under various pension schemes, as ma.ny as 28.82 lakh beneficiaries in the State have been given benefits by the Department.- Om Prakash Yadav .

Chandigarh July 17 – Haryana Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Mr. Om Prakash Yadav said that under various pension schemes, as ma.ny as 28.82 lakh beneficiaries in the State have been given benefits by the Department.

He said that the beneficiaries of Old Age Allowance, Widow and Destitute Women pension, Disability pension, Ladli Social Security allowance, Eunuch allowance and Dwarf allowance scheme are getting an amount of Rs 2250 per month. Besides this, an amount of Rs. 1350 per month is being given to Destitute Children and Rs 1,650 per month to Non-School Going Disabled Children under financial assistance scheme.

Mr. Yadav said that in addition to the pension schemes, the Department is also imparting education to differently abled children in Government Institute for Blind, Panipat for their welfare. Besides this, vocational training is also provided to Training Centre for Adult Blind, Panipat.

He informed that various awareness camps have been organized time to time by the Department, so that people can be made aware about public welfare schemes being run by the Department for their welfare.

Chandigarh, July 17 – The result of Open School Examination March-2020 of Secondary (Fresh) and Subject-to-Be Clear (CTP) / (Re-Appear) examination conducted by Board of School Education, Haryana, Bhiwani has been announced today. The candidates can access their examination results on the website of the board www.bseh.org.in.

Giving information in this regard, Chairman of the Board, Dr. Jagbir Singh said that before lockdown (Covid-19 pandemic), only four subjects of Secondary Open School (Fresh) March -2020 examination were conducted. He said that the result of Secondary Open School (Fresh) is 16.92 percent and Secondary Open School (CTP / Re-Appear) result of March-2020 examination is 39.65 percent.

Chandigarh, July 17 – Haryana Home Minister, Mr. Anil Vij said that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to check illegal immigrants has received 309 complaints in cases pertaining to people deported from abroad. Of these 138 persons were arrested and an amount of Rs 56 lakh has been recovered from them by the police.

In this regard, SIT Chief and Inspector General of Police (IGP), Karnal Mrs. Bharti Arora said that almost all the illegal offices of immigration firms have been closed in the state. She further added that the investigation of the cases related to immigration fraud is being implemented by their team. During the investigation, some cases pertaining to money transactions have come to light. The concerned district police have been asked to conduct investigation in such cases and a report regarding this will be submitted soon. The SIT has been successful in arresting a number of accused in a short span of time and will be arresting the remaining accused soon.

Mrs. Arora said that 109 cases were registered in the year 2018-2019 and a total of 74 cases have been registered in the year 2020, in which money transactions were found. Such cases are being investigated thoroughly. Appealing to the youth and parents, she said that whenever the parents send their children abroad, they should send them only through legitimate agents. The information about the legitimate agents can be accessed on the website of Union, Ministry of Home Affairs i.e. https://emigrate.gov.in and the state government’s website i.e. https://haryana.gov.in.

Chandigarh, July 17 – Haryana Transport, Skill Development, and Industrial Training Minister, Mr. Mool Chand Sharma said that this year, a target has been set to plant 15000 saplings in Ballabhgarh Assembly Constituency area. Forest Department, Haryana Urban Development Authority, Municipal Corporations, Horticulture Department and Social Service Organizations will help out to meet this target of planting 15000 saplings. About 2500 saplings will be planted in this area by August 15, 2020.

The Transport Minister said this while addressing the people present on the occasion during a tree plantation ceremony at Ballabhgarh today. He said that all the plants would be protected by installing tree guards and dried up plants would be replaced by planting new saplings, he added.

Mr. Mool Chand Sharma said that life is possible on earth due to trees as they give us oxygen. Plants keep our environment clean and healthy. Therefore, we all must plant trees.

The Transport Minister said that it is our duty to not only trees but also nurture them. Mr. Mool Chand Sharma said that the efforts of Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal is to promote ‘equal work-equal development’ throughout Haryana.He said that development works are being done in the entire state expeditiously. He was hopeful that the beauty of Ballabhgarh assembly constituency will be worth seeing in the coming times as the entire region of the constituency will be covered with trees and strengthened with a network of roads. Besides this, the facility of clean drinking water will also be provided to the people.

