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| Wednesday,
March 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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QUESTION HOUR IN ASSEMBLY Oppn walkout in
Haryana House Gujjar makes INLD legislators squirm Education scheme failed: CAG |
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Cong defector joins Lok Janshakti Liquor vends’ auction fetches Rs 72.13 crore Steps to check
copying No stop to bus
trouble 4 commit suicide
in Panipat De-addiction centre’s stone laid 4 killed in mishaps
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QUESTION HOUR IN ASSEMBLY Chandigarh, March 13 Answering a question by Dr J.P. Sharma, Congress MLA from Yamunanagar, in the Vidhan Sabha, Mr Chautala said if the previous governments had been serious about setting up power generation plants, the state would not have faced a power crisis today. For the Yamunanagar plant the government had acquired 1107.87 acres and the NTPC had started work on it about a decade ago. But the Bhajan Lal government compelled the NTPC to withdraw from the project, which was given to an Israeli company that had been blacklisted for corrupt practices. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bhajan Lal, clarified that it was only after the NTPC expressed its inability to undertake the project that it was given to the private company which had worked on several big projects earlier. The Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Ram Pal Majra, said the government had now asked the NTPC to prepare the project report within three months. Besides a 500 MW thermal plant, a 500 MW gas-based power generation plant would also be set up in Yamunanagar. In reply to a question by Mr Puran Singh Dabra and Mr Karan Singh Dalal, the House was informed that between 1991 and 2000, the state witnessed 6,854 murders, 3,895 incidents of kidnapping, 49,191 thefts and 661 cases of robbery. Mr Chautala informed Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda that Rs 210 crore and Rs 163.38 crore were recovered as arrears of power charges between January 1, 2000, and June 30, 2000, and between July 1, 2000, and December 31, 2000, respectively. Mr Dalal was informed that during 2000-2001 as many as 16 undertrial prisoners and one convict had escaped from Haryana jails. The Health Minister, Dr M.L. Ranga, told Mr Jasbir Singh Malaur that the Shivalik Development Board was constructing a primary health centre in Majri village in the Naggal constituency, for which the panchayat had donated 32 acres. Mr Majra said in response to a call-attention motion moved by Dr Raghbir Singh Kadian that after the abolition of the Beri civic body, two panchayats were set up, to which elections were to be held by the state Election Commission. Meanwhile, the Block Development and Panchayat Officer had been appointed Administrator of the panchayats so that the problems relating to cleanliness could be solved. |
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Oppn walkout in
Haryana House Chandigarh, March 13 During zero hour they were informed by the Speaker, Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, that since there was no leakage of the Budget proposals and the matter had already been discussed by the House yesterday, he had withheld his consent to the motion. The Deputy Leader of the Congress Legislature Party, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, after quoting rules, “moved” the motion. However, Mr Kadian expunged whatever Captain Yadav had said. When another senior Congress MLA, Rao Inderjit Singh, quoted from the rules of the Haryana Assembly, which, he said, permitted the signatories to the notice of the privilege motion to object to the decision of the Speaker and could move the motion if at least 15 members stood up in its support, Mr Kadian quoted the Lok Sabha rules to justify his decision. Finding the Speaker unyielding, the Congress MLAs and the lone RPI MLA, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, staged a walkout. |
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Gujjar makes INLD legislators squirm Chandigarh, March 13 Participating in the debate on the Budget, Mr Gujjar clarified that he was making these suggestions not as criticism but out of concern that the INLD-BJP government should not lose popularity. Complimenting the Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, for presenting a “tax-free” Budget, Mr Gujjar said the government should give a commitment that no tax would be imposed till the presentation of the next Budget. For some time the ruling party MLAs listened to Mr Gujjar in silence but slowly started interrupting him. It goes to the credit of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash
