 |
Monday,
August 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
|
States misusing
funds for STs: Munda Himachal
plan to grow bio-tea HP to
have 2 biotech parks Tara Devi
building may collapse |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
End practice
of carrying night soil: Meira Chhari
leaves for Manimahesh Jawan cremated
with honours Cong ‘discriminated’
against Kangra Speaker calls on Governor 
|
|
States misusing
funds for STs: Munda Shimla, August 19 Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Munda said over the past 50 years, crores of rupees had been spent on tribal areas but the lot of tribesmen had not improved. The main reason was that the states were misutilising the funds at a result of which the benefits of various schemes were not reaching the target people. Merely spending money could not lead to uplift of tribesmen, he said. He said he had taken up the matter with the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and impressed upon him the need to put in place a mechanism for proper monitoring of funds provided by the Centre to states for the socio-economic uplift of tribesmen. Mr
Munda, who was here to preside over an inaugural conference of migrant tribesmen from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh working in Himachal Pradesh, said the ‘van vasi kalyan ashram’ has been working among tribesmen for the past several years and it had now extended its activities to
Himachal Pradesh also. He said at present more than 32,000 tribals from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and adjoining areas of Orissa were working as labourer in the hill state. He said the ashram was not only enlightening the tribesmen about the importance of their rich culture, which they had preserved for centuries, and creating social awakening among them, but also making them aware of the designs of Christian missionaries who wanted to convert them. He said Jharkhand and other tribal areas were a treasure house of natural resources, which if properly exploited could bring prosperity to the people. The creation of the state would go a long way in speeding up development and improving the
socio-economic status of the tribesmen. They would no longer have to go to other states for earning their livelihood. Mr Munda claimed that mass conversions of tribals to Christianity were rare now as they were in a position to appreciate the value of their culture. Isolated cases of conversion were, however, still being reported. The conference provided a glimpse of tribal culture as the participants, a majority of whom were women, presented colourful group dances and songs. Mr Munda addressed the gathering in ‘mundari’, the mother tongue of the tribesmen. |
|
Himachal
plan to grow bio-tea Shimla, August 19 Pesticides, insecticides and fertilisers will not be used in the cultivation of bio-tea. The state government has decided to handover 7700 hectares of land to tea growers found to be fit for tea cultivation in Kangra, Mandi and Chamba districts by the Tea Board of India on long lease and its rates will be at par with the rates prevalent in West Bengal and Assam. This will help in the development of local environment and tea related tourism. Many private entrepreneurs have shown keen interest in this. Tea policy has also been announced by the government and the use of advanced technology in the production of tea, investment by the private and corporation institutions, the proper utilisation of waste land, to improve the quality and export capacity of tea to provide maximum employment opportunities in the tea producing areas are the main objectives of the tea policy. Tourism will also get a boost with the implementation of the tea policy. At present tea production is confined to small and marginal farmers. Those growers are being encouraged to adopt new technology. Tea production is about 800 kg per hectare at the movement and efforts are afoot to enhance this to 3000 kg per hectare by adopting latest techniques. India is considered to be a major tea-growing country in the world and 30 per cent tea is being produced in the country. The average production is about 70 crore kilogram every year. At present nearly 4.25 lakh hectare area is under tea production and this production in increasing every year. Himachal Pradesh along with Assam, West Bengal, Orissa and Tamil Nadu is the main tea grower state in the country. The production is being encouraged in HP in big way NCDC has sanctioned a Rs 7.45 crore integrated development project to boost tea industry in Kangra valley where 90 per cent of the total tea is being produced. The Himachal Government has established the “HP State Tea Co-operative Factor Federation” to implement this project. This federation is working under the aegis of the Himachal Pradesh Co-operative Department. Kangra tea is most popular tea in the country after Darjeeling tea industry here is as old as the Assam tea industry. The first tea plant was traced in 1823 in Assam. Its scientific experiment was conducted about 160 years ago in 1835. The first sapling of tea was planted in 1845 in Kangra valley. Congenial climatic conditions and soil not only helped increase tea production in the valley but the fragrance of Kangra tea has marked its appearance in other countries as well. The first tea company NASSAU came into existence in 1850. Kangra tea was exported to London, Warsilona and Amersterdom and it has earned its name in the international market. The total area
