H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

PM may announce sops for HP industry
Shimla, May 16
The significant financial package announced for fund-starved Himachal just two months ago notwithstanding, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee may oblige the BJP-ruled state with an “industrial incentive package” during his weeklong visit commencing on May 20.

Kaluchak carnage victims cremated
Mandi, May 16
Sunaina and her father, Bhup Singh, who were killed in the Kaluchak cantonment area carnage, were cremated in Darbathu village of Nalsar Panchayat in this district on Thursday. Sunaina’s father was escorting her to Srinagar, where she was doing B.Ed.

• Bus victims’ death toll touches 10

HP Panchayati Raj byelections on June 11
Shimla, May 16
The by-elections to fill the vaccant seats in the Panchayati Raj institutions in Himachal Pradesh will be held on June 11.

State poised for white revolution
Shimla, May 16
The Himachal Pradesh Government is poised to bring about a white revolution in the state by starting Milch Livestock Improvement Programme in all districts by 2003. This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, while presiding over the Inter-state Steering Committee meeting here on Tuesday.

Villagers take up road construction
Kumarhatti, May 16
After failing to get a response from the authorities for construction of a road, villagers of Bhadalag panchayat in Dharampur block took the initiative and started the work themselves.

HP to lower water tariff for villages
Nurpur, May 16
The Himachal Pradesh government has declared to roll back enhanced water tariff enforced in May 2001. Enquiries reveal that the government in budget draft had proposed reduction in water tarrif in rural area from Rs 20 to Rs 10 per connection per month. There is no concession for urban consumers in the existing tariff.

Demanding quota, OBCs block road
Kangra, May 16
A number of youths of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) today blocked the Pathankot-Mandi Highway for nearly an hour at Gurkhari Chowk this morning in support of their demands which included 27 per cent reservation for them as per the Supreme Court direction. The agitation left hundreds of vehicles stranded on the Pathankot, Palampur and Kangra roads, the police said here today.

PM’s Manali sojourn from May 20
Shimla, May 16
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will arrive on a week long sojourn at Manali in Kulu district on May 20, official sources said here.

Bandh observed in Chamba
Chamba, May 16
A near-total bandh was observed in Chamba today when all markets and various private commercial and industrial establishments remained closed to condemn the carnage of Kaluchak, near Jammu.

Liquor shop set ablaze
Kangra, May 16
An irate mob led by a group of six women set ablaze a country liquor shop at Dhawala village today and blocked the Jawalamukhi — Dehra road for three hours in protest against the alleged manhandling of junior engineer of the HPSEB by miscreants at the liquor shop last evening, the police said.

Minister bereaved
Chamba, May 16
Shiv Dei, (75), the mother of Minister of State for Ayurveda Mohan Lal, died this morning. She was suffering from a prolonged illness and breathed her last at the zonal hospital here.

HUJ conference
Shimla, May 16
A state-level conference of the Himachal Union of Journalists affiliated to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will be held here on May 18.

Video

The Dalai Lama holds a special prayer ceremony in Dharamsala to mark his first public appearance after a 50-day spiritual retreat. (28k, 56k)

PM may announce sops for HP industry
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 16
The significant financial package announced for fund-starved Himachal just two months ago notwithstanding, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee may oblige the BJP-ruled state with an “industrial incentive package” during his weeklong visit commencing on May 20.

Expectations of special central assistance are raised every time the Prime Minister visits the state. Mr Vajpayee, who considers Himachal as his second home, has never disappointed the Himachalis. On each occasion he has either announced special assistance for the state or laid down the foundation stone of some mega project. In March, when he came to Shimla to preside over the rally organised to mark the completion of four years of the BJP-HVC coalition in office, he announced a generous financial package which included an untied grant of Rs 200 crore.

This time he is likely to announced a package to give the much-needed boost to industrialisation in the hill state. The draft “industrial incentives package” has already been discussed with the Prime Minister’s Office. The package is being finalised for the two left-out states of Himachal and Uttaranchal. While industrial incentives were already available in the North-East states, a package was announced by the Centre for Jammu and Kashmir only recently.

The draft of the proposed package of incentives was discussed by a team of officers from the two states, headed by their respective Chief Secretaries, and the officers concerned in the PMO.