Chautala, who not only listened to the speech of the leader of his supporting party patiently but also pulled up INLD members trying to disturb Mr
Gujjar. Emphasising that in the past one year there had been a steep hike in the power tariff, the BJP leader said the Chief Minister had promised that the tariff would not be revised till round-the-clock power supply was ensured. There had been a stiff hike in the minimum consumption charges, which would lead to the wasteful use of electricity. He urged the government to reduce these charges. Quoting from a government report, Mr Gujjar pointed out that in the past two years 7,000 industrial units in the state had either shifted to some other state or had closed down. He said though the INLD government was an advocate of farmers, it had increased mainfold the installation charges for tubewell connections in the name of the “tatkal scheme”. The number of power connections to tubewells had also come down from about 3.65 lakh to about 3.57
lakh. Of course, Mr Gujjar and INLD members exchanged banter. When one INLD member asked him if the former Chief Minister, Mr Bansi
Lal, used to listen to BJP suggestions when it was a coalition partner with the
HVP, Mr Gujjar said since Mr Bansi Lal was dependent upon the BJP for the survival of the government, he used to listen to them. But as Mr Chautala had a majority of his own in the Assembly, he did not care much for “our party”. The Agriculture Minister, Mr Jaswinder Singh
Sandhu, remarked: “We have learnt a lesson from the fate of Mr Bansi
Lal, who listened to the BJP”, provoking laughter. Cautioning the government not to be complacent about its popularity, Mr Gujjar said: “Today, you are thumping the desks over your supposed achievements. Tomorrow, the people may thump our faces”. He urged the government to reconsider the increase in various levies by the Haryana Urban Development Authority. He demanded the issue of a White Paper giving details of those who were allotted mines since the inception of Haryana and the considerations on which these were allotted. He alleged that unscrupulous miners were pumping out underground water in a big way, which would ultimately create a shortage of potable water in the area. Coming down heavily on the
much-publicised “Sarkar Aapke Dwar” programme of the Chief Minister, the BJP leader said the programme had eroded the authority of the MLA as an institution. “Centralisation of power is not good for democracy”. Referring to the alleged closure of a case relating to a Rs 5 crore cotton scandal, Mr Gujjar said the government should not use the Vigilance Bureau to harass its political opponents but to unearth corruption in its various wings. If the government was really concerned about so-called political corruption, “let there be a CBI inquiry into the assets of all those who have remained
MLAs, MPs, Ministers and Chief Ministers since the inception of the state in 1966”, he said, amidst the thumping of desks by the Congress members. Mr Chautala immediately had a dig at Mr Bhajan
Lal. The differences between the INLD and the BJP came to the fore on the issue of the presidentship of the Panipat civic body also. Election to the post has not been held for the past one year. When Mr Krishan Lal Pawar
(INLD) pointed out that the issue remained unresolved because the BJP could not decide its nominee, Mr Gujjar retorted that the BJP would not adopt a nominee picked by the
INLD. Referring to a Tribune report, Mr Gujjar said the government’s good work in Gujarat had been negated by certain members of the relief team which returned with imported relief goods. The government must hold an inquiry and punish the guilty. |
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Education scheme failed: CAG Chandigarh, March 13 According to the CAG’s report, the cost of the programme is shared between the Government of India
(GOI) and the state government in the ratio of 85:15 and it is funded by the World Bank. The expenditure on the implementation of the programme is initially met by the GOI or the state government and reimbursed subsequently by the World Bank for which reimbursement claims are made by the State Project Director,
