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Saturday,
August 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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CBI’s clean chit to Virbhadra Cong ‘favoured’ medical
firm Shanta blames starvation deaths on
states CM says no to judicial probe |
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DM denies reports on
infiltration by ultras Chhari proceeds to
Manimahesh HC pulls up HPU on
admissions House adjourned sine
die Landslips damage school building Two NCP leaders held Unemployed SC pushed to the wall Health Dept officer held for misconduct
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CBI’s clean chit to Virbhadra Shimla, August 24 The CBI is learnt to have written a letter to the state government that no prima facie could be made out of the 26-point “charge sheet” against Mr Virbhadra Singh. The “charge sheet” was forwarded by the state Government to the Union Home Ministry for investigations against the former Chief Minister who is the Leader of the Opposition now. The main allegations against him were the misuse of official position and irregularities in raising loans from the open market where a higher rate of interest was given. The development has come as more of a setback to the HVC chief, Mr Sukh Ram, who is himself facing CBI cases in courts and has reportedly been pressurising the central leadership of the BJP to take action against Mr Virbhadra Singh in lieu of his party’s support for survival of the Dhumal government here. Reacting to the development, Mr Virbhadra Singh told reporters today that the “conspiracy” to get him implicated in criminal cases had failed and his stand had been vindicated with the observations of the CBI. Mr Dhumal and Mr Sukh Ram had some time ago met the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, reportedly to seek early action by the CBI on the “charge sheet”. CBI teams had been visiting here since 1999 to collect various documents related to the charges against Mr Virbhadra Singh. Some officers in various departments considered close to the BJP were specially deputed to dish out evidence against Mr Virbhadra Singh. The issue came up in the Vidhan Sabha during question hour this morning when the Chief Minister, Mr Dhumal, confirmed that a letter had come from the CBI, but he did not give details of it. He said some important documents pertaining to the agreements with the former rulers of the erstwhile states were missing from the secretariat and the district office. The matter was being investigated. The reference to the CBI letter was made by Mr Ram Lal Thakur (Cong) while raising the question about anonymous letters against various legislators. Mr Thakur said Mr Sukh Ram had been levelling allegations against Mr Virbhadra Singh and threatening that he would be put behind bars. He demanded that the letter of the CBI should be placed on the table of the House. He said eversince the BJP had come to power about three and a half years ago with the support of HVC, it had been making serious allegations against Mr Virbhadra Singh. Mr Kaul Singh (Cong) accused the BJP-HVC combine government of trying to take political vendetta against Mr Virbhadra Singh. He said the Dhumal government was bent upon tarnishing the image of the Congress which was in opposition. Later, talking to newsmen, Mr Virbhadra Singh said the CBI inquiry had come as a “slap” on the face of all those who were trying or will again try to implicate “me” in false cases. An attempt was being made to make the CBI a tool of political vendetta and an instrument to defame “me”. He said his political enemies would try to strike again with some other concocted case. The missing papers of agreements with former rulers could have been reconstructed by the state government as these were available with the Union Home Ministry and the archives. Referring to the allegation of Mr Sukh Ram that the previous Congress government had tampered with vital documents, Mr Virbhadra Singh said the tampering of documents might have been his culture and not “our”. He said that politics in Himachal Pradesh had never reached as low as it was today and those who tried to misuse the investigating agencies for political vendetta should realise that they had shown the way for the future. |
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Cong ‘favoured’ medical
firm Shimla, August 24 Mr Nadda was making a statement in the Vidhan Sabha regarding the controversial purchases by the Health Department. He said a case had already been registered by the Vigilance Department against Dr K.S. Sohal, former Director of Health Services, Dr S.R. Chauhan, Director, Health, Pawan Sood, a senior assistant in the Directorate of Health Services, and Hitesh Narula, proprietor of a business centre in Delhi. Pawan Sood had been arrested recently. He said an unsolicited offer from Super Bazar (Delhi) for the supply of a medicraft brand hospital equipment and furniture manufactured by Narula Udyog, was received in September 1997 when the Congress was in power. The list of products with prices was attached with the letter. These documents were actually forged. A sum of Rs 4.06 crore was sought by the Health Department for
