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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Wednesday, October 28, 1998 |
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No respite in sight |
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 Bhajan, Birender change strategy CHANDIGARH, Oct 27 — The AICC President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi's visit to Haryana on October 12 has triggered the process of realignment of various groups rather leaders of the State party unit. |
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Haryana
roads made national highways |
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No respite in sight for farmers KHANDA KHERI (Hisar), Oct 27 — Bhim Singh, owner of 35 acres of land sits pensive on the roadside, watching labourers bring paddy out of water, that is about three to five feet deep. He was expecting to get at least Rs 4.5 lakh from the sale of paddy. Now he is ready to sell it for Rs 1 lakh only. But nobody is ready to purchase the paddy, as it has been damaged by the recent floods. Bhim Singh's case is not an exception. There are thousands of farmers who fear the same fate. For, their crops have been damaged. And there seems to be no respite in sight for them. Rising water table and heavy rain has contributed to floods in the area, where about 50,000 acres of land is under water. The paddy crop which was ready to be harvested is lying flat under water. The flood water shows no signs of receding. Because, at several places the villagers, in panic, have breached various minors (distributaries) to drain out the water. However, this, instead of providing them relief, has flooded other villages. According to Mr P.C. Bidhan, Deputy Commissioner, Hisar, 52,000 acres of land in 78 villages has come under water. The worst hit are Hansi and Narnaund tehsils. Here the damage is between 50 per cent and 90 per cent. The water table is also creating problems in the relief measures. Due to continuous water sheets coming from various minors in the Jind area, the water table has risen about two feet above the ground level. However, the farmers are worried about the water that has been coming out from the minor distributaries. They point out that when the water from various distributaries is blocked, the water table will automatically come down. They are worried on two counts. First their kharif crop has been damaged. According to Mr Bidhan 36,400 acres of paddy, 11,675 acres of cotton and 3870 acres of sugarcane, have been affected by the rain. Now the farmers fear, that in case the water level does not recede they might not be able to sow the rabi crops either. Prof M.S. Kuhad, Head, Department of Soils, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar said that the oilseed sowing had already been delayed. The farmers are also worried about the sowing of wheat. They pointed out that last year also, they had to suffer a similar situation. The wheat sowing was delayed last year too. This year, they fear, they might not be able to sow wheat at all. However, Prof Kuhad allayed all such fears, saying there was a lot of time for the sowing of wheat. It is not just the crops that have been damaged by the floods. Water has entered villages. Five villages in Narnaund tehsil of Hisar district are totally cut off from the rest of the world. Villages like Jamini, Mola, Barh Chhapar and Badala are completely surrounded by the water. The villagers use tractors to go out of their villages. The water level at some places is about five feet. More villages are likely to come under water, if remedial measures are not taken immediately. The Narnaund unit president of the Indian National Lok Dal, Mr Rambagh Singh, pointed out that if immediate measures for draining out water were not taken, villages like Dharam Kheri, Khera Rangran, Bakhlana, Ughalan and Khenda would be submerged in next few days. Although the district administration has been claiming to have installed pumps at various places for draining out water, there are no such pumps in these villages. People here were critical of the government. They allege that no official from the administration or the state government had visited them. Mr Vijaynder Kumar, SDM, Hansi told TNS at Baas village that the administration would be able to clear all water by November 30. He said, they had cleared almost all flood water caused by rain in September rain. He pointed out that a special girdawri had already been ordered, which would be completed by October 31 for assessing the losses. The government might be able to take decision on the amount of relief to be paid to the affected farmers after that. The farmers are also faced with other problems. They pointed out that many people will suffering from skin diseases as a result of floods. Animals, too, were suffering from skin diseases. Besides, the mouth and foot disease among the cattle has also been reported. They complained that no medicines were available in the local veterinary hospital. The primary health centre at Puthi Samain village and the adjacent staff quarters were lying under water. The hospital was functioning from some place inside the villages. According to Inder Singh, an ex-Subedar of Baas village the contaminated water was being supplied to the people. He feared the spread of an epidemic as the people and cattle were taking the contaminated water only. The farmers have been demanding that they be provided immediate cash relief so that they are able to sow the rabi crops. Mr Rambagh Kharab, demanded that the government must pay at least Rs 10,000 per acre relief to all affected farmers.
