Chandigarh, December 10
Thousands of apartment owners of the cooperative group housing societies in Haryana, who were at the receiving end of the November 7 HUDA notification regarding the registration of their apartments after the payment of stamp duty, got a temporary reprieve today with the Punjab and Haryana High Court asking the authorities concerned to decide on their representation within two months.

While disposing of the petition, a division bench of the high court directed the HUDA and the Haryana government to intervene and end the impasse within a period of two years. The deadline for the registration of the flats under the Act expired today.

The petition had sought directions to Haryana and HUDA against the notices issued to the members of societies as per which they were asked to execute and register a declaration deed under the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act, 1983 of their flats, failing which the FIR’s were to be registered and facilities of water, sewerage connections would also be disconnected.

The petition filed by the Forum for Common Cause Society through its president, Deepak Rai Walia, said on November 7 the chief administrator, HUDA, had issued a public notice with a direction to the members of the societies in this regard.

The petition claimed that under Section 43 of the Cooperative Societies Act, the societies had been exempted from compulsory registration of instruments. The petition said the impugned direction to the members for registration of their flats under the Act amounted to double registration.

The petition claimed that almost a similar condition had been set aside by the Allahabad High Court.

The petitioner also claimed that several representations had already been given to the authorities in this regard.

Meanwhile, the high court direction had been widely welcomed by the owners of the apartments. Talking to The Tribune, Walia claimed that the high court directive would go a long way in evolving a consensus on the contentious issue. In fact, the forum had been requesting the HUDA to discuss the matter in detail, which the latter had been delaying on one pretext or the other, he asserted.

President of the Haryana Group Housing Federation B.K. Sanghi urged the HUDA to call a meeting of various stakeholders to take a final decision on the issue keeping in view the spirit of the high court directive.

The apartment owners and HUDA are at loggerhead over the registration of flats under the Act.

While the HUDA insists that the registration was mandatory under the Act, the apartment owners term the HUDA decision as ‘illogical’ as the societies had already got the conveyance need executed in their names.

Gurgaon, December 10
The Haryana government seems to be perplexed whether the formation of the Gurgaon Development Authority (GDA) or the Municipal Corporation would be feasible for the planned and speedy development of the millennium city, Gurgaon, which is the show window of the state.

Interestingly, both the representatives of the people and top bureaucrats have proposed formation of the GDA, a number of times, but the proposal has not seen the light of the day so far and is lying in the government files.

The issues of the formation of a separate body for the district started in 2002 when the Chautala government had talked about the need for a separate body for Gurgaon.

Later, it contemplated the setting up of a Gurgaon- Faridabad leisure valley development authority for developing hilly tract between Gurgaon and Faridabad into a money-spinning leisure valley with mega facilities for recreation, entertainment and sporting activities.

The draft of the Gurgaon-Faridabad leisure valley development authority Bill was also not finalised.

Sources said the justification for the GDA was proposed on the grounds that almost an entire area of the new Gurgaon city was under the developmental jurisdiction of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). But the catch was that the HUDA was a state-level body and its rules and byelaws were for the entire state. With the rapid development of the city, new problems started cropping up and on a number of occasions, HUDA found difficult to cope with the problems. Besides, the private colonisers had been playing a major role in the growth of Gurgaon.

Sources said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had earlier cleared the proposal of GDA in Gurgaon, but local MLA and former local bodies minister Dharambir Gauba recently said the CM would make a formal announcement regarding the formation of the MC for Gurgaon on December 23.

Municipal Council’s territory extends only to the old Gurgaon town, an area of about 5 square kilometres. All new colonies and apartment blocks were not within any municipality control.

Therefore the inhabitants were not subjected to the payment of the house tax and other dues, which were to be paid to a municipal committee or corporation, sources said.

The income, according to sources, which was likely to be generated from the proposed move, was expected to be around Rs 6-7 crore annually.

One of the councilors of the MC, Anuup Singh of ward 4, stated that even if the Municipal Corporation was constituted for Gurgaon, the people and even the administration would not able to streamline the working process, as it would deal with civic amenities only.

