H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Revenue department to
recover bank loans
SHIMLA, Sept 11 — At last the Himachal Government has accepted the plea of the bankers to make a provision for recovering outstanding loans as arrears of land revenue.

Shanta gives shape to dream project
DHARAMSALA, Sept 11 — Abandoning the idea of setting up a super specialised hospital and medical college at Palampur with the help of the controversial Apollo Group, the Union Consumer Affairs Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, today announced the formation of the Vivekanand Medical Research Trust, which would now give shape to his dream project.

Decision on panchayat poll endorsed
SOLAN, Sept 11 — A meeting of the state executive committee members and presidents of the front organisations of the BJP, held here today, endorsed Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s earlier decision not to contest the ensuing panchayat polls on party lines.

Veerappan ‘fed up’ with life of outlaw
SOLAN: Veerappan, the dreaded bandit of the Bandipur forests and killer of at least 150 persons, is a deeply religious, kind-hearted man.

Tourists rough up barrier staff
KASAULI, Sept 11 — The closing of the barrier from 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. in the evenings here led to tourists brandishing a pistol to lift the barrier to go out yesterday.

Foreigners safe in Himachal: DIG
HAMIRPUR, Sept 11 — Foreigners are safe in Kulu and Lahaul valley, the DIG (Central Range, Mandi) Mr Somesh Goel, told reporters here this evening.

Agriculture Minister inspects programme
SHIMLA, Sept 11 — The Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Dr Debendra Pradhan, visited two panchayats of Rampur-Keonthal and Baghi adopted by the central potato research institute, under the Institute Village Linkage Programme (IVLP) yesterday and showed keen interest in the ginger, tomato and maize crops moving from field to field despite the rough hill terrain.

Dhumal distributes kisan passbooks
REHAN (Nurpur), Sept 11 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has expressed his gratitude to employees and officials of the Revenue Department for accepting the Amended Land Revenue Act.

Youth being ignored in YC: NSUI chief
DHARAMSALA, Sept 11 — Former NSUI president and the district returning officer for the party elections in Kangra district, Mr Kuldeep Rathore said yesterday that after the death of Rajiv Gandhi youth in the Congress was being ignored.

Former CM backs Youth Cong leaders
SHIMLA, Sept 11 — Mr Ram Lal, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister, has come out in defence of Youth Congress (YC) leaders who have been entrusted the responsibility of conducting the organisational poll and has called upon senior party leaders not to doubt their capability.

Congress flays BJP over PDS
PALAMPUR, Sept 11 — The Congress party has expressed concern over the non-availability of essential commodities under the PDS in the region. 

BJP to highlight Dhumal government’s feats
SHIMLA, Sept 11 — The BJP will make the achievements of the Dhumal government over the past 30 months on the development front and the decentralisation of financial and administrative powers as its main plank during the ensuing panchayat and local bodies elections in the state.

• Bawan Dwadashi fair concludes
• Census starts in Himachal

Revenue department to recover bank loans
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 11 — At last the Himachal Government has accepted the plea of the bankers to make a provision for recovering outstanding loans as arrears of land revenue.

The State Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of Mr P.K. Dhumal, the Chief Minister, decided to amend the State Public Money (Recovery of Dues) Act to provide for recovery of bank loans as arrears of land revenue. However, it dropped the proposed amendment to take recovery of loans out from the purview of the civil courts as it was not acceptable to the Centre.

The Cabinet also decided to order a vigilance enquiry into the alleged irregularities in the procurement of wool by the state Wool Marketing Federation during the 1996-98 period. It also approved disposal of wool stocks after observing codal formalities.

The much awaited rules for compounding of offences under the Town and Country Planning Act as per which deviations in setbacks will be compounded upto a maximum of 25 per cent in each floor. The compounding fee for buildings constructed in the municipal areas will be Rs 400 per square metre for the ground floor and Rs 200 per square metre for each subsequent floor. In case of other areas where the Act was in force the compounding fee for any deviation will be Rs 200 per sqm for the ground floor and Rs 100 per sqm for subsequent floors.

For buildings constructed without prior approval but conformed to the norms a compounding fee Rs 5000 per 100 square metre will have to be paid. Similarly in case of under seized plots the compounding fee will be Rs 5000 in municipal areas and Rs 2000 in other areas. In case of change of land use to residential purposes the compounding fee will be Rs 30 per sqm and to commercial purposes Rs 50 per sqm. The rules will be notified after inviting objections from public. With the approval of these rules the retention policy of 1998 will cease to be effective.

