P R A D E S H
Thursday, November 12, 1998
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H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
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Thursday, November 12, 1998 |
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HP seeks central
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Ban on felling of trees NEW DELHI, Nov 11 — Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today urged the Finance Commission to compensate the state for the loss of revenue suffered by it due to a ban on forest felling. Participating at a meeting of Finance Ministers of Special Category States convened by the 11th Finance Commission here, Mr Dhumal said forests had been a very important source of non-tax revenue for the state. He said the state had banned felling of trees since 1983 in the larger interests of the country. He urged the Finance Commission to suggest the modalities for compensating Himachal Pradesh in lieu of the lost forest revenues so that the state could continue with its existing policy on forests. He reiterated that Himachal Pradesh was conferred the status of a full-fledged state not on financial considerations but to fulfil the democratic aspirations of the people of the backward state and to connect them with the national mainstream. He said the need for financial support and nurturing from the Centre was inherent in the rationale behind the conferment of statehood to Himachal Pradesh. The Chief Minister said despite efforts made by the state in cutting down non-Plan expenditure and exploiting to the possible extent the potential for revenue generation, the expenditure had grown due to committed liabilities. These were in the nature of high maintenance expenditure of capital assets, liability from the Plan, interest payments, salary dearness allowance and impact of the Fifth Pay Commission on revision of pay scales. He urged the Finance Commission to adopt a liberal attitude towards hill states like Himachal Pradesh and added that norms for it should be different from other states keeping in view difficult geographical and weather conditions and also higher cost of construction. Mr Dhumal said Himachal Pradesh was linked with Punjab for pay scale to its employees and any hike in the pay scale and other benefits given by the Punjab Government had a direct bearing on the state exchequer. He said the annual expenditure on pay and emoluments to Government employees in the state exceeded Rs 1400 crore per annum. The 10th Finance Commission, he said, had erred in estimating the state’s committed expenditure on salaries, wages and pensions which had compounded the revenue deficit situation in the state. He urged the Finance Commission to remove this anomaly while making its recommendations for bridging the resource gap due to the committed expenditure. He said hydel power generation was an important source of revenue generation in the state. He said the state’s legitimate claim to 12 per cent free power in Central sector hydel projects commissioned before September 7, 1990 and 7.19 per cent share in Bhakra Beas Management Board projects would result in annual receipts of Rs 369 crore. He said the state government was also pursuing its case with the central government for levying of generation tax on the electricity produced in the territory of Himachal Pradesh by all agencies. This proposal, if cleared, would yield about Rs 141.85 crore per annum on the basis of total generation during 1997-98. He asked the Finance Commission to recommend the state’s case to the Centre to help it improve the revenue account situation. Mr Dhumal also urged the Commission to recommend liberal assistance to the state for modernising the police organisation in the state to enable it to meet any challenge effectively, especially in the light of increased terrorist activities on the borders with Jammu and Kashmir. Regarding Central
assistance to the Special Category States, he said the
pattern of Central assistance to these States should be
100 per cent grant instead of the existing 90 per cent
grant and 10 per cent loan. He said Central loans used
directly for non-productive purposes and loans for
natural calamity should be written off as the States
found it difficult to repay these loans due to increasing
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Deploy CRPF at Baijnath: Mahajan DHARAMSALA, Nov 11 — The Pradesh Congress Committee President, Mr Sat Mahajan, today demanded the deployment of the CRPF during the byelection in Baijnath, as he feared that the ruling BJP may resort to rigging and booth-capturing. The PCC chief alleged that over 2,500 fake votes of people from Bharmour had been made by the BJP. "We have complaints that these fake votes have been made in the villages of Padu, Deol, Dhanak and Sapradu where people from Bharmour areas migrate during the winters," he said. He said the deployment of the CRPF at the sensitive polling booths was a must for the conduct of free and fair elections in the Baijnath Assembly constituency. He charged the BJP ministers of violating the election code of conduct as they were still using official vehicles for electioneering purposes. "We are not against increasing seats for the MD course at Paprola Ayurveda College, but the BJP government has done it at such a time so that it can influence voters of Baijnath," he complained. The induction of the HVC, MLA, Mr Ram Lal Markanday, into the Cabinet was also done after the notification date, so that workers of the Himachal Vikas Congress would work for the BJP candidate, he added. Mr Mahajan said the BJP was in so much of panic that at the last minute it changed its almost-declared candidate, Ms Indu Goswami. "The utter confusion in the BJP camp is evident by the fact that now seeing the mood in the favour of the Congress, it has even changed its election in charge," he said. He also accused the BJP of resorting to cheap and petty tactics by denying rooms to Congress leaders in government rest houses.
