Chandigarh, December 6
Private and government-run institutes for the specially-abled, crumbling for want of funds, may finally have some help on hand. The Haryana government has allocated a special fund for such institutes from the excise duty to the Social Justice and Empowerment Department.

As per a decision taken by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda last week, 25 paise per liquor bottle sold in Haryana will be allocated to such institutes. In a state which has a consumption of 30 crore bottles of country liquor, 11 crore bottles of beer and 5 crore Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) bottles, the 25 paise contribution will total about Rs 12 to 15 crore and this will be spent entirely on the institutes in need of financial aid.

“We took this decision in the light of a growing need being felt to support institutes, government and private, which take care of our specially-abled children. This is only a beginning and gradually we will chip in with more funding by exploring other options available to ensure that these institutes can offer qualitative assistance,” the Chief Minister, speaking to TNS, said.

Though no additional cess of any kind is being levied on liqour for this collection, sources say that it will be given on the lines of the allocation for panchayats and sports within the excise duty that is being at present collected by the Excise and Taxation Department.

“Various privately managed and government-run institutes are always short of funds when it comes to ‘adequate finances’. This is the government’s way of showing it cares. The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment will draw up a policy on how this special fund can be availed by the institutes,” an officer said.

The idea came from the allocation already being made for sports as also panchayats which is serving as a kitty in addition to the regular funds the department has been provided. An amount of 50 paise per bottle has been set aside for a sports fund by the government which sums up to Rs 25 crore annually. Similarly, to augment the finances available to the panchayats, about Rs 150 crore is collected annually.

“For the panchayats, while allocating funds, we take into account the bottles sold in that particular area. Against a flat rate of 50 paise and 25 paise as in the case of sports and for the institutes, the Excise Department gives Rs 3 per bottle of country liquor, Rs 2 for a beer bottle sold and Rs 5 for an IIMFL bottle. The panchayats get this money in accordance with the bottles sold in their respective areas,” the official explained.

Though the government realises that this collection of nearly Rs 15 crore may not be enough to cater to these institutes, officials maintain that at least an initiative has been taken and the focus has moved to provide aid to the institutes.

Chandigarh, December 6
The northern unit of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which was launched by industrialist KD Singh with much fanfare on June 14 this year, has virtually fizzled out, with the exodus of a large number of persons who had joined it.

Most of these leaders were third-rung Congress workers, most of whom owed their allegiance to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The most prominent among them was the then media advisor to Hooda, Sunder Pal. He was made deputy in charge of the northern unit of the TMC by KD Singh, a Rajya Sabha member. Sunder Pal today quit the TMC. Yesterday, another office-bearer of the party, Anil Saini, had quit the party, levelling serious allegations against KD Singh. A party spokesman, however, today denied the allegations. He said Saini was expelled from the party a day before he announced his resignation and was levelling the allegations out of frustration.

Sunder Pal accused KD Singh in his resignation letter of being dictatorial in his style of functioning and not interested in running the party . He regretted that all prominent members who had joined the party with “great hopes” had to quit it because of this attitude.

The party suffered a major jolt soon after its launch when former media coordinator of Hooda, Dalip Chawla, alias Bittu Chawla, quit the TMC and returned to the Congress. A few months later leaders like Lakhwinder Singh Lakha and JP Maan, who were among the first to join the TMC in Haryana, also quit.

In the initial days, the TMC seemed to be an alternative to those political leaders who had been feeling ignored in their parties. But, before joining it, these leaders preferred to wait to see how much impact KD Singh would make on state politics with his money power. But the series of jolts to the TMC put off these leaders. With the desertion of Sunder Pal, the last known name in the Haryana unit of the TMC, these leaders would have to now look for other options.

The TMC’s loss might be the HJC’s gain. Many leaders who want to quit the Congress or the INLD may now turn towards Kuldeep Bishnoi in the hope of getting tickets in the next elections.

Chandigarh/Rohtak, Dec 6
Around 2000 MW from Bhutan is proposed to be purchased by the state with a view to mitigating power shortage in the coming summer season, revealed Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh in a chat with reporters at Rohtak today. "The modalities for the purchase of 2000 MW hydel power had been finalised with the Bhutanese Government and a formal MoU would be signed during my Bhutan visit from December 14 to 16," Hooda claimed.

A high-level delegation led by YS Malik, Principal Secretary(Industries), and comprising Devender Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(UHBVN) and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(DHBVN), and Tarun Bajaj, former Managing Director of the Haryana Vidyut Prasharan Nigam(HVPN), visited Bhutan recently to explore the possibilities of cooperation in different fields.

To take the cooperation dialogue further, a high-level Bhutanese delegation will be on a three-day visit to the state from December 9. "A power purchase agreement is likely to be finalised during the visit ," Devender Singh told The Tribune here today.

Though the power purchase from Bhutan looks to be an attractive proposition, it would entail certain technical difficulties. "Since the states cannot buy electricity from other countries directly, the state government would have to seek permission from the Central Government for procurement of power from Bhutan," sources said. It is anybody's guess if the Congress-led UPA Government accords permission to Haryana in the midst of the ongoing winter session of Parliament ahead of Hooda's visit to Bhutan on December 14.

A senior government official said that with its huge hydel potential Bhutan could be a perennial source of cheap power for the state.It is pertinent to mention that several cities in the state saw people taking to the streets against unscheduled power cuts during the last summer season.

Meanwhile, Hooda claimed that four coal-based thermal power stations were operating at full capacity in the state. Besides, a 2800-MW nuclear power plant was being set up at Gorakhpur village in Fatehabad district to mitigate the power shortage. In fact,the state government was mulling the start of a new scheme under which 22-hour power supply would be given to the consumers who abided by certain conditions, including timely payment of electricity bills.

