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Roadways buses come to a standstill
Bypoll win says it all: Congress
Rohtak finally gets health varsity |
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Farmers perturbed over dry minors
Woman’s Suicide
Amarnath Yatra
State consumer panel member dismissed
No place for consumer forum in Jagadhri
Villagers reel under water, power crises
MC Chief’s Election
MDU admission notification issued
Former paramilitary men see unfair deal
Indian police praised
HP to take steps to revive Saraswati
Inflation
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Roadways buses come to a standstill
Jind, June 10 The protest left hundreds of passengers stranded. However, buses started plying around 11 am. The protest was organised by under the banner of the Joint Action Committee of two leading staff unions of the department. They asked the government to give up its policy of promoting private transporters and demanded that the roadways be strengthened with the introduction of at least 5,000 new buses. A memorandum was submitted to the authorities in this regard. Baldev Singh and Raj Singh of the JAC said while the government had been describing the state roadways as one of the best in the country, the authorities had failed to work for its improvement. They alleged that allowing the private transport mafia to function freely had not only resulted in exploitation and inconvenience to commuters, the future of the state transport system had been put at stake. This, they alleged, was due to the bureaucracy, which had been misleading decision-makers. They alleged that allowing private transporters, especially maxi cabs and buses, on long and main routes had resulted in a loss of several crores a year in each district to the exchequer. The JAC has asked the government to recruit more staff and introduce a new fleet of buses. They claimed that the maxi cabs were risky as far as passenger safety was concerned. YAMUNANAGAR: The bus services of the Haryana Roadways came to a standstill for two hours from 9 am on Tuesday here when employees under the banner of Haryana Roadways Workers Union associated with the Sarv Karmachari Sangh held a protest at the bus stand. Services of private bus operators were also affected. The union will also hold a protest meeting tomorrow. Thousands of passengers faced problems because of the ‘chakka jam’. The employees are demanding issuance of appointment letters to persons selected as bus drivers and conductors as the recruitment process for the same has been completed. The union activists gathered at the bus stand under the leadership of Yamunanagar depot president Om Parkash Badhami and Jagdish Singh Rathi. He said the recruitment process had been completed, but the government was showing reluctance in issuing appointment letters. Union leaders who addressed the gathering said the government was encouraging privatisation of the roadways services as it had announced to hire drivers and conductors on a contract basis. The union leaders warned the government against any move to privatise the services. SIRSA: Members of the local chapter of the Haryana Roadways Joint Action Committee held a two-hour strike here on Tuesday against privatisation. Hari Singh Godara, president of the local Depot Union, said they would not allow drivers and conductors hired on contract to enter the depots across the state. He said they would hold a state-level strike if the government did not do away with contractual appointment of roadways staff. The protest was organised at the bus stand, which began at 9 am. |
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Bypoll win says it all: Congress
Gohana (Panipat), June 10 The rally was addressed by a number of party stalwarts who dwelt upon the policy followed by the state government that, they claimed, had ushered in an era of development in the state. Addressing the rally, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the mandate given by the people in favour of the Congress was a testimony to the fact that the people believed in the policies of the government. He said the elections were held democratically and not like previous byelections during which the “other parties” used force to win the elections. He said the people of this constituency had given a befitting reply to the opposition parties and proved that the electorate was with the Congress. Highlighting the achievements of the government, the Chief Minister said the government had undertaken some major developmental projects. Blaming the previous governments for the power crisis being faced by the state at present, he said they all had followed a lackadaisical policy in this regard. He said the government was buying power from all available sources at Rs 9 per unit which was being provided to consumers at “regular rates”. Working president of the Congress Kuldip Sharma said the results of the byelections had demoralised the opposition parties. Promoting the “secular image” of the party, he said people from all walks of live were supporting the Congress. State president of the party Phool Chand Mullana said after the win Hooda had emerged as an undisputed leader of the party. MP Deepender Hooda said it was only the Congress which did not lack honesty and the political will to undertake major development of the area. Transport and education minister Mangat Ram Gupta said the electorate had discarded other political parties in the recent elections. Parliamentary secretary Anil Thakar said the win in the byelections had reinforced the party’s standing. Jagbir Malik, who won the byelection, said under the present regime a lot of development projects were being executed, including the laying of a railway line through Gohana.
