H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

HAS officer in vigilance net for forgery
SHIMLA, July 29 — The state Vigilance Department has booked a Himachal Administrative Service officer for indulging in cheating and forgery and misusing his official position to give pecuniary advantage to some individuals while granting flood relief as SDO, Bharmour, in 1998.

Encroaching without fear
Bhota (HAMIRPUR): Shopkeepers, dhaba owners, STD operators and others have virtually taken over the local bus stand resulting in traffic hazards on the main road besides causing inconvenience to travellers for the past two years.

Tourism proposal cleared
BILASPUR, July 29 — The Central Government has cleared a proposal for construction of a jetty and an approach road here on eastern bank of Gobind Sagar for the development of tourism in the town and has sanctioned Rs 20 lakh for this purpose. 

HAS officer in vigilance net for forgery
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, July 29 — The state Vigilance Department has booked a Himachal Administrative Service officer for indulging in cheating and forgery and misusing his official position to give pecuniary advantage to some individuals while granting flood relief as SDO, Bharmour, in 1998.

According to police sources, the officer concerned illegally granted compensation for a rain-damaged house in Sunchee village to three different individuals. Moreover, the report of the patwari was forged to enhance the assessed loss on account of damage. While the patwari had assessed the loss at Rs 14,000, the officials in the SDM’s office made it Rs 1,14,000.

Accordingly, the compensation to which the owner was entitled increase from Rs 3000 to Rs 17,000.

Thereafter, a compensation was granted to three persons — Bojh Mal, Munshi Ram and Mohar Singh — in place of the owner of the house. While Bhoj Mal was granted Rs 18,000 the other two were given Rs 17,000 each. Thus, an amount of Rs 52,000 was paid against the admissible Rs 3000.

A senior assistant of the SDM’s office has also been booked in the case registered under Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Sections 420,467,468 and 471 of the IPC.

The Vigilance Department has also registered a case against the Executive Engineer, an Assistant Engineer and a Junior Engineer of the local Kusumpti division of the Irrigation and Public Health Department in connection with financial irregularities.

According to the preliminary inquiry report, the Executive Engineer concerned floated tenders for works amounting to Rs 3.31 crore though no budget was available under the operation and maintenance head. Only Rs 3.10 lakh was sanctioned to carry out special repairs in the division.

Further, physical verification carried out by the department revealed seven works for which payment was made were either not executed at all or were incomplete.

Even in the case of other works excess payment had been made against items to excavation in trenches, dismantling and relaying of GI pipes. In some cases neither the excavation nor relaying of pipes had been done and the pipeline had only been covered with earth drawn from the hillside.

HP literacy rate touches 90 pc
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, July 29 — The literacy rate in Himachal Pradesh has touched 90 per cent, according to the latest survey.

Stating this while inaugurating the state centre of the National Open School here today, the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, said the literacy percentage was as high as 94 per cent for males and 86 per cent for females, which was quite an achievement. He expressed hope that the state would soon surpass Kerala.

The Chief Minister said centres of the National Open School in the state would add a new chapter in the field of education in Himachal Pradesh keeping in view the difficult topography.

Reiterating his government’s resolve for bringing about qualitative improvement in the state in the field of education, Mr Dhumal said Rs 126 crore Sarswati Bal Vidya Sankalap Yojna had been launched in the state under which 13,612 new rooms would be constructed in the state for primary schools by March 2002. He said this scheme had been appreciated by the Centre and states like West Bengal, Rajasthan and Gujarat had also adopted the Himachal model.

Earlier, presiding over a state-level Sanskrit sammelan at the local Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, Mr Dhumal underlined the need to encourage the ancient language which was the pride of the country, he said. That atmosphere for development of Sanskrit in the country was favourable as the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, were also renowned Sanskrit scholars. The state was also fortunate that the present Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, was also a well-known Sanskrit scholar.

Mr Dhumal said Sanskrit, which was the base of various languages and a symbol of our cultural heritage, could not get the desired attention and as a result it had to pass through various difficult stages for survival. The Chief Minister announced that all colleges of Sanskrit at Shimla, Kiayartoo, Solan, Nahan and Sundernagar would have the status of degree colleges.

He said the government was considering giving the status of trained graduate teachers (TGT) and a process in this respect had already been started.

The Chief Minister also honoured Acharya Diwakar, founder of Sanskrit College, Shimla.

Mr I.D. Dhiman, Education Minister, said the state government had succeeded in getting Rs 1.17crore for the promotion of Sanskrit language this year as against Rs 25 lakh received in 1996-97. The Education Minister said for the first time Sanskrit karam kand jyotish prashikshan programme for seven days was being organised in the state in which Sanskrit scholars would take part. 

Encroaching without fear
From Bipin Bhardwaj

Bhota (HAMIRPUR): Shopkeepers, dhaba owners, STD operators and others have virtually taken over the local bus stand resulting in traffic hazards on the main road besides causing inconvenience to travellers for the past two years.

Besides a number of unauthorised structures on government land, a dhaba and a PCO booth have come up right in front of the bus stand blocking a major part of the entry passage.

This is allegedly going on with the tacit support of the regional transport authorities, whose office is housed in another part of the bus stand.

The passengers are left to fend for themselves and to face the vagaries of the weather. Come sun or rain, they wait outside for hours to board buses. The worst affected are women, children and senior citizens. Some people can be seen seeking the permission of shopkeepers to allow them to rest for a while.

A number of shacks have come up on land belonging to the Public Works Department resulting in road congestion narrowing the entry to the bus stand. Some rehris along the berms of the road and parking by unauthorised taxi operators have added to the problem.

Ms Veena Gupta, a commuter, says the roadside vendors have spread their establishments towards the road, creating traffic hazards. “This has resulted in many tiffs with commuters for the past over, three years,” she complains.

However, a dhaba owner and vendors say that they have been paying rent to the transport authorities for setting up temporary structures at the bus stand for the past couple of years.

Mr Jeet Ram Sharma, Regional Manager, Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation, says notices have already been issued to the encroachers. All unauthorised structures on transport land will be removed soon, he adds. 

Tourism proposal cleared
From Our Correspondent

BILASPUR, July 29 — The Central Government has cleared a proposal for construction of a jetty and an approach road here on eastern bank of Gobind Sagar for the development of tourism in the town and has sanctioned Rs 20 lakh for this purpose. 

In a letter addressed to Mr Suresh Chandel, member, Parliament, Mrs Asha Mukti, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, informed him that this amount would be released as soon as a project report is received from the Himachal Government.