Chandigarh, January 3
If the state government was expecting some brownie points in this election year by “gifting” its employees with revised pay scales under the Sixth Pay Commission, it needs a rethink on its strategy.

Contrary to expectations of the government, the move has boomeranged with virtually all sections of the government employees on warpath against the revised pay scales. Shaken by the sharp reaction from the employees, the government, today, went into damage-control mode and announced a further raise in the house rent payable to its staff on the Central government pattern.

Addressing mediapersons after a meeting with some sections of the employees, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda conceded a wee bit more by announcing to reimburse education expenses of children of its staff at the rate of up to Rs 500 per month per child, restricted to two children per employee.

The house rent allowance will now be paid to the staff at the Central government rate of 10 to 30 per cent of the basic pay depending upon the classification of the city one is posted in. This “add-on bonanza for the staff” would put an additional annual burden of Rs 175 crore and Rs 340 crore, respectively, on the state exchequer.

The Chief Minister also announced to constitute a three-member Anomalies Committee to be headed by Chief Secretary and comprising the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Finance and Legal Remembrances as its members. He said the employees would be able to submit their representations to this committee up to February 15 and these would be decided by March 15.

If placating the employees was the agenda, the government seems to have been unsuccessful with the Sarv Karamchari Sangh, the nodal body of the government employees, not moved at all.

“They invited us for the meeting at the last minute and we rejected it. Every section of employees’ right from the teachers to the forest staff to junior engineers to just about everybody has been given less than what is due. They have given us much less than what has been doled out to the Central government employees,” rued Jarnail Singh Sanghwan, the general secretary of the sangh said.

If the middle rung of the forest staff is sore for being ignored and not given parity with the police as was the case before the recommendations of the Commission were adopted, teachers have been placed in Pay Band (PB)-II against being given higher scales in PB-III while the grade pay, too, is far less.

The Forest Officers’ Association under its president Paramjit Sanghwan is meeting in Karnal tomorrow, while the education services officers are meeting on January 10 after which the sangh will hold a meeting with all employees’ bodies before finalising its course of action.

“Our programme to have sit-in protests outside head offices and to give representations to MPs and MLAs in their respective areas stands as it is. This piecemeal offer does not impress us. We will chart out the rest of the action in consultation with employees’ unions very shortly,” Sanghwan stated.

Chandigarh, January 3
The state government has given a subsidy of Rs 2,000 crore on power to agriculture sector in the larger interest of the farming community, while adding that it was of the view that the subsidy to the farming sector should be reduced.

This was stated by state Power Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala while interacting with mediapersons shortly after administering oath of office to Rohtash Dahiya as a member of the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) here today.

“We have fulfilled our commitment to make Haryana self-sufficient in power generation by rolling out power generation projects, some of which have already begun supplies. The only we can look forward to now is a nod for setting up a nuclear power plant at Kumharian in Fatehabad district which is under consideration of the Prime Minister, ” he stated.

Surjewala explained that Rs 40,000 crore was being spent to increase generation of power and make transmission and distribution systems more efficient. “During the tenure of the present government, technical and distribution losses of power have come down by 10 per cent,” he added.

Maintaining that the state’s power generation was 1587.4 MW when the Congress came to power, he said there would be additional generation capacity of 1,800 MW by the time the term of the present government would complete.

He said as a result of effective steps taken by the government to increase generation of power, Haryana would, perhaps, be the first state in the country where one power generation plant would be commissioned each year up to 2012 thus making Haryana self-sufficient in power.

Chandigarh, January 3
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today demanded greater security for the trader community in the state while condemning the government for the “collapse” of the law and order machinery.

Addressing a press conference here senior BJP leader and vice-president of the party Gian Chand Gupta said that cases of kidnapping, extortion, murder and dacoity had shot up under the Congress regime, indicating that the government had lost control on the situation.

