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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Wednesday, December 22, 1999 |
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Development top priority: Chautala SONEPAT, Dec 21 — The Haryana Government has undertaken the work of desilting and deweeding of all canals, distributaries and minors on a large scale to ensure water supply to farmers in the state. BJP leader's kin murdered NARNAUL, Dec 21 — The police has failed to make any arrests in connection with the murder of Raj Kumar Sharma, a relative of former Deputy Chairman, Planning Board, Haryana, and general secretary of the state unit of the BJP, Mr Kailash Sharma, that took place here yesterday. |
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Seat adjustment in a
week: Grover KARNAL, Dec. 21 — The Haryana BJP would finalise the question of seat adjustment with the INLD within a week. This was stated here tonight by Mr O.P. Grover, president of the Haryana BJP, and Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, a former Minister, at a press conference. Labour-cum-Conciliation
Officer for Panchkula Hooda
seeks white paper on sops Samalkha
tehsil upgraded Jats’
plea for reservation Alliance
with Cong not ruled out: HVP Public men on Haryana boards |
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Development top priority: Chautala SONEPAT, Dec 21 — The Haryana Government has undertaken the work of desilting and deweeding of all canals, distributaries and minors on a large scale to ensure water supply to farmers in the state. This was stated by the Indian National Lok Dal supremo and the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, while addressing a rural gathering at PWD (B&R) Rest House, Rai, 15 km from here, today. Mrs Krishna Gehlawat, Minister for Social Welfare, Mr Suraj Mal Antil, former MLA, Mr Ved Singh Malik, former minister and Mr Ranbir Singh Dahiya, President of the district unit of the INLD, were among those who welcomed Mr Chautala. Mr Chautala charged the previous governments with adopting anti-farmer attitude. Referring to the supply of electricity, he claimed that his government was mobilising all its resources to ensure round-the-clock power supply in all sectors. For this purpose, it was purchasing power from the neighbouring states. He further said the state government had already ordered the authorities of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam to replace all old electricity poles and remove power lines touching the roofs of the houses of people. This, he said, would avoid fatal accidents. Regarding the supply of potable water in the rural areas, Mr Chautala said his government would provide 70 litres of water to each person every day. For this propose, numerous schemes had already been launched and steps were being taken to construct new water works in rural areas. He stated that the government would remove all sorts of encroachments on the gram panchayat lands and the Revenue Department authorities had been directed to prepare new maps for this purpose. He added that he had asked the district and police authorities to take legal action against those who failed to vacate gram panchayat lands. Regarding the repairs of the roads, the Chief Minister said the repair had already been started and the entire work would be completed by May, next year. The state government, he said, had asked the sarpanches to inspect the repair work and bring it to the notice of the authorities concerned in case the work was sub-standard. He also said concrete roads would be constructed in rural areas. He announced that the state government had undertaken a fresh survey for identifying the poor in the state. A survey to identify persons for old-age pension, which would be disbursed at the rate of Rs 200 per month from next month, had been also undertaken. He appealed to the people not to be misled by false propaganda by some opposition parties. He also said his government was committed to grant pension at the double rate from January, next year positively. Referring to the forthcoming mid-term Assembly elections in the State, Mr Chautala defended his step for the dissolution of the Assembly. He announced that Mr Suraj Mal Antil, former MLA would be the party candidate form the Rai Assembly seat. Later Mr Chautala held
an open darbar and heard the grievances of the people. |
BJP leader's kin murdered NARNAUL, Dec 21 — The police has failed to make any arrests in connection with the murder of Raj Kumar Sharma, a relative of former Deputy Chairman, Planning Board, Haryana, and general secretary of the state unit of the BJP, Mr Kailash Sharma, that took place here yesterday. The deceased was murdered by a group of persons in broad daylight on the Rewari-Narnaul road. According to police sources, the incident took place when Raj Kumar was returning to his native village Neerpur, near here, from a local court. The district police chief, Mr R.C. Mishra, was not available for comments. However, officials at the local city police station said that no arrest had been made so far. The police has registered an FIR under Sections 302, 14, 149, 452 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code. The complainant in the case is Mr Pradeep Kumar, a relative of the deceased. Zhabbar Singh, Bablu, Bhim, Kuldeep alias Tiger and Deepak, all residents of Mandi village, Mahabir Prasad and Pawan, residents of Dohar Kalan village and Anil of Naseebpur village have been named as accused in the FIR. Four more unidentified persons have also been accused in the FIR. According to the police, the complainant said that Raj