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Thursday,
May 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Funds for safai karamcharis being ‘misused’ PM’s Manali trip keeps security on toes Parents wait for son’s return Water theft by hotelier alleged Heritage village hosts foreigners’ wedding |
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Summer Festival at old venue Another
Kaluchak victim identified Probe into temple
records demanded
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Funds for safai karamcharis being ‘misused’ Shimla, May 22 Stating this at a press conference here, she said a nexus involving officers and NGOs had emerged, which was making money at the cost of the safai karamcharis. She said there were instances when the officers had given funds to blacklisted NGOs. There is no proper verification or monitoring of the schemes being executed by the NGOs. The situation is so bad that the nodal agencies had not been even submitting the utilisation certificates with respect to funds released to them under the schemes. Of the Rs 245.94 crore released by HUDCO, utilisation certificates had been received only for Rs 155 crore. She said the commission had taken a serious notice of all this and it would urge the government to take steps for the screening of NGOs. It would also try to ensure that NGOs, which were doing a good job, involved safai karamcharis as partners in the sanitation projects taken up by them. This was the only way to rehabilitate them. Most of them did not have the financial and other resources to run business or set up their own ventures and NGOs could play a vital role in their rehabilitation. Even the funds provided by the Safai Karamchari Finance Corporation were being misused and she had unearthed a Rs 96-lakh scandal in Allahabad Municipal Corporation recently. There were irregularities in the identification of beneficiaries and several cases were found where beneficiaries existed only on papers. Further the urban sanitation programme was also progressing at a snail’s pace. Of the total 3,655 towns to be covered schemes had been made only for 1,263 towns. In some states the scope of the scheme was curtailed midway, defeating the very objective of the scheme. The delay in releasing funds by the state, in furnishing government guarantees and completing legal documents hampered the implementation. Ms Chandra was furious over the “shabby” treatment meted out to her by the administration on her arrival. She said she enjoyed the status of a Deputy Minister but there was no one to receive her. She was neither provided any vehicle nor any proper arrangement for her stay was made. She said she would complain to the Prime Minister, Governor and Chief Minister and ensure that those responsible for the lapse would be held accountable. An official spokesman, however, said proper instructions were issued and all arrangements were made by the department concerned for the stay and the official meeting to be held by the commission. |
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PM’s Manali trip keeps security on toes Shimla, May 22 According to the latest reports, Mr Vajpayee’s stay at Manali has again been stretched to six days. He will reach there on May 24 and return on May 29. He was earlier scheduled to come to Manali on May 20, but his visit was postponed due to the massacre at Kaluchak near Jammu and his tour of Jammu and Kashmir. Thereafter, reports came that his visit to Manali might be truncated to only three days as he might fly back to Delhi on May 26 after coming to Himachal Pradesh on May 24. Mr Vajpayee will lay the foundation of the Rs 800-crore tunnel below the Rohtang pass on May 26 and thereafter address a public meeting in the complex of the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment near
Manali. |
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Parents wait for son’s return Dharamsala, May 22 It is learnt that the Punjab police picked up Girdhari Lal on April 24 on the suspicion of his involvement in some criminal activity in the state. However, the Kangra district police is mum on the happenings on that day when the Punjab police without informing them picked him up and took him away to an undisclosed destination. Surprisingly, the state police ordered a casual inquiry and that too only after some women of the tribe, including the mother of Girdhari, met the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Prabodh Saxena, seeking his intervention in the release of her son. The district police has not approached the Punjab police even after one month and has not sought details as to why he was arrested without informing them, whether he had been produced before a judicial magistrate or not and why his parents had not been informed of his arrest within 24 hours as stipulated by law. Jwali Deputy Superintendent of Police Jaram Singh, who is investigating the case, said since they had not lodged a complaint with the police they could not have acted without it. Even in the complaint submitted to the DC, the family suspects Madhi, a youth from their tribe who is presently an official with the Punjab police, to be behind the kidnapping. He could give no reason as to why he had been picked up. Meanwhile, the Superintendent of Police, Mr Sanjay Kundu, on being asked by The Tribune as to what steps they had taken to get Girdhari Lal released, said the particular tribe had a record of
being involved in crimes in and outside the state. It was quite possible that he might have been arrested after a hot chase, he added. “Even the law on this is quite clear. The police from one state while on a chase need not inform the police of another state where the criminal may be hiding. In this instance, there is every possibility of this being the case”. Nonetheless, the fact remains that even if he had committed a crime in Punjab and had thereafter hid in the village, it is necessary that the police inform his relatives about his arrest and whereabouts and that too within 24 hours, which they did not do. |
