Shimla, April 22
Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma today called on Union Panchayati Raj Minister V Kishore Chandra S Deo in New Delhi and raised various issues related to the state.

Sharma said the Centre had agreed to release the balance amount of Rs 3 crore under the Backward Region Grant funds to the state. He said the state was entitled to the grant of Rs 30.22 crore under the fund for Sirmour and Chamba districts. Chamba district was entitled to grant of Rs 16.65 crore while Sirmour district to Rs 13.57 crore 
for 2012-13.

He said the ministry had released 90 per cent amount to the state while the remaining 10 per cent grant had not been released so far, though it had agreed to release the balance amount to the state immediately.

He said the Central Government had also agreed to declare the Panchayati Raj Training Institute, Baijnath, as an Extension Training Centre for which the case had already been sent to the ministry by the state government.

He requested the Union Government to provide funding in the ratio of 90:10 to the state under the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Shashaktikaran Abhiyan. 

Kullu, April 22
Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal today accused the Congress government of adopting double standards on the issue of violation of Section 118 by allotting to the company Ford a huge chunk of land for a ski village near Manali.

He alleged that the Congress had failed to get its due share of Rs 4,000 crore from the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) and the share of 7.19 per cent from Chandigarh which had been awarded by the Supreme Court.

Briefing mediapersons after the conclusion of the state executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party here today, Dhumal alleged that the Congress had been stating separate things in the Assembly and at public meetings.

He claimed that the Revenue Minister told the House that 7,132.11 bighas had been given for government infrastructure and not to private universities in violation of Section 118, but Congress members had been misleading the public.

Dhumal alleged that the Congress had decided to allot 3,000 bighas for a ski village to build 700 rooms without giving permission under Section 118 to the company Ford.

He claimed that the government had not taken the permission of the Defence Ministry and 300 huts would be built for foreigners. He said the ski village would affect 7,000 acres and artificial snow would consume 28 megawatts of power.

Dhumal pointed out that the Congress government had failed to get the share of Himachal Pradesh worth Rs 4,000 crore from the BBMB and 7.19 per cent from Chandigarh.

He alleged that the state government had settled for only Rs 1,500 crore from the BBMB. He claimed that the party was ready for the General Election.

Dhumal alleged that the United Progressive Alliance government was stuck neck deep in scams. He was accompanied by state unit president Satpal Satti and office-bearers of the state executive.

Shimla, April 22
Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today lambasted former Chief Minster PK Dhumal and other BJP leaders for questioning achievements of the government and termed their utterances as an “outburst of frustrated and dejected politicians”.

In statement, Agnihotri said BJP leaders had been unnerved by far-sighted decisions of the Congress government over a short period.

He said Dhumal’s remarks reflected lust for power and he had not come out of the shock of defeat in the elections.

He said decision taken by the government to provide Skill Development Allowance to the unemployed educated youth had shocked BJP leaders. He said the government had provided free travel facility to school students and social security pension had been enhanced from Rs 450 to Rs 500 per month.

Agnihotri added that Dhumal had started the wrong tradition of changing names of schemes during his last tenure. He said the name of Rajiv Awas Yojana had been changed to Atal Awas Yojana and National Ambulance Scheme to Atal Sewa Yojana.

He said during the Dhumal regime, over 1,300 phones were tapped and BJP leaders were not spared. He said shady land deals and benami land transactions during the BJP regime were being probed.

Shimla, April 22
Transport Minister GS Bali today said the bad condition of roads in the state was taking a toll on Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses and he would take up the matter of the grant of compensation with the government to offset the loss being suffered by the corporation on this count.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said unlike private operators, the corporation had to ply buses on all the uneconomical rural routes in the interiors as a part of its social obligation. The bad condition of the roads led to the wear and tear of vehicles and the fuel average also came down drastically. He said there was a good case for seeking compensation to bail out the corporation, which had been left deep in the red.

The current liability on the HRTC was Rs 367 crore and the corporation had to raise loans to pay salaries. It owed Rs 100 crore on account of provident fund and interest on it and Rs 87 crore on account of special road tax. The liability of arrears of pay revision, pension and gratuity was Rs 30 crore and the corporation had availed cash credit limit to the extent of Rs 43 crore and raised loans amounting to Rs 61 crore. However, he said there was no immediate move to raise the bus fares and the corporation was in the process of finalising schemes for hiring buses on wet lease to bring down the operational costs.

