Gurgaon, November 2
The state government will launch a new healthcare scheme named “Referral Transport System” (RTS) on Children’s Day i.e. November 14 in all districts of the state.

With this, Haryana will become the first state in the country to provide such type of referral transport system facility to patients.

This was disclosed by Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria here today. He said the scheme would be run by the District Red Cross Society with the cooperation of the Health Department.

Under the scheme, a central control room will be set up in the emergency ward of the Civil Hospital where a telephone with number 102 will be installed. Elaborating about the implementation of the scheme, Kataria said on receiving a call on phone number 102 the operator would inform the ambulance located nearest to that point.

The ambulance would then take the patient to the nearest Government Hospital or health centre. For this, it would charge Rs 7 per km from the patient.

But some categories have been exempted from paying these charges and these include pregnant women, victims of roadside accidents, BPL cardholders and patients from notified slum areas.

He affirmed that patients belonging to these categories would be able to avail the ambulance services free of cost under 
the scheme.

Kataria said each ambulance would be fitted with GPS system and would have two drivers to keep the ambulance operational round the clock on all seven days of the week.

The drivers would be given mobile phones and they would also be trained in first aid by the District Red Cross Society.

He stated that in order to make the scheme effectively operational in the district, the district Red Cross Society would purchase five new ambulances.

With these new ones, the district would have a total of 11 ambulances operational under the scheme. Kataria said he had ordered the secretary of the District Red Cross Society today to place orders to purchase five new 
ambulances.

He avowed that place for setting up central control room had been identified in the Civil Hospital where two computers with broadband facility would be installed.

The District Red Cross Society would provide four computer operators to operate these computers round-the-clock. 

Jhajjar, November 2
Newly elected MLAs of the Rohtak parliamentary constituency comprising Rohtak and Jhajjar districts have no other option but to abandon their expectations of a berth in the Hooda cabinet. The cabinet is likely to be announced within a couple of days.

Thanks to the fractured mandate that forced Hooda to induct Independent candidates, who were instrumental in getting the trust vote. Hence, staunch loyalists, who dreamt of being in the Cabinet before declaration of the poll results, were left in the cold.

In the previous tenure of the Congress regime in the state, except the Chief Minister, two important posts - Speaker of the assembly and Minister of Health - were given to the Rohtak parliamentary constituency.

MLA from the Beri assembly segment of Jhajjar district, Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadian, was elevated to the post of Speaker while the late Kartar Devi, MLA from Kalanaur (reserved) in Rohtak district, was given a berth in the cabinet.

This time the situation is different. Last time, the Congress had enjoyed full power with 67 of its own MLAs besides having support of 10 Independent candidates. However, in the present situation, accommodating Independents has become the government priority, who will represent the Rohtak parliamentary constituency.

Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadian, advocate Bharat Bhushan Batra and Geeta Bhukkal are the three strong contenders for the ministerial berth. Despite not being elevated to the post of Speaker, Dr Kadian’s supporters are confident of giving preference to their leader while formation of the Cabinet.

They opine that non-elevation of Dr Kadian to the Speaker’s post is the clear indication that he was going to be a Cabinet minister.

Likewise, the new entrant in the assembly, advocate Bharat Bhushan Batra, who had jumped into the fray as Congress candidate from Rohtak after tendering his resignation from the constitutional post of acting chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), is considered to be heavyweight for ministerial berth due to being a close compeer of Hooda.

Being a woman as well as belonging to the Schedule Castes, Geeta Bhukkal, MLA from Jhajjar (reserved), is also in the race for the Cabinet berth. She can be a replacement of the late Kartar Devi, who served as Minister of Health in the previous tenure of Congress regime. 

Panipat, November 2
The All-India Power Engineers Federation has decided to seek better pay scales for engineers joining government jobs at the SDO level.

Padamjit Singh, chairman, All-India Power Engineers Federation, who presided over the first general body meeting of Haryana Power Engineers Association held here today, said a lot of efforts were needed for correction of pay scales. He said the association should also step up their campaign to mount pressure on the state government to fill the posts of engineers lying vacant in the power utilities of the state.

There was a shortage of over 70 per cent of engineers at SDO level, which was putting extra burden on rest of the staff. Due to the shortage, it had become a routine for management to go for consultants and contractors for all kinds of jobs rather making regular appointments, which could improve working of the power utilities, he said.

