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The guilty will not be spared: Venod Sharma
INLD prepared for any probe into ‘irregularities’
CBI told to return money seized from Dalal’s house
8 officers shifted from cadre posts
Primary school teachers’ fate uncertain
Haryana wants JBT teachers to be graduates
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Probe ordered into undertrial’s suicide
Man hit by bullet near Army firing range
Not an IAF officer
CBI told to return money seized from Dalal’s house
Agitated residents lock schools
Student commits suicide, parents cry foul
School Principal honoured
JBT teachers seek salaries
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The guilty will not be spared: Venod Sharma
This claim was made by Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister Venod Sharma while answering questions from newsmen at a “meet the press” programme organised by the Chandigarh Press Club here today. Mr Sharma said during the Chautala Government all sections of society, including newsmen, were terrorised and were not free to discharge their duties fearlessly. The Hooda Government, he said, had removed fear from the minds of the citizens. He said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was an honest and clean person who was determined to make Haryana the number one state in the country. In response to a question regarding what action the Hooda Government proposed to take on the charge-sheet submitted by the Congress against the Chautala Government, Mr Sharma said in addition to what was stated in the charge-sheet, many more irregularities and diserepances would be unearthed and no quilty person would be spared. The government was taking action against the misdeeds of the previous regime in its own manner and would take it to the logical conclusion. However, he ruled out the possibility of setting up an inquiry commission to go into the charge-sheet. “The commission will not serve the purpose”. He said it was not necessary to follow the methodology adopted by Punjab in dealing with the corruption of the Akali Government. “We will adopt our own methods. Let the results come before you judge which methodology is better” he added. Referring to the unprecedented increase in the excise revenue of Haryana this year, Mr Sharma said it was obvious where the revenue was going in the past few years. He said it was wrong to say that a saturation point had come in the excise revenue. It was a wrong propaganda to mislead the people. Mr Sharma said in case the government found that there was no utility of sales tax Form No. 38, an irritant with the trading community, under the VAT regime, it would be abolished. He said the SYL canal was the lifeline of Haryana and “we will protect the interests of the state in this regard zealously.” The government would like the IT industry to spread out of Gurgaon to other parts of Haryana so that more job opportunities could be created. Answering a question, Mr Sharma said the fact that the SGPC President, Bibi Jagir Kaur, presented a saropa to Mr Hooda when he visited the Golden Temple yesterday, showed that the Haryana Chief Minister had univesal acceptability. Mr Venod Sharma, who had been active in Chandigarh politics for years, refused to comment on the factionalism in the city Congress over the issue of transfer of the Deputy Commissioner. Mr Sharma promised to give Rs 1 lakh from his personal funds to the Press Club, of which he is a life member. Earlier he was welcomed by the President and the Secretary-General of the club, Mr Jagtar Singh Sidhu and Mr Balwant Takshak, respectively. |
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INLD prepared for any probe into ‘irregularities’
Chandigarh, May 7 Responding to questions at a press conference here, Mr Sampat Singh, INLD leader and former Finance Minister, said INLD functionaries had remained in jail during the struggle against Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi. Therefore, there was no question of the INLD being scared of the government probing alleged irregularities taking place during the INLD regime. Mr Ajay Chautala, INLD member of the Rajya Sabha and elder son of the INLD supremo, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, described the Congress “charge sheet” on the wealth allegedly amassed by his father and members of the family as a “bundle of lies”. “Not only in Haryana but also in other states the Congress has made it a practice to come out with such flimsy documents before the elections”, he said replying to a question. The press conference was called by the INLD following a meeting of the party’s office-bearers. Mr Om Prakash Chautala was also present at the meeting. He, however, did not attend the press conference. The meeting passed four resolutions. The first resolution was on the issue of the SYL canal. Mr Sampat Singh said Chief Minister Hooda’s usual reply on the issue was that the controversial Punjab Bill on the termination of water-sharing agreements by the state had been referred to the President by the Centre. “There is already a Supreme Court order on the completion of the canal, and if Mr Hooda is serious, he must put pressure on the Centre to implement the court order”, Mr Sampat Singh said. He also described Mr Hooda’s response to the recent Rajasthan High Court order as “lukewarm”. The INLD leader added that the Congress government in the state had not reacted to the Punjab Government move to challege the