Chandigarh, May 18
The poor Congress show in the LS elections in Haryana have increased Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s troubles with the detractors’ camp now training its guns on him.

Under fire for “lop-sided development” in Haryana all through the nine-year Congress rule, especially the first term, the detractors headed by Rajya Sabha MP Birender Singh and a number of “background” leaders who don’t openly want to take on the Chief Minister yet, are learnt to have conveyed this sentiment to party seniors.

Emphasising the need for a complete overhaul , Birender Singh has no qualms in admitting that the “inclusive growth model” was a sham. “Almost everything was diverted to one seat. While the state was run like a personal fiefdom, this placed Haryana at the disposal of others who adopted it willingly,” he says.

The MP adds seniors chose to overlook complaints of lop-sided development when the issue was repeatedly flagged to them. “They were sold on the growth model of the Congress government in the state and we practically went unheard. We kept quiet after a while but public anger found reflection in the election results. The government failed to realise that inclusive and sustainable growth are the pillars of development,” he maintained.

Rued complete “lack of support” during elections, another Congress leader said the matter had already been brought to the notice of senior leaders.

Insiders blamed the step-motherly treatment meted out to certain pockets in the state and hold that the only seat the party won was the one that was always flush with funds and projects.

“The results have come as a shocker since the party was expecting to get a couple of seats. We may not have won the parliamentary seats but we should have at least done well at the assembly level. We fared miserably there, too, and the situation will only worsen if we do nothing,” leaders said.

With the BJP set to form a government at the Centre, the Congress apprehends the switching of sides by a few leaders ahead of the Assembly elections.

The BJP “boasts” of a at least three Congressmen who quit the party to join the rivals. “There is talk of a few others who are in touch with the BJP through these newly elected MPs. Whether the talks mature or not is another matter but leaders of all parties are keeping their options open,” Congress sources said.

Sonepat, May 18
The Lok Sabha (LS) election results have set alarm bells ringing for the ruling Congress in the Jat belt. The BJP succeeded in maintaining lead in five of the nine Assembly constituencies in the Sonepat parliamentary constituency.

The BJP led in Sonepat (29,273 votes), Rai (4,954), Safidon (15,919), Jind (20,927) and Gannaur (3,984) Assembly segments of the Sonepat Lok Sabha constituency.

BJP candidate Ramesh Kaushik got 3,47,095 votes, while his nearest rival Jagbir Malik of the Congress secured 2,69,735 votes.

Malik managed to lead in Kharkhoda (4,831), Gohana (1,740) and Baroda (13,622) Assembly constituencies. However, INLD candidate Padam Singh Dahiya led only in the Julana Assembly segment by 7,935.

Malik remained at the third position in Julana, Safidon and Jind Assembly constituencies despite the fact that Sonepat was a prestige seat for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who held a number of roadshows here.

There was a neck and neck contest between Dahiya and Malik for the second position. Dahiya, who polled 2,64,345 votes, had to satisfy with the third position by a margin of 5,390 votes. INLD remained second in Kharkhoda, Baroda, Safidon and Jind Assembly segments.

Kaushik was second in Gohana and Julana and third in Kharkhoda and Baroda Assembly constituencies, while Malik remained second in Sonepat, Rai and Gannaur Assembly seats.

Sirsa, May 18
To rejuvenate the party cadre jolted by the recent drubbing in the parliamentary polls, the state Congress chief, Ashok Tanwar, has decided to hold workers’ conventions for all the 21 districts of Haryana from May 27.

Speaking to mediapersons after meeting Congress workers at his residence today, Tanwar said main emphasis of the conventions would be to energise party workers for the upcoming Assembly polls.

He said workers would be enthused to come out of the reverses suffered in the parliamentary polls, so that the party could contest the Assembly polls seriously.

Tanwar said before starting the district-level meetings, he would meet the Congress high command and submit a report citing reasons behind party’s defeat in the state. The state Congress chief reiterated his allegations that the bureaucratic insensitivity to people’s woes played a big role in the defeat of the Congress candidates in Haryana.

He alleged that the people were fed up with the despotic attitude and corruption of the bureaucrats, who did not even bother to respect the party functionaries and elected representatives of the people in the districts.

He said betrayal by those, who were close to the government and earned huge money under the present regime, was also responsible for the drubbing in the elections. He said he would discuss all issues with senior party leaders.

Coming to his own defeat in Sirsa, Tanwar said the party members worked very hard during his election, but the factors discussed earlier and misleading campaign by his opponents, led to his defeat in the elections.

“Despite my defeat, I will not allow Sirsa to suffer for want of development. I will ensure that the work on sewerage treatment plant at Kelnia, waterworks at Panjuana and construction of houses for the poor is started soon,” added Tanwar.

