August HR Haryana Review 6.qxd - S A M V A D ::haryanasamvad.gov.in/store/document/samvad693948141.pdf · jarur padaho aur agae ne badaho. ... ART AnD CULTURE Let the buds bloom 44

Sainik SchoolKunjpura celebratesgolden jubilee

Page 34

August 2010, Vol 24 Issue 8 Rs 15

On the occasion of 64thIndependence Day, I greetmy fellow citizens fromHaryana. This is agreat day when weoverthrew the yoke ofslavery and won ourindependence. It istime to cherish thisfreedom and devoteour lives to nation building by following the spirit of freedom struggle.

Jagannath Pahadia Governor, Haryana

I extend my heartiest greeting tothe people of Haryana on the

occasion of 64th IndependenceDay. It is time to rememberand imbibe the spirit of our

freedom fighters, whomade huge sacrifices to

make India an independentcountry. Let us rededicate

ourselves to build a socialistand secular republic committed

to progress and welfare of the people.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda Chief Minister, Haryana

Wishing 64th Independence Day

HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010

PATROn-In-CHIEF

Bhupinder Singh Hooda

EDITOR-In-CHIEF

Dr K K Khandelwal

CHIEF EDITOR

Shiv Raman Gaur

COnSULTInG EDITOR

Gobind Thukral

MAnAGInG EDITOR

M S Yadav

nEWS BUREAU

Amanbir Kaur Brar

Aparna Pawar

Nishant Prabhakar

Ruchi Sharma

Ravneet Kaur Brar

COPY DESK

Shweta Vashishta

LAYOUT

Sunil Kumar

ILLUSTRATOR

Gurpreet Singh

PHOTOGRAPHER

Randeep Singh

PHOTO SUPPORT

Tek Chand Arora

Gopal Singh

Karam Singh

Neeraj Chopra

Gauri Shankar

Jasmer Singh

VOL 24, ISSUE 8, AUGUST 2010

Edited and published for the Haryana government by

Shiv Raman Gaur, IAS, Director, Information, Public

Relations & Cultural Affairs Department, and issued

from Samvad, SCO No 137, Sector 17, Panchkula

(Haryana). (Mailing address: SCO 23 (FF), Sector 7,

Madhya Marg, Chandigarh. Phone 0172-5055971,

5055977).

All rights reserved. Any reproduction of this

publication’s contents, in whole or in part, without

written permission, is prohibited. Haryana Review does

not necessarily agree with the views of the

writers/contributors.

Website: www.haryanareview.com

Email: [email protected]

Printed at: Model Printing Press (I) Pvt Ltd, Ambala

For distinction in education

Education not only makes individualsbetter human beings, but builds nations.

This is the hallmark of civilisation.Mahatma Gandhi said it long time back,“Education should be so revolutionised as toanswer the wants of the poorest villager,instead of answering those of an imperialexploiter.” Imperial power is long gone. Indiaas a free country has embarked upon thepath of spreading education. The journey isindeed arduous. Mere literacy is a gigantictask. Though we still are far from totalliteracy, yet we have moved fast in the sphereof high and university education. India plansto add 1,500 more universities in the nextdecade.

The gross enrolment ratio for highereducation is slightly better for Haryana at12.83 per cent against the national average of12.24 per cent. The government is keen toincrease the number of enrolled students inthe age group of 18-23 to the internationalgross enrolment ratio of 24 per cent.

The government has allocated more fundsand is optimistic about making Haryana aknowledge hub. Issues are clear; Haryanahas limited land and the burden ofpopulation is increasing. There areindustrial and service sectors that holdpromise for employment. For that, we needtrained manpower; educated and skilled.Real education has to draw out the best fromthe boys and girls. This is what thegovernment is aiming at.

In this issue of Haryana Review, we surveyall the universities in the state and the hardwork being out in by the state government isexamined in detail. There is going to be rightkind of emphasis on quality while expandingthe institutions and adding infrastructure.We also offer exclusive analysis of therecently held Panchayat elections and muchmore for the readers to savour. g

E D I TO R I A L

COVER STORY

Striving for excellence in higher education 4INTERVIEW: Education would transform

our society for the better 6Upward strides of a university 8A dream project 11Journey from traditional to modern learning 12University with a difference 14A paradigm in agricultural research 16Creating talent in science and technology 18A ray of light 20University of Health Sciences:

Devoted to saving lives 22Livestock study 25A name in technical education 26A new chapter in national security 27Central varsity in Haryana 28Students speak 29Higher education under one umbrella 30

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CONTENTS HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 20102

dekh jiji padh likh kesari kismat badal ja se...isliya apani choriya nejarur padaho aur agae

ne badaho

Readers may send their comments [email protected] or to SCO 23, First Floor,

Sector 7-C, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh - 160 019

[35]

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SPECIAL REPORT

Panchayat election sets a mark 32Sainik School Kunjpura celebrates

golden jubilee 34

SPECIAL FEATURE

Sirsa: Development on the forefront 36Agriculture- the mainstay 37Kaluana, a village of distinction 39Making life blissful 40

HISTORY

In defence of defenceless documents 43

ART AnD CULTURE

Let the buds bloom 44

SPORTS

Kurukshetra university in its sports avatar 46

PHOTO FEATURE

Me and my cattle 48

GUEST COLUMn

Mahatma Gandhi and human security 54

BOOK REVIEW

A vision for education 56

CONTENTS 3HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010

[39]

COVER STORY HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 20104

Gobind Thukral

Haryana government’s attention,till recently, has been more

focused on elementary education,particularly schooling at the primarylevel. And, rightly so as that was thecorrect approach to end scourge ofilliteracy. The whole concept of 'SarvaShiksha Abhiyan' and its entire focushas been on elementary education. Ithas succeeded in increasing thenumber of schools and the intake ofstudents, particularly from the poorsections and from among the girls.Some years back, Haryana began itsmarch to have more colleges anduniversities to create a knowledgesociety. It is carefully moving towardsthat goal and has been earmarkingmore funds for education during thepast some years.

A fully-fledged Rajiv GandhiEducation City is coming up near

Sonipat. Several universities,including some from abroad, haveexpressed their desire to set upcampuses there. It is being developedon land measuring 2007 acres and isenvisaged as a hub for higher learningand a centre for research in cuttingedge technologies such asnanotechnology, biotechnology,genetics, engineering, technology andmedicine.

This education city has beenplanned with most modern facilitiesrequired for an international leveleducation city like multi-systemmedical centre, central library andarchives, media centre andcommunication tower/satellitereceiving station, youth centre ,hostels and service apartments. Thereshall be other facilities like hotels,multiplexes, shopping arcades, indoorstadiums, parks and play grounds witha lake. 25 per cent of the total seats are

to be reserved for the students ofHaryana.

Till now, ten well-knowninstitutions have been allotted land.First phase consists of 2,068 acres ofland and the work is being undertakenby the Town and Country PlanningDepartment, Haryana.

The government’s efforts got animpetus recently. In March 2005, therewere 60 government colleges and thisnumber now is 78. During 2004-05, thegovernment spent Rs 221 crore onhigher education and the currentyear’s budget allocation is Rs 758.68crore. The present government hasspent Rs 3,000 crores on highereducation during the first tenure ofthe Bhupinder Singh HoodaGovernment. There is a clear effort toincrease this. The government isgenerous in spending on power andeducation.

There are 96 private aided colleges

SSttrriivviinngg ffoorr eexxcceelllleennccee iinnhhiigghheerr eedduuccaattiioonn

COVER STORY 5HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010

and this exceeds the number ofgovernment colleges. There are 27 self-financed colleges up to degree level. Aworrying aspect is the large number,448 private self-financed B. Edcolleges. The government is keen notto add more. There are eleven self-financed law colleges and two sportscolleges in the same category. Anotherworry for the government isrecruitment of good professionalteachers, principals and other staff.“We want highly efficient teachers andother staff in our universities so thatwe can excel,” promises BhupinderSingh Hooda. He adds, “Thegovernment is committed andcurrently a big effort is on towardsmaking these universities seats ofexcellence.”

Haryana can boast of one upcomingCentral University nearMahendergarh and a DefenceUniversity in Gurgaon. In addition,the Haryana government has so far setup ten universities, including onewomen university in the cherishedmemory of Bhagat Phool Singh, a wellknown educationist at Khanpur Kalanin Sonipat. There is a university in thename of Chaudhry Devi Lal at Sirsa.This university has students fromnursery to doctorate level and there isa medical college attached to it.There are separate highly specialiseduniversities for agriculture, animalhusbandry, both at Hisar, engineering(at Bahadurgarh) and medicine(Rohtak). Indian Institute ofManagement has opened its campus atRohtak this year. In fact, Hisar hasthree and Rohtak two universities. Aresidential university in the name ofChaudhry Devi Lal at Sirsa would bean affiliating university very soon. Alldistrict headquarters would have oneuniversity sooner than later and somewith more than one.

Yet, the total intake of students isstill low. The gross enrolment ratio forhigher education is slightly better forHaryana at 12.83 per cent. It is 12.24per cent for India. The government iskeen to increase the number ofenrolled students in the age group of18-23 to the international grossenrolment ratio of 24 per cent. Itincludes the developed and developingworld. For United States, it is 83 percent.

Union Human ResourceDevelopment ministry has set anambitious target of gross enrolment

ratio-- to increase it to 30 per cent by2020. For this, there is need for thedevelopment of specialised collegesand new universities. This means anequally big contribution from theprivate sector. There is, however, needto stop commercialisation ofeducation. The government underHaryana Government UniversitiesAct, 2006 is granting permission forsetting up of private universities inthe state. Higher education secretarySS Prasad is now concentrating moreon improving standards of teaching.“Our emphasis is two-fold. Improveinfrastructure and the quality ofteaching. Introduction of semestersystem in place of annual examinationis directed towards that. We want tocreate erudite scholars and not justthose who go by rote,”he asserts.

MORE UNIVERSITIES, THE BETTER

Kurukshetra University as the oldestpremier institution of Haryana stillsets the pattern for universityeducation. In matter of academicstandards and output, it beats manyuniversities. There are a number ofenthusiastic academicians andresearchers on the campus whomstudents nearly worship.

Haryana’s Agriculture Universityat Hisar has earned its own famethrough painstaking research. It hashelped the Green Revolution tomature with new hybrid varieties ofwheat, rice, barley, maize, sugarcaneand several fruits particularly thosesown in the dry land areas. In matterof research, teaching and extensionwork, its position is recognisedworldwide.

There is a renewed effort to buildhigh quality infrastructure. Anyvisitor to the Maharshi DayanandUniversity campus at Rohtak would beimpressed with its existing and newupcoming teaching and hostel blocks.According to renowned educationist,Dr R P Hooda, by the end of 2012, theuniversity would have spent close toRs 400 crores on science blocks,hostels and other buildings. Much ofthe money comes from university’sown resources, though thegovernment too has been generous. Itis being well spent. The universitycould easily take care of increase instrength of students from the presentstrength of 6,000 students to over15,000 students. “We wish to make thisuniversity a seat of great learning

and inspiration and the backing wehave got from the chief ministerwould ensure that. His emphasis oneducation is well-acknowledged,” saidDr Hooda. The campus of thisuniversity with well-designedbuildings, hostels and researchcenters and all lined with trees wouldbe one of the finest in the north. Eventhe worst sceptics agree with thisassessment.

Other universities at Sirsa, Hisarand Sonipat, some in their nascentstage, promise an excellent beginning(We provide full details in our focusnarrative). Finances are not much ofa problem. Same is true aboutinfrastructure. Visit any sprawlingcampus and you will observe lot ofconstruction activity. Teaching,research and library and hostelfacilities are well established andmore are being created fast. But mostvice chancellors and senior professorsfeel the paucity of well-qualified andcommitted teaching staff. This isessential for good academic work;teaching and research. Universitiesare indeed built on their shoulders.

At present, four privateuniversities are functioning in thestate. There is O.P. Jindal Universityat Sonipat. Gurgaon has three privateuniversities; IIM University, ApeejaySatya University and the AmityUniversity, Manesar. Someapplications are pending and we couldexpect to add another ten universitiesmore to the present list.

This Government is committed tomake education universally accessibleand inclusive for all sections of thesociety. Higher education has adifferent set of challenges and issuesfrom school education and is criticalto qualitative social growth of thestate. To ensure closer attention and asharper focus on its development, thestate government has created aseparate administrative department ofhigher education.

Education is the pillar on whichrests the edifice of human resourceand in the present era ofglobalisation, competition in turningout better human resource hasbecome intense. The State’s endeavouris to offer best educationinfrastructure to its people. Anyvisitor five years from now would bepleasantly surprised to see thebustling campuses and a vibrantacademic atmosphere. g

INTERVIEW HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 20106

“I want to makeHaryana a leadingstate in the matter ofeducation. I believeeducation wouldtransform our societyfor the better. Weought to be ready forthe emergingtechnology drivenworld. We are makingall-out efforts toachieve our goal. Ibeseech the people ofHaryana to fullyutilise the facilitieswe have created,”thisis how Haryana chiefminister, BhupinderSingh Hooda, nowinto his second term,reacts to questionsposed by ShwetaVashishta.

Excerpts from theinterview:

Ever since you took the reins ofthe government six years back,you have shown keenness tomake Haryana an educationhub. How did the ideagerminate within you?To make Haryana, a leading stateeducationally has been the principalconcern ever since I took the reins ofthe state as Chief Minister. Theprimary focus of the State

Government is to provide quality andneed based education to all. Educationscene today in the state is at a tippingpoint. Opportunities abound, yet thechallenges are unprecedented. Thehigher education sector in Haryana isto respond to the dynamic changeshappening all over the globe.

A market driven approach, adoptingemerging technologies, effective fundraising and deployment backed by the

Education wouldtransform our societyfor the better

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda felicitating Tanvi Aggarwal, CBSE topper from Faridabad

INTERVIEW 7HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010

right policy framework by thegovernment is key to boost the highereducation sector. Incredible expansionhas taken place in the field of highereducation both in terms of quality andquantity during the tenure of thepresent government.

It is very much evident from thefact that Haryana Government hasincreased the annual budget allocationfrom Rs 288.20 crore in 2005-06 toapproximately Rs 758.38 crore in 2010-11 (Plan and Non-Plan). Qualityeducation to all is the priority of theHigher Education Department.

In order to implement its policy ofrapid expansion in the sphere ofhigher education, Government hasopened new government colleges atKaithal, Birohar, Mandi Dabwali,Government College, Julana,Government College for Women,Panchkula and Tosham and girls wingin Government College, Sirsa from theacademic session 2007-08.

In the year 2008-09, GovernmentColleges for Women, Rewari,Government College, Panipat,Government College, Chhachhrauli,Government College, Barwala (Hisar)and Government College for women,Lakhan Majra have been opened in theState. This year government collegesat Bapoli, Gurawara, Ellenabad andMandi Dabwali have been started.There are now 78 government collegesrunning in the State and about 3 lakhstudents are getting higher educationin Arts, Commerce and Sciencestreams. In addition to this, job-oriented courses have been started in26 government colleges.

At present, 65 government collegeshave their own buildings and thebuildings of eight government collegesare under construction. Twelvegovernment colleges have their ownhostels and 11 government collegeshave auditorium/multipurpose hall.

Where do you see Haryana interms of higher education tenyears down the line?Our aim is to reorganise andmodernise college education toempower young boys and girls of allsegments of society to vigorouslyparticipate in the socio economicprocesses of the country and to makeuniversities resource centres to drivethe process. Expansion, inclusion andexcellence are the three cornerstones

of higher education. In Haryana, thepresent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)is slightly higher (12.8%) than theGross Enrolment Ratio at the nationallevel (12.3%). In the years to come, theGER of the state will be more thandouble as compared to the nationalaverage in the field of highereducation. Tremendous growth hastaken place in terms of content andquality. A large number of options areavailable to the students whilechoosing the subjects.

There is an increase in quality ofteaching as well as in infrastructure,both in physical infrastructure and incourse content available to thestudents. Since the year 2004-05, thebudget provisions have increased toabout 160 per cent and similarly thenumber of students pursuing highereducation has increased to about 80per cent.

The State Government has a specialfocus on imparting competitive skillsand capabilities of global standardsand also nurturing institutions ofexcellence aspiring to world classstandard. Keeping this in view,emphasis is being laid on compulsorycomputer education, language labs,imparting instructions througheducation satellite. Smart InteractiveClassrooms are being set up in thegovernment colleges of the state.

Universities are portals ofhigher learning. What is thegovernment doing to attractstudents towards higherstudies?Higher Education sector is witnessingan exponential growth anduniversities are the centres which givesubstantial impetus to globalknowledge, competence and research.The present government has takennoteworthy initiatives to bring aboutqualitative and innovative reforms inoverall working of the universities.Each university will focus oninnovation and research in differentsubjects. The state universities reviseor restructure curricula as percontemporary and relevant dynamicsand keep pace with other establisheduniversities throughout the country.

The State Government hasintroduced semester system ofeducation throughout the state.Examination reform is one of theprime concerns of the Government. To

encourage public-private partnership,Haryana Private Universities Act, 2006has been enacted and four privateuniversities have been set up inHaryana.

The Government of Haryana hasdecided to set up Rajiv GandhiEducation City (RGEC) at Kundli(Sonipat), which would act as a hub forhigher learning and centre forresearch in cutting-edge technologiessuch as nanotechnology,biotechnology, genetics and others.RGEC will provide quality educationin the state and also attract reputeddomestic and internationalinstitutions for higher learning andexpert academicians in variousdisciplines. In RGEC, 25 per cent oftotal seats would be reserved for thestudents of Haryana.

Higher education and learninghelp in empowering women?So what is the governmentdoing to better the lot ofwomen through this tool?With the priority on girl education,women university namely BhagatPhool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya,Khanpur Kalan (Sonipat) has beenestablished. In order to empowerfemale students and to bring out thelatent talent of the girls, women cellshave been established in all colleges toorganise various activities to bringabout awareness in students on genderrelated issues. About 45,000 girlstudents will get benefit of the schemethis year. Similarly, a scheme forexcursion and tours for girl students ofthe government colleges to visiteducational and other prominentplaces of historical and culturalinterest has been started.

A scheme for meritorious girlstudents has been instituted in orderto attain the national goal of makingall efforts to provide good educationand bringing women to themainstream of society. Under thescheme in the year 2009-10, almostabout three times more girl studentswere benefited in comparison to theyear 2005-06. The emphasis of the StateGovernment is to increase theenrolment number of girl students sothat they do not lag behind theircounterpart in pursuing highereducation. The number of girlstudents in higher education is almostequal to the number of boy students. g


Gobind Thukral

Maharshi Dayanand University atRohtak has never had it so good. A

committed, consummate academicianas vice chancellor and a chief ministerbacking him to the hilt. Both havedreams in their eyes and are sparing noeffort to turn this university located inthe hotbed of Haryana’s politics into aplace of excellence.

Talk to the chief minister,Bhupinder Singh Hooda and hispassion to develop this university nayall such institutions comes to the fore.“I want to turn Haryana into aneducation hub. We have openedinstitutions of higher learning all overthe state. Universities not only havesufficient funds to develop their

infrastructures and modernise, buthave real autonomy. Rohtak needssupport and we are providing in fullmeasure,” he says.

The Vice-Chancellor, ProfessorR P Hooda who took the HaryanaReview team around the sprawlingcampus for four long hours during thesummer noon showing each upcomingnew building with a rare attention feelsgrateful for the guidance and help fromthe chief minister. “We have neverheard no from the chief minister. Hewelcomes all suggestions aimed atimproving various facets of theuniversity. He inspires us to do moreand create places of excellence. We areindeed grateful for his leadership,” hetells as he seeks suggestion from hiscolleagues and students.

