Chandigarh, December 3
Will history repeat itself? This question has come to the fore with the emergence of Kuldeep Bishnoi on the political scene after his successful rally at Rohtak yesterday.

In 1996, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) of Om Prakash Chautala was confident that it would come to power by encashing anti-incumbency against the Bhajan Lal-led Congress government in the state. Its confidence was not misplaced because there was no other alternative to the Congress. However, all calculations went topsy-turvy when Bansi Lal-led Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) in alliance with the BJP emerged as the third alternative. The INLD leadership was disappointed when it finished second after the HVP-BJP alliance and the Bhajan-led Congress was third. The party, which had won 51 seats five years ago, was reduced to a single-digit strength in the House.

This time also, with the BJP not being able to become a viable alternative(notwithstanding claims of its leaders), the INLD was seen as the only alternative, which would, by default, be a beneficiary of the anti-incumbency. However, Bishnoi’s emergence may change the calculations of the INLD leadership. The INLD, which even failed to ensure the status of the leader of Opposition for its leader (by failing to get 10 seats), can not longer be the sole claimant of the anti-incumbency vote.

The main reason for the victory of the Congress in 2005 was again the anti-incumbency of the Chautala government.

Bishnoi’s outfit will certain claim a major chunk of those non-Jat voters, who may be annoyed with the government. It is too early to say who will benefit from the division in the anti-Congress vote. If Bishnoi and the INLD are able to match each other, the Congress will have a reason to smile.

How the Jats, who still remain the main constituency of the INLD, will react to the emergence of Bishnoi (read Bhajan Lal), their bete noire? Will they consolidate behind the INLD with a vengeance or would they ditch it to express their solidarity with a person, who will be perceived by them as a “deliverer”? Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will definitely be credited by many hardcore Jats for showing the Congress door to Bhajan Lal.

But Hooda will have to ensure that a similar impression should not spread beyond a point among the non-Jats, who, by and large, consider him to be a gentleman politician, having liberal and democratic credentials. He will have to keep a check on those elements which were responsible for cracking down on the activists of Bishnoi. These so-called well-wishers of the Chief Minister have not done any good to his image.

Bishnoi should not be carried away by the turnout at yesterday’s rally. He still has to prove himself. By “post-dating” his resignation from the Lok Sabha, he has given a message of being a man still not certain about his strength. He should have accepted the challenge of facing a by-election. His victory would have established him as a leader. 

Rewari, December 3
A function was held under the auspices of the District Red Cross Society (DRCS) to mark the World Disabled Day at the Bal Bhawan Complex here today. Irrigation and PWD minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav was the chief guest of the function.

While emphasising the need of bringing physically challenged and mentally retarded persons into the mainstream of society, Captain Yadav exhorted affluent sections of the society to make liberal contributions to the DRCS and other such NGO’s to achieve this sublime objective.

The minister announced a financial assistance of Rs 31,000 for the DRCS and a donation of Rs 3,100 for the children of Navprerna Shikshan Kendra, Sadbhavna School and Samarpit School, who presented a fine cultural programme.

These three schools are being run by different voluntary organisations for handicapped and mentally retarded children.

On behalf of the DRCS, the minister also distributed 116 hearing aids, 40 tricycles and wheel chairs and 24 artificial limbs to disabled persons. He also gave 22 sewing machines to women of BPL families and cheques for Rs 15,000 each to 16 beneficiaries of the Indira Priyadarshini Vivah Shagun Yojna.

Panipat: To mark the World Disabled Day, the district administration on Monday donated an air-conditioned ambulance worth Rs 8 lakh to the civil hospital.

Deputy commissioner Mahender Kumar told The Tribune that Dr Madaan, a Panipat-based doctor, had also agreed to provide cardiac monitoring system worth Rs 6 lakh, which would be fitted in the new ambulance.

He said the ambulance would be beneficial for those patients who were in critical conditions.

The administration also distributed 350 hearing aid machines, 150 spectacles, 8 tricycles and 6 wheelchairs to the disabled persons.

Kaithal: A survey to identify all physically challenged persons in the district will be conducted to provide them needed facilities. Services of Social Welfare Department and the local voluntary organisations will be availed to achieve this object. Deputy commissioner S. K. Goyal stated this while speaking at a function on the occasion of World Disabled Day held at local Panchayat Bhawan here on Monday.

