IEP Chandigarh, December 15

For the first time, the facility of open-heart surgery will be operational soon in the Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantonment, Haryana. Apart from this, the facility of PAT-scan (Positron Emission Tomography) and SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) will also be started for the convenience of cancer patients in Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantonment.

        This information was given by Haryana Health and Family Welfare Minister, Sh. Anil Vij while presiding over a review meeting with the officers of Health and Family Welfare Department here today.

While directing the officers, he said that tenders should be invited soon for the PET-scan so that this facility could be started at the earliest. He also directed the officers to start Open Heart Surgery at Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantonment.

According to Sh. Vij, almost 11,000 stents have been implanted in cardiac patients at the civil hospital at Ambala Cantonment in the last three years, which is a record in itself. He informed that more than approximately 3000 OPDs are registered daily in this 100 bedded hospital.

50 bedded critical care centre will also be established in civil hospital- Vij

The Health Minister informed that a 50-bedded Critical Care Centre will also be set up in the premises of Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantonment. Apart from this, the facility of Dharamshala will also be established for the assistants accompanying the patients. Apart from this, a Spine Injury Centre will also be set up, for which land will be earmarked soon. While directing the officers, Sh. Vij said that efforts should be made in order to establish the TB hospital in Ambala city.

Training will be mandatory for doctors and paramedical staff

The Health Minister said that the work of mapping related to health services in the state will be started soon. Apart from this, he directing the concerned officers that a blueprint should be prepared for providing training related to the latest technology to the doctors and paramedical staff posted at government hospitals, colleges, PHC and CHC level, so that these personnel working in the government sector are exposed to new research going across the globe from time to time. He said that this training will be necessary for all these officers and personnel.

Sh. Vij was informed in the meeting that the old buildings of the health department are being identified, for which new norms should be adopted for their reconstruction.

Patients will be kept history-wise with e-upchar facility

Apart from this, the Health Minister has said that work is going on to provide e-upchar facilities in all government hospitals including PHC, CHC, Medical College, the link of this facility will also be given to PGI so that in future the history of any patient can be checked at any place.

On this occasion, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Smt. G. Anupama, Director General of AYUSH Department Dr. Saket Kumar, Director General of Health Services Department, Smt. Sonia Trikha Khullar and other senior officers were present.

IEP Chandigarh, December 15

The meeting of the High Powered Purchase Committee (HPPC) chaired by Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal today approved the purchase of goods to be procured by various departments worth about Rs. 663 crores.

Education Minister, Sh. Kanwar Pal, Transport Minister, Sh. Mool Chand Sharma, Power Minister, Sh. Ranjit Singh, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Sh. JP Dalal, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Sh. Anoop Dhanak, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Sh. T.V.S.N Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, School Education, Dr. Mahavir Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Sh. Anand Mohan Sharan, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V Umashankar, Chairman, Power Corporations, Sh. P.K. Das and many senior officers also remained present on this occasion.

Later addressing the media persons, Sh. Manohar Lal while divulging the meeting details said that approval has been accorded for the purchase of books for the students of classes I to V and VI to VIII for the upcoming academic session. Besides, approval has been given for the purchase of toys and books for children enrolled in playway schools.

The purchase of 152 Bolero vehicles for the Police, Agriculture and Irrigation Department has also been approved by the Committee.  Besides this, the purchase of fortified rice for the Food and Supplies Department has also been approved, shared Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that all the purchases were made in a transparent manner while holding detailed discussions with the vendors directly, thus saving about Rs 20-22 crore from the said purchases.

The Chief Minister said that the Supply and Disposal Department’s procurement work is directly linked to finance, so the Supply and Disposal Department has been merged with the Finance department.

IEP Chandigarh, December 14

A meeting of the State Road Safety Council was held today under the chairmanship of Haryana Transport Minister, Sh. Mool Chand Sharma at Haryana Niwas. Addressing the meeting, Principal Secretary, Transport Department, Sh. Navdeep Singh Virk  informed about the number of deaths and injuries due to road accidents in the last five years. It was apprised that till November 2022 there were 9,951 road accidents, in which 4,516 people lost their lives and 8,447 people were injured.

        Giving presentation in this regard, he said that the Integrated Road Accident Database (IRED) project released by the Ministry of Transport, Government of India, has been started for all the states and it has also been implemented in Haryana; in which the Transport Department has been made the nodal authority for this project. Apart from transport department, police, health, NHAI, PWD, HSIDC, Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran and local government departments have been taken in which the nodal officers of the departments concerned will work on the road safety project at the state and district level. All the departments will submit their reports on this portal, in which the current status of all the concerned departments can be ascertained.

