Shimla, December 11
The Punjab Government’s largesse to its employees in the election year has added to the financial woes of the debt-ridden hill state, which is already reeling under the ever-swelling wage bill and loss of revenue due to declining power market and economic slowdown.

Committed to implement the Punjab pay scales, the government has so far not been able to pay the arrears of the revised pay scales, which came into force with effect from January, 2006. However, the neighbouring state, has further increased the pay scales of several categories, including teachers, nursing staff, clerical staff and police, making things worse.

While the arrears of the revised pay scales amount to over Rs 850 crore, the increase in salaries effected in recent months will put an additional burden of about Rs 500 crore. The government has not released the instalment of the dearness allowance, which became due from July 1, 2011. It will cost the government another Rs 350 crore.

As a result, the wage bill of employees will further shoot up from the present Rs 8,000 crore, out of which pensions alone account for Rs 2,200 crore. The special category state, which has been largely dependent on the Central Government assistance, has been paying the highest salaries in the country. Not only that, the government is over-staffed, as evident from the fact that the number of employees per lakh of population at 3.5 and is double as compared to Punjab and Uttrakhand. The situation has been worsening as the process of fiscal reform initiated in 2001 has not made much headway.

The financial crisis is being further aggravated as revenue from the sale of power is declining due to slump in market. As against the projected Rs 1,400 crore, the total revenue from the power sector will not cross Rs 1,100. The global economic slowdown has already started affecting the tax revenue, which in turn hit the flow of central funds. As a result the total Central transfers during the year will be around Rs 2,000 crore as against the projects Rs 2,200 crore. The state’s own revenue from VAT is likely to be affected due to slowdown.

With the Assembly elections due in less than a year, the government is not expected to exercise fiscal discipline and as such the situation is likely to worsen further and the financial crisis will only deepen. The Planning Commission has pegged the borrowing limit of the government at Rs 1,648 crore for the current year as such raising funds to clear the arrears will be a big challenge in the election year.

Mandi, December 11
All the three private hospitals on the government empanelment list here are “virtual death traps as each of them have just one entrance-cum-exit gate” in case of an emergency. The jaded electric wiring, overloaded meters and godowns stuffed with LPG and oxygen cylinders are grey areas in the 300-bedded Mandi zonal hospital that also lacks a ramp to evacuate patients and a “trained staff to use the fire extinguishers”.

Though the Fire Department claimed it has served notices to the zonal hospital and three private hospitals - Mandav, Hari Har and Sanjivan- in the town to comply with the fire safety measures, but the advisory is more obeyed than flouted.

The fire extinguishers have been put at each floor of the three buildings of the zonal hospital. But there is none who knows whether these fire extinguishers are useable and there is “none who says they know how to use them”.

There are not enough wheelchairs available in wards to meet the needs of patients. The patients are carried through the dicey stairs from the OPDs much to the risk of patients.

Neither two old buildings nor the new building of the hospital, inaugurated few years ago, has a ramp to exit critical patients in case of a major emergency.

Though all three buildings at zonal hospital have two exists as per the fire safety norms, but against the norms of hospital engineering, they do not have a ramp to meet the emergency situation, said insiders.

The fire department and health authorities remained as slack as ever in putting in place a ready fire safety mechanism. The firemen visit hospitals for mock drill once in a year in the name of fire safety.

Though the managements of private hospitals claimed that they have fire extinguishers as per the norms and applied for fire certificates, but insiders revealed that the private hospitals have created wards using woods for partition that can be fatal in case of fire.

District fire station officer Ajay Kumar claimed they had issued notices to the three private hospitals to make at least two exists in the hospital buildings. They said they had asked the hospitals to put carbon dioxide fire extinguishers at the switchyard and other fire extinguishers at each floor.

Shimla, December 11
Alleging a nexus between leaders of the BJP and Congress in protecting the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) and its sponsored Indian Premiere League (IPL), the state unit of the CPM has asked the BJP to explain the haste in awarding a honorary degree to an official of the controversial sports organisation.

