Chandigarh, August 26
Ever since the prevailing administrative system was put in place by the British, one of the primary tasks of deputy commissioners (DCs) and subdivisional magistrates (SDMs) has been to hear and decide cases relating to revenue laws. One of the most important columns in the annual confidential reports (ACRs) of these field officers used to be their performance in the disposal of revenue cases, which pertains to land disputes.

However, in the recent years, the revenue cases have taken a back seat in the priorities of field officers, who remain busy with law and order issues or attending to VIPs. This results in the neglect of their court work, leading to a long pendency of revenue cases.

Another major reason for the growing list of pending revenue cases is the lack of knowledge of revenue laws on the part of the officers. With a sharp decline in the quality of officers being recruited in the state services, many of them are just not capable to deal with complex revenue laws. They prefer to just mark their time, leaving the cases for their successor.

Now the Haryana government has decided to monitor the progress of disposal of revenue court cases in all districts through the online web-enabled revenue court case monitoring system.

This was conveyed to the DCs and Divisional Commissioners by Naresh Gulati Financial Commissioner, Revenue (FCR) during a videoconference with them yesterday.

Reviewing the status of revenue cases, Gulati directed the DCs to dispose of the old cases on priority. If an officer had more cases, the DCs should redistribute the cases to officers available with them. The DCs were asked to put the information of court cases on the software within a month. The Divisional Commissioners were also asked to review the status of the court cases regularly and to take remedial measures, whereever necessary.

Gulati also asked the DCs to formulate a tehsilwise programme for distribution of relief, to be released by the government shortly, to flood-affected farmers. The distribution, he said, should be quick and transparent. He reviewed the progress of the Haryana Land Record Information System (HALRIS), the Haryana Registration Information System (HARIS) and the policy for removal or relocation or regularisation of unauthorised construction by religious institutions on public land in all districts.

HALRIS is a visual basic/SQL server-based software system used by the Haryana government for the computerisation of land records in its tehsils. The DCs were asked to make all "jamabandis" online by December.

Gurgaon, August 26
The district administration’s campaign to dismantle the “suvidha shulk” regime at the local tehsil complex got a shot in the arm with Haryana Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary (Revenue) Naresh Gulati appreciating the drive and suggesting that other districts also learnt from it.

Reviewing the status of encroachments along the roadside in different districts in the name of religion through video conferencing today, Gulati lauded the opening of three counters for the same-day registration of documents at the Gurgaon tehsil.

Terming Gurgaon as the “show window” of Haryana, Gulati also asked Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria to elaborate on how he could make the process of registration of documents simpler in Gurgaon for information of other Deputy Commissioners.

Following Gulati’s specific orders in this regard, the district administration had opened three counters at the Gurgaon tehsil office. All six tehsildars and naib tehsildars posted here had been given the power of a sub-registrar and they were asked to man the counters in rotation. The subordinate staff is also changed in rotation after two weeks. These steps have been taken to curb corruption in the tehsil office.

Kataria apprised the conference that in Gurgaon, 112 illegal constructions were found along the roadside. Of these, four were removed and three were in court cases. The remaining constructions would be regularised after receiving resolutions from the panchayats as these were on the panchayat lands, he added.

The DC further said the land records of the district were being computerised. “Of the total 291 jamabandis, 269 have been computerised and 100 put online,” he said, adding that the computerisation of the remaining was under process and the tehsils of Manesar, Pataudi and Farukhnagar were being given priority.

Kataria further said due to the efforts put in by the district administration with the help of various sections, a total of 600 property dealers in Gurgaon had got themselves registered as per the rule made by the state government.

He pointed out that residents had to buy stamp papers from the Mehrauli road branch of the State Bank of India, which was quite far from the mini-secretariat. The district administration had offered the bank authorities to open an extension counter on the secretariat premises so that people did not face hardship.

Kataria requested the Financial Commissioner to provide funds for cleanliness of the secretariat, which was adversely affected due to unavailability of funds. He also requested the FCR to provide funds for paying the outstanding electricity bill of the mini-secretariat, amounting to Rs 1.25 crore.

Chandigarh, August 26
Ten municipalities of Haryana have been awarded with additional financial assistance in recognition for their commitment to popularising alternative sources of power. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, has provided financial Assistance of Rs 50 lakh to the municipalities which have amended their building bylaws for making solar water heating systems mandatory in the buildings falling under their jurisdiction.

