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Bansal relents, withdraws resignation
Storm over MLA’s ‘resignation’
blows over
Only HAU-tested
bioproducts to be sold
Land mafia at it again
2-yr RI in idol theft case
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March against price hike
Ambala, June 11 The former MLA of Ambala Cantt Anil Vij and his supporters took out a protest march on bicycles against the hike in petrol and diesel prices in the main market of Ambala Cantonment. Protesters wore black badges and raised slogans against the government.
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Bansal relents, withdraws resignation
Ambala, June 11 The Power and PWD Minister, Mr Venod Sharma, who reached at the residence of Mr. Bansal persuaded him to withdraw his resignation. Later Mr. Bansal at a press conference in the presence of Mr Venod Sharma and Media Adviser to the Chief Minister, Mr Sunder Pal said he had tendered his resignation on several pending demands, including the grant of the NOC to Ambala cantonment raised by the people of his constituency but now he was convinced that the Chief Minister would take sympathetic view on these issues. Praising the Chief Minister he said a number of development works had taken place during the tenure of the present government in his constituency. He said the Chief Minister had called upon him on June 13 to discuss the problem of his constituency. He expressed the hope that Mr. Hooda would oblige the residents of his constituency Answering questions Mr Venod Sharma told mediapersons that the resignation issue of Mr. Bansal was now over. He said he had come to meet Mr. Bansal on behalf of the Chief Minister. He said he was happy that Mr. Bansal had agreed to withdraw his resignation unconditionally. Earlier, efforts were made to pursuade Mr. Bansal to withdraw his resignation. The Media Adviser of the Chief Minister, Mr. Sunder Pal and the president of Ambala city, Municipal Council , Mr. Harish Sashan were present at the residence of MLA till midnight. Some of the market associations had closed their shops in the morning in support of their MLA but later they opened the shops as soon as they came to know about the withdrawal of the resignation of their leader.
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Storm over MLA’s ‘resignation’ blows over
Chandigarh, June 11 Mr Bansal agreed to withdraw his resignation following a meeting with the Power Minister, Mr Venod Sharma, and the Media Adviser to the Chief Minister, Mr Sunder Pal, this afternoon. Technically, Mr Bansal never resigned from the Vidhan Sabha because what he had faxed to Mr Hooda was merely an intimation of his intention to resign from the House over certain grievances of his voters, which had remained unaddressed even after a year of his election. According to informed sources, after Mr Bansal faxed his ‘‘resignation’’ to Mr Hooda yesterday, Mr Sunder Pal took the initiative and met Mr Bansal at Ambala last night. Mr Bansal and Mr Hooda talked over the telephone. Mr Bansal is believed to have told Mr Hooda that he had no personal problem with him, whom, he treated like his ‘‘high command’’. He was compelled to take the step by his voters who were facing a great hardship in selling or purchasing property in view of certain conditions put by the then Bansi Lal government in 1996. Mr Bansal reportedly told Mr Hooda that yesterday when he went to address a public meeting, his voters asked him to quit if he could not redress their grievances. Since he believed that the electors had a right to ask their representative to quit if he could not satisfy them, he had bowed to their wish. Mr Hooda reportedly told Mr Bansal that Ambala Cantonment had a special place in his heart because he had an emotional affinity with the town, where his in-laws stayed for a long time. He would take all possible steps to redress the grievances of the people of Ambala. Mr Sharma had a luncheon meeting with Mr Bansal at his Ambala residence today. They were later joined by Mr Sunder Pal before Mr Bansal announced his decision to ‘‘withdraw’’the resignation. Mr Bansal again reportedly told Mr Sharma that he never criticised Mr Hooda. Rather, in the meeting and later before the press, he had expressed thanks to Mr Hooda for taking a special interest in the development of Ambala. The sources say Mr Bansal will meet Mr Hooda here on June 13. The people of Ambala face a problem which is unique.Most of the land in Ambala Cantonment was given either on long lease or as ‘‘grant’’ by the British to Indians to settle them here when the cantonment was being set up. Even the lease is of different categories like 99-year lease or perpetual lease. In several cases, the lease has expired. The residents want that either the lease should be extended or the land should be converted into free hold. To check the transfer of land, the ownership rights of which were vested in the state, the then Bansi Lal government made it mandatory to obtain a no-objected certificate from the local authorities before the transfer. This has led to widespread corruption as well as harassment of the citizens in the area which was separated from the Cantonment Board and brought under a Municipal Committee in the 1970s. There is a large portion of Ambala Cantonment which is occupied by civilians on the basis of lease rights or ‘‘grant’’ given in favour of their forefathers by the British. Now they are facing problems because the Army wants to get palatial bungalows vacated for its own use. Successive state governments have failed to address these grievances of the residents of Ambala. |
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Only HAU-tested
bioproducts to be sold Chandigarh, June 11 Stating this here today, the Director, Agriculture, Mr Rajesh Khullar, said earlier there was no restriction on the manufacture, stocking and sale of bio-fertilisers and organic fertilisers in the state. However, 31 companies were permitted to sell their bioproducts other than biofertilisers and organic fertilisers on the basis of test reports of government-approved test houses of their products. He said to streamline the entire process of granting permission to only competent and efficient companies producing quality products, the state government had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Agriculture, to review the earlier decision.
