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| Friday, April 7, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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road mishaps: HP MLAs Trifurcation not in hurry: CM
PM arrives in Manali today Setting up of hospital discussed Student crushed to death Pilgrims reach Kangra |
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| Woman deserted KANGRA, April 6 — An 18 year-old girl, who was married six months back in Fatehabad village of Uttar Pradesh was left by her husband at Nurpur yesterday. 
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Check road mishaps: HP MLAs SHIMLA, April 6 — Members expressed concern in the Vidhan Sabha today over the death of 275 passengers in 260 bus accidents in Himachal Pradesh during the financial year which has just closed. Several Congress members urged the government to take effective measures to check bus accidents in which many lives were lost. The question was tabled by Mr Harsh Mahajan, Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, Mr Kaul Singh and Mr Chander Kumar (all Congress). The Transport Minister, Mr K.K. Kapoor, said that 154 buses of the state-owned HRTC and 105 private buses were involved in these accidents, in which 1033 passengers were also injured. Only one bus from outside the state was involved in an accident. He said that 44 of these accidents occurred due to human error, 13 due to bad road condition and eight due to mechanical failure. Mr Mahajan alleged that driving licences for heavy vehicles were being issued without proper driving tests. The minister said that several steps have been taken to train the drivers. Twenty five driving schools had been opened in the state. The speaker, Mr Gulab Singh, cautioned the government to keep a watch that the buses and taxis condemned in Delhi following the orders of the Supreme Court were not brought here for plying. The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, in reply to a question of Mr Kaul Singh (Cong) said that the state government has asked the centre to expedite work on various Railway lines in the state. The proposed Bhannupali-Rampur rail link was reported to be economically unfeasible, but the state government was pursuing the matter with the Centre as many power projects were coming up in the area. Work on the Una-Talwara section has been geared up and two bridges near Chardu were under construction. In a written reply to Mrs Asha Kumari (Cong), the Minister of State for Urban Development said that 22 cases of violation of buildings law had been detected in the Dalhousie municipal area during 1999-2000. In another written reply to Mr Kaul Singh (Cong), the Chief Minister informed that an amount of Rs 1.45 crore was spent on chairman and vice-chairman of various boards and corporations in the state between April, 1998, and February, 2000. Besides, a sum of over Rs 1.97 crore was spent on rent and furnishing of the offices of these boards and corporations. A sun of Rs 2.85 lakh
was spent on 146 guests of these corporations and boards,
which also incurred an expenditure of Rs 10.69 on 2060
gifts. |
Trifurcation not in hurry: CM SHIMLA, April 6 — Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, today said that the government had no immediate plans to trifurcate the state electricity board and the issue would be examined by an expert committee before taking a final decision. Replying to the two-day debate on budget estimates of the state electricity board for 2000-2001 he said there was an urgent need to improve the functions of the board. It could not be sustained on government support endlessly and steps were required to ensure that it was run on commercial lines. He said the government would take into confidence all parties concerned while taking any final decision. He also sought the cooperation of the Opposition in this regard. Referring to the Opposition’s criticism regarding changes effected in the agreement for the execution of the Karcham-Wangtu project he said the clause regarding grant of 12 per cent free power to the state remained unaltered. He said changes in the MoU and final agreement would always be there as several aspects had to be looked into. The Chief Minister said that the government had taken a policy decision that it would have 12 per cent free power as royalty in the first 12 years and 18 per cent for next 28 years in private sector from which it was not required to purchase power. In projects from which it would purchase power it would be entitled to 15 per cent free power as royalty. Referring to the government’s plan to make Himachal as "power state" of the country he said during the past two years work on almost all main projects which were hanging fire for a year, had been resumed. The 2051-MW Parbati project, for which the agreement signed among five states had to be cancelled, had been assigned to the NHPC. The 300-MW Baspa would be completed by 2002 and the 86-MW Malana project even earlier than that. The government had assigned the 800-MW Kol Dam to the NTPC and talks were on with the NHPC for the Sawara-Kuder project. He said the government was aware of financial irregularities in the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation and it had brought this to the notice of authorities concerned at the Centre. He said although the NJPC was a joint venture, it was not in the purview of the state Vidhan Sabha. It was for the Parliamentary Committee on the public sector undertaking (PSU) to look into its functioning. He said the government had succeeded in securing jobs to the state electricity board employees even in the operation and maintenance of the Naptha Jhakri Project. As many as 30 per cent of the employees would be from the board as per the latest agreement. Mr Dhumal said the domestic electricity tariff in the state had been lowest. Its rate was Rs 1.55 per unit in Punjab and Rs 1.91 per unit in Haryana in comparison to 50 paise per unit in Himachal Pradesh. He said the cost had increased due to revision of pay scales. Efforts were being made to check theft and distribution losses by replacing faulty meters with new electricity meters. Earlier, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, a former Chief Minister, said that per capita consumption of power was an index of development and the country was way behind it. The per capita consumption was 7281 units in Japan, 7126 units in France and 6600 units in Australia whereas it was only 338 units in India. In this context the effort of the government to tap 6000 MW of potential power by 2010 was laudable. He said speedy execution of projects should be the main consideration as time over-runs lead to high costs of projects which increase the generation cost. He cited the example of Nathpa-Jhakri Project in this regard. He urged the government to pay more attention to investigations of new hydel projects to ensure speedy exploitation of the state’s vast hydel potential. He said while revising
