haryana review, september, 2008 1 - …haryanasamvad.gov.in/store/document/hr_review... · amanbir...

1HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 2008

CHIEF PATRON: Bhupinder Singh Hooda

PATRON:Dharambir Singh

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: K.K. Khandelwal

CONSULTING EDITOR: Gobind Thukral

MANAGING EDITOR: Pradeep Kasni

EXECUTIVE EDITOR: K C Wadhawan

DEPUTY EDITORS:Rajiv Kapur Vineet Punia

NEWS BUREAU: Shweta VashishtaRuchi Sharma Karuna BabberAparna PawarAmanbir Kaur Brar

PHOTO DEPARTMENT: Tek Chand AroraGopal Singh Karam Singh Neeraj Gauri Shankar

DESIGN & LAYOUT: Om Parkash Malik

DIGITAL & IT SUPPORT: Dharmender Singh

ADVERTISEMENT & CIRCULATION: Ved Parkash

VOL. 22 ISSUE 1 SEPTEMBER 2008

Edited, Printed and Published forHaryana Government by K.K.Khandelwal, IAS, Commissioner &Secretary and Director, Information &Public Relations and issued from SCO23, Sector 7, Chandigarh. [Editor-in-Chief is responsible for selection of newsunder the PRB Act]. All rights reserved.Any reproduction of this publication’s contents, in whole or in part withoutwritten permission is prohibited. Email: [email protected]

HARYANA REVIEWHaryana Review after a lapse of nearly 20 years is delighted to be back with

its readers. The Government of Haryana has created a separate society,Samvad to manage its media on more professional lines. Haryana Review

shall endeavor to record the momentous changes taking place in Haryanvi socie-ty. It shall present through well researched articles on political, economic, socialand cultural themes a picture as complete as possible. We propose to cultivateclose relations with our readers. We shall report sports sportingly.

At the economic level, Haryana has moved fast since its creation in November1966 from the womb of erstwhile state of Punjab. Economic backwardness is athing of the past. It is almost number one in attracting industries and has touchednew records in exports. Last year its gross domestic product was Rs 92,053 crore.Its growth rate was at 11.4 percent. Agriculture that grew around 2 per cent coun-trywide touched 9.7 per cent in Haryana. Bravo to sturdy farmers and a caringgovernment. Secondary sector grew at a record 22 percent; manufacturing, com-munication and construction, all crossed 10 per cent growth. Yearly employmentgrowth is one of the highest in the country at 5.7 per cent .In per capita incometoo; it is surpassing every other state with Rs 49,038 at current prices. Indeed thereare many yardsticks to affirm that Haryana has marched steadily during the lastfour decades or so. Laurels for a youthful state are indeed a plenty.

Haryana has created history in sports, literally. Vijender Kumar from Bhiwani,India's Cuba, has won the first medal in boxing, a bronze at the Beijing Olympicsthat concluded on August 25. India's three winners have shot from obscurity tosudden fame. Abhinav Bindra, 25, from Haryana's capital city of Chandigarh, wongold in the 10-meter air rifle competition. Vijender, 23, a bus driver's son wonbronze in boxing. And Sushil Kumar, 24, who learned to wrestle in the dirt on theoutskirts of Haryana, won a bronze. Akhil Kumar and Saina Nehwal, in the 55-strong contingent did well but missed a medal by a whisker. It is a reflection of"India's grassroot aspirations."

A little luck would have got Vijender even gold. A haul of three medals sur-passed its previous best of two medals, a gold and bronze at the Helsinki Games,in 1952. Our special reports detail the achievements and present rare photo-graphs. Foundation for future medallists in boxing, wrestling, women hockey isnow squarely laid in Haryana.

In this issue we focus on Gurgaon, the future of India. We tell an inclusivestory not only about the unrivaled economic development and the prospect itholds for Haryana and the country, but about social, cultural and lifestyle changestaking place. We include places of tourist interest and bit of its history. How thismodel is being perfected and what plans the government has for the future of thisemerging megacity. The chief minister in an interview tells how much he hasachieved for his state and what dreams he has to build a modern Haryana.Elsewhere, the readers can enjoy reading about educating the veiled women,sports, places of tourist interest, tips on health and the classical tabla maestrobesides how offices are becoming more proficient through e-governance.

Politically Haryana has passed through some trials and tabulations and is nowmaturing into a vibrant democratic society. 'Aya rams and Gaya rams' should bea thing of the past. This political stability is having a strong impact on economicand social life of its over 2 crore and 40 lakh citizens.

Yet Haryana is not without its burden of problems. There is still a mismatchbetween a fast pace economic development and social cohesion, education andenlightenment. One shudders to think of honour killings and absence of goodlibraries and book stores. Government even when it tries to do its utmost has tolook to Haryanvi society for an immense support. Same way poverty mitigationstill remains a big challenge, despite all the efforts. Fortunately government isaware of this.

Haryana Review intends to create a better informed society and bridge someof the gaps that exist between the people and the government through investigat-ed information.

E D I T O R I A L

HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 20082

COVER STORY

Gurgaon : The credible journey

INTERVIEWLaurels all the way... CM speaks 22

PHOTO FEATURERural Haryana sings a new symphony 26

NEW INITIATIVENREGA: Jobs at doorstepsfor rural folks 30

SPECIAL STORYEducating the Veiled Women

32

GUEST COLOUMNHaryana on target e-governance 36


TOURISMHaryana Tourism: brilliantly lit 38

HEALTHVitamins do us no good and may be harmful 41

Delivery HutsSafe mothers, healthy babies 42

SPORTSHaryana on winning spree 44

HISTORY / CULTUREPanipat : Sad dots on history 47

MONTH IN REVIEWSnapshots on Haryana 48

CITIZEN SAFETYDrive safe and make others safe 51

CITIZEN CHARTERHUDA : A case for responsible governance 52

CAREERMedia : a Challenging Career Option 53

PROFILEKishan Maharaj, the Tabla Maestro 54

BOOK REVIEWExamining the new mantra for goodgovernance: Decentralization 56

Readers may send their comments at [email protected] or postat SCO 23, FF, Sector 7-C, Madhya

Marg, Chandigarh - 160007


For people of Haryana and itsgovernment, August 30 was agrand day. The Haryana gov-

ernment honoured varioussportspersons who had won laurelsat the Beijing Olympics at a glitter-ing ceremony at Bhiwani. Theyincluded pugilists Vijender Kumar,Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar andDinesh Kumar, badminton playerSaina Nehwal and wrestlersYogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar.The Olympic gold medallist shooterAbhinav Bindra could not attend thefunction and sent his representative.

Chief Minister Bhupinder SinghHooda gave away cash awards andmementos to the sportspersons at aglittering ceremony at the Bhim sta-dium. Bronze medallist VijenderKumar was given a cheque of Rs 50lakh.

People of all ages, clad in colour-

ful dresses, jostled to have a glimpseof their heroes when they madetheir way to the dais. It was one ofthe few scenes when sportspersonsapart from cricketing world weregiven so much importance. Childrensang folk songs in a colourful cultur-al programme. It was one of the fewscenes when sportspersons apart

from cricketing world were given somuch of importance. Members ofParliament, Deepinder Singh Hooda,Naveen Jindal and Haryana Sportsand Youth Affairs Minister KiranChoudhry were present to greet thesports persons.

The entire city stood not only forthe trio - Vijender, Akhil andJitender - of the Indian boxing, whobelong to the city, but also for theother stars, who made the countryproud in the Beijing Olympics.

Vijender, Akhil, Jitender, Sushil,Yogeswar Dutt, Saina Nehwal andthe coach of Olympic medallistVijender, Jagdish Singh, were thestar attractions of the day and theyall were taken a round of the city inopen jeep and were accompaniedwith a long convoy of vehicles.

"We were here to watch the box-ers, who did the city proud," said a

Haryana, an emergingSPORTS POWER

Government honours Olympic heroes

Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda with Olympic Bronze Medal Winners Boxer Vijender Singh and Wrestler SushilKumar at a special function to honour Olympians at Bhiwani on August 30, 2008. To extreme left is MP, Mr Deepender Singh Hooda

and to right is Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, Mrs Kiran Choudhry

Mr Hooda saidHaryana would soon becomea "sports superpower" in thecountry in the next few years.These proposed academieswere a step in this directiononly. This is in addition tosports stadiums coming up inone hundred villages acrossthe state.


group of school children, who were wait-ing at the Hansi Gate to have a glimpse ofthe long procession taking the Beijing-bound stars.

The procession started from theHaryana Tourism resort, Baya Hotel toHansi Gate to Vaish College to RamNagar Chowk and was back to Bayafrom where it started before entering theBhim Stadium that was jam-packed.

Once the players entered the stadium,the silent crowd went into rapturousapplaud. "The way people of Bhiwanihave turned up to us it seems that theyare the real sports lovers," said Sushil,wrestling bronze medallist.

For the Indian badminton queen,Saina Nehwal, it was a mixed reaction.She was happy and at the same timeupset. "The gesture of the HaryanaGovernment to honour the quarterfinal-ists in the Beijing Olympics was verymuch supportive and it will definitelycontribute in the country's emergingsporting culture," said Saina. It was notthat Vijender was the hero of the townbecause of his victory. The city gaveequal importance to Akhil and Jitender,who missed the medal by a whisker.

Wrestling bronze winner SushilKumar, Beijing Olympics quarter final-ist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, boxersAkhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar andbadminton player Saina Nehwal weregiven cheques for Rs 25 lakh each.Boxing coach Jagdish Singh also

received Rs 25 lakh. Mr Hooda whose love for sports is sec-

ond to none offered Vijender Kumar thechoice of becoming a DSP in HaryanaPolice or a Deputy Director in the Sportsdepartment. He said the Olympic medal-list would also be given a residential plotat a place of his choice. The ChiefMinister announced that all Haryanasportspersons who had qualified for theBeijing Olympics would get Rs 11 lakheach. This will benefit discus throwerKrishna Poonia and boxer DineshKumar. In addition, all Arjuna andDronacharya awardees would be given apension of Rs 5000 per month. Thiswould naturally attract more talentedcoaches.

Cricketer Virender Sehwag was alsopresent at the function. Hooda said thestate government had decided to set up acricket academy in Jhajjar district incollaboration with Sehwag. The boxing

academy would come up at Bhiwani inmemory of Capt Hawa Singh, an Asiangold medallist in boxing. Likewise, afootball academy would be located inGurgaon. The government would set upkabaddi and wrestling academies.Officials have been asked to select prop-er places for the purpose.

The chief minister urged thesportspersons from the state to take upsports in a big way and hoped Haryanawould produce many medal winners inthe next Olympics. He said, "We are set-ting our eyes on the 2010 CommonwealthGames in Delhi and the LondonOlympics. We are targeting at least 10gold medals from the state itself."

Mrs Kiran Choudhry announced astart-of-art boxing academy including aworld-class hostel facility, a joint ventureof central and state government, inBhiwani. She also demanded a sportsuniversity for the city.


Saurabh Duggal

Haryana has emerged as apowerhouse not only onthe Indian boxing scenario

in the recently concluded BeijingOlympic Games but also in theoverall Indian sports.

Haryana contributed the maxi-mum share in the country's over-all contingent of 55-sportspersonsfor the Beijing Games. Ninesportspersons from the state - thebiggest contribution as far as anystate is concerned.

Nine players from the state,who competed in the Olympics,have made their presence felt insix disciplines - boxing (Akhil,Vijender, Jatinder and Dinesh),judo (Divya), wrestling(Yogeshwar Dutt), rowing(Devinder), athletics (KrishnaPunia) and shooting (SanjeevRajput).

In some of the disciplines thestate contributed largely, like inboxing four out of five, wrestlingone out of three and judo one oftwo.

Call it a state government's ini-tiative or otherwise, the Haryanviyouth have started taking upsports to promote their career

prospects. The end result is thatHaryana is churning out world-class athletes.

"The state is providing the bestof everything to its players.Whether it is infrastructure,equipment, coaches, cash awardsor scholarships, the government isgenerous to the fault and givingthem all. Yet essentially it is thegrit and passion of the Haryanasportspersons that brought themhere," comments Haryana's SportsMinister, Ms Kiran Chaudhary.

Bhiwani Mecca ofIndian boxing

Four of the five Beijing-boundboxers were from the city

The first and the only thingthat comes in the mind about thecity these days is that four of thefive Indian Beijing-bound boxersare from here.

Akhil Kumar, Vijender Kumar,Jatinder Kumar and DineshKumar all from the city have madeit to the Beijing Olympics. Andbecause of their exploits, the cityhas become synonym with thesport. And now Vijender's medaland Akhil and Jitender's quarter-final finish proved that it's theMecca of Indian boxing.

Let's find out what makesBhiwani the powerhouse ofIndian boxing.

Whether its morning season oran evening season you will seehundreds of pugilists honing theirskills with a sole aim of donningthe national colour one day.

It is the place that has producedthe top names starting fromVijender, Akhil to Dilbagh Singhand Jitender to name a few.

"Boxing is in the blood of peo-ple of Bhiwani and now they havefound it the best way to earn

HARYANA IN BEIJING


glory," said Vijender Kumar. "Boxinghas always been popular in Bhiwaniand from in recent times with thecoming of some big names of thesports from here has further boostedthe interest of youngsters in thiscombat sports," he added.

Boxing has come up in such a bigway that in the last couple of yearsmany private academies have comeout. Bhiwani that used to have onlytwo centres one at SAI CentreBhiwani and another at BhiwaniStadium, in the eighties, has nowaround eight centres including fiveprivate academies catering around1000 boxers.

This all started with late HawaSingh and Late Rajinder Singh Yadav,who contributed a lot in producingworld class boxers from the city andplacing it at a respectable place in thecountry's boxing map, and now thebaton has been passed on to SportsAuthority of India's coach, Jagdishcoach.

He is instrumental in producingnumber of international level boxersincluding the Olympic medallistVijender.

The competition here has grown sohigh that if you are top ranked inyour weight category and age groupin Bhiwani means you are more orless number one in the entire country.

"We are winning the Haryana StateChampionship in all the three agegroups (Sub-junior, junior and sen-ior) from the last 11 years and around80% of the state team for thenationals comprises of Bhiwaniplayers. Haryana had lifted thejunior national's title five timesin the last six years. In the sen-iors, maximum of the goldmedal winners whether theyare from Services or Railwaysbelong to the city," saidDilbagh Singh.

Ask here even from anew joiner of the sport inany of the academies andyou will come across thesame couple of answers. Iwant to be an Olympicchampion; I want to boxlike Akhil and want togrow like Vijender.

The trio of Indian box-ing Vijender, Akhil andJatinder have not only takenBhiwani boxing to a new

height, but have also inspired manykids to pursue the sport. Vijender'sexploits have also motivat-ed kids from his nativevillage Kaluwas.

The stature ofBhiwani boxing hasgrown so high thateven pugilists fromPunjab, UttarPradesh, andRajasthan are com-ing here to furtherhone their skills.

There is no bigindustry in Bhiwani

and peoplea r e

not having big land holdings. So theonly thing that is left for the young-

sters to rely upon for theirlivelihood is sports. That's

why apart for winninglaurels for the country,they are taking it as acareer.

All said and done,boxing is the most hap-pening thing inBhiwani

* Out of five Beijing-bound boxers, four are from Bhiwani. And the onlyOlympic medallist in the sport is also from the city

* In the Athens Olympics, out of four, three were from the city. * In the 2007 Asian Championship, five out of the 11-members squad

were from the city and they contributed four of the seven medals wonby the country.

* Melbourne Commonwealth Games-2006: India won five medals in thesport and out of this three medals were grabbed by the Bhiwani box-ers including the gold medal feat by Akhil Kumar.

* Arjuna Awards: Hawa Singh- 1966, Mehtab Singh-1973, Raj KumarSangwan-1996, Jatinder Kumar-1999, Akhil Kumar-2005, VijnderSingh-2006

RECENT PERFORMANCES

Boxing in the BloodSaurabh Duggal

F or residents of this non-descript dusty village,Kaluwas in Bhiwani dis-

trict, boxing is nothing new and forthe Olympian Vijender's family it'sin their very blood. Every lad inthis village pulls a punch once youmention boxing. Indeed, Kaluwasadorns the international sportsmap now.

It's now their third generation,who are into this sport. It wasVijender's grandfather SubedarDarayo Singh Beniwal, who yearsback first introduced the entire vil-lage to boxing. His ideas struckand took roots. He had evidentlypicked it from his army school.And, now around 150 kids from thevillage pursue the sport regularlyand every house claims at least onegood boxer. And for Vijender's fam-ily almost every male has beenassociated with the sport. Presentlyall the youngsters are aiming big inthis sport. It is not for nothing thatBhiwani is increasingly beingcalled, the Cuba of India.

"My grandfather and two of hisbrothers were in the army and usedto pursue sports seriously.Whenever they came home, theybrought old boxing gloves and grad-

ually our elders picked up thissport and then it was our turn,"says Vijender's elder brotherManoj. "Now boxing is our recogni-tion and the entire Bhiwaniacknowledges our boxers. Now it'stime for the world to recogniseKaluwas boxers," Manoj adds withpride. Manoj, who won the gold inthe junior nationals in 1998, intro-duced Vijender to boxing and thelatter became the first Olympian ofthe family. Lo! He is now anOlympic medallist.

Vijender's father Mahipal Singhhas four brothers and all of theirmale offsprings are into the sportsexcept for one brother, who has nomale issue.

The Olympic medallist'syounger uncle Jaipal Singh's threesons, Jagbir Singh (19), BalvindierSingh (17), and Joginder Singh (22),are all into the sport and all ofthem are national medallists.Jagbir and Balvindier have repre-sented India in the junior sectionand wanted to be an Olympicmedallist one day. And anotherUncle Anand Singh's son VikasKumar (14) had started punchinglast year.

"Whenever Vijender comeshome we both used to practice

together. He taught me the initialand advance techniques of boxing.Last year I won the bronze medal inthe YMCA International Meet inNew Delhi and my aim is to be apart of the national squad for the2012 London Olympics," says JagbirSingh, who has also won a bronzemedal in the Junior AsianChampionship.

"Balvinder had recently won thebronze medal in Cuba and his styleof playing is similar to that ofVijender. And one day he will earnname like him," says MahipalSingh. If all the cousins are verymuch into sports, it is becausesome of their uncles had also pur-sued the game and are now a sourceof inspiration for them. "I took toboxing because of my uncleNarinder. He was a national levelboxer and I derived inspirationfrom him only," said Vijender whiletalking to this journalist.Narinder, Ravinder and Suresh,sons of one of the four brothers ofVijender's grandfather, have repre-sented the state at the nationalsand all of them got jobs under thesports quota. Out of three of them,Suresh represented India and wasthe first international player fromthe family as well as from the vil-

KALUWASHARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 20088

lage. Essentially sports helped these

boys secure government jobswhich are considered safe bets forlife."Boxing is in our blood.Moreover the government jobs thatour boxers got because of thissport are also one of the major rea-sons, why all the youngsters in thefamily wanted to be boxers. Andnow Vijender's victory has giventhem a wider vision," admits withpride star boxer's uncle, JagphoolSingh Beniwal.

Mahipal Beniwal, father ofVijender could give him only hisprayers. This 47 year bus driverwent on a strenuous pilgrimage,trekking to fetch holy water fromthe Ganges. Beniwal said his sontold him, "Father, you are doing somuch for me; I will definitely bringan Olympic medal for you."

It's not that only the male mem-bers of the family are associatedwith boxing, the female members

are also attached with the sport butdifferently. "The ladies of the fami-ly watch all the boxing matchesand they closely follow the Indianboxers exploits in the BeijingOlympics. They are aware of all theterms related with this sport," saysRavinder's wife Urmila Beniwal.

The day is not far when a girlwould pick up boxing as a serioussport and excell at the national andinternational levels.

Saurabh Duggal is a staff writer with the Hindustan Times and wrote from Kaluwas, Bhiwani



Saurabh Duggal

The golden moment, for whichthe entire Kaluwas village andBhiwani was waiting since theBeijing Olympics had started, final-ly arrived on August 20 duringVijender's quarterfinal bout and itwas difficult to find out whether itwas Holi or Diwali or some mar-riage was happening there at thattime. The moment was prized foreverybody in Vijender's family, forthe entire village as well as for thecountry. India has confirmed itsfirst-ever Olympic medal in 60-year-old history of Indian boxing and itis the Haryana boxer who has giventhis proud moment to everybody tocherish throughout their lives.

