Category Archives: Chandigarh

Haryana takes a big leap forward in industrial sector, becoming a favourite destination for foreign investors

IEP Chandigarh, December 17

Haryana, under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Sh. Manohar Lal has brought about a  big transformation in the industrial sector. 

In the last 8 years, on the one hand, while more than 1. 59 lakh industrial units  have been set up in the State with an investment of Rs 18,422 crore, at the same time, direct and indirect employment has been provided to lakhs of people in the state. 

Not only this, but the Manohar Lal-led government has also accelerated the exercise of developing many new industrial cities along with the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway with a special focus on developing road, rail, and air infrastructure.

Geographically, Haryana has been the first choice of investors from India and abroad. After Kundli-Manesar-Palwal(KMP) Expressway, the construction work of the Palwal-Sonipat double line Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor at a cost of Rs 5618 crore has started and now because of the investor-friendly policies of the Manohar Lal led Government, traders from Delhi are also eager to shift their business base to Haryana.

Along with the KMP, the work of preparing a blueprint for setting up 5 new cities as per the concept of the Panchagram scheme is going on, in view of the potential population of the year 2041.

The settlement of these new cities will not only reduce the population density in Delhi but the industrial sector of Delhi will also shift to these cities. In the last 8 years, special focus has been laid on developing the road, rail and air infrastructure in Haryana.

Today at least 3 or 4 national highways pass through every district of Haryana. It is a known fact that good road, rail and air connectivity play a significant role in setting up the industrial sector, while in the last 8 years, the ‘Manohar Sarkar’ has ensured all these factors in a bid to woo investment in the state.  In a bid to further strengthen Air connectivity work is being expedited in developing Hisar airport under the UDAN scheme and in the coming time, it will be developed as a hub of aviation and MRO.

Haryana’s giant leap to woo foreign and domestic investment

In the last 8 years, the Chief Minister has made sure to turn the wheel of Haryana’s development at a fast pace. The State has not only emerged as the leading state of the country in terms of development but has also become a role model for many states. To encourage economic development and increase livelihood opportunities, the government has implemented the new Haryana Enterprises and Employment Policy 2020, with a target of creating 5 lakh new employment opportunities and investment of Rs 1 lakh crore and exports of Rs 2 lakh crore. Apart from this, sectoral policies were also formulated for important sectors like warehousing and logistics, textile, pharmaceuticals and agriculture and food processing.

The progress of Haryana’s industrial development can be seen from the fact that there has been a significant increase in the export graph of the state. In the year 2014, Haryana’s exports were Rs 69,000 crore, which increased to Rs 2.17 lakh crore during the financial year 2021-22. This includes merchandise and service exports. Now the state government has also notified the Haryana Electric Vehicle Policy – 2022 to promote the manufacture and use of electric vehicles in the state.

Haryana has set several mega projects, thus, wooing foreign direct investment of Rs 20,971 crore

The dedicated efforts made by Sh. Manohar Lal’s to woo foreign investment by holding frequent meetings with multinational companies and inviting them to invest in mega projects in the state has borne fruits as during the financial year 2021-22, Haryana has received a foreign direct investment of Rs 20,971 crore with a sharp increase of about 67 percent.

Flipkart Group is setting up Asia’s largest fulfillment centre at Patli Hajipur, Manesar on 140 acres of land with an area of 3 million square kilometres. An investment of Rs 1389 crore is being made in this project, due to which more than 16,000 employment opportunities will be generated. In addition, Maruti Suzuki is also setting up an Ultra Mega Auto Industry Project on 800 acres of land at IMT Kharkhoda with an investment of Rs 18,000 crore in Sonipat.

The State Government has allotted 100 acres of land to M/s Suzuki Motorcycle at IMT Kharkhoda, which is likely to attract an investment of Rs 2000 crore. M/s Aditya Birla Group has been allotted 70 acres of land in an industrial estate at Panipat for a paint manufacturing plant. An investment of Rs 1140 crore is being made in the state of Haryana through this project. M/s Amperex Technologies Limited has been allotted 178 acres of land at IMT Sohna in Gurugram. This project will bring an investment of Rs 7083 crore in the state, which will create more than 7000 employment opportunities. Not only this, many big investors like Enrich Agro, Panasonic India, Kandhari Beverages, and Aarti Green Tech are also keen to do business in Haryana.

