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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Thursday, September 30, 1999 |
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No new taxes to meet sops |
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Sangh for probe into LTC scandal Chautala
trying to ‘befool people’ Army health centre of Bhiwani CM's
directive to sugar mills Engg
teachers go on leave Election
process hampers studies |
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No new taxes to meet sops CHANDIGARH, Sept 29 — The Haryana Government plans to impose no fresh taxes to meet the additional expenditure it will have to incur on account of various concessions like the doubling of the old-age pension and abolition of octroi announced by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, at a function in Hisar on September 25 organised to celebrate the 86th birthday of Mr Devi Lal. The doubling of old-age pension alone would cost the state exchequer nearly Rs 100 crore in a year. The abolition of octroi would mean a burden of over Rs 50 crore per annum. It is estimated that the government would have to cough up another about Rs 20 crore per year on concessions like "Kanyadaan" of Rs 5100 to Harijan girls at the time of marriage. The Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, is a busy man these days, trying to balance the Budgetary figures before the deadline of November 1 when these welfare schemes would come into force. He said the old-age pension would be liberalised to bring it on the pattern introduced by Mr Devi Lal in 1987. The condition of a person holding less than five acres for getting the pension would be removed because it had led to corruption and harassment at the level of patwaris. This condition was introduced by the Bhajan Lal Government. The eligibility criteria, he said, would include that a beneficiary should not be an income tax payee and he should not be drawing pension from the government under any other head. He admits that the financial position of the state was very precarious. Even the opening remarks of the Chief Minister, at a party meeting held here in mid-September were indicative of the serious resources crunch before the state government. He said, may be a little exaggeration, that the state would have to sell its assets to pay salaries to the employees. Under these circumstances how will state afford the luxury of doubling the old-age pension and no octroi without imposing new taxes? Prof Sampat Singh is categorical in maintaining that no new taxes would be imposed. He plans to tighten the tax collection regime and plug the loopholes through which the state revenue leaks. He says prohibition is
still having its aftermaths on the state’s economy.
The excise revenue is stagnant in the face of smuggling
of liquor into the state by the mafia which originated
during the days of the prohibition. Now the government
has directed the police and the excise authorities to
check liquor smuggling. Screening at the entry points to
the state has been made stricter to avoid passenger tax,
sales tax and overloading tax. Already some of these
measures have resulted in an increase of about 17 per
cent in the collection of taxes. |
Construction raises brows GURGAON, Sept 29 — Construction work on about 35 acres of land, belonging to the late Dhirendra Brahmachari, once adviser of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, has invited frowns from wide-ranging quarters. The construction is being done by a firm named Hemali Resorts Ltd with its headquarters in Delhi. Although the head of the firm, Dr Prakash D. Pandva, was not available on telephone despite several attempts his office claimed that the land had been purchased by him. No one from the government, including the Deputy Commissioner and the police chief of the district, Mr Krishan Kumar and Mr Navdeep Singh Virk, respectively were willing to make any comment. In fact, they said they were ignorant of the case. The piece of land is in Salokhra village, near 32nd Milestone Hotel, and is along the Jaipur national highway. The land, situated in prime location, was worth about Rs 75 crore. The land was bought by Dhirendra Brahmachari from the gram sabha of the village to set up an ashram. According to unofficial reports, the controversial swami had committed to the gram sabha to return the land to it if the ashram project did not succeed. At least 12 persons were on round-the-clock vigil from the firm’s side at the site of the construction work. The general impression is that some top boss from the government is behind the scene. Certain persons from the
village said after the death of the brahmachari several
attempts had been made unsuccessfully by political
persons of all hues and their proteges to grab the land.
