Thursday, August 6, 1998
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REGIONAL BRIEFS | Thursday, August 6, 1998 |
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Entrepreneur ignored by home state Kuldeep Kumar Aggarwal, a Solan-based small scale entrepreneur while receiving the "outstanding small scale entrepreneur award" from President R. Venkataraman on February 13, 1987, had never thought that the apathetic attitude of the state government would one day cause crippling losses to him. His agricultural spray pumps, for which he bagged the prestigious Udyog Patra and National Productivity awards in 1989 and 1990 respectively, not only became popular in J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan but also abroad in Nepal and Mauritius. Notwithstanding the quality of his spray pumps, his invention was ignored by the government. The department of horticulture, despite the low rate and ISI quality certification of his product, purchased spray pumps from a Mumbai-based firm. This is not only a clear case of harassment but also speaks volumes about the lopsided policy of the state government in encouraging Himachalis to set up industrial units. The story of this young entrepreneur exposes the state government's so-called entrepreneur encouragement schemes. Setting up a small scale unit in the hill state, according to him, is an uphill task. The mind-boggling formalities are one of the biggest obstacles hindering the path of industrial development in the state. The incentives to lure industrialists are just on paper. No marketing support or trade fair information is given to entrepreneurs. Small-scale entrepreneurs are still children of a lesser God. "We time and again requested the state government to arrange our participation in the export trade fair but of no avail. Once we were asked to send spray pumps for display in a trade fair held in Nepal which neither reached Nepal nor were returned to us. After a lapse of six years when we asked the government to return the pumps these were beyond repair. Way back in 1993 we approached the district industries centre for a loan to modernise our unit, but surprisingly till today we have not received any response, laments Mr Aggarwal. In order to challenge the lackadaisical attitude of state government Mr Aggarwal also moved to the high court, which ordered stay of the spray pump purchase contract with the Mumbai firm. He provides medicare to disowned elders Jagmohan Singh Brar is a man with a missionary zeal. He is contributing his mite to provide medicare to elders' disowned by the near and dear ones. After attaining superannuation as joint director (Public Relations) Mr Brar did not sit idle. He formed an elders service society to provide medicare to the elders and set up old age homes in different districts of Punjab last August. At present the society provides free medicare to elders of the region despite no government aid coming to it. The society is spending money on the medicare from funds collected from its members and by generous people. This is not Mr Brar's first social service venture. He has earlier won many awards for his social services. During his service career, Mr Brar won four state awards in the family planning, five other awards for his role in different activities of the Red Cross in the six districts he has served in. Mr Brar won these awards despite the fact that he was serving the Public Relations Department. Apart from it, Mr Brar was honoured by the Baba Farid Godri Sahib Society, Faridkot, for spreading Baba Farid's message to society at large. Recently, he has also been honoured by the Faridkot Commissioner for his contribution to social service. Mr Brar, while talking to TNS said the Elders Service Society had made a programme to use the services and influence of elders in the villages to wean away youth from the menace of drug addiction and other social evils. The society was also motivating the general public to contribute funds so that medicare could be provided to all elders. Recently, Mr Brar was invited by Helpage India, an international social organisation, to attend its camp at Chandigarh. At the camp, all invitees were given tips to serve the public in a better way. A child prodigy Himanish (6) is trying to get his name included in the Guinness Book of World Records in the field of art. A KG student of Springfield Public School, Yamunanagar, Himanish who won the first prize in the 5-12 years age group on-the-spot painting competition. Students from 14 schools in the district participated in the competition. His father, Mr Prem Sawhney, claimed that his son could paint any situation to which he applied his mind. He recalled when he was two years old he started painting at random and amazed every member of his family with his extraordinary talent. Mr Prem Sawhney said that
he has asked all the members of his family not to come in
his way and provide help whenever required. The school
director remarked that Himanish's paintings were much
better than those of his teachers. |
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