Chandigarh, May 7
What is being perceived as a tactical move to pacify the growing demand by khaps, Haryana Congress Rajya Sabha member Shadi Lal Batra has given a notice to move an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, prohibiting tsame-gotra and same-village marriages.

Batra belongs to Rohtak and is a confidant of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. He gave the notice seeking permission to introduce the “Hindu Marriage Act (Amendment) Bill, 2010” to the Rajya Sabha secretariat yesterday.

The notice said he should be given leave to introduce the Bill during the 220th session of the Rajya Sabha, which concluded today. Now the Bill would be taken up during the next session, if Batra is allowed by the House to do so. A copy of the Bill submitted to the Rajya Sabha secretariat proposes that the following should be inserted in Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act after sub-clause (5): “That the parties (to a marriage) are not sapindas of each other, belonging to the same gotra/parivara and residing in the same village.”

In the “statement of objects and reasons” attached by Batra, a lawyer by profession, he says that “social fabric and mutual ties are so strong in rural areas that its violation is not swallowed. “Age-old customs and tradition is that the entire village is considered a unit and its young folk as brothers and sisters. his cultural commitment has gone a long way in ensuring dignity and safety of womanhood in day-to-day activities at their place of work and residence.

“Vedic literature and the seers prohibited marriages in the same gotra or parivara. Further, custom and age-long tradition prohibited marriages in the same village and in the same gotra and sapindas of each other. “In the recent past some unscrupulous youths started violating the customs and values of society by nuptial ties, prohibited otherwise.

This has caused a stir in society and a mass movement to condemn such illegal relationship has started. It is, therefore, high time that the Hindu Marriage Act be amended to specifically include barring marriages in the same gotra and parivara, and residing in the same village.” It is no secret that major political parties in the state, the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), do not want to annoy the khaps for fear of losing Jat votes.

The INLD put the ball in the Congress court when its president Om Prakash Chautala announced that his party would support the government if it brought an amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act to prohibit same-gotra marriages.

If the Congress failed to do so, his party would move the amendment on its own, he declared. The Congress leaders are reluctant to associate their party with any move that is certain to invite critricism by liberal sections of society. By making one of its MPs to move the amendment as a “private member’s Bill”, the party has avoided just that. The khaps have threatened to gherao the Kaithal residence of Congress MP Naveen Jindal on May 10 for his alleged failure to support their demand.

Jhajjar, May 7
Terming the issuing of fabricated admit cards by officials of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, to five candidates who had not even enrolled for a course as “serious”, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has sought an inquiry report on the matter from the university.

In a communiqué received by the Registrar’s office, the commission has directed the university authorities to inform it of the outcome of the investigation carried out by a two-member committee of senior professors and the action taken in this regard in view of the findings and recommendation of the inquiry report.

On the directives of the commission, the university authorities have begun preparing a detailed report to be sent to the commission.

The commission has taken cognizance of the matter not only because the complainant is a woman, but also because she belongs to a minority community.

In her complaint, Rashida Jamal had charged the principal of Sanskriti Institute of Education and Technology, Amarpur Jorasi, Narnaul, with causing mental agony and financial loss to her. She had demanded a compensation of Rs 1 lakh from the college in her complaint that was sent to the National Commission for Minorities (NCM).

Speaking to The Tribune, MDU Registrar Dr Satpal Vats said the the NCW had sought details of the case from the  university.

“An official probe into the case has already been conducted in which two employees of the university and the college principal have been found guilty of committing fraud and indulging in corrupt practices.

“Acting on the inquiry report, a guilty employee has been removed while the process to take stern action against others has been initiated,” said the Registrar, adding that no university employee bringing a bad name to the university would be spared.

A nexus between Maharshi Dayanand University employees and the Sanskriti Institute of Education and Technology was exposed in these columns on April 16. The report revealed that five admit cards for the annual theoretical exams were issued to candidates who were not even enrolled for B.PEd.

On the basis of these fabricated admit cards, three of the five candidates, Rashida Jamal, Amit Joshi and Mukesh Chander, had appeared for the theoretical exam against Ekta Gangwar, Menka and Chhaya Gangwar, respectively.

Sirsa, May 7
The woman assistant professor of Chaudhary Devi Lal University, who had lodged a complaint of harassment against the chairperson of her department, has sought the intervention of the Haryana State Women’s Commission.

In her communication to the commission, the teacher has alleged that the attitude of the university authorities has been lackadaisical and she did not hope to get any justice from them. “A senior functionary of the university told me that this kind of things often happen in institutions and I should not be sensitive about it, when I called him to seek a meeting with him on the issue today,” she complained in her letter faxed to the commission.

The teacher had lodged a complaint with the university authorities on May 1 alleging harassment at the hands of the chairperson of her department.

Meanwhile, a student of the Journalism and Mass Communication Department of the university has also written to the commission seeking its intervention in asking the university authorities to supply a copy of the report of the inquiry done by the women complaint committee on her complaint of sexual harassment against two teachers of the university. She has also sought a hearing from the university chancellor and Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia, who is visiting Sirsa tomorrow.

