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Wednesday,
May 2, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Heavy wheat arrivals pose
problems HAU’s ultimatum to striking
students Order in disputed land case
stayed DC tells staff to make
potable water available |
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Water not supplied for
years Campaign against
female foeticide 22 farmers win
prizes Retrenchment of MC employees
opposed CM makes surprise visit to Balkunj Parents want to clean up mess in
schools Protest rallies mark May Day Residents without power for 16
hours
Cong to collect 20 lakh signatures Plea on use of modern
medicine
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Heavy wheat arrivals pose
problems Rohtak, May 1 Haunted by the unprecedented rain in the beginning of the harvesting season, farmers appear to be in a hurry to market their produce at the earliest. The wheat arrivals in various markets of the district are posing problems for procurement agencies, traders and farmers. Farmers appear to have caught the government on the wrong foot as it has failed to lift the old stocks as speedily as the situation warranted and to create space for stacking the stocks in godowns and other safe places. Interestingly, the stocks of the previous year are still lying in the open. An official of the Food and Supplies Department told this correspondent that covered godowns were not available in the district this year. “We have told the government that the wheat procured this year would also be stored in the open”, he said. The heavy arrivals of wheat in mofussil mandis like Sanghi have upset the labour arrangements also. Consequently, the procurement agencies have failed to lift the stocks. The wheat procured was lying in the compound of the government school in the village, the DCC (Rural) chief, Professor Virender, said. He said wheat was also lying on the embankments of the village pond and the farmers were keeping a vigil over their produce. The president of the Haryana Foodgrain Dealers Association, Mr Narain Parsad Goyal, complained that while the traders here were struggling hard to create space for fresh arrivals, various government agencies has brought the purchased wheat from the neighbouring markets to Rohtak for stacking. He sought the intervention of the Deputy Commissioner in solving the problem. Mr Goyal also alleged that labour was not available in the market for stitching the bags after procurement. The traders were doing the job without any remuneration, he said. The total arrivals of wheat in various markets of the district were 54,920 MT till Saturday as compared to 31,370 MT during the corresponding period last year. The various government agencies have this year purchased 54,905 MT as against 30,335 MT last year. The purchases by traders this season have been only 15 MT against 1,035 MT last year. Our Correspondent adds: SONEPAT:
The shortage of gunny bags with official procurement agencies has hit the purchase of wheat in various foodgrains markets of the district. According to many farmers, officials of the procurement agencies have declined to purchase the wheat marketed by them on the pretext that they have no stock of gunny bags. This has resulted in a glut of wheat in mandis and purchasing centres of the district. There has been no space to unload the wheat stocks by the farmers and many of them have unloaded their stocks on the roads leading to the mandis and purchasing centres, thereby blocking the passage for days together. Meanwhile, the arrival of wheat has broken all previous records in the district. Though the harvesting of wheat is yet to be completed, heaps of wheat are lying in the open for lack of space. Farmers of Narela (Delhi) and Uttar Pradesh are also bringing their produce to the markets of the district to get remunerative prices. The authorities concerned have allegedly failed to prevent the farmers of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh from coming to local markets. The claims of government agencies and the district administration about the smooth procurement of wheat have been refuted by the farmers. According to them they have to wait for days together for the bids. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr
S.N. Roy, has taken serious note of the farmers’ complaints and directed the officials of the procurement agencies to overcome the problems of proper storage and lifting of wheat from mandis and purchasing centres to enable the farmers to unload their stock there. |
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SOS to West Bengal Gunny bag
shortage Sonepat, May 1 This assurance was given by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to farmers while inspecting the foodgrain markets of Kharkhauda, Sonepat and Murthal in the district yesterday. Mr Chautala also announced that his government had already sent an SOS to the West Bengal Government for sending gunny bags to Haryana and enable it to continue the purchases of wheat in the state. He, however, admitted that there was an acute shortage of gunny bags which had hampered the procurement of wheat. The Chief Minister took serious note of the farmers’ complaints about the shortage of gunny bags, the non-purchase of wheat and the failure to lift the procured wheat from the markets. He directed the procurement agencies to take immediate steps for the redress of the farmers’ grievances. The Chief Minister also expressed concern over the non-supply of drinking water to farmers in foodgrain markets and purchasing centres. He pulled up officials of the market committees as well as the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board and told them to make arrangements for the supply of drinking water within a day. |
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HAU’s ultimatum to striking