The deputy commissioner distributed 16 tricycles, 30 artificial limbs and 9 hearing aids to physically challenged persons. The DC said an educational institution for mentally retarded children and the blind would be set up in this district. 

Chandigarh, December 3
Haryana government will constitute a state sports council to promote sports. A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here today.

The sports council will be headed by Chief Minister as its president while minister of sports would be its vice-president. Ex-officio member will include education minister, finance minister, panchayat minister, principal secretary to Chief Minister and secretaries of departments of finance, education, panchayat, director of Sports and Youth Affairs Department.

The council will have upto eight nominated members. These members will be nominated by the president of the council.

Objectives of the council will be planning and implementation of schemes for the welfare of sports persons, building character, promote team spirit, popularise and encourage sports among people and develop a spirit of belonging to the state through the medium of games.

It will also provide advance coaching facilities to sports persons for attaining high standard of sports. It would issue directions to various sports associations regarding policy matter and give recognition to sports associations in Haryana.

The sports council will send observers to various important tournaments or competitions within and outside the country. It will foster a spirit of camaraderie between different associations, district sports councils and devise and adopt ways and means to propagate and improve the standard of sports within the state.

The council will raise funds by way of grants or donations or subscriptions for promotion of sports or games and for fulfilment of its aims and objectives.

The council would sanction grant-in-aid to state sports associations, districts sports councils and associations and deserving sports persons. Other functions of the council included construction and maintenance of sports infrastructure and assets and avail of financial assistance from the Union government under various schemes.

It will run such schemes on behalf of directorate of sports and youth affairs, Haryana, as may be entrusted to it from time to time. The council will provide coaching, equipments and incentives to sports persons. It will act as a coordinating agency among the sports bodies in the state, state government, national sports bodies and Union government. It will hold invitation tournaments, festivals at international, national, state or lower levels.

The council shall make financial and other rules as it may consider necessary for the smooth day-to-day functioning of its affairs and would delegate suitable financial and other powers to the executive committee and other officers of the state sports council. 

Chandigarh, December 3
“A fortnight against child labour? What and when? We will take it up soon,” remarked a deputy commissioner, oblivious to the fact that the fortnight ended on November 30. This despite the fact that the Labour Department had sent repeated letters asking deputy commissioners in all districts to constitute inspecting parties to check the menace of child labour during the fortnight.

Compiling the findings of raids conducted by the team of the head office and the labour officers posted in the field, the officials maintained that only a handful of DCs bothered to respond to their demand for an interim and final report. In fact, only four of the 20 deputy commissioners replied with their findings. These included the DCs of Panipat, Jhajjar, Faridabad and Karnal. The rest are all at sea about a fortnight that never was. At least for them.

Meanwhile, in the report compiled by the Labour Department, the field staff raided 1,473 establishments and found 70 under-14 children working in various establishments. In dhabas along the highway, as many as 126 children were found working in 98 eateries, making dhabas the single biggest employer of child labour.

“We formed two raiding parties at the level of the head office led by the deputy labour commissioners, Pala Ram and Azad Singh. They extensively toured the national and state highways to find underage children employed in large numbers. We are in the process of issuing challans to the employers to serve as a lesson to the rest. We are committed to remove child labour from our state,” says N.C. Wadhwa, labour commissioner.

Though help from all quarters, particularly from the district administrations, is welcome, the department is relying on its own officers given the poor response to the fortnight observed in the state.

“Our teams will regularly inspect the highways till we realise our target. Another problem area with high employability of child labour is that of the automobile workshops. Our next focus is to tackle child labour in this industry. The results and their numbers are particularly startling in Hisar. Child labour as domestic help would follow this clean-up,” explains Anupam Malik of the Labour Department.

Maintaining that their work was far from over with the end of the fortnight, Wadhwa says, “In fact, truly, we have just begun. We will keep the momentum going and carry on with the inspections and challaning of violators, while continuing with our programme to sensitise the public about laws governing child labour. Though our is not an endemic state, migrant population comes riddled with the problem of child labour.”

The drive has helped identify eating houses, auto workshops and domestic help as the three biggest culprits exploiting child labour, the drive has also exposed the insensitivity of the district administrations to the issue of child labour. To them, it’s a non-issue raising a lot of dust. 

Chandigarh, December 3
Finding time for meeting social obligations can confound an ordinary individual, but not a politician.

