Rewari, October 19
INLD supremo and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala has asserted that the emergence of a “Third Front” on the political firmament of the country was going to be a reality in the coming months.

Addressing a press conference here last night, which was his first in Rewari after his party’s rout in the previous Assembly poll, he said the growing disenchantment of the masses with the performance of both the Congress and the BJP was necessitating the formation of a “Third Front”.

Recalling the political scenario which had led to the unification of several opposition parties under the banner of the erstwhile Janata Party at the fag-end of the Emergency in 1977, Mr Chautala asserted that a similar situation was now fast emerging that could push the country to the formation of a “Third Front”.

Asserting that though it would be a non-Congress and non-BJP conglomerate, yet he opined that either of the two could play a subsidiary role in the formation of the next government at the Centre.

As regards the Congress-led UPA government, he said as things stood today it was in a pitiable condition. He predicted that with the severance of one or more of its constituents, it could collapse any time. Besides, skyrocketing prices as well as the ever increasing corruption had made life miserable for the people who were now yearning for a change, he added.

Mentioning the state of affairs prevailing in Haryana, Mr Chautala alleged that the power crisis being faced by the people here was a creation of the state government which was supplying power to Delhi in utter disregard of the citizens’ interests.

Simultaneously, taking a dig at the Hooda government, he sarcastically mentioned that for obtaining “instant power” for the people, it had signed a Rs 13,500-crore memorandum of understanding with the company of a Congress MP of Andhra Pradesh. He alleged that for obvious reasons the deal would put the state exchequer under a huge loss of Rs 4,000 crore.

As regards the Chief Minister’s current tour of European countries to seek FDI in Haryana, Mr Chautala alleged that owing to the continued acute paucity of power, deteriorating law and order situation and certain other factors, the situation was not conducive to setting up any units here by the MNCs and others. Instead, there was an urgency to stop the ongoing flight of a number of well-established units from the state, he added.

As regards his own political agenda, he said that their one-point programme was to strengthen and broaden the base of the INLD in Haryana. To a query, he replied that his party would have no electoral alliance with the BJP in future and would attain such position that would enable us to fight the next assembly elections on our own strength.

Chandigarh, October 19
The Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr Prem Prashant, today asked the Health Department authorities to fill vacant posts on a priority basis by adopting the outsourcing policy.

Mr Prashant said this while presiding over a meeting of secretaries of social sectors here.

He said that state government was considering implementing a health insurance scheme in the state for persons living below the poverty line. A policy had been devised for this purpose, he said.

He said a complaint box should be kept in every hospital of the state so that corrective measures could be taken on the basis of feedback provided by people.

Mr Prashant said special programmes would be organised regarding the uplift of women and the girl child on November 14, the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru. He said steps would be taken to construct separate toilets for girl students in all government schools of the state.

Chandigarh, October 19
The Haryana Government has adjusted 3,829 retrenched employees of the Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ categories in various boards, corporations and federations.

While stating this here today, an official spokesman said the government had promised that it would again give jobs to the employees retrenched by the previous Chautala-led regime.

He said those re-employed consisted of 2,368 persons in Group ‘C’ and 1,461 in Group ‘D’. He said the previous government had retrenched employees working in various public sector organisations such as the Haryana State Minor Irrigation and Tubewells Corporation, the Haryana State Small Industries and Export Corporation, the Haryana Handloom and Handicrafts Corporation, Haryana Minerals Limited, Confed, Infed and the Haryana State Cooperative Handloom Weavers Apex Society. 

Ambala, October 19
Senior Haryana police officer and the then Government Railway Police (GRP) SP, Ravi Azad, as well as the DSP, Udey Shankar, were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation officials and produced in a court today in the GRP constables’ recruitment case.

Irregularities had allegedly taken place in the recruitment of constables in the GRP in 2003 when Ravi Azad was the GRP SP.

IPS officer Ravi Azad and HPS officer Udey Shankar were produced in the court of Special Judge for CBI cases in Haryana, Ms Ritu Garg. Both of them were remanded to CBI custody for two days.

The Central Bureau of Investigation officials had sought remand of both police officers to carry out further investigations in the case.

Ravi Azad and Udey Shankar were brought to the court by a CBI team from Chandigarh. They were arrested yesterday. Ravi Azad is currently posted in Madhuban while the DSP, Udey Shankar, is posted in Panchkula.

An FIR has been registered under Sections 420, 468, 471, 120-B and 201 IPC as well as the Prevention of Corruption Act 13 (2) in the case.

The constables’ recruitment had taken place in 2003. It has been alleged that irregularities had taken place in the preparation of the list of the selected candidates by a selection panel, comprising Ravi Azad, Udey Shankar and a third police officer, DSP Arun Moudgil.

The CBI inquiry was initiated in the GRP constables’ recruitment case on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

CBI sleuths had carried out raids at the residences of Ravi Azad, Udey Shankar and Arun Moudgil.

On June 22 this year, CBI sleuths had carried out raids at the residences of Udey Shankar and Arun Moudgil in Ambala.

While one team carried out raid at the Inder Nagar, Ambala City, residence of Arun Moudgil, another team carried out raid at the Lal Kurti, Ambala Cantt, residence of DSP Uday Shankar.

Chandigarh, October 19
The Haryana Government will beef up the intelligence and security arrangements all over the state in view of Divali and Id-ul-fitr.

The Chief Secretary, Mr Prem Prashant, today took stock of the security arrangements through video-conferencing held here to review law and order and security matters in the state. The conference was also attended by the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Home, Mr K. S. Bhoria, the Director-General of Police, Mr Nirmal Singh, and senior officers of the Home Department and the CID.

Mr Prashant gave directions to the Divisional Commissioners to intensify surveillance in all districts and pay special attention to the protection of religious and vital installations during the festival season. They were also directed to increase police patrolling and ask the people to be more vigilant.

Hisar, October 19
Nine persons, including a woman, were killed and eight injured in a truck-jeep collision on the Hansi-Delhi road near a canal bridge this evening. Besides, three children were washed away when they fell into the canal, unconfirmed reports said. All of them were travelling in a jeep.

The DSP of Hansi, Mr Sunderpal, said the seriously injured persons had been referred to the PGI, Rohtak, while the others were undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital, Hansi. Mr Sunderpal, accompanied by the Hansi SDM, Mr Ashok Garg, rushed to the site of accident on receiving information about the accident to supervise the rescue operation.

The police said eight persons were killed on the spot, while one person, Krishan, succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital. Besides Krishan, the other deceased were identified as Sheela, Mahavir, Leela, Hargian, Suraj Mal, Jaipal and Raju. The ninth victim could not be identified immediately.

Meanwhile, the truck driver had absconded, the police said. A case has been registered.