Chandigarh, February 2
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the Haryana Government not to take back work charge given to the Social Education and Panchayat Officers (SEPO) if their continuation did not affect the quota reserved for them for the posts of Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO). They will be allowed to continue in their present posts till the regular appointments are finalised, the Bench said.

Disposing of the petition filed by Mr Naresh Kumar and other SEPOs, all of whom have been holding the charge of BDPOs for the past over three years, the Division Bench comprising Mr Justice J.S. Khehar and Mr Justice S.N. Aggarwal also said if the continuation of the petitioners on the posts of BDPOs was beyond the quota, the government was right in taking the charge back from them.

In their petition, Mr Naresh Kumar and others had challenged the January 13 order issued by the Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary, Department of Panchayats, Haryana, through which the work charge allotted to the petitioners had been withdrawn. The petitioners had been holding the charge in their own pay and scale since August, 2002.

However, they had challenged the order on the ground that the government had erred in taking back the charge as they had been working against the posts for the past many years. They had also stated that there was even a quota for SEPOs for making appointments to BDPOs.

Rohtak, February 2
The Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said today that despite acute paucity of power, his government would not let any farmer’s crop dry up due to lack of irrigation.

Addressing the 125th birth anniversary function of the late Sir Chhotu Ram here, he said the state had been buying power at the rate of Rs 7 a unit to keep tubewells running so that the farmers did not suffer. This would continue till the state raised its own generating capacity to 9000 MW.

He said he was not in the habit of making false promises and so he would not say that the problem would be solved in a few months. But, he assured, that the next three years or so would see Haryana generating an additional 5000 MW. Once that was done, all villages would get assured supply for 20 to 22 hours a day.

Referring to equitable distribution of irrigation and drinking water to all districts that his government had ensured, he said, some people had not been able to digest this. Obviously referring to the Chautala regime which diverted water to Sirsa district during its rule, he said such people might go to the extent of hatching a conspiracy against the people of this area. “Be on the guard”, he added.

The Chief Minister said Sir Chhotu Ram had always been telling farmers to learn two things in life – one, recognise your enemies and two, learn to speak. He said by rejecting the previous regime, the farmers had shown that they recognised their enemies. It was now up to them to learn to have their say.

Earlier, speaking at another anniversary-related function here last night, Mr Hooda said the government was planning to set up industrial estates on the Faridabad and Manesar patterns in the area and that big industrial houses were already showing keen interest in projects in the area. This would bring economic benefits to the people of the area.

The Chief Minister asked the youth to follow the ideals of Sir Chhotu Ram and said to limit the legacy of the great leader to Jats alone would be a horrible mistake. He said Chhotu Ram’s philosophy was as relevant today as during his lifetime.

Jhajjar, February 2
With the arrest of two persons, the district police claimed to have solved the murder case of a taxi driver who was found dead in the fields of nearby Jahangirpur village on January 19.

The police said a patrol party today arrested a person identified as Joginder, a resident of Sonepat district, under the Arms Act and seized a .315-bore pistol and two live cartridges from him. The police, however, got suspicious about his credentials and interrogated him further. He later disclosed that he along with his two accomplices, identified as Devender and Mukesh, both hailing from Sonepat, has killed a taxi driver near Kot village on the Jhajjar-Badli road.

The police said while Mukesh was arrested on the tip-off given by Joginder, the third accused, Devender, who is a hardcore criminal involved in about 12 cases of murder and loot in Delhi, Sonepat, Panipat and Kurukshetra, was on the run.

However, confessing their crime, the two accused narrated the story of murder of the taxi driver, Kuldeep, a resident of Kheri Gwalison.

Sonepat, February 2
A family feud led to the killing of three members of a family at Guhna village, about 15 km from here, last night.

According to police sources, Dharamvir (43), head of the family, shot dead his wife Parkashi (42), and son Arun (19) in his house. Thereafter Dharamvir shot himself dead.

On seeing the ghastly incident, a 15-year-old girl, Ankit, however, managed to escape and went to a relative’s house and narrated the incident to him. The relative, in turn, informed the police. — OC

Karnal, February 2
The Sarv Karamchari Sangh, Haryana, came forward in support of the striking Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees against airport privatisation plans here today.

The members of the sangh organised a demonstration under the leadership of its district president, Mr Om Prakash Sihmar, at Karan Park against lathi-charge on the striking AAI employees in Mumbai yesterday. The police had resorted to lathi-charge after protesters started pelting stones and breaking police barricades at the entrance of the airport building.

