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Virbhadra denies discrimination against Kangra,
Hamirpur
CM flays Dhumal on battalion
issue
Four top officers in race for DGP post
Snow leaves tourists high and
dry
Hotel occupancy low in
Kasauli
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Ski project: panchayats for assurance on
royalty
Health centres to have essential drugs round the
clock
Senior citizens feel
insecure
Lifer on indefinite fast; alleges human rights
violations
Two dead, 6 injured in accident
HP ‘natural glass house’ for off-season
vegetables
Review of Jakhoo water scheme
likely
Congress government forgets
Netaji
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Virbhadra denies discrimination against
Amroh(Hamirpur), January 23 Addressing a public meeting here despite heavy rains and foggy weather, the Chief Minister blasted former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal for trying to create feelings of hatred among the masses. He said the BJP was trying to divide the state for its selfish ends. The venue of the public meeting was shifted from Chhabot to Amroh due to bad weather. While having a dig at the opposition, he did not spare a section of the Congress which was opposed to him. He said that these persons used to say that all was well when they were in power. However, once they were out of power, they blamed the government on irrelevant
issues. Mr Virbhadra Singh blasted the former Chief Minister for trying to harm him politically during his rule. He alleged that he was kept under surveillance once the BJP took over the reigns of the state. However, the previous government failed to find out any fault in his working. He said that he was against adopting such tactics to harm the opposition as the opposition had to play its role in a democratic set-up. Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated to small bridges built at a cost of about Rs 40 lakh on the Salasi
khud. He announced construction of one more such bridge on the same khud. While justifying the signing of revised
MoU, he said that it was meant for better fiscal management. However, the earlier MoU signed by the previous BJP government in 1999 was suicidal for the interests of the state and that was why that was amended when the Congress government came to power. A number of local people, including Mr Hari Chand Sharma, a veteran freedom fighter of the district, donated towards the tsunami relief fund. Earlier speaking at Chamboh village, Mr Virbhadra Singh, said that the possibilities would be explored for augmentation of the Jakhoo water supply scheme to benefit the Chamboh group of villages. He said that the aim behind initiation of the winter sojourn of the lower districts, especially the merged areas, was to review the progress of ongoing development projects and formulate a plan keeping in view the future requirement of the area. He said this had also helped thousands of people in putting their grievances in person before the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister announced upgradation of Government High School,
Chamboh, to senior secondary school from next academic session, upgradation of Government Primary School,
Banalag, to middle school and opening of a primary school at Darogan
Gabba, besides opening health sub-centre at Gram Panchayat, Kakriar. |
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CM flays Dhumal on battalion
issue
Sujanpur Tihra (Hamirpur), January 23 He said the work was being done to provide better living conditions to the battalion staff that were living in inhuman conditions there. He asked the former Chief Minister to clarify why he did not provide adequate residential accommodation to the staff during his tenure. Addressing a public meeting here last night, he said Mr Dhumal was unnecessarily crying on the issue. He alleged the BJP government under Mr Dhumal did nothing for the people and when he was out of power, he was trying to raise a number of irrelevant issues. He said the government was committed to accelerating the pace of development in the state. The paucity of funds was not being allowed to come in the way, he added. To ensure that every penny meant for development was utilised fully; the government had withdrawn the committed liabilities (i.e. non-plan expenditure) from the plan from last year, he said. He also charged the previous government for financial mismanagement as a result of which financial position of the state had shattered. Reiterating his government’s resolve to accelerate the pace of development, he said development of rural areas was being given priority and the Panchayati Raj institutions were being strengthened. He said industrial development had been speeded up by dispersal of industrial activities to rural areas. He said self-employment avenues were also being explored for helping the unemployed get suitable self-employment opportunities for which all possible help would be provided by the government. He said his government had no intention of settling political scores by using official machinery, but was committed to root out corruption from public life and deal with guilty as per the law of the land. |
