Bathinda's ponds reek of sewage, but rejuvenation cost a thing to ponder over

Nobody seems to really care about ponds as they have no immediate utility other than serving as wastewater discharge pointsBathinda, Punjab: Burj village in Punjab’s Bathinda district once had six to seven ponds. Only two are left now, and they are yearning for attention. “These ponds have become useless due to lack of maintenance. Now no one thinks about them,” says Teja Singh Taggad (70), a retired teacher and resident of the village.Until 25 to 30 years ago, people of Burj in Maur Mandi block considered their village incomplete without ponds. Ponds started deteriorating when drains were built in the village so that household sewage could be discharged into the pond. In no time, the ponds became polluted. Many types of fish, turtles, ducks and waterfowl that were commonly found in the pond disappeared.Villagers showing the dilapidated pond in Burj village of Maur block of Bathinda district (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Piped water facility has brought about the change. “The ponds would fill up during the rains and we would use that water for bathing and washing clothes, besides quenching the thirst of our cattle and bathing them. If there was a shortage of water in summer, the pond would be filled with canal water in the month of Jyeshtha. These ponds were indispensable for humans, animals and birds, but water is not suitable for drinking or bathing now,” says Taggad. In the recent panchayat elections, issues such as construction of a hospital, paving of streets and provision for full water in canals were prominent issues in Burj. Some people in the village offered lakhs of rupees for development in their bid to become sarpanch, but no one was worried about the ponds. “Common people are in favour of taking proper care of ponds and making them as before, but ponds did not become a big issue in the panchayat elections,” notes Amritpal Singh, a private school teacher in the village. It is the responsibility of the village panchayats to maintain the ponds. If panchayats wish, they can earn income by giving ponds on contract for fish farming. However, lack of maintenance and sewage discharge have made them completely dirty. Now, instead of being useful, these ponds have become a problem for the common people. Burj resident Jagga Singh (47) claims that no sarpanch or panch has taken care of the ponds.A dilapidated pond in Teona village of Bathinda block in Bathinda district (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)The condition of ponds in Teona village of Bathinda block is no different. Four out of five ponds are contaminated by sewage discharge from the entire village households. Harmel Singh (75) of Teona remembers how the ponds were clean when he was young. “We used to take bath in them, and animals were also brought to the pond for bathing. Many aquatic animals and birds used to camp near the pond, but now all that is a part of the past.”Gurlabh Singh (72) says that until 35 years ago, the water of all village ponds was as clean as a lake. Now it has become dirty and there is always moss in it. “Leave aside bathing in it, sometimes it becomes difficult to even pass by it.”In Teona too, there was excitement over panchayat elections for about a month. However, no one showed interest in the ponds. Tara Singh (42) says the biggest issue this time was to free the village from drugs. The ponds have been forgotten long ago, he adds.In villages across Punjab, most of the ponds are dry or are getting contaminated due to sewage discharge. Ponds have disappeared in many villages due to encroachment. Settlements have come up in their place.According to a report of Jal Shakti Ministry, 16,012 water bodies were enumerated in Punjab in the first census of water bodies. Of them, 98.9% (15,831) are in rural areas and the remaining 1.1% (181) are in urban areas. Of the total water bodies, 97.6% (15,633) are under public ownership, while the remaining 2.4% (379) are under private ownership. The report shows that 48% (7,680) water bodies are in use and a major part of 52% (8,332) are not in use due to drying up, siltation, degradation beyond repair and other reasons. Of all the water bodies in use, 95.8% (7,358) are ponds and the remaining 4.2% (322) are tanks, lakes, reservoirs, water conservation schemes/percolation tanks/check dams etc.According to the report, 65.2% (5,008) of the total water bodies in use are used for groundwater recharge in the state. Punjab has 14,318 natural and 1,694 man-made water bodies. As much as 98.9% (14,154) of the natural water bodies are located in rural areas, while 1.1% (164) are in urban areas. Among the man-made water bodies, 99% (1,677) are located in rural areas and 1% (17) in urban areas.According to the report, information on ‘filled up storage capacity’ and ‘status of filling’ were collected for 15,835 water bodies. During the reference year 2017-18, 19.3% (3,049) water bodies were filled to their full storage capacity, 43.9% (6,953) were filled to three fourth capacity, 23.2% (3,681) up to half level, 8.8% (1,391) to one-fourth level and 4.8% (761) had nil/negligible storage capacity. Based on the criteria of filling up of storage capacity during last five years, out of 15,835 water bodies, 37.6% (5,956) are found to be filled up every year, 46.5% (7,368) are usually filled, 13.1% (2,065) are rarely filled up and 2.8% (446) are never filled up. Good work has been done in the direction of renovation of selected ponds under Union government's Mission Amrit Sarovar, but the number of ponds selected under it is only a handful compared to the total number of ponds. In Punjab, Amrit Sarovar is implemented under the name Sanjha Jal Talab. As many as 2,133 spots have been identified in 23 districts of the state, out of which work on 1,479 ponds started. Most of these ponds were old, and it was decided to renovate them, while the remaining ones were decided to be built on the vacant land of panchayats. Till now, 1,450 ponds have been prepared in the state on Thapar and Seechewal models, but rainwater has not collected in them and so many of them are lying empty.However, Punjab's Joint Development Commissioner (Integrated Rural Development) Amit Kumar tells 101Reporters that water is present in most of the ponds. “Due to land disputes, encroachment etc., there has been obstruction in the access of water. Many cases are in courts,” he says.Kumar claims that good work has been done under the mission. The ponds of selected villages have been repaired and developed as tourist destinations by planting saplings around them. The objective is to store rainwater in these ponds and to use it for agriculture, fisheries, cultivation of crops, and to cater to animals and birds.When asked about the plight of thousands of ponds in Punjab, Kumar claims that the Punjab government has been actively working in this direction. “Punjab is facing a groundwater crisis. This problem can be solved through ponds. Therefore, they are being renovated through panchayats. Work has been done to free pond lands from encroachments.”Asked when can all the ponds in the state be restored to their original form, Kumar notes that this is a huge and extremely expensive task that requires much time and money. “Punjab has 17.20 lakh ponds. A pond renovation costs Rs 20 to 25 lakh. As per this estimate, around Rs 6 crore are required,” he details.Considering the huge amount required, this task seems like a pipe dream because in the limited annual budget that the panchayats get from the Fifteenth Finance Commission, there is very little provision for drinking water. For example, a budget of Rs 12,39,500 has been allocated for the 2024-25 fiscal for Burj village panchayat, in which there is a provision of Rs 4,64,810 for works related to drinking water. The remaining money is for road related works, sanitation, vocational education etc.Burj Panchayat Secretary Manjit Singh tells 101Reporters that there are only two ponds in the village, out of which the work of deepening the pond near the gurdwara, cleaning up the water and making it suitable for use for farming will commence soon.Villager showing the dilapidated pond in Burj village (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)A campaign for conservation of ponds is being run under the leadership of Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, who is engaged in cleaning and saving water sources in Punjab. Sant Sukhjit Singh, the head of the pond conservation campaign, says ponds are more valuable than the amount of money spent on them. "Ponds are part of our life. Our elders built them. Later, the governments reserved the land on which ponds stood during murababandi [land consolidation]. The pond lands were not made private property. This shows their importance.”He adds that ponds are indispensable for groundwater recharge, while they also collect water for irrigation. "We have so far revived ponds in 250 villages under the Seechewal model in Punjab. Earlier, these ponds held stagnant water as there was only input, and no output. Now, this water is used for irrigation." Under the model, villagers themselves work without pay for these renovations."We are working on the basis of an underground sewerage system designed by Sant Balbir. In this system, sewage water is stored in a pond, treated naturally and used for irrigation. While this process promotes organic farming, it also helps farmers save money on fertilisers and irrigation. This costs less and is indigenous, it is also very effective, durable and easy to instal. We have proved its effectiveness by installing it in various villages."Singh says that supplying water to the ponds in villages through electric motors and appointing employees are very expensive tasks. Hence, they are installing motors running on solar energy, which cost only Rs 2.40 lakh. Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Villagers showing the dilapidated pond in village Tiona of Bathinda block of Bathinda district. (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Fast food cooks up a new trend in villages of Hanumangarh