Kumar had gone to the court in connection with a piece of land, which he proposed to purchase. One of the accused Mr Mahabir Prasad, was allegedly also angling to purchase the same land. The complainant alleged that the accused had been shadowing the deceased for a long while before they attacked him with countrymade weapons yesterday. The deceased got suspicious of their motives and tried to hide in house in Kailash Nagar Mohalla. The accused barged into the house and attacked him there. Later they threw him from a terrace on a nearby road. The dead body is reported to have several lacerated wounds. According to the police several teams have been constituted for the arrest of the accused. The police sources said that the deceased was a history sheeter. He was a proclaimed offender and was accused in several criminal cases registered at the local police station. He was also accused in several criminal cases in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. According to some reports he was a member of the Nityanand, alias Bablu gang who was recently murdered, alongwith his three brothers, in Jhadli village, in Mahendergarh tehsil, by residents, including relatives of a BJP leader in the Haryana assembly, Prof Ram Bilas Sharma. Incidentally, the deceased is reported to have been dismissed from the Haryana Police. He was a commando with the state police earlier, he was in the Border Security Force. He had allegedly quit the BSF. Inquiries revealed that he was once in the security staff of Prof Ram Bilas Sharma, provided by the Haryana Government. Meanwhile, the body of
the deceased was cremated last night in his native
village. |
Seat adjustment in a week:
Grover KARNAL, Dec. 21 — The Haryana BJP would finalise the question of seat adjustment with the INLD within a week. This was stated here tonight by Mr O.P. Grover, president of the Haryana BJP, and Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, a former Minister, at a press conference. The two leaders stated that the party would soon constitute a committee to find suitable candidates for the coming Assembly poll. Replying to a question they said that it was not essential to give the party ticket to all the sitting MLAs of the party. In some cases the new faces would also be adjusted. The two leaders further stated that the BJP wanted to fight the election on a joint manifesto. The main features of the manifesto would be early construction of the SYL canal, end to corruption in the state, more employment avenues and steps to ensure 24-hour power supply. The Akali Dal had not officially put any claim before the BJP for seat allotment so far. The party would consult the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, after the official claim of the Akali Dal was received. It was also said that the party would lay its claim to Deputy Chief Ministership if the coalition partners were returned to power. Replying to another question, Mr Sharma said that the BJP had agreed to the mid-term poll because of political instability in Haryana. To a question why the BJP had not changed its stand to fight alone, Mr Grover replied that the present political situation demanded that only the coalition partners would provide a stable government in the state. Although the party leadership did not clearly specify the number of seats it was going to claim, indications were that the party would lay its claim on 35 seats. Mr Sharma reiterated that he would fight from the Mahendragarh Assembly constituency while Mr Grover said that the party would not leave its claim on the Gharaunda seat. When questioned what was the need to seek the help of the INLD, the two leaders said that it was the BJP's strategy to strengthen the individual base of the party. Earlier, a meeting of
the state working committee of the party was held to
chalk out the strategy for the poll. Mr N. K. Modi,
national general secretary of the party, participated in
the deliberations. Mr I. D. Swami, Union State Minister
for Home Affairs, also attended the meeting. |
An ashram that makes
inmates self-sustaining PANIPAT: Mahatma Gandhi's mission to remove the feeling that leprosy was a curse and that lepers were untouchables has taken concrete shape in the form of Vaikunth Dham Ashram due to the collective efforts of the district administration and social organisations. Father of the Nation wished that lepers should be made aware about their place in society and they should get proper guidance. Vaikunth Dham was set up eight years ago with the initiative taken by an Italian, Mr Chelste Cristallani, and with the cooperation of an Indian missionary, Father Ishwar Prasad, and a social worker, Satish Guglani. At that time around 50 lepers were living in jhuggis near Panipat railway station. Mr Cristallani , Father Ishwar Prasad and Guglani met the then Deputy Commissioner, Mr Vijay Kumar, and expressed their desire to shift those lepers to a place where they could live happily. The Deputy Commissioner arranged about 3500 square yards of land on lease from the Wakf Board on which this ashram comprising 30 houses, was constructed at a cost of Rs 15 lakh , of which around Rs 2 lakh was donated by local philanthropists and Rs 13 lakh contributed by Mr Cristallani. A house in this colony consists of a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a verandah. The foundation stone of the colony was laid by the Deputy Commissioner and construction was completed on January 19, 1992, under the supervision of Father Ishwar Prasad. The shifting of lepers from jhuggis to the colony was done in the presence of Mr Cristallani. Before shifting, lepers used to beg for living