Chandigarh, February 12
The financial meltdown seems to be taking its toll on various government schemes. With the effects of slowdown evident across all sectors, the number of takers for Indira Awaas Yojana, too, has dwindled this year.

Barely 44 per cent of the set target of houses have been constructed so far. As against a target of 13,229 dwelling units, only 5,826 units have been constructed so far and only 3,660 dwelling units are under construction. So far 1.33 lakh units have been constructed in Haryana as part of this scheme.

This in spite of the fact that the annual allocation under this scheme has gone up from Rs 3,307.62 lakh in 2007-08, to Rs 4,630.28 lakh in 2008-09.

Though the state government claims that the scheme generally gets a good response after severe winter is over (between February and March), it is learnt that with lesser work avenues and large-scale layoffs, housing takes the least priority.

Officials of rural development department in various districts said even now they were receiving very few applications for availing grant under this scheme.

As per this scheme, financial assistance is provided for the construction of houses for BPL families in the rural areas.

The beneficiaries are recommended for assistance by gram sabhas. Sixty per cent of the allocated funds are required to be spent for non-SC beneficiaries and 15 per cent for minorities.

Interestingly, of the 5,826 units that have been constructed so far as part of this scheme, 3,730 (64.02 per cent) have been constructed for SCs while 720 (36.29 per cent) for minorities.

Though no design or cost estimate has been prescribed and beneficiaries are at liberty to construct houses as per their specifications, the per unit cost of grant has been increased from Rs 25,000 last year to Rs 35,000 per unit this year.

Fatehabad, February 12
An old tradition of solemnising marriages during daytime only is coming in the way of a boy's wedding in Bhuna town in the district as several members of the community to which the boy belongs have threatened to boycott the function, if his family does not change the marriage time from evening to morning.

The marriage is to take place on February 15 and keeping in mind the wishes of youngsters in the family, it is to be organised in the evening and all arrangements have been made.

However, community elders have threatened to boycott it in case the time is not changed. A series of meetings during the past few days have failed to yield results.

Elders of the Punjabi community whose members settled here after coming from Pakistan took a decision for a social reform on March 18, 1973.

It was decided that all weddings would be solemnised during daytime and anyone disobeying the order would face social boycott. Since then the decision has been obeyed by all.

A local resident, Joginder Pal, who organised the function of his daughter's marriage at night, faced boycott from service providers and later filed a suit for defamation against those boycotting him.

Some young residents had revolted against the tradition in June 2007, but the elders stayed firm and the issue was resolved by vote, which the elders won.

Now, a tricky situation has developed and it is to be seen whether the marriage proposed to be solemnised in the evening on February 15 is held as per the schedule or the time are altered.

Bahadurgarh/Jhajjar, February 12
With the spirit of expressing their love, openly or anonymously, youths here are all set to mark the Valentine’s Day with passion.

The main markets of the historical city of Jhajjar and the industrial town of Bahadurgarh are teeming with flowers, greeting cards, jewellery, teddy bears and heart-shaped balloons.

Youths are also busy in shopping novel gifts like musical cards, perfumed flowers, candies, chocolates and dancing couples.

Keeping in view this special occasion, various companies have flooded the market with new designs of greeting cards.

Mahender Kumar, a greeting card shop owner, said, "Despite the prices of cards going up, there is no slump in the demand. Companies have been devising new strategies to boost up their sales with various promotional schemes. With changing times, messages conveyed in the cards have been changing too. The simple messages of coy sentimentality have given way to comic, jocular and sarcastic.”

Valentine’s Day, though traditionally not an Indian festival, has assumed importance among the youth. On February 14 each year, flowers and gifts are exchanged with the loved ones, all in the name of Saint Valentine.

“It is a day of celebration for one and all, be its lovers, married couples, or whoever likes to celebrate love. I, especially, like to pamper my loved ones on this particular day. I buy gifts for all people close to my heart, wish them, write small thoughtful notes to tell these people how much they mean to me,” says Supriya, a student.

Anuradha, a housewife, says “I will certainly give my husband a red rose and a nice cake. We have also planned to go out for dinner”.

Palak, an MCA student, said, “We have arranged for a small party at one of our friends’ home. It will be an all girls’ party; after all who needs guys to experience love and create tensions in life”.

