|
|
|
|
|
induction of gurjar, inderjit into cabinet
Assembly poll in mind, BJP looks for non-Jat option
Govt staff on warpath again
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
HCS case: High Court to examine answersheets of candidates
Govt to fill vacancies in Class III, IV posts
Kanda promises 24-hour power
Ambala Mayor in damage-control mode
Man’s electrocution sparks protest in Jhajjar village
SIT probing fake arms licences off to Nagaland
HCS officer suspended
Faridabad’s shame: Two rapes reported in 3 days
Haryana opts for e-post sanctioning system
Farmers put on notice for planting ‘saathi’
Seats in hotel institute of Faridabad raised to 120
|
|||||||||||||
|
induction of
gurjar, inderjit into cabinet Naveen S Garewal Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 27 Faridabad MP Kishan Pal Gurjar is a senior BJP leader who had won the election with the highest margin in the state, defeating his nearest rival by 4.66 lakh votes. He is a former state BJP president, a former leader of the BJP Legislature Party and a former Cabinet minister in Haryana. His induction is not only well-deserved, but has suggested that he ranks the highest in merit and is the first choice. Gurjar belongs to a backward class. His induction indicates that the BJP wants to move away from Jat-dominated politics in Haryana and wants other castes and communities to prosper as well. Rao Inderjit Singh, who has been inducted as the Minister of State for Defence, held the same portfolio in the same ministry in UPA-1. He belongs to the Ahirwal region of southern Haryana, which has always been considered backward. His induction sends a signal that the BJP wants overall development of the state. Haryana has lagged behind other neighbouring states in terms of road infrastructure. It is now hoped that with Gurjar being made in charge of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping, the state will be able to improve its connectivity as well as develop faster connectivity with other parts of the country. It is hoped that National Highway 1 from Delhi to Amritsar via many cities of Haryana will be completed in a time-bound manner. Rao Inderjit, who has been allotted independent charge of Planning, Statistics and Programme Implementation, besides Defence, will be able to consolidate ex-servicemen by implementing already announced schemes like one-rank-one-pension. It is said that every 10th soldier from the Army is from Haryana, besides a large number of ex-servicemen. His appointment has appeased a large lobby from this section. Rao Inderjit has been flagging the issue of skewed development, especially of southern Haryana, even before other Congress leaders like Birender Singh and Selja raised it. Rao Inderjit was the first to raise the issue of misuse in issuing change of land use permission in Gurgaon and other areas in the National Capital Region. It is now hoped that he will persuade the BJP to initiate an inquiry into CLUs allotted to Robert Vadra and other influential persons. Rao Inderjit, who has independent charge of Planning, is expected to carefully scrutinise important projects of the state and ensure that all regions of the state are developed equally. Gen (retd) VK Singh, who contested from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, and Sushma Swaraj, who won from Vadisha in Madhya Pradesh, have their roots in Haryana as well. It is expected that these two leaders will be active as far as politics and development in the state is concerned. Clear signal
|
|
Assembly poll in mind, BJP looks for non-Jat option
Chandigarh, May 27 While Haryana has got two berths in the Cabinet, with Minister of State (independent charge) Rao Inderjit Singh and Minister of State Krishan Pal
Gurjar, three other MPs, Sushma Swaraj, VK Singh and Piyush Goyal, have a close connect to the state. Swaraj and Goyal belong to Ambala district and VK Singh is from
Bhiwani. All three still have a strong association with the places they hail from. Political observers see a “deliberate design” in the choice of leaders inducted and feel that the central leadership has an eye on the Assembly elections. They insist that it cannot be a coincidence that all five leaders, including first-timers, of different communities have found a place in the Cabinet. While Rao Inderjit represents the Ahir community, Gurjar represents the backward Gujjar community. Swaraj comes from a Brahmin family while VK Singh represents the Rajputs and Goyal the trader community. Sources maintain that at a time when the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal are seen to be playing Jat vote-bank politics, the
BJP, given its performance in the General Election, has attempted to fill the vacuum in terms of
non-Jat politics in the state. Though the Congress leadership repeatedly claims of a support base in the 36 communities that make up Haryana and insists that it believes in taking everybody along,
non-Jat leaders in the party believe that the leadership has gone the extra mile to woo the
Jats. They add that the two terms of Congress rule under Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has given it a Jat identity, which the party finds difficult to disassociate from despite the sops doled out to other communities. The Haryana Janhit Congress led by Kuldeep Bishnoi projected itself as a
