Rohtak, March 3
Announcing that the upcoming Rail Coach Factory will come up on the Jind-Sonepat rail track near Gohana town in Sonepat district, Union Railway Minister Pawan Bansal today said a number of ancillary railway units would also be set up in the adjoining districts to provide supply to the main coach factory.

Bansal was here to formally flag off the Rohtak-Bahadurgarh-Delhi MEMU (electric) train at the local railway station. The train will start daily at 7 am from Rohtak and reach Delhi at 9.15 am. On return journey, it will leave Delhi at 3.50 pm to reach Rohtak at 6.20 pm. He said three new rail lines, Gurgaon-Sohna-Nuh-Firozpur-Zhirka-Alwar, Hisar-Agroha-Fatehabad-Sirsa and Yamunanagar-Sadhaura-Naraingarh-Chandigarh, would change the face of the state.

Work of the Meham-Hansi rail line would start soon, he added. About the demand for the Jaipur-Chandigarh rail line, Bansal said he would like to go ahead with it given the resources. He also announced the shifting of the Rohtak-Panipat rail line from within the city.

Congress MP Deepender Hooda said Haryana was among the states that had benefited a lot in the rail budget.

Haryana had got more in the past eight years than in the previous 30 years. He said the proposed welding factory at Sampla would also boost employment opportunities. Bansal later travelled with Deepender to Delhi on the first run of the train on Sunday.

Chandigarh, March 3
Taking a cue from the annual award given to the best parliamentarian, the Haryana Vidhan Sabha has decided to institute an award for the best legislator beginning this budget session.

Sources said the best legislator for this year would be chosen by a panel comprising the Chief Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister. The panel will also consider recommendations of other members of the House for the award.

The award will comprise a memento, an ‘angavastram’ and the Speaker’s recommendation for an additional grant for his constituency.

Sources said various parameters had been laid down to ensure a free and fair selection.

They said legislators would be judged on the basis of the kind of debate they had initiated in the House, issues of public importance they had raised during the proceedings, questions they had asked, quality of those questions, their understanding of the parliamentary practices and procedures and their behaviour in the House. The functioning of various committees under the legislators and their achievements will also be taken into account.

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Sharma said, “This has essentially been done to drive home the point that a legislator’s job is to raise the issues of public as he is the voice of his people. The award will help in channelising the energy of the legislator towards issues that need his attention, besides contributing towards the smooth functioning of the House.” 

Chandigarh, March 3
This can happen perhaps only in the Haryana Assembly. An adjournment motion is adjourned!

Pundits of parliamentary democracy are unanimous that the primary object of an adjournment motion is to draw the attention of the House to a matter of urgent public importance and the House is required to pay its attention immediately by interrupting its normal business.

Thus, the adjournment motion is an extraordinary procedure which, if admitted, leads to setting aside the normal business of the House for discussing a "definite matter of urgent public importance".

An adjournment motion can be moved with the consent of the Speaker and by leave of the House. Congress MLA Sampat Singh gave a notice to move an adjournment motion, which primarily dealt with the question that Leader of the Opposition Om Prakash Chautala should quit his post following his conviction in the JBT recruitment case before the Budget session commenced on February 22. On February 26, INLD member Ram Pal Majra also gave notice to move an adjournment motion dealing with Skylight Hospitality, a company owned by Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

As the House reassembled on February 26 after three holidays, Speaker Kuldeep Sharma informed Majra that his adjournment motion had been “admitted” for next day. On February 27, Sampat Singh’s adjournment motion was taken up. Even before the House could grant leave to the Congress member to move his motion, as expected, there was ruckus in the House by INLD members, leading to their suspension. Sampat Singh’s motion was adjourned for February 28!

Uproarious scenes were replayed in the House on February 28. Sampat Singh’s motion was again put off for a later day!

Experts feel both motions do not fall in the category of adjournment motions. Sharma would have been well within his authority to disallow them. Both motions do not relate to a matter of “urgent public importance” because their subject matter is not a recent occurrence. Sub-rule XI of rule 68 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Haryana Legislative Assembly expressly prohibits discussion on a sub-judice matter. Chautala’s appeal is pending before the Delhi High Court. Similarly, the issue of Robert Vadra’s land deal, which the INLD wanted to raise through the adjournment motion, is not a recent incident to be discussed through an adjournment motion.

An adjournment motion, if carried, is considered as
a sort of censure of the
government. Therefore, the government is normally reticent about it .

The last adjournment motion admitted in the Haryana Assembly was
in 1996 when the Opposition raised the flood situation in the state. The then Chief Minister Bansi Lal had told the then Speaker that since he had given his consent for moving the motion, it should be taken up immediately. 

Chandigarh, March 3
The Hooda government has formed a high-level committee to look into the issues related to putting on hold the decision of quota in promotions for the Dalit employees under the "accelerated seniority" clause.

