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Sunday,
May 26, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Tribesmen raise demands with PM
Vigil at Palampur Army units up Insurance scheme for farm labour |
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Hailstorm, showers
cool region Left parties’ efforts get jolt 3
pilgrims die in mishap HP to adopt bio-technology
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Tribesmen
raise demands with PM Manali, May 25 Lama Thopsal Jodpa along with a group of monks offered the prayers before the hour-long show. The tribal leaders lauded the decision of Mr Vajpayee to construct a 9-km tunnel under the Rohtang Pass, which would not only provide a round-the-year road connection to the tribal valley of
Lahaul, but would also open the area for tourism. The valley remains cut off from the world for about eight months during winter when the pass is covered with snow. They demanded that government employees posted in tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh be exempted from income tax. A tribal leader, Mr Bir Singh Kapoor, presented a memorandum to Mr Vajpayee. The Prime Minister participated in a conference of tribal women last evening. Ms Tashi
Pallu, a resident of Lahaul, pleaded that the ancient practices of polygamy and polyandry in the tribal areas be stopped immediately. She demanded that tribal laws should be amended to provide the right to property to female members of the family. She said the girls in the tribal areas were still facing the threat of being carried away forcibly by any boy who wanted to marry her. Such practices were causing insecurity among women in the tribal area. Ms Geeta Devi, a resident of Bharmour area in Chamba district, suggested that the government take steps for marketing woollens knit by tribal women. The name of Kinkri Devi figured in the tribal conference when Dr Purnima Advani, Chairperson of the National Women Commission, lauded the efforts she had made in getting indiscriminate limestone mining in Sirmour district stopped. Mr Vajpayee said Himachal Pradesh had a rich culture which required to be protected. He talked of women empowerment and said the law against foeticide was being made stringent. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal expressed concern over the imbalance in sex
ratio. |
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Vigil at Palampur Army units up Dharamsala, May 25 With Intelligence agencies having specific information of militant plans to target Yol cantonment and Al Hilal near Palampur, Army personnel along with arms and ammunition have been summoned from Jammu and Kashmir. Reports of five Jaish-e-Mqhammad militants sneaking into Kangra, has put the Army, police and Intelligence agencies on the alert, especially at the Army establishments. The Kangra police has arrested 13 Kashimiri youths from the Bhavarna and Palampur area on suspicion. The antecedents of these labourers and shawl vendors who hail from the Kupwara region of Kashmir have been sent for verification. Two Kashmiri youths, Muhammad Ashraf Lone and Nazir Ahmed have been put in judicial custody. It was on the evening of May 23 that the Intelligence agencies tipped off the local Army authorities that five Kashmiri militants had sneaked into Kangra with the intention of targeting Yol. As per Intelligence reports, the militants had entered Chamba from the Doda area of J and K and would take the Dalhousie-Triund trek to reach Slate Godown village, adjoinig Yol cantonment. The fact that J and K militants have been able to establish many local contacts in Kangra is worrying the state police. Till recently, the cops had to check the spillover of militancy from the troubletorn state of J and K into the bordering area of Chamba only. The mushrooming of a large number of madarsas in Kangra and Chamba and the penetration of fundamental religious outfits to the remote areas of the state is giving anxious moments to the security agencies. The presence of a large number of Muslim families in Slate Godown is a matter of concern as a large number of Kashmiri frequent the area. With the militant outfits targeting Army personnel and their families, the security of Yol has been beefed up. Though most of the terrorist strikes in Himachal have taken place in Chamba district which shares a boundary of 214 km with J and K, the killing of two Army personnel by militants at the firing range near Damtal in Kangra district and the recent attack on the HRTC bus at Kaluchak, near Jammu, has put pressure on the Kangra police. |
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Insurance
