Chandigarh, January 9
In a landmark order, the Haryana Information Commission has held that all NGOs, substantially funded, directly or indirectly by the appropriate government, fall under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.

Even if such institutions have been set up by a registered society, they are covered under the definition of “public authority” as explained in Section 2 (h) (d) of the Act and are obliged to give information.

The order came on a complaint petition filed by Vinita Sood, a lecturer of MDSD Girls College, Ambala City, against the college principal, who took a plea that the college needn’t give information as it was not covered under the RTI Act.

Disposing the complaint, Haryana information commissioner Meenaxi Anand Chaudhry directed Kiran Angra, public information officer-cum-college principal, to “provide complete information to appellant and submit a compliance report to the commission by January 20”.

Sood, in her application, filed in August 2007, had sought information regarding an inquiry held against her between May 4 and May 26 and the status of follow up action on the report. Denying information, the authorities asserted that being a private institution established by a registered society, the college was not covered under RTI Act.

The college denied information irrespective of the fact that the higher education commissioner, Haryana, had in April directed all non-government colleges to appoint public information officers and first appellate authorities as per the Act.

The respondent argued that the college didn’t fall within the meaning of public authority as defined by Section 2 (h) (d) (ii) of the Act as it had not been “established or constituted by notification issued or order made by the appropriate government”.

Section 2 sub-clause “d” defines public authority as an institution set up by notification issued or order made by the government and includes (i) a body owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government and (ii) NGO substantially financed directly or indirectly by government. The respondents said they didn’t fall in category (ii) as this category needed to be read in inclusion of sub-clause “d” which says public authority should have been established by a government order.

The commission has, however, set aside this argument and clarified that the NGOs substantially funded by the government directly or indirectly fell under the Act.

“The context in which the expression ‘includes’ has been used in Section 2 (h) (d) shows that this inclusive definition is exhaustive in meaning. The legislature has sought to bring all NGOs which are recipients of substantial funding from the state government under the definition of public authority even when they are not established or constituted by a notification or order,” rules the commission. 

Chandigarh, January 9
The Power Utilities and department today announced an “open access” policy of allowing private players to step in for catering to the power needs of bulk consumers.

Aimed at meeting industry’s demand for uninterrupted power supply, the department, with this move, also intends to improve its supply by distributing the power thus saved. This was announced by Haryana power minister Randeep Singh Surjewala at a press conference here today.

“Industry wants power and is ready to pay for it. We don’t have any additional source of power to meet this demand. At a time when a supply of just about 3,000 MW is available and the demand has crossed 5,000 MW, this seems to be the best option, especially since there is a provision for the same in the Indian Electricity Act, 2003,” he said.

This policy would mean direct dealing between the consumers and the power generator. The offer was available to consumers having 1 MW and above demand being fed through independent feeders. As an incentive to “encourage” bulk consumers to explore this option, the department had decided to waive surcharge and additional surcharge levied by distribution companies Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam.

“If we can encourage ‘open access’ to bulk consumers to help them source their own requirement from players anywhere in India, it will help improve the overall power availability in the state which can be diverted to individual small consumers,” he explained.

Under this policy, for the use of the distribution system of the two companies (below 33 kv), the open access consumer would pay wheeling charges of 25 paise for 1 unit of electricity and be charged a distribution loss of 6 per cent of the total energy wheeled.

The consumers availing themselves of this facility would not be levied any reactive energy charges or area load desptach charges. However, they would be required to pay state transmission and state load despatch centre charges, as applicable to transmission charges of the state transmission utility if they were bringing power from outside the state. At present, the SLDC charged Rs 1,000 per day and 4.6 paise per kwh.

In addition, these consumers would be required to provide “special energy meters” with a higher accuracy than the regular meters before applying for open access. Under these incentives, valid till March 31, 2009, the department would install independent feeders for consumers at the cost of the latter.

Meanwhile, general secretaryof the Haryana PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vishnu Goyal, while welcoming the step, said the onus would be on the department to provide independent feeders at the earliest.  

Yamunanagar, January 9
The first unit of the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Plant here will start commercial production of electricity from January 15. The plant of Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited is being installed by Reliance Energy Limited.

Virender Singh, political adviser to the Chief Minister, announced this after inspecting the ongoing work at the thermal plant here today.

He said the second unit of 300 MW of the plant would start production by March. He had a dig on opposition parties criticising he government for shortage of power in the state.

“Work on four mega power projects has been started by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hood and by 2010 there will be surplus power in the state,” said Singh, who made his second inspection of the plant in less than 15 days.

He also had a dig at former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal by accusing him of not starting work on the plant which was inaugurated during his tenure about 15 years ago.

