Chandigarh, March 15
Serious differences in the family of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal over quitting the Congress have come into the open.

It was being speculated that his elder son, Chander Mohan, who is the Deputy Chief Minister in the Hooda cabinet, would also resign and join the new outfit being planned by Bhajan Lal and his younger son, Kuldeep.

Kuldeep is the MP from Bhiwani and was recently suspended from the Congress for alleged anti-party activity. Bhajan Lal and Kuldeep have openly expressed their desire to form a new political party in the state.

Bhajan Lal had stated in Ambala on March 13 that Chander Mohan would follow his instructions and quit the Congress.

However, Chander Mohan said here yesterday that he would not quit the Congress.

In a five-line signed statement Chander Mohan said he had been associated with the Congress for the past 16 years and "I have full faith in and the utmost regard for the leadership of AICC president Sonia Gandhi and will abide by all her directions and orders."

Sources close to Chander Mohan say the elder son of the former Chief Minister does not see any future for him in the new outfit which may be formed by his father and younger brother.

Kuldeep has left no one in doubt about who would call the shots in the new outfit. By his aggressive style of functioning, Kuldeep has emerged as the political inheritor of Bhajan Lal. In the new outfit, Chander Mohan, therefore, would have to play second fiddle to Kuldeep.

Chander Mohan is already the Deputy Chief Minister in the Congress government. If at any stage, his supporters say, the party high command decides to bring in a non-Jat Chief Minister in Haryana, Chander Mohan's claim to the top post would have more weight than all other non-Jat leaders in the state Congress, by virtue of his being already the deputy to Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

His supporters say if he has to remain in the number two slot, why not remain in the party, which has deep roots in the state. The new outfit is a gamble, they say. 

Chandigarh, March 15
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today assured the assembly that his government would take appropriate steps in tune with the sentiments of the Sikhs of the state after it received the report of the Chatha committee set up on the issue of creating a separate gurdwara parbandhak committee (GPC) for Haryana.

Speaking on a non-official resolution moved by Congress MLA from Naggal Nirmal Singh, Hooda said he was personally in favour of a separate GPC for Haryana but would go by the feelings of the Sikhs in the state.

The opposition INLD abstained from the house during the discussion on the issue. Its leaders, Sushil Kumar Indora and Sita Ram, told newsmen that the government should not interfere in the religious matters of the Sikhs and should have waited for the report of the Chatha committee.

Hooda said the Congress had promised in its election manifesto that it would consider the demand for a separate GPC for Haryana in the light of the feelings of the Sikhs of the state. Having a dig at the INLD, he said those who had abstained from such a significant discussion could not be expected to work for the interests of Haryana.

All members who took part in the discussion, including BJP MLAs, favoured the formation of a separate GPC for the state. Nirmal Singh's resolution was "talked out" as before the house could formally vote on it, Speaker Raghuvir Singh Kadiyan adjourned the house till tomorrow. Since there will not be any non-official day during the current session, the resolution will lapse. However, the government succeeded in sending a message across the state's borders that if the new government in Punjab adopted an aggressive posture on the water issue, Haryana could go ahead with the move to create a separate GPC.

The moved immediately evoked a strong reaction from the Amritsar-based SGPC and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Moving the resolution, Nirmal Singh set the tone of the discussion when he alleged that the SGPC was discriminating against Haryana Sikhs. While the SGPC earned about Rs 100 crore from Haryana, it did not spend even a single paisa on the welfare of the Sikhs here.

Member after member condemned the INLD for staying away from the discussion. They alleged this clearly showed its nexus with Badal’s party.

Finance minister Birender Singh said if a referendum was held among the Haryana Sikhs, over 90 per cent of them would favour a separate GPC for the state.

Among those who supported the resolution were Karan Singh Dalal, Kartari Devi, Phool Chand Mullana, Amir Chand Makkar, K.L. Sharma and Gita Bhukar, all of the Congress, and Ram Kumar Gautam of the BJP.