People are more interested in noodles, burgers, chow mein and such food items, which are easily available in village stalls these days  Hanumangarh, Rajasthan: “When everything is changing, how can our food survive? The era of grandmothers is over in our village. Even in my house, Chinese food, Maggi, burgers and other such items are commonly eaten. Fast food has become mandatory when guests come home as it is readily available,” says Manju Gupta (53) of Dabli Rathan, on the increasing dependence on fast food in the village.  A teacher at the government school in the village, Gupta says that earlier there was no option of fast food. So when guests came, she used to prepare traditional pulses, vegetables, sweet dishes etc. Also, earlier the arrival of guests was as per a predetermined schedule. Now, it is not known when the guests will come home. “This is why we order fast food. Moreover, I do not have to spend time in the kitchen when the guests come in. Instead, I can chat freely with them,” she adds.  Before coming to his medical store, pharmacist Deepak Midha (34) usually eats his breakfast of parathas at home. But when he has to come early, he orders breakfast from the market. “All types of fast food, including noodles and burgers, are available in the village. Even in the evening, when I feel hungry, I order something to eat from a fast food stall. Who would go home for such a small thing? The family members find all this comfortable.”  Food stalls in Dabli Rathan (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Fast food has become the choice of most of the people in Dabli Rathan, located on Hanumangarh-Bikaner Road and 14 km from Hanumangarh district headquarters. Fast food vendor Sagar Majoka (28) says the business is proving to be profitable. “I sell chow mein, burgers, pav bhaji, noodles, Maggi etc. The average daily income is Rs 1,000. About 70 to 80 customers come every day. I started this work a year ago, due to which my family's livelihood is improving,” he says.There are about two dozen fast food shops and street vendors in various streets and markets of the village. Villager Ashok Gaba (71) says that 10 to 12 years ago, Jugun Agarwal opened a fast food shop in the village. Later, he launched catering work, where he arranges both traditional and fast food. That apart, Ashok Kumar from Bihar set up a fast food stall 10 years ago. When his business took off, many others from his village started doing this work. A variety of food, including patties, dahi vada, momos, chow mein, pizza, spring roll, burger, cutlet, hotdog, Maggi, vada pav, pastry and manchurian are available.“The people of the village have started eating a lot of fast food. I also like it very much,” says Sonu Khan (30), a property dealer. According to Rajendra Gumber (71), millet, barley, maize and gram were the main diet of the villagers once upon a time. Mostly millet rotis were eaten, or barley, maize and gram were ground together to make rotis. There was no wheat production then. “After the arrival of canals in 1954, wheat cultivation started and gradually people began to eat wheat rotis. Till a decade ago, only some traditional sweets, samosa and kachori were available in the village,” he details. “Now, it is as if children and youth cannot survive without fast food,” he rues.Rajendra Gumber from Dabli Rathan (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters) Gaba notes that his nine-year-old granddaughter wants only fast food. “We make Maggi at home. Chow mein, burger and pizza are ordered from the market. When we were young, milk and porridge used to be the main food in the morning. We did not drink tea at all. When I ask my granddaughter to eat pulses and porridge, she refuses.”Dakhan Devi (70) recalls how they used to add desi ghee to jaggery and eat roti with it. “Kheer and halwa were aplenty. Instead of drinking juice, we used to chew on sugarcane, which made our teeth strong. In summer, we drank lots of buttermilk. We dished out rabri and jaggery and ate roasted gram and peanuts. The new generation has no interest in these things.”Dabli Rathan is counted among the largest villages of Hanumangarh district. Here, fast food is served at all functions, including weddings, anniversaries and birthday parties. Vijay Kumar Garg (45), who works in the catering field in the village, says that only two vegetables, rice, raita, plain roti, pakodas and something sweet were served at the weddings about 12 years ago. But since then, mostly fast food is in demand.“This has not increased expenses because fast food stalls are cheaper than traditional food. This benefits the host, and people also want to eat fast food. Nowadays, people set up 10 to 25 stalls with most of them selling noodles, burgers, chow mein, paneer tikka, sambar dosa, pav bhaji, golgappa, Maggi, manchurian etc. If there are 1,000 people at an event, 500 of them want to fill their stomachs with fast food. Initially, I had to bring cooks from the neighboring towns of Pilibanga and Hanumangarh. Later, the local people became proficient in it,” Garg adds.Recalling his wedding feast, Gaba says that when he got married in the 80s, the villagers were served roti-dal, one vegetable, salad and dal halwa. “In contrast, I had to set up 40 stalls of different types of food for my son’s wedding. Half of them were fast food items… I do not like fast food, but they are served at parties as most of the people like these items. Fast food is now a part of the food culture everywhere.”Dr MP Singh Shekhawat (81) settled in the village after serving as a medical in-charge in the village government hospital for 20 years. He tells 101Reporters that he has been living in the village for 50 years. "Earlier, the people here used to eat only coarse grains. Now, the thali [food plate] and the dress sense of villagers have both changed. On one hand, people in big cities are liking the desi village food, whereas our village people are after fast and Chinese food.”Dr. MP Singh Shekhawat from Dabli Rathan (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Dr Shekhawat warns that fast food is affecting people's health. “When people gave up coarse grains, they began to fall ill. Wheat, which replaced millets, has increased some health problems, but fast food is causing the most harm,” he notes.“Hardly 15 to 20% of the people who earlier consulted me were suffering from high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, acidity, and stomach and liver diseases. Now, 80% of the people are falling prey to these diseases. Although people's earlier relatively sedentary lifestyle and genetic factors are responsible for this, fast food is also a reason,” adds Dr Shekhawat. Anganwadi worker Poonam Sharma (40) says the interest in consuming fast food has increased among women, but it is also causing stomach related problems. “I often talk to women about this.”Dr Madhulika Parmar, a former member of the Board of Studies (Home Science) of Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Bikaner, and Principal of Government College, Sadulshahar, says that one of the reasons for the increasing popularity of fast food in villages is that women have found it convenient as they do not have to slog in the kitchen.Dr Santosh Rajpurohit, Principal, Rajasthan College for Higher Education, Hanumangarh, and former president of Rajasthan Economic Association, says that the villagers spend more money on fast food and cold drinks, whereas a few years ago, they used to focus more on purchasing grains and pulses. The sale of packaged food items has also increased in villages.Citing a study by the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, he says that while this change in villages is a reflection of the changes coming in the society, it is also a sign of villagers getting better work and earning more. Referring to the villages in Hanumangarh district, Rajpurohit says that people with high income spend less on food and beverages, but low income labourers or self-employed people spend 90% of their earnings on food and beverages. "I also spend more on these items for my children," he admits.Balwant Singh (45), a construction worker, earns Rs 400 daily. “Although it is very less, with this much money, the household's food expenses are easily covered. There are no savings. When I feel hungry, I eat samosa, kachori etc. I buy them for my children as well.”Construction mechanic Hanuman Kumar (26) gets a daily wage of Rs 600 when he works in the village and Rs 800 when he works in the city. This covers the family's expenses well. As to whether eating in the market increases the expenses, Kumar says that the expenses are not that much. ‘We can eat something for Rs 25 too,” he says.Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Fast food vendor in Dabli Rathan (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Power of protest fails to light up lives in this Rajasthan village

