NDA’s Sonepat Rally
Missing saffron brigade signals trouble
Raman Mohan
Tribune News Service

Hisar, November 3
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) grassroots worker in the state has refused to support the party’s alliance with Om Parkash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) if the Sonepat rally of the NDA is any indication.

Although the rally was held under the banner of the NDA, the number of BJP supporters in the crowd was miniscule. The crowd comprised almost entirely of INLD backers. This clearly indicates that while INLD cadres have welcomed the alliance, BJP cadres have chosen not to go by the party high command’s decision to align with Chautala.

Even during the run up to the rally, the middle-rung BJP leaders and workers in the districts were aloof. Only senior Haryana BJP leaders were busy mobilising support for the rally. Normally, the BJP workers have an aggressive attitude and they drum up a lot of support for party rallies especially though the media by issuing statements on a daily basis.

However, not even the diehard party supporters showed any enthusiasm for the Sonepat rally. Reports from BJP’s supposed stronghold – Rohtak town – indicate that the party workers were not mobilising the people for the rally. Rather, there were reports that many of the party men were dissuading fellow BJP supporters to stay away from the rally.

More or less a similar situation prevailed in Hisar, Ambala, Panipat, Mahendragarh, Sirsa, Fatehebad, Jhajjar, Faridabada and Gurgaon which explains why there were no familiar BJP faces among the crowd which had more green tinge to it than saffron.

This spells trouble both for the BJP as well as the INLD. The Chautala camp which was gloating over the alliance initially is now realising that if the BJP cadres refuse to fall in line, it could face a situation where INLD voters will dutifully vote for BJP candidates, but BJP voters may vote against INLD nominees. This is a stark reality as of today.

For the BJP, it is imperative to convince its cadres to back the alliance with Chautala otherwise the party faces the prospects of its grassroots workers shifting loyalties to the Congress. Realising the danger, the state party leaders are now assuring workers that the current alliance is only for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls and not for the 2010 state assembly polls. However, even this plea is not cutting much ice with the cadres at the moment.

So far as the INLD is concerned, it was expecting the alliance to at least help create a favourable atmosphere in the state through what is known as “hawa” in political parlance. However, the indifference of the BJP cadres has dampened its hopes. If the BJP leaders fail to convince their supporters, the state could witness in the coming months a political turmoil with large-scale defections from the BJP to other parties.

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Expert slams misuse of RTI Act
Bhanu P. Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Karnal, November 3
Has the Right to Information (RTI) Act, aimed at empowering people with information, has really helped the poor or is being misused by those who are already empowered. This burning question has come up in the wake of reports that the Act is being misused.

The provision in the Act, exempting BPL (below poverty line) families from the payment of prescribed fee is being misused by certain vested interests who are seeking voluminous information from government departments in the name of BPL families while the authorities are helpless.

In fact, most of the BPL families are not even aware of the Act, especially of the provision, allowing them free access to information without observing numerous formalities.

This stunning fact was brought to the notice by additional registrar of cooperative societies D.P. Punjeta, who was here in connection with an awareness programme to educate people about the RTI.

On the contrary, some other individuals and groups are seeking information in the name of BPL and misusing the rights and privileges under the Act.

Some people ask for bulky information running into hundreds of pages and if prescribed fee is charged from them, they have to shell out thousands of rupees, but they are seeking information in the name BPL families and this needs to be checked, says Punjeta.

The RTI covers all sections of the society and the departments are bound to furnish the desired information to any person who asks for it. The Act came into force in 2005, but there is an urgent need to make the poor and underprivileged sections aware of the provisions and exhort them not to become a tool in the hands of vested interests.

“In some cases, the information elicited through the Act is being used for filing PIL to serve certain vested interests and not for bona fide use, which is a cause of worry. There is an urgent need to launch a sustained awareness campaign to educate the rural and poor people to enable them to benefit from the law”.

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Illegal taxis run parallel service on NH1
Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News service

Panipat, November 3
Risking peoples’ lives and cheating the authorities seems to be the mantra of a large number of taxis that are plying illegally on the national highway no. 1 between Panipat and Sonepat.

