Hamirpur, September 21
The authorities of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hamirpur, have failed to penalise one of its professors as recommended by the CBI for his alleged involvement in the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) scam and have instead exonerated the professor.

The CBI had found the professor, working in the department of mechanical engineering, guilty along with other members of an AICTE expert team, which had visited the GK Bharad Institute of Engineering in Gujarat for “recommending approval” for establishing a technical institution.

The CBI had initiated investigations into many such cases of recommendation by expert teams for opening of technical institutions in many parts of the country for “extraneous considerations” in the wake of the arrest of the then Chairman of the AICTE along with a huge sum of money amassed through such means.

After an inquiry into the present case, the CBI had booked the Assistant Director of the AICTE, New Delhi, who was the chairman of the expert committee, under the corruption Act and had sought permission from the Central Government to prosecute him for giving approval to establish GK Bharad Technical Institute.

The SP, CBI, Gandhi Nagar, had also recommended imposing a “major penalty” on the professor of the department of mechanical engineering of the NIT, Hamirpur, along with other members of the expert team, besides removing them from the approved panel of the AICTE.

The recommendation of the CBI was sent to the Director, NIT, Hamirpur, by the AICTE for necessary action in August last year.

According to administrative experts, the major penalty should have been “either removal of the professor from the post or his demotion”.

Interestingly, the NIT authorities, instead of imposing a penalty on the professor, gave him a clean chit, “rubbishing the CBI inquiry”.

Dr RL Sharma, Director, NIT, Hamirpur, said, “The NIT authorities had set up a committee to review the charges against the professor which exonerated him. Thus no action was taken against the professor.”

Shimla, September 21
The long wait for even minor public services like a ration card or a birth certificate may finally come to an end with the government expediting the process of identifying the essential services to be covered under the Himachal Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Bill, 2011, which has been sent to the Governor for assent.

Sources said the Act was likely to come into force in a month’s time as the process for identifying the services to be made part of the citizens’ charter was under way.

To provide the best possible services to the people in the shortest time span, officials had examined similar Acts passed by the only two other states, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

However, the drafts of similar Bills prepared by some other states like Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab have also been examined by the officials.

The Bill was passed by the Assembly on August 26 during the monsoon session. Several services relating to the issuance of certificates, licences, revenue records, ration cards and some other such public services are being covered under the Act.

Once the Himachal Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Act comes into force, it will make it convenient for the public to get some basic services with ease and in a time-bound manner, thereby also eliminating chances of corruption. It has often been seen that people not only have to make several rounds of offices to get a ration card, revenue records or even to register a death or a birth, but have also to grease the palms of officials to get the work done.

The Himachal Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Bill, 2011, should come into force within a month’s time following which the employee concerned will have to render the services within that much time in case all the formalities have been completed by the applicant.

The Bill is aimed at providing good governance, transparency and accountability in administration and providing services to the public in a time-bound manner.

To ensure the effectiveness of the Act, provision has been made for a penalty ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000.

In case the application of a person for any service is rejected by the official concerned, provision has been made for appeal before an appellate authority. The Chief Information Commissioner will be the second and final appellate authority as an independent agency in case a citizen is still not satisfied with the manner in which his request has been dealt with.

Shimla, September 21
Farmers of 177 gram panchayats involved in the World Bank-funded Bio-carbon Project will have to wait for cash benefits as the payment for carbon credits will be made only after verification of the plantations to ascertain the growth of biomass generated under the clean development mechanism (CDM).

The third-party verification is a time-consuming process and carried out only when the plantations are at least five years old for exact assessment of biomass and the resultant carbon sequestration. The project was started in 2006 but most of the plantations came up during 2008-09; as such the verification exercise will take at least two years. The process has already been started and the methodology for it is being finalised and the exercise to select sample plots for the purpose is on.

However, World Bank, which had signed an agreement to buy 3.5 lakh temporary certified emission reductions (tCERs) for plantations raised over 4,003 hectares in the first phase, covering the 2006-2017 period, is not averse to giving advance payments to retain the confidence of the farmers. It has given advance payments in some projects in Ethopia and elsewhere. In case the government pursues the matter, the bank may agree to make advance payments in the interests of the farmers.

The payments will be made to the individual farmers through cooperative societies. Accordingly, beneficiaries of each of the 402 parcels of plantations covering 4003 hectares will be organised into as many cooperative units. As per conservative estimates, the farmers will receive around Rs 2,000 per hectare annually. If the growth is good, the state can avail of the benefit of another 1 lakh tCERs in the second phase (2017-26) for which a fresh agreement will be signed.