Nethrana residents waged a three-year battle against erratic power supply by not paying electricity bills, but the problem continues to persist Hanumangarh, Rajasthan: Even fans will not run on scorching summer days at Nethrana in Bhadra tehsil of Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district, thanks to the highly erratic power supply.“Electricity for 24 hours a day is still a dream for us. Although there has been an improvement in power supply after rains, power cuts do occur,” said village sarpanch Rajendra Nimiwal.Under the aegis of Bijli Upbhokta Sangharsh Samiti, Nethrana residents launched a movement in September 2019, raising demands such as smooth supply of electricity, replacement of faulty meters, cancellation of increased security amount and fixed charges, and 200 units of free electricity. They decided not to pay bills until their demands were met. They staged demonstrations and went on hunger strike. Three years passed by in no time.Of about 1,900 electricity consumers in the village, about 1,500 did not pay the bills. The outstanding dues touched Rs 3.40 crore. Electricity officials repeatedly urged them to pay up, but villagers did not budge. Finally, in May 2022, the department staff reached the village with heavy police force and started disconnecting the supply to those households that had not cleared the bills. About 700 connections were cut, of which about 225 consumers deposited the outstanding amounts and restored the connection.Electricity for 24 hours a day is still a dream for the villagers (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Subsequently, in October 2022, the connections of about 250 people were again disconnected. The agitation continued for months in protest against the disconnection. Cases were registered for obstructing government work and many villagers were arrested. The agitation ended after an agreement was reached between the villagers and Jodhpur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (JDVVNL).In the agreement, it was decided to waive the interest and penalty charged in three years and recover the outstanding bill in instalments. Faulty electricity meters were changed following the agitation. However, a lot more needs to be done to improve the power system.  Dozens of villagers were forced to make rounds of the court in connection with the cases filed during the movement that got statewide attention. Farmer Shailendra Kumar (35),  who was arrested and sent to jail on charges of obstructing discharge of duty, told 101Reporters that nothing has been done to ensure that villagers get uninterrupted power supply 24 hours a day. “Undeclared power cuts in June and July amid the summer heat were distressing,” he said.He added that tube well irrigation and functioning of small businesses like flour mills were affected. “We also submitted a memorandum to the JDVVNL assistant engineer at Gogamedi in protest against the power crisis, but he replied that power supply to rural areas were cut on the orders of higher officials from Jaipur.”Village Development Officer Gajanand said that the computers in the village panchayat could function smoothly only because of the solar panels installed there.                              JDVVNL Assistant Engineer Ishwar Singh admitted that load shedding is done only on rural feeders on the orders of the government. “This cannot be done in cities. Just as at Nethrana, power cuts happen in other villages too. There is no other option when consumption increases,” Singh said.                                                                 Shailendra said the poor of Nethrana could not pay the combined bill of three years, so about 300 houses are still in the dark. . However, the assistant engineer said it was only about 100. “We are ready to reconnect after taking the principal amount from these people without any interest and penalty,” he added.Nethrana gets its power supply through a rural feeder, hence there is a power crisis. On the other hand, Ratanpura village near Sangaria is connected to urban feeder, yet the villagers faced frequent power cuts and tripping for two months. Electrical appliances in many households were damaged due to voltage fluctuations.Ratanpura native Hariram Nayak (36) said that his village did not face power cuts for several hours. The problem here was frequent power cuts at night. "We remain disturbed throughout the day as we cannot sleep properly at night. Even fans do not work," he said.Aman Kumar (36) said that the problem of low voltage and blowing of transformer fuses have been frequent in the summer. Due to voltage fluctuations, there have been instances of coolers and fans getting damaged.      Electrician Bhola Singh explained that load increases when voltage is too low. This may cause overheating that can damage the insulation layers of the wiring of the appliance. This can potentially lead to a fire. "For most of the household appliances, a minimum of 200V is required for proper functioning. If voltage is above 240V, then also the appliances get damaged. I deal with both these cases on a regular basis," he added. Farmers Pradeep Kumar Saharan (40) and Bhagwant Saharan (42) said that the time for supplying electricity to tube wells is from 5 am to 11 am and from 5 pm to 11 pm, but the electricity trips a lot in summer. Once the power goes off, it is not restored for another hour. "I have cotton and green gram in my fields. I used to worry whether the plants would wilt due to lack of timely irrigation. However, despite the issues in irrigation, I did not face losses," he added. Flour mill operator Mahavir Dhil (44) said power tripping affected him a lot. "I used to grind three to four quintals of wheat every day, at the rate of Rs 200 per quintal. I also take 2.5 kg of flour for every quintal of wheat grinded. There has been no change in the amount of wheat ground or money received. But usually I work from morning to evening. This has now extended to night due to erratic power supply," he explained.Ratanpura's Village Development Officer Subhash Bangarwa told 101Reporters that he has been posted in the village for two-and-a-half years, but it was this time that the village saw the highest number of power outages.“The solar system in the village panchayat office is not working. We manage with an inverter. There were times when battery backup of the inverter was exhausted and our computers could not work. Due to this, work of uploading information related to MGNREGA, panchayat and birth-death registration got disrupted, he said. Bangarwa acknowledged that complaints of power crisis and the resultant disruption in drinking water supply were received in the panchayat-level public hearing and village panchayat meeting in both July and August.“In the fortnightly meeting of the panchayat, panch Suman Devi and others demanded that a solution be found to unannounced power cuts, low voltage, loose wires and burning of transformers. We called the assistant engineer and informed him about the problems. He got the loose wires fixed immediately, but said that he had no control over power cuts caused by power shortage. At the panchayat level public hearing also, people informed us about the problems related to electricity and water supply,” Bangarwa detailed.                                                                                                            The industrial area of ​​Ratanpura also faces a power crisis. “Tall claims are made that enough electricity will be provided to industries, but we always face a power crisis...​​​ If there is a malfunction anywhere in the area, the main line is shut down, due to which work in the industrial area is stopped,” said Ganesh Goyal, secretary, Ratanpura Industries Association.He added that even after three decades, the Ratanpura industrial area has not been fully developed due to irregular power supply.​ Currently, there are 15 oil, seed and wooden factories, of which two have been closed.                                                            However, while speaking to 101Reporters, JDVVNL junior engineer Saurabh Doodi claimed that Ratanpura is connected to the city line, so the area has not come under load shedding for even one day. “We have supplied electricity for 20 to 24 hours.”He admitted that there were some problems in villages due to rain, storm and overload. “Tripping is natural during rain and storm due to loose wires, but we get repairs done immediately. If fuse blows, or wire or transformer burns, shutdown is needed to fix it. Otherwise, we try our best to provide electricity to consumers,” he maintained.         Read the first part of this story hereEdited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Residents waged a three-year battle against erratic power supply by not paying electricity bills (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)                                               