“When the foundation stone of the plant was laid during the tenure of Bhajan Lal, the cost of the project was only Rs 400 core, which later increased to Rs 2,400 crore,” said the political adviser.

Deputy commissioner Nitin Yadav, chief engineer (HPGCL) O.P. Manchanda, SE (HPGCL) Darbara Singh and project director (REL) P.K. Bhasin were among those who accompanied Singh.

Earlier, while addressing a gathering of Congress workers after administering oath of office to Satpal Boobka and Sanjay Gupta, newly appointed chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the Radaur Market Committee, he said work on four canals was in full swing which besides enriching the groundwater would provide ample irrigation water to farmers.

He said the government would ensure that people from the state got maximum jobs in the proposed special economic zones.

Later, he also administered oath of office to Pawn Rana, chairman of the Bilaspur Market Committee.  

Gurgaon, January 9
India is emerging as the future hub of world production therefore a joint effort is needed for improving safety, health and working environment for labourers employed in various factories.

Union minister of state for labour and employment Oscar Fernandes stated this while inaugurating the three-day 48th All-India Conference of Chief Inspectors of Factories here today. The conference has been organised by the Haryana government at the local Haryana Institute of Public Administration.

Inspectors from all over India and representatives of directorate of the General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institute, Mumbai attended the conference. Fernandes hoped that the deliberations in the conference would focus on how to change the era of inspector raj to an era of inspector as a friend and guide of workers.

He said the suggestions emerging from this conference would be taken care by the union labour ministry. The delegates should also share information on mutual safety and health matters.

Fernandes said the conference was being held for the past 70 years. No measures had been taken to stop accidents in factories.

He said he was not against giving compensation to accident victims but the chief inspectors and people concerned should analyse the cause of accidents and take statutory measures to stop recurrence of such accidents.

He said the management should envisage minimum standards of safety, health and environment for the workers to enable them to face challenges in the global economic world.

The International Labour Organisation had framed a number of conventions and guidelines for safety and health of labourers. India had ratified 41 out of 187 conventions. He said Haryana was the only state in the country, which had struck a balance between agriculture and industrial growth.

Earlier, labour and employment minister of Haryana A.C. Choudhary said Haryana had become the first state to have a labour policy. He said 55 special schools had been opened for child labourers in Panipat district. 

Gurgaon, January 9
M/s Jaypee DSC Ventures Limited, which upgraded the national highway between the Delhi-Gurgaon stretch of National Highway no 8, has notified the rates of user fee to be levied from various categories of vehicles. The fee will be revised at the beginning of each financial year.

The project has been implemented under a concession agreement signed between the National Highways Authority of India and M/s Jaypee-DSC Ventures Limited on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis on April 18, 2002. As per the agreement, the concessionaire is entitled to recoup investment by collection of user fee from commuters.

For this purpose, three toll plazas have been erected on the project highway, one at the Delhi-Haryana border (24 km), second at the end of the project reach i.e. at 42 km and one more toll plaza at the intersection of a loop leading to Indira Gandhi International Airport (International Terminal).

A company spokesman said passes for local commercial and local personal traffic would be issued on monthly basis. The discounted rates for local personal traffic would be 50 per cent of the applicable fees for the specified category of vehicles and for local commercial traffic it would be 66 per cent.

He further said some of the vehicles would be exempted from payment of user fee. These vehicles included ambulances, fire tenders and official vehicles transporting and accompanying the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, ministers of Government of India, Governors, Lt Governors, Chief Ministers, presiding officers of central and state legislatures having jurisdictions, ministers of state government, judges of the Supreme Court of India and of the High Courts having jurisdiction, secretaries and commissioners of the state government, foreign dignitaries on state visit to India, heads of foreign missions stationed in India using cars with CD symbol, executive magistrates, officers of ministry of road transport and Highways, the National Highways Authority of India, persons required for the project for discharging their statutory obligations in relation to the site, independent consultant and central and state forces in uniform, including armed forces, paramilitary forces and the police. 

Bhiwani, January 9
The dispute between contractors of the Khaanak mines area has taken a new turn, with a supporter of one of the two warring groups lodging a complaint of murder conspiracy against contractors of the other group. 

This has ended all hopes of a compromise between the contractors. A dispute had arisen between Baba Mungipa Mines and Minerals and Rajpal and Company over the mines.

Both groups had levelled allegations against each other. Later, the district administration took over the mines and appointed a receiver under sections 144 and 145 of the Cr PC on December 25.

Under the receiver, the mines had started making huge profits. Seeing the mines slip from their hands, the contractors tried to patch up. They approached the district administration to regain control over the mines, but were asked to come through the court.

