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.

IEP Chandigarh December 15

The Haryana Government has decided to launch ‘Block Parivartan Programme’ (BPP) to bring productive change in the lifestyle of the Antyodaya families residing in underdeveloped blocks across the state.

One underdeveloped block from each district to be identified

Under this programme, one underdeveloped block from each district will be identified and work would be initiated on basis of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including Poverty Eradication, Infrastructure and Governance, Health and Nutrition, Education and Skilling Equality and Empowerment, Water and Sanitation, Energy Management, Social Development, Agriculture and Irrigation.

For the time bound implementation of the Programme, the Chief Secretary, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal took a meeting of officers of Development and Panchayats, Education, Health and Family Welfare, Rural Development and Medical Education. He directed the officers to choose 18 pledges for 9 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) within a week to step up the programme. He informed that this programme will be intensified in a phased manner. Under phase 1, the development work on the basis of Key Performance Indicators will be initiated in the identified underdeveloped blocks.

Monitoring and Periodical Ranking to be done in Phase 2

Sh. Kaushal said that under Phase 2, the monitoring and periodical ranking will be done to evaluate the progress of the first 22 blocks on the basis of 18 pledges to uplift the Antyodaya families. He said that under the visionary leadership of the Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, the State Government is committed to raise the living standards of its citizens and ensure inclusive growth for all – “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas”. He directed the concerned officers to maintain proper coordination while implementing and working on the Key Performance Indicators which will lead to the overall development of the underdeveloped blocks.

Departments to appoint only one Nodal officer for BPP

Sh. Kaushal further directed that the nodal officers for Block Parivartan Programme will keep a track and periodically monitor the progress in the identified blocks. He directed all aligned Departments to appoint only one Nodal officer for the Block Parivartan Programme which will not be changed later. He directed that relevant departments have to identify the pledges under the KPI on the highest priority basis. He directed the concerned Departments to mandatorily provide the validated data source to collect the data.

Among those present in the meeting include Additional Chief Secretary, Finance and Planning, Sh. Anurag Rastogi, Additional Chief Secretary, Education, Sports and Youth Affairs, Sh. Mahavir Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, Additional Chief Secretary, Development and Panchayats, Sh. Anil Malik, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education and Research, Smt. G. Anupama, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Health Engineering, Sh. A.K Singh and other senior officers.

IEP Chandigarh, December 15

Continuous steps are being taken towards making the Haryana Vidhan Sabha completely digital. After the successful digital conduct of the August, 2022 session of the Vidhan Sabha through the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA); the upcoming session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha commencing from December 26, 2022 will also be transacted through the NeVA portal.

The Chief Secretary has issued a letter to all the administrative secretaries in this regard, instructing them to adhere to the NeVA portal for submitting the replies and all session-related work for the Vidhan Sabha session commencing from December 26.

Giving this information, an official spokesman said that the login related user ID and other information has already been shared with all the NeVA nodal officers appointed from different departments. In case of transfer or change of Nodal Officers of the concerned department, their details like name, contact number, designation can be updated from the profile section after login from their respective department NeVA ID.

Notably, the NeVA software is developed by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) with Unicode fonts and thus all the session related work of Hindi language will be done in Unicode fonts; which will be readable by all.

IEP Chandigarh, December 15

As per the vision of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal to provide shelter to every poor and needy person of the state, the Housing for All Department is preparing a strong framework. The government is constantly making efforts to provide houses to all the eligible beneficiaries in urban and rural areas under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Besides this, under In Situ Slum Redevelopment (ISSR) component, the state government will identify slum areas in Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula and other districts for the rehabilitation. In this regard proposal will be sent to the central government for final approval. 

The Chief Secretary, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal today reviewed the progress of various housing schemes of Housing for All Department here today. He also reviewed the progress of providing houses to the eligible beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in urban and rural areas.