Discoms feel the heat as Rajasthan power problem peaks

Monsoon rains save the state from a deepening power crisis every year, but a lasting solution to the issue can come up only when generation, transmission and distribution systems are improved Hanumangarh, Rajasthan: The largest state in the country by area, Rajasthan goes through a severe power crisis every summer. This year too, when the temperature in many areas reached 50 degrees Celsius, the state faced the crisis. It not only affected the energy needs, but also deeply impacted the economy and people in different ways.  Mercury began to soar in April and remained high until July-end. There was already high power consumption by industries. Along with it, tube wells started running for irrigation in the fields. The use of ACs and coolers in homes, offices and shops increased power consumption. The electricity corporations started cutting supply at the end of June. Supply remained adequate in big cities, but unannounced power cuts made life miserable in small towns and villages.The unannounced power cut is confirmed by a recent study conducted by NGO Orange Tree Foundation. According to the study, rural areas of the state have an average power cut of 12 hours per day, while the urban areas have a power cut of 0 to 6 hours per day. About 60% of the rural population in the state waits for more than six hours for power restoration after complaining, while only 13% of the consumers in urban areas have to wait that long.Payal S, co-director, Orange Tree Foundation, told 101Reporters that they conducted the study for APCO Infra in 12 selected urban and rural areas in Jodhpur, Jaipur and Banswara districts. The entire report has also not been made public, but it shows that in the current digital era, education, healthcare and many other services depend on reliable internet and computer access, so continuous 24-hour power supply is important.As the crisis deepened, it became difficult for farmers to irrigate their fields. Work in government offices in villages got affected. Complaints of equipment damage due to low voltage began to surface. A serious power crisis engulfed the entire state."It is the arrival of monsoon that finally saves the state from the crisis every year. This time, most parts of the state got monsoon rains by July end, which reduced the electricity needs of farmers. The electricity saved from the agriculture sector was used in the homes of common people and by industries," said Rampal Jat, national president, Kisan Mahapanchayat. Suratgarh thermal plant in Sri Ganganagar district (Photo - Gopal Bhojak)Politics at play  People in villages and towns have been expressing their displeasure by protesting in front of electricity offices, and the issue of power crisis also dominated the State Assembly. Power crisis echoed in the Lok Sabha as well.The state government accepted in the Assembly on July 22 that the heat wave continued mostly through the night this time, so power consumption increased everywhere. The demand has increased by about 25 to 28%, whereas this demand used to increase by 10 to 11% in the past years. Due to this, power cuts of two, two-and-a-half and three hours had to be implemented. The government said that due to the heat wave, the consumption of electricity increased from May to July. The average power consumption in May was 3,318 lakh units per day (25% more than the units consumed in the same month last year), 3,438 lakh units per day in June (28% more) and 3,024 lakh units per day in July (14% more). The maximum consumption of Rajasthan discoms in June this year was 3,785 lakh units, which is the highest ever.  Former state energy minister Pushpendra Singh Ranawat told 101Reporters that the power load has been increasing continuously in the last decade, but energy assessment has not happened in the state. “This is a major reason for the crisis,” he claimed.“Discoms have not worked on bettering transmission. No attention has been paid to infrastructure,” he adds.However, during a discussion on the power crisis in the Assembly on August 2, Energy Minister Heeralal Nagar blamed the previous Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot for neglecting power generation, transmission and distribution.Nagar said that due to not being able to start coal mining from the allotted coal block, coal was imported from Chhattisgarh at the rate of Rs 18,000 per tonne against the usual Rs 4,000 per tonne. He alleged that during the previous government, the thermal power plants of the state produced only 50% of their installed capacity of 7,580 MW. "We have increased Plant Load Factor, improved generation plants and increased production capacity by ensuring timely supply of coal."The Gehlot government also borrowed electricity to meet the demand of the rabi season last year, according to Nagar’s Assembly statement. He said the previous government borrowed 35,234 lakh units of electricity from other states through banking arrangements.“Even in this difficult situation, our government has to return this loan by cutting the electricity of its own state. By July, about 24,000 lakh units of power have been returned and about 11,000 lakh units have to be returned in the next two months,” he said.  Congress workers protesting in front of the district collectorate against power cuts in Hanumangarh (Photo - Vijay Midha)Solar hopeJodhpur discom retired chief engineer MS Charan told 101Reporters that there should be a future-oriented energy assessment of how much electricity would be needed and how the demand will be met. He said solar energy could be a possible alternative to coal-based power. “Rajasthan has possibilities on the solar front, but infrastructure development is not happening at the expected pace. If it happens like a mass movement with complete transparency, then we can get rid of power cuts during the day,” he said, adding that the state’s 18 lakh farmers should be weaned away from night time grid electricity.“Agriculture and industries will have to be connected to solar. Schemes such as PM Surya Ghar and PM-KUSUM should be implemented,” he added.  Entrepreneurs also have hopes on solar energy. Federation of Rajasthan Trade and Industry president Suresh Agarwal told 101Reporters that the government should make industries solar-based.​​​​ “At present, we use very expensive electricity in our industries compared to  other states. Solar energy production should be increased  in the state and industries should be encouraged to instal subsidised solar systems.”Agarwal noted that a manufacturing unit for solar panels should be set up in the state. “Companies in the state are dependent on China and Gujarat for the purchase of solar panels. There are only five solar panel manufacturing companies in Rajasthan, of which only one is a big company. If the government promotes the solar panel industry, solar energy will become cheaper here. The government will get revenue and the needy will get employment,” he suggested.Prem Biyani, executive president, Akhil Rajya Trade and Industry Association, said that load shedding has been increasing manufacturing costs and making products more expensive. Nilesh Sancheti, vice president, Jodhpur-based Marudhara Industries Association, claimed that as soon as there was a power crisis, industries were made victims of power cuts. “Tripping, wastage and theft of electricity are also major reasons for the crisis, which should be paid attention to. Promoting solar energy is the only solution.”Like industries, households are also finding it difficult to cope with the power crisis. The fixed charges were increased last month. “The electricity corporation charges high prices and collects taxes, still there is no uninterrupted supply. Living without electricity in summer is very difficult,” said ​​Bhura Singh, a resident of Sangaria. High tension lines near Suratgarh thermal plant in Sri Ganganagar district (Photo - Gopal Bhojak)Tiding over system weakness  The complaints of consumers are justified, but along with electricity shortage, structural challenges of discoms are also aggravating the crisis. An electricity official, on the condition of anonymity, said that weakness in the power distribution system is a main reason for this. “Old and worn out wires, reduced capacity of transformers and loss during distribution also cause the power crisis to worsen. Tripping is another problem.”New technologies should be used to overcome these weaknesses. The use of smart grids and modern transformers can be an important step, but loss-making discoms will have difficulty implementing it. According to the information given by the government in the Assembly in January, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Jaipur discoms, Rajasthan State Electricity Transmission Corporation and Rajasthan State Electricity Generation Corporation have suffered a loss of Rs 8,824.43 crore in 2022-23, which has taken the net loss to Rs 1,10,655 crore. Former minister Ranawat claimed that discoms had come into profit in 2017-18, but later became victims of mismanagement.Churu MP Rahul Kaswan recently raised the issue of power crisis in Churu parliamentary constituency and pending works sanctioned under Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) in the Lok Sabha. Kaswan said the Centre has allocated about Rs 300 crore for his constituency to strengthen electricity infrastructure under  RDSS. ​​​Construction of new grid substation, separation of agricultural and domestic lines and installation of new cables are needed for comprehensive improvement of electricity infrastructure in the region.Aakash Sharma, a researcher at Jaipur-based NGO CUTS International, said that coal for Suratgarh and Chhabra thermal power plants comes from faraway Chhattisgarh, the price of which is further increased by heavy transportation and landed costs. Buying imported coal puts an additional burden of billions of rupees on the state. This is recovered from consumers in the form of additional fuel surcharge. In such a situation, it is better that the Rajasthan government sets up power plants near coal mines in Chhattisgarh and brings electricity through the national grid.But Ranawat does not consider this suggestion useful as power companies already suffer from huge losses.​​Meanwhile, the government has decided to work to increase power generation in the next three years. On August 8, in the presence of Energy Minister Hiralal Nagar, Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadan Nigam signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth Rs 4,200 crore with GAIL India at the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Business Promotion Summit-2024, Jaipur.It is claimed that this will provide cheap gas for gas-based power plants located in Dholpur and Ramgarh, which will generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity. The state government has also signed several MoUs with central undertakings to make the state self-reliant in the field of electricity.Read the second part of the story hereEdited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - A GSS near Suratgarh in Sri Ganganagar district (Photo - Gopal Bhojak)

