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Monday,
January 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Cong politicising SYL: Chautala
Congress Narnaul meeting put off SYL canal: Bhajan’s bid for one-upmanship
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SYL: young farmers burn effigies
of Sonia, Amarinder Bhajan sacks Karnal rural DCC chief
74 substations to be set up: CM Haryana sets up new Horticulture Dept Decks cleared for railway overbridge School’s
annual function held Haryana schools’ closure extended
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Cong politicising SYL: Chautala Hisar, January 12 Referring to HPCC President Bhajan Lal’s announcement to gherao the Prime Minister’s house in Delhi on January 15 on the issue, he said the state unit should instead gherao the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, for the early completion of the canal. There was no meaning of staging a dharna in front of the Prime Minister’s residence, he added. He alleged that Congress leaders were not serious on the SYL canal, considered to be the lifeline of Haryana. The Congress did nothing on this issue when it was in power for a long period in the state. He said Haryana would wait till January 14, the deadline fixed by the apex court for Punjab to construct the remaining part of the SYL canal. After this, the state would approach the Centre to complete the canal as directed by the Supreme Court. He said in case of the Central Government not complying with the directives of the apex court, Haryana
would lodge a protest with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Mr Chautala said the state government would abide by the decision of the all-party meeting to be held in Chandigarh on January 14. Earlier, addressing the inauguration function, the Chief Minister said the state government would provide help to institutions which would be named after freedom fighters and other eminent persons. Mr Sampat Singh, Finance Minister, Mr Subhash Goyal, Local Bodies Minister, Mr Puran Singh Dabra and Mr Ram Bhagat Sharma, legislators, and Mr Hari Singh Saini, a former minister, were also present on the occasion. FATEHABAD: Mr Chautala on Sunday emphasised the need for literacy among women in the state. Mr Chautala was addressing a zonal “mahila sammelan” of the Indian National Lok Dal here. The women wing of the INLD organised the sammelan. Women functionaries of the party from Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani and Jind districts participated. Mr Chautala said illiteracy was the biggest hurdle to the progress of women and in case women wanted to be on a par with men in society, they must educate themselves. He exhorted the people to educate the girl child. The Chief Minister enumerated several schemes launched by his government for the welfare of women. He specifically dwelled upon the Devi Roopak scheme started by the government, which provides incentives to couples, who opt for the family planning operation after the birth of the first and only female child. The scheme, he said, was aimed at improving the male-female ratio. Ms Kailasho Saini, Member of Parliament and president of the women wing of the INLD, said the women wing of the party had launched a membership drive and had set a target of enrolling five lakh new members. Mr Sher Singh Barshami, president of the state unit of the INLD presided over the sammelan. The state Finance Minister, Mr Sampat Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, Ms Sumitra Mahajan, Dr Sushil Indora, Member of Parliament from the Sirsa parliamentary constituency, MLAs Nishan Singh, Leela Krishan and Jarnail Singh, and the district women wing INLD president, Ms Krishana Poonia, were present on the occasion.
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Congress
Narnaul meeting put off
Chandigarh, January 12 Mr Bhajan Lal had given a call for a demonstration in front of the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi on the SYL issue on January 15 and the clash of dates of these two events had triggered speculations about a section of the Congress leaders opposed to Mr Bhajan Lal going to Narnaul instead of Delhi. However, Rao Inderjit Singh, MLA and senior Congress leader of the Ahirwal belt, who has made known his opposition to Mr Bhajan Lal’s leadership, stated today that in view of the importance of the SYL issue, the Narnaul meeting was being postponed to January 19. Rao Inderjit Singh apart from the importance of the SYL issue, they were prompted to postpone the Narnaul meeting due to repeated requests made by Mr Bhajan Lal. The workers’ meeting, rescheduled on January 19, would primarily discuss the issue of inequitable distribution of water in Haryana. Importantly, the issue of monopolising of available water by Sirsa and Hisar districts is targeted as much at Mr Bhajan Lal as at Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. While Sirsa allegedly gets abundant water allegedly due to its being the home district of the Chautala clan, Mr Bhajan Lal is believed to have paved the way for excess supply of water to Hisar, his own district, during his tenures as the Chief Minister. Rao Inderjit Singh’s announcement to postpone the programme at Narnaul is stated to be a boost to Mr Bhajan Lal even though it is still not clear whether all dissident leaders will participate in the Delhi demonstration.
