© Nitin Sangwan

Beginner’s Note for the UPSC Interview (Personality Test):

The UPSC Interview is formally called – the Personality Test i.e. it is not merely an
interview per se in correct sense, but is a test of your “personality” – a term which includes
many facets of you as an individual – your behavior, your manners, your attitude and aptitude
(for civil services), your awareness about your surroundings, your maturity level and so on. It is
not merely a test of knowledge, but at the same time, a well-informed person always has better
chances of scoring better than others. So, my strategy was to always prepare well for
interview. Ideally the preparation for the Personality Test should start from the day you start
your overall preparation as one should foresee this day and should note down ideas and events
accordingly and improve one’s behavior, speech and outlook. Nonetheless, whenever you start,
you should work around above ideas and for a sound preparation, I am sharing a series of notes
which will help you in adopting a better approach towards Personality Test preparation in a
much coherent fashion. I scored fairly well in all three interviews in a consistent manner with
193 out of 275 marks in the 2016 interview, a transcript of which is available here.

Best of luck!

Nitin Sangwan, IAS

AIR 28 (2016), AIR359 (2015), AIR 320 (2014)

PS: I would love to hear from you and request you to drop me a comment at:
www.meandupsc.blogspot.com if you need some further help in the exam or need to refer some
of my other notes for Civil Services exam, UPSC Interview or Haryana State PCS.
 © Nitin Sangwan

State and Home Town

A fair idea of one’s home state and home town/district is desirable in terms of demographics,
geography, economy, social and economic indicators and so on. Generally, recent state budget
summary (often available on websites of state governments) is a good ready reckoner of recent
schemes and macro indicators. Wikipedia pages are also helpful apart from other conventional
sources like – some standard handbooks on states (National Book Trust has some hand books,
publications like Arihant also publish such handbooks apart from other sources). This doc gives such a
broad view about Haryana, you can replace the relevant information and ideas with your respective
state and areas. One should also fairly touch upon cities and areas where one lived during graduation,
job etc.

Best of Luck.

Nitin Sangwan

HARYANA
The name ‘Haryana’ could mean ‘the Abode of God’, derived from the Sanskrit words Hari (the Hindu
God Vishnu) and Ayana (home).

Haryana was administered as part of the Punjab province of British India, and was carved out on
linguistic lines as India's 17th state on 1 November 1966, on the recommendation of the Parliamentary
Committee. On 23 April 1966, acting on the recommendation of the Hukum Singh Committee, the
Indian government set up the Shah Commission.

The Shah Commission recommended that Tehsil Kharar (including Chandigarh) should be a part of
Haryana. However, the city of Chandigarh was denied to Haryana, and Chandigarh and a Punjabi-
speaking area of Rupnagar district were made a Union Territory serving as the capital of both Punjab
and Haryana.

Trivia –

• Haryana has had 100 per cent rural electrification since 1970.
• State Animal Black Buck
• State animal – Neel Gai
• State Bird Black Francolin
• State Tree is Sacred Fig

QUESTIONS
How is Haryana number 1?

Industry and Economy

 © Nitin Sangwan

• CAGR of 9% since last 10 years

• Highest per capita income (except Goa) at around Rs 1,50,000 (as compared to around
Rs 90,000 of pan-India)
• Highest production of cars, motorcycles
Agriculture and Rural Development

• Number one in terms of Wheat productivity (5182 kg/hectare) – Bagged Krishi Karman
Award for 2012-13.
• Per capita milk availability is also second highest – 750 gm per capita (highest in Punjab
– 900+ gm).
• 1st state to be fully electrified all its villages in 1970
• Among front-runner states where all villages were connected to all weather metalled
roads
• The state accounts for more than 60 per cent of the export of Basmati rice in the
country.
Sports

• Number 1 state in sports with maximum medals in Olympic, Commonwealth games –

40 percent medals
Defence

• Leading state to contribute Armed forces – one of the few states to live truly upto ‘Jai
Jawan, Jai Kisan’
• 1st and only defence university in Haryana
Advantages of Haryana

• Proximities to Delhi – Market, Airport, Connectivity, DMIC

• 13 districts in NCR
• Weather – Provides for diverse cropping patterns
• Hardworking population (higest productivity in wheat, highest per capita contribution to the
armed forces, second higest per capita income, ahead in sports)
• Good infrastructure – Even villages have metalled roads, 100% electrified villages; DMIC, KMP
• Skilled work force – technical education has been promoted well. IIM etc has also been opened
What are the biggest challenges/problems that state of Haryana faces today?

• Gender Discrimination
• Agricultural stagnation
• Regional imbalance and skewed industrialization – Mewat vs Gurgaon
• Cultural lag – presence of Khaps along with PRIs, high per capita income, but average
educational and health standards, presence of so many deras
• Education institutes have grown, but quality of education has not grown
• Casteism and caste based politics
 © Nitin Sangwan

• Law and Order Maintenance

Problems in rural areas

• Gender disparity
• Agrarian problems
• Rural urban divide
• Education and health
• Connectivity
• Traditional institutions – khaps
Problems in urban areas

• Congestion
• High real estate prices – housing
• Education and health – quality and cost
• Basic amenities – water, sewage, roads
• Lifestyle – old food habits give way to new, sedentary lifestyles, lifestyle diseases
What are you views on the common capital system of Haryana and Punjab?

In 1966, when government set a linguistic commission under Justice Shah, it recommended to
make Chandigarh as a part of Haryana, however it could not happen and Haryana has to share
its capital with its parent state.

From administrative and public convenience point of view, I think Chandigarh as a joint capital is
serving neither purpose of Punjab nor Haryana. It is not easy to access for the citizens of both
the states and hence cause considerable inconvenience to administrators and public at large.

A solution can be that Haryana may shift its capital to some other place, while still retain
Chandigarh as common territory with Punjab.

Desa maa des Haryana, jit dudh dahi ka khana – justify?

• Murrah, NDRI, Desi food.

• Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes at Hisar are instrumental in development of new
breeds of cattle and propagation of these breeds through embryo transfer technology.
• Haryana, with 750 grams of availability of milk per capita per day, ranks at number two in the
country as against the national average of 232 grams
• As a result, we produce maximum number of medals in sports

ADMINISTRATIVE
Area – 44,200 km square approx

Divisions – 4

Districts – 22 (Charkhi Dadri is 2nd district)

 © Nitin Sangwan

Sub Divisions – 54

Tehsils – 85

Blocks – 119

Towns – 106

Villages – 6864

Governor of Haryana – Kaptan Singh Solanki

1st Governor of Haryana – Dharmvir

1st Chief Minister of Haryana – Pt. Bhagwat Dayal Sharma, MLA from Yamuna Nagar

1st Speaker of Haryana – Shanno Devi

AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, FOREST and IRRIGATION

• Total food grain production from Haryana is estimated to have reached 16.6 million tonnes in
2012-13.
o Wheat – 127.30 lakh tonnes
o Rice – 38.72 lakh tones
• Average land holding size is 2 hectares or about 5 acre
• About 86% of the area is arable, and of that 96% is cultivated. i.e Out of total land 81% land is
agriculture land.
• Cultivable area in Haryana is – 38 lakh hectares (which is 82% of total available land of 44 lakh
hectares)
• Currently there are 22 crops on which central government can provide MSP. However, MSP is
given only on Wheat and Rice.
• 70% of population is in agriculture – higher than national average (due to maximum area under
cultivation), followed by service sector and industry.
• 75% land is irrigated
• Haryana is a water stressed state – has just 40% of own water resources
• Highest Wheat Productivity of 5182 kg/hectare. Haryana has bagged Presidential Krishi Karman
Award for highest yield in terms of productivity for the production of wheat for last year.
• First Place in productivity of Sarson and Bajra.
• Murrah Buffalos give around 15kg of milk per day.
• Hariana and Sahiwal breeds of cow are also indigenously developed varieties.
• Haryana Food grain production is 17 million tonnes
• Sonipat – mushroom
• Karnal – Rice
• Sirsa – Cotton
 © Nitin Sangwan

• Bhiwani – Bajra
• Yamuna Nagar – Sugarcane
• Wheat productivity – 52 quintal/hectare
• Rice – 27 quintal/hectare
• 80 irrigated, 53% irrigation from ground water
• HAU, Horticulture Market Gannaour
• Vegetable Excellence Center – Karnal
• Fruits Excellence Center – Sirsa
Alternate Farming

In Jind Haryana farmers are not only avoiding the traditional insecticides, but also bio-pesticides
to protect their crops. They use ‘friendly’ insects to destroy harmful insects. For Example, to
fight with an insect of cotton crop, they use 2-3 varieties of friendly insects.

‘All India Organic Farmers Society’ is a new startup based in Hisar which promotes organic
farming and has employed thousands of farmers. It primarily provides training and consultations
to farmers on organic farming. After constitution of Organization (AIOFS) in 2007, AIOFS has
trained more than 10,000 farmers.

Crops

The major Kharif crops of Haryana are rice, jowar, bajra, maize, cotton, gawar, jute, sugarcane,
sesame and groundnut. For these crops the ground is prepared in April and May and the seeds
are sown at the commencement of rains in June. The crops are ready for harvesting by the
beginning of November.

The major Rabi crops are wheat, tobacco, pulses, linseed, rapeseed and mustard.

Fisheries

Haryana is the second largest producer of the pond fishes. Panchayats have earned Rs 25 Crore
in year 2012. Panchayats are encouraged to lease their ponds. Further, government also
provides waiver of VAT on fishery production and electricity supply at rebate.

