H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Corporation’s working hits PDS
Dharamsala, June 3
The reluctance of Himachal Pradesh Civil Supplies Corporation to obey the recent government directions allowing various marketing cooperative societies and rail head agencies as sub-wholesalers have put a spanner in the smooth functioning of the public distribution system in the district.

Sohan Lal is Mayor of Shimla

Shimla, June 3 Mr Sohan Lal was today elected mayor of the Congress-controlled Shimla Municipal Corporation. He defeated Mr Devinder Mista of the BJP. Mr Nand Kishore Mehta of the Congress was elected Deputy Mayor as he defeated Ms. Swarna Devi of the BJP.

Mr Sohan Lal is surrounded by supporters after being elected mayor of the Shimla Municipal Corporation on Monday. — Photo by Anil Dayal

Parwanoo barrier makes going tough for residents
Parwanoo, June 3
A private agency took over the collection of entry tax at the Parwanoo barrier from midnight of May 31 which resulted in a major traffic jam and confusion on Saturday morning. Long lines of vehicles were seen up to Kalka bazaar blowing horns. People waited in the scorching sun for their turn to pay the entry tax to enter Himachal.

Samiti sub-panel visits Mandi
Shimla, June 3
A seven-member sub-committee of the Raj Bhasha Samiti of Parliament headed by Dr Laxmi Narayan Pandey visited Mandi yesterday.

Employee booked in health scam
Shimla, June 3
The Vigilance Department, which is investigating the multi-crore health purchase scam, today booked Mr Pawan Sood, a Senior Assistant in the Directorate of Health Services and one of the main accused, under the Prevention of Corruption Act for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Cashier returns bag with Rs 13,000
Hamirpur, June 3
A rare example of honesty has been witnessed at the local office of the Life Insurance Corporation. Mr Dandoo Ram of the Mundkhar area of the district, who had come to the office for depositing the premium of his policy, forgot a purse carrying Rs 13,000 there.

Lahaul-Spiti faces diesel shortage
Kulu, June 3
Acute shortage of diesel and foodgrains in Kaza subdivision of the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti has created difficulties for the people, this was stated by Mr A.N. Vidyarathi, a former state Chief Secretary and member of the AICC, here today.

Corporation’s working hits PDS
Our Correspondent

Dharamsala, June 3
The reluctance of Himachal Pradesh Civil Supplies Corporation to obey the recent government directions allowing various marketing cooperative societies and rail head agencies as sub-wholesalers have put a spanner in the smooth functioning of the public distribution system in the district.

Though the Department of Civil Supplies has issued permits drawn on the state Civil Supplies Corporation for supply of the foodgrains and other essential items distributed through the public distribution system, the corporation has yet not delivered the goods. Consequently there is no supply to the rural fair price shops, putting the poor to inconvenience.

The marketing cooperative societies and rail head agencies which number around 12 in Kangra district alone have been playing a pivotal role in the distribution of essential goods through the public distribution system in the rural areas. But two years ago, the state government entrusted the entire activities related to the wholesale distribution to Civil Supplies Corporation.

Recently the state government while withdrawing its earlier decision allowed the marketing cooperatives to act as subwholesalers to Civil Supplies Corporation.

In Kangra alone, the monthly turn over in public distribution system goods exceeds Rs 10 crore and this forms the major source of earnings for the corporation. It appears the corporation does not want to part with a small portion of commission paid for wholesale and retail business in PDS goods to the primary cooperative societies and rail head agencies.

Presently the corporation is paid Rs 22 a quintal on wheat and Rs 23 a quintal on rice lifted from the stock. The retail margin has been fixed at Rs 4 a quintal for rice and wheat.

Following the government instructions, the Co-operatives Inspector responsible for over six societies under his control had issued permits to some co-operative marketing societies to lift the food grains from Civil Supplies Corporation but till date the goods have not been delivered.

When contacted, a senior official of the Co-operatives Department confirmed this. “The district administration and the department is already on the job to sort out this tangle so that the foodgrains reach the fair price shops at the earliest.” he added.

Sohan Lal is Mayor of Shimla
Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 3
Mr Sohan Lal was today elected mayor of the Congress-controlled Shimla Municipal Corporation. He defeated Mr Devinder Mista of the BJP.

Mr Nand Kishore Mehta of the Congress was elected Deputy Mayor as he defeated Ms. Swarna Devi of the BJP.

Mr Sohan Lal, who is a third-time councillor of the corporation, polled 17 votes as an independent councillor, Mr Harish Janartha, also voted in his favour. Mr Mista got six votes.

In the 24-member house, the Congress has a strength of 16, the BJP has six members, while one is Independent and one belongs to the CPM.

The CPM councillor, Mr Rajeev Thakur, abstained from voting.

Mr Mehta also polled 17 votes, while Ms Thakur got six votes.

Mr Sohan Lal and Mr Mehta, were garlanded by their supporters after they were sworn by the Director of Urban Bodies, Mr Rajesh Kumar. Both were thereafter taken in a procession to the Congress headquarters on The Mall.

There was resentment among a section of the newly elected women councillors of the Congress as the party did not sponsor a woman for Deputy Mayorship as was doen by the BJP. The strength of the women councillors of the congress is 7, while the BJP has two.

The congress announced that Mr Ashok Sood would be the party’s chief whip and Ms. Mala Singh the spokesperson.

