Hisar, November 24
After the intervention of the Press Council of India (PCI), five cases were registered against unidentified policemen last night on the charge of assaulting journalists during a clash between the police and Satlok Ashram head Rampal’s followers in Barwala on November 18.

In all, 28 mediapersons were injured in the police attack. Besides, their cameras and mobile phones were snatched. Till yesterday, the police did not act on the complaints of the assaulted journalists.

It was after a team of the PCI met the victims here yesterday that the police swung into action. The policemen were booked under Sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful gathering), 379-B (snatching), 323 (causing hurt) and 427 (causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

With his hand fractured, Bansi Lal Basniwal, who contributes to The Tribune and a local evening paper, told the PCI team that he was leaving the spot after taking photographs when a group of policemen started beating him up. “I showed them my Press card, but they said they were out to teach the media a lesson. When I tried to flee, two of them chased me and beat me up again. They snatched my camera and a bag that contained cash and an ATM card, among other things.”

Others said the police attacked the journalists after they caught on camera the assault on women devotees. “The police turned to mediapersons within 15 minutes into the operation. They kept on thrashing journalists for more than half an hour. The injured were not taken in ambulances. Colleagues helped them out of the spot to the nearby hospitals on foot,” said Bhupesh, a reporter with a vernacular who was outside the ashram on November 18.

Anuj, a journalist with the electronic media, said he kept on pleading with the cops that he would not be reporting the assault on women, but they thrashed him with lathis.

PCI member Rajiv Ranjan Naag said Director General of Police (DGP) SN Vashisht insisted that the entire force could not be blamed for the attack on journalists and some individuals among the personnel targeted the media. “Going by victims’ version, it has become clear that several policemen assaulted journalists intentionally after they got angry on the media’s coverage of beating up women devotees.”

BEA sets up panel

New Delhi: The Broadcast Editors’ Association (BEA) has set up a three-member committee to look into allegations of assault on mediapersons during the recent stand-off between police and supporters of Rampal at Hisar. “The BEA has decided to form a three-member committee comprising veteran journalist QW Naqvi, BEA general secretary NK Singh and Times Now's political editor Navika Kumar to probe the assault on the media in Hisar,” BEA president Shazi Zaman said. He said that the committee, whose report is expected at the earliest, would probe the incident, meet the people concerned and also offer recommendations. Rampal was arrested on November 19 from the ashram. — PTI

New Delhi, November 24
Some journalists subjected to lathicharge by police while trying to arrest Sant Rampal at his ashram at Hisar today moved the Supreme Court pleading for a judicial probe into the police action.

In the public interest litigation petition, they also sought compensation for themselves and guidelines for the police to prevent recurrence of such incidents and enable the media to discharge its functions under the freedom of speech, a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

“There is an increasing tendency to muzzle the press by government in office and inflict violence on unarmed media persons who merely perform their duty,” they said. — TNS

Hisar, November 24
The police investigation has brought to light that controversial sect head Rampal had got a trust registered in Hisar five years ago after being released on bail in a murder case and established his Satlok Ashram in Barwala.

The Bandi Chhor Bhakti Mukti Trust was registered under the Haryana Registration and Regulation of the Societies Act on November 11, 2009. Its registration was revised under the amended Societies Act, 2012, on March 4, 2014 (registration number 00601).

The trust has seven members, including Rampal and his brother Mahender Singh. Rampal, Mahender and Baljeet are the founder members. Four others were included later.

Rampal is the chairperson of the trust, while his brother Mahender Singh is the president. The other trustees are Rajender Singh (vice-president) of Bhatgaon village in Sonepat, Baljeet Singh (general secretary) of Barwala, Jagbir (treasurer) of Karsola village in Jind, Shashi Prabha (member), a retired principal from Jind, and Sunil (member) of Gurana village in Hisar.

The aims and objectives of the trust include distribution of food free of cost, organise langars, provide medical facilities to the poor, run hospitals on charitable basis, provide grant for setting up parks and sports institutions, set up orphanage and old-age homes.

The trust mentions that it approaches the state government, philanthropists and others for financial help.

