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Tuesday,
March 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Hearing
adjourned in Wildflower case HP pinning hopes on Central aid Poll promises fulfilled: Dhumal Virbhadra’s show on CM’s turf
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Jaundice: NICD team on Mandi visit Jaundice scaring away tourists All dists to have Elisa test facility Army
recruitment racket: 1 booked Residents want college takeover Fine on motel
welcomed HC admits plea on employment HPCC : no change
in stand on expulsions Judicial officers
may move court Factory booked for power theft
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Hearing
adjourned in Wildflower case Shimla, March 18 The
CLB had earlier asked the state government to file an affidavit by
today. It is learnt that the CLB ordered that status quo should be
maintained till the next hearing. A team of senior officers of the Tourism Department led by the Financial Commissioner (Tourism), Mr Ashok Thakur, has been camping at Delhi for the past few days. The
CLB ordered that status quo should be maintained in respect of the
composition of the board of directors and with regard to the movable
and immovable assets of Mashobra Resorts, which was running the hotel. Both
the EIH and the state government were claiming that they were in
physical control of the hotel. However, visiting media persons have
seen that the EIH staff was controlling the management, whereas a few
officers of the HPTDC were sitting idle in the lobby. It is learnt
that the state government has claimed before the CLB that the
joint-venture agreement signed on October 30, 1995, has been violated
by the EIH by not making the hotel fully commercially operational
within the stipulated period of six years, including the penal period
of two years. The Cabinet approved the termination of the agreement on
March 4. It has been alleged that the EIH failed to provide
technical services in the manner and time frame as agreed to in the
agreement and paid or appropriated large sums of money to associate
companies and other firms on the plea of having obtained technical
assistance from these, even though under the agreement these services
were to be provided by the EIH free of cost and in any case were its
responsibility. The EIH increased the project cost from the Rs 40
crore stipulated in the agreement to Rs 99 crore and unauthorisedly
reduced the equity percentage of the state government from 35 per cent
to 21 percent, the government has claimed. On the other hand, the
EIH has said that it has not unauthorisedly changed the equity ratio
without obtaining the government’s permission. An official
spokesman for the government said the EIH had not brought up any issue
with regard to any illegality in the action of the state government
and chosen not to argue the case on merit. On the contrary, the EIH
has sought time for settlement. Accordingly, the Company Law Board has
ordered that pending any settlement, the working of the hotel should
not be affected. |
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HP pinning hopes on Central aid Shimla, March 18 Mr Vajpayee is scheduled to address an official rally being organised here to mark the completion of four years of the coalition in office on March 24. While the ruling BJP is working overtime to make the rally a grand success, the Finance Department is busy working out different proposals to seek the best possible financial package for the state. The norms for grant of central assistance do not provide much latitude for bestowing special favours on a state, but the government hopes to get additional funds on the basis of its performance, particularly in pursuing structural reforms. Although the state has not as yet signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre, it has done reasonably well on the economic reforms front. Officers are hopeful that the state may be able to secure up to Rs 300 crore from the friendly government at the Centre by getting performance-linked funds released. The Centre has linked the release of 15 per cent of the allocation under the Eleventh Finance Commission award with the implementation of fiscal reforms and restructuring. An amount of over Rs 150 crore had not been released for the year 2001-02. The officials are confident that given the sympathetic attitude of Mr Vajpayee, who considers Himachal Pradesh as his second home, these withheld funds would be released. Besides, there are some other schemes like infrastructure development fund and accelerated power development programme under which funds are provided on the basis of performance. The government as compared to other states, has shown willingness to carry out reforms. Fresh recruitment to government jobs has been restricted. Some public undertakings have been merged as part of the downsizing exercise. Grand-in-aid to universities and various boards and corporations has been frozen and no fresh commitment is being made. All these steps, which are part of fiscal reforms, have helped in containing expenditure to an extent. This is reflected in the improvement shown in the Balance of Current Revenue
