Rohtak, February 1
A large number of saplings planted during plantation drives launched each year in the monsoon season fail to survive or die prematurely, thanks to lack of care of such plants.

Though the departments or the authorities concerned have hardly any idea or estimates about the number of saplings planted or those that fail to survive each year, the records put the figures of new saplings planted during this season around one lakh each year on an average.

According to the district authorities, while the saplings were distributed to various departments and it was their duty to ensure that the plant survives with proper care, which include a tree guard or some kind of protection around it till it attains some height and does not become a target of stray animals in cities like Rohtak.

Some of the saplings planted near the mini-secretariat adjacent to the residence of the Deputy Commissioner here were found to have been eaten up or damaged heavily by stray cattle. While the remains of some plants are visible in the first two photos, the third ones shows that plants have been missing from their pots. It appears that stray cattle have eaten up these saplings. The saplings failed to survive in a VIP area located in the heart of the city.

"If a plant could not survive at such a spot how one can expect plants in other areas to survive where care was not an easy job, says Yoginder Dahiya, a local social activist. He said lack of tree guards and watering leads to immature death of plants planted with much fanfare in a particular season.

He said the authorities concerned should focus on ensuring the survival of plants than to count their heads during the plantation drive and fix of responsibility on the departmental heads in this connection.

He said the pollution level had risen sharply in the city over the past few years but the number of plants sown by the civic body or any NGO had been very low. He said no one who shows care or takes interest in tree plantation or their upkeep has been awarded on the occasion of Republic Day or Independence Day while such commendations were being given allegedly to the ones close to official quarters or government staff only.

Chandigarh, February 1
Haryana wants that the Centre should provide additional assistance to the states to enable them to meet the huge liability owing to the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report.

Haryana was the first state to implement the Sixth Pay Commission report for its employees before the general election. The implementation has put an additional financial burden of Rs 6,000 crore per annum on the state. Since the arrears were to be paid to the employees with effect from January 1, 2006, the state had to cough out huge money on this account also.

Coupled with the implementation of the pay panel report, several populist measures taken on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections has crippled the state’s financial health. Earlier, the government had promised that it would pay the arrears of the revised pay to its employees in two years. Now it has decided to extend the payment of the arrears to three years.

The state has also been forced to raise loans from the open market. Earlier in this financial year, the state raised a loan of Rs 700 crore, followed by another tranche of Rs 400 crore last month.

Haryana Finance Minister Ajay Singh Yadav recently argued before Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that while the state would be paying the revised salaries to its employees from its own resources, the Centre would earn a rich dividend by way of income tax. Of course, the Centre would be passing on some portion of the income tax collected to the state, but it would be a meager amount. Yadav told Mukherjee that the Centre must pay at least 50 per cent of the additional burden put on the state by the implementation of the pay commission report.

Yadav also told Mukherjee that Haryana had to raise loans for procuring foodgrains on behalf of the FCI so that food security of the country could be maintained. Therefore, the Centre should not include the amount of loan raised by Haryana to procure foodgrains while calculating the fiscal deficit of the state as per the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act.

Haryana also wants that the Union Government should reduce the interest rate on assistance provided to the states through the Power Finance Corporation. The present rate of interest on this central assistance is 11.5 per cent, which is about 4.5 per cent higher than the prevailing rates at which the state is raising resources from the market. 

Gurgaon, February 1
The availability of water in Haryana, which is mostly arid or semi-arid with limited rainfall, has been reducing drastically over the recent years. The issue assumes serious proportions as groundwater in nearly a two-thirds of the state is saline and there is not even a single river, which runs throughout the year.

Even while many parts of the state are grappling with acute scarcity of freshwater, the level of saline groundwater is on the rise in other parts. According to experts, the rate of groundwater consumption is as much as 100 per cent higher than that of groundwater recharging.

Such startling facts came up for discussion by eminent experts during a national seminar titled "Water: Managing the Problems" organised by the Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) here.

In view of the critical situation, judicious use of water for agricultural as well as domestic use, apart from effective adoption of rainwater harvesting and digging of more water-recharge ponds, are the need of the day.

B.S.Baswan, Director of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, inaugurated the seminar. Central Election Commissioner S.Y.Qureshi was the guest of honour while Dr B.M.Jha, chairman of the Central groundwater Board, delivered the keynote address.

Dr Jha observed that in view of the striking differences in the quality of water in different parts of Haryana, district-wise policies on water management were required for the state.

Prof A.K.Gosain, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT, New Delhi, and Prof (Dr) Gauhar Mahmood from the Civil Engineering Department of Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi, were the other prominent speakers.

HIPA director Rajni Sekhri Sibal said a film "Water Problem" got prepared by former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was also shown to the participants.