The swami died without setting up the proposed ashram. He
died leaving behind two gliders at the site. Miscreants
robbed parts of the gliders, which still stand worn out
in the enclosures made on the land. |
Dhanak-upper caste rift widens BHAGANA (Hisar), Sept 29 — A cold war is on between the Dhanaks (Dalits) and the upper castes in this small village having a population of 5,000. Although a few days back the upper castes had withdrawn the call for social boycott of Dalits, the mutual mistrust still prevails. Different versions are being forwarded by the Dalits and the upper castes for the reasons behind the social boycott. While the Dhanaks maintain that the boycott had resulted as they (Dalits) had not voted for a particular political party during elections. Members of the upper castes, however, say that the boycott was the result of alleged shielding of two eve-teasers by the Dhanaks. This confrontation between the two sections also led to the alleged manhandling of a Dhanak woman Premo Devi. She is undergoing medical treatment at Civil Hospital Hisar at present. Her husband, Mahabir, told TNS that she was still unconscious and was unable to recollect anything. While caste differences have prevailed here since long, the current phase of confrontation is being attributed to political differences. The Dhanaks were reportedly inclined to vote for a particular party. The upper castes, including the Jats, Brahmins and Banias, reportedly resisted it. They wanted the Dhanaks to vote for the party of their (upper castes) choice. Dhanaks alleged that half of the Dhanak voters were not allowed to cast their vote. After only a couple of days of polling on Sept 7, two Dhanak youths were allegedly beaten by some upper caste boys. They alleged that the boys had molested a girl belonging to the upper caste. However, the Dhanaks refuted the allegation and said the two boys were beaten up, because they had not obliged them (the upper castes) on the day of voting. The upper castes held a village panchayat and wanted the entire Dhanak community to apologise for the misbehaviour of the two boys. The Dhanaks refused and this led to the call for "complete boycott of the Dhanak community in the village". The Dhanaks alleged that the upper castes were looking for excuse as they wanted to punish them for the non-compliance on the election day. The social boycott continued for about two weeks. Later a joint meeting of the two communities was held. Some Dhanak members reportedly apologised for the alleged misbehaviour of the two boys and the upper castes withdrew the boycott. Although the call was withdrawn and uniformly accepted, the mutual resentment continued. Last week Yudhvir Singh and Rajbir Singh went to the residence of Mahabir, a Dhanak, and asked him to pick cotton from their fields. Mahabir was not at home and two boys had an altercation with his wife and allegedly hit her with a stick. She has been undergoing treatment in the hospital since then. However, Mahabir denied that his wife had made any remarks against the upper castes and said she had only told them that she and her husband would not be able to work for them as they were busy somewhere else. Rajbir has been arrested by the police, while Yudhvir is still absconding. There are about 150
Dhanak families in the village. All of them are landless
and earn their livelihood by working as labourers in the
brick kilns and the farms owned by the upper caste
people. |
Wait
for compensation SIRSA: Farmers whose 6 acres were acquired for extending the Pili Mandori Minor in Nahrana village of the district have moved to the Chief Minister for compensation due to them for the past eight months. All this while they failed to realise their claim from government officials at the district. * * * Traders here have expressed their resentment over the ban on polythene bags. They say the government had allowed polythene bags in its undertakings like milk plants, but banned its use by others. * * * Power supply remains off in Panjuana village for 12 to 16 hours daily. Power cuts in Kherian Jodhpurian and Shekhupuria villages has affected irrigation of cotton crop in Panjuana village. Power supply remains cut for 24 hours and it resumes on the low voltage. * * * According to farmers of Nahrana, Rupana Bishnoia, Shanker Mandori in the Darba Kalan Assembly segment water in the Mandori distributory does not reach the tail-end. According to District
Convener of the Kisan Sabha Jai Chand Saharni, the
government is not paying any attention to the drying
cotton and paddy crops. Paddy should have been procured
by September 15. The Sabha has sought Chief
Minister’s attention to work on the Kherekan
Ghaggar-Sukhchain river canal and water logging problem
in the area. |
Sangh for probe into LTC
scandal ROHTAK, Sept 29 — The Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh has demanded an inquiry into the controversy regarding the alleged misuse of the LTC facility provided to government teachers. The Haryana Government, under Section 7 of the Haryana Civil Service Rules, has asked nearly 3000 teachers, who have "availed" the LTC, to refund the money with 18 per cent interest failing which their services might be terminated. The President of the Sangh, Mr Satyavir Shastri, said all these teachers were not involved in the scandal and they had been "falsely" implicated. Moreover, the teachers alone were not involved in the scandal as it was a result of a nexus between officials like the Headmaster of the school, Block Education Officer, the Subdivisional Education Officer, the District Education Officer, Director Education Department, Haryana (Chandigarh), and the Finance Department (Chandigarh). Mr Shastri said even a teacher working in a remote district got the LTC amount within 48 hours of submitting the application. It was surprising that within this short period an application was attended by all the above-mentioned officials in the district and at Chandigarh. He alleged that the
