• Erring employees won't be spared: CM

• Plan to drain out flood water: CM

‘Hard decisions, not poems needed’
GURGAON, March 8 — Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar yesterday took at dig at Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee saying "the country’s varied problems would not be solved by reciting poems."

Haryana civic staff to get salary on time
YAMUNANAGAR, March 8 — Salary to the employees of all Municipal Committees Councils of Haryana has been disbursed. Dr Kamla Verma, local bodies Minister Haryana, here today said that it had been decided that now salary would be given to the employees of Municipal Committees Councils regularly.

Plea to quash Bhajan Lal's election
CHANDIGARH, March 8 — Former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal today deposed before Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar, a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who is hearing arguments on an election petition preferred by Mr Gurmesh Bishnoi, former Chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission, questioning his (Mr Bhajan Lal's) election from the Adampur Vidhan Sabha Assembly constituency.

Five unnatural deaths reported
FARIDABAD, March 8 — Five unnatural deaths were reported here today. A young girl committed suicide in old Faridabad due to frequent family quarrels.

Power from NTPC unit by May-end
FARIDABAD, March 8 — The first 143 mw unit of the 432 mw gas-based power plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation coming up at Mujedi village near here, would start generating electricity by the end of May.

Bansi, Hooda decry Badal's remark
By Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 8 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal's statement that it is futile to complete the SYL canal, which is to carry Haryana's share in the Ravi and Beas waters, is a result of the current turmoil in Akali politics and made out of his political compulsions, feel political observers.

It is no secret that Akali opponents of Mr Badal have been trying to corner him on the issue of non-resolution of various inter-state disputes involving Punjab. Mr Badal's assertion, made inside Haryana yesterday, that since Haryana had no right on the river waters flowing through Punjab, it was futile to complete the SYL canal, seems to be an attempt to silence his critics within his own party.

Punjab has been participating in the proceedings of the Eradi Tribunal set up under paras 9.1 and 9.2 of the Rajiv Gandhi-Longowal accord. The commission delivered its award indicating the share of various states on January 30, 1987. Now it is hearing arguments on objections filed by concerned states.

Punjab has sought to delay the proceedings before the commission by taking the plea that since law and order situation in the state is not conducive for the solution of a sensitive issue like the river-water dispute, it should be kept pending for the time being.

Haryana's petition in the Supreme Court seeking early completion of the SYL canal is also pending.

Meanwhile, various political parties of Haryana have reacted sharply in an identical manner to Mr Badal's statement. Their reaction displayed the hardened attitude adopted by all Haryana political parties in the Assembly demanding the implementation of the recommendations of the Shah Commission in toto. The Shah Commission had awarded Kharar tehsil, including the Chandigarh Capital project, to Haryana when the joint Punjab was reorganised in 1966.

The Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal and the Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, reminded Mr Badal that the Rajiv-Longowal accord was signed between Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, on July 24, 1985, committing that the SYL canal would be constructed in the Punjab territory to carry Haryana's share of river waters.

Mr Bansi Lal said it was ironical that 95 per cent of the canal was completed by the Akali Government and now for mere 5 per cent of the work, the Akali Government was backtracking on its commitment. Referring to Mr Badal's remarks that Haryana had no claim over the river waters constitutionally and also on the basis of conventions, Mr Bansi Lal said Haryana being a successor state of the erstwhile Punjab and also a part of the Indus basin, had equal right over the river waters.

Pointing out that Punjab had been participating in the proceedings of the Tribunal, Mr Bansi Lal and Mr Hooda demanded that its award should be implemented without any delay.

Mr Hooda said the Haryana Congress was still committed to the Rajiv-Longowal accord but it was surprising that the Akalis were now going back on the accord signed by their late leader.

Alleging that Mr Badal appeared to be trying to take undue advantage of the "weakness" of the BJP-led Government at the Centre, Mr Hooda threatened that his party would gherao Delhi and block all traffic to the Capital if any injustice was done to Haryana by the Central Government to please its allies.

Mr R.S. Choudhary, official spokesman for the Indian National Lok Dal, also reacted sharply to Mr Badal's statement and echoed the sentiments expressed by Mr Bansi Lal and Mr Hooda. He said the Haryana Vidhan Sabha had adopted the unanimous resolution on the inter-state disputes at the initiative of his party.

Mr Choudhary said his party led by Mr Devi Lal had launched a "nayayudh" in 1985 against the Rajiv-Longowal accord because the late Rajiv Gandhi had sold the interests of Haryana to Punjab. The Lok Dal, he said, would not tolerate any injustice to the state from any quarter.

