The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Sunday, November 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India

H A R Y A N A

Cong flays Chautala’s remarks on Sonia
Faridabad, November 24
The secretary of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), Mrs Sharda Rathaur, has reacted sharply to the reported statement of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala regarding Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Eve-teasing under police nose
Fatehabad, November 24
The menace of eve-teasing has been on the rise here. Though the incidents of the eve-teasing in markets and around girls’ education centres in the town is not a new phenomenon here, the menace has assumed alarming proportions in the past few months, thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the police.

Dry spell, power shortage to hit rabi sowing
Faridabad, November 24
Dry spell and shortage of power have added to the worries of southern Haryana, farmers who have started sowing of rabi crops.

Guard against groupism, Jaitley tells students
Kurukshetra, November 24
Mr Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs, has asked students to guard themselves against groupism, both religious and political.

Haryana to have women police station
Panchkula, November 24
The Haryana police will set up all-women police stations in all districts in the state to keep a check on the rising cases of crime against women.

REGIONAL BRIEFS

YOUR TOWN

Faridabad
Kurukshetra
Panchkula
Rohtak

EARLIER STORIES

	Cong flays working of selection board November 24, 2001
	Dwelling unit project runs into trouble November 23, 2001
	Now, 3rd phase of ‘sarkar aapke dwar’ November 22, 2001
	INLD-BJP alliance hits a roadblock November 21, 2001
	Auction of mine leasing rights a success November 20, 2001
	‘Govt may use POTO against scribes’ November 19, 2001
	Stamp duty worth crores evaded November 18, 2001
	Unforgettable day for Ahirwal November 17, 2001
	Palwal SDM may be shifted November 16, 2001
	Haryana orders shifting of ‘public-dealing’ staff November 14, 2001

	Cong flays Chautala’s remarks on Sonia Tribune News Service Faridabad, November 24 The secretary of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), Mrs Sharda Rathaur, has reacted sharply to the reported statement of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala regarding Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Mrs Rathaur today criticised the statement of Mr Chautala that “Mrs Sonia Gandhi could be ‘disciplined’ if Mrs Maneka Gandhi joins his party.” Mrs Rathaur said such remarks from the Chief Minister of a state were not only unexpected, but also ‘unwarranted’. She said Mr Chautala should ‘mend’ his ways first and put his House in order before commenting on others relationship. Mrs Rathaur said Mr Chautala should not forget that while one of his brother was in the Congress, another had been openly criticising him and his father, the late Devi Lal, on various occasions. She said Mrs Maneka Gandhi’s inclusion in Chautala’s party of any other party would have no affect on the Congress. She also sought a public apology from Mr Chautala on the issue.
	Eve-teasing under police nose Sushil Manav Fatehabad, November 24 The menace of eve-teasing has been on the rise here. Though the incidents of the eve-teasing in markets and around girls’ education centres in the town is not a new phenomenon here, the menace has assumed alarming proportions in the past few months, thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the police. The local dharamshala road is the worst-affected area. Government Girls Senior Secondary School and the Government College for Women are situated there. The road becomes the hunting ground for street Romeos at the opening as well as closing hours of those institutions. The eve-teasing harass every girl who happened to pass by them. No bystander dares to challenge them. The impurity, with which they have been harassing school and college going girls, has emboldened them. Ironically, the road is situated just opposite to the Sadar police station and both these institutions are hardly 100 metres away from the police station. But, what to speak of restraining the hooligans from pursuing their evil designs, some policemen standing outside the police station can be seen passing unsavoury comments on girls passing by them. The market of the four-marla colony here is another place which is also affected by the menace. Come evening and the eve-teasers are active here. This is a favourite market of most of the women. Eve-teasers can be easily spotted standing in small groups or sitting outside some juice shops waiting for their prey. Sometimes it becomes very embarrassing for girls and young women to go around the market for shopping. The roads leading to the local Manohar Memorial College are some other places that have become favourite hunting grounds of eve-teasers. Eve-teasers have innovated several methods to attract the attention of young girls and carry out their plans. Many of them have installed musical horns that produce high-pitch sound of their motor cycles and they would blow the horn too close to the girls. A harried lot of girls do not know whom to complain. Even the parents of the girls are worried over this unchecked social evil. Though the police had made efforts to check the menace and concerted efforts of it did yield results, the local police are clueless why it has been adopting an indifferent attitude now. The people hope that the district police that has been organising a number of functions to mark the Women Empowerment Year would look into the problem being faced by young women and take some action against the ruffians.
	Dry spell, power shortage to hit rabi sowing Tribune News Service Faridabad, November 24 Dry spell and shortage of power have added to the worries of southern Haryana, farmers who have started sowing of rabi crops. The region comprising districts of Faridabad, Gurgaon, Mahendragarh, Rewari and Jhajjar receives scanty rainfall and the farmers chiefly depend on tubewells for irrigation. As sowing of rabi crops has started, farmers feel that the dry spell prevailing for the past three months could worsen the situation if the rain is delayed and shortage of power persists for another 20 to 25 days. While many farmers have sown crops, like wheat, several others are preparing to do so. According to a farmer of a nearby village, prospects of good rabi crop could be affected adversely if the fields were not irrigated in the next 15 to 20 days. He claimed that the moisture in the land was not sufficient and it could delay the work. While the farmers are a little worried, the situation could worsen if the power supply position in rural areas fails to improve. While Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala has assured regular supply of power in villages for the sowing season, it seems that there had been hardly any improvement so far. Average supply of power to villages in the region had been only six to 10 hours a day. Farmers claim that it was not enough considering the growing demand. The Haryana Janata Dal (U) chief, Mr Ved Parkash Vidrohi, has asked the state government to improve the supply of power to villages of the region. The closing down of one of power production plants of the NTPC at Mujeri village and the Faridabad power station for annual maintenance work is another reason for the power shortage. It is reported that shortage in production has led to power cut of up to 20 hours a day in villages in the district. The maintenance work is likely to continue for about 20 to 25 days.
	Guard against groupism, Jaitley tells students K.G. Dutt Kurukshetra, November 24 Mr Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs, has asked students to guard themselves against groupism, both religious and political. He said this in his convocation address to the passing out graduate and post graduate students of Kurukshetra University here today. Mr Jaitley maintained that our differences were due to emphasis on “narrow boundaries of history”. He said the need of the hour was to raise our vision beyond history, beyond space and time, beyond the origin of narrow boundaries to discover supra-temporal nature of man. He opined that today’s convocation was an opportunity to reflect on the essence of the Bhagvadgita. Mr R.S. Chaudhary, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, said when students felt that they were falling apart they should look back to their Alma Mater for sustenance. Earlier, the Chancellor of the university, Babu Parmanand, conferred the degree of LL.D (honoris causa) on Mr Arun Jaitley for his outstanding academic merit, legal foresight and selfless service, particularly in containing corruption and crime through legal means. He stressed the need for imbibing the message of “oneness and unity” among them. Mr Jaitley said while the country was moving from an era of information technology to communication, the aim of higher education remained the same. Mr Jaitley said “oneness” was the essence of human beings. Had it not been so, man would not have been social. Moreover, our longing for companionship manifested our spiritual essence of ‘oneness. The Law Minister said the students should realise that every human being, no matter who he might be, was a fellow man. Such a recognition had to be maintained and developed through inter-relationship in dealing with fellow men.