under tea cultivation in the Kangra valley in 1892 had touched the figure of 9537 acres. Out of this tea garden covering an area of 3400 acres belonged to Europeans, whereas 6137 acre area was in the possession of the locals. At that time Ladakh, Afghanistan and Tibet were also proving to be a good market for this tea. The 1905 earthquake played havoc with the tea industry. Most of the tea gardens perished and bad times gripped the tea growers. Efforts to rejuvenate the tea industry in Kangra started in the sixties. Owners of tea gardens formed a cooperative marketing institution in 1964 and opened its office at Amritsar. Meanwhile a Rs 30 crore tea development project was sanctioned with the help of the cooperative and development corporation and the same was executed in 1980. Kangra tea is quite similar to the tea grown in China and Taiwan. Its leaves have a unique flavour. Kangra tea according to experts contains the flavour of Darjeeling tea and matches with the golden colour of Assam tea. At present Kolkata is main market for Kangra tea. Qualitywise the leaves plucked in April are considered to be the best tea of Kangra valley. The four varieties of Kangra tea were named after the world renowned Kangra paintings viz Darbasi, Bageshwari, Bahar and Malhar and were released in the market for sale on June 5, 1992. Today the tea industry of Himachal is also getting a boost in some parts of Mandi district apart from the Kangra valley. The state government is earning a revenue of Rs 9.50 annually from the tea industry besides providing employment to more than 6000 persons. At present 2300 hectares is under tea plantation in the state and the average production stands at 740 kg per hectare. Two pronged policy has been adopted by the state government for the development of tea industry. First to bring improvement in the production capacity of tea gardens where the production has dipped to the lowest level or its production has become static. Second to encourage its cultivation in the non-traditional new conducive areas. According to the report of an experts committee 7700 hectares area of Chamba, Kangra and Mandi districts has been identified as conducive to tea cultivation. The Agriculture Department has taken steps in this direction and has managed the revenue record pertaining to 2000-hectare government land in Chamba and Kangra districts. The government is inviting professional investors and private entrepreneurs to boost tea cultivation in the new area brought under tea cultivation. The state government is providing various incentives for the development of tea. Subsidy is being given to the farmers on plant protection material, insecticides, agricultural implements and fertilisers. The HP government has established a tea nursery at Palampur having an annual capacity of 2 lakh plants to boost tea production. More than 1,43,585 plants were distributed among tea growers in 1999-2000 and 1,57,525 plants during 2000-2001 to the tea growers of Kangra, Mandi and Chamba districts whereas only 82,450 plants were distributed during 1996-97. Exhibition plots have been established in Chamba, Mandi and Kangra districts. Fifty such plots have been established in the traditional tea growing areas. The government has fixed a target to enhance tea production from 17 lakh kg to 35 lakh kg in the next 10 years. |
|
HP to have 2 biotech parks Shimla, August 19 Stating this while inaugurating a two-day workshop on “Bio-Business for Entrepreneurship and Employment Generation” here today, Mr
K.L. Vaidya, Industries Minister, said the government had decided to accord the status of industry to the biotechnology units and these would be considered at par with fruit, vegetable and maize-based industrial units. All subsidies and concessions being provided to these industries would also be available to biotech units. Besides, power would be supplied to them without the routine cuts and peak-time restrictions. He said the government was aware of the potential of bio-technology, which was being given priority in the state and a separate Department of biotechnology had been set up. He stressed the need for the participation of private sector for optimum development of the sector. He said with a proper research effort, Biotechnology could be used to improve the quality of agricultural products, forests and industrial products to a great extent. Dr Rajan