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Central team visits flood-hit
villages ROHTAK, Oct 27 — An eight-member central team today visited various villages of the Meham Chaubishi region in the district that have been affected by floods. Mr Balbir Singh Malik, the Lok Dal MLA and Ms Meena Chaudhary, president of the Meham Chaubishi Jansangthan, apprised the members of the team of the damage to the crops and appealed to provide adequate financial assistance to the affected farmers. Later, they submitted a memorandum to the chairman of the team, Mr J.P. Negi, and sought a compensation of Rs 100 crore for the farmers. Mr Negi assured the Lok Dal leaders that their demands would be considered sympathetically. The district administration reportedly told the central team that 48 villages in the district, out of a total of 146, had been inundated and that the standing crops spread over nearly 50,000 acres of land had been submerged. The sowing of rabi crop was badly affected in nearly 13,000 acres of land. The affected crops were identified as paddy, cotton, millet, jowar and sugarcane etc. UNI adds: Rohtak Deputy Commissioner Anil Kumar said the paddy has almost matured but due to standing water, farmers were facing difficulties in reaping the crop. Oilseed crop had totally failed. Heavy loss had also been caused to the cotton crop, he said. He said 300 pump sets were working round-the-clock to drain out water from the fields. Identical views were also expressed by Jhajjar Deputy Commissioner Arun Kumar. The team started survey work from Bahu Akbarpur, Madina, Ajiab Nagar, Meham, Nidana and Lakhanmajra villages of the district.
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Bhajan, Birender change strategy CHANDIGARH, Oct 27 — The AICC President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi's visit to Haryana on October 12 has triggered the process of realignment of various groups rather leaders of the State party unit. With the Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and the former party chief and President of the Haryana Krishak Samaj, Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, gaining prominence during Mrs Gandhi's visit, the other two prominent leaders of the party, the former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, and the former Haryana Congress President, Mr Birender Singh, have been forced to change their strategies. Once sworn enemies, Mr Bhajan Lal recently invited Mr Birender Singh for a dinner meeting at his Panchkula residence. It may be recalled that when Mr Bhajan Lal was the Chief Minister, he had sacked Mr Birender Singh from his ministry when the latter continued to take a strong anti-Chief Minister stance. Though the Haryana Congress had gained a majority in the 1991 Assembly elections under the leadership of Mr Birender Singh, Mr Bhajan Lal pipped him at the post to become the Chief Minister due to his manipulative politics. According to informed sources, Mr Birender Singh came down specially from Delhi to attend Mr Bhajan Lal's dinner. Since the two were alone at the dinner (the aides were made to wait in an adjoining room), it is not known what transpired between the two leaders. However, it is believed that the two discussed strategies to check the growing influence of Mr Hooda and Mr Surjewala. While Mr Hooda's continuation as the party chief is understandably an irritant to both, there has been a longstanding political enmity between Mr Surjewala and Mr Hooda, whose Assembly constituencies of Narwana and Uchana, respectively, are adjacent to each other. Mr Hooda has been bete noire of Mr Bhajan Lal. His relations with Mr Birender Singh also soured after becoming the President of the party. Till the formation of the Tiwari Congress, Mr Hooda has been working under the shadow of Mr Birender Singh. But now he has become a leader in his own right, something difficult to digest in politics for former mentors. Sources in the Birender Singh camp say that after Mrs Gandhi's visit Mr Bhajan Lal was greatly upset because he felt that he was not given due respect by the Hooda and Surjewala groups, who had organised Sonia's function at Rohtak and Narwana, respectively. Therefore, he needed a sympathetic shoulder to unburden himself. He wanted Mr Birender Singh's help in ousting Mr Hooda so that he (Mr Bhajan Lal) could himself become the party President. The sources say Mr Birender Singh did not make any commitment. Mr Birender Singh faces a dilemma in aligning himself openly with Mr Bhajan Lal. Because of his long-standing anti-Bhajan Lal stance, he faces the danger of being discredited before his constituents if he changes his public stand now. But inner party compulsions force him to join hands with Mr Bhajan Lal to convince the party high command that it would be in the long-term interest of the Haryana Congress if Mr Hooda is replaced as its chief. Among Congress circles it is felt that Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Birender Singh can have a pact for the limited purpose of ousting Mr Hooda. Once that objective is achieved, both will work at cross-purposes. Nobody would like the other to become the party chief.