He said that while the son of a trader kidnapped from Panipat was still “untraceable”, the looting of Rs 3.5 lakh at gunpoint from a trader was as alarming. “The trader community is no longer feeling safe in the present set-up. It is high time the government took steps to restore the faith of the traders in general and the public by initiating some confidence-building measures,” he said.

Stating that party leaders at the national level had met the President of India, Gupta demanded that a social security pension for traders should be started on the lines of the scheme existing in foreign countries.

He advocated the creation of a corpus to give financial aid to traders’ families in the case of a tragedy as also the constitution of a security commission for traders. While insisting that foreign direct investment in the retail sector should be banned, he said that traders should be given collection charges to the tune of about 5 per cent for the tax they collected and deposited with the government.

Chandigarh, January 3
The Haryana Police Housing Corporation has received Rs 67.80 crore for the execution of various projects against Rs 44 crore earmarked for the 2008-09 annual plan. This includes three instalments of Rs 7.50 crore each for residential houses at Sunaria Khurd.

The state government has also sanctioned Rs 60 crore for the construction of new police lines at Sunaria, near Rohtak, according to a statement issued here yesterday.

Recently, Rs 75 crore was sanctioned for the construction of houses of different categories in the NCR region. The tenders for the works have been already received.

A multipurpose hall, an open-air gallery, a multimedia and computer laboratory at Madhuban, a telecommunication centre at Panchkula and an officers’ mess at Bhondsi are among other projects under execution. The corporation plans to complete the construction of 5,214 houses by March 31 this year.

Gurgaon, January 3
The police arrested two most-wanted criminals in the wee hours here today. The duo, Naseem Khan (38) and Ansari, alias Babloo Gulbali Miyan (30), both residents of Jharkhand, was allegedly involved in 10 bank robberies in Orissa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar, and was wanted by the Kolkata police.

They have reportedly robbed around Rs 5.6 crore till now. The two were arrested from near Hero Honda Chowk in Sector 46 here where they were planning to rob passersby at gunpoint. The two are stated to be linked to an international robbery gang.

The police has recovered a Maruti car along with a duplicate voter ID card, a pan card, a ration card, a number-plate, a pass book, besides ATM/ debit cards of various banks from them. They were also carrying a country-made pistol and an iron rod when they were arrested.

The crime branch was on the lookout for the two since long as they had reportedly robbed many local banks also.

“The two are residents of Jharkhand and have been involved in crimes since 1996,” said Anil Kumar Dhawan, DCP, Crime.

He said the two had been jailed in 2002 for robbing buses on the way from Kolkata to Hazari Bagh at night. They were released in 2005 after which they took to crime again.

The DCP said both of them were putting in the city from some time and used to visit other districts for robbery.

Last year, Ansari and Naseem, along with other members of their team, had looted Rs 3.04 crore from the Bank of Baroda in Baveel district of Orissa. The police is now on the lookout for the kingpin of the gang, Madhav Ravi Das.

Both of them have allegedly looted Rs 84 lakh from Punjab National Bank in Purulia in West Bengal, Rs 12 lakh from the Bank of India in Mirjagang, Jharkhand, Rs 29 lakh from Jharkhand Central Bank in Girdih, Rs 12 lakh from the Bank of Baroda in Kodrama in Jharkhand, Rs 12 lakh from another bank, Rs 35 lakh from UCO Bank in Dev Ghar (Jharkhand), Rs 24 lakh from a bank in Kolkata, Rs 6 lakh from United Bank, Kolkata, and Rs 13 lakh from Dena Bank, Durgapur, West Bengal.

The two have been sent on a four-day remand. The DCP said the Kolkata police had been informed and would reach here soon.

Gurgaon, January 3
Haryana Finance Minister Birender Singh has directed the local Municipal Corporation (MC) authorities to remove encroachments on public property after following the legal procedure in this regard.

Presiding over the monthly meeting of the district grievances committee here today, the minister disposed of 13 of the 16 complaints placed before him on the spot.

