Chandigarh, January 20
Worried about the high incidence of deaths in Neem Khera village, the district health authorities, led by Civil Surgeon H.S. Randhawa, carried out a spot visit, stationed a delivery van and began the process of setting up a delivery hut to ensure the well-being of expectant mothers and infants.

A report published in The Tribune today had highlighted the fact that 20 children had died in the past six months in Neem Khera alone due to the lack of medical care. The village had gained a ‘celebrity’ status due to an all-women panchayat at the helm of affairs.

The villagers had identified the nearly non-existent road between the village and the nearest sub-centre at Punhana, 12 km from the village, as a “killer stretch” that made it impossible to take expecting mothers to hospital in time.

Consequently, some women ended up with stillborns, others died while still others were forced to deliver by the roadside. This is particularly shocking since the entire top brass in the health department right from health minister Kartari Devi to parliamentary secretary Krishna Pandit to secretary Navraj Sandhu and director, health services, Avinash Sharma, all are women.

Speaking to TNS, Dr Randhawa said a door-to-door survey had been carried out in the village by a team of health workers to identify the families which had lost their children during the past six months.

“The statistics are indeed shocking, but we will do our best to bring quality health service to their doorstep. As a beginning, we have stationed a delivery van in the village to facilitate easy transfer of an expecting mother from the village to the district hospital in Mandi Khera,” he said.

Posted a month back to Mewat, he said the survey had revealed that the village had indeed lost 20 children of which some were stillborns while most of them had died within the first three months. “We also found that most women were anaemic and have begun distribution of supplements,” he said.

During the day, he along with sarpanch Asubi Khan and other villagers identified a place to set up a delivery hut in the village itself. “The cleaning up of the place has begun to make a delivery hut functional in the village. It should be ready in a couple of days and we will post three ANMs there. This will ensure that proper hygiene is maintained while delivery and the villagers will not have to travel long distances,” he said.

Credited with introducing caesarian births in Mewat, Dr Randhawa said the department had also ordered the installation of hoarding about the delivery vans and huts being provided by the government to institutionalise the deliveries.

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner C.R. Rana admitted that the road was almost non-existent and full of crater-sized potholes. He cited “budget constraints” for the inability to get it repaired. PWD secretary K.K. Jalan said the carpeting of the road in question would be taken up on priority.

Barwala (Hisar), January 20
About 2,000 men and women from Budhlada in Punjab staged an angry demonstration and blocked the Hisar-Chandigarh highway for several hours here today seeking the arrest of all accused in a dowry death case and the recovery of an infant son of the deceased.

They began arriving here by chartered vehicles in the morning and their numbers swelled by noon. They were carrying placards and public address system from which they made angry speeches.

The protest was kicked off by the failure of the police to arrest all accused in the case relating to the death of Poonam whose body was recovered from a canal in Rajli village near here a few days ago.

Poonam’s father Ashok, who hails from Budhlada, alleged that his son-in-law and his parents had been harassing her for dowry after her marriage three years ago. They had even yielded to their demand for a motorcycle and cash gifts on her husband’s insistence several times.

He said the Barwala police had arrested only the victim’s husband and not the others involved in the case. He also demanded that his grandson be traced immediately.

On January 16, Ashok accompanied by Budhlada MLA Mangat Ram Bansal had met the superintendent of police in Hisar to press for a fair inquiry.

The protesters said they had descended here to build pubic pressure on the police and to appeal to the conscience of Barwala’s residents to help Poonam get justice now that she was no more.

They said Poonam’s in-laws had hidden her infant son somewhere and were now claiming that they did not know his whereabouts.

Panipat, January 20
A function, which was today organised by the Panipat MLA to prove his political strength in front of his masters, turned a bane for highway commuters as traffic on the busy NH-1 was disrupted for more than one-and-a-half hours by unruly motorcycle-borne Congress workers.

Rally organisers had asked the workers to gather near the Dussehra ground and other places on the GT Road to escort Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to the rally venue.

Interestingly, local MLA Balbir Pal Shah had publicly announced in advance about the plan to offer a ‘rousing’ welcome to the CM but the district administration made no efforts to ensure smooth flow of traffic on the busiest road of the region.

Officials remained mute spectators as motorists remained stationary on the GT Road for hours.

Addressing the rally at the vegetable market, Hooda said the state had chalked out a comprehensive plan for the development of Panipat. However, he did not mention any of the proposed projects.

He recalled a list of sops announced by the state government in the past, adding that power projects would soon start generating enough power to end the present crisis.

Following a charter of demands forwarded by Shah, Hooda announced to open a government college in the town.

He revealed that the state government had sent a proposal for canal-based drinking water supply system for the township, adding that the Rs 204-crore project had already been sent to World Bank.

He also agreed upon to meet the long pending demand of a pucca drain that would pass through the town.

The Karnal MP, Dr Arvind Sharma, demanded to include Panipat under the Jawahar Lal Nehru beautification plan.

Panipat, January 20
Should elected representatives accept expensive gifts of gold and silver at public functions? The question haunted bureaucrats and political observers after Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda accepted a gold key from Congress MLA from Panipat Balbir Pal Shah in the presence of several MPs, MLAs and top Congress leaders of the state here today.