The Cabinet also approved the relief and rehabilitation plan for persons to be affected on account of acquisition of land for construction of a cement plant in Chamba district. A liberal scheme on the pattern of Kol Dam oustees rehabilitation package has been approved. In all 381 families will be rendered landless and 192 homeless.

A development plan for Nalagarh in Solan district covering 740 hectares was approved. The scheme provides for planned development of the area, including separate industrial and residential areas, parks, bus terminal, wholesale market and other facilities.

It also gave permission to fill 100 vacant posts of female health workers in various parts of the state.

As per another decision hydel projects up to 5 MW capacity against existing up to 3 mw capacity were brought under the preview Himurja. The scheme of incentives for private investors was also extended to societies and cooperative societies in the state.

It also cleared the proposal to set up the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Institute of Social Justice under the aegis of All India Council of Social Sciences and Research (ICSSR) at Manali.

A new ITI at Karsog in Mandi district was also approved.

The Cabinet also decided to give additional assistance up to Rs 25,000 from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to those persons whose houses were completely damaged in the recent floods in the Satluj. Further, money can be sanctioned from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund on receipt of specific proposals from Deputy Commissioners for construction of jhullas, pedestrian paths and transport subsidy for carriage of essential commodities.

The Cabinet approved raising a term loan of Rs 70 crore from Kangra Central Cooperative Bank for the construction of the 12 MW Khauli power project.

It decided to withdraw the notification increasing rates of security, connection charges and application fee for drinking water connections. Now old rates will be applicable.

It also approved the transfer of two cattle feed plants at Jach and Parwanoo from the H.P. Agro Industries Corporation to the State Milk Federation as the latter is already forwarding feed to the farmers.

The Cabinet decided to extend the validity of “C” form from six months to one year.

The Cabinet also approved raising of one more battalion of the India Reserve Police with part investment by the Government of India. As a result 1007 posts of different categories have been created. Out of which 675 posts of constables would be filled during the current financial year.

To improve the police-public interface, the state government has made obligatory for every police station to forward a copy of FIR to the complainant within a week by post and inform him about the progress of investigations within three months.

As per another decision 4 lakh apple boxes will be acquired under the market intervention scheme from the flood-ravaged Kinnaur district. The superior quality fruit will be procured at Rs 10 per kg and the processable grade fruit at Rs 3.75 per kg.

Shanta gives shape to dream project
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Sept 11 — Abandoning the idea of setting up a super specialised hospital and medical college at Palampur with the help of the controversial Apollo Group, the Union Consumer Affairs Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, today announced the formation of the Vivekanand Medical Research Trust, which would now give shape to his dream project.

It was in 1992, when Mr Shanta Kumar was heading the BJP government in the state that an agreement was made with the Apollo Group to set up a hospital and medical college at Holta near Palampur. With the fall of the Shanta government, the project failed to make any headway.

Talking to mediapersons at Palampur today, Mr Shanta Kumar, said the trust had been registered and soon it would begin work on the project. “The 40 acres of land and the money lying in the name of the previous trust will very soon be transferred to the new trust so that the work can be completed at the earliest,” he said.

The hospital would have 700 beds.

Mr Shanta Kumar said the money would be raised from all over the country with the help of committees. He said medical services would be provided free of cost to the poor.

Mr Shanta Kumar would be the chairman of the trust while the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, would be its Chief Patron. The Health Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda, would be the ex-officio member.

A subdivisional committee has been constituted with Mr Vipin Parmar, MLA, as the convener and Mr B.B.L. Butail, Capt Atma Ram, Mr Dulo Ram and Mr Ravinder Ravi, all BJP MLAs as members,

Decision on panchayat poll endorsed
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, Sept 11 — A meeting of the state executive committee members and presidents of the front organisations of the BJP, held here today, endorsed Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s earlier decision not to contest the ensuing panchayat polls on party lines. The elections are scheduled to be held in December.

The decision was seen as a convenient ploy to bye-pass the thorny issue of whether to enter the panchayat poll fray alone or in alliance with the Himachal Vikas Congress. However, the party president, Mr Jai Kishan Sharma, told a press conference here, that the decision not to contest the election on party’s symbol had been taken to ensure that relations among the electorate were not soured by the election conflict.

Mr Sharma said BJP workers air their views on the attitude of party ministers and bureaucrats. He said over 50 per cent of these complaints were satisfactorily redressed.