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Rohtak finally gets health varsity
Rohtak, June 10 A notification issued by the state government’s Legislative Department in this regard on June 2 was received by the PGIMS authorities here today. Confirming the receipt of the notification, PGIMS director S.S.Sangwan described the move as a big leap in the provision of systematic training and research facilities in modern as well as Indian systems of medicine in the region. “Right now, our top priority is to implement the provisions of the notification in letter and in spirit,” he asserted. The Governor of Haryana, by virtue of his office, will be the chancellor of the university. He would appoint the vice-chancellor on the advice of the state government as per the norms laid down in the statutes. According to the notification, the PGIMS director stands appointed the first vice-chancellor of the university until a regular appointment is made or for a period of six months, whichever is earlier. The chancellor, on the advice/recommendation of the state government, will appoint the university registrar and the PGIMS director. Other key posts include the university’s dean (academic affairs), the PGIMS dean, the PGIMS medical superintendent, the deans of faculties, the principal, Dental College, Rohtak, the controller of examinations, the controller of finance, the dean of students welfare and chief warden, the law officer and the librarian. The age of superannuation of the members in service in the university will be 62 years. According to the notification, the PGIMS, Rohtak, will now cease to be an affiliated college of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here and stand transferred to the new university. Moreover, all colleges and other educational institutions of health sciences in the state, previously affiliated to MDU, Kurukshetra University or any other university, council or affiliating body, will now be deemed to be admitted to the privileges of --- or affiliated to ---Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak. The colleges and institutions related to various disciplines of health sciences located in the state, on satisfying such conditions as laid down by statute or ordinances for the purpose of affiliation, will be affiliated to this university. The new university will have a court, which will be an advisory body, an executive council, which will be the principal executive body, an academic council, the principal academic body, besides a finance committee and undergraduate as well as postgraduate boards of studies. |
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Farmers perturbed over dry minors
Sirsa, June 10 They feel that scant supply of water from the main branch will hurt the interest of farmers of the region in the forthcoming season. They said the recent rainfall, which had brought solace to farmers busy in sowing of crops after the conclusion of wheat harvesting, was not a solution for longer duration. The farmers contended that there was an urgent need to clean the main branch and minors as shrubs and trees had grown in them. In the absence of water in the minors, the farmers are forced to depend upon tubewells and submersibles. A farmer, Suresh Kumar, of Nathusari Kalan in Nathusari Chopta block said the cost of investment had increased manifold. They had to pay fee for drawing water from canal besides spending extra bucks on hiked diesel prices for running tubewells, he added. Mahinder Singh of Panniwala Ruldu village, which falls in Dabwali subdivision, recalled that earlier the main branch used to get water every alternate week. Jagtar Singh of Desu Multana village felt that lack of proper cleanliness of canals hampered the flow of water. The Bhakra main canal travelling down from Ropar (Punjab) enters Haryana from Narwana, from where it re-enters Punjab’s Mansa and eventually enters the district from Surtiya village. Superintendent engineer, irrigation department, C.L. Ganda admitted that they used to receive water from the main branch for eight days after a 24-day closure. |
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Woman’s Suicide
Chandigarh, June 10 Terming the incident as shocking, Om Prakash Chautala of the INLD and Kuldeep Bishnoi of the HJC said in separate statements that it was a blot on the state government. Chautala said Hooda had no moral right to continue as the Chief Minister after this shameful incident. Bishnoi said there was a “jungle raj” in the state and no one, particularly women, was safe in Haryana. He said though the unfortunate incident took place in the home district of the Chief Minister, the women could not get justice for two months. |
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Amarnath Yatra
Yamunanagar, June 10 The yatra to the shrine is scheduled to start from June 18 and the shrine board has taken a tough stand in wake of its earlier experiences when pilgrims used to move towards the shrine well before the scheduled yatra dates. Sources said the board would not allow anyone to proceed towards the cave before June 18. Pilgrims, who organise community kitchens at Baltal base camp, would be allowed to move from Srinagar on June 16. The stranded pilgrims in Srinagar were having a difficulty in finding shelter, as all hotels, dharmshalas and lodges were “full”. A large number of pilgrims from Yamunanagar and Jagadhri, who had planned to leave for Amarnath cave before the scheduled date, have now changed their programme. A group of pilgrims under the banner of Prem Samuh was to leave for the cave this morning but now it will leave on June 14.
