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Chandigarh, October 5 The Haryana Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, approved the creation of a new district in Mewat area called Satyamev Puram with headquarters at Nuh.
CM praises CADA for remodelling water courses
Abhay promises 35,000 jobs
Separate cadre for senior pharmacists on cards: Ajay
Paswan eyeing Dalit vote bank
BSP blames Chautala for atrocities on Dalits
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Cong flays govt stance on panchayat poll
Managers of commercial banks a worried lot
HCS selections raises eyebrows
High Court
Rs 103-cr project being formulated
Farmer penalised for false complaint
Govt ‘cool’ to woes of farmers
Railway officers for upgradation
of 80 pc posts
Landlord rapes minor, arrested
Firecrackers create panic
Woman ‘pushed’ out
of bus
Traders launch agitation
Roadways employees on fast
Three more tubewells for Ambala cantonment
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New district gets Cabinet nod
Chandigarh, October 5 Satyamev Puram will have three sub-divisions, Ferozepur Jhirka, Nuh and
Hathin, five tehsils — Ferozepur Jhirka, Punhana, Nuh, Tauru and
Hathin, one sub-tehsil, Nagina, and six blocks, Ferozepur Jhirka,
Punhana, Nagina, Nuh, Tauru and Hathin and some part of Hodel block. There would be a total of 549 villages in this district having a total population of 10,66,616 and an area of 2003 sq. km. The Cabinet also revised the unemployment allowance disbursement scheme and the eligibility criteria of the beneficiaries. Now unemployed youths having matric or 10+2 qualification will be paid unemployment allowance at the rate of Rs 100 per month. A sum of Rs 200 per month will be given to unemployed youths who are diploma holders, graduates or post-graduates. The scheme would be implemented for the benefit of job seekers who are registered with an employment exchange of the state. The parents of applicants should not be income tax payees and should not own commercial or residential property exceeding Rs 20 lakh. The age of the applicant should be between 21 and 40 years, relaxable by five years for candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes. Unemployment allowance would be disbursed on a monthly basis. Over 7.50 lakh job seekers are expected to be registered for the allowance, which would entail an estimated expenditure of Rs.102 crore. The Cabinet also approved an amendment in Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, authorising Divisional Commissioner to hear appeal against demolition order of the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation. The Cabinet also approved a proposal of the Urban Development Department for the sale of land measuring 25 kanal and four marla of municipal
committee, Kharkhoda, to Transport Department at a rate of Rs 5 lakh per acre for construction of a permanent
busstand. |
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CM praises CADA for remodelling water courses
Chandigarh, October 5 The decision to remodel the water courses with nine inch thick brick masonry walls was taken at the initiative of Mr Chautala. The CM praised CADA while presiding over a meeting of Irrigation Department and Power Department officials here last evening. The release said it was also decided at the meeting that construction of Dadupur Nalvi canal project would start in early November. The project costing Rs.167.62 crore would provide irrigation facilities to an area of 1.30 lakh acres in the districts of Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Ambala. It was decided that Mr Chautala would lay the foundation stone of Dadupur Nalvi canal project in early November, thus fulfilling a long-standing demand of the people of the area to have an improved network of irrigation system. Mr Chautala directed the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Irrigation and Power, Mr Anil Razdan, to ensure that all distributaries announced by him should be completed on war-footing. Mr Chautala also asked him to take effective steps to make adequate irrigation water available to the farmers, especially between November 15 and December 15, for timely sowing of their crops. Mr Chautala also reviewed the status of on-going irrigation projects approved by Nabard and directed that the sanctioned projects should be completed speedily. While reviewing the power situation in the state, Mr Chautala directed the officials to explore the possibility of generating power through non-conventional means of energy. Mr Razdan informed that the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam had purchased 8500 lakh units of extra power ata higher rate during first six months of the current financial year at a cost of Rs 550 crore to meet the growing demand of power. |
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Abhay promises 35,000 jobs
Kaithal, October 5 He was addressing party workers here last evening. Mr Abhay Singh said during the past five years the state had set up a record in executing more than 44,000 development works. He asked party workers to go to the field and explain to people about the development works and various welfare schemes launched in Haryana under the guidance of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. He explained that the abiyana imposed for the users of canal water had been abolished and the four-tier-slab system had been replaced by a flat rate of Rs 35 per hectare for the farmers. Besides the employment scheme, the government had recently announced to provide unemployment allowance to the unemployed youth so that they could meet some of their daily expenses. He criticised the UPA government at the Centre as it was also responsible for the increase in the prices of diesel, petrol and other essential commodities. Mr Ashok Arora, state president, INLD, while addressing the party workers asked them to work with zeal for the next Assembly elections. Mr Ram Pal Mazra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Leela Ram and Mr Amar Singh Dhandey, both MLAs, Mr Makhan Singh, president, district party unit, and Mr Roshan Dhanda, state vice-president, were also present on the occasion. |