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Land mafia at it again
Gurgaon, June 11 The organised racket relating to the surplus land has been going on in the state since the implementation of the Haryana Ceiling on Land Holding Act, 1972. However, the crime rate appears to have increased with mafia exploiting various avenues as the state gets modernised and the value of land soars. The alleged crime involves bending of rules and tampering with revenue records. The sharp operators get away on account of the convoluted documentary records, which is tedious and confusing to the uninitiated. Hence, the sleaze, in general defeats public keen gaze, and those involved in the crime laugh all the way to the bank. The anomaly, however, appears to be more in Gurgaon and its contiguous districts on account of the relatively high value of land. Just a few days back, Congress MLA from the reserved Pataudi Assembly constituency in Gurgaon district Bhupinder Chowdhary complained to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, highlighting two cases of malpractices relating to four acres of high value surplus land allotted to members of Scheduled Castes in village Tikri, which is now part of Gurgaon urban estate. The Chief Minister has promptly ordered for an administrative probe. According to a conservative estimate, it is more than Rs 10 crore scam. Perusal of the records shows that the land was allotted to the two Dalits by the concerned authority, the then Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Gurgaon, vide an order dated April 29, 2005, just when the present Congress government took charge. Specifically the present government came in existence on March 5, 2005, when the Chief Minister took oath of office. Significantly, agreements (“baina”/”nakai”) for sale and purchase of the two chunk of land were entered on the same day by a private party from Delhi with the beneficiaries on the very day of allotment order of the land to them. In each of the agreements a cash of Rs 50,000 was given to each of the beneficiaries. Later, each of the Dalits was paid a sum of Rs 5 lakh dated December 2, 2005; vide cheques (620526 and 620525) drawn on Punjab National Bank, Khanpur, Delhi. The details of the payments have been entered in the subsequent registered sale purchase agreements executed in May this year in Gurgaon Tehsil office. Significantly, the official order and intimation of such allotment in routine is made to the beneficiaries through a registered post. According to many it was puzzling that the agreements for sale purchase were made on the same day of order of allotments. The general opinion is that that things were done in a hurry. It suggests that someone from the bureaucracy wanted to get the dubious deal through as the new government was still finding its feet. Also, rules have been bended by the authorities that made the order of allotments. As per the rule, the sale and purchase of such land can only be done after five years of the allotment. This proviso was conspicuously omitted in the order of allotments. The general opinion is that the chain of events reeks of bungling and corrupt practices from the government side to facilitate the parties to venture into the dubious deals. According to sources, such malpractices pertaining to another two Dalits have also occurred in Fazilpur village in this district. The scandal pertains to the same time as that of Tikri scandal village. Mr Bhupinder Chowdhary says that he will raise the issue of bungling in the allotments of surplus land in the state in the next Assembly session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. |
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2-yr RI in idol theft case
Bhiwani, June 11 According to prosecution, the CIA cell of the police department had arrested one Naveen, son of Sukhbir of Gochhi village under Arms Act. During police interrogation, Naveen disclosed that he had stolen ‘ashtdhatu’ idols of different deities from Sri Digambar Jain Temple, Hansi with his associates on December 3, 2005. He further revealed that he had gone to Bhiwani to sell these idols but the buyer refused to buy as the top parts of these idols had been damaged. Later, he buried these idols near Ninan village. The police had recovered five idols from the site and registered a case under section 411 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The police had recovered remaining 23 idols from Surender of Dhanana village. The president of Sri Digambar Jain Temple, Hansi, Mr Jitender Kumar Jain, had identified these idols. |
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March against price hike
Ambala, June 11 Protesters wore black badges and raised slogans against the government. Later talking to media persons, Mr Vij said that the resignation of the MLA from Ambala Cantt, Davinder Bansal was a political drama and pressure tactics. He said that if Mr Bansal was serious, he should have sent his resignation to the Speaker of Haryana Vidhan Sabha instead of forwarding it to the Chief Minister. He said that poor people had been facing great difficulty due to the price hike of items including wheat and sugar.
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