Rohtak :
The police have detained two more juvenile students of a gurukul located at Ladhaut village in the district in connection with a sodomy case registered at the Sadar police station.

The SHO (Sadar) said the five juvenile students detained on Monday had been sent to a children’s reformatory home at Hisar after being produced before the Juvenile Justice Board.

“Gurukul warden Sachin, who was arrested on Monday, was produced in a local court, which sent him to judicial custody,” he added. The principal of the gurukul is still absconding.

Meanwhile, officials of the Education Department, led by Block Education Officer Virender Malik, visited the gurukul and initiated a probe into its functioning.

The parents of many students have taken their children home in the wake of the sodomy row. The authorities said the parents who wanted to take their children home had been allowed to do so.

Several students, including those who have lodged an FIR in this regard, have alleged that they were beaten up with sticks even for small instances of indiscipline.

On the other hand, certain students as well as their parents said a good academic atmosphere and other conditions prevailed at the gurukul and that they were satisfied with the functioning of the management.

Sonepat :
Haryana Congress president Ashok Tanwar on Friday announced that the Panipat rally next month would expose the failure of the BJP government at the Centre and in the state. 

He was addressing party workers at the new market here on the last leg of his four-day cycle yatra. Tanwar claimed that people were fed up with the BJP-led governments and would vote for the Congress in the 2019 parliamentary and Assembly elections.

He said after coming to power, the Congress government would ensure at least one job to a member of each family deprived of a government job. The old age and social security monthly pension would also be increased to Rs 3,000, he added 

He said the fifth phase of his four-day Haryana Bachao-Parivartan Lao Cycle Yatra would be started from Faridabad on September 12. Tanwar claimed that his cycle yatras were receiving public support. 

Tanwar expressed grief over the death of an infant in Sonepat. He said he had met the family and expressed condolences. 

Tanwar said Congress workers would collect relief material from every district and sent to Kerala. “The cash contribution will be sent to Kerala through the All India Congress Committee,” he said.

Rohtak :
Several students of classes V and VI at a Gurukul located in Ladhaut village of the district have alleged that they had been sodomised by their senior students and some staffers.
The matter reportedly came to light when the parents of some students came to meet them on the occasion of Rakhi. The children said after being sodomised, they were beaten up and threatened with dire consequences if they disclosed the matter.

On hearing the horrific tales narrated by their children, their parents took them to the Sadar police station and lodged their complaint.

SHO Sadar Manjit Singh said a case under Sections 202, 323, 34, 377 and 506 of the IPC and Section 4 of the POCSO Act had been registered regarding the matter on the basis of a complaint lodged by five students of the Gurukul. 

"Investigation is on and a clear picture should emerge by tomorrow after verification of facts," he maintained. 

District Child Welfare Committee chairman Raj Singh said counseling of the children would be conducted tomorrow. "The children will be provided free legal aid and we will get constant follow-up from the police officials concerned," he added.

The CWC chairman said a team of the committee would visit the gurukul to ascertain the facts and get the version of the management.

Rohtak :
Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who was sentenced to 20-year rigorous imprisonment in two cases of rape on August 28 last year and lodged in Sunaria jail here, have been receiving a large number of letters and greeting cards from his followers from different parts of the country as well as abroad. 

“We are getting rakhis addressed to the dera chief for several days. He is also being sent greeting cards for his birthday which fell on August 15,” said Jagdish Budhwar, a postal official at Sunaria post office.

Ram Rahim’s followers continue to throng the Sunaria jail complex and getting turned back by the police personnel deployed on the road leading to the jail. Some dera followers, who were found standing on the road facing the jail premises with folded hands, were detained by the police in June. 

As per jail officials, the dera head does not have any special privileges or facilities and is being kept as a common prisoner as per the jail manual. He is lodged in a high-security cell along with one or two nambardars (old prisoners). 

Ram Rahim works as a gardener and cultivates vegetables, for which he gets a remuneration of Rs 20 per day. He weighed more than 100 kg when he was brought to the jail a year ago, but has lost nearly 15 kg during his stay at the jail. 

As per official sources, he has not left the jail premises for a single day during his first year at the jail and appears for court hearings from the prison through video-conferencing. 
The dera head’s day begins early in the morning with some walk and yoga within his enclosure. Then he works in the kitchen garden. He gets food prepared for the prisoners and reads books and newspapers in his spare time.

The dera head, who used to cry aloud in his initial days at the jail, is said to have reconciled to the jail routine. His family members and lawyers have been visiting him on a regular basis. 

Out-of-turn employment for medal winners to be matter of right

Chandigarh :
Had Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s women T-20 skipper who was recently demoted from the post of the DSP to constable by the Punjab Government after her graduation degree was found fake, been in Haryana, she would not have been stripped of the DSP’s post.
The soon-to-be-notified rules for out-of-turn jobs to sportspersons who win medals for the country provide them employment as of right because of the statutory force behind them and also give the sportsperson choice to acquire educational degree or remain at the post without any administrative powers.

Sources said if a person becomes eligible for the post of Haryana Civil Services (HCS) or Haryana Police Services (HPS) by virtue of medal won by him/her for the country as per the soon-to-be notified rules for out-of-turn jobs to the sportspersons, he or she upon application, will be given these posts irrespective of his/her qualification.

Sources, however, said that the appointee may be required to complete specific courses or training within the probation period, which may be considered essential to discharge the responsibilities meant for the job.

“But even if an HCS or an HPS officer appointed on basis of one’s sports achievements fails to fulfil the conditions of educational qualification, he or she will not lose job, but will be designated as HCS (sports) and HPS (sports) official. The person will also be eligible for promotion. The only thing is that he or she will not be assigned administrative work. The government may assign such person any responsibility for the promotion of sports,” said sources in the Sports Department.

Hence, had Harmanpreet Kaur been a sportsperson from Haryana and had she been eligible to be made a DSP by virtue of her sporting achievements, she would not have been demoted from the post of the DSP to constable as the Punjab government did.
Rather, she would have been designated as DSP (Sports) and instead of giving her policing function, the government would have utilised her services for the promotion of sports.

Another important aspect of the soon-to-be-notified rules for the out-of-turn jobs for sportspersons is that these have been made under Article 309 of the Constitution and have statutory force behind them.

“It will not be at the whims of the government to provide job to one and deny it to another sportsperson. Once, a sportsperson has acquired eligibility by virtue of one’s achievement and has applied for the post, he or she will have the legal right over the post and can approach the competent court in case of denial,” the sources added.

“The policy is merely statement of intent of the government to pursue a particular programme, while the rules framed under Article 309 of the Constitution have statutory force behind them,” said the sources.

Anil Vij, Sports and Youth Welfare Minister, Haryana, said that the government would notify the rules within the next one or two days and then release an advertisement asking the eligible sportspersons to apply for the posts.