P R A D E S H
Wednesday, October 13, 1999
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H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
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Wednesday, October 13, 1999 |
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Dhumal for overall
development Division
in HVC over candidate |
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Fiscal crisis hits temple work JAWALAMUKHI: The famous shrine of Jawalamukhi is passing through a serious financial crisis resulting in the suspension of almost all development activity in the vicinity of the shrine. The construction of a number of major buildings near the shrine has come to a standstill as the temple authority has failed to release payments to contractors. Women
forest guards now Teacher faces rape charge Una bus mishap toll rises to 3 |
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Dhumal for overall development SHIMLA, Oct 12 — It was an atmosphere of festivity at "Oakover" the official residence of the Chief Minister, where a large number of BJP supporters descended from the Jubbal-Kotkhai Assembly segment today to celebrate the victory of the BJP-HVC combine candidate, Lt Col Dhani Ram Shandil (retd). The celebrations were more for the defeat of the Congress in Jubbal-Kotkhai segment which was stronghold of the Congress. Before leaving for Delhi to participate in the swearing-in-ceremony of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee tomorrow, Mr Dhumal reiterated his government's resolve for speedy and equal development of all areas and sections. He described the victory of the BJP-HVC combine as people's victory. He urged all political parties, including the Congress, to give their support to make Himachal Pradesh a model state. The Chief Minister said the construction of roads in Jubbal, Kotkhai and other areas of Shimla district would be given priority to facilitate apple and other fruit growers. Mr Mohinder Singh, Public Works Minister, said the endeavour of the government would be to fulfil its commitments at the earliest. Mr J.P. Nadda, Health Minister, charged the previous Congress government with spreading regionalism. Mr Narinder Bragta,
Minister of State for Horticulture, expressed the hope
that Shimla would get added priority in the matter of
development. |
Division in HVC over candidate SHIMLA, Oct 12 — The Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) is divided over the choice of its candidate for being inducted into the Union Cabinet. While the party chief, Mr Sukh Ram, was reportedly making efforts for a ministerial berth for his son, Mr Anil Sharma, who is a member of the Rajya Sabha, the PWD Minister and certain senior partymen were pleading for the induction of Lt Col Dhani Ram Shandil (retd), who has won the Shimla (Reserve) Lok Sabha seat. There was a likelihood of a former Chief Minister and a senior BJP leader, Mr Shanta Kumar, being inducted into his ministry by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. However, certain other groups are reportedly trying to stall his induction. Although it is not yet certain whether Mr Vajpayee will oblige the HVC with only one member of the Lok Sabha or not, the party leadership is making allout efforts to grab a ministerial berth. Two senior HVC leaders,
Mr Kewal Ram Chauhan and Mr Bhagat Ram Chauhan, today
demanded that Col Shandil should be made a minister
because he had for the first time snatched the Shimla
seat from the Congress. |
HP Cong men lobbying for
plum posts DHARAMSALA, Oct 12 — Instead of self-introspection and delving into the causes of the party's defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress leaders in the state are indulging in accusations and lobbying for the post of PCC chief. After the Congress suffered a major setback by losing all four Lok Sabha seats to the BJP-HVC combine, senior party leaders rushed to Delhi to make the party high command aware of the reasons for the defeat and in anticipation of getting major posts. Senior leaders, including Mr Sat Mahajan, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Mrs Vidya Stokes and Mrs Chandresh Kumari, are gunning for Mr Virbhadra Singh, and trying to put the entire blame on him. Not realising that the performance of the party in their own Assembly segment has been dismal, they want Mr Virbhadra Singh to be removed from the post of the Congress Legislature Party leader. It was being expected that after the election results, Mr Sat Mahajan would resign owing moral responsibility for the party's poor performance. The senior leaders are confident that sooner or later Mr Sat Mahajan will have to resign as the need for a more active state President is already being felt. It is in this context that they have started lobbying. A number of names, including that of All-India Mahila Congress President Chandresh Kumari, are being circulated. Through she has top-level connections in the party, her contribution to the party is practically nil in the state. The Assembly segment of Thural in Kangra from where her son contested, the Congress lost by 9,601 votes. A majority of the partymen feel that she did not have a mass base and hence was unfit for the post of PCC chief. The name of the former IPH Minister and a sitting MLA from Guler, Mr Chander Kumar, is also being circulated. He is known to be a leader with a mass base and has won a number of elections. It was for the first time that the BJP got a lead from Guler but Mr Chander Kumar managed to contain it at only 1,932 votes. Above all, he belongs to the OBC which has sided with the BJP. To woo them back, it will be a smart move to have him as the PCC chief. He is likely to get the backing of the Virbhadra Singh group. The partymen at Kangra
district feel that a deserving person, especially from
the area where Mr Shanta Kumar has a strong base, needs
to be made the party chief, irrespective of the
leader’s proximity to the party chief, Mrs Sonia
Gandhi. |
Fiscal crisis hits temple work JAWALAMUKHI: The famous shrine of Jawalamukhi is passing through a serious financial crisis resulting in the suspension of almost all development activity in the vicinity of the shrine. The construction of a number of major buildings near the shrine has come to a standstill as the temple authority has failed to release payments to contractors. The financial crisis has adversely affected the construction of Satsang Bhavan. The temple authority, however, claims that there is no shortage of funds. The situation in the temple’s construction wing’s is no better. Several contractors come to the office daily and go back disappointed. A contractor claims that his bills have been pending for months. As a result he has slowed down construction work. The construction wing of the temple has not taken up any project since last year. An Executive Engineer and three junior engineers, one draftsman and two electricians are without work. The temple trust is saddled with a huge salary bill every month. Consequently, it has been compelled to keep in abeyance many important works, which ought to have been taken up by now. It is a well-known fact that the entire expenditure of whatever is done by the temple authority is met from the offerings made by pilgrims without any aid from the state government though the temple has been managed by the government since 1984. Notwithstanding, appointments have been made on political considerations. There are allegations of misappropriation of temple funds. This has become a matter of concern here. There are instances where contracts are given at higher rates, causing a loss to the temple coffers. There is allegation of substandard construction material was used by certain contractors. Both devotees and donors are deeply worried over the increasing corruption and the deteriorating standard of construction. An NRI, Mr I.D. Sharma from Singapore, bypassing the temple administration, constructed Tara Devi Temple with two ornate gates, investing more than Rs 50 lakh on it. Last year, Sant Nag Paul
