Meham, September 25
Former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala staged a dramatic return to state’s politics at a massive rally organised by the Indian National Lok Dal here today.

Buoyed by the huge turn out, Chautala, who had been out of the country for the past six months undergoing treatment for polio afflicted legs, called upon the partymen to be prepared for stiff political struggles in the months to come to bring down the Congress government.

The former Chief Minister launched a tirade against his arch rival Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the Congress accusing the former of squandering away the resources of the state through “mismanagement” and “bad governance”.

He said when he demitted office the state’s coffers were overflowing and Haryana was the No. 1 state in the entire country. “However, I now find that the Congress government is converting Haryana into another Bihar”, he added.

In his speech lasting about 50 minutes, he claimed that during his rule he added 1500 mw generating capacity and the state was getting enough power. “But now power had become a scarce resource just because the government was unable to plan properly”, he said.

The INLD supremo accused the Congress government of withdrawing criminal cases against its own leaders. Citing the case of Meham MLA Anand Singh Dangi, an arch foe of Chautala, he said as a minister Dangi had grabbed 1500 acres of government land. The case registered against him had been withdrawn.

Chautala said when the Congress was swept to power he had promised to support the government so long as it remained people friendly. But the Congress had failed to provide a clean administration and his party would, therefore, now work for the downfall of the Hooda government.

Chautala had invited several former chief ministers. They included Parkash Singh Badal, Chandra Babu Naidu, Uma Bharti, Farooq Abdullah and Madan Lal Khurana. Chautala referred to all of them as “future chief ministers” rather than “former chief ministers.

The INLD leader asked his partymen to be prepared for a long drawn struggle if they wanted the INLD to be returned to power in Haryana. He announced that the party would launch an enrolment campaign till October 31 and indicated that the party would be revamped.

The rally had been organised in the garb of “Samman Samaroh” on the 92nd birth anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal. Chautala had chosen the venue carefully. For one, it is an important sub divisional town of Rohtak the home district of Mr Hooda. Secondly, it was Meham that thwarted his political dreams in the nineties.

Mr Badal recalled his long association with Devi Lal. He sought the help of INLD workers in the forthcoming elections in Punjab.

Uma Bharti, Madal Lal Khurana, Dr Farooq Abdullah and Chandra Babu Naidu paid tributes to the late Devi Lal. Mr Naidu arrived at the fag end of the function and was the last to speak.

Chandigarh, September 25
The Haryana Congress has described the Meham rally of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) as a “flop show”.

In a statement issued here today the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Dharamvir Singh, said the rally was a “mere gathering of such leaders who have already been thrown out of power by the people of their states because of their maladministration.”

He claimed that the crowd at the so-called state-level rally of the INLD was not more than what the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, gathered at his constituency-level public meetings these days.

The working president of the Haryana Congress, Dr Ram Prakash, said the speech of Mr Chautala at the rally was “nothing but a bundle of lies and word play.” He accused the INLD leader of trying to divide Haryana on the basis of caste and region.

Hisar, September 25
Dr R.S.Balyan, Additional Director (Students Welfare) at Haryana Agricultural University here, has been arrested in connection with a case of an armed attack on another professor of the university.

He was produced in a local court today which remanded him in judicial custody till October 9.

The HAU professor and former Director of Students Welfare, Dr S.S.Bisla, was attacked by two armed youths at his residence on the university campus a few months ago. Dr Bisla was shot at and injured in the attack.

In a complaint lodged with the police, Dr Bisla had expressed suspicion that Dr Balyan was responsible for the attack.

Following this, a hunt was launched to nab the accused and one of the attackers, Mahavir, was arrested. Later, Dr Balyan’s nephew Rakesh was also arrested by the Delhi police.

Rakesh Balyan was brought to Hisar on a production warrant on September 21. He was then sent in police custody for six days.

Rakesh had possibly named his uncle during his interrogation, following which he was arrested by the police today.

Hisar, September 25
The Congress MP from Bhiwani, Mr Kuldeep Bishnoi, has claimed that party president Sonia Gandhi’s remarks on the SEZ issue had vindicated his stance regarding the matter.

Addressing a news conference here today, he accused the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, of giving misleading statements in this regard.

“First, Mr Hooda was stating that fertile land was not being used for developing SEZs. Now, he has changed it to not-so-fertile land,” he said, adding that the deal was anti-farmer and would cause huge revenue loss to the exchequer.

“Mr Hooda, instead of making rounds of the Delhi durbar, should stay more in his own state, know about the sufferings of the people and develop a grip over the state bureaucracy.”

On difference of opinion with his brother and Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan regarding the functioning of the Haryana Government, he quipped: “Woh sarkaar ka aadmi hai aur main janata ka aadmi hoon.”

