Jhajjar, September 30
Thousands of acres of agricultural land in the district is submerged in rainwater. As a result, while standing crops like paddy, jowar and arhar have suffered heavy damage, farmers are now worried about the problem of waterlogging.

Thanks to the snail pace of drainage of stagnant rainwater, the situation has deteriorated in several villages of the district.

However, the district administration has been claiming to take steps to drain out the stagnant water but the fact is that Khedi, Khatiwaas, Dujana, Dhod, Wazir Pur, Bhagpur, Gochhi, Lakriya, Mundahera, Sheriya, Dhighal, Madana, Khapadwaas and Akheri Madanpur are those villages, which have badly affected by the accumulated rainwater causing hardships to the residents.

Talking to The Tribune, Maange Ram and Shri Bhagwan, farmers of Dhighal village, said that if the water was not drained out early, it could delay the sowing of the main rabi crop of the region like wheat.

On the other hand, due to stagnant water, residents of most of villages are in the grip of water-borne diseases. Diarrhoea, jaundice and malaria have become prevalent with large number of cases being reported in the district.

With a view to control the spate of malaria, the district administration has decided to carry out fogging in most of the affected villages so that breeding of mosquitoes could be prevented.

Meanwhile, in a press note, deputy commissioner, Nitin Yadav, claimed that an adequate number of pumps in Khatiwas, Dhod and Dujana villages had been installed and the water was likely to be drained out soon in the villages.

“I, along with other administrative officers, have been visiting the worst hit villages and directed the officials of Irrigation departments for speeding up the work and to deal with the situation,” Yadav said.

Chandigarh, September 30
Paddy growers are facing exploitation and the government is losing revenue in certain mandis of the state due to a nexus between commission agents, millers and officials of the Haryana Agriculture Marketing Board.

In these mandis, their produce is being purchased without putting it to mandatory auction with the result growers are getting Rs 880 per quintal of grade A variety of paddy, popularly known as parmal. This is the minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the government.

According to reports received here in mandis like Dhand and Kaithal, where the crop is being sold through auction, the growers are getting up to Rs 1,000 per quintal of this variety of paddy. In Kurukshetra mandi, which is about 25 km from Dhand, paddy is being sold at the MSP.

Sources in the rice trade say that even in those mandis where paddy is not being auctioned, the millers pay Rs 50 to Rs 70 above the MSP for purchasing paddy.

But this money goes to the coffers of the commission agents, who bill the paddy at the MSP. It is the sweet will of the commission agents to pass on this amount to the growers. The sources say only influential farmers get a share from this “premium” paid by the millers. Even in the case of influential farmers, the commission agents are able to take a cut from the “premium”.

The sources say the millers pay “premium” to the commission agents so that the latter should show in the records that paddy has been purchased on behalf of a government procurement agency and delivered to a particular miller for milling on behalf of that agency. This way the millers are saved from investing their money in the purchase of paddy. If they purchase paddy through auction, they would have to pay the grower about Rs 950 per quintal from their own pocket, besides giving a share of the milled rice to the government as levy.

Besides, they also save on value added tax (VAT), market fee and rural development cess, which are paid by the government agencies. In such cases the millers have to pay only a “premium” ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 70 per quintal.

The commission agents, the sources say, connive with the millers in defrauding the growers as well as the government because they not only pocket at least a sizeable share of the “premium”, but are also assured of their payment, which is to come from the government.

Officials of the marketing board do not ensure that the crop is sold through auction because in that case they have to be present in the mandis, a tiresome job. They prefer to spend their time in raiding premises of the millers for obvious reasons.

The sources say if the officials ensure that every grain is sold only through auction, there would be no need to raid the millers’ premises. The government would also get additional VAT, market fee and rural development cess in that case. 

Panipat, September 30
Preparations are in full swing for the Congress rally that is to be addressed by AICC president Sonia Gandhi here on October 2.

The Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) is making all the arrangements for the rally. According to the sources, the Congress would kick start its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in the state with this rally.

Sonia Gandhi would be launching the Mahatma Gandhi residential scheme at Garh Sarnai village after which she would address a rally at the open grounds of sector 13 and its adjoining sector 17.

In view of the AICC president’s visit, around two lakh people are expected to participate in the rally. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda himself visited the rally venue last evening and revived all the arrangements.

The rally that has been termed “Samajik Kranti Samaroh” had induced a lot of enthusiasm among the party men and special efforts were being made for its success, Kuldip Sharma, president of the HPCC, said.

He said UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi would hand over the allotment letters of 100 sq yd plots for the SCs, the BCs and the BPL families before addressing the rally.

District police chief M.S. Sheoran said additional security personnel from other districts and some from Madhuban had been called in and deputed at strategic locations to maintain law and order. In order to prevent any traffic snarls in the district during the rally, it has also been decided to divert traffic from the NH1.

The traffic would be diverted from the Gohana road towards Panipat refinery, which would ensure that there was no disruption in the smooth flow of traffic during the rally. 

Karnal, September 30
Sending clear signals that “bridges with Congress leadership have not been burnt”, rebel party MP from Karnal Arvind Sharma today declared that he along with his supporters would attend the Panipat rally of AICC president Sonia Gandhi on October 2.

Sharma’s detractors in the party were hoping that he would not attend the rally, providing them ammunition to step up their campaign for expediting the disciplinary action against him. Since Panipat was a part of Karnal Parliamentary constituency, absence of Sharma would have invited wrath of Sonia Gandhi and made the task of his opponents easier.

He has also appealed to his supporters to come to the rally in “big number” and make it a success.

He congratulated Sonia Gandhi for selecting Panipat for the rally and said it would give a boost to the developmental activities in the area. He said he would raise the demands of the people with the Congress president and seek their redressal.

He appealed to Sonia Gandhi to intervene in regularisation of unauthorised colonies in the peripheral areas as she did in Delhi, where 1639 colonies were regularised.

He also demanded the Kalpana Chawla Medical College project be expedited to set up a medical college on the pattern of AIIMS and said in spite of instructions from the Prime Minister, this scheme had not been implemented so far.

While addressing the workers’ rally at Karnal on September 14, Arvind Sharma said his ticket for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections would be decided by the high command and not by the state leaders.

Hisar, September 30
Two main government employees’ organisations, Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh and Sarv Karamchari Sangh, have set up a joint organisation called the Haryana Employees Joint Action Committee to launch an agitation to press their demands.

The newly set up organisation will have five members from each of the parent bodies.

President of All India State Government Employees Confederation M. L. Sehgal said here today district level conventions would be organised from October 16 to 22. This would be followed by demonstrations at the district towns of Haryana on October 31. A state level rally would be organised at Rohtak on November 30, he added.

Sehgal said although the Chief Minister had announced that the sixth pay panel’s recommendations would be implemented in Haryana, the government was yet to remove the anomalies created by the fifth pay panel.

The government had set up a committee under the chairmanship of the chief secretary to remove these anomalies. However, the committee had not yet met.

He said there were some jobs in the state government for which there were no equivalent jobs in the Centre. The government had not found a solution to the problem of specifying scales for such employees. Besides, the issue of providing ex-gratia jobs to children of employees, retiring due to accidents and other reasons, had not been met. He appealed to the Chief Minister to resolve all these issues before implementing the sixth pay panel award. 

Karnal, September 30
Planning Commission member V.C.Chopra today called for evolving policies which safeguarded "what we have" and anticipated the future requirements for focussed research to make the farm sector sustainable.

"Consolidation of achievements and anticipatory research are needed to meet the emerging challenges" he told TNS in an exclusive interview here. The problem was not of changing the traditional farm practices but changing the traditional mind-set and supplementing our efforts by adopting new technologies and keeping pace with modernisation, he added.