Barwala, Nov ember 24
As part of the ongoing search of Rampal’s Satlok Ashram, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Haryana Police today recovered more arms and ammunition from the premises.

During the search, the SIT recovered 7.62 mm caliber pistol, three empty magazine, .32 bore revolver and 13 live cartridges of the weapon, police said.

Besides, police recovered five “petrol bombs”, five buckets of inflammable material, over 5,000 lathis, 52 helmets, acid bottles, 150 black-coloured commando dresses, 38 black cloth wrapped around the head by the commandos, over 1,000 small marbles and 50 mobile phones, they said.

The weapons were recovered from the almirah of a room, which fell right below where Rampal used to sit and address his followers.

The SIT has been conducting intensive search of the sprawling 12 acre ashram after Rampal's arrest. — PTI

Narnaul, November 24
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said all toll barriers in the state will from now on display duration of tax collection and total collected and expenditure incurred on constructing the toll road and overbridges.

He said a countdown clock would be installed to remove doubts from the minds of people regarding these projects. Apart from this, a system would be developed as per which each and every penny spent on developmental works would have to be recorded in the concerned project.

Khattar issued these directives while addressing a meeting of district officers during his first visit to Narnaul town today. He directed them to put on record spending on a project in planning stage itself. “The quantity of material to be used in the project should also be clearly mentioned so people are made aware of the expenditure on the project,” said the CM.

Blaming centralisation for the misuse of power, Khattar said the government had developed an effective system to ensure decentralisation of authority. “Making registries online and linking all type of pensions with bank accounts are some of the top priorities of the present government. Only then will the decaying system improve,” he added.

He said all types of social security pensions would be disbursed via bank accounts from February 2015. “About 80 per cent beneficiaries have bank accounts in the district and accounts would be opened for the rest. No one will face any trouble with this new system of disbursement. If anyone is incapable to visit the bank, he or she can submit an affidavit of an authorised person who would ensure disbursement at the doorstep,” said the CM.

Mahendragarh, November 24
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s first visit of to Ahirwal brought cheer to residents of Mahenderagarh district that has been facing an acute problem of declining groundwater.

The Chief Minister today said farmers would be provided JLN Canal water here for 22 days in place of 15. He also announced a fresh survey of areas in the “dark zone” to ascertain the water level. Farmers have repeatedly raised these demands.

Non-availability of adequate canal water has compelled farmers to rely on ground water, but the ban on installation of tubewells to check sharp decline in water table, which has been declared as dark zone, deprives them of groundwater.

Hearing out grievances at the PWD Rest House in Narnaul, Khattar said concrete efforts would be made to resolve the problems of receding groundwater and inadequate canal water in a time-bound manner. These problems were created due to the geographical location of the area and somewhat due to the approach of the previous governments, he added.

“Lift system will be streamlined for optimum utilisation of available water and the river issues with neighboring states will also be taken up through mutual dialogue. Apart from this, efforts will also be made to remove obstacle, if any, in the smooth flow of water from Rajasthan in the monsoon,” the Chief Minister added.

Faridabad, November 24
Power bills of consumers are likely to go up slightly as there are reports of revision in fuel surcharge. It will not be levied on agricultural consumers. The district has around 4.35 lakh consumers.

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) is yet to upload the circular of revision in fuel surcharge on its official website. It manages Faridabad, Palwal, Gurgaon, Narnaul, Rewari, Bhiwani, Hisar, Sirsa and Jind districts. The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN), which covers other districts in the state, has notified the hike.

The office of the Chief General Manager (Commercial) of the UHBVN, has issued a memo that fuel surcharge adjustment of 17 paise per unit has been approved for the second quarter of the current financial year.

It will be included in bills issued from November 1 for all categories of consumers except agricultural users. It will be in addition to the earlier fuel surcharge adjustment. This circular applies to consumers in Ambala, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Panipat, Karnal, Kaithal, Sonepat, Jhajjar and Rohtak districts.

There seems some confusion regarding the move as no such notice has been uploaded on the DHBVN website or dispatched to circle offices.

