Karnal, October 3
Hundreds of farmers blocked vehicular traffic on the GT Road for nearly three-and-a-half hours today to protest the delay in procurement of paddy by government agencies and rice millers.

The farmers, who had been waiting at the grain market with their produce for past three days, lost patience and resorted to road blockade by parking tractors, trolleys and trucks on the road.

A large number of people, including sports enthusiasts going to Delhi to witness the opening of Commonwealth Games (CWG), were harassed and disappointed.

The farmers alleged that the procurement was to start from October 1 but not a single grain had been purchased and their produce was lying in open and rotting.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) district general secretary Sham Singh warned that any further delay in purchase of paddy would make the farmers restive and the agitation could take a violent turn.

While the police diverted the traffic through Sector 4 to Madhuban and Vajida road to Karnal city, ASP Surinder Bhoria and DFSC Ravinder persuaded the farmers to remove the road blockade. The blockade was lifted after nearly four hours but with a clear warning that any delay in purchase of rice would not be brooked.

Ramesh Chaudhry, former president, grain market, said arhtias were willing to work but there were no buyers in the market as the rice miller owners were on the strike.

District Food and Supplies Controller (DFSC) Ravinder Malik said the paddy was purchased jointly with rice sheller owners who were on strike and were not lifting the stock and the DFSC did not have an adequate infrastructure for making the entire purchase alone.

Moreover, the paddy was not as per the specifications. Paddy with more than 17 per cent moisture was not purchased whereas the moisture was more than 22 per cent in the paddy.

The farmers also blocked traffic near the grain markets at Kurukshetra, Gharaunda, Assandh and Pehowa for nearly one hour to press their demand, reports here said.

The Haryana Pradesh Rice Millers and Dealers Association had blamed the wrong and faulty rice procurement polices of the Centre and the state government pushing rice millers into crisis and cautioned that they would not purchase paddy from the growers in case their grievances and demands were not addressed.

The millers had also urged the government to raise the percentage of grain damaged due to the rains to 4.5 per cent and discoloured grain to 4 per cent, besides decreasing yield of rice to 64 per cent.

Yamunanagar, October 3
The new paddy crop has started arriving in the grain markets of Yamunanagar district and private sheller owners have already started the procurement process. Farmers have so far got a good price for their crop despite high moisture content in it.

Ashok Sangwan, DC of Yamunanagar, said here today that about 634 metric tonne of paddy had arrived in mandis. The minimum support price (MSP) for Grade A paddy is Rs 1,030 per quintal. Sources said the moisture content in the crop was 23 per cent against the permitted level of 17 per cent.

A farmer from Udhamgarh Arvinder Singh said he had sown the early ripening variety of the paddy and his crop was ready. "I am getting Rs 1,020 per quintal, which is a good rate keeping in mind the level of moisture in the crop," he said.

Meanwhile, the administration has claimed that all arrangements have been made at procurement centres in the district.

The entire produce reaching the mandis of the state had been purchased either by government agencies or by millers, said the DC.

He said over 364 metric tonne of paddy had been purchased by Hafed, whereas the Food and Supplies Department had purchased over 140 metric tonne, Agro Industries over 110 metric tonne, Confed over 5 metric tonne and 15 metric tonne had been purchased by private millers and dealers, the sources said.

The major highlight during this paddy lifting season will be the decision of the FCI to make direct payments to farmers, shelving its earlier practice of paying farmers through commission agents. 

Chandigarh, October 3
Pehowa’s Sainsons Paper Industries is no more a paper tiger. Power cuts, voltage fluctuation, expensive diesel gensets to run machines at exorbitant costs, the bane of other industries, no longer “turns off” this unit which has realised its dream to be power-full and self-sufficient.

Courtesy the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA), this unit is producing all the power it requires on its own from biomass, minimisng its operational costs and maximising its output. Explains the General Manger JN Saha: “We used to get electricity from the Power Department at Rs 4.5 per unit. Despite the high rate, the supply was erratic and left us sore during the peak season when the industry would reel under power cuts.

