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Tuesday,
August 19, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Rescued girls languish in Nari Niketan Chautala
not serious on SYL, says BJP Why IAS officer was not made accused,
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DC orders probe into martyr's kin issue
Swami releases
insurance policy for scribes Governor returns proposal on murder convicts’ release Lok Dal to go it alone in
Rajasthan White Paper on CM’s programme sought PoK migrants denied recognition Farmers’ plight
deplorable, says Congress leader
Leaf from history Young couple commit suicide IAS
officer’s parental house burgled Four injured in roof collapse
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Rescued girls languish in Nari Niketan Faridabad, August 18 The Shakti Vahini, a non-government organisation, has raised the matter of the violation of human rights of the victims, with the Social Justice Empowerment Department, Haryana. Father of one of the victims, aged 12, has written to the NGO asking for the custody of his daughter. Mr Mohammad Abul Hossain, a daily wage worker and a resident of Tukrapara village in the Kamrup district of Assam, has sent a letter to Shakti Vahini that he had come to know about the incident in which his daughter Rehana Begum (13) was rescued by the Faridabad district police from the Hathin area here in June. He said he was shocked to learn that his daughter had been sold many times before being found from a house, where she was allegedly kept in illegal confinement. Mr Hossain claimed that he had got his daughter married to Kazim Ali, son of Tamser Ali of Balajanpara village of Dubri district of Assam on April 7, this year. He said since then he had no knowledge of the whereabouts of his daughter. He has alleged that his son-in-law (Kazim Ali) had sold his daughter in Faridabad in collusion with Samsul Hussain and Hasina Begum. The father of the victim has asked that his daughter be united with him at the earliest. The letter was written on July 9. The Director of Shakti Vahini, Mr Ravi Kant, has disclosed that accused Kazim Ali is untraceable as the Dubri district police had informed him about the investigation launched by the Assam police. The police at Hathin had recovered four girls aged between 10 to 14 years in June, who had been victims of trafficking, with the help of Shakti Vahini, while two girls belong to Assam, the other two hail from West Bengal. One of the victims is three months pregnant and lodged at Nari Niketan at Karnal. She was allegedly married to the person who brought her, but under the Muslim personal law, which applies to her, she cannot enter into any legal contract despite her consent. It is learnt that she has opposed the termination of her pregnancy. The situation is quite serious regarding the welfare of the minor girl and the future of the unborn child. The organisation has appealed to the Haryana Government to take an early decision regarding the pregnancy, as it can contravene both the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, and the Muslim personal law. It has demanded immediate psycho-legal counselling for all the victims and the arrangements for either sending the victims back to their parents or proper rehabilitation at suitable places. It has also sought that Rehana Begum be sent back to her father as demanded by him. Meanwhile, it is learnt that Shakti Vahini has decided to file a petition with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over the issue of the pregnancy. |
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Chautala
not serious on SYL, says BJP Chandigarh, August 18 Talking to newspersons
at Panchkula, a former president of the party, Mr Ram Bilas Sharma,
said the party had adopted a resolution at its three-day “chintan
shivir” that concluded at Kalesar in Yamunanagar district yesterday,
urging Mr Chautala to pursue the issue of the construction of the
canal seriously. Regarding that Mr Chautala did not seem to be as
“serious about the canal as the people of Haryana are”, he said
the government should have filed a contempt petition against the
Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, for violating the
directions of the Supreme Court on the issue. He said a delegation of
the state BJP would soon meet the Prime Minister’s in this regard. He
said another resolution urging the Chief Minister to reconsider
certain “anti-people” decisions like value-added tax, bus fare
hike, casino and new education policy, had also been adopted. The party expressed its gratitude to the Prime Minister for taking several pro-farmer decisions like reduction in interest on farm loans and launching the crop insurance scheme. A
committee was set up under the chairmanship of the Union Minister of
State for Home, Mr I.D. Swami, to publish literature highlighting the
achievements of the Vajpayee government. Another committee would
identify issues on which the party should launch agitations. |
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Why IAS officer was not made accused, asks HC Chandigarh, August 18 The query was posed to Haryana’s Senior Deputy Advocate-General Jaswant Singh during the hearing of a case pertaining to the sanction of over Rs 7 lakh as compensation to Kishore Kumar allegedly on the basis of forged high court orders. Mr Dhankar was then Faridabad’s Land Acquisition Collector. Taking up the case, a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice S.S. Saron ruled, “After going through the records, we inquired from Mr Jaswant Singh as to who sanctioned the payment of compensation to Kishore Kumar. In reply, he stated that the then Land Acquisition Collector of Faridabad H.S. Dhankar had sanctioned the payment.” The Judges further ruled, “We then asked the Senior Deputy Advocate-General as to why Mr Dhankar has not been arrayed as an accused.... To this, Mr Jaswant Singh could not give any satisfactory reply, but made a vague statement that in all cases of land acquisition, compensation was usually