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| Monday, January 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Oppn fails to cash in on resentment KAITHAL, Jan 7 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, said here yesterday that if consumers would stop indulging in power theft and clear their power bill arrears running into crores of rupees, the power tariff could be reduced otherwise they should be ready to face another hike. Sonepat areas go without water CM lays stone of substation Shops built by HUDA await buyers Panchayats to get share in stamp duty Farmers sell potatoes at throwaway price |
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| DC, SSP told to ensure safety of ex-minister Grateful teachers honour Chautala PCO holders seek more commission Fair probe into cook’s death promised 4 ‘satta’ operators arrested 
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| Oppn fails to cash in on resentment FARIDABAD, Jan 7 — While there has been widespread resentment over the recent hike in power tariff the state government seems to be sitting pretty as the opposition political parties in Haryana have failed to launch any concerted move to oppose the hike. The Congress and the Haryana Vikas Party had recently announced launching agitations on this issue and other related matters. According to certain political analysts, these political parties and other organisations, including the Bharatiya Kisan Union, had not been able to make any impact due to various reasons. Disunity among Congress leaders and workers in Haryana, especially after the election of Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda as Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief for another term, is one of the reasons. Although Mr Hooda has criticised the power tariff hike and directed holding district-level demonstrations to lodge protest against the hike. But it is learnt these demonstrations could not prove effective at many district headquarters, due to lack of enthusiasm among workers and especially at those places where former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal has some hold over party workers. The appointment of Mr Hooda as HPCC chief had led to disappointment in the Bhajan Lal camp. This is why local party leaders and workers had not come out openly to take part in the protest demonstrations. According to analysts, the delay on the part of the Congress to launch any major agitation has dampened the enthusiasm of a section of party workers who believe the issue of power tariff hike and the alleged failure of the state government in fulfilling the promises made in Sarkar Aapke Dwar programme could be the basis for going to the public and winning the support and confidence of the common man. On the other hand, the Haryana Vikas Party, which had been lying low after its poor performance in the last elections, has started its political activities again. Although HVP leaders and its activists have claimed success in the rallies and meetings addressed by the party chief, Mr Bansi Lal, and his son, Surender Singh, but according to a section of observers the common man and especially farmers and government employees may not believe Mr Bansi Lal, as he was at the helm of affairs when privatisation of power was started and power tariff was also hiked at least once. Meanwhile, organisations including the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), the Kisan Sabha and the Haryana Nirman Morcha have announced starting agitations. But as the impact of these organisations is regional, the success of these agitations is suspect. Although the BJP leaders of Haryana have also opposed the move they seem unable to affect the state government’s decisions. | |
| Power theft: CM warns officials KAITHAL, Jan 7 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, said here yesterday that if consumers would stop indulging in power theft and clear their power bill arrears running into crores of rupees, the power tariff could be reduced otherwise they should be ready to face another hike. Addressing a press conference here last night, Mr Chautala said power was being stolen on a large scale, allegedly with the connivance of power board employees and officials. He said any employee found encouraging power theft or conniving with dishonest consumers would be strictly dealt with. He said due to large-scale theft of power honest power consumers were being unnecessarily burdened with the power tariff hike. The Chief Minister admitted that the power line losses were upto 43 per cent in many areas, whereas it should not exceed 15 or 16 per cent. The Chief Minister said thousands of industrial units from Delhi had started shifting to Haryana. The government had announced about 1000 plots against 6000 applications received from enterpreneurs to set up industries in Haryana, Mr Chautala said. He said that after such units became operational the consumption of power would increase manifold. The Chief Minister said many foreign companies were interested in setting up industries in Haryana, which would provide revenue to the state and employment opportunities to youths. Mr Chautala announced that the towns in Haryana would be beautified after removing encroachments on public places. He said he had called a meeting of Deputy Commissioners and SPs from all over the state to chalk out a strategy in this connection. Expressing concern over the traffic problems and increasing number of accidents on national highways passing through the state, the Chief Minister said the government was taking steps in this direction. Every 30 km a well-equipped traffic police post would be set up. A mobile medical van, a telephone and other facilities would be provided at such posts. Besides this, traffic police cops on night duty would be available. The Chief Minister further said that he had talked to Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee about introducing more trains in the state. Mr Ram Pal Majra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Leela Ram, Mr Amar Singh and Mr Tejbir Singh, all MLAs and Mr Naranjan Lal Bansal, Chairman, Warehousing Corporation, were also present on the occasion. The Chief Minister launched a website on Kaithal district here this morning. It will provide information regarding the district on the Internet at http.