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September 11, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Plan panel summons HP
Govt HP scribes to get free medical
aid Forest Dept’s long wait
for regular head HPSEB needs to cut expenses:
chamber IN FOCUS |
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Illegal mining goes
on unchecked Schoolboy’s death: HC notice to officials Attempt to assault Principal ‘Dead’ man held for burglary
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Plan panel summons HP
Govt Shimla, September 10 The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, will lead a delegation of officers of the state government to Delhi for deliberations with Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission K.C. Pant, on the state’s proposed Plan of Rs 1720 crore. The Plan, which is normally cleared by the Planning Commission before the start of the financial year in March, has reportedly been delayed because the commission was seeking firm proposals from the state government for reducing expenditure and increasing its resources. However, the state government has done some cosmetic exercise for generating resources and has been stressing before the commission that keeping in view the geographical position of the state and economic condition of the people, it is not in a position to generate the type of resources which the Centre wants. The state government had projected a Plan size of Rs 1720 crore which has so far not been approved by the commission. When contacted, the Chief Secretary, Mr Harsh Gupta, said the financial crisis could be overcome by raising a structural adjustments loan and taking short and long-term measures for generating resources. The effort would be to reduce financial liabilities in a phased manner. He said the Planning Commission had been stressing on user charges in various sectors of public service including hospitals, and cutting subsidies on electricity, irrigation, transport and education. The Financial Commissioner (Finance), Mrs Asha Swaroop, said the question was whether the resource gap of the state shall have to be met by raising loans, as was being done in the past or would the Centre provide assistance for the purpose. The financial position of Himachal Pradesh has gone from bad to worse during the past about seven years as loans are being raised indiscriminately. This has plunged the state into a debt trap. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, is learnt to have recently assured Mr Dhumal that the Plan size of Rs 1720 crore will be protected, but is sore over raising of loans for meeting Plan commitments. The state government will raise loans amounting to Rs 2318 crore this year for meeting Plan commitments. |
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HP scribes to get free medical
aid Mandi, September 10 Speaking at the annual function of the Himachal Pradesh Rajya Patrakar Mahasangh at Sundernagar, near here, last evening, Mr Dhumal said instructions in this connection had already been issued by the Health Minister. Referring to the various demands raised by the journalists and the issue of their exploitation by the newspaper managements, Mr Dhumal said solutions to these problems could be provided by the managements of the newspapers and the government could do pretty little in this area. The Chief Minister, however, agreed to float a welfare fund for journalists and announced an opening grant of Rs 1 lakh. He said he would get it examined whether it was feasible to deduct a negligible percentage from the advertisement revenue of various journals to raise a revolving fund for the welfare of newspapers. Mr Dhumal advised journalists to write fearlessly upholding truth and objectivity and without compromising the ethics of journalism. He said neither the media nor the government should assume unrestrained freedom as it could prove fatal for both. The Chief Minister bemoaned that a politician was the target of criticism of everyone without their knowing how difficult it was for a politician to survive in a set up where he had to appear before the voters after every five years. In no other profession or vocation the going was so tough. Neither the judges nor the bureaucrats had to undergo such tough trials so frequently, he said. The Chief Minister assured the journalists that full protection would be provided to them and added that special cell had been set up in the secretariat to attend to the complaints of assaults on mediapersons. Mr Vijai Saighal, Editor, Dainik Tribune, said newspersons should stick to objectivity and added that reporters should see beyond politics and report human interest stories and matters directly pertaining to the common people. Earlier Mr Jai Kumar, president of the State Federation of Journalists, spoke at length about the problems of journalists in Himachal Pradesh and sought the help of the Chief Minister to mitigate the pangs of the stringers who were allegedly being exploited by newspaper managements. |
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Forest Dept’s long wait
for regular head Shimla, September 10 The government had proposed to hold the meeting of the DPC on September 10 and accordingly it had requested the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to send its nominee. However, the ministry expressed its inability to do so at such a short notice and asked the government to fix some other date for the purpose. As Mr Avay Shukla, Financial Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Forests, would be proceeding on a tour to the land-locked Bara Bhangal area later his week it may take a fortnight to hold the DPC. The post of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests fell vacant on August 12 when Mr S.K. Pande proceeded on Central deputation to occupy the post of Director-General of Forests. Mr Pankaj Khullar, senior-most forest officer, has been holding the additional charge of the post eversince. Besides him, five more officers are in line for the post. Mr R.A. Singh, Chief Conservator of Forests (Headquarters), is next to Mr Khullar in seniority. He is followed by Mr K.K. Gupta, who is already on Central deputation. The other contenders are Mr A.C. Karwasra, Chief Conservator (Protection), Mr A.L. Sharma, Chief Conservator, Sanjhi Van Yojna, and Mr O.P. Sharma, Managing Director of the state Forest Corporation. Meanwhile, the legal battle for the post of Director-General of Forests continues even after Mr S.K. Pande’s assuming charge. Mr Balwinder Singh, a Meghalaya-cadre officer, has moved the Central Administrative Tribunal to stall Mr Pande’s elevation to the post. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, however, issued orders appointing Mr Pande to the post subject to the decision of the tribunal. The next hearing in the case has been fixed for September 26. The decision of the government to shift the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden back to Shimla from Hamirpur has created a few problems for the department. Other wings of the department had occupied the accommodation when the wildlife office was packed of to Hamirpur an year ago. Now when the irrational decision has been rectified, there is no accommodation for it.