He said the present council was unable to solve the problems of the citizens of the city, as there was shortage of staff and paucity of funds with the council.

He sought a body for the city, which would cater independently to all departments and not only to civic amenities.

There is a big question mark that if the government has cleared the proposal of the GDA than what is the need of constituting an MC for Gurgaon.

Jind, December 10
The state government has sanctioned about Rs 38.5 lakh for the repair of buildings of government and aided private schools in the district.

About Rs 8.80 lakh will be spent on 10 schools in the district during the current financial year. The condition of buildings in most of the government schools is poor. The shortage of rooms and building space in many schools have been common problems besides the lack of basic amenities, including potable water and toilets.

According to information available from the department concerned, the issue of repair work on school buildings had been taken up at a meeting held a few weeks ago and a grant of Rs 9 lakh was announced by the office of education minister Mange Ram Gupta, who hails from the district.

The district primary education office here said that at least 10 schools had been selected which would be given aid ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,75,000. While the primary schools located at Dalamwala, Ahirka, Taloda and Singhvikhera had been given a grant of Rs 50,000 each, two other such schools at Italkhurd and Barsola villages would receive Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000 each.

The government middle girls’ schools in Jind town and Dalamwala village had been sanctioned Rs 1.70 lakh and Rs 1.75 lakh, respectively.The schools at Sangatpura and Bal Ashram here had been allocated Rs 1.30 lakh and Rs 1.65 lakh, respectively.

A spokesperson of the department claimed that the minister had earlier announced aid of about Rs 29.5 lakh for the repair and construction of boundary walls of various schools in the district.

It is claimed that the government had raised the budget several times to meet the expenditure on repair work and construction of new rooms and buildings for schools in the district and the state. “Despite the claims and the grants announced the condition of buildings and the facilities for students and the staff are poor as there has been hardly any monitoring of the use of the funds received from the government,” claimed a government school teacher on condition of anonymity. He said there was corruption at various levels and a good part of the money either does not reach the designated points or was diverted for other purposes. He said the government should adopt a transparent method to ensure that the funds given by it were used properly and and in time.

He said there were a large number of schools whose buildings were in a dilapidated condition.

Despite the issue being taken by the local panchayats and other elected representatives, repair or reconstruction work had not been started over the past many years.

Most of the schools, especially for girls, were still to be provided with proper toilets and drinking water. Many classes were being held in the open due to inadequate rooms.

Karnal, December 10
Workers of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL), led by Tarlochan Singh and Master Balwinder Singh, held a protest rally and burnt an effigy of the state government and the district administration at Committee Chowk here today.

They were carrying banners in support of MLA Rakesh Kamboj and journalists. The procession started from Kamboj Dharamshala and went through the market before culminating at the Committee Chowk.

Tarlochan Singh said the government’s foundation had been shaken by the response generated by the December 2 “janhit rally” in Rohtak. He also condemned the attack on Rakesh Kamboj and his supporters and journalists in Karnal on December 1.

He said for the “Dalit samman rally”, which was held yesterday, the district administration had forcibly taken away vehicles from owners. He demanded action against senior officers of the police and the district administration for the December 1 lathicharge.

Sirsa, December 10
Residents of Suchan village today gheraoed the block development officer (BDO) and other officers alleging that the officials concerned did not conduct a proper survey of people living below the poverty line (BPL) in their village and many deserving persons were left out.

The incident occurred during a meeting of the gram sabha where BDO Fakir Chand and the other officials were present.

The villagers, who gathered there in large numbers, alleged that there were a number of persons in the village who were not included in the BPL list despite being eligible.

The gheraoed officers were allowed to leave only after police personnel reached there and assured them of proper help in the case.

Chandigarh, December 10
A petition filed in public interest against the Union of India, along with the states of Punjab and Haryana challenging the security cover provided to Dera Sacha Sauda and its associates was today dismissed as withdrawn.

In the petition, taken up by a Bench, comprising Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Mahesh Grover, it was contended that the security was being provided out of the tax-payers’ money without any basis.

