Mirchpur (Hisar), April 22
Despite daylong efforts, the district authorities today failed to convince members of the Dalit community to cremate the bodies of two victims of violence against the community.

Tara Chand and his disabled daughter Suman were killed when members of a community torched about a dozen houses belonging to the Dalits in the village yesterday.

The authorities were still closeted with community leaders in a bid to break the deadlock when reports last came in. The bodies were taken to the village in the afternoon after post-mortem examination at the General Hospital in Hisar. Agitated members of the community refused to cremate the bodies till their demands were met.

They demanded registration of criminal cases against the SDM, tehsildar and policemen present in the village at the time of the incident under the Scheduled Castes and the Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, compensation to the victims’ kin and removal of the DC, the SP, SHO, naib tehsildar and all policemen posted at the Narnaund police station.

The district authorities tried to convince Dalit leaders in the village to cremate the bodies, but repeated rounds of talks failed to break the deadlock.

The authorities refused to book officials under the Scheduled Castes and the Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act whereas the Dalits remained adamant on their demand. The authorities, however, agreed to pay compensation and take a member of the victims’ family in government service.

At least three families fled the village with their meagre belongings last night. Many others who wanted to shift this morning were persuaded by others against it. Several Dalit families have shifted their women and children to their relatives’ homes in nearby villages.

A team of the CPM led by state secretary Inderjit Singh reached the village this morning. It persuaded two families not to leave the village.

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Maan Singh Manhera, Congress MLA Shakuntla Khatik and several others stayed put in the village.

Meanwhile, many upper caste families have offered shelter to the Dalits. At least four families have shifted to the houses of Jats in the village. This gives a faint hope of the two communities resolving their differences at a later stage. The Dalit families have suffered extensive losses. A family which had been making preparations for the marriage of a daughter has lost all its belongings, including the house.

The villagers are sore with the authorities for failing to act in time. The common refrain is that the naib tehsildar and the SHO failed to act despite simmering tension in the village two days prior to the clash 
yesterday.

Faridabad, April 22
Government employees, mainly of the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF), today blocked traffic in protest against the setting afire of houses of Dalits in Mirchpur village, Hisar, resulting in the death of two Tara Chand and hoe young disabled daughter.

Mobilised under the banner of Haryana Sarva Karamchari Sangh, they sent a joint memorandum to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda urging for immediate action against the culprits.

They wanted an assurance from the government that such incidents did not recur in the state. Action was also demanded against officials who had failed to take effective steps to prevent the incident.

State general secretary, Subash Lamba, said the sangh executive would meet at Hisar on April 24 where the Mirchpur incident would be discussed. The employees staged a noisy protest march on city roads and blocked traffic at Badshah Khan Chowk, the heart of the city. All through the protest, they raised anti-government slogans.

The leaders alleged that the ugly incident against the Dalits could have been prevented had the police taken timely action against the aggressors .

“The police on the spot remained a mute spectator when the violence began in the Dalit locality,” he added. 

New Delhi, April 22
Issues relating to Dalits and Scheduled Castes were raised in the Lok Sabha today with the BJP demanding that the Centre must take note of growing incidents of atrocities against them, particularly in Haryana.Virender Kashyap (BJP) referred to the houses of Dalits being set ablaze in a Hisar village yesterday, resulting in the death of a man and his disabled daughter.

He said several such incidents had taken place in the state 
in the past few years.

"Even the administration does not take timely action to prevent these," he rued.

"Inaction by the police" in preventing the recent incident is a reflection on the law and order situation in Haryana, he said.

Kashyap got immediate support from different sections of the House, including some Congress members. Raghuvansh Prasad (RJD), Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M), Dara Singh Chauhan (BSP), Arjun Charan Sethi (BJD) and several BJP members wanted the government to take urgent steps in the matter. — PTI

Ambala: Former Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala, addressing party workers here, criticised the Mirchpur incident in which over a dozen houses belonging to the Dalits were set afire.

He held the authorites responsible for the same. He also took the state government to task for the poor power situation. — OC

Manesar (Gurgaon), April 22
With a view to promoting technical education among girls in the state, the Haryana government has exempted the girl students at the state-run polytechnics from paying student fund as well as development charges from the new academic session (2010-11).

There is already no tuition fee for the girl students and they are given books and tool kits free of cost. Hence, now the girl students studying at the government polytechnics throughout the state will get technical education absolutely free of cost.

