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Thursday,
October 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Move to
weaken Virbhadra, Shanta strongholds BABY BOOM Shatrughan
lays stone of nursing institute |
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sought for kiosk owners Hamirpur, October 23 The HP Congress Vice-President, Ms Anita Verma, today demanded a Central Government scheme to rehabilitate kiosk owners after the demolition of their kiosks and construction of 64 shops, a taxi stand and a stadium here. 80 pc villages sans
amenities
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Move to weaken Virbhadra, Shanta strongholds Shimla, October 23 The working proposals circulated among the associate members of the commission for perusal prior to the meeting of the commission scheduled for October 30 reveal that Rohru, the constituency of Mr Virbhadra Singh, leader of the Opposition, is proposed to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes. The Sulab constituency from where Mr Shanta Kumar, the Union Minister for Rural Development and an arch rival of the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, is proposed to be scrapped. The total number of seats in Kangra, the biggest and politically significant district, is proposed to be reduced from 16 to 15, while a new constituency of Manali would be carved out in Kulu district to raise the total number of seats to four. The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes would be increased from 16 to 17, whereas no change is proposed in the status of the three tribal constituencies of Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur and Bharmour. The number of open seats will, thus, come down to 48 from 49 at present. In Shimla district, the Rohru seat is proposed to be reserved and Kusumpti, reserved for one Scheduled Castes at present, to be de-reserved. Similarly, in Kangra district, Pragpur is proposed to be de-reserved and Baijnath reserved for the Scheduled Castes. In Solan district, the Solan seat is proposed to be reserved for Scheduled Castes in addition to the already-reserved Kasauli seat. Thus, the district would have two reserved seats of the total five seats. The Rampur Assembly segment, which falls under the Mandi parliamentary constituency, is proposed to be made part of the Shimla parliamentary seat. Besides redrawing the existing boundaries, the names of some constituencies are proposed to be changed. Bamsen would become Hamirpur while the existing Hamirpur is proposed to be renamed as Sujanpur, Mewa to be renamed as Bhoranj, Kotkehloor as Naina Devi, Gerhwin as Jhanduta, Banikhet as Dalhousie, Santokhgarh as Haroli and Gangath as Indora. The proposals have evoked a sharp criticism from leaders likely to be affected by the exercise. Mr Virbhadra Singh said it was yet another attempt of the Dhumal government to harm him politically. He said he would make a representation before the commission. Mr Dulo Ram, a staunch supporter of Mr Shanta Kumar whose constituency is proposed to be reserved, saw government hand behind the exercise. He said it was unjust to reduce the number of constituencies in Kangra and amounted to penalising the district. The general feeling among the leaders and the people is that political manipulation had worked in framing the proposals. Meanwhile according to PTI, the state Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal has said the charges of Congress leaders that the state government was manipulating the delimitation was uncalled for as the government had nothing to do with the commission, which had been set up by the Union Government. He said it worked according to set guidelines and the state government’s role was only to provide the information required by it. Mr Dhumal said such delimitation was being held after 30 years, adding that setting up of the delimitation commission was the need of the hour due to an increase in the population and various other factors. |
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BABY BOOM Shimla, October 23 Inaugurating a state-level dissemination workshop on “Reproductive and Child Health —local initiative programme”, organised by the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development here today, he said time had come to take harsh measures and his government had already made a beginning by enforcing the two-child norm for elected panchayat and local body functionaries. He said over 100
Pradhans, Up-Pradhans and other functionaries had been violating the norm over the past one year. He said the government had given priority to women empowerment and health, education and roads which were key to speedy development and building a healthy and prosperous society. The efforts of the government had yielded the desired results which were reflected in the human development indicators compiled by the Planning Commission and the
UNDP. The literacy percentage had crossed 90 and even the female literacy rate was as high as 84 per cent. The school dropout rate was negligible. Medical care was available right upto the village level and there were about 3900 health institutions for 3100
panchayats. Though due to inequitable distribution some panchyats still lacked it. Presiding over the session Mr Hari
Jaisingh, Editor of The Tribune, underlined the need to effectively defuse the “population bomb” and said it was an issue which required political will. He lamented that politicians cautiously avoided this important issue. The unchecked growth of population was eating into the vitals of country like cancer and deserved to be treated like that. He said women-oriented approach to development with focus on health and education was the best remedy for the poverty-stricken country. The government alone could not deliver and people’s participation was essential to achieve a speedy and sustained progress on the development front. He was all praise for the efforts of CRRID which had played a vital role in the success of the RCH programme at the grassroot level in the Bhawarna block. Its biggest achievement had been the involvement of the local people in the health programme. Mr
S.M. Khalequez Zaman, Programme Manager, India-LIP, said the programme had effectively delivered health care to rural people at minimal costs. The cost worked out to 2.4 dollar per person over a two-year period. The main reason for it was that the administrative costs were as low as 17 per cent and the remaining 83 per cent was spent on the project. Full advantage of government resources was taken to curtail unnecessary expenditure and duplication of services. Brig (Dr) M.S.
Bharji, Project Coordinator, gave a presentation of the work being done by CRRID in the Bhawarna block and other rural area. He said various health indicators had improved after the implementation of the programme. Some panchayat functionaries attending the workshop also shared their experiences. Mr Kishori
Lal, a Panchayat Pradhan of Bhawarna, said there was need to change the mindset of the people to make any programme a success. CRRID had done it by ensuring full participation of the local people. Ms Monica Sharma, a voluntary health worker, explained how she and her colleagues visited every house in the village and maintained constant touch with pregnant women and children and provided proper medical care to them. |
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Shatrughan
lays stone of nursing institute Dharamsala, October 23 Mr Sinha said the increasing number of incurable diseases in the country was a matter of concern. The government alone could not fight this alone and people must come forward to help eradicate diseases. Lauding the attempt of Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar for starting a super speciality treatment project for people of the area, Mr Sinha said the Union Health Ministry would extend cooperation to make it a reality. However, he did not announce any financial aid. Mr Shanta Kumar though news columns were filled with news of anti-social elements, there was no place for news which might motivate people to help in noble causes. Himachal Health Minister J.P. Nadda blamed the Congress for creating hurdles in the implementation of the project its, rule. Those who had contributed heavily for the project were also honoured on the occasion. |
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Relief sought for kiosk owners Hamirpur, October 23 Talking to The Tribune yesterday, she said the decision of the state government and the district administration to charge Rs 4 lakh from each kiosk owner was beyond their reach. She said these people had been given an assurance during the Congress regime that they would be rehabilitated if they were dispossessed again. |
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80 pc villages
sans amenities Dharamsala, October 23 The minister was addressing students after presiding over the concluding function of the HP University youth festival here yesterday. Mr Shanta Kumar said that after Defence Rural Development had the maximum budget of Rs 14000 crore and additional funds of Rs 8000 crore had also been allotted for it. He claimed that the centre was spending Rs 35000 crore a year on rural development and states spent another Rs 5000 crore. He said despite spending this much of amount, only 20 per cent villages had the facilities of sanitation, roads and clean drinking water. The minister also laid the foundation stone of Rs 2.6 crore auditorium to be built with the help of the Old Students Association of the college. |
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