(BCR), difference between non-Plan expenditure and receipts — which has come down from the projected Rs 1145 crore to Rs 945 crore during the year. Tax revenue has also increased significantly from Rs 700 crore to about Rs 1000 crore over the past three years. All this may be enough to convince the Centre that the state is pursuing reforms in the right earnest and get the withheld amount released and some more funds sanctioned under other schemes. Mr Vajpayee has provided some relief to the state on his every visit to the state. In all, the state has received Rs 700 crore as special assistance. As such the hopes of the Dhumal government are not misplaced, more so because he will be here for a very special occasion. |
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Poll promises fulfilled: Dhumal Hamirpur, March 18 He was addressing a public meeting at Tauni Devi in Hamirpur district on Sunday. Mr Dhumal said the government had undertaken “Vikas yatra” after completing over three years in office to apprise people of the achievements and work done by the government and also to get feedback where it lacked. The Chief Minister said the Budget presented by him this year had taken care of all sections and added that this had got nationwide acclaim. He said daily wages of workers had been increased to Rs 60 and Home Guards’ daily allowance to Rs 75. He said the social security pension for the old, widows and the handicapped had also been enhanced to Rs 200 per month in this year’s Budget. Mr Dhumal said the ‘Mukhya Mantri Gram Path Yojna’ envisaged to provide better link in areas where it was not possible to give connectivity by road immediately. Mr Urmil Thakur, Parliamentary Secretary, said to provide employment to youth, the government had decided to give permits to 1000 youths for plying maxi cabs. She said this would also provide connectivity in such areas where buses could not be plied. Mr Baldev Sharma, MLA and district BJP president also spoke. Mr Pyare Lal, chairman, zila parishad and Mr Karam Singh, former MLA were also present on the occasion. Earlier, the Chief Minister heard grievances of people under “Aapka Pratinidhi Aapke Dwar” at Tauni Devi. |
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Virbhadra’s show on CM’s turf Hamirpur, March 18 Mr Virbhadra Singh was the star attraction of the rally and was brought to the rally in a big procession from the hospital chowk through the main bazar. The town was decorated and Congress workers were raising slogans, “Raja sahib aage barho, hum tumhare sath hain”. Nearly 600 men, women and youths took part in the procession. A group of workers received him at
Ukhli, on the Hamirpur-Bilaspur border. Nearly six dozen vehicles followed the former Chief Minister from Ukhli to Hamirpur. Among others who took part in the rally included Mrs Chandresh Kumari, President of the All-India Mahila Congress, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Mr Chander Kumar Chaudhry, Mr Kuldip Kumar, former ministers, and MLAs. Mrs Anita Verma, state Congress Vice-President, organised the function. However, no leader or worker from the other faction of the party was present. Addressing the rally at Gandhi Chowk, Mr Virbhadra Singh blasted the BJP leaders for what happened in Gujarat and UP. He said the situation was mishandled. He said the Congress was ready for elections which, as per information, would be held as per schedule in February. He described the present BJP government in the state as one of the worst ones. Corruption was rampant and prices of commodities had skyrocketed. He reminded people that Hamirpur had become a district during the Congress regime, amid opposition by the then Bhartiya Jansangh led by Mr Shanta Kumar. Mr Chander Kumar Chaudhry, Mrs Anita Verma, Vice-President of the Himachal Congress Committee, Mr Kuldip Singh Pathania, and Mr Manjit Singh Dogra were among those who attended the rally. |
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Jaundice: NICD team on Mandi visit New Delhi, March 18 Sources in the Health Ministry told TNS here today that the team comprising microbiologist, Dr Somanth, and epidemiologist, Dr Anil Kumar, would visit the affected areas in Mandi. Since hepatitis-E is a water, borne disease, the Health Ministry has also asked the state government to ensure use of boiled water for drinking, supply of safe drinking water and day-to-day monitoring of jaundice cases. Apart from this, the Engineering Department and the Public Health Department have been asked to check the possible mixing of sewage water with drinking water. The Union Health Minister, Dr C.P. Thakur, said that since the root cause of the spread of hepatitis-E is through water, river water should not be used directly. “The state government must purify water through chlorination.” The NICD Director, Dr Usha Baveja, said a team of NICD which returned from the affected areas recently found that the primary source of infection was contaminated water. She said the team had reported 199 cases of jaundice caused by hepatitis-E. Asked if the NICD was issuing any guidelines to the Himachal Government, Dr Baveja said, “A CD alert on hepatitis-E has already been circulated to all state governments and centre.” The Deputy WHO representative in India, Dr Tej Walia, says: “hepatitis-E is endemic throughout India. The first thing that the state government must do is to prevent people from consuming contaminated water and provide safe drinking water to people. The second most important thing is to find out what is contaminating the water and distribute chlorine tablets, at the household level. |
