Dropsy case in Solan district
SHIMLA, Aug 28 — The first case of dropsy has been reported from the Kandaghat area of Solan district where four members of a family were taken ill after consuming adulterated mustard oil.
People's help must,
says Dhumal
SHIMLA, Aug 28 — Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister has said that the devastation caused by landslides in the hills of Uttar Pradesh is a result of unscientific exploitation of forests and other natural resources and called for new strategies to ensure sustainable development.

Ill-equipped hospitals
PALAMPUR: Health services in Kangra district are in a mess. Most of the hospitals are ill-equipped. The shortage of doctors and paramedical staff is a common feature.

• ‘Captain’ dupes youths
• 'Earth clubs' to keep Solan clean

Dropsy case in Solan district
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 28 — The first case of dropsy has been reported from the Kandaghat area of Solan district where four members of a family were taken ill after consuming adulterated mustard oil.

The case was detected when a 13-year-old boy of the family was brought to Indira Gandhi Medical College here two days ago. According to doctors of the Medicine Department, the patient had all symptoms of dropsy like swollen feet and diarrhoea. The doctors called other members of the family also and took a sample of the oil they were using.

Tests confirmed the oil was adulterated and the rest of the family members also showed symptoms of dropsy. The father of the boy, who is a transporter, told doctors he had purchased mustard oil from Delhi.

The authorities said no other case had been reported and effective preventive steps were being taken.

The government has banned the sale and import of seven brands of edible mustard oil, including Ekta, Laxmi, Hathi, Kanodia, Scooter, Vandevi and Tiranga. The Food Supplies and Health Department conducted joint inspections throughout the state to check violation of the ban. In Solan district alone, 85 inspections were conducted and six samples of oil taken. Some stocks of banned oil were sealed in Kandaghat.

Similar inspections were conducted in Shimla district and 12 samples were sent for analysis. In Kulu district, six samples were drawn.

Ms Harinder Hira, Secretary, Food and Supplies, has directed the district authorities to seal the stocks of banned brands of oil and send samples to the health laboratory for analysis. In case the sample of the particular brand is found adulterated, the entire stock is to be sealed.

People's help must, says Dhumal
Tribune News service

SHIMLA, Aug 28 — Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister has said that the devastation caused by landslides in the hills of Uttar Pradesh is a result of unscientific exploitation of forests and other natural resources and called for new strategies to ensure sustainable development.

Addressing forest officers and representatives of non-government organisation at a workshop on forest management here yesterday, he said the sustainable management of valuable resources like forests was a challenging task. Only people-oriented schemes could ensure the protection of forests.

He said forests had been managed for the people, not by the people till the national forest policy which laid stress on people's participation.

He said the state had already adopted a participatory management approach under the United Kingdom-sponsored forestry project being implemented in Mandi and Kulu districts.

The local people had not only been made partners in the management of forests but also involved in planning of schemes. The interest of villagers could be safeguarded only if the forests were developed and protected by them.

He urged the officers to put in sincere efforts in implementing the schemes and assured them that there would be no dearth of funds. He said it had become amply clear that no amount of government intervention, technical or legal, could arrest, much less reverse, the process of ecological degradation unless the people extended active cooperation.

Mr Roop Singh, Forest Minister, said the objective of people-oriented schemes was to involve grassroots institutions like gram panchayats, mahila mandals, schools and village development committees in the conservation of forests.

Ill-equipped hospitals
From Ravinder Sood

PALAMPUR: Health services in Kangra district are in a mess. Most of the hospitals are ill-equipped. The shortage of doctors and paramedical staff is a common feature.

In rural areas the situation is worse where no medical aid worth the name is available. The tall claims made by the government from time to time for strengthening the health services in urban as well as rural areas are confined to papers only, and the patients continue to suffer.

Although the state government is spending crores of rupees on the health services in the state, the serious cases are seldom treated here. In emergency the patients are advised to go to the PGI, Chandigarh or the CMC, Ludhiana. In most cases patients die before reaching Ludhiana.

