H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

HP govt poaches on road fund
SHIMLA, March 31 — A loan of Rs 653 crore is being raised from various institutions by the fund starved Himachal Pradesh Government to meet its budgetary deficit and other liabilities.

HPTDC to use copter for package tours
SHIMLA, March 31 —The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) will utilise the state helicopter for arranging package tours on payment basis to boost tourism in the state. This was decided at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the HPTDC held here last evening.

Duo that saved over 12 lives
This is the story of a two-man team, closely associated with each other. One is a 17-year-old lad while the other is 37. Both have lots of things in common: their academic qualifications almost match as well as their sense of daringness and readiness to take risks.

Licence likely to kill wild animals
SHIMLA, March 31 —The Himachal Government is considering a proposal to authorise forest range officers to grant permission to villagers to kill wild animals which ravage their crops.

PWD Minister ignores party charge sheet
SHIMLA, March 31 — The crisis in the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) took a new turn with PWD Minister Mohinder Singh, who was suspended from the party on charges of indiscipline, refusing to reply to the chargesheet served on him by party chief Sukh Ram. Yesterday was the deadline for replying to the chargesheet.

• Cong expels Guleria
  

HP govt poaches on road fund
From S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, March 31 — A loan of Rs 653 crore is being raised from various institutions by the fund starved Himachal Pradesh Government to meet its budgetary deficit and other liabilities.

The loan is being raised through the newly set up Road Infrastructure Development Corporation (RIDC) but will be used by the state government instead of being utilised for the purpose for which the corporation was set up.

It is learnt that a sum of Rs 263 crore has already been raised through various banks and other institutions and another Rs 390 crore was in the pipeline.

The RIDC raised the money through issue of two separate bonds of Rs 200 crore and Rs 450 crore respectively. Sources said a loan of Rs 203.20 crore was raised through the first bond for which an amount of Rs 200 crore with a green shoe option of Rs 25 crore was earmarked. Rs 60 crore has reportedly been raised so far of the second issue of Rs 450 crore. The bonds carry an interest rate of Rs 12.25 per cent.

It is worth mentioning that while setting up RIDC (RIDC), that state government had given an assurance that the corporation will engage in improving the condition of roads and provide other amenities. Instead the corporation has merely become a front for raising loans for the government.

It is learnt that a sum of Rs 18 crore has been transferred to the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation to pay the state governments outstanding share in the project.

The BJP-HVC coalition government has already come under criticism for allegedly trying to reduce its anticipated deficit of Rs 1511 cr for the financial year by raising such indirect loans and liquidating its out standing liabilities. The opposition Congress has termed this as a “jugglery of figures”.

Earlier, Congress governments had raised loans of around Rs 865 crore through HPSEB and the Forest Corporation.

The present state government has no alternative but to follow in the footsteps of the previous Congress government as its expenditure is estimated at around Rs 4965.95 crore against an income of Rs 4065.39 crore.

The state is already burdened with an interest liability of over Rs 800 crore for the loans raised earlier.

Besides the loan of Rs 653 being raised by RIDC, the state government had itself taken loans of over Rs 745 crore from various central bodies and institutions till February 29 and paid a sum of Rs 94.51 lakh as service charges.

Bonds of several crore rupees have also been floated by various boards and corporations.

Interestingly against outstanding tax dues of about Rs 26 crore from Industry, a paltry sum of only Rs 1.16 crore was recovered till December last.

Of the Rs 700 central assistance during 1998-99 and 99-2000, a sum of Rs 300 crores was a ways and means advance which must be repaid.

HPTDC to use copter for package tours
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, March 31 —The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) will utilise the state helicopter for arranging package tours on payment basis to boost tourism in the state. This was decided at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the HPTDC held here last evening.

Presiding over the meeting, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, said that the government had decided in principle to utilise 300 flying hours of the helicopter in a year for tourism purposes so that the state government could earn from it. He said that this would attract high-class tourists, especially foreigners, to the state.

The Chief Minister also stressed the need to bring professionalism in the corporation to provide better services to the customers.

