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Hooda promises to reduce farmers’ plight
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda (centre) at a rally at Phaphrana village in Assandh on Sunday.
Delimitation: Discussion on public hearing on Dec 15
No more quarrels at common taps
Womenfolk in Kishangarh village chat over a "bucket-full" of water in Shahbad on Sunday. — A Tribune photograph
Rats destroy 13,680 tonnes of foodgrains
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Vivah Shagun Yojna totters from fund shortage
Karnal MP to head Haryana Cong?
Woman killed, 4 others injured
‘Mobile’ cheaters nabbed, booked
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Hooda promises to reduce farmers’ plight
Phaphrana (Assandh), December 10 The Chief Minister said with the setting up of this the farmers of Assandh, Safidon, Jundla and Rajaund would get the maximum benefit. In the absence of a sugarmill in the area farmers of the region had shifted to sowing paddy since past three decades resulting in severe depletion of water table in the region as the land was most suitable in the state for sugarcane, claimed Mr Ladi Virk, a Congress leader. The setting up of the mill in this region will help check depleting water table as sugarcane crop needed irrigation once in a fortnight only, explained Mr Virk. Hoping 300 lakh quintals of sugarcane would be available for crushing in the current season, Mr Hooda announced no farmer would be arrested for the recovery of cooperative loan. Seeking cooperation of people Mr Hooda said efforts would be made to generate more jobs by giving thrust to industrialisation in the state. Referring the demand of the area the Chief Minister announced to make Phaphrana a Model village and streets of the village would be cemented. He also assured that power would be connected to the village via the Cooperative Sugarmill, Assandh, to solve power problem as three MW of power would be generated by the Mills. Phaphrana gave 114 acres for the mill.
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Delimitation: Discussion on public hearing on Dec 15
Chandigarh , December 10 The Chairman of the commission, Justice Kuldeep Singh, says the commission will give due consideration to public sentiments while formulating its final report. The commission held the public hearings at Kurukshetra, Rohtak and
Gurgaon. The views expressed at these hearings will be discussed by the commission in Delhi on December 15. During the public hearings, several "contradictions and anomalies" in the draft proposals were pointed out to the commission. One of the anomalies related to the inclusion of Assembly segments reserved for the Scheduled Castes in various Lok Sabha constituencies. Haryana has 17 reserved Assembly constituencies and 10 Lok Sabha seats. Fair distribution demands that each Lok Sabha constituency must have at least one reserved Assembly segment. However, according to the draft proposals, while the Ambala and Sirsa Lok Sabha constituencies have three reserved Assembly segments each, Bhiwani has none. It was demanded during the public hearings that no Lok Sabha constituency should have more than two reserved Assembly segments. Since the Haryana Assembly has a strength of 90, each Lok Sabha constituency in the state comprises nine Assembly segments. There was an overwhelming demand during the public hearings that the parliamentary constituencies should comprise Assembly segments in a sequence, as had been the practice. For example, the Ambala Lok Sabha
seat (assigned no.1 by the commission) comprises Assembly segments from no.1 to no.9. Similarly the Lok Sabha constituency no. 2(Kurukshetra) comprises Assembly segments from no.10 to no. 18. As per the draft proposals, the Ambala Lok Sabha constituency would comprise the Assembly segments of Kalka (1), Panchkula (2), Naraingarh(3), Ambala cantonment(4), Ambala city (5), Brara (6), Sadhaura (7), Jagadhari (8) and Shahabad (12). The Assembly segment no.9(Yamunanagar) has been included in the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency. Leaders like Mr Ramesh Gupta, MLA from Thanesar, and Mr Satpal Kaushik, secretary of the Haryana Congress, pleaded before the commission that logically Yamunanagar should be part of the Ambala Lok Sabha constituency and Shahabad included in the Kurukshetra constituency. It was also pointed out that Yamunanagar was as much contiguous with the Ambala constituency as Shahabad. The inclusion of Yamunanagar in Ambala would make the constituency more compact as it would be spread over three districts and not four as suggested in the draft proposals. This would also reduce the number of reserved Assembly segments in Ambala from three to two, a more equitable number. If the commission accepts this demand, Ambala, which has been reserved for the past several years, may become a general seat and Kurukshetra might be reserved. The practice of a Lok Sabha constituency having Assembly segments in a sequence has again been violated in case of Hisar, Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, Rohtak and Gurgaon. The Assembly segment no. 73(Kosli) has been included in the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency, triggering a vehement protest from Ahir leaders who want it to be included in the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh Lok Sabha seat. Members of the Cheeka-Guhla Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee led by Mr Major Singh and Mr Harpal Singh Cheeka demanded that the constituencies should be reserved by rotation as done in the Municipal elections. |
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No more quarrels at common taps
Karnal, December 10 The Haryana Government's Indira Gandhi Peyjal Yojna, 2006, launched recently in all 20 districts of the state for Scheduled Caste families, is beginning to gurgle and burble in these colonies now dotted with platforms of neatly cemented bricks topped with water tanks and fastened with shining new locks. A daily wager in Karnal's Samora village, Ashok, and his wife, Simran, swear by the relief it has brought into their lives. "I have a 10-month-old baby who needs constant attention, while my husband has to leave early for work. I used to wake up at break of dawn and hurry up to fetch water from the panchayat taps. With the installation of this tank, morning are a more relaxed affair," she says. Her neighbour, Satish Kumar, admits it's a blessing for his family. "We are yet to put this water to judicious use. The children are so excited about the tank that they can't keep their hands off the tap," he exclaims. It's a double celebration in Kurukshetra's Rattangarh where villagers are rejoicing over the arrival of water at their doorstep, besides the two marriages in the village. "The two girls married to our boys have brought good luck. Our water problem has eased. Hopefully, the power situation, too, will show some improvement," says village elder Santo Devi. In the marriages, all neighbours chipped in with a share of water from their tanks which was sufficient to cater to all the guests. "The biggest benefit is that wastage of water has stopped. The panchayat-installed taps were nobody's baby so water flowed, irrespective of the requirement. The sense of belongingness that has come with taps installed under the scheme has woken up people to the need of checking wastage," says Narendra Sharma Bindu, a labourer from Dharamgarh. Women of Kishangarh village in Shahabad are particularly elated with the addition in their homes. "We used to fight and quarrel at the panchayat taps to fill our utensils first. With tanks to cater to every home in the village, camaraderie amongst us is also growing," says Naina, a villager. Emphasising that "men usually do nothing except laze around", Vidya Devi