In Haryana this time around, the marriage season has coincided with the season of rallies. Political heavyweights of the state are proving themselves up to the task of meeting both responsibilities.

Haryana Congress chief Phool Chand Mullana, convener of the upcoming “Dalit samman rally” by the Congress in Karnal on December 9, was busy meeting the dual responsibility in his constituency, Mullana, today.

Apart from canvassing for the Karnal rally, Mullana was also required to attend a number of marriage ceremonies in his constituency. “ He is going to address a number of public meetings in connection with the rally. He will also be attending almost an equal number of marriages”, an aide told this reporter this morning.

Chief Minister Hooda’s itinerary ,too, is strewn with marriage engagements in various parts of the state. INLD chief and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala has always made it a point to attend marriage ceremonies taking place at the homes of his followers and sympathisers. Chautala, who is busy canvassing for a rally of the party’s Dalit cell on December 6 in Hisar, is attending at least six marriage functions every day. The functions are often spread over more than one district.

Dissident Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal is done with his rally. It took place in Rohtak yesterday where the formation of a new political outfit by him was announced. “There are at least 10 invitation cards for marriages lying right in front of me”, said an aide at Bhajan Lal’s Panchkula residence.

The dissident Congress leader reached Hisar today from Delhi. Even after having a hard day at his first state-level rally yesterday, Bhajan Lal is expected to attend a few marriage functions during his stay in Hisar.

Sumita Singh, Congress MLA from Karnal, was in the countryside, canvassing for the December 9 rally, when this reporter contacted her on the telephone. On Saturday Chief Minister Hooda had a meeting with Congress MLAs in Chandigarh where he gave them directions for mobilising people for the all-important rally. MLAs from Karnal district and its neighbourhood are expected to mobilise more people for the rally than their counterparts from other areas of the state. Sumita Singh, thus, may be a little too busy to attend all marriage functions to which she has been invited. “I am spending the day canvassing in villages while in the evening I am meeting Dalits living in the city”, she said. 

Fatehabad, December 3
The Haryana government’s orders of suspension of an assistant general manager of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), allegedly due to political reasons, has evoked sharp criticism from the power employees.

Sitting on a dharna outside the city subdivision office of the DHBVN today, Karam Chand Sardana, president of the HSEB Workers Union, Bhoop Singh, president of the All-Haryana Power Corporation Union, Mohan Lal Grover, Arjun Dev, Dalip Singh and Pawan Sharma, all leaders of the employees union alleged that an honest officer had been victimised by the government for political reasons.

Activists of the Haryana State Electricity Board Workers Union (HSEBWU) and the All-Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union (AHPCWU) have been agitating ever since the government on November 11 this year suspended Om Parkash Bishnoi, the AGM in the city subdivision of the DHBVN here.

Bishnoi had received reports of theft by the leader and he raided the premises where the theft was detected. The Congress leader had immediately threatened Bishnoi to get ready to face the consequences, the sources added.

Ever since the orders of suspension of Bishnoi were received here, workers of the nigam owing allegiance to the HSEBWU and the AHPCWU have been on the agitation path against the orders of the government.

The employees have been organising meetings, holding processions and staging dharnas to express their resentment against the government.

Talking to The Tribune today, Sardana and Grover said on one hand the government fixed targets of the officers to detect theft cases and ensure recovery of due amount, while on the other hand it victimised the officers, who acted in the interest of the nigam.

They said though the AGMs and officers above that rank were not members of their union, they had supported the case of Bishnoi because he was an honest officer and had been targeted for acting in the interest of the nigam.

Chandigarh, December 3
Taking up a petition for directions to the state of Haryana, director, Food and Civil Supplies, and Faridabad’s district food and supplies controller for quashing of the order suspending wholesale kerosene licence of Vijay Oil Company of Faridabad, following allegations of black marketing, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed the order in this regard.

Pronouncing the directions in an open court, a Division Bench, comprising Justice K.S. Garewal and Justice R.S. Madan, also issued a notice of motion to the state. The case will now come up for hearing on April 28.

In its petition, Vijay Oil Company had sought directions for calling the relevant records from officials concerned. Directions to restore the license of the petitioner were also sought.

Going into the background, the petitioner said on July 15, 2007, a case was registered against the petitioner for misappropriation of 12,000 litres, following the allegations that he had allegedly sold the same in the black market. Later, on July 20, the district food and supplies controller, Faridabad, issued a show cause notice to the petitioner.

