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Thursday,
February 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Six arrested for Harsola violence Order on bail plea reserved Flood protection schemes get nod Move to curb term of pension ‘unfortunate’ Teachers oppose new
rationalisation policy Gandhi’s statue by Feb 28 Congress MLAs on poll duty |
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Farmers hold procession 10-year jail term
for drug smuggler Bid to kidnap child: 2 held Golden Public School wins karate contest
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Six arrested for Harsola violence Kaithal, February 12 A total calm prevailed at the Dalit Basti at the village as all families had left the village for Kaithal town. The doors of a number of houses stood broken. A few of the shops run by the members of Dalit community were also allegedly looted or their goods were thrown outside. A clinic of an RMP Anil Kumar was also ransacked and furniture damaged. Goods at few karyana shops were thrown out or destroyed by the members of the dominant community. However, some members of Jat community, while talking to mediapersons, condemned the violence and said that they would bring the Dalit families back to the village. Meanwhile, the district administration has announced free treatment in the civil hospital and Rs 2,500 as financial help to those who were injured in yesterday’s violence. Announcing this here today the Deputy Commissioner said that the administration was ready to provide help and security to the members of Dalit community in the village and the administration was trying to persuade the Dalits to return to their village. SP A.S. Chawla informed mediapersons that six members of Jat community Sarbir, Sat Pal, Inder, Pankaj, Shish Pal and Bharat had been arrested in connection with alleged attack on the Dalits and police teams have been constituted to nab others. Meanwhile, leaders of various political parties have started arriving here. Mr Ashok Kumar Sherwal, president BSP, Haryana, who reached here last night visited the injured in the hospital and at the Geeta Bhavan Mandir. He demanded immediate suspension of the DSP and in charge police post Titram who were present in the village when the violence took place. Talking to mediapersons he said that Mr Ram Pal Mazra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Haryana, who was MLA from Pai Assembly Constituency in which Harsola falls, should be arrested as he was shielding the members of his community. Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, former HPCC chief, and Mr Tejinder Mann, a former minister, also visited the injured in the Civil Hospital today. They expressed sympathy with the Dalit families who had to flee from their village. They also demanded a CBI inquiry in this episode. Mr Surjewala said that he would urge the state HPCC chief, Mr Bhajan Lal, to start an agitation against the government on this issue. Mr Surinder Singh Hooda, general secretary, Lok Jan Shakti Party, led by Mr Paswan, also visited the injured and the affected families. He accused the district administration of laxity on its part and failure to take timely action. He said that an 11-party members’ delegation comprising of national and state leaders would visit the town and Harsola village tomorrow to assess the damage caused to the properties of Dalits. |
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Order on bail plea reserved Ambala, February 12 The bureau had alleged in the FIR that four shopkeepers of Sadar Bazaar, who were the tenants of the council were granted the permission to enhance the height of their shops and their rent was reduced, thus the chairman and others had “hatched a criminal conspiracy to harm the financial interests of the council.” The Chairman of the council, three of the councillors and four shopkeepers had filed an anticipatory bail application in this court, but it was dismissed. The bureau arrested Mr Verma on January 30, who was later remanded in judicial custody till February 14 by a local court. During the argument of the bail application, the counsel, Mr Ajay Jain appeared on behalf of Mr Verma and said his client was not responsible for granting permission to the shopkeepers to raise the height of their shops. He said this resolution was passed at a meeting of the municipal council. Mr Jain said even after this, if it was considered that there was a negligence on the part of the building inspector, then departmental action could have been taken in this regard. The Prevention of Corruption Act did not apply in this case, the
counsel stated. |
