Rohtak, February 28
Mamta, a 10-year-old girl living in Bahadurgarh subdivision of Jhajjar district, was allegedly assaulted by her stepfather with hot tongs. Her crime: she had not cleaned some utensils.

After being thrashed, the hapless girl was thrown out of her house. A neighbour called the police, following which she was admitted to the civil hospital at Bahadurgarh. Later, in view of her critical condition, the girl was shifted to the PGIMS here.

When this correspondent approached Mamta in her ward today, she was still in a state of trauma. “I could not clean the utensils on that day because my arm was aching,” she said on being asked about her injuries.

The child maintained that she was often thrashed by her stepfather, who worked as a daily-wage labourer. “Some days ago, I was beaten up, struck with hot tongs and thrown out of the house,” she stated.

At present lodged in ward 12 of the PGIMS with an injured arm and burn marks on her limbs and back, she is being looked after by hospital staff members and volunteers of the Manav Sewa Sangh.

“A woman volunteer has been deployed to take care of the child,” said Subhash Bhatnagar, in charge of the medical service wing of the sangh. According to the hospital staff, the girl is suffering from multiple injuries, though her condition is stable.

The other patients in the ward and their attendants are all sympathy for the child. “Whoever is responsible for this condition of the poor girl deserves the strictest possible punishment,” said a patient’s attendant.

However, it seems that the law-enforcing agencies are not much interested in bringing the guilty to book. Perhaps, that is why police officials have not bothered to visit her after her admission to the PGIMS.

Ambala, February 28
Dr K.K. Aggarwal, an accused in the multi-crore kidney scam, has been remanded in judicial custody till March 7. Earlier, he was remanded in CBI custody. Ajay Jain, counsel for Dr Aggarwal, refuted the charges of the CBI.

The kingpin of the scam, Dr Amit, and two other accused, Dr Upender and lab technician Vinod Kumar, are already in judicial custody till March 7. Three other accused, Dr Surz, his servant Jagdish and an agent, Gayasyddin, lodged in Tihar Jail, will be brought to Ambala on March 7 on production warrant. According to CBI sources, Jiwan, brother of Dr Amit and one of the prime accused, will be produced in the CBI court at Ambala tomorrow.

Counsel for Dr Amit filed an application in the court for permitting Dr Amit to have telephonic conversation with his wife residing in Canada. The court has fixed March 5 for its hearing. Counsel for Manoj filed a bail application, which will also come up for hearing on March 5.

According to the sources, Dr Aggarwal disclosed during interrogation that he administered anaesthesia to kidney donors and recipients. He disclosed that he was given Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per case and he administered anaesthesia to more than 100 persons.

He further disclosed that migrant labourers and poor people had been trapped in the net of Dr Amit and they were paid around Rs 50,000 for removing one of their kidneys. Most of the operations were conducted by Dr Amit, he disclosed.

It was also revealed during the interrogation that Dr Amit had his agents in various countries who remained in touch with him on the mobile. He disclosed that a large number of foreign patients were among the kidney recipients in Dr Amit's hospital.

Chandigarh, February 28
Congress MP from Hisar Jai Prakash asserted here today that he had no link, “direct or indirect”, with the kidney scam or anyone involved in it.

A couple of days ago, Haryana Janhit Congress president Kuldeep Bishnoi and secretary-general of the INLD Ajay Singh Chautala had demanded the resignation of Jai Prakash on the grounds that he had been accused by one of the suspects in the kidney scam, Dr Upendra, of giving them protection.

Jai Prakash said it did not behove of Bishnoi and Chautala to ask him to resign from the Lok Sabha on moral grounds. He claimed that against his clean image, the track record of his opponents and their families had unaccountable blemishes. He said Bishnoi and Chautala were trying to malign him because their families were afraid of him because of his popularity.

He said Bishnoi was angry with him because he and his colleagues had prevented his father Bhajan Lal from becoming the Chief Minister in 2005. Chautala, he said, was also annoyed with him because he was an instrument in throwing his family out of power. He said both Bhajan Lal and Om Prakash Chautala had implicated him and his nine-year-old son in false cases. Later, he was acquitted in all the cases. He also showed a CD to newsmen, which, he claimed, had the evidence about the “wrong deeds” of Bhajan Lal. He said if Bishnoi continued to malign him, he would be forced to make the CD public.

He said the truth would come out once the CBI completed its investigation in the kidney scam. Asked if he knew Dr Upendra, the MP replied, “I don’t know him or anyone involved in the scam personally nor have I ever talked to them on the phone.”

However, being a public figure, he did not rule out the possibility of his having met any of the accused at somefunction .

Jai Prakash also denied that he had helped the kidney scam accused when they were facing problems from the income tax department. 

Jind, February 28
The police today registered a case of fraud against six persons, including four officials of Punjab National Bank (PNB), Safidon branch, in the district. They have been charged with allegedly misappropriating over Rs 1.07 lakh deposited by the complainant in his account a few months ago.

