H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Centre to implement Sarkaria report
NURPUR, Oct 22 — The Union Government has decided to implement the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission. This would enhance states’ share in Central funds.

No dissension in BJP: Dhumal
HAMIRPUR, Oct 22 — Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal said here today that there was no dissension in the BJP. He said the Union Public Distribution Affairs Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, had praised the working of the Himachal Pradesh Government for delivering goods to people.

• CM urges youths to take up horticulture

235 schools being built in Chamba
CHAMBA, Oct 22 — The Himachal Government has undertaken the construction work of 235 primary school buildings in Chamba district under the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) of which work on 50 buildings has been completed while 114 buildings are nearing completion.

Snow leopards may be bred at Kufri
SHIMLA, Oct 22 — Keen to retain two-and-a-half-year-old Rozy, a snow leopard, the state Forest Department has drawn up a plan to set up a snow leopard breeding centre at the Himalayan Nature Park, Kufri, near here, where the animal has been kept in captivity ever since it was found as a three-month-old cub in Lahaul-Spiti in August, 1998.

Houses for teachers in remote areas
SHIMLA, Oct 22 — The Yashwant Gurukul Awas Yojna will provide educational facilities in the far-flung and hard areas of the state.

Ravi water level drops 
CHAMBA, Oct 22 — The drought in the Chamba region for the past three months has resulted in the reduction of water level in the Ravi and some rivulets, causing scarcity of drinking water in the town.

Student drowned in Ravi
CHAMBA, Oct 22 — A 19-year-old student drowned in the Ravi on the outskirts of Chamba last evening.

Red Cross fair inaugurated
MANDI, Oct 22 — The Himachal Pradesh Governor, Mr Vishnukant Shashtri, called upon people to spend a part of their time, money and energy for the welfare of the old, ailing and the handicapped.

Centre to implement Sarkaria report
From Our Correspondent

NURPUR, Oct 22 — The Union Government has decided to implement the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission. This would enhance states’ share in Central funds.

Mr Shanta Kumar, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, told media persons here last evening pointed out that following the implementation of these recommendations, Himachal Pradesh would get Rs 7,400 crore for development activities annually. At present this amount is Rs 3,400 crore. He said the BJP was in favour of providing economic autonomy to states, but not the weak Centre.

Mr Shanta Kumar said the Vajpayee government was paying more attention to the development of rural areas and allocating more funds for this purpose. Talking about the development of Kangra district the Union Minister said it had vast tourism potential and the Union and state governments had been harnessing the same. In order to attract tourists, Gagal Airport in the district was being expanded. The state government had deposited Rs 10 crore to the Indian Airport Authorities for its expansion. He revealed that Gagal Airport would be renamed as Kangra Airport. On its expansion a 50-seater helicopter would be launched for Delhi-Kangra flights. He said in view of boosting tourism in Punjab, Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir the Union government had decided to open the Indian Air-Force station, Pathankot, for commercial use.

The Himachal Pradesh government had provided land for it and the Union government had allocated Rs 25 crore for the construction of terminal and buildings.

The minister said in view of shortage of storage capacity of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) the government had decided to launch a new National Storage Policy in which private entrepreneurs would build godowns and rent out those to the FCI. The FCI was identifying locations for such godowns.

Mr Shanta Kumar pointed out that the FCI would set up paddy trading centres (mandis) at Nurpur and mand areas of Kangra district. He said the group centre of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Kopra near Nurpur was in final stage. The recruitment in this centre would start on March 1 next year, he added.

The union minister said his ministry would launch at ambitious “Sarvpriya Scheme” in which 11 more consumer items would be provided through fair price shops to people living below poverty line. When asked about enhancing the commission of the depot holders of Himachal Pradesh, Mr Shanta Kumar said that since it was a state issue, it was being taken up with the state government.

No dissension in BJP: Dhumal
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Oct 22 — Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal said here today that there was no dissension in the BJP. He said the Union Public Distribution Affairs Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, had praised the working of the Himachal Pradesh Government for delivering goods to people. He said all party members had attended the meeting of the state organisational unit of the party. He, however, said since most of the ministers were not members of the state committee of the party, it was not their right to attend the meeting.

Talking to mediapersons at Circuit House, Mr Dhumal said a strong opposition was the need of the hour. He said rift in the Congress over the holding of its organisational elections was an internal matter of the party and he had nothing to say about it.

Prof Dhumal said gram panchayat elections should not be held on a party basis. He said the panchayat elections would be held either in the last week of November or the first week of December. The state Election Commission would soon take a final decision on this.

He hit out at the Congress and its leaders for their statements that the state government had given nothing for the people of Rampur Bushair of Shimla district who had suffered due to the recent floods. He said he had himself visited the affected areas thrice and people there had expressed satisfaction over the relief works of the government.

He said not a single Congress leader had visited the flood-affected areas despite repeated statements in the Press that a fact-finding team of the party would visit the areas and submit a report to the government.

The Chief Minister announced that the Nabarad and the Department of Information Technology of the state had jointly approved a Ghandoot project for the districts of Hamirpur and Shimla for bringing people closer to the government. The said information kiosks on the line of STD booths would be set up in various parts of these districts.

HUDCO and the Rural Development Ministry of the Central Government had also sanctioned a Rs 18-lakh project for Hamirpur for giving training to the people in the construction of low cost and environment-friendly houses.

The Chief Minister said the government was planning to close down some primary schools in the state in consultation with the local people where the strength of students was too less.

