The year 2008 was witness to inclusive growth bringing improvement in the living standards of the people of Haryana. The state entered the high-growth orbit (the economy grew by 9% against the projection of 7.9% in the Tenth Plan) and attracted huge investment from both domestic and foreign companies.
About 3.5 lakh Haryana government employees and thousands of pensioners with the state government will be benefited from January 1 on implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission with retrospective effect from January 2006. The pay employees draw for January will be according to the revised pay scales. Haryana has become the first state in the country to take decision of disbursing pay arrears of the revised scales to its employees in cash.
Farmers were benefited as the Central government lifted ban on the export of PUSA-1121 variety by giving it the status of basmati. A bonus of Rs 50 per quintal on the purchase of paddy was also announced. As many as 7.12 lakh farmers of Haryana have been benefited to the tune of Rs 2,189 crore under the loan waiver scheme of the UPA government. The state government has also raised the sugarcane price to Rs 170 per quintal, Rs 165 per quintal and Rs 160 per quintal for different varieties of sugarcane.
The state aims to achieve the target of generating additional 5,000 mw of electricity. Presently, the state has generation capacity of 4,680 mw from all resources, which include generating capacity of 2,187 mw of its own resources. The construction of the Yamunanagar Thermal Plant is complete and both units of 300 mw each have started generating electricity. 50 % construction work of 1200-mw Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Plant at Khedar has been completed.
The first unit of 600 mw will start generation by December this year and its second unit of the same capacity will start generation by March, 2010. 1500-mw Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Plant at Jharli in Jhajjar district will start generation in 2010. Besides, agreements to purchase 3,044 mw of electricity for 25 years have also been signed.
Observed as ?Education Year?, the state government took a holistic approach to revolutionise all types of education–school, college, university, medical, technical and ITI training. Five new government colleges and a number of ITIs were set up this year. Polytechnics have been established at Morni and Bhiwani. An IIM is coming up in Garnavadhi village of Rohtak. Besides this, work is on for a business school and knowledge park in the Guru Jambheshwar University campus, a Defence University and Sainik schools.
Work on projects worth more than Rs 2000 crore, are underway under the Rajiv Gandhi Bridges and Roads Infrastructure Development Programme. The target has been set to complete construction of projects worth Rs 3,000 crore by March, 2009, instead of March, 2010. Construction work on 11 railway overbridges is in progress. Elevated highway at Panipat, constructed at a cost of Rs 340 crore, was dedicated to the people alongwith the Rs 300-crore Ambala-Zirakpur National Highway four-laning project.
Committed to the welfare of freedom fighters, serving personnel and ex-servicemen, the state government raised the Samman Pension of freedom fighters and their widows from Rs 5,125 to Rs 5,500 per month with effect from December 3, 2008.