Nidani (Jind), January 19
Residents of 14 villages, mainly women, of Jind district have taken upon themselves the responsibility of keeping pesticides away from their fields. They have identified 204 insects, divided them into vegetarian and non-vegetarian categories and proved that pesticides are not required to keep insects away from crops.

The movement, “Know insects before killing them” — which was started in 2008 by former Nidani Agriculture Development Officer Surender Dalal, who died in 2013 — has started showing positive results. Agriculture department data states this year, a majority of farmers of the 14 villages have not used pesticides over 2,500 acres of land and witnessed increase in crop production by 10 per cent and 25 per cent more profit than farmers who used pesticides.

Initially, men were trained by Dalal in 2008 under the programme. However, gradually women outnumbered men in propagating the anti-pesticide movement. Now, women of five villages — Nidana, Nidani, Joura, Lalit Khera and Radana — are not only preventing the use of pesticides in their own villages but also running “paathshalas” in adjoining villages to train other women in identifying insects.

Besides these five villages, the movement has found takers in nine villages. These are Egra, Rajpura Bhain, Ital Kalan, Gulkani, Aleva, Mohangarh Chapda, Kharkram ji, Chabri and Lakhamajra villages. A group of villagers can count all insects on a one-acre land within 2-3 hours and they conduct the survey twice every week in their fields. The non-vegetarian insects eat vegetarian insects and when the latter are finished, the former leave the field. Based on which category outnumbers the other, the survey helps the villagers to know the duration within which their fields would be free from insects.

“Pesticide companies have been approaching us so that we discontinue our movement. But, how can we allow poison in the plates of our children and other family members. Since the number of people supporting the anti-pesticide movement is increasing every week, we are confident that the day will come when there will be zero sale of pesticides in our area,” said Angrejo Devi of Nidani, who now works as the master trainer.

Agriculture development officer (ADO) Dr Kamal Saini confirmed that the sale of pesticides had gone down by 50 per cent in the area.

“In case of an insect attack on their crops, they spray nutrients to compensate for the loss of crop but never use pesticides," said Saini. 

Chandigarh, January 19
Barely six months after the inclusion of Bhiwani and Mahendragarh in the National Capital Region (NCR), Haryana is hoping to get the NCR tag for Karnal and Jind districts in its election year. If the districts get the nod of the NCR Board at its meeting in Delhi tomorrow, Haryana will have 13 of its 21 districts in the NCR.

The Haryana Government is keen that the proposal comes through and Jind and Karnal are “elevated” to the status of NCR districts. If the Board gives its nod to the inclusion of these districts, another 11 per cent area will come under the NCR purview.

Sources, however, maintain that the reason for this keenness is more political than financial since the inclusion of an area in the NCR, contrary to public perception, does not make the area flush with funds or bring in any special projects, which may otherwise not be possible.

For Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, it is more about making and scoring a political point over Rajya Sabha member Birender Singh, his rival and a dissident leader, by getting the NCR tag for Jind district.

The MP had contested the last Assembly elections from the Uchana Kalan Assembly segment and lost by a narrow margin. The Congress has no representative from Jind in the Assembly.

Birender Singh has been alleging lack of development in the area in the past. Besides a slew of announcement for the district, its inclusion in the NCR will mean a feather in Hooda’s cap.

The department has prepared a detailed project, giving the economic details of the two districts along with connectivity to Delhi and commutation by road and rail between the districts and Delhi. The sources said coming under the NCR scope, till recently, meant only the availability of loans for development projects.

“While the rate of interest was 7.5 per cent for infrastructure development, loans for any power projects were available at 9 per cent. The Haryana Government has only essentially availed itself of loans for strengthening its road network,” an official said.

Of late, the NCR has started giving 15 per cent funding for sewerage and water projects, which the government is seeking as well. The coverage under the NCR, however, has a flip side, with the state government losing the authority of making any need-based alterations in district plans at its own level.

