H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Abolition of rights panel ‘untenable’
Mandi, November 3
A senior member of the recently scrapped Human Rights Commission, Mr K.S. Patial, has said the commission has not taken cognisance of the order of the state government to this effect which is apparently not tenable.

34000 BSNL cell connections by March 31
Dharamsala, November 3
Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar has asked BSNL to provide subscribers hassle-free service. Inaugurating BSNL cellular phone services to Kangra and Chamba districts at Palampur today, Mr Shanta Kumar lauded BSNL for providing phone service to the remotest villages but emphasised that now the need was to ensure best service to the consumers.

Delimitation exercise questioned
Shimla, November 3
Mr Sat Mahajan, a senior Congress leader, has questioned the logic of carrying out delimitation of Assembly and parliamentary constituencies in the state on the eve of elections and said it was like changing the syllabus just before the examination.

• Index page: Delimitation: BJP MLAs allege bias

Youth policy formulated
Shimla, November 3
The Himachal government has formulated a policy making the youth the focal point of planning and development. The prime objectives included participation of youth in the process of decision-making process and enable them to take up economically productive activities in the rural areas. 

Panel to check women’s harassment
Mandi, November 3
A seven-member committee has been constituted by District Judge Mandi, V.K. Ahuja, in compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court, to prevent sexual harassment of working women.

Greetings from Bhan, Dhumal
Shimla, November 3
Dr Suraj Bhan, the Governor, and Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Chief Minister, have greeted the people on the eve of Divali. They have expressed hope that the festival of lights would bring prosperity and happiness for all.

Infant found in bushes
Una, November 3
An Infant, barely eight to 10 days old, was found lying in bushes near the Una railway station by a sweeper on duty on Friday night.

Abolition of rights panel ‘untenable’
Our Correspondent

Mandi, November 3
A senior member of the recently scrapped Human Rights Commission, Mr K.S. Patial, has said the commission has not taken cognisance of the order of the state government to this effect which is apparently not tenable.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he said those who passed the orders to abolish the State Human Rights Commission had violated human rights, adding that the commission had been set up under Section 21 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1933. He said the state had the right to constitute the commission but not to scrap it.

Replying to a question that the state government may have done it to economise, Mr Patial questioned the propriety of spending 27 per cent of the state’s budget on the purchase and maintenance of government vehicles and added that over 90 per cent of these vehicles were being misused by officers and their families. He said in a state like Himachal Pradesh there was no justification for a top-heavy administration and extravagance.

He lamented that the state government had given no grant to the commission during the past seven years.

Mr Patial did not agree to a suggestion that the commission was a “toothless body”, adding that it had all the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, and in summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining them on oath; discovery and production of any document; receiving evidence on affidavits, requisition of public records and issuing commission for the examination of witnesses.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has admitted a public interest litigation petition filed by the Human Rights Manch challenging the scrapping of the State Human Rights Commission and issued notices to the parties concerned, including the state government.

34000 BSNL cell connections by March 31
Our Correspondent

Dharamsala, November 3
Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar has asked BSNL to provide subscribers hassle-free service. Inaugurating BSNL cellular phone services to Kangra and Chamba districts at Palampur today, Mr Shanta Kumar lauded BSNL for providing phone service to the remotest villages but emphasised that now the need was to ensure best service to the consumers.

Mr Shanta Kumar said Himachal had only 37000 phone connections till 1999 but in the past three years the number had gone up to more than 1,10,000. He also praised reduction of tariff which enabled common man also to avail benefits of technological advancement. Mr O.P. Sikka, General Manager, BSNL Kangra, said that BSNL planned to give 34000 cellular connections in Himachal by March 31, 2003. He said for Kangra target of 3200 mobile service connections had been set. He said free roaming service to consumers was provided by BSNL. He said other important towns of Kangra would also be covered under the cellular services in the next few days.

Delimitation exercise questioned
Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 3
Mr Sat Mahajan, a senior Congress leader, has questioned the logic of carrying out delimitation of Assembly and parliamentary constituencies in the state on the eve of elections and said it was like changing the syllabus just before the examination.

In a statement, here today, he said the manner in which the delimitation was being conducted would not serve much purpose as the problem of contiguity being faced in the existing set up would not be rectified due to the condition that boundaries of constituencies would be redrawn within the districts only. Similarly, latest instead of the 1991 census figures should have been the basis of the exercise. Even the provisional figures of 2001 census could have been taken into account.

He also disagreed with the working proposal to reduce one Assembly seat in Kangra which amounted to penalising the district for effectively implementing the family welfare programme. He said the views of elected Panchayat Raj functionaries, particularly those of the Zila Parishads, should also be given due consideration while carrying out the exercise.

Instead of conducting the exercise in “such” a haste, the commission should wait till the Assembly elections were over.

Youth policy formulated
Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 3
The Himachal government has formulated a policy making the youth the focal point of planning and development.

The prime objectives included participation of youth in the process of decision-making process and enable them to take up economically productive activities in the rural areas. This will be achieved by involving youth organisations, departments of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, forest, co-operatives, ayurveda and the Khadi Gramodyog Board for imparting training in the new methods of production, harvesting and marketing based on rural needs and needs of youth in particular.

The youth will be actively involved in all awareness campaigns launched by the health and associated departments.

To ensure effective implementation of the policy a committee of the Vidhan Sabha shall review all these programmes while the Department of Youth Services and Sports will be the nodal agency for the programmes. Apart from this, a state youth commission and state youth board will also be constituted.

Panel to check women’s harassment
Our Correspondent

Mandi, November 3
A seven-member committee has been constituted by District Judge Mandi, V.K. Ahuja, in compliance with the directions of the Supreme Court, to prevent sexual harassment of working women.

The objective is to ensure “gender equality” by creating an atmosphere in which no sexual harassment is caused to the working women, says Mr Ahuja.

The following have been nominated members of the committee: Ms Damyanti Kapoor, Mr S.S. Parmar, Mr Janki Dass Dogra, Ms Sarita Sharma, Ms Alaknanda Handa, Mr Sukh Lal Tandon and Ms Satya Guleria.

Greetings from Bhan, Dhumal
Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 3
Dr Suraj Bhan, the Governor, and Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Chief Minister, have greeted the people on the eve of Divali. They have expressed hope that the festival of lights would bring prosperity and happiness for all.

Dr Bhan said such festivals help strengthen the unity and integrity of the country.

In his message, Mr Dhumal said the festival would strengthen the bonds of brotherhood, besides bringing in prosperity to the people of the state.

Infant found in bushes

Una, November 3
An Infant, barely eight to 10 days old, was found lying in bushes near the Una railway station by a sweeper on duty on Friday night.

According to police sources, the child has been handed over to Zonal Hospital and a case under Section 317 of the IPC registered. UNI