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Now, chaupals for women
Sirsa, December 25 It will no longer remain a male domain as the state government has started setting up women’s chaupals too, where they can sit and discuss issues ranging from stitching, embroidery, cooking and even politics. The chaupals will also be used for dissemination of government policies among women. Work on such chaupals, which could prove an important milestone in empowerment of women, has already been started in the state. As many as 24 women’s chaupals are being set up in Sirsa district at a cost of Rs 72 lakh, according to official information. A sum of Rs 36 lakh has already been released. An official spokesman said these chaupals would be set up in the villages of Sukhirewala, Modi, Lambi, Masita, Deewan Khera, Khuiya Malkana, Tilokewala, Khuiya Nepalpur, Saharani, Daulatpur Khera, Suchan, Kotali, Badoliwali, naiwala, Mangaliya, Khajakhera, Buriwala, Neemla, Jammal, Santnagar, Rori, Kalawali, Kharia and Chautala. He said that these would be built in the villages having a population of over 10,000 or having 50 per cent population belonging to the Scheduled Castes. In the initial phase, villages having a population of over 10,000 had been selected for the construction of chaupals which included Radi Kheria, Jammal, Kalawali, Chautala and Santnagar. The remaining selected villages had 50 per cent population belonging to the Scheduled Castes. He said Rs 16 crore would be spent on the construction of such women’s chaupals. As many as 584 such chaupals were being constructed and a sum of about Rs 3 lakh was being spent on the construction of each chaupal. In all, 107 villages had been selected having a population of over 10,000 and 397 having 50 per cent population belonging to the Scheduled Castes for the construction of women’s chaupals in the state. He said these chaupals would have a hall room and the facility of bathrooms and toilets. The design for the four walls had also been prepared to give these a distinctive look. Women could deliberate on issues of development of their villages and become aware about their rights in these chauplas. They could discuss social issues such as female foeticide, education and declining sex ratio which would have a positive outcome. The women would also work on the culture and tradition of the region and the country. He said that publicity literature on various development programmes of the state government would also be kept in the chaupals to make women aware about the development and welfare schemes. They would not only become aware themselves but would also disseminate this information to other women of the nearby villages.
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PWD to recarpet rural roads
Panipat, December 25 According to senior officials of the department, district roads would be revamped under the Prime Minister’s rural roads project. Suresh, a senior official of the department said the road connecting Ganjbard on the national highway 1 to Sanoli Kurd, the 24.7 km stretch of the road on the state highway number 16, would be broadened and relaid under the plan. These roads would be broadened by 5.5 metres on both sides. Besides, the 8.25 km of road connecting Skinderpur to the refinery road would be recarpeted. The 18.78 km Jatal road connecting the NH 1 to the state highway 14 would also be recarpeted. The department is also going ahead with additional safety measures on the road from Assandh road to NH 71 in the district. The special repair of various roads in the Naultha and Asandh segments, annual maintenance of various roads in the Samalkha constituency, the thickening of the road from Panipat to Sithana via Kabri road, the improvement of the road from Khukrana to Assan Kalan, Khandra, Sehra and More Majra and on the road from Ahamadpur Majra to Dharamgarh Chowk via Kawi are also being undertaken by the department. The road from Panipat to Rajakheri, Babail, Barana to Sikligarh, the Passina Khurd road to Noorpur Muglan to Dadlana via Ujha are also under active consideration of the department for a thorough revamp. The department is also constructing the roads and parkings at the mini secretariat, which is coming up on the NH 1 at the district headquarters. The official said after the said works on the roads in the district were finalised, the commuters would have a world-class experience while travelling on the district roads. He said the district had 23,615 km of surfaced roads and the department was making an all-out effort to make sure that all roads that fall under its purview were kept in good condition.
