Shimla, September 6
Peeved about the appointment of fellow colleagues from the forest and police services on posts normally held by them, the Himachal Pradesh IAS Officers Association has once again resented the foray of other services into their domain.

The association, in its general house meeting held last week, expressed displeasure over the appointment of Indian Forest Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, especially on cadre posts. They passed a resolution expressing concern over this disturbing trend and decided to take up the matter with the government.

Even though the general house meeting was thinly attended, there was a lot of resentment among a majority of the officers against cadre posts being given to other services.

The issue of the shabby treatment meted out to a very competent officer, Manisha Sridhar, who according to them was virtually forced to resign, also echoed at the meeting.

The manner in which Sridhar’s case, who recently resigned from service, was handled at the highest level also came in for criticism.

Interestingly, the meeting was held at a time when speculation is rife about the appointment of a very senior IPS officer as Principal Secretary, Home. However, so far the government has not made any such appointment but the HAS Officers Association, which met the Chief Minister today, also expressed its reservation against posting of IFS and IPS officers in the Secretariat.

At present the sanctioned strength of IAS officers in the state is 129 and with the cadre review due next year, there are apprehensions that their cadre strength and subsequently promotion avenues may be affected if officers from the police and forest services continue to be appointed on cadre posts.

At present there are five IFS officers, one IPS officer and one Himachal Police Service (HPS) officer who are holding seven cadre posts. Besides, there are four senior IFS officers and one IPS officer who are holding non-cadre posts. 

Shimla, September 6
The meeting of some dissident BJP leaders, including three legislators and a former Speaker, with the party chief, Nitin Gadkari, in New Delhi recently is causing major ripples in the political circles of the state.

The political circles are agog with the talk of some senior leaders, accompanied by three BJP legislators and a former Speaker, having met Gadkari with their grouse not just against state BJP chief Khimi Ram, but also against the “centralisation of powers” by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. Fearing disciplinary action, a majority of these leaders admitted to having visited Delhi in connection with their personal work but denied having met Gadkari or any other leader to air their discontentment. “I was in Delhi in connection with my work; I did not meet any party high-ups,” said an MLA, whose name is prominently figuring as one of the disgruntled leaders.

The names of some other leaders, who have been former ministers and MLAs from Solan, Bilaspur and Sirmaur, are also being linked to the much-talked-about visit of the dissidents to Delhi. It is learnt that the dissident group in the BJP has the tacit support of three ministers and three legislators from Kangra, though nobody is willing to openly speak about discontentment.

A majority of these disgruntled leaders are considered close to Rajya Sabha MP and national vice-president of the BJP Shanta Kumar. The dissident leaders reportedly demanded that the state party chief should be changed while suggesting the name of Khushi Ram Balnahata, MLA from Rohru, who is a diehard Shanta loyalist. It is learnt that they also expressed displeasure over not being given importance in the government set-up and their respective constituencies also suffering on this account.

With a little over one year left for the Assembly elections in Himachal, some of the ministers and legislators have been expressing their displeasure over the style of functioning of the government and their group allegedly being ignored. “We are not getting our due despite our party being in power while some of the ministers and party leaders who do not enjoy a clean image wield major influence and are calling the shots,” said an MLA.

The issue of a change in the state party leadership is also a bone of contention between the Dhumal and Shanta camps. Khimi Ram is not acceptable to the Shanta loyalists while supporters of the Chief Minister are not willing to accept Balnahata. As such with consensus eluding the two groups, Khimi Ram is continuing as the party chief.

Shimla, September 6
Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu said today that the construction on flood plains and slopes must be avoided so as to prevent loss of life and property as the state was prone to floods, landslides and earthquakes.

She was addressing a state-level Advocacy Workshop on Planning and Mainstreaming of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) under the Government of India-United Nations Development Programme, organised by the HP State Disaster Management Authority here today.

The Chief Secretary said strict measures should be taken to prevent pucca constructions on flood plains, besides adhering to safety standards while constructing buildings on slopes to reduce damage in case of a disaster.

She emphasised upon the necessity to integrate DRR in the development plans of all the departments.

Sandhu said flood plains could be utilised for economic activities like cultivation but construction of houses, especially pucca buildings in these areas could prove hazardous to life and property.

She stressed upon the need to make people aware of the risks involved in construction of houses on slopes and other unsafe areas without taking precautionary measures. She said knowledge should also be disseminated up to the district, block and village levels about preventions to avert fire accidents.

Solan, September 6
The Baddi police arrested a doctor couple - Dr Raman Gupta and his wife Dr Nidhi Gupta - after registering a case under Section 315, IPC, against them last evening.

SP, Baddi, Gurdev Chand Sharma said since a baby boy, who was allegedly dumped by them in a dustbin, had died after three days, the police had arrested the doctor couple.

The police later produced the couple before a local court, which remanded them in judicial custody for two weeks.

Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) activists, led by state president Hardeep Bawa, later gheraoed the Baddi police station and demanded strict action against the private doctors.

Condemning the deteriorating health services in the public sector, Bawa said it was regrettable that poor migrant labourers were forced to visit private hospitals for treatment as government-run hospitals lacked the required facilities.

He said this was not the first case of medical negligence as several such cases had come to the fore in the industrial belt of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh.

The INTUC activists said they would present a memorandum to the Indian Medical Council (IMA) demanding cancellation of the registration of the two doctors for showing utter negligence in this case.

The Himachal chapter of the IMA has, however, condemned the arrest of the doctor couple. In a statement here by the IMA president, Dr Ashok Handa, the IMA has asserted that the doctor couple had been forced to undergo public humiliation like common criminals. They have requested the government for an impartial inquiry after which action as per law may be taken against them.