No such move had come to the notice of Mukesh Gupta, SE (Operations) of the Faridabad circle. He said he would have to enquire about the revision of fuel surcharge adjustment as it was routine in the purview of the HERC.

A spokesperson of the All Haryana Power Corporations Worker Union claimed that revision or adjustment in fuel surcharge adjustment affected all consumers in the state regardless of circle. He said the notification might have been delayed due to technical reasons.

Sanjay Verma, Director (Tariff) of the HERC, was not aware of any report on the hike in fuel surcharge adjustment. The power bill hike could be between Rs 17 and Rs 136 for consumption of between 100 and 800 units. The DHBVN has a total of around 28.82 lakh connections, of which about 2.94 lakh are in the agricultural category.

Chandigarh, November 24
State BJP leaders will meet at the residence of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar Tuesday afternoon to discuss party affairs.

In the recent elections in the state, most party office-bearers have been elected as legislators, leaving the state unit with only a few of them.

BJP office secretary Gulshan Bhatia sent letters, inviting leaders of the party to the Chief Minister’s residence. It will temporarily be turned into a BJP office.

All invitees were asked to come alone without supporters. They include all core committee members, MPs, MLAs, district presidents and morcha chiefs.

Many from among them are expected to be present in the Vidhan Sabha Tuesday as Birender Singh and Suresh Prabhu will file their nomination papers for getting elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Sources say the leaders are expected to discuss issues like the ongoing membership drive, their role in the upcoming Delhi elections under the chairmanship of the CM.

With former state BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma becoming a minister, views of party leaders will be taken on his replacement. Jat leader and Tohana MLA Subhash Barala, is the frontrunner.

Besides Ram Bilas, three BJP general secretaries have been elected to the House. They are Speaker Kanwal Pal Gujjar, Rohtak MLA Manish Grover and Barala.

BJP cashier Gian Chand Gupta is the MLA from Panchkula. The state BJP has no senior leader as its office-bearer, leaving the responsibility of running the state unit on Khattar.

Core committee members will be present in the meeting from 11:30 am to 1 pm. They are expected to hold a meeting on their own to discuss issues being faced by the party.

A major issue is internecine conflict between leaders, including some resentment over appointments of OSD to the CM. Senior leaders have decided to tell those present to make a concerted effort to make the people aware of policies and programmes of Khattar-led government.

The CM, ministers and MPs are expected to arrive at a consensus over the names that should find their way into the list of new office-bearers of the state BJP. The names of new leaders that are decided upon in the discussions are expected to be conveyed to national BJP president Amit Shah shortly.

Panipat, November 24
Mayor Bhupinder Singh may join the BJP Tuesday in the presence of senior BJP leaders in Chandigarh. Sources said he had been trying to join the BJP since it came to power in Haryana. Local BJP MLA Rohita Rewri’s husband Surender Rewri is in favour of Bhupinder joining the BJP, but several councillors were against it.

The sources said senior leaders had reportedly persuaded the councillors not to oppose the Mayor joining the BJP.Bhupinder is considered close to former Congress MLA Balbir Pal Shah, who did not contest the Assembly elections. His younger brother Varinder Kumar Shah was defeated.Bhupinder was in the INLD fold, but he had contested municipal elections as an independent candidate. Shah had helped him in becoming the Mayor. Bhupinder was not available for comment.

Jind, November 24
Nineteen days after local trader Darshan Aneja was shot dead while closing his shop, the special investigation team (SIT) today arrested two main accused in the case. The accused came to the trader’s shop and demanded Rs 2 lakh and shot him when he refused to pay up.

The SIT received information that two accused were hiding in an abandoned factory near Ridhana village. The police raided the factory and arrested main accused Parveen Kumar alias Rana and Naveen alias Landa, both of Nidana village. The third accused Shiv Kumar alias Shibu of Padana village is still at large.

Three unidentified assailants shot dead Darshan Aneja in the Urban Estate area around 10 pm on November 5. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital where he was declared brought dead, following which his relatives “attacked” doctors, including the Civil Surgeon, alleging delay in treatment. The police have registered a case against five persons — including Dr Krishan Middha, son of local INLD MLA Dr Harichand Middha — and arrested them for the attack on the doctors.

