Chandigarh, March 17
Stalwarts of Haryana politics will not be allotted a flat or a house in Panchkula, if they already have one in the area. The housing scheme for MLAs and MPs has been amended also to exclude Gurgaon from the allocation process.

The details of the amendments, carried out soon after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the process, were placed before Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh. The Bench is currently hearing arguments on a petition filed by the Panchkula-based The Herald Group Housing Society for directions against allotting land or flats to sitting MLAs and MPs from the state. The matter was first brought to the fore by The Tribune.

In an affidavit, Haryana’s Principal Secretary DS Dhesi has asserted the scheme’s main objective is to provide adequate accommodation to the MLAs and MPs, elected from Haryana, during their visit to Delhi, and in Chandigarh.

Giving details of the amended policy, he has added “any sitting MLA and MP will be eligible for allotment of flat/plot only in the urban estate of Panchkula. No allotment of land shall be made for construction of flats/houses at any other station, including Gurgaon….

“Only those MLAs/MPs from Haryana will be eligible, who do not own a flat/house or any other dwelling unit in the urban estate of Panchkula, whether acquired by way of allotment or otherwise.

“This shall also be applicable even in cases where such plots/flats/dwelling units are owned by the applicant in his own name, in the name of his spouse or in the name of their minor/dependant child. The plot so allotted/flat so constructed shall not be transferable for 10 years from the date of allotment…

“The amendment in the existing policy guidelines shall be made applicable with retrospective effect from August 5, 2008, the date of approval of the existing policy by the Council of Ministers”.

So far, Deepender Singh Hooda, Kiran Choudhry, Kumari Selja, Naveen Jindal, Hans Raj Bhardwaj, Chander Mohan, Karan Singh Dalal and Randeep Singh Surjewala are among the 79 MPs and MLAs issued notices in the plot allocation case.

Taking on record the affidavit, the Bench today directed the issuance of fresh notices to the un-served respondents; and fixed July 14 as the next date of hearing. 

Chandigarh, March 17
Government schools in the state could well be up for “adoption” very soon. The government is mulling over introducing the public-private partnership (PPP) model in school education in the state.

With an aim to improve the quality of education and provide better facilities, it is also exploring the option of roping in corporate houses keen on “discharging” their social responsibility without disturbing the existing set-up.

For the purpose, a committee under Secretary (School Education) Surina Rajan, comprising experts and eminent educationists, has been constituted to work out the framework. The committee has been given one month’s time to dwell on the various aspects of adopting the PPP model and prepare a blueprint.

According to sources, the idea behind the exercise was to compliment to existing setup of the government.

The government has already raised its total outlay in the Budget for education from Rs 1,500 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 7,000 crore this year. It has also rolled out a stipend scheme as incentive to nearly 18 lakh in-school children. By incorporating the PPP model, the government wants to raise the quality of education imparted in government schools.

Sources said a number of corporate house and foundations have knocked on the doors of the government to help them serve the cause of fulfilling their corporate social responsibility. By introducing the PPP model in education, the government is looking at strengthening its hands by providing minimal support.

Officials in the Education Department claim that the number of students at the primary level is witnessing a phenomenal increase given various government initiatives and their transition to the elementary and further to the secondary and senior secondary level will require more schools in the times to come.

“While the government set-up will continue to function as it is, the PPP model could be beneficial in not only making more schools available, but also a bouquet of disciplines that are not necessarily available in government schools. We are also looking at collaboration under the PPP model in an improved teaching-learning process, meeting requirements of children with special needs, resource support, teacher-training among others. The avenues are endless,” an official said.

Rohtak, March 17
While in a delayed action a person has been arrested in the Kheri Meham gotra row, representatives of various khap panchayats have announced a meeting of various khaps and gotras in Jind on March 21 to discuss the issue.

They have claimed that the image of the khap panchayats had been tarnished as a drive had been on to defame the age-old tradition of social bodies and system of local justice.

At a meeting here today, Om Prakash Dhankhar, president of the Haryana Dhankhar (Gotra) Sabha, said a meeting of the various khaps and gotras would be held in Jind on March 21 to discuss the prevailing situation regarding the row involving various khap panchayats on marriages in the recent months.

Claiming that the khap system had been existing for about 1,000 years, he said the recent incidents and the subsequent criticism of the khaps had been unfortunate and required a thorough debate as such bodies had been meant for taking an action that was in favour of all concerned and not to do injustice to anyone.

