H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Organisational poll results marginalise Virbhadra Singh
SHIMLA, Oct 10 — The anti-Virbhadra Singh group in the Congress party has outmanoeuvred him in assuming control of the organisation. The list of 65 delegates of the PCC, declared by a member of the pradesh election authority Mr K.D. Sultanpuri, here on Sunday, has shocked supporters of the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, as it is loaded with men of the other group. The election of the PCC president will be held next month.

Rehabilitation centre for disabled
DHARAMSALA, Oct 10 — Despite 5 per cent of the population in the country facing various kinds of disabilities, the facilities and opportunities being provided to them still remain confined to the urban areas.

Mishap toll two
KANGRA, Oct 10 — The death toll in yesterday’s Haryana Roadways bus accident near here has gone up to two with one more passenger succumbing to her injuries on way to the PGI Chandigarh at Dheera late last night, the police said here today.

• Desh Deepak HIPA chief

• Man shot at

Organisational poll results marginalise
 Virbhadra Singh
From S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 10 — The anti-Virbhadra Singh group in the Congress party has outmanoeuvred him in assuming control of the organisation. The list of 65 delegates of the PCC, declared by a member of the pradesh election authority (PEA), Mr K.D. Sultanpuri, here on Sunday, has shocked supporters of the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, as it is loaded with men of the other group. The election of the PCC president will be held next month.

The chairman of the central election authority (CEA), Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha, when contacted on the telephone at Delhi, told TNS yesterday that the complaints of rigging of the organisational elections were being looked into.

The electoral process of the party has suffered a severe jolt with one of the senior member of the PEA, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, announcing that the list of delegates was released by Mr Sultanpuri without taking him into confidence. The aggrieved parties were not given an opportunity to plead their cases before finalising the list of successful delegates.

This has put a question mark on the fairness of these elections which were held amid complaints of rigging.

Interestingly, the chairman of the three-member PEA, Mr V. Hanumantha Rao and Mr Sultanpuri had just three days ago come out with a statement claiming that Mr Sharma was not sidelined by them and was being taken into confidence on each election related issue. The statement was also signed by Mr Sharma.

Mr Sharma told this correspondent today that he would not be a party to the injustice that has been caused to the aggrieved persons by not providing them an opprtunity to be heard. He has conveyed his sentiments to Mr Mirdha on the telephone, he said.

He made it clear that he did not endorse the list which had been released by Mr Sultanpuri without consulting him. It is for the party high command now to take remedial steps, he added.

It is worth mentioning that while Mr Virbharda Singh and his supporters are crying that the elections were rigged, the other group claims that these were free and fair and the former were pointing out irregularities after having lost the initial battle.

The group which had backed Mr Sukh Ram for chief ministership in 1993 has now resurfaced to demolish Mr Virbhadra Singh with the slogan of now or never. What has strengthened them this time is that Mr Virbhadra Singh’s trusted lieutenants, Mr J.B.L. Khachi and Mr Sultanpuri have now joined the rival camp. Mr Sultanpuri was apparently annoyed with Mr Virbhadra Singh because his ticket for the Shimla Lok Sabha seat was cancelled during the campaign last year. The efforts of the AICC leader, Mr Jitinder Prasada, to patch up between Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mr Khachi did not yield positive results.

The rival camp claims proximity to the AICC chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, as three of its leaders, Mrs Chandresh Kumari, Mr Anand Sharma and Mrs Vidya Stokes were holding important positions. While Mrs Chandresh Kumari is president of the Mahila Congress, Mr Anand Sharma is a spokesman for the AICC. Mrs Stokes is chairperson of the pradesh election authority of Delhi.

The rival camp was hopeful that the Congress was on a comeback position in the state and it was an opportune time to break the “myth” that Mr Virbhadra Singh was a mass leader who only could bring the party back to power.

The Virbhadra Singh camp was complaining that PCC delegates at about 24 places were declared elected without holding proper elections. They have demanded a repoll in these places.