He said employees should not resort to agitation and instead cooperate to help improve the financial health of the corporation, otherwise the management would have no option but to take a stern action against them. The efforts made to improve the functioning of the corporation were yielding results and the income had gone up by Rs 4.50 per km per bus and the fuel efficiency had also increased by 0.15 km to the litre, he added.

Bali, who also holds the Civil Supplies portfolio, said the global tenders floated by the State Civil Supplies Corporation for the procurement of pulses and edible oil for the first quarter of the year had helped save Rs 18.70 crore, as compared to the previous quarter. Also, Rs 3.5 crore had been saved in purchase of school uniforms. There was a delay in the supply of subsidised ration as fresh tenders were called, but the stocks had started arriving, Bali said.

The corporation had decided to reduce the commission admissible to pharmacists in the sale of medicines from 3 per cent to 2 per cent up to sale of Rs 10 lakh, 2 per cent to 1 per cent up to Rs 20 lakh and from 1 per cent to 0.5 per cent for sale of over Rs 20 lakh, which will help save about Rs 30 lakh annually. 

Shimla, April 22
The Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here has threatened to proceed on an indefinite strike, following the beating up of a doctor by attendants of a patient.

Indignant at the beating up of a resident doctor, posted in the Radiology Department, by three attendants of a patient on Saturday, all the members of the RDA stayed away from work today, causing considerable inconvenience to patients. The members threatened to stay away from work till the persons involved in the case were arrested. The RDA said it would resume work once proper security was provided in the hospital and closed-circuit cameras were installed.

“The assurance given to us by the Special Secretary, Health, who held talks with the RDA, will be placed before the general house and accordingly a decision will be taken,” said Dr Rajeev Chauhan, president of the RDA.

The Himachal Medical Officers Association (HMOA) and the state unit of the Indian Medical Association too condemned the beating up of the doctor. They demanded that security be beefed up so that the doctors and other para-medical staff did not have to face the ire of family members and attendants of patients the doctors were treating. 

Shimla, April 22
The protest against the enhanced rates of BEd prospectus at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) took an aggressive turn today as activists of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) gheraoed Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai, forcing him to walk to his office as his car was not allowed to cross the Summer Hill Chowk.

Students lay down before his car in such a way that the driver could neither proceed further nor reverse, forcing Professor Bajpai to step out and walk to his office amidst aggressive protests by the ABVP activists. They also submitted a memorandum to the VC, seeking immediate withdrawal of the hike in the prospectus rates.

“The ABVP will not hesitate to block the entry of all the elected representatives into University, in case the enhancement in prospectus rates from Rs 300 to Rs 600 is not immediately withdrawn,” said Kushal Koundal, campus president of the ABVP. He said in case the HPU did not withdraw the hike, the ABVP would launch a state-wide agitation.

State secretary of the ABVP Ajay Thakur accused the VC of cheating the students to please the Congress regime. “We will also not allow the state government and the HPU to close down the Regional Centre at Dharamsala, as 240 students are enrolled there,” he said.

He added that the transfer of two teachers from the Law Department of the Regional Centre to the HPU would not be accepted. These two teachers would not be allowed to enter the HPU, he said.

The Students Federation of India (SFI) too staged a protest against the doubling of the price of the BEd prospectus and said in case the hike was not withdrawn, a statewide agitation would be launched.

Chamba, April 22
The Himachal Pradesh Government is committed to the well-being of the minorities in the state, said Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri, while presiding over a district-level Gujjar convention, organised by the district Gujjar Samaj Kalyan Sabha here yesterday.

Bharmouri said around 775 villages had been excluded from the wildlife sanctuaries in the state with the efforts of the state government. This would add more tracts of pastureland for grazing the livestock of Gujjars, whose livelihood was primarily dependent on rearing the cattle.

Bharmouri said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was well conversant with the problems of the minorities and the poor and, accordingly, the plans to uplift them were underway.

Referring to the 14-point demand charter presented by the sabha, Bharmouri assured them of taking up the demands with the Chief Minister so that they could be fulfilled in a phased manner.

He also assured them that the Chamba-Sahoo road would be widened and a veterinary dispensary would be opened at Kanged and Nareda. The demand of opening a separate senior secondary school for girls at Sahoo would be taken up with the Chief Minister, he added.

Bharmouri assured them that representation would be given to the minorities in various state and district-level committees.

Former Member of Parliament of the Kangra Lok Sabha constituency Chander Kumar also addressed the gathering on the occasion. District president of the sabha Hassan Deen thanked the gathering for their participation in the convention.

Solan, April 22
Notwithstanding the implementation of the Himachal Pradesh Groundwater (Regulation and Control of Development and Management) Act, the measure has failed to check overexploitation of groundwater due to limited usage.

