Sirsa, October 18
In what can be termed as gross gender discrimination, the Higher Education Department of Haryana is alleged to have promoted several male lecturers of the 1982 batch as principals of government colleges recently, ignoring the claims of their female counterparts with greater merit and seniority.

Women lecturers in government colleges allege that their male counterparts have been promoted as principals by “selective deletion” of their names.

Kusum Sharma, who was second in the seniority list of lecturers in the HES Class II by the Haryana Public Service Commission in 1982, awaits promotion. However, Ishwar Singh, Harvinder Kumar Sharma, Satish Chander, Ravi Kumar Sharma, Hakam Singh, Jaiveer Singh, PD Sharma and Subhash Chander placed number 15, 18, 19, 24, 33, 34 and 35 ,respectively, in the list have been promoted as principals.

Likewise, Sujata Sharma placed fourth in the HPSC list, Anita Pratap Singh (5), Mala V Mago (8), Shobha Chugh (11), Sudesh Kalra (12), Anita Rai Chaudhary (13), Santosh Malik (14), Shamim Sharma (21), Purnima Tiwari (23) and Savita Tayal (26) have been superseded by the department and the male lecturers with much less seniority promoted. The reason why the claims of these women candidates of the 1982 batch have been ignored is that while preparing the gradation list of HES-II, the Higher Education Department placed all male lecturers ahead of female lecturers.

Copies of the 1982 list as well as the gradation list pepared by the department are with The Tribune.

“While preparing the gradation list, male lecturers of the 1982 batch were placed in order of merit from serial number 44 (Ishwar Singh) to 126 (Pawan Kumar). Kusum Sharma, placed at number 128 in the list, was at number two in the original HPSC list of 1982 and is placed below all male lecturers,” informed Sudesh Kalra, who has been superseded by eight male lecturers despite her being placed at number 12 in the HPSC list.

Due for retirement in March next, Kalra fears she will complete her service without getting promotion, which she deserves.

“Like Sudesh Kalra, many other women lecturers will reach their age of superannuation without promotion if the department fails to provide us justice,” said Shamim Sharma, whose male colleagues, all junior to her, have been promoted.

Chandigarh, October 18
Haryana is all set to get its first single-member police complaint authority with a retired civil servant as its head. A formal notification on setting up of the authority is likely to be issued after declaration of results to the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on October 22.

Since Haryana does not have a state human rights commission, it had incorporated in its new Police Act the provision for setting up of a police complaint authority.

Though the Act, that received the nod of the Governor on May 28 last year, required such an authority to be set up within three months of the commencement of the Act, its formation was inordinately delayed on account of the selection of its founder head.

The imposition of the model code of conduct, first for the General Election and for the state assembly now has been another factor for the delay in the setting up of the authority.

The draft of the Haryana Police Act, 2007, gave the state six months to constitute the authority. Subsequently, when the Bill came up for discussion in the assembly, it was resolved to reduce the time period to three months from the commencement of the Haryana Police Act.

The Act limits the choice or selection of the head to either a retired judge or a retired civil servant not below the rank of Secretary to the state or a lawyer well-versed in criminal law with an experience of at least 20 years in that field.

The basic mandate of the authority is to inquire and investigate complaints against police officers and other officials of the department.

The authority shall have the powers of a civil court trying a suit under the Code of Civil procedure, especially for summoning and enforcing attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath, for production of document and receiving evidence on affidavits.

Though the authority has been given the powers to investigate allegations of serious misconduct against any police personnel of the state either suo motu or on a complaint received from either a victim or any person or the national or state human rights commission.

The Act also clarifies that “serious misconduct” would constitute death in police custody, rape or attempted rape or causing grievous injury in police custody.

It also puts a rider that the authority shall entertain no anonymous, synonymous or pseudonymous complaints.

All findings of the authority shall go to the state government for appropriate action.

Karnal, October 18
Panic gripped labourers at the grain market, Assandh, following the death of three migrant labourers under suspicious circumstances and over 15 labourers complaining of diahorreha and stomachache.