There are more than 500 taxis that ferry passengers from one point to another. These taxis do not pay any fees to get a licence from the competent authorities nor do these pay any income tax even as they end up earning around Rs 1,000-1,500 per day.

It is leant that several individuals (owners of the taxis) buy used cars and other steady vehicles and use them to run a parallel transport service on the NH-1. These vehicles are not registered as commercial vehicles as is mandatory in case a vehicle is used as taxi. Thus, the state government loses on account of revenue.

These vehicles also do not have a motor carrier safety fitness certificate and some even run on domestic LPG cylinders. According to the transport authorities, it is highly risky to run a petrol vehicle on LPG cylinders as it is highly inflammable and any leak in the pipes of an illegally installed LPG kit could prove disastrous.

However, to make a quick buck the owners of these taxis continue to flout the rules and risk lives of those travelling in their taxis. These vehicles general provide easy transport to the people who want to travel short distances. Each passenger is charges Rs 10 to Rs 50 depending upon the distance. The drivers halt the vehicles anywhere on the road to drop or lift a passenger.

Naresh Batish, a local resident, who frequently uses this transport service to commute between Pattikalyana and Samalkha, says such taxis are always available and unlike state transport buses these drop you anywhere you wish to.

To add to the risks involved in transporting persons like this, the drivers and their attendants ferry more persons at a time than allowed. At times, 10 persons are transported in a vehicle that is meant only for seven persons.

One of the taxi drivers disclosed that one cylinder of LPG costs around Rs 400 in the black market and it makes a vehicle run for more than 300 km. And even if they charge Rs 2 per km from each passenger, the earnings are huge.

He confided that traffic personnel did intercept their vehicles once or twice but once they started paying a “monthly sum” to cops, running the parallel transport service had not been that difficult.

Interestingly, there are no extra costs involved in running this business that makes it more lucrative for the taxi owners.

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Valuing Childhood
Govt to spend Rs 1 cr on swings, toys
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3
The state government has allocated Rs 1 crore to provide swings and toys to children at anganwadi centres during the current financial year so as to entertain the children and make these centres more attractive for them.

Stating this here today, women and child development minister Kartar Devi said Rs 5,000 would be provided to each anganwadi centre for swings and toys. All centres would be covered under this scheme in a phased manner.

She said this scheme was introduced in 2007-08 and it was decided to cover those anganwadi centres in the first phase, which were being run in anganwadi buildings, government schools or at private places. The remaining centres would be covered in subsequent phases.

She said the swings and toys were being purchased at the district-level through the village-level committees already constituted under the village panchayats.

Kartar Devi said there were 17,444 anganwadi centres in the state benefiting 10.20 lakh children below six years of age and 2.82 lakh pregnant and nursing mothers and other women in the age group of 15-45 years.

She said the women and child development department was implementing a number of schemes, including the integrated child development services (ICDS) scheme, for the overall development of children.

Under the ICDS scheme, services of supplementary nutrition, immunisation, health check-up, referral services, non-formal pre-school education and health and nutrition education were being provided in an integrated manner to targeted children, pregnant and nursing mothers and other women.

Under the supplementary nutrition prgramme, the government had already enhanced the financial norms from Rs 2 to Rs 3 per day per child and from Rs 2.50 to Rs 5 per day per pregnant and nursing mother or adolescent girl from January 1, 2007, so that protein and calories required as per norms of the ICDS scheme could be ensured to all beneficiaries.

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Spurious seeds
Experts call for local production
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Karnal, November 3
The supply of spurious hybrid seeds to Haryana farmers by some Hyderabad-based companies, which resulted in crop losses to the tune of 15 to 30 per cent, has again brought to the fore the issue of supply of certified and tested seeds to the farmers through some credible agency.

Training local farmers in hybrid seed production techniques and maintaining strict quality control is the only way to protect the farmers from being cheated. Experts feel that quality seed should be produced within the state to reduce the dependability of growers on agencies allegedly indulging in malpractices.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has also warned companies supplying spurious seeds and other agricultural inputs to the farmers of stringent action, but the better course is to take necessary preventive and primitive action.

