Panipat, April 3
Even as the farming community on the GT Road belt has crossed its fingers after the last night’s rainfall and winds, which rocked the area, agriculture scientists see no major threat to the wheat crop.

A visit by The Tribune team revealed that harvesting of wheat in several parts of Panipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra and adjoining areas was yet to begin.

Farmers said they were hoping of a bumper crop this year too but rainfall and wind had indeed panicked them. Several parts of these districts witnessed high velocity winds last night, followed by rainfall that continued till today afternoon.

Agriculture experts said the time was crucial for farmers of Haryana, as they mainly started harvesting in the second week of April.

Bishan Sarup, a farmer near Gharaunda, who had been continuously monitoring the weather, said: “By now the grain is stepping towards maturity and any further rain or high velocity winds will severely affect the crop yield.”

Another farmer, Goverdhan Sharma, from Kurukshetra district said certain zamindars, who had started harvesting their crops in the fields, were also worried.

Meanwhile, the principal scientist and a wheat expert at the Karnal-based Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Dr Jag Shoran, said there was nothing much to worry about at this stage.

He said there might be a slight loss to the early sowing varieties of wheat like PBW-343, HD- 2687 and WH- 542, adding that rainfall was good for certain late varieties, including PBW-373 and Raj-3765.

Dr Shoran, an eminent wheat scientist, hoped that with the rise in mercury, the moisture level would also come down.

Yamunanagar, April 3
The accountant general of Haryana has allegedly not paid Rs 2.45 lakh to a former employee of the public works department (PWD), because of which officers and 250 other employees of the water supply and sanitation department of Yamunanagar (division 1) did not get salary for March.

A Narnaul court had passed a decree to pay the amount to the former employee and when the office of the accountant general did not release the amount, the court ordered to attach the salary account of division no 1.

Executive engineer of the division maintained that the accountant general had to pay the amount. The office of the accountant general could not be contacted.

The fate of salaries of coming months too hangs in balance as the next date of hearing in the matter has been fixed for May.

The employees, who did not get salaries, said it had become very difficult for them to run their home affairs.

They complained that they were suffering because of the “fault” of higher government authorities. “We do not know when our salaries would be released,” said an employee.

Beg Raj Goel, a former employee, who was posted as an assistant in the PWD in Narnaul but had resigned from the department when he was transferred out of Narnaul in 1978, had served for about 18 years in the PWD.

He said during those days pension facility was not given to employees, who had served for less than 20 years. However, norms regarding pensions were changed later and he moved the court for pension. The court, on November 6, 2004, passed a decree in favour of Goel and ordered the Haryana government to pay Rs 2,45,846 to him.

But, when Goel did not get the amount, he moved an execution petition in the court. He made the state, engineer-in-chief, PWD (water supply and sanitation), executive engineer, PWD (water supply and sanitation) and accountant general, Haryana, party.

Additional Civil Judge (senior division), Narnaul, Mahinder Singh ordered to attach the account head no. 2215 (salary head) of the water supply and sanitation department, Haryana, treasury, Yamunanagar. The case will come up for hearing in May.

Executive engineer D.P Mittal, who also did not get the salary, said the legal remembrance and secretary to the government of Haryana, law and legislative department, had asked the district attorney, Narnaul, to defend the case to protect the salaries.

Chandigarh, April 3
Did the Haryana assembly overreach its powers when it censured INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala for “misleading the House over the amount of farm loan waived by the Janata Dal government in the late eighties?”

Senior INLD leader and former parliamentary affairs minister Sampat Singh answered this question in the affirmative here today.

Talking to newspersons here, Sampat Singh said under the Constitution, neither Parliament nor an assembly had the power to censure a member. Quoting from “The Practice and Procedure of Parliament” of Kaul and Shakdhar, considered to be the Bible of parliamentary practices in India, Sampat Singh said “a censure motion could be moved against the Council of Ministers or an individual minister or a group of ministers for their failure to act or not to act or for their policy…”

He said in the history of the Haryana assembly, censure motions were moved by members twice - once against a minister and the second time against the policy of government, but never against a member.

He said the Mange Ram Gupta Committee report, on which Chautala was censured, was “doctored” and aimed at defaming political opponents of the government.

The committee was set up by the House after the amount of loan waived by the Janata Dal government given by Chautala and parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surjewala in the House differed. The committee indicted Chautala, whom the House later censured.

