Palwal (Faridabad), March 30
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced that Palwal would be made a district and a committee would be constituted to identify the areas for including in the new district.

Addressing “vikas rally” here, Hooda, while accepting this demand raised by local MLA and chairman of the Haryana Administrative Reforms Commission Karan Singh Dalal and supported by MP Avtar Singh Bhadana and MLA Udai Bhan, remarked that this demand should have been raised earlier as Palwal deserved to be upgraded as a district because of its glorious past.

Consequent upon Palwal being given the status of a district, it would become the 21st district of the state.

Dalal’s other demands included setting up a university in Palwal, a new byepass, an outlet for taking out water from Palwal township, water treatment plant at Okhla barrage and setting up a barrage at the Yamuna, which flows along the borders of the state along Uttar Pradesh.

Dalal, while making the demand for giving Palwal the district status, specified that Hathin, which is presently in Mewat district and Mohana, Hodal and Hassanpur villages must be included in Palwal.

Hooda said the Congress government would ensure that Palwal became a flourishing district with requisite infrastructure in it.

In response to a demand for setting up a university, the Chief Ministr said his government considered education to be the lodestar of development and empowerment of the society.

Although he did not commit on the demand, he said that his government would study all possibilities of providing better educational infrastructure in Palwal.

Although he did not commit on the demand, he said that his government would study all possibilities of providing better educational infrastructure in Palwal. With regard to setting up a water treatment plant at Okhla barrage in Delhi, he said his government was already in touch with its counterpart in Delhi.

Chandigarh, March 30
To benefit the farmers of Punjab and Haryana, the Agriculture Insurance Company of India will be launching “varsha bima” for paddy crop in the two states.

According to company officials, the scheme will be launched on a pilot basis in select districts of the two states in June when the sowing season for paddy crop begins. This move follows the disillusionment of the farmers in these states, where the crop insurance on paddy was not available till date.

It may be noted that a wheat insurance scheme is available to the farmers while the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) was available for crops like bajra, maize and arhar in Haryana. This scheme was not available to farmers in Punjab as the guarantee is against yield. Since the yield in the state is assured, there was no need to extend the scheme.

The NAIS is available to farmers in Himachal Pradesh (for maize, potato and paddy) and in Jammu and Kashmir (wheat, potato and mustard). Since the major crops, whose yield is assured, are not covered in this scheme, farmers are suffering losses. Banks, too, failed to insure farmers for crop damage/failure. The data available from the AICI shows that only 15-20 per cent of the banks in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, are insuring the farmers who have availed loans from them.

Of the 185 nodal banks of Haryana, only 29 banks have been submitting proposals for crop insurance to the AICI. In Himachal Pradesh, only 11 of the 125 nodal banks have been submitting the proposals for farmers having availed loans from them while in Jammu and Kashmir, only eight of the 36 nodal banks are offering assistance to farmers under this scheme.

Officials in AICI regional office here said they had been repeatedly sending reminders to all regional banks, urging them to insure all farmers who have availed seasonal agricultural operations loans (SAOL), as it was mandatory under this national scheme.

It may be noted that the NAIS is also applicable to those farmers who have not availed any loan under SAOL. These farmers can approach the bank branch located nearest to their land, and get the crop insurance done. But due to lack of awareness not many farmers are availing this insurance cover.

Karnal, March 30
After recovering eight bodies from the Bhakra Canal near Kachwa village in the district yesterday, the police today found three more bodies. On the basis of claims of two separate families, two bodies have been identified.

A family from Pehowa has claimed to have identified the body as of Pradeep, son of Mam Chand, a leading arthiya from the township in Kurukshetra district.

Mam Chand, along with his eight family members was reportedly missing under suspicious circumstances since March 16. The Kurukshetra police had a “suicide note” in its custody that stated that owing to huge debt, the family of nine members decided to commit suicide.