non-Jat alternative and managed to polarise non-Jats to a certain extent in the Hisar parliamentary seat, reducing it to a Jat versus
non-Jat battle. The party contested the General Election in alliance with the
BJP, headed by Ram Bilas Sharma, a Brahmin who was chosen over Capt
Abhimanyu, a Jat. Party insiders agree that the choice of state party president was based on the sole motive of winning over
non-Jats, given lack of leadership on this front. BJP Legislature Party leader Anil
Vij, insists that the BJP does not believe in caste politics and has universal appeal across communities. “The HJC may have fought the election on a
non-Jat vote bank, but we have not. In the BJP, we are taught that all castes are one. Election results have shown that we are acceptable to every community. All those with a Haryana connection who have found place in the Cabinet are
non-Jats, but there was hardly any option among Jats that could be considered,” he says. |
|
Govt staff on warpath again
Chandigarh, May 27 “The agitation will kick off with block-level protests on June 5,” Subash
Lamba, general secretary, Haryana Sarv Karamchari Sangh, said today. “Memoranda will be submitted to MLAs
and MPs on June 17 and 18. Employees’ unions will meet on June 29 to chalk out their agitation
programme,” he said. He alleged that except for the amendment in the assured career progression scheme and grade pay structure, the government had failed to implement other demands of employees, including the main demand of the regularisation of thousands of contractual and daily wage employees. After a meeting with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on February 26, the government announced that the services of those daily wage and contractual employees who had completed three years of regular service would be
regularised. The regularisation policy, which was to be on the pattern of the Punjab Government’s regularisation policy, was to have major financial implications on the fund-starved Haryana Government. With the model code of conduct coming into force in early March, the formulation of the regularisation policy was put on the backburner as there were many legal hurdles in the regularisation of thousands of employees. A senior government functionary claimed that the process to regularise employees was on and a formal policy would be announced shortly. On January 21, nearly two lakh employees, including roadways
staff, went on a three-day strike, crippling essential services such as transport and water and power supply. Arm-twisting by staff
After its dismal performance in the General Election, the Congress government can ill-afford to antagonise the powerful lobby of state government employees. It is widely believed that influential employees’ unions wanted to arm-twist the government ahead of Assembly elections in October. |
|
Gorakhpur N-plant critics pin hopes on new govt
Fatehabad, May 27 Those opposed to the project hope that the new governments at the Centre and in the state may not allow the GHAVP to come up in its present form. Gen (retd) VK Singh, who paid a visit to Gorakhpur farmers agitating against acquisition of their land on July 31, 2012, and addressed meetings organised against the GHAVP in several villages in the vicinity of the project site on June 27, 2013, had been opposing the project for its proximity to India’s borders with Pakistan, scarcity of irrigation water it would cause and hazards involved. Maneka Gandhi, who visited the NPCIL’s residential colony site near Badopal along with then HJC MLA Renuka Bishnoi on October 2, 2013, on the invite of animal rights activists of the Bishnoi community, demanded abandoning of the project for its location in a densely populated area and closeness to the national capital. Maneka Gandhi had expressed grave concern over the killing of black bucks on the 185-acre residential colony site of the NPCIL and demanded that the land be declared as conservation reserve. “We are planning to meet Gen (retd) VK Singh, Maneka Gandhi and yoga guru Ramdev, who have been staunch opponents of the project,” said an activist of the Parmanu Virodhi Morcha. The INLD, the main opposition party in the state, has already announced its decision to shut the project after coming to power. The HJC, whose core support group is the Bishnoi community, is opposed to the project and has been demanding closure of the project. The BJP had supported farmers’ agitation against the acquisition of their land. Former minister Gopal Kanda’s party has maintained that it will seek the locals’ stand before announcing its decision. Former minister Venod Sharma’s Lok Sewa Panchayat is in favour of the project if it addresses the power needs of the state. Political parties like AAP, the CPM, the CPI, the Trinamool Congress and the Samast Bhartiya Party are all opposed to the project. A change of guard in state after the Assembly elections, if it takes place, is likely to affect the future of the project. The issue of setting up the project is pending before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), where the NPCIL has submitted that it has no immediate plan to start construction on the project site. Animal rights activists had moved an appeal before the NGT against an order of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, granting green clearance to the NPCIL without any conservation plan for wildlife living on the land acquired for the project. TR Arora, Project Director of the NPCIL for the GHAVP, said nuclear energy projects were not affected by change in governments. “We will soon start work on site management building, boundary wall and some structures which are not covered under the main project,” he said. |