but thereafter they have started to earn and are paying for their families' upkeep. They have gained self-confidence and now they consider themselves to be part and parcel of society. Some earn by plying cycle-rickshaws while others sell balloons and toys for children. All of them work according to their capability. In the evening they assemble at Shiva Temple constructed by them at cost of Rs 4 lakh on land adjoining their colony. The ashram is now known as Navjivan Leprosy Colony. Owing to the sudden demise of its benefactor, it is being managed by this institution. However, resentment prevails among the residents of Vaikunth Dham as they complain of partial attitude of the administration. According to them, some of their colleagues are handicapped and are given pension of Rs 100 per month only from Handicapped Welfare Board, while those in Delhi and other districts of Haryana such as Karnal, Yamunanagar, Rohtak, Ambala, Faridabad, get around Rs 500. Of this Rs 50 per month is deducted as electricity charges. This correspondent met Mr Gobind Ram, Pradhan of the colony, who is the only leper from Himachal Pradesh, others being from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The latter are bitter about the administration's “partiality” towards them. According to pradhan, they were asked to deposit their previous ration cards and general category cards, instead of cards for below poverty line, were issued to them. He claimed that administration should make arrangements for their subsistence as they have been only provided with a residence. The pradhan pointed out that they had to pay electricity charges and in case of default, supply to their house is disconnected. Till date payments had been made but power had not been restored by the department concerned. As against previous cash assistance, donors provide them with aid in kind , such as fruits, vegetables and clothes, etc. Besides, proper medical care needed to be provided to the colony inmates. Rajender Kumar (40), hailing from Jagannathpuri (Orissa) complained that he plied a rickshaw for about three hours daily (up to about 9 a.m.) with gloves for fear of detection, and earned about Rs 25 to Rs 35. According to him people were scared to engage his rickshaw. Some others like Tirnan Karas (55), Anjamma (45), Sarsu (40), Rangachari (55) stated that they could earn Rs 25 to Rs 35 per day selling toys and balloons. Obviously it appears
that some planned and systematic effort is needed by the
administration with the help of social organisations to
mitigate the hardship being faced by the residents of
Vaikunth Dham towards their subsistence. |
Labour-cum-Conciliation Officer
for Panchkula CHANDIGARH, Dec 21 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has approved two new posts of Labour-cum-Conciliation Officer, one each for Panchkula and Sirsa districts, to sort out the problems of industrial workers and ensure peace in the factories and industries. There are already 17 posts of Labour-cum-Conciliation Officers in the state to ensure effective implementation of various labour laws and redressal of the grievances of industrial workers. Trade and industrial activities are fast increasing in both Panchkula and Sirsa districts. As many as 117 registered factories and 2240 shops and commercial establishments are functioning in Panchkula district providing employment to 3857 persons. At present the work of Panchkula is being looked after by the Labour-cum-Conciliation Officer, Ambala, who visits the town only for one or two days in a week, which is not sufficient. Similarly, in Sirsa
district there are 123 registered factories and 7,353
shops and commercial establishments providing jobs for
10,500 persons. Sirsa is an old city having a population
of 10 lakh. The work of this district is being looked
after by the Labour-cum-Conciliation Officer, Hisar, who
visits the town only for one or two days in a month as he
has to attend other administrative works of Hisar and
Fatehabad districts. |
Hooda seeks white paper on
sops CHANDIGARH, Dec 21 — The Haryana Congress chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has demanded a ‘white paper’ from Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala on how he will fulfil the numerous promises made by him after coming to power, and where from he will obtain necessary funds for the purpose. Mr Hooda, who addressed a press conference today along with former HPCC chief Shamsher Singh Surjewala and other party functionaries in the HPCC office here, accused the Chief Minister of making phoney promises to the voters to win them over. The state Congress chief claimed that the people of Haryana were a smart lot and they would not allow themselves to be influenced by the series of sops announced by Mr Chautala. "Mr Chautala has been nicknamed" the announcement Chief Minister’ by people", Mr Hooda quipped. Launching a devastating attack on of the INLD-led state government’s performance, Mr Hooda claimed that the government had failed on all fronts. "He has not fulfilled his poll promise of giving free water and electricity to the farmers, neither he has taken up the contentious issue of the SYL canal with his Punjab counterpart", Mr Hooda said while referring to Mr Chautala. Ashok2/Hooda-2The Congress chief claimed that there was an unprecedented deterioration in the law and order situation in Haryana and demanded that the state should go to the polls under President’s rule.