Sirsa, December 2
A scheme of home delivery of revenue records that was launched by the district authorities with much fanfare in March this year has now been closed after the authorities concerned found very few takers for it.

The scheme, which was launched with the twin objective of providing revenue records to the people at their doorsteps and also to collect some funds for the District Child Welfare Society, which had implemented the scheme, left the society poorer in nine months of its implementation.

The District Child Welfare Society, which is already scarce of funds to implement its projects like school for differently abled, a crèche and managing other affairs of the local Bal Bhawan, on Monday dispensed with the services of “dak runner”, who was appointed specifically for the purpose.

The district authorities had launched the scheme in March this year and declared that the farmers would no more have to frequent the office of patwari and grease his palm for getting copies of revenue records relating to their land.

“Farad” and “jamabandi”, two official documents regarding the ownership and possession of landholdings, would now be delivered on the doorstep on a phone call, the authorities had said, while launching the scheme.

The then deputy commissioner, V. Umashankar, had inaugurated the facility at Mandi Dabwali in Sirsa district on March 12 and some days later in Sirsa. The scheme was to be launched in other tehsils of the district later. However, the scheme had to be abruptly closed on December 1.

The revenue department has been in news for rampant corruption and this has been manifested from the fact that patwaris outnumber any other cadre of employees having been nabbed red-handed accepting bribes during the recent times.

The facility was to ensure transparency, besides saving farmers from exploitation. The scheme was meant to ensure that the farmers do not have to remain at the mercy of the patwaris and once a call is made at telephone number 01668-229035, it was to become the duty of the kanoongo and halqa patwari to ensure that computerised copies of these documents reached farmer’s house within 72 hours of his request.

The farmers were to pay the fees for the copies and another Rs 100 per copy for the home delivery. This money was to be used to raise funds for the District Child Welfare Society.

The society appointed a “dak runner” at a monthly salary of Rs 3,500. “Only 91 persons applied for home delivery of copies of revenue records under the scheme during the past nine months for which the society collected Rs 9,100 as delivery charges. However, against this the society had to spend Rs 22,645 on the salary of the dak runner and Rs 4,750 more on the maintenance of his motorcycle,” said Kamlesh Chahar, district child welfare officer, Sirsa.

Jhajjar, December 2
A majority of local municipal councillors are up in arms against the district administration for allegedly not taking action on the proceedings of the council’s special meeting held on November 17 for no-confidence motion against MC chief Kamla Jangra.

In protest against the alleged apathetic attitude of the district authorities, 15 out of 19 councillors not only staged a dharna in front of the mini-secretariat, but also sent a memorandum to the Governor seeking his intervention in the matter for preserving and protecting democracy.

The councillors, who have signed the memorandum, included vice-chairman of the MC Prakash, Anand Prakash, Shakuntla, Mukesh Nagpal, Rajni Devi, Manish Bansal, Shaymo Devi, Kalawati, Harmesh Saini, Dharmpal, Jai Singh, Santosh, Arun Saini and Hukam Singh.

Councillor Mukesh Nagpal said no-confidence motion was passed against Jangra at a council meeting held on November 17. As many as 14 councillors along with local MLA Hari Ram Balmiki exercised their right to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion.

SDM Satyender Duhan, who chaired the meeting, had submitted his report to the deputy commissioner in which he had clearly mentioned that 14 out of 15 votes polled at the meeting went in favour of the no-confidence motion and one was cancelled. He added that despite all this, no official order had been issued so far to remove Jangra from the post.

Meanwhile, the district administration said the decision had been withheld due to the order of the Punjab and Haryana court in this regard. The court had granted a stay on the meeting of November 17 while hearing a petition filed by Jangra.

The position of MC chief Kamla Jangra had virtually come under threat when 13 out of 19 councillors gave a written undertaking to the district administration on August 27 seeking permission to move a non-confidence motion against Jangra.

The councillors alleged that the MC chief did not pay any heed to the councillors and residents’ complaints related to the ongoing development works in the city.

Taking action on the demand of the councillors, the district administration had fixed a special meeting on October 15 for no-confidence motion, but Jangra had succeeded in obtaining a stay on the proceedings of the no-confidence motion from the local court.

Thereafter, the district administration had called a special meeting of the council on November 17, in which a no-confidence motion was passed against Jangra.

