HVC out to "tarnish" Virbhadra's image
SHIMLA, Dec 30 — Mr Kaul Singh, a former Speaker, today said tainted leaders did not have any right to level false allegations against Mr Virbhadra Singh, the leader of the Congress Legislative Party.

DCs told to work for speedy uplift of poor
SHIMLA, Dec 30 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has stressed the need to focus on achievement of physical targets under the integrated rural development and other poverty alleviation programmes instead of financial achievements for speedy uplift of the poor.

Victims of fake certificate racket THE investigations are on and panic is prevalent among some students and their parents who are affected by a fake certificate racket operating in some colleges of Himachal Pradesh for some years.

HP to cancel MoU with Ballarpur Industries
SHIMLA, Dec 30 — The Himachal Pradesh Government today decided to serve a notice to cancel the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Ballarpur Industries for execution of 100 mw Uhl State-III hydel project in Mandi district.

VDCs to be equipped with weapons
SURGANI (CHAMBA), Dec 30 — The Village Defence Committees, set up in the border villages of Chamba district, adjoining Jammu and Kashmir, will be fully equipped with arms and ammunition to curb militancy.

Medical college likely to get recognition
KANGRA, Dec 30 — The government is hopeful of getting Dr Rajinder Prasad Medical College, Tanda, recognised as one of the members of the Medical Council of India team today appreciated the efforts made by the government in complying with the conditions laid down by the MCI during the last inspection conducted by it in August.

HVC out to "tarnish" Virbhadra's image
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 30 — Mr Kaul Singh, a former Speaker and general secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee, today said tainted leaders did not have any right to level false allegations against Mr Virbhadra Singh, the leader of the Congress Legislative Party, and challenged them to file a complaint with the Lokayukta if there was even an iota of truth in the charges.

Addressing a press conference, he said the sole objective of the Himachal Vikas Congress which submitted a charge sheet against Mr Virbhadra Singh was to tarnish his clean image. He said it was unfortunate that Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, had succumbed to pressures from such leaders and set a wrong precedent by ordering a CBI probe to investigate baseless allegations. It also showed he did not have faith in the state's investigating agencies.

The Congress was not for protecting the corrupt but at the same time it would see to it that the state machinery was not misused to harass honest political leaders, the former Speaker said.

Mr Kaul Singh said his party would not make any attempt to bring down the coalition government but did not rule out the possibility of its collapse "under its own weight". He avoided giving a categorical reply to a query regarding his party seeking the support of Mr Sukh Ram to form government in the state. He said the Congress would not use any illegal methods to come to power.

He rejected the agreement for the execution of the Parbati project signed between the state board and the National Hydel Power Corporation and said it should be taken up as a joint venture. Under the present accord, the state would have no control over the execution of the project and in such a situation the cost of generation could go up tremendously. This would not be in the interests of the state which had to buy 15 per cent power at generation cost. Further, the state would be surplus in power even during the winter by the time the project was commissioned and as such the clause enabling it to draw power from October to March would have no use.

Mr Kaul Singh said there was a glaring omission in the accord as it did not have the signature of the Union Secretary for Energy. The state could get power subject to approval from the Centre but it could refuse to oblige saying that it was not party to the agreement signed between the board and the NHPC.

He also demanded deployment of adequate staff to speed up work on the Larji project. He criticised the decision to hand over the Kol dam project to the National Thermal Power Corporation which had no experience in the execution of hydel projects.

He termed the thanks-giving rally of fruit growers at Kotkhai as a political gimmick and said it would not help in washing the stigma of police firing and lathi charge on the apple growers during the BJP rule in 1991. He said the government owed Rs 28 crore to the growers and Mr Dhumal had released only Rs 6 crore. He urged the government to pay the arrears within a month.

DCs told to work for speedy uplift of poor
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 30 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has stressed the need to focus on achievement of physical targets under the integrated rural development (IRD) and other poverty alleviation programmes instead of financial achievements for speedy uplift of the poor.

Presiding over a meeting of the state-level coordination committee of the Rural Development Department here today, he stressed the need for proper monitoring and evaluation of the progress of various schemes. He said although crores of rupees had been spent on poverty alleviation programmes in the past no tangible results had been achieved. This, he said, was a matter to be looked into. He said it should be ensured that the benefits of poverty alleviation programmes being implemented in the state percolated down to the needy and deserving and money allocated was utilised properly.

Reiterating his government's resolve for speedy uplift of the poor and weaker sections, Mr Dhumal directed the Deputy Commissioner to ensure that eligible poor families were not left out from the list of IRD families. He said families, which otherwise were not eligible, but had been included should be taken off the list at once.

The Chief Minister emphasised the need for involving local people, panchayats, mahila mandals, yuvak mandals and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the poverty alleviation and rural development work as without their active involvement it would not be possible to achieve the desired results.

Mr Dhumal urged the Deputy Commissioners to complete unfinished projects instead of taking on new ones. He also directed the Deputy Commissioners to submit the report regarding construction of rooms for schools under the operation black board scheme in the state.