@@Elaborating this Mr Surjewala said he had received information that the INLD was making plans for booth capturing and resorting to terror tactics for winning the elections. Citing Mr Chautala’s alleged role in the infamous Meham incidents, Mr Hooda and Mr Surjewala threatened to launch a people’s movement in Haryana for the imposition of President’s rule before it goes to polls.@@The Congress party would meet the Election Commission and even the President, in case the EC did not entertain its request for bringing Haryana under Central rule, the Congress leaders said.@@Mr Hooda also alleged that there had been a deterioration in the condition of the farmer during the INLD’s brief rule. He said farmers were selling paddy at much below the minimum support price announced by the Centre. The cotton and wheat producers had also been badly affected by the Central Government’s decision to import cotton and wheat. Despite the anti-farmer policies of the Vajpayee-led government, Mr Chautala had not made any protest. While the Central Government has offered handsome grants to Punjab and Himachal, no such help had come Haryana’s way even though the state was suffering from draught conditions. The Congress, Mr Hooda said, was capable of fighting the Assembly poll on its own, though, if necessary, it could accommodate an ally such as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). There would be no alliance with Mr Bansi Lal's HVP, Mr Hooda categorically stated, adding that defectors from the HVP were welcome by the Congress since as most of the HVP leaders were formerly with the Congress. He said he would contest the elections if the high command asked him to do so and his preference would be for the Kaloi Assembly constituency. He said there would be a meeting of the faction leaders of the Congress on December 25 to streamline the party's campaign. Mr Hooda said the Congress would start a door-to-door campaign from December 28 and all the block presidents, MLAs and other members of the party would take part in the mass contact programme. The Haryana Congress
Chief said the organisational poll of the Congress would
take place after the Assembly elections but enrolment of
new members would continue till December 31. |
Samalkha tehsil upgraded SAMALKHA (Panipat), Dec 21 — The Haryana Chief Minister Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today announced the conversion of Samalkha tehsil into a subdivision. Thanking the people of Samalkha for their support to the INLD-BJP combine in the Lok Sabha elections, Mr Chautala tried to strike an emotional chord at the "sarkar aap ke dwar", function held to hear public grievances here this afternoon. "Earlier whenever we used to come to you we used to ask something from you, but today I have come here to give you something. Things have changed," said Mr Chautala. "This was just a trailor that I have shown you in my short stint. The real film will be shown after the assembly poll when we will form the government," said a confident Mr Chautala. Attacking the dissident MLAs who had tried to unseat him, the Chief Minister said: "They are now licking dust and will come to know about their worth in the coming elections." He listened to the grievances of the people, asking them to come to him in groups rather than individually. He was flanked by the Cooperation Minister, Mr Kartar Singh Bhadana. Several times even the prospective INLD candidate from Samalkha, Mr Kartar Singh Bhadana, too intervened when some villagers gave dissatisfied looks. "Don't worry, bauji (Chautala) will take care of it," Mr Bhadana assured them. The open durbar also saw a long line of ticket aspirant for the Samalkha seat. Many of them were quick to climb the dais the moment Mr Chautala began his open durbar. The Chief Minister, who
is on a state wide tour and is holding open durbars
everyday, today held durbars at Rai and Ladsoli before
arriving at Samalkha. |
Jats’ plea for reservation JIND, Dec 21 — The members of the district unit of the Haryana Jat Arakshan Manch at a meeting here today demanded reservation for the Jats of Haryana on the pattern of Delhi and Rajasthan. A memorandum in this regard was sent to the Chief Minister of Haryana through the Deputy Commissioner. It was pointed out in the memorandum that the main occupation of the community was agriculture and small land holdings owned by them were not sufficient for their livelihood. Moreover, the agriculture has become an unprofitable occupation. The agricultural land in some parts of the state was not fit for cultivation due to water logging, floods and shortage of irrigation water had badly affected farming in several areas of the state. It also stated that 85 per cent of the Jats are living under debt and their financial position was so weak that they are not in a position to pay interest on loans taken by them. The unemployment among the youths have increased as most of them have crossed the age limit set up for government jobs. The Manch urged the
Chief Minister to take an early decision for giving
reservation to the community in Haryana. |
Alliance with Cong not ruled out:
HVP HISAR, Dec 21 — The Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) has not ruled out a possible alliance with the Congress or the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state. Addressing a press conference here yesterday, the HVP General Secretary Surinder Singh said his party was ready for an alliance with any party to ensure the defeat of the INLD-BJP alliance. He stated that most of the HVP legislators, who had defected to the INLD about four months ago, were in touch with the HVP and wanted to contest on HVP tickets. He claimed these legislators were disillusioned with Mr Chautala as he had let them down. He said the party was likely to take a decision about their return to the party fold in a few days. The HVP General Secretary attacked the Chief Minister's policies saying that he had betrayed the trust of the people. He added that Mr Chautala had been promising free power and water to the farmers during the parliamentary elections. But now he had not fulfilled it and this had encouraged people not to pay their electricity bills. The HVP leader said his