Livestock and Dairy

Dairy farming is also an essential part of the rural economy. Haryana has a livestock population
of around 1 crore.

Haryana, with 750 grams of availability of milk per capita per day, ranks at number two in the
country as against the national average of 240 grams.

• The National Dairy Research Institute at Karnal is Asia's largest and oldest dairy
• The Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes at Hisar and NDRI are instrumental in
development of new breeds of cattle and propagation of these breeds through embryo
 © Nitin Sangwan

transfer technology. The Murrah breed of water buffalo from Haryana is world-famous
for its milk production.
• Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar has also been
established.
The world's first surviving cloned buffalo, Garima-II, gave birth to a female calf, establishing
India's mettle in the field of animal cloning. The female calf, named Mahima.

Irrigation

Haryana is a water deficit State and water availability is very less.

However, 60% of agricultural land is irrigated.

Canals

Canals of both Haryana are drawn mainly from Indus river system. Canals of Haryana are also
partly drawn from Yamuna Canal.

Major Canals in Haryana are –

a. Western and Eastern Yamuna Canal – It emerges from the Tajewala barrage, which is
located on Jagadhari-Paonta Sahib road.

b. Gurgaon Canal – Draws water from the Okhla Barrage of Yamuna

c. Bhakhra Canal - This canal has been drawn at a place near Nangal from the Sutlej. The fields
of Sirsa, Rohtak and Hissar districts are supplied water through this canal.

d. Bhiwani Canal – It draws its water from Bakhra Canal

Forests

3.9% of its geographical area is under notified forests and the actual forest area is much lower
than this figure.

It is an intensively cultivated State and hence deficient in natural forests. It falls in Gangetic
Northern Plains which were historically used for agriculture, hence forests were either cleared
or didn’t exist. Soil is moderately fertile.

Bagar name to Western Haryana is given to the type of soil.

Steps taken by the state government to promote forest land and greenery –

• Haryana Community Forest Project – To make up for the deficient forest cover, the
State has developed plantations on panchayat /community lands and farm lands.
• State also promotes ecotourism at places like – Morni Hills, Aravalis, Chuharpur etc to
spread awareness about conservation and promotion activities.
 © Nitin Sangwan

• Forest Policy 2006

Government Schemes and Inititatives to Improve Condition of Farmers

a. Haryana is first state in country to connect all Grain Markets through ICT

b. Soil Health Cards are made for all farmers free of cost and more than 30 labs and 3 mobile labs
are established

c. Department of Agriculture has 33 static soil and water testing laboratories and 3 Mobile Soil
testing Laboratories in the state at sub divisional level. Bhiwani also has a similar lab and almost
every district.

d. National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Weather based Agriculture Insurance Scheme
(WBAIS) are two insurance schemes.

e. Haryana aggressively promotes organic farming; financial assistance is provided to farmers for
production and use of vermicompost.

f. Collaboration with Israel – fruit research center in Sirsa and another vegetables research center
in Karnal – to explore productivity enhancement options in dry land areas

g. Diversification – Horticulture crops cover 4.50 lakh hectare area which is 6.94 percent of the
gross cropped area of the State. (Govt. of India has launched National Horticulture Mission for
the holistic development of horticulture.)

International Horticulture Market at Gannour

Horticulture University will be opened

Haryana is the largest producer of seasonal button Mushroom in the country. Sonipat is leading
district.

An area of 1760 hectare has brought under Medicinal & Aromatic Plants during 2013-14.

For raising disease free nursery, off-season and pesticide residue free vegetables, green house
technology can play a vital role.

h. Haryana government in collaboration with HAU has also launched ‘e-Mausam’- SMS based
weather alert system in Hindi language

i. Construction of Agro Mall/Shopping Complex – Rohtak, Karnal etc.

j. Mukhya Mantri Kishan Evam Khetihar Mazdoor Jiwan Suraksha Yojna – Compensation upto 5
lakh if farmer dies in the field.

k. Two Mega Food Parks for Haryana which will be set up in Sonipat and Panipat districts of the
state.
 © Nitin Sangwan

l. Agri Business centers are being opened in Haryana

m. Haryana government in March 2015 launched brand 'Haryana Fresh' to help farmers of the
state to sell their farm produce directly. Initially focus will be Delhi, where such outlets will e
opened. The brand has been registered in the name of Haryana farmers. Khattar said farmers,
who think their farm produce is of quality and worth selling in the market with the brand name
Haryana Fresh, would be able to apply to the designated officer and will be able to sell their
produce directly to consumers.

n. Agri-Business Schools will be opened wherein the farmers are able to learn management of
water, crop and market.

o. For the first time, an international level Agri-Meet was organised in Gurgaon.

Problems with agriculture in Haryana

• Fragmentation of land holdings – just about 2 hectares (Punjab has almost double size @ 3.95
hectares and 3.15 in Rajasthan)
• Rising input costs – increasing debt on farmers
• Saturated – no exit opportunities
• Post green revolution – mono-cropping, change in cropping patterns, lowering watertable in
Western Haryana
• Lack of diversification, insurance penetration and access to technology
Diversification in agriculture

• Horticulture
• Cattle rearing
• Alternative ways – polyhousing
• Value addition and food processing – pickeling, sauce, cottage industries
• Fisheries, bee keeping
• Plantation – eucaleptus, Vilayati Neem
• Change the cropping pattern
• Contract farming
Recent steps in wake of crop damage –

• Electricity bills waived

• Loans for the next kharif season will be interest free
• Agri Loans will be now treated as medium term loans
• Insurance companies asked to expedite claims

ANDAMAN AND LAKSHADWEEP

ANDEMAN
 © Nitin Sangwan

Bengali is the dominant language and most spoken language in the Andaman-Nicobar Islands with 70%
of the population speaking Bengali.

3 lakh population – mostly outsiders with some other tribes and indigenous people also.

572 islands, 35 inhabited

Tribes

• The Great Andamanese – only 40 left

• Onge, negritto stock – 110 left
• Shompens – The habitation of Shompens is the Great Nicobar which is the largest among the
Nicobar Group of Islands. Like the Nicobarese, they belong to the Mongoloid race. The
Shompens are the victims of disease, and physically very weak.
• Sentenelese – They are probably the world’s only Paleolithic people surviving today without
contact with any other group or community. The Sentinelese are very hostile and never leave
their Island. Very little is known about these hostile tribes.
• Jarawas, 341 left and they are largest. A buffer zone of 5 km radius has been notified
around the Jarawa reserve, to ensure that they do not become unwitting targets of large scale
tourism or commercial activities.
They are vulnerable to communicable diseases besides unhealthy drinking habits, acquired after
contact with the non-tribal, urban, dominant and advanced communities.

LAKSHADWEEP

36 islands, 10 inhabited

Lakshadweep comes from "Lakshadweepa", which means "one hundred thousand islands"

• Population – 64,473
• 84% Malyalis
• Literacy rate of 92.28
• More than 93% of the population who are indigenous, are Muslims

BETI BACHAO, BETI PADAHO

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao aims to address the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio through a mass campaign
across the country and focused intervention and multi sectoral action.

It is primarily a scheme that aims to –

I. Generate awareness to improve sex ratio

II. Improving the efficiency of welfare services meant for women.
 © Nitin Sangwan

The prime objective of the programme is

to bring about a change in people’s
mindset towards the girl child on or after
her birth.

The scheme was initiated with an initial

corpus of Rs 100 crore for 100 gender
critical districts.

12 gender critical districts namely

Mahendergarh, Jhajjar, Rewari, Sonipat,
Ambala, Kurukshetra, Rohtak, Karnal,
Yamunanagar, Kaithal, Bhiwani and Panipat.

As per the campaign data, out of 100 districts, Karnal in Haryana has the lowest sex ratio at the birth in
2013-14 at 736 and this is also lowest in the whole nation, that’s why Panipat was chosen venue.

Goal

• In 100 critical districts, improve sex ratio by 10 points in a year.

Main Components –

• Task forces formed at national, state, district and block level

• Collector and District judge will submit collaborate on PNDT cases, submit monthly reports to
union government. Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques
• Regular inspection of clinics in district.
• Online portal for filling anonymous complaints. Reward system for informants – about doctors
involved in sex-determination, illegal abortion, ultrasound machines etc.
• Asha workers will give mother-child protection card.
• Panchayat to display gudda-guddi board – number of new born boys and girls -every month.
• Behavioral change – With help of religious leaders and community leaders, introduce social
customs with Gender equality e.g. Celebrate birth of girl-child similar to Lohri, Siblings should
tie Rakhi to each other during Raksha-Bandhan
• Rewards under Beti Bachao
• If a Village uses “innovative” methods to improve sex-ratio, it’ll be given Rs.1 crore.
• School Management Committees will be rewarded if 100% girl children enrolled, and pass in
each class.
• Sukanya Smridhi Yojna to promote savings in the name of girl child
• As part of its "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao" campaign, Haryana government has decided to offer
more grants for development works in those villages, which would witness significant
improvement in sex ratio.
• Enrollment in schools
• A toilet in every girls’ school in 100 vulnerable districts across the country, including 12 in
 © Nitin Sangwan

Haryana;
• Aapki Beti, Humari Beti – Rs 21,000 incentives for the birth of the first child
• Incentives to Ashas
• Janani Suraksha Yojna also becomes – Beti Bachao Janani Suraksha Yojna
• Education free till graduation
• Strengthen implementation of PCPNDT Act
• 1% lower stamp duty
• Under the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao Programme, free bicycles would be given to girl students
belonging to Scheduled Castes families.
• Identify individuals or civil society organizations which do exemplary work for implementation
of the scheme for recommendation by DCs for Rajya Samman
• Encourage meritorious girls from the fields of academics/sports/culture/social work/science
etc.
• Felicitate/incentivize meritorious girls and their families with cash/token appreciation on
National Girl Child Day/International Women’s Day/Independence Day/Republic Day etc.
• Highlight exemplary case studies of girls coming up despite odds, stories of families which have
promoted daughters despite their struggles, in local media. Such stories will not only ensure
media coverage and set positive examples but also help change the mindset of people towards
the girl child.
• Statutory Status to Haryana State Commission for Women
• Education Loan to Girls/ Women – with 5% interest subsidy

BHIWANI
Bhiwani name is believed to have come from goddess Gauri Bhawani, Lord Shiva's wife. According to
another legend, the city got its name from the name of a Queen of a Rajput King Neem, named "Bhani".

