Rajound (Kaithal), August 25
Hundreds of enraged villagers of Rajound, protesting against the death of a woman who was allegedly crushed under a police vehicle last night, blocked the Kaithal-Panipat highway for nearly 16 hours.

The villagers placed the body of Sudesh Rani on the highway and raised slogans against the police.

The incident took place when the deceased, Sudesh Rani, went to the Rajound police station to meet her son, who was arrested along with five others in connection with a clash between two communities over water in which 24 persons sustained injuries.

She reportedly got panicky when she saw her son being allegedly beaten up by the police and urged the police station in charge to release him. The police refused to relent and according to the villagers, the police station in charge allegedly kicked Sudesh Rani in the stomach and drove a police vehicle over her, causing her death.

Incensed by the death of Sudesh Rani, the villagers squatted on the road and within no time the road was completely blocked and hundreds of vehicles were stranded.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, the government transferred the Superintendent of Police and placed SHO Ghesa Ram under suspension for dereliction of duty.

The Deputy Commissioner, Kaithal, reached the spot and tried to persuade the villagers to lift the blockade but they were adamant on their demand that the SHO be booked for murder.

IG, Ambala Range, KK Sandhu reached the spot and assured the villagers that the SHO would be booked under Section 302 of the IPC once the cause of death was ascertained.

Later, the villagers lifted the blockade but warned that in case action was not taken against the guilty police official, the protest would be revived.

The body was sent for a postmortem.

Chandigarh, August 25
The Haryana Janhit Congress-Bahujan Samaj Party (HJC-BSP) alliance today announced the distribution of seats between them for the forthcoming Haryana Assembly elections in the state.

Upbeat about the break-up of the BJP-INLD alliance, leaders of the HJC-BSP combine emphatically ruled out the possibility of tying up with either of them.

Addressing a joint press conference, HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi and BSP general secretary Man Singh Manhera announced the Assembly seats each of the alliance partners would be contesting. Leaders of both the parties had decided that the HJC and the BSP would contest on 50 and 40 seats, respectively, at the time of inking a pact in June.

Manhera repeatedly emphasised that the seats on which each of them would contest had the approval of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP president Mayawati and HJC’s chief patron Bhajan Lal.

Stating that the names of candidates would be announced in three weeks’ time, Bishnoi said a number of ticket hopefuls from various parties, including the Congress, were in touch with them. “We will, however, allot tickets on the winning ability of the candidates and take in leaders who can add to the stature of the party,” the HJC leader said.

Manhera added that a rally that would give a new dimension to the politics in Haryana would be organised in Jind on September 20. “The rally would be jointly organised by the alliance and addressed by Mayawati and Bhajan Lal,” he maintained.

Rejecting the possibility of aligning with the INLD, Bishnoi and Manhera maintained that there was no possibility of widening the scope of their alliance. Both the leaders admitted that they had been approached by the BJP and the INLD separately to join the alliance, which had been turned down.

“Our only aim is to make Bishnoi the next Chief Minister while a Dalit from our party will be made the Deputy Chief Minister,” Manhera said.

Unperturbed over their individual performances in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the two leaders said the Assembly elections was all about local issues. “Our main issues will be the price rise, the Rohtak versus rest of Haryana scenario, in which the former has benefited and the unkept promises of the Congress government among others,” Manhera remarked.

Meanwhile, according to the arrangement worked out between the alliance partners, the HJC will field candidates from Bhajan Lal’s stronghold Adampur, Hansi and Hisar constituencies besides Kalka, Panchkula, Kaithal, Karnal, Indri, Jind and Rohtak among others while the BSP will put up candidates from 40 seats, including Narwana, Tosham, Bhiwani and Ladwa.

Fatehabad, August 25
Former Haryana Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala today came down heavily on the BJP for snapping ties with his party.

In his first interaction with mediapersons after the Saffron party announced breaking of the alliance with his party, Chautala said the BJP had always ditched the INLD and its previous avatars since 1977, but his party had always extended its hand for friendship even after being stabbed in the back.

