Rewari, July 16
With the proceedings for justice moving at a snail’s pace, the interim relief ordered by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in a case has taken a long time to reach four hapless children, Neeru Agarwal, Neerja Agarwal, Priyanka Agarwal and Nikhil Agarwal, whose mother Sita Devi Agarwal, along with her daughter Sarika Agarwal, had committed suicide at the Dharuhera police station here on November 20, 2000, when all above children were minors.

While Neeru and Neerja, both got married in recent years, Priyanka (17) and Nikhil (13) are still minors.

The interim relief of Rs 2 lakh, as ordered by the NHRC, was given to them by district police chief Rajender Singh Gahlot here recently.

While Neeru and Neerja have been given cheques for Rs 50,000 each, Priyanka and Nikhil have been entrusted with fixed deposit documents of Rs 50,000 each.

The misfortunes of the Agarwal family of Azad Nagar colony in Dharuhera started on November 16, 2000, when the body of Ashok Agarwal, husband of Sita Devi Agarwal, was found.

Consequently, the Dharuhera police registered a case of murder and, for reasons best known to them, brought Sita Devi and her daughter Sarika to the police station where they were allegedly subjected to harassment, which provoked them to end their lives in custody.

Just before Sarika died, her statement was recorded by the then Rewari SDM Suraj Bhan at the local civil hospital. Sarika had alleged that she and her mother had consumed poison due to police harassment.

A case of murder and wrongful confinement under Sections 302, 342, 34 of the IPC was registered against Shri Ram Yadav, SHO, and Lekh Ram, sub-inspector.

Later, during investigation, the offence of murder under Section 302 of the IPC was converted to abetment to suicide under Section 306.

Neeru Agarwal then filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, following which Justice VM Jain entrusted the case to the CBI on February 8, 2002.

After the completion of the enquiry, the CBI filed a chargesheet against Shri Ram and Lekh Ram, and women constables Munia Devi and Sushila Devi under Sections 342, 305, 306, 323 of the IPC read with Section 34 of the IPC on May 29, 2003.

Simultaneously, Shri Ram and Lekh Ram, along with head constable Daya Nand, were also chargesheeted under Section 120-B read with Section 218 of the IPC. The case is now under trial in the court of Additional Sessions Judge, CBI, Ambala.

All accused are now on bail. While Shri Ram Yadav retired from service on June 30, 2002, the services of Sushila Devi, along with others, were dispensed with in 2001 in compliance with the direction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a separate case pertaining to the recruitment of constables of batch no. 50.

Following a written representation by Prof Sheotaj Singh, general secretary of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, New Delhi, as well as an analogous report sent by the district magistrate of Rewari regarding the custodial deaths of Sita Devi and Sarika, the NHRC took cognisance of the matter on November 30, 2000.

The NHRC vide proceedings dated September 11, 2008, observed and directed the Haryana government, “It is clear that the CBI has found the police officers guilty of the offence under Sections 342, 305, 306, and 323 of the IPC. They kept Sita Devi and Sarika in custody in connection with the death of Ashok Agarwal and permitted both to commit suicide. Thus, it is a clear violation of human rights and a fit case in which the payment of interim relief to next of kin of the deceased should be recommended”.

However, in reply to the above communication, SP Rewari mentioned that until the above police officials were held guilty by the department or the court, interim relief could not be ordered.

Taking a strong exception to the above reply, the NHRC in its communication dated February 27, 2009, observed, “A perusal of the reports on record reveals that the CBI has found the police officers guilty of offence under Sections 342, 305, 306, and 323 of the IPC. In the face of these facts, the stand of the Haryana government becomes logically unacceptable and legally untenable. The commission has taken a consistent stand that the obligation of the state to ensure the safety of persons while in its custody is strict and absolute and admits of no exception. The indefeasible right to life of every citizen, including convicts, prisoners or undertrials cannot be taken away except in accordance with the procedure established by law while the citizen is in the custody of the state. The violation of that right renders the state vicariously liable for its acts of commission and omission and such liability is not contingent upon the determination of the ultimate guilt of the offenders in a criminal court”.

The commission, therefore, recommended to the state of Haryana that a sum of Rs 2 lakh be paid by way of interim relief to next of kin of Sita Devi.

Kaithal, July 16
The Power, Sanitation and Engineering Minister, Randeep Singh Surjewala, has said that huge funds amounting Rs 1,065.27 crore have been spent on improving the power infrastructure in Kaithal district during the about four-and-a-half-year tenure of the present state government.

