ESI scheme in HP a ‘fraud’ on workers
SOLAN, Dec 20 — At least 32,000 industrial workers registered with the Employees State Insurance Corporation of India in this district have since 1995 been getting a raw deal at the hands of the State Health Department which managed it’s operations in Himachal Pradesh.

Revolt against NSUI president
SHIMLA, Dec 20 — A powerful section of the state unit of NSUI have raised the banner of revolt against Mr Atul Sharma, president of the organisation and demanded his immediate removal.

Arrest warrants issued
NAHAN, Dec 20 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr M.K. Bansal, has issued non-bailable warrants against Mr M.K. Purohit, Director of the now-defunct Himstate Chit and Finvest Ltd, for December 28.

Flax being grown in Himachal
PALAMPUR: Flax is an annual plant similar to linseed which produces good quality fibre and its botanical name is linum usitatissimum. In India it is grown for its oil and is called linseed.

ESI scheme in HP a ‘fraud’ on workers
From Romesh Dutt

SOLAN, Dec 20 — At least 32,000 industrial workers registered with the Employees State Insurance Corporation of India (ESI) in this district have since 1995 been getting a raw deal at the hands of the State Health Department which managed it’s operations in Himachal Pradesh.

The ESI was set upto provide a health insurance cover to industrial workers, most of whom were poorly paid and could not afford modern healthcare facilities. Each worker of a registered factory contributed a small amount from his wages every month in the shape of premium. The ESI bore seven-tenth of the expenditure on running the insurance scheme. The balance (one-eighth) was contributed by the state Health Department.

While day-to-day medical needs of the workers were to be met at the ESI’s network of dispensaries and hospitals, serious cases were referred to select hospitals like Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Shimla, and the PGI, Chandigarh. All expenses incurred by the workers at such institutions were fully reimbursable by the ESI.

This was precisely what was not being done by the managers of the ESI scheme. All four ESI dispensaries located at Baddi, Barotiwala, Majholi and Chambaghat and also the main one at Parwanoo had being facing a chronic shortage of essential medicines. The workers’ claims for reimbursement of duly verified and certified medical bills remained largely unsettled during the past four years. As on April 1, 1998, the ESI owned a cumulative total of Rs 1.7 crore to it’s intended beneficiaries by way of unpaid bills.

Since then a paltry sum of Rs 10 lakh had been disbursed for settling some pressing medical reimbursement claims. After repeated entreaties and demonstrations by aggrieved workers failed to move the authorities, a trade unionist went on an indefinite fast in front of the ESI dispensary at Baddi on December 15.

Since the trade unionist belonged to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the labour wing of the ruling BJP, the state Health Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda, rushed to Baddi and assured the agitating workers that a sum of Rs 63 lakh would be released forthwith for settling the reimbursement claims and that more money would follow to settle medicine purchase bills.

Sources in the Directorate of Health Services say the minister had arranged for an advance payment of Rs 63 lakh from the ESI against the current year’s allocations for payment of claims relating to previous years. This, they say, is not a solution.

The crisis will reappear in the organisation before the year-end when workers’ bills for the current year will start piling up once again. The ESI had already expressed it’s inability to provide any overdrafts on a continuing basis. Doubts are also being expressed over the ability of the cash-strapped state government to bail out it’s Health Department in this case.

Enquiries made by this correspondent reveals that the whole fiasco has been caused by unplanned spending by the Directorate of Health Services. This organisation received funds from the ESI under two heads, one for buying medicines and the other for reimbursing medical claims bills of workers.

The directorate spent disproportionate amounts on purchase of drugs since 1996-97. For reasons best known to itself, it purchased medicines worth Rs 1.47 crore against the budget allocation of only Rs 33 lakh in the year 1995-96.

There have been allegations that a large portion of the expenditure was made in buying less-needed drugs from certain favoured sources. While such medicines remained stockpiled in stores of various dispensaries and hospitals, important drugs, including life saving ones, remained scarce.

This situation compelled attending physicians at the ESI dispensaries and hospitals to direct their patients to go and buy the prescribed medicines from private chemist shops and ask for reimbursement of the amount thus spent.

This in turn bred corruption. Certain chemists issued bills for medicines which never figured on their stocklists.

