Panipat, January 19
Having found discrepancies in the allotment of HUDA plots meant for industrial workers, the state Vigilance Bureau (VB) has recommended the registration of criminal cases against some allottees and has suggested that their allotments be cancelled immediately and disciplinary action taken against the then estate officer of HUDA for his acts of omission.

PP Kapur, state convener of the Haryana unit of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions, had filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court alleging that the plots that were to be allotted to industrial workers were instead given to those who were holding senior posts in top industries. HUDA had come out with a scheme to allot residential plots to industrial workers in Sector 25, Part II, Panipat, in 2001.

On November 7 last, the high court had asked the VB to conduct an inquiry into the allegations and submit a report within two months.

According to sources in the VB, the inquiry was conducted by DSP Sajjan Singh and a team of four inspectors. The VB, after recording statements of a number of persons involved in the allotment process, concluded that a large number of people holding senior positions in various industries had got plots allotted in their names by forging certain documents.

The sources said the inquiry report concluded that Payal Jain, an HR manager in SPL Industries, MP Aggarwal, a commercial manager in KC Textiles, and Ruchi Gupta, who runs a handloom industry in the name of “Sadabahar Handloom”, were not entitled to get the plots as they were not industrial workers.

Besides, it was also found that plots were allotted to VS Venkatratnam, senior manager in National Fertilisers Limited, Pankaj Gupta, the then senior export executive of Gupta Textiles, Abhishek Aggarwal, Satish Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Raj Kumar, who were not industrial workers, and these be cancelled. The report stated that Ishweri Devi Mittal and her son Amit Kumar, along with Ram Niwas Mittal, owner of Sukhsagar Spinning Mill of Panipat, who gave the experience certificate to Ishweri Devi, Karan Singh Yadav, a deputy manager in Ballarpur Industries, Amir Chand, a doctor in NFL Hospital, could not be treated as industrial workers. It was also found that Satya Narain Aggarwal, Mahabir Parshad Aggarwal and NS Sastry were also not eligible to get a plot from HUDA under the said scheme.

However, the DSP observed that no irregularity had been found in the allotment of plots to Sher Singh, Daljeet Singh, Prem Lata, Madan Mohan, Mukesh Kumar and Ajay Bhatia.

The report stated some of these persons had forged documents to apply for the plots. It suggested that a criminal case be registered against them and the plots allotted to them be cancelled.

The report stated that the draw of plots was held in public and in a transparent manner, and no irregularities were found in the process of the draw of 897 plots.

It also said that no connivance of any officer of HUDA with the allottees of plots, who produced forged documents for getting allotment of plots, was detected during the inquiry.

It, however, recommended disciplinary action against SS Saini, the then estate officer, HUDA, Dhoop Singh Sirohi, assistant estate officer of HUDA, and Darshan Lal Mittal, deputy superintendent of the estate office, for acts of omission while considering the eligibility of industrial workers. However, it was found that the latter two officials had already retired and no departmental action under rule 7 of the Punjab Civil Service Rules could be initiated against them at this stage.

HC Arora, counsel for the petitioner PP Kapur, told The Tribune that the case would come up for hearing in the high court tomorrow.

Chandigarh, January 19
Almost all sections of Haryana employees are up against the new pay scales given to them by the state government. The media campaign launched by them gives one an impression as if the government has not implemented its assurance to give its staff the pay scales as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

This may be true or may not be. But the data available with The Tribune shows that the minimum increase in the salary of an employee (taking him at the start of the old as well as the new scales) is 33.40 per cent and the maximum 99.72 per cent.

This percentage will further go up if the children’s education allowance of Rs 1,000 (Rs 500 per child up to two children) is included in the calculations. Since many employees may not be able to avail themselves this allowance (as it is admissible only up to the plus two class), it is being excluded while calculating the percentage of increase for any category of the employees.

The salary of a peon, the lowest in the official hierarchy, will go up by 34.40 per cent. The minimum increase of 33.40 per cent will be in the salary of an Ayush doctor and the maximum hike of 99.72 per cent in the salary of a JBT teacher. A clerk will get 38.39 per cent more; an assistant 40.23 per cent; and a superintendent 41.53 per cent higher salary on February 1.

