Chandigarh, December 13
The selection of relatives of certain politicians and bureaucrats ‘close’ to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to the Haryana Civil Service (HCS) made the Opposition demand scrapping of the recruitment process and a judicial probe.

Alleging large-scale nepotism, state INLD chief Ashok Arora demanded a probe by a sitting judge of either the Supreme Court or the Punjab and Haryana High Court into the recruitment.

Terming the current recruitment to the HCS as the ‘tip of the iceberb’, state BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma alleged that fair selections had gone for a toss in Haryana in the last over nine years.

However, Hooda claimed that all those with Hooda surname were not his relatives and none of his relatives figured in the list of newly selected HCS officers. Hooda also refuted the allegation levelled by a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer regarding the selection of persons with Hooda surname as relatives of the Chief Minister.

It may be pertinent to mention here that a majority of the selected candidates were reportedly close relatives of politicians and powerful bureaucrats.

The selected candidates included Rohit Yadav, son-in-law of Power Minister Ajay Singh Yadav; Ekta Chopra, daughter of Prinicipal OSD to Chief Minister MS Chopra; Radhika Singh, daughter of HPSC chairman Manbir Singh, Gagandeep Singh, son of Sarban Singh, IAS; Meenakshi Goyal, daughter of S K Goyal, IAS; Gauri Middha, niece of BB Batra, Rohtak MLA; Kiran Singh, niece of Diluram Bajigar, former Congress MLA; and Jagdeep Singh, son of Kitab Singh, a confidant of Meham MLA Anand Singh Dangi.

While the Opposition is gunning for the Hooda Government for alleged favouritism, one of the selected candidates claimed that being related to a senior government functionary was no disqualification for government jobs. Even HPSC chairman Manbir Singh has defended the selections.

Jharli (Jhajjar), December 13
A 15-member delegation of Pakistani officials led by Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Pakistan's Punjab province and younger brother of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, today visited CLP India’s 1,320-MW Mahatma Gandhi Thermal Power Plant here and interacted with plant officials about power generation and plant functioning.

“During his hour-long visit, Sharif had a meeting with contractors of a China-based power generation company to set up a power plant similar to Mahatma Gandhi Thermal Power Plant in Pakistan's Punjab province,” Subrat Ghosh, head of the plant, said after the visit.

He said the delegation visited the control room of the power plant and spent over 15 minutes there to receive information regarding its working and mechanism. The officials talked to officials on duty about the control room system, he added.

“After going through the plant functioning and visiting various units, Sharif appreciated the staff for the upkeep of the plant and said a similar plant would be established in Pakistan to meet the power requirement there,” said the plant head. He added that a visual presentation based on construction of the plant, its infrastructure and technique of working was given during the meeting.

Ghosh said Sharif stayed at the plant for an hour and used the time in getting information about the plant infrastructure. Members of the delegation were offered tea, juice and other eatables, but they did not take anything, he added.

Earlier, the delegation landed at the newly constructed airstrip of the power plant in an Air Force helicopter around 11 am. “We had to construct the airstrip and make other arrangements for the visit overnight as the Centre informed us about the programme last evening,” said Ghosh.

Meanwhile, a member of the public relations cell of the CLP India said, “We organised the visit of the Pakistani delegation to the power plant on the request of the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of External Affairs. The CLP India has not any business or business interest in Pakistan.”

Chandigarh, December 13
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today paved the way for selection of around 20,000 teachers in Haryana by dismissing with costs a petition challenging the Haryana School Teachers Selection Board Act, 2011. The High Court also vacated the stay on appointment of selected candidates and declaration of the final merit list.

A Division Bench also observed that the state was required to take note of the fact that the role and working of Haryana School Teachers Recruitment Board chairman Nand Lal Punia during the selection of physical training instructors had been “severely criticised and adversely commented” upon by a Single Bench; and reiterated by a Division Bench.

“It is, however, for the competent authority to take a decision with regard to continuance or otherwise of Punia as the Chairman”, the Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih asserted.

The directions came on a petition by Vijay Kumar Bansal. He had sought directions for declaring the 2011 Act as ultra-vires to the Constitution. He had also alleged that the appointment of Punia as Chairman and other respondents as board members was illegal and arbitrary; and made pursuant to tailor-made qualifications carried in the impugned 2011 Act.