Several Haryana Sikh leaders, including Dalip Singh, Jagdish Singh Jhinda and Didar Singh Nalvi, chief patron, president and general secretary of the Haryana Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee(Ad hoc), respectively, described the resolution as the first move towards fulfilling their long-standing demand. 

Kurukshetra, March 15
A large number of rural students who will appear in the final examination to be conducted by the Haryana School Education Board (HSEB) fear that they won’t be able reach the centre on time as the solar eclipse mela is also scheduled to be held on March 19. As of now the board is in no mood to change the date of examination to be held on the same day.

The movement of the vehicular traffic would be restricted on Monday. The eclipse will start at 6.09 am and end at 7.48 am. Whereas the board exams will start at 11 am and end at 1.30 pm. About 4,000 middle, class X and XII (medical and non-medical) students will appear for mathematics paper on March 19. Similarly, on March 17, students of middle and higher classes would appear for social science tests while the senior secondary classes would appear for history paper on the given date.

Over 10 lakh pilgrims are expected to visit the religious places of Kurukshetra and Pehowa townships on Monday.

Students and their wards today lamented that the HSEB authorities had refused to acknowledge the problem. “Since the district administration has planned to restrict the movement of vehicles on that day, how can we reach our examination centres on time,” a class XII student said.

A few parents and teachers have urged the board to reschedule the exams, to be held on Saturday and Monday, as they fear that students will face tremendous problem on these days due to the mela. .Most of the students who will sit in the examination are from the rural schools. The HSEB has constituted 12 exam centres in Kurukshetra and two at Pehowa and all centres except one are located around the pilgrim area, source said. When contacted HSEB secretary Vikas Gupta said no one had approached the board authorities so far. Though, he agreed that there would be massive rush in the town on March 19, but categorically stated that the exams could not be rescheduled. He, however, advised the students to leave early for their exam.

Rohtak, March 15
Haryana government offices continue to violate the Right to Information Act (RTI) by denying information sought by the public and ignoring even the directions of the chief information commissioner (CIC).

In the latest instance, the office of the Haryana Roadways, Chandigarh depot stubbornly refused to provide information to Hem Chand, a resident of Kakrana village despite a directive by the CIC.

Hem Chand had asked the depot to provide him a list of the candidates selected for the post of driver in 2003. He also sought the merit list on the basis of which the selections were made. He first applied for this information in October last year.

Instead of providing him the list of the selected candidates and the merit list, the officials just informed him that there were 70 applicants in the merit list of which 49 were given appointments. He was also told that 46 candidates in the merit list were from general category, one was an ex-serviceman and six were from scheduled caste category. The letter went on to give caste and category wise details but the names of those selected and the merit list was not provided to him.

The applicant then approached the state transport commissioner (STC) in this regard, who directed the officials of the Chandigarh depot of the Haryana Roadways to provide the relevant information. However, the officials simply wrote to the STC and the applicant that the desired information had been supplied and if any clarification was needed, the applicant should visit the office of the general manager at Chandigarh.

Hem Chand then appealed to the CIC, who issued notices to the parties concerned. However, no official from the Haryana Roadways was present when the appeal was disposed off on February 21. The CIC expressed its displeasure and directed the officials to supply the information by March 4 positively but Hem Chand has not received any information as yet.

Chandigarh, March 15
The Haryana government has sought a special package from the centre for compensating the farmers who were affected by the recent spate of rain and hailstorm sweeping the state.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told reporters in the assembly press lounge here today that he had spoken to the union agriculture minister and had also written to the Prime Minister, agriculture minister and home minister for arranging a special package for the state.

He wrote to the home minister since the latter was chairman of the calamnity relief fund, explained the Chief Minister.

Hooda said the state government, which had more than doubled the rate of compensation given for the loss of crops or lives or property, would try to give compensation to the affected farmers latest by April 15. The Chief Minister, who yesterday visited the affected areas such as Narnaul, Rewari, Mahendragarh and a village in Faridabad, said heavy damage was caused to crops by the March rains accompanied by hail.

