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| Tuesday,
March 27, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Tehelka expose rocks HP House
Probe deals referred in Tehelka tapes: Nayar
Cong men block highway, 73 held
Maheshwar paves way for talks |
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HP doctors take mass
leave Sick lions wait for
vet Polytechnic sans computer
course HC issues
notices on MV Act violation
Congress legislators issued whip Anganwari staff
hold protest rally
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Tehelka expose rocks HP House Shimla, March 26 The Speaker, Thakur Gulab Singh, adjourned the House twice for 30 minutes each as the Congress members and the Treasury Benches raised slogans against Mr Vajpayee and Mrs Sonia Gandhi. He finally adjourned the House till tomorrow as the Congress members refused to return to their seats and begin discussion on the demands for grants. The Congress members led by the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, trooped into the well of the House as soon as the session started. They started raising slogans against Mr Vajpayee and the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani. Mr Virbhadra Singh pointed towards the Tehelka videos and demanded resignation of the Vajpayee government on moral grounds. Thakur Ram Lal, a former Chief Minister, replying to slogans of some BJP members, said that Mrs Sonia Gandhi was not hungry for chair. Mr Vajpayee should resign on moral ground, he demanded. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, said the Congress had no right to speak on corruption as it was during various Congress regimes that corruption had made inroads in politics. Many Congress men were facing trial in corruption cases. There was a pandemonium as members of the Treasury Benches retaliated by raising slogans against Mrs Sonia Gandhi whom they accused of being a “traitor and foreign agent”. The ministers also joined in raising slogans against her and the Congress. The Minister of State for PWD, Mr Ram Lal Markanda, the HVC chief, Mr Sukh Ram and an unattached member, Mr Mohinder Singh, who are supporting the BJP government, did not participate in slogan-shouting and remained sitting on their chairs as the BJP ministers and legislators chanted slogans against the Congress. When the House reassembled after the second adjournment, the Chief Minister and chairmen of various committees transacted some business of laying papers and reports on the table of the House amid din. However, Congress members did not accept the repeated requests of the Speaker and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr J.P. Nadda, to resume their seats and take part in the discussion on cut motions on the demands for grants and continued raising slogans. Thereafter, the House was adjourned till tomorrow. |
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Probe deals referred in Tehelka tapes: Nayar Shimla, March 26 Delivering a lecture on “Contemporary crisis in polity”, organised by the Students Central Association of Himachal Pradesh University here he said the “expose” was a big scoop and its value should not be undermined by terming it a conspiracy by political rivals. He said the “expose” had raised several pertinent issues ranging from probity in public life to electoral reforms. He lamented the declining moral values in politics and made a strong plea for making the “code of ethics” mandatory for elected representatives. The present day politicians were disinclined to observe the code voluntarily. He said perhaps he was one of the few Rajya Sabha MPs who declared their assets every year as laid down in the code. The politicians did not want to be accountable to any law enforcing institution like the Lok Ayukta or the Chief Vigilance Commissioner. After all acts of omission and commission they managed to win elections to claim that their position had been vindicated by people’s court. Besides making the code of ethics mandatory, electoral reforms were also necessary to reduce the influence of money power. He called upon the students to build a strong movement against corruption and wrong policies like economic liberalisation to pressurise the government. “The country will have to launch another struggle to gain economic freedom. The economic imperlialism being propagated under the WTO will spell doom for country’s economy, he said. Underlining the need for ensuring greater participation of people in politics, he said the key to it was decentralisation. The concentration of power at the Centre would only lead to wrong acts like the imposition of emergency. No system of governance, which failed to ensure justice and speedy socio-economic uplift of the poor, could succeed in a democratic set up. Referring to Indo-Pak relations he said the third party mediation on Kashmir would only internationalise the issue. Moreover, Kashmir was not the only irritant between the two countries. There were a host of other issues like sharing of water resources. The government should hold a free and fair poll in Kashmir to know who were the real representatives of the people. Talks to resolve the issues could be held with them thereafter. He favoured autonomy not only to Kashmir but to other states too to ensure the effective decentralisation of powers. |