Dismissing the petition with Rs 25,000 costs, the Bench observed: “The fact that the petitioner first left the Congress, the ruling party in Haryana and further contested the 2009 Assembly elections on a BSP ticket, showed that he had a grudge against the ruling party.

“The present petition, thus, is to be categorised as publicity interest litigation, leading to the conclusion that the petitioner has no locus standi to file the writ."

Kurukshetra, December 13
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda laid the foundation stone of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar bhawan and hostel at HUDA's Sector 8 here today. He announced a grant of Rs 21 lakh from his discretionary fund for the construction of the building.

He announced that an advertisement would be released in January 2014 to clear the backlog of 8,781 posts for Scheduled Castes and 6,260 posts for Backward Classes.

He said Dr Ambedkar was farsighted and knew the importance of education, which was why he laid special stress on education. Hooda said Dr Ambedkar had raised his voice for the poor and ensured equal rights to them in the Constitution.

Hooda said the Haryana Government was giving importance to education. He said Haryana was the first state to start a scheme of monthly scholarship to children belonging to Scheduled Caste and Section A of Backward Class categories from classes I to XII. Hooda urged the people to provide better opportunities of education to their wards.

Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Geeta Bhukkal thanked the Chief Minister for supporting the cause of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes. She said efforts would be made to provide a grant under Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojna to Dr Ambedkar hostel.

She urged the people to provide education to their children as would be a great tribute to Dr Ambedkar. She announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the construction of Ambedkar bhawan and hostel. Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sultan Singh Jandola, Haryana Bureau of Public Enterprises Chairman Anil Dhantori, political adviser to Chief Minister Virender, Dr BR Ambedkar Welfare Society president Ram Bhagat Langyan and former MLAs Sahab Singh, Ramesh Gupta, Banta Ram Balmiki, Ran Singh and Lehri Singh were present on the occasion.

Ambala, December 13
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today lost his cool over media reports of his relatives and favourites and those of ministers close to him getting HCS jobs. He was on a personal visit to HPCC chief Phool Chand Mullana's residence.

Hooda hit back at a mediaperson and said: "Tu bata de, tu bata de konse mere ristedar hai. Ya to nam bata de nahi to saval mat kar (Tell the name of my relatives who according to you got selected in the HCS. If you do not know the names, do not ask this question)."

The Chief Minister said: "Camera tane thik se pakdna ni ata, saval kare bhari bhari. Ja beta, ja beta ja, thoda tajurba le le (You do not known how to hold a camera properly and you are asking big questions. Go my son and gain some experience first)."

Asked about the kind of language that had crept into state politics, Hooda asserted that the level of language used in journalism had deteriorated to a great extent and it was important to improve the journalistic and political language.

The Information and Public Relations Department issued a press note, saying that "it is not correct that everyone with the surname Hooda is related to Hooda." 

Chandigarh, December 13
The Haryana Government has decided to empanel six additional banks for disbursement of pension through the e-pension system.

Giving this information here today, a spokesman of the Finance Department said these banks were the Bank of Maharashtra, the Canara Bank, the Corporation Bank, the Haryana Gramin Bank, the Oriental Bank of Commerce and the UCO Bank.

Kaithal, December 13
The frequent traffic jams on the busy roads of Kaithal are causing inconvenience to the residents. Non observance of traffic rules by road users, unregulated traffic, no action taken by traffic police, parking on roads and encroachments on roads by shopkeepers and rehriwalas have added to their woes . Despite daily-traffic jams, in various parts of the town, the officials of the concerned departments remain indifferent to the problem.

The Bhagat Singh chowk, Gugamari-Kabootar chowk, Ashoka Cinema-railway road, Chhatrawas-old bus stand road and the area around railway overbridge are the worst affected where jams take place on daily basis. The same problem exists in main markets where shopkeepers not only extend their counters

outside the shops but also keep goods for display on the front roads. The parking of two-wheelers outside shops by consumers further aggravates the traffic problem and obstructs the normal movement of vehicles in the main bazaar, Nota Chowk and Talai Bazar and the railway gate area.

Non observance of traffic rules by road users is another cause of concern which causes a lot of inconvenience to the people who are caught in traffic jams. Some vehicle drivers, in a hurry to over take the vehicles going ahead of them, obstruct traffic coming from the opposite direction. This is daily affair, but unfortunately the traffic cops are not visible to regulate the traffic or to act against the guilty. The authorities have been turning a blind eye to this problem. Senior officials never come on roads to assess the gravity of situation and take remedial actions.

