Chandigarh, October 30
Five days after taking charge as the Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar today named his core team in the CM’s Office(CMO).

While Sanjeev Kaushal, Principal Secretary, PWD (B and R), was picked for the top post of Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister (PSCM), Sumita Misra, MD, Haryana Tourism Development Corporation, Director-General and Secretary, Tourism and Hospitality Departments, was appointed as Additional Principal Secretary-1 to the Chief Minister(APSCM)

Rakesh Gupta, Secretary, Health Department, Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Secretary, Administrative Reforms Department, was appointed as APSCM-II. IAS officer Pradeep Kasni, who was widely speculated to be appointed as the APSCM, did not find place in Khattar’s core team.

Besides, Khattar picked Jawahar Yadav, state BJP spokesman, as his Officer on Special Duty (OSD).

Sources said Khattar had sent out a clear signal that officers of impeccable integrity would be rewarded in his regime. Moreover, the officers, who virtually identified with the Hooda regime in the last 10 years, have been shown the door,” sources said.

Sources said Khattar’s predecessor Bhupinder Singh, had at least 12 officers in the CMO, including two Principal Secretaries, one Additional Principal Secretary, one Deputy Principal Secretary, one Principal OSD, at least three OSDs, besides four media advisers and one media coordinator.

With these appointments in the CMO, a big administrative reshuffle is in the offing to give plum posts to ‘upright’ officers.

Sanjeev Kaushal (PSCM) 

The soft-spoken 1986-batch IAS officer is known to be a clear-headed and quick decision-maker. The 50-year-old officer has earlier headed several departments, including Public Relations, Cultural affairs, PWD (B&R), Haryana Power Generation Corporation and the DHBVN.

Sumita Misra (APSCM) 

The dynamic 1990-batch IAS officer is known for her contribution to projects aimed at providing women access to education, opportunities, justice and resources. The poet- bureaucrat has a literary bent of mind and is the founder-president of the Chandigarh Literacy Society.

Rakesh Gupta (APSCM-II) 

As the project director of the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM), this 1997- batch IAS officer is credited with initiating several health projects, specially for children, in the state lagging in healthcare.

Jawahar Yadav (OSD) 

A former office-bearer of the student wing of the BJP and ABVP, Yadav is Khattar’s confidant. During the Assembly elections, Yadav worked in Gurgaon where BJP’s Umesh Aggarwal won by a record margin of over 84,000 votes. 

Chandigarh, October 30
To ensure transparency in police selections, it has been decided to do away with the system of interviews, said Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today. “The recruitment in police will be through written and physical tests,” he said.

The Chief Minister was reviewing the functioning of the Home Department at a meeting with Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Roshan Lal, DGP SN Vashisht and other senior police officers.

He stressed that communal harmony be maintained at all cost and emphasis should be on ensuring the safety of women and members of weaker sections of society. “There is need to check crimes against women with a firm hand.”

He stressed the need to open more training schools for drivers, saying that only licence holders should be permitted to drive heavy vehicles and dumpers to check accidents.

While reviewing the system to redress grievances, Khattar said people’s grievances should be redressed promptly and each complainant should be given a receipt of having received his complaint in writing.

The Chief Minister expressed concern over the incident in which two students from North-East were beaten up in Gurgaon recently and directed officers to ensure that such incidents were not repeated.

Chandigarh, October 30
To project his ‘aam aadmi’ image, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the first-time MLA and Punjabi Chief Minister has ordered that his security and cavalcade be pruned to the ‘bare minimum’, sources told The Tribune here today.

Sources said the CM’s security would be ‘rationalised’ keeping in view the threat perception and other standing instructions for the protection of VVIPs.

The Chief Minister’s diktat, the sources said, would kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, the step would bridge the gap between the common man and the Chief Minister and on the other it would send out a right signal to his Cabinet colleagues, who currently flaunt their escort vehicles.

Khattar’s predessor Bhupinder Singh Hooda enjoyed Z-level security as a result of which accessibility to the Chief Minister’s Office and residence was a major problem during his almost 10-year tenure.

Sirsa, October 30
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s efforts to clean Mumbai city has got him accolades from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and several other dignitaries.