teachers got only one-third or one-fourth of the full LTC
amount and the balance was being "shared" by
the officials of the departments which processed the
application. |
Chautala trying to ‘befool
people’ CHANDIGARH, Sept 29 — The Haryana Congress today accused Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala of trying to befool the people by making false promises and by not taking up vital issues like paddy procurement, law and order situation and supply of power and water on a priority basis. Talking to newsmen here today the president of the party, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said the farmers were resorting to distress sale of paddy as government agencies had not yet entered the market. The state should be declared drought-hit and the government should give adequate relief to those whose crops had been damaged by poor rain. He said Mr Chautala was trying to lure the masses by announcing certain relief measures like abolition of octroi and doubling of the old-age pension so that he could go in for mid-term Assembly elections. The Chautala Government would impose new taxes to cover the expenditure incurred on these sops. Mr Hooda said Mr Chautala should convene an all-party meeting to discuss the issue of the SYL canal and to press upon his Punjab counterpart, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, for early completion of the canal. "Now things are simpler because both Mr Chautala and Mr Badal are friends and the latter should not maintain silence over the issue." He also criticised the Chautala Government for removing the Lokayukta. He said if there were any shortcomings in the Act, it should have been amended to remove these instead of repealing the Act. The integrity of the Lokayukta, Justice I.P. Vashishth, was beyond any doubt and that, perhaps, "did not suit Mr Chautala." Mr Hooda said since now the Government had raised the recruitment age to 40 and 45 years, it should specify what would be the retirement age now so that the new entrants could be eligible for drawing pension. The Congress, he said, was opposed to raising the retirement age as it would block the prospects of the younger generation. Meanwhile, the HVP
president, Mr Bansi Lal, has said the fact that Mr
Chautala intended to implement the new concessions from
November 1 and not from the date his government was
formed showed that the Chief Minister wanted to dissolve
the Assembly before November 1. Mr Chautala, he said,
would defraud the public by seeking their votes on these
issues. |
Army health centre of Bhiwani CHANDIGARH, Sept 29 — Lieut-Gen H.B. Kala, general Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, inaugurated an Army primary health centre at Bhiwani in Haryana today. This is the first of six such centres that the Western Command with the help of the state governments of the region would establish for the benefit of the vast population of ex-servicemen residing in the region. General Kala said he recently visited the four battalions of the Jat Regiment which took part in Operation Vijay and had 70 casualties, including 13 from Bhiwani alone. This was one of the motivating forces to set up the first Army primary health centre in the district. He also announced that Jind and Narnaul would soon have such health centres. The remaining three would be opened in Hamirpur, Una and Sirmour in Himachal Pradesh. The secretary of Haryana Rajya Sainik Board, Brig Satya Dev (retd), requested the Army Commander for a CSD canteen in Loharu. To run these health centres, the state governments concerned will provide accommodation, water, electricity and furniture while the expenditure on medicines, medical equipment and salaries of the medical staff will be borne by the Army. The existing facilities
are oriented towards operational needs and requirements
of the serving soldiers. Most military hospitals are
located in high troops density areas whereas in the high
density ex-servicemen areas, like Garhwal and Kumaon
hills, western UP, Karnataka, Andhra, Rajasthan and
Haryana, facilities are minimal or non-existent. |
CM's directive to sugar mills CHANDIGARH, Sept 29 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, today directed all the cooperative sugar mills to be in the state of full readiness by October 20 to begin the crushing season, effectively from November 1. Mr Chautala, who was reviewing the working of the sugar mills here today, said the government had cleared all the arrears of the sugarcane amounting to nearly Rs 18 crore. He said the Panipat Cooperative Sugar Mill would be modernised and expanded to attain the capacity of 2,500 tonnes crushing capacity a day at an estimated cost of Rs 10 crore and the expanded mill would be made functional from the next crushing season. This would also increase the sugar recovery rate of mill and, therefore, improve its profitability. He expressed concern over the loss of Rs 24 crore suffered by the sugar mills during the tenure of previous government and directed them to make up the loss by improving their working. The government would not allow import of molasses from outside the state till the sale of the entire molasses produced by the sugar mills of Haryana. An intensive cane