With a capacity of annual carbon removal (carbon credits) of 41,400 tonnes, it is the ninth largest reforestation bio-carbon project under the CDM in the world and second largest after the ITC Social Forestry Project in Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh. In all the project will help sequester 8,28,016 tonnes of carbon over a period of 20 years, ending 2026. The agreement can be extended up to 60 years and the returns are expected to be higher as the growth rate of biomass increases gradually.

Shimla, September 21
Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes has urged the government to enact a legislation for the standardisation of grading and packaging of apples to ensure that the growers got due remunerative returns for their produce.

She said according to international norms, 18 to 20 kg of fruit was packed in a standard-size apple carton but ignorant growers of the state were packing 25 to 31 kg, which not only affected the quality but also the returns. Retailers in big cities were giving preference to the imported fruit as the tightly packed local apple got spoiled by the time it reached the market.

Apple had to be graded as per colour, size, shape and freedom form mechanical injury but unfortunately no uniform standards for grading had been prescribed and every individual grower was following his own standards. It was high time that standards were framed for grading and packaging to save the apple industry.

Dharamsala, September 21
Faulty architectural designs of indoor stadia constructed in various parts of the state by the Sports and Youth Affairs Department have rendered these useless for many indoor games.

The department has constructed an indoor stadium near the Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel at Dharamsala. The stadium was meant to provide facilities for games like badminton and volleyball.

Women sportspersons from all over the state are residing here and getting training from SAI coaches. The volleyball team of Himachal has many international women players also.

The indoor sports stadium was supposed to provide the sportswomen the facility to train during the long monsoon season in Dharamsala that extends from July to September. However, sources said the sportswomen were not being able to train themselves in the indoor stadium here.

Coaches said on condition of anonymity that the PWD had constructed the indoor stadium and had installed fans in it, which were hanging from long rods. The fans had rendered the stadium unfit for holding professional competitions like badminton and volleyball.

A coach said ceiling fans were never used in an indoor stadium. At best they could be used in the spectators’ stands and that too with the condition that the air from these fans did not disturb the players.

District Sports Officer MP Bhraria, under whom the stadium is functioning, admitted that the ceiling fans could cause disturbance for indoor games like volleyball and badminton. He, however, said the fans were never operated and hence did not disturb the players.

Bhraria added that in an indoor stadium in Una the fans had been removed from the ceiling and at Dharamsala also they would soon remove these.

However, the facts remains that the PWD authorities did not consult technical experts while constructing the indoor sports stadium, that has resulted in wastage of money.

Meanwhile, the sources said the SAI authorities had written to the state government to hand over the indoor sports stadium in Dharamsala to them. The SAI authorities have maintained that according to the MoU signed between them and the government, the indoor sports stadium was to be handed over them after completion.

However, officials of the Sports Department said SAI had given just Rs 75 lakh of the Rs 6 crore spent on the construction of the stadium.

Inquiries by The Tribune revealed that according to the MoU, SAI had given about 80 per cent of the initial cost of construction of the indoor stadium. However, since the construction was delayed, it led to escalation of the cost.

Bilaspur, September 21
Thousands of big and small fish and other water animals were found dead in the famous Seer khud near a bridge on the Bamm-Parnaal road, near Ghumarwin, 40 km from here, this morning.

Villagers, who saw this scene of crime against water animals by some mischief mongers, have alerted the Fisheries Department here.

Gurcharan Singh, Deputy Director of the department, said a team of officials had been sent to investigate and report the matter so that further action could be taken against the guilty.

He said such mass murder of fish was punishable under the law and would be dealt with accordingly.

Reports said a woman, who was cutting grass on the banks of the Seer khud, noticed two youths, whom she recognised, carrying away two bags full of fish.

She immediately informed other villagers regarding the matter. The youths disappeared as soon as the villagers gathered on the spot.

It was said these fish were killed by dropping some sort of poison.

The villagers also fear that this might have poisoned the water as a number of drinking water schemes, including the Pir-Bhiyanu popular drinking water supply scheme, which supply water to 10 gram panchayat areas, are also getting water downstream from the khud.

Gram panchayat president Rajeshwari Sharma and other village representatives Jamuna Devi, Kulbir Singh, Veena Devi, Hoshiyar Singh, Vijay Singh, Kashmir Singh and Karam Singh have demanded an immediate departmental and administrative action in the matter.

They urged the authorities to ensure that the water was not polluted and had not become unfit for human consumption.

They also demanded action against the guilty.

