Shimla, November 3
To project a united image of the party, Mr Virbhadra Singh, the Chief Minister, and Ms Vidya Stokes, the Pradesh Congress Committee Chief, today issued a joint appeal urging partymen to make the rally of Ms Sonia Gandhi to be held at The Ridge on November 10 a grand success.

Differences between factions headed by Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mrs Stokes had come into open after the two leaders convened separate meetings to mobilise partymen and make arrangements for the rally. Mr Virbhadra Singh held a meeting of ministers and MLAs, here yesterday, and fixed another meeting of party workers at Bilaspur today, while Ms Stokes had convened a meeting of ministers, PCC members, district Congress presidents and heads of front organisations at Congress Bhavan today.

Mr Virbhadra Singh who was on a day’s visit to Kinnaur district made it a point to be present at the meeting convened by Ms Stokes to send the message of unity to the rank and file. Instead of going straight to Bilaspur from Kinnaur he flew back to Shimla this morning to attend the meeting. He left for Bilaspur immediately after the meeting.

The two leaders exhorted partymen to make the rally a grand success and said they should make every effort to make it a memorable event. While Ms Asha Kumari, the Education Minister, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, the Forest Minister, Mr G.S. Bali, the Transport Minister, Mr Rangila Ram Rao, the Excise and Taxation Minister, and Ms Kuldeep Kumar, the Industries Minister, were absent at the meeting, Ms Chandresh Kumari, Mr B.B. Butail and Major Vijay Mankotia, the ministers who were dropped during the recent downsizing of ministry, were present.

Mr Kuldeep Rathore, general secretary of the party, said the rally would see a record gathering on The Ridge. The strategy was to mobilise maximum number of people for the rally in Shimla, Solan , Sirmaur and parts of Bilaspur district.

Differences between the two factions had widened during the Guler byelection with Mr Virbhadra Singh and Ms Stokes taking diametrically opposite stand on the outbursts of Major Mankotia against the government on the eve of the Guler byelection.

While Ms Stokes defended her staunch loyalist, Major Mankotia, the Chief Minister termed it as an act of gross indiscipline. Their joint appeal is likely at least enable the party to put up a façade of unity before Ms Sonia Gandhi.

Mandi, November 3
Voicing its concern over the crisis in Mandi Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd here, the Citizens Council (CC) today urged the Deputy Registrar, Cooperatives, to take steps to ensure safety of depositors’ money in the bank.

Blaming the bank’s failure to book the defaulters, Mr P.C. Bisht, president of the council, alleged that the present crisis had been precipitated due to the bank’s failure to enforce the set criterion while issuing loans to the defaulters. “Most of the depositors in the bank are pensioners who have deposited their life savings in the bank,” he added.

Mr Bisht stated that the council, along with the depositors, would hold a rally in the town on November 11 and submit its memorandum to the bank and the district administration to take steps to restore depositors’ confidence. “Due to the restrictions imposed by the RBI on the bank, the depositors are facing hardships,” said the 
council.

Although the new bank Administrator would take charge of Mandi Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd (MUCBL) tomorrow here, the bank’s over 5,000 depositors continue to reel under panic as the Deputy Registrar, Cooperatives, has yet to take steps to restore depositors’ confidence.

According to bank sources, the nine-member board of directors, MUCBL, was dissolved today under directions from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). “Mr Pankaj Lalit Sharma, Joint Registrar, Cooperatives, Kulu, will take over as Administrator of the bank under the directions from the apex bank tomorrow”, the sources said.

Though under the RBI norms the bank’s non-performing assets (NPA) are allowed from 8 to 10 per cent, the MUCBL’s NPA has plunged to an all-time low at 31 per cent due to bad recovery of loan, plunging the bank’s over 5,000 account holders into a crisis.

Depositors told The Tribune that they were facing problems as the bank was allowing one-time withdrawal up to Rs 1,000. “The fixed deposits have matured in some cases. Others need money as they have to meet expenses due to marriages in the families,” they complained, demanding safety of depositors’ money.

Over 489 clients withdrew money amounting to Rs 4.81 lakh today, although the RBI has allowed restricted withdrawal up to Rs 1,000 only till the bank is bailed out from its present crisis. “The bank received deposits of Rs 8 lakh today,” disclosed the bank sources.

Dharamsala, November 3
The tiny village of Kherian, near here, has taken the lead in bringing about a drastic turn around in the male-female sex ratio.

Alarmed over the declining birth ratio of female children because of female foeticide, the panchayat of the village, which falls under Dehra subdivision, unanimously adopted a resolution in 2002 to ban abortions and take punitive action against those found guilty of female foeticide.

To make implementation of the ban more effective, it also decided to resort to other tactics like social boycott of guilty families and cancellation of their ration cards. This showed results within the first six months itself.

