Ahead of the onset of monsoon season, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday instructed officials to complete flood prevention preparations by June 30. Last year, Ambala and Kurukshetra districts suffered significant flood damage. He also emphasized to ensure the completion of works of short-term schemes.

Presiding over a meeting of Irrigation and Water Resources Department on flood regarding preparations for flood prevention, Saini said that the work of soil filling should be started immediately to strengthen the embankments of canals and drains. With paddy plantation scheduled to begin after June 15, waterlogged fields pose challenges for soil lifting. In addition, land owners' fields also do not remain vacant.

He issued a stern warning to officials, indicating that those responsible for any repeat of last year's flood incidents will face consequences. The department should hire as many JCBs as necessary to remove the silt from the canal.He said that the villages of Harda-Hardi, Shergarh, Chandpura, Shahpur, Hemamajra, Rampur Sassedi of Ambala, Jhaansa, Jalbehra of Kurukshetra and Guhla Cheeka of Kaithal were badly affected. This time, if floods happen due to negligence in the preparations being done before the monsoon, then strict action will be taken against those responsible.

During the meeting, it was informed that 320 flood-prone hotspots had been identified, and short-term schemes had been devised accordingly. To date, 44 schemes have been successfully completed, with work ongoing on 179 schemes.

Expressing urgency, the Chief Minister said that due to time constraints, the remaining work must be expedited by the department with utmost urgency. He directed officials to establish a portal for uploading daily reports on all flood-related tasks being undertaken before the monsoon. A video should be made by taking the village sarpanch along and uploaded on this portal which he would personally oversee.

The Chief Minister said that on Wednesday, Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Dr. Abhe Singh Yadav, Commissioner and Secretary of the Department Pankaj Agarwal, and Advisor to the Chief Minister Bharat Bhushan Bharti will visit flood-prone areas in Ambala, Kurukshetra, and Kaithal districts to assess the situation and compile a report. He gave clear instructions that flood prevention measures should be visibly implemented on the ground and he himself would personally review the preparations on June 13.

CHAIRS MEETING OF LABOUR DEPTT 

In the interest of workers of the Haryana Building and Other Construction Welfare Board, Saini also directed the officers of the Labour Department to immediately release pending funds for toolkits, bicycle schemes, and sewing machines. Besides this, he has also directed the officers to create a new scheme to provide health benefits to construction welfare board workers similar to those of ESI.  He gave these directions while chairing a meeting with officers of the Labour Department. Industries and Commerce and Labour Minister Mool Chand Sharma also attended the meeting. Saini also directed that pending death claims of workers should be immediately processed to provide financial aid to poor families. He said that the grant given for the marriage of workers' daughters under the board should be provided three days before the marriage to offer financial benefit.


RELEASE PENDING POST-MATRIC SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT FOR SC STUDENTS PROMPTLY 

Saini directed the officers to convene a joint meeting of the officers from the Department of Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes and Antyodaya Department (SEWA), and the Higher Education Department at the earliest to release the pending amount of the post-matric scholarship for Scheduled Caste students from the previous year. Additionally, from this year onward, the scholarship amount should be disbursed at the time of admission to prevent students from facing financial difficulties in continuing their education.  In the meeting with the officers concerned, it was informed that under the Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme, Scheduled Caste students with an annual family income of less than Rs. 2.5 lakhs are eligible to apply. This scheme is implemented in a 60:40 ratio between the central and state governments.