No wonder, shops are offering a mind-blowing variety of gifts at special discounted prices. “Gifts are a must. You have to please your Valentine by gifting her something,” says Sunil Bhardwaj, an MBA student, adding that the cost of the gift does matter a lot.

Flowers are attractive buys for the day. Florists increase their supply of red roses, popular for their long association with romance.

Jaldeep, a florist, says, "We sell more flowers on Valentine’s Day than any other day of the year. Majority of customers buy red roses on the day”.

“A flower is a thing of beauty and you can’t miss the love and joy it conveys,” says Kuldeep Hooda, a student.

“People required employment only during the lean season in agriculture. By linking it with MGGBY, we will be able to extend its benefits to a majority of 8.5 lakh BPL families. So far, there are only 3.3 lakh eligible persons who have availed benefits under NREGS,” she said, adding that since November 2008, 1.18 lakh people have already availed benefit after MGGBY was linked with NREGS.

Sirsa/Fatehabad, February 12
Aspirants of the Congress ticket for the Sirsa parliamentary seat thronged the Panchayat Bhawan at Fatehabad and the Congress Bhawan at Sirsa with their supporters, where Congress MLA from Mandawar in Rajasthan and AICC observer for the Sirsa and Hisar parliamentary constituencies Major (Retired) OP Yadav met the party workers to ascertain their views recently.

Among those whose supporters met the observer were both young and experienced candidates. While among the old guards, whose supporters met the observer, were the sitting MP Atma Singh Gill and Om Parkash Keharwala, who once contested from the Congress ticket in 2000 elections.

There were many young aspirants with well placed government services. A young income tax officer from Gurgaon, Sunita Duggal, was represented by a large number of her supporters. Duggal's husband Rajesh Duggal is an ACP in the Haryana police and hails from Sirsa.

She claimed that Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who wields a lot of influence over voters in the constituency, has blessed her. Then, there was an additional district and session judge RC Sankhla, who also hails from Sirsa.

A bank officer from Sirsa Balraj Chalia also staked his claim, while a Youth Congress leader, Naresh Kalia, whose father Rehr Chand Kalia contested the 2004 parliamentary elections on the Haryana Vikas party, also staked his claim.

Kalia is a young law graduate from Punjab University, Chandigarh and enrolled as a lawyer in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

He was earlier state general secretary of the National Student Union of India (NSUI) and is presently state general secretary of the Haryana Youth Congress.

Sham Sunder Odh, Jagdish Mistri, Mela Singh and Karnail Singh were among the other prominent leaders who staked their claims before the observer.

Later, talking to the mediapersons at Sirsa and Fatehabad, Yadav said 30 prospective candidates have staked their claims before him either by meeting him in person or through their supporters.

He claimed that the enthusiasm of the workers made it clear that the ruling party would do an encore in the Sirsa parliamentary constituency, which it won last time.

He said his job was not to decide on the party tickets but to make a ground level observation of the constituency, its prospective candidates and their respective strengths and weaknesses.

He said he would submit his report to the AICC after February 15 and the winning ability of the candidate, his or her commitment to the party and his reputation among grass-root level workers would be the prime criteria while deciding tickets by the party high command.

He met Congress workers at Fatehabad in the morning and at Sirsa later in the evening and was thronged with workers owing allegiance to different aspirants.

Yadav said he would also go to Jind to ascertain the views of workers from the Narwana assembly constituency falling under the Sirsa parliamentary seat before submitting his report.

Jhajjar, February 12
In order to curb electricity theft and to ensure uninterrupted power with better voltage to the consumers, a high voltage distribution system (HVDS) is being set up by the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) in the villages and urban localities of this district.

Under the system, distribution transformers having capacity of 16, 25 and 63 KVA would be installed on the 11-feet-long electricity polls to further minimise the length of the LT lines.

Besides, separate power meters of yellow and blue colours would also be placed on the polls by the private contractors and the power nigam respectively so as to prevent the power theft.

Executive engineer of the UHBVN Rajender Mor said Noona Majra village in the district was selected for the pilot project to check the efficiency of the system.

The private contractors in the village have been installing power transformers of yellow colours on the electricity polls.

Four connections per poll according to the capacity have been provided and power cables are being connected with the houses directly from the system, he added.

Deputy Commissioner Nitin Yadav said the technology would help improve the distribution system and quality of supply and minimise aggregate technical and commercial losses as well as electrical accidents.

