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Tuesday,
September 3, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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QUESTION HOUR IN HP ASSEMBLY HP House adjourned sine
die Resolution to raise power board’s borrowing
limit Ban orders on bridge flouted |
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‘Sadbhavana 2002’
scheme for traders 7 teachers to be honoured
on Sept 5 Murder accused found dead Kutlehar HVC members
resign 2 Manimahesh pilgrims killed in
mishap Minor raped Plea to reopen centre for promotion exams Nepalese held with charas
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QUESTION HOUR IN HP ASSEMBLY Shimla, September 2 Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, said a wrong picture was being presented before the people regarding loans raised by the present government. He informed the House that against the non-SLR borrowings of Rs 913 crore from 1993-94 to 1997-98, the present government had raised Rs 1,482 crore. This total loans, including authorised borrowings, amounted to Rs 1,482 crore. This was not a huge amount keeping in view the fact that the government had also repaid Rs 985 crore during the period, he said. The Chief Minister said the present government had to raise additional resources to meet the enhanced expenditure on account of the revision of salaries and pensions and the ever-increasing interest liability. The annual expenditure on salaries had shot up from Rs 987 crore in 1997-98 to Rs 1,911 crore in 2002-03, he said. The pension burden rose from Rs 185 crore to Rs 494 crore and the interest liability from Rs 455 crore to Rs 1,391 crore over the period. The size of the annual Budget swelled from Rs 3,472 crore to Rs 6,115 crore, he added. Mr Dhumal said loans had been raised at very reasonable rate of interest. During 2001-02, Rs 707.67 crore were raised till February-end by various boards and corporations. Of this, Rs 396.78 crore were raised for the government. A total amount of Rs 1,441 crore was received as loan. This included Rs 491.36 crore of Central loans, Rs 300 crore of negotiated loan and Rs 501.12 crore under small savings and the general provident fund. Replying to a supplementary of Mr Kaul Singh, he said the government had given Rs 51 crore to the state road transport corporation last year and it was not starved of funds. Answering a question of Mr Virbhadra Singh, Leader of the Opposition, Mr Dhumal said a draft agreement for the execution of the Rampur project had been finalised and it would be signed only after it was approved by the board of directors of the NJPC. He said a relief and rehabilitation plan for persons likely to be displaced was also being finalised. As per the draft agreement, the debt equity ratio will be 70 to 30 and 40 per cent of the overall staff will be drawn from the state power board on deputation. A monitoring committee will be set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to ensure the execution in a time-bound manner. The project is likely to have a generation capacity between 400 and 500 MW. The exact capacity will be known after the finalisation of the detailed project report. Mr Ishwar Das, Education Minister, informed the House that 21 senior secondary schools, 17 high schools and 140 middle schools had been opened up to August 31. A new college was also opened and two private colleges taken over by the government. As per the announcement made in the Budget, a college, 29 senior secondary schools, eight high schools and 60 middle schools are yet to be opened. |
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No more encroachments:
Dhumal Shimla, September 2 Intervening in the debate on the government resolution on the issue he clarified that in urban areas, encroachments would not be regularised beyond 200 sq metres, including the land owned by the encroacher. He said after the
regularisation, no fresh encroachments would allowed and action would be taken against officials who failed to check these. Dr Rajan
Sushant, Revenue Minister, said the policy was a revolutionary step which would benefit 6 lakh persons, over 95 per cent of which were poor. He said the previous Congress governments had also come out with similar policies but these were legally infirm and quashed by the High Court. He said all lacunae in the previous policies had been removed. Initiating the debate, Mr Kaul Singh said the policy, which was being implemented in “undue” haste, would spell doom for the administration of revenue laws in the state. The relevant rules were never placed before the House, which was a mandatory requirement, he said. It was a policy for the benefit of law-breakers and the influential and against the interest of deserving poor, he added. He said Union Minister Shanta Kumar had said that encroachments were the handiwork of the nexus between officers, policitians and criminals. He said the announcement of the policy had encouraged encroachers. The number of encroachments was stated to be about 60,000 two years ago and when the government decided to formulate a policy, it put the number at around 2 lakh. When applications for regularisation had been submitted the number had increased to 5 lakh, he added. The Congress leader said his party would have supported the policy if it had been framed for the benefit of below-poverty-line families, widows, landless, ex-servicemen and the underprivileged sections of society. However, it had created a free-for-all situation to encourage law-breakers, he said. Mr Mohinder Singh said the government had raised Rs 3 crore from applicants by selling forms at Rs 50. Besides, they had to spend a lot on obtaining various revenue papers and other documents. Mr Chander Kumar said section 163 of the Land Revenue Act was meant for ejectment and not for the regularisation of the encroachment. As such, it could not be amended to frame rules for