Recently a local businessman , who suffered a mild heart attack was advised to go to Chandigarh since there was no heart specialist in the local Civil Hospital. But he died before he was admitted to the PGI. In another case an employee of the local SDM office died on the way to the PGI.

The civil hospitals here and at Dharamsala are the only institutions where specialised medical facilities are available and have the capacity to admit 300 indoor patients, while the rural hospitals at Baijnath, Chadiar, Thural and Jaisinghpur do not have any facility to admit serious patients. They are advised to go to Palampur or Dharamsala.

Doctors posted in most of the rural hospitals go to their duties in the morning and come back in the evening. In the late hours there is no medical aid available.

Political interference in the functioning of the health institutions has made the situation worse. A majority of the doctors and other paramedical staff enjoy political patronage and manage their postings for years together at one place Wherever, senior officers take any actions against the erring employees, their political bosses come for their rescue.

The previous Congress government with the intention to strengthen the health services in the region opened a medical college at Tanda, near Kangra. The medical classes also started in this institution last year. The college is yet to get recognition from the Medical Council of India. Now the case is before the Supreme Court.

On the other hand, the college is getting step-motherly treatment from the state government which is not serious in the expansion and development of this institution There is an acute shortage of funds for the buildings under construction for the past two years. The construction work at a residential complex for teachers is going on at a snail's pace.

At present the college is attached with Zonal Hospital, Dharamsala which is about 30 km away from Tanda. Likewise, the hostel of the students is situated at Purana Kangra, which is over 8 km from Tanda. The staff here have been facing a lot of difficulties like accommodation and proper bus service to the college. A number of teachers and other employees have already quit the job.

Despite spending huge funds on the health services in Kangra district the common man has to run to the adjoining states for better medical care in emergency cases. There are examples when the state government had to airlift ministers to New Delhi for medical treatment.

Running govt a compulsion, says Thakre
From Our Correspondent

KASAULI, Aug 28 — BJP national president Kushabhau Thakre yesterday said running a government in the present scenario was a compulsion for the party. He told mediapersons here that the BJP was not happy as it did not get a clear mandate.

Referring to a question about the fresh threat by Ms Jayalalitha to review support, Mr Thakre said the AIADMK chief not going to withdraw support and there were no differences between her and the BJP.

Mr Thakre said the nuclear explosions had instilled a new faith in the Indian Army. He said these developments had also placed the country in the list of the most powerful nations of the world. In the aftermath of these developments, NRIs had invested as much as 4.5 billion bonds in India. He said resolving the Cauvery issue was the government's biggest achievement which had been hanging fire since the past 25 years.

Mr Thakre pointed out the judiciary, the bureaucracy and legislature were fighting for their own rights and the common citizen was being ignored. He said only close cooperation between the three could ameliorate the deplorable condition of the common man.

Earlier, the BJP chief inaugurated a three-day-long workshop for party workers belonging to the Mandi and Shimla parliamentary constituencies. As many as 120 party workers are participating in the workshop which would conclude on August 29. Prominent among the participants are the state Horticulture Minister, Mr Narender Bragta, the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, and the Forest Minister, Mr Roop Singh.

Edible oil disappears from market
From Our Correspondent

KASAULI, Aug 28 — Thousands of litres of edible oil has disappeared from the market in many parts of the district following raids conducted by officials of the District Food and Civil Supplies Department to collect samples.

There are 257 edible oil wholesale dealers and more than 4500 karyana shops in the district which largely depend on mustard oil for cooking. Sources confirmed that unbranded edible oil, had disappeared in major towns of the district following the outbreak of dropsy in Kandaghat and to avoid the collection of samples.

District Foods and Civil Supplies Controller, M.L. Sharma said the oil brands banned in Delhi were not being sold in the district.

The sources hints at the possibility of more cases as the vegetable season is at its peak and vegetable growers and transporters often visit Delhi and bring with them eatable, including edible oil for the whole year.

A dealer in edible oil in Kasauli said the authorities concerned should register cases against the manufacturers of the spurious brands of edible oil rather than harassing the dealers.