It is called as ‘Choti Kashi’ for its more than 300 temples and also ‘Mini Cuba’ (for its boxers).

It comes under Hisar division.

Bhiwani has 6 tehsils – Dadri, Bhwani, Bawani Khera, Loharu, Tosham, Shiwani

Naurangabad Mound (of 1st century BCE), is one of the historically important places of interest
excavated at this place. Many seals, coins etc were found here belonging to Kushan period.

Late Capt. Hawa Singh, the legendary boxer, helped establish the boxing academy here.

Population of Bhiwani district is around 16 Lakh. 2nd highest populated district, Faridabad is highest
populated district.

Bhiwani irrigation – 67%

Sex ratio of Bhiwani is around 884

 © Nitin Sangwan

Literacy – 76%

440 villages

6 towns

CASTE
Violence against SCs

• Gohana kand
• Mirchpur Kand
Causes –

• Land
• Power struggle – panchayat elections
• Marriage

CHANDIGARH
Started in 1952

The master plan of the city was prepared by Le Corbusier, transformed from earlier plans created by the
Polish architect Maciej Nowicki and the American planner Albert Mayer.

The city tops the list of Indian States and Union Territories by per capita income in the country

The name Chandigarh is a portmanteau of Chandi and Garh. Chandi refers to goddess Chandi, the
warrior form of goddess Parvati, and Garh means fort.

Chandigarh hosts the largest of Le Corbusier's many Open Hand sculptures, standing 26 metres high.
The Open Hand (La Main Ouverte) is a recurring motif in Le Corbusier's architecture, a sign for him of
"peace and reconciliation.

CULTURE
It is said that ‘Agriculture is the only culture in Haryana’

Museums in Haryana

• Urusvati Museum of Folklore (Gurgaon)

• Sanskriti Museum (Gurgaon)
• Museum of Folk and Tribal Art (Gurgaon)
• Sri Krishna Museum (Kurukshetra)
 © Nitin Sangwan

• City Museum (Chandigarh)

• Pnipat Museum
Fairs and Festivals

• Fairs held in Haryana include Gopal-Mochan, Masani, Basdoda, Surajkund (1st to 15th February)
and the Kartik Cultural Festival.
Dance Forms

• Phag, Dhamal, Ratvai, Khoria, Ghoomar and Ganguar are some of the many dance forms of
Haryana.
Others

• Famous Theater Personalities – Ali Baksh from Rewari is said to be father of theater,
Deepchand Bahman, Lakhmichand
• Jyotisar Sarovar – Where message of Gita was preached.

DEMOGRAPHY and OTHER DATA

Population related figures –

• Muslims 5.78% (mainly Meos), Sikhs 6%, Rest Mainly Hindu.

• Haryana has 2nd largest Sikh population in India after the state of Punjab.
• Population of State – 25,353,081 (2011)
• Population growth rate – 19% (slightly above national average of 17%)
• Density – 573/km2 (above national average – 382)
• Sex ratio – 879 (India – 943) – Worst in India among all states.
• Scheduled Castes form 19.3% of the population
• Rural population – 65%
• Decadal growth – 19.90
• Literacy – 76% (M85; F66)
• Faridabad is the most populous district
• Sonipat has the worst sex ratio
• Mewat has the best sex ratio – 907 followed by Fatehbad (903)
• Bhiwani is the largest district in terms of area.

DERAS of HARYANA
• Deras primarily emerge as hopes to the depressed classes and castes
• Haryana has historically a liberal environment – a peculiar state where most of the major
religious communities exist together. So, society is quiet open to such new ideas and
interpretations of religion. We have raginis in Haryana where gods are treated in perhaps less
reverent manner and people even liberally joke about them.
• As the following grew, unfortunately, many of the deras also started to mobilize followers for
political gains and no party seems strong willed enough in past to question that in fear of losing
votes.
 © Nitin Sangwan

• Immediate gratification in form of spiritual experience, charismatic cult personality, use of

allurement and deception are other reasons
• What to do?
o Many activities of deras are suspect and run in contravention of rules of laws. They should
be checked and curbed
o Secondly, administrative should ensure that they don’t work in an opaque and mysterious
manner
o Thirdly, there should be some legislation to check promotion of superstition on lines of
Maharashtra etc.
o Cases which are filed against them should be handled swiftly
o There should also be regular inspection of their premises and high walls should not be
permitted.

ECONOMY
Macro economic data –

• Its state GDP in 2014-15 was around 3.5 lakh crore at current prices – 3.8% of national GDP
• Its SGDP growth rate is 7% for 2014-15
• State Fiscal Deficit is – 3.5%, less than the national average
• Sales Tax/VAT is the biggest contributor (40%) to the state exchequer followed by excise tax
• Haryana is one of the wealthiest states of India and has the 2nd highest per capita income in the
country at Rs 1,50,000, second only to Goa
• Per Capita investment is highest. Since 2000, the state has emerged as the largest recipient of
investment per capita in India.
• The share of Agriculture and Allied sector in the State GDP was recorded as 15% whereas the
share of Industry was 27% and Services sectors 58%
• Installed power capacity – 10,291.5 MW
• Total food grain production is estimated to have reached 17.6 million tonnes in 2012-13.
• As of August 2014, the state had six operational SEZs
• Haryana is India's largest manufacturer of passenger cars, two-wheelers, and tractors.
• Yamuna Nagar, Panipat, Panchkula and Faridabad are also industrial hubs, with the Panipat
Refinery being the second largest refinery in South Asia.

EDUCATION
Situation

• Overall literacy – 76%

• Women literacy – 64%
• Rural literacy – 71%.
• Urban literacy – 83%
• Rohtak – 3 Universities – MDU, Health University and Universtity of Performing Arts
• 800 medical seats
 © Nitin Sangwan

• IIT D extended campus – Jhajjar and Sonipat

• In 2015 Haryana Board result, 58.72 per cent students of Class X and 46.04 per cent of Class XII
failed in their examinations, underlining the dismal state of school education in Haryana
• As per ASER report 2014, children from Haryana perform much lower than the national average
which itself was poor.
• Mewat has poorest literacy rate as per 2011 census – 56%, followed by Fatehabad
• Gurgaon has highest literacy rate as per 2011 census – 84%, followed by Panchkula at 81.9 per
cent
Primary Education

• Apart from provisions under RTE 2006, Government is also providing free text books, work-
books and uniforms to children up to class 8th.
• The state has a strong primary education infrastructure, with a primary school located within a
1.03-km radius of each village
School Education

• A Model School – named ‘Aarohi Model School’ has been operationalised in each of the 36
Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs). They will serve as model schools in terms of
infrastructure, quality of education etc.
• Kisan Model Schools – With an objective to ensure availability of quality education to the
children of farming community in rural areas and to improve the delivery of Science, Math and
Commerce Education in rural areas, Government has decided to set up Kisan Model Schools
from 2012-13.
• For recruitment in schools, ‘Haryana School Teacher Selection Board’ has been established
recently to take a more focused approach on educational needs of state.
Higher Education

Haryana has 10 state universities, 28 deemed and private universities

In past couple of years significant progress has been made on front of higher education as many
new universities and institutes have been opened like –

• 4 new medical Colleges

• NIFT (Panchkula, proposed)
• NID in Kurukshetra
• Rajeev Gandhi Education City in Sonepat
• Extension campus of IIT Delhi in Jhajjar
• IIM Rohtak
• State Institutes of Fashion & Design, Film & Television and Fine Arts has been
established at Rohtak.
• Health University
• Woman’s University
In the State 10,45,118 students are studying in institutions of higher education. Gross
 © Nitin Sangwan

Enrollment Ratio in these institutions is about 15% as compared to the National Gross
Enrollment Ratio of 12.4%.

Haryana government steps –

• Free education of girls

• Teachers to compulsorily serve in rural areas

• English from class 1

Women’s Education

• The Haryana government provides free education to women up to the Bachelor's Degree level.
• New Woman’s University.
• Kasturba Gandhi Balika VIdyalya residential schools in backward regions.

E-GOVERNANCE
Recent e-governance initiatives of Haryana government –

• Government has launched 20 new e-governance schemes which will be offered via e-Disha or
Common Service Centers, government plans to launch 100 services by the 2015 year end
• E-registration
• E-stamping
• E-Disha – Here multiple services like – License, Registration of Vehicles etc are done. Due to just
a single center and more service seekers, often there are long ques.

• CM Window – Under this, it is claimed that a detailed report on the steps taken on the
complains will be sent on the mobile of the complainant. But there should be a feedback
mechanism as well. Often complains are either not addressed or are badly handled and their
status is shown as ‘Completed’. There should be a rating of government services and complain
handling.
• Har Samay – Online police FIR and complain mechanism
• All gram panchayats will have an IT enabled ‘Gram Sachivalya’
• Bio metric attendance – Haryana becomes the first state to introduce this system
• Jamabandi.gov.in is new initiative by which everyone can access jamabandi and mutations
online. Data would continue to update after every 15 minutes so that people would get latest
data on this website. Capt. Abhimanyu said that after registration of any land, its photocopy
would be made available on the website. Also, copy of jamabandi, registration or intkal etc
could be obtained from this website.