Chandigarh, December 2
Almost a year after HCS (judicial branch) result was declared, four successful, yet unabsorbed, candidates today took recourse to a legal battle by moving the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the judicial side against the administrative side.

The candidates, Abhishek Goyal and three others, have made the high court a party, along with the State of Haryana. They have sought directions to the respondents to consider and appoint them as civil judge (junior division) in the HCS (judicial branch).

In the petition placed before the Division Bench of Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice K. Kannan, the petitioners have asserted they should be considered in pursuance of selections earlier conducted. The grant of all consequential benefits has also been sought by the petitioners.

Goyal and others asserted their grievance was that they were not being appointed to the HCS, even though they had the legal right to be appointed against the posts. Quoting the relevant regulations, they said Rule 1 of Part D of the Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) Rules was applicable to the State of Haryana. It said any advertised post, which remained unfilled for any reason, was liable to be filled up from among the candidates whose name figured in the “high court register in the order of selection”.

The candidates said five posts in the general category had fallen vacant since selections in 2007 due to the tendering of resignation by some of the candidates. Besides this, 65 posts were created during the selection process itself on November 20, 2007. Over and above this, 17 additional vacancies had come into existence on account of promotions.

The petitioners added they met the respondents in the last week of March and also submitted a representation to both the respondents.

Going into the background of the matter, the petitioners said the preliminary examination was held on October 14 last year, and the result was declared in three days time. The final result was declared on December 20, 2007, and they were among the successful candidates.

Taking up the matter, the Judges fixed December 4 as the next date of hearing, but referred the matter to another Bench as one of the judges was, perhaps, a member of a committee involved in the selections.

Sirsa, December 2
Activists of the CPI and the CPM today held a demonstration against the UPA government’s reluctance to decrease the prices of petrol and diesel. The activists of the two left parties today organized a dharna in front of the deputy commissioner’s office and raised slogans against the government.

The party workers submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister to deputy commissioner S.K. Goyal.

Swaran Singh Virk, a member of the state secretariat of the CPI, Jai Chand Saharani, district secretary of the CPI, Raj Kumar Shekhupuria, district secretary of the CPM, and several other leaders of the Left parties addressed the agitating workers.

The Left leaders said the UPA government had increased the prices of petrol and diesel when the price of crude oil had soared in the international market. But, now, when the prices of crude oil have come down to one third of the earlier rates, the government was refusing to decrease the rates.

The Left leaders alleged that the anti-farmer policies were being pursued by the UPA government had made the plight of farmers from bad to worse. He said the government decision to impose export duty of Rs 800 per quintal has forced farmers to sell their produce at lesser rates.

Rohtak: The state and the district unit of the CPM staged a dharna here today in support of their demand for an immediate cut in prices of petrol and diesel. They submitted a memorandum to the distirct authorities. Addressing the party dharna at Rohtak, party state secretary Inderjit Singh decried the UPA government for allowing the private oil companies to make heavy profits at the cost of common man. The protests were part of the national call given by four Left parties, the JD(S) and the Telugu Desam Party.

Chandigarh, December 2
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced four new schemes for physically challenged persons on the eve of World Disabled Day.

In a message issued here today, the Chief Minister said financial assistance of Rs 300 per month would be given to those disabled children between 0 and 18 years of age, who were unable to attend schools. The scheme would be implemented during the current financial year.

Hooda said a new scheme, “Deployment of caregivers for persons with special needs”, had been framed in collaboration with the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities. It would be implemented on share basis by the Central government, the National Trust and the state government. The state had earmarked over Rs 4 lakh as its share for the scheme this financial year.

Another new scheme, “Funding of local-level committees under the national trust for the welfare of persons with autism, cerebral palsy mental retardation and multiple disabilities” would also be implemented during the current financial year by the state department of social justice and empowerment. A provision of Rs 4 lakh had already been made for the scheme.

Hooda said there was also a plan to implement an insurance scheme, “Nirmaya”, for persons with special needs this financial year. Under the scheme, persons with special needs would be insured free of cost if the income of the parents or guardian or family was less than Rs 15,000 per month. The state had already earmarked over Rs 1.72 crore.

Chandigarh, December 2
Haryana MLA Ram Kumar Gautam, who has been removed from the leadership of the legislature party by the BJP, has accused state party president Atam Prakash Manchanda, convener of party affairs in the state Vijay Goel and co-convener Harjit Singh Garewal of “having sold the party to the Indian National Lok Dal of Om Prakash Chautala” for vested interests.