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Haryana roads made national
highways CHANDIGARH, Oct 27 — The Union Ministry of Surface Transport has accepted a proposal of the Haryana Government to declare 448 km of state highways as national highways. Disclosing this here today, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, Public Works Minister, Haryana, said this decision of the Central Government would facilitate smooth movement of high density vehicular traffic on existing arterial routes through the State. Enumerating the details of these national highways, he said that the 205-km-long Narwana-Rohtak-Jhajjar-Bawal road, extension of National Highway No. 58 to Yamunanagar-Saha-Panchkula by adding 105 km of road, the 72-km Rohtak-Gohana-Panipat road, the 50-km Ambala-Nahan-Paonta Sahib-Dehra Dun-Rishikesh-Hardwar road and the 16-km Pinjore-Baddi road had been converted into national highways from state highways. The Minister said that the Central Government had also declared the Ambala-Kaithal-Titram Mor-Narwana-Surewala-Barwala-Hisar and Rajgarh road upto the Rajasthan border as National Highway No. 65. He said that this step would further increase the existing national highway network of about 240 km. The State Government had already taken over this road as national highway since October 2 last. An amount of Rs 5 crore would be spent during the current financial year to provide renewal coat on this road besides repairing other damages caused by the recent rains. Mr Dalal said that the Central Government had also approved the annual plan of about Rs 29 crore for raising, strengthening and widening of bridges and culverts on National Highway No. 65. He said that officers of the Ministry of Surface Transport had inspected this road. The process of maintenance would continue till the condition of the roads was brought to the required level of satisfaction. He further said that a total of 656 kms of roads already existed as national highways in the State including National Highway No. 1, 2, 8, 10, and 22.
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Country to have 150 dental
colleges ROHTAK, Oct 27 — Padamshri Dr R.K. Bali, President of the Dental Council of India, disclosed here today that in the next couple of years the country would have 150 dental colleges with an intake of 10,000 students every year. Inaugurating a two-day workshop on oral implantology at the Dental College auditorium here, he said at present 107 dental colleges existed in the country and 26 new colleges were in the pipeline awaiting recognition. The student capacity in the existing colleges was only 5,000. He regretted that an acute shortage of experienced teachers had caused great hardships for the students, colleges and the Dental Council of India. The shortage was felt in almost all specialities. The council was planning to introduce diploma in the National Board of Examination (NBE) to overcome this problem, he said. The NBE had approved the introduction of PG dental courses in all specialities in a phased manner. It would also impart the degree diploma in the National Board, he said. Dr Bali revealed that over 95 per cent population still suffered from pedodontics diseases and 85 per cent from dental caries. He attributed the increase in the incidence of dental diseases to urbanisation, industrialisation and related developmental activities and the consequential changes in dietary habits. Dr J.K. Sharma, Principal, Dental College, Rohtak, disclosed that the state government had approved post-graduate courses in orthodontic, prosthodontic and pedodontics. The matter was pending approval of the Dental Council of India for starting these courses, he said. The government has also permitted to start MDS (post-graduate) course in oral surgery. The number of seats in the college would also be enhanced from 20 to 40 per year, he disclosed. Mr O.P. Kaushik, Vice-Chancellor, MD University, Dr D.S. Dubey, Director-Principal, Medical College and Dr P.C. Quara from Italy also spoke.
