Sirsa, August 4
The women complaint committee and grievances cell of Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, today held a meeting to probe the complaint of a woman Assistant Professor against her chairperson.

The committee, headed by Dr Reicha Tanwar, Director, Women Studies and Research Centre, Kurukshetra University, recorded the statements of the chairperson in the administrative block of the university.

The committee included Dr Sultan Singh, Professor and chairperson of the Management Department, Dr Shamsher Singh, Professor and chairperson of the Physical Education Department, the committee’s member secretary, Dr Deepti Dharmani, Associate Professor in the English department, Dr Monika Verma, Associate Professor in the Physical Education Department, and Kumud Bansal, president of the NGO, Nirjharni Nari Sehyog Samiti.

The committee also recorded the statements of two other teachers of the department and a clerk working in that department.

The committee examined an Associate Professor of another department, whose name had figured in the complaint.

Earlier, the committee had held its first meeting on May 25 and recorded the statement of the victim. However, the committee could not complete its inquiry as the chairperson accused by the woman Assistant Professor was out of the country in connection with a project.

Meanwhile, the complainant today submitted an application, objecting to the presence of a senior teacher in the committee.

The member, she alleged, was doing a project jointly with the accused and his presence in the committee would be against the principles of natural justice.

She maintained that she did not expect any justice from the committee till the member concerned was removed from the committee.

Earlier, in her complaint to the university in May, the victim had alleged that the Professor and chairperson of her department, who has been persecuting her for long, called her to his office on May 1 and behaved in a manner unbecoming of a male colleague. The chairperson, according to the complainant, earlier cajoled her to do her doctoral research under him, but she refused to do so looking at his past “behaviour” with her.

Dr Reicha Tanwar said the committee had completed the inquiry and submitted its report to the university authorities.

She admitted that the committee had received an application from the complainant expressing lack of faith in a committee member. But, she added that it was given at a very late stage.

Chandigarh, August 4
Outsourcing will be the new buzzword in the seven newly created municipal corporations in Haryana if the recommendations of a committee constituted to work out their additional staff requirements are anything to go by.

Regular staff in municipal corporations could well be passé with the committee headed by the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon, Rajesh Khullar, strongly advocating that the newly constituted MCs should not be burdened with too much permanent staff.

The committee has also specified that the obligatory functions of the MCs like sanitation, sewerage, drinking water and other maintenance functions should be carried out only through an outsource service provider or other agencies. Sources said the report submitted recently to the Urban Local Bodies Department had categorically stated that all posts should be created as contractual posts.

Specifying the posts for the various wings of the MCs, the committee has suggested that these posts, essentially those of electrician, computer clerk, plumber and peon, are recommended to be created but only to be filled through a service provider.

It categorically mentions that no recruitment, whether on daily wages, contract, ad hoc or regular basis, should be permitted against these posts. However, the remuneration of persons engaged through a service provider against these posts would be fixed by the Commissioner of the respective corporations and would not be lower than the prevalent collector rate for the post.

The committee, comprising Deputy Commissioners of districts where the MCs have been created, has also mentioned that the aspirations of the people can only be met through outsourcing the discharge of duties while emphasising that the existing staff of municipal councils or committees which have made way for MCs should be adjusted in the MCs and their promotional avenues, too, should not get curtailed.

The committee has identified 50 common posts that need to be created in all seven new MCs of Hisar, Panchkula, Karnal, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Panipat and Rohtak. Each new MC will be headed by a Commissioner from the IAS cadre and will have two joint commissioners drawn from the HCS cadre as well as the executive officers’ cardre.

The report says that these posts should be created as early as possible so that the Commissioner, MC, can direct the existing officers of the PWD (B and R) and the Public Health Department to look after the work of these posts.

The existing posts which are a part of the diminishing cadre will be treated as abolished when an employee vacates his post owing to his retirement, transfer, promotion or death except in cases where such a vacancy can be filled though promotion from a lower post.