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Cong men block highway, 73 held Shimla, March 26 Earlier in the morning, a state-level rally was organised by the Congress at the Sabzi Mandi ground to highlight corruption at high places in the Vajpayee-led NDA government as well as the BJP government here. Congress activists assembled there and marched to the Vidhan Sabha in a procession through the Lower Bazaar and The Mall. The rally was, however, marred with counter-slogans between supporters of the PCC chief, Mrs Vidya Stokes and the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, although the two shared the stage for the first time after the former became the PCC chief. Order was restored only when the two leaders intervened. Several councillors of the Congress-controlled Shimla Municipal Corporation did not participate in the rally as they complained that the organisers had indulged in a “pick and choose policy” while inviting them for the rally. The police has registered a case against Congress leaders for violating Section 144 of the Cr PC by holding a procession through the banned area of The Mall while proceeding towards the Vidhan Sabha. A separate case has been registered for blocking the road near the Vidhan Sabha. Mr Kuldeep Rathore, PCC Secretary, alleged the police resorted to a lathi charge in which many demonstrators were injured. Among the arrested were Mr Sukhwinder Singh, President of the Youth Congress, and Mr Satya Prakash Thakur, a former minister. Prominent among those who addressed the rally were Mr Virbhadra Singh, Mrs Vidya Stokes, Thakur Ram Lal and Mr Jatinder Singh, Central party observer. The leaders demanded the resignation of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee in view of the tehelka.com expose and also Mr P.K. Dhumal against whose government serious allegations of corruption and nepotism have been made by his own ministerial colleagues and legislators. They alleged that the NDA government was trying to hush up the tehelka episode by ordering a judicial inquiry. They said cases should be registered without any delay against those who had been filmed by tehelka. The Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to the Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan, for being forwarded to the President of India. It demanded that the Vajpayee and Dhumal government should be dismissed. The memorandum said what was most shocking was the access enjoyed by arms dealers and middlemen to top secret documents containing key purchase decisions. It demanded that the BJP-led NDA government must resign forthwith in order to ensure a free, fair and independent investigation into the episode. |
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Maheshwar paves way for talks Shimla, March 26 Mr Maheshwar Singh held a series of meetings with the rebels and Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, throughout the day to prepare grounds for direct talks between the two. Apparently satisfied with his efforts, the rebels responded by not attending the Vidhan Sabha. The party leadership heaved a sigh of relief as the rebels had yesterday threatened to “blast” the Dhumal government in the House if no effort was made to redress their grievances before the start of the session. Mr Maheshwar Singh said the differences between the two camps had narrowed down considerably. The final talks are slated to be held with the mediation of the Sangh Parivar. Mr Prem Kumar, a senior leader of the RSS will be present during the talks. It was largely due to the intervention of the Sangh Parivar that the dissidents agreed to hold talks with the Chief Minister. This is in itself an indication that they have given up the demand for a change in the leadership. Mr Dhumal held a meeting with RSS this evening. Talks with the rebels are expected to follow. The RSS leaders earlier assured the rebels that they would ensure that the agreement arrived at with mediation was implemented in toto. The main issues to be settled include restoration of “factional balance” in the state executive, pradesh election committee and the disciplinary committee and end to interference in the constituencies of rebels by leaders of the rival camp. The party leadership inducted seven persons in the state executive on the basis of an agreement arrived at with the rebels in December, However, the rebels wanted the inclusion of a few more leaders, including Dr R.R. Shastri, Mr Mohinder Sofat, Mr Jagat Singh Negi and Mr Narinder Thakur. They also expressed reservations on the activities of certain leaders, who they alleged, were undermining their position in their constituencies. They demanded a probe into cases of corruption highlighted by them in their letter released to the media. Mr Dhumal has already expressed willingness to order an inquiry into the charges levelled by them. |
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HP doctors take mass
leave Shimla, March 26 The doctors turned out in strength and raised slogans against the decision of the government and also demanded settlement of their other demands. The striking doctors also held rallies at the district and block levels in support of their demands. DHARAMSALA: Health services in the district today remained paralysed as doctors observed a mass casual leave in protest against the decision of the government to withdraw non-practising allowance (NPA). The press secretary of the Kangra Medical Officers Association, Dr Ajay Dutta, said the decision of the government to withdraw NPA was a hasty one as ultimately it was common man who would suffer. He added that another proposal that the government was considering to ask doctors for their options regarding whether they wanted NPA or wished to practice privately would only lead to malpractices. The doctors threatened that in case the government does not change its decision on NPA, they would begin “work to rule” from April 1. During this period, all services, including the emergency, MLC and national programmes would remain paralysed. HAMIRPUR: All the 68 medical officers working in various parts of the district today observed a day-long strike in support of their demands, including seeking implementation of already reached agreement and withdrawal of an order regarding NPA. Normal health services throughout the district remained paralysed due to the strike. Meanwhile, the veterinary doctors also observed a day-long strike in support of medicos. However, the ayurvedic doctors didn’t take part in the strike. NAHAN: The medical and veterinary services in the district remained paralysed due to mass casual leave by doctors in protest against the withdrawal of NPA. In the Zonal Hospital here, only emergency services were provided. Ayurvedic Hospitals in the district also remained without patients as no doctor was present there. In a press note issued here today the veterinary officers also appealed the government to remove the condition of department examination for new scales as this condition has not been imposed on medical officers. KULU: Hundreds of patients at the Zonal Hospital here faced a hard time as the doctors abstained from work. According to sources, even emergency services were not being provided except a few on humanitarian grounds. |
