Chandigarh, August 24
Stunned by the reported intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office on the proposal for a separate SGPC for Haryana Sikhs, the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (ad hoc) (HSGPC) is Delhi-bound and in a damage-control mode.

“We are going to Delhi to meet the Congress party high command, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in view of the developments and to present our case. If the PMO’s intervention is true and some directive has been issued to the state government contrary to the party’s promise, this is the last they will hear from the Sikhs of Haryana,” emphasised president of the committee Jagdish Singh Jhinda.

The core committee of the HSGPC met to decide an alternative course of action in case the government was found to be dilly-dallying on the issue in any manner.

“The Centre must realise that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is never going to stand up for the Congress. We, the Sikhs of Haryana, have supported the Congress all along and more so after the party’s commitment in its election manifesto to create a separate Sikh body. If the Centre decides to buckle under pressure from the SAD, our war will no longer be against the SGPC or the SAD but against the Congress for committing a fraud and playing with our emotions to secure votes,” Jhinda asserted.

Still hopeful that the Congress government could not backtrack at this crucial juncture when they were near realising the goal, the members said they would “sort out the problem” with the Congress top brass.

“Before the election, the Congress always knew that a separate SGPC for Haryana was never going to be a cakewalk and the SAD was going to oppose it tooth and nail. If they were so worried about creating a volatile situation, they should not have promised the same. Our faith in the state leadership remains intact till they indicate to the contrary, but we are closely watching their every move,” general secretary Didar Singh Nalvi said after the meeting.

While the meeting in Delhi with the Congress leaders is aimed at convincing them of the need for a separate SGPC in the state, it was also decided that the HSGPC would not take any negative response lying down.

The members decided that in case the government adopted any delaying tactics, they would step up agitation and protests in the state.

They would target the state’s ministers by boycotting their programmes and gheraoing them whenever they found an opportunity.

The August 30 rally was on so far and the future strategy would be chalked out after their Delhi meeting over the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, sources close to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the government was awaiting the Chatha committee report and any decision with regard to a separate SGPC would be taken in view of the opinions therein.

Chandigarh, August 24
Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Sikhs of Haryana agitating for a separate gurdwara parbandhak committee today got support from unexpected quarters.

President of the SAD (Amritsar) Simranjit Singh Mann said here that it was highly objectionable on the part of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to blame Sonia for harming the interests of the Sikhs.

Mann said it were Indira and Rajiv, during whose rule a large number of the
Sikhs were killed.

But Sonia could not be blamed for the “sins” committed by her mother-in-law and husband, he asserted. He said it was not allowed in the Sikh religion to hold an innocent person guilty.

He said BJP leader L.K. Advani had admitted in his book that it was he who coaxed Indira Gandhi to send the Army to the Golden Temple during Operation Bluestar.

It was strange, he said, that Badal had not criticised Advani for this act of aggression against the Sikh community.

Rather, Advani was today “one of the closest buddies” of Badal, who was unnecessarily blaming Sonia.

Indirectly supporting the demand of the Haryana Sikhs for a separate gurdwara committee, Mann alleged that Badal was using SGPC funds to further his political agenda and for personal promotion.

Had the Badal-controlled SGPC used its funds judiciously for the propagation of the religion, the Sikhs of Haryana would not have raised the demand for a separate gurdwara committee.

Mann said the figures released by the Badal’s party about the expenditure incurred by the SGPC in Haryana could not be relied upon because the budget of the committee was never discussed by its general body.

He said it had been a practice with the SGPC to set up trusts dominated by members of the Badal family and its supporters and to release the funds to these trusts, which were virtually free from the control of the SGPC.

He said even Miri Piri Medical College at Shahbad in Haryana, on which the SGPC claimed to have spent over Rs 19 crore in the past few years, was being run by a trust controlled by the Badals.

Mohdinpur (Karnal), August 24
The situation in the village that came under the grip of a sudden outbreak of diseases that claimed several lives and left hundreds other seriously ill, continues to be grim.

One woman died due to the illness, while four children were referred to the civil hospital at the district headquarters.

In view of the gravity of the situation, the district unit of the Indian Medical Association also joined hands with government doctors already working in the village to tackle the diseases and organised a free medical camp. Hundreds were examined by a team of government doctors.

The sanitation drive that was launched in the village yesterday has started showing some results as most of the areas in the village were got rid of the muck and sewage and the drains were also cleaned.

