Shimla, January 23
The previous regime had reportedly failed in the proper deployment of specialist doctors. The government now faces a challenge in rationalising postings to ensure equitable utilisation of services across the state.

The alleged irrational deployment of the medical cadre is evident from information obtained by right to information (RTI) activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya regarding the postings of specialist doctors as on January 8.

The extent of the alleged improper deployment can be judged from the fact that of the 175 specialists in the state, there is only one in Kinnaur district and none in Lahaul-Spiti district. Of the 18 radiologists in the state, there is none in Una, Shimla, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts while five are in Kangra district.

Of the 15 orthopaedists at hospitals in the state, six are in Kangra district and none in Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Sirmaur, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts. There is one in Chamba district, who is the Chief Medical Officer, and one each in Shimla and Kullu districts.

The information, procured under the RTI Act, has also revealed that there are 36 gynaecologists in the state, but none in Chamba, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts and one at a primary health centre in Hamirpur district. Of the 42 medical specialists, one each is in Chamba and Kullu districts while 12 are in Kangra district and seven in Shimla district.

Of the 31 general surgeons, there is none in Sirmaur, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts while seven each are in Shimla and Kangra districts. There are 33 opthalmologists, but there is none in Bilaspur, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti districts and one in Kinnaur district.

Bhattacharya says the information exposes the harsh ground realities of a state which boasts of several awards in the health sector. He says it is obvious that the authorities made the postings on political considerations by ignoring the requirement. He wonders why no cardiologist is available at any government hospital in the state.

He says two doctors were given training in retina surgery after he raised the issue, but the government had not provided them facilities at Indira Gandhi Medical College yet even though the budget had been sanctioned. He has pointed out that the non-availability of specialists at government institutions forces even poor patients to go to private hospitals.

Shimla, January 23
The government has proposed an annual Plan of Rs 4,100 crore for 2013-14, which is an increase of 11 per cent from the current fiscal year Plan.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh stated this while addressing a meeting convened to ascertain the priorities of legislators for the finalisation of the Plan here today.

He said Rs 22,800 crore had been approved for the state for the 12th Five-Year Plan. He said the amount was 65 per cent higher than the previous Plan amount and the increase was a record and the highest in the country.

He said the geographical area and names of many constituencies had been changed in delimitation. He said the government would maintain accounts of schemes approved under the RIDF in the pre-delimitation format for 2012-13.

He said this was decided upon for the proper maintenance of records. He said the record would be maintained as per the constituencies delimited from 2013-14.

He said the PWD and IPH departments were directed to prepare detailed project reports only after obtaining the consent of the legislators concerned.

He said the government would propose schemes worth Rs 475 crore to NABARD, which was 18.75 per cent higher than the amount for the previous year.

He said it would take into account priorities of legislators under World Bank, the PMGSY, the CRF, the NRDWP and the AIBP. He said funds would be obtained from NABARD if those under Centrally sponsored schemes were unavailable.

He said the cost of road construction was higher in hilly areas and the Centre had been requested to specify different norms for hill states in case of Centrally sponsored schemes.

He said the Centre and the Planning Commission had been urged to provide more funds to the state under the 12th Five-Year Plan for the PMGSY and the CRF.

He said two priorities each of every legislator under the roads, rural development, irrigation and drinking water heads would be included in the budget for 2013-14.

He urged the legislators to send their priorities to the departments concerned. He said schemes on which more than 75 per cent of the work was complete would also be included.

Legislators from the districts of Una, Kangra, Kullu, Hamirpur and Lahaul-Spiti took part in the consultation meeting on the first day of the two-day event.

Transport Minister GS Bali, Power Minister Sujan Singh Pathania, Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Neeraj Bharati also gave their suggestions.

Kangra, January 23
BJP national vice-president Shanta Kumar congratulated Rajnath Singh for becoming the president of the BJP and hoped that under his leadership the NDA would be voted to power again.

Shanta Kumar in his statement here today said Rajnath Singh was assigned the job to lead the BJP at a crucial hour. He said he had an opportunity to work with Rajnath Singh when he was the Union Minister for Agriculture.

He said due to the changing scenario, the country was at crossroads because of rampant corruption, adding that the country needed an alternative and the NDA was the only option. The BJP under the leadership of Rajnath Singh would play a vital role in changing the political scenario of the country, he added.