1200 HVPN men seek retirement
From Vipin Sharma

ROHTAK, March 8 — Nearly 1200 officials and employees of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) have reportedly sought voluntary retirement in view of the "absence of lucidity in their service conditions. They have given their months' notice to the authorities. Those who have applied for premature retirement include Executive Engineers, SDOs, Junior Engineer and the subordinate staff.

Talking to The Tribune here today Mr Dhara Singh, general secretary of the Haryana State Electricity Board Workers' Union said no clearcut instructions had been provided to the officials and employees of the board by the authorities regarding their service conditions, including the pension scheme and the GPF after the dissolution of the HSEB and the formation of the HVPN. He said anxiety among them increased as the authorities had failed to give a 'satisfactory response'.

He said 310 officials and employees of the power board has applied for premature retirement from the Hisar zone, 300 from the Delhi zone and 320 from the Panchkula zone so far. This was the first time in the history of the electricity board that such a large number of officials and employees had sought voluntary retirement, he added.

Commenting on the campaign against power theft launched by officials of the HPVN he said the scheme for the installation of three-phase electronic meter was a total fiasco as these meters had failed on technical grounds to check power theft. He said these meters could be tampered with by using remote control device or a powerful magnet. Sensing the alleged failures of these meters he said the officials of the HVPN had passed verbal orders to replace them. Junior Engineers had started replacing these meters in their respective areas, he added.

The nigam had to face a severe financial loss as these meters were bought in bulk. He demanded a high-level inquiry into the deal as HVPN officials involved in this purchase were allegedly aware of the shortcomings of these meters. He said meters had been installed in October against the consumers' wishes.

The union leader said HVPN officials had bought four-core cable and two-core PVC wires in bulk to replace the transmission wires in the state but the other requisite material including clips G.S.L. and boards were still not available in the store. Similarly, poles were there, but the iron and aluminium wires were not available in the store. As a result the employees are unable to replace the transmission wires. He also complained of inadequate staff in the nigam.

Erring employees won't be spared: CM
From Our Correspondent

BHIWANI, March 8 — Employees involved in preparing wrong electricity bills would be brought to book.

This was stated by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal while addressing a well attended public meeting at Grain Market, here yesterday.

The Chief Minister said certain employees of the electricity board wanted to tarnish the image of the arrangement by preparing inflated bills. He asked people to give affidavits against the erring officials. He said two responsible members of the area would accompany meter readers, drug inspectors, weight and measure inspectors so that people were not be harassed.

He asked people to inform the police about the theft of power in their area as it was indirect loss to them as they had to bear the burden.

Referring to the drinking water problem of Bhiwani town, the Chief Minister said that a decision would be taken within a week to sold the problem.

Mr Surender Singh, M.P., said that previous governments had no made serious efforts to meet the growing demands of electricity.

Mr Chhattar Singh Chauhan, Speaker Haryana Vidhan Sabha Mr Jagan Nath, Public Health Minister, Mr Rambhajan Aggarwal, Minister of State for Home, Mr Attar Singh Saini, Minister of State for Power also addressed the meeting.

Prices crash
Vegetable growers in crisis
From Our Correspondent

FATEHABAD, March 8 — Sharp fall in prices of green vegetables has landed vegetable growers of this area into a grave economic crisis. Having invested a lot of money on growing vegetables, the growers, downward trend in wholesale prices of common vegetables here put them in a state of quandary.

Prices of common vegetables like cauliflower and carrot have nose- dived in the past few days. Even onion, which sold at Rs 50 per kg a few months ago has been selling at a rate of Rs 5 per kg. In the wholesale vegetable market. The farmers who grew potatoes, tomato, carrot and cauliflower this season are finding themselves in great hardship.

A vegetable grower farmer from nearby Salemkhera village, told the Tribune that he had grown cauliflower in 2½ acres. He spent over Rs 4000 on seed and fertiliser etc., but when went to local vegetable market to sell the crop, he was in for a surprise to find that a basket of 15 kg of cauliflower was sold for a paltry sum of Rs 7 only. He said in the given circumstances, the whole crop of cauliflower is not likely to fetch him more then Rs 1000. What to speak of profit, even recovery of investment seems to be a distant dream now. Plight of other vegetables was also not different Green coriander was selling at a rate of Rupee one and a half to Rupee two a kilogram. A bagful of 60 kg of potatos for Rs 60 to Rs 70 and carrots are selling at a rate of as low as 50 paisa a kg in the wholesale vegetable market. These are the rates at which the farmers are made to sell their crops to the wholesale dealer.

A vegetable grower complained that the vegetables were cheaper only as long as they were with the growers. Once these went to the stores of the traders their prices go up. The growers demand that the government must frame some policy and see to it that the prices of such commodities did not rise or fall suddenly. Such fluctuations, they say, were detrimental to the interests of both, the farmers and the consumers.

