Chandigarh, August 7
Phool Chand Mullana and Kuldip Sharma today took over as President and Working President of the Haryana Congress amidst promises by Mullana and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda that party workers would be given due respect by the bureaucracy.

Haryana Congress president Phool Chand Mullana (left) waves to his supporters after taking over his new assignment in Chandigarh on Tuesday. With him is chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. — A Tribune photo

AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi was among those who were present at the taking-over function, which turned out to be a rally. Old-timers said the turnout at today's function had surpassed all such functions in the past.

Mullana was particularly sorry about the attitude of the officers "of my own community", who, he said, were occupying positions because they belonged to the Dalit community. "Unfortunately, once they become officers because of their caste, they forget to serve their own people," he added.

Promising to act as a bridge between the party workers and the government, Mullana said the workers should face their political opponents confidently and counter misinformation campaign against the government with conviction. Ruling out the possibility of the BSP doing well in Haryana, Mullana said the circumstances in U.P. were absolutely different from those in Haryana, where no atrocities were being committed on the Dalits.

Hooda told the party workers that from this stage again he was warning the officers to give due respect to them otherwise they would not be spared. He said while new members were welcome to the party, the contribution of the old and trusted colleagues could never be forgiven.

Dwivedi said never before had he seen "perfect coordination" between the government on one hand and the party unit on the other as he was seeing today. Speaking high of the outgoing working president Dr Ram Prakash, the AICC leader said because of the "prevailing politics" Ram Prakash had to work virtually alone. Still he strengthened the party in the past two years. Dwivedi was obviously referring to non-cooperation from the Bhajan Lal camp to Ram Prakash.

In his brief, yet fiery speech, Sharma lived up to the title of "angry young man" given to him earlier by Finance Minister Birender Singh.

Later talking to newsmen Dwivedi said the state Cabinet would be expanded soon.

He said Bhajan Lal had not criticised the party so far. About suspended MP Kuldeep Bishnoi, Dwivedi said : "We want to see to what extent Bishnoi would go."

Manesar, August 7
Lack of proper arrangements for kanwarias on the national highway resulted in the death of two kanwarias at Manesar on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway today after being hit by a truck.

Five kawarias, Shiv devotees who undertake a pilgrimage during the ongoing holy month of ‘shrawan’, were hit by a speeding truck while they were walking on the road side to reach their destiny.

Out of these two died and three were seriously injured. The accident took place as no path had been earmarked on the NH-8 road for the kanwarias.

A kanwaria near Manesar said the incident could be repeated again if no proper space for walking was provided by the Haryana government.

He revealed that around 30 lakh kanwarias had started from Haridwar for various destinations. Dak kanwaria, who walk for the whole day and would not stop at any place until they reach their destination, would start after two days.

While talking to The Tribune, deputy commissioner of police, south Gurgaon, Satheesh Balan said from today onwards barriers had been erected at various places on the NH-8 to slow down the traffic. These would be specially placed during the night hours to avoid the problem of rash driving which would help kanwarias to move smoothly.

He said extra force would be deployed on Sohna and Manesar road for the safety of the kanwarias. The number of patrolling vehicles would also be increased in these areas especially during the night hours.

A proposal had already been sent by the commissioner of police, Gurgaon, Mohinder lal to NHAI to allocate some space for the pedestrians, two wheelers and cyclists on the NH-8.

Chandigarh, August 7
Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan today directed the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to devise a plan for additional link road to connect Panchkula with Chandigarh so that traffic flow between the two cities could be eased.

Chander Mohan was reviewing the progress of the developmental works of Panchkula district with officials of the district here today.

He also directed deputy commissioner Neerja Shekhar to draw up a proposal for constructing a railway overbridge from Sector 17, Panchkula, to Chandigarh Transport Undertaking workshop at Industrial Area, Chandigarh, to help ease the traffic flow from Panchkula to Chandigarh. He also asked her to prepare a plan of a bypass from Sector 8, Panchkula, to Kala Gram, Chandigarh, for diversion of traffic on this road during peak hours.

Chander Mohan directed officers of the HUDA that repair of internal roads should be completed within the next three months.

He asked the DC to shift the garbage dumping ground from Sector 25 to some other site with immediate effect and also directed that lights in the town park, Panchkula, should be installed on the pattern of Golf Club, Chandigarh. 

Hisar, August 7
All government offices, including the mini-secretariat in Sirsa district will completely switch over from energy guzzling incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) next week.

A spokesman of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) said here today that the campaign to replace the incandescent bulbs in government offices in the district kicked off yesterday.

The campaign was started from the mini-secretariat on the directions of deputy commissioner V. Umashankar, a former managing director of the DHBVN.

He said the government had already directed all government offices to use energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps. Similar directions had been given to government-aided institutions.

The DHBVN had already made CFLs mandatory for all commercial and industrial units having a load of 5 KW or more.

The spokesman said the total number of CFL villages in the area of DHBVN had gone up to 194. Dabwali in Sirsa district had become the fourth town in the area of the DHBVN to completely switch over to CFLs.