"Vijender has done it, he is nowan Olympic medallist," this was thefirst reaction of Vijender's elderbrother Manoj Kumar, as the fourthand the last round finished and theHaryana boxer was declared win-ner. After that it was difficult ratherimpossible to trace him. Televisionchannels were capturing the bitesfrom everybody in the family.

"The entire Bhiwani was upsetand some eyes were even full of

tears when Akhil lost his bout inthe quarters. The same emotionalfeelings were there for Jitender, toowhen he lost to a superior opponentin the last stage. But then cameVijender and created history bybecoming the first boxer to assure amedal to India," said Vijender's fel-low boxers in Bhiwani.

As the moment of Vijender'smatch was approaching near, thevillagers started thronging hishouse where the family had madean arrangement for everybody towatch the match. They had kept thetelevision set in the lawn.

Vijender bhai jeet gaya, Vijenderbhai jet gaya… the village youthmajority of whom were boxers,started shouting slogans as soon ashe won the bout. "He is our hero andwe also want to be like him. He didfor the country in the Beijing, wewill repeat his feat in the 2012London Olympics," said Balvinder,who idolizes Vijender and wants tobe like him one day.

"I am the happiest mother on thisearth today. Vijender has given meeverything. The entire village iscongratulating me and this is onlybecause of my son," said Vijender's

mother Krishna Beniwal. When asked, did she know what

her son has achieved, she said, "Hehas won the Olympic medal and justa moment back the Haryana ChiefMinister Bhupinder Singh Hoodacalled up and congratulated us. Thegovernment has made him a seniorofficer in the Haryana police andthe village will be made the Adarshvillage and a boxing stadium will bebuilt in the village," she added.

For Vijender's father MahipalSingh, it was like a mission accom-plished. When Vijender's matchwas going on he was praying for hissuccess in the village temple. Andas the news about Vijender winningthe bout broke out, his joys knew nobounds. He, too, was proud of hisson's success.

"I had taken a one-and-half-month leave from the office forVijender. Earlier I took a kaward toHaridwar for his success and afterthat I saw all his matches," saidVijender's father Mahipal SinghBeniwal.

Till midnight everybody wasdancing and celebrating his victory.And the family was busy givinginterviews.

Haryana boxer gives Indiaa moment to cherish

Vijender at the Beijing Olympics and bouts back home

Bhim Awardee Winners with Haryana Governer Dr. A.R.Kidwai and Chief Minister Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda


SPORTS: Haryana Government’sLiberal incentives bear fruit

Rajiv Kapur

Liberal incentives, cash awards,reservation in jobs, setting of var-ious sports nurseries and

advanced sports training have turnedHaryana into a Mecca of sports in thecountry. The sportspersons of the statehave not only earned laurels forHaryana but for the entire country.

Looking at the improving standard ofsports in the state, Haryana has becomea torchbearer for the entire nation. Theinitiative of the government and thekeen interest shown by the youth insports has made Haryana as a top slotstate in the country.

The adage 'more incentives, moreresults' is proving true in case ofHaryana. The announcement of heftycash prizes to the winners at variousnational and international competitionsand reservations in jobs have boostedthe morale of the sporting communityin the state.

Congress government lead byBhupinder Singh Hooda stronglybelieves that games and sports play a sig-nificant role in the all round develop-ment of human personality and infusethe qualities of discipline, tolerance andleadership. The present government hasraised the budget of the SportsDepartment from Rs. 32.53 crore in 2006-07 to Rs.43.38 crore in the year 2008-09.

In order to tap the latent talent of theyouth in sports residing in rural areas,an ambitious programme of construc-tion of 162 sports stadiums in the ruralareas has been launched. These stadi-ums besides providing facility to theyouth to play games would also prove tobe the playground to select the talentedchildren at the prime of their life.Haryana State Agriculture MarketingBoard is constructing these stadiumscosting 50.00 lakh each.

In addition the department of Sportsis running 36 Nurseries at variousplaces in the state including Bhiwani,Hisar, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ambala,Jhajjar, Rohtak, Jind, Sonipat, Panipat,Kurukshetra, Rewari, Narnaul andSirsa in the disciplines of Athletics,Basketball, Cricket, Gymnastics,Wrestling, Boxing, Badminton, Kabaddi,

Hockey, Judo, Football, Table Tennis andVolleyball. In these nurseries talentedchildren are given free boarding, sportskits and coaching facility which helpthem in pursuing sports as their career.Various Boards and Corporations of theState government have also adoptednurseries for imparting specialisedcoaching to the sports personnel.

As a measure to secure future of thesportsmen, the Haryana Governmenthas reserved three per cent of the jobs inthe police department for the talentedand award winning players. HaryanaChief Minister Mr Bhupinder Singh,elated at the performance of Vijender inbecoming the first Indian to win abronze medal in the boxing event at therecently concluded Olympic Games atBeijing, announced to extend him Statehonour by posting him as DeputySuperintendent of Police in recognitionof his significant achievement. He saidthat the State Government has doubledthe award money for the players win-ning gold, silver and bronze medals inOlympic Games to Rs two crore , Rs. onecrore and Rs. fifty lakh respectively forbringing laurels to the state and country.

Mr. Hooda has announced setting upof a boxing academy at Bhiwani on thepattern of Australian Institute of Sportsand it would be equipped with lateststate-of-the-art facilities. A TherapyCentre and a Nutrition Centre, besides aPractice Hall would also be set up in theAcademy. A Therapy Centre was neces-sary in view of the fact that boxers oftenget bruises while practising andNutrition Centre would take care oftheir diet.

addition five gymnasium halls, fourmultipurpose halls, ten swimming poolsand seven yoga-cum-badminton halls,one synthetic track in Ch. Charan SinghHaryana Agriculture University, Hisarand one Hockey Astro Turf in NehruStadium, Gurgaon have been completedand Astro Turf at Shahbad, has alsobeen completed. HUDA has completedsports complex in sector 3 Panchkula,providing the facilities of cricket pavil-ion & athletics stadium, volleyball, bas-ketball ground and badminton hall. Asports complex is being developed inGurgaon by HUDA, out of which the

work of play fields of cricket & athleticstrack has been completed. A sports com-plex of international standards has beencompleted at Faridabad in collaborationwith the Government of India at a costof Rs.8.43 crore.

A Regional Centre of SportsAuthority of India is being set up atVillage Joshi Chauhan (District Sonipat)and a sum of Rs.8.24 crore has been sanc-tioned for the first phase. This centrewould provide international standardplaying facilities to players. A SpecialSports Training Centre at CCSHAU,Hisar has been established by SAI toimpart coaching to 100 boys and girls inathletics, boxing, and judo and table ten-nis.

The Government has declaredwrestling as the state Game, there is aproposal to set up a wrestling academyin the state. District AkharaCompetitions, Distt. Kumar/KesariDangal, State Akhara Competitions andHaryana Kumar/Kesari Dangal are con-ducted regularly.

Cash Awards to the outstanding play-ers on the basis of their performance aregiven to all position holders in the vari-ous sports competitions. Similarly schol-arships to College/ School players arealso given to each first and second posi-tion holder. Olympians/ ArjunaAwardees/ Bhim Awardees and positionholders of Common Wealth Games andAsian Games are provided free travel-ling facilities. Old age pension is beinggiven to the outstanding sportspersonson attaining the age of 60. UnemployedOlympians are also given pension at therate of Rs.2000 per month.

A scheme has been started to providefinancial assistance up to Rs. five lakh tofamilies of players who suffer accidentaldeath during course of participation innational/international sports event. Incase of complete immobilization of legs,arms or injury to the spinal cord andpartial disability involving loss of limbor grave injury an amount of Rs threelakh and Rs. one lakh respectively shallbe provided to the international andnational level sportspersons respective-ly.

Sporting can look forward to brighterdays in Haryana.


Here are excerpts from an interviewwith Vijender Kumar, our youngOlympian.

Q. Whom do you want to dedicateyour Olympic medal?

To my parents, friends, and theentire boxing fraternity and to every-one, who has wished for my success.This is not only my individual medal.It belongs to every individual Indian.This is a medal for one billion Indians.

Q. What was in your mind beforegoing to Beijing?

For the last couple of years whenev-er I thought of the Beijing Games, thefirst thing that always came across mymind was Olympic medal. The onlything I was wishing before boardingthe flight to Beijing was to get a firstround bye in the draws as my weightcategory competition was startingfrom the first day after the opening cer-emony and I wanted to attend the cere-mony and I could only attend it if I gotthe first-round bye. But on the August8, the day of the draws, I totally dis-missed the bye thing from my mindand was prepared to take on any oppo-nent.

Q. Are you satisfied with bronze?

No way. But for the time being, yes, Iam satisfied with it because winning abronze medal at the Olympics is not asmall thing. My ultimate aim is win-ning an Olympic gold and LondonOlympics-2012 is the perfect place forit.

It was in London in 1948 Olympicswhen for the first time Indian teamparticipated in the quadrennial Gamesand now after 60 years again in LondonOlympics-2012 India will win its first-ever gold in the sport. The way we all

have performed in Beijing it will not besurprising if we win more than onegold medal in the next Games.

Q. Apart from Olympics, what doyou think is your biggest-ever victory?

Every victory whether its silvermedal in the MelbourneCommonwealth Games or bronze inthe Doha Asian Games is precious tome and has it has its own importancein my boxing career. But the victorythat I count as breakthrough for me inthe major league was my 2003 SeniorNational title.

Hari Krishan was the most estab-lished boxer in the senior circuit in the64kg weight category and the reigningnational champion at that time.Everybody was expecting that hewould retain the title, but I not onlydefeated him for the gold, but also wonthe best boxer title. Because of thistitle I also got the chance to representIndia in the Afro-Asian Games. Fromthat day I have never looked back andrest is history.

Q. You were the only Beijing-boundboxer, who was without any sponsor.So did it ever hamper your prepara-tions for the Olympics?

Akhil, Jatinder and Dinesh were inthe Mittal Champions Trust and A.S.Lakra was supported by Samsung. Irepresented the country in theOlympics for the second consecutivetime. I should have got some sponsorbut not having one didn't slow medown for my preparations for Beijing.The Haryana Government gave me Rs1 lakh along with the Bhim Award andThe Indian Amateur BoxingFederation also helped me with all myrequirements for the Games. But now Ihope I will get a sponsor for theLondon Olympics-2012 and it's not only

me, the other potential boxers shouldalso get sponsors for the nextOlympics.

Q. What is your take on beingappointed DSP in Haryana Police?

I am thankful to the HaryanaGovernment for giving me the post ofDeputy Superintendent of Police(DSP) in the state police. As I told youearlier also that the job security is verymuch important for a player and as faras this facet of the life is concerned Iwas secured when I was appointedInspector in March and this is a bonus.

Q. What was your first reaction whenyou checked in the Olympics village?

The time has come for which wewere putting in everything for the lastfour years. And I prayed to God to helpme in realizing my dream of winningan Olympic medal.

…And when you left the Olympicvillage for India?

I thanked God for everything I got inChina. And in my entire life I willnever forget China and will always bethankful to them. I got everything Iwished from Olympic medal to name,fame and world's acknowledgementhere only.

Q. What did you shop in China?

Didn't get any time for shopping.

VIJENDER: This is India’s glorySaurabh Duggal, himself a sports person and SportsWriter for the daily Hindustan Times has met theBhiwani boxers a number of times. He had written toHaryana Review much before the Beijing Olympicsthat these boys would make their mark. He knowsthem as he knows the lines on his palm.


Earlier from the first day of theOlympics to August 22 I was busy andtotally focused on my bouts and afterthat I preferred to relax in theOlympics Village to recover from thetiredness.

Did you face any pressure during theOlympics?

Before the quarterfinal bout I wasvery tensed as it was very crucial andeverything depended on it, whether Iwould be in the medal bracket or not. Ihad reached so far and I didn't want togo home empty handed. I couldn't sleepwell at that night but eventually myhard work paid off and I won the bout.

Q. You had earlier lost to the Thaiboxer in the 1st Olympic Qualifiers,whom you met in the pre-quarterfi-nals in Beijing. So, were you in pres-sure before the bout?

In the first Asian Qualifiers inThailand I lost the bout to Thai boxerin the semi-finals but at that time I wastold that it was a biased decision by theReferee Judges and they didn't give methe points on my punches. At that timetoo, I was better than him and I had to

prove my earlier statement correct inBeijing. I was rather happy when Ifaced him in Beijing and everybodyknew about the final score line.

Q. You are now an Olympic medal-list. Had you ever thought that youwould get this much of media atten-tion and importance in India?

Only winning a medal was in mymind and I was expecting media atten-tion after that. But I had never imag-ined that I would get such hugeresponse from the media and respectfrom every quarter, including meetingthe country's top dignitaries.

Q. What about modelling? Are yougetting any offers and endorsements?

I was always interested in modellingand I did photo profile for three maga-zines. I am getting many advertise-ments offers including one from a tyremanufacturer, an automobile companyand one cold drink giant has alsoapproached me. I have even got someoffers from Bollywood.

Q. So, now your main focus will beon modelling?

Earlier also I was the sameVijender - with same height and looks.But I didn't get any offer. So, it's obvi-ous that I am a boxer with achieve-ments that's why I am getting offers.My real recognition is only because ofboxing and I want to keep that recog-nition forever.

I will do modelling and advertise-ments but for a very short time andafter that again back to the ring.

Q. You are getting hefty cashawards. So how you are going tospend it?

I am planning to buy a flat andwhat else. I need time to think and dis-cuss it with my friends and familymembers.

Q. So, what are your future plans?

After taking rest for a short I willagain start practicing. My next focuswill be on 2010 Commonwealth Gamesand Asian Games.

And ultimate target will be 2012London Olympics. If you are eyeingfor gold in Olympics you need coupleof years to prepare for it.

GOBIND THUKRAL

He found the progressspectacular and attractive for

entrepreneurs worldwide whowere interested in investing inHaryana. Mr Malone also told theHaryana Chief Minister, Mr.Bhupinder Singh Hooda," TheCanadian automobile industrywas aware of Haryana's success inautomobile sector.' Referring toHaryana's economic success, theseasoned diplomat said, ''I amconfident, Haryana delivers whatit promises''.

During the past three yearsalone Haryana had shot up tonumber one with highest percapita investment in the country. Itwas at the 14th place earlier.

During the last budget sessionof the Punjab LegislativeAssembly, an important ministerwhen cornered sought to explainHaryana's much better taxcollections by an unusualequation.“Haryana - Gurgaon =Bihar”. Slightly dramatic in hisexpression, he was basicallyreiterating a widely held beliefthat Haryana's industrial successis mainly attributed to Gurgaondistrict, where severalmultinationals and IT companieshave established their bases andare thriving.

There are some facts that lendweight to this equation. Haryanahas a total of 20 districts. But out ofits total tax revenue of around Rs12,251 crore (2007-08)approximately, one-fourths comesfrom Gurgaon district alone.Similarly, the state's distinction ofproducing 50 per cent of India'spassenger cars and half of thetotal motorcycles is largely due tomanufacturing facilities of MarutiUdyog Limited and Hero HondaMotors in Gurgaon. There is athriving ancillary units all aroundthe region. No other place in this

country enjoys this prestige. Yetthis is not the complete story.

Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hoodaadmires this spectacularachievement. He says, "In

the credible journey...

Cover Story

Haryana, vast opportunities exist forinvestment and business because of itslocational advantage. One-thirds ofHaryana falls under the National CapitalRegion. Its strong agriculture base, fullydeveloped infrastructure facilities, itsproximity to the Indira GandhiInternational Airport, responsiveadministration, investor-friendly

It was for nothing that the Canadian High Commissioner, Mr. David Malone described Gurgaon as ''India's future''.

GURGAON14 HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 2008


environment, skilled manpower,excellent law and order, cordial labourrelations and balanced package ofincentives provide conduciveenvironment for attracting domesticand foreign investment."

Mr. Hooda adds, "If you ask me thereason behind Gurgaon's developmentin comparison to Faridabad, I will sayit is the city's proximity to south Delhi.To repeat the success, we are planningto create three new cities in closeproximity to the capital." Three newcities would follow the private-public

partnership (PPP) model as it was inthe case of Gurgaon. Haryanagovernment does not deny the fact thatprivate players had played animportant role in the emergence ofGurgaon and hence we will follow thatmodel, Mr. Hooda has thereforedeclared, "We want to create the townsjust on the lines of Gurgaon." It meritsattention that in the emergence ofGurgaon as a major town in northIndia, private developers have played asignificant role. A Gurgaon based realestate developer is the richest in his

Haryana has strongagriculture base, fully developedinfrastructure facilities, itsproximity to the Indira GandhiInternational Airport, responsiveadministration, investor-friendlyenvironment, skilled manpower,excellent law and order, cordiallabour relations and balancedpackage of incentives provideconducive environment forattracting domestic and foreigninvestment." -Chief Minister

Cover Storyline in the country.

Three planned cities areSamalkha on GT Road, Sampla onDelhi-Rohtak Road andJahangirpuri-Badli near Kundli.Gurgaons and more Gurgaons. Thisis the new mantra.

So is Haryana only aboutGurgaon? The answer is both yesand no. Finance Minister, BirenderSingh makes the right explanation:"Of course Haryana has anadvantage because of its contiguityto the National Capital Region. Butthis doesn't mean that people makeodious comparisons like the onementioned in the Punjab Assemblyrecently. Let me tell you that ouradministration is much better thanmost states. Also, the Government isworking hard to bringindustrialisation to other parts aswell. For example, a petrochemicalhub is coming up at Panipat and ITindustry is coming up at Panchkula."

There are several hubs. Sonipat,Faridabad being revived vigorously,Bahadurgarh, Nano city inPanchkula district, Hisar, Sirsa and,of course, Ambala andYamunanagar.

Deepender Singh Hooda, LokSabha member from Rohtak and son

of Chief Minister Bhupinder SinghHooda, said: "Haryana is proud ofGurgaon, but there is much more tothe state. We have strongfundamentals in all aspects ofeconomy, including agriculture andindustry. Look at any economicindicator or sector; you will see thatour performance is better than thestates which are complaining ofGurgaon's role in our economy."

Gurgaon does contribute in a bigway to Haryana's tax kitty. But lookat the performance of other districts.They have registered an annual taxincrease of around 20 per cent and itis pervasive in all districts. There issurely an element of betteradministration too.

Similarly, in IT, after the initialinvestment, Haryana did well to keep

the industry happy by a well-thoughtspecial IT policy (unheard of in moststates) that provided relaxation infloor area ratio, rebate onregistration, transfer of propertycharges and exemption under thestate Shops and CommercialEstablishment Act.

In one word, Haryana cares forindustrial development. It has takenadvantage of its proximity to thenational capital. But how could thathappen if Haryana had no requisiteinfrastructure, right policies that arefriendly for the expansion ofindustries and at top politicalleaders from the chief ministerdownwards and officers at all levelscaring and efficient.

The complete story is thatHaryana has excelled in industrialproduction. Today, it has more thanfifty per cent share in manufacturingof passenger cars, motorcycles andscooters, produced in the country.More than 25 per cent production oftractors, bicycles, sanitary-waremanufactured in the country is fromHaryana, created from the womb ofPunjab in November 1966. Thenumber of large and medium scaleunits in the State has increased from162 in 1966 to 1290 and in addition

Inside view of the Honda Activa plant at Gurgaon

Haryana has an advan-tage because of its contiguity tothe National Capital Region.But this doesn't mean that peo-ple make odious comparisonslike the one mentioned inPunjab Assembly recently.

-Finance Minister, Birender Singh

16 HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 2008

17

more than 80,000 small scale industriesand a large number of small serviceestablishments also exist. The totalcapital investment exceeds Rs 230billion.