Himachal to seek extension of education plan
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, Aug 28 — The Himachal Government has planned to approach the Union Government for the extension of the Rs 129 crore World Bank-aided, District Primary Education Programme, presently under implementation in Kulu, Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti district to the whole of the state.

The Minister for Primary Education told newspersons at Kasauli today, that a decision to appoint one head teacher for monitoring every five primary schools in the state had also been taken. Two hundred posts thus created would be filled shortly. The step had been taken to improve the functioning of primary schools, especially those located away from the district headquarters.

All voluntary teachers whose services had been regularised would be given junior basic training . A system of recruiting primary teachers on contract basis was also being examined.

Efforts would be made with the help of the local panchayats to provide a minimum of two rooms to all primary schools which were presently functioning in rented or under makeshift building.

HP teachers' plea to Thakre
From Our Correspondent

KASAULI, Aug 28 — The HP Government College Teachers Association (HGCTA) and the University of Horticulture and Forestry Teachers Association (UHFTA) in a demand charter submitted to the BJP National President, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, have urged him to take up the pay package issue with the Minister of Human Resource Development.

The associations' presidents, Dr P.S. Thakur and Mr R.K. Nayital, said that the pay package being offered to them was not in consonance with the grades recommended by the UGC. They said the teachers were demanding a parallel pay package with group A government officers. The association presidents said that even a group B officer earned more than the teachers which was an insult to the teaching profession.

Govt transfers in 'public interest'
From Our Correspondent

NAHAN, Aug 28 — Ms Shyama Sharma, former Cabinet minister and BJP leader, talking to TNS here today alleged that the outpourings of Mr Sat Mahajan, president, PPCC, were a pack of lies.

She said transfers of government employees by the BJP government were purely on merit and in public interest, adding that, the number of transfers were negligible as compared with the mass transfers of 85,000 employees when Mr Virbhadra Singh was the Chief Minister.

Ms Sharma said the district hospital here had been upgraded to a zonal hospital and that the long-awaited construction of the Kotri-Beas bridge near Majra in this district, which would cost Rs 2.1 crore and benefit 17 gram panchayats, had also been sanctioned. A sum of Rs 2.62 crore had also been sanctioned for the Paonta Sahib sewerage scheme, Rs 25 lakh for the Bhagani bridge and Rs 11 lakh for Panog (Renuka) drinking water scheme.

ABVP opposes HP govt move
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Aug 28 — The state unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has opposed the Himachal Government’s move to introduce English in primary schools from class I.

Mr Mohinder Dharmani, organising secretary of the parishad, said the issue, which would have a bearing on the future of schoolchildren, should be extensively discussed before arriving at a final decision. The parishad had been demanding that English should be made an optional subject at the plus two level.

The parishad firmly believed that a foreign language could not help the overall development of personality. It was the continuing influence of western culture which was coming in the way of India becoming a strong nation.

The imposition of English as compulsory subject had already taken a heavy toll of the students. On an average about 70 per cent of the students failed to clear the subject in first attempt at the graduate level.

‘Captain’ dupes youths
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, Aug 28 — The Mandi police is making a frantic search for a person who called himself Capt R.S. Tiwari and cheated a number of unemployed youths by giving them the assurance of getting them recruited in the Army.

The police swung into action when Hem Raj, son of a peon in the sessions court, lodged an FIR.

Mr Sanjay Kumar Kundu, SP, said the police would succeed in nabbing the cheat through the telephone calls he made from a guest house.

'Earth clubs' to keep Solan clean
From Our Correspondent

KASAULI, Aug 28 — The Chakki-Moar based NGO Janseva Ashram has chalked out a novel plan to make Solan clean by forming "earth clubs".

Mr S.R. Dixit, president of the ashram, said 50 houses would be covered under each earth club and that the Ashram would appoint a supervisor to manage the waste collected from 750 houses. The supervisor would further appoint five waste collectors for every 150 houses.

Each house would be charged 50 paise daily for lifting the waste which would be transported to the waste management plant at Salogra.