|
HCS case: High Court to examine answersheets of candidates
Chandigarh, May 27 The Division Bench of Justice Satish Kumar Mittal and Justice Kuldip Singh directed the Haryana Public Service Commission to produce five answersheets of selected candidates and five answersheets of unsuccessful candidates for examination by the Bench. The case will come up on July 18 for further hearing. The High Court has already made it clear that it was not averse to suggestion of examining the answersheets of some candidates to verify allegations of tampering. The Bench, on the previous date of hearing, was provided with a list of 27 candidates whose answersheets were allegedly tampered with to enhance their marks in the written examination. An inspection carried by the Joint Registrar (judicial) in 2009 had found large number of cuttings/overwriting and tampering in answersheets of these selected candidates. Around 67 HCS (executive) officers were selected by the Haryana Public Service Commission in 2002 when Om Prakash Chautala was the chief minister. The matter was initially brought to the High Court’s notice by Haryana’s former advocate-general Mohan Jain, now additional solicitor-general of India at Delhi. Jain was appearing as the petitioners’ counsel in a PIL for a CBI probe into alleged irregularities, jointly filed by former MLA Karan Singh Dalal and two candidates. Taking cognizance of the matter, the HC had summoned the entire record of the selection. During arguments, the petitioner argued that the inspection report of the selected candidates’ answersheets clearly showed tampering and overwriting. The case file
|
|
Dry ghats disappoint Kurukshetra pilgrims
Kurukshetra, May 27 A few ghats have water till the ankle level. The disappointment was writ large on the faces of pilgrims who had covered hundreds of kilometres, only to see dry ghats. Mahender Singh, who had come with his family from Rajasthan, said, “It was disappointing as we could not get the opportunity to bathe here. There is no water in the ghats while the 'sarovar' is 15 feet deep. It is not safe to cross the railing. The authorities should have made arrangements on time.” Pandit Hemant Das said “People make offerings for their forefathers on 'amavasya'. Shani jayanti will be observed tomorrow and thousands of pilgrims are expected here.” Dr Karan Singh, Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) official, said “The Brahmasarovar gets its water from the Bhakra through a drain. The Irrigation Department had carried out sanitation work, following which water supply to the 'sarovar' was stopped.” He said, “The department had said the sanitation work would be completed by May 26 or 27. It has unfortunately not been completed in time and will take another couple of days. In view of 'amavasya', the KDB has set up motor pumps to
fill a couple of ponds near the ghats.” Another KDB official said the scorching heat was another reason for the situation. Due to high rate of evaporation, the water level of the 'sarovar' drops between 1 and 1.5 inch every day. “It will take seven or eight days for the 'sarovar' to be filled once the water is released from the drain,” he added. |
|
Govt to fill vacancies in Class III, IV posts
Chandigarh, May 27 In a circular issued here today, they have been asked to send a report whether the backlog vacancies of these categories have been included in the requisition sent to Haryana Staff Selection Commission and General Administration Department for filling up these positions. The same information has also been sought from the Commissioners of Ambala, Hisar, Rohtak and Gurgaon Division, Registrar of Punjab and Haryana High Court, all Chief Administrators, Managing Directors of all boards, corporations and Public Sector Undertakings, all Deputy Commissioners and Sub Divisional Officers (civil) and Registrars of all universities in Haryana. The Haryana Government has decided that in case no candidate is found suitable for direct recruitment to Class III and IV posts, the vacancies reserved for ex-servicemen (ESM) of a particular category will be filled up from amongst the same category candidates. A circular to this effect has been issued by the office of Haryana Chief Secretary. |
|
Kanda promises 24-hour power
Sirsa, May 27 Kanda, who launched his own political outfit Haryana Lokhit Party earlier this month from Gurgaon, inaugurated Sir Chhottu Ram Park at Jodhkan village and addressed meetings at Gadli, Ding Madi, Kukarthana and some other villages. Ravi Godara, sarpanch of Jodhkan village, said the park was set up with Kanda’s efforts and the villagers decided to get it inaugurated from him only, though they had to wait for two years for this event. — TNS |
|
Ambala Mayor in damage-control mode