The village panchayat also got into action and arranged a pump to drain out sewage water from the village pond that had been overflowing for the past many days.

Village sarpanch Bahadur Singh said sewage was being drained out into the fields where it could be used as manure.

Senior officials of the public health and waterworks department also visited the village and collected a number of water samples.

Fogging operations were also undertaken. Meanwhile, on a call of given by National Integrated Forum of Artistes and Activists (NIFAA), the district unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) organised a medical camp in the village where more than 550 persons were examined.

The Haryana Dawa Pratinidhi Sangh also came forward and provided the ailing persons medicines free of cost.

Dr Tejinder Singh, district president of the IMA, said many persons diagnosed today were found to be suffering from malaria, while some showed signs of jaundice.

He said that diseases were spreading due to unhygienic conditions prevalent in the village. Most of the women and children in the village were suffering from malnutrition and were anaemic.

Dr Tejinder Singh said anaemia coupled with malaria seemed to have been proving fatal for the villagers.

President of NIFFA Pritpal Singh Pannu said their organisation would continue to offer help to the villagers till the situation was brought under control.

Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), August 24
Property worth crores was destroyed in a fire that broke out in a shoe factory in part 1 of Modern Industry Estate (MIE) here today.

The fire broke out on the second floor of the factory building, which was packed with raw material used for manufacturing shoes.

However, no loss of life was reported. Short circuit is said to be behind the fire. The fire broke out around 6 am.

Watchmen on duty noticed the flames coming from one of the rooms of the second floor and informed the factory owner, Narender Chhikara, and the fire brigade office.

The fire was so destructive that even four fire tenders could not control the ablaze.

The Bhadurgarh fire brigade office had to call more fire tenders from not only Rohtak and Jhajjar but also from Delhi. It took around 8 hours to control the fire.

Bhadurgarh SDM Susheel Kumar and DSP Rajeev Deswal also rushed to the spot.

Sources said since flames were leaping high fire brigade personnel feared that it could spread to neighbouring factories.

Owners of neighbouring factories also rushed to the spot and one of them even tried to save expensive material stocked in his factory.

The police said a case had been registered and efforts were being made to ascertain the cause behind the fire.

Rohtak, August 24
If you wish to buy a used car or scooter but are not sure of its genuineness, do not worry. All you have to do is visit the motor vehicle verification counter at the local Police Lines, and you’ll get to know whether the vehicle is a stolen one.

Inspector-general of police, Rohtak range, V.Kamaraja said the Motor Vehicle Coordination System (MVCS) had been installed at the Police Lines here and within three months, all police stations under the jurisdiction of the Rohtak police range would be equipped with the system.

He said with the installation of this system, all information regarding the genuineness of vehicles would be readily available to the police, transport authorities entrusted with task of motor vehicle registration, insurance companies and common people.

“The counter, installed with the assistance of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), will have complete information of the vehicles stolen from any part of the country,” said SSP Alok Mittal. The district police would maintain the local counter of the system.

The main objectives of the exercise are to check the sale and purchase of stolen motor vehicles in the country, to help the local police in tracing the stolen vehicles even outside their jurisdiction by linking it with the recovered ones and to protect the common man from being cheated by unscrupulous dealers.

Besides, the facility will help insurance companies in getting claims settled and the transport department in checking the genuineness of vehicles.

With the help of this facility, any person can ensure whether a vehicle is a stolen one and get to know the recovery status of a stolen vehicle at nominal charges.

Sirsa, August 24
Indifference of the authorities with regard to the implementation of the Midday Meal Scheme has come to the fore after the Dabwali incident yesterday in which over 60 schoolchildren were taken ill after consuming fungus-infested roasted grams.

The authorities seem to be interested more in the cover-up of the incident rather than going into the root cause of the incident and take corrective measures.

Subdivisional magistrate Subhash Gaba said he had recommended the registration of a criminal case under the Essential Commodities Act against Leela Dhar, head teacher of the school.

He added that the entire stock of eatables lying in the school had been sealed and samples would be taken tomorrow.

Asked how fungus-infested grams found their way to the midday meals stock, Gaba said the purchases of eatables for the midday meal were made by the head teacher in consultation with the village education committee (VEC).

He said action, if any, would be taken after they received reports of the samples.

Additional district education officer Asha Kiran Grover has, however, contradicted the contentions of the SDM that the purchases were made by the head teacher.

