Chandigarh, June 23
Amid demand for the removal of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Haryana Congress is set to launch its second public contact programme ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Lke the district-wise meetings, the current campaign would also be spearheaded by Hooda and Haryana HPCC chief Ashok Tanwar. This comes close on the heels of district-level meetings attended by Hooda that were marked by large-scale factionalism. The second phase of the public contact programme would feature interaction with prominent pressure groups, besides frontal organisations.

Tanwar said the interactions would be used to convey various pro-people and development-oriented initiatves of the UPA and Hooda Governments with the ultimate aim of gearing up the party cadre for the Assembly elections.

The contact programme would kick off from Panipat on July 10 with a ‘mahila sammelan’. “The meeting would be pave the way for firming up a strategy for demanding 50% seats for women in the Assembly poll ,” state Mahila Congress chief Sumitra Chouhan said here today.

This would be followed by a meeting with local body representatives at Panchkula on July 13 to be followed by meeting with auto-rickshaw unions at Panipat on July 20. The party top brass will interact with representatives of panchayati raj institutions at Rohtak on July 21 to be followed by a meeting with ‘numbardars’ at Gohana. The last meeting is scheduled for August 12 with NSUI members at Kurukshetra.

Sources said the public contact programme would serve a two-fold purpose. One, it would be try to rally the party cadre behind Hooda, whose continuation as the Chief Minister is being questioned by party detractors after the Congress’ dismal performance in the Lok Sabha poll. Two, it would be a show of strength by the Hooda camp to offset any demand for change of leadership ahead of the Vidhan Sabha elections. 

Ambala, June 23
The BJP-HJC rift today became more prominent as state BJP chief Ram Bilas Sharma accused its alliance partner of trying to break away from the coalition for vested interests.

Speaking to mediapersons here, Sharma said the HJC leadership perceived that its leaders had lost in the Lok Sabha elections due to the BJP. However, the party had extended full support to the HJC candidates in the LS elections. Ruling out an alliance with INLD, he said the party was in a position to go it alone in the Assembly poll.

He said the BJP was set to form the next government in the state as there was a strong anti-incumbency wave in Haryana. He claimed that the electors had made up their mind to oust the Congress government.

Sharma said the government had failed on the law and order front. While none was feeling secure in the state, women and minority communities were more vulnerable.

He said the party would go into the election mode with pro-people policies.

Rohtak, June 23
Terming the Hooda regime a bunch of property dealers, Union Minister VK Singh today maintained that the BJP government would ensure an optimum price for their agricultural produce and land.

Gen VK Singh, who was addressing a public gathering at Bahu Akbarpur village in the district today, exhorted the people of the state to make efforts for “swaraj”.

“The Centre’s coffers are empty and you know very well who has looted your money. Meham’s voice has always been the harbinger of change in Haryana and I am sure the people will uproot them in the coming Assembly elections and install a BJP government in the state,” hoped the minister. He, however, remained mum on the fate of the BJP-HJC alliance in the state.

On the other hand, the HJC has reiterated its demand for maintaining the alliance with the BJP on previous terms and conditions.

Senior HJC leader and alliance convener Dhampal Malik has asserted that his party could not accept new conditions as demanded by the saffron party after the Lok Sabha poll. He maintained that both parties had agreed to contest an equal number of Assembly seats and install HJC president Kuldeep Bishnoi as the Chief Minister for the first half tenure, which would be followed by the saffron party candidate.

Accusing state BJP leaders of reneging on the promises of alliance, he said after the BJP won seven Lok Sabha seats and the HJC lost two seats, the former started overestimating its political prospects and underestimating the HJC potential.

Karnal, June 23
Union Minister and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjeet Singh today said the candidate for the chief minister’s post must be announced before the Assembly elections.

Interacting with mediapersons late last night, the MP said naming the CM candidate would be beneficial for the party in the upcoming Assembly elections.