Sampat Singh claimed that two committee members, who belonged to the ruling party, admitted before him that the report presented before the House was different from what they had approved. He also claimed that these ruling party MLAs told him that the draft report had indicted both Chautala and Surjewala.

The INLD leader said it was strange that the censure motion was moved by Surjewala, who was a party to the dispute before the committee. This, he said, was against the principles of natural justice and accepted practices.

Sampat Singh said his party would consider writing to the Governor, pointing out how the Congress had used its brute majority in the House to start a new tradition of setting up House committees on petty issues to draw political mileage and to defame its political opponents.

He said though it was an accepted practice to release press notes about the speeches made by the ministers in the House, it had happened for the first time that even “commentary” was circulated by government agencies to a section of the media after the conclusion of the Budget session. He said the “commentary” wrongly claimed that for the first time a member’s suspension had been revoked. He said the suspension of none other than the present Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadian was revoked when the INLD was in power.

Chandigarh, April 3
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said he would take up the issue of setting up of a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) University in Haryana with union minister for external affairs Pranab Mukherjee.

The Chief Minister, who was presiding over a meeting of the Administrative Reforms Commission, said efforts were being made to get a defence university opened in Gurgaon and a proposal in this regard had been sent to the central government.

The central government had already approved the setting up of an Indian Institute of Management and a central university in the state. The Chief Minister suggested to the chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission, Karan Singh Dalal, and other members to evolve a mechanism which would make officers more responsive.

He pointed out that it had been observed that cases of erring officers kept lingering on even after their retirement. Such cases should be dealt with promptly, he added.

On the issue of introduction of reforms in the police department, Hooda said a new Act had been implemented in this regard and for the first time recruitment was being made separately for the CID.

Dalal said a law had been enacted by the government of Jammu and Kashmir to make officers responsive. A similar law should be enforced in Haryana. He also suggested that arms licences should be issued for a minimum period of 20 years, as against the present duration of three years. This decision would facilitate the people. He suggested that all complaints sent to the office of Lok Ayukta should be done through the government.

Dalal pointed out that postmortem should also be conducted during night in case of death in a particular situation. At present postmortems were not conducted during night.

Chief secretary Dharam Vir said the rules of the departments were being changed as these had become redundant. He said the process had started in the department of public works (building and roads) where the concept of e-tendering had been introduced.

Principal secretary to Chief Minister M.L. Tayal said for the first time Hooda had sanctioned a grant of Rs 1 lakh per year for deputy commissioners whereas they never had such a grant earlier. Earlier, the deputy commissioners used to stay in the field for a night and this practice had continued since the British rule. The Chief Minister had abolished this age old system.

A member of the commission, M.C. Gupta, said the priority areas of the commission included health and education and efforts were being made to implement reforms in these areas. He said as the public distribution system was the third priority area, smart cards should be issued to consumers. He also suggested that a basic profile of all employees of each department should be prepared so as to get quick information concerning their number and superannuation.

Chandigarh, April 3
The ongoing Haryana-Delhi “jal yudh” has taken a new turn. For the first time, Haryana has been able to convince the centre of the genuineness of its grievance about Delhi drawing the Yamuna water much in excess of its bona fide needs, leaving the people and fields of Haryana thirsty.

T.K. Nair, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, has asked the Central Water Commission (CWC) to assess the domestic water needs of Delhi within three months. The commission has also been asked to find out from what other sources the non-domestic water needs of Delhi can be met.

According to irrigation minister Ajay Singh Yadav, the issue came up for discussion during a meeting convened by T.K. Nair last month. Haryana chief secretary Dharamvir and financial commissioner (irrigation) R.N. Prashar forcefully pleaded the case of Haryana and bluntly told Nair that Delhi was unjustified in wasting precious water on non-domestic needs, particularly when the state’s fields were parched.

The Haryana officers conceded that the Supreme Court was right when it held that the drinking water needs had precedence over the irrigational needs and had directed Haryana to meet the drinking water needs of Delhi.

Nair reportedly found weight in the argument advanced by Prashar that there was an urgent need to quantify the drinking water needs of Delhi because it was criminal wastage to use fresh water for industrial, flush and horticulture uses. He said it would have to be decided once and for all whether industrial, flush and horticulture uses of water in Delhi should have a priority over agriculture in Haryana. “The question is you need grass in Delhi or wheat and rice in Haryana,” Prashar is reported to have asked the meeting.