Shimla, January 23
With rising unemployment being one of the biggest challenges before the Congress regime, the government will shortly launch a vocational training scheme for students from class IX so that the youth are equipped with qualification as per the requirement of the industry.

To be launched under the National Vocational Qualification Education Framework, the scheme will be launched at 100 government senior secondary schools in Himachal Pradesh initially.

The scheme has already received the nod of the Centre, but a proposal to this effect is likely to be placed before the state Cabinet shortly so that the process of identifying schools can be started.

With the figure of unemployment in the state touching the 8.25 lakh mark, both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party had made poll promises of generating employment opportunities for the youth, aged below 40 years, whose number is almost 22 lakh.

To begin with, vocational training will be provided in the four areas of retail, information technology, automobiles and secretarial practice, which are in high demand of the industry.

With the Centre providing almost 75 per cent of the funding for the launch of the scheme, it is expected that Rs 10 crore will be provided by the Centre to create infrastructure at the 100 schools along with trained teaching staff.

The Finance Department of the state is already preparing details of the scheme, which can go a long way in helping the youth get better jobs. To ensure quality education, associations like the Automobile Association of India or the Retail Association of India will be associated with the exercise.

In a hill state like Himachal Pradesh, where jobs are scarce except in the industry, investors not engaging local residents often take refuge by stating that the youth are not trained to meet their requirements.

Entrepreneurs prefer to engage staff from outside the state even though the government has made it mandatory for every industrial unit coming up in Himachal Pradesh to provide 70 per cent of the total jobs to residents of the state.

Guided by the saying ‘catch them young’, vocational training will help students from class IX onward to focus on a career while still in school and get trained as per the requirements of the industry.

After studying a particular course for four years, till class XII, there will be a provision of a lateral entry to polytechnics for them. As such, the time spent on studying the course from class IX will give them an added advantage.

Thirot, January 23
The increase in the water discharge that has leaked from the waterways of the 4.5-MW Thirot project on the Chokhang has triggered a series of landslides which endanger Thirot village in Lahaul-Spiti district and the Keylong-Udaipur road, being maintained by the Border Roads Organisation.

According to village residents, the leaked discharge has triggered a series of landslides over time. The discharge has doubled the volume of water as it has sped up the melting of snow. They say one unit of the project has been shut, decreasing the demand for water.

Residents feel insecure as the shadow of landslides looms constantly over the village. Thirot panchayat pradhan Jagdish Chand has said they have complained to the Thirot project authorities and the Lahaul-Spiti Deputy Commissioner several times, but to no avail. He has demanded that the discharge be plugged.

Boulders and debris, in turn, block the Keylong-Udaipur road time and again. Three days ago, debris blocked the road due to a landslide triggered by the discharge. The Lahaul-Manali transmission line has been damaged, say engineers.

HPSEBL Superintending Engineer PL Masoom has said they will plug the leakage and have sought a detailed report from the site office. He has said the problem is complicated as the local water supply has mixed with the leakage and the water resulting from the melting of snow.

He has further said they will instal a rubber seal. He has added that the water level goes down in summer as they need more water for the project. He has asserted that the discharge from the waterways does not pose a danger to tanks and the village nearby.

Shimla, January 23
The state government has attached Chief Parliamentary Secretary Neeraj Bharti with the Chief Minister for the Education Department.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Rajesh Dharmani has been attached with the Forest Minister for the Forest Department and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Vinay Kumar has been attached with the Chief Minister for the PWD as per a notification issued in this respect here last evening.

Dharamsala, January 23
The state government has ordered officials of the Revenue Department, Kangra, to look for more land for the campus of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh in Dharamsala.

The revenue officials of Kangra, along with university officials, conducted a survey of land around Dharamsala yesterday to create more space for the campus of the university here.

Vice-Chancellor of the university Furqan Qumar said they had surveyed certain areas in Dharamsala that could add to the already sanctioned 1,000 kanal area for the institute here.

The previous government had identified two patches of forest land for the university campus in Kangra district, which included about 1,000-kanal land near Indrunag in Dharamsala and about 6,000 kanals in Dehra. Since the maximum land for the university campus was identified at Dehra, it was also assumed that the maximum portion of the university would come up there. According to the original plan, only the administrative office and a few humanities courses were to be started at the Dharamsala campus, while all the engineering the other courses were to be started at the Dehra campus.