DPEP, to the GOI. The CAG’s report said that for audit purposes the records relating to the implementation of the programme from 1994-95 to 1999-2000 were test-checked in the offices of the State Project Director,
DPEP, and the Project Coordinators in Hisar, Jind, Sirsa and Mahendragarh districts. The report said that though the programme objective was to reduce the overall dropout rate to less than 10 percent, in the districts test-checked, it ranged between 12 and 38 per cent from 1996-97 to 1999-2000 (except for 9 per cent in Jind and 5 per cent in Hisar in 1997-98). The dropout rate increased substantially from 21 per cent in 1997-98 to 45 per cent in 1999-2000 for Scheduled Castes (SC) students, the CAG’s report said. As for non-SC students, it rose to 7 per cent in 1997-98 and 14 per cent in 1999-2000. “Thus one of the main objectives of the programme was not achieved”, the CAG observed. The scheme was also aimed at reducing the difference in the dropout rate among gender and social groups to less than 5 per cent. However, the difference in the dropout rate among SC and non-SC students ranged between 14 per cent and 30 per cent during the 1997-2000 period. A year-wise analysis revealed that in Jind district, the dropout rate among SC students was mounting every year (33 per cent in 1997-98 to 42 per cent 1999-2000) and was higher than the dropout rate of 1 to 3 per cent for non-SC students during the same period. In Sirsa district, the dropout rate among SC students in 1997-98 was 26 per cent but there was a steep rise in 1998-99 to 46 per cent. It declined marginally in 1999-2000 to 44 per cent. The programme also provided for free distribution of books among SC students (both boys and girls) and non-SC girl students. However, a scrutiny of the records of four districts revealed that 93 per cent of the SC students and 40 per cent of non-SC girl students were not provided with books free of cost. “Thus, this component was practically a non-starter”, it was observed in the CAG’s report. Moreover, the capacity of schools in comparison to the population of children eligible for primary education decreased from 81 per cent in 1995-96 to 75 per cent in 1999-2000 in the four test-checked districts. Thus, the aim of the programme of providing access to every child of 6 to 11 years of age to primary education was not achieved, the CAG stated. The report added that 13 works valued at Rs 3.85 crore were allotted on single bidding during the 1996-2000 period. Because of this, three works were got executed at higher rates, resulting in an extra expenditure of Rs 22.80
lakh. It was also found that 92 out of 543 cluster resource centres (CRCs) were without cluster teachers in 1999-2000. In its concluding remarks the CAG’s report stated that the monitoring of the programme by the Executive Committee of the Haryana Prathamik Shiksha Pariyojna Parishad
(HPSPP), with the Chief Secretary as its Chairman and the Director, Primary Education, as its member-secretary, “was not adequate”. “Thus, the project failed to achieve the objective of universalisation of primary education”, the report added. Since its inception in 1994 and till 2000, Rs 103.06 crore was released in two phases, known as
DPEP-I and II. Thirtynine per cent of the sum was spent on civil works, followed by 36 per cent on the salaries of the staff, stated the report adding that the next major expenditure of 14 per cent was incurred on consultancy
services. |
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Cong defector joins Lok Janshakti Faridabad, March 13 Dr. Lal Singh, chairman of the Parliamentary Board of the Haryana unit of the Lok Janshakti said, Mr Malik had been appointed as district president of the local unit with immediate effect. He welcomed Mr Malik’s entry to the party and claimed that the party cadre would be strengthened considerably. |
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Liquor vends’ auction fetches Rs 72.13 crore
Faridabad, March 13 According to the Deputy Commissioner, the auction was held for 88 vends, of which, 67 are located in urban areas and 21 in rural parts. He said the liquor quota for country-made liquor had been increased from 28.89 lakh proof litres to 31.86 lakh proof litres this year. The auctions of vends selling country-made foreign liquor fetched Rs 52.13 crore. The annual quota for this liquor has been fixed at 28.25 lakh proof litres. There will be 69 vends authorised to sell this liquor in the district.
