Shahbad, December 2
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today expressed regret over the beating up of journalists by the police in a lathicharge on Bhajan Lal-Kuldeep Bishnoi supporters at Karnal on Saturday. Hooda was speaking to mediapersons after addressing a rally here.

He said it was not the intention of the police to target the mediapersons and whatever happened was very unfortunate. The CM said he would look into the incident and if the journalists wanted to meet him they were welcome. He added that they will be fully compensated for whatever loss they had suffered.

When asked about the janhit rally at Rohtak, Hooda said it was a case of “khoda pahar nikli chuhiya”. He said how the rally could succeed when Kuldeep Bishnoi’s own brother Chander Mohan and his supporters did not attend it.

“When your own brother and other close relatives are not attending the rally how can you expect the people of the state to attend it,” Hooda said.

Ram Prakash, a senior state Congress leader and member of the Rajya Sabha said the janhit rally was a complete failure and actually it was comical.

He said the rally organisers had hired people and vehicles from Rajasthan and Punjab to make up the numbers as there was no enthusiasm in the state for the rally.

He said Kuldeep Bishnoi has launched a new party with much fanfare but he has not resigned from the Congress.

“Kuldeep says he will resign on June 1, 2008. Why is he making such statements? It clearly shows that he is not confident whether his party will able to get off the ground,” Prakash said.

“I can say with confidence that their party will not be able to open its account in the next elections,” added Prakash.

State Congress president Phool Singh Mulana said the janhit rally has had no effect on the Congress. He added that action would be taken against the dissidents and they would be asked to resign.

Earlier, while addressing the audience at the ‘Abhar rally’, Hooda said the people of Shahbad had always inspired and supported him. He was all praise for Naveen Jindal, MP, and complimented him for the excellent work he was doing in his constituency.

Hooda said since his government came to power they had taken many important steps to address the problems of the weaker sections of society.

He said the farmers of the state were getting the highest price for sugarcane in the country and for paddy and wheat the farmers were getting excellent remuneration.

He said when it came to the question of supplying electricity to farmers during the sowing of crops, the government had always delivered.

“Let one farmer come and tell me that he lost his crop because adequate electricity was not supplied,” dared Hooda.

He said Haryana would produce more electricity in the next three years than in the past 40 years.

“When all power plants start production, electricity will be made available for 20-22 hours every day,” he claimed.

He said the government had waived off loan arrears to the tune of Rs 830 crore and this had helped the people who were unable pay back loans and were at the mercy of money-lenders and banks.

“People without houses will be given 100 sq yd plots. This will benefit Dalits, Scheduled Castes and people living below poverty line,” Hooda said. He also announced the setting up of a stadium and a dharamshala in Shahbad and announced a grant of Rs 11 lakh for the latter and added that a number of model villages will be set up.

K.L Sharma, MLA, Shahbad, Naveen Jindal, MP, Harmohinder Singh Chattha, agriculture minister were among those who spoke on the occasion. 

Kaithal, December 2
A team of town and country department officials, accompanied by duty magistrate M.S. Goyat and heavy police force, carried on a demolition drive in several parts of this town today.

Initially, some shops and structures were demolished without any resistance. Later, a crowd started raising slogans and the police team chased the protesters away.

DTP Ram Kumar and his staff started this drive from near the under-construction bus stand on the Kaithal-Ambala bypass here and later demolitions were also carried on at Dhand road. A number of JCBs were pressed in to service to demolish “illegal and unauthorized” structures.

Meanwhile, criticising the state government, the owners of these structures claimed they were the legal owners of the land. They said if there was any violation of the municipal laws they could be given an opportunity to get it regularised by paying composition fee to the municipal council.

They also raised objections over the delay in conducting demolitions and said if the constructions were illegal, action should have been taken at the initial stage to save the losses. There were also allegations that the officials adopted pick-and-choose method while carrying on this drive.

Some others alleged that the government had allowed private builders to purchase land in the proposed Sector 31 of HUDA where the process for acquisition of land had been started. They alleged that it seemed that the government wanted to benefit private builders and the present demolition drive was a part of this game.

However, DTP Ram Kumar said the drive got delayed due to the delay in the sanctioning of funds. He added that notices had been served on the persons indulging in unauthorised constructions and on earlier occasions, too, the drive was launched but the people repeatedly violated rules.