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Can dewatering deadline be met? ROHTAK: This district is in the grip of severe water-logging following the unseasonal spell of rain in the past few days. Thousands of acres of agricultural land in the district is reported to be under water due to the rain that preceded Divali. As a result, while standing crops like paddy, bajra, cotton, jowar and arhar have suffered heavy damage, farmers are now worried about the problem of water-logging, which has become an acute problem over the years. While the state government is still to order a detailed survey of special girdawri, according to a rough-estimate about 30 to 35 thousand acres of land has come under water. The district agricultural authorities admit that crops worth about Rs 30 crore have been feared to have been damaged by the rain and if the water that has accumulated in hundreds of villages is not drained off early than the loss could be much higher. Water-logging could also hamper or delay the sowing of the main rabi crop of the region like wheat and gram. A former Labour and Employment Minister Mr Krishan Murti Hooda who had conducted a survey of some of the affected villages in the district claimed that about 20,000 acres of land had been adversely affected and crops had been damaged extensively. Demanding a special girdawri Mr Hooda said the villages affected by the natural calamity included Chiri, Nandal, Gharothi, Bohar, Asan, Bhalot, Sundarpur, Titoli, Khidwali, Ghuskani, Dhamar, Kijoi, Makroli, Ladaut, Kansala, and Humayunpur. The district authorities have also identified several villages which have been severely affected by water-logging as a result of the rain. These villages include Nidana, Balamana, Girawar, Ajaib, Mayna, Bharan and Mokhra, most of them falling in Meham subdivision of the district. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Kumar, claimed that an adequate number of pumps had been installed and the water was likely to be dewatered by November 15 in the severely hit areas, while the water would be drained out by the end of November in the rest of areas. About 250 pumps, having a draining capacity of about 758 cusecs daily, had been deployed temporarily while 51 pumps had been working on a permanent basis. But reports reaching here indicate that several other villages in Meham subdivision and many villages in Jhajjar district have been affected, where standing crops have been destroyed. The HPCC chief Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the district BJP chief Mr Pradip Jain, and the National Lok Dal leader, Dr Virender Pal, have also demanded a survey into the loss and compensation to the farmers of the two districts.
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BJP to uphold Indian culture ROHTAK, Oct 27 — The BJP will not tolerate any opposition or criticism to its endeavour of honouring the rich Indian tradition and culture. It was stated by the vice president of the party, Mr KL Sharma while talking to newsmen here today. Mr Sharma was here in connection with the unveiling of the statue of the former Deputy Chief Minister the late Mr Mangal Sein referring to the meeting of the state Education Ministers at Delhi recently, Mr Sharma who is also the spokesman of the party inscribed the opposition to the recitation of Saraswati Vandana by some ministers as unfortunate. Charging the Congress of unnecessarily labelling the BJP as a communal party Mr Sharma claimed that if the past record of the communal riots or clashes was checked it would be clear that clashes had taken place in the state where either the Congress or other political parties were in power. About the coming assembly elections in four states, he said that the final list of the candidates for all four states would be okayed after the meeting of the central election committee of the party to be held from November 1. About the possibility of seat sharing in these states Mr Sharma said his party had not received any offer from the Indian National Lok Dal so far. He said the party's strategy was to retain power in Rajasthan and Delhi upstage the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and open its account in Mizoram.
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Coop mill officers demand fifth
ROHTAK, Oct 27 — Officers of the Haryana Cooperative Sugar Mills are up in arms against the government for not implementing the Fifth Pay Commission pay scales. At a meeting of the Haryana Cooperative Sugar Mills Officers Association held here today, it was pointed out that although the Managing Directors and the Chairmen of the mills had got the revised pay package, the same had been denied to the other officers on the plea that the mills were running in losses. The association described the government decision as "highly discriminating". It was argued that the total financial implication after paying revised pay scales to these officers was merely Rs 12000 per month, whereas the losses to the mills were in crores. They appealed to the government to reconsider the decision and allow the revised pay scales to the officers of sugar mills. Meanwhile, the Haryana Sugar Mills Workers union has charged the authorities with not paying bonus to the employees. It demanded that the balance sheet of the mills should be provided to the union. When contacted, Ms Suprabha Dahiya, Managing Director of the Rohtak Cooperative Sugar Mills, said the balance sheet was not a confidential document and union leaders were free to see it. She said nearly 400 employees of the mills, out of a total of 600, had already got the bonus at the rate of 8.33 per cent. She said the mills were running in losses and it was not possible to pay higher bonus as demanded by the union.