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State consumer panel member dismissed
Chandigarh, June 10 Yadav was placed under suspension last week after the SCDRC president, Justice R.S. Madan, had carried out an inquiry following a complaint by a senior IAS officer, at present posted as chief administrator, Haryana Urban Development Authority, T.C. Gupta. A show-cause was served on June 5 to provide her an opportunity of being heard. After considering her written and oral submissions, the government arrived at the conclusion that she had, in fact, abused her position. An order for her dismissal was issued by financial commissioner and principal secretary, food
and supplies department, L.S.M. Salins. Gupta had sought prosecution sanction against her under the Prevention of Corruption Act in a request to the financial commissioner, food and supplies department. He demanded that an inquiry be got conducted by a sitting or retired judge of the high court to bring out the truth in the pronouncing of orders not only pertaining to HUDA but also other departments the cases which were listed before the commission. He had alleged that Yadav had indulged in the blatant misuse of “office and authority” by passing orders favouring individuals. These orders pertained to ensuring the availability of HUDA plots and were passed in the absence of the full quorum of the commission. The letter had added that the member passed the orders knowing that the proceedings in the state commission could be conducted by the president and at least one member sitting together only. Gupta had alleged that in some cases the member had heard the cases singly and announced judgements dismissing the appeals of HUDA, amounting to the misuse of authority as a public servant to procure gains for others. The letter had also contended that there was a flood of applications seeking the preponement of cases which the member was entertaining and even passing orders. |
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No place for consumer forum in Jagadhri
Jagadhri, June 10 The district administration had allotted two rooms to the forum on a temporary basis in the mini-secretariat but the same were being used as the office of the superintendent of police and the police has shown its inability to vacate the rooms for the forum. A new building for the forum has to be constructed but it may take some time. Deputy commissioner Nitin Kumar Yadav said the forum could hire accommodation for office on rent if the police could not vacate the two rooms in the secretariat. Another option was that the forum could be shifted to the old courts located near the Jagadhri bus stand. Meanwhile, lawyers were of the opinion that the forum should be retained near the district courts (meaning in the mini-secretariat) as distance between the district courts and forum could hamper the working of lawyers at both the institutions as time would be wasted in commutation between the forum and judicial courts. The number of judicial officers at the district courts was increased by two. As there was no space for them in the district courts complex, the forum was asked to vacate the space occupied by it. On May 20, the office of the District and Sessions Judge desired courtroom No. 15 along with the attached rooms occupied by the forum to be vacated by May 30 so that the same could be provided to the newly created court of Additional District And Sessions Judge. On May 28, the DC allotted room numbers 302 and 311 in the mini-secretariat to the forum. The office of the superintendent of police on May 30 expressed its inability to vacate the room Nos. 302 and 311 as several departments of the police were functioning from the rooms. The SP requested the DC to allot any other space to the forum. After the police reply, the forum made a request to the District and Sessions Judge to let it function from the judicial complex till some other arrangement for shifting of office was made. Now, the forum is carrying out its activities from the one room office in the judicial complex. |
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Villagers reel under water, power crises
Fatehabad, June 10 Several representations to the authorities have fallen on deaf ears. Women have to walk long distances to fetch water from private tubewells. Shortage of power has further compounded the problems of villagers. Baldev Singh Kuklehrian, president of the Bhakhra Oustees Pursharthi Committee, an association of Himachali families that migrated to this area in large numbers at the time of acquisition of their land for the construction of the Bhakhra Dam, told this correspondent that the villagers had knocked at every possible door for the mitigation of their grievances, but nothing had been done to solve their problem. The villagers allege that the waterworks of the public health department is always short of drinking water as their villages are situated at the tail-end of the canal. The village women go to distant fields with their pitchers to fetch water from tubewells, but the power plays truant before they start getting water. “Long queues of women are present before the tubewells, but hardly 10 to 15 of them get water before the power supply goes off. The condition of our cattle is even worse. They do not get enough water to drink, what to speak of bathing them,” said Kuklehrian. “The talk of development is meaningless to us if we do not have the access to drinking water. Many of our families are thinking of selling their agriculture land and shifting back to Himachal Pradesh,” he lamented. The situation of power supply is even worse. The villagers allege that they get dim supply for lighting bulbs for two to three hours a day and the three-phase power supply for running tubewells for not more than one hour and that too on alternate days. For the past three days after a snag developed in the transmission line to the area, neither electricity nor water is available to the villagers, the residents alleged. The villagers recently submitted a memorandum to the district authorities as well as public authorities and highlighted their plight, but no action has been taken so far. Additional deputy commissioner C.G. Rajnikanthan admitted that the villagers met him with their demand and said he had forwarded it to the public health authorities for action. Executive engineer of the public health department Karam Chand, however, maintained that some villagers had approached him with the problem of scarcity of drinking water and the complaint was attended to immediately. |
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MC Chief’s Election
Jind, June10 The post has been lying vacant for the past over five months. The earlier president of the council had resigned because of loss of confidence of the majority of the 31 elected members on December 31, 2007. The authorities concerned have now notified to have a special meeting of the civic body on June 12 to elect its new chief. The annual budget of the body is around Rs 5.5 crore. The INLD, which has still not announced its own candidate, has offered support to a Congressman backed by a sitting Haryana minister. But the same candidate has failed to find support from his party members, who have the blessings of a Congress MP. Sources said the Congress MP had reportedly opposed the candidate supported by the Haryana minister. The election for the new chief had been delayed because of the disinterest exhibited by the authorities concerned due to various factors, including influence of certain politicians. The authorities had to announce June 4 as the date for the election after a petition was filed in the high court. But due to unavailability of certain officials, the election was postponed to June 12, claimed an elected member of the body. The last election to the body was held in April 2005 and since then it has seen two chiefs, who had to go due to lack of support. Though the Congress-supported members have been in majority, it is learnt that they have now started wooing the INLD in this process. Sources said INLD leaders and members had promised to support one candidate, who is backed by a Haryana minister, who in turn had been seen as a loyalist of the Bhajan Lal group before the formation of the Haryana Janhit Congress. However, this candidate, a Congress activist, has been opposed by several members who owe allegiance to Narender Nada, the last president of the body. Nada is seen as a loyalist of Congress MP Jai Prakash. However, Prakash has claimed that there is no interference from his side in the affairs of the civic body, adding that anyone who enjoyed the support of the majority would be the next chief. Vinod Ashri, a former president of the council, has announced to contest the election so far while the names of his opponents are still to be announced. While this election tangle is certainly heading towards a showdown of strength between two strong leaders of the Congress party, the matter has already reached to the notice of the Chief Minister, who has reportedly asked both the factions to resolve it amicably to ensure that the post did not go to a non-Congressman.