Traders of Delhi’s wholesale market, Azadpur vegetable market and spice market are looking for opportunities in Haryana

After the commissioning of KMP in Haryana, work is underway on an ambitious plan to develop 5 new cities under the new concept of Panchagram on both sides of it. Due to this project, the traders of Delhi have started exploring the possibility of increasing their business in Haryana, which mainly includes the wholesale market, Azadpur vegetable market and traders related to the spice business.

For this, various business associations of Delhi have met the Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, several times and the Chief Minister has assured that the government will help them in every way to facilitate business.

Today, Haryana has touched new heights in the Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living Index. Because of this, every investor from the country and abroad wants to invest in Haryana. More than 400 Fortune companies of the world have already established their business in Gurugram itself.

Due to the efforts of the Chief Minister, on one hand, entrepreneurs are not only getting a favourable environment in Haryana, but the State has also become the first choice of businessmen because of the availability of facilities related to business under one roof.

Haryana Police adjudged 1st among all major states in CCTNS implementation

IEP Chandigarh, December  17 

 Haryana Police awarded first rank among all major state police in CCTNS implementation in Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS).

          Sharing the information here today, a Haryana Police spokesperson informed that the announcement was made at an annual “Conference on Good Practices in CCTNS/Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS)” organized the National Crime Records Bureau under the Ministry of Home Affairs at New Delhi to recognise the continuous efforts made by States/UTs in the implementation of CCTNS and ICJS projects, as well as to disseminate good practices adopted by them.

                    On behalf of Haryana Police, Inspector General of Police Karnal Range, Karnal, Sh. Satinder Kumar Gupta and Superintendent of Police, Panipat Sh. Shashank Kumar Sawan received the award from the Union Home Secretary Sh Ajay Bhalla in the presence of Director, Intelligence Bureau Sh. Tapan Deka and Director NCRB Sh. Vivek Gogia. The award has been given for consistently maintaining the first position on Pragati Dashboard on more than 20 parameters throughout the year.

                    Congratulating the entire team behind the success, the Director General of Police (DGP), Haryana Sh. P.K. Agrawal said that it is a matter of immense pleasure that our performance on CCTNS dashboard has earned this distinction at the national level.

                    Haryana Police, under the supervision of Sh. OP Singh, Director, SCRB and Nodal Officer CCTNS/ICJS, has recently developed a special technology to analyse crime-related data through CCTNS. Superintendent of Police, Panipat Sh. Shashank Kumar Sawan made a special presentation on this technology, which was highly appreciated by officials from all over the country. This technology was also included in the list of Good Practices in CCTNS/ICJS. During this conference, Director, NCRB also spoke about studying this technology and implementing it across the country.

                    During the conference, 58 police officers and personnel from across the country were also honored in recognition of their contribution to using the best technology. Three employees of Haryana Police were honored with awards for their commendable work in CCTNS and ICJS. These included SI Jagmohan from Police District Hansi, ASI Yogesh Kumar from SCRB/Haryana and ASI Kuldeep Singh from Sonipat district.

                    It may be mentioned here that Haryana Police two days back, had also bagged first position in the category of the best implementation of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) project under the ‘Forensic Pillar’.

Haryana Vigilance nabs six officials taking bribes in 24 hours

IEP Chandigarh, December  17

Haryana State Vigilance Bureau has caught six accused including – an Executive Engineer, Junior Engineer, a Police official, a Registry Clerk, Patwari, and a Computer Operator – in the last 24 hours while accepting and demanding bribes worth Rs 1.95 lacs in separate incidents.

          Sharing the information here today, the spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau informed that in the first case, Virender Cheema, Patwari Halka Naggal, Ambala was caught with Rs 25,000 bribe money. He has taken the bribe from the complainant in lieu of separation of land khewat. When the patwari demanded bribe, the complainant approached the Vigilance Bureau. After verifying the complaint, a team laid a trap and arrested him red-handed with the bribe money.

          In another case, Vigilance Bureau has arrested Registry Clerk Ved Parkash posted at the office of Sub-Tehsil Kadipur Gurugram while demanding Rs 80,000 bribe in lieu of mutual transfer of plots which are situated at village Hayatpur Gurugram.

          In a separate case, a Bureau’s team caught Computer Operator Haryana Koshal Rozgar Nigam Chander Shekhar along with Naveen Kumar Yadav, XEN Irrigation Department while accepting bribe of Rs 5000  on the complaint of Anant Ram.