Hisar, May 18
In a dramatic turnaround, HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi, who had announced to quit from the post of party president after he suffered a defeat at the hands of Dushyant Chautala from Hisar, has withdrawn his decision and vowed to continue his political struggle.

In a statement, Bishnoi said he was feeling overwhelmed by the sentiments of his party workers who had been staging a dharna at his residence to pressurise him to take back his decision. “Mein rajniti se sanyas lene ka man bana chuka tha. Ab mujse aapki peeda dekhi nahi jati. (I had made up my mind to quit politics but I cannot see you in pain). Your commitment has forced me to take back my decision. I cannot leave you in the lurch so have decided to carry on the struggle with renewed vigour”, he stated.

Throwing a challenge to the INLD before the counting of votes, Bishnoi had announced to quit politics if he failed to win and also urged the INLD leadership to do the same if Dushyant lost.

According to the party spokesperson, senior party leaders, including Chander Mohan, reached the party headquarters in Delhi today as the party workers, who were sitting on dharna demanding withdrawal of the resignation, were getting impatient and had threatened to take drastic steps. “Chander Mohan persuaded Kuldeep to interact with the supporters but he refused to backtrack and sought two days’ time to reconsider his decision. But the party workers were in no mood to relent and asked him to withdraw the decision right away,” he informed.

Later, party leaders again apprised Kuldeep of the charged up atmosphere among the supporters, following which he joined them and announced to continue his political struggle. He thanked the workers for their love and dedication.

Meanwhile, his wife Renuka Bishnoi, MLA from Adampur Assembly seat, also submitted her resignation to Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma, taking moral responsibility for the party’s defeat on two Lok Sabha seats. She said she was taking responsibility for the bad performance and less than expected support to the party and was therefore resigning.

Faridabad, May 18
The victory of the BJP candidate seems to have given hope to industrialists and businessmen. The Manufacturers Association of Faridabad (MAF) has sought measures to improve infrastructure, implement GST, ease taxes and enforce labour laws.

Naresh Verma and Ramneek Prabhakar, president and general secretary respectively, MAF, stated in a press note that the BJP victory was perhaps a signal of change at various levels, including development of industry and business.

They said it was hoped that revival of the manufacturing sector, improvement in governance and reduction of government intervention were expected, which were likely to provide the much-required thrust to the manufacturing sector.

Prabhakar said sentiments were likely to improve and translate into sales. He said continuation of excise duty, boost to infrastructure projects, GST implementation, labour reforms and improvement in infrastructure were expected along with measures required to put the industry back on track.

He said they expected that the new government would not take any hasty decision to roll back excise duty relief announced in the vote on account presented in February.

He said the excise rate cut in the Interim Budget needed to be continued for some time and the new government needed to focus on means to bring down interest rates to make vehicle financing attractive for consumers.

The industry was in favour of implementing general services tax, pending for long, he said, adding that it was expected to simplify taxation. He said different tax structures across the country and complicated tax rules were a matter of concern and GST was perhaps the best option in the long run.

The MAF said labour unrest had pushed the industry to the brink. It claimed that labour laws were archaic and non-conducive to the growth and development of the industry. Demanding easing and simplification, it said labour laws needed to be rationalised to make it industry friendly.

Verma said they expected the new government to ensure better employment opportunities for fresh talent and bring about reforms concerning trade unions.

Sirsa, May 18
Dushyant Singh Chautala, the scion of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal’s clan, who defeated Haryana Janhit Congress supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi to become the youngest MP to enter the 16th Lok Sabha, has carried forward his family’s tradition of winning the debut election.

Since 1937, when Devi Lal’s elder brother Chaudhary Sahib Ram started the family tradition of contesting elections, no member of the clan has lost his first election of his political career.

Jasbir Singh Jassa, a state executive member of the INLD, whose father SGPC member Ganga Singh had a long association with the Devi Lal clan, said Sahib Ram started the family tradition by contesting and winning elections from the Hisar North Assembly segment for Punjab in 1937.

Devi Lal carried forward this tradition when he contested and won the Assembly poll from Sirsa for Punjab in 1957 on the Congress ticket.

In 1967, Devi Lal’s son Partap Singh contested from the Ellenabad Assembly seat and he, too, won his debut election.

Om Prakash Chautala, the eldest son of Devi Lal, started his political innings by contesting a bypoll from Ellenabad in 1970 and he, too, won his first election.

The former Deputy Prime Minister’s third son Ranjit Singh contested his first election from the Rori Assembly segment in 1987 and he, too, carried forward the family tradition by winning his first election.

The only member of the second generation of the Devi Lal’s clan who did not contest any election was his youngest son Jagdish Singh, whose son Anirudh Devi Lal is now a member of the Aam Aadmi Party.