The BJP leader said a decision to constitute the executive committees of front organisations of the party by September 30 was also taken. A campaign to enroll 40 life members from each mandal would also be launched on September 25, the birthday of late Deen Dyal Upadhyaye. It would conclude on October 2, the birthday of the Father of the Nation.

The meeting also issued a call to the party’s rank and file to combat the campaign of misinformation launched by the Congress.

Party insiders said today’s meeting saw some of the senior leaders of the district criticising the cold response to party workers by ministers. They were reported to have warned that in case this aberration was not rectified in time, the party might be in for serious reverses in the panchayat elections.

Veerappan ‘fed up’ with life of outlaw
From Romesh Dutt

SOLAN: Veerappan, the dreaded bandit of the Bandipur forests and killer of at least 150 persons, is a deeply religious, kind-hearted man. He performs puja each morning, recites the Ramayana whenever he is free from his criminal activities, extends a helping hand to the distressed and is a doting father to a 10-year-old girl.

Though he has successfully kept the governments of the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Naidu at their wit’s end by keeping the combined strength of their police forces at bay for well over two decades, he seems to have got fed up leading the life of an outlaw. Even after having amassed a huge fortune by smuggling sandalwood and elephant tusks, he sleeps, perforce, on a bed of gunnybags and misses the company of his daughter.

These are the views of Dr Satyavrat Maiti, Director of the National Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Anand, Gujarat, who was one of the seven senior government officers who were kidnapped by Veerappan on October 9, 1997, and released after 12 days of captivity. The scientist, who is also an avid photographer of wildlife, had gone to the Bandipur Forest Sanctuary to spend a part of his Puja holidays there along with his wife and then seven-year-old son. He was alone trying to shoot a wild elephant with his camera at the time of his kidnapping. This correspondent interviewed him on the campus of Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry where he had come to attend a meeting of farm scientists on Thursday.

The following are excerpts of the interview:

Q: Dr Maiti, what was your immediate reaction at the time of your kidnapping? Were you scared and were you blindfolded, Bollywood style, before being taken to the bandit’s hideout?
A: (Laughs) I was neither scared nor was their any need for Veerappan to blindfold me. Veerappan had made it abundantly clear that he meant no harm to my person during the “questioning session” that preceded my capture and that he was only capturing a (senior) government servant to pressurise the government to accept some of his demands. The Bandipur forests are so dense that you cannot see beyond 4 ft or 5 ft at any point. So there was no need for blindfolding. Also, Veerappan did not have any fixed hideout. During the day, he is constantly on the move and usually chooses an elevated place beside a stream for his night stay, deep in the jungle. Such points are stocked with food, wrapped in plastic bags and hidden underground well in advance. This arrangement provides the maximum security to the outlaw.

Q: How were you treated during your captivity?
A: Very well. I and the other hostages were given the same food which Veerappan and his men took. In fact, they went hungry on the penultimate day of our captivity. It so happened that they had run out of food on that day. So, without telling us about it, they served us our daily lunch. We became aware of the food shortage when we inquired why they were not eating. We all felt touched when a gang member told us that the guests came first. We felt very sorry when we saw them marching for the next six hours on an empty stomach to reach the next “food joint”.

Q: What was Veerappan’s daily routine like?
A: He gets up early in the morning, bathes in the stream after answering the call of nature and performs puja before having his morning tea. He recites the Ramayana whenever he has the time in between his long marches. He repeats the worship of his deities at sunset while his men get busy preparing dinner. They all sleep on makeshift beds of gunnybags. He carries a photograph that shows him holding his 10-year-old daughter. He never forgets to show this particular photograph to strangers.

Q: How did Veerappan take to smuggling and murder?
A: He told me that he, the son of a forest guard, had shot his first elephant at the age of 10. It did not take him long to understand that killing elephants could be big business.

Q: He is usually credited with having amassed about Rs 150 crore through the smuggling of tusks and sandalwood. What does he do with that amount of money?
A: Can’t say. But he donates liberally to all kinds of causes — schooling, healthcare.

Q: Dr Maiti, could you tell something about the reasons or factors that helped him take on the police of three states?
A: I am not competent to reply to that question. But I will tell you about what I actually saw. To go through the Bandipur forests, one has to really know well. No one knew these forests better than Veerappan. The man could be called a carbon copy of the legendary wolf boy, later immortalised as “Mowglee” in the famous cartoon film. Veerappan can actually communicate with animals in the wild. He demonstrated this particular skill of his. A host of monkeys descended from nowhere when Veerappan gave his “monkey call”. They vanished into thin air the moment he sounded the monkey’s alarm signal.