He also directed that the meeting of the service committee of the corporation be held frequently for speedy disposal of the cases of the employees.

The Board of Directors also approved the budget of the corporation for 2000-2001 amounting to Rs 23.88 crore and reviewed the progress of various projects of the HPTDC under execution in the state.

Duo that saved over 12 lives
by Ravi Bali

This is the story of a two-man team, closely associated with each other. One is a 17-year-old lad while the other is 37. Both have lots of things in common: their academic qualifications almost match as well as their sense of daringness and readiness to take risks. The major difference is that the younger one is a civilian while the other is an ex-serviceman, who has served the 94 Field Regiment of the Army. Interestingly their permanent address is also common — Saradhar village in Sarahan tehsil of Sirmaur district.

This is no quiz programme on a television channel. It’s a true story of bravery and courage of a father and son. On the midnight of March 7 when the world was sleeping they did what none could dare to do: they acted as Black Cat commandos. That night a private mini bus carrying a marriage party rolled 500 feet down into a deep gorge. As many as 47 persons died and about two dozen were injured. The alertness and presence of mind of the father-son duo saved about a dozen precious lives. And they carried dozens of dead.

They are Jai Singh, and his father, Chatter Singh.

Hardev and Anita studied together in the same school in a remote village in the Narag area of Sarahan tehsil. As in Bollywood style, they fell in love and decided to marry. They approached their parents who consulted their family pandit. The pandit matched the horoscopes and said these did not match and the planets of the groom and bridegroom were in opposite directions. The priest was paid an attractive sum to match the horoscopes. He then saw to it that the planets of the boy and girl were put in the correct position and matched. The date of the marriage was fixed for March 7, and the “lagan mahurat” just after past midnight.

That evening, there was a colourful gathering at Beharia village, the groom’s house. There was lots of high-voltage sound and music. But suddenly there was a series of omens. The sehra of the groom, Hardev, fell down at least three times. The holy tumbler filled with water and flowers also turned topsy-turvy. After some time suddenly there was a fire in the animal shed of the groom’s house, followed by young children shouting: “Bus aaa gai, chalo, chalo, barati chalo”. (The bus has arrived, come let’s accompany the marriage party).

The groom, Hardev, along with other relatives, got into two Maruti vans. And the remaining 75 odd passengers boarded the local mini bus (No HP-16-1575) for accompanying the barat from Beharia to Dinger Kinner village, the bride’s house.

It was half past midnight and the ill-fated driver of the bus tried to overtake a Maruti van carrying the groom and their relatives, suddenly hit the van while overtaking it. The result: the van tumbled and fell down from a height. The occupants of the van screamed. But the presence of mind of Jai Singh, who came out of the van and pulled out its occupants, which included groom Hardev, consoled them. One of its occupants said: ‘‘The bus is safe, it has gone ahead of us’’. But Jai Singh is not convinced and wanted to search for it. Meanwhile, another van of the groom’s party came and halted there. Chatter Singh hurriedly got down, and saying: “Where is the bus? Jai Singh came forward and said: “Papa, I think the bus has fallen down because it cannot go ahead”.

Looking at his son he said: ‘‘Don’t be scared, we shall have to work hard on this black night’’. And after some time they reached the accident spot. Chatter Singh shouted: ‘‘Pull out those who are breathing and wounded and carry them first to the main road”.

The rescue mission starts. jai Singh approached the wounded and carried a man on his shoulder over a 500-ft steep cliff. The father-son duo did this for four and a half hours. They carried at least one dozen seriously wounded and saved their lives. Besides, two dozen bodies were taken up to the main road. The clothes of the father and son were soaked in blood. They did this strenuous exercise till 4 a.m. Only after that did more villagers pour in for help and when it was early morning a medical relief team comprising three doctors, arrived from nearby Sarahan hospital. It was only then that police and administration officials arrived.

When Jai Singh was asked from where did he get the strength to do this act of bravery, the reply was: “It was my father’s words that acted as a powerful mantra and I just can’t explain how I did this”.