The political journey of the third generation of the Devi Lal clan began in 1989 when Chautala’s elder son and Dushyant’s father Ajay Singh Chautala contested his first election for Rajasthan from the Data Ramgarh Assembly seat and won.

His younger brother Abhay Singh Chautala contested and won his first election in 2000 from the Rori Assembly segment.

Now, by winning the Hisar parliamentary seat by defeating Kuldeep Bishnoi and Sampat Singh of the Congress, Dushyant Chautala has carried forward the Devi Lal clan’s tradition of winning the first election of political career.

Faridabad, May 18
Victory of Krishan Pal Gurjar, the BJP candidate from Faridabad parliamentary constituency, appears to have created a record in certain poll aspects in the state. Gurjar polled maximum number of votes among all the 10 seats on which elections were held. His victory margin has also been highest in the state. This has made him a frontrunner among the prospective Chief Ministerial candidates of the BJP in the ensuing Assembly elections due in October, claims a section of the party cadre.

A soft-spoken person, Gurjar, who is a new face in the national-level political arena, got a break this time as the party decided to field him from the Fridabad seat much against the expectations of many, who wanted Ram Chander Bainda, an experienced hand, to be given the party ticket. Bainda is a three time BJP MP from Faridabad. Though Gurjar worked hard and overtime to reach the voters in his election campaign, it was perhaps the strong undercurrent and a clear cut Modi wave that helped him to score one of the biggest victory margins in the state and make the Congress candidate reel under 46,6,879 votes. Gurjar polled 6,52,472 votes against a total of 1,85,643 votes got by Bhadana.

Admitting a smooth sailing in the polls due to the Modi factor, Gurjar said it was mainly due to the people getting fed up of corruption and failure of the ruling Congress and the UPA government to come up to their expectations. He said 58 per cent of votes were cast in his favour. A huge margin of win was the sign of unrest among the people, who wanted to get rid of corrupt and inefficient rule. This time all sections of the voters, including the youngsters rallied behind the BJP and its Prime Ministerial candidate Narender Modi, who emerged as a national icon, he added.

Gurjar is the 11th MP to be elected from Faridabad. He has surpassed the earlier record set by Bhajan Lal, who got 4,04,646 in 1989 elections. The second highest record from this seat is held by Ram Chander Bainda of the BJP, who polled 3,67,842 votes in 1999, when he defeated the Congress rival. Avtar Singh Bhadana had got 3,57,284 votes in 2004. The lowest margin victory from Faridabad seat was of Tayyab Hussain, who defeated his rival in 1980 by a margin of just 158 votes. “Gurjar’s performance can pave way for his elevation to the prospective BJP Chief Ministerial candidate in the ensuing state Assembly polls in Haryana,” claimed a party activist here.

Bhiwani, May 18
Political rivalry between newly elected BJP MP from the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat Dharambir Singh and clan of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal is not new to the state politics.

The political rivalry between the two started around 27 years ago, when Dharambir jumped into the fray on the Lok Dal ticket from Tosham against then heavyweight leader Bansi Lal in the 1987 Assembly elections.

All eyes were set on Tosham, as it had become a hot seat following a tough contest between Bansi Lal and debutant Dharambir Singh, but the election landed in court after violence erupted during the counting of votes. Though Dharambir, at that time, was declared winner, he was later unseated by the high court.

Kiran Choudhry, daughter-in-law of Bansi Lal, said Dharambir’s election was challenged by three electors of the Tosham Assembly segment before the Punjab and High Court, which in its order found Dharambir guilty of corrupt practises by interfering with the free exercise of electoral rights of the people by tampering with ballot papers cast in favour of his main rival Bansi Lal during the counting process.

She said the High Court also held him guilty of corrupt practises of obtaining the assistance of the then returning officer by intimidating him for making him reject the ballot papers cast in favour of Bansi Lal.

Ever since the 1987 Assembly elections, Dharambir has contested (three Lok Sabha and four assembly elections) against the Bansi Lal’s clan.

Karnal, May 18
The victory of BJP’s Ashwini Chopra has proved that an outsider remained hot favourite for voters of the Karnal parliamentary constituency. Delhi-based Chopra is a publisher of a vernacular daily.

In the past also, people of the constituency had voted against local leaders. Only two times, local candidates had been elected from the constituency since 1967. Mostly, runners-up were also outsiders.

Apart from Chopra, Congress candidate Arvind Sharma belongs to Jhajjar and the INLD contestant belongs to Pehowa in Kurukshetra district. There were many options for the voters to elect local candidate, but they chose Chopra, said a political analyst.

Political experts said Madho Ram (1967, 1971) of the Congress and Mohinder Singh (1977) of the Janta Party were two local candidates, who represented Karnal in the Lok Sabha after creation of Haryana.