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State tourism gears up for Commonwealth Games
Chandigarh, December 25 Pushing her proposals forward with tremendous zeal and a little nudge here and there, Kiran is committed to improving this record of sorts in the New Year as the department readies its infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games, 2010. “This is the next big opportunity to market Haryana. We are not only providing almost 7,000 rooms for the Games, but also improving their quality and the infrastructure of the state tourism corporation,” she said, stating Uttar Pradesh’s loss could well be Haryana’s gain. Realising that UP has still not done anything to brace up for the Games, she said to further augment the need for rooms, the department had proposed to enact a legislation for facilitating the Government of India scheme, ‘Bed and Breakfast’, on the pattern of the Delhi government. This would not only enable the state tourism to make available more rooms for the Games but also provide the people of the state a one-time additional source of income. The decision of the state tourism offers an opportunity to those having suitable space and facility in the NCR to run such an operation. She said the Government of India had demanded 10,000 rooms from Haryana tourism in the NCR region for the Games. About 7,000 were already ready and the remaining would be built and done up by 2009. “With formulation of the new tourism policy by the Haryana government, it would not be difficult for us to meet the demand
for rooms and provide ample earning opportunities for the people Kiran maintained that the corporation was fully geared up to undertake upgradation of the infrastructure. Out of its existing 800 rooms, 432 rooms had either been upgraded or were in the process of being upgradation. “Wayside amenities were also being modernised. Additional rooms at Bahadurgarh had already been added and new rooms at Tilyar and Myna (Rohtak) and Sunbird (Surajkund) would soon be provided. Besides, a special drive had been launched to improve the infrastructure at Sultanpur Lake”, she added. While Rs 15 crore had been sanctioned for development of the Panipat-Kurukshetra-Pinjore Circuit Phase-II, Rs 12 crore had come in for the institute of hotel management, Rohtak, and Rs 3 crore for improvement of the wayside amenities at Sohna and Sultanpur Rai. Under Phase-II of the circuit, funds had also been sanctioned for such additional works as improvement of infrastructure at Quila and Gandhi Maidan, Panipat, at Braham Sarovar, Kurukshetra, development of the public amenities at Baan Ganga, Tirat Narkatari, installation of the Virat Rupa statue. Choudhry said the 23rd Surajkund crafts mela would be held from February 1 to February 15, 2009, at Surajkund, Faridabad. She said Madhya Pradesh had been selected as the theme state for this year. Similarly, Egypt had shown interest to be the partner country. Craftspersons from SAARC countries and other neighbouring countries would also participate in the mela. Cultural programmes were also being planned through the
North Zone Culture Centre, Patiala.
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Relaxation of specifications
Chandigarh, December 25 This feeling has come after the Centre relaxed specifications for rice to be delivered by the millers to the Food and Supplies Corporation (FCI) for the current kharif season. No such concession has been given to the Haryana millers. The Centre last week had allowed the Punjab millers to deliver rice containing 3.5 per cent damaged grains to the FCI. Earlier, this limit was 3 per cent. The millers say the rice varieties sown in the two states are common and the crop grows in almost identical climatic conditions. Hence,the damage suffered by the crops is also almost identical. Therefore, they say, there is no justification behind the Centre’s decision to have two sets of specifications for the twin sisters. A delegation of the Haryana Rice Millers Association led by its president Azad Singh Rathi had met Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda recently and had urged him to ensure that the Haryana millers should not be given a stepmotherly treatment by the Centre. They told him that they did not want to emulate their Punjab counterparts and launch an agitation in support of their demands. Hooda assured the delegation that no discrimination would be allowed against the Haryana millers. He would ensure whatever concession the Centre gave to the Punjab millers would be extended to Haryana also. After the Centre relaxed specifications of rice for the Punjab millers, Hooda urged the Central government to relax these specifications for Haryana also.He has also written a D.O. letter to union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar requesting him to relax specifications of rice in the interest of food security and expeditious milling of paddy procured by state agencies of Haryana so as to avoid milling losses. These relaxations, he said, should be allowed on the same pattern as has been done in the case of Punjab.