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Separate cadre for senior pharmacists on cards: Ajay
Rohtak, October 5 Addressing the final session of the annual meet of the Federation of Indian Pharmacists Organisation
(FIPO) here yesterday, he said pharmacists sent on deputation to the Traffic Police would be reverted to their parent department and Haryana police constables trained to perform the duties of pharmacists. The Health Minister, Dr
M.L. Ranga, who was present, announced that the state would soon constitute a pharmacy council and include representatives of pharmacists in the council’s governing body. He asked pharmacists to give wide publicity to Devi Roopak Yojna launched by the Haryana Government. Mr
R.S. Thakur was elected president of the FIPO for the next term. Mr M.S. Arya was re-elected general secretary. |
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Paswan eyeing Dalit vote bank
Rohtak, October 5 The reasons for Mr Paswan’s heightened interest in Haryana are not far to seek. The BSP has been steadily losing ground. His successor Mayawati did initially try to retain the party’s base in Haryana, but the party’s top leaders kept shifting loyalties to other parties. During the last Lok Sabha poll although, Ms Mayawati appeared on the Haryana scene briefly, the BSP failed to perform satisfactorily. As for the Congress, which for years was the first choice of the Dalits in the state, lack of effective leadership from within the community is proving to be a big handicap. Dalit leaders in the party continue to be second-rung leaders who have to follow the dictats of the top state leaders rather than venture out on their own to win over fellow community members. Their activities remain confined at best to their own constituencies. Although Mr Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) is still to gain a real foothold in the state, the response among Dalits has been encouraging, prompting him to go to the extent of claiming that his party would contest all 90 Vidhan Sabha seats in the Haryana in next year’s poll. At his Hisar rally last week he even projected Haryana LJP chief Lalit Gautam as the future chief minister of Haryana. The merger of the Samajwadi Labour Party with the LJP at Hisar notwithstanding, all these brags are not backed by facts. But these do send a message that Mr Paswan has arrived in Haryana. The LJP leader appears to be working on the fact that a tie-up with the Congress in the Assembly poll will help him register his party’s presence in the Vidhan Sabha. Mr Paswan’s stress on making the right to work a fundamental right is carefully aimed at Haryana’s burgeoning constituency of jobless youths. Sources close to Mr Paswan say he hopes to repeat among Dalits youths the feat former Haryana Congress chief Birender Singh performed recently among the so-called higher-caste youth by holding a “berozgaar sammelan” here last month. Other major players in Haryana politics dismiss Mr Paswan’s efforts as “mere shots in the dark”. They claim an outsider has little chance in Haryana. But LJP leaders counter this by saying that even Mr Kanshi Ram was an outsider and he did succeed in creating a niche for the BSP in the state. |
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BSP blames Chautala for atrocities on Dalits
Hisar, October 5 He said the BSP would fight alone in the Assembly poll, adding that it would field candidates on all 90 seats. Booth committees, comprising 11 youths each, were being formed for the elections, he added. Mr Lal asserted the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) would not have any adverse impact on the poll prospects of the BSP. Lashing out at LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan, the BSP leader said his one-point agenda was to grab a ministerial berth in the Union Cabinet. The BSP leader pointed out that Mr Chautala was announcing various schemes when his term had come to an end. He said the Chief Minister had not done anything for the state during the first four and a half years of his rule. He said there were 60,000 vacancies in various government departments of the state, but the government had done nothing about them so far. |
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Cong flays govt stance on panchayat poll
Fatehabad, October 5 He said the government was only keen on completing its full term of five years and had no respect for the term of hundreds of panchayat members, sarpanches, zila parishad members and municipal councilors. Interacting with media persons at the residence of senior Congress leader Arvind Sharma here today, Mr Nehra termed the decision of the Chautala government to hold panchayat elections ahead of the Assembly elections in the state as undemocratic and violative of the spirit of Constitution of India. He said it was very strange that 10 seats were lying vacant in the state Assembly but the government was not interested in filling those seats. |
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Managers of commercial banks a worried lot