Member of the State Secretariat Tikender Panwar said the fund-starved Dhumal government had provided security for the two IPL matches in the state held in May last free of charge. Information obtained by an RTI activist has revealed that the state spent Rs 1.64 crore on the security arrangements, but the amount was not recovered from the organisers of the tournament. The IPL was by no means a charitable organisation to deserve such concessions.

On the other hand, the BJP and Congress had joined hands in conferring an honorary degree of doctorate on some of the most controversial persons, including a BCCI official, he said, without naming Rajiv Shukla, who is being awarded a degree by Himachal Pradesh University. This showed a strong nexus and the BJP must explain the haste for awarding such degrees when the committee constituted in this regard had vehemently opposed such a move.

The party has asked the government the reasons for awarding such degrees when the committee concerned opposed it. Had such degrees been awarded to people like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and some other accomplished players with great achievements in the game it would have been a different matter. The move of the HPU smacked of a deep-rooted political nexus.

The party also wanted to know the reason for showing benevolence to the IPL official when the national leadership of the BJP had termed the IPL as nothing but a mere fraud and speculation designed as a hyper-commercialised money-making machine, “a heady cocktail of sixers and cheerleaders to dazzle eyeballs” even as big money from the rich and famous enters and leaves the circuit.

Solan, December 11
The Kalgidhar Trust/Society, Baru Sahib would soon set up its second university at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda, Punjab.

The trust has successfully set up 101 schools (Akal Academies) and Eternal University (that runs 24 professional streams). A university press release stated today that Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal would lay the foundation stone of the 40 acre campus of the university on December 14.

The society has endeavoured to establish an International Centre for Comparative Religious Studies on the new campus where special emphasis will be laid on the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib and also to set up a centre to translate Guru Granth Sahib in its original ragas in different languages of the world.

Besides this, collaborative academic programmes with domestic and foreign universities for new and novel technologies and cooperative programmes with local, national and international industries and programme to train manpower to fulfill the needs of Punjab and India would be taken up.

Akal University at Talwandi Sabo proposes to establish various centres of excellence, including International Centre for Guru Granth Sahib Studies and Comparative Religious Studies, Centre for Healthcare and Medical Research, Centre for Science and Technology, Centre for Women Empowerment, International Centre for Emerging Technologies and Entrepreneurship, International Centre for Divine Music and Spiritualism.

Various other institutes, which will be part of the new university, include colleges of engineering and emerging technologies, health sciences, arts and science, rural teacher training, wellness and public health, naturopathy and alternative medicine, business administration, pharmaceutical sciences, medical sciences, training of youth of Punjab, postgraduate studies, economics and commerce, medicinal chemistry and herbal medicine, nanotechnology, architecture and design, law, international studies and diplomacy, environmental sciences, renewal energy, languages and communication skills and nutrition and food technology.

Kangra, December 11
Thousands of students from different government and private schools of Kangra, Chamba and Mandi districts today took a multiple-choice question competition organised by the local branch of the Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, a spiritually oriented service mission, here today.

The students of classes IX, X, XI and XII from more than 50 schools attended this competition, which was aimed at sharpening intellect of the students so that they face competition at the national level with better results.

PR Agnihotri, convener of the local branch of the Vivekananda Kendra, said students were given 2,043 multiple-choice questions related to science, technology, mathematics, spiritualism, religion, culture and history, besides national and international topics and were posed 200 questions to be completed within
one hour.

The competition was organised at GAV Public School here, in which both boys and girls participated with enthusiasm. Agnihotri said next year, the number of questions would be increased to 3,000 with a target of 10,000 questions to be set as syllabus for this competition in the coming five years.

He said 12 students, 3 from each class securing first, second and third positions, would be honoured on Swami Vivekananda’s birthday on January 12, which is also celebrated as the Youth Day. 

Hamirpur, December 11
Contractual employees working in the State AIDS Control Society have urged the state government to fulfil their long-pending demands, including regularisation of their services after the completion of eight years.

Talking to mediapersons here today, state president of the AIDS Control Society Employees Association Vinod Kumar Sharma, after holding the meeting of the state body, demanded 
fulfilment for their long-pending demands.

