Chandigarh, July 12
The Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) would no longer be a parking place for retired bureaucrats and political appointees with the state Cabinet today approving far-reaching changes in the mode of appointment of its chairman and members.

In a move that is seen as making appointments transparent, the Cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today decided that all divisional commissioners would now recommend the names of five persons fulfilling eligibility conditions from their division. “The decision would go a long way in freeing the commission from political interference and making appointments transparent,” a senior official said.

Currently, there is no mechanism in place to appoint the chairman and members of the HSSC with allegations of favouritism against the ruling party ruling the roost.

In fact, the selection of the candidates by the HSSC for various posts had often come under judicial scrutiny in the past.

However, the collegium for the selection of the chairmen and members of the HSSC could also consider other persons having good record of social activities and persons of eminence than those recommended by the divisional commissioners.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved the proposal to increase HRA of HSSC chairman and members from Rs 12,000 to Rs 50,000 per month provided that they have not been given government accommodation. It was also decided that now instead of 10%, five per cent of the pay would be charged as rent from them for official accommodation.

Registration of births, deaths amended

The Haryana Government has amended the Haryana Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 2002, to incorporate provisions for birth registration of an adopted child. Since cases of adoption, both from institutions and within family, have, increased in society, a new reporting form [form no. 1A] for birth of an adopted child has been made by amending the rules.

Jobs for martyrs’ family

The Cabinet decided to provide employment to one dependent of a martyr from the armed forces, personnel or paramilitary forces, personnel of domicile of Haryana in Group III and IV category in relaxation of rules under ex-gratia scheme.

Oustees’ scheme

The Cabinet allowed the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board to formulate its own special policy for the resettlement of oustees and squatters at the India International Horticulture Market, Ganaur (Sonepat).

Rules amended:

The Cabinet approved the amendment in the Haryana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and District Forum (Group B) Service Rules, 1998. Now with this amendment, senior scale stenographers and readers are eligible for promotion to the post of superintendent.

The Cabinet also approved to amend Haryana Labour Department (Group B) Service Rules, 1987, in view of restructuring of the department, creation of new and additional posts, change of nomenclature of some posts, inclusion of clause of transfer or deputation of any officer already in service of any state government or Government of India.

Ambala, July 12
Rajya Sabha member and former Union minister Selja on Saturday supported the state government on its move to constitute a separate SGPC for Haryana.

Talking to mediapersons, she said the HSGPC should have been constituted before the General Election as the issue was included in the Congress manifesto.

She said she was not sure whether or not setting up the HSGPC so late would give political benefit to the Congress in the Assembly elections. She said it was a long-pending demand of Sikhs.

Asked to comment on Birender Singh’s demand that Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda should be replaced before the Assembly elections, she said it could be his personal view.

She said she had conveyed her view to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. She clarified that the party high command had not made any decision on the leadership issue so far.

Referring to the Budget and the Railway Budget, she said Ambala had not got anything.

Hisar, July 12
Ruling out possibilities of an alliance with any other political party, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to contest solo, from all 90 constituencies in the state in the elections.

State BSP president Naresh Saharan informed here today that the party had finalised the first list of 17 candidates.

“The party has geared up for the elections and candidates who have been informed about their nomination have started their campaign,” Saharan said.

The list of candidates includes Jagadhari MLA Akram Khan, who has been re-nominated and Virender Maratha from Asand assembly segment. Other candidates include: Kapoor Singh from Sadhora (reserved), Sanjay Kashyap from Radhaur, Sushil Sharma from Palwal, Tekchand from Prithla, Dharambir Bhadana from Bharkhal, Giriraj Sharma from Tigaon, Rajbir Malik from Panipat rural, Baldev Singh from Shahbad (reserved), Santhokh Singh Sodhi from Nilokheri (reserved), Mange Ram Dahiya from Ratia (reserved), Pradeep Kaushik from Bhiwani, Sunita Varma from Ateli, Ashok Arya from Kalanaur (reserved), Umed Rijana from Safidon and Karambir Gurjar from Pundri.

Rewari, July 12
The election of the chairman and vice-chairman of the Daruhera municipal committee (MC) held 20 days ago has landed into controversy as a faction of newly elected councillors has filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, terming the election as ‘illegal’ and ‘undemocratic’.

In their petition, newly elected councillors Kiran Saini (ward 15), Vikram (ward 14), Krishan (ward 3) and Sudesh Bohra (ward 11) have urged the court to appoint an independent officer not below the rank of principal secretary to conduct the election again. They have sought to restrain the Haryana Election Commission from notifying the names of the new chairman and vice-chairman of the MC during the pendency of the petition. The court has fixed July 15 as the next date for hearing.

In the election held on June 23, Prem Rao, a relative of Rewari MLA and Power Minister Capt Ajay Yadav, was declared chairperson of the 17-member MC unopposed and DK Saini won the election of vice-chairman by three votes.

In the petition, the councillors alleged that the local police and security personnel of Capt Yadav, who was present at the election hall, stopped them from entering the hall to participate in the election for chairman and vice-chairman on June 23.

In the meanwhile, the 13 councillors inside the election hall were administered a joint oath by the Rewari SDM, also the returning officer (RO), which was not appropriate. A group of councillors in the meeting urged the RO to facilitate their entry, but the RO did not pay heed to it, declaring Prem Rao as the chairperson unopposed, alleged the petitioners.

The councillors said they later entered the hall when the election of the vice-chairman was being held. They wanted to participate, but were not allowed by the RO, who deliberately deprived them of their voting right to ensure the victory of DK Saini, who was supported by Capt Yadav. “We were not permitted to exercise our franchise by the RO, who said we had not been administered the oath yet. Videography clearly shows that we were present in the meeting hall, but were not administered the oath,” the petitioners said.

