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Saturday,
June 2, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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No starvation death in state: Dhumal MC to detach merged areas HP orders
probe into girl’s beating IIAS
introduces life fellowship Govt
harassing Muslims: Jamiyat House
panel meets Governor |
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Residents resent entry
tax Panchayat
pradhan elected unopposed DYFI
condemns posts’ abolition New-look
Kasauli Club inaugurated School
celebrates founder’s day HC
rejects bail plea of murder accused Clarification Holiday
in HP areas on June 8 Drought
affects tea crop 10 villagers suffer from gastro-enteritis
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No starvation death in state: Dhumal Shimla, June 1 In a statement issued here today, he said that the government had already released Rs 25.60 crore for drought relief works. More funds would be released as per requirement wherever needed and there would be no paucity of funds for relief works. Moreover adequate arrangements had been made to ensure availability of water, foodgrains and other essential items to the people of the state. This included fodder for cattle also. A high-level committee had already been constituted under the chairmanship of the chief secretary to monitor the overall situation in the state. The committee was reviewing the situation regularly. The Deputy Commissioner had been provided adequate funds for carrying out relief works in their districts. In addition the ministers had been made in charge of every district to ensure effective implementation of relief works. Mr Dhumal said the Guarantee Wage Employment Scheme had been implemented for those who were in urgent need of employment and could be benefited by earning money to purchase essential commodities. The Chief Minister said the social security set up in Himachal Pradesh was strong enough to deal with any situation. At present 1,69,693 people from vulnerable sections of society like old persons, widows and physically challenged were getting pension of Rs 150 per month from the Social Welfare
Department under which Rs 35 crore was being spent annually. More over the Budget of social security sector had been increased from Rs 448.09 crore in 1997-98 to Rs 710.03 crore during 2000-2001. As many as 39,569 persons had been sanctioned pension during past three years. Mr Dhumal said the “antodya ann yojna” was being implemented in the state under which 25 kg of foodgrains was being given to the poor families at subsidised rates of Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice. Presently 78,770 families were being covered under this scheme. Ration cards under this scheme had been issued to families. The Chief Minister said under the targeted public distribution scheme launched in the state foodgrains were being given on cheap rate of Rs 6.90 per kg and wheat at Rs 4.65 per kg to the families living below poverty line. He said the vulnerable section of the society were already adequately covered in the state. There was no dearth of manual labour in Himachal Pradesh and a large number of labourers from Nepal and other states are working for their livelihood as they find ample scope to earn money. The Government of India had also allotted 11,549 metric tonnes of foodgrains free of cost under the food for work programme launched this year. These foodgrains were being utilised for the scheme under which Rs 21 were being paid in the form foodgrains and Rs 30 in cash. Under the scheme the wheat was given at the rate of Rs 5 per kg and rice at the rate of Rs 7 per kg. |
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MC to detach merged areas Shimla, June 1 The Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, confirmed this here today saying that three separate TACs, Dhalli, New Shimla and Tutu were proposed to be created for these areas. The areas on the outskirts of the town had been merged with the municipal corporation in 1997 during the Congress regime. It is being pointed out that with the
Assembly elections coming nearer, the BJP government was keen on detaching the areas by accepting the demand of residents of nearly 35 villages. It is alleged that Mr Kashyap, who represent the Kasumpti constituency comprising merged areas, was trying to create the BJP vote bank by reverting to the pre-1997 status when these villages were part of the local panchayats. Residents of the areas were restive as they did not want to be covered under the byelaws of the municipal corporation under which a retention policy has been formed to regularise the illegal constructions. Detaching these areas will restore semi-rural status to the housing complexes of various influential sections, including the IAS colony and parts of the extended town. Government functionaries claim that with the elections for the municipal corporation only about a year away, it was the most appropriate time for detaching the areas so as to enable delimitation of wards. The number of wards, which had increased to 25 following merger of these areas, will again be reduced to 21. The merger has become a political issue now with certain BJP activists alleging that the Congress controlled municipal corporation had completely ignored these areas. The Congress party on the contrary has been claiming that although the municipal corporation was short yet the areas were never neglected and several development schemes were launched. The BJP activists point out that residents of the areas have to come to the municipal corporation for every petty thing and their applications for timber were pending as the authority for sanctioning these had not yet been identified. The building construction laws of the Town and Country Planning Department and those of the Urban Development Department have become applicable to these areas eversince these were merged with the municipal corporation. |
