Venod seeks CBI probe

Chandigarh: Jan Chetna Party president Venod Sharma on Friday demanded scrapping of the Hondh Chillar Commission and handing over the investigation to the CBI. In a letter to CM Bhupinder Hooda, Sharma alleged that for the past 30 years, the Sikh families were fighting for justice, but nothing had been achieved by them. Raising doubts on the government taking the inquiry to its logical conclusion, he said that after three years, the commission had been given another extension. — TNS

Fatehabad, July 25
A 10-km-long power distribution line supplying electricity to nearly 100 dhaanis (hamlets in fields) in Jhalnia and Dhani Bhadwan villages of this district doesn’t exist in the record of the DHBVN.

The 100-KV transmission line was laid two years ago.

Officials admit the existence of the electricity line, but they maintain that the DHBVN neither approved it nor did it set up this distribution line.

The villagers, however, belie their claims. They say authorised contractors of the nigam had laid the line with the “tacit understanding” of the authorities that it will be regularised in due course. Residents of one of the hamlets allege that they bribed DHBVN officials to get the power supply, but now they were being fleeced.

If the officials are to be believed, villagers had laid the 10-km line in collusion with a contractor without approval and installed a stolen transformer.

The matter came to the fore when an activist sought information about this line from the DHBVN under the RTI Act.

A letter by the DHBVN SDO (sub-urban), Fatehabad, to his XEN for preparing a reply under the RTI Act mentioned that the electricity line was illegal. It stated that the electricity distribution line did not exist in the DHBVN record though it was very much in place.

The department has got a case registered with the police and moved court in this regard.

The SDO, SK Nain, told The Tribune that earlier, the hamlets used to get electricity for eight hours a day to run tubewells. “About two years ago, before I joined as the SDO here, villagers had installed an electricity distribution line on their own. Villagers stole a transformer of the DHBVN installed near a canal and set it up at the illegally laid distribution line,” he added.

Relief for Yamunanagar villages

* The Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department has been constructing a 3.5-km embankment near the active edge of the Yamuna in Tabar village

* It put thousands at risk in 34 villages of Jathlana area of Yamunanagar district as it would push the bulk of the river water towards them in the monsoon season

* It is in violation of the guidelines of the Central Works Commission's Yamuna Standing Committee

Kaithal, July 25
A man was shot dead in the town’s Patti Afgan locality late last night. The deceased belonged to Uttar Pradesh but was living in the town for the last year with his wife.

The police registered a case under Section 302 of the IPC and the Arms Act against unidentified assailants on the complaint lodged by his wife, Veena Rani.

She said they heard dogs barking outside their rented house around 1 am and her husband opened the door to look outside. Someone fired at him and he was hot in the chest and died. SHO city Ram Phal Goyat and CIA incharge Satyavan rushed to the spot and have begun a probe.

The police have sent his body for a post-mortem examination. 

Panchkula, July 25
The voice of protest against the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders camping at the historic Sikh shrine of Nada Sahib is getting louder ahead of the SAD core committee meeting which will be held in Amritsar tomorrow.

Accompanied by Sikh leaders associated with the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Rattan Singh (centre), former head of Nada Sahib gurdwara, holds a meeting at the shrine near Panchkula on Friday. Tribune Photo: Manoj Mahajan

For the first time after the Haryana Government passed the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara (Management) Bill, 2014, following which the SGPC and SAD asked its activist to camp at different gurdwaras across the state, residents of seven villages assembled outside the Nada Sahib gurdwara and staged a protest against the deployment of a taskforce at the shrine here today.

The villagers were led by Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) members comprising Rattan Singh, former head of Nada Sahib gurdwara, Balwant Singh, president Pinjore Gurdwara Management Committee, Gurcharan Singh, president Ramgarh Gurdwara Management Committee, Mohinder Singh, Kalyan Singh, Swaran Singh and other Sikh leaders associated with the HSGMC.

They lodged their protest criticising the SGPC and the SAD leadership for trying to create disturbance.

