Tuesday, May 1, 2018
  • Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal in an field in village Salaru, Indri in district Karnal on May 1, 2018.Minister of State for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Mr. Karan Dev Kamboj is also seen in the picture.
  • Chandigarh, May 1—The dusk descended on a different note on the dusty hamlet of Salaru in Indri sub-division of Karnal District, yesterday. Instead of life retreating to the retreat of calm of night, the tiny hamlet, inhabited by more than 1,000 villagers, mostly Dalits, housed in more than 360 houses, came to life around 7 pm on April 30, 2018 as the Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, reached there to spend the night with the inhabitants.
  •  Excitement writ large on their faces and anxiety giving their feet the spring, the villagers, men and women, young and old, and ustoppable children trooped to the place where Mr Manohar Lal sat on an ordinary bench made of cane to meet and interact with them. It was Gram Sabha under the ‘Ek Raat Gramino Ke Saath’ programme organised as part of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan in village Salaru, Indri, in district Karnal.
  • The more than three-and-a-half-hour face-time was a virtual match between the patience of Mr Manohar Lal, and the impatience of the villagers, spurred by their first-ever face-to-face with the Chief Minister. But not a question went unanswered and not a person left unsatisfied despite the fact that Mr Manohar Lal played the game by the rules. Compassion and generosity apart, he refused to throw the rule book out of the window to pander to people’s sentiments, be it the release of power connections or meeting other demands.
  • The inhabitants of Salaru could not have asked for more. The Chief Minister promised a sum of Rs 18 lakh for setting up a community centre in the village, Rs 20 lakh for setting up a water tank to meet water shortage, a Vyayamshala on two acres of land and an open gym.  And the girls going to school got the promise to examine the possibility of arranging a conveyance.
  • Officers were also directed to get the panchayati land levelled and make adequate arrangements for the supply of water, electricity and other facilities in the 100-square-yard plots in the village.
  • Buoyed over the success of the Gram Sabha in Salaru, the Chief Minister has said that he would visit other villages of the district too to interact with the villagers and redress their grievances.
  • Having his walk the morning after spending the night with the villagers of Salaru, he lauded them as clear-hearted people who lived a peaceful life. “I too have rural background as I was was born and brought up in a village”, he quipped.
  • While walking on the Salaru-Taprana road, the Chief Minister went to a tubewell running in the field and enquired from a farmer present about the level of the water in an old-shaped well.  Mr Mnaohar Lal noticed that the production of coriander (dhania) crop in this area was quite good.
  • When the farmers apprised him of the fact that the water level in the village had gone down to 200 feet, he blamed it on the excessive use of underground water and said that efforts were being made by the state government to encourage the farmers to adopt micro irrigation and adopt such crops as need less water.
  • Leading by example, the Chief Minister wielded a broom to participate in a cleanliness drive. He was accompanied by the Minister of State for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Mr Karan Dev Kamboj, Executive Vice-President of Swachh Bharat Mission, Haryana, Mr Subhash Chander, and village sarpanch Mr Palwinder Singh.
  • Later, he flagged off a Swachhta rally organized by the students of the village school and asked them to make cleanliness a part of their life-style. He also interacted with the girl students going to the schools.
  • Mr Manohar Lal directed the administrative officers present that the stalls put up by different departments during the night halt programme should be kept there throughout the day to enable people to take maximum benefit of the schemes and programmes launched by the state government. He also directed them to redress the grievances of the villagers on a priority basis.
  • Other Salarus now await the Chief Minister.
  • Chandigarh, May 1--The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, has said that a list of consumers not paying their electricity bills is being prepared in the state. The reasons thereof would be gone into, meters would be examined and corrective measures taken soon.
  • Mr Manohar Lal was addressing the Gram Sabha under the ‘Ek Raat Gramino Ke Saath’ programme organised as part of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan in village Salaru of Indri sub-division, in Karnal district, last night.
  • On this occasion, the Chief Minister promised a sum of Rs 18 lakh for setting up a community centre in the village and Rs 20 lakh for setting up a water tank to meet water shortage. Besides a Vyayamshala on two acres of land, an open gym would also be set up there.
  • Officers were directed to get the panchayati land levelled and make adequate arrangements for the supply of water, electricity and other facilities in the 100-square-yard plots in the village. As many as 401 vyayamshalas would be inaugurated simultaneously in the state on May 5, 2018.
  • Interacting with the villagers about eight different schemes launched under the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, the Chief Minister exhorted them to take maximum benefit of these schemes. These include Saubhagya Yojana, Ujala Yojana, Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Sadak Durghatna Bima Yojana, Mission Indradhanush, Jan Dhan Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. He directed the officers concerned for releasing connection to 28 beneficiaries under the Saubhagya Yojana.
  • Mr Manohar Lal directed the officers to get an inquiry conducted in cases where the consumers were getting inflated electricity bills. The defaulters of Saubhagya Yojana should be given relaxation in the payment of bills. BPL families would be provided power connection free of cost.
  • Mr Manohar Lal said under the Ujala Yojana, 1.5 crore LED bulbs had been installed in the state against the target of one crore. He urged the villagers to use LED bulbs in their houses instead of the normal bulbs to conserve electricity. He also issued directions for giving gas connections to the BPL families under the Ujjwala Scheme at the earliest.
  • In a direct dialogue with the villagers, the Chief Minister said keen on taking the tradition of gram sabha further ahead, he had decided to visit more villagers. He also listened to the grievances of the people and issued necessary directions.
  • The villagers requested the Chief Minister for the construction of houses, release of new connections and for conducting BPL survey. Forty three people present did not have their own house.
  • He assured the villagers that the list would be got inspected and those eligible would be provided financial assistance for the construction of houses. In 2011, 500 people did not have own houses.
  • Mr Manohar Lal directed officers to release electricity connections to the BPL families free of cost. Security of Rs 200 is charged while issuing new connections to the BPL families, but it should be waived off, he added.
  • Chandigarh, May 1 – The Haryana Police has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the incident of rape of a minor girl belonging to nomadic tribe at Narnaund. The police has also taken DNA samples of all the three alleged accused for testing and has started further investigation.
  • While stating this here today, a spokesman of Police Department said that the SIT was constituted following the cognizance of the case taken by the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal. The SIT was constituted by Inspector General (IG) of Hisar Range, Mr. Sanjay Kumar  and is headed by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Barwala.
  • He said that as per preliminary investigation, the minor was reportedly raped on  April 18. The police has arrested paternal uncle of the victim. The family members of the victim and members  of nomadic tribes had accused the police of  accusing the victim’s uncle and started protesting at the Civil Hospital, Narnaund. Thereafter a request was made for taking statement of the victim in front of the Magistrate. In her statement, the victim accused three persons of the village.
  • Today, the Coordinator of Haryana Vimukt Ghumantu Kalyan Sangh, Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Chairman, Haryana Ghumantu-Ardh Ghumantu Janjati Kalyan Board, Dr. Balwan Singh and people representing Gadia Community, Mr. Hanuman Godara, Mr. Vijay Kumar and Dr. Ram Niwas called on the Chief Minister and urged him that justice  be done in the case. The Chief Minister directed the IG Hisar Range to constitute SIT under DSP and promptly take action.
  • The SIT included DSP Barwala, Mr. Jaipal Singh, Sub Inspector, Mr Krishan Lal and Sub Inspector, Ms. Sheela Devi.