“After installing this technology for captive power, we are generating our own power at just Rs 2.5 per unit. For about a year now, we only have a connection with the Power Department but are not drawing any power.”

In Yamunanagar, the hub of plywood industry, Bharat Starch Industry has a similar story to tell. Forced to explore a cheaper option after diesel gensets (producing power at Rs 13 a unit) proved to be a costly affair, the firm is now meeting its power requirement of 1.36 MW from its own generation.

This shift is happening courtesy the co-generation technology being promoted by HAREDA. Though available for long, it had not been given due recognition by the industrial sector as a source of cheap power and fuel.

It is most suited for states like Haryana where biomass, required to power this technology, is available in abundance. Biomass like agro-industries residue, waste from barren un-cultivable land and forests, usually comes from the unit itself and at no extra cost. Realising the success and economics of these projects, a number of units have come forward to avail themselves of this technology.

“Though the central government is providing a subsidy of Rs 20 lakh per MW, this is hardly anything for a project requiring nearly Rs 4 crore per MW as initial investment. The number of interested parties has picked up in the past few months. While three new projects are under installation, five more are awaiting central government approval.

“Their clearance is expected soon. By the end of next year, we will have captive power generation of about 50 MW in the state,” explains HAREDA Director Sumita Misra. HAREDA, having organised workshops all over the state to promote this cheap technology for power generation and rope in more industrial units, expects to generate 10 more projects of about 20 MW capacity in the leading rice processing mills of the state.

With this, a total of 50 MW capacity projects in the industries will be set up by next year.

Bhiwani, October 3
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda after inspecting the flood-affected villages of Bhiwani district announced a relief package of Rs 100 crore today. Hooda, besides conducting survey by road, also took an aerial survey of the affected villages.

Irrigation Minister Capt Ajay Yadav, CPS Ram Kishan Fauji, MLA Dadri, Satpal Sangwan, HPCC general secretary Sandip Singh, Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, PWD and Irrigation SS Dhillon and OSD Ranbir Singh Doon also accompanied Hooda during the survey.

Later, addressing a press conference at airstrip, Hooda said a relief package of Rs 100 crore had been announced for the infrastructural damage due to flood for the district. “Orders has already been issued for special girdawari for damaged crop and the state government has taken several steps for compensation of civil and infrastructural crop and road damage due to heavy rains and waterlogging,” Hooda said and added the relief package was based on tentative estimate of loss. He also said the district administration had been directed to drain out floodwaters from the affected areas by October 15 so that farmers could sow Rabi crop.

Hooda said Rs 137 crore would be spent for adequate arrangement of water supply and Rs 75 crore on sewerage system.

Jhajjar: Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced a relief package of Rs 117 crore for the flood-affected people of this district after conducting a survey here today.

After taking stock of the situation of a number of villages of Bahadurgarh, Beri, Jhajjar and Sahlawas region, he said the farmers would be given a compensation up to Rs 5,500 per acre for the crops damaged by the floods.

“Though, the actual loss of the crops will be assessed only after conducting a girdwari, a provision of Rs 40 crore has been made for crop compensation as per an initial estimate of the damaged crops,” said Hooda, adding that the officers concerned had been ordered to drain out flood waters by October 15 so that the farmers could not face any difficulty in sowing Rabi crops.

He also sanctioned Rs 45 crore for the repair of infrastructure in the flood-affected areas. Roads, canals, electricity, water supply and buildings would be repaired with this amount.

He also ordered to increase the capacity of link drain from 110 cusecs to 150 cusecs for draining out flood waters.

“New machinery worth Rs 90 lakh will be installed at the pump house situated at the link drain so that the drainage of flood waters is ensured more effectively,” said Hooda. A provision of Rs 5 crore had been made for personal losses like damage of tubewells, death of cattle, etc.

He also maintained that a provision of Rs 10 crore had been made for additional pumps for draining out flood waters. At present, 250 pumps had been installed for the drainage of flood waters, he added.

He said Jharli Thermal Power Plant was likely to be commissioned in November this year.

