IEP Chandigarh, July 20      

    Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Day will be celebrated on 21 July 2023 in Anganwadi Centers of the state by the Punjab Government.           Minister of Social Security, Women, and Child Development, Dr. Baljit Kaur, emphasized the importance of ECCE, which includes aspects of healthcare, nutrition, play-based learning, and early education in a protective environment, contributing significantly to the holistic development of children. The slogan for Early Childhood Care and Education is “Child’s School Readiness, Home Responsibility.”          To commemorate this day, Cabinet Minister instructed all District Program Officers to organize ECCE events in Anganwadi centers (except flood affected areas). They are required to ensure the proper observance of the day.

IEP Chandigarh, July 20    

      In a bid to eradicate the menace of female foeticide and balance the sex ratio in the state, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Department has busted an illegal sex determination racket in Sunam of Sangrur district. A portable ultrasound machine, Rs35000/- paid to the accused for sex test were also recovered.          Divulging the details here today, Director Health Services (FW) Dr. Ravinder Pal Kaur said that Civil Surgeons of Barnala and Sangrur formed a joint team of the health department comprising District Family Welfare Officer, Barnala Dr. Parvesh Kumar, Deputy Medical Commissioner Barnala Dr. Gurminder Aujla,          Gynaecologist Dr. Anchal Kashyap, Radiologist Civil Hospital Barnala Dr. Shikha, PNDT co-ordinator Gurjit Singh, District Family Welfare Officer Sangrur Dr. Inderjit Singla, Dr. Amanpreet Kaur and PNDT coordinator Harpreet Singh to conduct  the raid.          The health department team sent a pregnant patient as a decoy to a person for disclosing the sex of the foetus. An amount of Rs 35,000 was received by the accused woman for conducting the test and the patient was called to a house in Sunam.           As soon as the accused started conducting the test, the team of the health department reached the spot and caught the 53-years-old man red-handed.          Dr. Ravinder Pal Kaur lauded the efforts of Civil Surgeon Barnala Dr.Jasbir Singh Aulakh on whose tip off this operation was conducted and Assistant Director Dr.Vineet Nagpal who coordinated the whole raid from the state.          She said that there was a search for this accused person in the surrounding states as well, therefore under the strict directions of Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Balbir Singh, taking immediate action on this information, a joint team of Health officials of district Barnala and Sangrur was made to conduct the raid. Dr. Parminder Kaur, Civil Surgeon Sangrur and Police Party played a pivotal role in this joint raid.          In this raid a portable ultrasound machine, Rs35000/- paid to the accused for sex test were also recovered. Moreover, another amount of Rs 2,49000/- and instruments and medicines used for carrying out abortions were also recovered on the spot. Apart from arresting the kingpin, the police team accompanying the raiding health team also arrested a woman who was illegally performing abortions at her home. A case under PC  PNDT act has also been registered against the accused.

IEP Chandigarh, July 20

Haryana Government will soon setup a Centre of Excellence within the Post Graduate Institute of Dental Science, Rohtak, by establishing virtual learning laboratories with state-of-the-art facilities. The Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal has accorded administrative approval amounting to Rs. 17.50 crore for the same.Sharing more details in this regard an official spokesperson said that the Chief Minister had announced to setup a Centre of Excellence within the Post Graduate Institute of Dental Science, Rohtak during the budget session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. While fulfilling the same, Sh. Manohar Lal has today given administrative approval.The spokesperson informed that as per the detailed plan of the Center of Excellence, 24X7 Dental Emergency will be established at a cost of about Rs 47 lakh. Besides this, a Nodal Center for Oral preCancer diagnosis and management will be set up at a cost of about Rs 2 crore, Virtual Learning Lab at a cost of about Rs 8 crore, Advanced Maxillofacial Imaging Center at a cost of about Rs 2 crore and Advanced Maxillofacial Rehabilitation and Implant Center will be established at a cost of Rs 5 crore.

