Faridabad, November 8
Chief Parliamentary Secretary of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha and Congress MLA from Ballabgarh Sharda Rathore today openly charged the Minister for Power, Mahender Partap, with shielding BSP leaders and others named in the two FIRs registered in connection with incidents of arson and vandalism at her office last Wednesday.

She would resign from her post if the minister continued to shield the accused, she warned. The minister refuted the charge and said the police should investigate the matter thoroughly. Rathore also asked the minister to stop meddling in her constituency. Mahender Partap represents the Badkahl assembly segment. The spat between the two took place in public view and in the presence of senior officers after a function to lay the foundation stone of a 66 kV power substation in Sector 64.

It was the presence of Dhirender Partap, a councillor from ward number 34 of the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) and BSP leader on the podium during the function that triggered the spat.

Dhirender Partap is one of the accused in the FIRs and so is Om Pal Tongar, also of the BSP. Dhirender Partap was seated right behind Rathore. Rathore specifically asked Mahender Pratap if he had invited him to the function. The minister expessed innocence on the issue. An enraged Rathore called up the police and informed of the presence of the accused at the function. But by the time a police team reached there, Dhirender Partap had already left.

Sirsa, November 8
Poor lifting of paddy and the consequent glut in the Sirsa grain market is triggering clashes between farmers over the use of open space for unloading their produce.

Two groups of farmers from Nejadela and Bhamboor clashed in the grain market today, resulting in injuries to three.

A police party from the local city police station was mediating to resolve the issue between the warring sides at the time of filing of the report.

Gurdial Mehta, a former president of the Sirsa Grain Market Traders Association, said a farmer wanted to unload his trailer at a particular spot, but another objected to it. Soon two groups entered into a verbal dual. As tempers rose, blows were exchanged.

The tardy procurement process has resulted in a glut of paddy at the local grain market.

This is leading to frequent altercations with restive farmers vying with one another for space to unload their produce.

Since the farmers are forced to wait for days for the procurement, it is making them edgy and the slightest provocation is enough for them to enter into a spat.

“The situation has worsened after Diwali as the arrival of paddy has picked up, but the authorities continue to work at their usual pace,” alleged a farmer.

OP Rana, secretary of the Market Committee, claimed that the number of vehicles deployed for lifting the paddy had been increased in the past two days and the situation would improve steadily. The farmers complain that irregular bidding by procurement agencies is forcing them to sell their produce at distress rates.

Said Satnam, a farmer from Nejadela:

“ The authorities are hand in glove with the procurement agencies and are not taking any action to save the farmers from being fleeced.” Meanwhile, the prices of raw cotton continue to show an upward trend.

The crop registered a jump of Rs 100 and was purchased for Rs 4,600 per quintal at the local market today against Rs 4,500 on Saturday.

Sirsa, November 8
Bani residents will have to live with the stench of rotting wheat emanating from the storehouse of the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) here for some more days.

The warehouse authorities have rejected the 62 paise per kg bid received for lifting 1,70,000 bags of putrid wheat lying in the storehouse.

ML Verma, District Manager, HSWC, confirming the rejection of the bid, the highest received for the decayed wheat in the last week of September, said fresh bids for the disposal of the wheat damaged in floods had been called for November 11. However, two other bids for partially damaged wheat have been accepted by the HSWC authorities.

The authorities had placed the warehouse wheat in the ‘dumping’ category containing less than 10 per cent sound grain. Only 2,280 bags were of feed 1 quality for which the highest bid received by the authorities was Rs 940 per quintal. As many as 4,920 bags classified as ‘manure quality’ attracted a maximum bid of Rs 216 per quintal.

The HSWC authorities have accepted the last two bids for 2,280 bags and 4,920 bags, while the bid for bulk wheat (99,340 bags) has been rejected, said Verma.

Meanwhile, residents of Bani village complained of a stinking Divali. “When people all over the country celebrated Divali cleaning their houses and shops, we had to to celebrate the festival under abysmal conditions,” complained Neeraj Bansal, who runs a grocery shop. Madan Lal, a trader in the grain market, said the highly decomposed wheat could cause the spread of a disease in the area.“Scores of pigeons have died after eating the wheat and the dead birds in the storehouse have added to the stench,” added Neeraj.