Every change has to be placed before the Board for its approval, making it slightly inconvenient since the Board meets once a year. The sources said unlike the previous meeting, in which Bhiwani and Mahendragarh were given the go-ahead, the state government would have to pitch harder for the inclusion of the districts.

The Chief Ministers of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are other members of the Board. With the Bharatiya Janata Party coming to power in Rajasthan and the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, it remains to be seen if the project will be cleared by the Board. 

Decision today If Karnal and Jind get the nod of the NCR Board in Delhi on Monday, Haryana will have 13 of its 21 districts in the NCR For Bhupinder Singh Hooda, it is more about scoring a political point over Rajya Sabha member Birender Singh, his rival and dissident leader, by getting the NCR tag for Jind

Karnal, January 19
As many as 25 acres of land was affected from yellow rust in the Yamuna belt, mainly Yamunanagar and Karnal, making it the most affected area in this regard. Currently, three villages of Karnal and six villages of Yamunanagar are affected from the crop disease.

Indu Sharma, Project Director, Directorate of Wheat Research (DWR), Karnal said the situation was under control but farmers should stay alert as the environmental conditions were conducive for yellow rust. "It spreads in saturated humidity, mist, rain and low temperatures," she said.

She said as it had rained yesterday, it had cleared the crop leaves but the disease still remained in the pores of leaves.

“The yellowing of the leaf is not always due to yellow rust, so farmers are advised to check for yellow rust symptoms by touching the leaf with a finger or a white cloth. If the yellow colour transfers, only then should they spray the crop with a fungicide,” said MS Saharan, principal scientist, DWR.

He added if farmers had any doubt, they should contact the nearest research centre or the state agriculture department office.

Dr Indu said yellow rust was a fungal disease, which appeared in the northern hill zone and the north-western plain zone. The worst-affected parts were of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, she added.

She advised farmers to spray Propiconazole on the crop to avoid the further spread of yellow rust in clear weather.

Rohtak, January 19
The “Toll-Hatao Sangharsh Samiti” staged a demonstration at the toll plaza in Makdauli village today to express dissatisfaction over the concessional monthly passes of Rs 100 for the residents of the Rohtak-Gohana belt offered by the company managing the plaza.

Irate residents of nearby villages parked their vehicles and squatted in the middle of the toll plaza road. They raised slogans against the state authorities and demanded total exemption from toll tax for the residents of areas within a 25-km radius of the toll plaza.

They asked the government to provide details on the expenditure incurred on the construction and maintenance of the Rohtak-Panipat road and sought a reserved open lane for the local residents at the toll plaza.

When the protesters refused to budge despite being asked to vacate the road by Tehsildar Pramod Chahal and DSP Shamsher Singh Dahiya, the government officials assured them that no toll tax would be charged from them for 15 days, expressing hope that a permanent solution would be reached in this regard by that time. Following this, the blockade was lifted.

However, the company managing the toll plaza has denied having extended any such exemption.

Makdauli toll plaza manager IP Singh said, “The company had exempted residents of areas within a 5-km radius of the toll plaza from paying the toll charges. Apart from that, concessional monthly passes of Rs 100 were offered to the residents of the Rohtak-Gohana belt. The 15-day exemption from toll tax for local residents has not been announced by the company management but by the government authorities,” he said.

The toll plaza management has been facing protests by the local residents against the imposition of a hefty toll tax ever since the toll operations began.

Karnal, January 19
The Ror community has sought reservations among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for quotas in government jobs and educational institutions after the Centre’s move to provide the same to the Jat community.

Ror community leaders gave an ultimatum to the government if it does not provide them reservations before the General Elections, they would boycott the Congress in the elections.

They conducted a meeting on the issue at Ror dharmashala here today.

They said the community would not bear discrimination on the issue of reservation.

Rakam Singh Koer, convener, said, “The Haryana Government has decided to give a 10 per cent reservation to five “special backward classes”, including Jats, Bishnois, Rors, Tyagis and Jat Sikhs. This takes the existing 47 per cent reservation (20 per cent for SCs and 27 per cent for OBCs) in the state to 57 per cent, but the Central Government has done discrimination with the Ror community.”