He said the Excise authorities were able to auction 35 liquor vends in Jhajjar district and fetched Rs 27.4 crore which is Rs 5.86 crore more than the auction amount fetched in the last financial year. |
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Steps to check
copying Bhiwani, March 13 This was stated by the board Chairman, Mr Sher Singh Rori, at a press conference here yesterday. He said the matric examinations would commence on March 14 and conclude on March 21. In this examination 3,20,000 candidates would appear at 1451 centres. The senior secondary examinations would start on March 14 and end of April 4, in which 1,96,000 candidates would appear at 830 centres. The middle examinations would begin on March 27 and conclude on April 5. The Chairman informed that for the checking of copying in centres, 10 types of flying squads had been constituted which include 19 squads of Deputy Commissioners, 46 squads of Subdivisional Magistrate and 19 squads of District Education Officers. |
No stop to bus trouble Ambala, March 13 To ensure that buses enter the main bus stand and drivers do not pick up passengers from the GT Road, the Haryana Roadways authorities have deployed nine inspectors for this purpose alone. These inspectors are also supposed to prevent buses from stopping at a space near the Ambala Cantt railway station. The space is between the main entry and exit point of the railway station and those who arrive by train, prefer to walk out from there. A number of rehris have begun to encroach upon this stretch of road, hampering management traffic. The Haryana Roadways is believed to have written a letter to the authorities, requesting for the closure of this space, so that people use only the main gates. At night passengers face a problem, since most of the long-distance buses prefer to drop or pick up passengers from outside, instead of “wasting” a few minutes by entering the main bus stand. There have been several instances when passengers have got down from the bus on the GT Road, while their relatives wait inside the bus stand. The elevated highway that was inaugurated with much fanfare has not helped matters much. A Haryana Roadways official said the highway was not compatible with the bus stand. “If it had been in harmony with the bus stand, buses that come from Delhi side could have simply taken a side road to enter the bus stand leave as quickly,” he said. “Now, buses that come from Delhi side have to take several turns to reach the bus stand. Drivers consider it a waste of time and prefer to pick up and drop passengers on the GT Road, though they get only a few passengers,” the official said. The Haryana Roadways is also not interested in shifting to the main bus stand, though in most district, its offices are located in main bus stands. Officials, having inspected the rooms, felt that these were not suitable. The official also said there was no workshop at the main bus stand. “Coordination is easier if offices and workshop are in proximity. If the Haryana Roadways offices are shifted to Ambala
Cantt, our workshop will have to remain at Ambala City as there is no provision for it at the main bus stand. It will compound our troubles, instead of solving these,” the official said. The Deputy Commissioner of
Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam, said directions had been given that buses should enter the main bus stand and not stop outside. “This is necessary, since if buses stop outside, it leads to traffic congestion,” he said. A Punjab Roadways bus driver said, on the GT Road from Delhi, Ambala was the first stop where buses had to enter the main bus stand. “Even in
Panipat, we pick up passengers from the GT Road, which is very convenient. Entering the main bus stand means a delay of at least 10 minutes,” he said. The driver said an alternative should be considered for buses coming from Delhi. “There should be a stop on the GT Road,” he said. |
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4 commit suicide
in Panipat Panipat, March 13 Paramvir of Rajpura in Punjab and his friend Rupender were returning to Punjab last night when their Maruti car collided with a Canter near Jhatipur village on the GT Road. Both of them died on the way to hospital. In another incident late last evening, Paramjit was knocked down by a vehicle in front of S. D. College here. He was admitted to the Civil Hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries today. Twentyfive-year-old Indravati of Beholi village allegedly committed suicide by jumping before the Shatabdi Express at Samalkha railway station. Family dispute is stated to be the reason for the suicide. Samunder Singh of Karhans village and Jai Bhagwan of Dehra village under the Samalkha police station reportedly committed suicide by eating poison. Vijay Kumar, an autorickshaw driver of the local Wadhawa Ram Colony, killed himself by jumping before a train on the outskirts of the town. |
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De-addiction centre’s stone laid Fatehabad, March 13 INLD MP Sushil Indora, MLA Nishan Singh, Mr Leela Krishan Chowdhary, Jarnail Singh and Deputy Commissioner Malik and SP Hanif Qureshi were present on this occasion. |
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4 killed in mishaps Rohtak, March 13 A truck carrying LPG cylinders, collided with another truck coming from the opposite direction. Dilbag Singh and Suresh Kumar, drivers of both vehicles, and a labourer, Sunil Kumar, were killed. A Bihari labourer, Satish, was crushed to death by a vehicle at the Chamarian crossing. |
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Lok Adalats on
March 17 Chandigarh, March 13 A spokesman of the authority said similar Lok Adalats would also be held at Sonepat, Jind, Kurukshetra and Bhiwani on the same day. |
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