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| Monday, June 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Government move irks senior cops Norms relaxed for building roads Sikkim Government recognises Karmapa Swadeshi Manch hardens stand
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Residents take to streets Teacher ‘habitual thrasher’ People cautioned against globalisation Vehicle entry tax creates chaos NGO threatens agitation Two jailed for breach of trust Islamic
scholars meet Governor CPI leader lauds invitation to Musharraf
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Government move irks senior cops Shimla, June 3 The entire exercise to curb misuse of official vehicles has become futile as the government has virtually succumbed to the pressure of the bureaucracy. The notification issued by the government regarding use of government vehicles by officers will come into force on July 1. The pool of vehicles in the secretariat will now comprise only the vehicles of ministers and secretaries who wish to continue the facility of official cars. The Hospitality Department will meet their requirements by hiring taxis for the state guests. Although the Cabinet had decided in February to completely abolish the pool of vehicles and withdraw cars of all officers except the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police in an effort to curb wasteful expenditure, yet now the department heads, managing directors and officers in the pay scale of Rs 18,400 have been given the option of retaining the official vehicles. The scheme will be compulsorily to all other officers. The ministers,
Parliamentary Secretaries and other politically appointed chairmen and vice-chairmen will be reimbursed Rs 4750 per month in case they surrender their official vehicle and officers in the pay scales of Commissioner and above will be paid an allowance of Rs 4500 per month in Shimla and Rs 2400 at other places. Heads of department will be given Rs 3500 in Shimla and Rs 1800 outside the state capital in case they surrender their official vehicles, officers, in administrative positions entitled to use of official vehicles in the pay scale with minimum level of Rs 13, 500 will get a conveyance allowance of Rs 2500 here and Rs 1200 elsewhere in the state. Other Officers with a minimum pay scale of Rs 10,025 will get an allowance of Rs 1500 at Shimla and Rs 600 at other places. While touring outside Shimla, the ministers will be paid a TA of Rs 4.75 per km in case their vehicle is driven by an official driver and Rs 5 per km in case official driver in not used. Officers will be entitled to a TA of Rs 4.50 per km and Rs 4.25 per km in the respective conditions. Categories like doctors, lecturers and teachers will not be entitled to any conveyance allowance. Officers not availing the services of official drivers will get an additional allowance of Rs 500 per month. According to the notification, all drivers shall be given the option of voluntary retirement with the right to purchase a surplus vehicle on book value. Drivers placing their services in the surplus pool shall be adjusted against other class III posts provided they meet the minimum qualifications. Those not possessing the minimum qualifications shall be adjusted in other departments. Vehicles in running condition will be offered for sale at book value to officers and drivers opting for voluntary retirement. The book value shall be calculated by allowing 20 per cent annual depreciation. |
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Norms relaxed for building roads Shimla, June 3 Stating this here today, Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, who returned after attending a high-level meeting convened at Delhi to discuss the issue, said the hill states had demanded that the period for completion of work be increased from nine months to three years and the Centre had agreed to extend it to two years. It had also accepted the demand for waiving the maximum limit of 12 m for construction of bridges and agreed that bridges would be constructed as per the requirement. In hills where roads were to be laid across wide nullahs and river, the limit on the length of bridges was a big hurdle in road construction. He said cutting and formation work of roads would be carried out by the Public Works Department and not contractors as laid down in the original scheme. The department had a huge pool of workers which would be now gainfully employed. However, metalling of roads would be carried out by contractors. Mr Dhumal said he met Mr Yashwant Sinha, Union Minister, and discussed ways and means to bail out the state from the financial crisis. The meeting followed a detailed discussion that Mr Dhumal had with the Prime Minister on the issue during his weeklong sojourn at Manali. Mr Dhumal said Mr Vajpayee had assured him that the size of the state’s Annual Plan for the current year would not be less than the previous year’s. He had sought an immediate assistance of Rs 250 crore to the state which was facing problem in even paying salaries to its employees. The Chief Minister said he would again visit Delhi tomorrow to pursue the state’s case for grant of special assistance. The government was in the process of preparing a comprehensive document outlining short-term
and long-term measures to deal with the crisis.  |
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Sikkim Government recognises Karmapa Dharamsala, June 3 In a latest development, the Sikkim Government has said it recognises the 15-year-old, Ogyen Trinley, as the 17th Karmapa and will welcome him at Rumtek Monastery, the traditional seat of the Kagyu sect in Sikkim. The Karmapa, had himself stated earlier that he would want to visit Rumtek as it is the monastery set up by the 16th Karmapa, after he fled from Tibet, following the Chinese invasion. The Sikkim Chief Minister, Mr Pawan Chamling, had personally written to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, seeking permission for the 17th Karmapa to visit Rumtek Monastery. The Chief Minister along with his senior ministerial colleagues had specially come to Delhi to welcome him and had even hosted an official reception for the religious head. The Sikkim Government had made its position very clear on the issue by writing to the Tibetan government-in-exile also. The Minister for Religion and Culture in the Tibetan Government, Mr Tashi Wandi confirmed that the Sikkim Government had written to them about the Karmapa