Chandigarh, October 5 The Assembly passed the Haryana Relief of Agricultural Indebtedness (Amendment) Bill, 2004, when it met here on September 29. The Bill now awaits the assent of the Governor, Dr A. R. Kidwai. The Bill provides that if a farmer has taken a loan, he will not have to return more than the double of the loan amount, including interest. Earlier the scheduled banks were outside the purview of the Haryana Relief of Agricultural Indebtedness Act, 1989. The new Bill provides that “a debtor is liable to repay the debt, together with any interest payable thereon, at least to the extent of 20 per cent of the gross value of his annual income from his occupation, yearly till the amount of debt together with interest payable thereon or the amount equivalent to double the amount of debt, whichever is less, is paid by him.” Official sources say the fears being expressed by the bank are misplaced. Since a farmer will be liable to pay at least 20 per cent of his gross income every year as repayment of the loan, the banks would be able to recover their amount in a few years. However, the Bill is silent if a defaulting farmer, who fails to pay 20 per cent of his annual income, will also be a beneficiary of the new provision the legislature seeks to introduce. The Haryana Relief of Agricultural Indebtedness Act, 1975, was enacted during the Emergency in pursuant to the guidelines issued by the Union Government to liquidate in stages rural indebtedness. The Act, which placed one year moratorium on the recovery of loan from the weaker sections of society, was primarily meant to save the farmers from the clutches of private money lenders, who used to charge exorbitant rate of interest. Later on the Haryana Relief of Agricultural Indebtedness Act, 1976, was enacted to provide for total redemption in the case of very poor persons and scaling down of debt in the case the remaining categories of the weaker sections so that permanent relief could be granted to them. When Mr Devi Lal formed the government in 1987 along with the BJP, the Haryana Relief of Agricultural Indebtedness Act, 1989, was enacted to cover the loans advanced by cooperative and commercial banks also. However, in view of the objections raised by the commercial banks, who reduced loaning to the agricultural sector in Haryana, the Congress Government amended the 1989 Act thrice after 1991 to exclude both cooperative and commercial banks from the purview of the Act. Moving the new Bill the Revenue Minister, Mr Dhir Pal, said its purpose was to restore the position which existed before the 1992 and 1993 amendments. The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has already started attacking the Congress for carrying out amendments in the original Act by saying that its government thought of banks and not of the farmers. He also attacked the then Revenue Minister, Mr Birender Singh, who is a strong contender for the top post in the state if the Congress is voted to power, for piloting the amendment Bills in the Assembly in the nineties. The rural indebtedness and the alleged Congress indifference towards it will be one of the major poll planks of the INLD in the next Assembly elections. |
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HCS selections raises eyebrows
Chandigarh, October 5 A total of 38 candidates from the clerical staff, tehsildars and BDPOs were interviewed on Sunday for filling up posts of HCS officers. Instead of the usual delay which is an inevitable part of governmental functioning, a list of 19 candidates selected from among the 38 aspirants for being posted as HCS officers were published yesterday. The selected candidates include Mr Anurag
Dhalia, son of Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr B.D. Dhalia, Mr Naveen Kumar Ahuja, a relative of the Transport Minister, Mr Ashok Arora, and Mr Prithwi Singh, a member of the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala’s personal staff. Two of the selected candidates were also reportedly chargesheeted under rule 7 earlier. Sources said the urgency with which the list was released was to avoid action by the court to prevent publication of the list. Three litigations are pending in the court following writs filed by dejected aspirants challenging the selection procedure. |
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High Court
Chandigarh, October 5 During hearing in a petition challenging the selections made in the HCS from Group C, the Bench was informed that serious irregularities have taken in the process. The petitioners have stated that the screening committee headed by Haryana Chief Secretary Sunil Ahuja did not take merit and period of service in consideration while recommending the names of the candidates. The selected candidates include the close relative of a Haryana minister. On the last hearing the court did not restrain the HPSC from conducting interviews of the candidates. The petitioners have also sought that the entire record relating to the selections be summoned and an independent inquiry be ordered into the matter. The hearing will now resume on October 15. Human rights
The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Panchkula branch, today submitted a list of violations of human rights in Haryana in the High