Sources in the government say the pay panel had recommended that greater attention should be paid to the education and health sectors. Keeping in view this recommendation, the government gave a hike of 88.10 per cent to trained graduate teachers and 82.18 per cent increase to staff nurses. This, they say, will attract talent to these sectors in future.

HCS officers and constables, two cutting edges of the government, get a hike of 46.45 per cent and 52.13 per cent, respectively.

The sources say it is not that the employees have been cheated out of the pay panel recommendations. They claim that most of the heart burning is due to the notions of “status” and what others have got.

Most of the complaints from the employees are not that they have got less. For example, in the past a particular category of employees may have been getting the same scale as they were getting. However, they may be now upset because the other category has been given a higher scale while they have been given a lower one, thus “lowering” their status vis-a-vis the other. 

Chandigarh, January 19
The Haryana government has notified the rates of Dearness Allowance (DA) admissible to all categories of employees of the state government.

These comprise employees who are governed by either of the two rules, the Haryana Civil Services (revised pay) Rules, 2008, and Haryana Civil Services (assured career progression) Rules, 2008, as the case may be.

As per the notification issued by the Finance Department to this effect, no DA will be admissible to the employees from January 1, 2006, and from July 1, 2006, it will be admissible at the rate of 2 per cent; from January 1, 2007, at the rate of 6 per cent; from July 1, 2007, at the rate of 9 per cent; from January 1, 2008, at the rate of 12 per cent and from July 1, 2008, at the rate of 16 per cent of the basic pay plus non-practising allowance (NPA) wherever applicable.

The payment of DA shall be made after adjusting the installment of DA already sanctioned and paid to the employees.

The basic pay in the revised pay structure means the pay drawn in the prescribed pay band plus the applicable grade pay but does not include any other type of pay like the special pay. For the purpose of calculation of DA, non-practising allowance, wherever applicable, shall be taken into account as at present.

The DA will continue to be a distinct element of remuneration and will not be treated as pay within the ambit of civil service rules or any other relevant rules.

Meanwhile, the Haryana government has revised the rates of cycle allowance from Rs 50 per month to Rs 100 per month for Group D employees from January 1, 2009. A notification to this effect has been issued by the Finance Department.

Yamunanagar, January 19
Giving new hope to state employees aggrieved at the new pay scale given to them under the Sixth Pay Commission, state Finance Minister Birender Singh said all justified demands of the Employees’ Association would be fulfilled.

He added that a three-member committee had been formed to look into the justified demands.

He said: “I along with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will do our best to fulfill the employees’ demands. After implementing the Sixth Pay Commission, the state is under a burden of Rs 6,400 crore.”

He stated this while talking to mediapersons after the closing ceremony of the state women championship held on the railway grounds here this evening.

Addressing the gathering, he assured that the state government would provide all help to build a football academy and a hostel to facilitate football players.

Expressing a need to provide more funds for sports, he said, earlier, the state government had fixed only Rs 5 crore for sports. However, the budget for sports was increased to Rs 64 crore after the government came to power. The government needed to increase the budget for the development of sports and to facilitate sportspersons.

He said the state government provided more funds to education and health facilities in the budget. It should give more priority to sports activities as sports reflected overall development of the country.

Meanwhile, the Sonepat team won the state women football championship by beating Yamunanagar by 1,0 in the finals here today.

SONEPAT: A large number of members of the district unit of the Haryana State Veterinary Diploma Association on Monday took out a protest march against discrimination in the implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in Haryana and submitted a memorandum of their demands to Additional Deputy Commissioner Anita Yadav. The protest march was led by state vice-president Joginder Gahlaut and district president Mukesh Malik.

The district unit of the Haryana Veterinary Fourth Class Association also submitted a memorandum of their demands pertaining to increase in their pay scales and other allowances.