They claim that the PEA did not sit here anytime to listen to the aggrieved candidates who had no alternative but to fax their complaints to them in the AICC. These have now been rejected by Mr Sultanpuri on the pretext that these were sent on fax. How could candidates with little resources incur a huge expenditure and travel all the way to Delhi to personally file their complaints before the PEA. Moreover, at least two dozen complaints were submitted in the PCC office here which was supposed to be the headquarter of the PEA for all practical purposes.

Meanwhile, a former Chief Minister, Thakur Ram Lal, has said that it was unfair to drag the PEA in the controversy. The organisational elections were free and fair.

Mr Khachi said the PEA deserved to be congratulated for conducting the elections in a fair manner.

The PEA has announced that the elections for the district Congress committees will be held between October 11 and 15. The elections for the districts of Sirmaur, Solan and Mandi will be held on October 11, while in Shimla, Kangra, Bilaspur and Kulu these will be held on October 13. In Hamirpur, Una, Chamba and Lahaul-Spiti the elections will be held on October 15.

Rehabilitation centre for disabled
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Oct 10 — Despite 5 per cent of the population in the country facing various kinds of disabilities, the facilities and opportunities being provided to them still remain confined to the urban areas.

It is with an idea of reaching these handicapped persons in the rural India, that a District Rehabilitation Centre is being set up here. Kangra, is one of the 107 districts in the country, which has been adopted under this scheme by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Talking to mediapersons here today, the Director of the National Institute for Visually Handicapped, Dehra Dun, Dr S.R. Shukla, said that so far the facilities for the disabled persons were confined to the big cities and towns, whereas a large number of the affected persons were residing in the villages. He said two centres at Shimla and Dharamsala, would be opened to cater to the rehabilitation needs and providing assistance devices to these disabled persons.

Dr Shukla said that with the help of the district administration these persons would be issued disability certificate and code numbers apart from provision of assistance devices and their repair and maintenance. Stress would also be laid on creating awareness for early detection and prevention of the disability.

The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rahul Anand, said there were over 6,000 handicapped persons in Kangra District. He further said that as a beginning towards providing barrier-free environment to the disabled persons, the DC’s and the SP’s offices and the Zonal Hospital here would be provided with facilities which were helpful for the free movement. “It is in consultation with the CPWD and the Urban Development Ministry, that we will think of having facilities like ramps, talking devices and path finders to assist the handicapped persons, at least in the important government offices,” he stated.

The Rehabilitation Centre, which is likely to start functioning at the Bachat Bhawan here this month will later be shifted to the Tanda Medical College. With a budget allocation of Rs 14 lakh for this year, the building will be provided by the state government while the equipment and professionals will be sent in by the Centre.

Dr Shukla, said an important component of the programme would be a guidance and councelling centre which would provide vocational training to the handicapped persons to encourage self-employment among them. The Red Cross, various NGOs and the District Literacy Committee would be involved in the programme. The programme would be launched after holding an intensive identification survey, to include those who could have been left out.

Mr Anand said that another scheme, the AIDPS scheme, with a grant of Rs 58.70 lakh would be implemented by the District Rural Development Authority. He said under this scheme, identification and providing of aids and appliances for the handicapped persons would be undertaken. He said that Rs 10 lakh had already been received from the Centre for the scheme.

Mishap toll two
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, Oct 10 — The death toll in yesterday’s Haryana Roadways bus accident near here has gone up to two with one more passenger succumbing to her injuries on way to the PGI Chandigarh at Dheera late last night, the police said here today.

The additional district police chief, Mr Ram Lal, today said Usha, 30, resident of Tiara village of this district was referred to the PGI along with other seven serious patients.

Desh Deepak HIPA chief
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 10 — An IAS officer, Dr Desh Deepak, has been appointed Director of the Himachal Institute of Public Administration (HIPA). He replaced Mr S.S. Chandel who recently retired. Mr L.R. Mohil, Additional Director, Land Records, has been appointed Additional Deputy Commissioner in the office of the Commissioner (revenue).

Man shot at
From Our Correspondent

BILASPUR, Oct 10 — Karnail Singh, vice-president of Najari Panchayat was shot at when a police party challenged a group of persons allegedly carrying illicit liquor. Karnail Singh has been taken to the district hospital for treatment.