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Surajkund
Craft
Mela
Page 30
March 2011, Vol 25, Issue 3, Rs 15
Smt Geeta Bhukkal
Sh Bhupinder Singh Hooda
Smt Anita Yadav
Education and Women & Child
Development Minister, Haryana
Chief Minister, Haryana
Chief Parlimentary Secretary,
Haryana
Provision of
hot cooked meals
to improve nutritional
status of adolescent
girls
RAJIV GANDHI SCHEME FOR
EMPOWERMENT OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS
‘SABLA’
launched in
Hisar, Ambala, Rewari, Kaithal,
Yamunanagar & Rohtak
Provision of
Iron and Folic Acid
supplements, health
check-up and referral
services to improve
health status of
adolescent girls
COMPONENTS UNDER SABLA
i) Nutritional Component:
11-14 years all out of school adolescent
girls, 14-18 years all girls
To
mainstream out of
school adolescent
girls into formal/nonformal education
ii) Non-Nutritional Component:
11-18 years all school girls
16-18 years Vocational Training
To
upgrade home
based skills, life
skills and vocational
skills of adoloscent
girls through
training
Counselling,
guidance on family
welfare, Adoloscent
Reproductive and
Sexual Health(ARSH)
Child Care Practices
and Home
Managment
1. 1,66,278 adolescent girls will be benefited in selected 6 districts.
2. Kishori Shakti Yojana being implemented in remaining 15 districts of Haryana for capacity building of
adolescent girls coupled with supplementary nutrition.
3. 1,761 girls awarded under Awards for Rural Adolescent Girls scheme.
4. State Incentive Awards given to the three best districts to improve Sex Ratio @ Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh
5. Protection cum Child Marriage Prohibition Officers appointed at district level to prevent child marriage
Women and Child Development Department, Haryana
HARYANA REVIEW, MARCH 2011
E D I TO R I A L
PATRON-IN-CHIEF
Bhupinder Singh Hooda
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Dr K K Khandelwal
CHIEF EDITOR
Shiv Raman Gaur
CONSULTING EDITOR
Gobind Thukral
MANAGING EDITOR
M S Yadav
NEWS BUREAU
Ruchi Sharma
Ravneet Kaur Brar
Swati Sethi
COPY DESK
Shweta Vashishta
LAYOUT
Sunil Kumar
ILLUSTRATOR
Gurpreet Singh
PHOTOGRAPHER
Randeep Singh
PHOTO SUPPORT
Tek Chand Arora
Gopal Singh
Karam Singh
Neeraj Chopra
Gauri Shankar
Jasmer Singh
VOL 25, ISSUE 3, MARCH 2011
Edited and published for the Haryana government by
Shiv Raman Gaur, IAS, Director, Information, Public
Relations & Cultural Affairs Department, and issued
from Samvad, SCO No 137, Sector 17, Panchkula
(Haryana). (Mailing address: SCO 23 (FF), Sector 7,
Madhya Marg, Chandigarh. Phone 0172-5055971,
5055977).
All rights reserved. Any reproduction of this
publication’s contents, in whole or in part, without
written permission, is prohibited. Haryana Review does
not necessarily agree with the views of the
writers/contributors.
Website: www.haryanareview.com
Email: [email protected]
Printed at: M/S M P Printers, B-220, Phase II, Noida
Towards gender equality
ndian constitution and the laws that flow from it, aim at
achieving equality among all Indians, irrespective of
class, caste and gender. This approach by the founding
fathers of our republic has not only helped the country
embark upon the path of economic progress, but also bring
in desired social transformation. There should be no
problem in stating that compared to economic progress, the
journey on the path of social advancement has faced more
rough weather. Yet, this voyage is paved with good
intentions.
I
Seen from this position, Haryana kept backward for long
by the British rulers as part of the punishment for its active
participation in the 1857 War for Independence, has had a
hard struggle. It has taken many firm strides on the path of
economic progress. Its face is beyond recognition. Its lush
green farms, its large factories and vast network of roads,
rail lines and above all, educational hubs and healthcare
institutions clearly tell a tale of growth. We have over the
past years recounted this glorious saga. Yet, the social
progress has not kept the desired pace and we do not wish
to ignore it.
The government has been unsparing in its efforts to help
the girl child. And, empowering women has been a major
goal. It has initiated a large number of schemes and
provided huge funds to make women part of this great
progress story continuously being written each passing
day.
Large sections of society-- teachers, lawyers, doctors and
university professors besides other civil society activists-are involved to end the age old discrimination against
women. Government recognises the gravity of the problem
and hence the big effort in which political leadership has
shown its keenness to correct the skewed sex ratio and
remove other backward aspects that hinder equal position
for women.
We detail these efforts in our current issue of Haryana
Review. And, as usual, we offer a photo feature; this time on
annual Surajkund Craft Fair that has attained a unique
position at the international level. Also, we give an account of
how women are excelling in sports in our sports section. g
2
CONTENTS
Pehley to choriyaan ghar or khet key
kaam mein lagi ravein thi. Ib to
choriyaan school aur college ko
bhaagein.
Ib tey choryiaan
padhney ke saath saath
khelon mein bhi aage
nikal gayi se.
COVER STORY
Say no to killings of dear daughters
4
Interview: Daughters are not vulnerable
8
Ensuring good health
10
Schools: Building conﬁdence
12
Political empowerment of women
14
Higher education uplifts women
16
New dimensions
18
Towards female revolution
22
Let the girl child be born
24
Survival of the girl child
26
Grooming the leaders
28
Cover photograph by Randeep Singh
[4]
[12]
CONTENTS
[5]
PHOTO FEATURE
Surajkund Craft Mela
30
TOURISM
An enthralling fair
36
SPECIAL REPORT
Republic day celebrated with fervour
The Haryana Cabinet revamp
Media and challenges
38
40
42
BRIEFING
A unique distinction
Reward for going energy efficient
Our Census, our future
Empowering women through home science
44
45
46
47
HEALTHY LIFE
Healing touch
48
MODERN TECHNOLOGY
An amazing technology
50
SPORTS
State players honoured
Women to the fore!
51
52
ART AND CULTURE
Highlighting social issues through art
54
LAST PAGE
A beautiful handwriting
56
[42]
[52]
Readers may send their comments to
[email protected] or to SCO 23, First Floor,
Sector 7-C, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh - 160 019
3
4
COVER STORY
Say no to killing of
dear daughters
You have a bright
future, dear daughter
Gobind Thukral
here are no two opinions that
Haryana has made tremendous
progress. Take any field; agriculture,
industry, infrastructure development,
electricity generation, spread of
education or healthcare systems, the
small state is counted as the prime
mover in the country. Last six decades
are witness to this magnificent journey.
Haryana along with Punjab ensures
food security of the country. It is no
small achievement for a state which
once produced a little more than it
needed. Now it fills the granaries of
the country with its wheat and rice. It
is the largest exporter of that aromatic
basmati rice. Its industrial progress
has its own saga to tell. It has 50 per
T
cent share in the manufacturing of
cars, 75 per cent in case of two
wheelers and produces one fourth of
tractors. The vast roads criss-crossing
the country roar with cars and motor
bikes made in Haryana. It is an
important foreign direct investment
destination. Indian entrepreneurs
beeline to set up their enterprises here.
How come such a progressive state
suffers from the ignominy of foeticide
and skewed sex ratio? How come its
youth travel to Bihar, Orissa, Andhra
Pradesh and even Gujarat to hunt for
brides? How come archaic and feudal
values still control our social norms?
How long shall we live with old rotten
feudal value system? When shall the
social reforms’ movement take firm
roots and pull our brothers and sisters
out of the morass.
The child female to male sex ratio,
estimated for age group 0-6 years, for
the country as a whole dropped by 4.5
per cent between 1981 and 2001 that is
from 971 to 927 girls per 1000 boys. The
deficit of young girls was not evident
in 1981, but was visible in the
traditionally masculine northern states
of Haryana and Punjab and some
pockets elsewhere. It became quite
stark by 2001 in more extensive areas
including states such as Himachal
Pradesh, Gujarat, and also in parts of
Rajasthan and Maharashtra. The
juvenile sex ratio declined by 9 per cent
in Haryana (from 902 in 1981 to 820 in
2001) and by nearly 13 per cent in
Punjab. It was not designed by nature.
In recent years, there is sufficient
evidence from the data collected by the
Sample Registration System annually
that the female child mortality,
although higher than the male child
mortality, has been declining at a faster
rate than the male child mortality. This
happy change in the juvenile sex ratio
still cannot wipe out the overall deficit,
as that is a cumulative process of
neglect of women over several decades.
The deficit of girls did not decrease
between 1981 and 2001.
This inconsistent situation has
triggered alarm bells among policy
makers, raising several questions.
Have the socio-cultural factors that
have traditionally undervalued
daughters compared to sons not
altered? In spite of the evidence of a
decline in the desired number of
children in recent years, does the son
preference continue to persist in India?
It seems that the traditional methods of
neglect of female children leading to
higher female child mortality are
progressively being supplemented by
added measures like ultrasound and
abortion techniques to not allow female
children to be born.
The 2001 census showed that
Haryana had one of the worst malefemale ratios in India. For a state
which had the lowest overall sex ratio
(for all ages) among the states, a dismal
819 females per 1,000 males in the 0-6
years category in the 2001 census has
since then shown an improvement in
the sex ratio.
The practices of female foeticide
and infanticide are the result of the
deep-rooted son preference prevalent in
We got the trophy
COVER STORY
most sections of our society. In fact,
this son preference is getting
strengthened by certain economic and
social processes now underway. The
extremely adverse sex ratio in Haryana
has made it very difficult for men to
find brides locally.
Figures obtained by the state
government from birth records in all 21
districts till October 2009 also revealed
that the sex ratio at birth (0-6 years)
had improved considerably from 819
females in 2001 to 852 females per 1,000
males. Since then, it has had partial
success in reversing the imbalance, but
a negative trend shown by nine out of
21 districts in the last one year
threatens to undo the excellent work. It
keeps government worried and, of
course, involved all the time devising
ways and means to correct the present
skewed sex ratio. Experts hope that the
2011 census now being conducted may
reveal a much hopeful picture.
The state government has a number
of schemes and spends considerable
sums of money each year with the sole
commitment of improving the sex
ratio. Through a well crafted policy, the
government initiative begins the
moment a woman gets pregnant and
till the girl child grows up and is
married. The state takes care of
delivery, lactating mothers, particularly
those who are poor and then education
of girls is free. And,
there are free bicycles,
books and uniforms
besides free meals.
Education of girls
in the state
5
Positive
Improvement
Data provided by the Sample
Registration System up to year
2008 shows a positive
improvement in sex ratio in
Haryana. Between 2006 and
2008, sex ratio of girl child
improved from 807 to 870 against
1000 male children.
The middle class, now growing
in numbers, is becoming conscious
of the need for baby girls. As
people have more incomes and
education, they are less prone to
discrimination against girl children.
Girls are getting educated, joining
services and becoming
economically independent. They are
becoming less of a burden on
parents. It has been observed that
more women are joining urban
labour force. Daughters are
increasingly providing valuable
support to parents. Now the value
of girls is increasing and their
elimination is on the decline.
Expansion of middle classes and
spread of education are leading to
lesser sex selection. These are
positive trends which the 2011
Census may reveal.
6
COVER STORY
We are the achievers
run schools, colleges and to some
extent even in the universities and
technical institutes is free. Equally
important is the role played by nongovernment schools and colleges in
establishing good educational
institutions. Through social welfare
measures and insurance plans, the
government takes care of health and
marriage. The idea behind all these
plans and schemes, where a large part
of government apparatus is involved,
is to ensure that no foeticides take
place and girls are well taken care of.
Take education; there are separate
exclusive schools and colleges besides
one full fledged university and a
medical college. There is a full-fledged
women university at Khanpur Kalan
in Sonipat district set up in the name
of Bhagat Phool Singh, a well-known
educationist and social reformer.
Another women university by the DAV
Management is coming up in
Yamunanagar. The whole effort is to
provide women an equal status and
make daughters a much less burden on
parents and beat the distorted social
customs and norms forced upon them.
There are plenty of laws to protect
women in homes, workplaces and
public places. The state is aware of
their implementation problems and
bottlenecks. There is, therefore,
constant endeavour to improve the
position of women. Fifty per cent
reservation at the panchayat level and
33 per cent in municipal committees
and councils ensures their political
participation in an adequate manner.
A new leadership surely is emerging.
HOW IS SOCIETY RESPONDING?
The ball is really in the lap of the civil
society. Governments can enact laws
and implement them as best these can.
We can find hundred of faults with
them. Take for example, foeticide or
dowry and any other ills that keep
women in shackles. Giving and taking
of dowry is banned under the law. If
we keep doing it merrily or forced by
circumstances to do it, what can the
state do? If the society permits and
prospective parents want to abort girl’s
foetus and greedy diagnostic centres
and dirty doctors help them do it, how
far the state can intervene?
Government has passed the
Prevention of Sex Selective Abortion
Act and taken some good action under
it. But it does not solve the grim
problem at our hands; the killing of
daughters in the wombs. It is the
society; you and me that shall have to
stand up and be counted. Haryana
badly needs a social and cultural
revolution and not merely some minor
reforms’ movement to lift itself up
COVER STORY
7
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda giving away award and
Rs 1 lakh to Pratibha and Jolly for making a short film on female foeticide
A pat for women achievers
Swati Sethi
“F
emale foeticide can be wiped out from the society by creating mass
awareness about the significance of girl child,” this was stated by Chief
Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on the occasion of 10th Annual Kelvinator
Great Women Awards-2011 at Gurgaon on February 8, 2011. Women
achievers from various fields-- lifestyle, films, medicine, music, advertising and
the corporate sector-- were awarded at the function organised by Anu and
Shashi Ranjan. TV actors Kavita Kaushik and Manish Paul compered the
show.
The Chief Minister presented a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh to two sisters,
Pratibha and Jolly, who have prepared a short film titled “Every Adam Needs
an Eve” with a message to halt female foeticide. Hooda also conferred the Life
Time Achievement Award to Nimmi Raza, Hindi film actress of yesteryears.
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ambika Soni, was also
awarded for her contribution to politics.
from the present quagmire of foeticide
Bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee got the Kelvinator Actress of the Decade
and female infanticide.
Chief minister Bhupinder Singh
Award while Raveena Tandon Thadani bagged the award for supporting the
Hooda promises in clear words some
girl child. Asha Hooda, wife of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda,
concrete action. In his New Year
presented an award to President of Srimahila Grih Udyog Lijjat Pappad, Swati
message, he touched upon this subject,
Ravindra Paradkar for social service and Dr Nandita Palsetkar for medicine
“Having placed Haryana in the highgrowth orbit, we must now move to make and healthcare.
it a model state. We are determined to
Young Achiever Award was given to Ulka Gupta for her lead role in the TV
bring the state… move further up on the
serial “Jhansi Ki Rani”. The first woman Air Marshal, Padma Bandopadhyay,
human development index ladder. We
was also awarded. Comedienne Bharti Singh entertained the spectators.
must work to make Haryana a state
While speaking on this occasion, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda
where equity reigns supreme, where a
transparent and responsive
said, “The state government has started a number of schemes for the welfare
administration bends to people’s needs,
of girls. While referring to Ladli scheme, he said that the aim of this scheme is
where opportunities and resources are
to combat the menace of female foeticide and the government has been
aplenty, where nepotism, graft, crime,
providing a financial assistance under this scheme”.
female foeticide and other social evils
He said that the state government is also providing free education to the
have no space, and where people are
made proud participants in progress.”
girls and reservation of 25 and 33 per cent has also been provided for them
Let us hope and wish from the core of in Industrial Training Institutes and recruitment of teachers, respectively. While
hearts that the state corrects these
appreciating the programme, he said that such programmes are excellent
disturbing distortions. g
medium for mass awareness.
8
INTERVIEW
Daughters are not vulnerable
“We shall do
everything to fight
this menace of
female foeticide”
transport, women used to deliver at
home which was unsafe for both,
mother and child.
PNDT Act is strictly been
implemented in the state. We make
sure that pregnant women are
registered and we keep track of their
deliveries. Ultrasounds are sealed and
many culprits have been punished.
For the improvement in the sex
ratio, incentive awards are given every
year to districts showing improvement
in sex ratio-- Rs 5 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and
Rs 2 lakh respectively for securing the
first three positions.
The state government is
running many schemes for the
benefit of women but mostly
they are ignorant about such
schemes and their benefits.
What is the state government
doing to raise the awareness
level regarding the schemes
initiated?
Our staff writer
Ruchi Sharma met
Geeta Bhukkal, Minister
for Education and Women
and Child Development, to
seek details about what the
government is doing to
combat the menace of
female foeticide and to save
and protect the girl child.
Excerpts from the
interview:
Haryana is witnessing skewed
sex ratio. What have been the
thrust areas of the state
government to raise the status
of girl child and women?
The issues of women empowerment
and saving a girl child has always been
a priority of the state government as
women have been the deprived lot of
society. The year 2006 was celebrated
as Balika Varsh and this year we have
successfully celebrated the girl child
week from 18th Jan- 24th Jan in
aanganwaris and schools.
Our government has taken many
initiatives to raise the status of women
and girl children. Under Janani
Suraksha Yojana, mothers receive Rs
1,500 on the birth of a girl child. Since
the birth of a girl child, the state
government starts taking care of her.
The immunisation of the baby is also
free. Pregnant women get free
antenatal, delivery and postnatal
treatment in all government hospitals.
They are given free iron tablets and
others. The referral vans, started by
the government and health
department, facilitate institutional
deliveries by timely transportation of
pregnant women to hospitals. It is a
very good step taken by the
government as earlier, due to lack of
The state government has set up
village level sub-committees of women
to facilitate implementation of
programmes pertaining to
development of women and children.
