Chandigarh, May 29
A day after Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda unveiled the regularisation policy for ad hoc, contractual and daily-wage employees, the employees’ unions rejected the announcement, alleging that ‘it would benefit only a handful of employees’.

The rejection of the Chief Minister’s announcement by the Haryana Sarv Karamchari Sangh, an apex organisation of the employees, threatens to snowball into a major confrontation between the Hooda Government and the government staff .

“The conditional regularization policy will benefit only 2000-3000 employees. We will continue to agitate till our demand for the regularisation of all employees, who have completed two years’ service, is met,” Subhash Lamba, sangh general secretary, said here today.

Yesterday, the Haryana Cabinet approved the adoption of the 2011 regularisation policy patterned on Punjab’s policy dated March 18, 2011, for group B, C and D employees.

The Haryana policy was intended to benefit the employees, who have completed three years service on a contract basis engaged by government or approved agency of the state government as on May 28, 2014.

However, the posts against which the regularisation is to be done should be a sanctioned vacant post at the time of initial appointment or engagement and also at the time of regularisation.

The employees have alreadly announced block-level protests from June 5.

Nearly two lakh employees, including the roadways staff, had gone on a three-day strike on January 21, crippling essential services such as transport, water and power supply.

Ambala, May 29
Notwithstanding the increased demand for power, the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) is yet to revive eight of the 17 thermal power units in the state, lying idle for the past several months.

The HPGCL is falling short of 1,000 MW to 1,300 MW every day in spite of procuring power from a number of sources from outside the state.

One reason for the out-of-operation thermal units at Panipat, Yamunanagar and Khedar plants was less demand due to below normal temperatures a few months ago.

But this not the case these days, as the temperature is hovering around 40 degrees Celsius. And hence the power cuts.

Sources in the power utility said the demand shot up to 6,439 MW on Wednesday evening, while the supply was of 5,729 MW. Of this, 3,942 MW was procured from sources outside the state. This means that 1,787 MW was generated from the state-owned thermal plants against an installed capacity of 5,300.5 MW.

As of today, six units at the Panipat power thermal power plant, two at the Yamunanagar plant and two at Khedar plant were out of operation. Both units of the Yamunanagar plant were reportedly down due to boiler leakage, while one unit at the Khedar plant was down due to a problem in turbine vibration.

Though the authorities revived unit number 1 of 300-MW capacity at the plant Yamunanagar today afternoon, the state faced a shortage of more than 400 MW.

Sources said if the remaining thermal power units were revived, the state could easily tide over the temporary power crisis.

With the start of paddy season in the next few days, the demand is expected to rise further.

Jind: Residents of Bighana village in this district protested against Power Department officials today for not repairing a burnt cable for the past 10 days. They first demonstrated at Aleva. On not getting a satisfactory reply from officials there, the villagers blocked the Jind-Chandigarh highway for more than an hour near Nagura. Later, the villagers met the Jind Deputy Commissioner (DC) for action against Power Department officers. "Officials could have replaced the burnt cable within a day had they taken our request seriously. Nearly 40 families of Panchal Colony are without power," alleged Anil, a protester. "Besides power, villagers face acute water shortage. But officials are not bothered," alleged Joginder, another villager. Villagers claimed they had repeatedly met the Subdivisional Officer (SDO) and other officers, but to no avail. The SDO could not be contacted in spite of repeated attempts. "I have directed the SDO to repair the fault at the earliest," Jind DC Rajiv Rattan said. — TNS

Hisar, May 29
Within days of taking a bold step of giving social accord to inter-caste marriages, the vehement opposition from a group of hardliners in the khap have forced the Sarv Bura Gotra Khap Panchayat to retract from its decision, in a meeting held at Gurana village of the district on Wednesday evening.

As the meeting of nine villages of khap, presided over by a khap elder Ran Singh Bura started discussion on the issues, two factions engaged in a heated exchange while questioning the authority of the khap leaders to announce a decision without taking large number of other villagers into confidence.