GEOGRAPHY
It has an area of 44,212 (sq km)

Being an alluvial formation, the State has very little mineral wealth.
 © Nitin Sangwan

The Aravali Range is the eroded stub of a range of ancient folded mountains and are oldest in India

Haryana has four main geographical features.

I. The Yamuna-Ghaggar plain forming the largest part of the state

II. The Shivalik Hills to the northeast

III. Semi-desert sandy plain to the southwest

IV. The Aravalli Range in the south

Rivers

• The ancient Sarasvati River is said to have flowed from Yamuna Nagar, but it has now
disappeared.
• The river Ghaggar is Haryana's main seasonal river. The Ghaggar rises in the outer Himalayas,
between the Yamuna and the Sutlej and enters Haryana near Pinjore, Panchkula district. Passing
through Ambala and Hissar, it reaches Bikaner in Rajasthan and runs a course of 290 miles
before disappearing into the deserts of Rajasthan. (ISRO scientists on the basis of GIS claim that
it could be the legendry Saraswati river)
• Sahibi Rivers – Markanda and Ghaggar

Kalesar National Park and Forest – Yamuna Nagar

•

HARAPPAN SITES in HARYANA

Bhirrana or Birhana is a small village located in Fatehabad District, in the Indian state of Haryana. It
belongs to "Harappan civilisation" or Indus Valley Civilisation dating from 7380 BCE. One of the
important findings was a dancing girls like figure, which was similar to Mohenjodaro’s dancing girls.

Banawali in Hisar district (Haryana) was situated on the banks of the now extinct Sarasvati River. Durg
and Teela were in a single boundary here.

Rakhigarhi (Hisar) and Mitathal (Bhiwani) are other two places. Rakhigarhi is now the largest Harappan
site in the world.

Site District Excavations/Findings

Banawali Hisar Barley, terracotta figure of plough
Graffiti of a dancing girl on pottery, which resembles dancing girl statue
Bhirrana Fatehabad
found at Mohenjo-daro
Farmana Rohtak Largest burial site of IVC, with 65 burials, found in India
Jognakhera Kurukshetra Copper smelting furnaces with copper slag and pot shards
Kunal Fatehabad Earliest Pre-Harappan site, Copper smelting.
 © Nitin Sangwan

Site District Excavations/Findings

Mitathal Bhiwani
Rakhigarhi Hisar Terrecotta wheels, toys, figurines, pottery. Large site, partially excavated.
Siswal Hisar

HEALTH
Current Status –

•Institutional deliveries – 85%

•IMR – 41, almost similar to all India IMR of 40
•Maternal Mortality Rate – 146, better than the all India figures of 176
•Per capita expenditure on health by the state – Rs 1,100
•Health – national spend – 1.55, Haryana – 3.5%
•Number of government doctors – 2,600 or, there is 1 doctor per 10,000 of population (ideal
ratio as suggested by the WHO is 1:1000)
Recent initiatives by the government –

• Provide free treatment to all children under Indira Bal Swasthya Yojana (IBSY). It will include
free treatment at not only poly-clinics, but also in PGIMER and AIIMS.
• Mukhya Mantri Muft Ilaj Yojana launched, under which all medical treatments including free
surgeries and free medicines are provided at state government health institutions.

HISTORY
The name Haryana first found mention in the 13th century AD by the Apabhramsha writer Vibudh
Shridhar (VS 1189-1230). The earliest reference to 'Hariana' occurs in a Sanskrit inscription dated 1328
AD kept in Delhi Museum, which refers to this region as ‘the heaven on earth’, indicating that it was
fertile and relatively peaceful at that time.

Ancient India

•
Vedic period Dhosi Hill, the Ashram of revered Rishi Chyawyan is an important site where
Chyawanprash was formulated for the first time.
• Harshavardhana established his capital at Thanesar near Kurukshetra in the 7th century AD.
Harshvardhana succeeded Guptas and was son of Prabhakarvardhan and had elder brother
Rajyavardhana. Thanesar is an ancient Hindu pilgrimage center and one of the 51 Shaktipeeth.
(related to Story of Sati or Shakti or Dakhsayani and Shiva). He was last Hindu King of North
India. They are from ‘Pushyabhuti Dynasty’.
Medieval India

• Prithviraj Chauhan established forts at Tarori/Tarain and Hansi in the 12th century.
Muhammad Ghori conquered this area in the Second Battle of Tarain/Taraori. Tarain is near
 © Nitin Sangwan

present day’s Thanesar. In first battle of Tarain, 1191, Prithviraj won, in Second, 1192, Prithvi
Raj was defeated by Ghauri and was killed.
• Sher Shah was born as Farid Khan in the Hisar district of India, some other say he was born in
Sasram in Bihar.
• Firoz Shah Tughlaq established a fort at Hisar in 1354 to further fortify the region, and also
constructed canals or rajwahas as they were referred to in the Indo-Persian historical texts.
• Hisar and Fatehabad was founded by Ferozshah Tuglaq.
• Hemu aka Hemchandra Vikramaditya, the Hindu king, acceded to the throne of Delhi in 1553–
1556 by defeating forces of the Mughal Emperor Akbar at Agra and Delhi. He belonged to
Rewari. He was later defeated by Akbar.
• Decline of the Mughal Empire in early 18th century, led to rapid territorial gains for the Maratha
Empire, including Haryana. In 1737, Maratha forces sacked Delhi, following their victory against
the Mughals in the First Battle of Delhi. A treaty signed in 1752 made Marathas the protector of
the Mughal throne at Delhi.
Battles of Panipat

The three famous battles of Panipat took place near the modern town of Panipat in Haryana.

• The first battle took place in 1526, where Babur, the ruler of Kabul, defeated Ibrahim
Lodi of the Delhi Sultanate, through the use of field artillery.
• In the second battle of Panipat (5 November 1556), b forces defeated, the local Haryanvi
warrior Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya popularly called Hemu, who belonged to
Rewari in Haryana and who had earlier won 22 battles, from Punjab to Bengal including
two against Akbar's forces during 1553-1556 before acceding to Delhi throne and
establishing 'Hindu Raj' in North India on 7 October 1556.
• Third Battle of Panipat was fought in 1761 between the Maratha Empire and the Afghan
warlord Ahmad Shah Durrani/Abdali of Durrani Empire, Marathas lost Punjab, Delhi and
Haryana to Ahmad Shah Durrani. After decline of the Mughal Empire, kingdom came
under control of various forces. Marathas became strong in the Deccan and Ahmad Shah
Abdali captured Punjab and appointed his son Timur Shah as the viceroy there. In 1758
they occupied Delhi, captured Lahore and drove out Timur Shah Durrani. Ahmad Shah
Durrani (Ahmad Shah Abdali), angered by the news from his son and his allies, was
unwilling to allow the Marathas' spread go unchecked. The battle ensued and the
Marathas lost.
Marathas lost despite modern armory as they lacked on organizational and mobility
front. The main reason for the failure of the Marathas was that they went to war
without good allies. They were expecting support from their allies- Rajputs, Jats and
Sikhs, but none of them supported Marathas in the battle. Moreover, the senior
Maratha chiefs constantly bickered with one another. Each had ambitions of carving out
their independent states and had no interest in fighting against a common enemy.
Another big reason was that Maratha army was also accompanied by a large number of
non-combatant pilgrims (3 times the size of army) which proved a burden in war.
 © Nitin Sangwan

Marathas were also fighting away from their base and this resulted in depletion of their
supplies as the battle prolonged.
After this battle, Afghans returned to north, and Marathas to south. The void was now
filled by Jats and Sikhs.
• Choturam – He founded ‘Punjab Unionist Party’ and ‘Zamindari League’ and he formed
government in Punjab with Sikandar Hyat. He was against partition, he provided debt
relief to the peasants of Punjab from the clutches of money lenders.
• Hem Chandra Vikramaditya from Rewari
• Hukum Singh (1990-91)
Battle of 1857

• Rao Tula Ram from Rewari was one of the key organizers of revolt during 1857.
• Nawabs of Jhajjar, Nawab of Bahdurgarh, Raja of Ballabhgarh were also at the forefront
Freedom Fighters

• Sir Chhotu Ram (1881–1945)

• Seth Chhaju Ram, Bhiwani
• Pt. Neki Ram Sharma, Rohtak
Monuments

• 90 Monuments of National Importance have been recognized by the ASI in Haryana.

• Kos Minars – many small minaret like structures which were said to be first built in medivel
India and they are spread from Palwal to Ambala.
• Tosham Rock Inscription – The inscription records the lineage and building activities of a line of
Sātvata religious preceptors dating to the 4th and 5th centuries CE.
• Pherozshah Palace, Hisar
• Gujri Mahal, Hisar – Now in ruins
• Sheikh Chilli's Tomb, Thanesar, Kurukshetra
• Jal Mahal and adjacent land, Narnaul
• Ebrahim Lodi's Tomb, Panipat
• Raja Harsh ka Tila – Thanesar, Kurukshetra
Other historical trivia

• Haryana had been at the forefront of invasions – Muhmmad Ghori (1190), Timur the Lame
(14th Century), Nadir Shah (Iranian invader) and Ahmed Shah Abdali (18th century).
• Razia Begum was murdered in Kaithal in 1240.
• Fariduddin Ganj-e-Shakkar or Baba Farid established Sufi silsilah in Haryana at Hansi and he
was a disciple of Bakhtiyar kaki.
• Altaf Hussain Hali (1837–1910) was an Urdu poet and writer from Panipat. Hali occupies a
special position in the history of Urdu literature. He was a poet, prose-writer, critic, teacher and
reformer. He was a close friend of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
• Haryana came under British rule in 1803 as Delhi falls under British. However, it was not a
 © Nitin Sangwan

smooth sailing for the British. Jats, Meo, Ranghars of Rohtak, Ahirs of Gurgaon made it tough
for the British.