"The incentive is provided by the Ministry as a one-time grant to those urban local bodies who adopt and notify the modification of their building bylaws making installation of solar assisted water heating systems mandatory in at least some categories of buildings in their respective areas," explains Sumita Misra, Director, Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA).

The 10 municipal committees getting the financial incentives are Gohana, Thanesar, Shahbad, Ladwa, Pehowa, Ambala, Naraingarh, Safidon, Jind and Narnaul. Each of these municipal committees will get an amount of Rs 5 lakh for training, awareness creation, demonstration and creation of infrastructure for a permanent help desk at the committee office.

Misra said that four more Municipal Committees---Sonepat, Hisar, Barwala and Hansi---have also amended their building bylaws and they are also likely to get the financial incentives very soon.

Misra further adds that the Urban Local Bodies Department, Haryana, had already notified the amendment in the Haryana Municipal :Building Bye-laws 1982 under which installation of solar water heating systems was made mandatory in industries with hot water requirements for processing, hospitals and residential buildings on a plot of 500 sq. yds, besides identifying other such categories.

Misra said solar water heating was the most cost-effective technology for hot water applications and the government was promoting it with attractive financial incentives. She said that a 100 liter solar water heating system costs about Rs.24,000/- and saves about 1500 units of electricity annually. The government was promoting the technology by providing a capital subsidy up to Rs. 10,000 and a rebate in electricity bills up to Rs. 3600 per year for three years.

Chandigarh, August 26
Voluntary agencies will now be involved with "bhatha pathshalas" for children of brick-kiln workers in Haryana.

According to Chief Secretary Urvashi Gulati, only reputed and credible voluntary agencies will be entrusted the task of setting up and running the alternative innovative education (AIE) centres, popularly known as "bhatha pathshalas", through the cluster route.

The brick-kiln season normally starts from October and lasts till May.

The 'bhatha pathshalas' will be opened to cater to a cluster of brick-kilns at one place in a district. Applications from eligible voluntary agencies will be invited for this purpose. Children would be enrolled in October and November. The "bhatta pathshalas" would run for six hours a day instead of four hours as at present.

The AIE scheme of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan covers all seasonal migratory children in the 6-14 age-group residing on the premises of brick-kilns with their parents. The cluster approach has been dictated by ground realities. Thousands of brick-kilns dot the state, and at most of them the number of out-of-school children is very small. Since it is neither possible nor prudent to set up a school at each brick-kiln, it has been decided to group brick-kilns located close by into one cluster. This approach will make things convenient from the logistics and monitoring point of view besides optimising resource utilization.

Gulati says the system of providing mid-day meals to the children at "bhatha pathshalas" is also being improved. The NGOs would take a call on how best to serve them hot and freshly prepared nutritious food for which ration would be supplied by the district administration. In the absence of a better alternative, they could draw on the existing set-up in the nearest government school, where cooks prepare meals for children. However, the ADC concerned would visit the "bhatha pathshalas" to ensure that quality food was served to children.

During 2009-10, 681 "bhatta pathshalas", enrolling about 17,000 migratory children were set up in various districts. The maximum (50) were set up in Ambala district, 21 in Bhiwani, 42 in Faridabad, 35 each in Fatehabad and Jind, eight in Gurgaon, 46 in Hisar, 25 in Jhajjar, 21 in Kaithal, nine in Karnal, 40 in Kurukshetra, 30 each in Mohindergarh and Mewat, 39 in Palwal, 45 in Panipat, 29 were in Panchkula, 40 in Rohtak, 33 in Rewari, 24 in Sirsa, 47 in Sonepat and 32 in Yamunanagar district.

Gulati, who presided over a meeting held here yesterday to review the works undertaken by different departments to improve the working conditions at the brick kilns, directed the officers concerned to start preparatory work before the onset of the season for mitigating the problems being faced by the labourers employed at the brick kilns. The provision of health services, education for the children, the minimum wages and availability of essential commodities would be ensured by the respective departments.

The labourers would be issued ration cards by the Food and Supplies Department so that they can draw essential commodities from fair price shops. The Labour Department would ensure proper wages as well as insurance coverage to the laborers.

Rewari, August 26
The mortal remains of Parvinder Singh Yadav (25), a jawan of the 19 Kumaon Regiment, were consigned to flames with military and state honours at his native Pranpura village, 18 km from here, recently.