The village level committee (VLC)
comprises all women panches, three
educated adolescent girls, Mahila
Mandal Pradhan, Presidents of selfhelp groups, representative of war
widows/ widows of exservicemen/educated widows, social
activist, school lady teacher, ANM,
ASHA, President of Sakashar Mahila
Samooh (SMS) and aanganwari
worker. Woman sarpanch or woman
panch nominated by the gram
panchayat heads the committee and
aanganwari worker is the convener.
About 6,280 village committees have
started functioning.
Steps are being undertaken to
empower and activate these
committees. At block level, meetings
are held to make the VLC and SMS
members aware about their powers
and responsibilities in implementation
of the programme. VLC meetings are
ensured on regular basis and the
convener of the VLC is changed on
rotation basis to strengthen the active
participation of all members.
Accredited Social Health Activist
(ASHA) workers have played a role in
INTERVIEW
spreading information about
government schemes about health,
education and hygiene. Self help
groups worked a lot in improving the
status of women. Now women are
asserting themselves and are coming
forward. Women are given 33 per cent
of reservation in panchayats. Mahila
Chaupal has been a success as ladies
from self help groups and other local
women are getting together and
discuss social issues.
Right to education is
everybody’s right. What steps
are being taken by the
government to promote girl
education in the state?
Right to education is everybody’s
right and we have seen when girls go to
school, they outperform boys. We are
promoting girl education by providing
them free education from school to
higher studies. Under Sarv Siksha
Abhiyaan, we are providing free cycles
to girls who have commuting problem.
We are already giving free workbooks,
uniforms and bags to
students.
Bhagat Phool Singh
Mahila Vishwavidyalaya
is an important step
towards women
empowerment. Now in the same
campus, a girls’ medical college has
been opened. BPS Mahila
Vishwavidyalaya is the only institution
in India where a girl can study from
nursery to PhD. One can choose from
all streams available in the college
from engineering to law. There are
many girls from rural background who
are coming to study in this university.
Education loan scheme for girls has
been implemented under which
interest subsidy of 5 per cent per
annum will be provided to girls to
encourage girls to pursue higher
studies in the country and abroad.
Security is the main issue involved
because of which parents are reluctant
to send their daughters away to study.
We try to motivate parents by telling
them that they send out their
daughters for other chores too; then
why not send them to seek education
for their own development? It is
important to change the mindset of
people. In health check-ups at schools,
we make sure they are checked under
presence of female staff and a female
doctor as parents are reluctant to get
their daughters checked by any male
doctor. In colleges, police posts have
been made for the security of girls.
Ladli scheme has been
extended for another five years
by Haryana government. What
has been the status of this
scheme and how many families
are taking its benefits?
To combat the problem of female
foeticide and arrest the declining sex
ratio in the state, an incentive based
scheme Ladli was launched in 2005 by
the state government. On the birth of
second daughter, Rs 5,000 per year per
family is given for five years. The
amount is invested in insurance
scheme of LIC of India w.e.f. August,
2008 for providing increased benefits.
The matured amount comes to
approximately Rs 96,000 at current
rates of interest which is paid after the
girl attains the age of 18 years. The
same amount can be used for the
education and marriage of a girl.
Ladli scheme is doing well in
changing the mindset of people. A total
of 1,20,507 beneficiaries
have been covered
under the scheme
including previous
beneficiaries up to
November, 2010 since
the inception of the scheme.
Q&A
Girls are today excelling in
various fields. What
contribution is the government
making to boost the morale of
women and encourage them to
achieve new heights?
In sports, many girls have proved
their mettle. Krishana Punia got
Padam Shri. Geeta and Babita Phogat
have also achieved feat in sports. Other
girls should take inspiration from
them. In order to expose rural women
to sports and recreation, Annual
Sports Meet is held where women are
given cash awards for securing first
three positions at block and district
level.
To encourage and honour women
we are giving three awards too; Indira
Gandhi Award worth Rs 1 lakh,
Kalpana Chawala Shaurya award
worth Rs 51,000 and Bahin Shanno
Devi Panchayati Raj award worth Rs
51,000.
To encourage rural girls for
pursuing higher education, the scheme
of awards to rural adolescent girls has
been started. Under this scheme, three
9
girls who pass their matriculation
examination conducted by Haryana
State Education Board from schools in
rural areas from each block are given
awards of Rs 2,000, Rs 1,500 and Rs
1,000 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions,
respectively.
To encourage women for proper
rearing of their children, especially
the girl child with a view to improving
their nutritional and health status, the
scheme of Best Mother Award has
been started from the year 2005-06.
Under this, three mothers are awarded
at block and circle level each.
Balika Samman Sammroh and
Mahila Samman Samaroh are
organised to honour girls and women
achievers from different fields. In 200910, 360 excellent girls were awarded in
Balika Samman Sammroh. On
International Women's Day i.e. 8th
March, 2010, the Department
organized Mahila Samman Samaroh
in which 60 women achievers of the
state from different fields were
honoured.
The government is doing its bit to
empower and uplift women but
participation of community and
change in the mindset of the people is
of foremost importance.
What new steps have been
taken by the government and
what is in plan for the future?
A new scheme named SABLA for
the empowerment of adolescent girls
has been launched on November 19,
2010 in six districts i.e. Hisar, Ambala,
Yamunanagar, Rewari, Rohtak and
Kaithal. To raise the nutritional level
of adolescent girls Haryana
government has established this new
model. From just bakhli, chaney,
murmurey we are moving to new good
recipes like aloo puri, bharwan
parantha, meethey chawal and others.
The ration are being provided through
approved soucres like HAFED and
CONFED.
Aamir Khan recently met the Prime
Minister about his campaign against
malnutrition in India. It is his
initiative to eradicate malnutrition
from India as malnutrition can stop
both the physical and mental growth
of a child. The children of today
would lead the country tomorrow and
hence it is important that the children
get proper attention and grow healthy.
We would like do something like this
in our state, too. g
10
COVER STORY
Ensuring
good health
By hiring skilled staff and through
welfare schemes, the Haryana government
is making sure that its women and girl
children stay healthy
Ruchi Sharma
omen have an easy access to
quality healthcare in all
government health institutions in
Haryana. This has raised their
health status over the years. The
Haryana Government has initiated
many schemes for the benefit of
W
women patients of BPL families,
depressed classes and other
downtrodden classes. They can avail
hassle free health services free of
cost at all government hospitals,
healthcare centres and dispensaries.
Self-help groups, ASHA,
Aanganwari workers are doing a lot
in spreading awareness about health
and government schemes which can
be availed. An ASHA worker
provides information to the
community about health and
nutrition, basic sanitation and
hygienic practices, information on
existing health services and the need
for timely utilisation of health and
family welfare services. She counsels
COVER STORY
“The Haryana Government is committed
towards the betterment of women. Deeply
concerned about the adverse sex-ratio, the state
government has taken a number of initiatives to
arrest this trend. Many incentive based schemes
have been implemented to bring about a
constructive change in the mindset of the people
and to impart dignity to the girl child. An
environment is being created so that a girl child
can achieve her potential.”
-Bhupinder Singh Hooda
Chief Minister, Haryana
women on birth preparedness,
importance of safe delivery,
immunisation and the likes. ASHA
workers make people aware about
various government schemes and
motivate them to take its benefits
and for this, they receive
performance-based incentives.
Dr Chand Singh Madaan, a state
NGO coordinator of Haryana, says,
“ASHA workers are given 15- days’
training in modules about
government schemes. It was initiated
in 2005-06. We have a target of 14,000
ASHA workers and 12,908 have been
enrolled. About 2,500 inactive ASHA
workers have been replaced with new
workers.”
He told that to promote menstrual
hygienic practices among rural girls
and women, the social marketing of
sanitary napkins scheme is in place
since June 2009 under Health and
Women and Child Development
Department. There is a provision of
50 per cent subsidy under NRHM for
self-help groups for producing the
napkins. An additional provision of
25 paisa per piece is given as a social
marketing incentive for the person
who markets the napkin. Many more
strategies have been proposed to
enhance the base of this scheme.
Earlier unsafe deliveries at homes
used to take heavy toll on mothers’
and infants’ lives. The present
government under the leadership of
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh
Hooda has been emphasising on safe
deliveries ever since it first came to
power in 2005. There are 406 delivery
huts in all sub-centres of Haryana
where delivery happens under a
skilled doctor. The facility of free
antenatal check-up, safe delivery and
post natal check-up is available in all
the delivery huts. The facility of
caesarean section by highly skilled
and experienced doctors is available
free of cost at all government
hospitals, for which patients have to
pay at least Rs 15,000 in the private
sector.
Delivery huts in Haryana have
gained lot of success and recognition
from others states. It is being
implemented in other states and
districts of the country. From AprilNovember 2010, a total of 14,412
11
Under ‘Janani Suvidha Yojana’,
free antenatal, delivery and postnatal services are provided to urban
slum women. Its objective is to
improve the accessibility of good
quality antenatal, natal and post
natal services to the pregnant
mothers of the urban slums. Janani
Suraksha Yojana provides cash
assistance of Rs 700 for antenatal
care, institutional care for delivery
and immediate post-natal period at
health institutions in rural areas and
Rs 500 for delivery at home. Every
Scheduled Caste mother is given an
incentive of Rs 2,200 for availing
institutional delivery. From April to
November 2010, a total of 27,135
women have taken its benefits.
For the safe delivery of both girl
and boy, Jaccha Baccha scheme was
launched in 2009. Under this, medical
officer and staff nurse conducting
safe deliveries in rural areas receive
incentives of Rs 400 for male birth
and Rs 600 for female birth.
It is a normal scene at every house
that the woman eats after the male
“Haryana is the first state in the country where
free medicines are being provided in
government hospitals. Any laxity in the matter
would not be tolerated as Chief Minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda has clearly directed not
to be negligent while treating the needy and
poor in government hospitals. Healthcare
services in the state would soon be further
strengthened and expanded by engaging
employees through outsourcing system in all civil
hospitals.”
-Rao Narender Singh, Health Minister, Haryana
institutional deliveries have taken
place. Now, institutional delivery is
74.03 per cent.
Referral vans are also an
important initiative of the state
government. One can avail
ambulance services by calling on a
universal toll free number -- 102. It
provides free service to the BPL
patients, pregnant women and the
accident cases. So far, its 50 per cent
service has been availed by pregnant
women. “In our village if a pregnant
woman has to be transported to the
hospital, we call on 102 and a van
comes to take the patient to the
nearby delivery hut,” says Suman of
a village in Jind.
members of the house and she has to
eat whatever is left. Therefore, many
women are not healthy because of
their diet and these days anaemia is
common among women. There is a
specific scheme initiated by the state
government to curb anaemia
amongst women and children in the
state. Under this scheme, nutritional
supplements i.e. Iron and Folic Acid
(IFA) tablets & de-worming tablets
are provided to all children up to the
age of 18 years of age, pregnant and
nursing mothers and adolescent
girls.
The much thought schemes
initiated in state would help in
raising the health status of women. g
12
COVER STORY
Schools:
Building
confidence
Liberal concessions and incentives
given by the state government are
motivating parents to send their
daughters to schools
Ruchi Sharma
want to be an inspector, because I
want to curb the crime rate in our
country,” says a young girl studying in
seventh class of Government Model
Middle School in Kiratpur village,
Pinjore. This confidence was quiet
unexpected from a village schoolgirl in
Haryana a few decades ago. But this
change has not come overnight.
Behind this has been the dedication of
the state government which has
worked hard to implement various
schemes to empower women.
From school education to higher
studies, girls are given free education.
Besides free education in schools, they
are given free workbooks, stationery,
uniforms, bags and cycles for those
who have problem in commuting. The
state government starts taking care of
the girl child right from the time of
birth. At the time of birth of a girl
child, her mother gets Rs 1,500.
“I
“The state government has initiated many
schemes for the benefit and security of women.
Ladli scheme has been initiated to discourage
female foeticide. Now the perception about
women among people is changing. They believe
in giving the same education and care to the girl
child as to the boy.
There are laws for the protection of women like Protection of Women
from Domestic Violence Act and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act. At
district level, Protection cum Child Marriage Prohibition Officers (PPOs)
have been appointed for proper implementation of the Act. Twenty six
Providers like Haryana State Social Welfare Board, District Red Cross
Societies, District Child Welfare Councils, have been selected for providing
necessary assistance to the aggrieved persons in the state. Actions are
being taken and women are also made part of it.”
-Saroj Siwach, Director of Women and Child Development Department
Many families bring their children
of 3-6 years’ age group to aanganwaris
where they are fed with food prepared
from the ration provided by the state
government. The state government is
taking special care in giving a
nutritious diet to kids. “We serve all
children registered here with morning
snacks and lunch. Morning snacks
include matar or sheera and in lunch,
they are served aloo puri, bharwan
parantha, gulguley, meethey chawal,
dalia and the likes. We receive timely
ration from the government. Kids have
proper colourful chairs to sit on and
enjoy their meals. At present, four
pregnant women are registered in this
aangawari who take the ration home,”
says, Manjit Kaur, an aanganwari
worker in village Khera in Pinjore.
In Haryana, there are 284
government senior secondary schools
for girls, 211 government high schools,
283 middle schools for girls and 1,130
co-ed government senior secondary,
high and middle schools. To encourage
girls’ education, liberal concessions
and incentives are being given to
Economically Weaker Sections,
Scheduled Castes and Backward
Classes.
Monila, a Punjabi teacher in a
school of Kiratpur village in Kalka,
says, “Things were different earlier.
Parents were reluctant to send their
daughters to far off schools. They
didn’t even allow them to participate
in any dancing or singing activity. But
now things have changed. We regularly
call parents for parent teacher meeting
where we tell them about the
performance of their daughters and
even try to convince them to allow the
girls to participate in functions held
outside the village. I feel proud to tell
that there is no dearth of talent in our
school, recently, one girl got gold medal
in essay writing competition held in
Panchkula.”
Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, free
cycles are being provided to all those
girls who have passed class 5th from a
village where no middle, high or senior
secondary school exists. In another
scheme, bicycles are provided to those
Scheduled Caste girls who take
admission either in class 9th or in 11th
and do not have high schools or a
senior secondary school in their
village. Besides, there are many
incentives given to them in various
forms like free uniforms, bags and
stationery to girls belonging to
Economically Weaker Section and
Scheduled Castes. This has increased
their enrollment rate and reduced the
drop-out rate.
All SC students are given one time
allowance for purchasing stationery
and school bags. SC girl students are
given one time allowance for purchase
COVER STORY
“Haryana government has
initiated impressive schemes
to improve the status of
women through ample
publicity in newspapers,
radio and television.
Haryana has outperformed
Punjab in raising the
awareness level of girls’
education.
We have come a long way
in eroding patriarchy to some
extent. But more needs to be
done. In rural Haryana,
parents should take their
daughters’ help to do the
bank or post office errands
etc to encourage them and
build up their confidence.
They should realise that girls
are no less than boys and in
fact can do better than
boys.”
-Prof Rajesh Gill,
Chairperson of Women Studies
Department, Panjab University
of items like uniforms, shoes and
jerseys. This scheme was introduced
in 2008-09. The one-time allowance
ranges from Rs 740 to Rs 1,450 for
Class 1-12. Monthly stipend of Rs 150
is given to SC girls students studying
in classes 1st to 5th, Rs 200 for SC girls
of classes 6th to 8th, Rs 300 for SC girls
of classes 9th to 12th and Rs 400 for SC
girls in class 11th and 12th studying in
science stream. Girl students
belonging to BPL/BC-A category are
also given monthly stipend in classes
1st to 12th that ranges from Rs 150 to
Rs 400.
Dr Ambedkar Medhavi Chhatra
Yojana encourages the Scheduled
Caste/Backward Classes’ students to
get more marks in examinations.
Scholarships ranging from Rs 4,000 to
Rs 12,000 yearly are given to rural and
urban students for different category
of courses. This scheme was launched
in the academic year 2005-06 for the
students of 11th and 12th. This
13
scholarship is given to those
Scheduled Caste and Backward
Classes’ students who are studying in
recognised government, nongovernment schools, colleges,
institutions and universities. Under
this scheme, 35,547 students have been
benefited from 2005-10.
In order to motivate parents of SC
girl students and to arrest heavy dropout after passing 12th examinations, a
new scheme ‘Annusuchit Jati Chhatra
Ucch Shiksha Yojana’ was launched in
2009-10. Under this scheme,
scholarship ranging between Rs 5,000
to Rs 14,000 is given to SC girl students
studying in science, commerce and
professional streams. Under this
scheme, 560 girl students have been
benefited during the year 2009-10.
Monthly scholarship is given to SC
girl students studying in classes 9th to
12th who get first ten positions in the
district. The amount of money given
per month in different classes is Rs 80
for class 9th, Rs 100 for class 10th, Rs
120 for class 11th and Rs 140 for class
12th. The government has also taken
special initiative to equip all girls'
senior secondary schools with
computer labs along with accessories
and proper networking.
In order to ensure cent per cent
enrollment of all village girls in the
age group of 6-14 years in schools, the
government has decided to raise the
incentive amount given to village
panchayats from Rs 50,000 to Rs one
lakh. The bus fares have also been
reduced to half for girl students and
railways are also offering such
concessions to them. Girls are
motivated to study hard to get benefits
of the scheme.
Rajiv Gandhi Scholarship was
introduced during the year 2005-06.
Under this scheme, scholarships are
given to students studying in classes
6th to 12th, each in boys’ and girls’
category, who stood first in the
preceding class. Scholarship of Rs 750
each to middle class students and Rs
1,000 each to the students of high and
senior secondary classes are given,
provided they have got first division. A
total of 31,000 students have benefited
under this scheme in 2009-10.
Such schemes provide support to
girls’ families and thus they are
motivated to send their daughters to
schools. This has resulted in higher
enrollment and less drop-out rate of
girls. g
14
COVER STORY
Ravneet Kaur Brar
ver since India became free and
we adopted a constitution in 1952,
there has been constant effort that
women participate in political and
administrative activities in a big way.
We have travelled a long way and
women today are an important part
of Panchayati Raj System, local self
government and other legislative
bodies like Parliament and
Assemblies.