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Four top officers in race for DGP post
Mandi, January 23 Sources revealed that the first two seniormost IPS officers are Mr
S.N. Joshi, Director-General, Vigilance, and Mr Ajit Narayan, Director-General, Enforcement. Both belong to the 1970 batch. Mr Joshi is learnt to be joining the Government of India soon, clearing the way for Mr Narayan and Mr Ashwani Kumar, a 1973 batch IPS officer, who is the CBI chief in the state and enjoys the confidence of the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh. This is understandable as there is no IPS officer in the 1971 and 1972 batches in the HP police cadre, the choice may fall on Mr Kumar. Mr Joshi and Mr Narayan are already in the DG scale and would reach superannuation in 2006, but Mr Ashwani Kumar will reach attain superannuation in 2010,” reveal sources, saying that it was the prerogative of the Chief Minister to appoint the new
DGP. “If the government chooses any one of the top three, the Chief Minister will not displease them at the end of their career, clearing the way for the next crop of IPS officers without kicking up any controversy within the rank and file of the HP police cadre, say insiders. But then a dark horse may emerge from amongst the younger lot of the IPS officers that include the 1974 batch and onwards IPS
officers. Mr B.S. Thind, Additional Director-General, CID, who also enjoys the confidence of the Chief Minister. Mr
G.S. Gill, a 1974-batch officer, who is currently on deputation with the Border Security Force
(BSF), Jalandhar. “It is unlikely that the hunt for the new DGP can go down to the level of Inspector-General
(IG) and the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) rank officer, who will suit the government,” say the sources. It is not only the seniority but also the “suitability” that would decide the new DGP in the state as it had happened in the past, disclosed sources, citing the example of Mr
A.K. Puri, who superceded his senior, Mr Malik to become the DGP in July, 2000, during the BJP regime led by Mr Prem Kumar
Dhumal. |
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Snow leaves tourists high and
dry
Dharamsala, January 23 As it has been snowing since Friday evening, tourists and hoteliers alike have a mixed experience. While hoteliers are happy over the unprecedented rush of tourists, most of them have run out of stock of eatables, including chicken, milk and vegetables. The tourists had a gala time during the day, but spirits dampened when they returned to the hotels in the evening as there was no electricity. Incidentally, only six hotels and restaurants, out of the nearly 50, have generator sets. Mr Anil Sareen, general secretary of the Hotelier, Restaurant Owners and Travel Agents Association of Upper Dharamsala, said at least 40 vehicles were stuck up on the road link to Dharamsala and 20 on the way from Bhagsu. Two buses, which had come packed with tourists, are now stranded right in front of Bhagsu hotel. “Even the junior Indian cricket team has been stranded in a McLeodganj hotel as there is no way out. There is up to 3 feet high snow on the roads,”
he said. However, more and more tourists have been climbing up from Dharamsala on foot and all the hotels are jam-packed. “The problem starts in the evening as all restaurants are out of stock, and thus closed. There has been no power or water supply since Friday night,” he said. “Since it snowed this much about two decades back, all hoteliers and restaurant owners were taken unawares. Last year, it snowed for only two hours and it was only 2 inches thick on the road. The practice of keeping back-up stock of perishable commodities was discontinued long back,” he added. Mr Satinder Kumar, who had come with his family from Jalandhar, said although they immensely enjoyed throwing snow balls on each other during day time, it was a nightmare to go back to the hotel after dusk. “Even basic necessities are not available and it is also not possible to leave McLeodganj and spend the night in Dharamsala,” he said. It started snowing around 1 pm on Friday and it was amazing to see snow at noon on Saturday. As the word spread, more and more people from the plains poured in today. There were people all over in McLeodganj,” said Geetanjali, who had come with her friends from Chandigarh. If the problem persists, added Mr Sareen, the Beopar Mandal and other associations would start their own vehicles to Dharamsala by getting the roads cleared. “The number of tourists is expected to rise further tomorrow,”
he said. |
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Hotel occupancy low in
Kasauli
Kasauli, January 23 A beeline of tourist vehicles led to frequent traffic jams on the Mall road here. More than 300 vehicles were registered on the barrier as against 100-odd vehicles on usual weekends. With the fresh snowfall at night, the town woke up to see a fresh mantle of snow all over. The policemen had a tough time clearing traffic chaos throughout the day. Hoteliers rued that there was barely any occupancy despite such a great rush Tourists chose to drive around the town and return back. Enquiries from various hotels revealed disappointment of hoteliers who despite slashing tariff by 40 per cent had gained little. |
