IEP Chandigarh, April 7-

Haryana Health and Family Welfare Minister, Sh. Anil Vij said that people in the state, who have got precaution dose under the vaccination program to prevent Covid infection, will be given free supplement so that the citizens of the state can be protected from Covid infection. Apart from this, he directed the officers of the health department that all the health workers should be given precaution dose as soon as possible.        Sh. Vij said this in a meeting organized with Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Sh. Mansukh Mandaviya through video conferencing here today.        He said that all health workers in the state will be given precaution dose as soon as possible and it has been made mandatory for all these workers to get this dose within 7 days after receiving the vaccine. He said that directions have been given to the officials to vaccinate people with Co-morbid and elderly people so that these people can be protected from Covid infection.        Informing the Union Health minister through video conferencing, Sh. Vij said that at present there are 1109 active cases of Covid in Haryana, out of which 25 are in hospital while 2 are on oxygen which are co-morbid. He informed that a sufficient number of machines, laboratories and other equipment are available in the state to deal with the Covid infection.         Apart from this, 103 percent first dose of Covid vaccination have been administered, 86 percent second dose has been administered in the state but along with motivating people to administer 100 percent third dose i.e. precaution dose, they should be given supplement. He said that apart from organizing health camps from time to time, wide publicity should also be done to administer precaution dose. Suggesting to the Union Minister, he said that if the rates of the vaccine are fixed, then the state government will be able to vaccinate the people by purchasing the vaccine from its own funds.        Appreciating the suggestion of Sh. Vij, Union Health Minister Sh. Mansukh Mandaviya said to all health ministers and secretaries of health departments across the country that wide publicity for Covid vaccination should be done through various mediums. He said that although people become careless about vaccination when the situation of Covid infection goes down, they should be aware of their health and can also go to private hospitals to get Covid vaccine. He said that right now XBB 1.16 sub-variants are active in India. The Union Health Minister instructed the State Health Ministers to conduct review meetings in their respective states, monitor health services, visit hospitals, conduct inspections to stop the sale of spurious medicines, and stressed on testing and genome sequencing.        After video conferencing, the Health Minister instructed the officials of the Health Department to continuously increase testing in the state and lay emphasis on genome sequencing. He said that according to the instructions, 140 per million testing should be done at the district level.Giving information about the steps taken to prevent Covid, he said that all Covid-19 positive samples are being sent for whole genome sequencing. Instructions have also been given regarding COVID-friendly behavior including wearing of masks by patients and health care workers in the hospital premises. Wearing masks has been made mandatory in crowded and high-risk places. Availability of Flu Corner in health facilities has been ensured for effective surveillance of Covid cases and testing for Influenza. The availability of COVID-19 related medicines is also being monitored at all levels as per the requirement in the health care facilities.        On this occasion, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Dr. G. Anupama, Managing Director of National Health Mission Haryana, Dr. Prabhjot Singh, Joint Director of Medical Education and Research Department, Smt. Meenakshi Raj, Director of Health Services Department, Dr. V.K. Bansal and other senior officers of the Health Department were present.

IEP Chandigarh, April 6

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala remembered Former Deputy Prime Minister, Choudhary Devi Lal as “messiah” of farmers and the downtrodden. He added that he was a true well-wisher of farmers, who dedicated his life to the welfare of farmers and labourers.This was stated by Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala after offering flowers at the ‘Sangharsh Sthal’ Samadhi in New Delhi on the occasion of the death anniversary of Jannayak Chaudhary Devilal Ji.Sh. Dushyant Chautala said that earlier token fees were charged as tax on the tractors of the farmers. Jannayak Chaudhary Devi Lal waived the fees in the year 1977 along subsiding it from all kind of law for the convenience of farmers. Similarly, in the year 1987, he waived the loans of the farmers of the state up to ten thousand without any discrimination.On this occasion, JJP State President, Sardar Nishan Singh, Senior leaders Dr. KC Bangar, Sh. Rajendra Litani, Sh. Dinesh Dagar paid tribute on their behalf.

