Panipat, June 29
A number of laws to ensure workers’ rights seem to be of no good for more than two lakh labourers, who toil day and night in local industries, only to be left with ‘nothing’ in the end.

The textile hub of the country, which makes a contribution to improve the economy not only of the state but also of the country, is yet to wake up to the unacceptable conditions in which the labourers work and live.

Benefits like ESI cards or provident fund have been eluding a large number of workers, who are even denied the right to take weekly off. Off on gazetted holidays like August 15 or January 26 is also not granted.

The workers are not given the minimum wages, but are instead paid on a per-piece basis.

According to legal experts, the Supreme Court in one of its rulings had stated that in case minimum wages were not paid to the workers, it should be considered equal to bonded labour. But in Panipat, the ruling seems to mean nothing.

Some industrialists prefer to employ women and children as they are paid less as compared to the male workers, though they are made to work as long as the men do. Hundreds of children can be spotted working in a number of industries.

Naresh, 13-year-old worker from Bihar, who is engaged in one of the woollen mills, works for more than 14 hours a day. He has studied till Class IV and sheer economic necessity and fear of losing the job makes him endure the hard working conditions. “If I refuse the double duty, then the employer says I need not come the next day,” he said.

Surprisingly, one of the Congress MLAs of the state had two years ago publicly advocated child labour and even credited the growth of the local industry to them. This had provoked a strong reaction from various quarters of society. But, no steps were initiated to save children from working in factories.

Besides, the labourers have to work in unsafe conditions without any security gear. Many of them complain of breathlessness due to inhalation of fine dust from thread and other chemicals. But, despite repeated agitations launched by the trade unions, little has changed for them.

About 95 per cent of the workers migrate here from Bihar, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, etc. Industry owners, who do not even maintain their attendance registers, do not provide them with any identification proofs. This is done deliberately so that in case of any accident, they can easily disassociate themselves from the injured worker and save themselves from paying compensation.

Even as the labour department appears to be quite active in Panipat, the latest industrial policy of the government has rendered the department toothless. An official of the department on condition of anonymity said they had been asked not to prosecute any industrialist, but to make efforts to implement the welfare policies for the workers. He said they were required to seek permission from the higher-ups before raiding any industrial unit. Even after the permission was given, they were required to serve the industry with a notice prior to the raid, the official said.

PP Kapoor, president of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions, stated that with no real deterrents to check their exploitation, one could easily imagine the plight of the workers, who were no better than bonded labourers in Panipat.

Chandigarh, June 29
Haryana has propounded a principle, which if accepted by the Centre, will lead to considerable improvement in the power situation in the state. It will also reduce the subsidy bill of the state government on electricity supplied to the agriculture sector.

At present, the state government pays over Rs 2,500 crore to the power utilities for the cheap electricity they supply to the agriculture sector to boost the farm production. The power utilities purchase power, some time at rates as high as Rs 12 per unit, and supply to the tubewells for as low as 24 paisa per unit. The difference has to be paid by the state government, which has been making budgetary provision year after year for this subsidy. The subsidy bill has been increasing every year with the demand for power for agricultural operations growing up.

With the river water issue remaining unsolved for the past many years, farmers in the state are increasingly taking to tubewells for irrigating their crops, leading to higher subsidy on the part of the government.

To reduce this burden, certain governments in the past had put a ban on releasing electricity connections to new tubewells. But the ban was lifted when the INLD came to power. The process of releasing connections to the tubewells was further liberalised by the Hooda government. Both profess to be pro-farmers.

There are allegations that in order to hide their inefficiency, the power utilities increase the amount of the subsidy to the agriculture sector. Finance Minister Birender Singh had mooted a proposal to give subsidy directly to the farmers, but it is yet to be implemented.

Power Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, while speaking at the conference of the power ministers in Delhi last week, demanded that Haryana should be given a greater share in the power generated by the Central projects. His argument was that his state was one of the major contributors to the central food grain pool, for which the state government had to supply power at cheaper rates to the farmers.

Addressing Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Surjewala said the state had taken major initiatives in increasing its own power generation. While in the five years after 2004-05, Haryana would increase its own generation capacity by 2,180 MW, the contribution of the central sector generating stations in Haryana would increase by about 220 MW in the same period. He said since Haryana was helping the country in meeting the demand of agricultural produce, an additional share in the ultra mega power projects (UMPP), unallocated power and central sector projects must to be given to it.