The state government has decided that the maximum campus of the university should be located at Dharamsala. However, for this they would require more land here.

Minister for Urban Development Sudhir Sharma, who is also a close confidant of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, was elected from the Dharamsala Assembly constituency. He shifted to Dharamsala after his Baijnath Assembly constituency was reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. During elections, bringing up the entire Central University campus at Dharamsala was his main agenda. If he succeeds in bringing up the maximum portion of the university at Dharamsala, it will be considered as his political achievement.

Though bringing up the entire university campus at Dharamsala is not feasible as a Central team has already approved two campuses and there is shortage of land, the state government is trying to shift maximum campus of the institute to Dharamsala.

The Chief Minister during the winter session of the Assembly also indicated that the state government would try to bring up maximum campus of the university at Dharamsala.

Sensing the move of the state government, people of Dehra have already started raising hue and cry. They have formed organisations and are threatening to launch agitations in case the university campus was not brought up at Dehra as per the original plan.

The university campus was the only major project that could have come up in Dehra and provided a boost to the economy of the area.

However, bringing up maximum university campus at Dehra also had its practical problems. The Central University authorities are already finding it hard to find faculty for its temporary campus at Shahpur, 20 km from Dharamsala. Senior faculty members, including associate professors and professors, are not keen to join at Dharamsala. Dehra is a more remote place and senior faculty members might not be inclined to join the institute there owing to the lack of basic facilities.

Mandi, January 23
A case of fraudulent registry of six biswa of land through impersonation has come to light at the office of the Mandi Sadar tehsildar.

The police has registered a first information report (FIR) on the basis of the complaint of tehsildar Ajay Prashar, but the five accused have not been arrested so far.

The tehsildar has named Ramesh Chand as the main accused. The two witnesses mentioned are Naresh Kumar and Lal Singh, residents of Raid Dhar.

Lawyer Prahlad Guleria is the identifier of the deal. They allegedly struck the deal with buyer Raj Kumar at Nasloh and registered it at the office of the tehsildar on November 17 last.

The tehsildar said they came to know about the fraudulent deal when original owner Manohar Lal of Nasloh lodged a complaint at the office.

He said they found that Ramesh Chand had a small share in the land, but he had impersonated as Manohar Lal and sold the land to Raj Kumar.

He said it was found in an inquiry that Ramesh Chand had executed the deal by hiring two touts who were the witnesses and a lawyer-cum-identifier.

The tehsildar further said they had found that the land deal was executed by misleading the office. He said they had stopped the mutation in the registry after the case came to light.

Mandi, January 23
Baldev Singh, Additional Sessions Judge, Mandi, today granted an interim bail to Rajat Thakur, son of former Transport Minister and Dharampur BJP MLA Mahender Thakur, in connection with a case of assault on Sushil Kumar, sub-inspector, Dharampur, registered against the father-son duo on November 3, 2012, on the eve of the state Assembly poll.

The judge has directed Rajat to join investigation and appear in the court of the District and Sessions Judge, Mandi, on January 30.

The judge granted him bail after filing a bond of Rs 20,000. Interestingly, the bail application did not mention the name of the former Transport Minister.

The counsel for Rajat had submitted that his client be given an anticipatory bail in the case as he anticipated arrest.

The police has assigned the investigation to Ravinder Jamval, ASP, Mandi, after an FIR was lodged against the duo under unbailable Sections 341, 353 and 34 of the IPC at Sarkaghat police station charging them of obstructing a public servant from performing his official duties on the night of November 3.

The ASI was on duty and allegedly was assaulted by the accused in the presence of eyewitnesses, but the police was “under pressure” to hush up the case.

Though the BJP minister had termed the police action as a ploy to implicate them, the police had proceeded with the case initially.

According to the police, there followed a clash among Congress and BJP workers at Taned on November 3 in which four BJP workers, Karam Chand, Biri Singh, Sanjay Kumar and Raj Mal, suffered injuries. The BJP had lodged a complaint that Congress workers were allegedly supplying liquor in night hours to woo voters, but it turned out to be a mere drama.

The police team under ASI Sushil Kumar was recording the statement under Section 154 of CrPC of Karam Chand at Taned that day and was bringing the injured persons to the Community Health Centre, Dharampur, for medical examination.

But when the police team, along with four ITBP personnel, reached Behari, the team did not find any Congress worker on the spot. The duo, along with 100 and 150 of their supporters, zeroed in the spot and they almost assaulted Sushil Kumar and deterred him from performing his duties. 