KAITHAL: The Haryana government employees continued their protest over the alleged anomalies in the pay scales following the Sixth Pay Commission report. A large number of VLDAs and class IV employees under the banner of the Diploma Veterinary Association held a protest march outside the mini-secretariat here on Monday. The employees’ union leaders alleged that the government had done great injustice with them while fixing the new pay scales. Later, a memorandum was submitted to Deputy Commissioner P Amneet Kumar to be forwarded to the state government in which a demand had been made to grant them proper relief by reviewing the pay scales fixed by the government besides granting them risk allowance, genetic diseases allowance, free of cost accommodation and travel allowance.

Chandigarh, January 19
Haryana Agriculture Minister HS Chatha was today accused of grabbing nine acres in Ambala district. The accusation came from an uncle of Chatha’s daughter-in-law, Col Inder Singh.

Talking to newsmen at the Chandigarh Press Club here, Inder Singh alleged that by using his influence, Chatha had grabbed nine acres of his land in Tepla village.

Chatha, however, had a different story to tell. He said the land belonged to the father of his daughter-in-law and her sister and he had nothing to do with it.

Inder Singh, who was accompanied by Viresh Shandilya, president of the Anti-Terrorist Front of India, said if no action was taken against Chatha by the Chief Minister, he and his family would stage a dharna outside Haryana Raj Bhawan here. If still no action were taken, they would move their dharna outside Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi.

The former Army officer said his son, Major Gurpreet Singh, was killed in the Kargil war. His other son was also in the Army and posted in the North-East. He said they apprehended threat to their life.

When questioned, Inder Singh said his father had willed 18 acres to him and his brother, who was now dead. Both had an equal share. He claimed that after his nieces filed a case for the partition of the land, Chatha used his influence over the revenue authorities to decide the case in favour of the girls. Now, the case was pending before the Financial Commissioner, Revenue.

He alleged that Chatha had managed to get nine acres, which were adjoining a road, while he had been given a piece of land away from the road.

He said the price of the land adjoining the road was about Rs 1 crore per acre, while that of the land away from the road was about Rs 20 lakh per acre.

He said he would be satisfied if he was given an equal share in the land adjoining the road.

Chatha said after their father’s death, his daughter-in-law and her sister wanted their share in the land because they had no brother. Even their mother had died. But, he alleged, Inder Singh was still in the possession of the entire 18 acres and was not giving their due share to his nieces.

He said instead of raking up what was essentially a family dispute in the media, Inder Singh should have talked to him and the issue could have been resolved amicably.

Chandigarh, January 19
Studies on the impact of sand mining on agriculture land in the districts of Haryana have revealed decrease in the yield of rice, sugarcane and other crops.

A report on the issue, prepared by Hisar-based CCS Haryana Agriculture University, also brings to the fore the problems of dust and pollution during mining and transportation.

The four districts brought under the purview of the study are: Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat and Yamunanagar. In the report placed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court Division Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Hemant Gupta, it has been asserted that the reduction in rice crop yield in mined fields was 54 per cent after a year, 27 per cent after 12 to 15 years and five per cent after 18 years of rehabilitation.

It was added in the report that there was a decrease in the sugarcane yield by 30 per cent, green fodder by 35 per cent, arhar gram by 47 per cent and vegetables by 37 per cent. The mining activity was also resulting in the uprooting of agro-forestry trees.

The report went on to say studies also revealed disturbed natural soil profile and altered soil texture from heavier to lighter in the fields where mining was going on, compared to the other “un-mined” fields.

The report made it clear additional expenditure had to be incurred by the farmers for micro-leveling, extra inputs, resetting of tube wells and other infrastructure.

The report also mentioned loss of two to three crops during mining, and diminution in land value by Rs 1 to 5 lakh per acre. In Yamunanagar district, no adverse impact of sand mining on the soil properties, crop production and economy was found. However, the problem of erosion and dust pollution existed.

After going through the report submitted in a public interest litigation, the Bench took it on record and issued notice to the Central Pollution Control Board. The petition has been filed against the state of Haryana, Karnal deputy commissioner and other respondents by Ajeet Singh and three others of Gharaunda in Karnal district.

The petitioners are seeking directions for putting to an end the “indiscriminate, illicit and mindless sand mining on the fertile agriculture land” in Harsinghpura village in the district. The petitioners claims it is playing havoc with the environment and water source. 

