Karnal, February 25
“The Congress will emerge stronger in all five states going to polls and its popularity graph will continue to rise till the last phase of the polls,” Deepender Hooda, Congress MP and convener of the Congress-RLD alliance, said.

Hooda, who arrived here after a hectic campaigning in UP, to attend the marriage of niece of Zile Ram, former CPS, said he had visited about 70 constituencies in UP and was sure that the Congress-RLD alliance would fare better in the sixth and seventh phase and would be ahead of all other parties.

Claiming that there was a wave in favour of the Congress-RLD alliance in UP, Hooda said initially, the Congress looked weak in the state but hectic and aggressive campaigning by AICC general-secretary Rahul Gandhi made a discernible change and the party was a front runner in the state.

“It is a matter of great pride that the development made by Haryana is being mentioned in the elections even by the opposition parties and the election results will benefit the state also,” he said.

Expressing confidence that the Congress was all set to emerge winner in Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, Hooda said the election results in UP would also be a jolt for the opposition parties.

Ambala, February 25
Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala has said that Speaker of the Assembly Kuldeep Sharma favoured the treasury benches during the session and discouraged the opposition MLAs to raise issues in public interest.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he said the attitude of the Speaker was “undemocratic” and sometimes he did not allow the Opposition to take up important matters related to the common man.

He alleged that the Speaker gave more time to the ruling party MLAs, causing resentment among other legislators. ures.

He said during the Budget session, his party would raise issues of farmers, employees and other sections of society. He said the law and order situation was a major problem in the state, adding that it would be raised in the Assembly. He said the Governor’s address in the Budget session generally spells out future plans of the government, but the Governor’s speech in the Assembly “disappointed” the House.

Referring to the coming state Budget, he said the government may not put any burden on the common man in the Budget, but after the session, the common man would not be spared. Later, the government would levy heavy taxes in one or the other way, he added.

Replying to a question, he said the INLD would not allow the government to acquire even one inch land of farmers for setting up SEZs without their consent.

Hisar, February 25
A team of the Jat leaders spearheading the pro-reservation stir at Ramayan village near here left for Delhi this evening for talks with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The invitation for the talks was extended to these leaders by Deputy Commissioner Amit Aggarwal and SP Anil Dhawan late this evening after the much-awaited talks between the government and leaders of the Jat community scheduled for today failed
to materialise.

The talks were scheduled this noon but the government representatives failed to turn up at the office of the Power Grid Corporation of India at Ramayan village near here where Jats have been squatting on both sides of the railway track since Sunday last.

The talks had been scheduled following extensive talks between Jat leaders and government representatives, including CPS Dharambir Singh, former Speaker Raghbir Kadian and Meham MLA Anand Singh Dangi on Thursday.

Suresh Koth, a senior khap leader and member of the team, said this morning’s talks were put off as the government team felt that it would be better for the Jat representatives to meet the Chief Minister directly.

Koth said if an agreement was reached at the meeting with Hooda tonight, the stir would be called off. If not, the stir would continue. He said a meeting of all khaps of Haryana would be held at Jind tomorrow to decide the future course of action. If no agreement was reached tonight, the meeting would decide on intensifying the stir, he added.

After the leaders left for Delhi, the protesters squatting on both sides of the railway track left for their homes. However, they will return for the dharna tomorrow morning if the talks fail.

Meanwhile, Hawa Singh Sangwan, President of the Haryana unit of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, today appealed to the Jats protesting at Ramayan not to be misled by their self-styled leaders.

In a statement issued here today, he said the innocent members of the community were being misguided by YashPal Malik who had deserted the protesters after making them stage a dharna. Sangwan said contrary to Malik’s claims that he had been under house arrest, he had been campaigning against Ajit Singh’s party in Uttar Pradesh.

Sangwan said he had submitted a 125-page memorandum supported by 1,417 affidavits to the Haryana Backward Classes Commission in February to bolster the Jats’ claim for reservation. However, none of the leaders leading the protests at Ramayan had even met the commission members.

He said he had postponed resumption of the stir to March 23 because nothing was possible before March 8 when the election process in UP would end. He said the Jats would have to hold several rounds of talks with the government both at the state as well as the Centre to achieve their aim.

SONEPAT (OC): Hundreds of activists of the district unit of the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti on Saturday continued their indefinite dharna at Kumaspur Chowk on the GT road for the second day on Saturday. Six office-bearers of the samiti observed an indefinite fast. 

Chandigarh, February 25
Government-run corporations, rural banks, joint stock companies and cooperatives of the Haryana Government have become white elephants with a return of just Rs 2.48 crore on a whopping investment totalling Rs 6,376 crore.

The huge losses by these organisations over the years have not made the Haryana Government any wiser. While the return from the investments decreased from Rs 5.62 crore (2006-07) to a meagre Rs 2.48 crore (2010-11), the government still preferred to pump in a huge amount of Rs 801 crore in these loss-making organisations in the last financial year, the recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said.

While investments by the populist Hooda government in these organisations have gone up by 109 per cent over the past five years (2006-07 to 2010-11), their average rate of return has been just 0.14 per cent.

Intriguingly, investments amounting to Rs 796 crore (99 per cent) were made last year in the power-sector companies which are already in the red against the backdrop of financial mismanagement and lack of political will to go in for power sector reforms. And the four power-sector companies — the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN), the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) and Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL) — accounted for Rs 5,715 crore losses (about 93 per cent) out of the accumulated losses of Rs 6,170 crore.