He described himself as “a small worker of the party” and said the responsibility given to him by the party will be his top priority. Explaining the BJP’s plan for the upcoming elections, he said the party’s Union ministers would campaign in the state from July 25 to 31. “Each minister has to hold seven rallies in the state during this period. This could change the scenario in the state,” he said.

Trashing Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s statement that the Congress has to fight the BJP, Rao said the Congress had lost the faith of the people. He said he would try to get rid of Hooda’s government and keep the INLD from coming to power.

He refused to comment on the BJP’s alliance with the HJC and said the decision would be taken by the central leadership.

Faridabad, June 23
The Department of Industrial Training seems to have hit upon a novel idea to increase attendance of scheduled caste students enrolled in ITIs in the state: Attend classes and get an annual incentive of Rs 1,000!

Scheduled caste students enrolled in any of the 134 ITIs will be entitled to a cash reward of Rs 1,000 per year if their attendance in the class or course is 80 per cent or more, it is learnt. Nearly 25 per cent of the total seats are reserved for this category.

While 80 per cent attendance is mandatory for students to appear in the semester or annual exam, many ITIs complained students had short attendance and could not sit for the exams. The cash incentive scheme is expected to counter the problem of short attendance of SC students.

Bhagat Singh, principal of the ITI at Sector 18 here, said the scheme was not new, but many students did not know about it. “The department has publicised the scheme by issuing a fresh circular for the benefit of students,” he said.

The state has a total of 134 ITIs with a total student intake capacity of around 43,000. Faridabad has four ITIs that offer around 1,490 seats. These include two ITIs only for girl students.

The last date for submission of application forms for various courses in the four ITIs is June 24. A total of 4,500 forms have been sold, of which 800 applicants have already applied for various courses. The authorities have announced a job fair for ITI diploma holders in NIT here on Wednesday. Fifty companies were likely to participate. 

Hisar, June 23
These days, officials of the Haryana Education Department are participating in ‘motivational camps’ in Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh. What for? To improve the quality of education in schools! Well, this is what officials who have returned from such a trip claim.

The 300-odd officials are being sent in separate batches to Himachal for the six-day tour and at the cost of the state government.

The officials who have “made the cut” include District Education Officers (DEOs), District Elementary Education Officers (DEEOs), Block Education Officers (BEOs), Block Elementary Education Officers (BEEOs) and district project coordinators, besides some officers posted in the Panchkula head office.

Sources say the DEOs have already returned after attending the camps. Now, it’s the turn of the DEEOs and BEOs. They left for Dalhousie on June 22.

“We enjoyed as well as learned a lot. It was an adventurous tour that involved activities such as trekking, boating, rope climbing and mountaineering. We learned about disaster management and this will be we can teach to our subordinates,” an education official told The Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

The Haryana School Teachers’ Association termed the trips a futile exercise that served no purpose. “These tours are a wastage of money meant. The whims of certain government officials have already done enough harm to education in the state. This is another way of draining the state exchequer,” said Vazir Singh, president of the association.

The association was at loggerheads with the department recently over the issue of holding a written test to assess the skill of the teachers. Since teachers across the state boycotted the exam, the department had to cancel the test.

“There are several issues of utmost importance that needs to be sorted. It includes pay anomalies of the postgraduate teachers,” Singh said, adding the department must devote time to addressing teachers’ issue.

Assandh (Karnal), June 23
Around 2,000-year-old Buddhist stupa built during the Kushana period in Assandh, around 50 km from Karnal, lies neglected.

The stupa is popularly known as Jarasandha ka Tila in the area. Jarasandha, the king of Magadha, had fought against the Pandavas in the battle of the Mahabharata.

Locals claim that though the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has categorised the stupa as a protected monument, it lies in a state of neglect.

“In 1990s, then Rajya Sabha member Sushma Swaraj had raised the issue and demanded a study on the stupa. Subsequently, a team of the ASI had visited Assandh and declared the structure a Buddhist stupa that resembled the stupa of Sanchi,” Shamsher Singh, a local resident, said, adding that these measures proved cosmetic as no serious effort had been made to conserve the monument.