The other body is claimed to be of Prabhjot Singh, a worker with Thompson Press, Faridabad. He was reportedly missing since January 1 from his hometown Faridabad and the local police had recovered a PAN card and a driving licence from the spot. The family identified him by “kirpan” he was carrying.

Meanwhile, to rule of any foul play, the police has decided to send all 11 bodies to PGI, Rohtak, for the postmortem and DNS tests to confirm their identities.

Karnal SSP A.S. Chawla clarified that the identification was done of the basis of the claims of the families and the official decision would be ascertained only after the examination of the bodies.

He said the police was waiting to know the cause of death before initiating further action.

The postmortem report is expected to be reach here on Monday evening, he added.

Chandigarh, March 30
The Haryana government’s Overseas Placement Bureau has announced employment opportunities for highly skilled trade persons and engineering professionals in leading multinational companies in Canada.

While stating this here today, a spokesman of the bureau said no recruitment fee would be collected from successful candidates and salary would be paid as per international standards. The multinational companies in Canada were looking for English-speaking, highly-skilled tradespersons and engineering professionals for design, planning and scheduling, procurement, construction and start up of mega petro chemical and oil sands projects to fill up a number of posts.

He said these posts included electricians (industrial and construction), crane and hoisting equipment operators, ironworkers (structural steel erectors), instrument technician, millwrights, steam pipe fitters, welders (ASME pressure and TIG), heavy-duty mechanics, insulators, carpenters and structural steel and plate fitters.

The professionals included project engineers, managers, civil engineers, electrical and mechanical (static and rotating equipment) engineers, corrosion metallurgy, mining, NDT, welding engineers, process engineers, QA/QC engineers and inspectors, relay calibration (static) engineers and technicians, construction engineers and managers, cost control, planners and schedulers, instrument engineers (DCS, PLC, SCADA, Delta V), pipeline engineers, power plant or boiler engineers and safety HSE engineers.

The engineers and technicians should have diploma or a degree in the trades and professions mentioned above and also have a minimum of eight-year documented work experience. He said all skilled trade persons must have a minimum of eight to ten years of documented proof of hands-on work experience in their specific trade.

Supervisor and foreman experience would not be accepted as time worked in the trade.

He said eligible candidates should send their resumes and a word file copy via e-mail to the Overseas Placement Bureau at hopashry@gmail.com

Karnal, March 30
In view of the scheduled assembly and parliamentary byelections in the state, former Chief Minister and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala today tried to woo Punjabi-speaking voters by making several lucrative promises.

Interestingly, none of the sitting INLD MLAs were given a chance to speak on the occasion of “Punjabi maha sammelan”, which was organised here today.

Various senior party leaders tried to shed the image of the INLD as a Jat-dominated party or a party with rural support.

Addressing the gathering in chaste Punjabi, Chautala pleaded support for his party in the assembly byelections of Indri, Gohana, Adampur and Bhiwani parliamentary seat.

Besides raising a memorial in the memory of those killed during the partition, he also made a bunch of poll promises for the “kamera” (working class).

Coming heavily upon the Haryana government and the centre for initiating several anti-people programmes, he said the opportunist ruling parties had left no stone unturned to benefit industrialists.

He said the Punjabi-speaking community had contributed enormously in the growth of the state and country, adding that the community had always been neglected by all political parties, except the INLD.

Terming the Congress as anti-commoners, he said big industrial houses were given loan at the rate of 4 per cent interest, whereas farmers and small-time traders were charged 14 per cent rate of interest.

While promising to equate the interest rate for loans, he pledged to wage an agitation against SEZ and big houses entering retail businesses.

Former finance minister Sampat Singh said the Punjabis were a decided factor in Haryana politics and blamed the Congress for treating the community mere as a vote bank.

Rajya Sabha member Tarlochan Singh criticised others, particularly late Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal for shabbily treating the Punjabi community. “Whereas Bansi Lal favoured Tamil as the second language of Haryana, Bhajan grossly played with the sentiments of Punjabis,” he added.

