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Now, liver transplant possible without matching blood group
Relay sowing of wheat: Agriculture Dept to set up demonstration plots
State achieves 97 pc target of providing free water connections
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Library building of DCR varsity inaugurated
Polio drive launched in 13 districts
Discoms staff to be given laptops with Internet
Summer camp concludes at Ladwa school
Rain boosts paddy sowing in Ambala district
Sahitya Akademi honours poets, writers
NGO holds vocational courses, self-defence classes for women
Journalists urged to serve society
Modi's elevation likely to affect state politics
Third front will not work: Surjewala
Minister for separate directorate of adult education
Impact of microfinance on socio-economic empowerment of poor discussed
Policeman donates blood 46th time
Women labourers face health hazards in vegetable picking
Gurgaon DM invokes Section 144
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Now, liver transplant possible without matching blood group
Gurgaon, June 17 Three-year-old Zuana, 18-month-old Karthikey and 43-year-old Khushwinder are able to lead normal lives 15, 12 and five months, respectively, after getting liver transplants from mismatched blood-group donors. All of them had blood group ‘O’ and had no suitable donors having a matching blood group in their families. Zuana’s grandmother of blood group ‘A’, Karthikey’s mother with blood group ‘B’ and Khushwinder’s brother-in-law with blood group ‘B’ donated their livers for the life-saving transplants. Dr N Trehan, chairman of Medanta, said this type of transplants was the most complex one and required a combination of expertise, technology, zero-infection environment and laboratory services. Explaining the technique, Dr AS Soin, chief liver surgeon at the institute, said: “Normally, patients have antibodies (proteins that can destroy the transplanted organ) against all other blood-groups except their own. These antibodies can rapidly reject the transplanted liver. In order to make the patient accept a liver of a different blood-group, these antibodies are removed by employing a three-pronged strategy which starts one month prior to the transplant”. “Firstly, the antibodies are removed from the patient’s body by washing the entire blood by several plasma exchanges. Secondly, two drugs called mycophenolate and anti-CD 20 are administered to suppress the antibody-producing plasma cells, and thirdly, intravenous IVIg is given to neutralise any remaining antibodies,” he said. “This is then followed by the transplant with zero-error precision surgery to avoid blood-vessel and bile-duct problems, to which such
patients are highly susceptible,” he added. Explaining the background of the two transplanted children, Dr Neelam Mohan, director of Paediatric Hepatology and Transplantation at the institute, said Zuana was in terminal liver failure with little hope of survival without a transplant. She had been in coma and on ventilation for
10 days. “Zuana’s blood group was ‘O’ and the blood groups of all the three medically suitable family donors did not match her group. We then decided to offer her ABO-incompatible transplantation using 20 per cent liver of her grandmother Naseema, who was of blood group ‘A’. This was for the first time in the country that we did such a procedure,” she maintained. After about four months, the family of Karthikey decided to go in for the procedure. It was a case of biliary atresia with liver cirrhosis and his blood group was ‘O’. His mother with the blood group ‘B’ donated a part of her liver to save him. “These transplants are a little less complicated for children less than
two years since their ABO antibody levels are lower and their ABO-incompatible liver acceptance rates are higher,” said Dr Mohan. Dr S Saigal, director of Transplant Hepatology at Medanta, said: “The pre-transplant preparation for ABO-incompatible transplant is arduous and requires extensive commitment of both the treating team and the patient’s family. After the operation, it is vital to measure the antibody levels periodically and clean the blood with more plasma exchanges if necessary. The body usually adapts to the ABO-incompatible liver in about three weeks”.