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Water theft by hotelier alleged Kumarhatti, May 22 The illegal practice came to light recently when local residents noticed a pipe running from the water tank to the hotel premises. The residents found that the hotel owner had installed a water motor in his hotel and used to draw water from the public tank during night hours. The public water storage tank of 60000-litre capacity is situated on the hilltop just above the hotel and the owner had allegedly constructed an underground water tank on the hotel premises to facilitate the flow of water. The water theft by the hotel owner has been causing scarcity of water in Barog, said Mr Sanjay Kumar, vice-president of the Barog panchayat. He said the practice had gone unnoticed for the past one and half years. The residents of Barog claim to have photographs proving the water theft. Besides informing the panchayat, they have made a complaint to the IPH Department and sought an inquiry. The SDO concerned of the department confirmed water theft by the hotel owner. He said an FIR would be lodged against the hotel owner as soon as the department got the complete report and photographs. Meanwhile the hotelier was not available to give his version of the story. |
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Heritage village hosts foreigners’ wedding Dharamsala, May 22 Though the small hamlet of Pragpur in Kangra district, with its cobbled streets and mud-plastered slate-roofed houses, has been attracting a large number of foreign tourists ever since it earned the distinction of being declared the first heritage village. But it played host to a unique wedding for the first time. “ I was so enamoured with the ancient ambience of the village during my first visit to India, last year that I made up my mind to solemnise my marriage here in the traditional Hindu way, for which our country is known,” said Dhana beaming in her bridal finery. If it was a unique experience for the English room, John Gordon, attired in dhoti-kurta, it was so for the villagers who were part of the opulent wedding, with guests of all nationalities flying in from the USA, England, Scotland and Australia. “The villagers on their part treated Dhana as their own daughter making the best arrangements for mehndi, “batna”, “pheras” and “vidai” ceremonies with traditional fervor,” said Mr Vijai Lal, owner of the heritage country manor “Judge’s Court”. With the bride’s wish to get married on the banks of the Beas, the villagers made a road so that the vehicles could reach the venue, but it was difficult to arrange for a pandit who could translate the mantras into English. Dhana, who is a lawyer at a firm in London insisted on having local musicians play “dhols” from Chintpurni Temple instead of the brass band. Encouraged by the response to Pragpur, the government has issued a notification including the adjoining Garli hamlet as part of the heritage zone. A notification regarding the creation of a special area development authority to preserve the village under the guidance of INTACH is also in the pipeline. |
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Summer Festival at old venue Shimla, May 22 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr P.C.Katoch, told mediapersons here today that following repairs of the cracking water reservoir below the Ridge, an expert committee had reported that the function could be held there. However, the stage facing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi would be set up near the Home Guards office and the reservoir portion would be cordoned off. For the past two years, the festival was being held at the Ice Skating Rink as the Ridge had become dangerous due to cracks in the reservoir. The festival at the rink had failed to attract many people. According to the fixtures for the festival, Penaz Masani and Hema Sardesai would perform on the last day. Local folk artistes would perform everyday and a flower show would also be held. A band competition would also be held. |
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Another Kaluchak victim identified Nurpur, May 22 According to Mr Hemant Kumar Gupta, Regional Manager, HRTC depot, Pathankot, who went to Jammu today to get the body of the victim, the body was identified yesterday when the luggage of the victims was unpacked. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons. The body was brought to his native village this evening. |
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HP Cong gears up for Sonia’s rally Shimla, May 22 Separate observers have been appointed for the subdivisions of Kangra district, while Mr Kuldeep Singh Rathore, PCC secretary, will assist Mr Mahajan as coordinator. Of the four observers appointed for different parts of the district, only Thakur Kaul Singh belongs to the camp of Mr Virbhadra Singh, CLP leader. The three other observers are Mr Raj Kishen Gaur, Mr Rangila Ram Rao and Mr Shiv Kumar
Upmanyu. |
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Probe into temple
records demanded Kangra, May 22 Mr Sharma added that the temple management might have kept it for misappropriation as four quintals of silver was allegedly sold without auction in 2001. He alleged that there was no transparency in the deals carried out by the temple authorities. |
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ITBP man cremated with honours Bilaspur, May 22 |
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Shimla selected for IEC programme Shimla, May 22 Stating this here yesterday, a spokesman of the Irrigation and Public Health Department said Rs 1.26 crore had been sanctioned for the programme. The objective was to create awareness among people, bring transparency and carry out social audit of the water and sanitation programme. |
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