Rajinder Arya Dadupur, state spokesman, appealed to the community members to take a stand on the issue.

“We welcomed the government decision to provide reservation to Jats at the central level. But we also deserve the same,” said Arya.

Sirsa/Fatehabad, January 19
Viney Singla, a leading physician from Fatehabad town, enrolled himself online as a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and so did his wife Anju Singla.

Their daughter Pallavi (22), who passed her BArch from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, last year, plans to quit her job to campaign for the party in the coming parliamentary elections.

Rajpal Sandhu, an IT professional settled in Australia, plans to stay in India till parliamentary elections to work for the AAP, though his father Harnam Singh is a veteran CPM activist while his mother is the district secretary of the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) at Fatehabad.

A large number of people, largely professions from various fields and youth have been joining the AAP in Haryana these days cutting across their earlier political affiliations.

“Our membership drive is getting an overwhelming response. Earlier, the party had set a target of enrolling 11 lakh members in the state by January 26, but going by the response, we have now revised target of making at least 1 lakh members in each district of Haryana,” said Prahlad Singh Bharukhera, a member of the state committee of the AAP.

“Youth are getting attracted to the AAP by Arvind Kejriwal’s slogan of corruption-free government. They want India to take a leap to meritocracy from the banana republic it has become today. Wearing AAP cap is becoming a trend like wearing Levis jeans amongst youth now,” said Sandhu.

Whether the party would be able to register a success in caste-ridden villages in the forthcoming parliamentary polls, Bharukhera, however, said people cutting across caste divide were joining the AAP in rural as well as urban areas.

“The other day, I was at Jamal village in Ellenabad Assembly constituency, where a senior leader of a political party was already addressing a meeting. However, the moment AAP volunteers reached there, people left the meeting and thronged our stall to become members,” he added.

Rewari, January 19
Haryana Power Minister and local MLA Capt Ajay Yadav has advocated Congress ticket for his son Chiranjeev Rao from Gurgaon parliamentary constituency. He said Chiranjeev was “capable to fulfill this new assignment with sincerity and devotion”.

Addressing a gathering during a party workers’ convention here yesterday, Yadav said, “My son is all set to serve the people hence we have decided to field him in the Lok Sabha polls if the party allots him the ticket from Gurgaon.”

The minister said since he was the member of the election committee of the Congress, he would leave no stone unturned to get Chiranjeev the party ticket. It is for the first time that Yadav has candidly advocated the party ticket for his son on a public platform.

The Gurgaon parliamentary consituency is currently being represented by rebel Congress MP Rao Inderjeet Singh, who has announced not to contest the Lok Sabha poll on the Congress ticket. Chiranjeev, a former president of the Haryana Pradesh Youth Congress (HPYC), had earlier himself staked claim on the party ticket from Gurgaon.

Speaking on the occasion, Chiranjeev claimed he had been actively participating in political and social activities in the region for the past few years and constantly connecting with people through public campaigns.

At the meeting, the district unit of the Youth Congress passed a resolution demanding party ticket for Chiranjeev.

Faridabad, January 19
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), an amalgam of various employee unions, has turned down the appeal of the state government to shelve its proposed 72-hour strike from January 21.

A spokesperson of the JAC said the state government had backtracked after every agreement.

The spokesperson said nearly 2.68 lakh employees would join the strike, including the Haryana Roadways, from tomorrow morning.

He said it was the last resort for the government employees, who were continuously at the receiving end due to wrong policies and negative attitude of the state government towards their demands.

Employees of nearly all departments, including power, health, civic bodies, roadways, education, tourism, PWD, public health, would remain on strike. However, the emergency services would not be affected, he added.

Sirsa/Fatehabad: The authorities have taken preventive steps in view of the 3-day strike by Haryana Roadways workers.