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Rajnath, Chautala to address NDA rally in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, December 25 INLD’s national vice-president Anant Ram Tanwar said the rally would mark the beginning of the end of the present state government. “All sections of the society are fed up with the working of the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress regime in the state,” he said, adding that the BJP-INLD alliance would end the Congress “misrule” from the state. Former deputy speaker of the Haryana Assembly and senior INLD leader Gopi Chand Gehlot alleged that the Hooda regime was “distributing” prime land to their “near and dear ones”. He cited an example of how a local school got a chunk of land by giving the go by to the norms and rules. State BJP secretary Sudesh Yadav and other leaders of her party present on the occasion also blamed the Hooda government for an inordinate delay in the completion of various developmental projects. However, the local BJP leaders could not explain why the picture of former Prime Minister and veteran party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee was missing from the banner put up at the venue. Neither could they explain the absence of certain party office-bearers nor senior members from the conference.
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First-aid booth on national highway
Kaithal, December 25 Lions district governor Ravi Kant Sood inaugurated the booth at a function where present and past office-bearers of lions clubs were present. Arvind Khurana, secretary of the club, said the booth had been set up keeping in view the heavy rush of traffic on this route as this was also an accident-prone area .This would be connected with an ambulance service provided by the Seva Sangh,Kaithal. An eye check-up camp was also organised on the occasion where 64 patients were
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Kalka-Shimla rail cars on official website
Kalka, December 25 The rail cars, which had been plying for the past more than 80 years, were missing from the website of the Railways. The sources revealed that the four exclusive rail cars had been running on this section since 1927. However, for the past more than five years, these rail cars were not running daily but only in the summer season or on demand. The sources add that it happened due to the decrease in the number of passengers and tourists in the recent years and also because of the lack of information on official website. The sources further added that the website contained information regarding all five trains plying on the Kalka-Shimla section except the rail cars due to which tourists were unaware of the schedule and fare. This had also caused revenue loss to the department. It must be mentioned here that The Tribune had carried a news item, “Rail cars on Kalka-Shimla track yet to go online”, on October 13, 2008, following which sources in the office of the divisional rail manager (DRM), Ambala division, had confirmed that steps had been initiated by the railway board in this context. Notably, after the inclusion, the rail cars have started plying daily. The capacity of the exclusive rail cars is of 14 to 18 passengers. Twelve seats are being reserved from Delhi and the current booking is being carried out from Kalka, says Balwinder Singh, an official.
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‘Stress laid on disaster management system’
Kurukshetra, December 25 Dr Bandyopadhyay said earthquakes had caused an irreparable loss and suffering to the marginalised and vulnerable communities. Bandyopadhyay informed that the union home ministry had taken a number of initiatives to strengthen the disaster management system and the focus of the MHA was to build up the capabilities at all levels for handling all types of disasters. The NIT had been designated as a state resource institute (SRI) for imparting training to engineers and architects.
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Meltdown
Faridabad, December 25 However,
industrialists underlined the need for managements and workers to be patient and face the situation with optimism. These voices were expressed at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Manufactures Association, Faridabad
(MAF). Speaking at the function, industrialist K.C. Lakhani said the industry in the
country, especially in Faridabad, had seen several turbulent periods and come out a winner.However,the current recessionary phase had certainly come as a minor roadblock to the pace of development and growth that had picked up recently. The chancellor of Manav Rachna International
University, Dr O.P. Bhalla, said the industry here was functioning on strong dynamics and the present crisis would eventually prove to be an insignificant development. President of the MAF, R.C.Bondwal, and former president of the organisation
I.G. Kalia urged the industry not to resort to desperate measures like laying off the workers as the recession was a temporary phenomenon. A former president of the MAF, Navdeep Chawla, traced the safe position of the country's economy to the black money which had acted as a cushion in the global recessionary period.