In another case, the police has booked a woman and her relative for allegedly abducting her husband, an employee of the State Bank of Patiala at Narwana town in the district. No arrest has been made so far in connection with both cases.

According to the police, the case of cheating has been registered against a senior manager, the branch manager and two clerks of the PNB at Safidon on the basis of a complaint lodged by Sushil, a local resident. He has alleged that the amount of Rs 1, 07, 500 deposited by him in his account in November last “is missing”.

He alleged that the whole amount had allegedly been diverted by the bank officials, who, he said, had colluded with another person, Rajiv, a resident of the same town.

It is learnt that there was a dispute between the complaint and Rajiv over some payment. The police, after preliminary investigations, registered a case. Besides the bank officials and Rajiv, stated to be a friend of the latter, has been booked in this connection.

Meanwhile, in another case, the police has registered a case in connection with the alleged abduction of Manoj Kumar, an employee of the State Bank of Patiala, Narwana branch. A complaint lodged by the brother of the victim stated that Manoj, hailing from Jharkhand, had been missing since November 11 last and had allegedly been kidnapped by his wife with the help of her brother. It is reported that the couple was having estranged relations for some time and had been living separately.

Chandigarh, February 28
The state government has notified the Haryana Lokayukta Rules, 2008, which will regulate the functions, powers, inquiry and investigation by the Lokayukta.

While stating this here today, an official spokesman said as per the rules, every complaint under the act would have to be made in the prescribed form which should be accompanied with an affidavit in the prescribed form in support of its contents.

He said that under the rules, besides the name and address of the complainant, the forms should have information relating to the name, official designation and address of the public functionaries against whom the complaint was made and other necessary details.

He stated that a fee of Rs 1,000 would have to be paid in judicial stamps for filing a complaint provided the Lokayukta, on an application made by the complainant, waives the payment of the fee in appropriate cases. Complaints filed after the commencement of the act and prior to the enforcement of these rules would be deemed to have been filed under these rules.

He said that on the receipt of the complaint, the particulars would be entered in the register of complaint. In case the registrar was of the opinion that any such complaint was not in conformity with the provisions of the act or the rules, he would, within a period of 15 days from the date of its receipt, issue a notice to the complainant requiring him to rectify the defect within the time specified in the notice.

The registrar could extend the time specified on the request of the complainant for sufficient cause. He said all complaints would be placed before the Lokayukta for orders, but complaints regarding which the registrar had issued the notice to rectify the defect would be placed only after the expiry of the period of time stipulated in the notice or the extended period, as the case may be, whether or not any defect pointed out by the registrar had been rectified. Every complainant would be informed if no further action on the complaint was to be taken.

The spokesman said while conducting a preliminary inquiry, the Lokayukta may engage any agency, including subject experts, on the payment of a reasonable fee with the approval of the government. 

Chandigarh, February 28
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is going to miss a good part of the budget session of the assembly beginning on March 7. Question marks also hang on how the Chief Minister will give his customary reply to the debate on the Governor’s address. The CM can accomplish the reply job only if the debate is stretched for an inordinately long duration.

Right in the middle of the session, Hooda will fly to Mauritius to take part in the Independence Day celebrations of the island nation. Independence Day of Mauritius falls on March 12. Hooda, who will be accompanied by Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) officials and his aides, will attend the function on that day. They will leave India for Mauritius on March 10 and will return on March 13. The premier of Mauritius has invited the Haryana Chief Minister for the function.

Other than attending the events on I-Day, some investment related meetings have also been fixed up in Mauritius by the Haryana government team. For this purpose, some industrialists will also be going to Mauritius with the Chief Minister.

The Governor will address the House on the inaugural day on March 7. The next two days being holidays, debate on the Governor’s address will start on March 10 only, which is also the day, the CM and his entourage will take off for foreign shores.

The Chief Minister ordinarily gives his reply to the debate on the Governor’s address on the third day from the start of the debate. If this system is to be followed, the CM will need to give his reply on March 12. This, of course, will not be possible for Hooda since on that day he will be present at the I-Day celebrations in Mauritius. A way out from the problem could be found by stretching the debate for four days, instead of its usual duration of two days, and have March 14 as the day for the CM’s reply.

This will ensure that even though the CM will not be present during the debate, he can give the reply after apprising himself about the points raised by the MLAs during the mammoth debate. Opposition MLAs, though small in number, may nevertheless be tempted to create a ruckus in the assembly on the issue of the CM’s absence in the house for good four days.

The session was originally scheduled to begin on March 13. Later, the session was advanced and it was decided to hold it from March 7. This was evidently done to enable the Chief Minister to be present in the House on the day of the Governor’s address.

Yamunanagar, February 28
Moved by religious sentiments, women of Iserpur village led by 90-year-old Atami Devi made the construction work on a portion of a boundary wall of the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Thermal Plant come to a halt here today.

Four places of religious importance --- Devi Ma, Kali Ma, Peer Baba and Gorakhnath --- are located in the campus of the plant and villagers claim that they have been offering prayers here for generations.