A khap representative Narender Bura maintained that the decision to give social sanction to inter-caste marriages had been taken in haste and without evolving a consensus among all the members of the khap. The representatives from Gurana, Ghiray, Rajli, Kharakari, Mirzapur, Sulkhani, Badhawar, Dhand, Khanpur were present in the meeting.

In view of the resentment against the decision, the khap leaders who had made the announcement about acceptance of inter-caste marriages, decided to take their decision back and promised to hold another round of discussions to reach a consensus on the issue.

Khap spokesperson Balwant Bura admitted that they had taken back the announcement regarding inter-caste marriages. “We tried to argue that since the Constitution grants accord to inter-caste marriages and even the state government has been giving incentive to such couples, it is a violation of the law if the khap opposes such marriages. It’s unfortunate that families have no objection to getting their sons married to girls from Bihar and Orissa, but they still have inhibitions about inter-caste marriages”, he maintained.

Balwant maintained that they would hold another meeting for further discussion on the issue in June, and would try to take all those have expressed their reservations along in this decision.

Narnaul, May 29
Despite being the home district of Haryana Health Minister Rao Narender and two Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPSs) Rao Daan Singh and Anita Yadav, Mahendragarh has been facing acute shortage of doctors and other nursing staff at its General Hospital (GH), community health centres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs).

The Narnaul General Hospital in Mahendragarh district

Narnaul legislator Rao Narender after his elevation as Health Minister over four years ago had promised to provide better health facilities with adequate number of doctors in his home district as well in the entire state, but he failed to perform in this direction.

The health authorities claim that sincere efforts are being made to improve the health services, but the fact is that over 47 per cent of sanctioned posts of doctor are yet to be filled, shows pitiable condition of essential services in the district.

As per the official information, 63 out of 133 sanctioned posts of doctors at the GH, the CHC and the PHC across the district are lying vacant.

“As many as 53 posts of doctor have been sanctioned for the General Hospital at the district headquarter in Narnaul wherein 24 posts are lying vacant thus taking a toll on the patients health, who have to go to private hospitals many a times for their treatment due to shortage of specialists here,” said sources.

Condition of the CHC in Mahendragarh represented by the CPS, Rao Daan Singh, in the Vidhan Sabha is even more deplorable in terms of number of doctors. Only two doctors are available to treat patients while 10 posts are yet to be filled here.

Likewise, the CHC in Ateli town from where CPS Anita Yadav is the MLA has also been facing acute shortage of health staff. Six out of eight posts of doctors are lying vacant here indicating poor health services in the town.

“No CT scan and MRI facility is available in the district hence the patients have to go either to Gurgaon or Rewari for tests. They have to wait for long hours for their ultrasound test as only one machine is available at the hospital,” said Ram Kumar, a patient from Narnaul.

Mahendragarh Civil Surgeon, Dr Gulshan Arora, said the process to fill up the vacant posts was being carried out by the state government hence the problem of staff shortage would be resolved soon.

Chandigarh, May 29
Taking another initiative in the field of health, the Haryana Government has set up District Early Intervention Centres (DEIC) in all district hospitals for preliminary examination, medical management and treatment of infants.

Giving this information, Health Minister Rao Narender Singh said Haryana has become the first state to start DEIC in all district hospitals in the state under Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram.

The doctors appointed in these centres check the ability of hearing and vision, heart problems and deficiencies found in newborns since birth.

These centres are directly linked with Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of hospitals and the children coming to SNCU gets 100 per cent registration. Apart from this, the postnatal cases and children admitted in the children ward are also covered under these centres.

Rao Narender Singh said out of all children admitted in SNCU of district hospitals, developmental delays and other disabilities have been found in about 20 per cent of such children. Keeping in view such children, DEIC have been set up in all district hospitals. He said that disorders usually found in newborns such as cleft lip and clubfoot are also being treated at these centres.

Treatment of clubfoot children is being done at these centres through ponseti method without any operation or plaster and the Department has achieved a great success in it, added Rao Narender Singh.