Q: Would you favour granting amnesty to Veerappan?
A: No. Never. The man has killed over 150 persons. Amnesty to him would be tantamount to the denial of justice to the dead and their families. But I can tell you that the man is fed up with the life of an outlaw.

Tourists rough up barrier staff
From Our Correspondent

KASAULI, Sept 11 — The closing of the barrier from 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. in the evenings here led to tourists brandishing a pistol to lift the barrier to go out yesterday.

According to the barrier staff, occupants of about 45 cars bearing the numbers of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi stopped in the cantonment and asked the staff to lift the barrier. The staff, however, refused, saying that they had orders of the cantonment board. The visitors insisted that they had to catch a flight and it was necessary for them to leave immediately. Some of the tourists then came out of the cars and threatened the staff with a pistol and broke open the locks by hitting them with stones.

Policemen present there allegedly remained mute spectators even as the military policeman deployed there was pushed by the crowd.

The CEO, Mr G.N. Mathur, when contacted, said on request of elderly people residing on the Mall he had complained about the haphazard parking and trespassing on private property by tourists. Therefore, restrictions had been imposed to regulate traffic.

A notification in this regard had been issued in April to cantonment members, SHO, tehsildar and public.

However, the members maintained that no such notification was issued to them. The tehsildar, Mr J.C. Sharma, too did not know about the notification.

Placards informing people about the timings should have been put up well in advance to apprise the tourists of the barrier regulations. Residents feel that even locals who have to come and go out have problems in crossing the barrier.

Foreigners safe in Himachal: DIG
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Sept 11 — Foreigners are safe in Kulu and Lahaul valley, the DIG (Central Range, Mandi) Mr Somesh Goel, told reporters here this evening.

In a press conference at the office of the SP, he said he had sent message through the Internet to foreign mission and tourists to visit the valley as the law and order situation was under control in Manali.

The foreigners had stopped visiting these areas after the killings of some tourists recently. Mr Goel said the foreigners should not come with large amounts of money. Instead they should bring travelllers cheques and inform about their arrival to various police stations.

Agriculture Minister inspects programme
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 11 — The Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Dr Debendra Pradhan, visited two panchayats of Rampur-Keonthal and Baghi adopted by the central potato research institute, under the Institute Village Linkage Programme (IVLP) yesterday and showed keen interest in the ginger, tomato and maize crops moving from field to field despite the rough hill terrain.

Farmers are growing these crops on scientific lines under the guidance and supervision of IVLP scientists.

Briefing the media about the programme Dr H.C. Sharma, scientist-in-charge of the programme, said that the institute was implementing this programme after a comprehensive benchmark survey in which as many as 18 different technological modules were worked out to solve the disease and pest problems of the area and to enhance crop productivity and profitability of the crops. This scheme is being funded by the World Bank for a period of four years on a budget of about 26 lakhs. 300 farm families are being covered under the programme.

The area is famous for off-season vegetables but due to small operational holdings the farmers are forced to raise vegetable crops repetitively leading to severe pest problems.

Last year IVLP team and experts from Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan on a inspection visit found that more than 70 per cent of the ginger crop was damaged by rhizome rot disease.

Dhumal distributes kisan passbooks
From Our Correspondent

REHAN (Nurpur), Sept 11 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has expressed his gratitude to employees and officials of the Revenue Department for accepting the Amended Land Revenue Act. Mr Dhumal who launched kisan passbooks and distributed them among farmers of Nurpur and Jawali subdivisions at Rohan last evening, said the kisan passbook was a legal valid document which would mitigate problems in getting loans from banks. It would solve revenue-related obstacles and make the revenue task convenient, he said.

The Chief Minister said the state government had approved 166 new irrigation schemes and Rs 15 crore had been earmarked for mini-irrigation schemes in the budget of the Agriculture Department this year. The government would run these schemes through user committees.

Mr Dhumal said the government had approved new vegetable growing projects and a Rs 1.2 crore project for promoting floriculture in Kangra district. Apart from this, the tenure of the Indo-German Agriculture Project had been enhanced to five years.

On the occasion, the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh gave a demand charter to the Chief Minister. The demands included evolution of a master plan for irrigation, removal of ban on khairwood export and vesting of ownership rights of shamlat land to gram panchayats.