Gulshan Kumar, another resident, points to a missing link, rather official apathy. “No information board is installed in the adjoining area to guide people about the stupa.”

Rajinder Singh Rana, an archaeologist and curator of Krishna Museum in Kurukshetra, said: “I have studied this stupa and found that this is one of the tallest stupas in Haryana.” Listing the damage to the stupa, he said: “People have stolen ancient bricks used in the making of the stupa. Besides, illegal construction near the structure is a threat to its archaeological value.”

Rana demanded that the ASI must act to undo the harm. For this, he has an action plan: declare the area around the stupa a no-construction zone.

Jitender Sharma, assistant archaeologist of the ASI, Kurukshetra, acknowledged the stupa’s significance because of its affiliation with the Kushana period. “A proposal will be sent to the higher authorities to seek permission to study the stupa,” he added.

New Delhi, June 23
The Delhi High Court today extended till July 10 the interim bail of former Haryana Chief Minister OP Chautala, serving a 10-year jail term for committing irregularities in the recruitment of 3,032 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers in 1999-2000.

A vacation Bench of Justice Pratibha Rani directed the 79-year-old INLD leader to surrender to the Tihar Jail authorities here on July 11. The HC extended his bail on medical grounds as he was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Gurgaon for various ailments.

On June 3, the HC had granted him bail for three weeks to enable him to attend the funeral of his younger brother, Pratap Singh, and other rituals. On June 20, the HC had issued notice to CBI seeking its response to Chautala’s plea for extension of bail due to indisposition.

In its response, the CBI acknowledged that Chautala had to undergo tests on July 4 to assess the functioning of his heart pacemaker.

On January 22, 2013, a trial court here had sentenced Chautala and his son, Ajay, to 10-year imprisonment following which both of them were lodged in Tihar Jail. In all, the court had sentenced 55 accused in the case. Chautala and other convicts have filed appeals in the HC, challenging the trial court verdict.

Hisar, June 23
The Hisar Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police appeared before the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) in Delhi today in connection with the dispute between Dalits and upper-caste residents of Bhagana that has been going on since 2012.

According to information, Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik and Superintendent of Police Vikash Dhankar apprised the commission about the status of the case. Commission member Ishwar Singh was scheduled to visit the village to take stock of the ground situation, but his visit has been deferred till July 5.

While Dhankar remained tightlipped over the outcome of the visit, Virender Bhagoria, who is leading the Dalit protest, said the commission has directed the Haryana Government to form a special investigation team (SIT). It would probe issues, including the land dispute with the Jats and the recent kidnapping and rape of four Dalit girls of the village by upper caste youths.

“The state government has not given the names of three officials who would comprise the SIT to re-investigate the case, but we were told the state government will set up the team by July 5,” he said.

A group of civil society in Hisar, too, has embarked on a unique ‘Mission Bhaichara’ to sort out social differences between the two communities.

Rohtak, June 23
Assuring youth and women 50 party tickets in the forthcoming Assembly elections, INLD MP Dushyant Chautala has asserted that the first list of nominees would be out within 15 days.

Addressing a state-level convention of the Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) here today, Dushyant exhorted the youth brigade to immerse themselves in poll preparations.

Dushyant’s brother and INSO national president Digvijay Chautala maintained that the youth and student volunteers were all set to become the INLD backbone.

Addressing a news conference, Dushyant quipped that Haryana had indeed become No.1 in terms of crime, grant of CLUs and land acquisition.

“The INLD regime had reined in criminal elements as well as the administrative machinery while the Hooda-led Congress government has failed on all fronts,” he maintained.

About his priorities, he said quality provision of education and sports infrastructure and more employment opportunities, coupled with effective means of population control, were his immediate objectives.

Ambala, June 23
Former Union minister Venod Sharma, who had resigned from the Congress prior to the Lok Sabha elections, on Sunday accused the Haryana Government of denying Ambala a fair share in development.

“There has been no industrialisation in Ambala. The project to set up an Industrial Model Township (IMT) here has been scuttled,” Sharma told the media.