students Hisar, May 1 The students have been on strike since March 27 demanding filling of posts of Agricultural Development Officer in the state Department of Agriculture and introduction of agriculture as a subject at the Plus 2 level in schools. The university authorities clarified in their appeal that none of these pertained to the university. Hence there was no justification for strike. The appeal warned that if the strike continued the students would not be able to fulfil the condition of 75 per cent attendance. The striking students have been asked to sign an undertaking that they would in future abide by university rules and not go on strike in the future. It is learnt that the university is under pressure from the government to bring the students back to their classes. Sources said the government even planned to close down the college in case the agitation did not end immediately. The latest “appeal” is being viewed as a step in this direction though officials deny that there was any move to close the college temporarily or permanently. However, the students appear to be in no mood to relent. Their leaders said today that they would end the stir only when their demands were accepted. They maintained that they faced a bleak future anyway and would therefore prefer to take the fight to its logical conclusion. The College of Agriculture, which once attracted students with the highest merit, has been seeing a steady decline in enrolment over the past few years. At present 75 per cent of the seats in the college here and at the Kaul campus remain unfilled. This is despite the fact that the eligibility condition for admission to the B.Sc course has been scaled down from 60 per cent to 33 per cent. Till a few years ago, only those with a score of above 80 per cent could hope to secure admission to the course. Things have come to such a pass because of a lack of job avenues. Posts of ADOs have not been filled for the past six years. It is learnt that there are over 200 vacant posts but the government does not want to fill these as the general feeling is that the ADOs are serving no useful purpose. Besides, the HAU itself provided ample job opportunities to the agricultural graduates but the university is no longer recruiting any more staff because of financial and other considerations. Last year the high powered panel on new education policy appointed by the Haryana government recommended introduction of agriculture as a subject at the school level both to provide employment avenues and to educate younger students from the rural families. However, the scheme failed to take off despite promises by the chief minister because of lack of funds. The students who had high hopes from the scheme are therefore heart broken. |
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Order in disputed land case
stayed Panipat, May 1 An appeal was filed on Monday in the court of Additional District Judge, Panipat, by the Executive Officer of Nagar Parishad and the Deputy Commissioner-cum-Collector, Panipat, against the order dated April 19, 2001, passed by the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Panipat, and prayed to set aside the same. In the interim injunction order, the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Mr B.Diwakar, has “Restrained the Nagar Parishad from demolishing the existing constructions over the disputed site comprising in Khasra No. 1042 and 1043 MIN and further from causing any sort of obstruction in raising construction by the plantiffs; Mohan Lal and Rajesh Kumar of Panipat”. August 29, 2001 has been fixed as the next date of hearing in this case. The case is pertaining to the construction of a shopping complex on a disputed land opposite Panipat bus depot on the Sukhdev Nagar road. On the complaint of Partap Singh, who also claims to be the owner of the disputed land, against the construction of the shopping complex on the disputed land, the Municipal Council issued a notice in the last week of February to the builders for the demolition of constructions by considering it illegal as well as for flouting the requisite bylaws and other norms as directed in the reportedly sanctioned plan. However, the builders, Mohan Lal and Rajesh Kumar, filed a suit on February 27, 2001 in the court of Civil Judge (Senior Division), Panipat, against the Nagar Parishad, to obtain a permanent injunction. The appellants have submitted that the sale deed dated 27.3.2001 of the disputed land is altogether illegal, null and void, ineffective, inoperative and a paper transaction only and carries no weight in the eyes of law. Besides, it is also submitted that the builders never obtained any permission or sanction from the Municipal Council, Panipat, nor any site plan was ever submitted for obtaining permission and sanction over land comprising in Khasra No. 1042 MIN and 1043 MIN. It has been submitted in the appeal that the builders are intending to raise constructions at a place other than the place for which they obtained sanction from the Municipal Council and it was not permissible under the building bylaws 1982. |
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DC tells staff to make
potable water available Narnaul, May 1 He was addressing a Public Grievances Committee monthly meeting which concluded here on Sunday evening. He said after the completion of the survey work of house tax in the district, recovery of pending house tax bills would be covered after May 15. The pending rent of Parishad shops should be recovered. In all 12 complaints were placed. The Deputy Commissioner directed all government agencies to install more weighing machines to combat the problem of lifting the rabi crop produce in
Mahendragarh, Ateli and Kanina mandis. More incentives would be given to women folk to implement and give boost various schemes of Small Savings and cheques amounting to Rs 3,000 would be given to them (free coupons) to raise capital
investments. Hasanpur village panchayat levelled charges against the Irrigation Department that water did not reach the tail-end of Hasanpur miner. In response to the complaint the department justified that after the completion of the miner, the village pond was filled. According to another complaint by Patherwaa village, some Dalit bastis were without drinking water. The Department clarified that after the laying of 1,200-foot pipe line, water had already been supplied to the
