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Cong wrests regionalism issue from BJP
Tibetans to get land on lease for educational, religious purposes
Revelers make beeline for Manali
Challenges Ahead
Himachal to raise territorial battalion
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Seven bureaucrats booked in 3 years
Thind objects to probe panel against him
Zila Parishad members manhandled
Land records in 15 tehsils computerised
PG classes allowed in dental colleges
Defeated MC candidate files petition
HRTC driver
assaulted
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Cong wrests regionalism issue from BJP
Shimla, December 30 The BJP, on the other hand, tried to counter the Congress by taking credit for holding the session outside Shimla for the first time by claiming that it was their government that had mooted the idea. However, Mr Virbhadra Singh said by holding the session in
Dharamsala he had been able to successfully counter divisive forces, which had been trying to sow seeds of regionalism. The Chief Minister will embark upon his winter sojourn in Kangra from January 6. He will spend almost 15 days there during the first leg of this annual ritual, before proceeding to Hyderabad to attend the plenary session of the AICC from January 21. He will resume the winter sojourn after this to cover districts of Chamba, Una and Hamirpur in the second phase. Most importantly leaders like Mr Vijai Singh Mankotia, who after being dropped from the Cabinet in the wake of the downsizing exercise had been embarrassing the government, especially on the issue of regional discrimination with Kangra, have been silenced. During the four-day session he praised the government for trying to bridge the gap of regionalism by holding session in Kangra. “We were keeping our fingers crossed as we were not too sure what stance Mr Mankotia would adopt as he has time and again been airing his views about discrimination with Kangra in development works and appointments on government jobs,” admitted a senior minister. Being pushed on the back foot after the name of its MP, Mr Suresh Chandel, figured in the “cash-for-uery” scam, the BJP attack on the issue of corruption against the government was very soft. On the contrary, they tried to raise the issue of allegations against the ADGP (Law and Order), Mr B.S. Thind, which was disallowed, as the matter is sub judice. After the holding of session in Dharamsala, one thing is evident that regionalism will once again be a crucial issue in the next Assembly elections. The Chief Minister, in order to woo the people of lower Himachal, has
already announced the opening of a university in Kangra. It is the completion of the Vidhan Sabha building in Dharamsala which would be the topmost priority of the government. Architects in the PWD Department are preparing the blueprints of the building so that work can be started as soon as the site is finalised. Only time will tell if the Congress is able to get political mileage by holding the Assembly session at Dharamsala, but at least for the time being they have been able to counter all criticism of regional discrimination.
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Tibetans to get land on lease for educational, religious purposes
Dharamsala, December 30 This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while addressing the Deputies of the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies here last evening. He said people of Himachal had always treated Tibetan refugees like brothers, sharing their sorrows and happiness. There had been no instance of maltreatment of any Tibetan by any Himachali. People of Himachal were grateful to the Dalai Lama for having headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala. Mr Samdong Rinpoche, Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, traced the history of setting of the Tibetan government in Dharamsala and said every Tibetan was committed to respect the law of the land. Himachal had the second highest concentration of Tibetan refugees after Karnataka. He said there were 22,388 Tibetan refugees residing in 14 settlements and 29 monasteries and six nunneries were housing 2,800 monks and 750 nuns. |
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Revelers make beeline for Manali
Kullu, December 30 Hoteliers here offer night-long discos, folk dance-and-dine parties and campfires to welcome their New Year guests in a traditional way. Tourists can get the feel of the Kullu culture, craft and cuisine at the New Year extravaganzas organised at Club House, Manali, and a private hotel near Naggar. Though snow has eluded the tourist town till today, yet the Rohtang range located just 50 km uphill from Manali has experienced a light spell of snowfall, adding to the chilling attraction for the tourists from South India, Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and West Bengal. The hoteliers expect a good inflow of tourists as they have reported an increase of over 80 per cent tourists for New Year. The tourists now prefer the left bank countryside than the touristy and the chock-block Manali town. “This time we have 100 per cent booking till January 2. We are offering bonfires, folk dance-and-dine parties and ethnic cuisine for the guests,” said Mrs Sonia Thakur who runs a heritage resort