Dharmender, hailing from Chochahi village in Bihar and working with a rice mill, complained of stomachache and went to sleep after taking a painkiller on Friday. He was found dead in the morning.

Another lanourer Pathar Singh also from Bihar suddenly collapsed after coming out of the shop in the market and died. A labourer from Nepal, Baka Sadeen, who worked at a rice mill, also complained of stomachache and died in the hospital.

The incidents have caused a strong resentment among the labourers, who alleged that the labourers were taken ill after consuming contaminated water in the anaj mandi.

They resorted to dharna and threatened to block the road. SDM Prem Chand and other officials persuaded them to lift the dharna saying that their demands would be looked into and grievances redressed.

The cause of the death of labourers could not be ascertained and their bodies were handed over to their relatives after a postmortem and viscera had been sent to a laboratory for test.

The local administration denied the charge that the labourers were taken ill due to the consumption of contaminated water from a tank in the anaj mandi and argued that it could also be due to stale food.

However, labourers’ leaders disputed the claim saying that how the food of a large number of labourers cooked at different places could be stale and asserted that the only common factor was that they drank the contaminated water.

President of the state unit of the Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh Jang Bhadur said the SDM agreed to get the water tank cleaned and issued necessary orders and also assured that toilets would be constructed in the anaj mandi.

He said the matter regarding the supply of contaminated water from the tank was raised earlier also and he had written to the chairman of the marketing committee and other authorities concerned.

He demanded adequate compensation to families of the deceased and sick persons and asked for a high-level probe into the incident.

He said there were about 5,000 labourers engaged in the anaj mandi and mills but the marketing committee had failed to provide any facility in spite of the fact that it was earning substantial revenue.

Meanwhile, the medical officers were awaiting the report of the viscera test to reach any conclusion about the cause of the deaths.

Chandigarh, October 18
Haryana’s countryside is burning and nobody seems to care. Scarred fields speak volumes about the lax implementation of laws and indifferent farmers who continue with the banned practice of burning paddy stubble crop after crop.

That the ban has gone up in smoke is evident from the “blackened” fields spread over vast stretches as one travels into the interiors. where the problem only gets more acute.

A visit by The Tribune team to different parts of Ambala and Kurukshetra districts revealed that unmindful of the damage to air and soil, farmers in different villages continue to burn paddy residue to “save time”.

Besides causing air and soil pollution, fields on fire result in thick clouds of smoke, resulting in nuisance for motorists and even in smog as evening sets in.Burning stubble is banned under Section 144, CrPC, Inquiries revealed that these directives are taken by farmers as “routine orders every year”.

This probably explains why no action has ever been taken against an errant farmer by the administration.

“On our part, well before harvesting, we wrote to every DC to ensure that farmers don’t burn paddy stubble and that the ban is implemented,” the Director, Agriculture, Anil Malik, said.

Officials said the farmers remained uninformed about the ill-effects of the burning of the crop residue. Those in the know of things set their fields on fire in the morning or late evening to avoid detection. “Further, we have been busy with the assembly elections and have not carried out any checks in the past few weeks,” explained an official.

Despite the damage to the upper soil, considered the fertile layer comprising micro-nutrients, and the wasting of rich organic stubble, farmers have their own logic for their action.

They claim that they “light up” their fields every year since it saves precious time before the sowing of the next crop, taking only a few hours to get rid of the stubborn stubble.

A farmer in Pehowa maintained that though the farmers of his area were aware of the ill-affects of burning the stubble, lack of action and the indifference of officials towards erring farmers came as encouragement for the rest. “When one farmer burns his field and gets away, the others follows suit. If the administration can get cracking and haul up even one farmer, the message will go out to the entire fraternity.”

For now, it seems unlikely that the ban will yield any results on the ground and the ban on burning paddy stubble will remain confined to the files. 

Yamunanagar, October 18
The Hathni Kund Barrage, which was recently in news due to rise in the water level of the Yamuna river, will be developed as a tourist spot.