Haryana is also home to some of thebiggest names among multinationalcompanies. Just to name a few, Siemens,ABB, Suzuki, GE, Honda, Nestle,Smithkline Beecham, Mitsubishi, JCB,Coca Cola, Pepsi, IBM, Alcatel, Perfetti,Barco, Norcool, Nerolac, Baxter India,Johson Mathey, and Denso are located inHaryana.

After Bangalore and Chennai,Haryana is now the third largestsoftware exporter in India. This is againmainly due to Gurgaon, which today has405 units of IT and ITES companies witha combined investment of Rs 2,500 crore.These companies, TCS, Hughes,Convergys, Polaris, Sapient, Dell,Microsoft, IBM, Genpact, Oracle,Accenture, employ around 1.5 lakhpeople. The state's software exports areclose to Rs 14,000 crore.

The annual turnover of industrialsector in Gurgaon is close to Rs 74,000crore, These 475 large and medium scaleunits provide employment to aroundfour lakh people.

Also, the industrial presence inGurgaon goes beyond IT and

automobiles. This sector too is vibrantchurning goods worth crores every day.There are clusters of readymadegarment manufacturers includingOrient Craft which is India's secondlargest garment exporter afterGokuldas. Electronics industry with 95units, including Samsung makes richcontribution. Pharmaceutical industryhas 33 units, including RanbaxyLaboratories Ltd, India’s largestpharmaceutical company by sales whosemajority shares are owned by Japan'sDaiichi Sankyo Company. In an all cashdeal, the largest in India'spharmaceuticals space, Ranbaxypromoters have agreed to sell theirstake, 34.8 per cent for Rs 9,576 crore ($2.4billion) . Food processing has 55 unitsand leather industry boasts of 71 units,although there is hardly any rawmaterial available locally.

HARYANA FOR INDUSTRY

Haryana offers an excellent locationto start any industry. Hence it has beenable to attract sizable investment frommultinational companies, large businesshouses, foreign investors, non-residentsIndian and Small scale entrepreneurs.Haryana is an investor friendly Stateand offers a rich reservoir of skilled,motivated and relatively low-costmanpower with a good infrastructureand harmonious industrial relations. ALilliput in size but a giant in attainment,with just 1.37 per cent of the country'sgeographical area and 1.97 per cent ofthe country's total population, the stateis proud of being one of the first fewstates with the highest per capita incomein the country.

The state has already 857 projectswith foreign technical collaboration. Tomention only a few Maruti UdyogLimited, Hero Honda, Modi Alcatel,

Escorts, Sony India, VXL India,whirlpool Industries, Wipro Ltd., PerfettiIndia, DCM, Benetton, TDT Copper Ltd.,Asahi India Safety Glass etc. SomeMajor Units in the public sector areHMT Ltd., National Fertilizer Ltd.,Indian Drugs & Pharmaceutical Ltd.,Bharat Electronics Ltd., IBPL, etc. Thelatest addition to this group is the Rs.4,200 crore Oil refinery set up by IndianOil Corporation in Panipat district.

The state has received new projectproposals from multinational companiessuch as United DevelopmentIncorporated Panama, TecumeshProducts, USA, JELD Won Inc USScholler GMBH (Germany), NHKSprings Co. Japan, Casio Computers,Japan, big Indian Industrial Houses andleading NRIs to the tune of Rs. 1,910crores. In the last six years, 2,962Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandahave been filed with Government ofIndia for setting up projects in Haryanawhich would catalyse an investment ofRs. 309 billion and generate directemployment for 3.40 lakh persons. Thecurrent employment growth rate is oneof the highest in the country at nearlysix per cent per annum.

The growth of small industries in theState has also been exceptional. Theirnumber has increased from 4,500 in 1966to 80,000 today. They are producinggoods and services well worth Rs.4,500crore per annum while generatingemployment for 8.7 lakh persons.Twenty per cent of the country's totalexport of scientific instruments, sixtyper cent of the demand of ammunitionboxes of the country's defence forcesand sixty per cent of the total needs ofwoollen blankets of the Indian Armyare met by small units of Haryana.Haryana's small scale sector also enjoysthe reputation of manufacturing thelargest number of electrical mixies andgas stoves in the country. Major exportitems are software, handloom products,scientific instruments, garments,automobiles & automotive components,electrical appliances, rice, guargum,and pickles etc. Haryana offers anexcellent location to start any industry.It has a rich industrial base, equippedwith incomparable infrastructure. One-third of Haryana falls under theNational Capital Region. Panipat,Rohtak, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sonipat have a special potential for accelerated socio-economicdevelopment.

17

The growth of smallindustries in the State hasalso been exceptional. Theirnumber has increased from4,500 in 1966 to 80,000today. They are producinggoods and services well worthRs.4,500 crore per annumwhile generating employmentfor 8.7 lakh persons.


Cover Story

VINEET PUNIA

Today, Gurgaon needs nointroduction. It has caught thepopular imagination to such

an extent that it is being showeredwith all sorts of laudatory labels.Some call it Cyber City orMillennium City, while othersdescribe it as the out-sourcing capitalof India. It is also called theSingapore of India for its imposingskyline and contours of skyscrapers.But there is no dispute or doubt thatGurgaon is defining the 21stcentury's urban India for its boomingeconomy and superior quality of life.

Gurgaon is now the rising staramong the upcoming cities of thecountry. It has surpassed all itssenior cousins like Faridabad, Noidaand Ghaziabad, which had started offquite earlier but faded away with the

passage of time. It is said thatproperty market is one of the morereliable indicators of infrastructuraldevelopment, living conditions andpeople's aspirations. Gurgaon, whichwas once just another small farmingvillage located south of Delhi, hasnow become a hot residential andcommercial destination. If one has alook at the residential localities andits workplaces, it has acquired a truemetropolitan character - a far cryfrom its earlier status of being justanother district headquarters ofHaryana.

A recent survey by IndicusAnalytics reveals that Gurgaon islooked upon as one of the mostpreferred cities for not just jobopportunities but also because itoffers unparalleled growthopportunities. Interestingly,Gurgaon also tops the list of the best

to 'earn-in' cities; and is followed byNoida, Faridabad, Chandigarh,Surat, Bangalore, Gandhinagar andPune. Now it is no more a poor

cousin of Delhi.

Gurgaon is now considered as thesymbol of the rapidly progressingurban India. It depicts a changingand dynamic India; an India whereeconomic progress andinfrastructural development are nolonger confined to the metros, but arespilling over to what can be bestdescribed as mini-metros, along withsmall towns and cities. RamanTrikha, a leading property analystsays that Gurgaon's fast pacedgrowth has been quite exemplary; ithas become a source of motivation toother regions in India. A Noida basedentrepreneur, Mr. Kamal Gupta,however points out that variousfactors like favourable tax policies bythe Haryana government, consistentimprovement in the city'sinfrastructure by the Haryana UrbanDevelopment Authority, better law &order and the proximity to the IndiraGandhi International Airport, NewDelhi, have led to the emergence ofGurgaon as one of the mostprominent outsourcing and off-shoring hubs in South Asia - at thecost of other NCR cities in its

neighbourhood.Real estate developmenthas been so radical that

the entire skyline ofGurgaon has

GURGAON - Defining 21st century India

GURGAON IS NOW CON-SIDERED AS THE SYMBOL OFTHE RAPIDLY PROGRESSINGURBAN INDIA. IT DEPICTS ACHANGING AND DYNAMICINDIA; AN INDIA WHEREECONOMIC PROGRESS ANDINFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOP-MENT ARE NO LONGERCONFINED TO THE METROS

Gurgaon has caught the popular imagination to such an extentthat it is being showered with all sorts of laudatory labels likeCyber City, Millennium City...


transformed beyond recognition duringthe past one decade. Dinesh Aggarwal, alocal resident of the older Gurgaontown's main bazaar, says that the wholescenario of the city has changed to suchan extent that if some old timer localresident, who has not been there for thelast seven-eight years, visits Gurgaonnow, he would feel totally lost and mayfind it very difficult to locate even hisown home. Dinesh is not exaggerating;in Gurgaon one finds series and series ofstunning high-rise buildings, good broadroads and new bridges beaming withhigh-end cars. Sanjay Chawla, an NRI,gives 'huge credit' to the Government'svisionary policies. He says that theGurgaon skyline is very impressive andindicates the growing economic power ofthe nation. However, Gurgaon contrastswith Singapore in one respect, that whileblue sea embraces the latter'sskyscrapers, Gurgaon's skylineoverlooks lush green fields.

The importance of Gurgaon wasemphasized by none other than theSuzuki Motor Company's Chairman, Mr.Osamu Suzuki, who assured HaryanaChief Minister, Mr. Bhupinder SinghHooda, that the company's futureinvestment in India would be made inHaryana only. He assured the visitingdelegation led by Mr. Hooda thatJapanese industrialists would makeGurgaon the ''Detroit'' of India. Suzukihas been in Haryana since 1982 and hasfaced no problems, he added.

In Gurgaon, one find hectic buildingactivities in all parts of the city, it hasbecome perhaps India's largestconstruction zone. As per a rough

estimate, in the past eight years over11,000 new apartments have beenoccupied, five million square feet ofoffice space added and over four millionsquare feet of retail development hastaken place. Gurgaon is the newcorporate capital of the country. Thisreflects in the fact that already Haryanahas become home to 93 of top Fortune100 companies' corporate offices andproduction bases, a majority of whichare based in Gurgaon.

The Haryana government has beenconscious of the city's meteoric rise onthe national and international scene, ithas taken many important steps tosustain its status, like setting up theMunicipal Corporation of Gurgaon(MCG), connecting the city with Delhithrough the Metro service andintroducing the Commissionerate Policesystem. The Haryana Chief Ministerhas recently announced a bonanza forthe development of Gurgaon.

To bring about cohesive and all rounddevelopment of Gurgaon thegovernment has decided to constituteMCG. MCG Commissioner, Mr. RajeevSharma says, "The MunicipalCorporation is aware of itsresponsibility of being an apex civicbody that is responsible for the overalland synergic development of this fast-developing city". He discloses that theCorporation has enough funds and isalive to the needs of the city, like, better

intra city transportation, civicfacilities for the residents.Now, the MCG has diverse

bodies like the HUDA, the Town andCountry Planning and the HSIIDC underits umbrella, which will help in plannedand sustainable development.

The Gurgaon Police has taken manycitizen-friendly steps. Now, all complaintsand FIRs registered at all the 25 policestations in Gurgaon are computerizedand the complainant is given a printout ofthe same. The police has also launched itswebsite - www.gurgaonpolice.net, wherepeople can lodge complaints online. "ThePolice have already installed 110 CCTVcameras with pan, tilt and zoomcapabilities at major malls and trafficintersections. We plan to install 300 suchcameras all over the city in a few months'time," says Gurgoan PoliceCommissioner, Mr. Mohinder Lal. Apartfrom calling the conventional police

emergency number 100, citizenscan also send SMS to 9717595423to report a crime. The system hasalready become functional, Lal

says. It will not be anexaggeration to assert that, asfar as Gurgaon is concerned,the future has already

arrived.

In Gurgaon, one find hecticbuilding activities in all parts of thecity, it has become perhaps India'slargest construction zone.

HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 2008 19

2020 Cover Story

VINEET PUNIA

By mid next year, a brand newexpress highway wouldprovide a high-speed-link to

the Northern Haryana, Punjab,Jammu & Kashmir and HimachalPradesh with the SouthernHaryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat andMaharashtra. This 136 kilometreKundli -Manesar-Palwal(KMP)Expressway is all set to unleash anew era of fast paced developmentfor the whole NCR of Haryana.

KMP Expressway will connectfour of the most importantindustrial centres in Haryana, andintersect four of India's busiestNational Highways: NH-1 nearKundli (Sonipat), NH-10 nearBahadurgarh, NH-8 at Manesar andNH-2 near Palwal (Faridabad). Itwill also give further boost to thedevelopment of all NCR cities.

This project is aimed to provide

the spatial integration of importantUrban Centres in the NationalCapital Region. Moreover, this willact as bye-pass for traffic not-destined for Delhi.

HSIIDC has been entrusted withthe execution of this expressway.M/s KMP Expressways Ltd. isundertaking the project. It is slatedto be completed by August 2009.

Chairman, KMP Expressway, H S Kohli discloses that it would bean international level project. Theaggregate used for constructing theexpressway has been imported fromfacilities abroad. So, one won't findany undulations or potholes, and itwill withstand hail, rain, and hightemperatures.

The strongest features on thisexpressway are the three majorstructures which will provide aspeedy connectivity to the traffic onall the national highway

intersections. The structures will belarge interchanges with slip roadsand side lanes for local as well aslong-route vehicles.

Four flyovers have been proposedat places where the KMPExpressway will cross nationalhighways. Eleven overpasses andunderpasses at crossings on statehighways and major district roads;104 overpasses and underpasses onvillage and other roads are beingconstructed.

Four railway overbridges, 18

KMP Expressway torevolutionise NCR

Map of upcomingKMP Expressway

Chief Minister Mr. BhupinderSingh Hooda made an aerial survey of KMPExpressway and reviewed theprogress of its construction.Mr. Hooda said that thisexpressway would serve as acatalyst for growth and leadto greater development inSonipat, Jhajjar, Gurgaon,Mewat and Faridabad districts through dynamic connectivity with Delhi andNational Capital Region.


2121

major/ minor bridges, cross drainageworks at 292 locations, 2 truck parkingand four bus bays will also beconstructed. It will have top-notchinfrastructure such as parking lots,refilling stations, police stations,trauma centres, helipad, refreshmentcentres and recreational facilities. TheKMP Global Corridor will haveexcellent physical and functionallinkages with Delhi as well as itsproposed sub-cities integrating theexisting rural and urban centres. Thegovernment is evolving an integrated,holistic, sustainable plan.

GLOBAL CORRIDOR

The global corridor project beingestablished on KMP expressway is anendeavour to place the specializedsectors in a planned area along withthe KMP expressway endowed withworld class facilities. It would alsoopen new vistas of development in thewhole NCR.

Development of world classcorridor along the proposed KMPExpressway with state of art facilitieswill act as a catalyst for developmentand attracting private participationin development of region. Privateorganizations and the landdevelopment sector have alreadyrealized its importance and manyprivate players have expressed theirinterest. Government has planned tobuild theme cities on KMPexpressway to promote planneddevelopment in the NCR.

The spatial plan of the corridorwill develop around a number ofspecialized economic activities,which can trigger and sustaineconomic growth. Each lead economicactivity is being envisaged to be thefocus of self sustaining specializedand independent cluster city.

The themes of cities beingconsidered include Cyber City,Education City, Bio-Science City, MediCity, Fashion City, Leisure City,Entertainment City, World Trade andFinancial City, among others, inaddition to Industrial ModelTownships and SEZs. The expresswaywould provide linkages with Delhiand help specialized sectors to growand generate employmentopportunities to local youth, whichwill give immense boost to theeconomy of the state catapulting it tobecome real national leader.

A number of expressway projects getdelayed. The Taj Expressway is oneinstance. What have you done toensure that your project is completed on schedule?

Delays happen because land acquisi-tion is not completed on time. In thiscase, the Government of Haryana isacquiring the land and handing it overto us. It has acquired more than 95 percent land already. Internally, ourresources are in place, and we haveplanned the project well. Finally, theHon’ble Supreme Court is monitoringthe progress of this project. So thechances of it getting delayed are verylittle. We are projecting the completionas per schedule.

How did the Hon’ble Supreme Courtcome into the picture?

The plan for developing this express-way was mooted by the Hon’ble SC inMarch, 2004. Some time ago, whenDelhi had become much polluted, theHon’ble Supreme Court had taken sev-eral initiatives to reduce pollution.That was when the Hon’ble Court sug-gested developing an expressway thatwould allow vehicles to bypass Delhi .So the Hon’ble Court has been a part ofthis development and it asks for regu-lar progress reports.

What is the revenue model for theexpressway?

Based on the detailed project reportprepared by RITES, a toll fee structurehas been fixed. Passenger cars, vansand jeeps will be charged Rs 0.75 perkm. Light commercial vehicles will becharged Rs 1.25 per km. Trucks andbuses will be charged Rs. 2.60 per km.Multi axle vehicles will be charged Rs.4.15 per km. To give an example, a cartravelling along the entire length of theexpressway will pay Rs 101.25.

H S Kohli, chairman, KMPexpressway, the company thathad won the tender fromHaryana State Industrial andInfrastructure DevelopmentCorporation (HSIIDC) fordeveloping this expressway,spoke to Haryana Reviewabout the KMP Expressway.

Haryana's minister for PublicWorks Department, Capt. AjaySingh Yadav counts "severaladvantages of KMP project. Firstit would reduce traffic pressureon Delhi which is feeling chokedfrom all sides. Imagine thewastage of time and fuel byhundreds of trucks, lorries andcars. It would link the entireregion comprising several north westernstates. It would ease movement of goodsand passengers towards Haryana, Punjab,

Himachal Pradesh, Jammu andKashmir besides Uttar Pradeshand further on to western andeastern India. " Mr Yadav toldHaryana Review, "The express-way would open up avenues forsetting up new townships, thusreduce congestion in Delhi,Gurgaon and Faridabad whereit is now impossible to build a

liveable house. There is also a proposal tomove some offices out of the nationalcapital to ease the population pressure."

Capt. Ajay SinghYadav

Not just numbers, the 135.65 km long KMPExpressway will have...

l 3 Grade separator at placeswhere the expressway will cross NH-1, NH-10, NH-8

l 16 overpasses and underpasses at crossings of state highways and major district roads

l 4 railway over bridgesl 21 major and minor bridgesl 27 underpasses at crossings of

village roadsl 33 agricultural vehicular

underpassesl 31 cattle crossing passagesl 61 pedestrian crossing

passagesl Cross drainage works at 292

locationsl 2 truck parking and lay byel 4 bus bays


22 Cover Story

SHWETA VASHISHTA

Wide multilane roads, toweringbuildings and swanky mallsrunning along on both sides

of the road; this is the picture whichcatches the glimpse of the viewer when

one enters Gurgaon, better known asthe 'Singapore of India'. This picture isin stark contrast to the Gurgaon of twodecades ago - a small, nondescriptdistrict township on the outskirts ofDelhi. The incredible pace at whichGurgaon has developed makes it hardto imagine its past status as a smallsluggish town. Thanks to the rapid

industrialization and kudos to theunending efforts on the part of thegovernment, Gurgaon hasmetamorphosed into a world classentity with a distinct brand value. As aprototype for other developingtownships it has emerged as the face ofnot only Haryana but also of India.

The journey from a humdrumtownship to a high-tech city makingwaves all over the world started withthe opening of the Maruti car plant inGurgaon in the early 1980s. Since thenthere has been no turning back.Prestigious national and internationalbrand names belonging to suchbusinesses and industries asautomobile, retail, textile, banking,real estate, IT, biotech, agro andpharmaceuticals have been making abeeline for the city.

Such famous big-biz names as GE,Microsoft, Sapient, IBM, Oracle,American Express, Citibank, and Dellare already operating in Gurgaon.With the state and private developmentcompanies like DLF reinforcing theinfrastructural framework for therapid development, Gurgaon, once aparched land, is now a sought after

Industries sculpt GURGAON

Prestigious national and international brand names belonging to automobile, retail, textile, banking,real estate, IT, biotech, agro and pharmaceutical industries have been making a beeline for the city


destination.Gurgaon has grown exponentially

during the last decade due to itsproximity to the national capital. Ithas already emerged as a majoroutsourcing destination and a realestate market in northern India.Favourable policy incentives by theHaryana government andimprovement in the city'sinfrastructure by the Haryana UrbanDevelopment Authority have furthergiven an impetus to its growth.Gurgaon, along with Faridabad,contributes over 50% of Haryana'sincome tax revenues.

Industries and Commerce

The genesis of Gurgaon's successstory lies in the setting up of theMaruti Udyog Ltd. in collaborationwith the Suzuki Motor Co. of Japan in1981. Today, Maruti Suzuki is a leadingfour-wheeler manufacturer in SouthAsia. It is one of India's leadingautomobile manufacturers and themarket leader in the car segment, bothin terms of volume of vehicles soldand revenue earned. Itsmanufacturing facilities are located atGurgaon and Manesar. Manesar andGurgaon facilities have a combined

capability to produce over 7,00,000units annually. The inception ofMaruti also saw the growth of manyautomotive ancillary manufacturers.Thereafter, Hero Honda MotorsLimited entered the foray in 1984. HeroHonda, a joint venture between HeroGroup of India and Honda of Japan, isthe world's largest manufacturer inmotor cycles.