He also reviewed the action taken report on the decisions taken at the previous monthly meeting.

Interestingly, the matter of encroachments in various parks in Gurgaon was raised by the local Congress MLA, Dharamvir Gauba.

Gauba pointed out that the parks made to provide a clean environment to the residents were being encroached upon, which was wrong.

Nominated committee members J.N. Mangla, Sube Singh and Ravinder Jain also joined the MLA in demanding the removal of the encroachments.

At this, Birender Singh directed the MC authorities to issue notices to the encroachers.

"They should be clearly warned to either remove the encroachments themselves or face action, " he said, adding that in future if any encroachment was done on public property, the local official concerned would be held accountable for it.

Municipal commissioner Rajeev Sharma informed the meeting that there were 32 parks in Gurgaon and on inspection, illegal occupation had been found in three parks. Notices had been issued to the offenders, he added.

In the matter of the truck union's monopoly at Manesar, the minister said there was no union of truck operators at Manesar on record.

He directed the deputy commissioner to call a meeting of the truck operators, which would be also attended by the commissioner of police. "They should be clearly told that such high-handedness will not be tolerated," Birender Singh maintained.

The complaint was made by the general secretary of the IMT Industrial Association, who alleged that truck operators at Manesar misbehaved with outside truck drivers and were charging almost double the normal rates.

Regarding a complaint to provide water supply and sewerage in Palam Vihar Extension Carterpuri, the minister asked the officials concerned to make a proposal to the state government for considering that area to be a part of Carterpuri.

This suggestion was made by MLA Gauba, who stated that if the area was considered part of Carterpuri, the local officials could legally lay water supply and sewer lines. In yet another complaint, Birender Singh directed the local HUDA authorities to get a cemented road constructed in front of Malibu Town on the Sohna road for providing relief to commuters.

It was alleged in the complaint that this part of the road was in bad shape because of waterlogging.

HUDA administrator G. Anupama said that because of stay orders from the high court HUDA could not lay sewers in the said part.

She said a case to acquire land for master services under an emergency clause was moved in the high court.

Pataudi MLA Bhupinder Chowdhary, deputy commissioner Deepti Umashankar and DCP (Gurgaon-West) Rakesh Arya were also present.

New Delhi, January 3
The Political Affairs Committee of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) today decided to take on the ruling Congress in Haryana by organising a protest march in the state against the “rampant corruption and anti-people policies” of the government.

INLD secretary-general and Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Singh Chautala will lead this one-month-long march that will start from Rai Malikpur village in the Nangal-Chaudhary assembly segment on the Haryana-Rajasthan border.

The march will cover 600 km and culminate in Chandigarh. It will cross 11 districts and hundreds of villages in the state. The march has been named “jan aakrosh padyatra”.

The march will pass through Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Sonepat, Jind, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Ambala and Panchkula districts. INLD leaders will protest against “corruption, nepotism, the sale of government jobs, the deteriorating law and order situation, the scarcity of water and electricity, SEZs and lack of development in villages among other aspects”.

Sirsa, January 3
The Dera Sacha Sauda - Sikhs controversy that has been worrying the residents intermittently since May 2007, when the two sides started clashing over the dress controversy of dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, appear to be resurfacing yet again.

This time the proposed convention of the dera in Jalalana village on January 12 has raised the hackles of the Sikh organisations.

Representatives of the Sikh organisations, including Balkaran Singh of the Khalsa Action Committee, Mohinder Singh of the Panj Pardhani, Jagdev Singh, Shiv Raj Singh, Jaswant Singh, Manohar Singh and Gurmail Singh today gave a memorandum to Tehsildar, Dabwali, Rajinder Kumar and demanded ban on all Nam Charcha programmes announced by the dera as these were bound to increase tension.

The Sikh representatives demanded that the dera should be barred from holding its convention on January 12 at Jalalana as it would escalate tension in the Dabwali area, which had recently witnessed Dera - Sikh tension.

