P R A D E S H
Sunday, May 16, 1999
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H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
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Sunday, May 16, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Dhumal inaugurates
Sunkali bridge Apiary cluster for Kulu |
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Seminar on legal reforms
today Probe into working of watershed
panel Virbhadra, Mahajan may be nominees DC denies CPM charge on voter form No full-time DPO for three years Computer course at Women's
Polytechnic Housing scheme gets Rs 52 crore New Himachal Lok Ayukta HPU staff flay VC's order |
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Dhumal
inaugurates Sunkali bridge UNA, May 15 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, today announced the upgradation of the Primary Health Centre at Gagret to Community Health Centre with a view to provide better health care facilities to the people of the area. Mr Dhumal made the announcement while addressing a public meeting after inaugurating Sunkali bridge. The bridge has been constructed at a cost of Rs 65 lakh in a record time of 5 months at Bhanjal in the Gagret area. Mr Dhumal said a Food Craft Institute would be opened at Bharwain, near Chintpurni, soon to enable the youth of the area get training in hotel management. The Chief Minister said the district had got special attention in the matter of development and added that a number of development projects had been launched in the area. He said work on Una-Talwara railway line had been started last year and the Una-Bhota Road was being widened and improved with the assistance of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Rs 8 crore had been earmarked for the purpose. The Chief Minister said the construction of road and bridges had been given top priority by the government and about Rs 205 crore would be spent on this during the current financial year. He said Centre had sanctioned three national highways out of which one would pass through Una. Reiterating his government's resolve for equal and speedy development in the state Mr Dhumal accused the previous Congress government of discrimination in the matter of development in certain areas. He said he would ensure that all areas of the state developed equally irrespective of any consideration. The Chief Minister announced a grant of Rs 6 lakh for the construction of additional accommodation at Senior Secondary School in Bhanjal. Mr Gulab Singh, Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha, while speaking on the occasion said proper exploitation of hydel and tourism potential could make the state one of the prosperous states. Mr J.P. Nadda, Health Minister, said the present government had declared all districts hospitals in the state as Zonal Hospitals for which budgetary provision of about Rs 20 crore had been made to upgrade facilities and specialities so that people were provided specialised medical facilities at district headquarters. The Health Minister said
that 11 primary health centres had been upgraded to
community health centres and a provision of Rs 10 lakh
had been made in the budget for each community health
centres to provide specialised equipment. |
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SHIMLA, May 15 (UNI) — Out of 50 rural clusters like bee-keeping, fruit processing, leather and hand-made paper projects sanctioned for the entire country, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has sanctioned two clusters for Himachal Pradesh this year in addition to other village industries. One bee-keeping cluster will be set up at Kulu to extend a package of assistance, inclusive of finance, training, technical guidance and marketing support, according to the commission Chairman, Mr Mahesh Sharma. Another fibre cluster has been sanctioned for Una. It would generate huge employment opportunities in the area. These projects would offer employment opportunities to 20.000 rural artisans in the state. Dr Sharma said that bee keeping was one of the main village industries of the state. It was an ideal activity for development as a subsidiary occupation, providing supplementary income to a large number of rural population of the state because of the rich flora in the region. The KVIC had provided employment opportunities to 80.000 persons in Himachal Pradesh in 1998-99. Under the margin money scheme of the KVIC, banks had sanctioned loans worth Rs 4.53 crore to the khadi institutions and individuals in the state. A sum of Rs 1.4 crore had already been disbursed. The commission had decided to set up a national research and development centre at Wardha in Maharashtra for development quality control and upgradation of KVI products. A sum of Rs 16 crore had been sanctioned for the project. In this regard, the commission was taking expert guidance from the C.S.I.R and Department of Science and Technology, the Commission Director, Mr B.R. Chauhan said. In 1998-99, the total
