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BPL status comes with a banner
Sonepat, September 15 Under the new plan, "BPL family" would be written in broad letters on the outer wall of the houses of all eligible families. The upper layer would be of saffron colour whereas the middle and bottom layer would be of white and green colours, respectively. "The idea behind this move is to socially discourage the ineligible families as after writing 'BPL family' on the walls of their houses, such families might face social humiliation," said additional deputy commissioner Anita Yadav. She also opined that this move would also help in proper identification of deserving families. However, this exercise would be started after the completion of the new survey, she added. Meantime, according to deputy commissioner Ajit Joshi, under the new survey programme, claims and objections would be received in BDPO offices up to September 30 and the scrutiny of these forms would be done between October 1 and 15. The forms of those who would submit wrong information would not only be rejected but action would also be taken against such persons. Action would also be taken against such officials who would be found responsible for indulging in partiality and favouritism in finalising the list. Interestingly, the number of BPL families has almost doubled during the past 10 years. In 1997, there were around 24,000 BPL families in the district whereas this number increased to 48,000 after the second survey held the year. Before the announcement of the fresh survey, a large number of people from almost every village have been reaching the administration with the demand for including their names in the list. Another interesting aspect of the families claiming to be BPL is that the administration is not getting the labourers to get them enrolled for 100 days employment under the job guarantee programme in a number of villages though a large number of families from these villages have applied for BPL status.
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Best out of waste contest in youth fest
Jhajjar, September 15 A communication in this regard, has been sent to all colleges of Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Bhiwani, Rewari, Mohindergarh, Faridabad and Gurgaon districts under the jurisdiction of MDU. According to information, the topic of the event would be announced 24 hours before the commencement of the contest and participants have to bring their own waste material for the event. Contest would be held on the spot and its time duration would be two and a half hours. Judges would examine the waste material in order to prevent any possibility of cheating. Director, youth welfare department of MDU, Jagbir Rathi said this step was taken keeping in view the success of this event in techno festival organised by the university every year for students of technical courses. “On the demand of college students, the MDU youth welfare committee under the chairmanship of the university VC at its annual meeting has decided to introduce the event from the current session after pondering over all aspects of the event and circumstances,” said Rathi, adding that the event would be helpful in developing the skills of the college students. Meanwhile, MDU has declared the dates and venues for the zonal youth festival of three of the six zones, including Sonepat, Mohindergarh and Gurgaon zones. The youth festival is scheduled to be held from September 27 to 29 and October 13 to 15 in GVM Girls College, Sonepat, and Government College, Gurgaon, respectively. Apart from this, the youth festival of Mohindergarh zone would be held from October 21 to 23.
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Bagh wali kothi to house INTACH museum
Jhajjar, September 15 The kothi, which belonged to the erstwhile Nawab of Dujana, will now house a museum-cum-office of the INTACH's Haryana chapter. The sprawling guesthouse complex, better known as Bagh wali Kothi, was constructed around 1920 and is located a couple of miles from Jhajjar. The government has agreed to transfer the complex to the state chapter of INTACH on lease for 50 years. This was disclosed by Komal Anand, chairperson of the state chapter of INTACH, at a recent meeting of the trust. Hailing the decision, Anand assured that INTACH would soon work out a plan for the restoration of the heritage building. According to sources, the purpose behind the handing over the building to INTACH is twofold. First, the state chapter will get a proper office for efficient functioning. Secondly, the complex, spread over two hectares, has remained neglected for decades and INTACH will work on its restoration and maintenance. Dr O.P. Aggrawal, who heads the INTACH's Indian Council of Conservation Institute in Lucknow, has provided tentative estimates for the restoration maintenance of the complex. Dr Shikha Jain, co-convener of the INTACH's state chapter, said an MoU would be signed between Haryana government and INTACH, followed by the preparation of a project report containing details as maps, drawing and estimates of the cost of restoration. Ranbir Singh, also a co-convener of the INTACH's state chapter, observed that the coming up of INTACH office at Dujana would significantly improve the level of awareness among the local people as the chapter would have a regular and permanent address. "The location of the INTACH state office and museum assumes significance as there are several other monuments of historical importance in the neighbourhood of Dujana, particularly in Beri and Jhajjar, in addition to the Gurukul Museum," he added. It may be pertinent to mention here that the proposal to acquire the property at Dujana on lease was initiated by Ranbir Singh about six months ago and pursued by the chairperson of the INTACH's state chapter. Finally, the government communicated its approval for the transfer of the property on lease vide its letter No. 2872 dated August 2. "Once fully developed and functional, the place would also be utilised for holding public lectures, seminars and workshops about heritage conservation and education," said Ranbir Singh.