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SYL canal: Bhajan’s bid for one-upmanship Rewari, January 12 He made this announcement at a Congress rally in Ahirwal at Rao Tularam park here today. He said that he had been fighting a battle for the SYL canal for the past two decades. He elaborated that the first agreement among the then Rajasthan Chief Minister, Mr Shiv Charan Mathur and the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Darbara Singh and was signed on Decmeber 31, 1981 with the then Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi’s initiative following the construction of the SYL canal started in Punjab on April, 9, 1982. He added that 95 per cent of the work was completed when he was Chief Minister and lasted till June 1986 after which work stopped. On the verdict of the apex court Mr Bhajan Lal clarified that a petition in this regard was filed by him in the Supreme Court in 1996. He announced that the Congress would stage a demonstration before the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi on January 15 and serve an ultimatum that the SYL canal be completed in nine months by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) or a central agency. He said that if the Union Government did not respond to the demand positively, the Haryana Congress would launch a ‘Jail
Bharo’ andolan and he would be first to court arrest. To other demands of the people of
Ahirwal, Mr Bhajan Lal said that if the Congress was voted to power in the next Assembly elections, he would see to it that a University was established in
Ahirwal, a Sainik School opened in the Rewari region and a recruiting office opened here. Besides the Haryana Heroes and Martyrs Day would be celebrated here on September 23, 2003, he added. He also announced that all terminated and retrenched government employees would be reinstated. Lashing out at the functioning of the Chautala government he remarked that the father and his two sons had been following one-point programme of making huge collections from all those who invited them to tea, lunch, dinner or even to newly constructed houses. Among others the rally was also addressed by AICC secretary Hanumant Rao, AICC secretary Anil
Shastri, Mrs. Rama Pilot MP, several Congress legislators of Ahirwal and party functionaries.
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SYL: young farmers burn effigies
of Lahroda (Narnaul), January 12 The panchayat which included farmers and was convened by the samiti to take stock of the situation following Punjab government’s alleged intransigence on the completion of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal and allowing Haryana its share of Ravi-Beas water in spite of the Supreme Court setting January 15 — deadline for an affirmative action by it. President of the samiti Naresh Yadav had announced that movement of vehicles from Punjab passing through Narnaul would be blocked. The panchayat today, however, resolved to block passage of trains passing through the area also. A resolution was passed to commence the agitation from January 23, a week after the deadline set by the apex court to the Punjab government. The panchayat also asked president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) and former Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhajan Lal and his party MLAs from South Haryana to resign their posts if they could not prevail upon the Chief Minister of their party’s government in Punjab to complete the SYL canal. It warned that if they did not resign people of South Haryana would “gherao” them. Addressing the panchayat, the speakers, including Mr Naresh Yadav,alleged that Congress MLAs from South Haryana never took up the issue of the completion of SYL canal when they were ministers in Haryana. They did not touch the issue of power just to enjoy the “pelf and loaves” of power and to keep their Chief Minister happy. The Congress must own major blame on the incomplete work on the SYL canal as it ruled the state the longest. On Mr Bhajan Lal’s call for a “gherao” of Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee’s residence to press for the completion of the SYL canal, they said he must direct a gherao of the residence of Mrs Sonia Gandhi for turning down his (Bhajan Lal) request to prevail upon Mr Amarinder Singh on the issue. The Prime Minister has no role in it because the Punjab government had to comply with the court’s order. The role of the Prime Minister would possibly come later if the Punjab government continued with defiance of the court order. The leaders also criticised Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Bansi Lal —both former Haryana Chief Ministers for not rectifying the discrimination against South Haryana in distribution of the available water in the state. While the areas in South Haryana were parched, the area of Sirsa — home district of Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, Hissar — home district of Mr Bhajan Lal and some other part remained waterlogged by surplus water. They were harsh on Mr Chautala also for inequitable distribution of available water in the state.They demanded a White Paper on the availability of water and its distribution in the state. They alleged that Mr Chautala, Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Bansi Lal were never interested in getting the construction of SYL canal speeded up as they were not natives of South Haryana.The SYL canal is to bring the Ravi-Beas water exclusively for South Haryana. Their governments perpetuated discrimination against this area in the distribution of available water in the State.