Surprisingly Jai Singh had his annual exams going on. Next day he was to have appeared for the Sanskrit, English and social science papers.

When Mr I.D. Dhiman, Education Minister, was asked to comment on the boy’s act of bravery, he replied “I am personally recommending Jai Singh’s name for the national bravery award because he did what trained commandos are supposed to do. The state government and specially the Education Department is proud of Jai Singh being a student of a Himachal Pradesh school. I congratulate his father, Chatter Singh, for the act of bravery and national award.”

The Himachal Pradesh Government spends crores of rupees every year on payment of compensation to the victims killed and injured. If the same amount is spent on road safety and safety drives, the accident rate in HP would be curbed and fatalities limited.

Licence likely to kill wild animals
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, March 31 —The Himachal Government is considering a proposal to authorise forest range officers to grant permission to villagers to kill wild animals which ravage their crops.

This was stated in the Assembly by Mr Roop Singh, the Forest Minister, while replying to the debate on a private member resolution calling for immediate steps to save crops from wild animal. The resolution was tabled by Mr Ram Lal of the Congress. Sharing the concern of the members over the largescale destruction of crops by monkeys, nilgai and other animals, he said under the Wild Life Act permission could be granted for killing animal pest.

Some states like Rajasthan have given the necessary powers to officers at various levels. In Haryana a resolution by the local panchayat is deemed sufficient.

He said the state government was planning to authorise range officers so that villagers did not have to go too far for a permit.

He said sterilisation of monkeys was not economically feasible. However, the government proposed to set up a committee to suggest ways to reduce the monkey population.

Replying to the debate on another private member resolution, Mr Roop Das Kashyap, the Urban Development Minister said the issue of granting voting right to nominated members of local bodies would be referred to a select committee of the house.

Moving the resolution Dr Rajeev Bindal (BJP), said the nominated members were making greater contributions in managing the affairs of local bodies than elected members but they had not been given the right to vote.

Mr J.B.L. Khachi, a former minister, cautioned the government not to tinker with the existing law as granting voting right to members nominated by the government would make a mockery of the democratic set up and upset local bodies.

Mrs Asha Kumari pointed out that in Himachal Pradesh most Municipal Committees had only five to seven members and there was a provision for nominating as many as three members. If these members were granted voting rights it would dilute the democratic character of municipalities and subvert the entire process of having an elected body.

The government has decided to provide weapons to village defence committees to prevent militants from infiltrating into Chamba district from the Doda area of Jammu and Kashmir.

Stating this in the assembly during question hour, Mr P.K. Dhumal, said as many as 159 village defence committees had been set up and 1441 villagers been provided arms training. Besides, 467 special police officers had been recruited and the intelligence network strengthened along the border.

He said the Centre had provided Rs 4 crore for strengthening the security set up and equipping the police with modern arms. Replying to another question he told Mr Virbhadra Singh that no “Guru Dakshina” function was organised by the RSS on October 24 last in Shimla and the government had no information about IAS and HAS officers participating in any such function.

In a written reply Mr Dhumal said there was no proposal to grant ration allowance to policemen on the Punjab pattern. He told Mr Kaul Singh that the government planned to set up new development blocks in Kot Kehloor, Doon, Santokhgarh, Bamsen, Nachan, Balh, Sulah, Dharamsala and Jaswan.

PWD Minister ignores party charge sheet
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, March 31 — The crisis in the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) took a new turn with PWD Minister Mohinder Singh, who was suspended from the party on charges of indiscipline, refusing to reply to the chargesheet served on him by party chief Sukh Ram. Yesterday was the deadline for replying to the chargesheet.

Mr Sukh Ram has now decided to discuss the entire episode in a meeting of the executive committee of the party expected to be convened after the Budget Session of the Assembly.

Mr Mohinder Singh was suspended for allegedly supporting the BJP nominee for the Solan Assembly seat instead of the HVC candidate, who was ultimately made to withdraw. This caused a lot of embarrassment to Mr Sukh Ram, who was virtually isolated on the issue.

To add insult to injury Mr Mohinder Singh organised a meeting of the executive of the HVC on March1 in which he revoked his suspension by Mr Sukh Ram.

