Wednesday, May 19, 1999
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N E W S Wednesday, May 19, 1999 |
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Jain made
UT Home Secretary CHANDIGARH, May 18 — Mr N.K. Jain, a Haryana-based IAS officer of the 1978 batch, has been appointed Home Secretary of the Union Territory of Chandigarh after the Union Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA) found a via media to bypass the objections raised by the Election Commission of India to the transfer of the present incumbent, Mrs Anuradha Gupta, who is also the Chief Election Officer (CEO) of the city. The MHA has also taken care of the objections raised by the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) to the appointment of Mr Jain as Home Secretary, who is also the ex-officio Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of the union territory. As a result of the compromise formula evolved by the MHA, Mr Jain will hold the truncated post of Home Secretary. Mrs Gupta will continue to serve the union territory for some more time as its CEO, CVO as well as the Chairperson of CITCO and the Chandigarh Housing Board. Mr Jain is likely to join the UT post tomorrow. Mr Jain’s name was sponsored for the UT post by the Haryana Government on April 2. In response to verbal orders of the MHA the UT Administration forwarded his name without evaluating the panel of three officers sent by the Haryana Government, to the MHA on April 7. After the MHA and the Ministry of Personnel cleared the name of Mr Jain, it was approved by the Prime Minister’s Officer after a delay of a few days. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared his name about a fortnight ago. However, the Election Commission did not agree to the transfer of Mrs Gupta as CEO at a time when the revision of electoral rolls was in full swing. The CVC also reportedly raised certain objections to Mr Jain’s appointment as Home Secretary. The MHA found a way to go past the objections of the Election Commission as well as the CVC. Mrs Gupta’s tenure
with the U.T expires in October. |
Rakesh
Singh recommended for Finance Secretary’s post CHANDIGARH, May 18 — The Chandigarh Administration has recommended the name of Mr Rakesh Singh, an IAS officer of the 1978 batch and belonging to the Punjab cadre, for the post of Finance Secretary which has been lying vacant since the repatriation of Dr G. Vajralingam to his parent state of Punjab a couple of months ago. Mr Rakesh Singh had earlier worked in the Chandigarh Administration as Managing Director, Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation. The Punjab Government had sent a panel of three names. Other names on the panel were those of Mr Jagpal Singh (1983) and Dr Abnash Singh Chhatwal (1986 batch). Dr G. Vajralingam was of the 1986 batch. The decision of the Administration to go for a senior officer for the post of the Finance Secretary is perhaps in continuation of the appointment of Mr N.K.Jain, an IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, belonging to the 1978 batch, as the new Home Secretary of Chandigarh. Meanwhile, Mrs
Geetanjali G. Kundra, an IAS officer of the UT cadre, on
return from leave has been appointed Sub Divisional
Magistrate (East) and Block and Development and Panchayat
Officer. She will also look after the work of ex-officio
Joint Secretary (Coordination) till further orders.
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Advocate
alleges CID surveillance CHANDIGARH, May 18 — A senior advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr Mohan Jain, whose residence here has been the meeting place of dissident MLAs of the ruling HVP of the Haryana for long, today found a head constable of the State CID, allegedly keeping his house under surveillance along with his colleagues. In a complaint lodged with the Chandigarh police, Mr Jain said members of various political parties of Punjab and Haryana often visited his house because they were either his clients or friends. He alleged that men of the Haryana CID had been keeping watch on every visitor to his house and conducted enquiries about their identity and the purpose of the visit, which caused harassment to him and his visitors. Mr Jain said around 9.30 a.m. today, he saw several CID persons outside his house. When he enquired from one of them, he wrongly identified himself as Constable Sube Singh of Chandigarh Police. But when he, Mr Jain said, took out his handkerchief, his identity card fell down and he ran away. Mr Jain said from the identity card he came to know that the person was Head Constable Ishwar Singh of the Haryana CID. Alleging that his house was kept under surveillance by the Haryana CID, under the instructions of the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, Mr Jain said it was a violation of his fundamental rights and the action was illegal. Mr Ishwar Singh told the police that suddenly two persons accosted him and told him to sit in their vehicle. When he refused, they pounced upon him and allegedly took away his identity card. The Chandigarh police
has made an entry in the daily diary.