Sushant, Minister of State for Revenue and Biotechnology, said this new discipline of science would be a major vehicle for economic transformation in the 21st century. The biotechnology industry would create more employment opportunities and the endeavour of the government was to provide jobs to 1 lakh youths of the state over the next six months under biotechnology sector, he said. He urged the scientists to carry out research and make innovations and suggest ways to retain the soil, which was declining. He said the state had the potential to develop a large number of industries based on local raw material like fruits, vegetables, cash crops and herbal plants. He said there was a need for greater convergence and blending between information technology and biotechnology so that India was able to achieve its projected goal of being a super power in the field of information and biotechnology by 2005. Mr Harsh Gupta, Chief Secretary, said a task force had been constituted in the state and a subcommittee, comprising of Secretaries of some departments and the Vice-Chancellors of the three universities had also been set up. A biotechnology policy had also been formulated, under which research and development work in the potential areas, including agriculture, animal husbandry and human health, would be undertaken. Mr P.K. Khosla, senior scientific advisor, biotechnology, said the state was a rich repository of plant genetic resources and medicinal plants which needed to be harnessed on a large scale. He said the bio-resources was one such natural resource on the basis of which small-scale industries could be developed in rural sector which would provide more employment opportunities for the educated youth of the state. |
|
Tara Devi building may collapse Shimla The wall was constructed a few months back to protect the building from sliding, but it has been given way after a spell of rain. It is for the second time that the wall collapsed within a year. The absence of the wall now threatens the forest building and families residing in it. They are now at the mercy of the weather as the monsoon does not allow them to shift. If the repairs are not carried out in time, even a small landslide may lead to total collapse of the structure. The PWD is once again constructing the wall for the third time but without technical supervision. The progress of the work is slow and no inspection is being done. Both sides of the building walls have developed cracks and at certain spots bricks have come out. On the other hand, no official of the Forest Department, which is also responsible for this plight of building, has bothered to inspect the spot. The building is old but no maintenance is being done by the department. Funds have been provided by the department for the maintenance of the building but no repair or additional work has been done. Initially the building was declared unsafe by the department concerned but later without any modification it was declared safe and officials asked to shift there. How can a department play such a cruel joke by proclaiming a building safe or unsafe on its own whim ? The PWD has declared the building unsafe and ordered its vacation. Now the Forest Department has to ask the families who had recently shifted there to vacate the building. |
|
End practice of carrying night soil: Meira Shimla, August 19 Stating this at a press conference here today, Mrs Meira Kumar, President of the Babu Jagjivan Ram All-India Samata Movement, said even hill-states like Himachal Pradesh had failed to end the practice which was a slur on the face of Independent India. She said it was time that the state woke up to the problem and took effective steps to free the ‘downtrodden” from this humiliating task which they had to perform for a living. She said the situation was no better in other states. Besides failure to provide sanitary latrines, various state governments had not been able to come out with any concrete programme to rehabilitate the Dalits who would be rendered jobless as a result. She said the government should conduct a fresh survey to know exactly how many persons were engaged in the “unclean” profession and come out with a comprehensive plan to rehabilitate them in other avocations. The suppressed and the weaker sex were being denied basic human rights, despite enactment of various laws. Even the Prevention of Atrocities on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, which had some stringent provisions, had failed to deliver due to the “indifferent” attitude of states. Many states had not as yet framed rules under the Act which was enacted in 1989. Most states had set up human rights commission but these did not have enough teeth to deal with cases of violation of human rights. The commission only wasted time in writing letters to the authorities concerned, which did not yield any result. The government should provide them punitive powers for effective functioning. She said casteism was one of the major reasons for violation of human rights and alleged that various political parties were using the Dalits only as a votebank and not doing anything for their uplift. Politics was a powerful instrument of social change which should have been used for improving the life of the downtrodden but this was not happening. Instead, these deprived sections were being used to further political ends. Mrs Kumar formally launched the Himachal branch of the Samata Movement with Dr K.R. Arya as president. Addressing the one-day “Human rights conference”, she said the movement was aimed at bringing about a fundamental change in the discriminatory nature of the caste ridden society and establishing a new order of social equality. |