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Rural women to spearhead social change
Sirsa, September 15 This programme is sponsored by the government of India for the state women and child development department and is being executed by the Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation (Hartron). About 200 educated women and girls drawn from sakshar mahila samoohs (SMSs) and village-level NGOs have been getting computer training at Hartron workstation in the Bansal Colony here. The women are being trained in computer fundamentals, Windows, MS Office, Internet applications and typing. They have also been given assignments and practice in data punching. Rajesh Deswal, AGM, Hartron, says on the completion of training these women will collect and manage data at the village level to help gram panchayats in planning and executing various projects and schemes. In all, 800 women, two from each SMS, nominated by the state women and child development department will be trained in four batches in a year, he says. Each course, being conducted at e-education franchisee centres of Hartron in 10 districts, is of three months duration. Besides the fact that the course is being provided free of cost, as an incentive the women are being provided a monthly stipend of Rs 500 each. At present, about 6,000 SMSs are registered in the state each comprising between 25 and 60 educated women and girls from the respective villages, says Deswal. This organised pool of educated women in the villages are not only helping in creating awareness on key issues like sex ratio, literacy, health, sanitation, etc but also contributing in social audit, which is necessary to improve delivery at the grassroots level. Hartron is also imparting six months’ computer training to about 8,000 SC students from government colleges in the state with a view to empower them for getting employment or self-employment. The batches of SC students are on at Government National College, Sirsa, informs Arun Mehta, director of the local Hartron workstation. The training is being provided free of cost by the department of higher education. The department has decided to provide these students with a computer, UPS and printer if they secure 40 per cent marks in the university examination and 60 per cent marks in computer skills, Mehta says.
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Health dept, too, banks on them
Chandigarh, September 15 Officials admit that preventive and promotive aspects of health have not received the required attention, a fact proved by the vector-borne disease outbreak that occurs annually in the districts of Rohtak, Gurgaon, Panipat and Jind. “Emphasis on preventive and promotive health is the key agenda in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and effective IEC has an important role to play in creating awareness for changing unhealthy habits of people. But because of multiplicity of effort, these IEC initiatives have lost their focus. We have therefore decided to integrate and intensify the IEC activities with proper monitoring,” said Dr Veena Chugh, additional director general, health services. Since about 70 per cent of population in Haryana resides in the rural areas, the government has decided to lay more focus on village-level activities through community-based organisations and volunteers like SMS (which exist as registered societies in more than 6,000 villages). A sub-group of 10 or more SMS (depending upon the population of the village), headed by the president of the SMS, will be first trained at the women’s study centre in Kurukshetra University to impart health education. They will then act as a vehicle for IEC on health programmes and issues. Officials said the main am of this strategy was to ensure continuous and intensified IEC for behaviour change that related to healthy lifestyles, women’s health, importance of girl child, adolescent health in addition to prevention of diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. Dr Chugh informed TNS that a sum of Rs 3.10 crore had been earmarked for this purpose. “In fact, since 70 per cent of population resides in villages, we have decided that 70 per cent of the funds for IEC will be utilised in the rural areas,” she said.
