Rise above regionalism: CM
From Our Correspondent

NAHAN, Oct 31 — The Himachal Chief Minister, Mr PK Dhumal, inaugurating the state-level Renuka Fair about 42 km from here, yesterday called upon people to rise above regional and parochial considerations to ensure sustained and balanced development of the state.

Addressing the gathering at mela, the Chief Minister expressed happiness over the presence of four out of five Congress MLAs of Sirmaur district at the function and appealed to them to co-operate with the state government in the smooth development of the state.

Mr Dhumal charged the previous Congress Government of Mr Virbhadra Singh of discriminating against the lower areas of the state. He said out of Rs 112.81 crore received from NABARD the Virbhadra government has allotted Rs 42.81 crore to Shimla district, while only Rs 89 lakh were allotted to Hamirpur district.

Expressing anguish over the controversy raised over ‘Saraswati vandana’ at the Education Ministers’ conference in Delhi recently, the Chief Minister said Saraswati, was the goddess of wisdom and learning according to Indian culture. So, paying obeisance to her had nothing to do with any particular religion.

Giving details of welfare measures and development activities initiated by his government during its tenure, Mr Dhumal said it had been decided to give zonal status to all district hospitals in the state. Hamirpur and Sirmaur district hospitals had been given the zonal status this year. Two districts will be chosen every year for this purpose, he added. Walk-in interviews were being conducted for the appointment of doctors.

Mr Dhumal said in Education Department, appointment letters has already been issued to hundreds of trained graduate teachers. It had also been decided to appoint 4400 vidya upasaks. They would be paid Rs 2500 per month, including the vacation period. The minimum qualification for these teachers would be matriculation and not ten plus two as decided earlier. They would be given JBT training at government’s expense and absorbed into regular jobs after five years.

The Chief Minister announced that 383 ‘gopal sanayaks’ would be made veterinary pharmacists after giving them six months’ training. Mr Dhumal declared that besides the Centre’s agricultural insurance scheme, the state government had earmark Rs 1 crore to pay premium for insuring agricultural and horticultural crops of all cultivators.

Later ghazal singer Peenaz Masani regaled the audience with bhajans and ghazals.

HVC keeps BJP on tenterhooks
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 31 — The Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) chief, Mr Sukh Ram, is keeping his alliance partner, the BJP, on tenterhooks on the issue of adjustment for the byelection to the Baijnath assembly seat.

Although nominations for the seat for which polling will be held on November 25 has already begun, Mr Sukh Ram has not yet dropped the HVC claim on the seat. He is expected to give his verdict on November 1 after meeting senior leaders of his party here.

His silence over the issue is causing anxiety among the rank and file of the BJP whose government has been surviving with the support of Mr Sukh Ram's HVC.

It is learnt that Chief Minister, P.K. Dhumal and state BJP, chief Suresh Chandel separately met Mr Sukh Ram recently in Delhi and tried to persuade him to leave the seat for the BJP. However, he did not make any commitment and is learnt to have made it clear that the final decision would be taken only on Sunday.

The HVC leadership has apparently adopted a wait-and-watch policy over the sensitive issue as it suspects that the party might become unwanted if it allowed the BJP to contest the seat and stand on its own feet after gaining a majority of its own in the hung assembly.

Mr Dhumal and Mr Chandel have said that they will not desert the HVC even if the BJP wins the Baijnath seat.

HVC leaders want to avoid such a situation in which their support is no more required by the BJP. They have already been complaining that Mr Dhumal has started taking them for granted after the BJP won three assembly seats recently.

The Baijnath byelection has become significant because it can make the BJP gain a simple majority in the 68-member assembly. The BJP has a strength of 33, including two HVC members, who were made to join the party. An Independent, Mr Ramesh Chaudhary, who won the election as a BJP rebel, is supporting the BJP. Besides, the three legislators of the HVC are also supporting Mr Dhumal in the assembly.

The suspicion against the BJP in the minds of HVC leaders is evident from their demand that Mr Dhumal should return to them the two HVC legislators, Mr Mansa Ram and Mr Prakash Choudhary, whom Mr Sukh Ram had made to join the BJP. Both of them were made ministers and it was only under the changed scenario that the HVC has realised that the continuance of the two HVC MLAs in the BJP was giving the advantage of numbers to Mr Dhumal.

As a mark of solidarity towards Mr Sukh Ram, both these ministers recently submitted their resignations from the ministry to him. They have publicly been claiming that their hearts and souls are with the HVC although they were in the BJP.