This was disclosed by Haryana Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sharda Rathore in an interaction with mediapersons on the sidelines of the concluding day of a state-level job fair at Government Polytechnic College here today.

Haryana Minister of State for Agriculture and Cooperatives Sukhbir Kataria was the chief guest, while Rathore presided over the function.

They further disclosed that a Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology was being established at Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology in Murthal, Sonepat. Diploma classes in this trade were already being held on a temporary campus in Panipat and the degree classes would commence from the new academic session.

Nearly 500 students from different parts of the state got job offers during the fair, where representatives of more than 30 well-known companies had come to hold campus interviews.

In his address, the minister exhorted the students to develop self-confidence, which, he said, was the key to success in this age of competition. He laid stress on the inculcation of good moral values and ethics along with studies.

Kataria asserted that the Manesar polytechnic would be developed as a centre of excellence in automobile studies as there was a considerable presence of automobile industry in the area.

Addressing the students, Rathore emphasised the need to develop work culture, improve communication skills and personality development among the students, especially those coming from the rural background.

She maintained that such job fairs would now be a regular feature and a job fair exclusively for girls was being organised at Government Polytechnic College for Women in Faridabad on April 28.

The CPS pointed out that if the polytechnics admit 10 per cent extra students than the allocated seats, they would have to give exemption in fees to the girls, weaker sections and differently abled.

Rathore said four state-level educational institutes would also be set up in Rohtak. These include the State Institute of Fashion and Design, State Institute of Film and Television, State Institute of Fine Arts and State Institute of Professional Studies.

Chandigarh, April 22
The Haryana government will give a discount of 15 per cent on rates of land to be allotted under the Jai Jawan Awas Yojna (JJAY) for housing societies of military personnel and ex-servicemen.

Announcing this at the annual Civil-Military Liaison Conference between Headquarters Western Command and the state government, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the domicile condition in the JJAY had also been relaxed and the time period for the initial payment to HUDA had been extended to December 31, 2010.

Stating that the government had made 10 per cent reservation for soldiers and ex-servicemen in group housing societies in the state, he said applications for exclusive defence colonies for armed forces personnel would be sought in Narnaul, Bahadurgarh and Karnal whereas applications for a defence colony in Rewari had also been invited and plots for defence colonies at Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hisar and Jind had already been allotted.

During the conference it was also decided to start separate dedicated regional transport offices for defence personnel at Panchkula, Ambala and Hisar, which would facilitate the large population of serving and retired defence personnel residing in and around cantonments.

A pedestrian over-bridge opposite the Command Hospital, Chandimandir would be constructed and the feasibility of providing an escalator to facilitate the patients coming to the hospital would also be examined by the state government. Haryana has earmarked Rs 35 crore for the welfare of ex-servicemen and war widows in the current fiscal. Other welfare measures include financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre, Mohali, and exempting CSD goods from entry tax.

The Chief Minister also stressed for more liaison between the Army and the civil administration, stating that terrorism knew no geographical boundaries and though it was a global problem, “we have to fight and win our own battle”.

The General Officer Commanding, Western Command, Lt-Gen SR Ghosh, urged for regular monitoring and interaction between the intelligence wings of the two establishments. He suggested enhancing the bomb disposal squads and more disaster management coordination as no state was immune to natural disaster. 

Chandigarh, April 22
The house tax is back in Haryana. The state government today rescinded the notification, exempting house in self-occupied residential properties with immediate effect following stoppage of grants for urban development by the Union Government.

The house tax exemption notification was issued in November 2007. However, the Union Government had told the state that it would not receive any grant for completing the ongoing projects and other development schemes unless the house tax was reintroduced. According to official sources, the grants stopped by the Centre were to the tune of Rs 400 crore. The cash-starved state government could hardly afford to lose this much money. The house tax exemption had adversely impacted the resources of the municipalities in the state.

The opposition has criticised the state government’s decision to reintroduce the house tax. Former Mayor of Chandigarh and senior Haryana BJP leader Gian Chand Gupta said the government had betrayed the trust of the people. It first exempted house tax and had now reintroduced it after taking votes in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Gupta said it was wrong to say that in the absence of house tax, the Centre would not release any development grants for urban areas. He pointed out that in Chandigarh, there was still no house tax and the city was getting grants from the Union Government. Haryana INLD president Ashok Arora and convener of the trade cell of the party Subhash Goyal also described the decision as a “betrayal” with the people, who were already facing steep price rise under the Congress rule.