Reservation is a way to empower
women. One third of seats in
panchayats have been reserved for
women. This can be referred as a
positive step to empower the women.
This will facilitate more women to
enter the public sphere. This would
lead to further empowerment of
women and make panchayats more
inclusive institutions, improve
governance and public service
delivery.
India, the world’s largest
democracy, has about three million
elective representatives at all the
levels of panchayat and one third of
them are women. India is the first
country to have taken concrete
measures to draw women into
leadership positions and thereby into
politics by giving them one-third
reservation. One third seats of Gram
Panchayat have been reserved for
women including the seats reserved
for women belonging to Scheduled
Castes. The percentage of women
members (including women
belonging to Scheduled Castes)
elected to the different levels of
Panchayat is approximately 37 per
cent at Gram Panchayat, 34 per cent
at Panchayat Samiti and 35 per cent
at Zila Parishad.
Haryana is known for its skewed
sex ratio. But quotas for women in
grassroots’ bodies have provided
them with a chance to show their
worth. Now the women of the state
have woken up from deep slumber
and have became conscious of their
rights and responsibilities. The
reservation of seats for women
candidates will give them a fair
representation in these bodies.
The general impression is that
most of the women getting elected to
these bodies are mere puppets in the
hands of the male members of their
families, particularly their husbands.
This is true to some extent, but still
E
Political
empowerment
of women
has got them an entry point,
something that would not have been
possible without reservation. But
now they are giving jolt to this
notion by actively involving
themselves in the politics and taking
decisions of their own. There are
number of sarpanches, panches and
members of zila parishads who are
performing their duties with zeal.
They are working hard for their
welfare of their villages. Giving
reservation to women will make
them part of the decision-making
process at all levels. Out of the total,
14,256 posts of panches, 1,322 posts of
sarpanches, 617 posts of members of
panchayat samitis and 84 posts of
zila parishad members were reserved
exclusively for women in Haryana's
fourth panchayat elections.
The maximum number of posts of
sarpanches reserved for women was
from Bhiwani district. A total of 157
women sarpanchs represented the
Panchayati Raj institutions from the
district. The maximum number of
posts of panches reserved for women
was also from Bhiwani district.
Women are not in the backseat but
they are coming to the forefront with
their determination and hard work.
Neemkheda village in Mewat district
of Haryana is a distinct example of
change in the system. The panchayat
represents large number of women.
There are three female panches and
three male panches and they all are
working in a team to work for the
welfare of their village. The whole
team is enthusiastic about its new
role. This panchayat of the state has
broken all stereotypes to carve its
way into the system, showing men
their place.
Ashubi Khan, Sarpanch of Neem
Kheda village, says, “The villagers
lampooned me. Some said, “Bahut
advanced ban rahi hai.” (She is
trying to be very advanced.) But the
women were thrilled. The older ones
were the most supportive. One said to
me, “My son is an alcoholic and
wastes my entire income. Now you
set him right.”
For the male panchayat members,
alcoholism did not merit
punishment. For us, it became the
number one crime. Now no alcoholic
in Neemkheda gets home-cooked
food.”
Roshni Devi, Sarpanch of Kothal
Khurd village in Narnaul, was
COVER STORY
15
“The villagers lampooned me. Some said, “Bahut
advanced ban rahi hai.” (She is trying to be very
advanced.) But the women were thrilled. The older
ones were the most supportive. One said to me, “My
son is an alcoholic and wastes my entire income. Now
you set him right.” For the male panchayat members,
alcoholism did not merit punishment. For us, it became
the number one crime. Now no alcoholic in Neemkheda gets home-cooked
food.”
-Ashubi Khan, Sarpanch of Neemkheda village, Mewat
awarded by President Pratibha Devi
Patil at a function in Rashtrapati
Bhawan, New Delhi. Roshni Devi and
her co-workers, Usha Devi and
Tripati Devi, were awarded for their
successful drive against drinking in
public places in the village. There are
many women sarpanches who have
been elected for the second
consecutive term just because of
their hard work.
Women sarpanches are also not far
behind from their friends at the
district level. From time to time,
training camps for panches and
sarpanches of villages in the district
are organised by the state
community development and
training centre, Neelokheri. They are
made aware of their rights and
responsibilities. Women have shown
their interest in these camps and
they express freely about their
problems in these camps.
Special programmes on the role of
women in PRIs, on rights of women
and procedures should be prepared
and highlighted through the mass
media so as to make women aware
and improve the quality of their
participation in the socio-political
system. Meetu Singh, an educated
Sarpanch from Mithri village of
Sirsa district, says, “I often visit the
village houses and lend an ear to the
problems faced by the villagers and
also try to solve their problems at the
earliest.”
Reservations are not a panacea
and mere reservation is not going to
solve everything. There are a large
number of NGOs that are helping
women sarpanches in performing
their duties. These sarpanches are
slowly making their presence felt.
They are known to focus much more
on basic issues like drinking water,
sanitation and education. Geetinder,
a young engineer from Sirsa , says,
“Women are known to use money
very carefully at home and somehow
manage the family budget even when
income is low. Women show the same
abilities when they manage the
village funds. Moreover, they are
more sincere in their work as
compared to their male counterparts.
The need today is to show them the
right path so that they can work for
the welfare of the people.”
Reservation has brought women
out of their houses. Even the
illiterate women who were
considered good for nothing by their
husbands and in-laws are managing
their villages, apart from doing their
household chores. Now they can also
breathe the fresh air of freedom.
Uma Devi, Sarpanch of Bhoj Jabyal
village of Morni block, is an active
worker and takes part in all the
activities related to the village. With
her hard work, the village stood first
in total sanitation campaign in the
block. She is as active as her male
counterparts.
It is hoped that greater
participation of women will result in
better implementation of water,
sanitation, girls’ education and
women's health schemes. Giving
women positions in the panchayats is
good in itself. A bill to provide one
third reservations to women is
pending in the Parliament; if passed,
it will provide one third membership
to the women in Lok Sabha, too.
As a path breaking move, the
government of India is looking
forward to bring an amendment in
the Article 243(D) of the Constitution
to enhance reservation for women in
PRIs at all tiers from the current onethird to at least 50 per cent.
Women representation in the
Panchayats will certainly make this
system more efficient and
transparent. g
16
COVER STORY
Better reading material
Higher
education
uplifts women
Ravneet Kaur Brar
f we talk of Yamunanagar district
of Haryana alone, girls’ colleges are
more in the area as compared to boys’
and co- education colleges-- D A V
College for Women, Hindu Girls'
College and Guru Nanak Khalsa
College to name a few. Girl students
from nearby states, too, besides the
local ones, come here to pursue their
education. Similarly, girls’ colleges are
being opened in every nook and
corner of the state.
There are 16 government colleges,
34 government aided colleges and 20
private colleges in the state which are
exclusively for girls. Then there is no
shortage of professional colleges for
I
girls in the state. There are nine
universities and large number of
colleges in the state. There are wellbuilt hostels with all the modern
amenities in all the colleges and
universities. Separate mess and
canteen facilities are available for
boys and girls. Hostel facilities have
played an important role in increasing
enrollment of girl students.
Education is an important way to
empower the women. Female literacy
is vital for educating the society; a
mother can better train her kids if she
is educated. Education brings about
enlightenment and drives away
superstition. Gone are the days when
girls were not allowed to receive
education along with their male
siblings. Earlier girls were not allowed
to enter the college or university after
school. But things have changed a lot.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh
Hooda said, “The government is
committed to making the state an
education hub. North India’s first
women university named after great
educationist Bhagat Phool Singh had
been set up in rural area of Khanpur
Kalan in district Sonipat and now a
medical college too is being set up
there to inspire women living in rural
areas to take interest in medical
education.” It is one of the initiatives
taken by the government of Haryana
to empower women in the state. The
university has various affiliated
colleges under it that impart
education and training in professional
courses. The DAV management
committee has embarked upon an
ambitious project to set up an allwomen university in the state. This
will be the second all-women
university dedicated to providing
quality education exclusively to girls.
The Haryana government is trying
to empower the female students and
bring out talent amongst girls through
various schemes. A scheme was
started in the year 2005-06. Under this
scheme, women cells have been
established in all the government
colleges of the state to organise
various activities to bring awareness
among students on gender related
issues. Budget worth Rs 40 lakh was
sanctioned for this scheme for the
year 2009-10 and about 45,000 girls
students benefited from the scheme.
Earn While You Learn scheme has
been running successfully in the state
to provide incentives to students. In
this scheme, a student can earn up to
Rs 1,200 per month.
The government has alloted Rs 2
crore to give incentive to girl students
belonging to Scheduled Castes during
the year 2010-11 for their higher
education. Haryana Scheduled Castes
and Backward Classes Welfare
Department under ‘Anusuchit Jati
Chatra Uchh Shiksha Protsahan
Yojana’ give scholarships ranging
from Rs 5,000 to Rs 14, 000 to
beneficiary students of science,
commerce, technical and vocational
courses for getting higher education.
Similarly, universities in the state are
also providing various opportunities
to the underprivileged through
various schemes so that they can also
have access to higher education.
The state government has
introduced merit scholarship scheme
for under graduate girl students.
Under this scheme, scholarship is
awarded to the girl students, who after
passing 10+2 class with at least 60 per
cent marks, were studying in any
government institution and pursuing
general degree course in the
government colleges. The amount of
scholarship was Rs 3,000 per student
per annum. 4,676 girl students had so
far been benefited under the scheme
and more than Rs 1.40 crore had been
disbursed as scholarship up to
January, 2010 under the scheme.
For higher education, the state pays
5 per cent of the interest on any
educational loan to a girl for
education in India or abroad. Around
2,478 girls have benefited from this
scheme. The beneficiaries include 114
women studying abroad. Moreover, in
case of girls, the income of the family
is not considered while granting
loans. Sometimes due to higher fee of
the private institutions and rate of
interest of banks, parents can't afford
to send their daughters to pursue
higher education. But this initiative
taken by the government will help in
reducing interest and will motivate
parents to send girls for higher
education.
Anupama, a lecturer from Sirsa,
says, “There is no dearth of talent
COVER STORY
among the girls and the need of the
hour is to make best possible use of
their skills in imparting quality
education to them. They are more
serious in studies as compared to the
boys. The girls from the state are
competing with their male
counterparts in all the spheres.”
Haryana Education Minister Geeta
Bhukkal said, “Women empowerment
is necessary to curb female foeticide
in the state and education is the only
way of women empowerment. Earlier
people in Haryana were not ready to
send their girls to colleges and
universities due to security reasons.
But now they are more awakened
towards educating their girls. Just as
girls have shown their worth in sports,
now they are proving themselves in
education too. Government is trying
its level best to increase enrolment.
We are setting police posts in the
colleges so that girls feel secure.”
Kurukshetra University has
established gender sensitisation
committee against sexual harassment.
Kurukshetra University is committed
to providing a place of work and study
free of sexual harassment. The centre
regularly conducts workshops on legal
literacy for women staff and students.
It also organises awareness camps on
declining sex ratio and pre-natal
diagnostics in different villages of
Haryana.
There are more female students in
17
the post graduation courses in most of
the universities. Girls are excelling
themselves in different departments
in colleges and universities. Extracurricular activities are conducted
regularly to enable students to
discover and hone their skills in
different fields. The students are also
encouraged to get involved in sports
activities.
Samita, a post graduate student
from Kurukshetra University, says,
“The change is definitely coming and
it is positive. The large number of
girls’ colleges in the state clearly
shows that now more girl students are
getting higher education. The parents
are now equally responsible for their
daughter’s education.”
Haryana's Department of Higher
Education has introduced computer
education in almost all government
colleges of the state. Computer
education will help in providing
employment opportunities to
students.
Government is doing a lot to
provide higher education to girls; but
government efforts alone are not
enough to bring in the desired change
in society. There is need for people to
broaden their horizons regarding
various issues pertaining to girls.
They must recognise and accept the
fact that men and women are equal
partners in life and are individuals
who have their own identity. g
Exchanging notes
18
COVER STORY
New dimensions
The government is floating new schemes for women & child development
Swati Sethi
aryana, which in 2001 was among
the states with skewed sex ratios,
has managed to reverse the trend
through a combination of regulatory
measures against female foeticide and
affirmative action to change the
situation of the girl child. The state
which had only 805 females per 1,000
males in 2001, reached a tally of 850
females per 1,000 males in 2009. The
government has started various
schemes for the development of
women and girl child in the state.
The Women and Child Development
Department of the Haryana
government has been providing care,
protection and development to women
H
and children. The department plays an
important role in ensuring the removal
of the underlying causes of gender
inequality through development of
various norms and practices, building
of awareness for changing social
attitude and community practices on
various issues besides running several
schemes for the nutrition and general
welfare of the women and children in
Haryana.
Shakuntala Jakhu, Financial
Commissioner, Department of Women
and Child Development said, “It is easy
to make schemes but it is a herculean
task to implement them. Our
government has been able to meet this
challenge and has been successfully
running schemes for the welfare of
women and girl children in Haryana.
Recently, a new scheme named ‘Sabla’
has been started. It is being
implemented in six districts. Under
this scheme, adolescent girls are
provided nutritional food and
vocational training for their overall
development.”
There are many schemes started by
the Haryana government for the
benefit of women and girl children in
the state.
LADLI
Ladli scheme was started to fight out
the problem of female foeticide and
declining sex ratio. The scheme was
launched by the chief minister,
Bhupinder Singh Hooda on August 20,
Tiny tots at the
aanganwari at
Khera village of
Panchkula district
COVER STORY
19
“We all must take urgent steps to
end the menace of female
foeticide and infanticide. The
present situation should not be
acceptable to the society. It may
be too late tomorrow to correct
the skewed sex ratio.”
-Deepender Singh Hooda
MP, Rohtak
and 2 lakh, respectively. During the
year 2009-10, Jhajjar, Gurgaon and
Faridabad districts have been given
1st, 2nd and 3rd award, respectively.
EDUCATION LOAN SCHEME FOR
GIRLS
2005. Under the scheme, a second girl
child born on or after August 20, 2005
is given benefit of Rs 5,000 per year for
five years and the sum is invested in
group scheme Ladli of Life Insurance
Corporation of India and the matured
amount of approximately Rs 96,000 at
the current rate of interest is given to
the girl after completing the age of 18
years. The aim of this scheme is to
combat the menace of female foeticide.
Under this scheme, 1,20,507
beneficiaries have been covered up to
November 2010 since the inception of
the scheme and a sum of Rs 147.49
crore has been spent. A sum of Rs
3,865.49 lakh has been provided in the
budget for 2010-11.
INCENTIVE AWARDS FOR THE
IMPROVEMENT IN SEX RATIO
A district level award for improvement
is declining sex ratio is given every
year. Under this scheme, districts that
show improvement in declining sex
ratio and securing 1st, 2nd and 3rd
positions are awarded Rs 5 lakh, 3 lakh
The State government has
implemented the scheme of education
loan to girls/women which is being
looked after by Haryana Women
Development Corporation. Under this,
interest subsidy of 5 per cent per
annum will be provided to encourage
girls to pursue higher education at
graduate/post graduate/doctoral/post
doctoral level in the country and
abroad. Under this scheme, loan has
been given to 2,850 girls studying in
different professional courses in
various universities of the country
and outside the country, so far, out of
which 114 girls are studying abroad in
different professional courses.
AWARDS TO RURAL ADOLESCENT
GIRLS
A scheme of awards to rural
adolescent girls has been started to
encourage the girl child for pursuing
higher education. Under this scheme,
award of Rs 2,000, 1,500 and Rs 1,000 is
given to those girls who pass their
matriculation conducted by Haryana
State School Education Board from
schools in rural areas and get 1st, 2nd
and 3rd position, respectively. As many
as 1,881 girls have been given awards
and an amount of Rs 27.99 lakh has
been spent under this scheme up to
November, 2010. A sum of Rs 5.35 lakh
has been provided in the budget for the
year 2010-11.
BEST MOTHER AWARD
Best Mother Award scheme was
started from the year 2005-06 to
encourage women for proper rearing of
their children, especially the girl child
with a view to improving their
nutritional and health status. Under
this scheme from each circle and each
block of Integrated Child Development
Scheme (ICDS), three mothers having
at least one girl child are selected for
1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes, who are given
prizes of Rs 1,000, Rs 750 and Rs 500
respectively at block level and Rs 500,
Rs 300 and Rs 200 respectively at the
circle level. A total of 12,126 mothers
have been given awards and a sum of
Rs 105.54 lakh has been spent from
2005-06 to November, 2010. A sum of Rs
20.25 lakh has been provided in the
budget for the year 2010-11.
KISHORI SHAKTI YOJANA
The scheme is started in the state for
improving the health and nutritional
status of adolescent girls in the age
group 11-18 years and to train and
equip them to improve home based and
vocational skills and to promote
awareness about health, hygiene,
nutrition, home management, child
care etc.
This scheme was earlier
implemented in 85 ICDS projects and
now the scheme has been expanded to
128 ICDS projects. Services under the
scheme are provided through
formation of Balika Mandals for six
months in 10 per cent of aanganwari
centres.As many as 1,742 Balika
Mandals have been formed till date.
The girls are also provided
supplementary nutrition @ Rs 5 per
girl per day. Under this scheme, about
32,717 girls have been provided
supplementary nutrition and training
per year.
