Hisar, March 19
Fear of the unknown has gripped politicians seeking to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections because of the demographic changes in the constituencies following the recent delimitation exercise.

Thus far, the voting behaviour of different Assembly segments in the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state was more or less known. The candidates were aware of the caste configurations as well as their own strengths and weaknesses in different Assembly segments. But, in the new dispensation, the candidates are finding it hard to finalise their strategies fearing these may not boomerang because of unknown factors.

A look at the changes in the constitution of the Hisar Lok Sabha segment shows why politicians have developed the fear of the unknown. Hisar originally comprised Hisar town, Narnaund, Barwala and Gihrai from Hisar district and Jind, Narwana, Kalayat, Rajaundh and Uchana Kalan from Jind district.

After the delimitation, four of the five assembly segments of Jind district have been excluded. These are: Jind, Narwana, Kalayat, Rajaundh. In their place Adampur, Nalwa, Uklana, Hansi and Bawani Khera have been included. Even among these Uklana and Nalwa are new assembly constituencies. Adampur and Hansi were earlier part of the Bhiwani Lok Sabha seat.

With such major changes in its constitution, the candidates who have represented the Hisar constituency in the past do not fully comprehend as to how the voters of the new constituencies will treat them.

Similarly, the Bhiwani Lok Sabha seat has undergone a complete overhaul. Even the name of the constituency has been changed to Bhiwani-Mahendragarh. The new areas of Mahendragarh have changed the demographic and caste patterns. The candidates are finding it hard to fine-tune their political skills to meet the new challenge with fears lurking at the back of their minds.

Psephologists say the changes effected by delimitation are not limited to voting patterns and caste factors alone. There are social and cultural factors for politicians to cope with. They say that under the new dispensation a new candidate from Jind district will find it impossible to win the Hisar Lok Sabha seat as in the new dispensation the remaining Assembly constituencies are culturally entirely different.

These factors are keeping parties and their ticket hopefuls on their tenterhooks. That explains much of the delay in the announcement of candidates by leading parties. Only the BSP and the BJP have declared their list so far. The Congress, INLD and the HJC (BL) are still mulling over the long lists of ticket seekers.

Chandigarh, March 19
LPG distributors across the region held “solidarity” meetings to highlight their problems, including “insufficient” commission received by them from oil companies on the supply of refills.

The meetings were held at the call of the All-India LPG Distributors Federation (North Western Region) throughout Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The meetings were held at Ambala, Karnal, Rohtak, Hisar, Faridabad, Patiala, Ropar, Jalandhar, Bhatinda, Ludhiana and Shimla.

President of the federation Capt KJS Buttar said the oil companies expected a lot from the distributors, which was not in consonance with the amount the latter received as commission. He said while it was the duty of the distributors to cater to their customers diligently and efficiently, the oil companies should not expect “five-star services at dhaba rates”.

He said the distributors were ready to cleanse the trade of all malpractices and were eager to give the best possible services to their consumers, but the oil companies should also take steps to ensure that their distributors got a suitable remuneration.

The distributors said during the just concluded winter season, the companies had difficulties in supplying adequate LPG refills to their distributors due to the shortage of LPG in their bottling plants. However, it was the dealers who had to face the brunt of the consumer ire. 

The shortage resulted in backlog at various places leading to malpractices and diversion of cylinders. They said the diversion at the level of the deliveryman was a negative aspect of the home delivery system and the distributors should not be victimised in general for the same.

The distributors agreed that there was room for improvement provided the oil companies joined hands with them.

General secretary of the federation Capt Reet MP Singh said district conveners of the federation had been asked to work on a war footing to ensure that the consumer complaints were redressed within 24 hours. The names of the district conveners and their contact numbers would be prominently displayed at all LPG outlets shortly.

The federation decided to take with the companies of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas that the issue of ad hoc or direct LPG distributorship given to the Himachal State Civil Supplies Corporation, which had made the existing distributorships unviable in that state. 

Chandigarh, March 19
It’s a first of sorts with regard to the appointment of election observers in various constituencies of the country for the smooth conduct of the parliamentary elections. Unlike the officers of the Indian Administrative Service who get “picked” for duties at the very beginning of the election season, this time round, officers of the state civil services, too, have been roped in for performing duties for a free and fair election.

Sources said while the sheer number of officers required for the conduct of elections, over 2,000, was “provocation” enough for the election commission to explore options others than the IAS, the experience of the state civil services’ officers in conducting elections, too, was an “attraction” for the EC.