Maharshi Dayanand University,Rohtak was established in 1976 as aresidential university, “with theobjective of promotinginterdisciplinary higher education andresearch with special emphasis onstudies of Life Sciences andEnvironmental Ecological Sciences.” Itbegan well, but then hiccups impededits growth.

Later, the university’s residentialcharacter underwent a change and itwas converted into a teaching-cum-affiliating university. From initial 11affiliated colleges in 1976, the universityhas seen a phenomenal expansion with682 affiliated colleges at present. It has34 post-graduate departments, 11faculties, one PG Regional Centre atMeerpur (Rewari), an Institute of Law

Upward strides ofa university


and Management Studies at Gurgaon,and a Directorate of DistanceEducation. It is expanding.

The University has also establishedSir Chhotu Ram Chair, Dr BRAmbedkar Chair, Jawaharlal NehruChair, Maharshi Dayanand Chair,Maharshi Valmiki Chair, PanditLakhmi Chand Chair, Ch Ranbir SinghChair and Sant Kabir Chair, to conductresearch on the life and contributions ofthese eminent personalities. Women’sStudy Centre and Bio-informaticsCentre are the latest additions to theexpanding academic sphere. Theuniversity has the distinction of beinga Wi-Fi campus with the establishmentof ‘Campus Wide Area Network-Integrated Internal System’ at a cost ofRs six crore.

The university conducts 84 coursesas part of the academic programmes onthe campus, besides offering Ph Dprogramme facilities in all subjects.Professor Hooda says,“The courseprofile is a perfect blend of traditionaland job-oriented professional courseskeeping in view the needs of theevolving global scenario. We haveintroduced 30 new courses in the lastthree years. These fall in the areas ofbiotechnology, biochemistry, food

processing technology, microbiology,hotel and tourism management, retailmanagement and engineering.”Some ofthese courses generate their own fundsand even provide succour to theuniversity. Five-year integratedprogrammes in commerce, economics,mathematics and visual arts, have alsobeen introduced. “A similar initiative ison way in all subjects of English,geography and physics. Foreignlanguage courses in French andSpanish have also been introduced toenhance the employability of thestudents in the globalised scenario.Similarly, to equip the students with ITskills in a techno-centric environment,computer education has been mademandatory in all disciplines at theundergraduate level,”adds Prof Surinder Kumar, Dean AcademicAffairs.

The Directorate of DistanceEducation (DDE) of the university isexpanding its reach and providingquality education through traditionalcourses, as also by offering need-basedmanagement and informationtechnology programmes. At present,DDE is offering 21 programmes,including 14 at post-graduate level. Thecourses have the approval of Distance

Vice-Chancellor, Prof R P Hooda interacting with his students at the campus


Education Council. More than one lakhstudents are enrolled in the distancelearning programmes of the university.To make the delivery system student-centric and interactive, all operationalactivities in DDE have beencomputerised and 24 hours toll freesupport services are made available tothe students. Revenue from distanceeducation exceeds Rs 70 crore. It is thismoney that is helping to raise newbuildings.

To provide the neededinfrastructural support, massiveexpansion drive, consisting of newprojects and programmes of study, hasbeen initiated on the campus over thelast three years. New buildings for theUniversity Institute of Engineering andTechnology, Pharmaceutical SciencesExtension Block, Advanced Centre forBio-technology, Bio-Sciences Block etc.,to provide desired space for housingnew departments and new studyprogrammes are fast coming up.

A new campus of PG RegionalCentre in a remote village Meerpur inDistrict Rewari is also coming up, witha teaching block, an administrativeblock, two hostels and residentialquarters. To provide maximumaccommodation to students, six hostelseach for boys and girls are beingconstructed to accommodate about 3,000more students on the campus. All thehostels will be provided with modernamenities, including internetconnectivity. The university campuspresents a grand view with hugephysical infrastructure, modernbuildings, and eye-pleasing landscapingfast coming up. Aesthetic and inspiringchowks – Kranti Chowk and Jai Jawan –Jai Kisan Chowk – add charm to thecampus. A special plantation drive hasbeen launched to make the campusgreen.The library has provisions ofOnline Public Access Catalogue, CardsCatalogue, Open Access System andReference System for the benefit ofusers. There is a separate ArchivesSection containing the Ph D and M Philtheses. Reading hall of the library isopen 24x7 throughout the year. Thelibrary is being modernised rapidly.Complete computerisation of all libraryfunctions is almost ready. About Rsthree crore have been spent on theextension of the library. It has overthree lakh titles.

Infrastructure development got amajor headway during 2009 withcommencement of development

projects. Major construction projectsfor which the chief minister laidfoundation stones are progressing well.These are – University Institute ofEngineering and Technology (UIET),Pharmaceutical Sciences ExtensionBlock, Bio-Sciences Block, Student’sActivity Centre (SAC) and KailashaBoys’ Hostel. Estimated cost of theseprojects is about Rs 67 crore. Hoodainaugurated the new campus of PGRegional Centre, Rewari at Meerpurvillage on August 20, 2009. He also laidthe foundation stone of three boys’hostels, each hostel will cost aboutRs11.43 crore. Maa Hardei Devi, wife offreedom fighter Late Ch Ranbhir Singh,laid the foundation stone of MeghnaGirls’ Hostel and its building is fastcoming up at a cost Rs eight crore. Thisstate-of -the-art hostel would take careof 240 students. Sabarmati Girls’Hostel is also under construction withsimilar cost and similar capacity.

The university has entered intooutside academic and research

linkages, covering reputedinternational/national institutions/organisations for joint academic/research programmes. These includethe American Institute of IndianStudies, National Institute of MalariaResearch and Institute of Humanityand Research Japan.

The university provides excellentfacilities for games and sports on thecampus. Well-developed sports complexis available for the sportspersons. Thefacilities include international standardswimming pool, multi-purpose modernindoor gymnasium, squash courts,boxing and wrestling rings and otherspacious playgrounds. Synthetic trackfor athletics is in the pipeline. Coachesfor various sports are available toprovide specialised training in variousareas of games and sports.

The university has achieved anexcellent track record in sports. Duringthe last five years, the university wonfirst position in 26 games, got secondposition in 10 events and was rankedthird in 16 events at All-India Inter-University Tournaments. Theuniversity ranks among the first fivevarsities in the country in sportsevents. A large number of universitysportspersons have participated invarious events of sports held at theinternational level, including theOlympics, the Commonwealth Games,the Asian Games and the WorldUniversity Games. Seven universityplayers have been decorated withArjuna Awards and 6 have beendecorated with Bhim Award institutedby Haryana Government. Handsomesports scholarships/stipends institutedby the university have helpedsportspersons.

With all these laurels in its lap, theMDU has some distance to cover toattract not only academicians of repute,but also the talented students. SinceDelhi is close by, it attracts the bestfrom this region. Fortunately the vicechancellor and the teachers understandthis problem. “We are making effortstowards this. An autonomous researchcentre in humanities is meant to attractwell known academicians who canformally and informally interact withthe students and the teachers andprovide vibrant intellectualatmosphere. Similarly, the wellequipped Tagore theatre, a place ofpride can fill up the cultural needs”,adds Prof Khazan Singh, professor ofSociology at MDU. g

“We have never heardno from the chiefminister. He welcomesall suggestions aimed atimproving various facetsof the university. Heinspires us to do moreand create places ofexcellence. We areindeed grateful for hisleadership”

-Professor R P HoodaVice-Chancellor


Ruchi Sharma

Education is one of the basicfundamentals which make the

nation move forward in the field ofscience and technology, economicgrowth and better human resourcedevelopment. It was in 1986 thatRajiv Gandhi, former Prime Ministerof India, announced a nationaleducation policy to modernise andexpand higher educationprogrammes across India. RajivGandhi said, “University educationmust lead to much greater nationalintegration, must lead to a greaterunity of the country and must lead toa perception in our people of theirresponsibilities towards the nation,towards building and strengtheningthe nation.” Hence, this great leaderenvisioned to make India developedthrough quality education wherehigher education had a major role toplay.

The Rajiv Gandhi Education City(RGEC), also known as KnowledgeCity, is one of those projects inHaryana which makes the dream ofRajiv Gandhi a reality. RGEC is theambitious project of Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda. Theeducation city will give newdirection to higher education in thestate with its top classinfrastructure, support services andworld class educational institutes.

The objective of establishing thiseducation city is to intercept thebrainy youth of the country andmould them in the framework oftrade, commerce, IT, science,engineering, technology, medicine

and biotechnology so as to addressthe needs of India’s growingeconomy and generate employmentopportunities.

The City is being developed as ahub of higher learning and researchin cutting edge technologies such asnanotechnology, biotechnology,genetics, engineering, technology,medicines and others. It would be setup on an area of 2007 acres on NH-1at Sonipat.

The basic development works likeconstructing roads, sewerage, watersupply, storm water drainage,boundary walls, AC pipeline andentrance gate have been done. RGEChas been planned with most modernfacilities required for aninternational level education citylike multi-system medical centre,central library and archives, mediacentre and communicationtower/satellite receiving station,youth centre, service apartments,civic centre, multi-level car parking,post office, police station, taxi stand,electric bus station, hostel and staffquarters, hotels, multiplexes,shopping arcades, indoor stadiums,parks and playgrounds with lake.

Many institutions anduniversities have significantlyresponded to the City. TheExpressions of Interest (EOI) forsetting up of educational institutionsor universities from the eligibleorganisations in RGEC were invitedon Feb’09 by advertising in leadingnewspapers. The last date forsubmitting EOI was March, 2009. Theabove EOIs were invited for phase-Iconsisting of 1 plot of size 60 to 180acres from "Institutes ofInternational Repute and ReputedInstitutions or Private Universities"and 10 plots of size varying between3 to 25 acres from "Other EducationalInstitutions of category 1, 2 and 3".

In all, 31 applicants applied forallotment of land at RGEC. Out ofwhich, nine applicants were allotted

area here. These included ThaparUniversity (62 acres), Manav RachnaInternational University (25 acres),International Foundation forResearch and Education (25 acres),Birla Institute of ManagementTechnology (7.38 acres), FORE Schoolof Management (7.38 acres), SonipatHindu Educational and CharitableSociety (7.38 acres), KarnatakLingyat Educational Society (7.38acres), Asian Education Society (3.82acres) and Lala Nemi ChandEducational Trust (2.41 acres).

The total investment in the abovenine institutions shall be more thanRs 1,000 crore and shall cater to thetertiary learning requirement of thestudents within the State, thecountry and overseas. The seatreservation policy and fee structureshall be determined by the HaryanaGovernment to facilitate qualityeducation and research. Almost allthe institutions considered forallotment have foreign tie up withrenowned universities and industriesto enable students to have thestandard of international education.Though, the institutions would beautonomous, they will be required toadhere to the broad master planstipulations that would safeguardfunctional affinities andenvironmental system at the citylevel.

The government had proposed toacquire 2,163 acre in Aswarpur, BadKhalsa, Sevli, Patla, Jakholi, Khevraand Bada Makik villages of thedistrict. With a view to expeditingthe development work of RGEC, theHaryana Urban DevelopmentAuthority (HUDA) had also set upoffices of superintendent engineerand executive engineers here. Thereare about 40 educational plots withsizes ranging from 2.42 acres to 165.23acres.

As far as provision of physicalinfrastructure is concerned, the workof development of Rajiv GandhiEducation City is in full swing. Workcosting Rs 110.00 crore has beenawarded and development works of10 number plots in phase-I standcompleted. Expenditure incurred upto 6/2010 was Rs 78.02 crore.Development works around another11 institutional plots have beencompleted and plots are ready forpossession. Phase-II of RGEC will befloated shortly. g

A dream projectRajiv Gandhi Education City will give newdirection to higher education in the state


Ravneet Kaur Brar

Kurukshetra is the place where theMahabharata battle was fought

between the Pandavas and theKauravas and where Lord Krishnapreached to Arjuna the doctrine ofBhagwat Gita. Kurukshetra can rightlybe called the cradle of ancient Indianculture and philosophy. It was herethat the Vedic Aryans, after compilingVedas, performed the first-ever yajnaand spread the teachings propoundedin the Vedas. Hence, it can be said thatKurukshetra has remained a centre oflearning since ages. For carrying onthis tradition of learning to themodern times, Kurukshetra University

was established.Kurukshetra University is one of

the leading universities amongst Asianuniversities and known for its highstandards in teaching and research. Itsfoundation stone was laid on 11January 1957 by Dr Rajendra Prasad,the first President of India. It is spreadover 400 acres of land. The universitystarted with a focus on Sanskrit andIndic studies and with timetransformed into a multi-facultyuniversity. Since then, it has aimed atpursuing excellence in teaching andresearch in science, technology,humanities, social sciences,performing arts and sports. Theuniversity has 445 teaching faculty

members. It has 457 affiliated collegesand institutes.

Today, Kurukshetra University isoffering world-class education tostudents from India and othercountries by providing a learningexperience designed to developintellectual abilities, as well as social,moral and ethical values. Lt Gen (Retd)Dr DDS Sandhu, vice-chancellor ofKurukshetra University says, “We havesigned an MoU (Memorandum ofunderstanding) with a Canadianuniversity for MBA. We are keen oncollaborating with universities fromthe West as the medium there isEnglish. We have students fromcountries like Iran, Afghanistan and

Journey from traditionalto modern learningKurukshetra University which started with a focus on Sanskrit andIndic studies has today transformed into a multi-faculty university

Time to debate and learn


Nepal and we look forward to moreforeign students becoming part of theuniversity.” The university isequipping its students with the skills,insights, attitudes and practicalexperience that will enable them tobecome discerning citizens. Theuniversity’s programmes combine theenduring value of a liberal arts’education with the skills andexperience offered by professionaldepartments. Teaching faculty of theuniversity is well qualified andefficient .Teachers are always there forthe students whenever their guidanceis required. It is the reason thatstudents of this university areexcelling in various fields.

The National Assessment andAccreditation Council has alsoaccredited the university .Theuniversity is committed towardsoverall development of the students. Soit gives equal weightage to theacademics as well as extra co-curricular activities. The studentsenthusiastically participate in youthfestivals under the guidance of theirteachers. The university has producednine Arjuna awardees and severalgood players. Some sportspersons havealso represented the country inOlympics and various othercompetitions.

The campus of the university hasoften been rated as one of the mostbeautiful campuses in India. The mostremarkable feature of the campus isits connection with nature. Thecampus provides environment-friendly atmosphere to the studentswith green gardens, water fountainsand sidewalks. The department oflandscape and horticulture takes careof cleaning the campus of unwantedvegetation and growing new trees. Italso manages a small nursery toprovide plants, trees and seasonalflowers to the campus.

The university has also beenincluded among the best universities ofIndia by India Today magazine. It haswell-built departments. There are 23hostels for boys and girls. Thesehostels are equipped with all modernamenities. The campus has its ownsports complex with a seating capacityof over 2,500. It comprises extensiveplay-fields, stadium, gymnasium, aswimming pool, yoga centre andothers. Students have access to thecentrally air-conditioned universitylibrary, which is one of the best

libraries. The library has a huge stockof books and some rare manuscripts.There is facility of digital library also.The University Health Centre looksafter the medical needs of the student,staff and their families. Homeopathicmedicines are also given in the healthcentre.

The Directorate of DistanceEducation was started by theuniversity in 1976. It was started forthose students who are cannot attendregular classes for certain reasons.The department started with about 400students in 1976, but now every year itenrolls around 39,000 students in about35 undergraduate and postgraduatetraditional as well as job-orientedprofessional courses. The Directoratehas introduced Radio Broadcastlecture series Gyan Sanchar from AIR,Kurukshetra. These lectures can beheard every Sunday.

The university offers variousschemes for Schedule Castes,backward classes and groups ofdifferently-abled. They are givenreservation in seats, fee concessionsand scholarships. Mahatma Gandhi AllIndia Services Coaching Centre of theuniversity provides free coaching forcompetitive examinations.

Research work in the university isin its full bloom. The faculty hasreceived research projects fromfunding agencies like UniversityGrants Commission, United NationsDevelopment Programme, World Bank,Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganization (DRDO) and Departmentof Biotechnology. Time to time variousseminars and lectures are conducted in

the university by experts. This helpsnot only the students but also teachersto exhibit their knowledge and updatetheir knowledge about new researches.

The university is runningDharohar Museum in the campus. Themuseum preserves the traditionalculture and heritage of Haryana. Itincludes unique collection of artifactswhich display rich culture ofHaryana. It facilitates the researchscholars, for the research in the fieldof folk culture, heritage, literature andthe likes.

Kurukshetra University is acommunity in itself. In order toprepare the students for theirprofession and to impart rightattitudes and skills, the Employment,Information and Guidance Bureau isfunctioning in the campus. These cellsadvise students regarding the choiceof career and higher studies. Theyalso conduct seminars and trainingcourses periodically on Developmentand Career Guidance Programme.

University is involved in the overalldevelopment of the students. It islooking forward to establish itself asan institution of internationalstandards. Every year newprogrammes are started with a view tohelping the students in every possiblemanner. Education at the university isa holistic one, aimed at developing theintellectual and personal strength ofstudents. Nurturing creativity andinnovation through challengingproject work, is the focus of theuniversity. It has an excellent trackrecord of launching its students intosuccessful careers. g

Raise the retirement age of teachersIt’s been a long time since a conflict among the state governments isgoing on whether to raise the age of superannuation of university andcollege teachers to 65 under the directions of the Union HumanResources ministry. Lt Gen (Retd) Devender Dayal Singh Sandhu, the Vice-Chancellor of Kurukshetra University strongly feels that there should beincrease in the retirement age.

Central universities have risen the retirement age to 65 years and alarge number of private universities are desperate to recruit the cream.DDS Sandhu opines, “The age should be raised to preserve the creamwith vast experience. He suggested as there has been increase inaverage age, so accordingly retirement age should also be increased. Bydoing so we would be able to preserve our great minds. And it will notany way prove blockage for new teachers because with mushrooming ofprivate universities they are not devoid of employment.”


Nishant Prabhakar

If any country or a state wants toensure overall development, whether

it’s in terms of human resourcedevelopment or development of society,education plays a pivotal role. But themere mention of the term educationcan prove to be misnomer becauseeducation as a concept has a deepermeaning. Education meansenlightening the minds of the people tomake them better citizens and makethem aware of what’s happening in theworld and how they can contribute tothe development of society on thewhole.

Though we have established anumber of universities with thehumble aim to provide education to theyouth of the country but in due course,these institutions have become factoriesto produce degree holders lacking thespark of enlightenment. But when aninitiative is taken to educate andenlighten the minds of youth,particularly the girls, it becomes worthmentioning.

One such institution of excellence is

the Bhagat Phool Singh (BPS) MahilaVishwavidyalaya, located in the ruralbelt of Haryana at Kahanpur Kalan,Sonipat. This is the first women’suniversity in northern India, which iscommitted to its vision to make aprofound difference in the lives ofwomen by empowering them to attaintheir full potential through pursuit ofknowledge, acquisition of skills andprofessional competence. Theuniversity is inspired by its logo andmotto – Empowering Women withEducation. The university is themanifestation of the dream seen bylegendary saintly figure, Bhagat PhoolSingh, who 90 years ago in 1919established a boys’ gururkul atBhainswal Kalan and later in 1936opened another gurukul exclusively forgirls at Khanpur Kalan.

The BPS Mahila Vishwavidyalayastresses on overall personality andintellectual development of womanstudents. The university offers fourcompulsory courses that are must forevery girl student who takes admission.These include increasing theproficiency of each and every girl

student in English, both written as wellas spoken, through use of state-of-the-art language lab, the only one in wholeof north India. The students also haveto learn one foreign language out ofGerman, French and Russian. Further,they are taught computers as acompulsory subject. Lastly, the studentshave to undergo a personalitydevelopment course in the last year oftheir academic session. Thesecompulsory courses are designed notonly to improve the communicationskills but also to arm the girl studentswith skills that are necessary in today’smodern world.