Rohtak, November 8
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today took salute at the passing-out parade of the first batch of jawans on the police campus at Sunarian village here today.

The batch of 460 jawans, who completed their training successfully, were inducted into police service after the oath ceremony.

Hooda urged the jawans to work with total dedication and faith to serve the society. Claiming that the government was committed towards making the state police as one of the best forces in the country, he said a slew of measures had been taken in this regard and this would go on till the accomplishment of the goal.

He said the government had set up a cyber crime laboratory at Madhuban in Karnal district, which had been the first of its kind in north India and sixth in the country. The Forensic Science Laboratory of the Haryana police had also made its place in north India as the laboratory had all provisions, including DNA testing.

The Chief Minister said housing facilities for the cops were being improved and for this the government had released funds and had sanctioned a credit worth Rs 300 crore in the recent past.

As many as 3,233 houses had been constructed in various districts of the state, including 570 in Gurgaon and Faridabad since 2005. The Modern Police Lines would soon come up in Mewat and Palwal districts, he added.

To make the state police a competent force, he said a total of three India Reserve Battalions had been set up and another would come up soon. A total of 74 Inspectors, 279 Sub-Inspectors and 8,200 Constables had been appointed in the tenure of his government so far.

For empowering women, he said the government had already reserved 10 per cent of the posts for them in the state police.

Paying tributes to martyrs, the Chief Minister announced that the compensation amount had been increased to Rs 10 lakh. A proposal of setting up a police-public school in each district of the state was under consideration, he said.

There were five such schools in the state at present. One such school would come up at Sunarian police academy, he stated.

The CM gave away prizes to three jawans, who stood first, second and third in the training at the academy. The DGP, Haryana police, and in charge of the local training academy were among others who were present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, November 8
Over 7,000 Below Poverty Line families of the state will have a home of their own by June next year. Reservation of plots and flats at subsidised rates for them in 110 such projects may have left many a private developer hopping mad but it has given them reason to smile.

Thanks to the “arm-twisting tactics” of the Town and Country Planning Department to make private developers fall in line and remind them of their social obligation, as many as 15,977 plots and flats will be offered to BPL families in the coming months. Of these, the Haryana Housing Board will construct low-cost affordable flats under 26 such projects (2,690 flats) and offer these to the economically weaker sections.

Under a total number of 100 projects, 7,042 plots and flats will be allotted by June 30, 2011, cut-off date set by the department. The process of allotment was recently set in motion by allotting the first lot of 106 plots in Karnal recently.

While plots will be allotted in all 21 districts, 2,460 plots will be offered in Gurgaon, nearly 4,000 plots in Sonepat, 1,740 in Faridabad, 1,026 in Karnal and 1,309 plots in Rohtak.

“A number of developers have already advertised and invited applications for allotment of plots and flats. We are hopeful of meeting our targets and over 2,000 plots and flats will be given away in the next two months in Gurgaon alone,” says TC Gupta, Director, Town and Country Planning.

Under the policy, 10 per cent plots in a colony will be offered to BPL families at Rs 30,000 while 10 per cent of the plots will go to the Housing Board, which will construct flats and give these away. In Group Housing Societies, 15 per cent of the flats at Rs 1.5 lakh will be given to the BPL families.

Forced to advertise the plots after the department modified its existing policy and dovetailed approval of elite projects with proportionate completion of homes for economically weaker sections (EWS), most colonisers have invited applications for allotment of plots.

Checking arbitrariness of the developers in allotment, the department revised the existing policy to completely do away with the former’s discretionary quota in the 20 per cent plots and 15 per cent of the total number of flats for the EWS by laying down that only BPL families were eligible for allotment.

Earlier, anybody with a monthly income of Rs 3,500 or below was eligible for a plot if he furnished an affidavit to this effect, providing scope to private builders for manipulating allotment.

