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Monday,
August 12, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Haryana seeks Rs 1100 cr drought relief
Bhajan admits Hukam into Cong SYL canal: CM asks parties to unite BJP to attend CM’s meeting |
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DFSC caught taking bribe Man gets life term for wife’s murder Fodder depots to be set up Truck driver, helper
die in mishap
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Haryana seeks Rs 1100 cr drought relief Ambala, August 11 While talking to mediapersons after attending a meeting of the District Grievance Committee he said earlier on previous survey report the state had demanded the central assistance of Rs 615 crore. He said the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had already briefed the Prime Minister about the grim situation of drought in the state. The Finance Minister said the government had decided to terminate the recovery of ‘aabiyana’ from the farmers. Besides, it the recovery of electricity bills of those farmers had also been suspended for six months whose more than 50 per cent of the crops were hit by the drought. The government was also planning to grant some relief on cooperative bank loans to the affected farmers, he added. He said Punjab could not stop the construction of the SYL canal since the Supreme Court had passed a time-bound order in this regard. He said Chief Minister of Punjab should honour the court verdict. Haryana would not sit as a silent spectator in this regard as the SYL canal is the lifeline of the people of this state, he added. When asked whether the appointment of Mr Bhajan Lal as HPCC chief would affect the state politics, he said it was simply a mutual exchange between Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Mr Bhajan Lal. He said the Congress had lost its credibility in Haryana. The change in leadership would not help to revive the Congress base in the state. Talking about the BJP, he said the INLD had cordial relation with the state BJP leadership. The local MLA, Ms Veena Chibbar, MLA of the Naggal constituency Mr Jasbir Malour, Deputy Commissioner, D.D. Gautam and the SP, Ambala, Mr Manoj Yadav, were also present on this occasion. Mr Sampat Singh while interacting with mediapersons after hearing public grievances here on Sunday alleged that the Punjab Government had politicised the SYL canal issue. He directed the District Education Office to fill vacant posts of teachers immediately and take stringent action against defaulter teachers. He also directed the police authorities to conduct a fresh inquiry into a land grabbing case. Ms Gora Devi, a resident of Haripur village, had complained that some ’musclemen’ had forcibly grabbed her land and thrashed her. A case of forgery in land sale was also taken up. Mr Hansraj, a resident of Ramgarh, had alleged that Mehma Singh of Jaisinghpura had cheated him of lakhs of rupees after selling him a piece of land acquired by HUDA. Ms Jyoti
Arora, Deputy Commissioner, Ms Charu Bali, Superintendent of Panchkula police and Mr
S.K. Goel, ADC, and the District Magistrate, Ms Ritu Chaudhary, were also present. |
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Bhajan admits Hukam into Cong Hisar, August 11 Mr Bhajan Lal announced that four of his supporters who had been expelled from the Congress sometime ago would also be readmitted to the party shortly. They are Mr Subhash Batra, Mr Bachan Singh Arya, Mr Krishan Moorty Hooda, all former ministers, and Mr Amir Chand Makkar, former MLA. The HPCC chief said the formal announcements of their admission to the Congress would be made in their respective constituencies which he would be touring shortly. Besides Mr Bhajan Lal and his son Chander Mohan, eight other Congress MLAs attended the rally. They included Rao Dharampal, Rao Narender, Mr Mange Ram Gupta, Mr O. P. Jindal, Ms Anita Yadav, Mr Lacchman Das Arora, Mr Balbir Pal Shah and Capt Ajay Yadav. There was speculation about whether local Congress MLA Jindal would attend the rally or not. His presence put an end to such speculation. Though he did not name his predecessor Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Mr Bhajan Lal made no secret of his unhappiness over the manner in which he was being projected as an
anti-Jat politician during the period Mr Hooda was at the helm of affairs. He said when he started from Delhi this morning for Hisar, he was advised not to take the Bahadurgarh — Rohtak — Meham — Hansi route as it was Jat dominated and he might not be welcomed there. He, however, said he decided to take that very route to prove his critics wrong. He said he was welcomed at all these places. There were traffic jams on the way and it took his caravan several hours to reach Hisar, he said. The former Chief Minister said he had mostly been the only Bishnoi legislator in the Haryana Assembly, yet he remained Chief Minister for about 13 years. This would not have been possible had he not enjoyed the support of all communities in the state. Mr Bhajan Lal denied BJP claims that he was allotted a petrol station at Adampur, near here, as a favour. He said he was allotted this petrol station by a private company in 1962 when there were no takers for such a business in the area. It was no political favour. That is why he said he had sent a legal notice to the BJP for defaming him. If no apology was tendered, he would sue the party for defamation. Criticising Mr Chautala, Mr Bhajan Lal said during the rule of the self-styled leader of the farmers, the peasantry continued to be without water and power. The government had not announced any relief for the drought-hit farmers even though they had gone bankrupt. He also repeated his assertion that all retrenched employees would be absorbed in government jobs once he came to power. |
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Hooda rebuts BJP charge Chandigarh, August 11 Reacting sharply to the BJP allegation, Mr Hooda said in a statement issued here today that a responsible leader like Mr Malhotra should not make a false statement without verifying the facts. He said neither he nor any member of his family had ever been allotted a petrol pum or a gas agency anywhere in the country. Mr Hooda said if his assertion was proved wrong, he would quit politics or Mr Malhotra should retire from public life. |
