P R A D E S H
Wednesday, October 14, 1998
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H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
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Wednesday, October 14, 1998 |
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HP CM lays stone of Kisan Bhavan |
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 Shanta-Dhumal tussle ‘hits’ medical college DHARAMSALA, Oct 13 — The Congress legislator, Mr G.S. Bali, today accused the BJP government of pursuing a ‘hidden agenda’ to scuttle the Tanda Medical College, project to open it somewhere else in the state. |
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Health
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Shanta-Dhumal tussle ‘hits’
medical college DHARAMSALA, Oct 13 — The Congress legislator, Mr G.S. Bali, today accused the BJP government of pursuing a ‘hidden agenda’ to scuttle the Tanda Medical College, project to open it somewhere else in the state. Addressing a press conference, here today, he said that the students of the medical college, as well as the people of Kangra, were being made to suffer solely because of the tussle between Mr Shanta Kumar and Chief Minister, P.K. Dhumal. He alleged that the government was not taking any interest in fulfilling the conditions laid down by the Medical Council of India, as the college had been opened by the previous Congress government. Mr Bali pointed out that eversince the BJP government came to power the number of teaching faculty had decreased. He added that construction work, which was being undertaken during the Congress regime, had suddenly lost momentum due to the lack of political will on the part of the present government. He said that the Congress government had opened the medical college with the intention of benefiting the people of Kangra and Chamba areas, and claimed that there was adequate staff and other infrastructure, for the holding of first year classes. "It was the BJP government which did not take any interest in expediting the work to be undertaken at the campus", he stated. He demanded that keeping in view the future of the students at the medical college, the government should file a review petition where the students should also be made a party and a good lawyer should be engaged to plead the case. He disclosed that a delegation of Congress legislators would soon meet the Chief Minister to discuss the problems of the students studying there. He accused the BJP government of trying to give priority to Hamirpur in place of Kangra, which always had remained the second most important place after Shimla. "Another reason for step-motherly treatment being given to Kangra was factionalism within the BJP", he commented. Mr Bali said that the Apollo Project to be set up at Holta, near Palampur, was nothing more than a mirage, as all those who had pledged to donate money, failed to fulfil their commitment, despite repeated efforts of the Congress government. he added that the private registered society, which had to set up the Apollo Hospital, had already been given 35 acres of prime land. But they have failed to raise funds. Mr Bali also criticised the BJP for criticising the Congress government headed by Mr Virbhadra for having a jumbo-sized ministry, when it was now having a ministry of 22, with only 33 MLAs. The Congress had 58 MLAs and accordingly they had a ministry of 27, while the BJP, with a much lesser number of MLAs is having a big ministry. Mr Bali said that the
Congress was confident of winning the Baijnath byelection
and the process of selecting the candidate was on. He
added that it would be on the basis of winning prospects
that the candidate would be selected. He ruled out the
possibility of the Congress trying to form the government
in Himachal. |
Health services in mess, admits
Nadda MANDI, Oct 13 — Himachal Pradesh Health Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda, alleged here today that the opening of a large number of health institutions without providing doctors and necessary infrastructure by the previous Congress government had created a "virtual mess" in the health services of the state. Talking to mediapersons at HPSEB Rest House, Mr Nadda admitted that in a small state there was an appalling shortage of 400 doctors. Despite vigorous efforts only 169 doctors had been made available through ad hoc appointments, recruitment through the Public Service Commission and by transfer from other hospitals to fill some vacancies. As many as 231 doctors were still short. The government had decided to do away with ad-hocism altogether. He said it had been decided to seek the services of doctors on a contractual basis to cope with the present situation. Ten of the 12 district hospitals had been provided specialists and efforts were on to make specialists available even in the remaining two tribal districts. Mr Nadda, who also visited the local Regional Hospital, said liberal funds were being provided to refurbish the hospital. An additional x-ray machine-500 had been sanctioned. The operation theatre would also be modernised and three air-conditioners would be provided. A two-bed cardiac care unit was also being added to the regional hospital. Replying to a question, he said a Rs 2.5 crore CT scan unit would be installed within the next four months in Regional Hospital here. Other district hospitals would also be upgraded gradually on the lines of regional hospitals. The Health Minister said the project of Apollo Hospital at Palampur had not been abandoned and efforts were being made to prevail upon the promoters to go ahead with the project.
