Chandigarh, June 1
There will be no general transfer of teachers in Haryana this year.

This has been stated in a transfer policy framed by the state government for the School Education Department. All teachers will be transferred in accordance with the guidelines given in the policy.

An official spokesman said here today that for transfer to their preferred stations the employees would be required to give written requests to the head of the institution or Block Education Officer (BEO) or District Education Officer (DEO) or District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO) up to June 15, who would send their recommendations to the Directorate by June 30. The transfers would be completed by July 30.

He said as per the guidelines the normal tenure of an employee at any place would be of five years and he would not be transferred even after five years in case his results were 100 per cent during the last three years and if he did not request for a transfer. He said an employee might also be transferred at any point of time after seeking prior orders of the state government on administrative grounds.

The request for transfer would be made only in the prescribed format indicating three choices. Any requests for mutual transfers would also be required to be submitted in the same format only. No request would be entertained in case applicants were posted at stations within 10 km of each other.

Preferably, women teachers or a male teacher above the age of 50 years would be posted in girls’ schools. Efforts would be made to adjust visually challenged (100 per cent) and physically challenged (70 per cent or more) teachers in the same block or within a radius of around 10 km.

Those retiring in the next one year would not be transferred except on their own request and all state awardees would be given one opportunity of their choice posting for five years.

Efforts would be made to adjust couples in the state government service as near as possible. Preference would be given in cases where both were serving in the Education Department. Women teachers, immediately after their marriage, could apply for a one-time transfer, which would be allowed as per vacancy available after relaxing the condition of minimum five-year stay.

Karnal, June 1
Enraged over the continued “racist” attacks on Indians in Australia and the attempts of the government to use repressive measures to silence the Indian community, hundreds of youth took out a silent demonstration and staged a dharna under the banner of the Gramin Yuva Sena here today.

The youth gathered at Karan Park and marched to the Clock Tower and held a rally to highlight the plight of the Indian youth in Australia.

The youth led by president of the sena Rajesh Arya had sealed their mouth with a white tape and were wearing black bands to send the message that the Australian government was not only sitting silent over the attacks but also denying the right to Indians to peaceful protests.

The Australian government rounded up 18 students, who were peacefully protesting against the racist attacks and later let them off which was undemocratic and denial of human right to protest against atrocities, said Arya.

He also asked the Indian government to take immediate measures and deal with the issue at diplomatic level to create world opinion against the “racist” attacks and inaction of the government in Australia.

Chandigarh, June 1
Acrimonious scenes were far too many at the Karnal toll barrier today morning as hundreds of sulking commuters were forced to buy daily return passes than getting their monthly toll passes renewed. The reason: Change of toll contractor.

The new contractor - Soma-Isolux NH One Tollway Pvt Ltd - refused to accept and recognise the old monthly passes issued on behalf of the National Highways Authority of India. Instead, the toll barrier managers insisted that each commuter should submit fresh set of documents, including a photo ID, a copy of the registration certificate of the vehicle, besides a fresh application.

Instead of the revised fee of Rs 300 for a monthly pass of a car, most of the commuters had to pay Rs 75 each to get a return pass today. Earlier, the fee for monthly pass used to Rs 150. Those who commute between Ambala and Karnal or Nilokheri and Karnal or Kurukshetra and Karnal prefer monthly passes.

“Earlier practice has been to surrender the old monthly pass and pay the fee to get a new pass on the first of every month,” says Ghansham Gupta, an advocate, who frequently travels from Karnal to Chandigarh, to practice at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But things were different today at the toll plaza.

“Instead of paying Rs 300 for a month, why should I pay Rs 75 for a 24-hour return pass,” quips Gupta.

He said there was a long and unending queue of monthly pass holders wanting to renew their passes.

Toll plaza manager Ajay Soni was not available. Even his telephone number remained inaccessible throughout the day today.

Among those stranded at the toll plaza were not only employees, students, teachers, doctors and also patients who come and go for their regular appointments in and around Karnal, but also lawyers and service providers.

There was a manager of a nationalised bank, who had the keys of his branch but could not get his monthly pass renewed even though he produced all documents required to get the pass.

He was told that submitted documents would be checked and verified before a new monthly pass is issued.

Commuters complained that no notice was put up cautioning or warning the monthly pass orders of the changes in the pass issuance system.

All monthly pass holders were also told that documents submitted by them to the earlier contractor were no more available to the new management.

The toll plaza staff members also reiterated that they issued monthly passes on behalf of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and there was no system for them to access the NHAI archives.

The commuters demanded that there should be some accountability on part of both the contractor as well as the NHAI officials. Interestingly, none of the NHAI official was available at the spot for immediate redressal of grievances of the public.

Chandigarh, June 1
Dead men tell no tales. But, in Haryana they sure can file an affidavit to let someone else get a plot allotted.