|
Chhari leaves
for Manimahesh Chamba, August 19 In the morning of August 26, the pilgrims will take a holy dip in the sacred icy waters of the Manimahesh lake, situated at an altitude of 4170 metre and have a vision of the Kailash Mount (the sacred seat of Lord Shiva) at an altitude of 5656 metre. The “chhari” would start its return journey immediately after the dip. Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Chamba, Mr S.C. Mehta, disclosed that more than 50,000 pilgrims were expected to take a holy dip in the icy waters of the lake on Radha
Ashtami. Mr Mehta said no fee would be charged from persons organising free food (langar). He asked the ‘langar’ organisers to arrange tents and blankets for pilgrims. The transport barrier at Hadsar had been lifted and arrangements made to regulate the traffic. About 13,000 pilgrims had taken a holy bath in the lake on Krishna
Janmashtami. Set in the snow-clad Bharmour tribal valley of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh, Manimahesh is about 214 km away from Pathankot railhead, via Chamba, the district headquarters town. Meanwhile Mahant Swami Virendrananda
Giri, president of the Rajasthan Sadhu Samaj, Jaipur, has demanded ban on the sacrifice of sheep and goats and the use of intoxicants between Bharmour Chaurasi and the Manimahesh
lake. Mahant Giri in a letter addressed to the Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, has asked the administration to apprise him of all the programmes and arrangements made for the Manimahesh pilgrimage. The mahant demanded a complete ban on the plying of heavy vehicles between Bharmour and
Hadsar. He also demanded setting up of temporary parking lots. He also demanded to ply special bus services from Pathankot railhead to Chamba and Bharmour during the fair. |
|
Jawan cremated with honours Palampur, August 19 Kumar had joined the Indian Army in 1998, after completing his matriculation from Government High School,
Khera. He was a son of a martyr, Keshari Singh, who also had sacrificed his life in 1980 fighting with militants. Kumar’s elder brother is also serving with the First Field Regiment of Indian Army. Mr Tejpal Singh, an associate of the Kumar, told mediapersons that Kumar lost his life when he, along with 20 other jawans, had gone to a forest to locate the hiding militants. In the ensuring encounter, three militants were shot dead. Kumar was injured seriously in the crossfire and later he died. Senior police and military officers were present at the cremation ground to pay homage to Kumar. Mr Brij Behari Lal
Butall, MLA from Palampur, and Mr Divesh Kumar, SDM, Palampur also attended the cremation. All business centres and educational institutions remained closed in the area to pay respect to the martyr and students came out in the streets raising slogans against the military rulers of Pakistan. |
|
Cong ‘discriminated’ against Kangra Nurpur, August 19 Mr Rakesh Pathania, chairman of the State Tourism Corporation, and a close confidant of the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, stated this while speaking to mediapersons here today. He flayed Mr Virbhadra Singh for his allegation at the rally at Jawali that Kangra district had been discriminated against during Mr Dhumal’s tenure. He said the allegation only exposed the political frustration of the CLP leader. The Virbhadra government had 10 ministers from this district who remained silent spectators and did little for Kangra, he added. Mr Pathania said the Virbhadra government had played with the sentiments of the electorate of the Kangra district. As a result, a large number of senior Congress leaders virtually boycotted his rally in the district. He said during the past three years, the Dhumal government had spent Rs 16 crore on Dr Rajinder Prasad Medical College in the district which had been established by the Virbhadra government with a budget of merely Rs 50 lakh. The college had been approved by the Medical Council of India only through the efforts of the Dhumal government. He claimed that the Dhumal government had bridged the gap between the new and the old Himachal created by the successive Congress governments in the past. |
|
Speaker
calls on Governor Shimla, August 19 It was a courtesy call. The Speaker informed the Governor that the session would have four sittings. A close-circuit TV in the Vidhan Sabha premises and at Raj Bhawan would be installed before the next Budget session. |
|
Illicit
liquor seized, 2 held Shimla, August 19 The liquor, being taken in a car, was caught during a naka organised by the CIA staff of the police near Kaliston on the Bharari road. |
|
BJP suspends
party leader Shimla, August 19 |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
