Chandigarh :
As many as 161 government doctors who have been absenting themselves from duty for long face the axe.

Sources say the state government has decided to serve them notice through newspapers, asking them to rejoin duty within a specified time. If they fail to rejoin, the government will dismiss them from service.

Confirming the development, Health Minister Anil Vij said more than 150 doctors had been absent from duty for long, some of them for several years.

“We want to recruit new doctors to address the problem of shortage. We can recruit new people only against sanctioned posts. If more than 150 sanctioned posts are occupied by doctors who are not working, it is double jeopardy for us, as they neither working with us nor enabling us to fill those posts,” Vij said.

Asked whether or not the 161 doctors are those who executed a bond for serving the Haryana Government in lieu of pursuing their post-graduation, Vij replied in the negative.

“They might have started private practice or joined service in other states without resigning from the Haryana Government,” he said.

Jasbir Singh Parmar, the president of the Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS), an organisation of government doctors in the state, claimed that poor service conditions in the state made the doctors to quit.
“The Delhi and Punjab Government give better salaries to their doctors. Besides, Delhi gives four assured career progressions (ACPs) in fourth, ninth, thirteenth and twentieth year of service, while Punjab gives three ACPs in fourth, ninth and fourteenth year, but Haryana gives three ACPs in fifth, tenth and fifteenth year of service,” Dr Parmar alleged.
Sources say the problem of shortage of doctors is of bigger proportions.

Sources said that of the 3,083 sanctioned posts of doctor (medical officer) in the Haryana Health Department, about 500 are lying vacant.

This does not mean that 2,583 doctors are actually working. Apart from 161 doctors who have been absent from duty, about 300 are on childcare leave on any given day and as many doctors are on paid study leave. And about 50 doctors are on deputation to Chandigarh.

To make matters worse, sources in the department say there is inequitable distribution of doctors across the state as doctors prefer postings in Panchkula and Gurugram.

“In all, 194 medical officers are posted in the Director of Health Services and other allied institutions in Panchkula, even when there is no post sanctioned for them. Besides, 18 doctors are working without a sanctioned post in Panchkula district,” the sources said.

Poll survey conducted; findings submitted to Khattar

New Delhi :
A poll survey conducted on the command of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on the BJP’s prospects in the next parliamentary and Assembly elections has recommended that between 80 per cent and 90 per cent MPs and MLAs should not be given the ticket as their chances of winning are bleak.

According to the survey, chances of winning of a majority of members of Khattar’s Council of Ministers, except for four, are bleak. Sources said on the condition of anonymity that Khattar had got the survey conducted secretly and the report was submitted to him about a fortnight ago.

The report recommended that 90 per cent of the party nominees who had lost in the 2014 parliamentary and Assembly elections should not be considered. The survey found no anti-incumbency, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity intact and Khattar’s public image clean.

The report cautioned that renomination of MPs and MLAs having a poor image could act against dividends from Modi’s charm and Khattar’s image. The survey said of the eight sitting MPs, only Union Ministers Krishan Pal Gurjar from Faridabad and Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurugram were in a winning position.

With regard sitting rebel MP Raj Kumar Saini from Kurukshetra, the report categorised him as a winning candidate should the BJP give him the ticket. It said the party stood a chance even if some other good candidate was fielded.

The worry for the BJP was that Saini had declared that he would float his own party and field candidates in all 90 Assembly seats. His supporters had been projecting him as the chief ministerial candidate.

With regard to Bhiwani, the report recommend a new candidate as sitting MP Rao Dharambir Singh was adamant not to contest the parliamentary election.
The party nominees had lost from Rohtak and Hisar in the 2014 General Election. The report said a non-Jat candidate should be fielded from Rohtak if politically expedient. With regard to Hisar, it categorically recommended a “strong” Jat face.

Half-day Gharaunda bandh today

Karnal :
Harvinder Kalyan, Hafed chairman and Gharaunda MLA, approached Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar seeking relief from toll for Gharaunda commuters.
This comes amid opposition by local residents against the new directives of the toll authorities that don’t give toll exemption to local commuters.

Kalyan urged the CM that toll exemption should be given to local commuters as Bastara toll plaza, situated between Karnal district headquarters and Gharaunda, is leading to extra financial burden on the locals.

