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| Saturday,
June 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Mulayam will win in UP poll: Bansi Putting up with administrative flab
Haryana
to provide aid to accident victims |
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March against lathi charge on agitators Sainik board invites applications Youths threaten trader’s kin Martyr cremated with honours Fake LIC agent dupes sarpanch Convicted tantrik booked again Officer suspended Two officers retire
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Mulayam will win in UP poll: Bansi Kurukshetra, June 29 Mr Bansi Lal, who was addressing mediapersons at Parakeet Restaurant, 5 km from here today, said the BJP might not get the majority in the UP elections and if the BJP was declared defeated it would have its effect not only at the Centre but in the whole country. This would lead to new political alignments at the Centre. Mr Bansi Lal said Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav would win the maximum number of seats while Ms Mayawati would get the second position. For the third
position there would be a keen contest between the Congress and the BJP. Criticising Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala’s rallies in UP, Mr Bansi Lal said Mr Chautala was misusing money by poking his nose in UP politics. He said that Mr Chautala was habitual in interfering in others’ political affairs. Citing an example, he said Mr Chautala, who poked his nose into the political affairs of Rajasthan, failed miserably. He said Mr Chautala demanded 23 seats for contesting for the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Rajasthan but was given 11 seats only. He said that out of 11 seats, Mr Chautala surrendered four seats while on rest of the seats, the INLD was declared defeated. Similarly, Mr Chautala would draw a blank in the UP elections as the INLD had lost all three seats in Delhi too. Warning the state government officers, who were actively helping the INLD by participating in party politics, Mr Bansi Lal said officers who helped the INLD during the ensuing UP elections would not be spared when the HVP came to power. The state government officers should not involve themselves in the politics by violating the code of conduct, he added. Mr Bansi Lal claimed his party would contest the next elections independently and would win with a thumping
majority. When asked on what ground he could claim a thumping majority, he replied that his claim was based on the voters’ mood as a large number of people were fed up with the Chautala government’s anti-people policies and were responding to his partyby attending his public rallies. A former Haryana Minister, Mr Balbir Saini (from the Pehowa Assembly constituency), in the presence of mediapersons, joined the HVP. In reply to a question, Mr Saini told mediapersons that before joining the HVP, he consulted the voters of 105 villages of his constituency. Mr Bansi Lal was the only political leader, who was honest and could take Haryana from devastation to development and prosperity. Mr Chautala, he said, had failed miserably in fulfilling the promises made by him to the people of Haryana before coming to power, he added. Similarly,the Shiv Sena District president, Mrs Satvinder Kaur, from Ambala also joined the HVP. Mr Bansi Lal said if his party came to power, it would restore supply of electricity for 24 hours. Four per cent entry tax imposed by the Haryana municipalities would be removed. The halwais would be exempted from taxes, power consumption tax imposed at the rate of 5 paise per unit would be restored to one paisa per unit while ST form 38 would be abolished and the house tax restored on old pattern. The people of the state would be given clean administration while the law and order situation in Haryana would be rectified, he
promised. He also promised that the people from Dalit and backward classes in rural as well as urban areas would be allotted residential plots free of cost. Later, a public rally was also addressed by Mr Bansi Lal at the grain market in Ladwa, 15 km from here, today. Among others who addressed the rally included the HVP secretary general, Mr Surinder Singh, the HVP Parliamentary Board chief and former Haryana minister, Mr Kanwal Singh, former Haryana minister, Atar Singh Saini and HVP general secretary Jitender Singh Kaka. |
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Putting up with administrative flab Chandigarh, June 29 Of course, it is another matter that in the process the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has deprived the Opposition of a number of potent issues on which the latter could have put the former on the mat. The foremost issue on which the Government has virtually applied brakes , at least for the time being, is the
downsizing (or rightsizing as the Government preferred to call the exercise to prune the administrative flab). Hardpressed by rising administrative expenditure, primarily because of the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission report, the downsizing had become the buzz word with the Haryana Government. Various departments, corporations and boards were told to prepare the list of employees which were in their views redundant. Many a department dispensed with the services of daily wagers. While a number of loss-making corporations were wound up, in a number of departments like employment and hospitality, several employees were rendered surplus following the closure of some of their operations. Though the political leadership of the