Several representatives of the sangh, including its vice-president, Mr Censor Pal, its block president, Mr Shiv Prashad, and the district secretary of BSNL employees union, Mr Balu Ram, also addressed the demonstrators.

Jind, February 2
Four persons, including a woman, were killed and three injured when the car in which they were travelling met with an accident on the Jind-Patiala road, about 50 km from here, today.

The dead include Jaiparkash (60), Jagmohan (55), Satpal (45) and Urmila (50) while the injured have been identified as Bimla (50), Zimpy (20) and Riya (10). They all belong to Moga in Punjab.

Jaiparkash, Jagmohan and Satpal died on the spot while Urmila succumbed to her injuries at the General Hospital, Narwana. — OC

Chandigarh, February 2
Sugarcane growers, the Haryana Government and Saraswati Sugar Mill, Yamunanagar, said to be the biggest in Asia, are on a collision course, following which the crushing operations at the mill have come to a halt.

What is most surprising is that the cane growers of the area have stopped harvesting the crop and supplying it to the mill, despite the fact that Haryana has announced the highest price for cane in the country. Moreover, the increase in the price this year was a record for a single year throughout the history of Haryana.

The mill has not been crushing cane since January 19. A meeting between the Ganna Kisan Sangharsh Samiti and the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, here a couple of days ago remained unfruitful. Mr Hooda said a firm no to most of the demands of the growers, which included an incentive of Rs 15 per quintal by the mills, permission to the mills outside the state to buy sugarcane in Haryana and declaring cane variety 8436 an early variety.

According to sources, Mr Hooda told a delegation of the samiti that it was for the mill owners to pay incentives, if they wanted. While no outside mill would be allowed to purchase cane in Haryana, the government had no objection if the farmers took their crop outside the state in their own vehicles. He promised to consult agricultural experts on the demand to declare variety 8436 an early variety.

The cane prices, which had remained static in the past five years, were raised to Rs 135, Rs 123 and Rs 121 per quintal for early, mid and late varieties, respectively, this year. Since there is negligible production of those varities which are considered at present to be early varieties in the state, the samiti is demanding that variety 8436, which at present is considered to be a mid-variety, should be declared an early variety.

The sources say even before January 19, when the mill stopped the crushing operations, it was not getting adequate quantity of cane for a number of reasons. The mill has a capacity to crush over 1.25 lakh quintals per day. It was not that the farmers were not satisfied with the rates fixed by the state government. The sources point out that the growers had been supplying cane to the mill even when it was paying Rs 16 per quintal less than the state advisory price.

The sources say this year the mill started the crushing operations about a fortnight in advance of the usual time. The extremely low temperature and frost in early January damaged the root-on(stub with roots left by the farmers for regrowth), which deterred the farmers from harvesting the crop till suitable climatic conditions prevailed.

The yield is also less this year as about 20 per cent of the crop is believed to have been damaged by the top borer. The sources say since the farmers did not get remunerative prices, particularly in the areas bonded with private sugar mills, they were discouraged this year from growing cane in large quantities.

Following the failure of its talks with the Chief Minister, the samiti has now given a call for a “mahapanchayat” on February 4, when the next course of action will be decided.

The suspension of the crushing operations, however, have turned out to be a blessing in disguise, feel agricultural experts. Since the daily needs of the Yamunanagar mill were harvested from about 800 acres, the suspension has resulted in saving the root-on on about 15,000 acres. With the climatic conditions now favourable, the farmers can harvest the crop without any fear about next year’s yield.

Before the crushing operations were suspended, the cane prices being offered by khandsari and jaggery units ranged from Rs 160 to Rs 170 per quintal. Now these prices have come down to about Rs 130 per quintal. 

Ambala, February 2
Dainik Yatri Sewa Sangh today held a demonstration at Ambala Cantt railway station to protest against the hike in parking charges.

The demonstrators were led by Mr Mewa Singh Bhaya. The Sangh stated that in January this year, the monthly parking charges for cycles and scooters were hiked. For cycles, it has been hiked from Rs 30 to Rs 75 while for scooters, it has been hiked from Rs 60 to Rs 150.

After holding the demonstration, a delegation of the Sangh met Divisional Railway Manager R.K. Tandon. The delegation demanded that the monthly charges at the cycle and scooter stand should be brought down and additional coaches should be attached with 1UC train. TNS