          Accused Computer Operator who is working under Haryana Koshal Rozgar Nigam in the O/o Xen, Irrigation Gurugram was demanding bribe Rs. 5000 from the complainant in lieu of helping for preparing a contractor license (Construction) of the complainant. Accused Chander Shakher was arrested while accepting of Rs. 5000 as bribe. Accused Naveen Kumar Yadav, Xen has also been arrested for demanding and earlier accepting Rs. 20,000 as bribe in connection with issuance of contractor license (Construction).

          In yet another case, a vigilance team arrested Mukesh, a Junior Engineer, Horticulture Wing Municipal Corporation, Gurugram while accepting Rs 60,000 bribe from complainant in lieu of facilitating the bill payments which are pending with Horticulture wing.

          Similarly, Bureau’s team has arrested a Head Constable Ajay Kumar posted in district Yamunanagar while accepting bribe of Rs 5000 in lieu of completing investigation process in an accident case registered at police station Radaur.

         A case has been registered against them at respective police stations of the Bureau. Further investigation is underway.

Like cities, waste management system will be implemented in villages too: Haryana Minister

IEP Chandigarh, December 16

Haryana Development and Panchayat Minister, Sh. Devender Babli said that all the public representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions should work with the vision of development by vowing social service; only then the development of the villages would be possible. “Together we have to strengthen the basic facilities in the villages and for this, all panches, sarpanches, Zila Parishad members and Panchayat Samiti members will have to cooperate with the government,” he added. Sh. Devender Babli was addressing at the ‘Jan Pratinidhi Samwad program’ at the district level Panchayati Raj Sammelan in Karnal on Friday.

Congratulating the elected public representatives, Sh. Devender Babli said that the public has entrusted the responsibility to all the representatives with full faith. He hoped that the elected representatives would work honestly to provide facilities in their respective areas. “The facilities and schemes like cities are being taken to the villages and the day is not far when the people from the cities will come and settle in the villages,” he added.

Like cities, waste management system will be implemented in villages

Sh. Devender Babli said that the state government is planning to implement the work of waste management in villages on the lines of cities. In this regard, preparations are being made to give tenders at the block level. “This will bring a big change in the villages. Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi had started the Swachh Bharat Mission and moving ahead with this, we should vow cleanliness for 2 hours in a week and 100 hours in a month,” he said.

Chief Minister started new tradition by administering oath to all people’s representatives

Sh. Devender Babli said that Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal has started a new tradition by administering oaths to all the public representatives. “People’s representatives are feeling proud because of this. This will also bring a big change in the rural areas,” he said, adding that Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal and Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala is making various plans and schemes keeping development in mind. He said that the Panchayat Department has completed the work of mapping the properties of 6,200 Panchayats. Also, 3,700 buildings have been selected, out of which libraries will be set up in 1,200 and gyms in 800.

Prepare a blue-print for development of villages

The Development and Panchayat Minister said that the public representatives should prepare a blueprint for the development of the villages. “Whichever Panchayat will prepare a proposal for the place where the garbage will be dumped and send it to the Panchayat Department; after passing it in the Gram Sabha, the work of building a park will be done for them,” he said. Sh. Devender Babli said that if facilities like infrastructure, library and e-library would be provided for children in the villages, then they will not go to other states and big cities for coaching. With the formation of an educated society, a strong nation will be built, he added.

Haryana government making plans for people

Sh. Devendra Babli said that the state government is making various plans and schemes for the people. “Water has been made available from door-to-door through taps; this scheme has been achieved to the extent of 90 percent. 24-hours electricity is being given under ‘Jagmag Yojana’. Good roads have been made for better connectivity of the villages with the cities,” he added.

People’s representatives are link between government and administration: Harvinder Kalyan

Gharaunda MLA, Sh. Harvinder Kalyan said that the public representatives are the link between the government and the public. “If there is no representative in a democratic system, then grievances of the people cannot be resolved,” he said, adding that all the public representatives of Karnal district will work to take the panchayats towards development. He said that Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal took over the reins in 2014 and did the work of reforming the system. “Today, jobs are being provided on the basis of merit in the state. The responsibility of the elected representatives is big. They should consider the entire village as a family and do development work for all sections. If we work as a team, then there will be all-round development,” he added.

