H A R Y A N A

Bansi flays CM on power arrears
JIND, Feb 11 — Mr Bansi Lal, former Chief Minister of Haryana and President of Haryana Vikas Party, today said Mr Om Prakash Chautala, state Chief Minister, who had promised free power and water to the farmers at the time of elections, was now harassing them for the recovery of electricity arrears.

INLD move to strengthen party
FATEHABAD, FEB 11 — The ruling Indian National Lok Dal  in Haryana has decided to strengthen its organisational set up. To equip its cadre with the necessary information and training to take on the Opposition, the INLD has decided to organise camps for its workers. The one-day camps named “chetana shivirs” are being organised at four different places in the state.

PFA snatched 10 animals: ‘madaris’
FARIDABAD, Feb 11 — Panic has spread among about 500 ‘madaris’ and their families in the district following the alleged ‘snatching’ of their animals by activists of an organisation ‘claiming’ to be working for welfare of animals. They have demanded a check on any such move under the ‘guise’ of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 

CM asks people to cooperate on Census
SIRSA, Feb 11 — The work for Census began in the state with the filling of form by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala himself on February 9 in his native village Chautala, situated on the border of Haryana and Rajasthan. 

No more permits for maxi-jeeps
SONEPAT, Feb 11 — The Haryana Government has decided not to issue fresh permit to the operators of maxi-jeeps in the state, said Mr Ashok Arora, state Transport Minister. Talking to mediapersons here yesterday, he said the step had been taken following reports of accidents caused by over-speeding of maxi-jeeps.

Bus passengers looted
ROHTAK, Feb 11 — Unidentified armed miscreants reportedly robbed passengers of a Haryana Roadways bus at gunpoint near Gaddi Kheri village, about 15 km from here, last night.

Teaching compassion for animals to kids
KAITHAL, Feb 11 — The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Kaithal, will set up Karuna Clubs in schools and colleges of this district.

Lecturers oppose MDU move
SONEPAT, Feb 11 — The Haryana College Lecturers Welfare Association today urged the Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtaqk, to withdraw the move for appointing supervisory staff of the same colleges at the examination centres for the annual examination commencing on April 2.

DC delays relief flagging-off
SIRSA, Feb 11 — A three-and-a-half-hour delay was caused in flagging off a team of doctors of the local Indian Medical Association for Gujarat as the Deputy Commissioner reached the venue late. The Deputy Commissioner reportedly arrived only after the members of the team expressed their resentment to him on the phone.

Lovers commit suicide 
SONEPAT, Feb 11 — Having failed to marry each other, a youth and a girl reportedly committed suicide by taking insecticide tablets in the youth’s house at Gamri village, about 40 km from here, last night.

Mahendra Kapoor Nite for quake-hit held
SONEPAT Feb 11 — The District Red Cross Society in coordination with a social organisation, the Ahwaan, organised a ‘Mahendra Kapoor Nite’ in aid of the victims of the Gujarat earthquake at Shubham Garden near here last night.

Bansi flays CM on power arrears
From Our Correspondent

JIND, Feb 11 — Mr Bansi Lal, former Chief Minister of Haryana and President of Haryana Vikas Party, today said Mr Om Prakash Chautala, state Chief Minister, who had promised free power and water to the farmers at the time of elections, was now harassing them for the recovery of electricity arrears.

Talking to mediapersons here, he alleged that Mr Chautala had earlier instigated farmers not to pay their electricity bills and had promised that arrears of electricity bills would be waived off after he came to power. Mr Bansi Lal said now after coming to power the Chautala government was forcibly trying to recover these arrears from the farmers. He alleged that heavy penalty was being illegally imposed on other categories of farmers in the name of power theft.

Mr Bansi Lal said the Chautala government, instead of giving free power to the farmers, had increased power rates. He said apart from farmers, the hike in power rates had badly affected all categories of consumers. He said the government had increased power rates several times but no steps had been taken to provide adequate electricity to the people.

Mr Bansi Lal accused the Chautala government of ignoring the interests of farmers of the state. He said the government had failed to provide remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce. He said during the past one and a half year the farmers had to sell their paddy below the support price whereas during his regime the farmers got higher price of their paddy than the support price fixed by the government. He said the government had not announced the support price of wheat so far although the crop would mature within two months. He demanded that support price of wheat should be fixed taking into consideration the cost of production of wheat.

Mr Bansi Lal said the Chautala government was planning to dispose of valuable government land belonging to the Irrigation Department of the state at Delhi. He expressed apprehension that the land would be sold below the market price. He alleged that the government was also thinking to sell 300 acres of land at Gurgaon to a private coloniser at cheap rates.

