Chandigarh, November 20
The new Police Act, being drafted by the Haryana Government, will propose that district-level complaint committees, set up to listen to grievances against police personnel, should be headed by the Deputy Commissioner of the district.

The Sorabjee panel report on police reforms, upon which the draft Act is going to be based, had recommended that a retired Session Judge should head the committee.

The state government, however, has decided to give the Deputy Commissioner the responsibility so that the DC can play a supervisory role over the functioning of the police in the district.

The government is also justifying the step by citing that a serving civil servant will be more accountable for his action than a retired person.

The Sorabjee panel report, being circulated by the Home Ministry among states, has given Haryana some leeway regarding the implementation in toto of the Supreme Court's recent directive on police reforms.

The apex court had taken into account the report as well as other similar reports to formulate its judgement.

As a result of adopting the Sorabjee report, the Haryana Government has abandoned the idea of sending a panel to the UPSC to get the recent appointment of the Director-General of Police (DGP) approved by the commission.

The appointment, according to the Sorabjee report, can now be ratified by a state-level board headed by the Chief Minister and having the Leader of the Opposition, the Home Minister and five independent representatives as its members and the DGP as the member-secretary.

Most of the goals set by the Supreme Court's order would be met with by following the Sorabjee report, sources said.

They added that the new Police Act would be presented before the authorities concerned before the December 31 deadline, fixed by the apex court.

The draft Act will be presented before the Assembly if a session of the Assembly takes place before December 31. Otherwise, the Act may be notified through an ordinance.

Hisar, November 20
An attempt to get a few shops forcibly vacated sparked protests at Barwala in the district today. Shopkeepers torched a Scorpio and blocked the Chandigarh-Hisar highway for several hours.

According to police sources and eyewitnesses, a group of persons came to the shops located near the old bus stand and tried to get these vacated. Traders having possession letters of the shops refused to do so, leading to an altercation.

Neighbouring traders also gathered around the shops and asked the persons trying to get the premises vacated to go back. A few persons were injured in the ensuing scuffle.

Those who had come to take possession of the shops fled, leaving behind their Scorpio. The shopkeepers set it on fire and blocked the highway. They alleged that the persons who had come to get the shops vacated had political patronage and were escorted by police personnel.

Some local leaders of the BJP and the INLD also reached the site and joined the protesters.

The DSP (Detective), Mr Sunil Dalal, tried to placate the shopkeepers. Finally, after several hours of persuasion and assurances, they lifted the blockade.

The SSP, Mr Arshinder Singh Chawla, said some persons of a party having court orders in their favour regarding the matter went to the shops and tried to get these vacated. However, those having possession letters refused to vacate the premises.

Some of them went to the police station and produced a copy of the court order. They also asked the police station in charge to help them in getting the possession of the shops as per the order. Two constables were sent with them.

When the constables reached the scene, they found a massive fight going on between the groups. They returned to the police station to inform their superiors and get additional forces.

The police has registered a case. No arrest has been made so far.

New Delhi, November 20
Concerned about the deteriorating law and order, dismal public transport and other infrastructural facilities in its commercial capital Gurgaon, Haryana is augmenting its police force in the region and is now also planning to set up a regional development authority for the NCR on the lines of the Bangalore Development Authority.

Haryana Chief Secretary Prem Prashant told The Tribune on Friday that the state government had constituted a group of officers, including the Chief Administrator, the Chief Town and Country Planner and other officials, to study bylaws of similar authorities set up for Bangalore and Hyderabad.

While it is yet to be decided whether two separate authorities would be constituted for Gurgaon and Faridabad, the Chief Secretary said another option would be to constitute a common body for the NCR region comprising Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh and Faridabad.

Satellite cities of Haryana adjoining the national Capital-Gurgaon and Faridabad- suffer from lack of public transport system and other public facilities, but law and order is now another big problem, particularly in Gurgaon where in the past one month alone 28 murders have taken place.

Mr Pashant said the state government had augmented with additional police force in Gurgaon, Mewat and Faridabad regions, adding, however, that the major problem that the state government was facing was the lopsided ratio between the number of policemen and people in Haryana.

