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Wrong and illegal appointments in the Vidhan Sabha secretariat should be cancelled, says Uttarakhand CM

IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 23

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that wrong and illegal appointments in the Vidhan Sabha secretariat should be cancelled. Interacting with the media persons after his return from New Delhi on Thursday, Dhami said that he has also conveyed his opinion to the Assembly speaker that the appointments if found improper should be cancelled. He said that when the issue of controversial appointments in Vidhan Sabha came up before him, he immediately requested the speaker to conduct an inquiry into these appointments. Made ahead of the submission of the report of the expert committee, the statement of the CM Dhami assumes significance. The committee set up by the speaker Ritu Khanduri to investigate controversial appointments in Vidhan Sabha is expected to submit its report on Friday. The expert committee was set up on September 3 and it has been asked to submit its report in a period of one month. Headed by former bureaucrat DK Kotia, the three member committee comprises former IAS officers Surendra Singh Rawat and AS Nayal. The report of the committee is being eagerly awaited in Uttarakhand because the fate of hundreds of employees appointed during the tenure of different Speakers in the past is dependent on it. The report of the committee and the action taken on its recommendation could also decide the political future of finance, urban development and parliamentary affairs minister Prem Chand Agarwal. The committee is investigating 72 appointments made during the tenure of Agarwal. Similarly the appointments made during the tenure of former speakers Govind Singh Kunjwal, Yashpal Arya, Late Harbans Kapur and late Prakash Pant are also under the scanner.

Procurement of Kharif crops in Haryana to begin from October 1

IEP Chandigarh September 22

The procurement of the Kharif crops in Haryana will start from  October 1. Ensuring hassle-free procurement is our utmost priority. 

This was stated by  Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal while chairing a high-level meeting with the officers concerned regarding procurement arrangements held here today in the late evening.

Agriculture and Farmers” Welfare Minister, Sh. J.P Dalal also remained present in the meeting.

“Ensure adequate arrangements are made for the farmers bringing their crops to the Mandis,” directed Sh. Manohar Lal.  

During the marketing season 2022-23, crops like paddy, millet, maize, moong, sunflower, groundnut,  til, arhar and urad etc. will be procured.  Adequate arrangements for mandis have been made for smooth procurement. 

The Chief Minister said that procurement of crops should be done in a time-bound manner. Besides this adequate arrangements should be made for the safe storage and proper availability of gunny bags in the mandis.

He said that Meri Fasal – Mera Byora Portal has again been reopened for the next three days (September 22 to 24), therefore farmers who could not register themselves due to any reason can ensure their registration at the earliest. 

The Chief Minister directed the officers of the Agriculture Department to rectify the verified data of e-Girdawari with their data and data collected by  HARSAC  within the next two days and the same should be sent to the CRO through the  Deputy Commissioners. 

Furthermore, the CRO should also be directed to rectify this data in the next 3 days and ensure to upload the update on the portal at the earliest, directed Manohar Lal. 

He said that as before, help desks should be set up in the mandis so that farmers should not face any problem while visiting the mandis.   Officers of the Marketing Board, Agriculture and concerned departments will be deployed at this help desk to redress the grievances of farmers.

Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Dr Sumita Misra, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister,  V Umashankar, Commissioner and Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department Pankaj Agarwal, Director General, Agriculture Department, Hardeep Singh and Deputy Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister,  K Makarand Pandurang and other senior officers also remained present.

Uttarakhand govt planning to levy a green cess on private and commercial vehicles entering the state

IEP DEHRADUN

Taking a leaf out of the book of its neighbour Himachal Pradesh, the Uttarakhand government is also planning to levy a green cess on private and commercial vehicles entering the state. The Uttarakhand Transport department is working on the proposal and the Transport minister Chandan Ram Das is likely to present the proposal in the next cabinet meeting.

The transport department currently imposes green cess in the State for road safety but it is only on the purchase of new vehicles. It presently collects entry tax from the commercial vehicles of other states entering Uttarakhand. Eliminating the collection of entry tax, the green cess will be levied on all vehicles except two-wheelers after the execution of the plan. The cess will be imposed on vehicles with the help of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed in almost every entry point of the State, as per the officials. These cameras will help the department to detect all vehicles entering the State and help in recovering the cess.

