Kurukshetra, November 16
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today held a ‘khula darbar’ at the Circuit House and assured the common man that necessary action would be taken to redress their grievances.

While addressing the public, the CM said, “The functioning of the incumbent BJP government in the state will be different from all previous governments, since Haryana came into existence in 1966. Every government has done something and they had their policies. But the BJP government’s key mantra is to ensure that the benefit of various welfare schemes reach every eligible beneficiary.”

Khattar expressed gratitude to the people for giving a massive mandate to the BJP in the state. He said the public does not have to go to Chandigarh to meet the CM for the redressal of their grievances. “CM windows are being installed at the Mini Secretariats across the state and the public can lodge their complaints there in writing. These complaints would directly reach the office of the Chief Minister.”

Khattar urged the people to mention their phone numbers, email, and address on their complaint so that they could be called back at the time of redressal of their grievances.

A large number of people reached the Circuit House with their complaints and the CM kept accepting their applications for almost an hour with questions such as “Sab kuch likh diya na? Phone number to likha hai na?”

While a large number of people managed to give their complaints to the Chief Minister, there were many who failed to do so as the CM left the venue around 12:30pm. Irked with this, Mukhtyar Singh, a resident of Sector 7, said, “It was a ‘closed darbar’ instead of a ‘khula darbar’. The CM should have listened to the problems rather than accepting and handing over the complaints to the officials.”

New Delhi, November 16
The Haryana Government admitted to be lagging behind in prison administration, putting to test its repeated claims of being number one in economic development and social welfare parameters.

“In all, 23 posts of medical officer for the jails are lying vacant,” said Jagjit Singh, Inspector General (IG), Prisons, during a two-day seminar on “Prison Reforms” organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). It concluded on Friday.

The officer made the revelation during a session to review the action-taken reports (ATR) of states on the NHRC’s recommendations on “Prison Reforms” made by it in 2011.

To a question by Justice (retd) Cyriac Joseph, who was presiding over the ATR review session, the officer said medical officers were assigned duties on ad-hoc basis by Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) against the vacant posts in the districts concerned.

The IG fumbled while responding to NHRC’s inquiry regarding the daily monetary allowance being on a par with daily wages in the state. He answered in the negative, creating a flutter among the audience.

There was, however, a murmur of appreciation of him being forthright in laying bare the shortcomings of the government. The issue of monetary allowance assumes importance as convicts save their daily allowance and remit it to their homes.

The commission remi-nded the state government through the officer that the norm is that medical officer must be present round the clock in the jail. At present, there are three Central and 16 district jails in Haryana.

The NHRC’s recommendations include improvement in healthcare to inmates, and provision of better sanitation facilities and hygiene. Also, the family of prisoners should be allowed to them meet on Sunday so that they do not have to take leaves on working days.

Sirsa, November 16
Ram Murti spent Rs 62,000 to grow paddy on five acres of his land in Shakarmandori village of Sirsa, but when he went to sell his produce at the grain market, the crop fetched him a mere Rs 29,000.

This is not an isolated case of a farmer whose land is becoming a liability rather than a source of livelihood, due to the increasing problems of waterlogging and salinity.

Another farmer Sher Singh, said, “When the problem began in 2010, nearly 400 acres of land in our village were affected by the problem. But waterlogging is fast spreading to more areas and now over 1,000 acres of land in Shakarmandori is affected by it.”

Sher Singh also suffered losses due to water logging and salinity, which has rendered the land unfit for cultivation. “We have been running from pillar to post and have been requesting the authorities to help us. We met the district authorities yesterday, but have failed to get any firm assurance,” said Ram Murti.

The problem is not merely restricted to Shakarmandori specifically, as nearly 5,000 acres of land spread in over 15 villages of Sirsa are affected with the twin problems of waterlogging and salinity.

