Coalition won't be affected: Sukh Ram
SHIMLA, Oct 22 — Mr Sukh Ram, President of the Himachal Vikas Congress, today said that his party would not create any situation that could lead to political uncertainty in the state and asserted that the BJP-HVC coalition would not be affected even if the two parties failed to reach an understanding on the Baijnath Assembly seat in the ensuing byelection.
Making people feel secure
TISSA (Chamba), Oct 22 — It is not the trigger-happy Kashmiri militants but the jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police now who dominate the higher reaches of the picturesque Churah valley bordering the terrorist-infested districts of Doda and Kathua of Jammu and Kashmir.

• River rafting trainee drowned in Beas
• Vidya Stokes seeks enquiry
• Tanda medicos suspend stir
• Registrar of TUs

Coalition won't be affected: Sukh Ram
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 22 — Mr Sukh Ram, President of the Himachal Vikas Congress, today said that his party would not create any situation that could lead to political uncertainty in the state and asserted that the BJP-HVC coalition would not be affected even if the two parties failed to reach an understanding on the Baijnath Assembly seat in the ensuing byelection.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said the differences between the two parties had been "by and large" resolved following his meeting with Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister.

However, the issue of the Baijnath seat was yet to be settled. He said the constituency was traditionally a stronghold of the Congress and fielding a common candidate was essential to ensure victory. He was hopeful that an understanding would be reached though both the parties had staked their claims for the seat.

Regarding the resignation submitted by three ministers to him Mr Sukh Ram said it was not a ploy to put pressure on the government but to demonstrate solidarity of the HVC and drive home the message that Mr Mansa Ram and Mr Prakash Chaudhary, the two ministers who had joined the BJP for tactical reasons, were part and parcel of his party. Some leaders had been working over time to create differences between HVC leaders and baseless reports regarding fissures in the party had started appearing in media and the resignations would set to rest all speculations on the issue.

The HVC leader said that recurring differences on trivial issues would not have appeared had the BJP set up a coordination committee as suggested by him earlier. The BJP was cadre-based party and it was running a coalition government in the state for the first time. It was not easy for such a party to carry along the coalition partner. He would be frequently interacting with Mr Dhumal to overcome this problem.

The Chief Minister, he said, had agreed to give due representation to the HVC which had been given a raw deal in appointment of chairpersons to various board and corporations. Out of 17 chairpersons the HVC men were given only two posts.

He denied he ever met Mrs Sonia Gandhi after his ouster from the Congress. He had also not made any effort to get his son, Mr Anil Sharma, inducted as a minister in the Union Cabinet. Press reports in this regard were false and motivated.

He said he had given unstinted support to the BJP and it was time that the coalition government devoted its time and energy to speed up development activities in the state.

Mr Mohinder Singh, Minister for Rural Development, who was also present at the press conference, said he had never alleged that the RSS was interfering in the functioning of the government.

Making people feel secure
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

TISSA (Chamba), Oct 22 — It is not the trigger-happy Kashmiri militants but the jawans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) now who dominate the higher reaches of the picturesque Churah valley bordering the terrorist-infested districts of Doda and Kathua of Jammu and Kashmir.

The upper areas, particularly the inaccessible passes on the Himachal and J&K border, had been considered a safe haven for Kashmiri militants who would retreat to this place whenever pressure was mounted on them by the security forces of J&K.

These mercenaries had indulged in the massacre of 35 labourers near Kalaban and Sathrundi on the night of August 2. Subsequently, the ITBP was deployed in the area on August 15 with the brief to contain infiltration of terrorists from across the border, besides providing a sense of security among the people who had never witnessed violence at such a large scale before. In a brief period of two months, ITBP men have been successful on both the missions. A number of problems, including a hostile terrain and lack of infrastructure, have made the task of the ITBP a little difficult.

During a tour of a number of villages in the valley, the TNS found that a change in the attitude of the people was apparent. They do not any more remain indoors after sunset. Now farmers, especially the Gaddis, can be seen working in the fields and tending their herds in green pastures without any fear till late in the evening due to the presence of the ITBP in the upper areas.

Of the 167-km border between Himachal Pradesh and J&K, four companies of 15th battalion of the ITBP are manning 125 km in the Kehar and Tissa sectors falling in Chamba. The ITBP has set up posts along the border at Dhapun, Mahadhwar, Hailera, Khundi Mural, Gum Gul, Ban-ka-Got, Sountith, Garhmata and Gulei. These posts have been located at heights varying from 9,000 to 12,000 feet.

During a trek to these posts, a number of people interviewed by this correspondent welcomed the deployment of the paramilitary forces in the area. Chunnu Ram, a resident of Galen village, though not aware of the village defence committees set up by the district administration, said in comparison to the past he was feeling secure as he felt that terrorists would not be able to strike again due to the presence of the force in the upper areas. Similarly, Roshan Lal of Makkan village said after the killings panic had spread in his village and the adjoining areas, but now life was close to normal. ‘‘Had the force not been deployed here, the terrorists would have cut us into pieces as they were siding with the Gujjars against the Gaddis.’’

