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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Monday, November 1, 1999 |
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OBC status for all Jats
sought |
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Chautala not to impose
new taxes AMBALA, Oct 31 — The announcements, including the abolition of octroi and enhancement in old age pension made, on September 25 on the occasion of the birthday of Mr Devi Lal will be implemented from November 1. Weavers sore over colony plan
delay Promised
funds not released Tikait
for quota on economic basis Administration,
civic body on warpath Residents
block traffic Farmers
on ‘verge of starvation’ Sonepat
areas go without water |
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OBC status for all Jats
sought Pandora's box has been opened by the decision of the Central Government to give the status of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to the jats of Rajasthan, except those of Dholpur and Bharatpur districts of that state. The Central Government has been accused of not only discriminating between the jats of Rajasthan, but also those of other states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Political leaders of these states have already raised their voice to this effect. The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, is most annoyed by the decision of the Central Government as he himself had set up a commission headed by Mr Justice Gurnam Singh in September 1990 which had recommended the inclusion of jats and jat Sikhs in the category of OBCs among other castes in Haryana. Mr Chautala has urged the Prime Minister not to apply double standards and give the status of OBC to the jat community as a whole in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country. He has also said he will place the Gurnam Singh Commission report in the Haryana Assembly, obviously for adoption. The Gurnam Singh Commission had recommended the OBC status for jats, jat Sikhs, Ahir, Bishnoi, Meo, Rajput, Gujjar, Rode, Saini and Tyagi communities. While the Chautala government in 1991 had implemented these recommendations, the Congress government of Mr Bhajan Lal had stopped it. Mr Bhajan Lal had set up a new commission which had recommended the OBC status for Ahirs, Yadavs, Gujjars, Sainis, Lodhs and Meos and these were accepted. This commission had left out jats and jat Sikhs. Interestingly, now the Congress leaders, including the HPCC President Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and former HPCC President Birender Singh, have demanded the implementation of the Gurnam Singh report. They have said jats, Rodes, Bishnois and Tyagis should be given this status. While arriving at its decision, the Gurnam Singh Commission had given weightage to social (30 marks), educational (20 marks) and economic (10 marks) aspects. It decided that all communities securing 30 points or more, except those belonging to the SC and BC already notified by the state government and whose representation in government jobs and professional educational institutions was inadequate, should be identified as backward classes. Accordingly, jats secured 36 points and jat Sikhs 24. However, the commission felt that caste should not be divided on religious basis and the jat caste as a whole would either be included or excluded from the list of the BC. The jat community had already made its grade for inclusion into the list of backward classes because they had not only secured more than 30 marks in the sample survey, but their representation in state services etc was also inadequate. The representation of jat Sikhs in services and educational institutions was also inadequate. Therefore, it decided to keep jat Sikhs in the list of backward classes. The representation of jats and jat Sikhs in All India Services (IAS, IPS, IFS) of Haryana as on January 1, 1990 cadre was 10 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively. Their representation respectively in the category of gazetted Class I officers was 11.90 and 2.87 per cent, Class II gazetted officers 20.3 and 2.56 per cent, combined Class I and II officers 17.82 and 2.64 per cent and in professional institutions (BE, MBBS/BAMS and BVSc in Haryana in 1990-91) 10.35 and 2.07 per cent. There is 25 per cent population of jats and 4 per cent of jat Sikhs in Haryana. The commission had also recommended 5 per cent reservation for the economically backward among forward classes. The total annual income of such households from all sources should be not more than Rs 15,000 and in agriculture classes the land possessed by such households should not be more than two hectares of dry, rainfed land or its equivalent. It had further said although as per the law laid down by the Supreme Court, reservations in government jobs could not be done beyond 50 per cent, yet the Haryana Government would try and reserve 69 per cent of government jobs as had been done in Tamil Nadu. It had also recommended the adoption of the economic criterion set by Mr Justice O. Chinappa Reddy by putting a ceiling based on the status and economic conditions of the parents of the candidate as follows: (i) either of his parents was a Class I or Class II officer in the government or held an equivalent post in public sector undertaking or was an employee under a private employer and drew a salary which was not less than that of a Class II officer (ii) either of his parents was a professional — doctor, lawyer, CA, income tax consultant, financial or management consultant, dental surgeon, engineer or architect (iii) both his parents were graduates (iv) either of his parents was an income tax assessee (v) either of his parents was assessed to sales tax and (vi) either of his parents or both together owned more than eight hectares of rainfed, dry land or its equivalent. It had also recommended