“ In Delhi there is one policeman per 350 persons and in Haryana the ratio is 1: 600,” he said. To improve the law and order situation and recruit more police personnel, the state has also asked the Center for an aid of Rs 177 crore.

Interestingly, earlier talking to mediapersons on the occasion of Haryana Day at the India International Trade Fair-2006, when questioned about the deteriorating law and order situation and 28 murders in a month, the Chief Secretary had claimed that the law and order situation was peaceful and majority of Gurgaon’s problems were due to its proximity to Delhi.

The Chief Secretary told The Tribune that legal orders had been passed for all Malls in Gurgaon to install CCTVs at their own cost Besides this, the Western Army Command was also training its volunteer policemen in deactivating bombs and explosives. “ We have asked for volunteers from the police… we can also recruit ex-Army personnel,” he said.

“As far as the proposed authority is concerned, it would have the single window to take care of infrastructural needs like widening of roads, development of colonies, healthcare facilities etc”, he said. Our main problem is not money as far as developing better facilities is concerned, but lack of coordination amongst three agencies managing the Gurgaon region-the Haryana Urban Development Authority, the Town and Country Planning and the municipal committee,” he added.

Rohtak, November 20
Farmers in Haryana will be given cooperative loans to the tune of Rs 6,200 crore during this financial year against Rs 4,357 crore during 2004-2005. This was disclosed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda while speaking at the 41st state-level Cooperative Day function here today.

The Chief Minister said the state government had reduced the interest rate on cooperative loans from 14 to 7 per cent providing a relief of Rs 108 crore in one year to the borrowers. He said he believed in the dignity of all the sections of society and had banned arrest of farmers for recovery of cooperative loans.

The Chief Minister said the cooperative movement needed to be boosted as it was the key to development of the rural areas. He said he had waived off electricity bill arrears of Rs 1,600 crore in one go while Devi Lal had only waived off cooperative loans of Rs 26 crore. In an indirect reference to former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, he said the leader during whose tenure the land of farmers was purchased at the rate of Rs 1.50 lakh an acre and who was responsible for firing on farmers was now protesting against the proposed SEZ. He said the Congress government had increased the acquisition rates of land by more than 10 times.

He went round an exhibition put up by various departments. The stall of the dairy federation was adjudged as the first, while the HAFED stall got the second spot. The stall of the DRDA, Rohtak, was placed third, while the SSA stall was given the consolation prize.

Haryana Assembly Speaker Raghbir Singh Kadian and Cooperative Minister Meena Mandal also spoke. Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda, Mr Shadi Lal Batra, Mr Anand Singh Dangi, Mr Shiv Shankar Bhardwaj, MLAs, were also present.

Chandigarh, November 20
The Haryana Government will spend Rs 14.70 crore on strengthening the infrastructure of Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, Khanpur Kalan, Sonepat.

The Education Minister, Mr Phool Chand Mullana, said the government had also sanctioned 171 non-teaching and 70 teaching posts for the university. Haryana was the first state in northern India to set up a university exclusively for women.

The university would be a centre of excellence. It would offer courses such as IT, computer education, medical sciences, biotechnology, environmental studies and management studies.

He said at present the university had 12 academic buildings, eight hostels for 3,000 girls and residential accommodation for 128 staff members. The university also had a modern library with 50,000 books and 220 journals.

Fatehabad, November 20
On the second day of the Zonal Youth Festival 2006, Sirsa zone, Kurukshetra University, being organised at the local Manohar Memorial College dances and Haryanavi orchestra, which has recently been included in the youth festival, was greatly appreciated by the audience. Mr Yudhvir Singh Khayalia, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Fatehabad, inaugurated the today’s session in the morning.

Teams from as many as 26 colleges of the zone were participating in the youth festival. Mr Dev Raj Batra, President, M.M. College Management Society, Mr Subhash Sharma, Director, Dr K. K. Arora, Principal of the college, and principals of various colleges, taking part in the youth festival, were present on the occasion.