Though the petitioner replied to the show cause notice, and also later reiterated that the quantity alleged to have been misappropriated was supplied to the depot holders, the district food and supplies officer recommended suspension of the license of the petitioner. Subsequently the license was suspended in August 2007.  

Rewari, December 3
The battlefield of Nasibpur near Narnaul ranks among the legendary battlegrounds in Haryana like the one at Kurukshetra, where the battle of the Mahabharata was fought between Pandavas and Kauravas in pre-historic times, and the other at Panipat, where three historic battles were fought in 1526, 1556 and 1761.

The martyrdom of a large number of Indian jawans, who laid down their lives while fighting against the combined British forces at Nasibpur on November 16, 1857, has accorded profound venerability to the soil of Nasibpur where a war memorial was erected in 1950’s.

Dignitaries as well as other citizens visit the Nasibpur memorial every year on November 16 to pay homage to the martyrs. They prominently include descendants of Rao Tula Ram and Rao Gopal Dev.

While it is true that owing to the then British historians’ biased chronicles of that so-called ‘Indian Mutiny of 1857’, Nasibpur has failed to acquire that prominence which it richly deserved, yet the battle of Nasibpur was undoubtedly one of the most decisive battles of 1857.

While it gave a crushing blow to the might of the rebel Indian forces, it simultaneously marked the close of the crucial period of the Britishers’ confrontation with the rebels in the Delhi division, including Haryana and Northern Rajasthan, as well as the restoration of the British supremacy in this entire region. The battle of Nasibpur was fought between the Indian forces and the combined British forces on November 16, 1857.

The Indian forces comprised the Jodhpur legion commanded by Risaldar Ahmad Ali, the Ahirs and Ranghars of the Ahirwal and Mewat regions jointly commanded by Rao Tula Ram and his commander-in-chief Rao Gopal Dev and the forces of the nawab of Jhajjar commanded by his general Abdus Samad Khan. Their number was a little above 5,000 and they had only half a dozen guns of medium size. Thus with an enfeebled artillery, they mainly depended on the infantry and cavalry.

Contrary to this, the British forces commanded by Col Gerrad, an officer of conspicuous merit, consisted of the first Bengal European Fusiliers, the Patiala infantry, the Carbineers, the guides and the Multan Horse.

Thus, the British forces, which numbered a little over 2,500, were well organised and equipped with heavy artillery. A fierce battle was fought. The Indians fought valiantly. The then British chroniclers - Kaye and Malleson - wrote: “Never did the enemy fight better. There was neither shirking nor lurching. Never was there a charge more gallant and certainly never were the British cavalry met so fully or in so full a swing by the rebel horse.”

But the heavy British artillery broke their backbone and eventually the Indians lost the day. When the Sun went down, the battlefield of Nasibpur was virtually covered with heaps of corpses of Indian soldiers. Thus the number of slain Indian warriors had gone beyond many hundreds. While Rao Tula Ram and Rao Gopal Dev were saved, the two of the best Indian commanders - Rao Kishan Singh and Rao Ram Lal - and many other top-ranking officers were killed in the action. 

Chandigarh, December 3
Six government agencies have procured 17.80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy so far, out of the total arrival of 39.73 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in mandis of the state.

Giving details of the arrival of paddy in the state, Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan said the HAFED had procured 7.19 lakh tonnes of paddy, Food and Supplies Department had procured 5.63 lakh tonnes of paddy, Agro Industries Corporation procured 2.23 lakh tonnes, Confed 2.04 lakh tonnes and Haryana Warehousing Corporation 60,028 tonnes of paddy and the Food Corporation of India procured 10,265 tonnes.

He said Kurukshetra district was on the top in arrival of paddy in all districts of the state with the arrival of 7.19 lakh tonnes of paddy followed by Karnal 6.45 lakh MTs, Kaithal 4.91 lakh MTs, Fatehabad 4.73 lakh MTs, Jind 3.22 lakh MTs, Ambala 3.10 lakh MTs, Yamunanagar 2.17 lakh MTs, Sirsa 1.81 MTs, Panipat 1.78 lakh MTs and Faridabad 1.48 lakh MTs.

Chander Mohan said the Government of India had announced a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal on the paddy to farmers besides the payment was also being made within 48 to 72 hours to the farmers.