Chandigarh, September 25
Educational reforms introduced in schools of Haryana during the last academic session seem to be paying off. The Haryana Government claims that the introduction of the semester system in schools and the appointment of guest faculty to overcome staff shortage have not only improved the attendance of students and teachers but also led to an upward trend in board results in government schools.

Claims of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government of having revolutionised education in the state notwithstanding, Haryana has managed to tide over the crisis arising out of the shortage of nearly 15,000 teachers in its over 10,000 primary and nearly 6,000 middle, high and senior secondary schools by authorising the principals to appoint guest faculty from among eligible candidates living near the schools.

Along with introducing the semester system in schools, the government has given these institutions the right to allot 10 per cent marks to students based on certain guidelines. The board examinations will constitute the remaining 90 per cent of the marks for the purpose of the final results. Out of the 10 per cent marks to be awarded by the schools, 2 per cent will be awarded on the basis of attendance and another 2 per cent on the basis of class participation. The remaining 6 per cent will be awarded based on the performance in the two internal tests conducted by the school at the end of each semester. This will apply to the middle, matric and senior secondary classes.

The Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary Education, Mr R.S. Gujral, said there was a marked improvement in terms of attendance and results after the introduction of the semester system. “Earlier students, especially those from the rural areas, did not come to school for several months as they helped their families on the farm. Going to school following an annual examination system was not a priority, but with attendance and performance counting towards the final results, attendance and teaching have improved considerably”.

The state Education Department has also decided to give schools another 2 per cent marks in addition to the existing 10 per cent to be allotted for extra-curricular activities. “Committees have been formed to scrutinise the results of all schools at the Haryana School Education Board. Any school found to be misusing the trust vested in it will face severe punishment,” Mr Gujral disclosed.

The Education Department has taken 70-odd important decisions over the past year. This includes doing away with the practice of requiring a birth certificate for the purpose of admission. ‘’Every child has the right to study’’ is now the state’s education policy. Incidentally, education is free in Haryana for girls up to the graduation level and also in technical institutions. Again, while the Scheduled Castes (SC) comprise about 20 per cent of Haryana’s population, the strength of SC students in schools is over 40 per cent.

Various educational reforms have improved the pass per cent in board exams. For example, the pass per cent in board exams for the middle class was 39.7. It increased to 40.50 in 2005 and 40.90 during the current year. Similarly, the matriculation examination (2004) saw 44.80 per cent students passing. This, however, dipped to 41.60 per cent in 2005, only to rise to 45.40 per cent this year. In the case of the senior secondary examination the pass per cent rose from 39.20 in 2004 to 42.32 in 2005 and was finally pegged at 46.25 this year.

Hisar, September 25
Nearly 300 agriculture experts will gather at Haryana Agricultural University (HAU) to participate in a two-day agricultural officers’ workshop beginning tomorrow to finalise the package of practices for the rabi crops.

The Director of Extension Education at the HAU, Dr R.K. Malik, said the Vice-Chancellor, Dr J.C. Katyal, would inaugurate the workshop, while the Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary (Agriculture), Haryana, Ms Asha Sharma, will preside over it.

The Director of Agriculture, Mr R.K. Khullar, will also be present.

Deliberations will be held in different technical sessions on field problems encountered in the implementation of various farming practices in the last kharif season, reviewing the progress made by the state in agricultural production.

After discussions a package of practices for implementation in the ensuing rabi season would be finalised, Dr Malik added.

He said the participants would be apprised of the kind of researches undertaken at the research farm of the university to meet future need of foodgrains, fruits and vegetables.

Yamunanagar, September 25
Several residents of the district have come forward to contribute Rs 10,000 each for the beautification of the Guru Gobind Singh Martial Art Museum at Kapal Mochan, Bilaspur, here. The museum built for showcasing Sikh martial art history has been awaiting inauguration for the past four years.

The museum would be opened to public before the annual Kapal Mochan mela in November.

Members of the Marshal Art Museum Samiti at a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner volunteered to take up the job of upkeep of the museum.

Mr Manoranjan Singh Sahni, a member of the samiti, besides announcing Rs 10,000 for the museum also volunteered to take up the task of installation of paintings. Mr Baldev Singh, SGPC member, farmers Inderjeet Singh, Surinder Singh Hara and Narinder Singh, manager of Kapal Mochan Gurdwara Surinder Singh, Kanwar Vijay Singh from Mustfabad too announced a contribution of Rs 10,000 each for the museum.

Meanwhile, SDM-cum-mela officer Narinder Singh said the process of land acquisition for the mela was on.