The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

CM takes up farmers’ case with panel today
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 3
Haryana has decided to press upon the Centre to strengthen the procurement mechanism for crops like bajra, barley and oilseeds so that farmers of the state can be motivated by the authorities to diversify from the present commercial crops of wheat and rice, which are posing a problem of plenty.

According to sources, this demand will be raised by the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, with a high-level committee constituted by the Centre to draft a long-term foodgrain policy. The committee, headed by Mr Abhijit Sen, will meet Mr Chautala here tomorrow.

At present, the Centre announces the minimum support price (MSP) for 26 agricultural commodities, of which about 10 are relevant to Haryana. Mr Chautala, the sources say, who expressed satisfaction with an increase of Rs 10 in the MSP of wheat announced yesterday, feels concerned that the MSP for commodities, except wheat and rice, has become virtually meaningless in the absence of market intervention by procurement agencies.

Mr Chautala, the sources say, will point out to the panel members how farmers of the state have to sell oilseeds, pulses and coarse cereals much below the MSP. For instance, the state had a bumper crop of bajra during 2001. But the farmers were compelled to sell their produce at rates varying from Rs 250 to Rs 300 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 485 per quintal. Similarly, during the current year, farmers had to sell barley at rates varying between Rs 360 and Rs 475 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 500 a quintal. Similar was the fate of mustard growers.

The Chief Minister feels that under the prevailing circumstances, the diversification of crops can succeed only if the procurement mechanism for these crops is strengthened. He will tell the panel that while fixing the MSP for various crops, factors like productivity per unit area, proneness of the crop to biotic and abiotic stresses and scope of import substitution must be taken into consideration.

Since the diversification of crops will be a slow process, in which the MSP can be successfully used as a motivating factor, the state government feels that the traditional crops like rice and wheat should not be put at a disadvantage as far as the MSP is concerned because these crops will remain the mainstay of the farmers for quite a long period. Moreover, the cultivation of these crops is also in the interest of the national food security.

Another important point which Mr Chautala is likely to stress before the panel is that the creation of infrastructure, particularly for storage of grains, should not be entirely left to the producing states. The deficit states should also be encouraged to create storage facilities. The Centre can give some assistance to such states.

Haryana is opposed to the decentralised procurement, which, it feels, is not suitable and conducive to the conditions prevailing in the state. It feels that decentralised procurement is suitable for the states where demand under the public distribution system (PDS) is more or on a par with the quantum of procurement. But in Haryana, the demand of wheat under the PDS is just 1 per cent of the total procurement while in the case of rice, the demand is almost nil. Moreover, the Haryana Government argues that the quantity of grains procured under the decentralised system in West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and U.P. is very small as compared to that in Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.

Haryana is also not satisfied with the functioning of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which, despite having a big network of administrative setup in the state, procures only 7 per cent to 13 per cent of the grains produced in Haryana.

Mr Chautala will also press the early acceptance of the state’s request to the Centre for declaring Hafed as a canalising agency to undertake exports on the lines of Markfed of Punjab. He will also ask the committee to recommend to the Centre to devise ways and means for evacuation of about 80 lakh tonnes of grains stored in the state.