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Relay sowing of wheat: Agriculture Dept to set up demonstration plots
Sirsa, June 17 The department has sent a proposal for grant of Rs 3 crore for this purpose and if everything goes well, one can see a large number of farmers opting for relay farming of wheat in cotton fields this year. Relay sowing of wheat in cotton is a concept under which wheat is sown in fields where cotton crop is still to be harvested. The concept, according to experts, is being experimented in countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, where farmers follow wheat-cotton cropping pattern, as also in some other states of the country to increase crop yields. The Agriculture Department in Haryana started promoting this concept among farmers by helping farmers set up demonstration plots of relay farming in their fields two years back. As an incentive, the department pays Rs 2,000 per acre to the farmers for seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. Last year, the department helped farmers set up 500 demonstration plots in 11 cotton-producing districts of Haryana, 165 plots in Sirsa, the biggest producer of cotton in Haryana. “For farmers in the cotton-producing districts of Haryana, wheat-cotton is the major cropping pattern. Wheat is often planted late in these districts after harvesting of cotton, as late as December end or beginning of January. Under the relay sowing, wheat is sown by broadcasting its seeds in the standing cotton in November,” said Ravi Chander Punia, Joint Director (Cotton), Agriculture Department, Haryana. “The ideal time for sowing of wheat is November 1 to November 25 for the early varieties and November 25 to December 25 for the late varieties. However, late verities of cotton are picked from the fields as late as mid of January. The later the sowing of wheat, the lower is the productivity. In this manner, the farmers have to either suffer loss in terms of cotton by harvesting it when some cotton bolls are still unripe or settle for lesser yield of wheat by sowing it late,” he added. “Relay sowing of wheat helps farmers get complete yield of cotton by allowing the crop to stand till the final picking is complete and at the same time, sow wheat in time to ensure better productivity of the crop,” Punia said. By opting for relay sowing of wheat, farmers can increase their cotton productivity by 1.5 to 2 quintal per acre and that of wheat by 3 to 4 quintals. Besides, they save money spent on hiring tractors for tilling, as sowing through this mode is zero-tilling farming. “I was given one demonstration plot by the authorities in 2011-12. After seeing its result, I sowed wheat through relay farming on six acres and it gave me better yield both in cotton and in wheat,” said Gurbhajan Singh, a progressive farmer from Suchan Kotli village in Sirsa. Eminent scientists like Dr JS Sandhu, Agriculture Commissioner in the Ministry of Agriculture in the Central government, Dr Dalip Monda, Head of the regional centre of the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) and experts from the Directorate of Wheat Research, Karnal, visited Gurbhajan Singh’s fields last year. Punia said this year, many more farmers were likely to come forward for relay sowing of wheat on their cotton fields.
The initiative
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State achieves 97 pc target of providing free water connections
Chandigarh, June 17 While stating this here today, a spokesman of the Haryana Public Health and Engineering Department said out of the targeted more than 10.35 lakh such households, the water connections had already been given to 10.05 lakh households and Rs 465 crore had been spent on the implementation of the scheme up to March 2013.The scheme was launched on November 19, 2006. He said a Rs 1403.47-crore scheme had also been implemented under special economic package to augment supply of drinking water and improve sewerage system in 14 towns of the state. He said under the scheme, the existing sewerage system would also be renovated. A sum of Rs 841.02 crore had already been spent up to March 2013 under the scheme. He said the supply of drinking water had been augmented in 6,658 villages and 36 cities from March 2005 to March 2013 by increasing the supply of drinking water from 40 litre per capita per day to 55 litre per capita per day, from 55 to 70 litre per capita per day and from 70 to 110 litre per capita per day. Also, the sewerage system had been improved in 36 towns at a cost of Rs 689 crore from March 2005 to March 2013, he said. He said 2,775 km-long sewerage lines had been laid at a cost of Rs 689 crore during the same period. He said the supply of drinking water had also been augmented in 895 villages up to March 2013. A Rs-127.4 crore scheme had been implemented in 64 villages and 34 dhanis in Mahendergarh district to supply 70 litre of water per capita per day. The NABARD had also sanctioned a similar scheme for 54 villages in Mahendergarh, he added.
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Library building of DCR varsity inaugurated
Sonepat, June 17 After the inspection of the building, the Chief Minister praised the green building concept used in its construction. He remarked that the new building was a showcase of technology which blends the scientific concepts of modern technology with the traditional principles of construction. During the inspection, the university's Vice-Chancellor, HS Chahal, said a majority of the building specifications had certified green building rating subscribing to low-energy consumption and were made from recyclable materials. A majority of the paved areas were provided with grass-paver blocks, which reduced the heat island effect. The tree plantation has also been done in such a manner so as to support the building orientation as well as provide a cohesive green environment. Chahal claimed that it was an energy-efficient building and the use of day lighting had been encouraged. The front elevation which was facing north had the maximum glazing, including a four-storeyed high atrium in the building which lights up the inner halls. A major feature of building design had been the use of Earth Air Tunnel for natural cooling and heating in the building during summer and winter seasons, respectively. Earth air tunnels have been dug at approximately four metre below the ground for a length of approximately 120 metres. For water conservation, the sanitary fixtures used in the building were such that there was low-water consumption. The taps used were prismatic taps, which had a self-closing mechanism and controlled the water consumption. The building also had separate lines for grey water which could be used for recycling purposes. The parking and terrace rain water was used for recharging the underground water table through recharging pits.