From Haryana, as many as 23 names of HCS officers have been picked for poll duty and have been given the first round of briefing as well. Just like those selected from the IAS, most HCS officers are “unhappy” for being the “chosen ones” and lobbying to get suitable replacements is on.

Sources said the EC decided to rope in the officers of the state services because they acted as returning officers for the Assembly elections and assistant returning officers in the parliamentary elections. Since they are already familiar with the process of conducting elections, they emerged as the best bet.

Also, since officers from among the state civil services are promoted to the IAS subsequently, it was thought that the election could prove to be a good learning experience for them outside the state.

Thirdly, with 543 MPs to be elected for the Lok sabha and each constituency having an average of eight Assembly segments, the EC found the sheer numbers difficult to manage since state governments usually cannot spare officers appointed at key posts. 

This being the situation, all state governments were asked to send the names of officers who will be randomly assigned constituencies through the computer. Also, the EC has clarified that the officers of the state civil services will not play second fiddle to any service and will be independent observers reporting directly to the election commission.

However, instead of being enthused with this opportunity that has come their way, the HCS officers are busy searching for “willing replacements”. Sources say this time the EC has made the cancellation of duties more tedious since the officer seeking cancellation has to apply online to the commission. 

The request is the forwarded to the chief secretary of the state concerned who makes his recommendations and suggests a replacement. The officer seeking cancellation is considered on duty till the time the replacement joins duty.

This time, the EC has also revived the practice of appointing election observers from the Indian Forest Service, which was discontinued a few years back.

Sirsa, March 19
When conventional crops fail to provide sufficient profits to farmers, non-conventional farming can sometimes prove beneficial if taken up after proper study of the environmental conditions of the area and other aspects associated with farming.

Some progressive youths of the district have shown the way to others by earning handsome profits by taking to mushroom farming.

Take the example of three youths from Madhosinghana village in this district, who have been able to earn over Rs 3 lakh each per season by doing mushroom farming on only 250 yards.

Sita Ram, a village youth, used to eke out his living by doing manual labour till some years ago and found the earnings hardly sufficient to make both ends meet.

However, his sufferings have come to an end ever since he took to mushroom farming.

He first started his unit on 250 yards in the village and later established another small unit in the courtyard of his house in the village.

Now, other members of his family also help him with mushroom farming.

“I found mushroom farming much better compared to conventional farming. One can earn better profits than conventional farming with sincere efforts,” said Sita Ram while talking to The Tribune.

He said a small space was also sufficient for mushroom farming as one could make two or three slots one above the other.

He said wheat straw was used for preparing compost in which mushrooms were grown.

He said a temperature of 14 to 18° C had to be maintained for mushroom farming and spray of water was used in summer and electric bulbs were used in winter to maintain the temperature.

He said one could earn Rs 3 lakh from a mushroom farm set up on 250 sq yards.

Ramesh Kumar and Vinod Kumar are two other youths of the village, who have been earning a decent living by setting up mushroom farms on small landholdings.

Mushroom farmers rue that lack of marketing facilities is the main hindrance in their business.

“Normally, we get a rate of Rs 45 to Rs 50 per kg of mushroom but when the crop is in abundance there are no takers for the crop and we have to sell our crops at throwaway prices,” said Vinod Kumar.

Mushroom growers demand that the government should provide good marketing facilities for their crops and also provide better storage facilities and processing facilities in the area to encourage mushroom farming.

Pathredi (Gurgaon), March 19
Balwan Singh of Alakhpura village near Hansi has developed high-yielding and good-quality varieties of onion and green chilli at his small farm. Bhagwan Dass of Antawa village in Radaur block of Yamunanagar district made a pioneering effort by practicing inter-cropping in his fields.

There are quite a few others like these innovative farmers, who not only have succeeded in making agriculture a profitable venture for themselves but also shown the way to a number of other farmers, who have successfully replicated their experiments.

Many such progressive farmers from various parts of the state as well as the neighbouring states got an opportunity to share their experiences and interact with the agricultural experts at a workshop organised by the Farmers First Foundation here recently.

Rajbir Singh, who manages a model farm set up under the aegis of the foundation here, underlined the significance of conventional farming methods in the present era.

Singh as well as other agricultural experts advised the farmers to avoid over-use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides to protect the natural fertility of their soil.

The farmers were told about several traditional farming methods and techniques that have been scientifically proved to yield good results.