Mr. Sharma said that we will have to use preventive measures to fight the corona pandemic by maintaining social distancing and following other norms issued by the Government.

Chandigarh, July 17- In order to deal with Locust Attack, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal has directed the officers concerned to make adequate arrangements for chemicals and pesticides to deal with Locust Swarm attack and save crops. He directed the officers to purchase drones and other necessary equipment to tackle this.

The Chief Minister gave these directions while presiding over a review meeting regarding monitoring and control of Locust in Haryana with the officers of Agriculture Department and other officers concerned here today. Agriculture Minister, Mr JP Dalal and Cooperation Minister, Dr. Banwari Lal were also present in the meeting.

While directing the officers to remain vigilant, he said that the locust swarms should be constantly monitored till their presence in the State is eliminated completely. Administration along with Agriculture Department should keep 24*7 vigil on the swarms and should further ensure availability of adequate stock of all the resources required to deal with the insect attack, he said.

During the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal, apprised the Chief Minister that since the invasion of Locust swarm attack, special supervision teams have been constituted to tackle the situation and to spread awareness about the same across the State.

He shared that in view of warning regarding potential intense attacks in several districts after July 22,2020, ‘Standing Teams’ of four departments namely Panchayat, Police, Revenue and Agriculture have been made at District, Sub-Divisional, Block and Village level. Besides this, Special Task Force has also been constituted in every district along with setting up an independent stand alone system to monitor all the arrangements to control locust swarms and prevent losses due to crop damage, he informed. Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal said that special training is being imparted to these teams to remain vigilant about locust.

Divulging the details about other measures and arrangements being made by the Department, Mr. Kaushal said that additional quantities of pesticide Lamda Cyhalothrin 5 EC has been stocked as locust swarms in the region had become resistant to commonly used pesticide Chlorpyrifos. Arrangements are being made to stock 20,000 litres of Lamda Cyhalothrin in addition to existing stocks of pesticide, he said.

He said that drones are being purchased for aerial spray of pesticide. As many as 66 fire brigade vehicles are available, as well as 3,540 tractor-mounted spray pumps. The State Government will also acquire fogging machines for use on trees.

He informed that Locust Warning Organisation has warned of more high-intensity attacks in the districts Nuh, Rewari, Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri after July 22, after large-scale locust breeding was observed in district Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. Therefore necessary preparatory measures have already been put in place by the Department.

Sharing the details about other necessary precautions being taken well in advance to stop insect attack, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal said that along with activation of tractor mounted spraying facility, the Deputy Commissioners have been asked to coordinate and hold daily meetings with the response teams, for quick mobilization, he added. He said that various Whatsapp groups have been formed for timely sharing of the information. Besides this, regular talks are also being held with the officers concerned of the neighbouring states.

Mr. Kaushal assured that the Department was closely monitoring the situation, and farmers in the affected districts have also been urged to stay alert and inform the officials if they find locusts anywhere.

Chandigarh, July 17: Haryana Government has promoted four Superintendents of Haryana Civil Secretariat as Under Secretaries with immediate effect.

Following the promotion orders, Mr. Raj Singh has been posted as Under Secretary, C.M. Cell-I.

Mrs. Sunita Kumari has been posted as Under Secretary, Haryana Staff Selection Commission.

Mr. Gajender Singh has been posted as Under Secretary, Haryana Staff Selection Commission.

Mr. Dinesh Kumar Sharma has been posted as Under Secretary, Jails & Judicial and Press.

Chandigarh, July 17 – Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal has directed the officers to start a special campaign to motivate people to wear face masks due to the increased risk of Covid-19 during Unlock-2. He said that traffic intersections, vehicles of the Department of Urban Local Bodies and publicity vehicles of Department of Information, Public Relations and Languages should also be used to spread awareness.

The Chief Minister was presiding over a meeting of the Crisis Management Group of various departments which was constituted during COVID-19. The Chief Minister also instructed the Police Department to take strict action against people without masks by challaning them on the spot and directed to give them at least five masks.