released within a period of three days from the receipt of the court orders.” The Judges concluded, “In the context of the statement made by Mr Jaswant Singh, we direct him to file an affidavit of the Secretary, Urban Development Department, clearly stating as to within what time compensation is usually released in pursuance of the orders passed by the competent court.” Issuing the directions in an open court, the Judges added, “The required affidavit should be filed within a month.” The case will now come up for further hearing before the Bench on September 25. It may be recalled that Haryana’s State Vigilance Department, looking into the first information report registered in the matter, has already filed a challan in the court of competent jurisdiction against seven persons. The matter was initially taken by the court on its own motion after a letter was received alleging the forgery of the documents. During the proceedings, the court had also asked Haryana’s Director of State Vigilance Bureau to file an affidavit regarding the investigations being carried out in the case. The same was, however, filed by a junior officer following which the court had taken a serious view of the matter. |
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Holiday fever grips Haryana bureaucrats Chandigarh, August 18 The Principal Secretary, Social Welfare, Ms Veena Eagleton, and Officer on Special Duty, Mr S.K. Saxena, both senior IAS officers, were among those who took a casual leave today. At least two senior IAS officers, both of whom sit at the new secretariat, were also on leave and would resume work on August 2. Incidentally, one of them, holding the office of the Commissioner, Transport Department, was promoted as the Financial Commissioner today. Mr P.C. Bidhan, Joint Secretary, PWD(B&R), Public Health and Architecture Departments, was also on leave and slated to rejoin duty on Wednesday. Those who were stated to be on a tour included the Chief Secretary, the Principal Secretary, Finance, the Principal Secretary, Agriculture, and the Principal Secretary, Irrigation and Power. All of them would be available in their respective offices on Wednesday, it was learnt. The Principal Secretary, Labour, too was reported to be on a tour and would return to office the day after tomorrow. An official here, however, claimed that these officers had their tour programmes worked out already and there was no “design” on their part to skip work today. As the holiday mood gripped the bureaucrats, some of them either came late or left early. Mr B.D. Dhalia, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, did not come to his office until half past one. He was said to be ill and expected to come to the office for the post-lunch session. Ms Umesh Nanda,
Commissioner, Institutional Finance and Credit Control, also came to the office about 1 pm. The Special Secretary, Irrigation, was also not found in her office as she reportedly had left for the PGI for some work. |
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5 IAS officers
promoted Chandigarh, August 18 |
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DC orders probe into martyr's kin issue Ambala, August 18 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D. Gautam has directed Mrs Kasni to give a complete report on the incident so that action could be taken against the guilty. Mr Gautam also assured martyr Major Yogesh Gupta's mother, Mrs Lalit Mohini, that stringent action would be taken against those found to be at fault. Mr Gautam said the government and district administration was giving complete honour to martyrs and if any martyr's kin was facing problems, they could directly contact him. The Superintendent of Police, Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, said that they were always ready to help martyrs' family members. The assurance for prompt action was given to Mrs Lalit Mohini after she, along with Lok Janshakti Party activists, went to the DC office today. Earlier, the activists, led by the president of the party's state unit, Capt Shamsher Singh Malik, held a demonstration to press for their demand of a strict action against those involved in the manhandling of the martyr's brother, Mr Vikas Gupta, at the War Heroes Memorial stadium. Captain Malik, strongly condemning the incident, said, “We demand that action should be taken against the guilty. The Agriculture Minister, Mr Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, who was the chief guest on the occasion, must step down from office,” he added. In a memorandum to the Governor, the Lok Janshakti Party said in the presence of senior administrative officers, the Haryana police personnel manhandled Mr Gupta and some officials misbehaved with Mrs Lalit
Mohini. |
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Swami releases
insurance policy for scribes Kaithal, August 18 He was addressing mediapersons here last night at a function organised by the Haryana Patrakar Sangh to release a joint insurance policy for 580 mediapersons of Haryana which gives them an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh each. Mr Swami said the Right to Information Bill had been passed in Parliament and now everybody, including mediapersons, would have a right to free information from any government. Mr Swami said the provision was being made to conduct the election to the Rajya Sabha through open ballot which would leave no scope for any voter to vote against the whip of his party and all this would eliminate the chances of any candidate getting elected to the Upper House by using corrupt practices. He informed that the government was bringing a legislation to ban cow slaughter. Earlier, Mr K.B. Pandit, president of the Haryana Patrakar Sangh welcomed the chief guest and announced that a sum of Rs 5 lakh would be paid to family members of Chhatrapati, a Sirsa-based journalist, who was killed last year. Mr Pandit urged the chief guest to get the recommendations of the Manisana Commission implemented for the benefit of part-time correspondents.