A proposal to central government will be sent to add new beneficiaries to the BLC component

Directing the officers, the Chief Secretary said that under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) some discrepancies were found in the survey conducted under Beneficiary Led Construction (BLC) component during the previous years. The Haryana Government has conducted this survey on the basis of the data entered in the Parivar Pehchan Patra to identify the actual eligible beneficiaries. Therefore, based on the data obtained as a result of this survey, a proposal will be sent to the Central Government to add new beneficiaries to the BLC component.

Hold review meeting every month regarding the progress of houses in the urban local bodies

Sh. Kaushal further directed the officials of the Urban Local Bodies Department to expedite the work of the houses which are under construction in the urban local bodies. He also directed that the process of distribution of subsidy given for construction of houses under BLC component should also be strengthened. A nodal officer should be appointed and his accountability should be fixed. Sh. Kaushal directed that monthly review meetings of urban local bodies should be held to evaluate the progress of construction of houses.

Loans worth over Rs. 7702 crore were sanctioned to 39,267 beneficiaries under CLSS

It was apprised in the meeting that a survey was conducted to assess the demand for houses in the year 2017, in which 2,48,657 applications were found eligible. Out of this, a target of construction of 1,18,016 houses was set under PMAY-Urban. Under BLC component, 12,238 houses have been completed and 15,930 houses are under construction. During this tenure, financial assistance of Rs 462.24 crore was provided to the beneficiaries for the construction of houses. Besides this, loans worth over Rs. 7702 crore were sanctioned to 39,267 beneficiaries and interest subsidy of Rs 854.32 crore was provided under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS).

It was apprised in the meeting that from the target of constructing 21,699 houses set up by the central government for the period 2016-17 to 2020-21 under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin), 20,922 houses have been constructed. Only 750 houses are under construction. For the year 2021-22, the central government set a target of constructing 8038 houses, out of which the sanction of 6571 houses has been received and 605 houses have also been built. Financial assistance of Rs. 338.86 crore has been provided through DBT to the beneficiaries for the construction of houses. He further directed the officers that for the year 2022-23, the demand for 20,000 more houses should be sent to the Central Government.

In the meeting Additional Chief Secretary, Housing for All, Sh. Anil Malik, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Local Bodies, Sh. Arun Kumar Gupta, Director General, Housing for All, Sh. Ajit Balaji Joshi and other officers were present.

IEP Chandigarh, December 15

Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that it is a matter of pride for all the countrymen as the Hockey World Cup is being organised in India this time. The Hockey World Cup will be held from January 13 to 29 in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Unveiling the World Cup trophy of the Federation of Hockey India here today, the Chief Minister said, “Five players from Haryana are participating in the Indian hockey team. It is a matter of pride not only for the players of the state but also for the people.” Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Sh. Sandeep Singh was also present on the occasion.

Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal expressed hope that this time the Indian hockey team will perform better and definitely win the World Cup. He extended greetings and wished the players better performance. Giving the slogan of ‘Khelega-India, Jeetega-India, Jeetegi-Hockey’, the Chief Minister believed that the country’s players will fulfill it with full dedication.

The Chief Minister handed over the Hockey World Cup trophy to the Minister of State for Sports and congratulated the hockey team; stating that it is a matter of great pleasure that the command of sports in Haryana has been handed over to eminent hockey player, Sh. Sandeep Singh and is constantly endeavouring to take it forward. He said that the Hockey World Cup trophy will pass through 12 states, 7 union territories including Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Manipur, Assam, and will enter Haryana from Punjab and further to Delhi.

Sh. Manohar Lal said that hockey is the national game of India and in the year 1975, India won the Hockey World Cup under the leadership of great hockey magician, Sh. Dhyan Chand. “The women and men hockey teams have performed brilliantly in various national and international level games and our teams are well prepared. This time the whole country is focused on hockey and our team will definitely win the Hockey World Cup and make the country proud,” added the Chief Minister.

