Chandigarh, December 31
The Haryana government has decided to ignore the central government’s directive to give mandatory power to the state police complaint authority (SPCA).

The SPCA is an important component of the police bill passed by the state Assembly in March this year for bringing in reforms in the functioning of the police in the state.

The bill, following an advice of the state government’s legal department, was sent to the union home ministry for clearance.

While approving the broad framework of the bill, the home ministry raised objections on three issues, including power given to the SPCA.

The job of the SPCA is to receive complaints from the public about police officers and other police personnel, and examine the veracity of the complaints.

According to the bill passed by the state Assembly, the SPCA will recommend action against the guilty police personnel after satisfying itself about the truthfulness of the complaint.

It is, however, not binding upon the state government to act according to the SPCA’s directive.

The union government disagreed on this point and asked the state government to make the SPCA’s recommendation binding upon it. This, however, is not found acceptable by the state government.

Justifying the state government’s position, a senior official pointed out that accepting the SPCA’s directive completely could create legal wrangles, as some of the directives could come into conflict with rules governing the service of the cops.

The SPCA will be a one-man authority. A retired Judge or a retired civil servant (not less than a secretary) or a criminal lawyer with at least two decades of experience can be chosen for the position.

The state government will also ignore central directive to it to delete a sentence in the bill, which says that the police force of Haryana can be deputed beyond the state for duty.

The official said since police personnel were often needed to perform duty in other states, they saw no justification in striking off this provision in the bill.

The government has agreed to change the part of the bill that says the DGP of the state will have an uninterrupted stint of at least one year in office irrespective of the date of retirement of the incumbent. The Home Ministry pointed out that relaxation of retirement age would be in contravention of the all-India service rules governing the service of IPS officers.

While the state government has decided to accept the central directive on this score, it is doing so grudgingly because the Central government has itself overlooked the same rules while giving fixed tenures to some top central officials.

The bill is now being sent to the Governor for his assent. Home secretary K.S. Bhoria today had a preliminary discussion with Raj Bhawan officials here with regard to the smooth passage of the bill.

The state government has decided against knocking the door of the union home ministry again for approving the amended version of the bill. As a matter of fact, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and many other states did not bother to obtain clearance from the central government at all with regard to their respective police reform bills.

The state government is expecting to start implementation of the proposals early next year after the Governor gives his assent to the bill and makes it an Act.

Panipat, December 31
Government-owned VIP vehicles flouting traffic rules is a common scene on busy highways, particularly national highways.

Cops amidst heavy traffic and blaring horns make way for cavalcades of VIPs by stopping vehicular traffic. Also, caravans carrying politicians in light-atop vehicles don’t care to follow the prescribed speed limits and lane movement even under normal circumstances, admitted a senior police official.

Though no official data was available on involvement of VIP and escort vehicles in road accidents, the police admitted that such unwarranted road movements always risk lives of other motorists.

The state is all set to celebrate the 19th National Road Safety Week from the New Year. “Drive to care! Not to dare!” is the theme for the road safety week, which is to be observed nationwide.

The official data compiled by the department of road transport and highway (roads safety) of union government said about 90,000 persons were killed in road accidents each year. In 2005, a total of 96,000 fatal accidents took place in the country and negligence and over-speeding causes about 90 per cent of the total accidents, said officials.

Elected representatives and government officials, including senior police officials, should show some patience while travelling on roads, said another police official. To make such road safety programmes a success, the political class should set an example by following the traffic rules.

New Delhi, December 31
With a view to improving transport facilities between the Capital and important cities in the NCR within Haryana, state Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said that after Gurgaon and Faridabad the next stop for the metro train would be the two upcoming townships of Bahadurgarh and Kundli.

Talking to The Tribune, the Haryana Chief Minister confirmed that the state government would like to make another effort to ensure that the metro train was able to chug into Faridabad along with the one to Gurgaon before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

This Friday the DMRC Board of Directors had given the nod to the 13.87-km elevated route with nine stations between Badarpur on Delhi’s border and YMCA Chowk in Faridabad. However, the DMRC had also categorically confirmed that the metro would be able to reach Faridabad only by 2012 and not by 2010 as Haryana had been pressing for.