This created bitterness among the partners and Sunil Kumar, a supporter of contractor Ved Pal Tanwar, lodged a complaint against crusher owners Narender Syahadwa, Vijayant Bambhu, Rampal Bhatla, Rampal Khaanak, Prem Chand, Daljeet and Kuldeep regarding a murder conspiracy against him. The police registered a case under section 307 of the IPC against them.However, the contractors termed the complaint as baseless.

Sunil Kumar said in his complaint that the contractors had attacked him on December 14 and he was injured. He was admitted to a private hospital.

Meanwhile, the district administration is still awaiting replies against notices issued to the contractors regarding sales tax, welfare fund and the gram panchayat fund. 

Rewari, January 9
Vijay Rao, chairman of the Rewari Municipal Council, has been suspended by Haryana local bodies director R.P. Bhardwaj on charges of corruption and irregularities in development works carried out by him in various parts of the town.

His explanation regarding the above charges of corruption and irregularities was reportedly found unsatisfactory as well as unacceptable by the director.

Earlier in January 2007, 16 of the 31 councillors of the MC had submitted to the deputy commissioner their complaint of accusation seeking a full-fledged inquiry into Vijay Rao’s various acts of omission and commission.

Consequently, additional deputy commissioner Mahender Singh Yadav, who conducted the inquiry, recently submitted his report to deputy commissioner Chander Prakash who on December 17 forwarded it to the director of local bodies for necessary action.

The ADC had indicted Vijay Rao for his alleged corrupt practices.

Subsequently on December 18, a show-cause notice was served on chairman Vijay Rao by the local bodies director. 

Yamunanagar, January 9
All private and government primary schools in the district will remain closed till January 16 from tomorrow in view of the prevailing cold and fog conditions during morning hours. The timings of middle and secondary schools have been changed.

Deputy commissioner and district magistrate Nitin Kumar issued the order under section 144 of the CrPC. In the order, schools have been asked not to go ahead with any other activities like picnics, which are normally held during vacation. However, the schools can carry on with preplanned external examinations that are scheduled and cannot be changed by the management of the school at the local level.

The timings of middle and secondary schools have been changed from the earlier 8 am to 2 pm to 9 am to 2.30 pm, according to a spokesman for the district administration. 

Chandigarh, January 9
The Haryana government has decided to enhance the fixed rate of honorarium by 30 per cent for guest teachers engaged on the guest faculty basis in government schools with effect from January 1, 2008.

While stating this here today, education minister Mange Ram Gupta said that with this decision the additional financial burden on the state exchequer due to the increase in the honorarium would be Rs 3 crore per month.

While giving details of the honorarium, he said now school lecturers would get Rs 105 per period as against Rs 80 per period and the total periods in a week would be 30. Masters would get Rs 70 per period as against Rs 55 per period and they would have to teach 36 periods. For Hindi, Sanskrit and Punjabi teachers there would be 39 periods and they would be given Rs 65 per period as against Rs 50 per period earlier.

The minister said similarly drawing teachers would get Rs 60 per period as against Rs 45 and they would have to teach 39 periods a week. He said JBT teachers would get Rs 295 per day as against Rs 225 for the full day. 

Chandigarh, January 9
Quashing an order issued on June 9, 1989, declining approval for the appointment of two lecturers at Pehowa DAV College, Justice M.M. Kumar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Haryana’s director of higher education to issue a fresh order according approval to their cases. 

In the petition filed in 1989, Dharmendra Singh and Ramesh Lal had sought directions to the director to permit principal, Pehowa DAV College, to appoint them as lecturers on regular basis and approve their appointments.

The petitioners had contended that the DAV College management committee had advertised, on October 13, 1988, two posts of lecturers in political science and commerce in DAV College.

The posts were advertised in anticipation of transfers of one lecturer each in political science and commerce from Pehowa DAV College to Ambala DAV College.

On December 23, 1987, instructions were issued postulating that no regular appointment was to be made after December 15, 1987. In case the post was to be filled, prior approval of the directorate was to be obtained.

The petitioners stated that they could not be appointed, although they were selected, due to lack of approval concerning transfers of regular incumbents from the Pehowa to Ambala DAV College.

Subsequently, the director refused to approve the appointment on the ground that on the date of their selection, the posts were not actually lying vacant.

Hisar, January 9
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has decided to make the use of the energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) mandatory for all tubewells in its area.

The DHBVN region comprises Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Gurgaon, Mewat and Faridabad districts.

A DHBVN spokesman here today said the farmers would be asked to replace all existing incandescent bulbs installed in the motor rooms of 2 lakh tubewells by January 31 at their own cost.

With effect from February 1, farmers found using incandescent bulbs in tubewell motor rooms would face immediate disconnection without any notice.

He said as per an estimate, total number of traditional bulbs used on tubewells in the DHBVN area was about 3 lakh as there were two bulb points on each tubewell.