Shimla, August 26
Ridiculing the demand of Mr P.K. Dhumal, a former Chief Minister, for resignation of the Chief Minister on the issue of appointments of chief parliamentary secretaries, two senior Congress ministers today said that they were inducted exercising the same power under which Mr Dhumal and other Chief Ministers of various states had made such appointments.

In a detailed rejoinder Mr Sat Mahajan, Revenue Minister, and Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, said that Mr Dhumal and certain other BJP leaders were crying hoarse about the high court verdict on the issue without going through its contents.

They asked Mr Dhumal to go into the history of these appointments instead of making unnecessary hue and cry over the issue. The institution of chief parliamentary secretaries and parliamentary secretaries had not been created by the present Congress government. They had been appointed ever since the regime of Dr Y.S. Parmar, Mr Shanta Kumar, Mr Ram Lal Thakur and Mr Dhumal himself from time to time. In fact, they existed in many other states, including BJP-ruled Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan.

The ministers said that Mr Dhumal was trying to make a distinction and draw a line between the chief parliamentary secretaries and parliamentary secretaries appointed before after the 91st constitutional amendment, which fixed the size of the ministries. Such an argument was falicious and misleading because the high court nowhere held such appointments to be in violation of the 91st amendment.

Rather it held that the CPS and the PS were not in the category of ministers and as such these judgements did not attract the 91st amendments at all. This clearly implied that appointments of the CPS and the PS appointed in the past, including during the period of Mr Dhumal, and those appointed by the present government fall in the same category.

If Mr Dhumal was so much concerned about issue he should ask the BJP high command to call for the resignations of those BJP Chief Ministers who had made such appointments in their respective states.

Shimla, August 26
Mr Narinder Bragta, a former BJP minister, today demanded the resignation of Mr Singhi Ram, Horticulture Minister, for failure to resolve issue of illegal commission charged from apple growers by arhtiyas at Azadpur market in Delhi where 80 per cent of the produce is sold.

At a press conference here he said the 6 per cent to 8 per cent commission was being charged from growers in place of purchaser. The decision taken during the NDA regime when Mr Rajnath Singh was the Agriculture Minister to recover commission from the purchaser instead of the grower could not be implemented because of laxity on the part of Congress governments in Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. The state government had declared that it would move court to get the decision implemented but no such action was taken as a result of which the growers were suffering.

Not only that the government had also failed to implement the market intervention scheme (MIS) and ensure supply of quality farm inputs at reasonable rates to the growers. Only 23 procurement centres had been opened as against 293 centres set up during the BJP regime and the growers were not selling their produce to government agencies as they had not been paid for the fruit procured under the MIS last season. The total arrears came to Rs 12 crore. Consequently, inferior grades of fruits were finding their way to market and affecting overall market prices.

The apple packing cartons were available in open market at Rs 25 whereas the one produced at the state owned Agro-India Packaging Limited was costing Rs 28 after subsidy.

He alleged that the Horticulture mission was being misused to shower benefit favourites. The government had inducted Deputy Commissioners and subdivision magistrates in the project committees instead of experts as required under the project. He demanded that names of beneficiaries should be made public. The plan of the BJP to expand the horticulture base in lower hills and introduce new rootstock from western countries to rejuvenate the aged orchards had been put on the back burner.

Sundernagar, August 26
The increase in the level of Bhakra Dam has adversely affected the production of electricity at 990 MW Dehar Powerhouse which is situated at Slapper, about 20 KM from here, on the border of Mandi and Bilaspur district. Due to increase in level of Bhakra Dam, the level of Govind Sagar Lake and Sutlej river also started increasing. At present, three storeys of Dehar Powerhouse are under water.

As per the design of the project, the production of electricity is maximum when the water level in Balancing Reservoir at Sundernagar is maximum and the water level at Tail Race is minimum.

Due to heavy rains and overflowing of Parchu lake this year, the level of Bhakra Dam increased at a rapid rate. Due to this the level of Govind Sagar Lake and the Sutlej also increased. The water level at Slapper where the Dehar Powerhouse is situated at present is 1663 feet. The level of Bhakra Dam has touched 1670 feet.

The level at bottom of Dehar Powerhouse is 1616 feet and level at top of the Powerhouse is 1695 feet.

As per the official source from Dehar Powerhouse , due to increase in water in the Sutlej, the production of electricity in Dehar Powerhouse has decreased by 17 lakh units per day as the water level at tail race has increased by about 82 feet in comparison with last year.

