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May 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Congress
wants ‘drought emergency’ in HP Govt
‘saffronising’ education: ex-CM SC votes
crucial, says Kashyap Manali
admn gears up for PM’s visit President
puts off Shimla visit again |
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Tibet
signed pact under duress: Yeshi Rs
308-cr HPSEB plan to cut losses Advisory
panel on housing sought Villagers
allowed to pick herbs Fire-fighting
system needs revamp Pangi
subdivision gets new road Rajiv
Gandhi remembered Stokes
opposes setting up of cement plants Resume
work on roads: Cong
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Congress wants ‘drought emergency’ in HP Nurpur, May 21 Mr Sat Mahajan, former Pradesh Congress Chief (PCC) and senior Congress leader, addressing a press conference here today, said the deceased, a poor farmer, owing to failure of his crop could not feed his family which forced him to commit suicide. He said it was the first such incident eversince the inception of Himachal Pradesh. He called upon the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, to take immediate remedial measures. He demanded that an ‘emergency’ be declared in the state and government departments asked to gear up to meet the drought challenge. Mr Mahajan said the government should use its entire machinery for saving the drought-affected. Those below the poverty line should be given free foodgrain. Farmers should be given free seed and fertilisers for the next crop. The Congress leader said the farmers of the state had been facing hardship in fetching fodder from neighbouring states due to the cumbersome process for getting freight subsidy. He demanded cheap fodder at the doorstep of the farmers. He alleged that despite the gravity of the situation, the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues were busy laying foundation stones and inaugurating summer festivals. |
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Govt ‘saffronising’ education: ex-CM Kulu, May 21 Mr Virbhadra Singh said the Congress party had submitted a charge sheet against the BJP-HVC government in August, 2000 to the Governor. The charge sheet was discussed in the Vidhan Sabha but the government had not given any explanation, he said. The leader said the standard of education at Himachal Pradesh University was declining. He alleged the government teachers, employees and even the officers were attending the RSS shakhas. These shakhas were being conducted in the schools and on government occupied land in the state which was against the civil conduct rules. He said the Sarswati Vidya Mandir schools were patronised by the government and in some cases, land had been allocated to the schools. Communal feelings were being inculcated in students of these schools, he alleged. Mr Virbhadra Singh, lashed out at the Union Minister of Education, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi saying that he had been making efforts to saffronise education. Earlier, Mr Virbhadra Singh denied that he had used derogatory words for Ms Vidya Stokes as reports in some newspapers indicated. The matter was being stretched to create misunderstandings, he said. The reports were totally baseless, he added. |
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SC votes crucial, says
Kashyap Solan, May 21 Mr Kashyap said Scheduled Caste voters had a decisive say in the outcome of elections in 22 Assembly segments in the state. He said the morcha had decided to activate at least 10 members each at the booth level to keep the electorate informed about the measures taken by the present government for the uplift of the
Dalits. He said schemes like the Bhim Rao Ambedkar Yojana for granting stipends to Dalits and the Guru Ravi Dass and the Balmiki yojanas aimed at providing special incentives to weaker sections of society would sway the voters in favour of the BJP. Mr Kashyap said the morcha would immediately take up the issue of granting permanent rights to the Scheduled Caste farmers over the land leased out to them in the district with the Chief Minister and the Revenue Minister. The morcha president, while welcoming the government measures to grant aid to the drought-hit farmers, demanded that the Scheduled Castes be given special aid in this regard. |
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Manali admn gears up for PM’s visit Manali, May 21 Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel have already arrived here, and are looking after the security arrangements. Police personnel have been deployed on various strategic points en route Sase helipad on the Manali-Leh highway to Prini village. The departments concerned are busy in repairing roads and improving water and power supply. Manali town is being given a face lift. According to reliable sources, Mr Vajpayee, after taking proper rest, will undergo knee-replacement surgery on June 7 in Mumbai. Keeping in view the peak tourist season in Manali, the district administration has made all necessary arrangements so that the tourists do not face inconvenience due to the visit of the Prime Minister. |
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President
puts off Shimla