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Virbhadra refutes CM's claim on
annual plan SHIMLA, Oct 13 — Mr Virbhadra Singh, a former Himachal Chief Minister, and the leader of opposition, has refuted the claim of Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, that annual plan of the state for 1998-99 approved yesterday by the Planning Commission, had shown an increase of 40 per cent over the previous year. In a statement here today he said the annual plan for 1997-98 had been verified, confirmed and approved by the commission in March, when the Congress was in power, at Rs 1225 crore. Thus the annual plan figure of Rs 1440 crore for 1998-99 was only 18.03 per cent higher and not 40 per cent as claimed by the government. He said even figures of the total Ninth Plan and Eighth Plan given into press by Mr Dhumal did not match with the figures of 1998-99 plan. The fact was that the Eighth Plan closed at Rs 3480.40 crore as against the approved outlay of Rs 2502 crore. The approved outlay of the Ninth five-year plan was Rs 5700 crore. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the Chief Minister was silent on how to finance the plan. This important part had been suppressed by the government. There were different parts of plan financing such as states own resources and central assistance including loan. However, the Chief Minister had omitted this altogether. Mr Shiv Kumar Upmanyu, vice-president of the state Congress committee, has blamed the short-sighted policies of the BJP-led government for the unprecedented increase in prices over the past six months. In a statement here today he said the prices of onion in particular had skyrocketed, causing great hardship to the common man. Development works in the state had also come to a halt. Interior areas like Bhatiyat presented a pathetic picture with hospitals without doctors and other staff schools without teachers and roads needing repair. He expressed shock over the fire which destroyed property worth Rs 10 crore in Chamba and demanded compensation for the victims.
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Look into oustees' problems:
Viplove DHARAMSALA, Oct 13 — A former minister and Congress legislator, Mrs Viplove Thakur, today demanded that the newly appointed Revenue Minister, Dr Rajan Sushant, should look into the problems of the Pong Dam oustees on a priority basis. Mrs Thakur said that the oustees were facing a lot of problems. There had been murders and cases of beating up of the people who were trying to take possession of the land allotted to them. "Since Dr Sushant is representing the area from where there are a lot of oustees, he should demand giving of protection to the people who had been allotted land, but were yet to get possession of the land", she said. Moreover, he had been made Revenue Minister, and the BJP was in power not only at the Centre, but also in Himachal and Rajasthan, which should help in sorting out of all problems smoothly. Expressing concern over the future of the Tanda Medical College students, she demanded that the government should fulfil the conditions laid down by the Medical Council of India, so that the college was given recognition and the future of the students was secure. Mrs Thakur demanded that the teachers appointed in the sewing centres by the previous Congress regime should immediately be given their salaries, which they had not received for the past five months. She further demanded that the government should constitute teams to assess the extent of damage to the paddy crops in her constituency, Jaswan, and the adjoining areas, so that adequate compensation could be given to the farmers.
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Drive against charas launched KULU: 'Charas' smugglers have received a big jolt here with the "operation charas nivaran" launched by the district police. It may be recalled that hybrid cannabis (charas) plants were cultivated in an organised manner in Manikaran, Manali, Banjar, Sainj and Fozal valleys in this district. Kulu valley figures high on the international drug map. The presence of a large number of foreigners in the district provides an easy market and conduit for carrying of 'charas' to international market. Most of the foreigners, it was alleged, visit this valley to indulge in the drug abuse. Many young persons have fallen prey to the menace of drugs. The residents were worried over their young children being engaged for extracting 'charas' out of the cannabis plants. As the trade is very lucrative the people are often willing to take risk and indulge in the cultivation and extraction of this dangerous substance. These drug peddlers are unaware and ignorant of the consequences of the drug abuse and its ramification in the long run to society at large. The police has intensified its drive against drug smugglers. Six delinquent foreigners, Mr Bertrand David (French); Miss Nicole Jacqueline Hoffman (Canadian); Mr Nissan Levi (Israeli); Mr Isaac Onyeamechi Ukwuan, Mr Henary Onowhakpo Akporochi and Mr Tory Onyeamechi Ukwuan (all Nigerians), were arrested during the past two months and cases under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. registered. Extensive questioning of doubtful foreign nationals has been initiated in the areas which have earned the notoriety of growing the hybrid cannabis plants. Mr Zahur H. Zaidi, Superintendent of Police, told this correspondent that in order to tackle this menace, the police had decided to launch a multi-pronged campaign. A concrete plan to detect, cut and burn cannabis (locally known as bhang) plants growing in the wild as well as cultivated was drawn. Revenue officers, forest officers and policemen were selected and teams were