Fatehabad, June 27
Some officials of the Revenue Department, who went to Gorakhpur today for a survey of the standing crop on the land acquired for the nuclear power project coming up in the village, had to face the wrath of villagers, who roughed them up, snatched their papers, smashed the windowpane of their vehicle and took two patwaris hostage for some time.

The SDM, Baljit Singh, rushed to the village with a strong police force to persuade villagers after the news reached the district headquarters, but the agitated farmers, including women, refused to listen to anything.

“We have been maintaining from the beginning that we will not yield an inch of our land for the project. But the authorities have been trying to force us into a confrontation. The villagers had to react when an official used derogatory language for women standing guard on their fields,” alleged Hans Raj Siwach, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti spearheading agitation against the Gorakhpur Atomic Power Project (GAPP).

He said the farmers were firm on their stand that they would sacrifice their lives but would not allow the authorities to take away their lands.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik said stern action would be taken against those who had thrashed public servants and prevented them from discharging their public duty.

“We will not allow anyone to take law into his hands and the police will take whatever action is warranted,” the DC added.

Kaushik said a number of surveys were required before the authorities paid award money to the farmers as they were entitled to get compensation for crops, trees, dhanis and tubewells, too, besides the land.

The present survey was to assess the compensation payable to the farmers for the crops standing on their field before the authorities took physical possession of the land, he added. 

Chandigarh, June 27
The state government has put in place a pension disbursement system under which over 20.78 lakh pensioners would be able to draw their pension from the first of every month like government employees.

Doing away with the existing cumbersome system of disbursing pension among the beneficiaries of social security schemes, the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has pioneered the new system under which the pension would be credited to the dedicated bank accounts of gram panchayats and urban local bodies on the first of every month.

Sources said over 6,200 accounts had been opened in centralised banking solution (CBS) banks to which the amount was being credited on the first of every month.

Ashok Kumar Yadav, Director-General, Social Justice and Empowerment, said the new system would be functional from July 1.

The process to streamline the existing system started last month when the database of pensioners under social security schemes, including old age pensioners, widow pensioners, destitute women pensioners and physically challenged pensioners, was updated by deleting 52,648 ineligible pensioners, including 40,648 dead beneficiaries.

Officials said under the existing system, the account payee receipts (APRs) from the beneficiaries took several months to reach the headquarters resulting in various kinds of malpractices at the field levels.

In January, a high-level meeting had done away with the “electronic benefit transfer” of pension through banks and reverted to the old system of payment through gram panchayats and urban local bodies. 

The database of pensioners under social security schemes, including old age pensioners, widow pensioners, destitute women pensioners and physically challenged pensioners, has been updated after deleting 52,648 ineligible pensioners, including 40,648 dead 

Gurgaon, June 27
The Gurgaon police has arrested two persons for illegally digging a borewell in Kasan village of the district. They are Himmat Singh of Pali village and Satbir Singh of Bawana Gujar village in Rewari district.

Himmat Singh reportedly owns the digging machine while Satbir Singh operates it. They were allegedly engaged for digging a borewell by Rohtash Tayal in whose house Maahi’s parents stay as tenants. Maahi was killed after she fell into an abandoned borewell located nearby.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravinder Tomar, however, clarified that the arrested persons had not dug the borewell in which Maahi fell.

On being asked about Tayal’s arrest, Tomar maintained that he would be arrested soon. Meanwhile, Gurgaon District Magistrate PC Meena has invoked Section 144, CrPC in the entire district, prohibiting the drilling of borewells without permission from a competent authority.

The DM has maintained that if any government, semi-government agency or private person digs a borewell without obtaining prior permission from the district administration, they would be booked under Section 188, IPC. 

Fatehabad, June 27
Two persons were killed and nine injured when a Mahindra Marshal jeep carrying members of a marriage party fell in the Kheri canal near Bhattu Kalan in Fatehabad this morning.

The deceased included the jeep driver Subhash and a passenger, Hanuman.

Reports said the jeep carrying 11 persons, including the driver, had left for Pathranwali in Sirsa The driver lost control over the jeep which fell in the Kheri canal. — TNS

Rohtak, June 27
A four-member team of the CBI has landed in Rohtak to investigate the acid-throwing incident that took place here on June 18 last year. The four accused, including a woman, had been booked in this connection. Three schoolgirls, all minors, had suffered burn injuries in the incident.

Sources said the team had arrived here last evening. The four-member team has visited the houses of the victims and has talked to their relatives and family members regarding the investigations. The case was handed over to the CBI following directions from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which was reportedly not satisfied with the police investigating the case.

The directions had come following a petition filed in the court by a victim alleging that the police had acted in a biased and improper manner as it had given a clean chit to one of the youths who had been a prime suspect in the case. The CBI was expected to nail the main accused.