Congress’ Chiranji Lal Shrma, father of Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma, was an outsider when he first won from Karnal in 1980. He successfully contested from the seat in 1984, 1989 and 1991. Former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal also contested and won from Karnal in 1998. He was from Hisar.

Arvind Sharma contested his first election in 2004 and also managed to win in 2009. BJP’s ID Swami won from here in 1996 and 1999.

Chopra got 49.8 per cent of the votes, while Sharma got 19.7 per cent and INLD candidate got 15.7 per cent.

Gurgaon, May 18
Rao Inderjit Singh, who registered a hat-trick from Gurgaon, got candid in an Interview with The Tribune.

Rao Inderjit Singh

Q: Was your victory among the many results of the Narendra Modi wave?

A: The Modi wave was a factor, but not the only one. I won because I refused to be a part of the government's real estate friendly and anti-citizen policies. I stood up for the people and raised my voice against the stepmotherly treatment to all areas except Rohtak. I gave up my 30-year-long association with the Congress and joined the BJP for the welfare of the people. I was called a traitor, but stood by my principles. In addition to Modi's guidance, my conviction to welfare in my constituency got me through.

Q: Of late, Gurgaon has been notorious for shady land deals, especially those involving Robert Vadra, a point highlighted by Modi in his national campaign. What will be your next step on this?

A: First of all, there is no vengeance against anybody. All such deals will be investigated in a fair manner and action will be taken irrespective of who is involved.

Q: What will the first few things that you look forth to doing for welfare in the constituency?

A: Gurgaon is the largest contributor to the state's revenue, but what do we get? Basic infrastructure is a shambles. I will ensure that the district gets its own development authority so that amenities are provided to residents. I am paying attention to farmers who have suffered during the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. Their land was virtually snatched and used for realtors. It was meant to benefit property agents and farmers were made to suffer. I will put an end to this policy making. I will ensure that development projects for Mewat, which have been stalled till now, take off and get completed soon.

Q: What are your plans for the Vidhan Sabha elections? Will you go in for any major change in the party set-up?

A: We will sweep the state in the Vidhan Sabha elections. I will do whatever I can for the welfare of the party and suggest changes. The central leadership will decide on entrusting responsibilities and induction of leaders. I will not interfere in any of these.

Q: You have been accused of being absent from your constituency during the last two terms. Will there be an end to it now?

A: This is a baseless allegation of the Congress. If I was absent, why have I been chosen for the third time?

Q: What do you think went wrong for your opponents, especially the Aam Aadmi Party?

A: The Aam Aadmi Party is a media-created tiger. Its approach and promises show inexperience and lack of conviction. There was hype by the media and not voters, which was clear in the mandate. The reason for the loss of the Congress candidate is clear and needs no elaboration. The INLD banked on community politics, something that is already over. People vote for ideology and development, which others did not realise.

Kuruksehtra, May 18
The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (HSGPC), which had extended support to the INLD for Lok Sabha elections, may extend its support to some other party in the forthcoming Assembly elections if Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and the INLD fail to deliver.

While extending support to the INLD on April 5 in Kurukshetra, the committee leaders had stated that “As per the assurance given by Sukhbir Badal, a sub-committee would be constituted, which will take care of all the matters related to the gurdwaras of Haryana. The sub-committee would have the autonomy and only the president of the committee would be from the SGPC while all other members would be of the HSGPC. The budget made would be sanctioned by the SGPC without any alteration and the donation would be spent on the gurdwaras of the state only.”

Talking to The Tribune, HSGPC president Jagdish Singh Jhinda said “We had a meeting with Abhay Singh Chautala and INLD state Chief Ashok Arora before elections and we were told that Sukhbir Badal had given assurance that our demands would be fulfilled. A formal announcement was to be made after April 30 only, as Punjab had to go for polls that day. But even after the declaration of result, they have neither made any announcement nor have they contacted us for any meeting.”

“The Sikh community has voted in INLD’s favour and now it is the duty of Sukhbir Badal to fulfill his promise and INLD should take up the matter strongly,” he added.

The committee president said “I fail to understand why are they so reluctant. It seems that that they are not clear on this issue and do not want to give us our right. But if they fail to live up to their promises, HSGPC would very soon decide its further course of action and may extend its support to some other party in the forthcoming elections.”

Hisar, May 18
Residents of Bahbalpur village in Hisar have decided to take strong steps against the social evils and proposed to ban playing of Disc Jockeys (DJs) during functions in the village.

A panchayat, presided over by the village sarpanch Dharampal Bagri, decided to launch a drive against evils like sale of illicit liquor, drugs and gambling in the village.