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MNCs beware
Yamunanagar, September 15 The product is planned to be made available free of cost for use to all adolescent girls and women in the rural areas who use rags and pieces of gunny bags and are prone to a number of health related problems. This way the rural woman can get rid of unsafe methods. This would be done with the help of gram panchayats, who would be asked to purchase the product for a year in bulk from the self-help groups. Six women have been sent for training after which they would act as resource persons and would impart training to all self-help groups in the district. Machines and raw material worth Rs 26,000 would be provided by the administration free of cost. In order to ensure fixed market for these napkins, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Narender Singh has made a request to financial commissioner and principal secretary state rural development Urvashi Gulati, that “the scheme would achieve a great success if we evolve a system wherein the self-help groups could sell their products to gram panchayats in the district”. “The panchayats should be asked to buy these products for Rs 10,000 each year for free distribution amongst women. In this way, each group would do an assured and brisk business of Rs 5 lakh in a year and in order to have a proper check and distribution of products. Gram panchayats can be asked to distribute the same to mahila mandals and sakshar mahila samoohs for their proper and useful distribution to the target groups who would also be educated about its use. It is also proposed that the user and the panchayat could be asked to share 10 per cent and 90 per cent cost of napkins,” the ADC has suggested. While talking to The Tribune, Narender Singh said, “We have identified at least 200 women for 20 self-help groups which include at least 140 women of BPL families who would be given training with system for procurement, production, distribution and sale which needs to be developed in a proper and significant manner under this
programme”
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College holds talent-hunt show
Sirsa, September 15 The recent spurt in reality shows on television channels has opened up new vistas for youngsters in the field of music
and dance. If they can outrival others in these fields, they stand good chances of making a good career. Schools and colleges are the best places where talent of any kind could be caught. C.M.K. National P.G. Girls College recently organised a contest to search raw talent among students of the college. Chairperson of the improvement trust Sunita Setia, Sirsa, was the
chief guest. A myriad of cultural activities were presented on this occasion. Scores of students exhibited their singing and dancing talent. Addressing the students, Setia, also daughter of the state industries minister Lachhman Dass Arora, said it was a moment of pride for her to be amongst her old teachers. Students selected from the talent search would be performing in the youth
festival, said principal Vijaya Tomar. College lecturers Sunita Mehta and Monika Malik conducted the stage. The college is hosting the zonal youth festival of Kurukshetra University from October 21 to October 23.
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Yamunanagar doc performs bilateral knee replacement
Yamunanagar, September 15 Dr Sharma used the latest rotating platform knee RPF with high flexion. Providing details of the surgery, he said the patient was obese weighing 120 kg and suffering from severe osteoarthritis. The surgery was performed under spinal epidural anaesthesia. He said the surgery was safe and the patient was awake during the operation and pain control was much better in post-operative phase. Leg raising and bending got started the same evening. After 8 days, the patient started walking and doing exercise perfectly. “Shock absorbing cartilage covers the surface where the knee bones touch. In standard TKR, we replace the damaged areas of these bones with prosthesis that is held in place with bone cement”. Need of joint replacement is required when patient’s cartilage covering the bone gets damaged, he further said. “The person needs replacement when he is constantly taking painkillers but not relieved, unable to sleep at night due to pain that restricts your social activities and there is trouble in getting off the chair. The conservative treatment of the problem is by medication, weight loss, physiotherapy activity restriction and walking”, he added.
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Emergency reservoirs on verge of extinction
Ambala, September 15 These tanks were built after taking into consideration the highly sensitive Army cantonment in Ambala Cantt. Ambala was one of the three towns including Gurgaon and Hisar, which were declared high-risk areas during the war. The PWD department had been taking care of these high-capacitated tanks till the Indo-Pak war in 1971, but after that these reservoirs were neglected and people started using these as dustbins. In this war, Pakistan had dropped two bombs in Ambala Cantt in which a historical church was damaged. Official records revealed that static tanks were constructed in Old Anaj Mandi, Kumhar Mohalla, Nandi Mohalla, Bamboo Market, Premnagar, Nahan House, Baldev Nagar, Court Road, and Kotwali Sarai. Circumference of each tank measures around 15 ft having the capacity of 60,000 gallons of water. These cemented tanks were provided with pipelines of 3-4 inches wide for the inlet of water so that these could be filled within a short span. Since the PWD department has set these pipelines aside, people of the nearby areas have started throwing waste in it and later some of these tanks were encroached upon. One of these tanks is a home to a poor woman whereas another one is encroached upon by a cycle repair vender. Residents of the area use one of the tanks for organising Ram Leela and other religious functions. According to information, the civil defence department of the central government had sanctioned Rs 40 lakhs for constructing these tanks. Although the tanks were constructed in the municipal area, the maintenance work was handed over to the PWD department.
