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| Monday, February
26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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HP back to
‘cosmetic’ measures Stalls
congest Kasauli roads Orienting teachers on grading system Cooperatives
deposits go up Scribes
seek SP’s transfer |
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Security
for scribes sought Village
sinking due to mining Probe
sought into ZP members’ kidnapping Engineers
oppose govt decision CPI
blames govt for cut in Plan size
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HP back to ‘cosmetic’ measures Shimla, February 25 Though a welcome step, the decision to withdraw official vehicles of officers right from Financial Commissioner downwards appears to be more an exercise in disciplining the bureaucracy rather than effecting any real savings. In all, about 225 vehicles will be spared from the fleet of 2,000. The resultant annual saving of Rs 1 crore, however, will not mean much for the state grappling with a whopping revenue deficit of Rs 2,000 crore. Nevertheless, it will help create a sense of austerity in the administration and demonstrate the government’s resolve to curb wasteful expenditure. Such facile measures have of late become customary even though they do not add up to much in financial terms. A senior officer of the Finance Department admitted that there will be no tangible impact on the acute financial crisis plaguing the government. However, in the long run, the policy will bring about a substantial reduction in the cadre of drivers, and thus help in downsizing the administration. Ironically, when it comes to enforcing economy measures, the government does not think beyond curtailing expenses on items like motor vehicles and telephones, which together account for only about Rs 20 crore in the Budget of Rs 5,000 crore. The expenditure on residential telephones is around Rs 1.25 crore and the ministers account for more than 50 per cent of it. In all, motor vehicles and office expenses come to a meagre 0.28 per cent and 0.91 per cent, respectively, of the Budget and as such there is not much scope for economy on these items. There are doubts whether the step will actually result in a saving of Rs 1 crore. Officers are at present allowed 75 litres of petrol per month and charged Rs 650 per month for private journeys. As such the net expenses on petrol come to about Rs 1,600 per month, whereas they will now get a monthly allowance ranging from Rs 1,750 to Rs 4,750 per month depending on the pay scale which is much more. Besides, an anomalous situation will be created with an Executive Engineer enjoying the luxury of an official vehicle and Chief Engineers deprived of the same. Similarly, a Divisional Forest Officer will have an official vehicle but not the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. Moreover, the personal staff of ministers will continue to have official vehicles at their disposal. As such the decision is not only likely to cause much heart during among senior officer but also create functional problems. Most of the officers do not have private vehicles and many of them cannot even drive. Besides, there will no effective supervision over field officers, particularly in the Public Works, Irrigation and Public Health, Forest and Excise Departments. The officers point out that there are other areas where economy can be effected without sacrificing efficiency. For instance, most departments can do away with superfluous purchases, costly furnishing on which huge amounts are spent every year, misuse of stationery, electricity and other such items, besides putting an end to opening of new institutions and offices on political considerations. The successive king-size ministries and the army of chairpersons of boards and corporations has also been a big drain on the state exchequer. The expenses of ministers alone have over the past one decade increased by almost six times from Rs 91.20 lakh to over Rs 5.60 crore. The decision to increase water charges is a step in the right direction as it will ensure economy in the use of this essential commodity which is increasingly becoming scarce. However, it is likely to draw flak from the people and the political parties which will get an issue to whip the government. No doubt, water is being supplied at rates much lower than it actually costs the government but its high cost is largely on account of the heavy administrative set-up and general inefficiency of the departments concerned. The situation needs immediate rectification to reduce the cost. The transfer of a part of the revenue raised through water charges to panchayats and their involvement in the maintenance of handpumps will go a long way in improving water supply in rural areas. |
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Stalls congest Kasauli roads Kasauli Those particularly affected are users of the Mall road, which houses a number of public utility offices such as banks, the Central State Library, schools and ITI. Library users face problems as they have to cross the busy traffic-ridden road to reach the reference section. Similarly, children studying in various schools along the Mall as well as those visiting banks complain of lack of road discipline. The problem has been a long-standing concern among parents. The debris of a sprawling construction blocking the road has added to the problem. Those from the upper bazar who have to go to the zonal hospital, which receives more than 1,000 patients a day, have to use the narrow lane which is further congested by shopkeepers displaying their wares. A campaign initiated by the district administration a few months back to check this practice had got only a lukewarm result. The shopkeepers when questioned about this encroachment of the road said this was aimed at attracting customers and everybody used this tactic, though they agreed it led to inconvenience. Frequent traffic jams have become an unavoidable feature of the town, particularly the old bus stand, Rajgarh road and D.C.’s Office
Chowk. Vehicles including more than 100 odd three-wheelers, mini buses, trucks, private cars and scooters can be seen parked haphazardly all over the town obstructing the smooth flow of traffic. Not wearing helmets and driving without essential documents is a common sight here as is evident from the number of challans filed against offenders. The district administration, along with the municipal committee, has proposed steps to ease congestion and facilitate movement of traffic. Certain spots have been earmarked as parking places, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr
K. Sanjay Murthy, stated. These include extension of the old bus stand to accommodate more vehicles. The congestion at Saproon on the national highway, where a large number of labourers gather especially in the mornings, is proposed to be brought down by developing a new parking site at a cost of Rs 30 lakh. The plan for the site has been prepared, informed Mr Puroshotam Singh, Executive Officer of the Municipal Committee. Paucity of funds stalled the ambitious plan which, he added, should be made available. It has also been decided to disallow fresh licences for autorickshaws as the parking space in the town cannot be increased. The existing PWD workshop will be relocated and a site for parking trucks has been identified. There is another proposal to expand the existing parking space below the rest house and earmark another site at Kotla Nala area. All these measures are aimed at decongesting traffic and will be operational in the near future, he added. |
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Orienting teachers on grading system Chandigarh, February 25 According to a statement issued here today, the workshop was conducted by CBSE’s Controller of Examination, Mr Pavnesh Kumar and was attended by principals and teachers from schools located in the Solan district. The system of grading the performance of students of classes IX and X will be introduced by the CBSE from the 2001 academic session. Mr Kumar said the debates on the grading system being over, it was time to accept the concept without any reservation and work for its implementation. In his presentation on the subject, Mr Kumar said while it was important to teach, it was more important to know what to teach and most important to know how to evaluate what had been taught. Flaying the traditional system of education, he argued that the formal system of education had reduced students to “mere machines of memory” and education had become synonymous with cramming large amount of information. Referring to the Kothari Commission report, he remarked that examinations today dictated the curriculum instead of following it, prevented experimentation and hampered proper treatment of subjects as well as sound method of teaching. He added that the present system of examination fostered dull uniformity rather than originality and forced the average pupil to concentrate too rigidly upon too narrow a field and thus inculcated wrong values. Pupils, he stated, assessed education in terms of success in examination rather than in terms of knowledge gained. According to Mr Kumar, analysis of school results revealed that about 55 per cent candidates appearing in high school examination failed every year. In case of private candidates, the failure rate was 70 per cent. Defending the introduction of the grading system, he asserted that grades were more reliable than marks as marks were not correct indicators of a student’s performance because of various defects in the scoring procedures. He said that the grading system helped in eliminating misclassification of students into different categories. |
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Cooperatives deposits go up Shimla, February 25 The cooperative movement has gained momentum over the past few years with a network of 4,334 societies covering all villages and bringing the entire population under its fold. With a membership of 11.87 lakh, share capital of Rs 114.62 and Rs 3389.89 crore as working capital, cooperative institutions are making a termendous contribution in the socio-economic uplift of the people of the state. The share capital of societies has increased from 103.66 crore to 114.62 crore during the year and loans worth Rs 174.02 crore were advanced to members against Rs 136.34 crore in the previous year. There are two central cooperative banks and one apex cooperative bank functioning in the state. These banks have advanced Rs 17,401.64 lakh as short-term and medium-term loans during the year 1999-2000. In addition, there are five urban banks, 376 primary thrift and credit societies which are providing loans to its members. These societies advanced a sum of Rs 105.93 crore as medium and short-term to its members. The cooperative institutions are providing marketing and forwarding facilities to the producers. During the year 1999-2000, agriculture and horticulture produce worth Rs 50.27 crore was marketed through cooperative marketing societies ensuring remunerative returns to farmers for their produce. The cooperative societies are also distributing agriculture inputs like fertilisers, seeds, implements, insecticides and pesticides to the farmers. During the past year, agriculture inputs worth Rs 46 crore were disbursed to the farmers. Apart from this, consumer goods worth Rs 155.55 crore were also distributed through 2,674 fair-price shops. The integrated cooperative development project has been successfully implemented in five districts of the state. At present, projects are in progress in Kulu, Solan and Chamba districts. While a new project has been sanctioned for Una district with a project cost Rs 7.96 crore, a project for Mandi district has also been prepared and is under consideration. Apart from this, Special Training and Education Programme (STEP) project, started in 1999, was sanctioned by the Government of India involving an expenditure of Rs 207 lakh. |
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Scribes seek SP’s transfer Hamirpur, February 25 At a meeting held here, they decided to boycott the functions of the Department of Police till the SP tendered an apology. Mr Kapil Bassi and Mr Pankaj Bhaartiya, president and convener, respectively, of the Hamirpur District Patrkar Mahasangh and Hamirpur District Union of Journalists jointly chaired the meeting. The DGP at the time of starting of the Community Policing scheme at Hamirpur had ordered the SP, Hamirpur, to supply daily crime reports to the local scribes every evening in the shape of
handouts. However, ‘ignoring’ the orders of the DGP no crime information was given to them, either in shape of handouts or verbally. A few scribes alleged that the SP allegedly misbehaved with them and challenged them to write whatever they wanted to against the police. They further alleged the SP talked in a threatening tone. The meeting demanded immediate shifting of Mr Sharma from here. They decided to approach the Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, and the DGP, Mr A.K. Puri, in this regard. A deputation of the scribes would meet both officers individually and submit a memorandum to him. |
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Security for scribes sought Nahan, February 25 In an emergency meeting held here yesterday under the chairmanship of its president Mr
