Farmers suffer in pvt hands; Should the government buy all the produce of the farmer?
Pipli (Kurukshetra) :
Despite getting a bumper crop of maize this season, 46-year-old farmer Moti Ram of Kohlapur village is a dissatisfied man these days. The reason: There is no government agency in the mandis to pay the minimum support price (MSP).
At the Pipli grain market on Friday, Moti Ram said he would not get the remunerative MSP of Rs 1,425 per quintal as announced by the government.
“There is no government agency in the mandi and private buyers are paying only between Rs 1,100 and Rs 1,150 per quintal for dried grains. There is no use of fixing the assured price when no official agency is going to implement it,” he said. Moti Ram has been sowing maize for the past several years.
This year, he sowed maize on 15 acres at his native village after harvesting potatoes. Last year, he sold the maize – sown in spring — for Rs 1,200 per quintal to private players — a price less than the MSP in the previous season.
Another maize grower Anoop Singh said that after dismal potato harvests for three consecutive years, he was hoping to earn better from maize this season.
“A maize grower can earn more than Rs 50,000 per acre if the rates are ensured as per the MSP. Middlemen reap huge benefits without investing in the crop, but farmers are even deprived of even a fair price,” he said.
Another farmer at the local mandi said that traders were paying a lowly Rs 800 per quintal, citing moisture content in the produce.
“As no government agency oversees the sale of maize, we are at the mercy of traders at daily auctions of the crop. As there is no transparent mechanism to challenge the claim of moisture content, we have to sell our produce at the price that is quoted in the mandi,” he said.
Deputy Director, Agriculture, Dr Karamchand said the state was yet to release the order on maize procurement. However, official sources said the state government was contemplating buying 10,000 tonnes of the maize sown in summer and harvested in October.
“Maize sown after harvesting potatoes is preferred by farmers in Yamunanagar, Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Ambala and Karnal. The spring period is ideal for high yield. But as per the procurement plan, the state has proposed to buy the maize sown in summer,” said the official.
Another farm expert said the government might explore the possibility of a tie-up with a private corn starch unit in Yamunanagar district that has a significant requirement for maize.
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Schools can pay fee for affiliation till July 6; Should the board also pay attention to illegal schools running in Haryana?
Chandigarh :
The Haryana Board of School Education has announced that the last date for the submission of continuation fee or affiliation form for the permanent recognised secondary and senior secondary schools for the academic session 2018-19 would be July 6 without any late fee and July 9 to July 20 with late fee.
While stating this here the chairman of the board, Dr Jagbir Singh, said that continuation fee or affiliation form could be sent to the board office either through registered post or delivered personally.
He said that the continuation fee could be deposited through bank draft or in cash at the counter of the board headquarter. He made it clear that affiliation form or fee would not be accepted online. The affiliation form is to be deposited along with the continuation fee. The draft of affiliation form is available on the board website, he added.
He said only permanent recognised schools were required to submit their affiliation form and fee in the board office well in time.
ASHA workers flay govt, court arrest; Should the Haryana Government fulfill the demand of the Asha Workers?
22,000 workers on strike | Say demands accepted, not implemented | Resume duties, says Vij
Ambala :
A large number of ASHA workers protested outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Ambala City and offered court arrest in support of their long-pending demands. The agitating workers gathered at the city park and took out a protest march. They raised slogans against the state government and reached the DC office.
As per information, nearly 300 workers courted arrest and were taken to the police lines ground where they were released later. Roadways buses and mini-buses were arranged for the protesting workers.
Meanwhile, a few ASHA workers fell ill due to the hot weather conditions and were taken to the Civil Hospital in Ambala City.
Anju Verma, district president of the ASHA Workers’ Union, said: “The state government has agreed to our demands, including enhancing honorarium, but has not implemented it. There is a lot of difference between the agreement and the notification issued. There are nearly 22,000 ASHA workers who are on strike. The government on the other hand claims that it has fulfilled our demands. We demand a meeting with the Chief Minister.”
The Sarva Karamchari Sangh has extended its support to ASHA workers. The sangh has threatened to stage a 24-hour dharna at the Chief Minister’s residence in Karnal on June 22.
The government employees under the banner of the Sarva Karmchari Sangh will offer court arrest on June 28 and if their demands are not met, they will move towards the Haryana Assembly.
Abhay warns of bigger stir
Sonepat : Abhay Singh Chautala, Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly and senior Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader, on Friday blamed the BJP at the Centre and in the state for finding lame excuses to delay the completion of canals required for bringing water to Haryana fields.
He was addressing a gathering of participants for the Jail Bharo Andolan launched by the INLD and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) here at the new anaj mandi.
Prakash Bharati, state president of the BSP, lambasted the state government for increasing atrocities against Dalit women and alleged that instead of controlling crime against Dalits, the state government pursued hypocritical policy of having food at Dalit homes.