Sirsa Deputy Commissioner J Ganesan has promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and appointed 15 Duty Magistrates by dividing the district into an equal number of sectors.

The prohibitory orders bar any kind of dharna or demonstration within a radius of 200 metres from the bus stand.

Meanwhile, the Fatehabad police said people could call number 100 in case they face any difficulty.

Fatehabad SP Shiv Charan Attri said the striking roadways employees were barred from doing any demonstration or dharna within the radius of 300 metres from bus stand.

Sarbat Singh Punia, state president, Haryana Roadways Workers Union, said the JAC was firm on its decision to block buses for 3-day from Monday.

Kurukshetra: Elaborate security arrangements have been made by the district administration. Deputy Commissioner Nikhil Gajraj has promulgated Section 144 of the CrPC within 300-metre radius of the bus stands and the power houses in the district.

To maintain law and order, about a dozen Duty Magistrates have been appointed to keep a watch on vulnerable areas, including bus stands, power houses as well as smooth running of vehicular traffic in the district.

Ratta Tibba (Fatehabad), January 19
Fifty-five years after they were separated from their homes and land in Himachal Pradesh to build a reservoir for the Bhakra Dam so that people living in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan could get water and electricity, 2,836 Bhakra oustees families (number has multiplies since due to division in families) still look towards the Haryana Government for their resettlement.

Not to speak of providing basic needs such as pacca roads, clean potable drinking water, street lights and sewerage or drainage system to their localities, the government has failed to grant them proprietary rights of the agricultural land and residential plots which were allotted to them in lieu of their lands about five decades ago.

The Bhakra Dam oustees displaced from 376 villages of Himachal Pradesh (110 from Una district, 256 from Bilaspur and five each from Mandi and Bilaspur) were given land and residential plots in 31 villages of the then Hisar district - 17 of those villages now fall in Fatehabad, 13 in Sirsa and only one (Rawalwas village) in Hisar.

“Of the 2,836 residential plots allotted to the Bhakra Dam oustee families, proprietary rights have been given only to 969 in the past 55 years. Our people have been running form pillar to post, but there is no one who lends an ear to our woes,” alleged Baldev Singh, vice-president of the Bhakra Dam Oustees Association.

He said out of the remaining 1,867 residential plots, duly completed conveyance deeds with respect of nearly 500 plots are lying with the Deputy Commissioner (Resettlement) for long, but to no avail.

“Earlier, we were told that the problem was not being solved because the charge of DC (Resettlement) was with the DC, Hisar while a majority of our villages fall in Fatehabad. But now, for the past one year, the charge is with the DC, Fatehabad, but still not a single proprietary right has been signed in the past one year,” he said.

Bhawani Singh, executive president of the Bhakra Dam Oustees Association, said while almost all roads in Haryana villages were pucca now, but streets of oustees’ localities are still muddy.

The Bhakra Dam oustees have been demanding special development grants to be spent under their registered committees, relaxation in height in the Haryana Police as is given to Dogras during recruitment in the Armed forces, allotment of land at Fatehabad for a dharamshala, implementation of recommendations of a committee on petitions in the Lok Sabha for dam oustees, filling of posts in the resettlement office and removal of land encroachments in 12 villages of Fatehabad, Sirsa and Hisar.

Fatehabad Deputy Commissioner Saket Kumar, who is also the DC (Resettlement) for the Bhakra Dam oustees, said he took the charge a year ago.

“Since the issue of proprietary rights is old, the situation on the ground has altered due to encroachments. I have constituted a three-member committee to look into it,” he said.

The DC said he would call a meeting of the oustees after January 26 to know their problems, so that a solution could be found.

