Chandigarh, December 12
Haryana may be forging ahead on many fronts, but certainly not when it comes to gender ratio.

In what can be described as Haryana’s shame, 17 of its 21 districts has shown a “substantial” decline in gender ratio over the last one year, further slanting an already skewed graph.

In what should be a wake-up call to the state government, the number of births of girls for every 1,000 boys has fallen from 852 births per 1,000 in 2009 to 838 births per 1,000 this year.

Barring the four districts of Panipat, Mewat, Yamunanagar and Panchkula (where the sex ratio has risen by 3 to 27 births per 1,000), the difference in gender ratio between last year and this year has shown a negative trend, the difference varying between 3 and 39 births per 1,000. In the latest district-wise data compiled till October by the Health Department, Rewari (764/1000) has the lowest gender ratio while Ambala (793/1000) has shown a maximum decline in the ratio over last year.

The district registered 832 births per 1,000 in the same period in 2009, showing a fall of 39 births per 1,000. It is closely followed by Kurukshetra and Faridabad which have registered a fall of 33 and 32 births per 1,000 boys, respectively.

In Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal’s home district, Jhajjar, the situation is no better, showing a fall of 29 births per 1,000 this year. Against 831 births till October 2009, the district has registered 802 births per 1,000 this year.

Though Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has raised the issue of Haryana’s skewed sex ratio at various rallies, even in his home district of Rohtak the gender sex ratio has fallen from last year’s 827 to 808 births per 1,000 this year.

Interestingly, Bhiwani, which won the award for a marked improvement in gender ratio (895/1000) in 2007, too, has fared badly since then. Against 862 births per 1,000 in 2009, the district has registered 837 births per 1,000 this year. From having the second highest gender ratio (896/1000) in 2006, Kaithal district continues to touch a new low, registering 827 births per 1,000 this year, a fall of 18 births over last year. Glitzy Gurgaon has slipped down further, showing a fall of 13 births per 1,000 over last year with a sex ratio of 839 girls per 1,000 boys.

The old mindset persists with people preferring a male child. The Director-General, Health Services, Dr Narveer Singh, says the situation in rural areas is alarming.

“The health workers, responsible for reporting malpractices have their limitations since they come from the same village. Government incentives for the girl child, too, don’t seem to be delivering. “Though the district administrations can make a difference, such one-point programmes are hardly sustainable.

“Education is the only solution for a lasting change,” he added.

Hisar, December 12
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here today that members of the Backward Classes would be truly empowered only when their living standards were brought on a par with those of forward classes.

Addressing a rally at the old Government College grounds here, he said only those sections that were educated would progress. Therefore, his government had taken a number of steps to encourage children from the Backward Classes to get good education. He said children from the Backward Classes were being provided scholarships right from Class I. Hooda said he was a farmer and had been raised as a common man. He understood the needs and aspiration of all sections.

He said he had advised his Cabinet colleagues to take decisions keeping in perspective the welfare of the common people.

Buoyed by the heavy turnout at the rally, Hooda said the affection shown by members of the Backward Classes would be amply rewarded. He said the government would fight for their cause in the apex court too. Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee chief Phool Chand Mullana said the Opposition in Haryana had no issue and was criticising every move of the government for the sake of it. The Hooda-led Congress government was the “only well- wisher of the backward classes,” he claimed.

Dr Ram Parkash, MP, said the Congress alone took care of the interests of the poor and the downtrodden. All other parties had only exploited these sections.

Congress legislator from the Barwala assembly segment of the district, who had organised the rally, said a new sub- division should be established at Barwala town. He also suggested that canals should run for two weeks in a month to ensure ample suppy, the local Government College for Women should be shifted to the building of the Government Post-graduate College and vice versa and problems of Mill Gate area be resolved immediately.

Others who addressed the rally were former Home Minister Sampat Singh, former minister Savitri Jindal, Congress legislator Naresh Selwal and former MP Jai Parkash. 

Chandigarh, December 12
In Haryana, the girlchild is nobody’s baby. An ineffective health system at the grassroots level can’t deliver, the social behaviour is heavily tilted in favour of the male child and remains rigid and the usually vociferous politicians and their parties are unusually quiet.

