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HVP says no to
poll alliance with BJP Poll schedule for
Bahadurgarh MC Crores lost due
to higher stamp duty Haryana employees
up in arms Will CBI scan
secondary teachers’ |
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High Court
Crime rises
eightfold And now health booklets
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HVP says no to poll alliance with BJP Fatehabad, December 9 The HVP leader said state BJP leaders like Mr Ganeshi Lal and Mr Krishan Pal Gujjar had been vying with each other these days to issue statements that their party would not align with the ruling Indian National Lok Dal
(INLD) in the forthcoming parliamentary and assembly elections. He said it was ridiculous that after being a partner in the ‘wrongdoings’ of the ruling INLD for more than four years, the BJP now wanted to disassociate it self with the ruling party. Mr Surinder Singh said the BJP could not deny its share of blame of being a partner in the, misrule of the ruling INLD in Haryana. He made it clear that the HVP would not have any alliance with the BJP or any other party in the coming elections and contest the elections on its own. He said the party president, Mr Bansi Lal, had also spelled the stand of the party on several occasions. Mr Surender Singh said the recent results in the five state Assembly elections and the rout of the Congress had made it abundantly clear that people wanted their elected governments to deliver when it partined to providing power, water and maintaining law and order. He said nobody expected landslide victories for the BJP in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. But the failure of the governments to provide facilities like power and water to people cost them dearly. He claimed that people of Haryana appreciated the fact that Mr Bansi Lal was the only Chief Minister, who had provided these facilities to people whenever he had come to power. The HVP leader said once the parliamentary elections were announced the elections to the state Assembly would definitely be held simultaneously. Later, addressing party workers at the local Shri Ram Seva Samiti
Dharmashala, Mr Surender Singh said the present INLD government had lost favour with all sections of society. He said the government had not been able to keep its poll promises made to the people of Haryana. He said results of the recently held elections in five states had clearly indicated that the people had rejected the Congress. The Yamunanagar and Fatehabad assembly bypoll had given clear indication that people wanted Mr Bansi Lal to become the Chief Minister of Haryana and the ruling party could win those bypoll only because it was in power, he added. Mr Surender Singh said the party would organise a rally at Kurukshetra tomorrow and Mr Bansi Lal would address the address it. |
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Poll schedule for Bahadurgarh MC Chandigarh, December 9 State Election Commissioner T.D. Jogpal said here today that the returning officers would publish the notices on December 11 for inviting nominations which would be received from December 22 to 27. Scrutiny would take place on December 30. The revision applications could be filed to the Deputy Commissoner concerned from December 31, 2003, to January 2, 2004, which would be disposed of by January 5. The last date of withdrawal would be January 6. Polling would be held on January 29, 2004. Counting would take place immediately after the close of polling and the results would be declared on the same day. The election process would be completed on February 2. |
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Crores lost due to higher stamp duty Chandigarh, December 9 The state has imposed 15.5 per cent stamp duty within municipal limits and 12.5 per cent outside municipal limits. The industry has raised this issue from time to time at different platforms, but without any result. The industrial associations claim that the unreasonably high rate of stamp duty deterred prospective purchasers from legalising their transactions by stamping and registering the final transfer documents. It was also affecting the development of the real estate sector in the state. A senior official in the Department of Finance here disclosed that due to wide-spread tax evasion across the state in stamp duty, the actual loss of revenue could be over Rs 100 crore annually. It was a common fact, he said, that the market value of property in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Kurushetra and other towns was much higher as compared to the transaction value shown in the sale deeds. Further, a large number of people were avoiding the registration of transaction at all and followed the route of power of attorney. The Confederation of Indian Industry, Northern Region, in a recent study paper on ‘ Stamp Duty in Northern Region States : A Case for Reforms’ had also pointed out that due to higher incidence of stamp duty, a large number of buyers were purchasing the property through “power of attorney” route, resulting in loss of revenue to the state government. The banking industry is also pleading with the state government to cut down the stamp duty to boost the housing sector in the state. A senior official of the Punjab National Bank at Panchkula said. “We avoid disbursement of loans to the people who have not registration certificate of their property and have just power of attorney. Consequently, neither they get finance to build houses nor we get business. “ Interestingly, in comparison to Punjab (6 per cent), Chandigarh (6 per cent), Delhi ( 8 per cent), Himachal Pradesh ( 14 per cent), Rajashtan (12 per cent), Uttaranchal ( 12 per cent), Pondicherry ( 10.5 per cent), Uttar Pradesh ( 10 per cent), Karnataka ( 9.65 per cent), Maharashtra ( 8 percent), Noida ( 8 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh ( 7 per cent), the rate of stamp duty was much higher in Haryana. Mr