Haryana to have women police station
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, November 24
The Haryana police will set up all-women police stations in all districts in the state to keep a check on the rising cases of crime against women.

This was stated by the Director General of Police, Mr M.S. Malik, while presiding over a seminar on ‘Female Foeticide-Causation, Trends and Policy Interventions’. He said these police stations would first be set up in Ambala, Rohtak, Hisar and Gurgaon by January 2002. He added that 270 women constables had also been inducted in the police.

Speaking on female foeticide, Mr Malik said in this male-dominated and dowry-infested society, people preferred a male child. He urged women to stand up for their rights.

He said in Panchkula, the male-female ratio was 1000:779, which was even lower than the backward areas, like Mahendragarh, where the ratio was 1000:910.

Ms Jyoti Arora, Deputy Commisioner, said the middle-income group was responsible for the menace. She said there was a need to start a religious and social campaign against the menace.

Among others who spoke on the occasion included Mr Sunil Gulati, Director of Haryana Census Department; Dr K.C. Kayasth, chairman of Social Science Department of Panjab University; Mr K.P. Singh, ADGP, CID.

Kalka Diary
Need for a girls’ school
Harjit Singh Jaggi

Kalka
This sub-divisional town does not have a government school for girls, though there are some private schools for girls, a government school for boys, and a few model schools. The residents of this town have been demanding a government school for girls from successive governments, but so far have received only promises. Girls from this town have to go to Panchkula, or even Chandigarh, for schooling which often is an uphill task for them.

Some private schools that have come up in residential houses, have adopted the syllabi of some reputed model schools. They proclaim to have English as the medium to impress the parents but the teachers are ill paid and the fees are exorbitant.

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Class III and Class IV employees of the Life Insurance Corporation held a demonstration to protest against privatisation of life insurance. Leaders of the employees’ union asserted that exploitation of the poor employees would not be tolerted. The president of the union, Mr Vikas Sharma, demanded that instead of privatisation, the vacanices in the corporation should be filled. He threatened that if the Central Government remained adamant, they would be forced to go on a one-day token strike.

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Under Operation Goodwill, the Kalka Railway Police held a meeting with the public under the presidentship of Railway Police Inspector Jagir Singh. The purpose was to create cordial relations between the police and the public. Railway employees and coolies participated in the meeting. The Station Master, Mr Darshan Lal Kalra, stressed the need for proper coordination between the police and the public. The president of the coolies union, Mr Shriram, said that the fear of the police should be removed from the minds of the people, if better relations between the public and the police were to be created. Mr Jagir Singh said that cooperation of the public with the police was necessary and the people should not hesitate to approach the police with their grievances.

***

A Chandigarh-bound bus from Shimla, suddenly had its rear wheels detached near housing board colony. The bus came to a halt on the road after skidding to some distance. Some of the 46 passengers of the bus received minor injuries.

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A Bal Mela held at Bal Bharti School here, included different competitions and cultural programmes in which a number of children participated. The fancy dress competition was a major attraction. Some stalls of eatables also draw attention.

The function was organised by Rotract Club, Kalka, and the manager of the school, Mr R.C. Sharma, gave away the prizes.