While Rameshwar Dayal, MLA, and others placed paid tributes to the martyr, his one-year-old son Veer Yadav lit the pyre. Simultaneously, contingents of the Kumaon Regiment as well as the police reversed their arms while bidding final farewell to the martyr.

Parvinder, along with others, was a member of peacekeeping force of the United Nations and was posted at Green Park Town Post in Congo region of South Africa.

When about 70 militants of the Mai Mai insurgent organisation launched a fierce attack on their post on August 18, Parvinder died while fighting against the insurgents whereas two of his colleagues, soldier Narender Kumar, a resident of Lukhi village, and subedar Harish Chander, a resident of Juddi village, near Kosli, sustained injuries. They were now under treatment at a hospital in Congo.

Parvinder is survived by his wife Manisha Yadav and son Veer Yadav.

Karnal, August 26
Heavy rains in the paddy growing areas of the state have affected non-basmati rice crop, but the re-transplantation of basmati varieties has not only helped in making for the loss, but also meeting the target.

Transplantation of non-basmati in flood-hit areas, where the crops already sown had been damaged, was not feasible as the sowing season was over and farmers switched over to basmati rice, which could be grown till the second week of August.

According to State Agriculture Department sources, area under paddy crossed 11.53 lakh hectares, but the area under basmati rice was about 6.25 lakh hectares, which was more than 54 per cent. The area under rice was about 12 lakh hectares last year. The area under basmati was around 40 per cent.

As per the preliminary estimates by revenue officials, Kharif crop had been damaged in around 1.90 lakh hectares with loss pegged at about Rs 100 crore.

However, the state was all set to meet the target in terms of the area covered and production. Following the floods in Pakistan, prospects of export of Indian aromatic basmati rice has brightened and the prices increased by nearly Rs 100 per quintal.

Rice exporters here confided that prices of pusa 1121 (steam) rallied at Rs 5,200 to Rs 5,400 per quintal, while pusa 1121 (sela) were high at Rs 4,200 per quintal. While pusa-1121 (raw) was quoted at Rs 5,200-5,400, basmati sela and basmati (raw) were quoted at Rs 6,200 and Rs 7,300 per quintal.

Rice traders are upbeat as prices were expected to remain high due to export demand in the near future in spite of the decision of the Union Commerce Ministry not to lift ban on the export of non-basmati rice.

Vijay Setia, president of the All-India Rice Exporters Association, said basmati exports were likely to cross 32 lakh tonnes as per the trends in the global market. Exporters do confide that they were getting enquiries for basmati, particularly after the report of floods in Pakistan.

In the global basmati market, India and Pakistan are the main competitors and if crop is damaged in Pakistan, Indian exporters stand to gain. Further, wheat production has been affected in Russia due to the worst drought, while Canadian crop has been literally washed away by rains.

Meanwhile, Setia has expressed concern over the recent reports that pesticides had been found in Indian rice exports. He urged the Union government to issue necessary guidelines to pesticide manufacturers so that farmers growing aromatic rice varieties use pesticides judiciously.

In a letter to the Agriculture Minister, Setia said strict guidelines should be issued to the manufacturers of pesticides to put advisory in local languages, giving correct and complete information to farmers about quantities, recommended crops, method and the right time for using it during the crop cycle.

The advisory should also carry other relevant facts or information that farmers should know. He also cautioned that if proper care was not taken while using chemicals, country's export trade might suffer damage, harming the interests of the farmers.

Chandigarh, August 26
There is a jumpstart in the number of technical institutions in the state during the last five years as their number has increased from 161 in 2005-06 to 546 in 2009-10 and their intake capacity from 28,445 to 1,12,910.

According to a spokesman of the Technical Education Department, technical education has been the thrust area of the state government as it is an effective instrument to tackle the problem of unemployment.

The annual plan budget for technical education has been increased from Rs 50 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 190 crore in 2010-11. The number of technical institutions and their intake capacity are proposed to be increased to 569 and 1,18,785 respectively during this year.

He said the government has upgraded CR State College of Engineering, Murthal, and the YMCA Institute of Engineering and Technology, Faridabad, to the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal, and the YMCA University of Science and Technology, Faridabad, respectively, as part of its drive to impart quality technical education.