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Commonwealth Youth Games
Jhajjar, September 15 A communication in this regard has been received recently by RP Garg from convener of games technical committee ASV Prasad. Prior to this, he had been nominated as technical official/coach/referee for advance boxing training-cum-competition camp 1989 in Bangkok (Thailand), J.L.N. centenary gold cup wrestling tournament 1989 in New Delhi, 1st Asian cadet wrestling championship 1989 in New Delhi, 11th Asian games national wrestling coaching camp 1990 in New Delhi, 12th Asian games 1994 in Hiroshima (Japan), Sydney Olympic games 2000 in Australia, 2nd annual Australia cup 2003 in Melbourne, world military games 2007 in Hyderabad (Karnataka) and national wrestling championship 2007 in Udaypur (Rajasthan). Besides this, he also got opportunity of participating in advance training course of wrestling in the USA as FILA representative. Senior lecturer of physical education with Maharshi Dayanand University, Garg is posted at the MDU Post Graduate Regional Centre Rewari. Talking to The Tribune, RP Garg said there is no dearth of talent in India but due to lack of proper training and basic facilities, Indian wrestlers usually get leg behind in the international contests. However, Indian wrestling indeed got a boost by the recent medal winning performance of wrestler Susheel Kumar in the Beijing Olympics. But despite the fact, there are lot of areas where reforms are required, he maintained. Garg said the government should set up a state-level wrestling training centre so that budding wrestlers could be trained about the technicalities of wrestling under the guidance of experienced trainers. He also applauded the state government’s policy of motivating the Olympians by announcing hefty cash awards and offering service in the Haryana police.
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Moneylenders thrive in Bhiwani
Bhiwani, September 15 According to sources, with a view to make easy and quick money a large number of financiers have come up in the city in the past few months. It is also surprising that most of these moneylenders are from rural background and they are using muscle power and pressure tactics to charge high rates of interest. It is alleged that a decent amount is being given to the police. These financiers target small and needy traders, who are given the required amount on high rate of interest. Since traders need the money, they accept the terms but later find it difficult to repay the amount. Several families have lost their entire money after being trapped by these moneylenders and most of them had even paid their debts by surrendering their houses. But none of these financers has faced any kind of police action so far. Once a person falls prey to the moneylenders it becomes very difficult for him to move out. Financiers first charge
compound interest on the loan amount, but later multiply it in several other forms as borrower remains unaware of this
mathematics. Despite repaying the original amount more than 20 times, the victim finds no way to break free from the debt trap. Sources say in case of default, these financiers use every method to recover the money and even confiscate borrower’s property. If anyone has deposited gold ornaments or any security, it is forfeited in the name of interest. Giving a loss at the tune of crores of rupees to the state government, the interest of these financiers accumulates 20 times more than the interest of any bank. In the past, fearing harassment, a number of victims had gone into hiding while some had committed suicide, but the police had refuted the charges and took no action. For instance, a youth of the Jeetuwala pond area had recently committed suicide allegedly after getting threat from a financier. His family members had approached the police before the incident, but to no avail. Similarly, a shopkeeper of local Krishna Nagar colony, a grocery shopkeeper of Bichla Bazar and a cycle repair shopkeeper had to migrate.