IEP Chandigarh, July 19     

     The Punjab Government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is committed to protecting the interests of the Scheduled Castes of the state.           Accordingly, Fake Scheduled Caste Certificate of Parmod Kumar son of Mr. Bangali Dass, House No. 1829, Janta Colony, Adarsh Nagar, Naya Gaon, SAS Nagar (Mohali) and Mrs. Shinder Kaur wife of Mr. Amrik Singh, resident of Village Dhablan Tehsil and District Patiala, had been rejected by the state level scrutiny committee constituted at the Government level.          Social Justice, Empowerment and Minorities  Minister Dr. Baljit Kaur said that Mahesh Kumar, son of Mr. Vishal Singh, House No. 1808, Janta Colony, Naya Gaon, SAS Nagar had lodged a complaint with the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission. The complaint stated that  Pramod Kumar a resident of Naya Gaon village District SAS Nagar, had forged a Scheduled Caste certificate despite belonging to the Christian caste.          Apart from this, Gurcharan Singh son of Mr. Sampuran Singh of village Dhablan Tehsil and district Patiala filed a complaint with the Punjab State Scheduled Caste Commission that Shinder Kaur had forged a Scheduled Caste certificate despite being a Muslim.          The Minister further informed that the Punjab State Scheduled Caste Commission had forwarded these complaints to the Department of Social Justice, Empowerment for investigation. She said that after investigation by the department, it has been confirmed that the Scheduled Caste certificates of Mr. Pramod Kumar and Mrs. Shinder Kaur was indeed fake.          The Minister stated that the department has written to the Deputy Commissioner of SAS Nagar regarding the Scheduled Caste Certificate No. 2148 dated 07.02.2014 of Mr. Pramod Kumar and the Deputy Commissioner of Patiala regarding the Scheduled Caste Certificate No. of Mrs. Shinder Kaur. 1027 dated 17.03.2008 and called for cancellation and confiscation of their certificates.

IEP Chandigarh, July 19       

       With a view to adopt the best practices for further streamlining the food security mechanism, the Punjab State Food Commission (PSFC) has taken the initiative of amending Punjab Food Security Rules, 2016 on the pattern of Andhra Pradesh Food Security Rules, 2017 and Telangana Food Security Rules.           In a meeting of the commission in this regard presided over by the Chairman Mr. D.P. Reddy, it was decided that Mrs. Indra Gupta and Mrs. Preety Chawla, Members would give their own suggestions regarding amendment of Punjab Food Security Rules. Thereafter a consolidated list of suggestions given by the School Education Department and the Social Security, along with suggestions of the Members, may be forwarded to the Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Department for incorporating the same in the Punjab Food Security Rules, 2016.            The Commission also accorded its approval to the revision of minimum rate of wages in respect of the various categories of outsourced employees such as Peon-Helper, Safai Karamchari cum Chowkidar, Driver Light, Clerk, Office Assistant (Senior Assistant), Personal Assistant,  Office Superintendent Grade 1, and Private Secretary who are working in the Commission, w.e.f. 01.04.2023 to 31.03.2024 (both days inclusive) in compliance with the orders of Deputy Commissioner, UT Chandigarh issued vide his order No. DC/DN/F-20/2023/13357-63 dated 28.05.2023.            Further, the Commission also authorized the Chairman, PSFC, to sanction the minimum revised rates of wages to its outsourced employees in future as & when these are revised by the Deputy Commissioner, U.T. Chandigarh.           On the occasion, the Chairman expressed deep concern over the situation arising out of floods in the State and asked for the identification of the affected schools as well as the Anganwadis so as to salvage the situation.

IEP Chandigarh, July 19       

   Amidst its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Wednesday nabbed Class IV employee Sukhdev Singh posted at Tehsil Office Patti in Tarn Taran district for accepting a bribe of Rs. 10,000.          The accused employee has been arrested on the complaint of Jagroop Singh Sandhu resident of village Margindpura in Tarn Taran district.          Revealing details here today, an official spokesperson of the VB said that the complainant had approached the VB and lodged a complaint that his grandfather had died on 12-08-2021 and he had applied for the post of Numberdar in December 2022 at the Office of Tehsildar Patti. He said that the accused employee sent the file to SDM, Patti for further action. He has demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 in lieu of getting his file cleared from SDM office.          The spokesperson informed that after preliminary investigation of this complaint, a team of VB unit Tarn Taran laid a trap and arrested the accused employee for accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from the complainant in the presence of official witness.          In this regard, a case under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against the accused Class IV employee at Police Station VB, Amritsar Range. Further investigations in this case are under progress.

IEP Chandigarh, July 19

Haryana Chief Minister Sh. Manohar Lal today announced to contribute  an amount of Rs. 5 crores to  Himachal CM relief fund as flood relief. He said that the state government is providing all possible help, both financially and medically for those who have been adversely affected due to heavy rainfall in the past.

