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CM announces bonanza for Balsamand village
Bid to reduce infant mortality
Tula Ram account worries minister
Gramin bank staff
seek parity with PNB staff |
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Krishi Vigyan Kendra faces closure
Traffic police station inaugurated
Man beaten to death
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CM announces bonanza for Balsamand village
Balsamand (Hisar), December 17 By organising a massive rally in the biggest village of Adampur Assembly segment, which has been a stronghold of Bhajan Lal, Hooda has taken the proverbial bull by its horns. "The politics of collusion between vested interests has sabotaged the state's development for long, but it won't be allowed to continue any longer," the Chief Minister said without naming anybody but apparently aiming at Bhajan Lal and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. Taking a dig at the series of tea parties organised for the former state Congress president and his MP son Kuldeep Bishnoi, Hooda remarked that he would have been pleased if the father-son duo had invited him for tea during his visit to their area. Having shown his political strength and stature at the rally, the Chief Minister has virtually dared Bhajan Lal and Bishnoi to realise their announcements of holding a rally at Rohtak. The presence of Darba Kalan MLA Bharat Singh Beniwal at the rally also remained a topic of discussion as he was the lone MLA, who attended the rally of Finance Minister Birender Singh held at Fatehabad recently. Haryana Congress acting president Ram Prakash, Hisar MP Jai Prakash, Sirsa MP Atma Singh Gill, Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, Karnal MP Arvind Sharma, Haryana Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development Savitri Jindal, besides two Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and several sitting MLAs also addressed the gathering. Haryana Planning Board Deputy Chairman Ranjit Singh, Confed Chairman Bajrang Das Garg and Chief Minister's OSD K.V.Singh were also present. The Chief Minister said the state government had constituted district-level reconciliation boards to ensure that no bank would now be able to charge interest more than the principal loan amount from the
farmers. Accepting most of the demands put forth by the local residents, Hooda announced a wide range of development schemes for the area. These include making Balsamand a model village, setting up of an industrial training institute (ITI) in the village, commissioning of a grain market, repair and reconstruction of "khals", making provision for additional water for irrigation, installation of water tanks and upgradation of several schools. He announced a grant of Rs 5 crore for the repair and reconstruction of "khals" and Rs 8 crore for realignment of Balsamand sub-branch. He disclosed that the state government had approved a proposal to set up a business school on the campus of Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, on the pattern of Harvard Business School. Earlier, Mr Hooda also honoured players of Hisar district who had won medals in the recently concluded Asian Games in Doha. |
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Bid to reduce infant mortality
Chandigarh, December 17 Based on the Janani Suraksha Yojana under the National Rural Health Mission, pregnant women will be provided aid if they are found to be part of families living below the poverty line. “If they choose to go for an institutional delivery, the government will pay the pregnant mother Rs 700, but if they decide to have the delivery at home with the help of a trained assistant, they will receive Rs 500”, a spokesperson of the government said. According to government sources, “Both government and private institutional deliveries will be eligible for financial aid. The scheme is aimed at providing health services to the women during and after delivery and arranging transportation, if required, for their deliveries so to take them to some other health institute in an emergent situation”. However, to be eligible for the grant under the scheme, the woman will have to be registered from the initial stage of the pregnancy. And from time to time during regular checkups, the women will be advised according to her condition by the medical officer at government health centres. According to a UNDP report, infant mortality in Haryana was 71 (per 1,000 live births), which dropped to 68 in 1997 and has since been coming down. In India, the disparity in the availability of hospital beds between rural and urban areas is striking. The average number of hospitals per million persons is 152 for rural India and 2,409 for urban India. While all states have this disparity, it is particularly acute in Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, according to the UNDP. The India Human Development Goals puts the monitorable targets for the 10th plan and beyond in terms of reduction of the infant mortality rate (IMR) to 45 per 1,000 live births by 2007 and to 28 by 2012. Again it aims at reduction of the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to 2 per 1,000 live births by 2007 and to 1 by 2012. To reduce infant mortality Haryana is trying to ensure essential obstetric care. This will include registration of pregnancy in the first 12-16 weeks, three prenatal check-ups by ancillary nursing midwives (ANM), counselling and detection of complications and their reference to primary health centres for assistance during delivery. This will be followed by three post-natal check-ups. In ‘C’ category districts numbering 16 in Haryana (except Ambala, Yamunanagar and Panchkula),30 per cent of the sub-centres which qualify to be categorised as remote sub-centres (sub-centres which are at least 5 km away from the block headquarters) will be provided additional ANMs on contract basis. |
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Tula Ram account worries minister