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Call to preserve biodiversity HISAR, Oct 27 — Prof J.B. Chowdhury, Vice-Chancellor, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, has impressed upon the scientific community to help preserve the country's biodiversity which was under threat because of rapid loss to natural habitat and over-exploitation of plant species. Prof Chowdhury was addressing the 12th All-India Workshop on Medical and Aromatic Plants that began at CCS HAU here today. The workshop is being attended by over 60 scientists of state agricultural universities and institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. He said the trend was changing in favour of plant-based medicines, which are considered safe and cost-effective. Quoting WHO estimates, he said over 80 per cent people in the developing countries alone depend on these medicines for their primary health needs. Dr B.P.S. Lather, Head,
Department of Plant Breeding, while underlining the
objective of the workshop said research work on medicinal
and aromatic plants done at state agricultural
universities and ICAR institutes, during 1996-98 will be
reviewed and a programme of work for the next two years
finalised. |
State cane price tomorrow ROHTAK, Oct 27 — The Cane Control Board, Haryana will meet on October 29 at Chandigarh to decide the procurement price for sugarcane for the current crushing season. Last year both Haryana and Punjab had fixed Rs 78, Rs 80 and Rs 82 per quintal for early, mid and late varieties of sugarcane purchased by co-operative sugar mills in the two states. Since Punjab is facing an acute shortage of sugarcane during the current season, it has announced an increase of Rs 13 per quintal over last year’s rates. The current crushing season in Haryana is likely to start by the mid November. Although sugarcane in Haryana was adversely affected by the delayed monsoon, the state’s mills may not face any difficulty in procuring cane. Meanwhile, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has criticised the state government for not declaring the procurement price thus far. The party secretary, Mr Inder Singh Dhull has demanded Rs 125 per quintal as the minimum procurement price. He said in a statement issued here today that between 70 to 80 per cent of the kharif crops had been damaged in the state due to the unseasonal rains and strong winds. INLD MPs will meet the Prime Minister to demand payment of compensation at the rate of Rs 10,000 per acre to farmers whose crops have been extensively damaged in unseasonal rains.
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Haryana to set up polygreen houses CHANDIGARH, Oct 27 — The Haryana Government has launched an ambitious plan to make popular polygreen houses among farmers to enable them to grow vegetables, flowers and off-season vegetables. While stating this today, the Minister of State for Horticulture and Marketing, Mr Jagbir Singh, said 21 polygreen houses would be set up during this financial year. Each of these greenhouses would carry a subsidy of Rs 1 lakh besides provision of technical know-how to the farmers. He said the Government was promoting a centrally-assisted scheme known as promotion of use of plastics for irrigation purposes in horticulture. He said that components made of plastic and meant for drip irrigation system were also being promoted to achieve higher productivity in the field. He said that 50 per cent of the water could be saved by using drip irrigation technology. He said that the use of plastic components for irrigation in horticulture had increased water conveyance efficiency, which had also resulted in increased production. Also, more than 50 per cent energy could be saved by using cost effective PVC pipes and micro-sprinkler sets instead of steel pipes used in tubewells. He said that the Government had made a provision of over Rs 1 crore to provide subsidy to the farmers to set up drip irrigation system. He said that drip irrigation system had been installed in an area of 195 hectares last year whereas 245 hectares would be covered during the current year. However, an area of 100 hectares had been covered so far.