Since most of the students are fromrural background they are much awareof the problems of the rural womenand how they can be solved. Thestudents work with the village womenfor one to two hours in weeklyorganised village camps. Hence, theuniversity has a unique feature ofdeveloping the rural society throughempowerment of rural women throughits Society Interference Centre. Withthe help of this centre, various schemeslike micro credit for rural women and

University with adifferenceBhagat Phool Singh (BPS) Mahila Vishwavidyalaya, an all-womenuniversity and the first of its kind in North India is workingtowards gender parity and women empowerment


various activities under NationalService Schemes are operated by thestudents. Another important projectundertaken by the students is thedocumentation of folk medicines whichis done both in Hindi and English; thisalso entails detailed standardisation ofquality and quantity of doses of folkmedicine. The students are alsoencouraged to take study on watermanagement in rural household andintegrated energy resourcemanagement of rural households.

According to the Vice-Chancellor ofthe university, Dr ( Mrs) Pankaj Mittal,“Our university is a university with adifference where we stress not onlyupon strong academic foundations butalso strive hard to improve thepersonality of the students and makethem aware of the social responsibilitythey have towards society. We aim atpreparing the students for thecompetitive world where ultimatelyyour skills count.” On the academicside, this is perhaps the only womenuniversity in the country which is amulti faculty residential universityproviding education from KG to PhD.The university has already started anengineering college and an ayurvedacollege; in addition to this, a 500 bedhospital and a medical college would befunctional from the next session. Infact, this is the youngest university inthe country to get an academic staffcollege in three years time from UGCwhich is generally accorded to auniversity with a standing of 10 to 12years.

One thing that is pretty unique inthis university is that it has establishedan in-house Human ResourceManagement Department to look intothe cadre requirements of the teaching

and non-teaching staff from the point ofview of increasing the human resourcerelevance. It is for the first time beingrun in the country in any university ona pilot basis by the UGC. Further, theadministrative staff college is the nodalpoint for improving the skills of theteachers who not only belong to theuniversity but also colleges all acrossHaryana. The main motto behind this isto equip teachers with latestmethodologies in teaching, developtheir communication skills andencourage them to take up research andproject based activities with thestudents.

The university is gettingwholehearted support from the StateGovernment. In the past three years,the university has got funding of morethan Rs 200 crore which even thecentral universities fail to get. In fact,Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hoodawrote in the visitors’ book of theuniversity on the occasion of BalidanDiwas of Bhagat Phool Singh on 14thAugust 2009, “My dream is being

realised. I am very happy to see thedevelopment of this university. This isthe way to pay homage to our greatreformist Bhagat Phool Singh whostarted girls’ gurukul in 1936. I wish allsuccess.”

Sonijay Kapooria, a final yearDiploma in Architecture student, says,“I wanted to pursue further studiesafter my schooling. It is only because ofthis all- women university that I am ableto realise my dream which otherwisewould not have been possible.”Similarly, Anuradha Gola fromFaridabad says, “Though initially,coming from a metro city, it wasdifficult to adjust here, but with supportof the teachers and fellow students I feelat home. This institution gives a lifetimelearning experience, be it staying in agood hostel to pursue academics ortaking up personality developmentcourse.” In fact, the university isproving to be a major milestone inbringing about gender parity by way ofplugging the gap which existed in termsof institutional infrastructurespecifically devoted to girl and womanhigher education.

Further, on the future prospects ofthe university as a higher seat oflearning for girl students, the Vice-Chancellor of the University intends tohave a flying academy of its own andperhaps the only one in the country forwoman students. If this happens, sheplans to introduce new courses inaeronautical engineering, flying andcommercial pilot training, and variouscourses that are attached to thegrowing airline and travellingindustry. The basic aim of theuniversity is to bring out the best instudents and make the girlsempowered with knowledge. g

“Our university stressesnot only upon strongacademic foundations butalso strives hard toimprove the personalityof the students and makethem aware of the socialresponsibility they havetowards society”

-Dr ( Mrs) Pankaj MittalVice-Chancellor

“Though initially, comingfrom a metro city, it wasdifficult to adjust here, butwith support of theteachers and fellowstudents I feel at home.This institution gives alifetime learningexperience”

Anuradha GolaStudent


Ruchi Sharma

Lot of researches are going on inIndia and other countries

concerning science of earth, humanbody and cure of fatal diseases.Agriculture is one such area which isfast becoming a focus of researchstudies as our growing population islaying a huge burden on theagricultural produce.

Haryana along with Punjab has beentermed as the food basket of India. It isthe second largest contributor of wheatand third largest supplier of rice to thecentral pool. Haryana has been feedingother parts of the country for almostfour decades now. The totalgeographical area of the state is 4.42 mha, which is 1.4 per cent of thegeographical area of the country. Thecultivable area is 3.8 m ha, which is 86per cent of the geographical area of thestate, out of which 3.62 m ha i.e. 96.2 percent is under cultivation.

The produce from our fixedagricultural land is not enough to feedthe fast growing population. Hence,researches are on in this sector all over

the country and Haryana is not laggingbehind. Chaudhary Charan SinghHaryana Agricultural University is oneof the Asia’s biggest agriculturaluniversities, located at Hisar.

The university is named after India'sseventh Prime Minister, ChaudharyCharan Singh. The HaryanaAgricultural University (HAU) isleading the other Indian universities inagricultural research. Initially, it was acampus of Punjab AgriculturalUniversity in Ludhiana. After Haryanacame into existence in 1966, it becamean autonomous institution in 1970. Ithas been the harbinger of GreenRevolution in India. There are severalresearch centres spread throughout thestate. HAU won the Indian Council ofAgricultural Research's Award for theBest Institute in 1997. The introductionof Chaudhary Charan Singh HaryanaAgricultural University is incompletewithout recognising the efforts of itsfirst Vice-Chancellor, A L Fletcher whowas instrumental in its initial growth.

The university covers a total area of8,645 acres, out of which main campusis about 7,219 acres and outstation areas

cover 1,426 acres. Since 1970, there havebeen significant advances in research,teaching and extension by creation of astrong infrastructure and outreachstations. Spreading over an area of 298hectares, the university hasscientifically well-planned spaciousbuildings to accommodate sixconstituent colleges i.e. College ofAgriculture, College of AgriculturalEngineering and Technology, College ofVeterinary Sciences, College of AnimalSciences, College of Basic Sciences andHumanities and College of HomeScience which have all facilities.

Dr Krishan Singh Khokhar, Vice-Chancellor of HAU says, “Theuniversity is currently running a totalof 121 programmes of study thatcomprise of 49 PhD, 56 Masters, fourunder graduate courses, one Veterinaryand Livestock Development Diploma,seven post-graduate diploma and fourcertificate courses. ‘Rural AwarenessWork Experience’ and ‘Earn While YouLearn’ are two striking features ofundergraduate programme inagriculture and home science. Mastersand Doctoral degree programmesinvolve both course work and projects.The Directorate of Research is thenodal agency which is planning andmonitoring research activities inemerging areas of crops, horticulture,animal husbandry, agricultureengineering, home sciences and basicsciences and humanities. At present,the university is operating a total of 260research schemes.”

There are number of researchesgoing on in the university to find outways to enhance agriculturalproductivity. Experiments are on inlaboratories to create plants which arerodent repellents and have capacity toproduce more and many have beensuccessful experiments. HAU has well-equipped laboratories in each area of

A paradigm inagricultural researchChaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University is offeringcourses and research programmes in the interest of national agriculture


learning. Modern facilities like DNAsequence, UV-trans illuminator, GeneGun, Gene Pulser, Electron Microscope,Submarine Electrophoresis Units andInductivity coupled PlasmaSpectrometer, X-ray diffraction andothers are currently available. Theuniversity continues to focus its basicresearch efforts and therefore, inaddition to required laboratory support,facilities of screen house, greenhouseand transgenic greenhouse are alsoavailable.

Experimental farm of 994 hectareshas been developed in the campus alongwith ten experimental farms, one witheach regional research station coveringan area of 568 hectares. The irrigationsystem is well-planned on scientificlines. The canal and tube wellirrigation systems are well-integratedin order to improve water quality andto avoid transmission losses. Adequatefarm machinery such as tractors,harrows, seed planters and harvestersare available for timely completion offarm operations. The farms are underdirect control of the Director Researchwho is assisted by farm managers,technical staff and other supportingstaff.

The College of Agriculture hasdepartments -- Agricultural Economics,Agronomy, Agricultural Meteorology,Business Management, Entomology,Extension Education, Forestry,Horticulture, Nematology, Genetics andPlant Breeding, Plant Pathology, SeedScience and Technology, Soil Scienceand Vegetable Crops-- that offer undergraduate and post graduate courses.

The College of Agriculture at Kaulfacilitates research. A lot of recreationfacilities are available on this campus.Apart from promoting research inagricultural production and animalhusbandry, the college also promotesrice research.

Animals too, have importantcontribution in agriculture. The Collegeof Animal Sciences supports researchon animals through its departments --Animal Genetics and Breeding, AnimalNutrition, Animal ProductionPhysiology, Livestock ProductsTechnology and Livestock Productionand Management.

Farming is not just restricted to thekind of seeds used but soil, machinery,technology used in sowing them is alsovital. The College of AgriculturalEngineering and Technology hasdepartments -- Farm Power and

Machinery, Soil and Water Engineering,Processing and Energy, BasicEngineering Section andInstrumentation Cell that teaches toadopt the right method during farming.

The College of Basic Sciences andHumanities researches and teaches ontissue culture, genetic engineering andthe likes through its departments--Bioinformatics Section, Biotechnologyand Molecular Biology, Botany andPlant Physiology, Biochemistry,Chemistry and Physics, ComputerSection, Languages and Haryanvi

Culture, Math and Statistics,Microbiology, Sociology, Zoology andAquaculture.

The College of Veterinary Sciencesdeals with doing research on breedingof livestock, enhancing theirreproductive efficiency and populationcontrol of stray animals. It hasdepartments of Animal Biotechnology,Animal Reproduction, Gynaecology &Obstetrics, Veterinary Anatomy &Histology, Veterinary & AnimalHusbandry Extension Education,Veterinary Biochemistry, VeterinaryClinical Medicine, Ethics andJurisprudence, VeterinaryMicrobiology, Veterinary Parasitology,Veterinary Pathology, VeterinaryPharmacology & Toxicology, VeterinaryPhysiology, Veterinary Public Health &Epidemiology and Veterinary Surgery& Radiology.

A budget of Rs 70.6 crore has beenapproved this financial year for theAgricultural University at Hisar. Theuniversity has six crop-specificoutreach research stations spread over522 hectares in different agro-climaticzones of the state. Beside these, for

animal health care, diseaseinvestigation labs are functioning atdistrict level.

The seed production programme forall classes (Nucleus, Breeder,Foundation, Certified, truthfullylabelled) of seeds is taken up byrespective crop breeders, Department ofSeed Science and Technology,Directorate of Farms, Ram Dhan Singh(RDS) Seed Farm and Krishi VigyanKendras. Quality seed of differentvarieties of mustard, wheat, barley andchickpea in rabi season and pearl

millet, guar, cotton and mungbean inkharif season are produced on thefarm. Agro-industrial exhibition andscientists’ and farmers’ meet are majoractivities arranged in the campus.Every year, Kisan Mela is organised inSeptember and a large number offarmers from Haryana and adjoiningstates participate in it. It includes saleof improved varieties of seeds,horticultural saplings, bio-fertilisers,university literature, soil and watertesting, plant clinic, crop competitionsand farmers' guided visit to university’sresearch farm.

Among the university’s thrust areasin research are development of highyielding crop varieties, productiontechnology for field and horticulturalcrops, integrated pest and weedmanagement in important croppingsystem, bio-control of importantdiseases and pests, maintenance of soilhealth, efficient water management,efficient use of microbes in agriculture,agricultural diversification, livestockimprovement through breeding-nutrition management interventionand others. g

Demonstrating the useof hi-tech gadget inagricultural research


Ruchi Sharma

Technical education is creatingskilled manpower and opening

doors of employment for the youth inthe prospective market of technology.Hi-tech education has a vital role in thesocial and economic development of acountry. Taking note of its importance,the Haryana government set up GuruJambheshwar University of Scienceand Technology at Hisar. The universityis emerging as an internationallyrecognised centre of excellence in thearea of technical education. Theuniversity was established on October20, 1995 in the name of GuruJambheshwar Ji Maharaj, a saint

environmentalist of 15th century byLegislature of the state. The universityis aiming to support, promote researchand achieve excellence in the emergingnew frontiers of technology.

Dr M L Ranga, Vice-Chancellor ofGuru Jambheshwar University at Hisar,says, “Our University has receivedrecognition of its stature. The NationalAssessment and Accreditation Council(NAAC), has accredited this universityat "A" level among the otheruniversities in India on the basis ofvarious criteria including curricularaspects, teaching, learning, research,consultancy, infrastructure, learningresources, students’ support,organisation and management. The

Distance Education Council, New Delhihas approved 17 courses for theacademic year 2009-10 to 2011-12. A totalof 45 regular technical and professionalcourses are offered here in differentdisciplines besides eighteenprofessional courses through distancemode. We are striving to makesignificant contribution in educationand research with a view to givemeaningful contribution to the presentneeds of society and aspirations ofindividuals.”

The university also runs courses onmedia, management and religiousstudies. The Haryana School ofBusiness in the university is on thepattern of IIMs and admissions to this

Creating talent inscience and technologyGuru Jambheshwar University is producing knowledgeablemanpower through quality teaching, research and studies

A gateway to knowledge


school are made through CAT.Innovative courses which are of highemployability are being introducedwith competent and motivated faculty.State-of-the-art infrastructure promotesquality life in campus and strikesfruitful linkages with industry andprofessional bodies. Next to BostonUniversity of USA, the university is thefirst university in India and second inthe world to start a course in defencejournalism.

All of its departments offerintensified research programmes andaward the degree of PhD. Excellentlaboratories and infrastructuralfacilities are facilitating research andstudies in all courses. In the year 2009-10, many regular courses have beenadded like M Sc in DevelopmentCommunication, M Sc in Nano Scienceand Technology, M Sc in IndustrialMicrobiology, Master of Physiotherapyin Neurological Disorders andPaediatric Physiotherapy, M Tech inGeo-Informatics and three postgraduate diplomas namely, PostGraduate Diploma in Web Advertisingand Animation, in Tourism PR and inDefence Journalism under self-financescheme and also M Sc Mathematicsthrough distance education mode.

It is also a matter of privilege for theuniversity that it has received a majorproject with adequate grant from theMinistry of Defence, Government ofIndia for carrying out research in thearea of optical engineering. Theuniversity is the first in north India toestablish a Radio Ecology Centre at acost of Rs 5.11 crore. The academicprogrammes are running not just as perinternational standards but are alsoperiodically revised according to themarket requirements.

The Department of PrintingTechnology is one of the premierdepartments in the field of printingtechnology and packaging technologyin India. It has state-of-the-art technicalequipments, machineries and otherfacilities for imparting professionaltraining. Courses offered here are BTech in Printing Technology andPackaging Technology and M Tech inPrint and Graphic Communication. AllIndia Federation of Master Printersoffers a merit scholarship for the topperstudent every year apart fromgovernment scholarships. Anunderstanding has been developed withthe Print Media Academy, Heidelberg toprovide training to the students and

teachers of the department in Germanywith financial assistance orsponsorship by Print Media Academy,Germany and India. Every year thedepartment is sending one student offinal year for 10 days training to PrintMedia Academy, Heidelberg, Germanyunder Student DevelopmentProgramme.

The Department of ComputerScience and Engineering has been oneof the important centres for technicaleducation in Haryana and the northernregion. It offers courses-- B Tech inComputer Science and Engineering andInformation Technology and M Tech inComputer Science & Engineering,Master of Computer Applications andPhD. The Electronics andCommunication EngineeringDepartment is committed to imparttechnical education in most efficientmanner to its students. Coursesavailable are graduation and postgraduation in electronics andcommunication engineering and PhD inelectronics or VLSI design.

The aim of the Department ofBiomedical Engineering is to promotehealth through education and research.It offers B Tech in BiomedicalEngineering. The Department ofMechanical Engineering offers B Techin Mechanical Engineering, M Tech inIntegrated Product Design andManufacturing and PhD in MechanicalEngineering. The Department ofEnvironmental Science andEngineering caters to the need ofresearch in environmental science andoffers courses-- M Tech inEnvironmental Science andEngineering and Geo-informatics, M Scin Environmental Sciences, PhD inEnvironmental Science and PostGraduate Diploma in EnvironmentManagement through distanceeducation.

The Department of Chemistry offersM Sc in Inorganic Chemistry, OrganicChemistry and Physical Chemistry, PGDiploma in Pigment and PaintTechnology and PhD in Chemistry. TheDepartment of Mathematics offerscourses like M Sc and PhD inMathematics. The Department ofApplied Physics is working to attractyoung minds towards physics that isresearch as well as career oriented. Itoffers M Tech in Optical Engineeringand Physics.

The Department of Food Technologyhas been laying emphasis on quality

education and training activities tomeet the growing demand of foodprocessing industries. It offers B Techand M Tech in Food Engineering, BTech and M Sc in Food Technology andPhD. A PG Diploma in Bakery Scienceand Technology through distancelearning is the first such specialisedcourse in India. The aim of Bio andNano Technology Department is togenerate trained manpower in the areasof biotechnology, industrialmicrobiology and nano science andtechnology. The department offers M Scin Biotechnology, IndustrialMicrobiology, Nano Science andTechnology, M Tech in Nano Scienceand Technology as well as PhDprogrammes in Biotechnology andNano Science and Technology.

The Department of PharmaceuticalSciences is one of the leadingdepartments of northern India. It isrunning under graduate, post graduateand PhD programmes in pharmacy. TheDepartment of Physiotherapy is theonly government institution in Haryanathat conducts four and a half years’Bachelor of Physiotherapy course. Thepost graduate courses are inMusculoskeletal Disorders, SportsPhysiotherapy, Neurological Disordersand Paediatric Physiotherapy. TheDepartment of Applied Psychology isdesigned to develop a unique cadre ofprofessional psychologists who withtheir sound understanding of cognitiveand affective aspects of behaviour andwith their intensive training indiagnostic and therapeutic aspects canenhance the quality of life in humanbeings. It offers under graduate andpost graduate courses in psychology.

Some of the researches going on inthe university are Evaluation of anti-oxidant potential of some focus species,Bioremediation of electroplating wastewater using bio-sorbents, Deformationof two welded half-spaces by axiallysymmetric sources, Web-basedcorporate reporting practices in India,climate change over the Schirmacherregion, East Antarctica and ICT inservice sector: A study of bankingsystem.

Under various schemes, theuniversity is provided financialassistance by the State Government,UGC, AICTE, and Department ofScience and Technology of CentralGovernment. The university generatesits own resources through fees,consultancy and others. g


Ravneet Kaur Brar

Gone are the days when India wasseen as a country of snake

charmers, magicians and pompousmaharajas. Today, it is a countryproducing entrepreneurs, efficientdoctors and engineers. All this hasbeen possible because of the excellentrole that higher education institutionsand universities are playing inchurning out intellectuals.Universities are playing anoutstanding job of producingenlightened citizens for the nation.Jawaharlal Nehru rightly said, “All iswell with a nation, if its universitiesare in good shape and functional.”