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Ski project: panchayats for assurance on
royalty
Manali, January 23 Villagers of Pulchan and Shanag have hailed the project as a boost for tourism, particularly for skiing, but the villagers in Burwa are objecting to the project while demanding a
written assurance from the state government on rights and royalty to the tune of Rs 4 lakh annually as ski resort falls in their area. “The ropeway will boost tourism here, but the state government has not given a written assurance on announcements that Chief Minister made when he inaugurated the project early this month,” said Ms Ganga Devi, pardhan, gram panchayat, Palchan. “The panchayat has no objection as such, but the ropeway should be constructed in the allocated 1.87 hectare area and not on 32 bighas as the villagers apprehend here”, she added. Though the Gram Sabha, Burwa, has given its no-objection certificate to Power Himalayas to construct the project, a few villagers here have come together, saying that the project would deprive them of local ‘bartandari’ rights that they have been enjoying since centuries. “Some villagers gathered here, and passed a resolution, demanding cancellation of the NOC that the Burwa Gram Sabha has given to the project. But none of the members of gram panchayat were present in the meeting held on January 17,” said Ms Sushma Thakur, pardhan, Gram Panchayat, Burwa. Interestingly, people who are opposing the ski ropeway do not want to come on record, but they told The Tribune that the government should not give exclusive rights to the company in the areas. “The company should include a written assurance in the Memorandum of Understanding that the government has signed with it,” they said, adding that they would move court if the government failed to do so. Allaying apprehensions of the villagers, Mr Ashok Thakur, Principal Secretary, Tourism, said the government had issued a letter to the Deputy Commissioner, Kulu, to give a written assurance to the villagers that they would get Rs 4 lakh royalty for the panchayats for their development from the royalty that Power Himalayas would pay to the government. Hailing the ski resort as a major boost for tourism and skiers in the state, Mr Fetah Chand Thakur, a local skier, who is also vice-pradhan of Palchan, said local skiers who had participated in the Asian and Olympic events lagged behind because there was no world class ski resort in India. “Solang Nalah has produced Asian-level skiers, but now the ropeway would be a dream come true for them,” he said, adding that only misguided youth were objecting to the ski lift here.” Mr Amitabh Sharma, Managing Director, Power Himalayas, said the company had given free passes to local villagers for use as per its commitment while securing the NOC from three gram panchayats. “Work has started on the ski project on the land measuring 1.87 hectare. The company will pay Rs 30 lakh royalty to the state government of which the government would give Rs 4 lakh each to three panchayats for their development. We hope to complete the project in 14 months,” he said. |
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Health centres to have essential
Shimla, January 23 The basic objective behind undertaking the study is to make all medicines listed on the Essential Drug List (EDL) available at every sub-centre. The study, being funded by the European Commission, will look into the existing system of procurement of medicines, their storage and disbursement to patients. Work has already begun and the officials of the Health and Family Welfare Department are hopeful that by April they will be able to submit the detailed report along with the possible solutions. “We hope to bring about efficiency along with cost-saving, keeping in view the difficult terrain and inaccessibility factor in the remote and far-flung areas,” stated an official. After thoroughly studying the existing system solutions will be found to overcome the drawbacks in the present set up in the form of an implementation plan. “We will ensure that the study is evidence-based and a proper chain be created to detect the breaking points,” explained an official. A logistics system will be evolved for the state, taking into account supplies received under the various national health programmes and the existing logistics infrastructure. Owing to the drawbacks and limitations in the procurement and disbursement of medicines despite an essential drug list being there, large number of medicines are generally not available in hospitals and health centres. Providing all these essential drugs in the sub-centres will not just ensure availability of quality drugs but will also help the poor patients from being financially burdened. Doctors and other health staff point out that there are times when the non-availability of essential drugs defeats the entire purpose behind opening of a health centre in a remote area and the patient has to be referred to a bigger hospital. As part of the rational use of drugs, the Health Department has already formed the essential drugs list and notified the formulary. Along with this the standard treatment guidelines have also been formulated and notified. |