INDUSTRY
Yamuna Nagar is the largest industrial town wholly within Haryana. It has Asia's largest paper mill BILT

Ambala is the largest manufacturer of Scientific Apparatuses. It is named as Science City of Haryana.

Jagadhari is famous for its utensils industry

Panipat is famous for the handloom industry

Gurgaon is already recognized as the IT/BPO capital in northern India and accounts for about 9% of the
country’s share.

Industrial policy and other important steps to promote industries –

• Single-window clearance mechanism was established under the Haryana Industrial Promotion
Act, 2005. It has a three-tier structure to grant exemption/relaxation from any of the
provisions/rules of the Act.
• As of August 2014, the state had 6 operational SEZs
• HSIIDC has established industrial townships in many cities apart from Gurgaon and Faridabad.
Maruti has come up with its R&D Center in Rohtak, Asian Paints has set up its plant in Rohtak,
Panasonic has established its plant in Jhajjar

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDECES of STATE

Kerala and Delhi are top in HDI rank

Haryana has 8th rank

The three HDI indicators of the state are –

• Per Capita Income – Rs 1,50,000 as compared to Rs 90,000 of pan-India

• Literacy – 75%
• Life Expectancy (MMR – 141, IMR - 41)

INFRASTRUCTURE
• First in the country to provide safe drinking water facilities throughout the state.
• Haryana Government has its own state-wide area network by which all government offices of
21 districts and 127 blocks across the state are connected with each other thus making it the
first SWAN of the country.
• Haryana was the first State in the country to achieve 100% rural electrification in 1970.
• The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. is going ahead with Pre Project activities of the
proposed 4 x 700 MW Nuclear Power Plant at village Gorakhpur in district Fatehabad.
• Total Power generation capacity in Haryana is around 10,000 MW
 © Nitin Sangwan

• First in the country to link all villages with all-weather roads

JATS
Traditionally involved in peasantry, the Jat community saw radical social changes in the 17th century,
the Hindu Jats took up arms against the Mughal Empire during the late 17th and early 18th century.
The Hindu Jat kingdom reached its zenith under Maharaja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur (1707–1763).

The Jat people were designated by officials of the British Raj as a "martial race", which meant that they
were one of the groups whom the British favored for recruitment to the British Indian Army.

Famous Jats

• Dara Singh
• Charan Singh was the first Jat Prime Minister of India
• Mallika Sherawat
• Sunny Deol
• Bhagat Singh
• Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, a revolutionary
• Maharaja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur in Rajasthan in India. He has been described by a
contemporary historian as "the Plato of the Jat people"
• Dara Singh
• Sushil Kumar
• Vijender Beniwal
• Jagmati Sangwan – Chairperson AIDWA
Sangwan

The present name of Sangwan Gotra came from Raja Sangram Singh or Sangu who came to
Charkhi Dadri area in Haryana from Ajmer in Rajasthan after a long war between old Kshatriya
Jat Aryas and newly formed Rajput Kingdoms of Rajasthan.

They used to keep weapon named Sang (स ाँग) and Vana (व ण) hence called Sangwan.

Sangwan Khap has 40 villages (but actually, they are more than 60 in Haryana, 40 village are
located very closely around Charkhi dadri).

Famous people –

• Major General Umrao Singh Sangwan

• Lila Ram Sangwan
• Jagmati Sangwan
• Raj Kumar Sangwan
• Pradeep Sangwan – cricketer
• Monika Sangwan - First girl to perform Ghurchari in marriage rituals
Jats Trivia
 © Nitin Sangwan

• Sangwan – 40 villages (40 ki khaap)

• Malik is the biggest Gotra among Jaats.
• The four million Jat of Pakistan are mainly Muslim; the nearly six million Jat of India are mostly
divided into two large castes of about equal strength: one Sikh, concentrated in Punjab, the
other Hindu.
• 9 Jat Regiment was an infantry named after Jats in British Army, it later took form of Jat
Regiment after independence

KHAPS
Technically, a Khap is a clan or gotra. Historically, each khap used to have a dispute redressal agency – a
council of the elders – known as ‘Khap Panchayats’.

Khap panchayat is an informal local council and khap is a cluster of villages united by caste and
geography.

Contemporary khaps were started by upper caste jats to consolidate their power and position. The
main rule is that all boys and girls within a khap are considered siblings. The Khap and Sarv Khap was a
system of social administration and organization in the republics of Northwestern Indian states such as
Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh since ancient times. Khap is a term for a social - political grouping
and used in a geographical sense. Other parallel terms are Pal, Ganasangha, Janapada or republic. Thus,
Khaps were earliest of the republic bodies (unlike monarchial system prevalent elsewhere). Decisions
were made under the aegis of a Council of five elected members (Panchayat). Decisions were by
consensus.

A number of villages grouped themselves into a Guhaand. A number of Guhaands formed a 'Khap'
(covering an area equal to from a Tehsil to a District) and a number of Khaps formed a 'Sarva Khap'
embracing a full province or state. For example, there was a "Sarva Khap" each for Haryana and Malwa.

Current situation

• At many occasions, khap panchayats overstep their boundaries and come into conflict with the
law. However, their overwhelming role in Haryana society is exaggerated due to various reasons
like –
o Khaps are a phenomenon confined only to the Jat clans which are just 1/5th of the state
population.
o Even among the Jats, khap panchayats are bodies with influence limited only to rural
pockets.
o Inter-caste marriages are common now. Existing norms and customs are breaking
down.
o One rarely hears about anything like that of Khap Panchayat meeting.
o Economically better off never care for khap diktats.
Negatives about Khaps

• Undemocratic and illegal aspects. Khaps are alleged to have initiated threats of murder and
 © Nitin Sangwan

violence to couples who marry outside of the circle.

• Secondly, khaps suffer from elite capture and their functioning over the years has deteriorated.
• Thirdly, we live in an era of modern democracy where ‘rule of law’ prevails and even
constitution provides rights which are for individual and not for social groups. Liberty and
justice cannot be subverted by arbitrary diktats of a social organisation.
• In Uttar Pradesh, khap panchayats in western parts of the state have ruled against women
carrying or using mobile phones or wearing jeans or other western attire.
The Supreme Court has declared ‘khap panchayats' illegal.

Positive Steps Taken By Khaps

• In October 2013, Sarva Khap meet, it was announced that Dowry seekers should be socially
boycotted. It also emphasized that expenses on marriages should be lowered. Earlier they also
unanimously denounced girl child killing.
• Satrol Khap announced recently that inter-khap restrictions be relaxed
• Bibipur village has also taken many of its kind steps – mandatory 50% expenditure in
concurance of women members of Gram Sabha, resolution condemning female foeticide
• Sangwan Khap recently honored Geeta and Babita with cash reward and the members took a
public oath that ‘they will not promote female foeticide and if they do, they shall be deemed
outcaste’
How to salvage situation?

• The legal justice delivery system at ground level needs to e strengthened so that people don’t
turn to such institutions for justice. If the legal system continues to fail the people of this
country then extra-judicial bodies will increase.
• Since more democratic institutions like Panchayats have now arrived on scene, they should be
strengthened, so that khaps are gradually automatically discouraged.
• Make more participation of youth in democratic process as well as in Khaps so that they is a
balancing force against the conservative forces.
How to deal with them in case they breach limits

• Channelize their energies towards constructive events by giving due recognition to their
positive acts
• Promote democratic institutions like Panchayats in that area
• If any criminal activity is committed, strict action against them as per law
• Provide adequate security to the affected
• Involve youth
• Make them aware about rule of law and related provisions
Khap Panchayats as a concept is not counter to the spirit of democracy. Khaps are socially constructed
organisations and are supposed to represent interests of society.

Khaps themselves are not problematic, their degeneration is.

 © Nitin Sangwan

LAND and ACQUISITION ISSUES

Land Acquisition and Farmers of Haryana

• Current land acquisition policy is better than the national policy in many sense that – it provides
stakehold (industrial plot option), employment, and a long term annuity. There is also a
provision of land pooling. Which balances the interests of farmers and land acquirers

• There are some instances of dissatisfactions, but they often emerge after a gap – because as
prices of neighboring land go up due to industrial activity etc, they feel relative deprivation

• However, there is a need to review the condition as sometimes excess land is acquired and
sometimes prime land is acquired. Land acquisition in Haryana has also turned into a real estate
business – influential people get the land use change done which farmers cannot get done.

Land acquisition is sometimes not the primary issue, its misuse and change of purpose becomes
problematic.

MEWAT – Land of Meos

The Meos, who trace their roots to the early Aryan immigration into northern India, call themselves
Kshatriyas and have preserved their social and cultural traits to a surprisingly large extent

Just 20 km from Delhi airport, it has remained undeveloped.

They are currently classified as OBC

Nuh town is the headquarters of Mewat district created as 20th district in 2005 from Gurgaon and
Faridabad and now surrounded by Plawal, Gurgaon and Faridabad.