Vocational trainers’ endless wait for monthly payments, contracts

Rajasthan government has been extending its vocational education scheme to more government schools, but without addressing the recurring delays in paying educators and renewing their contracts Sriganganagar, Rajasthan: It has been 10 months since Ragini Bala* (33) received her payment. A vocational trainer in beauty and wellness at a government higher secondary school in Sriganganagar district, Bala’s monthly take-home of Rs 22,000 has been stalled since October last year. “I have been working in this school for the last six years, but never did I receive my salary on time. I have made repeated pleas to the authorities concerned [vocational training partner], but no one hears me,” Bala says. The uncertainty has forced her to borrow money to meet the expenses of her family of four.Around 2,500 full-time vocational trainers in the state face this plight, with average dues ranging between seven months and one year. Rohit Kumar Karsoliya (30), who teaches plumber trade in Sriganganagar's Lalgarh school, has not been paid for the last seven months. Gurvinder Singh (31) and Praveen Kumar (29) of Hanumangarh district have been awaiting payments for seven and eight months, respectively. A teacher teaching in the classroom (Photo - Sourced by Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Vocational education scheme was launched in government higher secondary schools of Rajasthan in 2014-15, with funds from the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, to provide employment-oriented education to children of classes 9 to 12. Under the scheme implemented with the help of National Skill Development Corporation and Sector Skill Council, vocational trainers impart skills related to 16 employment-oriented subjects, including home furnishing, agriculture, electronics and hardware, banking services, insurance, telecom, plumbing, tourism and hospitality, private security, food processing and retailing.As the government faces issues in developing the required infrastructure in village schools, tenders are invited every year from companies willing to conduct vocational education on behalf of Rajasthan School Education Council, Jaipur. Known as vocational training partners (VTPs), these companies publish advertisements in newspapers inviting applications from eligible candidates for appointment as trainers. Selection is based on an offline exam and interview.   The companies willing to work in as many schools and trades at the lowest rate are selected as VTPs. They arrange trainers for schools it takes charge of, monitor their work and pay them salaries. At present, 16 VTPs are functioning in Rajasthan. From the government, they get 5 to 7% of the trainers' salary as handling charge.  The scheme aims at reducing dropout rates and making students self-reliant by reducing the gap between education and employment. However, the irony is that even the trainers offering these courses are yet to be self-reliant, thanks to the delayed payments. Initially launched in 70 schools in 11 districts of Rajasthan, the scheme has now reached 4,155 schools, of which about 70% are in villages. The government announced the launch of the scheme in 1,181 more schools in the last academic year and 1,050 in this academic year. Training for one or two trades is imparted in schools where the scheme runs. The number of trainers depends on the number of trades being taught.Raghupal Singh, the patron and state president of Vocational Trainers Welfare Association, points to the reality of these announcements. "One year has passed, but vocational teachers have not been appointed in those 1,181 schools. No arrangements have been made for trainer appointments in 1,050 schools as well, though the new academic year began on July 1," he details.“The contracts of 332 vocational trainers of healthcare trade ended on June 30 last year. They have not received new contracts so far. Similarly, contracts of 264 vocational teachers from 132 schools have ended on June 30 this year, and they have also not been rehired,” informs Singh, who works as a private security trade vocational instructor in the Government Senior Secondary School of Setrawa village in Phalodi district. His payment is pending for the last four months.The delays in the tender process is another issue. "Every year, after the start of the new session, two to three months are gone to the tender process. Until then, children do not receive any training," Karsoliya says, while alleging vocational training partner companies of “doing nothing, yet earning a good amount as commission from the payment of each vocational trainer”. "If the government eliminates these companies, it will be beneficial for trainers, vocational education and the government,” he suggests.Explaining the nature of their work, Bala says they do lesson planning, maintain a laboratory, create awareness among students and parents about the need for vocational training, impart theory and practical training, make daily diaries and student portfolios to evaluate children's skills and knowledge, and conduct guest lectures and industrial visits. “Many tasks like organising on-job training, internship, skill exhibition-cum-competition and helping in job fair/placement drive are allotted to us, which we complete responsibly. Yet, we do not get our payments on time. There is no sick leave or insurance cover. Women trainers do not even have the facility of maternity leave, whereas almost half of the professional trainers are women,” Bala adds.Vocational trainers of the state have been holding regular protests at the district headquarters, and at times at capital Jaipur. They have also been appealing to the minister and top officials of the education department for a solution. “Our association has demanded that a separate cadre of vocational trainers be created in Rajasthan. Payments should be paid by the 10th of every month. By getting rid of the tender process, the government should accommodate us in the education department and regularise our services,” Singh says.Rajasthan government extends vocational education scheme to more government schools, but without addressing roadblocks (Photo - Sourced by Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Vouching for the regularisation of vocational teachers, Rajasthan Teachers’ Association (Siyaram) state president Virendra Sharma says that the education department should include all professional teachers under its fold as done by the Haryana government, and also provide them with benefits given to regular teachers.  “Vocational trainers hired through VTPs can be removed anytime. Healthcare trade trainers whose contracts got over last year are yet to receive the payments of several months,” he adds, while noting that there is a provision in the National Education Policy 2020 to integrate vocational education into mainstream education and teach at least one trade-related skill to every student during school education period.Suresh Kumar Bunkar, Additional State Project Director, Vocational Education, Jaipur, tells 101Reporters that vocational trainers keep submitting memorandums regarding their demands, but the education department cannot act on them as it is a policy matter of the government. “We have no direct connection with vocational trainers. They are affiliated to VTPs. We are developing a process to ensure that their payments are made on time,” he says.On the tender process, Bunkar says tenders will be issued soon to fill all the vacant posts of vocational trainers. “We are trying our best to launch vocational studies this year in schools that got training approval last year and this year,” he adds.On the issue of payments, Vipin Bishnoi, vocational coordinator, ICA Education Skills, a VTP in Rajasthan, tells 101Reporters that the company pays to trainers from its own pocket and then sends invoices to the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan office for reimbursement. "However, we do not receive payment from them for several months. When the reimbursement of an earlier invoice does not happen, we cannot make further payments to trainers," he details.Bishnoi says payments due to ICA come to around Rs 2 crore. At present, around 300 trainers work under ICA. "VTPs in the state altogether have an estimated outstanding dues of Rs 8 to10 crore. Even yesterday, when I talked to an official of the Rajasthan School Education Council, he said the allocation has not come from the government so far," he says.Meanwhile, Hari Krishna Arya (71), a former member of Rajasthan State Education Policy Committee, tells 101Reporters that the expected results of vocational education cannot be achieved unless there are permanent trainers. "The government should conduct vocational education on the concept of Seekho Kamao Yojana of the 1970s," he says.Explaining about the former scheme, Arya says children were taught to make furniture, carpets and chalk under Seekho Kamao Yojana. "It was mandatory for government departments to purchase the items that children made. Some part of the income thus generated was given to the student workers as well. Not only could they earn while at school, but could also start a business after completing their education. There used to be permanent craft teachers under the scheme, which later fell prey  to corruption," he recalls.He says vocational education was restarted in selected schools and the post of additional district education officer (vocational education) was created at the district level and vice-principal (vocational education) in schools. "However, trainers had to wait for their salaries for months together and the scheme was stopped after three to four years. The same situation arises again with this scheme." *Name changed to protect privacyEdited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Students learning in a classroom (Photo - Sourced by Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Neither village nor city, Tibbi faces existential crisis post municipal upgrade

Two years have passed since Tibbi became a municipality, but proper government staff recruitment or development work has not been initiated so far Hanumangarh, Rajasthan: Enduring foul smell and navigating sewage from overflowing drains are nothing new to the people of Tibbi in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district. The problem was there when Tibbi was a village panchayat, and it is still there, two years after Tibbi became a municipality.A two-km road planned under the state highways through the main market is incomplete, though its construction began in April 2022. Drains have to be constructed on both sides of the road, but its work also remains pending. A drainage system built by the village panchayat was in place earlier, but it was damaged when road construction began. As a result, dirty water spills onto the main market road. Municipality office of Tibia (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Councillor Ramamurthy Khanna agrees that drain water is found scattered in all important areas where people frequent. Prabhulal, a resident of ward 12, says dirty water is directed into the ponds without treatment for a long time, due to which the water bodies are stinking now. “There is a need to make concrete arrangements for drainage here,” he says. “No development is visible,” adds Balwant Ram, another ward 12 resident. Balwant Ram, a resident of Tibbi (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Groundwater with high fluoride content is supplied as drinking water in Tibbi. People have been asking the Public Health Engineering Department to provide them with canal water, but their demand went largely unheeded.Most of the residential houses in Tibbi are built on agricultural lands, but without getting leases. Residents want the government to regulate the colonies situated on such lands and provide leases for the houses built there.According to the 2011 Census, Tibbi had a population of 13,387. At present, its population is estimated to have increased to over 20,000. Yet, the place is still seen as a backward and underdeveloped town.​​​​​ People also demand that the government should promote development by making a suitable master plan. Tibbi is at the crossroads, being neither a village nor a city following the municipal upgrade. Even today, most of the posts created in the municipality office remain vacant. Result: municipality functions are not properly organised and necessary facilities are missing.“The municipality could have functioned smoothly if the government had appointed officers and employees to the sanctioned posts.​ When officers and employees are not present, who will do the work?” Tibbi Municipality Chairperson Santosh Suthar tells 101Reporters. She was the sarpanch of Tibbi when the state government issued a notification to upgrade it into a municipality on May 20, 2022. Municipal President Santosh Suthar gives a memorandum to the District Collector of Hanumangarh (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)When a municipal office was established in the panchayat office, the sarpanch became the municipal chairperson and deputy sarpanch became municipal vice-chairperson. The 23 panchs became new councillors.  Posts of an executive officer (EO), assistant revenue inspector, junior engineer (civil), junior accountant, health inspector, map navis surveyor and senior assistant each have been created. Except for the EO's post, all others were rarely filled. From July 19, 2022, to July 11, 2023, Tibbi Tehsildar Harish Kumar Tak held the charge of EO. However, due to lack of staff, he could not function properly. From February 12 to June 14, 2023, Sangaria Municipality EO Sohanlal Verma was given the additional charge. On June 15, for the first time, a full-time EO was appointed. However, three months after his appointment, Sumer Singh Chauhan was transferred. On September 22, Brijesh Kumar Soni took charge as EO, but he was transferred unceremoniously in less than a month. In his place, Chauhan was reappointed. He worked in that post from October 5, 2023, to February 21, 2024. At present, Soni occupies the post.​The junior assistant and junior engineer (civil) posts were filled four and three months back, respectively. In the absence of an assistant revenue inspector, generating revenue for the municipality has been an issue. Similarly, keeping proper accounts has been difficult in the absence of a junior accountant, while sanitation has been affected due to the vacant health inspector post. The municipality does not have a single permanent sanitation worker. Cleaning work is outsourced.​​​ Notification was recently issued for the recruitment of 24,797 posts of sanitation workers from the Local Self Government Department (LSGD) of Rajasthan, but Tibbi will not benefit from this recruitment. ​ "The notification does not cover new municipalities. ​ So, we have no option but to outsource,” Soni reasons.The present recruitment was initiated by the previous Ashok Gehlot government. However, it was postponed by the succeeding BJP government. Now the government has again invited applications, but neither the previous Congress government has kept posts for new municipalities nor the present BJP government has paid attention to it.​​​​  Under the Rajasthan Municipalities (Constitution of Committees) Rules, 1996, committees related to administration, finance, health and sanitation, and construction have to be formed, with councillors appointed as members. These committees monitor the functioning of the municipality and prepare the outline of development works in their meetings , but the formation of such committees is still awaited in Tibbi.​​​  "It is necessary to have proper arrangements in the municipal office for the employees and for the use of the necessary resources, but no such system has been developed in Tibbi. To garner applause, the state government created various municipalities, but did not look back at them after that," says councillor Khanna. “Tibbi still does not have a fire engine.​​ When a fire breaks out, a fire brigade has to be called in from Sangaria, located 30 km away, or from Hanumangarh town, located 18 km away. By then, fire would have spread and caused heavy damage. Most of the incidents of fire occur in the crops standing in the fields," says councillor Saroj Khichar.Saroj Khichar, a resident of Tibia (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Municipal Chairperson Santosh Suthar tells 101Reporters that she has been trying her best to streamline the arrangements of the municipality, but due to the lack of staff and non-availability of budget for desired works, the expected results could not be achieved.​​​ "We sent a proposal for bus stand construction to the LSGD director, but did not get a response. A proposal has also been sent to construct a municipal office building, which has not been approved. We have repeatedly given memorandums to the state government, regional MP and district Collector demanding that adequate staff be  appointed, but even today the posts are lying vacant," she details.    Avi Garg, Regional Deputy Director in the Bikaner office of the LSGD, tells 101Reporters that new municipalities were suffering more due to lack of manpower, though there is a shortage of staff in all the municipalities.“We are sending information about vacant posts to the government from time to time. Appointment of employees and officials is a matter at the state government level,” Garg informs.Due to the administrative standstill, residents feel that Tibbi being a village panchayat was better than being a municipality. Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Tibbi's pond stinks due to constant dumping of  dirty water (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