New Delhi, July 12
Close on the heels of the Congress ruling out replacement of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, his arch-rival Birender Singh struck a note of rebellion again on Saturday, hinting at the possibility of forming his own party.

In an interview after the Congress said there would not be any change of guard, the Rajya Sabha member said he was keeping all options open and would stick to his stand. “I will not contest the elections on the Congress symbol if Hooda remains the Chief Minister. I stick to this stand,” he said, adding that his opposition was “for the sake of the party”.

“I have been saying the Congress will suffer if we go to the polls under the same leaders who were rejected in the General Election. Such voices will grow louder as days go by. I am keeping options open,” he said.

“I can form my own outfit, join some other party or sit at home as a retired politician. For a man who has spent 42 years in the Congress and has fought all his 11 elections on the Congress ticket, none of these options is easy,” he said.

Asked how his threat not to contest on the Congress ticket was relevant when he had two years of his Rajya Sabha tenure to go, he said, “What will anyone choose between contesting and winning for five years and staying in the Rajya Sabha for two years?”

Asked if forming a political outfit was a possibility, he said he was in the process of talking to his colleagues in the state. “I have support in the state unit. There are people I consider better candidates whom I would have wanted to contest on the Congress ticket. A new political outfit will be formed with supporters and not in isolation,” Birender said.

Rohtak, July 12
A group of nearly 40 villagers, armed with lathis, attacked the Makdauli toll plaza on the outskirts of the town today and ransacked it.

The villagers also broke some CCTV cameras installed at the plaza. On being stopped, the attackers manhandled the plaza functionaries, who had to run away to save their lives.

Following this, the villagers ransacked the toll plaza for about 20 minutes and then left. Later, a police team reached the spot and registered statements of the plaza staff.

The attackers allegedly comprised residents of nearby villages but none of them had been arrested till the time of filing this report.

The staff maintained that the villagers opposed the toll and used to threaten them with dire consequences, due to which they lived under constant fear and pressure.

Jind, July 12
Two children were killed and four others were injured when one of the tyres of the vehicle the group was travelling in burst on Saturday.

Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Sonepat, was coming to Jind around 1.30 pm. When he neared Rajwan Kalan village on the Jind-Safidon road, the back tyre of the vehicle burst and Ramesh lost control over vehicle.

The vehicle hit a roadside tree. His four-year-old daughter, Kajal, died on the spot while six-year-old son, Nishu, died on way to the government hospital.

“The driver lost control over the car and it hit a roadside tree. We immediately called the ambulance and the police, who reached within a few minutes and started rescue operation to extricate car occupants from the damaged vehicle” said Naveen, a resident of Budhakhera village, who was a few meters away from the car on his motorcycle along with another friend, when the accident took place.

Others who were seriously injured included Ramesh, his wife Kavita, his sister Bala Devi and her daughter Neelam.

All victims were first taken to Jind Civil Hospital, from where they were referred to PGI, Rohtak, due to lack of facilities for emergency patients.

Indri (Karnal), July 12
Accusing previous governments for ignoring the people of Karnal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Panipat, Panchkula, Ambala and Faridabad for the last 45 years, former Union minister and Jan Chetna Party president Venod Sharma on Saturday said people of these districts were used as a vote bank by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Bhajan Lal and Om Prakash Chautala during their tenures.

Venod alleged that the three leaders had discriminated against these areas in almost every sector, be it jobs, development or infrastructure. Addressing a rally in Indri, around 25 km from Karnal, he said, “No government has given these districts any big project in education, agriculture or any other sector. The people are feeling cheated and want a change in the system.”

Taking a dig at Hooda for unequal development, Venod said, “The Chief Minister is always inclined towards a particular area.” Comparing the Haryana Staff Selection Commission to the Simon Commission, he claimed, “The commission has failed to provide jobs to eligible candidates. Only those who had contacts were appointed.”

Giving the example of the recent recruitment of 1,400 ‘shastris’, Venod said, “Around 100 of them belong to a particular area, which shows the biased nature of the Chief Minister.” He raised a question mark over the process of the Police Recruitment Board to recruit constables and demanded direct recruitment on the basis of eligibility. He urged party workers to be ready for the upcoming Assembly elections. He said they would go to the public on the issue of discrimination against half of the state. He said, “Every candidate is projecting himself as the next chief minister.” He added that his Assembly segment-wise campaign would be completed in a few days and a list of candidates would be announced soon.

Hisar, July 12
Two minor girls left tied to beds in their house were rescued by a team of the district authorities on Saturday. The mentally differently abled were admitted to the civil hospital as their mother expressed her helplessness in bringing them up.

Neighbours spotted the girls, aged eight and six years, tied with a cloth to separate cots. Their parents were not in the house and were away for the last four days.

A team comprising child welfare committee chairperson Kamini Malik and child protection officer Sunita Yadav went to the house and took the girls to the hospital.

“We called up their mother Mona, who had gone to her parental house four days ago, leaving the girls with their father. She came back today. Mona said her husband was an alcoholic and left the girls tied to the cots so that they could not go out,” Malik said.

She said the girls’ mother wanted the administration to hand them over to a child protection home due to her poor financial condition. “We will take a decision after an inquiry on Monday,” she said. She added that the whereabouts of girls’ father Jagdish, alias Jaggu, were not known.

Social activist Sanjiv Bhojraj said, “The girls seem to have suffered a lot. They were unable to drink water on their own as they were tied,” he said.