The main feature of the proposed package is the restoration of central subsidy on capital investment, which was withdrawn more than a decade ago. Subsidy is proposed to be given at the rate of 25 per cent up to a maximum of Rs 30 lakh. To prevent the misuse of subsidy in-built checks were also proposed to be put in place.

Concessions in central excise duty for various types of industries and incentives to revive sick industries were also proposed.

The income tax exemption to new industries, which is extended year after year, may be allowed for an extended period. The proposal is to grant this incentive for eight to 10 years in one go so that those who want to set up industries in the state know in advance that they could avail it up to year 2010 or 2012 as the case may be.

The existing transport subsidy on carriage for raw material and finished products will be continued with some changes in the scheme. The administration of the scheme will be transferred from the Centre to the state concerned.

Although the Prime Minister is coming to Manali where he has his own house for a retreat, he is likely to lay the foundation stone for a Rs 800-crore Rohtang tunnel project. Being the election year, an industrial incentive package will only help improve the BJP’s poll prospects in the state.

Kaluchak carnage victims cremated

Mandi, May 16
Sunaina and her father, Bhup Singh, who were killed in the Kaluchak cantonment area carnage, were cremated in Darbathu village of Nalsar Panchayat in this district on Thursday. Sunaina’s father was escorting her to Srinagar, where she was doing B.Ed.

Mr Prakash Chaudhary, Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, also attended the cremation and later went to the house of the deceased to console the bereaved family.

A bandh was also observed in Jogindernagar in protest against the massacre. Prem Singh, driver of the HRTC bus, who was also killed by the militants, belonged to Jogindernagar.

Bus victims’ death toll touches 10
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 16
With the identification of more victims of the terrorist attack on the HRTC bus near Jammu, the number of Himachalis killed has risen to five. Two bodies were today identified as those of Ms Minakshi Parmar and her brother, Brijesh Parmar. They belonged to Ambioa village in Una district.

HP Panchayati Raj byelections on June 11

Shimla, May 16
The by-elections to fill the vaccant seats in the Panchayati Raj institutions in Himachal Pradesh will be held on June 11.

Polling, if necessary, will be held on June 11 from 8 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. The process of election will be completed by June 15. UNI

State poised for white revolution
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 16
The Himachal Pradesh Government is poised to bring about a white revolution in the state by starting Milch Livestock Improvement Programme in all districts by 2003. This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, while presiding over the Inter-state Steering Committee meeting here on Tuesday.

Mr Dhumal said the Rs 8.87 crore milch livestock improvement project launched this year in Solan district was yielding good results. He said similar projects were being proposed for Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una, Kulu and Mandi districts and the matter had been taken up with the Government of India. He said the project would not only include dairy farming activities, but also encourage off-season vegetable cultivation and floriculture etc which would strengthen the economy of the farmers and provide self-employment avenues to the youth at their doorsteps.

He said over 90 per cent of the population was directly and indirectly dependent upon agriculture related activities in the state. He stressed upon the need for diversification in agriculture and making the best use of cultivable land.

Mr Dhumal said there was need to educate the people about the benefits of such programmes which would help improve the rural economy of the state. He said officers should organise meetings at the village level and encourage farmers to join the movement for bringing about a white revolution, besides providing them technical knowhow. He also said village-level societies needed to be encouraged to bring more people to join the programme.

The Chief Minister said the government was importing root stock of fruit plants so that quality fruits could be produced to meet the world market requirements.

He said proposals should be prepared by all districts to construct “gau sadans” to house stray animals. Mr Dhumal said Solan district should be adopted as a model in the Milk Livestock Improvement Programme and experts invited to all districts to educate the people. 

Villagers take up road construction
Our Correspondent

Kumarhatti, May 16
After failing to get a response from the authorities for construction of a road, villagers of Bhadalag panchayat in Dharampur block took the initiative and started the work themselves.

The 10-km stretch from Borat to Durgapur covering a population of 400 people, mostly Schedule Caste, was not constructed despite repeated requests, says Kanta Devi, president of the panchayat. After waiting for years, the villagers decided to construct the road themselves, she said.

For this, the villagers formed a committee and applied to the Block Development Office under a Jan Sahayog Scheme in which the Schedule Caste-dominated villages can get financial support from the government for construction of road by investing some percentage of the total expenditure.

During the past one and half months, a group of 10 to 15 villagers, working in shifts have constructed about 1.5 km stretch and hope to complete the road soon.