Talking to The Tribune, Rattan Singh said: “Tension has prevailed in villages around the Nada Sahib gurdwara for the past over a week. The taskforce members, who have come from Punjab, roam around in the areas raising aggressive slogans which is creating fear among locals.”

“The presence of strangers and anti-social elements, who create nuisance after sunset on the gurdwara premises, has forced women and children to remain indoors,” Rattan Singh said. He said: “The Sikh shrine is witnessing a sharp decline in the footfall of devotees due to the tension brewing following the deployment of the SGPC men here.”

The leaders have appealed to the Punjab Chief Minister to ask the SGPC to withdraw taskforce from the gurdwara to maintain peace.

“We are in touch with Jagdish Singh Jhinda, ad-hoc member of the HSGMC, and are briefing him about the activities going on at the Nada Sahib gurdwara,” he said.

Sucha Singh Langha, member of the SGPC core committee, however, has denied the allegation of the deployment of any taskforce on the gurdwara premises.

SGPC members from Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Ropar, Mohali and Chandigarh have been assigned duties to be present at the gurdwara to safeguard their religion from Haryana Government, he said. Langha also turned down the claims of HSGMC associates that the count of devotees have declined at Nada Sahib. 

Rising anger

* Say SGPC, SAD leaders trying to create disturbance in the area

* Tension in villages around Nada Sahib gurdwara, as taskforce members roam around in the area raising aggressive slogans, scaring locals

* The presence of strangers and anti-social elements on the gurdwara premises has forced women and children to stay indoors

* Sikh shrine witnessing a sharp decline in the footfall of devotees due to the tension brewing following the deployment of the SGPC men 

Karnal, July 25
Members of the newly formed Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC), ad hoc, inspected the site at Dera Kar Sewa today to take stock of the preparations of the Sikh convention to be held here on July 28.

Jagdish Singh Jhinda and Bhupinder Singh Assandh inspected the site and called upon the community members to be its part to show the strength of the community in favour of a separate committee.

Meanwhile, a five-member committee comprising Harpreet Singh Narula, Angrej Singh Pannu, Inderpal Singh, Harbhajan Singh Sran and Amrik Singh has been constituted to look after the convention.

Jhinda, said: “The committee, which has been formed by the state government, is legally sound and nobody can challenge it. Neither Centre nor the state government can knock it down.”

Criticising the steps of SAD and the SGPC to deploy task forces in the gurdwaras of the state, he said: “We want peace and harmony, not confrontation. But by doing so, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar are playing with Sikhs’ feelings in the state.”

Jhinda said: “Parkash Singh Badal is our elder brother and a wise man. He should bless us as we are his younger brothers.”

He said: “This convention will be held a day after the Amritsar convention, in which we will make further strategy. We will decide whether to meet Punjab’s CM or not on the issue.”

“The Sikh convention will be a milestone for the community, as the Sikh intelligentsia and supporters across the globe had extended their support for the newly formed committee,” he said, adding that AAP MP Bhagwant Mann, senior Supreme Court lawyer and AAP leader HS Phoolka, Jathedar Partap Singh from Patna Sahib, supporters of separate committee from Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh would also participate with other community leaders.

SAD president (Amritsar) Simranjit Singh Mann, former chief of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee Paramjeet Singh Sarna, retired justice Kuldeep Singh and the representatives of Damdami Taksal and Dal Khalsa are expected to attend the convention. The president of the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee is also expected.

He ruled out inviting Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chattha and said: “This is a convention of the community not a political event.”

Regarding the inclusion of non-active members, he said: “This committee is a fruit of the Haryana’s Sikh struggle. If someone has any resentment, we will pacify him.”

He said a meeting of the newly formed committee would be held in Kurukshetra on July 26. 

Fatehabad, July 25
Two days after booking a molestation victim’s father in a cross case, the police today admitted that the allegations made against him were false.

DSP Vijay Kakkar, who probed the allegations leveled against the schoolgirl’s father by the accused teacher Jag Ram’s wife, found the charges false and fabricated and ordered the deletion of Section 354-B of the IPC and Section 3 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act from the FIR lodged against the girl’s father and another Hawa Singh.