Besides Shakarmandori, Makhosarani, Nathusari, Tarkanwali, Rupana Khurd, Darba, Ludesar, Manakdiwan, Lohgarh, Jotawali, Saktakhera and Surtia are some of the worst-affected villages of Sirsa.

The water having salinity content of more than 2 deciSiemens per metre (dS/m) is rendered unfit for irrigation and the land affected by salinity in some villages of the area is up to 11.5 dS/m, as per experts.

“The water table at some places has come as high as two to three feet at certain places and water starts oozing out of the land during rainy season,” said Om Prakash, a farmer.

He said farmers of the affected villages were badly trapped under debt as they were unable to repay loans obtained from banks as well as moneylenders. “Year after year, we sow crops in the hope of better luck, spend money on seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, but before we are able to reap the harvest, a single rain is sufficient to damage our crops beyond redemption,” said another farmer. He added the farmers have to pay the revenue, but they are not able to get any produce from their land.

Deputy Commissioner Anshaj Singh said the authorities were looking for some reliable technology which could cost less. He said his predecessor had taken up the matter with the Central Soil and Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), Karnal, but it could not be followed up. “We will take up the issue again,” he added. 

When the problem began in 2010, nearly 400 acres in our village were affected by the problem. Now over 1,000 acres of land in Shakarmandori is hit
—Sher Singh

We have been running from pillar to post and have been requesting the authorities to help us. We met the district authorities yesterday, but have failed to get any firm assurance
—Ram Murti

Jind, November 16
The Power Department has disconnected nearly 300 connections of Jind residents, who failed to pay their bills in time in spite of repeated reminders.

In no time of snapping of lines, the defaulters deposited their dues, leading to restoration of power.

The amount recovered will be ascertained in the evening as the disconnection drive was in progress at the time of filing of the report, but sources said Rs 5 lakh had been recovered in the past three days. Since November 1, the authorities have recovered Rs 25 lakh.

Till June, Rs 263.6 crore was pending. Of this, Rs 1.6 crore was pending towards nearly 10,000 consumers of urban areas, while the remaining amount was pending towards consumers of rural areas.

“After recovering the dues from urban consumers, the focus will be on rural areas. The authorities will seek help from the police in recovering the amount. First, notices will be served on defaulters and then power will be disconnected,” Power Department SDO Ashutosh Kumar said.

The authorities have recovered Rs 1.17 crore from urban consumers since June. As for the rural areas, the authorities have been facing resistance from farmers. Many special schemes launched by the department have failed to motivate rural consumers to pay their dues.

“The department has been charging more in the name of interest on the defaulting amount. If the government is serious enough to recover the genuine amount, all farmers are ready to pay,” said Mahinder Ghimana, district president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.

Barwala (Hisar), November 16
The police reportedly aborted plans to storm the fortified Satlok Ashram late Sunday evening ahead of tomorrow’s deadline set by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to ensure the appearance of Sant Rampal in a contempt case even as IGP Anil Kumar Rao said the controversial sect head would be “positively” produced in court tomorrow.

By late evening, cops began boarding buses to nearby police stations though barricades stayed in place at points on the highway. The retreat by the cops after a massive build-up of security personnel over the days is being termed as part of a strategy.

State government representatives — including BJP Tohana MLA Subhash Barala and two khap panchayat leaders from Rohtak — intervened to end the 11-day deadlock. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had issued non-bailable warrants against Rampal on November 6 and again on November 10 directing the Haryana police to arrest and produce him in court on Monday.

Social groups, including khap panchayat members, have come forward to resolve the impasse. Meham Athagama pradhan Shamsher Singh Kharkhara, who contested on the BJP ticket from Meham, and Balraj Kundu of Kundu khap talked separately to Rampal confidants and were mediating between the district administration and Rampal’s followers.

Mediators, it is learnt, have not been able to prevail upon Rampal to either appear in court or surrender to comply with court orders. However, Kundu, emerging out of the ashram, said talks were progressing in a positive direction. Deputy Commissioner ML Kaushik, too, expressed confidence that the talks would end on a positive note.