//districts.nic. in Kaithal. |
| Sonepat areas go without water SONEPAT, Jan 7 — Barring the mini-secretariat and some other areas, the entire city of Sonepat with a population of more than 2 lakh remained waterless throughout the day yesterday. According to official sources, the bursting of the main pipeline between the boosting station and the water tank at Kot Mohalla was the main cause of the disruption of the water supply system. This main reservoir had started leaking at two places three days ago but the authorities concerned failed to get the same repaired. This led to the bursting of the pipeline and stoppage of water supply throughout the day. Residents of the city were critical of the authorities of the Public Health Department for their failure to inform them about the disruption of water supply. They said they had not been getting regular supply of drinking water. Many residents alleged that the water supply was still erratic. Representatives of various political parties and other organisations today urged the Deputy Commissioner to take serious note of the public complaints about the erratic water supply in different parts of the city and take action against those responsible for the water crisis. Meanwhile, the Residents’ Welfare Association and the Sonepat Citizens' Council have urged the Deputy Commissioner to ask the BBMB authorities not to switch off the power supply either from Narela (Delhi) or from Panipat frequently to this city till the new 100 MVA transformer was installed in 220 kv substation at Fazilpur. |
| CM lays stone of substation KURUKSHETRA, Jan 7 (PTI) — The Haryana Government is taking steps to ensure adequate supply of electricity for the people of the state. This was stated today by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, after laying the foundation stone of a 33 kv substation at Morthali village, near Pehowa, 25 km from here. He said the substation would be constructed within six months at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore and would benefit residents of 10 villages. He said that during the last 17 months, an amount of Rs 122.85 crore was spent on the construction of nine substations, while the capacity of 71 existing substations had been enhanced. Talking about the Panipat Thermal Plant, Mr Chautala said the construction of its sixth 210 mv unit was in progress and it would be completed by March this year. To increase the generation of electricity, work was being done to establish a 500 mw electricity-generating centre each at Yamunanagar and Hisar, he said. Earlier, he laid the foundation stone of a grain market and a vegetable market to be constructed on a 22-acre piece of land of the Haryana Agriculture Marketing Board near the Pehowa-Kurukshetra road. Later, under the second phase of the “Sarkaar Aapke Dwaar” programme, the Chief Minister redressed the grievances of 105 panchayats falling under the Pehowa Assembly constituency. The Chief Minister also planted saplings near the substation and market sites. The Haryana Agriculture Minister, Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, the Haryana Transport Minister, Mr Ashok Kumar Arora, the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Ram Pal Majra, and the chairman of the Haryana Agriculture Marketing Board, Mr Balwant Singh Gyana, were among those who accompanied the Chief Minister. | |
| Shops built by HUDA await buyers YAMUNANAGAR: Many shops, built by HUDA, have been lying vacant for the last many years in Yamunanagar. As many as 72 shops costing crores of rupees were constructed opposite old Deputy Commissioner’s office. According to information HUDA constructed district subcentre at Gobinderpuri Marg where shops and showrooms of different sizes were constructed. It is stated that there are no takers because HUDA is demanding heavy amount as rent. The subcentre has been set up on three hectares of land and it was purchased from the Rehabilitation Department. Modern facilities, including water, light and parking facilities are available but there are no buyers. It is learnt that the size of each of 72 shops is 27 feet x nine feet and only 12 shops have been sold in auction held four times. The last auction of the shops was for Rs 4.19 lakh. Mr Rajiv Sharma, Deputy Commissioner said that as per the rate 10 per cent amount has to be deposited on the spot, 15 per cent amount is to be paid after allotment and balance in instalments. He said that seven shops were auctioned on December 23, 2000. He was hopeful that very shortly all shops would be auctioned. It is learnt that a three-storey building and 300 houses were also built by the Housing Board. He said that 100 houses have been given to the Red Cross Society for running the working women’s hostel and many houses were still vacant. The Deputy Commissioner claimed that all houses had been auctioned and none was lying vacant. He appealed to the entrepreneures to come forward to set up establishments at the Sub-Centre. | |
