By Haryananewswire
CHANDIGARH, OCT 31
Haryana Chief
Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has greeted the people on the eve of 48th
Haryana Day and reiterated his resolve to continue the accelerated pace of
development to fulfill their aspirations.
The Chief Minister said that as a result of implementation of innovative
schemes and new welfare initiatives, despite having only 1.3 per cent of the
total area of the country, the State contributes 3.4 per cent of the total
national Gross Domestic Product. It ranks at the top in terms of per capita
income, per capita Plan Budget and mobilisation of resources. Haryana is also
one of the States that pay the highest minimum wages to the labourers and is
the first to introduce Health Insurance Scheme for construction workers and
provide free water connection to the households of Scheduled Castes. The State
is also emerging as an Education Hub and Sports Power.
Today being the martyrdom day of former Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, Mr
Hooda said that it was she who had approved the creation of Haryana thus paving
the way for its massive development. The State would remain indebted to her and
also to the progressive policies of the Congress party being implemented under
the guidance of UPA chairperson Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan
Singh.
Mr
Hooda said that while laying focus on development of agriculture sector,
schemes have been implemented to benefit the farming community right from
sowing to the sale of their produce. Rate of interest on crop loans has been
reduced from 11 to four per cent and stamp duty on agricultural loans has been
abolished. The State has made a record production of 162.25 lakh tonnes of
foodgrains during 2012-13. Also, for the crushing season 2013-14, the highest
ever rate of Rs 301 per quintal has been fixed for early variety of sugarcane,
Rs 295 per quintal for mid variety and Rs 290 per quintal for late variety. He
also reiterated the commitment of the State Government to get Haryana's due
share of Ravi-Beas waters through Sutlej Yamuna Link canal.
Mr
Hooda said that when he assumed office of Chief Minister for the first time in
2005, the installed generation capacity of State's own resources was merely
1587.7 MW. He said that the present Government set up new power plants thus
raising the installed generation capacity to 5300.50 MW. In addition, the
generation capacity of other sources was also got increased which resulted in
total installed generation capacity of 9920.51 MW. The State Government also
signed an agreement with the neighbouring Bhutan to set up a hydro power
generation plant there to get more power. An atomic power plant of 2800 MW
capacity is being set up at village Gorakhpur in district Fatehabad and two
units of 300 MW each would be set up at Yamuna Nagar thermal power plant. A gas
based power plant would be set up in Faridabad.
Haryana has emerged as a major industrial sector as we have not only provided
world class infrastructure and are setting up IT parks, cyber parks, technology
parks and expanding old industrial estates. We are also establishing new
industrial townships. Today, the industrial sector contributes 29 per cent of
the total economy of the State. An investment of Rs 64,000 crore has so far
been made since the year 2005 and investments of Rs one lakh crore are in pipeline.
The State has also witnessed massive development in road and rail sectors. As
against construction of only 16 ROBs upto February 2005, as many as 32 ROBs
have been constructed during last eight-and-a-half years and work is in
progress on construction of 37 more ROBs. He said that the State had only one
railway line in 39 years, but the present Government has been able to get six
new railway lines and a Rail Coach Factory sanctioned. Now, metro rail service
has been introduced in Haryana and Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway is under
construction.
As
Haryana is also emerging as an Education Hub, a number of prestigious
educational institutes have been set up and more are coming up. Rajiv Gandhi
Education City is being set up in Sonepat and it would be the biggest
educational centre in the world. At this centre, 1.5 lakh students will
together get education and 25 per cent of the seats would be reserved for
students of Haryana. A National Defence University is coming up at Gurgaon,
whereas Central University has already been set up in Mahendragarh. The State
has a Women University at Khanpur Kalan and University of Health Sciences at
Rohtak and University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Hisar. IIM has been
set up at Rohtak and country's second National Institute of Design is being set
up in Kurukshetra.
He
said that perhaps Haryana is the only State in the world to implement the
largest ever scheme to give scholarships to school going students. About 20
lakh students are given monthly scholarships ranging from Rs 75 to Rs 600 per
month thus benefitting them by Rs 500 crore per year. He said that to ensure
modern health facilities to the people, four new medical colleges have been set
up and AIIMS-II has also been set up in the State. Patients are given free
medicines in all government hospitals and Haryana is the first State to give
the facility of economical surgery package to patients in government hospitals.
However, the poor have the facility of free surgeries.
Mr
Hooda said that in consonance with the dream of Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi
to ensure that nobody is starved and remain without shelter, the Haryana
Government implemented UPA Government's Food Security Scheme. The 'Dal-Roti'
scheme was implemented by the State Government on the birth anniversity of
former Prime Minister Mr Rajiv Gandhi on August 20,2013. Under this scheme,
1.26 crore people are getting rice at a rate of Rs three per kg, wheat at a
rate of Rs two per kg and coarse grains at a rate of Re one per kg. In
addition, 12.84 lakh Antyodaya Anna families and BPL families are getting 2.5
kg cereals at a rate of Rs 20 per kg per month.
While reminding of the slogan, "Garibi Hatao" raised by former Prime
Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi, he said that Priyadarshini Awaas Yojana has been
implemented to provide shelter to the poor in rural areas. Under this scheme, a
target has been fixed to provide 'pucca houses' to two lakh families in two
years. About 3.82 lakh plots of 100 square yards each have been allotted to the
poor. There is also a plan to construct 1.50 lakh houses for the urban poor in
two years. Apart from this, the State Government has formulated an Affordable
Housing Policy to provide flats in urban areas at economical rates. A target has
been fixed to construct 1.25 lakh flats in next five years through private
sector.
He
said that 543 colonies in Municipal limits in 16 districts have been declared
as deficit in civic amenities. These will be provided with basic amenities like
drinking water, sewerage facilities, street lights and roads.
He
said that the Government is committed to provide employment to the youth.
Therefore, new courses have been introduced in technical institutes so as to keep
pace with the requirements of the industry. The number of seats in technical
education institutes has been increased by 1.23 lakh. As a result of
development of IT infrastructure, about 13 lakh people could get employment
directly or indirectly. We are recruiting more than 65,000 youth in various
Departments, Boards and Corporations.
He
said that a new Sports Culture is being developed in Haryana, as the
sportspersons of the State have brought laurels in many international and
national meets during last eight-and-a-half years. Haryana is the first State
to implement 'Padak Lao-Pad Pao' Policy to ensure guarantee of employment to
outstanding sportspersons.
He
said that while ensuring social security, more than 21.09 lakh people are getting
allowances and pensions amounting to more than Rs 1670 crore under various
social security schemes. He said that the Government has decided to increase
the Dearness Allowance admissible to the employees by 10 per cent with effect
from July 1,2013.
He
said that although we have implemented several schemes to raise the
socio-economic status of the people and we are marching ahead, yet we have a
long way to go. He sought the cooperation of the people to rise above their
narrow differences and work unitedly to make Haryana a fast developing State.
