Chandigarh, April 25
The BSP will clear the uncertainty about its participation in the three assembly byelections of Adampur, Gohana and Indri in Haryana on April 27, even as indications are coming that former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal may not contest from his traditional seat of Adampur.

BSP general secretary-cum-coordinator in charge of Haryana and Himachal Mann Singh Manhera and its state president Prakash Bharti here today said they were going to Lucknow to meet party supremo Mayawati. The party would make its stand clear after receiving instructions from her.

Meanwhile, a demand has risen in the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) of Kuldeep Bishnoi that instead of his father, he himself should contest from Adampur.

A meeting of the Yamunanagar district unit of the HJC was convened today where party workers and leaders “appealed” to Bishnoi to himself contest the Adampur byelection so that “he could effectively raise the people’s voice in the assembly.”

President of the rural district party unit Satpal Kaushik said the people of Haryana were sick of the misrule of the Congress and wanted to get rid of it. The byelections, he said, provided the best way to the people to express their anger against the Congress misrule.

He said the meeting had passed a resolution urging Bishnoi to himself contest the election from Adampur. He claimed that even Congressmen were not happy with the Hooda government and that was the reason why several party men had revolted against the nomination of “non-Congressmen” as party nominees in the byelections. He was referring the discontentment expressed by certain Congressmen in Gohana and Indri against the party nominees.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the Haryana Pradesh Veopar Mandal, which was held under the chairmanship of its president Bajrang Dass Garg, today decided to support the Congress nominees in the byelections.

In a statement, Garg said the decision to support the Congress was taken in view of the fact that under the Hooda government, the business community had been freed from all threats of extortion and it was free to do its business without any harassment.

Arun Garg of Ambala, Jai Narain Gupta of Gohana, Jai Prakash Bansal and Ramesh Singla of Indri, Hira Lal Sharma of Sirsa, Satish Mittal of Adampur, Bhim Sen Baweja of Hisar and Shyam Sunder Bansal of Fatehabad were among those who attended the meeting.

Panipat, April 25
The state home department has finally ordered an inquiry against two senior Rohtak jail officials for their alleged role in the wheat scam, in which over 200 quintals of the stock meant for prisoners was allegedly siphoned off by them in connivance with the prison staff.

Sources said today that the department had agreed to initiate proceedings for major penalties against Rohtak district superintendent Rajinder Singh Siwach and deputy jailer Jagbir Singh.

Following a complaint, sleuths of the state prisons department had raided the jail premises on January 26. During an inspection of the food stock, the team found 220.28 quintals of wheat missing from the jail.

The prisons department wrote to the home department on February 12 to start proceedings against the officials, but the matter was delayed for weeks for unspecified reasons.

Following news reports carried in these columns, Jagbir was stripped off the charge and transferred to the jail headquarters in Panchkula.

Jagbir, who was the jail “stock-keeper” since 2006, had reportedly admitted his guilt and also offered to make good the loss.

He had purchased wheat from the open market and handed it over to the jail administration.

Raising suspicion over the acceptance of wheat by jail officials, the authorities said it was a matter of investigation as to who had arranged Rs 2.25 lakh to purchase 220 quintals of wheat from the open market.

Even after the irregularity was detected, serious questions were raised after no action was taken against the guilty officials.

The sources said the jail superintendent and the deputy jailer had violated the Punjab jail manual by not checking the store once every six months and also failed to register their remarks over the status of the food stock.

Official records confirmed that the deputy jailer had recorded that “Wheat checked and as per balance found correct” whereas it was found short during the inspection.

No complaint was ever made to the jail headquarters by the jail staff over the shortage of wheat.

Kurukshetra, April 25
Leaders of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL), Kurukshetra, organised a demonstration and raised anti-government slogans in front of the mini-secretariat here today in protest against the inability of the wheat purchasing agencies regarding immediate lifting of the purchased wheat.

The protesting leaders included former Haryana minister and state vice-president of the HJC Dr Devender Sharma, state general secretaries S. Jitender Singh Khurdban and Sona Devi, district president (rural) Pawan Garg and former MLA and district president (urban) Banta Ram.

Condemning the state government, the leaders alleged that tall claims of the state government of having made proper arrangements for purchase and lifting of wheat had turned false.

They said they had visited various grain markets of the district and had listened to problems of farmers, commission agents and labourers on the spot. Due to non-stitching and non-lifting of wheat bags, grain markets had been glutted with wheat bags. The market had no space for putting wheat arrivals of farmers for selling purpose, they added.

“It is further noticed that the government has given contract to their yes-men, who neither have sufficient labour for stitching nor transport arrangements and further inquiry revealed that the persons of government contractors are demanding bribe at the rate of Re 1 to 3 per bag of wheat for stitching and lifting,” they alleged.