The barrage that was constructed 10 year ago to channelise Yamuna water is situated near Khijrabad, about 45 km from here. A budget proposal of Rs 50 crore has been sent to the central tourism ministry to develop all tourist places, including the Hathni Kund Barrage.

Keeping in view the tourism potential of this place, the district administration had proposed to Union Tourism Minister Kumari Selja to start river water rafting from Paonta Sahib to Hathni Kund Barrage, development of park at the barrage, launching of SPA-cum-yoga centre, water games, water skiing, motor boats, paragliding and power boating at barrage.

The barrage was constructed as the replacement for the 100-year-old Tajewala Headworks.

The need for the construction of the Hathni Kund Barrage was felt after September 3, 1978, when the floods in Yamuna had caused extensive damage to Tajewala Headworks and inundated vast areas of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

After much delay, the agreement on the sharing water of Yamuna river between the basins of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan was signed on May 12, 1994.

The works on the barrage was completed on June 30, 1999. The barrage was constructed about 3 km above Tajewala Headworks.

Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Agarwal said the proposal to develop the barrage has been accepted by Selja. The officials of the ministry too had visited the spot. After getting the funds, they would start developing the barrage, he added.

Faridabad,October 18
Political parties in the state have started posturing themselves as the winners in the assembly elections, even before counting of votes in October 22. Sabre-rattling has begun by the Congress and its archrival INLD.

The organising secretary of the Haryana Congress, Satbir Daggar, said since the INLD cadres was always verbose, it was not unusual for them to make a song and dance of their chances of winning. “The INLD will be far off the finishing line when the results are declared, notwithstanding the rhetorics of its leaders,” he said. 

He said as in the last Lok Sabha elections, the people had silently caste their vote in favour of the Congress. He claimed that his party would bag at least 60 of the 90 assembly seats.But chief of the youth wing of the INLD Baldev Alawalpur claimed the Congress would face defeat and his party would form government. ”The people have realised their mistake in voting the Congress to power the last elections.” 

He said not a single Congress leader matched the political acumen of INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala. The BJP, the HJC and BSP leaders also claimed that the balance of power while forming a government would be in their hands.

Some hinted at the possibility of a hung assembly.

Sirsa, October 18
Notwithstanding the popular “Jaago Re” campaign by a popular tea brand and similar campaigns by NGOs, urban voters continue to show little enthusiasm in exercising their voting right.

A record 72.71 per cent voters cast their votes in Haryana on the October 13, with Dabwali in Sirsa recording the highest turnout at 87.25 per cent.

But Gurgaon, the business capital of the state, recorded only 54.25 polling, while in the neighbouring Nuh it was 74.98 per cent.

Panchkula, another big city of Haryana, recorded a polling of 57.47 per cent although the Kalka assembly seat falling in the district recorded a percentage of 77.13.

In Sirsa district, where the highest polling (84.21 pc) in the state was witnessed, Dabwali (87pc), Rania (86.99 pc), Kalanwali (83.55 pc) and Ellenabad (86.27 pc), all rural constituencies had better polling figures than Sirsa (77pc), a predominantly urban seat.

In Ambala district too, the Naraingarh assembly constituency registered a polling of 82.82 per cent but in Ambala Cant, only 68.14 per cent came out to cast their vote.

“Those in urban areas have generally been found indifferent to the poll process but rural voters have always shown better participation,” said Kuldeep Singh Dhindsa, an educationist.

Lok Setia, a satirist, says the intelligentsia is disillusioned with politics and, hence, does not care to vote.

“They have come to believe that all political leaders are alike and are here for selfish interests. People have begun to feel that their vote is not going to make a difference and the sorry state of affairs on all fronts will continue, irrespective of which government comes to power,” he added.

“We find an army of cynics in urban areas who blame our leaders for everything going wrong in the system, but are not prepared to spare 10 minutes to cast their vote,” said Virender Singh Chauhan, a university teacher. 

Faridabad, October 18
Haryana became a battlefield for Sikh leaders in these elections, so it seems. The ruling SAD in Pujab put up nominees at the Ambala City and Kaniwal constituencies in alliance with the INLD, this despite the SAD running a coalition government in Punjab with the BJP.

