Chandigarh, June 6
Haryana today exempted cooking gas from value added tax (VAT) and reduced VAT on diesel from 12 per cent to 8.8 per cent. But the tax on petrol will continue to be 20 per cent.

These decisions were taken at an emergency Cabinet meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Briefing mediapersons, Hooda said Haryana was the first state in the country to exempt cooking gas from VAT.

The Cabinet’s decisions would benefit consumers of petroleum products in the state to the tune of Rs 357 crore.

The Cabinet meeting was convened to provide relief to the common man following the desire expressed by AICC president Sonia Gandhi that the states should also share the increase in the prices of petroleum products so that the minimum possible burden was put on people.

He said the decision to abolish VAT on cooking gas would benefit 31, 47, 371 consumers to the tune of Rs 45 crore.

After this concession, each LPG cylinder would be cheaper by Rs 13.10. Now each cylinder would be sold in Haryana at about Rs 340. Now VAT on diesel in Haryana would be at par with that in Punjab.

However, since Punjab also levied octroi on diesel in the municipal areas, the petroleum product largely used by farmers and transporters would be the cheapest in Haryana in the country.

It would sell at Rs 33.66 per litre in the state, Re 1 less than what diesel was selling at yesterday. Haryana would suffer a loss of Rs 312 crore. These concessions would be effective from today.

Asked why VAT had not been reduced on petrol, Hooda said already VAT on petrol was the lowest in the state.

It was 25 per cent in West Bengal, 29.04 per cent in Kerala, 27 per cent in Bihar, 33 per cent in Andhra Pradesh and 28 per cent in Rajasthan, 27.5 per cent in Punjab and 25 per cent in Chhattisgarh.

He said there was no proposal to increase the bus fare in the state in view of the hike in the prices of petroleum products.

In reply to another question, Hooda said he was willing to join Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal to visit Delhi to discuss issues concerning farmers with the central government. However, he said, the programme was yet to be finalised.

Meanwhile, Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi has described the state government’s decisions on the petroleum products as “a drop in the ocean”.

In a statement issued here today, Bishnoi said the Congress government in the state had just rubbed salt on the wounds of the people, who were already suffering because of the rising prices.

He said by reducing VAT on diesel by 4 per cent and a reduction of Rs 13 from price of cooking gas cylinder, the government could not claim itself to be people friendly.

The Haryana government should have taken a cue from Delhi, which had reduced the price of cooking gas by Rs 40 a cylinder.

The HJC leader also criticised Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for “shedding crocodile tears” over the misery caused to the people by the price rise.

Sirsa, June 6
Activists of the CPI and the CPM held a protest by blocking traffic against the hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG here today.

The agitators led by Rajkumar Shekhupuria, district secretary, CPM, and Jai Chand Saharni, district secretary, CPI, handed over a memorandum to the district administration to be handed over to the Prime Minister.

Holding banners and raising slogans, the agitators began the protest march from Shahid Udham Singh Park.

Before the culmination of the agitation at mini-secretariat, they blocked vehicular traffic at Lal Batti Chowk.

Shekupuria and Saharni said it would have been better if the government reduced custom and excise duties instead of passing on the burden to the common man.

They sought immediate rollback of fuel price hike besides bringing down the prices of essential commodities, which had witnessed steep rise recently.

They also demanded regular supply of water and assured 12-hour power supply
for irrigation.

Rewari: Activists of the CPM headed by Prem Singh Gehlawat, in charge of party affairs in Haryana, held a demonstration at the Shivam Chowk here today in protest against the hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG.

Demanding immediate rollback, they burnt an effigy of the UPA government as well.

Sonepat: Hundreds of activists of the district unit of the CPM led by district secretary Shradha Nand Solanki today took out a procession in the town against the steep hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG.

The protesters handed over a memorandum, addressed to the Prime Minister, to deputy commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi.

Their demands included rollback of price hike and reduction in excise and custom duties on petroleum products.

Solanki, who is also the vice-president of the state unit of the All-India Kisan Sabha, said the hike in fuel prices would adversely affect normal life of the common people.

It would also have bearing on the prices of essential commodities, he added.

Karnal, June 6
The jailer of Ambala Central Jail landed in another controversy when top jail officials raided the prison campus yesterday morning and found administrative irregularities.

According to sources, the Ambala jail staff was making way for drugs, eatables and even “servants” for the “VIP” inmates.

Preliminary investigation by the state prisons department revealed that the jailer, Surinder Pal Singh Chauhan, had specifically issued written orders to attach a jail inmate to look after Dharam Chand, former IAS officer of the UT cadre and now a murder convict.

The sources said a copy of the “illegal” orders was seized by the raiding team, led by the IG, prisons. When questioned by the top officials, the jailer reportedly failed to provide a satisfactory answer.

The raiding party had also seized opium, dry fruits and other eatables from the possession of various jail inmates.

The officials confirmed that under no circumstances any prisoner could be put on duty with any jail inmate or official.

"It is a sheer breach of the jail manual, but interestingly the Ambala jailer had put his orders in black and white. It is a matter of investigation that for how long jail inmates were being exploited by putting them on such duties,” said an official.

Last month, The Tribune had first reported that Chauhan had indulged in alleged misconduct after he furnished an “unauthorised” undertaking to the Punjab and Haryana High Court about the release of a murder convict.

The state had sought an explanation from the prison department in this regard. The sources said Chauhan had not submitted his reply to his parent department even as the reply was meant to be filed immediately.

Meanwhile, the department has ordered the shifting of two prisoners, the former IAS officer and gangster Naresh, alias Sonu, from the Ambala jail to the Karnal and Kurukshetra district jails, respectively.

Kaithal, June 6
The three dreaded criminals, Joginder Singh, Baljeet and Surender Pehalwan, of the Surender Geong gang, who were extradited from South Africa today, were produced in a local court, which sent them to a seven-day police remand.

The trio was taken into custody at the IGI Airport from the South African police by a team of the Haryana police headed by Sonepat SSP and extradition in charge Navdeep Singh Virk.

Later, the fugitives were handed over to a team of the Kaithal police led by DSP, AEC, Vinod Kaushik and brought to Kaithal under tight security.

The criminals were members of a gang of extortionists and had allegedly shot dead a local plywood dealer, Narinder Arora, on March 17, 2006, when the victim did not pay extortion money of Rs 50 lakh to them.

Later, the three managed to escape to South Africa on fake passports and started making extortion calls to prominent doctors and businessmen of Kaithal area.

Virk, the then Kaithal SSP, on behalf of the Haryana police informed the South African police about the presence of these criminals following which they were arrested by the South Africa police.

The Haryana police had requested the South African government for extradition of these three criminals through channels of ministry of external affairs, which was ordered on March 27, 2008.

This is the first such case in which the criminals were brought to India from South Africa through extradition proceedings.

Sheer hard work and focused approach helped Dhruv to achieve his goals. Dhruv wants to become a professor of economics at some premier institute.

All these children, except Ranjit, have been handed to their relatives. Ranjit hails from Bihar

Panipat, June 6
The state government today handed over cheques worth Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the two persons who died in police firing during the Gujjar protest at Pattikalyana village on May 29.

The cheques were handed over to Sunita, wife of Papan, and Sadhu Ram, father of Kuldip, by deputy commissioner Mohinder Singh.

The DC said besides, Rs 1,000 each had been given to 50 persons who had sustained injuries during the clashes. The money had been made available from the Red Cross funds.

He said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had assured the family members of the deceased that a fair probe would be conducted into the firing incidents.