Chandigarh, February 26
The alleged HCS selection scam today took a new turn when staff of the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), which had conducted the HCS and allied services examination, virtually raised a banner of revolt against the commission and accused its members of “ulterior motive”.

The staff have been perturbed by allegations levelled by certain candidates, whose selection is under judicial scrutiny, and former chairman of the commission K.C. Bangar that the record had been tampered with.

Describing the allegations as “totally baseless, frivolous and condemnable,” the staff have written to the chairman of the commission that all secret and confidential work relating to the examination was “confined” to the then secretary of the commission, Hardeep Singh.

The staff further wrote that for the past three years (after the Congress government came in power), the confidential record was under the lock and key under the “triple lock system,” without any access of the staff or the secretary. “It is strange that when the confidential record has never been in the custody of the staff and the present secretary, then, how the allegations of tampering can be levelled against them,” the letter said.

It further pointed out that a close relative of a present member and a former chairman and a son of a former member had levelled the allegations.

Even the commission’s counsel was levelling the allegations against its staff. The letter demanded that the commission should blacklist such advocates.

The letter says that the staff feels that the decision to handover two keys of the strong room, which were earlier with chairman M.S. Saini and a member Om Prakash Bishnoi to the controller of examination and the superintendent, examination branch-I, on January 18 (two days before the date fixed for production of record before the Punjab and Haryana High Court) “smacks of ulterior motive”.

It may be recalled that January 18 and January 20 were holidays on account of being Saturday and Sunday. The staff demanded that the keys of the strong room should be handed over to senior members of the commission.

The staff has also taken objection to the manner in which the commission had engaged advocates to present its case in the high court. The staff alleged that necessary formalities had not been completed before engaging the advocates.

Meanwhile, chairman Saini has filed his affidavit in reply to the inspection report filed by petitioner’s counsel Mohan Jain.

Surprisingly, despite the fact that during the last hearing, Jain had read the history question paper, which asked the candidates to “draw an outline of the map of India…and write a small note…”,

Saini has contended that the map from the answer sheet of a successful candidate Kuldhir Singh had detached after the evaluation. He also said all answer sheets had been thoroughly checked by the staff of the commission. “If the map had been missing before the evaluation, the staff must have pointed it,” he contended.

However, Saini has not explained how come that another candidate Aruna Nehra had drawn the map in her answer sheet as well as had written a note as asked to do in the question paper. If she had done something irregular, did the staff point it out? And how come she was selected as district food and supplies officer despite not having attached the map, which was compulsory question? Answers will be known only before the high court.

HCS Selection Scam

The staff have written to the chairman of the commission that all secret and confidential work relating to the examination was “confined” to the then secretary of the commission, Hardeep Singh

Rohtak, February 26
The controversy over alleged irregularities in the results of the MD/MS/MDS entrance examination conducted by Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) recently has intensified with many unsuccessful aspirants alleging that several PG seats had been sold to undeserving candidates.

The “affected” candidates today staged a demonstration in front of the MDU vice-chancellor’s office and raised slogans against the university authorities.

They also submitted a memorandum to the MDU vice-chancellor, Prof R.P.Hooda, and demanded that the entrance exam should be conducted afresh.

In the memorandum, it has been demanded that the entrance test should be cancelled and the whole matter thoroughly probed.

However, the VC maintained that the exam as well as the marking had been conducted in an objective manner and there was nothing wrong with the results.

Meanwhile, a group of candidates also met the Chief Minister and sought his intervention in the matter.

Faridabad, February 26
The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) cleared the project of setting up much desired solid waste management plant with the help of private sector.

The general House of the civic body agreed upon the proposal for the project, which will be set up on the Gurgaon-Palli road within eight months, the construction work for which is expected to commence next month.

The MCF will provide Rs 26 crore to a private firm for setting up the project. The MCF will also provide more than 50 acres of land to the firm on 50 years lease. The firm will hand over the entire utility and infrastructure to the MCF after the lease period. The firm will operate and manage it that time and also be responsible for clearing up solid waste disposals from the MCF area.

The development is considered to be a major achievement of the MCF and the green signal for the project has come as a great relief to the city residents.

A private party will also be entrusted with the assignment of setting up the project. It will also have the responsibility of collecting the waste-garbage from various centres to the city to the plant site for treatment.

The issue was debated in the MCF House and councillors were of the view that the responsibility of collecting the solid waste disposal by a private party to ensure smooth functioning of the scheme.