The whole system of paying cess will be online and the department is already working on developing software for the same. The deputy transport commissioner Sanat Kumar Singh informed that the department is preparing a proposal to present it to the government for approval. The officials will also consider some provisions for the frequent visitors to the State to pay quarterly or annual charges to the department or some exemption in certain cases.

He stated that the department is working on various factors while preparing the proposal like how much cess must be levied on the vehicles. He said that lakhs of people including pilgrims and tourists visit the State every year and the green cess collection from such visitors will increase the department’s revenue. The collected revenue will be spent to improve road safety considering accidents occurring at several vulnerable locations across the State.

Uttarakhand govt planning to levy a green cess on private and commercial vehicles entering the state

IEP DEHRADUN

Taking a leaf out of the book of its neighbour Himachal Pradesh, the Uttarakhand government is also planning to levy a green cess on private and commercial vehicles entering the state. The Uttarakhand Transport department is working on the proposal and the Transport minister Chandan Ram Das is likely to present the proposal in the next cabinet meeting.

The transport department currently imposes green cess in the State for road safety but it is only on the purchase of new vehicles. It presently collects entry tax from the commercial vehicles of other states entering Uttarakhand. Eliminating the collection of entry tax, the green cess will be levied on all vehicles except two-wheelers after the execution of the plan. The cess will be imposed on vehicles with the help of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed in almost every entry point of the State, as per the officials. These cameras will help the department to detect all vehicles entering the State and help in recovering the cess.

The whole system of paying cess will be online and the department is already working on developing software for the same. The deputy transport commissioner Sanat Kumar Singh informed that the department is preparing a proposal to present it to the government for approval. The officials will also consider some provisions for the frequent visitors to the State to pay quarterly or annual charges to the department or some exemption in certain cases.

He stated that the department is working on various factors while preparing the proposal like how much cess must be levied on the vehicles. He said that lakhs of people including pilgrims and tourists visit the State every year and the green cess collection from such visitors will increase the department’s revenue. The collected revenue will be spent to improve road safety considering accidents occurring at several vulnerable locations across the State.

National project would prove to be a milestone in development of Uttarakhand, says CM

IEP DEHRADUN

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami while presenting the case of the State in the meeting of the Kishau Dam multipurpose project on Wednesday has said that the cost of the power component of the ambitious project should either be kept unchanged in the case of increase in the total project cost in the revised DPR or the increased power component of the project should be distributed equally by all the six beneficiary states so that the consumers of the state get cheap power.

The meeting held in New Delhi was chaired by the union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. The projects would provide irrigation water to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan and supply drinking water to Delhi. Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh would equally divide the power generated by the project and as per the MoU Uttarakhand and HP would share the power component cost of the mega project. He said that the national project would prove to be a milestone in the development of Uttarakhand and it would provide direct and indirect employment to the people of the state and it would provide an opportunity to increase the income of the local people.

The Uttarakhand CM said that beneficial schemes would be developed from time to time with the help of local public representatives for the development of the area and public welfare. In the meeting the chief minister of HP Jairam Thakur and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar participated virtually.

The HP CM also supported the stand taken by the Uttarakhand CM on the issue. The Union minister Shekhawat said that soon a meeting would be convened to discuss the issue. It is worth mentioning here that the implementation of the project is being done by Kishau Corporation limited which is jointly owned by HP and Uttarakhand. This project was declared the ‘national project’ in the year 2008. Proposed on the Tons River in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand and Sirmaur district of HP the project when completed would be the second biggest dam project in Asia. Under the plan 236 meter high and 680 meter long dam would be constructed on the Tons River and when complete the project would maintain the water availability in the Yamuna River.

The dam would have a reservoir of 1324 MCAM capacity and help in irrigation of 97,076 hectares of land. It would generate 660 MW of the power which would be distributed equally among HP and Uttarakhand. The project is estimated to cost Rs 11,550 crore on the 2018 price out of which the water component ( Irrigation, drinking water) would cost Rs 10013.96 crore and power component Rs 1536.04 crore. At present work on preparation of the DPR is going on which is expected to increase. Since the project is the national project the water component would be distributed in the ratio of 90:10 between the union government and the beneficiary states while the power component would be borne by HP and Uttarakhand. The secretaries R Meenakshi Sundaram, H C Semwal and officers of the Jalshakti ministry were present on the occasion.

