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Tuesday,
April 15, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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TODAY IS HIMACHAL DAY Virbhadra visits Paonta Sahib Gurdwara CM hints at action
against IPS officer Masyana village cries for facilities 5 held for khair wood smuggling |
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YHAI secretary hails MoU Gen Zorawer
Singh
remembered Ambedkar Jayanti
celebrations Strike fails to affect life
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TODAY IS HIMACHAL DAY Shimla, April 14 When asked about the changes he had found in the government on his return as the Chief Minister, he said: “My predecessor has left the government in a mess, which is a situation I have never encountered earlier on my return as the CM. The Dhumal government destroyed institutions and rendered the instruments of governance ineffective by its arbitrary style of functioning. Rules, regulations, propriety and conventions were ignored, which led to this chaos. Mr P.K. Dhumal, who was at the helm for five years, is responsible for the downslide.” “There is no dearth of competent, and experienced officials in the state but the functioning of the government suffered because of a lack of direction. A systematic attempt was made to politicise various services and divide officers and employees on the basis of region and caste. Governments may change frequently, but the bureaucracy, must maintain its neutrality or the system will fail.” “My government will enforce the rule of law and not allow political expediency, convenience and corruption to subvert the law. Reestablishing the credibility of institutions and revamping the administration will be given priority.” On the issue of outstanding loans crossing the Rs 15,000 crore mark and the annual interest liability touching Rs 1,400 crore, which has landed the state in a debt trap, he said it was a serious problem created by the wrong fiscal policies of the previous regime. However, it could be solved through proper management of the state’s finances. “The state will raise resources from within and outside and compress expenditure. Fiscal restructuring can curtail unproductive expenditure,” he said. In reply to another question, he said the MoU on economic reforms the Centre had asked the states to sign had already been placed before the Vidhan Sabha by the previous government and it would take some time for the final view to emerge. Reforms might be essential but no state could agree to implementing certain clauses in the MoU like banning recruitment. A way would have to be found to make the reforms less painful for the states. On the question of unemployment, he said employment in the government sector had already reached the saturation point and the stress would be on creating job opportunities in potential sectors like information technology and hydel-power generation. “Steps will be taken to revive the large number of sick industrial units and attract new industries. Maximum employment to the people of the state will be offered in hydel projects assigned to the private sector. However, the emphasis will also be on self-employment and the government will come out with new self-employment schemes,” he said. Regarding the dip in the performance rating of the state electricity board, he said this institution, too, had suffered because of the indiscretions of the Dhumal government. “It was in profit when the coalition government took over in 1998, but the previous government not only failed to make use of its vast technical manpower and other infrastructure, but also failed to release the subsidy due after the rollback of power tariff announced by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Uncertain policies of the government, led to the board’s downfall,” he said. About the crusade against corruption, main election promise of the party, he said: “The Congress has been given a mandate to root out graft and it will be implemented. The drive against graft was launched the day the Congress government took over. Unlike the previous regime that fabricated cases against the Congress leaders, the present government was not making the action being taken by it public. Cases will be registered only if there is a solid evidence. A case has already been registered against the chairman of the state Subordinate Services Selection Board. |
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Virbhadra visits Paonta Sahib Gurdwara Paonta Sahib, April 14 The Chief Minister , who was presented a “siropa” by the Vice-President of the Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Mr Rattan Singh, assured the special congregation that all long-standing demands of the Sikhs would be considered sympathetically and conceded in due course of time. The Chief Minister and his entourage were received by Mr Rattan Singh, Jathedar Kartar Singh Takkar, Mr Kulwant Singh, Jathedar Bhupinder Singh, Jathedar Harbhajan Singh and Mr Baldev Singh. Since Paonta Sahib has been one of three major centres of Sikhs residing in Himachal Pradesh, memorandum presented to Mr Virbhadra Singh today were about teaching of Punjabi in schools from Class VI onwards, allotment of land for the construction of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur National Memorial at Lohgarh, supply of LPG to the gurdwara’s kitchen at domestic rates and rectification of some revenue records pertaining to the land of Paonta Sahib Gurdwara. In the last assembly elections, Mr Rattan Singh, considered a trusted lieutenant of Mr Virbhadra Singh, was defeated by a BJP candidate, Mr Sukh Ram. A former Union Finance Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had also campaigned here for Mr Rattan Singh. The community, the Chief Minister was told , was a minute minority in Himachal and had been struggling for the past several years to get some of its demands, including the introduction of teaching of Punjabi in schools of the state. So much so that the previous BJP government in the state, even after taking a Cabinet decision, not only failed to introduce teaching of Punjabi, both as an elective and optional subject in select schools, but went to the extent of remains “voluntary teachers” taking Punjabi classes. In a memorandum submitted by Jathedar Kartar Singh,a member of the Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, it was demanded that all those teachers who had been teaching Punjabi voluntarily should be given employment by the state Education Department and Punjabi classes be introduced from class VI instead of Class IX as announced earlier. Jathedar Kartar Singh urged the Chief Minister to impress upon the Union Ministry of Petroleum to exempt gurdwara from its orders of disallowing the use of LPG for non-domestic purposes. The community