He said staff of 14 members has been appointed at all DEIC including medical officer, child therapist, psychologist, dentist, staff nurse, manager, physiotherapist, speaking audiologist, special educator, lab technician, optometrist and data entry operator.

Also, Block Level Mobile Health Teams have been constituted in every district which has an Ayush Medical Officer (one male and one female), an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife and a pharmacist. These teams have been monitoring health of children in schools and Anganwadi Centres or if any kind of disorder is found in any children then they are being referred to DEIC.

Fatehabad, May 29
Fatehabad Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Vivek Nasir today issued arrest warrant against Drug Control Officer (DCO) Suresh Chaudhary, who has been absconding since the State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) booked him for graft on Tuesday.

A team of the SVB, led by Inspector Bhupender Sharma, today raided Chaudhary’s offices in Fatehabad and Hisar, but he was not found anywhere. Chaudhary has a dual charge of Fatehabad as well as Hisar-II as DCO.

However, the team had to return empty handed, as his office staff told them that Chaudhary had been absent for two days.

“We found a clerk at his Fatehabad office, who told us that the DCO has not come to the office since the registration of the case. In Hisar, we met the other DCO and his staff, who too did not have any idea of the whereabouts of Chaudhary,” said Sharma.

Earlier, the SVB teams sent to his Bhiwani residence returned empty handed.

“We have contacted Chaudhary’s immediate boss in Hisar as well as with his seniors at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Panchkula. No one knows where has the Fatehabad DCO gone,” said the SVB Inspector.

Earlier, after failing to find Chaudhary at his offices and residence till last night, the SVB approached Chief Judicial Magistrate Vivek Nasir in the morning today for warrants against the officer.

“If the officer remains absconding, we will initiate proceedings before the court and declare him a proclaimed offender,” said Sharma.

The SVB had booked DCO Suresh Chaudhary under the Prevention of Corruption Act on Tuesday after Mahinder and Ramesh Kumar, owner of a medical shop near his office, were caught red-handed with bribe money they had received on his behalf from a chemist for giving him a clean chit in an inspection carried out by him.

Chaudhary had allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 from Devki Nandan, a chemist, after finding some irregularities in his medical shop and later, he had lowered down his demand to Rs 20,000.

Nanadan, however, approached the SVB, who laid a trap for Chaudhary.

Ambala, May 29
In spite of repeated assurances by the Ambala Municipal Corporation (MC), roads in Ambala Cant continue to be in a bad shape, leading to frequent logjams and inconvenience to the commuters.

The MC recently undertook patch work on a number of roads, but the repair of a several other roads is yet to be initiated. Local residents have written to the MC, drawing its attention to the deplorable condition of the roads, but to no avail.

Rajinder Vij, president of the Society to Save Soul and Soil, said the society recently apprised the MC of the poor condition of roads near vegetable market, from Nigar Cinema to Hargolal Dharamshala and from a grain market to BD School.

“Those commuting on these roads generally get down from their two-wheelers and prefer to push their vehicles to avoiding falling down,” Nand Kishore, another resident, said, adding that some of the roads had not been repaired for the past several years.

The lack of road dividers has led to unmanageable traffic, causing minor accidents every day. “It is high time that the authorities respond to the traffic problem, lest it lead to circumstances that can’t be salvaged later,” said Kirpal Singh, another resident.

Karnal, May 29
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activists and members of several NGOs protested at the Mini-Secretariat here today, demanding the arrest of an accused who allegedly raped an eight-year-old girl on Tuesday.

The protesters handed over a memorandum to Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Garg and threatened to intensify the agitation if the accused was not arrested by Saturday.

“The accused has been at large for three days. Resentment prevails among people over the brutal incident,” AAP activist JP Shekhpura said. The SP has, meanwhile, constituted a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) city Raj Kumar.

The DSP said that as per the victim’s statement, the accused was driving a white Innova SUV and wearing a white ‘kurta pyjama’. He had a beard and moustaches. The police had searched nearly 10 villages, the DSP said, adding that they had collected the record of the white Innova SUVs from the Road Transport Authority (RTA) office.