Levelling serious charges, he alleged that Bhajan Lal conspired attacks on Punjabis after the murder of Indira Gandhi.

Terming the INLD as Punjabi-friendly, he appealed the community to unite and support the party.

It appeared that no one stopped the unruly INLD supporters in the town. Scores of private vehicles fitted with hooters kept on moving around the rally venue at a high speed near the mini-secretariat.

Chandigarh, March 30
This is the tale of “discrepancies”, which may keep the people of Haryana thirsty in the coming years.

The “discrepancies” are in the draft MoU on the Yamuna waters among the five states as approved by the Haryana cabinet in mid 1990s and the MoU actually signed by the then Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. Later, on the basis of this MoU, a document was signed by Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. The document come to be known as the Yamuna water accord.

The saving grace is that since the document was not signed by Rajasthan, it still remains a document only and has not taken the legal sanctity of an accord.

Though a committee constituted by the Haryana assembly under the chairmanship of Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadian is still looking into these “discrepancies”, The Tribune has learnt about the nature of these discrepancies.

The MoU, which will now become the basis for the distribution of the Yamuna waters in future, was first put up as a draft before the Haryana cabinet on February 4, 1993. After the cabinet approval, it was signed on May 12, 1994.

Before that the distribution of the Yamuna waters was under a 1954 accord, according to which while Haryana had a share of 67 per cent, UP had 33 per cent. However, the 1994 MoU recognised three other states, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan, as the beneficiary states. Unfortunately, the then rulers of Haryana failed to protect the state’s interest. The new beneficiaries were given water from Haryana’s share while UP’s share remained intact.

The draft MoU said when the water in the river would be less, the “existing water needs of all states will be first met.” But the actual MoU quietly dropped this stipulation and said in a situation of scarcity, the “drinking water needs of Delhi will be met.”

This clause in the MoU was the basis on which the Supreme Court ordered Haryana in 1996 to give all water required by Delhi from its share. Haryana is doing so even if its people and fields remain thirsty.

The sources say while the draft MoU promised that when Rajasthan would not be able to utilise its share of water, Haryana would get 0.25 billion cubic meter (BCM) water. However, the MoU signed by the then Haryana government made no mention of this promise.

Similarly, in the draft memorandum shown to the cabinet said the division of the Yamuna waters under the 1954 agreement between UP and Haryana would continue at the Tajewala (subsequently Hathnikund) barrage. However, the MoU had no such clause. This has enabled Rajasthan to demand its share from the Hathnikund barrage, whereas it should get water from the Okhla barrage.

The sources say though under an international water treaty, known as Helsinki agreement, it is provided that in any water-sharing agreement, the existing usage would be protected, this was not done in the memorandum.

A major discrepancy relates to the review of the 1994 “accord”. The draft document placed before the cabinet said the “accord” would be reviewed after 2001. However, the memorandum read that the review would take place after 2025.

The “mistake”, or “mischief” depending upon how one looks at it, was further compounded and an element of “dishonesty” was introduced when the MoU was put before the cabinet for ratification on May 18, 1994.

The memorandum of explanation put before the cabinet said Haryana would get 0.5 BCM at the Okhla barrage though its requirement was only 0.394 BCM. But the MoU made no mention of the Okhla barrage.

The cabinet was also misled when it was informed that the share of Haryana viz-a-viz UP would be slightly better than what it was under the 1954 agreement.

But the memorandum clearly reduces Haryana’s share from 67 per cent to 49 per cent, while UP’s share remains intact at 33 per cent.

Interestingly, when the 1994 “accord” was signed, the INLD had quit the assembly in protest against it and had promised that when it would come to power, it would abrogate the “accord”.

However, the party remained in power for over five years, yet it did not even go into the details of how Haryana was cheated out of its share in the Yamuna waters, which goes mainly to southern Haryana, which, it seems, was low on the priority of those who had been ruling the state since its inception. Almost all of them belonged to the districts which are fed by the Bhakra water.