Secretary, Federation of Hockey India, Sh. Sunil Malik and General Secretary, Haryana Hockey Federation, Smt. Sunita Rangi were present on the occasion.

IEP Chandigarh, December 15

Haryana Police has bagged first position in the category of the best implementation of the Inter-operational Criminal Justice System (ICJS) project under the ‘Forensic Pillar’.

                    Sharing the information here today, a Haryana Police spokesperson informed that Director FSL, Dr. C S Rao received the award from the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Sh. Ajay Kumar Mishra during a conference held on ‘Good Practices in CCTNS/ICJS’ conducted by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) at New Delhi today. The performance of around 117 FSLs and CFSLs in the country was evaluated by NCRB on defined parameters in which Haryana emerged as the best performer.

                    Congratulating the Director, FSL Madhuban Dr C S Rao and his team, the Director General of Police (DGP), Haryana Sh. P.K. Agrawal said that it is a matter of immense pleasure and pride that the Forensics Pillar of our ICJS has earned this distinction at the national level.

                    The ICJS is an initiative of the e-committee of the Supreme Court to enable seamless transfer of data and information among different pillars of the criminal justice system, like courts, police, jails and forensic science laboratories, from one platform.

IEP Chandigarh December 14

The Haryana Chief Secretary, Sh. Sanjeev Kaushal directed all the Administrative Secretaries to send requisition of Group-C posts of their departments to Haryana Staff Selection Commission by December 15 positively. Haryana Staff Selection Commission is likely to announce the result of Common Eligibility Test (CET) examination held recently, he added.While presiding over the meeting regarding requisition of Group-C posts with Administrative Secretaries and officers of Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) here today, he also directed the concerned Department to create a separate quota of 3 percent of total Group C posts for eligible sports persons and send a requisition to Haryana Staff Selection Commission. These quota posts exist in selected departments namely Home Department, Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, School Education Department and Elementary Education Department. Chairman of HSSC, Sh. Bhopal Singh Khadri was also present in the meeting.The Chief Secretary also directed the officers to make clarification in horizontal and vertical reservation of Group-C posts in all the Departments.Amoung those present in the meeting include Additional Chief Secretary, Finance and Planning, Sh. Anurag Rastogi, Additional Chief Secretary, Education, Sports and Youth Affairs, Sh. Mahavir Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, Additional Chief Secretary, Information Technology, Sh. Anand Mohan Sharan, Additional Chief Secretary, Science and Technology, Sh. Ashok Khemka, Additional Chief Secretary, Forests and Wildlife, Sh. Vineet Garg, Additional Chief Secretary, Development and Panchayats, Sh. Anil Malik, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education and Research, Smt. G. Anupama, Additional Chief Secretary, Public Health Engineering, Sh. A.K Singh, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. Amit Kumar Agrawal, Secretary Haryana Staff Selection Commission, Sh. Virat and other senior officers.

IEP Chandigarh, December 14, 2022

Haryana Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal here today accorded approval to the draft of the Haryana Rural Development (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to further to amend the Haryana Rural Development Act, 1986.

This Act may be called the Haryana Rural Development (Amendment) Act, 2022 and shall be deemed to have come into force with effect from October 1, 2022. As per the amendment, now State Government can levy the Haryana Rural Development fee at a rate to be fixed on all agricultural produce including paddy of all varieties, w.e.f October 1, 2022.

In the said Act, for sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Haryana Rural Development Act, 1986 has been substituted, meaning that a fee shall be notified at a rate, as may be fixed by the State Government from time to time, on the sale proceeds of agricultural produce bought or sold or brought for processing in the notified market area levied on the dealer for the purposes of the Act, provided that except in case of agricultural produce brought for processing no fee shall be leviable in respect of any transaction in which delivery of the agricultural produce bought or sold is not actually made and the fee shall be leviable on the dealer only in respect of a transaction in which delivery is actually made.

