Chandigarh, April 6
Haryana’s alleged move to accommodate DLF Homes, setting up a project at Pinjore, has suffered a setback.

Taking cognizance of a petition accusing the Haryana government of “working on behalf” of DLF and Associates, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the dispossession of landowners of Pinjore’s Islam Nagar.

Describing the acquisition process as “colourable exercise of power” and against judicial verdicts, Tara Chand and 10 other residents of Islam Nagar had claimed that initially a “notification was made under Section 4 for the acquisition of 809.79 acres”.

After exemption of land belonging to persons with constructed homes “and also land belonging to property sharks etc, the notification under Section 6 was issued for acquisition of only 673.79 acres. The entire land of 118 acres belonging to the DLF has been released”.

In the petition placed before Justice MM Kumar and Justice Jitendra Chauhan, the petitioners said their land was not released from the acquisition process despite a request for exemption.

On the other hand, the land “of M/S DLF and Associates and M/S Ascent and other associates scattered here and there has been exempted from the acquisition process”.

The petitioners through counsel SS Salar also said the land of only front men of M/S DLF and associates, and M/S Ascent and other associates, had been exempted along with land of private companies.

Going into the background, the petitioners claimed Haryana issued a notification under Section 4 on September 26, 2007, for the acquisition of land for development of Sector 2, part three, four and five, Pinjore, on the land in Bhogpur, Nangal Sodhia, Islam Nagar and Bhagwanpur villages. After the issuance of notification under Section 6, land belonging to influential persons was exempted and commercial interests began to take roots in the minds of the developers.

They “colluded” with powers that be and embarked upon the process of purchasing land “at a very low price in view of the notifications issued under Section 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act”.

Even before the grant of licence, permission was granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to DLF Homes to construct flats, the petitioners added.

The Bench has fixed May 11 as the next date of hearing.

Chandigarh, April 6
Justice Permod Kohli of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside the selection of about 40 employees made in 2007 in the Rohtak district courts.

Justice Kohli has also recommended to the Chief Justice to hold an inquiry on the administrative side against the then judicial officer responsible for the selections.

The court observed that the shortlisting of the candidates was done merely by looking at the face of the candidate without asking even a single question. Such a method was not only illegal, but also unheard off. This reason itself was sufficient for setting aside the selection.

Rohtak, April 6
The district administration had to halt an anti-encroachment drive on the busy Railway Road here today amid a strong protest and a clash between officials and local shopkeepers backed by a Congress leader.

An employee was allegedly beaten up by the protesters but the authorities are yet to book the accused.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate Jaiveer Singh Arya, who had been looking after the campaign, admitted that the drive at Railway Road had been put on hold on the request of shopkeepers who had asked a week’s time to remove encroachments voluntarily.

He said the administration would pull down all violations if the shopkeepers and traders failed to remove these within the stipulated time period.

He said there were encroachments on at least a dozen roads. Each of these roads would be given two days for reming encroachments.

Regarding the clash today, he said the administration was contemplating action against those who had resorted to violence. It is learnt that some shopkeepers had not only manhandled members of the official team, but also managed to retrieve the articles taken away as part of the campaign. On encroachments making a comeback despite several campaigns in the past, the SDM said steps would be taken to remove the problem on a permanent basis.

“This is a serious issue and the authorities will never be able to tackle it properly as long as they continue to succumb to political pressure and intervention,” claimed Raj Singh, a social activist.

He said the rent collected by shopkeepers from vendors also went into the pocket of civic body employees who chose to turn a blind eye till a drive was announced.

The most affected parts include the quila road, civil road, Gohana bus stand, Subhash road and Delhi road.

Meanwhile, shifting the bus stand to the city bypass has failed to serve any purpose as the passage here too has been encroached.

Fatehabad, April 6
Thirty-three-year-old Krishna is at a loss to understand how to deal with the situation that has arisen after the death of her husband in a fire incident. She and her three minor children have been rendered roofless and penniless after a fire devoured the head of their family, Ram Parkash (35), and burnt the entire belongings of the family.

