New Himachal YC units by Jan-end
HAMIRPUR, Dec 28 — HP Youth Congress President Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has said that the new state-level and district-level teams of the Youth Congress will be finalised by the end of next month. All the new office-bearers would have to submit the details of their assets within one month of their nomination.

HP sop for tribal area staff
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 28 — The Himachal Government today enhanced the winter allowance for employees in tribal areas from Rs 60 to Rs 100 per month. It also decided to waive the Rs 1 crore loan given by it to the Hops Growers Society to provide relief to farmers in tribal areas who were unable to dispose of their produce because of slump in the market.

Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, announced these decisions while presiding over a meeting of the State Tribal Advisory Board, here. He said the employees had to work in different conditions. Keeping this in view, the government had increased the daily wage by 25 per cent.

He said helicopter services would be started in the first week of January for the convenience of employees stationed in land-locked Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi which remained cut off due to snow during the winter.

He said to ensure adequate and regular supply of electricity to Kinnaur and Spiti areas, the state power board had been asked to lay transmission lines from the Bhabha power plant to Pooh in Kinnaur. A sum of Rs 2 crore had been placed at the disposal of the board. Efforts were afoot to improve power supply in Bharmaur by setting up a hydel project at Holi. Another project was being built in Lingti in Spiti. These projects would be completed on a priority basis.

In all, Rs 122.67 crore was being spend under the Tribal Plan during the year. Mr Dhumal declared that the government would take up work for the improvement of the Wangtoo-Samdoh road.

The Chief Minister said with a view to bringing more area under irrigation in Spiti, the work on the Shila-Nallah irrigation scheme being constructed at a cost of Rs 2 crores had been expedited. The scheme would help irrigate 269 hectares and go a long way in improving the economy of the people.

Besides, the ensure that the hops producers in tribal areas got remunerative prices for their produce, a hops processing plant in the private sector was being set up at Baddi which was likely to be commissioned by May, 1999.

Single line administration had been reintroduced in Kinnaur district to expedite development activities. He urged senior officers, including Secretaries and heads of departments, to undertake tours of tribal areas so that the problems of local people could be solved on the spot. He said the government had directed filling of vacant posts in tribal areas so that development works did not suffer for want of staff.

The Chief Minister expressed satisfaction that the literacy rate in tribal areas had gone up to 53.15 per cent in 1991. He said 15 hostels for students had been opened in tribal areas in which free boarding and lodging facilities was being provided.

Mr Kisan Kapoor, Transport Minister, who also holds the portfolio of Tribal Development, said the tribal sub-plan in Himachal Pradesh was formulated on the recommendation of the project advisory committee keeping in view local developmental need.

Mr Chet Ram Negi, Parliamentary Secretary, thanked the Chief Minister for enhancement of winter allowances and waiving off soft loan of the hops growers.

Earlier, the Chief Minister administered oath to the newly nominated members of the State Tribal Council.

HVC defends role in CBI probe
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 28 — Mr Kewal Ram Chauhan, general secretary of the Himachal Vikas Congress, has charged Congress leaders of launching a disinformation campaign regarding the status of charges levelled by his party against their leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and warned that their repeated assertions that he had been exonerated by the Lok Ayukta and various courts tantamounted to "interference" in the preliminary investigations being conducted by the CBI which could incur penal action.

Addressing a press conference here today he said instead of making misleading statements these leaders should come out with the copies of judgements of the Lok Ayukta, High Court and the Supreme Court and let the investigating agencies and the people at large to know whether or not he had been absolved of the charges or allow the law to take its own course.

Mr Chauhan said if Mr Virbhadra Singh had not committed any offence since he first entered the Parliament in 1962, he should emulate Mr Digvijay Singh, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, who welcomed a CBI probe into the allegations against him. He said he had copies of all the judgements and could say with certainty that Mr Virbhadra Singh had been telling lies.

Regarding the role of the Lok Ayukta, Mr Chauhan said, he failed to understand how an agency which was not an investigative body could entertain cases such as illicit felling and corruption and give a clean chit to the accused.

Citing his own example he said the Lok Ayukta had exonerated him of all charges but still criminal cases were filed against him and he had gone on to be acquitted in most of them.

He said the only objective of the well-orchestrated campaign was to scuttle the CBI probe.

Similarly, the allegation of the Congress that the CBI probe had been ordered under pressure from the HVC was also wrong. The BJP had its own agenda and during the run up to the assembly election as also in the byelections held subsequently had declared that the charges against Mr Virbhadra Singh would be probed.

HP to become 'a power state'
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, Dec 28 — Himachal is heading towards becoming 'a power state' in view of the two landmark decisions taken by the BJP-led coalition government at the Centre.

Addressing mediapersons at Chamba today, Mr Shanta Kumar, Member of Parliament and a Member of the power consultative committee of the Union Ministry of Energy, said that the enhancement in the ratio to 40 per cent investment in hydro power generation and 12 per cent royalty on power generated in Himachal were the two significant decisions beneficial for states like Himachal where one-fifth of the total hydel potential of the country was available.

Mr Shanta Kumar said these decisions would pave the way for providing more employment, besides adding more revenue to the state exchequer, thereby strengthening the economy of the state.

Mr Shanta Kumar said the Centre had now fixed a 60 per cent investment ratio for thermal power generation and 40 per cent for hydro-power generation.

Mr Shanta Kumar stated that the Centre had decided to hand over the execution of 2,100 MW Parbati hydel project to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC). The Centre was also keen on giving the Kol, Rampur and Wangtu projects to the NHPC.

Earlier, Mr Shanta Kumar presided over a conference organised by Chamba division of the All-India Postal Employees Union. He said the Centre had accepted 70 per cent of the recommendations of the Talwar Committee report and provided benefits amounting to Rs 500 crore to about three lakh extra-departmental branch post office employees in the country.

Balnatah flays Kaul Singh's remark
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 28 — Mr Khushi Ram Balnatah, general secretary of the ruling BJP, has criticised Thakur Kaul Singh, a Congress MLA for claiming that the MoU signed by the state government with the Centre for construction of the Parbati hydroelectric project was not in the interests of Himachal.

In a statement here yesterday, Mr Balnatah alleged that by making such statements, Mr Kaul Singh was trying to conceal the failures of the Congress.

He alleged that Congress leaders were trying to mislead the people on the issue whereas the facts were otherwise. Himachal would get 12 per cent free power and 18 per cent at the generation cost. As much as 30 of the jobs in the project would be given to Himachalis.

Mr Balnatah accused the successive Congress Governments of having failed in tapping the power potential of the state. The MoU signed by five states in 1990 during the BJP regime for constructing the Parbati project was put in to cold storage by the Congress Government of Mr Virbhadra Singh.

New Himachal YC units by Jan-end
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Dec 28 — HP Youth Congress President Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has said that the new state-level and district-level teams of the Youth Congress will be finalised by the end of next month. All the new office-bearers would have to submit the details of their assets within one month of their nomination.

Mr Sukhu said the YC would concentrate social causes like tree plantation, blood donation camps, anti-dowry campaigns.

He asked the government to ensure 80 per cent of the jobs in new industrial units in the state were given to Himachalis. The Youth Congress would launch a campaign in this respect if the state government failed to do this.