The SIT in-charge said, “The victim has told the police that the accused received two phone calls during the incident. The cyber cell’s help is being sought to identify the accused.”

Jhajjar, May 29
Under fire from various quarters due to a sharp rise in cases of heinous crimes during the last few months, the Jhajjar police are in the dock once again for failing to arrest the accused in a kidnapping and gangrape case, even after a week.

A panchayat of 15 villages has now threatened to gherao the SP’s office and block the national highway if the rape accused were not arrested within the next three days. The panchayat held at the Government School in Lohari village on Sunday, constituted a 24-member committee to assist the victim’s family besides deciding the further course of action.

Earlier, the panchayat presided by Om Prakash Jataoli slammed the police for not taking any steps to ensure the arrest of the accused that led to resentment among villagers.

A 16-year-old schoolgirl of Lohari village was abducted by some youths on May 18 when she was going to her uncle’s house in the village. The youth took her to an isolated place where she was gangraped. After perpetrating the crime, they dumped her near the village, the next day. When the victim sought help from two policemen on PCR duty, they too raped her. One of the cops was dismissed while the other one was suspended after being booked under sections 376 (rape) and 356 (outraging the modesty) of the IPC when the incident came to light.

The police then booked a kidnapping and rape case against four youths of Lohari village on the complaint of the victim. While one of the accused was arrested, three others are absconding. At the panchayat meet that lasted three hours, people sought immediate arrest of the remaining accused, suspension of a DSP who was investigating the matter, probe by a senior woman official, seizure of car used in the crime.

Rohtak, May 29
The Haryana Victim Compensation Scheme-2013, implemented in the state under the aegis of the Haryana State Legal Services Authority, has started showing results.

The District Legal Services Authority has awarded compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the father of a rape victim. While half of the amount was paid for the medical treatment and other immediate requirements of the victim, the other half was deposited in a fixed deposit account at a nationalised bank.

Prabhu Das (name changed) was choked with emotions when he was handed over the money at the judicial complex by the District and Sessions Judge-cum-DLSA Chairman Sushil Kumar Gupta and Chief Judicial Magistrate-cum-DLSA Secretary Sanjay Sharma.

Prabhu Das, a migrant labour, settled at a village in Rohtak along with his family.

Life took a tragic turn when his four-and-a-half year-old daughter was raped by a 21-year-old youth belonging to an influential family of the same village in September last year.The family’s ordeal began when they got a rape complaint lodged and the youth was arrested. The hapless parents of the victim were subjected to tremendous pressure to settle the matter out of court and reach a compromise.

The girl's father not only lost his job, but was also denied a chance to get another job as his prospective employers did not want to go against the family of the accused.

Even the victim’s brother was forced to drop out of school due to financial constraints and the family’s deplorable circumstances. The victim’s father was on the verge of withdrawing the case when he met a paralegal volunteer. He was then guided to approach the authorities concerned, which paved the way to the grant of compensation within 35 days.

“In most cases, the victim’s family settle for a compromise due to financial constraints and lack of awareness about the victim compensation scheme,” said DLSA Chairman Sushil Kumar Gupta. He maintained that this scheme intends to provide monetary compensation to the victims of crimes or their family members/dependants for medical treatment, education and rehabilitation of victims.

Jind, May 29
Farmers have threatened to block the Jind-Gohana road if the authorities do not repair the dilapidated water channel at the earliest.

Sarpanch Ashok Kumar while pointing towards the decrepit water channel of the village says the village is located at the tail end and has been without proper canal water supply for the last three years.

He goes on to say, “Das Saal pehle ye nehar 40-45 minute mein 5-6 acre bhar deti thi, ab teen saal se band parhi hai. Sarkar kehti hai ki humne crore kharche hai, par agar crore kharche hai to wo kaha gaye? (10 years ago this canal could irrigate 5-6 acres of land in 40-45 minutes, but this has run dry since the last three years. The government claims they have spent crores of rupees, but if they did spend all that money, where has it gone?”