The fire that broke out in the one-room rented accommodation of the family in the Ashok Nagar locality of the town on Monday charred Ram Parkash beyond recognition and burnt the room completely.

Distressed, Krishna has been sitting with her children outside of the house of a relative and her children are dumbstruck at the loss.

No financial assistance from the district authorities or social organisations has so far been offered to the family.

Ram Parkash, says a neighbour, belonged to Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh, and eked out a living in Fatehabad by pulling a rickshaw.

He was suffering from tuberculosis for the past one-and-a-half years and was mostly confined to bed since then. Krishna and her elder son had gone out to do some job, while her two children had gone to school when the fire broke out in the room in the afternoon on Monday.

Before fire engines could douse the fire, the entire room had burnt and Ram Parkash’s badly charred body was also recovered from the room.

An electric short-circuit is being described as the cause of the fire. “All we had has been finished. The only clothes we have are the ones we are wearing,” says a grief-stricken Krishna. “No one cares for the poor. We went several times to the general hospital for my husband’s treatment, but came back wasting our time that could have been utilised earning bread and butter for the children,” she alleges.

Ram Parkash, she says, was inching towards death in the absence of any medication for the past few months.

Krishna works in a sweetshop and gets Rs 800 a month, while her elder son Raju works at a tea stall and brings home Rs 600 per month. Interestingly, with a monthly income of Rs 1,400, the family with no house of its own, perhaps does not “qualify” for the below poverty line status. “We tried for the BPL card several times, none listens to the voice of the poor,” Krishna says. Will the authorities or the NGOs do something to mitigate the sufferings of this family?

Sirsa, April 6
Timely intervention by protection officer Sadhna Mittal appointed under the Domestic Violence Act, who is also Child Marriage Prevention Officer for the district, saved a minor girl from getting married at Baragura village in the district.

According to police sources, a complaint was received at the Baragura police station that a minor, who was staying with her sister and brother-in-law in the village, after her father had died and mother started living with another person, was being married today. The complainant said both the bride and the ridegroom Deep Singh were less than the marriageable age.

“The police immediately swung into action and sent a police party with Mittal to stop the marriage,” said Sirsa SP Satinder Kumar Gupta. Family members of the bride and the bridegroom failed to produce any evidence of them being major and they were warned about the legal consequences of marrying minors. “The family members of the two have given a written undertaking that they would not marry the couple, till they attain marriageable age,” Mittal informed. Earlier, Mittal, helped by a police party, stopped the marriage of another minor at Nejadela village two days back.

Chandigarh, April 6
Justice Arvind Kumar of the High Court today dismissed the petition filed by the defeated SAD candidate Ajaib Singh Mukhmailpur against victorious Independent candidate Madan Lal Thekedar from Ghanaur constituency.

The general elections were held in February 2007. The petitioner had prayed for setting aside the election on the ground that the nomination papers of the returned candidate had been accepted wrongly by the returning officer.

Gurgaon, April 6
Local leader Rohtas Khatana, who had contested the last Assembly elections for the Sohna seat as a nominee of the HJC (BL), joined the INLD along with his supporters in the presence of party’s national general secretary Ajay Singh Chautala at Rithaula village in the district today.

Ever since Khatana, a prominent Gujjar leader of the area, quit the HJC, it was being speculated that he would join the INLD. After finally joining the INLD today, Khatana said there was no democracy in the HJC and party leader Kuldeep Bishnoi was surrounded by sycophants.

Addressing the Gujjar leader's supporters on the occasion, Ajay Chautala maintained that Khatana had taken "the right decision at the right time". He assured them that thei leader would be given due respect in the party.

The INLD leader castigated the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in the state, which, he said, had failed on all fronts, especially in ensuring the provision of adequate water and power supply.

Coming down heavily on the Hooda regime, Ajay Chautala maintained that an instance of people's growing resentment was evident when the water and power-starved residents of Sirsa observed a bandh during the Chief Minister’s recent visit there.

“The people of Bhiwani and other parts of the state are also fed up with the functioning of the Hooda government,” he asserted.