Apart from automobile, variousindustries like textiles,telecommunication equipment,electrical goods, readymade garments,IT, software development, rubberproducts, pharmaceuticals, shoes,pesticides etc. have set up officesand/or manufacturing facilities inGurgaon. Readymade garmentsindustry has shown tremendousgrowth - its units are exportingproducts to many countries.

It is estimated that there are 727readymade garments and textile unitswhich have invested Rs 1,432 croresand are providing employment to84,798 people. Some of the units havealso been given National Awards by

the Government of India. Some of thenotable brands operating fromGurgaon are Orient Craft Ltd., PearlGlobal, GIVO, DCM Benetton, GauravInternational, Chelsea Mills andModelma Exports.

Gurgaon boasts of an electroniccity which is spread over an area of 40acres. Moreover, a SoftwareTechnology Park over an area of 14,000sq. feet is being developed within theElectronic City. It is allotted tosoftware units. Here satellitecommunication link has beenprovided for the benefit of unitslocated in the park. This has givenimpetus to the setting up of hi- tech &

export oriented electronics/ITindustry. In this fast emerging IT hubthere are about 350 IT and IT EnabledServices (ITES) companies. Gurgaonhas emerged as a preferred destinationfor IT industry after theannouncement of IT policy by theGovernment of Haryana. Total IT &ITES exports from the district touched14,000 crores during the year 2006-07whereas it was Rs. 10,700 crores in2005-06. Gurgaon is now ranked thirdamong the country's major softwareexport locations in India afterBangalore and Chennai. The industryis growing at the rate of 34% inHaryana which is much above thenational average of about 24% to 27%.In order to give boost to IT industry, aregional IT industry promotion officehas been set up in Gurgaon. Worldfamous IT companies like HughesSoftware, Tata Consultancy Service,HCL, GE Capital and Silicon Graphics,Alcatel, American Express,Convergys, Motorola, Ericcson,Polaris, Sapient, Hewitt, Dell,Samsung, Aricent, Microsoft, IBM,Siemens, Fidelity, Genpact, Oracle,WNS, Google, Accenture, Wipro etc.have their units located at Gurgaon.The city is also the biggest call centrehub in India. About 1,50,000 to 2,00,000young people work in call centres thatmainly service the US and UK basedcompanies.

After the announcement of newindustrial policy by the presentGovernment, the economic growth ofGurgaon district is estimated to reach10% to 15% during the next five yearsas compared to the national growthrate of 8% to 9%. The ending of textilequota regime, low interest rates, rapidtechnological changes, labour reformsare further likely to boost theindustrial profitability andproductivity of industries.

The annual turnover in theindustrial sector in the district hascrossed 73,500 crores with aninvestment of more than 18,000 crores.Gurgaon today has 435 units of largeand medium scale industries whichhave invested Rs. 6,45,0.18 crores, withproduction of Rs. 21,36,9.59 crores andare providing employment to 58,266persons. There are around 10,000 smallscale industrial units with aninvestment of Rs. 4,867 crores, whichprovide employment to 1,74,700persons .


GURGAON TODAY HAS435 UNITS OF LARGE ANDMEDIUM SCALE INDUS-TRIES WHICH HAVE INVEST-ED RS. 6,45,0.18 CRORES,WITH PRODUCTION OFRS. 21,36,9.59 CRORESAND ARE PROVIDINGEMPLOYMENT TO 58,266PERSONS .

2424

Gurgaon's industries have filledthe government coffers withvaluable foreign exchange. Theyexported goods and services worthRs. 20 thousand crores during theyear 2006-07. Out of this, Rs. 14,000crores worth of exports were fromthe IT sector, Rs. 2,500 crores fromthe automobile, Rs. 2,000 croresfrom readymade garments and Rs.1,500 crores from other sectors.

The main items exportedinclude cars, motorcycles,software, readymade garments,sports goods and rice to mainly UK,Algeria, Hungary, Denmark,Netherlands, Columbia, Sri Lanka,Japan, Bangladesh, Nepal,Australia, Korea, South Africa,USA, Austria and Mexico.

Gurgaon has attracted foreign

direct investment of Rs. 5,000crores through HSIIDC, HUDA andDepartment of Industries forestablishing industrial units inIMT Manesar, Udyog Vihar,Electronic City, Pace City andIndustrial Development ColonyEstate. The new projects underimplementation are specialeconomic zone, KMP expressway,metro rail link, multi layer parking

facility in HSIIDC and setting up ofgems and jewellery park. Theincoming units include famousIndian and foreign companies.

Gurgaon is now a prosperouscity providing quality life andvarious opportunities of work toits people. Industries have played acrucial role in development of thedistrict. According to Economicand Statistical Organization,Gurgaon's gross state domesticproduct (GSDP) stands at Rs14,35,176 lakh (at current prices)and Rs 11,18,908 lakh (at constantprices) and per capita income is Rs70,399 (at current prices) and Rs54,788 (at constant prices).

RETAILING BUSINESS:

The Malls : In order to cater tothe needs of Gurgaon's growingurban population retailingestablishments have becomeindispensable. No wonder thatfancy shopping malls have becomea distinct feature of Gurgaon.

In fact, Gurgaon is known as themall capital of India. CourtesyGurgaon, people of India haveawakened to mall culture wherebyeverything is available under oneroof. Since these offerentertainment and eating jointswithin the mall they are preferredto the conventional retail outlets.Revolutionizing the quality of lifeof people of Gurgaon, shoppingmalls in Gurgaon are giving amajor boost to the retail industry,thus transforming the entire mapof the city.

There are nearly two dozenoperational shopping malls in thecity with about 140 more in thepipeline. Some of the famousretail brands in Gurgaon areSahara Mall, DLF City Centre,MGF Metropolitan, DLF MegaMall, Vishal Mega Mart andAmbiance.

Not only this, Gurgaon is allgeared up to pioneer the country'sfirst wedding mall. The mall isdesigned to serve as a one-stopwedding shop to cater to allwedding needs of the people, fromdesigning and printing ofinvitation cards to buyinghoneymoon packages.

Inside view of a Mall in Gurgaon

GURGAON IS NOW APROSPEROUS CITY PROVID-ING QUALITY LIFE AND VAR-IOUS OPPORTUNITIES OFWORK TO ITS PEOPLE.INDUSTRIES HAVE PLAYED ACRUCIAL ROLE IN DEVELOP-MENT OF THE DISTRICT.


25

AMANBIR KAUR BRAR

Like many towns, and villages, ofHaryana, Gurgaon too presentsa charming mix of mythology

and history. However, today, it enjoys aspecial status as 'Mini Singapore' as itnow boasts of being home to severalmultinational companies engaged insuch industries as informationtechnologies, automobiles and others.Once a sleepy and dusty suburb of thenational capital it now has grown intoa posh and futuristic township withall the state-of-art amenities that onecan hope for in a world class set-up.

Before we proceed to have a look atpros and cons of the town'stransformed outlook let us rewind toits hoary past and recent history.Legend has it that Gurgaon's original

name was Gurugram (the Guru'svillage) because it was the ancestralhome of Dronacharya, the Guru ofPandavas and Kauravas. Then there isanother folklore that ascribes itsname to the manufacture of 'gur'(jaggery); the second part of the name'gaon' stands for village, alluding tothe town's agrarian origins when,perhaps, it used to be known for gur

production. Of course, before the real estate

boom changed its demographiccharacter, the Gurgaon populationused to be predominantly agrarianwith Jats forming the largest group.During the British rule in India,Gurgaon was integrated into the thenPunjab Province. Following India'sindependence Gurgaon remained inthe state of Punjab. However, itbecame a part of Haryana after thenew state came into being. Theoriginal local population that lives inthe old Gurgaon area is seeped in the

25

SOFTWARE OF THE MINDCulture & Lifestyle

Phot

o :

Kara

m S

ingh

It enjoys a special status as 'Mini Singapore' as it now boasts of beinghome to several multinational companies engaged in such industries asinformation technologies, automobiles and others.

Once a sleepyand dusty suburbof the national cap-ital it now hasgrown into a poshand futuristictownship with allthe state-of-artamenities that onecan hope for in aworld class set-up.


26 Cover Story

traditional culture and values.Unable to reconcile to theemerging urban culture, thesepeople disapprove of it, especiallythe nightlife. No doubt risingproperty prices have made themrich overnight but the outlook andthe thinking is the sameconservative one. However, theeating habits of their youngstersare undergoing a perceptiblechange. The traditional healthyHaryanavi food is being replacedwith fast-food.

Today its cosmopolitan socio-economic profile is vastly differentfrom its earlier agrarian profile.Most of the residents of Gurgaonwork in the city's booming IT

i n d u s t r y .Thousands of

professionals from different partsof the country, nay the world, havecome here and are living inapartments or in newlyconstructed colonies andcondominiums with world-classfacilities. Gurgaon has an averageliteracy rate of 77%, which ishigher than the national average of59.5%: male literacy is 81%, andfemale literacy is 73%. By the year2010, the state government hopes tocomplete a world class GoldenTriangle City Centre (GTCC) inSector 29 of Gurgaon with as manyas four skyscrapers.

The prevalent culture inGurgaon has become quitedifferent from that of the rest ofthe state's. Since a major chunk ofthe population of the citycomprises educated and skilledmigrants who work in the ITsector, as well as in ultra-modernhotels and call centres they preferto shop in the malls and visitmultiplexes for watching movies.The average eating out habitstands at 3.7 times a week which ishigher than the national average of1.89 as per a survey conducted by aprivate organization. A typicalexample of migrants who come toGurgaon in search of better careerprospects and a healthy economiclife is Bharat from Chandigarh. He

is working with Convergys aleading call center at Gurgaon

for the past two years. Heshifted here as the city

provided him with good prospects.Moreover, the crème of Delhi hasmoved into Gurgaon causing agreat rise in its average standardof living. Most Gurgaonites spendan average of 11½ hours in office,which is four hours higher thanthe national average.

With the change in demographic profile there has been ashift in preferences for clothesfrom traditional outfits to western- jeans, tops, jackets etc are now a

common sight.People go fordesigner andbranded wear.Apart from beingf a s h i o nconscious thepeople havebecome healthconscious too,giving rise to a

THE PREVALENT CUL-TURE IN GURGAONHAS BECOME QUITEDIFFERENT FROM THATOF THE REST OF THESTATE'S. SINCE AMAJOR CHUNK OF THEPOPULATION OF THECITY COMPRISES EDU-CATED AND SKILLEDMIGRANTS WHO WORKIN THE IT SECTOR, ASWELL AS IN ULTRA-MODERN HOTELS ANDCALL CENTERS THEYPREFER TO SHOP INTHE MALLS AND VISITMULTIPLEXES FORWATCHING MOVIES.

Thousands of professionals fromdifferent parts of thecountry, nay the world,have come here and areliving in apartments or innewly constructed coloniesand condominiums withworld-class facilities.


good number of beauty and healthsaloons in the city. Ms. Mittu ahousewife says that dining out hasbecome common with her and manysuch families and everyone is happywith this. "Living in Gurgaon is easyas the city meets, with our growingneeds,” she adds, "I am proud thatGurgaon is a city of internationalstandards and it is great being a partof the city."

Since, a kinetic nightlife hasbecome a part of the city's nightlifethe emergence of nightclubs as itssalient feature was inevitable.Gurgaon nightclubs provide the bestof comfort and service and are alsocoming up with innovative ways tolure consumers. Ms. Geetinder Kaur,who works in an MNC, says that thecity is a perfect destination foryoungsters as it provides hugeemployment opportunities and alsooffers great entertainment channels.After week long hectic work schedulethe youth of Gurgaon enjoy the

nightlife, shopping and partying withfriends. With the advent of pubs inGurgaon, the nightlife has certainlytransformed. According to today'syouth the pubs in Gurgaon havesurely become a trendsetter for them.

One of the sociological fallouts ofthis transformation has been thelooming extinction of the traditionaljoint family system. Nuclear familieshave, more or less, become the normin Gurgaon. The youth today don'twant to stay with their parents.Moreover, girls don't like theinterference of their in-laws. One ofthe reasons behind this change is theemergence of nightlife culture, thecoming of BPO's (where one has towork night shifts and at odd hours),and enhancement in jobopportunities. The youth wants towork hard and play hard withouthindrance from their elders.

But each coin has two sides. Behindthe glitter of malls and the brand newhigh rise buildings there is an

increase in property disputesand crime. With growing

concerns for safetyand people

c o m p l a i n i n ga b o u t

increasednumber

o f

crimes in the city it has becomenecessary for the government to takepreventive steps. Apart fromconducting hi-tech surveillance thecity police department hasempowered certain selected residentsto keep an eye on the functioning ofpolice personnel and submit feedbackand suggestions to senior cops forfollow-up action.

Most offices have acoffee shop or fast food jointnearby, like McDonalds,Starbucks, Barista, BurgerKing, KFC, Ruby Tuesdaysetc. The mushroomingshopping malls of Gurgaon,like the DLF City Centre, DLFGrand Mall, DLF Mega Mall,Sahara Mall, MGFMetropolitan Mall, MGFMega City, DLF Star Mallare also indicative of therecognition by retailers of thefar-reaching aspirations ofthe residents of the city.


28

By 2021, the Haryanagovernment planners wish topush Gurgaon, the country's

rising star into a fast lane. ItsMaster Plan-2021 kindles high hopes

for the ever increasing citizenry.This flourishing cyber city wouldadd another 14,930 hectares of landfor residential and 1,404 hectares forcommercial development. It is good

enough for one full fledged modernmetropolis. Priority is to providefast lanes to the national capital,Delhi. New road links would meanmore people making Gurgaon their

Master stroke for Gurgaon28 Cover Story

SUPERIOR LIFE FOR ALL


29

abode.The Government has planned

90 meter wide link betweenVasant Kunj, Delhi to MahrauliRoad, Gurgaon, and 90 meter wideroad from Andhria Mor toGurgaon-Faridabad Road and 150meter wide link between Dwarkaresidential complex to Palm Viharin Gurgaon. In addition to these,'Mass Rapid Transit Corridor'along with 150 meter wide Dwarkalink has also been proposed in the

Development Plan. The population of Gurgaon has

already witnessed high growth;103 per cent during the period1951-61 due to rehabilitationcolonies developed after partition.Subsequently, population growthremained steady with 34.70 percent during 1981-91 and 68.39%during 1991-2001. The area ofGurgaon-Manesar UrbanComplex is proposed toaccommodate 37 lakh [3.7 million]population by 2021 AD.

Director, Town & CountryPlanning, Haryana,•Mr S SDhillon, says that the master planhas been finalised to bring allround planned development andto control haphazarddevelopments. The proposedresidential development is to bedeveloped on neighbourhoodconcept by making provision forall community facilities andservices within the residentialsectors. One important feature isto keep the average density to 200persons per hectare.

Sector 29 will be developed asCity Centre with commercialestablishments and high riseoffice buildings with a provisionof green belts along majortransport corridors to meet thefuture demand. Sector 72 and 72-Aare open spaces and for thepurpose of recharging groundwater and to add to the naturalbeauty of the area.

A sizable area has beenreserved for agriculture use in thedevelopment plan. This wouldprovide vegetables and fruitbesides keeping the area green as

oxygen belt. Major infrastructureworks like water supply, sewerageand power supply have been put inplace to support the developmentof residential, industrial as wellas allied use in the urban complex.

This plan includes boardinghouses, social, community,recreational and religiousbuildings, educational buildings,health institutions, cinemahouses, commercial andprofessional offices, retail shopsand restaurants, local serviceindustries, petrol/CNG stations,bus stops, tongas, taxis, scooterand rickshaw stands, nurseriesand green houses, hotels, cyberand IT parks in residential areas.

New supply of land has beengood news for the middle class asthe prices of apartments areexpected to slip down. Propertyrates in some newly developedsectors of Gurgaon will be at least30-40% lower than in existingsectors.

Yet so far, property developershad been only concentrating theirattention on high end housing.With availability of more land,they would be able to focus onmiddle and lower segments aswell.

Property analysts consider thatMaster Plan is undoubtedly a stepforward in the direction of realestate development in Gurgaon.Chairman of ParsvnathDevelopers, Mr Pradeep Jain,says, "Master Plan would reduceprices in Gurgaon properties.Some price correction has alreadytaken place".

PROPOSED LAND USE IN GURGAON - 2021Projected Population in 2021 37 lakhResidential area 14,930 hectaresCommercial Area 1,404 hectaresIndustrial Area 5,441 hectaresOpen space 2,675 hectaresTransport and Communication 4,231 hectaresPublic Utilities 564 hectaresPublic and Semi-public use 1,630 hectaresDefence Land 633 hectaresSpecial Economic Zones (SEZs) 4,570 hectares


RUCHI SHARMA

When we talk of Gurgaon, we thinkof an ultramodern township thathas risen from the dust of history

and mists of mythology. We also think ofall those big biz brand names from acrossthe globe that have set up shop in thisfuturistic city. The name, Gurgaon alsoconjures up the images of chic

fashionistas sauntering acrossplazas on their way to classymalls and multiplexes and, of

course, the alluring nightlife inpubs and discothèques. All thismay point to the rise of Gurgaonas an industrial-commercial hub,

but there is another side to it too.Gurgaon has the potential to develop

into an important tourist centre too.This fact, till recently, had gone largely

ignored owing to existence of morefamous tourist attractions in the state,

like the historically importantKurukshetra and Panipat, or popularcultural and mela spots likeSurajkund and Pinjore.

However Gurgaon has severalplaces of tourist interests. Some ofthese are described here.

The Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary isat a distance of 16 km from

Gurgaon city and is a wonderfulplace for passionate bird lovers. Itpreserves more than 100 species of

birds like crane, spot bill, saras, ruddyduck, and rosy pelicans. This sanctuarywas founded by Dr. Salim Ali. A visitduring the winter months (November-February) when the migratory birds fly tothis place will be perfect for nature lovers.The place has hideouts, watch towers, amuseum as well as guest house facilities. Ifyou have forgotten your binoculars athome you can always hire them here.

The Damdama Lake, sited a fewkilometres towards the south of Gurgaon,off Alwar road, is a beautiful tourist spot.The tourist resort named Water Banksprovides luxurious tents pitched alongsidethe lake. The Damdama lake offers suchrecreational facilities as boating and hotair ballooning.

The Sheetala Devi Temple is situated onthe outskirts of Gurgaon. This well knownHindu temple is also called the 'ShaktiPeeth'. A great place for spiritual tourists,it has been the subject of several legends,the temple is visited by several pilgrims ofall religions and beliefs. Every year duringthe months of March and July, a fair isheld, when people throng the temple inlakhs. The local administration providesall types of assistance to tourists in termsof lodging, boarding and travellingarrangements. The Indian Railways andHaryana Roadways also provide specialtrains and buses from Delhi to Gurgaon.

Sohna is 24 km from Gurgaon and 56 kmfrom Delhi. The town is of great antiquity

Cover Story

GURGAON

A BLESSED TOURIST HUBGurgaon is an industrial-commercial hub, but there is another side to it. It has the potential to develop into an important tourist centre too.


31

and has been occupied in succession bythree different races, viz., theKambhoj, the Khanzadas and theRajputs, traces of which still exist inthe extensive ruins by which the townis surrounded. In ancient times, it wasa place of rishis and the main kund(tank) was called Shiv Kund.

The Sohna lake is one of the mostbeautiful lakes in India, situatedamidst the Aravalli hills in Haryana. Itderives its name from a stream nearbywhose sands were said to have beenlittered with gold in ancient times.Gardens and cottages, picturesquelandscape and dancing peacocks add toits charms. The lake is well-known forits sulphur springs that attract touristsdue to its therapeutic qualities. A bathcomplex has been constructed at thespot for the purpose.

Shama Tourist Complex is namedafter the popular Indian bird and islocated in the heart of the town. It isabout 0.5 km away from Gurgaon busstand and is near to the local GeneralHospital. It has become a favouritestopover/drive-in site for the touristsjourneying to Jaipur, as it is about onekm away from the Delhi-JaipurNational Highway.

