Shimla, October 19
The CID wing of the police today registered a case against Parvati Devi at Bharari under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B for submitting a fake marksheet. It was on the recommendation of VC Sunil Kumar Gupta that the case was handed over to the CID.

The CID team led by a DSP questioned the staff of the examination and computer branch of the university to ascertain the procedure followed in preparing the report card.

Though the CID has already been handed over the fake certificate as well as related documents, its personnel scanned several documents at the university today. The case first surfaced on October 15 when Parvati Devi deposited the fake certificate with the computer branch.

The Controller of Examination, AN Gupta, sealed the record the same day and ordered an inquiry. Yesterday he handed over the inquiry report to the VC.

Parvati Devi had failed in the BA-II examinations. Her report card was sent by the university to Government Degree College, Rampur.

She also appeared for the BA-III exams against a provisional roll number issued to her. In the meantime, she managed the fake report card and submitted the same with the university so that her result withheld for BA-III could be declared.

The case has surfaced at a time when the Himachal Board of School Education is already in a controversy with several students who did not appear in the exams being issued report cards and shown as “pass” in the official records.

Playing safe, the university immediately handed over the case to the CID to expose the racket.

Shimla, October 19
The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad today said that it would be filing a defamation suit against six SFI leaders for dragging the name of its leader and organistaion in the fake marksheet scam.

Addressing a press conference here today, State ABVP Secretary Naveen Sharma said the SFI had tried to defame ABVP leaders by trying to link them to the scam. “We will file a defamation case against the six SFI activists in a court here tomorrow,” he said.

Sharma said the ABVP had in fact demanded a probe into the scam the moment doubt was raised about the genuineness of the marksheet of the student in question.

“The SFI is indulging in petty politics and trying to divert the attention from the main issue so that HPU employees who are allegedly involved in the racket are not exposed,” Sharma said.

He said the ABVP had been raising the issue time and again. “Preparing the fake marksheet would not have been possible without help of the HPU staff,” he alleged.

The ABVP leader said it had raised the issue when the BA-II result of four colleges was leaked from the HPU. “In fact, the SFI has been mum on the issue as their own men are involved in the scam,” he alleged. Welcoming the CID probe into the scam, he said culprits would be punished at the earliest. 

Shimla, October 19
Cautioning that violent incidents at Barru Sahib-based Eternal University could have serious communal fallout, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh urged the government to derecognise the private university with immediate effect and arrange migration of the harassed students in other institutions.

He also demanded a CBI inquiry into the twin fake certificates scams involving Himachal Pradesh University and the State Board of School Education.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said the most deplorable aspect was that the “jathedars” deputed as security men on the campus entered the hostel armed with swords at midnight and attacked inmates and at least 16 of them were injured. The rest ran into the nearby jungle for safety and they were chased for several kilometres. Instead of taking action against those who perpetrated violence the management was trying to implicate the innocent students in false cases under the Anti-Ragging Act.

The incident had made it clear that the government had no control over the private universities and it was a very serious matter and any laxity in taking action against the institution would send wrong signals.

The Congress had repeatedly warned the BJP government not to open floodgates for private universities and allow institutions of doubtful credentials to set up campus in the state. The kind of institutions that were coming up smacked of corruption and the objective seemed to allow outsiders to acquire huge chunks of land in the state. The manner in which the government had promulgated ordinances to set up private universities even as the Bill to set up a commission to regulate private institutions was under consideration of the select committee provided ample evidence of it.

The harsh reality was that Himachal was becoming another Bihar with a surfeit of substandard private institutions and the established government boards and universities earning notoriety for fake certificate scams. Merit was being ignored in recruitment and promotions and the state high court had struck down the recruitment of assistant scientist in University of Horticulture and Forestry. Similarly another university had given the new UGC pay scales and promotions on old qualifications instead of the revised ones just to favour the candidates professing a particular ideology. The university teachers’ union had brought the matter to the notice of the Governor and some teachers had also approached the high court.

There has been no rule of law as far as education is concerned and a free for all like situation was prevailing with institutions running all sorts of courses without the mandatory approval of the UGC and other regulatory bodies.

Meanwhile, the CPM has condemned the BJP government for allowing despotic rule at Eternal University, Barru Sahib.

Accusing the government of inaction, member of the BJP state committee Tikender Panwar said the recent incident had exposed the functioning of such institutions and their potential in vitiating the academic environment.

Instead of qualified teachers, the university is being run by jathedars who intimidate the students if they raise their voice against the excesses being perpetrated by the management, Panwar said.

He alleged that the university had taken hefty amounts in the form of tuition fee and hostel charges but the boarders were forced to eat food in gurdwara.