party would contest all 90 seats in the elections. He
further said Mr Bansi Lal would contest from Tosham. He
would launch the party campaign on January 10 from
Kurukshetra. |
Public men on Haryana boards CHANDIGARH, Dec 21 — The Haryana Government today nominated several public men on boards of directors of various boards and corporations. Mr Pawan Munjal of Hero Honda (Rewari); Mr Padam Jain, President of the Sirsa district unit of the INLD; and Mr Birender Singh of Karnal were nominated as Directors of the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation. Mr Surender Singh Vaidwala of Sirsa; Mr Dharampal of Karnal, Mr Mewa Singh of Kurukshetra and Mr Angrej Singh Dhumsi of Karnal were nominated as non-official members of the Haryana State Seed Certification Agency. Mr Bhupinder Singh of Jind district was nominated as a Director of the Haryana Land Reclamation and Development Corporation. Mr Surjit Singh Sondha
of Ambala district and Mr Mahipal Singh of Bhawangarh
village in Yamunanagar district were nominated as
Directors of the Haryana Warehousing Corporation with
immediate effect. |
70
unauthorised houses razed HISAR, Dec 21 — About 70 unauthorised kutcha houses were demolished by the Railway and the local police in the early hours today. These structures were located along the railway line behind Urban Estate II. The railway authorities said the occupants had been served with notices on November 22 as these constructions were illegal as no construction could be allowed in the vicinity of 100 meters of the railway line. A operation was launched by 70 Railway police personnel and 30 personnel of the Haryana Police. It lasted a few hours. No resistance was offered by the occupants. The demolition
operations were carried under the supervision of an
Assistant Executive Engineer, Railways |
Merger with Cong ruled out: HVP ROHTAK, Dec 21 — The Haryana Vikas Party today ruled out the possibility of merger with the Congress. The General Secretary of the state unit of HVP, Mr Ram Chander Jangra said the party President, Mr Bansi Lal had taken note of a news item that appeared in a national daily and condemned the same. Mr Jangra was addressing mediapersons here today. He stated that there was no move of merger and the party would seek an electoral alliance with a like minded party at its own conditions. Mr Bansi Lal would be the Chief Minister in case the alliance came to power. However, the party would not initiate for an alliance, he added. He stated that Mr
Surender Singh, also the General Secretary of state unit
of the HVP would address a public meeting at Kiloi on
December 26. |
Security for farmers AMBALA, Dec 21 — The District administration has decided to provide security cover to farmers bringing their sugarcane produce to Naraingarh Sugar Mill, following the violence incident in the mill a few days ago. According to official sources, several officers have been asked to keep a check on the routes approaching to mill. The SDM, Naraingarh will be the overall in charge of the security. The police contingent has been deployed outside the mill. Some of the farmers have been taking away their produce to the adjoining mills of their areas as they fear that the on-going dispute between the employees and the management might delay the payment. Meanwhile, the
administration has assured the farmers that they would be
provided with full security while bringing their produce
to the mill. The Deputy Commissioner has directed the
officials to deal strictly with those who wants to
disturb the functioning of the mill. |
5
arrested
for looting FARIDABAD, Dec 21 — The district police has arrested five criminals belonging to Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh on a charge of looting. Those arrested have been identified as Jitendra, Hari Om, Kamlesh, Janak and Munna. One of their accomplices Kaushalendra, however, managed to escape. A country-made pistol, four cartridges, a spring knife and iron rods were recovered from them. During interrogation
they admitted looting Rs 25,000 from stone crushers in
Mohabbatabad and firing upon a truck driver and injuring
him in an attempt to loot the vehicle. |
CEO's appeal to voters CHANDIGARH, Dec 21 — The Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, Mr Bhaskar Chatterjee, has appealed to the electorates of the state who have not yet been issued photo identity cards to get themselves photographed at their respective district election offices so that photo identity cards would be issued to them. Mr Chatterjee said
electorates were being issued photo identity cards in
state since 1994. Nearly 87 per cent of the electorates
had already been issued photo identity cards, he claimed. |
Criminal murdered NARNAUL, Dec 21 — A hardcore criminal Raj Kumar Sharma, resident of Neerpur village in Mahendragarh district wanted in several criminal cases in Rajasthan, Haryana, UP and Punjab was murdered on the Rewari road here yesterday. According to information, Raj Kumar's movements were watched by his enemies and they attacked him there. He was admitted to the local General Hospital, where he died. The police has
registered a case of murder and started a search for the
assailants. |
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