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Jaundice scaring away tourists Shimla, March 18 The breakout of jaundice in Mandi area, which is the gateway to the world famous Kulu and Manali tourists spots, is likely to cast a shadow on the tourism industry this summer. Officials of the Irrigation and Public Health Department (IPH), who are supposed to supply bacteria-free drinking water to the people, are trying hard to wash their hands off the incidence The IPH
department appears to have not learnt any lesson from the 1991 water borne epidemic, which claimed 150 lives in the Sarkaghat
area of Mandi district. What is shocking is that the IPH officials in most towns have failed to discharge their responsibility of getting bacteriological tests of water, samples done. An official report points out that against the required 22079 bacteriological tests of water only 2962 had been conducted in six districts including Mandi. Studies indicate that most rivers, from which drinking water is lifted for towns, have turned into sewage dumps with raw sewage, hospital waste and garbage being emptied into the rivers by the civic bodies. Figures reveal that untested water was being supplied to 18 towns. Mandi district is the most sensitive with water-borne diseases taking an epidemic shape from time to time. Raw water samples around Manali, from where the Beas flows towards Kulu and Mandi, recently revealed an overwhelming presence of harmful bacteria to the extent of 1100 most probable number (MPN) coliforms per 100 ml of water against the presumable limit of zero. The tests indicated that the presence of coliform in the Beas at Mandi was as high as 1030 per 100 ml. An official report says there is no treatment unit for four gravity water supply schemes and untreated water is being supplied to the villages. The treatment works cannot be constructed because of shortage of funds. The water testing laboratory at Mandi has not conducted bacteriological tests since 1997 and has been doing only physical and chemical examination of water samples. The quality of water in Solan town is also poor. The carelessness on the part of the IPH Department is nothing new in
the state. There was a shortfall of 98 per cent bacteriological testing of
drinking water in 1992-93 when only 312 tests were conducted against the requirement of 15,924. No bacteriological testing of water was done during 1990-91. |
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All dists to have Elisa test facility Chamba, March 18 This was stated by Dr C.D. Sharma, state programme officer (AIDS) of the Himachal Pradesh Health and Family Welfare Department, while addressing a sensitisation workshop for mediapersons organised here today. He said so far 50 doctors of the Health Department had been trained to control and contain AIDS. He said till January 31, 30,888 persons had been screened at IGMC. As many as 342 HIV positive cases including 91 AIDS cases had been detected. Dr Sharma said the Health Department had planned to open AIDS community care centres through NGOs with a view to launching a campaign at the village level. Dr S.K. Hoshi, State Programme Officer, and Mr V.D. Sharma, Chief Medical Officer, Chamba, also addressed the workshop and asked mediapersons to educate the masses. |
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Army
recruitment racket: 1 booked Dharamsala,March18 The boys who could not arrange for the money for being recruited in the Army are a happier lot as they have been saved from being duped. With government jobs becoming more and more scarce, the duped boys somehow managed the money in the hope of getting jobs in the Army as promised to them by a resident of Yol. Though the state CID, which has registered an FIR against Sanjay of Yol, has verified from 30 boys that money was given for getting recruited in the Army, the police fears that the number of such youth could be much higher. Out of this, 18 boys belong to the Lambagaon area of Palampur and allegedly gave Rs 45,000 each for the promised Army job. Other boys belong to the Dhameta area in Nurpur, Sansarpur Terrace and Sunni village in Kangra and Shahpur. “As we are investigating the case, there are chances that the racket was also operating in the Sarkaghat area of Mandi district as some boys have got in touch with us,” said a senior police official. “My younger brother Vijay and my first cousin Ashwinder learnt about this person who was promising an Army job if he was paid Rs 25,000,” said Ajay, a resident of Sunni village in Kangra subdivision. With at least one member from practically every Kangra family serving in the Army, the economy here is called “money order” economy. Vijay said the whole racket was being operated in a very smooth fashion as a person impersonating as an Army Colonel would come to the house of Sanjay where they would get Army medical forms filled by the
aspirants, whose height, weight and other measurements would be taken. He said as word spread amongst the unemployed youth that you could get into the Army by paying Rs 30,000, more and more boys approached Sanjay. Those investigating the case revealed that Sanjay had taken some ex-servicemen into confidence so that they could get the interested boys to him. These retired Army personnel even got some of their relatives to pay the money to get recruited in the Army. In order to convince the boys who were finding it difficult to arrange the money, those involved in the racket would tell them that there were 20 vacancies, for which 18 youth had paid up and it was their last chance. A large number of youth even arranged loans from various agencies in the hope that they would join the Army. The police suspects that this had been going on for the past six months. When some of the boys sent a complaint to the state CID, orders were given for investigating the matter. Some of the boys said that when they tried to approach the police on their own they did not get any cooperation. |