basti. The Sarpanch of Badopur village got registered a complaint over the mass felling of trees in the village and the stealing of sand from the parinial (seasonal river) river bed. The DC ordered the registering of the case against the erring persons. |
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Water not supplied for
years Bhiwani, May 1 Residents said water had not been supplied to their colony for the past 7-8 years and they had to keep water tanks or go to far-away places to fetch water. There are around 1,000 houses in the colony but a few hundred of these have not received even a drop of water for the past several years. The residents had apprised the Chief Minister of their problem at a meeting following which he had directed the Superintending Engineer concerned to survey and install boosting station in the area but nothing has been done so far. The problem was placed several times in the weekly open durbar of the Deputy Commissioner but to no avail. It is learnt that the underground water is not fit for consumption. Earlier, the District Consumer Forum had fined the Public Health Department Rs 1,000 and directed it to supply water in the mornings and evenings regularly, on a complaint filed by the residents. |
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Campaign against
female foeticide Sirsa, May 1 The general body meeting of the association condemned female foeticide and the indulgence of some so-called prestigious institutions in this anti-social and anti-human activity with the connivance of some medical practitioners, who are tarnishing the medical profession. The general body agreed that such elements must be identified and strict action be taken against them, besides launching a public awareness campaign. The body also agreed to request the government, press, NGOs, women activists and religious leaders to help stop this evil practice. It welcomed the laws for the disposal of biomedical waste. The body also discussed the alternative techniques which could be adopted and recommended to the government. The president of the association Dr D.S. Jaspal, stated that a disaster management committee would be constituted all over the state to meet any eventuality. The term of the present state team of the association was extended till March 31, 2002. |
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22 farmers win
prizes Bhiwani, May 1 Bhanwar Singh of Jatu Luhari village also got the first prize. As many as 22 farmers won prizes worth Rs 4 lakh. The Krishak Uphaar yojna was introduced on October 2 last year. The Deputy Commissioner drew lots in front of farmers. Twentytwo farmers won agricultural appliances or cash. Under the scheme, two farmers getting the first prize were to be given agricultural appliances worth Rs 40,000 each, eight winners of the second prize Rs 25,000 each and 12 winners of the third place Rs 10,000 or agricultural appliances worth the same amount. Raj Kumar, Rajender, Manohar Singh, Tulsi Ram, Krishan, Mahender Singh and Mansha Singh have won second prizes Rajmal, Bhupenderpal, Jaipal, Naurang Lal, Hetram, Gopi Ram, Mukesh Kumar, Ricchpal Singh, Mange Ram, Jeet Ram and Prithvi Singh have won third prizes. It is learnt that prizes worth Rs 1.52 crore would be given statewide under the scheme. Under the scheme, the farmers are given J-forms on their sold produce by the agents which is submitted at the office of the market committee and lucky coupens are issued to them. |
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Retrenchment of MC employees
opposed Faridabad, May 1 The Sarva Karamchari Sangh (SKS), Haryana, a federation of various employee associations in the state and its affiliated bodies, including the Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, Haryana Government PWD Mechanical Workers Union and All-Haryana Power Employees Workers Union, have criticised the retrenchment of about 1,518 employees of the MC recently. Leaders of these unions have extended their support to the ongoing agitation and have warned the MC authorities of intensifying the stir if they failed to take the staff back. The Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, which was earlier feeling “alienated” due to the active involvement of a new organisation of safai workers here, has come to its support now. Members of the association took part in processions taken out yesterday. A leader of the SKS said the sangh opposed the policy of retrenchment and privatisation of various state government departments and corporations. Charging the government with following an anti-employee stand, he said about 6,000 employees had lost their jobs in the past two or three years due to wrong policies. According to sangh leaders the retrenchment was unjustified as the Haryana Safai Majdoor Service Rules prescribe the availability of one safai karamchari for a population of 200. They said after the recent retrenchment, only one safai karamchari had been left for about 1,400 residents in Faridabad. It was claimed that the MC had been left with only 1,456 employees while the town needed at least 11,000 workers. |
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CM makes surprise visit to Balkunj Yamunanagar, May 1 Interestingly, even the pilots of the Chief Minister’s motorcade were not aware of his programme. Mr Chautala talked to children of Balkunj. The children informed Mr Chautala what they eat and showed him the rooms, toilets and playground. Mr Chautala inspected the food and enquired about how much money was being spent on each child. Mr Chautala was accompanied by the state BJP supremo, Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, and the DIG (CID), Mr K.P. Singh. The Chief Minister said to run an institution like Balkunj was creditable. He appealed to elite group of the society and industrialists to participate in the activities of such institutions. He directed Ms Renu Phulia, Subdivisional