electricity tariff care should be taken that poor section
were not burdened. |
Victims of transfers CHAMBA: Another transfer season is arriving with a lot of worries and financial loss to government servants who do not have sufficient contacts so as to avoid transfer. As per the notification dated December 8, 1998, of the Finance Department of the Himachal Pradesh Government, at the time of transfer, the officials of the highest grades are entitled to get a sum of Rs 1,000 as transfer grant. This amount is to be spent for the package of personal goods. The grant also includes the expenses to be incurred on the dislocation of the government servant from one place to another and for the admission of the children in a school at the new place, stitching of their uniform and purchase of new books. By no stretch of imagination can this amount of Rs 1,000 be considered sufficient. Keeping in view these expenses, the Central Government as per its notification of April 17, 1998, provided a transfer grant and a package allowance, an amount equivalent to the basic salary of the official. Since the transfer grant of Rs 1,000 is given in Himachal Pradesh to the officials of the first grade, it means that such an official is getting a basic pay of more than Rs 15,000 per month. So in the case of an officer drawing a basic pay of Rs 20,000 per month will lose a sum of Rs 19,000 in transfer grant alone, because the amount which the Central Government provides as transfer grant and package allowance appears to be an appropriate amount. Besides suffering the losses referred the government servant has to pay for the transportation of his personal goods. By its notification of December 8, 1998, an official of the first grade is entitled to transport 6,000 kg of personal goods and for this purpose he can claim reimbursement from the government at the rate of Rs 10.50 per kg. However, this amount appears to be highly inadequate. By its notification of October 21, 1999, the Himachal Pradesh Transport Department has fixed the rate of freight for goods 32 paise per quintal per km. On calculation this amount comes to Rs 19.20 per km. This difference in rates suggests that on transfer, the official concerned will have to pay a sum of Rs 8.70 per km from his own pocket. Similar is the case with the journey to be undertaken by the official and his family members. Keeping in view the increase in the rates of fare, the Central Government has fixed the rate of Journey to be undertaken by taxi at Rs 8 per km whereas the employees of Himachal Pradesh will get it at the rate of Rs 3.50 per km. The rate suggests that the right to travel by taxi on transfer or tour has indirectly been denied to the government servants. The rates of daily allowance while on tour are almost the same as were provided to the government servants in 1978. The facts suggest that at the time of transfer, the government servant has not only to suffer because of dislocation but also because of the finance involved. Such a situation creates
disparity between the government servants who are
transferred and those are never transferred because of
their contacts with high-ups or politicians. |
PM arrives in Manali today SHIMLA, April 6 (PTI) — Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee will arrive in Manali tomorrow. Mr Vajpayee, who will stay at Manali for four days, will return to Delhi on April 10. He will be accompanied by National Security Adviser and Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, official sources here said. No engagements have so far been fixed. This would be his fourth
visit to Manali after becoming the Prime Minister. |
Setting up of hospital discussed SHIMLA, April 6 — A high-level meeting was held here today regarding the setting up of Swami Vivekananda Memorial College and Hospital near Palampur in Kangra district, which was also attended by the representatives of Appolo group of hospitals. The Chief Minister Mr P.K. Dhumal, presided over the meeting and the Health Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda and senior officers of state government attended the meeting. The Chief Minister
stressed on the Appolo Hospital authority to give their
equity share for this hospital at the earliest so that
the government could proceed further in the direction of
setting up of this hospital. In case Appolo group was not
interested in the matter, it should be reported to the
government so that it could find any alternative. |
Student crushed to death PALAMPUR, April 6 — Doli, a student of the local girls’ industrial training institute, was crushed to death and her two companions were seriously injured when a jeep hit them at Mansimbal village last evening. According to the police two boys were also injured in the accident. These students were returning home from the institute. Inquiries made by this correspondent revealed that accident took place because of the negligence of the driver. Mr H.R. Sharma, SDM,
Palampur, told newsmen that the police had arrested the
driver and a case under Section 304-A of the IPC had been
registered against him. The body of Doli was brought to
local Civil Hospital for post-mortem. |
Pilgrims reach Kangra KANGRA, April 6 — Pilgrims in large numbers today started pouring in this temple town in connection with the Chaitra Navratras which started yesterday. The yellow clad pilgrims from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the state started thronging the famous Bajreshwari Temple here, one of the 52 ‘shakti peeths’. Despite claims made by the authorities of having made all arrangements, including cleanliness and sanitation of the town during Navratras, the pilgrims faced choked drains, heaps of filth and stench all along the Dharamsala road from new bus stand to the college road. However, adequate police
force has been deployed to maintain regular pilgrims and
vehicular traffic in the town and in the Bajreshwari
Temple. Parking places have also been identified for
buses and light vehicles. |
Woman deserted KANGRA, April 6 — An 18 year-old girl, who was married six months back in Fatehabad village of Uttar Pradesh was left by her husband at Nurpur yesterday. The woman, Rajini was married to Papu Ram of the same village. The woman, who is pregnant, according to the police, was brought to Himachal Pradesh by her husband. They were accompanied by Papu Ram’s three friends. Rajini is putting up at
a nari niketan run by the trustees of a Jain temple. She
has been singing bhajans. The district police chief, Mr
K.C. Sadiyal, said that the parents of the girl have been
intimated. |
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