Earlier in the day, the police started proceeding towards the ashram with armed CRPF contingents leading from the front. A women’s unit of the Haryana police and CRPF also marched on foot to the ashram. A confrontation-like situation arose when ashram inmates started raising pro-Rampal slogans and announcements were made from loudspeakers to motivate followers to “sacrifice their lives”.

Hisar, November 16
The security build-up around Satlok Ashram has put residents of the surrounding villages to trouble.

Barwala town is virtually out on the roads, watching the convoys of central forces pass by, but the build-up to the “offensive” doesn’t seem to be happening while people living within a 1-km radius of Satlok Ashram are forced to put up with snapped power and water connections.

Chunni Lal (75) of Ram Nagar says: “This ashram has upset my life. I have to walk 3 km to charge my mobile phone. The ashram has its genset for power while we are suffering. Let the forces do what they have to so that we can get on with regular living.”

In Barwala town, all shops are closed with the police mounting its pressure. A number of JCBs, fire brigades, water cannons and anti-riot vehicles stand along the road. “Business has been hit since this ordeal began a few days ago. With the entire road cordoned off, we get limited local business which is not enough to break even,” explains a businessman.

Youth stand in groups along the road curious about the fate of the sect head .

A villager from Gabipur says: “If the police can’t arrest him even after so much reinforcement, I will go to the ashram and accept Sant Rampal as a godman. Children are not going to school and college, businessmen can’t go to work. One man can be so powerful.”

Claiming that Barwala has never seen so much police force, Pirthi Singh says: “We had such a police presence only during the agitation for Jat reservation. However, their number this time is a lot more.” 

Rewari, November 16
Haryana State Legal Services Authority (HSLSA) chairman and Punjab and Haryana High Court’s Justice Satish Kumar Mittal said administrative insensitivity towards redressing public grievances was one of the foremost reasons responsible for rising numbers of court cases. People knock at the court’s door when the authorities fail to dispose of the grievance in time.

Mittal was interacting with the mediapersons in the court premises here on Saturday. He said litigation could be minimised to a large extent in the coming days if the administrative officers ensured justice to the people well in time at the district-level, but insensitivity of the officers towards redressal of public grievances was increasing court cases.

“The workload of the courts can be reduced if the officers resolve petty problems of the people at their own level hence the officers must try to redress all grievances at their level,” said the Justice.

He maintained people could avail the help of the HSLSA instead of filing cases in court to get their issues resolved. HSLSA units were working at every district headquarter. Besides HSLSA, succour could also be sought from Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Centre in terms of getting SC, BC and Domicile certificates made, he added.

Karnal, November 16
Two persons were killed, while 13 others were injured when a private bus of Punjab rammed into a Haryana Roadway bus near Nirmal Kutiya chowk this morning.

The deceased were identified as Vijender (42) of Bijna village and Pardeep (37) of Gagsina village in Karnal district. Vijender was the driver and Pardeep conductor of the Haryana Roadways bus.

Transport Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Minister of State (Food and Civil Supply) Karan Dev Kamboj and Gharaunda MLA Harvinder Kalyan visited the spot and the trauma centre, where the injured were admitted.

Ram Bilas announced Rs 5-lakh compensation and a government job to one of the relatives of the deceased. A compensation of Rs 50,000 would be given to each of the injured, he said.

The accident took place around 6.50 am when the private bus coming from the Delhi airport rammed into the Delhi-bound Haryana Roadways bus at Nirmal Kutiya chowk, said a police official. The private bus was carrying 21 passengers, including seven NRIs.

Sonepat, November 16
The police today announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for information on Rajesh, one of the five main accused in the Gohana bank heist case.

The Katwal village resident has been on the run ever since thieves emptied out lockers at the PNB branch in Gohana on the night of October 26 and 27 through an 84-foot tunnel. Rajesh, along with Mahipal Singh of Kasandi and Surender, Satish and Balraj of Katwal village, masterminded and executed the plan to loot the lockers. While Surender, Satish, Balraj and five others have already been arrested, Mahipal committed suicide.