Ambala, May 7
Additional Deputy Commissioner Renu Phulia issued notices to three Assistant Block Project Officers (ABPO) in connection with the inquiry into the use of MNREGA funds.

All the three officials - Devinder Sharma, Rakesh and Ved Pal - have been charged with giving wrong information to the ADC about the utilisation of the MNREGA funds. The state government had ordered an inquiry by ADC into the utilisation of funds.

The Central government had made available a sum of Rs 100 crore to the district under this scheme; interestingly, Ambala had topped in the MNREGA scheme in the utilisation of funds.

However, BJP legislator Anil Vij had demanded a CBI probe into the scam. Vij said the state government had appointed ADC Sanjeev Verma as inquiry officer in December 2009. But he was transferred within a day of the appointment as inquiry officer. Even the new incumbent Wajir Goyat was also transferred within a short span of time. He said it appeared that transfers were politically motivated.

Alleging a scam of Rs 23-crore from the funds sanctioned to the district, Vij said the funds allocated to the forest department hadn’t been utilised on any developmental work. He added no development project had been undertaken by the forest department.

Vij added inquiries conducted by previous ADCs had revealed that 28 labourers were not the residents of Babyal and Manakpur, adding that the forest department had not made available muster rolls, job cards, etc. He said in view of the lack of transparency in the execution of works and utilisation of funds the need of the hour was to have a CBI probe ordered in the utilisation of MNREGA funds made available to the state government by the Cente.

Vij also demanded district administration officials’ who were responsible for execution of works under the MNREGA should also be suspended.

He further alleged that even though payments had to be made through post offices, they were made by cheque even though the labourers had no proper bank accounts. All this would come to light only through a CBI probe, he added.

Bahadurgarh , May 7
It is really a proud moment for this industrial town as its son, Yunus, has brought laurels by bagging the 80th position in the civil services examination conducted by the UPSC.

He is the elder son of Mohammad Nazir, who does a private job in a factory and is a resident of local Dayanand Colony.

Yunus had completed his initial studies from Govt Senior Secondary School, Bahadurgarh, and then moved to Delhi for pursuing higher studies.

He got his post-graduate degree in biochemistry from Delhi University and joined the All-India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) for carrying out research in biochemistry.

Yunus said it was his second attempt in the civil service examinations.

Earlier, in 2008, he had passed the IAS preliminary and main examinations, but could not clear interview.

“Notwithstanding failure in the first attempt, I did not lose confidence and started preparing for the next examination with greater enthusiasm.

“Consequently, a decent amount of hard work and blessings of my family, friends and the Almighty is all it took to clear the exams,” said Yunus.

He said he had to face a lot of difficulties when his academic certificates went missing after he sat for the civil services for the first time in 2008.

As a result, he could not appear in the next civil services exams. Beaming with excitement at his success this time, Yunus said: “Loads of hard work and lots of patience is the key to success, nothing succeeds like success.

Yunus belongs to a middle-class family.

His mother is a retired teacher while his elder sister is a lecturer in Kurukshetra University and his younger brother has been engaged by a private company.

Jind: Celebrations are on at 25-year-old Vikas Sharma’s house in Defence Colony here as he has secured 92nd rank in the prestigious civil services exam. An alumnus of hardly known Moti Lal Nehru school here and hailing from Padana village in the district, Vikas has climbed the highest ladder of success with sheer hardwork feels Santosh Anand, Principal of Moti Lal Nehru School. — TNS

Hisar, May 7
Violence-hit Mirchpur Dalit families ended their dharna outside the mini-secretariat here this evening with their leaders deciding to approach the Chief Minister in Delhi to discuss their pending demands.

Deputy Commissioner OP Sheoran said the squatters had vacated the secretariat premises.

The administration was taken aback when Tara Chand’s two sons and his widow, who had accepted Rs 16 lakh as compensation yesterday, joined the squatters this morning again.

They sought a compensation of Rs 25 lakh each for the death of their two family members in the violence, Rs 5 lakh for each of the affected families and Rs 2 lakh for every injured person.

The Dalit families once again demanded that they be rehabilitated in Hisar.

Tara Chand’s two sons also did not report for duty today.

They refused to take possession of the government house allotted to one of them which has been furnished at the cost of the exchequer.

Chandigarh, May 7
The State Election Commission has imposed restrictions on the use of vehicles by candidates and their agents/supporters for the municipal elections on May 20 to ensure a peaceful, free and fair poll.

State Election Commissioner Dharam Vir said here today that not more than two vehicles should be hired or procured, whether on payment or otherwise, by a candidate or his agents/supporters on the polling day.

The candidates should be issued permits at least two days before the polling day as per the proforma prescribed by the commission. He said the district administration would keep a close watch on the vehicles used by persons accompanying candidates and their supporters for any possible mischief, including criminal activities like carrying of illegal arms and weapons.

Vehicles used for such acts or for carting anti-social elements to intimidate voters would be impounded by the administration and would not be released till the completion of the election process. Action against the owner, occupants and the candidate would also be taken as per the law.

Dharam Vir said voters issued electoral photo identity cards (EPIC) for the assembly and Lok Sabha elections would have to produce these to exercise franchise on May 20.