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Friday,
December 21, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Student power rises in Haryana CM’s warning on illegal maxi-cabs Waive arrears, BKU urges govt Morni settlements to finally get electricity Health for all takes beating in Haryana |
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Access to pesticides leads to rise in suicides Haryana’s steps on road safety ESI dispensary suffering from poor health Globalisation an ideology: seminar Gangsters active; fear
grips dealers Newly
weds consume poison, woman dead Robbery bid foiled, 3 youths held
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Student power rises in Haryana Hisar, December 20 Student union elections were banned in 1996 when the HVP-BJP combine came to power. This was despite the fact that the HVP had a tremendous following among students at that time because of the influence of Mr Surinder Singh, politician-son of party supremo Bansi Lal. For the next three years, the INLD and its previous avatars vehemently opposed the ban on student elections. This helped it wean away a majority of youth to its side. This energetic section of party workers ultimately played a significant role in bringing the INLD back to power. However, much to their chagrin, the ban on elections was never lifted after it assumed power. Alarmed by the defiance of the ban, various parties have now turned attention to the students. The INLD recently reconstituted its students wings in many districts. This is considered as a major victory by the students who feel that this development could lead to the lifting of the ban in the academic session beginning in July. Mr Surinder Singh of the HVP is now concentrating on regaining the lost ground. He has already addressed meetings of youth at many places and is scheduled to address a big youth rally here on January 22. The Congress on the other hand did not neglect its young supporters. The fact that Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala heads the National Youth Congress has made the task easier. Earlier, however, its students’ wing is finding hard to make its presence felt because of inactivity. The only party which has retained its students’ base, howsoever small, is the CPM. Much of the credit for this goes to senior leader Inderjit Singh, who was a fiery student leader in the eighties. The party has been demanding the lifting of the ban on student elections for a long time. Since the unofficial unions have been constituted only recently, it remains to be seen whether these will prove as effective as the official unions. However, student leaders say this is immaterial since the current session is nearing its end. They maintain that these unofficial elections have already served their purpose in that the parties are no longer taking their support for granted. They claim that the leaders of the unofficially unions will campaign for the lifting of the ban. |
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CM’s warning on illegal maxi-cabs Chandigarh, December 20 Mr Chautala, who was presiding over a meeting of Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police here, cautioned against any malpractice in view of the reintroduction of a scheme to issue maxi-cab permits. The deadline for the scheme has been set at December 31. The Chief Minister said “soft top” maxi-cabs would be issued temporary permits for three months with the condition that these would be converted into “hard top” during this period following which regular permits would be issued. He added that as a large number of maxi-cabs had now gone off the road as a result of the drive to check the unauthorised plying of the cabs, the State Transport Department would ply additional buses on local routes so that passengers did not face any inconvenience. Mr Chautala was informed that 489 vehicles had been impounded and 1,466 owners fined during the drive against maxi-cabs from December 16 to 18. The DTOs were provided with a police force for dealing effectively with unauthorised maxi-cabs. The Chief Minister directed the DCs to follow in letter and in spirit the verdict of the Supreme Court regarding the implementation of eight schemes: the Targeted Public Distribution Scheme, Antyodaya Anna Yojana, the Mid-day Meal Scheme, the National Old Age Pension Scheme, Annapurna Scheme, the Integrated Child Development Scheme, National Maternity Benefit Scheme and the National Family Benefit Scheme. The law and order situation in the state was also reviewed at the meeting. A decision was taken to make it mandatory for all government servants — working in the state capital as well as in field offices — to display their identity cards during office hours. This decision was taken in view of the recent terrorist attack on Parliament House. Mr M.S. Malik, DGP, said that in order to check corruption in the Police Department, 48 officers were issued notices for compulsory retirement. Eight of them had retired. Ten cases had been registered against corrupt officials. The Chief Minister was informed that the receipt of revenue from lotteries had almost doubled (from Rs 18 crore to Rs 35.36 crore) in the state following action taken by the police against the sale of fake lottery tickets. The meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary, Mr L.M. Goyal, the Principal Secretary to the CM, Mr S.Y. Quraishi, and other senior officials. |
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Waive
arrears, BKU urges govt Jind, December 20 The members demanded that the farmers should not be pressured to pay the electricity bills and this issue should be decided by holding talks with representatives of the farmers. The other demands included payment of a compensation of Rs 15,000 to those farmers whose cotton crop was damaged by the American boll worm, remunerative prices for their produce, charging electricity bills at the 1992 rates, withdrawal of cases registered against BKU leaders and adequate supply of power and water. Mr Nain said the Union and the state governments were pursuing anti-farmer policies under pressure from the World Trade Organisation. He said the government was bent upon destroying the present farm sector structure. He alleged that the government was only safeguarding the interest of capitalists and was ignoring the interests of the farmers. He said the prices of agricultural produce should be fixed taking into consideration the cost of production. He said the costs of fertilisers, insecticides and equipment had increased considerably but the government had failed to compensate the farmers. He said due to the weak financial position of the farmers, they were not in a position to pay old electricity bills. He said the government should waive the bills as promised by the INLD leadership before the Assembly elections. They said the government should solve the problems of the farmers by mutual understanding and should not forcibly recover the pending arrears. Electricity should be restored to those villages where power cuts had been made for the recovery of the arrears, they said. |
