CHILD MARRIAGES AND HARYANA

THE women of Haryana have an uncanny way of making it to the news pages. Sometimes, even before they are born. Often, for being killed by their own kith and kin for such a simple act like marrying someone they like. The social web they are born and brought up in pushes them to make startling headlines — female foeticide, honour killings, and now child marriages — indicators of society’s obstinacy for clinging to feudal values, while modernity knocks at its doors. In six months, 195 child marriages have been reported in Haryana, as compared to 47 in 2009. The reasoning offered behind these marriages is startling — safety for the girl and protection of family honour!

There are clear indications of violation of human rights for women at various stages of their existence. There are, of course, paradoxes like Commonwealth champions Babita and Geeta from Balali village in Bhiwani district, who were encouraged to take up ‘kushti’ (wrestling) by their parents, despite a lot of opposition from the villagers. After the medals started pouring in, the scenario changed. Now, four other girls from the same village have joined wrestling. And these are not isolated cases. But, unfortunately, instead of highlighting these champions and using them as their poster girls in a state where female foeticide is showing alarming figures, the government chooses to introduce cash incentives for the girl child, from her birth to her marriage!
So long as the girl child is treated as a liability, and money is offered as a kind of compensation under several schemes (Ladli, Balika Samriddhi Yojna, Dhan Luxmi, etc) by the government for letting a girl child take birth, it will be impossible for her to grow up with self-respect and the required confidence to claim her rights. And girls will continue to be bartered with money, material, in barter marriage (atta-satta) and under all other kinds of violations of her rights. If the government is serious about tackling this malaise, it should provide a safe environment for girls to come to schools and colleges, so that like other parameters of modernity, independent girls too find their space. 

More powers tol PRI's in Haryana

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced a number of steps to strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the state and ensure maximum involvement of people in development projects.
Now all funds or grant-in-aid under all schemes would be transferred directly to the bank accounts of gram panchayats and they can grant administrative approval for all works to be undertaken under various schemes, except that of Haryana Rural Development Fund (HRDF), without any limit, Hooda said in a statement here.
Also, now instead of the Deputy Commissioner, the president of the zila parishad would be the chairperson of the District Rural Development Agency. Members of the zila parishad and the panchayat samiti would have the right to inspect various development works within their wards. The engineering wing of the Panchayati Raj Department would work under the panchayats.
The Chief Minister said all funds or grant-in-aid under all schemes like the HRDF, Pavement of Streets, Surcharge on VAT, Mukhya Mantri Anusuchit Jati Nirmal Basti Yojana, Special Development Works, State Finance Commission Funds and Central Finance Commission Funds would be transferred directly to the bank accounts of gram panchayats through the Real Time Gross Settlement system. Earlier, the funds used to be given through Deputy Commissioners or Additional Deputy Commissioners.
Hooda said the gram panchayat would have the discretion to either execute the work itself, directly or through a local contractor, or it could entrust the work to the Panchayati Raj Engineering Wing for the works estimated up to Rs 10 lakh. In case of works estimated above Rs 10 lakh, the gram panchayat could get those executed through the Panchayati Raj Engineering Wing.

Hooda’s Agenda

Funds under all schemes to be transferred directly to bank accounts of gram panchayats
President of zila parishad to be chairperson of District Rural Development Agency, instead of Deputy Commissioner
Members of zila parishad and panchayat samiti to have the right to inspect development works

“Yashoda Health Scheme”,

Ram Kishan Fauji, Haryana Chief Parliamentary Secretary, attached with the Health Department, said under the new “Yashoda Health Scheme”, volunteers would be deployed in the district hospitals of Ambala, Panchkula and Faridabad with more than 3,000 deliveries per year for the Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) counselling to mothers who had recently undergone delivery in the hospital.
While giving details of the project, Fauji said the districts had been selected on the annual delivery rate, Ambala - 3,200 cases, Panchkula - 5,542 cases and Faridabad - 4,200 cases. For this purpose, the state government had earmarked Rs 12.8 lakh for all district hospitals. He added that the Yashoda Scheme would soon be extended to all other government hospitals also. He said for each district eight Yashoda volunteers would be employed for three shifts of eight hours each, supported by a pair as a reliever. There would be one Yashoda per five to six women in each shift. Each Yashoda would be provided with an incentive of Rs 100 per delivery, which would enable one Yashoda to earn Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 per month.
Fauji added that the Yashodas would work under the supervision a retired nurse, who would act as a Yashoda supervisor. She would be paid Rs 7,500 per month. He said seminars would also be conducted for generating awareness regarding correct feeding practises and the Infant Milk Substitute (IMS) Act among doctors and the health staff. He said a booklet in Hindi would also be provided to each mother, undergoing counselling with information on the benefit of bathing, early breastfeeding, immunisation and intake of healthy food.
Fauji added that Yashoda would facilitate registration of mothers at the time of women reaching the hospital for delivery, act as a companion during delivery and also help in cleaning, wrapping and putting identification tag to newborn, care of newborn, recording of birth weight, support to mother and early initiation of breastfeeding .