It is a double whammy for the Haryana Government as there is a neglible return from investment while it paid interest at the average rate of 7.43 to 9.29 per cent during the past five years to part finance
its investment in loss-making ventures.

Prinicipal Accountant General (Audit), Haryana, Onkar Nath, said the government should invest its high-cost borrowings judiciously besides disinvesting in equity in the loss-making units.

Rohtak, February 25
The state government has extended the contractual employment of about 3,000 employees of the Power Department for another six months. These workers had become jobless on February 3 when their contract ended and there was no communication on the continuation of their services for about two weeks.

The Tribune had carried a news item regarding the joblessness faced by these employees.

A letter released by the managing director of the UHBVN on February 24 stated that the Nigam had approved further engagement of various categories of staff for further six months (from February 6 to August 5, 2012) subject to the approval of the authorities concerned.

While there was no job security, a majority of the field staff was working at their own risk as there was no cover provided in the case of accidents. As many as 100 persons had lost their lives in accidents while performing their job in the past three years. The union has demanded regularisation of services of employees who have completed three years on contractual or temporary basis in the department.

Fatehabad, February 25
Under the District Plan, Rs 8.61 crore has been sanctioned for development activities in Fatehabad during 2011-12.

At a meeting of the District Planning Committee (DPC) held here, it was decided that Rs 5.64 crore would be spent on development activities for the general category and Rs 2.97 crore for the SCs.

The Deputy Commissioner, ML Kaushik, presided over the meeting.

The Haryana Agriculture Minister, Paramvir Singh, who represents the Tohana Assembly segment, the chief parliamentary secretary, Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, who represents Fatehabad and Jarnail Singh, who represents the Ratia Assembly seat, attended the meeting.

Angrez Singh Lali, Chairman of the zila parishad, Fatehabad, and other members of the DPC also attended the meeting.

The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Ashok Meena, said under the District Plan, as many as 270 works had been sanctioned last year, out of which 53 had been completed by January 31, 2012, while work on 182 others was in progress.

He said the authorities would spend 40 per cent of the funds on streets and drains, 15 per cent on community centres, 10 per cent on buildings of schools and colleges, 10 per cent on water supply, 10 per cent on child and women development, 5 per cent on health, 5 per cent on sports and 5 per cent of the funds on other activities. 

Chandigarh, February 25
For curing the ailing medical services in Haryana jails, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set six weeks’ deadline for filing the vacancies of medical officers and pharmacists.

A Division Bench of the high court has also warned that failure to comply with the directions issued in the matter will be viewed seriously. The directions came after the high court took suo motu cognisance of a note, on the shortage of medical staff, by the Administrative Judge of Ambala sessions division.

The note was written while considering the report of Ambala District and Sessions Judge. He had asserted that three out of four sanctioned posts of medical officers in the Central Jail were vacant for a couple of years, even though more than 1,100 inmates were lodged there. He had added that a regular medical officer had not been posted to look after 57 juveniles lodged in the Observation Home there. 

Chandigarh, February 25
The Haryana Government has expanded the scope of its Indira Bal Swasthya Yojna (IBSY) to provide free treatment to all children in the state whereas earlier this facility was admissible to only children belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.

The decision to expand the scope of the scheme was announced by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to benefit all children in the state. Teachers and Anganwari workers are being trained to screen common deficiencies, diseases and disabilities. Doctors visit the schools and anganwaris for the health check-up of screened children with deficiencies, diseases and disabilities and interventions are being done accordingly.

As many as 10,854 teachers and 4,917 head teachers were trained in convergence with the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan in the primary screening of children and as many as 18,70,425 children in 11,001 schools were examined for disease, deficiency and disability and 2,753 children were given spectacles free of cost.

Also, 107 disability camps were held in which 4,023 children were given disability certificates. Ten children were given financial aid for treatment at the tertiary level and corrective surgery of 121 children was performed.

Under this scheme, 17 children with severe deformity and functional limitations like cerebral palsy, congenital deformity and traumatic injuries were operated free of cost at a special camp organised at district hospital, Kaithal, recently.

The follow-up services and further rehabilitation programme will be done at the district hospital free of cost.

Fatehabad, February 25
Backtracking from their truce with the power utilities, a section of villagers from Samain today resumed their agitation against the 220-KV powerhouse in the village.

Sube Singh Samain, leader of the agitating villagers, alleged that the village sarpanch had acted under pressure of the authorities after a meeting on Monday. He declared that officials of the power utilities would not be allowed to enter the site unless their all demands were met unconditionally. The six-month-old standoff over the powerhouse had ended on Monday after a truce between the villagers and the officials of the power utilities with the mediation of Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh.

The villagers, who had forcibly stopped the construction activities at the powerhouse and had locked its building on August 11, 2011, had ended their stir on Monday after the power utilities accepted their demand of 24-hour power supply for domestic users in the village.

The villagers had agreed to pay their three current bills as per the agreement reached with the authorities and their power metres would be installed outside their houses. The power utilities had also agreed to pay Rs 8 lakh per acre to the village panchayat as a compensation for the land acquired for the powerhouse.

Sube Singh said whatever solution to the problem was held in future, it would be decided transparently before the villagers. The villagers had also demanded that power connection to ‘dhanis’ of Tohana should also be given 24-hour supply from the powerhouse.

The sarpanch, Naseeb Singh, said there was no question of going back from the word given to the authorities.