All visiting leaders brought the above problems into the notice of the officers concerned of various market committees but in vain.

The possibility of collision between officials of the Market Committee and imposed government contractors could not be ruled out, they warned.

Meanwhile, a deputation of the demonstrating HJC (BL) submitted a memorandum to additional deputy commissioner Sumedha Kataria in the absence of deputy commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal.

They demanded inquiry into the matter and solid solution to the problem. They also requested to initiate strong action against the contractors and officials responsible for it.

Fatehabad, April 25
Poor lifting, paucity of labour and good arrival of wheat has caused a glut in the Fatehabad grain market making the movement of vehicles almost impossible.

Sources in the mandi said the local grain market had already received over 13 lakh bags of 50 kg each and as many as 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh bags of wheat arrived everyday in the market. Against the last year’s arrival of 19 lakh bags, sources have been expecting an arrival of 22 to 23 lakh bags this year.

Poor lifting of procured wheat from the grain market has become bane of farmers and traders alike.

Of the 13 lakh bags procured by the government agencies so far in the district, 2.19 lakh bags were still lying in the grain market today.

Sources in the grain market said Hafed, a procurement agency, was the slowest in the matter of lifting as of the 2.19 lakh bags lying in the grain market, 1.14 bags belonged to Hafed alone.

General manager of Hafed Sandeep Poonia, however, contradicted the claims and said only 65,000 to 70,000 bags procured by his agency were lying in the mandi and the rest belonged to some other agencies. An acute shortage of labour has been also hampering the procurement process in the grain market.

Sources said labour from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had not arrived in the market this year.

NREGA, a recent scheme of the central government under which the government had been providing 100 days of guaranteed employment all over the country, was the biggest reason behind this.

Contractors’ reluctance to pay suitable remuneration was also dissuading labour to come to Fatehabad.

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner O.P. Sheoran said till date 2.62 MT of wheat had arrived in various grain markets of the district and the Hafed was the biggest purchaser with 1.18 MT.

The food and supplies department, FCI, Haryana Agro, Haryana Warehousing Corporation and the Confed were the other agencies, which had been procuring wheat from the grain market.

Gurgaon, April 25
Residents of Gurgaon will soon be able to avail the facility of lodging complaints and registration of FIRs through short messaging service (SMS). It will also facilitate speedier reporting of any crime taking place in the city.

Police commissioner Mohinder Lal said the information provided through the SMS would automatically reach the police official concerned of the area.

This would be of great help to those complainants who might hesitate in lodging their complaints by telephone. People could also avail this facility in informing the police about emergency cases like road blockades. Moreover, this would bring more transparency and accountability in the police working as well as minimise scope of carelessness or negligence on part of the police officials while dealing with public complaints.

The facility was part of the ongoing police reforms under which the Gurgaon police had been preparing its website through which people would be able to access any information regarding the police working, he added.

DCP Sateesh Balan explained that the complaints monitoring system on the website would regularly monitor the action taken on the complaints made by the general public. Senior police officers would regularly review this. This would also help people know about the status of their requests regarding passport verification and arms licences.

Balan added that any investigating officer would be liable for action if he failed to initiate action within three days of receiving the complaint. The complainant would just have to feed his or her complaint number, its date and the police station or office concerned to get online status of the complete report. A similar facility would be available regarding the cases of passport verification and arms licences.

Kaithal, April 25
The “constant presence” of a male member of the management in the office and on the premises of the local Indira Gandhi Mahila Mahadvidyalaya is threatening to blow into a major crisis.

The Haryana College Teachers Union has urged the chancellor of Kurukshetra University and the commissioner of Higher Education, Haryana, to conduct a high-level inquiry into the complaint lodged by two women lecturers of the college regarding the “unauthorised” running of the institution by a member of the management.

President and general secretary of the HCTA Dr U.V. Singh and Dr Rajbir Parashar, respectively, have urged the authorities to intervene in the matter as it is gender sensitive. They have also threatened to launch an agitation if immediate action is not taken in the matter.

Earlier, two women lecturers had complained to the commissioner of Higher Education, Haryana, taking strong exception to the “constant presence” of a member of the management in violation of a directive of the CHE dated July 27, 2007, whereby he had instructed all college management members to refrain from visiting the college premises as it adversely affected the studies of students.

The lecturers further stated that the presence of the aforementioned member caused a sense of insecurity among the women staff. They alleged that he had also used abusive language against the staff.

The two, however, gave a clean chit to the president and other members of the management saying that they came only when there was some need or some meeting held.

The managing committee member, however, refuted the allegations, saying that he visited the college only when the principal calls him for some help on management matters.

