Arrests continue in Haryana
From Tribune Reporters

CHANDIGARH, Sept 15 — The Haryana Government today continued to arrest its employees on the eve of the proposed strike, the call for which has been given by the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh.

The strike call has been given to demand full implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission report and in protest against the alleged privatisation of the power and transport sectors.

According to reports received here today, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed in all districts.

In a statement issued here today, the general secretary and the divisional secretary of the mahasangh, Mr M.L. Sehgal and Mr Ishwar Saini, respectively, appealed to the people for their cooperation. They said the employees had been peacefully agitating for the past eight months to press their demands. They had even once postponed the strike and "jail bharo" agitation in May last year so that the issues could be resolved through negotiations.

They alleged that after two rounds of talks with the Chief Secretary on May 2 and May 25, the accepted demands were sent to the Chief Minister for approval, who rejected the entire package.

The employee leaders said the government was under the impression that it could fail tomorrow’s strike by arresting the employees in a large number.

They said the lower functionaries of the police department were cooperating with the employees as a result of which all senior leaders had escaped arrest.

AMBALA: The police has so far arrested 34 employees in the district to foil the strike call given by the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh for Wednesday.
The spokesman for the HSEB Workers’ Union, Mr Devi Prasad, on Tuesday condemned the arrest of Mr Dhara Singh, a senior trade union leader.

JIND: The district administration claimed to have made elaborate arrangements to deal with the government employees’ statewide strike on Wednesday. The call for the strike was given by the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh.

According to Mr Tarun Bajaj, Deputy Commissioner, essential services like water and power supply and bus services will be maintained during the strike. He said prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed in the district in view of the strike call. Panchayats have been directed to undertake "thikri pehra" to prevent any damage to public property.

Meanwhile, the police is reported to have arrested at least 12 employee leaders as a preventive measure. Some employee leaders have reportedly gone underground to evade arrest.

ROHTAK: While the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh appeared adamant in enforcing the strike on Wednesday, authorities have made elaborate arrangements to ensure functioning of essential services like power and water supply and running buses of Haryana Roadways.

The administration has also assured safety of those employees who want to attend their duties on the strike day.

The police has been deployed at the power houses, waterworks, bus stands and sensitive installations. All able-bodied villagers in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts have been asked to perform "thikri pehra" (night patrolling) to safeguard vital installations and power transmission lines in their respective areas.

The Haryana Roadways buses would be parked on Tuesday night in the local Police Lines. The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anand Mohan Sharan, said the buses would begin their journey from bus stand under police escort.

The Deputy Commissioner, Jhajjar, Mr Arun Kumar, said all roadways buses leaving Jhajjar and Bahadurgarh would start from the respective bus stands. No one would be allowed to disrupt essential services in the district, he told TNS over telephone.

Although the police has arrested some employee leaders, most of the top leaders have gone underground to escape arrest before the strike. A senior functionary of the HSEB Workers Union telephonically told TNS the employees on operation duty would boycott the night shift starting at 10 p.m. on Tuesday till 10 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Haryana Vidyut Parsaran Nigam has sanctioned Rs 25,000 to each executive engineer (operation) to meet emergency expenses in view of the threatened strike.

Meanwhile, commenting on the declaration of the strike as illegal, Mr S.D. Kapoor, president of the Karamchari Sangh clarified the sangh and the unions affiliated to it had submitted a demand charter to the government with a notice of 45 days in keeping with Constitution. He said the employees resorted to a strike only due to the "casual" attitude of the government towards their demands. He invited the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, for an open debate with the employees to make the situation clear before the people.

According to information received here, the arrests of top Mahasangh leaders continued on Tuesday.

As many as 70 leaders were arrested from Rewari, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Tohana, Pehowa, Pundri, Sonepat and Bawal.

SONEPAT: As many as 13 members of the Haryana Viduyat Prasaran Nigam Workers Union, affiliated to the Sarv Karamchari Mahasangh have been taken into custody in this district during the past 24 hours as a preventive measure in view of the strike call given by the Mahasangh and other employee union for Wednesday.

According to official sources, those arrested include Mr Onkar Singh and Mr Shiv Kumar, president and secretary, respectively of the Haryana Viduyat Prasaran Nigam Workers Union. A number of leaders of the employees have also gone underground to evade arrest and make the strike call a success.

The District Magistrate, Mr P.R. Mahapatra, on Tuesday promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Cr.P.C, banning the assembly of five or more persons within 100 metres’ radius around the power substation and other vital installations.

The District Magistrate has already directed the gram panchayats in the district to undertake round-the-clock patrolling to prevent any damage to public property.

YAMUNANAGAR: The District Magistrate has imposed Section 144 in the district on account of the strike call given by the Haryana Karamchari Mahasangh and the Haryana State Electricity Board Workers Union on Wednesday.

The District Magistrate also prohibited carrying of any weapon of offence like firearms, swords and lathis from Tuesday to October 14.

In another order, the Deputy Commisioner ordered that all able-bodied adult male inhabitants of villages in Yamunanagar district shall be required to perform patrolling duties at night to prevent sabotage and ensure the security and safety of power transmission lines under the jurisdiction of their villages.

According to an official press note, 10 special magistrates have been deployed in the district along with police contingents to ensure peace.