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Institutes along highways
Ambala, December 25 A number of educational institutitions, including a university, are located on the state highway no 5 (till Saha), which then becomes national highway no. 73. These include MM University (Mullana), Ambala Engineering College, Kalpi Engineering College, SD College (Ambala Cantt), DAV School Riverside, Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Government College, Maharana Pratap National College (Mullana). Almost all these institutes are located on the highway and more than 1,000 students from Ambala, Panchkula, Chandigarh, Yammunanagar and other places come to these institutes daily. Even though many of these institutes have their own transport services, it is not sufficient to meet the demand. Though four private buses also ply on this route and a Haryana Roadways bus takes this route every 30 minutes, students complain it is still not enough. Besides, there is no designated bus stop outside these institutes. The designated bus stops on these routes can be seen at Mithapur, Saha, Kalpi, Mullana and Dosarka. However, students prefer to get down near their institutes. It is common to see two-wheelers and buses overloaded with students. Two months ago, when students held a protest on the Ambala - Jagadhri road, the Barara SDM had assured them of a solution but nothing has come out of it yet. The district administration needs to impose speed limits near these institutes, besides declaring the road as a no-overtaking zone before it’s too late.
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Campaign to put reflectors on vehicles
Fatehabad, December 25 Poor visibility and the lack of reflectors make it difficult for drivers of the approaching vehicles to see the slow moving “demons”. Kunal Bhadoo, son-in-law of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, has launched an initiative to install reflectors on the rear sides of all vehicles in Fatehabad. Bhadoo, who manages an NGO, Navyug Nirman, has been camping in the town since Wednesday and has so far installed over 2,000 reflectors on the rear sides of tractor-trailers, bullock and camel carts. Volunteers of the NGO start early in the morning and install reflectors on the vehicles coming to the timber market, grain market and vegetable market with the help of drill machine and screw driver. "While our volunteers have been installing reflectors at Bhattu Mandi, farmers looked with helplessness as they thought we will charge for these reflectors. But they are relieved when they learn that all this is for free,” says Bhadoo, who has adopted Fatehabad district for philanthropic activities of Navyug Nirman. “We have so far installed over 2,000 reflectors and the campaign will continue till all vehicles are covered. Each reflector costs Rs 20 to the NGO," he adds. Earlier, Bhadoo had taken up the project of replacing incandescent electric bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) in the district and has replaced over 20,000 lamps so far. “We have covered 40 villages in the district and have been replacing on an average of 500 lamps per village," Bhadoo informs. Besides, Navyug Nirman has been organising a variety of projects like cleanliness drive, medical and blood donation camps and soil testing projects.
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Minister underlines benefits of yoga, ayurveda
Gurgaon, December 25 For a change, it was a politician, Union Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh, exhorting people to adopt a positive and healthy lifestyle. The minister stated this while addressing the gathering after inaugurating the ayurvedic wing of the Urban Wellness Centre in Sector 23 here yesterday. "It is strange and ironic that while the western world is keenly following and adopting our traditional doctrines of yoga and Ayurveda, we are running after western concepts like allopathy," Rao Inderjit observed during his address. "Allopathic treatment cannot cure the root cause of the disease, it can only suppress it to provide momentary relief," he said, adding that regular practice of yoga and pranayam kept most diseases at bay. Still in the event of need, ayurvedic treatment should be preferred to allopathic for permanent cure of any disorder, the minister advised the gathering. Rao Inderjit also heard grievances of people at Om Nagar (Khandsa road), Gandhi Nagar, Hira Nagar and Shanti Nagar localities of the city. The people of these areas kept forward their grievances pertaining to bad roads, sewerage, encroachments and BPL cards, which the minister assured to redress on priority. Local Congress leaders Madan Lal Grover, G.L. Sharma, K.K. Yadav, Rao Abhay Singh and Rao Gyasi Ram were also present.