A paradox of sorts in a state where women are bringing laurels in sports and their enrolment in colleges and universities is gradually increasing, the falling sex ratio needs a multi-faceted sustained campaign with participation of all stakeholders, from the government to the public, to make a difference.

The Health Department, without support from the various quarters, feels helpless. “We have health workers to track pregnant women in every village and give us an update on her status. These workers have an emotional bond with the village and fear they might invite the wrath of the villagers who may even ostracise them for reporting any malpractice,” explains DGHS Dr Narveer Singh.

Health Minister Geeta Bhukkal says the government has introduced many schemes to promote the cause. The issue is not on the agenda of most elected 
representatives and political parties because it is not a vote-puller. The working president of the state unit of the Congress, Kuldeep Sharma, maintains that though a couple of programmes have been organised to discourage female foeticide, the falling sex ratio has not been addressed as it should have been.

“A campaign is needed. In fact, the Congress had the issue in its manifesto also. We have a few rallies coming up over the next few days where we will consciously raise the issue,” he held. The state president of the BJP, Krishan Pal Gurjar, says: “I know we should mobilise opinion against female foeticide. We will see what can be done.”

The NLD says raising the issue of falling sex ratio is not in sync with the patriarchal culture of Haryana. “We can’t talk of falling sex ratio at public rallies though we do urge people to stop the practice of female foeticide wherever we can,” party supremo Om Prakash Chautala maintains. — TNS

Rewari, December 12
The police has arrested a youth, identified as Sumit Saini, for allegedly shooting a college girl in scanty clothes. Subsequently somebody who acquired the MMS from Sumit Saini, uploaded it on google.com The girl is a student of a local college on the Delhi road here.

The college principal yesterday filed a complaint with the police, that registered a case under Sections 500 and 509 of the IPC as well as Section 67 of the IT Act. It swung into and arrested Sumit.

The college authorities clarified that neither the girl nor the boy were students of the college. Sumit was today produced before the Duty Magistrate who remanded him in police custody for a day.

DSP Vijender VIJ, who is investigating the matter, said the accused was beibg quizzed as to who had uploaded the MMS the internet.

Meanwhile the police, with the assistance of the google authorities, has got the MMS deleted from the website.

Jind, December 12
Small and marginal farmers in the state will now be eligible to avail the benefit of employment of 100 days in a year, thanks to the government’s decision to include such farmers in the list of beneficiaries. This has brought cheer to the farmers

Farmers owning agricultural land up to 5 acres will be eligible to take the benefit of the scheme under which a daily wage of Rs 167 would be given to the beneficiary.

According to the authorities concerned, the state government has issued directions in this regard recently in which it was announced that small farmers would now be allowed the draw the daily wage for working in their own fields for the purpose of levelling the field, plantation, construction of an embankment or digging up the land for a pipeline.

The facility is available to the landless and poor, especially from the weaker sections and residing in rural areas.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) provides or ensures job guarantee of at least 100 days in a year. For this, the beneficiaries are required to get their job card prepared from the official concerned and apply for the benefit.

The small farmers, who have been included in the category, would also be required to get a job card in order to avail the benefit, said an official of the district rural development agency here.

The motive behind the scheme was to make small farmers work on their fields.

Sources said the agriculture and the horticulture departments would be providing free-of-cost plants for plantation. While it is claimed that a drive has been launched to identify small farmers in the district, a camp was held here recently in which 50 farmers from 15 villages took part.

According to an estimate, the number of small farmers here could be 60 per cent of the total farmers in the district.

Many of such farmers give their land for tilling on hire basis without personally being involved in the farming operations, say sources in the department.

Ellenabad, December 12
As many as 64-odd Hindu families, who migrated here from Pakistan during the period 1992-1998, are living in uncertainty with their applications for Indian citizenship being shuttled from one office to the other.

A letter to the Haryana Government from the Ministry of Home Affairs recently has raised the hope of these families. The ministry has sought fresh applications to be made before the District Magistrate in accordance with the provisions of the Citizenship Rules-2009.

Earlier, the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary had written to the DC in August 2008, requesting him to send cases family-wise, clearly indicating the reasons for recommending Indian citizenship to them.