Fatehabad district has been known as one of the biggest cotton producing areas of the state. General economic condition of the farmers of this area has always been good. But attacks of American bollworms on cotton crop in the past few years has worsened plight of the farmers. The problem of water logging in some areas of the district too, has added to the woes of the farmers. To improve their economic condition and lured by inflationary hikes in the prices of vegetables last year, many farmers opted for vegetables this season, but it proved counter productive for them. Many vegetable growers have started feeding their produce to cattle, instead of bringing them to the market, as they feel that the proceeds of the crop are not sufficient to meet even the transportation expenses of the crop.

Water-logging worries farm experts
Tribune News Service

HISAR, March 8 — Farm experts and scientists have expressed grave concern over the problem of water-logging and stagnation of crop yield.

Speaking at a workshop of farm officers and scientists, the Vice-Chancellor of the Haryana Agriculture University Prof J.B. Chowdhury and the Commissioner Secretary Agriculture Haryana, government Mr H.C. Disodia underlined the need of combating the problem of water logging and also developing new techniques to enhance crop yield.

The Vice-Chancellor exhorted the scientists to take serious note of the problems being faced by the farmers in the state and ensure speedy remedial steps. He said burning problems like water-logging, soil salinity, diseases and pest infestation needed immediate attention.

Prof Chowdhury pointed out that all research and development activities in agriculture should be directed towards ensuring food for all in the next century. He called upon the scientists to identify factors responsible for decreasing crop production and also ensure that quality seed was made available to farmers.

Mr H.C. Disodia pointed out that despite increase in production, productivity was on the decline. He said, stagnation in food production had occurred despite increased inputs. This, he pointed out, was indicative of the low "use efficiency" of inputs, particularly chemical fertilisers.

Referring to the problem water-logging, Mr Disodia disclosed that the state government had prepared a plan to tackle this problem, which was likely to cost Rs 23,00 crore.

The Director Research, HAU Dr B.L. Jalali, presenting the research highlights informed that the university had recently recommended six new high yielding varieties and hybrids of rice sugarcane, soyabean, chick-pea and maize for release in the state. He pointed out that these crop varieties besides having higher productivity were also disease-resistant.

The Director Agriculture Haryana government, Ms Shakuntla Jakhu and the Director Extension Education HAU Dr Rakesh Yamdagni also spoke on the occasion.

Plan to drain out flood water: CM

KARNAL, March 8 (UNI) — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, today said that the state government has prepared a Rs 2300 crore master plan to drain out the flood water into the Ghaggar and Yamuna rivers. A proposal for constructing a Ghaggar drain at a cost of Rs 218 crore had been sent to NABARD for approval.

The Chief Minister was addressing a well attended public meeting at Assandh, about 40 km from here, today.

Mr Bansi Lal said that the state government had formulated an ambitious scheme for the benefit of farmers under which they would be able to get credit up to 75 per cent of the value of their produce deposited with the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation.

They would be able to sell their produce as and when they get a good price for it and it would help them in obtaining better profit of their produce.

To celebrate the Khalsa tercentenary in the state, the government had constituted a state-level committee.

Taking strong exception to the statement of Mr Om Parkash Chautala, INLD leader, in which he had alleged that the law and order situation in the state had become worse than that in Bihar, Mr Bansi Lal said that it was far better than Bihar and recalled that the people of the state had not forgotten the happenings of Meham where nine people were mercilessly done to death.

The Chief Minister said that it was not feasible to provide power and water to the people free of charge as was announced by the Opposition leader.

Due to desilting of drains and canals in the state, six lakh acres of additional land would be irrigated. The farmers should consult experts of CCSHAU, Hisar and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, for optimum use of their agriculture land and maximum return.

Reiterating the promises being fulfilled by his government, the Chief Minister said that most of the promises had already been fulfilled which include old-age pension by seventh of every month.

‘Hard decisions, not poems needed’
From Ravi S Singh
Tribune News Service

GURGAON, March 8 — Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar yesterday took at dig at Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee saying "the country’s varied problems would not be solved by reciting poems."

Addressing a public meeting here, Mr Chandra Shekhar said that the resurgence of the country in the unity of nation could only be effected from within and not from foreign funds. Experience of some of the Asian countries, which had apparently made strides in the economic field through foreign money, was bitter. Vested interests were also conspiring to shatter the morale and self confidence of the people of the country.