The villagers demanded a passage to the religious places or else shift them outside the campus, adding that Reliance Energy Limited (REI) or the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) should bear the cost of shifting.

The villagers’ demand was illegal as alternative land was given to the village, when the land was acquired for the project, said an official of the HPGCL on condition of anonymity.

Atami Devi claimed that all four places were of great religious importance for the local people. Leela, another villager, said her family had been offering prayers there for years.

Naresh, priest at one of the religious places, said devotees were not able to offer their prayers ever since the construction of the wall had started in the area. The plant is spread over more than 1,100 acres.

The work on the construction of the wall was stopped for today. It was not yet clear if the work would resume tomorrow or not. No official was available for comments.

Fatehabad, February 28
Confusion prevails over the powers and jurisdiction of block education officers in the district and even senior officers of the department have been drawing different interpretations of the notification of the government in this regard.

Block education officer (BEO), Fatehabad, Asha Grover has written to the commissioner-cum-director general, school education, Haryana, and sought clarifications on the notification after the staff working in her office complained that they had been overburdened with the works of senior secondary and high schools, while as per the notification they are required to deal with schools up to middle classes only.

The government had issued a notification on September 15, 2005, whereby it integrated the departments of the primary education, secondary education and the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) into one unit, namely the department of school education.

The field offices of the education department were also restructured.

Earlier, the department of primary education was looked after by BEOs at block levels and district primary education officers at district level while the department of secondary education was overseen by sub-divisional education officers (SDEOs) and the district education officers (DEOs).

The government, through its notification dated September 15, 2005, abolished the posts of SDEOs.

The notification said the powers enjoyed by the SDEOs would vest in the BEOs since middle schools after the notification were to come under the BEOs.

The Officials working in six block education offices of the district rue that while the notification clearly said they had to deal with schools up to middle classes only, they were being overburdened with the work of high and senior secondary schools too.

They alleged that they had to work on Saturdays and many a time on Sundays to clear the files pending on their tables.

They also alleged that they had made several representations to the authorities in this regard but to no avail. The officials have now served an ultimatum on their respective BEOs that in case the position was not cleared in this regard till February 29, they would not be in a position to continue with their work in offices.

Grover said she had also taken up the matter with district education officer Vidya Wanti Kamboj, but she told her to take up the matter directly with the directorate.

Kamboj, however, maintained that the officials were not interpreting the notification properly and added that the BEOs were rightly given the charge of high and senior secondary schools along with primary and middle schools.

Sonepat, February 28
The case relating to the alleged removal of the eye lens of six-year-old Milan by two local eye surgeons has reached the Bar Council of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has urged the Haryana police authorities to get Milan medically examined either from the PGIMS, Chandigarh or from Military Hospital in Delhi.

Secretary of the Bar Council Harpreet Singh Brar has written letters to the DIG (CID), IG, Rohtak police range, DC, Sonepat, and SSP, Sonepat, for an impartial inquiry of the case. He has expressed apprehensions that the India Medical Association, which had openly come in favour of the two surgeons, might influence the medical examination if it was conducted in any medical institutions in Haryana.

According to information, advocate Manoj Kumar, father of Milan, had also gone to Chandigarh to file an appeal in the high court for issuing directions to the Sonepat police for the medical examination of Aman’s eye in Army Hospital, Delhi. Manoj said after consultation with senior advocates, an appeal in this regard would be filed in the High Court tomorrow.

Hisar, February 28
Haryana Agricultural University has decided not to charge any fee from its undergraduate girl students and physically challenged undergraduate students irrespective of gender.

This decision was taken at a meeting of the board of management of the university held at Chandigarh this morning.

Dr R.S. Dalal, registrar, said the board had approved the proposal to send two students of BSc (Hons), Agriculture, after the completion of the course to Michigan State University, USA, for a two-week internship under the student exchange programme. The travel expenses of these students would be borne by the university.

The board increased the amount of merit and other stipends for postgraduate students. Now, MSc and PhD students maintaining an OGPA of 7.5 would get merit stipend of Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500 per month respectively instead of Rs 700 and 1,000 at present. Postgraduate students and PhD scholars maintaining OGPA of 7 would get Rs 300 and Rs 500 per month, respectively.

He said 11 associate professors had been promoted as professors. Besides, 10 teachers had been appointed as heads of different teaching departments.

The board has also approved enhanced honorarium for hostel wardens from Rs 600 to Rs 1,000 per month. 

Rohtak, February 28
Hundreds of medicos held a protest march in support of their demand for a high-level probe into the alleged leak of the MD/MS entrance exam papers. The protesters, carrying banners and placards bearing slogans against the Maharshi Dayanand University authorities and the state government, marched from the PGIMS campus and planned to reach the CM’s local residence.

However, they were stopped by police personnel near the medical turn. Following this, the protesters went to the MDU vice-chancellor’s office, where they staged a protest demonstration.