He said illumination equal to standard incandescent lamps could be obtained from the CFLs for about 20 to 25 per cent wattage. The rated life of the CFL could be five to 10 times longer than that of traditional yellow bulbs. Therefore, CFLs save as much as 70 per cent of electricity used for lighting.

Karnal, August 7
In the light of the recent incident where 14 underage child labourers were rescued from Bhagwati Enterprises, a foam factory, near Nissing village, about 25 km from here, on August 1, Ajit Singh Kataria, chairman, Central Child Labour Advisory Board, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, paid a visit to the city to get first-hand information of what was being done by the administration in the wake of the incident.

Addressing mediapersons here, Kataria said according to a 2000 census nearly 1.32 crore underage children were working in the country. He said the situation was alarming and all steps would be taken to eradicate this problem.

“The V. V. Giri Institute of Child Labour, Noida, is working on a new census, the report of which will be tabled in November this year,” he said.

He said yesterday a conference was held in Gurgaon where officials of the labour department and other departments concerned from all over the country were present.

He said the proposals included the setting up of a residential school and each child would also be given Rs 500 per month.

“A pilot project will be started in 50 districts, mainly in Bihar and UP, as most of the children are from these states, to test this concept,” Kataria said.

He said the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has been roped in to give vocational training to the students of these schools starting from Class V onwards.

“Parents, who are otherwise hale and hearty and are not physically challenged, but still force their minor children to work will be dealt with sternly,” warned Kataria, but added, “Parents who are old and cannot fend for themselves and are dependent on their children to survive will be allowed to do so.”

The district labour officer of Karnal claimed that there were no minors working in this district according to a survey which was conducted on August 4, three days after the 14 minors were rescued.

Sirsa, August 7
As a part of ongoing investigations, a team of CBI sleuths from Delhi today probed into the assets of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala.

A case was registered against Chautala for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets beyond his known sources of income.

It is learnt that the team members also visited the two districts of Punjab - Bathinda and Abohar - to verify the documents of car agencies in connection with the case.

This was the sixth visit of the CBI related to the case. During their last visit, it had obtained 111 copies of the registry of properties related to the case which was said to be done when Chautala was the CM.

Besides, the CBI had checked the records of Chautala’s properties from the Municipal Council and had also examined his account statements.

Yamunanagar, August 7
A show of strength among members of the Jagadhri Panchayat Samiti is likely to be seen during the next meeting of the samiti scheduled for August 13.

In the meeting, a distribution of a grant of Rs 42 lakh under the Sampuran Gramin Rozgar Yojna has to be decided. Vice-chairman of the samiti Ismail Gujjar claimed that 25 of the 30 samiti members were against chairperson Surinder Kaur.

Gujjar said all 25 members voiced their opposition against Surinder in a secret meeting.

The members alleged that the chairperson was selective in issuing grants for development works of the villages and several villages have not been given any grant for the past two-and-half years.

Gujjar also alleged that a list of grants to be sanctioned had been finalised well before the August 13 meeting. “The grants should be decided in the meeting but the chairperson has already finalised the grants,” said Gujjar in a statement issued here today.

He claimed that he had a copy of the list and the chairperson had decided to give a grant of Rs 7 lakh to her own village Mahilwala.

On the other hand, Surinder dismissed all allegations and said grants would be decided in the forthcoming meeting. She also dismissed the allegations of the partiality in sanctioning of grants. She said grants would be decided with consent of all members. However, she alleged that certain members were being allured by the opposite camp to revolt against her.

Ambala, August 7
At least 28 sheep were killed in a suspected animal attack at Tharwa village, near Ambala Cantonment, last late night. Dharmpal, a shepherd and owner of the sheep, said he had kept the animals in an open enclosure last evening. In the morning, he found 28 of his sheep dead.

He said some of the sheep had bite marks on the neck and other parts of the body.

He suspected that some wild animal like a hyena or a leopard could have killed the sheep. The villagers brought the matter to the notice of the police and the district administration, following which senior forest officers and a police party reached the scene. The forest officers suspected it to be the handiwork of some wild animal.

However, they ruled out the possibility of the presence of a leopard in the area, as there was no dense forest in the Naggal area. The incident led to panic among villagers of the nearby villages. One of the residents of Naggal village said it was not an isolated incident in the area. Last year, too, a wild animal had killed some cattle of a migrant shepherd.

Two years ago, 32 sheep were killed by a hyena in the Naraingarh area, near here.

MLA Nirmal Singh said he was aware of the incident and would take up the matter with the forest department.

Chandigarh, August 7
A Division Bench comprising Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice Rajive Bhalla today issued a notice for August 24 to Haryana and others over a plea alleging ostracism and untouchability against petitioners by members of the Biradari panchayat.

The petitioners, Baru Ram, Sher Singh and Dharam Pal, sought directions to official respondents (financial commissioner, Panipat deputy commissioner and SDM) to conduct an inquiry into the ostracising of their family.

They also averred that the official respondents should proceed under Section 7 and 10-A of the Protection of Civil Rights and imposing punishment and fine against all members of the Biradari panchayat headed by Zile Singh (also a respondent).

Action was also sought against Nauthla residents of village sudhar committee who were allegedly present at the meeting of the panchayat held on May 31.