visit again Shimla, May 21 Highly placed official sources said the state government received a message from Delhi today that the President had put off his visit. This is the second time that his visit has been postponed. Earlier he was scheduled to come here on May 19. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was scheduled to reach Manali on a weeklong holiday on May 23, has also postponed his arrival by a day. The police and other agencies conducted the final security drill for the President this morning without knowing that the visit had been postponed. |
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Tibet signed pact under duress: Yeshi Dharamsala, May 21 The president of the NDPT, Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok, said that it was under duress of the Chinese Communist government that the Tibetan delegates signed the agreement. “Despite signing the document, the Chinese did not stick to their agreement and ultimately
besieged Potala Palace and occupied Tibet in 1959,” he said. Acharya Yeshi said the only motive of the Chinese was to get international support on this issue even as the political condition in Tibet was deteriorating day by day. He added that this year the Chinese had made it compulsory for everybody, including schools, laymen, cultural centres and government employees to celebrate the anniversary. Condemning the policies of the Chinese, he said the Tibetans were being denied cultural, political and religious rights in Tibet and hundreds of political prisoners were being executed without proper trial. Tibetans have been forced to become a minority community in their own homeland with large-scale transfer of Chinese people to Tibet, he said. He said religious repression along with destruction of monasteries and nunneries, forced sterilisation of women and exploitation of natural resources was being done by the Communist regime. |
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Rs 308-cr HPSEB plan to cut losses Shimla, May 21 The scheme envisaged the installation of 13,061 electronic meters at various places to provide more accurate assessment of transmission and distribution losses, the spokesman added. |
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Advisory
panel on housing sought Shimla, May 21 In a letter to Mr Dhumal, he said setting up such a committee had become essential in view of the Gujarat earthquake where big buildings collapsed due to failure to adhere to prescribed specifications by builders. He said since there was no research and development wing to work out appropriate building designs and identify suitable construction material, a committee, preferably comprising retired engineers who had experience in construction on hills, would be able to fill the gap. There was a need to promote construction designs which blended well with the hill environment. He said there was also an urgent need to introduce new designs and material to bring down the increasing cost of construction in hilly areas. At present the engineers who were engaged in developmental works, hardly had any time for research and extension activities. |
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Villagers
allowed to pick herbs Dharamsala, May 21 It is reliably learnt that this year the higher reaches of the Chamba area, bordering the militancy-infested state of J&K, will be thrown open to the villagers who venture into the thick forests at heights of over 10,000 feet to collect medicinal herbs. Despite the spillover of militancy into Chamba areas almost ten years back, these poor villagers would risk their lives for the precious herbs, till very recently. It was after the massacre of 35 innocent labourers at Kalaban and Satrundi in the Tissa sector on the night of August, 2, 1998, that the government banned the entry of the locals in the forests falling on the border of Chamba and Doda district of J&K. Ever since, there has been a lot of resentment among these people, who had been pushed to the brink of starvation. According to the DIG, Mr K.C. Sadyal, the villagers will be allowed to go to the forest area only in groups and accompanied by police parties. They will have to return to the villages along with the patrol parties of the police after collecting their picks. The valuable medicinal herbs like Chamba dhoop, kuth, kaud, patis, salam panga, van mishri, brahmi and kina, fetch a very good price in the markets of Amritsar, where they are sent through the Chamba shopkeepers. Though the risk from militants cannot be ruled out, the government has been forced to permit the villagers to go to the higher reaches as this was their principal source of income. Residents of the Bhaswa, Kehar, Duer, Bhandal and Langera villages were the worst affected. Five years back, 23 villagers from Kehar were taken hostage by the J&K militants and released only after payment of ransom. Often, these villagers cross over into J&K territory while collecting herbs, which are found in abundance in the forests, in the higher reaches. On May 25, the Inter-State Coordination meeting of senior civil and police officials from Punjab, J&K and Himachal will be held in Dalhousie. The issue of keeping a strict surveillance on the Gujjars, who move up along with their buffaloes to their kothas in the higher reaches during the summer months, will be discussed. During the past three years, restrictions have been imposed by the government on the free movement of the Gujjars to their kothas on the border areas, as some cases of Gujjars having links with the militants had come to light. The police had suspected the involvement of some Gujjars from Padri Galli, in the killing of four Gaddis at Sappa Cholu in August, 1998. During the harsh winter months, the militants have been taking shelter in the Gujjar kothas, whenever pressure is mounted on them in J&K. There is also concern among the police and other security forces over the frequent trips being made by various Islamic religious outfits to Chamba districts especially the border areas along J&K. Members of the Tablique Jamat have been asking the locals to adhere to the Muslim dress code strictly, especially in Juan village, near Kehar. The police suspects that all this could lead to communal tension, as a number of madarsas have also mushroomed in the area. |
