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| Sunday,
April 15, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Dhumal’s
balancing act makes BJP executive unwieldy Cong plans
offensive against Dhumal govt Rao: declare HP
drought affected Efforts on
to mobilise resources: Dhumal Dhumal
garlands Ambedkar’s statue |
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Apple from France arrive in
Kalka Rs 7-cr
hospital to be set up in HP 19th
century silver coins found Burning of waste poses
hazard
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Dhumal’s balancing act makes BJP executive unwieldy Shimla, April 14 With the induction of 10 more members under pressure from the dissidents over the past two months, the total number of members have gone up to 115, including 42 special invitees. As per the party constitution in a “C” category state like Himachal the core size of the Executive should not exceed 41 members. Presidents and general secretaries of all district units, and heads of various frontal organisations and cells of the party are also included, which means an additional 34 members. Besides, former state party chiefs are permanent invitees. Usually a few deserving leaders, who are left out, are accommodated as special invitees. However, this time the number of special invitees has even surpassed the main Executive. A large number of members have been to the Executive, which was first constituted in July last. The Executive has become much bigger than the state Council which has one member from each Assembly constituency besides presidents of district units. The Shimla Assembly constituency has the maximum representation on the Executive. It has 10 members, including four important office-bearers and two heads of cells. Senior leaders admit that the Executive has become unwieldy. Indeed the importance of the apex body guiding the party on vital issues has been diluted. Factionalism has taken a heavy toll of the party. Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal who is already heading a jumbo-size Ministry, is under pressure to include a few more. At present there are 20 Ministers, one Chief Parliamentary Secretary and two Parliamentary Secretaries. Early this month Mr Dhumal had indicated that he might go in for a reshuffle after the Budget session. This has led to hectic lobbying by legislators who have been aspiring for a ministerial berth. Those whose names are being mentioned in ruling circles include Mr Rakesh Pathania, Vice-Chairman of the state Tourism Development Corporation, Mr B.R. Mandyal, Chairman of the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank, and Mr Jai Ram, Vice-Chairman of the State Civil Supplies Corporation. Besides, there are some others like Mr Narinder Bragta, and Mr Praveen Sharma, both Ministers of State who are hoping for a Cabinet rank. To maintain factional balance Mr Dhumal will have to include at least one or two dissidents like Mr Des Raj and Mr Dulo Ram. Moreover, Mr Sukh Ram, has been repeatedly urging Mr Dhumal to elevate Dr R.L. Markandey, the lone HVC Minister, to the Cabinet rank. In such a situation, political observers feel, that expansion will be a nightmare for the Chief Minister as the inclusion of a few will annoy those who are left out. Moreover, the ministry is already too large for a small fund-starved state like Himachal and any further additions to the Council of Ministers will lower the party’s image. The Sangh Parivar is also not in favour of expansion which will open up a Pandora’s Box, creating more problems for the faction-ridden party. |
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Cong plans offensive against Dhumal govt Dharamsala, April 14 Addressing a press conference here today, he said a massive rally under the leadership of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the Rajya Sabha member, Mrs Chandresh Kumari, would be held at Nagrota on April 24. He said the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police, Kangra, were facing the threat of transfer because they had not hesitated in registering an FIR against three ministers and one MLA on the complaint of two zila parishad women members. “It is very unfortunate that the DC and the SP should be victimised simply for following the law,” Mr Bali stated. He said the main issue at the Nagrota rally would be the terrorising and influencing of the investigating agencies by the government. He demanded that the Chief Minister should make public the agreement arrived at with the rebel leaders so that the people could get to know the compromise the government had made. Mr Bali said during the month-long crisis the functioning of the government was crippled with all development works coming to a standstill. Except for saving the government and securing their berth and portfolios, nobody spared a thought for the development and law and order in the state. He said since the high court had issued notice to the state government in the case of the alleged kidnapping of the two zila parishad members, the three ministers who had been named had lost the moral right to continue in the ministry. He demanded the matter should be immediately handed over to the CBI. |
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Rao: declare HP
drought affected Mandi, April 14 He said 80 per cent to 100 per cent wheat and other crops had been
destroyed and there was acute shortage of fodder.
He demanded that Himachal Pradesh should be declared a “drought
affected” state and relief and rehabilitation measures should be
launched on a war-footing.
The former minister, who was talking to mediapersons, said water
sources in the state had either dried up or the water -level gone down
and the problem could assume alarming proportions in the months to
come.
He called upon the government to supply foodgrains to the people on
subsidised rates and generate employment opportunities for the people
who predominantly depended on agriculture.
He flayed the government assertion that the Deputy Commissioners
had been directed to deal with the drought situation.
He asked how could the Deputy Commissioners work without the
government providing them substantial funds to deal with the
situation.
Mr Rao declared that a Congress rally would be organised in the
town to highlight the ommissions and commissions of the Dhumal
government. He alleged that the BJP-HVC government had brought the
state to the brink of bankruptcy.
The plan outlay had been cut from Rs 1,742 crore to Rs 1,342. The
government has raised a loan of Rs 2,324 crore this year.