Grover told The Tribune that the midday meal was supplied to the children under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and purchases for it was centralised at district level.

She informed that a committee headed by the additional deputy commissioner purchased all eatables under the SSA and these were then supplied to all schools in the district.

Interestingly, the authorities have so far not recalled the stock of the same batch of grams supplied to other schools in the district.

Grover said there was no problem in the stock of grams supplied from the district headquarters after every three months.

She said the grams might have contacted the fungal infestation due to the storage conditions at the local level.

The storage conditions of midday meal are poor in almost all schools. The conditions are even poorer in schools situated in villages.

A schoolteacher said on condition of anonymity that eatables coming for the midday meal were stored in small dingy rooms prone to catch moisture.

There is no provision for storing the eatables in dry conditions during the monsoon, rendering these prone to infections.

Kaithal, August 24
Even as people are trying their level best to get their names included in the BPL list to get benefits from the government, a rich man has not been able to digest the fact that his name has figured in the BPL list.

He is making all-out efforts to get his name deleted from the list.

Sources said Dalbir Singh, a rich farmer of Pisole village under Siwan sub-tehsil, was shocked when he came to know that his name had been included in the BPL list.

Since then he was making efforts to get his name deleted from the list. He had even threatened to act against those responsible for including his name in the list.

He does not even rule out the possibility of someone playing mischief with him.

According to sources close to Dalbir, he owned 20 acres and all other facilities but in the list his ownership had been shown for only 4 acres.

Sarpanch Vakil Ram, who also got surprised to know that Dalbir’s name had been included in the BPL list, was sure that Dalbir had not filed any form for inclusion of his name in the list.

Local patwari Shiv Dayal also said he never forwarded Dalbir’s name for the BPL list. Dayal said he would verify the records from the office and would try to find out that how Dalbir’s name figured in the list.

Kaithal, August 24
A man allegedly murdered Sukhvinder of Cheeka village here with a knife in Barcelona town in Spain on August 17.

The deceased had recently joined his brother-in-law in Barcelona, who had been running a department store there.

Sukhvinder is survived by wife and kids, who live in Cheeka village here.

Subedar Sarjit Singh, father of Sukhvinder, said a man entered the store, where Sukhvinder and his brother-in-law were sitting, and demanded some goods.

When his brother-in-law went inside to bring the demanded articles, the man attacked Sukhvinder with a knife.

The duo overpowered the assailant, but Sukhvinder was badly injured in the scuffle. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Sukhvinder’s body was brought to his native town on Friday and was cremated in the presence of large gathering.

Subedar Sarjit Singh has sought the government help to get visas for the family members of the deceased so that they can move to Spain and earn their livelihood by running the business left behind by his son.

Rewari, August 24
The police gave a chase and apprehended four persons - Hassan Mohammad, Goonga, Salim and Tahir - all residents of Mewat district, from a field into which they fled after abandoning their truck on the Jhajjar-Rewari road near Tehna village last evening.

Prior to this, the truck, carrying 17 cows and four calves, reportedly foiled an interception bid of the police, demolished its improvised barricade at the Rohrai turn and then fled away.

The miscreants also allegedly made a bid to run over police personnel manning
the barricade.

Two of the 17 cows, all huddled together into the truck, were found dead while
most of the remaining cows and calves were injured since the truck was being
driven rashly.

The cows and the calves were being taken from Jhunjunoo district of Rajasthan to the Mewat area for slaughter.

The police, which registered a case of attempt to murder, rash driving and mischief by killing of cows under sections 307, 336, 279 and 429 of the IPC as well as sections 11, 59 and 60 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and sections 2, 3, 4-A and 8 of the Cow Slaughter Act in this regard, today produced the four accused in the court of the Subdivisional Judicial Magistrate at Kosli, who remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

Gurgaon, August 24
A National Security Guard (NSG) constable and his wife were allegedly shot dead by some assailants in Joniyawas village here yesterday night.

The incident took place when the couple was returning home on a motorcycle from the fields. Some village-level dispute is suspected to be behind the murder.

The deceased identified as Manoj Kumar (30) was on deputation with the NSG in Manesar while his wife Rekha (26), a housewife, lived in the village with her in-laws and a minor son. He had come home on leave.

Blaming the police for the incident, the villagers alleged that it did not register the complaint made by the deceased’s father, Lal Singh, who was reportedly threatened by some persons at his house on Tuesday.