The police said the three had planned a robbery in the city’s Sabzi Mandi market, but by the time they reached on November 5, all shops had closed down. They then started searching for another target. Around 9.50 pm they reached Scheme No. 6 area of the city and found Darshan sitting in his shop. They threatened to kill him if he did not give them Rs 2 lakh. Darshan refused to pay and was shot dead by Parveen.

“We have arrested Parveen and Naveen and are conducting raids to arrest the third accused Shiv Kumar. They murdered the deceased after they failed to get Rs 2 lakh from him. We will produce them in court and secure their remand for further investigations” Jind SP Badan Singh said.

The confrontation between doctors and family members resulted in the transfer of then Jind SP Anil Dhawan on November 11. 

Sonepat, November 24
Two CRPF jawans were killed and three others seriously injured when the pilot vehicle in which they were travelling dashed into a tree on the GT Road near Murthal this morning.

The pilot jeep was escorting Jamiyat Ulema-e-Hind national general secretary Sayyad Mehmood Asad Madani, who was travelling from Delhi to Kairana in Shamli Tehsil in Uttar Pradesh. Madani was unhurt.

The police reached the spot and brought the accident victims to the Civil Hospital. Doctors declared Issarphil of West Bengal and Vanit Chauhan of Madhya Pradesh as “brought dead”. Pawan, Mohammad and jeep driver Narender were referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi in a serious condition.

The police said a potato-laden Canter collided with a motorcycle at the spot earlier in the morning, resulting in an oil spill on the GT road. The jeep driver lost control over the vehicle at the spot and it rammed into a tree.

The bodies were handed over to the DIG of CRPF Narela camp. The police have registered a case against an unidentified canter driver, who fled the spot after the incident.

Rohtak, November 24
A huge iron statue of late farmer leader Sir Chhotu Ram will be installed at Sampla town in the district. As much as 5,320 kg of iron will be collected from the people of the state for the purpose.

This was stated by Union Rural Development Minister Birender Singh while addressing a gathering to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sir Chhotu Ram at Sampla today.

Birender appealed to the people to donate 1 kg iron per head for making of the statue. He gave the instance of Sardar Patel’s ‘Statue of Unity’ being erected in Gujarat.

The ceremony was organised under the aegis of the Chhotu Ram Vichar Manch. Bhiwani-Mahendergarh MP Dharambir Singh and Sikar MP Swami Sumedhanand were also present.

Sonepat: Assembly Speaker Kanwar Pal Gujjar Monday said Sir Chhotu Ram had laid the foundation of rural development and self-reliance of the peasantry and the time had come to achieve sustainable development in the country.

He was delivering the keynote address at a programme to mark Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram’s birth anniversary. It was organised by Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram Chair at the DCR University of Science and Technology in Murthal in Sonepat district.

Paying tributes to the late leader, the Speaker said Chhotu Ram was particularly concerned about the lack of irrigation facilities to farmers before Independence and had initiated the proposal for the construction of Bhakra Nangal dam.

Union Minister Birender Singh’s wife Premlata said Sir Chhotu Ram promoted education for girls and opposed social evils. “His love for peasants was unparallelled and he devoted his life to farmers’ causes,” said the Uchana MLA.

Vice Chancellor RP Dahiya listed activities being undertaken by the Chair and the university for the needy. University Registrar RK Arora and Chair head BP Malik also spoke on the occasion.

Kaithal: Sir Chhotu Ram was not an individual but an institution in himself. He always worked for the social and economic uplift of farmers, labourers and poor sections of society. This was stated by Revenue, Finance and Excise and Taxation Minister Capt Abhimanyu during a function at Jat College.

Guhla MLA Kulwant Ram Bajigar was the special guest on the occasion.

Capt Abhimanyu garlanded the statute of Sir Chhotu Ram on the college premises. He said Sir Chhotu Ram struggled all his life to get justice for farmers and poor. The minister threw light on how the great visionary helped in opening educational institutions, so that wards of peasants could get education. The minister urged people to follow the ideals of the great visionary to bring about a change in the life of farmers and the poor.