The panchayat met today and was attended by around 100 villagers. The sarpanch said the DJs had become a cause of major inconvenience as people played music at high volume, even during late hours, which often resulted in clashes. “Some elders came up with the proposal to put a blanket ban on DJ in the village but a section of youngsters objected to it,” he added.

“Following discussions, we have decided to impose restrictions on playing of DJs after 11 pm. Still, we have formed a 21-member committee to reconsider the decision. A final decision would be taken in the next meeting scheduled on next Sunday in the village”, he informed the panchayat members.

The panchayat has given representation to three age groups in the committee. It includes seven members each from 17-27 years age group, 28-50 years and above 50 years group, to take the final decision whether to ban DJs altogether or to restrict its use.

Suraj Bhan, a village elder, said the villagers were away from evils like gambling, satta and drugs but the atmosphere had vitiated as these habits had crept in among the youngsters. Besides, the sale illicit had also flourished in every street and corner of the village. “The committee would strictly monitor any kind of abuse in the village. The panchayat has also decided to make provisions of meting out social and monetary punishment to violators”, the village sarpanch said.

Faridabad, May 18
Baroli village in the district has achieved the distinction of more girls than boys. The village, adjacent to the town, has a woman sarpanch.

Baroli village has 1,300 girls per 1,000 boys compared to the overall sex ratio of 869 girls per 1,000 boys in the state. The sex ratio of Faridabad district is 889 girls per 1,000 boys.

"Baroli village has been selected for a prize," said sarpanch Suresh Devi. She said girl students outnumbered boys at the local government school.

The number of girls enrolled in classes I to V was 137 compared to 94 boys. The number of girls in classes VI to X was 188 compared to 156 boys, said the principal.

"The location of the village near the town was perhaps one of the reasons for the change in mentality of residents," said a health official.

"At least 10 villages have a sex ratio of 1,000 or more girls per 1,000 boys," said Dr RN Swamy, district family planning officer.

Paatuhera (Rewari), May 18
A mahapanchayat of farmers from 84 villages in the district today announced that it would not accept the compensation amount for land acquired by the state government to develop a multi-model logistics hub in the Bawal area of the district.

Demanding immediate quashing of the land acquisition process, the mahapanchayat decided not to hold parleys on the issue unless the government met the demand. The mahapanchayat was held at the Government High School under the aegis of the Bhoomi Adhigrahan Virodhi Sangarsh Samiti and lasted over five hours.

Bhartiya Kisan Union national general secretary Rajpal Sharma said the state government was overlooking interests of farmers by acquiring fertile land against their wishes. “The government should initiate talks on the basis of the new acquisition Act, otherwise farmers from across the nation will be in Rewari to fight a decisive battle against the state government,” he said.

The state government had issued notices to farmers in 16 villages to acquire over 3,664 acres for setting up the multi-model logistics hub to boost investment, income and employment, but farmers had been resisting the move, stating that they would not let the government dispose of their land in the name of development.

“As per the latest court ruling, the state government cannot acquire fertile land of farmers without their consent. In this case, the government is making efforts to snatch land of farmers, but we will not let it happen as the future of farmers was associated with their land,” said Ram Kisan Mehlawat, chief of the samiti.

He asserted that farmers would reject the compensation amount if the government did not withdraw the notices. Pratap Singh presided over the mahapanchayat. Shamsher Dahiya, Azad Singh, Hukam Singh, Ganpat Roy Chaukan, Ram Avtaar and Randheer Singh also spoke.

The stir by farmers had witnessed violence around a year ago when 50 persons, including several policemen, were injured during a clash with farmers in Rewari. Hundreds of farmers were booked, but no arrest was made.

Faridabad, May 18
The closure of 26 liquor vends on national and state highways in the district is likely to affect revenue collection by the Excise Department. It is reportedly facing a loss of at least 30 per cent this fiscal. There were 277 liquor vends in the district in 2013-14, generating a revenue of around Rs 289 crore.

Sources said the closure of 26 liquor vends on National Highway 2 and other major roads following directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had forced the department to rework the strategy on relocating liquor vends this fiscal.

"We are in the process of allotting several liquor vends at new locations and deciding on the total number of vends to be allotted this fiscal could take a couple of days," said an official with the department.

Admitting that the closure of liquor vends on highways had had an impact, he claimed that the auction of liquor vends now would result in decrease in revenue, which could be reduced by between 30 and 40 per cent as location was an important factor in deciding the auction amount.

The Supreme Court had supported the Punjab and Haryana High Court ban on liquor vends on highways. The illicit liquor mafia seemed to be active and was making a kill even though the police registered two or three cases of smuggling everyday, the sources claimed.

The mafia had reportedly been running a parallel network and earning over Rs 100 crore a year through unauthorised supply and sale of illicit liquor. Illicit liquor was available in every nook and corner and there was the facility of home delivery, claimed a resident of Dabua Colony on the condition of anonymity.