Ambala, May 27 Mal’s efforts to placate the protesting corporators received a shot in the arm when former minister and senior Congress leader Nirmal Singh today held a meeting with the corporators in an attempt to cajole them not to table a no-confidence motion against the Mayor. The corporators are targeting the Mayor over the issue of non-development of urban areas in the city and failure of the MC in ensuring basic amenities to the local residents. However, the senior Congress leaders today encouraged the corporators to let go their planned move against the Mayor and instead work collectively to strengthen the working of the Ambala Municipal Corporation. Following the debacle in the recent Lok Sabha election, Congress leaders are now in a damage control mode making an extra effort to curtail the repercussion of the election results. Nirmal Singh coaxed the corporators not to get misled by rumours and stand by the Mayor. |
|
Man’s electrocution sparks protest in Jhajjar village
Jhajjar, May 27 The protesters demanded adequate compensation to the next of kin of the deceased and strict action against the junior engineer (JE) of the corporation for sending the employee to rectify the fault even though he was not on duty. They lifted the blockade after three hours following an assurance by the district administration that police action would be taken against those found guilty in the case and financial assistance would be provided to the next of kin of the deceased as per the government scheme. Reports said Ajit Singh of Naurang village, a contractual employee, was called by the JE on Sunday night to rectify some fault that developed in the power lines of a private company. Ajit suffered an electric shock after someone started the inverter line while he was rectifying the fault. He was taken to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead. After postmortem examination, the police handed over the body to his next of kin, who later placed it on the road and disrupted vehicular traffic. They alleged that Ajit died due to negligence of the company and the JE who assigned him the duty. Jhajjar SDM Satyender Duhan, tehsildar Pramod Chahal and DSP Dheeraj Kumar reached the spot along with police personnel and got the road cleared after assuring the protesters of adequate financial aid to the next of kin of the deceased and police action against the company. The police later registered a case of negligence against the company and the power corporation in connection with the death of Ajit Singh. |
|
SIT probing fake arms licences off to Nagaland
Jhajjar, May 27 The team, formed by Rohtak Range IGP Anil Rao, will verify the authenticity of these licences from the Dimapur Collector's office and also find how so many Haryana residents got arms licences from Nagaland. “Our special team has left for Nagaland along with around 50 licences to verify their authenticity and to get other information about the racket,” Bahadurgarh DSP Sumit Kumar said. Examination of records of the Dimapur Collector's office is expected to give concrete leads in the case, sources said. Police had picked up clues that pointed at a nation-wide arms licence racket. “Investigators found that a significant number of arms licences were issued without proper verification. Several criminals, including some in jail, managed to get licenses on the basis of fake documents made in Nagaland,” sources said. The involvement of some arms dealers is also being probed. Some of the arms licence holders who came under police scrutiny said they had obtained the licence from Nagaland to get hired as a security guard in private companies, said the sources. The racket
21 booked in Sonepat Sonepat, May 27: The Sonepat police registered cases against 21 persons under sections of the Arms Act and the IPC on Sunday evening. The SIT of the Haryana Police had seized several of arms licenses issued by the Dimapur Licensing Authority in Nagaland from the car of Deepender of Kasandi village in 2012. He was arrested and confessed to supplying an arms licence for Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000. Further investigations could not establish the identity of the persons who received the fraudulent licences. When arms licence holders deposited their arms in the police armoury or with registered gun houses during the recent Lok Sabha election, a number of Sonepat residents were found to possess licences issued on their Nagaland address. The Sonepat police are raiding suspected hideouts of these persons, but no arrest has been made so far. — OC
|
|
HCS officer suspended
Yamunanagar, May 27 Sources said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had issued directions to the district administration to assess the compensation for 95 acres, five kanals and nine marlas of Randhir Singh, a farmer in Bilaspur town of Yamunanagar district, on his civil writ petition. The land had been notified under Sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, 1900, by the district Forest Department for afforestation. The court had directed that the compensation should be assessed 38 months prior to the date of filing of the writ petition. The Yamunanagar DC constituted a five-member committee under the chairmanship of Bilaspur SDM Ashwani Maingi in December, 2013. In a committee meeting on March 12, the statement of the petitioner was recorded in the presence of committee members by the SDM. Sources said due to the poll, it was decided that the committee would jointly visit the site and the report would be prepared later for assessing the compensation. It was also decided that relevant comments of members would be considered before submitting the final report. The SDM submitted the report to the DC on April 18 without consulting committee members. The members complained in writing that the SDM never obtained expert reports or comments from them. The DC sent a report of the complaint to the state government, which suspended the HCS officer. The sources said the SDM assessed the compensation amount, at ~50 lakh per acre, to be around ~48 crore, which was quite high. Chief Secretary SC Chaudhary said Maingi was suspended yesterday for preparing and submitting a report without taking consent of members of the committee. |