INFRASTRUCTURE

T ourism industry dependslargely upon infrastructure forits survival and growth.

Keeping this in mind the Governmentof Haryana has been keen on havingworld class infrastructure in place.

Accommodation facilities fortourists visiting Gurgaon are good.Hotels are situated in strategiclocations, comfortably reachable frommajor transport depots. These hotelsoffer facilities at prices that suitdifferent budgets.

For example, the Bristol Hotel is anice, clean and comfortable 3 star hotelwith decent facilities. The 5 starRadisson Hotel on the Delhi-JaipurHighway offers all modern comfortsand amenities for high-end visitors.Another good place to stay in is the32nd Milestone which offers adiscotheque, go-carting and otherentertainment facilities.

Gurgaon boasts of many otherexcellent rest, recreation and sportsfacilities too. It has two eighteen-holegolf courses. Facilities for judo,athletics, hockey and archery too exist.The government has promised to buildfive sports complexes in time for the2010 Common Wealth games. It alreadyhas 608 hospitals of various types,sizes and specialties all over the

district. Some are government runwhile others are in the private sector.The facilities are being expanded tomeet the influx of sports tourists.

The proximity to New Delhi and itslocation in the National Capital Regionstands to Gurgaon's advantage. This isproving to be beneficial as the Delhigovernment is frenetically preparingto host the Commonwealth Games.Much of the infrastructure being builtfor the games is bound to upgradeGurgaon's assets too. Moreover, it isstrategically located, with itsboundaries touching Rajasthan, UttarPradesh and Delhi. Further, it isconnected to the Delhi-Jaipur-Ahemdabad broad-gauge rail link andalso to the NH 8. Since the IndiraGandhi International Airport, about 30kms from New Delhi, is also quite nearto it, easily connects major cities ofIndia and the world.

The road lay out is well planned andthere are plans to improve thecondition of non-arterial roads too. Itcovers a total road length of 702 km outof which 14 km is the length ofNational Highway and 688 km is thelength of the State Highway. An eightlane world class expressway from Delhito Gurgaon has been built. The workon 6/8 laning of Gurgaon-DelhiHighway at a cost of about Rs 775 croreis in progress too. The work on metrofrom Delhi to Gurgaon is underprogress. The Indian real estate giantDLF is also planning to start its ownmetro.

The Kundli-Manesar-Palwal is thebiggest BoT expressway project in thecountry. It is projected to decongestDelhi by diverting long-route traffic.

Since these world class facilities arepermanent in nature their long termutility in boosting Gurgaon's tourismindustry can only be imagined. Theprospects are certainly bright.

Hilton Trident Hotel, Gurgaon

THE PROXIMITY TO NEW DELHIAND ITS LOCATION IN THENATIONAL CAPITAL REGIONSTANDS TO GURGAON'SADVANTAGE. THIS IS PROVING TOBE BENEFICIAL AS THE DELHIGOVERNMENT IS FRENETICALLYPREPARING TO HOST THECOMMONWEALTH GAMES.

32 Interview

Laurels all the way...Laurels all the way...Haryana's chief minister Bhupinder

Singh Hooda, a scion of Haryana’sleading political family, is a man of

many parts. He believes that there should beno difference between precepts and practices.This makes him choose his words carefully,weigh what he promises and then set downto implement these. He does not go by hype.A leader more interested in achievements, he,in fact, follows his illustrious father, ChaudhryRanbir Singh, who was a member of India'sConstituent Assembly and went on to becomea minister in Punjab, and a Member ofParliament. "Let your real work talk about youinstead of making loud noises- promises andpromises only." he once told me. People arealways good judges of leaders. They canmake distinction between a boastful leaderwho makes long windy attractive speechesand the one who delivers". He is more thanright.Mr. Hooda brings vast and varied experienceto his position. He has been a Member ofLok Sabha for four terms in 1991, 1996,1998, 2004 and the Leader of Opposition inHaryana's Legislative Assembly from 2001 to2004. He has also served as the President ofHaryana Pradesh Congress Committee from1996 to 2001.Haryana is making spectacular achievementsin various fields. No area escapes theattention of his government. May be certainareas like industrialization, education,agriculture, electricity, water supply andwelfare of scheduled castes sometimes looksto be taking precedence, yet he focuses hisattention on allround development. Any laxity is taken care of the moment hisattention is drawn to. He is proving true to his words. Hisachievements have been many during thepast over three years as chief minister. Theresponse recently witnessed during three by-elections where his party, the Congress wontwo seats by huge margins while the thirdseat was conceded to a rival with much lessthan the previous margin, marks out hisleadership. At 61, Mr. Hooda showsindefatigable energy, working at least 16hours a day and looking in detail at eachissue and finding solutions.Haryana Review team met the chief ministerfor all an encompassing interview.

- GOBIND THUKRAL


33

Here are the excerpts of theinterview with RAJIV KAPUR:

Q. The Congress party has completedmore than three years of itsgovernance in the State. Are yousatisfied with the progress taking placein all fields?

The present government came intopower on March 5, 2005. At that timethere was chaos in every field andpeople were dissatisfied with theperformance of the previousgovernment. We made a vow tointroduce and implement a number ofwelfare schemes for all sections ofsociety. It was a big challenge to takeHaryana on the path of development,form new schemes for the welfare ofthe people and monitor their properimplementation. There is no differencebetween our precepts and practicesand whatever promises we had made inour manifesto have already beenfulfilled for the benefit of the masses.

Q. What measures were taken by youto make Haryana the best governedstate?

Consistent efforts by the StateGovernment have resulted in makingHaryana the best managed state in thecountry in terms of its financial andfiscal management. We have not onlybeen able to contain but reduce therevenue deficit of the state. Today,Haryana stands on sound footing andour financial health gives the benefit tomove forward in creatinginfrastructure to boost economicactivities. This is in spite of the factthat we have abolished octroi andremoved sales tax barriers. To furtherimprove infrastructure, the StateGovernment has consciously adoptedpublic private partnership tosupplement government's owninitiative.

Q. What steps are you taking tomake agriculture profitable and makefarmers happy?

Haryana has an agrarian economy.A large part of population of the stateis engaged in agriculture and alliedactivities. It contributed over 52 lakhtonnes of wheat this year to the centralpool. Basmati rice of Haryana finds an

easy market abroad and the state ranksnumber one in the country in itsexport. Haryana is keen to encouragethe investment in agro processingsector so that the farmer’s crops aresold at higher prices and they becomefinancially sound. The government hastaken several initiatives and provided anumber of incentives in the industrialpolicy for promotion of food processingindustry. Emphasis is on goodinfrastructure.

(The Government of India, Ministryof Food Processing Industry, is in the

process of setting up of NNIFTEntrepreneurship and Management

(NIFTEM) in the state at a project costof about Rs. 350 crore. The project will

be the first of its kind in India)

Q. What new schemes wereformulated for making Gurgaon andother industrial towns popular forinvestment for foreign and Indiancapital?

A new era of industrialisation wasushered in tune with the globalscenario. Gurgaon is emerging as ahub of multi-national and ITcompanies and now steps are beingtaken to develop it as a convention cityalso. Availability of international levelinfrastructure, nearness to thenational capital and availability ofhardworking labour has made Gurgaonas the first destination for investmentfor multi-national companies.Countries like Japan and Korea areespecially interested. The comparisonof developing Gurgaon is being made

with the cities like Singapore and Parisdue to the speedy transformationtaking place there.

Q New industrial towns are beingdeveloped in Haryana. Do you thinkequal opportunity will be given fortheir development ?

It is correct that new industrialtowns are being developed in the state.Recently development of industrialestate in 300 acres of land in Gohanawas announced. No shortfall will beallowed in the development of similarindustrial estates at Gohana, Narwanaand Rohtak.

Q New SEZs are being developed inHaryana. How will they help in thespeedy development of the state?

People are coming forwardvoluntarily for setting up SEZs in thestate in view of their scope andfeasibility. The new SEZs will help ingenerating more employment avenuesfor the youth and add to the prosperityof the state. Haryana is speedilyemerging as a number one state in thecountry. Recently, it was declared as atop state in the country in per personinvestment. It is our belief that withthe setting up of new SEZs the face ofrural Haryana will completely change.But in this race of development we arealso worried about the fate of the poorand farmers of the state.

Q Kundli- Manesar- Palwal (KMP)Expressway is being constructed in the


state. What opportunities do youexpect will the state get from it?

KMP will prove a milestone in thedevelopment of the state. With itscompletion a thrust will be given to thedevelopment activities in the state.With this new industrial corridor, fourhighways will be connected with it.With the completion of 135 km longexpress highway, Haryana will have adistinct place on the trade map of thecountry.

Q. What benefits have accrued to thestate with the announcement of newindustrial policy? Has it enhanced theinvestment and export from the state?

Our Industrial Policy adopted multipronged strategy to develop andpromote industry. The focus was onsimplification of rules and procedures.The state has enacted HaryanaIndustrial Promotion Act to make itmandatory for the state agencies toaccord approval and clearance in atime bound manner. Labour laws havebeen eased and Labour Policy has beenimplemented to bring cordial andcongenial relationship between theemployer and employees. Selfcertification scheme has beenintroduced to avoid visits byinspectors. Out sourcing of authorityhas been allowed in respect of buildingplan approvals. Pollution controlregulations have been furthersimplified. These measures haveattracted foreign and Indianinvestment of over Rs. 35,000 crore andan investment of Rs. 70,000 crore isstill in the pipeline. This investment isseparate from the investment beingdone in SEZs in the state. The exportfrom Haryana has touched a figure ofover Rs. 35,000 crore.

Q There is need for generating morepower. What steps are being taken bythe government for enhancingelectricity production?

It is true that there is need toincrease power supply in the state as itis passing through a critical situation.We are tackling this problem on warfooting because no previousgovernment took any interest inincreasing power generation in thestate. If the previous governments hadgiven any attention to it than the

generation figure of the state wouldnot have been 1587 MW till now. We areat present purchasing 4,000 MW ofpower from other states on higherrates to meet the growing needs of thepeople. Our government is giving toppriority to increase the power supplyin the state. Recently, in Jhalri thefoundation of 1,500 MW Indira GandhiThermal Power Plant was laid by UPAchairperson, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. DeenBandhu Chhotu Ram Power Plant inYamunanagar has started supplying600 MW of power to the state kitty. Thework of the power station at Kheddarin Hisar and Matenhail in Jhajjar isgoing on speedily. A sum of Rs 24,000crore has been earmarked in the 11thplan for enhancing power generationin the state.

Q What are the welfareprogrammes initiated by thegovernment for the benefit of the poorand the scheduled castes in the state?

This segment is being given highestpriority by our government . AfterCongress Party came into power, thegovernment, in order to give relief tothe people especially the farmers,announced waiving of electric billsamounting to Rs. 1,600 crore for givingrelief to the people. This was not evenpromised to the people in the Congressmanifesto. Besides this, it has alsowaived off interest on the cooperativeloans amounting to Rs. 780 crore.Haryana government has formulated aunique scheme under which scheduled

castes and the poor will be given 100sq. feet of plots to construct theirhouses thus fulfilling the dreams ofthe leaders and freedom fighters of thecountry who had promised to givefood, clothing and shelter to everycitizen after attaining independence ofthe country.

The previous governments madeonly false promises to the poor butnever did anything concrete for theirwelfare.

Q. What steps are being taken byyour government to raise the standardof education in the state? TheHaryana government has announcedto observe current year as EducationYear. Will this help in improving the

standard of education?

The government has taken anumber of steps to improve thestandard of education in the state. Byannouncing 2008 as the Education Yeara big thrust has been given to enroll allchildren who are not attendingschools, providing scholarships to thescheduled castes and the intelligentstudents and making the congenialatmosphere for studying in theeducational institutions.

A Rajiv Gandhi Education City isbeing developed at Kundli in Sonipatdistrict as per international standards.Many foreign universities are expectedto open their branches there whichwill totally change the educationscenario in the state. Setting up an

BHUPINDER SINGH HOODA : Caring for the people

Interview34 HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 2008

exclusive Women's University atKhanpur Kalan in Sonipat is a step togive a boost to the women education inthe region and provide an opportunityto the girls to flourish. It is well saidthat if you teach a girl you teach twofamilies. The prosperity of the nationis measured by the literate persons andwe are leaving no stone unturned tomake our children capable to competeat the international level.

With the opening of IIM andDefence University in the state, manynew avenues will open up for theyouth. At present, special emphasis isbeing laid on setting up vocational andtechnical institutes in the state so as tomake youth self dependent afterpassing out from the colleges and alsomeet the growing needs of the skilledlabourers in the new ventures comingup in the state. In order to acquaintmasses about the importance ofeducation in making their lifeprosperous we are going to take outrallies and organize meetings all overthe state in collaboration with the localleaders and the NGOs during thecurrent year.

Q. What steps have you taken toextend the network of the TechnicalInstitutes in the state so as to meet theneeds of the new industries coming upin the state?

In order to expand the base oftechnical education in the state DeenBandhu Chhotu Ram University ofScience and Technology has been setup at Murthal in Sonipat. In view ofgrowing demand of the skilledpersonnels for the new industries theseats in the technical institutes havebeen increased from 23,000 to 53,000this year. The budget of the technicaleducation has also been enhanced toRs.130 crore.

Q. What is the status of PanchayatiRaj Institutions in the state? How haveyour initiatives helped in improvingtheir functioning?

Haryana government is treading thepath shown by late Prime MinisterShri Rajiv Gandhi in making thelowest democratic institution powerfuland fully functional. The success ofthe panchayats in the state can bejudged from the fact that manypanchayats have won national and

state awards for doing exemplarydevelopment works for the welfare ofresidents of the state.

We believe in Mahatma Gandhi whosaid that India lives in the villages andthe prosperity of the country can onlybe achieved by improving theirconditions. Union Panchayati RajMinister, Mani Shankar Aiyar duringhis visit to the state expressedsatisfaction over their functioning andalso gave directions for making themmore result oriented. The stategovernment has empowered thePanchayati Raj institutions and asilent transformation is taking place inthe rural areas. Urban areas wouldenvy their standards one day. Thewomen Sarpanches and Panches haveset new traditions and records in thedevelopment activities in their areas.We can safely conclude that Haryana ismoving speedily on the path of allround development.

Q. What steps are being taken by thegovernment to check the menace offemale foeticide which is posing athreat to the dwindling sex ratio in thestate?

Haryana Government is serious intackling the problem of femalefoeticide and many stringent measureshave been taken to check the peopleindulging in this heinous crime. As anincentive to the panchayats whichimprove the sex ratio in their villagesthe state government has decided togive an award of Rs. five lakh to thevillage which comes first, Rs. threelakh will be given to the villagewhich gets second position and Rs.two lakh to the village which comesthird. Severe action is also beingtaken against the ultrasound clinicsrevealing sex of the foetous and doingillegal abortions.

Q. By-elections for threeAssembly constituencies wereheld recently in the state.Are you satisfied with theresults? Is this areferendum for yourpolicies andperformance?

The recentvictory of theCongress party in

the by-elections is the victory of thepolicies and programmes of theCongress party led by Mrs. SoniaGandhi. By making two candidates ofthe Congress Party victorious, peoplehave given referendum in support ofthe policies and programmes of theCongress party. We have succeeded inmaking people realize that congressparty works for the welfare of allsections of the society.

Q. How many farmers of the statewill benefit under the Agricultural DebtWaiver and Debt Relief Schemeannounced in the Union Budget of2008-09?

Loan of over 6.64 lakh farmer of thestate will either be completely waivedoff or reduced to the extent of Rs2,108.46 crore under the farm loanwaiver scheme announced by theUnion Government in its budget thisyear. These farmer will now be againeligible for taking loans from thebanks. Small and marginal farmers,whose entire loan would be waived off,number about 3.82 lakh. The totalamount of their waived loan would beover Rs 1,436 crore, while that of theother farmers numbering over 2.82lakh, would be about Rs 672 crore. TheHaryana Cooperative Apex Bank wouldwaive off Rs 1,113.32 crore loan of over4.24 lakh farmers. Commercial banks,which include 25 nationalised and 10public sector banks would write off

loans amounting to Rs558.52 crore of over

1.35 lakh farmers.


36 Photo feature

APARNA PAWAR

The rural lifestyle has its owncharm. The periodical fairs,the noisy evenings, the

occasional weddings and the monthof sugar pressings, when everybodygoes about with a yard of sugarcanein his mouth and indulging in greatdeal of gossip. Aahhh! Those werethe days! When one could enjoy thecommon sight of men sittingleisurely under a tree or elsewhere,discussing politics while enjoyinglong puffs from a hukka, playingcards, cracking jokes and laughingloudly. In a separate space of their

own women could be espied sittingin groups and gossiping the wholeday. To complete this idyllic ruralscene would be the green fields,milch cattle, agricultural toolsaccompanied by familiar soundsand sights.

The liveliness of the people findsexpression in their lifestyle too.Their simplicity and spiritedenthusiasm for life is evident in theway they dress up. Haryana enjoys arich and glorious culture. Everyevent or occasion, be it a birthceremony, marriage, the teej festivelor the onset of monsoons, the Kartik

Snan or any other ritualisticoccasion, is celebrated with verveand joy. There are many songs andraganis which depict theimportance of different happenings.

The folk dances are as simple anduncomplicated as the rural peoplewho lead a rather uncontrived life.This culture still persists in theHaryanavis' heart and soul. Foodhabits of the people are also verysimple, it has been said, "dessan mendes Haryana, jit doodh dahi kakhana".

With the impact ofmodernization and urbanization,the rural culture and lifestyle arestruggling to retain the pristineidentity. There was a time whenHaryana's rural woman could beidentified by her distinct attire, viz.,

A view of Ghel Kalan village in district Ambala

RURAL HARYANA

The liveliness of the people finds expression in their lifestyle too.Their simplicity and spirited enthusiasm for life is evident in theway they dress up. Haryana enjoys a rich and glorious culture.

sings a new s


37

Daman, Kurta, and Chunder decoratedwith shiny laces and, of course, heavyornaments. But she has changed withthe passage of time. Now she feels morecomfortable in suit and salwar.Moreover, young girls have switchedover to skirts and pants. Therefore,nowadays only a few elderly womencan be seen dressed in the traditionalgarb. Similarly, only few men seem towear Dhoti, Kurta and Pagri as theyprefer modern clothes like pants andshirts.

The rural scene has now becomemore or less bereft of the oncecommonplace wooden ploughs andPersian wells.

There are now tractors that till theland, and tubewells that irrigate thefarms. Threshers and othermechanized implements have made aworld of difference to the farmers' wayof life. Agricultural operations are nolonger a back-breaking drudgery.

The Green Revolution has changedthe overall scenario in the countryside.Use of machinery and fertilizers hasled to phenomenal increase inagricultural production. As a result,farmers have become prosperous. They

have more purchasing power than thefarmers in many other states. They canafford not just basic necessities andcomforts but luxuries too. For example,in order to carry the cattle feed from/tothe village motor vehicles, includingcars, have replaced the traditionalbullock carts as means of transport.

THE GREEN REVOLUTIONHAS BROUGHT IMMENSECULTURAL CHANGE TOO.THE MULTI-CROP SYSTEMINTRODUCED BY IT HASAFFECTED THE AGRARIANLIFESTYLE TO SUCH ANEXTENT THAT BOTH THETIMING AS WELL AS RELE-VANCE OF THE TRADITION-AL FESTIVALS DO NOTENTHUSE THE PEOPLE. THEMODERN AND GLITZY WAYOF LIVING IS REPLACINGTHE FORMER SOBERLIFESTYLE OF THE VILLAGES.

symphony


38

The Green Revolution hasbrought immense cultural changetoo. The multi-crop systemintroduced by it has affected theagrarian lifestyle to such an extentthat both the timing as well asrelevance of the traditional festivalsdo not enthuse the people. Themodern and glitzy way of living isreplacing the former sober lifestyleof the villages. The revolution hasstrengthened the trend of lavishspending on marriages and,consequently, the dowry systemwith all attendant evils. New modesof entertainment like videos andmusic systems are fast replacing thetraditional ways. Even illiteratefarmers have learnt to use such hi-tech gadgets as mobile phones. Theyseek news as well as various types ofinformation regarding their cropsfrom helplines on their cell phones.