the starting of special educational schemes with emphasis
on vocational training for these backward classes. They
should also be helped to set up small-scale industries,
it added. |
Octroi goes in Haryana today CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 — Mr Mahabir Prasad, Governor, today promulgated ordinances to amend the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act and the Haryana Municipal Act providing for the abolition of octroi in the state with effect from tomorrow. The decision to abolish octroi was taken by the Cabinet two days ago. The government has
decided to adjust the municipal staff who will be
rendered surplus due to the decision, in various
government departments. A committee has been set up to
find out vacant posts to absorb the 3,108 employees
working in the octroi wing. The committee will complete
the job by November 10. |
Haryana Day: a cultural Kumbh KURUKSHETRA, Oct 31 — The state-level Haryana Day celebrations on the Kurukshetra University campus have grown to be the "cultural Kumbh of Haryana". This is the only festival which is organised to celebrate Haryana Day which has been sustained by varied presentation of folk performances of the state. Dr M.L. Ranga, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, said this to TNS. Over 2,000 students, drawn from different colleges affiliated to Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Ch Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar, and Kurukshetra University, are participating in the festival. Mr Anoop Lather, Director, Youth and Cultural Affairs of the University, who had conceived the festival, told TNS that the festival was being organised for the past one decade. The festival was started in 1967 as a one-day presentation of Haryana's cultural heritage. Now the festival, Mr Lather said included Haryanvi Chutkala, plays, orchestra, instruments, mimicry and mono-acting. Performances in dialects of Ahirwati, Mewati, Jatu, Bangru, Bagri, Kaurvi and Braj were included in the festival. The Director said participation of students, youth and artistes could be much more provided the dates of youth festivals of other Haryana universities did not clash with the festival. One major achievement of
the festival was Haryanvi orchestra, Mr Lather said. An
ensemble of Haryana's folk instruments was for the first
time presented at Tagore Theatre in Chandigarh. Later
workshops in Haryanvi orchestra were held for teachers
and students. As a result Haranvi orchestra is an
important component of youth festivals held all over the
state. |
Chautala not to impose new taxes AMBALA, Oct 31 — The announcements, including the abolition of octroi and enhancement in old age pension made, on September 25 on the occasion of the birthday of Mr Devi Lal will be implemented from November 1. It was stated by Mr Om Parkash Chautala, Chief Minister while addressing the prize distribution function of Nand Lal Geeta Vidhya Mandir at Tepla village, 20 km from here today. Talking to mediapersons, he said no new tax would be imposed on the people to meet the finance required to fulfil these announcements. He said the government wanted to give relief to the people in taxes which was imposed by former Chief Minister Bansi Lal. He said the government would implement the recommendations of the high power committee which had been constituted to review the taxes imposed by the former government. He said the government had been making arrangement to solve the power shortage in the state. He said he had meaningful discussion with the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh in this regard. Later Mr Chautala attended the bhog and antim ardas ceremony of Major Gurpreet Singh at his native village Tepla who laid down his life in Doda sector on October 19. The Chief Minister
presented cheques of five lakh each to the widows and
parents of martyrs. He also announced to provide a
government job to widow of martyrs. He also gave Rs 2
lakh for construction of the memorial of the martyr in
Tepla village. HPCC, President, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda,
paid tributes to martyr Major Gurpreet Singh. |
Weavers sore over colony plan
delay PANIPAT, Oct 31 — The proposal to construct a weavers' colony and a mini handloom unit complex near Unjha village in this district has reportedly been delayed due to red tapism and political dissension. Hundreds of weavers of a minority community, who have migrated here from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other parts of the country, have already contributed lakhs for this project and the delay has caused resentment among them. To provide accommodation and infrastructure for setting up handloom units to the migrated weavers a project was sanctioned in 1995. Under the project, 50 acres of land in Unjha village was transferred to the government free of cost for setting up a weavers' colony. The National Minorities Commission also sanctioned Rs 3 crore for this project and asked the state government to contribute an equal amount. After the completion of all formalities, the state housing board was asked to construct the colony. The project envisaged construction of 1400 houses and an underground mini handloom complex. A provision was made to allot at least one unit space to each family of Unjha village to set up their units in the complex at a nominal payment of Rs 60,000. The price of a house was fixed at Rs 80,000. Sources said that when the project was about to be started, an agitation was started by activists of the Shiv Sena and BJP against the project. After the defeat of the Congress in the 1996 assembly elections, the project was reportedly shelved. The present state government also did not appear to be "interested" in starting the project again, the sources said. Disillusioned with the government attitude, a number of minorities' organisations have planned to raise demand for construction of the weavers' colony at various levels. The General Secretary of the Muslim Samaj Samiti, Mr Irfan, said that the matter would be brought to the notice of the Prime Minister, Chief Minister and Minorities Commission. He alleged that a large amount contributed by the poor weavers was lying deposited with the state government without any benefit to them so far. The General Secretary of