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Fire-fighting system
needs revamp Chamba The department concerned needs to provide more hydrants at suitable points. More water storage tanks are also required. A number of hydrants, which are under the control of the fire brigade, were found to be non-functional in emergencies during the past few years. Reports indicate that a few persons have managed to get illegal connections from these hydrants, which were installed exclusively for the purpose of tackling fires. The necessity of a fire-fighting system in the town, which now has a population of nearly 25,000, was first felt after a devastating fire in 1937 in which there was a huge loss of property. The King of the erstwhile Chamba State provided a fire-fighting system in 1940 at a cost of about Rs 2 lakh. According to official sources, 101 fire hydrants were installed in the main town. The system comprised GI pipes of 65 mm diameter and a total length of more than 8 km.
However, with the passage of time, settlements have come up in areas like Hardaspura, Mugla, Karian, Sultanpura and Parel apart from new government and other buildings elsewhere. The fire brigade also faces a shortage of staff. There are only 20 firemen, who work in four shifts. It is learnt that the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department has provided a storage tank of 40,000 gallons for fire-fighting and three tanks of water with a capacity of one lakh gallons can be connected to the system when needed. The IPH Department has completed work on the repair and replacement of water pipes in the town. The fire-fighting aspect has been kept in mind while carrying out the work. Residents say a drill to operate the hydrants should be undertaken by well-trained fire brigade personnel on a regular basis. |
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Pangi subdivision gets new road Chamba, May 21 Stating this over the phone from Killar Subdivisional Headquarters, Mr Sandeep Kumar, SDM, Pangi tribal subdivision, said the construction of the Killar-Sansari Nala road and a bridge across Sansari Nala was important milestones in the history of the Pangi valley, which remained snow-capped during the winter. This road has linked three panchayats of Pangi subdivision, Sural, Luj, and Dharwas, besides providing a major link between Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. With the construction and commissioning of this road, a distance of about 100 km has been reduced via Kistwar, Batot and Jammu to reach the district headquarter town of Chamba, otherwise people had to come via Rohtang Pass of the Lahaul valley to the district. |
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Rajiv Gandhi remembered Shimla Congress activists vied with one another to garland Rajiv’s statue at Chhota Shimla here on Monday. No deck was erected in front of the statue. Some youth activists jumped on the pedestal to garland the life size statue that was erected near the Secretariat during the Congress regime. Mr Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary was observed on the premises of the PCC headquarters on the Mall. Prominent among those who were present included, Mrs Vidya Stokes, PCC Chief, Thakur Ram Lal, former Chief Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan, MLA, and Mr Sukhwinder Singh, President, Youth Congress. Thakur Ram Lal administered the pledge and two
minutes silence was observed as a mark of respect. A blood donation camp was also organised by the Youth Congress. |
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Stokes
opposes setting up of cement plants Mandi, May 21 Mrs Stokes who was speaking at the two-day state-level training workshop at Baggi in the district organised by the Seva Dal lauded its role and added that all Congress workers should attend such camps. She said the recent victory of the Congress in some states where mid-term elections were held had proved that the people were fed up with the BJP’s rule and its alliance partners. She congratulated Mrs Sonia Gandhi for the victory of the party. Mrs Stokes called upon the Congress workers to launch struggle against the present government. |
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Resume
work on roads: Cong Mandi, May 21 He said Darang was one of the most backward constituencies of the state in which only a 10-km road had been constructed during the three-year BJP-HVC rule. He handed over a copy of a letter addressed to the Chief Minister urging him to resume work on the held-up roads and allocate funds from NABARD for the construction of roads. |
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