Chandigarh, December 22
The Haryana government has promulgated an ordinance to amend various provisions of the Punjab agricultural produce markets act, 1961 (PAPM act, 1961).

Agriculture minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha said before the amendment, there was a provision of only Rs 500 as composition fee in the case of evasion of market fee of any amount. The lax provision facilitated the evasion of market fee by traders. As per the latest ordinance, in the case of evasion, a penalty ranging from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the evaded market fee could be imposed.

Chatha said care had been taken to ensure that traders were not harassed. The officer detecting the evasion and the one imposing the penalty would be different. This would mean that in case evasion was detected by the secretary of the market committee, the penalty would be imposed by the next higher officer (district marketing enforcement officer). A provision had also been made for the trader to be heard with regard to his lapse.

Chatha said the right to appeal had also been provided in the ordinance and all such appeals against the orders of the subordinate officers would lie with the chief administrator within a period of 30 days from the date of supply of the certified copy of the order. However, such appeals would have to be preceded by the payment of market fee as per the detection made by an officer.

He said in the case of failure of payment of the market fee, a provision of payment of interest on the amount had also been made. The government had also been empowered to take suo motu cognizance of any case and call for the records. The government had been also empowered to review its own orders.

He said it had also been provided in the ordinance that any order passed under this act would not be called in question in any civil court. No penalty would be imposed after the expiry of a period of five years of any contravention of the act.

The ordinance also provided for penalties of up to Rs 10,000 in the case of violation of other terms and conditions of the licence granted to the traders for the conduct of business, which would be in addition to the penalty imposed on account of the evasion of the market fee. 

Chandigarh, December 22
Infrastructure and finances are no constraint but Haryana’s health department is ailing for want of super-specialists.

With vacancies of doctors staring the department in the face and recruitment unlikely in the immediate future, it’s virtually an emergency situation in all five trauma centres of the state as also civil hospitals in each district.

In view of this “extreme shortage” of doctors, the department has moved a proposal for the training of surgeons for laparoscopic procedures as also the revision of grades to make government jobs an attractive proposition.

“We have sought the consent of surgeons willing to undergo training for laparoscopic procedures so that we can start our lithotripsy centres to benefit the common man. We have tied up with the PGI, Chandigarh, the PGIMER, Rohtak, and some other big hospitals for the training of surgeons. As per the availability of surgeons, we are keen to make lithotripsy available at all civil hospitals gradually,” says parliamentary secretary Krishna Pandit.

Immediately, the department is in urgent need of super-specialists, including neurosurgeons, neurophysicians, neurologists and urologists, for the six functional trauma centres which are “crying for aid”. Herself a gynaecologist, she knows that the first 24 hours are critical in trauma cases but doctors are just not available on a “regular basis”. To attract “quality doctors”, the department has even proposed that special scales be approved for the recruitment of super-specialists.

“We are trying our best to ‘fix’ this shortfall at the earliest. At present, we are making do with outside help on need basis. Our proposal has been put up to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Getting this done should not be a problem since health and education are priority areas for him too,” she maintained.

Pandit added that besides working out ways to meet the shortage, the government was committed to ensuring quality service in the field hospitals as far as the health sector was concerned.

“I have taken on myself the responsibility of carrying out inspection at all delivery huts set up across the state. Having 400 delivery huts means nothing unless these are really delivering. I have begun with Panchkula. Given my experience at these huts, I am of the opinion that nurses, too, need to brush up their skills and need a training capsule to refresh what they already know,” she held.

While a lot has been done to make essential medicines available at dispensaries and hospitals, she said the department had phased out inferior quality medicines and replaced these with the best available. 

Yamunanagar, December 22
A 28-year-old woman doctor of a private hospital here was found dead under mysterious circumstances in her room last night.

According to sources, the body of Gargi Chawla, a dental surgeon in Waryam Singh Hospital here, was found hanging in her hospital accommodation by a servant, who used to deliver food at night.

When no one responded, the servant raised the alarm and staff broke open the windowpane. The body was found hanging from the ceiling fan with a duppatta. They immediately called the police.

Gargi was a resident of Sharanpur and unmarried.

Her body was sent for postmortem examination in Civil Hospital here.

The initial postmortem report today revealed that the neck bone of the deceased was fractured and she had died 24 hrs before her body was found.

Her uncle, Sheetal Chawala, alleged that she had not committed suicide but it was a murder case. No suicide note was found.

The police also recovered the remains of cigarette and chewing tobacco. Her family said she was a non-smoker.

The police has registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC and are investigating the case.

The exact cause of the death would be revealed only after the detailed viscera report from Mabhuban lab in Karnal. — UNI 

Jhajjar, December 22
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today inaugurated Footwear Park in Sectors 16 and 17 of Bahadurgarh town and laid the foundation stones of Gymkhana Club in Bahadurgarh and an overbridge on the Delhi-Bathinda railway line crossing, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 21.02 crore.