In view of the oncoming Shivratri, it was decided in the meeting that permission to offer Gangajal in the temples, except for the containment zones, should be given as per the guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry regarding worshipping in temples. Two to five persons may be allowed to enter the temples through token system at an interval of 30 minutes. At present, the curfew is imposed from 10 pm to 5 am in the country. The time for prayers for Shivratri will be from July 19, 2020, at 7.19 pm to July 20, 2020 at 5.30 am. People should be allowed to go to the temples accordingly.

It was said in the meeting that in some states like Karnataka, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra lockdown was imposed for varying duration spanning from a day to a week in different areas. Other than Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat and Rewari districts, the position of Corona-positive patients is stable in remaining districts of Haryana.

Additional Chief Secretary Health Department, Mr. Rajeev Arora, was present in the meeting through video conferencing from Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi. He apprised the Chief Minister that the average Corona positive rate in the state is 5.9 percent, while it is 7.6 percent in the country. Similarly, the recovery rate of corona patients is 75 percent in Haryana, while it is 63 percent in the country. Similarly, mortality rate is 1.34 percent. The number of corona active patients is 5,594 and 20 patients are on ventilator. Apart from this, the testing rate per day has also been improved. In Gurugram 2,400 tests are being conducted while in Sonipat and Faridabad 880 each and in Ambala 472 tests are being conducted. In all, around 9,110 tests have been conducted every day in Haryana which will be increased to 12,000 tests a day. The facility of mobile testing will also be provided. The Chief Minister instructed the officers to provide free ambulance facility for travel to patients who have to come for testing after being quarantined or after testing positive. He said that he had received a complaint from Rohtak district regarding the officers of health department asking patients to commute by their own vehicle.

It was also informed in the meeting that recently the state has recently received 100 ventilators from Bharat Heavy Electricals, Bangalore, which has enhanced the number of ventilators available to over 1,000. The new ventilators will be distributed in the State’s medical colleges and hospitals. In addition, plasma banks are also being opened in Panchkula, Rohtak, Gurugam. People are also being encouraged to donate the plasma. Similarly, kits to boost immunity are also being distributed by the AYUSH Department. The Chief Minister said that maximum immunity Ayush Kits should be distributed. Additional amount from the Chief Minister’s Corona Relief Fund can also be given if required for this purpose.

It also came to light in the meeting that at present 60 buses of Haryana Roadways are plying to Rajasthan and 40 buses to Uttar Pradesh. The number of passengers travelling in Haryana Roadways buses on July 1 was 60,000 per day, which has now reached a figure of one lakh. Likewise, during COVID-19, 4,43,000 workers were sent to their home states through special trains and buses.

The Chief Minister was also apprised that the number of electric crematoriums in the cities are being increased by the Department of Urban Local Bodies and work has been allocated for setting up 15 such crematoriums.

Among those present during the meeting included Chief Secretary Mrs. Keshni Anand Arora, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. Rajesh Khullar, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Mr. Vijai Vardhan, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education & Research Department, Mr. Alok Nigam, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. V. Umashankar, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Ms. Ashima Brar, Principal Secretary, Excise and Taxation Department, Mr. Anurag Rastogi, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Mr. A.K. Singh, Director General, Urban Local Bodies, Mr. Amit Agrawal, Director General of Police (DGP), Mr Manoj Yadava.

Chandigarh, July 17: People anywhere can now enjoy learning about different varieties of sub-tropical fruit and their cultivation techniques at the five-day Sub-Tropical Fruit Expo 2020 being organised by the Haryana Horticulture Department at the Centre for Sub-Tropical Fruit (Indo Israel Project), Ladwa, district Kurukshetra, from July 18 to 22. The entire event will be streamed live on social media, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, from 10am to 1pm every day.

While stating this here today, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, Mr. Sanjeev Kaushal, said that Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr. Jai Parkash Dalal, would inaugurate the event at 11am on July 18. Senior officials of the Embassy of Israel would also participate in the event.

He said that the event was aimed at providing a platform for farmers to learn the latest technologies in the field, especially in view of increased adoption of horticulture under the ‘Mera Pani – Meri Virasat’ crop diversification scheme of the State Government. This would help farmers utilise fewer resources more efficiently and improve their livelihood.