They said the INLD would oppose the decision on the streets. Meanwhile, official sources said the government had constituted a committee headed by a minister to review the entire structure of house tax, including the rate of tax and categories to be exempted. The committee had been asked to give its recommendations at the earliest so that the new system could replace the present system.

The committee had invited suggestions from all concerned and it would give due weightage to their views while forming a new structure of house tax. The new system is likely to be on unit area method, with self-assessment system. 

Chandigarh, April 22
The Haryana government has imposed a ban on preparing paddy nurseries before May 15 and planting paddy before June 15.

This has been done under the Haryana Preservation of Sub-Soil Water Act, 2009.

A spokesman for the Agriculture Department said here today that the ban had been imposed in view of the continuously depleting underground water in the state due to indiscriminate use of water resources and scanty rainfall over the past few years.

The farmers violating these orders would be liable to be punished under the Act.

Their crops would be destroyed on their expenditure.

A fine of Rs 10,000 per hectare per month would also be imposed on them, he warned, urging the farmers to cooperate.

He urged the farmers to observe the provisions of this Act and not to plant paddy before June 15 in their own and national interest.

Bhiwani, April 22
A 4-km-long human chain was formed by students of various schools to mark World Earth Day here today. Raising slogans and holding placards, students pledged to save the earth from pollution and other devastating elements.

The event was organised by the Green Society, Bhiwani, which also took out a march past through main roads of the city.

Mahant Vednath of the local Jogiwala Shiv temple and Deputy Commissioner Ramesh Chand Verma jointly flagged off the human chain. They also administered the pledge of not using polythene to children.

“Children are the best medium to spread any message and involvement of schoolchildren has left an everlasting impression on the people that they should also make efforts to save earth by discouraging the use of polythene,” said Mahant Vednath. The DC assured the society to provide all possible help in curbing the polythene menace. The administration distributed non-woven bags to each student on the occasion. These carry bags carried environmental messages. Verma said the state government had banned the use of coloured polythene and any trader found selling or using coloured plastic bags after May 1 would be punished as per law.

Dr PK Anand, patron of the Green Society and key person of the event, said the polythene had become a threat to human beings today. He also urged the people to avoid using polythene. The human chain culminated at the mini-secretariat, where society members submitted a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner RC Bidhan. NCC cadets, Nehru Yuva Kendra members and students of TITs also participated in the march past.

AMBALA: Earth Day was celebrated in Chaman Vatika in Ambala City to promote conversation of earth resources here on 
Thursday. The morning assembly started with a pleasant thought on earth. Students expressed different views on Earth Day. Principal of the school told students about the importance of the day. He said natural resources of the earth were rapidly decreasing and environment was being degraded by human activities. Chairman of the school Rajender Nath asked students to plant at least one sapling in their houses every year.

The day was also celebrated in Police DAV Public School. Principal of the school Vikas Kohli asked the students to avoid polythene bags and make judicious use of water. Students also planted saplings on the school campus on the occasion. — OC

Chandigarh, April 22
Continuing with the crusade against encroachments and wrong parking in Gurgaon, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the state to specify the “minimum parking space” required in Haryana’s mall city.

The directions were issued after lack of parking space in the city was brought to the High Court’s notice.

At present, the High Court is hearing arguments on a plea filed by a city advocate, Ajay Singh.

He is seeking the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against the authorities concerned for their failure to implement in letter and spirit the directions earlier issued by the High Court in the traffic regulation and pollution control case.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, Justice Rajive Bhalla was informed that there was hardly any space for parking vehicles at several places in the city. Justice Bhalla asked the State of Haryana and other respondents “to file a detailed affidavit”.

Justice Bhalla also took note of the fact that Gurgaon administrator of Haryana Urban Development Authority was not represented in the court during the proceedings. “Despite the order dated April 5, 2010, no one is present on behalf of the administrator, HUDA, Gurgaon. Ashok Jindal, Additional Advocate-General, Haryana, is directed to ensure the presence of the administrator, HUDA, on the next date of hearing.

Before parting with the orders, Justice Bhalla gave the authorities concerned time till May 5 for filing their response to the queries raised by the court.

Justice Bhalla had earlier taken note of the fact that the authorities concerned in Gurgaon had not gone much beyond issuing challans to traffic violators and had directed the DC “to ensure the vehicles are parked in the earmarked parking, whether within or outside public and private buildings, markets, malls and offices”.