According to the MCF, the plant will have the capacity to treat about 600 tonnes of solid waste. Also, the project will be one of its kind as it would be marked by high capacity as well as avant garde technology.

The need for a solid waste management plant was long felt on account of the huge amount of waste generated in the city. The city’s population continues to expand and it had proved to be a tough call for the civic authorities to deal with growing heap of garbage. 

Chandigarh, February 26
It defies the general perception of anything associated with the government. For starters, it has been completed well before its deadline which ends mid-March unlike other government projects which hang fire and are forgotten. What’s more, it has all been done to perfection by the Haryana PWD (B&R) and not a private party!

Also, it hardly resembles a government building with the new-look Haryana Vidhan Sabha boasting of its sparkling tiled corridors, Italian marble flooring, tastefully done up interiors, and elaborate woodwork. If that’s not enough, the entire expenditure of renovating the entire Vidhan Sabha, including its offices and rooms of the powers that be, has totalled to less than the total projected cost of Rs 6.40 crore.

Though the façade of the Vidhan Sabha remains unchanged given its “heritage” status, the interiors have been spruced up without touching the basic character of the building.

Inside the House, the yellow carpet, in complete contrast to the woodwork, is the most striking change. It is gradually that you notice the woodwork around the pillars, the re-done officers’ gallery, the refurbished members’ tables and the combination of green and maroon seats that adorn the House.

False ceilings run overhead all over the Vidhan Sabha while a wooden panel for nameplates runs along the corridor housing the offices of the powers that be, including speaker Raghuvir Kadian, deputy speaker Azad Mohammad, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surjewala and all their staff.

Cement-tiled grey corridors have made way for floor tiles while the rooms have been done in combinations of creams and browns, creams and maroons and creams and greens. However, the entry to these rooms has been kept intact with the doors still in blues, reds, yellows and greens, in accordance with the original colour scheme. The library, the press gallery, the committee rooms and the conference halls have been given a brand new look.

Sources in the B&R department said the entire job had been completed in four months, its fastest-ever task. “We have done it up according to the directions given to us,” an official said.

With the first session in the renovated Vidhan Sabha some 10 days away, the House is getting its final touches and will be ready for occupation in a couple of days. Most of the offices of the Vidhan Sabha, functioning from the corridors, have now moved into their respective rooms dotted with partitions.

Chandigarh, February 26
The Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party today demanded a CBI inquiry into the allotment of industrial plots by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime in the past three years.

Addressing a press conference here senior BJP leader and vice-president of the party Gian Chand Gupta said that the PIL filed in the Punjab and Haryana high court exposed the “transparent and honest working” of the Hooda-led government.

The PIL had stated that a number of ministers, senior politicians and bureaucrats had been allotted industrial plots in Bhiwani.

Gupta said the plots were meant for those running small industries or those who had lost their existing plots to the acquisition process.

“The Chief Minister has been crying hoarse about how ‘above board’ his government is and that everything is done in accordance with the rules. How will he explain these allotments, which cast a shadow over the government’s claims of honest and fair working? What is the difference between former CM Om Prakash Chautala, who was accused of more scams than one, and Hooda? ” he stated, adding that “favouritism” in allotments was responsible for the growing number of educated unemployed youth.

Varinder Garg, president, investor cell, Haryana, said that if this was what the government was doing in the name of industrialisation, there was little hope of the state’s progress.

Criticising the Haryana government for inaugurating the Yamunanagar Thermal Plant well before it was ready, Gupta asked how the government plannned to compensate the people for the inconvenience.

“They spent public money on organising a grand show. Ultimately, not a unit of power has been produced at the plant. We are of the opinion that the Chief Minister was in a hurry to inaugurate the plant to save the private company from penalty. Now, they can hardly make up for the lost time.Everything is running behind schedule because of which the government is being forced to impose a penalty,” Gupta explained.

He also demanded that Congress MP from Hisar Jai Prakash should resign since his name had come up in the investigation of the kidney scam. “If he doesn’t resign, the Congress should take action against him,” he held.

Sonepat, February 26
The police has booked two eye surgeons, Dr Ramesh Narang, owner of a nursing home, and Dr Amit Bhatia, for alleged negligence while operating an eye of a six-year-old boy, Milan, a few days ago. The case has been registered under sections 326, 338 and 34 of the IPC.

The District Bar Association has demanded the arrest of the doctors within 48 hours, but no arrest has been made so far. The father of Milan, Manoj Sharma, an advocate, alleged in his complaint that Milan suffered a minor injury in one of his eyes while playing and was taken to the nursing home for treatment.

