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Monday,
August 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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‘Compensate’ roadways for free travel Afghan cops undergo training at Madhuban DISTRICT DIARY Stone of dharamshala laid Dayal Singh College convocation |
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‘Compensate’ roadways for free travel Chandigarh, August 18 Mr Hari Naryan Sharma, president of the Haryana Roadways Workers Union, said: “The Roadways, makes profits as far as the labour productivity of about 19,000 employees is concerned, but the state government’s decision to charge up to 60 per cent passenger tax on earnings and free service to different categories, has resulted in losses.” The union leaders pointed out that the state government was trying to introduce privatisation through the back door. Against a sanctioned fleet of 3,840 buses, the Roadways now ran about 3,500 buses. The government had failed to introduce additional buses to run the total fleet. About 3,000 employees had retired over the past three years, but the government had declined to recruit any regular employee. They claimed that with the efforts of employees, the Roadways had succeeded in wiping out the annual losses worth more than Rs 72 crore incurred in 2000-01. The Roadways carried more than 11 lakh passengers daily from one destination to other. It had to pay about Rs 15 crore interest every year on loans, which could be drastically reduced through debt servicing. The Haryana Roadways Employees Union has alleged that the state government was exploiting of about 3,000 employees working with the Roadways on-contract basis. It has claimed that till recently, the Roadways was paying less than Rs 2000 to about 3000 drivers and conductors, recruited on contract. The pay has been now revised to Rs 2410 for drivers and Rs 2310 for conductors, which was still lower than the regular employees’ pay. But the government had declined either to increase their wages or regularise services. Mr Sharma claimed that a delegation of employees leaders had on August 13 met Mr Rajan Gupta, Transport Commissioner, who had agreed to provide relief to the workers. However, nothing was being done to increase the fleet or accept other demands. Their demands included, regular bonus on productivity basis, payment of overtime, regularisation of contract workers and action against corrupt officials. Mr Lal Chand Kasana, president of the Haryana Roadways, Chandigarh Depot Employees Union, disclosed that a state level meeting of employees would be held at Kurukshetra on August 20, to chalk out the next course of action. About 5000 Roadways employees are expected to participate in the rally, to be held at Jind, on September 1. |
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Afghan cops undergo training at Madhuban Karnal, August 18 Mr Malik said that common link between the police of any countries was to maintain peace and order. Afghanistan today faces very difficult situation. Haryana too has faced serious threat from terrorists and anti-national organisations. The Afghan police will benefit from the experience of the Haryana Police for curbing terrorism. He advised the Afghan police officers to do their duty respecting democratic and human values. He wished Indo-Afghan friendship and fraternity well. He gave away certificates and souvenir to the Afghan police officers. A replica of the Taj Mahal was presented to the leader of the Afghan police officer Col Sayed Abdul Qayoum. Mr K. Koshy, Director, HPA, said that the course was organised as part of India’s assistance to Afghanistan. It was attended by 20 senior Afghan police officers. Col Sayed Abdul Qayoum praised the hosts for the hospitality they showed on them. He assured the DGP that they would make use of what they had learnt during their stay in Haryana. |
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DISTRICT DIARY FATEHABAD: Due to the indifferent attitude of the authorities, the local people are faced with a plethora of problems. One of the worst problems is the unchecked encroachment of footpaths by shopkeepers in the town’s markets. Shopkeepers in almost all markets like Thana Road Bazaar, Hans Market, Jawahar Chowk, Basti Bhawan and DSP Road have brazenly encroached on footpaths and roads. As if this was not enough, rehriwallas have encroached on the rest of the space on roadsides. This leaves little space for flow of traffic. To go to these bazaars on a four-wheeler is a herculean task. Even scooterists find it difficult to move. The absence of a ban on tractor-trailers in markets compounds matters. Go to any market and one will find how difficult it is to shop at the market. Social organisations have been making representations to the authorities against this nuisance but to no avail. Though the administration has put up railings at the entry points of these markets to prevent the entry of heavy traffic, remedial steps have proved short-lived. Encroachments by shopkeepers have also been removed several times. But the problem still persists. *** The administration had erected grills on the road divider on the national highway passing through this town. In erecting the grills, the intention of the administration was to prevent accidents. But ironically these