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MDU admission notification issued
Rohtak, June 10 Prospectuses for the same are available at university sale counters and the last date for submission of forms at the departments concerned is June 25. Admissions to MA in English, public administration,
political science, economics, history, sociology, psychology, geography, Sanskrit, mass communication and education; MSc in biochemistry, genetics, botany, environmental science, zoology, medical biotechnology, food processing technology, biotechnology,
physics, chemistry, mathematics and mathematics with computer; MCom, and UG and PG courses in physical education will be made on the basis of entrance tests to be held on July 4, 5, 7 and 9. On the other hand, admissions to MSc (statistics); MA in mathematics, music, Hindi, defence studies and fine arts and PG diploma course in translation and certificate course in Urdu will be made
on the basis of academic merit. The MDU authorities have also issued admission notification for admission to various UG and PG courses at colleges affiliated to the university. The application forms can be submitted in colleges concerned till June 28. Meanwhile, the entrance tests for three-year and five-year (integrated) LLB (honours) courses will be held on July 8. The last date for applying is June 20. All details regarding the admissions are also available on the university website, www.mdurohtak.com. |
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Former paramilitary men see unfair deal
Rewari, June 10 R.K. Yadav, national secretary-general of the association, said it was deplorable that paramilitary personnel had been denied a fair deal by the commission in the matter of parity of pay, pension and other allied facilities with employees of the defence forces. He alleged that while the commission had focused on the IAS and IPS cadres, the interests of the paramilitary personnel had been ignored. |
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Indian police praised
Kaithal, June 10 Talking to mediapersons on behalf of the team, Vanker I. Ismail, DSP, said while dealing with the Indian police, they found that it was extremely cooperative and thoroughly professional. |
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HP to take steps to revive Saraswati
Yamunanagar, June 10 The Haryana government will set up a ropeway between Adi Badri and the Mantra Devi temple here. This was announced by Himachal minister for health Rajiv Bindal during a visit to the Adi Badri “udgam sthal” here yesterday. The minister was accompanied by Pushpender Rajput, deputy commissioner, Sirmour, J.P. Singh, superintendent of police, Sirmour, besides other senior officials. They discussed various proposals for the development of the area. Nitin Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner, Yamunanagar, who was present on the occasion, said the Shivalik Development Board had also undertaken an ambitious programme of development of this area and would spend Rs 5 crore for this purpose. A.R. Chaudhri, senior professor of geology at Kurukshetra University, gave a presentation of the satellite imagery of the area showing the availability of drinking water in the various channels of the Saraswati and its erstwhile tributaries. Reiterating the earlier announcements of Rs 13.51 lakh for the construction of a link road from Mattar village to the Mantra Devi temple, the minister sanctioned another Rs 15 lakh for providing electricity in the temple. The minister also announced that a survey would be conducted by the science and technology department of Himachal for drilling a tubewell to provide water to the Mantra Devi temple. |
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Inflation
Hisar, June 10 Addressing the protesters former finance minister Sampat Singh said the policies of the Congress-led government at the centre had fuelled inflation. The poor were unable to eat a full meal a day and even the middle class was feeling the pinch. He said although the policies of the government were responsible for the economic mess, it was not taking ample measures to check the rise in the prices of essential items. The measures taken so far had proved ineffective. Sampat Singh criticised the hike in fuel prices saying the oil companies were misguiding people. Former legislator Puran Singh Dabra and INLD leader Ram Bhagat Gupta were among those who addressed the gathering. |
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