Youth being ignored in YC: NSUI chief
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Sept 11 — Former NSUI president and the district returning officer for the party elections in Kangra district, Mr Kuldeep Rathore said yesterday that after the death of Rajiv Gandhi youth in the Congress was being ignored.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said after the death of Rajiv Gandhi, it was for the first time that the youth Congress leaders had been entrusted with the responsibility of conducting free and fair elections of the organisation. “During the regime of Mr Narasimha Rao and Mr Sita Ram Kesri the youth wing of the party was totally ignored and sidelined,” he stated.

He said the young blood in the BJP was occupying important positions in the party and the government today, whereas in the Congress it was not being followed. He assured that contrary to apprehensions expressed by some senior Congress leaders that the party elections would be held in a free and fair manner.

Mr Rathore held a meeting with the assistant returning officers appointed for the 16 Assembly segments of Kangra district. He said, “We have given directions in this regard so that the elections of the primary units be over by September 16 and during the next week, till September 22, elections of the district Congress committee members and the pradesh Congress committee delegates are over.”

He further said the election of the district Congress committee chief of Kangra would be held here on October 1. “Our effort is to have a consensus but wherever there is a demand for an election, it will be done as per the procedure ,” he said. He added that there would be 33 per cent reservation for women in the party posts apart from 20 per cent reservation for the SC, ST, OBC and the minorities. In case these categories were unable to come through in the elections they will be nominated.

He said if any person had a grievance he could approach the state or the central election authority, which was an autonomous body.

Former CM backs Youth Cong leaders
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 11 — Mr Ram Lal, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister, has come out in defence of Youth Congress (YC) leaders who have been entrusted the responsibility of conducting the organisational poll and has called upon senior party leaders not to doubt their capability.

He said it was shocking that certain senior party leaders had gone to the Press against the appointment of YC leaders as returning officers, alleging that it was part of a conspiracy to “rig” the organisational poll. The accusation was far-fetched as so far the returning officers had not played any role in the election and in case any party member had any specific complaint, it should be brought to the notice of the election authority. He advised the senior leaders to refrain from denigrating the YC leaders as it was sending a wrong message to the party workers.

Congress flays BJP over PDS
From Our Correspondent

PALAMPUR, Sept 11 — The Congress party has expressed concern over the non-availability of essential commodities under the PDS in the region. Over 1,000 party workers who had come here to attend a meeting yesterday criticised the state government for its failure on all fronts causing hardships to the common man in the state.

Addressing party workers, local MLA and senior Congress leader Butail said the government had been passing through serious financial crises and it had no funds even to restore the roads damaged because of heavy rains. He quoted a number of examples where landslides had completely distrupted the traffic but in the absence of funds the roads still remained blocked. Mr Butail said there were hundreds of old-age persons and widows who had not been paid pensions for the past many months.

BJP to highlight Dhumal government’s feats
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 11 — The BJP will make the achievements of the Dhumal government over the past 30 months on the development front and the decentralisation of financial and administrative powers as its main plank during the ensuing panchayat and local bodies elections in the state. Mr Ganesh Dut, party spokesperson, said here yesterday that the party machinery had been geared up over the past fortnight for the polls by holding workers’ programme. As many as 50 Assembly constituencies had been covered under the programme.

At the meetings, jointly presided over by a minister representing the government and a party office-bearer, workers were allowed to freely express their views regarding the functioning of the coalition and the party organisation. On the basis of the feedback received from the grass-roots workers, the party had decided to focus on the government’s achievements on the development front. The party had decided to field persons who enjoyed a good public image as candidates. Unlike the previous election, there was no dearth of women candidates, for whom one-third of the seats had been reserved, he said.

Bawan Dwadashi fair concludes
From Our Correspondent

NAHAN, Sept 11 — The Bawan Dwadashi fair, an annual event of Sarahan in Sirmaur district, concluded today with deities from different parts of the Pachhad area taken back to their respective places of worship. Speaking at the concluding function vice-chairperson of the state planning board Shyama Sharma said the state government was giving priority to the construction of roads in rural areas and added that Rs 3.5 crore had been spent on Maryog-Dharyar road in the Pachhad area. Besides, work was on Narag-Sarsoo and Sarahan-Chandigarh roads.

Census starts in Himachal
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 11 — Census has started in the snow-bound areas of Himachal Pradesh, including districts of Shimla and Lahaul and Spiti and parts of districts Kulu, Chamba, Mandi and Kangra. The Chief Minister appealed to the people to provide complete and correct information to census enumerators from September 11 to September 30, 2000.