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Morni settlements to finally get electricity Panipat, December 20 The ambitious plan, under which the scattered cluster of houses (settlements), will be provided electricity for six hours a day, will be executed under the Rs 10.6-crore outlay earmarked for the state for the current year. The Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) has provided Rs 9 crore as subsidy to the state under the outlay. Though all villages in the state were getting electricity several years ago yet these settlements remained without power as the normal grid supply was not possible on account of the terrain of the area. Electricity through solar energy was the only alternative, the Special Secretary, Department of Power and Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Mr K.K. Khandelwal, told The Tribune. A nominal tarrif would be worked out for the benefit of the residents since the operation and maintenance cost would be for less than the normal electricity supply. Official sources pointed out that Haryana was set to exploit solar and other sources of renewable sources in a big way. In fact, Haryana was in a better position to exploit the solar energy than the other states as the state had at least 290 assured sunny days in a year. And with a view to providing information regarding renewable sources of the energy under one roof, the single window system — Aditya solar shops would be set up in Panchkula, Hisar and Faridabad by March, next year. Ambala Cantonment, Ambala City, Gurgaon, Yamunanagar and Faridabad had been selected for producing energy from solid waste, Mr Khandelwal added. To meet the irrigation needs of the farmers in the state 100 solar tubewells will be sunk in by year-end. As many as 17 solar tubewells are already functional in the state. Giving details of the scheme, the sources stated that a farmer would have to shell only Rs 30,000 for the installation of a tubewell which would cost Rs 4.50 lakh. While Rs 2 lakh would be the subsidy amount from the MNES, Rs 1.90 lakh would be the lease money. The state would provide Rs 30,000 as subsidy. |
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Health for all takes beating in Haryana Rohtak, December 20 “Health for all by 2000” was the Alma Ata declaration made in 1978 by nearly 100 governments of the world. The declaration meant provision of primary healthcare for every citizen irrespective of his/her ability to pay for it. Primary healthcare broadly included health education, nutrition, potable water and sanitation and maternal and child healthcare. The ground realities in Haryana are far from satisfactory. Diseases like tuberculosis (TB) and malaria are common and malnutrition rampant. Drinking water is being sold in at least half of the villages and sanitation is at its lowest. Also, there are no medicines worth their name in any of the primary health centres. There is hardly any primary health centre which admits patients despite a provision for eight beds each. Many doctors and nurses are working at district headquarters but are drawing their salary from remote primary health centres. Although Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had announced that the district hospitals would not be allowed to work as surrogate mothers for the primary health centres, almost 90 per cent of the transfers of doctors done recently were cancelled and three-fourths of those charge-sheeted for major offences have gone scotfree during the past one year. The policy of minimum compulsory rural service before sponsoring in-service doctors for doing postgraduation has been changed so frequently to “accommodate favourites” that it can hardly be called a policy. Haryana has only one medical institute with minimum number of MBBS/MD/MS seats in comparison to other states. The recent decision of the state government to reserve 17 per cent of these seats for those having a capacity to pay Rs 35 lakh was a cruel joke on brilliant students belonging to poor and middle class families. |
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Access to pesticides leads to rise in suicides Fatehabad, December 20 So far 112 persons have committed suicide in the district during the current calendar year as per the records of the general hospitals of the city and Tohana town. Out of these cases, three persons died due to burn injuries while the rest committed suicide by consuming pesticides. The figure comes out to be a staggering 10 cases a month. These are only those cases that have been reported in the two government hospitals in the district and do not include those cases that go unreported. What is more worrying is the fact that women outnumber men on this front. Against 50 men who died due to the consumption of pesticides, 62 women, too, ended their lives in this manner. Out of these women five were unmarried while the rest were married. A majority of women were married within a period of one to three years. What is all more worrisome is the fact that the police
reportedly acts in such cases under Section 174 of the Cr PC treating as coincidental death. In this way the police is able to keep its graph of murders and culpable homicides under control. According to the existing law, in case a married woman dies under mysterious circumstances within seven years of her marriage, a case under causing death due to dowry is registered against the her in laws. The main reason behind such a large number of suicides the is the easy availability of pesticides in this area. These are easily procured from pesticide dealers without any recommendation. Social organisations here demand that the government should put some restrictions on the sale of pesticides so that the cases of suicides due to consumption of pesticides could be contained. |
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Haryana’s steps on road safety Chandigarh, December 20 This was stated by the Chief Secretary, Mr L.M. Goyal, during the first meeting of the Haryana Road Safety Committee, here yesterday. He directed the members of the committee to take effective measures for removing unauthorised traffic hazards which included dhabas and liquor vends and ensure challaning for speeding, drunken driving, overloading etc. so that the accident rate could be brought down. The Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Mr S.Y. Quraishi, suggested that a cash award scheme should be initiated for informations about accidents on roads so as to encourage public participation. It was also informed by the Police Department that 1,100 constables would be recruited next year to traffic staff to ensure better enforcement of traffic laws. The Superintendent of Police, (Traffic) would also ensure that the public was not harassed at the hands of officials. The PWD (B and R) Department was identifying precise spots for installation of traffic and warning lights. It was also in the process of blocking unauthorised road cuts on four national highways. |