He said the college was being run perfectly according to rules and regulations. The college governing body had taken exception to the CHE’s circular as it came in the way of the smooth functioning of private colleges.

He said the two lecturers through their complaint were trying to pressurise the management to fall in line. One of them had manipulated her presence in a Jind college without going there. The management had sought her explanation. The other had been asked to take an extra class, which was proper and according to rules.

Her husband, he alleged, had misbehaved with some staff members and the management buried the matter. He said he had never misbehaved with any staff member.

Rohtak, April 25
Voicing concern over the alleged irregularities in the MD/MS/MDS/PG Diploma entrance examination conducted by Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here recently, the “affected” candidates have sought a narco-analysis (lie-detector) test of the toppers to bring out the truth of the matter.

A delegation of medicos, united under the banner of the Doctors for Justice, met Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda in Delhi yesterday and apprised him of the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s recent order regarding the matter. The medicos urged the MP to get the vigilance probe completed at the earliest to nail the culprits.

Pointing out that the last date for PG admissions was May 31, they demanded that a fresh test be conducted at the earliest.

“Now that the high court has rejected the plea of the selected candidates against cancellation of the entrance test, a fresh test be conducted at the earliest,” they maintained.

The medicos asserted that this time, the PGIMS, not the MDU, should be given the responsibility of holding the fresh PG entrance examination.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Doctors for Justice met vigilance officials at the MDU faculty house today and got their statements recorded.

They urged the vigilance officials to get a narco-analysis (lie-detector) test of the toppers conducted to unveil the truth.

“If they (toppers) undergo the (lie-detector) test, the truth will automatically surface. If they refuse to face the test, it will be self-explanatory,” the medicos observed.

Even as the MP as well as the vigilance team inquiring the issue have assured the medicos of getting to the bottom of the matter and taking appropriate action, whether the Doctors for Justice really get justice remains to be seen.

Mulana (Ambala), April 25
The annual convocation of Maharishi Markendewshwar University, Mulana, was held today. Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Vijender Jain was the chief guest on the occasion.

Ten judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and chancellor of the university Tarsem Kumar Garg were among those present on the occasion. Degrees, citation and medals were conferred on 785 students.

Delivering the convocation address, Justice Jain laid emphasis on character building and assimilation of ideas.

He said, “To be successful in life, one needs to have a mission and vision. It is important to ensure that students are equipped with core values needed to live as responsible citizens in a complex democratic society.”

The judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court who were present on the occasion included Justice Nawab Singh, Justice Pritam Pal, Justice Nirmal Yadav, Justice S.D. Anand, Justice L.N. Mittal, Justice A.N. Jindal, Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg, Justice Arvind Kumar and Justice Rajesh Bhala. District and Sessions Judges, Ambala, B.M. Bedi was also present on the occasion.

Fatehabad, April 25
People belonging to the Muslim community assembled in front of the local mini-secretariat here today in protest against the encroachment over their graveyards.

Carrying placards, the Muslims offered their Friday prayers (namaz) in the open outside the mini-secretariat.

The demonstrators were led Babu Khan, a local leader of the Muslim community.

They handed over a memorandum to ADC C.G. Rajnikanthan.

They alleged that some anti-social elements had tried to encroach upon the graveyard belonging to their community by running JCB machines over it on April 4. They said their several representations had failed to move the authorities.

They also alleged in the memorandum that a person had encroached upon the Muslim graveyard in Tohana in the district, but the authorities concerned had not taken any action till now.

The Muslim community demanded removal of encroachment from both the graveyards.

Babu Khan said they believed in peaceful means to resolve their problems and hence had decided to draw the attention of the authorities in this manner.

Rajnikanthan assured them that the authorities would look into their problem and resolve the issue by Monday.

Chandigarh, April 25
Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh will now join investigations in the office of Sirsa’s Superintendent of Police. So far, the investigations in the Bathinda case against him were being carried out in the dera itself.

As his petition for the grant of anticipatory bail came up for hearing before Justice L.N. Mittal of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, state counsel, on instructions from inspector Devinder Singh, said the dera chief had joined investigations. But, the atmosphere in the dera was not congenial and conducive for proper investigations.

Pronouncing the orders, Justice Mittal ruled: “As agreed at the Bar, the petitioner is now directed to join further investigations on May 31 at 10 am in the office of the Superintendent of Police, Sirsa.”

Fixing August 26 as the next date of hearing, the Judge added: “The petitioner shall also join investigations, thereafter, as and when required in the office of the Superintendent of Police, Sirsa.”

A case was registered against the dera chief by the Punjab police on May 20 at Bathinda under Sections 294-A and 153-A of the IPC.

Describing the FIR as abuse of law, the dera chief has all along been asserting that that the case was registered at the behest of the ruling SAD-BJP combine.