Karnal, November 24
Over 18,600 households in the rural area of Karnal district do not have toilets. The statistics of the district administration revealed that in 2012, there were over 2.07 lakh households in the rural segments of the district. Of this, over 28,696 did not have their own toilets.

Girish Arora, Additional Deputy Commissioner, said the district administration had constructed over 10,000 toilets in the district in the last two year, but over 18,600 did not have the facility.

The situation is the same in the rural areas of all the blocks of the district comprising Assandh, Gharaunda, Indri, Nilokehri, Nissing and Karnal.

The ADC said under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (now Swachh Bharat Mission), the government, in 2000-01, had started the two-pit toilet scheme for those people in the rural areas who don’t have toilets at home.

“A grant for Rs 12,000 is given for the first toilet at home,” he said.

To make people aware of the scheme, the administration had appointed a block coordinator, two motivators and two cluster motivators in each block, said the ADC. He said they visited every household and encouraged people to construct toilet in their house, but still a large number of households were without toilet.

To determine the reasons behind the non-availability of toilets in these houses, The Tribune interacted with residents of various villages.

Sukhbir of Bastara village said the grant for making toilets should be given before the construction of the toilet. In the scheme, the amount is paid after the completion of the toilet.

“To make the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi come true, the Swachh Bharat Mission is on in full swing across the country. For this, it is important that every household has a toilet. Non-availability of toilets in villages leads to spreading of several diseases and this should be checked,” said Sumer Sharma, an artist, showcasing the importance of sanitation through plays.

To make the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi come true, the Swachh Bharat Mission is on in full swing across the country. For this, it is important that every household has a toilet. Non-availability of toilets in villages leads to spreading of several diseases and this should be checked —Sumer Sharma, An Artist

Chandigarh, November 24
The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) is facing a debt of over ~7,000 crore. Likely to be further steeped in debt to fund new acquisitions, the corporation’s challenge lies in servicing a ~800 crore debt per annum from the next fiscal. Add to this a manufacturing sector indicating a negative growth rate, certain “populist” decisions of the previous Congress regime that strained the treasury and the state’s fiscal scenario seems bleak.

The Industries Department is looking at turning the tables on the corporation’s poor fiscal health by reviewing and dropping “unviable acquisitions” in the state and adding ~1,000 crore to the coffers by sale of industrial plots.

Preferring to concentrate on the silver lining that lines the debt clouds, the corporation, sources maintain, made a profit of nearly ~1,400 crore in 2013-14. It is learnt to have recently switched from cash basis (money that comes in) to accrual basis (money that is committed) for accounting, as per the general corporate practice that has improved its account.

Maintaining that the corporation is a highly “solvent organisation” with ~12,000 crore in its books as assets, its market value is nearly double at ~20,000 crores. However, the government realises that having these on paper is not enough and the assets have to be monetised to bring in much-needed money. The top bosses, sources claim, are working on a plan to fast-track infrastructure development in various industrial estates, developing new areas and speed up the process of cutting out plots and putting these up for sale.

Finance and Industries minister Capt Abhimanyu, juggling a number of departments and working on “putting systems in place”, says, “Challenges are aplenty and there is very little time to put things back on the rails. To save the corporation, we need to sell the inventory, roll out sale of plots on priority in a transparent fashion. In the industrial sector, we need to invigorate industrial activity and fast-track the e-governance model and set a deadline for putting everything, including transfer of property, online. We will open up everything for everybody to minimise corruption and do away with the tradition of ‘centralising’ plot allotment as was the case in the previous regime where the CM office handled all that,” he said. 

Karnal, November 24
Angry over the cancellation of draw for plots in Sectors 32 and 33 in Karnal, hundreds of applicants Monday created a ruckus and demanded that the draw for plots should be held at the earliest.

The draw for 1,135 plots was scheduled for Monday. Sources said around 1,16,000 applications had been received for the plots, but the draw for plots was cancelled following a High Court order.

The administration had made arrangements to organise the draw for plots and hundreds of applicants from all over Haryana assembled at the site in Sector 12.