Yamunanagar, March 30
As many as 1,000 rural women from five districts of Ambala division, Panchkula, Ambala, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar, under a project of the rural development agency, Haryana, will be trained in manufacturing, distribution and sale of sanitary napkins. The project, the government hopes, will go a long way in improving the hygiene among rural adolescent girls and women during their menstruation cycle.

It has been observed that rural women and girls resort to unhygienic methods during the menstruation cycle due to ignorance, cost and non-availability of sanitary napkins. Some women also feel shy of going out and purchasing the same from village shops.

The project, which will be implemented under the swaranjayanti gramin swrozgar yojna (SGSY), will not only provide self-employment to thousands of rural women but also help in promoting the use of sanitary napkins among rural women.

The training is likely to start from next month. Identification of women has already been done in Yamunanagar district and a Panchkula-based NGO will impart them training.

Under the project, 200 women from 20 self-help groups (SHGs), including 140 women from BPL families from each district, will be trained. The SHGs will be provided with bank loans with a subsidy of Rs 1 lakh.

The SHGs will take assistance of gram panchayats, sakshar mahila samoohs and mahila mandals for sale of their product. The cost of a pack of sanitary napkins has been worked out at Rs 14 and the SHGs will sell it for Rs 20. Narender Singh, CEO, district rural development agency, Yamunanagar, and additional deputy commissioner, said the training in the district would start in the second half of the next month.

Fatehabad/Sirsa, March 30
Fatehabad and Sirsa are among those districts of Haryana which are losers in terms of development works from funds raised through market fees as most of the funds collected from these districts are being siphoned off to districts like Rohtak and Jhajjar.

The fact came to light when a Sirsa-based organisation demanded information from the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board regarding income through collection of market fees and expenditure on development works of various market committees in the state.

The figures supplied by the board provide credence to allegations of the INLD that Sirsa and Fatehabad are being ignored at the expense of Rohtak and Jhajjar by the government.

Interestingly, similar allegations regarding their area being overlooked at the expense of Sirsa and Fatehabad were levelled by people from Rohtak and Jhajjar, when the INLD was in power.

The reply provided by the chief administrator of the Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board, Panchkula, said as per section 26 of the Punjab Agriculture Produce Market Act, 1961, the marketing committees, which were 106 in number in the state, were fully competent to execute development works as deposit works.

The reply further said these market committees were fully competent to incur expenditure on development works and though there were no fixed criteria for expenditure incurred on development works, yet of the total income, 70 per cent was to spent on development activities while the rest 30 per cent was to be spent on the salaries of employees of the board and on pensioners.

The reply submitted by the board revealed that a sum of Rs 711.96 lakh was collected by the market committee, Fatehabad, by way of market fees on the sale of agricultural produce of farmers during from April 1, 2007, to December 31, 2007.

However, only Rs 189.32 lakh was spent on development works in the area falling under this committee during the corresponding period.Similarly, the Sirsa market committee collected a revenue of Rs 1166.48 lakh by way of market fees during this period, but only a paltry sum of Rs 253.99 lakh was spent on development activities in the areas falling under Sirsa market committee.

Tohana and Ratia market committees falling under Fatehabad district collected a revenue of Rs 475.90 lakh and Rs 622.84 lakh, respectively, during this period, but when it came to their share in development works, Rs 145.40 lakh and Rs 127.25 lakh, respectively, were spent in the area falling under these committees.

The Rania and Ellenabad marketing committees in Sirsa district, which collected Rs 500.66 lakh and Rs 665.40 lakh, respectively, by way of market fees during the same period, seem to be the worst affected as trivial sums of Rs 63.91 lakh and Rs 76.30 lakh were spent on development activities in areas falling under these committees.