It may be recalled here that the state government had approved an ambitious plan for the UHBVN and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam under which 1,900 lengthier and overloaded 11 KV feeders supplying power to urban and mixed urban areas would be bifurcated. The HVDS would be created in 4,990 villages of the state at a cost of Rs 864.15 crore.

Gurgaon, February 12
Gugana in Farrukhnagar, near here, has become the first open defecation- free village in Gurgaon. The secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Government of India, Santha Sheela Nair, visited the village.

The President of India, a few days ago at a function organised in Hisar, awarded the ‘Nirmal Gram Puruskar’ to the village.

While inspecting the village, Nair lauded the work being taken up in the state for making the villages open defecation-free and said other states had also been following the same policies.

She asked villagers to adopt rainwater harvesting and win 'Sajal Gram Puruskar' as the Union Government had been planning to present such Nirmal Grams with this award who adopted rainwater harvesting in their villages.

This would help solve the drinking water problem to a larger extent. Referring to the demand to fill the village pond with water, Nair assured that she would take up the matter with the government and try to get a pipeline laid for this purpose.

The director, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Government of India, Vijay Mittal told that only 32 per cent people in the state used toilets in 2004, but now the number had increased to about 92.35 per cent, which is really commendable.

He stated that 799 villages of the state got ‘Nirmal Gram Puruskar’ in 2008 and the state was second in the country with such a large number of awards.

He advised the villagers that their aim should not only be to win the awards but also to keep their village neat and clean.

Earlier, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, Parveen Kumar inspected the ongoing digging work of a pond in the village under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA).

The ADC not only dug the pond but also lifted the sand on his head thereby motivating the other villagers to take up the NREGA.

He told the villagers about the scheme and said the district administration could give funds from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh to a panchayat for taking up desilting of ponds, construction of a drainage system, street pavements and ponds under the NREGA.

On this occasion, Deputy Commissioner of Yamunanagar Amit Kumar Aggarwal, District Development and Panchayat officer Alka Choudhary and sarpanch Bimla Devi were also present.

Kalka, February 12
The new locomotives, which had been stopped after the incident of derailment of 253 up Holiday Special train on the Kalka-Shimla rail section near Dharampur and Sanwara last month, have started running again on this section.

Technical experts of the Railways opine that despite a number of technical faults and drawbacks in the new locomotives comparatively to the old locomotives which plied on the section for more than 36 years, the Railways authorities started running them on this section, which led to the derailment.

Official sources of the Kalka Diesel Shed say there are many technical drawbacks in the new locomotives.

These are: the new locomotives are under weight; old engines were facilitated with 98 AP safety valve system, which applies auto breaks in case of over speed (more than 25 km per hour) while the new ones have been deprived of this facility; in the old locomotives there was direct break system with vacuum, but the new engines are equipped with dual break system with vacuum as well as air pressure that takes more time to stop; the new locomotives have been installed with direct-multiple unit engine, which catches speed rapidly.

The sources allege that the authorities did not even get prior permission from the Research and Design Standard Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow, before starting the engines, which is mandatory. No official of the RDSO ever visited the Kalka Diesel Shed despite the fact that the engine failed during the trail many times.

Meanwhile, drivers say the authorities have not given any training to them to run the new locomotives.

They also allege that the new engines have been assembled at Barel workshop of Mumbai while the old ones were manufactured by Chittenanjan Karkhana, which has specialisation in manufacturing rail locomotives.

HK Jaggi, DRM of Amabala division, said he would check whether permission to run the new engines had been taken.

Kurukshetra, February 12
The Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) held a meeting of its state executive committee under chairmanship of its president OP Khurana here recently.

Besides solving industry related problems, the members demanded that the government should take appropriate steps to bring down the diesel prices immediately so that industries might be saved in the recession-hit period.

Khurana said the HCCI has demanded that the diesel prices should be brought
down to Rs 20 per litre as crude oil prices have come down to $40 per barrel from
$146 per barrel.

He said, “The Labour Department should reconsider the minimum wages for the unskilled category and bring that at par with the neighboring states where unskilled wages have been lesser in comparison to our state as this has caused production cost to be higher and hence the industry is facing difficulty in selling its products.”

Moreover, the Labour Department should not enforce its newly framed rules from back date as it has caused a lot of problem to the industries.

Besides ensuring regular power supply, the Electricity Department should plan the supply in such a way that industries should be informed in advance for unscheduled power cuts, he added.

