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Rs 1,695 crore to be spent on urban areas
INLD did little for farmers, says Hooda
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Bishnois demand 3% quota in govt jobs
Use of Money Power in Elections
WikiLeaks Row
high court
Special fund for cops’ welfare
Move to trim doctors’ strength draws flak
Info panel summons legal services officials
Job Scheme
Dalits hold protest
Man gets life term for wife’s murder
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Rs 1,695 crore to be spent on urban areas
Chandigarh, March 19 Haryana Minister of State for Urban Local Bodies Gopal Kanda said today that more than 28 per cent of the population was residing in urban areas and the government had given priority for the development of the urban areas. Adequate funds would be provided to improve the financial health of urban local bodies and strengthen the basic amenities in the urban areas. Development plans of 73 towns had been prepared so as to provide more basic facilities like roads, drainage, water supply and sewerage. He said those wards of urban local bodies and towns which had more than 50 per cent population belonging to the Scheduled Castes would get Rs 1 crore for development in two years. A sum of Rs 144 crore had already been given for the development of such wards. Kanda added that the department would spend more than Rs 1,695 crore during 2011-12 on the development of the urban areas. Referring to the development in Sirsa city, he said a plan had been prepared to improve the basic facilities in the town and it would cost more than Rs 745 crore. While Rs 495 crore would be spent under various schemes of different departments, Rs 250 crore would be spent by the Murlidhar Kanda Charitable Trust. He said the charitable trust would set up a water amusement park over an area of 12 acres on the Rania road and crores of rupees would be spent on the development of this park. This park would have facilities of international standards and entry for children below 11 years of age would be free. On the same road, university and colleges would be set up. Also, a super speciality hospital would be set up over an area of four acres. Land for these projects had been arranged and their foundation stones would be laid by the Chief Minister. |
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INLD did little for farmers, says Hooda
Janoli (Palwal), March 19 The public meeting was organised by Congress MLA Raghuvir Singh Tewatia, who represents the Prithla constituency. Trying to establish an emotional chord with the people of Palwal and the neigbouring Faridabad district, he said he had “old links with them”. He reminded the people that he had made Palwal a separate district. Hooda accepted all demands of the people of the area which were raised by Tewatia. The demands include giving Prithla the status of a block samiti headquarters and setting up tehsil office at Mohana village. He also accepted a demand for the construction of a rail overbridge at Alawalpur village, which will cost about Rs 30 crore and for setting up of sports stadia at Sikri and Nawada villages. He assured that all government schools in the constituency will be upgraded provided they fulfilled the parameters. |
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Candlelight march against nuclear plant
Fatehabad, March 19 Members of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, which is agitating against the acquisition of 1,313 acres of agriculture land for the proposed nuclear plant and activists of the Sanjha Manch began their candlelight march from Laal Batti Chowk and after passing through DSP Road, the procession reached the national highway. Local leaders of the Indian National Lok Dal, the Haryana Janhit Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samast Bharatiya Party also participated in the march. The protesters carried placards against the nuclear project and raised slogans against it. “Farmers have been agitating against the proposed nuclear power plant in their village for the past eight months and in the process they have lost two of their colleagues. However, it is strange that the state government has not cared to listen to their grievances so far,” said ML Sehgal, a spokesperson for the Sanjha Manch, while addressing the protesters. “These farmers are merely saying what everyone, including scientists and the government itself maintains. Farmers do not want to give their fertile land for the project and the government claims that no fertile land is being acquired for industrial purposes. Scientists oppose the setting up of nuclear power projects in densely populated areas, which is what these farmers have been demanding,” Sehgal said. He said from the attitude of the state government, it appeared that either the government wanted these desperate farmers to block highways and rail traffic or wanted them to take to arms like Naxals. The Sanjha Manch said the candle march had been organised to pay tributes to those killed in Japan’s nuclear tragedy and to oppose the Gorakhpur Atomic Power Project in this district. Hans Raj Siwach, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, and Dr Mahabir Sharma, Prashant, Radha Sehgal, Renu, Rajesh Jakhar, MC Manchanda, Jyoti Kaushik and Amrit Gagan of the Sanjha Manch were among those who addressed the protesters. Among the political leaders who addressed the protesters were Balbir Singh Chaudhary and Ran Singh Beniwal, both former MLAs, Ram Raj Mehta, Suman Lata Siwach and Kuljeet Singh Kuleria of the INLD, Subhash Royal and Suresh Kakar of the HJC and Pawan Khanda of the Samast Bharatiya Party. |
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Bishnois demand 3% quota in govt jobs
Panchkula, March 19 Talking to mediapersons here today, Akshay Bishnoi, a student leader and convener of the AIBASS, said the Bishnoi community was an educationally and economically backward community with a minority status and should be given at least 3 per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions of the country. The Central Government should consider their genuine demand immediately, Bishnoi added. Akshay said members of the Bishnoi community, who were living in “difficult circumstances and adverse conditions” in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh, had a glorious history of sacrificing their lives for the protection of environment by saving trees and wildlife. Members of the samiti were trying to get the support of the people for their justified demand, he added. |