Ambala, January 19
Treasurer of the All-India Congress Committee and in charge of Haryana affairs of the party Moti Lal Vora today claimed that the Congress will win all 10 seats from Haryana in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a party workers’ meeting at Ambala Cantt, called by Congress MP Selja, he said the Haryana government had done a lot for all sections of society, especially for farmers and the poor. He lauded Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for setting up a number of power plants in the state.

He claimed that the state government had fulfilled all promises made in the election manifesto four years ago. He asked the party workers to strengthen the party so that they could get “their candidate, Selja,” reelected form this constituency with a record margin like earlier. 

Chandigarh, January 19
Haryana’s former deputy chief minister Chander Mohan has challenged the withdrawal of security cover.

Chander Mohan, alias Chand Mohammed’s counsel submitted that the action had rendered him vulnerable to hostile elements, including fanatic forces threatening him since his conversion. Justice Jaswant Singh has issued notice for January 27 to the state government and Haryana police chief to file their response. In his plea for staying the police chief's order and restoring the security withdrawn vide order dated January 14, he said it was issued without assigning any reason. His father Bhajan Lal was three times CM, while he himself had been elected four time in a row from Panchkula state assembly constituency.

He added political rivalry, more than anything else, was responsible for his removal from the post. Since his public contact was essential, it would only be appropriate to provide him with adequate security without further delay.

Chandigarh, January 19
The Haryana government nearly landed itself in trouble.

The approach adopted by its law officer in the traffic regulation and highway widening case today made the Punjab and Haryana High Court verbally observe in an open courtroom that there was a “complete breakdown of constitutional machinery” in the state.

Miffed over the developments in the matter, the Division Bench of Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice AN Jindal minced no words while saying they would put the state under the President’s rule, if this was the state of affairs.

The Bench also made clear its intention of issuing a contempt notice to the state counsel, and verbally asked him to tender an unconditional apology in writing.

As the matter came up for hearing before the Bench this morning at about 11.15 pm, Haryana’s former advocate-general-cum-senior advocate Ashok Aggarwal, appearing on behalf of Valecha Engineering Limited, brought to the court’s notice the problems faced in the execution of project.

At this point, the state counsel tried to intervene and the argument veered around to the issue of registration of an FIR in a project related matter. The state counsel said they would get an FIR registered.

It seems this left the Bench enraged, as it thought the state counsel was trying to infringe upon the protection granted to a party before the court. Visibly annoyed, Justice Uma Nath Singh said: “How dare you say you can get an FIR registered. Do you think your deputy commissioner has more powers than the court?”

Justice Uma Nath Singh saw it as an attempt on the part of the state counsel to make threatening gestures, despite the protection granted to the litigant. “If this is your approach in the courtroom, what will you be doing outside the courtroom?” Justice Uma Nath Singh questioned.

The Judge added the Bench would issue notice to the Centre, asking it to file an affidavit on the functioning of the state government. Justice Uma Nath Singh also asked the state counsel to file an affidavit within an hour for tendering an unconditional apologising, or else notice of contempt would be issued to him.

The matter was again taken up for hearing after lunch at about 2 pm. After the state counsel convinced the court that his intention was not to put the other party to unnecessary harassment, the Bench decided not to go ahead with the proceedings against the counsel. As such, the final order handed over to the parties concerned late in the evening makes no mention of the issue. 

Chandigarh, January 19
Failure to file a reply to a public interest litigation on allocation of plots by HUDA to VIPs has cost Haryana dear. Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Hemant Gupta slapped costs of Rs 5,000.

Farukh Nagar, January 19
He is 58 and she is 55. They loved each other in their youth, but got married after a long gap of 40 years here last evening. Interestingly, the man’s sons helped the couple marry. Seems like a reel love story, but this is a real story of a couple who fell in love in their youth, but were not able to tie the knot due to family pressure.

The love story of Ashok Kaushik, who retired from the Air Force and works an AGM in a private firm, and Aasha Kaushik, Additional District Education Officer, Kanpur, started from a ground in Shastri Nagar in Kanpur where Ashok used to come to play cricket. She got impressed by his play and fell in love with him.