After they received information regarding the cancellation of draw for plots, they got furious and raised slogans against the HUDA administration.

Applicant Pankaj said he had taken a bank loan and would now have to deposit more amount in the bank for security.

Deepak Gupta of Sector 13 said the draw for plots should be organised at the earliest as they had paid interest to the bank.

Applicants sat on a dharna outside the HUDA office. Sushil Malik, SDM-cum-Estate Officer of HUDA, reached the spot and pacified them.

He said the draw for plots was cancelled following a High Court order and the department would raise their viewpoint so that the event could be organised at the earliest.

Some owners whose land had been acquired by HUDA for developing the sectors, had approached the High Court for allotting plots to them.

Yamunanagar, November 24
Three persons were killed in three accidents that took place in varrious parts of Yamunanagar district on Sunday.

In his complaint to the police, Laxmi Chand of Chhachhruali town said Sahib Singh of Chholi village sustained serious injuries when his motorcycle was hit by a car near Balachaur village on November 21.

He was admitted to a private hospital, where he succumbed to injuries on Sunday night.

In the second road mishap, Laxman Das of Milak Khas village reported to the police that his mother, Indri Devi, was injured when she was hit by a car near Ahluwala village on November 21 when she was walking on the road.

He said she died at a trauma centre, Yamunanagar, last night. The police have registered a case against the car driver.

Three-year-old Mannat of Dehradun was killed when she was hit by a truck on the Dosarka chowk in Sadhaura on Sunday evening. The Sadhaura police registered a case against the driver.

Yamunanagar, November 24
Vishvas Sharma, district secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, sustained serious injuries on Sunday when he was attacked by some persons. In his complaint to the Bilaspur police, Kumar, nephew of the victim, said some residents of Kakroni village were consuming liquor in their fields.

When his uncle objected, they left the spot. After some time, six persons reached the spot and attacked his uncle with sticks and swords.

He identified Rohit of Peeruwala village, Prince of Ajijpur village and Rajat of Telipura village among the assailants. Sanjeev said his uncle received serious injuries. Vishvas was admitted to tthe trauma centre in Yamunanagar in a critical condition. The Bilaspur police registered a case against six persons. — OC

Kurukshetra November 24
Ambala Division Commissioner Neelam Pradeep Kasni inaugurated the Crafts Mela and Saras Mela as part of the Kurukshetra Utsav-Gita Jayanti Samaroh 2014 celebrations on the banks of Brahmasarovar here today.

Artistes of the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, accorded a rousing welcome by playing traditional instruments. Artistes performed ‘kachi ghori’ dance.

This year, nearly 45 national award and nearly 15 state award winner craftsmen are participating.

Kasni said “The samaroh is getting bigger with every passing year. The Kurukshetra Development Board (KDB) started the Gita Jayanti Samaroh as a two-day fair in 1989-90. Now, it has turned into a full-fledged mahotsav.”

Deputy Commissioner CG Rajni Kaanthan, SDM and KDB CEO Vinay Pratap, ADC Prabhjot Singh and Kurukshetra University Registrar KC Ralhan were present.

The Crafts and Saras fairs will conclude on December 2 and December 6, respectively. On the first day of the mela, Aapno Rajsthan (a Rajasthani food court) and famous Maatu Ram’s Jalebi attracted many visitors.

Karnal, November 24
The absence of safety railings on both sides of the busy Gharaunda flyover over National Highway-1 near poses a threat to hundreds who use it every day. Several fatal accidents have taken place at the nearby Nirmal Kutiya flyover in Karnal due to missing railings, but no lessons seem to have been learnt.

The Gharaunda flyover is part of the project to six-lane National Highway-1 from Panipat to Jalandhar initiated in 2009. Many flyovers are yet to be completed, some have been made operational but without safety features such as railings. The Supreme Court has ordered Soma, the construction company executing the project, to complete it by March 2015.

Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Gharaunda, said railings were installed on both sides of the flyover to begin with but disappeared with time. Driving becomes especially dangerous at night due to decreased visibility. “Commuters are under constant fear of meeting with an accident due to the missing railings. Residents have repeatedly raised the issue with the authorities,” he said.