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Polio drive launched in 13 districts
Chandigarh, June 17 The campaign was launched in Ambala, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Mewat, Palwal, Panchkula, Panipat, Rohtak, Sonipat and Yamuna Nagar districts today. While stating this here today, a spokesman for the Health Department said about 55 per cent of the targeted children had been covered on the first day of the campaign. It 1was launched by Health Minister Rao Narender Singh at Bhora Kalan village in Gurgaon district. Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal inaugurated the campaign in Jhajjar district while Sumita Singh, MLA, Karnal, inaugurated the drive in Karnal district. He said teams would go from house to house during the campaign to administer polio drops to those children who were not covered yesterday. In order to smooth conduct of the campaign, a total of 10,573 booths were set up in the state and these were manned by about 42,000 health officials, volunteers, aanganwari workers and accredited social health activists. About 2,100 officials supervised the activity, besides independent monitors of the PGIMS, Rohtak, and WHO. This activity was preceded by undertaking an awareness campaign. Approximately 26 lakh children are to be covered in the state during this campaign. During this round, special attention has been paid to high-risk areas like slums, isolated hutments, brick kilns, floating or migrating population and construction sites so that no child is left uncovered. About 1,000 mobile teams are also working to cover all children in poorly approachable areas.
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Discoms staff to be given laptops with Internet
Hisar, June 17 Devender Singh, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam stated this in an operation review committee meeting held at Hisar recently. He said the Discoms planned to provide 2,000 laptops to supervisory staff for on-the-spot action in such cases. A copy of checking report and the assessed amount would be given to the defaulting consumer also, he said. The Discoms have already fixed 12 hours time for lodging complaints/ daily diary reports with the police. “It will be the responsibility of the sub-divisional officer to report to the I&P police stations in a stipulated time period failing which disciplinary action will be initiated against him,” he said. He said adequate staff would be made available to the vigilance wing in a phased manner. “The Discoms will conduct special checking of patrol pumps, shopping malls, theatres hospitals and other high-value consumers. It is being planned to launch a state-wide campaign to detect the cases of theft of electricity,” he said. He said persons involved in stealing electricity would not be spared and stringent action would be initiated against them as per rules. “The courts of Hisar and Bhiwani have also awarded one-year imprisonment to defaulters recently,” he added. Additional Director General of Police Mohinder Lal said prompt registration of cases of power theft would be ensured by the I&P police stations. The Police and Power Department would jointly come forward for a massive campaign to unearth the cases of theft, he added.
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Summer camp concludes at Ladwa school
Kurukshetra, June 17 During the camp, the children were delivered lectures on saving water, sensitising and helping fellow children in the immediate neighbourhood, maintaining a healthy dietary habit, managing time and keeping discipline in day-to-day life. On the concluding day of the camp, the students organised a programme to showcase their talents to their parents. Speaking on the occasion, principal of the school Meenakshi Chhabra said right skills imparted at an early age could help children shape up their future. She said enormous amount of energy in children should be utilised in a positive direction. She also thanked all the parents for supporting the camp and encouraging their children for developing their life skills. As many as 105 students participated in the camp
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Rain boosts paddy sowing in Ambala district
Ambala, June 17 Generally, paddy sowing in the state begins from June 15 but this year it started earlier because of the arrival of rains. In some areas, farmers have started sowing paddy but in Naggal and adjoining villages of Ambala City, paddy sowing will pick up by the end of next week. Most of the farmers have started sowing paddy as they are aware that the delay could cause problems. Some of the farmers have put in their family members in sowing work as they could not wait further for the arrival of migrant labourers, who are engaged in Punjab at present as they get better packages there. In most of the villages, the farmers have been facing acute shortage of migrant labourers. Harmam Singh, a progressive farmer, said he had to pay more while engaging local labourers. He said the migrant labourers were now getting jobs in their respective states under MNGREGA scheme and only a few were turning up in the state. Jasbir Mallor, a farmer of Mallor village said rich farmers could engage local labourers by providing them better wages and other facilities but the marginal farmers could not afford it. Some parts of Punjab had initiated mechanised transplantation of paddy but it did not become popular in Haryana, he added. Subhash Chauhan, another farmer, said the cost of production of crops had increased in such a way that the farmers had not been even getting production cost of their produce. A visit to some of the villages revealed that rich farmers had made their fields ready for sowing while the small farmers were busy in arranging paddy plants for sowing.