The department has linked approval of building plans with the status of EWS allotment. Now, the coloniser is required to get commensurate number of building plans of the EWS component approved while submitting the building plans of those meant for the elite in colonies.

Hisar, November 8
The Centre plans to set up a national seed commission on the pattern of the National Commission for Farmers to ensure adequate supply of quality seeds to the farmers.

Disclosing this here today, Dr RS Paroda, chairman, Haryana State Farmers’ Commission, said the report submitted by the committee constituted under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, which also included the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Bihar and West Bengal, had already been approved by the Prime Minister.

Dr Paroda, who was speaking at a block-level kisan seminar organised at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University here, said the state government had taken a good initiative by constituting farmers’ commission to strengthen the economic condition of the farmers in the state. The economic condition of the farmers in Punjab and Haryana was not so strong, despite they being leading states in agriculture.

The commission would get firsthand information about the problems being faced by the farmers in agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry and submit its report to the state government so that a policy decision could be taken to improve the economic condition of the farmers in the state.

He said a lot was to be done to make farmers prosperous. A lot of progress had also been made in linking laboratories to land and now farmers would have to be linked to markets.

Ten committees comprising specialists were being constituted by the farmers’ commission to give suggestions on problems of each sector of agriculture. It was the first block-level seminar organised by the farmers’ commission.

Jind, November 8
The Akhil Bhartiya Jat Mahasabha has decided to step up its stir on quota for Jats in government jobs with a rally here on December 5, a spokesperson of the mahasabha said today.

It may be recalled that the Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samitihas already announced a meeting in New Delhi on November 25 in this connection.

According to Yudhvir Singh, general secretary of the Jat Mahasabha, the ‘Jat Ekta Maha rally’ it will be held at HUDA grounds.

He blamed a section of the community and certain organisations of misleading the people, alleging an agreement with the government.

Claiming that no agreement had been reached with the Centre, he said the mahasabha was unanimous on reviving the stir till their demand was met.

He said the stir would be carried in a peaceful and democratic manner.

Quota for Jats was long due as the Gurnam Singh Commission had recommended the same in the early nineties.

The Jats in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh had already been brought under quota and Jats in Haryana deserved the same facility, he added.

Chandigarh, November 8
The BJP will stage dharnas at all district headquarters of the state on November 10 to protest against the naming of a RSS leader, Indresh, in the Ajmer blast case.

Announcing this here today, national secretary of the party Abhimanyu Singh alleged that the Congress-led UPA government was targeting the RSS and the BJP for political reasons. He said the ruling party had reduced the state investigating agencies like the CBI to that of the “Congress Investigating Agencies”.

While the CBI quickly moved in to arrest Gujarat Minister Amit Shah, it had not acted in a similar manner against Union Minister A Raja, who the BJP leader alleged was deeply involved in the telecom spectrum auction case.

He also criticised the Congress for allowing Karanataka Governor HR Bhardwaj, who as the Union Law Minister had earlier facilitated the escape of Bofors case accused Quatrochi to degrade the dignity of Raj Bhawan by meddling in the business of the Vidhan Sabha.

Abhimanyu said the BJP was opposed to talks with the Jammu and Kashmir separatists unless they declared their allegiance to the Indian constitution. He demanded that legal action should be taken against persons like Arundhiti Roy, who were speaking the language of the separatists.

He reiterated that the BJP would knock the doors of the Supreme Court against the violation by the Centre of the orders of the apex court for free-of-cost distribution of foodgrains among the poor.

Criticising the state government for its land policy, the BJP leader said the state had become “the land of land scams”. He demanded that the minimum rates for acquiring farmers’ land should be at least Rs 1.5 crore per acre.

When asked about the reported infighting in the Haryana BJP, Abhimanyu denied the reports and said the BJP was the most democratic party. Leader of the Haryana BJP Legislature Party Anil Vij also denied any infighting in his party.

Karnal, November 8
In spite of sharp rise in prices and increase in demand of pulses, farmers in the region are not keen to grow pulses and the area under pulses is decreasing.