A lot of bad blood exists between the INLD and the BJP in Haryana ever since they parted ways after the parliamentary elections.

While the SAD put up nominees in Haryana, its bitter rival in Delhi, the SAD (Delhi) headed by Paramjit Singh Sarna, came out in open support of the Congress. The Sarna-led Akali Dal controls the powerful Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC). Workers and leaders of the opposing Akali Dals were seen swearing at each other during electioneering at the grassroots level.

The president of the Delhi unit of the SAD, Manjit Singh, said there was no party oriented towards the Punjabis, including the Sikhs. He lavished praise on Sukhbir Singh Badal, saying that he was a man with a vision and the party under him was making efforts to expand its geographical presence, even outside Haryana.

Manjit Singh alleged that the Congress in Haryana was trying to divide the Sikhs by trying to establish an independent Sikh body on the pattern of the DSGMC. On the other hand, Sarna claimed the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and the party government in Haryana would ensure the well-being of the Sikhs.

Sirsa, October 18
In a brawl, an assistant commandant of the BSF today allegedly thrashed a hotel owner and his brother, leaving the hotelier with a plastered foot.

“We received a call from the police that a senior BSF officer would stay in our hotel for two days. When asked to vacate the hotel room after two days yesterday, he refused to do so. vacate the hotel today. He threatened the manager with dire consequences.

“When my father and uncle intervened, they were beaten up with the butt of a gun,” alleged hotelier’s son Sanjay Goyal, whose father Om Parkash is in hospital here with a fractured foot.

He said the guards also joined the officer in the thrashing. He alleged no bill was being paid against the room tariff or meals for the last three days by the officer.

The BSF officer, say sources, was here on election duty. The local police had arranged his stay in Hotel RC Regency near Surkhab Chowk.

Members of the Beopar Mandal rushed to the hospital and threatened to start an agitation unless the erring BSF officer was booked and arrested. SP Subhash Yadav said no case had been registered. Police sources claimed that it was the hotel manager who had initiated the brawl by throwing the officer’s belongings out of the room and subsequently keeping him in illegal captivity.

Gurgaon, October 18
The millennium city of Gurgaon has added another feather in its cap by participating in a project called “Roadmap of South Asian cities and local governments for the post-2012 global climate agreement.”

Municipal commissioner of Gurgaon Rajesh Khullar who attended the sub-national workshop in Bhopal in June this year will participate in the workshop to be held at Copenhagen.

At the workshop, Gurgaon was among the 53 South Asian cities, 40 cities were from India and 13 cities from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The initiative was implemented by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiative (ICLEI) South Asia and was supported by the British High Commission, New Delhi.

Khullar said the MC of Gurgaon shared the information related to energy consumption in various sectors such as street-lighting, transportation and water pumping, with ICLEI South Asia which analysed the information to arrive at the City Energy Status Report which indicates energy consumption by service sectors and the resultant carbon emissions.

A similar exercise has been carried out in 52 other South Asian cities leading to the preparation of the Carbon Emission Inventory of 53 South Asian cities.

In June this year, at the sub-national workshop in Bhopal, ICLEI South Asia discussed the analysis with the MC, Gurgaon. The analysis estimated the city’s total carbon emissions at 2,51,626 tonnes of CO2. MC activities result in 6889.39 tonnes and community activities contribute to 2,44,736.61 tonnes of CO2 emission. The per capita CO2 emission in Gurgaon is 2.13 tonnes.

ICLEI South Asia discussed action plans covering energy efficient and design-based streetlighting, efficient transportation, water pumping system, waste management and enhancement of urban sustainability to reduce carbon emissions in Gurgaon city.

Under this project, the carbon emission status of 40 cities across India will be known to the world, said Khullar. “We have to move from a high-energy use, wasteful economic model to one that conserves energy and minimises waste. In other words we have to be more efficient,” he explained.

Given India’s critical role in the coming COP 15 at Copenhagen, the MC’s participation in the project may be seen as a voluntary step in the right direction towards reducing global carbon emissions.