Kurukshetra, February 12
DN Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Kurukshetra, clinched the Professor Rajeshwar Prasad “Shokh” Running Trophy for poem recitation and the Gourav Wadhwa Memorial Running Trophy for music in a two-day inter-college cultural festival that concluded at Markanda National College, Shahabad Markanda, recently.

According to college principal Vinay Kumar Malhotra, the running trophy for dance and mono acting was awarded to Arya Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Shahabad Markanda.

The winners of the first and second positions were awarded prizes while teams that obtained the highest number of prizes were given running trophies by the college.

Sharma expounded his views on the role of the government to enhance the importance of education. He said the allocation of budget for education was 6 per cent of the total GDP in the previous government’s regime.

It had now been raised to 23 per cent by the current government, he added. Members of the college managing committee, president Hakim Rai Gambhir, vice-president Ram Labhaya Guliani, general secretary Kuldeep Kakkar and treasurer Om Parkash also attended he festival.

The results: Folk song (general)- Ritu, DN Mahila Mahavidyalya, Kurukshetra, Rekha, Arya Kanya Mahavidyalya, Shahabad Markanda and Minakshi.

Mono acting- Kirti, Arya Kanya Mahavidyalya, Shahabad Markanda, Sushil Sharma, DAV College, Cheeka and Deepak Sharma, DAV College, Cheeka.

Mimicry- Parul, Arya Kanya Mahavidyalya, Shahabad Markanda, Rajeev Kumar, RKSD College, Kaithal and Sahil, SA Jain College, Ambala City.

Haryanvi dance solo male- Ankush, Markanda National College, Shahabad Markanda.

Haryanvi dance solo female- Kamalpreet, Arya Kanya Mahavidyalya, Shahabad Markanda, Malika, Markanda National College, Shahabad Markanda and Inderjit, Arya Kanya Mahavidyalya, Shahabad Markanda.

Geet/gazal- Arun, Markanda National College, Shahabad Markanda, Ritu, Arya
Kanya Mahavidyalya, Shahabad Markanda and Prince, Markanda National College,
Shahabad Markanda.

Folk Song (Haryanvi)- Ishu, DN Mahila Mahavidyalya, Kurukshetra, Samriti, Arya Kanya Mahavidyalya, Shahabad Markanda and Arun, Markanda National College, Shahabad Markanda.

Sirsa, February 12
The education department is spending about Rs 3.10 crore on establishing computer labs in 42 government senior secondary schools of Sirsa district during the current financial year.

The labs are being set up to impart quality computer education to the students of government schools as per the policy of the state government, said Deputy Commissioner S.K. Goyal while talking to mediapersons.

He said the labs would be set up under the non-plan scheme of the department. Such computer labs had already been set up in 24 government senior secondary schools, he said.

A sum of Rs.7.38 lakh was being spent on each computer lab. He said the state government had tied up with the NICT to provide computer teachers in the schools.

Two such teachers were being appointed in the schools having a strength of students from classes 6th to 12th up to 599 and the schools having more strength than 599 would be provided with three computer teachers.

Computers labs and the EDUSAT system were being set up in Sanskriti schools being set up in the district.

He said the EDUSAT system in 19 schools of the district had already been linked with the Satellite Electric Terminal and 11 Sanskriti Model Schools had also been linked with this system.

Sirsa, February 12
As many as 65,616 families of the district will be insured under the Micro-insurance Scheme soon.

These families are already registered under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. For the implementation of the insurance scheme, LIC has been tied up.

Deputy commissioner SK Goyal said employment assistants appointed under the NREGS would be apprised of the details and they would insure the workers after completing all formalities.

Besides this, the National Health Insurance Scheme had also been implemented in the state and all the persons living below the poverty line would be provided insurance cover under this scheme.

The sum insured under the scheme would be Rs 30,000 and a full amount of the premium would be paid by the government.

Bank accounts of all the skilled and unskilled workers registered under the NREGS were being opened so that the wages could be paid to them through banks, said the DC, adding that all registered workers had been provided job cards for five years.

He said the NREGS had proved a boon for the rural poor. The scheme was not only providing employment to the rural people near their homes, but also ensuring development in the villages.

Development work such as tree plantation, construction of water courses for minor irrigation, digging of village ponds and water bodies, land development, etc. were being performed under the scheme.