Sharma, considered close to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said Hooda could have got the IMT approved for Ambala by paying adequate compensation to farmers. “The IMT would have brought industries to Ambala and helped in generating employment. But that was not to be.”

He claimed the state government had failed to get a special package to promote manufacturing units in the state as had been done by the Himachal Pradesh Government. “Lack of political will in getting an incentive package from the Centre resulted in industrial clusters at Panipat and Faridabad fall on bad times,” Sharma said.

Sharma claimed that during the Gohana rally last year, the Chief Minister had promised to provide 50,000 jobs. “The promise will remain just a promise as the government has not made efforts to create jobs,” he said, adding that favouritism in granting jobs would no longer be tolerated.

Sharma announced that he soon would launch the Jan Chetna Party that would field candidates from maximum number of seats for the Assembly elections. “The party will raise issues affecting the common man, including price rise, reservation on financial grounds, and law and order.”

Not ruling out a possibility of his party forging an alliance with like-minded parties in the state, Sharma said extending support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a thing of the past.

Condemning the railway fare hike, he said the increase in fares was an unwelcomed move that would affect people across the country. 

Rewari/Sonipat, June 23
The district Congress activists, led by former chief of Haryana Pradesh Youth Congress (HPYC) Chiranjeev Rao today organised a demonstration to protest the hike in railway fares and freight tariffs, approved by the NDA government at the Centre.

The protesters submitted a memorandum to Rewari Railway Superintendent, which was addressed to the Union Railways Minister wherein they have demanded immediate roll back of the increased railway fares.

Chandigarh, June 23
Haryana Chief Secretary SC Choudhary today said no person hailing from the state was among the 40 hostages in strife-torn Iraq.

In all, six persons from the state and living in Iraq have contacted the control room set up by the government. Besides, the control room has so far received 177 calls of people whose relatives are stranded in Iraq.

“The state government is in constant touch with the Union Ministry of External Affairs for the safe return of people from the state,” Choudhary told the media here.

On the demand for rationalising toll tax, he said: “The government is yet to receive a report on the matter. Sanjeev Kaushal, Principal Secretary, Public Works (B&R) Department, has held meetings with all stakeholders and the process is on.”

On the Haryana Police Complaint Authority, he said the government had decided to make it a multi-member authority. “The Act concerned has been amended. The High Court has given directions to constitute such committees at the district level,” the Chief Secretary said.

In reply to a question concerning modernisation of the state police, Choudhary said several aspects could be considered for their modernisation.

Chandigarh, June 23
The Haryana Government has comes out with new guidelines for providing residential accommodation to its officers and employees at Chandigarh and district headquarters.

As per the new guidelines, the Type I to VIII houses will be allotted according to the grade pay. While a Type I house having a plinth area of 450 square feet will be allotted to a Class IV employee having any grade pay, those having a grade pay between Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,800 will be allotted Type II houses having an area of 650 square feet. A Class III employee having a grade pay in the range of Rs 3,200 to Rs 4,000 will be entitled to a Type III house (800 square feet) while Class II and III having a grade pay of Rs 4,200 to Rs 5,200 will get get Type IV house (950 square feet).

A Type V house (1,300 square feet) will be allotted to Class I and II officials having a grade pay between Rs 5,400 and Rs 6,400. Similarly, Class I officials having a grade pay of Rs 6,600 to Rs 8,000 will be entitled to a Type VI house (1900 square feet) while those Class I officials having a grade pay of Rs 8,700 to Rs 9,800 will get a Type VII house (2.200 square feet).

Similarly, Class I officials having a grade pay above Rs 10000 will be entitled to a Type VIII house having a plinth area of 2800 square feet.

At the district and the subdivisional levels, the designated houses of the DCs,SPs and the District and Sessions Judges (DSJ) will be spread over a plot size of 3 kanals in Zone I (Gurgaon, Faridabad and Panchkula) and 4 kanals in Zone II (other towns except the Zone I towns). The ADC, Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ), Chief Judicial Magistrate(CJM) and the Civil Judge(Senior Division) will be entitled to a plot area of 1.25 kanals in Zone I towns. In the Zone II, the area can go up to 2 kanals.