Addressing all the departments, the Transport Minister said that the responsibilities should be properly fulfilled and the department should improve the achievements made by Haryana in this regard. He also set a target of reducing 20 percent accidents for the year 2023.  Principal Secretary, Transport, while reviewing the action taken report regarding the previous meetings of the Road Safety Council gave the following orders to all the road constructing agencies :-

1. Reviewing pending road accident prone points, speed breakers/rumble strips, sign boards, road markings, cat eyes, delineators and black spots etc, all were instructed to complete their points by March 31, 2023.

2. It was told in the meeting that in order to reduce road accidents, Road Safety Associates are being appointed by the Transport Department for all the districts on contract basis; who coordinate with all the departments related to road safety in their respective districts and will help in reducing road accidents.

3. It was told in the meeting that every road construction department/agency should conduct an internal audit of its roads/highways and submit the report to the lead agency.

4. It was decided in the meeting that if any illegal cuts are made on any road or highway by demolishing road construction by dhabas, petrol pumps etc, police cases should be registered against the concerned. This issue should also be taken up in every district road safety committee.

5. Council member, Sh. Sushil Arya discussed the illegal liquor vends on roads and highways, on which the Excise and Taxation Department stated that they will inspect liquor vends along the roads of all districts and a report will be submitted.

6. IG Traffic, Sh. Hardeep Doon informed the council that 213 black spots for the year 2019-2021 have been sent to the Ministry of Transport, Government of India, for approval and 17,67,442 challans have been issued to the defaulters for the violation of traffic rules from January to November, 2022.  Apart from this, 1,27,215 challans have been issued for overspeeding vehicles.

7. So far, 175 meetings of the District Road Safety Committees have been held by the Transport Department under the chairmanship of the concerned Deputy Commissioners, in which works like road audit, checking of 4,603 school buses, inspection of roads, training of employees on 468 road safety audits have also been done; so that road accidents can be reduced by strengthening road safety.

8. The council also directed to link NHAI’s toll free number 1033, police’s toll free number 1073 with helpline number 112; so that timely ambulance service can be made available in case of an accident.

9. It was decided that a tripartite audit should be done of the funds being given from the Road Safety Fund to all concerned departments and committees at the district level.

10. It was brought to the notice of the Council that most of the accidents are taking place on NH-1 (44) Ambala to Sonipat route; which comes under the NHAI. On this, the council instructed NHAI to conduct a road safety audit of this route, so that the causes of accidents could be ascertained in the audit.

11. In the meeting, the officers of all the departments were instructed to set a time limit to complete their work. According to the meetings held in the past, all the departments should complete at least 5 kilometers of model road in every district, which fit 100 percent on road safety standards and submit their report to the council.

12. It was decided by the council that all the departments should submit their road safety plan and necessary road safety funds to the Transport Department by January, 2023 to meet the target set for reduction in road accidents for the year 2023.

13. It was said in the meeting that all the road construction departments should prepare a plan to implement the road safety audit. Under this, there is a need to train executive engineers and junior engineer level officials at the district level to give information about these; so that standards related to road safety are kept in mind while making roads. Orders were given to send the names of the concerned officers to the Transport Department for getting the training done.

14. It was told in the council meeting that the instructions issued by the Road Safety Committee constituted by the Honourable Supreme Court should be followed strictly and on time.

15. The Transport Minister said that at present it is the time of fog and in such a situation, the concerned department should immediately install reflectors and reflective tapes on vehicles like marking on the roads and tractor trolleys etc, while working on priority in view of road safety. Apart from this, reflective tapes should be applied on stray animals and cows roaming on the roads; so that accidents caused by stray animals can be curbed.

HSIIDC Managing Director, Sh. Vikas Gupta, IG Traffic, Sh. Hardeep Doon, Sh. Vinay Singh from Finance Department, Finance Secretary, NHAI, Chandigarh, Sh. Vipnesh Sharma, Joint Director Transport, Sh. Pradeep Ahlawat, Regional Officer, Sh. Dilbag Singh, Joint Transport Commissioner, (Road Safety), Sh. Ratan Sandhu from the Education Department, Sh. Sushil Arya, Chief Engineer of Om Seva Sansthan, PWD Department and senior officers of various departments related to the Road Safety Council were present virtually during the meeting

IEP Chandigarh, December 14

With a view to bring in synergy in the functioning of different departments and streamlining of work, the Haryana Government has decided to merge and re-organize some departments having similar nature of work in order to improve administrative efficiency.

