by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Jaipur : The Congress on Thursday won the Ramgarh Assembly seat in Rajasthan, taking its tally in the 200-member house to 100.
Congress candidate Shafia Khan won by a margin of 12,228 votes after polling 83,311 votes. Her nearest rival, BJP’s Sukhwant Singh, got 71,083 votes.
Jagat Singh of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) finished third with 24,856 votes.
An overjoyed Shafia Khan said: “This is a victory of the people. I congratulate the people for this victory.
“The BJP talks too much and does little. They closed the schools which we had started, they were biased in implementing the social welfare schemes and hence people wanted to come out of the polarized environment they had created.
“So people have voted unitedly for the Congress,” she added.
While Shafia Khan got 44.77 per cent of all votes, the BJP’s vote share was 38.20 per cent.
Overall, 241 votes went to NOTA (None of the Above).
Senior Congress leader Suresh Chaudhary told IANS: “The Congress has built its credibility amongst voters by fulfilling all its promises made in its manifesto. People in the state are fed up with the polarization prank being played by the BJP.
“This broad margin of victory speaks the story,” he said.
Counting of votes was held at the Babu Shobharam Government Arts College in Alwar amid tight security, said Ramgarh Returning Officer Pankaj Sharma.
The election on this seat was scheduled on December 7 along with the rest of Rajasthan Assembly seats but was postponed after BSP candidate Laxman Singh died due to cardiac arrest.
Eventually, polling was held on January 28 with a high voter turnout.
There are 20 candidates in the fray but the main contest involved Shafia Khan, Sukhwant Singh and Jagat Singh.
The Congress aimed to win the seat to hit a century mark in the 200-member House. This win will limit its dependency on anti-BJP parties.
For a simple majority on its own, the party needs 101 seats.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Corporate Jobs, Employment, Private Jobs
Bharatpur : Leading heritage hoteliers in Rajasthan on Friday said hospitality industry in the state can play a big role in ensuring dignified job opportunities for the state’s available work force of over two crore.
On the second day of the 7th Annual Convention of the Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) held in Bharatpur on Friday, IHHA President Gaj Singh of Jodhpur said protecting the built heritage and conserving the local traditional and cultural values of communities is a must for sustainable development.
“The industry needs to continuously innovate keeping in mind the architecture and historically significant features of heritage properties to generate new activities for the tourists,” Singh said.
The convention also took up this year’s theme of ‘Reinventing India as a Heritage Destination’. Conference Chairman and Honorary Vice President IHHA, Steve Borgia said: “We must realise that our heritage is in danger. Without heritage, there will be no tourism and no stories left to tell the visitors.”
Co-Founder and Chair of Neemrana Hotels, Aman Nath, contended that it is the government vision and the citizens’ aspirations that need reinventing “not the country as the destination.”
“Hoteliers should create an experience which is so unique that it remains with the people throughout their lives,” Nath said.
Head/Chair at Australian Museums, Vinod Daniel, highlighted global approaches in managing heritage, both tangible and intangible. He also threw light on several best practices both on national and state level. Placing emphasis on curating a well-devised strategy, he said the plan needs to be implemented over several political cycles.
Author of Destination India, International Tourism Consultant, Navin Berry, said over the decades the understanding of tourism has dramatically enlarged and has transformed into a completely different entity.
“From sightseeing, it has expanded to cover a much wider gamut of activities. It encompasses weddings, experiential tourism, among others. While travel has become a hassle-free exercise owing to technology, the tourism industry itself has been found reluctant in chasing these new streams,” Berry said.
In her presentation, Director, Preservation of Sites and Monuments- National Heritage Board, Singapore, Jean Wee, shared some of Singapore’s experiences as well as reflections on how some projects from around the world have achieved success.
She said often heritage preservation brings out the worst in everyone as it starts with a major difference in opinion. “However, preservation must be a shared pre-occupation. It should offer all stakeholders a value proposition for commitment, participation and support,” she said.
Director, Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Telangana, N.R. Visalatchy outlined the efforts being made for preservation and excavation of monuments in the state.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneur, Success Stories
By Archana Sharma,
Udaipur : In a small village near this famous lake city in Rajasthan, thousands of physically challenged people are given a fresh lease of life. Not only do they receive corrective surgeries free of cost but, during the course of their treatment, they are also imparted training to repair computers and mobiles or learn the art of stitching to ensure they become self-reliant.
The Narayan Seva Sansthan houses in its premises a modern hospital, an orphanage, a smart school, skill imparting institutions, and centres for rehabilitation, physiotherapy and naturotherapy. It is branded as a “smart” village because it has all facilities and means of sustenance for all its inhabitants within the campus, including ATM machines, Internet connectivity and even its own toy train.
