Chandigarh, June 20
Haryana Public Service Commission’s former secretary personally delivered answersheets for HCS (executive) and allied services examination to the examiners. This was revealed during the investigations into the allegations of irregularities in the selections.

The probe into the selections carried out in 2001, 2003 and 2004 has also placed the examiners in the dock. Seven candidates have also been held at fault for disclosing their identities in the answersheets. As many as 22,135 answersheets were “not in series of registration numbers”.

“The examiners have made cuttings/over-writings, thereby increasing or decreasing marks. They did not attest the cuttings/over-writings, did not sign the answersheets… and gave marks to partly attempted questions on different pages, which is against the rules.

“The examiners have re-checked the answersheets on their own, whereas there are no rules,” Haryana Superintendent of Police, Vigilance Bureau, Pat Ram Singh has asserted in the status report to be examined by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 12.

The matter was brought to the high court’s notice initially by Haryana’s former advocate-general Mohan Jain, now additional solicitor-general of India at Delhi.

Jain, also instrumental in the preparation of the “chargesheet” against the Chautalas, was appearing as the petitioners’ counsel in a PIL for CBI probe into the alleged irregularities jointly filed by former minister Karan Singh Dalal and two candidates.

The status report says a large number of discrepancies have been found in the answersheets of Prof Jagdish Singh of Gorakhpur, Dr Vivek Pandey of Allahabad, Dr KD Pandey of Varanasi, Dr Pawan Bala of Delhi, Prof Vidyadhar Mishra of Allahabad, RK Punia of Karnal, Dr Maheshwari Prasad of Varanasi, Prof V Chandra Mouli of Hyderabad and Dr RS Khatri of Delhi.

The report adds: “Maximum discrepancies have been found in the answersheets examined by the examiners residing at Delhi, Varanasi, Allahabad, Gorakhpur and Hisar, where the then secretary had gone personally to deliver and bring back the answersheets.

“KD Pandey could not be examined as he has expired, while another examiner RK Bose could not be examined as he is settled abroad. Rest of the examiners have not explained satisfactorily as to what promoted them to re-examine the answersheets and make amends.”

The award list prepared by the examiners was also found to have been amended by the “secretary at the HPSC level”. Selected candidates Anjana Malik wrote name and address, Vijender Singh gave his address, Narender Kumar Saarwan “depicted a particular sign” and Parmod Kumar Sharma penned down “Om” at the top of the pages. “They should have been punished for trying to disclose their identity,” the report says.

It adds that 10 candidates on the selection list used “different pens while writing answers”. The candidates are: Jagniwas, Jagdeep, Kamlesh Kumar, Kuldhir Singh, Manish Nagpal, Ranjit Kaur, Sujeet Kumar, Surender Kumar, Veena Huda and Ghanshyam Singh.

Panipat, June 20
Senior Congress leader Sampat Singh said here today that the issue of same-gotra marriage was a social concern, which should be allowed to settle on its own without any interference from the state or the union government.

Maintaining a safe distance from the issue, he said such matters could create imbalance and affect the social fabric of the state and hence should not be dealt with haste at any level.

Speaking to mediapersons, Singh said the society should itself come out with an amicable solution to the issue. Even if a law was enacted to annul same-gotra marriages, its role would remain limited, claimed Singh. He stated that amendments in the Hindu Marriage Act was a vast subject as it would affect lakhs of people across the country and it would be a cumbersome exercise to change it to suit the demands of a single state.

On being asked about the discontent amongst the party leadership over the working of the government, he said the Congress government was working as a united house in the state and even if there were some differences of opinion amongst its leaders, the party stood on firm ground.

He said opposition parties had been making futile attempts to disgrace the Congress on various grounds. Reacting to the statement issued by local legislator Balbir Pal Shah, he said the Congress was the only party in which all had the right to voice their concerns. Citing examples of Maharashtra and other states, Shah had recently stated that leaders hailing from different social backgrounds had been made Chief Ministers there and why in Haryana only one section of society was being chosen to lead to the state, while there were more experienced leaders in the party who could be in the forefront.

Defending the government over allegation of misusing the CBI, Sampat Singh said it was a central agency and it would be wrong to doubt its integrity.