Under this scheme, a sum of Rs
2,225.5 lakh has been spent from March
2005 to November 2010, out of which a
sum of Rs 1857.13 lakh has been spent
on supplementary nutrition provided
20
COVER STORY
Education is the key
to the empowerment
to adolescent girls. A sum of Rs 599
lakh has been provided in the budget
for the year 2010-11.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (SETTING UP
OF CELLS)
SPORTS MEET FOR WOMEN
As per provision of the Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act,
2005 and Prohibition of Child
Marriage Act, the state government
has appointed Protection cum Child
Marriage Prohibition Officers at
district level. One consultant has also
been appointed at state headquarters
for the proper coordination and
effective implementation of PWDV
Act. Twenty six providers like
Haryana State Social Welfare Board,
District Red Cross Societies, District
Child Welfare Councils, have been
selected for providing necessary
assistance to the aggrieved persons in
the state. All government hospitals,
PHCs and CHCs have been made for
medical facility and three shelter
homes have also been made for
providing shelter to the needy women
under this Act. During 2009-10, these
officers have dealt with 3,504
complaints of domestic violence; out of
To encourage the girl child for coming
forward in sports, the scheme of
Annual Sports Meet at block level was
started from the year 2005-06 and
district level sports meet was also
started from 2006-07 under which three
prizes of Rs 1,000, Rs 600 and Rs 400 for
each event are given to winners in
each district for securing 1st, 2nd and
3rd position, respectively. Now, it has
also been decided to organise annual
state level sports meet in which
winners holding 1st position at district
level in all the events will participate
and 1st prize of Rs 3,100, 2nd prize of
Rs 2,100 and 3rd prize of Rs 1,100 will
be given. Participants will be given Rs
500 in the annual state level sports
meet. An amount of Rs 24.26 lakh has
been provided in the budget for the
year 2010-11.
PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM
them in 1,668 complaints Domestic
Incident Reports (DIRs) have been
recorded. Under this scheme, a sum of
Rs 173.84 lakh has been spent from the
year 2007-08 to November, 2010. A sum
of Rs 80 lakh has been provided in the
AWARDS FOR WOMEN
The Women and Child Development
Department has introduced three
awards to honour women in the state -Indira Gandhi Mahila Shakti Award of
Rs 1 lakh, Kalpana Chawla Shaurya
Award of Rs 51,000 and Bahin Shanno
Devi Panchayati Raj Award of Rs
51,000.
SCHEME FOR RELIEF AND
REHABILITATION OF WOMEN
VICTIM OF ACID
This scheme has been approved by the
chief minister, Haryana, under which
Rs 25,000 will be given as interim relief
and 100 per cent cost of medical
treatment would be borne by Women
and Child Development Department.
INTEGRATED CHILD PROTECTION
SCHEME
This scheme has been implemented in
the state w.e.f. April 1, 2005. This
scheme primarily focuses its activities
on children in need of care and
protection and children in conflict and
contact with law. The following child
protection programmes are being
covered by ICPS:
1. A programme for Juvenile Justice
for Children in need of care and
protection of children in conflict with
law
2. An integrated programme for street
children to provide non-formal
education, recreation, counseling etc
to children without homes and family
ties.
3. Scheme for Assistance to Homes for
Children (Shishu Greh) for care and
protection of orphan/ abandoned/
destitute children up to 6 years and
promote their in-country adoption.
WORKING WOMEN HOSTELS
Working women hostels provide safe
accommodation at economical rates to
working women. A total of 18 hostels
are being run at Ambala, Kamal,
Gurgaon, Sonipat, Faridabad, Rohtak,
Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Rewari, Bhiwani,
Hisar, Jind, Jagadhri, Panchkula,
Maharshi Dayanand University,
Rohtak and Guru Jambheshwar
University, Hisar by the Red Cross
Society and various institutions and
agencies. One working women hostel
is under construction at Meham and
four proposals are under
consideration of Government of India.
A sum of Rs 11.40 lakh has been given
to different institutions from March,
2005 to November, 2010. A sum of Rs
53.50 lakh has been provided in the
CONSTITUTION OF VILLAGE LEVEL
COMMITTEES OF WOMEN AND
THEIR CONVERGENCE WITH PRIS
Integrated Child Development
Services’ Programme has been
decentralised and made community
driven. The state government has set
up village level sub-committees of
women to facilitate implementation of
programmes pertaining to
development of women and children.
The village level committee comprises
of all women panches, three educated
adolescent girls, mahila mandal
pradhan, president of self help
COVER STORY
21
“It is easy to make schemes but it
is a herculean task to implement
them. Our government has met
the challenge and is successfully
running schemes for the welfare
of girl children in Haryana. ”
-Shakuntala Jakhu
Financial Commissioner, Department of
Women and Child Development
groups, representative of war
widows/widows of exservicemen/educated widows, social
activist, school lady teacher, ANM,
ASHA, President of Sakashar Mahila
Samooh and aanganwari worker.
Woman sarpanch or woman panch
nominated by the gram panchayat
heads the committee. About 6,280
village committees have started
functioning.
Steps have been taken for
empowering and activating these
committees:n Holding the meeting at block/circle
level to aware the members of
Village Level Committee (VLC) and
Sakshar Mahila Smoohs (SMS)
about their powers and
responsibilities in implementation
of the programme.
n Ensuring the meeting of VLCs on
regular basis and changing the
convener of the VLCs on rotation
basis to strengthen the active
participation of all members
n To provide utensils for preparing
and serving the supplementary
nutrition wherever required out of
the contingency fund available with
the VLCs.
community.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO
VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS
Financial assistance in the form of
grant-in-aid is provided to voluntary
organisations/ semi
government/welfare organisations/
training and research institutes
operating in Haryana state which may
render welfare services to women,
children and adolescents. A sum of Rs
582.86 lakh has been released to 298
NGOs from March 2005 to August 2010
to run various training projects for
women and conduct awareness
generation activities. A sum of Rs 1
crore has been provided in the budget
for the year 2010-11.
SPECIFIC SCHEME TO CURB
ANAEMIA
A Specific Scheme to Curb Anemia
amongst women and children in the
state is implemented by the state
government under which nutritional
supplements i.e. iron and folic acid
tablets and deworming tablets are
provided to all children up to the age
of 18 years, pregnant and nursing
mothers and adolescent girls.
SAKSHAR MAHILA SAMOOH (SMS)
SURAKSHIT BHAVISHYA YOJANA
A rural registered NGO named
"Sakshar Mahila Samooh" (SMS) has
been formed by the state government.
This consists of a group of educated
women in every village that lends the
necessary resource support to the
Gram Panchayat and its subcommittee for effective discharge of
the functions assigned to them. SMS
generates awareness on key issues of
sex ratio, literacy, universalisation of
elementary education, health and
nutrition, opportunities for economic
empowerment for women, hygiene,
sanitation and environment and
schemes run by the government for
women, girls, children and village
'Surakshit Bhavishya Yojana' has been
started by the state government for the
welfare of aanganwari workers and
helpers. Under this scheme, Rs 100 is
invested in LIC every month, out of
which Rs 83 is in the form of saving
and Rs 17 is as risk premium, for an
aanganwari worker and helper who
has completed one year of her service
on January1, 2008. Under this scheme,
Rs 50,000 will be given to aanganwari
worker/helper on her sudden death in
terms of insurance and accumulated
amount of savings i.e. Rs 83 p.m. will
be deposited every year, which will be
given to her with interest at the age of
60 years. g
22
COVER STORY
Towards
female revolution
Jagmati Sangwan
he upsetting problem of female
foeticide has brought to light two
contrasting pictures in Haryana. The
girls from Haryana have proved their
worth by bringing laurels for the state
in the last Commonwealth Games.
They are excelling in sports like
wrestling and kabbadi or hockey
which were once considered men’s
domain. That bastion has been
conquered. On the one hand Kalpana
Chawla, Santosh Yadav and Mamta
Kharab have shown their talent in
their respective fields like adventure
sports and they are international
names now; on the other hand the
figures that came in last December
showed decline in sex ratio. This once
again proved that the daughters are
still ‘unwanted’ in Haryana. These
pose a common challenge, a serious
one before the policy makers and
social reformers as well. The society
as a whole has to deal with it. The
need of time is to face these
challenges but instead of facing these
we are trying to run away from the
T
situation by adopting the easier ways.
Haryana has the second highest per
capita income but it is lagging behind
in socio-cultural values. This has
raised serious questions for
development models that we have
adopted.
Janwadi Mahilla Samiti conducted
a survey to know the perception of
common people on female foeticide.
They threw up interesting facts. The
results showed that the dowry and
social insecurity for women are the
major reasons why people don’t want
to give birth to a girl child. This
brings us face to face with a more
gruesome situation; why we think
that female foeticide is the only way to
overcome their insecurity? Educated
people are more prone to this evil
practice. Sex ratio is less in the urban
educated areas as compared to rural
and uneducated areas. This issue
needs to be seriously pondered upon.
In their view, the problem is dowry
and insecurity among women.
But why daughters have to bear the
brunt of all this? They should fight
against these evils rather than killing
daughters. First killing their
daughters and then buying women for
marriage shows a narrow and
dangerous outlook. Women are treated
as a commodity or at best as cattle to
be purchased and sold. Rather than
facing the problem, they are running
away from it by becoming culprits
before the society as well as the law.
The need is to advise them and bring
some solution to the problem. The
issue is serious but we have to face it
and nip this evil in the bud. It is not
that Haryana does not have the people
who can take initiatives for this.
There are so many people in Haryana
who are setting examples by giving
birth to daughters. Those people who
are facing heavy odds are worth
appreciating. The need today is to
change the policies and the socio
economic structure.
The analysis of the political and
social awakening shows that the
patriarchal setup cannot usher in
democratic values. As a result though
being a democratic country, we are
divided on the basis of sex and caste.
And these are deep rooted in our socio
Some important
points for campaign
against female
foeticide
1.We need to campaign against
dowry, social insecurity and
join together different
organisations that are
struggling against these
issues.
2.There is an urgent need to
implement the PNDT Act
against female foeticide and
there should be a strict action
against those doctors and
those in-laws who indulge in
this. For the forceful
implementation of PCPNDT
Act, there is a need to involve
those people who are setting
examples in their lives along
with the doctors and other
organisations.
3.There is a need to declare it as
a national problem and proper
policies should be made to
fight against this evil. More
people should be involved in
this campaign and students
from senior school classes to
graduate level, besides
teachers, should be part of this
campaign.
4.The traditions, customs,
folklore, festivals that are
based on patriarchal values
need to be seen from a critical
view and new healthy
alternative festivals created.
There is a need to set
examples by conducting simple
marriages in different areas
and girls should be given
equal rights in property. These
measures will help in the
fighting against the female
foeticide and empower them.
COVER STORY
23
The state government has taken various measures
fighting against declining sex ratio. Whenever
permission is seeked for any scheme for the
welfare of the girl child from Chief Minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda, he immediately grants it.
First of all, Ladli scheme was started. The
education for girls is free and they are given
bicycles and other facilities. Measures have been
taken to implement the PNDT Act properly. The
licenses of doctors who indulge in this illegal
practice are being cancelled.
In order to catch the attention of judiciary,
presentation has made before the judges. Steps are taken to have an eye on the
pregnant ladies for 12 months. But in our society it is believed staunchly that
girls are like a tree which gives it’s shade in others’ house; they are often
regarded as outsiders by parents. These notions further decline the status of
girls. Our society has to wake up from the deep slumber and act responsibly.
Lack of awareness further enhances the gravity of this serious issue. The
problem can be solved by making the masses aware through education. So
various schemes are being implemented for the education of the girl child.
-Urvashi Gulati, Chief Secretary, Haryana
economic structures and these are
interlinked into micro and macro
policies. Richness, new technology
and increased consumerism have
been more in favour of sons as
compared to daughters. The increase
in modernisation in the last few years
has increased the craving for sons and
this has resulted in female foeticide.
Education, technology and
modernisation have made this
problem graver. The problem of
female foeticide is more in urban
educated areas as compared to rural
areas. The parts of Haryana Punjab
and Chandigarh which were the hub
of Green Revolution have shown
alarming results in 2001 Census. Sex
ratio in the age group of 0-6 years
(India-727:1000. Haryana- 821:1000,
Punjab- 793:1000). 2011 Census may
throw up same kind of results. The
policies of globalisation has resulted
in increased inequalities in
economic and socio cultural areas.
This has resulted in chaos. Migration
of people, degradation of
environment and social injustice have
resulted in dowry, craving for son and
rising insecurities. All these problems
are interlinked.
The increased socio economic
insecurity and devaluation of women
have added to their helplessness. They
find boy child “Sankat Mochak” in
these situations. In some areas, sex
ratio is declining at such an alarming
rate that girls are being bought from
other states to get the boys married.
The lives of these women who are
bought from other states are
miserable. They are treated like
servants who have to do all household
chores; they find it hard to adjust
themselves in new culture and society
which is completely different from
their own culture. And the children
born from these types of relations
have insecure future. According to
sociologists, this situation is a big jolt
to family organisation. The
importance of male child is there in
our society since ages and our ancient
scriptures are witness to it and now
with the increased globalisation and
consumerism has it has become
grimmer.
There is need to change mindset of
people, then only other problems like
dowry, gender inequalities, caste
discrimination, superstitions, drug
addiction and consumerism can be
curbed. By removing all these evils
from the society we can finish the evil
of female foeticide. Government
should take steps for this and law
should be made so that we can fight
against this problem and there needs
to be some sort of accountability for
all this. Moreover, social
organisations, political parties,
intellectuals, researchers and media
should actively take part in this.
People should also devote some
resources and time against this cause.
The society needs to reform itself by
giving an end to patriarchal society
and bringing a new change. g
The writer is Director,
Women Study Centre, MDU Rohtak
24
COVER STORY
Inquisitive children
Let the girl
child be born
Sonali Narang
hen one thinks about the role of a
woman in society, it can be said
that it’s not possible to imagine the
existence of human beings without a
woman. In the beginning, man and
woman both were equal, but in the due
course of time man dominated the
world and woman was confined to
household only. But in the modern
times, with democratic movement,
people have started talking about the
W
rights and empowerment of women.
Women have started taking part in all
walks of life viz education, politics,
sports etc.
Although Haryana region has
witnessed tremendous economic
progress over the last 30 years due to
green revolution and has the highest
per capita income in the country but
still it is amongst one of those states
where condition of women is still
vulnerable. In Haryana, women suffer
from the problem of low sex ratio,
dowry, illiteracy and other age old
malpractices. Due to this, people give
preference to a son over a daughter and
girls are perceived as burden. This has
led the society towards the practice of
female foeticide. Many girls are killed
in the womb, some at the time of birth,
some due to ill health and some due to
lack of nutrition.
The 2001 census showed that
Haryana had the worst sex ratio in
India. It had only 861 women per 1000
men in the state. At the time of
independence, the sex ratio was 946.
These trends are alarming, and there is
urgent need to improve the condition
of the girl child. All India Democratic
Women's Association’s (AIDWA) unit of
Haryana has come out with some
shocking findings. They have noticed
that unfavourable sex ratio in the state
has made it difficult for men to find
local brides. There are findings that in
every village of the state there are a
number of men who are not able to
find suitable life partners. Those men
who are not able to find their brides
locally, are buying them from other
states and countries like West Bengal,
Bangladesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh
and other parts, through trafficking.
Haryana Government is trying its
best to improve the condition of
women; it has initiated various
schemes like Ladli which provides
financial aid for a girl child. Another
important scheme for the girl child is
Cash Transfer Scheme in which the
government is offering cash incentives
to families that have a girl child. Dhan
Laxmi scheme provides financial help
to the families for encouraging a girl
child so that the family should treat
girl as an asset rather than as a
liability. There are many other
schemes for the welfare of a girl child
like Integrated Child Development
Service Scheme, Apni Beti Apna Dhan,
Balika Samaridhi Yojana, National
Maternity Benefit Scheme etc. An NGO
named SMILE has started a project in
the rural belt of Faridabad district for
the welfare and empowerment of girl
children and women. All these schemes
aim at empowering the girl child so
that female foeticide can be reduced
and the sex-ratio of the state can be
improved.
Government is also taking various
measures to check female foeticide like
raiding ultrasound centres that
illegally conduct sex determination
tests and rewarding village panchayats
which show an improvement in sex
ratio. Under this scheme, Rohtak
district’s Pilana showed the best sex
ratio of 1,176 girls for every 1,000 boys
in 2008 and for this achievement the
Panchayat was awarded Rs 1,00,000 by
the state government. In the recent
past, the figures of birth records in all
21 districts till October 2009 showed
that the sex ratio at birth (0-6 years)
had improved from 819 females in 2001
to 852 females per 1,000 males. Though
government is getting success in few
areas, at the same time there are some
areas like Panipat, Panchkula, Rohtak,
Sirsa, Bhiwani, Jind, Karnal, Mewat,
Sonipat, Jhajjar where sex ratio is
continually declining.
Government initiatives on their own
cannot change the situation and the
social mindset of the people needs to
be changed as well. Social
consciousness is very important for
any change in any society. The present
situation of girl child in Haryana is the
COVER STORY
result of the changed mindset of
people, which is deeply linked to
religious and social structure. In order
to improve the condition of girl child
in Haryana, the social awareness and
sensitisation on issues related to girl
child should be taken up on a massive
scale. Society needs to accept this fact
that girls are not inferior to boys as we
have already seen that Haryana girls
are doing their best, both at the
national and international level. They
have won nearly forty percent of all the
medals in the Commonwealth Games
2010 held at Delhi. They have been
involved in all the games from
wrestling to athletics. Women like
Kalpana Chawla to Saina Nehwal, from
Haryana have proved to be the strength
of women. The educated section of the
society needs to acknowledge their
responsibility and their capacity to
change the mindset of the people. It is
the young generation which can bring
a change in the existing situation of
the society.
It is correct that the government is
introducing different policies to
improve the condition of a girl child,
but besides these policies it is also very
important that government must
introduce some social innovative ideas,
which could highlight the
achievements made by girls in
different fields. The civil society should
play a key role in social awareness and
should pressurise the government for
taking some action against those
people and groups who are responsible
for the ill practices like female
foeticide and dowry.
To conclude, it’s not possible to
achieve any goal only on the basis of
government policies; rather the role of
society is equally important in this
regard. If we want to eradicate such
evils like female foeticide then we need
cooperation from all sections of
society. Education, public awareness
and respect towards the girl child are
the keys to improve the condition of
girls in Haryana.