Bhupinder Singh, a progressive farmer of Jhundla village, 15 km from here, has an answer to this problem. His firm Harbir Agrotech is the single largest cultivator of seeds in North India growing seeds on 40 acres, producing hybrid seeds for the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), Delhi, which also provides technical know how to them.

IARI scientists are so impressed by the initiative taken by Agrotech that J.P. Mishra, principal scientist, IARI, Delhi, says, “If we get 1,000 farmers like Bhupinder, we can solve the seed problem in 10 years”.

On his part, Bhupinder says he is always willing to guide farmers and provide them technical know-how for hybrid seeds production. The farmers should themselves come forward and take lead in hybrid seeds protection to meet the demands of the farmers in the region. Our efforts have started yielding results as more and more farmers in are associating with us, he adds.

The process of producing hybrid seeds is very systematic and precautions and care is needed to ensure that seeds have good yield and fine grain quality. To get hybrid seeds, foundation seeds are crossed with restoration seeds, which have capability of restoring the fertility and disease resistance depending on the environment. The common diseases that affect the crops are bacterial lite blight (BLB), blast, net blight, seed blight, rusting, hoppers and leaf folder.

Harvesting is done in two stages and female restoration seeds are harvested first to avoid mixing and to ensure uniformity in quality and grain size, flowers which blossom early are plucked. Male and female seeds are sown in separate rows while pollination is done by swinging the plants with the help of ropes, explains Bhupinder.

Only female seeds that have fertility are supplied to the farmers and grow-out test (GOT) is performed to get assured results. Since the GOT take a few months, commercial seed growers generally skip it and mixing occurs and the farmers faced the problem this season only due this defect.

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Authorities gear up to beautify Fatehabad
Sushil Manav
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, November 3
District authorities here have launched a special campaign to make the district clean, beautiful and healthy, and the slogan making rounds is Swatchha Fatehabad, Sunder Fatehabad and Swastha Fatehabad (Clean Fatehabad, Beautiful Fatehabad and Healthy Fatehabad).

Launched by deputy commissioner J.S. Ahlawat, the drive is likely to continue till the end of the year. “Under this campaign, we have planned sanitation of all areas of the town. Safai Karamcharis from the municipal committee and employees of the public health and PWD department work collectively in a target area.

They take care of the cleanliness, repairs of pavements, cleaning of the clogged sewers and amelioration of the condition of parks,” informed Ahlawat while talking to The Tribune.

Ahlawat said the drive was launched from Ambedkar Chowk in Fatehabad initially and till now the Bhattu Road and Ratia Road areas of the town had been covered.

Similarly, in Tohana, the campaign was launched from the Kainchian Chowk of the town and area of about 3 km up to railway crossing was covered under the sanitation campaign, the DC informed.

Kanheri and Samain, two big villages of the Tohana subdivision of the district, were also covered under the campaign.

“Ratia and Bhattu towns of the district have also been covered, while Baliala, Rattangarh and Pilchhian villages from Ratia subdivision have been covered from the rural areas,” Ahlawat said.

Under the beautification campaign, even new lights are being installed and electric tubes are being replaced. A drive has also been launched to beautify all parks of the district.

Under its campaign of a healthy Fatehabad, the district authorities have started fogging of the areas affected by vector borne diseases.

“The authorities have completed fogging of the district once. Utmost care has been taken to target the affected areas on priority,” said the deputy commissioner.

“The authorities have been conducting surprise visits of the general hospitals in the district to know the problems faced by common people. I myself visited Fatehabad and Tohana general hospitals to have a first hand knowledge of the grievances of common people,” he said.

“After we complete the drive for cleanliness, beautification and health related aspects successfully, we plan to launch a drive to ameliorate the condition of education in the district,” Ahlawat added.

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‘All village households to have toilets’
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3
Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal had a dream that all houses in the 419 villages in his constituency should have a toilet so that these villages are declared nirmal grams.