In an attempt to apply the brakes on the practice of unlawful parking, Justice Bhalla had also asked the HUDA administrator and the Municipal Corporation Commissioner “to file a response setting out the parking space available in the city of Gurgaon”.

Sirsa, April 22
Additional District and Sessions Judge JS Kundu has sent notice to the state for April 26 on an application of anticipatory bail by three INLD activists in a criminal case lodged by Minister Gopal Kanda’s brother Gobind Kanda.

Raja Kaswan, Leela Saini and Suresh Darba, INLD activists named in the FIR, had filed application for their pre-arrest bail.

The three along with four other identified persons and 20-30 unidentified persons were charged with attacking the Kanda brothers on April 3, when the INLD had organised “Sirsa Bandh” on the Chief Minister’s visit.

Pardeep Godara, another accused in the case, has already got interim bail.

Initially, the police had registered a case under Sections 148, 149, 323, 382, 307 and 506 of the IPC, Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Indian Arms Act and Section 2 of the Prevention of Insult to the National Honour Act 1971. surces in the district police said Hans Raj, the then SHO of the city police station, Sirsa, who dropped charges of serious nature from the FIR of Kandas, has been suspended.

However, no senior police officer is confirming this. Hans Raj was earlier replaced with another SHO and sent to the Police Lines, after he dropped charges after his investigation.

Karnal, April 22
The Karnal leopard killing case took a new turn today with noted environmentalist and wildlife activist Naresh Kadiyan lodging a complaint against the police personnel involved in the shooting of the “big cat” under Section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act and penalties under Section 51.

Kadiyan, who lodged the complaint against sub-inspector Som Pal and others in the Sadar police station, said the “brazen act” of the police tantamounted to “poaching” and punishable with imprisonment up to three to seven years and a fine of Rs 25,000. He also demanded that the case be investigated by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.

However, local villagers took a diametrically opposite stand and maintained that the policemen acted to save their lives and announced to publicly honour the policemen.

In fact, the Forest Department was to be blamed for the incident as it failed to capture the leopard and rescue the people under attack.A case should be registered against the forest officials concerned who did nothing to save the people from attacks by wild animals and not against the policemen who killed the leopard to save innocent people, they argued.

Meanwhile, Naresh Kadiyan launched a “light a candle” campaign on the Internet to pay homage to the dead leopard and to create awareness about wildlife protection among people.

Sirsa, April 22
The Haryana State Commission for Women (HSCW) has sought a detailed report of the case of alleged sexual harassment of a student of the Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) Department of Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa.

The commission has taken a serious note of the “alleged sexual harassment” of the student by her teachers, as reported by newspapers, and said it needed to be taken seriously.

The commission has asked the university authorities to get the matter probed from the standing committee on sexual harassment set up in all educational institutions under the guidelines of the Supreme Court, and has asked the university authorities to send their report.

Sushila Sharma, chairperson of the commission, said a team from the HSCW would visit the university for recording the statement of the girl and for investigating the matter, in case the university authorities failed to perform their duty.

She said the commission had also approached the Director-General of Police, Haryana, and the Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa, to ensure justice to the victim.

Following the communication from the HSCW, the university authorities have withdrawn the inquiry from the three-member committee of teachers and handed it over to the committee on sexual harassment.

Interestingly, the university had constituted the committee on April 17 only, after the alleged incident.

The committee headed by Proctor Shamsher Singh, includes an advocate, Kumud Bansal, teachers Monika, Nivedita and Deepti and medical officer Shefali.

Meanwhile, a group of students from the university has sought the intervention of Dr KS Khokhar, Vice-Chancellor of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, who holds the additional charge of the university, in this matter.

In a letter addressed to Dr Khokhar and delivered to Registrar RK Sehgal, the students alleged that concerted pressure was being exerted on the complainant by a section of teachers to withdraw her complaint.

In yet another development, over 100 girls from the university expressed their solidarity with the complainant and requested the Registrar to expedite the probe into the incident.

Sehgal, while confirming the two representations, said he had handed over these representations to the committee probing the matter.

Fatehabad, April 22
In a tragic incident, a farm labourer got killed when his body was entangled in a wheat thresher in the fields of Kirdhan village here today.

The victim identified as Shravan (20), a labourer from Bihar, was working in the fields of farmer Richhpal.

The victim, wearing rubber gloves, was feeding wheat crop into the thresher, when one of his gloves got entangled in the machine.

Before those standing nearby could understand, his both hands, head and a part of torso got trapped in the machine. The police reached the spot and took the body for a postmortem. — TNS