Shimla, January 23
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board will soon extend computerised billing and payment facilities to 61 more sub-divisions to help cover 85 per cent of the total consumers under the e-billing scheme.

A spokesperson of the board said computerised billing had been rolled out in 114 sub-divisions of the state in addition to 10 sub-divisions of Shimla covered under the pilot project. In all, more than 11 lakh consumers had been provided the facility and soon 61 more sub-division would be covered under the computerised billing scheme, he said.

The implementation of computerised billing had brought transparency in matters relating to bill payment, new connection, disconnection, load reduction or increase, meter status and category of consumer. The bill could be paid online through the web portal, www.hpseb.com, where multiple options of credit card, debit card and net banking had been made functional recently. Consumers could also pay at any sub-divisional counter irrespective of area of controlling sub-division, he said.

Further, four electricity bill payment collection machines had also been installed in Shimla, where consumers could make payment on 24x7 basis by cash or cheque, the spokesperson said.

Installation of similar machines at 23 divisional headquarters in the entire state was in progress. Bill payments were also being facilitated online at various Sugam and Lokmitra Kendras established by the state government, he added. 

Solan, January 23
In a bid to facilitate the low-rung employees of private universities, including medical institutes and schools, the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is awaiting a crucial notification from the state government to bring these employees under its ambit.

Though a notification proposing the intention of the state government to enrol these employees with the ESIC was issued five years ago, the proposal failed to be implemented for this sector in the absence of a final notification.

According to BS Negi, Regional Director, ESIC, Baddi, this proposal will facilitate about 20,000 employees working in various private universities, medical institutions and schools. He added that with five universities located in the Baddi area itself, a large number of low-rung employees could avail various facilities available under ESIC schemes and they had adequate infrastructure to cater to their needs.

There were 16 private universities in Himachal out of which 15 were functional and nine located in Solan, two in Kangra and one each in Una, Sirmaur, Shimla and Hamirpur districts.

Besides, there were several hundred private schools in the state. Apart from this, there were at least 25 private nursing colleges, one private homeopathic college, besides two upcoming medical colleges in the state.

Though earlier the Labour and Employment Department had issued a notification proposing the intention of the state government to bring these employees under the ESIC fold, later a society for the implementation of ESIC schemes was constituted to look after the corporation. This society works under the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

Negi said he would take up this issue with the officials concerned to ensure early implementation of this proposal as it would benefit a large number employees.

The ESIC provides various benefits to the employees, which includes medical benefits, immunisation, family welfare services, supply of special aids, sickness benefits, etc.

Presently, industrial workers were covered under the ESIC schemes and the corporation was conducting a preliminary survey in Manali, Damtal, Sansarpur Terrace and other unrepresented areas of the state to explore the possibility of extending this facility to various private establishments where worker strength was 10 and more. A team comprising a deputy director and two inspectors, who were conducting this survey, will soon submit report in this matter.

Various private establishments like shops, hotels, etc, were covered under the ESIC schemes as per the Shops and Establishments Act. 

Kangra, January 23
School principals have urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to withdraw all cases framed against former Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education BR Rahi allegedly on political considerations by the BJP government.

Spokesman of the Principals Association RK Prashar said yesterday that Rahi remained a crusader for the welfare of the teachers’ community and had suffered a great deal of political victimisation and humiliation during the past five years.

Prashar alleged that those who mattered in the previous government tried to put Rahi in the dock, but could not. Rahi, being a staunch loyalist of Virbhadra, bore the burnt of the previous government’s onslaught on various issues and even privilege motions were moved against him by the BJP thrice and figured twice in the BJP’s chargesheet against the Congress, Prashar alleged.

Prashar said despite odds, Rahi during his tenure as Chairman of the Education Board brought dynamism in its functioning and launched various innovative and welfare schemes for students and employees of the Education Board.

CHAMBA: The Himachal Government Teachers Union (HGTU) has urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to order the withdrawal of cases registered against former Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education BR Rahi which were registered by the previous BJP government to victimise him for his being a stanch supporter of Virbhadra Singh.

Former senior vice-president of the union SK Minhas said here yesterday that Rahi was harassed by lodging various cases against him by the previous BJP regime. He said still the previous government had failed to frame the chargesheet in any of the cases.