regularisation, he said. Mr B. R. Mandyal and Mr Ram Lal Thakur also addressed the House. |
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HP House adjourned sine
die Shimla, September 2 Replying to the discussion, Chief Minister, P.K. Dhumal, said he was prepared to let “bygones be bygones” and prepared to close the unsavoury chapter, provided the Congress accepted its mistake. He rejected the contention of the party that the report was one-sided and that their viewpoint was not heard and said the Congress leader fully participated in the inquiry after its plea challenging the constitution of the commission was dismissed by the high court. The indicted leaders had filed affidavits before the commission and engaged three advocates to plead their case and cross-examine Mr Dhwala. Mr Virbhadra Singh, however, asserted that his party had rejected the report which was full of fallacies and said there was no reason for admitting mistakes when none had been committed. Initiating the discussion, Mr Kaul Singh termed the report as a political document and not a judicial one. The Congress had demanded inquiry by a sitting high court judge but the government entrusted it to a retired sessions judge whose ideology and political affiliations were no secret. The judge ignored the affidavit filed by Mr Ramesh Dhwala, an Independent legislator, before the high court in which he had stated that there was no pressure on him to support the Congress. Not only that he did not hear both parties. He maintained that Mr Dhwala was averse to supporting a government headed by Prof Dhumal as he owned allegiance to Mr Shanta Kumar. He changed his mind only when Mr Shanta Kumar talked to him. Mr Kaul Singh expressed surprise that Mr Dhwala did not file an FIR and a case was finally registered by the Station House Officer. Further, the Sections under which it was registered was not appropriate. There was no mention of conspiracy in the report but the accused had been charged with it. He called upon the Chief Minister to withdraw the politically-motivated case and pave way for a healthy relationship between the ruling party and the Opposition. Mr Dhwala said the report was factual and the affidavit filed before the high court was signed by him under duress. He never went to the court, or purchased the stamp paper or visited the oath commissioner or hired a advocate for the purpose. He said he met Mr Virbhadra Singh, Mr Shanta Kumar and even talked to the Prime Minister before extending support to the Dhumal government. He was constantly escorted by Congress supporters, including Mr Surinder Walia, from March 6 to March 23 when he was a minister in the Congress government. Mr G.S. Bali said Mr Dhwala had struck a political bargain with the Congress. He said he was not prepared to support Mr Dhumal at any cost. |
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Resolution to raise power board’s borrowing
limit Shimla, September 2 Replying to the debate on the resolution, Prof P. K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, said funds were required by the board for the execution of the ongoing schemes which included the 126 mw Larji project, 12 mw Khaulli project, 100 mw Uhl-III project and 66 mw Kashang project and several other works for system improvement to reduce the transmission and distribution losses. The four hydel projects involved an expenditure of Rs 1615 crore and so far Rs 501 crore had been spent. Another Rs 1114 crore was required for these projects. Further, the damage caused to some hydel projects by floods had affected power generation as a result of which the board had to purchase additional power from outside to the tune of Rs 346 crore between the 1999-02 period. Not only that the board had to pay Rs 90 crore as arrears on account of revision of salaries and Rs 25 crore for enhanced pensions. It also repaid loans to the tune of Rs 498 crore. The present borrowing limit of Rs 2000 crore was likely to be exhausted as the total loans stood at Rs 1808 crore. He said under the electricity (supply) Act the initial limit was fixed at Rs 10 crore, which was revised from time to time. Earlier, Mr Virbhadra Singh, the Leader of Opposition, said the board was in bad shape. It had a top heavy set-up and very little work to do. Even theft of power was not being checked effectively. He said there was no need to raise the limit by such a huge amount. Mr Kaul Singh said the matter should be left to the next government as the term of the present regime was coming to an end. The issue of student unrest at the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, was raised by Mr Kaul Singh and Mr Ram Lal Thakur through call attention motion. Replying to the motion Mr Dhumal assured that the inquiry into the incident would be entrusted to some other officer in place of the Additional District Magistrate. He said the incident was a result of a clash between the students of the third year and the second year. The actual cause would be known only after the availability of the inquiry report. He said the administration acted promptly and the role of the ADM and the Superintendent of police was positive. Mr Ravinder Ravi, the Minister for Technical Education, said incident was not related to ragging. The house also passed the state tolls (second amendment) Bill and the State Taxation (on certain goods carried by road) Bill. |