Shopkeepers and rehriwalas have occupied major parts of all the roads adversely affecting smooth flow of traffic. Occasionally, anti-encroachment drives are launched but these have limited and short-term effect. As such drives are not regular and properly planned, hence there seems to be no permanent solution to the existing problem. Residents have demanded the administration to take effective steps to curb the problem.

Gurgaon, December 13
The arrest of a suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operative has brought the Meo backwaters of Mewat in the limelight once again.

Mohammad Shahid, a 32-year-old imam of Chhoti Mewli on the Delhi-Jaipur national highway in Nuh district, was arrested from his house on December 10 on the charge of being in regular touch with Javed Baluchi, a LeT commander based in Pakistan.

The arrest highlighted how the economically backward nondescript district had graduated from being home to robbers and the sand mafia to an easy and sought-after hideout for terrorists.

Mewat's name figured first in 2012 when two Indian Mujahideen operatives revealed to the National Investigation Agency and the Anti-Terrorist Squad that Yasin Bhatkal, alias Mohammed Ahmad Sidibapa, had narrowed down on this district to evade arrest.

Yasin's hideouts had been busted in Darbhanga and Delhi and he had chosen the district following an extensive search. Karim Tunda, LeT bomb expert, had revealed in investigations that he stayed in Mewat.

Spread over 1,890 square miles, Mewat is located in the National Capital Region. With a population of 10.89 lakh, primarily Muslims, the district has for decades been famous as a criminal haven for several reasons.

Sharing its boundary with Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh with minimum border vigilance, it provides a perfect exit to those fleeing the state. A majority of the population believe in the Tablighi Jamaat.

In stark contrast to the information technology hub of Gurgaon, the district is like an extended village, with dusty lanes, low literacy and awareness levels and police and administration facing a staff and resource crunch.

The Haryana Police claimed that the district police and intelligence and counter-terrorism agencies of the state were continuously monitoring the situation in secrecy to avoid panic and unrest in the state.

Karnal, December 13
Demanding cancellation of false cases registered against them, villagers of Kalram, Araipur, Bharatpur, Lalupur and Amritpur, along with their families, protested against the local administration and police at Mini Secretariat today.

The villagers demanded registration of a case against the killers of ‘nandi bail’ whose body was found in the fields on November 4, following which the villagers resorted to rail blockade the next day.

“Our land has been snatched, we have nothing to eat, the police are implicating us in false cases and misbehaving with our women. What are we supposed to do?” asked Pradeep Kalram, the leader of the agitation.

Demanding cancellation of FIR against the villagers booked for allegedly demolishing three structures in the village on October 15 and those involved in blocking the railway track on November 5, the villagers alleged that they were being victimised by the cops who were hand-in-glove with the opposite party.

Faridabad, December 13
Several hundreds of industrial plot owners in the city have been found misusing their plots for commercial means other than industry.

This revelation has come after a recent decision of the high court in response to a PIL filed by a local social activist. He had demanded closure of all the commercial activities, including banquet halls, marriage places and hotels, running on industrial premises in the city.

K L Gera had filed the PIL in 2008, alleging that the authorities concerned, including the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF), had failed to rein in the commercial activities being run by the industrial plot owners after getting these divided into several plots in an ‘illegal’ manner.

He said in its order on December 10, 2013, the court had directed the state government and the MCF to ensure closure of all non-industrial activities from such plots by March 31, 2014. The court had also sought a report of the action taken by the authorities on the next hearing, fixed for April 14 next year. These plots had been originally allotted to carry out manufacturing and industrial activity by the state government, but hundreds of the owners resorted to dividing these plots and transferring these in the names of other individuals and parties to run commercial activities, Gera added.

He said while the authorities concerned had issued notices to about 700 plot owners earlier, the number of offenders was at least 1,500. No action was taken by the MCF authorities, even after the offenders were served a legal notice in this regard earlier, Gera claimed.

When contacted, an official of the MCF said action would be taken soon to ensure closure of such activities from the industrial plots in the city. It may be recalled that while the city has over 18,000 functional industrial units at present, there are over 1,000 units which have either shut their operations or have shifted from here during the past two decades. “The slowdown in the past several years had made many units shut down or shift to other places, thus leaving no option but to apply for CLU or subdivision of the plots and it was perhaps this reason that a large number of such spaces got the approval from the state government to run commercial activities along the national highway,” said an official of the industry department.