“Ashok used to play cricket in a ground in front of my house and I was impressed with his play,” said Aasha, adding that “His shots would often land the ball in our terrace and we got to meet each other. This is how our romance began and continued till the time Ashok got a job in the Air Force.”

“He then went to join his duty after promising that he would soon come back and marry me, but due to family pressure, he married someone else. The news of his marriage broke me and I decided never to get married,” she said, adding that “I used to pray to God to make him my husband in my next birth. However, destiny had something else in store for me and we married after a gap of 40 years.”

“My parents asked me to marry, but I refused. I decided to carry on with my studies and to work for the welfare of people,” Aasha said.

Ashok, who is on cloud nine after his marriage to Aasha, said, “When my sons Gaurav and Rohit were born, I went with them to Aasha’s home many times. Everyone in our family, even my first wife Vimal, knew about our love affair, but she never interfered.”

Talking to The Tribune, Ashok’s son Gaurav (30) and Rohit (28) said, “We knew that our father was in love with Aasha. When our mother died in 2005, he started keeping aloof and would not talk much. It was then that we decided to get him married to his first love. Initially, he was reluctant, but later said yes.”

“We have seen him crying in a corner of his room many times. One day, we were watching a movie, “Mere Baap Pehle Aap”, which inspired us to take the decision. The movie resembled the story of our father and we decided to get them married,” Gaurav said.

Kaithal, January 19
The only Muslim family in Jadola village in this district has left the village due to alleged pressure of residents who reportedly objected to the teaching of Urdu by the head of the family, Naim Khan. Another allegation against Naim Khan was that he was frequently visited by some “suspicious-looking persons”. Naim Khan reportedly left the village yesterday fearing a threat from the villagers.

The villagers suspected that Naim Khan, under the guise of teaching Urdu to some residents, was “playing some mischevious game, which in the long run can be detrimental to the interests of the villagers”.

Naim Khan, who has reached Yamunanagar along with his family members after leaving the village, had alleged that he was under pressure from the villagers to leave the village and he had no other alternative to the ensure the safety of his family members.

Naim has been maintaining that he taught Urdu on the instructions of the Jamat Ahmadyi, an international organisation having branches in 190 countries. He said the centre of this organisation in this part of the country was in Kadiyan in Gurdaspur district of Panjab. He said he taught Urdu to both Hindus and Muslims.

However, Neeraj Kumar, sarpanch of the village, and some other villagers said they suspected that Naim was visited by some suspicious-looking persons and they had asked Naim Khan not to indulge in any illegal activity. However, they never asked him to leave the village.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner P Amneet Kumar has asked Kaithal SDM Hawa Singh to probe the matter and submit a report. The Deputy Commissioner told mediapersons that if it came to light that the panchayat or any individual had threatened the victim family, action would be taken against the guilty. 

Fatehabad, January 19
A student of class XII consumed poison in Nagpur village here after he was allegedly beaten up and humiliated by his teachers on Saturday.

He was shifted to a private hospital here, where he died this morning. The victim’s parents cremated the body without informing the police.

Radhey Sham, a student of Government Senior Secondary School here, was allegedly beaten up by his teacher after some girls of the school complained about his behaviour on Saturday. The teacher allegedly humiliated the boy in the presence of other students. His parents were also summoned to the school.

The boy consumed poison in the night and was rushed to a private hospital in Fatehabad, where he died today. The school was closed to mourn the boy’s death.

Satpal Kaushik, principal of the school, said a girl’s photograph was found in the book of Radhey Sham on Saturday.

He said the parents of the boy as well as the girl were summoned to the school and everything was explained to them.

The parents were told to control their children so that the academic environment of the school was not vitiated, Kaushik added.

He said the teachers came to know about the incident this morning. He maintained that neither the school nor any teacher was responsible for the incident.

Denying that the student was beaten up by a teacher, he alleged that the boy’s father had slapped him in the school after learning about his behaviour. Kaushik said the teaching work was suspended for today.