Chandigarh, March 15
After putting up a united stand to “extract” an assurance on laptops and printers for themselves a couple of days ago, Haryana MLAs today again stood up as one and effected a hike in their “meagre” salaries and the Petty grant.

While the salary of an MLA has been increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per month, the Petty grant has gone up from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh and will be effective from April 1, 2011. This is the second hike approved by the House in six months.

The Haryana Assembly had given its nod to a “substantial raise” in the allowances of MLAs and had introduced salaries for the first time in the session held in September 2010. Done in the name of “rising prices”, this hike will raise the total monthly emoluments drawn by an MLA to Rs 62,000.

During a discussion on the Haryana Legislative Assembly (Allowances and Pension of Members) Amendment Bill, 2011, introduced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, members of the Opposition and the Treasury Benches raised a demand for increasing the “pittance” being given in the name of salaries.

While Indian National Lok Dal’s Subhash Chaudhry sought a hike in the allowances, Naseem said the salary of Rs 10,000 being given to MLAs was “less than that of a peon”. Rampal Majra of the same party suggested that the government introduce the MLA Local Area Development Scheme (LADS) to enable MLAs to spend money in their constituencies.

While INLD’s Abhey Singh Chautala and Ashok Arora “reserved” their comment on the MLAs’ salary issue, they strongly recommended a hike in the Petty grant provided to the MLAs.

Bharatiya Janta Party’s Ram Krishan Gurjar said the amount of Rs 10,000 was “highly insufficient” while suggesting that the salaries be hiked or stopped altogether.

“Any MLA can finish the Rs 1 lakh Petty grant in a matter of 15 days. How are we expected to manage all throughout the year? If the Opposition, while in power, took a wrong decision, let the present Chief Minister take all the credit and rectify the fault by introducing the MLA LADS for MLAs and set a new tradition,” he said.

The demand of the Opposition was staunchly supported by Congress MLAs Sumita Singh, Sampat Singh and BB Batra among others.

Haryana’s Finance Minister Ajay Singh Yadav reminded the Opposition that the MLA LADS fund was first introduced in 1993-94 but was discontinued by the Bansi Lal government in 1996. “I as the Deputy Leader of the House had raised the issue again when the INLD government was in power. The then Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, turned down the demand, saying that it was not possible and was a cause of irregularities,” he said, poking fun at the Opposition.

After hearing the suggestions, Surjewala announced that the government had agreed to a hike in the salaries as also in the Petty grant from April 1, 2011, after which the Bill was passed.

Chandigarh, March 15
The Jat reservation agitation dominated the proceedings of the Haryana Assembly here today with Ajay Singh Chautala of the INLD raising the issue during zero hour.

The issue generated so much heat that members almost came to blows. After Ram Kishan Fauji (Cong) said something, Abhey Singh Chautala trooped into the well of the House and challenged Fauji. Sensing the belligerent mood of the members, marshals also trooped in even without Speaker Kuldeep Sharma telling them to do so.

However, Abhey was sent back to his seat by his elder brother Ajay and Ashok Arora (INLD). But other INLD members moved towards Fauji. Certain Congress members, led by Shakuntala Khatak, also moved to the well of the House. Before the situation could worsen further, the INLD members retreated but sat in dharna in the well of the House. Intervening, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said if Fauji had made any remark against Leader of the Opposition Om Prakash Chautala, he would withdraw it. But if he was referring to those who had been blocking the rail track, he was absolutely right.

Fauji clarified that he had not referred to the INLD chief. Kuldeep Sharma admonished the members for creating a ruckus in the House.

Meanwhile, former Speaker Raghuvir Kadian, while giving his personal explanation on what the Leader of the Opposition had said about him earlier, raised the issue of the Jat reservation and demanded that a resolution should be passed.

Ajay Singh and Ashok Arora protested and said they were the first to raise the issue and now the ruling party was trying to take a march over them.

Former Finance Minister Sampat Singh also supported the Jat reservation. He said he had given a written notice to the Speaker in this regard. Sharma admitted that neither Ajay Singh nor Kadian had given anything in writing and he could not entertain verbal requests.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala said the demand of the INLD that reservation for general communities other than the Jats should be on economic criteria was not constitutionally valid.

Members seemed to be divided on caste lines. Venod Sharma (Cong) said what Surjewala had said might be right but the House must echo the sentiments of the people of Haryana, who wanted reservation on the basis of economic criteria. From the debate it was obvious that the attitude of both the Congress and the INLD was that of “pehle hum”.

The Congress stand was that Hooda had already forwarded the memorandum of the Jat agitators to the Prime Minister for “favourable consideration”. In turn the Prime Minister had sent the memorandum to the Backward Classes Commission. When the Opposition alleged that the commission had turned down the memorandum, Hooda clarified that the commission had decided in 1997 that the Jats could not be granted the status of a Backward Class. Now, the commission had said that it had no power to review its decision.