There are number of universitiesin Haryana catering to the educationalneeds of the state. The state is alsocoming up with new universities inaccordance with the demands of itsresidents. Sirsa is generallyconsidered an educationally backwardtown with few girls entering colleges

for higher education. But a universityat their doorstep will definitely bringsome change in the mindset of thepeople of Sirsa. Chaudhary Devi LalUniversity was established in Sirsa on2nd April 2003. Named after JanNayak Chaudhary Devi Lal, theformer deputy prime minister ofIndia and former chief minister ofHaryana, the university hascontributed tremendously towardshigher education in this area. Theuniversity campus is spread over anarea of 213 acres at Barnala road,Sirsa. In the year 2010-11, it receivedRs 1,400 lakh from the Centre for itsdevelopment. There are 2,200 studentsenrolled in the university. Thestrength of teaching staff is 80 andaround 25 posts are vacant. There are16 teaching departments with 40courses.

The university offers a wide rangeof courses. It offers PhD programmein 14 subjects and M Phil in 11subjects. From this session onwards,

admission to the courses available inuniversity will be made on the basis ofcombined merit of entrance test andweightage of qualified examinations.The university has a well-equippedlibrary and laboratories. In additionto the academics, the university hascreated necessary facilities forrecreation and all round developmentof students and faculty in the form ofNational Service Scheme, EqualOpportunity Cell and Directorate ofYouth Welfare Committee.

N C Jain, Deputy Registrar atCDLU says, “Our university iscatering to the needs of local studentsvery efficiently. We are trying to boostthe research work on campus. Intoday's changing world, everyone iscareer oriented. Technology changesquickly, and jobs change with it. Morethan theoretical knowledge, studentsneed to have practical knowledge.They need to have the skills and themotivation to keep pace with thechanging time. We are trying to

A ray of lightChaudhary Devi Lal University will definitely help Sirsa inemerging out of the clutches of educational backwardness


provide such courses at the universitywhich help students achieve theirgoals. We do not want to produceeducated masses but we want toproduce professionals.”

CDLU has proved a boon for thelocal students as earlier students hadto move out of the city for higherstudies. Sometimes, girl students hadto quit their studies just because theirparents were not willing to send themout of Sirsa for educational purposes.

Haryana government has attachedChaudhry Devi Lal MemorialEngineering College, Panniwala Mota(Sirsa) to the university as itsconstituent college. This college offersgraduation programmes in 6 branchesof engineering. Admissions to thiscollege are made on the basis of theresult of the All India EngineeringEntrance Examination (AIEEE).

The university has one teachingblock comprising 100 classrooms,tutorial rooms and rooms for teachingand support staff. There are 87 houses

for the teaching and non-teachingstaff. At present, there are fourhostels in the university: two for girlsand two for boys-- Harki Devi Bhawanand Kalpana Chawla Bhawan for girlsand Lala Lajpat Rai Bhawan andSardar Patel Bhawan for boys. 800students are residing in the hostels.There is facility of electric geysers,water coolers with reverse osmosissystem. Televisions with dish/DTHfacility have been provided incommon rooms of all the hostels.Computers and internet access areprovided to students.

Medical facilities to all hostelresidents are made available throughthe University Health Centre locatedin the university premises. Hostelauthorities ensure that there iscleanliness within and outside thehostel premises and students gethygienic food. The university has setup a facility for registering complaintsof hostel residents and every effort ismade for their speedy redressal. Twolawns and two badminton courts havebeen constructed in the premises ofgirls’ hostel.

Last year, the university launcheda radio station in the campus. Amultipurpose hall is underconstruction and its budget is Rs 20crore. It will include a theatre, gymand an auditorium with housingcapacity of 2,000 students. A shoppingcomplex has been started in theuniversity. To check the menace ofragging in the campus, a monitoringcell, an anti-ragging committee andanti-ragging squad have beenconstituted.

The library, at present, has a totalcollection of 19,913 books on differentsubjects. The authorities are planningto add 3,000 more books in the library.The library subscribes to differentjournals and magazines of nationaland international repute for generalinformation.

The university runs distanceeducation courses to meet the needs ofthose students who cannot affordregular admission as they reside infar-flung areas. For this, the universityhas established the University Centrefor Distance Learning which offersvarious job-oriented courses throughdistance education mode. The coursesoffered are BCA, BA MassCommunication, MBA, MCA, MA, M Sc, M Phil, Computer and postgraduate diplomas in various subjects.

The Distance Education Council hasapproved all the courses run byUniversity Centre for DistanceLearning.

All sports activities of theuniversity are being run under theSports Council. There are differentplaygrounds for football, handball,volleyball, hockey, kabbadi, and kho-kho and an athletic track. Variousteams from the university represent itin the inter-university tournaments inathletics, boxing, judo, kho-kho,wrestling, kabaddi and football.Scholarships are given to the playerswinning positions in inter-universitytournaments-- Rs 8,100 to playerwinning 1st position, Rs 6,500 for 2ndposition, Rs 5,100 for 3rd position andRs 21,000 to the best athlete/gymnast/swimmer/yogi.

The university ensures properimplementation of various schemes ofthe University Grants Commission,Government of India and StateGovernment concerning admissions,scholarships etc for the welfare of thestudents of reserved categories. Apartfrom these scholarships, the StateMerit Scholarship scheme has alsobeen introduced during the year 2008-09. Cash prizes to topper girls havebeen granted by the department oftechnical education.

Students of the university haveshown commendable results inacademics as well as extra-curricularactivities. If the university will keepon working at this pace, the day is notfar when it will establish itself as acentre of academic excellence.

M L Ranga, Vice-Chancellor ofChaudhary Devi Lal University says,“There has in fact been considerableimprovement in the higher educationscenario of the district in bothquantitative and qualitative terms.Chaudhary Devi Lal University offersacademic programmes in the areas oftechnology, management, commerce,law, mass communication,humanities, social sciences, scienceand education. In the university, welay emphasis on both theoretical andpractical training. We are advancingfrontiers of knowledge so that we canproduce the leaders and innovators oftomorrow from this university. Wewant to bring a drastic change in theoutlook of people so that they shedtheir conservative outlook and realisethe importance of education inpresent day world.’’ g


University of HealthSciences: Devotedto saving livesPandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University ofHealth Sciences, Rohtak will take medicaleducation and health to new levels

Showing DNA to the students


Nishant Prabhakar

Medical education is directlyrelated to one’s right to live

and affects everyone. Quality ofmedical education is one of themost important issues whichhave a direct bearing on thehealth setup of the country, be itin public or private domain.Haryana has taken a lead toimprove the quality of medicalgraduates and to strengthenclinical research.

The government has upgradedPGIMS Rohtak to a status ofuniversity of health sciences.The university came intoexistence on 2nd June 2008through Act 26 of Legislature of thestate of Haryana to establish andincorporate a University of HealthSciences at Rohtak for the purposeof teaching and affiliating andensuring proper and systematicinstruction, training and researchin the modern system of medicineand Indian system of medicine andadministration of Pandit BhagwatDayal Sharma Post GraduateInstitute of Medical Sciences. Theconcept of Health University wasthe visualisation of Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda and his sonDeepender Singh Hooda, Member ofParliament from Rohtak.

Initially, the institution wasstarted as Medical College, Rohtak,with the first batch of MBBSstudents admitted to GovernmentMedical College, Patiala, in 1960.The college was shifted to itspresent location on January 26,1962. It was upgraded to PostGraduate Institute of MedicalSciences in 1995. The alreadyexisting Post Graduate Institute ofMedical Sciences was incorporatedas a constituent institute of Pt B DSharma University of HealthSciences, Rohtak in 2008.

The university is spread in over350 acres of lush green area. Thereare 69 colleges which are affiliatedto the university, impartingeducation in different disciplines ofhealth sciences. The main aim ofthe university is to help thestudents realise the highest ideals ofhealth education for achievingprofessional competence. With theeye on the future, the universityenvisions itself as being a world

class university of health sciencesaimed at providing qualityeducation, excellence in researchand affordable patient health care.

The university has 45departments and seven faculties.The university administers the PostGraduate Institute of MedicalSciences which has been ranked11th nationally in 2009. Theinstitute's medical and health caresetup comprises a Medical College,Dental College, College of Nursing,Regional Cancer Centre, Super-specialty Centre, Regional Instituteof Ophthalmology, College ofPharmacy and State Institute ofMental Health Sciences and a well-equipped state-of-the-art 1,702-bedhospital. The institution has beenselected for upgrading it to AIIMS-like institution under the PradhanMantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana(PMSSY). Coveted projects to set upa mother and child hospital, traumacentre and a modern OPD block areunderway. The institute hasrecently added to its academicconvoy, Department ofBiotechnology and MolecularMedicine to provide education andservices in translational andmolecular medicine. A yoga centre,a pharmaceutical and herbal gardenand a modern orthopaedic teachinglab have recently been established.The university has introduced M Chin Burn and Plastic Surgery, M ChPaediatric Surgery, Post DoctoralTraining Certificate in PaediatricCritical Care, Post DoctoralTraining Certificate in Pulmonaryand Critical Care Medicine and BPhysiotherapy. The new courses

that will be shortly introduced areM Phil in Clinical Psychology, M Phil in Psychiatric Social Work, B Sc Medical LaboratoryTechnology, B Sc RespiratoryTherapy, M Sc Nursing, PhDprogramme in selected streams ofhealth science and Master inTranslational Health Sciences.

The university provides a richand conducive environment foracademic and clinical learning. Topromote research, it is all set toestablish a research and innovationcell. It encourages its faculty forpurposeful teaching, scholarly andcreative work, innovation as well asspread of light of new knowledge inmedical sciences and technologies.As an inclusive institution, theuniversity is committed toproviding equal opportunities to theaspirants of knowledge belonging tothe underprivileged communities.

The university is in the processof developing the CollegeDevelopment Programme (CDP).Through this, the universityenvisages improvement of collegeeducation, regulation and qualitycontrol of teaching and learningstandards, introduction of newcourses in emerging areas of healthsciences, development ofenvironment conducive for extendedsocial and scientific interaction,organisation of inter-college sports,cultural and youth festivals,curriculum review process,initiation of fundamental andapplied research and maintenanceof standard disciplinaryprocedures. The university alsoaims at establishing more

“We aim at impartingquality education bothin terms of exposureto knowledge ofmedical sciences andinculcation of soundclinical skillsnecessary for problemsolving”

-Dr S S Sangwan,Vice-Chancellor


meaningful collaborations withpremier institutions in the countryand abroad though its flagshipuniversity knowledge seminaractivity.

According to the Vice Chancellorof the University, Dr S S Sangwan,“We aim at imparting qualityeducation both in terms of exposureto knowledge of medical sciences andinculcation of sound clinical skills

necessary for problem solving.Further, we are fortunate that theinstitution has no dearth of clinicalmaterial to give exposure to thedoctors both at undergraduate as wellas post graduate levels.” Theuniversity has streamlined the entireexamination process-- from curbingillegal activities of impersonation ofcandidates to making the entranceexaminations full proof andtransparent.

The university has introduceddegree courses in pharmacy duringthe 2007-2008 sessions and now thisyear the pharmacy department hasbeen designated as College ofPharmacy. A herbal garden withmore than 250 herbal plant specieshas been developed in the universitycampus in order to initiate extractionof plant oil concentrates which canbe used in formulation of variousmedicines.

Research is being carried out tostudy the medical implication ofplant extracts like Neem(Azadirachta indica), Tulsi (Ocimumsanctum ), Ak (Calotropis), Pudina(Mentha piperata), Gawar patha(Aloe vera) etc in treating variousdiseases. Newer labs have been builtin the college with state-of-the-artequipments and setting that is userfriendly. The students also get hands-on training in glucose manufacturingunits as it happens inpharmaceutical companies.

An interaction with the studentsreveals that the university is indeed acentre of quality education.Deepshikha Singh from Naraingarh,a 2nd year MBBS student, says, “Theexperience of studying here isawesome as the faculty is great andwe have more of a familyatmosphere. We are made tounderstand the concepts in a

practical way.” Similarly, anotherstudent, Jaikrit Bhutani fromKarnal, a 1st year MBBS studentopines, “Studying in the top 11thinstitution in the country is a matterof pride in itself. The campus is greatwhere we have good sports facility ofevery kind. Healthy body makes ahealthy mind and healthy mindmakes a good student.” The sparklein the eyes of the students studyinghere is enough to tell that theuniversity is on the right course tobecome what it envisions to be. g

Work on AIIMS to start soonThe Secretary of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, K Sujatha Rao has promised that work to set upphase II of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS-II) in district Jhajjar would be speeded up.Deepender Hooda, member of Lok Sabha from Rohtak, feels that the upcoming institute would not only providebetter health service to the people, but it would also be instrumental in the development of the area. He said thatthe under construction Kundli-Manesar Palwal Expressway was just 2.5 km from the AIIMS-II. Therefore, the healthservices and research facilities of the AIIMS-II would be extended to the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, HimachalPradesh and Uttrakhand besides the people of Haryana. The Haryana government has provided 250-350 acreto the central government for setting up AIIMS at village Badsa in Jhajjar district and the project will entail aninvestment of about Rs 1,000 crore.

“The experience ofstudying here isawesome as the facultyis great and we havemore of a familyatmosphere. We aremade to understand theconcepts in a practicalway”

-Deepshikha Singh2nd year MBBS student

from Naraingarh

“Studying in the top11th institution in thecountry is a matter ofpride in itself. Thecampus is great wherewe have good sportsfacility of every kind ”

-Jaikrit Bhutani1st year MBBS student

from Karnal


Ruchi Sharma

Livestock can make an importantcontribution towards the economic

development of a country. India isranked first in the world in milkproduction. It has the largest livestockpopulation but its per animalproductivity is very low as comparedto international levels. Despite havingworld’s richest livestock resources, theeconomic potential of livestock inIndia has not been fully tapped.

Haryana is mainly an agriculturalstate where animal husbandry is anintegral component. About 70 per centof its population is engaged inagriculture and allied activities. Thestate produces 5.6 per cent of the totalmilk production of the country owingto its superior quality of milchanimals. Haryana has the best breedof cattle -- Hariana and Sahiwal cowsand 'Murrah' buffaloes. Buffaloesconstitute 45 per cent of the totallivestock population and theycontribute 80.5 per cent of the totalmilk production. About one lakh'Murrah' buffaloes are exported everyyear to other states and abroad.

In order to realise the full potentialof its livestock, Haryana will soonhave an independent university forveterinary and animal sciencesnamely Lala Lajpat Rai University ofVeterinary and Animal Sciences. Withthis, Haryana will join the league ofstates, like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal,which have a separate university forveterinary and animal sciences.

The university is named after greatfreedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai and isproposed at Hisar where sufficientland is available with the departmentof animal husbandry. There was onlyone Veterinary College attached withHaryana Agricultural University with70 seats. The veterinary education wasnot enough to keep pace with therecent scientific developments. Thus,need for an independent universitywas felt. An estimated amount of Rs200 crore would be required formeeting out the cost of establishmentand other expenses of this proposeduniversity.

The independent university willensure production of good number oftrained personnel in veterinaryscience from Haryana. It will certainlyhelp in boosting the much neededdevelopment activities in the livestocksector and in raising the standard ofveterinary education to internationallevel. There would be sufficientplacement of veterinary graduates inIndia as well as abroad. The demandfor veterinary doctors and surgeons isglobally on rise.

This university will have sixattached colleges -- College ofVeterinary Sciences, College ofAnimal Sciences, Institute of AnimalBio-Technology, Institute of

Veterinary Public Health and Bio-medical Research, Institute ofDairying Technology and Institute ofFishery Sciences. The university willnot only have affiliated colleges, butwould also ensure training, researchand extension facilities in modernsystems of veterinary, animal andfishery sciences.

A report by Knowledge Commissionof Government of India says smalluniversities with specificallyidentified mandates and focus areasare more useful. According to theCommission, by the year 2015, Indiawill need about 1,500 more universitiesto cater to the needs of youth.

In the farm sector, there existsenough potential to develop thelivestock sector in order to giveeconomic benefit to the farmers whoare experiencing declining incomesdue to shrinking farm sizes.Parliamentary Standing Committee onAgriculture (2006-07) recommended tothe Union Government theestablishment of separate veterinaryuniversities in the states. A decision tothis effect was taken in a meeting ofthe State Cabinet which met under thechairmanship of Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda. The Cabinetalso approved the draft of a legislationto be enacted as the Veterinary andAnimal Sciences University Act.

The university would be set up withthe objective to impart education indifferent branches of veterinary,animal and fishery sciences. It wouldundertake study on marketingstrategies of livestock and livestockproducts and on conservation oflivestock breeds and wild animals. Theuniversity would also maintain liaisonwith concerned departmentsgoverning animal husbandry, fisheriesand dairying development of the Stateand Central Governments andnational and international researchinstitutes in the field of veterinary,animal and fishery sciences to keepabreast with the latest technology.

The university faculty wouldinclude eminent veterinary andanimal sciences’ scientists,progressive farmers and livestockbreeders, distinguished industrialistsand businessmen associated withveterinary and animal husbandrydevelopment and other memberswould include women, preferably witha background of rural advancement inanimal husbandry. g

LLiivveessttoocckk ssttuuddyyLala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary andAnimal Sciences would give a new dimensionto veterinary education and research


Nishant Prabhakar

In today’s modern times, nothingmoves in life without the aid of

technology. In fact a nation’sdevelopment index is often marked bythe amount of technologicaladvancements it makes. And to makethe nation advance in technology, weneed engineers and scientists who areinvariably the products of technologicaluniversities, colleges and institutes.

Hence, technological education is ofgreat importance, and to providequality education in technical sciencesis a goal of every state. Taking a lead inthis direction and bearing in mind thefuture challenges of technologicaleducation, Haryana Government hadset up Deenbandhu Chhotu RamUniversity of Science and Technologyat Murthal. Prior to becoming auniversity, it was known as Chhotu RamState College of Engineering which wasset up in 1987. Later on 6th November2006, the State Government through anAct of Legislature of HaryanaAssembly designated the College ofEngineering as Deenbandhu ChhotuRam University of Science andTechnology. The university was

affiliated to UGC under section 12 (B) inMarch 2009.

The university is located in theNational Capital Region (NCR) besidethe National Highway 1, just 50 km from1SBT New Delhi towards Chandigarhand only 8 km away from SonipatRailway Station. The location of theuniversity falls within one of thegrowing industrial belts of Haryana.The university is running those coursesthat have relevance today and havegreat potential for the future.

The university campus is spreadover 273 acres of land andarchitecturally it has been developed infour distinct zones - academic,residences, hostels and recreational.The academic premises comprises offour inter-connected blocks housing oneadministrative building. The universityis fully residential and hostelaccommodation is provided to allstudents. Permission to become dayscholar is granted only underexceptional circumstances wherestudent’s parent or close relative resideswithin a radius of eight kilometers ofthe university. The various facilities inthe hostel like mess are run by thestudents’ body on cooperative basisunder the guidance of respectivewarden.

The main aim of the university is todevelop new technologies and doresearch which have a direct bearing onthe welfare of mankind. According toVice Chancellor Har Sarup Chahal, “Weenvision ourself as becoming a centreof quality research having beststandards of imparting qualitytechnical education. With thisdetermination we want to make a markon the national as well as internationaleducation map.” The university has notonly got affiliation from UGC but alsofrom Association of Indian Universities(AIU) and Association ofCommonwealth Universities (ACU).

Prior to becoming a university, it wasrunning only 4 post graduate and 8under graduate courses. But theuniversity now offers 9 UG courseswhich include B Tech Architecture,Electrical Engineering, Electronics and

Communication Engineering,Computer Science and Engineering,Mechanical Engineering, CivilEngineering, Chemical Engineering aswell as Bio-Medical and Bio-Technology.Besides these, 19 PG courses (regular MTech/MA courses) are being run on aregular basis. The total seats in theuniversity are 3,402 for various courses.

For students who had left theirstudies midway or are working, theuniversity has granted them a chanceto learn and improve theirqualification. The university hasstarted weekend course programmehaving B Tech four years in CivilEngineering, Computer Science andEngineering, Electronics andCommunication Engineering, ElectricalEngineering and MechanicalEngineering for diploma holders. Thefour new weekend PG courses offeredinclude Masters in Urban and RuralPlanning, Bio-Technology, MaterialsScience and Nano Technology andHighway Safety. For these courses, theuniversity has 330 seats.