“Try to realise the strength within
you, try to bring it forward, so that
everything you do may be not your
doing, but the doing of the truth within
you”
- Sri Aurobindo. g
The writer is Research Scholar at the
Centre for the Study of Geopolitics,
Department of Political Science, Panjab
University, Chandigarh
25
Fatehabad village
tilts back gender ratio
A nondescript village in Haryana,
infamous for its skewed sex ratio, has
shot into limelight by taking a lead in
saving the girl child. In Dulat, a small
village of Fatehabad district, 34 girls
were born in 2009, in comparison to
16 male births registered that year.
The figures have emerged after a due
scrutiny of birth registration records in
about 6,000 villages of Haryana.
The state health department has
now decided to give the village a
cash prize of Rs 5 lakh. It would be
the first instance of such an award
being given to a village panchayat in
the state. "We want to encourage
villages where sex ratio is extremely
good. This is primarily to inspire
neighbouring villages (to do the
same)," said PK Das, state director,
National Rural Health Mission.
Fatehabad civil surgeon OP Arya
claimed that it was basically the
result of people's increased
awareness of the importance of girls.
Interestingly, Dulat sarpanch Nirmal
Singh remains ignorant about his
village's rare achievement. Asked to
comment on the turning tide, he shot
back: "In a population of 2,200,
how can we count the number of
girls and boys?" On the positive side,
more villages indicate an attempt to
right the gender balance.
Figures with the health department
reveal that Naru Kheri village of
Karnal district has a sex ratio of
1,857 girls per 1,000 boys, Khori in
Faridabad has 1,707 girls, Kabulpur
in Rohtak, 1,545, and Ghiraye in
Hisar, 1,403. "These villages have
been given district level awards of Rs
1 lakh each," said a visibly upbeat
Vandana Gupta, deputy director,
PNDT, health services. According to
November 2010 figures. Haryana
has a only 838 girls per 1,000 in
the age group of 0-6.
Courtesy Times of India
26
COVER STORY
Survival
of the
girl child
Long way to go for the girl child
Amar Nath Wadehra & Randeep
Wadehra
4.
here are any number of Puranic
and other mythological tales that
deify women as Devis and paragons of
all that is decent and divine. In
different parts of the country there
are rituals and festivals that worship
girls. In our region the worship of
Kanjaka on the eighth and ninth
navratras is never missed by the
traditional Hindu families. And yet, all
these do not add up to a positive image
of girls in our society nor do these
ensure a secure and dignified life for
them. Consider some facts:
1. Even today about five lakh female
foetuses are aborted annually,
indicating the desire for male child
among Indian families;
2. More than 40 per cent of the Indian
population is known to be illiterate,
with women, tribal and Scheduled
Castes being the most affected.
3. Nearly two in every three women in
India are illiterate. According to an
estimate, more than 50 per cent of
girls in India fail to enroll in school
and those who do, most among
T
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
them are likely to drop out by the
age of 12.
82 girls for every 100 boys get
enrolled in school, while 35 million
girls in India do not attend school at
all.
It is believed that every year, 12
million girls are born in the
country but unfortunately only one
third of them survive. Some are
killed in the womb, some at the
time of birth, some die due to ill
health and some due to poor
nutritional status. Only a relatively
small percentage of girls are able to
survive beyond their 15th birthday.
Female foeticide is most prevalent
in Maharashtra, Haryana,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
Girls bear the main brunt of
poverty and malnutrition. Research
shows that girls between 13 to 18
years of age have a lower
percentage of iron, making them
prone to anaemia and other
symptoms of poor health.
Every 93 minutes one dowry death
occurs in India.
Every seven minutes, one woman
dies from a pregnancy-related
cause, with the situation getting
further aggravated by early
marriage.
Obviously, despite India making
phenomenal economic progress, a
vital section of its population still
remains mired in poverty, illiteracy
and ill-health. Unfortunately, this
section comprises entirely of the
female half of the population.
Despite various laws enacted to
protect the girl child, she continues to
suffer low status in the society. There
are several reasons behind this trend –
a combination of factors involving
superstition, economics and societal
attitudes. If we have to evaluate her
status in society we need to look at the
following parameters: the standard of
education reached by her, condition of
her health, her role in the society’s as
well as her family’s economic
decision-making, her presence in
various professions and the
management cadres, her role in the
family’s decision- making process on
different social and related matters.
Invariably, on all these counts she
remains in an unhappy position,
which is mainly due to the following
factors:
g She is looked upon as an economic
burden, thanks to the dowry
system;
g Her birth stigmatises her mother
for failing to deliver a son;
g The belief that only sons can enable
retention of wealth within the
family;
g The fact that sons also prove to be
more lucrative propositions as they
fetch dowry;
g On becoming a widow or a divorcee,
she becomes lifelong burden on her
parental family;
g Then there are any numbers of
scriptural injunctions that provide
for moksha only through the birth
of a son.
Thus, we see that religion – in
conjunction with economic and other
socio-cultural factors – contributes to
the degradation of women in the
society. Rampant materialism and,
now, consumerism, has introduced the
practice of dowry even into those
communities and castes where it
never was a custom. This has made
female foeticide all the more desirable
in the eyes of our patriarchal society
as it makes economic sense to
individual families. Therefore, female
foeticide is being practised as much
among the poorer sections of the
society as in the upper crust. Even
educated and so-called emancipated
women are going in for abortions in
order to do away with girl child and
have sons only.
This trend has resulted in a skewed
gender ratio. Worse, there are
psychological and social consequences
of this trend. Imagine the plight of a
pregnant woman who is forced to
undergo various gender determination
tests and, invariably, frequent
abortions. The consequent
psychological trauma can result in
death or, worse, mental ailments.
Demographically, we only need to look
at China where a significant
percentage of men remain bachelors
for want of brides. There crime
against women, including trafficking,
rape and prostitution have been on the
rise. Already, bride purchases and
abduction of girls for
marriage/prostitution are becoming
alarmingly frequent in various Indian
states. The sharp rise in sex crimes in
Delhi, for example, has been attributed
by various sociologists to the unequal
COVER STORY
sex ratio. They predict that more
women are likely to be exploited as sex
workers, and cases of molestations
and rape are going to rise further.
Then there is another burning
issue that adversely affects the status
of women, viz., child marriage.
According to a UNICEF report, 82 per
cent of girls in Rajasthan are married
off before they are 18, 15 per cent of
girls in rural areas across the country
are married before 13 and,
horrendously, 52 per cent of girls have
their first pregnancy between 15 and
19 years of age.
So, how do we counter this trend?
Obviously there is no dearth of
relevant laws enacted to prevent and
promote the girl child. For example, it
is illegal to allow or facilitate
marriage of a boy under 21 and a girl
under 18. Amongst all the states in
India, it is Rajasthan that tops the list
with the average age of a girl at
marriage being 16.6 years, closely
followed by Bihar (17.2 years) and
Madhya Pradesh (17 years)! People
defy the law with impunity. The police
– for various political, social and
procedural reasons – are unable to act
against the offenders. On an average,
there are 89 attempted prosecutions
annually across the country, most of
which fail to result in convictions.
Experts point out that apart from
weak political will, bureaucratic
procedures are such that by the time
relevant papers to prevent a child
marriage get prepared the weddings
are not only over but also the related
witnesses and proofs vanish. Thus,
the law remains largely
unimplemented!
Even such steps as would make a
woman’s life relatively safe and
comfortable somehow get not just
subverted but converted into
instruments of further harm to her.
Let us look at the way the Medical
Termination of Pregnancy Act,
enacted in 1971, has been grossly
misused. It was aimed at providing
relief to such girls and women as
victims of rape or those unable to bear
healthy babies, apart from preventing
the birth of severely handicapped
babies. Moreover, unwanted
pregnancies due to contraceptive
failure too can be aborted. Towards
this end amniocentesis and ultrasound
scanning were allowed to detect fetal
abnormalities. Unfortunately, these
techniques are being used in sex
27
determination tests now, thus
rendering a deadly blow to the birth,
let alone survival, of the girl child.
Today, these are being misused even in
small towns and villages all over the
country.
In fact, technology is ratcheting up
the odds against the birth of female
babies in various other ways too. Now,
it is possible to manipulate genetic
material to ensure the birth of male
child. This does away with abortions
completely. Medical experts point out
that certain procedures meant to
ensure healthy babies through the
“enrichment” of X chromosome are
now being misused to avoid birth of
female babies.
Stringent laws exist that provide for
deterrent punishment to such medical
practitioners as indulge in sex
determination tests. But, their
implementation has left much to be
desired. There have been rare
prosecutions and rarer convictions
under the law, so far. To prevent
female foeticide, the Government of
India had, in 1994, passed the Preconception and Pre-natal Diagnostic
Techniques (Prohibition of Sex
Selection) Act. Since its
implementation left much to be
desired, it was amended and replaced
in 2002 with the Prenatal Diagnostic
Techniques (Regulation and
Prevention of Misuse) Act.
Unfortunately, this too has been
implemented half-heartedly.
Obviously, there is a need for
facilitating the implementation of
various laws to ensure a safe, healthy
and bright future for the daughters of
India. In this respect it is imperative
that law enforcing agencies are
insulated against the interference and
manipulation by powerful vested
interests. Bureaucratic procedures
need to be simplified in order to
facilitate prompt, fair and fearless
implementation of the various
provisions of relevant laws. More
importantly, political will needs to be
genuine and strong and the structure
of governance should be dynamic
enough to block loopholes and adapt to
emerging new technologies promptly.
But, the last word shall always be with
the public. There is an urgent need for
building a pro-girl child public opinion
on a war footing. g
Amar Nath Wadehra is a writer and
Randeep Wadehra is a poet and
columnist
28
COVER STORY
Grooming
the leaders
Ruchi Sharma
he word ‘empowerment’ means to
live life the way an individual
wishes to. It means freedom to
exercise wishes; yet, the word
empowerment holds different
meaning to different individuals. In
this direction Kurukshetra University
is conducting a unique experiment
which can give a meaningful direction
to the lives of women particularly in
villages. Many women of Sakshar
Mahila Samooh (SMS) from villages of
Jind and Hisar were part of a three
days’ programme on ‘Gender
sensitisation’ in Kurukshetra
University campus.
The Department of Women and
Child Development, Haryana in a joint
effort with Women Studies Research
Centre, Kurukshetra University,
T
organised a three days’ workshop in
three groups (three days for each
group) for nine days to empower rural
women about gender issues and laws
for the protection of women. Travel
and three days’ stay for the
participants was taken care of by the
Women Studies Research Centre.
Gender sensitisation, health and
nutrition, Dowry Prohibition Act,
Domestic Violence Act and Legal
Protection for Women And Children,
how to lodge an FIR (First
Information Report), PNDT (Pre-natal
Diagnostic Techniques) Act, political
participation of women, importance
of self help groups, role of SMS and
government schemes were discussed
at length by the village women
participants at the workshop. This
showed that probing trend among
women has just begun and a positive
change is inevitable.
All women were distributed
literature kits carrying information
about government schemes, laws
protecting their rights etc, in simple
and easy Hindi language. There are
many schemes for women’s benefit but
they are not aware of them; so to
educate them about the government
schemes, a departmental officer had
come.
“I am here to make myself aware of
my rights, duties and further
propagate the same among other
ignorant women back in my village,”
said Anita, a graduate, living with her
in-laws in Madanheri village of Hisar.
Many times, a woman wants to end
the mental and physical agony she
goes through but does not know how
and where. Through this programme
an effort was made to make the
COVER STORY
29
“I am here to make
myself aware of my
rights, duties and
further propagate the
same among other
ignorant women back
in my village,” said
Anita, a graduate,
living with her in-laws
in Madanheri village of
Hisar.
Prof Reicha Tanwar, Head of
the Women studies Research
Centre, Kurukshetra
University at a workshop
with women of Sakshar
Mahila Samooh (SMS) from
villages of Jind and Hisar
women aware of their rights. “We are
receiving very good response. It is no
less than an empowerment that
women have come here to attend this
workshop for three days leaving
behind their home and children. And
best part is the difference I see in
them from the first to last day. They
become so vocal in expressing their
doubts and probing the issues,” said
Prof Reicha Tanwar, Director of
Women Studies Research Centre,
Kurukshetra University.
“We are trying to keep each batch
of atleast 20-25 women in number as it
facilitates good communication and
control. Our main purpose is to
inform them about various laws,
schemes and their role to disseminate
the information they learn here. On
the third day, we choose a trainer out
of these women who speaks loud and
clear about all she learns here,” added
Prof Tanwar.
Woman of all age groups today go
through violence in one or the other
form; instead of complaining about it,
they choose to accept it. This further
strengthens intent of the violator. Prof
Suman Gupta from Law department of
Kurukshetra University informed
women participants about the Dowry
Prohibition Act made to protect
women from any kind of violence. She
told in every district one protection
officer is deputed to protect women
from any violence. One just has to dial
a number and the officer comes to
your house to check the violence.
Women were educated about laws to
prohibit dowry, domestic violence and
property rights of daughters. If one is
aware of these laws, one can complain
about the guilty. Another lecturer,
Deepshikha threw light on Domestic
Violence Act, legal protection for
women and on the procedure of
lodging an FIR.
Dr Vandana Dave, a research officer
in Women Studies Research Centre of
Kurukshetra University, said, “In our
workshop, we tell women about laws
under which they can guard their
rights and seek protection. Various
schemes have been initiated by
Women and Child Department of
Haryana; we make the women aware
of such schemes. Also, we try to bring
some change in their mindset by
giving examples.”
Talking about the activities of SMS
workers, an SMS worker, Sunita of
Tumba village in Hisar said, “In our
village, we spread awareness about the
dangers of female foeticide and
inform people about schemes like
Ladli initiated by the state
government. Things are changing in
our village. I take active part in these
activities and my husband allowed me
to come here to be a part of this
programme. I will get to learn new
things here.”
Sharing a similar view, Pramod,
SMS Pradhan from a village in Hisar,
SMS workers, Meena from Jind and
Shashi, Indu, Ritu from Hisar said,
“We are here to enhance our
knowledge on government schemes
and our legal rights so that we can
help someone in need.”
The three days’ long workshop
empowered all women from villages
with knowledge about gender issues,
health, welfare schemes and other
issues. Last but not the least, the
information about protective laws for
women will help them in standing for
their rights and protect themselves. g
30
PHOTO FEATURE
Surajkund
Mela
A festival to remember
Photo feature by Randeep Singh
Uzbek dancers
enthrall the
audience
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Andhra Pradesh CM Kiran Reddy
appreciating the patterns woven by National Award winning weaver
Smiling Buddha
and Happy
Ganesha
32
PHOTO FEATURE
Fibreglass musicians
Flower designer from
Thailand at work
Dancing bells
Balle balle!
Haryanvi
chhoriyan
34
PHOTO FEATURE
A woman sculptor from Chhattisgarh with her creation
Young nihangs ready
for martial arts
Dancers from Orissa
Murti aur murtikaar
36
TOURISM
An Enthralling Fair
Ruchi Sharma
he legendary Surajkund Craft
Fair at Faridabad which
celebrated its silver jubilee attracted
the attention of many visitors. This
year, the number of visitors who
came to witness the event recorded
an increase of 20 per cent over the
last year’s visitors of about 7.5 lakh.
This fifteen days’ fair was unique in
many respects. Participation of as
many as 600 craftsmen/weavers from
different states and countries like
Uzbekistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria
and Thailand lent it more colours.
Andhra Pradesh was the theme state
this year.
T
Union Minister for Tourism,
Subodh Kant Sahai, inaugurated the
15-day fair, in the presence of Chief
Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda
and Chief Minister of Andhra
Pradesh, Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy.
The fair was enlivened with
rhythm and beats of folk dances and
riot of colours. The theme state
Andhra Pradesh showcased its
traditionally rich handlooms,
handicrafts and mouth watering
cuisines. The special enclosure made
for the Theme State had artisans
specialising in woodwork, jewellery,
metal ware and other crafts. Its
“Banjara” embroidery remained
popular among the crowd. The food
court offered a wide variety of
cuisine from Andhra Pradesh which
included traditional dishes like
Hyderabadi Biryanis, 'Putharekulu',
'Kakinada Kaja', 'Bobbatlu', 'Booralu',
'Payasam' and 'Bandhar Ladoo'.
The Craftspersons from all over
India, SAARC and other
neighbouring countries had come
with their best of handlooms and
handicraft items. Uzbekistan was the
partner country of the 25th
Surajkund Crafts Mela and had an
exquisite range of crafts to offer. The
work hut of Uzbekistan attracted a
large number of visitors with its
Uzbek embroidered caps, bags and
scarves. The performance of
Andhra Pradesh was the
theme state this year
traditional dancers of Uzbekistan in
flaming red kaftans brightened up
the ambience of the fair.
In fabrics’ display, every state had
best to offer. Apart from the colourful
fabric display of the theme state,
Balucharis and Swarncharis from
Kolkata, Paithani sarees of
Maharashtra, Kantha work from
Orissa and tie and dye of Rajasthan
also grabbed the attention of the
visitors. Uttar Pradesh showcased its
best Brocade and Tanchoi, Kutch
work of Gujarat’s and silken
bedcovers of Kerala were the other
attractions.
The stalls of Afghanistan
presented its antique jewellery
studded with precious and semiprecious stones which were unique
blend of ancient ornaments with
traditional designs of Afghanistan.
Thai bags, floating ceramics, mobile
and hair accessories and other
TOURISM
artefacts from Thailand were also hit
among the visitors. The work hut of
Sri Lanka displayed batik paintings,
traditional masks, table mats and
wall hangings made up of jute and
silver jewellery. Bhutan displayed
collection of paintings, sculptures
and masks depicting their traditional
cultures and customs. Nepalese work
hut offered a range of silk/pashmina
shawls.
At the food court, authentic
fragrances and flavours of rich
Indian cuisines rule on the taste
buds. One could have a taste of India
as various states had put up stalls of
their specialities. From Rajasthan’s
dal-bati to momos of Assam, there
was variety to choose from.