explains, "We were burdened with the chore of fetching water from tubewells and panchayat taps. Then men have never helped us out. So if there are any real beneficiaries in this scheme, it is us and we can thank the government enough for sharing our burden." However, while the scheme has brought a lot of smiles all around and appreciation for the "paniwala CM", Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, it has its own kind of teething troubles. Power playing truant is one big handicap in uninterrupted water supply while villagers in Rattangarh said that the tubewell operator in their area was a "constant pain". "He does not come on time and repeated complaints against him to the village sarpanch have not borne results. We are at his mercy as far as water supply is concerned. He chooses to release water only when the power is about to go off," rue villages in unison. The villagers, however, are hopeful that the flowing water will eventually tide over these troubles. |
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Rats destroy 13,680 tonnes of foodgrains
Hisar, December 10 Concerned at the “invasion of the rats” in the current wheat season, the state’s Department of Agriculture had started educating farmers on the pesticides available for killing rodents. According to estimates actual wheat yield from one acre should be 20 to 24 quintals, but a farmer brings home 16 to 19 quintals, as rats and other factors including climate bring the yield down. According to agri farm experts, during sowing, rats consume 6 to 7 per cent to the wheat grain. Later rats attack roots of the wheat plant and weaken growth power. The Agriculture Department has asked the farmers to take steps against rats at the start of the sowing season. To check attacks of rats, the department has distributed zinc phosphate aiming farmers and specified the pesticides to be used against the rodents. — UNI
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Vivah Shagun Yojna totters from fund shortage
Yamunanagar, December 10 Under the scheme, the government was to give financial assistance of Rs 15,000 to Scheduled Caste families, living below the poverty line, for marriage of their two daughters and Rs 5,100 to other BPL families. The state government had announced with much fanfare the ‘yojna’ at a rally in Jind last year in the presence the Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The state government had tripled the amount earlier given under a similar scheme, ‘Kanyadaan’. As per sources, no funds have been issued for the ‘yojna’ during the past six months and thousands of applications all gathering dust. In Yamunanagar district alone, about 150 persons are awaiting the release of about Rs 50 lakh in assistance. Initially, funds were released for the scheme and the same were distributed, but sources in the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Department informed that no assistance had been released since June. He wrote that the scheme seemed to have lost the steam as thousands of beneficiaries were waiting for the assistance. Mr Kaushik urged the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter as the non-disbursement of the assistance was sending wrong signals to the masses. An official in the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Department admitted that no assistance was issued in the state during the past few months. He did not cite any particular reason for the delay. Another official, however, said the department had approached the State Planning Commission for revision of funds for the ‘yojna’. He said the approval of the commission was expected soon.
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Karnal MP to head Haryana Cong?
Chandigarh, December 10 Though no senior party leader, including the AICC general secretary, Mr Janardan Dwivedy, who is in charge of the party affairs in Haryana, is willing to confirm the report, largescale festivities are on at Mr Sharma’s house, according to reports received here late tonight. The post of Haryana
Congress president has been vacant since Mr Bhajan Lal quit it in protest against the sidelining of his supporters. Mr Sharma has been known for his closeness to the former Union Petroleum Minister, Capt Satish Sharma. He won the Sonepat Lok Sabha seat as an Independent candidate in 1996. In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, he unsuccessfully opposed the Congress candidate, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, from Rohtak as an Independent candidate. |
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Woman killed, 4 others injured
Bhiwani, December 10 According to a report, the four-wheeler was heading towards Kitlana village from Bhiwani when it collided with a tractor. A woman Veermati, wife of Nafe Singh, died on the spot, while Bhateri, Renu, Phal and Ravinder sustained injuries. They have been admitted to the Civil Hospital.
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‘Mobile’ cheaters nabbed, booked
Ambala, December 10 HSSC member Ashok Jain said the three candidates were held at the DAV examination centre. Deepak Kumar, Dara Singh and Deepa Kumari were found using mobile phones during the examination. An FIR has been registered against them. Mr Jain said strict measures adopted by the commission had led to fewer attempts of using unfair means during examination. It is determined to stop the use of mobile phones during exams and in future, action would be taken against any candidate who took a mobile phone inside the exam premises. |
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The state government has allowed sugarcane support price to farmers at — Rs 138 per quintal the highest in the country, to raise income of farmers.
Every home in the colony of Scheduled Castes in Haryana wakes up to a new kind of music in the morning — the sound of water gushing out through new taps.