Expressing concern over the rising cases of harassment of women by senior government officials, he said it was quite unfortunate that some government officials had misused their positions and brought disgrace to their positions by indulging in immoral acts. Such people should be brought to the book and should be dealt with as per the law, he added. 

Gurgaon, June 20
Gurgaon residents’ wait for metro will finally come to an end on Monday, when the much-awaited HUDA City Centre (Gurgaon)-Qutub Minar corridor of the Delhi Metro will be opened to public.

With a view to facilitating Metro passengers of Gurgaon, the district administration has planned to run connecting buses on six routes. Air-conditioned as well as and non-AC buses will ply on these routes.

Thanks to the commissioning of the Metro service, the commuters will be able to cover the 14.47 km distance within 27 minutes.

The train services will commence simultaneously from Delhi’s Qutub Minar and HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon at 8 am on Monday.

Initially, five trains will ply on the stretch between 6 am and 11 pm with a frequency of approximately 12 minutes. A standby train has also been kept for emergency use. The minimum fare on the route is Rs 8 and the maximum is Rs 30.

The corridor is fully elevated and connects 10 Metro stations - Qutub Minar, Chhattarpur, Sultanpur, Ghitorni, Arjangarh, Guru Dronacharya, Sikanderpur, MG Road, IFFCO Chowk and HUDA City Centre. Nine stations will be operational from Monday.

“The Metro will bypass the Chhattarpur station as the work is yet to be completed there,” says an official, adding that the station was likely to be operational by August.

Of the 10 stations, six have parking facility. Parking contracts for Ghitorni, Arjangarh and Sikanderpur have not been finalised and the parking lot is under construction at the Chhattarpur station.

To facilitate passengers, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) also plans to run connecting bus services from Qutub Minar metro station to Central Secretariat metro station from 6.15 am to 11.45 pm.

Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria said initially some bus routes had been finalised but the routes and number of buses could be increased depending on the number of passengers once the metro started on its full length, i.e. from HUDA City Centre in Gurgaon to Central Secretariat in Delhi.

Elaborating about the routes, he said one route would be from Sector 4 and 7 Chowk to the metro station via Sectors 9, 9-A, 10, 10-A, Hero Honda Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, IFFCO Chowk, MG Road, Sectors 55-56, Kendriya Vihar, metro station and back from Medicity, Rajiv Chowk, New Court, Old Railway Road and Sectors 4 and 7.

The second route will be from Sector 5 to the Gurgaon Metro Station via Palam Vihar, Sectors 23 and 22, Dundahera, Udhyog Vihar, IFFCO Chowk, MG Road, Sectors 55 and 56, Kendriya Vihar, Metro Station and back from Medicity, Rajiv Chowk, IFFCO Chowk, Udyog Vihar, Sector 22-23, Palam Vihar and Sector 5.

The third route is from New Colony to Metro Station via Gurgaon bus stand, Sukhrali, IFFCO Chowk, MG Road, Sectors 55 and 56, Kendriya Vihar, Metro Station and back to Kendriya Vihar, Sectors 55 and 56, MG Road, IFFCO Chowk, Sukhrali, Bus Stand, Mata Sheetla Mandir, Sectors 4 and 7 and New Colony.

The fourth route is from Gurgaon bus stand to Meharana Pratap Chowk via Signature Tower, Metro Station and back to Signature Tower, Rajiv Chowk, IMT Gate number 3. The fifth route is from Gurgaon to IMT via Signature Tower, metro station and back through Rajiv Chowk, Islampur, Subhash Chowk, Sectors 44, 45, 46 and 47 and Metro Station. The sixth route is from IFFCO Chowk Gurgaon to Kendriya Vihar via Siganature Tower, Medicity hospital, sector 29, RD City and back to Golf road, MG Road and IFFCO Chowk.

Sirsa, June 20
The agriculture authorities have set a target of bringing 55,000 hectares in the district under paddy. Transplantation of paddy began officially in the district on June 15, though some farmers had started it earlier despite government restrictions.

“The PB-1 variety of paddy will be planted over an area of 32,000 hectares and basmati over 11 hectares. Common varieties of paddy like HKR-47 and PR-126 will be planted over an area of 12,000 hectares,” said Jagdeep Brar, Deputy Director, Agriculture, Sirsa.

Last year, the crop was grown on 61,000 hectares against a target of 55,000 hectares.

Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer from Panjuana, said the pre-monsoon showers last week had brightened the prospects of a good crop.