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HP orders probe into girl’s beating Shimla, June 1 Mr Subhash Kalsotra, Additional District Magistrate, Solan, will conduct the inquiry and submit the report within 15 days. The inquiry will cover the entire episode from the beating up of Shobha Devi, a class IX student of the local Senior Secondary School who died two days ago, to the violence which took place on May 29 during which school property was damaged and Ms Sushila Thakur, the PTI who had beaten Shobha Devi, and Ms Kamlesh Sud, Principal, were publicly humiliated. An inquiry conducted by Mr B.S. Tegta, Additional Director, Education, had already indicted Mrs Kaura Devi, District Education Officer, for not taking action in the matter even after receiving letters from the Chief Minister’s office, and confirmed that Ms Thakur had indeed beaten up the deceased on April 28. The government, however, deemed it fit to get the incident probed by an agency other than the Education Department to ensure fair play. In the meantime, the Education Department proposes to take action against the guilty on the basis of the report submitted by Mr Tegta. A major penalty may be awarded to Mrs Kaura Devi who was likely to be chargesheeted for negligence. While it has been confirmed that Ms Thakur had beaten up the girl, it had not been established that she died as a result of the beating. Doctors at the PGI where Shobha had been admitted said she died of cirrhosis of liver and not due to any internal injury. As such, she may escape major penalty since she had already suffered much physical and mental trauma due to her public humiliation by a violent mob. The government may take a lenient view and merely transfer her. The magisterial inquiry will also take care of the conspiracy angle. There had been reports that some influential persons had personal scores to settle with the teacher and that the violent incident could have been part of it. |
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IIAS introduces life
fellowship Shimla, June 1 Becoming a life fellow of the institute will be an honour and recognition of the contribution made by the scholars and they will be able to carry out their researches, says Prof
V.C. Srivastav Director of the institute. The scheme will be special beneficial for those scholars who are not able to stay in Shimla for long. They can make frequent short visits to avail the facilities free of cost, he adds. Besides travelling expenses, the fellows will be entitled to an honorarium of Rs 5,000 per annum as daily allowance and free boarding and lodging. The national fellowship scheme has also been revived from this year. The governing body of the institute has approved the recommendations of the committees for granting life fellowships and national fellowships. In both cases no applications are invited and the selections are made by the search committees comprising eminent scholars from various disciplines. |
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Govt harassing Muslims: Jamiyat Shimla, June 1 Expressing concern over the negative attitude of the government towards the Muslim community, Mr Moulana Mumtaz Ahmed Quasmi, secretary of the Ulema, has through a letter drawn the attention of Mr Vajpayee, to the incident in which the police did not allow 20 members of Tabligee Jamaat from Delhi to stay in Chamba without any reason. All members were having proper identification papers with them yet they were forced to return. The police had no explanation to offer for its illegal action. He recalled that last year the Chamba police had arrested the local chief of the Jamaat for no reason and kept him behind the bars for two days. He alleged that Jamaat members were being harassed in other parts of the state too. Consequently, the Tabligee Jamaat visiting the state from various parts of the country were going back with a poor impression of the state. Mr Ahmed Quasmi said Jamaats were non-political entities like “satsang parties” and given spiritual teachings based on Islamic principles. He alleged that Muslims were being denied their constitutional rights in the state mainly because the “men in khaki” were not being held accountable for their actions. The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, had failed to conduct an unbiased inquiry into such cases despite repeated pleas. The ulema also drew his attention to the statement of Mr D.S. Minhas, organiser of the Special Security Bureau, regarding the mushrooming of madarasas in the state. He said there were only few “madarasas” which were engaged in religious teaching along with normal studies. They maintained complete accounts of their income and expenditure and always cooperated with the government agencies inquiring into their functioning from time to time. In case any institution was found to be indulging in anti-national activities action should be taken against them. |
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House panel meets
Governor Shimla, June 1 They apprised the Governor of the availability of the petroleum products in the state and the allotment of new gas agencies and petrol pumps to the family members of Kargil martyrs. The Governor presented Himachali caps and scarves to the members of the committee. Senior officers of Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, accompanied the delegation. The committee is on a three-day study tour of the state. |
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Residents
resent entry
tax
Parwanoo, June 1 Residents of Parwanoo say that these taxes are heavy for people who are residing in Parwanoo township and the surrounding areas because they have to cross this barrier sometimes 10 to 20 times in a day for their daily works. They say that as the main market for Parwanoo is Kalka and Chandigarh, so they have to go to these towns for each small job and even for the purchase of articles of daily needs. Residents feel that the tax should not be applicable to vehicles registered at Parwanoo. Residents said that the adjoining Haryana state had also put up a toll tax barrier near Surajpur and planning to charge toll tax from all vehicles plying on the National Highway No. 22, that would also put more burden on residents of this town. Residents added that lot of people were commuting daily from Chandigarh, Pinjore and Kalka to Parwanoo for their jobs. Residents said the govt. had earlier abolished the tax being charged by a number of town area committees, municipalities and panchayats for the reason that it caused inconvenience to motorists and tourists. They said the tax which is being charged by the Excise and Taxation Department at Parwanoo police barrier would cause more inconvenience to the motorists and tourists due to traffic jams for hours together as the road at Parwanoo barrier was already very narrow and a large number of trucks parked there to pay sales tax, added to the problem. On the other hand, the source from the Excise and Taxation Department said the entry tax would be realised once in 24 hours and a provision had also been made for the yearly and quarterly realisation of the tax which would be twenty times of the daily fee for three months and for one year it would be three times of the quarterly fee. The source added that unrestricted travel facility would be available after the payment of quarterly and yearly fee. As per the source from the government, one part of the income derived from this tax is proposed to be given to the municipal councils and panchayats in lieu of the abolition of toll tax which was being charged earlier. |