During the discussion, Mr Dhumal asked the Deputy Commissioners to submit the report regarding irregularities in the construction of latrines under the rural sanitation programme and the action taken against the defaulter along with the steps taken to cover up shortfall under the programme. This year, 4,626 such latrines had been constructed up to November against a target of 7,695 fixed for the year.

The Chief Minister also directed that work for the construction of houses under Gandhi Kutir Yojna and Indira Awas Yojna should be expedited to solve the housing problem of the poor and weaker sections so that the target fixed for the year was achieved.

Revellers hope for 'white' New Year
From Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 30 — A clear sky and bright sun not withstanding, thousands of winter revellers, who have converged on the "queen of hills" to usher in New Year, are praying for a snowfall.

The picturesque hill resort is bustling with activity. A festive atmosphere prevails at the historic Ridge and The Mall, where tourists can be seen having fun and frolic.

Occupancy in most hotels has gone up to 80 per cent. It is party time in big hotels where gala dance and dine nights are being organised since Christmas.

It is also time for hoteliers to do brisk business in the otherwise lean winter months. Most hotels have arranged for live orchestra for New Year celebrations. Merry-makers, however, will have to shell out a decent sum. The entry rates to these hotels range from Rs 1600 to Rs 7200 per couple.

The State Tourism Development Corporation is organising special programmes to celebrate the New Year eve in its hotels not only in Shimla but also Manali, Dharamsala and Chail which attract a substantial number of tourists during this period. In order to bring in an element of competitiveness, some hotels have announced prizes for couples who excel on the dancing floor.

To prevent incidents of eve-teasing and rowdyism, the administration is making special arrangements to maintain law and order. A plan has been chalked out for providing parking space for vehicles. The Chaura Maidan area where vehicles are not allowed in the normal course has been opened to enable tourists to park their vehicles.

Traffic police will be on duty round the clock from this afternoon till the New Year. A control room has been set up where doctors will be available to examine those under the influence of liquor. There will be round-the-clock patrolling on The Ridge, The Mall and other important areas to prevent eve-teasing or any other untoward incident.

In all, over 300 additional securitymen have been deployed in the town.

The weather god has not been kind to the winter revellers and a "white" New Year has been eluding them more often than not. There was time when heavy snow during Christmas and New Year was common. Wanton destruction of the green cover and haphazard construction activity has taken a heavy toll of the ecologically fragile hill environment. It has brought about a change in the weather pattern with snowfall becoming scarce and irregular.

Whether it snows or not, the trend among people of adjoining plain areas is to celebrate New Year in hill resorts. Come Christmas and they start making a beeline for the nearest destination. Many fail to find accommodation and are forced to spend the night in their vehicles.

Compared to last year, the rush is less this year. Fog in the plains has affected the flow of tourists, says a member of the State Hoteliers Association.

When snowfall eludes the revellers, they have the Asia's oldest natural ice skating rink to look forward for fun. Interestingly, if the sky is clear, it is good for ice skating. Thus, visitors can enjoy either snow or ice skating.

Victims of fake certificate racket

THE investigations are on and panic is prevalent among some students and their parents who are affected by a fake certificate racket operating in some colleges of Himachal Pradesh for some years. With the help of these certificates, many have already cleared the college and university examinations and a few have even secured jobs.

The racket came to light this year only on the initiative of some principals who detected the origin of these certificates and reported the matter to the police and educational authorities.

The certificates were issued mainly from two places — of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) from Ghaziabad, near Delhi, and of the Bihar Intermediate Education Council, Patna, from East Champaran district. The certificates include not only the fake marks sheets but also the forged migration, transfer and character certificates.

Different college administrations in Shimla swung into action this year after admissions in July regarding the authenticity of these certificates when a number of local students came with various marks sheets from Bihar and Delhi institutions. "When a local, familiar but failed plus two candidate in Sarswati Nagar, Jubbal in Upper Shimla and some disqualified students in Shimla, easily took admissions to the first-year graduation courses in college, we were shocked," say some teachers who were there in the admission committees.

"But we could not deny admissions as the certificates were from some constitutionally constituted and accredited boards of the country," says the principal of Government College, Sanjauli. But when different students gave different replies like "I appeared in Chandigarh", "I had gone to Ghaziabad", "Champaran is in UP", "I got 67 per cent marks in science but just give me admission in arts", the authorities got alert, says the principal, who is mainly instrumental in busting the racket.

Clarifications were sought from these boards and then special teams sent to Delhi and Bihar for verification. But as expected these boards refused having issued these certificates. The Education Secretary, Bihar, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, took keen interest and helped the authorities here, says the principal.

This year 31 such cases have been detected in the Sanjauli college only. the admissions were cancelled and names of the students displayed on the notice board. Hundreds of such cases are expected in other colleges also.

"The racketeers should be severely punished for introducing such educational forgery in Himachal Pradesh which is otherwise unknown to us", say college lecturers.

Some students who purchased these fake certificates for Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 also explained the modus operandi of this illegal enterprise. A private college in the vicinity of Government College, Sanjauli, is always on the look out for failed and dejected students. They are taken for some mock screening and examinations to fake centers created at Solan, Chandigarh and some other places. Some persons are reportedly hired for acting as examiners from Delhi and Bihar.

