Dalit population highest in
Punjab

V.P. Prabhakar

Punjab has the highest percentage of the Scheduled Castes population among all the states in the country. It is 88.60 lakh, which comes to 31.94 per cent of the total population (277.43 lakh) of the state. Punjab accounts for 2.3 per cent of the total population and 4.3 per cent of the Scheduled Castes population of India.
The SC population in Punjab is predominantly rural by residence. As per the 2011 Census figures, 73.33 per cent SC people live in the rural areas, whereas 26.67 per cent SCs reside in the urban areas in the state.
The literacy rate among the SCs is 64.81 per cent as compared to total literacy rate of 75.84 per cent in the state and 73 per cent in the country as a whole. The female literacy rate of the SCs at 58.39 per cent in the state lags behind that of the total 70.73 per cent in the state.
As per the Nation Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015-16), the infant mortality rate in Punjab is 29 deaths before the age of one year per 1000 live births, whereas it is 40 deaths per 1000 live births for the Scheduled Castes.

Rafi music contest

Rahul Gandhi About 32 singers from the region vied for laurels during the Mohammad Rafi music contest (excellence awards 2019) at Tagore Theatre on July 31.
Sidhu, however, did not admit this fact and presented his performance chart at a press conference.
The musical bonanza was organized by the Yaadgar-e-Rafi Society. This was the 34th edition organized by the society.
“Likhe jo khat tujhe — Akela hun main hamsafar dhund aasman… Na-ja ab kahin ab na ja---”. Such immortal songs echoed in Tagore Theatre for over three hours on that day. Along with Rafi’s songs, the songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle also resounded in the hall.

Chandigarhians continue to wait every year for this function. The second version of the contest is held by the society in December. The July 31 function is held on the occasion of his ‘punya thithi’.

The chief guest was Punjab Cabinet minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, Minister for Health, Family Planning and Labour Department. He announced a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh to the organising society. B.D. Sharma, General Secretary of the society, expressed gratitude to the chief guest, participants and audience.

The guest of honour was Krishan Dhull, Honorary General Secretary of Child Welfare Council, Haryana. Another guest of honour was Jaspal Singh, Chairman of Ramada.

Mobiles in jails

The Haryana Police, along with the civil administration has conducted raids in all jails in the state and recovered mobile phones, SIM cards, chargers, cash, opium and other objectionable articles.

While giving this information, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh Virk said the searches conducted simultaneously were part of a statewide routine drive to check for unlawful activities, devices and substances in jails and ensure that jails in the state do not become a place for criminal activities.