Campus placements are done. Bigindustrial players like TCS, New Delhi,Cognizant, Tech. Mahindra, Infogain,Accenture, Grail Research etc areinvited for recruitment. GauravSharma, a Mechanical Final yearstudent from Faridabad says, “This isone institution which I feel is the bestin the region as we have the bestfacilities at our disposal. Further, theplacement record of the university isgreat and it definitely helps us inmaking a good beginning in ourcareers.” Mohit Dhaiya from Murthal, acounseling student who seeksadmission here, says, “I prefer to takeadmission here as it is in my hometownand because my seniors have given anexcellent feedback about the university.If I get admission here, my career willget the right direction.”

With the coming up of thisuniversity, the migration of students toother states has got arrested. Moreover,the proximity of the university to NCRgives the students ample opportunityfor getting trained in big multinationalscompanies. g

A name in technical educationDeenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology atMurthal is providing quality education in technical sciences

“We envision ourself asbecoming a centre ofquality research havingbest standards ofimparting qualitytechnical education”

-Har Sarup Chahal, Vice-Chancellor


Ruchi Sharma

Decades after it was first mooted,the Indian National Defence

University (INDU), the first DefenceUniversity of the country and thirdDefence University of the world, isfinally going to come up in Binolavillage in Haryana. The village is 20km from Gurgaon and situated on theborder of Rewari and Gurgaon. It is amatter of honour for Haryana to hostthe campus of this prestigiousuniversity.

In the year 2000, the university gotclearance from authorised group ofministers who reviewed the report ofa committee that examined the 1999Kargil conflict with Pakistan and theentire spectrum of defence andsecurity management. And the UnionCabinet gave its final approval thisyear, where Haryana bagged the

opportunity to host its campus amongother strong contenders like Punjaband Andhra Pradesh. The proximity ofHaryana to National Capital Regionwon it the approval of the UnionCabinet. The University will takearound three years to come up.

INDU will cover an area of 200acres at an estimated cost of about Rs300 crore. A sum of Rs 100 crore hasbeen sanctioned by the Centre foracquiring land for the university. Itwould offer courses not only forofficers of the armed forces but also ofthe civil services and paramilitaryorganisations. The university wouldopen myriad avenues for jobopportunities.

It has been very long since the needfor a robust strategic thinking cultureboth within the military as well asoutside was felt in India. The existingdefence universities in United States

of America and China prompted thegovernment to form an autonomousinstitution for defence studies.

INDU, as a fully autonomousinstitution, is to be constituted underan Act of Parliament. As anindependent institution, it is expectedto give inputs in the making ofstrategic policies in order to promotepolicy oriented research on all aspectsof national security and strategicfuture planning. It will undertakelong-term defence and strategicstudies and create synergy betweenthe academic community andgovernment functionaries. It will alsopromote coordination and interactionamong Army, Navy and Indian AirForce. The awareness of nationalsecurity issues would be encouragedamong students and an audiencebeyond the official machinery.

The university will bring togetherexisting institutes like the NationalDefence College (Delhi), College ofDefence Management (Secunderabad),Defence Services Staff College(Wellington) and National DefenceAcademy (Khadakwasla), which arecurrently affiliated to differentuniversities, under its umbrella. It’salso likely to include new instituteslike the National Institute of StrategicStudies, College of National SecurityPolicy and Institute for AdvancedTechnology Studies, apart from a wargaming and simulation centre, in itsambit.

The INDU would educate nationalsecurity leaders on all aspects ofstrategies in the fields of security,military, information, and technologythrough teaching and research. It islikely to infuse an appropriatestrategic culture in the governance ofthe country. g

A new chapter innational securityThe first defence university of India is coming up in Haryana. It willpromote policy oriented research on all aspects of national securityand strategic future planning


Ravneet Kaur Brar

The higher education system inIndia is one of the largest in the

world. The responsibility to devisepolicies with a view to improving thequality of higher education in Indiarests on the shoulders of the CentralGovernment. The Government ofIndia is responsible for arranging,

allocating and distributing financialresources required by the UniversityGrants Commission (UGC) for theestablishment of Central Universitiesin India. Currently, there are 20Central Universities in India. Auniversity of this kind has been set upin Mahendergarh district of Haryana.

The decision to pick the site inMahendergarh was taken in view ofthe fact that this district iscomparatively educationally andeconomically backward. From time totime, the government has made effortsto provide education related facilitiesto the region. The establishment ofthis Central University will benefitthe youth of the area in terms ofhigher education and consequentlyjob opportunities, thereby giving aboost to economic activity in thedistrict.

Education is the only mediumthrough which we can enlighten thecitizens. Universities are known asstorehouses of knowledge and help inproducing good citizens with widerhorizon. With this goal in mind, theUnion Government has set up theCentral University in the village ofJant-Pali in Mahendergarh. Theuniversity has been established underthe Central Act passed by theParliament. It is to be fully funded bythe Government of India. Prof MoolChand Sharma, a well-known teacherof law, is the Vice-Chancellor of theuniversity. State Government hasprovided about 500 acres of land forthe university. The government hadspent Rs 9 crore 77 lakh for theacquisition of land. At present, theuniversity is operating from atemporary campus in Narnaul. TheState Government has handed over anewly constructed building of theB.Ed College, Narnaul, for thispurpose.

The university has started with theclasses in political science, Englishand economics and it will also includea school of language, linguistics,culture and heritage. Along with this,

there will be classes in Englishlanguage, skills development andcommunication skills for developingthe personality of the students. Theuniversity system comprises differentschools. Each school has centresattached to it. The school is headed bythe Dean and centres by the Directoror In-charge. Schools will focus onapplied part of learning. In the year2010-11 three schools: School ofLanguage, Linguistics, Culture andHeritage; School of Social Sciencesand Humanities and School of Law,Governance and Management shall beoperational.

In the second phase beginning2011-12, the university proposes tomake another set of three schools toexpand programmatic coverage ofalready functioning schools. In casethe university gets space to set uplaboratories, it would aim atintroducing courses in science andtechnology, especially in bio-technology and life sciences.

Separate hostel facilities have beenprovided for the boys and girlsadmitted in the university. Theuniversity has already startedadmission in PhD and M Phil courses.Students from different parts of thecountry have been admitted in thefirst batch. A medical college wouldalso be set up in the complex, besidesother academic institutions. Theconstruction work on the complex willstart soon and classes are expected tocommence from the next academicsession.

Central University, Mahendergarhis the first amongst all the newly setup 14 Central Universities to admitstudents under UGC regulations of2009. This university will be a multi-faculty university and will work forthe overall development of thestudents. The university wants toprovide educational opportunities tothe youth of Haryana so that can facethe challenges of present day worldand become active participants in theprocess of national development. g

Central varsity in HaryanaCentral University, Mahendergarh will provide higher education andjob opportunities to the youth of the region

“The university willstrive to create alearning ambience withdiverse culturalbackgrounds andenhance students’acquisition of usefulknowledge,communicative skills andanalytical abilitiesthrough innovativeteaching and a holisticlearning environment.”

-Mool Chand SharmaVice-Chancellor,

Central University, Mahendergarh


Anshuahujay from Meham and a final year student of Diploma of Architecture at theBPS Women University, Khanpur Kalan opines, “Studying in North India’s first womenuniversity is a matter of pride for me. This is all the more important because I am able topursue higher education which generally girls of rural areas are unable to do. Parentsstill have reservations and do not end their daughters to co-education institutions.”

Neha Sangroya from Kaithal, a B Pharma 2nd year student of Pharmacy College atPBDS Health Science University, Rohtak, says, “Studying in the university is an amazingexperience. We have all the latest equipment and labs at our disposal. Besides doingregular activities, we also take up projects having research potential in pharmacy,particularly in benefits of herbal plants and their potential for drug discoveries.”

Vikas Sharon from Jind, a final year MBBS Students at PBDS Health ScienceUniversity, Rohatk, says proudly, “The university has the best campus which is betterthan Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi. The teachers are hardworking and makeus not only learn the courses but also understand it deeply. Our whole environment inthe university is that of a close knit family where students feel at ease and work hard toachieve their goals.”

Sanjeev from Sonipat, a 2nd year Electrical Engineering student at DCRUniversity of Science and Technology, Murthal says, “Without the support of expertteachers it becomes difficult for a science student to understand the concept. In ouruniversity we not only get expert guidance from teachers but also get exposure tolearn and train in areas related to our courses material. This aspect helps inmaking a good start in one's career when we graduate from here.”

Manoj Malik from Gohana, a final year MBBS student at PBDS Health ScienceUniversity, Rohtak, opines, “Of late, we have seen a tremendous change in theinfrastructure that is available to us in the medical college. This has resulted in betterclassrooms, better labs and better hostel facilities which are an integral part inencouraging a student to study.”

Vishakaha Verma from Karnal, a 3rd year Mechanical Engineering student at DCRUniversity of Science and Technology, Murthal, avers, “The engineering university atMurthal has one of the best placement records for any engineering institution in theregion. Further, the hostel facilities are very good. We also have state-of-the-artcomputer lab where we have access to internet the whole day and shortly the wholecampus would be Wi-Fi.”

Students speakHaryana Review interacted with a number of students studying in various universities to know their views onhigher education in the state . Here is what they say:

Compiled by Nishant Prabhakar


Bhim S Dahiya

The proposed National Council forHigher Education and Research,

which will put an end to the variouscouncils and control the chaoticconditions in higher education, is awelcome step for two reasons: One,that these councils had earnednotoriety for their suspect ways ingranting courses and institutions intheir respective special areas; two,that these councils had taken awaythe legitimate authority of the

universities, reducing them intosubsidiary institutions without theacademic autonomy inherent in thevery idea of a university.

Integrating the various streams ofhigher education is another welcomeaspect of the NCHER Bill proposed tobe introduced in the next session ofParliament. The idea of a university,as conceived by Henry Newman (1867)and used as a model in England andelsewhere, envisages an integratedeffort of various disciplines ofknowledge in the common pursuit of

knowledge and truth. The splitting ofknowledge in the name ofspecialisation has worked both ways;while it has ensured intensiveresearch in each area of knowledge, ithas also alienated each area from theallied ones and isolated the specialistfrom the society. In other words, thisdisintegration of higher educationinto mini-banks has helped thepromotion of irresponsibleindividualism and narrow specialism.The proposed integrated Council willend the damaging growth of

Higher educationunder one umbrellaA national council for higher education and research is a big leap

Computer lab to learn the nitty-gritty of computer programming


compartmentalised learning and willpromote instead interdisciplinaryresearch and suitable institutions ofhigher education.

However, the proposed measure(NCHER) remains incomplete becauseit stops at the centre, leaving thestates to continue with the practicesthey are following at present. TheNew Education Policy of 1986, beinginvoked by the proposed Bill, had alsolaid down the creation of StateCouncils for Higher Education, sothat there is no unnecessary controland interference of the stategovernments. But in the quarter of acentury that has lapsed after the NewPolicy, only half a dozen states couldbe persuaded to create the StateCouncils, that too with modificationsin the original model provided by theUniversity Grants Commission,mostly to maintain the bureaucratichold on higher education.

In a book that came out ten yearsago, The University Autonomy inIndia, published by the IndianInstitute of Advanced Study, Shimla, Ihad made these suggestions,including abolishing the variouscouncils, integrating highereducation, and restoring autonomy tothe universities. I am glad that theYashpal Committee adopted thesesuggestions, but it remains a halfmeasure, which may not prove to be

the remedy we are looking for. I hadalso suggested that the system ofhigher education should be made self-regulatory on the model of thejudiciary, with a Supreme Council,State Councils, and District Councils,like the Supreme Court, the HighCourts, and the District Courts, freedfrom external interference, andmanaged by an internal mechanism.

In order to ensure the self-regulation of higher educationsystem, and to make it reallymeaningful, we also need to do awaywith the concept of affiliatinguniversities. In the present system,the affiliating universities are nobetter than Boards of Examinations,having to their credit no significantresearch output, nor a system ofserious teaching. Busy round theyear with inspections, selections, andexaminations, the university teachersare left with little time even to devoteto their teaching seriously, leaveaside research. One way to end theaffiliation system is to create cityuniversities, which will have each ahandful of constituent colleges, andno affiliated institutions. Teacherscan put in more hours in teachingand research and save the presentwaste of funds on unplannedaccumulation of courses in eachcollege. The constituent colleges canmake wiser investments in libraries

and laboratories by distributingdifferent streams – such as basicsciences, life sciences, commerce,humanities – to different colleges.

The Knowledge Commission’ssuggestion to have 1500 moreuniversities makes sense only if wehave these city universities and notthe unplanned setting-up ofuniversities like the 15 centraluniversities that were created on theeve of last parliamentary elections.Multiplying universities in thepresent haphazard manner will onlycompound the ills that the presentsystem is suffering from. Theproposed Commission to end allcommissions may not prove of muchhelp, if the state councils and the cityuniversities are not created as animmediate follow-up measure. Andthese city universities would requireredefining the existing universities,making them unaffiliated, andreducing them to the size of the newcity universities. Also, these cityuniversities are to be created, not likethe 15 central universities recentlyfloated, but by creating a commune ofexisting colleges in a town or district,and effecting restructuring of theiracademic and administrativeframework.

The other subsidiary matters likethe semester system, grading system,and five-year courses would also startfunctioning properly, which in thepresent setup are mismatched witheach other. The semester system andthe public examination systemcannot go together. Similarly, theaffiliating system and the gradingsystem do not work well if puttogether. The only way to make thesereforms a success is to do away withthe affiliating universities, and createthe city universities. These newuniversities can be brought intoexistence within the same budgetthat is being spent at present on theexisting affiliating universities andcolleges.

The ministry would do well to givea thought to the implications ofhaving a single or super council forthis vast country without theimperative backing of state councilsto carry out the gigantic task ofmonitoring higher education acrossthe states. g

The writer is a well-knowneducationist and former vice-

chancellor of Kurukshetra University

Books in library- the truecompanion of students

HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 201032 SPECIAL REPORT

Dharam Vir

It was a gigantic exerciseconducted with precision

and impartiality. This year thenumber of seats of allcategories for PanchayatElections 2010 increased from63,539 in 2000 to 67,994. Thenumber of candidates, whofiled nominations for the seatsincreased from 81,981 in theyear 2000 to 1,34,987 in 2005and to 1,73,936 in 2010.

The percentage of pollingwent up from 77.61 per cent inthe year 2000 to 84 per centduring 2010. The number ofvoters also increased from 88.5lakh in 2000 to 98.46 lakh during 2010.There are several blocks where thepolling percentage was more than 90per cent. For the first time, EVMs wereused. It improved the process of votingand confidence of the voters.

The Panchayat Raj Institutions areamongst the most importantinstitutions of governance in India.The 73rd amendment of theConstitution of India has given themconstitutional status. They aredemocratically elected grassroots levelinstitutions and form core of Indiandemocratic system and socio-economicdevelopment process. In accordancewith the provisions of the Constitutionof India, elections to PRIs are requiredto be held every five years. The lastPRIs elections in the State of Haryanatook place during the year 2005 and theelections were, therefore, required to beheld this year. The elections weresuccessfully conducted in two phasesspreading over two months, frommiddle of May to middle of July, 2010,in a free, fair and peaceful manner.There are a several special features ofthese elections, which would prove to be

trendsetters for the times to come.PRI is a three tier structure

comprising Zila Parishads, PanchayatSamitis and Gram Panchayats. For 21Zila Parishads, there are 374 members ;Panchayat Samitis have 2,772 membersand 6,083 Gram Panchayats have equalnumber of Sarpanches and 58,765Panches. The total number of seats ofall categories is 67,994 for whichelections were held.

The process for holding electionsbegan with the preparation of electoralrolls, generally called voters’ list foreach panchayat. A notification in thisregard was issued on 6th February, 2010and the lists were published on 15thApril, 2010.

While the process was underway, thegovernment formed seven newmunicipal corporations in place ofmunicipal councils of Panchkula,Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal,Panipat, Rohtak and Hisar. While doingso, a few adjoining villages were alsoincluded in all these corporationsexcept Ambala. In addition, a fewvillages were also added to the existinglimits of Municipal Corporation,

Gurgaon and MunicipalCouncil, Rewari. Thus, thelimits of Zila Parishads, afew Panchayat samitis andeven a few GramPanchayats of eightdistricts changed, whichnecessitated change in thewardbandi as well aspreparation of voters’ listsin accordance with the newscheme of wardbandi.

As the fresh wardbandiin eight districts was likelyto take a few weeks, theState Election Commission,in consultation with theState Government, decidedto hold elections in the

remaining 13 districts in the first phaseafter the publication and printing ofthe final voters’ lists. The process forholding the elections began with theannouncement of elections on 15th May,2010 after the Municipal GeneralElections 2010 were over. The pollingtook place in two installments, 6th Juneand 12th June, in 12 districts exceptFaridabad where the polling took placeon one day on 6th June.

Simultaneously, the StateGovernment carried out wardbandi inthe eight districts and after this wascompleted, the Commission resumedthe process of the preparation ofvoters’ lists in these districts. After thepublication of voters’ lists, aprogramme for conducting the electionswas announced. The elections in thefour districts took place on one day, 6thJune whereas in the remaining fourdistricts, in two installments, 6th Juneand 10th June. The entire process ofcounting and declaration of results wasover by 14th June.

The PRIs elections this time drewoverwhelming enthusiasm from thepublic which is reflected in the polling

Panchayat electionsets a markThere are several special features of Panchayat Elections 2010 whichwould prove to be trendsetters for the times to come

33HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010 SPECIAL REPORT

percentage and extremely highnumber of candidates who contestedthe elections. Secondly, theCommission used the EVMs andinformation technology to themaximum possible extent.

Conducting PRIs elections wasindeed a gigantic as well as a complextask. While the Commission is

satisfied with the conduct of elections,there is always scope for improvement.We would like to hold workshops andconferences to identify the areaswhere improvement could be made.Based on the suggestions receivedduring such interactive sessions aswell as our own experience ofconducting the elections, suitable

changes in rules and regulations andvarious instructions and orders issuedby the Commission would be proposed.Wherever required, proposals foramendment of rules would be sent tothe State Government, beingcompetent authority to do so. g

The writer is State ElectionCommissioner, Haryana

1. The number of seats of all categories increased from 63,539 inthe year 2000 to 67,994 in the year2010. There was, however, marginaldecline in the number of seats from69,673 in the year 2005 to 67,994 inthe year 2010.

2. The number of candidates, whofiled nominations for the seatsincreased from 81,981 in the year2000 to 1,34,987 in the year 2005 andto 1,73,936 in the year 2010. Therewas more than 100 per cent increasein the number of candidates duringthe last ten years. The increaseduring the last five years was about30 per cent.

3. The number of seats electedunopposed has increased from 31,846in the year 2000 to 37,254 in the year2005, but for the 2010 elections, thenumber of persons electedunopposed reduced to 22,823. Therewas no seat of Zila Parishad, whichwas elected unopposed this year,which has happened for the firsttime. In case of Sarpanches, thenumber of seats elected unopposedwas 701 in the year 2000 and 473 inthe year 2005. However, only 200Sarpanches were elected unopposedin the year 2010. Similarly, in case ofPanches and Members of PanchayatSamiti, the number of seats electedunopposed reduced sharply duringlast ten years.

4. The average number of contestingcandidates has also increased. Theaverage number of candidates percontested seat in the year 2000 was2.88, which increased to 3.01 in year2005 and 3.35 in the year 2010. Themaximum number of candidatesper seat was in case of Member ofZila Parishad, followed by Sarpanch.