Students and their parents who have gone through this pseudo and the pretended process of examination still refuse to believe that they were given fake certificates. Some of them even fought with the principal and other teachers for denying them admissions. "Even after paying thousands of rupees we are cheated for no fault of ours", they say.

In a subsequent development, some members of the investigating team have started receiving threatening calls, says a source.

HP to cancel MoU with Ballarpur Industries
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 30 — The Himachal Pradesh Government today decided to serve a notice to cancel the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Ballarpur Industries for execution of 100 mw Uhl State-III hydel project in Mandi district.

This decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, here today.

Mr Gulab Singh, Speaker, who was present, stressed at the meeting that since Ballarpur Industries was to start work within a year as per the agreement and it had failed to do so, the work be entrusted either to the state electricity board or the NHPC or any other agency which could take up the project at the earliest.

The Chief Minister said the state government had decided to exploit identified hydel potential of the state expeditiously and offered efficiency-linked incentives to private entrepreneurs.

He said the work on Uhl Stage-III, which had already been delayed, must be taken up at once. Besides income to the state exchequer, this project would also generate employment for local people.

VDCs to be equipped with weapons
From Our Correspondent

SURGANI (CHAMBA), Dec 30 — The Village Defence Committees (VDCs), set up in the border villages of Chamba district, adjoining Jammu and Kashmir, will be fully equipped with arms and ammunition to curb militancy.

Speaking to newspersons at Surgani, 40 km from the district headquarters of Chamba yesterday, former Chief Minister and MP Shanta Kumar said the issue of financial assistance to members of the VDCs to purchase weapons would be taken up with the Centre and the state government. He said he himself would pursue the matter and that the communication network would also be improved in Chamba district.

Mr Kumar, earlier, addressed a series of public meetings at several border villages, of Churah sub-division in Chamba.

He announced a grant of Rs 7 lakh for the construction of Tarela bridge near Kalaba-Satrundi, railing for Senior Secondary School, Saloni, and a serai for Tissa Hospital.

Medical college likely to get recognition
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, Dec 30 — The government is hopeful of getting Dr Rajinder Prasad Medical College, Tanda, recognised as one of the members of the Medical Council of India (MCI) team today appreciated the efforts made by the government in complying with the conditions laid down by the MCI during the last inspection conducted by it in August.

Disclosing this to mediapersons here today, Mr B.K. Agrawal, Deputy Commissioner, said Dr Bansal appreciated the efforts of the government to carry out the construction and other work on a war-footing. Mr Aggrawal said conditions for the minimum faculty requirements work fulfilled and most of the other objections raised by the MCI during the last visit were complied with.

He said development work was being monitored regularly by a review committee chaired by him.

The Secretary, Health, Mr Mukesh Khanna, also expressed hope that the college would get recognition.

KVK closure hits growers
From Rajiv Mahajan

NURPUR: The closure of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), which opened in 1995 at Indora in Kangra district, has left the fruit growers and farmers of the area high and dry. The Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), Delhi, had facilitated the setting up of the KVK in Kangra district with the objective of transferring new farm technology to growers. A non-government body, the Foundation for Organisational Research and Education (FORE) had been running the KVK.

During the tenure of the Virbhadra Singh government, certain local politicians had complained to the IARI about the functioning of the KVK. The IARI had then sent a committee of experts to review the KVK's working.

According to sources, the committee had recommended attaching the KVK either with the Horticulture and Forestry University, Solan, or Agriculture University, Palampur. However, the recommendation was not implemented.

Despite steps being taken to improve the KVK's functioning, the IARI stopped financial assistance to it in January this year and forced its closure for want of funds.

Recently, the infrastructure of the KVK was shifted to the KVK at Faridabad in Haryana, dashing all hopes of the local growers of the kendra reopening.

Mr Vidhya Sagar, state Agriculture Minister, had taken up this issue with the Union Agriculture Ministry but his efforts proved futile.

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Residents of this town have demanded that the local and long-route buses should start and terminate from Chogan instead of Jassur and Niarpur bus stands. Passengers from Chogan and suburban areas have to walk 3 km to catch a bus. They have also demanded that the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus service from Pathankot to Hardwar via Jassur should be extended from Jassur to Nurpur for the convenience of a large number of local passengers. Earlier, this bus service was from Nurpur to Hardwar.

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The Nurpur Silk Mills at Bodh, near here, has now become a sick unit, causing concern to the State Industrial Corporation (SIC), which had taken over the unit in 1968.

It has a capacity of 30 basins for producing silk fabrics but now only 20 are in working order. The carpet weaving unit of the mill had been closed about 14 years ago. The loss of the unit is likely to touch Rs 18 lakh in the current year, compared to about Rs 15 lakh last year. At present, 100 persons are directly employed and as many as 5000 silk worm rearers are indirectly employed by the mill.

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The fruit growers and farmers of Nurpur and Jawali subdivisions, whose bumper mango crop was earlier damaged by mango hopper, a dreaded wasp locally called 'telia', and unseasonal rain, are now facing a scarcity of fertilisers. They have urged the state government to rush an adequate supply of fertilisers to them so that they can sow wheat crop in time.