He was, however, opposed to the decision of the authorities not to allow the residents to graze their cattle in the upper areas to prevent any untoward incident. ‘‘How can our cattle survive without grass?’’ he questioned.

The ITBP has been fighting hard not only to prevent the recurrence of the Sathrundi incident but it has also been playing a social role and helping the locals in more than one way.

Nikka Khan (97), a resident of Chichul village, is an example. He was detained by the Bhanjraru police after he came back from Doda area after settling a dispute between his daughter and the son-in-law on the suspicion that he had links with militants. He was released following intervention by the ITBP officials, who knew him for quite some time. He asserted that he would not leave the place to the militants whether they belonged to Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Another incident when the ITBP came to the rescue of the people of Chamba valley was when a fire broke out in Chougan bazar and saved a number of shops from being gutted by assisting the local authorities. Dr R.C. Sharma, Chief Medical Officer of the force, said the social role included distribution of medicines free of cost to the needy.

The Commandant of the battalion, Mr H.S. Goraya, said, in addition to keeping vigil on the movements of militants in the Churah valley, ambushes and raids were being conducted by ITBP patrol parties on suspected militant hideouts in J&K areas near the border. Night patrol and long-range patrol is a daily feature in the upper areas of the district, he said, adding that almost all Gujjars living in ‘‘deras’’, who were suspected to be providing shelter and food to militants, had shifted their base to lower areas as advised by the district administration. ‘‘Our objective is to maintain pressure on militants to prevent them from crossing over to the Churah valley,’’ he said.

Hospitals ill-equipped to treat accident victims
From Ramesh Dutt

SOLAN, Oct 22 — Twentysix persons were killed and 58 injured in seven different bus and truck accidents in the vicinity of this town during the past 17 days.

Admittedly these mishaps represented an extremely abnormal phenomenon to which the local police, the district administration and the paramedical and medical staff responded with devotion to duty with whatever resources at their command.

Nevertheless such a large number of casualties and accidents in a short span has brought certain shortcomings of the crisis management infrastructure in the district to the fore.

None of the hospitals, including the district one, is equipped with a trauma ward. The casualty wards, where these exist, basically consist of a bed or two, a dressing section, a chair and a table and, of course, a thermometer and the blood pressure measuring instrument.

Experience has shown that a majority of the road accident victims comprise orthopaedic cases. At present there is only one orthopaedic surgeon in the whole of the district and he, too, is a fresher posted at the ESI Hospital, Parwanoo, situated at one corner of the district.

While the casualty ward is located at the ground floor in District Hospital, the surgery-cum-orthopaedic wards and the operation theatre are on the first floor. The hospital does not have any ramps for moving patients suffering from orthopaedic complications on wheeled chairs or wheeled stretchers from the ground floor to upper storeys. The institution also does not have any lift.

None of the medical specialists have been provided with official telephone at his residence. Even the pagers have not been provided to them.

In the event of serious mishaps with a large number of casualties, the Chief Medical Officer has to press into service every doctor available. This often calls for summoning of "not-on-duty" doctors from their homes. In the absence of telephones and pagers, this usually became a time consuming, onerous task.

Except in the case of the CMO and the Medical Superintendent of District Hospital, no doctor, including specialists, have been provided with official residential accommodation. Most doctors live in widely scattered places, away from the hospital, which compounds the difficulty of summoning an adequate number of doctors in times of emergency like accidents.

There are only two official ambulance vans in the whole of the district — one is positioned at District Hospital and the other at Nalagarh. At some places the District Red Cross and some other voluntary organisations have provided ambulance vans. Neither the CMO nor the Medical Officer in charge of the hospitals or primary health centres have any control over the deployment of the latter class of ambulance services. This considerably reduces their usefulness in emergency cases.

Many accidents occurred when the vehicles rolled down into deep khuds, usually inaccessible to mechanical transport. The evacuation of victims always proved to be an onerous task in all such cases. The victims were brought up to the road in, from the medical point of view, a crude manner, mostly by using the piggyback technique.

Senior medical officers are of the opinion that the evacuation of persons, suffering bone fracture piggyback is hazardous. This can aggravate the injuries. The same was true in cases where, in the absence of ambulance vans, the casualties were sought to be transported to nearby hospitals in jeeps and cars without the stretcher facility.

A senior doctor said there had been a couple of cases in the past when the patients went into trauma after experiencing unbearable pains caused by the unprofessional, though inadvertent, bundling of orthopaedic patients piggyback or narrow seats of jeeps and cars.

There was a suggestion that the Health Department could take a cue from the devices popularly called "jhoola bridges" in local parlance and which are improvised by rural artisans locally.

These "jhoola" bridges were basically manually operated ropeways employed for ferrying people across hill streams and rivulets. Such gadgetry, after modifications, could be mounted on vehicles like jeeps or some such vehicle and used for evacuating casualties from deep khuds. In any case somebody would have to devise means of evacuation of casualties from inaccessible khuds in the hills.

There was a case for deploying properly equipped ambulance vans at accident-prone spots on the pattern of Haryana now when the number of road accidents has started occurring with such alarming regularity.