Amusement zone kept children
entertained with joyful rides and
swings.
Enthralling folk dances and music
beats presented by different states
were apt to tap one’s feet. Best of
cultural programmes were organised
jointly by Ministry of Culture, ICCR,
New Delhi, Theme State Andhra
Pradesh and Cultural Affairs
Department, Haryana and Haryana
Kala Parishad. The open air stage
and the open air theatre were packed
with patrons of cultural arts and
traditions who applauded various
artists who performed there.
Exporters’ Meet and Buyers’ Meet
held at Surajkund Design Galleries
37
with assistance of the DC Handlooms
and DC Handicrafts. The Meet was
conducted in association with Export
Promotion Council for Handicrafts to
facilitate business opportunities for
the exporters and craftspersons. The
idea of the Meet was to endorse
various arts and crafts and present
them directly to the exporters and
buyers without any middlemen or
agency. It was a unique opportunity
for the craftsperson’s to present their
products to more than 30 exporters.
Haryana Governor Jagannath
Pahadia presided over the closing
ceremony and said the event reflected
the strides the state was making in
the field of tourism and cultural
affairs. Haryana was making rapid
progress in the tourism, transport,
education and health sectors. The
Surajkund mela provided
opportunities to people from different
cultures and backgrounds to mix and
understand each other, besides
providing international exposure to
weavers and craftsmen.
The presence of artists and
craftspersons from various parts of
India added to the cultural relevance
of the Surajkund Craft Mela. The
overwhelming response of increased
number of visitors in the fair only
meant sales for the craftspersons.
The fair truly provided an
opportunity for many to have an
enriched experience. g
38
SPECIAL REPORT
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda
takes salute at march past in Kaithal
Republic Day
celebrated with fervour
Swati Sethi
s Haryana celebrated the Nation’s
Republic Day on January 26 this
year, a new era of development seemed
to be waiting to open its wings. Already
rated number one in the country in
several spheres, Haryana is at the
threshold of opening new vistas of
development for its people in the fields
of power, water, industrial
development, health, education, social
sector and several other fields.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder
Singh Hooda announced that there is a
plan to set up 1,500 MW gas based
power plant in Faridabad and efforts
are being made to make the state selfreliant in power by 2012.
The chief minister, who was
addressing a largely attended Republic
Day function after unfurling the tricolour in Kaithal, said that the
government had inherited the shortage
of power; therefore, a target was set to
generate 5,000 MW of power.
Accordingly, work to set up four
thermal projects was started. Now the
A
power generation capacity of the state
has increased to 3,480 MW as against
1,587 MW in 2004-05.
The chief minister also recalled the
contribution of freedom fighters in
getting independence for the country
and paid tributes to Father of the
Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji
Subhash Chander Bose, Dr Rajendra
Parsad, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Bhim
Rao Ambedkar, Sardar Patel and Lal
Bahadur Shastri and all other freedom
fighters. He added that it was because of
their sacrifices that we are now
breathing in a free country.
Hooda said that water conservation
being the topmost priority of the state
government, the year 2011 is being
observed as ‘Water Conservation Year’.
A number of steps are being taken to
conserve water and 90 per cent subsidy
is being given on drip irrigation and
sprinkler sets for horticulture crops so
as to encourage the farmers to conserve
water.
The Chief Minister reiterated the
commitment of the state government to
get state’s due share of Ravi-Beas
waters through Sutlej-Yamuna Link
Canal. He said that the water courses
are being brick lined and new canals
are being dug to ensure supply of
irrigation water to every field in the
state. A sum of Rs 482 crore has been
spent on improvement and expansion of
irrigation facilities in district Kaithal
during last six years.
Hooda said that all-round
development has been made during last
six years and this has infused a new
confidence in the common man as well
as farmers. The poor have been
strengthened, the women are
empowered and the youth are infused
with fresh vigour and drive.
Hooda said that the state
government’s Land Acquisition Policy
and its R&R Policy have come out as a
model for the whole country. “I belong
to a farmer family and I fully
understand the importance of land for
the farmer. The state government
understands the farmer’s sentimental
attachment for the land and the new
Land Acquisition Policy has been
framed while keeping this relationship
in mind”, he added. The royalty and the
compensation amount in the state are
the maximum in the country.
Talking about the other farmerfriendly initiatives and plans of the
state government, Hooda said that the
state government has set up a Farmers’
Commission and a Centre of Excellence
for Vegetables at Gharaunda in Karnal
district. He said that Lala Lajpat Rai
University of Animal Sciences at Hisar,
Centre of Excellence for Fruits at Sirsa,
terminal market for fruits and
vegetables at Ganaur were being set up.
The chief minister said that the state
government has implemented new
Industrial and Investment Policy, which
would create more job opportunities for
the youth and more industries would be
set up in industrially backward areas of
the state. He said that Haryana has
become number one in terms of per
capita investment, while it was at 14th
place six years ago.
Hooda also referred to the number of
SPECIAL REPORT
steps taken by the state government for
strengthening the infrastructure and
health services, implementation of
schemes for rural and urban
development and efforts being made to
develop Haryana as an international
level education hub and sports power
house.
Earlier, Hooda went over to the
freedom fighters and their family
members to pay his respects for their
contribution. He also greeted the war
widows and ex servicemen, who had
come at the function.
He inspected the parade and took
salute from the contingents of Home
Guards, Haryana Armed Police, NCC
Cadets, scouts and guides. The school
children enthralled the audience with
their colourful cultural programme,
which was also presented on the
occasion. A dog and horse show was
presented by the Haryana Police.
Colourful tableaus depicting the myriad
hues of state's development and
motivation for water conservation
received appreciation from the
spectators.
Pahadia unfurled the national flag at
Panchkula. After unfurling the national
flag, Pahadia said that Haryana has
witnessed rapid growth in all sectors
including agriculture, education,
sports, industries, health, information
technology, tourism, social welfare,
water supply and sanitation and
preserved its rich cultural heritage.
While congratulating the people on
Republic Day celebrations, he said that
supreme sacrifice of our martyrs and
freedom fighters gave us the most
cherished and priceless gift of freedom.
“Today is a historical day as on this
day we got the privilege of becoming
the citizen of the biggest Republic
nation, India. We adopted such a unique
Constitution imbibing the ideals of
equality, justice, liberty and fraternity,”
Pahadia said.
He said that Father of the Nation,
Mahatma Gandhi, Pt Jawahar Lal
Nehru and several other leaders had
contributed in the freedom struggle.
Country’s economy was almost finished
prior to the independence but now
things have changed. India has made
considerable progress and has become
an economic power in the world.
“Haryana has become a developed
state of the country due to the hard
work and dedication of its people. The
state is on fast track of development.
39
Recently, the players of Haryana have
brought glory to the nation with their
sterling performance in the
Commonwealth Games and Asian
Games. The government had also
recognised the talent of these players
and awarded cash incentives to them,”
he added.
He said that Haryana has made
significant progress in all spheres of
development. The state is second in
terms of per capita income. Modern
infrastructure facilities have been
developed in the state and highly
developed industrial estates,
connectivity of roads and rails, better
communication facilities and modern
technical and educational institutes are
functioning in the state.
Though Haryana is an agriculturally
dominated state, yet, it has become
leading state in terms of industrial
development. The government has
created congenial atmosphere for
growth of industry and this sector is
being promoted in a big way so as to
provide employment opportunities to
the youth. Industrial policy-2005 had
shown fruitful results that attracted
huge industrial investment. As many as
107 new big and medium and 9,742
small scale industries have been set up
and that had attracted investment of Rs
7,260 crore. The state has now become
the first choice of foreign investors and
entrepreneurs. The existing industrial
policy has also been revised to attract
more investment.
Haryana is emerging as an education
hub. To provide world class education
to the students, Rajiv Gandhi Education
City is being developed at Kundli,
Sonipat. Apart from setting up of first
women university at Khanpur kalan
and Central University at
Mahendragarh, a Defence University at
Gurgaon, IIM at Garnawathi, Rohtak
and four private universities are being
set up in the state. Recognising the
importance of environment and water,
strategies are being implemented to
save and conserve these resources.
On this occasion, the Governor
honoured two brave children of
Haryana with bravery award. These
children included 10 year old Prachi, a
resident of village Muradgarh Indri,
district Karnal and nine year old
Vishal, a resident of village Asaudah,
district Jhajjar. He also honoured lone
freedom fighter of the district Deshraj
Pardesi and widows of martyrs and
wives of freedom fighters. g
40
SPECIAL REPORT
The Haryana C
Swati Sethi
y inducting four more
ministers in the Haryana
Cabinet, Chief Minister Bhupinder
Singh Hooda has expanded his
ministry and filled all the cabinet
posts. He has also changed the
portfolio of seven ministers and
appointed three new chief
parliamentary secretaries. The four
new ministers, all in cabinet rank
are Harmohinder Singh Chatha,
Kiran Chaudhary, Rao Narender
Singh and Satpal Sangwan.
Harmohinder Singh Chatha, who
resigned as the speaker of Vidhan
Sabha earlier, Tosham MLA Kiran
Chaudhary, Narnaul MLA Rao
Narender Singh and Dadri MLA
Satpal Sangwan were administered
the oath of office and secrecy by
Governor Jagannath Pahadia at a
ceremony at Raj Bhawan on
January 29, 2011.
Harmohinder Singh Chatha is
the new Cooperation and Food and
Supplies Minister and Kiran
Chaudhary has been inducted as
Excise and Taxation and Public
Health Minister. Rao Narender
Singh is the new Health, Medical
Education and Election Minister,
whereas Satpal Sangwan has
Revenue and Disaster Management,
Consolidation and Rehabilitation in
his portfolio.
Later at a separate function at
Haryana Niwas, Hooda
administered the oath of office to
Ram Krishan Gujjar (MLA from
Naraingarh), Vinod Bhayana
(Hansi) and Zile Ram Sharma
(Assandh) as Chief Parliamentary
Secretaries. Now the Hooda
ministry has 11 Cabinet ministers
and three Ministers of State
besides 12 Chief Parliamentary
Secretaries.
The Chief Minister also made
changes in the portfolios of seven
of his ministers. Mahender Partap
retains Power and Renewable
Energy; he has been allotted
Technical Education in addition.
There is no change in the portfolio
B
CABINET MINISTERS
H S Chatha:
Cooperation, Food and Supplies
Kiran Chaudhary:
Public Health & Engineering,
Excise & Taxation
Satpal Sangwan: Revenue &
Disaster Management,
Consolidation, Rehabilitation
Rao Narender Singh:
Health & Medical Education,
Elections
SPECIAL REPORT
41
abinet revamp
CHIEF MINISTER
Bhupinder Singh Hooda:
Administration of justice,
Architecture, Development
and Panchayats, General
Administration &
Administrative Reforms,
Home, Jails, Public Relations
& Cultural Affairs, Personnel
& Training, Raj Bhawan
Affairs, Town & Country
Planning and Urban Estates,
Law & Legislatives, Housing,
Electronics and Information
Technology, Any department
not specifically allotted to any
minister
of Capt Ajay Singh Yadav.
Randeep Singh Surjewala has
been given Industries and
Commerce in lieu of Public Health
and Electronics and Information
Technology. He also retains
Parliamentary Affairs, Science and
Technology and PWD (B&R).
Paramvir Singh has got Mines and
Geology in place of Cooperation.
Geeta Bhukkal will no longer have
charge of Health and Printing and
Stationary, and has been given
Industrial Training, Archaeology
and Museums and Archives
instead.
Three Ministers of State, Shiv
Charan Lal Sharma, Gopal Kanda
and Sukhbir Kataria have been
given independent charge. Sharma
has got independent charge of
Labour and Employment in place of
Revenue and Disaster Management.
Gopal Kanda has been given
independent charge of Urban Local
Bodies and Sukhbir Kataria will
independently look after Sports and
Youth Affairs. g
CHIEF PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIES
Ram Gujjar
Vinod Bhayana
Zile Sharma
42
SPECIAL REPORT
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in conversation with Outlook Editor-in-chief Vinod Mehta
Media and
challenges
Ravneet Kaur Brar
ndian people have almost total faith
in the media. They are convinced
that whatever they read in
newspapers and hear on radio or
watch on television is correct. For
media, now under great success, this
is a challenge. It must keep up the
flow of authentic and unbiased
information. Media as carrier of
information and a source of education
plays an important role in Indian
democracy. Mediapersons are the
informed citizens who can make right
political choices and help media go.
A seminar on “ Challenges before
media” was organised at the
Chandigarh Press Club on 11
I
February 2011. Vinod Mehta, Editorin-chief of Outlook was the main
speaker and Chief Minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda presided over
the function. Vinod Mehta expressed
his views on the huge responsibility
the mediapersons have on their
shoulders. The biggest challenge faced
by media today is credibility and once
credibility is lost, everything is
finished. He added that now there is
intense competition in media. Healthy
competition is life and blood of
journalism. Media should try to break
the evils rather than just making
money. Print media in the world is in
bad shape but it is booming in India at
a great pace.
He expressed deep concern over
degradation of journalism as a
profession. He said there are too many
players in media now and 60 per cent
of them were not there for
professional reasons. How they
survive and why a certain TV channel
exists when financially it is not doing
well, were the questions.
While discussing the relationship
between mediapersons and political
leaders or business houses, Mehta
advised the mediapersons not to
accept favours from politicians as this
will drive then to the road of
compromise. He expressed his
contempt for too much mingling of
journalists and politicians. He
narrated an interesting example of
how when someone gifted him an
expensive saree, he returned it by
saying his wife does not like it’s
colour.
Mehta urged the mediapersons to
maintain their credibility and ensure
that people believe them. He added
that if one looks for security in this
profession, better he should leave the
profession.He said that a good
journalist always carries a
resignation letter in his pocket.
He told how the publication of the
Radia stories in the Outlook “annoyed
the Tata Group'' and how a few Union
Ministers reacted to publication of
“exposures''. It affected the revenue of
the magazine but he asserted that
public interest was the only
consideration that mattered.
Gobind Thukral, Consulting
Editor, Haryana Review, said, “ The
newspapers are more bothered for the
lifestyle pages. They recruit number
of reporters to feed them with new
fads, cuisines and parties etc. But no
attention is paid to the plight of
farmers, labour class and rural
people. The media should be more
responsible for portraying these
stories rather than printing colouful
life.”
B K Chum, Founder Member of
Press Club brought out the issue of
paid advertisements. There was
question answer session in which
some important issues were raised by
mediapersons relating to investigative
reporting, surrogated advertisements
and about their rights and
responsibilities. They were answered
by Vinod Mehta in a very impressive
manner. In the end, he praised the
mediapersons for freely expressing
their views and ideas on different
aspects of journalism
Bhupinder Singh Hooda stressed
SPECIAL REPORT
the need for upholding the ethics and
values of journalism to effectively
deal with the challenges before the
media. He said media has played a
major role in the freedom of India.
Most of our freedom fighters from Bal
Gangadhar Tilak to Gandhi were
journalists.Their mission was to raise
themselves as opinion makers.He
emphasised that probing in
journalism was very important to
carry any story. He said that he was
the first to raise voice against
surrogated advertisements and also
called for measures to check the
menace of surrogated advertisement.
He even narrated his personal
experience by quoting an incident
which he experienced in the Lok
Sabha elections of 2004 where his
action had forced a newspaper to
withdraw the publication of a paid
news. He said that if mediapersons
uphold the values of their profession,
most of the challenges would be met.
He regarded that authentic news can
be produced by following six
principles: what, why, when, where,
who and how?
When asked by a mediaperson
about the huge funds given to Press
Club and about the awards to
journalists, he replied that
Chandigarh Press Cliub was given
43
funds in the same manner as to other
organisations. He further said that
journalists are not ascetics and that
they too can have access to all the
facilities which other officials can
have.
Hooda appreciated the effort of
organising this type of seminar where
journalists can also express their
ideas. He expected that these type of
seminars whould be organised in
future and announced an amount of
Rs 5 lakh to the Chandigarh Press
Club for organising similar seminars
at district headquarters in the state as
these would make the mediapersons
and the public conscious of the
challenges before media. Hooda ended
the speech by saying, “Expect not,
regret not.”
Other mediapersons who addressed
during the seminar were N S
Parwana, Balwant Takshak, Baljit
Balli, Balbir Jandu, Rajiv and Pritam
S Rupal.
The seminar was a success and
different issues raised during the
seminar will surely guide the
journalists to bring credibility in the
media with their honest outlook. They
need to be authentic and transparent
while making anything public, so that
people continue to have their faith in
media. g
Journalists at the seminar
44
BRIEFING
A unique
distinction
Village gram panchayat gets award for the best
performance under MNREGA
A neat and clean school
building at Kaluana village
Swati Sethi
ram Panchayat of Kaluana, a
village falling under Dabwali block
of Sirsa district, has scored the unique
distinction of being the only panchayat
of Haryana and among the top 12 of the
country to have won the award for the
best performing villages under the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA)
scheme for the year 2009-10.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi
gave away the awards to the 12 gram
panchayats drawn from seven states of
the country in a function held in Delhi
recently to mark the fifth anniversary of
the launching of MNREGA.
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj had
selected Kaluana village after assessing
its all round performance and the
village panchayat’s ability in delivering
the results as per the demand, said the
Deputy Commissioner Yudhbir Singh
Khyalia. The parameter of selection of
villages for the award was based on
their contribution in implementing the
MNREGA, he added.
G
The precise role of the panchayat in
implementing MNREGA depends upon
the initiatives undertaken in creating
awareness on the scheme in the village,
to enable the wage seekers to seek job
under the Act; providing job to families
who demanded work under scheme for
employment during the year and
keeping their proper record.
During the year 2009-10, the village
panchayat provided employment to 474
families and completed works like
construction of check dams, leveling of
land, construction of water channels
and providing irrigation facilities to
farmers by constructing tubewells near
the Indira Gandhi Canal.
Earlier, Kaluana had set an example
for others to follow by ensuring
development through community
efforts and through various schemes of
the central and the state government.