He said more than two-third of the national capital region was in Haryana. While the Centre was giving a huge amount to Delhi for meeting its power needs, Haryana was not getting even a single rupee on this account. Surjewala jokingly told Shinde, who belongs to Maharashtra, that the Haryanavis were not like Mumbaikars who asked the people of other states to leave Mumbai.

If the Centre agrees to Haryana’s demand for a greater share in its projects, the state would get this power at predetermined low rates as compared to what it has to pay when it draws power from these projects in excess of its allocation. This will help the state in reducing its subsidy bill.

attitude of the government has not changed and it is adopting delaying tactics to drag the issue till the Assembly polls due early next year.

With the Congress making a clean sweep in the state in the recent Lok Sabha elections, both factions of the HSGPC have become redundant with Sikhs no longer a deciding factor in the elections.

Both Jhinda and Nalvi factions were aware that the movement would die down if pressure was not mounted on the government to decide the issue before the Assembly polls.

Jhinda said the Congress should not be under a wrong impression that Haryana Sikhs had no option than to support the party and cautioned that the HSGPC could take a decision to support the BSP-HJC combine or go it alone.

Didar Singh Nalvi also said a meeting of the HSGPC would be held within a week to take stock of the situation and decide the future course of action.

The HSGPC leaders are, however, getting restive as there were reports that Hooda might advance the polls to October and buy some more time to keep the issue hanging.

Gurgaon, June 29
Local book and music store Landmark and Ritana books jointly hosted a discussion and an interactive session with Dr Walter Semkiw on his latest book “Origin of the Soul”, which is based on dialogues with the master soul spirit being Ahtun Re, who last incarnated over 3,000 years ago.

Dr Semkiw reviewed independently researched cases that demonstrated objective evidence of reincarnation. The house full of eager people listened attentively to the past incarnations of US President Barack Obama,

Panipat, June 29
Even as the monsoon has been eluding the region, the district administration seems to be in no mood to take chances as far as flood-control measures are concerned. The administration has planned to spend Rs 1.38 crore on making elaborate arrangements to check the floods.

The said amount would be spent on strengthening the 2,900-feet long barriers near the Khojpur complex.

Giving details of the project, deputy commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya said three additional barriers were also being constructed there on which Rs 32 lakh were being spent.

Similarly, the 5,000-feet long barrier at the Vilaspur complex was also being reinforced and a 498-feet long wall was being constructed there. A total of Rs 78.56 lakh were being spent on this, he said.

A new 300-feet long plastered wall was being constructed at the Rakhsherda complex, which was likely to cost Rs 25.42 lakh.

Panipat city depends on drain number one for drainage, which carries the extra rainwater to the Western Yamuna Canal (WYC). However, the drain generally gets clogged and it needs to be cleaned regularly, especially before the onset of the rains.

Dahiya said, along with the drain number one, the departments had been directed to undertake cleaning of other drains in the district. He said this would ensure unrestricted flow of rainwater that would prevent flood-like situation in the district.

He said the projects to strengthen the banks of the WYC along Pathargarh, Rana Majra, Navadpur, Adhmi, Ghari Besak, Jalalpur-2, Shahpur, Naglapar and Rakhsheerd villages were also being undertaken. The panchayats of these villages and block-level development officers had been asked to plant trees along the banks to further strengthen these and avoid any breaches during the heavy flow of water in the WYC.

Dahiya said still in case of any eventuality caused by heavy rains, the drainage department had been asked to be ready with sandbags and adequate labour force to plug any breach that might occur in the WYC. The administration has also asked the respective panchayats to make arrangements of sandbags and labour forces.

Arrangements for 50 water pumps had also been made and officials of the public health and irrigation departments had been asked to make certain that these pumps remain in working condition so that these could be used in the case of flooding, he added.

Chandigarh, June 29
The Haryana Rural Development Fund Administration Board will release about Rs 250 crore during the current financial year for various rural development works in the state.

Chief parliamentary secretary Dharambir Singh has said the money would be spent on development works like the construction of roads, setting up of dispensaries, water supply, sanitation and other public facilities, welfare of agricultural labour, conversion of notified market areas in the countryside into the model market areas, construction of godowns, rest houses equipped with modern amenities, drains and streets, veterinary hospitals, panchayat ghars, schools buildings and women chaupals.

He said the board had released Rs.789.48 crore for various rural development works during the period from April 1, 2005 to February 28, 2009. Out of this, Rs 152.01 crore was released in 2005-06, Rs 201.85 crore in 2006-07, Rs 165.49 crore in 2007-08 and Rs 270.13 crore in 2008-09.