Later, Mr Bansi Lal addressed a public meeting at Uchana grain market in this district.

INLD move to strengthen party
From Our Correspondent

FATEHABAD, FEB 11 — The ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana has decided to strengthen its organisational set up. To equip its cadre with the necessary information and training to take on the Opposition, the INLD has decided to organise camps for its workers. The one-day camps named “chetana shivirs” are being organised at four different places in the state. One such camp will be organised at Fatehabad on February 18. Party workers from Sirsa, Hisar, Bhiwani and Fatehabad districts of Haryana will participate in these “chetana shivirs”. Former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal will inaugurate the shivir. The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala and other senior leaders of the party will address the camp.

The Haryana Finance Minister, Mr Sampat Singh, told mediapersons here yesterday that party workers from 22 Assembly constituencies falling under these four districts will participate in the camp. Such camps will also be organised at Rewari, Gohana and Ambala for other districts of the state. Mr Devi Lal will inaugurate all these camps.

Mr Sampat Singh said Mr Chautala will speak on “Co-ordination between government and the party.” Mr Sampat Singh himself will speak on “Haryana-yesterday, today and tomorrow”. The INLD MP and youth leader, Mr Ajay Singh Chautala will speak on “Duties towards the party”. The party MP from Rohtak Mr Inder Singh will speak about “Party discipline”.

The INLD vice president, Ms Phoolwati, will speak on “New Millennium and women empowerment”. The party general secretary, Mr N.C. Gambhir, will speak on “The importance of political alliance in the present day political scenario”. Mr Pardeep Choudhary will speak on “The duties of the government and the youth towards each other,” and the Health Minister Mr M.L. Ranga on “INLD and secularism”.

PFA snatched 10 animals: ‘madaris’
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Feb 11 — Panic has spread among about 500 ‘madaris’ and their families in the district following the alleged ‘snatching’ of their animals by activists of an organisation ‘claiming’ to be working for welfare of animals. They have demanded a check on any such move under the ‘guise’ of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. On the other hand, the People for Animals (PFA) sources described it as a voluntary handover of animals by some madaris.

Two ‘madaris’ Azmat Khan and Ashraf told some mediapersons here today that some activists of the PFA along with some police personnel yesterday asked them to handover their animals. They threatened to put them (madaris) behind bars if they failed to do so. They said about ten animals, including two bears and eight monkeys, were taken away against their wishes.

They also said they were made to put their thumb marks on a blank paper which was later used to show their consent in handing over the animals. They alleged manhandling and said a photograph was also taken on the spot.

They claimed that they were not cruel to their animals but treated them as part of their family. They said they had not received any official information on any rehabilitation scheme for ‘madaris’ as publicised by some activists of the PFA.

Nobody cooked food in their colony here in protest against the incident last night, they said. Kadar Khan, Liaqut Ali, Hanif, Raju, Jamshed and others of the ‘madari’ community said their community would not accept such ‘diktats’ and would stage a demonstration besides seeking legal help on the issue. 

CM asks people to cooperate on Census
From Our Correspondent

SIRSA, Feb 11 — The work for Census began in the state with the filling of form by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala himself on February 9 in his native village Chautala, situated on the border of Haryana and Rajasthan. He also flagged off a census chetna rally of schoolchildren and administered census pledge to people for extending their cooperation in this work. A skit highlighting various aspects of Census was also presented on the occasion.

The Chief Minister said Census was the most important task because the plans for development of the state and country were prepared after reviewing the data available after the Census.

Emphasising on the need to give correct information to the census enumerators, Mr Chautala said that farmers should tell accurately about their landholdings and the sources of irrigation so that a flawless agricultural policy could be framed as the Gross Domestic Production of India depended on agriculture.

Mr Chautala said the data in the Census would also help the farmers in adopting the crop patterns for better output and more gains.

Mr Sunil Gulati, Director, Census, Haryana, said 40,000 employees had been deputed in Haryana for carrying out the work of population enumeration.

The Chief Minister also gave away certificates to the employees who had done commendable work regarding census, operations and to winners of declamation contest on Census.

No more permits for maxi-jeeps
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Feb 11 — The Haryana Government has decided not to issue fresh permit to the operators of maxi-jeeps in the state, said Mr Ashok Arora, state Transport Minister.

Talking to mediapersons here yesterday, he said the step had been taken following reports of accidents caused by over-speeding of maxi-jeeps. He said the state government had given repeated warnings to the operators but to no avail. The government had no alternative but to stop issuing permits to them, he said.