Addressing a press conference here, he said as much as 657 MVA capacity had been added at an additional cost of Rs 97.55 crore by setting up 16 new and upgrading 15 existing power substations. As against this, the previous government during its five years term had added just 144 MVA capacity by setting up new and upgrading the existing substations in the district. He said in the Kaithal assembly constituency, 215 MVA capacity had been added at a cost of Rs 11.50 crore. In Guhla, 150 MVA had been added at a cost of Rs 5.45 crore, 16 MVA in Pundri at cost of Rs 95 lakh and in Pai 49 MVA had been added at a cost of Rs 3.40 crore.

Surjewala said during this period four new substations had been set up in the kaithal constituency at cost of Rs 11.25 crore and 42 MVA capacity had been added, four new substations at a cost of Rs 19.50 crore had been set up and 49 MVA had been added in Guhla. In the Pundri area four new substations had been added increasing the capacity by 80 MVA at cost of Rs 27 crore. In Kalayat, three new substations had been set up at an expenditure of Rs 7.50 crore and 24 MVA capacity had been added. In Rajound, one 132 KV substation with 32 MVA capacity had been set up at a cost of Rs 11 crore.

The minister further said construction work of 23 substations was in progress in Kaithal, Guhla, Pundri, Pai and Kalayat which will increase the capacity by 720 MVA Rs 207.70 crore would be spent on these projects. Besides, Rs 299 crore would be spent in introducing high voltage distribution system for agriculture tubwells. Rs 8 crore would be spent on renovation of distribution system in kaithal city, Rs 6.5 crore would spent on construction of Rajiv Gandhi Vidyut Sadan at Pehowa Chowk here, transformer workshop would be constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore, Rs 3 crore would be spent on the construction of Shakti Bhawan and residential complex, Rs 19 .54 crore would be spent on segregation of domestic and tubewells for rural supply.

As many as 4,659 BPL families would be provided free power connections at an expenditure of Rs 6.98 crore. In addition to this, Rs 400 crore had been spent on setting up of 440-220 KV power grid stations near Khanpur on the Kaithal-Patiala road he added.

Sirsa, July 16
Under a scheme aimed at promoting minority languages at the school level, the central government reimburses the salary of Punjabi and Urdu teachers appointed by states, where these languages are spoken by minority communities.

When Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh sought details of the scheme, “Financial Assistance for Appointment of Language Teachers” from the Union HRD Minister through a question in the upper house, he was astonished to read in the reply that no proposal for the appointment of Punjabi language teachers had been received from Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir since 2004.

Only the state of Himachal Pradesh had received a grant in 2007 for the appointment of 100 Punjabi language teachers.

In contrast, 2,004 Urdu teachers have been appointed in various states under this scheme in the past three years.

Tarlochan Singh has written to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdulla and Chandigarh Administrator Gen SF Rodrigues (retd), drawing their attention towards the indifference of their governments towards the cause of the Punjabi-speaking community, which has large populations in these states.

“In a secular country, where the central government has been providing help for the promotion of minority languages, the state governments should have responded positively to take advantage and win over the goodwill of different communities,” the Rajya Sabha MP said in his letter.

When contacted, Tarlochan Singh regretted that though he has been repeatedly writing to the governments urging them to avail the opportunity as they did not have to incur any expenditure, but the states have been ignoring his pleas.

Tarlochan Singh has urged these states to send their proposals immediately so that Punjabi language was not ignored.

Pinjore: Hardly any of the thousands of tourists bound for the hills of Himachal Pradesh passing through Pinjore would be knowing that this small town, famous for its beautiful Mughal Garden, had its roots in the stone age.

The inauguration of the country’s first open-air museum, Bhima Devi Museum, here, by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda recently, has added another chapter to the glorious history of the town.

The museum has been restored and upgraded by the state tourism department as a world-class museum. The work has been carried out at a cost of Rs 160 lakh.

Around 85 sculptures and artefacts are on display at the museum. The rest of the artefacts and statues have been placed in specially carved stone pillars all along the walkway on the campus.

Though the town owes its fame to the Mughal Garden, built by Fidai, it became a place of interest for archaeologists in 1974, following the chance discovery of Bhima Devi Temple remnants. The temple was one of the five archaeological sites belonging to the ancient and medieval periods discovered in the region.

The orientation of the plinths of the temple indicates that the temples that existed here were stylised to the Panchayatan group of temples of between 8th and 12th century AD. The architecture and techniques of the construction of Bhima Devi Temple can be compared with the contemporary temples of Khajuraho and Konark.