Dharambir said the state government was committed to provide the same facilities to the rural people as were available to the urbanites. To achieve this objective, a number of schemes were being implemented for the development of the rural areas and Rs 5.57 crore had been approved for the health and sanitation, rural roads and communication scheme for 2009-10.

Under the scheme, community development grant was given to each block or panchayat samiti. About 34 per cent of this grant was spent for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes under a special component plan.

Special stress was being given on the pavement of streets in the villages, which was the basic infrastructural necessity at the village level. Along both sides of the streets, drains were also being constructed.

He said there were 6,759 villages in the state, out of which, 1,297 villages were covered under the Local Area Development Tax Fund during 2006-07 and 1,574 villages covered during 2007-08. The outlay of Rs 82.82 crore was approved by the planning department for 2008-09, out of which Rs.80.49 crore had been released for 805 villages. Besides these, 98 villages were being developed under the model village scheme and 391 villages under the Mukhya Mantri Anusuchit Jati and the Nirmal Basti Yojana schemes. The remaining 2,572 villages were proposed to be taken up next year for which Rs 257.20 crore would be required. About Rs 10 crore had been approved for 2009-10, which would be sufficient for 100 villages.

Dharambir Singh said the government had also introduced an ambitious scheme to improve the sanitation conditions in the villages. Under the scheme, safai karamcharis had been deployed in the villages to ensure clean and hygienic environment. Each safai karamchari was being paid Rs 3,525 per month as remuneration. About Rs 44 crore had been approved under the scheme for 2009-10.

Kurushetra, June 29
The Haryana Federation of University and Collage Teachers Organisations (HFUCTO) has urged the Chief Minister to immediately release revised UGC scales to university and college teachers and apprised him of the delay in the implementation of a notification issued by the union ministry of human resources development on December 31 last year.

A delegation of HFUCTO led by its president, Prof. N. S. Kaushal, met the Chief Minister at his residence and told him that the delay in the release of the scales was 
making the university and college teachers restive.

The union ministry had already released the fitment table for the fixation of salary in the revised pay scales and the state government should immediately implement these “uniformly, simultaneously and in toto” strictly in accordance with the notification, the delegation stressed.

Kaushal also mentioned that the Haryana government had already given the benefit of the revised pay scales to its employees but the university and college teachers were yet to get the benefit.

He claimed the Chief Minister assured the delegation that the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in respect of university and college teachers would be implemented soon.

The delegation also met Finance Commissioner and Education Secretary, Haryana, Rajan Gupta and Commissioner, Higher Education, Saroj Siwach in connection with the inordinate delay in releasing 40 per cent arrears as interim relief to the teachers of government-aided colleges in Haryana.

The delegation also submitted a memorandum to the Finance Commissioner and the Education Secretary for the acceptance of long- standing demands like issuing of notification for granting Class-I status to teachers of government colleges, another chance to adopt the pension scheme for all university and college teachers and medical security for teachers of government-aided colleges.

The Punjab Cabinet has already approved the grant of revised UGC scales to university and colleges teachers and Himachal which follows Punjab in the matter of pay scales and allowances is likely to follow suit but none of three states have raised the retirement age.

Gurgaon, June 29
Riveted by her lucid style of story telling, especially of the great Indian epic Mahabharata, Namita Gokhale unveiled her book “The Puffin Mahabharata” at a mall here recently.

Namita read out excerpts from the book at a fun zone created specially for children.

Namita is a multifaceted Indian novelist and publisher. Her earlier books include “Paro: Dreams of Passion” (1984), “Gods, Graves and Grandmother” (1994), “A Himalayan Love Story” (1996), “The Book of Shadows” (1999), “The Book of Shiva” (2001) and “Shakuntala: The play of Memory” (2005), all published by Penguin India. In her forthcoming anthology, “In Search of Sita”, she re-examines the figure of Sita in both mythic and modern contexts.

“The Puffin Mahabharata” is her first book for young readers.

The author was accompanied by noted painter Suddhasattwa Basu, who is well known for his illustrations in children’s books. Basu has also done the illustrations for Namita’s book.

Speaking on the occasion, Namita said, “The Mahabharata is truly the greatest story ever written, and re-telling it through this beautifully illustrated book has been an important experience for me, as an author. It's been a privilege for me to meet and talk about this ageless epic to enthusiastic young readers and their parents”.