Panwar said there were no norms of admission as students were admitted to run the university without any sanction.

Dharamsala, October 19
Though the examination scam has come as a shocker to most, similar incidents have been occurring in the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBSE) since long with influential persons manipulating the system to their benefit.

This charge was made today by Vijay Singh Mankotia, a former minister and prominent leader from Kangra. He produced a fake certificate allegedly procured by Kewal Singh Pathania, HPCC spokesperson and former NSUI state president.

He alleged that in one matriculation certificate, Pathania’s age was mentioned as October 12, 1969, while in another it was October 12, 1971.

He alleged that the HP University Registrar had got a case of fake certificate registered against Pathania in 1999 which was withdrawn by the Congress government after it came to power in 2003.

“I am going to submit the certificates to the CM and demand a inquiry into the case,” Mankotia said.

Pathania, when contacted, said the case had been decided in court in his favour. “My date of birth is October 12, 1969, and I have not produced any fake certificate,” he maintained.

Mankotia said his driver was implicated in the case. His political rivals, in connivance with some investigating officials, had made an attempt to malign his name.

“The police is after the small fish, including postmen. However, the big players, higher officials of the education board and certain politicians, are being allowed to go scot free.

“The investigating agencies have already provided much time to the accused for destroying evidence,” he held.

Mankotia alleged that the police was deliberately not arresting the beneficiary students as this could open a Pandora’s box.

He claimed the scam was initially brought to his attention by locals. “I was about to break the scam, but a former HAS officer and former secretary of the education board Chaman Singh, with whom I discussed details of the scam, reported the matter to the board secretary.” Chaman Singh had also given a statement in this regard to the police, Mankotia claimed.

CL Gupta, former chairman of the education board, had misled the people by stating that a student had made him an anonymous call to break the scam. “Gupta can’t be absolved of his responsibility of failing to check the practice that started at the time of former education board chairman BR Rahi,” Mankotia said.

The state government should empower the committee formed under the Director, Industries, Onkar Sharma, to bring the culprits to book. A police officer of the rank of ADGP should be on the probe committee,” he demanded.

Shimla, October 19
Himachal Pradesh today became the first state in the northern region to have a fully equipped blood donation van with the screening and blood collection facility. Chief Minister PK Dhumal today flagged off the van worth Rs 1.35 crore. The van fitted with the latest equipment would be operated by the State Aids Control Society.

On the first day itself, 50 units of blood were collected in the van. Dedicating the van to the residents of Himachal, Dhumal said the van would also serve as a mobile blood bank to encourage people to donate blood.

“The van has facility for refrigerating 200 units of blood besides four donor couches, three LCD televisions, toilet and other facilities for blood donors,” he said. The van would supplement the month-long voluntary blood donation campaign, wherein 1,053 units had already been collected by organising 25 camps, Dhumal said.

He said in Himachal, not even one case of HIV had been detected due to blood transfusion hitherto. “The percentage of blood donors has increased to 84 per cent during 2010 as compared to mere 38 per cent in 1998,” he said.

He added that there were 17 blood banks and two blood component separation units in the state while the third unit would be established soon at Mandi. The blood component separation unit at IGMC was being increased from 19 per cent to 30 per cent.

He said four air-conditioned blood transportation vans had been made operational to carry blood from mother blood bank to other banks and blood storage centres. He said Himachal had sufficient donors to meet its requirement since about 25,000 units of blood were required annually and the requirement was being adequately met.

Bilaspur, October 19
The state government has started the process of allotting residential plots to those oustees of Bhakra Dam who were not allotted these due to non-availability of land, Deputy Commissioner Nandita Gupta said here today.

While addressing the meeting of the Bhakra Dam Oustees Rehabilitation and Advisory Committee presided over by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, she said the remaining oustees should be offered residential plots in and around villages where they were presently residing.

The district administration has started an exercise to identify patches of proper land in the district for this purpose and the Revenue Department has spotted many such patches, provided oustees opt for the same.

The DC said to begin with, 11 plots have been offered to 11 families of Ghumarwin constituency and these families have been urged to visit the Ghumarwin tehsil’s office to know more about the proposed land. She said the allotment process would start only after any of these families select the plots at the available places.

Nandita said the administration had identified 364 families that had not been allotted plots as yet. Land had also been identified in other constituencies of the district and would be offered to the families concerned to settle down the matter amicably.

Nandita said the land earlier selected for allotment at Kothipura and at Transport Workshop here had been bogged down due to several controversies. So, this process is being followed to settle down the matter at the earliest. 

Shimla, October 19
The government today constituted a Cabinet sub-committee under the chairmanship of the Revenue Minister to consider and make recommendations regarding change of leasehold land into freehold land.