Due to high silt level in the Sutlej, all the six machines of Dehar Powerhouse are to be kept on ideal running condition. If any of machine is stopped, the silt is deposited at the exit point of machine causing it damage.

Last month when the Beas was flooded, the supply of water decreased due to which one machine had to be stopped as was observed that silt got accumulated on the opening of machine.

Generation losses due to increase in water level are expected but this situation used to arise in the month of October and that too for a few days. But this year this situation has occurred two months earlier. Furthermore, the excess level of silt flow in the Sutlej is also causing problem.

Dehar Powerhouse produced record generation for the first time since it was started in the year 1977 on August 1, 2005, The Powerhouse produced 1001 MW of electricity against the capacity of 990 MW. The production was 990 MW on July 25 when all the six machines worked. 

Dharamsala, August 26
The sex racket unearthed by the police in a local banquet hall took a new turn here today with the Kangra police referring the case to the District Magistrate for an impartial probe into the allegations made by one of the accused that he was beaten up in police custody.

Superintendent of Police S.P.Singh told The Tribune that it was now for the Deputy Commissioner Bharat Khera to either order a magisterial probe or a police inquiry into the allegations that the SHO spearheading the operation, R.S. Jamwal beat up Amit Sood, who has been booked for renting out two rooms to the girls booked under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, while he was in police custody.

“As per the police rules, if there are allegations of a criminal offence committed by an official in connection with his policing duties, the nature of inquiry is decided upon by the Deputy Commissioner. The SHO has already been placed under suspension yesterday,” he said.

In a related development, the medical report of Amit Sood by an ENT specialist, who runs the banquet hall, today confirmed that he had suffered ‘a grievous injury’ in the ear. The SHO was suspended yesterday after Amit Sood alleged that he beat him up while in police custody.

Denying that the police had succumbed to pressure, leading to suspension of the SHO immediately after the operation, Mr Singh said that since there were prima facie evidence against the SHO, he was placed under suspension just to ensure that a fair probe could be conducted into the allegations.

Asked if the whole case had rebounded on the police department, he sought to differentiate between unearthing of the sex racket and allegations of beating up of the banquet hall in-charge in police custody. “We were well aware of the credentials of those who run the banquet hall even before we conducted the raid and there is no question of succumbing to any kind of pressure,” he said.

Five ‘call girls’ and three youth were arrested in a flesh trade case on August 24 evening from a banquet hall on the Dharamsala-Palampur road. The police had sent a decoy customer to strike a deal with the accused. The police had also roped in the local pradhan and councillor.

However, within hours of the raid, the SHO was placed under suspension and the ASP asked to look into the allegations against him made by one of the accused in the case.

“The money given by the decoy customer was seized from the pimp allegedly running the racket and Amit Sood,” said Mr Singh.

The alleged pimp was reportedly working as a daily wager with the Information and Public Relations office at Dharamsala and her services have been terminated in view of her alleged involvement in the case. 

Shimla, August 26
The move to rehabilitate some Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, who were forced to quit in the wake of the verdict of the high court, as official spokespersons of the government has been dropped.

Initially, pressure was mounted on the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, for adjusting the affected Chief Parliamentary Secretaries as advisors with ministerial rank and perks. However, the Chief Minister refused to bow to pressure and even publicly stated that he had no plans to appoint advisors.

Thereafter, a move was initiated to rehabilitate some of them as official spokespersons of the government. It was argued that as the officers were not in a position to counter the political attack on government, appointing legislators as official spokespersons would enable it to take on the opposition effectively. They could also hold routine media briefings to put across the point of view of the government on various issues.

According to sources, a proposal to appoint Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, Mrs Anita Verma and Mr Harsh Wardhan as spokesperson was finalised yesterday. However, the move fell through when Mrs Verma and Mr Harsh Wardhan told the Chief Minister that they were not keen on take up the assignment.

They reportedly impressed upon the Chief Minister that accommodating two or three out of the 12 former Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries would breed resentment among the rest of the lot.

A few of the former Chief Parliamentary Secretaries have been lobbying hard for their rehabilitation as advisors or spokespersons eversince they were forced to resign but with the latest development whatever hope was there had evaporated, at least for the time being.

Shimla, August 26
The Himachal Government is considering to enact a legislation to simplify the admission procedure in private educational institutions and evolve a system where the poor have access to education in these institutions.

This was stated on Wednesday by Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, while addressing employees of the Education Department after laying the foundation stone of the administrative block of the department to be constructed at a cost of Rs 95 lakh here. He said a more liberal procedure needed to be adopted for making admissions. He said the government was identifying some government educational institutions at the district and block levels to be developed as model institutions.