The Union Government has also approved an IIM to be set up at Garnawathi village in Rohtak district. Its classes have already started on the campus of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

Four state-of-the-art institutes at Rohtak, namely the State Institute of Fashion and Design, the State Institute of Film and Television, the State Institute of Fine Arts and the State Institute of Professional Studies, have also been approved.

The Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology is also being established at the Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, Murthal. The construction is likely to be completed by December 2011.

Rewari, August 26
Members of the Brahmin Samaj from various parts of the district participated in a district-level convention of the samaj held under the joint auspices of the Rewari District Brahmin Sabha and the Brahmin Yuva Organisation at the Brahmgarh complex here recently.

While Haryana Revenue Minister Shiv Charan Sharma was the chief guest, district Brahmin Sabha chief Ram Sharan Mudgil presided over the function in which Dr JK Sharma, chairman of the Ganga Devi Pandey Charitable Eye Hospital, Mahendragarh, was a distinguished guest. The mnister inaugurated the newly established Bhagwan Parshuram Eye Treatment Centre. Nearly 100 patients were examined for various eye ailments and were given medicines free of cost.

Describing the Brahmin Samaj as a torch-bearer-cum-caretaker of Sanskrit as well as ancient culture, the minister exhorted elders of the samaj to infuse cultural values into the young generation to ensure proliferation of Indian culture. He also called upon members of the samaj to curtail lavish expenses on marriages and utilise the money thus saved for the welfare of the poor and the needy. While the minister announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh , Dr JK Sharma offered a financial assistance of Rs 51,000 to the Rewari District Brahmin Sabha. Pawan Sharma (Rewari) and Tula Ram Sharma (Faridabad) were honoured on the occasion for their meritorious services rendered to the samaj.

Hisar, August 26
The Department of Archives organised an exhibition of archives relating to the incidents of August 19, 1857, in which hundreds of Indians were martyred in the town by the then British rulers.

RK Srivastava, Assistant Director, Archives, said during the first war for independence 153 years ago Hisar was freed from British control when the revolutionaries killed the then Deputy Commissioner John Wedderburn on May 29.

The power was transferred to three locals - Mohammed Alam, Shahbaz Khan and a maulvi. The British later occupied the local fort. People from Mangali, Putthi managl Khan, Rohnat, Hisar and Hansi led by Mohammed Alam attacked the fort with traditional weapons.

The British retaliated by using artillery and firearms. The British massacred around 500 locals in the counter attack and the roads were lined with bodies of revolutionaries.

He said this incident was not recorded in history books, but there were archives that recorded the happenings.

The exhibition attracted hundreds of visitors. A seminar on Haryana's contribution to freedom struggle was also organised at the local Government College. Historian MM Juneja in his address said self- defence was inbuilt in man but the true fearless were those who helped protect the nation and society.

Juneja dwelt on the practice of sati and narrated anecdotes from the life of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

Phateh Singh Dagar, Director, Archives, said youth must always bear in mind the sacrifices made by martyrs to free the nation from the clutches of foreigners. Youth had the most important role to play in the development of the nation but they could get the right perspective through the history of freedom struggle.

Hisar, August 26
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has decided to connect clusters of houses on the periphery of the villages, known as dhanis in local parlance, having a population of 11 or more persons, to the rural domestic feeders for power supply on the rural domestic mode.

Sudhir Rajpal, Managing Director, DHBVN, said here that the expenditure on shifting the dhanis from agricultural feeders to domestic feeders would be borne by the applicant and the government on a 50:50 basis.

He said the supply would be given in the single or three-phase mode, as the case might be. For clusters of dhanis within a radius of 100 meters, supply would be given by installing a single phase or three-phase transformer near it depending on the load

However, the facility would be given only to those dhanis without any defaulters. The decision was a one-time measure and not an ongoing programme. Hence, it was applicable to the existing dhanis only as per a survey already conducted, he added.

He said that the shifting would be executed on a first come, first served basis provided the consumer had deposited 50 per cent of the estimated cost and seniority to this effect would be maintained separately at the subdivisional level.

He added that under a special campaign for maintenance and strengthening of the power distribution system, the DHBVN had serviced 11-KV 417 feeders benefiting consumers in over 1000 villages by way of improved quality of power supply. The nigam was also making villages and urban localities bare-conductor free under this campaign. The work had been completed in 176 villages and 11 urban localities. The bare-conductor free distribution system would be reliable and safer.

Sonepat, August 26
In order to increase green cover and help preserve environment, the district administration has planned to plant 25 lakh saplings of different varieties during this year.