Chandigarh, December 17 The Union Minister, a Lok Sabha member from Mahendragarh and an inheritor of the legacy of Rao Tula Ram, has written to the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to get the book re-written. The book was published by the Department of Archives in 1999. The late Bansi Lal was the Chief Minister of Haryana at that time and he and the then Governor, Mr Mahavir Prasad, had both written congratulatory messages on the publication of the book. Rao Tula Ram, whose beautiful granite statue at Narnaul greets visitors to that town, hailed from an aristocratic family of the Rewari area. He offered allegiance to Emperor Bahadur Ali Shah Zafar in the wake of the 1857 revolt. His forces were defeated by the British in a battle at Nasibpur following which Rao Tula Ram fled to the countryside of Rajasthan. After becoming a fugitive, Rao Tula Ram wrote a letter to the Governor-General for granting him pardon. The letter, written on December 24, 1858, was reproduced in the Archives Department publication. A photograph of the letter, written in Persian, was also published in the book to set at rest any doubt about the authenticity of the document. Another letter written by the “Foreign Department, Fort William” (Kolkata), to the “Governor- General’s Agent for the States of Rajpootana”, to assure the petitioner (Rao Tula Ram) “of life and honour, provided that he had not been concerned in the murder of British subjects” was also published in the book. With the celebrations of the completion of 150 years of the 1857 revolt round the corner, the publication by the Archives Department may become a pain in the neck for the Union Minister who will like to pay homage to Rao Tula Ram in a grand fashion. |
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Gramin bank staff
seek parity with PNB staff
Bhiwani, December 17 He said today that by overlooking the orders of the apex court, Punjab National Bank was differentiating with the gramin bank employees in terms of daily and travelling allowances, LTC, transfer, besides there was vast difference in the interest on loans provided to the staff. Moreover, he said the gramin bank employees had been kept without pension, computer salary increment, vehicle and overtime allowances. He said to get equal wages and other allowances implemented as per the apex court’s judgements of January 31, 2001, and March 7, 2002, the gramin banks employees would stage a dharna in front of Parliament in New Delhi on December 20. He said their main demands were to set up national gramin bank, to give allowances and other facilities as per eigth wage pact, to make pension and PF facilities equivalent to other sponsored banks, to give job to the kin of deceased employees as per the Union Government's letter dated July 1982 and to relieve sponsored banks' officers working on deputation. |
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Krishi Vigyan Kendra faces closure
Ambala, December 17 The possibility of closure has increased for the kendra, Tepla, after villagers on whose panchayati land the institution is located, sought that the panchayati land be handed back to them. Residents of Tepla village, Akbarpur village and Phulel Majra village are keen that they get their land back from the Krishi Vigyan Kendra. However, an official of the kendra said , “We are confident that the issue will be resolved in the next couple of days. We will continue to serve the farmers of this region”. Farmers of the northern region including Haryana, parts of Himachal Pradesh and UP would lose out if the kendra is closed down. Better known as KVK Tepla, has reached out to farmers and encouraged them to adopt new technologies. Backyard poultry farming, piggery, latest farming techniques and other efforts have been adopted by farmers of this region. The kendra was set up on 46.8 acres of panchayati land taken from three villages. Land had been contributed by Tepla, Akbarpur and Phulel Majra village. A building was constructed and the rest of the land was used to carry out activities for the larger benefit of the farmers of the region. Mr Suresh Saini of Akbarpur said they were determined to get their land back from the kendra. “We had won in the High Court following which the kendra was to leave from our land. But, the case was forwarded to the Commissioner’s revenue court,” he said. He said two days ago, the sarpanches of Akbarpur, Tepla and Phulel Majra were called for a meeting in which it was offered that the panchayat land lease rates would be hiked to Rs 5000 per acre with 10 per cent hike in the lease every year. “We had agreed to it but later same evening, a government official attempted to browbeat us,” he said. Naggal MLA Nirmal Singh said, “The issue pertaining to KVK Tepla was resolved two days ago. The villagers were told that they would get hiked land lease rates,” he said. |
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Traffic police station inaugurated
Ambala, December 17 Mr Deswal also put into service a modern traffic interceptor vehicle which is equipped with latest technology. The interceptor is armed with laser speed radar, a video camera and a TV monitor. It has also Alco sensors which helps detect alcohol level in the driver. The SP Ambala, Mr Amitabh Dhillon, said more traffic police stations were being set up which would work in place of highway patrol. These stations will have services like ambulance, crane and interceptor vehicles. |
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Jhajjar, December 17 Ramkanwar was returning from fields today morning when some neighbours, identified as sons of Bhan Singh qurrelled with him. He was thrashed with lathis and other weapons. He succumbed to injuries in the PGIMS at Rohtak. The police has registered a case against Rajender, Suresh, Satpal, Krishan, Sudhir, Sonu, Manu etc in this connection. — OC
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