Jind, August 6
A large number of employees of Haryana Roadways held a state-level demonstration in support of their demands here today. However, due to precautionary measures and elaborate police arrangements by the district administration, the roadways’ staff failed to seize the residence of transport minister Mange Ram Gupta.

The police arrested hundreds of them for violating Section 144 imposed by the district administration last evening.

The call for the agitation was given by the Joint Action Committee of the Haryana Roadways Workers Association in support of their demands.

Sources said the police, which rounded up at least 400 employees of government departments, including the roadways, released about half of them by evening.

The move of the roadways’ staff, however, led to a lot of inconvenience to people wanted to travel by Haryana Roadways, as a majority of buses from the local depot remained off road due to involvement of drivers and conductors in the stir.

Only a few buses plied and these were driven by some of the new drivers recruited recently by the department, sources said.

There are 153 buses in the local depot. The city virtually turned into a police cantonment as cops were posted at every nook and corner of the city. It is claimed that several leaders and members of employees’ associations were rounded up while they were trying to enter the city.

The police started the arrests by rounding up teachers sitting in dharna outside the mini-secretariat here today. They had been staging dharna for the past over 100 days in protest against the failure of the authorities to meet their demands.

Over 100 employees of the roadways who had assembled at the local bus stand and raised slogans against the transport minister and the state government were also arrested by the police.

Nine Duty Magistrates, eight DSPs and six companies of the police were posted in the town to prevent the agitating employees to reach the residence of the transport minister in Gandhi Nagar here.

While employees’ organisations, including the Sarva Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, CITU, All-Haryana Power Workers Union and the Haryana Roadways Karamchari Union, condemned the police action, it is alleged that the police not only misbehaved but also rounded up innocent persons in its drive to keep a check on the agitating staff.

The main demands of the employees included recruitment on regular basis, ending up privatisation and outsourcing process in the department, increasing the number of buses in roadways fleet and re-introduction of ex gratia job scheme in the department.

BHIWANI: The police allegedly intercepted and beat up employees of Haryana Roadways, Bhiwani depot, near Gujrani village while they were proceeding towards Jind to stage a demonstration outside the residence of transport minister Mange Ram Gupta on Wednesday. The police reportedly took them near Buwani Khera.

Irate over the police action, roadways’ employees stopped driving buses and declared a chakka jam.

Fatehabad, August 6
After the attack of mealy bug on the cotton crop of farmers in the district, bacillus leaf blight is the latest threat to their paddy crop now.

Paddy on 300 acres in Lamba village of Ratia subdivision in the district has been found infected with suspected leaf blight.

Alarmed by the attack, the agriculture authorities have summoned experts from the Rice Research Centre of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, situated at Kaul in Kaithal district. The experts are expected here tomorrow.

Bacillus causes problem when conditions favourable for its multiplication like humidity are available, according to Ravi Poonia, deputy director, agriculture, Fatehabad.

Symptoms of bacillus or bacterial leaf blight include translucent lesions on the leaf tip and along the leaf margin, according to agriculture experts.

The lesions may elongate and extend into the middle of the leaf.

Lesions are dark green at first, then turn yellow and eventually turn brown when dead.

The diseased area is often surrounded by a bright yellow halo that separates it from the healthy portion of the leaf.

The experts claim that once the crops are affected by bacillus leaf blight, these cannot be treated.

Ambala, Aug 6
A two-member team of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), led by its director Sanjay Dube, visited the women prisoner ward of the civil hospital in Ambala City where a pregnant undertrial prisoner, Madhu, was chained till yesterday.

The other member of the team, Sudhir, is a senior officer of the NHRC. No iron chain was available in the men or women prisoner wards of the hospital today.

Dube met the victim, who narrated the entire incident to him. Madhu replied in the affirmative when the director asked her whether she was beaten up in the jail. Dube also confirmed whether she was tied with iron chains. The father of the victim, Shiv Prakash, told the NHRC team that a police official had threatened him that he would be falsely implicated in some case if he raised the issue.

He met several patients in the hospital and asked their problems. He also visited the hospital’s wards and inspected the sanitation and drinking water arrangements.

Asked for his comments on the matter, Dube said additional deputy commissioner, Ambala, Renu Phulia had already been probing the matter and her report was expected soon. He said he would be able to give some conclusion on this matter by tomorrow.

Dube said the NHRC team had not come to Ambala especially to look into the Madhu matter. He said several teams of the commission had been visiting various jails and hospitals of Haryana and other states to assess the problems. He said a comprehensive report would be prepared in this regard.

The commission team also visited the central jail where some prisoners complained about the scarcity of toilets and fans in the barracks. Jail superintendent S.P.S. Chauhan, who was accompanying the team, informed it that a proposal in this regard had already been sent to the higher authorities. He said 540 prisoners were lodged in the jail, including 68 women. The team also had a discussion with the deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police.

Rai (Sonepat), August 6
Senior leaders of the Haryana Janhit Congress and their supporters almost came to blows at a party workers’ meeting that was held here today under the leadership of Kuldeep Bishnoi.

The 15-minute brawl came to an end with the district president (urban) submitting his resignation to register his protest.

The trouble started over the conduct of the stage as soon as Kuldeep Bishnoi arrived at the meeting venue.

State general-secretary Ranjeet Kaushik and district president of the urban unit of the party Lalit Sharma along with their supporters not only manhandled each other but also used abusive language to prevail upon each other for the conduct of the stage.

Sharma claimed that he had made all arrangements for the meeting and had chalked out a programme to conduct the proceedings. However, when Bishnoi arrived at the venue, Dharmpal Singh Malik asked Ranjeet Kaushik to conduct the stage, which was not taken kindly by Sharma.