The gram panchayat of this village was
selected for First State Level Award
under the State Incentive Scheme on
Sanitation (SISS) 2008-09.
“The Gram Panchayat has not only
performed very well on sanitation front
but it has also done exceedingly well on
other development activities,” informed
Khyalia. There is complete community
involvement in sanitation and other
developmental activities. All households
of the village have access to sanitation
facilities and gram panchayat area is
free from open defecation. The school
has functional and clean toilets for both
boys and girls. All the six aanganwaris
have also been provided with sanitation
facilities.
Similarly, the village is generating
electricity on its own through biogas
and for this, a biogas plant has been
installed in the village Gaushala which
is producing gas to generate electricity
to run a 7.5 horse power electric motor
used for drawing water, running chaff
cutter and floor grinding.
The villagers have also started
adopting this model at household level
and about 40 families are having
demand for construction of biogas
plant. To give lush green look to the
village, as many as 4,000 Neem,
Shisham and other locally useful plants
have been planted in and around the
village area with protective wire
fencing to avoid the damage to the
plants. Open spaces in all government
and community buildings like school,
mini bank, aanganwari centres,
primary health centre, stadium,
chaupals/dharamshalas have been
utilised for plantation.
A check dam for rainwater
harvesting in about 5-6 acre length has
been constructed under MNREGA to
arrest the flow of water from the village
boundary, which will help in recharge of
groundwater as well as check soil
erosion. Apart from achieving
milestones in various sanitation
activities, the village has done
remarkably well on education front
also.
The Gram Panchyat has formed a
society called Kaluana Welfare Shiksha
Samiti, a non-political body for the
promotion of education in the village
and also nearby villages. The village
panchayat has purchased a school van
with the help of money raised through
volunteer donations. The van has been
purchased to fetch the students from
nearby villages who are interested in
pursuing science subjects. This has
been done to fulfill the norms required
for starting science classes in 10+2 in
the village school. There are about 12
self help groups in the village which
are contributing for the welfare of the
village. g
BRIEFING
Reward for going
energy-efficient
ADC Ashok Meena giving away a solar lamp to a villager at Boswal in
Fatehabad district
Swati Sethi
oswal village with a population of
over 1,700 people has become the
first village of Fatehabad district to
have adopted compact fluorescent
lamps (CFLs) for lighting their homes.
The village is inhabited by families
displaced from Bilaspur district of
Himachal Pradesh at the time of
construction of the Bhakra Dam.
The Additional Deputy
Commissioner Ashok Meena, whose
efforts helped the village attain its
present status, was in the village to
felicitate the villagers for this deed.
Prem Dass, Sarpanch, Kamla Devi, a
member of the Zila Parishad and
Bhawani Singh Thakur, District
President of the Kisan Cell of the
Youth Congress were present on the
occasion.
Meena said that it took the
authorities as well as members of the
B
village panchayat less than two
months to motivate the villagers for
switching over to CFLs for saving
energy and money and protecting the
environment.
The ADC said that Sirdhan, a
village under the Bhattu Kalan block
of this district would soon become the
second village of the district to
become totally CFL village.
Addressing villagers, Meena said that
the CFLs generated lesser heat and
consumed much lesser energy than
the normal yellow incandescent
bulbs.
He also called upon villagers to use
sources of renewable energy for their
daily household chores and
distributed solar cookers and solar
lights among villagers on this
occasion. The government, he said,
had been giving subsidy on solar
geysers, solar cookers, solar lights
and solar power plants. g
45
Power supply
gets better
The power supply position in
Haryana has improved over the past
few weeks with Haryana Power
Utilities supplying more power than
earlier planned during January and
the first week of February. Against
850 lakh units of electricity planned
to be supplied daily, the utilities, on
an average, supplied 881 lakh units
to all categories of consumers.
The utilities had supplied 735 lakh
units of electricity daily from January
1 to February 7 last year. With the
average daily supply of 881 lakh
units from January 1 to February 7,
the utilities supplied 19 per cent
more electricity to consumers.
Consequently, the duration of
supply had also improved
considerably. During the
corresponding period last year, the
utilities supplied electricity for 10
hours 11 minutes daily to rural
domestic consumers, 6 hours and 1
minute to agricultural tubewells, 19
hours 30 minutes to industries and
for 19 hours 38 minutes to urban
domestic consumers. The duration of
supply for these categories this year
had been 11 hours 49 minutes, 7
hours 50 minutes, 21 hours 12
minutes and 21 hours 30 minutes,
respectively.
The utilities had already planned
the power supply schedule up to
September keeping in view the 14
per cent annual load growth if there
were normal rains. Adequate
banking arrangements had been
made to meet the requirements of
electricity consumers.
Meanwhile, the Dakshin Haryana
Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has
started handling all store inventories
online under the Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) system launched in
November last year at Hisar to bring
more efficiency and transparency in
its working.
46
BRIEFING
Our Census, our future
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia flags off a state-level chetna
rally of schoolchildren
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia flagged off a state-level chetna rally.
Standing along with him is Neerja Shekhar, Director of Census Operations, Haryana
Swati Sethi
ith a view to creating awareness
among the public to participate in
the upcoming Census operation,
Haryana Governor Jagannath Pahadia
flagged off a state-level chetna rally
‘Hamari Janganna Hamara Bhavishya’
of schoolchildren from Yavnika Open
Air Theatre in Panchkula on February
3, 2011. The rally was organised by
Directorate of Census Operations.
As many as 3,000 children from
various private and government schools
of Panchkula participated in the rally.
These children spread to various parts
of the city carrying banners, placards
and posters of Census. The rally took
different routes and culminated in the
Government Senior Secondary School,
Sector-15, DIET College, Sector-2 and DC
Model School Sector-7, Panchkula.
Students from various schools
presented cultural programmes.
Students of Department of Journalism
and Mass Communication and
Department of Geology, Panjab
University performed a skit. The
governor awarded the students who
performed on stage and the principals
of those schools whose students
participated in the rally.
W
While speaking on this occasion,
Governor Jagannath Pahadia appealed
to the people to give their full
cooperation to enumerators who would
visit their homes beginning 9 February
to 28 February 2011 and give them all
the desired information for the success
of the Census operation.
Pahadia said that the Census
statistics prove beneficial and the
information collected during Census
operation is kept confidential. He urged
the Census officials to collect accurate
data by going door to door. Apart from
spreading awareness about the Census,
enumerators should also ensure that
the correct information is recorded so
that accurate results could be achieved.
The exercise would also prove
beneficial for the government and
would help in the effective
implementation of the government
policies.
Giving information about the Census
operation, Neerja Shekhar, Director,
Census Operations, Haryana, said the
Census operation was conducted in two
phases. The 45-day first phase house
listing and housing census has already
been completed, along with preparation
of the National Population Register of
each individual. She said the work on
second phase, population enumeration,
would start on February 9 and continue
till February 28, with a revisional round
from March 1 to 5. During this phase,
the homeless population will also be
enumerated.
“Census operation is being
conducted in 640 districts and 8000 cities
of the country. In Haryana, as many as
68,000 enumerators and supervisors,
who have been trained for three days
each, will go in the 21 districts of the
state for the 20-day second and final
phase of Census. Census material has
already been distributed to them. The
reference date of Census 2011 is 00.00
hrs of March 1, 2011,” said Neerja
Shekhar.
“Special efforts are also being made
to count the houseless persons in the
state. Counting of homeless population
will be done on February 28 in which
nomadic population including workers
at constructions sites, stone crushers,
truck union, railway stations, bus
stands, people sleeping under flyovers
and in the dhabas etc would be covered.
Committees have been formed under
Deputy Commissioners and
Commissioners, Municipal
Corporation, Gurgaon and Faridabad to
ensure that every area is identified and
covered. The enumerators will take help
of civil society bodies, members of the
public and public representatives in
doing the count,” she added.
She said that letters had been sent to
all sarpanches, chairpersons of
panchayat samitis and zila parishads to
inspire their full involvement in the
Census Operation, and ensure complete
coverage of population in their
respective areas. The filled-in schedules
of Census will be collected by charge
officers by March 7, 2011.
She informed that a new column in
the Census form has been inserted for
the first time, making a new provision
for getting the people, other than males
or females, registered. A person who
does not want to get himself registered
as male or female might opt for this
column Number 3. g
BRIEFING
47
Empowering women
through home science
Swati Sethi
he status of women in India has
undergone great changes over the
years. From equal status with men in
ancient times through the low points of
the medieval period, to the promotion
of equal rights by many reformers, the
history of women in India has been
eventful. In modern India, women have
adorned high offices in India including
that of the President, Prime minister,
Speaker of the Lok Sabha etc.
Empowerment of women
constitutes their physical, economical
and social development. The motive of
women empowerment is to protect
their rights, enrich their quality of life
and involve them in decision making
process at all levels. No nation can
achieve success until the women are
empowered which would mean
equipping them to be economically
independent and personally selfreliant, with positive self-esteem
enabling them to face any situation. It
is incumbent upon the females of this
glorious era to be fully versed with
various branches of knowledge like
the sciences and the arts.
To cope up with this issue,
University Grants Commission has
sanctioned Hindu Girls College,
Jagadhri, a major Research Project for
three years entitled Achieve-A
Salutary Outcome of Earning while
Learning-A Path towards Women
Economic Empowerment through
Home Science. Dr Ujjawal Sharma,
Principal of the college is the Patron of
this project and Usha Dua, Retd
Associate Professor is the Principal
Investigator. Hindu Girls College is the
only college in Haryana and Punjab to
get this opportunity.
“Ours is the only college that has
been selected by the University Grants
Commission in Haryana and Punjab. It
is a privilege for us and we are
planning to make this project a great
success,” said Dr Ujjawal Sharma,
Principal, Hindu Girls College,
Jagadhri.
“The project is an action oriented
“Ours is the only college
that has been selected by
the University Grants
Commission in Haryana
and Punjab. It is a
privilege for us and we
are planning to make this
project a great success.”
T
-Dr Ujjawal Sharma
Principal, Hindu Girls College,
Jagadhri, Yamunanagar
research project. It will prove
beneficial for women
(students/housewives) as they will be
provided vocational training related to
the latest demand of modern era
connected to the traditional approach.
The samples for the study would be
selected from Hisar, Rohtak, Gurgaon,
Ambala, Kurukshetra and
Yamunanagar areas,” she added.
THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THIS
PROJECT
1. Preparing participants towards
starting their own home-based
business.
2. Giving opportunities to student to
Earn- while-Learn by creating and
selling different products related to
home science.
3. Reviving the interest of students
towards the field of home science.
4. Identification of raw material and
new market including the concept of
Cost-Benefit Analysis.
5. Exposing students to the new ways
of promoting business.
6. Understand the inclination of
students towards self economic
empowerment.
In India, the empowerment process
has already begun. The society is
witnessing a steady improvement in
the enrollment of women in the
schools and colleges and even in the
professional colleges. The reproductive
health status and general health status
of women are better, compared to their
health status in the earlier decades.
It is the utmost need of the hour to
raise the standard of living, economic
condition of the family and above all,
to inculcate self-confidence among
women. Under this project
students/women will be given
training. Students/women will be
given the opportunity of making and
selling products under Earn While You
Learn scheme. After the completion of
training, the students/women would
be able to prepare various products
related to wedding planning, event
planning, interior decoration etc.
Through the study of identification of
new market and raw material, they
would learn and adapt new ways of
promoting business. To fulfill the
objective, Hindu Girls College will
open centres within and outside the
college campus i.e. in rural and urban
parts of Haryana.
Usha Dua, who served this college
for 35 years surveyed and realised the
economic problems of females and to
overcome them, the college is now
determined to prepare them towards
starting their own home based
business “Earning-while-Learning”,
thus helping in their economic
empowerment and self-development. g
48
HEALTHY LIFE
Dr Rakesh Srivastava treating a patient through acupressure
Healing touch
Ruchi Sharma
ealth is a major cause of concern
for each one of us. Today’s fast
paced life and varied occupations are
leaving us suffering from one or the
other body ailment. Allopathy,
ayurveda, homeopathy and others are
the choices available for treating
these ailments. However, in all these
systems of treatment, one needs to
apply ointments or gulp medicines to
cure the ailment which might have
some side effects as well. Acupressure
is one such method of treatment
which is natural and has no side
effects as it does not require any
eating of medicines.
Having twenty six years’
experience, Dr Rakesh Srivastava, an
acupressure specialist, can really
press out pain from your body by
pressing healing points on your palm
and soles of feet. Dr Srivastava has
worked as an acupressure therapist
H
with Government Institute of Indian
System of Medicine and Research at
Panchkula since 1991 and has retired
last year. It is the only institute of its
kind in the country to treat nonmedicinal natural system for acute
and chronic diseases.
Our body works like any automatic
machine. Just as heart functions on
its own, digestion happens in an
automatic way; similarly, if any body
part aches there is an automatic
healing process to it, too. Each organ
of the body has corresponding points
on one’s palms and soles which if
pressed can heal pain of any part of
the body. Acupressure is a natural
way of treatment where one need not
consume any medicine or worry
about side effects.
“When any part of body is unwell
its corresponding reflex point on
palms or soles of feet will ache. By
pressing these centre points of body
organs, the disease or pain of the
When any body part is
unwell, its corresponding
reflex points on palms or
soles of feet will ache. By
pressing these centre points
of body organs, pain or
disease of the body can be
cured. The pressure points
can be pressed by thumb,
backside of pen, blunt side
of pencil or a blunt small
wooden stick or a piece of
rubber. They are to be
pressed for about two
minutes by giving a gap of
two seconds after every
three-four seconds of
pressing. One has to press
these points for two to three
times in a day by giving a
gap of at least six hours.
Gradually, as the pain in
body part cures then its
corresponding point also
stops paining.
body can be cured. These points can
be pressed by thumb, backside of pen,
blunt side of pencil, a blunt small
wooden stick or a piece of rubber. The
points are to be pressed for about two
minutes by giving a gap of two-three
seconds after every three-four seconds
of pressing. One has to press these
points for two to three times in a day
by giving a gap of at least six hours.
Gradually, as the pain in the body part
cures then its corresponding point
also stops paining,” says Dr
Srivastava.
The treatment is very effective for
patients suffering from pain related to
backache, frozen shoulder, tennis
elbow, acute spondylitis, slip disc,
migraine and muscular injuries (to
which sportspersons are more prone).
In case of sportspersons, the injuries
can be cured in days’ time which on
the other hand, through other systems
of treatment takes months’ time.
It gives relaxation to sportspersons
who are prone to quick injuries due to
fatigue and stress in body.
“The injury which can be
cured in ten days by the other
system can be cured in just
one or two days by this
treatment. This natural way
of treatment cures acute to
chronic diseases. And above
all everybody has healing
power within themselves and
with age this healing power
also decreases. Therefore,
healing also depends on the
age of the person and the
intensity of pain in patient.
The treatment through
acupressure provides instant
healing,” adds Dr Srivastava.
The knowledge of this way
of treatment has been well
spread in China through
Chinese travellers. They,
observing this therapy’s
amazing results, preserved it
and further improved it to
HEALTHY LIFE
Front and back of neck
49
cure many diseases. The popularity of
treatment through this therapy in
China can be estimated from the fact
that it is used to remove gall bladder
stones from the body for which
normally operation is recommended.
Apart from acupressure, Dr
Srivastava uses other methods of
treatment too. In naturopathy, the
treatment includes only changing of
lifestyle by emphasising on the five
elements the human body is made of.
Su jok therapy is a part of
harmonious curative system based on
Homo-system of embodiment. Homosystem of human body unites the
corresponding system located
throughout the body – on the
extremities, trunk, hand, skin,
muscles, cartilage and bone
structures, in the internal organs.
Twist therapy is a method to treat
with twist motion which helps in
preventing and treating many
diseases which are also occupational
in nature. It is so simple and
accessible to all that it can be applied
in day-to-day activities and even while
walking.
Important patients whom Dr
Srivastava has cured are our former
President Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma
who suffered from movement problem
due to spinal maladjustment in the
lumber region arising out of
vertebrae going up to leg and ankle.
He treated him in a week for 20
minutes daily and he
responded well to the
treatment. Former Governor
of Haryana, Dhanik Lal
Mandal was treated for
various ailments. He said, “I
am convinced that this
system is very effective and
the results are really
astonishing especially
without any medicine just by
pressing certain reflex points
in hands, feet and other parts
of the body.” Others who
benefited from his treatment
are former Union Home
Secretary and present
Governor of Jammu &
Kashmir, N N Vohra, Shruti
Dhawan, a tennis player who
represented India in
Federation Cup and Asia
Cup, Sumit Kumar, a national
level athlete from Panchkula
and many others. g
50
MODERN TECHNOLOGY
An amazing
technology
The newly invented ‘Dry Leaves Manure Maker’
will produce green manure from dead leaves
Ruchi Sharma
he disposal of dry leaves and plant
litter is always a problem. If they
are left like that they cover up large
space or can catch fire. The
conventional burning of leaves
releases toxic gases like benzopyrene,
carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and
nitric oxide, into the environment that
poses many health troubles. Apart
from health problems, the surrounding
green vegetation also gets affected.
The solution of this problem lies
right in a machine recently invented
by two professors of Kurukshtera
University. This machine that converts
dry leaves into green manure is the
T
brainchild of Prof Rajneesh Sharma
and Prof Satendra Yadav of Zoology
Department, Kurukshetra University .
They have named it — “Dry Leaves
Manure Maker”.
The invention aims at overcoming
the problem of the conventional
methods of disposing of dry leaves. It
is a fast method which requires less
space and reduces manual efforts for
getting the green manure from the
dead and dry leaves.
Designed to convert the dry leaves
into manure, this machine provides an
eco-friendly means of dry leaves’
disposal which reduces pollution and
produces green manure. The
conventional burning of leaves
produces toxic gases that lead to
asthma, lung cancer, breathlessness,
burning of eyes, irritation of throat,
allergy and numerous other dreaded
diseases. Apart from reducing
pollution, this machine is
economically viable over the
conventionally used pit method for
manure making. It can be of great help
to marginal farmers, orchard owners,
municipal committees and other
organisations as it is environmentfriendly and requires less space and
manpower.