Since the 1996 apex court order merely asked Haryana to keep the Hyderpur and Wazirabad reservoirs in the national capital full and did not fix the quantity of water, Delhi is allegedly taking undue advantage of the judicial verdict. Delhi lifts a large quantity of water through about 100 tubewells and “renee wells” it has installed in the 20-km distance between the Munak escape, from where Haryana supplies water to Delhi, and Palla village, where Delhi accepts it. So Haryana has to supply additional quantity to comply with the Supreme Court judgment.

When the Haryana officers brought this to the notice of Nair, he asked the CWC to also assess the quantity of water lifted by Delhi between the Munak escape and Palla village.

Almost about 10 years after the Supreme Court asked Haryana to supply unlimited quantity of water to Delhi, Haryana filed a review petition, challenging the constitutionality of the apex court order.

The case of Haryana is that under the Constitution, the apex court should not go into the inter-state water disputes, which can be resolved either through negotiations or by a tribunal order. The petition has been pending in the apex court since 2006.

Rohtak, April 3
The 27th annual conference of the northern chapter of the Association of Surgeons of India and the 11th annual conference of the Association of Surgeons of Haryana began on the premises of the Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) here today.

The PGIMS director, Prof S.S. Sangwan, was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony, while the organising chairman of the joint conference, Dr R.K. Keshwani, presided over it. The conference is being organised by the department of surgery at the PGIMS.

Dr R.K. Karwasra, senior professor and head, department of surgery, and organising secretary of the event, said a hands-on surgical training workshop was organised for the young surgeons on the opening day of the conference.

Veteran surgeons Prof V.J. Anand and Prof Chintamani from Delhi taught the post-graduate students, resident doctors and young surgeons about the basic surgical techniques, including various types of sutures and appropriate methods of surgery.

Dr Karwasra and Prof V.K. Malik from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, detailed the participants about the latest dissection equipment like the electro-surgical cautery and harmonic scalpel.

Leading endoscopic and laproscopic surgeon Dr Praveen Bhatia from Delhi gave useful tips on video-assisted minimal access surgery to the participating surgeons. Prof P.N. Agarwal from Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, demonstrated the proper use of various types of surgical staplers. Eminent cancer specialist Dr Chaturvedi also briefed the participants on different aspects of surgery and use of surgical techniques and equipment.

Earlier, addressing a joint news conference, senior faculty members and surgery experts asserted that holding such events on a regular basis was a must so that the young and upcoming surgeons could get an opportunity to update their knowledge and skills.

Hisar, April 3
Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) activists clashed briefly with the police here today during a demonstration against rising prices.

The activists of Kuldeep Bishnoi’s political outfit were carrying three effigies in a Tata Sumo for burning at the mini-secretariat. They were stopped by the police at Sir Chhotu Ram Chowk. The police asked them to hand over the effigies, which they refused.

The cops then used a mild force to take possession of the effigies. The HJC supporters tried to foil the attempt and scuffled with the police. The police, however, succeeded in taking the effigies away. Frustrated, the Bishnoi supporters then burnt some towels they were carrying with them. The demonstration ended prematurely at the chowk itself and the activists dispersed.

Later, the party officially deplored the police action, describing it as “a serious violation” of fundamental rights of citizens in a democracy.

ROHTAK: Activists of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) staged a protest demonstration against the spiralling prices of essential commodities at the Bhiwani Stand Chowk here on Thursday.

The protesters, led by HJC general secretary Subhash Batra and party’s local unit president Krishan Murti Hooda, raised slogans against the Congress government in the state. They also burnt effigies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

REWARI: Activists of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) from Rewari, Jatusana, Bawal and other parts of the district held a demonstration in protest against the “anti-people and dismal” economic policies of the UPA government as well as the “anti-people” policies of the Haryana government at the Maharana Pratap Chowk Complex here on Thursday.

The demonstration was led by Rao Narbir Singh, former minister and state general secretary of the HJC. The demonstrators burnt the effigies of UPA chairperson and congress president Sonia Gandhi and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

FARIDABAD: The district unit of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) on Thursday held demonstrations against the Congress government in Haryana and the Congress-led UPA government at the centre in protest against general increase in price. The protests were simultaneously staged by the urban and rural units of the district unit of the HJC, respectively in Faridabad city outside the mini-secretariat and in Ballabgarh.

Addressing the gathering at both the places, the leaders alleged that the Congress-led government at the centre had failed to control the rise in prices and the common man was reeling under its pressure. The leaders cautioned that in case the rise in prices was not arrested and the standard of governance in Haryana did not improve their party would be constrained to resort to direct action, including “chakka jam” in the state.