The petitioners, Mehar Singh of Ludhiana district and Jasveer Singh of Faridkot district, had added that money should be charged for providing security in case it was necessary for maintaining law and order.

Chandigarh, December 10
In an exceptional judgement aimed at ensuring the reform of prisoners, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has tempered “justice with some mercy” to save five young robbery convicts from turning into hardened delinquents.

Taking up a bunch of four appeals filed by Sunil Kumar and others against Haryana, Justice Ranjit Singh of the high court has directed their sentence be reduced from 10 years of rigorous imprisonment to eight years.

In first of its kind judgement, Justice Ranjit Singh has ruled: “Dacoity is serious offence and cannot call for any sympathy in the award of sentence. The daredevil act of the appellants may not need any concession or leniency, but their young ages may constrain me to relent a bit to temper justice with some mercy.

“The appellants are stated to be aged between 19 and 21. No harm in hoping that the stint in prison of the appellants would restore them as good human beings to society. Any long incarceration may retard their reformation and is likely to give them prolonged opportunities to pick up versatile vices and return to society as hardened delinquents.

“Let us make an effort to reform them by lessening their rigours a bit by reducing the sentence to eight years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 395 read with Section 397 of the IPC. However, the sentence of fine, as also sentence of three years, coupled with a fine of Rs 2,000 as awarded to appellant Surender, alias Baba, under Section 25 of the Arms Act are maintained.”

The appeals were filed by Krishan, Davender, Sunil Kumar, Sombir and Surender. On June 30, 2003, they had allegedly committed a robbery at the farm house of one Satdev Tyagi in Murthal, along the GT Road. They were allegedly armed with weapons like guns and pistols.

Claiming to have been implicated, the appellants refuted the allegations, but did not produce any evidence in support of their defence. On the other hand, the state counsel submitted that the case of prosecution was well supported by evidence given by the complainant and the same was trustworthy and reliable.

After going through the documents and the record, the judge before reducing the sentence held: “If the appellants were sure that they were falsely implicated, they could have asked for an identification parade to be held…. It was for the appellants to seek an identification parade in case they wanted to get any benefit in regard to identification... Having given my thoughtful consideration to the entire evidence and record, I am of the view that the prosecution is  able to prove its case beyond any shadow of reasonable doubt.” 

Chandigarh, December 10
Officials of the Narnaul operation circle of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) today declared two additional villages - Dhansu and Hudina - as cent per cent compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) villages under the ongoing campaign for energy conservation.

With the declaration of these villages as cent per cent CFL villages, the total number of CFL villages in the area of the Narnaul operation circle has increased to 77.

A spokesman for the DHBVN said here that in Dhansu village, 76 consumers had replaced all incandescent bulbs. The consumers purchased 272 CFLs from the camp organised by DHBVN officials and the CFL vehicle of the DHBVN. As many as 47 CFLs were already in use in the village.

In Hudina village, 271 houses had metered regular power connections. With the replacement of all 631 incandescent bulbs in this village, the employees declared it a cent per cent CFL village. Fifteen CFLs were already in use in the village.

With the replacement of cent per cent incandescent bulbs, the load on the 100 kVA and 63 kVA transformers in Dhansu village has reduced from 287 A to 229 A and from 198 A to 163 A, respectively.

In Hudina village, there are three transformers - two of 100 kVA each and one of 63 kVA capacity. The load on these transformers has reduced from 287 to 223 A, 293 to 230 A and 203 to 195 A, respectively. — UNI 

Chandigarh, December 10
In order to encourage the people to use unconventional sources of energy, the Haryana government has introduced a novel scheme for providing subsidy on the installation of solar water heaters to the Haryana residents and the state government employees living in Chandigarh.

While stating this here today, a spokesman of the renewable energy department said under the scheme, a subsidy of Rs 5,000 for 100 litres and Rs 10,000 for 200 litres would be given to those who would opt to install these systems.

He said another scheme had been initiated for providing 100 per cent financial assistance for installation of solar water heating systems in non-profit registered social institutions such as orphanage, old age homes, working women hostels, juvenile homes, crèches, etc.