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Ban orders on bridge flouted Kulu Residents living across the Beas on the left bank of the town complain that crossing the bridge has become difficult due to the movement of heavy traffic on it. A resident recalled that one person was killed about four years back when he was pressed to death against the railing of the bridge by a passing tractor. The most affected are schoolchildren who have to wait a long time for the bridge to clear before crossing it. This correspondent contacted the PWD authorities to know about the technical hazards of these loaded vehicles. They said the capacity of the bridge to bear load was assessed periodically and restrictions were put accordingly. The bridge could collapse if the load exceeded that limit. PWD sources said nothing much was being done to implement the ban orders. Department chowkidars were without powers. It is therefore the duty of the administration to check the offenders. In reply to a question as to who would be held responsible in case of a mishap, the PWD authorities said it would be the owner of the vehicle. It would not be too late for the administration to check the loaded goods carriers from plying on the as bridge the peak fruit season will start in a week or so. |
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‘Sadbhavana 2002’
scheme for traders Shimla, September 2 Making a statement in the Vidhan Sabha he said the government was determined to rid the traders of ‘inspector raj’ and the ‘Sadbhavana-2002’ scheme was aimed at simplifying the sales tax assessment procedures. The traders who had filed the returns, paid the interest and minimum penalty, not availed any incentive under Sections 42 and 42-A and had not been charged for tax evasion would be eligible to opt for the scheme. The scheme also provided that traders with turnover up to Rs 10 lakh would not be required to file returns and filing trading account would serve the purpose. In case the turnover exceeded Rs 10 lakh, trading account of total annual purchase would have to be furnished. |
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7 teachers to be honoured
on Sept 5 Shimla, September 2 The teachers who will be awarded include Suresh Chand Kohli, Principal, GSS School, Bharwein, Una district, Ramesh Dogra, GHS, Budhan, Una district, Tarsem Lal, Lecturer GSS School, Nangra, Una district, Vijay Kumar Drawing Master, SS School, Kakeera, Chamba district, Mast Ram, Centre Head Teacher, GPS, Kosri, Kanlra district, Kehar Singh, Head Teacher, GPS, Siswan, Hamirpur district and Preetma Devi, GPS, Nav Bihar, Shimla. The Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan will be the chief guest at the function which will be presided over by Education Minister I.D. Dhiman. Four National Award winner teachers — Prem Chand, Head Master GPS, Nora, Hamirpur, Jagat Ram, JBT, GPS, Salaho, Una, S.K. Bhatnagar, Principal, GHS, Kosri, Kangra and Dilwar Sharma, TGT, GHS, Bijri, Una district will also be honoured.
PTI |
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Murder accused found dead Una, September 2 According to police sources, some school children saw the body lying the rivulet. The police believes that the body of Ashok Kumar was thrown upstream of the rivulet which came down with flash flood during the rains. In fact the police was searching for the body of Ashok Kumar for past one week. According to information, Ashok Kumar was murdered by those who were released on bail. Mr Abhishek Trivedi, SP, said the accused persons had been identified and would be arrested soon. |
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Kutlehar HVC members resign Una ((HP), September 2 General Secretary of the Kutlehar HVC Mohinder Singh said in the past four and a half years, the BJP had ignored the interests of their party despite the fact that they were coalition partners. The worst thing was that in spite of all this humiliation, HVC chief Sukh Ram was continuing with his support to the BJP. District HVC President Ram Nath Sharma, who also represents Kutlehar constituency said the development was ‘sudden’ and said he could comment only after talking to the Kutlehar HVC leaders. UNI |
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2 Manimahesh pilgrims killed in
mishap Nurpur, September 2 They were on Manimahesh pilgrimage. They were identified as Darshan from the Chogan locality and Chhuna, a resident of nearby Lagor village. Shopkeepers of the Chogan Bazar kept their shops closed to express their condolences to the bereaved families. The body of one of the accident victim was yet to be recovered. Six other van occupants received serious injures. In another incident, eight persons were injured when a Maruti car (HP-40-2511) hit them on the national highway at Nagni near here on Saturday. They were waiting on the roadside for a bus. The injured who hail from Panjara village were admitted to the local civil hospital. The police has registered a case under Sections 479 and 337 of the IPC. |
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Minor raped Solan, September 2 According to the SP, Mr S.Z.H. Zaidi, the girl’s father had lodged an FIR alleging that his daughter had gone to the adjoining village forests for grazing cattle yesterday. Krishan Lal on finding the victim alone in the forests committed the crime. He also threatened to kill her in case she told anyone. |
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Plea to reopen centre for promotion exams Dharamsala, September 2 Government officials desirous of appearing for the examinations told this correspondent that the centre was set up in 1998. Employees of several areas, particularly Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur and Una, benefited as it was close to their place of posting. However, the Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration, which conducts the examinations, closed the centre after two years. Officials have to travel to Shimla for taking the examinations, which are held twice every year. This causes inconvenience to the government employees, they said. |
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Nepalese held with charas Kulu, September 2 The SP said Amar Bahadur of Nishi village in Bagal district of Nepal, at present residing at Barsheini village in the Manikaran valley of the district, was arrested at a police naka. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered. |
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