Good decision to conduct separate elections for panches, sarpanches, block samiti and Zila Parishad: MLA Ram Kumar Kashyap

MLA Sh. Ram Kumar Kashyap said that the state government has taken a good decision by conducting separate elections for panches, sarpanches, block samiti and Zila Parishad members in the Panchayat elections; which has benefited the voters. Praising the Chief Minister, he said that giving 50 percent reservation to women and 8 percent reservation to BC-A category is also a welcome decision. He requested the Development and Panchayat Minister to give first priority to the panchayats having no income, at the time of distribution of funds.

Haryana government making dedicated efforts to share the story of valour and sacrifice of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur in the entire world, Dr. Amit Agrawal

IEP Chandigarh, December 16

Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Director General, Information, Public Relations and Languages Department, Dr. Amit Agrawal said that in the ongoing celebrations of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav dedicated efforts have been made to share the story of valour and sacrifice of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur in the entire world.For this, the Haryana government is giving a new look to Lohgarh. The Chief Minister wants to revive this historical heritage so that the coming generations can get inspiration from the sacrifice of their martyrs, he added.Notably, Dr. Amit Agrawal visited Lohgarh in Yamunanagar district on Friday to review the ongoing development works. He interacted with the officials of the concerned department. He said that whatever development work has to be done, immediate action should be taken on it.Dr. Amit Agrawal further said that Lohgarh is such a historical place where Baba Banda Singh Bahadur built the first capital of the Sikh Raj. He said that in February 1710, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur ji had built a fort named Lohgarh after conquering the fort of Emperor Shah Jaha, Numa Haveli, and declared this place as the first capital of the Sikh Raj and issued the coin and stamp of the Sikh Raj.He said that Haryana government is doing the beautification of Sri Gurudwara Lohgarh Sahib. There are many other religious places in this area like Adi Badri, Kapalmochan, and Saraswati Udgam Sthal. The government has decided to further develop this area so that the heritage can be protected.He said that from the point of view of tourism, this area will become centre of great attraction. Chief Minister also has special attachment to this area, he added.Dr. Amit Agrawal also paid obeisance at Sri Gurudwara Lohgarh Sahib and also visited Adibadri and Kedarnath temple to offer prayers and seek blessings. On this occasion, he also inquired about the ongoing development works in Adibadri and gave instructions to the officers regarding the development works to be done in future.Deputy Commissioner, Yamunanagar, Sh. Rahul Hooda, Deputy Chairman, Punjabi Sahitya Academy, Haryana, S. Gurvinder Singh, MD, Tourism, Dr. Neeraj Kumar, CEO, Zilla Parishad, Sh. Naveen Ahuja, Estate Officer, Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran, Panchkula, Sh. Gagandeep Singh and other officers also remained present on this occasion.

More than 28 lakh BPL families to get digital yellow ration cards in Hry

IEP Chandigarh, December 16

This New Year, ‘Manohar Sarkar’ will gift yet another ‘Manohar’ gift for Antyodaya as more than 28.93 lakh BPL families in Haryana will get yellow ration cards digitally, thus reiterating the government’s commitment to maximum governance-minimum government.  

While this digital reform brought by Chief Minister has not only put an end to the Opposition’s blame-game politics but has also saved the BPL families from the tiring exercise of getting their ration cards made. With this, as per directions of the Chief Minister a fresh survey of BPL families has also been conducted while cancelling surveys conducted by previous governments, so as to ensure that the actual beneficiaries get the benefits.

Along with conducting the new survey, a separate Citizen Information Resource Department has been formed and data of BPL families has been cross verified with the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department. Not only this, the minimum annual income limit for BPL cards was increased from Rs 1.20 lakh to Rs 1.80 lakh, as a result of which the number of BPL beneficiaries increased from 11.50 lakh to 28.93 lakh. Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) data was also matched to further verify the BPL data.

Notably, PPP is a unique scheme of Haryana as it has accurate information of every member of the family including income, while the Aadhaar card has information about only one person. Impressed with Haryana’s this unique initiative, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir too have now decided to implement this scheme in their respective states.

Haryana set to realize Prime Minister’s One Nation-One Ration Card dream

In the last eight years, the Manohar Lal-led Government has always remained at the forefront to realize every vision shared by Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi. Be it the SVAMITVA scheme, educated Panchayats, online teacher transfer policy, or PPP, Haryana has always emerged as a role model among other states in the country by successfully implementing all these schemes. The Prime Minister himself has appealed to other states to adopt the SVAMITVA scheme.