The INLD leader pointed out that ever since Hooda took over the reins of Haryana during his previous term, he had been stating that the power crisis in the state would be over within three years.

“However, he completed his full five-year term and started a fresh term last year, but he is still stating that regular power supply will take another three years,” he maintained.

Lambasting the Congress regime for having abandoned the SYL issue, Ajay Chautala even offered to back the state government if it sincerely pursued the matter with the Centre.

Rohtak, April 6
The Signature campaign launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the spiralling prices has been a roaring success, claimed Krishan Pal Gurjar, president of the Haryana unit of the party while interacting with mediapersons here today.

Thousands of party activists and supporters would take part in a national-level rally to be held in New Delhi on April 21 on the issue. Charging the UPA government at the Centre and the state government of utter failure on various fronts, he alleged “wrong policies and programmes of the government has led to an unprecedented price rise in the country.” Describing the Prime Minister and his government as a mute spectator, he said being an economist and an able administrator were two different things. He claimed that the government’s “improper and lopsided functioning” had landed the common man into trouble as the government had been pursuing the policy of benefiting only a handful.

A total of 20 lakh persons were likely to take part in the signature campaign which would culminate with a massive rally in Delhi.

The Haryana government had failed to provide adequate water and power in the past five-and-a-half years though it had claimed in 2005 that power woes would end in two to three years.

The BJP leader said the law and order situation in the state had worsened and police officials had turned extortionists.

He said the government had increased the prices of almost all essential items, including petroleum products, for no apparent reason and, thus, had no right to remain in power.

Sirsa, April 6
The police today arrested an INLD activist in connection with alleged attack on minister Gopal Kanda on Saturday, the day the INLD had organised “Sirsa Bandh” on Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s visit to Sirsa.

SP Satinder Kumar Gupta said the police has arrested a youth Sanjay Saini in connection with the FIR lodged by the minister’s brother Gobind Kanda. The police had booked seven identified and 20-25 unidentified INLD activists in connection with April 3 incident of scuffle between Minister Gopal Kanda and some INLD workers during the “Sirsa Bandh”.

The FIR under Sections 148, 149, 323, 382, 307 and 506 of the IPC, various provisions of the Arms Act and the Prevention of Insult to the National Honour Act-1971, was registered on the complaint of Gobind Kanda. Sanjay Saini’s name did not figure among the names of identified persons mentioned by Kanda in his complaint. Police sources said the video footage available with them showed Saini indulging in “criminal activities”.

The police sources said more such arrests would be made based on video footage available with them.

Kandas were involved in an unsavoury incident during the Sirsa Bandh on Saturday, when the two brothers and some INLD workers had a scuffle in the Hisaria Bazar.

Both the Kandas as well as the INLD MLA Abhey Singh Chautala had presented their own version of the incident.

While, Kanda alleged that the INLD activists attacked him, Chautala alleged that the Kandas attacked his workers and used abusive language without any provocation.

Yamunanagar, April 6
The Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme, a Central government scheme, has brought a new hope for slum dwellers living in unhygienic conditions and deprived of basic amenities in the district.

The Centre has sanctioned a sum of Rs 34.69 crore under the programme for the construction of the houses for people living in slums of Yamunanagar and Jagadhri towns of the district. Besides, the state government has also sanctioned Rs 2 crore for construction of internal streets in the slum areas and also to provide other facilities.

The grant is a great relief for the slum residents as they have a very significant presence in Jagadhri and Yamunanagar towns, with a growing poverty profile. Slum settlements have multiplied over the years and living conditions of the poor have not improved much.

The scheme would provide houses with high-quality civic services, including continuous safe drinking water supply, 100 per cent sanitation, door-to-door collection of solid waste, good quality roads and basic amenities to all inhabitants of slums.

The projects were given approval by the Centre and subsequently Rs 23.50 crore for Jagadhri and Rs 11.19 crore for Yamunanagar have been sanctioned.