Jalalana is the birthplace of Shah Satnam Singh; the predecessor of dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and the dera has been holding convention here every year. The birthday of Shah Satnam Singh falls on January 25, which is celebrated in the dera headquarters.

On the other hand, the Dera Sacha Sauda has maintained that it had been organising convention at Jalalana every year and this year too they had already sought permission of the district administration to organise a convention.

“We have been organising convention at Jalalana every year on January 12 as the village is the birthplace of our second Guruji. We have duly obtained permission from the authorities to hold the convention,” said Pawan Insan, spokesperson for the Dera Sacha Sauda.

He said the dera chief was presently on the tour of Uttar Pradesh and would address the Jalalana convention on January 12 after completing the tour.

The Sikh organisations have alleged that no such convention was organised by the dera last year, but they had announced a convention this year, as the atmosphere was still charged after the July violence between the Sikhs and the dera followers.

However, Pawan Insan said the programme could not be held last year as the dera chief was on tour somewhere else, but it was an annual feature of the dera and there was nothing new in announcing the convention.

Sirsa, January 3
The police registered a criminal case against around 10 villagers for rioting, obstructing a public servant from performing duties and allegedly beating up a roadways’ conductor after stopping a bus coming from Sangaria (Rajasthan) in Nuhianwali village in this district today.

The police has booked them under sections 186, 353 and 147 of the IPC. Giving details, DSP Dheeraj Setia said some villagers had an altercation with conductor Ashok Kumar of the Sirsa-Sangaria bus of the Haryana Roadways this morning.

A group of villagers caught the conductor, when the bus was returning from Sangaria in the afternoon, and allegedly beat him up severely. The police registered a case on a complaint of the conductor.

Ajay Singh Chautala is the chairman of the Sirsa-based Jannayak Chaudhary Devi
Lal Vidyapeeth.

Karnal, January 3
Thousands of people, who had been served notices to demolish the unauthorised structures along the National and State highways in the district, today heaved a sigh of relief as the local MLA, Sumita Singh, announced the reported decision of the state government to regularise these constructions.

Talking to mediapersons at her residence, she disclosed that the people, who had raised structures along the highways for residential or commercial purposes, would now be able to get these constructions regularised by obtaining a licence for Change of Land use (CLU) by depositing a nominal fee.

Thanking the Chief Minister for this decision, she said she had taken up the matter with the Chief Minister and explained the difficulties being faced by the affected people.

The decision had come at the crucial juncture when the people were facing great hardship due to threat of dislocation of their business premises and homes and the notices served by the concerned authorities had forced them to spend sleepless nights, she added.

Sumita Singh further said the vegetable sellers of the vegetable market would be allotted shops on controlled rates by issuing licence in four years in instead of five years.

The MLA informed that around 321 houses and shops at the Karnal-Kachua road and 184 in the Karnal-Meerut road would escape the axe of demolition and a total of 250 business premises would be saved from being destroyed in Karnal district.

She said the state had witnessed spectacular development, improved law and order and highest sugarcane prices during the four-year rule of Hooda government and the state had excelled in wheat and sugarcane production.

Welcoming the recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission, she said it would be a New Year gift for about 3.5 lakh employees in the state who would start getting the salaries as per revised pay scales from January 1.

Bhiwani, January 3
A man sustained serious burn injuries while three shops were gutted in a fire triggered by an explosion on Friday night.

The powerful blast tossed up the victim, who was sleeping in a shop. The victim, Deepak, son of Mahender of Murari Lal Street, who was sleeping in a shop of electronic items, sustained 70 per cent burn injuries and was taken to the Civil Hospital, where doctors referred him to the medical college, Rohtak.

The fire that broke out after the explosion engulfed three shops. The explosion was so powerful that it damaged windowpanes of a clinic and also one of its walls.