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Sahitya Akademi honours poets, writers
Sirsa, June 17 Governor Jagannath Pahadia and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda gave away prizes to those nominated by the akademi. Pandit Madhav Prasad Mishr Samman carrying Rs.2.5 lakh in cash and Mahakavi Surdaas Samman carrying prize money of Rs 1.5 lakh for 2012 were conferred upon Dr Puranchand Sharma and Dr Rajbir Singh Dhankar, respectively. Babu Balmukund Gupt Award for 2011 and 2012 was conferred upon Ramkumar 'Attraya' and Madhukant, respectively. Lala Deshbandhu Gupt Award for 2011 and 2012 was given to Kewal Krishan Pathak and Arun Naithani, respectively. Pandit Lakhmi Chand Award for 2011 and 2012 was conferred upon Dr Savitri Vashist and Sumer Chand. Haryana Gaurav Samman for 2011 was given to Dr Punyamchand Manav. Aditya-Alhar Hassya Samman for 2011 and 2012 was conferred upon Manik Verma and Shri Jamini Haryanvi, respectively. Jankavi Mehar Singh Samman for 2011 and 2012 was given to Raghuvir Singh Mathana and Dr Vishvabandhu Sharma, respectively. Shresth Mahila Rachnakaar Samman for 2011 and 2012 was given to Dr Sudha Jain and Kamal Kapoor. All these awards carry a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each, a scroll and citation. Vishesh Sahitya Sevi Samman carrying Rs 51,000 in cash, for 2011 was given to Dr Lakshman Singh, Om Parkash Kadiyan, Dr Shamim Sharma, Sandeep Joshi, Dr Lal Chand Gupt 'Mangal', Manmohan Sapra, Dinesh Raghuvanshi, Rajbir Deswal, Halchal Haryanavi, Ram Sahaya Verma and Prof Mohan Matraiye. For 2012, this award was conferred upon Madan Sahani, Acharya Baldev Raj 'Shaant', Dharampal, Dr Krishan Kumar Rattu, Surender Bansal and Tajender Sharma.
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NGO holds vocational courses, self-defence classes for women
Sirsa, June 17 The NGO recently organised a function to distribute certificates among girls being trained in courses of beautician, stitching and embroidery and other trades. Sirsa Additional Deputy Commissioner Shiv Prashad Sharma was the chief guest at the function, while Pradeep Punia, Executive Engineer of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department was the special guest at the function. Shilpa Verma, the one behind the endeavours to help women become self reliant through providing them vocation training, presided over the function. Welcoming the guests, she said besides making women independent, the society had also been taking up campaigns against female foeticide and AIDS. The NGO also organised a training camp in martial arts for women to make them capable of handling unpleasant situations like eve teasing and molestation. Addressing people, Shiv Prashad Sharma said the state government was making all endeavours to improve the lives of women by making them self-dependent and economically empowered. She said the NGOs like Pariwartan were playing a positive role in this direction. He distributed certificates among women trainees who came from Musahibwala, Panihari, Panniwala Mota, Mallekan, Nejadela, Maujukhera, Peepli, Fatehapuria and Jhanda villages of Sirsa. Bimla Sinwar, Director of the NGO, read out an account of activities of Pariwartan Social Welfare Society. Vinod Upadhayaya conducted the proceedings on the stage. The participant women exhibited a myriad of cultural activities on the occasion. Kiran Bala from Nejadela village recited a poem on female foeticide while Reena from Jhorar village expressed her views on the importance of saving the girl child. Nisha and Anjali exhibited the methods of self defence on this occasion. Arun Mehta, Managing Director of the Samarghosh Hartron, Manohar Sachdeva, Managing Director of the NGO, Sita Ram Gujjar, Manvinder Singh, Jagir Singh, Pala Ram and Dalip Kumar, all sarpanches of different villages were present on this occasion.