He accused the previous HVP government of granting permits and licences to unemployed youths on the political grounds adding that this had resulted in the plying of unauthorised vehicles.

The minister said the state government had added 1,100 new buses to the Haryana Roadways during the past one year. Also, the Rs 100 crore loss had come down to Rs 60 crore during the past 16 months in the state, he added.

Earlier, the minister distributed artificial limbs and crutches free of cost among 350 persons yesterday at a function organised by the Viklang Kalyan Samiti.

Bus passengers looted
From our correspondent

ROHTAK, Feb 11 — Unidentified armed miscreants reportedly robbed passengers of a Haryana Roadways bus at gunpoint near Gaddi Kheri village, about 15 km from here, last night.

According to information, the bus of the Rohtak depot was on its way from Delhi to Ganganagar. Suddenly seven miscreants stood up from their seats and warned the passengers not to raise the alarm. One of the robbers forced the driver to divert the bus to a link road at pistol-point. The other miscreants collected cash and valuable worth over Rs 1 lakh. They beat up a passenger when he resisted.

It is learnt that each passenger was forced to alight the bus and was frisked thoroughly again by the robbers. They also snatched the money bag containing Rs 1703 from the conductor and escaped. A majority of the passengers reportedly belonged to Ghaziabad and Aligarh.

The incident was reported to the police which alerted different police posts and barriers. However, no clue had been found.

Teaching compassion for animals to kids
From Our Correspondent

KAITHAL, Feb 11 — The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Kaithal, will set up Karuna Clubs in schools and colleges of this district.

Disclosing this, the president of the society, Mr Ranvir Parashar, told mediapersons that cruelty towards innocent and dumb animals is observed today. They mercilessly slaughtered for commercial purposes. Referring to the report of Mr Duli Chand Jain, chief organiser of Karuna Clubs in India, Mr Parashar said that the environmentalists and ecologists have raised their voice against killing animals as it is not eco-friendly. There is an awakening today about the “reverence of all forms of life”, with emphasis on ‘animal rights’ along with ‘human rights’.

The society has undertaken the first such project in the local OSDAV School where 30 members have been enrolled. Mr Parashar further said feelings of love, kindness and compassion towards all living beings, including animals would be kindled among the schoolchildren.

Lecturers oppose MDU move
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Feb 11 — The Haryana College Lecturers Welfare Association today urged the Vice-Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtaqk, to withdraw the move for appointing supervisory staff of the same colleges at the examination centres for the annual examination commencing on April 2.

In a press note, the association suggested that the old system of sending 50 per cent of the supervisory staff from other colleges should be adopted to curbing the menace of copying.

DC delays relief flagging-off
From Our Correspondent

SIRSA, Feb 11 — A three-and-a-half-hour delay was caused in flagging off a team of doctors of the local Indian Medical Association for Gujarat as the Deputy Commissioner reached the venue late. The Deputy Commissioner reportedly arrived only after the members of the team expressed their resentment to him on the phone.

According to president of the local unit of the association, Dr J.P. Chaudhary, the team, which would spend 15 days in the Rappar area, included the Senior Surgeon of the city, Dr B.R. Bishnoi, Physician Dr M.R. Bansal, Government Medical Officer, Dr Roshan Lal, Pharmacists, Satish Makani and Yogesh Khanna and three class-IV employees Sher Singh, Jaspal and Vinod. The team has taken medicines worth Rs 3 lakh and surgery equipment. 

Lovers commit suicide 
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Feb 11 — Having failed to marry each other, a youth and a girl reportedly committed suicide by taking insecticide tablets in the youth’s house at Gamri village, about 40 km from here, last night.

According to preliminary reports, the youth and the girl had developed illicit relations and wanted to marry each other. However, their parents objected to the marriage because they were of the same “gotra”.

The bodies of the lovers were found by the parents of the youth this morning. A written note stating the reason for extreme step was also found.

Mahendra Kapoor Nite for quake-hit held
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT Feb 11 — The District Red Cross Society in coordination with a social organisation, the Ahwaan, organised a ‘Mahendra Kapoor Nite’ in aid of the victims of the Gujarat earthquake at Shubham Garden near here last night.

Ms Anita Chaudhary, Commissioner, Ambala Division inaugurated the nite in the presence of a large gathering of the people. Noted singer Mahendra Kapoor and his party sang famous film songs.

Meanwhile, the district administration today sent six trucks loaded with relief material to Gujarat for the victims of the earthquake.