5. As the number of contestingcandidates was significantly highthis time, the management ofelection at the booth level as well asat the time of counting was a great

challenge. Every candidate wasentitled to have one polling agent inthe booth as well as countingstation. On an average, more than 14polling agents representingcandidates could be present in thebooth as well as counting centres. Atseveral places, the number wasmore than 25. Managing them was ahuge challenge, especially whenevery vote was important. Thisreduced the pace of voting.

6. The percentage of polling has goneup from 77.61 per cent in the year2000 to 84 per cent during 2010. Thenumber of voters also increasedfrom 88.5 lakh in the year 2000 to98.46 lakh during 2010. There areseveral blocks where the pollingpercentage was more than 90 percent. Due to the increase in thepolling percentage as well asincrease in number of voters, thetotal number of persons, who voted,went up substantially. Since everyvoter is required to cast four votes,the pace of voting became very slowand the voters had to wait for longertime than usual. Therefore, crowdmanagement, both in terms ofmaintaining law and order at thetime of polling and at the time ofcounting, posed several challenges,which were handled withmeticulous planning and itsexecution.

7. After the declaration of the electionprogramme, there were a largenumber of applications forenrolment of voters as well asdeletion of names of those, who hadmore than one vote in differentvillages / towns. Dealing with themwas also a great challenge. TheCommission dealt with suchcomplaints and did not hesitate indeleting the names of voters, havingmore than one vote.

8. For the first time, the Commissionused EVMs for conducting the

elections for all seats ofSarpanches. The Commission alsowanted to use EVMs for the electionof Members of Zila Parishads andPanchayat Samitis, but due to non-availability of adequate number ofEVMs with the Chief ElectoralOfficer, Haryana and the StateElection Commission, it could notbe done. However, the Commissionwas left with sufficient number ofEVMs in the second phase, andused them for conducting theelection of the members of ZilaParishad of Panchkula and KarnalDistricts. In all, about more than23,000 EVMs were used in GeneralElections of PRIs, 2010. It was asuccessful experiment, which washighly appreciated by all concerned– the public, the polling staff andthe contesting candidates. Thenumber of dispute including lawand order problem at the time ofcounting had reduced sharply. Theresults were also announcedquickly, wherever EVMs were used.

9. For the first time, all the electoralrolls were prepared in Data BaseManagement System and wereuploaded on the website withsearch facility. This has improvedtransparency, besides providing avery useful facility to the public atlarge.

10. IT was also used extensively incommunicating with the districtofficers and other officersconcerned with the elections, whichenhanced the working capacity ofthe election machinery.

11. A quick survey also showed that alarge number of young and highlyeducated persons have contestedthe PRIs elections and many ofthem have been elected. Theparticipation of women wasparticularly noteworthy. The 2010elections would definitely prove tobe a trendsetter.

Comparative study of the three elections held during the years 2000, 2005 and 2010

SPECIAL REPORT HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 201034

Ruchi Sharma

It was a great moment for the schoolalumni and old teachers of Sainik

School Kunjpura who assembledtogether with their families to celebratethe 50th Golden Jubilee Founder’s Dayof the school on 24th July in Karnal.The gala occasion was graced by thedistinguished chief guest, President

Pratibha Devisingh Patil. The Governorof Haryana, Jagannath Pahadia, theChief Minister of Haryana, BhupinderSingh Hooda, former army chiefGeneral (retd) Deepak Kapoor, vice-chancellor of Kurukshetra University,Lt Gen (retd) DDS Sandhu, Air MarshalPS Bhangu and Member of Parliamentfrom Karnal, Dr Arvind Sharma wereamong the other distinguished guests

and eminent Kunjeans.Sainik School which prepares

young boys for a career in thedefence forces through theNational Defence Academy(NDA) was created on 24 July1961 with the initiative of thethen Defence Minister, V K Menon. The institution wasformed to make it a feederinstitute for NDA in order tomeet the needs of officer cadreof the Indian Armed Forces andto make public school educationaccessible to all. Sainik SchoolKunjpura is one of the premierinstitutions of the country. Theschool has over 600 students onits rolls from classes 6th to 12thand is one of the first fiveschools established by the SainikSchools’ Society, New Delhi.Currently, there are 25 suchschools in different states.

The celebrations began withgreat pomp and show and werewitnessed by huge gatheringfrom different walks of life. Theprogramme started with theNational Anthem sung by theschool children. This wasfollowed by schools’ English andHindi song where even the oldstudents joined in the chorus.

President Pratibha Patilcongratulated all those who hadbeen associated with the school

and worked with commitment for thesuccessful completion of its fifty years.She said, “Education is the foundationfor all growth and development. It givesone the confidence of living andearning in today's rapidly changing,competitive and increasinglyknowledge-based world. An effectiveeducation system is one that respondsto the challenges of its time. In today's

Sainik School Kunjpuracelebrates golden jubileePresident of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, while presiding overthe golden jubilee celebration of Kunjpura School, said, “An effectiveeducation system is one that responds to the challenges of its time.”

A bouquet for the president: Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda greets PresidentPratibha Devisingh Patil while the Governor Jagannath Pahadia looks on


context, education should teach aboutthe different aspects of human historyin a manner that students can drawlessons from the past. It should makestudents aware of their social andcultural milieu, so that they cancontribute meaningfully to society. Itshould acquaint them with the marvelsof science and technology, with itsimmense capacity to transform humanlives with a view to encourage them todevelop a scientific temper.”

Elated on the achievements of theschool, Patil told that about 1800 boys ofKunjpura School have been sent to theNDA over the last five decades and thiswould continue. She expressedconfidence in the school that it willcontribute in bringing about the goldenera of the nation, which will berecorded in golden letters.

The institution enjoys thedistinction of having Chief Minister ofHaryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda andformer army chief, General DeepakKapoor as its alumni. Bhupinder SinghHooda welcomed the President and saidthe Central Government hadsanctioned another Sainik School inRewari district, which has alreadybecome functional. It is a matter ofpride for Haryana as it is the first stateto have Defence University in thecountry. As an old Kunjean, Hooda said,“It’s a joyous moment for me to see theinstitution growing and its studentsmaking it big in defence services andother walks of life.” The former Chiefof Army, Gen Deepak Kapoor (retd),paid homage to his school mates whohad sacrificed their lives for the sake ofthe country during the past 50 years.

The Principal of the school, ColArun Datta thanked the President andother distinguished guests by gracingthe occasion with their presence anddisclosed that the Chief Minister hadsanctioned Rs 10 crore for theconstruction of a new hostel in theschool.

The celebrations came to an endwith the governor giving away prizes tooutstanding students of the school andPresident Patil presenting trophies ofschool houses to its three old students.CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Lt-GenDDS Sandhu (retd) were awarded thetrophy for Chillianwala House whileGen Deepak Kapoor (retd) was awardedthe trophy of Panipat House. All wentwell under elaborate securityarrangements made for the visit ofPresident Pratibha Patil. g

SPECIAL DAY FOR ‘KUNJEANS’

It was a special day for ‘Kunjeans’. ThePresident of India, Pratibha DevisinghPatil not only graced the goldenjubilee celebration function of theirschool at Kunjpura but also describedits alumnus, the Haryana ChiefMinister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, as a‘popular chief minister’.

A former student (roll number 301),Hooda continues to be very popularamong his batchmates andschoolmates, both juniors and seniors.Their pride over their batchmate, andnow the Chief Minister, beingapplauded by none other than thePresident, glowed on their faces, andreflected in their ear-to-ear smiles.They greeted the remark of thePresident with thunderous applausewhich continued for quite some time.

Fondly recalling their days atschool and association with Mr Hooda,they talked about his qualities of headand heart which, most felt, he hasnourished till today. Simple and quiteunassuming at school, very fewthought he would one day enterpolitics and be successful.

Former Chief of Army staff,General (Retd) Deepak Kapoor, whostudied with Hooda at the same timesaid, “We joined the school at the sametime, and our friendship and bondingcontinues till date”. Describing Hoodaas an excellent human being, thoroughgentleman and a friend of friends, Gen(Ret.) Kapoor said, “He has a strongsense of loyalty and friendship.”

Famous advertisement guruPrahlaad Kakkar who was with Hoodain school, recalled the memories ofgood old days and described him as an‘intelligent student’. He appreciated

Hooda for keeping links with theschool even though he left beforegraduation. “Hooda is, in fact, thegreatest patron of the Sainik School”,remarked Kakkar.

AOC-in-C, South Western AirCommand, IAF, Air Marshal P SBhangu, who was a class fellow ofHooda, recalled, “He was veryunassuming, sincere and a goodsportsman. Despite being in politics,he continues to have same qualities”.He lauded Hooda’s vision and style ofworking which was progressive.

Lt-General (Retd) A K Nanda isproud to be a member of the samehouse (Chillianwala House) as Hoodawas. He said,” Hooda was a quietperson but very sincere.” He recalledthat Hooda’s father, late Ranbir Singh,used to frequently visit the school.

Lt General (Retd) Dr D D S Sandhu,presently Vice-Chancellor ofKurukshetra University, Kurukshetra,who also shared the school house withHooda, described him as a straightforward and person of positiveattitude. “Hooda is still the sameperson as he was during the schooldays,” he remarked, sense ofappreciation oozing from his words.

Sanjeev Narula, who was Hooda’sclass fellow in the Sainik School,recalled him as a simple student and“unlike from a politician’s family”.

The Old Boys Association GeneralSecretary, Rakesh Gupta, alsoappreciated Hooda for his simplicity,sincerity and down-to-earth approach.

The students studying in KunjpuraSainik School look up to Hooda astheir role model. Nitin Saini of Class10 said that Hooda must have imbibedgood qualities like sincerity andhonesty from the school.

The President honouring the outstanding students of Sainik School, Kunjpura

SPECIAL FEATURE HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 201036

Gobind Thukral

Outside the city of Sirsa, thebillboards declare it to be an

abode of saints. That is right if youcount the Deras in and around thedistrict. But it is much more than that.Politicians from this district havecreated a niche for themselves andrendered some service. Yet, it is one ofthe two backward districts listed bythe Government of India. That too, isnot bad. It means a neat sum of Rs 77crore for five years and a fast paceddevelopment. It is in addition to whatthe Haryana government hasearmarked. Add Rs 15 crore which thisdistrict along with Mewat is getting asa minority district from theGovernment of India. In a couple ofyears, its backwardness, particularlyin infrastructure and education,would be a thing of the past.

The district was declaredbackward for three good reasons. Ithas the highest population of 26.5 percent of Scheduled Castes. Womenliteracy rate at 49.7 per cent is thelowest and the landless labourersconstitute over 40 per cent. “These

funds are handy for us. We are tryingour best to empower women througheducation and skill improvement,advance the economic and socialconditions of the working classes andScheduled Castes. We want substantialchange in the life of these sectionswhich are an overwhelming majority.If their lot improves, the whole of thedistrict improves itself,” says theyoung, energetic DeputyCommissioner, C G Rajni Kanthan.

He assures that money specificallymeant for minority and in this case,the Sikhs, would be spent on themonly. Again, education, health andother areas would form the core fortheir progress.

But to any visitor, this districtbordering Punjab and Rajasthan maynot look that backward. Sirsa citywith three lakh population can boastof several schools, colleges and onetop class university. Almost everychild goes to school to begin with. Thisdistrict beats every other district inthe production of cotton, the WhiteGold. Its delicious kinnows satisfy thetaste buds of Silicon Valley of India(the information technology hub of

India), Bangalore, nay Bengaluru. Ifthe district lacks in industry, itimproves its position through farmproduce. Markets of Sirsa, Dabwali,Chautala and Ellenabad or Rania,Odhan and Kalanwali are full ofwares and do not lack customers.Trade is brisk and adds to the coffersof the merchants. It builds the cycle ofeconomy and boosts gainful activity.

There are certain other uniquefeatures. Visit this village Kaluana. Itdoes not ring any bells of fame. We allknow that Haryana has a dubiousdistinction of skewed sex ratio of847:1000 males. Yet this village beatsand upsets that record. There are 550females against 450 males. This sexratio is still improving. There areother villages, of course not many inSirsa and adjoining Fatehabaddistrict, with this kind of sex ratio--lessons for the state. Kaluana hasother distinctions. It planted over onelakh trees during the last two years.Its school provides bus service toadjoining villages and has the mostprogressive panchayat. It can also helpcheck fast migration from ruralHaryana to urban areas. g

Sirsa: Development on the forefront

Modern campus under construction at CDL University

PHOTOS BY JASPREET SINGH

SPECIAL FEATURE 37HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010

Ravneet Kaur Brar

Agriculture is the backbone ofdistrict Sirsa as there are no

industries to provide employment torural as well as urban people. Themajority of the population is engagedin agriculture. The area undercultivation is 3,88,000 hectares out ofwhich 3,06,000 hectares is irrigated.The district excels in the productionof cotton and citrus fruits. The maincrops grown in the district are paddy,cotton, bajra, wheat, gram, barley andrape-mustard. Now some farmers areshifting from the traditional croppingsystem to horticulture andfloriculture. The production of greenand dry fodder is 20 lakh and 10 lakhtonnes, respectively.

In an endeavour to end thepractice of stubble burning duringthe wheat harvesting season, theDistrict Rural Development Authority

is distributing the straw reapers tothe gaushalas. 21 reapers have beendistributed so far. A huge sum of Rs1.23 crore has been spent onproviding straw reapers to the 55gaushalas in the district. Farmersused to burn stubble after theyharvested their wheat. It causedmany accidents and was one of themajor causes of environmentalpollution. This practice led todecreasing soil fertility by killingfriendly pests and burningmicronutrients. It created shortage ofwheat straw, which is used as fodder.The gaushalas can now reap stubbleof farmers free of cost and get fodderfor their cattle. The straw reapers arealso being made available to thefarmers on subsidised rates by theAgriculture Department. Goriwala,Ganga, Kaluana,Pipli, PanniwalaMotta, Sherpur and Kharia villageshave benefited to a great extent as

these villages do not have anyshortage of fodder. Radhe Krishan,president of Goriwala village says,“This step taken by the authorities iscommendable. Burning of agricultureresidue not only creates pollution butsometimes it also sets ablaze farms.”

The main crop rotations arepaddy-wheat, cotton-wheat, cotton-raya, guar-wheat and guar-raya. Canaland tube well irrigation facilities areavailable. Farmers are receptive andinnovative with large acceptance ofrecommended inputs. The area undercultivation as well as the averageyield registered an increase with theintroduction of Bt (Bacillusthuringiensis) cotton in the past onedecade.

HORTICULTURE

Horticulture includes cultivation oforchards, vegetables and floriculture.Sirsa district can become leader inhigh tech horticulture because farmsizes are relatively larger than otherdistricts and farmers can always usesome portion of their land forhorticulture crops. Sirsa farmers aremore enthusiastic aboutdiversification in favour of fruitcrops especially citrus like kinnow.Citrus varieties have been broughtfrom Israel for cross breeding.Seedless varieties of fruits are grownin the area. The newly found interestin fruit crops will boom if farmers’interests are protected by supplyinggood quality planting material andother facilities for marketing,grading, processing and storing.Some varieties of kinnow whichmature late, up to April, can also helpfarmers in extending the marketingperiod. The subsidy component forfruits crops so far has been veryliberal. Government provides 50 percent subsidy on drip system.

Under Rashtriya Samvikas Yojana,wasteland is turned into fruitland.From each village, five acres of landis taken for horticulture. BackwardRegions Grant Fund has sponsoredschemes like drip system, waterstorage tank and sprinkler irrigation.Under National Horticulture Scheme,farmers are given subsidies. Beforethe implementation of nationalhorticulture mission, the area undercitrus fruits was 2,661 hectares whichhas increased to 6,961 hectares in thelast five years. Production of cropshas also increased to 91,709 metric

AAggrriiccuullttuurree--tthhee mmaaiinnssttaayy

Cotton pods in full bloom


tonnes whereas earlier it was 39,000metric tonnes.

Other schemes involvevermiculture and growing spices inthe district. A high tech nursery isbeing established in Mangeanavillage near Dabwali on 2.67 acres ofland. Dr Atam Prakash, DistrictHorticulture officer says, “Israel haspledged support to a project forgrowing olives at Sirsa. Technologytransfer and funds have been offeredfor the project for growing fruits andvegetables more economically.’’Raman Godara from Kheyonwalivillage visited Israel several times to

learn new techniques and methodsfor increasing production andimprovement in quality.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Haryana is famous for its Murrahbuffaloes worldwide. Being anagricultural state, animal husbandryis a major activity in Haryana.

In Sirsa district, rearing of cattleis an old age practice. Even today,people of the state are very muchinvolved in cattle rearing. Theclimate and physiographic conditionsof the district are suitable for rearingof sheep, buffaloes and camels. For

increasing production of milk, wooland meat, the government is playinga vital role by ensuring better health,environment, management andveterinary services.

Animal husbandry department isproviding regular services likedeworming of small and largeanimals, preventive vaccinations,quality breeding services andimproved management practices. Theprimary aim of the animalhusbandry activities is to developinfrastructure and providesustainable source of income for allthose families who are engaged inlivestock production. There are 167dispensaries, 58 hospitals and onediagnostic centre in the district. Workon poly clinic in Sirsa district, withthe help of central government, isunder progress. The total project is ofRs 1.86 crores. The animals includingbuffaloes, cows and horses have wondifferent competitions. Animalhusbandry department has given sixmurrah buffaloes to Central BuffaloInstitute, Hisar.

Veterinary homeopathy is the newscheme introduced for treatment ofanimals. Training is given to thedoctors of homeopathy with the helpof homeopathic literature. Animalhusbandry conferences are organisedfrom time to time to inform doctorsabout new techniques. Employmentopportunity is provided to ScheduledCaste families through establishmentof livestock units. g

FOREST

The old natural forest areas have almost vanished fromthis district. Now forest areas are situated mainly alongrailway lines, canals, roads and drains. The main speciesplanted and raised by the Forest Deptartment areShisham, Kikar, Eucalyptus hybrid, Neem, Bakain, Acaciatortilis (Israeli Kikar), Prosopis juliflora (Vilayati Kikar),Siris etc. Most of the Eucalyptus and Shisham is plantedalong the canals where moisture level in soil is fairly highand Kikar is planted along roads where moisture level islow. Rising water table in some parts of the district likeRori, Phaggu, Surtia, Nathusari Chopta is rendering thefertile soil of these areas uncultivable because with therising water table, underground salts are coming up in theupper layer of soil and making it totally saline which doesnot tolerate any agricultural crop. Eucalyptus also knownas "Biodrain" is very suitable for such areas. It has thecapacity to transpire eight times more water from soil toair through its leaves than its own requirement. Besidesacting as biodrain, it is also very remunerative and cantolerate moderate salinity.

Shisham is one of the most valuable timber species ofHaryana and Sirsa has the rare distinction to claim that ithas the maximum number of Shisham trees in Haryana.But the maximum number of trees grown in Sirsa Districtare that of Kikar (43%).

The major species of animals found in the district arenilgai, kala titar, peacock, rabbit ( locally known as saha).There is also a mini zoo in Aboobshehar, near "Kala TeetarTourism Complex”. Wild animals like crocodile, red foxand langoor are kept in this zoo for creating awarenessamong people and educating them about wild animals.

Now forest department is mainly involved in saving theenvironment by planting more and more trees. BalwinderSingh, a resident of Phaggu village, says, “Now people areaware of environment. They are co-operating with thegovernment in planting more trees in their surroundings.They are also trying to save the animals from poachers assome species are already on the verge of extinction.”

In the year 2005-06, a herbal park was established in 17acres of land at Phoolka at a cost of Rs 50 lakh by theforest department. The main reason for this was to makepeople aware of herbs and medicinal plants.