Set up by Kailash Agarwal ‘Manav’, a recipient of the Padma Shri for distinguished service, the sole mission of the organisation is to ensure that the differently-abled can stand on their own and start earning a livelihood when they leave the campus.
The organisation provides medical treatment not only to polio-affected people via corrective surgeries, but also offers surgeries to those suffering “by-birth” disabilities, Narayan Seva Sansthan President Prashant Agarwal told IANS.
“Besides caring for the rehabilitation of the poor, needy and differently-abled people, we also equip them and their attendants with skills through computer, mobile repairing, sewing and tailoring classes. Over 4,276 people have benefited from this till date,” Prashant, who is Kailash Agarwal’s son, said.
Vinod Kumar, a physically challenged man from Agra with deformities in his limbs, expressed excitement on being trained in mobile repairing. With twinkling eyes, he told IANS, “I want to set up a shop and start earning once I go back to Agra. The best part here is that I am being trained while undergoing treatment.”
Asha Devi, who was here to get her grandson operated, said: “Although I am 60, I am enjoying learning to stitch frocks and kurtis in different designs. No one in our village has this expertise; hence I am confident that I shall earn a decent income.”
She said the Narayan Seva Sansthan had promised her a sewing machine when she returned to her village.
“As our lodging, food, training and treatment is all free, we treat this place as a temple where all our prayers are heard,” she added.
The organisation has also been conducting regular “mass marriage ceremonies” twice a year for young, physically-challenged boys and girls from underprivileged backgrounds. Till date, 1,298 such couples have tied the knot here.
Agarwal senior, who set up the organisation in 1985, started working for the cause of humanity after visiting a bloody accident site in Sirohi district in 1976, where seven people lost their lives.
“My father was working as a clerk in a post office when he heard about a bus collision in Pindwara, Sirohi. Taking leave from his job, he rushed to the site and was shaken to see the blood-splattered mess. With help from others, he admitted the injured to the general hospital. He started visiting the hospital daily to look after their needs,” Prashant said.
During these visits, he realised how patients battle with daily challenges while also grappling with financial crises. He saw they were hesitant to buy medicines and food as they had no money left with them after incurring medical expenses.
“To help such people, he started distributing a few containers, with ‘Narayan Seva’ written on them, among his relatives and acquaintances and asked them to put some flour in it on a daily basis. Every morning, he and my mother used to prepare chapatis out of the flour they had collected and feed the hungry. Even my sister and I helped,” he said.
While Kailash Agarwal kept this up on his own from 1974 to 1984, he set up Narayan Seva Sansthan as a non-profit charity organisation in 1985 to serve patients belonging to the poorest of the poor of society.
Over time, the organisation grew and is now among the few centres in the world where over 100 corrective surgeries of polio and cerebral palsy are done each day. The institute has given a new lease of life to over 325,000 people with free-of-cost polio corrective surgeries.
Not only does it provide treatment to the patients, it also ensures their relatives are taken care of. Once they reach Udaipur, all expenses of patients and their attendants are borne as long as they are at the institute for treatment.
Prashant said the organisation is blessed with a strong team of medical practitioners.
“With its headquarter at Udaipur in Rajasthan, the organisation has a 1,100-bed hospital where patients from around the country and abroad make their way for treatment and surgeries,” he said.
Irrespective of caste, creed and religion, the organisation serves all — Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, he said.
It also runs a Narayan Children’s Academy, with its well-equipped classes, for tribal students residing nearby. It is a delight and surprise to see tribal students studying in e-classes. The organisation runs a school bus which picks up students in the morning, are given breakfast and lunch in school, and are dropped to their homes in the evening. This too is a free service.
The students are also provided school uniforms and stationery. The organisation also runs a residential school for the deaf and dumb, blind and mentally-challenged children.
However, Prashant said this was just a start as there are thousands awaiting their turn to get surgeries done.
“Our vision is to spread our wings to ensure that all differently-abled people walk with confidence, overcoming all odds — be it physical or financial.”
(The weekly feature series is part of a positive-journalism project of IANS and the Frank Islam Foundation. Archana Sharma can be contacted at archana.s@ians.in )
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Rajasthan BJP chief Madan Lal Saini
By Archana Sharma,
Jaipur : He is a farmer who comes from a very simple background; he loves ploughing his fields and has been travelling by a state roadways bus from Jaipur to Sikar, his hometown. In Sikar, he wakes up at 4 a.m. to finish his household chores, like washing clothes, on his own.