With both parties putting onus of moving the resolution on each other, the Speaker moved on to the listed business of the House.

Chandigarh, March 15
The Haryana Vidhan Sabha today passed 11 Bills, including the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2011, the Punjab Excise (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2011, the Haryana Appropriation (No. 1) Bill, 2011, the Haryana Appropriation (No. 2) Bill, 2011, the Haryana Legislative Assembly Speaker’s and Deputy Speaker’s Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2011 (Ordinance), the Haryana Salaries and Allowances of Ministers (Amendment) Bill, 2011 (Ordinance), the Punjab Land Revenue (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2011, the Haryana Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2011, the Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2011 (Ordinance), and the Haryana Contingency Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2011 (Ordinance).

The Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2011, was introduced in the Vidhan Sabha by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda because the need was being felt to amend certain provisions of this Act to implement the objectives of the principal Act.

Section 6 of this Act only provides for making applications for the permission required under Section 5 to erect or re-erect buildings. There should be a provision for making applications for seeking permission for change of land use as well as licence under Section 11, though the department has been granting permission for change of land use and also granting licences in the periphery controlled area as provided under Section 11 of the Act. However, the manner of application for seeking permission under Section 11 does not exist and as such Section 6(1) requires amendment.

Amendment in Section 2(3) is also required to make provision for delegation of powers of the Director, Town and Country Planning Department.

Section 15(e) of this Act requires to be amended to rationalise the provision of empowering the government to exempt either whole or part of area falling in the limits of the local authority from the purview of this Act. A section 15-A needs to be inserted in the Act to safeguard the area from future possible unregulated development. Similarly, Section 16 of the Act also requires amendment to allow the government to lay the rules on the table of the House when it is in session by exempting the government from the condition of laying rules before the legislature for a period of 14 days.

Chandigarh, March 15
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that before finally disposing of the PIL on Ruchika’s molestation, the Bench would go deep into the issues of inquiry against Haryana’s former top cop SPS Rathore, his promotion and the victim’s expulsion from school.

As the petition, filed in public interest for a comprehensive probe into the entire incident, came up for hearing this morning, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Augustine George Masih asked the CBI and the state of Haryana to place necessary documents in this regard before the court.

In all, the Bench has asked for the inquiry report by Rathore’s immediate superior, then DGP RR Singh; the promotion file showing the stages and the ways Rathore was elevated; and the inquiry report on Ruchika’s expulsion from her school.

The inquiry conducted by RR Singh had indicted Rathore of molesting Ruchika in 1990. The inquiry report was submitted on September 3, 1990.

Rathore, who retired as the Director-General of Police, was promoted even though he was facing allegations of molestation by his daughter’s class fellow Ruchika Girhotra.

Rathore, 69, convicted of molesting Ruchika, is on bail. He was sent to jail on May 25 last. The CBI, having failed to gather any concrete proof against Rathore, had on November 10 last submitted a closure report before a court in Ambala pertaining to two FIRs registered against Rathore on December 29, 2009.

Chandigarh-based World Human Rights Council through chairman-cum-advocate Ranjan Lakhanpal had earlier sought directions for an independent probe into the Ruchika case, right from the day she was molested till the final decision of the case. The petitioner also sought appropriate action against all officers siding with Rathore and enabling the trial to continue for 19 years.

Chandigarh, March 15
Acting on a petition for a probe into “rampant corruption of more than Rs 500 crore in the Sports Authority of India”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that it was in favour of an inquiry by the CBI.

Disposing of the petition filed by “whistleblower” Raj Kumar, Justice Ranjit Singh asserted that the premier investigating agency may be asked to probe the issue substantiated by the filing of an affidavit by the petitioner.

Justice Ranjit Singh also directed that the result of the investigation carried out by the CBI be intimated to the petitioner.

Quoting examples, Raj Kumar in his affidavit asserted: The Sonepat centre erected an athletic synthetic track and an Astro-turf at a total cost of approximately Rs 8 crore.

“Since substandard, defective and low-quality material was used in the work by the contractors concerned in criminal conspiracy and connivance with the officers concerned, the synthetic track and Astro-turf could not withstand the climatic conditions.

“Resultantly, the same were completely damaged before these could be handed over for training. In this way, a huge loss has been caused to the exchequer, just because of greed for money by illegal means in the form of thick amount of commission”.

Raj Kumar also alleged: “The Sonepat centre constructed a swimming pool for about Rs 2 crore, which has not been used for training for the past more than four years just for the reasons that substandard material was used in the construction and also that the same was not as per the standards/specifications. Resultantly, a whopping loss over Rs 2 crore has been caused to the exchequer”.

Raj Kumar went up to allege that sports kits for Rs 1.50 crore were ordered; “and the payments were released to the suppliers, even without physically receiving the sports kits”.