He immediately raised an objection following which Kaushik and his supporters reacted. Even Sharma’s supporters got on the stage and started pushing Kaushik’s supporters aside.

Though Malik tried to intervene, he failed to pacify warring factions, who continued to fight even in front of the party president. Somehow, the matter was resolved, but soon after, Sharma submitted his resignation to the party president to register his protest.

Talking to The Tribune, Sharma said it was his programme and none had the right to hijack the meeting. He said even as he had submitted his resignation, he would continue to serve the party and its president as a loyal “sepoy”.

Meanwhile, Bishnoi said he had ordered an internal inquiry into the matter. He said strict disciplinary action would be taken against anyone found guilty of violating party regulations.

Chandigarh, August 6
Municipal Committee employees, absorbed in other departments after they were rendered “surplus” with the abolition of octroi in Haryana, will finally get assured “assured career promotion” (ACP) grade. In a significant order affecting the service conditions of all such employees, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has allowed a bunch of as many as 23 writ petitions, seeking the grant of ACP grade. With this, all such employees will benefit in monetary terms and not feel stagnated.

After octroi was abolished in Haryana, a decision was taken to absorb the employees in the other departments. Initially, it was decided that the employees would be entitled to pay protection and other benefits of earlier service. But, the employees were later denied the benefits of seniority in subsequent employment. Raj Kumar was one such employee. Working in the Cheeka municipal committee, he was absorbed in the Haryana Industrial Training and Vocational Education Department. He, along with many other employees, had moved the High Court against the State of Haryana and other respondents, for the grant of ACP.

For substantiating his case, the petitioner had referred to two letters dated May 7, 2001, and June 18, 2001, whereby the decision to grant ACP grade to the employees absorbed in other departments was communicated.

He had added that the grade was to be granted “in consonance with the length of service in the municipalities concerned”. However, the state, vide impugned orders dated March 5 and April 9, decided not to grant the benefit of pay protection to the petitioner and to recover the excess amount paid to him.

Taking up the matter, the Division Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rajan Gupta observed the facts of the other cases were more or less the same.

Jhajjar, August 6
The Haryana police has identified nearly 150 persons belonging to different parts of the state who have been helping hardcore criminals get bail. These persons have no relation or acquaintance with the criminals whom they help and are allegedly engaged in the illegal practice only for money.

State additional director-general of police (law and order) V.B. Rao recently sent details of these persons to the SPs of all districts of the state. The SPs have been directed to take appropriate action against the persons and submit an action taken report at the next meeting of the district police chiefs.

According to sources, the Vigilance Bureau had informed the state police authorities some time ago that certain persons in different districts had been helping several hardcore criminals get bail. These persons not only projected themselves as acquaintances of the criminals but also presented themselves as guarantors for getting the criminals bailed out by furnishing documents like affidavits and registration certificates of land. In return, they got hefty amounts of money. The sources say that after getting bail, many criminals commit more crimes.

Taking a serious view of the vigilance report, the state police launched a special drive to identify the persons involved in the racket. During the drive, the police identified around 150 persons of various districts who were involved in this illegal business.

Faridabad district tops the official list with 39 persons identified as guarantors helping criminals get bail followed by Panipat district with 27 persons. Yamunanagar is third on the list with 18 persons. Karnal has 26 persons, Gurgaon 22, Sonepat and Rohtak 16 each, Hisar and Fatehabad 14 each, Jhajjar 12, Bhiwani five, Panchkula six, Jind three and Sirsa one.

Chandigarh, August 6
Following the failure of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) to release retirement benefits of an employee despite categorical directions by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Division Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg have asked the managing director to appear personally.

The Bench also fixed October 22 as the next date of hearing. The petition before the Bench was filed by Balbir Singh of Yamuna Nagar. Working as an assistant foreman in the Nigam, he had retired on March 31, 2004, but had to seek the court’s intervention for release of his dues with per cent since then.

Sirsa, August 6
Irked over alleged police inaction in the case of manhandling of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam executive engineer I.D. Mehta, workers of the nigam today staged a demonstration at the local 33 kV substation and raised slogans against the authorities.

Holding agitation under the banner of the All-Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union, the workers threatened to go on strike in case those responsible for the attack on the officer were not arrested by Friday.

Union leaders S.S. Bedi, Vijay Pal Jakhar and others alleged that though they had provided a list of names of the BJP functionaries responsible for the officer’s thrashing, the police had not arrested a single person.They alleged that party worker Manbir Kasnia, who was nabbed from the spot by the police, was honoured by some party functionaries after he was released on bail.

The union leaders claimed that demonstrations were organised at all 13 substations in the district today.

XEN I.D. Mehta was manhandled by some BJP workers at Nathusari Chopta last week.

Sonepat, August 6
Sonepat yesterday became the first district in Haryana to introduce the toll-free phone number facility for people to register their complaints, said deputy commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi.

The toll-free number is 1077 and the facility had been provided to residents of towns and villages in Sonepat and Gannaur subdivisions of the district, he added.

However, the facility would not be free of cost for the people of Gohana subdivision, as they would be required to use the dialling code 95130 along with the toll number, he explained.

The DC said the system would work like a call centre round the clock in three shifts - two shifts from 8 am to 4 pm and 4 pm to 12 am would be manned by a computer operator and an attendant whereas voice recording facility would be available in the third shift from midnight to 8 am.

Claiming it to be an improvised system for redressing grievances of people, particularly women and physically challenged persons, the DC said the progress on the complaints would be reviewed every fortnight. “We have designed a new software equipped with most of the information of various departments which will help in successful implementation of the new initiative,” he said and hoped that if good beginning was made, the toll free number of 11 digits would be provided.