Shimla, January 1
A steep hike in power tariff in the hill state is on cards with the state electricity board projecting a hefty hike in the aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) for 2010-11 filed with the Electricity Regulatory Commission, mainly on account of increase in employee cost, power purchase and interest liability.

The board has projected a revenue requirement of Rs 2,872 crore as against the expenditure of Rs 2,340 crore approved by the commission for the current financial year. The average tariff will shoot up from Rs 3.60 to Rs 4.49 per unit if the ARR is approved as it is. Even if the commission goes by its multi-year tariff scheme, which projects the requirement at Rs 2,750 crore, the tariff will work out to Rs 4.29 per unit. The domestic consumers will have to bear the brunt of the hike as power subsidy has been frozen at Rs 140 crore under the agreement signed by the government with the World Bank for availing Rs 900-crore development policy loan.

The implementation of revised pay scale has sharply increased the employee cost, which is projected to go up from Rs 605 crore approved for the current year to a whopping Rs 860 crore. The commission had not allowed the hike on this account in the current year as the pay commission report was not implemented when tariff was announced. As a result, the tariff had come down by 20 paise per unit. However, now that the report has been implemented the additional financial burden will be included in the ARR. Consequently, the employee cost, which is already highest in the country at Rs 94 paise per unit, will jump further to Rs 1.35 paise per unit.

The other major factor contributing to the increase in expenditure is the high cost of power purchase due to declining surplus. The board will have to spend Rs 1,597 crore on purchase of power to meet the winter shortfall as against Rs 1,440 crore this year. The consumers will have to pay for the government’s decision of allowing independent power producers to sell power outside the state without first meeting the state’s own requirement.

The total availability of power has been projected at 6,907 million units but the net surplus available for sale outside state will come down from 454 million units this year to 103 million units, after taking the energy involved banking and contra-banking with other states. The committee expenditure on account of payment of interest on loans will go up from Rs 173 crore to Rs 230 crore. The failure of the government to unbundle the board, which is running an overdraft of over Rs 700 crore and has accumulated losses to the tune of Rs 263 crore, will ultimately hurt the consumers.

Shimla, January 1
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal launched e-Samadhan (Online Grievance Monitoring System) at his official residence, Oakover, here today.

All applicants visiting Oakover for redressal of grievances will be registered and directions issued in each case will also be recorded to ensure proper follow-up. They will be able to monitor the status of their applications online. E-Samadhan was a bilingual citizen-centric web-enabled and work-flow based software designed for quick disposal of public grievances.

A time frame had been fixed for each type of grievance or demand and authority concerned made accountable to deliver relief to the aggrieved within the same. In addition, various queries were available inbuilt in the system not only for updating and monitoring the status of grievances but also for analysis and policy-making decisions.

The Chief Minister said e-Samadhan was a paperless, transparent, accountable and responsive system for handling public grievances in a more effective and time-bound manner. It addressed the interests of all stakeholders and even allows online advice from seniors to subordinates, maintained file of action automatically which would be available for viewing anytime from anywhere. He said that all stakeholders, citizens, government departments, MLAs, MPs, ministers, the chief minister, the media and NGOs had been integrated in such a way that every body was kept posted of the status of an application.

As applicants generally came forward with several demands relating to budgetary requirements, a provision had been made to filter such applications and make necessary financial allocation in the next budget. He said computerisation of varoius departments was nearing completion which would ensure transparency, efficiency and accountability in their functioning.

The Chief Minister said that redressal of public grievances was a priority and ministers would organise ‘Prashashan Janata Ke Dwar Par’ (administration at the doorsteps of people) to listen to public grievances during tours in different assembly constituencies for prompt redressal.

He said the endeavour of the government would be to make best possible use of information technology for the benefit of common man.

Necessary infrastructure for handling public grievances was being created down to the gram panchayat level so that people no longer have to travel to state, district and sub-divisional headquarters to submit their applications and personally meet the officers concerned. 

Shimla, January 1
Awaiting certain forensic reports in the audio CD case against Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau is likely to launch prosecution in the court within a month’s time.

Addressing a press conference here today, DGP (Vigilance), D.S. Manhas said certain reports and further clarifications were still awaited from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in the CD case.

“The reports are expected in about a month’s time after which the case would be put up for challan in court,” he said.

Manhas said two questionnaires having about 25 queries sent to the union minister had been replied and sent back to the Vigilance Bureau.