According to Sonepat SP Arun Singh, three police teams have been raiding the suspected hideouts of Rajesh. The police recovered 5.985 kg of gold and silver ornaments from his house in Katwal village following Satish’s interrogation.

The police today recovered Rs 38,500 from the HDFC Bank’s Gohana branch. The SP said the amount was part of the cash stolen from the lockers. It was deposited by Satish for two installments of the car bought by him. With this, a total of Rs 3,73,500 in cash have been recovered.

New SIT in charge DSP Rahul Dev also met the victims and promised them every effort was being made to recover the stolen property. The house and other buildings owned by Mahipal Singh were being searched, he said. 

Faridabad, November 16
Playing match-maker, the local branch of the National Association for the Blind (NAB) helped a couple tie the knot at a ceremony on its campus here today.

Neeraj Kumar (29) and Rajni (26) were students of the institute run by the association. While the groom is from Meham in Rohtak district, the bride belongs to the district’s Ballabgarh town. “Neeraj and Rajni contacted us for help in getting married after both of them recently got a government job,” said Diwakar Malik, an office-bearer of the association.

Malik said the association had been providing vocational training to the visually-impaired in various spheres. He said its training centre at the NIT here was the second such facility after Gurgaon and, perhaps, the only centre in the state training the visually-impaired and helping them get married. Vocational courses taught at the centre include computer operator, home science and shorthand.

Claiming this was the 43rd marriage solemnised by the association since its inception in 1982, Malik said all expenses were borne by the NGO. The couple was presented items of daily use such as sewing machine, furniture, fridge, gas stove and utensils. “The average expenditure on a marriage could touch Rs 1.5 lakh. This is made possible by donations and help provided by members,” he said. 

Jind, November 16
Peeved over the alleged biased attitude of the police, traders and the family of Darshan Lal, a local shopkeeper who was shot dead on November 5 night, organised a candlelight march here yesterday.

They demanded arrest of the killers and action against doctors, who allegedly furnished doctored video clips of the proceedings of the November 5 night, to get “false cases” registered against “innocents”, including INLD MLA Dr Harichand Middha’s son Dr Krishan Middha.

“The police are not serious about the case. We will intensify the agitation if the police fail to arrest the killers and take action against the doctors for submitting doctored clips,” said Balwinder, a leader of the Jind traders’ union.

Even after the transfer of then Jind SP Anil Dhawan on November 12 and the arrest of all accused, who allegedly attacked doctors during the November 5 night, things appear to be far from normal.

If earlier it was doctors Vs police, now it’s becoming local traders’ Vs police for not arresting the killers and taking action against local doctors. Last evening candle march started from near the house of local INLD MLA and crossed from Jhanj gate, Punjabi and Main Bazars, from in front of local city police station and concluded in town hall. Protesters raised slogans against doctors and police.

DC Ashok K Meena had organised a meeting between protesters and doctors on Friday. The meeting failed to reach a consensus. “The investigating teams have been expanded. There is no laxity on our part and the accused would be behind the bars soon,” SP Badan Singh said.

Two inquires are in progress — the Jind police are investigating the murder, while the Bhiwani police are probing attack on doctors.

Kurukshetra, November 16
The Bharitya Kisan Union (Charuni group) and leaders of various khaps criticised the BJP government for not implementing the Swaminathan report.

The Kisan leaders and the leaders of around 15 khaps were here at the Jat Dharmashala today to chalk out a strategy to get the report implemented on Sunday. BKU (Charuni group) president Gurnam Singh Charuni, said, “The BJP should implement the Swaminathan report and the farmers should get its benefits since 2004. Had the report been implemented in 2004, when the survey was conducted, the farmers wouldn’t have remained debt ridden today.”