In his tweet, Modi said, “Appreciable effort by Baba Ram Rahim ji & his team. Will motivate people across India to join Swachh Bharat Mission!”

Khattar’s tweet reads, “Applauding initiatives of @Gurmeetramrahim ji (@derasachasauda), who carried out a cleanliness drive in Mumbai. His efforts inspire us all.”

Around 5 lakh volunteers of Dera Sacha Sauda took to the streets of Mumbai for a massive cleanliness drive on October 28 and made the city a much cleaner place in a day.

It is not for the first time that Modi has praised Dera Sacha Sauda for its endeavours in the area of cleanliness.

During his rally in Sirsa on October 11 during his campaign for the Assembly polls, Modi had lauded the Dera’s efforts in this direction amid applause from hundreds of followers present there.

Tracking the Twitter 

Chandigarh, October 30
The state government has decided to observe October 31, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas in the state.

A spokesperson said that Haryana CM Manohar Lal would preside over the celebrations at Chandigarh while Union Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh and Haryana Public Works (Building and Roads) Minister Narbir Singh would do so at Gurgaon.

Others ministers presiding over the functions are Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Krishan Pal (Faridabad), Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma and Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu (Narnaul and Jind, respectively).

Similarly, Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar would attend the function at Jhajjar while Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Kavita Jain will be present at Sonepat.

Minister of State for Cooperation Bikram Singh Yadav, Minister of State for Social Welfare Krishan Bedi and Minister of State for Food and Supplies Karan Dev Kamboj would attend the function at Rewari, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar, respectively.

Karnal, October 30
A day after taking charge as the Agriculture Minister, Om Parkash Dhankar today directed district officials to ensure that paddy from Uttar Pradesh should not be procured.

Farmers told the minister, on a visit to the local grain market, that traders purchased paddy of UP farmers, while their paddy remained unsold. At this, Dhankar directed officials to put up barricades at the border to stop the arrival of paddy from UP.

“I am concerned about Haryana’s farmers and will try to fulfil their demands. I am trying to raise the rate of paddy,” the minister said, adding that no pesticide would be given to any farmer forcibly.

On 4 per cent market fee levied on paddy, he said: “The government is reviewing the losses and will take the necessary step after reviewing the budget.”

As for the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, Dhankar said: “The government is committed to implement it.”

Earlier, rice millers raised the concern of increase in import duty imposed on paddy by Iran. To this, Dhankar said he had written to the Centre to resolve the issue. “Iran is the biggest market for the Indian basmati. Due to the imposition of import duty, exports have declined,” a rice miller said.

Later, the Agriculture Minister directed district officials to perform their duties with honesty and complete development and public interest work on time. “The government will not tolerate corruption and negligence,” he added.

Panipat: The Haryana Government has written to the Centre to take up the matter of reducing import duty on paddy with foreign countries, said Om Prakash Dhankar during his visit to Panipat on Thursday.

“Paddy farmers have been facing difficulty in getting remunerative price for their produce as several foreign countries have increased the import duty.

A letter has been written to the Centre to take necessary action for reducing import duty,” he told the media. The minister alleged that farmers had not been getting adequate price for their produce for quite some time due to the bad policies of the previous governments.

“The Haryana Government will leave no stone unturned to provide adequate price for the crops,” he added.

(Inputs Dharmendra Joshi)

Kaithal, October 30
Family members of Kapil Sharma, a jawan of the ITBP’s 18th Battalion from Kaithal’s Chandana village who died on duty in Chhattisgarh on October 23, have alleged foul play in his death.

They met Deputy Commissioner NK Solanki and submitted a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding strict action against those responsible for Kapil’s death, which they alleged could be murder or a case of abetment to suicide. They demanded martyr status for the jawan and help for his family, as he was the sole breadwinner. Kapil is survived by his father, mother and two sisters.

Family members were told Kapil died after a hand grenade exploded in his hand and some junior officers and jawans brought his body to the village to October 25. The body was neither wrapped in the Tricolour nor did the jawans participate in the funeral and salute the body.

The family said it wanted to know whether or not Kapil was a martyr, was he murdered or did he commit suicide due to “repression” by superior officers.

