Chandigarh, January 20
Put on notice by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Haryana Government has finally moved a step closer to formulating a comprehensive development plan amounting to Rs 647.54 crore for the backward Shivalik region spread over three districts of Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar.

In a communication to the Deputy Commissioners of the three districts, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Shivalik Development Agency (SDA), the implementation agency of the Shivalik Development Board (SDB), responsible for development of the region, has demanded project proposals which could be sent to the state government for approval after “consolidation”.

The communication, which is an offshot of a directive issued by Kumari Selja, Union Minister for Culture, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, urged the district officials to send the project proposals for a period of 15 years for “integrated development” of the Shivalik region of the state.

Last month, the high court had issued a notice to the Haryana Government on a petition filed by Vijay Bansal, president of the Shivalik Vikas Manch, Pinjore, alleging step-motherly treatment to the sub-mountainous region.

Alleging that development works have come to a standstill in the Shivalik area, the petition stated that no meeting of the SDB, headed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had been held for the past over three years. Even in the financial year 2010-11, out of a sanctioned amount of Rs 9 crore, the SDA had received only Rs 4.05 crore. Of the Rs 4.05 crore, an amount of Rs 2.10 crore was utilised.

Meanwhile, official sources said that the projects relating to soil conservation, afforestation, watershed management, water supply and sanitation, construction of bridges and schools and laying roads will be taken up in the development plans.

Gurgaon, January 20
Gurgaon Collector-cum-Deputy Commissioner PC Meena has dismissed a patwari from service and ordered the compulsory retirement of a field kanungo, who were found involved in wrongfully changing the ownership of about 128 acres of panchayat land at Museedpur village in the district into “Shamlat Deh” (common land).

As per the orders issued by the Collector here yesterday, field kanungo Jaswant Singh and Patwari Purushottam recommended the change of ownership of the said land citing the Civil Writ Petition (CWP) No. 5877 of 1992 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The Zonal Administrator of the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board inquired into the matter and held both patwari and the field kanungo guilty of wrongfully transferring the huge chunk of the panchayat land.

In his report submitted to the Collector, the enquiry officer maintained that after recommending the change in the ownership of the said chunk of the panchayat land, the kanungo and the patwari came to know that the matter had come to the notice of the higher authorities. Following this, they did over-writings in Mutation No. 641 of the village panchayat. He held both the revenue officials guilty of acting in most careless and reckless manner.

Both these officials were chargesheeted under Rule 7 of the Haryana Citizen Services (Punishment and Appeals) Rules, 1987, and suspended on February 17, 2006, after issuing show-cause notices to them.

They were asked to reply and were given opportunities of personal hearing, but no satisfactory reply was received from them. They were given another opportunity of hearing on January 17 this year, but again they failed to justify their acts of omission and commission.

Hence, the Collector held them guilty under Rule 7 and ordered the dismissal of the patwari and compulsory retirement for the field kanungo. As of now, the dismissed patwari Purushottam was posted as patwari (Surplus) in Gurgaon while Field kanungo Jaswant Singh was posted as Naib Sadar kanungo in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Mewat. 

Hisar, January 20
Work in the courts came to a standstill today as lawyers observed a strike for the first day in protest against the tabling of the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011. The call for the strike had been given by the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council.

Surender Dhull, president of the Hisar District Bar Association, said all lawyers suspended work and did
not appear in any court today. He said the government had tabled the Bill in Parliament, which sought to establish the National Commission on Higher Education and Research.

The existing regulatory bodies, including the University Grants Commission and the All-India Council for Technical Education, would subsequently be scrapped. He said the provisions of the Bill were too drastic and lawyers would oppose it as decided by the Bar Council of India.

A report about lawyers staying away from work was also received from Kaithal.

Sirsa, January 20
Governor Jagannath Pahadia and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today called upon youth to utilise their educational prowess towards making India a strong and prosperous nation.

Addressing the first convocation of Chaudhary Devi Lal University here today, Hooda said the future of any country depended on the capabilities of its youth and India with the world’s largest population of young people had immense possibilities to thrive.

“It is a matter of pride for us that the world is recognising the value of our intellectual property today,” the Chief Minister said.

Hooda said Haryana was observing 2012 as the “Year of Youth” and emphasis would be laid on areas like education, sports and employment during this year.

The Haryana government, he said, had been laying stress on improving the quality of education on the one hand and making it job-oriented on the other.

He said Haryana had emerged as an educational hub in the country with 23 universities, 118 engineering colleges, 125 polytechnics, 122 ITIs, an educational city in Kundli and four new medical colleges.

Pahadia said a strong value system along with academic excellence could prepare youth to deal with every situation.

The Governor also lauded the state government’s continuous support to Chaudhary Devi Lal University, which, he said, catered not only to the catchment districts of Haryana but also the adjoining areas of Punjab and Rajasthan.

In his welcome speech, Dr KC Bhardwaj, Vice-Chancellor, said though the university suffered severe teething problems at the initial stage, it was now progressing fast .