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ESI dispensary suffering from poor health Ambala The present dispensary is housed in a hall and two small rooms only. A doctor and administrative staff sit in the hall in a makeshift partition, and out of two small rooms, one is occupied by pharmacists and for male medical check-ups and the other for female patients. The ceilings of the rooms are low where fans have been installed. There is every possibility that a serious accident may occur any day. Although there are two sanctioned posts of Medical Officers, at present there is only one doctor. The other post is lying vacant since long. Considering the number of gynae patients coming to the dispensary, there is a need of a one lady doctor too. Mr Ashok Kumar, Medical Officer, says that he examines 50-70 patients daily, sometimes the number touches 100 figure. “We are having a laboratory where DLC, TLC, TB, urine and pregnancy tests are carried. We refer cases of serious nature to the Civil Hospital,” he says. The patients complain that they have not received the reimbursement of the medical bills since April. The sources reveal that the reimbursement amount is released by the department in phases, generally in October, January and February every year. The patients further add that the delay in reimbursement makes their life difficult as they have to invest their hard earned money in purchasing medicines. Mr Jeet Bahadur, an employee in a newspaper organisation, who got his leg fractured two months ago, says that his organisation bore all the hospitalisation expenses but for medicines he has to come to the ESI dispensary. He further says that still he has not received the amount spent on medicines. According to Ram Chand, a worker in the milk plant, he was satisfied with the facilities being provided at the dispensary. It might be remembered that the ESI corporation was established to solely provide health cover to industrial workers and their dependents, most of them poorly paid, who could not afford expensive medical health care facilities. Each worker, whose unit has employed more than 8 workers, contributes 1.75 per cent every month and his employer too contributes 4.75 per cent every month. Further the state government provides grants to the ESIC to serve the poor paid industrial workers. But in the case of Ambala cantonment ESI dispensary it seems otherwise. The ESI dispensary gets medicines through government departments and an yearly budget of around Rs 2 lakh for reimbursement. This is a meagre amount in comparison with the terms of contribution, the employer and worker contribute. However, the sources disclosed that the annual contribution of the previous financial year was Rs 50 lakh. The reason for less contribution was because of default companies which is about 20-25 per cent. There are about 250 companies which are covered under the ESIC in Ambala. The workers feel that with the annual contribution of more than Rs 60-70 lakh to the ESIC, there is a need of an ESI hospital in Ambala cantonment. Till this decision is implement, the present dispensary should be shifted to a more spacious building and the doctors’ strength be increased henceforth.
— Anil Kumar Sharma
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Globalisation an ideology: seminar Kurukshetra, December 20 These views were expressed here on Tuesday by Prof S.S. Noor, renowned Punjabi writer and progressive thinker, in his keynote address at an international seminar on “Globalisation — Punjabi Literature and Culture”. The seminar, the first of its kind in the country on globalisation, was organised by the Punjabi Department of Kurukshetra University in collaboration with Sahitya Akademi, Delhi. Mr R.S. Chaudhry, Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, in his inaugural address stated that the roots of globalisation could be found in the ‘gurbani’ of Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Granth Sahib. Mr H.S. Halwarvi, Editor, Punjabi Tribune, maintained that Guru Granth Sahib had its links not only with the Indian culture but international civilisation too. The need for the Indian society was to be aware of our historical culture. Dr A.S. Kang, Director of the seminar, stated that the seminar would provide a new message to the students and teachers of Kurukshetra University. Delegates from the USA, Switzerland, England, Canada, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi etc. are participating in the three-day seminar. |
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Gangsters active; fear
grips dealers Hisar, December 20 The Subhash Channi gang is reported to have sought a ransom of Rs 10 lakh from a local readymade garment dealer. Several other cloth and garment dealers have received similar calls. Fear has gripped businessmen here many of whom have been victims of the gang. The police has not yet registered a case, but cops in plainclothes have reportedly been posted around markets where most of the affected dealers have their establishments. Police sources said there had been no repeat calls to the traders after they installed caller identification equipment at their phones. The shopkeepers are planning to meet the Chief Minister in this regard. |
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Newly
weds consume poison, woman dead Panipat, December 20 Meanwhile, the police has registered a case under Section 304-B of the IPC on a complaint by a brother of the deceased against five persons — Om Parkash, father-in-law, Sakuntla, mother-in-law, Madan, brother-in-law, Bharti, sister-in-law, and Sushil, husband. Sushila, a resident of Safidon town in Jind district, was married to Sushil on October 29. They were having strained relations over brining of inadequate dowry by Sushila, relatives of the deceased alleged. |
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Robbery bid foiled, 3 youths held Rewari, December 20 Two revolvers have also been seized from the youths who were riding a mother cycle at the time of arrest. A case has been registered under Sections 398 and 401, IPC, and the Arms Act. It is also learnt that the youths were involved in the robbery committed at a petrol station near Lisana village on the Rewari-Jhajjar road on December 4. |
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