“We cannot afford to fall ill. We cannot take out patients to better hospitals in neighbouring Ganganagar or any other town without the prior permission of the authorities,” said Ram Chander Meghwal, whose family migrated to the town from Rahim Yaar Khan district of Pakistan Punjab in 1998.

The family ekes out a living making shoes.

“My younger brother Gopal was selected for admission to Jawahar Navodya Vidyalaya, Odhan (Sirsa), on the basis of his performance in the entrance test by the CBSE.

“However, he was refused admission as we did not have a ration card or any other identity proof,” said Ram Chander, showing the letter dated August 5, 2003, by principal JNV Odhan offering provisional admission to his brother.

A disheartened Gopal left his studies mid-way.

Mohan Ram, another refugee, said their situation was no better than that in Pakistan where they were treated shabbily. The Deputy Commissioner said he would do all he could to help these families.

Ambala, December 12
Union Tourism Minister and Ambala MP Kumari Selja has taken up the matter of the solid waste management project near Ambala City, that has not been working properly, with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The project was set up at Patwi in 2008 with a cost of Rs 12.5 crore to dispose the garbage of Ambala City and Ambala Cantt. A contract was signed by the municipal council, Ambala City, with Taurant Projects Limited and NBCC Ltd for running the project. However, the project has not been working properly due to some technical and administrative reasons.

Selja recently wrote a letter to the Chief Minister in this regard, in which she said it had come to her notice that the municipal corporation (the then municipal council, Ambala City) had not applied for the NOC till today for the said project from the Haryana Pollution Control Board.

Besides, the contractor had not provided facilities like 24-hour power supply, a straight path to the project and the construction of a boundary wall promised as per the contract.

Therefore, such a prestigious project had not taken off as yet. A number of meetings between the district administration, NBCC and the contractor (Taurant Project Ltd) had failed to bear fruits, she added.

She further stated in the letter that, “There is a general impression that certain vested interests are obstructing the smooth functioning of the project. I leave it to you to take necessary action as you deem fit to get the project started at the earliest.”

Meanwhile, Ambala Deputy Commissioner Samir Pal Saro said all official formalities for supplying the 24-hour power supply to the plant and getting the NOC from the Pollution Control Board had been completed. He said a major part of the boundary wall had also been constructed. He disclosed that a meeting with the joint secretary, urban development, was held at Delhi in this regard on December 3 in which the issue was discussed in detail. Every effort was being made to run the project smoothly, he added.

Yamunanagar, December 12
The Punjabi Mahasabha, Haryana, today organised a seminar in the auditorium of DAV College for Girls, Yamunanagar, in which MP Shadi Lal Batra was the chief guest. It was presided over by president of the mahasabha Ashok Mehta.

The aim of the seminar was to honour those eminent personalities of the Punjabi community who had done a remarkable job in helping the needy and to uplift the society.

Batra said the state government had given the approval for setting up a memorial for those who were killed in communal violence that broke out when the Indian subcontinent was divided by the British Empire into India.

He lauded the role played by the members of the Punjabi community and those who migrated from Pakistan at the time of partition.

Punjabis have also contributed a lot to the progress made by the state. He demanded that a freedom fighter status should be given to those who had laid their lives for the freedom of the country.

He announced a donation of Rs 5 lakh for the DAV College for Girls, Yamunanagar.

Mehta said the community came to Haryana and other parts of the country after having lost all their belongings in their erstwhile towns and villages. However, they were able to establish their roots firmly in the state and now their children were settled well in all walks of life.

A cultural programme was also organised on the occasion.

Sirsa, December 12
The District Election Department has received 19,898 claims and objections during the special summary revision of electoral rolls with reference to January 1, 2011, as the qualifying date.

Under a drive, house-to-house checking of the claims and objections has been started and all these claims will be settled by December 13, 2010.

Balbir Singh Malik, Commissioner, Hisar Division, and observer for the special summary revision, addressed officers involved with the process here recently.

He called upon the officials concerned to check all claims and objections so that no discrepancies remained after settlement of these claims.

Malik said the SMS facility at the district level and the constituency level would continue and anyone could get information at 9812300953 or contact a toll-free number 1800-180-1179 at the district level. — TNS

Gurgaon, December 12
Under the Centre’s media outreach programme, a three-day Bharat Nirman Public Information Campaign will be organised at Nagina in Mewat district from December 14 to 16.