Meanwhile, during the general body meeting of the association, which was attended by over 200 field engineers from the state, RS Dahiya and SS Yadav were elected president and general secretary, respectively, of the body.

The general body unanimously elected 17 members of the new executive committee drawn from all four power utilities of the state.

Haryana Power Engineers Association was formed after merging various engineers’ bodies working in the four power utilities of the state.

RL Chhokar, president of erstwhile HSEB Engineers Association, congratulated the Haryana power engineers for forming the single body of all the engineers and said this would go a long way in solving the day-to-day problems being faced by the engineers. He said it was after a gap of 15 years that engineers had joined hands to form the association and in the absence of any forum their viewpoints were not heard by the authorities or by the government.

SK Garg, general secretary of the association, said the state power sector was set for a major expansion in generation capacity, transmission and distribution networks in the next five years. The representatives from different zones said the pay scales were much lower than expected. A number of speakers said that the management was setting unrealistic targets and the quality control was the resultant causality.

Meanwhile, RL Chhoker was made patron of the association for his services rendered to the erstwhile HSEB engineers association. The main office-bearers of the association include VK Katyal, senior vice-president, Daljit Singh, vice-president, and Kabul Singh, finance secretary.

The executive members who were elected included PK Verma, VK Raghav, KK Malik, Ranbir Deswal, SS Malik, VS Sharma, Amit Maan, AK Bhanot and RL Kamboj. 

Sirsa, November 2
From an arhtiya to a member of the Haryana assembly, the journey for Krishan Kamboj, newly elected MLA from the Rania seat in this district, has been like a dream.

The transformation cannot even be described as a dream come true because 10 days before he was picked by INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala to contest the Rania seat, Kamboj had not thought even in the wildest of his dreams that he would soon be sitting in the state assembly among those whom he could only adore.

Krishan Kamboj has won the Rania seat by defeating Ranjit Singh, younger brother of his political mentor Om Prakash Chautala by a margin of 3,651 votes.

When Chautala fielded Kamboj to face Ranjit Singh, considered a heavyweight in the Congress, rumours went around that the INLD supremo had fielded a weak candidate to provide a virtual walkover to his younger brother.

His candidature was perceived as a mere effort by the Chautalas to appease the Kamboj community that had gone against their party in the last three elections due to a controversy and to provide Ranjit Singh an easy passage to state assembly.

However, as the campaigning progressed, it started becoming clear that Chautala had something else in mind. The manner in which Chautala used hard-hitting language against Ranjit Singh in two rallies organised in Rania made it evident that the Chautalas were serious on Krishan Kamboj’s candidature.

Although, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower, Satdev, who polled 11,338 votes, played a vital role in Kamboj’s victory over Ranjit Singh, the 40-year-old grain market trader from Rania town in now among the youngest members of the state assembly.

Kamboj, a graduate from the local Government National Postgraduate College, has never been in politics before and has never contested any election, even at the panchayat level.

“I have been a follower of the Chautala family and Abhey Singh Chautala was my classfellow during graduation,” said Krishan Kamboj, whose village falls under the Ellenabad assembly seat.

Kamboj is not worried over learning the procedures of attending the assembly and said he would learn the rules of the game by watching others and would seek advice from the Chautalas, whenever needed.

For now, Kamboj’s main concern is to ensure development of his constituency, which, he thinks, can be ensured even while sitting in the Opposition by using the platform of the assembly to raise the voice of his people. 

Kapal Mochan (Yamunanagar), November 2
The four-day state-level Kapal Mochan fair concluded today with lakhs of devotees, mostly from the rural belt of Punjab and Haryana, taking a holy dip in three ‘sarovars’, including Kapal Mochan, Rin Sarovar and Suraj Kund.However, ghats of the three sarovars were not jam-packed as was witnessed last year. 

The pilgrims’ presence this time was almost half, around 4.5 lakh, as compared to last year.

The pilgrims lit hundreds of lamps around all the ‘sarovars and then took a bath as it considered to be most auspicious after midnight. They believe that a holy dip in Kapal Mochan will liberate them from sins of all three eras and help them attain ‘moksha’.

