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Tuesday,
July 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Govt in a cleft
stick over new districts
Shifting of college triggers protests HP records 17.39 pc population growth
Industry faces tough time in Parwanoo Contingency plan
for farmers prepared |
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Only panels for
Hadal facelift Kangra police fails to nab militants Timber worth Rs 1.15 lakh
seized near Manali
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Govt in a cleft stick over new districts Shimla, July 22 Demands for carving out new districts of Dehra, Palampur and Nurpur from the existing Kangra district, Sarkaghat, Sunder Nagar and Karsog from Mandi district and Rampur and Rohru from Shimla district have gained momentum. The state at present has 12 districts out of which the tribal districts of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur comprise one Assembly constituency each. The rest 10 districts consist of 66 constituencies with Kangra accounting for 16 seats, Mandi 10 and Shimla 8. The fund-starved government, — whatever be the political motives behind the reorganisation of districts — can not afford to create so many new districts. In the situation the exercise could well prove counter-productive as the government will have to face the wrath of the people whose claim is rejected. Moreover, creating two more districts from Mandi and Shimla is not possible. Such districts, if carved out, will not have more than three or four constituencies, even smaller than most of the existing districts most of which have at least five constituencies. Not only the opposition Congress, even the coalition partner, the Himachal Vikas Congress, has disapproved of the move. Some leaders of the BJP also have their reservation on the issue as they fear that the whole exercise could boomerang. Senior officers see serious financial implications for the cash-strapped government in the long run. It will lead to a further increase in the non-plan expenditure, which has already shot up by over 70 per cent of the total budget. The demand for new districts could have been justified two decades ago when there were few roads and the means of communication were poor. Meanwhile, the people's coordination committee for creation of Rampur district has suggested that the new district should consist of Nankhari, Kumarsen, Ani, Nirmand, and Rampur tehsils. Besides, the Thunag sub-tehsil of Karsog should also be made a part of it. On the other hand, Mr Devendra Bushairi, National General Secretary of the Yuva Lok Jan Shakti, has demanded that Rohru district should be carved out of Shimla district and it could be named as Mahasu district, which existed four decades ago.
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Move to create dists political stunt: DCC Jaisinghpur July 22 He said the Congress was not against the creation of districts but the time was not right. Mr Awasthi criticised the statement of Technical Education Minister Ravinder Ravi regarding Jaisinghpur being made the headquarters for the proposed Palampur district. |
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BJP dissidents to contest 15 Assembly seats Hamirpur, July 22 Mr Kamal Nanda, a prominent district leader of the district, said here today that a decision was taken at a meeting of the party leaders opposed to the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, at an unknown place in the district yesterday. Mr Narendra Thakur, a former district BJP chief, Mr Mohinder Sofat, a former Minister, and Mr Joginder Chauhan, a former President of the Sirmaur district attended the meeting. |
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Shifting
of college triggers protests Dharamsala, July 22 The parents of Capt Batra have also asked the state government not to associate the name of their son with the college at Paraur as their son belonged to Palampur and not Paraur. Ironically, while every one agrees that the decision to shift the college to Paraur is politically motivated, neither the Congress nor the BJP leaders of Palampur have come out in support of the students. The Beopar Mandal, however, did call for a one-day bandh last week when every shop of the town downed its shutters. Criticising the Chief Minister for going back on his promise, Mr G.L. Batra, father of Capt Batra, PVC, in whose memory the college was renamed after him, said, “It was highly deplorable that Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal has failed to honour his assurance given at Manali recently”. Mr Batra said the shifting of the college was unnecessary as most students were from Palampur. “If the state government was so interested in pleasing its MLAs, a new college could have been started at Paraur or a more suitable place in Changer.” However, Dr N.K. Kalia, father of Lt Saurabh Kalia, another martyr of Palampur, finds no justification in the agitation. He said, “A martyr belongs to the entire country and Mr Batra should not object to the shifting of the college when he himself has vacated the house full of memories of Capt Batra”. The uncertainty about the future of the college has taken its toll in the shape of reduced admissions this year. As compared to last year, the number of students admitted till date is less than half. Parents from Palampur and around are not ready to send their daughters to the remote Paraur where they fear for the safety of their wards. The controversy raging around the shifting of the college has started another debate. People have started questioning the decision and argue that in future institutions may be shifted from the constituencies of the political opponents by the ruling party without any thought for the convenience of the people who benefit from them. |
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HP records 17.39 pc population growth Shimla, July 22 “The Provisional Population Totals” publication of the Directorate of Census Operation depicting the provisional population details of the state as per the census of 2001, released by Mr P.K.Dhumal, Chief Minister, here today, reveals that the total population of the state is 60,70,305. The ratio of male and female population is 50.75 per cent and 49.25 per cent, respectively. The female sex ratio per 1,000 male has been calculated at 970. The literacy per centage has reached 77.10 per cent and the density of the population is 109 persons per square km. The ratio of workers is 49.28 per cent of the total population, out of which are 16,85,310 (32.36 per cent) male 16,06,138 (16.92 per cent) female. Among the categories of workers a majority (65.55 per cent) consist of cultivators, 3.10 per cent agricultural labourers, 1.68 per cent in household industries and 29.67 per cent in other professions. Among the cultivators, the per centage of female workers is 86.15 per cent as compared to 49.58 per cent of male workers. The highest per centage of female workers is in Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur and Kulu districts and the lowest in Una, Kangra and Sirmaur. Non-workers percentage has declined from 57.10 per cent in 1991 to 50.72 per cent in 2001, a decline of 6.45 per cent. Dr R.L. Bisotra, Director Census Operations, and other senior officers were among those present. |