Sonepat, December 6
Distressed over the neglecting attitude of the authorities concerned, Hawa Singh (65), a farmer of Deepalpur village today climbed a 50-foot-high tower of a transmission line of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) erected in his field.

Carrying a rope with him, he threatened to commit suicide if his demands were not accepted. His main demand was that farmers should be given proper compensation for the crops damaged while erecting poles and laying transmission lines in their fields. He alleged discrepancies in assessing crop losses.

On receiving information, Rai NLA Jai Tirth, DSP Ajit Singh, DDPO Hari Singh Sheoran and HVPN officers reached the spot .

Hawa Singh reportedly threw a letter containing his demands, stating that farmers were neither being given prior notices for erecting poles and laying transmission lines nor any suitable compensation for the crop losses in the process. The letter was handed over to HVPN officers.

He said he belonged to a freedom fighter’s family and owned four bighas. Crops had been damaged in last three seasons but there was no proper assessment of damages. As three transmission lines were passing over his field, a good portion of the land had been used for erecting poles. Similar views were expressed by the farmers who had assembled on the spot.

However, on assurance by the MLA and the DSP, Hawa Singh came down around 4 pm after around six hours of high drama in his fields. The MLA said the complaints about discrepancies in assessment of crop damages would be fully inquired.

Fatehabad, December 6
Even as the authorities have handed over the possession of land acquired for the proposed Gorakhpur Atomic Power Project (GAPP) to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), farmers of over 500 acres have sown the next crop on their acquired land, indicating that they are in no mood to part with their lands.

Despite having accepted the compensation in lieu of their land acquired for the project, a section of farmers has been agitating for hike in the compensation -- a dharna started by these farmers entered its 31st day today.

The NPCIL is due to start construction activities on the project very soon,

The NPCIL will open the tenders for the fencing of the 18-odd-km long boundary of the land acquired for the GAPP on December 12 and after finalising the agency, the fencing work will begin soon.

Simultaneously, mobilisation of machinery for some geotechnical tests is already in process, said an official spokesperson.

Meanwhile, farmers’ leader Balwant Singh, who presided over the dharna by the farmers today, announced that their members would not part with their lands till their demands were met.

He said farmers had already sown wheat crop on over 500 acres of land and some more farmers were tilling their lands to prepare it for the next crop.

“We were assured Rs 50 lakh per acre as compensation besides annuity, job for a member each of our families,” claimed the farmers.

The government had given nearly Rs 30 lakh per acre as compensation, which included Rs 20 lakh towards the cost of land, Rs 6 per acre as solatium and Rs 4 lakh as interest from the date of notification of acquisition.

A majority of farmers has already accepted the compensation and many farmers have even accepted the no-litigation amount by giving affidavits that they would not move the court for a hike in the compensation.

Gurgaon, December 6
The Gurgaon Municipal Corporation, in a first of its kind initiative, has made it mandatory for its officials to complete files within three working days or face action.

At the house meeting held today, newly appointed commissioner Vijay said it was high time that the Municipal Corporation broke from its image of prolonging the works, leading to massive pendency.

"The most common complaint which a common man has with the MC is pendency. It has been noticed that in many cases the officers tend to retain files with no valid reason, leading to inconvenience and even corruption at times. Henceforth, it shall be mandatory for any officer to do needful in a particular case within three days or face music," said Dahiya.

In addition, the engineering wing was directed to prepare estimates of various projects within 10 days to avoid unnecessary delays.

A contractor of ward number 23 was blacklisted while a JE was transferred to the headquarters on the complaint of the local councillor claiming that the contractor threatened people with a gun in the presence of JE.

Gurgaon, December 6
Doctors at a private maternity centre have succeeded in saving a baby girl born with a weight of mere 640 gm. The child was born prematurely and was reportedly smaller than the hand of the doctor attending to her.

The doctors said the little one required high-frequency ventilation and provision for giving nutrition through the veins. The baby was kept under close observation at the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Medical experts at The Cradle maternity hospital say that with increasing age at delivery, stress and other related problems in the mother, the number of premature births is increasing across the globe. They said mothers who are expected to have such complications should deliver only at centres which have the NICU facility and a team of medical specialists comprising a certified neonatologist is available round the clock.

“If the centre does not meet the desired standards, the premature babies may acquire infections from the hospital ICU, which is a major cause of death in such cases,” the experts caution.

Fatehabad, December 6
About 10 armed persons today attacked a property dealer in the Improvement Trust market in Fatehabad.

The victim, Gulshan Jagga, was shifted to Hisar in a critically injured condition.

Before being shifted to Hisar, Jagga told the police that he was sitting outside his shop in the afternoon when 10 youths came in two vehicles and attacked him with lathis and iron rods. He identified some of them as Gaurav, Rakesh, Shekhu and Machhi.

Sirsa, December 6
A day after Senior Superintendent of Police Rajshree Singh suspended an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) for opening the barricades erected on the Shah Satnam Singh road without her permission, the road was opened to vehicular traffic today.

The police today lifted the barricades erected on the road that leads to Dera Sacha Sauda and opened it to traffic.

Yesterday, the SSP had suspended ASI Ram Niwas, in charge of Kirti Nagar police post, for having opened a “sensitive” barricade without permission. — TNS

Mahendragarh, December 6
A salesman of a liquor shop was found murdered at Pavera village today. The deceased has been identified as Hari Singh of Gaadrata village (Rajasthan).

The incident came to light in the morning when the owner came to the liquor shop located on Sareli Road here to collect cash. He found Hari Singh lying dead outside the shop.

The police reached the spot and sent the body to the Civii Hospital for a postmortem examination.

As the body bore multiple injury marks, a case of murder had been registered, said Abhishek Garg, SP, Mahendragarh.

The statements of the shop owner and employees were being recorded.