C.B. Goel, President, Haryana Chamber of Commerce maintained that the Chamber had taken up the matter with the Chief Minister and the State Finance Minister number of times, but without any result. |
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Haryana employees up in arms Rohtak, December 9 While the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh is continuing with its Pol Khol Abhiyan launched on December 4, the other main employees organisation, Sarv Karamchari Sangh, today announced its support to the various agitations to be launched shortly by several employees organisations of government departments. These include dharnas by employees of the Minor Irrigation Tubewell Corporation at Ambala on December 15, municipal employees at Chandigarh on December 15, Forest Department labourers on December 23 and employees of power corporations of Haryana the same day. Mr Jiwan Singh, spokesperson of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh, said here that the Sangh leadership had appealed for a dialogue between the government and the employees concerned to stall the stir. He also pleaded for the immediate acceptance of the employees’ demands. On the other hand, the Mahasangh general secretary, Mr M.L. Sehgal, said today that the government could any day issue an ordinance terminating the services of all employees declared surplus. This was imminent because the government had already abolished vacant posts. He regretted that while Classes III and IV employees were being retrenched, the number of posts of HCS and police officers were being increased. The government had already given its nod to raising the number of HCS posts from the present 240 to 300. Mr Sehgal said the Chief Secretary’s assurance that no employees were being retrenched could not be taken seriously since the government had already declared on its website that 10,466 employees were surplus. |
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Will CBI scan secondary
teachers’ selections too? Chandigarh, December 9 About 2,000 teachers were recruited by the Directorate of Secondary Education during the period when the Directorate of Primary Education had recruited over 3,200 JBT teachers in 2000. This issue has arisen in view of the allegations levelled by Mr Sanjiv Kumar, a Haryana-cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch, in his petition filed before the Supreme Court. The officer had alleged that after JBT teachers were selected on merit, another list of candidates was prepared and he was pressured to implement this list by the powers that be. Since he did not oblige the government, he alleged, he was harassed by way of ordering inquiries against him. In his petition Mr Sanjiv Kumar had also alleged that he had reasons to believe that in the Directorate of Secondary Education also, the list of selected candidates prepared on the basis of merit was replaced by another list allegedly made on extraneous considerations. In its order, the Supreme Court has not specifically asked the CBI to inquire into the recruitment made by the Directorate of Secondary Education. However, it has also not asked the investigating agency to confine itself to the recruitment of JBT teachers alone. In fact, the matter has been left to the discretion of the CBI. The Supreme Court says: “The investigating officer shall decide to what extent the investigation must proceed forthwith....” Certain legal experts say if Mr Sanjiv Kumar is able to convince the CBI that his allegations about the Directorate of Secondary Education have substance, the investigating officer may inquire into the recruitment of secondary school teachers also. There will not be any legal bar on him if does so. The Bench comprising Mr Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice Ashok Bhan, which heard Mr Sanjiv Kumar’s petition, also advised the Central Goverment to strengthen the CBI. They also expressed the hope that the CBI Director would entrust the investigation into the JBT teachers recruitment case to an officer of “unquestioned independence and then monitor it so as to reach a successful conclusion”. It is learnt that one of the persons to whom Mr Sanjiv Kumar had given the “duplicate” lists for safe custody was Mr Buta Singh of Banur village in Patiala district. Braving all odds, Mr Buta Singh, belonging to the economically weaker sections, reached the Supreme Court the day the lists were submitted to the court. |
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High Court Chandigarh, December 9 Issuing the directions in an open court, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Nirmal Singh, added that the “government can recover the amount from officers, including Haryana State Election Commissioner, responsible for the grave dereliction of their duties”. Seeking directions for being declared panch, the petitioner had initially contended that he was declared elected by a civil court in August 2002, after the recounting of votes were ordered. Despite the orders, the petitioner’s election was not notified, counsel had added. After hearing the arguments and going through the documents, the Judges ruled: “Senior Deputy Advocate-General Jaswant Singh says that the petitioner’s election had been notified and he had been administered oath”. The Judges further ruled: “In view of the statement made by Mr Jaswant Singh, the immediate grievance of the petitioner stands remedied. However, we are, prima facie, of the view that the petitioner should be adequately compensated for the loss suffered by him on account of deprivation of the elective officer for a period of one year and two months after he was declared elected by Gurgaon’s Civil Judge (Senior Division).” In their detailed order, the Judges added: “We are further, prima facie, of the view that a sum of Rs 1 lakh should be awarded to the petitioner by way of compensation which the government can recover from the officers or officials....” The Bench concluded: “For the purpose, reply may be filed on behalf of the official respondents....” The case will now come up for further arguments on January 8.
