Since the other IC's are responding to the programmer as intened, I am inclined to believe that the programmer is good

Sushil: I appreciate your use of the words "inclined to believe", most others would have used "know"

Again, as so often before: The fact that something "works" does not prove that it is right

Erik

PS if it is one chip of a bunch, just throw the darn thing out. For diagnostic purposes, you could find someone that has a programmer that is made by professionals, not on a kitchen table, and try programming the chip there.