The decision was taken by the Cabinet which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister PK Dhumal. The other members of the Cabinet sub-committee include Irrigation and Public Health, Industries, Health and Transport ministers. Principal Secretary (Revenue) will be its Member Secretary.

The Cabinet also decided to direct all Deputy Commissioners to make necessary arrangements to organise “janata mandi” on every Sunday to provide platform to farmers to sell their produce. They have been asked to organise such “janata mandis” right up to the sub-divisional level. The decision is in fulfillment of the election manifesto of the BJP, which has now been adopted as a policy document.

The Cabinet also decided to set up Automobile Testing Centre at Taradevi near Shimla to carry annual inspection of motor vehicles as required under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, in association with the Automobile Research Association of India after getting approval from the Union Ministry of Road Transport and National Highways.

It was also decided to open driving school in Jamsahi and Paplog Parwar circles, in Sarkaghat sub-division of Mandi district, equipped with modern facilities, at a cost of Rs 24.5 crore. The government proposes to open some more driving schools at Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Chamba, Nahan, Kullu, Una, Nalagarh, Dharamsala and Solan. The schools have already started functioning at some places.

It has also been decided to follow the reservation roaster in direct recruitment of junior engineers in panchayat samitis on the basis of approved policy of the government and amend notification issued to this effect by the government earlier.

Hamirpur, October 19
The Himachal Non-Gazetted Service Federation has urged the Centre to give a special grant to the state to meet its liabilities of paying allowances and other benefits to its employees.

In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the federation has asked the Centre to provide a special grant of Rs 30,000 crore to the state.

“Though it was expected to increase the financial outlay of the state to get differential funds from the 12th Finance Commission, no such gap has been covered in the plan outlay of the state after the 13th Finance Commission,” the memorandum read.

“The annual salary expenditure that works out to be Rs 4,450 crore has been restricted to Rs 3,600 crore. Due to this government employees have failed to get several financial benefits and other allowances being paid to the Central and the Punjab governments’ employees,” it said.

President of the federation, PS Bharmoria, further stated that several allowances like house rent allowance, hill compensatory allowance, project allowance, tribal and winter allowance etc, had not been paid by the state due to cut in its plan outlay.

Solan, October 19
With the Excise and Taxation Department imposing 4 to 5 per cent entry tax on scrap, waste material, corrugated boxes and mono cartons, investors have joined hands to oppose the move.

Since the order has immediately come into effect from October 15, loaded vehicles have started lining up near barriers as the manufacturers have refused to pay the new tax. Severely hit, the HP Steel and Alloy Manufacturers Association comprising about 35 units have approached Chief Minister PK Dhumal in this regard. Association chairman JP Jain, who led a delegation to Dhumal, said it would dent everyone’s pockets and would further perk up steel prices. The association was also exploring the option of turning to court if relief was not granted.

Jain said: “This tax would levy an additional expenditure of Rs 1,000 to 1,500 per tonne on scrap and waste material that will lead to an extra expenditure of Rs 30 to 50 lakh/month for each unit. Since it was non-refundable, it would derail the industry. Moreover when VAT is already applicable, a new tax seems vague.”

Since the industry already faces the brunt of other taxes like Rs 75 per tonne on additional goods, 7 per cent on furnace oil, about 18-23 per cent hike in power traffic in the current fiscal, this tax was definitely introduced to break the backbone of the industry, Jain rued.

An investor, Megh Raj Garg, said it was a retrograde step and would render the industry non-feasible. Such taxes should be introduced for those who did not fall in the framework of any other tax, he added.

Besides, a 5 per cent tax had also been introduced on advertising and publicity material, commercial LPG cylinders and new vehicles purchased from outside the state. Excise officials said the inflow of trucks laden with taxable material had drastically reduced in the past three days with hundreds of trucks having lined up near barriers. 

Dharamsala, October 19
The Government of India has granted two national patents to Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University at Palampur.

The spokesperson of university said one patent had been granted on, “A process for preparation of citrus-based slurry use to control insects, pests in agriculture and organic farming”. This technology had been developed by Dr DC Sharma, Senior Scientist, Department of Entomology.

Another patent has been granted on, “A process for preparation of herbal dye suitable for cotton and woollen fabric.” This technology was developed by late Dr Asha Bansal, Professor, Department of Textiles and Apparel Designing.

Dr SP Sharma, Director of Research, informed that the university had submitted 11 patent applications and hoped that other patents would also be granted in the near future.

Dr SK Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, while appreciating the efforts of university scientists expressed the hope that this would motive many others to emulate these two scientists.