He said those who were likely to attend the meeting include former Chief Minister Hukam Singh, former high court Chief Justice Devi Singh Tewatia, chief of the All-India Jat Mahasabha Virender Singh, former DGP MS Malik, the Meham Chaubisi, Dahiya Khap, Dalal Khap, Rohtak-84 Khap, Jharsa-360 khap, Sonepat-360 khap and Palam-360 khap.

Meanwhile, the arrest of one Virender, alias Illa Numberdar, from Kheri Meham village has left the villagers fuming.

This arrest has been made in connection with the decision announced by the panchayat of Berwal and Beniwal gotra regarding the ouster of a couple and humiliating the kin of the groom on January 30.

A complaint had been lodged by Kavita, who had  persons in this connection. 

Chandigarh, March 17
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today appreciated efforts of the photojournalists of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali in projecting various moods of life through their photographs.

Hooda was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of “Newscapes”, a six-day photo exhibition of more than 50 photojournalists of the tricity, at Kala Bhawan here.

The exhibition was dedicated to eminent photojournalist of the region late Yoj Joy, whose photographs were also displayed at the exhibition. It was organised by the Chandigarh Press Club.

Sirsa, March 17
In a twist to the shooting incident, in which a private security guard was injured on Saturday, the police today booked the injured youth, Krishan Kumar, for allegedly raping a minor, a student of the local Government Polytechnic for Women.

The girl, who had taken the injured security guard to the local general hospital in the early hours of Saturday and then disappeared, has now alleged in her statement given to the police that she was raped by Krishan Kumar in the room of a tubewell near Sakandarpur village.

“I was waiting for a conveyance near my college on Friday, when Krishan, whom I knew earlier, came on his motorcycle and offered to give me a lift to the bus stand. However, instead of taking me to the bus stand, he took me to agriculture fields of his friend, where he raped me at gunpoint,” alleged the girl in her statement.

She alleged that Krishan also pressured her to marry him and when she threatened that she would reveal the whole incident to her family, he allegedly threatened her that he would kill himself and name her for the murder.

The girl claimed that Krishan shot himself and when he was injured, he called his friend, who accompanied her to the hospital, but stayed outside, while she went inside the casualty to admit the injured Krishan.

Balbir Singh, DSP, Sirsa, said a doctor in the general hospital performed the medical examination of the girl today and the clothes worn by her on the day of crime had been sent to a forensic laboratory for examination.

He said a case under Sections 376 (rape) 363 (kidnapping) 366-A (procreation of a minor girl), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 309 (attempt to suicide) had been registered.

Krishan Kumar was brought to the local general hospital with gunshot injury under mysterious circumstances on Saturday morning.

His cousin, who reached in the hospital after two hours, claimed that the youth had come to Sirsa a few days ago informing his family that he has got the job of a security guard in Tara Baba Kutiya, managed by minister Gopal Kanda’s family.

The claim was, however, denied by the minister’s younger brother Gobind Kanda.

Panipat, March 17
During the preliminary investigations carried out in the extortion cases involving the members of the STF, the police has managed to extract information that some part of the money extorted from stockbroker Rajat Aggarwal, Rs 6 lakh, had been sent to a relative of STF chief Ashok Sheoran residing in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

The revelation was made today in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Gagandeep Kaur, where the police had produced ASP Ashok Sheoran to get his remand.

After listening to the argument put up by the prosecution counsel, the court ordered that the accused ASP be sent in police remand till March 21. The police had made elaborate security arrangements to produce the ASP before the court. Meanwhile, sources privy to the investigations told The Tribune that investigating officials had stumbled upon several vital clues that could be used against the accused cops in the court of law. However, the sources refused to divulge the details to the media.

Kaithal, March 17
The police has unearthed a spurious desi ghee manufacturing unit and seized the product and articles used in its manufacturing. It has arrested the man running the racket. However, his staff managed to escape.

On a tip-off that spurious ghee was being prepared in the unit, the police conducted a raid in Malik Colony on the Patiala road here yesterday. The team, led by SHO Ashok Kumar Goyat and comprising Om Prakash and Rajinder Singh of the Health Department, seized 270 kg of spurious ghee, containers and wrappers of some brands. The man allegedly running this racket, Tara Chand, was arrested by the police.

The accused reportedly confessed that he used to bring chemicals from Delhi and mix these with refined oil. He had hired a portion of a house in Malik Colony and used to prepare spurious ghee with the help of workers. The ghee was packed in containers and supplied to the town.

Last month, the police had unearthed a spurious milk manufacturing unit here and seized a huge quantity of the product and articles used in its manufacturing.