Fatehabad, December 10
The agriculture authorities here have seized six quintals of a fertiliser, alleged to be illicit, from a local trader and are launching legal proceedings against the firm and the manufacturing company.

According to R.K. Poonia, deputy director, agriculture, Fatehabad, Inderjit Singh, quality control officer, Fatehabad, had taken samples of a fertiliser manufactured by a leading company, Nagarjun Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited, Hyderabad, from a local grain market firm, Mehta Pesticide.

When the samples were sent to government testing laboratories for analysis, the fertiliser was rejected on the grounds that the specifications of calcium nitrate mentioned on it did not comply with the fertiliser control order (FCO).

Fertiliser manufacturers, according to Poonia, have to follow the FCO for percentage of its ingredients and the fertiliser seized from here did not comply with the FCO.

The department has seized all stock of the fertiliser lying with the trader and is launching prosecution proceedings against the firm and the company under clause 19(a) of the FCO, according to Poonia.

Manish Chawla, sales executive of Nagarjun Fertilisers and Chemical Limited, said the fertiliser manufactured by the company was in accordance with the FCO and the agriculture department’s action was illegal and unjustified.

He said the FCO prescribed 2 per cent tolerance in the quantities of calcium nitrate and the fertiliser seized by the authorities was within the tolerance limits.

Chandigarh, December 10
Woes of those travelling to Delhi on the GT Road via Panipat may be over sooner than expected. The 10-km-long Panipat elevated highway will be opened to traffic by February, nine months ahead of the scheduled date of completion.

Stating this here today, Haryana public works (B&R) minister Ajay Singh Yadav said the decks had been cleared for constructing a similar elevated highway at Badarpur on the Delhi-Faridabad section of the national highway. Its tender would be floated next month and work would start by May end. The project would be completed in 30 months.

After reviewing various projects of the department, Yadav said works pertaining to construction, maintenance and repairs of roads and bridges amounting to Rs 1,000 crore would be allotted before March 31 under the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Bridges and Road Infrastructure Development programme.

Existing roads and bridges would also be widening and strengthened under the programme.

After a bridge at Kala Amb gave way, the department carried a survey of 236 bridges in the state, out of which 145 bridges were found to be in the need of remodelling or strengthening. He said during the last 33 months, Rs 2,019 crore had already been spent on the roads and bridges while during the five-year tenure of the previous government, only Rs 1,744 crore was spent.

He said special thrust was being given for strengthening the infrastructure in the state so that investment could be attracted from outside.

The National Capital Region Planning Board (NCPRB) had also sanctioned a Rs 350-crore project for roads and bridges, which would include three ROBs at Rohtak, widening and strengthening of the Murthal-Sonipat-Kharkhoda-Sampla-Jhajjar road, Jhajjar-Dadri road, NH-10 passing through Rohtak town and the Rai Nahra-Bahadurgarh road.

Under the Bharat Nirman scheme, Rs 450 crore had been sanctioned for strengthening of 1085 km of village roads.

Commissioner, PWD, K.K. Jalan said due to the introduction of e-tendering, the cost of projects had gone down by about 7 per cent.

Rohtak, December 10
Criticising Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for announcing the grant of “alms” to Dalits in the form of free plots, house tax exemption and scholarships, the SC (A-Block) United Struggle Committee, Haryana, has asked the state government to give Dalits their due rights instead.

“The Congress regime in the state wants to divert the attention of the downtrodden from their actual rights by announcing such sops,” said Dr Vihay Kayat, president of the committee, while talking to The Tribune here today.

Attacking the state government for misleading the Dalit community, Dr Kayat pointed out that it had abolished the A-B block classification of Dalits in higher education and government jobs.“The government’s decision to abolish the classification is against the interests of the 42 communities of the most-Dalit category,” the Dalit leader maintained.

Dr Kayat, Reader at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here, observed that instead of making populist announcements like those made at the Karnal rally yesterday, the government should ensure due share for the Dalits in the state’s financial resources and create more employment opportunities for them.