In Jagadhri, there was a target of providing houses to 968 slum dwellers in 34 identified slums with an expenditure of Rs 7.41 crore. The cost of each dwelling unit is Rs 80,000 per unit and the amount would be released in four equal instalments to the beneficiaries. The floor area not less than 25 square metre and preferably two room accommodation plus kitchen and toilet are constructed, Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Aggarwal told The Tribune.

“Rs 8 crore have already been spent for sewerage, drains, streetlights and roads to give a face-lift to the slum areas in Jagadhri. Besides, Rs 15 crore in Jagadhri and Rs 11.5 crore in Yamunanagar would be spent in the coming months,” he added.

Chandigarh, April 6
A senior Haryana police officer, Rajbir Deswal, posted as DIG (CID), has been chosen by the Haryana Sahitya Akademi for the prestigious Pt. Lakhmi Chand Samman for 2009-10.

The Rs 1 lakh cash award is given in recognition of an individual’s contribution to the state’s art, culture, history and folk literature.

A post-graduate in English literature, Deswal has authored many books and over 500 articles.

He is a member of the Indian Society of Authors and the Haryana Sahitya Akademi. — TNS

Kaithal, April 6
Four members of a gang, allegedly planning to loot vehicles at Siwan road bypass, were arrested by the CIA branch of Kaithal police here yesterday.

The police has recovered two pistols, live cartridges, iron rod and a motorcycle from them. The accused have confessed about making murderous attack on a doctor here about 10 days ago, in which two compounders and a patient under treatment at a private hospital suffered injuries as armed miscreants opened fire at a clinic. The accused were produced in a local court that sent them in judicial custody in both the cases.

SSP Sandeep Khirwar here today said the police party arrested the four accused when they stopped a police vehicle and tried to loot the occupants. But when they realised that they were facing the police party, they made an unsuccessful attempt to flee, but were overpowered by the police.

The police seized a .315 bore loaded pistol from Sunil, a resident of Sandlana under the Narnaund police station in Hisar, an gandasi from Sunil, a resident of Sauntha under Narnaund, a .12 bore pistol and three live cartridges from Jagdev Singh alias Bhalla and an iron rod and torch from Manoj alias Mauji, both residents of Peedal in Kaithal. — OC

Sirsa, April 6
In its endeavour to end the practice of stubble burning during the wheat-harvesting season, the district authorities are providing straw reapers free of cost to gaushalas in the district.

The District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) is distributing the straw reapers to the gaushalas.

Pankaj Chaudhary, ADC, Sirsa, and Chief Executive Officer of the DRDA, distributed the first 21 reapers yesterday.

“A sum of Rs 1.23 crore will be spent on providing straw reapers to the 55 gaushalas in the district,” Chaudhary said on the occasion.

Farmers tend to burn stubble standing on the field after they have harvested their wheat, thereby causing accidents and leading to environmental pollution.

The practice not only decreases fertility of the soil by killing friendly pests and burning micronutrients, it creates shortage of wheat straw, which is used as fodder.

The gaushalas can now reap stubble of farmers free of cost and get fodder for their cattle.

The ADC said teams of officers of the Agriculture Department would visit villages and persuade farmers not to burn the agriculture residue in their farms.

The ADC said straw reapers were also being made available to the farmers on subsidised rates by the Agriculture Department.

Chandigarh, April 6
With a view to identifying young sports talent in the state and groom them from the young age, the Haryana government will organise a statewide sports talent hunt from April 15 to 17 at the District Sports Complex of four districts, including Gurgaon, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Panchkula. The last date for registration is April 10.

Stating this yesterday, Minister of State for Sports Gopal Kanda said the talent would be identified through a statewide open competition. He said the Sports and Youth Affairs Department of the state had been coordinating for this sports talent hunt programme and young budding sportspersons between the age of 8 and 19 years could get themselves registered for a test at www.play4india.com or they can contact District Sports Officer of Gurgaon Kulwinder Singh during office hours.

For any other additional information about the event, Director of Sports and Youth Welfare Department OP Singh could be contacted on his phone number 09888034445 or Joint Director Varsha Khangwal on her phone number 09876657270 during office hours.