Chandigarh, August 19
Certain organisations of the Dalits have urged social organisations of the upper caste Hindus to come forward to ensure the fruits of reservation in jobs and educational institutions to those categories of the Dalits that have remained bereft of them so far.

In a joint statement issued here yesterday, Mr M.L. Sarwan and Mr Ramesh Kumar, secretary-general and chief publicity secretary of the Haryana Scheduled Castes (Block A) Forum, respectively; Mr Bishan Lal Tank, president of the Haryana unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Safai Mazdoor Congress Committee; and Mr Jogi Ram Khudia, president of the Haryana Sant Kabir Shiksha Samiti, said due to the vested interests of a particular community of the Dalits, the fruits of reservation were not reaching all the Dalits.

This community, they alleged, had cornered the benefits of reservation for itself and now wanted the other Dalits to remain under-privileged so that its dominance in the Dalit politics remained unchallenged.

The leaders said according to the Constitution, the benefits of reservation could be given only on the basis of social and educational backwardness.

The purpose of the reservation in government jobs under Article 16(4) and in the legislature under Articles 330 and 332 was to bring the socially and educationally backward communities in the mainstream of the country.

However, they said, the desired purpose of the reservation policy could not be achieved and a particular community monopolised its benefits.

They said while the upper caste Hindus had accepted the reservation policy, it was unfortunate that a Dalit community was bent upon denying the benefits of the policy to the more depressed communities among the Dalits.

They appealed to the social organisations of the upper caste Hindus to come to the help of the “most needy and depressed communities” among the Dalits at this juncture so that members of these communities could also hope to achieve the social justice envisaged for them by the Constitution.

Sonepat, August 19
The industrial township of Sonepat is considered one of the most polluted cities in the state of Haryana.

According to a report, pollution levels of air, water and noise in this township are posing a serious threat to the health of its residents.

The city has a large number of small-scale, medium and heavy industries which include chemicals and engineering units. The industrial turnover of Sonepat is reported to have crossed over Rs 500 crore annually. The number of industrial workers is more than 30,000.

Some officials of the Pollution Control Board have said that a high degree of air pollution is caused by the Sonepat cooperative sugar mills established on the outskirts of the city. At road crossings the officials found the dust and ash content in the air which are also the causes of the pollution. The diesel-run vehicles plying on the roads are also causing the pollution in the air.

As far as the water pollution is concerned, the state of affairs is equally bad. Many people alleged that the drinking water in the city through tubewells installed by the Public Health Department near Murthal village, about 8 km from here, was not fit for drinking.

The monitoring of air-ground water so irrigated by the Drain No. 6, which passes through the heart of the city, has shown an alarming picture on the state of environment in this city. In the soil irrigated by the water of Drain No. 6, the concentration of chromium, nickel and zinc varies. The consumption of vegetables grown in such soil is a health hazard.

Sonepat, August 19
The Civil Lines police today registered a case of cheating against three persons, including two women, of Khanna colony here.

According to a report, the police has launched a hunt to apprehend her. It is stated that she started living in a rented house in Khanna Colony here about 10 days ago. In the meantime, she contacted two women and a man in the area and told them that she had a power for making the cash and gold ornaments double by yoga sadhna. Thereupon, one of the woman gave her Rs 80,000 in cash, besides gold ornaments. Similarly, another woman gave her Rs 12,200 in cash and gold ornaments. The tantrik woman asked them to come back after four hours after the completion of yoga sadhna by her and get the doubled amount and gold ornaments. When the women came after hours, they found the tantrik woman missing.

Thereafter, a resident of the area told the women that the woman tantrik had purchased clothes for Rs 11,000 from him and promised to make the amount later.

All the three persons lodged a complaint with the Civil Lines police station in this regard.

It is stated the duped persons did not know her name, etc.

Ambala, August 19
Former Ambala MP Ratan Lal Kataria today opined that the Congress-led UPA government had totally ignored the urban poor.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Kataria said the national rural employment guarantee Bill sought to address the issue of unemployment in rural areas but urban areas had been ignored.

He said Ambala MP Kumari Selja was Union Minister for urban employment and poverty alleviation and she must step down over this matter. “Kumari Selja has failed to generate employment in Ambala even though 15 months have elapsed,” he said.

Mr Kataria said the Bill went against the spirit of the UPA’s election manifesto. “It is not practical.

While the budgetary provision is Rs 100 crore, if the Bill is to be implemented then a sum of Rs 4000 crore will be needed,” he said.

Mr Kataria said eversince the Congress-led UPA government had come to power, a significant number of farmers have committed suicide. He said most farmers belonged to Andhra Pradesh.

He said that the law and order situation has deteriorated under the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in Haryana. There had been a rise in crime and the people were feeling unsafe.

Chandigarh, August 19
The Haryana Government College Teachers Association will organise a conference on “Higher education — problems and prospects” at Himachal Bhavan here on August 21.

According to Mr Shish Pal Hardu, general secretary of the association, while the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will be the chief guest. The Education Minister, Mr Phool Chand Mullana, will preside over the conference.

Sonepat, August 19
Neha, a six-year-old, was killed after she was hit by a vehicle while she was crossing the road near Auchandi border, about 30 km from here on Friday. She hailed from Auchandi village under the Bawana police station area of Delhi.