Later, talking to mediapersons, Ms Vidya Stokes, PCC chief, said Mr Kaul Singh and Mr Chander Kumar, MLAs, were present at the meeting which was held in the PCC headquarters earlier in the morning to unanimously chose the candidates for the two posts.

Mr Sohan Lal thanked the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi and Ms Stokes for his election as Mayor.

Parwanoo barrier makes going tough for residents
Our Correspondent

Parwanoo, June 3
A private agency took over the collection of entry tax at the Parwanoo barrier from midnight of May 31 which resulted in a major traffic jam and confusion on Saturday morning. Long lines of vehicles were seen up to Kalka bazaar blowing horns. People waited in the scorching sun for their turn to pay the entry tax to enter Himachal. Incidentally, on the same day some schools of Chandigarh, Panchkula, Ambala and Delhi had declared summer holidays and most of the people were rushing with their children to Shimla for spending holidays.

The entry tax was levied by the Himachal Pradesh Government in May 2000, and from May 31, it was handed over to a private agency in an auction which fetched the government Rs 2.7 crore for 10 months.

The private agency has also revised the tax slab with effect from Saturday. According to the new slab, all four-wheelers entering the Parwanoo barrier will have to shell out Rs 10 in addition to the previous slab fixed by the government.

Official of the Excise Department also said the new tender of the Parwanoo barrier would bring Rs 10 hike in the slab for all types of four-wheelers entering the state through this barrier from June 1. A sum of Rs 60 would be charged per vehicle carrying 20 quintals to 90 quintals of load and Rs 40 for 10 quintals to 20 quintals of load. Likewise, a non-commercial private vehicle would be charged Rs 30. All charges would be valid for 24 hours, officials said. Officials said Rs 60 would now be charged per vehicle with more than 12 seats, Rs 40 for 12-seater vehicles, while private Jeeps, cars, pick-up vans would have to pay Rs 30 as tax. Taxi drivers would be charged Rs 40. Two-wheelers have been exempted from tax. The government while levying this tax, had kept a provision of paying quarterly and six monthly tax on pass basis at a concessional rate but the private agency collecting tax at barriers said there was no such provision now.

The handing over of the tax collection to a private party, has met with sharp criticism in all sections of society. Mr Ravinder Garg, member of the Parwanoo Nagar Parishad said it had badly affected the local residents, who had to cross the barrier many times a day while going to Kalka, Pinjore and Chandigarh for their daily work. Ram Kishore, a resident of the town, said he had to pay Rs 30 at the barrier for coming back home after buying vegetables which cost him Rs 30. The residents have suggested that the entry collection barrier should be put up at some open space outside the limits of the town.

They have urged the government to withdraw the tax otherwise they will be forced to move court. The vehicle owners have alleged that receipts issued by the staff of the contractor at the barrier are neither signed by any authorised person nor stamped.

Samiti sub-panel visits Mandi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 3
A seven-member sub-committee of the Raj Bhasha Samiti of Parliament headed by Dr Laxmi Narayan Pandey visited Mandi yesterday.

Addressing the heads of Nagar Raj Bhasha Implementation committees of Mathura, Chandigarh, Dharamsala, Shimla and Mandi besides various heads of office of the central government and representatives of banks and other undertakings and financial institutions. Dr Pandey said preparing bilingual websites, training programmes and fixing percentage of correspondence between different ministries and departments had been envisaged in the action plan.

He said every head of office should take effective steps to promote the use of Hindi, which would enhance national pride.

Mrs Vimal Vashishtha, Commissioner, Income Tax, Himachal Pradesh also took part in the meeting and apprised the samiti of efforts being made by the department to promote the use of Hindi in its official work.

Employee booked in health scam
Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 3
The Vigilance Department, which is investigating the multi-crore health purchase scam, today booked Mr Pawan Sood, a Senior Assistant in the Directorate of Health Services and one of the main accused, under the Prevention of Corruption Act for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.

During investigation, the police found that Mr Sood had paid Rs 16.5 lakh for the admission of his daughter in B.R. Ambedkar Medical College at Bangalore. Of this amount, Rs 13 lakh were paid in one instalment. He had also executed a bond with the management for paying another Rs 4 lakh by 2003. He failed to explain from where he got this money. Besides, he owns a house at Dehra in Kangra and a Maruti Alto car.

Cashier returns bag with Rs 13,000
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, June 3
A rare example of honesty has been witnessed at the local office of the Life Insurance Corporation. Mr Dandoo Ram of the Mundkhar area of the district, who had come to the office for depositing the premium of his policy, forgot a purse carrying Rs 13,000 there. When he came to know about this he rushed back to the office and enquired personnel about the missing purse.

He got his purse back with entire belongings, including currency notes, when he gave its description to cashier Ram Chand Munihal. LIC officials appreciated the honest act of the cashier.

Lahaul-Spiti faces diesel shortage
Our Correspondent

Kulu, June 3
Acute shortage of diesel and foodgrains in Kaza subdivision of the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti has created difficulties for the people, this was stated by Mr A.N. Vidyarathi, a former state Chief Secretary and member of the AICC, here today.

In a press note, Mr Vidyarathi said the only petrol station at Kaza had exhausted its diesel stock and this has affected farmers.

Mr Vidyarathi further said there were only two HRTC buses being plied in the valley, thus putting a lot of inconvenience to the people. He demanded that the Gramphee Kaza Road should be thrown open to vehicular traffic as soon as possible.