“We consider the Congress as our enemy number one and it was with an aim to keep the Congress away from power that we had entered into an alliance with the BJP. However, the BJP has repeated what it has been doing in the part - ditching its partners without notice for its selfish ends,” Chautala alleged, adding that his father, Devi Lal, allied with the BJP in 1977, 1982 and again in 1987, but every time the BJP ditched him midway without any valid reasons.

He said when the BJP had an alliance with the Haryana Vikas Party government of Bansi Lal in Haryana after the 1996 Assembly elections, he offered his party’s unconditional support to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government after the 1999 parliamentary poll. He questioned the BJP demand for contesting 45 seats in coalition with his party.

Earlier, he inaugurated a Jat dharmashala in the town.

Chandigarh, August 25
A notification issued by the Haryana Finance Department on August 19 has left engineers of the state government fuming.

While other employees of the state have been given revised scales from January 1 2006, the notification gives the new scales to the engineers with effect from September 1, 2009. No wonder the engineers describe the notification as “a cruel joke” with them.

Their hurt is compounded by the fact that they had received a solemn assurance from the Chief Minister that they would be given better scales than Punjab. Now the engineers feel cheated.

The engineers will not only lose on the enhanced increments for the past three years, but will also be deprived of the arrears. Moreover, those who have retired between January 31, 2006, and August 31, 2009, will not get pension benefits, which they would have got if their scales had been revised as the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, which have been implemented with effect from January 1, 2006.

The coordination committee of the Haryana Engineers Federation met here today and gave a call to all engineers of the state government to proceed on mass casual leave for two days from August 27. The committee will meet here again on August 30 to chalk out its future strategy.

The committee also regretted that the government had not given the revised pay scales to the engineers working in the Panchayati Raj Department, the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board, HUDA, the Housing Board and also architects.

Hisar, August 25
University and college teachers all over the state began a three-day strike today in protest against the failure of the government to implement the new scales approved by the University Grants Commission and the Union Human Resource Development Ministry.

The teachers staged protests on the campuses of their respective institutions. Teachers of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University and Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology here remained on strike.

A spokesperson for the Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers Organisations (HFUCTO) said the teachers had withdrawn their stir following an assurance by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on August 8 that the government would implement the recommendations of the UGC and the HRD Ministry in toto.

However, when the notification was issued two weeks later, these scales were completely “watered down”. The government did not change the designation from lecturer to assistant professor and reader to associate professor. Besides, senior-scale teachers were denied the higher scale as recommended by the UGC and the Centre.

As a result, every senior-scale teacher would lose between Rs 10,000 to 15,000 a month. Besides, this would mean that a newly appointed lecturer would draw more salary than a reader.

He said the UGC was supposed to meet 80 per cent of the expenditure incurred by the states on releasing the new scales. Despite that the bureaucracy was defying the UGC as well as the Centre.

Dr Rajesh Lohchab, president of Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology Teachers Association (GJUTA), said the Haryana government had not only caused financial loss to teachers, but had also insulted the teaching community as the status of the VC had been reduced from cabinet-rank to state-rank and professors had been placed in the category of associate professors. Besides, associate professors had been denied PB-4 and kept in PB-3, thereby affecting the dignity and status of the teachers in the state. The teachers will continue their strike tomorrow and on Thursday. On Friday, they are scheduled to stage a demonstration in Rohtak.

ROHTAK: The Haryana state unit of the CPM has strongly criticised the alleged undignified treatment meted out to the college and university teachers by the state government. Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the party, has said the teaching community has been cheated despite a clear-cut assurance by the Chief Minister pertaining to the implementation of the UGC recommendations.

BHIWANI: College lecturers in the entire district observed strike in favour of their demands here on Tuesday. Lecturers staged a dharna outside their respective colleges and shouted anti-government slogans. In some colleges, temporary arrangements were made by inviting guest teachers but they were also forced to leave classes.