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Grant for
11 PU projects lapses CHANDIGARH, May 18 — The grant allocated by the University Grants Commission for minor research projects to Panjab University has lapsed for 11 such projects. Only one researcher has availed herself of the grant before the end of the financial year which ended on March 31. Two theories for the lapse of the grant are being advanced by the affected parties. Some teachers alleged that they were not told to avail themselves of the grant before March 31. The office of the Finance and Development Officer stated that nobody came to claim the grant despite having sent their acceptance letters. Dr Ashwini Aggarwal, one of the researchers who failed to get the grant, blamed it on the office of the FDO. "I have been regularly communicating with all officers concerned to get the grant for my project. I was informed through a letter that the Vice-Chancellor had decided against sanctioning the advance and that I would be required to submit bills for the work which I had undertaken if I wanted to avail myself of the grant before March 31,'' he said. Dr Aggarwal added that the submission of bills on the expenditure he had incurred was not possible as he had no expenditure because no grant from the UGC had reached him. "We can spend money on buying what we need only when we have something in our hands. I was told that since I had not undertaken any research, my grant stood cancelled,'' he rued. Dr Shishoo, Dr Poonam Piplani, and Dr Renu Chadha of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, who had applied for the research projects, blamed the wording of the letter issued by the accounts department of the university for the lapse of the grant. "Something must be drastically wrong with the letter issued by the department as 11 persons could not be wrong about the interpretation of the letter. That it led to the lapse of grant of 11 persons is reason enough for close scrutiny of the letter. It was not the carelessness on the part of the researchers that led to complications. The letter failed to convey what it intended to,'' Dr Piplani opined. "Earlier, we were busy with the session. Now we are comparatively free with the approaching vacation. We would have availed ourselves of the grant had we known it would lapse by the time we could do something on our project. In our case, most of the chemicals are imported and the process takes a lot of time. The three of us have submitted a representation to the Vice-Chancellor, saying that we could not claim the grant and that it be extended to the next year,'' Dr Shishoo added. Dr Renu Chadha agreed that a representation had been submitted to the Vice-Chancellor, which said they were not aware of the fact that the grant would lapse on March 31. They were given the impression that they could take the grant any time they needed it during the three year term of the project, she said. Dr R.K. Sapru said he had been running from pillar to post to get the grant sanctioned for his project but to no avail. "The officials concerned have not bothered to respond to my applications and requests in this regard,'' he lamented. Dr M.P. Bansal of the Department of Biophysics and Dr S.K. Soni of the Department of Microbiology faced no problem but admitted they had not taken the grant. They said they had submitted the bills to the office and that the payment would be made from the allotted fund to the suppliers of the chemicals they needed for their project. On the other hand, Dr P.P. Arya of the University Business School said it would have been a financial irregularity if he had withdrawn the money which he knew could be put to use only during the vacation. Though he knew that the financial year was over, he was sure that the grant would be carried forward to the next financial year. Dr Promilla Pathak of the Botany Department was the only person to have taken the grant. She attributed it to the experience she had gained over the years while working as a research scholar. "It is understood that any grant given before the end of the financial year has to be taken before it comes to an end. Any income tax payee knows that and there is no need to confirm the same,'' she explained. The official version from the FDO, Mr M.G. Sharma, was that the research scholars had been told to collect their grant immediately from the office. "If they are facing any difficulty, they should point it out to us in clear terms. We had advised them to get in touch with the superintendent concerned instead of seeking the opinion of clerks of the office. Further, if we can be of any help in promoting research on the campus, we will be happy to do the same,'' he added. He also stated that the grant, which had lapsed on March 31, was also under consideration for an extension. The grant for the minor
research project is an unassigned grant given by the UGC
to the university and it is further given to scientists
by the university. Given in parts, the scientists are
given 40 per cent of it initially, 50 per cent after the
first year and the remaining 10 per cent at the time of
submission of the quarterly report. |
Blasts in
phone instruments PANCHKULA, May 18 — Residents of at least six houses in Sector 17 here had a rude shock in the wee hours of this morning when their telephone instruments suddenly melted, preceded by a blast. To the utter surprise of the residents, their telephone instruments melted after electricity wires in front of their houses reportedly came in contact with telephone cables. The current then passed in the telephone instruments resulting in blasts. One of the affected telephone subscribers, Mr Bawa, a resident of house No. 642, said that the cables from which the telephone connections had been given ran almost parallel to the electricity cables. What happened today was that due to strong winds, the telephone wires came in contact with live electricity wires. Till late in the afternoon, the loose telephone cables were seen hanging outside the houses. Nobody was reported injured in the incident as telephones were not in use when the blasts took place. The residents complained
