Tuesday, July 10, 2018
  • Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal and Development and Panchayats Minister, Mr. O.P. Dhankar honouring Gram Panchayat Madalpur under 7-Star Rainbow Scheme during a function in Chandigarh on July 10, 2018.
  • Chandigarh, July 10 – Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal said that to further strengthen the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), State Development Council would be constituted in Haryana on the pattern of National Development Council under his chairmanship whereas Development and Panchayats Minister would be the Vice-Chairman and representatives of Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis, Zila Parishad and Municipal Corporations would be its Members.
  • The Chief Minister was addressing the gathering after honouring nine Gram Panchayats  achieving  four star rating under Seven Star Rainbow Scheme, here today. Development and Panchayats Minister, Mr. O.P. Dhankar and Principal Secretary, Development and Panchayats Department, Mr. Sudhir Rajpal were also present on this occasion.
  • He said that the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) can play a significant role in development of villages by effectively implementing government schemes for the betterment of the villages.  Congratulating the villages which have got four star rating, the Chief Minister said that no scheme of the government can be successful without the support of PRIs.
  • He said that the Seven Star Rainbow Scheme was launched on January 26, 2018 to improve the life of the villagers and 1120 Gram Panchayats have bagged stars in the first year which shows that the scheme has been a success.
  • The Chief Minister said that the government had recently launched a campaign on the occasion of Van Mahotsav on June 5 under which one plant each would be planted by the school students of classes VI to ten plus two. He said that the government had also launched a campaign to install water taps in villages to ensure water conservation. The Gram Panchayats should play their role in the success of these initiatives, he added.
  • The Chief Minister said that under Mahagram Yojana, all basic amenities are being provided in 126 villages. Similarly, under Shivdham Navinikaran Yojana, the facilities of paved roads, boundary walls, shed and water supply would be completed in the next six months. For the management of solid and liquid waste, Gobardhan Yojana had been initiated to generate energy from waste. So far, the work of installation of plant in districts Faridabad, Gururgram and Sonipat has started. He also called upon the representatives of PRIs present there, to explore the possibility of initiating Gobardhan Yojana in their respective villages.
  • He said that the state government has also initiated the scheme of opening of college at  a distance of every 20 km, under which 51 such sites have been identified where colleges would be opened out of which foundation stone of 22 colleges  has already been laid.
  • Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr O.P. Dhankar said that he had recently met Defence Minister Mrs  Nirmala Sitharaman  and requested that the statues of martyrs of Haryana   who attained martyrdom in the revolution of 1857, first and second world war,  India-China war, India-Pakistan or Kargil war to be built in their native villages. He said that 7 star Rainbow Scheme is unique scheme of Haryana and other states   are contacting Haryana to emulate the same in their states.
  • Gram Panchayat Akbarpur and Hadbon of district Ambala, Banawali Sottar and Malhar of district Fatehabad, Wazirpur of district Gurugram, Behbalpur of district Hisar, Ramgarh and Karna of district Palwal and Madalpur of district Faridabad have achieved four star rating for better performance under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Swachhta Abhiyan, education, environment conservation, peace and harmony, and social participation.
  • Under the Seven Star Rainbow Scheme, Gram Panchayats would get Rs one lakh each for every single star and additional bonus of Rs 50,000 is being given for better performance under Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Swachhta Abhiyan. Cash prize of Rs four lakh each has been given to Gram Panchayat Akbarpur of district Ambala and Gram Panchayat Behbalpur of district Hisar. Similarly, cash prize of Rs 4.5 lakh each has been given to Gram Panchayat Hadbon of district Ambala, Gram Panchayat Banawali Sottar and Malhar of district Fatehabad, Gram Panchayat Wazirpur of district Gurugram and, Gram Panchayat Ramgarh and Karna of district Palwal. He said that cash prize of Rs five lakh has been given to Gram Panchayat Madalpur of district Faridabad.
  • Chandigarh July 10--Reiterating Haryana’s claim on Chandigarh, the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, has asked Punjab to make new Chandigarh its capital, leave Chandigarh to Haryana, and co-operate in solving the waters issue by sitting across the table. 
  • Mr Manohar Lal was speaking at a panel discussion on the holistic development of the tri-city that is Panchkula, Chandigarh and Mohali here, today. The Punjab Governor and Administrator of Union Territory, Chandigarh, Mr V.P Badnore, and Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, were also present at panel discussion.
  • Both Haryana and Punjab should co-operate with each other to resolve various inter-state water issues in the interest of people of both states. Punjab should not make it a prestige issue. Issues related to water between states can be solved by dialogue, he said.
  • “I did not like to refer to the waters issue on this platform as the development of tri-city was the main focus of today’s panel discussion but the remarks made earlier by the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh, have forced him to make a comment on this”, the Chief Minister said.
  • While describing Punjab as an elder brother of Haryana, Mr Manohar Lal said Haryana faced serious water crisis as compared to Punjab. More area under the dark zone falls in Haryana than in Punjab, and, at some places, the underground water level has gone down to 1,500 feet.
  • Stressing the need for water conservation, the Chief Minister said he had recently written a letter to his Punjab counterpart to join hands in checking the wasteful flow of Ravi waters to Pakistan by constructing dams and reservoirs to utilise the wates and solve the crisis in both states.
  • The issue of Haryana getting its share of river water through  the Hansi-Butana Canal is also hanging fire since long. Resultantly, the districts of southern Haryana, especially Mahendergarh, Rewari and Nuh, are facing water scarcity, he said.
  • Chandigarh, July 10--The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, has suggested that an effective mechanism be put in place through mutual co-operation to ensure  development of the tri-city comprising Panchkula, Chandigarh and Mohali, and to resolve the issues affecting the lives of people in these cities.
  • He was speaking at a panel discussion on the holistic development of tri-city, here today. The Punjab Governor and Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Mr V.P Singh Badnore, and the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, were also present.
  • The Chief Minister said he had written a letter to the Union Home Minister, Mr Rajnath Singh, impressing upon him the need and urgency to create a statutorily empowered and dedicated board or authority for homogeneous development of the tri-city.
  • “I would also write a letter to the Punjab Chief Minister in this regard. A tri-city Planning Board should be constituted for the tri-city on the pattern of the National Capital Region (NCR) Planning Board for the development of the three cities, especially infrastructure”, he added.
  • On the suggestion that came up during the discussion for  sharing the revenue of Chandigarh between Punjab and Haryana in 60:40 ratio, the Chief Minister said it would not be appropriate to share the revenue of Chandigarh between the states as the citizens of Chandigarh had the first right on it. Hence, revenue sharing would be an injustice to the people of Chandigarh.
  • Mr Manohar Lal suggested that the civic bodies of the three cities could take up such issues of common interest as waste management and metro connectivity, and also share the cost of such projects.
  • The Haryana Government constituted Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) about six months ago and a citizen advisory council has also been set up. A similar advisory council comprising people from Panchkula, Chandigarh and Mohali should be constituted to give suggestions for the development of tri-city, he added.
  • On the issue of Panjab University, Mr Manohar Lal described it as a prestigious instituition and said Haryana had made a request to be a partner in the university. Earlier also, Haryana had become a partner in this university.
  • On the issue of making Panchkula and Mohali smart cities, Mr Manohar Lal said one of the major obstacles dogging the path of progress of Panchkula was lack of proper connectivity between Panchkula and Chandigarh. A huge railway under-bridge connecting Chandigarh with Panchkula is proposed to be constructed after which a major portion of the traffic of Chandigarh could be shifted to Panchkula, he added.