 |
Friday, January 10, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Panchayats to get more powers: Chautala ‘Clear’ Haryana sweepers’ dues Civil hospitals ill-equipped, admits Health Minister Fatehabad gets facelift for mahila sammelan Cong workers to hold rally in Delhi over SYL |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Panel to took into bungalow owners’ issue Haryana schools closed till Jan 13 Arts contest at school
|
|
Panchayats to get more powers: Chautala Kurukshetra, January 9 The Chief Minister said this while addressing panches and sarpanches at a sammelan organised here yesterday to secure the participation of masses in the functioning of the democratic setup. He said the state government was striving hard to involve the Panchayati Raj Institution in the process of development and concerted efforts had been made to strengthen the institution of local self government. These institutions could play a major role in the reconstruction of the rural areas. Mr Chautala said development in the rural areas was only possible if the panchayats were given more powers. The government was aware of this need and had initiated various programmes to improve the lot of people living in the rural areas. Mr Chautala said the aim of constituting Gram Vikas Samitis was to further strengthen the PRIs and to give autonomy and self sufficiency to people in the rural areas to carry out development works of their respective villages at their own level. The Chief Minister announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for the panchayat which makes outstanding performance at the state-level and Rs 5 lakh for the panchayat at the district level. Earlier welcoming the Chief Minister, the Commissioner and Secretary, Public Relations, Mr Krishan Mohan, said the welfare policies of the present government had resulted in the overall development of the state. Extensive development works had been carried out in Kurukshetra and a panorama & science centre had been setup to acquaint the younger generation with the cultural heritage and the scientific advancement achieved in the country. |
|
‘Clear’ Haryana sweepers’ dues Chandigarh, January 9 Talking to the TNS after the meeting, Mr Teja said he had asked the Haryana Government to pay the salaries of the sweepers through the treasury. He said he had been touring the state in course of which he found that none of the municipal committees of the state were able to give salaries to the sweepers in time. " This has led to arrears to the tune of lakhs of rupees for the safai karamcharis of Haryana who are employed with the committees", the NSKC member, who enjoys status equivalent to a minister of the state in the Union Government, said. He said he had asked the state government today to pay the salaries of the sweepers through the treasury so that they could get their payments regularly. "The safai karamcharis are anyway very poor and non-payment of salaries put them in extreme hardship. We have asked the state government that a portion of the money mobilised by the municipal committees through taxes could be put in the treasury and salaries of the safai karamcharis could be paid with this money", he said. There were over 8000 sweepers in the state who were not getting regular payment of their salaries, Mr Teja said. He was also dismayed to find that though money was deducted from the salaries of the sweepers in the name of provident fund, it was not deposited in the PF account and spent on other expenses by the municipal committees. He said he had asked the state government to correct this anomaly. Mr Teja also reviewed implementation of the Valmiki Ambedkar Malin Awas Yojana (VAMAY) in the state. Mr Teja said he had met officials of the Education Department to review the progress of a central scheme under which scholarships were to be given to Scheduled Caste students enrolled in the pre-matric classes. Implementation of this scheme was being hindered by the inadequate data about the exact numbers of students who would benefit from this scheme, he said. Meanwhile, Mr Karambir Singh, President of the All-India Confederation of SC/ST and BC Organisations (Haryana unit), said they had also met the NSKC Member and presented a memorandum to him demanding proper implementation of various central schemes for the welfare of the safai karamcharis in Haryana. |
|
Civil hospitals ill-equipped, admits Health Minister Faridabad, January 9 The Health Minister of Haryana, Dr M.L. Ranga, while speaking at a function here today, admitted that CT scan facilities were available in civil hospitals of only three districts of Panchkula, Karnal and Sirsa though crores of rupees were being spent on health in the state each year. The progress of setting up trauma centres along the state and national highways is reported to be quite slow, he said. The state has only one government-owned medical college and hospital at Rohtak, where the proposal of setting up an ultra-modern trauma centre had been mooted several years ago, but the move had been stalled and had been hanging fire since then. Complaints of the casual attitude of doctors and medical staff and unavailability of latest diagnostic machines and testing facilities forces thousands of patients to private hospitals and clinics. Thus, they have to shell out huge amounts of money for treatment and medical facilities. The local civil hospital here refers hundreds of patients to hospitals in Delhi or private hospitals as there is no Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nor specialised
consultants and surgeons. There have been incidents when the patient is seen crying outside the hospital, but there is no one to take care. At least three cases have been reported here in the past one year, when pregnant women had delivered the babies at the gate of hospitals or the patients were not admitted on one ground or other. |
|
Fatehabad gets facelift for mahila sammelan Fatehabad, January 9 Elaborate arrangements are being made here to make it a success. The women wing of the INLD is organising the convention. Earlier, the organisers of the function had decided to hold it at the grain market but later shifted the venue to the local Manohar Memorial College. Ms Kailasho Saini, a Member of Parliament and chief organiser of the convention, told the correspondent that the convention was the first in a series of zonal conventions to be held in the state. Ms Saini said the main objective of the convention was to provide an impetus to women activities in the party. It would also provide an opportunity to increase women membership, she added. Ms Krishana Poonia, president of the district unit of the women wing of the INLD, added that these conventions would also help the leadership of the women wing of the party to make an assessment regarding the women participating in these conventions. She said it was a known fact that despite reservation for women in Panchayati Raj organisations many women elected to key posts were not in a position to function independently, partially due to interference from male members of their families and villages and also due to a lack of awareness and confidence among them. The convention of the party, she added, would serve the purpose of instilling confidence among them. |
|
Cong workers to hold rally in Delhi over SYL Fatehabad, January 9 Addressing a meeting of Congress workers at the Rangoli resorts here today, Mr Mehta said as per the orders of the apex court, the Punjab Government was duty-bound to complete the SYL canal by January 15, 2003. But it was unfortunate that the Punjab Government had chosen to ignore the orders. He called upon the Congress workers to reach Delhi in a large number on January 15 so as to make the rally a success. Presiding over the meeting, a former MLA, Mr Balu Ram, said 95 per cent of the canal falling within the territory of Haryana was completed when the Congress was at the helm of affairs in the state. But no progress had been made in this direction earlier. |
|
Panel to took into bungalow owners’ issue Ambala, January 9 Mr Raj Kumar said a delegation comprising bungalow owners from Ambala, Ferozepore and Jalandhar cantonments had met the Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, yesterday. Besides the bungalow owners, the delegation included Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Mr Brij Lal Rinwa, Mr S.S. Dhindsa, Mr Lajpat Rai and Mr Sukhpal Nannu. “Mr Ferandes heard our grievances and assured us that there will be no injustice to bungalow owners. He will shortly be sending a high-level committee who will discuss the matter with officers of the three cantonments and bungalow owners and submit their report within two months,” Mr Raj Kumar said. |
|
|
Haryana schools
closed till Jan 13 Chandigarh, January 9 According to Mrs Surina Rajan, Director, Secondary Education, all government and recognised schools, including those affiliated with the CBSE, will now reopen on January 14. The decision to close the schools has been taken to save children from the severity of the weather, an official spokesman said here today. |
|
|
Arts contest at school Kalka, January 9 In the cartoon-making contest, Purav Joshi and Naman were placed first. In floral ornament, Rohit stood first. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