the Anjuman Islahul Musalmeen, Mr Munish Ansari, has also
urged the state government to start the construction of
the weavers colony at the earliest. Dr Ansari has pointed
out that over 50000 weavers from different states were
working in hundreds of spinning mills and their living
conditions were bad as they were forced to reside in
small rooms within the factory premises. |
Promised funds not released AGROHA (Hisar), Oct 31 — Even after three months of its announcement of restoring grant to the Agroha Medical College, the Haryana Government has not so far released funds to the college. In case, the grant is not released by November, the college may not be able to start the MBBS course from the next session, commencing from July 2000. On September 27, a high-level meeting of senior government officials and the members of the Maharaj Agarasen Medical Research and Education Society (running the college) was held at Delhi. The meeting was chaired by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala. It was decided at the meeting that the government will provide to the society Rs 7 crore needed immediately for starting the college with the approval of the Medical Council of India. Dr B.S. Gupta Director of the college, told TNS here today that the society did not want to start the college again, unless approval was granted by the Medical Council of India (MCI). He said the MCI had stipulated certain infrastructural facilities for the approval. These relate to the buildings, equipment and the staff. The total expenditure involved in it came to about Rs 7 crore which the college needed urgently. The director said if the Rs 7 crore grant was not provided within the next month, the college might not be able to meet the norms set by the MCI, by March 2000, when the MCI team was scheduled to visit the college for inspection. This would obviously mean that the courses would not be started from July 2000. At the September 27 meeting it was also decided that the hospital run by the society in the college should slash its charges to bring it on a par with those in Medical College Hospital, Rohtak. The society slashed down the charges immediately. This had led to an additional financial burden of about Rs 2 lakh per month, besides about 50 per cent increase in the number of patients. Agroha Medical College was closed on March 1, 1999, after the Bansi Lal government stopped aid to it. Under an agreement between the government and the society, the government was supposed to provide 99 per cent recurring grant and 50 per cent for creating infrastructure. However, the project ran into rough weather, after the grant was stopped. The college was started by Mr Bhajan Lal and completed by Mr Bansi Lal. The college has a sprawling campus of 270 acre. The society maintaining the college, would benefit village people. Although the college is closed, about 300 patients visit the hospital daily and about 50 admissions are made per day. The college needs about Rs 25 crore in the next four years for the recognition by the MCI. According the the MCI procedure, approval is granted to the college in the first year after it is satisfied that the college fulfils all the norms. Subsequently the MCI conducts yearly inspections for the another three years. On the basis of these reports the MCI grants recognition. In 1994, the college had been started without the prior approval of the MCI. Dr Gupta said if and
when the college was started, admissions would be made in
six professional courses, including the MBBS, BDS,
Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT), Bachelor of Medical
Laboratory Technology (BMLT), Bachelor of Pharmacy
(B.Pharma) and General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM). The
GNM course was already being run and 33 girls were
undergoing training, he added. Dr Gupta emphasised the
need for the immediate release of the grant for creating
the infrastructure necessary for meeting the norms of the
MCI. Otherwise, it would not be possible to make the
college functional from the coming session. |
Tikait for quota on economic
basis PANIPAT, Oct 31 — The Bhartiya Kisan Union supremo, Mr Mahender Singh Tikait has said that the reservation should be on the economic basis of a family as there were rich and poor in every section of society. Mr Tikait was addressing a Jat "Aarakshan" sammelan organised by the district Jat Dharmarth Sabha, here today at local Kisan Bhavan. The sammelan was presided over by the President of the Haryana Jat Sabha, Mr Ameer Singh Chaudhary. Mr Tikait said that he did not believe in casteism and communalism, but he alleged that the reservation on caste basis had been started by politicians for their narrow interests and now the virus of reservation had spread in almost every caste of society. Mr Tikait, however, indirectly supported the demand for reservation for Jats, Rors, Bishnois, and Tyagis he said it would be easy for the Jats to get the benefit of reservation in Haryana as the state government headed by Mr Om Parkash Chautala