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner S.K. Goyal said the anti-encroachment drive would continue in the district. 

Chandigarh, December 2
The tug-of-war between various departments over the execution of works, inordinate delays in the implementation of schemes and the lack of regular monitoring have been the main roadblocks in the way of progress of villages designated by the state government as “model villages”.

In an effort to take all departments together and make them equal partners in the development, the Haryana Development and Panchayat Department has now re-drafted guidelines wherein the deputy commissioner has been asked to coordinate with the state-level departments and the Additional Deputy Commissioner has been designated as the “Nodal Officer”.

The secretary of the department, Urvashi Gulati, says “We have prepared a village development plan for model villages which includes taking stock of the existing facilities in the chosen village, formulation of quantifiable targets, placement of manpower against sanctioned positions and monitoring of targets vis-à-vis achievements.”

The department has asked the districts to prepare a plan with respect to each model village in consultation with all line departments along with the quantifiable targets in physical and financial terms of each line department. Further, the line departments have been directed to make budgetary provisions according to the schemes under the plan. The panchayat department, in a circular to all deputy commissioners, has said that the ADC should be asked to prepare a monthly report about the works in progress and send the same to the office of the Director, Panchayat, by the 10th of every month. The DCs have also been asked to form district level committees to monitor the progress of implementation and carry out a monthly review at the monthly officers’ board meeting.

“We have over 80 model villages in the state and the list is being updated continually. The model village scheme is especially focused on holistic rural development which is essential in view of the rapid strides that the state is making towards industrialisation. We don’t want any village to be left behind,” she explained.

Identification of any village under the scheme not only spruces up infrastructural facilities and other public amenities but discourages the movement from villages to cities. Also, for the government, it serves as a show window for the various government-run schemes while creating ‘demonstration effect’ which may prompt other villages to replicate the model.

In an exhaustive “Concept Plan” prepared by the department, it is laid down that the funds for the institutionalisation of the concept of model village be mobilised through income from village common lands, contributions from panchayat samitis and zila parishads. Besides, central government and state government grants under various schemes, MPLAD funds can be tapped. Also, the state government can seek a special grant from the Centre for model villages falling in the National Capital Region. 

Chandigarh, December 2
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has strongly flayed yesterday’s police lathicharge on supporters of the suspended Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi at Karnal, during which certain mediapersons were also beaten up and Indri MLA Rakesh Kamboj had suffered a fracture in his leg.

Terming the incident as “a blot on democracy,” INLD president and former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala alleged that since the Congress did not believe in democracy, its governments had always “used the language of cane and bullets”.

While describing the Rohtak rally of Bishnoi as an internal matter of the Congress, he said everyone has the right to protest in a democracy and the use of baton to crush the democratic dissent “is unfortunate and inappropriate”.

Chautala did not spare Bishnoi and his father Bhajan Lal also.

He said by not resigning from the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha, both Bishnoi and Bhajan Lal had amply demonstrated their lust for power.

The people of the state could not expect any struggle from them for their rights as it had become evident that they (Bishnoi and Bhajan Lal) were just adopting tactics of pressure politics.

The INLD leader said the Hooda government had earlier cane charged innocent people at Gurgaon, Gohana, Rohtak, Panipat and Karnal. The INLD would not tolerate the abuse of democracy.

Chautala dared the Hooda government to put any obstacles in the way of holding the “Dalit Chetna Rally” by the Scheduled Castes cell of his party in Hisar on December 6.

He said every INLD worker would put his life on stake but would not tolerate any atrocity.  

Chandigarh, December 2
A meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) was held yesterday, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to review the preparations for the “dalit samman rally” at Karnal on December 9 .

Rajyasabha member Ram Prakash took part in the meeting. While some of the MLAs could not attend the meeting owing to their engagements elsewhere, the Congress MLAs from Karnal and its neighbourhood were all present in the meeting. HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana and deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan also took part in the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, the Chief Minister urged the participants to mobilise as many people as possible for the December 9 event. The Chief Minister, however, asked the MLAs to give realistic assessments regarding their mobilising capacity and refrained from making exaggerated claims.

The day (December 9), which is also the birthday of the Congress czarina Sonia Gandhi, will see pro-Congress dalit outfits and leaders thanking the Chief Minister at Karnal for the state government’s various steps to benefit the dalits.