An entrepreneur from the USA, Peter Frykman, who has been working in the area of providing affordable and water-saving drip irrigation technology to the farmers of the developing countries, gave a live demonstration of his equipments and techniques meant for the small farmers.

Executive officer of Rohtak-based innovation-scouting group, Sristi Gyan Kendra, Kamal Jeet conducted the proceedings.

Gurgaon, March 19
Pathways World School has set up computer labs in nearby village schools. This unique project aims at providing IT education to the village children. Pathways has installed nine computers in the government schools of Teekli, Aklimpur and Haryahera villages. 

It has also taken the responsibility of periodical maintenance and services of these computers. The labs were inaugurated by Bharat Wakhlu, resident director, Tata group of companies.

He said, “I’m impressed with this initiative of Pathways World School. We all understand the importance of computer education for our children. The school is doing a great job. I also congratulate the students of the school for their contribution to this contemporary cause”.

Praveen Jain, managing director, Pathways, said, “The future of the students depends upon quality education. Our students of Grade 12 have organised a number of fund raising activities in the past two years with a clearly defined objective of setting up computer labs in village schools”.

Kanta Devi, principal, Government Middle School, Aklimpur, said, “We are happy for this contribution of Pathways World School. Our students will surely be benefited with this project”.

The students of Pathways said they had raised funds for these villages by organising certain activities on the campus on their own and they have enjoyed working for this noble cause.

Rewari, March 19
MLA and president of the Haryana Yuva Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (HYKSS) Naresh Yadav has decided to hold a “Chhatra-Yuva-Kisan sammelan” at Nasibpur near Narnaul on March 20 to expose the Opposition leaders’ “political skulduggery” in the matter of equitable distribution of the canal water.

Addressing a press conference here recently, he said it was something deplorable that while the peasantry in south Haryana suffered from acute paucity of the canal water, INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala and others were interested in seeking political mileage from the canal water issue.

Asserting that while the construction of the Rs 350 crore Hansi-Butana link canal (HBLC) showed that the Hooda regime’s commitment to equitable distribution of the available canal water was beyond any shadow of doubt, he alleged that the Punjab Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has made things difficult for the Hooda government to ensure hassle-free functionality of the HBLC much to the chagrin of the residents of the Ahirwal region at Chautala’s behest.

He announced that the HYKSS would soon approach the Supreme Court with a request that they should also be made a party to the HBLC tangle, which is long pending in the apex court, as they were the real sufferers in the matter.

Rewari, March 19
Three front organisations of the Aggarwal Samaj-the Harayana Pradesh Aggarwal Sammelan, the Haryana Pradesh Yuva Aggarwal Sammelan and the Haryana Pradesh Mahila Aggarwal Sammelan- are jointly organising “Agar mahakumbh”, a massive convention of the Aggarwal Samaj in RKSD College, Kaithal, on March 22.

The convention, being held in the backdrop of the coming Lok Sabha elections, has assumed a special significance. While thousands of the members of the samaj from all over the state will be participating in the convention, it will virtually be a massive show of strength as well as unity within the samaj.

State president of the HPAS Gopal Sharan Garg said the convention would prominently demand the institution of a National Traders’ Security Fund and state level fund, provision of a mass insurance scheme for shops and other business establishments against sabotage, incidental fires and burglaries, total abolition of caste-based reservations and simultaneous introduction of reservation for the members of all economically-weaker sections of the society and mandatory inclusion of the representatives of the samaj in the trade policy making panels of the central government as well as the state governments. 

Yamunanagar, March 19
A Buddhist stupa that was built by Emperor Ashoka in Chaneti village in the district needs to be protected as a monument, taking care of the sentiments and religious feelings of the Buddhists attached to it.

Highlighting these problems, members of Buddhist societies, who gathered at the monument site, about 8 km from here, also submitted a memorandum to a former member of the national commission for minorities Ven Lama Chosphel Zotpa for its proper care and protection.

The members of the Akhil Bharatiya Bhikshu Mahasangh (ABBM) and the Bharti Bodh Mahasabha (BBM) also explained in detail to Zotpa the problems and the work required to be done here to maintain its sanctity and to preserve the monument. Zotpa assured the members of all possible help.

The members of the Buddhist societies rued that despite the fact that the monument had been declared protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), it had been still in a state of neglect. 

Ashoka built this stupa as Gautam Buddha had preached here. Throughout the year, not only the pilgrims and the tourists from the country but also from abroad visit this place, especially on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.