After inaugurating Footwear Park, he assured the gathering that Bahadurgarh town would be developed as an industrial town on patterns of Gurgaon so that maximum employment opportunities could be generated in the state.

The park was developed by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC).

He said in the first phase 247 plots in Sector 16 and 368 plots in Sector 17 had already been allotted to entrepreneurs. He said during the second phase, Sector 18 would be developed and the process of land acquiring in Sector 43 was going on for the third phase.

The Chief Minister said Haryana had stood first in the country in the per capita investment, adding that five years ago it was on the 13th position.

Admitting power problem in the state, he assured entrepreneurs that the problem would be solved within the next two years as a number of power generation schemes had been launched in the state.

While referring to the demand by chairman of the Bahadurgarh Chamber of Commerce Satish Chikara, the Chief Minister announced that the Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) plots would be transferred on the name of the allottees after five years of setting up of their venture.

The construction project of Gymkhana Club in Sector 9 witnessed the foundation stone laying ceremony for the second time as former Chief Minister Om Prakash had also laid the ceremonial brick in December 2004.

District INLD chief and former MLA Nafe Singh Rathee said when Chautala laid the stone of the project, the election commission declared general elections on January 17, 2005, which was followed Assembly elections. Thus, the process had to be stopped due to imposition of election code of conduct. The tenders for the construction work had also been floated. He alleged that later the Congress government cancelled the tenders for the project.

He said some unknown persons demolished the former CM’s foundation stone, which was standing at the spot till ten days back.

Gymkhana Club, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 3.23 crore, will have a two-storeyed building.

Estate officer, HUDA, Sushil Sarwan said he had no information about the controversy. 

Jhajjar, December 22
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has made it clear that only draft lists of the people belonging to below poverty line had been issued and assured that no eligible person would be left out from the final BPL list.

While taking a dig on the opposition parties at a press conference in Bahadurgarh town of the district today, the Chief Minister said opposition parties were making hue and cry without any issue on the BPL survey only to take political mileage.

Earlier, he inaugurated a water augmentation scheme at Asaudha village costing Rs 1.68 crore. The Chief Minister said the Haryana government has decided that 4 lakh private potable water connections would be given to the people belonging to Scheduled Caste categories during the current financial year under the Indira Gandhi Drinking Water Supply Scheme and equal connections would be provided during the next financial year. As many as 30 lakh private potable water connections would be given in the state under the scheme. As many as 12,000 persons of the village would get 70 litre water per capita per day.

He said during the current financial year the water supply would be augmented in 1,000 villages in the state, adding that water supply in 1,900 villages had already been augmented during the last 33 months.

He said 88,000 water connections had been released under the Indira Gandhi drinking water supply scheme. The pipelines and a water tank of 200 litre with a tap would be provided free of cost to people belonging to SCs. 

Ambala, December 22
Arguments over framing charges against Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh could not be conducted today as the counsel of the chief filed three applications in special court of the CBI saying that the arguments should take place only after the CBI supplies them the required documents of the cases.

Special judge of the CBI court R.K. Saini adjourned the hearing for January 12.

The CBI has already filed a challan against the dera chief and a few others in Ranjit Singh and Ramchander Chatterpati murder cases and a case on sexual exploitation of dera sadhavis in the court.

Earlier, on November 17 and December 1, the arguments were adjourned on the plea of the defense counsel, who had taken permission from the court to allow him to produce some more relevant documents regarding the case.

He said the CBI had not provided the statements of 130 sadhavis of dera so far. But, the CBI counsel said he had provided all documents to the defense counsel.

DSP, CBI, Satish Dagar has also filed a written statement in this regard in the court. He has alleged that the defense counsel had been adopting the legal tactics to delay the arguments over framing charges.

A tight security arrangement was made on the court premises following the threat of Babbar Khalsa to eliminate the dera chief. The police did not allow mediapersons even outside the court. Mediapersons said it was an attack on the freedom of the Press and the Right to Information Act.

Some of the clients who had come to appear in other courts had to face a great difficulty.

A senior lawyer, Ajay Jain, and several other advocates protested against the action of the police when their vehicles were not allowed inside the court complex.

They said the matter would be raised before the district and sessions judge and the Bar Association. 

Fatehabad, December 22
After the rising of sons of many political bigwigs in the political horizon of Haryana, it now seems the turn of a son-in-law to make his presence felt. Kunal Bhadoo, a son-in-law of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, gave this impression today, when he toured several villages of Fatehabad to mobilise support for the January 12 rally of Hooda here.

Kunal, accompanied by local MLA and parliamentary secretary Dura Ram, today toured Bhodia Khera, Bhirdana and Bighar villages and exhorted people to participate in the Fatehabad rally in large numbers.

Kunal is a school-time friend of Dura Ram’s son Sandeep Bishnoi. Kunal received huge reception wherever he went.

A chartered accountant, who has graduated from the London School of Economics, Kunal struck an instant rapport with villagers.

During his address to villagers, Kunal said the Hooda government had been able to provide better governance to people of Haryana.

He said the law and order situation in the state had improved ever since Hooda took over the reins of the government.