Terming the Commonwealth Games as a pride for the country, he hoped Indian players would win the maximum medals in these games.

MP Deepender Hooda, Haryana Education and Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal and former Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Raghuvir Singh Kadian were among those who accompanied the Hooda on the occasion. 

Fatehabad, October 3
Congress MLA Sampat Singh today assured Gorakhpur farmers that the government would give them a fair compensation for the acquisition of their land for the proposed nuclear power plant.

The Congress leader also criticised leaders of opposition parties for misleading farmers on the issue of compensation.

Sampat Singh gave this assurance when a section of farmers, whose lands are proposed to be acquired for the power project being installed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), met him here today.

Later, addressing mediapersons, the Congress MLA alleged that INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala and other leaders had launched a misinformation drive on this issue to grind their political axes.

He said Chautala should first look at his own record of dealing with farmers in the state before making any statements on this issue.

He also castigated CPM secretary Inderjit Singh for his criticism of Haryana’s land acquisition policy and said the CPM leader should first compare this with the policies adopted by Kerala and West Bengal.

Sampat Singh said the land acquisition policy initiated by the Hooda government was the best in the country, where the maximum floor rates were given to the farmers, besides providing them annuity for 33 years.

The actual payable rates were decided by the government on the basis of the market rates prevalent in the area, he added.

He said as per the land acquisition policy of Haryana, farmers in Gurgaon and Panchkula would get a floor rate of Rs 33 lakh per acre, those in the NCR towns other than Gurgaon get Rs 26.50 lakh per acre and all others got Rs 13.28 lakh per acre of the land acquired.

He said these were the minimum rates payable to the farmers and not the actual rate, which were decided as per the prevalent market rates.

Sampat Singh said he would meet every farmer, whose lands were sought to be acquired, and then arrange their meeting with the Chief Minister to fetch them fair compensation for their lands.

Meanwhile, Hans Raj Siwach, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, who has been spearheading the agitation, said none of the farmers supporting their dharna had met the MLA.

He said the agitating farmers would not part with their lands at any cost. 

Sirsa, October 3
The police is still clueless on the killers of a widow and her three sons at Peepli village, near Kalanwali town, on the late Thursday night.

DSP Babu Lal Yadav said today that the police was still investigating the case.

Residents of Peepli and surrounding villages had blocked rail and road traffic on yesterday to press for the demand of the killers.

The villagers were piqued at the behaviour of an ASI, who allegedly made insensitive remarks after the bodies of the widow Hardev Kaur (55) and her sons were taken to Sirsa for a post-mortem examination yesterday.The villagers have threatened to close the market in Kalanwali town tomorrow in case no headway was made into the case.

Rohtak, October 3
The HPCC spokesman, Ved Prakash Vidrohi, has claimed that the alleged land scam regarding the cancellation of land given to a private developer near Nathupur village of Gurgaon did not take place during the present government tenure.

It had happened in 2003 when the INLD- BJP government was in power. The land measuring about 20 acres had been acquired by then government and was handed over to the developer for about Rs 51 crore for setting up cyber city. With the cancellation of the allotment by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the issue has placed the functioning of then government under a scanner while opposition parties and its leaders had been blaming the Hooda government.

He claimed that the HC order to return the land to Nathupur village Panchayat had indirectly held the then government as culprit. 

Rohtak, October 3
The Association of Guest Teachers of Haryana, which has been on protest to seek the regularisation of services of teachers, has curtailed the strength of its members who will continue their dharna outside the mini-secretariat here.

A batch of only 11 members will sit-in here on rotation instead of all members taking part simultaneously.

This decision was taken by the association here today after the district authorities had ordered it to shift the protest or face stern action. The dharna by hundreds of such teachers had resulted in inconvenience to the working of the district courts and the mini-secretariat. The administration had threatened to arrest them if they would not clear the spot. Though the protesters kept sitting at the spot till this evening with the authorities waiting for the clearance of the place, the teachers announced that the strength of the protest had been cut down and only 11 members would sit on dharna from tomorrow, but it would go until their demands were met by the government.