The farm sector was facing major challenges like a decline in soil fertility, scarcity of water, stagnation in yield, conservation of biodiversity and protection of ecology, he said, adding that scientists and policy makers should come out with strategies which adequately addressed these issues.

Chopra, who was here to inaugurate the Kisan Sammelan, expressed serious concern over the degradation of the ecology and the extinction of endangered species of plants and animals. The situation was so distressing that every minute a species was disappearing, he lamented.

Stressing the importance of breaking the "yield barrier" in today's post-Green Revolution era, Chopra said it was imperative for meeting the future requirements and researchers should concentrate on this area, keeping in view the ever-increasing scarcity of water for irrigation.

He said the focus of the 11th Five Year Plan was on inclusive growth which mandated that problems of all sectors should be solved and their sustainable growth ensured.

S.S.Johl, former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, and former chairman, Cost and Price Commission, Punjab, who was also present, described the "farmers’ loan waiver scheme" as the most foolish thing the government had come up with. The government should waive the interest first and ensure that it benefited the needy and the deserving.

The scheme would go against the interests of farmers in the long run as banks would be unwilling to advance loans to them, he said, adding that such schemes should benefit farmers in distress. But the scheme did not help small and marginal farmers, who took loans from money-lenders and not banks. Such schemes normally benefited the "powerful and not the deserving", he observed.

Karnal, September 30
A daylong Kisan Mela and Kisan Gosthi organised by the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI) here today turned out to be a big draw with more than 1,000 farmers and students participating in the mela and interactive sessions.

Eminent agricultural scientist and educationist V.L. Chopra, member, Planning Commission, Government of India, inaugurated the mela while former Vice- Chancellor of Punjabi University S.S. Johl presided over the function.

Chopra, who visited different stalls at the mela, depicting technologies for obtaining bumper yields from salt-affected soils, wished further accountability from researchers to make agriculture profitable.

Dr Johl urged the farmers to base their produce on market demand to get the maximum benefit and also urged scientists to focus more on on-farm research. He urged farmers to benefit from the commendable technologies developed by the CSSRI in the filed of salt-affected soils.

Dr I.P Abrol, director, Centre for Advancement of Sustainable Agriculture (CASA), who was the guest of honour, made a startling revelation that farm subsidies this year would surpass the defence budget. He touched upon the issues of adoption of zero tillage and laser leveler technologies, integrated farming systems, developing facilities for the regular testing of soil and groundwater samples and application of telecommunication facilities to provide timely information on the weather.

Dr Gurbachan Singh, director, CSSRI, elaborated on the recent initiatives taken by the institute particularly in the fields of multiple use of water for multi-enterprise agriculture, resource conservation technologies like zero tillage, bed planting, and groundwater recharge and medicinal plants in salt-affected soils.

The interactive kisan goshthi, between farmers and agricultural experts, an exhibition on the testing of soil and water samples and the sale of seed of promising rabi crops were other main attractions of the kisan mela. Nearly 200 farmers purchased seeds worth Rs 1.5 lakh while eight progressive farmers from Haryana were felicitated. About 40 stalls were put up during the mela and prizes were awarded to three best exhibition stalls.

Robert Kok, Professor, Department of Bio-resource Engineering, McGill University, who was one of the visitors to the mela said, "We are facing the same problem of irrigation and loss of fertility of land in Canada." Research by Indian scientists would be of great help to farmers in Canada also, he said.

Two marginal farmers, Prem Singh of Nilokheri and Kapoor Singh of Asandh, lauded the CSSRI for holding the mela and said it was an opportunity to learn the latest farm techniques and trends.

Chandigarh, September 30
Exhibiting complete disregard for the “sanctity” of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, a Haryana police official today created ruckus outside a courtroom.

The cop held from the collar the husband of a girl, whose release was being sought through a habeas corpus, right after the disposal of the illegal detention case.