| Panchayats to get share in stamp duty KURUKSHETRA, Jan 7 (PTI) — The Haryana Government will give 3 per cent of the amount collected from stamp duties to panchayats to augment resources of panchayats. This was disclosed by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala while hearing grievances of 105 panchayats of the Pehowa Assembly constituency under second phase of the “sarkar aapke dwar” programme at Pehowa near here. He said no school would remain without a teacher by the middle of this month. The Chief Minister said all those schools which fulfilled the norms laid down by the government would be upgraded. He said gram vikas samitis had been constituted in all villages to involve the rural people and speed up development process in villages. Refuting the allegations of the opposition parties that these samitis would infringe upon the rights of the panchayats, he said his government had given more powers to the panchayati raj institution in the state. The Chief Minister said the state government was committed for the welfare of the farming community and had given the rate of Rs 110 per quintal for the purchase of sugarcane, which was the highest in the country. |
| Farmers sell potatoes at throwaway price FATEHABAD, Jan 7 — Potato farmers of the area have been forced to sell the produce at a throwaway price as prices of the commodity have touched a new low. The farmers rue that they have been suffering losses as the proceeds after the sale of the crop is much lower than the cost of inputs. Potatoes are being sold in wholesale in the local vegetable market for Rs 50 to Rs 80 per bag of 80 kg. Though it is being sold for Rs 2 to Rs 3 per kg in retail, the farmers get meagre amount of paise 50 to Re one per kg of potatoes. From this they have to spend some amount on transportation and market fees. Farmers say that potato production has proved to be a very bad bargain for them. A trader of the local vegetable market told that the last few days have witnessed heavy arrival of potatoes from nearby Punjab markets. The arrival is much more than the actual demand. Once the local crop starts arriving the things are likely to take turn for the worse, he said. He said the main reason behind the plight of the potato farmers is that the sowing has been more than the previous years this time. Further yield this year has been much better. He said even potatoes of last year lying in cold stores had not yet finished. The farmers can be seen pleading with the traders to sell produce. The traders are flooded with the crop. A potato grower from a nearby village said that he had sown potato on five acres of land this year. He spent Rs 700 to Rs 1000 per acre on seed beside these he had to put two bags of DAP manure and one bag of urea fertiliser per acre of land cultivated for potatoes. He said if costs of irrigation and labour charges are added to that, he will have to suffer heavy losses this year. He said there was no use of storing the potatoes in cold stores as there was no hope of improvement in the rates seeing the situation prevailing today. |
| DC, SSP told to ensure safety of ex-minister KARNAL, Jan 7 — The National Human Rights Commission has directed the Karnal Deputy Commissioner, Mr Devender Singh (by name) and the Senior Police Officers of the district to ensure the “personal safety of Mr Tejinder Pal Singh Mann — a former Haryana Minister and his family members.” The meeting of the Commission held on January 3 and chaired by Justice J.S. Verma in its order dated January 5 has hoped that the administration as a whole and the officers present during hearing of Mr Mann’s petition were alive to the responsibility of ensuring “full protection to the life and property of the petitioner and his family.” The commission expressed the fear lest any untoward incident of any kind tend to raise a strong suspicion against the district officers in the background of the events so far. The commission passed the orders after hearing the officers including the Deputy Commissioner, Mr A.S. Ahlawat, Senior Superintendent of Police (Karnal), Mr Rattan Singh, DSP (Hqs Karnal) who were summoned to appear before the commission on January 3 on a complaint by Mr Mann. Mr Mann, in his complaint, had alleged that the district administration was engaged in registering false cases against him and his family members consequent to “political vendetta” of the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr O.P. Chautala. Mr Mann had also alleged that as a result of approaching the commission, the vendetta let loose against the petitioner by the administration, particularly the district officers summoned by the commission had increased in intensity. The Former Minister had brought to the notice of the commission that there was “a serious apprehension of threat to the life and property of the petitioner and his family members.” The commission took serious note of it and directed the Deputy Commissioner and other officers to file affidavits in reply within a week. The commission also directed Mr. Brijendar Singh Mann, son of the Minister, who has filed a separate petition against the administration to provide a copy of it to the Deputy Commissioner (Karnal) so that the latter may be able to file his response to the same. The commission fixed the next hearing on January 12 and required the officers to be present on that day. The officers, in their reply, are reported to have denied the allegations of political vendetta and maintained that all cases have been registered as per the provisions of law and proper investigations on complaints made by various complainants against the former minister. |