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Sick lions wait for
vet Dharamsala, March 26 It was from the lion safari at Renuka that some animals were shifted to the Gopalpur nature park. Since then there has been a problem of inbreeding. A two-month-old cub at the zoo has started showing signs of paralysis. The cub is very weak and finds it difficult to walk around, reveal the attendants at the zoo. The zoo, at present, has two pairs of lions kept in two enclosures. One of the lions, has developed a big boil on its back and is under treatment. The zoo does not have a veterinary doctor of its own and the help of specialists from the College of Veterinary Sciences at Palampur, is sought whenever required. Putting their life to risk, it is the zoo staff, who are treating the lion for the boil. “We are expected to act as the compounder, pathologist as well as the doctor, since we do not even have a pharmacist here,” reveal the people at the zoo. Spread over an area of 12.5 hectares, the zoo has six bears, nine leopards, a pair of ghural, 16 sambhars, 6 barking deer, hog deer, an aviary and ducks. It is almost three years that the team from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), after visiting the nature park, had laid down certain conditions for granting recognition to the zoo. The case for renewal of recognition has been pending with the CZA for the past six months, with a number of conditions still to be fulfilled. The inter-linked boundary is broken at a number of places. The condition laid down by the CZA regarding the construction of a 2m-high concrete wall around the nature park, has not been started. “Since the cost of constructing the wall will be over Rs 80 lakh, we have been unable to take up the task, as there is a scarcity of funds,” said one of the officials. In the absence of a wall around the zoo, the artificial lake made for the lions cannot be used and the animals have been put in smaller enclosures. A lot of damage had been caused by the floods in August, last year, resulting in the breaking of the periphery wire. With a large number of leopards in the adjoining forests, the wild life in the nature park is facing threat. With the zoo attendants giving first-aid to the animals, they do not even have a blow pipe or tranquiliser guns. The van, in the zoo used for transporting the animals to a veterinary hospital, in case of an emergency, has been out of order for the past over a year. At times, during the peak summer season there is difficulty in storing beef brought for the animals from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. In the absence of a deep freezer, the beef gets spoilt when kept overnight, as the train used for transporting it arrives here in the evening. |
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Polytechnic sans computer
course Sundernagar, March 26 At present there are seven polytechnic colleges in the state, but of these only six are functioning. All these institutions were started much later than Sundernagar Polytechnic where even the Technical Directorate is situated which controls all seven polytechnics and about 50 Industrial Training Institutions which are situated throughout the state. The government has started computer diplomas at two polytechnics at Kangra, and Gagret in Una district and also started Diploma in Information Technology at Hamirpur last year on the intervention of the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal. Mr Ravinder Ravi, Minister for Technical Education, also accorded approval for starting a three years diploma course in polytechnic at Talwar in Kangra district which is situated in the Thural Assembly segment. According to a source from the Technical Directorate, Sundernagar, the computer infrastructure which is already existing here is sufficient to start a three-year company diploma course with a batch of 30 students. |
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HC issues
notices on MV Act violation Shimla, March 26 Mr Sanjay Karol, Advocate-General, waived the notices on behalf of the respondents. The petitioner contended in his petition that the
respondents had started new series HP-03A without exhausting 3 and touching number 9999. And he further contended that the respondents had also started a new series beginning with the alphabet HP-62 at Dodra Kwar and the numbers being
allotted were in breach of mandatory provisions of Section 41 of the Act since the numbers were being allotted to the persons, who were not the residents of Dodra Kwar. Mr Rajeev Sharma contended on behalf of the petitioner that according to the notification dated August 13, 1989, the number HP-01 was allotted for the All-India tourist taxis, HP-02 for state tourists buses and taxis and HP-03, HP-04, HP-05 for the auto-rickshaws and HP-07, 1 to 200 for secretariat vehicles and from 201 to 7000 for all other vehicles. The petitioner alleged in his petition that to seek small and old numbers had become a status symbol and the persons holding high offices could be seen carrying the old numbers in utter violation of the mandatory laws. and society cannot be permitted to be divided on the basis of allotment of the so-called VVIP numbers. |
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Congress legislators issued whip Shimla, March 26 The whip directed the members to be present in the House throughout the session during these days and vote as per direction that may be given on the spot. The ruling BJP and its alliance partner of the HVC have already issued separate whips to its members for voting in favour of the budgetary proposals. |
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Anganwari
staff hold protest rally Nurpur, March 26 The agitating employees also submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the SDM demanding immediate revocation of anti-employees decision. They demanded administrative and supervisory control of child development project office on the employees. The protestors also took out a procession under the banner of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh. |
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