Sirsa, February 12
Students from local schools and colleges interacted with the police on issues like human rights of criminals and some other issues relating to the policing.

The students expressed enquired about policing, particularly the human rights of criminals, which were often violated by the police.

DSP Dheeraj who presided over the meeting said the human rights of people, including those of criminals, should always be protected.

But incidents like the Mumbai terror attacks made people rethink whether the police should protect the human rights of perpetrators of these heinous acts or think of the people who had suffered at their hands.

He said the police had to perform its duty with the active cooperation of the common man and during riots or demonstrations, the police ought to keep the human rights of the demonstrators in mind.

Arushi, a student of GRG School, Sub- Inspector Krishan and Hitesh Kumari of GRG School won prizes for their speeches.

Chandigarh, February 12
The provision of writ jurisdiction has been envisaged under Articles 32 and 226 of the Constitution to ensure the enforcement of fundamental rights.

It is a replica of the British legal system for its time-tested effectiveness. The purpose of writ jurisdiction is to ensure speedy justice.

But with the passage of time, its efficacy has been greatly affected by inordinate delays in the disposal of writs by the court.

The state of “prolonged and indefinite dormancy” after writs are admitted in the high courts has become a matter of major concern in the justice delivery system.

It is indeed depressing to imagine that the relief seekers in case of such “admitted” writs have to wait for 15 to 20 years. Such stupefying delays seem to falsify the very objective of writ jurisdiction.

These are some of the issues that have been raised in a book written by a state bureaucrat. The book, “Laws of Writes Jurisdiction and its Efficacy”, was released recently by former Chief Justice of India PN Bhagwati in Surajkund, Faridabad.

The author, Dr Abhay Singh, who is administrator, HUDA, Faridabad, says the main thrust of the book is to evaluate the nature, scope and functioning of writ jurisdiction and its efficacy.

He says the quantum of relief being sought under this jurisdiction, if taken as an index, would prompt us to say that the efficacy of fundamental rights is directly proportionate to the efficacy of writ jurisdiction.

The relief sought, both in terms of quality and quantity, would depend, to a great extent, upon the efficacy of the remedy itself.

Therefore, the quality and quantum of real relief would determine the efficacy of writs. If the courts are able to provide the speedier justice, that itself would make the rights more meaningful.

The main issue of concern that has been explained in the book is whether the victim of violation of fundamental rights and other legal or constitutional rights can wait for remedy for decades.

Whether these rights would remain worthy and fulfill the purpose after such a long period? Whether it is not a suspension of the spirit of guarantee available under Article 32(4) of the Constitution?

Whether it is a dilution of the constitutional provision under Article 226? These and certain other issues that have been critically examined in the book.

Yamunanagar, February 12
The district police has honoured sarpanches of 63 panchayats where no criminal cases were registered in the past three years.

SP Vikas Arora said the panchayats could play a vital role in reducing crime, guiding and educating villagers and asking them not to commit crimes.

“This is the first time that we honoured the sarpanches who had contributed a lot in maintaining peace. Now, we have decided to honour the panchayats which do not register any cases in a year. The sarpaches were also advised to work independently without any political bias. The cases if solved at the village level would help the aggrieved villagers. Besides, police personnel who have too much work these days can also concentrate on important cases,” he added.

Sarpach Inderjit of Jhand Chandana village and Roshan Lal of Dhanupura who were honoured said with the support of the villagers and their trust, they managed to maintain peace in their villages and solve disputes.

“We are happy that the police recognised our services and further strengthened our belief to solve minor disputes at the village level,” they added.

Producer: Gauri Khan.

Director: Priyadarshan.

Music: Pritam.

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Lara Dutta, Rajpal Yadav, Shahrukh Khan.

The Priyadarshan directed remake of Katha Parayambol, 'Billu' is set to release today at KC Panchkula, Inder Palace-Karnal, Radhika- Rewari, Suncity- Hisar, OHM Cine Garden-Sirsa, Sheila- Rohtak, Nigar- Ambala Cantt, Paras- Kurukshetra, Big Cinemas,
PVR MGF, PVR Ambience, PVR Sahara, SRS, DT City Centre, DT Mega Mall (All Faridabad), Fun- Karnal, Movie Time- Karnal, Fun- Panipat, Cinemax- Panipat.

Special Attraction: Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor and Shahrukh will be seen in item numbers and has rocking score by Pritam Chakraborty.