Kakkar said the allegations of simple assault would still stand against them.

The Tribune had highlighted in a news-item published in these columns on July 23 that how the poor migrant family of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, who was molested by her teacher in Government Middle School at Ashok Nagar in Fatehabad on July 20, was allegedly pressurised by the police for a compromise by holding panchayats at the city police station for two days.

When the girl’s family refused to leave the delinquent teacher unpunished, a cross case of molestation and atrocities on Dalits was slapped on the girl’s father and a close friend of the family on a complaint filed by the teacher’s 29-year-old wife, who alleged that the girl’s father and another person, identified as Hawa Singh, assaulted her in her house and threatened to kill her.

The police had also booked the accused teacher Jag Ram under Sections 354-B (act with intent to disrobe a woman), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC and Section 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The police had arrested Jag Ram as well as the girl’s father and his friend and produced them in a local court, where the teacher was sent to judicial custody for 14 days and the other two were released on bail. 

Rohtak, July 25
A principal secretary is under fire from various quarters for his reported controversial remarks on women lecturers serving at state colleges.

He was discussing concerns of the teachers with a delegation of the Haryana Government College Teachers’ Association (HGCTA) on July 23. When the delegation demanded six months’ maternity leave as part of the mandatory rural-area deputation of women lecturers, he reportedly reacted saying “Do they conceive with my permission?”

Even after members of the delegation objected to the irresponsible remark in the presence of other senior government officials, he did not apologise.

Various organisations, including the Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations, HGCTA, the CPM and the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) have condemned the episode and demanded strict action against the official. AIDWA has taken a serious note of the matter. “Such attitude of a senior government official towards women employees is condemnable, especially at the time when the government is supposed to be sensitising its officials on gender issues,” said the statement issued by Malini Bhattacharya, AIDWA president and Jagmati Sangwan, general secretary.

Inderjit Singh, CPM state secretary, demanded the CM to suspend the official forthwith and punish him for his “criminal misconduct”.

What he said

* The principal secretary was discussing certain concerns with a delegation of college teachers' association on July 23

* When the delegation demanded 6 months' maternity leave as part of the mandatory rural-area deputation of women lecturers, he reportedly reacted saying "Do they conceive with my permission?"

* He refused to apologise for the remark

Rewari, July 25
Aspirants have opposed the procedure to fill four posts of assistant professor (law) by Indira Gandhi University (IGU), Meerpur, and moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking fresh proceedings.

They said the authorities revised the result of the written test following which many shortlisted candidates found their names missing. The court has fixed July 28 as the next day of hearing.

The university uploaded the result of the written test conducted on June 24 on its website the same day. It later revised the result citing an error in the answer key.

“I was astonished to know the university issued the revised result a couple of days after the first result. On checking, I found a great variation in the marks awarded to many candidates in the revised list,” said Raj Kumar, an aspirant.

He said candidates were told at the time of examination that there were four question booklets with codes A, B, C and D. “How can all four keys of questions booklets (A, B, C and D) generate errors? The marks of every candidate have been changed in the revised result,” said Raj Kumar.

He said the university had submitted in the High Court that the interview for the posts scheduled for July 6 had been postponed. However, it conducted the interview on July 18.

Tej Singh, the varsity’s Controller of Examination said, “We found an error in the answer key and revised the result after rectifying this mistake. Though we invited objections, but only two aspirants turned up. This shows the revised result is correct.”

He said though the question booklets had codes A, B, C and D, but the serial numbers of all questions were the same. So, there was one answer key for all booklets. It was done deliberately to prevent examinees from adopting unfair means. He claimed a transparent procedure had been adopted to make the appointment on merit.

Sonepat, July 25
A person was killed and another is critical after they inhaled poisonous gas in a sewer line last evening.

Rajesh of Garhi Brahmanan village died while Monu, also of the same village, is in hospital. Both had entered the manhole to clean the sewer line. When they did not come out for some time, villagers informed the police and the fire control room.

Fire fighting personnel brought them out and rushed them to the Civil Hospital where doctors declared Rajesh brought dead. Monu was shifted to a private hospital in a serious condition.