Criminal with Rs 15000 reward arrested

IEP Chandigarh, September 22

Haryana Police has arrested a criminal carrying a reward of Rs 15,000 from Kaithal district. A country-made pistol and two cartridges were also recovered from his possession.

While stating this here today, a Haryana Police spokesperson informed that arrested accused have been identified as Rakesh alias Rinku a resident of karora. Already 7 cases are registered against the accused in district Kaithal. He was also involved in two cases of fatal attack. A cash reward of Rs 15000 was declared on his arrest.

A Crime Investigation Agency team during patrolling received on a tip-off from a reliable source about the accused. At the instance of secret informer, accused was overpowered and apprehended by the police party. Police also recovered a country-made pistol and two live cartridges from his possession.

Arrested accused was presented before the court from where he was sent to judicial custody. Further investigation of the case is underway.

Crime Records Bureau has been set up at district level


IEP Chandigarh, September 22

In order to  provide secure and uninterrupted high speed network connectivity in 244 Police Stations of Haryana, bandwidth speed up to 10 Mbps has been extended. With this high-speed network connectivity, the database of all crimes and criminals will be updated on the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS). The remaining police station will also be equipped with Bandwidth speed up to 10 MBPS by the end of this year. It is noteworthy that Haryana is among the top states in the country in the CCTNS system.

While presiding over the 22nd meeting of the State Apex Committee of CCTNS-Haryana, the Chief Secretary, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal directed the officers to prepare the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for further use of the data collected by the State Crime Records Bureau, so that the data relating to all crimes and criminals can be onboard. Apart from this, the SOP should also mention the supervisory officer, the rule book and the time frame related to the proceedings.

The Chief Secretary directed that a comparative chart should be prepared after studying the various initiatives and techniques being used in other states related to data update and report generation in CCTNS. Accordingly, suitable technology should be adopted in Haryana. He said that for better implementation of CCTNS, data of various concerned departments like prisons, health etc. should also be integrated.

It was informed in the meeting that upgrading the CCTNS system will improve the functioning which will ensure a better and robust system of monitoring. New modules are being prepared for this. Under this, it will be easy to search FIR according to its section or the specified recorded section, which will make it easier to find information regarding the old cases. Integration with FSL, e-Courts, e-Prosecution, LMS and Health Department will be done with CCTNS.

It was informed in the meeting that the State Crime Record Bureau has been designated as the nodal agency for the implementation of CCTNS-ICJS (Inter-operable Criminal Justice System). The officers at the level of Commissioner of Police, Inspector General of Police and Additional Director General of Police, DCP and Superintendent of Police have been designated as nodal officers for CCTNS in their jurisdiction. The Crime Records Bureau has been set up at the district level to promote the use of CCTNS for the evaluation of crime data.

It was informed in the meeting that through CCTNS implemented with the objective of preventing crime in the state, there has been more efficiency in the functioning of the police, as a result of which Haryana is among the top states in the country in the CCTNS system.

The meeting was attended by the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Sh. T.V.S.N. Prasad, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance and Planning Departments, Sh. Anurag Rastogi, Additional Chief Secretary, Information Technology, Electronics and Communications Department, Sh. Anand Mohan Sharan, Director General of Police, Sh. PK Agrawal and other officers were present.

PPP bringing radical changes in Old age pension scheme

IEP Chandigarh, September 22

For more than seven years upliftment of the last mile person has been the primary goal of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal. The Chief Minister while upholding the spirit of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s Antyodaya philosophy has not only started several welfare schemes for the Antyodaya families but also ensured complete transparency in their disbursal to those at the bottom of the pyramid.

Whether it is about providing self-employment opportunities to such families via Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana (MMAPUY) or giving government jobs on a merit basis, Sh. Manohar Lal has time and again reiterated his commitment to uplifting the poorest of the poor.

