Chandigarh, December 12
The proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Haryana is heading towards becoming a real-estate scam. The government is deliberately withholding information to cover up the selling of the interests of the state and its people. And in its present form, the SEZ to be set up in partnership with Reliance is neither desirable nor beneficial.

Stating this here today, Prof Yoginder Yadav, political scientist and psephologist, questioned the rationale of the government behind the plan to set up SEZs in the state. “We will go to the people to spread awareness on the issue and pressurise the government to come out with information that has been withheld from the public so far”.

The campaign would be spearheaded by the Sampuran Kranti Manch, a socio-political organisation of which he was an executive member, Professor Yadav said. Announcing the launch of the awareness camping from here, he said that awareness rallies and camps would be held in every village of Jhajjar and Gurgaon districts where the SEZs were proposed to be set up. Similar activity would follow in every district of the state.

The first awareness rally would be held at Sirsa on December 16 followed by another at Fatehabad the next day. In the past the manch has raised issues pertaining to the right to information, the state of school education, water sharing between Punjab and Haryana, etc, and aims at maintaining an unbiased stand on issues of public importance.

Professor Yadav said that according to the available information on the SEZ, the project was detrimental to the interests of the state and those who would be affected by it. He asked the government to release vital information with regard to the exact location of the SEZ, notify the exact area and release its maps with information about agricultural and non-agricultural land that would be taken up by the project.

He also wanted the government to give a breakdown of the revenue the state government would lose in terms of excise and stamp duty, etc, by setting up the SEZ.

“The government must come out with details on the projected employment, the manner in which the calculations have been done and how the government proposes to safeguard the interests of persons other than farmers who will be affected by the SEZ. This includes daily wage earners and the landless dependent upon farms”, he said.

He said that one-time compensation was not enough and the government must include the farmers as beneficiaries of the long-term benefits. “It is ridiculous that the government has promised to acquire land where the farmer is unwilling to sell, but Reliance or others who will set up the SEZ are under an obligation to use only 25 per cent of the land for the SEZ. On the rest of the property they can build a golf course, hotels, luxury housing, etc. This means that companies are more interested in real estate rather than economic development”.

Professor Yadav said the SEZ model was built by China to get into the global market despite being a Communist economy. But even there only six SEZs had been set up till date. But in India 206 SEZs had been cleared nationwide despite the fact that the Finance Department, the Reserve Bank of India and exponents of globalisation like P.N. Bhagwati were questioning the government’s rationale.

The proposed 25,000 acre SEZ to be set up by Reliance in partnership with the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation would only help Reliance acquire real-estate assets and build a city close to Delhi which would be the size of Bangalore, he said.

Chandigarh, December 12
Candle after candle was lit as an unending stream of admirers and friends of Saroop Krishen turned up at his residence here today to pay tributes to him.

Saroop Krishen, ICS, the first Chief Secretary of Haryana, died on December 10 and as per his will, his body was given to the PGI here by his family for research and other medical purposes yesterday.

Describing Saroop Krishen as an administrator who had set high ideals for others to follow, the Haryana Governor, Dr A.R. Kidwai, lighted a candle as a mark of respect to the departed soul. He said Saroop Krishen had set a precedent by donating his body for research and other medical purposes. It would encourage many others to do the same.

Dr Kidwai's words turned out to be prophetic. Many inquired from Mr Manmohan Lal (Mac) Sarin, son-in-law of Saroop Krishen, about the formalities to be completed for donating the body. A bank manager came with his will for making such a donation to the PGI and wanted Mr Sarin to sign as witness .

The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, described Saroop Krishen as a genius who left an indelible mark of his acumen as a civil servant.

His wife, Mrs Asha Hooda, rang up Mrs Kanta Saroop Krishen from Delhi to express her condolences. So did the former Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala.

A former Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court, Justice S.S. Sodhi; a former Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, Dr R.P. Bambah; and Mr H.K. Dua, Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune group of publications; were among the first to pay their tributes.

The Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr Prem Prashant, presented a condolence resolution adopted by the Haryana IAS Officers Association. Saroop Krishen was its founder-president.