If the people agreed to close down the schools in their villages and sent their wards to nearby schools, the government would give such students a monthly allowance of Rs 25-Rs 30.

Prof Dhumal said Hamirpur would be converted into a model town and all sorts of facilities would be provided to the people of the town. The government had already started work on a war-footing for providing drinking water to the people and a sum of the Rs 5.33 crore had already been spent for the augmentation of the water supply scheme.

CM urges youths to take up horticulture
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Oct 22 — Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister, today gave a call to the youths of the state to go for horticulture and agriculture in a big way to earn their livelihood. He was addressing a meeting at Neri village in the district.

Earlier, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of the Rs 21-lakh complex of the Regional Horticulture and Forestry Research Station at Neri.

235 schools being built in Chamba
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, Oct 22 — The Himachal Government has undertaken the construction work of 235 primary school buildings in Chamba district under the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) of which work on 50 buildings has been completed while 114 buildings are nearing completion.

This was stated by Mr Kishori Lal, Industries Minister, while inaugurating a primary school building at Talai village constructed at a cost of Rs 2 lakh under the DPEP in the district yesterday.

The minister said drinking water facility had already been provided in 105 schools and work to provide water in 66 schools was in progress.

He said the state government had launched the Sarswati Bal Vidya Sanklap Yojna with an outlay of Rs 126 crore under which 13612 rooms would be constructed in schools in the state. Under the scheme, 29 rooms had been constructed and work on 110 rooms was in progress in Chamba district, he added.

The minister said Rs 6 crore was being spent on the construction of bridges in the Bhattiyat area of Chamba district during the current fiscal year, adding that the Dhakog bridge which was under construction would be ready for commissioning by the end of this financial year.

Snow leopards may be bred at Kufri
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 22 — Keen to retain two-and-a-half-year-old Rozy, a snow leopard, the state Forest Department has drawn up a plan to set up a snow leopard breeding centre at the Himalayan Nature Park, Kufri, near here, where the animal has been kept in captivity ever since it was found as a three-month-old cub in Lahaul-Spiti in August, 1998.

In fact the scheme invisages development of the park into a centre of excellence for the preservation of the high-altitude western Himalayan fauna, particularly the endangered species like the snow leopard, brown bear and monal. The department has sent a Rs 3 crore proposal to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) raising the necessary infrastructure for the proposed centre. The department has over 90 hectares at Kufri, of which only about seven hectares has been utilised for building the animal enclosures.

The proposal to establish a breeding centre was mooted when the experts pointed out that sending the female snow leopard to the Padmja Naidu Zoological Park at Darjeeling would not be in the best interest of the animal. The park authorities at Darjeeling have been keen to have Rozy to solve the problem of inbreeding. Accordingly, the CZA had approved a proposal under which Rozy was to be sent to Darjeeling in exchange for a pair of snow leopards.

However, the state wildlife authorities had their reservations, though they were bound to follow the directions of the CZA. The natural habitat of Rozy was the cold desert whereas climate in Darjeeling was very wet and comparatively quite hot. That the climatic conditions were not suitable for high-altitude animals was evident from the high mortality rate in the park. Only recently, one of the two snow leopards transferred from Jammu and Kashmir to the park died.

The state Forest Department has now written to the CZA that instead of sending Rozy to Darjeeling, a male snow leopard be transferred from there to the Kufri Park for mating and start a breeding programme for preservation of the endangered species. At present there was no centre in the region for the conservation of the western Himalayan fauna.

Once the centre comes up rare animals like Red Panda and Siberian Tiger could also be brought for breeding and display.

Meanwhile, the park authorities have built a big enclosure for Rozy. She has taken to the new environment very well and once a suitable mate is found to end her isolation, the job will be done, says a senior officer. 

Houses for teachers in remote areas
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 22 — The Yashwant Gurukul Awas Yojna will provide educational facilities in the far-flung and hard areas of the state.

Due to the peculiar topography, sparse population and non-availability residential accommodation, the teachers posted in the schools in these areas hesitate to go there. The scheme aims to solve the housing problem of the teachers. The Rs 1.50 crore scheme envisages accommodation with common kitchen, room and toilets for the teachers posted in high and senior secondary schools situated in the remote areas of Kinnaur, Bharmour, Pangi and Lahaul.

To combat the extreme cold in the tribal areas, solar passive features have been incorporated in the design of these buildings. It will ensure optimum use of non-conventional solar energy and minimum loss of heat through, walls, roof ceilings, floors, windows and doors. 

Ravi water level drops 
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, Oct 22 — The drought in the Chamba region for the past three months has resulted in the reduction of water level in the Ravi and some rivulets, causing scarcity of drinking water in the town.

Meanwhile, experts working on hydro-power projects say the generation capacity has also diminished owing to the receding water level in the Ravi.

The drought conditions have also delayed the sowing of the rabi crops. 

Student drowned in Ravi
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, Oct 22 — A 19-year-old student drowned in the Ravi on the outskirts of Chamba last evening.

According to official sources, Yashpal of Tatroo village was sitting on a boulder on the bank of the river and studying when he fell into the waters.

Some local residents and policemen tried to save him but in vain.

Efforts were on to recover the body, the sources said.

Red Cross fair inaugurated
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, Oct 22 — The Himachal Pradesh Governor, Mr Vishnukant Shashtri, called upon people to spend a part of their time, money and energy for the welfare of the old, ailing and the handicapped. Inaugurating the District Red Cross Fair here today he said the concept of Red Cross was very close to our philosophy of working towards universal well-being. Mr Prabodh Sexena, President of the society, also spoke on the occasion.