Now the online system has been started in Haryana to issue new ration cards. Under this new system, any person can apply online on the Saral portal to get these ration cards. Under the public distribution system, eligible families have been divided into two categories, Antyodaya Anna Yojana family and primary family.  About 35 kg of ration to Antyodaya families and 5 kg to BPL/OPH families are being distributed at the rate of Rs 2 per kg. Food grains are being distributed free of cost from April 2020 under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, which was started during the COVID-19 crisis. The scheme has been extended till December 2022.

Similarly, under the Antyodaya Aahar Yojana implemented by the government, 2 liters of mustard oil was distributed to BPL/AAY families at the rate of Rs. 20 from January 2018 to May 2021. Besides this, from June 2021, an amount of Rs. 250 per family is being transferred to the accounts of such families. Apart from this, the distribution of fortified flour is being done in 5 districts which include Yamunanagar, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Panchkula.

Upliftment of last mile citizen has remained the ‘mool mantra‘ of the Chief Minister

In the last eight years, the upliftment of last-mile citizen has remained the ‘mool mantra’ of the Chief Minister. Whether it is about giving jobs on a merit basis or ensuring the reach of benefits of welfare schemes to the actual beneficiary, the welfare of Antyodaya has remained the utmost priority of Sh. Manohar Lal. Recently, in the recruitment of PGT / TGT being done through Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited, it has been decided to give 50 marks to the applicants of Antyodaya families having annual income less than Rs. 1 lakh and 40 marks to those having annual income of 1.80 lakh and above. After this, a provision has been made to give 30, 20 and 10 marks according to the annual income.

Under the “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana” launched by the Central Government in the year 2016, financial assistance of Rs.1600 was given by the government to provide gas connections to the women of poor families. The number of such beneficiaries is 7,30,960. Apart from this, 1,88,304 gas connections were issued from the state fund. In this way, 9,19,264 gas connections have been given to poor families in the state.  With the efforts of the Chief Minister, in the year 2017, Haryana became the first “kerosene-free” state in the country.

While these families have benefited financially from the many schemes launched by the present state government for the welfare of the poor, the standard of living is also constantly improving.

Notification of merger of departments will be issued soon

IEP Chandigarh, December 16

A notification regarding merger of various departments will be issued within next 5 days. The Chief Secretary, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal held a meeting with the Administrative Secretaries of various departments in this regard here today. He sought the rules related necessary information from the Administrative Secretaries, following which a draft of the notification will be prepared and sent to the Legal Adviser, the Chief Minister and the Governor for final approval.

It may be recalled that in the recently held cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal approved the merger of different departments having same nature of work and dissolution of 1 department to bring better coordination in the functioning and streamlining of work.

Sh. Kaushal clarified that as per the decision of the Cabinet, the Directorates, Utilities and Authorities will continue to function as before. Following the suggestions of the officers given in this meeting, the draft notification will be prepared by Friday evening. He directed the officers to precisely study the Haryana Business of Government (Allocation) Rules and made necessary amendments.

In the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Financial Commissioner, Revenue and Disaster Management and Consolidation, Sh. V. S Kundu, Additional Chief Secretary of Industries and Commerce, Sh. Anand Mohan Sharan, Additional Chief Secretary of Science and Technology, Sh. Ashok Khemka, Additional Chief Secretary, Forest and Wildlife, Sh. Vineet Garg, Principal Secretary of Higher Education, Sh. Vijayendra Kumar and other senior officers of the departments were present.

Haryana Right to Service Commission slaps a fine of Rs. 10,000 on a clerk of HSAMB for holding a file for more than 2.5 months

IEP Chandigarh, December 16

The Auto Appeal System (AAS) is playing a pivotal role in ensuring good governance. Currently, 640 services/schemes have been notified under the Haryana Right to Service Act, 2014 which are ensuring benefits of the welfare schemes in a time-bound manner to the common public.

In this series, an appeal was automatically raised to the Commission on behalf of appellate Ms. Savita a resident of district Rohtak who had applied for Mukhya Mantri Kisan Evam Khetihar Mazdoor Jiwan Suraksha Yojna in December, 2021 but the benefit was not delivered to her stating the reason that some legal action is involved in the case.