As many as 44 students received PhD degrees from the Governor while 675 were awarded postgraduate and graduate degrees in various fields by the Vice-Chancellor. Among those receiving PhD degrees was Ram Paul Chander, a senior bureaucrat from Haryana.

Hooda gave away gold medals and merit certificates to 44 meritorious students.

The function was delayed for over two hours as the state aircraft bringing VVIPs did not get clearance due to heavy fog.

Jind, January 20
Almost all private schools in the town were closed today to mourn the death of two girl students in an accident last evening. School owners and kin of the victims met the district police chief to seek immediate arrest of the culprits, whose alleged molestation bid had led to the accident. They also sought police presence and patrolling near all schools and educational institutions.

The victims, identified as Shikha (16), a student of DAV School, and Ankita (16) of Indus Public School, had died in the accident that took place near the SP’s residence after the scooty of the girls was hit by a truck.

The girls were killed when they reacted in panic, said an eyewitness, adding that the main cause of the accident could have been the molestation attempt by the youths.

The SP told the delegation that the police was taking the matter seriously and it would try its best to trace and arrest the accused. Meanwhile, a majority of the schools observed a closed day after holding a condolence meeting. The District Bar Association also observed a two-minut silence to mourn the death of the two students.

Sonepat, January 20
After the incidents of jailbreak by eight hardcore criminals on Tuesday night and the death of another jail inmate under suspicious circumstances on Wednesday night, the Inspecting Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justice Mahesh Grover, today inspected the district jail.

During inspection, he was accompanied by the District and Sessions Judge, Kuldeep Jain, Deputy Commissioner, Pankaj Aggarwal, SSP KK Rao, Jail Superintendent JK Chillar and DSP Surender Malik. He inspected the security arrangements and reviewed the progress made in the ongoing security-related works. He issued directions for taking all precautionary measures to ensure that such incidents were not repeated in future.

At a meeting with these officers, Justice Grover discussed the security arrangements available on the jail premises and other related issues, including lodging of the inmates. He said the sanctioned works should be completed on schedule.

Later, he inspected the local courts and the Bar premises. The president of the Sonepat Bar Association, Mastan Sharma, urged Justice Grover to shift the consumers’ court to the judicial complex and approve the construction of a vehicle parking, litigant shed and chambers for 250 new members of the Bar Association. 

Faridabad, January 20
In a joint raid by the police and officials of the District Drug Controller at a shop in the Destination Mall here, its owner was nabbed for running a hookah bar in which drugs were served.

The owner has been identified as Ranjeet Kumar Kukreja and the hookah bar was christened “Fags and Drags”. He has been booked under various provisions of the IPC, the Drug and Cosmetics Act and the Cigarette and other Tobacco Products Act.

Krishan Kumar from the District Drug Controller Office said “Hookah bars are illegal joints where tobacco is laced with high doses of nicotine and chemical substances to consumers. The cocktail is puffed in by the consumers through the hookas, which causes effects of hallucination, just as other drugs do.”

The police has seized 144 pouches of drugs and four hookahs from the site. 

Sirsa, January 20
On a call given by the INLD, a complete bandh was observed in Dabwali town of the district today against the failure of the police to nab culprits of an incident of loot in which a sugar trader was robbed of Rs 11.67 lakh last month.

Almost all markets of the town, including Main Bazar, Bus Stand Market, Vegetable Market, Bathinda Road, Sirsa Road, Colony Road, Meena Bazar, Shriram Market, Grain Market and shops of the main GT Road remained closed in protest.

Dabwali MLA and the INLD secretary-general Ajay Singh Chautala, who had given the call for the bandh, staged a dharna with his supporters at Gandhi Chowk of the town.

The INLD leaders gave a memorandum addressed to the Governor to the authorities demanding dismissal of the Hooda government. Meanwhile, Inder Jain, president of the Dabwali unit of the Haryana Pradesh Vyapar Mandal, alleged that traders had closed their shops out of fear and not out of their free will.

Sonepat, January 20
Naib tehsildar Inder Singh, currently posted at Indri in Karnal district, was arrested by the economic crime branch for alleged involvement in committing irregularities in the land records of Daheshra village in Sonepat district during 2009-10. He was produced in the court on Thursday which remanded him in one-day police custody.

According to information, Kuldeep, the then village patwari, allegedly changed the ‘intekal’ of about 40 acres of the Daheshra panchayat land in the name of certain farmers. The entry of this mutation in revenue records was allegedly allowed by Inder Singh, the then naib tehsildar .

After taking ownership of the land, the farmers in connivance with the patwari and the naib tehsildar sold this land to a liquor factory owner.

The villagers came to know about this deal when the factory owner started construction work on the land.

The then gram sarpanch moved a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. On the directions of the court, the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Haryana directed the then Deputy Commissioner, Ajit Joshi, to probe the matter.

After an inquiry, the DC cancelled the registration and mutation of the land. A case of irregularities and fraud was registered against patwari Kuldeep and naib tehsildar Inder Singh. — OC