The Chief Minister said the state had attained the target of universalisation of primary education and now the emphasis was on bringing about qualitative improvement in the system. He said the state government was committed to universalisation of elementary education and a Rs 532 crore Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan was under implementation in the state to achieve the objective.

Meanwhile, Mr Virbhadra Singh yesterday directed the Health Department to undertake immediate steps to start the construction of a new out patient department block at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) hospital for which Rs 2 crore had been provided during this year. He also directed the Finance Department to provide another Rs 2 crore for a new auditorium at the IGMC.

The Chief Minister indicated that steps would be taken for quickly filling 71 new posts of pharmacist and 53 posts of ambulance driver, and also regarding the appointment of 20 new radiographers in the state.

Palampur: Despite the fact that the state government has been spending crores of rupees to provide better health cover in the state yet health services here are in a shambles. The 100-bedded government civil hospital here is in bad shape. This hospital looks after the medical needs of over four lakh patients every year. This is the only hospital in the region comprising Palampur, Baijnath and Jaisinghpur sub-divisions, which can accommodate 100 patients. Between 200 to 300 patients visit the hospital daily.

Shortage of doctors, nurses and other para-medical staff in this institution is a common thing. Though the state government had upgraded this hospital about 20 years ago, yet it lacks all basic amenities. Posts of an eye and ENT specialist have been lying vacant for the past one year causing great inconvenience to the public.

In the present situation there is no provision to attend emergency cases. Most of the time these cases are sent to the zonal hospital at Dharamsala, the PGI Chandigarh, or the CMC Ludhiana. Many times a patient dies for want of medical care.

The sanitary condition of the hospital is also poor. Heaps of garbage can be seen in the hospital compound. Bathrooms stink.

The hospital is ill-equipped to provide better medical care. There is shortage of medicines, including life-saving drugs, cotton, bandage, x-ray films, bed sheets and blankets. The patients are always asked to buy medicines from the market. However, senior officers claim that medicines worth crores of rupees keep lying in the stores but doctors working in field and sub-divisional hospital do not lift stocks despite repeated reminders. They say all types of medicines are available in the stores.

The state government has constituted a Rogi Kalyan Samiti in the hospital, which collects funds from patients who undergo operations and other medical check-ups in the hospital. In past five years over Rs 75 lakh were collected, yet these funds were spent on the purchase of some equipment and for the renovation of hospital complex.

Political interference in the functioning has also made matters worse. All postings and transfers of the doctors are made on the recommendations of local political leaders.

Ii is high time that the authorities wake up to restore the health of this hospital.

Chamba, August 26
The Manimahesh pilgrimage in Chamba district commenced today on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami and would conclude on Sri Radhashtami like every year.

The Deputy Commissioner of Chamba, Mr Pushpendra Rajput, while presiding over a meeting of district officers a few days ago for the arrangements of the pilgrimage has officially announced September 9 as the date for the final holy dip in the icy waters of the Manimahesh Lake.

Whereas the holy bath is basically associated with the dates of Vikrami Sammat and the bath, in fact, takes place on Radhashtami every year, which this year falls on September 11 according to a spiritual calendar.

Thus, September 9 announced by the DC in an official press release has triggered off controversy which has created confusion among the devotees and pilgrims of Manim ahesh.

Meanwhile, nearly 20,000 pilgrims, including 653 devotees from the Bhadarwah area of Jammu and Kashmir, have so far visited the Manimahesh sacrosanct place and have taken a holy dip.

Shimla, August 26
The Himachal Pradesh University has refuted the allegation levelled by former president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Kirpal Singh Badungar that the University was spreading wrong information about Sikh gurus. Chairperson of the English Department Prof Pankaj K. Singh has clarified that the textbook prescribed for BA III for General English and Echoes Across Cultures for elective English did not contain any objectionable or derogatory remarks or material pertaining to any religion.

The professor further said a help book published by MBD for BA III probably contained a passage in the section on paragraph writing, that might have some objectionable comments. She said the publisher of that help book had already tendered apology in that regard and withdrawn the book from the market.

Nahan, August 26
A 40-year-old farmer of Shubh Khera village under Paonta subdivision today reportedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his licensed gun.

As per information received here, deceased farmer param Jeet Singh had been reportedly suffering from some uncurable disease for the past several years. The police has sent his body for a post-mortem examination. — OC