With the electrification and up-gradation of other infrastructure inthe villages, the life has become veryeasy for the farmers. Betterconnectivity and improved means oftransport have changed the wholepastoral scenario and has increasedthe mobility of the villagers. Thishas facilitated the access to bettereducation and health facilities, andimproved law and order in thevillage. It has also enhanced theexposure and awareness level of thepeople. They are now aware of theimportance of education. With thebuilding of roads to each town and

Farmers are using modern agricultural equipment for farming

Photo feature38 HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 2008

39

village, employment opportunities toohave multiplied for them. Manyyoungsters are coming forward to jointhe IT sector, engineering and industrialsector, armed forces and many more.

Use of electrical gadgets has becomequite common in the village homes.This has resulted in reduced drudgeryfor the womenfolk and increased

comfort levels. For example, the age oldpractice of making flour with the helpof hand chakki has now been replacedwith modern electrical chakki. Kundieshave been replaced with mixers andgrinders, thus simplifying the kitchenlife.

Television, refrigerator and coolersare now common in every home.Availability of cooking gas has furthersimplified the life of the housewife.Gone are the days when women used tocollect twigs and dry wood and storethem in huge quantities for the rainyseason, or prepare hundreds of dung-cakes, in order to ensure fuel supply forcooking food. The fuel used to generatesmoke and pollution adversely affectingthe environment as well health of thepeople, especially women.

Earlier agriculture was the onlyoccupation in the rural Haryana. Butto increase their earnings farmersare shifting to other occupations suchas dairy farms, horticulture,floriculture, bee rearing etc. It is amatter of pride that Haryana ranksfirst in milk production in thecountry.

Technology has done wonders to theeconomic scene in the villages. Varioustypes of goods and services havebecome accessible locally, creating

employment opportunities formerchants as well as professionals ofdifferent types. One can spot spareparts shops, electricians, music shops,barbers, cloth shops etc. in villages.Moreover, the setting up of bigindustries in the vicinity has generatedemployment for the people.

The technology driven economicchange is having an impact on the ruralsociety in several ways. Earlier, thepayment to share croppers used to be inthe form of small quantities of wheat orpulses; now this has been replaced withcash wages for the work done.Reservations for scheduled castes andwomen have changed their status in therural society.

The joint family system isdisintegrating. A new set up of nuclearfamilies is emerging. The younggeneration is increasingly coming underthe influence of urban culture and isdeveloping a taste for city life. The villageyouth are showing disdain for thetraditional family values. Moreover, theyare becoming averse to take up farmingas their occupation.

The long term consequences ofsuch changes are yet to be evaluated.All one can say is that change is thelaw of nature. And, Haryana is noexception.


4040 New Initiative

AMANBIR KAUR BRAR

National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (2005) is a pathbreaking initiative to provide

legal guarantee to work for 100 dayssecuring the livelihood of the peoplein rural areas. The act provides asocial safety net for the APL (AbovePoverty Line) and BPL (BelowPoverty Line) families.

In Haryana the first phase of thescheme was launched on 2 February,2006 in Sirsa and Mahendragarhdistricts were selected to be coveredunder the scheme. In the secondphase, Ambala and Mewat districtswere taken. During the third phase,the scheme was launched in all theremaining districts of Haryana.

The key objective of the scheme iscreation of durable assets andstrengthening the livelihood sourceof the rural people. The works to beundertaken according to priority arewater conservation and waterharvesting, drought proofing,irrigation canals including microand minor irrigation works,provision of irrigation facility toland owned by households belongingto the SCs and STs or beneficiaries ofland reforms, renovation oftraditional water bodies includingdisilting of tanks, flood control andprotection works including drainagein water logged areas, landdevelopment and rural connectivity,any other work which may benotified by the Central Government.

NREGA applies to all the adultmembers of rural household willingto do unskilled manual work. Eventhe already employed can demandemployment under the scheme.

Priority under the scheme is to begiven to women and at least one-thirdof the beneficiaries should be womenfolk.

A person interested to getregistered under NREGA has toapply through prescribed writtenform which is free of cost. Theregistration of application has to bemade through Gram Panchayat.

After verification a job card is issuedto the household. Job Card is a legaldocument through which aregistered household can demandguaranteed employment. A Job Cardis valid upto 5 years. To getemployment, a job card holder willhave to submit a written applicationto Gram Panchayat or to the programofficer at the block level. UnderNREGA, a household is entitled tohundred days of work during thefinancial year. The entitlement ofhundred days can be shared withinthe household; more than onemember of the family can beemployed simultaneously or atdifferent times.

Gram Panchayat or theprogramme officer (BO) has toinform the applicants where and

NREGA : Jobs atdoorsteps for rural folksThe key objective of the scheme is creationof durable assets and strengthening thelivelihood source of the rural people.


4141

when to report for work or put a publicnotice at Gram Panchayat office or BlockOfficer's office having name of theperson and place of employment. If theGram Panchayat or the BO is not able togive employment within 15 days then theemployment allowance has to be paid asper the Act and in case the applicant doesnot report within 15 days of beingnotified then he or she is not entitled toemployment allowance and will have toreapply for the work.

The work under the scheme should beprovided within five kilometres of anapplicant's residence and if the work isprovided beyond five km then he or she

is entitled to 10% additional wagestowards transport and living expenses.Persons older in age and women shall begiven preference for work near to thevillage. The work site facilities include:-safe drinking water, shed for childrenand period for rest, first aid box foremergency treatment of minor injuries,if there are more than five childrenbelow six years of age at the work placethen a person should be engaged to lookafter them. Selection of work is done byGram Sabha and Gram Panchayats andrecommendations regarding work aresent to programme officer.

Haryana Government has so farincurred an amount of Rs. 8859.36 lakhunder NREGA in the state and over 1.61lakh families have been provided with thejob cards. During the last year a sum of Rs52.35 crores was spent in providingemployment and 2.09 lakh employeeletters were issued. As many as 1609works of different nature werecompleted. The women beneficiariesunder the report numbered 11653. InHaryana the per day wage rate is Rs. 135which is higher than Himachal Pradesh(Rs. 100 per day) and Punjab (Rs.103 perday).

FEW WORDS FROMBENEFICIARIES

Malkit Kaur, Ramrakhi, Jugla Singhand Babu Singh of village Mithri ofSirsa are happy with the scheme as it hasprovided them employment. They saidthe problem of seasonal unemploymenthas come to an end with schemes likeNREGA. Moreover our income hasincreased and we are able to providebetter life to our children.

Umeed Singh of village Jassia of

Rohtak district is happy thatgovernment has provided him with 100days employment. He said that now Idon't have to go to Rohtak in search ofwork. Finding work was also verydifficult but now the situation iscompletely different. Now I work in thevillage, take care of my family and amable to provide a better life to my family.Under NREGA 25 acres of barren landof village Ghukawali was turned fertileby leveling it.

Under this project 91 persons of 61families of the village were engaged andan amount of Rs 2.13 lakh were spent.Out of the 25 acres, a pond wasconstructed in 3 acres and in 22 acresplantation of Kinnow orchard is underprogress. In the Kinnow orchardvegetables will also be grown for sellingin the market and to supply to the schoolfor mid-day meal.

This will help in enhancing incomefor the village Panchayat. Pawan KumarSarpanch of Ghukawali said thatimplementation of the scheme in thevillage has increased the income ofvillage Panchayat to Rs 5 lakh and in thecurrent financial year a sum of Rs 10.15lakh has been distributed among thebeneficiaries of the scheme in thevillage. In the year 2006-07 in Ghukawali256 families were registered underNREGA, 185 households were providedwith work and Rs. 15 lakh weredistributed as wages to thebeneficiaries.

The people of the villages; Odha,Sahuwala, Pana, Kingra, Tappi,Panihari, Hassu and Malikpura villageshave also been benefited by the scheme.Ms. Gurmail Kaur sarpanch of Mithrivillage said that the implementation ofthe scheme has not only providedemployment to the people but hasincreased the income of the Panchayat.The increased income will contribute in the all round development of the village.

Work inprogressunderNREGAScheme

Work in progress underNREGA Scheme

MALKIT KAUR (40) MOTHER OFFOUR DAUGHTERS OF VILLAGEMITHRI SAID THAT BY GETTINGEMPLOYMENT I WAS ABLE TOMARRY MY DAUGHTER, AND THE YOUNGER THREE DAUGHTERSARE NOW GOING TO SCHOOLWHO EARLIER USED TO WORK IN THE FIELDS WITH ME. NOW THE INCOME OF MY FAMILY HAS INCREASED.



RANDEEP WADEHRA

The term 'e-governance' is nolonger a mere jargon of techno-geeks that flummoxes nerds of

all hues. In the 21st century India ithas become an administrativebuzzword that promises to usher in amore responsive set-up at all levels ofour politico-administrativesuperstructure. In fact the use oftechnology for improved governanceis not a novelty. Be it telephone,telegraph or television or, for thatmatter, any other gizmo or invention,all have been instrumental inimproving the state's efficiency,enabling it to enhance the citizens'quality of life. Now, it is the turn ofinformation technology (IT), themother source of e-governance, tocontribute to the progress of humancivilization. And, Haryana is verymuch in step with this emergingtrend.

There are good reasons for theHaryana government's promptswitchover to this state-of-arttechnology. In the past few years thestate has made tremendous progressin all the three segments of theeconomy, viz., primary, secondary andtertiary. While retaining its status asIndia's granary, Haryana has seendouble digit growth in industrial andservices sectors. To give an example,

the state has emerged as one of thelargest exporters of software in thecountry. It has witnessed phenomenalgrowth in the IT related exports fromabout Rs 400 crores during 1998-1999 toover Rs 14,000 crores during 2006-07.

One of the costs of economicprogress is a more complex society,rising aspirations of the citizenry andincreased burden on the statemachinery. Haryana too isexperiencing all this. In order tofashion a sophisticated andconstructive response to suchchallenges the government has wiselyrelied on latest technological systemsand tools.

This phenomenal all-roundgrowth has certainly contributed tothe improvement of per capitaincome as well as general quality oflife. But, it has also thrown upf o r m i d a b l echallenges to thestate government.Land records haveto be kept in orderand up to date,disputes andgrievances relatedto all economicactivities, and eveng o v e r n m e n tdepartments, haveto be promptlyresolved andr e d r e s s e d ;moreover, the farmers need to haveaccess to latest informationregarding trends in agriculture andalso about latest changes in relevantpolicies and laws. Moreover, in orderto keep abreast of emerging trendsand benefit from globalization thegovernment is keen to be fullyprepared. Already it is developingSEZs in various parts of the state. Tomeet these and related challengesthe Government of Haryana hasbeen the first to adopt e-governance.It has already implemented theSWAN (State Wide Area Network)under NeGP (National e-Governance

Plan) of the Union Department ofInformation Technology.

Chief Minister Mr. BhupinderSingh Hooda has firmly declared hisgovernment's commitment to deliverquality services to the citizens acrossthe state and to provide the benefits ofinnovative technology (resulting inimproved efficiency andproductivity) to the people ofHaryana. The government is creatingstate-of-the-art infrastructuretowards this end. Mr. Hooda hasdescribed SWAN as a major steptowards setting up of coreinfrastructure for effective andintelligent utilization of informationand communication technology inthe service of the people. Howeffectively this infrastructure is useddepends not only on the userdepartments but also on DCs as only

they can ensurethat the benefitsof suchtechnology flowto all citizensand that thedistrict leveloffices of all thed e p a r t m e n t smake full use ofs u c hinfrastructure.This networkhas paved theway for benefits

of e-governance to reach the commonman since the governmentdepartments would be able toexchange information at a muchfaster rate on a service platform andtake as well as implement informeddecisions promptly.

Already a number of e-governancerelated projects have been completed.Some of the important ones are:online availability of propertyrecords and deeds, computerization ofRTOs and issuance of smart cardbased licences, computerization of alltreasuries, online monitoring ofpublic distribution system, and

Haryana on target e-governance

It is the turn of information technology,the mother source of e-governance, tocontribute to the progress of human civi-lization. And, Haryana is very much instep with this emerging trend.

CHIEF MINISTER MR. BHUPINDERSINGH HOODA HAS FIRMLYDECLARED HIS GOVERNMENT'SCOMMITMENT TO DELIVERQUALITY SERVICES TO THE CITI-ZENS ACROSS THE STATE ANDTO PROVIDE THE BENEFITS OFINNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY(RESULTING IN IMPROVED EFFI-CIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY) TOTHE PEOPLE OF HARYANA.

Guest Column

Shweta Vashishta

Gurgaon has emerged as the mostpreferred investment destinationfor both IT and ITES/BPO

companies. It has a large pool of English-speaking young people who viewITES/BPO as an inspirational careeroption. And to top this, there is stronggovernment and private sectorinfrastructure support which is a majorattraction for biggies like IBM, Genepact,American Express, GE-Capital, Convergysetc.

The state-of-art infrastructure forIT/ITES/BPO companies and othercorporates at Gurgaon is being developedby private developers and the StateGovernment in harmony with each other.There are mainly two private playersinvolved in development work namely M/sDLF Universal Limited and M/s UnitechLimited. DLF is presently developing DLFCity on the southern border of Delhi.Spread over 3000 acres, it is one of thelargest townships developed by corporateprivate sector in India. It encompasseshigh-end IT Park "DLF CyberCity",residential, commercial, corporate,institutional complexes and alsocommunity, educational, recreational andhealth facilities for all sections of thesociety. Many leading IT/ITEs companiesand global corporate have already shiftedtheir Indian bases to the DLF City.

Today, DLF City is home to well-knownleaders of the of the corporate world,including IT organizations like IBM,Oracle, Lucent Technologies and MNCslike Pepsi, Nestle, British Airways, MaxNew York. DLF Cyber Green Towers isanother majestic development of 8.75 lacssq.ft. (approx) which provides anintelligent IT enabled work space thatadapts to the changing business needs.DLF Mega Commercial Development isalso an upcoming project.

Unitech, too, has many excellent

structures to its credit. Unitech Info City isa technology park created for theestablishment of light industries and IToffices. It is spread over an area ofapproximately 70 acres in sector 33 and 34at Gurgaon and is strategically located onDelhi Jaipur National Highway NH-8. Withhigh-tech facilities it has a stronginfrastructural back-up ideal to establish asuccessful business.

Unitech Cyber Park has been designedkeeping in view the typical requirementsof those companies which require largerfloor plates, scope for further expansionwithin the same complex, broadbandconnectivity, telephone lines, optic fibres,food courts, sufficient parking spaces etc.Unitech Global Business Park is a fourtower complex and specifically planned tocater the needs of multinationalcompanies. Unitech Millenium Plaza,Unitech Business Park and SignatureTowers are other complexes which offersuperior office spaces for corporates andcompanies.

Besides private sector, Government isalso developing quality infrastructure forIT/ITES/BPO companies at Gurgaonthrough its various agencies like HaryanaState Electronics and DevelopmentCorporation, Haryana Urban DevelopmentAuthority and Haryana State IndustrialDevelopment Corporation. Areasdedicated specifically to IT such asElectronics City, Electronics HardwareTechnology Park and Gurgaon TechnologyPark have been set up at Gurgaon. Besidesthese, one sector has been exclusivelyreserved for the IT Industry in IndustrialModel Township, Manesar.

The Haryana State ElectronicsDevelopment Corporation has initiated setting up multi-storied ITComplexes in sector 18, Electronics City, Gurgaon, which will offer ready to move in space for the IT/ITES companies.

Infrastructure lending wings to IT Companieskeeping an eye on medicineinventory and its controlsystem, as well as monitoring ofdoctors' attendance ingovernment hospitals,dispensaries etc. Thegovernment is already fast-tracking other e-governancerelated projects. For example,by September 2008, a datacentre to support SWAN isscheduled to come up atChandigarh; and by December2008 it would be possible for theconcerned people to paycommercial property andhouse tax online. Soon farmerswill be able to tap online allagriculture relatedinformation. The database ofcriminals too will go online bythe year end.

It is a matter of greatsatisfaction and even pride thatHaryana's impressiveperformance has earned itrecognition not only in terms ofverbal praise at various forumsbut also in more tangible termslike it being rated as an AspiringLeader in e-GovernanceReadiness Index of the countryfor the year 2005-06, and declaredwinner of first prize forTELECOMM India ExcellenceAward 2007. Haryana is one ofthe front-runner states inimplementing State WAN andCommon Service Centres (e-DISHA) projects.

Although there is still aroom for improvement - like percapita use of computers andinternet connections amongother things - the government isconfident that Haryana will beable to provide its people all thee-governance facilities befittingthe 21st century way of life.

Randeep Wadehra is a writer, poet and columnist of The Tribune

So far as I am able tojudge, nothing has been leftundone, either by man or nature,to make India the most extraordi-nary country that the sun visits onhis rounds. Nothing seems tohave been forgotten, nothingoverlooked.

MARK TWAIN

HARTOUbril

RUCHI SHARMA

Haryana has vastpotential forbecoming a major touristdestination.

Tourism is an engine ofeconomic growth. It is one ofthe largest service industriespromising vast employmentopportunities and is also asource of foreign exchange.The World Travel andTourism Council hasperceived the demand oftourism to grow annually by8.8 % over the next decade inIndia, highest in the worldand Haryana expects a goods

share from this. Already,travel and tourism is thesecond highest foreignexchange earners for India.

To increase the annualtourist inflow the governmentis upgrading infrastructure atour international airports,railway stations and othertransport systems. Othersteps also need to be takenlike creating moreaccommodation in hotels tocater to tourists withdifferent budgets. All thisrequires huge financial outlaywhich requires joint effortsby the government andprivate sectors. The

Government recognized thatthe deficit in the availabilityof physical infrastructure indifferent sectors requires alarge investment which is notviable by public financingalone. In order to attractprivate capital, theGovernment is promotingPublic Private Partnerships(PPPs) to give a boost toinfrastructural development.Such projects are based oncontract or concessionagreement between aGovernment and a privatesector company for deliveringan infrastructure service onpayment of user charges.

Tourism

RYANA URISM lliantly lit


The PPP model has been aroundsince the 1990s. The concept andimplementation of PPP is stillnascent in India. Haryana hasrecently adopted the PPP policy. Butbefore we analyse the prospects oftourism industry in the state let ushave a cursory look at the potentialas well as actual growth at thenational level. This will help placethe scope for tourism industry'sgrowth in perspective.

It has a fine track record ofinnovative tourism policies, ofwhich the latest example isadoption of the PPP model.Positive beginnings were made in1966 when the Haryana TourismCorporation Limited, agovernment-owned official tourismagency, first opened a tourist resortin the state.

Haryana became a pioneer statein the country's tourism scenewhen it evolved the concept ofHighway Tourism. 44 touristcomplexes have already been set upalong the national highways tocater to the needs of travelers. Thegovernment has also successfullyexperimented with other conceptsof tourism like cultural,pilgrimage, adventure and golftourism; the latest being farmhouseand medical tourism. The State isable to attract tourists not onlyfrom within the country but alsofrom abroad. Even while executingthese concepts the Government hasnever failed in its responsibilities

towards protecting the local culture,values, heritage, and lifestyles.

According to the new policy, theTourism Department will identifysuitable locations and lands forfacilitating infrastructuraldevelopment for tourism projects.The private sector would lendmanagerial skills as well as provideinfrastructural assets and services.This policy requires co-ordinationwith other governmentdepartments.

Haryana Tourism is promotingthe hitherto untapped tourismpotential in such areas as Heritage,Adventure, Eco, Medical andFarm/Rural. Aggressive marketingstrategy has been adopted topromote destinations likeSurajkund, Kurukshetra, Pinjore,Morni Hills and the motels alongNH 1 and 2. With well planneddissemination of information,organization of festivals and inter-departmental co-ordination thetourism sector can create congenialenvironment for big investment.