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Senior citizens feel
insecure
Mandi, January 23 Voicing their concern over the murder, senior residents said the life of the retired, mainly those who stayed alone at home, had become insecure as criminals were targeting them to loot money. They cited examples of advocate Chabildas, who was murdered in Shimla a few years ago, and a couple of cases of murder reported from Kangra district in recent years. “Dr Sharma was murdered at his house as he used to stay alone. It clearly shows that city crime has just arrived in the state, targeting old citizens with the prime motive to loot money and valuables,” said Dr K.C. Malhotra, president of the Mandi District Pensioners’ Welfare Association. “The police should make a directory of the retired, especially those who stay alone at home, and increase security cover for them as they have become soft targets for assailants,” he said. He added that they would meet the SP in this regard shortly. Citing examples of cities like New Delhi and Chandigarh, where many senior citizens had been murdered with a motive to loot money, the senior citizens here said the police should increase vigilance in towns. If senior citizens were sensitised under community policing, they could call the police in time of emergency, they said. “Criminals have been encouraged by Dr Sharma’s murder,” said Dr M.L. Vaidya, a retired Joint Director, Health Department. “The police should put some security system in place to keep a watch on senior citizens so that crime is nipped in the bud,” he added. Though the DIG, Central Range, Mr O.C. Thakur, had sounded an alert to the SPs in Bilaspur, Mandi, Kulu and Hamirpur districts after the murder of Dr Sharma, asking them to be more vigilant about the activities of local persons with criminal backgrounds, it inspired little confidence in senior citizens. The DSP, Bilaspur district, Mr Sanjay Gandhi, investigating the Sharma murder case, said the police had rounded up a few persons for questioning, adding that the crime was not committed without local help. |
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Lifer on indefinite fast; alleges
Kangra, January 23 The jail, which was set up by the British in 1913, had housed freedom fighters like Lala Lajpat Rai who was imprisoned here from April 1, 1922, to January 9, 1923. Sataya Prakash, a commando working as a constable in Himachal Pradesh Police Department's 3rd Battalion at Pandoh in Mandi district, is currently undergoing a life term following his conviction under Section 302, IPC. He was imprisoned in June 1998. He started an indefinite fast inside the jail on January 6 demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged human rights violations and drug trafficking in the jail. As his condition deteriorated, he was admitted to the Dr RP Government Medical College Hospital by the jail authorities on January 11. He was sent to the IGMC, Shimla, on Wednesday for psychiatric investigation but was brought back the following day after being found mentally fit. Sataya Prakash in ward no 619 told this correspondent that he was fighting against atrocities on the jail inmates, who were being denied facilities as per the jail manual and against the involvement of the jail authorities in drug trafficking inside. He said wine, charas, cocaine and other drugs were reaching the inmates and 60 per cent of the prisoners had become drug addicts. He said he had complained to the district authorities and judicial officials in writing and verbally but without any result. He said he wrote to the Chief Minister, Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and to Mr N.K.Jain, chairman of the Human Rights Commission but to no avail. He alleged that prisoners were not being given food, clothing and medical facilities as per the jail manual. He said he had no option but to resort to an indefinite fast which entered 17th day today to register his protest. He said this would continue till his demand for a CBI probe is conceded. Meanwhile, 40 prisoners of the same jail have sent a written complaint to the District Judge to protest against alleged violation of human rights in the jail. When contacted Mr OP Sharma, Jail Superintendent, said: " Allegations of Sataya Prakash are false, fabricated and baseless". He said the District Judge visited the jail once in three months to apprise himself of the problems. He said Sataya Prakash had earlier resorted to similar fasts twice and was trying to pressurise the jail authorities. He said he was provoking other prisoners too. He said the written complaint of 40 jail inmates was false. However, an inquiry was on as per the directions of the District Judge. He denied that drugs were being passed on to the inmates. "Everything is being checked before being passed on to the prisoners," he