The event would include daily live streaming of webinars, demonstrations of techniques in the field, showcase of different varieties of fruit such as mango and pear, question/answer sessions and rangoli competition.

A different fruit would be showcased each day, starting with ‘Aam Diwas’ (Mango Day) on July 18. Webinar on advanced cultivation technology on mango would be streamed live from 11.30am to 1pm. Live demonstration and exhibition of mango production techniques, question/answer session and rangoli competition based on the fruit would be held from 11am to 1pm.

On July 19, pear, peach and plum would be the centre of focus during the Nashpati Diwas (Pear Day). The day will start at 10am with webinar on advanced cultivation technology on pear and peach till 11.30am. Demonstration of pear and peach production techniques would be streamed live from 10.30am to 11.30am. Question/answer session on pear, peach and plum would be held from 11.30am to 1pm, whereas rangoli competition based on pear fruit would be held from 10.30am to 12.30 pm.

Litchi and chikoo would be the fruit of the day during Litchi Diwas (Litchi Day) on July 20. The day will start at 10am with webinar on advanced cultivation technology on litchi and chikoo till 11.30am. Demonstration of litchi and chikoo production techniques would be streamed live from 10.30am to 11.30am. Question/answer session on litchi and chikoo would be held from 11.30am to 1pm, whereas rangoli competition based on litchi fruit would be held from 11am to 1pm.

July 21 would see the focus on guava during Amrood Diwas (Guava Day), starting with a webinar on advanced cultivation technology on guava from 10am to 11.30am. Demonstration of guava production techniques would be streamed live from 10.30am to 11.30am. Question/answer session on the fruit would be held from 11.30am to 1pm, whereas rangoli competition based on the fruit would be held from 10.30am to 12.30pm.

On the final day, pomegranate would be the main attraction during Anaar Diwas (Pomegranate Day). Webinar on advanced cultivation technology on pomegranate would be streamed live from 10am to 11.30am. Live demonstration and exhibition of pomegranate production techniques will be streamed from 10.30am to 11.30am. Question/answer session on the fruit will be streamed from 11.30am to 1pm, and rangoli competition based on the fruit would be held from 10.30am to 12.30pm.

To access the live stream, visitors may subscribe to the YouTube channel of Directorate of Horticulture, Haryana through the link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZyo2nzZhfzyy5OdPxBMUAg, Facebook through https://www.facebook.com/horticultureharyana, and Twitter through https://twitter.com/horticulture_hry (@horticulture_hry).

Participants may register themselves through the official website of the Horticulture Department, www.hortharyana.gov.in, by clicking on the Expo link. Registration for webinar, which can be accessed through Microsoft Teams Application, can be done through shorturl.at/GKLQ7, and for visitor pass through shorturl.at/aTX36. No entry fee would be charged for registration.

Chandigarh, July 17 – Buoyed with the success of CM Window, the online grievance redressal portal, Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal today directed to set up additional Windows of this facility at places having large number of footfall in the State so that people could register their grievances nearer to their homes. The CM Window which is presently functional at 110 places in the State including every Sub Division for the disposal of grievances pertaining to different departments has a resolution period of just 30 days.

Mr Manohar Lal was presiding over a meeting to review the functioning of online grievance portals – CM Window, Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) and Social Media Grievances Tracker (SMGT) here today.

The Chief Minister launched CM Window in December 2014 as a centralized system to address citizen grievances at a minimum possible time. This online mechanism has progressed significantly in the last 6 years and as a result of this, faith of the people in the functioning of the state government has been enhanced significantly.

In order to further improve the functioning of the CM Window, he directed the restructuring of the eminent citizen process on ground to make it more effective. He said that eminent citizens should be selected constituency wise from those 70,000 volunteers who have been registered on the portal launched by the State Government for taking their services during the COVID-19 crisis. He also directed that the eminent citizens, who assess the situation and give their feedback, should also be given unique IDs for their identification. Apart from this, an additional column of complaint against CM Window should also be created to prevent the misuse of this portal, he further directed.