Dharamsala/Una, September 6
The state government has directed the deputy commissioners to reduce the pendency of land-partition cases within their respective jurisdiction.

The officials concerned have been asked to reduce the pendency of land-partition cases within families “to at least a two-year pendency”.

Sources said the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, had directed revenue officials to carry out a special campaign for reducing the pendency of land-partition cases.

Thousands of such cases are lying pending with various revenue officials across the state for decades.

Earlier, due to the pre-emption Act, family members could not sell their share of land in case of a joint property. However, in the recently concluded Assembly session, the House has repealed the pre-emption Act.

People had been complaining that they were not been allowed their ancestral property as cases of land partition had been lying pending with revenue officials for decades.

Deputy Commissioner Una, KR Bharti said he had already started a campaign in the district to reduce land partition cases.

Earlier, only tehsildars were empowered to register division of land been families. However, now even naib tehsildars (sub-registrars) have been given this power. This will help reduce the pendency. The pendency of land-division cases in Una district had been brought down to just 1,008, he said.

Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, RS Gupta said a proposal had been mooted that families who wanted to divide their ancestral or joint land with mutual consent should be allowed to hire the services of retired revenue officials to help them in the process. Such families can hire the services of retired kanungos or patwaris to get their “land division” registered. However, the government is yet to notify the decision.

The sources said tehsildars should be directed to give their decision in land-division cases within three months. It has been observed that the maximum pendency in land-division cases exists at the level of revenue officials. 

Dharamsala, September 6
The Dalai Lama has convened the 11th meeting of Tibetan religious heads this month at Dharamsala, the exile seat of Tibetans.

The three-day meeting will be watched closely after reports that the Tibetan religious head will hold discussions on the issue of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

The Tibetans in exile are concerned over the move of China to control the reincarnation process of the Dalai Lama. Chinese officials have also been stating that the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama would take place in China. They also made moves to revive the old Golden Urn method to select the new Dalai Lama.

China has already installed its own Panchen Lama while the Panchen Lama identified by the Dalai Lama has been missing since the age of five years. Traditionally Panchen Lama is a key member of the committee that identifies the new Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama, in a statement issued recently during his Europe tour, has stated that he would discuss about the reincarnation with his Buddhist heads in September.

Secretary, Department of Religion and Culture of the Central Tibetan Administration, Ngawang Choedak did not comment on the reincarnation issue but said the conference would discuss nine main issues regarding the Tibetan Buddhism.

The meeting would also deliberate on the Geshema degree in the Tibetan Buddhism. The meeting would also discuss on the required steps for the honouring of Geshema degree (Buddhist doctorate degree equivalent to PhD) to nuns.

Buddhist representatives and heads from the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism would attend the conference.

Representatives from the Himalayan Buddhist region and Kalmyk Buddhists would also participate in the event for the first time.

Palampur, September 6
As many as 102 primary schools will be closed in this district from the next academic session. Besides, 25 schools will be merged with adjoining schools.

With this decision of the state government, the number of primary schools in Kangra district will come down to 1,659 from 1,761. From the first day of April, these will be locked. The schools are situated in far-flung areas of the district.

A senior officer of the state Education Department told The Tribune here recently that this decision was taken keeping in view the decreasing strength of students in these institutions year after year, therefore, the state government had declared the schools non-viable, as per norms there was inadequate strength in the schools.

The teaching staff posted in these schools will also be shifted and adjusted in nearby schools. What would be the fate of buildings of these schools, it was yet to be decided.

In some of the schools, new buildings were constructed by the previous Congress regime.

Meanwhile, the Primary School Teachers’ Association opposed the decision of the state government and asked the latter to review its decision.

Sanjay Chaudhry, press secretary of the association, said the faulty policies and programmes of the state government were responsible for the decline in the strength of students in the schools.

He said before the closing of the schools, the government should have come out with a policy to enhance the strength of students.

He said the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan launched by the Centre never permitted the state to close schools.

Shimla, September 6
The police has summoned a hotel owner of Nako, Kamla Nand, in connection with the seizure of two pashmina wool-laden trucks near Kharo, 90 km from the Indo-China border manned by the ITBP and the Army.

On a tip-off, the Kinnaur police intercepted the two trucks near Kharo under the Pooh police station yesterday. The drivers of the two trucks, one from Pooh and the other from Sundernagar, told the police that the pashmina consignment was that of Kamla Nand and was headed for Delhi.

“Based on the statement of the truck drivers, we have summoned Kamla Nand for questioning, but due to a major landslide, he has not reached so far,” said Ashok Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Kinnaur.

This is the second major case of smuggling across the Indo-China border in Kinnuar as last year red sander wood was seized while being smuggled from India into China in the Lepcha sector, close to the Chinese border. In fact, police investigations had revealed the involvement of two ITBP personnel, including an Assistant Commandant, in the red sander wood case.

The police said the value of pashmina, weighing 9,000 kg, was over Rs 4 crore and it was smuggled into India from the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Bilaspur, September 6
The district unit of the HP State Pensioners’ Welfare Association has objected to the sudden shifting of a branch of post office from the middle of Raura sector of Bilaspur and locating it in a corner room in the main post office where it has no work at all, thus depriving a large population of town from a useful facility.

A deputation of pensioners and association representatives, led by state association senior vice-president JK Nadda and Sadar unit general-secretary Dr Upender Gauttam, met Deputy Commissioner Ritesh Chauhan here today and urged him to ensure that this branch of the post office was relocated to its former place.

They said the step had particularly pinched elderly persons and pensioners who were taking its full advantage daily not only for pensions, fixed term deposits, postal pension and other schemes and purposes, but also for normal postal services.

The Deputy Commissioner assured them to look into all these grievances and take suitable action at the earliest.