IEP Chandigarh, April 6

Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal took the initiative to change the direction of the state politics as soon as he took over the power on October 26, 2014. Several new schemes were implemented to redress the grievances of the people; including the CM window.        The CM window system started on December 25, 2014, on the occasion of Good Governance Day; which garnered appreciation from the general public. In the period of more than 8 years, so far over 10.92 lakh people have sent their complaints on CM Window, out of which over 10.09 lakh have been resolved. Later in his second innings, the Chief Minister started the Jan Samvad programme following the concept of ‘Sarkar Aapke Dwar’ and listened to the complaints of the people by sitting among them. This simplicity of the Chief Minister not only enthralled the people, but they also expressed appreciation for this effort.        After starting the Jan Samvad programme from Rohtak district, the Chief Minister organized Jan Samvad in Sirsa, Sonipat, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Fatehabad districts; in which he listened to the problems of the people. Apart from people from far-flung villages of these districts; people from other districts also reached the Chief Minister’s Jan Samvad programmes.Chief Minister’s initiative to meet newly elected panchayats        The result of the Chief Minister’s initiative to give educated panchayats in the state was that in the year 2016, 33 percent posts in Panchayati Raj institutions were reserved for women and after the decision of the Supreme Court, 42 percent women were elected; as they fulfilled the condition of being educated. Also, to give equal representation to women in panchayats, the Chief Minister brought a bill in the Vidhan Sabha and in the elections of the Panchayati Raj Institutions held in November, 2022; the participation of women in the elected panchayats was 50 percent. Taking a new initiative to meet the newly elected panchayats, the Chief Minister decided to take the Jan Samvad programme towards villages and in this regard; he visited more than 12 villages of Bhiwani district for three days from April 2 to April 4. On several occasions, the Chief Minister instructed that woman sarpanches should be present in the programme instead of sarpanch representatives. With this initiative, the women sarpanches also realized the importance of the elected public representative in a democracy; that the head of the state has come to interact with them.

IEP Chandigarh, April 6

Former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal fought to improve the lives of people belonging from all socioeconomic classes without any discrimination, said Deputy CM. Sh. Dushyant Chautala remembered Former Deputy Prime Minister, Choudhary Devi Lal as “messiah” of farmers and the downtrodden.Sh. Dushyant Chautala said this while addressing the people present in the program organized by “Meri Maa Foundation” at Le-Meridien Hotel, New Delhi on the occasion of Death Anniversary of Former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal. On this occasion, the Deputy CM felicitated “Chaudhary Devi Lal Gaurav Samman” to several personalities belonging from medical, education, media background.When Jannayak Ch. Devi Lal entered politics, according to Dushyant Chautala, he was well aware that our country is an agrarian nation and rural society has challenges like unemployment which needs to be connected through the mainstream.He was aware that neither decent education nor any means had been mobilised for the children of farmers, labourers, small cultivators, merchants, and other members of the weaker sections. But if they are selected on the basis of fairness and merit in government jobs, they can come forward. That’s why after becoming the Chief Minister, he provided free bus travel facility to the unemployed youths to appear for examinations and interviews.        He further stated that Chaudhary Devi Lal was aware of the fact that most of the children of the rural society leave their studies midway due to poverty and only 25 to 30 percent of the children are able to complete Matric or above education with lot of struggle. He also knew that there is no dearth of sporting talent in rural children, so hundreds of schools were opened during his tenure. Similarly, he made adequate appointments of sports coaches and established new sports stadiums.Sh. Dinesh Dagar, Vice President of “Meri Maa Foundation” informed that under the supervision of the President of the organization, Sh. Bobby Malik, seven programs have been organized so far in the memory of Former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal. Many personalities from medical, education, administration including social service, sports, media background have been honoured with “Chaudhary Devi Lal Gaurav Samman” award. The treasurer of the organization Shubham Malik said that 150 dignitaries including Jasan Mahala, Satpal Dalal, Ajaydeep Lathar, Anuj Mishra, Bijender Bansal, Shiv Kumar, Sunil Balyan, Naveen Gautam, Robinder Narayan were honoured.

IEP Chandigarh, April 6

Haryana Police has once again set an example of humanity by reuniting 8 missing persons including a deaf and dumb child with their families.Sharing the information here today, a Haryana Police spokesperson informed that Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of State Crime Branch had traced these missing persons and children. They checked missing person records with the available police data of missing adults and kids, developed information and also spoke to the people residing there.AHTU teams are in touch with children’s homes in all states. As and when police learn about the missing person or children, they are counseled and put in special efforts to get positive results. Efforts are on to trace the missing children not only in the state but also across the country, he added. In the first case, police had reunited a woman and her two kids (9 and 7 years old), who went missing from Pinjore, Panchkula since December 2018 and were traced in Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh. Based on some information provided by the family, AHTU team put in special efforts that finally led to the restoration of the missing woman and two children to their family.In another case, three missing persons including a woman and two children, who were reported missing from Mahendergarh district in March 2022 were reunited with their family. While the woman and her one child were traced from a shelter home in Bhiwani, the other child (deaf and dumb) was traced to a children’s home in Madhya Pradesh. The photo of the deaf and dumb child was shared by the AHTU team with shelter homes in other states. Meanwhile, information about the said child was received from Vivekananda Children’s Home, Morena, Madhya Pradesh. During the counseling of the child, it was learned that he had reached Madhya Pradesh on a train from Delhi, from where the child was rescued and kept in a children’s home in Morena. After completing all the formalities, the woman and her two children were safely handed over to the family. In a separate case, the Anti Human Trafficking Unit team traced the family of a 17-year-old missing minor girl in West Bengal.  Apart from this, in another case, the team found the family of a missing girl from a nomadic family in Uttar Pradesh. The girl was currently living in a private ashram in Gurugram.All the units of the State Crime Branch have been instructed to go to all the shelter homes under their jurisdiction and counsel the children there so that they can be traced and reunited with their families. 