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Mahila Mandal groups to tour
states CHANDIGARH, Oct 27 — The Haryana Woman and Child Development Department has decided to send study group tours of Mahila Mandals to the neighbouring states, namely Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, in order to study ambitious schemes launched by these states for the welfare of women. Giving this information here today, Mrs Dheera Khandelwal, Director of the department, said the department had sponsored only such members of Mahila Mandals who had excelled in performing good jobs in creating awakening among the women and providing more avenues to the women under self-employment schemes. She said that the main aim of this tour was to ascertain the developmental schemes launched by other states. She said that the first batch of 50 members of Mahila Mandals would tour Uttar Pradesh and Delhi from October 28 to November 4 while the second group will visit Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi from October 30 to November 6. She further said that this study tour would afford them ample opportunity to interact with their counterparts. In the current financial year, 300 outstanding members of the Mahila Mandals would be sent on the inter-state study tours for which a sum of Rs 2.50 lakh had been earmarked.
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Baby brought up in jail dies ROHTAK, Oct 27 — The three-month-old baby, who was being brought up inside the jail premises, died at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences here yesterday. He was reportedly suffering from fever and diarrhoea due to malnutrition. The ill-fated child, Akash, was made to stay behind the bars when he was just five-day-old as his father and grandmother were lodged in the district jail on the charge of murdering the mother of Akash. The infant soon fell ill as no attention was paid towards his nourishment due to the absence of a woman warden or nurse in the jail premises. Moreover, the jail authorities could not take the baby to the PGIMS for treatment due to lack of police guard. Later, at the time of jail inspection the Sessions Judge directed the jail authorities to admit the baby to the PGIMS for proper treatment. But the baby could not survive. The body of the baby was handed over to the police for a post-mortem examination as his grandmother had not been released on bail so far. Now after the post-mortem the jail authorities had been directed to release both the father and the grandmother of the baby for performing his last rites here.
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New bus services from Hisar HISAR, Oct 27 — The Haryana Roadways depot here has introduced new bus services to various places in Haryana, UP, Rajasthan and Chandigarh. The General Manager of the local depot said yesterday that the new services would link Hisar with Jodhpur, Alwar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Katra, Yamunanagar, Panipat, Meerut, Chandigarh, Hanumangarh, Delhi, Dabwali and Satnali. He said new bus services
had also been started from the Hansi sub depot to Delhi,
Dabwali, Chandigarh and Karnal. Local bus services
between Hisar and Hansi had also been started. Power capacity to be doubled SONEPAT, Oct 27 — The Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) plans to double the capacity of power transmission and distribution system in the district in a period of two years. This was stated by Mrs Krishana Gahalawat, Minister of State for Agriculture, Printing and Stationery, while addressing a public meeting here yesterday. She said under the plan, the HVPN would set up nine new substations, including one 220 KV substation at Sonepat, four 132 KV substations at Murthal, Harsana Kalan, Kundli and Kharkhaukda. In addition, the capacity of seven existing substations of various levels would also be augmented. The plan, she added, had been targeted to be completed by May 2000. The minister said the government had recently approved the construction of 132 KV substation at a cost of Rs 5 crore for Kharkhauda town.
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Workers flay sacking of leaders ROHTAK, Oct 27 — The Haryana State Electricity Board Workers' Union has condemned the decision of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN) to terminate the services of Mr Dhara Singh and Mr Amrik Singh, general secretary and chief coordinator, respectively, of the union. Mr Bharat Bhushan,
district secretary of the union, said the decision had
been taken because of the agitation launched by the
Sector union against privatisation of the power sector.
He said resentment prevailed among the board employees
following the "unjustified" decision of the
HVPN, and alleged that the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal,
and the Chairman of the HSEB, Mr Ranjit Issar, had been
trying to terrorise the employees. Prasad greets Narayanan CHANDIGARH, Oct 27 — The Haryana Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad, extended his heartiest felicitations to the President, Mr K R Narayanan, on his birthday at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi today. He presented a bouquet of flowers to Mr Narayanan and wished him a long, happy, healthy and prosperous life. The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, also wished the President a healthy, happy and prosperous life on his birthday.
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