In the last four and a half years, working through his voluntary organisation, Om Prakash Jindal Gramin Jan Kalyan Sansthan, Naveen had disbursed a large sum of money for the construction of the toilets.

Help estimated to be running into a few crores of rupees had been given not only to the BPL families but also to the above-poverty-line families to construct toilets in their houses.

As a result of his efforts, 133 villages of his constituency have already been declared nirmal grams. In January last, 234 villages were nominated for this status, out of which 133 villages qualified.

The money had not come from the official MP local area development (MPLAD) fund at his disposal but from Naveen’s personal account.

Panchayats of these 133 villages had been honoured and awarded by the President of India at Hisar. The MP said that after his election from Kurukshetra he had taken a pledge to ensure that all families of his constituency must have a toilet in their homes so that the women did not have to go to fields.

Last year five villages of his constituency were awarded the nirmal gram status. This gave impetus to his efforts as well as enthused residents of other villages to approach him for help in constructing private toilets in their homes.

Jindal said all the 419 villages of his constituency qualified to get the status of nirmal gram. An official declaration in this regard, he said, was made on Haryana Day on November 1.

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Educationist par excellence
Kiran Deep
Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, November 3
A multidimensional personality with a vision and commitment, Ramesh Kumar, principal of Mukand Lal National College (MLNC), retired after 35 years of service.

Out of his total service, he had more than 15 years as principal of one of the MLNC and contributed a lot in the field of education, besides making valuable contribution to Punjabi poetry.

He is also known for his sustained campaign to motivate people, especially students and teachers, to donate blood. As a result, a total 20,000 units of blood had been donated voluntarily by people mostly students as a part of blood donation camps organised by the trust running MLNC and its other schools and colleges so far.

To set an example, he himself donated blood as many as 85 times. Kumar has to his credit the progress made by the college in academics, sports, cultural activities, blood donation, infrastructure and more importantly on human pedestal.

He has also done much in the field of Punjabi poetry in Haryana. Kumar has 14 collections of poems apart from a prose work “Jai Khane De” and various articles to his credit.

He has won the Sahitya Academy award twice. One of his poetry books, “Photo Frame” has been included in MA Punjabi syllabus of Kurushetra University.

He was bestowed with the Haryana state silver jubilee literary award in 1993. He was also honoured with a citation and Rs 1 lakh under the coveted Bhai Santokh Singh award of the state government in 2006.

His poems reflect his uneasiness with the strange ways of the world. There are romantic poems also but satirical and ironical poems are his forte.

“Academically, the number of toppers and merit-holders started increasing year by year during my tenure so much so that in one year there were 248 students of different classes in the merit list of Kurukshetra University belonging to our college alone. As a result, not only students from the region but also from different states came here to study in our college,” Ramesh Kumar told the Tribune.

“No one would be allowed to die for the want of blood in Yamunanagar is a promise that has been always fulfilled. I had made sustained campaign and motivated the students and teachers. As a result, so far 20,000 units of blood has been donated to the PGI blood bank, Chandigarh, and other hospitals”, he added.

In addition to it, as a leader of the teachers’ movement for a long time and then as president of the principals’ association of the state, Ramesh had made his mark by getting the long pending issues of the teacher community resolved.

As a great protagonist of reforms in higher education in the state, he contributed in the introduction of innovative and scientific computer and IT courses. He has always made efforts for radical changes in the education system as a leader of the academics in the state.

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What went wrong with saffron?
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3
Political opinion in Haryana is divided on the issue of the relatively poor participation of BJP workers in what was termed as the “NDA rally” held at Sonepat on November 1. It has surprised many that the BJP, which emerged as the major partner in its alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal by cornering a majority of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, seemed to be the minor partner in the rally in terms of its participation.

While there is near unanimity over the fact that the “saffron” was virtually overtaken by the “green”, the opinion is divided over the reasons behind the poor presence of the BJP workers as compared with that of their counterparts in the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

One thing is for sure, the BJP can never match the rally-organising skills of the INLD, which is past master at holding impressive rallies even at a short notice. No wonder “saffron” was no match to “green” in Sonepat.