He said, “The contractual employees even after completion of eight years of their service are not being regularised, despite their repeated pleas and not even paid infection allowance.”

The association has also lamented sad plight of the contractual employees though they are involved in the AIDS awareness campaign having national significance.

Bilaspur, December 11
The state government has spent over Rs 15 crore on providing free textbooks and stipends to deserving poor students up to eighth class during the past three years here in district and ensured that the recently adopted “Right to Education” is properly introduced by electing the School Management Committees of parents and guardians in every school.

This was stated yesterday by state Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker Rikhi Ram Kaundal while presiding over the annual prize distribution function at Government Senior Secondary School, Salwaad, a backward area of district.

Kaundal said over 19,921 students belonging to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes have been given stipends worth Rs 3.09 crore and over 19,958 students of various schools have been covered under the Mukhya Mantri Swasthya Yojna this year.

The Deputy Speaker distributed prizes and certificates to the talented students who excelled in various activities.

He also gave prizes to these students for excellence in studies -- Kanak Simar (sixth class), Bharti (seventh class), Nisha and Kajal (eighth class), Munish Kumar (ninth class), Pankaj Thakur (tenth class), Sonika (plus one) and Anju Kumari (plus two).

Principal Som Dutt read the annual progress report and detailed achievements of students and problems of the school.

Large number of panchayat leaders, including zila parishad member Anita Devi and panchayat president Pyar Chand Sharma, were also present.

Bilaspur, December 11
All the five truck operators cooperative societies of Bilaspur and Solan districts, working for cement loading work at the JP Baga cement plant on the border of the district, have warned the JP management against opening of bulk cement dumps anywhere in Himachal Pradesh for the dispatch of cement from the factory and have unanimously decided to do loading and carrying of cement right from the factory to the purchaser direct.

In a meeting, societies’ leader stressed that with the view to settle all controversial issues and also to ensure healthy and happy relations in every respect, the management should form a core committee of management officers and the societies’ coordination committee leaders at the earliest and should avoid delay in the matter in its own interests.

Daulat Singh Thakur, chief adviser of the coordination committee of truck operators’ societies of both the districts working at the JP Bagha cement plant, told mediapersons here today that members in the meeting of the coordination committee, held at Shalu Ghat near the factory last evening, also protested against the management decision to employ a contractor for fetching raw materials for the factory from outside the state and decided that no contractor would be allowed to work at the factory for any job and any such attempt would be strongly resisted, even if that means stopping of all loading work at the factory.

The members demanded that the management should enforce earlier agreement with the societies that all raw material would be brought by trucks of the societies on their return journey at 60 per cent of the cement carriage freight.

The meeting was attended by prominent leaders Roshan Lal, Budhi Singh Thakur, Brij Lal Thakur, Kanshi Ram Thakur, Nathu Ram Thakur, Surender Varma, Hira Lal Chauhan, Mehar Chand Thakur, Jagat Pal Sharma, Deep Lal Chauhan, Babu Ram Sharma, Nand Lal Chauhan, Rattan Lal Thakur and Prem Lal. 

Shimla, December 11
The MLA from Rohru, Khushi Ram Balnatah, has expressed concern over the manner in which the police allowed the miscreants, who allegedly killed driver of the state road transport corporation Suresh Kumar, to escape and demanded arrest of the culprits.

In a statement here today, he said that it was a heinous crime and those who committed it must be brought to the book. He demanded strict action again the lower-rung police functionaries, who allegedly helped the assailants to escape, so that there was no repetition of such mistakes and irresponsible conduct.

He urged the senior police officers to ensure immediate arrest of the accused to restore the confidence of the people in the law and order machinery.

He demanded that the cases registered against the employees of the corporation, who launched an agitation to seek justice for the deceased, should be withdrawn immediately as the stir was sparked off by the killing of their colleague.Balnatah urged Transport Minister Mohinder Singh to provide job to the wife of the deceased on compassionate grounds at the earliest.

He also urged the agitating employees to give up their stir and restore normal bus services from the Rohru Depot so that people did not face any inconvenience in commuting. — TNS