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Governor opens 4-day Lavi fair SHIMLA, Nov 11 — Traditional gaiety and fervour marked the opening of the four-day international Lavi fair which began at Rampur today. Thousands of villagers, including tribals, attired in colourful traditional costumes thronged the mela ground to witness the opening ceremony. Inaugurating the fair, Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, the Governor, said that the fair was symbolic of the once strong trade ties between India and Tibet. At one time traders from China, Afghanistan and Central Asia also participated in it in strength and the fair provided the people of these remote tribal areas an opportunity to purchase their necessities and other commodities for the year. Over the years the character of the fair changed and besides its commercial importance it also acquired a strong cultural aspect becoming a mode for promoting local culture. She exhorted voluntary organisations to work in rural areas so that the masses were awakened. She asked local youth to opt for self-employment as this would lessen unemployment and create a market for products made from locally available raw material. Mr Virbhadra Singh, former Chief Minister said that the Lavi fair was one of the biggest trade fairs of northern India and a popular market for wool, woollen products, carpets and dry fruits. Later, Mrs Rama Devi also inaugurated Kinner Market and Developmental Exhibition on the occasion. She went round the market and stalls and evinced keen interest in pashmina shawls, patties and other wool products. Besides tribals from Kinnaur, a large number of traders from all over the country are participating in the fair and many big companies have set up stalls to sell televisions, fridges, music systems and other electronic gadgets.
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Dalai Lama seeks genuine
autonomy DHARAMSALA, Nov 11 — The Tibetan spiritual leader, Mr Dalai Lama, has once again reiterated that he is not seeking total independence for Tibet but was in favour of genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people. According to the officials of the Department of Information and International Relations in the Tibetan Government-in-exile here, the Dalai Lama, in his statement made in Washington yesterday, made it clear that he in no way wanted to separate Tibet from the People's Republic of China. He also said he did not seek any position of privilege for himself and has already made it clear that once a solution to the Tibetan issue is found he will not hold any official position. He demanded genuine autonomy for the Tibetans so that their distinct identity and way of life could be preserved. The Dalai Lama, in a statement said that the "middle-way approach, will contribute to the stability and unity of China and moreover it was in the long term interest of both China as well as the Tibetans. The Dalai Lama, said that he was willing to accept President Jiang Zemin's offer for a dialogue to resolve the Tibetan issue. He felt that there was a feeling of distrust between the Chinese and the Tibetans, which will not disappear in a day. He, however, said that he would not like to make a unilateral statement without the opportunity of prior informal consultation with the Chinese leadership. He felt such an informal consultation needs to take place in order to forestall misunderstanding and to receive a positive response from the Chinese leadership. He expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by President Bill Clinton and the American people for their understanding and support extended to the Tibetan people.
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Engineers oppose merger move SHIMLA, Nov 11 — The Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department Graduate Engineers Association has opposed the move to merge the housing board with the Himachal Pradesh Nagar Vikas Pradhikaran. It pointed out that most of the staff with the pradhikaran was on deputation from the state Public Work Department and as such the merger would affect the cadre strength of various categories of employees in the department and further squeeze the promotional avenues. It suggested that the technical staff in all other government undertakings should be taken on deputation from the Public Works Department, which was the central agency for construction activities.
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Early start on Uhal project
sought SHIMLA, Nov 11 — Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, Speaker of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha, yesterday met the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, here and urged him to take effective steps to get work on the Uhal Stage-III hydel project in Mandi district started at the earliest. He suggested that in case the private party which had signed an agreement for the execution of the project was not in a position to start work, the project should got executed through the state electricity board in the larger interest of the state and also people of the area. Mr Thakur congratulated the Chief Minister for getting the proposal for the imposition of the generation tax approved and making the Centre agree to execute the Parbati hydel project through the National Hydel Power Corporation. The mega project had been hanging fire for the past, so many years.
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Raj Babbar addresses poll meeting DHARAMSALA (HP) Nov 11 (UNI) — Samajwadi Party leader and film star Raj Babbar today accused the Union Government of trying to stop his serial "Mein Dilli Hoon" from national telecast on Doordarshan which highlighted the sacrifices of Indians. Addressing an election meeting in favour of party candidate D.C. Premi at Baijnath, he challenged the RSS and the BJP leaderships to prove that if any of their leaders had ever made sacrifices during freedom struggle. If they proved it, he would never address a political rally from a platform, he asserted. Mr Babbar criticised the Congress for encouraging 'family rule' at the national level. Thousands of youth thronged Baijnath to see the film star.
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