Five ancient plinths, a large number of beautiful sculptures and architectural monuments of the Gurjar Pratihara School of Art came to light following which the archaeological department declared it a protected monument.

As per Hindu belief, to propagate the eight directions, statues of Inder, Agni, Vayu, Varun and Ishan were installed on the outer walls of the temple complex. The statues of Shiva, Parvati, Vishnu, Ganesha and Kartikay have also been found.

In the Panchaytan art, the deities were used to be depicted sitting around the God, says Harbans Lal Mehta, a resident of Rampur Jangi village, who has been collecting the evidence of the history of the town.

During the 10th century, the region was a centre of statue carving and the artistes from here used to export statues and idols to other parts of the country, he says. The temples as well as houses in the area had beautiful carvings on the walls. However, the Mughals during their invasions ordered to destroy these carvings describing them as nudity and anti-Islam, claimed Mehta.

The rock edicts mentioning the name of Raja Ram Dev indicate that the temple might have been constructed under his patronage. The temple also finds mention in famous historian Minhas-pus-Saraj’s work, “Tadkat-e-Nasiri”. Saraj wrote that Nasir-u-Din Mahmood, son of emperor Iltutmish, demolished the temple and the Baolis in the town in 1254.

Pinjore, which is at the confluence of the Jhajjar and Kaushalya (both tributaries of the Ghaggar) in the lower Shivalik ranges, traces its roots to the Mahabharta era. Deriving its name from Panchpura - the town of Pandvas, the modern town was built during the 17th century by Aurangzeb’s architect and foster brother Fidai Khan, who was appointed the governor of Punjab. Fidai Khan possibly inspired by the springs of Pinjore decided to build the Mughal Garden.

The temple remnants, which were found a few years ago from another site in Rampur Jangi village on the Nalagarh road, were also on the Panchaytan pattern. The temple is believed to be built around the 9th century. The dismantled pieces of what appears to be the main gate as well as pillars of the temple were found during excavation

Chandigarh, July 16
Former Finance Minister Sampat Singh’s resignation from the INLD is a big blow to the already tottering party. His resignation may open the floodgates for certain other senior leaders of the party to say goodbye to it.

Those who are in the know of things say that if the Congress opens its doors and promises bright future to them, many senior INLD leaders are more than willing to desert their party. But the Congress leadership is not promising them the ticket in the next Assembly elections, which are scheduled in February next but can be held earlier also.

Informed sources say Sampat’s resignation from the INLD is an indication to his other colleagues that there is no early hope of the party coming to power. Sampat Singh had always been considered as the brain of the party, who would accompany former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala to important meetings. He was also the sober face of the party, which acquired notoriety after its youth wing, known as Green Brigade, played a controversial role in the Allahabad Lok Sabha by-election, in which former UP Chief Minister HN Bahuguna was a contestant. The negative image was further strengthened after the mayhem of the early nineties. Despite being close to the leadership, Sampat Singh managed to keep himself away from these controversies. However, he still defended his party vigorously both in the Assembly and out.

Even when Devi Lal’s family was at war with itself in the late 80s and Chautala was isolated by his younger brother Ranjit Singh, Sampat had stood with the former. It is not wrong when he claims that he played a crucial role in the coronation of Chautala as the Chief Minister when Devi Lal moved to the Centre to be Deputy Prime Minister in the VP Singh Cabinet.

However, the two gradually started drifting apart when Chautala toppled Bansi Lal to become the Chief Minister in 1999. Sampat, who had earlier handled important portfolios like home, industry, excise and taxation and town and country planning, was conveniently parked in the Finance Department, which, unlike the Centre, is not considered as a very important portfolio in the states like Haryana. There was a lurking impression in the mind of Sampat Singh that the leadership did not want him to grow in stature beyond a limit, as he might be a threat to the next generation of the Chautalas. Still he compromised and continued to remain loyal to the party.

But he could not digest his defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Though he names his supporters to say this, yet it is his own conviction that he lost the elections because of Ajay Singh Chautala, who was not comfortably placed in the adjoining Bhiwani. All important party workers deserted Hisar to work in Bhiwani, presumably at the instance of the leadership. After this, Sampat Singh saw no future for him in the INLD.

Sampat’s desertion has definitely demoralised the rank and file of the INLD, which feels that if a 32-year-old loyalist quits the party, there must be something seriously wrong with it and drastic steps are required to put the party on the revival path.

Ambala, July 16
Teachers of government-aided schools are protesting these days. The state government has given the benefit of the Sixth Pay Commission to the teachers of the government schools, but not to their counterparts in the aided schools.