popularised by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was on holiday at his summer house at Prini. “We have New Year guests from Chennai, Gurgaon and even Bangalore,” she added. The hoteliers and resort owners are offering special packages for the revelers, honeymooners and other tourists. The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) has decked up Club House to welcome the dancing couples, boys and girls and the family tourists where they can enjoy eat and dance parties from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. The HPTDC has invited Kullu folk dancers to entertain tourists. “The occupancy is 60 per cent, but we expect the walk-in tourists who come here from North India, including Chandigarh, Delhi and Ludhiana,” said Mr Arun Sharma, a hotelier in Kullu town. |
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Economic, industrial growth major challenges
Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service
Shimla, December 30 The abject lack of political will to carry out economic reforms coupled with unbridled populism indulged in by successive regimes has pushed the state deep into debt trap. It has earned the dubious distinction of being the second most indebted state in the country after West Bengal. Instead of compressing expenditure and mobilising additional resources, the state has been resorting to market borrowings to meet its day-to-day expenses for the past more than a decade. As a result the revenue deficit, fiscal deficit and outstanding debt has grown beyond sustainable levels. With an outstanding amount of Rs 18,000 crore, the interest payments have zoomed in the past couple of years. Salaries and pensions of employees account for 62 per cent of total receipts and 40 per cent of the total expenditure. The state enacted the budget management and fiscal responsibility Bill but the process of reforms took a back seat. No serious effort was made to raise resources or curb the government expenditure. The government had imposed professional tax to mop up Rs 45 crore but it buckled under pressure from employees and withdrew it in October. Similarly, the proposal to merge or close down loss-making public sector undertakings and disinvestments in other units also remained on papers. The process of reforms in the crucial power sector lost its way and the only effort the government made was to seek extension in time from the Centre to delay the unbundling of the state electricity board, which is already running through huge losses every year. While no effort was made to downsize the unwieldy administrative set up, new institutions were being opened, only adding to the financial burden. The special industrial package granted by the Centre has helped the state attract unprecedented investment of over Rs 14,000 crore over the past two years. However, subsidy on capital investment and some tax benefits under package will be available for units completed before March, 2007. As such it will not be possible to sustain the pace of industrialisation beyond the period, particularly, in view of the fact that the state lacked the requisite infrastructure and other facilities. The government has over the past two years announced several mega projects like construction of express highway and international airport and setting up of special economic zones but implementing these will be an enormous task.
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Himachal to raise territorial battalion
Dharamsala, December 30 Mr Mahinder Singh said the youth from the state had always shown keenness on joining the armed forces and a regiment should thus be created for them on the lines of Punjab Regiment and Jat Regiment. He said the fact that as many as 52 soldiers from Himachal laid down their lives during Operation Vijay in Kargil was an indicator of the state’s contribution to the Army. The Chief Minister, however, said the Centre had now stopped constitutions of regiments on the basis of region and caste and, therefore, creation of a Himachal regiment would not be possible and the state could have a territorial regiment instead. Former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said the demand could still be taken up with the Ministry of Defence by the state
government. Mr Ravinder Singh also moved a resolution seeking an increase in the relief prescribed in the relief manual of the state as it was too meagre. Replying to this, Revenue Minister Sat Mahajan said the issue was already being considered. |
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Seven bureaucrats booked in 3 years
Dharamsala, December 30 The officers against whom cases have been registered are Mr Rakesh Kapoor, HAS, Mr Dharampal, HAS, Mr Karam Chand, HPS, Mr R. S. Gupta, HAS, Mr Bharat Bhushan, IAS, and Mr N.K. Lath, HAS. In a written reply to a question by Mr Prem Singh of the Congress and Mr Karamdev Dharmani of the BJP about how many posts were vacant in the Education Department till November 30, the Chief Minister stated 11 posts of college principal, 302 posts of college lecturer, 857 posts of school lecturer, 459 posts of language teacher and 522 posts of arts teacher, 605 posts of physical education teacher and 78 DPA were lying vacant. The total number of vacant posts in the department stood at 4,822. The reply added that the procedure for filling up 118 posts of college lecturer was at its last stage. In his reply to a question by Mr Kuldeep Singh Pathania, associate member of the Congress, the Chief Minister said during the 2003-04 work on 18 new health institutions was started and four of them were ready to be handed over to the Health Department. |