A Tourism Development Councilhas been set up under the ChiefMinister's chairmanship. It consistsof Finance Minister, TourismMinister and Ministers andSecretaries of other relatedDepartments; further, tworepresentatives from hotel/travelindustry and two experts in the

field of tourism will be part of thecouncil in order to facilitatecomprehensive and planneddevelopment of the state as a keytourist destination. The council willformulate policies and strategies tostrengthen the infrastructure. Inaddition, a Project EvaluationCommittee will review the progressof tourism related efforts andresults.

Although the private sector isplaying a significant role to set uphotels, resorts, spa, theme parksand amusement parks in Haryana,the state endeavors to encouragemore private investment, especiallyfor the budget tourists. Under thesingle window clearance scheme, aperson who is willing to starttourism related project would getall the requisite approvals underone roof.

HUDA, Town & CountryPlanning, Department of UrbanLocal Bodies and other agencieswill set up lease/auction of land forsuch projects as Theme Parks,Multiplexes, Malls, Hotels, HotelManagement Institutes, high endSpas, Adventure Parks and otherrelated projects. Institutes of HotelManagement (IHM) in Rohtak andFaridabad have been also proposedto be created under public privatepartnership and more will beopened on similar lines.

TourismHARYANA’S MINISTER OFTOURISM MS. KIRANCHOUDHRY, HAS FIRMED UPPLANS TO WORK IN COLLABORATION WITH THEPRIVATE SECTOR TO PROMOTETOURISM IN A BIG WAY. THESTATE TOURISM HAS SET ATARGET TO TURN HARYANAINTO A MAJOR DESTINATIONFOR DOMESTIC ANDINTERNATIONAL TOURISTSFOR THE FORTHCOMINGCOMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010.CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIESARE ALREADY ON THROUGHPPP TO CATER THEVISITORS/SPORTS TOURISTS.

INDIAN TOURISM SCENARIOForeign tourist arrivals have witnessed a growth of 75% over a periodof five years. Foreign tourist arrivals have shown encouraging trends,increasing from 2.75 million in 2001 to 4.95 million in 2007. India'sshare in world tourism, which was 0.37% in 2001, has increased to0.5% in 2005.The foreign exchange earnings from tourism have also shown a phe-nomenal growth at rate of 19.2 % in 2006 and 33.8% in 2007. InRupee terms, foreign exchange earnings which were Rs 381.132 bil-lions in 2006 have increased to Rs 510.453 billions in 2007.The government, realizing the industry's potential for earning revenueand generating employment has geared up to offer theme-based trav-els like Medical tourism, Adventure tourism, Heritage tourism,Wellness tourism, Pilgrimage tourism, Golf tourism, Eco-tourism,Wildlife tourism etc. The first four months of 2008 recorded a growth rate of 11.9% in touristarrivals over the corresponding period in 2007, receiving 2.02 millionforeign tourists. Simultaneously, foreign exchange earnings grew by amuch faster rate at 28.9% in 2008, against 20% during the correspon-ding period in 2007.


Here is shocking news for thosewho make millions of dollarsworldwide by manufacturing

and selling vitamins. They do us littlegood. In fact, vitamins could beharmful.

Sensible doctors at major hospitalsacross the world no longer prescribethese health supplements andemphasize on good dietary habits. Adoctor once told an attendant of apatient at the Chandigarh's PGI Nehruhospital, "vitamins only help youproduce costly urine." Stillconsumption of vitamins and othersuch health supplements continues togrow enormously.

According to Jeremy Laurance,Health Editor of The Independent , ahighly respected British daily, "Weswallow them by the bucket load atgreat expense but there is no evidencevitamin supplements do us any good,and they may even be doing us harm,scientists have concluded. In a blow tothe multimillion pound dietarysupplement industry, a review of 67randomised trials of vitamin pills hasfound that far from prolonging life, theymay actually shorten it.

There is "no convincing evidence"that antioxidant supplements cut therisk of dying prematurely and some ofthe commonest ones may increase the

risk of early death, according to thereview, published by The CochraneCollaboration.

Millions of people swallow vitaminpills to ward off disease and to gainstrength. Doctors love prescribing theseas patients have, unlimited faith invitamins curative and energy qualities.Despite several studies warning ofpotential dangers, the industrycontinues to thrive.

The latest review, one of the largestinvolving 2,32,000 participants,compared those taking the supplementswith those who took a placebo orreceived no treatment. The supplementsstudied were beta-carotene (a precursorof vitamin A that is converted into thevitamin in the body), vitamin A,vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium.

According to ‘The Independent’ Dr.Goran Bjelakovich, the visitingresearcher who led the systematicreview at Copenhagen University said:"We could find no evidence to supporttaking antioxidant supplements toreduce the risk of dying earlier inhealthy people or patients with variousdiseases."

"The findings show that, if anything,people in trial groups given beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E showed increased rates ofmortality. There was no indication that

vitamin C and selenium may havepositive or negative effects; we needmore data [on these]."

The researchers separated out the 47trials with a low risk of bias and inthese they found a significantlyincreased death rate. When takenseparately, vitamin A was associatedwith a 16 per cent increased mortality,beta-carotene with a 7 per cent increaseand vitamin E with a 4 per centincrease. For vitamin C and seleniumthere was no significant increase ordecrease in the death rate.

The bottom line is that currentevidence does not support the use ofantioxidant supplements in the generalhealthy population. The researcherswere unable to explain their findingsbut said "excessive antioxidants canadversely affect key physiologicalprocesses".

Exercise keeps the old youngDo you love television? Are you up

on all the latest gossip on your idolfilm star, the soaps and the night-

time dramas? Well, enjoy it all if you can.Chances are your body is on a downwardslide while your mind gobbles up all thebroadcast goodness. It's never been muchof a secret: exercise is good for you.Researchers continue to prove we benefitfrom exercise, especially as we age. Thelatest study, from the Stanford UniversityDepartment of Medicine, looked at 4groups of people between 50 and 72 yearsof age. The groups were: normal-weight

active, normal-weight inactive, overweightactive and overweight inactive. The scien-tists followed over 800 individuals for aperiod of thirteen years. They assessedtheir physical health and capabilities atthe start of the study, and then on anannual basis thereafter.

The primary factor they consideredwas the level of activity. The results werenot surprising. The physically active,regardless of weight, fared better in termsof physical capabilities. The team used ameasurement of physical disability tocompare the groups.

Vitamins‘DO US NO GOOD AND MAY BE HARMFUL’’

47Health


AMANBIR KAUR BRAR

Panipat holds a very gloriousplace in the history of India.History of city dates back to

ancient times and it finds mention evenin the epic Mahabharata. Panipat hadan important strategic place as it fell inthe invaders' route to Delhi, the seat ofPower, so it founds frequent mentionsin India's recorded history.

Panipat was one of the five cities(prasthas) founded by the Pandavabrothers during the times of theMahabharata; its historic name beingPanduprastha. The French travelerJacquemount in his writings hasmentioned that Panipat was the largestcity, except Delhi, in North India on theSher Shah Suri road.

Panipat is principally known inhistory as a battlefield because threefamous battles were fought here whichchanged the course ofIndian history. All thebattles shaped thenational polity.

The first battle ofPanipat laid thefoundation of foreignrule in India. After thisvery battle most of thetime the regionremained under theforeign occupation tillthe time India gotindependence in 1947.The first battle wasfought between SultanIbrahim Lodhi of Delhiand the Mughalinvader, ZaheeruddinBabur, on April 21, 1526.Lodhi was killed, andDelhi and Agra passedinto the hands of Baburwho laid the foundationof the Mughal rule inIndia.

The second battle ofPanipat was fought onNovember 5, 1556between the able Hinducommander Hemu and Mughal kingAkbar who succeeded Humayun to thethrone of Delhi. Initially Hemu heldthe upper hand but an arrow hit his eyeaccidentally which reversed the fate ofbattle. Hemu was caught and producedbefore the adolescent Akbar. This battlegave the final verdict in favour of theMughals.

The third battle ofPanipat was fought onJanuary 14, 1761between the Afghaninvader Ahmed ShahAbdali and Martha’s. Inthis battle, the Marthacommander SadashivRao Bhau was defeatedby the Afghancommander Abdali.This gave a fatal blow tothe Martha’s power. Thebattle proved to bedisastrous as not onlythe Martha’s had tobear tremendous losses,their national dreamswere finally shattered.

The first Guru ofSikhs, Guru Nanak Devalso visited Panipatduring his first Udasi(1497-1509). Panipat isalso the ancestral placeof Khwaja AltaafHussein Haali, a famouspoet prolific scholar andUrdu critic. TheMughals, right from

Babar onwards, had always had a softcorner for the city. Under the patronageof the Muslim rulers Panipat emergedas a centre of Sufi saints and Muslimscholars. Most of the historicalbuildings in Panipat date back to theirreign.

The historical background of thecity had its impact on the culture and

living of the people. The frequentforeign invasions made the peoplecourageous and bold. But economically,the battles affected the people badly astheir property and belongings werelooted and plundered by foreigninvaders. Precious artifacts andhistorical monuments were alsodestroyed during the invasions.Conversely, with the foreign invaderscame artisans and sculptors whosettled down here and contributed tothe local culture.

Panipat was originally a tehsil atPanipat till as late as 1854, when it wasshifted to Karnal. Panipat remained apart of Karnal district for a long time.However it was upgraded to the statusof district on November 1, 1989.

The main places of attraction atPanipat are the grave of IbrahimLodhi, the Kabuli Bagh, the DeviMandir, Kala Amb, Salar Gunj Gate,and the tomb of the thirteenth centurySufi saint Bu Ali Shah Qalander. 'KalaAmb' is the memorial built in thememory of the soldiers who died in thebattlefield of Panipat.

It is said that blood of dead soldierswas mixed with the soil resulting in thefruit of mango trees here turning blackin colour; hence the name 'Kala Amb'or black mango. With the passage oftime the city of Panipat becamefamous as the city of weavers. It gaineda significant place in the internationalmarket for its handloom products likeblankets, carpets, mat, table-covers,bed-sheets, bed-covers, curtains, etc.

History / Culture

Sad dots on historyPANIPAT

HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 200850 Month in Review

Snapshots on HaryanaHooda announcesbonanza for BackwardClasses

CHANDIGARH: Haryana CMBhupinder Singh Hooda announced abonanza of incentives for members ofBackward Classes, on Saturday, sayingthat free residential plots of 100 sqyards would be given to those fromBackward Classes (Group A) who haveless than one acre of land and do not fallin the creamy layer.

He also announced scholarships forstudents of the same segment.

Mr. Hooda, who was speaking at afunction organized by the members ofPanchal community at Kurukshetra,said that the girl students belonging toBackward Classes (Group A) from class-es one to five would be given a monthlyscholarship of Rs.150 and boys would begiven Rs.75. Girl students of this com-munity studying from sixth to eighthstandard would get Rs.200, those ofninth and tenth would get Rs.300 andthose studying in classes XI and XIIwould be given a scholarship of Rs.400.Boys studying in these classes would begiven half of the this amount.

Mr. Hooda added that the Panchal com-munity was the backbone of agricultur-al and industrial development. TheState Government was providing everypossible facility to the people of weakersections of the society.

875 crore for development works

CHANDIGARH: The HaryanaUrban Development Authority (HUDA) atits meeting on Thursday decided to spendabout Rs.875 crore on variousdevelopment works, besides Rs. 8 crore onstreet lights and conservancy in differentHUDA sectors across the State during thecurrent financial year, according to CMBhupinder Singh Hooda.

The policy of regularising nursinghomes running from residentialpremises has also been approved.

Sonia asks leaders toserve have-nots

Kurukshetra : "We who are inpublic life should prove through ourwork that we are not living for our-selves but for others. Others do notmean those who are capable of lookingafter themselves, but those who arehave-nots."

This was stated by UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi while inaugurating thethree-day 44th session of the All-IndiaOriental Conference on the premisesof Kurukshetra University here today. Referring to ancient Indian scripturesand philosophy, she said the life ofonly that person was meaningful wholived for the weak.

Ms. Sonia Gandhi said most of theproblems faced by society and nationswere born out of ignorance, becauseignorance destroyed wisdom. Oncewisdom was destroyed, it led to myths.

She further said what was known asthe golden period, the highlights ofthat age were knowledge and wisdom."In that age, society was emotionallyunited, liberalized and had human val-ues. This, she said, proved that wecould still learn from "great tradi-tions" and resolve the present-dayproblems.

Sonia Gandhi dedicated to the nationa magnificent statue of a chariotdepicting Lord Krishna deliveringcelestial message of the BhagawadGita to wavering Arjuna atPurshottampura Bagh, Brahmsarova.

Haryana among top10 job-creating states

New Delhi: For long, Maharashtraand Gujarat have been hailed as thecommercial and manufacturing hubs ofthe country. Figures on foreign directinvestment also suggest that they areamong the states attracting the biggestinvestments. Yet, they have been amongthe laggards when it comes to creatingnon-agricultural or manufacturingjobs.

It is states like Haryana, Punjab andRajasthan in the north and the foursouthern states that have registered thehighest growth both in the number ofnon-agricultural business establish-ments and in the number of employeesworking in these. This emerges clearlyfrom a comparison of the data from theeconomic censuses of 1998 and 2005.

In terms of growth in the number ofsuch establishments, Assam, TamilNadu, Haryana and Kerala top the listamong the bigger states. However, interms of the growth in employment insuch establishments, Andhra tops, fol-lowed by Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Naduand Punjab in that order.


Six sportspersons appointed inspectors

Chandigarh: Haryana CM saidthe government has appointed six out-standing sportspersons of the state asinspectors and sub inspectors of policeunder sports quota so as to encouragesportspersons. The CM was speaking ata function organised at Haryana RajBhawan to confer Bhim Award, thestate's highest sports award, on six out-standing sportspersons and sportsawards on 10 others.

Loan waiver: 6.64 lakhfarmers to benefit

Chandigarh : Loans of farmersin the state will be either completelywaived off or reduced to the extent ofRs 2108.46 crore under the farm loanwaiver scheme announced by theunion government in its budget thisyear.

Banks in Haryana would waive offloan of over 6.64 lakh farmers. Thesefarmers would now be again eligiblefor taking loans from the banks.

Haryana's share of Rs 2108.46 croreout of the national waiver amount ofRs 71,600 crore will account for almost3 per cent of the national waiver.

The total amount of waived loan ofsmall and marginal farmers would beover Rs 1436 crore, while that of the"other farmers", over 2.82 lakh, wouldbe about Rs 672 crore.

The Haryana Cooperative ApexBank would waive off Rs 1,113.32 crore of over 4.24 lakhfarmers. Commercial banks, wouldwrite off Rs 558.52 crore of over 1.35lakh farmers.

CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda saysany eligible farmer who finds his orher name missing from the listcompiled by the banks must apply attheir nearest branch.

Incentives galore forHaryana students

Chandigarh: Taking a steptowards making education affordableto all, Haryana CM Bhupinder SinghHooda on Tuesday announced incen-tives involving an investment of aboutRs 500 crore for students belonging toSC category so as to enable them pur-sue their education up to college level.

The CM launched an innovative megascheme of giving monthly stipend anda one-time allowance to all SC studentsin the state's government schools.Hooda announced that all SC studentsin colleges would get Rs 2,000 per yearto purchase books, in addition to amonthly stipend of Rs 1,000.

Hooda announced for the first time inthe state, not only students belongingto SC category, but also of other com-munities studying in governmentschools from classes I to VIII would begiven textbooks free of cost.

He also announced a new scheme forboys belonging to BPL families. amonthly incentive of Rs 75 would begiven to boys studying from classes I toV.

It would be Rs 100 for those studyingin classes from VI to VIII and Rs 150 forthose in classes IX to XI. In case of sci-ence students of classes XI and XII, theincentive would be Rs 200 per month.All BPL students in colleges would getRs 750 per month.

Hooda said the scheme had beenimplemented as part of the activitiesbeing undertaken during the currentyear, already declared as 'Year ofEducation'.

Govt to insure milchanimals of SC families

Chandigarh:The Haryana govt.has earmarked a sum of Rs 5 crore forthe insurance of milch animals of SCfamilies of the state for the currentfinancial year.

CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the"The farmers belonging to SC familieswill benefit from the scheme as thepremium will be paid by the state.

Lawyers get 5 %quota in residentialplots

Chandigarh: Haryana CMBhupinder Singh Hooda today said 5per cent residential plots in all urbanestates developed by Haryana UrbanDevelopment Authority (HUDA) havebeen reserved for lawyers.

The CM, who was addressing mem-bers of the District Bar Associationand Judges in Kurukshetra, was refer-ring to the demand of the BarAssociation for providing land for resi-dential purposes. He said the state gov-ernment had formulated a policy inthis regard and residential plots havebeen reserved for them.

He urged the lawyers to charge nomi-nal fee from the poor so that they arenot deprived of justice. Hoodaannounced that a sum of Rs 5 lakhwould be given for the Bar Association.


Plan to set upHaryana haat revived

Rohtak :The Haryana chapter of theIndian National Trust for Art andCultural Heritage (INTACH) has decid-ed to revive a proposal to set up a DilliHaat-type bazaar at Nabha House,Kurukshetra.

A recent meeting of INTACH Haryanastate advisory committee, felt the needto take up the said proposal afresh withthe Archaeological Survey of India(ASI). Nabha House, situated near theBrahma Sarovar at Kurukshetra, is amid-19th century sprawling buildingconstructed by the king of Nabha.

Army chief for changein people's mindset

Karnal: "Save the Girl Child" cam-paign today got a tremendous fillipfrom the Indian Army. Chief of theIndian Army General Deepak Kapoornot only showed concern over the dwin-dling gender ratio in Haryana but alsocalled for a massive social movement tochange the mindset of people. General Kapoor was speaking at thelaunch of "NCC - Save the Girl Child"campaign initiated by NCC cadets ofHaryana on the campus of NationalDairy Research Institute (NDRI).

Gen Kapoor said due to imbalancedgender ratio, local boys had beenunable to find suitable brides withinthe state.

CM who was the chief guest on theoccasion, also admitted that the declin-ing sex ratio was a blot on the state. He, however, claimed that with thelaunch of several state-sponsored wel-fare schemes, the sex ratio in the statehad slightly improved.

He called for participation of massesto eradicate this evil practice.

"Earlier, sex ratio in the state was 819females after every 1,000 males. Therecent survey has revealed that thesame had gone up as the number offemales had gone up to 863," he said.

Mewat to get 4,000 education centres

Chandigarh : The Haryana gov-ernment has chalked out a programmeto check the drop-out rate and improveeducational level in Mewat district,one of the most educationally back-ward regions in the country. With aview to give special thrust on impart-ing education, the MewatDevelopment Agency (MDA) has decid-ed to open 4,000 education centres inbackward areas of the district.

No more a male bas-tion

Sirsa : Raj Bala (31) and Ritu (30) aretwo sisters who have been able to breakthe age-old notion that women cannotperform tough and tedious jobs consid-ered the exclusive male domains andhave shown the tenacity to storm themale bastion despite opposition fromtheir family.

Both are now working as bus driversin Sirsa. While Raj Bala drives the busof a school for special children man-aged by the district child welfare socie-ty, the other sister, Ritu, drives the busof the women wing of Govt. NationalCollege and ferries girls from distantvillages to Sirsa.

The sisters were shown the door whenthey visited the Haryana Roadwaysoffice in Hisar for learning the drivingof heavy commercial vehicles. Theywere told that women are not trainedthere. "But, GM of the depot O. P.Bishnoi intervened and we wereallowed training,” says Ritu.

Haryana to implement6th pay commission

Chandigarh: Haryana CMBhupinder Singh Hooda announcedthe State government would imple-ment recommendations of the SixthPay Commission on the pattern ofCentral government.

Addressing Independence Day cele-bration at Palwal, headquarter of thenewly created 21st district ofHaryana, Hooda announced a com-mittee headed by chief secretaryDharam Vir has been constituted tostudy recommendations of the PayCommission. It may be recalled theState govt. had made a provision ofRs 1550 crore in the State budget of2008-09 to cater to payment ofincrease in salary and pension,which was likely to be effected on therecommendation of the 6th PayCommission.

Disclosing that Hodal, Palwal andHathin, tehsils of the new Palwal dis-trict, had been declared industriallybackward areas, Hooda said the con-struction of Kundli-Maneshar-PalwalExpressway and development of spe-cial economic zones (SEZs) aroundthe expressway would give a boost toindustrial activities in new district.