To make matters worse, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) refuses to initiate an action, even after the inquiry reveals fraudulent allocation of plot, indicating at the connivance of its officers.

Surjit Singh of Shahpur in Ambala claims he realised all this only after the authorities concerned verbally told him his application for the allotment of a plot under the oustees’ policy had been turned down. The reason: the plot had already been handed over to a co-sharer of land.

When Surjit Singh allegedly claimed he had not given his consent for the same, he was told his father had furnished an affidavit in support of the co-sharer, at the time of plot’s allocation. By then, his father was not even alive.

Aggrieved, Surjit Singh moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking directions to the state of Haryana, HUDA and other respondents to allot a plot to him.

Reacting to his petition, the respondents filed a counter affidavit saying an inquiry had revealed Surjit Singh’s father had indeed expired much before the fabrication of the alleged affidavit on his behalf.

Taking a solemn view of the matter, Justice Surya Kant ruled despite the fact-finding report, no action was apparently taken by HUDA authorities against the allottee, even when prima facie a cognisable offence was made out.

In any case, the allotment, alleged to have been procured through fraudulent means, could be cancelled. But, inaction showed active connivance of the HUDA authorities.

Before parting with the orders, Justice Surya Kant directed HUDA chief administrator and Ambala estate officer to remain present in the court and inform the Bench on remedial measures, if any, taken by them.

Going into the background, Surjit Singh had earlier claimed notification under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act for 184.33 acres was issued on December 3, 2001.

On November 8, 2002, a notification under Section 9 of the Act was issued by the land collector for his 11 kanal, four-and-a-half marlas. Subsequently, he applied for a six-marla plot.

Panipat, June 1
Just two days after a property dealer was robbed of Rs 40 lakh near Biholi here, the police solved the case and arrested the two accused.

To the surprise of many, it was not a robbery but a conspiracy hatched by property dealer Shiv Kumar himself and his brother-in-law Satish, who wanted to grab Rs 40 lakh.

The money actually belonged to Shiv Kumar’s mother-in-law Kaushalya Devi, a resident of Badwal Majri village in the district.

According to SP MS Sheoran, Shiv Kumar had received the money from Kaushalya Devi, who had recently sold a piece of property. In order to avoid suspicion, Shiv Kumar deposited the said amount in a rural bank at his native place, Bapoli.

The police said on May 29, Shiv Kumar along with his brother-in-law Satish left Bapoli to reach Samalkha where they were supposed to get a registry made for a new piece of land.

However, as the duo reached Biholi, Shiv Kumar got down from the car, in which they were travelling, while Satish took Rs 40 lakh along with two mobiles that belonged to Shiv Kumar and drove away the car. Later, Satish abandoned the car at Haldana village on the Panipat-Sonepat border and came back to Shiv Kumar’s house in Nalwa Colony in Bapoli along with the money.

The police said while recording the statement of Shiv Kumar they found several discrepancies in his narration following which, he was placed under suspicion.

The police said as they further questioned Shiv Kumar he finally gave in and confessed to have committed the crime. They said Shiv Kumar and Satish had concocted the whole story.

Shiv Kumar had alleged that four persons forced him to stop his vehicle and looted Rs 40 lakh at Biholi.

The police has registered a case and arrested both Shiv Kumar and Satish. The money was also recovered from the duo.

Sirsa, June 1
Autorickshaw drivers of Sirsa town are up in arms against the Shah Satnamji Green S Force, a private volunteers’ force of the Dera Sacha Sauda, for allegedly intimidating and not allowing them to transport devotees of the dera from the local bus stand or railway station to the dera building on the last Sunday of every month. Large congregations are held in the dera on the last Sunday of every month.

The drivers, who allege that the Green S Force has been harassing and beating them up to ensure that their devotees travel in the buses of the dera, have been sitting in dharna since Saturday demanding action against the force.

“We have been charging the same fare of Rs 5 per passenger as the buses of the dera have been charging for a one-side journey. While we have a licence to carry passengers, the dera has been ferrying passengers illegally in the buses of schools run by it,” alleged Kala Singh, president of the agitating autorickshaw drivers.

He alleged that their members are often beaten up by volunteers of the Green S Force, who reach the bus stand as well as the railway station enforcing their own “policing” flouting all laws and norms.

He alleged that the volunteers even deflate tyres of autorickshaws, whose drivers manage in attracting some passengers to their vehicle. The autorickshaw drivers have demanded stern action against the Green S Force.

Denying all allegations, the Dera Sacha Sauda accused the autorickshaw drivers of creating chaos in the vicinity of the dera to attract passengers.

“The autorickshaw drivers park their vehicles in front of the main gate of the dera in a zigzag manner at the end of the congregation leading to a jam,” alleged Pawan Insan, a spokesperson of the Dera Sacha Sauda, in a press note issued here today.