‘Khattar govt anti-women’
Panipat : ASHA workers’ union affiliated to CITU and supported by Sarva Karamchari Sangh courted mass arrest in support of the state-level ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ at the Mini-Secretariat on Friday. They gathered at the general hospital complex and staged a dharna at the Civil Surgeon office for the consecutive ninth day.
No drinking waterfor protesters
Kaithal : Over 750 ASHA workers courted arrest and were taken to a temporary Jail at the Jat school ground. They were not provided with drinking water which further agitated the workers and they came out on roads and disrupted traffic. DSP Ram Kumar reached the spot and persuaded the protesters. All were taken in to custody and were released later. The officials of the administration, including DSP and Tehsildar Ravinder Malik, asked workers to go to a temporary Jail set up at the Jat school ground, but the workers were adamant on going to the district jail or police lines.
Fix Rs 18,000 as minimum wages
Karnal : ASHA workers courted arrest in front of the Mini-Secretariat. They are demanding same work, same wages scheme or fix Rs 18,000 as their minimum wages till the implementation of the scheme. Sudesh Rana, district president of the Karnal ASHA workers’ union, criticised the government for ignoring their demands. “The government has even failed to fulfil its poll promises. The February 1 meeting with the Health Minister and officials of the department regarding the enhancement of their wages, have also not been implemented,” she said. “We are demanding to fix Rs 18,000 as our minimum wages and the government should fulfil it,” she said.
Farmers forced to sell maize below MSP, says Hooda; Are these alligations right?
Kurukshetra :
Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday blamed the BJP government for its inability to procure maize at the minimum support price (MSP).
Hooda said farmers were forced to sell maize for up to Rs 900 per quintal whereas the MSP was fixed at Rs 1,430 per quintal.
He said ensuring payment as per the MSP was the duty of the state authorities on which they failed miserably.
“The BJP government has proved to be insensitive to farmers’ issues. Cane growers are awaiting payment to the tune of Rs 747 crore and the government has done nothing to expedite the payments. Similarly, mustard growers also suffered acute difficulty in selling their produce this season,” said Hooda.
He dared the Haryana Government to make public the entire report of Prakash Singh Committee on violence during the Jat agitation.
“The report is a dossier of the state government’s failure in maintaining law and order. “The state government is withholding the report as it is well aware that the official document will expose its dismal functioning,” he said.
To a question on the possibility of an alliance with the BSP, Hooda said the Congress was capable enough to contest on its own in Haryana.
HUDA gets Rs 137.76 crore as enhancement dues; Is the enhancement right?
Panipat :
The state-level dharna against enhancement dues by members of the All-Haryana Sectors Welfare Association (AHSWA) at the HUDA office complex in Sector 18 entered its 17th day on Thursday. The members from Rewari and Panipat sat on hunger strike.
Meanwhile, HUDA has collected Rs 137.76 crore as enhancement dues till Wednesday.
According to sources in HUDA, residents of HUDA sectors have deposited Rs 137,76,85,838 under the one-time settlement scheme for enhancement dues.
While the department got the least amount in Kurukshetra district, the maximum amount was deposited in Gurugram-2.
The state-level protest against enhancement continued at the HUDA office complex and the protesters from various districts came here and sat on hunger strike according to their turn.
Yashbir Malik, convener of Haryana Sectors’ Confederation, said, “We have been fighting for our rights for the past two months and 17 days.”
The government had given enhancement notices of around Rs 17,000 crore to 53 sectors in various districts, but the government did not serve enhancement notices to 135 sectors after we had started the protest, he claimed.
Malik claimed the people who had deposited the amount are only those who had outstanding dues in their accounts. Now, they have taken the benefit of one-time settlement.
The HUDA officials are trying to befool the people by saying that Rs 137.76 crore has been deposited so that more people would deposit the amount, he alleged.
Members of the state co-ordination committee would gather at Panipat on June 17 to make the strategy for the ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ on June 20 in Jind. More than 20,000 people would gather there against the government and would readily go to jail for their rights, Malik maintained.
J Ganeshan, Chief Administrator, HUDA, said the people are depositing their enhancement outstanding amount under the one-time settlement scheme.
The government has given option to the people to deposit their enhancement amount under one-time scheme till July 15 with 40 per cent discount.
If they want to recalculate the dues, it would be done after July 15, the Chief Administrator said.
Amount deposited
District Amount (in Rs)
Ambala 3,00,48,391
Bahadurgarh 5,44,34,951
Bhiwani 1,11,521
Faridabad 11,47,17,381\
Fatehabad 66,15,375
Gurugram 10119992
Gurugram-2 87,07,25,103
Hansi 35,40,839
Hisar 1,35,75,206
Jhajjar 34,86,837
Jind 78,79,946
Karnal 17,450,322
Kurukshetra 9,298
Narnaul 11,41,331
Palwal 23,54,024
Panchkula 14,10,16,500
Panipat 1,50,06,112
Rewari 1,40,48,600
Rohtak 4,56,47,698
Sirsa 10,57,418
Sonepat 2,46,98,99