Kapil’s mentioned in the six-page suicide note reportedly written by colleague Madan Dalal, also of the 18th Battalion, has brought a twist to the tale. Hailing from Jhajjar, he fled his battalion and his body was found on the tracks in Bahadurgarh two days after Kapil’s death.

Dalal wrote in his note that he had met Kapil hours before he died and found him under great stress due to mental torture by his seniors. He said while he was resting in the Battalion Barrack, he heard some gunshots soon after he met Kapil.

When he made inquiries, he was told by his colleagues that it was the sound of crackers. Dalal later came to know that Kapil had died, as per the note, and his body had been sent to his village. 

Sirsa, October 30
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is disappointed over the Rs 50 per quintal wheat MSP announced by the Centre.

Rajeev Godara, party’s chief spokesperson in Haryana, said while the farmers will suffer on this account, it was shocked that the BJP government that had promised 50 per cent profit to farmers over their input costs was silent on this crucial issue.

He expressed his concern over the low prices that paddy and cotton farmers were getting in grain markets across the state. Farmers were facing a deep crisis since the price they were getting was not sufficient to recover the input costs.

Godara said that though the situation was the same before the Assembly polls the people were expecting things to improve after the BJP took over. — TNS

Fatehabad, October 30
Former Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Prahlad Singh Gillankhera today demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had held the previous Haryana Government responsible for lower prices of paddy before the Assembly elections, should step in to provide farmers remunerative price for their crops.

“Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah had misled people during the elections by saying that prices of paddy were lower in the state because of 4 per cent market fee levied by the previous government,” he told the media here today.

“The BJP is in power at the Centre and in Haryana. I request Modiji to waive the market fee so that farmers who are getting Rs 2,000 per quintal this year should receive last year’s price of Rs 4,000,” said Gillankhera, who unsuccessfully contested the Fatehabad seat on the Congress ticket.

Gillankhera alleged that the BJP attained power in the state on the basis of false promises. “People will soon be disenchanted from the government.” He alleged farmers were getting a raw deal and were repenting over bringing the BJP to power.

The former CPS described the increase of Rs 50 per quintal in the wheat MSP as too little and said farmers would be unable to recover their input cost.

Modi and Amit Shah misled people saying paddy prices were lower in the state because of 4% market fee levied by the Hooda government. I now request Modiji to waive the market fee so farmers getting Rs 2,000 a quintal this year get last year's price of Rs 4,000 Rs 

Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, ex-cps

Jind, October 30
On a day when Hindu Mahasabha leaders clarified they had not banned, but only suggested that girls wear Indian attire instead of Western dresses and not carry a mobile during college time, state khaps notorious for their stand against Western culture distanced themselves from the outfit’s advisory.

Khap presidents, usually vocal against the wearing of jeans and use of mobiles, have refused to support this diktat citing fundamental rights. “Men and women have equal fundamental rights. We cannot impose a ban on wearing of jeans and use of mobiles by women. Khaps do not support any such ban, but we could help the sabha spread awareness against the ill-effects of these items in a positive way if they want to take our help,” said Kandela khap president Tek Ram Kandela.

There are over 100 khaps in the state, which command immense influence in Bhiwani, Jind, Sonepat, Rohtak, Panipat, Mahendragarh, Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Karnal, Kaithal, Faridabad and Palwal areas.

Sarv Khap Panchayat national president Nafey Singh Nain said such a ban would not achieve anything. “We should give good education to our children and try our level best to keep our children away from bad society,” he said. The mahasabha had asked all parents to immediately stop the use of mobiles and wearing of jeans by young girls and women to contain crime against them and has called a meeting in Hisar on November 2.

Haryana Sarv Jat Khap Panchayat spokesperson Sube Singh Sumain said, “We cannot impose such ban. We believe girls should dress up properly, but we all have the responsibility to convince our girls to do so. It cannot be achieved via a ban,” he said.

The khaps’ comments have invited praise from youngsters, who perceive these bodies as enemies given their anti-Western culture stand. “It’s good that khaps have not supported the Hindu Mahasabha diktat. These orders only bring the state a bad name. Instead, these social bodies should launch an awareness campaign and train women in self-defence so they can fight against criminals” said Shruti, a student. 