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Use of Money Power in Elections
Chandigarh, March 19 The use of cash, liquor and other utility items in a clandestine manner during the elections to gratify and influence the voters is bribery and punishable under the Indian Penal Code. Besides, it constitutes a corrupt practice under the Representation of People Act, 1951, the ECI has said in a communication sent to all states and recognised national and state political parties. Instances of parties and candidates resorting to such practices have been brought to its notice, it says. Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, Sumita Misra, said with a view to curbing the incidence of such offences, the ECI had also requisitioned the services of Investigation Directorate of the Income Tax Department to keep a vigil over the movement of cash through airports, major railway stations, hotels, farm houses, financial brokers and hawala agents. She said the ECI had advised all candidates to open separate bank accounts for running their election expenses and make payments for all such expenses by account payee cheques through such bank accounts, except minor payments in cash. |
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WikiLeaks Row
Sirsa, March 19 Chopra said former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee lost power on April 17, 1999, because he refused to purchase MPs that were required to win the vote of confidence in Parliament. He alleged that scams and scandals running into several crores and purchase of MPs had brought a bad name to the country’s democratic system. The BJP said the UPA government had no right to remain in power after the recent leaks and demanded resignation of the Prime Minister. District president Gurdev Singh Rahi, secretary Satish Jagga and president of the city unit of the BJP Suresh Panwar were among those present in the demonstration. |
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‘Denial’ of Information on Assets 6 IAS officers in the dock Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 19 Justice Sullar has fixed April 27 as the next date of hearing in the case. Dubbing himself as a “whistleblower”, senior executive engineer with Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited KK Sharma of Kurukshetra has arrayed as parties IAS officers Sanjeev Kaushal, Madhusudhan Parsad, Jyoti Arora, Rajiv Arora, Vimal Chandera and Ashok Lavasa. In his petition, Sharma claimed denial of information on assets. Elaborating, Sharma said an application under the Right to Information Act was filed by him for “information qua some senior IAS officers in the state of Haryana, praying for copies of the property returns filed by them during their service tenure”. The details he sought included those of plots and flats, “apart from allotment to them/families by the government out of the Chief Minister’s and Prime Minister’s quota”. The information, he asserted, was denied by the State Public Information Officer on January 14 last. Challenging the order, Sharma also claimed he was a victim of harassment at the hands of “some corrupt officials” and “his was a classic case of victimisation of a whistleblower by some dishonest officers”. Giving details, Sharma said he was entitled to promotion as Superintending Engineer, and would have by now been a Chief Engineer. “But his legitimate rights are being denied by some corrupt and dishonest officials of the department”, his counsel added on his behalf. He added that the petitioner, after approaching the state Director-General through an affidavit, approached the power generation corporation Managing Director Sanjeev Kaushal for forwarding his affidavit to the Chief Minister through proper channel. Kaushal, in turn, lost his cool, started hurling abuses and threatened him with implication for “revealing the truth in the form of an affidavit”, the counsel alleged on the petitioner’s behalf, adding that a complaint was made the same day to the police. But Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kalia found his complaint to be false and rather held him guilty of house-trespass and other offences. The proceedings, he added, had as of now been stayed by the High Court.
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Special fund for cops’ welfare
Rohtak, March 19 Stating this here today, IG, Rohtak range, K Kamaraj said the fund would be in addition to the normal welfare schemes of the Police Department. He said the fund would be set up with the contributions made by the members themselves. The contribution would be according to the rank and status of the official or the employee. It would function at the district level with the overall supervision of the range office here. He said the main idea behind the setting up of the welfare fund was to provide immediate financial assistance up to Rs 5 lakh in case of death of any personnel on duty. He said while the fund would provide immediate help to the kin in case of any casualty or accident, a provision had been made to provide interest free or loans at very nominal rate of interest to cops. He said the main feature of the scheme was to release the aid immediately without making rounds of the office in case of any unfortunate case of death or accident. According to the IG, the slabs of contributions fixed for various ranks include Rs 500 for the IG, Rs 300 for the SSP/SP, Rs 200 for the DSP, Rs 150 for the ranks of ASI/SI and the Inspectors. It will be Rs 100 for the rank of constable and head constables. The department will get an insurance of Rs 5 lakh per person from an insurance company on group insurance basis. While a communication has been sent to all district police chiefs in the range, it is claimed that this is perhaps the first time that such a welfare fund has been proposed to set up for cops. |
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Move to trim doctors’ strength draws flak