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Residents want college takeover Nurpur, March 18 It is learnt that the managing committee of the college had submitted its resolution for taking over the institution in 1999 to the state government and sent reminders twice to the Chief Minister. Mr Pathania lamented that following the announcement of the college by the Chief Minister at a public meeting in November last year, the managing committee had not approached him in this connection. He said the patron of the private college and former PCC chief, Mr Sat Mahajan, had never shown any interest in the opening of a government college or government takeover of the college when he was a Cabinet Minister in the ruling Congress government in the state for over 14 years. He alleged that Mr Mahajan had ignored the interests of Nurpur town and he was responsible for the present state of affairs of the town. Meanwhile, a delegation of residents of the town headed by Mr Rakesh Mahajan, chairman, Town Welfare Committee and President, Municipal Council, today met Mr Mahajan, patron of Arya College and urged him to take initiative in handing over the management of the college to the state government. |
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Fine on motel
welcomed Kulu, March 18 Public and private properties worth crores of rupees were either washed away or severely damaged in the floods in the river Beas in 1995. The Span Resorts, owned by the Span Motels Pvt Ltd, a family concern of Mr Kamal Nath, former Union Minister for Forest and Environment, and his house within the hotel premises were also damaged in the floods. It was alleged that the company was tampering with the flow of the river. This correspondent spoke to affected villagers. Mani Ram Thakur, a villager of the Hallan panchayat and one of the main complainants, said with the tampering of the river flow danger was caused to the private and forest properties on the left bank of the Beas. To protect our rights, about 300 villagers jointly hired a lawyer and filed a case in the Supreme Court against the company. He denied the charges of any political manipulation and said the interests of the people of the panchayat were at stake and they were left with no option than to approach the court of law. He alleged that the hotel management was interested in protecting its property and its claim of erecting walls on the left bank of the Beas was all hollow. Contrary to the claims of Mani Ram, Mr Narender Gupta, a lawyer of Bathad village in the Hallan panchayat, said the initiation of legal proceedings by some people was nothing but ego problem. Lekh Raj Negi, vice-chief of the Bara Gram panchayat, said the Span Resorts management had chalked out a good plan for the channelisation and flood prevention of the river Beas. He said the management had spent about Rs 1 crore for the flood protection and channelisation of the Beas. |
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HC admits plea on employment Shimla, March 18 The counsel for the petitioner, Mr Rajinder Dogra, contended that the father of the petitioner died in 1989, and there was a provision to provide employmnet to a member of the aggrieved family. In 1990, the rule of appointment on compassionate ground was changed, making only the widow of the deceased eligible. The petitioner said in his case, the old rule applied and he was entitled to a job. However, the department concerned had rejected his claim, he said. |
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HPCC : no change
in stand on expulsions Shimla, March 18 Talking to mediapersons, Mr Rathore produced a copy of the statement issued by Ms Meenakshi Natrajan, President of the NSUI saying that strict action would be taken against those who tried to manipulate officials orders of the NSUI. This is a very serious matter and the Congress committee has asked the state president of the NSUI to look into the matter and take action”, Mr Rathore said. He said the circular had been issued to all Congress members and party functionaries. |
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Judicial officers
may move court Bilaspur, March 18 A five-page resolution adopted by the association and released to mediapersons here last evening by association general secretary and senior sub-judge-cum-Chief Judicial Magistrate, S.L. Sharma said the Himachal Government had put a condition on the release of the pay scales. |
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Factory booked for power theft Shimla, March 18 The raid was conducted following a specific complaint sent by some person in accordance with the incentive scheme for providing information about power theft, and the person concerned whose name had been kept secret had been given cash incentive amount of Rs 25,000. It was the first case of its kind since the incentive scheme was launched last year.
PTI |
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Polling for RS seat on March 27 Shimla, March 18 |
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Auction of liquor vends Shimla, March 18 |
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