers had been directed to remove their goods kept outside their shops within 10 days and remove the encroachments made on the drains within 15 days, failing which strict action would be taken against them. |
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Lawyers’ convention SONEPAT, Nov 24 — A state-level convention of lawyers will be held here tomorrow to press the demand for a separate high court for Haryana. Mr B.K. Kaushik, president of the district bar association, told mediapersons here today that the presidents and other representatives of district as well as sub-divisional bar associations would take part in it. The creation of three high courts in the newly created states of Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh has led to fresh discussions among the lawyers who are prepared for a long struggle over the issue. |
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Scouts’ rally to be
held at Karnal CHANDIGARH, Nov 24 — The Haryana State Bharat Scouts and Guides Association will organise a golden jubilee state rally at DAV Senior Secondary School, Karnal, from November 26 to 29. Babu Parmanand, Governor of Haryana, will be the chief guest at the valedictory function to be held on November 29 at 11 a.m., according to a press note. |
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4 arrested for hooch deaths ROHTAK, Nov 24 — The police arrested four persons in connection with the hooch tragedy — which claimed six lives in nearby Ritoli and Kaboolpur villages on Tuesday. Those arrested are Rajpal of Ritoli, Naseed Singh of Baland and Nafe Singh and Dharam Pal of Kanheli villages. The suspects were arrested during raids last night. The police seized 32 boxes of spirit, several empty bottles of liquor, lables and corks from the possession of Dharam Pal. It is suspected that he was manufacturing spurious liquor for the past several years. |
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6 peddlers held, drugs seized ROHTAK, Nov 24 — The drug control authorities nabbed six drug peddlers and seized drugs from their possession at Sampla, 25 km from here, yesterday. The peddlers were arrested while transporting drugs from Bhagirath. Palace in New Delhi to their respective areas for selling these trains. The drugs seized include latest antibiotics. Those arrested are Kamal Kapoor, Gagan Manocha, Manoj Chopra and Mahesh of Rohtak and Deepak and Kamal Kumar of Jind district. Babloo of Jind managed to escape. A case under Sections 18 and 27 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, has been registered. |
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