March 17, 1981

''The City of New York has established that it's a long-distance runner and you can depend on us.'' - Mayor Koch, in Miami to sell municipal bonds. (B6:1.)

The Reagan Administration said today that the Soviet Union had spurned repeated American appeals to use its influence in Afghanistan to end the hijacking of an airliner by three Pakistanis and that it had allowed the hijackers to obtain automatic weapons in Kabul. In a fresh attack on Moscow as well as the Afghan Government, William J. Dyess, a State Department spokesman, said that neither ''did what they could have done to help resolve the matter.'' ''I don't see how the Soviets can entirely escape responsibility for what took place,'' Mr. Dyess said. A Quick Rejoinder From Soviet In a prompt rejoinder, the Soviet Embassy said the ''crude and undignified attempt'' to hold Moscow responsible ''is completely groundless.''

''Banished'' in South Africa, she vows to overcome A2 U.S. critic of Salvador aid meets with Duarte A4 Two U.N. troops are killed in southern Lebanon A6 Unexpected rhinos resurface in Borneo A8 Irish face brood of jobless, bored teen-agers A9 Ex-hostage is held in Syria for possible extradition to Canada A10 Moslems held in hijacking make a pilgrimage to Mecca A11 Mauritania says it foiled Moroc- can-backed coup attempt A12 Turkey continues to hold non- Communist labor leaders A13 Government/Politics State Legislature passes $165.8 million deficiency budget B2 Bush beats drum for Reagan's economic plans on Florida trip B10 Reagan assails bureaucrats who have criticized budget cuts B10 Debate opens on plan to cut food stamp program B13 Koch charges city judges with ''di- luting'' gun control law B20 Industry/Labor Union negotiators extend strike deadline in coal talks B14 Obituaries Dr. Monica Blumenthal, geriatric psychiatrist B14 Eleanor Perry, wrote screenplays B14 PARADE TODAY The St. Patrick's Day Parade begins at noon and proceeds along Fifth Ave- nue from 44th Street to 86th Street, then turns east to Third Avenue, where it disbands. The parade generally lasts until 5 P.M. Science Times The unprofitable drugs nobody wants to make C1 Research investigates the nature of memory C1 Working by hand on the space shuttle C1 About Education: junior highs and middle schools C1 An eyewitness is not always the best witness C2 Science Watch C2 The Doctor's World C3 General Around the Nation A14 Turner Catledge reflects on eve of 80th birthday A14 Postal Service plan evokes opposi- tion in Maryland A15 Two bomb devices dismantled in Harlem apartment building B2 Rentals begin for apartments at Battery Park City B3 Suspect's parents testify at hear- ing in Met slaying B4 The Region B6 The City B11 Arts/Entertainment ''Request Concert,'' play about a solitary woman, at the Interart C6 ''America,'' a revue, opens at Radio City Music Hall C7 Strindberg's antifeminism is raised by ''The Father'' C7 ''Palmerstown'' returns on CBS C17 ''Shakespeare's Division of Ex- perience'' is reviewed C18 Style Notes on Fashion B12 Leather proliferating outdoors B12 From Scaasi, starfish and other custom-made ideas B12 Sports White Sox top Mets; Fisk absent B16 Sundberg talks of Yank prospects B16 Flynn signs five-year Mets' pact B16 Brown leaves U.C.L.A. to become Nets' coach B17 Syracuse beats Holy Cross, 77-57, in N.I.T. B17 Leo Williams is a no-nonsense high jumper B17 Oregon State coach against byes in N.C.A.A. B17 N.H.L. issues fines and suspen- sions for brawl B18 N.B.A. hires counseling service for players B18 Anderson on the confessions of a computer B19 Features/Notes Notes on People B8 Going Out Guide C6 News Analysis David E. Rosenbaum on Reagan's ''social safety net'' plan A1 Richard Eder discusses U.S.- French relations A3 Steven Weisman on Reagan's un- freezing of funds for New York B3 Editorials/Letters/Op-Ed Editorials A16 Ireland's friends Nit-picking Reagan's plan Construction success Topics: before trial and dinner Letters A16 Stephen B. Cohen: let's draw the line in Belize A17 John Hart Ely and Laurence H. Tribe: let there be life A17 Vasily P. Aksyonov: the day I lost my citizenship A17 William J. Byron: Irish eyes on hunger A17

A strike by transit workers in Philadelphia forced hundreds of thousands of commuters to find alternative ways of getting to work. Page A14. By ALFONSO A. NARVAEZ Special to the New York Times NEWARK, March 16 - Officials of the New Jersey Transit Corporation called today for a 50 percent increase in fares that would affect 255,000 daily bus riders and 71,000 rail commuters. They also sought reductions in service on bus and rail lines and warned that further increases in fares of 20 to 40 percent would be needed early next year.

More than half the people in the country with incomes below the official poverty line either receive no protection from what President Reagan has termed the ''social safety net'' or get, at most, a free lunch for their children on school days. At the same time, an examination of Federal statistics shows that the seven programs the President has exempted from his proposed budget reductions, as a ''safety net'' for the needy, assist not only the poor but also many people who are not poor and some who are quite well off. With the placement of some programs and not others in the safety net, the President's economic plans would protect elderly Americans and veterans, regardless of their means, from the loss of Government benefits, while it would make deep cuts in welfare programs, such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, food stamps and Medicaid, that are relied on primarily by younger families. Dispute Over Who Is 'Truly Needy' David A. Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget and the principal architect of the budget plan, acknowledges that some people who are clearly poor will have some Federal assistance reduced and that some who are clearly not poor will continue to get payments.