grills have resulted in an increase in accidents rather than their prevention. The reasons behind this are the excessive height of these grills and numerous cuts on road dividers. The grills are so high that it is not possible for vehicle drivers wanting to take a turn to spot small vehicles like a car, jeep or two-wheelers coming from the opposite direction. This results in several accidents. Residents have apprised the administration of the problem several times, but to no result. Even the utility of the grills seems doubtful as these do not cover even half the national highway passing through this town. It would be better if they lower the grills’ height as in other towns and also cover the entire length of the highway. *** An ultrasound machine installed in the General Hospital here has proved to be a bane instead of coming handy in the diagnosis of serious ailments. The machine, considered to be among the best, was installed two years back but the number of days it has actually functioned, can be counted on the finger. The reason cited by the hospital authorities is that it goes out of order often. The machine was repaired at a cost of over Rs. 2 lakh only last month but has again stopped functioning. An NGO, Parivartan, which has been raising its voice against malfunctioning in government offices smells a rat. Its secretary, Dr. Ramesh Kumar Samrat, alleged that the ultrasound machine was being intentionally kept in a state of disrepair by the hospital authorities allegedly owing to pleas from private labs who pay a hefty commission for cases referred to them. In addition there is no radiologist in the hospital and a visiting radiologist from Hisar operates the machine once a week. The Senior Medical Officer, Dr. D. L. Bansal, when contacted, admitted that the machine had been lying in a state of disrepair but added that it would be repaired soon. *** Poor sanitary conditions in the town are an eyesore. A visit to Basti Bhawan, DSP Road, Ashok Nagar, Sanyaas Ashram road, Balmiki Chowk, Lajpat Nagar or Bighar Road is enough to have a glimpse of the state of affairs. Even a fashionable colony like Model Town is no exception. Safai karamcharis can rarely be seen at work. In fact the municipal committee does not have enough safai karamcharis to cover the entire town. Model Town residents had launched an initiative of maintenance by private safai karamcharis, who were paid by contributions from residents but the experiment did not last long. The sewerage system is also causing concern. Sewage can be seen on roads at several places. Many of the drains do not have covers. The drain in Lajpat Nagar has become a headache for residents as due to overflowing of the sewer, the road is always covered under by stinking sewage. *** The inner roads of the town are in bad shape. Take any inner road and it leaves your vehicle virtually stranded. DSP Road, Bighar Road, Bhattu Road and the main Bazaar Road are all in a deplorable condition. At some places a portion of road has been made concrete while the rest is left in a sorry state making the road uneven and causing problems for motorists. Residents have been complaining about these problems to the authorities but their complaints have fallen on the deaf ears. |
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Stone of dharamshala laid Kurukshetra, August 18 The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the state-level Madan Lal Dhingra Shaheedi Divas after laying the foundation stone of Punjabi dharamshala to be constructed by the Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra Memorial Committee near Sannihit Sarovar. Mr Brij Mohan Lal Munjal, who presided over the function, said it was our duty to fulfil the dreams of the martyrs. Earlier, the Chief Minister planted a sapling on the premises of the Punjabi dharamshala. A turban as a mark of respect alongwith a memento was presented to the Chief Minister. On the occasion Dr Sushil Indora, Mrs Kailaso Saini and Mr Surinder Barwala, all MPs, Finance Minister Sampat Singh, Agriculture Minister Jaswinder Singh Sandhu and Animal Husbandry Minister Mohmmad Illiash, Deputy Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha Gopi Chand Gehlot, Mr Sher Singh Barshami, president, INLD, Mr Dharambir, Additional Political Secretary to CM, Mr Banta Ram, Chairman, Sugar Fed, Mr Malik Chand Ghambhir, Mr Ramesh Rana, Mr Balwant Singh, Mr Nishan Singh Kamboj, all MLAs, DC Abhilaksh Likhi, ADC Sukiriti Likhi and SP Deshraj Singh were also present. |
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Dayal Singh College convocation Karnal, August 18 Mr Justice Bhan regretted that the leaders and teachers said something and practised something in contradiction with what they said. He called upon the youth to put down the divisive head of communalism, caste, creed, poverty and social inequalities to build the country. Earlier, Mr Justice Bhan paid floral tributes to Sardar Dayal Singh
Majithia, the founder of the Dayal Singh College Trust and The Tribune Trust. Tributes were also paid to Dewan Anand Kumar, founder of Dayal Singh College, here after partition. He also inaugurated Dewan Anand Kumar Auditorium with a capacity of 1000 seats. The principal conferred degrees on passing-out graduates and postgraduates. |
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