Other demands Special development grants to be spent under their registered committees Relaxation in height in the Haryana Police as is given to Dogras during recruitment in Armed forces Land allotment at Fatehabad for a dharamshala Implementation of recommendations of a committee on petitions in the Lok Sabha for dam oustees Filling of posts in the resettlement office Removal of land encroachments in 12 villages of Fatehabad, Sirsa and Hisar

Chandigarh, January 19
Haryana’s political bigwigs cutting across party lines, including Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Leader of Opposition Om Prakash Chautala, have one thing in common. Their Assembly constituencies have registered nominal increase in the number of votes over the 2009 Assembly elections.

The draft electoral rolls published by the Haryana Election Department show the lowest increase (16,699) in the voters registered in the Assembly segment of Nangal Choudhary, represented by INLD’s Bahadur Singh. This is followed by Congress’s Anand Singh Dangi from Meham, which registered an increase of only 16,852 votes.

The Assembly segment represented by Hooda, Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, reported an increase of 23,021 votes, with total voters pegged at 1,79,795 compared to 1,56,774 in 2009. However, there was an increase of 34,039 voters in Chautala’s Uchana Kalan Assembly segment, with total voters at 1,86,963 now as compared to 1,52,924 in 2009.

The increase in Pehowa Assembly segment of Finance Minister HS Chattha was pegged at 29,440, with total votes of 1,54,567 as compared to the 2009 figure of 1,25,127. Haryana Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Sharma’s Ganaur Assembly segment recorded an increase of 27,795 votes from 1,19,554 to 1,47,339 votes.

In case of Dabwali segment of Ajay Chautala, the increase was of 32,439 from 1,46,154 in 2009 to 1,78,593 votes in 2014. For his brother Abhey Chautala, the increase was reported to be 27,399, up from 1,36,847 to 1,64,246. For Renuka Bishnoi of the HJC, the increase was 26,644 for her Adampur segment.

Cabinet minister Kiran Choudhry recorded an increase of 26,267 (up from 1,58,432 to 1,76,799) for her segment of Tosham. Her Cabinet colleague Geeta Bhukkal recorded in increase of 21,887 (from 1,27,297 to 1,49,184) in her Jhajjar constituency.

Health Minister Rao Narinder Singh reported an increase of 19,786 from 1,29,444 to 1,51,216 for his segment Narnaul while former Speaker Raghubir Kadian reported an increase of 21,772 from 1,27,297 to 1,49,184 from Beri Assembly segment.

The highest increase (1,19,239) in voters was recorded in case of Badshahpur Assembly segment of Dharam Pal, followed by Gurgaon segment of Cabinet minister Sukhbir Kataria, which recorded an increase of 1,13,933. The Faridabad (NIT) segment of minister Shiv Charan Lal Sharma recorded an increase of 89,347 while the Badhkal segment of another minister, Mahendra Pratap Singh, recorded an increase of 85,652.

Increase in votes from 2009 to 2014 Badshahpur segment records highest increase of 1,19,239. Lowest increase recorded by Nangal Choudhary at 16,699 Hooda's segment reported increase of 23,021 Chautala's segment registered increase of 34,039 HJC's Renuka Bishnoi segment recorded an increase of 26,644

Gurgaon, January 19
While the government is under fire from several quarters on its move to acquire land under the provision of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, in Gurgaon, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has clarified that the compensation and benefits would be awarded to the landowners as per the new legislation enacted by Parliament.

PC Meena, Gurgaon administrator, HUDA, said even though the notifications of November and December last year to acquire land were issued under the provision of the old Act, the Transparency in land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, would be adhered to in awarding the compensation.

He said it was the stated policy of the government to abide by the new legislation from January 1 this year. The awards were to be determined this year and hence, it was axiomatic that only the new law would be the yardstick with regard compensation to those whose land would be acquired. He alleged that vested interests were spreading canards and trying to mislead public on the issue and were questioning motives of the state.

HUDA had issued notifications for acquisition of land in about 20 villages in this district under Section 4 of the old Act, inviting frowns from wide-ranging quarters. The new legislation provides for enhanced compensation and benefits against acquisition of land. Also, the prevailing market price of the land in question would be the guiding principle while determining the compensation.