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Bhajan sacks Karnal rural DCC chief Karnal, January 12 Mr
Bhajan Lal made this announcement after a meeting of Congress workers
here yesterday. He was here to mobilise support for the rally to be
organised by the Haryana Congress on January 15 in front of the Prime
Minister’s residence to protest against the non-completion of the
SYL canal. The appointment is the culmination of a political feud
between the families of Mr Chiranji Lal Sharma, Karnal MP, and Mr
Bhajan Lal, Mr Kuldeep Sharma, the younger son of Mr Chiranji Lal
Sharma, is considered a close confidant of Mr Bhoopinder Singh, Leader
of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly. The political tussle
between Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Kuldeep Sharma started when the latter
organised a maha-Brahmin panchayat here objecting to some ‘disparaging
remarks’ against Brahmins. The relations were further strained when Mr Chiranji Lal was appointed vice-president of the HPCC. Mr Bhajan Lal had then resigned from his post. Since then, Mr Bhajan Lal seems to have adopted a strong posture against Mr Chiranji Lal and his sons. To further reduce the support of Mr Chiranji Lal and his sons amongst Brahmins in Haryana, Mr Bhajan Lal yesterday appointed Mr Ravinder Sharma, another Brahmin leader from Karnal, as the organising secretary of the HPCC. Both Mr Ravinder Sharma and Mr Chochra are new to politics. Mr Chochra enjoys some support amongst Brahmins in villages around Karnal. Mr Ravinder Sharma is not a known organisational leader. The latest move by Mr Bhajan Lal has queered the pitch further. |
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74 substations to be set up: CM Kaithal, January 12 This was stated by Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister, after inaugurating a Rs 1.3 crore 33 kv substation at Jakholi village, 16 km from here. He said the government had set up 35 substations and augmented the capacity of 157. The Chief Minister disclosed that the government had a target of increasing 3000 mw capacity in the state during the Tenth Five Year Plan. It had already entrusted the construction work of the seventh and eighth units of the thermal power plant, Panipat, to M/s Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. The government had also approved the construction of 500 mw units at Yamunanagar. There was a proposal for setting up a 360 mw plant at the Indian Oil Corporation. Giving details, he said 432 mw power-generating units would be set up at the gas-based plant, Faridabad. Referring to the development works in Kaithal district, he said a 400 kv substation would be set up at a cost of Rs 115 crore. It had also been decided to construct a 220 kv substation at Cheeka. Mr Rampal Majra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Haryana, Mr Tejbir Singh, MLA, Pundri, Mr Lila Ram, MLA, Kaithal, Mr Amar Singh Dhande, MLA, Guhla, Ms Kailasho Saini, MP, Mrs Meenaxi Anand Chaudhry, Chairperson, Haryana Power Utilities, were among those present on the occasion.
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Haryana
sets up new Horticulture Dept Karnal, January 12 Dr Ahlawat was speaking at a two-day state-level vegetable show organised in the HUDA ground here. The main objective of the show is to encourage the farmers to adopt the vegetable cultivation with the latest technologies so that they may get maximum returns from their limited land holdings by tapping the domestic and international markets. The main attraction of the show was vegetable competition wherein 3,843 entries of different varieties of vegetables namely tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, brinjal, chilly, carrot, onion green, red cabbage, broccoli, asparagus and baby corn and vegetable products were received for competition. A team of experts from research institutes and universities judged the entries. Thirtysix prizes of Rs 500 each and 36 second prizes of Rs 300 each will be awarded to the first and second winners, respectively. Apart from it 64 winners of different categories will be honoured by awarding certificate. |
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Decks cleared for railway overbridge Kurukshetra, January 12 He said the bridge would be constructed along with the existing old bridge and would be executed by the Zoom Developer Mobile Company. The manager of the company, Mr Parshant Kanikela, apprised the Deputy Commissioner of the techniques to be used in the construction. Mr Likhi also directed the secretary, municipal council, that a detailed plan for the construction of a shopping complex be got prepared. He asked the Secretary to submit the feasibility report to him by January 20. The Deputy Commissioner issued directions to all officers, including PWD (B&R), Public Health, Telephones and Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, in this regard. The Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil), Thanesar, Mr Narhan Bangar and senior officers of PWD (B&R), Public Health and Telephones, were also present.
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School’s
annual function held Ambala,
January 12 The president of the management, Mr Sudesh Jain, the Manager, Mr Tek Chand Jain, and the Principal, Mr M.L. Bansal, also spoke. Meritorious students of the school were honoured. Kapil Diwan of 10th class, Sudhir Kumar of eighth class and Ajit Singh of fifth class were awarded gold medals by the chief guest for achieving first position in the respective examinations in 2001. For 2002, Abhinav Agnihotri of 10th class, Tarunesh Kumar of eighth class and Gaurav Banerjee of fifth class were given medals. Meritorious students of 10+2, Rubal Gupta, Channpreet and Rupesh Malik, were also given prizes. The 15 scouts of the school who got the President Award this year were also given prizes.
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Haryana
schools’ closure extended Chandigarh, January 12 Minister of State for Education Bahadur Singh said earlier the schools were closed up to January 13.
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