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Govt talks austerity as revenue declines, debt rises
Virbhadra lays stone of 100-bed building at Kamla Nehru Hospital
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh lays the foundation stone of a 100-bed building at Kamla Nehru Hospital in Shimla on Saturday. Photo: Amit Kanwar
Cong sweeps Kangra cooperative bank polls
Review results of grading system, Dhumal to Centre
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Apple growers to hold protest on September 10
MP Pratibha Singh at a meeting of the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee in Mandi on Saturday. Photo: Jai Kumar
Bus overturns, 12 passengers injured Ayurveda docs seek separate service cadre
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Govt talks austerity as revenue declines, debt rises
Shimla, September 7
A high-level meeting was held here on Friday where the government sought suggestions from all Principal Secretaries as to how the wasteful expenditure could be brought down. During the first half of this year, the revenue receipts are down by over Rs 1,000 crore, which amounts to 3 per cent decline in the revenue generation. A final decision with regard to the austerity measures that will be enforced is likely to be taken only after suggestions pour in from all quarters. “We could restrict air travel and purchase of new vehicles, put a complete ban on extensions to retiring employees and make further reduction in pension commutation from 20 to 10 per cent,” said an official. The possibility of reduction in phone limit is unlikely as the permissible limit is already very nominal. The government has already purchased 10 Toyota Camri, costing Rs 23 lakh each for the Cabinet Ministers. There is also a proposal to buy a Mercedes for Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who unlike the other Chief Ministers has not been using a high-end vehicle for travel. The concern over declining revenue receipts has compelled the government to think about austerity measures to bring down avoidable expenditure. “This year the revenue receipts from the power sector are down by almost Rs 500 crore, as there are no buyers for power generated in Himachal in the market, resulting in a major loss of revenue,” said an official. The per unit rate of power in the market has declined to a mere Rs 2 from almost Rs 7 per unit, last year, indicating the grim scenario for a power surplus state like Himachal. The revenue receipts from the forest sector, too, are down by almost Rs 100 crore in the first half of 2013. The maximum burden on the state exchequer is on account of an annual burden of Rs 6,000 crore as salary of government employees and Rs 2,800 crore as pensionary benefits being given to retiree employees. Interestingly, the percentage of employee ratio as compared to the total population in Himachal is almost 3 per cent, which is probably the highest except in some smaller north-eastern states. This percentage is almost half at 1.5 in Punjab and 1.4 in Uttarakhand. The total burden on account of the enhanced salaries and pensions on account of the Fifth Pay Commission recommendations has worked out to be over Rs 4,000 crore. The BJP regime under PK Dhumal had imposed a ban on plying of government vehicles on every Monday to bring down fuel expenditure. However, later the practice was discontinued as it was found to be impractical.
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Virbhadra lays stone of 100-bed building at Kamla Nehru Hospital
Shimla, September 7 Virbhadra said Kamla Nehru Hospital was being upgraded to a full-fledged state-level mother and child hospital, but it would remain attached to Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) for medical education. He said during his previous tenure, a new building was being constructed at the hospital, which now had the capacity of 174 beds. He said the new building would be constructed after dismantling the old one. He said Rs 70 crore would be spent on the construction of the six-storey building that would have all modern healthcare facilities like central heating, post-operative surgical beds, special wards, main and minor operation theatres, labour rooms, and pre-and after-natal care wards. He said 100 posts of doctor were being filled during the current fiscal, while 100 more would be recruited next year. He said the new OPD and administrative block buildings were being constructed at IGMC at a cost of Rs 66 crore. “With a view to de-congest IGMC and provide more space to patients and students, the dental and nursing colleges would be shifted near Ghanahatti where a new complex of 100-bed hospital would be constructed at a cost of Rs 150 crore," he said. Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur said he had recently taken up the matter of increasing MBBS seats at IGMC from 100 to 150 with Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. He said IGMC had produced 2,773 MBBS doctors and over 860 post-graduate medical specialists in various disciplines. He said 400 posts of
paramedical staff and 300 staff nurses were being filled to provide proper healthcare facilities to people in the state. |
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Cong sweeps Kangra cooperative bank polls
Dharamsala, September 7 In Kangra district, the Congress won seven of the eight posts of Director. The BJP could manage just one seat in Indora. In Una, three Congress candidates were elected to the posts of Director. In Lahaul-Spiti, the fate of the candidates will be decided by a toss as the contest ended on a tie. The 16 directors of the bank have been elected from Una, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti districts. Besides the 16 elected members, three members are nominated to the board of bank by the state government. Ajit Mahajan, a veteran Congress leader from Sahapur, was elected as Director of the bank for the consecutive ninth time. He was the only Director who was elected unopposed. Jagdish Sapiah, serving Chairman of the bank, won from Jaisinghpur. RS Mankotia, former Chairman of the bank, was defeated in Hamirpur. Babu Ram Mandial, former BJP MLA from Nadaun, also lost the elections. Karan Maltu of the Congress and the current vice-chairman of the bank, lost from Indora. During the last term, 12 directors were from the BJP and four from the Congress. Now that the Congress government is in power in the state, the tables have turned in favour of the party. RS Mankotia, previous Chairman of the bank, was removed through voting. A A majority of the directors owing allegiance to the BJP switched their vote to the Congress for removal of RS Mankotia. Congress’s Jagdish Sapiah, who was nominated to the board of the bank, was elected Chairman. Sapiah has now been elected as bank Director from Kangra and is expected to be re-elected Chairman. Interestingly, though a majority of the directors of the bank are elected from Kangra district, Jagdish Sapiah was the first Chairman from the district. Earlier, chairmen of the bank were chosen either from Una district or Hamirpur, both by the BJP and the Congress. |
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Review results of grading system, Dhumal to Centre
Shimla, September 7 In a statement here today, Dhumal said the grading system was putting an end to competitive spirit among students and making them casual and non-serious towards studies. “Having got used to the grading system, students will succumb to the pressure of the board or any other competitive examinations,” he said, adding that the earlier system of marks was far better and kept students on their toes. He said the UPA regime had ushered in the grading system in a haste without going into the pros and cons of the issue, but Himachal had expressed its reservations. “The biggest drawback of the grading system is that there is no means to assess the calibre of students and the performance of teachers,” he regretted. He said this grading system could be successful in America, but it was not suited for the education system in India. “The logic being given that students who failed to handle the pressure of examinations committed suicide is illogical, as after Class XII they have no option but to again face the same system, so why not prepare them for it,” he said. |
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Apple growers to hold protest on September 10
Shimla, September 7 “In the coming days, we intend to intensify our agitation to protect the growers from the exploitation of the commission agents,” he said. He said though the retail price of good quality apples in 27 cities across the country was varying between Rs 120 and Rs 175 per kg, the wholesale price for the same quality fruit had sharply dropped between Rs 25 and Rs 40 per kg. “Investigations reveal that the fall in the prices of apple have been engineered by the wholesale commission agents through manipulation to make windfall profit,” he alleged. He further alleged that it was shocking that in the hour of crisis, the government and its agencies had failed to provide relief to the farmers. |
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Pratibha Singh reviews work executed under MPLAD Fund
Sundernagar, September 7 Pratibha expressed satisfaction at the works executed. She said the UPA government had passed various legislations, such as RTI Act, MGNREGS and the Food Security Bill, in the interest of people. Chief Parliamentary Secretary and Sundernagar MLA Sohan Lal Thakur also attended the meeting. |
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Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today laid the foundation stone of a 100-bed wing at Kamla Nehru Hospital (KNH) for mother and child. The new wing will be constructed at a cost of Rs 70 crore.