“I have apprised the CM about the problems being faced by local commuters due to the new directives of toll authorities. I have urged the CM to give relief to them,” Kalyan told The Tribune.

Earlier, Kalyan had written to Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari for toll exemption for local commuters or for shifting the Bastara toll plaza outside Gharaunda block.

Three days ago, Karnal MP Ashwini Chopra had also directed the toll authorities not to charge toll from locals. He had also talked of raising the issue with the higher authorities, but despite that, no relief has been extended to locals.
“The toll authorities should respect the words of public representatives as they represent a large number of people,” Kalyan said.
Meanwhile, sarpanches, panches and residents of various villages held a meeting at Gharaunda grain market and called for a half-day Gharaunda bandh on Thursday in this regard. Residents led by Rajiv Kumar and Satpal assembled at the grain market and constituted a 31-member committee to decide the future course of action. Committee members will meet the CM on June 29 during his ‘khula darbar’ at Karnal grain market.

Farmers’ dues around Rs 400 crore, says kisan sabha

Rohtak :

Sugarcane growers staged a demonstration under the banner of the All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) outside the office of Minister of State for Cooperatives Manish Grover here on Wednesday.

The protesting farmers, led by AIKS local unit president Preet Singh and general secretary Balwan Singh, demanded payment of their dues by the Department of Cooperatives. They raised slogans against the department and state government.

State AIKS vice-president Inderjit Singh said dues amounting to nearly Rs400 crore were pending towards sugarcane growers at cooperative sugar mills in the state, of which payment of about Rs100 crore was to be made to Rohtak farmers alone.
Addressing the protesters, Inderjit asked why the government should not be declared a defaulter as it had failed to make payment to sugarcane and mustard growers, due to which they were unable to repay their loans taken from banks.

He appealed to farmers to take part in the forthcoming nationwide agitation of peasants in August to demand reversal of anti-farmer policies.

The government functionaries present at the minister’s office tried to pacify the farmers by assuring that the payment would be made soon, but the protesters insisted on a specific date for making final payment.

Finally, officials talked to the minister over the phone and assured the farmers that their dues would be made in 15 days, following which the protesters dispersed.

Sugarfed cane adviser Roshan Lal Yadav and financial adviser Virander Dhull admitted payments due to sugarcane farmers were to the tune of Rs400 crore.

The officials said they had written to the authorities in this regard and the matter was under consideration.

Karnal :

With the widespread rain that lashed the district on Thursday, paddy transplantation has picked up pace in Karnal district, known as rice bowl of the country.
Almost the entire district witnessed a downpour and around 35 mm rainfall was reported from the district on Tuesday.

The showers brought cheer to the farmers who had been waiting for pre-monsoon rain due to unprecedented electricity cuts. Besides, the rain also gave much-needed relief to the residents from the scorching heat by giving a 5°C dip in temperature.

Farmers are hopeful that if the rain continues in the coming days, a bumper paddy crop would be produced. Paddy transplantation had started on June 15, but a large number of farmers were waiting for rain. With fresh rainfall, paddy transplantation has picked up pace.

Experts from the Meteorological Department of Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI) are predicting the arrival of monsoon on June 30 in Haryana.

Officials of the Agriculture Department are expecting that paddy would be sown in around 1.68 lakh hectares compared to 1.72 lakh hectares last year. 

With this rainfall, it is expected that around 50 per cent paddy sowing would be completed in the 2-3 days. “This spell of rain will help farmers in paddy sowing and also in recharging the water table. This rain is a boon for paddy as after these showers, the crop will not require water for around 4-5 days,” said Aditya Dabas, Deputy Director Agriculture (DDA). “We are hopeful that the coming days will also witness rain in the region,” he said.
About the expected decline in area under paddy, he said that paddy transplantation has just started and they have fixed a target of 1.68 lakh hectares of paddy transplantation.
“We were waiting for the rain and the heavy rain that lashed the district yesterday has made us happy. I have started sowing paddy in my fields,” said Surinder Doda, a farmer of Nigdhu village. Another farmer from Karsa village, Rajesh Kumar, said the monsoon would help them in paddy sowing.