Court. PUCL’s PIL through its President Ujjal Singh Sahni seeking directions to the Haryana Government to set up a Human Rights Commission for the state is pending before a Division Bench of the High Court. On May 11, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Mr Justice B.K. Roy and Mr Justice Surya Kant had asked the petitioner to bring more facts to the notice of the court that could reinforce the case for setting up of a Human Rights Commission. Today, the petitioner submitted a list of such cases that warranted intervention of the Human Rights Commission, had there been one. Submitting news reports published in The Tribune, the petitioner has referred to the June 13 custodial death of a Fatehabad resident after torture by cops. The body of the deceased had been kept on the road by villagers, who were seeking action against the guilty cops. Another instance given by the petitioner relates to the rape of a woman, whose three children were later taken into custody by the police and her rapists to stop her from going to the law enforcement agencies. On June 27, a warrant officer appointed by the High Court, who had gone to get them released, was attacked by armed criminals while returning to Chandigarh. Yet another example that the PUCL has given to underline its request for a Haryana Human Rights Commission is the report that fly ash released from Tau Devil Lal Thermal Power Station, Panipat, has been making life difficult for the residents of the neighbouring villages. Over 10,000 people are reported to be facing problems due to this fly ash. The case will now come up
tomorrow. Relief sought
The minor children of a couple, which was drowned in a canal near village
Surtia, Sirsa, on the intervening night of November 4-5, 2003, have moved the High Court, seeking compensation to the tune of Rs 20 lakh. In their petition, Sehajpreet Singh, 16, and Gurtej
Singh, 11, have prayed for compensation from the respondents for having caused the death of their parents. The couple drowned after the Maruti car in which they were travelling went off a half-built bridge. Saying that negligence on the part of the respondents resulted in the untimely death of their parents, the children have sought compensation for the same. After hearing their counsel, the Bench of Chief Justice Mr Justice B.K. Roy and Mr Justice Surya Kant issued notice of motion for December 7. |
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Rs 103-cr project being formulated
Chandigarh, October 5 This was revealed in the 14th meeting of the Shivalik Development Board presided over by Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala here today. The board also approved the annual action plan for the year 2004-05 under which Rs 7 crore was being spent for the implementation of various development works in the areas of watershed management, health, public health, cattle development, solar energy and information technology. |
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Farmer penalised for false complaint
Fatehabad, October 5 Mr Om Parkash, a farmer from Bodiwali village, in this district had lodged a complaint with the District Consumer Protection Forum on May 5, 2004. In his complaint, the farmer had alleged that he had applied for a tubewell connection to the DHBVN under the tatkaal scheme on October 9, 2002. He had paid for the charges under the scheme and installed a submersible tubewell on the assurance of the nigam that his connection would be released soon. He further alleged that due to non-release of connection by the nigam, he suffered heavy losses. The farmer demanded Rs 3 lakhs as compensation from the nigam. The DHBVN, on the other hand submitted its written reply on July 12, 2004, that connections under the scheme were released as per the seniority list prepared by the nigam. The nigam averred that the complainant’s seniority on the list was 38 and connections up to seniority number 28 had already been released. Later, the connection to the consumer was also released on July 15, 2004, when it was his turn. But the farmer did not withdraw the complaint and demanded a sum of Rs 3 lakh for the alleged loss to his crops. In their decision delivered today, the District Consumer president Mr P. C. Gupta, and member Ms Seema Saraf found no deficiency of service on the part of the nigam in releasing connections as per the seniority list. The forum dismissed the complaint of the farmer with charging him Rs 500 for unnecessarily dragging the DHBVN into litigation. |
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Govt ‘cool’ to woes of farmers
Fatehabad, October 5 Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Krishan Swaroop, general secretary of the Haryana Kisan Sabha, said the ‘treatment being meted out to farmers’ during paddy procurement had exposed the false claim of the government that it was for the farmers. He alleged that the farmers going to various mandis were faced with a plethora of problems. There was hardly any arrangement for drinking water or lodging of farmers. He said the farmers were being cheated by greedy traders and "corrupt" officials and at many places they had to resort distress selling. Mr Krishan Swaroop said office-bearers of the sabha planned to visit all grain markets in the state for an on-the-spot review of the procurement operations. He said the sabha would meet farmers and listen to their woes so that these could be raised at the appropriate fora. |
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Railway officers for upgradation
of 80 pc posts
Ambala, October 5 Talking to mediapersons, Mr Alok Chaturvedi, general secretary of the association said that discussions were about the plight of promotee officers working in Northern Railway. “The stagnation in cadre, over-burden and holding charge of more than one post was discussed,” he said. Mr Chaturvedi said that the Association expresses deep concern over the adverse effect of re-structuring of senior scale posts. “The issue regarding non-provision of equal upgradation from Group `B’ to senior scale was discussed and it was resolved that the Indian Railway Promotee Officer’s Federation shall take up this issue,” he said. He stated that the senior scale posts should neither be reduced by way of upgradation nor should the posts be surrendered since senior scale posts