The boy was operated upon by the two doctors. Later, it was found that the lens of the eye had been removed.

The case was registered after a delegation of the District Bar Association met the IG, Rohtak, Anil Dabra, in the Police Lines here yesterday, demanding action against the doctors.

Reacting to the registration of the case, district president of the Indian Medical Association, Dr Arun Garg, termed it as “a case of exploitation” and defended the treatment given by the doctors.

Meanwhile, the police has reportedly sought expert medical opinion on the operation from the PGIMS, Rohtak, before taking action in the case.

Chandigarh, February 26
The CBI will investigate the murder of two girls whose bodies were found on the rail track at Prithla village of Faridabad district. According to information received here today, union minister of state Suresh Pachauri has issued a directive to the premier investigating agency.

The case had assumed importance because a panchayat of 52 “khaps” had alleged that a Congress MP and two union ministers were shielding the culprits. While demanding a CBI investigation, the panchayat had named the politicians suspected to be protecting the culprits. Later, a delegation of the panchayat, led by Palwal MLA Karan Singh Dalal, had met Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who had agreed to refer the case to the CBI. Sources say it was only after the Chief Minister spoke to Pachauri that the CBI agreed to take up the case.

Known as ‘prithla kand’, the incident had angered the residents of the area. The bodies of Manju and Mithlesh, both real sisters, were found on a rail track after they went missing while they were returning from their college. The incident was followed by large-scale mob violence. Postmortem of the bodies conducted at the Rohtak Medical College revealed “attempt to rape” and death due to strangulation. The Ballabhgarh CIA staff without any tangible results investigated the case.

Sonepat, February 26
Five persons, including two brothers, died on the spot while three others were injured when their tractor was hit by a cement-laden truck near Bhainswan Khurd village on the Rohtak-Gohana highway yesterday.

The deceased have been identified as Nanha Pahalwan, his brother Sunil, Dulit, Dinesh and Bhadka. All belonged to Uttar Pradesh and had come to Sonepat district to work as agriculture labourers.

The victims were returning to the village by tractor after working in the fields of Rajesh of Mahra village under the Baroda police station. Near Bhainswan Khurd village, as soon as the tractor took a turn to fill diesel from a petrol station, it was hit by the truck. The impact was so severe that the tractor was broken into two pieces.

The truck driver and conductor escaped from the spot. The police has impounded the truck (HR-55J-2271) and registered a case. The bodies of the victims were handed over to their families after postmortem.

Rewari, February 26
Three miscreants allegedly stabbed Rakesh Kumar, with a knife and looted Rs 1,300 as well as 13 kg of ghee from him while he was travelling in the Rewari-Delhi passenger train, somewhere near Khalilpur station, 10 km from here, last night.

Injured Rakesh alighted from the train at Kahalilpur station, where he narrated the incident to the stationmaster, who then conveyed the information to the Government Railway Police (GRP), Rewari.

Chandigarh, February 26
In a petition filed in public interest, two advocates have sought a probe into the alleged allotment of industrial plots to a minister, half a dozen ruling Congress party legislators, bureaucrats or their kin by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) at Bhiwani. Taking up the case, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia, issued a notice of motion to the respondents for July 8.

Claiming that the allotments were based on nepotism and without following any criteria, the advocates, Babbar Bhan and Satyajit, have also asked for cancelling the recommendations for allotment, approved by HUDA chairman on January 9.

The respondents include state education and transport minister Mange Ram Gupta and state chief parliamentary secretary Dharambir, along with ruling Congress MLAs Chhatarpal Singh, Shiv Shankar Bhardwaj, Som Vir Singh, Ram Kishan Fauji and ex-MLA Ram Bhajan Aggarwal. Among a total of 44 respondents, the bureaucrats figuring in the list includes: M.L.Tayal, T.C.V.Gupta , Rajive Arora and Jyoti Arora.

Chandigarh, February 26
The Central Ground Water Board has declared 55 blocks of Haryana as highly exploited areas, including all six development blocks of Karnal district, in the wake of the depleting watertable.

A board spokesman today said among these blocks, Karnal block had already been notified as a dark area in the year 2003 because of the depleting watertable. The other five blocks of the district would also be notified as dark areas shortly. In such areas, he said, no new tubewell could be sunk without the approval of the central authority. The district administration had been asked to get a survey of all tubewells of the district conducted for their registration. Also, this would help get information about ground water. — UNI