Chandigarh, May 18
In a development that would enhance the employability skills of students, the Haryana Government has decided to extend an innovative vocational education project to the government-aided and recognised private schools, an order of the Secondary Education Department dated May 13 said.

Under the scheme, it is proposed to release grants to private schools at Rs 6,500 per child on the completion of successful training. The grants would be released through the national or state education boards to which the schools are affiliated.

Moreover, 25 per cent seats in the vocational courses would be reserved for students belonging to the socio-economically weaker sections such as SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities, children with special needs and children below poverty line. In the reserved seats, a 50 per cent quota would be for girl students.

Currently, 240 government schools are covered under the scheme being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD). Two of the seven applied skills- retail, automobile, security, IT/ITes, beauty and wellness, patient care assistant, and physical education and sports- have been introduced in these schools.

Official sources said while considering the proposals for financial assistance, preference would be given to the schools, particularly those located in special focus districts, educationally backward blocks and having high dropout rates at the secondary level. It would be linked to the Aadhaar number of the beneficiary.

To guard against the misuse of funds, the financial assistance would be provided only to the students acquiring the desired competence and complete at least two levels of the programme within the prescribed timeframe, officials added.

Faridabad, May 18
With no headmaster or headmistress, around 58 per cent government primary schools in the district are headless, probably due to the policy of appointment, promotion and transfer of teachers against vacant posts.

The district unit of the Goverment Primary Teachers Association has demanded immediate filling of vacant posts. There are 255 primary schools, but the situation regarding staff and infrastructure continues to be poor, claim sources in the Education Department.

At least 150 schools do not have a headmaster or headmistress for months. The post has been sanctioned in 190 schools, but officials have failed to post anyone on a full-time basis for over a year.

An office-bearer of the association affiliated to the Sarv Karmachari Sangh said the matter had been raised with the authorities, but had not got the desired result.

He claimed that this was due to lack of proper planning and implementation of the policy of appointment, promotion and transfer of eligible teachers.

He added that a large number of JBT teachers recruited since 1999 had either not been confirmed or not given time scale promotions, resulting in a large number of vacant posts.

When contacted, a senior official with the department said on the condition of anonymity that measures were being taken to fill all vacant posts in government schools. He said transfers were on the anvil as soon as the model code of conduct ended.

Sonepat, May 18
Despite all safety measures and precautions, the death toll in accidents on nearly 36-km-long stretch of the National Highway-1, popularly known as GT road, in the district continues to increase.

Sources said as many as 124 people were killed and 245 injured in road accidents on the stretch between January and April this year.

In comparison, 91 persons were killed and 196 injured in accidents on the stretch during the corresponding period of the last year. This figure had continued to increase year by year and in the opinion of social activists, accidents were likely to claim more lives for want of initiative on the part of the authorities concerned and lack of traffic sense among the people.

Interestingly, seminars and meetings are being organised on regular basis by the traffic police and other voluntary organizations, particularly in the educational institutions, but it appears that these programmes had left hardly any impression on the people.

Besides some unauthorised cuts, there are nearly 12 points on the GT road in the district which are being considered as accident prone. Locations of some villages, dhabas and industrial complexes on the road result in deaths while crossing the road which is considered to be the biggest traffic flow carriage way in the country.

Writer and socialist Sumer Chand, who had saved several lives of the accident victims by taking them to the nearest hospitals, said first of all, everyone on the wheels have to be disciplined and conscious in following the traffic rules and regulations. “Most of the accidents are taking place due to negligence in driving and parking of vehicles as well as in crossing the road,” he added.

He said the traffic police should strictly ensure that the traffic regulations were not violated. “When we are driving in Delhi, we strictly use seat belts and helmets, but no sooner we are out of Delhi and enter Haryana, most of us generally remove the seat belts and helmets thinking that these safety equipments are burden and inconvenient,” he said.

“Many precious lives can be saved if the victims are taken to the nearest hospital at the earliest,” he said.

Yamunanagar, May 18
Thousands of farmers could not sow summer moong in their fields this season as the Haryana Seed Development Corporation (HSDC) did not supply them subsidised seeds timely.

The seed of summer moong is being supplied on 50 per cent subsidy to the farmers with the sole objective of discouraging cultivation of ‘saathi paddy’.

Under the scheme, there is a plan to cover 30,000 hectares (75,000 acres) area of the state, providing 7,500 quintal of seeds to farmers.

Farmers said the last week of April was the appropriate time to sow the summer moong. However, the seed did not reach in time in many districts. In Yamunanagar, the seeds reached the HSDC godowns today itself.

In a letter to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, progressive farmer Satpal Kaushik said the HSDC had deprived thousands of farmers from sowing the summer moong.