Hisar, January 19
Keshav Malik has become the first player with special intellectual ability to be conferred with the highest sports award by any state government in the country.

Badminton player Keshav, 22, has won three medals, including two gold, in the recently held Asia Pacific Games in Australia and won a gold medal in the World Summer Games in Athens in 2011. He has been a three-time national champion.

The Haryana Government has selected him for the Bhim Award along with 16 other players for their outstanding performance at the national and international level. The Governor would confer the award, comprises Rs 2 lakh in cash, Bhim statue, scroll and a blazer, on them on January 22 in Chandigarh.

Hailing the decision as path breaking, Victor Vaz, national sports director and coach of the Special Olympics Bharat (SOB), a body that governs the sports for intellectually-disabled with aid from the Union Government, said the other states too should follow and implement the Haryana example to promote these players.

“Despite so many achievers, no state government has ever considered our players for the awards. Though some states like Gujarat, Goa and Bihar have taken a policy decision to honour these players, but they are yet to implement it,” Vaz stated.

“Our players brought 187 medals for the country in 2011 World Summer Games, 45 medals in the World Winter Games last year but nobody took note of them. It’s a proud moment for the organisation that Keshav’s achievement has been recognised in his state,” he said.

Excited over getting the award, Keshav gave the credit of his success to his parents and coach Deepak Walia who introduced him to the game and then trained him to excel. He said, “I dedicate my award to my father who encouraged me to do well in the game. I met Sachin Tendulkar during his visit to the state recently. He had invited me to his residence in Mumbai. All this happened due to the game,” he said and added that after playing for some more years, he would like to coach young players.

His father Kultar Singh Malik, a Rohtak-based advocate, said sports had proved to be a therapy for Keshav. “Initially, we used to get depressed on seeing his condition. Upbringing of such kids is a challenge for the parents. We got him enrolled with Arpan Special Children School in Rohtak in 2000. He used to go out of the house alone,” he said.

Kurukshetra, January 19
Sixty school principals of Kurukshetra, Karnal and Yamunanagar districts were honoured at the “Principal Samman Samaroh” organised by the International Institute of Engineering and Technology, Samani, in collaboration with the Manav Kalyan Manch, Karnal, headed by NK Dutta on its premises 12 km from here yesterday.

They were presented a commendation letter, a memento and a shawl for rendering services. Dina Nath Arora, former president Consumer Forum, Yamunanagar, was the chief guest and Dr Om Prarkash, Vice-Chancellor, Manav Bharti University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, presided over the function.

Kaithal, January 19
PWD and Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala yesterday dedicated to the people a road named after late Lekh Raj Miglani, a local philanthropist, social worker and rice exporter.

The 2.75-km road would be widened in the third phase, the minister announced. He later paid floral tributes to Miglani. The minister was honoured for his contribution to the development of Kaithal.

Sonepat, January 19
Additional District and Sessions Judge Manisha Batra has sentenced gang rape accused Sonu and Jagdish of Bhora Rasulpur to an imprisonment of 10 years each with a fine of Rs 11,000. They will undergo an additional imprisonment of one year if they fail to pay the fine.

The father of a 19-year old girl of the village had lodged a complaint in this regard at the Gannaur police station on August 14, 2013. He had alleged that Sonu had entered his house and offered a cold drink to his daughter.

After consuming the drink, she became semi-conscious and was taken to a nearby water supply tank by Sonu where he and Jagdish raped her. After committing the crime, the accused threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone about the incident.

She did not disclose the incident for many days to her family members. However, she narrated the incident to them after she was allegedly harassed by the accused again.

Yamunanagar, January 19
police have arrested three cattle lifters on attempt to murder charge. Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Gurmej Singh said a truck carrying 19 cattle tried to crush when it was singnalled to stop at the Pahripur naka near Sadhaura last night. He said the truck was carrying 15 cows and four bulls and three of them were dead.

He said all three occupants of the truck had been arrested and a case of attempt to murder had been registered against them.