kitchen of the gurdwara, which offers free langar to the devotees and all visitors, had been using LPG for cooking purposes. But after the new directives of the ministry came, the supply of the LPG to the gurdwara had been discontinued. Instead, the management of the gurdwara has been told to take commercial supply of LPG which was three times costlier than domestic supply. Since “langar” is non-commercial, the parbandhak committee demanded, that the commercial supply should not be forced on the gurdwara. The Chief Minister was told that some years ago, a piece of gurdwara land was given for starting centre for leather tanning and industrial training. But the centre did not get expected response and was subsequently closed. The committee wanted that land should be transferred to the gurdwara and necessary rectification be made in the revenue records. One of the long standing demand has been setting up of Baba Banda Singh National memorial at Lohgarh which was once the Capital of this great Sikh warrior. The dilapidated Lohgarh Fort was now a part of reserve forest and had to be denotified before the memorial could be built. The committee demanded that this should be done to facilitate the setting up of the memorial. |
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Fervour
marks Baisakhi SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, greeted the people of the state on the occasion of Baisakhi, on Monday. Addressing devotees at the historical Poanta Sahib Gurdwara, Mr Virbhadra Singh said the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh were more relevant in the present scenario as he preached universal brotherhood by rising above casteism and other considerations. He joined the devotees in a prayer meeting and was presented a siropa by the Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee. He also felicitated the farmers on the occasion. |
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CM hints at action
against IPS officer Nahan, April 14 The CM said the power-project agreements signed with private parties by the Dhumal government would be revived, but only with a view to giving employment to the people of the state. He said: “The previous government did not give any project work to the 35,000 employees of the state electricity board, due to which their pay allowances became a burden on the board, which weakened its financial position. Now, new projects are being given to the board.” He said his government would not indulge in mass transfers in one category. Not more than 3 per cent employees would be transferred and relief would be given in all cases of victimisation by the previous government. |
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Masyana village cries for facilities Masyana (Hamirpur), April 14 Having a population of about 200 Brahmins, the mainstay of the people is agriculture. They grow maize, paddy and wheat as well as vegetables. Since this village is located on the bank of Kunah Khud, a lift water irrigation scheme exists for the area, it does not function properly. The local people are upset over the functioning of stone crusher in the khud for the past 15 years. The crusher has affected the production of crops and fruits, laments Mr Ram Swaroop, who runs a sweet shop at Masyana Da Ghat. Various representations to the state government and the district administration to stop its functioning have gone un-headed. Mr Ram Swaroop says that the water level in the khud and nearby sources has gone down. People fetch drinking water from government-owned taps as other water sources have dried up. There is no primary school in the village and the children are forced to go to Bari, Bagarti and other nearby schools for primary education. For the plus two educations, they have to go to Bari and Nalti by covering a long distance. There is no proper facility for them to treat their animals. The nearest animal dispensary is located at Dudhana village or Hamirpur. It takes much time and money to get the animals treated there. The people also lament about the poor power supply in the area. They want three-phase power supply. It is difficult for the children to study at night due to poor voltage of power. This village can be developed as a big tourist spot once facilities are provided by the government. During old days, people of the nearby areas used to sit under a huge chabutra constructed between two big trees. A small temple of the local devta is also located on this platform as well as at a nearby hillock. |
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5 held for khair wood smuggling Bilaspur, April 14 He said a case under Sections 41 and 42 of the Indian Forests Act, has been registered. Mr M. Chandershekhar said the police had also arrested two persons and registered cases under Section 61 of the HP Excise Act. A police party led by Head Constable Karan Singh intercepted Sarwan Singh at Jandaur and recovered 5,000 ml of illicit liquor from him. Another police party led by ASI Gautam Chand arrested Rajiv Kumar in the main market area here as he was found possessing 2,250 ml of illicit liquor. |
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YHAI secretary hails MoU Dalhousie, April 14 Mr Sehgal said in a press release issued here today that the primary function of the IYHF, founded in 1909, was to provide shared accommodation. Mr Sehgal said that there were 4,200 youth hostels in 65 member countries in all the continents of the world. He said that the MoU would provide a concrete framework to better serve the common goals of both organisations at a time when these fundamental human goals of peace and international understanding were more necessary. |
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Gen Zorawer
Singh remembered Hamirpur, April 14 Mr Suresh Chandel, MP, said that the General had played a major role to safeguard the interests of the people of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir state. His contribution to the nation was unforgettable. He said it was most unfortunate that though the General was born in a village of Hamirpur, he was not known to his villagers even. Mr Chandel announced a grant of Rs 50,000 for the Kangoo school and another Rs 50,000 for providing street lights in the Kangoo bazaar area. Activists of the samiti also addressed the audience. |
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Ambedkar
Jayanti celebrations Simla, April 14 Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, while paying tributes to Dr Ambedkar said his government was committed to the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden, which would be a true tribute to Dr Ambedkar. |
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Strike fails to affect life Shimla, April 14 |
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Shimla, April 14