They also condemned the banks, which were publishing posters of debt ridden defaulter farmers and said it was disgusting and defamatory and it should be stopped.

The leaders said, “We will seek time from the government to express our views over this issue, but if the government fails to implement the Swaminathan report the farmers will launch a nationwide agitation to get the report implemented.”

Charuni said, “A national-level meeting will be organised from December 24 to 26 at the Jat Dharmashala in Kurukshetra and the representatives of the Kisan unions across the country will be invited.”

BKU (Gaur group) Pala Ram Gaur, kisan sabha district secretary Pratap Singh, Dharampal Chhoth from Mudal Khap, Suresh Kauth from Barah Khap and several other kisan leaders and khap representatives were present on this occasion. 

Ambala, November 16
A massive turnout was witnessed during the Veer Senani veteran rally that was organised under the aegis of Kharga II Corps at the Kharga Stadium, here today.

Army veterans and dependents of slain army men from seven districts including Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal, Panipat and Sonepat attended the rally that was presided over by the general commanding officer of Kharga Corps Lt General Ravindra Pratap Sahi.

The event was attended by over 10,000 army veterans, veer naris, widows and dependents of army men who were contacted individually by the army personnel of Kharga Corps in a massive drive that was launched a year ago under the outreach programme adopted by the corps to re-establish contact with the retired army fraternity and resolve their problems.

The rally commenced at around 9am, wherein a number of grievances resolution stalls were established to expedite the grievances redressal process. More than 4,000 complaints were resolved on the spot in tandem with the credo of the rally which was “Ek Sthaan Samadhan”.

Lt General Ravindra Pratap Sahi said the event was aimed at providing “swasthya, sammaan, samadhan (health, respect and redressal of problems)” to all comrades and war veterans. 

Chandigarh, November 16
As many as 15 lakh children between the age of 0 to 5 years have been covered under the Sub-National Intensified Pulse Polio Immunisation (IPPI) round in 13 districts of the state today, the first day of the three-day campaign.

The children who were administered the pulse polio drops on the first day constituted about 57 per cent of the targeted 26 lakh children to be covered during the three-day campaign.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal, Cabinet Minister Rao Narbir Singh and Bahadurgarh MLA Naresh Kaushik inaugurated the campaign in Kurukshetra, Gurgaon and Jhajjar, respectively, by administering polio drops.

The spokesperson of the Haryana Health Department said these 13 districts included Ambala, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Mewat, Palwal, Panchkula, Panipat, Rohtak, Sonepat and Yamunanagar. He said 10,636 booths were set up at different locations. These booths were manned by about 42,000 officials of the Health Department, anganwari workers, ASHA volunteers and others. About 2,100 officials supervised the activity apart from the independent monitors of NPSP-WHO.

The children left out during the booth activity on the first day would be administered polio drops on November 17 and 18 by house-to-house teams. 

Uchana Kalan, November 16
BJP Uchana Kalan MLA Prem Lata singh, wife of union minister Chaudhary Birender Singh, today visited many villages, including Udhaypur, Durjanpur, Khera, Daroli, Bhagwanpura, as part of her two-day thanks-giving tour.

“Uchana Kalan has faced regional discrimination during the past 10 years but the BJP government will ensure equal development all over Haryana. My husband will bring big development projects to Haryana,” she said.

The MLA said she would improve educational and health facilities in her constituency. Women empowerment was also her priority, she added.

Birender Ghogarian, a former Congress leader and staunch supporter of Chaudhary Birender Singh, who accompanied her, said she had directed them to list problems of all villages at the earliest.

Jhajjar, November 16
In spite of being the home district of Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Om Prakash Dhankar, Jhajjar is facing a shortage of DAP (Di-ammonium phosphate) fertiliser, taking a toll on the sowing of wheat.

Farmers have made several rounds of government sale counters and offices of cooperative societies only to return empty handed. They have decided to block a road if the DAP is not made available soon.