Administrators, civil servants, academicians, NGO representatives, thinkers and newspersons expressed their views and aired their concerns on the issue.

Highlighting the main reasons behind water shortage, the experts pointed out that the overexploitation of groundwater, pollution of surface water, wastage of water by farmers as well as domestic users, contesting the riparian rights of the downstream and low adoption of water conservation and harvesting projects resulted in scarcity of water.

The specialists felt that natural groundwater quality in Haryana was related to leaching of chemical constituents by circulating water. The occurrence of high salinity, besides high concentrations of fluoride, iron and arsenic were stated to be the probable natural causes of deterioration in quality of groundwater in the state.

Warning that the acute scarcity of water across the globe could trigger a war in future, analysts asserted that a great deal was needed to be done so that a water crisis does not lead to the destruction of human civilisation.

Chandigarh, February 1
An Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer posted in Haryana, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, has been selected by the Public Cause Research Foundation (PCRF) for using Right to Information (RTI) to expose corruption. He is the only government servant to get this prestigious award.

The PCRF has been established by Magasasay Award winner and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal. Chaturvedi is amongst the 20 citizens throughout India to have been chosen for this award for 2009. Others, who have been chosen for the award, include SC Agrawal, who is fighting the historical case regarding property declaration by the Supreme Court Judges and Akhil Gogoi, who had exposed a multi-crore scam in the PDS scheme.

Sanjiv had earlier received the Manjunath Shanmugam integrity award for his fight to save a wildlife sanctuary in Haryana (Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary) and to prevent misuse of public money for private land belonging to an influential politician of the state.

Though Chaturvedi has won accolades for his work in exposing the corrupt, he has always been on the wrong side with his political bosses and seniors in the Forest Department. Two years ago, he was placed under suspension by the state government, when he tried to punish the offenders/poachers, who were hell bent on destroying a wildlife sanctuary in Kurukshetra (Saraswati) against the wishes of powerful politician of the state. Then he was transferred to Fatehabad as a punishment. Here again he stopped the misuse of public fund on a private land belonging to influential politicians, following which he was placed under suspension.

Interestingly, his suspension order did not contain any specific grounds for suspension, so that the officer would not be able to represent against the order and hence, he would be kept suspended indefinitely. He was also denied the file notings, citing Section-8(h) of the RTI Act, 2005.

The officer challenged this before the first appellate authority saying that his care was that of departmental enquiry, different from investigation, but the first appellate authority apparently under pressure, rejected his appeal. The officer finally went to the State Information Commission (SIC). The SIC, in a historic order accepted the appeal of the officer and ordered to give all the file notings, free of cost to the officer.

These file notings clearly showed that the officer was placed under suspension because of the above said two issues. On the basis of these RTI file notings, the Central government accepted the appeal of the officer against the state government and in a historic order passed in January 2008, in the name of President of India, suspension of the officer was revoked.

Sirsa, February 1
Dr Kawaljit Singh Sandhu, a lecturer in the Department of Food Science and Technology in Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU), Sirsa, has been awarded the Young Scientist Award-2008 by the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists India (AFSTI) recently. The award was presented by Governor of Karnatka HR Bhardwaj in Bangalore.

The AFSTI is one of the most prestigious body in the field of Food Science and Technology.

He has published about 26 publications in the journals of national and international repute. Dr Sandhu's work related to dietary modification will be particularly useful for diabetic patients and those suffering from cardiovascular diseases.

He is also recipient of the Award of Honor and Post-Doctoral Fellowship by Korea University, Seoul, South Korea, AFSTI Best Paper Award in Food Science for 2007.

Kurukshetra, February 1
Gita Niketan Awasiya Vidyalaya, Kurukshetra, celebrated its annual prize distribution function with great pomp and show on Republic Day. School principal, Mr Rishi Goel unfurled the national flag.

More than 300 students were honoured on the occasion.

The students who had got 90 per cent and above in Class X board examinations in 2008-09 and those who bagged positions in various reputed medical and engineering institutes in the country were felicitated. The students who got 90 per cent and above in lower classes were also given prizes. The students with 100 per cent attendance were also honoured.

The school will honour the students showing excellence in the field of art with the Medha Dua award from this year as a mark of tribute to its deceased student. 

Gurgaon, February 1
A three-day Bharat Scouts and Guides training camp organised recently at Rao Mohar Singh College of Education, Behrampur, concluded with a cultural extravaganza by B.Ed and D.Ed trainees.

The camp was inaugurated by Gurgaon police commissioner S.S. Deswal while Dr PD Sharma, principal, Government College, Sector 14, and Dr Ashok Diwakar, Principal, Government College, Sector 9, shared the honours at the concluding ceremony.