Sources said ideally such gifts should be routed to the public exchequer but Hooda did not mention about the ownership of the key.

Surprised over the development, bureaucrats said right from the beginning the CM was never a part of the controversial practice of accepting cash or expensive gifts at public functions.

Interestingly, the political adviser to Hooda, Prof Virender Singh, made scathing attacks on a former Chief Minister and his family for indulging in corrupt practices of accepting “gifts” from businessmen and others.

Hisar, January 20
The All-India State Government Employees Coordination Committee has demanded the removal of disparities in pension benefits to retired Haryana government employees who were Punjab government employees before the reorganisation in 1966 and were allocated to newly carved states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and union territory of Chandigarh.

In a statement issued here today, the national president of the committee, M.L. Sehgal said the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, stipulated that the Punjab government employees who would be allocated to the new states and union territory of Chandigarh would get pay scales and pension benefits equal to Punjab government employees as applicable from time to time.

While Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh had implemented these provisions, Haryana had not done so far. As a result most of the retirees were getting much less benefits than their counterparts in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

Over the years the Punjab government had sanctioned five per cent additional pension to retirees on attaining the age of 65 years and 10 per cent on reaching 75 years. It had also granted LTC benefit after every two years at the rate of one month’s basic pension. The Punjab government had also granted medical allowance of Rs 350 per month in 2006.

While HP and Chandigarh had followed suit, Haryana was still denying these benefits despite its commitment at the time of the reorganisation.

Sehgal said if the Haryana government granted these benefits, the Punjab government would have to share the burden to the extent of 40 per cent as under the Act Haryana was sharing the same burden for their Punjab counterparts to the extent of 60 per cent.

He appealed to the Chief Minister to grant these benefits to employees who helped Haryana develop to become one of the top states in the country.

Hisar, January 20
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has offered to settle legal disputes with consumers out of court with immediate effect.

While stating this, a spokesman of the nigam here today said the scheme would remain in force till March 31 and cover all cases pending in courts, district consumer disputes redressal forum, state commission and arbitration as on August 31, 2007.

The cases in which penalty had been levied by the DHBVN would be settled out of court under this scheme. However, the scheme would not cover cases of power theft. For settling a case out of court, the consumer would have to pay 50 per cent of the amount initially assessed along with simple interest of 15 per cent per annum on the unpaid amount of the reduced amount, he added.

The scheme would also be applicable to the cases where dispute is on account of applicability of multiplying factor wherein the amount calculated as per multiplying factor would be charged along with simple interest of 15 per cent instead of surcharge.The scheme would also be applicable to the cases where amount had been charged on average consumption of electricity basis on payment of 50 per cent amount along with simple interest of 15 per cent per annum on the unpaid balance amount of the reduced amount, he added.

The nigam has authorised its sub-divisional officers to settle the cases. They would personally contact those consumers whose disputed amount was less than one lakh. Executive engineers have been instructed to contact those consumers personally whose disputed amount was more than that.

Chandigarh, January 20
In an unexpected turn of events, the long-standing dispute about the “real” Haryana Olympic Association (HOA) led by Abhey Singh Chautala and Congress MP Naveen Jindal stands “resolved”. At least in the eyes of the HOA secretary-general and president of the Jat Sabha, Dr M.S. Malik.

In reply to a question on the status of the dispute over headship at a press conference after the inauguration of a free medical camp at Jat Bhawan, Sector 27, to everybody’s surprise, Dr Malik said, “It is not an issue anymore”.

“Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda acknowledges this and so does Haryana sports minister Kiran Chaudhary. We appreciate them for recognising the real HOA led by Khel Ratan Abhey Singh Chautala,” he said, as the matter became even more intriguing for journalists present at the function.

In response to their quizzed looks and as an “evidence” to substantiate his claim, he produced a letter of the Equestrian Federation of Haryana, which had applied to “their” HOA for recognition. “The Chief Minister is the chief patron of the federation while the sports minister is the patron. If the secretary-general of this federation, Wg Cmdr Inderjeet Singh Lamba, has applied to us for recognition, they do realise that we are the real HOA and not the one led by Jindal and company. If the letter is not enough, we have even received a fee of Rs 5,000 for the same and the application for recognition was received by us on December 1 last year,” he disclosed.

“In my reply, I have told them that I alone cannot decide the issue of granting recognition but have written back that their case would be put up before the board as and when it meets. We appreciate the non-prejudiced attitude even if it is in their own interest,” he claimed, dismissing Jindal’s HOA as a flash in the pan which has died its own death.

Meanwhile, he said medical facilities were not reaching where they should be. “If there are hospitals, there are no doctors and vice-versa. We will hold free medical camps beginning with the first at Kaithal on March 16. We will go to every village to provide quality service to the public and have follow-up arrangements as well,” he stated.

Though MP Ajay singh Chautala and Abhey Singh Chuatala failed to make it for the inauguration of the free medical camp, specialists from reputed institutes attended to over 500 patients.