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CDLU on expansion spree
Sirsa, September 15 “The hall with 11,713 sq m space is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore. It would be ready by the next academic session. The hall would have an auditorium with a capacity to seat 500 persons. It would also be equipped with facilities like badminton hall, boxing ring, basketball and tennis rings. It would also house separate gymnasiums for boys and girls,” Bhardwaj said. “The hall would also have facilities like committee room, cafeteria, store, changing room and sauna bath.” He said the indoor stadium would have a seating capacity of 2,000 persons, while 5,000 people would be able to watch plays or other cultural programmes in the open-air stadium of the hall. The library with 8,086 sq m space would also be completed by the start of the new academic session. The building would be centrally air-conditioned and would have four floors. The ground floor would have computer laboratory and all computers of the university would be linked through the Internet, the vice-chancellor said. R.K. Sehgal, registrar of the university, said the foundation stone of the university was laid by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda during his last visit to Sirsa. Sultan Singh, director, students welfare, Asim Miglani, secretary to the VC, Parveen Agamkar, chairperson of the physics department, Vikram Singh, chairperson of the computers sciences, Virender Singh Chauhan, chairperson of the journalism and mass communication department, Rajbir Dalal, chairperson of the public administration department, N.C. Jain, controller of examinations, Dilbagh Singh, director of public relations, Satish Vij, executive engineer, Nand Lal Mehta and Rakesh Godara, both subdivisional officers were present on this occasion.
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Modern auto market on the cards
Sonepat, September 15 The transport nagar would be situated over an area of 17 acre in HUDA’s sector 3 near Sidharth colony on the Bahalgarh road. In the first phase, sites for 306 shops would be auctioned in the first week of October. According to the plan, besides five dhabas, two large-scale service stations would be opened in the transport nagar. As many as 13 centres and four separate buildings would be constructed for bodybuilding activities of the buses and trucks. Around 100 shops of spare parts would also be part of transport nagar. Estate officer Amarjit Singh Maan informed that there had been haphazard growth of repair and spare parts shops on the Bahalgarh road and soon after auctioning of the shops in auto market of transport nagar, the owners of these shops would be asked to shift. A survey of existing shops is being conducted and action would be taken against those shopkeepers who would not shift their establishments, he said and added that no transport repair activity would be allowed on the Bahalgarh road. He claimed that after developing the transport nagar and auto market, there would be relief in traffic congestions in the town. It would also help in minimising pollution in the residential and other business localities of the town, he added.
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NGO helps orphans build careers
Panchkula, September 15 However, these ideals are not only translated into reality but also practiced in its true spirit at Ashiana, a home for 62 orphan and destitute children in Sector 16 here. Away from their homes, Ashiana has been providing a perfect ambience of parental love, care and education for these lesser children of God since 1981. Doomed by circumstances, Sunil (10), an orphan from Katiar (Bihar), finds Ashiana his home. His painting potential has been nurtured here and he has won over 12 medals besides getting good education. He has resolved to be a top painter in the world. Luxmi (10) from Nepal and Blessy (11), never settle for less than 88 per cent marks. Both aspire to be doctor in life. So are Punam Luthra and brother Nimit, who aspire to be a police officer. Jyoti Bala (14) is a poetess in the making. All of them study at Blue Bird while Anjali (14), a topper, studies at Hans Raj Public School. Presently run by the Haryana branch of the Association for Social Health in India (ASHI), project Ashiana came into being with the efforts of M.C. Mamgain. Driven by celestial passion to serve innocent children in the need of care and protection, Mamgain started it with eight children in a rented accommodation of two rooms way back in 1981, informs joint general secretary Vibha Taluja. With the generous attitude of donors and the state government, Ashiana has blossomed to register its existence in the region, with a three-storey building in city's posh Sector 16, adds Vibha. She maintains that the ongoing activities include maintenance of children's home, awareness programmes, computer education, adult education and vocational training centre for slum women. Haryana president of ASHI, Maj Gen Inderjit Singh Dhillon (retd) says the society has empathy with women and children in distress and has envisaged plans for their empowerment and rehabilitation and to prevent their exploitation by anti-social elements. Besides ensuring gender parity and dignity, reducing infant mortality, maternal mortality, eradication of nutritional deficiencies, promoting small family concept, environmental upkeep and basic education
with vocational training to children are high on the agenda of Dhillon.