MGNREGA vital, Rajasthan villages say ‘no’ to municipal upgrade

Even as officials sing paeans to planned development, villagers are more concerned about the loss of benefits from around two dozen rural schemes  Hanumangarh/Jaisalmer, Rajasthan: When the Rajasthan government announced in its Budget on February 10 last year that many village panchayats will be converted into municipalities, villagers of Goluwala Niwadan and Goluwala Sihagan did not know what was coming. As soon as the notification was issued on June 26, work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme stopped at Goluwala Niwadan and Goluwala Sihagan in Hanumangarh district."We workers have nothing to do with the municipal status. All we need is employment, which we get from MGNREGA. As soon as the notification was issued, MGNREGA work was stopped," says MGNREGA mate Kamal Chhimpa (58).MGNREGA workers working in Ramdevra (Photo - Rajender Soni) Angered by the loss of person-days of over 3,000 workers, the residents of both villages protested before deputy tehsildar of Goluwala, sub-divisional magistrate of Pilibanga and Hanumangarh District Collectorate for two months. However, when the government did not pay attention to their demand and opened a municipality office at Goluwala Niwadan, villagers Pradeep Bishnoi and Rohitash Sharma approached the Rajasthan High Court (HC) challenging the formation of the municipality.  They argued that the government declared their panchayats as municipalities without following the procedure prescribed under Section 101 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. "Under Section 101, the district Collector should have issued an objection notice and invited objections from the villagers, but the villagers were not given an opportunity to be heard," Bishnoi (30), who has worked as an MGNREGA mate for many years, tells 101Reporters. Gram Panchayat Office Goluwala Sihagan (Photo - Balvindra Kharoliya)In a huge relief to the villagers, the HC issued a stay order on July 25 last year. Further hearings will happen in due course. For now, both panchayats have started functioning as before.Why exactly were they worried when work under the state government’s Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme was available in municipal areas? MGNREGA workers think it is not possible to get as much work under the urban scheme as is available under the rural scheme.“MGNREGA is the most attractive among the government schemes from which people of the village benefit. Their livelihood mostly depends on it,” claims Krishnalal Pareek (58) from Goluwala Sihagan.“I have worked in MNREGA for many years, so I know its benefits,” Bishnoi adds.The protests were not restricted to Goluwala Niwadan and Goluwala Sihagan. Immediately after the government’s Budget announcement, the people of Jaisalmer’s Ramdevra village panchayat, located 445 km from Goluwala, launched their protest saying they will stop getting the benefits under various schemes if the conversion to municipality happened. Despite this, the notification to convert Ramdevra into a municipality was issued in April.Soon after, sarpanch Samandar Singh Tanwar filed a writ petition in the High Court, which stayed the process. “Ramdevra has over 3,000 MGNREGA workers. They feared they would become unemployed if MGNREGA work ceased,” Tanwar says, adding that they would have been deprived of about 24 schemes if the village status was lost.MGNREGA mate Jagdish Baral (35) of Mawa in Ramdevra used to work as a construction worker before turning into MGNREGA labourer. “I have been a mate for many years now. No doubt, MGNREGA has a huge contribution in maintaining the livelihood of my family,” he says.Ramdevra-based MGNREGA worker Dhannaram Panwar (34) says there would be no benefit for workers like him if Ramdevra became a municipality. “The poor get employment only in panchayats,” he says convincingly.Tanwar adds that villagers would also have to pay a higher rate of house tax to the municipality. Small shopkeepers will have to obtain trade licences. Urban development tax will also need to be paid by all. People will have to bear the burden of higher land regulation.Group of MGNREGA workers protesting (Photo - Balvindra Kharoliya)According to government officials, this notification was a symbol of progress towards urbanisation of villages, but the villagers did not like it. Pawan Chaudhary, who was the executive officer of Goluwala municipality for a week, enumerates the benefits of forming a municipality. “The villagers may face some problems initially when the panchayat becomes a municipality, but ultimately it is in their benefit. Formation of a municipality will lead to planned development. Due to urbanisation, the market will develop and facilities such as roads, streetlights, sanitation and parks will be available.”“This will increase the property value. People will get commercial leases for their lands through which they will be able to access bank loans. Employment opportunities will increase as industries will develop in the surrounding areas. Colonies will develop on agricultural lands,” Chaudhary, currently the executive officer of Suratgarh Municipality in Sriganganagar district, tells 101Reporters.Choudhary says he had educated villagers about these benefits, but villagers were more inclined towards benefits of panchayat schemes. “MGNREGA was also a big issue,” he adds.Sushil Siddh, acting village development officer, Goluwala Niwadan, tells 101Reporters that there are about 2,500 job cards in Goluwala Niwadan and Goluwala Sihagan panchayats. “MGNREGA workers have opposed the formation of the municipality the most. Even if there is an urban employment scheme, the villagers know that they cannot get work as compared to MGNREGA,” he says. Professor Kulbhushan Kothari (89), a former senior adviser of UNICEF and managing trustee of NGO Pratham Rajasthan, tells 101Reporters that the apprehensions of the villagers were justified because the poor have not been given any importance in the framework of urban planning. "The infrastructure of schemes made for rural areas is more effective from the point of view of the poor. In cities, the development of wards is directly decided by the government, whereas ward sabha exists in villages. Village panchayat is a constitutional body, and municipalities are less powerful than village panchayats," he notes.Prof Kothari says villagers are not wrong if they trust MGNREGA because no one knows how long the Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme will last, though the newly-formed BJP government of the state has made a provision for this scheme in the Budget. However, its future is at stake as the BJP government is examining whether to continue this scheme and the Chief Minister Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.Prof Kothari says that merely removing the village panchayat board from any building and hanging the board with the name of municipality written on it will not lead to development. For this, proper planning will have to be done. "The most important thing is to let the village remain a village. For good results, the resources available in rural areas should be utilised by forming collectives of 10 or 20 villages. A federation of villages will have to be formed on the lines of Amul," he envisages.The HC's stay order is still in effect in Goluwala and Ramdevra. With the government change, it is possible that the new BJP government may change the decision of the previous government and allow village panchayats to remain as such. If not, the legal battle may drag on for a long time.Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - MGNREGA workers protesting against making Gram Panchayat a municipality in Goluwala (Photo - Balvindra Kharoliya)