It was informed that in order to take feedback from the citizens on the action taken by the concerned department on his or her complaint, the complainant also gets a call from the CM Window call centre functional at Panchkula, asking citizens if the resolution is satisfactory. It was also informed that a new feature has been added in the CM Window as a result of which, government money of Rs 4.95 crore has been recovered in the last 5 months. It was informed that the system to review complaints on the CM Window is the best in the country. Even the Government of India has appreciated the best practices of Haryana in reviewing citizens’ complaints in a video conference held recently.

It was informed that Haryana has been a top-performer on CPGRAMS and recently recognized by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DAPRG), Government of India. Out of total 1.1 lakh grievances received on CPGRAMS, 82,000 grievances have been resolved. Apart from this, 4,591 grievances were received on this online grievance portal during the COVID phase out of which 4,265 grievances have been disposed of.

It was also informed that SMGT Platform was launched with the objective of prompt redressal of citizen grievances received on social media. Most of the complaints received on this platform are redressed within 48 hours. It was informed that grievances regarding power, water supply, sewerage, road repair, police assistance, pension, aadhar cards, ration cards, birth/death certificates are taken up and resolved with urgency. Since the launch of SMGT in 2017, 1,13,041 complaints have been resolved out of total 1,25,873 complaints processed on this platform which constitutes about 90 per cent. To post a grievance, one just needs to tag @cmohry on twitter. It was also informed that SMGT has also resolved many grievances during COVID-19 lockdown.

Among those present in the meeting included Chief Secretary Mrs Keshni Anand Arora, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr Yogender Chaudhry, Project Director CM Window Dr Rakesh Gupta, Director, Information, Public Relations and Languages Department Mr P.C. Meena, OSD to Chief Minister Mr Bhupeshwar Dayal and IT Consultant to Chief Minister Mr Dhruv Majumdar.

Chandigarh, July 17 – Haryana Government promoted four Secretaries of Haryana Civil Secretariat as Senior Secretaries. Among those promoted included Mr. Rajender Sharma Secretary of Minister for Woman & Child Development, Mrs. Kamlesh Dhanda, Mrs. Sunita Rani, Mrs. Sadhna Sharma, and Ms. Kanchan Bhalla.

Chandigarh, July 17 – Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr. Jai Prakash Dalal said that farmers should take up farming that is conducive to the environment so as to keep a check on pollution and to ensure a good crop yield.

Mr. Dalal said this after releasing a newsletter and calendar prepared by Haryana Kisan & Agricultural Costs and Prices Commission here today. He said that the farmers should gradually reduce the use of chemical fertilizers to ensure soil’s health and should discontinue it completely. He said that the fertility of the soil is being destroyed due to the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

He said that the state government is taking several steps in the interest of farmers. He said that farmers should move to organic farming for more income and should adopt crop diversification and horticulture and other less water consuming crops.

On this occasion, Member Secretary Haryana Kisan & Agricultural Costs and Prices Commission, Dr. R.S. Balyan said that in the newsletter prepared by the Commission, which lists the details of schemes and projects implemented by the state government from January 2020 to June 2020 are enlisted. This newsletter will be distributed among the farmers so that they can get more information about government schemes and can be benefitted from them.

Chandigarh, July 17 – Haryana Government is planning to link Government Colleges in the State with the e-libraries of Universities so that students can get more and more quality books for free of cost. Taking steps in this direction, Higher Education Department has started holding talks with several agencies.

While sharing this information, Haryana Education Minister, Mr. Kanwar Pal said that the State Government has a plan to link e-library of Universities including Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, Bhagat Phool Singh Women’s University, Sonipat, Chaudhary Ranbir Singh University, Jind, Chaudhary Bansi Lal University Bhiwani, Indira Gandhi University Meerpur, Rewari, National Law University Sonipat, Gurugram University, Gurugram and Maharishi Valmiki Sanskrit University, Kaithal with their respective colleges.

The Education Minister said that students studying in the government universities and colleges of the state can download the subject books required by them from the e-library as a result of which they are not required to purchase books from the market. This will save thousands of rupees for each student.

He informed that the e-library of colleges will be linked with the university’s e-library so that students can study any book of his favorite publisher from among the available publishers. Besides this, State Government also aims to ensure availability of journals of top universities from all over the world in these e-libraries so that the students of Haryana remain updated about new research and technology in the world.