Mr S.D. Bhambri and Mr L.M. Goel, both former Haryana Chief Secretaries; Mr S.P.S. Rathore, former Haryana Director-General of Police; Mr R.K. Saboo and Mr Devinder Choudhry, well-known industrialists; Mr K.L. Zakir, renowned Urdu poet; Mrs Kiron Kher, actress; and Mrs Satvinder Kahlon, wife of Mr Gian Singh Kahlon, former Punjab Chief Secretary, and mother-in-law of the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, were among those who came to offer condolences.

Hisar, December 12
The Inspector-General of Police (Hisar Range), Mr Yashpal Singal, has asked the Hisar Deputy Commissioner to direct the SDM, Hansi, to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances which led to the death of Rajesh Kumar, a youth of Patan village in the district.

The inquiry was ordered when Rajesh's family members and other villagers took his body to the IGP's office and demanded a thorough probe into the matter. They were alleging that Rajesh had committed suicide on being harassed by policemen.

Rajesh (27) was working as a peon-cum-watchman at Government Middle School in Jakhod Khera village and was staying in staff quarters with his family. Recently, five computer sets and an inverter were stolen from the school premises.

The police interrogated Rajesh in connection with the theft. A little later, Rajesh went to his home and reportedly consumed some poisonous substance. He was taken to the local Civil Hospital and later to some private hospital, where he died.

The family members of the deceased and other villagers alleged that the police had thrashed and threatened Rajesh, due to which he ended his life.

On the other hand, the Hisar SSP, Mr Arshinder Singh Chawla, asserted that the theft case had been registered on a complaint by the school authorities and the complainants as well as some prominent members of the village had expressed suspicion on him.

"It was due to this that Rajesh was interrogated and later he was let off by the police in the presence of panchayat members," he maintained. Mr Chawla pointed out that no physical injuries had been found in the medical examination of the body of the deceased, although the doctors had found him to be drunk.

The SSP said appropriate action would be taken in the matter after the Hansi SDM submitted the inquiry report.

Sirsa, December 12
With a view to enhancing agricultural productivity and improving the condition of farmers, the Haryana Government has decided to provide advanced agricultural equipment to farmers on subsidy.

Deputy Commissioner V. Umashankar said the underlying idea behind the move was to ensure national food security by enhancing crop productivity and simultaneously improve the financial situation of farmers.

“Since the saturation level regarding the area under cultivation has already been reached, increasing productivity of the soil is the only way out,” Mr Umashankar said, adding that the target could be achieved by using scientific farming methods and techniques.

Under the scheme, as many as 3,140 advanced agricultural equipment worth Rs 16.78 crore would be made available to farmers at 25 per cent subsidy.

Thus, the state Agriculture Department would grant a subsidy of Rs 4.53 crore to farmers on the purchase of equipment.

The equipment to be made available on subsidy include zero-tillage seed-cum-fertiliser drill, potato-planter, potato-digger, bed-planter, post-hole digger, straw-reaper, reaper-binder, power-tiller, self-propelled weeder/reaper sprayer, riger-seeder, mini dal-mil and pedal-operated paddy thrasher.

Deputy Director (Agriculture), Sirsa, Pradeep Meel said farmers who wanted to avail themselves of the benefit of the scheme could contact the Deputy Director (Agriculture), the Agriculture Development Officer or the Assistant Agriculture Engineer of their respective districts by December 22.

Jhajjar, December 12
A teenage girl was stabbed to death by a jilted youth in Jasaur Kheri village, here today.

The girl, Sonia, was going to her school in the morning when the accused stalked and attacked her with a sharp-edged weapon.

According to information, the youth, identified as Ombir, son of Zile Singh, had been stalking the girl, living in the neighbourhood, for some time.

However, the girl had spurned his advances and complained about it to her family. Her family members had visited the boy’s house asking him not to harass the girl.

Today, when the girl was on her way to the school, Ombir started stalking and teasing her.

When she objected to it, she was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon.

The family members of the girl took her to the Civil Hospital in Bahadurgarh. Later, she was referred to the PGIMS, Rohtak, where she died.

The police has registered a case against the youth and detained his father for questioning. The accused is at large.