production of khadi products in Himachal Pradesh, which
include cotton, silk and woollens was worth more than Rs
5.11 crore. |
Non-gazetted
staff threaten stir CHAMBA, May 15 — The district unit of the Himachal Pradesh Non-Gazetted, Employees Federation has threatened an agitation if its long-pending demand for compensatory allowance (CA) and project allowance is not accepted soon. In a joint press note issued here today, Mr Sat Pal Thakur, district president of the federation, and Mr Brij Mohan Bedi, the district general secretary, said that the demand had already been accepted by the previous Congress government in principle, but the new government had "not bothered" to implement these demands. Both leaders urged the state government to accept the demand at the ensuing state-level Joint Consultative Committee meeting of NGOs and order its implementation. They criticised certain authorities for 'creating hurdles' in implementing the orders of state government with regard to efficiency bar increments in their pay scales. They urged the government to take the officers concerned to task for defying the official orders. They asked the state NGO
Federation President, Mr Ganga Singh, to work in
cooperation with the leaders of all district units of the
federation so that the demand could be got accepted. |
Seminar on
legal reforms today SHIMLA, May 15 — A two-day seminar on legal reforms is being organised here from tomorrow by the Advocates-General Conference of India and Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association. According to Mr Sanjay Karol, Advocate-General of Himachal Pradesh, the seminar will be inaugurated by Mr Justice S.P. Bharucha, of the Supreme Court, Mr Justice D. Raju, Chief Justice of the state high court, will preside over the seminar. Mr Justice K.T. Thomas of the Supreme Court will deliver the valedictory address. The seminar will discuss
the role of law officers in administration of justice
constitutional reforms and procedural reforms with
special reference to arrears of cases.
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Probe into
working of watershed panel BILASPUR, May 15 — Presiding over a meeting of the District Grievances Committee here yesterday, the Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr J.P.Nadda, urged officers to take full care of all grievances brought to their notice by the public and make serious attempts to solve the problems at their level at the earliest. This meeting was also attended by the state 20-Point Programme Implementation Committee Vice-Chairman, Mr Karamdev Dharmani, the state Small Savings Board Vice-Chairman, Mr Randhir Sharma, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ramesh Kapil, the SP, Mr Anurag Garg, the district BJP President, Mr Subhash Thakur, the district HVC President, Maj Shivram Sharma and a former Agriculture Minister, Mr Bachittar Singh. Following complaints by leaders from Ghumarwin, the Health Minister ordered a high-level inquiry into the functioning of the watershed committee at Ghumarwin. The inquiry will be led by the Ghumarwin SDM, Mr B.L. Raghav. There were allegations of misuse of funds of this Watershed Committee. The inquiry report is to be presented in one month. The minister also directed the Deputy Commissioner to ensure that no private bus service was allowed in the district without valid permits. The minister expressed dissatisfaction over the sudden change of routes by the Himachal Road Transport Corporation and sudden suspension of bus services on some routes without taking public representatives into confidence. No route on which only one bus plied should remain without daily bus service and this bus should not be diverted for marriage purposes, he directed. He said a huge multi-purpose commercial complex would be constructed at the site of the PWD store in the main market here, while Rs 30 lakh had been allocated for the construction of a market committee building in the town. To meet the water crisis in this district, the minister declared that 36 tankers had been deployed to provide clean drinking water in the scarcity-hit-areas. Two rigs had been pressed into service not only for repairing non-functional hand pumps but also to set up 28 new hand pumps in areas facing water scarcity. He said proposals for a Rs 62 lakh Sumargha-Kulah lift drinking water augmentation scheme and a Rs 2.20 crore Bhakra area drinking water lift scheme had been sent to the government for sanction. He appreciated the suggestions made by some committee members that villagers should be personally involved in fighting forest fires by providing specialised training to them. He said he would take up this matter with the Chief Minister and Forest Minister. Remote hill areas where
water tankers could not reach would be provided drinking