said. He also denied human rights violation and added that food, clothing and medical care was being given to inmates as per the jail manual. Mr Sharma said the inmates sometimes consumed alcohol when taken out of jail and at times concealed drugs or rubbed them on their clothes for use later inside the jail. Mr Surender Katoch, president of Jail Employees Association, said the jail had a capacity of 104 prisoners and usually the figure touched 150. To deal with them unarmed and with a few staff members was difficult, Mr Katoch said. He said there were 20 regular employees and 31 Home Guards in the jail and they were feeling insecure. The posts of one Deputy Jail Superintendent, two Assistant Superintendents and 10 Warders are lying vacant. He said: "Criminals from big families demand drugs and if we allow them our job will be at risk and if we refuse, we face political pressure." He said the employees would prefer to lose their jobs but would not indulge in drug trafficking He said the jail employees were not comfortable in their jobs on the one hand and even faced risks to their lives while on the other hand they were being denied facilities. Mr OP Sharma said the jail employees had received threats from the criminal gangs and the jail officials were working under difficult circumstances. |
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Two dead, 6 injured in accident
Nahan, January 23 An official report of the accident reached here this afternoon as Badoli is one of the most interior villages in the district under Rajgarh subdivision. One of the deceased has been identified at Rita Kumari of Chopal tehsil, while the other could not be identified. According to police sources, eight were travelling in the ill-fated vehicle. According to a report, the driver lost control over the vehicle. The injured were rushed to Solan and Rajgarh hospitals. |
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HP ‘natural glass house’ for off-season
vegetables
Shimla, January 23 Theog and Shoghi in Shimla district, Rajgarh in Sirmaur, Nagwain in Mandi, Bajoura, Bhunter and Katrain in Kullu, Saproon, Chail and Kandaghat in Solan and the Pattan alley in Lahaul and Spiti have emerged as major off-season vegetables producing areas. The produce is supplied to various market in North India. Off-season vegetables contributing over Rs 400 crore to the state gross domestic product annually. The area under vegetables, which was hardly 3,000 hectares during the early fifties, has increased to 34,000 hectares and production from 25,000 metric tonnes to 6.27 lakh tonnes. The government plans to bring 50,000 hectares under off-season vegetables and raise the production to 10 lakh tonnes over the next four years. An increase in the irrigation facilities, creation of infrastructure like rural roads, marketing complex, supply of quality seeds and other inputs and adoption of the latest technology have helped boost production. For faster area expansion under vegetables, the government has launched 100 projects in areas where irrigation potential has been created. The Agriculture Department is also ensuring availability to quality seeds and crop protection materials in project areas, besides organising the farmers for marketing. A project for external funding of Rs 80 crore is under active consideration of Government of India which will further help increase production. |
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Review of Jakhoo water scheme
likely
Chamboh (Hamirpur), January 23 He said a high-level meeting of the authorities concerned would be convened to consider remodeling of the Jakhho Water Supply Scheme. The Chief Minister said his government was giving priority to provide water supply to all drought-prone areas and also augment the existing water supply schemes to meet the increasing demand of water. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the aim behind his winter sojourn to the lower districts, especially the merged areas, was to review the progress of ongoing development projects. He said during this visit a large number of people were able to tell their grievances in person to him. The Chief Minister announced upgradation of Government High School, Chamboh to Senior Secondary School from next academic session, upgradation of Government Primary School, Banalag to Middle school and opening of Primary School at Darogan Gabba besides opening Health Sub Centre at Gram Panchayat Kakriar. Mrs Anita Verma, MLA, said the present government had cleared all pending cases of Social Security Pension and 28,487 persons were added to the existing list. Mr B.R. Rahi, Chairman, H.P. Board of School Education said that qualitative improvement in the education system was being ensured. |
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Congress government forgets
Netaji
Hamirpur, January 23 Though the state government organised a function at Mehal village in which the Chief Minister was present, no one remembered the Netaji during the day-long function. The local officials were reluctant to say anything on this issue. |
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