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Flood protection schemes get nod Chandigarh, February 12 This was revealed at the 34th meeting of the Haryana State Flood Control Board held here today under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. The board also approved 72 new schemes for flood protection, costing about Rs 10 crore. The Chief Minister directed the divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners and officers of the Irrigation Department to coordinate in completing the new schemes also before the onset of the monsoon. Desilting of drains should be taken up on a war footing. All pump houses and pumps should be in working condition. Mr Chautala instructed that low-level bridges should be raised to save them from the flood fury. The work of all the ditch drains should also be expedited. The Chief Minister also suggested that the village ponds which are surrounded by the ‘abadis’ of the village, should be shifted out and converted into parks for the recreation of the villagers. He also asked them that all earth work for the flood protection schemes should be done under the Food for Work
programme. he asked that strict supervision be undertaken by the staff of the Irrigation Department. The Chief Minister said Bhindawas lake in Jhajjar district, spread over an area of 1200 acres, should be developed as a tourist spot. It was informed at the meeting that an ambitious project costing Rs 190 crore had been formulated to give relief to the districts of Hisar, Fatehabad and Jind, which do not have drains for flood protection. The board approved seven new schemes for Yamunanagar district at a cost of Rs 38.7 lakh, three schemes for Karnal district for Rs 46.22 lakh, seven schemes for Panipat district costing Rs 55.77 lakh, seven schemes for Sonepat district costing Rs 1.49 crore, six schemes for Faridabad district amounting to Rs 56 lakh, six schemes for Jind district for Rs 67.17 lakh, 10 schemes for Ambala district costing Rs 1.74 crore, five schemes for Panchkula district costing Rs 16.96 lakh, four schemes for Kaithal district of Rs 31.25 lakh, four schemes for Kurukshetra district of Rs 57.47 lakh, two schemes for Hisar district costing Rs 35.03 lakh, two schemes for Fatehabad district of Rs 1.22 crore, five schemes for Sirsa district of Rs 37.20 lakh, one scheme for Rohtak district of Rs 19.20 lakh, two schemes for Jhajjar district of Rs 84.29 lakh, three schemes for Bhiwani district of Rs 1.04 crore and one scheme for Mahendragarh district costing Rs 1.03 lakh.
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Move to curb term of pension ‘unfortunate’ Fatehabad, February 12 The association said it was quite ironical that such an anti-old people idea had been floated by a government that was being run by persons who were themselves in the age group of 80-85 years and were getting all sorts of facilities out of the state exchequer. Mr Sethi said as if that was not enough, the leaders passed Bills to increase their own salaries and other perks almost every year. The same leaders were now saying that the increasing burden of pensions was a threat to the economy. He said if the leaders were so worried about the economy of the country, the first step they ought to take was to cut the sizes of the ever-swelling Cabinets in the states and at the Centre. Then they should cut down the heavy expenditure on themselves and their foreign tours. Mr Sethi said the government must apply its mind to the fact that the age above 75 years was one when one generally faced all kinds of diseases and disabilities This was the time when social security was needed the most. To prevent a person from getting pension at this age would tantamount to throwing him in the mouth of death. He said even otherwise, most people did not cross the age of 75 to 80 years these days. So the present trend of allowing pension for lifetime was not a big burden on the state exchequer. |
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Teachers
oppose new rationalisation policy Chandigarh, February 12 "We are not against transfers. But we want that the
transfers should take place in the May-June period", a spokesman of the HRAS said. He clarified that they were opposed to the state government's step of increasing the strength of each section of a class to 60 (from 50), as it offered the teachers less scope for paying attention to individual students. The enhancement in the workload of teachers, for instance a science teacher was being asked to take 42 classes in a week in place of the existing limit of 30 classes, was also not welcome. Similarly, lecturers teaching in the higher secondary level were being asked to take 36 classes in a week instead of 20 classes they were taking before. The spokesman said that another demand of the HRAS was regularisation of the services of the around 8500 ad hoc staff. Stating that the government's claim about 1700 secondary school teachers being transferred was far from the truth, he claimed that over 3,000 teachers had been transferred. The policy of adjusting 600 surplus teachers in the Sarv Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA) also amounted to retrenchment of these teachers as the SSA would be over after sometime, he said. The state government's step that there must be at least 20 students enrolled for a particular subject in a school, for the school to merit posting of a teacher of that subject, would be detrimental to the interest of government school students who were mostly from poor or socially backward groups, he said. Along with Mr Phul Kumar Petwar, President of the HRAS, some other teachers have started holding a serial fast to press for their demand of a review of the rationalisation policy. Mr Petwar, who has been staging an indefinite fast, was today removed by the police from the fast site in front of the 30 Bays Building here and put in a hospital, he said. |