Now the State Government has also decided to fix the Haryana Rural Development fee on paddy of all varieties, at the rate of Rs. 50 per quintal if sold at a price of over Rs.2500 per quintal on a lump-sum basis and at the rate of 2 percent of the sale proceeds if the paddy is sold at a price up to Rs.2500 per quintal. It has been further directed that this decision of the State Government would be implemented with effect from October 1, 2022 after the amendment in the HRD Act is passed by the Legislative Assembly.

Haryana Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal here today accorded approval to the draft of The Haryana Municipal (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 further to amend the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 and The Haryana Municipal Corporation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 to further to amend the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 by inserting definition of ‘Core Area’.

The Bill defines ‘Core area’ as built-up area within the municipal limit planned or developed fifty years before the coming into force of this Amendment Act and which due to urbanization and efflux of time require replanning of land use and also includes built-up area of village abadi, which has subsequently been included in municipal limit.

It is further proposed that the mixed land use shall be permitted in the core area subject to the planning parameters and recovery of such charges as may be notified by the State Government.

To indicate land uses and to avoid any complication in future, it is necessary to define the core area in the Act. Since, these core areas are situated within the municipal limits, therefore, necessary amendments in Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 and the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 needed to be made by inserting the definition of core area.

IEP Chandigarh, December 14

Haryana Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal here today accorded approval to the draft of The Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2022, further to amend the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994.

After sub-section (3) of section 51 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act,1994 (hereinafter called the principal Act), sub-section namely “(3A) The Director or the Deputy Commissioner, as the case may be, shall assess the amount due, if any, from the person removed under sub-section (3) on account of any loss, waste or mis-application of Gram Fund or property as consequence of his negligence or misconduct and the Deputy Commissioner shall recover the amount of loss within a period of three months from the date of order and if the amount is not recovered within the said period, the same shall be recovered as arrears of land revenue, shall be inserted.

Appeal against any orders passed under section 51 of the Act, would now lie with the Divisional Commissioner instead of State Government.

Further, in section 53 of the principal Act, In sub-section (2), for the words, “Block Development and Panchayat Officer”, the words, “SDO (C)” shall be substituted, the words “and take necessary steps for its recovery” occurring at the end shall be omitted and after sub-section (4), the sub-section namely, (4A) The Deputy Commissioner shall recover the amount of loss assessed by the District Development and Panchayat Officer within a period of three months from the date of order and if the amount is not recovered within the said period, the same shall be recovered as arrears of land revenue, shall be inserted.

State Cabinet approves draft of Haryana Rural Development (Amendment) Act, 2022

Now, State Government can levy Haryana Rural Development Fee on all agricultural produce w.e.f October 1, 2022

IEP Chandigarh, December 14

Haryana Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief minister, Sh. Manohar Lal held here today accorded approval to a proposal regarding an Amendment in Haryana Chowkidara (Watchman) Rules, 2013 to provide for an Appellate Authority against the orders passed by the Deputy Commissioner and to grant benefit of Employee Provident Fund (EPF) for Gramin Chowkidars.

These rules may be called the Haryana Chowkidara (Watchman) Amendment Rules, 2022.

In the Haryana Chowkidara (Watchman) Rules, 2013 (hereinafter called the said rules), after rule 7, the rule namely, “7(A) Appeal against order of Deputy Commissioner- A person aggrieved by an order passed by the Deputy Commissioner under rule 7 may within a period of Thirty days from the date of such order, prefer an appeal to the Commissioner.  The Commissioner may after hearing the appeal, confirm, vary or reverse the order. The decision of the Commissioner shall be final”, has been inserted. 

Furthermore, in the said rules, in rule 12, for sub-rule (1), sub-rule namely, “Every Village Watchman shall receive per month an honorarium as fixed and notified by the Government from time to time alongwith Employee Provident Funds benefits which shall be governed by provisions of the Employee Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (Central Act 19 of 1952)”, has been substituted.