He also accused the autorickshaw drivers of overcharging gullible devotees.

He said the Green S Force merely regulated traffic at the gate of the dera and the allegations of beating up of the drivers were false.

Insan maintained that no private transport was managed by the dera and schools buses had to be pressed into service yesterday to ferry the devotees after the autorickshaw drivers went on strike.

Chandigarh, June 1
With an eye on their educational and social development, the Haryana Wakf Board has considerably enhanced the scholarships being given to the students of the minority community in the state.

This was disclosed yesterday by Mohinder Kumar, administrator of the Wakf Board, while addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of a mosque in Jatwad village, about 50 km from here, an official release quoting him said.

He said with a view to providing technical education to the students of the community, an engineering college in Mewat district and polytechnics at Bilaspur and Panipat were being set up by the board.

Kumar said scholarships of Rs 6,000 per annum were being given to the students studying in classes XI, XII, ITI and JBT, Rs 7,200 per annum for those pursuing graduation, Rs 10,000 per annum for students doing post-graduation and Rs 15,000 per annum to students of MBA and MBBS. These scholarships were being provided to those students whose parents have an annual income of less than Rs 1 lakh, he said.

The administrator said grant of Rs 10 lakh had been released by the board for the welfare of widows, orphans and poor people. Financial assistance of Rs 15,000 was being provided for the marriage of daughters of widows and Rs 20,000 for the marriage of orphan girls.

Besides, an amount of Rs 10,000 was being provided for the marriage of daughters of other poor people of the community. Kumar said that in order to provide free computer education to the students of the minority community, it had been planned to open computer centres in each district of the state. — PTI

Chandigarh, June 1
The Indian National Lok Dal has rationalised the defeat of its candidates as well as those of its alliance partner, the BJP, in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Haryana by saying that these elections were contested on national issues and not state issues.

This was stated by party chief Om Prakash Chautala after a meeting of the executive committee held in Hisar today. The meeting was convened to discuss the reasons behind the defeat. The alliance could not win even a single seat in the state.

While addressing the meeting Chautala said the next Assembly elections in the state would be jointly contested by the INLD and the BJP because “it is not just an alliance of two parties but a union of two hearts.”

The Haryana BJP executive, which had met in Panchkula yesterday, had also decided to continue with the alliance.

Like the BJP, the INLD also decided to finalise its candidates much before the Assembly elections.

Chautala said the alliance workers were fully prepared for the Assembly elections. He claimed that there was no demoralisation among party workers, who were “full of energy and buoyant for the Assembly elections”. He said the Assembly elections would be contested on state and local issues. He also claimed that the INLD-BJP alliance had a bright future.

He said the INLD would announce its candidates after consultations with the BJP as he wished that the alliance should announce all its candidates on September 25, the birthday of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.

The INLD executive in a resolution moved by former Finance Minister Sampat Singh condemned the attacks on Indian students in Australia. It demanded strict action against the culprits and requested the Union Government to take up with the Australian Government the issue of security to the Indian students studying in that country.

In another resolution moved by Haryana INLD president Ashok Arora, the party criticised the attack on Sant Niranjan Dass and Sant Ramanand in Vienna and expressed its deep shock over the death of Sant Ramanand. Tributes were also paid to various departed leaders, including the former Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh.

The executive authorised Arora to take disciplinary action against those INLD workers who were found wanting in working for the INLD-BJP candidates.

Among those who attended the meeting were former Governor Sultan Singh, INLD MP Ajay Singh Chautala, former MP Tara Singh, former MLA Abhey Singh Chautala and deputy leader of the INLD Legislature Party Sushil Indora.

New Delhi, June 1
Ageing Haryana politician Bhajan Lal faced difficulty in taking oath as member of the Lok Sabha and had to be assisted by Parliament staff today.

The 78-year-old erstwhile Haryana strongman, who has been unwell for quite some time, walked very slowly, leaning on chairs, to the mike kept near the Speaker’s seat to take oath as a member.

Lal, who had remained the Chief Minister of Haryana thrice, won from the Hisar Lok Sabha seat in the general elections.

Unlike others, who read the oath from a copy provided by the Lok Sabha staff, Lal recited the oath from his own paper which had the words written in bold letters.

The former Haryana Chief Minister even faced difficulty in reciting the oath in Hindi and read out the sentences quickly that could not be heard clearly.

After signing the Lok Sabha members’ roll book, he was helped by Parliament staff to his seat. — PTI

Karnal, June 1
Participation by more than 500 women dairy farmers and an exhibition on scientific dairy practices arranged by the communication centre of the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) were the highlights of World Milk Day organised by the NDRI here today.

In his keynote address on the occasion, Dr Ram Badan Singh, Director of the IARI, New Delhi, expressed concern over the gradual decrease in the income of farmers, which he said had come down to one-sixth of the average income from non-farm operations.