development plan was being prepared for the promotion of
sugarcane in the state. |
Engg teachers go on leave KURUKSHETRA, Sept 29 — Following a resolution passed at its general meeting held here on September 14, members of the Regional Engineering College Kurukshetra Teachers Association (RECKTA), today went on mass casual leave in protest against the non-implementation of revised pay scales and payment of arrears as recommended by the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). According to the RECKTA President, Dr D.V.S. Verma, after resorting to mass casual leave, the RECKTA general body, in a meeting held here today, resolved unanimously that the members of the association would observe a token strike on October 7 to press their demand for the implementation of revised pay scales and release of arrears. Dr Verma said it was
resolved at the meeting that if the revised pay scales
and payment of arrears were not granted by October 20,
the members would proceed on an indefinite strike from
October 21. |
Election process hampers studies SIRSA, Sept 29 — The election process has adversely affected education in the district. Parts of buildings of prominent institutions of higher education have been taken over by the district administration for storing ballot boxes. The library of a local college has been closed for more than a month for the purpose during this crucial period of studies. Once the counting formalities are over, the college will be closed for the autumn break for three weeks followed by the Divali season. Students here are complaining against the use of educational institutions for election purposes as this affects their studies. A part of the building
of M.P. College, Dabwali, too has been taken over by the
administration for election work. Students resent this
especially when other government buildings are lying
unused. This, they say, reflects unconcern of the
authorities for education. |
Rathi is MDUTA president ROHTAK, Sept 29 — Mr Somvir Singh Rathi, a lecturer with the Institute of Management Science and Research (IMSAR) of Maharshi Dayanand University, has been elected President of the MDU Teachers Association (MDUTA). The election was held yesterday. Mr Rathi defeated his rival, Mr Wazir Singh Nehra, by a margin of 69 votes. Mr Rathi got 156 votes against 87 secured by Mr Nehra. Dr Inderjit Singh, a
lecturer in the University College, was unanimously
elected General Secretary. |
College staff go on leave SONEPAT, Sept 29 — Teachers and other staff members of the C.R. State College of Engineering, Murthal (Sonepat), went on a mass casual leave today in support of their demands and the teaching work was paralysed in the college. The demands of the teachers and other employees, included the implementation of new pay scales from January 1996 at par with other government employees in the state. Meanwhile, an indefinite
dharna launched by the Teachers Association in front of
the Principal's office, continued today. Leaders of the
association have threatened to intensify their agitation
if their demands were not accepted. |
PWD employees urge action
against SE SONEPAT, Sept 29 — The All-Haryana PWD Mechanical Karamchari Union today protested against the continuous absence of Mr Upkar Singh, Superintending Engineer (SE), Public Health Department, from his office since September 20 and urged the state government to take action against him. In a memorandum submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Kumar, a copy of which was released to the Press here, the union demanded that Mr Upkar Singh should be directed to attend office and accept the demands of the agitating employees who had organised an indefinite dharna in front of his office in support of their demands. The demands of the union include filling of vacant posts on the basis of seniority and reservation, disposal of efficiency bar cases and regularisation of services of all employees. Meanwhile, a batch of
employees sat on a day's dharna in front of the SEs
office. |
Man held as wife alleges
harassment SIRSA, Sept 29 — Mrs Permeshveri Devi, wife of Mansha Ram and mother of four children, alleged she was married to Mansha Ram about 15 years back and had been harassed by her in-laws for more dowry. She also alleged she was beaten several times by her husband. In a complaint to the police on September 12, 1992, it was alleged by her that she was kicked out from her house by the accused and he had also developed illicit relations with a woman in Fatehabad. She said she was given financial assistance to manage the household. The police has
registered a criminal case under Section 498-A of the IPC
and arrested her husband. |
2 bodies found HISAR, Sept 29 — Bodies of two youths were found today in a field in Mirpur village, about 40 km from here. According to the police,
a bottle of pesticide and two glasses were found near the
bodies. It is suspected that the deceased committed
suicide. The bodies have been sent for a post-mortem
examination. A case under Section 174 of the IPC has been
registered at Agroha police station. |
Students block traffic HISAR, Sept 29 — Students today blocked traffic on the Hisar-Delhi national highway near village Sorkhi, about 40 km from here, to express their resentment against roadways buses not stopping for them. They sat on a dharna on
the road blocking traffic from both sides. The traffic
remained suspended for more than an hour. Later on the
assurance of an official of Haryana Roadways, the
students lifted the blockade. |
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