Punjab Reorganisation Act to deprive the states carved out from erstwhile Punjab of their share of water. Resolution number 2 empowered Mr Om Prakash Chautala to choose candidates for the coming byelections. The INLD leaders reiterated that the party would not put up candidates in Tosham or Hisar if the Congress candidates in these constituencies belonged to the families of the deceased legislators. Asked whether the INLD was scared of putting up candidates in the byelections, Mr Ashok Arora, chief of the Haryana unit of the INLD, said the party would put up a candidate in Kiloi from where Chief Minister Hooda would be contesting. In another resolution, the INLD criticised the Congress government for withdrawing corruption and other cases registered by the Chautala regime against various persons, including Congress functionaries. The INLD leaders alleged that the Congress government had registered false cases against Mr Pritam Singh, who was the INLD candidate from Kalayat in the February Assembly poll, and Mr Umed Singh Lohan, INLD candidate from Barwala. The fourth resolution said there was an anomaly in the procurement of the mustard crop by the state government and it had led to immense hardship for farmers. Mr Sampat Singh said the performance of the government on the law and order front was particularly deplorable. “Nine persons were killed in Jhajjar district alone during the panchayat elections”, he added. |
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CBI told to return money seized from Dalal’s house
Chandigarh, May 7 The court also asked the CBI to de-freeze Mr Dalal’s account in the Haryana State Cooperative Apex Bank’s branch at the Haryana Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh. The court asked the CBI to give the necessary intimation to the bank to this effect. The Delhi court passed these orders on May 4. Mr Dalal moved the court on April 28 for releasing the money and also for the de-freezing of his bank account. The public prosecutor representing the CBI did not object to Mr Dalal’s plea and said the money was neither case property nor required for any investigation. |
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8 officers shifted from cadre posts
Panchkula, May 7 The posting of non-cadre officers (those from the state cadre) on cadre and ex-cadre posts in the Forest Department, Haryana, was causing a lot of heartburning among IFS officers posted in the state. The Indian Forest Service Association, Haryana, had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking direction to the Haryana Government to remove non-cadre officers from the cadre and other posts meant for IFS officers. The case is to come up for hearing before a Division Bench of the High Court on July 8. For the past couple of years, eight cadre posts of Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF’s) were occupied by non-cadre officers (those who are not from the Indian Forest Service). In fact, most of these officers were promoted to the Haryana Forest Service (HFS) from Range Officers, though their appointment into the HFS was not even confirmed. These appointees on cadre posts were
junior most amongst the HFS officers. Of a total of seven ex-cadre posts in the Forest Department (of DCFs), non- cadre officers were posted on four of these posts. The IFS Association, Haryana, alleges that non-cadre officials, having strong political connections, were ensuring that all rules are flouted as they got plum postings. They allege that these state cadre officers enjoy posting on posts which have maximum budget allocations and also the maximum load of execution of field works. The association says that even as an IFS officer was awaiting his posting orders (after he returned from training almost some months ago), the posts meant for IFS officers were occupied by junior and non -entitled officers. For the past many years, no IFS officer was posted in the Shivalik region in the state (Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar), even though this region has the maximum forest cover. It is after several years that cadre officers have now been posted in this region. The IFS officers say that their postings are governed under the Cadre Rules and Indian Forest Service (Pay) Rules, 1968. The strength of IFS cadres and its composition is determined by the Government of India. The rules clearly point that the state government can make temporary appointment of non- cadre officers on cadre posts, only if the government knows that the vacancy will last for more than three months, and a suitable cadre officer is not available to fill the vacancy. If a person other than a cadre officer is appointed to cadre post for a period extending three months, the matter should be brought to the notice of the Central Government, after giving reasons for such appointments. Since there was no concurrence of the Central Government in this regard, this provision was also violated while making appointments of non cadre officers. |
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Primary school teachers’ fate uncertain
Chandigarh, May 7 However, the transition is not likely to be as easy as it seems, especially with 3500-odd teachers employed by the PRIs in these schools staring the government in the face. The fate of these teachers remains uncertain. The only two options before the government are to absorb them or retrench them and either way, it’s a ticklish problem, officials of the department admit.