There are around 250 government-aided schools in the state with the strength of around 2,500 teachers. These schools are known for quality education and around 65 to 75 per cent of merits in the middle and metric examinations are secured by students of these school. Moreover, these schools have been providing good atmosphere and better facilities to its students in comparison to government schools.

In 1967, the union government had set up the Kothari Commission to study the educational system in various states. The commission recommended in its report that the teachers of the government-aided schools should be given pay scales similar to those in central schools. The Haryana government had implemented the recommendation the same year.

The government implemented the new pay scales of Third Pay Commission in 1979, but in the government-aided schools, it was implemented in 1981. The aided schools challenged the decision and the court directed the government to keep the teachers of aided schools at par with those in government schools. Later, the government also gave the benefits of the Fourth and Fifth Pay Commissions to the teachers of aided schools. But the benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission have not been offered to these teachers so far.

Besides submitting memorandums to MLAs of their respective areas, the teachers have also appealed to the Chief Minister in this regard. President of the teachers union Rambhaj Singh and general secretary RC Bansal said they would soon meet the Chief Minister and they were hopeful that he would consider their demand.

Yamunanagar, July 16
“We have to take care of every species of birds to protect the environment, as nothing is for granted. The house sparrow has almost disappeared from all cities of the state and is seen sparsely in the rural areas,” said Dr Rajiv Kalsi, head of the department of zoology of Mukand Lal National College.

He has been granted a project on “Ecology of House Sparrow” by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, which has also sanctioned Rs 14 lakh grant to Dr Kalsi for completing the project in three years.

“My major thrust would be on the ecological aspect of house sparrow, including breeding, habitat selection, survivorship, dispersal and various factors affecting the decline of the species. The disappearance of the sparrows has been a topic of considerable concern for the scientists and nature lovers in recent years,” said Dr Kalsi.

“My emphasis will be to study about the house sparrows in the state. I will also study the condition of house sparrows in selective areas of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pardesh. Then, I will compare the situation in all states,” he added.

“There is not a single reason, as pointed out earlier, that the electromagnetic waves of mobiles cause disappearance of house sparrow. But there might be several reasons which would come out after a detailed study in the next three years,” he added.

“Now, vultures, too, fall in the endangered species list because no one much cared when the bird was facing problems and its population was declining,” he said

“This is not my first project. I have already done about 12 research projects on different species of birds in Uttarakhand, Nepal, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. I have also presented different research findings in various national and international conferences. Besides, my research papers have been published in a number of reputed research journals,” Dr Kalsi claimed.

Kurukshetra, July 16
The field of environment science is expanding at a fast rate and so are the career opportunities for its students. The Institute of Environment Studies, Kurukshetra University, is also making efforts to help its students get job placement.

Stating this here recently, Prof Brajesh Sawhney, director, public relations, Kurukshetra University, said “Neelam of the second batch of MSc (EVS) has been placed as an environmental trainee in a leading company, Hindustan Zinc Ltd., (HZL), Udaipur. She had also been offered the post of environmental scientist by Developmental Alternatives, a New Delhi-based NGO. Similarly, Abantika Das of the second batch has been selected for internship as an auditor by Indus Environmental Services Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, while Sandeep of the same batch has been offered internship by Indian Oil Corporation, Panipat”.

Prof Sawhney said, Vandana Sharma of the first batch of MSc (EVS) has been working as a consultant (climate change) with the Ministry of Environment and Forests while Pooja Dahiya is an environmental researcher with Grass Root Research and Creation, New Delhi. Swati Singh and Priti Attri have been placed as environmental scientists in JM Enviro Net, Gurgaon, while Vijay and Sunita of the first batch and Neha and Jyoti Malik of the second batch have been appointed for government teaching jobs.

Kurukshetra July 16
Media plays a key role to build the nation, society and the global relationship. These views were expressed by Prof BK Kuthiala, director of the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Technology, Kurukshetra University (KU), while addressing the senior teachers of various colleges at the programme organised by the Academic Staff College (ASC), KU, here recently.

While explaining the thrust area, Prof Kuthiala said the positive role of the media would create a new perspective for mankind. He reiterated that the media had shaped new global citizenship and extended dialogue to far away places.

ASC director Prof AS Kaang, who also spoke on the thrust area, said such lectures were the recurring features of the academic staff. The new programmes were being planned from the next month so that the teachers could be trained regarding the new education policies, he added.

Dr RP Grover and course coordinator Dr Sucheta also spoke on the occasion.