	Plan for diversion to oilseeds Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 3 The Haryana Agriculture Department has formulated an action plan for diverting areas from paddy cultivation to oilseeds and pulses during this kharif season. This was disclosed by the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Mr Naseem Ahmad, while presiding over a meeting of the field officers of the department here last evening. He said the action plan had been drawn for expanding areas under groundnut, 10,000 hectares under sesame, 1,000 hectares under soyabean, 27,000 hectares under moong, urd and moth and 35,000 hectares under arhar. The pulses and oilseeds had been particularly chosen for diversification keeping in view the shortage of these commodities in the domestic market and checking effects on soil health. He said that the arrangements for ensuring the availability of seeds of recommended varieties for these crops were also finalised and a campaign would be launched during the ensuing kharif season to achieve the targets fixed in the action plan. The Director, Agriculture, Mr Rajveev Arora, said the diversification of crops would be a continuous process and in order to ensure availability of seeds on a regular basis, the seed production programme undertaken by the Haryana Seed Development Corporation and other institutional agencies would be made according to the requirements of seeds for the diversified crops.
	Delay in sarson MSP worries farmers Shiv Sharma Bhiwani, April 3 Farmers of southern Haryana are worried over the delay in the announcement of MSP for sarson and facing grave problems owing to procurement and maintenance of the produce. They are being forced to sell their produce at cheap rates to mill owners and traders. Official agencies have not made arrangements for the storage of sarson. However, the district administration claim that all arrangements have been completed for the procurement and storage of wheat. According to sources, 77 thousand mt of wheat was procured last year, whereas the procurement target is one lakh mt for this year. So more procurement centres have been set up as compared to last year. The farmers say official agencies had delayed the procurement process last year and they had to resort to an agitation for the procurement of sarson. Earlier, Congress MLA Dharmbir Singh and district Congress president Vasudev Sharma had demanded from the government must declare the minimum support price for sarson. The farmers are worried over the delayed procurement of sarson as the crop has not yielded substantial results due to scarcity of water, and fog during the winter season. Apprehending delayed official procurement, the farmers have to sell their produce at cheap rates to traders and agents. District general manager of HAFED Om Prakash said arrangements had been completed for the smooth procurement of sarson. Four purchase centres had been set up last year at Charkhi Dadri, Bhiwani, Behal and Loharu and 5700 mt sarson was procured.
	SYL: Punjab belies Haryana’s hopes Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 3 The reluctance being shown by the Punjab Government headed by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to implement the Supreme Court order regarding the completion of the SYL canal has come as a setback for the ruling INLD of Haryana. Government functionaries of Haryana were hoping that the new Congress government of Punjab would perhaps adopt a “less strident” stand vis a vis the SYL issue. The stand of Mr Amarinder Singh at the fifth meeting of the National Water Resources Council in Delhi on Monday, has made the Haryana Government abandon its hopes about Punjab abiding by the court directive. Talking to TNS today, Mr Ram Pal Majra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary of Haryana, said that the SC had directed the Centre to take up the work of the canal if Punjab failed to do the job in one year. Incidentally, the court did not lay any time frame for the Centre to complete the canal, a lacuna, which may be used by it to sit over the assignment. Meanwhile, the game of oneupmanship by Haryana politicians of taking credit for the construction of the SYL canal in Punjab continues. According to Mr Majra, who looks after the Irrigation Department, since 1982 when work on the construction of the canal started inside Punjab, the maximum work on the lining of the canal ( 55.94 per cent) was achieved from June 1987 to July 1990 when the late Devi Lal, Mr Om Prakash Chautala and Mr Banarsi Dass were the chief ministers of the state. Similarly, the maximum number of cross drainage works and bridges were also constructed during this period. He added that Rs 252.34 crore was spent for the construction of the canal in Punjab during this period which was more than what was spent during the tenures of Mr Bhajan Lal (Rs 110 crore up to May 1986) and Mr Bansi Lal ( Rs 90.14 crore from June 1986 to May 1987). According to a note prepared by the Haryana Government on the SYL, although the project cost was being funded by the Centre since December 1986, the cost of construction of the canal had shot up from Rs 176 crore in 1983 to Rs 601 crore ( 1994 price index level). The cost, according to the note, is likely to escalate further as Rs 673.10 crore has been spent in Punjab up to July 2001, for the canal. A survey was conducted by the Haryana Irrigation Department regarding the cost of repairing the canal in the wake of the SC’s order on January 15. The survey put the estimated cost of repair at Rs 12 crore. Since then, there has not been any further move in that direction and any question about the repair of the canal is answered by state government functionaries as that the issue was being examined.
	Thermal plant stone to be laid in April: CM Our Correspondent Yamunanagar, April 3 Central Power Minister Suresh Prabhu will lay the foundation stone of the much-awaited Yamunanagar thermal plant during the month to be constructed by Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL). The Central Government will provide 90 per cent share on easy terms and 10 per cent share will be provided by the state government. This was stated by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala at a party workers’ meeting at Punjabi Dharamshala, Jagadhri in the district yesterday. Mr Chautala stated that the thermal plant would be constructed in a record time and after its completion Haryana will get an additional 800 mw of power. Mr Chautala added that the state government had signed an MoU with BHEL for the construction of seven and eight units of 250 mw each for the thermal plant at Panipat. Mr Chautala declared that his government was committed to meet the power requirement of consumers. He said his government aimed at generating 3,500 mw additional power during the next few years. He appealed to farmers to diversify their farming activities into horticulture, floriculture dairying, poultry farming, etc. to increase their income. The Chief Minister announced that on the first death anniversary of Devi Lal on April 6 a sarvadharma prarthanas sabhas (all-religion prayer meetings) would be organised between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. and blood donation camps would be held at every district headquarters of the state. At a separate function the state unit of the Saini Samaj honoured Mr Chautala at the local Sarojini Colony. Mr Faqir Chand Mulana, MP, Mr Balwant Singh, Dr M.C. Gambhir, Mr Jasbir Mallour, all MLAs, Mr Raj Kumar Saini, General Secretary, INLD, Haryana, Mr Rawal and Mr Dalmira Ram, Mrs Sangeeta Aggarwal, Mr Ashok Sharma, Mr Mahipal Singh, Mr Mangat Ram Kapoor, Mr Suresh Sharma, Mr Pardeep Aggarwal and several party workers were present at the meeting.