        While addressing a press conference held here today, Sh. Manohar Lal said, “Heavy to extremely heavy rainfall received in most of the parts of Haryana as well as in the neighbouring States for three consecutive days i.e from July 8 to 10 that has triggered flood-like situation in the State, throwing normal life out of gear and causing unfortunate loss of lives, animals and extensive damage to properties and infrastructure.

Sharing the rainfall statistics, the Chief Minister said that from July 8 to 12, the state received 110 mm of rainfall, which is 387 percent of the normal of 28.4 mm. The normal rainfall in Yamunanagar was 32.8 mm, 32.9 mm in Kurukshetra, 53 mm in Panchkula and 58.5 mm in Ambala, while this time these four districts received 842, 814, 699 and 514 percent of normal rainfall respectively.

        “As a result, almost all rivers in Haryana namely Yamuna, Markanda, Tangari, Ghaggar, and Saraswati. Besides this, all drains have remained in full spate. There were breaches and overflows at many places leading to flooding of fields, roads and habitations causing loss of lives and damage to properties that necessitated immediate rescue and still ongoing relief and recovery efforts,” said  Sh. Manohar Lal. 

The Chief Minister further shared that 12 districts were declared flood-affected. Sharing the data regarding the same, he said that 1353 villages and 4 MC areas in 12 districts namely Ambala, Fatehabad, Faridabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panchkula, Panipat, Palwal, Sonipat, Sirsa and Yamunanagar have been declared as flood affected in the State.

While refuting the allegations levied by the Opposition alleging that the flood situation in the state has caused due to increasing mining in the rivers, the Chief Minister said that such statements are illogical to make as flood and mining have no connection.

        He said that legal mining in riverbeds as per the mining plan can rather have the potential of increasing the water intake capacity of rivers and rather help in preventing floods in low-lying areas, as excess built-up of silt is removed in the mining process.

        Sh. Manohar Lal also suggested that excess slit should be removed by way of mining and otherwise from canals as well so that their water capacity in canal beds can also increase.

        He said that during the Flood Control Board meeting held in January, an amount of Rs. 930 crore has been already approved for tackling flood relief works.

The Chief Minister informed that the proposal to construct a dam 500 metres behind the Hathnikund Barrage is being taken up with the Himachal government.   He said that due to floods caused by excessive rains, there has been a loss of approximately Rs 500 crore as per the initial estimate in the state. Out of which about Rs 281 crore has been received from the Central Government as disaster relief amount. Apart from this, an additional amount will be demanded from the Central Government for flood relief.

The Chief Minister said that around 6629 persons have been evacuated. 41 relief camps have been organised. Around 1774 persons are currently housed in these camps. Food and other civil supplies arrangements have been made for the public residing in marooned areas. Army, Airforce, NDRF and SDRF, Civil Society organisations, and NGOs have assisted tirelessly, the district administrations in search, rescue and relief operations.

IEP Chandigarh, July 19

Haryana School Education Minister, Sh. Kanwar Pal while directing the officers said that all the officers should ensure to inspect the schools once a week. He added that where there are deficiencies in government schools, they should be rectified immediately.        The School Education Minister was addressing the meeting with DEOs, DEEOs, BEOs of all the districts through video conferencing today.        Sh. Kanwar Pal directed the DEO, DEEO, BEO that if any teacher is found not present in the school, then that teacher should be marked absent. If any teacher is found absent during checking/inspection, disciplinary action should be taken against that teacher. A list of 10 officers has been issued in each district to inspect schools.        Sh. Kanwar Pal said that the teachers should talk to the parents of the children over the phone, having low attendance or facing any issues in studies. He added that this exercise will help the parents to stay updated regarding their child’s performance.        Directing the officers, the School Education Minister said that the children should be given assignments on tablets. Along with this, teachers should also make 100 percent use of tablets.Sh. Kanwar Pal said that in the districts of the state where the schools are doing very well, the principals of other schools should go and visit such schools. He added that success stories of the school and students should be shared on social media so that good practices of one school can be adopted by other schools as well. Director of Secondary Education Department, Sh. Anshaj Singh, Director, Elementary Education, Haryana, Sh.  Ashok Kumar Garg and other officers of the department were also present in the meeting.  