The Karnal rally will be a reply by Hooda to the mobilisation by dissident party leader Bhajan Lal at Rohtak today. 

Rohtak, December 2
Suspended Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi today announced his resignation as a member of Lok Sabha with effect from June, 2008.

Bishnoi made the announcement at the ‘janhit rally’ at Rohtak where his father, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, floated a new party Haryana Janhit Congress (BL).

Bishnoi sent his post-dated resignation to the Speaker of Lok Sabha through fax as well as courier. Addressing the rally, Bishnoi waved the resignation to the public and sought their consent to quit after six months so that he could build the party at the grassroots level.

Earlier, the father-son duo unveiled the plaque marking the launch of the new outfit at a rally at Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s hometown. — UNI

Sonepat, December 2
“I will not leave the BJP and join the Congress. It is a false and baseless propaganda my opponents,” said Kishan Singh Sangwan, the BJP Member of Parliament from Sonepat, while talking to mediapersons at his residence in Gohana today.

He categorically stated that he was in the BJP, will remain in the BJP and will contest the next Lok Sabha election from Sonepat on BJP ticket.

He also maintained that he had not quit any party and the BJP had given the party ticket to him for contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Sonepat seat following an agreement between the BJP and the INLD on this seat.

The Sonepat Lok Sabha seat, he said, had been allotted to the BJP and the party had given the ticket to him as it had considered that he was the strongest candidate for this seat.

The BJP leader also denied that he had met Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the past, Replying to a question about the meeting between the BJP stalwart Ram Bilas Sharma and former Chief Minsiter Bhajan Lal, he said he had no knowledge about it.

In reply to a question, he reiterated that the party will not forge an alliance with any other political party and as had been decided in the party’s meeting at Jind on August 26 , the party will contest th Lok Sabha and Assembly polls on its.  

Hisar, December 2
Scientists of Haryana Agriculture University here have advised the farmers to complete the late sowing of wheat and other crops and take extra care of their animals in view of variable temperature recorded in past few days.

The farmers should complete sowing of wheat crop in irrigated fields with certified seeds of the varieties like Sonalika, WH 291, PBW 373,Raj 3765 and Sonak and apply 30 kg nitrogen, 24 kg phosphorous and 12 kg potash per acre at the time of sowing.

About 100 kg seed of wheat should be treated with 150 ml chloropyriphos 20 EC or 350 ml endosulphan 35EC or 500ml ethion 50EC in 5 litres of water.

They are also advised to finish sowing of the barley crop under irrigated condition with certified seeds of the varieties: BG 25, BH 75, BH 393 and C164.

Farmers can grow the nursery of tomato for planting in spring season and 200 g seed is sufficient for one acre nursery, they said.

Farmers should do earthing up and apply the light irrigation in 25-30 days old potato crop.

Sowing of Oat and Barseem for fodder for winter season should be done as earliest. The 30 to 40 kg seed per acre of improved varieties of oat, Jai No.8, HFO -114, OS-6 & OS-7, should be sown.

Farmers have also been asked to manage the animal sheds for protection against cold and give the 50 g iodized salt and 30 g mineral mixture daily to keep them healthy as variable weather was observed during last three days. — UNI 

Hisar, December 2
To discourage villagers from illegally resorting to “kundi” connections, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) organised camps in over 100 villages and provided metered power supply to all households in 30 villages last fortnight. In the rest of the villages, over 90 per cent of the households have been provided metered power supply by releasing connections on the spot.

Vijayendra Kumar, managing director, DHBVN, said here today that the camps were organised in Hisar and Gurgaon operation zones. He said an international standard high-voltage distribution system (HVDS) would be provided in these villages for improved power supply at the correct voltage.

He said officials disconnected 30,000 connections because of non-payment of bills while thousands of consumers were persuaded to pay their arrears. No defaulting consumer would be given power supply while those paying their bills regularly would be given efficient and effective service.

The official disclosed that to provide regular power supply to the agricultural sector during fixed hours, the DHBVN would provide rural load management system (RLMS) on transformers in the rural areas. With the installation of this system, three-phase power supply would remain available round the clock in rural feeders also. This would ensure ample supply for essential services like water works in the villages.