Farmers in Rajasthan unlock horse power, earn in lakhs every year

Apart from the booming local sales, proximity to horse rearing hubs in Punjab increases both the demand for animals and income opportunities for rearers and allied business dealers in Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districtsHanumangarh/Sriganganagar, Rajasthan: Farmers of Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts of Rajasthan are earning lakhs of rupees every year through horse rearing. Though the practice has been in existence among the farmers of both districts for about two decades, it has emerged as a profitable venture in recent years.  "Once upon a time, horses were considered a symbol of pride. Now hundreds of farmers are rearing horses as a business, as part of their agricultural activities,” says Satyadev Suthar (53), the founder member of Hanumangarh District Horse Breeding Committee and Peerakamadia resident.Satyadev Suthar, a farmer of Peerkamadiya village in Hanumangarh district with his horse (Photo - Himanshu Midha)Farmers rear Marwari and Nukra horses, both rare breeds. The big stud farms at Peerkamadia, Surewala, Saliwala, Rathi Khera, Jakharanwali, Makasar, Jodkiya, Rodawali, Rampura Matoria, Burjwala, Padampur, 31 H, 4 FF, 17 O, 71 RB, and 24 PS have become famous."The trend of horse riding is rapidly increasing. Besides horse shows and safaris, horses are used for marriages and religious programmes. The BSF and police in different parts of the country also promote it, due to which horses are in demand everywhere," explains Suthar.The Good Day School of Hanumangarh has nine horses in its stable, while Oasis School in Pilibanga has three. Many schools in Sriganganagar also have horses.Babulal Juneja, patron, SRS Shikshan Samiti, an organisation of private school operators in Hanumangarh, says horse riding proves helpful in developing children physically and mentally. “They learn to take risks in life. Parents have started requesting us to teach horse riding in schools."The week-long horse fairs in both districts have become famous far and wide. Along with local horse breeders, those from Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and other districts of Rajasthan attend them. Horses brought to the horse fair held in Hanumangarh (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)During the horse fair organised in Hanumangarh this January, local breeders and those from Punjab and Haryana exhibited around 750 horses, of which about 300 were sold. Similarly, 270 of the 700 horses that participated in the fair in Sriganganagar were sold. Other than through the fairs, the process of buying and selling of horses continues throughout the year.People selling horse related accessories and grooming materials have also got employment. Shopkeepers associated with such businesses come to the fairs. Bhagwan Singh (43) of Sriganganagar has been selling grooming tools for almost two decades. “My business runs from the horse fairs of Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh. Due to an increase in my income, our family's living condition has improved. In the fairs, farmers buy bridles, saddles, stirrups, bells, and ornaments for anklets and shins."  A shop selling grooming materials used for decorating horses (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)“There are many big stud farms in our village. I have seven horses now. About 20 years ago, I bought a mare as a hobby based on my friend’s advice, after which it became a business. Every year, I earn an average of Rs 5 to 7 lakh by selling horses and crossing them for breeding,” says Suthar.Manraj Singh (52), a resident of 1 DD village in Sriganganagar district, is the secretary of Maharana Pratap District Horse Breeding Committee. He started raising horses 22 years ago. “Right now, I have 10 horses. In our district, about 600 farmers are earning good profits through horses."According to the 2019 Animal Census of the Animal Husbandry Department, Sriganganagar district has 775 horses and Hanumangarh 761. Animal census is done every five years. When asked about the number of horses present today, Dr Ajay Verma, Joint Director, Animal Husbandry Department, tells 101Reporters that this will be known only from this year’s census. “Local farmers are increasingly oriented towards horse rearing. It is a source of additional income for them, supplementing their agricultural activities.”Horse at the fair in front of the viewers (Photo - Himanshu Midha) Ashok Kadwasara (57) of Hanumangarh Town is into his ancestral businesses of fishing and farming. Two years ago, he started to rear horses. “I started off buying six horses. To date, no one has suffered losses from horse rearing in my area. So I expect good profits,” he saysLocal farmers spend Rs 30,000 to 35,000 a month for meeting the feeding and medical requirements of a horse. Besides selling, there is another way of making money by mating horses of good breeds. A minimum of Rs 50,000 is charged for one mating. The stud farm of Iqbal Singh Bhandal (55) of Padampur in Sriganganagar houses about 40 horses. Very high prices have been offered to buy some of his horses. He charges Rs 1 lakh for one mating with his special horse Gurjot. Explaining the money involved, Suthar says a young mare is sold for Rs 7 to 10 lakh. The prices of horses depend on their height. “More the height, more the money. A female offspring aged three to four months is sold for Rs 2 to 3 lakh, and a male offspring for Rs 1 lakh. So, the annual profit of horse rearers is in lakhs. If someone has five horses, the income is around Rs 5 lakh per horse,” Suthar says. Farmers mostly prefer female horses for rearing.Both Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh abut Punjab, so horse rearers here benefit more. Bathinda, Mansa, Sri Muktsar Sahib, Faridkot and Moga are not far away from Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar. All these districts are counted among the major horse rearing areas of Punjab. Horse riding has become a status symbol of the youth there. In Punjab, horses are used for shooting of regional films and serials. To meet the increased  demand, horses are bought from ​​ Rajasthan. “The demand for our horses is now far and wide. Apart from Punjab, people from Kerala, Karnataka, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat mainly come to buy Nukra horses,” says Manraj.At the same time, local horse rearers raised issues over the healthcare facilities available. “If the government opens a special hospital for horses here, appoints veterinarians having expertise in horse diseases and makes arrangements for ultrasound and X-ray for investigation, we will benefit a lot because horses die due to lack of emergency treatment. This translates to huge losses for farmers,” he says.Explaining that colic in horses can prove fatal, he says about 20 horses die in a year due to this in Hanumangarh district alone.“We have to take horses to Bikaner or Ludhiana for emergency treatment. Many times the animals die due to the long distance. In Sriganganagar, even a proper blood test of horses is not possible. We have to take blood samples to Bathinda,” Manraj informs.Dr Verma, meanwhile, says the department provides all possible help for the treatment of horses. "Rearers move the sick animals to other places for better facilities," he adds.Manraj also demands that the government should arrange a permanent place for the annual horse fair in Sriganganagar. “We have to organise fairs at different places every year,” he says.Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Horses brought to the horse fair held in Hanumangarh at the end of December (Photo - Himanshu Midha)

A sweet victory for unmarried women of Rajasthan as anganwadi positions open for them

HC quashes the condition that only married women can become anganwadi workers, but the Women and Child Development Department is still dragging its feet on implementing the orderJaipur, Rajasthan: When there is no condition of marriage for men to get employed in any government department, why should that be imposed on women who strive to become anganwadi workers? That was what piqued Madhu Charan (26) to launch a legal battle against the Rajasthan government over a rather strange constraint that has been in force in the state for more than two decades.An unmarried woman hailing from Gugdi in Pachpadra block of Balotra district, Madhu approached the Rajasthan High Court (HC) against the marriage clause for getting anganwadi job. On September 4 last year, the HC ruled in her favour and declared the condition of women being married as “illegal, illogical, arbitrary and unconstitutional”.Madhu Charan with her father Muldan (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)"I fought in the HC for four-and-a-half years... This was not my fight alone, but of all the women in the state. This was to get justice for everyone,” she told 101Reporters with a steely resolve. "The HC has held in its judgment that depriving a woman of public employment on the basis of her unmarried status is a violation of the fundamental rights granted to a woman under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. The court termed it an attack on the dignity of women. Respecting the HC decision, the government should have immediately removed this condition. However, the department has not issued an order yet,” she added.  Explaining how the case came about, Madhu's father Muldan Charan said the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department had issued an advertisement in June 2019 to fill the vacant post of an anganwadi worker in their village. “My daughter tried to apply, but she was not allowed because she was unmarried. Subsequently, I sent her application by speed post to the office of the Child Development Project Officer [CDPO], Pachpadra, but even that was not considered.”“I am a small farmer, but I stand with my daughter on this issue. Even if we had to go to the Supreme Court, we would have definitely gone,” he asserted.Even today, people of Rajasthan hesitate to send their girl children out of their villages for work. They think it is better for women to get employed in their villages itself. In line with this thought process, unmarried girls in the state have been submitting memorandums to the department officials following the HC judgment, demanding that they be appointed in anganwadis.“A few months ago, we invited applications for anganwadi workers' posts for the villages in Chitalwana block. Referring to the HC decision, many unmarried women then submitted a memorandum demanding that they be appointedt to these posts. We have written to the Jaipur headquarters seeking their views,” Ashok Bishnoi, Child Development Project Officer (CDPO), WCD Department, Jalore, told 101Reporters.An anganwadi teacher teaching in school (Photo - Representative image/Flickr- Creative Commons)Stubborn first, somersault laterDespite the HC ruling, the WCD Department initially cold-shouldered the matter. It sought the opinion of the government lawyer, who recently recommended that the government should appeal against the ruling in the HC Division Bench.Justifying the department's stand, Krishna Kumar Sharma, the WCD Department’s Acting CDPO for Pachpadra block, told 101Reporters that the intention behind the condition of female applicants being married was to run the department smoothly. “Unmarried women will most likely shift to other places after marriage. The department then will have to make efforts to refill those posts,” he maintained.Nevertheless, in a meeting held on January 23, it was decided to not appeal against the judgment. Instead, the department will start allowing unmarried women to apply for the anganwadi worker posts. Mahesh Kumar, Law Officer, WCD Department, Jaipur, told 101Reporters that the issue was discussed at the pre-litigation committee meeting held under the chairmanship of the WCD Department secretary in Jaipur on January 23. "In the meeting, it was decided not to appeal. The government will now make new rules for this," he informed. The work on this front is likely to be completed soon.On the contrary, the condition of being married is still imposed for appointments made at anganwadi centres in the state. The Office of the Deputy Director, WCD Department, Hanumangarh, recently issued a release to fill 69 vacant posts of anganwadi worker/helper, mentioning it was mandatory for anganwadi workers to be class 12 pass and married. An anganwadi worker cleaning the school (Photo - Representative image/Flickr- Creative Commons)'A violation of fundamental rights'Coming down on the marriage clause, Rehana Rayaz Chishti, former chairperson, Rajasthan Women's Commission, told 101Reporters that the marriage clause was completely wrong. “Whether married or unmarried, every eligible woman should get a chance. This is their constitutional right. Depriving a woman of working as an anganwadi worker just because she is unmarried is a violation of fundamental rights,” she reasoned.“I do not know under what circumstances the condition of being married was imposed, but now the HC has declared this condition unconstitutional. Hence the government should respect this decision and give an opportunity to work to unmarried women,” she added.Chandrakala Sharma, director (coordination), Ekal Nari Shakti Sansthan, an NGO fighting for the interests of single women in Rajasthan, said that depriving women of work because they were unmarried was a sign of anti-women mentality. “If the department whose very name is Women and Child Development Department does not provide work to women, then how will women develop? Will the rights of single women get lost by not marrying? Do single women not need any work to earn a living?" she wondered. Chandrakala said there were thousands of women who did not wish to marry, or did so late in life. If unmarried women are given the opportunity to work in anganwadi, they will gain experience. While this experience will be useful in their personal lives, they will also benefit from this experience if they get an opportunity in another anganwadi at another place after marriage. Anganwadi worker Rani Jinagal of Amar Pura Theri village in Hanumangarh district also favoured employment of unmarried women in anganwadis. “When there is no condition for men to be married to get jobs, why is it being imposed on women only?" There are more than 62,000 anganwadi centres across the state, with each having a worker and a helper. This fact itself shows how important is the legal victory that unmarried women in the state have achieved. Edited by Rekha PulinnoliCover Photo - Madhu Charan with his father Muldan (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Makki ka achar is the new favourite of cattle rearers in Punjab