would certainly accept their demand. He suggested that a deputation should call on the Chief Minister and submit a memorandum in this regard. The BKU leader pointed out that the Kissan organisations in Haryana were not fully united at present. Mr Tikait said an agriculture produce was purchased at very low rates but sold to consumers at very high rates. He suggested that this gap should be limited to Rs 20 per quintal. He demanded that the farmers must be given remunerative prices for their produce. The president of District Jat Dharmarth Sabha, Mr Jagbeer Singh Rana, presented a memorandum of their demands to the BKU leader. The demands included reservation for Jats, implementations of the recommendations of the Gurnam Singh other backward classes commission, and fixing basmati procurement price at the rate of Rs 2650 per quintal. The state unit president
of the BKU Mr Chanda Singh, state unit president of the
Haryana Yuva Jat Mahasabha, Mr Surender Singh Narwal also
addressed gathering. |
Administration, civic body on warpath GURGAON, Oct 31 — The district administration has suspended a resolution of the local Municipal Council which has regularised a number of illegal constructions. It has also sought an explanation from the elected body for condoning the large scale violations of norms by builders. The President of the Municipal Council, in response to a notice served by the district administration, convened a meeting a few days ago, but the councillors allegedly manipulated the postponement of the meeting on account of lack of quorum. This was done apparently to buy time and manoeuvre things. In effect, the next meeting of the council in this connection can now take place without the obligatory quorum and any decision can be taken unanimously by voting by the members present there. The council resolution pertains to 20 structures which allegedly violated the norms. The violations were done after the building plans were approved by the council. The issue resurfaced after the new Deputy Commissioner, Mr T.C. Gupta, launched a drive to clear encroachments by the land mafia. The present controversy stems from grey areas in the Haryana Municipal Act which is often used by elected bodies to exercise their powers to first allow violations of building norms and then express their inability to take any action. They finally regularise the violations. This, at least, has been the modus operandi of the councillors and the builders, who have links with the politicians. In case of violation of building norms, Section 208 of Act provides for a notice of 15 days to the encroacher by the council. But the Act is silent on the amount of the penalty. There are a number of violations about which the Act is silent. Also, it does not specify the extent of the violations to be condoned after the case is compounded. These have emboldened the builders and those colluding with them. It is felt that the
present controversy is also linked with the higher issue
of delegated legislation, a concept provided by the
Constitution. |
Residents block traffic SONEPAT, Oct 31 — A large number of vehicles, including buses and trucks, were lined up on both sides of the Sonepat-Delhi road near Sikka Colony here last evening after irate residents of Sikka Colony and other nearby colonies blocked traffic in protest against the erratic supply of power and water. The irate residents also held a demonstration and shouted slogans against the state government and the district administration. Groups of women also joined the protest demonstration and gheraoed the BJP councillor, Mr Darshan Lal. Mr Dharam Pal, SDO (C), rushed to the site and pacified the irate residents by assuring them that they would get regular power and water supplies in future. The residents then lifted the blockade and the movement of traffic was resumed after about an hour. According to another report, operators of jeeps and other vehicles blocked the traffic near Fountain Chowk at Gohana town, 35 km from here, yesterday, to register their protest against the alleged indiscriminate challans by the authorities concerned. Led by Mr Kitab Singh
Malik, former MLA and a Congress leader, they marched
through the main bazars and raised anti-government
slogans. They also submitted a memorandum to the
Tehsildar, demanding immediate stopping of the challaning
of jeep operators. |
Farmers on ‘verge of
starvation’ FATEHABAD, Oct 31 — Former MP and member of the Central Committee of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha Sheopat Singh has said that the "anti-farmer" policies of the Central and state government have brought the farming community in the country to the verge of starvation. Addressing a kisan panchayat organised by the Kisan Sabha, Haryana, here today, he said by increasing the price of diesel the Vajpayee government had exposed its "anti-people" face. He claimed the government was planning to impose some more taxes in the name of covering the budget deficit. This would deepen the crisis in the agriculture sector, he said. He said a big section of the farmers in the country had already come under heavy debt. More than 50 farmers in states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana had committed suicide as they were unable to repay loans taken by them. Mr Prithvi Singh Gorakhpuria, a CPM leader, said due to the wrong policies of successive governments, agriculture had ceased to be profitable. Most of the small and marginal farmers were finding it hard to make both ends meet. He criticised the Chautala government for not giving any benefit to farmers. Mr Krishan Swaroop, general secretary of the Haryana Kishan Sabha, said agriculturists were the most neglected lot in the country. The panchayat demanded,