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Industry faces tough time in Parwanoo Parwanoo, July 22 A visit to the Parwanoo industrial area revealed that most of the industries in the area had been established about 20 to 25 years back and some of them were non-functional. Workers were seen staging demonstrations and raising slogans in three prominent large scale industries of this town due to industrial relation problems. Mr Om Datt Sharma, the president of CITU of Solan district said industries in Parwanoo and Baddi industrial areas had reached this stage due to faulty export and import and WTO policies treaty. He added that the industrial policies of the BJP government were anti-workers and anti-people. Mr Sharma said the BJP policies had hit the small scale industries the most. He also added that the attitude of the state government was also indifferent towards the old industries in these areas. The government is inviting new industrialists to the state but it has not fulfilled the promises made to the old industry. Mr Sharma said about 150 industries, large and small scale had closed down during the past one year in Parwanoo and Baddi industrial area rendering about 12,000 industrial workers out of job. Capt Alok Sharma, the vice-president of Parwanoo Industries Association, said the industries in this area had been closed down due to multiple reasons. He added that one of the reasons for this was that there was no market available for the local industries in Himachal Pradesh and the industries had to buy their raw material from outside and sell their products in other states which leads to increase in the overhead cost which makes the industry unviable in this area. The industrialist of this town say that there is no proper government policy. The industrialists added that the only charm of setting factories in state was cheap electricity but now the rates have been increased and it is almost at par with other states. The industrialists added that the quality of power is also not good and unscheduled power cuts were also causing problems and added to this was the water problem. The units had to buy water from neighbouring state to meet their needs and the rates of water being supplied by the local housing board were also very high.
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Contingency
plan
for farmers prepared Shimla, July 22 A high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary, Mr Harsh Gupta, had given directions to the department to prepare a contingency plan on Thursday last. Due to the failure of the monsoon, the state has been witnessing a drought-like situation, causing a massive loss to the Kharif crop. Some areas have been left unsown due to lack of rains. As per the reports received from various districts, the crop has been damaged to the extent of 25-35 per cent over 41,000 hectares have been left unsown. The department has advised farmers to sow mash and moong crops, instead of maize in case there is no rain. The transplanting of paddy could also be done. The farmers have been asked to sow peas, potato and fodder. The farmers have also been advised crop insurance in case of maize, paddy and potato. |
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Only panels for
Hadal facelift Nurpur, July 22 Even after seven months not a single brick has been laid for this project. Under the Model Village Scheme, the residents were to get potable water, electricity, civil and veterinary dispensaries, community centres and pucca village paths. During the foundation-laying ceremony, Mr V. Suresh, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of
HUDCO, had given a cheque worth Rs 6.08 lakh, the first instalment of HUDCO’s share, to the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra. |
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Kangra police fails to nab militants Dharamsala, July 22 During the past one year, there has been a perceptible increase in militant activities in the district, but the state police has fail to nab even one culprit. The bomb blast in a train at Chakki railway station which claimed 14 lives, they attacked on Army jawans near Damtal in which four jawans died and the bank robbery in Indora are some such prominent incidents. Yesterday a timing device was fitted on a Shimla bound bus. Besides the militant activities, there has been a spate of murders and other crimes which remain unresolved though red alert had been sounded in the district a numbers of times, not even a single militant has been arrested. Kangra district is highly sensitive as it is the nearest entry point for militants coming from Jammu and Kashmir or Pakistan. |
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Timber worth Rs 1.15 lakh
seized near Manali Shimla, July 22 The police searched a loaded truck parked on roadside after it received a tip-off that timber was being taken out of the valley. As the police closed in two persons got down from the truck and started running towards jungle. One of the occupants of the truck Nasir Mohammed, a resident of Bajaura, was apprehended. In all, 228 planks and karies of deodar and 74 planks of Rai were seized from the vehicle. The truck has been impounded and a regular case registered under the Indian Forest Act. |
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Army recruitment Shimla, July 22 The candidates must have passed at least class VIII, should be in the age group of 16-21, with a minimum height of 173 cm and weight 50 kg. Their chest width should be at least 77 cm, expandable to 82 cm. Interested candidates should report to the Guards Regimental Centre, Kamptee, Nagpur, on the scheduled date. |
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Health
firm team visits Una Una, July 22 |
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