Disclosing this, deputy commissioner Ajit Joshi informed that the district was a plain area and around 95 per cent of the land was being used for crop cultivation. The area under forest cover was only 7,359 hectares, which was just 3.45 per cent of the total land, he added.

“Moreover, there is no natural forest area in the district and for plantation, we have to depend on vacant lands on the sides of canals, roads, distributaries, seasonal drains, railway track etc,” he said and added that these areas had already been declared as reserved green belts for the promotion of forestry.

The Forest Department had raised a nursery of 25 lakh plants in the district and the department had been given the target of planting eight lakh saplings on its own. Over 10 lakh saplings would be distributed free of cost to farmers, educational institutions and voluntary organisation, he said.

The nursery raised by the department included 98,208 saplings of neem, 2,326 of bargad, 1,682 of peepal, 2,502 of pilkan, 1,01,230 of papri, 26,135 of bakain, 18,400 of kajelia and 7,973 of Bahera. As many as 63,720 saplings of sheesham, 9,29,400 of safeda, 75,100 of poplar, and 24,530 of teek had been grown for building material plants.

Similarly, firewood plants included 2,94,230 of keekar and 42,140 of franse; 1,45,150 saplings of jamun/jamoa, 55,640 of guava, 23,728 of pomegranate, 34,740 of papaya, 23,835 of berry, 34,630 of anwala and 25,840 of bel as fruit trees, besides around four lakh saplings of decoration plants had been raised in different nurseries of the department.

Sonepat, August 26
After Saina Nehwal, Saurabh Sharma, an Under-14 lad from Chhatehra village in Sonepat, is another Haryanavi who is all set to make his presence felt at the international level.

His latest achievement has been the gold medal at the All-India Rajiv Gandhi Gold Cup Badminton (Under-14) Championship organised by the Director of Sports of the government of NCR of Delhi at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Bawana, Delhi, from August 19 to August 22.

Saurabh, born on December 30, 1997, won the Under-13 Singles Title in the 23rd Sub-Junior Open National Badminton Tournament held at Jaipur in October last year.

Saurabh’s father RK Sharma informed that for the want of proper training facilities in the state, he sent him to Hyderabad for training from Gopi Chand Pulela.

“Though Saurabh is full of talent and committed to the game, it is very costly affair for me to bear the expenses of training,” his father remarked, adding that the average monthly expenditure for the training of his son generally touches up to Rs 20,000.

However, he thanked Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and president of the State Badminton Association Devender Singh for providing financial assistance of Rs 51,000 for the excellent performance of his son.

Saurabh commenced his winning streak at the age of nine when he emerged as a winner in the Under-10 Boys Single Section of the 40th Haryana State Badminton (Junior) Championship in September 2006.

From then, he did not look back and remained winner in Single Section of the Under-13 category of the 42nd Haryana State Open Junior Badminton Championship in September 2008 and Single and Double Section of the Under-13 category of the 43rd State Junior Badminton Championship held at Jhajjar in 2009.

Besides gaining first position in the Single Section of the Badminton Championships of the Central Board of Secondary Education held at Malerkotla and Mohali last year, Saurabh had also bagged third position in the Single Section of the Under-13 category of the All-India Junior Major Ranking Badminton Tournament in January 2009.

Kurukshetra, August 26
Eminent economist, Dr Madan Mohan Goel, professor and chairman, Department of Economics. Kurukshetra University, has been offered prestigious assignment Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) Chair of Indian economy as visiting professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul (South Korea).

The ICCR, running a prestigious programme to propagate Indian studies abroad, deputes professors to the chairs of Indian studies set up by it in various renowned foreign universities.

Prof Goel, who has been issued diplomatic passport that requires no visa to travel abroad, was relieved recently to join his new assignment. Prof Goel has been teaching and guiding research in economics of human resource development and Indian economy for the past 33 years. He has also worked as chairman, Department of Journalism, Kurukshetra University.

Earlier, Prof Goel was conferred Rotary Foundation Award for international understanding in 1983, which provided him the opportunity to represent India in the US, UK and Canada. He is also a recipient of two gold medals for topping in M.Phil (Economics) and PGDJMC.

The Bhartiya Dalit Sahitya Akademi, Delhi, honoured him with Dr Ambedkar Fellowship Award in 2003. He has 149 publications, including three books, to his credit.