When this humble man was picked as the Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief on June 30, it literally sent shock waves in the state as there were several prominent names in the fray. However, BJP president Amit Shah finally picked Madan Lal Saini.
Soon after his appointment, there were whispers that Saini was being made a fall guy by the BJP sensing defeat in the assembly elections later this year. Even Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot commented that Saini has been made a “sacrificial lamb” and was given a task which no one was willing to take up in the face of what many term as imminent defeat.
However, unaffected by all such claims, Saini, told IANS in an interview: “I am not here to become a sacrificial lamb. I am here to wipe out the opposition. In fact, time shall prove who has become a sacrificial lamb in the coming elections.”
The BJP had appeared more like a headless party for over two months after its president Ashok Parnami resigned on April 16.
Between April 16 and June 30, the names of proposed candidates were being exchanged between leaders in Delhi and Jaipur. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje visited Delhi frequently to select the right candidate for the coveted post.
Meanwhile, with Saini’s appointment, things seem to be stablising as he has swung into action sensing the criticality of his position. He is busy forming his own team, strategising and charting a way forward for the BJP.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent visit to Jaipur, had words of praise for Saini.
“I have worked with Madan Lal Saini-ji. I have also done many organisational tours with him,” he said, adding that Saini had tremendous knowledge of organisational matters.
On his part, Saini said: “Modiji took me back to the days when I was rendering my services to BJP’s Kisaan Morcha as national general secretary. At that time, Modiji was BJP’s national general secretary. We both shared the same headquarters in the same building; Modiji also shared a Sangh background and so did I. As we had the same association’s backing, ideology and thoughts… we often used to meet during tea time.”
“Thereafter, I became the Rajasthan in-charge for the Sardar Patel Sangrahan Samiti and Modiji was Gujarat Chief Minister in those days. He often used to discuss the progress of pending tasks with me. At that time, neither did I think of him becoming the Prime Minister nor did I dream of becoming the party president of Rajasthan,” Saini said.
“But then, this is how our party works; we promote our grassroots leaders to reach the top if they work with sincerity, honesty and dedication,” he added.
Interestingly, during Modi’s visit in Jaipur on July 7, Saini was standing a little behind the other leaders. Observing this, Modi indicated to him to take step forward and shook hands with him.
Saini said he was confident of attaining the 180-plus target set by the BJP in the coming elections to the 200-member house, in which it currently has 160 seats. Reminded of the recent losses during bypolls in Alwar, Ajmer and Mandalgarh, he retorted: “Have you seen a tiger? Before attacking his prey, he takes two steps back and then takes a leap forward. So is the case with the BJP. We went two steps back only to invigorate ourselves to take a big leap and wipe out the opposition.”
Speaking about the infighting in the BJP cadre on caste lines, he said this was also true of the opposition Congress, with three chief ministerial candidates — Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot and C.P. Joshi — in the fray.
“They are busy portraying themselves as CM candidates. We have resolved all our crises,” Saini added.
Asked about party workers’ claims that Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje still had an attitude and portrays herself as a queen, Saini countered: “I have seen Vasundhara-ji visiting rural areas to redress the grievances of people. Had she been a queen, she could have assigned the task to any of her party members. But she herself is taking the lead, which is the task of the leader.”
On the lynching cases in Alwar and Bharatpur, he said people should learn to respect the religious sentiments of different communities. “This is the only way we can retain communal harmony in the nation.”
“In fact, we should work to ensure our country has a strong presence on the global map. As we discuss America’s viewpoint on significant developments of the world, we want the world to discuss India’s viewpoint on crucial subjects in the coming days and the party is working to accomplish this aim,” Saini said.
(Archana Sharma can be contacted at archana.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News
Jaipur : A total of 220 cow carcasses were seized from a warehouse in Rajasthan’s Alwar district early on Wednesday, police said.
The animal carcasses were found buried inside a Govindgarh facility, Sub-Inspector Dhara Singh told IANS.
Other than the cow carcasses, there were also remains of buffaloes and goats seized from the location.
Singh said that beef was supplied to Haryana, Rajasthan and other surrounding states from this place.
The raid was launched following an arrest of a man on Tuesday and his interrogation, Singh said, adding that a probe was on.
The Govindgarh police sub-inspector also said that the Tuesday’s arrest came after three women were arrested on Monday, when they searched a number of houses and seized 40kg of meat found in their possession.
Veterinary doctors and a large number of people were present when the police raided the warehouse on Wednesday.
—IANS