IEP Chandigarh, July 19

The Haryana government has declared flood for the first time in the history of the state. According to an official  released information on Wednesday evening, a total of 1,354 places have been flooded in 12 districts of the state. Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala, who holds the portfolio of Revenue and Disaster Management Department, informed that flood control, relief and rescue, rehabilitation and damage compensation works are being carried out at war footing at all these places.        Deputy CM said that 12 districts of the state Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kaithal, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Palwal and Faridabad have been flooded. A list of flood-affected areas has been issued in all these districts, according to which Ambala has been flooded at 315 places, Kurukshetra at 298 places and Yamuna Nagar at 221 places. Apart from these, floods have caused damage at 128 places in Kaithal district, 94 places in Fatehabad and 84 places in Panchkula. Furthermore, 66 places in Karnal district, 54 in Faridabad, 32 in Palwal, 25 in Sonipat, 23 in Sirsa and 14 in Panipat have been declared flood affected areas.        Sh. Chautala said that on the basis of information received at the district level, the state government, taking an important decision, has formally declared flood for the first time in the history of the state.He said that due to heavy rains from July 8 to 12 and excessive rain water from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, have caused extensive damage to government and private properties in the state. He said that the Public Works Department has started repairing the roads damaged by the flood as soon as possible and more than Rs. 230 crore will be spent on repairing the damaged roads at about 150 places.        Repair of roads, canals, drains and buildings of other departments damaged in floods will also be done on a war footing. Apart from these, compensation of Rs. 15,000 per acre for completely damaged crops will be sent to the farmers’ accounts soon. Along with this, the loss of livestock will also be compensated and those whose houses have been damaged due to floods will also be given proper compensation as per the rules.        The Deputy Chief Minister said that in the last week he personally visited the flood-affected rural and urban areas of Panchkula, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Palwal and Faridabad districts. He said that the life of the common people has been badly affected by the flood water and livelihood, transportation, food and potable drinking water problems have arisen for many people. The state government is making strenuous efforts to expedite the relief and rehabilitation work, he added.

IEP Chandigarh, July 12

Haryana Chief Minister, Sh Manohar Lal urged the Indian Oil Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex to contribute in the relief and rescue operations in the districts which have suffered losses due to heavy rains in the State during the past few days. 239 villages have been affected due to rains and in these villages the Government is carrying out relief and rescue works at every level, he added.Sh Manohar Lal was speaking as the chief guest on the occasion of silver jubilee celebrations of Indian Oil Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex, in Panipat today. The Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Sh Rameshwar Teli was also present on this occasion.Sh Manohar Lal said that with the setting up of Indian Oil Panipat Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in the year 1998, Haryana has got a new identity on the world map in the refinery industry. At the time of inception, it had a refining capacity of 6 million metric tonnes, which has now increased to 15 million metric tonnes. Indian Oil plans to increase the refinery capacity to 25 million tonnes in the coming years and on this, an amount of Rs 35 thousand crore would  be incurred. While assuring all support and cooperation of the State Government for this expansion, he said that talks have been held with the panchayats of three villages Pal Jatan, Khandwa and Aasan Kalan around the refinery and they offered to give about 350 acres of panchayat land to Indian Oil for this purpose.As part of Prime Minister, Sh Narendra Modi’s commitment to make India TB free by 2025, Panipat Refinery has taken an initiative to distribute Handheld X-ray machines in 22 districts of Haryana to make this campaign a success.  On this occasion, Chairman, IOCL, Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, symbolically presented a machine to Chief Minister, Sh Manohar Lal.While lauding the efforts of Panipat Refinery, Sh Manohar Lal said that the Refinery has been organizing health check-up camps for all sections of the society. Recently, CBNAAT machines have been provided to the Civil Hospitals of Samalkha and Panipat, which have immensely benefited the patients. Taking this initiative forward, today Indian Oil has made X-ray machines available in 22 districts of Haryana, which is commendable work. With this, detection of TB at the initial stage would become possible and the patients would get treatment at the earliest.          On this occasion, the Chief Minister inaugurated the “Indian Oil Refinery Vanasthali”. To make Panipat greener and cleaner, more than 40 thousand saplings would be planted on 12 acres of land by the Refinery at an estimated cost of Rs 441 lakh. Besides this, the Chief Minister also inaugurated the SIP-3 Karyaklap at Brahma Sarovar by Indian Oil under the Swachh Iconic Places initiative launched by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation at 100 heritage tourist places of spiritual and cultural importance across the country. Several works would be carried out by Indian Oil for the cleanliness and beautification of this religious place, which would benefit about one crore tourists visiting this holy pilgrimage every year.