REWARI: In response to a call given by the HFUCTO, teachers of the local Ahir College, Kishan Lal Public College, Government College for Women, RDS Public Girls College and various other colleges of the district observed a complete strike on Tuesday to register their protest against “distortions and deviations” in the notification issued by the state government regarding the implementation of the revised UGC pay scales.

GURGAON: Teachers from various colleges of the city on Tuesday held a protest outside their respective college premises. They said they would not start teaching unless the pay commission recommended by the central government was implemented by the state government.

KURUKSHETRA/KARNAL: Classrooms in the universities and colleges across Haryana wore a deserted look as teachers went on three-day strike to protest against “distortion and deviation” in the revised UGC pay scales notified by the Haryana government on Tuesday.

The call for the strike given by the HFUCTO evoked an overwhelming response, HFUCTO president Prof NS Kaushal said.

SONEPAT: Teachers of colleges in the district went on three-day strike and sat on dharna here on Tuesday. The teachers’ union will hand over a memorandum of demands to the Deputy Commissioner on Wednesday.

Ambala, August 25
Tension prevailed in Mullana after a mob blocked the state highway connecting Ambala and Yamunanagar this morning.

The mob was reacting to reports of women and men being arrested yesterday evening in Thakurpura Kalalti village, 30 km from here, following a conflict between members of two communities last week.

The mob, armed with lathis and swords, blocked the state highway at Mullana at 11 am.

When the administration and the police did not show up, they marched towards Dosarka and blocked the highway there. Traffic was later diverted at Dosarka and Saha.

Earlier in the day, the protesters shut down the market in Mullana and pulled down hoardings and posters of various parties and burnt tyres in protest.

The police, accompanied by the Deputy Commissioner, finally reached Dosarka at about 4 pm and tried to pacify the protesters.

A 11-member committee was formed, which then met the Deputy Commissioner. The dispute between the two communities was over the construction of a religious place in the village.

Chandigarh, August 25
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today ruled the parole period would not be counted towards total sentence to be served by a convict in the two states and Chandigarh.

The ruling by Justice Harbans Lal came on a bunch of 10 petitions. In one of the petitions, Sant Ram and his three brothers had sought directions to the state of Haryana and other respondents to add the period of their parole towards the actual sentence undergone by them and for release from the jail.

The four had asserted they had undergone eight years of sentence, including remission and parole by the government from time to time; and the denial of their release from jail was in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution. In its reply, the state and the other respondents asserted they had not completed their sentence.

Justice Harbans Lal asserted: “Parole can only be added towards the total sentence, if there is a specific legislative enactment to the said effect. However, in the states of Punjab and Haryana, there is no such specific legislative enactment. The rules/instructions provide that in both these states, parole period will not be counted towards their total sentence….For Chandigarh, rules framed by the state of Punjab are applicable.”

Disposing of the petition, Justice Lal directed the respondents to decide the case of each petitioner individually by applying the case law/rules’ paragraph of the Punjab Jail Manual within two months of receiving the order’s copy.

Karnal, August 25
Major Ishwar Singh, who was awarded “Shaurya Chakra” for demonstrating a rare courage of devotion to duty in fighting terrorists at Gail-Mail village in Manipur, has been honoured by his home state of Haryana with a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh.

A cheque of Rs 10 lakh was presented to Major Ishwar Singh by Deputy Commissioner JS Alhawat on behalf of the Haryana government here today.

Hailing from Gandhi Nagar in Karnal, Major Ishwar Singh, who was posted in the artillery unit in Manipur, during routine patrolling noticed some terrorists in Gail-Mail village on June 12, 2007. He opened fire on the terrorists. The terrorist returned the fire and a bullet pierced through his neck, but he did not lose courage and killed another terrorist. He succeeded in killing all four terrorists in the encounter. He was later shifted to the military hospital.

He was awarded the “Shaurya Chakra’ by President Prathibha Patil on Republic Day in 2008 and later the Haryana government honoured him for his act of bravery.