M A I N   N E W S

Himachal Govt takes over Dharamsala stadium, hotel
Pratibha Chauhan & Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Shimla/Dharamsala, Oct 26
In a late night swift operation, the state government today took over the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium as well as the Pavillion hotel at Dharamsala — both known to be closely associated with Anurag Thakur, MP and former Chief Minister PK Dhumal's son.

The state cabinet that met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh also rejected the proposal for reservation in promotion to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes employees, as per the 85th Constitutional Amendment. The SC and ST employees are seeking consequential seniority since 1995.

The government also decided to take over all other land allotted to the sports body at various places for setting up a stadium and creation of other facilities. The Kangra district administration took over the stadium and the hotel about 11 pm immediately after the Cabinet decision, said Deputy Commissioner Paul Rasu. Anurag Thakur is the HPCA president. Sources said the step was to avoid confrontation with the HPCA members and supporters.

The Vigilance Bureau has already registered a case in the two cases. The Registrar Cooperative Societies has also issued a show-cause notice to the HPCA for converting itself from a society into a company.

The Cabinet decided to take back and cancel the lease made in favour of the HPCA at Luhnu in Bilaspur, Nadaun in Hamirpur, Gumma in Shimla and Lalpani in Shimla.