Ravneet Kaur Brar

Haryana has a dubious distinctionof skewed sex ratio of 847: 1000

(847 females per 1,000 males). Butthere are few villages in the districtwith reverse sex ratio. Kaluanavillage is one such village to have lit alamp and prove that this trend can bereversed. “It is a village with reversesex ratio of 550 females against 450males. The village is an exception initself,” says Sirsa DeputyCommissioner, C G Rajni Kanthan.This village is a perfect example ofbalanced development.

Kaluana is a village with apopulation of 6,500. Jagdev Saharan,Sarpanch of the village is leaving nostone unturned to work for thedevelopment of his village. Thisvillage has access to sanitationfacilities. This outstandingachievement has made this villageunique as no other gram panchayat

has reached this stage. There are 1,000students in the higher secondaryschool. There are twenty five teachersincluding the guest faculty. The schoolhere has clean and functional toilets,both for boys and girls and has pick-up vans too. Jagdev Saharan says,“There are four buses in our village,which pick girls students from eightvillages. Female conductors areappointed in these buses and we arealso looking for female drivers.’’Funds for this purpose are collectedfrom general public. Government ofIndia has appreciated this effort.

There is a sports stadium in thevillage. Satish Kumar Mehra, DistrictPublic Relations Officer, Sirsa, opines,“Sports is essential not only for thephysical fitness and growth of a child,but also for his mental growth. Afterevery six months, tournaments areorganised in the stadium. It is one ofthe major sources of entertainmentfor villagers.’’

The Kaluana gram panchayat hadbeen selected for the first state-levelaward under the State IncentiveScheme on Sanitation (SISS) 2008-09.This gram panchayat has set newstandards in sanitation and otherdevelopmental activities.

A Jan Chetna Kendra in the villagehelps in providing computereducation to the children of village sothat they can compete in the modernhigh-tech world. Dr Joginder Singh,District Planning Officer, says, ‘’It isvery essential to learn computer intoday's world. It not only helps ingetting a job but also helps inperforming better at any work place.People are very enthusiastic aboutthis facility being introduced in theirvillage.”

The village is also aware ofenvironmental problems. To do its bitfor the environment, the villagegenerates electricity from its ownbiogas plant. It has installed a biogasplant in the village 'gaushala' whichproduces gas to generate power to runits 7.5 horse power electric motorused for drawing water, running thechaff cutter and grinding the flour.There is a vermiculture plant in thevillage. Earthworms not only convertgarbage into valuable manure butkeep the environment healthy.Conversion of garbage byearthworms into compost and themultiplication of earthworms aresimple and environmental- friendlyprocesses.

One lakh trees are planted in thevillage nursery under MahatmaGandhi Rural Employment GuaranteeScheme. Twenty acres of governmentland has also been used for thispurpose. There is facility ofpersonalised health care, deliveryhuts and ambulance. The village isprospering at a great pace and istrying to compete with thecomplexities of modern day worldthrough its simple and environment-friendly policies. g

Kaluana, a villageof distinction

Time to learn for theyoung and the old


Amanbir Kaur Brar

In an endeavour toimprove the quality oflife and to make living

in Sirsa a pleasurableexperience for itsresidents, the governmentis making an all-out effortto improve the basicfacilities in the district interms of education, power,health, sports and publichealth. EDUCATION

Sirsa is often considered as aneducationally backward district. Theliteracy percentage of Sirsa is 60.55.But efforts are on to bring the districtat par with other educationallyadvanced districts.

There are several schools, collegesand a well established university in thedistrict. A school has been opened at

Sirsa to impart free education,vocational training and computereducation to the blind and visuallyimpaired children of Sirsa and nearbyareas. Ellenabad Government Collegehas already been sanctioned. Buses forgovernment colleges have been startedwhich pick and drop students fromvillages. Under the Model SchoolScheme 2008, schools have beensanctioned in Dabwali, Rania, Sirsaand Ellenabad. Model schools in thedistrict have been increased. Eight newschools have been sanctioned. The costof one school is approximately Rs 5lakh. Basic facilities are to be providedin the schools.

Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, 130

Making life blissful

Enlightening the young minds

C G Rajni Kanthan, DC Sirsa interactingwith various district departments' heads


new rooms and 201 toilets wereconstructed in different schools in 2009-10. The girl students have been given1,342 cycles free of cost. Free trip toGolden Temple, Wagha border,

Jallianwala bagh and KapurthallaScience City are organised for thestudents of educationally backwardblock like Chopta and Rania. Undervarious schemes, 70 senior secondaryschools have been provided with 10computers each. Generators have beenprovided to 39 schools. At a totalamount of Rs 21 lakh, eco clubs havebeen established in schools underwhich students are made to plantsaplings and they are made aware oftheir surroundings. Two buses havebeen started for girls to city collegeswith lady drivers. Four other buseshave also been started for colleges andschools.

Government is chiefly concerned

about literacy among females.Government offers concessions andincentives for girls and especially tothose belonging to backward andSchedule Castes. Scheduled Caste girlsin primary, middle and high classes arebeing provided with free uniforms.Scheduled Caste students are providedgrants for books and stationery andgiven scholarships and reimbursementof tuition fees. Education is free forfemale candidates up to graduationlevel.

There are 914 aanganwaris in Sirsaand it is the first district in the statewith large number of aanganwaris.Balkaran Singh, School Principal ofMithri village says, “From 6th to 10ththere are 182 students in our school.The result of the school is always 100per cent. From 7 to 8 am, extra class isconducted for the students to teachthem about combating the environmentrelated problems. We teach them howto plant different trees.’’

POWER

Sirsa was the first district in the stateto have different feeders of powersupply for the villages and agriculture.The district receives 70 lakh units ofpower, out of which 28 lakh units arefor the farm sector and the remainingare for the industry and other sectors.At present, the villages are getting 13hours of power supply and theagriculture sector is getting 5 hourspower supply in a day. The district isfacing the problem of uploading in thefeeding station. To overcome thisproblem, 21 sub stations are underconstruction at a cost of Rs 2140.25lakh. Out of these 2 are 220 KV substations, 13 are 132 KV sub stations andthe remaining six are 33 KV substations. Segregation of domestic loadfrom the agricultural feeders has beendone at a cost of Rs 3,320 lakh. In 99villages of the district, High VoltageDistribution System is under progress.Under this, supply is made direct fromthe transformer. The introduction ofthis system will check the theft, reducethe line loss and will increase therevenue. New Low Voltage DistributionSystem at a cost of Rs 3340.6 lakh isunder work in 249 villages of thedistrict. In this system, the earlier lowtension lines (aluminum conductor)are replaced with cables. It isconvenient and theft is also notpossible. Apart from this, theadministration authorities of Sirsa are

TREADING THE HEALTH PATHRavneet Kaur Brar

The World Health Organisation hasdescribed health as a state ofcomplete physical, mental, spiritualand social well- being of a person andnot merely the absence of disease orinfirmity. Health refers to all thosepractices that are hygienic and makeone feel that he or she is free fromillness or sickness.

In order to make its residents haleand hearty, Sirsa district is providingall kinds of health facilities to itsresidents. Health centres in 141villages of the district are upgradedwith modern techniques. This is donein order to bring health revolution inthe villages and to make people awareof health related problems. People invillages are given free consultationalong with free medicines. This yearhealth centres have been providedwith stabiliser, inverter with battery,water pump and water storage tank.

Delivery huts have been upgradedand 19 delivery huts at the cost of Rs104 crores are under construction.Jagdish Kaur, a resident ofKuttewadh village, says, “The facilityof delivery huts in the village hasproved very advantageous.Previously, patients from outskirts ofthe city had to travel to the main cityto avail treatment, but nowhealthcare facilities seem to becoming to their doorstep. To move thepatient to city hospital in labour painwas very risky and costly too.’’

Civil hospital has been allottedbed and furniture. A huge amount ofRs 2.5 crore has been spent on civilhospital, Sirsa. Upgradation of civilhospitals at Dabwali and Ellenabad ison its way. OPD numbers have alsobeen increased in civil hospitals.

There is facility of mobile dentalbus in the district. For eradication ofanaemia, free medicines areprovided. Under Backward RegionsGrant Fund, Rs 168 lakh has beenspent on providing Ayush centreswith equipments. Indira BalSwasthya Yojana is a novel concept toprovide preventive and curativehealth care to all children up to 18years of age. School teachers wouldbe trained to screen children for anynutritional deficiency or disease.They will also maintain health recordof all children.


taking care of the BPL families byinitiating the work of providing powerconnections to them under RajivGandhi Gramin Vidhutikarn Yojana.Out of 19,247 BPL families, 1,432families have been given connectionstill March 2010.

PUBLIC HEALTH

“Our mission is to improve the qualityof life of people by providing betterhealth services. We strive to helppeople improve their productivity andreduce risks of diseases and injury in acost-effective way,” says the SDO, PWD,Budh Ram. Sirsa district has a partialsystem of water supply. 60 per centwater supply is met by the tubewellsand the rest 40 per cent by the canals.

At present, Sirsa town is fed by twowater boxes. Public works departmentwant to put an end to tube well supplyof water and replace it with fully canalbase, so another water box has beenapproved with an estimated cost of Rs1.6 crores at village Panjuana, about 10kms from the city. Apart from this, nineboosting stations are underupgradation and replacement of oldwater supply line by new ones and newpipelines for newly approved coloniesare under progress. According toVikram Singh, Executive Engineer,Public works, “There is a proposal forupgradation of sewerage system of thecity at an estimated cost of Rs 1.28crores. Under this proposal, twosewerage treatment plants- one atKelenia village road and other atNatter village will come up.”

Upgradation of existing seweragesystem and new sewerage lines will belaid down in the remaining approvedcolonies. This will put an end tosewerage problem and waterstagnation in the city during rainyseason. At present, water supply to therural part of the district is 7.70 lpcpd(litre per capita per day) and to urbanareas is 100 lpcpd and department isworking to raise it to 135lpcpd in thenear future. To upgrade the water andsewerage in Dabwali town of Sirsa

district, estimates have been preparedand sent for approval. In this town,tube well water is directly supplied.

In Ellenabad, the water supply forthe town is based on 15 tube wellswhich are to be replaced by canal basedwater supply for which an estimate ofRs 18.75 crore has been approved andwork of various sectors is in progress.For upgradation of existing watersupply in the town, two boostingstations along with necessary pipelineare to be set up. g

GETTING SPORTY Games and sports play a significant role in the development of qualitiesof discipline, tolerance and leadership. With a view to fostering thesequalities amongst the youth of Haryana, the Department of Sports andYouth Welfare, Haryana is implementing many sports schemes. Theseschemes range from creation and maintenance of sports infrastructurelike stadiums, gymnasiums, swimming pools, sports nurseries, sportswings, sports competitions, coaching camps, incentive schemes, sportsequipments and youth welfare schemes. Sports suffer due to lack of goodinfrastructure and lack of encouragement from the government.

Sirsa district is trying to provide its youth with better infrastructure sothat they can excel themselves at national and international levels. Ruralstadiums in eight villages are under construction. There is proposal for 20stadiums this year. Cost of one stadium is Rs 60-70 lakh. The land forstadium is given by the village. Stadiums at Sukhchain and Kanwarpuraare almost complete. Gym facility is also available in the stadiums. Butauthorities are facing shortage of coaches to be recruited in thesestadiums.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sports Complex has been constructed by HUDAat Sirsa. It is equipped with various facilities. There are grounds forvarious games like volley ball, lawn tennis and basket ball. Even anarchery track is there. Those who are health conscious can enjoy thefacility of a well-equipped gymnasium. Satish Kumar Mehra, DistrictPublic Relations Officer says, “The initiative taken by authorities in thisfield is appreciable as this will help produce better players from the city. Itwill also cut down the drug abuse rate in the district. Sports will providean avenue for channelising their energies into a positive and constructivedirection.’’

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sportscomplex, Sirsa

HISTORY 43HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010

Dr Anil Kumar Sharma

History cannot be content withmerely recording of wars and

exploits or a eulogy of achievements ofgreat men and women, but it has alsoto take note of the masses, of thepeople behind the depicted events, theirurges and aspirations, and the part,active or passive, silently andanonymously played by them.Documentary phraseologynevertheless, beyond doubt,strengthens and serves to indicate aposition de jure rather than a positionde facto.

It is also true that undergoingunprecedented changes in moderntimes and in modern conditionsfollowed by great mobility andcomplexity, the society acquires atremendous appetite for history andthe past to revive certain features of itspast practices, institutions, laws, socialmilieu and arrangements.

A complete restoration of the past isneither desirable nor feasible. Never-

theless, historians and social scientistshave to produce history based onestablished procedures of enquiry andrecognition along with memory andsentiments. Instances enshrined indocuments which are in a sensedefenceless, uncared, scattered andunattended, may not be reallyunlawful. Therefore, people at largemust come forward voluntarily toprotect, preserve and defend thecontours of research lest they corrodeaway.

The Archives Department atPanchkula has a very good referencelibrary and is in possession of someexcellent and rare collection of books.A few documents preserved in thearchives are worth mentioning. “AJourney From Bengal to England” byGeorge Foster, Vol I, Published in 1808in London, Pp 361, describes thejourney through the northern part ofIndia, Kasmir, Afganistan, Persia andin to Russia by Caspian Sea. Anotherbook, “The Saint Helena Almanac andAnnual Register,” published in the year

1847, contains detailed account of thepublic departments and localinstitutions together with a variety ofgeneral and local miscellaneouschanges.

Apart from these, other rare andprominent collections consist ofReports on the Administration of thePunjab and its Dependencies 1862-63 to1934-35; a few assessment andsettlement reports; Punjab DistrictGazetteers 1883-84 of the Ambala,Karnal, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Hisardistricts having description of thedistrict, geology, flora and fauna,history, the people, social and religiouslife, tribes, castes and leading families,village committees, agriculture,livestock, occupation, industries andcommerce, prices, weights andmeasures, communications, land andrevenue, towns and municipalities andstatistical tables; ArchaeologicalSurvey of India Reports 1872-1885 in 23volumes; Punjab Census Report, 1881,Vol III; some other department reports,treaties, engagements and sanads 1872-1925; Extracts-District and StateGazetteers of Punjab (India)- publishedby Research Society of Pakistan,University of the Punjab, Lahore;customary laws and Mutiny Reportsand Mutiny Correspondence, 1911 infour volumes.

Also, there is an equally richcollection of books on the ancient,medieval and modern periods of Indianhistory, books on Haryana, builders ofmodern India, national personalitiesand maps.

India’s composite culture is astunning one and a shining glory ofunity in diversity for the whole world toseek inspiration from. If we look intothe world history, we will find thehistory of India is unparallel andaltogether unique. It has astonishinglybeen carried away with various sorts ofanecdotes and has swayed over the lifeof its subjects in one way or the other.

The need is to accentuate a new lookto the history buried in the infinitelayers of pages beneath varied forms ofdocuments, associated with eventfulevents and episodes. Therefore, it is ourpious duty to preserve our valuabledocuments which contain our richheritage either by rehabilitating themelectronically or rewriting them sansslant or bias else they will get destroyedwith time due to our callous attitude. g

The writer is Librarian withHaryana Archives Department

In defence ofdefencelessdocuments

Preservingthe past

Historical documents which offer important information regarding our pastneed to be preserved lest they corrode away

ART AND CULTURE HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 201044

Kavita Singh

While scanning the morningnewspaper, my eyes caught the

attention of an impressiveadvertisement inserted by Haryanagovernment in connection with WorldChild Labour Day. My heart gave amiss in a strange excitement but thenit was filled with overwhelming gloomsensing the gravity and plight of theselittle “Bread Winners” literally knownas child labourers or ‘chhotus’ and‘chhutakis’. This advertisementpresented Haryana government’s deepresolve to eradicate this curse of childlabour completely, tackling it atdifferent levels- social, moral and legal.This indeed is a welcome step anddeserves all appreciation- it is nevertoo late or too little to start a good task.

Nowadays we celebrate all sorts of‘Days’ such as Father’s Day, Teacher’sDay, Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Dayby sending bewitching and thoughtfulcards and gifts. But alas, it is yet todawn upon our senses the importanceand necessity of celebrating WorldChild Labour Day which falls on 12thJune. How wonderful it would be tosend meaningful cards on this day tohighlight the rights of a child and thegrim reality of this day so that a newdawn of consciousness prods us towipe out this grave inhuman blot fromthe face of our society. Let us take apledge that we will get these frail andweak little angels free from theclutches of demonic individuals andestablishments who engage them inhorrible and suffocating tasks infactories emitting poisonous gases andchemicals. These sick and ailingchildren of lesser known gods toil dayin and day out in fire blaring glassbangle factories; they make beedis andprepare hazardous fire crackers,melting their childhood in heat anddust of roadside dhabas; they burntheir hands and feet in brick kilns andsoil their faces in auto workshops. Wesee them selling bhuttas on the roadwhile some shoe shine their dreamsand aspirations in the streets. We don’thave to go too far away to find thesepoor kids working as domestic hands-mopping floors, washing utensils,laundering clothes and even cookingmeals in the kitchen whereas at theirage they should be attending schoolsand celebrating their childhood inplaygrounds, living in comfy homesunder protection and tender care of

Let the budsbloomArtists are trying to create an awakening onchild labour through the medium of art

ART AND CULTURE 45

their parents. They need nutritiousfood, proper health care and love andaffection which is their birthright. It isa shame that they are seen carryingbricks on their tiny and tender headsand are engaged in breaking stonesunder the furious hot glare of the sunat construction sites.

There are umpteen rules and legalprovisions to protect them but theirenactment leaves much to be desired.A mass awakening is called for so thateach one of us stands for his rights.Artists, writers, singers, legalluminaries, dedicated NGOs andintellectuals have a role to play inchanging their lot for the better. It isour collective responsibility and moralduty to bring about much deservedfruitful changes to improve their lot.To start with, we can take out symbolic‘Prabhat Pheris’ (Morning PrayerProcessions) to implore the masses toabandon the disgraceful tradition ofemploying small children forhazardous and dangerous tasks androbbing them of their gleefulchildhood days.

“We will certainly give them backtheir childhood” is an initiative by aHaryana-based artist residing inPanchkula, Satwant Singh who is awell- known cartoonist and writer. Hehas painted some wonderfullyevocative paintings in mixed media insemi-abstract style on the theme ofchild labourers engaged in manyharmful and dangerous works infactories of melting glass bangles, firecrackers and tobacco beedi. Thesechildren fritter away their childhoodliving in slums in inhuman conditionsfull of filth and disease. Their so calledparents who are equally responsiblefor their miseries and plight, pushthem to unforeseen perils just for the

sake of earning bread. Other paintingsreveal children turning into kettlesand spanners at the roadside autoshops while in some, frail children aredisplaying their acrobats as streetcharmers and carrying loads of brickson their head. These paintings projecta stark reality of our insensitivenessin stopping these shameful actscommitted on these children. Theartist has also written moving poemsrelating to child labour as “BlackLambs”. He received two nationalawards for writing and illustrating a

book on the rights of a girl child inwonderful lyrics titled “Billo ate jadoodi pitari”. More such artisticinitiatives would certainly go a longway in improving the quality of life ofthese children who are not luckyenough to live a normal childhood.Patronage from the government in thisregard will be helpful and necessarybecause artists have always acted ascatalysts for change. g

The writer is Assistant Professor,Department of Fine Arts, Punjabi

University, Patiala

HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 201046 SPORTS

Saurabh Duggal

University sports have alwaysplayed a crucial role in the

country’s overall sporting scenario.And like other top universities of thecountry, Kurukshetra University hasalso contributed in a big way inIndian sports.

The Kurukshetra University wasestablished in 1956 and till date, it hasproduced 125 internationalsportspersons for the country,including nine Arjuna awardees.

“KU is among the country’s top-four universities in sports and foryears it is regularly churning outinternational players,” said KUDirector Sports, Dalel Singh.