Sources said the committee, headed by P Raghvendra Rao, Prinicipal Secretary, Urban Local Bodies, had been asked to prepare its report after collecting quantifiable data showing backwardness of the SCs and inadequacy of representation of the community in public employment in compliance with Article 335 of the Constitution. The Hooda government wants to complete the exercise early as a damage-control exercise to escape wrath of the Dalit community in the run-up to the parliamentary and state assembly elections.

The state government recently put on hold quota in promotions for the Dalit employees.

A senior functionary said the state government was keen to correct the faux pas and prepare a detailed report as mandated by the Supreme Court to find ways and means for welfare of the Dalit community.

Prem Kumar Verma, a state government employee, had challenged the March 16,2008, order under which the government had been granting "accelerated seniority" to the SC employees in violation of Article 16 of the Constitution and law laid down by the apex court in the M Nagaraj vs Union of India case.

While rejecting Verma's application for hiking his pay equivalent to that of Amar Singh(an SC promotee) in 2010, the Haryana Government had contended that the SC employees were entitled to "accelerated seniority" as a consequence of promotion under the reservation policy according to an amendment to the Constitution(85th) Amendement Act,2001, which amended Article 16(4-A) .

However, the high court held that in its judgement the apex court had clarified that the states "were not bound to make reservation for the SCs in the matter of promotions."

"However, if they wish to exercise their discretion and make such provisions, the states have been mandated to collect quantifiable data showing backwardness of the class and inadequacy of representation of that class in public employment in compliance with Article 335 of the Constitution," it said.

Yamunanagar/Ambala, March 3
With the tug-of-war between union minister Kumari Selja and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda over “disparity” in allotting development projects getting intense, supporters of Kumari Selja in Ambala and Yamunanagar districts have started to claim that the union minister was making every effort to bring in projects for her constituency.

It was after a suggestion made by Hooda that Selja should also chip in for the development of her home constituency, that her local supporters claimed that she had got sanctioned a number of projects for the development of Panchkula, Yamunanagar and Ambala, the three districts which form a part of her constituency. However, some of these got caught in the redtapism and never got completed.

Satish Saini, member of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee and member of the Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee, said the minister brought in projects worth crores of rupees, which could have revamped all three districts.

He said she was instrumental in getting a solid waste treatment plant, a sewage treatment plant, a project to link Panchkula in Haryana with Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh through rail and the project of four-laning of the Yamunanagar-Panchkula national highway.

While the solid waste treatment plant got stuck as no NoC was taken from the union environment ministry, the sewage treatment plant was set up on a disputed piece of land and never got completed, claimed Saini.

He said the project to link Panchkula with Paonta Sahib never saw the light of the day as the state government did not provide the land for the project.

Anil Goel, president of the Yamunanagar District Congress Committee (Urban), in a statement credited the union minister for getting several projects sanctioned for the district, including a solid waste treatment plant, providing basic amenities in slum colonies and an institute of hotel management under the union ministry of tourism.

Meanwhile, Rajpal Bhukri, Congress MLA from Sadhaura, who is considered close to Selja, has also been vocal against his own government as far as the development of his constituency was concerned and had even been issued notice by the HPCC president asking him to desist from issuing such statements in the media.

The Chief Minister has repeatedly asserted that uniform development was taking place across the state and there had been no discrimination of any sort in allotting developmental works.

HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana said the onus of representing demands for the development of a particular area lay with the local legislators and they should put up their case before the state government. He also stated that grievances of any sort should be discussed within party forum and not publicly.

Ambala, March 3
Touts in connivance with junior health employees are allegedly extorting money for issuing birth certificates to those who had not got these made earlier. They are "forcing" people, especially those hailing from the rural areas, to shell out Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000 for birth
certificates.

As per norms, a child’s birth is registered by a chowkidar, an anganwari worker or the hospital staff where the child is born. The records are then maintained by the nearby primary health centres (PHCs). In most cases, parents don't get the birth certificate made. However, after they realise that the birth certificate is a must to get any other document, including the passport or the voter’s card, they approach the local authorities. The birth certificate in such cases can only be issued by the district headquarters. As records are maintained by the PHCs, junior-level employees allegedly start harassing the parents, who are forced to approach the agents, who promptly get these made after charging the said fee.

Surinder Gupta of Saha said most of the times these touts did not even ask for any documents and still get the birth certificates made for any date of your choice. Lalit Sharma of Barara said he had been running from pillar to post for the past two-and-a-half year, to get the name and gender of her daughter rectified in the records and get a new birth certificate for his 20-year-old girl.

He prepared a file appending all necessary documents, including signed statements of the nambardar, village sarpanch and local PHC doctors . But, every time he approached the Health Department, he was asked to complete more formalities.