In his petition, Raj Kumar also asked for quashing the impugned letter dated May 20, 2009, whereby the Union of India, “in a bid to shield and protect the corrupt”, rejected his representation for handing over the investigations of rampant corruption in SAI to the CBI.

Karnal, March 15
Relatives of Narinder Kumar, who, along with four members of his family, had gone missing in the Iwaki province in Japan after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, heaved a sigh of relief today after he made contact with them.

Narinder, his wife Maria and their three kids - Yash (11), Major (7) and Marish (5) - spent their first day after the calamity on a hill top in Iwaki and managed to reach Yaka City, about 850 miles from there, the next day.

There the family spent two days at a refugee camp and then moved to Tokyo. From there, they were airlifted to Kochi City on the Shikoku island of Japan this afternoon.

After reaching there, Narinder managed to get in touch with his younger brother Rajesh, who is settled in the UK, who on his part called up Keemti Lal, their elder brother who lives in Kurali village in Karnal district.

The three spoke to each other through the conference call facility and Narinder informed them that he and his family members were safe.

Keemti Lal told this correspondent that Narinder’s hotel and house, which were situated just 1.5 km from the coast of Iwaki, were washed away in the tsunami.

“However, he (Narinder) has no plans to come back to India and has already started making plans to rebuild his hotel and house there,” he said.

Narinder had moved to Japan about 13 years ago and married Maria, a Japanese girl, following which he got Japan’s citizenship.

Keemti Lal said his brother had asked him to join him at Japan to rebuild his business and he would soon go there.

Gurgaon, March 15
A local court has sentenced five doctors of Gurgaon to three years’ imprisonment after finding them guilty of using the ultrasound machine for determining foetal sex, thereby violating provisions of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, commonly known as the PNDT Act.

Disclosing this here today, the Gurgaon Civil Surgeon and appropriate authority under the PNDT Act, Dr Praveen Garg, said the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class Archana Yadav had sentenced the five doctors - Dr JL Mahajan of Palam Vihar, Dr MS Talekar, Dr DB Lal and Dr PB Lal of Sector 4 and Dr KK Saraswat of New Palam Vihar, Gurgaon.

Pronouncing the judgment in the case of State Vs Lal, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on each of the doctors, the Civil Surgeon revealed while addressing a meeting of the district-level advisory committee on effective implementation of the PNDT Act.

Dr Garg said the then Civil Surgeon, Dr NK Jain, had received information that Dr JL Mahajan had been illegally determining foetal sex at Albega Hospital in Udyog Vihar Phase-III here.

Preliminary examination of facts revealed that this place was not registered as a genetic clinic under the PNDT Act. On January 30, 2002, Dr Jain made a complaint to the SHO (Udyog Vihar) for the registration of an FIR under Section 156 (3) of the CrPC and Section 23 of the PNDT Act.

The then Civil Surgeon constituted a team of doctors to conduct a raid on this unregistered genetic clinic. Dr Vishesh Kumar visited Albega Hospital as a decoy customer and fixed an appointment for ultra-sonography on a pregnant woman. The centre was raided while the ultrasound examination was in progress.

The court observed that the accused had committed an offence under the PNDT Act, 1994, and contravened its provision by misusing their specialisation for illegal purposes. In its order, the court asserted that a lenient view could not be taken against the doctors in view of the nature of the offence.

Sonepat, March 15
The Lokayukta, Haryana, Pritam Lal has directed Principal and Director of Motilal Nehru Sports School, Rai, VK Verma to file an affidavit as to when and under which order he was promoted or designated as Captain in the Indian Navy.

Verma has also been asked to attach a copy of the order of his promotion as Captain after collecting the same from the quarters concerned.

Granting a month’s time to Verma for placing his affidavit on record, the Lokayukta has fixed April 7 as the next date of hearing.

Major Navneet Kumar Bakshi (retd) had lodged a complaint with the Lokayukta against Verma alleging that he was not a Captain in the Indian Navy at the time when he applied for the post of the Principal and Director of the school. He joined the post on October 16, 2003.

In support of his allegation, Bakshi had submitted that in the pension pay order, Verma is shown to have retired as Commander and not Captain.

The second issue raised by the complainant was that Verma got his pay revised at the maximum of the grade to avail the benefits of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, 2006, by a committee of his subordinates and got it approved from the Commissioner of the Sports Department; whereas it should have been approved by the CM and the Governor as was done in 2003. However, Verma denied the allegations.

Karnal, March 15
Activists of the Indian Bahujan Sandesh Party today took out a protest march raising anti-government slogans in the city. The activists lamented that no efforts were being made to reduce the divide between the rich and the poor. They said the governments were only making false promises and nothing concrete was being done to provide any relief to the poor.

They stated that the poor had no assess to even the basic necessities of life such as shelter, food and proper health care and the governments had turned a blind eye to all these issues. They later submitted a memorandum to the SDM, which as addressed to the Governor.