He said the construction of Metro rail corridor from Badarpur border to YMCA chowk in the city had given a fillip to commercial activities other than the industry and it had seen a surge in the number of malls, automobile showrooms, office spaces and even residential projects along the Mathura road.

Karnal, December 13
Enraged over the alleged police inaction in a land dispute case, in which an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of GRP posted at Ambala beat up a local, the residents of Rajiv colony and adjoining villages today met the superintendent of police (SP), Karnal, Shasank Anand.

A resident of Rajiv colony Mahabir Singh alleged that assistant sub-inspector Balbir Singh, along with one other person, beat him up at Gogripur village last week.

A complaint under Section 323, 324, 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Madhuban police station but nothing tenable had been done in the case so far. 

Sonepat, December 13
In a drive against unauthorised colonies and illegal constructions, the Country and Town Planning Department demolished 33 DPCs, eight boundary walls, brick demarcations and kutcha roads in areas adjoining the GT road, Khewra road in Bahalgarh and Meerut road in Khewra village.

A demolition squad, led by Additional District Town Planner with police protection, carried out the demolition of constructions for around five hours. There was hardly any opposition during the drive.

Dilbag Singh, District Town Planner, said the constructions had been raised in violation of the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled Area Restriction of Unregulated Development Act, 1963.

The department had issued notices for removing these illegal constructions to the people concerned.

"Before buying such properties, the people should verify whether the site is authorised or not," he said. 

Yamunanagar, December 13
One of the most applauded schemes of Government of India, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), for the treatment of BPL families, may be soon be in shreds as all the doctors of 28 hospitals of Yamunanagar have submitted their withdrawal letters to the district president of Indian Medical Association (IMA).

This decision of the doctors may cause inconvenience to 46,276 BPL families of the district, as they would not be able to get treatment from the doctors of private hospitals of their choice.

District president of IMA Dr Anil Aggarwal said the withdrawal letters would be forwarded to the National Insurance Company, whom the government had entrusted to run the scheme this year.

He said the doctors had been forced to take this extreme step because the government had put all responsibility on the insurance company, which was having its own way.

“The insurance companies running the scheme (as the companies keep changing every year) have not paid the doctors their due salaries for the last many years, which stand at crores now. The companies have deducted TDS on the partial payments done to the doctors, but have not actually deposited it with the Income Tax Department. As a result, the doctors have to pay it again,” he added.

State president of IMA Dr Rajan Sharma said the doctors had met all the government officials concerned regarding this matter, but they had consistently expressed their inability to take any action against the defaulter companies.

“The company officials came to the hospitals, warning the doctors not to admit BPL patients and refer them to government hospitals or PGI, because their expenses will put great burden on the budget of the companies and if the doctors did not do this, the company would de-panel the hospitals. The company has already de-panelled 12 out of 40 hospitals,” he said.

Dr Anil Aggarwal said the company was taking advantage of the fact that their jurisdiction was at Bombay where doctors found it very difficult to file cases against the company. He has demanded that the area of jurisdiction be shifted to Yamunanagar and the government practice control over the insurance companies.

He said the scheme was the best of all the schemes ever launched by the Government of India as a BPL family could get the best treatment in just Rs 30 at the hospital of their choice by the best of the doctors, but now the BPL families would again be forced to go to government hospitals.

On the other hand, Joginder Singh, Chief Regional Manager, National Insurance Company said, “RSBY is a scheme of Centre Government. There is a mechanism to get the problems resolved. And if there is any problem, the doctors may give their complaints in written.”

Sirsa, December 13
Three persons today launched an indefinite fast here in support of Anna Hazare.

Sita Ram Gupta (60), a local resident, started his fast in the morning while two others - Ram Swaroop (62) from Jasnia village and Ram Kumar (55) from Farwai Kalan village - joined him in the evening.

Social activists have been sitting on an indefinite fast under the banner of the Jantantra Morcha in Town Park here.

The moment Gupta started his indefinite fast, Dalip Singh, SHO, City Police Station, went to the park and asked Gupta to show documents of permission, if any, for the dharna.

Gupta told him that the police had never demanded any documents for dharnas and demonstrations organised in the past.

He, however, assured the SHO that he would obtain permission and submit it to the police.

As people started gathering at the scene, the police had to retreat.