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Journalists urged to serve society
Kurukshetra, June 17 Chattha said the reporters should give new direction to the society by following the path shown by Nanha who had played an important role in the field of social service along with performing his journalistic duties. Recalling the past, Chattha said whenever any minister or Haryana Chief Minister visited Kurukshetra, Nanha, representing the town dwellers, not only made them aware of the problems of the town but also persuaded them to solve these problems. “The people should get inspired from the life of Nanha and his colleague veteran journalist Dr Shanti Swarup Sharma,” Chattha added. District Congress Committee President Jai Bhagwan Sharma, Haryana Finance Commissioner and Thanesar Municipal Council former president Subhash Sudha presided over the function while Jind District Jail Superintendent Dr Harish Ranga was the guest of honour. They also spoke on the occasion. Others who addressed the function included Swami Hari Om Daas Privarajak, District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, Yamunanagar, president Deena Nath Arora, former MLA Sahab Singh Saini, Kathawachak Pandit Rajender Parashar, DAV Managing Committee National Secretary Vijay Sabharwal, BJP District president Dhuman Singh Kirmuch, Dr AC Nagpal, Prikshit Madan and OP Gulyani. The doctors Shri Krishana Government Ayurvedic Hospital, Kurukshetra, BS Heart Care Multi Specialist Hospital, Kurukshetra and Swami Advaitswarup Prakashanand Anant Hospital, Kurukshetra, examined the patients.
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Modi's elevation likely to affect state politics
Sirsa, June 17 With Modi’s proximity to the Indian National Lok Dal Supremo Om Prakash Chautala a well-known fact, political observers in Haryana are watching with keenness whether the BJP would go to the polls
with its alliance partner Haryana Janhit Congress or dump Kuldeep Bishnoi to go with Chautala. Though Modi, who was named head of the party’s campaign in a recent meet of the BJP in Goa is still struggling to settle down due to a sulking Lal Krishan Advani and the split with the Janata Dal (United), he is likely to start calling shots once his opponents within the NDA calm down. Sources in the BJP maintain that once Modi settles down firmly in his saddle, he is likely to take decisions he considers necessary for the party for the parliamentary polls. Those in favour of an alliance with the INLD maintain that an alliance with Kuldeep Bishnoi’s party is not going to help the saffron party much in the coming elections. The pro-Chautala lobby in the BJP, which incidentally is very thin in Haryana, maintains that the area of influence of both the BJP as well as the HJC is the same, the urban vote bank in the state. “Till Nitin Gadkari was at the helm and Dr Harsh Vardhan was in charge of Haryana affairs, there was no chance of a shift in the party’s policy towards Haryana. But with Rajnath Singh as party president, Narendra Modi as prime minist erial candidate and Jagdish Mukhi taking place of Dr Harsh Vardhan, a change in political alliance in Haryana seems a strong possibility,” said a source in state BJP. Whatever the political equations at the Centre, a large majority of BJP party cadre in Haryana seems
to be in favour of going with Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress. “We have experimented with Chautala more than once. Our partymen faced humiliation during the INLD’s regime from 1999 to 2005 and when we contested the poll again in 2009, people of Haryana completely rejected our alliance,” said a senior BJP leader of the state. The BJP leader admitted that both Rajnath Singh and Narendra Modi have an inclination towards Chautala, but they believe that Kuldeep Bishnoi has been able to allay their doubts with regard to effectiveness of the BJP-HJC alliance in the forthcoming polls during his recent meetings with top six leaders of the party. Arguments those in favour of the INLD or the HJC apart, given Narendra Modi’s good equations with Chautala, the Haryana strongman was also seen during Modi’s swearing in December last year, political observers are watching the unfolding of events with keen interest.