Hisar, October 30
Under fire for demanding a ban on girls for wearing jeans and carrying mobiles, the Hindu Mahasabha (HM) today called for severing a limb of a rapist.

In a statement here today, party leaders also took a U-turn from its earlier stand that they had just suggested that girls wear Indian attire instead of western dresses and not carry a mobile during college time.

“The Mahasabha had not issued any such diktat against the girls. Instead, it’s the UP police that had maintained that the mobile phone culture, indecent dressing are some of the reasons behind the spurt in rape cases. The police had given these reasons to a query by a RTI applicant,” said Dharampal Siwach, state vice-president. We are concerned about the rising incidents of rape,” he added. 

Kurukshetra, October 30
The 29th Haryana Day state-level festival ‘Ratnawali’, organised by Kurukshetra University (KU), concluded here today with University Teaching Department (UTD) winning the overall trophy. DAV Girls College, Yamunanagar, got the runners-up trophy.KU marked the 29th year of ‘Ratnawali’ this year and over 3,000 artistes across Haryana participated in the annual cultural extravaganza.

Cabinet minister Ram Bilas Sharma, who was the chief guest at the closing ceremony, congratulated KU for organising the festival. He said, “Kurukshetra has made its place as the cultural capital of Haryana. Our youth is the ambassador of our culture and it must keep the history, culture and heritage of this holy land alive.”

“Humour runs in the veins of Haryanavi. People of Haryana can’t live without satire,” said the minister.

am Bilas called upon the audience to take part in ‘Run For Unity’, which is being organised on the occasion of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel’s birth anniversary.

TV actor Meghna Malik, who also marked her presence here today, said, “It is a beautiful platform for inspiring each other. I have been part of 'Ratnawali' and performed here in 1994. I have many fond memories of the festival.” Meghna, who started her speech with the dialogues of her famous Haryanavi character, Amma ji, said, “Haryanavi language has become popular in Bollywood.” However, she felt the culture and language was not getting the right treatment in the state.

Anoop Lather, former Director, Department of Youth and Cultural Affairs, who started the Ratnawali festival 29 years ago, was also present here today. 

Ambala, October 30
Facing several problems in implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, the Haryana Federation of Private School Welfare Associations has urged the government to revise certain clauses failing which thousands of private schools would wind up in the state.

Kulbhushan Sharma, president of the federation, said that the previous Congress government had imposed an ill-advised policy under which private schools were paying commercial charges like water, electricity, property while providing free education to the poor students.

Unlike government schools where no commercial charges were paid, this was a biased policy and added to the financial burden of private schools. Thousands of private schools in far flung areas of the state were on the verge of a shut down on this count. The state must formulate a policy so that they were compensated for providing free education to the poor as was the case in other states of the country, he added.

The state government should ensure recognition of private schools having one room for each class as provided under the RTE. Besides, permanently recognized private schools should be allowed to upgrade under the old norms of 2009 and 2010 besides 30 per cent relaxation in land norms, he said.

Under the RTE, the school teachers were not required to pass any eligibility test which was not the case of private schools. The Congress government had encouraged conflict between private schools and parents in the name of Rule 134- A. The fees for of poor students given by the Centre should be transferred to the Aadhar linked account of the parents.

Karnal, October 30
The Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR) organised “Rabi Kisan Mela” here today. Experts from across the country expressed concern over the increasing temperature affecting crop productivity and called upon scientists and farmers to work for sustainable growth.

Prof RC Sharma, coordinator, Centre for Environmental Science and Technology, School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, praised scientists of the DWR for their commitment to evolve farmer-friendly production technologies.

“The early decades of this century will see a moderate increase in temperature of 1 to 2 degree Celsius, resulting in the decline in productivity of crops in seasonally dry and tropical regions. Crop and fodder yield in temperate regions may benefit, but warming in the second half of the century will negatively affect all regions, though agriculture in several developing countries in semi-tropical and tropical regions will bear the brunt of the effects,” he said. Though climate change would result in challenges and opportunities for agriculture, it understood that factors that may have led to the current food security crisis were likely to multiply, Prof Sharma said, adding that climate change may enhance the dependence on food imports of most developing countries.