sent for the eradication of the ready crop for harvesting. The public was also involved along with its representatives. The first party attacked areas above Raison that is, Himri, Fozal, Danchin and Meha. Large-scale cutting and burning of bhang was undertaken on August 17. A week later similar operations in the upper Manali region covering areas of Shanag, Goshal, Burua, Majach and Patlikuhal were carried out. Between September 16 and 19 a police party destroyed huge amounts of bhang in Malana. The last phase of the operation was in Sainj and Banjar areas of the district which lasted a day before the Dasehra festival. In these operations a thousand 'bighas' of cannabis plants, both cultivated and wild, were destroyed during the monthlong operation. The police chief claimed that 'charas' worth several hundred crores of rupees was destroyed. "It has been our
endeavour to ensure a drug-free and healthy environment
in Kulu" the SP added. |
NBFC Directors held for fraud SOLAN, Oct 13 — The police arrested Mr Vinod Kuthiala and Mrs Anju Kuthiala Directors of a Parwanoo-based non-banking finance company, A.V. Advances and Finances Ltd, under sections 420, 467, 468 of the IPC from a house in Chandigarh last night. The company directors had allegedly defrauded depositors of more than one crore. The husband and wife team had opened the company and started mobilising funds from public sometimes in 1991. They offered lucrative rates of interests on fixed deposits and also on recurring deposits accounts. They handed over cheques of maturity amounts to depositors at the time of the receipt of the deposits, as guarantee of full repayment of maturity amounts. Sometimes early this year, the company ran into trouble after not being able to meet liabilities, as cheque after cheque issued by them bounced with the banks refusing to honour those for reason of inadequate balances in the company's account. In one incident some depositors, who reportedly hailed from outside Himachal, roughed up Mr Kuthiala after which he "vanished" from Parwanoo. His wife and co-director, Mrs Anju Kuthiala had then lodged an FIR with the Parwanoo police fearing that her husband might have been kidnapped by some "goondas"who had been trying to harass her husband on one account or the other. Mr Kuthiala returned to Parwanoo, on his own after a few days and denied his kidnapping. Last week some depositors, who could not en cash the cheques issued by the company by way of maturity amounts, started making enquiries on their own. They were shocked to find that the Kuthialas has sold off their house in Parwanoo and had made plans of shifting their business to another town in some other state. They were also able to trace whereabouts of the couple in Chandigarh and tipped off the police accordingly. A police party raided the Chandigarh residence of the Kuthialas and arrested them. They were produced in the court of the Sub Judge and Magistrate Ist Class, Mr Prem Pal Ratna.
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HP CM lays stone of Kisan Bhavan New Delhi, Oct 13 — The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, laid the foundation stone of Kisan Bhavan near the fruit and vegetable market, Azadpur, in the Capital today. The Bhavan would be built at a cost of about Rs 2 crore, the Chief Minister said. The construction of the four-storyed building would be completed within a year, Mr Dhumal said, adding the place would also provide facilities for comfortable and affordable stay for farmers of the state. Mr Dhumal said about 80 per cent of the total apple produce of the state was sold in this market and more than half a million farmers from Himachal thronged the market to sell their produce. There was a need to educate the farmers about the marketing procedures and practices followed in the Azadpur market, the Chief Minister said. He added that lack of such facilities fetch profit only to commission agents and middlemen. Mr Dhumal said his government had increased the procurement price of apple by 25 paise and had brought the mango under market intervention scheme. He said a record 60 metric tonnes of apple was procured this year by establishing a number of procurement centres in the state. Mr Dhumal said the subsidy on fungicides and pesticides given to the fruit growers had for the first time been extended to vegetable growers. Several other incentives
to farmers in the form of subsidy for construction of
green houses, installation of drip irrigation system and
construction of water storage tanks and purchase of
horticultural and agricultural implements had introduced,
he added. |
Rs 5 crore to develop Pong dam lake NURPUR, Oct 13 — Mr Rajan Sushant Himachal Minister of State for Revenue at a public meeting at Labh in Jawali subdivision on Monday said that in view of vast tourism potential in the Jawali area, the government had earmarked Rs 5 crore to develop Pong dam lake to bring it on the tourist map. A snake park would be developed in the centre of the lake. He disclosed that the government had changed the name of the lake from Pong lake to Maharana Pratap lake. He revealed that he would bring changes in the state’s revenue department to activate the administration to fulfil aspirations of the people. He said the state government would exploit the 25 megawatt power capacity in the state through private sector which would ultimately generate employment. After taking oath as state Revenue Minister Mr Sushant visited his home Assembly constituency where residents accorded him a reception. He also addressed public meetings at Nagrota Surian and Raja Ka Talab and accompanied by state Tourism Corporation’s vice-chairman Mr Rakesh Pathania and state-BJP general secretary Mr Kirpal Parmar.