“Out of the nine persons who have been identified in the audio CD, it is still to be decided as to who will the main accused,” he remarked.

Giving details of other important cases being handled by the Vigilance Bureau, he said in the disproportionate assets case registered against IAS officer Subhash Ahluwalia, the permission for prosecution from the centre was still being awaited. “Out of the 30 cases awaiting prosecution sanction which has to be given within three months time, it is only in five cases that the time period has crossed almost a year,” he stated.

Manhas said in the two main cases, the bitumen scam and the upgradation of contractors, 11 and 12 cases had been registered, respectively. The two issues were the highlights of the charge sheet prepared by the BJP while it was in opposition.

He said this year the number of cases registered by the bureau were 164 as compared to 95 and 81 registered in 2008 and 2007, respectively. “The number of trap cases have almost doubled from 24 last year to 44 this year with the illegal money seized also shooting up to Rs 38.69 lakh from Rs 5.53 lakh,” he disclosed.

The bureau caught 46 government officials red-handed with the Revenue, the PWD and Panchayati Raj departments topping the list. The bureau at present has 528 complaints pending with it and out of this 186 are more than a year old.

Even as there has been an appreciable increase of almost 10 per cent rate from the earlier 16 per cent conviction rate in the cases registered by the bureau, Manhas feels there is a lot of scope for improvement. “Though there is improvement as the conviction rate now stands at 26 per cent but with some of the states touching 60 per cent and above, we too need to work harder to improve our own conviction rate,” he said.

Kangra, January 1
The Himachal Government Teachers’ Union has demanded rolling back of amendment to the recruitment and promotion (R&P) rules which debars all principals from promotion to the post of deputy director, who are left with one year to their superannuation.

State secretary general of the union Subhash Pathania said here that the teachers’ community was vehemently against the state government for this unjustified amendment in the recruitment and promotion rules and demanded its rolling back.

He said the decision to amend the recruitment and promotion rules which debars all principals from promotion to the post of deputy director, who were left with one year to their superannuation, was unethical and violating the fundamental right of those principals who were due for promotion.

He said the amendment was against the law of natural justice, as age could not be considered as a disqualification for further promotion when the employee was well within his retiring age.

He said the government was indulging in discrimination against those senior-most principals of the Education Department who had spent decades of their lives improving the quality of education in the state.

He also sought intervention of Chief Minister PK Dhumal for creating posts of headmaster, principal and deputy directors of Education for separate inspection cadre.

The union leader also demanded that vacant posts of joint director and additional director of the Education be filled to achieve the goal of quality education in the schools. He said the working of the Directorate of Education was being adversely affected in the absence of the two officers.

Pathania said the seniority lists, confirmation of lecturers and TGTs had not been cleared in view of the vacant posts of senor officers’ putting senior 
lecturers and teachers in the dock.

Dharamsala, January 1
Farmers and horticulturists in the region are likely to frostbite in their income. The sources available here told The Tribune that the frost coupled with unexpectedly low temperatures has dominated the month of December this year.

This is likely to cause extensive damage to vegetable and other crops in the entire region. Last year, the horticulturists in the Indora area of Kangra district had reported heavy damage to ‘kinno’ and mango trees due to frost. Some farmers had alleged that they had to uproot their orchards due to extensive damage to crops for the past three seasons.

The agriculture experts when contacted said the frost caused water in plant cells to freeze. The frost-hit plants became limp and distorted. The frost problems were often made more acute in hilly areas where the plants faced sun in the morning. The morning sun caused water in plants to defrost immediately, thus rupturing the cell walls of plants. In hills the frost causes extensive damage to blossom and damages fruit production.

The agriculture experts have advised the farmers against extensive use of high nitrogen fertilisers in this season. They are of the view that high nitrogen fertilisers can cause more damage to crops as these encourage plants to make lot of leafy growth that is susceptible to damage by frost.

For horticulturists the experts advise that the trees should be left un-pruned in frosting season as it protects their vital parts from damage due to frost.

A large number of farmers in lower areas of the state grow vegetables in this cropping season coupled with wheat. The agriculture experts are of the view that the farmers should avoid tender crops as tomato in frost-hit areas. They should rather go for hardy variety of crops. The losses of farmers this year are being supplemented due to poor rains, and lack of rain and frost in early winter.

The state government in the recent past had launched the crop insurance scheme for various crops in the state. Most of the vegetable and horticulture crops have been brought under the crop insurance scheme.