| Grateful teachers honour Chautala KURUKSHETRA, Jan 7 — The Haryana College Teachers Union today organised a function at DAV College, Pehowa to honour the Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, for accepting its demands. These included grant of UGC grades, implementation of pension and gratuity and regular disbursement of salary of teaching staff of the colleges. Addressing teachers, Mr Om Parkash Chautala called upon the teaching community to instil the spirit of responsibilities towards the government in every citizen besides their professional duty. He claimed that the Haryana government was the only one to take the lead in introducing new education policy leaving the policy prevailing from the time of British rulers. He expressed happiness over the results of the new education policy as 100 per cent placement had been given by various companies to students of Regional Engineering College, Kurukshetra, he said. The Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Mr R.S. Chaudhry, complimented the Chief Minister for introducing new education policy and computer education. Prof Samsher Singh, President, Haryana College Teachers Union expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for accepting their demands. Others who were present on this occasion included the Haryana Transport Minister, Mr Ashok Kumar Arora, the Agriculture Minister, Sardar Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, MLA, Mr Tejvir Singh, Mr Ram Pal Majra, Prof Teja Singh, district officers and the Registrar of the university. |
| PCO holders seek more commission ROHTAK, Jan 7 (UNI) — The PCO operators here have demanded an increase in the commission payable to them on the phone calls made by subscribers from the PCO booths. The demand has been raised in view of the recent announcement by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) that local call type facilities would be provided to subscribers upto a distance of 200 km with effect from January 26. The local PCO operators’ association president Jagdish Kapoor said here today the BSNL’s decision would adversely affect 550 PCO operators in the city and their profit margins would be reduced. He feared the PCO operators, a majority of whom had no other source of income, would be rendered virtually unemployed if certain concessions were not given to them by the BSNL. The association has sent fax messages to the Communication Ministry and the BSNL, requesting an increase in the commission paid to them and permission to levy service-charges on local-calls made from PCO booths. He said the service-charges should also be raised to compensate the loss the PCO operators would suffer. He threatened the association would launch agitation if the demand of PCO operators were not acceded to immediately. |
| Fair probe into cook’s death promised HISAR, Jan 7 — The Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand has assured employees of Haryana Agricultural University that a fair inquiry would be conducted into the death of Narayan Singh, a cook of the university. The police recovered his body from a canal near Tokas Patan village two days ago. He was last seen at the residence of a university official, where he had gone to prepare dinner on the New Year Eve. He had been missing since then. A delegation of the employees met the Governor here last evening. They demanded that the probe should be conducted by the CBI. The Governor assured them that action would be taken against those found guilty. He said there was no need for transferring the case to the CBI as the state police was capable of investigating the matter. Earlier, hundreds of employees, including a large number of women, took out a procession from the university campus to the Guru Jambheshwar University campus and raised slogans against the authorities. | |
| 4 ‘satta’ operators arrested SONEPAT, Jan 7 — The Kundli police has arrested Harish Kumar, Ram Avtar, Shiv Ram Saini and Rajiv on charge of running a satta racket in the garb of selling lottery tickets. The SP, Mr Paramjit Singh Ahlawat, told mediapersons here today that the police had also recovered Rs 3,440 from the accused. Case under the Gambling Act had been registered against them. He said the four had opened their shops along the Haryana-Delhi border for selling the lottery tickets but were indulging in gambling and duping innocent persons. According to the SP, the police had arrested Rajesh and Dheer Singh following the alleged recovery of 24 bottles of country liquor from them. The Gohana police, he said, had also arrested Ram Bharose of Khandrai village on the charge of liquor smuggling and recovered seven bottles of country liquor. Cases under the Excise Act had been registered against them, he said. | |
| Body found FARIDABAD, Jan 7 — Body of an unidentified person has been found from an open plot in Sector 59 here. According to police sources, the body was lying in a plot belonging to the Haryana Urban Development Authority. It bore burn marks. The age of the victim is reported to be around 38 years. The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination to Government Hospital here. |
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