The explosion took place at Prince Electronics Store. Fire engines were pressed into service and the police also arrived on the spot. In the morning, SDM Girish Arora and other officials visited the site.

The SDM said a forensic team had taken samples and the cause of the explosion would be established after receiving the lab report.

Neighbourers feel the explosion may have been triggered by the inverter batteries placed inside the shop.

Ambala, January 3
HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana has said that he is willing to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Ambala if the party high command permits him. At present, Union minister Selja represents this constituency.

Talking to mediapersons at his residence here today, he said the Haryana Congress was fully prepared for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

He lauded Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the development works carried out during the past three and a half years.

He said development would be the main election issue of the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

He claimed that by the end of this year, the state would be self-sufficient in power as a number of new power plants were being set up.

Criticising the BJP-INLD alliance, he said the people of Haryana had already rejected the two parties in the last assembly elections and this alliance would prove a flop show in the Lok Sabha elections as well in the next assembly elections.

He said the Haryana Janhit Congress was a non-starter and the people had rejected it in the initial stage. Criticising the BSP, he alleged that it had been exploiting the poor and Dalits.

Asked whether the Congress would fulfil its election promise to constitute a separate SGPC for Haryana, he said the government had not yet received the Chatha commission report in this regard.

He said the Congress was committed to fulfilling its manifesto promises. To a question, he said Chander Mohan was removed from his post as he had not been continuing his official duties.

He said the Congress had noting to do with his second marriage and conversion. To another question, he said the expansion of the Cabinet and shuffling in portfolios could take place shortly.

Refereeing the resentment among a section of the employees over the “anomalies” in the Sixth Pay Commission report, he said a special committee would be set up to examine the issue.

Fatehabad, January 3
The state unit of the CPM will project an alternative development strategy for the state and mobilise people to find an alternative to the Congress and the National Democratic Alliance in Haryana.

Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the CPM, told mediapersons yesterday that the party would declare its “tactical electoral line” for the coming parliamentary elections at a state-level rally to be organised in Fatehabad on February 15.

The rally would be addressed, among others, by Prakash Karat, general secretary of the party.

After the conclusion of the party’s district committee meeting here yesterday, Inderjit Singh said the impact of the financial crisis was now being felt on the agriculture, industry and service sectors in various ways.

He claimed that this was the vindication of Left parties’ stance on the present policies and added that the UPA as well as the NDA were still not ready to see the writing on the wall.

Ridiculing the oft-repeated statements of the state government claiming that Haryana was the number one state, he said the condition of a majority of the people was pathetic in the state as they were feeling a general sense of insecurity, including food, health, housing and employment.

He said the party had decided to undertake a massive campaign on livelihood issues, including the implementation of various schemes like rural employment guarantee, the public distribution system, drastic reduction in the prices of petroleum products, health and education, concrete measures to minimise the impact of economic crisis on workers and peasants. This campaign would culminate in the Fatehabad rally on February 15, he said.

Palwal/Hathin, January 3
Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda today expressed the view that the development works carried out by his party government in the state will help fetch votes for the Congress candidates in the state in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Deepender addressed public meetings at four places in the Palwal and Hathin assembly segments falling in the Faridabad parliamentary constituency.

Avtaar Singh Bhadana is the sitting Congress MP from Faridabad. Deepender indicated that Bhadana would be renominated by the party to contest from Faridabad.

Addressing a public meeting at Ghirrot, Deepender said the UPA government at the Centre and the Congress government in Haryana were farmer-friendly. He claimed that the minimum support price for wheat had been raised substantially during the Congress rule.

Having a dig at the alliance between the INLD and the BJP, he said it was “unholy” and had been forged to “misguide” the people of the state.

He said all sections of society had benefited during the present Congress rule in Haryana. Opponents of the Congress had not been able to come to terms with the development works carried out by the government in the state, he said.

The Public Health Department Authorities had been repeatedly informed about the problem, but there had not been permanent solution of the problem so far.