State (read the Chief Minister) initially gave the impression that the surplus staff would be retrenched, it had second thoughts when it actually came to the chopping board. The surplus staff in these departments was adjusted elsewhere as per the view of certain senior bureaucrats who favoured downsizing “by attrition”. According to this school of thought, instead of sending the surplus staff home, which vitiated the concept of a welfare state, their posts should be abolished on their retirement, to which no one could object. While the drive to downsize various departments was in full swing, the officers were suddenly told a few days ago to stop the exercise. According to informed sources, the political leadership realised that the exercise was sending a wrong message to the people, which had started perceiving the Government as anti-employee, though the INLD leadership had projected its party as a “party of farmers and workers”. Though no one who matters in the power hierarchy of Haryana is willing to discuss the reasons behind this sudden change of mind, the possibility of the decision being linked to the forthcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh is not ruled out. The INLD is determined to make its presence in that State felt before and after the elections. Any adverse image of the INLD Government in Haryana could have an adverse affect on its poll prospects in Uttar Pradesh. INLD sources do not agree with this assessment. They say their Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, is not an obstinate person like one of his predecessors. Mr Chautala, they say, is interested in long-term interests of the State. Since he is a man of masses, he cannot ignore the public pulse. When he realised that the downsizing of the government would cause lot of misery, particularly to those employees who are on the lower rungs of the administration, he asked the officers to hold on till some other viable alternative is found. Similarly, in case of those college teachers who would have been rendered surplus in the wake of closure of plus two classes in colleges, the Chief Minister make the Education Department evolve a scheme which would ensure alternative employment to the surplus teachers. On the issues of controversial issues of house tax and sales tax form no. 38(transit challans) also, the authorities have either been told to go slow or take some remedial measures. The automatic assessment of cases involving a turnover of Rs 5 crore, the sources say, will take care of the problems posed to the traders by the transit challans to a large extent. The Government ostensibly continues to adopt a tough posture on the issue of recovery of power arrears. But it is avoiding taking very tough measures against what have come to be known as “problem
villages (where the people are still resisting the Government’s efforts to recover the arrears)”. Instead the scheme under which surcharge is waived if all the arrears are cleared by a consumer is being extended repeatedly. The sources say it should not be a surprise if one day the Government decides to reinstate all those employees who were dismissed during the agitation to pressurise the administration to implement the Supreme Court judgement on reservation in promotions. Despite their sacking months ago, the dismissed employees are being allowed to stay in government houses. The sources say while the Chief Minister is keen on maintaining discipline among the employees, he does not want to be very harsh with the families of the dismissed employees. |
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Cong, BJP Councillors come to blows Ambala, June 29 The altercation was sparked off over the laying of a road in the Prem Nagar area. A heated exchange of words took place between Amisha Chawla from Ward No. 8 and Neeraj Trikha from Ward No. 9 over the road. The MC, Mr Inder Pal Singh Pammi, demanded that Central Government fund must be equally distributed between all wards instead of preference being shown towards councillors of a particular party. The husband of a Congress councillor, meanwhile entered the meeting
which was objected to by the BJP councillors. Then two BJP councillors, Neeraj Trikha and Surender Gogu, got up and strongly objected to an outsider’s presence. Mr Neeraj Trikha was manhandled by a Congress councillor. Mr Pammi and Mr Gogu came to blows. Mr Gogu sustained injuries during the altercation. It took a lot of effort by the other municipal councillors to restore order. The Congress councillors later met the Superintendent of Police, Mr Sandeep Khirwar, and demanded action even as they sought protection. In a complaint to the SP, the Congress councillors, led by Mr Dharam Pal Chaddha accused the BJP councillors of using strong-arm tactics. They have stated that the “goondagardi” by the BJP councillors must come to an end. Mr
D.P. Chadha, Mr Bharat Ratan Sharma, Mr Inder Pal Singh Pammi, Ms Amisha Chawla, Ms Parvesh
Shasan, Chander Mohini Guglani, Mr Harvinder Singh and Mr Mahender Tanwar also met the SP.