When contacted, Haryana’s Education Minister, Mr Phool Chand Maulana, said the government was working on the lines of absorbing these teachers in the department. “Legal hassles apart, we are considering adopting these teachers as our own. However, the picture will be clear only after the department concerned has deliberated on the pros and cons of all issues pertaining to this reversal,” he added. Sources said day-to-day management of schools by the department would be easy compared to sorting out the tangle of the PRI teachers. They had been recruited under PRI rules, separate from the rules of the Education department. Besides, the PRI teachers are presently being paid a lumpsum of Rs 5000 per month as against regular teachers who are placed in a pay scale of Rs 4500-7000. “They were not taken with an idea to be made regular and it could lead to legal complications,” an official admitted. As if this is not enough, the government would also have to deal with the staff retrenched from the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) of the government a few years back. It is learnt that the government had retrenched the teachers with an undertaking that they would be the first ones to be considered when the department recruits new teachers. The challenge for the department would lie in appeasing this lot of teachers before embarking upon its plan of absorbing teachers appointed by the PRIs and local bodies all over the state. On the other hand, if the government decides to show them the door, it could trigger off protests from them, leading to problems for the new government. Interestingly, the case for reverting functional control of government primary schools from PRIs to the government was first recommended by the Education Department during the term of the Chautala government. The file kept lying in the Chief Minister’s office without the government taking any decision on it. Later, with elections being announced and the model code of conduct coming into force, the file was sent back and the matter was temporarily shelved. After the Congress government took over in March this year, the matter once again cropped up at a meeting held to discuss the closure of private schools in residential areas. Following this, the department forwarded the same proposal to take over control of the primary schools from the PRIs to which the Hooda government gave its nod. |
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Haryana wants JBT teachers to be graduates
Gurgaon, May 7 The present qualification for the appointment is
matriculation, which the government feels is not sufficient, especially with the mandatory course in English from Class 1 and computer education from Class VI in place. Mr Maulana,who was here to mobilise support for the Congress’ public meeting to be addressed by Mrs Sonia Gandhi in Jind on May 14. Also, the government has decided to sensitise them on the approach towards education and students. According to him, there are 10,000 vacant posts of teacher in various schools of the state. The posts would be filled on a priority basis to make the education system more functional, he said. Also, benches would be provided in all schools within a year. He said his ministry would take up with the quarters concerned the issue of electricity to government schools at domestic rate.