Chandigarh, March 15
Salaries, interest payments, pensions and subsidies alone consumed 61 per cent of the revenue expenditure of Haryana during 2005-06. The report reveals that though the salary expenditure consumed a major part of the state’s finances, the increase in expenditure on pension payments was the highest.

This fact has been brought to light in the Audit Report- Civil, released by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. According to the report, salaries consumed Rs 3893 crore of the total state’s revenue, interest payments consumed Rs 2100 crore, pension payments Rs 1033 crore and subsidies consumed Rs 1466 crore of the total revenue expenditure of the state.

The report reveals that though the salary expenditure consumed a major part of the state’s finances, the increase in expenditure on pension payments was the highest. The pension payments in Haryana increased by 57 per cent, from Rs 657.05 crore in 2001-02 to a whopping Rs 1033. 13 crore in 2005-06. While pension payments contributed to7 per cent of the total expenditure, the salary payments took a 28.10 per cent share of the total revenue expenditure (Rs 3893 crore).

With increase in the number of retirees, the pension liabilities are likely to increase further, states the report. It further points out that the state government had not constituted any fund to meet the fast rising pension liabilities of the retired state employees. It has recommended that considering the rate at which pension liabilities are increasing, reforms in the existing pension scheme assume critical importance.

The report states that the 12th Finance Commission had recommended that the total salary bill, net of interest payments and pension was to be contained at 35 per cent.

It also states that the 12th Finance Commission has recommended that as a medium term objective, states should try to keep interest payments as a percentage of revenue receipts to 15 per cent by 2009-10. It has, however, been observed that the interest payments ranged between 15-22 per cent from 2001-06. In absolute terms, the interest payments increased by 29 per cent from Rs 1624 crore to Rs 2100 crore in these five years. However, during the last one year, the state government made efforts to consolidate debt and decrease the interest payment on loans and advances from Government of India (from Rs 2,235 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 2100 crore in 2005-06).

The audit report has also pulled up the Haryana Government for paying subsidies to various nigams and corporations, even as its own finances were under strain. These subsidies constituted 10 per cent of the total expenditure, of which 95 per cent was to be paid to the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) alone (Rs 1392. 10 crore to HVPN from a total subsidy of Rs 1465. 74 crore). 

Kaithal, March 15
The local police has arrested a man who allegedly wanted to marry third time. The arrested person has been booked under sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 495 and 506, IPC, on a complaint lodged by his first wife .

The SSP said here today that Meena, a resident of the local Radha Swami Colony lodged a complaint with the police that she was married to Rajesh Kumar Sharma, son of Benarsi Dass, resident of Tibba colony, Pehowa, more than 10 years ago at Bathinda in the presence of her family members and relatives.

After the marriage, they started living here. Some time ago she came to know that Rajesh was already married and now he wanted to marry third time. When she protested, Rajesh his uncle and two other youths allegedly forced her to sign some papers to show that they had arrived at a compromise.

Kaithal, March 15
As many as 400 students of the Haryana College of Technology and Management (HCTM ) donated blood at a camp organised on the college premises here today.

Deputy commissioner Rajinder Kataria inaugurated this camp. HCTM managing director G.K. Sethi presided over this function. Kataria lauded the gesture of blood donors. A team of doctors and paramedical staff from the PGIMR, Rohtak, collected the blood. — OC

Jhajjar, March 15
A four-year-girl died after she fell in an open nullah in Quila Colony here today. The girl, Kajal, daughter of Arun, was walking along the newly constructed nullah with her mother.

She drifted in the strong current of water in the nullah. The girl had died when she was fished out of the water. However, the district administration woke up after the incident and the public health department decided to cover the nullah to avoid any such incident in future. — OC

Yamunanagar, March 15
The vigilance bureau arrested a patwari of Pavani Kalan circle allegedly for accepting a bribe of Rs 700 here today.

Om Pal, the patwari, had allegedly demanded Rs 1,000 from Harnam Singh of Mandhar village for intakal of half acre of land. Harnam Singh had reportedly paid Rs 300 and he was to pay the remaining amount today.

BDPO Partap Singh was the duty officer when the arrest was made.