Satpal Yadav, vice-chairman of the college management committee, and Anita Singh, director of the college, welcomed the dignitaries.

The Haryana Bharat Scouts and Guides team, including Ramphal Sharma, district training commissioner; Shanti Swaroop, district organising commissioner; and Ramamurti, district cub-bulbul training commissioner; trained the aspiring scouts and guides.

Dr Sharma and Dr Diwakar advised the students to become good human beings and strengthen the nation. They also planted saplings on the college premises.

A puppet show based on the theme of unity in diversity enthralled the gathering. The best camper award went to Sudhir (D.Ed trainee) while Dhananjay and Himandri (B.Ed trainees) bagged the best scout awards for best performance.

The ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks proposed by Rajni Kotnala, principal of the college.

Gurgaon, February 1
With a view to improving the linguistic and communication skills of public relations officials in the state, a division-level workshop was organised here recently.

The Director of Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs, Shiv Raman Gaur, who had conceived the idea to organise such workshops, was the chief guest on the occasion.

The one-day workshop focused on enhancing the communication and drafting skills of information and public relations officials.

This was the second division-level workshop in which district information and public relations officers, assistant information and public relations officers, district publicity organisers and field publicity assistants participated. The first such workshop of Ambala division was organised in Chandigarh recently.

“In view of the power of information in the fast-changing scenario, IPR officers will have to expand their role,” Gaur maintained in his inaugural address.

He advised the PR officials to create information data banks relating to their areas of operation at their offices. “The data bank should include details of all important developmental projects and major thrust areas of the government,” he said, adding that the data and information should be updated from time to time.

Om Thanvi, Chief Editor of Jansatta, Delhi, detailed the participants on various aspects of reporting. He observed that the role of the media was not only to provide information but also to awaken society. In this, IPR officers could play the role of mediator between the masses and the government, he added.

Chandigarh-based veteran journalist PK Modi explained the basic skills required for reporting an event and drafting the report. Delhi-based media professional Raj Gopal spoke about communication strategies, while a psycho-metrician, Dr Madhu Sharma, deliberated on capacity-building and positive attitude.

Proposing a vote of thanks, the Deputy Director (Field) of the state Public Relations Department, Raj Pannu, informed that such divisional workshops for Rohtak and Hisar would be organised on January 28 and February 3, respectively.

Sonepat, February 1
State organiser of the Haryana Abhibhawak Ekta Manch Subhash Lamba has alleged that despite the orders of the Commissioner of Education, Haryana, issued on July 6 last, the managements of recognised unaided private schools in Haryana have not refunded the fees, increased illegally.

Addressing a meeting of the district unit of the manch here recently, which was presided over by district president KK Malik, he alleged: “These schools are now planning to increase the fees for the next academic year also.”

Lamba alleged that these schools were even violating the interim orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the directions of the Supreme Court issued on August 7 last in which it was stated that the state government or the Education Department had the right to fix the fee structure of private schools and to stop them from making education a business.

He alleged that in violation of the provisions of the Haryana State Education Act, 2003, private schools had not submitted reports of their income and expenditure as well as the fee structure for the next academic year to the District Education Officer concerned during 2008 and 2009.

Demanding that the schools refund the fee, hiked illegally, the manch urged the government to fill 30,000 vacant posts of teacher in the state.

Panipat, February 1
Encouraged by rich benefits being reaped by a large number of farmers in the district, who had taken up fish farming as an alternative source of income, more and more farmers are taking up pisciculture to supplement their earnings.

The fact that more than 576 hectares of land was brought under fish farming by the end of the last month testifies that pisciculture is finding favours amongst the local farmers who are taking it up in a big way. Farmers in the district alone produced over 20,000 fish seeds during the past one month which enabled the department to make stock of over 1.7 crore of fish seeds in the state.

Deputy Commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya said under a programme being run by the fisheries department, 30 farmers were given special training in the past one month to set up their own fish farm. A total of 4,325 metric tonne of fish seeds were produced from 750 hectares of land on which fish farms had been set up in the district, he said. Besides, 40 unemployed youth were provided with opportunities to set up their own fish farms and 88,000 fish seeds were also sold.

Dahiya said in order to bring about the blue revolution in the state, the government was offering several subsidies to the fish farmers to make pisciculture more and more popular. These included loans of Rs 2 lakh each for digging new ponds to rear fish, Rs 60,000 for renovation of old ponds, Rs 8 lakh for developing fish hatchery, Rs 30,000 for fish feed and Rs 50,000 for installing aeration systems. A subsidy from 20 per cent to 50 per cent is given on these projects and the remaining loans can be repaid on easy instalments.

He said many youth, who had been struggling against unemployment for years together, picked up fish farming and were today making huge profits.