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Thursday,
July 18, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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NEWS ANALYSIS CM to
distribute ‘pattas’ of encroached land Crime
against women up: Cong Agitating
students stone buses |
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Pharmacist
trainees to be selected afresh Teenaged
lovers end life 
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NEWS ANALYSIS Shimla, July 17 The proposal, which is to be put up before the state Cabinet tomorrow, if approved, could lead to an anomalous situation. Article 243 (E) of the Constitution clearly lays down that the term of Panchayati Raj Institutions, unless dissolved under the law, shall be five years from the appointed date of the first meeting. Further, no amendment of the law in force shall have the effect of dissolution of a Panchayati Raj Institution at any level, which is functioning immediately before such amendment, till the expiration of its specified duration. The existing zila parishads and panchayat samitis came into being in January, 2001, and their term will expire in January, 2006. If the government creates new districts the status of these constitutional bodies will have to be altered. For instance, if two or three new districts are carved out of Kangra, as is being proposed, the new districts will have to make do without zila parishads as the status of the existing one could not be changed. In case the government allows the zila parishads of the districts affected by the reorganisation exercise to complete the term to circumvent the law, it will not only create legal and administrative problems but also pose difficulties in district planning and distribution of funds, which is the responsibility of the zila parishads. It will also lead to a situation where the planning and development work of new districts will be overseen by the zila parishad of another district. The government’s claim that the creation of new districts will not entail much additional expenditure appears to be misleading. The creation of a district does not mean merely setting up an office of the Deputy Commissioner. It will require opening of over 30 district offices with adequate manpower and physical infrastructure. Without creating all offices the creation of a new district will be a mere eyewash. It would be like replacing a Sub-Divisional Magistrate by a Deputy Commissioner, a senior officer said. Buildings, vehicles and office equipment will have to be provided for each district office, which will require a capital expenditure of several crores of rupees. Besides, the recurring expenditure on salaries and other establishment charges will also run into crores of rupees. Moreover, the BJP had made no mention of such a proposal in its election manifesto. There was not even an indication to it in the Budget. The proposal was mooted only after the BJP suffered a humiliating defeat in the recent Shimla Municipal Corporation poll. Obviously, the sole objective behind the move is to improve the electoral prospects. Whether the move helps the party or not in the poll is another matter, it will lose the moral right to condemn the Congress for opening a large number of institutions on the eve of the last Assembly elections. It is being said that the schools, colleges, health institutions and veterinary dispensaries opened by the Congress government just before the elections only fulfilled the basic needs of the people, but the new districts would not make much difference to them. Even a section of the BJP is opposed to the move as they fear that it could boomerang. They cite the example of Uttaranchal in this regard where the BJP lost the election even after creating a new state. Meanwhile, the congress has urged the government to set up an independent commission for the purpose. It also wants that the government should take all parties into confidence while undertaking the exercise. PTI adds: The Himachal Congress has described the move of the BJP government in the state to create new districts as an attempt to divert the attention of the people from “corruption and non-governance” during its 52-month rule. Addressing a press conference here the HPCC spokesman Kuldeep Singh Rathore said the move to create new districts was politically motivated and the government was coming out with this proposal at the fag end of the term which would add to financial burden of the fund-starved state. He said the Congress was not opposed to the creation of new districts but it should be done in an objective manner keeping in view the topography, population and administrative convenience. |
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CM to distribute ‘pattas’ of encroached land Hamirpur, July 17 The Independence Day function this year would be held at a place where the number of cases under the programme would be highest he added. Talking with reporters here this afternoon, Mr Sushant blasted those who were opposing the programme and had filed a public interest litigation in the Himachal Pradesh High Court to stall it. Claiming that the programme would benefit people, he said the number of such encroachments would be around 5 to 6 lakh. Mr Sushant said that out of Rs 50 charged for a form, Rs 25 would got to the concerned patwari, Rs 10 to the kanungo and Rs 5 to the gram panchayat chowkidar. The Minister said that the state government was seized of the problem of crop loss in wake of the constant drought conditions in the state. He said that the government had instructed the revenue agencies to send a complete report of the crop loss so that a detailed report could be sent to the Central Government for securing a grant. Mr Sushant said that he would approach the Chief Minister and the Agriculture Minister to suggest certain changes in the crop insurance scheme. Earlier, the minister held a meeting with the functionaries of the panchyati raj institutions, mahila mandals and officials of various government agencies. Mrs Urmila Thakur, Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Babu Ram Mandyal and Mr Baldev Sharma, MLAs and Mrs Anuradha Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Hamirpur, also attended the meeting. |