The village has been without proper canal water supply as the Irrigation Department has not bothered to repair the water channel for years. The water channel starts from Khark Ramji village and was constructed to supply water to three villages including Khark Ramji, Chawri and Nidani, and measures 13,470 feet.

But from the last three years only Khark Ramji and Chawri villages have been getting water, while Nidani has not received any proper water supply as the channel needs immediate repairs.

Usually villages located at distant places face such problems, but Nidani is only 14 km away from Jind city located on the Jind-Gohana road. Villagers allege that due to lack of proper water for irrigation, the village has been suffering as they are unable to produce crops as per potential of 650 acres of village. The groundwater is unfit and cannot be used for irrigation purposes, but in the absence of any proper supply, the villagers can’t help but use the groundwater.

Assistant Development Officer of the Agriculture Department Dr Kamal Saini confirmed that crop production has gone down due to lack of canal water and the groundwater was unfit for irrigation of crops.

Area MLA from INLD Parminder Dhull alleges officers were ignorant towards the plight of the villagers as they had chosen a non-Congress MLA.

“I have raised the issue for proper repairs of the canal, but there is no action as officers never take the requests seriously,” alleged Dhull.

Sanjay Sabharwal, SDO, Irrigation claimed that they had sent an estimate of Rs 1.25 crores for repair. But the estimate would first go to the Superintendent Engineer then the Chief Engineer’s office and then to the government for final approval, and this process would take months, Sabharwal added.

Ambala, May 29
A special judge of the Fast Track Court in Ambala, Vimlesh Tanwar, sentenced three persons to life term in a double murder case here today. The accused Jaivir, Rambir and Ashok Kumar were arrested by the Railway Police.

According to the prosecution, the body of a middle- aged woman stuffed in a suitcase was recovered from an abandoned car, close to the Panchkula- Morni road, in December 2011. Later, the deceased was identified as Promila Tiwari, a resident of Panchkula. She was living all alone and teaching in an engineering college there.

Promila had kept Jaivir as a caretaker in the house, who hatched a conspiracy with the help of Rambir and Ashok Kumar to assassinate Promila. They strangulated her by pressing a pillow against her face. When the driver of the deceased, Gurvinder, reached the crime spot, they killed him too and threw his body near the railway track, close to Panchkula.

The Railway Police came to know about the involvement of other accused after interrogating Jaivir. Later, a murder case was registered against all the three accused. In its orders passed a week ago, the court held the trio guilty. 

Ambala, May 29
Several Sikh organisations including Damdami Taksaal gheraoed the police station here today for four hours to protest alleged desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at a gurdwara in the city’s Shalimar Colony last week. Sikh leaders and youths gathered at Gurdwara Manji Sahib and took out a march.

Sikhs threatened not to leave the police station till the accused was arrested. The police made futile attempts to pacify them. Later, the DC and the DCP assured Sikh leaders that a SIT would be constituted to nab the accused. — OC

Chandigarh, May 29
The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) today virtually placed in the dock who’s who of the government and the police administration in the multiple plots allotment case.

In a list submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, HUDA has named former ministers, MLAs, IAS and IPS officers, who allegedly procured more than one plot under the reserved categories in urban estates in contravention of the rules.

The prominent names include former ministers Shanti Rathi, Jagan Nath, Khraiti Lal and former MP Inder Singh Sheokand. Former IAS officer SY Quraishi’s name too figures in the list of around 36 persons furnished in the High Court.

Taking up the list, Justice Daya Chaudhary indicated that the court would not spare anyone. “It would be their misconception, if they feel that nothing is going to happen in the case,” Justice Chaudhary observed in the court. HUDA was also asked to give an opportunity of hearing to these persons and take action accordingly.

As the matter came up for resumed hearing , counsel for the petitioner Jasjit Singh Bedi submitted that some HUDA officials might be involved in the matter, keeping in view the large number of multiple plots. He also argued that HUDA could not be expected to conduct fair investigations as it was one of the respondents in this case.

Justice Chaudhary asserted the court would now decide how to complete the process of verifying the HUDA record and the investigation within a certain time frame. Justice Chaudhary also asked all the parties to come up with the suggestions on possible solution to the issue on the next date of hearing. Haryana police was also asked to provide requisite security to whistleblower SK Sharma.