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Haryana
to provide aid to accident victims Chandigarh, June 29 Official sources said there was a sharp
decline in the number of highway accidents in Haryana since February
when the traffic management system became functional. “Between
February and June, 161 accidents were reported less than what were
reported in the corresponding period last year”, sources said. The
officials said similarly there was a decrease in the number of deaths
due to accidents during the five months as compared to the
corresponding period last year. The SSP (Traffic) post which was
abolished in Haryana in 1996, was again revived in February to ensure
free flow of the traffic and for reduction in the number of highway
accidents. Presently the traffic management establishment is
functioning with 19 gypsies, six of which have been deployed for
patrolling the GT road (NH 1), three on the Delhi-Mathura road (NH 2),
three on the Delhi-Jaipur road (NH 8) and seven on the Delhi- Hisar
road (NH 10). Permanent traffic aid posts on the highways are also
reportedly in advanced stage of construction. The department has
acquired 20 motor cycles which would be soon on the roads to supervise
the traffic. Now, the gypsies patrol 15 km each on both sides of the
highways. According to the new plan charted by the state government,
once a traffic department gypsy picks up an accident victim, he or she
will be admitted to the nearest hospital. “This will mean an end to
the earlier system of taking the victim to a hospital belonging to the
district where the accident has originally taken place”, an official
said. The official added that the traffic aid personnel will also
have the names of private and government hospitals within 15 km of
each side of the highway and the victim will be given treatment at the
nearest hospital. “The department will bear the cost of treatment
of the patients in private hospitals for which a fund partially
supported by insurance companies will be setup”, the official said,
adding that the negotiations with insurance companies and private
hospitals are at an advanced stage. The state government is persuading
the insurance companies to bear part of the expenditure. He added that
only the victims of hit and run accidents will be eligible for getting
coverage under the fund. |
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March against lathi charge on agitators Jind, June 29 Residents of the local Shyam Nagar Colony organised a demonstration to protest against the replacement of old electric meters with new electronic meters by the Haryana Vidyut Parsaran Nigam. They alleged that new meters run very fast and they will have to pay inflated electricity bills if the new meters were installed on power connections. They also alleged that the HVPN had increased the speed of the meters to extort more revenue from the consumers. To register protest agitators staged a dharna near the Hansi Branch Canal bridge and blocked traffic on the local Railway Road. According to a report the police immediately reached the spot for lifting the blockade but the agitators threw stones at the police injuring two policemen. Thereafter, the police resorted to lathi charge to disperse agitators in which about six persons, including three women were injured. Injured were treated at the local general hospital. The police registered a case and took eight agitators into custody last evening. Mr O.P. Singh, Superintendent of Police, said nobody would be allowed to block traffic or take law into his hands. He said the police will deal strictly with anti-social elements. Talking to mediapersons here today. Mr Hawa Singh Dhankar, Deputy Commissioner, said that the meters were being replaced according to the policy of the Haryana Government. He said it was wrong to say that the new meters runs fast. He said if anybody had doubt about it he could get the new meters tested in the laboratory. |
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Sainik board invites applications Chandigarh, June 29 Interview for the course of computer operator and programming assistant (for girls only) would be held at ITC, Sainik Parivar Bhawan (SPB), Panchkula, on August 9. The candidates should be higher secondary pass with 50 per cent marks. Another course for girl candidates is stenography (Hindi and English) and the minimum qualification for this course is matriculation. The interview would be held at ITC, SPB, Rohtak and Hisar on August 16. The interview for the course of cutting and tailoring (for girls candidates only) would be held at both these centres on August 24 and the minimum qualification is class eight pass. Interview for the computer operator and programming training course for boys would be on August 17 at ITC, SPB, Rohtak. The candidates should be higher secondary pass with 50 per cent