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Corporation reconstituted SHIMLA, Oct 13 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has reconstituted the board of directors of Himachal Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation, Kangra. Headed by Mr Mansa Ram, Welfare Minister, the board will have Mr Shamsher Singh, Financial Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Welfare), Mr P.S. Rana, Financial Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Finance), Mr R.K. Jain, Director (Industries), Mr S.K.B.S. Negi, Director (Welfare), Mr I.S. Chandel, Managing Director, State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, as official members. Mr S. Ahluwalia, Managing Director, Himachal Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation, will be the member-Secretary. The non-official members of the corporation are Rasil Singh Mankotia of Hamirpur, Mr Raj Kumar Dhanotia of Una, Mrs Pawna Chaudhary, member, Zila Parishad, Kangra and Mr Sukh Ram Chaudhary of Paonta Sahib.
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Punish hoarders, urges CPI SHIMLA, Oct 13 — The state committee of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has urged the government to take strict action against hoarders and profiteers and strengthen the public distribution system by ensuring adequate and regular supply of essential commodities to people reeling under rising prices. In a memorandum to the Governor, Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, here today the party demanded effective steps to bring down the prices of life saving drugs. It expressed concern over the move of the Centre to reduce the subsidy for higher education from 95 to 50 per cent and said the government was trying to pass on the cost of higher education to students. The step was against the provisions of the Constitution. It underlined the need for opening a girls' college in every district and steps to ensure 180 teaching days in a year.
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Govt denies charge of Virbhadra SHIMLA, Oct 13 — The Himachal Government has denied the charge of Mr Virbhadra Singh, former Chief Minister, that it was interfering in the functioning of panchayati raj institutions and diluting their powers. Terming the allegation as false and politically motivated, an official spokesman said here today that the present government neither interfered with nor diluted the authority of these institutions and the 26022 elected representatives were being given honorarium according to rules. He further clarified that at present the chairman of zila parishad was the chairman of the District Rural Development Agency, and the amount given to it under centrally and state-sponsored schemes was being utilised according to the guidelines and this practice was also followed during the tenure of the previous government. The present government had not changed the procedure in any way. Panchayati raj institutions were getting finances according to the recommendations of State Finance Commission.
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Revision of Art 356 sought SHIMLA, Oct 13 — The All-India Tribes and Minorities Front has made a strong plea for a comprehensive revision of Article 356 of the Constitution to prevent its misuse and make its provisions applicable at the Centre. In a memorandum to the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, Mr M.S. Negi, president of the front, said that time had come to enlarge the scope of Article 356 to ensure smooth functioning of the administration in the event of a breakdown of the constitutional machinery at the Centre. The front suggested setting up of an expert committee to finalise amendments in this regard. The front also called for restricting President's rule in the states to a maximum period of six months and making provision for President's rule at the Centre for one year.
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Girl burnt alive DHARAMSALA, Oct 13 — Mystery shrouds the death of an 18-year-old Harijan unmarried girl, who was burnt alive by four unidentified men, in Sapred village, near Jwalamukhi. According to the police, the girl in her statement, before her death disclosed that four men, wearing black clothes came to the field, where she was working and set the dried maize crops on fire, and pushed her into it. The girl died later, while being taken to Nadaun hospital. It was at about 4 p.m. that Sunita, went out to see the cattle when members of her family heard her shrieks. Her mother, brother, younger sister and sister-in-law, reached the spot and saw her burning amidst the dry maize crop. Her brother, Ramesh Chand, is a beldar in the IPH Department. The DIG and SP have already left for the spot. According to Sunita, four
unidentified men came there, and burnt her alive.
6 killed in mishap near Chamba CHAMBA, Oct 13 — Six persons were killed and one was seriously injured when a truck (HP-39-5680) fell into a 500-metre-deep gorge on the Chamba-Chhatrari highway at Kodla, about 40 km from here, last night. The deceased have been identified as Sanjoo, driver of the truck, resident of Shahpur (Kangra), Sudesh Kumar, resident of Rait (Kangra), Paras Ram, Kishori Lal, Raj Kumar and Suresh, (all of Chhatrari village in Chamba district).
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