Rehabilitation of sex workers

OFTEN, the rehabilitation programmes initiated by the government cut no ice with the sex workers in India. The reason is that they smell sympathy rather than respect for the persons involved in the world’s oldest profession. The Supreme Court had directed the Centre and the states/ Union Territories to prepare suitable rehabilitation schemes for the welfare of sex workers in April who, the court stressed, are entitled to a life of dignity under Article 21. On May 4, the court again sought reports on what vocational and technical training schemes the states were proposing to ensure meaningful rehabilitation of the physically and sexually abused women. Close on the heels comes the Government of Haryana’s initiative, which has invited applications from the NGOs interested in working for the rehabilitation of sex workers in the state.

The state claims it has close to 14 thousand sex workers, who are to be rehabilitated under Ujjawala and Swadhaar schemes of the Centre. Going by unofficial sources, unprecedented growth of economic centres like Gurgaon has given rise to a lot more numbers involved in the trade in urban and semi-urban areas but in a sophisticated manner, which eludes the conventional surveys conducted on sex workers. Even at the national level, the number of women involved in sex trade largely varies, undertaken by government and private agencies.
If one is to look at the history of success of such schemes taken up in the past, one would realise the schemes have filled sex workers with more scorn and contempt rather than sorting out the complex issue. One reason behind the fact is that sex trade flourishes under police and political protection and hence is largely criminalised. Forced rehabilitations carried out by the government, elsewhere in the country, in the name of “rescuing them from their plight” have not paved the way for their betterment. What is indeed needed is more opportunities for women to choose their means of livelihood from. The proposed training on the lines of ITIs and providing loans for the marketing of their products are well-meaning ideas, but their real test would be in their implementation.

HARYANA AND WOMEN VOWS

The ‘honour’ of certain communities has become a very fragile commodity. It gets violated by every little action of its women. If girls from their community marry men from outside, the honour gets violated; if they marry men from their own community, the honour is infringed. It also gets breached if two women become friendly, as happened on April 18 in Ranila village of Charkhi Dadri area of Haryana when two widows were beaten to death ruthlessly before hundreds of ‘spectators’ for ‘having an affair’, as was alleged by a rapist on parole. And now, women are barred from work by a ‘fatwa’ issued by panchayats of Gadowali and Sarai villages of Haridwar district. Violators were told to pay Rs 5,100 and also face humiliation. This fatwa was issued across boundaries of caste and religion.

In a democratic country governed by a Constitution which guarantees equal rights and opportunity to work regardless of gender, caste and creed, could a panchayat’s dictate restrict women from work? The answer is, yes. While the Constitution may have empowered women with equal rights, the implementation of these rights by the administrative machinery has been dismal, giving teeth to such bodies like the khap panchayats. The fragile ‘izzat’ of the said community was ‘abused’ by one of the girls working in an industrial unit who eloped with a boy! So, the entire women force of the area had to face the wrath. Fortunately, after the district police took stern action and offered police protection to working girls, the panchayats took a u-turn by declaring the fatwa to be meant only for minor girls. This proves how an active administrative machinery can weaken these self-styled socially regressive forces.
In an India of 9 per cent growth rate and many well- meaning legislations to bring in more equality among all sections all of the society, violence against women is the fastest-growing crime, thanks to institutions like these. Every 26 minutes a woman is molested, every 34 minutes a rape takes place, and every 43 minutes a woman is kidnapped, according to the Home Ministry’s National Crime Records Bureau. There is more to these crimes than the apparent issue of honour. In the land of few opportunities and many contenders, elimination of girls paves way for the socially preferred and favoured male employment.

HRYANA'S EFFORTS TO HELP ELDERS AND CHECK DECLINING SEX RATIO

The state government has announced to provide direct help to the old-aged couples or senior citizens who fail to get the help and care of their children at this stage of their life. Such beneficiaries would be getting free boarding and lodging facilities under the scheme named “Rajya Baran Poshan Aivam Kalyan Adhiniyam” implemented recently.
While the deputy commissioners has been made the head of the special tribunal to look after the work in this regard, the SDMs have been appointed as nodal officers at subdivision level to receive the applications. A parliamentary tribunal will be looking after the overall implementation of the scheme in the respective subdivisional areas.
Meanwhile, faced by severe criticism after the release of the census figures regarding skewed sex ratio , the state government has initiated measures to promote balance in the sex ratio and to serve the interests of the girl child. These include cash prizes to the districts which would be improving sex ratio and financial help to groups of women who work for the welfare of the girls and women in the rural areas.
According to an official spokesperson, the authorities at the district and subdivisional levels had been directed to ensure proper implementation of schemes like Laadli, under which the government provides various kinds of help to the girl child. Claiming that over 1.07 lakh girls had been benefited under the scheme so far, he said as many as five districts — Gurgaon, Fatehabad, Sonepat, Mahendergarh, Jhajjar and Faridabad — had been given prizes for excellent work. Jhajjar is the same district where sex ratio has been recorded one of the least in the country.
The government has announced a cash prize of `5 lakh, `3 and `2 lakh for the districts coming first, second and third, respectively.
The authorities claim that work towards empowering women has been going on smoothly as about 6,250 groups of literate women have been set up already and they have been working towards creating awareness regarding the issue and helping women in various aspects at the local level. These groups are being given `5,000 per month for their activities. The spread of literacy and awareness on certain issues concerning their interests and welfare has been the main focus of the programme.
The authorities claim that sex ratio would improve drastically in the next few years. The integrated child and women welfare scheme has got engaged about 75,000 women in the district at present and their focus is to ensure a balanced diet and nutrition for both the women and the child.