IEP Chandigarh April 6

Haryana Government has increased about 72 percent budget to provide mid day meal to the students of 14,409 primary schools under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PMPOSHAN). During the current year a sum of Rs. 661 crore has been earmarked against the previous year budget of Rs. 384 crore to provide mid day meal to the students.While presiding over the meeting of the State Level Steering Committee for Mid-day Meal Scheme here today, the Chief Secretary, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal directed the officers to conduct a study in different blocks regarding adding nutritional value to the meal. He asked the officers to ensure the quality and meet the nutritional standards of food besides cooking it in hygienic conditions.Mr. Kaushal directed the officers to fix the time schedule for providing meals to students so that an inspection can be done to check and ensure the quality of meal. He said meals provided under the scheme include a variety of food items based on fortified flour, rice and bajra.It was apprised in the meeting that 200ml five flavoured fortified milk is also provided to the students of Class I to VIII at least 3 days in a week along with mid day meal. Sh. Kaushal directed the officers to plan more food items containing proteins in the mid day meal.Among those present in the meeting include Additional chief Secretary, Finance, Mr. Anurag Rastogi, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Mr. Vijayendra Kumar and other senior officers.

IEP Chandigarh, April 6

Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal said that the state Government has been taking effective measures to break the backbone of drug peddlers.Following the directions of the Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal, the property of the drug peddlers is being attached. So far, assets worth Rs. 37.29 crore of 41 accused drug peddlers have been attached. Besides this, the properties of 77 persons involved in crimes under NDPS Act have also been demolished.        While presiding over a meeting of Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau here today, the Chief Secretary, Mr. Kaushal said that primarily, it is necessary to identify drug addicts to curb drug peddling in the state so as to bring drug addicts back into mainstream society.        Sh. Kaushal said that the supply and use of prescription medicines should also be monitored in the state. He directed the officials of the health department to prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) related to the drug overdose deaths occurred within a month and share it with the Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau. Further, drug overdose death cases should also be monitored at forensic science laboratories.        The Chief Secretary said that at present 90 drug de-addiction centers are running in the state. Of this, 21 are run by government and other private organizations and NGOs. Special emphasis should be given on the functioning of drug de-addiction centers. He directed the officers to regularly visit the drug de-addiction centers set up in the districts. Apart from this, the Sub Divisional Magistrates must also visit and inspect drug de-addiction centers once every month. He said that apart from regular visits, the officers concerned should also conduct surprise inspections. He further directed the Deputy Commissioner to hold a monthly meeting of the District Level Committee and review the situation of drug abuse. The decisions of these meetings should be updated on the Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau portal.        The Chief Secretary said that for capacity building in Primary Health Center and Community Health Center, the process of appointment of clinical psychiatrist and other manpower should be expedited. De-addiction drugs should also be included in the essential medicines.Mr. Kaushal said that the Dhakad programme being run to spread drug abuse awareness among youth should also be conducted on a large scale. Dhadak teams should also be constituted in educational institutions, which will make students aware of the fatal consequences of drug abuse.        In the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary of Home Department Mr. TVSN Prasad said that the Advisory Board will be constituted soon for the effective use and implementation of the PIT- NDPS Act. As many as 21 workshops were also organized for imparting training regarding Dhakad program, Hawk software, Prayas app and Saathi app. Under the Dhakad initiative, awareness programs were also conducted at the school, college and university levels.        In the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. G. Anupama, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Mr. Mr. Vijayendra Kumar, Director General of Police Mr. PK Agarwal, Director General Prisons, Mr. Mohammad Akil, ADGP Crime , Panchkula, Mr. OP Singh, ADGP CID, Mr. Alok Mittal, IGP, Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau, Mr. Amitabh Singh Dhillon, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, Mr. Ashok Meena and other senior officers were also present. 