The villagers had heated arguments with the police for its failure to act on the earlier complaint when they came to know about the incident.

Commissioner of police, Gurgaon, Mohinder Lal admitted that the police had failed to lodge a complaint when the deceased’s father along with some villagers went to the Farukhnagar police station.

He said departmental action would be taken against the police officials concerned for their failure to register the complaint.

The incident came to light today morning when some villagers spotted the bodies and informed the police.

His father had gone to the police station to lodge a missing report, but no action
was taken.

Gurgaon, August 24
General secretary of the All-India Congress Committee and in charge of the Haryana Congress affairs Margret Alva yesterday appealed to party workers of the Gurgaon and Faridabad Lok Sabha constituencies to strengthen the party for the elections while directing their sitting MPs and MLAs to pay due regard to the workers.

Addressing the workers’ sammelan of both constituencies at the district Congress Bhawan here, she instructed the party ministers and MLAs in the state government to be sensitive towards the workers and listen to their problems as it would go a long way in strengthening the party set-up for the coming general elections.

Her remarks drew instant applause as she asked the elected leaders to devote specified time in their respective assembly constituencies for the purpose.

She directed Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Phool Chand Mullana to chalk out a strategy so that ministers and MLAs could hear workers’ grievances.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, too, stressed the need for making workers feel that it was their party’s government in the state.

He did not mince words in telling the MLAs and MPs that they should at least offer a cup of tea to the workers, who were the backbone of the party.

Sonepat, August 24
A four-month-old girl was rescued from drowning into a drain on the outskirts of Gohana by a safai karamchari of Gohana municipality, Birmati, late last evening.

The girl was immediately rushed to the CHC, Gohana, where she was given emergency treatment.

At 7.30 pm yesterday, Birmati noticed a small baby floating in drain No. 8. She raised an alarm and started rescuing the child.

The girl was immediately taken to a nearby doctor, who helped in taking out the water that had entered into the girl’s stomach. Later, she was admitted to the CHC.

The girl was today discharged from the CHC and Birmati, mother of three, has taken the possession of the child. She said she would take care of the child if no one came to claim her.

Kurukshetra, August 24
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today said the government would soon allocate 100 sq yards of free plots for BPL families.

Besides, children belonging to BLP families would be given scholarships for studying up to class XII.

Addressing a gathering here, the CM said the state government was committed to providing all logistic help to the poor and needy in the state and efforts were being put in to bring them at par with other sections of society.

He said the government had initiated several welfare schemes for the people of the state and more such schemes would be lunched in future.

Later, the CM inaugurated a technical education institution in Barna village brought up by the Prabudayal Educational Trust, where he said in order to boost technical education in the state, special efforts were being made by the government.

Last year, the government had allocated 90 crore for technical education, while this year 120 crore was being spent in this field, the CM said.

Hooda claimed that the number of seats in technical education institutions were likely to be increased to 1 lakh by next year.

Kurukshetra, August 24
Addressing members of the District Bar Association and Judges at a function organised on the premises of Judicial Complex here today, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda urged upon the lawyers to charge nominal fee from poor litigants so that they might not be deprived of justice.

He said the role played by lawyers, including Lala Lajpat Rai, Mahatma Gandhi, Moti Lal Nehru, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Lala Shyam Lal, who were also great leaders and freedom fighters, in the freedom struggle could not be forgotten. Judiciary had played a vital role in strengthening democracy.

Criticising previous Chief Ministers for power shortage, he said when the present state government took over the reigns of the administration on March 5, 2005, the power generating capacity of state-owned power plants was mere 1,587 MW and total availability of power in the state was 4,000 MW as against a demand of over 6,000 MW.

The present state government had formulated a plan to generate 5,000 MW of additional power, said Hooda.

He announced that a sum of Rs 5 lakh would be given to the Bar Association from the discretionary fund of agriculture minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha to provide better facilities in the library of the association.

Referring to the demands of the Bar Association regarding land for residential purposes, he said the state government had formulated a policy in this regard and 5 per cent residential plots in all urban estates developed by Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) had been reserved for the lawyers.

The Chief Minister also released a telephone directory of the Bar Association
on the occasion.

Earlier, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of the office building of HUDA in Sector 4 and also inaugurated a police station in Sector 13.

An exhibition on Lord Krishna was also organised, in which he had been depicted as a saviour of the folks of his time.