Sharma, who even complained to the Deputy Commissioner in writing, said the error in the documents had not yet been corrected. Kishore Chand of Saha, who had recently got birth certificates made for his sons, said touts were now offering their services in the rural areas. He alleged some of these touts were in possession of stamps of the competent authorities to provide birth certificates. This way anyone can get any number of birth certificates.

Sources in the Health Department told The Tribune that senior officials had got the birth records of all PHCs in this district checked to ascertain if any fake certificates had been issued.

Meanwhile, DC Shekhar Vidyarthi expressed ignorance about the matter, but said he would look into it. 

Sonepat, March 3
Hundreds of farmers under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ambawata) today commenced their ‘padyatra’ from Rai to Parliament in New Delhi to hand over a charter of demands relating to the new Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Bill-2011 to the Prime Minister and the Members of Parliament.

Led by Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) national vice-president Balwinder Bajwa and state president Shamsher Singh Dahiya, the farmers will reach Parliament on March 5.

Addressing the farmers, Bajwa said the Bill-2011 was not acceptable to farmers as a number of provisions in the Bill were anti-farmers. “The Land Acquisition Act in India is the only Act which is imposed on the farmers against their wishes and renders them jobless,” he said.

Dahiya said in the Bill-2011, the government had incorporated the fixation of land value on the basis of the circle rates and the sale deeds whereas the same provision existed in the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 of the British rule in India. “Everybody is aware of the fact that there is a lot of difference between the market rates and the sale deed rates or the circle rates,” he said.

BKU leaders said they had prepared a charter of demands for incorporating these in the new Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Bill-2011 and hoped that the government would entertain these demands in the interest of farmers.

The demands include acquisition of only infertile land, consultation with the land owner prior to the acquisition of his land, 80 per cent representation to farmers in the land valuation committee, farmers’ partnership in the project for which the land is being acquired by the government or other agency, return of the acquired land if it is not used within a time frame, government job and a residential plot to the family of the affected farmer; extension of the ‘lal dora’ limit of the village where the entire land is acquired, 20 per cent reservation for villagers in admissions and employment in institutes coming up on the acquired land of the village and these should be implemented in retrospect from the year 2000 to compensate farmers whose land was acquired after 2000. 

Fatehabad, March 3
Over 500 students received degrees in the convocation ceremony of Manohar Memorial Postgraduate College here today. Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, who gave away the degrees, said it was a challenging task for the government to provide jobs to youth, who comprised 65 per cent of the total population.

Calling upon youth to become entrepreneurs rather than running behind government jobs, Tanwar said they could become self-reliant by starting their own ventures. He said other states were emulating Haryana, which had emerged as an "educational hub" in the country. College principal DK Kaushik said 80 postgraduate students and 475 graduate students had received degrees today.

Kaithal, March 3
He had studied up to Class VIII and was a milk vendor till a few days ago, but the thought of becoming rich by trying his luck in printing fake currency after reading a news item about it. But his luck did not favour him and he was caught within 20 days of entering into this new venture. This is the story of Rishi Pal of Pai village who now lives in Kaithal.

The police yesterday busted a gang and arrested three persons who were allegedly found involved in printing fake currency. The police has seized 173 fake currency notes each of 100 denomination, a photostat machine, a printer, and adopter from the spot. He told the police that he had supplied currency notes worth Rs 3,000 in exchange for Rs 1,000 original notes to one Rahul of Kaithal and Rs 10,000 fake notes for Rs 3,000 original notes to Jarnail Singh of Chandana village.

All the three accused were produced in a local court today while two were sent in judicial custody, the kingpin Rishi Pal who revealed that he had concealed Rs 6,000 fake currency in Panipat was sent to one-day police remand.

Kaithal, March 3
The district administration has taken a new initiative to eradicate social evils like dowry and female foeticide through night camping in villages. During such a camp at Sheo Majra village Deputy Commissioner Chander Shekhar honoured 68-year-old Amarjeet Singh, who married off his daughter without paying dowry. He also honoured Harjeet Kaur, who completed her higher education despite poverty by arranging tuition classes.

He also announced to provide Rs 30 lakh to the village under the MNREGA. Her also distributed cheques worth Rs 60,000 for the repair of three choupals. He said the amount of the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Vivah Shagun Yojna had already been transferred to the accounts of 35 beneficiaries. While talking about the achievements of the night camp, he said 445 persons were examined, 562 animals were treated during the camp. He added that 144 water connections were regularised besides 42 applications for old-age samman allowance and 23 mutations were sanctioned during the camp.

About 50 MT gypsum was provided to 335 farmers and metallic bins were distributed among five beneficiaries by the Agriculture Department during the camp, he added. He also inaugurated two branches of Central Bank of India for Shio Majra and Duserpur villages and hoped that these branches would help the villagers in improving their economy.