Hisar :
Union Minister Birender Singh on Thursday stated that he aspired to become the Chief Minister of the state. He was interacting with mediapersons in Bhiwani.

He said like every other politician, he nursed the political ambition to become the Chief Minister. “I am 72 years old, but still active in politics because of my ambitions,” he said.

The Union minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been taking steps for the welfare of peasants. He said the next Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were likely to be held as per schedule.

Commenting on the tweet from the PMO about Chhotu Ram which termed him as a Jat leader, Birender said it was unfortunate and the person who operated the handle did not have knowledge about Chhotu Ram.

“Chhotu Ram cannot be identified with any caste or community because he had worked for reforms in society,” he asserted.

58 projects promised in 30 months; city put in list 16 months ago

Karnal :

Around 16 months after Karnal’s inclusion in the list, the work on the smart city project finally commenced with a ‘hawan’ at Vikas Bhawan.

Authorities of Karnal Smart City Limited (KSCL) and KPMG, a consultancy company assigned the work by the board of directors of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of KSCL at around Rs 19 crore, jointly assured the presence of prominent residents in a meeting to develop 58 projects in 30 months.

Education, health, infrastructure, technology, employment, safety, security, surveillance, public utility services, public transport, beautification of Mughal Canal, smart solid waste management, beautification of Western Yamuna Canal on the pattern of Mahabharata and development of a modern market with better mobility are the key priorities under this project.

Rajiv Mehta, Commissioner, Karnal Municipal Corporation-cum-CEO of KSCL, said “We have signed an agreement with the directors of KPMG and Louis Berger, a partner company of KPMG, today and have kept Clock Tower Chowk, Kunjpura Road, Bus Stand, Model Town and Mughal Canal market under area-based development, where we will develop group housing, commercial, industrial, institutional and business related activities,” he added.

Sameer Jain, director of KPMG, said “We have identified some key areas, including surveillance, security, public utilities like power, traffic, water, environment and others.”

Besides, smart classrooms will also be developed in government schools, in which students would be taught with the help of modern gadgets. Training would also be imparted to teachers for the same, he stated.

The Mughal Canal will be re-beautified to make the market congestion free and provide parking facility, Jain added.

Kshitish V Nadgauda, senior vice-president and managing director (Asia), Louis Beger, said, “Our focus is also on public transport facility. Apart from the existing system, we will develop the culture of e-vehicles and public bicycle sharing system.”

Sampla (Rohtak) :
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a rail coach refurbishing factory, saying the project will create employment and boost industrial development in Haryana.

The Rail Coach Refurbishing and Rehabilitation Factory will be set up at a cost of Rs 500 crore at Barhi in Sonipat district.

Modi said 250 passenger train coaches will be repaired and modernised every year at the factory. There were would no need to send coaches to factories located in far-off places, he added.

 “With this factory, the availability of passenger coaches will also increase and people will get the benefit of comfortable coaches,” he said at a public meeting in Sampla to honour peasant leader Sir Chhotu Ram with a statute erected in his memory.

The railway project in Sonipat was symbolically launched at the same meeting.

He said the factory will not only help Sonipat but provide impetus to the state's industrial growth.

 “Small industries will also benefit with the setting up of this factory as they will be able to supply seat covers, fans, electrical fittings, etc,” he said.

 “The youth will get several employment opportunities,” he added.

He said the coach factory will help develop special skills.

 “Engineers and technicians will be able to develop local expertise because of this rail coach factory.

“In the coming days, these experts will be able to provide services to other parts of the country,” he said.

Northern Railway said the project is expected to be commissioned in 2020-2021.

The factory, spread over 160 acres, will be scaled up progressively to deal with 1,000 coaches every year. It is envisaged to have a potential annual turnover of Rs 250 crore, the railways said.

Prime Minister lays stone of rail coach repair factory, says Lakhwar dam to benefit state

Garhi Sampla (Rohtak) :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the BJP government was committed to the welfare of farmers and had taken various initiatives to improve their lot.