A bath in other sarovars is believed to the harbinger of fame and fortune.

To avoid any chaos, as many 3,000 police personnel under the supervision of five DSPs were deployed all along the ‘sarovars’. Senior officials on duty included DC, Amit Kumar Aggarwal, the ADC, Renu Phulia, the SP Vikas Arora, and SDM Virender Sangwan.

“Guru Nanak Dev came here in 1584 and Guru Gobind Singh stayed here for 52 days 1687. So, this place hold great significance for us and we took a holy dip after midnight on the occasion of Gurpurab,” said Satwant Singh of Bathinda, who has been visiting in the fair for the past many years.

“This place holds significance for us as it was the work place of Maharishi Ved Vyas, the creator of Mahabharta, Vedas and Puranas,” said Jitender from Delhi. 

Chandigarh, November 2
Those aspiring to be in the Haryana cabinet may have to wait for a few days more. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is to yet to discuss the issue with the party high command. The primary reason for the delay is Maharashtra.

Because of the tussle with the NCP, formation of ministry in the Maratha state has been as ticklish as it is in Haryana, where the party does not have a majority of its own.

The high command is believed to have devoted the past few days to deal with the nitty-gritty of cabinet formation in Maharashtra. The cabinet in that state must be formed by tomorrow. Therefore, the high command has kept Haryana on the backburner as at least technically a cabinet exists in this state.

The Congress men in the state are not apprehensive over the delay. As Union Tourism Minister Selja, MP from Ambala, said here today the delay in the ministry was understandable considering that the party did not have a majority of its own.

Now Hooda has gone to Uttar Pradesh to campaign in the Ferozabad Lok Sabha constituency where the Congress has pitted actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar against Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of former UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Ever since the departure of Natwar Singh from the Congress, the party has been projecting Hooda as its “farmer face” outside Haryana.

After his return from UP, Hooda will again visit Delhi to meet the high command. With support of seven Independent MLAs and the stand of the six-member HJC still not clear, Hooda has to keep a delicate balance between aspirations of supporting MLAs and those of his own. At the same time, he needs the services of seasoned persons to run the state smoothly.

Till the HJC comes round to the Congress viewpoint, the ruling party has to keep the supporting MLAs in good humour, either by inducting them into the ministry or by some other means. MLAs in the land of “Aaya Rams, Gaya Rams” are known for their fickleness.

Due to the limited berths in the cabinet, the Congress has no other alternative but to keep some of its deserving MLAs outside the ministry.

To ensure that there is no bickering on this issue later, Hooda would obviously like to get prior clearance from the high command.

Even when the high command clears the names of the ministerial aspirants, a few berths will be kept vacant, both as a carrot and for accommodating the HJC as and when the Congress is able to strike an agreement with it. It’s certain that Hooda will have to appoint some MLAs as chief parliamentary secretaries and parliamentary secretaries.

Some would be accommodated as chairpersons of various boards and corporations, with or without the cabinet status.

Chandigarh, November 2
The Haryana government today launched an ambitious Rs 5,000 crore phase two of the Rajiv Gandhi Bridges & Roads Infrastructure Development Programme.

Inaugurating the programme, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also released the new PWD code at a function held here.

Hooda said the progress of a country and a state could be judged from the available infrastructure, which held the key to growth and development. He recalled that phase one of the programme, costing Rs 3,000 crore, was launched by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on November 28, 2007, at Charkhi Dadri in Bhiwani district and most projects under the programme had been completed before time. In all, 245 projects worth Rs 3,112 crore were launched in the state under the first phase. Out of these, 148 projects had already been completed at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore. The remaining projects worth Rs 1,600 crore would be completed within the next six months.

Hooda said after Haryana came into existence on November 1, 1966, the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, provided liberal financial help, enabling the state to make rapid progress and turn into a surplus foodgrain state. Haryana had emerged as the second largest contributor of foodgrains to the central pool and had the highest per capita investment.

He hoped that the second phase of the programme would also be completed before the schedule time as it had been done in the first phase.

Releasing the PWD code, Hooda said transparency, security and quality would prevail after its introduction. Haryana was the first state to evolve a code of its own and he hoped that other states would follow suit. The earlier code was introduced in 1910 by the British. It was the need of the hour to make the code more effective.

Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, PWD, KK Jalan said during the next four months, projects costing Rs 10,000 crore would materialise in the state, which would be a record. Various projects of roads and bridges costing Rs 1,000 crore had been sanctioned by the Union government during the past four months. He assured the Chief Minister that works in the second phase would also be completed ahead of schedule.

Jalan said projects worth Rs 1,100 crore would be launched in all districts of the state. The project reports had already been prepared and tenders would be issued within a month.

Engineer-in-Chief Mahesh Kumar said during the past four and a half years, Rs 1,913 crore had been spent on the construction and repair of various government buildings. Besides, 663 km of new roads had been constructed. Under the Pradhanmantri Grameen Sadak Yojna, Rs 1,344 crore had been spent and 2750 km roads had been improved in the state.

Those present on the occasion included MLAs, Sampat Singh, Dharamvir Singh, Gopal Kanda and Jai Tirath Dahiya, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Public Health, Naresh Gulati, Chattar Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Ajit M Saran, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Finance. 

Sirsa, November 2
INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala today alleged that Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar and Jind districts of Haryana, which get irrigation waters from the Bhakra Canal, were starved of irrigation water in the past four and a half years and yet the state government was talking of commissioning the Hansi Butana Link Canal at the earliest. Accusing Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of misleading people on the issue of various canals, Chautala alleged nothing was being done to expedite completion of the SYL Canal or Dadupur Nalwi Canal by the state government.

“The SYL canal is no more an issue between Punjab and Haryana. The Supreme Court has already asked the central government to complete the canal through a central agency, but the Congress government at the Centre did not have the will to complete it,” said Chautala, while talking to mediapersons at his Sirsa residence today.

He maintained that there was no chance of water flowing in the Hansi Butana Link Canal, as the government had not cared to take the permission of the central water commission (CWC) that was mandatory in such cases.He alleged that hundreds of crores from the state exchequer had been allowed to go waste by the state government by constructing a canal, which is of no use now.

Chautala maintained that announcements like employment to 1 lakh youths and implementation of the health insurance schemes made by the Chief Minister on the occasion of Haryana Day were not practically possible.“When Haryana is already under a debt of Rs 12,000 crore, from where Hooda will bring money to implement these announcements?” Chautala asked. Chautala, who completed his four-day tour of Ellenabad assembly seat today, said he was going to Chandigarh and would be resigning from Ellenabad on a day or two. He claimed that the Hooda government would not be able to pull on for a full period of five years, as the CM would not be able to appease those on whose support his government rested.

Panipat, November 2
Wedding celebrations came to a sad end for a family of Ahmedpur Majra village here late last night when the groom died in a road accident. Six others sustained serious injuries.

The accident took place near Chota Nara
village on the Asand road. The Scorpio, in which the groom along with relatives was travelling, rammed into a truck coming from the opposite direction.

Groom Tilak Raj, son of Shri Ram and his brother-in-law Krishan, a resident of Shanpur village in Jind district, were killed on the spot. The groom’s brother, Krishan, his niece Neha, Ramphal and Sonu, both residents of Ahmedpur Majra, and Kuldeep of Israna were seriously injured.

They were rushed to a private hospital.

A team of police officials reached the accident site and registered a case against the truck driver.

The bodies of the victims were taken to the civil hospital for postmortem examinations and then handed over to the relatives.

The police said such was the impact of the collision that little remained of the Scorpio. 

Hisar, November 2
The Haryana Congress is in for a thorough revamp once Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda finalises his cabinet.

The revamp has been necessitated by the poor results of the Vidhan Sabha elections with several senior leaders losing their seats. Another pressing reason is that the Hooda camp will try to rejig the district units in which it feels its opponents played dirty to ensure the defeat of its party nominees.

At the state level, HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana may have to make way for some other senior leader after he lost the election although the Hooda camp will be eager to retain him.

In the districts, rampant sabotage of the campaigns of party nominees by leading Congress men certainly necessitate major changes in the organisational setup. Almost every district and every constituency was affected by the malady these elections and the party leadership cannot but take a call on the issue.

In Bhiwani, the entire Congress leadership is up in arms against Kiran Choudhry, former Tourism Minister, for allegedly sabotaging the party campaign to settle old scores with her relatives as well other party nominees.