Later, Jagdish Chopra, a senior BJP leader and some others too joined dharna.

Sirsa, December 13
The case of alleged rape of a BA (final) student from Raghuana village by a youth from Anandgarh village on the promise of marriage will be investigated by Manisha Chaudhary, ASP, Hisar .

Shatrujeet Kapoor, IG, Hisar Range, whom villagers from Raghuana met allleging alleged connivance of the Sirsa police with the accused, ordered Chaudhary to investigate the case.

Residents of Raghuana village are up in arms against the police ever since Sirsa ASP Rajinder Meena, who investigated the case earlier, recommended cancellation of the FIR. The girl had lodged a complaint that the accused had raped her on the promise of marriage.

The girl had named some other kin of the accused for abetting the crime. However, Meena, who investigated the matter, found no substance in the allegations and recommended cancellation of the FIR. Hundreds of villagers assembled in Raghuana village on December 10 and threatened to block vehicular traffic on this issue.

Rape accused sent in police custody

Rewari: The Dharuhera police has arrested Vikram Yadav (20) of Kapriwas village, near Dharuhera, for allegedly kidnapping a class VII student and raping her.

He was today produced in a local court which remanded him in police custody till December 16.

The girl, who was kidnapped on December 8 and was allegedly raped for several days was recovered by the police yesterday.

In another case, the Rampura police arrested Rajender Singh (44), a driver in the Social Welfare Department here and a resident of Jind district, for allegedly sexually exploiting a divorcee (30) of Adarsh Nagar for the last two-and-a-half years on the pretext of marriage. He was today produced in a local court which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody.

Fatehabad, December 13
Surveys for the payment of compensation for trees, tube wells, pipes and ponds on 1,503 acres of land acquired for the proposed nuclear power project at Gorakhpur have come under the scanner, with rival groups of farmers accusing each other of siphoning off government money through inflated claims in connivance with government officials.

A large number of farmers from Gorakhpur village today submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Saket Kumar alleging that large-scale irregularities had been committed in a recent survey conducted for 39 pipelines and 25 ponds.

The farmers alleged that some officials had connived with the farmers to siphon off government funds, running in crores, based on fake claims, while the pipes and ponds did not exist.

The authorities have already distributed over Rs 19 crore to farmers for their fixtures on the land, on the basis of a survey held soon after the acquisition of land and now the authorities had started the process of a re-survey.

The farmers have urged the DC to order a high-level probe to inquire into the payments made in the name of fixtures on the land acquired for the project and order refund of government money claimed fraudulently by the farmers.

Meanwhile, another group of farmers alleged that the family of an influential leader, who hails from Gorakhpur village, had siphoned off Rs 25 lakh in the name of underground pipes and two tube wells, while he had hardly one twentieth of an acre of agriculture land, costing less than 1.5 lakh, that came under acquisition.

Farmers alleged that while, as per the rules, survey for fixtures, trees, ponds and pipes is held only at the time of acquisition, some “unscrupulous officials and farmers” had connived to siphon off government funds in the name of fresh surveys.

When contacted, the DC said he had sought comments from District Revenue Officer Ram Singh Bishnoi in this regard. “I will order an inquiry, if needed, after I receive comments from the DRO,” he said. 

Rewari, December 13
During excavation at the site of a Jain temple here, workers stumbled upon a statue last night. The temple, which is located in Mohalla Madhi-Bhairon Chowk, is nearly 400 years old.

The statue was later identified as that of Lord Adinath, the first Tirthankar of Jains, and it was considered to be around 1,500 years old.

In the meantime, members of the Jain community as well as others made a beeline to have a glimpse of the statue. 

An ancient statue recovered during excavations in Rewari. A Tribune photograph 

Chandigarh, December 13
Haryana Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Geeta Bhukkal said the state government had decided to increase the retirement age of Master Trainers of Red Cross Society from 58 to 60 years. Rickshaw allowance would also be given to the Master Trainers.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting with the National Federation of Blind, Haryana Branch, chaired by Bhukkal here today.

It was also decided at the meeting that special schools for children with disabilites at Hisar, Gurgoan, Karnal and Ambala would be upgraded so that children, especially visually impaired, get more opportunities. 

Chandigarh, December 13
A judicial inquiry report submitted before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in connection with a contempt-of-court case has brought out the way judges are allegedly involved in telephonic conversations before their names are dropped among people by a Faridabad resident.