Paonta Sahib, September 21
The hopes of the industrial area of Paonta Sahib-Kala Amb being linked to the railways through a new rail line from Ghanoli near Ropar to Dehradun via Baddi, Nalagarh, Jagadhari, Surajpur may be transformed into reality with a high-level team of officials from the Northern Railways today initiating a demand survey at the twin industrial towns of Sirmaur district.

Led by the Chief Commercial Manager, Juil Kajur, a team of officials inspected the two industrial towns along with officials from the Industries Department.

Member Secretary, Industries, GS Chauhan said the team conducted a thorough survey in the two industrial towns and collected various relevant facts, including the inflow and outflow of raw material and finished goods.

According to available figures, the area has about 650 industrial units out of which 20 comprise big units, while the remaining are of the small and medium categories. In Paonta Sahib raw material worth Rs 20 lakh is transported every year along with an equal amount of finished goods. Materials like iron, scrap, sponge, coal, chemicals, granules, TMT bars, other finished products of steel industry, home appliances, air-conditioners, refrigerators and medicines are transported annually.

Likewise, in the Kala Amb industrial area, finished goods worth Rs 15 lakh MT are transported annually, besides raw material worth Rs 10 lakh MT. Heavy materials like limestones and chemicals are transported from this area, besides synthetic, cotton yarn and other materials.

The railway officials assessed the feasibility of laying a railway track in these towns as this will help them work out the economics.

Chauhan said hectic efforts by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Shimla MP Virender Kashyap had helped to get this demand survey initiated in this industrial area where the extension of railways would go a long way in promoting industry.

He said all relevant data had been provided to the officials so that they could gauge the need for laying a railway line here.

Though there was a mention about this railway line survey in last year’s railway budget and the same was repeated this year, it has taken almost one and a half year to initiate the process. Hopes of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area also getting railway connectivity have also risen as the same line is supposed to be extended to the BBN area as well.

Solan, September 21
The Baddi police unearthed large-scale illegal quarrying at Sheetalpur village in Baddi by impounding 42 trucks and four JCB machines involved in the quarry activities last night.

SP Gurdev Chand Sharma said it was a surprise checking of two trucks at the Baddi barrier which were carrying quarry material that the whole illegal operation was detected.

The drivers of the two trucks, which were impounded, told the police that they were directed to carry this quarry material comprising sand and gravels from Sheetalpur to Panchkula and Dera Bassi in Punjab. Each truck was being sold at a price of Rs 10,000.

The quarrying was being undertaken in an organised manner with a private land holding owner seeking permission for quarrying on the pretext of making a fisheries pond. He also managed to procure the requisite M forms from the Mining Department, but was yet to complete other formalities, including getting demarcation of his land. He used this permission as a base to carry out mining on his land and also indulged in illegal quarrying in the adjoining government land.

The police managed to impound 46 vehicles and five drivers were arrested, while the others managed to flee the spot. A number of trucks were impounded while transporting the quarry material while others were in the process of loading quarry material on their vehicles. The JCB machines involved in mining were also impounded.

The SP said a case under Section 379, IPC, and the Mines and Mineral Act had been registered against the vehicle owners.

Shimla, September 21
The state high court has directed the Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Service Selection Board (HPSSSB) to accept the certificate issued by the competent authority if contains necessary particulars with regard to the OBC category and non-creamy layer status, irrespective of the form.

While passing this order, the court observed that in several cases it was seen that the HPSSSB was insisting for a particular form of certificate to be produced before it. But as far as the issuing authority was concerned, they had a standard form and they would issue a certificate only in that form. The court said it was the matter that was relevant and not the form.

The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Karol on the petition of Arvind Kumar challenging the decision of the Chairman, HPSSSB, Hamirpur, for not allowing him to appear in an interview for the post of Computer Operator and Programming Assistant (COPA) on September 13, 2011. The petitioner, belonging to the OBC non-creamy layer, had applied for the post of COPA against the advertisement issued by the HPSSSB in 2010, in which two posts were reserved for OBC candidates, but his application was rejected by the HPSSSB for want of essential qualification.

When he took up the matter with the HPSSSB and used the RTI to know the eligibility criteria, he was allowed to appear in the written test provisionally and upon clearing the same, was called for an interview.

The petitioner had been issued certificate of belonging to the OBC non-creamy layer in May 2008 by the tehsildar, Kangra, which was renewed on May 5, 2011, and again on September 13.

But on the day of interview, the HPSSSB Chairman did not allow the petitioner to appear in the interview and rejected his OBC non-creamy layer certificate.

However, since the selection was conducted by the board, they might insist on the same at the time of interview but not in any case at the time of application.

