HARYANA

The air quality life index (AQLI), released by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) on Wednesday stated that citizens in Haryana can live upto 8.4 years more on an Average, if particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration in the state is at the level of 10 g/m3(mili-micrograms per meter cube) which is deemed safe by the World Health Organization.

According to the study report on AQLI released by the U.S. research group, Haryana is the fourth worst affected state in the country recording alarming levels of Air Pollution. The annual average PM 2.5 concentration in Haryana was 96 g/m3 in 2019. The air pollution is reducing the life expectancy of people by 5.5 years in Haryana, relative to what it would be if the safe limits for PM 2.5 levels in India i.e. 40ug/m3 is met, the report said.

The AQLI, developed by EPIC, converts air pollution concentrations into their impact on life expectancy and tells how much longer can we live if we breathe in clean air.

On sustained exposure to particulate pollution in neighboring states of Punjab and Himachal where WHO guidelines were not met, the findings in the report stated that this has shortened the lives of people in Punjab by 5.6 years and in Himachal, by 2.9 years.

In the union territory of Chandigarh, which is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, the residents are losing upto 5.5 years of their lives due to exposure to air pollution.

The 510 million residents of northern India, 40 percent of the countrys Population, are on track to lose 8.5 years of life expectancy on average, if pollution levels of 2019 persist, said the report.

Notably, the northern state of Haryana faces a major challenge to improve the worsening air quality due to continuous Growth of urban population, industrial emissions, motor vehicle emissions and the stubble burning.

Many major cities in Haryana have reported air quality index in the severe category over the past few years. Gurugram and Faridabad, which lie to the national capital region, have reported an air quality index of over 400.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe.

Haryana has been ranked third at the national level for remarkable work done in the MSME sector. PM Narendra Modi presented the award to Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala at the MSME National Award function held in New Delhi.

Two state MSMEs also received Awards during the event. Harjinder Kaur Talwar got the first prize for small service enterprise in the Women category and Rishabh Gupta got the third position in the overall category for manufacturing micro enterprise. Chautala said along with big industries, Haryana remained among the top performing states in terms of medium and small-scale industries.

There are 9.7 lakh MSMEs and the state has launched several schemes to boost their performance.

Former Haryana chief minister and leader of oppositionBhupinder Singh Hoodahas said the chief minister,Manohar Lal Khattarmay try to run down data collected by CMIE, but data from government like NSSO also indicates that Unemployment has turned into a crisis in Haryana. He said Haryana was number one in investments, has now become number one in unemployment.

If the government denies theCMIE data, it must look at the NSSO data and it will be clear that unemployment is at its peak in Haryana. The latest economic survey of the itself shows that 8,81,679 people of the state had registered for jobs, but the government was able to provide jobs to only 2,816 people, he said.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday launched HKRNL Enterprises Portal which will help industries to raise their demands, while employable candidates also register themselves and apply for the open vacancy. With the launch of the portal, so far, according to the demand for 6000 manpower received from various companies, interview offers have been sent to more than 12,000 youths.

Expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister, industrialists and various industrial organizations who had joined the launch programme virtually, said that the industrial association had been wanting for such a scheme or initiative for a long time. With the launch of this portal, industries will get a big relief as it will be possible for them to get hassle free manpower.

Khattar said that on this IT portal, industries can register and generate demand for manpower. HKRNL will provide the shortlisted candidates in line with the ratio demanded by the respective organisations. Besides this, HKRNL will be able to provide manpower in various salary slabs ranging from 12,000 to 30,000, asserted Khattar.

The Chief Minister said that the has set up an Overseas Placement Cell to provide EMPLOYMENT opportunities to the youth in foreign countries as well. A target has been set to send about 1 lakh youth abroad in the first year.

Haryanas villages will soon be equipped with city-like facilities, including Education, Health, and transport, besides developing colonies in big villages.

The Chief Minister further said that Haryana is the first state in the country which has given 50 percent representation to Women in Institutions. Not only this, Haryana is also the first state to have an educated panchayat. It is the effort of the State Government to make the lives of the citizens happy and prosperous, he added.

The Chief Minister said that it is the job of the Panchayats to ensure cleanliness in the villages. The state government has made a scheme, under which small tractor-trolleys will be given to the villages for collection of garbage, he added.

The Chief Minister said that the pension of about 15 elderly people in Amru Pana, Raju Pana and Swai Pana has been automatically made online. The government has also organized Antyodaya fairs under the Mukhyamantri Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana for the economic upliftment of poor families. Under this, loan sanction of 28 families was done in this village also, out of which 21 have got loan, he added.

Apart from this, about 6,000 Ayushman cards are to be made in this village. Out of this, 3,385 Ayushman cards have been made. In this village also, 89 people have availed the facility of free medical treatment, for which an amount of about Rs 13.91 lakh has been given to the hospitals, said Khattar.

Haryana Vidhan Sabhaspeaker,Gian Chand Guptahas constituted a five-member committee to share its valuable suggestions/recommendations to the House, during the course of presentBudget Session, 2021, whether there is a need to repeal or make amendment in the sub-section 7 of Section 8A and Section 42 of the Haryana Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1961.

As per the notification, the Committee would share its suggestions/ recommendations regarding the disputes between the farmers and sponsors arising out of contract Farming Agreement which bar jurisdiction of Civil Court. The Committee will submit its report during the course of this current session so that department may take all the necessary action in due course of time.

In a year’s time, the pollution board will set up another 22 stations to monitor air quality in parts ofHaryana, taking the total in the state to 51, officials said.

Currently, Haryana has 29 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS). Of this, 21 are located in districts that are part of the National Capital Region (NCR) – Gurgaon, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Jhajjar, Jind, Karnal, Panipat and Sonipat.

According to rules, cities with a Population count of 1 to 5 million should have at least five CAAQMS and three manual air quality monitors. Gurgaon has four CAAQMS and no manual monitoring stations.
Though both types of stations are used to gather data on pollutants, CAAQMS are more advanced monitors that cover a broader range of parameters than the manual ones.

The this year claimed to have given thrust to the Growth of the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture sector to fulfil its promise to double the income of farmers. However, farmers continued to struggle with the issues of profitable minimum support price (MSP), adequate compensation for crop damage and draining out standing water etc.

The farmers were also not able to venture out of the wheat-paddy cycle to adopt innovative farming in an attempt to supplement their income.

An important contributor to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the government had also proposed a budgetary allocation of Rs 5988.76 crore to the agriculture and allied sectors, an increase of 27.7 per cent in this years budget in March.

The Economic Survey Report of the Haryana Government indicated the importance of agriculture in Haryana when it stated, Though the economic growth of the state has become more dependent on the growth in Industry and Services sectors during the past few years, the recent experience suggests that high Gross State Value Added (GSVA) growth without sustained and rapid agricultural growth was likely to accelerate Inflation in the state, jeopardising the larger growth process. The ESR stated that as per the advance estimates for 2021-22, the GSVA from the agriculture sector had a growth of 2.6 per cent.

The Chairperson of the Haryana Commission for Protection of Child Rights (HCPCR), Jyoti Bainda, has written to the state Chief Minister (CM) for the constitution of a welfare board for the transgenders in the state.

The commission faces the lack of legal framework in various areas pertaining to transgenders, including the adoption of children by them.

The commission has come across various instances where transgenders have adopted children, though there is no legal provision for this. Bainda was of the opinion that the need for the constitution of a welfare board was incumbent to ensure societal acceptance and dignity for the transgenders in Society.