The villagers are working day and night to ensure that the work completes fast so that transportation of crops to the markets is made easier.

HP to lower water tariff for villages
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, May 16
The Himachal Pradesh government has declared to roll back enhanced water tariff enforced in May 2001. Enquiries reveal that the government in budget draft had proposed reduction in water tarrif in rural area from Rs 20 to Rs 10 per connection per month. There is no concession for urban consumers in the existing tariff.

Consumer here have taken strong exception to the discrimination between rural and urban in respect of water tariff.

Mr R.K. Mahajan, president of the local Municipal Council has urged the Chief Minister to bring water tariff in urban areas on par with that the rural areas to end discrimination.

The Dhumal government had issued a notification in February 2001 telling water consumers to install water meters at their own cost. That notification had to be revoked following people’s protests.

Demanding quota, OBCs block road
Our Correspondent

Kangra, May 16
A number of youths of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) today blocked the Pathankot-Mandi Highway for nearly an hour at Gurkhari Chowk this morning in support of their demands which included 27 per cent reservation for them as per the Supreme Court direction. The agitation left hundreds of vehicles stranded on the Pathankot, Palampur and Kangra roads, the police said here today.

Mr Pawan Choudary, state president of the OBC Youth Organisation, which is spearheading the agitation said the youths had resorted to a relay fast outside the Deputy Commissioner’s officer in Dharamshala for nearly two months, demanding the implementation of the court verdict but the government paid no heed to their demands.

He demanded that a Vidhan Sabha Committee for OBCs be set up to monitor the welfare programmes for this community. A liaison officer should also be appointed in every department to look after the employment opportunities for the OBCs. Mr Kumar demanded reservation for OBC youths in higher educational institutions and professional colleges in the state. He demanded representation for them in the HP Public Service Commission and State Subordinate Services Selection Board.

There was a heavy bandobast of the police forces in Kangra town and Gurkhari Chowk to escalation of tension.

PM’s Manali sojourn from May 20
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 16
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will arrive on a week long sojourn at Manali in Kulu district on May 20, official sources said here.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Harsh Gupta held a high-level meeting here today to review the arrangements for Mr Vajpayee’s stay in Manali. 

Bandh observed in Chamba
Our Correspondent

Chamba, May 16
A near-total bandh was observed in Chamba today when all markets and various private commercial and industrial establishments remained closed to condemn the carnage of Kaluchak, near Jammu.

Local residents, including traders, took out a procession in the main bazaars of the town. Various organisations decried the massacre in which HRTC passengers were brutally gunned down by the militants, who later entered the KP Lines Army quarters and killed kin of army personnel.

Meanwhile, resentment prevails among residents living in the Chamba district adjacent to the militancy-infested region of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) over the negligent attitude of the state government for not providing security cover to night bus services being plied by the HRTC to far-flung destinations such as Delhi, Hardwar, Dehra Dun and Amritsar in the wake of the recent killings at Kaluchak, near Jammu.

Mr G.K. Negi, Regional Manager, HRTC, Chamba, said the matter of providing security cover to night bus services in the Chamba region would be taken up with the state government. It is worth mentioning here that the J&K Government has provided security cover to the bus service plied by the J&K Road Transport Corporation between Jammu and Chamba.

Liquor shop set ablaze
Our Correspondent

Kangra, May 16
An irate mob led by a group of six women set ablaze a country liquor shop at Dhawala village today and blocked the Jawalamukhi — Dehra road for three hours in protest against the alleged manhandling of junior engineer of the HPSEB by miscreants at the liquor shop last evening, the police said.

Kangra additional police chief N.D. Sareen said that junior engineer Amarjeet Singh was allegedly assaulted when he disconnected the unauthorised power connection to the liquor shop.

A case has been registered.

Minister bereaved

Chamba, May 16
Shiv Dei, (75), the mother of Minister of State for Ayurveda Mohan Lal, died this morning. She was suffering from a prolonged illness and breathed her last at the zonal hospital here.

A large number of people were present at her cremation on the banks of the Ravi at Sarol. UNI

HUJ conference
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 16
A state-level conference of the Himachal Union of Journalists affiliated to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will be held here on May 18.

Mr Ravinder Randev, convener of the HUJ, said the problems of part-time correspondent and anomalies in the wage board award would be discussed during the conference.