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17 new substations to be set up
Karnal, December 25 The twin corporations had already established 13 new substations and augmented eight others at a cost of Rs 178 crore since April 1, 2005, an official spokesman here said. Giving details of the new substations, he said a 220 KV substation would be set up at Bastara village in the Ghauranda block at a cost of Rs 18 crore and a 132 KV substations would be established at a cost of Rs 8 crore at Staundi, Nagala Mega, Bhadso, Ramba, Nadana and Balla villages. He further said 33 KV substations at an established cost of Rs 2 crore each would be established at Gullarpur, Dabar Thala, Shahpur, Barota, Kaimla, Kalram, Chochra, Dadlana, Rindle and Raipur Jattan in the district. In addition,the 132 KV substation at Jalmana village was being augmented at an estimated cost of Rs 2.80 crore and 108 domestic and non-domestic 11 KV feeders were being segregated at an estimated cost of Rs 35.76 crore to ensure uninterrupted power
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Jhajjar pays tributes to its martyr
Jhajjar, December 25 Jhajjar deputy commissioner Nitin Yadav, additional deputy commissioner Saaket Kumar and other administrative officials paid tributes to this hero of the freedom struggle by lighting candles before the martyr’s memorial in the park. History reveals that even as the freedom movement was believed to begun with the revolt of 1857 from Meerut, the then Nawab of Jhajjar, Abdur Rahman Khan, was the warrior who not only gave an impetus to this movement by revolting against the English rule but also played a vital role in inspiring people, especially the youth, to fight against the British regime. In 1857, when British rulers started to take hold of the assets of various riyasats of the then Jhajjar province, Nawab Abdur Rahman Khan resisted to this act. Consequently, the British rulers initiated a case against the Nawab on the charge of helping freedom fighters. The British regime apparently set an example for the other emperors who could be supportive for rebels. Apart from this, the Nawab had also to face the charges of dereliction of duty and having correspondence with freedom fighters. Eventually, he was hanged to death in front of the Red Fort, New Delhi, on December 23, 1857, following a death sentence announced by a court. Since then, residents of Jhajjar have been observing this day as the Nawab's martyrdom day. It may be pertinent to mention here that besides the Nawab, several other persons of this region had contributed in the freedom movement. Meanwhile, Yadav said the contribution and sacrifice of the Nawab could not be forgotten as he not only showed the audacity to resist the policies of the Britons, but also provided succor to freedom fighters despite dissimilar circumstances.
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LS elections
Rewari, December 25 The constituency, which is a new creation of the exercise recently undertaken by the delimitation commission, comprises nine assembly segments - the Rewari, Bawal constituencies of Rewari district, Pataudi, Sohna, Gurgaon and Badshahpur of Gurgaon district and Punhana, Nuh and Ferozepur Jhirka of Mewat district. Thus with the inclusion of three segments of Mewat district, the Gurgaon constituency has become the only in the state which is a fair blend of Hindu, Yadav and Meo Muslim voters. To capitalise on the Meo votes, the BSP has picked up Zakir Hussain, elder son of the Mewat stalwart late Tayyab Hussain, as its candidate from the Gurgaon constituency. Zakir Hussain’s candidature was propped up recently at a party rally in Bawal, near Rewari, in which national general secretary of the BSP and in charge of the party affairs in Haryana, Man Singh Manhera, called upon the people of the region to vote for him in the coming elections. Simultaneously, he also exhorted the people to oust the Congress, the BJP and all such parties at the hustings and thereby, ensure installation of Mayawati as the next Prime Minister. Further,the presence of the party supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, who recently visited Nuh to pay her condolences at the demise of Zakir’s father Tayyab Hussain, also lent an added importance to Hussain’s candidacy. Similarly by nominating Rao Narbir Singh, a seasoned fighter of many electoral battles as its candidate from the Gurgaon parliamentary constituency, the HJC, too, has made its intentions clear regarding giving a tough fight on this seat. HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi kicked off the party’s election campaign at its ‘Vishwas Rally’ here recently by exhorting the people to make Rao Narbir Singh victorious in the coming LS polls.
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Letter
While announcing the policy of reserving residential plots for advocates in HUDA urban estates, it has been provided that the aspiring advocate must be a practising member of such district/subdivision bar association where the urban estate in which he wants to apply for a plot is located. This makes only local advocates eligible. Is this provision just and reasonable considering the fact that one of the condition is also that the applicant must be a permanent resident of Haryana and enrolled with the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council. Thus a bonafide resident who is practising at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, is ineligible if he is not a member of any district/subdivision bar association. This discrepancy needs to be rectified. Secondly, it has been also provided that the aspirant must not possess any plot in Chandigarh or Mohali. This is also unjustified as these places do not come under the jurisdiction of the state or HUDA.
Hemant Kumar,
Ambala city
Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at adalat@tribunemail.com or write in at:
Letters, Haryana Plus, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030.
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