HARYANA AND NUCLEAR POWER

Haryana is betting high on nuclear power. Determined to become self-sufficient in power, the state is now vying with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to set up a second nuclear power plant at either Bhiwani or Hisar.
Officials in the Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) today said they had already indicated two sites (Kitlana in Bhiwani and Balsamand in Hisar) to the NPCIL, for setting up a nuclear power plant. “A survey was conducted recently, and after getting the satellite imagery done, we have proposed two sites to the NPCIL for setting up a second nuclear power plant in the state,” said HPGCL managing director Sanjeev Kaushal.
When approved, this will be the second nuclear power plant to be set up in the state, other than the 2800 MW nuclear power plant at Fatehabad.
Talking to The Tribune, Kaushal said the Central Electricity Authority had got a study conducted for identification of sites where new thermal power plants could be constructed in Haryana. “Based on this study, we had made a proposal to the chairman of the NPCIL, for a second nuclear power plant at the above mentioned places,” he said, adding that the identified sites met all criteria for the setting up of a nuclear power plant, including availability of water, less habitation, nearness to rail head, and were not falling in the identified seismic zone.
Haryana already has the required approvals to set up four units in a nuclear power plant (700 mega watts each) at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad district. With the land acquisition on for this plant, the state is hoping that this nuclear power plant will be commissioned by 2017. “The pre project activity for this nuclear power plant (conducting all tests and getting all clearances) will be done by March 2013. The construction and commissioning will take four years, and by 2017, we hope to generate 2800 MW of power from this plant,” he said. The sanction for this nuclear plant was granted in 1984, but the process for acquisition of 1503.4 acres of land in Gorakhpur and Kajadhedi villages in Fatehabad. The state has a power generation capacity of 3230.5 MW, through its own resources. For the rest of its power requirements, it relies on bilateral power arrangements and also gets power through its equity stake in power projects outside the state.

NEW SECTION - HARYANA GS

FROM TODAY ONWARDS PUNJABUNLIMITED IS INTRODUCING A SPECIAL LABEL OF HARYANA GS. IT WILL INCLUDE THE ARTICLES VARIOUS FEATURES RELATED TO HARYANA.MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO PROVIDE MATERIAL FOR RECENTLY ANNOUNCED HCS(J) ANF FORTHCOMING HCS EXECUTIVE NEXT MONTH.
BEST OF LUCK

Soil health cards

If Gujarat has the distinction of achieving a record 9.6 per cent growth in agriculture, Haryana has the unique feature of being the only state in the country which has issued soil health cards to its farmers and has soil fertility maps for its entire agriculture land in the state.

 

The soil fertility maps are available with the agriculture authorities up to the village level and these are global positioning system (GPS) enabled and available online on the website of the Agriculture Department, Haryana.
The department has roped in the services of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for this purpose.
The soil fertility maps reveal the fertility condition of the given agriculture land and also disclose deficiencies of minerals and micronutrients, if any.
From the soil health card of his land, a farmer can know the condition of his land and get crop specific prescription as to which and how much manure and fertilisers are needed.
“There are 15.84 lakh farming families in Haryana. Of these, the department has already taken 10 lakh soils samples and issued them soil health cards after testing these samples in the 30 laboratories functioning in the state,” said Ashok Kumar Yadav, Director-General, Agriculture Department, Haryana.
Of these 30 laboratories, 13 are equipped with facilities for testing micronutrients. Based on the soil health cards of particular areas, soil fertility maps have been prepared to provide information about the soil condition of the entire agriculture land of Haryana.
When Gujarat surprised all by recording an agriculture growth of 9.6 per cent - almost three times the national average - Haryana sent a team to study the agriculture model in that state.
“After going through the Gujarat model, we have found that our own Haryana model was much better than that state,” Yadav said and clarified that the better agriculture growth of Gujarat was because they started from almost zero, while Haryana was already a leader with Punjab in the matter of Green Revolution.
The Haryana model was now being replicated by Jharkhand, Bihar, UP and Rajasthan, he said.
Yadav said based on the village-level fertility maps available with the authorities, the state government had planned a two-pronged strategy to improve the health of the soil as well as to deter farmers from going after the “water guzzling” summer paddy, also called “saathi”.
The department had been supplying seeds of “summer moong” to farmers on a 50 per cent subsidy so that they could utilise their land for the “intermittent two months” available to them before the plantation of paddy.
“Summer moong”, being a leguminous plant, has nitrogen-fixing qualities and hence improves the soil health.
The department is also distributing seeds of “dencha”, which though is a weed, fixes nitrogen in the soil and functions as a green manure for the next crop.