It has not been able to develop despite its proximity to NCR and some of the most developed districts
like Gurgon and Faridabad.

Main towns are – Nuh, Punhana, Firozpur Zhirka.

Causes of backwardness –

• Neglect by successive governments and administration – There are no industries, still major
occupation is agriculture
• 90% of Meos are in agriculture
• Only 41% of net sown area in Mewat is irrigated as compared to average of Haryana 85%
• Terrain is also hilly and productivity is low in agriculture – The agriculture in Mewat is mostly
rain fed
• Due to poor education, poverty and other factors of social backwardness, family sizes have
remained large. Even in past census, decadal growth had been 38% as compared to 19% of
national average. The average household size in rural Mewat was 7.
 © Nitin Sangwan

• Still 90% households are in rural areas – spread of urbanisation had been slowest in this
region.
• Conservative outlook of people – women are still not allowed to attend formal education
• Historically, the region has been extremely turbulent and has been subject to repeated
invasions and resultant plundering and due to constant turmoil, developmental process couldn’t
effectively take off
• Poor literacy – 56%
• Law and order situation
• Under-developed agriculture – almost 90% rain fed with hilly terrain and low productivity
• Poor focus on women education and employment – women literacy rate just 35%
• Predominantly rural – 95.36% cent of its population is rural
• Irrigation poor – 40% as compared to 80% in Haryana
• 70% minority population
• Administration also has lower involvement – most of the administrators live in Gurgaon and
have failed to own up the district
• Lack of other basic facilities also – education, health and so on
Steps taken to improve condition of Mewat

• The area was made a separate district as 20th district to focus on special developmental needs
• Various government schemes – MNREGA, SSA, IAY etc
• State has a 15 point plan for the development of minorities
• HSIIDC has established an industrial estate
• Mewat Development Board has been formed to look into special developmental needs of the
district. In the year 1980, Govt. of Haryana with a commitment to deliver social and economic
justice to the backward and under-privileged sections of society, constituted Mewat
Development Board (MDB) headed by the Governor of Haryana.
• Mewat Development Agency is the dedicated planning agency and is execution arm of MDB.
• Separate cadre has been created for Mewat to deal with shortage of teachers
• National Minority Development Finance Corporation has also agreed in principle to provide
micro-credit facilities at minimum rates of interest to the people of Mewat and the MDA would
be the channel for this purpose
• NABARD has agreed to open its district office in Mewat
• Model schools have been setup in district
• A new medical college is coming up in Nuh
• New railway line through Hathin
Community and private initiatives –

a. Mewat Development Society is a society which works in collaboration with government for
implementation of various government schemes
b. Informal channels like Radio Mewat are working for information sharing and community
awareness
 © Nitin Sangwan

c. Self Help Groups are also working for empowerment of women.

NCR and HARYANA

In July 2013, NCR was expanded to include three more districts, Bhiwani, and Mahendragarh in the
state of Haryana, as well as Bharatpur in the state of Rajasthan. This brought the number of districts in
NCR to 18. Then, in January 2014, NCR was expanded to include two more districts – Jind and Karnal in
the state of Haryana. There are now a total of 20 districts (plus Delhi NCT) within NCR.

30 per cent of its total area falls into the National Capital Region (NCR) of India. Differently stated, 40
per cent of the total area of the National Capital Region (NCR) is that of Haryana State.

The Haryana Sub-Region comprises 13 districts (out of 21 districts): Faridabad, Gurgaon, Mewat,
Rohtak, Sonepat, Rewari, Jhajjar, Panipat, Palwal, Mahendragarh (Narnaul), Bhiwani, Jind and Karnal.

In 1985, with enactment of the National Capital Region Planning Board Act, 1985 of Government of
India, NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) was constituted.

Hisar, Ambala and Karnal are the counter magnet regions of the NCR.

Benefits of Being in NCR –

• Better connectivity;
• Loans at further reduced rates of interest to finance infrastructure projects;
• 15 per cent of the project cost as grant; and integration with the national capital
• Better planning advise from an expert body – NCRPB

PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS in HARYANA

In Haryana, recently following steps were taken to empower PRIs –

• Funds and grant-in aids will be directly transferred into accounts of PRIs
• Further Panchayats will be able to take administrative decisions regarding spending without
any limit.
• Instead of DC, President of Zila Parishad will be the Chairman of DRDA
• Discretion to spend upto Rs 10 lakh
• First state to appoint safai karamcharis on municipal lines
• 226 rural stadia built

PEOPLE
• Surendra Sharma, the comedian poet is from Mahendragarh district.
• Jagmati Sangwan – She is chairman of
AIDWA
• Col. Hoshiar Singh Paramvir Chakra
• Famous Actors
o Om Puri Ambala, Parineeti Chopra, Yashpal Sharma, Randeep Hooda, Juhi Chawala
 © Nitin Sangwan

Ambala, Mallika Sherawat

• Writers
o Balmukund Gupta – famous writer and journalist from Rewari, Haryana
o Surdas
o Altaf Hussain Hali (Panipat)
• Swangi
o Kishanlal Bhatt, Ramkrishan Vyas, Ved Vyas, Deepchand Bahaman (guru of Lakhmi
Chand)
• Muslim Saints
o Kalandar, Hasno
• Freedom fighters
o Raja Nahar Singh, Ballabhgarh
o Pt Neki Ram Sharma, freedom fighter from Bhiwani
o Pt Shri Ram Sharma – Freedom Fighter
o Chajju Ram, Hisar, funded the education of Chotu Ram

POLICE
Haryana police and reforms

Steps taken

• A new act was passed in 2007

• The State Police Complaint Authority (SPCA) , Haryana was constituted on 16.08.2010 by the
State Government under the Haryana Police Act, 2007.
• Police Recruitment Board set up under 2007 Act
• State Police Board also established under 2007 Act
• Gender sensitive
o Women only police station
o Higher representation in police force
In 2012 MHA review of the progress, Haryana found lacking in following areas –

• No transparent recruitment process – more than 10,000 posts of constables lying vacant due to
the delay in recruitment
• State security commission not formed
• Complain mechanism not there at district level

SARASWATI RIVER ISSUE

Vedas lay more importance to Saraswati than Ganga. Vedas mention it 45 times.

The mythical Saraswati river, according to the historians, had dried up 4,000 years ago. Satellite images
had mapped its course that once flowed through North-Western India.
 © Nitin Sangwan

Ghaggar-Hakra River has been identified as the historic Sarasvati river by many researchers. Satellite
images in possession of the ISRO and ONGC have confirmed that the major course of a river ran through
the present day Ghaggar River.

A major proponent of making the Indus civilisation and the Rigveda compatible has been BB Lal, former
Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). He claims that the Rig Vedic Saraswati and
the present-day Saraswati-Ghaggar combine, which flows through Haryana and Punjab and dries up
near Sirsa, are the same.

Some researchers have refuted the logic that Saraswati can flow from Haryana to Triveni Sangam due
to the nature of slope in the Haryana region.

Haryana government stand

• In March 2015 Haryana’s BJP government announced excavation of the Saraswati river from Adi
Badri, the point from where it is said to have originated. The digging is to be spread over 43
villages of Yamunanagar district starting from Rohlaheri (Bilaspur tehsil) to Uncha Chandna
(Mustafabad sub-tehsil), a distance of 50 km.
• The work is being executed under the rural job guarantee scheme and around 400 families have
been entrusted with the task.
• Excavation work has been started in eight villages for which Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar
has made budgetary provisions worth Rs 50 crore.
Center Government stand

• Union water resources and river development minister Uma Bharti said her government was
taking up the issue very seriously "to trace the route of the river".
The finding of Saraswati river disproves the
Aryan invasion theory, which states that
Aryans who originally lived in central Asia
migrated to India in around 1,500 BC
attacking the local Dravidians and moving
them south.

SATLUJ YAMUNA LINK (SYL)

CANAL ISSUE
Origin of Conflict

वर्ष 1966 में हरिय ण क गठन हुआ औि वर्ष

1976 में तत्क लीन प्रध नमंत्री इंदिि ग ंधी के
समय इंदिरा गांधी अवॉर्ड के तहत 3.5 एकड़
फुट प नी क बराबर-बराबर का बंटवारा ककया
 © Nitin Sangwan

गया थ । पंज ब क्षेत्र में इस नहि ननम षण के ललए हरिय ण ने पंज ब को उस समय 2 ब ि में 2-2 किोड़ रुपये भी दिए
गए थे। ब ि में सप्र
ु ीम कोटड के हस्तक्षेप पर बंटवारे के प नी में राजस्थान भी श लमल हो गय । अप्रैल 1982 में पंजाब के
कपूरी नहर की खुिाई का काम शुरू हुआ, जजसे 2 स ल में पूि होन थ । 1987 तक इस नहर का 95 प्रततशत तनमाडण पूरा
हो गया। फफि पंज ब में उग्रव ि क िौि शुरू हो गय , जजससे उसके क्षेत्र में नहि ननम षण क क यष खट ई में पड़ गय ।
जबफक इस बीच हरिय ण में बंसील ल की सिक ि ने एसव ईएल के अल व नहिों क ज ल बबछ दिय थ , जो आज
तक सूखी पड़ी हैं।

1991 में हररयाणा सुप्रीम कोटड में चल गय औि म ंग की पंज ब को कोटष नहि बन ने क आिे श ज िी किे । सुप्रीम कोटष
ने 15 जनविी 2002 में फैसला हररयाणा के पक्ष में िे ते हुए कह फक पंजाब एक वर्ड के भीतर नहर का तनमाडण किे ।

Sutlej (Saryu) Yamuna link canal or SYL as it is popularly known, is a 214-kilometer (133 mi) long heavy
freight canal in India to connect the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. However, the proposal met obstacles.

