National Highway Widening Problem.

The government is planning to widen the National Highway running through Sangrur, Dhuri and other areas by 16.5 feet on both sides to facilitate easy movement of troops, heavy vehicles and armoured units. The National Highway is the main link between north-west Punjab/Haryana and the army’s operational area further west. 

However, there is a problem: Widening the highway would result in the demolition of thousands of homes/shops which have been there for decades. No amount of compensation and re-allotment of land would rehabilitate them as these people have been living and working here for generations and displacing them would cause irreparable damage.

Rural development is of utmost importance if a country has to progress. But I think it will be eventually time consuming and unsafe for our troops to travel through Sangrur and Dhuri. A better solution would be to make a bypass skirting the towns. This would ensure that people are not uprooted and at the same time would assist movement of troops and people in general.

As a social activist, I have served the people of Punjab for the past 16 years and consider each one of them a part of my family. I would do everything in my means to ensure that the plight of the people is heard in the right platform. I have already written to the minister of state for road transport and highways and he has assured me that he will look into the matter. I have faith that the government will see the logic behind my suggestion and will look at the problem compassionately. I would also urge the people of Sangrur and Dhuri to stay calm as their leader is with them.

Akali government dragging its feet from the uranium issue

The uranium hazard in Punjab has taken alarming proportions. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has found traces of uranium in groundwater samples collected from 13 new districts, including Tarn Taran, Moga, Barnala, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Ropar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Pathankot. The uranium content in these samples varied between a scary 0.1 and 153 ppb (parts per billion). The minister of state in the PMO, V Narayanasamy, has urged the Punjab government to find out whether the high incidence of cancer in the region had any connection with uranium presence in the sub soil.

Expressing concern about the lack of “desired urgency and seriousness” in dealing with the situation, a parliamentary panel has recommended the central drinking water and sanitation ministry’s intervention. The panel has said if the problem is not addressed immediately it will “cause incalculable damage to the health of people, livestock and environment”.

In response, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, who also holds the drinking water and sanitation portfolio, has requested the Akali Dal government in Punjab to submit a detailed report on the situation on the basis of which the Centre will come up with corrective measures. But the state government is yet to respond to the request.

I am surprised that the Akali government, which claims to be the champion of Punjab’s cause, is dragging its feet on such a critical issue. Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal always accuses the Centre of meting out a step-motherly treatment to Punjab. But, now a central minister is urging the Punjab government to simply submit a proposal following which the Centre would take steps to address the problem and the state is doing nothing about it.

The lives of thousands of villagers are at stake here and if the state government doesn’t  show some initiative it will spell doom for Punjab.

Recruitment trends in India

The recruitment process in India is designed in such a way that each candidate gets the desired job profile that suits their educational qualification. To appoint new employees, the companies concerned work in tandem with recruitment agencies for the process of recruitment in Punjab and other states of India.

To select the right candidate, a lot of resources are invested by a recruitment agency. It includes preparing the job description, the list of openings in the market, conducting meetings, scheduling interviews, managing responses and making crucial decisions. A great recruitment company is one which is able to make each and every procedure of the recruitment process feasible for every man and woman in India and who understands the needs of the candidate and clients.

All most every recruiting company in India follows three steps of processing recruitment in Punjab and other parts of the country.
A) Short listing of applications of candidates.
B) Preliminary assessment.
C) Final interview and selection.

Some recruitment companies may also include a written test to judge a specific skill of a candidate. Above all, the resume of a candidate plays a crucial role in the process of recruitment. The resume must be organized, refined, industry oriented and follow the current trends of the industry. The process of recruitment in Punjab and all over the country must be strong, transparent and fair. The interviewer must consider all the skills of the candidates. The candidate must be told what documents to carry, and the job profile for which he/she has applied for.

After the interview, the candidate must be informed about whether he/she is selected or not. An ideal agency of recruitment must have a good understanding of all the areas of the industry and must be proficient enough to execute all the processes of recruitment in Punjab and other states. It is only when we have a solid recruitment process in India that we can have both rural and urban development.

Working towards empowerment of women in India

Women in India are today aware of their rights and privileges. They participate in every democratic process of the countryand their contribution in the fields of art, science, and sports, education, politics is remarkable.

Women in India play various roles – that of mother, sister, wife and daughter – successfully. Yet, women in India still depend on men for protection and help at every stage of life. As a daughter, she depends on her father; as a wife, she depends on t her husband and later, when she becomes old she needs her son.

The status of woman in 21st century is a sort of irony. On one hand, she is becoming educated and financially independent and on the other, she is suffering a lot because of superstitious, traditions and customs still being practised in India.

Women in India are still exploited to a great extent; the statistics of exploitation are appalling. The birth of a female child is still considered a curse of god in villages and towns. The process of recruitment in Punjab and many such states is still male oriented.

The current status of woman in India needs to be improved. Women’s empowerment is of utmost importance for India to progress. Through projects on women’s empowerment, we can uplift women in India. Education is the only way to women’s empowerment in India. Literacy is the only way to awareness of the fact that women are not inferior to men. Women in India are endowed with the qualities of beauty, love, tolerance, the quality of giving everything without expecting. With these qualities they can do wonders for society.

We, at Umeed are working hard to clean society of primitive rituals and improving the status of women in India. To a certain extent, we are trying to transform the male-oriented process of recruitment in Punjab to a female-friendly process. Change has begun but at a slow pace. But that day is not far away when women will share equal status with men.