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SYL canal: CM asks parties to unite Karnal, August 11 In a communication sent to the presidents of all recognised parties of the state, Members of Parliament from Haryana and MLAs, the Chief Minister has appealed to them to rise above party politics and join the meeting to be held on the issue on August 14 in Chandigarh. Terming the SYL canal as the lifeline of Haryana, Mr Chautala has told the invitees that the state had been waiting for a long time for its construction. But because of the non-construction of the canal, the state was unable to use its additional irrigation potential of three lakh hectares which it had created. Besides, the state was suffering a loss of eight lakh tonnes of agricultural production worth Rs 500 crore per year. The Chief Minister’s communication also says that the Supreme Court has directed Punjab to complete the canal which has been lying undigged since 1990. The court has also directed the Centre to complete the construction of the canal if the Punjab Government failed to do so in the stipulated period. The Haryana Government has already started the repair work of the canal in its territory for the benefit of the farmers. Mr Chautala informed the invitees that the Union Irrigation Resources Minister, Mr Arjun Charan Sethi, has directed the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Amarinder Singh, to honour the Supreme Court verdict. He also advised Mr Amarinder Singh against approaching the courts time and again on this issue at a meeting with the CMs of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan on July 25. |
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BJP to attend CM’s meeting Ambala, August 11 The perceptible improvement in the relations was apparent today when President of the Haryana unit of the BJP, Mr Ratan Lal Kataria, stated that the BJP would be participating in the August 14 meeting called by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Kataria, said the BJP will definitely participate in the meeting. “The meeting has been called in the larger interest of the state for which we are with Mr Chautala. Issues like the SYL and are going to be discussed in the meeting besides deliberations on the drought scenario in the state,” he said. Mr Kataria said Haryana is facing one of the worst droughts. “We have raised this matter in Parliament and we have demanded a compensation of Rs 700 crore for the state,” he said. He admitted that there had not been cordial relations between the alliance partners. “However, our differences are not ideological,” he said. “I had met Mr Chautala twice during the past couple of weeks. Our differences have been neutralised but the desired result of an improved relation is awaited by the cadres,” he added. Mr Kataria said both the parties have suffered due to lack of communication. He said the Congress has been blocking the Parliament proceedings which is not healthy in a democracy. “We wanted a discussion on tehelka, they did not let the Parliament function. The same happened with Gujarat and now with the petrol pump allotment,” he said. To a query, Mr Kataria said the gas agency was allotted to his wife at Pundri by following “due procedures”. “There were nine applicants and my wife, who is an MA, was the highest qualified among all applicants,” he stressed. He said the decision taken by the Prime Minister to cancel the allotment of petrol pumps and gas agencies is welcome. “It has already been announced that a white paper on petrol pump allotment will be brought out. We demand that a fair inquiry be held. While the dealer selection board is fair now with a High Court Judge present on the board, during the Congress regime there was either a Congress MLA or an MP on these boards,” he said. |
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DFSC caught taking bribe Kaithal, August 11 According to information, a labour contractor, Mr Chandan Saini, of Pundri, complained to the SP, Mr A.S. Chawla, that the DFSC, Mr M.S. Lather, had demanded Rs 40,000 to release his outstanding payments and the security deposited with the department. Following this complaint, a raiding party was constituted and a trap laid. The contractor went to the DFSC and paid him Rs 15,000 as part payment. The notes were signed by the officials. The signed notes were recovered from the official and he was arrested by the police and booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Today, the arrested official was produced before the Duty Magistrate, Ms Shasi Bala, who remanded him in 14 days’ judicial custody. The arrested official claimed to be close to the family of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. On the other hand, the DFSC told mediapersons on the court premises that he was framed in the case. He said the money recovered from him was collected for the ongoing state-level Junior Badminton Championship. |
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Man gets life term for wife’s murder Kaithal, August 11 Madhu of Tohana was married to Mukesh of Narwana in December 1999. Her in-laws demanded a motor cycle and Rs 50,000 in cash from her parents and she was continuously tortured. According to the District Attorney, Mr Jogi Ram, who represented the state on March 31, 2002, the main accused, Mukesh, went to Tohana and late in the evening left along with his wife. The parents of the girl were surprised to learn that they had not reached their home till late in the night. The next day on reaching Narwana, they were told by Mukesh, he and his wife were attacked by a group of dacoits near Peedal village in Guhla sub-tehsil of this district and Madhu was killed in the attack. The court, after hearing the prosecution and the defence, disbelieved the version of Mukesh and held him guilty of murder. |
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Fodder depots to be set up Sirsa, August 11 The Central Government had issued directions to the state governments to protect the livestock and cattle of the farmers and open fodder depots. On the petrol pump allotment issue, he said he also had been allotted a petrol pump, questioning if being a BJP worker deprived him of his rights as an Indian citizen. |
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Truck driver, helper
die in mishap Fatehabad, August 11 According to reports, the truck (RJ-31G-0603) was coming from Malout in Punjab and going towards Delhi while the tanker (UP-81-E-9105) was coming from the opposite direction. The vehicles collided head-on near Baropal village. Truck driver Sukhjinder and his helper Babu Ram died on the spot. Suresh, Channi and Lekh Raj all travelling in the truck, Balbir, and Pardesi, driver and cleaner respectively on the tanker were injured in the accident. Gurdial, travelling in the truck escaped. The police has booked the driver of the tanker on the complaint of Gurdial. |
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CM lays stone for lawyers’ chambers Jind, August 11 The Chief Minister redressed grievances of people in the local PWD Rest House and later went to the new anaj mandi. |
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INLD youth wing plans conferences Chandigarh, August 11 Under this programme, conferences would be organised at Kaithal on August 20, Sirsa on August 24, Rohtak on September 1, Sonepat on September 8, Ambala on September 15, Jind on September 22, Faridabad on September 29 and Narnaul on October 6. |
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