purchasing the furniture and equipment for new hospitals between December 10 and December 17 and these additional funds were sanctioned on March 5, 1998. There was promptness in sanctioning the funds as the deal had already been struck. The first order placed for the supply of obstetric tablets to the Chief Medical Officer of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti on November 29, 1997, was placed with Super Bazar through Bharat Business Centre. No tenders were invited and no no-objection certificate was obtained from the controller of stores. Even the specifications of the items ordered were not clearly spelt out. Mr Nadda said the Chief Minister Prof P.K. Dhumal, not only ordered a vigilance inquiry, but also asked for a special audit. The management of Super Bazar, a letter confirmed that Bharat Business, with the connivance of officials of the Directorate of Health Services, had cheated the Himachal Pradesh Government by misrepresenting facts. He said the present government was not looking for political scapegoat. |
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Shanta blames starvation deaths on
states Shimla, August 24 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the indifferent manner in which the public distribution system had been functioning in the states could be guaged from the fact that out of the 303 lakh tonnes of foodgrain allocated to the states for below poverty line (BPL) families last year, only 130 lakh tonnes was actually lifted. Further out of the 22 lakh tonnes allotted for the drought hill areas free of cost only 13 lakh tonnes was lifted. The average offtake of allocated ration for the 36 crore BPL families, including 5 crore extremely poor families who could not afford two square meals, was a dismal 55 per cent. While none of the state was lifting its full quota, poor states like Bihar, where the poor required the subsidised foodgrain the most, were lifting only 20 per cent of the
allotment. For best governed states the offtake was 80 per cent. He appreciated the Supreme Court for taking notice of the starvation deaths and said it would lead to the desired improvement in the system. The Centre had been concerned over it and had been asking the state to streamline the PDS system. There had been some improvement but much more was needed to be done. The Centre had no intention to put the blame on the states but facts had to be placed before the people. He lamented that all states had not been carrying out measures suggested by the Centre to streamline the PDS system and make its functioning transparent. These included social audit by involving panchayats, making it mandatory prominently display the quota of ration allocated at panchayat ghars and fair price shops, action against district food and supplies officers under Section (3) of the Essential Commodities Act for lapses in distribution or lifting of quota. He said PDS was the joint responsibility of the state and the Centre and the latter was doing its bit, which included procurement of foodgrains, their storage and making these available to states. The Centre had set up 1600 godowns across the country for supplying foodgrains to the state and it was spending Rs 13,000 crore on the PDS. Referring to the steps being taken to improve the system he said Regional Consultative Committees, headed by MPs and having officers of Centre and state governments, besides representatives of people, had been set up in each state. Keep a watch on the functioning of the food corporation of India. He said he would soon have consultations with the Prime Minister, Mr A.B. Vajpayee, and the law Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley, to work out further measures to improve the efficiency of PDS in states. This was essential to prevent starvation deaths. |
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CM says no to judicial probe Shimla, August 24 Prof Dhumal said in the Vidhan Sabha that the Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of newspaper reports regarding these deaths and the state government had filed a reply. He said post-mortem examination on the bodies of Hans
Raj, a resident of Alampur, and Amar Singh of Nurpur, indicated that they had consumed poison. The report also said their stomachs were not empty. He said the reason for the suicides was some family dispute which he did not specify as it might become a stigma for the family. The Chief Minister said the matter was sensitive and the Opposition should not try to politicise the issue because family members of the deceased had also said the deaths were not due to starvation. Hans Raj owned 72 kanals and was also earning by selling milk. Congress members, including Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mr Kaul Singh, demanded that a judicial inquiry should be ordered into these
deaths. Mr Kaul Singh pointed out that if the government could order a judicial inquiry even after post-mortem into the death of two cows twice, why was it hesitating to do so for the loss of two human lives. The question regarding deaths due to starvation, gastroenteritis and AIDS was tabled by Mr Kaul Singh and Mr Ram Lal Thakur (Cong). In his reply, the Health Minister, Mr J.P.