Magistrate, Jagadhri, to spend more time at Balkunj and provide more facilities there. |
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Parents want to clean up mess in
schools Gurgaon, May 1 The association, with Mr Vashist Goyal as its president, has 21 executive members. The members today met mediapersons and said the new organisation would be registered shortly. The immediate provocation for floating the organisation is their grievance against the management of Salwan Public School. Mr Goyal said the association would first clean-up the “mess” in Salwan Public School and then focus on other public schools. The principal of the school, Dr Indu Kheterpal, however, did not make herself available for comments. Armed with statistics, the parents made a comparative study of the fee structure and said the charges were exorbitant. They alleged that the fee was hiked at the whim and fancy of the management. They alleged that the management was trying to take the help of police to deter them from raising their problems before the school authorities. The district administration had also not intervened even though they had submitted a joint memorandum to it, they alleged. A majority of the parents did not send their wards to school yesterday as a “token strike” against the “arrogance” of the management and the “shop culture” fostered by it. They claimed that they had the support of about 350 parents out of about 450 parents associated with the school. They said, they had resolved not to deposit the fee in future if the management did not discuss the matter with them soon. “Commercial
counters” in the garb of academic institutions have emerged in Gurgaon. Many residents feel that apart from noted chain of public schools opening here in the past about five years, there has been a growth of little-known public schools. |
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Protest rallies mark May Day Rohtak, May 1 SONEPAT: A large number of workers affiliated to various trade unions, including the CITU and
SUCI, took out a procession here on Tuesday in connection with the May Day. Carrying placards and raising slogans in support of their demands, they marched through the main bazars of the city and reached the railway station, where a rally was held. The president of the Haryana Committee of the CITU, Mr S.N. Solanki, the vice-president, Mr Howa Singh and the secretary of the SUCI, Mr Hari Parkash, addressed the rally and criticised the alleged anti-worker policies of the Central Government and the Haryana government. |
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Residents without power for 16
hours Faridabad, May 1 While the mercury has soared to 43°C in this region, such breakdowns have become common in various parts of the district. Efforts by some residents of Sector-14 here to get the power supply restored last night failed as there was nobody around to redress the problem. When the power supply was disrupted at about 10.15 p.m. yesterday the residents took it as a routine cut of half-an-hour, but it was not to be. Majority of the families had to spend the night sitting outside waiting for the resumption of power supply. Mr S.S. Chaudhary, an architect, claimed that the residents had on several occasions demanded the installation of a bigger transformer, but said the officials concerned were not interested. The Superintending Engineer, Mr V.K. Aggarwal, when contacted said a transformer had got burnt and it was being replaced. However, the replacement took almost 16 hours and power could be resumed at 2.10 p.m. today. Chandigarh, May 1 Announcing this at a press conference here today, the AICC observer for Haryana, Mr K.K. Tiwari, said the signature
campaign, which aimed at involving the people at large, would begin from tomorrow. He said two sets of documents would be signed by people. While the first set of papers would be a comprehensive memorandum against the Vajpayee government to be submitted to the President, the other would be a charge sheet against the NDA government highlighting various scams. Mr Tiwari, who was accompanied by the president of the Haryana Congress, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said the second document would also have a part highlighting the failure of the Chautala government. He said the signature campaign would continue till May 16, after which the documents would be sent to the AICC. Mr Hooda said the proposed “lalkar rally” of the Congress, to be held in Panipat on May 20, would mark the beginning of a mass agitation against the Chautala government.
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Plea on use of modern
medicine Karnal, May 1 Dr Shashi Bhushan Madan, the general secretary of the association, today said the CCIM had issued a notification to all state governments on October 30, 1996, saying that the institutionally qualified graduates of the Indian system of medicine (Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani) were eligible to practice modern medicine, including surgery, gynaecology and obstetrics. Besides, the Supreme Court has already decided in favour of Ayurvedic and Integrated graduates to practice modern medicine. However, the Haryana Government has so far been lagging behind in this regard, he said. The meeting of the association, which was chaired by Dr R.B.Goel, the state president of the association, also demanded the opening of a post-graduate college and research institute in the state. It further urged the government to treat practitioners of the Indian System of Medicine at parity with the practitioners of modern medicine. |
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300 college lecturers to be recruited Chandigarh, May 1 Truck with 300 head of cattle seized Yamunanagar, May 1 |
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Man held for rape Panipat, May 1 |
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