The HUDA Chief Administrator had earlier told the court that they had initiated the process of taking legal action against the defaulters. “We have registered 325 FIRs against the 379 complaints. There are 188 defence persons out of 379 who have been issued more than one plot”, he had told the Court.

On a previous date of hearing, HUDA had produced a list stating that Haryana’s former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal’s nephew and former MLA, Dura Ram, had been allotted four plots under the discretionary quota in the names of his daughters, son and wife in Panchkula, Hisar, Karnal and Faridabad.

The list also mentioned that the family of former President Shankar Dyal Sharma was also allotted more than one plot under the discretionary quota in HUDA sectors. As per HUDA record, one of the allottees under the discretionary quota had even mentioned his address as “C/O 10-Janpath Delhi,” which is official residence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Jhajjar, May 29
Accusing the state government of pushing the farmers on the path of devastation by acquiring their fertile land, Om Prakash Dhankar, national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kisan Morcha, said Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda should resign from his post without waiting for upcoming Assembly polls if he is not able to do justice to the farmers.

Dhankhar was addressing a series of public meetings at Guda, Chamanpura, Dujana, Lakariya and Dighal villages in Jhajjar district during his ‘foot march’ for seeking Rs 300 as bonus on wheat crop for the farmers.

“Hooda has no moral right to remain Chief Minister when the farmers of his state are crying for help due to anti-farmers policy of the Congress government. On one hand, he (Hooda) portrays himself ‘well wisher’ of the farmers by projecting himself as ‘son of farmer’, on the other hand, he is leaving no stone unturned to devastate them,” alleged the farmer leader. 

Chandigarh, May 29
Acting on a petition filed by Lala Khushi Ram Gupta Charitable Society, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has allowed the society to carryout admissions for the session 2014-15 in its Budha College of Architecture, Karnal.

Justice GS Sandhawalia directed the Council of Architecture and another respondent to include the petitioner-institute in the list of colleges for admission. Directions were also given to make arrangements for conducting National Aptitude Test at the architecture centre in the college to enable the petitioner to make admissions for the session 2014-15?.

Justice Sandhawalia said: “This order is, thus, purely provisional and the admissions made will be subject to the final outcome of the writ petition. Any student admitted shall not be entitled to any right of equity in his favour.”The petitioner-institute had earlier sought directions for being treated as an affiliated college and inclusion in the list of colleges approved by the Council of Architecture for the session 2014-15?. The counsel for the petitioner told the high court that representation was made to the council to make the NATA centre functional in the petitioner-institute.

Chandigarh, May 29
The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) will spend Rs 2,070 crore for undertaking various development works in urban areas of the state during the current financial year as against Rs 1908.93 crore spent by the authority during the last financial year.

These budget approvals were granted at a meeting of Haryana Urban Development Authority held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here today.

It was informed at the meeting that the development works that would be undertaken during the current financial year included laying of water supply pipeline of 287.97 km, sewerage pipeline of 167.73 km and storm water drainage pipeline of 170.83 km, construction of 329.39-km roads, special repair of roads of 464.29 km, erection of 9,087 poles and setting up of 397 transformers.

As many as 41 projects of community building are under construction, whereas 85 new projects would be also undertaken.

The sub-committee of HUDA also approved the estimates amounting to Rs 196 crore for nine development works to be undertaken in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonepat, Hisar and Kaithal districts.

Chandigarh, May 29
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today stayed operation of a Haryana Government notification declaring all state private educational institutions “commercial establishments”.

Taking up a petition for quashing the notification, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Arun Palli also issued notice for August 2. The order came on a PIL filed by the Ideal Private Schools’ Association, Faridabad. It was seeking quashing of provisions of the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958.

Senior advocate Satya Pal Jain argued that the Haryana Government had brought all educational institutions under the purview of the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, through its notification three years ago. He further contended that the legislations such as the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, were meant for businesses, factories, industrial units and traders only.