The Act is being implemented only in eight civil subdivisions, which are Solan and Nalagarh in Solan district, Nahan and Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district, Una and Amb in Una district and Nurpur and Jawali in Kangra district.

This has defeated the purpose of the Act passed in 2005. An assessment can be gauged from the net groundwater availability and the gross draft for all use. In Paonta Sahib it is about 7,500 hectares per metre and 2,000 hectares per metre, respectively. In Kala Amb it is 125 hectares per metre and 300 hectares per metre, respectively.

In Nalagarh it is about 7,750 hectares per metre and 3,900 hectares per metre, respectively. In Una, it is about 15,900 hectares per metre and 15,000 hectares per metre, respectively. The report indicates that Kala Amb and Una need to adopt artificial groundwater recharging by constructing structures.

This necessitates the need to register users and monitor water withdrawal by installing meters. The failure to do so has been made a punishable offence under the Act. Irrigation and Public Health officials have been directed to install meters and if users fail to do so after seeking registration, to charge them for the installation. Little has been done in this direction. With a large number of commercial projects on, there is an urgent need to notify the Act statewide.

Dalhousie, April 22
The Nature Study Camp-2013 is being organised at the Dalhousie tourist circuit by the Youth Hostels Association of India (YHAI) for the ninth year in succession. Nearly 700 plus participants in the age group of 10 to 15 years, from different states of the country, are participating in this trekking programme spread over eight groups. After every six days, a group of approximately 60 to 100 participants will report at the base camp of the Youth Hostel, Dalhousie.

Manager, Youth Hostel, Dalhousie, Capt Rajender Singh Rana, who is also the field director of the camp, flagged off the first batch for river-crossing activities on Sunday. The camp, which started on April 21, will culminate on May 30. Fortythree participants from Maharashtra and Gujarat, including nine girls, are participating in the first batch.

While addressing the participants, Captain Rana said through such treks the YHAI was promoting adventure eco-tourism in Himachal and also instilling the traits of integration, courage and confidence amongst children. He advised the participants to become environment conscious and said no damage was to be done to the forest area when going through the activities.

The participants of the camp would also take part in various activities like rock climbing, trekking to Dainkund, Jot, Kalatop and Dalhousie itinerary and while passing through the wooded hills, would enjoy bird watching, star gazing and drawing competition etc.

Co-director of the camp Sunil Pitre, resource persons Rupesh Nandy, Kunal Joshi and camp leader Sarvesh also attended the camp.

The YHAI has been organising trekking programmes at different locations of the state, thereby promoting adventure tourism.

Bilaspur, April 22
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Block Committee at Ghumarwin near Bilaspur has threatened to hold an agitation over the non-availability of doctors at the Ghumarwin Civil Hospital.

A group of local BJP leaders, led by state BJP Executive Committee member Rajender Garg, recently presented a detailed report to SDM Rajiv Kumar for forwarding it to the Governor.

They informed the SDM that there was only one Block Medical Officer who catered to hundreds of patients every day, while five posts of doctor had been lying vacant for a long time.

They also complained that patients had to either go to the Regional Hospital in Bilaspur or visit private hospitals where treatment was very costly. They demanded that the posts be filled at the earliest, failing which the BJP unit would start an agitation against mismanagement and ignoring poor people’s demands.

The other leaders present on the occasion were BJP Block president Narender Thakur, general secretaries Zorawar Singh and Navin Sharma, District BJP vice-president Ramesh Thakur, former Block president Capt Ram Singh, vice-presidents Ram Prakash Patial and Ramesh Varma, secretaries Veena Sharma and Pushp Raj Dhiman, spokesman Mahender Pal Ratwaan and city president Karam Singh.

Shimla, April 22
Cherry growers have reason to cheer as the state heading to a bumper crop after two consecutive lean seasons. Reports from Kotgarh and Narkanda areas of Shimla district which account for over 90 per cent production indicate that the crop is between 50 per cent and 100 per cent more than last year.

Trees are laden with fruit and harvesting of indigenous varieties which mature early compared to exotic ones has started in low-altitude areas. The crop is good despite damage caused by hailstorms in some areas of Thanedar, says Rajinder Kholta, pradhan of Baghi panchayat which has maximum cherry plantation.

The weather has been favourable and the region has received heavy snow during winter followed by frequent spells of rain which are continuing. Other fruit crops like pear and apple are also good. The state produced 412 tonnes of cherry in 2012 and 432 tonnes in 2011.