|
Faridabad’s shame: Two rapes reported in 3 days
Faridabad, May 27 She alleged Sunny and Kalu of Pali village came to her house in an inebriated condition and started abusing her without provocation. They pounced upon her when she protested their unruly behaviour. They took out a knife and pinned her to the ground before abusing her sexually. Later, they took her to a secluded spot and raped her at knife point and fled after dumping her at the place, which is around a kilometre away from her house. The police registered a case under sections 376-D, 323 and 506 of the IPC against the accused who are absconding Earlier, on Sunday a 15-year-old was raped by a youth at Machhgar village. The incident took place on Sunday night when the victim went missing from her house around midnight. She was later found in her backyard, crying for help. The accused Hempal, a resident of the same village, asked the girl to meet him at midnight. When she went there, he raped her and threatened her with dire consequences. Hempal told the girl to remain silent or else he would shoot her with his gun, if she raised an alarm. The accused managed to flee before the kin reached the spot to rescue the victim. A case under section 376 and 506 of the IPC and 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act and Section 4 of the POSCO Act has been registered after the medical examination of the victim was conducted at the local government hospital. |
|
Karnal woman ‘murdered’ in Dehradun; kin protest
Karnal, May 27 Rajinder, a relative of the deceased Rajni said the victim had married Shammi around three years ago, without consent of the family members. The couple also took police security and shifted to Dehradun after some time. On Monday the kin were informed about Rajni’s death in Dehradun and they alleged that she was murdered by her husband. The family members said, “Police should take action against the Rajni’s in-laws and her husband. The murder case should be transferred to Karnal for speedy judgement.” Raj Kumar, DSP (City), reached the spot and pacified the angry family members, after which the protest was called off. |
|
Haryana opts for e-post sanctioning system
Chandigarh, May 27 While stating this today, a spokesman of the Finance Department said this system would be a part of the Integrated Financial and Human Resource Management System (IFHRMS) of the state government. Various modules of IFHRMS such as Online Budget Allocation, Monitoring and Analysis System, e-bill system including e-salary system, e-Pension system, e-Gras etc. were already running successfully. Once data of existing sanctioned and working strength has been verified by BCA (HQ level) it would be freezed and sent to the Finance Department. Any changes thereafter could only be made with permission of Finance Department.
— TNS |
|
Farmers put on notice for planting ‘saathi’
Karnal, May 27 The team members accompanying Sharma served notices on the farmers and advised them not to plant the paddy as it was a water guzzler. They destroyed the paddy planted in around five acre land of Kuldeep, two acres of Raj Kishan, one-and-a-half acre of Bablu, one acre of Naresh, around five acres land of Charanjeet and one acre that of Suresh. The DDA said if the farmers went on growing 'saathi' paddy, the land in the district would turn barren. — TNS |
||
|
Seats in hotel institute of Faridabad raised to 120
Faridabad, May 27 While giving this information here today, the Director General, Haryana Tourism, Sumita Misra said with this the intake capacity at the IHM had tripled. The step had been taken to fulfill the increasing demand of hospitality education in the state. The IHM, Faridabad, is run under the guidance
of Haryana Tourism Department and is affiliated to the NCHMCT, Noida, she added. Misra said the institute was established in
the year 1989 as Food Craft Institute. It was upgraded to Institute of Hotel Management in July 2009 with an intake capacity of 20 seats. In the year 2013-14 the seats were increased to 40. At present the institute is running diploma as well as degree courses. It
largely draws students and faculty from the NCR and other neighbouring states, the Director General said. |
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
The induction of two Haryana MPs into Narendra Modi’s Cabinet is aimed at sending two clear signals to voters in the state on the eve of Vidhan Sabha elections. The first is that merit is the sole criterion for appointing a minister. The second is that the BJP will not indulge in bias in terms of regional development and will pay equal heed to development of all regions of the
state.