The Commission taking immediate cognizance of the matter conducted a detailed inquiry and it was found that file was wrongly sent to Additional District Attorney by the Secretary, HSAMB, as no legal issue was involved in the case.

The said scheme was launched by the Haryana Chief Minister during the year 2013 with the aim to provide Financial Assistance to the Farmers/ Labourers who met with an accident during the Agricultural operations.

Under the scheme the extent of financial aid under different circumstances is in case of Death Rs. 5,00,000/-, Permanent disability due to breakage of back bone or otherwise Rs. 2,50,000/-, Amputation of two limbs/permanent serious injury Rs. 1,87,500/-, Permanent serious injury/amputation of one limb (amputation of four fingers shall be deemed as loss of Rs. 1,25,000/-, Amputation of full finger Rs. 75,000/-, Partial amputation of finger Rs. 37,500/-.

Auto Appeal System (AAS) files an automatic appeal to FGRA on behalf of the citizen when the RTS timeline of a notified service is breached. The appeal is subsequently forwarded to the SGRA when the same is not resolved within 30 working days.

Since no action was taken by the FGRA and SGRA on the appeal was raised to the Commission. The Commission conducted a detailed inquiry and it was found that the file was wrongly sent to Sh. Ashish Sharma, Additional District Attorney by the Secretary, HSAMB, as no legal issue was involved in the case. Sh. Gurdeep, clerk in the office of Secretary, HSAMB, Rohtak who kept the file pending with him for 2 and half months. A notice was issued to him and during the hearing he could not provide justifiable reasons for the delay caused by him. Thus exercising powers under Section 17 (1)(h) of the Haryana Right to Service Act, 2014, the Commission imposed a penalty of Rs. 10,000 on Sh. Gurdeep Clerk.

24×7 water supply project: Chd MC signs MoU with French Development Agency with support of EU

IEP Chandigarh

Achieving the final and much awaited milestone of the ambitious 24×7 pan city water supply project, the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh on Friday signed the historic project agreement with the French Financial institution, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) with the support of the European Union at Punjab Raj Bhawan, Chandigarh. This agreement was signed by Anindita Mitra, Municipal Commissioner, Chandigarh and Bruno Bosle, Country Director for India of the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), in the presence of Banwarilal Purohit, Administrator Chandigarh and Governor, Punjab, HE Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union in India Sarbjit Kaur, Mayor, Chandigarh, and other dignitaries.

Adressing the gathering, the Governor said that though the 24×7 Water Supply System has been implemented in various cities in India, Chandigarh’s pan city project with Smart Water Metering for all the 1.77 lacs connections, is the first of its kind. Chandigarh’s deep rooted relationship with France is well known as the entire city was planned by the famous French architect, Le Corbusier. It was in 2016, that the then Ambassador of France and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Chandigarh and in the iconic rock garden of Chandigarh, it was decided that France shall support crucial infrastructure projects in Chandigarh.

Purohit appreciated the vision and commitment of the European partners for the project. AFD has accompanied the design of the programme and is funding the major part of the investment through a 412 crores soft loan. The European Union on the other hand is providing a 98 Crores grant through AFD to accompany the implementation of the investment.

He said that the project was the need of the hour as the entire water supply system of Chandigarh was an ageing one. Also, due to slow and steady rise in the population, criss-cross pipelines have come up across the city making it near impossible to isolate and detect leakages leading to low pressure on upper floors of the buildings. Typically, intermittent water supply results in higher per capita consumption of water due to storage. Not just that, it leads to contamination as well. The city witnesses much higher water consumption in the range of 227 lpcd as compared to the National norms of 150 lpcd majorly on account of Non Revenue Water in the range of 30-35 % leading to huge operation and maintenance cost.

One of the major components of this project, funded by the EU contribution is the technical assistance to the Municipal Corporation, which shall assist and provide operational tools to help switch from intermittent water supply to a continuous 24×7 water supply system, and provide dedicated information, education, and change-management support to end-users. The EU grant shall also support the Municipal Corporation with operational tools, and pro-poor investments related to the rehabilitation of stand-posts in the slum areas by converting them to multi-tap stand posts, connection of the used water with the Sewerage System, thereby, creating hygienic conditions and reducing the time for women to collect water.