Gautam has alleged in a letter to BJP chief Rajnath Singh that the three leaders had conspired against him so that he could not speak against the BJP-INLD alliance as it was against the interests of the party. He said these leaders had deliberately not allowed him to participate in the party meetings before the alliance was finalised because they knew his opposition to it.

The dissident leader said Manchanda was a leader who had no mass following in the state. He said when Manchanda was made the party chief, “I had thought that he would emerge as another Mangal Sein, a veteran and most respected Haryana BJP leader. But after Manchanda announced his team of office-bearers, my illusion about him was busted because over 60 per cent communities in the state were not given representation in that list.”

He reiterated that these three leaders deliberately put up weak candidates in the three Assembly byelections so that the high command could be forced to enter into an alliance with the INLD.

Gautam reminded Rajnath Singh that in its manifesto released before the 2005 Assembly elections, the BJP had apologised to the people of the state for entering into an alliance with the INLD. “Now having repeated the same mistake, how the party can seek votes in the state?”

Chandigarh, December 2
Almost a year after HCS (judicial branch) result was declared, four successful, yet unabsorbed, candidates today took recourse to a legal battle by moving the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the judicial side against the administrative side.

The candidates, Abhishek Goyal and three others, have made the high court a party, along with the State of Haryana. They have sought directions to the respondents to consider and appoint them as civil judge (junior division) in the HCS (judicial branch).

In the petition placed before the Division Bench of Justice Mehtab Singh Gill and Justice K. Kannan, the petitioners have asserted they should be considered in pursuance of selections earlier conducted. The grant of all consequential benefits has also been sought by the petitioners.

Goyal and others asserted their grievance was that they were not being appointed to the HCS, even though they had the legal right to be appointed against the posts. Quoting the relevant regulations, they said Rule 1 of Part D of the Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) Rules was applicable to the State of Haryana. It said any advertised post, which remained unfilled for any reason, was liable to be filled up from among the candidates whose name figured in the “high court register in the order of selection”.

The candidates said five posts in the general category had fallen vacant since selections in 2007 due to the tendering of resignation by some of the candidates. Besides this, 65 posts were created during the selection process itself on November 20, 2007. Over and above this, 17 additional vacancies had come into existence on account of promotions.

The petitioners added they met the respondents in the last week of March and also submitted a representation to both the respondents.

Going into the background of the matter, the petitioners said the preliminary examination was held on October 14 last year, and the result was declared in three days time. The final result was declared on December 20, 2007, and they were among the successful candidates.

Taking up the matter, the Judges fixed December 4 as the next date of hearing, but referred the matter to another Bench as one of the judges was, perhaps, a member of a committee involved in the selections.

Chandigarh, December 2
Dismissing a petition for a CBI probe in large-scale corruption allegedly involving 19 senior Army officers, the Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Jasbir Singh today imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on petitioner Ajit Singh Dahiya of Ambala.

As the matter came up for hearing, the Bench wanted to know the evidence the petitioner had gathered in support of his contentions. Speaking for the Bench, Chief Justice Thakur observed: “You paid bribe to expose corruption for about eight years, what evidence were you retaining for the purpose to army establishments?”

Claiming to be the head of anti-corruption wing of Ambala-based Mahavir Kranti Dal, the petitioner had prayed for treating his plea as a PIL. In the petition filed through advocate Chauhan Satvinder Singh Sisodia, it was alleged that in all, 19 army officers were involved, including eight Brigadiers, 10 Colonels and one Major. Evidence against them has already been submitted to the CBI, the petition had claimed.

Rohtak, December 2
A minor dispute over parking of a tractor in a street of Basantpur village here resulted in the death of a person this morning. Four others, including two married women, were also injured in the incident.

According to the complaint lodged with the police, the accused, Phool Kumar and his brother Tejvir, allegedly opened fire at the family of Ram Kumar around 9 am. The provocation came after a clash between members of the two families over the parking of a tractor at a nearby spot.

Sources said Bijender, brother of the complainant, asked his neighbour Phool Singh to remove his parked tractor, as he wanted to drive out his tractor, which was also parked there. This, however, resulted in a verbal duel. Later, Phool Singh along with his brother Tejvir went to the rooftop and opened fire at the family of Ram Kumar, which led to the death of Bijender (26) and injuries to four others, including Ram Kumar, his wife Babita and another woman. The police arrested Phool Kumar and Tejvir.