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HPSEB needs to cut expenses:
chamber Shimla, September 10 In a statement here today, Mr
A.N. Sharma, Resident Director of the PHDCCI, said the HPSEB must take requisite measures to reduce non-technical losses and improve billing system so that consumers were not made to pay for the avoidable loss. For the purpose, a programme for rehabilitation of transmission and distribution system should be formulated to minimise line losses and improve quality of power supply. The chamber has suggested that modest target of reducing T&D losses by 3 per cent per annum during the next three years will influence the tariff fixation at a reasonable level funds for the purpose be allocated by the HPSEB as this investment will lead to tapping lost revenue, the PHDCCI has said. The substation or distribution areas where T&D losses are excessive should be identified and the officers concerned be made accountable for correct billing. The defective meters on domestic, commercial and industrial premises should be replaced on priority as this will enable appropriate billing and thus generate additional revenue. The board also needs to bring down the establishment expenses, which are a whopping 110 per cent of the total cost of power. |
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IN FOCUS Parwanoo More than 200 dhabas have grown on this stretch of the highway as a result of a phenomenal increase in the tourist traffic on this route. This is the only road which connects Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh with Shimla. A large number of trucks carry vegetables and fruits from Himachal Pradesh to Chandigarh, Haryana, Delhi and beyond. There is no check on these dhabas which charge the customers at will. Most of these dhabas are benami properties held by outsiders. Some of these do not even have proper buildings and they operate under tarpaulin sheds. Some of these do not have proper licences and are not registered. The food is kept in the open, exposed to dust and flies. Some of them even serve liquor surreptitiously. Bus drivers stop their buses near dhabas that serve them free food. The passengers pay for sub-standard food at the whim of the dhaba-owner. The water used in these dhabas is fetched from the nearby streams and is stored in dirty containers. No authority has cared to test the water used at these dhabas. Minor children are employed for serving food and washing utensils. They are paid meagerly and have to work the whole day without any rest. Some do not even get any wages and have to work only for food. The local police has told the dhaba-owners not to keep their establishments open after midnight.
Baddi, September 10 The mining mafia has adopted a novel way to carry out mining operations. Permits granted for personal land holdings are being misused to extract quarrying material from the river beds and khuds. The Joint Society for Action and Protection of Environment at Baddi has taken strong exception to this illicit trade. It has questionied the move of the Mining Department, which, despite a ban on mining in the area, has issued short-term permits for the same. The society has alleged that these permits are being granted without conducting any verifications about the region. This has led to its misuse with the river beds and the khuds becoming the areas of operation instead of the personal land holdings as shown on the permits. Every day hundreds of trucks lift quarrying material from these sites with the department turning a blind eye to the objections made by the locals, including the panchayat,
pradhans, complained the pradhan of Mandhala village. The department’s apathy can be gauged from the fact that at times the permits to lift quarrying material are issued for the sites where the standing crop exists. The society has questioned the rationale of the department in granting M-forms to individuals in small land holdings of 18-12 bighas. Hundreds of trucks are often seen lifting quarrying material from such sites which is neither feasible nor environmentally safe. The society has stated that despite the government postponing the auction of khuds and riverbeds in May, the mining mafia continues to thrive and the grant of short-term time permits has given a boost to their activities. The indiscriminate mining has not only damaged water channels, but also led to a change in the course of water bodies. This has also led to erosion of arable soil lying along the riverbeds. The measures taken by the government in this regard have proved to be a damp squib with the authorities having failed to check this illicit trade. The stone crushers lying in Bharatgarh and Derabassi in Punjab and Surajpur in Haryana are being fed by the stones carried illegally from this area, allege the locals. This has, besides other harmful effects, also robbed the state of revenue worth lakhs of rupees. The trade receives an added boost in the rain when the stones fill the river beds after floods and scenes of scores of trucks lifting quarrying matrial can often be seen in these river beds. The president of the society, Mr Gyanendra Bhardwaj, has urged the government to devise an effective policy to curb the illicit trade and allow only surface lifting of quarrying material. The officials, however, stated that the grant of short-term permits was a source of revenue to the government and the problem of mining was so deep-rooted in the region that auctioning the area was the only solution. Lessees were made responsible for the illicit activity occurring in their area and they would likewise be punished if found indulging in illicit trade.
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Schoolboy’s death: HC notice to officials Shimla, September 10 Issuing notices a Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice C.K. Thakkar and Mr Justice R.L. Khurana appointed a lawyer to assist the court in this matter and at the request of the petitioner’s lawyer the court further directed that the names of Onkar Nath (teacher) and Bhato Devi (mother of the deceased) be added as party in the petition. According to reports, a 10-year-old student was ruthlessly beaten up by his teacher in a government primary school of Palampur subdivision on August 21. The boy succumbed to the injuries on September 1 at his house.
The court directed the respondents to file their reply within four weeks. |
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Attempt to assault Principal Hamirpur, September 10 On receiving information, a police party reached the college but the assailant escaped. A case had been registered and search was on for the assailant. Dr Awasthy said this evening that he was on routine round of the college when he spotted an unknown person on the college premises. He said when he asked him about his antecedents, the youth told him that he was a first year student of the college. However, when he asked for his identity card, the youth took out a “khukhri”. Dr Awasthy said when he offered resistance, the youth fled, leaving behind the “khukhri”. |
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‘Dead’ man held for burglary Solan, September 10 The S.P., Mr S.Z.H. Zaidi, told mediapersons here today that Anant Ram was initially rounded up for moving under suspicious circumstances from near Baba Balaknath Temple in Nalagarh by a routine night patrol. Anant Ram told the police that after having died “officially”, he had pursued his “vocation” without fear. |
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Student dies in absence of medical help Hamirpur, September 10
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