Earlier, Mr Rao addressed a meeting of party workers for making
preparations for the Congress rally to be held here on April 24. |
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Efforts
on to mobilise resources: Dhumal Shimla, April 14 In his message on the eve of the state completing 53 years of existence today, Mr Dhumal said he had discussed the issue with leaders of various Opposition parties by rising above political considerations and they had responded positively. Efforts are being made to get legitimate share from the BBMB and the neighbouring states, which is due on account of the Punjab Reorganisation Act. The Centre is also being urged to allow the state to impose generation tax on electricity. He said though the state had made progress in various fields of development, but it still had to go a long way in attaining self-dependence. A three-pronged strategy has been adopted to mobilise resources, enforce economy in government expenditure and ensure maximum help from the Central Government, he added. Mr Dhumal said for generating resources, the government has decided to exploit the vast hydel potential of the state expeditiously as it is believed that this could be one of the main source of income for the state. A plan has been formulated to harness 10,000 MW of additional hydel potential by the end of the decade by involving public, private and joint sectors in a big way. The government during the past three years has given added priority to hydel power generation and has initiated work on projects having a generation capacity of 6100 MW, which are likely to be completed in the next seven-eight years, and would fetch an annual income of about Rs 1,000 crore. Some of the projects on which work has been started are 2051 MW Parbati, 800 MW Kol Dam, 300 MW Chamera stage-11, 100 MW UHL stage-III, 86 MW Malana, 15 MW Neogal and 9 MW Khauli. Work on the 1000-MW Karcham Wangtoo, 192 MW Allain Duhangan, 70 MW Dhamwari-Sunda, 70 MW Budhil, 60 MW Harsar, 45 MW Kungti, 45 MW Bharmour, 16 MW Patikari, 6 MW Fozal and 5.5 MW Sainj are also likely to start soon. From the projects being executed in the private sector, Himachal Pradesh will get 12 per cent free power for the first 12 years and 15 per cent power on bus bar basis i.e. on generation cost. Free power component will increase to 18 per cent for the next 28 years in these projects. The government has come out with the new industrial policy guidelines-1999, which emphasises on promoting industries in the state, based on local raw materials, which are environment friendly and will generate employment for the local people. Besides, efforts are being made to attract maximum investments for the state, especially from big houses and NRIs. The Chief Minister said, “we are formulating state’s own information technology policy, which envisages a big boost to information technology in the state by giving it status of an industry with subsequential benefits. These include, simplification of procedure for acquisition of land for IT units, exemption in taking permission for using agriculture land for IT units as a special case, permission to set up IT software and service units in residential areas and certain other special incentives for IT projects having investment of more than Rs 10 crore. A software technology park is being set up at Shimla soon. He said tourism was another sector which could be a source of income and employment. Emphasis is being laid on promoting infrastructure. The existing airports of Shimla, Kangra and Kulu are being expanded to facilitate the landing of bigger planes. A new airstrip is being constructed at Pathankot so that tourists could be attracted to the state. Priority has been given to the construction and maintenance of roads. It has been decided to provide road connectivity to all the villages in the state in next three years. Our efforts have got big boost with the launching of “Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojna”, last year. Various schemes worth Rs 60 crore had been approved by the Central Government. We have prepared Himachal Health Vision-2020, which aims at ensuring better health care facilities by implementing various state’s and national health programmes, and by creating an awareness about healthcare among the people, especially poor, he stated. To strengthen the agrarian economy of the state, emphasis is being laid on diversification by promoting horticulture, herbiculture, floriculture and vegetables growing, Mr Dhumal said. To ensure remunerative prices to the fruit growers in the state, two fruit-based winery, one in Shimla district and other in Mandi district, are being set up at a cost of Rs 30 crore. The work on the winery being set up at Pragatinagar, Shimla district, has started. Five more fruit processing and training centres have also been set up. The social services sector has been given utmost priority to give human face to the development efforts. Over 40 per cent of the annual Budget is being spent on this vital sector every year. Development is being speeded up from grassroots level for which massive devolution of powers and funds has been made to the Panchayati Raj institutions during the past three years. |
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Apple from France arrive in
Kalka Parwanoo, April 14 This is being considered as a warning bell for the apple growers here, who are now facing the challenge not only from France, but also from the other major apple producing countries, including China, USA, Turkey, Italy, New Zealand and Australia. The arrival of apple in the country markets has not altogether stopped despite the centre substantially increasing the import duty on apple to discourage its imports. Neither has the enhanced import duty resulted in a big increase in the rates of the imported apples, whose price difference with regard to the domestic produce was not very high. About 1,953 metric tonnes of apple worth Rs 5.44 crore was imported last season. The highest import of 756 metric tonnes was from the USA followed by 523 metric tonnes from New Zealand and 197 metric tonnes from Australia. About 44 metric tonnes of apple was imported from France. Mr J.P. Negi, Managing Director of the National Horticulture Board, said the apple-producing states of Himachal, J and K, Uttaranchal and Arunachal contribute only 13.8 lakh tonnes of apple. The imported apple has the advantage of having extra fine quality and reaches the table farm-fresh as these are transported under the cool chain right from the orchard of the supplying country to the marketing outlets in India. Mr Negi says this is posing a major challenge to the local apples of Himachal and J and K since the price in some of the markets is almost equal to that of the local produce. The retail price of imported apple in Delhi ranged between Rs 75 to Rs 100 per kg, while the domestic produce was priced between Rs 50 to Rs 60. In Mumbai the imported varieties were available in the retail market between Rs 80 to Rs 120 per kg against the domestic varieties ranging between Rs 60 to Rs 70. Last year, India exported 5,477 metric tonnes of apple worth Rs 8.84 crore to West Asia, far eastern countries and Netherland. However, the orchardists here were suffering because of the constraints of inadequate infrastructure, poor orchard management and non-availability of controlled atmosphere facility. They will have to go in for high density plantations and introduce new