among other things, a roll-back of the diesel price hike,
implementation of the agriculture insurance scheme,
procurement of sugarcane at Rs 125 per quintal and early
completion of the Sutlej-Yamuna link canal. |
Sonepat areas go without water SONEPAT, Oct 31 — Several residential areas, including Ram Bazar, Mohalla Kalan and Mohalla Mashad with a population of more than 10,000 had no water today and last evening following a disruption in the water supply system. A defect in the saluice valve was reported to be the main cause of the disruption in the water supply. Non-functioning of electric motors at boosting stations was another cause of the collapse of the water supply. Operator of the boosting stations have been blamed for the drinking water crisis in the old parts of the city as they allegedly remain absent during the duty hours. Mr K.K. Sharma, President of the Sonepat Citizens Council, today alleged that many parts of the city particularly the Indira Colony and the Model Town had not been receiving the supply of drinking water on time for the past few months. He demanded suspension of all the officials of the department responsible for the water crisis. Representatives of various political parties, social and voluntary organisations and trade unions held a joint meeting here today to register their protest against the erratic supply of drinking water in the city. Through a resolution,
the meeting urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash
Chautala to order a probe into complaints about the
inefficient working of the Public Health Department. |
Ambala citizens’ plea CHANDIGARH, Oct 31 — The Citizens Council of Ambala cantonment has urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to get the work on the industrial growth centre project at Saha started immediately and expedite the implementation of the canal-based water supply scheme for the township. A deputation of the council met Mr Chautala in Ambala today and drew his attention to the fact that funds for the two projects had already been sanctioned but work had been slowed down. The demands of the
council include construction of a new anaj mandi, speedy
completion of the under-construction Subhash Park and bus
stand and grant of funds for the expansion of the science
block building of the local government college. |
Ban Sangh yatra: SUCI ROHTAK, Oct 31 — The Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), Haryana, has sought a ban on the activities of Sangh organisations in view of forthcoming visit of Pope John Paul II. In a statement here yesterday Mr Satywan, Secretary of the party unit, decried the campaign of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and RSS, against the visit of the Pope. He said the yatra of the
Sangh from Goa to Delhi could prove ominous for the
communal harmony in the country. He charged that Sangh
organisations had been busy in diverting attention of the
common man from real issues and wanted to terrorise
minority communities. |
Twins born through in-vitro
fertilisation FARIDABAD, Oct 31 — Twins, both male, were born through in-vitro fertilisation here on October 22. The mother who lives in NIT was married more than seven years back. Tuberculosis damaged her fallopian tubes and incapacitated her to conceive. She approached a local private hospital where she was given in-vitro fertilisation. The transfer of the embryo to the womb resulted in the pregnancy. On October 22 she gave
birth to male twins weighing 2 kg each. Both the mother
and babies are in good health and have been discharged
from the hospital. |
Congressmen hold procession ROHTAK, Oct 31 — Congress workers led by Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, a former minister, today took out a procession in the town and submitted a memorandum to the state government and the union government through the Deputy Commissioner. They demanded deletion of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s name from the Bofors charge sheet, withdrawal of hike in the prices of diesel, declaration of southern Haryana as drought-hit, adequate supply of power and water to the district and the repair of roads in Kiloi village. Besides, he sought Rs 2500 and Rs 150 as minimum support prices for paddy and sugarcane respectively. Meanwhile, Mr Krishan
Hooda claimed that a large number of party workers from
Kiloi, home town of HPCC chief Bhupender Singh Hooda,
unanimously passed a resolution seeking the resignation
of the latter. Mr K.M. Hooda said the HPCC chief should
resign on moral grounds owning the responsibility for
party’s debacle. |
One held for murder FATEHABAD, Oct 31 — The police has arrested Nihal Singh in connection with the murder of his younger brother, Sawan Ram. According to the district police chief Mr S.S. Deswal, Mrs Deso Bai, a resident of Nangal village, in her complaint alleged that Nihal Singh hit her husband, Sawan Ram, with a log. She said Sawan Ram and Nihal Singh had a land dispute. In another case, the
police arrested three persons in connection with a murder
at Bighar village in the district. The arrested have been
identified as Raghubir Singh and Sawaran Singh of Bighar
village and Gurjeet Singh of Barseen village. |
Duration of power cuts increased SONEPAT, Oct 31 — The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) has increased the duration of power cuts from four hours to six hours a day with immediate effect. According to official
sources, urban areas will be subjected to power cuts
between 5.30 a.m. and 6 a.m., 9a.m. and 11 a.m., 3 p.m.
to 5 p.m. and again 6 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. The cut is
necessitated on account of reduction in power quota for
the Sonepat circle. |
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