The high drama in the court premises led to the issuance of a contempt notice by Justice Ranjit Singh to sub-inspector Om Parkash, who had held the husband from the collar, and inspector Balwant Singh, in whose presence the incident occurred.

The “illegal act” also resulted in the summoning of Palwal superintendent of police. Justice Ranjit Singh has also suggested the registration of a criminal case against the police officials.

The incident occurred immediately after the disposal of a habeas corpus petition filed for securing the release of one Rinki. Appearing before Justice Ranjit Singh, Rinki said the decision to stay with her husband Ashok Kumar was her own, and not influenced by an external factor or force.

After recording her statement, Justice Ranjit Singh ruled no case of Rinki’s illegal detention was made out. As such, the matter had been rendered infructuous.

As Ashok Kumar, along with others, moved out of the courtroom, the cop caught hold of him from his collar and manhandled him, resulting in an uproar which was heard inside the courtroom.

Just as Justice Ranjit Singh was about to inquire, an advocate came rushing in with the complaint of manhandling. Losing no time, Justice Ranjit Singh, with the state counsel’s help, called the two police officers inside.

Ashok Kumar instantly identified Om Parkash as the culprit and said the incident had occurred in other officer’s presence, an assertion which was vehemently denied by Balwant Singh.

Not convinced, Justice Ranjit Singh dictated an order observing that the commotion on one side of the courtroom near the entry gate was quite audible. As such, the stand of the police officials was false and misleading.

Justice Ranjit Singh observed the conduct of police officials in the court premises, just outside the entry gate, was unacceptable and amounted to the interference in the administration of justice. In these circumstances, a case of contempt of court was apparent.

Elaborating, Justice Ranjit Singh observed the police officials had violated the sanctity of the court. The action of the police officials in making an attempt to arrest the husband of the detainee inside the court premises was “an act which would sound totally illegal and beyond tolerance of judicial conscious”.

Directing the issuance of a notice to Palwal superintendent of police, Justice Ranjit Singh asked him to tell why appropriate action should not be initiated against the two cops. He has been asked to remain present in the court on the next date of hearing. The proceedings in the FIR in the matter too have been stayed.

Rohtak, September 30
A prisoner undergoing trial in a murder case escaped from the prisoners' ward at local PGIMS in the wee hours this morning. However, the accused was rearrested a few hours later.

The accused has been identified as Bijender, who belongs to Ramra village in Jind district. He was shifted to the Jind Civil Hospital from the jail, from where he was referred to the PGIMS here.

The district police has registered a case against ASI Duli Chand and constables Devender and Pradeep, who were on escort duty with the prisoner, and the accused.

Bijender gave the slip to a police personnel escorting him at the prisoners' ward. He reportedly took out keys from the pocket of a policeman, unlocked his shackles and escaped from the PGIMS.

The police in Rohtak and adjoining districts was alerted and a manhunt launched to nab him. Later, a police party near Gohana town in Sonepat district arrested him.

Fatehabad, September 30
A large number of people today attended the cremation of veteran CPM leader Prithvi Singh Gorakhpuria at his native village Gorakhpur in this district today.

Gorakhpuria had died after a protracted illness in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi yesterday.

His body was placed in the village school for two hours in the morning to allow people have the last glimpse of their leader.

Gorakhpuria fought for the poor, downtrodden, landless labourers and the lowest strata of the society throughout his life and the commoners thronged his village in large numbers to pay their tributes to him.

He advocated a social order all his life, where in women enjoyed equal rights along with men in the society.

This was manifested during his cremation, when his two daughters joined their two brothers to light the funeral pyre of their father.

In a conservative Haryanavi society, where women do not go to the cremation ground, hundreds of women were seen there paying their tributes to Gorakhpuria.

Many CPM workers escorted the funeral procession and even women acted as pallbearers for the departed CPM leader.

State secretary of the CPM Inderjit Singh announced a meeting to pay tributes to Gorakhpuria would be held at Hissar on October 8, which would be attended by Parkash Karat, the general secretary of the CPM.