In Hisar district too Congress men sabotaged the campaigns of their rivals for a number of reasons.

In the case of Haryana Janhit Congress chief Kuldeep Bishnoi, a former Congress legislator from a neighbouring constituency, which was disbanded as part of the delimitation exercise, sided with Bishnoi at the eleventh hour. ensuring that Bishnoi sailed through by about 6,000 votes.This was done to make sure that party nominee Jai Parkash was defeated otherwise he would have become a strong claimant for the party ticket from the Adampur assembly  segment.

Likewise, both Jai Parkash and Chhattarpal Singh made sure that they caused damage to each other in their respective constituencies due to old political rivalary.

In Jind and Sirsa districts, the Congress lost heavily. The party will have to revamp the organisation as the entire senior leadership has been virtually wiped out.

Similar exercises would have to be taken up in other districts along GT Road where the INLD registered impressive wins against the Congress.Party sources say the first priority is cabinet formation after which the party revamp will be considered. The leadership may also wait for the HJC to decide its course of action as a merger would entail changes in the Hisadistrict unit of the Congress. 

Karnal, November 2
Haryana Sikhs, eagerly awaiting announcement by Chief Minister BHupinder Singh Hooda on a separate SGPC for the state on Haryana Day (November 1) are deeply disappointed.

“It is betrayal of Haryana Sikhs by the Chief Minister, who had promised to make an announcement on a separate HSGPC on November 1. He has failed to keep his promise,” said Jagdish Singh Jhinda, president, Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
(ad hoc).

“The Congress had included the issue in its election manifesto of 2005 and also made it part of the manifesto these elections. It had promised that an announcement would be made on November 1, in case there was no legal hurdle. But the betrayal proves that the Congress has been using the Sikhs merely as a vote bank”, he alleged.

He said November 1 was important for Haryana Sikhs not only because Haryana became a separate state on this day but also for the reason that the SGPC was formed on November 1, 1925.“The day became even more auspicious this year with Gurparab falling on this day. Announcement of a separate gurdwara committee would have been a great gift to the Haryana Sikhs,” he maintained.Jhinda said he was under tremendous pressure from the Sikhs in the state to take some “extreme step” if the demand was not met.

He said he would wait for the formation of ministry and if the government tried to play politics by keeping the matter pending, he would be forced to act.The HSGPC had supported the Congress in the parliamentary and assembly elections.

Jhinda said the HSGPC would also approach UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that the promise to Haryana Sikhs was honoured since it was apart of the manifesto approved and released by the high command along with the Chief Minister.

Ambala, November 2
The construction of the trauma centre building at the Civil Hospital in Ambala city was completed three months ago.However, the building has not been utilised so far as neither super-specialist doctors nor medical equipments required for the centre have been made available so far.

The building, which has been completed in all respects, is lying abandoned for the past several months.

Two national highways cross through Ambala City and Ambala Cantonment areas and road accidents are a matter of daily routine here.Traumatic injury often require immediate treatment, including surgery, in order to give the injured the best possible chance for survival and recovery.

There are no arrangements for best treatment for patients suffering from traumatic injuries in the Civil Hospitals of the twin city. Generally, doctors of the Civil Hospitals refer seriously injured patients to the PGI, Chandigarh.

Around 3 years ago, the union government had provided a grant of Rs 1 crore for the construction of the trauma centre in the civil hospital complex.

However, the construction could not started even for two years. Later, with initiation of local MLA Venod Sharma, the building construction was started.

The building is completed in all respects, but is still non-functional. People of Ambala have demanded that the trauma centre should start immediately as it is a life-saving project.

The Ambala Health Department has already informed the higher authorities about the completion of the building construction.

It will not become functional until specialised doctors and other necessary equipments like CT scan, X-ray and MRI facility are made available at the centre.

The Health Department should appoint neurosurgeon, neuro physician, psychologist, cosmetic surgeon and radiologist for better results.

Chandigarh, November 2
The Haryana government has notified that November 13 will be observed as a public holiday in the offices, educational and other institutes of government of Haryana, boards and corporations situated in the limits of the Municipal Council, Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar) and ward number 27 of the Municipal Council, Kaithal, on account of the assembly elections and Byelection, respectively, to enable employees of these institutions/offices to cast their vote.