The SDM, City Magistrate, HCS officers and the Civil Judge(Junior Division) will be entitled 0.85 kanal plotted area for residential purposes in the Zone I and Zone II towns.

However, while the DC will be entitled to a covered area of 4,400 square feet, the ADC, DSJ and ADSJ will be allowed a covered area of 4,100 square feet. Similarly, the CJM and the Civil Judge(Senior Division) will be allowed a covered area of 3,175 square feet while HCS officers and the Civil Judge(Junior Division) would be entitled to a covered area of 2,955 square feet.

Sonipat, June 23
As many as 42 INLD activists, led by Sanjay Chauhan, joined the Congress in the presence of party MLA Jai Tirth Dahiya at a programme in Barota village here last evening.

Welcoming them into the party fold, Dahiya said they were influenced by pro-poor and pro-farmer policies of the Congress and welfare schemes of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government for every section of society in the state. “The BJP-led NDA government’s policies have started discouraging people,” he said, claiming the political situation in the state would be in favour of the Congress. 

Karnal, June 23
Parents met Deputy Commissioner Balraj Singh over a fee hike effected by private schools here.

BJP spokesman Jagmohan Anand led the delegation which handed over a memorandum to the Deputy Commisioner.

Jagmohan Anand said the private schools continued charging exorbitant fees in contravention of the District Elementary Education Officer’s (DEEO) order issued two months ago . The delegation demanded implementation of the DEEO’s order otherwise they would launch a protest.

Ambala, June 23
The Haryana Backward Classes Block A Forum has demanded the Central and state governments to make amendment to the law and save them from injustice meted out to them by society since the country’s Independence.

ML Sarwan, president of the forum, said they were politically backward and socially and financially ignored. He said there being 2 per cent reservation in the country there was no MP of Block A. Apart from Buta Singh, there had been no representative of the forum in the Union cabinet. Similarly, besides some states, the presence of legislators of Block A had almost been nil in other parts of the country, he said.

He said in Haryana also, out of the 17 reserved seats, there were five MLAs of the forum, while 12 seats had been occupied by Block B of the Backward Classes. He said people of Block A had been struggling for their rights. Sarwan said equal reservation for both blocks at the lower level was being extended in the states of Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. — OC

Rewari, June 23
Prem Rao, municipal councillor from Ward 5, was unanimously elected chairperson of the Dharuhera Municipal Committee (MC) in the election held at Town Bhawan in Dharuhera town in this district today.

Dalip Saini, councillor from Ward 17, was elected vice-chairman.

He defeated Sumitra Devi by five votes. He got 14 votes while the latter polled nine votes in the 17-member MC.

Both the elected officer-bearers are supporters of Haryana Power Minister and local MLA Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, who remained present at the election venue till the end of the election process. Talking to mediapersons after his election, Prem said she would strive for the town’s development. “I am aware of the problems faced by the people and will try to redress them on priority basis,” she said.

Women candidates had won nine of the 17 MC seats in the polls held last month. As many as 71 candidates, including 30 women, had entered the fray for 17 wards. 

Chandigarh, June 23
The Haryana Cabinet tomorrow is likely to fix a date for a session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha to fulfil the long-pending demand of the Haryana Sikhs for a separate Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.

Also, continuing with its spree of regularising employees at the fag-end of its term, the cabinet at its meeting tomorrow, is likely to give its nod to the formula adopted to absorb Haryana Roadways employees into regular service.

Sources maintained that the cabinet is likely to call a session of the Assembly sometime in mid-July to put a final stamp on a separate Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee for Sikhs, something the Congress-led government had promised in its manifestos of the 2004 and 2009 elections.

While the government formed a committee under Haryana Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha to give its recommendations on the issue after hearing out the Sikhs of Haryana, the report submitted before the 2009 Assembly elections is since then being “legally examined”.