	Privatisation of Roadways will help CM: MLA Our Correspondent Bhiwani, April 3 The Congress MLA from this district and former Minister for Transport Dharmbir Singh has flayed the state government decision of privatising the state Roadways. In a statement issued to the press here today he said the decision was not in public interest but in “personal interest”. He alleged that the former Chief Minister of Punjab Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and the Haryana Chief Minister had their own big fleet of passenger buses. Earlier, these buses had been plying without permit in Punjab which were now stopped by the Congress government. To continue their operation in Haryana the state government had decided to privatise the Roadways, he said. Calling it “Badal sector” instead of private sector, the Congress legislator said to implement the privatisation in five districts in its first phase was a pre-decided move as these cover the home constituency, Sirsa, of the INLD chief which was quite adjacent to the Punjab border. He alleged that the Chief Minister never mentioned about the SYL canal when Mr Badal was his counterpart in Punjab and as the BJP-SAD government lost the election, he started issuing statements about the issue. He said the statement of Minister for Transport Ashok Arora had been issued on the direction of Mr Badal and so the maxi-cab permit holders were being driven away from these districts. He added that hundreds of employees would become unemployed in these five districts after the privatisation and a huge revenue being recovered through tax by the state government would also be stopped.
	Roadways staff hold protest Our Correspondent Hisar, April 3 Employees of Haryana Roadways today took out a procession at the local bus stand in protest against the proposed privatisation move of the roadways depots of five districts. They raised slogans against the state government. Addressing the protestors, their leaders criticised the Chautala government for the move to privatise transport services in the state. They alleged that the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, had taken many decisions against the interests of state employees during the past three years. They threatened that the roadways employees would launch a statewide agitation. They said the employees were not responsible for the losses suffered by the roadways depots in five districts. They alleged that these depots were running losses due to the wrong policies of the Chautala government. It may be recalled that the Transport Minister, Mr Ashok Arora, had announced two days ago that the government was considering a plan to privatise roadways depots at Hisar, Bhiwani, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Narnaul districts in the near future.
	Councillor used foul language: MC officials Tribune News Service Ambala, April 3 A controversy is brewing in Municipal Council, Ambala Sadar, after a municipal councillor allegedly used unparliamentary language against Municipal Council officials during the recent budget meeting. Municipal Council officials have reportedly conveyed their unhappiness over the incident to the authorities concerned after the vice-president of Municipal Council, Mr Suresh Garg, allegedly used unparliamentary language. Taking umbrage to the incident, MC officials in a letter to the Deputy Commissioner have demanded the removal of the municipal councillor. However, Mr Garg, who is alleged to have used unparliamentary language, strongly denied the incident. “There is no question of my using unparliamentary language,” he said. “Instead, we were demanding to know from the officials about the deteriorating civic conditions and the use of government employees as helps in their residents,” he added. Mr Garg said the Municipal Council officials were not ready to answer queries. “What is the point of becoming a Municipal Councillor if we cannot ask the officials about the issues concerning the people,?” he questioned. The matter has been brought to the notice of Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, who has called the MC officials as well as the Municipal Council vice-president to his office on April 5. The Deputy Commissioner, Ambala, Mr Mahinder Kumar, said a report regarding the incident had been received. “We are examining the matter and the officials and the Municipal Councillor have been called so that the issue can be looked into,” he said. In a letter addressed to the Deputy Commissioner, MC officials said a special meeting had been called to pass the budget for 2002-2003. The meeting was attended by several municipal councillors, including the vice-president Mr Suresh Garg. “When other municipal councillors and we were leaving the meeting hall after the budget meeting, Mr Garg used unparliamentary language against us. The office staff gathered in the hall on hearing about the use of unparliamentary language and were ready to protest. We dissuaded the office staff and assured them that the Deputy Commissioner will be intimated in writing for the removal of Mr Garg as municipal councillor,” the letter states. “It is requested that Mr Suresh Garg should be removed as a Municipal Councillor and an inquiry should be held. So that law and order is maintained in the Municipal Council and no other Municipal Councillor misbehaves with the municipal council officials,” the letter adds.
	Best panchayat to be awarded Tribune News Service Faridabad, April 3 The Haryana Government has introduced annual awards for the gram panchayats for excellent performance and achieving targets in the implementation of various schemes. According to the authorities concerned, the awards will be two-tiered. While the panchayat outperforming the others at the district level will be rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, the panchayat selected at the state level will be given the first prize of Rs 10 lakh. The prize has been named the Ch Devi Lal Annual Memorial Award. The criteria on which the performance of each panchayat is adjudged include removal of encroachments, recovery of house tax, cleanliness in the village, implementation of such schemes as the rural employment scheme, Indira Awas Yojna, Jawahar Rozgar Yojna, disbursement of pension and proper identification of beneficiaries, management and supervision of primary schools, dropout rate in the schools and providing thrust to health and medical care programmes. For the selection of the contesting panchayats at the district level, a committee consisting of the Deputy Commissioner, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), the SDMs in the district, Civil Surgeon, DDPO and the BDPOs has been formed. The final list and name of the recommended village will be sent to the state government by April 15. A committee headed by the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Development and Panchayats, will select the winner at the state level.