water through mules and donkeys, he added. |
Virbhadra,
Mahajan may be nominees SHIMLA, May 15 — In spite of their reluctance to contest the Lok Sabha elections, the candidatures of Mr Virbhadra Singh, leader of the Congress Legislature Party, and Mr Sat Mahajan, president of the PCC, are being considered by the party high command. The general secretary of the AICC, Mr R.K. Dhawan, is coming here on May 23 to hold preliminary discussions on the probable candidates of the Congress for all four Lok Sabha seats in the state. A meeting of the general house of the PCC, heads of front organisations, former legislators and other party leader has been convened so as to enable Mr Dhawan to make an assessment of the candidates. Mr Mahajan had a two-hour meeting with Mr Virbhadra Singh here this morning to plan a broad strategy for the selection of candidates and organisation of the poll campaign. Both leaders, who were earlier reluctant to contest the elections, have now left it to the party high command to select anyone to contest the poll. Mr Yogendera Chandra, spokesman for the Congress and sitting MLA, said after the meeting between the two leaders that senior leaders, including Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mr Mahajan, having larger acceptability and credibility, were also under consideration as candidates. The decision of the party high command in this respect would be implemented in letter and in spirit. He said the Congress would contest all four seats by putting up the strongest and most suitable candidates. Mr Chandra claimed that the electorate in Himachal Pradesh was totally frustrated and fed up with the poor performance of the BJP-led government at the Centre and in the state. Meanwhile, the meeting between Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mr Mahajan is expected to be a morale booster for Congressmen. There were indications that in a bid to regain its lost position in the state, some sections of the Congress may explore the possibility of a patch-up with the HVC leader, Mr Sukh Ram, with whose support the BJP-led government of Mr P.K. Dhumal was surviving. Certain Congressmen have expressed the view that now when Mr Buta Singh and Mr Kalpnath Rai had been taken back in the Congress, there should be no hesitation in a patch-up with Mr Sukh Ram. This would help prevent the splitting of the Congress vote bank, they claim. However, the dominant group was in no mood to accept the demand of Mr Sukh Ram to first remove Mr Virbhadra Singh from the leadership of the CLP. They do not want to be dictated to by Mr Sukh Ram on the issue. Congress circles claim
that the ruling BJP is making an attempt to sideline Mr
Sukh Ram and is already not taking him seriously after
winning the byelections to the assembly seats which may
lead to rethinking among HVC leaders. |
DC denies
CPM charge on voter form SHIMLA, May 15 — Mr Ram Subhag Singh, Deputy Commissioner and District Election Officer, has refuted the charge of the CPM that Form 6 required for enrolment of voters was not available in the polling stations in the Nathpa-Jhakri project area and that May 8 was not declared a holiday by the private companies executing the project. He clarified that the Jhakri area of the project fell in Rampur assembly segment, where three polling stations had been set up. Besides, three more polling stations for some residential colonies of employees had been set up at Jeori and Bonda. Most of the permanent employees of the project were already registered as voters. For enrolment of new voters, about 2000 forms (number six) had been supplied to the designated officers at the respective polling stations, he claimed. Besides, sufficient number of forms were available with the Electoral Registration Officer and Assistant Electoral Registration officer at Rampur. While the government had declared May 8 a public holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act and April 25 and May 9 were Sunday, no complaint was received from any individual, organisation or political party that May 8 was not declared a holiday by any institution or company. There was no substance
in these allegations, he said, adding that all eligible
persons, who had not been enrolled so far, could file
their claim with the Subdivisional Magistrate or
Tehsildar, Rampur, up to May 20. |
No
full-time DPO for three years DHARAMSALA, May 15 — Despite tall claims by the government of strengthening the panchayati raj institutions, the biggest district in the state, Kangra, has not had a full-time district panchayat officer (DPO) for the past three years. Kangra district, which has a total of 708 panchayats, constitutes almost one-fourth of the total area of the state. Owing to the absence of a full-time DPO, the functioning of various panchayats is suffering immensely. At present, the prinicipal of the Panchayat Training Institute at Baijnath holds additional charge as DPO. However, he is unable to devote much time to the work as he is based at Baijnath. There are a large number complaints regarding corruption and financial irregularities by certain panchayats. However, owing the absence of a permanent DPO, most of these are pending or are being disposed of at a slow pace. It is learnt that even the district authorities have taken up the matter with the Rural Development Department on a number of occasions but to no avail. The absence of a DPO is