Jind, April 3
The police has arrested a teenaged girl for allegedly dumping her newborn at a secluded place near a brick kiln in the district. The accused had reportedly given birth to the baby but threw it to save herself from public ignominy, as she was unmarried.

The baby, however, is safe and has been admitted to the hospital in Rohtak.

Sources said the development was a result of an unusual contract between the girl and a childless couple living in her neighborhood. The girl was promised some money for giving birth to a child for them but the secret got revealed before the completion of the agreement.

The newborn was found lying in a bush along the path leading to the cremation ground of the village.

Kin of the girl (17) told the police that she had given birth to the baby on promise of a payment of an amount of Rs 3,000 by a married couple, who had been childless for the past many years.

According to police sources, the accused had not been able to disclose that who was the father of the child, but the father of the girl approached the police to get the baby back after feeling sorry on her behalf.

Yamunanagar, April 3
Maya Ram of Ramgarh Majra village in Bilaspur block here today become “the first person in the country” to avail of the recently launched union government-sponsored Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana.

He was admitted to a private hospital here and paid the bill through the smart card issued to him under the yojana, meant for people living below the poverty line and their families. The yojana was implemented in select districts of the country, including four of Haryana, on April 1.

Deputy commissioner Nitin Kumar Yadav claimed that Maya Ram was the first person to avail of the benefit of the scheme. Maya Ram is suffering from gangrene and would be operated upon tomorrow at the Kohli hospital. Under the scheme, a hospital can charge only Rs 8,000 for the treatment, medicines and transportation of a person suffering from gangrene. Maya Ram used the smart card issued to his father Chhotu Ram. He or his father’s family can still claim medical benefits worth Rs 22,000 during the year.

Karnal, April 3
With assembly byelections round the corner, the state government has played the development card to woo Dalit and rural voters of the Indri constituency. The government has announced multi-crore development sops to one of the backward areas of the state.

Though no specific project has been announced, the government has claimed to carry on development works worth Rs 10 lakh in each village of this rural assembly segment.

The announcement was made yesterday by chief parliamentary secretary Dharamvir in the presence of state party chief Phool Chand Mullana, working president Kuldeep Sharma, ministers, MLAs and the local MP.

As per the announcement, each of the 104 villages will get Rs 10 lakh whereas SC-dominated villages will get an attractive incentive of Rs 50 lakh for “various development activities”.

As the schedule for the byelections is expected soon, the party leadership is keen that work in these villages starts at the earliest.

The Indri assembly seat fell vacant after Rakesh Kamboj, a staunch supporter of Kuldeep Bishnoi, was disqualified from the assembly for joining the Janhit Congress. During the last assembly elections, he had won the Indri seat on the Congress ticket.

Yamunanagar, April 3
Some unidentified persons broke the windowpane of the driver’s side of a car and took away Rs 3 lakh kept under the seat here today morning.

The car was parked about 100 metres away from HDFC bank and 10 metres away from Axis bank at Mela Singh Chowk. Punjab National Bank and three ATMs also exist in the vicinity. Mela Singh Chowk is one of the most crowded areas of Yamunanagar.

The victim, Som Pal Chauhan, had changed rupees of smaller denomination with higher ones from HDFC bank at around 2 pm. Chauhan is an industrialist.

He had put the money beneath the driver’s seat and went inside a shop to purchase CDs. When Chauhan came out of the shop after about five minutes, he found the windowpane broken and the money missing. It is not yet known if the culprits were on foot or on a bike.

DSP R.S. Yadav and SHO Baljinder Singh reached the spot and investigations have been started. A case has been registered.

Chandigarh, April 3
The state government has withdrawn charge and work from five deputy directors of the animal husbandry and dairying department with immediate effect.

The action was promised by animal husbandry minister H.S. Chatha in the assembly during the last budget session when Congress MLA from Palwal Karan Singh Dalal had put a question in this regard.

The officers from whom the work has been withdrawn are Birender Singh Laura, deputy director (Rinderpest), Narnaul; Krishan Baghoria, deputy director, animal husbandry, Fatehabad; Narinder Singh Maan, who is absent from duty these days; Kalpana Singh, credit planning officer (HQ), Panchkula; and Lal Chand Ranga, deputy director, Sheep Breeding Farm, Hisar.

Chatha had told the House that these officers were directly recruited by the Haryana Public Service Commission though the government had abolished the quota of direct recruits before their selection.