Like in the last three meetings held over the last month, the cabinet will consider the proposal of regularising employees of the Haryana Roadways after a government committee headed by Haryana Public Works minister Randeep Singh Surjewala with Transport Minister Aftab Ahmed as its member, recommended the regularisation of services of 8,500 drivers and conductors of Haryana Roadways.

During negotiations worked out last week, it was agreed that all beneficiary drivers and conductors appointed after January 1, 2003, would not get salary arrears from the date of appointment to December 31, 2013, and would submit an affidavit to this effect.

The Transport Minister had said that all those who had submitted affidavits would be regularised.

While the department had received 5,200 affidavits, the unions, who had arrived at this agreement, had demanded that the letters be issued before June 29 failing which they would move on with a fresh round of agitations.

Sources said that a number of other pending issues could also be taken up though relaxation of toll rates for residents of Haryana is unlikely to come up with the committee constituted under Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, Sanjeev Kaushal, yet to submit its report. 

Ambala, June 23
Two women of a family were electrocuted and a youth was injured in Allahpur village, around 15 km from here, yesterday night.

The incident took place when electric current passed into a clothesline outside the house. Vikas put some wet clothes on the line and suffered a shock, but escaped with minor injuries. Later, his mother Bala Devi and grandmother Mam Chandi also tried to put some clothes out to dry, but they were not as lucky. They suffered a massive electric shock. — OC

Jhajjar, June 23
The special investigation team (SIT) probing the fake arms licence racket has seized 31 firearms bought on the basis of fake arms licences procured from the Dimapur authorities in Nagaland.

Sources said the SIT seized these firearms from a gunhouse in Bahadurgarh town in this district yesterday. Copies of 70 other such arms licences had also been found from this shop.

The SIT now plans to visit Nagaland again for verification of these documents. It would also match the documents with the police record before going to Nagaland.

These weapons were deposited by the licence holders, some belonging to Delhi, with the gun shop to escape police action. The record of these 70 arms licences would now be searched in the list of suspected fake licences procured from Nagaland.

Meanwhile, Anil Rao, IGP, Rohtak Range, has directed the Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat SPs to examine the record of all gun-houses located in their districts. The SPs had been asked to seize the weapons purchased on the basis of arms licences issued from Nagaland and to send its detail report to his office for further action.

The police have already cancelled 208 licences procured by people of Haryana from Nagaland on the basis of fake documents. With 10 cases booked in various police stations of Sonepat, Panipat, Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, seven persons involved in this racket have been arrested. 

Rohtak, June 23
A married woman alleged that she had been raped by three persons, sold for Rs 2 lakh and held captive by her buyer.

The police have registered a case against seven persons, including two women, after getting the victim’s statement recorded before a magistrate.

As per the case details, Dilbagh, a resident of Sampla village under the Kalanaur police station, married a Madhya Pradesh-based woman and brought her to his village some time ago. The woman alleged that Dilbagh used to beat her, as a result of which she went to his neighbour Manohar’s house and started living there.

Manohar’s son Rajender and another person allegedly raped her. Later, Manohar and his family members sold her to Mukesh of Mohna village for Rs 2 lakh.

The woman said Mukesh had also raped her and held her captive at his house. He also threatened her with dire consequences in case she revealed the matter.

On a complaint of the woman, the police have registered a case against Manohar, his wife Bimla and son Rajender, Saheb Singh, his wife Pushpa, Tony and Mukesh. Some of the persons named in the FIR have been rounded up by the police and are being interrogated.

Faridabad, June 23
The police recovered the bodies of three unidentified persons from three different spots in the past 48 hours here. The cause of the deaths could not be ascertained and the bodies have been sent for a postmortem.

The first deceased was a 17-year-old boy, whose body was recovered from near the underpass adjacent to Fatehpur Chandila village in Sector 21- B.

The second body was found under a tree in Sector 37. The age of the deceased was reported to be around 30 years, but the police found no I-card or document at the spot. The police suspected he could have died of a heat stroke.

The body of a 75-year-old was found near a tree in Sector 55 on Saturday evening. The identity of the deceased was also not known. — TNS