Supporters of the BJP are mainly urbanites, who hesitate to participate in the rallies for reasons varying from simple lethargy to avoiding physical discomfort. On the contrary, hardy INLD supporters from the countryside are always a game for the rallies, which provide them a sort of a free outing.

Of course, people like the rebel leader of the Haryana BJP legislature party Ram Kumar Gautam claim that the lack of enthusiasm on the party of the BJP workers for the rally is their way of telling the party high command that the alliance is not acceptable to them. Gautam may be exaggerating, but he is not totally wrong. The BJP workers at large, had faced humiliation during the time of previous alliance with the INLD. Though they were supposed to be part of the ruling alliance, they never felt important enough to have their say in the administration. All along they nursed a feeling that the INLD leadership had betrayed them and their party.

For the past five years, their leaders had been telling them that in future the BJP would never enter into an alliance with any party in Haryana. Their minds had been tuned to that. At the local level, there was no political interaction between them and the INLD workers. Now suddenly their leaders changed their tracks and told them to stand shoulder to shoulder with the INLD men. Now they feel that their self-respect has been put at stake by certain central leaders of the BJP for the sake of their personal ambitions. They are yet to come to terms with the changed political scenario.

A senior BJP leader of the state came up with an interesting explanation. The leader, who did not want to be identified, said these days organizing a rally entails a huge expenditure, which has to be borne by those who are interesting in contesting the elections. These candidates not only arrange vehicles but also food for those who come to the rally in those vehicles.

Since the candidates know that they would have to organize rallies in their parliamentary constituencies also in near future, they preferred to cut down on expenditure during the Sonepat rally, leaving it to the new entrant to the NDA to mobilise the people.

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Innovative farmers recall their experiences
Ravinder Saini

Jhajjar, November 3
With a view to sharing work experiences of innovators and contemplating about efficient implementation of these innovations, a day-long workshop on analysing and discussing grassroots innovations was organised by the Sristi Gyan Kendra, a voluntary organisation, in Balam village of the district yesterday.

Ten innovators from different parts of the state took part and expressed their views about difficulties and challenges they had faced during the innovation period and the implementation of their inventions.

Presiding over the workshop, Dr Rattan Singh, senior rice breeder and head of the Regional Rice Research Station, CCS, Haryana Agricultural University, said innovation in the field of agriculture was necessary not only to develop the variety of seeds and crops, but also to improve the cultivation and harvesting process in order to provide better atmosphere to the farmers.

He told the participants that the Rice Research Station, Kaul (Kaithal), had come up with new plans under which innovations were taking up with certain norms set by the government.

“I am impressed by this unique innovation movement and scientific community which is ready to contribute their efforts to covert these raw innovations into successful technologies,” maintained Dr Rattan Singh.

Balwan Singh, an innovator from Alexpura village of Hisar district, expressed his experiences about his innovation of high-yielding varieties of chilly and onion while Tejbir, another innovator from Paakasma village of Rohtak district, shared his insights regarding modifications in self-developed designs in impeller of water lifting pumps.

Farmers showed great interest in using his innovations during the workshop. Dinesh Kumar and Arun Kumar, progressive and innovative farmers from Manuli village of Sonepat district, told the participants about the validation of wheat varieties developed by Parkash Singh Raghuvanshi, a national award winner innovator of Varanshi.

Kamal Jeet, executive officer of Sristi Gyan Kendra, emphasised on helping innovators to set up their enterprises. “Ideas of innovators can open new avenues of entrepreneurship in villages, which can turnaround economy of the rural India,” he added.

On the occasion, Surender Singh, a school boy of Garhi village, was felicitated by Dr Rattan Singh for his unique ability to remember the tables till 15 thousands.

Chander Bhan, another innovator from Balam village, also received appreciation from the participants for his improved design of well and bucket.