A visit to HAFED’s sale counter at Bhagat Singh chowk yesterday exposed the state government’s claim regarding adequate availability of the DAP.

Farmers gathered outside the sale counter told The Tribune that they had been waiting for three hours, as a person deputed at the counter said a vehicle carrying fertilisers was on its way to Jhajjar. “The DAP is neither available in cooperative societies nor at government sale counters in Jhajjar,” said Rajesh of Khuddan village.

Ramphal of Silani village and Tejpal of Sikandarpur claimed private dealers had stocked the DAP, but they were forcing the farmers to buy seeds along with the fertiliser. “We will either protest or block a road if the government does not provide the DAP soon,” said another farmer Suresh.

Madan Mohan Singh, Deputy Director (Agriculture), however, claimed that there was no shortage of the DAP in the district. “The fertiliser is available at all government sale counters and cooperative societies in the district, besides with private dealers,” he said.

Singh said the SSP fertiliser, a substitute for the DAP, was available at the sale counters. The farmers can also use it for sowing wheat in case of scarcity of the DAP.

“A rake of the DAP arrived in the district today. Farmers can buy the fertilise from tomorrow,” the official said, adding that more than 50 per cent of farmers had already sowed wheat in the district. 

Faridabad, November 16
A temporary reprieve has come to the residents of the Krishna colony as the district authorities have persuaded the Railways to defer the demolition of over 300 houses in the Krishna colony lining the railway track in Sector 20 here.

The Railways has issued a notice telling the residents to vacate the land by November 15. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had launched the state-level Swachh Haryana Abhiyan from this colony on November 1.

“We have postponed the demolition in the area temporarily in view of the intervention of the district administration. It has assured to get the area cleared within 10 days,” said JaI Lal Meena, senior section engineer (track) of the Railways. He said over 300 jhuggis had come up on the land belonging to the Railways and many were very close to the track.

Claiming that over 50 acres of the department was under illegal occupation in the district, the encroachment will have to be removed in view of the work of laying of a new track and construction of a wall for a high speed train track here. It is reported that the issue of relocating the residents of this colony has been taken up with the local BJP leaders and party MLA from Faridabad, the latter recently asked the local authorities to work out a solution as the colony was associated with the cleanliness drive launched by the CM himself.

Sirsa, November 16
An ASHA worker delivered a baby in an ambulance while on the way to hospital near Dabwali in Sirsa today.

Renu Bala of Saktakhera village of Sirsa complained of labour pain in the afternoon. While on her way to Dabwali, she delivered a baby in the ambulance. As the newborn could not be given nursing assistance after birth, his condition deteriorated by the time ambulance reached Dabwali. The family had to rush him to a private hospital, as there was no paediatrician in the government hospital.

In hospital, she suffered labour pain again and delivered another male baby.

Karnal, November 16
The three-pond system initiated by the district administration to recycle waste water in villages has reached the Central Ministry as Deputy Adviser to the Rural Development Ministry G Bala Subramaniam yesterday visited Chand Smand, Jadoli, Rasulpur Kalan, Sirsi and Shahpur villages, where this project is in progress.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Girish Arora explained the project and said it would help to make the villages of the country clean and hygienic.

He further explained the technical aspects of the project and said waste water had to be channelised through various filters, so that it could be used in irrigation and for animal consumption.

Sources said the Central Ministry could take this initiative and include it in MGNREGA.

Panipat, November 16
Reduction in petrol and diesel prices is an indication of “achche din”. Education and Transport Minister Ram Bilas Sharma stated this during his visit to Panipat today.

The minister was here to welcome PM Narendra Modi’s elder brother Sombhai Modi at the PWD rest house. Ram Bilas, MLAs Rohia Rewri, Mahipal Dhanda and other party leaders welcomed Som Bhai Modi by garlanding him. Ram Bilas said Sombhai Modi’s visit was not political. He had just come here to meet the party workers. —TNS

Chandigarh, November 16
Haryana Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Kavita Jain today said orders had been issued to look into the cases of misappropriation of funds in social security pensions and the issue is being investigated under the directions of the Chief Minister Manohar Lal.