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Governor
returns proposal on murder convicts’ release Chandigarh, August 18 Official sources said the Governor returned the proposal to the government, citing a directive of the Supreme Court in the Maru Ram case. The SC directive said a murder convict must spend at least 14 years of the actual sentence. Section 433 A of the CrPC also laid down that a murder convict could not be released before completing 14 years of sentence, Raj Bhavan said, while asking the state government to reconsider its decision. The Haryana Cabinet, at its meeting here on July 18, had taken up the issue of premature release of nine convicts lodged in various jails of the state in four cases of murder, including a multiple murder case. It was eventually decided by the Cabinet to recommend remission of sentences of four persons convicted in four cases. Among the four murder convicts, all of whom were sentenced to life imprisonment, Surinder and Brijlal, accused in separate cases, had served 10 and 11 years of their sentences at the time of the Cabinet decision. The two remaining convicts had served six and seven years each in prison. The Cabinet decision regarding release of the four life convicts from the prison was sent to the Governor for approval by using his power under Article 161 of the Constitution. Opposition parties, including the Indian Youth Congress, had opposed the decision. Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, President of the IYC, also met the Governor and urged him to turn down the Cabinet recommendation.
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Lok Dal to go it alone in Rajasthan Sonepat, August, 18 “The base of the INLD in Rajasthan is strong and the people of the state are fed up with the Congress regime there and are desperately looking for a change,” Mr Chautala told mediapersons at Gohana. Regarding the statements of some Haryana BJP leaders about contesting Assembly elections in Haryana by the party on its own, he said these leaders were issuing individual statements without the knowledge of the party high command. The BJP was an alliance partner of the INLD in Haryana, but the state unit of the party had been at loggerheads with its alliance partner and had been openly criticising the Chief Minister for his autocratic style of functioning, he said. Mr Chautala said the Railway Ministry had agreed to construct railway lines between Kalanwali and Dabwali as well as Sonepat and Jind via Gohana. —
PTI |
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White
Paper on CM’s programme sought Chandigarh, August 18 Addressing a press conference here, she said no follow-up action had been taken on the promises made by Mr Chautala at the sarkar aapke dwar programme held in the Sahlawas constituency (Jhajjar district) and nearby areas. Accusing the Chief Minister of making false promises, she said the promises made by Mr Chautala during the first phase of the programme were still to be fulfilled even though he was about to launch the third phase of the programme. She said during the programme in the Sahlawas constituency, people of 10 villages were asked to assemble there and the Chief Minister barely spent 10 minutes with them. “It is not possible to listen to people of 10 villages in the little time that the Chief Minister had,” she said. |
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PoK migrants denied recognition Yamunanagar, August 18 Mr Sharma said these migrants had been living in a pathetic condition in Jammu camps. They had not been given the right to vote, participate in elections, purchase property to make a shelter of their own and they couldn’t even get government jobs. Mr Sharma referred to the decision given on the petition of these migrants by the Divisional Bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in March last, wherein the court held that the migrants should have been treated as state subjects by the government and given all the rights enjoyed by the citizens of India. He appealed to the government to give a compensation of Rs 5,000 to each family till they were declared state subjects. |
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Farmers’ plight deplorable, says Congress leader Fatehabad, August 18 Talking to mediapersons here, he said the policies followed by the present NDA government in particular had pushed the farmers on the verge of ruin. Giving comparative figures of agricultural subsidies being given in various countries, Mr Ranjit Singh said in the developed countries, the average subsidy on agriculture was 74 per cent while in India, it was only 9 per cent. The Congress leader said Parliament had passed a Bill recently, allowing the farmers with small landholdings to lease out their land to multi-national companies. —
UNI |