BJP state vice-president Rajiv Jain visited Rajesh’s residence and condoled his untimely death. He demanded a compensation of Rs 5 for his family and Rs 1 lakh for Monu.

“The government should frame a policy for employees engaged on daily or contract basis by agencies such as water services, sanitation department, local bodies and bijli vitran nigams to carry out risky duties,” he said.

Despite repeated warnings against entering sewer lines without adequate precautions, such incidents continue to take place.

The case file 
* June 8: Two killed while cleaning a sewer line in Bari industrial area
* May 22, 2013: Three youths killed while cleaning sewer lines in Bahalgarh
* Dec 15, 2010: Four killed while cleaning the sewer lines in Rai industrial area

Faridabad, July 25
Hundreds of employees of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) went on an indefinite strike today. They are demanding regularisation of the ad hoc and contractual staff. This is the second strike in two weeks on the issue.

“The authorities had accepted our demand and had promised to implement the staff regularisation policy of 2003 immediately. However, they have retracted, claiming that regularisation will be done as per the fresh directions by the state government, which would result in the loss of seniority of service for almost all employees,” claimed Naresh Shastri, president of the Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh, Haryana.

He said while the employees working for over 20 years deserved to be regularised on the basis of the staff regularisation policy of 2003, the proposal offered by the authorities to adopt the revised policy announced this year would only deprive them of the service and seniority benefit. He said over 2,100 employees who had been working for over 10 years or more might also lose the benefit of the pension scheme, which was scrapped in 2006. He also charged the authorities of not putting 1,400 employees on regular roll after the announcement of ending the contractual system this year.

The total staff on strike was around 4000, he claimed.

He said an unwarranted administrative delay had the employees suffer and resort to stir. While the Mayor had announced acceptance of their demand on July 21 to end the five-day strike, the officials, on other hand, told them that a separate policy would be announced for the MCF employees.

Vikas Yadav, Commissioner, MCF, said he was on his way to Chandigarh to discuss the matter with the higher authorities. He said he had appealed to the staff to call off the strike.

“The civic conditions in the city are already a victim of official apathy. It is likely to deteriorate if the plans for garbage removal and sewerage system are stalled,” said KL Gera, a social activist. 

Services hit

* The strike left various civic services paralysed as none of the complaints regarding the cleaning of sewerage, water supply, horticulture, streetlights and garbage removal was attended

* Work at the office of the Registrar (Births & Deaths) also remained disrupted 

Karnal, July 26
The Ghoghripur rail overbridge project has become a distant dream for residents of 25 villages who cross the railway line every day. Aimed at easing traffic woes, the project to construct a railway overbridge on the Karnal-Munak road began in 2013 at a cost of Rs 26 crore. It was to be completed till 2015.

Sources associated with the project said the project was a joint venture of the Railways and the PWD. The Railways were to build their part of the bridge over the track, while the PWD had to build it on both sides of the track, as per the terms and conditions.

The Railways, it is learnt, is about to complete its part, but the PWD is yet to finalise tenders for constructing its portion of the project.

Commuters using this route are forced to travel a longer distance to reach their destination. Ramesh Pal of Staundi village who works in Karnal said he used this route every day. “I waste both time and money traversing the longer distance due to delay in the project.” Rohit Kumar, a college student, said he had to leave home early to reach in time.

“The PWD has called for the tenders and soon the construction company will be finalised. I hope the construction work of the bridge will be completed on the scheduled time,” said Virender Jakhar, Exen, PWD.

In limbo

* The project to build a rail overbridge on the Karnal-Munak road began in 2013 to ease traffic woes

* Scheduled to be completed by 2015, the project will benefit residents of 25 surrounding villages

* While the Railways is about to complete its part of the project, the PWD is yet to finalise tenders for its share of the project

Rohtak, July 25
The authorities of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) here have put off the interviews for the posts of faculty members at the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) which were supposed to be held today.

The Indian National Students’ Organisation (INSO), which had been alleging large-scale irregularities in the recruitment process, has asserted that the interviews had been postponed as a result of its protest.