marks. Interview for Hindi stenography and English stenography would be held on August 29 at ITC, SPB, Jind and Jhajjar, respectively. The minimum qualification for the course is matric. Interview for the co-education course of Hindi stenography would be on august 22 and for English stenography on August 27. The candidates should be matriculate. Interview for the co-education course of cutting and tailoring would be held on August 13 and candidates should be class eight pass. The interview for the course would be held at ITC, SPB, Dadri, Rewari and Chhachhrauli, respectively. Successful candidates would be given National Council of Vocational Training certificates. The other co-education courses are handloom and cut glass works. Interview for these courses would be held on August 14 at Chhachhrauli and the applicants should be class eight pass. The age of candidates should be from 14 to 25 years and the maximum age for widows is 40 years on August 1, 2001. The candidates should send their applications through respective secretaries of Zila Sainik Boards to Administrative Officer or in charge of the concerned ITC, SPB by July 25. For ITC, SPB, Hisar, Rewari, Rohtak, Dadri, Jind and Jhajjar, a copy of application with documents should also be sent to Administrative Officer, ITC, SPB, Rohtak. The candidates should report at concerned ITC, SPB, at 9 a.m. on the date of the interview. |
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Youths threaten trader’s kin Sonepat, June 29 According to a report reaching here, two of the three miscreants took the duo into a room and threatened them with dire consequences if they failed to give the extortion money within the stipulated period. They fled in a waiting car parked outside the house. The incident has caused panic among the family members of the trader as well as the residents of the area. A meeting of the traders was held in the evening and adopted a resolution expressing concern over the rising incidence of crime and threats by criminals and anit-social elements and criticised the police for its failure to check such incidents. The police is yet to register a case in this connection. |
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Martyr cremated with honours Hisar, June 29 Deputy Commissioner Anurag Rastogi and Superintendent of Police Rajpal Singh represented the state government at the cremation attended by hundreds of people from the nearby areas. Rajbir Singh was posted in the Kargil Sector. On the night on June 25 a 15- member Indian Army patrol party noticed a 25-strong group of foreign mercenaries trying to intrude into India. An encounter ensued which continued for 24 hours. As many as 15 mercenaries were killed while the patrol party lost three men including Rajbir Singh who accounted for three of the dead terrorists. |
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Fake LIC agent dupes sarpanch Fatehabad, June 29 According to reports, the youth made the sarpanch to believe that the insurance company had started a new policy for the handicapped children under which the parents have to deposit Rs 4,000 annually for five years. The youth told the sarpanch that the company would pay Rs 1 lakh to the child after the completion of five years. The unsuspecting sarpanch gave Rs 4,000 to the youth and agreed to purchase a policy. The youth issued a receipt of the LIC and asked the sarpanch to collect the policy from the local office of the LIC after three or four days. When the sarpanch reached the LIC office here yesterday to collect the policy he was shocked to learn that the receipt was fake and there was no agent named Manoj working with the LIC. LIC sources confirmed the incident . |
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Convicted tantrik booked again Hisar, June 29 The tantrik, Prem Dass, was sentenced to jail for 13 years in a similar case last month and he is presently lodged in Central Jail here. A local resident, Mr Balraj Singh, father of the child today lodged a complaint with the city police station in this connection. He alleged that when he took his newly born baby to the tantrik to seek his blessings the tantrik asked them to hand over the child to him claiming that he was a genie and disaster for the family. Tantrik claimed that he would send the genie away
through his divine powers. He also asked them not to disclose this to anyone as it would harm the family. Mr Balraj Singh said he suspected that his child had been handed over to another childless couple. Five years ago, the tantrik had handed over a child, Shaku Singh, to a childless couple Gulshan Kumar and Kamlesh Devi. He had got the child from his parents on a similar pretext. The court had also sentenced Gulshan Kumar and his wife Kamlesh Devi to three years’ imprisonment. |
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Officer suspended Chandigarh, June 29 A press note issued by the Haryana Government said disciplinary action would also be initiated against him. The press note added that Mr Malik allegedly did not extend courtesy to the Punjab Governor, Lieut-General J.F.R. Jacob , during his visit to Pinjore, although he was given necessary instructions by senior officers of the department. His attitude was also allegedly rude to the U.T. Home Secretary who had accompanied the Governor. |
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Two
officers retire Chandigarh, June 29 A press note issued by the Government said they were given a warm farewell and gifts. |
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