Also for enabling the ESI to fulfil it’s mandatory objectives, a ceiling was needed to have been on the medical expenses per worker per year. In the absence of such a ceiling, no realistic financial planning could be enforced.

Also, some control measures will have to be introduced to check the misuse of costly facilities like cardiac operations and kidney transplants. All that a person wanting free services had to do was to enrol him or herself in a factory, wait for the mandatory period and in due course walk away with a repaired heart or new kidney, virtually for a song.

Green trees felled on flimsy pretext
From Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 20 — In spite of the complete ban imposed by the Supreme Court, felling of green trees is continuing in Himachal Pradesh surreptitiously.

Investigations have revealed that officers of the Forest Department have been marking healthy green trees for felling under ‘salvage marking’. Over the past one month about half-a-dozen such cases have come to light. The most glaring instances have been uncovered in Parbati and Lag valleys in Kulu district and in Rampur circle in Shimla district.

Ingenious forest officials have found a way around the Supreme Court order and the subsequent instructions issued by the department. As per the instructions issued in November 1997 even "half broken and top broken" green trees will not be marked under salvage markings and only dry fallen and dry standing trees will be handed over to the state forest corporation. However, officials have been marking healthy green trees for felling on the flimsy premise that they are "likely fall".

The most brazen case of green felling has been noticed in the Kasol and Jary forest range on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road where over 60 "A" and "B" class green deodar and kail trees have been felled.

As per the records, the department enumerated the trees along the road in May last. While in Kasol range of 56 trees cut only 8 were fallen trees in Jary range of 27 trees only 12 were fallen and fit to be worked under salvage marking.

However, while officers concerned initially allowed the marking of only fallen trees they later marked standing trees as well also on the grounds that they were "likely to fall".

The scandal was detected by the flying squad of the department. The Conservator of Forests, Kulu, has been asked to explain why he allowed marking of green trees without inspection of the salvage lots.

Interestingly, the trees which were ‘likely to fall’ in the opinion of the officers withstood the fury of the monsoon. This clearly indicated that the officers had marked healthy green trees in salvage lots with ulterior motives.

In such cases the loss is two-fold, said a senior officer of the department. On one hand green trees are illegally axed and on the other the government loses revenue. While in the salvage lots the conversion percentage of standing volume into timber is 20 to 25 per cent only in case of healthy deodar trees it is as high as 80 per cent. The fallout is that about 60 per cent of the timber is pilfered by contractors in connivance with the officials of the corporation and the department.

A similar case of green felling has also been reported in Lag valley. The department has sought a report from the concerned officials.

Of late Kulu circle has earned notoriety for forest scandals. Only recently, a mysterious fire was reported in the Kheer Ganga range in which over 2000 trees dried up.

Another instance of large-scale green-felling has been noticed in the Pandrah Bees area of Rampur circle. According to preliminary reports over 25 per cent of the trees marked in the salvage lots were healthy.

Interestingly, the government had set up the state forest corporation to stop forest contractors who indulged in illicit felling and other malpractices. However, the remedy was proved worse than the malady as the officials corporation are indulging in similar activities. Worse, the department virtually has no control over the corporation as its officers, like the erstwhile forest contractors, had greater political clout for obvious reasons.

Revolt against NSUI president
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 20 — A powerful section of the state unit of National Student Union of India, including 14 office-bearers, have raised the banner of revolt against Mr Atul Sharma, president of the organisation and a prodigy of Mr Virbhadra Singh, and demanded his immediate removal.

The present incumbent, they alleged, was unable to run the organisation as a result of which its membership was declining with each passing day.

They said he had no following amongst students.

The rebels, who included three vice presidents, six general secretaries and joint secretaries and four district presidents, also threatened to resign in case Mr Sharma was not replaced immediately.

A spokesman of the dissident faction said that the leaders would meet Mrs Sonia Gandhi, AICC president and Ms Alka Kapoor, the all-India president of the NSUI, to press their demand.

Mr Sharma, the dissidents added had not been able to organise any district or state convention during the past 18 months or set up units in all the colleges of the state. Besides, he had also removed some district presidents unconstitutionally.

Mr Nardev Kanwar, Mr Sanjay Sandhu, Mr Jaydeep (all vice-presidents), Mr Param Dev, Anoop Rattan and Mr S. Guleria, (all general secretaries) are the leaders of the campaign to remove Mr Sharma.