The Chief Minister started Jan Samvad programme aimed at bringing the government to the doorsteps to serve the people of the State in a better way. Along with the Chief Minister, his Administrative Wing is also ensuring on the spot redressal of most of the complaints.

While making a paradigm shift towards good governance, the State Government had started celebrating, December 25, the birthday of former Prime Minister, Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Good Governance Day in Haryana.

Good Governance Day reiterates the commitment of the Manohar Lal-led Government to provide a transparent and accountable administration in Haryana along with bringing a positive change in the lives of the people.

The main aim of celebrating Good Governance Day is to provide hassle-free services and ensure the benefits of various welfare schemes to every needy person and today more than 500 services of more than 40 departments have become online. Now any person can get information about these on their mobile phones only, saving frequent rounds to the government offices.

People are declaring their annual income in the PPP

The Chief Minister firmly believes that the reach of the public welfare schemes to those at the bottom of the pyramid along with ensuring timely redressal of all the problems faced by them.

The latest example of this was later seen in Rohtak when during his visit to Rohtak, a woman complained about stopping her pension because the officers concerned had declared her dead in the government documents.

Later taking strict cognizance of the said complaint, the Chief Minister not only directed the officers concerned to immediately rectify the data and restore the pension of the said beneficiary but also gave Rs. 2500 to an elderly woman from his own pocket.

The Chief Minister said that eligible persons will get the benefit of government schemes and the name of the ineligible persons will be automatically removed through PPP verification.

In the PPP, the head of the family has to declare his own income and even after that he is given an opportunity to rectify the figures, after which the data of the PPP are verified.

After the Aadhaar card, the PPP has become the only document having authenticated data. Haryana is the first state not only in the country but also in the world to implement the PPP.

Jan Samvad programme organized in 3 districts

The Chief Minister resolved the grievances of the people of the state during the Jan Samvad programme organized in Karnal, Rohtak and Sirsa.

Senior officers of the Chief Minister’s Offices, also accompanies him and most of the grievances were resolved on the spot.

During the Jan Samvad programme organized in Sirsa, Sh. Manohar Lal for more than three and a half hours gave a patient hearing to all the complainants having issues regarding Old age pension, BPL Ration Card, Mukhyamantri Vivah Shagun Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Antyodaya Success Story

Aimed at the upliftment of Antyodaya families MMAPUY was launched in November 2021. Through this scheme, efforts are being made to raise the standard of living of the last mile person. Realizing the same such families were identified through the ‘Parivar Pehchan-Patra Portal’, whose annual family income is less than Rs. 1 lakh and a target has been set to increase their income upto Rs. 1.8 lakh and beyond.

Under this scheme, a total of 861 Antyodaya Gram Utthan Melas were organized in three phases across all the 22 districts of Haryana. A total of 1,36,130 identified beneficiaries turned up, and applications of 76,454 beneficiaries were approved in principle under various loan-based schemes, skill development training, and employment generation schemes. Thereafter, loans of 32,743 beneficiaries have been sanctioned out of which over 14,000 have been disbursed as well.

Further 436 beneficiaries have joined private employment opportunities and 908 beneficiaries have secured contractual jobs through Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam. Additionally, a total of 1185 beneficiaries have been provided with various skill and development opportunities.

One of the most unique features of this scheme is that it focuses on the overall upliftment of the family as a whole. So far 49 schemes of 18 departments have been added to ‘Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana’.

PM Gati Shakti’ has potential for statutory approvals and to monitor the progress of projects: Anand Mohan Sharan

IEP Chandigarh, September 22

Haryana Additional Chief Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Sh. Anand Mohan Sharan said that Gati Shakti has the potential to completely overhaul not only the planning of infrastructure projects but also statutory approvals and monitoring the progress of projects. The importance of Gati Shakti can be ascertained from the fact that during the launch of the National Logistics Policy last week, Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi had laid great emphasis on Gati Shakti.