He said the time of sowing moong had gone as the crop took 65 days in ripening. If the farmers sowed the summer moong now, they would not be able to sow their paddy crop, the sowing of which starts from June 15 and continues up to July 20, except the ‘desi basmati’ variety of paddy.

“If the seed of summer moong had been provided timely to farmers, they would have been able to produce lakhs of quintals of ‘moong dal’, helping the government to bring the rising inflation down,” said Kaushik in his letter.

He said the government would have to bear crores as subsidy and the farmers would get no benefit of the scheme.

He said the Chief Minister should get an inquiry conducted to ascertain why the supply of moong seed was reaching farmers so late.

Another farmer, Lakhmi Chand said that, now, the supply of seed was so late, that farmers could not use the said seed to prepare green manaure too. Aditya Pratap Dabas, Deputy Director Agriculture, Yamunanagar, said the summer moong seed had reached the district and the willing farmers could get permit to get the subsidised seed.

Agriculture Minister Parmvir Singh said if he got any complaint from any farmer in this regard, he would get an inquiry conducted in the late supply of moong seed.

Chandigarh, May 18
The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(UHBVN) has decided to enforce new power supply schedule for rural domestic and tubewell consumers with immediate effect.

An official spokesman said electricity would be supplied to rural domestic consumers of Karnal, Panipat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Yamunanagar districts from 7 pm to 6 am. They would also get power from 1 pm to 4 pm.

Electricity would be supplied in two groups to tubewells for eight hours per day. The first group would be fed from 10 pm to 5 am and 4 pm to 5 pm . The second group would get power from 7 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 7 pm. It would be ensured that the electricity was supplied to public waterworks during these schedules for minimum two hours daily.

Karnal, May 18
SN Vashisht, the Director General of Police (DGP), Haryana, suspended Anil Kumar, an inspector posted in Sirsa district, for not doing a fair investigation in an alleged attempt to rape case registered against Manoj Gautam, principal of a private school in Indri sub-division.

Abhishek Garg, Superintendent of Police (SP), Karnal, confirmed the suspension.

Meanwhile, the crime branch team, Panchkula, submitted a report and recommended to discharge the accused.

The victim’s mother alleged that the principal had called her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter in his room on the pretext of giving an injection and molested her on October 31. On November 2, 2013, the Indri police registered an FIR against Gautam under Section 376 of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

The family members of the accused complained to the DGP against Anil Kumar and alleged that Gautam had been falsely implicated in the case. They also demanded a polygraphic or narco test of the accused as well as the complainant.

They demanded shifting of the case to the crime branch and alleged that Anil Kumar was not conducting a fair probe.

The case has been transferred to the crime branch.

The crime branch team submitted a report and recommended to discharge Gautam, said Madan Lal, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Crime Branch, adding that further investigation is on.

Rewari, May 18
The Toll Tax Virodhi Samiti Rewari (TTVSR) and Toll Hatao Sangharsh Samiti Haryana (THSSH) have threatened to continue with their ongoing campaign against the hefty toll tax until the toll plazas are removed from the state.

The samitis have decided to stage a state-level dharna at Gangachay Toll Plaza in Rewari on June 1 to attract the attention of the state government towards their demand.

Decision to this effect was taken at a joint meeting of both the samitis, presided over by the TTVSR chief Jai Narayan, here today. The meeting resolved that people of villages located nearby toll plazas be associated with the campaign in a large numbers to make the stir more effective.

Rajender Singh, convener of the TTVSR, said it was the moral responsibility of the state government to provide roads and transportation like other basic facilities to the residents, but the Haryana government was charging heavy taxes from the common man in lieu of these facilities, which was illegal and unethical.

Virender Hooda, chief of THSSH, said, “The government should have sought public opinion before allowing private companies to construct toll roads across the state. The government wants to carry out development at the cost of common man, which cannot be tolerated in any manner. We shall not sit calmly until our demand for a toll free Haryana is met,” added Hooda.

Dr Ashok Dixit, secretary of the THSSH, said by charging toll tax from the road-users, the government was violating the court’s ruling, which did not allow anyone to charge tax twice for a same thing. When the people are paying road tax and VAT on petrol, then why toll tax was levied should be made clear by the state government.?

Hisar, May 18
To promote opportunities of self employment, the Punjab National Bank (PNB) launched Rural Self-Employment Training Institute (RSETI) for imparting training of skill upgrade to rural youth here today.

Rakesh Shukla, divisional manager of PNB, said the Ministry of Rural Development had taken the initiative to set up dedicated infrastructure in each district of the country and the PNB had been selected for setting up the institute in Hisar.