The state witnessed a record fruit harvest of over 10 lakh tonnes in 2010 and production crossed the 1,000-tonne mark. This season the production is likely to be between 600 tonnes and 700 tonnes. Last year growers got good prices with average returns of between Rs 150 and Rs 200 per kg. Ranjeet Mehta of the Kotgarh area says some lots were sold at between Rs 400 and Rs 450 per kg.

The area under cherry culivation has been steadily increasing and new plantations are coming up in Shimla and Kullu districts. The total area has more than doubled over the last decade from 240 hectares to about 500 hectares. The production is bound to increase substantially over the next couple of years. When plantations start producing fruit the state will have a potential of 1,100 tonnes.

Many growers who are in the process of replacing ageing apple orchards are opting for cherry plantation. It is a low-volume-high-value cash crop even though it is highly perishable. It fetches a high price and the harvesting period is short. The fruit is marketed in the first half of summer and there is no problem in transportation.

Unlike cherry, apple is harvested during the peak monsoon when roads are frequently blocked due to landslides. Growers are preferring exotic varieties like stella, deuro, sue, lambert, bing, bella italia, triumph and domini and imported rootstock like colt and F12/1 which have a better shelf life and are suitable for commercial cultivation.

Shimla, April 22
A seven-member team of Lawrence School, Sanawar, on an expedition to scale Mount Everest, has started climbing the peak.

Headed by chief coordinator of the expedition Col PS Grewal, students and other support members reached the base camp on April 17 and are now near the Khumbu glacier.

If successful, it will be the first school team in the world to scale the Everest.

The team members are aged between 16 and 17 years and include Hakikat Singh, Guribadat Singh, Prithvi Singh, Ajay Sohal, Shubham, Fateh Singh and Raghav Joneja. Four of them are from Punjab and one each from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

The team was flagged off for the expedition on April 2 and is expected to be back by May 28. Having camped at two places, the team set up its third camp today, at a height of 24,500 feet, said the official spokesperson. On April 9, the team reached Nepal and had started its journey thereafter.

Hamirpur, April 22
The father of the girl who reportedly committed suicide a few days ago, accompanied by villagers, today submitted a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Hamirpur, Himanshu Shekhar Chaudhary and demanded a CBI inquiry into the death of his daughter.

Bamita (24), who was studying in an institute at Hamirpur, belonged to Samrala village under Bhoranj police station and was found hanging from a tree near Mundkhar last Wednesday.

Suspecting foul play in the incident,Chuni Lal, father of the deceased, alleged, “We have registered a complaint at the police station as my daughter was disturbed after getting some phone calls on April 4 and she was found dead on April 17. We have demanded a CBI inquiry into the case.”

The ADC said, “The father of the deceased has demanded a CBI inquiry and I have brought the matter to the knowledge of the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police.” 

Nurpur, April 22
The suicide by Vinod Kumar, who was a contract employee of the watershed project at the office of the local Block Development Officer (BDO), took a new turn when the police registered a case of abetment of suicide against four persons, including BDO, his office accountant and superintendent.

Mann Singh, father of the deceased, today met Inspector General of Police Ashok Aggarwal and demanded an impartial inquiry into the mysterious death of his son.

SHO, Nurpur, Brij Mohan has confirmed that following the complaint of the father a case under Sections 306 and 34, IPC, was registered this evening against the Block Development Officer, two staff members and one unidentified person hailing from Palampur tehsil in Kangra.

Vinod’s body had been recovered by roadside bushes near the Bodh-Chakki-Dhar defence road on the morning of April 17. He had not returned home after duty the previous day.

The police had found a number of blank strips of sedative capsules and a suicide note from the pocket of the deceased. In the suicide note, he had alleged that he had been abetted to commit suicide by three employees of the local Block Development Officer’s office and one outsider who had conspired to withhold his Rs 4 to 5 lakh. Vinod had stated that he was depressed and taking the extreme step.

Nurpur, April 22
The local police registered a case against Usha Devi, pradhan of Chhatar Jogian under Rehan police chowki, last evening for allegedly assaulting a field employee of the Irrigation-cum-Public Health (IPH) Department and deterring him from discharging his duty.

According to police information, following a complaint of Des Raj, an IPH junior engineer from Gangath, the accused allegedly assaulted Ashwani Kumar, a fitter, who along with another field employee Ajit Kumar was attending to a piped water problem in the village. He was examining the water connections and taps when the accused started quarrelling with him and later assaulted him. The victim sustained minor injuries.

Acting on the complaint a case under Sections 332 and 353, IPC, has been registered against the panchayat pradhan and the victim medically examined.