Chandigarh, January 20
About 88 per cent voters exercised their franchise in the municipal elections, which were held for the offices of 169 members of municipal committees of the state today.

The polling, which started at 8 am and concluded at 4 pm, was totally peaceful and no untoward incident was reported.

Haryana state election commissioner Chander Singh said as per the election programme issued by the Election Commission, Haryana, the votes for the offices of 169 members of municipal committees Haily Mandi, Pataudi in Gurgaon, Tarou in Mewat, Narnaund in Hisar, Siwani and Bawani Khera in Bhiwani, Kalayat and Pundri in Kaithal, Indri and Nilokheri in Karnal, Kharkhoda in Sonepat, Kalanaur in Rohtak and Beri in Jhajjar were polled today. He said in these elections electronic voting machines (EVM) were used and 13 returning officers were appointed besides 163 polling stations were set up and 815 polling personnel were deputed to conduct these elections free and fare. He said one observer (elections) and one observer (expenditure) were also appointed in each district for smooth conduct of the election.

The counting of votes started at the polling station immediately after the closing of polling. He said after the counting of votes, the presiding officer would send the votes secured by each candidate in Form 18 to the returning officer. — UNI

Chandigarh, January 20
Street vendors across the country, tired of being labelled as encroachers and forced to run every time they spot the local bodies enforcement staff arrive, have a reason to cheer.

The union government is almost ready with a street vendors’ policy, which will come out as a model act and will be applicable nationwide shortly.

Speaking to The Tribune here today, union minister of state for housing and urban poverty alleviation Selja said the model act was being prepared to “protect” the interests of vendors and was in its final stages.

“There are a lot of litigations that involve street vendors even though they play a sustained role in economy-building at a micro level and provide service to society literally at their doorstep. Then, in view of any norms or rulebook governing them, they were at the mercy of the local mafia and unscrupulous elements. The model act is an attempt to rescue and streamline them,” she said.

Though no statistics are available to put a number to these vendors, they run into lakhs across the country. The policy-in-making emphasises on not letting them become encroachers. Instead, it says that the vendors should be issued identity cards and areas in the vicinity be marked for them to station their carts (rehris).

“Chandigarh is a very good example of managing the vendors. On the same pattern, the local bodies can make rehri markets in different pockets of the city or initiate the concept of weekends markets so that they are not labeled as encroachers and can earn their livelihood with dignity,” the minister maintained.

However, the policy would come only as a model act, which could be followed by the states in their respective jurisdictions. “There was a constant demand from certain states to formulate such a policy to lay down guidelines governing vendors. We cannot legislate because this subject falls in the purview of the local bodies. The policy, formulated in keeping with the need and demand, is almost ready and will soon be tabled in the cabinet meeting,” Selja explained.

On the issue of urban housing projects, the minister said she had written to all Chief Ministers asking them to frame their policies and action plan. In view of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM), she said it could cater to the needs of 1.5 million of a total of 24.7 million, which formed the economically weaker section (EWS) or the low income group (LIG).

“Given the heavy burden of this class, the only way is to reserve 10 to 15 per cent and 20 to 25 per cent of floor-area-ration in every housing project for the EWS and the LIG,” she stated.

The minister said they were keen to bring in the private sector as well for this exercise and were in a favour of adopting cost-effective technology. “We advocate the use of modern methods though this does not mean poor quality houses,” she emphasised.

Hisar, January 20
The chairman of Confed and president of the Haryana Pradesh Beopar Mandal, Bajrag Das Garg, has sought a raise in the income tax exemption limit.

He said the income tax exemption limit for men should be raised to Rs 1.5 lakh and women to Rs 2 lakh.

In letters sent to the Prime Minister and the union finance minister, he stated that currently small businessmen had to pay 30 per cent tax on income of Rs 2.5 lakh. He demanded that this limit should be raised to Rs 5 lakh and the rate of tax be cut by 5 per cent.

He said figures of the Government of India showed that with rationalisation of tax structure, revenue receipts had risen appreciably. Going by the trend, it would be appropriate to reduce taxes to check tax evasion and generation of black money.

Garg said he was certain that revenue receipts would go up if individual as well as corporate tax rates were brought down. Besides, he said the current income tax rates were very high even by international standards. The imposition of service tax had also put considerable burden on the common man.

He appreciated Haryana government’s recent decisions to rationalise sales and other taxes leading to higher revenues.

Yamunanagar, January 20
The police has booked three persons, including two brothers of Gandhinagar here, for allegedly raping a girl.

A medical examination of the girl was conducted and the police has started a search of the accused.

The victim is a daily wage labourer at a brick-kiln. In the police complaint, she alleged that Shaukin, a fellow labourer, proposed her for marriage and later the two became friends. She alleged that he raped her on December 6. His brother Mustaak and a friend, Mushid, allegedly helped him in committing the crime.

She reported the matter to her family members and a panchayat was held on December 10. Shaukin’s family assured the girl’s family that they would soon marry Shaukin and the girl.

The girl alleged that soon after Shaukin refused to marry her. The girl’s family had filed a complaint in a court and the matter was reported to the police. A case under Section 376, 506 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the three.