being welcome in Sikkim anytime. “They have made it very clear that they recognised Ogyen Trinley as the Karmapa, as he had been chosen by the Dalai Lama, himself, and as such there was no confusion in their minds,” he stated. Mr Wangdi, said the obstacles in the Karmapa’s going to Rumtek would be eventually solved but the latest statement of the Sikkim Government would be helpful. “It is beyond dispute that Ogyen Trinley Dorjee, is the genuine Karmapa and if there is some conspiracy not based on facts, truth will eventually prevail,” he commented. Despite the Karmapa, expressing desire to visit Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the Government of India, has not relented and has not even granted him permission to go to Sherabling Monastery at Bhattu, near Baijnath, about 70 km from Dharamsala. Apart from this the controversy regarding another Tibetan boy, Thaye Dorjee, making claim of being the real Karmapa, still being alive the Indian authorities are sitting pretty over the matter. A senior regent of the Karma Kagyu sect, Shamarpa Rimpoche, has been claiming that Thaye Dorjee, is the real Karmapa, and had even threatened that there would be trouble in Sikkim, if Ogyen Trinley visited Rumtek Monastery. The 17th Karmapa, had himself expressed displeasure over the attitude of the Indian Government in not allowing him to go to Rumtek. In his interaction with the media he had said that this attitude of the Indian Government confused him. He had been very keen to go to
Rumtek. |
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Swadeshi Manch hardens stand Shimla, June 3 The two-day national council meeting of the manch, which concluded here today, expressed anguish over the decision to allow foreign investment which negated the state’s declared policy of making the country self-reliance in this vital area involving the
security of the country. The move would not only increase dependence of the country, but also kill indigenous
initiative. The government’s indiscretion could spell disaster for the country in the long run, it warned. In a strongly worded resolution adopted at the meeting, the manch pointed out that foreign investment in defence, banking, airport development and other important areas would create a situation where the country’s economic and foreign policy would be influenced to serve vested interests of foreign capitalists. Mr Ravindra Mahajan, convener of the manch, said the manch would organise a protest dharna in front of Parliament in the third week of July during the monsoon session to express its disapproval of the decision by involving all organisations campaigning against the WTO-sponsored reforms economic liberalisation. The manch urged the Centre not to bail out Enron by any method, including grant of compensation and scrapping the Dabhol power project. The company should be thrown out of the country to set an example how a fraudulent move should be dealt with. A judicial commission should be set up to investigate irregularities in the deal finalised without inviting tenders and following due procedure so that responsibility could be fixed and the guilty punished. Simultaneously, the CBI should
undertake an inquiry to investigate the bribery angle in the deal which, if not scrapped, would lead to
outflow of Rs 2 lakh crore from the country over the next 20 years. It held the Congress government and the NDA, gave counter-guarantees, equally responsible for the situation. The manch did not see any problems in scrapping the project as many deals of the company had already been scrapped in other countries. There would also be no power shortage as the peakload in Maharashtra was around 11,000 mw as against the state’s installed capacity of 15,000 mw. Moreover, due to a slowdown in the industrial sector, demand for power had not increased. The manch noted with concern the findings of the task force on employment set up by the Centre which had indicated that employment opportunities in the unorganised sector had reached a saturation point. It called upon the government to come out with a White Paper on the status and potential of the unorganised sector and the impact of different policies pursued over the past decade on the sector. It also demanded that the Centre and state should institute a policy framework to promote the unorganised sector, including certification of artisans and skilled workers and tap its full potential for national economic development. It also called for providing adequate tariff and other safeguards to the sector to protect it from the impact of global forces, besides ensuring easy credit flow to the sector. It expressed concern over the failure of the FCI and the state agencies to procure foodgrains, despite the announcement of support price. The manch was not against decentralisation of procurement, but said it should be done in a systematic manner and the farmers not be left in the lurch by the Centre by shifting responsibility on the state. It demanded immediate ban on import of agricultural produce and putting in place a system for ensuring prices based on cost of production to farmers. The meeting was attended by the entire RSS thinktank, including Mr Gobindacharya, Mr S.Gurumurthy, Mr Dattopanti Thengadi and Mr Muralidhar Rao and Mr Mohinder Pande. |
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Nepalese in Kangra
shocked Dharamsala, June 3 The shocked local Nepalese assembled at the Gorkha Bhavan to hold a condolence meeting. “Though we consider ourselves Indian, but cannot help feeling close to Nepal from where the Gorkha soldiers came here in the year 1849 to help the Kangra rulers fight the British,” said Capt D.K. Sharma, general secretary of the Himachal Gorkha Vikas Parishad. Majority of the men and women present at the meeting were seen weeping
inconsolably as they said they were worried for Nepal. “We still are not sure as to what was the real story behind the killings but our heart pains at the manner in which the entire family of the King has been wiped off,” said Ramesh, a Nepalese whose family is living here for the past three generations. The president of the Himachal Gorkha Vikas Parishad, Mr Ram Bahadur Gurung, and president of the Punjab-Himachal Gorkha Association were present at the meeting. |