that after the incident, the telephone wires were fixed
but these were again taken over the electricity wires,
inviting another similar mishap. |
School
board men go on strike SAS NAGAR, May 18 — A number of employees of the Punjab School Education Board Karamchari Union today went on strike against the “indifferent attitude” of the board authorities towards their demands. The striking employees were demanding withdrawal of cases against 26 employees for not issuing roll numbers to students in time, withdrawal of cases against union leaders, who had “protested” against the “misuse” of official vehicles by board officers and banning of direct recruitment in the board. Mr Harbhajan Singh Billa, the union President, said the employees were forced to go on strike as board authorities were not responding to their demands. He claimed that the work in the examination branch remained paralysed throughout the day. Mr Jarnail Singh Brar, General Secretary of the union, threatened that if the demands were not accepted by tomorrow, employees of other branches will join the strike. Meanwhile, a spokesman
of the board, said if the employees did not return to
their work tomorrow, the authorities will be forced to
invoke “no work no pay” pay rule. He said the
strike was a “pressure tactic” being used by
certain union leaders. |
Hotel MD
fined by magistrate CHANDIGARH, May 18 — The Managing Director of a local hotel has been fined Rs 750 by the Chief Judicial Magistrate for not notifying manpower requirements to the Regional Employment Exchange here. The Regional Employment Exchange had filed a complaint under the Employment Exchange Act,1959, after the Managing Director, failed to respond to the show-cause notices issued by the exchange to him for not notifying manpower requirements. Meanwhile, the Regional
Employment Exchange has cautioned the employers in the
public sector and those employing 25 or more persons in
the private sector to notify their vacancies to the local
employment exchange before filling them and submit
quarterly and biennial returns in time to avoid penal
action. |
Octroi on
liquor resented SAS NAGAR, May 18 — Ex-servicemen affiliated with the Indian Ex-services League, Punjab and Chandigarh, and the All India Ex-servicemen's Party held a demonstration in front of the Sector 71 CSD Canteen here today. They were protesting against the octroi duty on the liquor sold through the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) canteens. Mr Harwant Singh, the President of the party, said the octroi duty, levied by the state government at the rate of 16 per cent, was the revenue of cantonment boards as per the Cantonment Board Act, 1954, but the state government was not paying the full amount to these boards. Mr Jaswant Singh Kumbhra said the Punjab Government started collecting the octroi from 1983, in the form of "Add Excise Duty", on behalf of the cantonment boards of Jalandhar and Ferozepore. He said the state government was yet to refund Rs 4 crore and Rs 2 crore to the cantonment board of Jalandhar and Ferozepore, respectively. In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, the league said the state finance department had been unable to pay the the arrears to the cantonment boards and it was not willing to stop further collections. The league demanded that the octroi duty should be stopped without delay and the outstanding amount should be paid to the respective boards. The memorandum said
efforts should be made to generate employment avenues for
ex-servicemen as they were not getting employment after
retirement. The protesters threatened that they would sit
on an indefinite dharna till their demands were conceded
by the state government. |
Staff
shortage in school CHANDIGARH, May 18 — Government Model Middle School, Sector 42, stands in a ground infested with weeds and congress grass, making it difficult for students to play there. Children can be seen hovering around the building, even during the recess period — the only time they can enjoy. The school also faces shortage of staff. With over 400 students and classes from pre-nursery to Class VIII, the school has only nine teachers. The Principal, Mrs Prem Bhasin, says the number of teachers has not been sufficient to meet the growing number of students, especially with the addition of Class VIII from this session onwards. She says that most of the clerical work is also carried out by some teachers who work overtime to ensure smooth functioning of the school. Besides teachers, the school has only three Class IV employees for managing the children. “There were 10 teachers in all and one of them retired in January. We had only one teacher to teach Hindi and we had to request her to continue working till the end of the session to ensure the students did not suffer, to which she agreed. Now, in the new session we are without any Hindi teacher,’’ she says. The school has been without a Punjabi teacher since 1997 and the teachers knowing some Punjabi are teaching the students whatever little they can. A member of the Parent Teacher Association has also been roped in for the same. The subject is taught to students from Class III onwards and most of them manage to pass the examination. “Sometimes these teachers continue for years on end and nobody comes to our help,’’ Mrs Bhasin rues. Other teachers needed are in subjects of Sanskrit, music and domestic science. “There is a shortage of 30 per cent staff in my school and the teachers are simultaneously managing two classes at a time. They assign some work to one class, go to the other and after giving them work return to check on the work of the students in the first class. This leads to a lot of wastage of time but we have no option,’’ she says. The District Education Officer admits that there is a paucity of staff but that he can do little about it. “The decision of the court is awaited on the new recruitment. Also, we have not been sanctioned any additional posts since 1992 even though the student population has continued to rise. We, on our part, are making our efforts to solve the problem,’’ Mr Brahmjit Kalia explains. He adds that the
Principal has been given the power to advertise on her