           He congratulated the Mayor and councillors, the Commissioner and her team of officers for taking up these people centric steps in public interest and wished them all success in future endeavors. The Governor asked the concerned officers of Chandigarh Administration and Municipal Corporation Chandigarh to ensure that the project is implemented in the stipulated time frame.

           The Ambassador of European Union, H.E. Ugo Astuto, said that “The programme being launched today is a good example of the team Europe approach underpinning the EU Global Gateway strategy.  The European Union and Agence Française de Developpement are pooling their resources for an investment in urban infrastructure with the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh with the objective of improving sustainability and bringing positive change in the life of the citizens of Chandigarh”.

Bruno Bosle, the Country Director of AFD India while addressing the audience, said that, “the Chandigarh Pan-City 24X7 Water Supply Project is emblematic of the Indo-French Cooperation in India and is a flagship project for the AFD. The project is directly addressing the priorities of the Indian Govt. which aims to move towards universal coverage, 24X7 water supply, and Drink from tap initiative while being operationally efficient, and reduction of carbon footprints of the water utility. He also thanked European Union who agreed to partner with AFD, and provided one of the largest grant of 11.38MEUR in addition to the AFD contribution of 48MEUR towards this project. The contribution of EU grant is a key to the success of the project through the technical assistance, change management, operational tools, and rehabilitation work in low-income settlements.

NHRC notices to the Delhi Chief Secretary, Police Commissioner, and the Member Secretary, SLSA over the reported acid attack on a girl

IEP New Delhi, December 16,

2022 The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India has taken suo motu cognizance of the media reports that two masked men threw acid on a 17-year-old girl on her way to school in West Delhi on 14th December, 2022.  Reportedly, the victim was admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital ICU. The Commission has observed that the reported incident raises serious issues of human rights violations of the victim.  It is really very disturbing that despite several amendments in the criminal laws and the various measures taken by the authorities to ban the sale of acid or corrosive substances, other than the commercial or scientific purposes, it appears nothing much has changed on the ground as the attackers are easily procuring acids – be it through off-line or on-line.  This clearly demonstrates that there is a lack of a monitoring system within the administration for the sale of acid(s) of various natures.  Therefore, prima facie, it appears that there is culpable negligence on the part of the public servant for failing to regulate the sale of acid(s) within whose territorial jurisdiction the incident took place.  Accordingly, it has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Commissioner of Police, and the Member Secretary, State Legal Services Authorities calling for detailed specific reports within four weeks.   The Chief Secretary is expected to inform regarding the rehabilitation, counseling, compensation, free-of-cost treatment, including plastic surgery of the victim if any, and the other measures, which are necessary to be taken, as per direction of the Apex Court in Laxmi vs. Union of India [WP (Crl.) No. 129 of 2006 dated 11.02.2011].  The report must also contain the details of the sale of acid, in the instant case, through e-wallet, and the persons responsible for the sale of such banned substance in contravention of the law of the land.  The report should also specifically mention the compensation amount paid or to be paid as per the guidelines of the Victim Compensation Scheme. The Commissioner of Police has been asked to submit the details of the FIR in the matter.  It should mention the penal offenses invoked, the progress of the investigation, the larger conspiracy in the instant case, and the details of the accused persons arrested.  The report must also mention the preventive actions, initiated by Delhi Police, to inhibit such reoccurrence of acid attacks in Delhi.  The Member Secretary, State Legal Services Authority, Delhi, should mention the steps taken regarding the Victim Compensation Scheme and its publicity so that acid attack victim(s) in the National Capital may seek benefits under it.  The report must also contain the actual compensation paid in the instant case under the scheme of SLSA, Delhi in the case of an acid attack. The Commission has noted that the Apex Court in the matter of Parivartan Kendra vs. Union of India (WP.(C) No. 867of 2013 on 7th December, 2015),  specifically mandated that the States / Union Territories, where the rules to regulate the sale of acids and the other explosive substances are not operational until such rules are framed or made operational, the Chief Secretaries of the concerned States / Administrators of the Union Territories shall ensure, inter-alia, that the sale of acid is completely banned unless the seller maintains a log/register recording the sale of acid, which will contain the details of the person to whom acid(s)  is/are sold.  The specific reason and purpose of procuring acid are also to be specified; all stocks of acid must be declared by the seller to the concerned Sub Divisional Magistrate within 15 days; seller shall sell acid only when the buyer has shown photo identity issued by the Government, which contains the address of the person.