DMRC spokesperson said the Faridabad metro would be following a certain procedure. The detailed project report (DPR), approved by the Haryana government, would be sent to the Delhi government and the Group of Ministers (GoM) for final approval and the Rs 1,706 crore project could be included in Phase III and not Phase II.

Hooda, however, said he would like to make another effort to pursue the Faridabad metro to ensure that it was included in Phase II itself. “We will write to the urban development ministry and the DMRC to press for considering Faridabad’s case with that of Phase II,” he said.

He added that after Faridabad and Gurgaon, the next stops for the metro in the state would be the fast-growing townships of Bahadurgarh and Kundli. The Bahadurgarh link was likely to be possible through the Inderlok-Mundka branch line that was expected to be ready by March 2010.

Chandigarh, December 31
The Haryana government today issued the posting and transfer orders of six IAS and two HCS officers with immediate effect.

Anuradha Gupta, on return from foreign training, has been posted as commissioner and secretary, women and child development department, vice Maha Singh who has proceeded on leave.

P.K.Gupta, on return from foreign training, has been posted as commissioner and secretary, urban local bodies department, vice Maha Singh.

R.R. Fuliya, awaiting posting orders, becomes commissioner and secretary, archives, relieving Harbaksh Singh of the charge. R.K. Khullar, commissioner, municipal corporation, Faridabad, has been appointed special secretary, urban local bodies, in addition to his present assignment.

S.K. Goyal, deputy commissioner, Kaithal, has been given additional charge of joint secretary, environment.

Rajeev Ranjan, joint secretary, finance and planning departments, goes as joint secretary, revenue and disaster management, relieving D.D. Gautam of the charge.

Ranjan has also been given the additional charge of director, consolidation of holdings, land records and special collector (HQ) and special LAO, Haryana. Among the HCS officers, Pradeep Kumar will continue to hold the charge of subdivisional officer (C), Narwana, and Manoj Kumar, will continue to hold the charge of subdivisional officer (C), Narnaul.

Fatehabad, December 31
Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia on the Internet, today went back from its earlier stand on the issue of Benazir’s Haryana connection.

A paragraph in the Wikipedia had said forefathers of Benazir Bhutto belonged to Bhattu Kalan.

The Bhattu Kalan connection of the Bhutto family mentioned in the Wkipedia website said: “Before Independence, Shah Nawaz’s father, Khuda Bux, lived in the small town of Bhatto Kalan in Sirsa tehsil of Hisar district, India, and served the Indian Railway as a mechanic. Shah Nawaz went to England for higher education and afterwards entered the service of the Nawab of Junagadh. In that service, Shah Nawaz used the name of his native town, “Bhatto”, as his last name. Shah Nawaz Bhatto then became the Dewan (prime minister) of Junagadh state.”

Today, the website took a U-turn from its earlier stand and put forth a new paragraph below the earlier one which said: “Name of Sir Shah Nawaz’s father was Sardar Murtaza Bhutto, in whose name a house in Larkana named Al-Murtaza was built. Sardar Murtaza Bhutto was grandson of Khuda Bux Bhutto who owned all lands of Garhi Khuda Bux village. Khuda Bux’s elder brother was Peer Bux, in whose name there is a village called Garhi Peer Bux. Peer Bux was the great grandfather of Sardar Mumtaz Bhutto, talented cousin of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Above paragraph is totally wrong.”

It added a message saying: “Neutrality of this article is disputed.” It also added a line, “Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.”

Yamunanagar, December 31
The Haryana Environmental Society (HES), which has planted more than 50,000 saplings during the past 15 years in Yamunanagar, Ambala and Panchkula districts with almost 80 per cent survival rate, has started an innovative method to check instances of tree felling in the district.

The HES has recruited 50 rickshawpullers in the twin towns of Jagadhri and Yamunanagar, who act as volunteers for providing information on trees and immediately report any case of tree felling or pruning to the office-bearers of the society. The society would further be hiring 200 such volunteers.

It was only this morning that Ramesh Kumar, a volunteer, called up president of the HES Prof S. L. Saini and reported that five trees opposite the Bank of Punjab in Shivaji market had been chopped to the trunks.