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Third front will not work: Surjewala
Kaithal, June 17 Earlier, Surjewala laid the foundation stone of a Rs 10-crore four-storey Green Bhawan Nirman Sadan in Kaithal. The offices of SE, PWD, XENs and other functionaries of PWD ( B&R) will be situated in this building. The minister also inaugurated a Rs 1.24-crore bridge constructed on a drain. — OC
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Minister for separate directorate of adult education
Jhajjar, June 17 Besides, the Sakshar Gram Puraskar could also be instituted on the lines of the Nirmal Gram Purushkar in order to encourage girls for getting education as well as making themselves self-reliant. While addressing a news conference after listening to public grievances at her local residence yesterday, Bhukkal said she had put both the suggestions at a conference of the Ministers of Adult Education and Panchayati Raj and district panchayat presidents of the Saakshar Bharat State held in New Delhi recently. “At least a state-level project coordinator with an independent charge and supported by requisite staff and provision of sufficient movement is also must to make the scheme of adult education a big success,” she added. In reply to a question, Bhukkal said the Congress government had decided to construct 3.5 lakh houses for the poor. Apart from this, the present government had allotted plots of 100 square yards each free of cost to the poor, she added. “Despite being a small state, Haryana has established its own identity in terms of development during the last seven years. One should think about the reasons as to why the old age samman allowance was limited to Rs 300 in states like Punjab and Gujarat and the same is being given at a rate of Rs 700 per month in Haryana,” said the minister. Bhukkal said under the Priyadarshini Awas Yojna (PAY) scheme, 2 lakh houses would be constructed for the poor in the rural areas. Financial assistance of Rs 90,100 would be provided for the construction of such houses, she said. As many as 10,000 families would be benefited under the scheme in Jhajjar district, she added. She said the state government was making concerted efforts to provide quality education to the youth. A number of schemes had been implemented for the welfare of all the sections of society, the minister added.
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Impact of microfinance on socio-economic empowerment of poor discussed
Kurukshetra, June 17 This was stated by Dr MM Goel, Professor of Economics and Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Kurukshetra University, and his research scholar Virander Goyal in their joint paper “Microfinance in India: An Evaluation of Self-Help Groups Scheme” presented at the concluding day of the third European Conference on Microfinance hosted by the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway, recently. They said the improvements in income of the members of SHGs had been found significant at 5 per cent level of significance with 4.521 statistical test. The delivery of micro-credit to the poor was more effective and less costly in the organised form of SHGs in comparison to individuals who had become habitual of enjoying subsidies only. However, there was a considerable scope for effective monitoring and evaluation of the SHGs scheme, they said. To improve efficiency and effectiveness in the scheme of SHGs, the ideal number in a group should be five like Panadvas in the Mahabharata, who won the war of righteousness. The experiences of microfinance in Bangladesh also justify this ideal number of five in a group. Further, for reducing the risks, there was a strong case for one member to be trained in entrepreneurship and might belong to middle class, they said. The study revealed that the younger members of the SHGs were earning more than the older because of their marketing and entrepreneurial skills and capabilities which justified the encouragement to younger people by fixing the maximum age for the members preferably up to 40 years. “To ensure further improvement in SHGs, we should provide finances at zero per cent rate of interest instead of distributing subsidies,” they added. Prof Goel also presented the review of the paper ‘Microfinance Activities of Self-Help Groups in Urban India: A Case Study’ of Dr Madubala Swami of Mumbai University on
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Policeman donates blood 46th time
Kurukshetra, June 17 Verma was conferred the All-India Crime Reforms Organisation (AICRO) National Award -- 2012 by AICRO on its 20th anniversary held at Utsav Ground, Delhi, on December 10 for his admirable social activities. He was also honoured by the Antar-Rashtriya Upbhokta Kalyan Samiti (International Consumer Welfare Association) at the Rai Kedarnath Auditorium, Chitra Gupt Road, Pahar Ganj, New Delhi, on December 23 last year. Verma, who has been serving the Police Department since 1998, says that he was inspired to donate blood by his father, Kali Ram Khippal, who had served the Indian Army and had fought in the Indo-Chinese war in1962 and the Indo-Pakistan war in 1965. Verma started donating blood from the age of 18 when he was a student and an NCC cadet. He has organised 17 blood donation camps so far and has motivated thousands of police officials, students and general public to join the noble cause of blood donation. He says that he has submitted a declaration for donation of his body after death.