Nadda, said 10 persons had died because of gastroenteritis and no death had occurred due to AIDS or starvation this year. In a written reply, the Chief Minister informed Ms Viplove Thakur and Mr Harsh Mahajan (Cong) that the government had spent Rs 42.22 lakh on 286 VIPs and their 82 staff members who were declared as state guests between April and July this year. In 29 cases, the state guest rules were relaxed. |
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DM denies reports on
infiltration by ultras Chamba, August 24 Mr Mehta today claimed that there was absolute normalcy and fraternity among the inhabitants residing in the village along the borders. He said the people were satisfied with the vigilance and security provided by the paramilitary forces like the Himachal Armed Police (HAP) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). He further claimed that despite the hype created by the media, no untoward incident had happened so far during the past about three years and the credit for this went to the jawans of the HAP and ITBP who had been coordinating with the Special Police Officers (SPOs) and the Village Defence Committees (VDCs). The District Magistrate directed the security officials to desist from giving unreliable information to the media about the movement of strangers on the borderline so that the local people did not feel insecure. He advised security officials to give such reports first to him for further transmission to the government and the media. He requested mediapersons to exercise restraint while reporting such sensitive issues. |
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Chhari proceeds to
Manimahesh Chamba, August 24 This was stated by Mr S.C. Mehta, Deputy Commissioner, here today. The chhari mubarik today proceeded to Manimahesh from Bharmour Chaurasi, he added. He said security officials were escorting the holy chhari. The procession was moving on the Chamba-Hadsar highway along the Ravi. The pilgrims would start their return journey immediately after the dip, he added. |
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HC pulls up HPU on
admissions Shimla, August 24 This judgement was passed by the court after hearing the petition filed by Anirudh Sharma regarding admission to the BIT course. According to the petitioner, he passed ten plus two in 1999 and obtained 54.5 per cent. He sought admission to the BIT course and appeared in a written test on August 7, 2000, in which he secured 115 marks out of 200. His name did not figure on the merit list. Later, the university increased the seats. However, the petitioner was not called for counselling. He made a representation to the Vice-Chancellor but it was not considered. The petitioner came to know that a seat was granted to another candidate though he had obtained only 103 marks. |
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House adjourned sine die Shimla, August 24 The House passed several bills, including the Himachal Pradesh Village Common Lands Vesting and Utilisation (Amendment) Bill during the session. The House adopted a resolution that matters with respect to the maintenance of clinical records in a hospital, nursing home, dispensary or consulting rooms and all matters connected therewith or ancillary and incidental thereto should be regulated in Himachal Pradesh by Parliament by law.
UNI |
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Landslips damage school building Kasauli, August 24 The landslides were noticed when the school reopened after the monsoon break on August 16. Studies have been hampered as teachers forced to declare holidays whenever it rains. A rickety makeshift passage is being used to reach the school. The building already in a shambles has
worn out blackboards and walls where plaster is wearing away and cracks have appeared on all walls. A sum of Rs 3 lakh was sanctioned for the repair work which is yet to start. The District Education Officer, Mr O.P. Walia, when contacted said he would try to provide an alternative site for the school to resume classes. |
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Two NCP leaders held Kulu, August 24 N. Venu Gopal, SP , here, said that according to the first information report, it was alleged that Ravi Thakur, along with 10-12 drunken persons forcefully entered the room of the complainant, who was staying there along with her two children and father, manhandled them and also threw out their belongings. Angmi Thakur also mentioned in the FIR that she was the legally wedded wife of Ravi Thakur and had solemnised her marriage with the Nationalist Congress Party state chief, 10 years ago and had two children. The police has arrested the two NCP leaders. |
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Unemployed SC pushed to the wall Kangra, August 24 Unemployed since 1988, Mr Rajbansh has proficiency diploma and mechanical engineering diploma. A son of an honoured ex-serviceman, desperate Mr Rajbansh belongs to a Scheduled Caste. He is married and the father of two minors. |
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Health Dept officer held for misconduct Shimla, August 24 According to official sources, Mr Sood was arrested on the night of August 20 and produced in the court which granted him police remand on Wednesday till August 27. The state government had also suspended him. The state Vigilance Department had already registered a case in this regard against four persons, including a former Director of Health Services, Dr K.S. Sohal, Dr Sukh Ram, Director (on leave), Mr Pawan Sood and Mr Dinesh Narula of the Bharat Business Centre, Delhi, in connection with the purchase scam.
PTI |
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2.5 kg of charas seized, 1 held Kulu, August 24 |
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