Students presented cultural items like choreography, one-act play, folk songs, classical vocal, classical instrumental, mimicry, classical dance and light Indian vocal music.

The results will be announced tomorrow. Dr K. V. Singh, OSD, Chief Minister of Haryana, will give away the prizes.

Karnal, November 20
Due to lack of medical facilities at the drug de-addiction-cum-rehabilitation centre run from the Civil Hospital campus here patients are leaving the treatment midway.

There is one regular doctor. No nurse and other subordinate staff are appointed in the centre. Besides OPD, the centre also has indoor arrangement where only one patient is admitted. But there is no one to look after him in the hour of need.

The Union Government and the district Red Cross Society headed by the Deputy Commissioner fund the centre.

The centre has only one regular doctor who is the project director. Another medico is employed on a part-time basis.

The centre has neither any staff nurse nor ward boy which causes problem to the patients and their families.

Patients complained there was none to solve their problems. There was restriction to the movement of visitors and patients.

Raj (name changed), a young sales executive from a nearby village, said a round-the-clock security needed to check patients from taking drugs.

Deputy Commissioner B. S. Malik assured to look into the complaints of the patients.

Patients complain of stinking toilets attached to the 10-room ward. The lone patient admitted this morning complained that medicines had to be purchased from the market as the prescribed medicines were not available in the hospital.

It puts a burden on their pockets. He also complained no food was served to the patients in the ward. They had to arrange it on their own.

Sources said patients had been instructed by the staff to bring own bed sheets.

Sources said the patients at the centre needed emotional support and quality treatment. A senior doctor at the Civil Hospital said a regular check-up by a psychiatrist was a must to help them live a normal life.

Sources said a check on patients was a must so that they might not go out of the ward to consume drugs.

Yamunanagar, November 20
Eight out of the 14 peddlers who were lodged at the Child Welfare Department's Bal Kunj at Chhachhrouli here have fled. Whereas four of them had fled from the orphanage on Saturday afternoon.

The Ambala police had caught 14 peddlers from railway station in March and lodged them at the Bal Kunj, meant for orphans. At that time several district officials had said that it was not correct to lodge them at the Bal Kunj. They were of the view that these peddlers would spoil other inmates also. An official had said these peddlers were accustomed to street life and they would not be able to live in the confined environment of Bal Kunj.

The doctors who examined them had advised the authorities that these peddlers should undergo counselling but no such step was taken.

On Saturday afternoon four peddlers fled from the orphanage. Parents of two peddlers came to take them along and now only two peddlers are left. After repeated attempts Ms Manisha Khanna, District Child Welfare Officer, could not be contacted for comments. 

Kaithal, November 20
The launching of the Indira Gandhi drinking water supply scheme will fulfil the dream of the late Prime minister of uplift of the poor and downtrodden . This was stated by the Transport and Public Health Minister, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, while addressing a public meeting at Manas village of the district yesterday.

He said the scheme launched at the cost of Rs 800 crore would benefit about 37 lakh families. He said the scheme would be completed in three phases and under the scheme free water connection and 200 litre water tank would be provided to 8 lakh Dalit families.

Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, MLA and president of the Kissan Khet Mazdoor Cell, AICC, said the scheme would provide much awaited relief to the women who had to fetch water from a distance to meet their domestic needs.

Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria and DCC president Kaviraj Sharma were among those present on the occasion.

Earlier, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala laid the foundation stone of Kashyap Dharamshala at Mata Gate.

Chandigarh, November 20
Haryana has introduced rural tourism in the state. The Haryana Tourism has entered into a partnership with 20 farm owners to introduce the concept of farm tourism. Once in place, Haryana will become the state in the country to cash in on its rich rural heritage.

The Tourism Department has announced that it will offer special country holiday packages in the chosen farms. These farms are located in the lap of the nature, near Delhi, and offer mystical beauty and charm to soothe the rough daily life. This concept has attracted a lot of attention at Haryana Pavilion in India International Trade Fair-2006.