Criticising opposition parties, Kunal said with no issue in their hands, these parties had been trying to mislead the people on the BPL issue.

Later, talking to mediapersons, Kunal admitted that the power situation in the state was not up to the mark but he attributed the shortage of power to the predecessors of Hooda who, he said, did not set up sufficient power projects with an eye on the future.

To a question, Kunal said the exit of Bhajan Lal and his MP son Kuldeep Bishnoi from the party would not have any impact on the party.  

Fatehabad, December 22
The Haryana government had recently announced some discounts in power bills for women and those paying their electricity bills regularly but the implementation of these schemes have been hanging fire due to lackadaisical attitude of the government.

Former Haryana minister Sampat Singh alleged this while talking to The Tribune here today.

He said the state government had announced three schemes for the benefit of its consumers last year, whereby women were to be given a discount of 10 paisa per unit on electricity bills, regular payers of the power bills were to be given 5 per cent discount on their bills and electricity connections of elementary education schools were to be converted from non-domestic category to domestic category but none of these schemes were implemented.

He said when the DHBVN issued its sales circulars in pursuant to the above three schemes announced by the government, the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission asked the DHBVN to calculate the financial impact of these schemes and the government to compensate for the loss, but the state government was not willing to provide cash subsidies to the power nigam. 

Bhiwani, December 22
To ensure smooth traffic in Bhiwani city, the district administration has decided to implement a new traffic system in three phases by January 26 next.

SDM Shiv Prasad Sharma told a press conference here yesterday that three-wheelers were the prime cause of traffic disruption in the city.

The administration would launch a campaign to check the registration, insurance, pollution certificates and driving licences of three-wheeler owners till January 7. Besides, vehicle fitness tests would also be conducted during this period, he said.

The traffic police would then conduct a survey of routes and divide these among three-wheeler owners.

The work would be completed by January 12, he said, adding that all three-wheeler drivers would have to paste their route number sticker, which would be provided to them by the traffic police, at the front portion of their vehicle.

In the second phase, the police would deal strictly with those parking their vehicles in the middle of roads and in crowded areas.

In the third phase, the traffic police would impound vehicles violating rules.

Traffic police in charge sub-inspector Sandeep said LPG-fitted vehicles would be challaned.  

Bhiwani, December 22
A man of the local Nehru Colony was beaten up and his father killed by assailants allegedly due to an old enmity. The assailants fled after the crime.

The police has sent the body for a postmortem to the civil hospital.

Raj Kumar, an egg vendor, said five motorcycle-borne persons came to his house last night when he returned from work. He said they took him in front of his house and started beating him up. When Suman, wife of Raj Kumar, pleaded for

mercy, they misbehaved with her.

Raj Kumar and Suman somehow managed to escape by running into their house. The assailants knocked the door for a few minutes and went away.

However, after a short while, the assailants came back and asked for the whereabouts of Raj Kumar from his father Suraj Bhan, who was sleeping in the front room.

When Suraj Bhan expressed his ignorance, they hit him on his head with bricks and later beat him to death using lathis.

The police post in Sector 13, HUDA, was informed. The assailants had fled by the time the police arrived.

Police post in charge Dinesh Kumar said owing to an old enmity, the assailants wanted to kill Raj Kumar, but ended up murdering his father Suraj Bhan. The police has seized the bricks and

lathis used in the crime. The police admitted the injured Raj Kumar to hospital.

A case has been registered. 

Rewari, December 22
The Sadar police has arrested two women — Kashmira, wife of Sukh Ram Bawaria, and her daughter-in-law Meena, wife of Pritam Bawaria — of Mandhia Khurd village on charges of assaulting and causing hurt to police personnel on duty as well as obstructing the lawful apprehension of accused persons in the village yesterday.

A case under sections 353, 332, 186, 224 and 225 of the IPC has been registered against eight Bawaria women, including Kashmira and Meena, as well as suspects Pritam Bawaria and Sonu Bawaria following a complaint made by inspector Sadhu Ram.

The inspector, along with a few other police personnel, had gone to the village to apprehend Pritam and Sonu, who were wanted in a case pertaining to the theft of electric wire.

However, as soon as the police personnel tried to arrest the two persons, their women folk allegedly opposed the move and hurled brickbats, injuring constable Narender Singh. The police had to leave the village without apprehending the suspects. 

Chandigarh, December 22
A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday allowed a bunch of petitions filed by postgraduates in Sanskrit. The petitioners were claiming that they were eligible for recruitment as teachers in Haryana schools. 

The Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) had issued an advertisement for recruitment of over 800 teachers for state-run schools.

In their petition taken up by the Bench, comprising Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Nirmal Yadav, the petitioners had claimed that the state government had advertised the posts prescribing qualification of Shastri or BA Honours in Sanskrit for recruitment.

The petitioners had claimed that they being postgraduates had higher qualifications and as such they could not be ignored.

In an attempt to substantiate their contentions, the petitioners had placed expert opinion in the matter for the court’s consideration.