However, a survey by The Tribune has revealed that very few farmers in the state are opting for crop insurance scheme. The farmers are not opting for the scheme due to lack of awareness and lack of motivation among agriculture department officials in implementing the scheme.

The inclement weather this year has once again brought the issue of change required in cropping circle in the region. Some to agriculture experts are of the view that due to climate change in future the farmers would have to give up tradition cropping patterns. 

Kangra, January 1
Residents of the town and its suburbs are a harassed lot as they haven’t got the LPG cylinders for the last one-and-a-half month. Complaining about the erratic gas supply, consumers of Hindustan Petroleum today gathered outside its office near Jayanti Vihar and held a demonstration in the town and its outskirts and raised slogans against the company.

Around 14,200 consumers of the company have been affected by the erratic supply of LPG cylinders. Protesters alleged that there was no LPG supply in Purana Kangra, Gupt Ganga Road, Jayanti Vihar, Nandeard, Jogipur, Lalerd, Tanda, Kholi and main Kangra town for the last more than one and half months. The protesters alleged that their families were suffering for want of regular gas supply in this severe winter.

Baghwan Dass, owner of the Jayanti Gas Agency, here confirmed that the gas supply was long-awaited. He added that the gas-loaded trucks were not arriving here regularly from the Hoshiyarpur Gas Distribution Plant putting the gas consumers in a dock.

Abinav Sethi, area officer of Hindustan Petroleum, said the gas scarcity was because of transport problem. He had assured last month the consumers that the company would supply gas to this region within a week’s time but even after the lapse of one month of the assurance, the consumers here continue to reel under the gas crisis.

The protesters sought the intervention of the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas for bailing the suffering people out of the present gas crisis.

Dalhousie, January 1
Two persons were killed in two separate mishaps in different parts of the district, according to reports received here, today.

The reports said a person, identified as Surender Kumar, was killed when his car (HP-39 A-6593) in which he was going to school met with an accident near Valana in the district. The deceased belonged to Basnur village in Shahpur tehsil of Kangra.

In another mishap, Chander Dev Ram, a labourer from Bihar, slipped near the dam site of the Chamera project stage-III at Kharamukh in the Bharmour tribal region of the district. He was rushed to the regional hospital in Chamba. However, he succumbed to his injuries. His body was handed over to his kin after completing the postmortem.

KANGRA: A painter was killed on the spot and another seriously injured when the staircase they were using for painting the second floor of a house in the Donga Bazar locality broke away on Thursday.

Sub-divisional police officer Jeet Singh Thakur said the two painters were painting the second floor of a residential house in the Donga Bazaar locality near KCC Bank when the wooden stair broke and they fell down, leaving one dead on the spot and another was left seriously injured with a fractured backbone.

He said that the injured, identified was as Rajesh Kumar and resident of Uttar Pradesh, was rushed to Pathankot for his treatment. The dead was identified as Sanjeev Kumar, 22, a resident of Mondal Nagrota Bagwan. The police has started investigation under Section 174 CrPC in the case. 

Mandi, January 1
After a peaceful celebration on the New Year’s eve, residents of Manwal village in Sarkaghat today woke up to a shock when they spotted the blood-stained body of one resident Manoj Kumar, 29, lying in the backyard of a deserted house in the village today.

Even though the police has registered a case of murder under Section 302, IPC, it remained clueless about the “blind murder” so far as nobody knows about the motive behind it.

The police team that examined the spot said it spotted blood stains about 300 metres away near the khad of the village. But his dead body was dumped near the house where nobody lived.

Asha Devi, wife of Manoj Kumar, told the police that she had left home for Mohi at around 5 pm on Thursday.

He responded to her call at around 6.30 pm when she rang him up and told him to come home as his relatives were awaiting him. But he did not respond after 7.30 pm, she added.

The police suspected that some scuffle took place at the spot from where the police collected the forensic evidence. His head was bleeding and he was mercilessly beaten to death.

However the police did not recover the weapon or stick with which he was hit, before he died.

Only his wife and mother along with his nephew were at home as Manoj’s father works in Delhi and his brother serves in the Army.

SHO Sarkaghat said the postmortem on the body would be conducted tomorrow. The police is looking for clues as nobody has come forward to naming the suspects in the case.

SP Mandi stated that the police was trying to solve the mystery as the investigation has begun.