Mr Sukh Ram had also sought explanations from 11 top members of the executive who participated in the unauthorised March 1 meeting. As spokesman of the party said here today that Mr Rawel Singh Badyal, joint secretary and Mr Ranjit Singh Verma, district president of Hamirpur, had not submitted their explanations yet.

He said Mr Sukh Ram was satisfied with the replies of seven members of the executive who said they participated in the meeting in an attempt to defuse the situation created by the suspension of Mr Mohinder Singh. They also urged the party chief to review the minister’s suspension.

Several HVC leaders are trying to defuse the situation despite Mr Sukh Ram and Mr Mohinder Singh were sticking to their guns.

While Mr Mohinder Singh has made clear that he accepts Mr Sukh Ram as HVC leader he has refused to give a written explanation.

YC urges Sonia to expel rebel MLAs
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, March 31 — The state Youth Congress has urged the AICC chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, to expel the three Congress legislators who defied the whip and voted for the nominee of the ruling BJP-HVC coalition instead of their own party candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat.

The demand was made at an emergency meeting of the party which was held here today under the chairmanship of Mr Sukhwinder Singh, state Youth Congress chief.

The party urged the state Congress chief, Mr Sat Mahajan, and the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to identify the rebel legislators and take disciplinary action against them.

Office-bearers of the Youth Congress, who participated in the meeting, alleged that the three rebel legislators had lost the right to continue as members of the Congress.

They welcomed the appointment of Mr Randeep Surjewale as President of the Youth Congress.

Scholarships for 12 science toppers
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, March 31 — A total of 12 science toppers of Class X and plus two are being awarded a scholarship of Rs 6,000 each by the Board of School Education.

Announcing this here today, the Secretary of the board, Dr Sunil Chaudhry, said that a Rs 1.08 lakh had been provided by the State Council for Science, Technology and Environment to encourage students who had excelled in the science subjects. A Scholarship of Rs 6,000 every year for two consecutive years would be given to the meritorious students.

The three toppers of plus two for the session of March, 1998, and March, 1999, are Mukesh Ram Rana, Karan Kumar and Jyotsana Tanwer. All three would be given a total of Rs 12,000 for two years. For the session 1999-2000, Pankaj Kumar, is among those to get the scholarship.

The three class X toppers during 1998 and 1999 — Mukta, Adityesh Kumar Sharma and Nitin Sharma — have been granted a scholarship of Rs 12,000. For the 1999-2000 session, Manish Anand, Anita Parmar and Shilpa Kapil, are being granted the scholarship of Rs 6000 annually.

2 panchayat employees suspended
From Our Correspondent

NAHAN, March 31 — A pradhan of the Thontha Jakhal panchayat, Rattan Singh, and a gram panchayat vikas adhikari, Sanjay Verma, were suspended on a charge of misappropriation of funds.

The Deputy Commissioner, Sirmour, Mr Rakesh Kaushal, said it was a case of misappropriation of Rs 76,800, which included a grant of Rs 15,000 for a primary school, Thontha; Rs 12,000 for a community hall, Jakhal; Rs 5,000 from the 10th Finance Commission; and Rs 44,800 for the construction of two rooms at Baila Gajaun.

He said the money was to be deposited jointly in the accounts of the pradhan and the gram panchayat vikas adhikari, but the pradhan allegedly deposited the amount in his individual account.

Ayurvedic docs call off stir
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, March 31 —The Himachal Ayurvedic Chikitsa Adhikari Parishad has decided to suspend its four-day agitation following talks with Mr Mohan Lal, the Minister for Ayurveda, here today.

According Mr Ashok Sharma, spokesperson for the parishad, the minister assured them that a decision on their demands would be taken soon.

The parishad would resume the stir if the government failed to accept the demands as assured, he added.

Cong expels Guleria
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, March 31 — Mr Sanjay Guleria, spokesman of the NSUI, has been expelled from the Congress for anti-party activities.His expulsion was ordered today by HPCC chief, Mr Sat Mahajan.