are required for effective supervision in the safety field. Mr S.K. Bansal, President, Indian Railway Promotee Officers Association, said that they have decided to take up the issue of upgradation of Group `B’ officers to senior scale atleast up to the level which has been proposed to be reduced as a result of upgradation of Group `A’ posts. “The Northern Railway administration should take all possible steps so as to ensure that local departmental promotion committees for promotion to senior scale are done in the month of July every year as per the time table fixed. The number of vacancies should be liberal as it is a select list and not panel declared,” he stated. He demanded that the upgradation of 80 per cent of officers in the grade Rs 8000-Rs13500 should be done on its due date and arrears be cleared. “Effective steps should be taken for getting the signal and telecommunication cases decided. There should be proper cadre fixation and productivity-linked bonus to all officers,” he said. |
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Landlord rapes minor, arrested
Karnal, October 5 The investigating officer, ASI, Mr Pawan Kumar Sharma, told The Tribune that during investigation it was found that the girl went to see television in the room of her landlord Madan Lal on Friday night where he allegedly raped her after giving her with some drugs. As per the statement recorded before the police by the mother of the girl: “When my daughter did not return after watching the television till midnight, I enquired about her from the landlord who replied that she was sleeping. Since, he insisted that it would not be wise to disturb the girl, I left her sleeping in his room”. During investigation it came to light that after she was left sleeping in his room, Madan Lal allegedly raped her, said the police official. Having been given some intoxicant, the girl could not get up in the morning. Her mother and father both went to work leaving her on the landlord’s assurance that he would wake her up after some time and provide breakfast to her. Pretending that the girl was not feeling well, he took her to Gharaunda for medical check-up and did not return. When the parents of the girl arrived in the evening they were surprised to find that their daughter and the landlord were not in the house. On Sunday, Madan Lal left the girl at the local Namaste Chowk on the national highway and fled away, said the investigating officer. Before leaving the girl, he threatened her of dire consequences if she opened her mouth about what happened to her. She reached home and narrated the incident to her parents and few relatives who had gathered there. Later, the matter was brought to the notice of the police at the Sector-4 police post. The police recorded the statement of the girl and her parents and registered a case under Sections 376, 342 and 506 of the IPC. The medical check-up of the girl was conducted at the Civil Hospital here on Monday, the report of which is officially awaited. The landlord was arrested late in the night. He was produced before a local court yesterday. The court has sent him to the judicial custody for 14 days. |
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Firecrackers create panic
Panipat, October 5 The bomb disposal squad from Madhuban, Karnal was called. When the members of the squad made inquiries from the railway department, they admitted that these were firecrackers thrown by them into the canal after their expiry period of seven years. About 100 firecrackers were pulled out of the canal by the divers. When these crackers were being take to a junk dealer, one of them burst and created panic among the residents. When contacted, the railway authorities confirmed that the firecrackers were either buried or thrown into the canal after their expiry. |
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Woman ‘pushed’ out
of bus
Panipat, October 5 Roshni, wife of Ramchandra, was admitted to the Civil Hospital. She alleged she asked the bus conductor to stop the bus but was pushed out instead. This is the second such incident in a week. A young couple and their son were thrown out of another bus by its conductor in the same manner near Lal Batti Chowk earlier. |
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Traders launch agitation
Rohtak, October 5 A mahapanchayat of the traders was convened by the Haryana Beopar Mandal and the Rohtak Traders Association which resolved to start a three-day dharna at Aggarsen Chowk and serve an ultimatum on the local administration, demanding immediate arrest of the persons involved in yesterday’s incident of looting a cashier of a local trading firm. Rohtak Traders Association president Ashok Kaka said the traders would observe a bandh in the city on October 9 if the police failed to apprehend the criminals within the next three days. The mahapanchayat was presided over by Lala Matu Ram Garg. |
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Roadways employees on fast
Chandigarh, October 5 Among those who sat on fast were Mr Ram Pal
Mathawala, Mr Raj Pal, Mr Durga Dutt, Mr Jagdish Chander, Mr Jawahar Lal and Mr Swaran Singh Kamboj. Earlier the President of the union, Mr Hari Narain Sharma and other leaders addressed the employees. Their demands included bonus equivalent to 60 days salary. |
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Three more tubewells for Ambala cantonment
Ambala, October 5 A press note stated that the work at Indra Park, Agrasen Nagar and Khatik Mandi has been completed while the work at Shastri Colony and BC Bazar is underway. Three more deep bore tubewells will be dug up at Housing Board, Gandhi Ground and Lal Kurti Bazar. |
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