of Delhi abruptly stopped financial assistance for the
construction of Satsang Bhavan worth over Rs 1 crore,
even though the Sant had made a commitment to construct
the bhavan. He was dissatisfied with the progress of the
construction work. It is noteworthy that both the
above-mentioned donors have so far donated the maximum
for the development of the temple. It is but natural
owing to their disappointment with the temple authority,
development work had suffered considerably. |
Women forest guards now SHIMLA, Oct 12 — The decks were cleared today by the Himachal Pradesh Government for the appointment of women as forest guards by laying down physical standards for them. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet which was presided over by the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal. Briefing reporters, the Chief Secretary, Mr A.K. Goswami, said women would play a significant role in creating environment awareness among people. The Cabinet decided to release one-single pay scale to the multipurpose health workers with the condition that they would take care of all health-related programmes. They would be placed in the pay scale of Rs 4400-7000. The health centres would remain open throughout the day. It was also decided to issue health cards to all urban and rural households. It was also decided to upgrade the nagar panchayat of Parwanoo to the status of a Municipal Council. The post of chairman, Human Rights Commission, along with the staff was created formally. Twenty posts of chowkidars were created in the Food and Supplies Department. The Chief Secretary said the government had implemented 873 of the 893 promises made by the ruling BJP ever since it came to power. The remaining 20 promises were in the process of being fulfilled. The Cabinet unanimously passed a resolution congratulating the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, on being elected as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The Cabinet termed the triumph of the alliance in the Lok Sabha poll, as the victory of people and said the massive mandate was due to the farsightedness and political maturity of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. By another resolution, the Cabinet expressed its gratitude to people for giving a massive mandate to the BJP-HVC alliance which it added was due to the overwhelming support of the government under the stewardship of Mr Dhumal during the past one and half years in the state. The resolution pointed
out that in these elections, the base of the Congress had
shrunk to only four assembly segments of the 68 in the
state. |
Teacher faces rape charge SOLAN, Oct 12 — A case of rape of an 11-year-old student of Class IV allegedly by her teacher on October 7 has come to light. According to a delayed FIR lodged with the Ramshahar police post of this district last evening, Hari Ram, the 50-year-old teacher of Government Primary School, Kami, in Mastanpur panchayat of the Nalagarh block, allegedly raped an athlete of his school whom he had escorted to Government Senior Secondary School at Nand village, about 25 km from Nalagarh for taking part in the annual block level primary school games, held there on October 6 and 7. Hari Ram allegedly enticed the girl at the conclusion of the games and committed the crime after taking her to a room in the school. The victim informed certain teachers present there about the crime. Police reports said the teachers did not take any action and allegedly tried to hush up the crime for saving the prestige of the profession". Nobody lodged any report with the police. The FIR was finally lodged only after a maternal uncle of the victim, Mr Joginder Singh came to know of the incident from a villager. The S.P. Mr Rakesh Aggarwal, said two teachers, Surjit Kaur and Sarwan Singh were arrested today on charges of concealing evidence. The police was on the
look out for the main suspect, who had reportedly
absconded. Villagers staged a demonstration yesterday in
front of the D.S.P's office at Nalagarh to demand the
arrest of the suspect. |
Una bus mishap toll rises to
3 UNA, Oct 12 — The death toll of yesterday's accident in which a bus fell into the Swan river rose to three with the death of Bishan Singh of Pandoga village in Una district. One of the dead woman has been identified as Banti Devi of Charola village. The three injured have been referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. Meanwhile, the district
administration has provided Rs 5,000 to next of kin of
the deceased, Rs 2,500 to the injured passengers admitted
to the PGI and Rs 500 to Rs 1000 to the injured. |
Bilaspur celebrates independence
day BILASPUR, Oct 12 — Bilaspur independence day was celebrated here today under the aegis of the nagar parishad. Freedom fighters of the Praja Mandal movement and the Indian National Army of Netaji Subhas Chander Bose were honoured. Bilaspur got its freedom on October 12, 1947. Deputy Commissioner
Ramesh Kapil who presided over the function distributed
Rs 500 each to 48 families under the Balika Samridhi
Yojna. |
Scribe beaten up SOLAN, Oct 12 — A mob of about 50 persons beat up Harsh Vardhan Bahuguna, a staff reporter of the Hindi daily, Amar Ujaala, here today. The incident took place when Bahuguna protested against the manner in which the driver of a truck parked near a police post flung the door open. Bahuguna who was riding a scooter was nearly thrown off the scooter. A group of labourers who
were in the truck took offence to Bahuguna's protests and
started beating him up. They were soon joined by some
friends of the trader who had hired the truck. |
Road closure BILASPUR, Oct 12 —
The Chandigarh-Bilaspur-Manali national highway number 21
between Swarghat and Bilaspur town will be closed from 12
midnight to 6 a.m. in the morning on October 14 and
October 15. Executive Engineer Public Works Department
S.P. Negi said here today that the closure has been
necessitated for essential repairs of "bailey
bridge" at Gambhrolla, between Swarghat and Bilaspur
town. |
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