S.P. Jerth, they urged the Chief Minister to provide security to Shailender Kalra and take action against the anti-social elements who were terrorising the scribes of Himachal Pradesh, for the past two years. The association has also urged the police to immediately issue orders to all the District Police chiefs to provide security and security personnel to the journalists on demand. Mr Kalra was attacked on Friday evening by the Sadanand Chauhan and his men on the Mall Road. The report had been lodged with the local police station under Sections 365, 511, 323, and 504/34 of the
IPC. Later, the journalists marched up to the SP’s office and apprised him of the incident. In a press note Mr
S.P. Jerth, President of the Journalist Association, said they have also decided to meet the Chief Minister and the Governor in this regard. |
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Village sinking due to mining Nahan, February 25 Cracks on the top hill of this village were found about 15 years ago which were widening and increasing every year. Now cracks have developed in houses, agricultural fields and around the village. More than 70 per cent of houses have developed cracks. The villagers told this correspondent that they had made many representations to the government but to no avail. Although senior administrative, environment and officials from the Geological Department had paid several visits to this village. Reports in this regard had been sent to the Himachal Pradesh Government. They alleged that till today no preventive measures had been adopted to save the village. According to villagers, this environmental threat had occurred due to heavy blasting taking place near the village where for the past more than 20 years mining operations were going on and heavy and uncontrolled blasting shook the area several times everyday. The cracks on the upper side of the village were continuously increasing and signs of mud and grass on the hill indicate that the level of village was sinking continuously. The water sources around the village were drying up and some had started flowing on the other side of the village which clearly showed that the sinking percentage of right part of the village was very high. Villagers said they were assured by the former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh that they would be shifted to a safer place and provided new houses and fertile land on a place of their choice. They had also been assured by the present Chief Minister but nothing had been done so far. According to official sources, the village was surveyed by a team of Survey of India and State Geological Wing which had declared the village unsafe. The Deputy Commissioner, Sirmour, had written to the SDM (Civil) Paonta in this context and asked him to suggest some suitable place for migration of the villagers with their consent. The field staff of the Revenue Department had been ordered to assess the damage to the properties and agriculture fields. |
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Probe sought into ZP members’ kidnapping Palampur, February 25 Addressing mediapersons here this morning, the these leaders said in the preliminary investigation, the involvement of three ministers Romesh Chaudhary, Ravindra Ravi, Krishan Kapoor and district BJP president Dulo Ram had been established by investigating agency. It was only then that the FIR was registered. They said even after the expiry of 15 days, no further investigation had been made by the investigation officer because of constant political pressure from the high officials. Despite assurances from the Chief Minister Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, for the speedy investigation, the officer handling this case had been deputed somewhere else with a deliberate intention to delay the investigation and extend favours to the accused. The Congress leader said it was a matter of serious concern that efforts were on for cancellation of the FIR and the accused had demanded transfers of the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police, Kangra. They said at this juncture, no officer dealing with this case should be shifted and government should complete the investigation as soon as possible so that the challan was put up in the appropriate court of law to begin with the trial of the case. They said the district BJP chief should not blame the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police who had nothing to do with this case and it had been registered only after the submission of statements on oath before the police by both the complainants who remained in illegal confinement of the accused for five days and were deprived of their right to vote in the zila parishad election. These leaders sought the suo-motu intervention of the high court of Himachal Pradesh so that justice was done with the complainants and they were not harassed at the hands of the police. They said law and order situation in the district had gone from bad to worse in the past one year because of increasing political interference in the day-to-day working of the police. In the past three years, three police chiefs were shifted from here one after the another. They alleged that police personnel were being posted and transferred on the recommendations of ministers and MLAs. He said senior officers had been feeling suffocated in the present circumstances as they had no free hand to deal with the situation. They quoted number of instances where culprits were released at the behest of BJP leaders and false cases were registered against their political opponents. He alleged besides this, there had been a sharp increase in the cases of murder, rape, thefts and other crimes in the district. The Congress leader said the party would launch a state-wide agitation in this case and matter would be taken to streets if government failed to order the CBI probe. They said only CBI probe could deliver justice in this case. |
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Engineers oppose govt decision Shimla, February 25 The decision, it says, will lead to further under-utilisation of the existing large fleet of the department machinery. The step will, thus, cause burden to the already strained state exchequer and lead to retrenchment of workshop staff. The association has expressed resentment over the decision to disintegrate the mechanical wing and place mechincal sections and subdivisions under the control of civil divisions. It has alleged discrimination in promotions. |
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CPI blames govt for
cut in Plan size Shimla, February 25 The committee, which met here yesterday, said the reduction in the Plan size was unfair. The state government was guilty of not raising adequate resources and wasting funds on inaugurations and tours of ministers. The ministry itself was of a jumbo size. In addition, a large number of political persons had been appointed as chairpersons of various boards and corporations, the CPI said. |
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