This came to fore during the hearing of a “court on its own motion” case against Ram Avtar Aggarwal. The criminal contempt petition in the matter was instituted after a letter was addressed by three persons, AK Goyal, KL Sharma and SK Dhawan, to the Chief Justice in November, 2001.

The complainants had alleged that the respondent was a “go-getter” between judicial officers and litigants; and made money in the process. The Faridabad District and Sessions Judge was then asked to probe the matter.

A report submitted to the then Administrative Judge of Faridabad Sessions Division concluded: “It transpires that Ram Avtar Aggarwal had been purposely indulging into conversation with judges on his cellphone. He had been trapping the officers on the pretext of having the best package of preparing and matching horoscopes for matrimony, as he was running a computer centre named Sumanglam.

“It is, however, more than clear that Ram Avtar Aggarwal has been misusing and exploiting the sentiments of the general public by dropping the names of judicial officers by posing that he had very good acquaintance with them. However, it is not clear from the record if any of the officers named in the complaint has decided any case on the asking of Ram Avtar Aggarwal….

On the basis of the report, a show-cause notice was issued to the respondent. As the case came up before Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Fateh Deep Singh, the amicus curiae submitted that evidence of the three complainants did not indicate payment of money to the judicial officers. A perusal of the complaint showed that the three complainants were, in fact, property dealers; and the complaint was apparently the result of a dispute between the property dealers and the respondent.

Dismissing the petition, the Bench asserted: “At this stage, we do not find that any useful purpose will be served to continue with the criminal contempt.” 

Gurgaon, December 13
Union Minister of State for Home RPN Singh today said the Centre had spent Rs 4,000 crore this year to help states modernise the police.

He was the chief guest at the valediction of the 88th special foundation course conducted for officers of the All-India and Central Services (Class A) here.

He said this in response to a trainee officer's specific question on steps taken by the Centre to bring uniformity in functioning among police in states.

He said law and order was a state subject and the Centre went by the requirement of states concerned with regard to help to modernise the force.

He said Punjab wanted a technology upgrade for its force. With regard to terrorism in the North-East, he said the government was in touch with various militant groups to motivate them to join the mainstream.

He said efforts were being made to establish police stations in remote areas of Naxal-hit Chhattisgarh. He said there was a move to computerise all police stations in the country and link them in an integrated system.

He asserted that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and no one should nurture misgivings on the issue. Referring to infiltration bids from across the border, he said our forces were alert and capable of countering them.

Earlier, in his valedictory address, RPN Singh urged officers to stand up to political pressure while discharging their duties. He made a pitch for the political class to stop interfering in the work of officialdom.

A total of 78 officers from across the country attended the foundation course, which commenced at HIPA on September 2. The Centre had assigned the 88th foundation course to HIPA.

Chandigarh, December 13
The Haryana Government has decided to start distribution of pulses under the Dal-Roti Scheme from this month. Besides the quota of pulses for December, the pending quota for October and November would also be distributed in this month. Pulses will be supplied every month from the next year.

An official spokesperson said Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had launched the Food Security Scheme in the state on August 20 and had announced that under the Dal-Roti Scheme of the state government, 2.5 kg dal would be provided to 12.84 lakh BPL families at the rate of Rs 20 per kg. He said the quality of the dal to be distributed to the beneficiaries would be according to the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. He said the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange had been included as one of the options for transparency in tenders and distribution of high quality pulses.

He said considering the preference of the beneficiaries, in addition to chana dal and urad dal, other pulses would also be distributed. He said now the beneficiaries would be given 4.5 kg chana dal and 3 kg urad dal as a pending quota for the three months. He said from January, the distribution process would be streamlined and pulses would be supplied every month. From January, 1 kg moong dal, 1 kg masur dal and 1 kg arhar dal would be given alternatively, along with 1.5 kg chana dal. The distribution process would be started on the 15th of every month, he added.

Rohtak, December 13
The authorities of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here have recommended the constitution of an inquiry committee to probe the allegations against a teacher who had subjected several BTech students to humiliating physical punishment. This follows the publication of a news report in this regard in these columns.

Prof SP Khatkar, Proctor of the university and Director of the UIET, told The Tribune today that the teacher who had chastised the BTech students, including girls, had been identified. The teacher in question was an assistant professor in computer science and engineering at the institute.