He said the institute would impart training and skills to the needy youngsters, of which 75 per cent would belong to the Below Poverty Line (BPL)families, to prepare them for entrepreneurship development. The RSETIs were managed by banks with active co-operation from the Government of India and state governments.

Bank manager D R Sharma said the institute had registered around 50 youth of which the first batch of 30 would be imparted training for setting up dairies in their villages.

“Various banks would provide loans to the applicants for setting up dairies after the completion of training to the youths”, he informed.

Jind, May 18
Farmers of various villages of the district, who have been spreading awareness against the use of pesticides, shared their stories during a blood donation camp organised in the city by NGO ‘Awaz Jan Jan Ki’ at Shree Ram School today.

These farmers, along with the NGO, have decided to approach CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda to name Jind farmer training center on Dr Surender Dalal, who had started the movement against pesticides, install Dalal’s statue at the local Agriculture Department office, start a state-level award under his name and to take the services of Haryana Agricultural University to spread their special campaign against pesticides.

“We all should help farmers in spreading their knowledge all over state so that maximum farmers could produce their crops without pesticides and people can get poison-free food,” said Balwan Singh Rana, Jind SP.

The ‘know insects before killing them’ movement was started in 2008 by former Nidani Agriculture Development Officer Surender Dalal, who died in 2013. Now it has spread to around 14 villages. Farmers of these villages have identified 204 insects, divided them into vegetarian and non-vegetarian categories and proved that pesticides are not required to keep insects away from crops.

Women farmers said they can count all insects of one acre land within 1-2 hours. They asserted that by producing a huge crop without the use of pesticides they had proved that the non-vegetarian insects eat vegetarian ones and when the latter are finished, the former leave the field.

“We would help them in all way to spread their knowledge in the state. They are hard working and need just proper guidance of the government,” said NGO president Arvind Malik.

Others present included Dr Baljit Yaan, Hisar DHO, Kuldeep Dhanda, Khap president, Dr Rajesh Bhola, Tehsildar, Ravi Sharma, Dr Virender Malik and Anil Deshwal, coordinator of the NGO.

Fatehabad, May 18
A tantrik allegedly attempted to rape a married woman at his dera in Bahmanwala village in Fatehabad. The victim’s relatives had taken her there for treatment .

A resident of Mirana, the woman raised the alarm after the tantrik allegedly sexually assaulted her.

Her husband and other kin whom tantrik Kinda Ram had told to stay outside before he bolted his room for the woman’s “treatment” forced the accused to open the room.

The victim’s husband stated in a complaint to the police that the couple did not have a child. He said he met Kinda Ram, who claimed that he could treat patients suffering from infecundity.

After examining his wife, the tantrik said as the woman was under the effect of ghosts, he would have to treat her. When the victim’s kin agreed, the tantrik bolted himself with the woman in a room. The victim alleged that the accused tried to convince her that she could have a child if she developed physical relations with her. When she declined his offer, the tantrik allegedly tried to rape her. When the woman resisted, the accused started beating her mercilessly with tongs.

When the victim’s family members entered the room, the tantrik told them that he was trying to drive the ghosts away from the victim’s body.

Noticing his wife bleeding due to the injuries caused by tongs, the husband shifted his wife to a hospital and informed the police.

Jugal Kishore, SHO, Ratia police station, said the tantrik had been booked.

In another case, the police arrested a Lala Ram(20) for attempting to rape an eight-year-old girl at Kotli village in Sirsa.

Lala Ram lured away the victim, a class III student at a village school, to nearby fields when she was standing outside her house late last evening.

When the accused tried to rape her, the victim raised the alarm. The accused escaped under the cover of darkness when several villagers rushed to rescue the girl.

The girl’s family members later lodged an FIR. The accused has been arrested.

Shahbad (Kurukshetra), May 18
A 30-year-old man committed suicide by shooting himself with his licensed revolver near Miri-Piri Hospital here on Sunday.

Sources said Satbir, a resident of Charuni village, took the extreme step in depression. He died on the spot.

The victim’s body was handed over to his family after a postmortem examination at the Loknayak Jai Prakash Hospital. — TNS

Kurukshetra, May 18
Vijay Kumar, who had allegedly killed his wife, Kamlesh, three days ago, attempted suicide on Friday. He allegedly murdered his wife, who he was married to for 24 years, for not giving birth to a boy. He consumed some poisonous substance at his residence. His daughter spotted him and rushed him to Apna Hospital, where his situation was said to be critical. Three days ago, Kamlesh was found dead in her room and her brothers had alleged that Vijay and his family members had killed her. The police had registered a case against Vijay and three members of his family.

Before attempting suicide, he wrote a letter to the President and Chief Minister, stating that he didn’t kill his wife and his brothers-in-law were trying to implicate him and his family members in false charges. — TNS