scheme for farm labour Dharamsala, May 25 Named as Krishi Shramik Samajik Suraksha Yojna 2001, the scheme covers all persons who are involved in agricultural activities — as labourers on hire in farming, dairy farming, production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any horticulture commodity and in forestry, raising of livestock, bee-keeping or poultry farming. Under the scheme, it is reliably learnt, a landless agricultural worker will contribute Rs 365 per year while the Government of India will put in double the amount, every year. Ten years is the minimum contribution period to be eligible for pension, which ranges from Rs 100 to Rs 1,900. The scheme envisages providing a lump sum payment of Rs 20, 000 in case of natural death of a labourer before the completion of the 10-year period and Rs 50, 000 in case of death due to an accident. It guarantees return of the contribution amount plus interest on the pension to the family. On disability due to an accident before the age of 60, a worker under the scheme gets a lump sum payment of Rs 50, 000 in case of permanent total disability and Rs 25, 000 in case of permanent partial disability due to an accident. In case of death, it entails to provide a lump sum payment of Rs 13, 000 to Rs 2,50,000 to the family, depending upon the age of entry to the scheme. The scheme will initially be launched in 50 select blocks in 15 states during the first phase and will cover 20,000 agricultural workers per block or district —whatever has been chosen. Gram panchayats of the selected blocks have been asked by the district authorities to identify agricultural workers and to organise them into self-help groups. They are also to collect the premium and submit the details to the project society, which in this case is the Kangra Zila Saksharta Samiti under the chairmanship of the District Commissioner Mr Prabodh Saxena. Sources add that in the first phase, 5,000 workers are to be enrolled and in case results are positive, the scheme will be extended to the whole district. It is likely to be launched on May 28 in Himachal Pradesh. |
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Hailstorm, showers
cool region Shimla, May 25 Vehicular traffic came to a grinding halt as the low dark clouds reduced the visibility to a few feet. The crowded streets were deserted within minutes as the tourists and locals ran for cover from the hailstorm. High-velocity winds uprooted trees at some places. The storm also snapped power lines disrupting power supply. The hailstorm was followed by heavy showers, which brought down the mercury considerably, providing the much needed relief from the oppressive heat to the tourists and the local people. Solan, Bilaspur, Sirmaur and parts of Mandi district were also hit by the storm. While the showers doused forest fires in the region, they caused damage to apple crop in the upper Shimla district. MANDI: After a long spell of scorching heat, Mandi and its suburbs had welcome showers on Saturday evening bringing down the temperature considerably and the people heaved a sigh of relief. The rain is inadequate for sowing the maize crop, but it has eliminated the pall of dust cast in the sky and the weather has become pleasant. According to IPH officials the rain will have only marginal impact on the current scarcity of water under which Mandi town and four subdivisions of this district are currently reeling. Dry weather coupled with a heatwave had sparked off forest fires in almost all pine forests. The rain has proved helpful in containing the forest fires. |
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Left parties’ efforts get jolt Shimla, May 25 The decision was taken by the party at its meeting held here today under the presidentship of Mr Ramesh Singh Wadiyal. The state executive of the party has been dissolved. The new body will be constituted on June 1 at Dehra. Mr Mohinder Singh, former Public Works Minister, has been replaced as head of the Dalit Sena by Mr Inder Singh Thakur. The party finalised the programme to make the proposed rally of Mr Paswan at Dehra on June 1 a success. |
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3 pilgrims die in mishap Kangra, May 25 The district police chief, Mr Sanjay Kundu, said that the pilgrims were on the way to Baba Balaknath in Hamirpur district when the accident took place. The injured were shifted to Dr R.P. Government Medical College, Dharamsala. The dead could not be identified till filing of this report.  |
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HP to adopt bio-technology Solan, May 25 Dr Sushant, who addressed a press conference, said district-level committees headed by specialists were being formed for chalking out location specific plans for introducing commercial cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants, hitherto found flourishing in the wilds only. District officers of the related departments like Forests, Agriculture, Horticulture and Industries would be made members of these committees along with scientists of the three universities of the state. |
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