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Ban on burning trash goes up in smoke
Kaithal, September 15 Burning of waste material in the open by workshop owners, scrap dealers and municipal employees has become a common practice in the district. The workshop owners burn waste oil filters to extract metal and heaps of oily clothes and other waste materials. As most of the workshops are located in the markets adjoining
the residential areas, residents are forced to inhale the poisonous smoke emanating from it. Adding to this problem is the municipal staff that burns the garbage in the common dustbins kept at different locations. A visit to these areas reveal that a large number of dustbins made up of iron sheets purchased by the local municipal council few years back have become useless, as collected material is disposed of by burning it on the spot. Though the Haryana assembly had enacted a law to check burning of waste material in public places but the violations have been taking place with impunity. Not even a single erring person has been fined or booked by the MC authorities. The residents feel that the authorities should initiate action to stop this practice that is a health hazard for the common man. When contacted, deputy commissioner Vikas Gupta said he would ask the executive officer to look into the problem and take action against the offenders.
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Parul makes Jind proud
Jind, September 15 Presently posted as ASP in Howrah, West Bengal, this 29-year-old officer hails from Safidon, the paddy hub of Haryana. According to her father, Master Lal Chand, a retired teacher and a resident of Safidon, Parul did what he could not achieve. He said he had dreamt of becoming an IPS officer when he was in college, but could not clear the interview. He told Haryana Plus that though he never forced his daughter to go for any particular
profession, his missed target motivated her to take the civil service examination and ultimately the IPS. Born in November 1979, Parul passed her middle examination from Government School,
Safidon, and matriculation from DAV School, Panipat. She did her graduation in science from MCM DAV College, Chandigarh, and postgraduation from Panjab University. Parul cleared the civil services examination in her first attempt, but could get the Indian Forest Service (IFS) cadre. Not satisfied with the success, she kept
her preparations on for getting at least the IPS cadre and ultimately succeeded in achieving the target in December 2004, when she got a call for joining the IPS course from July 2005. Parul's elder brother is an official with the CBI and is posted in Chandigarh at present.
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Citizens’ First The unfortunate incident of police action on guest teachers in Rohtak on September 7 that led to the death of a teacher is indeed a sad episode. The incident raises a pertinent question. In democracy, petition and peaceful protests are justifiable, but the recurrent protest rallies in Rohtak and especially the marching of protesters towards the so-called CM’s residence is not understandable. The capital of Haryana is Chandigarh and CM’s official residence too is in Chandigarh. It is noteworthy that during previous regimes, protest rallies were never held in Bhiwani (Bansi Lal’s hometown), or Adampur (Bhajan Lal’s hometown), or Sirsa (Devi lal’s and O.P Chautala’s hometown). Moreover, the so-called CM’s residence (Matu Ram Bhawan) in Rohtak is the residential abode of veteran freedom fighter and surviving member of constituent assembly Ranbir Singh Hooda, who is 96 years old. Hence, this veteran freedom fighter deserves peace or at least should not be disturbed by belligerent slogan-shouting protesters. Though the police action on protesters is condemnable, this protest melodrama must stop and people must read between the lines regarding this politics of protest. Sunit Mukherjee, Rohtak Ensure development
The state has got its 21st district in the name of Palwal, thanks to the policy of the Hooda government that has been granting the status of subdivisions, tehsils, sub-tehsils in quite casual and liberal manner, not to mention succumbing to political pressures. Though there is no harm in upgrading the status of these areas, the real issue is that whether this will ensure all round development in real sense or is this exercise a merely self-vested attempt by the bureaucracy in order to increase its command over the state administration as a new district entails posts of DC, ADC, SP and host of other officers. It is to be mentioned that a state like Andhra Pradesh with area as much as six times that of Haryana has only 23 districts. The state should ensure that there should be development in true sense if upgraded status is granted to any area. For instance, in Mewat, which was grated the district status lately, is still underdeveloped and backward. Similar is the case with previously upgraded Jhajjar and Fatehabad districts. Hemant Kumar,
Ambala City
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