Bhiwani, December 3
The depot executive members of the Haryana Roadways Workers’ Union (affiliated to Sarv Karmchari Sangh), Bhiwani, today demanded a complete ban on the plying of unauthorised vehicles in the district.

Depot president Narender Dinod in a meeting held today said roadways buses were prohibited to pass through the main roads, while private buses and jeeps which indulged in illegal transportation business right under the nose of the administration, were allowed to go anywhere. He said the roadways buses were challaned if they passed through the city. The illegal and unauthorised transportation system was causing huge losses to the roadways but they were not being challaned or banned, he added.

He said the authorities should take stern action against those passengers who climbed atop the buses as this pratice posed a safety threat and drivers had to face legal constraints. The meeting also demanded for the permanent arrangement of drinking water at bus stands, to fill vacant seats in workshops through promotion, to stop illegal recovery from drivers and conductors and payment of TA and overtime.

Depot president said a meeting of the executive body would be held at the local bus stand on December 7. 

Panipat, December 3
“Music is the diet for one’s soul. It has the power to touch the cords of spirituality.” These expressions were made by the doyen of Indian classical music Pandit Rajan Mishra at a concert organised at the historic battlefield memorial at Kala Amb, near here.

The classical-vocalist duo Pandit Rajan-Sajan Mishra performed for more than an hour and enthralled the audience, including several Marathi VIPs. The function was organised by the Panipat Foundation and the district administration in association with SPICMACAY.

The celebrated vocalists got applause from the audience for their “Durga Stuti”. The programme was concluded at a musical note with a shabad “jagat mein jhoothi dekhi reet,” written by Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Patron of the Panipat Foundation and the ADC, Jhajjar, Ajeet Balaji Joshi said the township needed special care at the national-level. Curator of the Prince Wales Museum, Mumbai, and chairman of the foundation, Dr Sadashiv Gorakshkar appealed to the authorities to protect the historic Devi Mandir from any damage. He said the Maratha architecture at the temple gave a vivid memory of lakhs of warriors who fought with utmost bravery in the three battles of Panipat.

Supreme Court Judge Justice V.S. Shirpurkar was the chief guest. Among others who were present were the MP from Maharashtra, Sharad Joshi, Haryana DGP, R.S. Dalal and Panipat DC Mahender Kumar. 

Ambala, December 3
The 18th Gian Chand Jain memorial lecture was delivered by Dr Manju Sharma, president and executive director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Research, Gujarat, today.

The lecture was organised by Gian Chand Jain memorial foundation at SD College, Ambala Cantt. Dr Sharma spoke on the topic: “Towards a novel product regime using bio-technological tools”.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Sharma observed that bio-technology was a major vehicle for societal and economic transformation of society. She said the modern era had witnessed major scientific revolutions in physics, chemistry, computer science and spectacular advances in life science.

She pointed out that for having a knowledge-based society, capacity building and awareness in science and technology were absolutely critical. “Bio-technology will revolutionise the 21st century. Scientific development has impacted the area of bio-technology, agriculture, health and environment,” she said.

She stated that bio-informatics was yet another area which had produced tremendous excitement among the scientific community. “In agriculture, the main effort is to apply bio-technological tools towards increasing yield on sustainable basis so that efficiency is increased and crop loss is reduced,” she said.

Dr Sharma said there were many advantages of bio-technology which can go a long way towards meeting the ever-increasing demand of food. In the medical sector, vaccination and diagnostic had improved the health care system, she added.

“It is time that scientists work towards a novel product regime using modern tools. It is important to keep in mind affordability, administration and sustainability of the product regime for human welfare,” she said. 

Chandigarh, December 3
It promises to be bigger, grander and more appealing than last year. The stage is set for Haryana Tourism’s second Pinjore Heritage Festival from December 7 to 9 at Yadavindra Gardens, Pinjore, packed with music and a punch of entertainment.

This was stated by minister of state for tourism Kiran Choudhary at a press conference here today. She said the main aim of organising the festival was to highlight the ancient and rich heritage of the Pinjore gardens as part of Incredible India. While elaborating on the highlights of the festival, the mnister said that fun, frolic, shopping, dance and music had been woven into the programme being held in collaboration with the Chandigarh administration. A street bazar reminiscent of the Mughal period with shops and clusters of food stalls would be another attraction. She said nearly 60 eminent craftsmen from all over the country would exhibit their handicraft and handloom items at the festival.