He was addressing a massive gathering after unveiling a 64-foot-high statue of Sir Chhotu Ram. He laid the foundation stone of a rail coach repair factory to be set up in the Barhi industrial area of Sonepat district at a cost of about Rs 500 crore.

“Our government has fulfilled the long-standing demand of farmers by increasing the MSP of 21 crops, including wheat, paddy and sugarcane. We have ensured a provision for 50 per cent profit on total cost of agricultural inputs and started the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan, under which farmers with income below the MSP will be compensated,” he stated.

He asserted that the Lakhwar dam, for which six states had inked a pact, would benefit farmers of Haryana. Describing Chhotu Ram as a great visionary, he stated that the late leader had voiced the concerns of farmers, labourers and small traders and played an instrumental role in building India.

He said the rail coach repair factory would contribute in the progress of the industry and provide job opportunities to the youth. He appreciated that Haryana had been declared an open defecation free state and Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak had bagged the top ranking in cleanliness.

Earlier, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and state BJP president Subhash Barala welcomed the Prime Minister. Khattar said the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway was nearing completion and would be inaugurated in around a month, for which he sought time from the Prime Minister.

Sir Chhotu Ram’s grandson and Union Minister for Steel Birender Singh observed that doubling of farmers’ income, as promised by the Prime Minister, would go a long way in strengthening the economy.

Haryana Governor Satya-dev Narayan Arya, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik and Himachal Pradesh Governor Acharya Dev Vrat were present.

Striking a chord

The Prime Minister surprised the gathering by beginning his speech in Haryanavi dialect as he said: “Des ki seema pae raksha karan mein sabte ghaney jawan, karodo ki abadi ka pet bharan mein sabte aagey kisan, ar khelaan mein sabte jyada medal jeetan aaley khiladi den aali Haryane ki dharti ne main pranaam karu hoon.” The crowd cheered him as he spoke in Haryanavi.

About Chhotu Ram

Sir Chhotu Ram was a prominent Jat politician in British India’s Punjab province and an ideologue of peasants who worked for the interests of peasants
Granted the title of Sir by the British, Chhotu Ram awakened group consciousness among the Jat peasantry and effected a number of agrarian reforms as minister in undivided Punjab in British India

As Revenue Minister, he brought in changes in the law to stop the practice of usury (lending money on unreasonably high rates of interest)

He was a co-founder of the National Unionist Party, which had ruled in Punjab province in British India, keeping the Congress and Muslim League out

Born on November 24, 1881, at Garhi Sampla in Rohtak, Sir Chhotu Ram died on January 9, 1945, in Lahore at the age of 63. His grandson Birender Singh is Minister for Steel in the Union Cabinet

Chandigarh :

A tweet by PMO India on Tuesday from the twitter handle @PMOIndia attributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which Sir Chhotu Ram was described as ‘Messiah of Jats’ was deleted on Wednesday after Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala took objection to it.

In the tweet written in Hindi, the PM was attributed having said that “It is my good fortune that I got the opportunity to unveil such a huge and attractive statue of farmers’ voice, Messiah of Jats and Rahbar-e-Azam Choudhary Chhotu Ram.”

Tagging a screen shot of the PMO’s tweet, Randeep Surjewala, in-charge of AICC’s media cell, replied through a tweet that the PM had made an effort to confine Rahbar-e-Azam Sir Chhotu Ram to a particular caste.

In the tweet written in Hindi, Surjewala further said that this was a perfect example of the PM’s constricted mindset of vote-bank politics which does not allow him to come out of issues like caste and religion.

“Sir Chhotu Ram was a great leader and peasantry from across the country considered him as their Messiah,” he added.

Tweeting today again, Surjewala said that tweet has been removed by @PMOIndia, but the “mindset of dividing people on castes and creed for votes cannot be removed by merely deleting a tweet”.

Demanding an apology from Modi, Surjewala said that farmers getting injustice every day under this regime cannot be pleased by ‘jumlas’ alone.