He demanded a White Paper on residential plots allotted to Dalits since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru so that people came to know how many plots came into the possession of Dalits.

Jhajjar, December 10
After years of wait, the demand of residents of Bahadurgarh for a foot bridge across the railway line has been fulfilled. The people residing in “Line Par” colonies had been facing inconvenience as there was no safe passage for the pedestrians to cross over.

Significantly, the railways, which constructed the bridge, did not spend a single penny as the entire cost of construction was borne collectively by the Bahadurgarh Education Society and the MP from Sonepat, Kishan Singh Sangwan. The society shelled out Rs 20 lakh while the MP contributed Rs 10 lakh from his MPLAD Fund.

As one-third of the population of the town lives across the Delhi-Bathinda section, which is a busy track, the need for an overbridge was felt strongly. Besides, several schools and a girls’ college are situated across the rail line.

In the absence of an overbridge, many mishaps had occurred while people crossed the line.

The railways asked the residents to bear the cost of the project and said it would take care of the technical work of the overbridge.

The Bahadurgarh Education Society, management body of the Vaish College for Women, decided to raise Rs 20 lakh while the MP from Sonepat decided to contribute Rs 10 lakh from his MPLAD Fund.

Ram Niwas Gupta, president of the society, said the aged had often become the victim of speeding trains, especially in the winters, when thick fog reduced visibility.

He said when the demand for the overbridge was first raised about 20 years ago, the cost of construction was a mere Rs 3 lakh, which had increased 10 times now.

Thanking the society and the MP, Sangeeta Singh, a student of Vaish College, heaved a sign of relief and stated that crossing the line was always full of risk and they were now feeling safe.

The overbridge culminates right in front of the main gate of the college. The principal of the college, Santosh Mudgal, said she had been worried about the safety of the girls, but the bridge had removed her anxiety.

Kurukshetra, December 10
A six-day training workshop on ‘Capacity building of women managers in higher education’, was today inaugurated on the premises of Kurukshetra University by former chairperson of the UGC prof Armaity S. Desai, presently convener of the UGC National Consultative Committee.

The workshop has been organised by the Women Studies Research Centre, Kurukshetra and sponsored by the UGC.

She said efforts were being made to weave gender equality in higher education institutions.

Desai said this was the first workshop being held in the country this year and seven more such workshops would be conducted in various parts of the country. So far, nearly 2,000 senior women academicians had participated in the workshops all over the country.

She revealed that in spite of an increased participation of women in all sectors of education, India had lowest percentage of women at senior managerial level among the commonwealth countries. Cultural norms continued to dictate that the role of women at the workplace was secondary to her role as a homemaker.

However, the concept that women had the potential to contribute to effective management of higher education was an acknowledged fact.

Explaining the structure of the workshop, she said the country had been divided into five regions and there was one regional coordinator in each region. If the region was large, there was one sub-regional coordinator and a group of trainers.

Director, Women Studies Research Centre and contractor of the northern region, Dr Reicha Tanwar presented the report of the workshops organised in northern states in 2006.

Chandigarh, December 10
The Haryana government has constituted the Rohtak District Planning Committee under the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973.

According to a notification issued here today, the deputy commissioner, Rohtak, will act as its chairperson while the additional deputy commissioner will be its ex officio member-secretary.

The other members of the committee will be the district town planner, B.B. Batra, an advocate of Rohtak, Om Prakash, Balram Dangi, Narender Kumar, Nirmala Devi, Rajpal, Ram Niwas, Ravinder, Sumandri Devi, Satvir Singh and Sunita, all members of the zila parishad. Krishan Kumar, Santosh Batra and Kishan Kumar, members of the municipal committees of Meham, Kalanaur and Rohtak, respectively, will also be its members.

The following will be special invitees to the meetings of the committee: Deepender Singh Hooda, MP; Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda; Naresh Malik, MLA, Hassangarh; Shadi Lal Batra, MLA, Rohtak; Anand Singh Dangi, MLA, Meham; and Kartar Devi, MLA, Kalanaur.