“After identifying the teacher, we sought his comments about the matter. He told us that he had punished the students as they had not performed well in the session exams,” Khatkar said.

The Proctor added that he had forwarded the comments of the lecturer to the university authorities and recommended the formation of an inquiry committee to probe the matter.

He maintained that though the matter in question appeared to have taken place more than two years ago, the act of the teacher called for action.

The engineering students, including girls, were chastised. A picture of the scene was uploaded onto a popular social networking website earlier this year.

The MDU administration came under fire from various quarters after the publication of the news report. Top functionaries of the Department of Technical Education and other authorities concerned sought an explanation from MDU and UIET officials.

Chandigarh, December 13
The government has approved implementation of the Mukhyamantri Kisan Evam Khetihar Mazdoor Jeewan Suraksha Yojna.

Giving details, a spokesperson of the Agriculture Department said in case of death at work, special financial assistance was increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

In case of permanent disability at work, special financial assistance was increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh. In case of fracture of two limbs or permanent severe injury at work, assistance of Rs 75,000 was increased to Rs 1.87 lakh.

In case of fracture of one limb and permanent severe injury, special financial assistance was increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh. In case four fingers got cut, one limb would be considered fractured and special financial assistance was increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1.25 lakh. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 13
The Haryana Government has approved terms and conditions under the East Punjab Utilisation of Lands Act, 1949, and the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1953, for erstwhile lessees, who were in the possession of lands up to September 24, 1986.

Stating this here yesterday, Principal Secretary, Development and Panchayats, Ram Niwas, said after expiry of lease period, lessees remained in possession up to September 24, 1986, and were evicted from time to time due to court orders. The Supreme Court, on September 24, 1986, in ‘Bodhni Chaman’ Ex-servicemen Cooperative Tenants Farming Society Ltd. etc. versus State of Haryana and others, had observed that the government might allot land elsewhere to the petitioners considering their condition.

He said it had been provided in Section 5A of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, vide Haryana Act no 23 of 2013, that such landless original allottees or their legal heirs, who remained in continuous cultivating possession up to September 24, 1986, might be allotted said land in shamlat deh on further lease by way of allotment after recovering use and occupation charges of the period for which they remained in possession after expiry of lease period.

Accordingly, lease money and other terms and conditions have been approved by the council of ministers for the lease of land to the erstwhile lessees. It has been provided that at first instance, land will be given on lease for 33 years subject to fulfilment of terms and conditions. The maximum lease period, including renewals, will not exceed 99 years.

He said only up to 10 acres or the area originally allotted, whichever was less, would be leased out to an original lessee or his legal heirs. The lessee would pay once at the rate of Rs 2,000 per acre per year for the period he remained in possession without making payment of lease money. The lessees, who have deposited the penalty amount in compliance to orders passed by the competent authority, will not be liable for payment of one-time settlement amount for the relevant period.

He said in future, the lessee would pay the lease money at Rs 2,000 per acre per year with 10 per cent progressive increase every five years.

Rewari, December 13
The Bawal police have arrested Jag Ram and Jaiveer for allegedly abducting an eight-year-old Dalit girl and burning her face with matchsticks at Khurrampur village on December 8.

They were yesterday produced in a local court which remanded them in judicial custody.

On the complaint of the victim’s father, the police had registered a case of abduction, sexual harassment, causing grievous injuries and under the SC/ST Act against three village youths— Jag Ram, Pawan and Kala. A senior policed official said Pawan was still on the run. 

Sirsa, December 13
The police have booked five persons for culpable homicide not amounting to murder after a tractor driver, who was beaten up in a case of road rage, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital today.

The five persons booked by the police are Geja, Babli, Chhindu, Raju and Jaspal, all residents of Maujdeen village, who allegedly beat up tractor driver Kashmir Chand (40) with iron rods and sticks on December 3.

The police are, however, alleged to have omitted the names of the two sons of an influential political activist, whose car Chand had accidentally touched with his trolley near Ottu.

It is alleged that after a minor collision of the vehicles, the two sons of a political activist hurled abuses at Chand, who sped his tractor towards Maujdeen.

However, they called up their men at Maujdeen, who stopped Chand's tractor and attacked him with iron roads and sticks.

He was seriously injured and shifted to the General Hospital, where the doctors referred him to a private hospital in Sirsa. He died in the intensive care unit of the private hospital today.