The Directorate, Utilities and Authorities will continue to function as before. No staff cadres will be merged at present to avoid legal issues of seniority.

A proposal to this effect was approved by the Haryana Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal here today.

Department of Energy

As per the decision, now the departments of New and Renewable Energy has been merged with Power Department and the nomenclature will be renamed as “Department of Energy”.

Department of Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of SCs and BCs and Antyodaya

Similarly, the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes and Social Justice and Empowerment Department has been merged and now the name of new department will be “Department of Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of SCs and BCs and Antyodaya.”

Department of Higher Education

The Department of Higher Education, Technical Education and Science and Technology has been merged in to a single department with the nomenclature as “Department of Higher Education”.

Department of Heritage and Tourism

The Archaeology and Museums Department has been merged with Tourism Department and the nomenclature has been renamed as “Department of Heritage and Tourism”.

Department of Environment, Forests and Wildlife

The Forests and Wildlife Department and Department of Environment and Climate Change have been merged in to a single department as “Department of Environment, Forests and Wildlife.”

Information, Public Relations, Languages and Culture Department

The Art and Culture Department has been merged with Information, Public Relations and Languages Department, and renamed as “Information, Public Relations, Languages and Culture Department.

Department of Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship

The Youth Affairs component of the Sports Department has been merged with the Skill Development and Industrial Training Department and Employment Department. The nomenclature has been renamed as “Department of Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship”. The new Department will look at Youth Affairs in a comprehensive manner including skilling, training, skill education.

Department of Industry and Commerce

The Electronic and IT industry has become tightly linked with all kinds of industrial activity. Therefore, State Government has decided to dissolve the Department of Electronics and Information Technology and to bring the electronics manufacturing and private IT within the ambit of the Industries and Commerce Department.

The existing work of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology has been allocated to different existing departments. The work/subjects related to the IT Industry has been re-allocated to the Industries Department. The work/subjects associated with e-Governance and use of IT in projects/governance be re-allocated to the Citizens Resources Information Department and HARTRON as an entity be kept as it is and be allocated to the Department of Industries.

General Administration Department

The Monitoring and Coordination Departments  and Department of Administrative Reforms has been merged into a single existing department that is “General Administration Department”.

The subjects Haryana Staff Selection Commission, Haryana Public Service Commission, Policy regarding CET, earlier transferred to Human Resource Department will be taken away and handed over to General Administration Department.

Besides this, The Directorate of Supplies and Disposals will be shifted from the Industries and Commerce Department to the Finance Department, particularly because of the need to ensure proper control and synergy with the Finance Department.

Revenue and Disaster Management

Department of Consolidation and Department of Revenue and Disaster Management has been merged and renamed as “Revenue and Disaster Management Department.” Furthermore, the Directorate of Fire Services, Fire Safety will be shifted from the Urban Local Bodies to the Department of Revenue and Disaster Management.

IEP Chandigarh, December 14

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann led Punjab Government has decided to organize special events dedicated to the martyrdom and in the warm memory of four Sahibzadas in all the Government/Private Primary, High and Secondary Schools in the state on December 23, 2022.          Divulging details, Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said that Punjabis over the world, especially Sikh Sangat, dedicate a martyrdom week from December 20 to December 28 to four Sahibzadas of Dashmesh Pita Sahib Sri Guru Gobind Sahib Ji Maharaj and worship this week with great devotion.          He said that events dedicated to the martyrdom of the four Sahibzades are being organized for the first time in all the schools of the state with the aim to make the students aware of the great sacrifice of Sahibzadas.          Giving information about the events to be conducted in this regard, the Education Minister said that after the morning assembly in schools from 9 am to 9:20 am, Poems/Songs/Shabads/Vaar Singing Competitions related to Martyrdom Week will be conducted. After which, from 10:20 am to 11:00 am Speech/Educational Competitions related to the Martyrdom and Family Separation of Guru Gobind Singh Ji will be organized, while, from 11:00 am to 11:30 am, the School Head/Staff/Teachers will give Special Educational Presentations related to Martyrdom Week.Giving further information, S Bains said that during these competitions, school heads can also conduct any other activity at their own level so that students can gain maximum knowledge about the great sacrifice of Sahibzadas.          S. Bains said that the example of Supreme sacrifice by Sahibzadas cannot be found anywhere else in the history of the world.