Mr Jasbir Guleria, president of the panchayat, said the ban was made possible due to active support from the women population of the village. “Members of the mahila mandals would go from house to house, spreading awareness about female foeticide and other atrocities against the girl child. Doctors of the local dispensary were also involved in the exercise,” he said.

The gap between male and female births had widened in the late nineties and the issue was raised in the general house of the panchayat in October, 2002. It was decided unanimously that any family found indulging in abortion of the female foetus would be fined Rs 500, he said.

Mr Guleria said although the village had a male-female birth ratio of 26:34 in 1992-93, it kept on declining. “In 1994-95, we had 23 male and 34 female births, but in 1998-99, it was 56 male and 24 girl births. There were 49 male and 30 girl births in 2000-2001,” he said.

“The sex ratio has now become favourable. This year, there have been 12 girls and nine boys in the village by the end of October,” he said.

Added Ms Anita Bains, president of the Almed Mahila Mandal, “We still hold sessions to inform women how gruesome it is to abort their child after getting a sex detection test done. Even families having two or three daughters have now given up the idea to get a male child by avoiding a girl with abortions.”

The panchayat has also taken up the issue of illegal abortions being done in the area by private nursing homes with the district administration. “We have sought a check on the illegal practice so that residents of the adjoining areas are not tempted to get the female foetus aborted,” he said.

The Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Mr Shrikant Baldi, said the administration has decided to award a prize of Rs 5 lakh to the village having the maximum number of girl children in the district from the coming year. “Awards of Rs 3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh would be given to the villages standing second and third to encourage them to give up discrimination against the girl child,” he said.

“Although raids are conducted whenever there are reports of female foeticide, it is usually difficult to detect such cases as the whole thing is done with the consent of the parents,” he said.

Nurpur, November 3
The International Committee for Development and Regional Cooperation (ICDRC) a national-level non-government organisation (NGO) which has been camping here for the past three weeks to identify rural problems and formulate rural development projects has not only identified a number of problems but also mooted two ambitious projects for the Nurpur sub division.

Addressing mediapersons here today Col Varinder Kumar Sahi (retd), the chairman of the ICDRC revealed the NGO, which was working in Haryana, Uttaranchal, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh, had picked up the Nurpur development block for its operation. He informed that three teams of experts had visited the rural areas of Nurpur, interacted with rural people and identified their basic problems.

Colonel Sahi said the common problems of the rural areas were the rampant use of illicit liquor and narcotic drugs, scarcity of potable water, lack of sanitation and unemployment. He pointed out that the ICDRC teams’ members were postgraduates in social sciences from institutes of Mumbai University. “The highlight of their findings is that mostly poor families are in the grip of the menace of illicit liquor and narcotic drugs,” he added.

Mr Sahi revealed that there was also positive signs in the social lives of the rural populace as unlike the national scenario there were less number of people living below the poverty line and parity between boys and girls in imparting education to them in the schools.

He informed the ICDRC had mooted two projects under Integrated Develop-ment and Sustainable Development Programmes for the uplift of the Nurpur area provided the beneficiaries would extend their participation and cooperation in their execution. “These projects shall be funded by the Government of Japan”, he added.

Palampur, November 3
Dr Jag Mohan Singh, vice-Chancellor, CSK H.P. Agriculture University, has called upon the university community to rededicate itself with added vigour and enthusiasm to serve the farmers of the state in a better way. He was addressing teachers, other employees and students on the occasion of the Foundation Day of the university here yesterday.

The Vice-Chancellor said the foundation stone of the university was laid by the President, Dr Neelam Sanjiva Reddy 26 years ago. The university was established to help the farmers of not only Himachal Pradesh but also of the hilly regions all over the country. “He had said our farmers and rural population is willing to change their age old practices if they can be convinced that the changes suggested will lead to better and more secure life”, the Vice-Chancellor added.

Dr Jag Mohan Singh said by adopting new scientific technology, the farmers of the state had made Himachal Pradesh almost self sufficient on food front but there were still many challenges ahead. He called upon the scientific community to work on the real problems of the farmers keeping in view the implications of WTO regime.

He said farm education like medical education should be made more practical to make the students more self-reliant and confident.

Dr Jag Mohan Singh said he would take all possible steps to streamline the functioning of the university and sought cooperation from all to serve the farmers in a better way.

He also administered an oath to all staff members on the occasion of vigilance awareness week.

Mr Vikas Labroo, Registrar, assured the Vice-Chancellor that the staff would work hard to take the university to newer heights.

Chamba, November 3
Mr Harsh Mahajan, Himachal Pradesh Housing and Animal Husbandry Minister, has reiterated that he will request the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to get the environment report of the 231 MW Chamera hydroelectric project (Stage-III) okayed by Ministry of Environment and Forests at the earliest so that work on the project can be undertaken soon.

Mr Mahajan gave this assurance to a deputation of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) led by Mr Kalyan Singh Rana, district president of INTUC, here today.

The minister stated that early commencement of the construction work on the project on the Ravi in the district would help adjust surplus staff.