The PWD engineers must also start thinking about doing something for improving certain sharp curves on certain roads, which have come to be known as "killer curves". Three bus accidents have taken place in the past at the very place on the Jaunaji road where a mini bus fell into a khud on the Divali night, killing two persons.

The state government could chip in by making a thorough survey of the needs of the rural people who are usually forced to travel in trucks, either on account of cheaper fares charged by these or owing to poor bus services.

BJP blames Cong for woes of students
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 22 — Mr J P Nadda, Health Minister, charged Mr Virbhadra Singh, former Chief Minister, with making a mess of medical education in the state by opening institutions without facilities and blamed him for the woes of the students of Tanda Medical College and Dental College at Sundernagar.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Mr Nadda said the issue involved the future of students, and he was trying to keep politics out of it. But he was left with no option but to place the facts before the people because of the allegation made by Mr Virbhadra Singh that the BJP-led government had been toying with the career of students.

He said after opening Tanda Medical College, with an eye on the assembly election Mr Virbhadra Singh had made things worse by moving court against the Medical Council of India (MCI), which had refused to accord recognition to the institution for want of the requisite infrastructural facilities. He said the decision to open the college was announced in March, 1996, and the site for it was approved by the MCI in December, 1996.

He said the council pointed out various deficiencies like shortage of staff, buildings and other facilities during the second inspection in August, 1997. As it became evident that the council was not going to give recognition, Mr Virbhadra Singh approached the Union Health Minister and managed yet another inspection in November, 1997. However, the effort proved futile as the council again ruled that recognition could not be granted until the deficiencies pointed out by it were removed.

The government then moved the High Court against the MCI's decision. The High Court permitted it to give admission to students in January this year.

The matter was in court when the BJP government assumed office and it could do little as the MCI had decided to fight the legal battle. The Supreme Court had now stayed the High Court order.

He said Mr P K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, had taken personal interest in the matter and had already held a meeting with the President of the MCI.

He said a committee had been formed to monitor the progress in the recognition issue.

He urged to the agitating students of the college not to be misled by the propaganda of the Congress, which was responsible for their problems and resume their classes.

Hiked Plan outlay to speed up development
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 22 — A spokesman of the Himachal Pradesh Government has said that the highest-ever increase of 43 per cent in the Annual Plan outlay of the state would help accelerate the pace of development.

The spokesman clarified that the claim that the increase was of 18.03 per cent as compared to last year was wrong and contrary to the facts.

The spokesman clarified that while approving the Annual Plan size of Rs 1,440 crore for 1998-99, the Planning Commission only considered the initial approved outlay of Rs 1,008 crore for 1997-98. He also clarified that while approving the annual plans, the Planning Commission had considered the original size as the basis year in the past. He said that it was on the basis of Rs 1,008 crore Annual Plan for 1997-98 that the current plan size of Rs 1,440 crore was approved, thereby according an increase of 43 per cent.

The spokesman said out of Rs 1,440 crore, Rs 568.43 crore had been earmarked for the social services sector followed by the energy sector with an outlay of Rs 223.51 crore. This is followed by the transport, roads and bridges and agriculture and allied services sectors with an allocation of Rs 197.69 crore and Rs 183 crore, respectively.

Speaker invites NRIs to set up units in HP
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 22 — The Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha, Thakur Gulab Singh, has invited the non-resident Indians for setting up industrial units in Himachal Pradesh.

Thakur Gulab Singh was talking to the NRIs who had hosted a dinner for the Indian delegation of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association at Wellington in New Zealand today.

He explained to them the concessions which the state government was providing to NRIs for setting up industries.

Thakur Gulab Singh yesterday called on Mrs Jenny Shipley, Prime Minister of New Zealand and discussed the development of horticulture in the state.

He also explained in detail the functioning of parliamentary democracy in Himachal Pradesh to her.

Vidya Stokes seeks enquiry
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 22 — A senior Congress legislator, Mrs Vidya Stokes, has demanded an enquiry into the recent house collapse in Bhekalti village of Theog resulting in the death of two persons.

In a statement here today, she said that immediate measures should be taken to avoid such mishaps.

River rafting trainee drowned in Beas
From Our Correspondent

KULU, Oct 22 — One trainee was killed and four rescued when the raft in which they were riding flipped over near Mohal, about five km from here. The victim was identified as Chuni Lal, son of Het Ram of Nagori village near Manali. The Department of Tourism had organised a river rafting course here for the first time and Chuni Lal was one of the trainees. He allegedly fell victim to the misorganisation of the organisers as the guide who was imparting training jumped out of the raft on sensing danger leaving the trainees to fend for themselves. The District Police Chief, Subdivisional Magistrate and Home Guard authorities have rushed to the spot.

Tanda medicos suspend stir
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Oct 22 — The Tanda medical college students have suspended their agitation on the assurance of the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, it was learnt here tonight.

Registrar of TUs
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 22 — The Himachal Pradesh Government today appointed the Joint Labour Commissioner as Registrar of Trade Unions for the whole of Himachal Pradesh in addition to his present duties.