On the other hand, the university authorities maintained that the interviews had been put off due to a high court ruling which was received this morning.

INSO as well as other students’ bodies have been alleging that the recruitment process was a big farce and the university administration wanted to stamp the appointments of certain near and dear ones of the state leadership. Organisation members staged a protest in front of the MDU Vice Chancellor’s office against the interviews, which, they alleged, were being held against the UGC and the AICTE norms and in violation of court orders.

Some INSO activists even entered the office of the Vice Chancellor and had a heated exchange of words with the university officials present there. Meanwhile, members of the All-Haryana University Employees Federation took out a march and staged a protest against the non-fulfilment of their longstanding demands.

The non-teaching employees were marching towards the local residence of the chief minister when they were stopped by the police personnel.

Gurgaon, July 25
The government seems to have finally woken up to the poor condition of the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and if all goes well, traffic snarls may be over latest by June 2015.

Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister of State for Defence, Planning, Statistics and Programme Implementation Rao Inderjit Singh and Union Minister of State for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Krishan Pal Gujjar inspected the NH-8 stretch from local Rajiv Chowk to Manesar today.

Following the inspection, Gadkari said, as reported to him, the condition of the stretch was poor. He issued instructions to start work on it by completing all ongoing constructions latest by June 2015 so that commuters did not get stuck in jams.

Rao Inderjit Singh said: “We shall speak to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to speed up work and get flyovers and underpasses constructed wherever required. There are several villages, which have been affected by the e-way and are facing several problems due to it.”

It was also decided to build underpasses on NH 8 at Signature Tower, IFFCO Chowk and Rajiv Chowk. Interestingly, while the National Highways Authority of India has been entrusted to build these, the cost would be borne by the Municipal Corporation Gurgaon. Gujjar said: “A flyover will be constructed at the Hero Honda Chowk on NH-8 and the cost will be borne by the Government of India and the Haryana Government in the ratio of 75:25.”

He said: “I will meet CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda along with Rao Inderjit Singh in a month and give a proposal that if the state government is unable to complete the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway, the state government shall terminate the contract and hand it over to the Centre. The NHAI is ready to take up the construction of KMP expressway. It will make the payments and take up construction further.”

Chandigarh, July 25
Gurgaon motorists, it seems, are on the wrong side of the law, and the road! Steering clear of the traffic rules, most motorists in the “premier” city believe in driving on the wrong side of the road. On an average, more than a 2,000 motorists are challaned for the offence per month.

As the traffic regulation and road safety case came up for resumed hearing before the Punjab and Haryana High Court today, Justice Rajive Bhalla was told that 17,000 challans were issued for the offence from January 1 to July 10 this year.

Taking note of the assertion, Justice Bhalla observed the data was an indicator of the tendency to drive on the wrong side. “If 17,000 challans were issued, another 50,000 may not have been caught,” he observed. “All this shows that the entire city was driving on the wrong side.”

The judge said something was amiss in the policing, the roads, the road markings or the people. Not issuing challans for not wearing helmets and seat belts did not escape Justice Bhalla’s attention. After scanning the data, he observed that figures failed to indicate challaning for both the offences.

He said putting on helmets on seeing the traffic policemen was the norm in Gurgaon, as the authorities concerned were yet to apply brakes to the violations. Updates on the installation of CCTV cameras at strategic points were also sought.

Justice Bhalla had earlier asked Haryana to come out with a traffic management plan for Gurgaon. The High Court has zeroed in on Gurgaon in Haryana and Amritsar in Punjab as benchmarks. The directions issued for the two cities would eventually be made applicable to other cities of the two states after testing their efficacy. Justice Bhalla has already made it clear that the court wanted the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act be complied with in letter and spirit to ensure road safety.

The judge had also taken note of the fact that the authorities concerned in Gurgaon had not moved much beyond issuing challans to the traffic violators; and had directed the deputy commissioner “to ensure the vehicles are parked in the earmarked parking, whether within or outside public and private buildings, markets, malls and offices”.