Over 1,000 members of the association had taken out a procession in the town on Saturday in protest against the order to shift to other place.

Deputy Commissioner PC Meena said he had no objection to their plan to organise a sit-in by small group at the place but claimed that any disturbance in the work would not be tolerated.

The protest by the association has been on for the past 13 days in support of their demand. It may be recalled that about 15,000 guest teachers in the state, have been demanding regularisation of service.

Sirsa, October 3
Participants expressed concern at the poor implementation of laws regarding women at a workshop on “Prevention of violence against women” organised by the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) at CMK National Post-Graduate College for Women here yesterday.

Speakers were of the opinion that poor implementation and lack of awareness of laws like the Domestic Violence Act and the PNDT Act providing protection to women, were responsible for the poor plight of women in society today.

District and Sessions Judge Shiv Sharma said the lower courts needed to deal with cases of violence against women sternly, if women were to get their due place in society.

He said all talk of women empowerment would be superficial in case women were treated shabbily at home and at their workplace.

Dr Sharma, who is also chairman of the DLSA, said there was a provision to provide free legal aid to women.

Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan said if women faced exploitation, despite outdoing men behind in several fields, it was a cause of concern for all. ADC Pankaj Chaudhary said the women themselves had a greater role to play for amelioration of their lot and this could only be done through better education of girls.

Expressing concern over the decreasing sex ration, advocate Balbir Kaur said while developed countries like the USA and Japan had a gender ratio of 1000:1033 and 1000:1045 in favour of women, India had 933 women against 1,000 men. The situation in Haryana was even worse.

Varsha Chaudhary, lecturer, Government National College, spoke on the rights provided to women under the Constitution.

Protection officer under the Domestic Violence Act Sadhna Mittal explaimed physical, economic sexual and emotional violence as described under the Domestic Violence Act and talked about remedies provided under the law.

Dr JS Jakhar, Associate Professor, Department of Laws, CDLU, and school principal Urmil also talked about women’s rights.

Kurukshetra, October 3
Lt-Gen Dr DDS Sandhu, Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, has been selected for the Dewang Mehta Award for his outstanding contribution to education. This is yet another feather in the cap of Dr Sandhu who is recipient of many national and international awards.

Stating this to mediapersons here today, a university spokesman said: “The Dewang Mehta Award is conferred upon outstanding educationists and administrators who have made significant contribution in the field of leadership in education and management. The award is supported by Shaila Mehta, Director, Onward Foundation.”

The spokesman said Dr Sandhu would be honoured with this award in a grand function to be held at Taj Lands End in Mumbai on November 24. The information about the award had been received from Dr Prasad Medury, chairman of the jury and partner, Amrop International.

Dr Sandhu has held distinguished positions such as the Vice-Chancellor of the Guru Jambeshwar University of Science and Tecnology, Hisar, Director General of Ordinance, the Government of India; Principal, College of Materials Management, Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur; and Lt-General in the Indian Army. Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur has conferred D.Litt Honoris Causa in Management to Dr Sandhu. He has the distinction of being the only serving defence officer in the Indian Army on whom D.Litt degree has been conferred.

Kurukshetra, October 3
A state-level Sankalp Sammelan was organised by the Aggarwal Vaish Samaj under the leadership of its president Ashok Buwaniwala at Theme Park here yesterday.

Addressing a gathering, Buwaniwala called upon the Aggarwal samaj to be united and fight for their rights.

He urged them to participate in active politics and also use their votes for clean politics and development of the country. Thesamaj had always played an important role for the welfare of the country, he added.

He claimed that the samaj had always been ahead in serving the society and 80 per cent contribution had been rendered by the Samaj in running privately managed hospitals, dharmashalas and educational institutions.

In spite of major contribution by the samaj to the society, the samaj was becoming backward due to its lesser participation in active politics, the principles of which would be taught to the Vaish people at a training centre which would be established in Karnal.

Haryana Transport Minister Om Prakash Jain urged the Vaish Samaj that it should carry political thinking along with the social thinking.