Sh. Sharan was presiding over a workshop on ‘PM Gati Shakti’ organized in Chandigarh today

Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar said that the ‘PM Gati Shakti’ scheme is a revolutionary initiative at the national level for holistic infrastructural development and economic growth. He talked about the importance of geographical appreciation of the physical impediments before infrastructural planning in any state. He also exemplified GIS mapping and geospatial based tools that have supported in effective planning and execution of infrastructure planning and other execution works of District Gurugram. He said that the technology of GIS has made it easy and efficient to rapidly identify these physical obstacles. He said that if all the data required for planning and executing the development of large infrastructural projects is available on one single platform, like the PM Gati Shakti portal, then various states and the nation will achieve a next level infrastructural development and subsequent economic growth.

Sh. V. Umashankar said that the PM Gati Shakti launched by the Prime Minister on October 13, 2021 is a great initiative by the Government of India to achieve holistic planning and infrastructural development across the country. It is an integrated plan that aims to bring existing and proposed planned economic zones and multimodal connectivity infrastructure of the country on a single integrated platform.

By facilitating seamless multimodal connectivity as well as better inter-governmental coordination through dynamic, real-time collaboration between various departments, PM Gati Shakti will not only boost the country’s logistics, transport sectors and industrial corridors but also create more job opportunities and industries, reduce turnaround times drastically, improve productivity in project executions and last mile connectivity, enhance transparency and accountability in the ecosystem. This has the potential to optimize India’s manufacturing competitiveness, overall industrial and GDP growth in future.

During the occasion, Director General, Industries and Commerce Department, Sh. Shekhar Vidyarthi, Director, DPIIT, Sh. Arvind Pandey and Project Director, BISAG-N, Sh. Ajay Patel were present.

Haryana formulates plans to increase the sale of electric vehicles

IEP Chandigarh, September 22

Focused on saving the environment, Haryana Chief Minister is making devoted efforts to increase the sale of electric vehicles. Aimed at making a significant contribution to improving the environment, reducing carbon footprints and aggressively motivating the citizens to buy Electric Vehicles, ‘Haryana Electric Vehicle Policy-2022′ was notified by the Industries and Commerce Department on July 8, 2022.

As per the directions of the Chief Minister, this policy places a special emphasis on the creation of an end-to-end ecosystem for E-Mobility in the state and envisages at harnessing Haryana‘s inherent strength in the automotive manufacturing sector for supporting Electric Vehicle manufacturing and adoption within the state.

The Government of India has also launched The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India (FAME Scheme I and II) scheme in 2015 which has been extended subsequently in 2019, under the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) with the aim to promote eco-friendly electric vehicles in the country.

In this backdrop, it became imperative for the State Government to come up with an electric vehicle policy which is not only offering a discount bonanza for the manufacturers but also aims to encourage buyers to shift to E-mobility.

The Chief Minister believes that  with this new Policy, the state government aims to promote clean transportation, ensure environmental sustainability by reduction of pollution, increase energy efficiency and conservation and create an ecosystem for manufacturing of Electric Vehicle (EV) components in Haryana. The Policy also aims to make Haryana- a global hub for electric mobility development and manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and generate ample employment opportunities for the Youth.

Special incentives for the Manufacturing Firms

In order to attract the manufacturers to set up or convert the already established industries for manufacturing of electric vehicles in the state, many provisions have been made in the Policy offering a special discount bonanza for the Manufacturing Firms.

        Capital subsidies will be provided to industries manufacturing Electric Vehicles (BEV/FCEV), major components of EVs, batteries for EVs, and manufacturers of charging infrastructure in each segment of electric vehicles (2-wheelers, 3-wheelers, 4-wheelers, buses/Heavy Vehicle).

Micro Industry

As per the policy,  25 percent of FCI or Rs. 15 lakh, whichever is lower will be given as a capital subsidy to the manufacturers on the fixed capital investment of the first 20 units.

Small Industry

The first 10 units will get  20 percent of FCI or Rs. 40 lakh, whichever is lower as capital subsidy on the fixed capital investment.

Medium Industry

The first 5 units will get 20 percent of FCI or Rs. 50 lakh, whichever is lower as a capital subsidy on the fixed capital investment.

Large Industry

The first 2 units will get 10 percent of FCI or Rs. 10 crore, whichever is lower will be given as a capital subsidy on the fixed capital investment.

Mega Industry

The first 3 units will get  20 percent of FCI or Rs. 20 crore, whichever is lower will be given as a capital subsidy on the fixed capital investment.