“Much will depend on the monsoon. If the monsoon is on time, more farmers will opt for the crop,” said another farmer Sajjan Singh.

Pankaj Chaudhary, Additional Deputy Commissioner, said enough water and electricity was being provided to farmers for the sowing of paddy. A stock of 8,000 tonnes of DAP and 15,000 tonnes of urea was available with various agencies, which was sufficient to meet the demand of the farmers in the district, she added. 

Barara (Ambala), June 20
“The Haryana Congress, by promising to set up a separate SGPC for the state in its election manifesto in a bid to attract the Sikh vote bank, tried to divide the Sikh community in the state,” said Prem Singh Chandumajra, general secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal, while addressing mediapersons at Barara in Ambala district.

Exhorting the Sikhs in the state to unite, he cautioned them to beware of Congress leaders, who, he alleged, were trying to divide the community for vested interests.

He appealed to them to vote for the SAD candidate in the coming SGPC elections.

Chandumajra said the SAD would organise meetings at Ambala, Jagadhri and Kurukshetra during the coming week in which INLD leaders Ajay Chautala and Abhey Chuatala would also take part. He expressed concern over the “dual police” of the UPA government over the river waters.

He reiterated that Punjab had exclusive rights over its rives as per the riparian law. He justified the Punjab CM’s demand for royalty on the use of its water by other states while comparing it with the royalty being received on coal or minerals by other states.

Regarding the Bhopal gas tragedy, Chandumajra said those involved in this tragic incident had been exposed and the Congress government hatched a conspiracy to send them abroad.

Sirsa, June 20
There is no proposal to affiliate the colleges falling under Sirsa and Fatehabad districts with Chaudhary Devi Lal University from this session.

University Vice-Chancellor Dr ML Ranga confirmed today that the proposal had been shelved, at least for the coming academic session.

Earlier, the executive council of the university had met on March 31 this year under its past Vice-Chancellor Balbir Singh Malik, who is also Commissioner, Hisar Division, and passed a resolution to this effect and had sent it to the state government.

The university authorities had said the process of recruitments for the additional staff would begin soon after getting the government’s nod and the affiliation would start from the coming session.

Dr Ranga said the things did not work for this academic session due to delay in taking up the matter with the government.

“The admission process like the sale of prospectus by most of the colleges in these two districts has already begun and hence it will not be possible to change affiliations at this moment,” he added.

Meanwhile, the university sources revealed that very few application forms have been received for new admissions in the university, though the last date for admission to various courses, June 25, is nearing.

University sources have said most of the students, who take admissions to its various postgraduate courses, come from colleges of Sirsa and adjoining districts, affiliated to Kurukshetra University. Kurukshetra University, however, is yet to declare results for bachelor degree courses.

Sources said the university authorities might have to extend its last date for the acceptance of forms under these conditions.

YP Goswami, Controller of Examinations of Kurukshetra University, said results for BCom had been already announced, while those of BA and BSc would be announced by June 25.

“Candidates can apply and appear in the entrance test irrespective of the fact that their result for the qualifying class has been declared or not,” said Dr Ranga.

Jhajjar, June 20
In order to provide better facilities to government teachers, shiksha sadans will be constructed in the state. The teachers will be able to use these as rest houses.

Haryana Education and Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal disclosed this while interacting with mediapersons after listening to public grievances at a rest house here today.

“The issue of constructing shiksha sadans for teachers was also discussed at a conference of education ministers organised in New Delhi two days ago,” said the minister, adding that the procedure for providing facilities like health insurance and loans to the teachers would also be simplified so that the maximum number of teachers could take benefit of the facilities being provided to them by the government.

Bhukkal said she felt proud that Haryana ranked among the leading states providing quality education to children.

To a question, the minister said in the recently concluded conference of education ministers, she forcefully took up the matter of giving the right to a state to decide the number of colleges and universities in it. With the laying of the foundation stone of Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Haryana, a new era of education had been ushered in in the state, she maintained.

Earlier, she inaugurated special pulse polio campaign by administering polio drops to a number of children at brick-kilns here.

“As many as 28,000 children will be administered pulse polio drops under a special campaign in Jhajjar district alone,” said Geeta Bhukkal.

Later, she heard the grievances of people at her residence and ordered the officers concerned to redress them immediately.