However, neither the roads leading to it nor the information about stupa had been displayed at different places to guide or inform the people about it, they complained. The Buddhist stupa holds significance due to the fact that 10 stupas were erected at the different places following Budhha’s Parinirvana. 

Ashoka had collected relics from the seven stupas and redistributed them to 84,000 stupas that he had built during his regime. This stupa, built in 1st century BC in hemispherical shape, reflects the ancient archaeological marvel.

Normally, every stupa had been fenced with stone or wooden railings, but no railing was found here. Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang had mentioned in his travel account that the stupa built by Ashoka is situated 3 km from Chaneti. 

Ganaur (Sonepat), March 19
Having touched an annual production of over 104 million metric tonnes (MMT) of milk, India continues to be the number one milk producing nation of the world.

India had become the world’s number one milk producing country after surpassing the annual milk production of 71 MMT by the US in 1998. India registered an annual growth of 5 to 6 per cent per year since then as compared to 1 per cent growth registered by the rest of the world. 

And in order to keep up the steady growth in milk production the dairy farmers need to increase animal productivity by adopting scientific dairy farming.

This was stated by dairy experts at the Dairy Kisan Mela, organised by the Amrik Singh Cheema Foundation Trust, in old grain market, here, recently.

A large number of farmers from as many as 110 villages participated and gained useful tips to increase milk production.

Dr AK Srivastava, director, National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, was the chief guest on the occasion. He said dairy farming was contributing significantly in the national GDP in comparison to different crops. He said there were indications that in the times to come, dairying would play an important role in increasing the income and employment in the rural areas.

The director said the country had 51 per cent of buffaloes and 17 per cent of cows of the total bovine population of the world that had placed it on the top as far as milk production was concerned. 

He stressed that there was much more potential in this field and urged the farmers to adopt a total package of technologies recommended for scientific dairy farming.

He even warned the farmers against the excessive use of oxytocin in their animals to increase milk outputs. He said if required, oxytocin should only be used under the supervision of veterinarians.

In his address, Jagdeep Singh Cheema, chairman of the Amrik Singh Cheema Foundation Trust, said the trust was making an effort to contribute effectively in bringing about improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the farmers. For the purpose, the trust had come up with a number of developmental programmes related to agriculture and dairy sector, he said.

Dr RS Chillar, principal scientist of the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi, said dairy farmers should have strong linkages with local veterinarians so that they could get acquainted with the timely information and latest technologies for increasing milk production.

He added that the farmers should feed their dairy animals scientifically for economic milk production that could increase profits.

On this occasion, Dr Dalip K Gosain, head, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and Dairy Training Centre, said his department was holding various training programmes on dairy production, processing, crop production, fisheries, bee-keeping and home science from which the farming community could derive immense benefits. He called upon the farmers to participate in these programmes to improve their knowledge and skills.

The experts said the steep rise in the growth pattern had been attributed to a sustained expansion in domestic demand, although per capita consumption was modest at 70 kg of milk equivalent.

The country’s annual milk production had increased manifolds in the past 30 years, rising from 21 MMT in 1968 to 104 MMT last year. This rapid growth and modernisation was largely credited to the contribution of dairy cooperatives.

Dr Avtar Singh and Dr Shiv Prasad, both principal scientist, NDRI, Dr Anil Khipple from HAU, Uchani, Dr SP Sangwan, deputy director, agriculture, Dr ML Sharma, cane manager, and Dr Dharm Singh of KVK, Sonepat, also spoke on the occasion.

During the programme Rajbir Singh of Dadupur village, Karnal, was honoured as his cow had recently produced 59.5 kg of milk.

The farmers took keen interest in the interactive question-answer session and exhibition that was organised on the occasion. 

Aggarwal is one of the six official members of the said board.The others being secretary, Animal Husbandry and Dairy (chairman), director- general, Animal Husbandry and Dairy (member- secretary), director, Agriculture Department, director, Local Bodies Department, and chief wild life warden, Haryana.

The railways have recently started a new train ‘Garib Rath Express' from Chandigarh to Jaipur, which is a fully AC train. This train passes through the major towns of Haryana and Rajasthan. But this seems that the railways have forgotten the fact that the real 'garib' (poor) or middle class persons cannot afford to board the train.

 Therefore, the authorities should also attach one sleeper and one general coach to this train. Only then it would truly be a ‘Garib Rath Express.’

Hardesh Goswami, Bhiwani

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.