The report submitted to the Urban Local Bodies a month ago is awaiting the government’s nod. 

Karnal, August 4
The Union Government is contemplating introducing a Bill during the winter session of Parliament, providing for punitive action against those found guilty of child abuse, Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Shantha Sinha today said.

“Child abuse has always been there, but now it has become more visible. Besides enacting a law to check child abuse, helplines, counselling centres and more residential schools are required to ensure that all eligible children go to school,” she told the Tribune.

Sinha, who was here to inaugurate a seminar on “Juvenile justice” at the Haryana Police Academy, Madhuban, said child-friendly procedures and fast-track courts were a must to instil a sense of security among children and protect them against atrocities.

Asked about the increase in the number of cases of child trafficking in different parts of the country, she said human trafficking was indeed a major problem.

Children were brought from states like Bihar, eastern UP, parts of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and the North-East and employed by ndustries or middle-class educated families as domestic help.There was a need to create awareness among the people too so that they refrained from hiring minor children as domestic help or employing them in farms and hazardous industries on meagre wages, she said. 

Rohtak, August 4
A teenaged girl, a rape victim staying in a shelter home at the local Srinagar Colony, delivered a baby girl at the PGIMS hospital here yesterday. Hailing from West Bengal, she was brought to the home by Shakti Vahini, an NGO based in Gurgaon, last month.

The victim has asked the home to take custody of the newborn, said Jagwanti, caretaker.

“The mother and child are healthy and there have been no complication so far,” said Dr Sonia Dhull. “The girl is aged less than 14 and it i s risky for a girl of her age to deliver a child ,” she added. The girl was raped by a youth and his friends residing in her neighbourhood while she was employed as a baby sitter in a house in Gurgaon, said Rishi Kant of Shakti Vahini.

The girl appears to be undecided on the proposal by the NGO to send her back home as she fears social stigma. Though the police had booked a case, the main accused in is absconding. It may be recalled that a Bengali girl found in Jind recently had also been abducted and gangraped after being held captive for about a month. 

Hisar, August 4
All filling stations in the district will observe a 24-hour strike from midnight today in protest against the increasing incidents of looting of petrol stations.

This decision was taken at a meeting of petrol station owners here last evening.

The meeting expressed dismay over looting of petrol stations by motorcycle-borne youths.

Last week, two petrol stations at Barwala, near here, were looted. On Sunday night, a petrol station was targeted at Kheri Chopta village near Narnaund in this district.

The owners had met the Superintendent of Police after last week’s incidents. The police advised them to install CCTV cameras at all stations to help identify the culprits.

The police also released sketches of the suspects. owever, no headway has been made in any of the incidents so far.

The increasing incidents of looting have forced owners of filling stations located in remote areas to keep these closed during the night. Even then, the looters have been striking at will.

Petrol station owners regretted the inconvenience the strike would cause to consumers, but said they had no other option as the police had failed to apprehend the culprits. 

Karnal, August 4
Identification of computer peripherals, networking, tracing e-mails and IP addresses will soon become a reality with the first cyber laboratory becoming functional at the Haryana Police Academy, Madhuban, tomorrow.

To be inaugurated by Som Mittal, president, National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), it would enable the police to acquire the requisite skills to prevent, detect and investigate cyber crime.

The lab with the latest computers has been set up at a cost of Rs 29 lakh. It has a capacity to seat 23 trainees at a time.

An expert in information security from NASSCOM would co-ordinate the training work at the lab and the first “Level I” course of five days’ duration would commence on August 9.

K. Venkatesh Murthy, programme manager, cyber security, Data Security Council of India, said the police would be specially trained in tackling obscene information relateing to defamatory profiles, online frauds and credit card scams.

He said this was the first such lab in Haryana and the sixth in the country after Mumbai, Thane, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai. 

Jhajjar, August 4
The Rohtak range police has come up with a novel plan to impart special training to youths who are unemployed despite being well-educated.