AMANBIR KAUR BRAR

T he situation is not far from different in Haryana.On the four National Highways passing throughthe State, more than 2,000 persons were killed and

2700 got injured last year. Many of the deaths occur inrural areas and one study found out that 70 percent offamilies who lose their main wage earner in a trafficaccident subsequently fall below the poverty line.

The main reason behind the rising number of roadaccidents is the rapidly increasing vehicular traffic.Every year new vehicles are being added to the unabatedtraffic on roads as people are going in for personalconveyance. In the year 2006-07, the total number of 4.04 lakh vehicles were added on the roads of Haryana outof which 3.54 lakh were non transport and around 50,000were transport vehicles. Road rage is another problemwhich is posing a serious threat to the safety of people onroads. Now the roads have become killer roads.

To overcome this serious problem,Haryanagovernment has fixed the maximum speed limit forvarious classes of motor vehicles in different areas androads of the state. Themaximum speed limit ofmotor car, motor cycle,scooter, autorickshaw andlight motor vehicle otherthan a transport vehiclewould have to be maintainedat 30 km per hour neareducational institutes andin all other places andwithin municipal area .

The maximum speed of amotor car and light motorvehicle other than atransport vehicle onnational highways has beenfixed at 90 km per hour, forstate highways at 80 km perhour, district roads 70 kmper hour and on villageroads at 60 km per hour.

The maximum speedlimit for motorcycle andscooter at national

highways and state highways is 50 km per hour, ondistrict roads 45 km per hour and on village roads 40 kmper hour. The notification said that maximum speed of anautorickshaw on national highway is fixed at 40 km perhour, state highways 35 km per hour, major district roads30 km per hour and on village roads at 25 km per hour.

The State traffic Control Board has enhanced thehighway patrolling, roadsafety awareness campaignsare organized from time totime throughout the stateand training regarding roadsafety is imparted toteachers, children androadways drivers.

The State government isplaying an active role tocombat this menace. But theefforts of the governmentwould go in vain if thecitizen's do not follow theroadnorms.

The people should abideby the rules and regulationsand follow the safetystandards. Every personshould remember whiledriving that 'there issomeone waiting for you athome'. So drive safe andmake others safe.

Drive safe andmake others safe

Citizen Safety

India lost one lakh precious lives last year in accidentsand a lot more got injured or maimed. Three per centof country's GDP goes waste in road crashes.

DO’S & DON’T’S OF TRAFFIC RULESDo's Don’t

Drive to your right Do not drink anddriveStop on red light Do not over speedMaintain lane discipline Do not use mobile while

drivingAlways overtake from Do not over load Right your vehicleWear helmet while Do not use driving two wheeler high beam in city

limits at nightFront seat occupants of Minors shouldn't drivefour wheelers should fasten seat beltKeep adequate distance Do not drive under between vehicles stress or tensionAllow pedestrians to Do not encourage road cross on zebra crossing rage

AIG(Traffic), RajpalSingh hasappealed tothe public tohelp accidentvictims or callthe accidenthelpline at1033.Assuring that ahelping handwould not beforced tobecome a wit-ness, he saidone could callhim directly on9991090201if harassed bypolicemen inany way.

HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 200854 Citizen Charter

1. PREAMBLE

This is a commitment of theHaryana Urban Development Authorityto provide every allottee/purchaser ofits properties:- l efficient, prompt and courteous

service with a dedication tointegrity and fairness.

l qualitative development atreasonable costs.

l time bound and transparentservices in all transactions.

1.1 QUALITY OF SERVICE

l by issue of acknowledgementexpeditiously and time boundsettlement of all correspondenceand in case of any delay anintimation regarding the reasonsfor such delay and when a reply canbe expected.

l by organising 'Open Darbars'periodically at notified timings,with adequate publicity to ensurespeedy disposal of pending cases.

l by prescribing specific time limitsfor various transactions.

1.2 ACCESS TO INFORMATION

l through 'Guide Book' on procedurerelating to Land and Building Planand on various schemes etc.notified from time to time.

l by making available formats ofdocuments for various transactions.

l by keeping the public informed onmajor decisions like floatation of

sectors, i.e. residential/commercial/ institutional/industrial etc.

1.3 GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL

l through a right to approachconcerned officers at various levels,if grievances are not settled atlower levels. For the work relatingto Estate Offices, public can contactthe Estate Officer/Administratorconcerned and for work relating toEngineering Wing concerned SubDivisional Engineer/ExecutiveEngineer/SuprintendentingEngineer can be contacted.

1.4 CONSUMERS’ OBLIGATIONS

The Haryana Urban DevelopmentAuthority expects from all those whoavail its various services:- l not to approach touts or

middlemen. l to ensure timely deposit of all

dues/instalments/ground rent andother payments demanded fromtime to time.

l to adhere strictly to the terms andconditions of allotment and properup keep and maintenance of theproperty.

HUDA : A case for responsible governance

The time schedule for various activities will be as follows:-

Sr. No. Activity Time Schedule

1. Enquiries regarding installments/dues5 Working Days

2. Issue of Mortgage Permission 18 Working Days

3. No Dues Certificates 18 Working Days

4. Conveyance Deed 18 Working Days

5. Transfer Permission 18 Working Days

6. Final Transfer Letter 5 Working Days

7. DPC Certificate 8 Working Days

8. Issue of Possession Certificate 7 Working Days

9. Demarcation Plan 3 Working Days

10. Sanction of Building Plan 25 Working Days

11. Completion Certificate 12 Working Days

12. Refund 10 Working Days

13. Water/Sewerage Connection 15 Working Days

55HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 2008Career

APARNA PAWAR

There is an increasing craze fornew courses among the youth ofHaryana. They want to pursue

the professions which are morelucrative and promise a good standardof living. Media is one such profession.It is one of the most sought aftercareers. Journalism provides anexciting career for those who lovechallenges. Just think of DeepakChaurasiya reporting from Iraq amidstthe ongoing war, and Barkha Duttcovering the Kargil war, where eachand every step was full of risk. The waymedia industry is growing, it comes asno surprise that the demand fortalented youngsters is increasing inprint and electronic media; as well asin various companies and otherinstitutions. Journalism as aprofession has certainly gained a lot ofpopularity.

Keeping this in view, thegovernment is trying its best to makethe courses available to every suchstudent who is interested in making acareer in media industry. In April thisyear, the chief minister of Haryana Mr.Bhupinder Singh Hooda inauguratedthe first community radio of the stateat 90.4 MHz and glow sign inChaudhary Devi Lal University. Thestudents of the university willthemselves deliver programmes on theradio. He also made an announcementfor the construction of a media schoolin the Guru Jambheshwar Science andTechnology University. Manyinstitutions in the field of mediatraining have introduced new courses.From the current academic year, TheKurukshetra University has launcheda course in music, media & electronics,and post graduate course inmultimedia and other in graphic arts,animation and so on. WhereasChaudhary Charan Singh University isstarting a Radio Jockey coursecommencing from this year, other

educational institutions are alsoproviding many courses which cater tothis profession.

EDUCATIONDifferent colleges and universities

offer under-graduate and post-graduatecourses in Journalism and MassCommunication in Haryana. Thetenure of the courses generally variesfrom one year to three years,depending on the nature of theprogram. There are many institutionswhich are providing degree anddiploma courses pertaining toJournalism and Mass Communication.They are:1. Institute of Mass Communication

and Media Technology,Kurukshetra University,Kurukshetra.

2. Department of MassCommunication and Technology,Guru Jambheshwar University ofScience and Technology, Hisar.

3. Department of Journalism andMass Communication, MaharshiDayanand University, Rohtak.

4. Department of Journalism andMass Communication, ChaudharyDevi Lal University, Sirsa.

5. College of Communication &Management, Gurgaon.

6. Many educational institutionsalso provide distance educationprogrammes.

ELIGIBILITYThe minimum educational

qualification to join a media institutionis plus two for graduation and abachelor's degree for master's course.Most of the institutes admit studentson the basis of separate entrance test.

CAREERMedia jobs have diversified into

print, audio-visual and electronicmedia. A student may try the options,which include newspapers, TV

channels, radio stations, periodicalsand magazines, Press InformationBureaus, Central Information Service,and websites, Many journalists work asfreelancers and sometimes on a part-time basis. Job profiles includereporter, correspondent, sub-editor,copy editor, sports editor, featurewriter, investigative reporter,proofreader, special reporter,photographers, and cartoonists/illustrators. Many corporate housesare also hiring mass communicationsprofessionals as public relationsofficers. The career in media brings alist of jobs in India.

QUALITIESA media person, especially a

journalist should have the qualitiesand personality traits such as flair forwriting, knowledge of current affairs,nose for news, inquisitive nature,sharp memory, physical fitness, goodcommand over the language, ability tojudge neutrally, willing to workunearthly hours, knowledge ofregional languages and empathy..

REMUNERATIONSA career in media is demanding as

well as rewarding. Salaries in printmedia are usually lower than theelectronic media. A trainee reportermay receive payment between Rs.5000-10000 p.m. For agencies, the WageBoard has determined a salary ofRs.7500-8000 p.m. for trainee positions.Special correspondents earn aroundRs.17000-30000 p.m. The field of mediais now a popular destination for thecareer minded youth of Haryana.

MEDIA : a ChallengingCareer Option

The government is trying its best to make the courses available to the reach of every student.

HARYANA REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, 200856 Profile

YOGESH BHAWRA

I f he was famous for nimble-fingered tabla playing, he wasalso notorious for his mood

swings. He could be a hurricane oneday and a cool breeze the next. Hewould fume and even refuse to speakto a journalist trying to seek aninterview. But the next day he couldbe cool as a cucumber. A man ofmoods, Kishan Maharaj, one of thegreatest tabla players of the BanarasGharana, is now no more. As anIndian classical musician, he had fewequals.

His childhood was spent in thestreets of Banaras in a place namedKabir-Chaura. He did his riyaz oftabla and also practiced wrestling.These were two pet interests of thegreat maestro. I had the honour ofinterviewing him in Ahmadabad,where the very popular annual festivalof classic music named Saptak wasbeing held. The festival, popular withartists and lovers of music is heldevery year for the last 28 years.

In this grand festival of Indianclassical music a large number ofpeople come to listen to renownedmusicians. On one occasion in 2003, Imet Kishan Maharaj on the night of 6January. After the performance of

that night, when Maharaj came out ofthe hall, Mizoram Akashvani'sAdditional Director, who was veryfond of classical music, said to me"Come with me , we will try tointerview the great maestro". Whenwe met Maharaj he asked us to comenext day around 11 in the morning forthe interview. I was happy. After thisshort meeting with Maharaj, whilecoming back I also met Pandit VishwaMohan Bhatt. He is the founder offamous Mohan-Veena and a GrammyAward winner. Since he belongs toRajasthan he was familiar to me formany years.

The next day at 11 in the morning Ireached the residence of Mr. NandanMehta, called Shiv Sadan. Mehta is thefounder of Saptak. He is a resident ofShahibagh, Ahmadabad. When Ireached the venue I had no clue thatboth Kishan Maharaj and Bhatt werestaying in the same place. When I wasentering the gate I saw Mr. Bhatt whowas sitting outside his room. He wasbasking in the January sun. As soonas I reached he asked me to proceedwith the interview.

While we were busy with theinterview. I could feel someonestanding in the next room. I did notrealize that the person was none otherthan Kishan Maharaj himself ! After

finishing the interview I asked Mr.Bhatt if he knew where Maharaj wasstaying, and then he told me thatMaharaj himself had been standingoutside this door a while ago! I quicklywent to Maharaj's room and requestedhim for an interview but he was in nomood. He was angry with me for notcoming in time for interview.

He became busy talking on thephone with some importantpersonalities. It seemed he waspurposely trying to show me that bigpersonalities like Amjad Ali Khan,Shivkumar Sharma and others wereclose to him. Conversations continuedfor about one and half hour. I waitedpatiently. When he finally looked at mehe scolded me and said,"Why are youlate young man?" I apologized to himand requested him to give me theinterview. Maharaj said, "You werebusy in talking interview of ayoungster. What are his achievementsin front of mine?" I realized that hewas hurt. I again apologized and toldhim I had no idea that he was stayingnext to Mr. Bhatt's room otherwise Iwould have definitely interviewed himfirst. He finally asked me to come nextday with fully prepared questionnaire.I studied Banaras Gharana MusicTraditions and Musicians. Next day Ireached the Shiv Sadan before the

KISHANMAHARAJthe TablaMaestro


schedule time.At sharp 11 Maharaj entered

the room where I was sitting. Hewas dressed in beautiful silkkurta. He still seemed angry withme . He asked me what knowledgeI had about classical music, had Iever heard of classical music andwhich newspaper I represented.But I managed to have theinterview. I asked him about thetraditions of Banaras Gharana,the different Gharanas of tablaplaying and the Indian classicalmusic. I also asked him about thegreat maestro Zakir Hussain, thetabla playing, guru-shishyaparampara, the scope in tablaplaying and also about the SaptakSchool of Music. Encouraged byhis response, I asked him morequestions about the famousKabir- Chaura of Banaras, Itsimportance and his otherchildhood memories. He also toldme that he was fond of huntingand wrestling. This was a longand memorable interview for mein my life; it took almost sevenhours to complete.

Next day again in the morningaround 8, I got ready for anotherinterview with the great santoormaestro Shiv Kumar Sharma. As Iwas getting ready I got a phone onmy mobile from Kishan Maharaj.He said "Young man, what are youdoing today?" Pleasantlysurprised, I told him that I wasdoing nothing special. Maharajinvited to me to come as early aspossible. I was thrilled. I reachedShiv Sadan on scooter within halfan hour. I was thinking, what amiracle, and yesterday he wouldnot even want to talk me and here Iwas specially invited by the greatmaestro himself. When I reachedthere he asked me, where my officewas. I told him it was in SwastikaChaar Rasta, about seventeenkilometers away. He said he wantedto go to my office.

I quickly rang up my editor andgave him the good news. He askedme to hire a taxi quickly. I hired acar and along with Maharaj andhis grandson Shubhshankarreached the gate of office. Theentire staff along with my editorwas eagerly waiting with bouquetsto welcome us.

MUSICIAN, PAINTER AND WRESTLER

K ishan Maharaj, one of India's best-known tabla exponent was born in1923 in a family of professional

musicians. He was trained in classicalmusic by Pandit Hari Maharaj, his father.After his father's death, Pandit KantheMaharaj, his uncle, took him under hiswings. Kishan Maharaj knew a lot aboutmusic. He had the history of Indianclassical music on his fingertips.

Kishan Maharaj had been conferred thePadma Shri and the Padma Bhushan for hiscontribution in the field of classical music.

Kishan Maharaj, had a distinctive styleof his own and was known for his ability toplay cross-rhythms and produce complexcalculations. He could accompany anyinstrument, be it sitar, sarod, dhrupad. Hewas equally at home accompanying adancer.

The percussionist was considered in thesame league as his contemporary AllaRakha. He had played with almost all theleading classical musicians and performersin the Indian hall of fame. He played withBirju Maharaj, Sitara Devi, Pandit RaviShankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Bismillah Khan,Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Faiyaz Khan, BadeGhulam Ali Khan - almost everyone of histime.

Pandit Kishan Maharaj, breathed his lastat the age of 85. He is survived by a son andthree daughters.

One of his disciple commented abouthim that "I feel that more than teachingtabla, he taught me a way of life. He trainedme to become a complete human being.According to him, Kishan Maharaj was oneof the strictest gurus, a sterndisciplinarian, serious about punctualityand a perfectionist.

Apart from tabla, the masterpercussionist had several passions,including poetry and art (he was anaccomplished painter). "Right fromchildhood, (since the age of 11), when Istarted dancing, Kishan Maharaj had beenthe percussionist of my choice. He followedthe action and then decided on the rhythm(taal)," said Birju Maharaj, a renownedKathak Dancer.

His first public

performance was at

the age of 11.

A few years later, he

began sharing the

stage with stalwarts

like Ustad Faiyaz

Khan, Pandit

Omkarnath Thakur,

Ustad Bade Ghulam

Ali Khan, Pandit

Bhimsen Joshi,

Vasant Rai, Pandit

Ravi Shankar and

Ustad Ali Akbar

Khan.

With his versatility

and temperament,

Maharaj was a musi-

cian's dream

of a perfect

accompanist. He was

delightful at solo

concerts


RANDEEP WADEHRA

According to some politicalanalysts India, being quasi-federal in nature, has a highly

centralized polity wherein thefederating states are very weak.However, over a period of time itbecame clear that over-centralizationcan lead to dysfunctional governanceand a skewed economy. Thus thePanchayati Raj reforms have beeninitiated. The inspiration came fromGandhiji's following statement, "Myidea of village Swaraj is that it is acomplete republic, independent of itsneighbours for its own vital wants, andyet interdependent for many others forwhich dependence is a necessity… Thegovernment of a village will beconducted by a Panchayat of fivepersons annually elected by the adultvillager, male and female, possessingminimum prescribed qualifications.These will have all the authority andjurisdiction required. Since there willbe no system of punishments in theaccepted sense, this Panchayat will bethe legislature, judiciary and executivecombined to operate for its year ofoffice…" Of course, considering extantrealities, this vision of Gandhijicannot be replicated verbatim, but ithas certainly underpinned the currentreforms.

When the Panchayati Raj reformswere initiated in the 1990s it wasassumed that better governance wasthe prime motive. It has also been

argued that the reforms will reversethe increasing democratic deficit bygiving more power to the people.Moreover, corruption, which isrampant in developing countries likeIndia, poses a serious challenge to alldevelopmental activities. It marsgovernance, stunts growth andobstructs democratic functioning.According to received wisdomcentralization encourages corruption;therefore decentralization can be aneffective antidote. Widmalm points outthat there is not enough data availableto validate or debunk this proposition.In fact there are powerful argumentslinking spread of corruption withdecentralization processes. In thisrespect the ongoing Panchayati Rajexperiment is of particular interest.Would the grassroots leveldemocratization and decentralizationeradicate or encourage corruption?What will be its impact on the qualityof governance, including economicgrowth? These posers have beenexamined but no definite answersemerge.

For instance, this tome points out,the connection between corruption anddecentralization has not beenestablished clearly as yet. Althoughcorruption, especially at lower levels ofpublic administration is rampant andforms a 'fundamental obstacle' todevelopment it would beoversimplification to assume that theunavailability or low standard ofhealth and education facilities is duesimply to the corruption of officials,politicians, teachers or health workers.The functioning of these services andthe level of corruption are dependenton a large number of other factors.However, despite the skepticismexpressed in this book there is everychance of Panchayats becomingpowerful engines of development andlethal weapons against corruption.This can be done by fashioning atransparent system of accountability -not only to the upper echelons ofgovernment but also the villagers.Every attempt must be made to

insulate the Panchayat's functioningagainst political and extra-constitutional interference.

This book seeks to examine thefactors that may make a crucialdifference to the quality of governancein contexts that are democratic butwhere the institutional and socio-economic environment is quitechallenging.

For this purpose Kerala and MadhyaPradesh have been chosen forcollecting and analyzing empiricaldata. And it comes up with findingsthat do not hold corruption as the onlyconstraint on development. Politicalapathy and lack of strong andenlightened public opinion are amongthe other daunting factors.

If you are a student ofdevelopmental economics or involvedin aid-related activities you will findthis tome invaluable. Our opinionmakers and ruling elite too may find ita rewarding read.

Examining the new mantra for goodgovernance: Decentralization

WHEN THE PANCHAYATI RAJREFORMS WERE INITIATED INTHE 1990s IT WAS ASSUMEDTHAT BETTER GOVERNANCEWAS THE PRIME MOTIVE. ITHAS ALSO BEEN ARGUEDTHAT THE REFORMS WILLREVERSE THE INCREASINGDEMOCRATIC DEFICIT BYGIVING MORE POWER TOTHE PEOPLE.

Decentralisation, corruption and socialcapital by Sten Widmalm Sage. Pages: 229. Price: Rs. 495/-.

Book Review

haryana review, september, 2008 1 - …haryanasamvad.gov.in/store/document/hr_review... · amanbir...

Documents