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Gandhi’s statue by Feb 28 Ambala, February 12 A number of political organisations had been demanding the installation of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue, which had been removed a few years back. “Bhoomi Pujan” was carried out in the Gandhi Memorial National College complex at the site where Mahatma Gandhi’s statue will be installed. Among others, Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr D.D. Gautam, performed the “pujan”. Earlier, Mr Gautam paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. The new statue has been kept in the office of the college Principal, Prof V.K. Puri. A press note issued by the college Principal stated that the statue of Mahatma Gandhi would be installed before February 28. |
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Congress
MLAs on poll duty Chandigarh, February 12 He said Rao Inderjeet Singh, Mr Dharam Bir, Dr Raghubir Singh Kadian, Mr Jai Parkash, Mr Lachman Dass Arora, Mr Shadi Lal Batra, Mr Jitender Singh Malik and Mr Sher Singh had been sent for electioneering in Solan district. Rao Daan Singh, Mr Zakir Hussain and Mr O.P. Jindal would campaign in Sirmour district while Mr Balbir Pal Shah, Ms Anita Yadav, Rao Dharam Pal and Rao Narender Singh had been asked to campaign in the segments of Shimla district. He added that the CLP meeting scheduled to be held on February 18 at Chandigarh has been postponed. |
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Farmers
hold procession Fatehabad, February 12 The agitating farmers exhorted people to participate in the proposed Kalayat rally on February 16. In a cavalcade of over 100 tractors and trailers, the farmers started from Kanheri village, a stronghold of the BKU, and passed through Kalwan, Baliala, Kamalwala, Tohana, Dangra, Rajgarh, Dobhi, Lohchab and Phulian villages, and then terminated at Kanheri again. Addressing the farmers, Mr Machhinder Singh Nain, district president of the BKU, said the farmers would continue their fight till their demand was met. |
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10-year jail term
for drug smuggler Sirsa, February 12 The district police on a tip-off had intercepted a jeep and recovered two sacks carrying about 100 kg of poppy husk on November 25, 1997. The Judge acquitted the driver of the jeep, Mahinder, and sentenced Makkhan Singh to 10 years’ imprisonment. |
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Bid to kidnap child: 2 held Ambala, February 12 The five-year-old child, Vishal, is unable to give his address and states that he is a student of Sofia Public School. Constable Jagdish is presently looking after the child. Two persons picked up the child from the bus stand this morning and fled. Some shopkeepers of the bus stand followed and nabbed them near a private nursing home. The alleged kidnappers were later handed over to the police. |
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Golden
Public School wins karate contest Ambala, February 12 The trophy for children went to Kharga Nursery School. Overall winner was the Golden Public School team, while the Springfield School team stood second. In the age-group of up to five years (boys), Dilpreet stood first, Ankush second and Sahil third. In girls, Kirti was first. In 5 to 7 years category (boys), Aniket was first, Parth Dhingra second and Harman Singh third. In girls, Ashmita was first, Brahmita second and Priyamada third. In 7 to 9 years (boys), Satish Kumar was first, Karan Verma second and Rishab Mahajan third. In girls, Nidhi Kumari was first, Divya Sethi second and Kajal third. In 9 to 11 years (boys), Mayank Chabra was first, Jatinder Jot second and Ankur third. In girls, Indrajit was first, Akansha second and Sonam third. In 11 to 13 years (boys), Amanpreet was first, Arvind second and Suhird third. In girls, Sanya was first, Astha second and Richa third. In 13 to 15 years, Rahul Sodhi was first, Randeep second and Randhesh third. In girls, Poonam was first, Soumi second and Kulvir third. In 15 to 18 years, Hansdeep first, Ajay second and Sandeep third. In girls, Neha Verma was first and Astha second. |
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