Press Information Bureau Director Ashish Goyal, in an interaction with the media here yesterday, said the underlying idea behind the exercise was to bring about a transformation in the mode of information dissemination about the central government’s flagship programmes in rural and remote areas.

Goyal said the main focus of the Public Information Campaign (PIC) was to highlight the Bharat Nirman Programme, including its six components of rural housing, electrification, safe drinking water, rural roads, telephones and irrigation.

Talking to mediapersons, the conducting officer of the campaign said during the campaign, many eminent experts, bureaucrats and other resource persons would deliver lectures on various flagship programmes of the central government and major programmes of the state government.

Besides, different government departments will put up information stalls at the PIC venue, which are provided free of cost. The information is also disseminated in villages by conducting special cultural programmes by song and drama division troops.

The campaign also features a slogan contest and a quiz contest on “Bharat Nirman”, students’ rally, healthy baby show and free-of-cost health check-up camps.

Jhajjar, December 12
The Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Haryana has slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 on State Public Information Officer -cum-Director, School Education, Haryana.

The CIC has directed the SPIO-cum-Commissioner, Higher Education, to furnish the sought information to RTI activist and coordinator of Haryana Suchna Adhikar Manch Subhash, within 15 days.

Subhash had on February 15, 2010, submitted an application to the Chief Secretary’s office, seeking to know when the EDUSET programme was launched in the state, how much budget was allocated to it, who were the members on the committee which recommended the programme in schools and how many organisations were engaged with it.

The office transferred the application to the Commissioner, Higher Education, for providing requisite information to the applicant.

But the latter forwarded it to the SPIO-cum-Director, School Education, who further transferred the application to Utkarsh Society, Panchkula.

“I waited for nearly two months for a response but in vain. Neither the Department of Higher Education and School Education, Haryana, nor the Utkarsh Society bothered to furnish the sought information,” said Subhash. He then, on August 2, 2010, knocked the door of the CIC urging stern action against the erring officials.

“After hearing both parties, the CIC held both the departments and the Utkarsh Society responsible for not furnishing complete information within the stipulated time limit.

He imposed a penalty on the SPIO-cum-Director, School Education,” added Subhash.

Fatehabad, December 12
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) took out a procession here today against corruption.

The demonstration was part of a weeklong countrywide drive for a JPC probe into the 2G Spectrum scam, arrest of those involved in various scams and stringent laws to curb corruption.

Addressing party workers, Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the CPM lashed out at the central and state governments for “institutionalising corruption.”

He alleged that the governments were clandestinely transferring huge amounts of money to favoured persons under the garb of public-private partnership. He stated that the pervading corruption was essentially a consequence of the policy of privatisation.

The demonstrators later held a meeting at Jawahar Chowk where former CPM legislator Harpal Singh and Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria addressed the gathering.

A rickshaw, carrying cartoons lampooning the corrupt caught, the eye of hundreds as it passed through the main bazar. — TNS

Faridabad, December 12
A person died on the spot and two others were seriously injured when the car they were travelling in was hit by a truck from the rear side at Good Year Crossing on the Delhi-Agra national highway here on Friday.

The deceased has been identified as Yatin and the injured Anuj and Shobhit. All three were from Faridabad.

The driver of the truck escaped along with his vehicle. According to the police, the truck rammed into the car when it slowed down due to a roadblock ahead.

Yatin was driving the car. Passersby rescued two persons, but Yatin was found dead in the car. The police has registered a case.

Sonepat, December 12
Jagmender of Kheri Damkan village and his brother Balbir were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Jagmender’s wife Reena on November 15, 2006, for dowry.

However, their father Sheesh Ram and Reena’s sister-in-laws’ - Sunita and Bala - were acquitted for want of evidence.

Reena’s uncle Subhash of Dubeta village lodged a complaint on November 16, 2006, alleging that Reena, who got married to Jagmender on February 12, 2005, was harassed to bring more dowry, including a motorcycle.

He alleged that when their demand for motorcycle was not fulfilled, they poisoned Reena to death. — OC