Dalel Singh is an Arjuna awardeein volleyball and is himself analumnus of the university. “KU offers

the maximum cash awards forsportspersons who win laurels for theuniversity, state and country, and wehave facilities for almost every game.Our affiliated colleges (556)contributed equally in placing theuniversity among the country’s topuniversities,” he added.

During the previous academicsession, the university hasdistributed around Rs 35 lakh amongits students who have excelled insports. It is the highest moneydistributed by any university.

“Our Vice-Chancellor, Lt Gen D D SSandhu (retd) is from the armybackground, so sports are always atop priority. We offer Rs 15,000, 11,000and 9,000 for the first three positionholders in the individual events at AllIndia University Championships andthen there are cash awards for

participating andwinning medals atinternational events,”said Dalel Singh.

Dalel Singh took thecharge of theUniversity DirectorSports in 2005 and sincethen every year there isan improvement in theuniversity’s overallperformance. In 2006-07,the university wasoverall placed fourthand in 2007-08 and 2008-09, the universityimproved its all-Indiaranking from fourth tothird.

“My ultimate aim isto see KU winning theprestigious MaulanaAbul Kalam AzadTrophy, awarded to thecountry’s top universityin the field of sportsand for this, we have

already started the preparations.Though, like the previous years, wewill work on every sports discipline,but from this year we will beconcentrating more on water sports.For this, we have purchasedequipments also,” said the DirectorSports.

In 2009-10 session, the UniversitySports Council organised 74 inter-college competitions (including 35 forwomen).

“We have also increased the dietmoney during the competition daysfrom Rs 120 to Rs 150 and in metrocities from Rs 150 to Rs 180. Moreover,we give money for refreshment @ Rs25 per head per match,” said Dalel Singh. g

The writer is Senior Staff Writerwith the Hindustan Times,

Chandigarh

Kurukshetra Universityin its sports avatarSince 1956 till date, KU has produced 125 international sportspersonsfor the country, including nine Arjuna awardees

Kurukshetra University team during prize distribution function

47HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010 SPORTS

Dronacharya Award: Har Gobind (Athletics 1997),Anoop Singh (Boxing 2003)Arjuna Award: Manjeet Walia (Athletics – 1968),Mohinder Singh Gill (Athletics – 1970), Jagroop Singh(Wrestling – 1973), Geeta Zutshi (Athletics – 1976),Sabir Ali (Athletics – 1981), Sunita Sharma (Gymnastics-1985), Dalel Singh (Volley Ball – 1990), Anil Kumar(Athletics – 2005), Geetika Jakhar (Wrestling – 2007)Dhyan Chand Award: Om Parkash (Volley Ball –2002).University has produced about 125 international

players so far and these players have represented Indiain various levels of international tournaments i.e.Olympic Games, World Cup, World Championship,Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, AsianChampionship, Commonwealth Championship, SAFGames and in other international tournaments from timeto time.Athletics: Harpal Brar, Anil Kumar, Neelam,Bhartinder Singh, PromilaWrestling: Ishwar Singh, Satbir Singh, Murari LalVerma, Dinesh Kumar, Sukhbir Singh, Bhoop Singh,Ramesh, Mandeep, Rajinder Singh, Anmol, Shilpi,Rachna, Sonu, Hardeep Singh, ManjuVolleyball: Lachhman Singh, Sumer Singh, KantaVerma, Sandeep Sharma, Balkar Singh, Ashok Kumar,Amar Singh, Raj Singh, Jagdish Chander, Sahi Ram,Surjeet Singh, Darshan Singh, Ram Pal, Ankit, SurenderKumar, Sheeshan Kumar, Narender Kumar, GurjantSinghGymnastics: Manjula Bhandari, Sandhya, Surekha

Rana, Pooja ChauhanCycling: Kashmira Singh, Vikram, Jasdeep Kaur,Kuldeep KaurCricket: Chetan SharmaBoxing: Manbir Singh, Sunil Dahiya, Vikram Dhull,Preeti Beniwal, Kavita Goyat, Pavitra, Neeraj GoyatWater polo: Kamaljit SinghHockey: Didar Singh, Harpal Singh, Ritu Rani,Monika, Savita, Joydeep Kaur, Jasjeet KaurBasketball: Sat ParkashJudo: Arti Kohli, Ramesh Kumari, Anita Poonia, RituSharma, Ram Kumar, Parveen, Devender Yadav,Kuldeep Saini,, Arvind, Pehlad Singh, Pawan Kumar,Naresh, Satinder Kumar, Seema, Rekha, Naveen,Sandeep, Rajinder Singh, Aruna and Vikender SinghKorfball: Raj Kumar, Jagdeep, Parmod Kumar,Kuldeep Singh, Lalita GargPower Lifting: Malika Sharma, Balinder Singh,Angrej Singh, Charan SinghYoga: Subhash Sharma, Deepak Bhardwaj, MandeepKaur, Yashoda Rani, Parveen Kumar, Kapil KumarKabaddi: Sonu, Kavita Devi, Wazir SinghTable Tennis: Mohit VermaNetball: Harminder Kaur, Neha, Santosh Jakhar,Rupinder KaurRoller Skating: Parveen Kaur, Pooja, Anika Jakhar,Gurpreet Kaur, Milanpreet KaurHandball: Neelam, Gurmail Kaur, Gaurav Sehgal,Arun Kumar, Mohinder Singh RawatFencing: Dinesh SainiBest Physique: Ankur Sharma

Sportspersons from Haryana have done the state proudonce again. Out of the 15 Arjuna awardees announcedon July 30, five are from Haryana, the largest from anystate this time. Saina Nehwal has bagged the RajivGandhi Khel Ratna award.

Hockey stars Sandeep Singh and Jasjeet Kaur, discusthrower Krishna Punia, shooter Sanjeev Rajput and boxerDinesh Kumar are among the 15 who will receive thetop sports honour for 2009 on August 29, the NationalSports Day. Last year, Surender Kaur had become thefirst player from the town to bag the coveted award.

Sandeep and Jasjeet, both from Shahbad, have beentrained by Dronacharya awardee Baldev Singh. Adelighted Baldev Singh said: “Today I am the happiestperson. Two players from one coaching centre receiving

the award at the same time is a wonderful achievement.Their achievement will surely motivate more players fromShahbad.”

Sandeep Singh is elated and says: “Now my aim is tohelp my team to win medals in both Commonwealth andAsian games.” Krishna Punia from Hisar, currentlyranked World No. 9, won the gold in the Asian All StarMeet in New Delhi. “It will be a day for me to cherishforever,” Krishna said.

Sanjeev Punia is currently in Germany for the WorldShooting Championship. He represented the country inBeijing Olympics. Bhiwani's Dinesh Kumar is the seventhboxer from the city to get the honour. “These playershave done Haryana proud. We shall honour theircontribution,”says a proud C M Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS

Haryana sportspersons outshine others

HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 201048 PHOTO FEATURE

Me and my cattleLivestock wealth is an index to Haryana’s prosperity. In a state where the holdings are getting small andfragmented, cattle form the backbone of economy. For any farmer, the cattle are just not for draught or milk, theyare part of the family unit. They are loved and cared for as they help in the growth of farms and human beings.Cattle occupy central position and are basis of the rural livelihood security.

The essential equipment of the farmer used to be a pair of oxen to do the ploughing and to draw the cart andbuffaloes and cows for milk. Even though the bullocks have been replaced by tractors, yet the importance of cattlein agriculture economy remains almost unchanged on account of the yield of milk, manure, skins and hides.

The state of Haryana is well-known for Murrah breed of buffaloes and Hariana breed of cows. The cattlebiodiversity in India constitutes 33 well-defined breeds of cattle.

Photo Feature by Randeep Singh

Buffaloes, the pridepossession of farmers

Quenching thirst

Milking with love

HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 201050 PHOTO FEATURE

Shabash! plough fast, my oxen

51HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010 PHOTO FEATURE

A camel caravan

Goats too have place on the highways

Innocence personified

Flocking together


Hawa

GUEST COLUMN

S N Sahu

While violence imperils humansecurity, it is non-violence that

best guarantees and sustains it. Theactive non-violence of MahatmaGandhi which took birth inPietermaritzburg station of SouthAfrica, after he was thrown out of thefirst class train compartment,constituted by far the most creativeand constructive exertions in thehuman history for security and justice.His fight for the rights of Indians inSouth Africa by shunning force and illwill was a fight for human security.

The British authorities of SouthAfrica became jealous of the calibre ofthe Indians to do business andimposed all kinds of restrictions toimpair their entrepreneurial skills.They declared that the Indians had noright to engage themselves in tradeand commerce. Mahatma Gandhidisapproved of it by declaring thatIndians have every right to do tradeand the policy of exclusion wasobsolete. His first Satyagraha was forrestoration of rights of Indians to dobusiness which was essential for theirsurvival and security.

Like the British policy of exclusion,the practice of untouchability in ourcountry, discriminating people on thebasis of birth, endangered humansecurity. Gandhi’s non-violent strugglefor achieving freedom and eradicatinguntouchability served the cause ofhuman security. His ConstructiveProgramme containing eighteenpoints can be fairly described as aProgramme for Human Security. It wasprepared for achieving India’sindependence. By including in itsscope, the issue of eradication ofuntouchability, Gandhi was locatingits significance in the context of ourliberation from colonial rule whichconstituted a mighty step for the well-being and security of our people.

Mahatma Gandhi’s articulations,that he did not want India to be wholly

Hindu, or wholly Islamic or whollyChristian but wholly tolerant with allits religions coexisting side by side,are of enormous significance forsafeguarding the architecture ofinclusive society which promoteshuman security.

Sarvatra Vaya Varjana was one ofthe eleven vows formulated by Gandhi.It is necessary for 21st century whichhas been often described as thecentury of fear due to spread of

terrorism and global warming. Thefear psychosis which threatens mentalpeace and jeopardises secureenvironment can be addressed byremoving fear.

Longevity of life is a measure ofhuman security. Most of the developedcountries have longer life expectancy.It is educative to know that Gandhiwanted to live for 125 years at a timewhen India’s life expectancy was below30 years. In the midst of communal

Mahatma Gandhiand human security

The march of non-violence

55HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 2010

Singh

GUEST COLUMN

carnage following the partition ofIndia he regretted that his wish to livefor 125 years would not fructify ifpeople continued to kill one another inthe name of religion. His wish to livefor 125 years was a wish to take Indiabeyond the standard of all developedcountries.

Alarming spread of heart disease,hypertension and diabetes due to

modern lifestyle based on recklessconsumerism and the habit of eatingoily and fatty food pose danger tohuman security. We learn from areport that there are more people inour planet who are overweight thanthose who are hungry. Some people arethreatening human security by overeating and consuming more energyand food. It is a sad commentary onhuman society marked by productionof plenty of food and unprecedented

development of science andtechnology. Nobel laureate for peace,Professor Muhmed Yunus ofBangladesh wants poverty to beconsigned to museums. While humanbeings have to eat to live, life cannot bereduced to the goal of eating food. It ishere that Mahatma Gandhi’s stress onAswad, which meant avoiding tastyfood and which formed part of hiseleven vows, assumes significance. Hewas talking about Aswad to avoid tastyfood at a time when Indians andmajority people of the world were notgetting enough to eat. Now that wehave relatively better access to food weneed to follow the Aswad principle ofMahatma Gandhi to lead a healthy life.

Human security is promoted andensured by preventing disease. Merecurative strategy impairs healthy life.Mahatma Gandhi had written in hisseminal book Hind Swaraj thatmushrooming of hospitals is no sign ofcivilisation. Once he refused toinaugurate a hospital and informedthat he would be happy to participatein any event to close it down after itcompleted its work. Unfortunatelytoday, in the words of famouscommunity surgeon of Maharashtra,late Dr Antia: “Illness has become anindustry for some people.”

Adequate sanitation and hygiene allaround us can prevent disease. Gandhiexplained the breaking out of plaguein Johannesburg in 1903 in terms ofdeficit of sanitation and hygiene. Hedescribed sanitation and hygiene asthe alpha and omega of life and wrote“….ignorance and neglect of the lawsof health and hygiene are responsiblefor the majority of diseases to whichmankind is heir”. His ConstructiveProgramme contained villagesanitation and education in health andhygiene as two main points. Whenplague broke out in Surat in 1994, theTimes of India reproduced some ofthe writings of Gandhi on plague. Iteducated us about his vision to keepIndia clean and to keep people freefrom most of the diseases. A fewmonths before India becameindependent, he wrote, “If we keepour backyards unclean, our Swarajwill have a foul stench.” The NirmalGram Pursaskar instituted by theGovernment of India to recognise thestandard of cleanliness in our villagesserves the vision of Gandhi whointerpreted and understood humansecurity from the point of view of

purity of our surroundings. Longyears ago, he understood democracyfrom the perspective of an ordinarycitizen which meant-- to have access toclean water and air.

It is said that women’s rights arehuman rights. By slightly modifyingit, one can say that women’s securityis human security. Development isclosely linked to human security. It isnow understood that if development isnot engendered it would beendangered. Gandhi wantedparticipation of women in everysphere of life as a co-sharer and equalpartner for accelerating ourproductivity, purifying our public lifeand ensuring peace in society. Heunderstood women as betterprotagonists of non-violence andaffirmed that his experiment withnon-violence would be an instantsuccess if he got the willing support ofwomen. If non-violence promoteshuman security, then women’sparticipation in diverse areas wouldbolster and qualitatively improvehuman security. Sufficientrepresentation of women ingovernance would make this worldmore safe, secure and peaceful.

By criticising modern civilisation,Mahatma Gandhi was upholding thecause of human security. Modernurban and industrial civilisation hascreated carbon economy and put atstake, both human life and the veryexistence of the planet earth. Gandhidisapproved of multiplication ofwants and desires associated withmodern civilisation and turned to thevillages of India, known for simplelifestyle, to find answers for humansecurity. He accepted and admiredscience which could build a bridgeover the Ganges. But he wantedscience to build implements for thevillage people. The science must helpreduce the carbon footprint of thosewho pollute the most and enable us tospeak for the earth community bybecoming non-violent, respectingnature, promoting sustainability anddoing justice to the poor. These arecentral to Gandhi’s worldview andessential for human security and thecause of the security of our planet. g

The writer was Press Secretary to thelate President of India, K R

Narayanan. He has served as Directorin the Prime Minister’s Office and is

currently Joint Secretary in the RajyaSabha Secretariat

HARYANA REVIEW, AUGUST 201056 BOOK REVIEW

Randeep Wadehra

Education in India is a hoarytradition. The gurukulas of 200 BC,

the ancient Buddhist viharas, themedieaval maktabs and madarsas, andthe modern education system – a directresult of the British rule… going by thebounteousness of inputs, one wouldhave thought that the present mess inour education system should have beenimpossible to concoct. Theoretically atleast, the Indian society should havebeen fully literate and an enlightenedentity. Alas, the truth is quite to thecontrary. What went wrong and is therea remedy? The author, Lachhman DassBhimbat, strongly recommendsinculcating enduring Indian valuesamong the students – so that they mayprove to be not only healthy andlearned individuals but also assets tothe society at large. Similarly, theteachers too need to be turned intoideal nation-builders rather than meresalaried professionals.

When we became independent theliteracy rate hovered between 18 and 20per cent, i.e., more than 80 per cent ofthe populace floundering in thedarkness of ignorance; quite a soulsapping specter that! Quantitativelyspeaking, indeed giant strides havebeen taken towards making Indialiterate. Yet, one can’t help wonderingwhether the picture could not havebeen much brighter, qualitativelyspeaking.

Before the independence, severalindividuals and institutions had tried toset up a functional primary educationstructure in the country. For example,Shri Gopal Krishna Gokhale introduceda bill in the Imperial LegislativeCouncil in 1910 to make education freeand compulsory for boys in the agegroup of 6–10 years. In 1944 Sir JohnSargent had envisaged a plan to provideeducation to all between the age groupof 10 to 40 years. The pre-primaryeducation for children between threeand six years was to be free andcompulsory. The Sargent Report wasemphatic that adult education was anessential prerequisite for the success ofprimary education. For adults, bothgeneral as well as vocational educationwas recommended. Great emphasis wasalso laid upon proper training for

teachers. After the independence, theimportance of universal education wasreiterated by the Dr RadhakrishnanCommission on University Education,the Mudaliar and KothariCommissions, and the enunciation ofthe National Policy of Education atdifferent points of time viz., 1968, 1979and 1986 [revised in 1992]. However, oureducation system remains a flawedarrangement that stunts the students’intellectual growth, discourages theflowering of inherent genius andlargely encourages barren elitism – acaricature of westernised colonialclones.

The present HRD Minister, KapilSibal’s latest pronouncements on theneed to reform our education system, aswell as the Yashpal Committee Report,have revived the age-old debate. Whyconcentrate on higher education alone?Our primary as well as high schoollevels of education need urgentattention too. In fact, the entiresuperstructure of the country’seducation needs to be reworked. It is agargantuan task indeed.

The media has been debating thevarious aspects of educational reforms,viz., His next class act by ShekharGupta, (The Indian Express dated 30May, 2009); Delivery is in the detail byPratap Bhanu Mehta (IE dated Jun 08,2009) and Set the campus free by IlaPatnaik (IE Jun 02, 2009). Similarly,from 02 July onwards, The Tribune toohad initiated a lively debate on India’seducation policy. However, most ofthese articles address the materialaspect of education – with emphasis onmarket driven education systembecoming more prominent lately – and

ignore the spiritual aspect entirely.Lachhman Dass Bhimbat arguespassionately but cogently forresurrecting the soul of Indianeducation system. Although thismanuscript was written between mid1950s to early 1960s, his suggestions forimproving the overall education systemin the country remain relevant eventoday.

Bhimbat who was an educationist inAfrica during the period straddling pre-and-post-Independence India, hasprovided forceful arguments to provethat the Sargent Report was flawed and,perhaps, not without hidden agenda. Infact Bhimbat has provided an informedcritique of not only the Sargent Reportbut also of Gandhiji’s Wardha Schemeas well as the learned essays/proposalsby other luminaries like Gopal KrishnaGokhale, Lala Lajpat Rai, LalaHardayal, P M Mehta and Annie Besantet al even as he briefly dwells upon theJapanese and Soviet systems ofeducation.

The author has given forthrightreasons for the fall of Indian educationsystem during the Muslim rule in themedieval period and its ultimatedestruction during the British Raj. Toplace his arguments in properperspective, the book has two articlesby contemporary writers in itsAppendix. These are: Muslims andEducation by Dr Asghar Ali Engineerand Madrasa Education in India – Is itto sustain medieval attitude amongMuslims? by Shri R Upadhyay.

Evolution of Education in India: ahistorical perspective harks back to ourcivilisational glory in the field ofeducation in an attempt to revive ourtraditional attitude towards educationeven as we assimilate the latest and thebest in this field in order to resume ourtraditional leadership in the field ofpedagogy. As the author hasemphasised in this volume, there was atime when students from as far asGreece and China – as well as otherparts of the world – used to take pridein studying in our educationalinstitutions. We need to resurrect thatglory. This volume emphaticallyadvocates that this can be achieved ifwe marry our traditional systems withthe avant-garde. g

The writer is a poet and columnist

A vision for education

Evolution of Education inIndia: a historical perspective

Author:Lachhman Dass Bhimbhat

Shaheed Udham Singh was among the greatest patriots ofIndia, with a burning desire to see his motherland free fromthe clutches of British colonialism and imperialism. He was amartyr in the true spirit. The supreme sacrifice made by himwill always remain etched in the hearts of the people of India.

Information , Public Relation & Cultural Affairs Department, Haryana

People of Haryana Salute the Great MartyrShaheed Udham Singh on his Martyrdom Day

Bhupinder Singh HoodaChief Minister, Haryana

26 December, 1899 31 July, 1940

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Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India, RNI No 10412Postal Regd No CHD/123/2009-11

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