The former Prime Minister, who is also president of the Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) expressed concern over the Centre’s foreign policy. Citing the case of the ‘blow hot, blow cold" policy of Pakistan towards India, he said: "All what is happening is drama." He said the problems of the country were getting aggravated. It is in this context that he said that what was needed from the powers-that-be was hard decision to stem the rot. Although he did not name Mr Vajpayee, he left no one in doubt about the reference to him when he said the problems of the country could not be solved by recital of poems.

Mr Chandra Shekhar said time had now come when the politics of the nation should come out of Parliament and be taken to villages.

The meeting here, the second in Haryana, was part of Mr Chandra Shekhar’s country wide on going campaign- "gaon chalo abhiyan" (march to village) to awaken the masses on issues relating to them. He had earlier addressed a meeting in Kaurali village in Faridabad district. He was presented a pugrie on the occasion. Sarpanches of Khandsa, Begumpur Khato, Rithos, Sohna, Tikri and Sehjawas were among those who felicitated him on the occasion.

Mr Chandra Shekhar reiterated his opposition to the country’s policy to liberalise the economy saying it had multiplied the problems of more than 70 per cent of the people. He cautioned the policy makers not to depend on solutions from abroad to redress the problems of the country. In more than eight years of the liberalisation policy the state of the poor and the amenities relating to them had deteriorated. Since then the country had seen four Prime Ministers and all of them had been giving false assurances about the possible benefits of the economic policy.

Citing the cases of recent spurt in crime in Gurgaon district, Mr Chandra Shekhar said it was reflective of the growing number of educated unemployed in the country.

Haryana civic staff to get salary on time
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, March 8 — Salary to the employees of all Municipal Committees Councils of Haryana has been disbursed.

Dr Kamla Verma, local bodies Minister Haryana, here today said that it had been decided that now salary would be given to the employees of Municipal Committees Councils regularly.

She stated that Local Bodies Department had received its first instalment of Rs 4 crore from the Haryana government of salaries to the employees of different Municipal Committee Councils of Haryana.

She informed that a high level committee has been set up on the issue of octroi in which Home Minister Haryana Mani Ram Godara, Industries Minister Shashi Pal Mehta, Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Finance Minister Charan Dass Shorewala, and Food and Supplies Minister Ganeshi Lal were members.

She added that three meetings had already been convened with various organisations including the Beopar Mandal to decide modalities. She said that the report would be submitted soon. Dr Verma ruled out the possibility of retrenchment of employee if octroi was abolished.

Mr M.K. Miglani Financial Commissioner and Secretary Local Bodies Haryana stated that under IDSMT scheme 2 towns i.e. Pehowa and Yamunanagar had been identified. He stated that the Centre had decided to allocate Rs 5 crore under this scheme only in Yamunanagar for development work.

Mr Naresh Sharma, President Yamunanagar Municipal Council said that 116 shops had been constructed in past three years which have been provided to unemployed youths of the town.

Plea to quash Bhajan Lal's election
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, March 8 — Former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal today deposed before Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar, a Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who is hearing arguments on an election petition preferred by Mr Gurmesh Bishnoi, former Chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission, questioning his (Mr Bhajan Lal's) election from the Adampur Vidhan Sabha Assembly constituency.

Praying for quashing the election of Mr Bhajan Lal, the petitioner also urged the court to disqualify him from contesting elections for six years.

In his statement Mr Bhajan Lal said he did not remember whether any FIR (No 99 dated August 4, 1988) under Section 307, 324, 145, 146 and 506, IPC was registered at the Adampur police station against him.

In reply to a question Mr Bhajan Lal said he did not remember the exact details. However, he did not rule out the possibility of an FIR being registered as there was a scuffle during the the local panchayat elections.

Reply to another question he said: "I do not remember exactly, but I might have applied for bail. It is possible that my statement under Section 313, Cr CP might have been recorded by the competent court," he told the court. The deposition will continue.

Five unnatural deaths reported
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, March 8 — Five unnatural deaths were reported here today.

A young girl committed suicide in old Faridabad due to frequent family quarrels.

Sant Ram, burnt himself to death in Gandhi Colony. The reason for taking this extreme step could not be known.

The body of a young man was found near a school in Sector 2 (NIT).

Alish Chand, a migrant from Kabul (Afghanistan) was run over by a truck on the Mathura Road.

In the fifth case, Raj Kumar was run over by a train near new Faridabad Railway Station. The police have registered cases.

Power from NTPC unit by May-end
Tribune News Service

FARIDABAD, March 8 — The first 143 mw unit of the 432 mw gas-based power plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) coming up at Mujedi village near here, would start generating electricity by the end of May.

Sources in the NTPC told TNS the first unit was likely to be operative on May 24, seven months ahead of schedule.

The second unit would be commissioned in July and the third which would work on steam in March next year.