In 2004, Punjab assembly cancelled the accord.

The matter is pending in SC. There was a similar case in Kerala in which SC invalidated the legislation
passed by the state government, so hopes are there that decision will be in favor of Haryana.

Haryana government is now planning to file a fresh suit.

SPORTS in HARYANA
Current position –

• 40% of medals in the last Commonwealth from Haryana

• Haryana had the largest contingent in Olympics.
• In National Games held in Kerala in 2015, Haryana stood 2nd among states and third overall
(behind Services)
• Out of the seven selected boxers for London Games, five are from Haryana and all the three
players who have qualified in wrestling are from the state.
• Geeta Phogat is the first Indian woman wrestler to qualify for Olympics.
• Wrestling – Suman Kundu, Geeta-Babeeta Phogat, Chnandgi Ram
• Capt Lila Ram Sangwan or Lila Pehlwan – 1st Commonwealth Gold winner in heavyweight
category, he was from Mandola village and spent his life in Charkhi Dadri. He was also awarded
with Padma Shree.
• Mohit Sharma, the pacer is from Haryana
• Sumit Sangwan – Boxer, 19 years old – one of the youngest to qualify for Olympics
• Akhil Kumar is another promising boxer from Haryana
• Out of 6 olympic medalists, 4 are from Haryana. (Sushil Kumar wrestler, Saina Nehwal, Gagan
Narang, Yogeshwar Dutt)
• Women’s hockey team is predominantly from Haryana. Shabad near Ambala has a Hockey
nursery for Women.
 © Nitin Sangwan

• Ritu Rani – India women's national field hockey team, Captain is from Haryana
• Geetika Jakhar is an outstanding wrestler from Haryana, silver medalist at both Asian Games
and Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014
• Seema Antil is in discuss throw
• Arjun Awardees – Geeta, Vinesh
• Volleyball – Ballu, Dayal Singh
• The Indian hockey team comprised eight players from the state, including four – Ritu Rani, Rani,
Navjot Kaur and Jaspreet Kaur – from Shahabad. The other players from the state were Deepika
Thakur from Yamunanagar, goalkeeper Savita Punia and Poonam Rani from Hisar and Monika
Malik from Sonipat.
• Men’s Hockey team captain Sardara Singh is also from Sirsa, Haryana
• Sandeep Singh, another hockey player is also from Haryana
Sports infrastructure in Haryana –

• Nahar Singh Stadium for international cricket was built in Faridabad in the year 1981
Why Sports have done so well in Haryana?

There are some social, cultural and policy factors –

• There is a saying that – ‘Desan ma des Haryana, jit doodh dahi ka khana’ – so, there is a
cultural value in eating good and staying fit.
• Later progress in livestock productivity and farm productivity also helped to achieve more on
these lines
• Jobs are assured and even today, people put high premium on government jobs. Government
has also come up with right to job.
• Secondly, historically also, the Jats, Yadavas, Gurjars have been warrior class and even today,
Haryana contributes almost 10% to the armed forces.
• Thirdly, government has identified the potential of sports long way back and in 1980s, coaches
were recruited.
• At ground level also, government has a policy of promoting sports at village level and there are
‘Gram Stadiums’ in each village
• Every student in schools is encouraged to take up at least one sport and is encouraged to
represent India at international stage through an initiative called “Play 4 India”.
• Further, to cap it all, government also provides material incentives in form of – jobs, cash
rewards and so on. So, when a person turns to sports, he or she also has some assurance over
the financial stability in life. Fir example, not only the winners, even those who competed in
Olympics were given Rs 11 Lakh and winner of Gold medal was to be given a whopping 2.5
crores.
• 46 nurseries have been setup across the state which provide free hostel, games kit, food and
training to athletes. 171 stadiums have been setup at block level with full time coaches.
• Center of excellence for individual sports are set up in various cities. The most famous being
the boxing academy in Bhiwani and Wrestling in Rohtak and Sonepat, which have produced
 © Nitin Sangwan

many awardwinning boxers and wrestlers for the state.

• Three national academies, i.e. National Academy for Boxing, National Academy for Athletics
(Throws) and National Academy for Wrestling, being set up in the state
• SPAT – the Sports and Physical Aptitude Test
• Right To Play – Haryana becomes the first government to make it a right for everyone to have
access to adequate sports facilities and it will make physical activities compulsory in schools.
• Sports University proposed in Sonipat
Boxing in Bhiwani – Why?

• The Bhiwani Boxing Club in Bhiwani in the state of Haryana, India came to the
limelight in 2008 as four of the five boxers who represented India at the 2008 Summer Olympics
are from Bhiwani.
• The Academy was established by the legendary Indian boxer, two time Asian
Games gold medallist and 11 time national champion, Captain Hawa Singh.
• Sports Authority of India coach and boxer Jagdish Singh has been credited with
making the Bhiwani Boxing Club, or "BBC" as it is known locally, a powerhouse of Indian Boxing.
• Among the 2008 olympians, Jitender Kumar
(Flyweight) (51 kg) and Akhil Kumar (54 kg) went on to qualify for the quarter finals, while
Vijender Kumar (75 kg) won a Bronze medal.
• Bhiwani is known as Little Cuba in India due to
the large number of boxers who hail from the region
• Bhim Stadium of Bhiwani was also established
long back and is a hub of sports personnel
Haryana Sports Policy, 2015

• 6 crore for Olympic Gold, 3 crore for silver and 2 crore for bronze 15 lakh for participation
• 3 crore for Asian gold, 1.5 crore for commonwealth gold
• Medal winners in recognised international competitions will now get jobs by way of right to
employment.
• On the anvil is an insurance scheme for the players to insure them against sports accidents,
sports injuries and other exigencies.
• Besides, a pension scheme will be designed to give a clear-cut message to all such talented
sportspersons as want to become champions at international level.
• The other innovative decisions include making Yoga compulsory in schools
• Sports school in each district;
• Setting up of a State Institute of Sports Development

TRANSPORT
• Some of the major national highways – NH-1, NH-2, NH-8, NH-10 and NH-22 – pass through the
state.
 © Nitin Sangwan

TOURISM
• Panipat museum
• Kos minars
• Kurukshetra
• Tomb of Razia Sultana in Kaithal
• Tomb of Ibrahim Lodhi, Panipat
• Sohna hot water spring
• Sultanpur lake
• Yadvindra Garden, Pinjore
• Morni Hill, Panchkula

URBAN PROBLEMS
• Haryana has 35% urban population
• India has 31% urban population

WILDLIFE
State Bird – The Black Francolin or Black Partridge

State Animal – Black Buck

Haryana has 2 National Parks, 8 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 2 Wildlife Conservation Areas, 4 Animal & Bird
Breeding Centers, 1 Deer park and 49 herbal parks which are managed by the Forests Department of the
Government of Haryana.

National parks of Haryana –

• Kalesar National Park – 142.52 hectares, 15 km from Yamunanagar on Chhachhrauli road.

Elephant, wild boar, sambhar, hare, red junglefowl, porcupine, monkey, chital etc are major wild
species.
• Sultanpur National Park – 4682.32 hectares, 25 km from Gurgaon. A bird spot. Migratory birds
land here from as far as Siberia.
Wildlife Sanctuaries of Haryana –

• Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary, Jhajjar district, 411.55 hectares, 15 km away Jhajjar

• Khaparwas Wildlife Sanctuary, Jhajjar district, 82.70 hectares, 8 km from Chhuchhkvas
• Saraswati Wildlife Sanctuary, Kaithal district, 4482.85 hectares, 10 km from Pahowa
• Chhilchhila Wildlife Sanctuary, Kurukshetra district, 28.92 hectares
• Abubshahar Wildlife Sanctuary, Sirsa district, 11530.56 hectares, 10 km from Mandi Dabwali
• Bir Shikargah Wildlife Sanctuary, Panchkula district, 767.30 hectares, 8 km from Pinjore
• Khol Hi-Raitan Wildlife Sanctuary, Panchkula district, 2226.58 hectares, 0.5 km from Panchkula
• Nahar Wildlife Sanctuary, Rewari district, 211.35 hectares, 5 km from Kosli
The Forests Department, Haryana of the Government of Haryana runs the following breeding and
 © Nitin Sangwan

conservation centers as well –

• Chinkara Breeding Centre Kairu, Bhiwani on Bahal-Bhiwani road in Kairu village near Bahal in
Bhiwani district.
• Crocodile Breeding Centre, Kurukshetra , Bhaur Saidan (Kurukshetra)
• Black Buck Breeding Centre, Pipli Mini Zoo, Kurukshetra
• Peacock & Chinkara Breading Centre, Jhabua, in Rewari district
• Pheasant Breeding Centre, Berwala in Panchkula district
• Pheasant Breeding Centre Morni in Panchkula district
• Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre, Pinjore

WOMEN, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, SEX RATIO Etc

Current status

• In 2011 Census, Haryana was the worst among all states with this ratio around – 879 (In 2001,
the sex ratio of female was 861 per 1000 males in Haryana, so, despite low sex ratio, there is
actually an improvement over the years).
• Child Sex Ratio in Haryana – 834 (it is also an improvement over the 2001 data) (all India level –
918, down from 932)
• Out of the 15 districts in the country having the worst sex ratio, Haryana accounts for 9
• District with worst sex ratio – Sonipat (853)
• District with worst sex ratio (child – 0-6 age group) – Jhajjar (782)
• Sex ratio in Bhiwani – 883
• Bahrana in Jhajjar district has poorest sex ratio in whole India – 378
Why poor sex-ratio in Haryana?