In view of the delay being caused by the HVC in announcing its decision on the issue of adjustment for the Baijnath seat, the BJP has not been able to declare its candidate. There were indications that the Dhumal group might support the candidature of Ms Indu Goswami. The other candidate, Mr Dulo Ram, has remained close to Mr Shanta Kumar.

The PCC chief, Mr Sat Mahajan, left for Delhi on Thursday to finalise the party candidate for the seat. The CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, is expected to join him and both of them will meet the AICC chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress leaders have not yet been able to persuade Mrs Nirmala Devi, wife of Mr Sant Ram, whose death has caused the byelection to be the party nominee.

However, the party has announced that its candidate will file the nomination papers on November 3.

No wood even for cremation
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Oct 31 — The dearth of firewood in the town is acute. There is not enough wood even for cremating the dead.

The matter was brought to the notice of a local NGO, "Jan Chetna", which took up the matter with the authorities concerned. "We had received complaints from the locals in this regard for the past quite some time. But two days back the family of a woman who had died could get wood with difficulty for her cremation," said the convener of" Jan Chetna", Mr Mohinder Pal Singh.

It is the Himachal Forest Corporation which has been providing wood for cremating the bodies.

Another office-bearer, Col Jagdish Sharma, said a number of dry trees had been identified and marked for being cut in and around the town.

He said the organisation had objected to the laying of drinking water pipes along with sewerage pipes by the Irrigation and Public Health Department.

He pointed out that this was one major reason why a large number of residents were suffering from stomach ailments and other water-borne diseases.

"Jan Chetna" has submitted a memorandum to the local MLA and Transport Minister, Mr Kishan Kapoor, on the problems plaguing the town. One of the demands in the construction of a bypass and proper parking, facilities in view of a large number of tourist vehicles which frequently jam traffic in the narrow and congested Kotwali Bazar.

Noise pollution alarms doctors
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, Oct 31 — The 4th annual conference of the Himachal chapter of the Association of Otolaryngologists held here today expressed concern over the growing menace of noise pollution, lack of adequate equipment and accommodation for housing ENT operation theatres in most of the health institutions in the state.

The chapter president, Dr M.L. Sharma, laid special stress on the need of updating the ENT surgeons' knowledge with the latest technologies that had brought many of the hitherto untreatable diseases of the ENT discipline within the treatable category.

He exhorted young ENT surgeons to regularly attend workshop and seminars providing refresher courses or lectures.

The Chief Medical Officer, Dr L B Purohit, stressed the role of the media in creating awareness about the health hazards created by increased levels of noise pollution.

Noted otolaryngologists, including Dr K P Morwani from Bombay, Dr M B Abrol from Delhi, Prof Achal Gulati of Maulana Azad Medical College Delhi and Dr Arjan Dass, Professor and Head, Medical College, Chandigarh were among the guest speakers.

The minister for Country and Town Planning, Mr H N Singh, who inaugurated the conference by lighting a lamp, shared the specialists' concern over the increasing incidence of ENT diseases in HP and assured that he would take up the matter with the Health Minister. The chapter organising secretary Dr R.K. Verma moved the motion of thanks. Mementoes were presented to the minister, the guest speakers, former minister M N Sofat and some distinguished members of the association.

Vegetable sellers' strike continues

HAMIRPUR, Oct 31 — The shortage of vegetables continued in Hamirpur town for the third day today owing to a strike by wholesalers and commission agents. There was no arrival of fresh vegetables from any part of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi to the vegetable market.

The vegetable sellers told reporters that they would resume their business only when they would not be harassed by the district authorities for providing them purchase bills being issued by the growers.

Meanwhile, the district administration has held a high level meeting last evening and assessed the situation arising out of the strike. The administration had directed the district marketing federation to procure vegetables from nearby mandis and start selling these.

No party MLA hobnobbing with Cong: Nadda
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 31 — Mr J.P. Nadda, Health Minister, today said that no MLA of the ruling BJP was hobnobbing with the Congress Party. He ridiculed the former Speaker, Thakur Kaul Singh, for claiming that some MLAs were in constant touch with the Congress.

In a strongly worded statement here today, Mr Nadda said that it was a figment of imagination of "frustrated and disgruntled" Congress leaders which Thakur Kaul Singh expressed at Chandigarh yesterday.

All BJP MLAs were united under the leadership of Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal in the state. The BJP had good and cordial relations with the Himachal Vikas Congress.

The Congress Party was a "frustrated lot and jealous" of the "spectacular achievements" during the past seven months of the BJP-HVC government in the state.