The move comes close on the heels of a change in guard in the state Youth Congress, the other frontal organisation of the Congress where the party high-command appointed Mr Sukhvinder Singh as president, despite stiff opposition from Mr Virbhadra Singh. It remains to be seen if the NSUI goes the same way.

Dam oustees paid on schedule
From Our Correspondent

DALHOUSIE, Dec 20 — The sensitive issue of rehabilitation and compensation of those displaced by Ranjit Sagar Dam (Thein Dam Project) in the Banikhet area of Chamba district is being monitored by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee himself. The Punjab Government has sanctioned Rs 66 crore for the displaced families.

Giving this information here today, an official spokesman said the state government was alert to the issue and everything was being done according to the norms of relief and rehabilitation plan already approved by it. Thus the lists of youths identified for jobs (one from each family) and the names of families affected by submergence of their land had been displayed and notified by the revenue officials.

The spokesman said that about 537 families had been affected. The project is being constructed in Gurdaspur district on the river Ravi, bordering Chamba district.

The spokesman said Rs 5.5 crore had so far been disbursed.

Arrest warrants issued
From Our Correspondent

NAHAN, Dec 20 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr M.K. Bansal, has issued non-bailable warrants against Mr M.K. Purohit, Director of the now-defunct Himstate Chit and Finvest Ltd, for December 28.

Mr Purohit is accused of issuing a cheque to a customer, Mr Rajesh Chugh, which was dishonoured by a bank.

Flax being grown in Himachal
From Ravinder Sood

PALAMPUR: Flax is an annual plant similar to linseed which produces good quality fibre and its botanical name is linum usitatissimum. In India it is grown for its oil and is called linseed.

Flax plants are taller (80 to 120 cm) and branches are only at the top giving enough reed length for the production of fibres, whereas the linseed plants, grown for seed to get oil, are short, rough and profusely branched. The plant initially has a distinct main stem but four to six auxiliary stems (tillers) develop later.

According to Prof P.K. Khosla, Vice-Chancellor of HP Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, flax has been grown for fibre production for the first time in the country in Himachal Pradesh. India is entirely dependent on imports for its requirement of fibre and at present fibre worth Rs 80 to Rs 90 crore is being imported annually from Europe.

Flax is an important textile fibre from which linen is obtained. It is soft, lustrous and flexible but stronger than cotton, rayon and wool. The great strength, fineness, durability and better resistance to environmental fluctuations are some of its characteristics making it an unique fibre which cannot be substituted in this synthetic fibre era.

Flax is used for making special sewing threads and ropes, canvas, fire hoses, high quality paper, surgical bandages, while its short fibre is used as raw pulp for manufacturing paper. The rough fibre is used for reinforcing plastics based on unsaturated polyesters, besides it blends well with wool, silk and cotton in the preparation of fine quality fabrics.

Dr Khosla states that university scientists have developed a package for the cultivation and production of the fibre. The scientists working on linseed and flax have prepared demonstration plots on over 100 hectares of land. Results have been encouraging.

The university supplied four tonnes of fibre and five tonnes of dry stalk to a textiles mill (JST) of Calcutta, one of the leading users of imported flax fibre in the country. Over a dozen varieties evaluated included Jeewan (DPL), Nagarkot (KL-31), Flax-1 and Aoyagi, all developed by the university. Two exotic varieties, Belinka and Aeriane, were found up to the mark. More flax fibre will be supplied to the mill for further evaluation.

The Vice-Chancellor observed that traditional varieties of linseed were being grown on 4000 hectares of land. He was confident that flax could easily replace it as a winter crop though it would require scientific management and greater effort on the part of farmers.

The most attractive feature of flax is that it yields the highest return comparable to any crop grown in the state. On an average 700 kg of good quality fibre can be obtained from one hectare of land which can bring a net return of Rs 30,000 as against Rs 15,000 and Rs 12,000 fetched by wheat and linseed respectively.

The process of transforming flax into fibre requires a series of steps. After harvesting, the plant is retted. It is followed by scutching — a mechanical process to extract fibre. The quality of fibre entirely depends on retting and scutching. Hence, equipment and facilities are required.

Dr Khosla said the university had already installed a scutching machine and now it proposes to encourage flax cultivation on a commercial scale. During the next cropping season the Calcutta mill is expected procure larger quantities of fibre from farmers.