• Social factors – patriarchy, khap dominance in rural hinterland

o Boy birth celebrated – Chuchak
o Ritual – Pind daan
o Lineage – Patrilineal
• Political factors – lack of political will, PCPNDT Act has seen poor implementation
• Economic – dowries become more expensive as the state prospered, concept of patrilineal
transfer of land also led to male child preference
• Technology – as Haryana prospered, technological interventions also arrived early
• Religious factors – agni at the time of death
Sex Ratio –

• Easy access to sex-determination techniques as Haryana has prosperous state

• Male child preference for various reasons – rituals, lineage maintenance, bride comes home,
bride brings dowry
• Role of girls is not fully appreciated by the society –status of woman is low, workforce
participation is also low – 26%, confined to house chores
 © Nitin Sangwan

• This has even bred some extreme thinking like ‘छोि मिै ननभ षग क , छोिी मिै भ गव न की’
• Post birth poor focus on nutrition and health of girl child
Impacts

• Bride imports
• Sexual violence
• Increase in age of marriage
• Polygamy
• Social fabric weakens, balance disturbs leads to evils
• Further weakens the position of women in a vicious circle manner
Steps by government to check sex detection and improve sex ratio

• Ironically, since last census, Haryana and Punjab are the only two states that have shown
improvement in the sex ratio.
• Haryana doctors compulsorily required to install a tracking device on their ultrasound machine-
which automatically transfers test-database to Chief medical officer. This helps curbing
nuisance of female foeticide and doctors no longer need to manually fill the compliance forms
under PNDT act.
• Women-Child Ministry will give Rs.1 crore award to 1-crore award for any innovative village
attaining a balanced sex ratio.
• Use of ID card has been made compulsory for an Ultrasound in Haryana.
• Government has also announced an award of Rs 21,000 to those who inform about doctors
conducting ultrasound for sex detection
• Financial incentives are given under various schemes like ‘Aapki Beti Humari Beti’ to promote
girl child care
• Government has also introduced a device called ‘silent observer’ in many of the
• Government rewards Panchayats who take progressive decisions to check sex detection
• Government also promotes social initiatives which strengthen position of women in society –
for example, in May 2015, Haryana government gave cash reward to two sisters from Jind who
took two extra pheras pledging to shun female infanticide/foeticide
• Recently in Jind in a Mahapanchayat, it was declared that female foeticide should be declared
as grave an offence as murder, which was commended by state government for such efforts at
grass root level.
• Rebate of 10p per unit if electricity connection is in the name of woman.
• Woman also pay lower stamp duty
• 21 Fast-Track Courts (FTCs) have been set up for speedy trial in cases of heinous crimes against
women.
• The Haryana government provides free education to women up to the Bachelor's Degree level.
• 'Haryana Kanya Kosh' – The girl child belonging to the families of poor and Scheduled Castes will
be provided financial assistance from this fund.
• Incentives under ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ to gram panchayats
 © Nitin Sangwan

• Bibpur Model
o 1st women khap of Haryana
o Streets and roads named after girl child – Laado Johad
o Selfie contest with girl child
o Resolution to condemn foeticide
o
How to address problem of gender discrimination
• Women empowerment has to be done at each and every level
• Education should be improved
o Education should also include ideas of equality of women
o Organisations working for child education should be strengthened
o Parents must be educated
• Work force participation of women should increase
o Reduce economic dependence of women
o Instill confidence in them
o Give them skill based training
o Make reservations
o Conducive environment for work
• Conducive environment for that also needs to be created
o Saftey
o Commutation – special buses for college girls
o Incentives to come forward
• Awareness campaigns
• Challenge the current notions of sexual divisions of labor
o Delhi women are taxi drivers
o In Chennai lot of women are conductors
o Army combat role in Autralia
• Highlight the achievements of the girls – so that other girls can come forward
• Laws enforcement
o Dowry Act should be strictly enforced
o PCPNDT Act should also be strictly imposed
o Enabling legislations and schemes should be given wide publicity
• Promoting alterantive cultural thinking
o Girls taking such steps – Taking barat to boy’s place
o Riding on the mare/ghodi
o Pnachayats should be used as a medium – ban practices derogatory to women
o Community participation

TRIVIA – HARYANA
• Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore
 © Nitin Sangwan

• Palwal is last district to be created

• National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) at Kundli,
• Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership at Bahadurgarh
• National Automotive Testing and Research & Development Infrastructure Project (NATRIP),
and Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs at Manesar
• Footwear Design and Development Institute or FDDI at Rohtak
• Three new IMTs at Rohtak, Faridabad, and Roz-ka-Meo are at different stages of development.
• Two Regional Rapid Transit Systems (RRTS) Corridors, namely, Delhi-Gurgaon-Rewari-Alwar
(158 kms) and Delhi-Sonipat-Panipat (111 kms) are to be developed on priority basis.
• More than 60 per cent of the country’s export of basmati rice is from Haryana.
• Prarambh School for Teachers Education, Jhajjar is first of its kind in Country. It will offer a 4
year integrated program (BA/B.Com + B.Ed)
• Bhiwani district is also known as the political capital of Haryana because it is the hometown to
three of Haryana's former chief ministers: Mr Bansi Lal, Mr Banarsi Dass Gupta and Mr Hukum
Singh.
• Haryana will have first Tourism University in country which will be opened in Sonepat.
• Punjabi is the second language of Haryana
• हरिय ण के िो जजले किन ल औि जींि एनसीआि में श लमल कि ललए गए हैं औि इससे हरिय ण क कुल 57 प्रनतशत
क्षेत्र एनसीआि में आ गय है
• ि ज्य सिक ि ने हि जजले में एक ववश्वववद्य लय खोलने क नीनतगत फैसल ललय है । गुडग़ ंव में भी एक
ववश्वववद्य लय खोल ज एग
• Charkhi Dadri made 22nd district.

HOME TOWN – CHARKHI DADRI

It was founded by Dada Bilhan Singh Jat of Phogat gotra
around 14th century AD who purportedly had lineage of
Prithvi Raj Chauhan.

Jhadu Singh Sardar was another important ruler during

Akbar's time who left a great impact on Charkhi Dadri.
Maharaja Jind was married in the same family.

It is the biggest Tehsil in Haryana, situated in Southern

Haryana, it is almost 100km far from New Delhi.

Dadri Vidhan Sabha constituency is one of the 90 Vidhan

Sabha constituencies in Haryana state in northern India.
 © Nitin Sangwan

Dadri is part of Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency along with eight other Vidhan Sabha
segments.

After 1857 war, Dadri was conferred on Raja Sarup Singh of Jind. Till 1904, Dadri was a tahsil of the Jind
Nizamat. In that year Dadri was made into a separate district.

About Charkhi Dadri

• It is a small peaceful rustic town and tehsil headquarter. It has a rich cultural history (it is said to
be established by a descendent of Prithvi Raj Chauhan – Bilhan Singh, has historical pond and a
British Era beautiful guest house)

• It has also made significant contribution to armed forces and freedom struggle

• It gave one of the earliest Cement Plants to India (established in 1938, taken over by
government in 1981 after an Act of the parliament as Dalmia Dadri cement had financial issues).

• It has also produced great sportspersons like – 1st Common Wealth Gold Winner Leela
Pehlwan, Arjun Awardee boxer Rajkumar Sangwan, Geeta Phogat wrestler.

Physiography

• Kankar is a type of Alluvial soil which is found a few feet below Bhangar/old alluvial which is a
bed of lime nodule. It is found near Charkhi Dadri.
• In South there are Semi -Desert with remnants of Aravali Range Mountains.
• The Groundwater is mainly Saline with some of small pokets of fresh water in Southwest.
Census Figures

• As of the 2011 India census, Charkhi Dadri city/municipal limts had a population of around 57
thousand.
• Dadri population – 3,84,000, 1,70,000 voters
• Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%.
• Charkhi Dadri has an average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average.
• Dadri is tehsil/Taluka with 184 villages.
Mid Air Collission

• The 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision occurred on Tuesday, November 12, 1996 when Saudi
Arabian Airlines Flight en route from New Delhi, India, to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, collided in mid-
air with Kazakhstan Airlines Flight en route from Shymkent, Kazakhstan, to New Delhi, over the
village of Charkhi Dadri, Haryana, India.
• All 349 people on board both flights were killed, making it the deadliest mid-air collision and
the third deadliest aircraft accident in the history of aviation, only behind Japan Airlines Flight
123 and the Tenerife airport disaster.
• The crash was investigated by the Lahoti Commission, headed by then-Delhi High Court judge
Ramesh Chandra Lahoti.
 © Nitin Sangwan

• The commission determined that the accident had been the fault of the Kazakhstani Il-76
commander, who (according to FDR evidence) had descended from the assigned altitude of
15,000 feet (4,600 m) to 14,500 feet (4,400 m) and subsequently 14,000 feet (4,300 m) and even
below that. The report ascribed the cause of this serious breach in operating procedure to the
lack of English language skills on the part of the Kazakhstani aircraft pilots.
• The tail of the Kazakhstani plane clipped the left wing of the Saudi jet, severing both parts off
their respective planes.
Cement Plant

• Established in 1938.
• It was later acquired by Cement Corporation of India from Dalmias
• Production was stopped in 1996 due to various issues and the plant remains closed till date.
Recent News –

• Dongra Ahir is the village in Mahendragarh district which has been selected by MP of Bhiwani-
Mahendragarh under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna. Money from MPLAD will be spent on this.