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Women labourers face health hazards in vegetable picking
Fatehabad, June 17 Most of the works performed by farm women are tedious, tiring as well as time-consuming. These tasks are performed manually or by
traditional tools. The heavy manual labour performed by malnourished women, often under subhuman working conditions, causes a number of health problems to them. Vegetable picking and cotton-picking is labour-intensive work that requires painstaking physical effort, patience and perseverance. Women usually use their hands resulting in physical and mental fatigue, hardship, exploitation and pain. Moreover, experts tell that musculosketal problems are common in farm women. Fatehabad district in Haryana is a predominantly vegetable-growing area, where women labourers face severe health hazards in vegetable picking especially lady’s finger. Skin allergies, cuts and wounds in hands, hardness of skin, blisters and abrasions are acute problems in bhindi-picking, reported by field labourers. Dr SP Goyal, Programme Coordinator, said the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Fatehabad, had taken lead in Haryana to minimise these health hazards and enhancing work efficiency of women labourers by conducting Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs) on protective garments in vegetable-picking. These FLDs were conducted in five bhindi-growing villages, Majra, Bisla, Dhani Bikaneri, Birabadi and Hijrawan. Ten farm labourers from each village were provided protective garments, viz protective gloves, capron and vegetable picking bags. All three technologies were designed by the Department of Family Resource
Management of the College of Home Science of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar. Dr Rajesh Dahiya, District Extension Specialist (Home Science), KVK, Fatehabad, while conducting the FLDs said that protective garments tested by the university would help the rural landless women labourers in mitigating health hazards and increasing work efficiency
and income. Protective gloves are made of PVC material on the one side and fusion of cotton or hosiery on the other side. The blending of cotton and hosiery avoids sweating and skin allergies. These gloves protect hands from injury, blisters, cuts, hardness of skin and abrasions. Being a user-friendly technology, these gloves not only protect from health hazards but increase work efficiency of workers. Protective mask are made of cotton fabric and these cover neck, head and the face of the user. It can be made up to a designed length, depending upon type of use. It avoids dust, husk and straw to penetrate round the neck area. A muslin mask around nose protects from insecticide/pesticide hazards during picking of bhindi. The protective mask protects from a harsh environment and direct sun rays. Pick bag is used to
collect vegetables. It is made of cotton cloth and is designed according to anthropometric measurements of women. Shaped pockets are made in front of waist so that picking can be made comfortable as it reduces the hand movements up and down. Cushion belts on shoulders make it easy to carry vegetable loads. Five-six kg bhindi can be picked in one loading. After field testing of these technologies by the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Fatehabad, acceptability and adoption feasibility was worked out by scientists. Farm labourers reported that protective gloves remarkably reduced health hazards like cuts and wounds, hardness of skin, blisters. These avoid sweating and bleeding in hands, resulting in enhancing work efficiency by reducing drudgery and minimising health problems. Capron protects from direct sun rays, skin allergies, dust and abrasions by long-height bhindi plants. A picking bag is comfortable and prevents pain in hands, neck and shoulders due to cushioned strips and well-shaped pockets, according to anthropometric measurements.
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Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda inaugurated a four-storeyed new building of the library at the DCR University of Science and Technology,
Murthal, recently. The building has been constructed at a cost of Rs 27 crore with a total covered area of 12,479 square
metre.
Kurukshetra, June 17
Sirsa-based litterateur Shamin Sharma is among the several poets and writers honoured by the Sahitya
Akademi, Haryana, recently.
Dr Shamim Sharma, Managing Director of JCD Vidyapeeth, Sirsa, who has written several books on social issues and wit and
humour, was conferred upon Vishesh Sahitya Sevi Samman carrying Rs 51,000 in cash.
Haryana Finance Minister Harmohinder Singh Chattha called upon the reporters to contribute to social service besides performing their journalistic duties.
Chattha was addressing the reporters at a free medical checkup camp and cloth distribution function organised by Sthanu Sewa
Mandal, Kurukshetra, on the 16th death anniversary of a veteran journalist Devi Dyal ‘Nanha’ on the premises of Nangliwali
Kutia, Rajender Nagar, on Sunday.
Jhajjar, June 17