The minister said a variety of cuisine would be the hallmark of the food extravaganza .A variety of cultural programmes projecting the cultural heritage of Incredible India would provide the perfect evenings at the gardens.

She said a dance-drama, "Krishna," would be performed by Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra artistes on the evening of the inauguration. The cultural evening on December 8 would be inaugurated by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda where qawwali would be presented by the Nizami Brothers and Chanchal Bharti. A kuchhipudi item by Radha and Raja Reddy would bring down the curtains on the festival. The minister said various competitions, including rangoli, face-painting and tattooing, would also be held.

Cricketer Kapil Dev along with others at the ICL tourney on in Panchkula would participate in a heritage run starting from the Yavnika Open Air Theatre to Red Bishop. She urged people to take part in this heritage run as it was open to all. A walk for senior citizens would be organised at the gardens during the festival.  

Rewari, December 3
The Dharuhera police has booked Rekha Sharma’s husband Sunil Sharma, father-in-law Vipin Sharma, mother-in-law Saroj Sharma, and four others on the charges of criminal breach of trust, criminal intimidation and wrongful confinement.

A case under Sections 498-A, 406, 506 and 342 of the IPC has been registered against them on a complaint filed by Rekha’s father Bishan Singh Sharma of Malpura village.

Sources said Rekha was married to Sunil Sharma on February 13 last.

Soon after the wedding, Sunil took Rekha to Jaipur where he and his father were employed at a hotel.

The complainant alleged that when he failed to fulfil the demand of a Maruti car, his daughter’s in-laws’ tried to force Rekha into prostitution at the hotel.Rekha opposed her in-laws’ demand, following which she was locked in a room and tortured. She was later shifted from Jaipur to their village house where she was again tortured, Bishan said.

ASI Babu Ram said investigations were on and action would be taken against the accused. 

Chandigarh, December 3
The Haryana BJP today described yesterday’s Rohtak rally of suspended Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi as “a flop show of money power”.

Leader of the BJP legislature party Ram Kumar Gautam said here today that by using his money power, Bhajan Lal and his younger son brought people from Rajasthan and Punjab, that too mainly the Bishnois, a community to which the former Chief Minister belonged, to the rally. He claimed that the local participation in the rally was not much.

Gautam said before the rally Bishnoi had been claiming that a “blast” would take place on December 2. However, the BJP leader said, Bishnoi could not bring any MLA or a senior leader other than those who were already with him, to the rally.

Moreover, he said, by not resigning from the Lok Sabha immediately, Bishnoi had exposed himself before people, who, by now had come to know that the suspended Congress MP was taking them for a ride.

Gautam also alleged that Bhajan Lal cheated all those senior leaders of the state, who had helped him in becoming the CM. Throughout, the BJP leader alleged, Bhajan Lal had been caring for himself or his family or his community. 

Chandigarh, December 3
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced the facility of free travel in State Roadways buses to disabled ex-servicemen of the state.

While making this announcement on the occasion of the World Disabled Day, the Chief Minister said this facility would be admissible to only those disabled ex-servicemen who would be suffering from at least 25 per cent disability. He said a proposal in this regard was discussed in the 38th meeting of the Rajya Sainik Board held here recently.

He said Haryana Roadways was already providing concession or free travel facility to various deserving sections. 

Gurgaon, December 3
Nitu, the bride to be, was disillusioned as her wait for the arrival of her bridegroom, Jagdish, by helicopter could not materialise as the Air Traffic Control refused to allow the helicopter to land at Kapasura, the bride’s village.

Not only Nitu but her family members were also excited to welcome Jagdish who was to land in a helicopter.

It would have been the first incident in the district where the bridegroom would have flown to his in-laws’ house in a chopper to solemnise his marriage.

Man Singh, father of the bridegroom, said Jagdish was his youngest son and he had dreamt since childhood that he would bring his bride in a chopper. He said he had hired the chopper by paying Rs 1.4 lakh.

Relatives of the bride’s said that they had taken prior permission from the deputy commissioner and additional deputy commissioner for landing the chopper at the marriage venue. He said a temporary helipad was also prepared for its safe landing.

Families of both the bride and the groom were upset as the permission to land the chopper was denied at the last moment. Pilot Pragat Singh said this season about 20 to 25 people had hired the chopper to solemnise their marriages.