Hisar, October 30
The Justice T P Garg (retd) Commission probing the Hondh Chillar Sikh massacre in the aftermath of the assassination the then PM Indira Gandhi is yet to submit its report even after six extensions.

Sikh activists and families of the victims would meet CM Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh on Friday demanding another extension to the commission whose term expired last month. They would also press for a time-bound completion of the inquiry in which 32 persons, including women and children, were set ablaze and the case file remained buried in the files of the police for over 30 years.

The commission held its last hearing on September 27. The Haryana government headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda had set up the commission in March, 2011 to inquire into the incident. Hondh Chillar village was a Sikh hamlet in Rewari district. The government has given six extensions to the commission but it has failed to conclude the inquiry so far. Manwinder Singh Giaspura, a Sikh youth who unearthed the progom site in January, 2011 informed that the delay was torturous for the victims who not only lost their families but had to suffer injustice for so long.

“We urge the CM to give another extension to the commission which should be told to file its report within the given time frame. We have fed up with repeated extensions,” he said.

Giaspura said that there had been reports of similar incidents against Sikhs in 1984 in Haryana that need to be investigated. “We demand the constitution of another commission for all such reported incidents. Besides, the government should also give reservation to such families on the pattern of Punjab”, he added.

He said he met a person by chance who revealed to him a site where several Sikhs were burnt alive during the Sikh pogrom in 1984. When he visited Hondh Chillar village in January, 2011 he found the remnants of the houses that were burnt down by the mob during the attack. The locals also recounted the incident. Sources informed that the Garg commission was on the verge of concluding its inquiry and would submit a report to the government. 

Jind, October 30
In view of poor arrival of cotton due to disease and incessant rain this year, the administration has decided to provide spray pumps at subsidised rates to farmers. The district administration will provide Rs 10,000 subsidy at the purchase of each tractor and self-start spray pumps in the district.

As per information, all farmers who want to avail the subsidy will have to submit applications to agriculture officers by November 17. After receiving applications, a special committee under the supervision of the ADC will organise a draw on November 24. Pumps of various companies are available in the range of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000.

“The incessant rain and disease have damaged crop in many areas of Jind district. We will give subsidy to farmers,” said Dr Ram Partap Sihag, Deputy Director, Agriculture Department, Jind.

In the districts, cotton was sown in over 62,000 hectares, but during an inquiry from various cotton markets of the district, including Jind, Uchana Kalan, Narwana, Safidon and Pillukhera, it came to light that cotton production is likely to go down by almost 50 per cent. Experts said rain and foliar disease had damaged a huge portion of cotton.

Cotton growers alleged that they had not been getting the right price for their crop. But some private purchasers countered the allegations and said the quality of cotton this year had deteriorated and they had been offering prices as per the quality of cotton.

Pehowa (Kurukshetra), October 30
A Congress worker has sought action against former Haryana Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chattha for allegedly assaulting her sexually. He was a minister in the previous Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government.

In a complaint to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gorakhpal Rana, she alleged: “Chattha and I came to know each other about 22 years ago. He has been sexually assaulting me all these years. When I decided to raise the issue, he sent his men to threaten me.”

Chattha rubbished the woman’s charge. “The allegation is baseless and politically motivated. People of Pehowa are with me and they know my conduct. I don’t want to say anything against her.” The DSP said, “I have received the complaint against Chattha. A team has been formed to inquire into the matter.”

A similar allegation was leveled against the former minister by a councillor of the Pehowa civic body in July.

The councillor, however, had failed to prove the charge.

Karnal, October 30
Thieves broke into a showroom of electronic appliances at Nissing and decamped with cash and electronic goods worth over Rs 3.5 lakh last night.

Residents and traders of the area blocked the Karnal-Kaithal state highway for two hours this morning.

Officials reached the spot and assured speedy investigation and arrest of the accused.

The thieves decamped with 15 LEDs and LCDs and cash worth over Rs 3.5 lakh, said Surinder, owner of the showroom.

Nilokheri legislator Bhagwan Dass Kabirpanthi also reached there and and directed the police to nab the accused and recover the stolen goods and money.