Farmers and cattle rearers have turned to silage-making using green corn to fulfil the nutritional needs of cattle in the wake of wheat shortage, thus earning good milk yields even in summers while reducing own labour   Mansa/Bathinda, Punjab: Makki ka achar is emerging as an alternative fodder to meet the nutritional requirements of cattle in Punjab. Farmers cut the green maize crop to ferment it into this special feed, which is not only good for their animals’ health but also easy on their own pockets.  In Punjab, maize is sown mainly in Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Patiala, Ludhiana, SAS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts. In recent years, farmers of Bathinda in Malwa region, Mansa, Barnala, Firozpur, Moga, Muktsar, Sangrur and Fazilka districts have taken it up.“Silage is made using maize in milk-forming stage. This keeps all the nutritious elements of green fodder intact. Besides securing animal health, silage increases milk yield. Not just that, the milk produced contains more fat. All these factors make silage increasingly popular,” Dr Rajdeep Singh, Deputy Director, Department of Animal Husbandry, Bathinda, tells 101Reporters.Maize harvester used for making silage in Tiona village (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Farmer Mewa Singh (35) from Burj Mansa village in Bathinda district sowed maize in his four bighas of land the last two years to tide over poor wheat yield. “I sow maize only to make silage. I have been feeding straw and silage to my animals for two years. There is no need to purchase wheat flour, animal feed and grains for them,” he attests.Nirmal Singh (27) from Chhoti Baho tells 101Reporters that he had to spend Rs 350 per day on a milch animal to buy wheat, oil cake, green fodder and straw. All that has changed because he now feeds only oil cake and silage. "Around Rs 10,000 is spent on making silage per acre, which includes employing a machine to sow maize, diesel for tractor, fertiliser, pesticides, labour charges, harvest charges of maize chopper and rent for the machine that grinds maize into fodder. Yet, silage costs us only Rs 2 per kg."Dr Hasan Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, Bathinda, tells 101Reporters that farmers in Malwa belt did not grow maize earlier. “At present, they feed silage to their animals and sell the rest to landless cattle herders. Selling standing maize crops to silage-making entrepreneurs is another source of income.” Farmers sell silage for Rs 400 per quintal, while factories sell for Rs 600 per bale. By selling standing crops to entrepreneurs, Rs 45,000 to 50,000 per acre can be obtained.  Bales of silage at a silage manufacturing factory in Dugri village near Chamkaur Sahib in Punjab's Rupnagar district (Photo - Gurpreet Singh Jassar)“Silage has been prepared in Punjab for many years, but farmers started sowing maize in large tracts only in the last two to three years after adverse weather affected wheat crop and fanned shortage of traditional fodder. In 2022, maize was sown in about 8,000 hectares in Bathinda district; it was 10,000 hectares last year. Now farmers in all districts of Malwa region have started sowing it,” he details."We sow maize when the fields remain empty from mid-April to July after harvesting rabi crop [November to early April]," informs Bhagwant Singh from Dalel Singh Wala in Mansa district. After wheat harvest, fields used to remain empty for two months until paddy was sown. Now, cultivation of maize is carried out at that time.  “Maize crop for silage is ready in about two-and-a-quarter months. We grind the cut green crop using a machine. Then it is crushed by a tractor and buried in a deep pit on the ground. To prevent contact with water and air, we cover it well with a tarpaulin or polythene and seal it. Silage will be ready in about 40 days. If it is protected from air and water, it does not spoil for two years,” Bhagwant explains. Silage will develop mould if exposed to air or water.  Bhagwant has 12 big milch animals and some small animals. The silage he produces from the maize grown in 12 bighas of land is enough for his animals for the whole year. In short, silage from one bigha crop can feed an animal for an entire year!“I mix silage in toodi (straw) and feed them. Now I do not have to give wheat and fodder because silage is a mixture of green fodder and maize grains. Now the consumption of toodi is also down by half. No need to buy wheat flour and oil cake, too. Due to silage, my expenses on animal husbandry have come down by half,” Bhagwant adds.Mewa Singh with a farmer from Burj Mansa village (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)Tara Singh Sappal, a cattle herder from Tiona in Bathinda, has nine buffaloes and four cows. He has been feeding them silage for two years. “When green fodder is not available, silage compensates for it. Animals relish it. They remain healthy also. Even in summer, silage consumption helps me get sufficient quantities of milk on a regular basis. The amount of fat in milk also increases.”Sappal says he has been getting silage at Rs 400 per quintal from a farmer in the village. “I mix it in straw and feed my animals.”Raja Singh from Bhamme Kalan in Mansa district says there is a huge shortage of green fodder in May, June, November and December. Makki ka achar fulfils the deficiency then. Many farmers here grow maize and make silage. So, there is no fodder shortage throughout the year.“Preparing silage does not cost much. In contrast, green fodder has to be grown in the field and has to be cut and brought daily. Farmers have become free from the daily labour of harvesting fodder from the field and grinding it with machines. As opposed to cutting fodder daily, he prepares and stores the silage for a longer period,” says Dr Hasan, throwing light on the other benefits.On the increasing popularity of silage, Hasan says, “Many silage-based industries are flourishing. They sell their product across Punjab and outside. There are also special machines to make silage."Those who have brought the machines costing Rs 3 to 4 lakh operate it themselves. Every village has at least two such machines. "I brought a second-hand machine worth Rs 2.5 lakh last year. In my village, three to four people own such machines. We charge Rs 5,000 per acre," says Mukhtyar Singh (30) of Thedi Ghagga village near Malout.  The increasing use of silage in Punjab has attracted investors to set up silage manufacturing units. According to a media report, eight big silage bale-making units and 150 small and medium units are working in the state at present. To set up a small silage unit, Rs 50 to 60 lakh is required. Medium and large units Rs one to two crore and Rs 10 crore, respectively. Notwithstanding, investors are continuously pouring in money. Rajpura-based Punjab Silage Private Limited is the largest silage maker in the state. It produces 50,000 tonnes yearly and has a market presence across the country.Gurpreet Singh Jassar (24) has set up a silage factory in Dugri village of Rupnagar district. "We set up the unit in our two-acre ancestral property two years ago. It cost us about Rs 1.5 crore. We grow maize on our 40-acre plot and buy the rest from others. The factory employs 18 people throughout the year against the 50 to 100 during the silage-making season [mid-May to mid-August]." Silage is packed in bales at the factory. On average, one bale costing Rs 600 contains one quintal of silage. "Besides catering to the domestic demand, we send silage to Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. The first year's production was less, but we produced about 40,000 bales in the second year," he says. Edited by Rekha Pulinnoli Cover Photo - Mewa Singh ,Farmer from Burj Mansa village feeding his cattle (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)