Observing that the urban population was fast increasing and the demand for milk and dairy foods was going up, he lamented that India still had 50 per cent of the world’s poor and one-third of the world’s underfed children.

He said the government was taking various steps to boost farm income and production and detailed the main features of the National Policy on Farmers which is to be implemented by the new government at the Centre.

Dr AK Srivastava, Director, NDRI, gave practical tips to farm women on the care of pregnant animals and neonatal calves and management practices to prevent diseases like mastitis. He asked the farm women to feed proper minerals and concentrate to dairy animals for obtaining a higher milk yield and keeping the animals healthy.

Lauding farmers’ efforts in increasing milk production, he said India with 2.6 per cent of cultivable land and 4.2 per cent of water was producing enough food and milk to feed 17 per cent of the world population and was also exporting milk and milk products.

Senior scientists from the Indian Dairy Association, New Delhi, and prominent leaders of milk unions and cooperative sectors enriched the deliberations by their participation.

Rohtak, June 1
Demanding payment of compensation to a buffalo, which perished due to electrocution in this morning, residents of Bahu Akbarpur village here blocked the Delhi-Fazilka National Highway 10 for about two hours today.

The agitating villagers agreed to lift the blockade following a promised by power corporation officials that compensation would be paid to owner of the buffalo.

Earlier, a power supply cable got snapped and fell on the ground. Following this, a buffalo owned by Ramesh came in contact with the live wire and died on the spot early in the morning.

Thereafter, villagers assembled on the NH passing through the village and blocked the vehicular traffic in protest against the alleged negligence on the part of the power corporation. They also demanded payment of compensation to the buffalo owner.

Later, executive engineer of the power corporation, along with police officials, tried to persuade to lift the blockade.

Sonepat, June 1
Three miscreants reportedly looted Rs 30,000 from an army personnel in Kharkhoda Subzi Mandi here today.

However, one of the miscreants identified as Bunti of Itawa in Uttar Pradesh was overpowered by the people and handed over to the police, but two others - Anil and Mahesh of Itawa - managed to escape with the cash bag.

Sources said army man Raghubir Singh of Saidpur village, who had come on leave, today withdrew Rs 30,000 from Kharkhoda branch of the State Bank of India and kept the amount in a cotton bag. The incident took place while he was purchasing vegetables from the market.

The police has registered a case of loot and claimed that two others would be arrested soon.

In another incident, two motorcycle-borne miscreants reportedly looted a laptop, headphone camera and CDs from Neeraj Jain of Sector 14 here late last night.

Sirsa, June 1
The issue of alleged pulling up of beard of a Sikh tempo driver by a cop and subsequent alleged derogatory remark against the Sikh community by a Sub-Inspector was resolved here today after the police official apologised before leaders of the community in the local Dasham Patshahi Gurdwara.

The incident occurred near Lal Batti Chowk here yesterday. A cop allegedly entered into a scuffle with a Sikh tempo driver over driving on the wrong side of the road. The driver alleged that the cop pulled his beard. A large number of drivers and members of the community reached there and blocked the traffic there.

SHO of the traffic police station Joginder Singh took them to the police station in an effort to bring about a compromise.

While the beard issue had almost resolved, members of the community got agitated over the alleged derogatory remarks by a Sub-Inspector.

The Sikhs today gathered in a local gurdwara under Sukhwinder Singh Khalsa, state president of the Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Sabha, and expressed resentment over the comment of the police official and demanded action against him.

The issue was, however, resolved after some local residents intervened and persuaded the police official to apologise for his alleged remarks.

Rohtak, June 1
Expectant women suffering from thalassaemia disease and undergoing treatment in Pt BD Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak, will now be able to know without spending a single penny whether the foetus has any symptom of the disease or not.

The Department of Biochemistry of the PGIMS has started estimation of hemoglobin (Hb) variants test using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) free of cost for detection of thalassaemia in a foetus.

Earlier, there was not any facility in the PGIMS for carrying out the test, so such patients were referred to Delhi or other places for the estimation of hemoglobin.

Since thalassaemia is more common and quite prevalent in the state, screening for the disease is significant in general people, especially in antenatal mothers, here. Hence, the facility to the test was much needed in the PGIMS to diagnose thalassaemia in foetus at early stages.

However, following the absence of this test in the PGIMS, patients have to get the test done in private labs, which is quite costly and a poor patient cannot afford it.

HoD Dr Veena Gehlot says thalassaemia is asymptomatic in minor form but detection is equally important so as to protect the future generation because if both the partners are suffering from minor trait of thalassaemia, the chances for offspring to develop major thalassaemia are quite high.

The prognosis for the patients is not very good, as there is no treatment but to life long blood transfusion. In this condition, the test will be of immense help to detect this disease even before birth and to prevent the delivery of defective newborns, she says.