An interactive reading, drawing and painting competitions were also organised on the occasion.

Chandigarh, June 29
The state government has decided to put the process of recruitment of schoolteachers on the fast track. So far, the teachers are recruited through the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC). Since the commission is also entrusted with the recruitment of staff for other departments, it cannot devote exclusive time towards the recruitment of teachers.

Wary of judicial strictures, if it falters with the recruitment process, the commission has to give considerable time in interviewing each candidate before making the final selection. The courts often ask the commission the amount of time it spent on interviewing each candidate whenever the selections made by it are challenged.

Now, the government has decided to set up a teacher recruitment board to appoint teachers expeditiously. The character and constitution of the board is still being worked out. The government must, however, ensure that the board should have credibility with the people, otherwise it would lead to unnecessary controversies.

According to an estimate, the state needs the services of about 15,000 new teachers every year for government schools. There are a large number of vacancies in government schools, particularly in the rural areas, which have been affecting the standard of education in places where the government schools are the only medium of imparting education.

At the time of the HVP-BJP government in the state, the process of recruiting teachers was handed over to the district-level committees. By the time the reports of these committees were received by the head office, the government changed. There are allegations that the new INLD government had pressurised the officers concerned to change the lists.

The Supreme Court had ordered the CBI to investigate these allegations. The premier investigation agency had charge-sheeted the then Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son Ajay Singh, among others, for committing irregularities in the recruitment of the teachers.

Meanwhile, the government has also decided to introduce the semester system in colleges, except in the arts stream, from the current academic session so that intensive study can be imparted to the students. It has also decided to introduce a new syllabus in tune with the changed times. A state-level committee will be set up to prepare the new syllabus.

Hisar, June 29
Agriculture scientists should pay adequate attention to the quality aspect while endeavouring to develop new crop varieties because like other products, the quality of farm produce is the most important factor in helping the country getting a place in the global market.

This was stated by the chairman of the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Authority, Dr S Nagarajan, while inaugurating a training-cum-awareness workshop on the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, organised by the CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, here.

He said the Act was being implemented by the union government to reward the efforts of the scientists, farmers and communities in developing new plant varieties and protecting precious genetic resources.

Besides scientists and officers of agriculture and horticulture departments, farmers were among the 100 participants.

Dr Nagarajan said the farm scientists should make the best use of the provisions of the Act. He also enlightened the farmers about the law as despite possessing innovative indigenous farming techniques and genetic material, the latter were unable to get credit. He said the position could be gauged from the fact that out of nearly 1,700 applications for the registration of plant material pending with the PPV&FR Authority, only 11 applications were received from farmers throughout the country.

Quoting a provision of the Act, Dr Nagarajan stressed the need to motivate the farmers to take cash memos of the planting material or other agriculture inputs purchased from the market to file claims in the event of loss of crops. He said farmers could produce any quantity of seed for personal use as well as for sharing with their fellow farmers but they could not sell these under any label.

Presiding over the inaugural function, HAU vice-chancellor, Dr KS Khokhar, also lauded the traditional wisdom of the farmers and communities who had utilised the biodiversity of farming techniques which conserved and enhanced the agro-biodiversity for the benefit of society.

Giving example of Pokkali rice saved by Kerala farmers, he said this variety carried highly valuable genes for stress tolerance under different agro-climatic conditions. In Haryana, too, one could find enormous varieties developed by farmers and communities in vegetables, horticulture, forages, coarse cereals, forestry and in various fields and commercial crops.

He called upon HAU scientists and officers of the state to join hands to identify the valuable genetic resource saviours in Haryana and initiate the process of the protection of their valuable plant property either under the PPV&FR Act 2001, or look for geographical indication (GI) registration.

Khokhar also stressed the need for making systematic and scientific documentation of data and knowledge. “The recent reports indicate that India has been losing 2,000 patents every year in the area of formulations alone because of improper documentation of knowledge and data,” he added. He pointed out that after the implementation of this Act, an intense competition for the development and protection of new plant varieties was emerging. The scientists and seed-producing agencies would have to make joint strategies to enhance the availability of quality seed.

He regretted that despite being among the frontrunner states in grain production, the seed replacement rate was low (12-15 per cent) in Haryana. It should be increased at least to 25 per cent for making another jump in agriculture production.

Dr S Mauria, assistant director-general, ICAR, said the Act had not only provided protection to the intellectual property but also proved useful in increasing agriculture production.