In case there was a delay of over two years from the date of the issuance of certificate produced at the time of interview and the date of appointment, then only the appointing authority need to insist for a fresh certificate.

The court also directed the board to consider the petitioner on the strength of his OBC certificate dated May 5, 2011, and in case he was deserving, to include him on the merit list. It also directed the HPSSSB to state the action taken by it while filing its reply.

Bilaspur, September 21
The district administration has taken steps to ensure that there is no accidents in the Gobind Sagar.

ADM Darshan Kalia presided over a largely attended meeting of boat contractors and motor boat passengers service operators in the Gobind Sagar area and urged all to cooperate in this regard with a view to ensuring safety of passengers, who travel daily by these motor boats here on routes of the Gobind Sagar.

He asked them to ensure that no boat or motor boat ply without a licence, no over-charging was done from passengers, all school students were allowed free travel, total seating capacity of passengers was strictly observed, no over-loading was done, safety rules were scrupulously observed, all-route boats start journey to destinations according to the fixed schedule and no delay was caused in the starting and returning of boats and all boats were clean and safe to travel.

The ADM said all boats must invariably carry on these either life jackets or air-filled tubes of cars or jeeps equal to 25 per cent of the passenger-loading capacity passed.

SDM Sandip Kadam, president , Gobind Sagar Jal Parivahan Samiti, Sohan Lal Sharma, chief adviser of the samiti Mian Krishan Singh Chandel, vice-president Madan Lal and boat owners and district officials were present.

Shimla, September 21
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has urged MLAs to use their good office for getting private lands transferred to the name of the government to facilitate the construction of road projects in their respective areas.

Stating this while addressing a meeting to ascertain their priorities for the 12th Five-Year Plan and mid-term appraisal of the annual plan 2011-12, here today, he said MLAs were being kept posted regarding infeasible schemes submitted by them so that they could recommend other schemes.

He invited suggestions from MLAs for incorporating the 12th Five-Year Plan, beginning from the next year, in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Planning Commission.

He said the state had succeeded in getting 2,237 schemes worth Rs 3576.79 crore sanctioned from NABARD, out of which 67 per cent involving an expenditure of Rs 2,395.55 crore had been secured during the BJP regime.

He directed the authorities to guard against non-Himachalis taking undue and illegal benefit of natural resources available on the state borders.

He also told deputy commissioners to immediately disburse labour payments to job card holders, who had worked under the MNREGA scheme, and said Rs 250 crore had been provided to field functionaries to clear all such payments.

Dhumal said road, education, health, self-employment, self-sufficiency and self-respect had been accorded priority by the government and the endeavour during the 12th five-year plan would be to further strengthen these sectors.

The Chief Minister said the emerging unemployment issue due to recession had not only posed a challenge to the country, but also to the developed world.

The government had directed all the departments to make plans for skill development for the unemployed.

The government had implemented schemes like the Pandit Deen Dyal Upadhyay Kisan Bagwan Samridhi Yojna, the Agriculture Diversification Scheme and the Mukhya Mantri Arogya Pashudhan Scheme and the Doodh Ganga Scheme to promote self-employment.

Shimla, September 21
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today urged the Rajya Sabha Committee visiting the state to cover the protection of crops against wild animals and monkey menace under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MNREGA).

The committee headed by Birender Baihya, MP, is currently visiting the state to study the implementation of MNREGA. He was accompanied by other members, including Shadi Lal Batra, Narendera Budania, Moinul Hassan and Avinash Khanna.

Dhumal urged the committee to suitably modify provisions of MNREGA to suit the local conditions. “Farmers of the state are suffering heavily due to wild animals and monkey menace, resulting in a large number of them abandoning cultivation,” he said. He added that this had resulted in a sharp increase in fallow land.

He urged them to cover the labour component for protecting the crops under MNREGA. “The long-planned strategy to control this menace will take some time. So it will be very helpful if the Centre allows engaging of guards to protect the farmland and crops,” he said.

He added that this would be covered under the labour component, providing seasonal employment to rural people.

He said the state government was implementing MNREGA as per the guidelines of the Government of India and various local development projects were under execution in the state. He said as per the guidelines the budgetary provisions were being spent on 60:40 ratio on labour and material components, which required to be modified giving preference to labour component.

He said Himachal had successfully implemented the 50 per cent reservation roster to women in Panchayati Raj institutions and elected women members were contributing significantly towards the development of the panchayat they represented.

He urged the committee to recommend grant of liberal finances to strengthen the gram panchayats in the state.