“I immediately rushed to the spot and found that five trees have been mercilessly chopped”, informed Prof Saini.

He reported the matter to the officials of the district administration and the Municipal Committee of Yamunanagar on telephone. “I would be soon filing a written complaint with the officials concerned”, said Prof Saini, who has won several awards for the tree plantation drive he started several years ago.

He said the HES would pay an honorarium to rickshawpullers who would report tempering with trees planted by the society. Saini complained that trees were being damaged because of apathy of the officials concerned.

“The administration should take a punitive action against those who destroy trees”, he added.

New Delhi, December 31
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said the reverses suffered by the Congress in the Assembly poll in different states would not have any impact on the party’s prospects in Haryana as every state had specific issues.

In an informal interaction with mediapersons here, Hooda said the state had attracted an investment of Rs 40,000 crore under all previous governments while the figure had already touched Rs 28,000 crore under his government.

He said there was no controversy regarding SEZs in the state as the government had evolved a liberal and transparent policy concerning land acquisition.

Citing example of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway, he said the compensation given to the people had seen a four-fold increase under the present government due to the revision of floor rates.

The Chief Minister said the state government had sent a proposal for an airport in Jhajjar district on the KMP highway. The airport would help take away load from the International Airport at Delhi.

The proposal, sent to the Centre, has sought permission for the construction of a new airport catering to low-cost passenger services, air cargo, private operators, helicopter services and aircraft maintenance.

Fatehabad, December 31
Hazardous drinking water pipes that can lead to serious ailments like cancer are being used for supplying potable water to people in Haryana.

The pipes, having asbestos contents, have been banned in as many as 110 countries and even in neighbouring states like Rajasthan and Delhi due to the risks involved with these, but the Haryana government continues to use these much to the detriment of the health of its people.

Former Haryana minister Sampat Singh made these revelations while talking to mediapersons here today.

He said the state government had been spending crores in the purchase of asbestos cement crusher pipes (AC pipes) although various studies on asbestos had proved that it was a fibrous mineral which was cancerous.

The studies had revealed that asbestos fibre, when loose, could easily be inhaled or swallowed and it remained in the body for years eventually causing asbestos-related cancer.

Sampat Singh maintained that he had statistic data confirming that 110 countries across the globe had banned asbestos either completely or partially.

The AC water supply pipes are made of asbestos fibre, cement and crusher and as these pipes grow older, the asbestos fibre gets loosened and starts dissolving in potable water rendering it hazardous, said the former minister based on studies.

He said the studies had confirmed that “mesothelium cancer” - a disease where malignant cells develop on the protective lining of internal organs of the body - was almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.

The studies had further revealed that swallowing or inhaling of asbestos fibre also lead to fibrosis, a chronic disease that rendered a person sensitive to all medicines.

Sampat Singh maintained that for all these reasons, the World Health Organisation had warned the world about the perils involved with the use of asbestos.

Studies made by AIIMS and postgraduate institutes of medical sciences had revealed that cases of cancer related to asbestos had increased in North India, specially in rural areas of Punjab and Haryana in the recent times, Sampat Singh claimed.

The INLD leader said while the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) used ductile iron pipes (DI pipes) to supply drinking water in its sectors, the public health authorities, which supply potable water mostly in rural areas, had been using AC pipes with impunity.

Sirsa, December 31
Three unidentified motorcycle-borne youths looted Rs 1.05 lakh from the son of a businessman at Anaj Mandi here today.

Ajay Gupta, son of the owner of Neeraj Cotton Industry, was on his way to deposit the money in a nearby bank when he was stopped by the three unidentified youths who were on a yellow motorcycle.

The youths snatched the bag containing the amount from Ajay and sped away.

Police sources said two of the three youthshad covered their faces with masks.

The police has sounded an alert and intensified checking in different parts of the district to trace the three. SP Vikas Arora said teams had been constituted for the purpose.

He said the police had appealed to that residents that in order to avoid such incidents, any person carrying an amount of more than Rs 1 lakh could ask for security personnel from any nearby police station for safety free of cost.