On the contrary, the Rohtak market committee that collected Rs 509.47 lakh during this period cornered Rs 1,007.98 lakh for development works.

Jhajjar, another area where a hefty sum of Rs 476.77 lakh was spent on development projects, collected merely Rs 173.78 lakh.

Chandigarh, March 30
The Haryana government has made all elaborate arrangements for the smooth procurement of rabi crops, which will be commissioned from April 1.

Haryana deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan said this year wheat was sown in 24 lakh hectares and about 105 lakh metric tonnes of wheat production was expected. About 45 lakh metric tonnes was expected to be procured by the six agencies at the minimum support price.

Wheat would be procured by six procuring agencies, namely Food and Supplies (28 per cent), Hafed (35 per cent), Food Corporation of India (10 per cent), Haryana Warehousing Corporation, Haryana Agro Industries and Confed (9 per cent each) at the minimum support price of Rs 1,000 per quintal as announced by the Government of India.

He said, similarly, the minimum support price of other rabi crops, announced by the Government of India, like barley was Rs 650 per quintal, gram Rs 1,600 per quintal and mustard Rs 1,800 per quintal.

This year, 362 mandis would be operative as against 360 during the previous year. All heads of the procuring agencies had been directed to ensure that all mandis were equipped with basic amenities such as drinking water, electricity, pucca platform, sheds and parking place.

He said farmers had been advised to bring their foodgrains to the market after proper cleaning and as per norms fixed by the GoI. The stocks of foodgrains containing moisture in excess of 12 to 14 per cent would be rejected.

The deputy Chief Minister said in case the procuring agency rejected the procurement of foodgrain, it would be personally verified by the in charge of the mandi.

Rohtak, March 30
Didactic lectures, audio-visual demonstration of advanced surgical technologies and live telecast thereof directly from the operation theatre have been planned for a joint annual conference of the northern chapter of the Association of Surgeons of India (ASI) and the Association of Surgeons of Haryana (AOSH).

The conference is being organised by the department of surgery of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) here on the institute premises from April 3 to 6. This scientific meeting of general surgeons is being organised here after a gap of 10 years.

Dr R.K. Keshwani, a former head of the surgery department at PGIMS, is the organising chairman of the event. Various academic activities like orations, symposia, guest lectures, surgical quiz etc would be held during the conference.

Apart from this, there will be a hands-on training workshop on basic skills of open as well as video-assisted surgeries for the young surgeons. Surgeons from Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir will participate in this mega event.

Eminent surgery experts from various parts of the country and abroad will detail the participants on the latest advances in the field. “In the medical science, it is essential to have regular interactions with experts and senior consultants to have a constant exposure of the new methods and techniques,” said Dr Kuldeep Singh, president of the northern chapter of the ASI.

Chandigarh, March 30
The Haryana government has decided to implement future security scheme of insurance for anganwari workers or helpers in the state.

While stating this here today, Haryana women and child development minister Kartar Devi said under the scheme, the government would invest Rs 100 per month per anganwari worker or helper for insurance through Life Insurance Corporation of India.

Those anganwari workers or helpers, who have completed one year of service as on January 1 would be covered under the scheme and they would be offered a sum assured to the tune of Rs 50,000 in a uniform manner.

She said the risk premium would form 17 per cent and the saving part would be 83 per cent of the contribution of Rs 100 per month.

Faridabad, March 30
Jail officials in Haryana have been told to give better treatment to inmates, particularly with regard to their dietary aspect.

Director-general, Jail, Dr John V. George, has directed the officials to make the inmates feel at home when it comes to food and its preparation.

The order says that the inmates should not get the feeling that their food is being neglected on account of repetition of food items and the consequent sense of monotony among the inmates.

However, he has also mentioned that no cooked food from outside should be allowed to the inmates. The visitors and relatives of the inmates can provide them with ghee, biscuits, fruits etc.

The director-general has also specified that all staff members should be in uniform and proper dress code while on duty.