Payment ordered Taking up an application alleging the release of hardcore criminals from Ambala jail in connivance with officials for committing murders, the High Court on Tuesday directed the payment of Rs 50,000 compensation to the wife of an alleged victim. Issuing the directions, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Hemant Gupta, ruled that the payment should be made by the respondents within two weeks. In his application seeking permission for becoming an intervener in the Panipat court firing case in which Joginder Kaur was killed, a victim’s father had earlier stated that a senior jail officer was acting as a “contract killer”. He had invented a unique technique and was illegally releasing dreaded criminals for committing murders. After the offence was committed, the officer was illegally allowing the criminals to re-enter the jail premises. Referring to a news item, the applicant had added that four accused arrested by the police were shown to be confined at Ambala’s Central Jail when the murder of Joginder Kaur was committed. Seeking CBI probe into as many as five murders committed by allegedly adopting the same technique, he had asserted that a bare perusal of the judicial records would clearly established the fact that the jail officials were instrumental in the commission of murders for the sake of money.
Order on salaries Taking up a petition filed by the Health Department employees claiming the release of salaries withheld for past several months, a Division Bench of the High Court has directed the department to pay Rs 1,000 each to 250 petitioners as costs. The Bench, comprising Mr Justice J.S. Khehar and Mr Justice M.M. Kumar, also directed the department to release the salaries within three to five weeks. The department was also asked to make the payment of salaries regularly in future. Arguing before the Bench, Mr Ranjivan Singh had contended on the petitioners’ behalf that the act of withholding the salaries was not only illegal and arbitrary but was also violative of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. |
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Crime rises eightfold Rohtak, December 9 Haryana is now witnessing almost two murders every day. The murderous streak became more pronounced between 1970 and 1980 when the number of killings almost doubled in the period. In 1970, as many as 192 persons were murdered in the state. However, the number rose to 374 in 1980. By the end of 2000, the figure shot up to 677. The attempts to murder have shown a similar trend. From 132 attempts in 1970, the figure rose to 444 in 2000. Likewise, more and more government servants are coming under attack from the public, revealing a growing unrest in society and dissatisfaction with the style of governance. In 1970, only 166 cases of attacks on public servants were reported in the state. The figure now stands at around 450. In the recent past, irrigation, power and revenue officials have been the target of attacks because of the rise in cases of theft of canal water, power and attempts to recover dues from the rural population. Kidnapping and abduction cases too have kept pace with other major crimes. In 1970, only 145 cases were reported under this head whereas 406 persons were kidnapped in 2000. According to sources, these cases registered a sharp growth in the nineties especially in the areas close to Delhi. In this decade, the figure went up from 209 in 1990 to 406 in 2000. The sources say this happened because organised crime cartels first recruited jobless youths from districts around Delhi and later they began operating in Haryana on their own. Haryanvis are also becoming more prone to rioting. This category of crime grew at the fastest pace in the three decades since 1970 in which year only 107 cases were reported. However, the number had risen to 728 by 2000. Again, the nineties reported a steep increase in such cases which indicates that the Mandal mayhem set off a trend which shows no signs of abating. Cases under the Excise Act have shot up too — from 4,528 in 1970 to 9,620 in 2000. However, during the nineties the number rose sharply and the figure stood at 12683 in 1990. But the number of cases under the NDPS Act has dropped from 1325 in 1970 to 987 at the end of the year 2000. But the police archives do not reflect the true extent of corruption in the state. The cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act have just about doubled from 24 in 1970 to 47 in 2000. Insiders say this reflects the lack of will by successive governments to implement the Act firmly. Senior police officers say lack of manpower hinders maintenance of law and order. This is despite the fact that in the past few years the strength of the police force has risen sharply. But the numbers still are considered inadequate. They also attribute the rise in crime to joblessness, fragmentation of land holdings and the proximity of the state to Delhi. The prohibition in 1996 also bred a cartel of criminals who made a quick buck by smuggling liquor from the neighbouring states. When this became unprofitable, the youths then switched to highway robberies and other organised crime. |
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BJP to hold training camp Ambala, December 9 He said the camp would provide guidance to the office-bearers and they would be stressed upon to reach out to people. |
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And now health
booklets Chandigarh, December 9 An official spokesman said here today that each family would be provided with a free health booklet, giving details of various health programmes, details of immunisation programmes, healthcare facilities and treatment given to women from time to time. The booklets would be computerised to ensure effective monitoring of the project. |
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