Minhas said not only this, Rahi’s name was also included in the chargesheet which had been framed against the then Congress government.

Bilaspur, January 23
With an aim to revive traditional silk production in the area, farmers of Ghumarwin are being encouraged to go in for cocoon production in their spare time and plant mulberry trees in the village.

This was stated by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Rajesh Dharmani while inaugurating a mulberry plantation campaign under the Soil Conservation Wing of the Agriculture Department, near Ghumarwin, on Monday.

He said more than one lakh mulberry plants would be planted during this month in the area.

He said the area was known in the entire region for its production of the best variety of silk. He said four check dams would be constructed on the Tarontada nullah by the Soil Conservation Wing and Rs 1.21 crore would be spent on it.

He said farmers should come forward to take advantage of government concessions under which 50 per cent subsidy was given for water tank construction and purchase of pumping machinery, while 80 per cent subsidy was given for drip irrigation schemes.

GC Lakhanpal, Dy Director, Agriculture; Baldev Chauhan, regional silk official; and Albel Thakur, soil conservation official, were also present.

Sundernagar, January 23
Residents of Mahadev village, near Sundernagar, have been getting contaminated water from taps fitted by the IPH Department for the last two months. The main pipe passing through a drain pipe is leaking due to which contaminated water flows into the taps.

However, the locals made various complaints to the IPH Department, but to no avail and the villagers were forced to drink contaminated water. The residents said the problem started about two months ago when the election process was going on.

They said they even lodged a written complaint and contacted the Junior Engineer and the Assistant Engineer, but nothing was done.

A deputation of the residents met the Superintending Engineer of the IPH Department, who instructed the field staff, but even then the situation remained the same.

The locals urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to look into the matter and solve their problem at the earliest.

Dalhousie, January 23
Residents of the Dalhousie, including the elite and officials of the local administration, paid tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary at a function organised by the local Desh Bhagat Sardar Ajit Singh Yaadgar Sabha at the Subhash Chowk here today.

President of the sabha Inderveer Singh and general secretary Virender Thakur said among prominent persons who paid floral tributes to the life-size statue of Netaji were Deputy Superintendent of Police Raman Sharma, Senior Medical Officer Vipin Thakur, Naib Tehsildar Mohinder Singh Rana. The dignitaries were all praise for functionaries of the sabha which had been organising such functions for the past several years.

Bilaspur, January 23
Forest officials took possession of the body of a 7-foot-long, six-year-old female leopard that they found from the Badgaaon jungle near Shah Talai, 60 km from here, yesterday.

Reports said a villager saw the dead leopard in the jungle adjoining the Talai-Kosariyan road and informed the Forest Department. Officials thereafter rushed to the spot with the police and a veterinary doctor. The postmortem of the animal was done on the spot by veterinary doctor Pankaj Lakhanpal who found that the leopard was killed about three to four days ago and had a bullet wound on its body.

The leopard was later cremated in the jungle according to rules in the presence of village representatives. A case has been registered by the police and the cause of death and the person responsible for this killing are being investigated. Killing of wild animals is a punishable offence. The law prohibits hunting of any kind in Himachal Pradesh.

Bilaspur, January 23
At least 15 persons, including four children and a large number of cattle, were attacked by two rabid dogs in Lehad, Barotta, Matwana and Har Kukar villages in Ghumarwin town, near here, yesterday. The 15 persons were sent to the Civil Hospital here. Five of them, including four children, were referred to the Regional Hospital here for further treatment.

The injured included Radha Devi, Garja Ram, Sahil, Beena, Preeti, Moti, Saroj, Veena, Neha and Goja Ram.

Nagar Parishad president Reeta Sehgal and parishad member Vinod Sheela said two dogs were killed by villagers at Chehad village.

Reports said the dogs also attacked and injured three horses of Chergi Negi, some cows of Jagar Nath and Hans Raj among cattle of others.

People have demanded that all stray dogs in Ghumarwin bazaar and villages around be eliminated.

Nurpur, January 23
In a pre-dawn swoop at Gagwal village in this subdivision, the Indora police conducted two raids to check the menace of bootlegging in the area. Two working stills and 2.80 lakh ml illicit liquor were seized during the raids and two women of the Sansi community, Neelam and Sunita, were arrested.

DSP Rajinder Jaswal said a case under the Excise Act had been registered against both the accused women.