IEP Chandigarh, April 6

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala remembering Chaudhary Devi Lal on his birth anniversary, said that we should all draw inspiration from the life of Chaudhary Devi Lal Ji who selflessly dedicated his life for the upliftment of society. He added that Ch. Devi Lal fought for the rights of villages and rural people. The Deputy Chief Minister said this while addressing a public meeting organized at Gangatehri in Karnal district on Thursday.       Deputy Chief Minister, Sh. Dushyant Chautala said that the present government has done many works for rural development. These include community centres, sports stadiums, gymnasiums, state-of-the-art libraries, paving of streets and drains, beautification of ponds, construction of roads and expansion of roads, as well as construction of sheds inside the cremation grounds and proper arrangement of portable water etc.       He said that the construction work of roads is being done in the Assandh area, in which the road from Assandh to Kheri Sarf Ali has been approved for four-laning at a cost of about Rs. 34 crores and the road from Assandh to Chochra at a cost of about Rs. 50 crores. He added that work will be completed in the next 6 months.       The Deputy Chief Minister said that an e-Kshatipurti portal has been set up to compensate farmers for crop losses due to unseasonal rains recently. Rs. 9,000 per acre for 25 per cent crop damage, Rs. 12,000 for 50 per cent crop damage and Rs. 15,000 for 75 per cent crop damage will be deposited directly into the farmers’ accounts. He said that within 48 hours of weighing the crops of the farmers, the money will be deposited in their accounts.       He further said that with a new change in the system, farmers can now directly get their copy of fard online. He added that the government has prepared the new software of Jamabandi for the convenience of farmers so that they do not require to visit government officers and Patwari to get the fard. He said that 50 percent reservation has been given to women in Panchayati Raj Institutions, which is a historic step and has empowered women. He said that in order to increase the income of the panchayats, two percent money of the electricity bill will be given in the account of the panchayat. Along with this, one percent money will be sent to the Gram Panchayat’s account on getting the registry done in the village.

IEP Chandigarh April 5    

      The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its campaign against corruption, has arrested a former cashier Harpreet Singh of village Karnana, tehsil Banga, who was absconding in a multi-crore misappropriation case amounting to Rs. 7,14,07,596 in the Karnana multipurpose cooperative society limited, village Karnana, district SBS Nagar. He was absconding since seven months and arrested by the VB when he surrendered before the competent court at SBS Nagar on the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court.          Disclosing this here today, a spokesperson of the VB said there are about 1000 account holders/members besides six paid employees in the said cooperative society. It owns one petrol pump, one tractors besides agricultural machinery for cultivation of land on rental basis. Apart from this, the said society also sells insecticides and pesticides to its members/farmers. Various members of this society and NRIs of this village had deposited FDRs worth crores of rupees in the society.          During the surprise checking by the technical team of the VB, it was found that the FDRs deposited and loans taken by the society members from 01-04-2018 to 31-03-2020 were embezzled to the tune of the Rs. 7,14,07,596. Besides this, it was also found that the accused had made discrepancies of Rs 36,36,71,952.          During the investigation, it was also found that the secretary Inderjit Dhir had installed 2 computers in the society, in one of which he used to prepare record to cheat the members by showing the deposited entries to the members as genuine but on digging the data of the other computer, it has came to light that the above said secretary along with cashier and others used to feed the data according to the amount of fraud and presented it to the audit officers and other officials of the department.          He informed that in this regard, the VB has registered an embezzlement case against 7 employees/members of the said society under FIR 15 dated 29-08-2022 under sections 406, 409, 420, 465, 468, 471, 477-A, 120-B of IPC and sections 13(1)A, 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at VB Police Station, Jalandhar.          In this case accused former secretary Inderjit Dhir, cashier Harpreet Singh, Randhir Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, Ravinder Singh and Kamalit Singh (all members and residents of village Karnana) have been booked in this case and arrested five of them. Among the accused persons, the absconding former cashier Harpreet Singh has also been arrested. He said that raids were being conducted to arrest the remaining absconding secretary Inderjit Dhir and would be arrested soon.

IEP Chandigarh, April 5

The Haryana Police, as part of a special anti-drug drive, have seized a huge quantity of narcotic substances in the past about 21 months in Sirsa district alone. Sharing the information here today, a Haryana Police spokesperson informed that in the past about 21 months, 1005 cases were registered and 1746 accused were arrested on the charge of possessing and peddling drugs in the Sirsa district.Giving details of the drug seizure, the spokesperson said that a large quantity of narcotics, including 10 kg 255 grams of heroin, 67 kg 692 gram opium, over 6202 kg of poppy husk, 84 kg 942 gram of ganja and about 65000 restricted pharma pills and capsules were seized from the possession of the arrested accused. He said that following the directives of DGP Sh. P.K. Agrawal, the police tightened the noose on drug peddlers and other offenders to curb the smuggling of drugs in the district, especially in areas bordering Rajasthan and Punjab.                    The spokesperson also urged people to come forward fearlessly and share information about the sale, consumption and use of narcotics at mobile phone number 7087089947, toll free number 1800-180-1314 and landline phone number 01733-253023. Apart from this, people can share any sort of information related to drug peddling at the anti-drug helpline number 8814022600 and 1800-120-2048 of the Sirsa Police. In addition to taking stern action against drug peddlers, the police are constantly making people aware of the ill effects of drug abuse, he added.