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have become used to Rice-Wheat Cropping System (RWCS) and the incentives like increased minimum support price (MSP) has failed to induce them to grow pulses.

The area under pulses and its production during the Rabi season has gone down considerably in Karnal region during the past one decade, even though the Union Government has increased the MSP during the current season.

The area under pulses and the production in the region was 1000 hectares and 1000 million tonnes respectively, from 2002-03 to 2004-05, but the area shrank to 400 hectares and production also dwindled to 400 million tonnes in 2008-09.Inspite of steep price rise, the farmers are not willing to shift from rice-wheat cropping to pulse cultivation. Technical officer of the Agriculture Department, SP Tomar says the farmers have also been advised to grow pulses to help restore mineral balance of the soil. Besides, the cost of production of pulses is far less as compared to wheat and rice.

India imported 2.8 million tonnes of pulses in 2007-08 and 2.3 million tonnes in 2008-09 as production was 14.8 million tonnes and 14.2 million tonnes respectively, as against consumption of 16.4 and 17.4 million tonnes.

The production and area under pulses was 11.1 million tonnes and 20.4 million hectares in 2001-02 and it has increased only marginally to 23.4 million hectares and 14.2 million tonnes respectively, in 2008-09. Further, the increase in area was mainly in southern states and not in Indo-Gangetic plains, known as food bowl of the country. Concerned over the high price of pulses, the Centre has increased the allocation for development of pulses from Rs 105.59 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 837.03 crore (eight times) this year. The development of pulses has also been made an important component of major schemes like National Food Security Mission (NFSM), the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) and the Macro Management of Agriculture Scheme, an official spokesman said.

Under NFSM, 10 lakh hectares area in 1,000 blocks, would be covered in the next two years for village-level demonstrations for five major crops - arhar (tur), moong, chana, urad and masoor.

Chandigarh, November 8
Haryana’s first state-of-the-art blood donation centre on wheels was launched here today as Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda flagged off the air-conditioned mobile blood unit and drove it to a short distance.

The unit costing Rs 1.35 crore is equipped with latest blood collection gadgets and four donor couches.

Hoodainspected the mobile unit. Four persons also donated blood. The unit has been provided by the National Aids Control Organisation). Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal said the vehicle was another step forward in the blood donation movement. She said the vehicle had been equipped with all necessary equipment for safe collection of blood along with separate registration area for screening and registration of blood donors. — TNS

Chandigarh, November 8
Haryana’s former Director-General of Police SPS Rathore, behind bars in the Ruchika molestation case, has been filing, on an average, a plea a month for parole.

Information available on judicial files suggests the former top cop has filed three pleas and a reminder since July this year. A reply in the form of an affidavit filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court by UT Inspector-General of Police HS Doon says Rathore applied for 42 days’ parole for carrying out agricultural work vide letter dated July 20. The letter was marked to Panchkula District Magistrate (DM). He, in his report, stated that petitioner’s temporary release was not apparently necessary at the given time for agricultural purposes.

The petitioner again applied on September 6. It too was marked to the Panchkula DM. On September 29, yet another application was received from the petitioner, followed by a reminder on October 7.

The Panchkula DM’s report on granting a 28-day parole on medical grounds and for attending to personal affairs has till date not been received. As such, the matter is pending, awaiting the District Magistrate’s report. Taking up the case, Justice R Gupta fixed November 23 as the next date of hearing in the matter.

Rathore had initially contended that he wanted parole to cultivate 15 acres as his son, putting up in Mumbai, was not in a position to look after the land.

Rathore’s wife-cum-counsel Abha Rathore had contended the family owned about 15 acres in Badhaur village. The land, the petitioner contended, was irrigated by a tubewell and cultivation was being carried out under Rathore’s supervision for a decade now.

Justice Jitendra Chauhan had earlier upheld the conviction and enhanced the sentence of 18 months handed over to Rathore. The Judge had asserted: “Physical lust makes a man blind and even though it is a momentary lapse of morality which shuts down the reasoning ability of a man, the consequences are disastrous, as has already been seen in the present case.”