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Thind objects to probe panel against him
Shimla, December 30 In a letter written to the Chief Secretary and the DGP today, he said he had serious objections to Mr Prem Singh, ADGP (Administration), being part of the committee. It is on the directions of the high court that the DGP, Mr Ajit Narain, had constituted a three-member committee to look into the allegations levelled against Mr Thind. “How can I expect you to be fair and impartial in view of the role you played in a case of 2001 against me,” he wrote to the DGP. He added that under such circumstances, he did not find the committee to be fair to him, as conveyed by him to the Chief Secretary earlier. He further objected to inclusion of Mr Prem Singh in the committee, saying he was junior to him. “It is on the grounds of principle of natural justice that that you may change Mr Prem Singh and also withdraw yourself from heading the committee in view of my complaint made to the Chief Minister earlier,” the letter reads. Mr Thind has also made mention of the complaint made by him against the DGP to the Chief Secretary on December 14 and 22, earlier this month. This complaint is regarding the role of the DGP in a case of administrative and financial irregularities against Mr Thind while he was the Managing Director of Agro Industries Packaging Limited, in 2001. |
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Zila Parishad members manhandled
Chamba, December 30 According to Mr Rattan Chand, the bid to assault them was in fact an aftermath of a scuffle which broke out between Mr Bittu Ram and some persons who entered the complex of Bachat Bhavan and tried to kidnap Mr Bittu Ram by putting him in a vehicle. When Mr Rattan Chand intervened, he was also manhandled. Meanwhile, a deputation, led by Mr Rattan Chand, met both the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police and narrated the incident. They assured the deputationists of security and advised them to lodge an FIR with the police for initiating action against the offenders. However, the FIR could not be lodged till the filing of the report. Mr Rattan Chand warned the district administration that they would resort to agitation if the culprits were not brought to book. |
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Land records in 15 tehsils computerised
Shimla, December 30 The commencement of the computerisation of land records was done through video-conferencing in which all the Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners, revenue officials and professionals from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) participated here yesterday. In addition, implementation of property registration software and e-praman was also extended to eight tehsils and 38 sub-tehsils. Through e-praman, the people can benefit immensely as 15 different kinds of commonly required certificates are issued. The Chief Secretary, Mr S.S. Parmar, said Himachal Pradesh had taken the lead in the implementation of projects proposed to be included under the e-governance action plan. “The government should declare IT as a thrust industry for Himachal so that more investment can be attracted in the state,” he said. He said property registration software and e-praman would be implemented in all the tehsils and sub-tehsils of the state by March, 2006.
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PG classes allowed in dental colleges
Solan, December 30 As many as 10 seats in various disciplines, including pedodontics, prosthodontics and periodontics, have been provided in Bhojia Dental College at Baddi, while the Sundernagar Dental College has been granted 11 seats in prosthodontics, pedodontics and orthodontics. The two colleges, which have been running for the past six years, have now applied to the Dental Council of India (DCI) for further permission. A team of inspectors would be constituted by the DCI to inspect the premises of these colleges to grant it the requisite recommendation. An inspection would also be conducted by the state government to ensure that the institutes have the requisite infrastructure, faculty and other specifications to run the courses. |
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Defeated MC candidate files petition
Nurpur, December 30 In the petition the complainant has alleged that the counting supervisor had adopted malpractice to help Ms Raj Kumari and got her declared elected. She has prayed for recounting of votes in the presence of all the candidates who had contested the election from the ward. |
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Baddi, December 30
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