Lt-Gen D D S Sandhu, ViceChancellor, Kurukshetra University,
has congratulated Prof Sharma and
Prof Yadav for the invention.
“This technique is the quickest of
all existing methods of generating
green manure. This is eco-friendly,
wherein no smoke or harmful gases
are released during the disposal of
dead leaves and litter, and thus helps
reduce pollution. The machine will
chop leaves and increase the surface
area of the leaves for the attack of
microbes for faster degradation,”
informed Prof Rajneesh Sharma and
Prof Yadav.
The other traditional method of
making manure is by burying leaves in
pits where these get converted into
manure. However, this method
requires lot of space for the disposal of
dry leaves. It is also a labour-intensive
process, wherein collection of dry
leaves, digging of pit, burying of dry
leaves and then digging out the same
site for the collection of manure
requires manpower.
By this technique volume of the
leaves is greatly reduced and huge
number of heaps of leaves can be
packed in gunny bags where they can
be used as such as manure or they can
be converted into vermicompost or
organic manure as per the need of the
farmer. The fertiliser produced
through this technique has no adverse
effect over the ecosystem and provides
all the necessary requirements of the
plants.
Other advantages of this machine
are that it is portable, easy to operate
and can be used anywhere either in
the fields, orchards or in homes. It
does not require any skilled worker.
This machine also ensures the
microbial biodiversity of the soil
which otherwise gets drastically
damaged when burning of leaves takes
place. g
SPORTS
51
State players honoured
Seven outstanding sportspersons honoured with Bhim Award
Swati Sethi
hief Minister Bhupinder Singh
Hooda honoured 33 sportspersons
and two coaches of Haryana with the
state awards in a function at the
Haryana Raj Bhawan in Panchkula on
February 10.
Seven outstanding sportspersons-Dinesh Kumar of Bhiwani (boxing),
Suman Kundu of Jind (wrestling), Anil
Kumar of Jhajjar (judo), Kavita of
Hisar (boxing), Jayati Pathak of
Yamunanagar (taekwondo), Dr Sunita
Devi of Rohtak (paralympics, athletics)
and Gyanand Singh of Bhiwani
(paralympics, athletics) -- were
honoured with Bhim Award, the
highest sports award of the state. These
players were given a cash award of Rs 2
lakh each, apart from Bhim's idol, a
scroll, a blazer and a tie. Another 28
sportspersons, including two coaches,
were given cash awards.
Congratulating the award winners,
the chief minister said that the
sportspersons of Haryana had
performed exceedingly well in the last
Commonwealth and Asian Games.
Haryanvi players won 33 per cent
medals of the total medals won by
Indian players in the Commonwealth
Games and also gave a good
performance in the Asian Games by
winning 13 gold medals, nine each
silver and bronze medals. He said,
"Haryana Government's slogan is–
Hard Work yours, Management ours
C
- Go ahead.”
Pahadia also congratulated the
achievers for bringing laurels to the
state in the field of sports. “Our
sportspersons put up a spectacular
show in the recently held
Commonwealth Games and Asian
Games. Besides, our five players were
chosen for prestigious Arjuna Award,
out of a total of 15,” said Jagannath
Pahadia.
"These days, games are not merely
sports but they are guarantee for a
bright future of the sportspersons", he
added. There was no dearth of sports
talent in Haryana. Although the state
has only two per cent population and
one-and-a-half per cent area of the
country, its players won one-third
medals of the total medals won by
Indian players in the Commonwealth
Games. Even out of 15 outstanding
players selected for Arjuna Awards by
the Government of India, five were
from Haryana.
He further said that better
performance by our sportspersons is
the result of the new Sports Policy of
the state government which is worth
emulating by other states. Under the
policy, a number of incentives have
been given to the sportspersons.
Outstanding sportspersons are being
recruited directly to the post of DSP.
The Governor said that the state is
proud of their daughters who are not
lagging behind in winning medals in
the international events. Out of the
seven players who are being given Bhim
Awards today, four are girls, he added.
The list of the players, who received
cash prizes are Kavita of Hisar
(boxing), who was given a cash prize of
Rs 1.17 lakh, whereas Pavitra of Hisar
(boxing) was given a cash prize of Rs
1.07 lakh. Dinesh Kumar of Bhiwani
(boxing), Pramila of Sonipat (kabaddi),
Sachin Kumar of Sonipat (throw ball),
Vikas Tayagi of Panipat (throw ball),
Rajender Singh of Panipat (throw ball),
Rajesh Kumar of Panipat (throw ball),
Rajesh Godara of Bhiwani (throw ball),
Sonia Kashyap of Panipat (throw ball),
Parvesh Kaur of Sirsa (throw ball),
Priyanka of Sirsa (throw ball), Ekta of
Bhiwani (throw ball), Geeta of Bhiwani
(wrestling), Sandeep of Bhiwani
(boxing), Lalit Narayan of
Mahendragarh (sumo wrestling) and
Major Suman Lata of Sonipat
(mountaineering) were given a cash
prize of Rs 1 lakh each.
Pooja of Hisar (wrestling) was given
Rs 92,000 and Balraj of Hisar (wrestling)
Rs 86,000. Suman Kundu of Jind
(wrestling), Hardeep Singh of Rohtak
(wrestling), Satender Kumar of Rohtak
(wrestling) and Kavita of Bhiwani
(boxing) were given a cash prize of Rs
75,000 each, whereas Hitesh of Jhajjar
(wrestling) and Praveen of Sonipat
(wrestling) were given a cash prize of
Rs 50,000 each. Satpal Singh and
Yashvir Singh, both wrestling coaches,
were given Rs 2.51 lakh each. g
Women to
the fore!
Krishna Punia
in action
Vaibhav Sharma
n all probability, a man will never be
able to understand the insecurities
that a woman fights off just to take her
rightful place in the world. How she
has to work harder, stay more focused
and keep her discipline more than any
other man, simply because when
women do something, a maledominated society automatically raises
the bar a few notches.
But there are enough shining
examples that tell you that women have
never caved in to these challenges. And
in the past couple of years, women
I
from Haryana have made their share of
impressions in history. A state that
keeps getting brickbats for social issues
like female foeticide, the amount of
success it has attained in the field of
sports is just amazing. And one look at
the contribution of the women of the
state tells you that one needs to really
think hard, and weigh all the
dynamics, before painting a picture
black or white.
In last year’s Commonwealth
Games, the entire country took a lot of
pride at the marvellous showing of all
athletes. It was a surreal run, and the
backbone of that run were athletes
from Haryana. But the most heartening
part of Haryana’s success was the
massive contribution made by its
women. The women wrestlers were so
heavily dominant that they definitely
overshadowed their men counterparts,
who too did amazingly well. But the
back-to-back golds that these women
were claiming at the Indira Gandhi
Indoor Stadium meant that no one
could turn away their eyes from them.
Even athletes were on fire, and as
the crowds at the Jawaharlal Nehru
Stadium kept buzzing with names of
Indian women making it to the podium,
all one could do was sit back, enjoy the
SPORTS
53
Geeta and Babita,
the wrestler sisters
show and wonder, how silently these
women were breaking barriers,
creating records, beating competition
and bringing loads of honour, pride
and happiness to the people. All of it
being done in a way only women know.
The silent smiles and waving hands
were telling a story, but was India
listening?
The Haryana brigade of women
wrestlers including Anita and sisters
Geeta and Babita are stories that can
make legends look a tad ordinary.
Coming from rural parts of the state,
they took the rigors of daily life in
their stride and trained on the field
with the kind of energy not known to
many among Indian sportspersons.
While Bhiwani has been known for
producing world class boxers, now the
women from the area are making a big
mark in wrestling. For Geeta and
Babita, who are part of a family of five
sisters, their village Balali has fast
become known as a cradle for
champions. The people of the village
cannot stop gushing about how one
man, Mahabir Singh Phogat, has
turned his three daughters-- Geeta,
Babita and Ritu and two of his late
brother’s daughters-- Priyanka and
Vinesh into good wrestlers. It is a
story worth telling over and over again
and the villagers make it known to all.
Even for Anita, who also hails from
Bhiwani, the success has meant that
the village, the people and everything
that might have been associated with it,
have found a new meaning and reason
for becoming relevant. It seems the
battle on the wrestling mats is winning
over some social issues as well.
Then of course there is the shining
case of badminton champion and one
of the most well-known faces all over
India now, Saina Nehwal. The Hisar
girl has taken strides never known
before, and gone distances never heard
of. She has the top spot in women’s
rankings firmly in her sight, and the
way she has been going, it is just a
matter of time before she is there.
While she spends a lot of time in
Hyderabad and has been living there
since moving with her family at an
early age, the fighter in her is so
resplendent of the spirit Haryanvi
women have come to epitomise!
There is a little known example
which makes people feel that Haryana
still ticks on in her blood every day.
When she lost in the Olympic
quarterfinals and her opponent came
back from a very tight situation, a
senior journalist questioned her, “What
happened out there? What did you
learn from it?” Her reply, in the words
of that journalist, was what makes the
difference for these Haryana athletes
today. She said, “Sir, the only thing I
learnt today was that she came through
despite being in such a tight position,
and if ever I am in that position, so will
I”. It was honest, brutal and something
she has turned into a fact. Sports is not
just about how your body performs, it
is about how your body performs in
tandem with your mind, and these
Haryanvi women know it all too well!
There are also others like Krishna
Punia and Seema Antil, two women
who made their mark in the discus
throw event at the Commonwealth
Games. There are many more cases of
women from the state leading by
example and showing the entire society
what they are capable of. It is a lesson
for the state, and the entire nation on
why the girl child should be treated
with as much love, care and pampering
as possible.
Haryana, the state which is
producing champion girls and boys at a
very healthy rate has another dismal
picture to look at. The state that has
generally been on the upswing in terms
of female foeticide -- reported 18 cases
of female foeticide last year which was
the fifth-highest in the country.
It is said hundreds of such cases go
unreported every year. That’s why the
state has a skewed sex ratio of 834 girls
for 1,000 boys among children under
the age of six, compared to the national
average of 933.
Also in many rural areas of the
state, girls get very few opportunities to
get formal education and pursue their
dreams. Many women simply just end
up spending their entire lifetime
working in the farm, preparing food
and doing the laundry for their
husbands and their families. If they go
against their family’s wishes and
marry someone from outside the
community, they can get killed—an act
which is known to many as 'honour
killing'. There is a strong need for
people to realise how important a role
does a girl play in today’s society.
While no one handles a household
like a woman, it does not mean that she
has to be confined to these domestic
roles only. It goes to show how
disciplined and dedicated women are
with whatever they have to do. If
nothing else, we should learn from the
skill of a woman to organise
everything and make some room in our
conscience for woman power. g
The writer is Sports Writer with
The Tribune
54
ART AND CULTURE
Highlighting
social issues
through art
Rajesh Kumar
Hirday Kaushal
rt and its manifestations never
fail to impress; whether its a
painting on a canvas, paper or wall
or a stone, clay, plaster of paris or
wood sculpture that is carved out to
perfection. Rajesh Kumar, the artist
from Haryana (Hisar), creates
sculpture from clay and paints on
paper.
He says, “I had earlier done some
sculpture and painting for the society
at Hisar. My sculptures include Rape,
Young Widow, Universal Brotherhood,
A
Meditation, Ecstasy, and one is called
Sexual Terrorism which symbolises
the social abuse females suffer in our
society.”
Social causes have always been
inspiration for artists and Rajesh’s
sculptures and paintings too develop
on the idea. One of his works depicts
a feminine figure surrounded by
social eye-- bad thought and wrong
eyes symbolise the society that binds
woman and suppresses them
mentally, physically and emotionally.
According to Rajesh, “Art is based
on imagination and depicts a
realistic and symbolic, abstract view.
In Haryana, Harappa, and
Mohanjodaro or Mohan Barri or
Agroha, Bhima Devi or Mansa Devi
temples are the perfect examples of
sculpture and wall paintings.” Rajesh
mostly uses clay, paint, plaster of
paris and cloth in his sculpture, and
mix media in paintings. His earlier
creations include his Young Widow
and Rape.
Inspired by his teacher, Rajesh says
daily life incidents influenced his
work. He recalls, “One day my
teacher asked me about my class
work. I had done nothing. So he
taunted that I was not doing what he
expected of me. It touched my heart
and I got some simple clay. I had
learnt nothing in class. But after
pondering over for three hours, an
idea came to my mind. Actually one
of my classmates lost her husband in
an accident. And I decided to make a
sculpture in clay titled “Young
Widow”. I worked for the whole night
and in the morning at 5:30, I finished
it. As it was my first sculpture, I had
no tools so I used spoons, knife and
pen to give shapes. I went to college
and showed the sculpture to my
Satyam Shivam Sunderam
Young Widow
ART AND CULTURE
55
Re-Marriage
teacher. It was covered with cloths. I
requested him to destroy it if disliked
my work. When my teacher uncovered
the sculpture, he was speechless. He
said, “You are a chuppa rustam”. All
the boys and girls in the class were
surprised and did not believe that I
had made it. Thus, it created interest
and I started making sculptures.”
Rajesh exhibited his paintings and
sculpture in D N College, Hisar and
was appreciated a lot. Zee TV also
showed a documentary about his art
work.
Rajesh says, “Currently I have
varnished the sculptures and they
look of something else and not of clay.
Later on, I will turn them into
fiberglass. Regarding paintings, I have
done them in water colours and oil
pastel colours. Making different
colours with pastel colours takes a lot
of time. As I have got no training in
this field, I just draw whatever comes
to my mind i.e. I do paintings in
symbolism.” New Horizon, Octopus of
Love, Memories, My Journey, Desires,
Satyam Shivam Sunderam, Stillness,
Sunset, True Union, Re-marriage,
Roots & Shadows, Surrender and
Waiting are some of Rajesh‘s
paintings.
The creations of an artist not only
reflect his personality, but are also a
transparent record of his intellectual,
spiritual and artistic growth. And so
do Rajesh’s creations speak volumes
about him.g
The writer is Art officer, Sculpture
DIPRCA, Haryana
56
LAST PAGE
A beautiful handwriting
TIPS FOR
BEAUTIFUL
HANDWRITING
1. While writing, emphasis
should be on simplicity,
speed, legibility and most
importantly, uniformity.
2. Ornamental strokes should
be avoided.
3. At the initial stage, a four
lines’ copy should be used
for giving proper shape and
size to each letter.
4. Loops should not be broad.
5. The thirteen small letters of
the alphabets like a, c, e, i,
m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x
should be between the
middle lines and they should
touch these lines.
6. All letters should slightly
slant. This ensures natural
and easy movement of the
hand.
7. The round parts of the
letters like a, d, e, g, q
should be oval. This ensures
legibility.
8. Equal distance should be
maintained between the
words. Big spaces create
disharmony.
9. Every letter should touch the
base line.
10. Good quality of pen or
pencil should be used.
Anupama
Never lose an opportunity of seeing
anything beautiful, for beauty is
God's handwriting.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
s a school going girl in the
seventies, I, like my
contemporaries, grew up in times
where lot of emphasis and
importance was laid down upon
beautiful and legible handwriting.
Our generation was probably the
last to use phatti, kalam and dawat
to master the fine art of
handwriting. Till date, the aroma
of gachini mitti engulfs me
nostalgically when I go down the
memory lane. I can close my eyes
and see a bunch of my schoolmates
drying their phattis and humming,
“soorja moorja phatti sukha…”
and other rhymes associated with
handwriting.
I also remember distinctively,
how our worthy teachers (a few of
them will laugh when they read
this) used to punish by striking
rulers on the back of our hands
and pressing pencils between our
knuckles if we wrote a bad hand.
As a matter of fact, I, like many
others of those times, remain
eternally grateful to my teachers
and parents for cultivating good
handwriting skills in me.
In that era, letters were written
and read, painters used to write
and paint on signboards, vehicles
A
bore hand painted number plates,
in short, hand writing occupied a
prominent position in day to day
life. A good handwriting is an
essential part of education. Words
look more attractive when they are
written properly with correct
shape, size and gap. These are the
three basic rules of good
handwriting.
While writing, always keep in
mind the tips (mentioned in the
box) to ensure beautiful
handwriting. A beautiful
handwriting indicates well
organised and healthy thought
process in an individual. In fact,
my research acquired therapeutic
dimensions when it was proved
that by correcting bad and faulty
handwriting, many negative traits
and characteristics in a child, and
for that matter in an adult also, can
be cured. Handwriting
improvement definitely helps in
healing autism, dyslexia,
passivism, low self-esteem, low selfconfidence, incorrect posture
habits, suicide tendencies and
shyness.
Apart from being instrumental
in brain development and inducing
the positive powers in one’s
personality, a beautiful hand is an
art which once acquired becomes a
lifelong attribute and fetches one
admiration from all quarters. g
The writer is Chandigarh based
handwriting, memory and Vedic
mathematics expert
Liberate
the woman
Mahatma Gandhi
in Young India
May 23,1929
“Under the present social system, don’t you
think that very few women are given sufficient
opportunities for education, full development
of body and mind, and self-expression? Don’t
you think that their very individuality is being
recklessly crushed under the burden of customs and conventions? Don’t you think that
as the result of social tyranny, Indian women,
with a few exceptions, have lost the spirit of
strength and courage, the power of independent thinking and initiative, which actuated the
women of ancient India, such as Maitreyi,
Gargi, and Savitri? …If the members of the
Congress believe that freedom is the birthright of every nation and individual, and if they
are determined to achieve that at any cost,
should they not first liberate their women
from the evil customs and conventions that
restrict their all-round healthy growth,
the remedy of which lies in their own hands?”
Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India, RNI No 10412
Postal Regd No CHD/123/2009-11
Oh! empty pitchers
Painting by Gurpreet Singh

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