She said the present government had received many complaints that a large number of ineligible people were getting pensions whereas the eligible ones were being left out. She said the concerned departments had been asked to submit its report at the earliest. Strict action would be taken against the erring officials and officers, she added.

The present government has a formula to increase the old age allowance, as well as handicap and widow pensions to Rs 2,000 from the earlier Rs 1,000 per month, she said.

The Cabinet meeting last week has already decided to increase pension from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 from January 2015.

Jain said the department has been directed to give increased pension in February 2015. Additional Chief Secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment SK Gulati would soon discuss the pension scheme with her in detail.

Rewari, November 16
The body of a 22-year-old youth, who went missing under mysterious circumstances around a week ago, was found from a well near Gokalgarh village on Saturday.

The victim’s kin identified Pardeep’s body. They suspected he had been murdered while the police have started investigations into the case. The body was spotted by some villagers in the well after foul smell was emanating from it.

The villagers immediately informed the police who took the body out from the well. “Pradeep had gone out from his house, last Sunday, for some work, but he did not return,” the police said.

Rewari, November 16
The government finally agreed to the long-pending demand of an NGO to include salt in the category of essential commodities to be distributed through the Public Distribution System (PDS) if the Centre gives it nod.

The NGO- People for Animals (PFA) – was informed of the decision by the Food and Supply Department.

Naresh Kadian, convener, PFA, said that when wheat, rice, sugar with cereals were being distributed to the beneficiaries at a nominal price why was iodized salt not included when it was the most essential commodity and was being sold at high price in market.

Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh were providing iodised salt under the PDS and the same should be replicated in Haryana in public interest. It shold also be supplied through the khadi boards, he added.

He said they had been raising the issue for the past decade but the previous government did not do anything in this context.

Fatehabad, November 16
Shishapal, allegedly an alcoholic, hacked his two sons to death at Kharaitikhera village of Fatehabad today. The bodies of the victims — Salim (21) and Sadiq (19) — were found at their house.

DSP Vijay Kumar Kakkar and SHO Gaurav Sharma rushed to the village and took stock of the situation. They sent the bodies to the General Hospital, Fatehabad, for postmortem.

Villagers said both Salim and Sadiq worked at a barber’s shop in the village along with their father. Salim was married, but his wife lived with her parents.

The victims’ mother had gone to meet her daughter the day the incident took place. Villagers said Shishpal often quarrelled with her sons and demanded money for drinking.

Last night, Shishpal had a dispute with his sons and it continued till late in the night.

He then went to his brother Raja Ram’s house to sleep. He allegedly came to his house early today morning and hit both his sons with a sharp weapon while they were asleep.

A woman from the neighbourhood went to their house for some work and noticed Salim and Sadiq dead.

The police have registered a case of murder on the complaint of sarpanch Rajesh Kumar.

Shashpal was soon nabbed. SHO Gaurav Sharma said the police was interrogating the accused.

Fatehabad, November 16
A 19-year-old woman who was allegedly gang raped by five persons in a truck was found near Jakhal in Fatehabad last evening. She had poured kerosene on herself and was about to set herself ablaze when a youth spotted her and stopped her.

The youth informed the police and the woman was taken to the community health centre. She revealed she was from Bikaner and was kidnapped. She said she went out of her home for some work when a truck driver and his four accomplices lifted her off the road. After raping her for some days, they allegedly threw her on the road somewhere near the Punjab-Haryana border.

The woman showed the driving licence of one of the rapists, identified as Gori Sharma of Bathinda, which she had taken from the truck. The police have recorded her statement, but are yet to register an FIR. Jakhal police station SHO Suresh Kumar said the crime was committed in Punjab and hence it was for the Punjab police to register a case. — TNS