own as per the requirements and that the school has
especially been given teachers keeping in mind the
subjects taught in the school and most of them have the
requisite qualifications. |
SNIPPETS Release of bonus, DA demanded CHANDIGARH, May 18 — The National Organisation of Government Employees has urged the Administration to release the bonus and dearness allowance to all UT employees. According to Mr T.C. Kashyap, convener of the organisation, the benefits were stopped wrongly as they were not linked to Punjab as per the orders of the Union Home Ministry. A meeting would be held on May 25 to discuss the issue and chalk out the further course of action. Training course for cops ends CHANDIGARH, May 18 — A week-long refresher training programme for the ministerial staff of the Chandigarh police concluded at the Police Headquarters in Sector 9 here today. The Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration, Punjab and Chandigarh, had conducted this programme. The entire gamut of office rules, procedures, including financial and service rules, noting, drafting and time management were covered during the programme. Rally by Capital Project workers CHANDIGARH, May 18 — Members of the Capital Project Departmental Works Workers Union held a rally in Sector 12 here today in support of their demands. It was resolved that in case their demands were not met by June 9, a mass dharna would be staged near the Chandigarh Housing Board roundabout on June 10. The main demands of the union are regularisation of all daily-wage and work-charged workers, release of bonus and arrears for 1997-99, filling all vacant posts, creation of new posts in view of the workload, provision of tool boxes to class III mechanics, scrapping the policy of privatisation and contractual labour, besides stopping victimisation of trade unionists. Construction of water line flayed SAS NAGAR, May 18 — The local Phase V House Owners Welfare Society has criticised the Public Health Department Authorities for linking new storm-water line in Phase I to a 'nullah' at the junction of Phases 1,2 and 3 for draining rain water of Mohali village and Phase 1 into it. In a press note issued here today, Mr Albel Singh Shayan, General Secretary of the society, said the nullah had no capacity to carry more water and the construction of storm-water line may result in flooding of low lying areas of Phase V during rains. The society demanded that the construction of the storm-water line be stopped immediately so that the residents could be saved from the area being flooded during rains. Pak singer to perform in city CHANDIGARH, May 18 — Payal Musical Club will present Mubarak Ali Kanwal, a Punjabi folk and ghazal singer from Pakistan, at Tagore Theatre on May 20 at 7.30 p.m. He has 33 audio cassettes and 3 books to his credit. He has sung 20 songs in films and has collected 1,800 works of writers. Invitation cards for the programme are available at the venue. Demand to upgrade school KHARAR, May 18 — Mr Om Parkash Aggarwal and Mrs Gurmeet Kaur, both Municipal Commissioners of Kharar, and Mr Prem Singh, President , SAD, Kharar Circle (City), in a letter sent to the Punjab Government yesterday have demanded that the Government Middle School at Kharar should not be closed down. Rather, it should be upgraded to high school. They pointed out that Kharar was the only town where till today there was no government high school. They said that keeping in mind the demands of the residents the Government Middle School was opened in Kharar in 1996.The government allocated a grant of Rs 2 lakh for constructing the building of the school. Recently, two rooms had been constructed with this amount. They have written that during 1996-97 only 14 students were studying in the school but now 62 students were admitted to the school and more admissions were expected. Out of the 62 schools, 59 students belonged to Scheduled Castes and Dalit families. The letter said that they had now come to learn that the government was planning to close the school. Website opening put off CHANDIGARH, May 18 — The inauguration of the website facility at Chandigarh Press Club, which was scheduled for May 19, has been put off. The facility will now be opened by the Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, on May 22 at 10 a.m., according to the club Secretary-General, Mr Charanjit Ahuja. Action against Pawar, two others
sought CHANDIGARH, May 18 — The Chandigarh Territorial Mahila Congress Committee, which met at the Sector 35 Congress Bhavan here today, expressed its dismay over the action of three senior party leaders against Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and accused them of speaking the language of "Sangh Parivar". Addressing party workers, Mrs Lalit Joshi Bhardwaj, President of the Mahila Congress, said that certain senior functionaries were not able to digest 33 per cent reservation in the party set-up for women. Mrs Joshi said that a woman who sacrificed her country, culture and even husband to become an Indian citizen should not be criticised just because she was not born in India. Mahila Congress leaders and workers felt distressed at the development and wanted that disciplinary action should be taken against the three leaders for brewing revolt in the party on the leadership issue. Meanwhile, a number of other Congress workers and activists have also criticised the three senior Congress leaders for opposing Mrs Sonia Gandhi as Prime Ministerial candidate and urged Mrs Gandhi to withdraw her resignation in the national interest. Powermen hold gate meeting CHANDIGARH, May 18 — Members of the Chandigarh Powermen Coordina-tion Committee held a gate meeting in Mani Majra today. According to Mr U.S.
Mohi, convener of the committee, their main demands are
granting PSEB scales to the remaining categories of
employees, filling vacant posts by promoting departmental
staff, employment on compassionate grounds to next of
kin, release of DA and bonus to employees, enhancement of
the GIC scheme, promotions after nine and 16 years of
service and completion of GPF and service passbooks. |
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