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Crime against women up: Cong Mandi, July 17 Talking to reporters while on the last leg of her statewide tour, she lamented that crime against women had increased during the BJP rule in Himachal Pradesh. She called upon the women to fight the government and ensure its defeat in the elections and bring the Congress to power. The state president of the Women’s Cell, Major Krishna Mohini (retd), regretted that the government had failed to rehabilitate people who were rendered homeless during the execution of the BSL project even two decades later. She regretted that the BSL authorities had been adopting an “evasive attitude” towards the massive spilling out of silt from the hydel channel which had turned the fertile Balh valley into a veritable desert. |
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Agitating
students stone buses Dharamsala, July 17 Surprisingly, the large police contingent, which was following the students, failed to contain them. It was staff of the Haryana Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) which frustrated the students’ plan to cause widespread damage to the HRTC property. Later, the students sat on a dharna outside the bus stand and blocked traffic for more than two hours. The students are angry with the Chief Minister for his failure to keep promise that the college will not be shifted from Palampur. It may be recalled that Government Degree College, Palampur, which was later named after PVC awardee the late Capt Vikram Batra, was started seven years ago in a private building. From the very beginning there had been a demand to shift the college to Paraur but the then Congress government did not accept the demand despite an agitation by residents of Paraur and surrounding villages. Since the BJP came to power in 1998, its party workers and residents of Paraur had been pressurising the government to shift the college. However, this move was resisted by residents of Palampur and other areas. A committee under the chairmanship of Technical Education Minister Ravinder Singh Ravi was constituted to recommend a suitable site for the college. The Congress MLA from Palampur, Mr
B. B. L. Butail, who was a member of the committee, had alleged that even before the committee held any meeting Mr Ravi and Sullah MLA Vipan Singh Parmar stated that the college would be shifted to Paraur and forced the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, to make an announcement to this effect at Gopalpur early this year. Students and people from Palampur started an agitation outside the SDM office which was discontinued only when the Chief Minister assured a delegation led by Mr
G. L. Batra, father of the late Captain Batra, in Manali that the matter would be studied afresh. Mr Batra was also asked to be a member of the new committee. He had opposed the move to shift the college arguing that his son, after whom the college was named, belonged to Palampur and not Paraur. Subsequently, the Secretary Education had asked the college authorities to go slow in the matter. However, now the college authorities had received directions to ensure that classes were held at Paraur. Meanwhile, all business establishments and shops in Palampur town remained closed today in support of the agitating students. According to Palampur SDM
K. C. Kalyan, the students took out a protest rally through the town and when they reached the main bus stand, about 40-45 students started pelting HRTC buses with stones. A bus conductor was also injured. He said four students, who led the miscreants, had been identified and a case had been registered against them. |
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Pharmacist
trainees to be selected afresh Shimla, July 17 The Ayurveda Department issued an advertisement in 1998, for selecting 150 candidates for imparting training of ayurveda pharmacists. In 2001, the department issued a communication that it would select 600 candidates instead of 150 on the basis of the earlier selection process. As per the information listed before the high court by Neelmani, nearly one lakh candidates submitted applications for the posts and 6000 of them appeared for the interview. Though this selection process was completed in 1999-2000, its result was not declared. The number of seats was increased to 600 on the plea that the department would start three additional institutes. The division bench comprising Mr Chief Justice
W. A. Shishak and Mr Justice Arun Kumar Goel disposed of the writ petition in view of the statement made by the Advocate-General. |
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Teenaged
lovers end
life Mandi, July 17 The lovers in the age group of 19 and 21 years allegedly consumed poison on the banks of the canal. They had reportedly become desperate after the marriage of the girl was fixed for the next month. The bodies identified as Pawan and Rukmani were recovered near Sundernagar reservoir and handed over to their relatives after a post-mortem examination, police sources said. In another incident Nand Lal (45) resident of Sihun panchayat near Baggi committed suicide by allegedly consuming poison today. In the third incident, Hans Raj, a plus II student and resident of Chachiot committed suicide by allegedly consuming poison. The body was handed over to his parents after a post-mortem examination.
PTI |
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Three killed Shimla, July 17 |
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