A “shodh” yatra was also taken out by the participants after the concluding session of the workshop in order to make the people aware about various innovations. The yatra marched through villages in the shape of a procession and concluded in the farm of Kuldeep Singh where they examined the conditions and analysed the factors that saved the standing crops of paddy in spite of heavy attack of hopper in the entire area.

Umed Singh, secretary-general of Sristi Gyan Kendra, said there was a great need to validate all these innovations and traditional knowledge by scientific institutions and scientific community.

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Mend your furniture, govt schools told
Ravinder Saini

Jhajjar, November 3
While the state government has come up with various ambitious plans to lure children towards education, students studying in various government schools of the district are deprived of even basic facilities.

They are made to sit in the open or in the shade of trees on the ground. There is no sufficient furniture, including desks and benches, for their use. Where desks and benches are available, they are in broken condition.

Interestingly, primary wings of government schools are having sufficient number of desks and benches due to ongoing Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan while the condition is worsening in high, secondary and senior secondary schools.

Keeping in view all this, the Jhajjar deputy commissioner has directed all government schools in the district to get the broken furniture repaired within a month.

As per order, administrative officers would conduct surprise visits in the schools after one month to take stock of the situation. If the condition of desks and benches is not found satisfactory, stern action would be initiated against the headmaster/principal concerned.

A communication in this regard has recently been made to all government schools for complying with the orders efficiently.

Sources said the district administration had been getting complaints for a long time that desks and benches were lying broken in several schools, resulting which students had to sit on the ground for attending classes. Official investigation was made to check the authenticity of the complaints and it was found that the many schools failed to provide basic facilities like furniture to its students.

Thereafter, the deputy commissioner issued order to all government schools to get the broken furniture repaired.

Apart from this, several government schools are also facing problems like the lack of staff. It is strange that schoolteachers, who never lose any opportunity to demand better service conditions, have never made a demand for the improvement of conditions prevailing in the schools.

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Officials told to accompany touring ministers
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3
Officials of the district administration would now be available to ministers on demand during their tour programmes.

In a bid to sort out the wrangle between a non-cooperative administration and touring ministers, the government had asked the district administration to be sensitive to such programmes and make senior officers available to accompany ministers during their visit.

Chief secretary Dharam Vir, in his directive to the district administration, had asked the deputy commissioners to ensure that an officer of the rank of additional deputy commissioner or sub-divisional magistrate can stand on attendance for ministers whenever such a demand is put forth.

Though senior officials of the administration usually attend all tour programmes of ministers, the government had received complaints from a few districts where the officials were being obstinate in attending to ministers.

In fact, instead of sending senior officers to government and political programmes, it was observed that the administration was deputing tehsildars to attend to the minister, a move strongly resented by them.

In the backdrop of such complaints, the government has decided to issue instructions to all DCs, stating that the ADC or SDM must be made available to a minister.

A minister could now ask the DCs to depute an official during his tour programme as per the order. The DC would be obliged to spare the ADC or SDM.

It also gives officials the liberty to skip a minister’s function altogether in case such a demand is not made.

This order comes close on the heels of another order of the government to tame the bureaucracy. While this order was meant for the field officers essentially, the government in a separate order issued last week has asked its officers from the rank of commissioner and above to attend state functions held at the Raj Bhawan.

Also, providing scope for prior commitments, the order states that an officer should seek a formal leave of absence from the authorities in case of his non-availability.

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Drive to enforce traffic rules launched
Suman Bhatnagar

Ambala, November 3
The police has launched a drive against the violators of traffic rules in the city and the cantonment area these days.

The duo-cities are connected with three national highways, therefore thousands of heavy and light vehicles cross it everyday.

The vehicles leading to Punjab, Himachal Pardesh and Chandigarh pass through the duo-cities.

Every year many road accidents occur here and a number of persons have to lose their lives.

Helmets for the two-wheelers and safety belts for the car drivers had been made compulsory in the state but few follow the rules in the city. Even school children in the duo-cities do not take care of it and they frequently drive two-wheelers with out having any driving licenses.