Sirsa, March 19 The government had recently decided to withdraw 285 posts of medical officers from the PHCs and the CHCs and have decided to allocate these additional posts to general hospitals at the district headquarters. Dr DS Jaspal, former national vice-president of the Indian Medical Association, Headquarters (IMA, HQ), said the government’s decision was not only retrogressive, but also against the spirit of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), under which the state government got huge funds for its health services. He said on one hand, the IMA had started its programme “Chalo Gaon Ki Aur”, under which specialist doctors of the IMA went to villages to create awareness among villagers on health issues, and on the other hand the government itself was taking a step backwards. Dr Jaspal said the official website of the Health Department claimed that its 160 PHCs were being made 24X7, which means that there would be a need of three doctors in a PHC. However, the government, he said, had chosen to prune the existing strength of doctors from two in each PHC to one. Dr Ved Beniwal, Patron of the state chapter of the IMA, maintained that rural areas needed more attention, as the government utilities were the only source of reliable health care services in villages. “Withdrawing doctors from the PHCs will leave villagers at the mercy of quacks,” he cautioned. Dr Rajeshwari, Associate Professor in the Geography Department of Kurukshetra University, who has done several studies on health in rural Haryana, said the recent decision of the government belied the spirit of the National Rural Health Mission. She said the component C of the plan of action of the NRHM aimed at strengthening the PHCs for quality preventive, curative, supervisory and outreach services through adequate and regular supply of essential quality drugs and equipment, provision of 24 hour service in 50 per cent PHCs by addressing shortage of doctors and observance of standard treatment guidelines and protocols. She said the decision would also affect the family welfare programme of health services in villages as it was largely dependent on the PHCs. The primary health care infrastructure has been developed as a three-tier system with the sub-centre, primary health centre (PHC) and the community health centre (CHC) as its three pillars. She said weakening of the PHCs and the CHCs would directly affect the family welfare programme in villages, where it was needed the most. |
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Lifts at mini-secretariat grounded for want of operators
Kaithal, March 19 Thanks to the apathy of the officials of the local administration, who had taken no initiative to ensure that the facility benefited its users. The lifts were installed by the electric wing of the PWD years ago on the demand of the administration, keeping in view the public convenience. The three-storeyed building houses the office of the Deputy Commissioner, the SP and a number of district-level officials. Sources said the PWD officials offered to train the staff for operating lifts, but no suitable person could be spared for the job and no permanent staff had been appointed. To maintain the lifts, the PWD gets it lubricated periodically, but the local officials refuse to provide any details of expenditure on the maintenance as they are not authorised to speak to the media. However, an official said now the ball was in the court of the local administration, which should appoint a lift operator and make the lifts functional. Deputy Commissioner Amneet P Kumar said steps would be taken soon to ensure that lifts became operative. |
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Info panel summons legal services officials
Panipat, March 19 Several undertrials, who cannot afford a lawyer, are provided legal aid by the Haryana State Legal Services Authority (HSLSA). However, they are seldom informed about the progress of their case. RTI activist PP Kapoor, who is undergoing imprisonment at the Karnal jail in connection with an agitation carried out by his trade union a few years ago, lamented that poor and illiterate inmates of jails had no means to get information about their cases. He maintained that it was quite unjust that the inmates were kept in the dark causing unnecessary stress to them. The plea was made by Kapoor in a recently filed petition with the SIC regarding denial of information in connection with the legal cases of five inmates of the Karnal jail by the HSLSA. Kapoor stated that no information was provided within a stipulated time frame and requested the commission to direct the HSLSA to furnish the information without any further delay. In the petition, he also sought that directives should be issued to the authority to regularly update the inmates about their cases taken up by it. Following the petition, the commission has summoned the superintendent and the member secretary of the HSLSA to appear before it on April 19. |
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Job Scheme
Chandigarh, March 19 A spokesman said employment of more than 60.20 lakh mandays had been generated under the scheme so far by providing employment to more than 1.89 lakh families in the state. He said Hisar district had ranked second where Rs 18.61 crore had been spent under the scheme, followed by Mahendragarh district where more than Rs 17.91 crore had been spent. More than 27,000 families got jobs and employment of 7.7 lakh mandays was generated in Sirsa district.
— TNS |
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Dalits hold protest
Rewari, March 19 Criticising the sarpanch, they alleged that some influential villagers had obtained private water connections in an unauthorised manner from their main line with the connivance of the sarpanch, due to which the colony of the Dalits had not been receiving the drinking water supply. They deplored that it was all the more agonising that their repeated requests made to the sarpanch and the DC in the past few weeks had remained unanswered. They warned that if their problem was not addressed, they would hold a protest at the district secretariat here as well.
— OC |
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Man gets life term for wife’s murder
Sonepat, March 19 He was also sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000 for attempting to murder his two-year-old daughter, Monika. Both sentences will run concurrently. According to the case details, Jaiveer attacked his wife and daughter with sharp-edged weapons after an altercation with her. In the attack, his wife died while his daughter was injured. On a complaint of Sudesh’s uncle, Giani Ram of Bichhmara village in Hisar district, a case of murder and attempt to murder was registered against the accused in the Baroda police station. |
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