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Residents take to streets Dharamsala, June 3 Houses in these villages got flooded last night after a heavy downpour. Flooding of the houses near the Gaggal airport has been a perennial problem as no provision for a proper drainage system has been done while making the airport. According to the police the situation in the village became chaotic when all of a sudden water flooded the houses last night, leading to a clash between some of the local boys. The villagers lifted the blockade only when the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Prabodh Sazena, the SDM, Kangra, and the Additional SP, Mr N.D. Sareen, assured the villagers that by June 18, temporary provision would be made to drain out the rain water. |
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Teacher ‘habitual thrasher’ Kasauli, June 3 The family members sat engulfed in gloom trying to accept the harsh tragedy. The inconsolable mother, Mrs Krishna
Devi, stressed the erring teacher should be lawfully punished so that no other mother in future had to bear the same trauma. Her sister
Aashu, a class XI student of the same school, recalls the unfortunate day of April 28 when Shobha was mercilessly slapped and kicked in the stomach which led to bleeding in her nose and mouth. Despite this the erring PTI showed no mercy and did not even administer any medication to the moaning
Shobha. On reaching home the trauma-struck girl did not disclose this sordid incident to
anyone. Shobha complained of intense pain on the left side of her stomach and thereafter confined herself to bed. She did not talk much with family members. Also her appetite decreased, her mother said. She did not turn up at the school thereafter. On May 1 a complaint was lodged with the police here under Section 323 of the IPC for voluntarily causing hurt. But the offence being non-cognizable the police referred the case to the
panchayat. The Pradhan, Mr Jatinder Gupta, kept dilly-dallying over the case and after more than three weeks returned the papers, stating that the panchayat could not initiate action against a government servant under Section 44-C of the HP Panchayati Raj Act, 1994. The girl’s parents along with the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) meanwhile lodged complaints with the District Education Officer (DEO), the Chief Minister and the Education Minister. The DEO, Mrs Kaura
Devi, also did not initiate any action against the PTI. All these lapses combined with the
rumours of Shobha’s death finally found a vent in the form of a violent mob which caused massive destruction in the school and led to misbehaviour with the PTI and the Principal. |
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People cautioned against globalisation Shimla, June 3 Addressing a rally organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch here this evening, he said Indian farmers and small industries could not complete with the developed countries who had sufficient resources to sell their products at a loss for two to three years to eliminate Indian goods. “Once Indian goods are out of the market, the foreign companies would increase the prices arbitrarily, badly hitting our economy and the common man. The BJP leader lashed out at the policy makers with a “foreign mindset” and said that these policies served the interests of brokers, contractors and bureaucrats but ignored the concerns of labourers, artisans, small farmers and consumers. He said that the total share of India in the international capital market of 150 lakh crore was just 150 crores and it was foolish to think that the country would gain from globalisation.
PTI |
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Vehicle entry tax creates chaos Nurpur, June 3 Mode of vehicle entry tax collection generated tension on the very first day on Friday. Vehicle owners of nearby places were agitated over “forcible” collection of tax by the staff deputed on the Kandwal barrier. The police had to intervene to pacify the angry vehicle owners. Mr Ajay Mahajan a PCC delegate and Kangra District Committee Congress general secretary and Mr Yogesh Kumar, state Youth Congress general secretary, in a joint statement here yesterday criticised the entry tax collection from the local vehicle owners. They alleged that due to faulty system of collection of entry tax there would be frequent altercations, traffic jams on the interstate barriers. They demanded to amend entry tax imposition rules on the pattern of the Jammu and Kashmir state where local vehicles were exempted from this tax by issuing permits to the vehicle owners. They also flayed the state government for not sparing the two-wheelers from the entry tax by imposing Rs 5 on these also. |
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NGO threatens agitation Nahan, June 3 Mr Thakur said the state government had not consulted the NGO while deciding to abolish many posts in different departments or closing of government offices, including PWD offices. But, he said the Chief Minister had assured the NGO federation would be taken into confidence before finalising any such decision. Mr Thakur said employees and officers working with the PWD and I&PH Departments of Himachal Pradesh would not tolerate any change in their working. He stressed that in such matters the NGO body should be consulted so that no wrong signal went to the employees. |
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Two jailed for breach of trust Nahan, June 3 The accused, according to prosecution had along with their accomplices, all from Tamil Nadu, started a business in Nahan town under the name ‘Royal Agency’ and promised to deliver household items and even Maruti cars for one-fourth and one-third of the actual price. People deposited money with the agency. The accused collected a large amount of money and fled from the town. The Sirmaur police had arrested them from Tamil
Nadu. |
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Islamic
scholars meet Governor Shimla, June 3 It complained against the role of government machinery in tarnishing the image of these holy schools
(Madarsas) which imported education in religion (Mazhabi Taalim) along with the teaching of subjects like Arabi,
urdu, Mathematics, English and Hindi. It asserted that nothing anti-social and anti-national was taught in the schools
(madarsas). |
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CPI leader lauds invitation to Musharraf Shimla, June 3 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Anjan said it would have been better had the government consulted various political parties before sending the invitation. |
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