also affecting the functioning of the Zila Parishad which
has 56 members and 13 block samitis. The chairperson of
the Zila Parishad said: "I have taken up the matter
with the government on a number of occasions but nobody
has bothered to appoint a DPO for Kangra". She also
said that keeping in view the work being handled by the
parishad the staff strength should be increased. |
Computer
course at Women's Polytechnic SOLAN, May 15 — The State Government has decided to introduce a three-year diploma course in Computer Engineering at the Women's Polytechnic, Kandaghat, 15 km from here, shortly the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, announced yesterday. He was speaking at the annual prize distribution function of the polytechnic. Mr Dhumal said his government was giving due priority to tackling the problem of unemployment. He said the government proposed to open eight new industrial training institutes, a polytechnic and a driving institute in the current financial year. These would offer job oriented courses to the youth. He urged the youth to develop entrepreneurial skills and start their own ventures making use of a number of government sponsored promotional schemes and not to run after white-collar jobs. The Chief Minister criticised the Congress for not giving enough attention to the country's defence needs, adding that the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee alone had the courage and foresight to order Pokhran II and it had not only established India's nuclear capabilities but also had served to raise the country's prestige. Mr Ravinder Singh Ravi, Minister of State for Technical Education, said the government had spent Rs 1.61 crore on various schemes for the improvement of technical education in the state last year. The construction work of building of Government Polytechnic at Kandaghat was progressing and the polytechnic was expected to start functioning soon. The Chief Minister gave
away the prizes to meritorious students. Earlier he
inaugurated Rs 1.30 crore hostel and administrative block
buildings of the Polytechnic. |
Housing scheme gets Rs 52 crore SHIMLA, May 15 (PTI) — The Himachal Pradesh Housing Board has approved Rs 52 crore for a housing scheme under which 700 flats of various categories will be built near Basal in Solan district. The board has acquired 200 bighas in the vicinity of Chambaghat in Solan district on the outskirts of Basal village. Mr S.S. Juneja, Chief Executive Officer-cum-Secretary of the board, today told mediapersons it would be a self-contained housing colony proposed to be undertaken under a partially self-financing scheme with modern facilities, a shopping complex, a school and a community hall. This ambitious housing scheme would be formally launched within the next four months. The board had approved a budget of Rs 40 crore for the year 1999-2000, Mr Juneja said. The state government had
been asked to construct 720 houses for government
employees in the state and 90 each at the sub-divisional
headquarters during this year. |
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SHIMLA, May 15 (PTI) — Retired Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Om Parkash has been appointed Lok Ayukta of Himachal Pradesh. Justice Om Parkash is likely to take the oath of office next week, official sources said here today. Meanwhile, President
K.R. Narayanan has appointed Mr M.R. Verma,
Registrar-General of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, as
Additional Judge of the court for a period of two years.
He will be sworn in here on Monday. |
HPU staff
flay VC's order SHIMLA, May 15 — The non-teaching employees of the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) held a gate meeting to protest against the "vindictive" transfer of Mr Subhash Puri, a member of the Executive Council, by the Vice-Chancellor. They alleged that Mr Puri, who represents the non-teaching employees in the Executive Council, had been transferred because he had complained to the Governor, Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, about the violation of norms by the authorities. He had submitted a memorandum to the Governor on Monday last. They warned the Vice-Chancellor to end confrontation and withdraw the transfer orders of Mr Puri. The employees also
criticised the university authorities for their lukewarm
attitude towards their demands. |
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