The deputy commissioner had launched a campaign against such students a few months back but due the intervention of some political leaders the campaign was dropped in the initial stage.

Only a few car drivers use safety belts while driving their car. The maxi-cab drivers hardly take care of traffic rules.

SP Sibash Kaviraj directed all the SHOs of the various police stations of the district to take strict action against the traffic rule violators. The police officials have started surprise check in their areas and a number of people had been challaned by them.

Kaviraj said the police had also started an awareness campaign so that people could follow self-imposed road discipline.

Although, the people in general have supported the move of the police but several people had been criticising the police for penalising the two-wheeler drivers for not using the helmet.

They are of the view that the duo-cities have narrow streets and it is not possible for the two-wheeler driver to bear helmet while driving. They said the police should check the helmets on the main roads.

They alleged that some of the police officials misuse their powers and harass the two-wheeler drivers to grasp money from them.

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ICL matches fail to impress Gurgaon
Sonika Bhatia
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, November 3
Indian Cricket League’s (ICL) second season did not have a bright start this season as all stands remained empty on the first three days of the tournament at Tau Devi Lal Stadium here. Only on the last day, 50 per cent of the seats were full.

People were no doubt expecting celebrities to come and perform, but unlike last year none appeared. Even Kapil Dev marked his absent on the start of the season, as he did not turn up for matches. It was just a to and fro fare for him indicating to a fair extent that there can only be the beginning, the rest has to be routine.

It stood out in sharp contrast to the take-off last November when Essel group head Subhash Chandra entered the stadium in stunning company of actors and politicians to see his brainchild take its first steps towards success.

This year, it seems the ICL does not require Chandra’s company to walk. It can also do without the dazzle of Mahima Chaudhary, Malaika Arora Khan, Kim Sharma or the hot performance of Rakhi Sawant. On its own, the ICL’s Twenty20 tournament took off on a simpler, serener note, amidst lesser crowds and more cricket. There was no show of political strength, no security guards hanging around and no VVIP enclosures. It was only the day when film actor Mithun Chakraborty came here to boost up his team.

Even at the entry gates, the police and private security guards seemed relaxed as there was no rush. The ticket sale counter also wore deserted look.

People, especially college goers, feel that if there is no crowd they must be allowed free entry. “We are seeking free passes to enter the stadium. Spending Rs 200 or Rs 500 on one ticket does not go well with us. If half the stadium is empty then they (the ICL people) should allow us to go inside free of cost,” teenagers Anukant, Sikha, Varun and Rajnish said.

While players here seem to be excited as ever for ICL. They were enjoying their game and the stay. A number of Pakistani players also celebrated Diwali along with their families here.

The people here find that earlier IPL was not there so people had a craze of watching international players but the scenario is different now.

“The excess of everything is bad,” exclaimed Sachin Khurrana, a student. “We can also say that either Bollywood is lacking its steam or cricket as both are depending on each other now,” Khurrana mentioned, adding that due to ICL and IPL in a row, one gets to watch lots of cricket so the craze is going down now and moreover last year it brought a number of celebrities which was one of the best part.

“Earlier we had few matches and people used to listen to the commentary, but now TV channels are providing lots of cricket so we are getting bored,” he remarked.

Few people think that Gurgaon is actually not a cricket lovers place. If it had been in places like Kolkatta or Kanpur other then Chandigarh, Amhedabad or Hyderabad it would have attracted more crowd.

One of the officials, on the condition of anonymity remarked, “May be we can say that Gurgaon is Congress-led district so ICL being against BCCI is not getting support from the government. If we get the required support we would have definitely pulled what we actually had to.”

But the administration is happy the way matches are progressing. “We generate more of the revenues from television and not people coming in the stadium,” affirmed Kiran More, CEO, ICL. He added, “That now we are on good channels like Zee sports and Ten Sports we are happy.”

Regarding the celebrities coming and performing in between the matches in first season More mentioned, “This is not my department but I can say that glamour just comes in a package but otherwise we want to show more of cricket and nothing else. Although we are getting what we expected.”

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