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Leaf from history AMBALA: The majestic old bungalows of Ambala cantonment take one back to the bygone era. The bungalows, some of which are more than a century old, lend a distinct character to Ambala’s urban landscape. Situated within large the tracts of land, the bungalows are a reminder of the time when horse-driven buggies used to be the norm and Sahibs
surrounded by servants used to sip tea from exquisite chinaware sitting in the beautiful garden. Now, with the Army requiring land for its married accommodation plan, the bungalows could well become a part of sepia-tinted photographs. The president of the Bungalow Owners Association, Mr Raj Kumar, said that there are two types of bungalows. While one is old grant, the other is leasehold. The lease varies from 30 years to perpetuity. He said that there are total of 105 bungalows in Ambala Cantonment with 85 bungalows being occupied by civilians. The area of a bungalow varies from 2 acres to 15 acres. “The upkeep of a bungalow is a very time-consuming and expensive task. We have to look after the bungalow without being allowed to even make minor alternations,” he said. Mr Raj Kumar said that the bungalow owners take great care in preserving the old architecture. It is through our constant efforts that the bungalows continue to retain the old world charm. It is undoubtedly a herculean task,” he said. Bungalow owner P.K. Jain said that three distinct types of architecture can be noticed in the bungalows. “The Moghul style, the British style and Indian styles of architecture can be seen in the bungalows. Most of the bungalows have a mix of these styles,” he said. He said while the arches in the bungalow may be a throwback to the Edwardian period architecture, the domes are typical Mughal style. A bungalow owner claimed: “The British Army was short of accommodation. Therefore, they compulsorily marshalled private built-up estates near the cantonment area on rent and gave these to the officers of the Army. Since the estates belonged to the native owners, the British allowed only small constructed area amidst large pieces of land. These constructions and other private estates are the bungalows existing today. These bungalows are a rare amalgamation of Mughal, Indian and British gothic styles, unique to the architecture of Ambala cantonment and are a reflection of the chieftains who ruled this tract of land, south of Sutlej until 1846, the year when a commissionership was established at Ambala, he stated. The owners face a host of challenges in maintenance of their palatial bungalows. “While termites eat into the woodwork, the huge ground is home to a variety of insects. Recently, a snake entered my home and we faced a great difficulty,” a bungalow owner stated. He pointed out that more than one gardener is required to maintain the garden. “One may have noticed that some of the gardens are not so well maintained. The reason is simple. It is definitely a drain on one’s pocket to look after the bungalow as well as the big garden,” he stated. It is interesting to note that there is a world of a difference in the cantonment area and the area under the municipal committee. While the well-laid out roads flanked by big bungalows mark the cantonment area, it is not so in the Sadar area. |
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Young couple commit suicide Yamunanagar, August 18 Around 12 noon they jumped from the Dadupur Headworks, where the water flow was about 20,000 cusecs. It was raining heavily. A tea vendor and passers-by saw them jump and raised the alarm. The police tried to save them. The duo had not been identified and their bodies had not been recovered till the evening. The police started a rescue operation. The girl seemed to be newly married and was wearing wedding bangles. In another incident, 26-year-old Sukhbir of Aurangabad village near here, committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance. He was a bachelor and worked as a driver. The deceased, who was frustrated, used to consume liquor in the daytime. He consumed some poisonous substance yesterday and was admitted to a private nursing home, where he was declared dead this morning. The post-mortem examination was conducted at the Civil Hospital here. |
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IAS
officer’s parental house burgled
Ambala, August 18 The officer,
Mr Vijay Dahiya, is posted as SDM in Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh. The
wife of Mr Dahiya, Mrs Bharti Dahiya, said the family members had gone
out of town on August 14. When they came back on August 16, they found
that the locks of the doors were broken. She reported the matter to
the police. — OC |
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Four injured in roof collapse Ambala, Aug 18 The roof of the room suddenly came down while all four were sleeping. However, they were rescued by neighbours and rushed to the Civil Hospital.—
UNI |
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