Vijayendra Kumar said as per new regulations of the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC), a connection disconnected for the third time on account of non-payment of bill would not be reconnected before 72 hours even after depositing the pending bill. Officers had been directed to disconnect supply to frequent defaulters and remove all electrical installations like lines, poles and transformers of those tube wells which were permanently disconnected for non-payment. 

Faridabad, December 2
The Agra Canal and the Gurgaon Canal passing through Faridabad have turned into nullahs on account of large-scale discharge of sewerage and industrial.

According to reports, several residential colonies and residents of villages falling along the banks are a harried lot, as human and animal lives are allegedly getting adversely affected. The first factor is the stench and the second is the polluted water causing havoc to underground water table.

The popular perception is that the development was one of the many clear examples to illustrate that Faridabad has been neglected from the past few years. This bolsters the argument that on account of apparent governmental apathy in the past few years, the nearby Gurgaon, Noida have gone streets ahead of Faridabad.

The poor-quality water in the canal has become dangerous for use of irrigation purposes and cattle have started showing sings of uneasiness on account of the pollution. The wide-ranging view is that while other concerned authorities appear to be least bothered over the rot, which has been going on for the past many years, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board is the biggest culprit in not enforcing the law and redemptive action in right earnest.

The area falling in the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation (MCF) has umpteen number of industrial units. But the area has only three sewerage treatment plants, and they are also proving to be insufficient on account of the expansion in the population, unauthorised colonies and industrial units.

Most of the unauthorised colonies do not have sewerage connections. Owners of the houses dig up pits and human waste is ultimately dumped into the canals with help of private carriers.

The two canals originate in Kalindi Kunj barrage in Gaziabiad district in Uttar Pradesh. The two enter Faridabad after which the Agra Canal goes to Agra vide Hassanpur, Hodal and Palwal, and the Gurgaon Canal heads towards Gurgaon.

Almost all major nullas falling in the MCF jurisdiction carry industrial and other wastes and drain off in the two canals.

Resident of some villages had also complained to the district administration, about a year ago, alleging that the water in the two canals has become perilously polluted.

They alleged that the water was not fit for the irrigation and the cattle of the area were also falling sick.

One saving grace though is that the State proposes to strengthen the sewerage treatment plant, which includes setting up new ones under the scheme of the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewable Mission. 

Kaithal, December 2
Prof Virender Singh, political adviser to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the state government had taken a number of historic decisions for the benefit of all sections of the society which had been widely appreciated at a press conference here yesterday. All this had made the opposition leaders restless and now they had launched a false propaganda campaign against the government.

He said Kuldip Bishnoi and INLD leaders were trying to find any solid issue to criticise the government but till now they had failed because the Hooda government had not taken a single decision which could cause any resentment among the people.

Referring to various decisions during the tenure of this government, Prof Virender said besides providing relief to farmers, employees, traders and dalits the government had taken effective steps to improve power supply and ensure equitable distribution of canal water.

He said the leaders who had been alleging that no development was taking place in the state were actually trying to mislead people. The record development projects had been completed and development was taking place in a systematic way all over the state.

Virender said it was a matter of record that the previous Chief Ministers had taken no steps to increase power generation in the state which resulted into a steep gap in demand and supply and it had an adverse effect on the agriculture and industrial sectors. 

Chandigarh, December 2
The Haryana government had disbursed 1.47 lakh metric tonnes of wheat and 36,084 tonnes of rice to 8.30 lakh beneficiaries belonging to below poverty line category and Antyodaya Ann Yojna families so far, on subsidised rates, said Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan on Saturday.

The state government was providing quality wheat and rice at a highly subsidised rate to these families through a network of 9,566 fair price shops in the state.  

Fatehabad, December 2
Chief Judicial Magistrate Lal Chand yesterday sentenced a man to one month’s civil imprisonment for failing to comply with the court orders regarding payment of maintenance allowance to his wife.

Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Tohana town in this district, had not paid maintenance allowance to his wife Bimla Devi for the past 22 months.

Earlier, Bimla, who had been deserted by Ramesh, had filed an application before the court under Section 125 of the criminal procedure code for directing her husband to pay her maintenance allowance.

Though the court had issued orders in this regard and had directed Ramesh to pay Rs 1,000 per month as maintenance allowance to his wife, the accused had not been complying with the court orders for the past 22 months.