Twin feat for noble Fazilka

Gaurav Sagar Bhaskar FEROZEPUR:

Hindustan Times, 31 January 2013
Fazilka has eye for both noble work and record.

The youngest district has not only created maximum jobs in the state but also motivated most people for eye donation in the country.During a nationwide survey of eye banks, it came out that Fazilka had the most number of eye donors in the country. This achievement is thanks to Ravi Juneja, who came out with his eye-donation awareness programme three years ago. Because of his effort, 575 people have donated eyes, so far, in the district, bringing the gift of sight to 1,150 people.

"Organisations such as Social Welfare Society and Ram Sharnam have supported the mission," said Juneja. "The youngest eye donor is Ishita, 8." Juneja's team goes around motivating people to pledge eyes for donation after death. Of the eye donations, so far, 307 are from Fazilka, 176 from Jalalabad, and 92 from Abohar.

The motivators, Amrit Lal Kareer, Raj Kishor Kalra, Sandeep Aneja, and Surain Lal Kataria, work 24x7. "The border district of Fazilka, first to guard the country during wars, is proud to have worked on a new, noble frontier during peace time," said Juneja.

"Cheers to the spirit of Fazilka's people, because now they know the art of living even after death," said social worker Navdeep Asija. "The 22nd district of Punjab, carved out only last year, has done something remarkable of its age," said local legislator and state minister Surjit Kumar Jyani.

"The eyes of Fazilka people will never close even after their death," said businessman Vikram Ahuja. "More than 1,100 people are able to see this beautiful world, thanks to highest organ donation from Fazilka," said Asija.

RECORD WORK

The district gave employment to maximum people under the Mahatma Gandhi Nationa Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) of the union government. "The benefit went to 22,297 families and 1.46-lakh women," Basant Garg, deputy commissioner of Fazilka, said on Wednesday.

The new district spent Rs 15 crore under the MNREGS which contributed a lot to the development of villages. The administration built four Rajiv Gandhi Centres at the block level for Rs 25 lakh and began creating another 46 centres in the district, of which 35 are almost complete.