Gharaunda MLA Harvinder Kalyan said he, too, had taken up the issue with the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). “I have met the officers and they have promised to complete work at the earliest,” Kalyan said.

A representative of Soma said the company was in the process of the installing railings wherever missing. “The company is working to complete construction of flyovers and is checking safety measures at flyovers, including railing,” he said. 

Chandigarh, November 24
In view of foodgrains, vegetables and fruit worth Rs 50,000 crore getting wasted in storage and handling, the Haryana Government is promoting cold storage systems.

The government that has set up a stall at CII Agro Tech 2014 here is offering 35 per cent subsidy for cold storage systems up to a investment of Rs 6 crore and 50 per cent subsidy in case of ‘pack houses’.

Pack houses will act as collection centres for farmers where they can store their produce efficiently and sell it whenever they desire.

“The solution to better handling is to strengthen the logistics and supply chain, enhance cold storage infrastructure and set up several pack houses to store the produce efficiently before it reaches the mandis,” said Naveen Ahuja, cold chain consultant, Department of Horticulture, Haryana.

Farmers felt that investing more than Rs 6 crore in a cold chain was not viable for them, while officials said they had been promoting grouping of farmers for common investment.

Baldev Singh, a farmer from Ambala, said: “We (farmers) face problems of shortage, but we cannot invest a huge amount in storage. The debt will turn out to be much higher than the loss in terms of crop damage for me.”

Ahuja, however, said: “Farmers can form communities and buy the system which is need of the hour if they have to sustain in the long run.”

“We have got tremendous response from farmers visiting Agro Tech. The government has started a project with NABARD which has Rs 5,000 crore of funds available with them for the venture,” he added.

Karnal, November 24
Gharaunda MLA Harvinder Kalyan today inspected various ongoing development works in his Assembly segment. He was irked at the use of old bricks in the construction of the boundary wall of the cremation ground at Gharaunda.

He also sought an explanation from the officials concerned and said he would bring the matter to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s knowledge. He sought the details of the work done at various places of the segment in the last one year.

Kalyan started the inspection at around 9.30 am. He along with other party workers reached the cremation ground on the Railway road, where he found old bricks being used for the boundary wall. He called Municipal Committee officials on the spot and asked them about this misdoing, but no officials had any answer to his query.

Meanwhile, people alleged that officials charged over 25-30 per cent of commission from the contractor in all construction works.

Surinder Singla, former chairman, Municipal Committee, alleged that no work had been passed without commission. A contractor has to give commission for the passing of work.

On the demand of residents, the MLA sought the detail of the work done in the last year. He also inspected a road that was passed a few years ago but still no work has been done yet. Directing the officials, he said the work on this road should be started on priority.

The MLA also ordered the officials to clean a pond on the complaint of residents.

“I was shocked to see the use of old bricks for the construction of the boundary wall of the cremation ground. There’s no one here to supervise the work. I have sought explanation from the officials for the negligence and will take up the matter with the CM,” said Kalyan.

New Delhi, November 24
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said his government would take concrete steps to provide affordable housing to the people and sought the cooperation of the private sector in fulfilling that aim.

Addressing a conference organised by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) here today, Khattar said coordinated efforts were needed to meet the goal of “housing for all” and it was not possible for a single agency or the government to achieve that.

The state government would consider tying up with CREDAI to provide housing facility to people, he said while asking all big developers to make efforts to provide such facilities in rural areas based on the pattern for urban areas. He also urged the private sector to make affordable housing a part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement.

That would be a move towards preventing migration from rural areas and would help strengthen the economy, he added.

Lal said that since cost was a factor in providing affordable housing, the state government would contribute towards making the endeavour a success. — PTI

Panipat, November 24
Rampal should not have used his followers as human shield at Satlok Ashram. This was stated by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living this while talking to mediapersons in Panipat today.

Ravi Shankar said, “Rampal should have followed the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. No one is above law.” During the first day of his five-day Haryana tour, Ravi Shankar said, “Shankaracharya also had a criminal case against him and he had to go to jail. He was acquitted after nine years of court hearings.”