Presently, the schools are charged tariff under the commercial category. With regard the clamping down of mandatory guidelines for private schools, he said they had been given another year. |
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Probe ordered into undertrial’s suicide
Karnal, May 7 Family members, including the wife of the deceased, have alleged that the jail authorities used to mentally and physically harass him. The SDM who visited the spot said Gurmukh Singh (40) hanged himself with a turban from an iron grill of the ventilator in a bathroom adjoining his barrack. The physical examination of the body did not show any marks of external injury, he said. The post-mortem examination report had also confirmed that he has died of hanging. Gurmukh had been arrested under the NDPS Act by the Nissing police for selling poppy husk. He was brought to the jail under judicial custody on November 10. He had moved several bail applications in various courts but was denied bail. Gurmukh’s family is poor and he was the main earning hand. He was depressed as one of his sons had got electrocuted a few weeks ago and was undergoing treatment. His younger sister had died a few days ago, the information of which was given to him yesterday. He had filed a petition against the Nissing police, saying that he had been falsely implicated. His wife and son had alleged that the police used to harass them to withdraw the petition from the court. The police was hand-in-glove with the jail authorities and her husband had been murdered with the help of jail officials, she alleged in a statement before the District Magistrate. The medical official of the jail said Gurmukh had been suffering from diarrhoea. Last evening his condition had improved, the medical official said in a report to the SDM. |
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Man hit by bullet near Army firing range
Ambala, May 7 An Army officer said the firing range was marked with warning boards in different languages indicating danger of being hit when firing was on. The incident took place when Army authorities were carrying out a check of safety measures at the range, after major repairs had been carried out, by subjecting the range to extensive firing of small arms. The villagers had been warned to stay clear of the danger area through the police as standard procedures, the officer said. He said Bhikam entered the fields within the danger area and a stray bullet, which was a ricochet from the range, hit his right leg. The labourer was injured superficially. The officer said medical help was immediately provided by the Army authorities at the Military Hospital and the bullet which had lodged just under the skin on the calf muscle, was removed. The labourer is currently recovering at the hospital. Bhikam would be financially compensated, the official said. Following this incident, the Army has decided to again carry out a complete reassessment of the safety factors and make the firing range fully safe. It has also been decided to extend no firing period for another 30 days to enable uninterrupted work in harvesting/sowing of crop by civilians. |
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Not an IAF officer
Chandigarh, May 7 An IAF spokesman said Sandeep had been duped and defrauded of a very large amount of money by some persons on the pretext of getting him recruited into the IAF as an officer. In this context he was called to Kolkata and Bangalore by the said persons, who extracted money from him. The spokesman added that though Sandeep had informed his friends and family about his joining the Air Force, it appeared that he recently discovered about the fraud and was unable to reveal the same to his family and attempted suicide at Samalkha. Sandeep had shot himself in the abdomen, reportedly in an inebriated state. Relatives present at his house had then stated that he had been selected in the IAF and had come home on leave from Bangalore where he was undergoing training. |
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CBI told to return money seized from Dalal’s house
Chandigarh, May 7 The court also asked the CBI to de-freeze Mr Dalal’s account in the Haryana State Cooperative Apex Bank’s branch at the Haryana Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh. The court asked the CBI to give the necessary intimation to the bank to this effect. The Delhi court passed these orders on May 4. Mr Dalal moved the court on April 28 for releasing the money and also for the de-freezing of his bank account. The public prosecutor representing the CBI did not object to Mr Dalal’s plea and said the money was neither case property nor required for any investigation. |
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Agitated residents lock schools
Sonepat, May 7 According to a report, the residents did not allow teachers and students to enter the school. Mr Rajinder Singh Dahiya, District Education Officer, rushed to the village and pacified the residents. When the staff of the school offered an apology, they relented. The residents alleged that the teachers were not punctual and this had affected the studies of the students. |
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Student commits suicide, parents cry foul
Kaithal, May 7 According to information received here today, the body of Virender Lalar, son of Kehar Singh of Naraingarh and a B.Sc third year student, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of the room. The college authorities informed the police. The family members suspect it to be case of murder as they pointed towards a broken window and said the cash was missing. |
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School Principal honoured
Ambala, May 7
She is amongst 40 educationists and social workers from all over India to have received this award, a press note said. She received the award at a function in New Delhi. Mr Bhisham Narain Singh, former Governor of Tamil Nadu presented her with a gold plated shield and a citation. |
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JBT teachers seek salaries
Kaithal, May 7 Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr Ashok Sharma, Mr Satbir Goyal and other union leaders have demanded early payment of teachers’ salaries. |
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Boy kills mother
Jhajjar, May 7 |
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Chandigarh, May 7