varieties for year-round availability to meet the challenge. |
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Dhumal garlands Ambedkar’s statue Shimla, April 14 Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal garlanded the statue of Ambedkar at Ambedkar Chowk here as a mark of respect to the great leader. Mr Vidya Sagar, Agriculture Minister, Mr Narinder Bragta, Minister of State for Horticulture, Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, Minister of State for Urban Development, Mrs Jainey Prem, Mayor, Shimla, Municipal Corporation, and people from all walks of life also garlanded the statue. Kirtan and Bhajans were also recited on the occasion. Prof Dhumal, lauding the services of Dr Ambedkar, said the government was committed to the welfare of the poor and the down trodden. He said the government had started the Ambedkar meritorious scholarship scheme for Scheduled Caste students under which each student was being given Rs 10,000 in plus one and plus two classes. He said one ward in each Assembly constituency, having maximum Scheduled Caste families, was being given Rs 3 lakh under the Guru Ravi Dass Civil Amenities Improvement Scheme. Our Solan Correspondent adds:
The National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commission, in a recent communication to the government of Himachal Pradesh, has lauded the efforts made by the government and social workers of the state to bring the Dalits into the main stream Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, Speaker, Vidhan Sabha, presiding over a state-level Ambedkar birth anniversary function on Saturday said that Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal had ordered that all vacancies in the category reserved for Dalits be filled at the earliest. He also released a souvenir and announced grant of Rs 11,000 to the Dalit Pidit Uthan Sansthan, a social welfare organisation. |
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Rs 7-cr hospital to
be set up in HP Dharamsala, April 14 Inaugurating a two-day workshop on laparoscopic surgery, called Him Surgicon-2001, the Health Minister lauded the efforts of the doctors in the state in providing the best possible medical facilities to its people. Mr Nadda claimed that it was a matter of great pride that the doctors in Himachal were far more dedicated and caring than their counterparts in other states. They had been cooperative in going and serving the people of even far-flung places, he added. With the final verdict of the Supreme Court, the decks had been cleared for starting the second year course at the Tanda Medical College, he said. The second batch of students would be given admission soon so that the classes could be started at the earliest. The government would make its best efforts to make Tanda Medical College a premier institution, with all latest facilities. The government would be liberal in providing funds for aquiring the latest machinery and equipment for the convenience of patients. |
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19th century silver
coins found Dharamsala, April 14 Mr Prithvi Raj, SSP, said it was on Wednesday that three primary schoolchildren found some coins near the water body in the Tung forest while on their way to school. On knowing the discovery of the silver coins, two 10th class boys, Gagan and Bobby, went to the site and dug up the ground. While Gagan found 37 coins, Bobby got 30. The coins, dating back to 1835, bear the images of Queen Victoria and George V. However, when a police party went to the village yesterday, the local residents did not cooperate and didn’t tell them anything. Today, a police party went to the village and convinced the residents to handover the silver coins to them. Mr Prithvi Raj said a case had been registered under the Treasurers and Troves Act, 1878, and the coins would be deposited with the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra. He added that the names of these students would be recommended to the Deputy Commissioner for a reward of 25 per cent of the recovery amount as per the law. |
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Burning
of waste poses hazard Parwanoo, April 14 In the absence of bifurcation of the refuse into organic or inorganic, degradable or non-degradable, the dump is burnt as such and there is no process to separate the waste matter for recycling. The environment experts say that when the plastic and the polythene are burnt with other waste material, they produce toxic hydrocarbons, dioxins, furans and carcinogenic fumes in the air, which can cause serious diseases including cancer and asthama. The hospital wastes which carry the contagious germs that require careful incineration are also mixed with other garbage of the town and burnt. The poisonous smoke of roadside burning of the garbage get mixed with the pollution of the traffic and concentrates the air pollution to a higher level, the experts added. He suggested that tree plantation and development of greenbelts is very necessary on the roadside and the thickly populated areas of the town. With the advent of industrial development in this town, the problem of pollution has surfaced. There is also a rise in noise and smoke pollution in this town. A number of industrial units emit poisonous fumes through its chimneys throughout the day which is posing a serious threat to the environment and to the health of the residents of this town and surrounding areas. The residents of this town also say that the water supply scheme is not properly maintained and water is not properly treated before supplying for drinking to the residents. |
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