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Panchayat pradhan elected unopposed Chamba, June
1 Mr Sandeep Kumar, SDM, Pangi, who is also a returning officer in the elections in the subdivision, said seven candidates were left in the fray for Purthi Zila Parishad ward, 59 candidates for 15 posts of panchayat samitis and 52 candidates for 15 posts of panchayat
pradhans. The SDM said out of 86 wards, elections to 49 wards would be held on June 5 in the first phase and to 37 wards on June 7 in the second phase. He said 86 polling booths had been set up for 10,534 electorate. The SDM also said all was set for the smooth conduct of panchayat polls for which nearly 500 poll personnel, including security officials, had been deployed who would move to their polling booths on June 3. He said results of elections to posts of panchayat
pradhans, up-pradhans and members would be declared immediately after the elections. However, for the zila parishad post and 15 posts of panchayat samiti wards, counting of votes would take place at Killar on June 9, he added. |
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DYFI condemns posts’ abolition Shimla, June 1 The gameplan of the government, it said, to trifurcate the board, had started unfolding. The BJP government had promised to create one lakh jobs every year, but in reality it was curtailing job opportunities by abolishing vacant posts. The government had started implementing the accord signed by it with the centre to downsize the administration by cutting 5 per cent jobs annually. The youth were being denied employment because of the wrong policies of the government to assign power projects for execution to private companies. The DYFI had decided to hold a protest rally at Mandi on June 20, it said. |
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New-look Kasauli Club
inaugurated Kasauli, June 1 A 25-minute display by the 14-GTC military band enthralled the audience. The musical bonanza ended with the regimental song of the 14-GTC,
Sabathu, ‘Deshon ka sartaaj’. This was followed by the inaugural ceremony of the club. Speaking on the occasion the
GOC-in-C expressed pleasure over the efforts of the new executive committee, headed by Brig
V.S. Tonk, which has restored the character and dignity of the club. He said they had worked hard to revive an era of customary warmth and
socialising, which had been disrupted during the past few years. He added that the Western Command was there to support the club in such novel
endeavours. Earlier, Brigadier Tonk thanked the honorary secretary, Col Karnail Singh, for his whole-hearted devotion in getting the club renovated and apprised the members of the various works undertaken to rejuvenate the lost glory of the Kasauli Club. The oldest woman member, Mrs
Lal, inaugurated the bar room. Lt-Gen Virender Singh, whose association with the club dates back to 85 years, expressed pleasure at the new look that the club had acquired and added that the lost character of the club had been put back on the rails. |
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School celebrates founder’s day Dagshai, June 1 From forays into the year 1000 AD through the age of magnificence marking the reign of Akbar, to the coming of the Europeans and, finally, the struggle for freedom and the dawn of Independence, students enacted various stages of India’s chequered history. A science and an arts and craft exhibition, with working models, besides paintings, woodwork, soft toys and other decorative items prepared by students, were also put up. In her annual report, the Principal of the school, Mrs Lakshmi Rajappa, said the year had been one of transition and growth for students as well as the staff, with both quantitative and qualitative improvements in all areas. Stating that the academic results for this year were better than the past six years; she also listed the school’s achievements in sports as well as co-curricular activities at the local and regional levels. Felicitating the students and the staff of the school on the occasion, GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt-Gen Surjit Singh, said though a lot of progress had been made by schools managed by the Army, there were still miles to go. The General also inaugurated the mathematics and computer laboratories. Later, he gave away prizes to the deserving students. |
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HC rejects bail plea of murder accused Shimla, June 1 The accused was arrested on August 11 alongwith Thakri Devi and Seema Devi. A bail application was filed on their behalf. The judge granted bail to Thakri Devi and Seema Devi, but Satish Kumar’s bail application was rejected. Two further bail applications were also rejected. After the dismissal of the bail plea the accused again approached the Sessions Judge, Hamirpur, and did not disclose that his earlier three bail applications had been rejected. On February 8 he got bail. While delivering the order the judge observed that a person could make successive bail applications, but while doing so he had to indicate and mention the changed circumstances since the dismissal of the earlier bail applications. And in the present case, the accused had suppressed the facts. |
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Clarification Kala Amb, June 1 Contrary to what has been reported, Colonel Bhatia says, the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court in their orders of March 27 and May 11, respectively, issued explicit directives that examinations be conducted for IT students (IInd year). These have not been implemented by the university, adds Colonel Bhatia. The college has written a letter to the Chief Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Government, seeking his intervention in implementation of the Supreme Court orders. |
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Drought affects tea crop Dharamsala, June 1 |
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10 villagers
suffer from gastro-enteritis Chamba, June 1 In a press note here yesterday, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) said the disease was now under control and the patients were stated to be out of danger. The CMO said the gastro-enteritis was caused due to some poisonous food consumed by the members of the families. On an information given by the up-pradhan of Kawarshi Panchayat, the Block Medical Officer, Bharmour, had sent a team of doctors to the village which carried out diagnosis and prescribed medicines. The CMO said there was no danger of break out of the disease. |
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