The training aims at channelising the energy of youths in the right direction by inculcating moral values into them besides developing their mental and physical skills so that they can easily make their career in their desired fields.

Disclosing this while taking to The Tribune during a surprise visit to police stations at Bahadurgarh town here today, Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the range V Kamaraja said the training programme having the time span of three months would be carried out in all five districts - Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Panipat and Karnal - of the range.

As many as 50 youths will be selected from each district for the first batch of the training programme.

“The range police will not only impart practical training of public and industrial security to the youths, but will also lay stress upon the development of their communication skills,” said the IGP, adding that lectures related to career guidance would also be organised during the programme.

“A special certificate will be awarded to those trainees who will successfully complete their training. This certificate will facilitate them in grabbing job opportunities in the security sector,” said Kamaraja, adding that the name of the trainees, who showed good performance during the programme, would also be recommended by the police to the placement agencies in order to ensure their jobs in the private sector.

The IGP said: “Due to unemployment and lack of proper guidance and information, the youth enters into the world of crime. If the youth is guided properly about his career, not only the menace of unemployment can be dealt with, they can also be kept away from criminal activities. 

Fatehabad, August 4
An uneasy calm prevails in Bosti village in this district where eight persons were injured in a clash between Bishnois and Dalits over a piece of panchayat land yesterday. The police has registered a case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 148 and 149 (rioting) of the IPC and various provisions of the SC and ST Act against unidentified members of the Bishnoi community on the complaint of a Dalit youth, Sandeep.

Another case under Sections 341(wrongfulrestraint), 347 confinement for extortion), 379 (theft), 148, 149 and 323 of the IPC and various provisions of the SC/ST Act has been registered against Anil, Om Parkash, Bhajan Lal, Subhash and some other members of the Bishnoi community on the complaint of Chandra Prakash, husband of a Dalit panch, who was beaten up yesterday.

Members of the Bishnoi community, who, according to Dalits, were trying to usurp panchayat land, when the trouble began yesterday, have been isolated on the issue with members of the other communities siding with the Dalits today. A meeting of all 36 communtities in the village was held today where the villagers constituted a 25-member panel to deal with the issue. a Bishnoi panch maintained that the land was already under the community temple 

Bahadurgarh, August 4
An SHO of the Bahadurgarh Traffic Police, Sat Narain Singh, was caught by a special team of the Delhi police while taking a bribe of Rs 14,000 from a transporter near the Ghevra turn on the Delhi-Haryana border here today.

Jhajjar SSP Sourabh Singh has placed the SHO under suspension and ordered a departmental inquiry against him.

In his complaint lodged with the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government, the transporter, Trilok Singh, had alleged that Sat Narain Singh had been demanding a bribe of Rs 14,000 (Rs 2,000 each for his seven RTV buses) from him for letting his buses go till Bahadurgarh town.

As per the Delhi state transport permit rules, the RTV buses are allowed to ply within the jurisdiction of the national Capital but most of the buses have been illegally plying up to Bahadugarh after crossing the Delhi border in connivance with police officials posted there.

Taking action on the complaint, the special team of Delhi police “laid a trap” for the SHO, Sat Narain Singh, and caught him while taking a bribe of Rs 14,000 from Trilok Singh at a property dealer’s office near the Ghevra turn in Nangloi (Delhi).

The Jhajjar SSP said the SHO had been arrested by the Delhi police. 

Jhajjar, August 4
The court of the District Additional Sessions Judge has awarded life imprisonment to four accused after holding them guilty of killing their co-villager. Besides, it also imposed a penalty of Rs 5,000 each on them.

The Bahadurgarh Sadar police had registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC and various sections of the Arms Act against Sunil, Virender, Mohit and Manjeet, all residents of Taanda Heri village under the Bahadugarh sub-division, here, on the charge of gunning down a co-villager on February 17, 2009.

After hearing the pleas of both parties, the court pronounced the order of life imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 5,000 for the four accused.