Fatehabad, October 18
Organisers had to end their cultural function abruptly when a rowdy audience started hooting during the Vishwakarma Day celebrations in Bhuna town here today.

Sensing the mood of the crowd, former parliamentary secretary Dura Ram, who was the chief guest at the function, had to make a hasty retreat.

An association of automobile and other mechanics had organised a cultural function to mark Vishwakarma Day here today. The organisers had hired a cultural troupe to entertain the audience.

The performance had already begun when Dura Ram reached the venue. The organisers stopped the cultural programme to welcome the chief guest.

When a welcome song in honour of the chief guest was being staged, some unruly members of the crowd started hooting and throwing slippers. However, no one was hurt in the incident.

The mechanics, many of whom were drunk, were perhaps annoyed at the start of drab formalities to welcome the guest instead of the cultural programme.

Dura Ram left the stage after thanking the organisers. Later, the organisers too decided to end the celebrations.

Dura Ram said he had already left the scene when some disorderly crowd started disturbance.

“I had gone to the function only to register my presence and had come back immediately thanking the organisers and congratulating them on the occasion,” Dura Ram added.

Ambala, October 18
For 11-year-old Ranjit, the festival of lights turned into darkness as his face got burnt while he was lighting a firecracker. Doctors suspect that his cornea may have been affected.

At least 15 children sustained burn injuries while lighting crackers on the occasion of Diwali last evening in various areas of Ambala City.

The injured were admitted to the local Civil Hospital and various nursing homes. Nikit of Nadi Mohala area - sustained burn injuries on his hand. The incident took place when he was watching people lighting crackers on the road near his house.

Several other children, including Vikash, Sahram, Ritesh, Sorabh, Tanveer and Ramesh, also sustained minor burn injuries while lighting fire
crackers.

Meanwhile, a fire broke out in a cotton factory of Ambala City late last night due to short circuit.

Sonepat, October 18
After a girl refused to marry a youth, he not only shot himself dead, but also opened fire on Pankaj, brother of the girl, here today.

Pankaj has been referred to the Rohtak PGIMS and the police has registered a case. The police has reportedly recovered a suicide note from Sandeep.

Sandeep and the girl’s father, Lalit, used to work in OSRAM industry and were living in Pancham Nagar here. About one and a half months ago, Lalit’s daughter came here from Bihar and stayed for 15 days. During these days, Sandeep reportedly asked her to marry him, but she declined and returned to her native village in Bihar.

Yesterday, Sandeep came to Lalit’s house and took his son Pankaj with him to celebrate Diwali. Sandeep again called up the girl and asked her to marry him. When she reportedly refused, Sandeep allegedly fired on Pankaj injuring him seriously and later shot himself. He died on the spot.

Meanwhile, in another incident an alleged accused in a murder case, Sandeep of Gumar village allegedly attempted suicide in the district jail here today. However, he was saved and taken to the Civil Hospital, where he also manhandled jail doctor Sanjay Antil.

During the treatment, Sandeep alleged that the jail inmates were being treated badly by the authorities and inmates had been on hunger strike since the death of Atul in jail on October 14. He also alleged that another jail inmate - Sanjay - had also attempted suicide.

However, refuting the allegations, jail superintendent JK Chhillar said he did not know the reasons behind Sandeep’s step to commit suicide. 

Jhajjar, October 18
A widow reportedly committed suicide after administering some poisonous substance to her two minor sons in Noona Majra village under Bahadurgarh subdivision here today.

The deceased have been identified as Suman, Praveen (11) and Yogesh (6).

The reason behind the extreme step is yet to be ascertained. The incident came to light when other members of the family found Suman along with his two sons lying unconscious in the house. They with the help of other villagers rushed them to the Rohtak PGIMS where they reportedly died during treatment.

The police reached the PGIMS and recorded the statements of their kin. Later, a case under Section 174 of the IPC was registered in this regard. It may be recalled here that Suman’s husband Sandeep had also committed suicide six months ago.