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Monday,
December 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Meeting to review draft proposals Relief for Parbati oustees okayed Mukhya Mantri Path Yojana launched Panchayati Raj bodies get role in healthcare Shastra chief removed |
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‘Separatist isn’t terrorist’ Vacant posts in Agriculture Dept hit farming Family fights over leader’s legacy
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Meeting to review draft proposals Shimla, December 1 The credibility of the commission is at stake as not only the senior leaders of the Congress, the BJP and the HVC have disapproved of the “hasty and illogical” manner in which the exercise was being carried out but even a member of the commission has objected to the publication of flawed and incorrect draft proposals for inviting objections and suggestions from the public. The draft proposals are as vague as the delimitation act itself as neither the total population, the Scheduled Caste population of the constituency and the patwar circles has been mentioned nor the maps of the existing and proposed segments have been made available. The political parties and the general public are at a loss to understand as to how they can file an objection in the absence of such vital information. Whatever information has been gathered by the people, parties and media was drawn from the leaks of the material supplied to the associate members in the shape of working papers for delimitation circulated by the commission. It is interesting to note that the Deputy Commissioners had supplied the population of each constituency with a break-up right upto the patwar circle but for reasons best known to the commission it was not mentioned in the draft proposals. There have been sharp differences among the members of the commission over the process being followed while carrying out the exercise. The commission had not only notified the incorrect status of the constituencies but also ignored the provisions of the Delimitation Act while reserving constituencies for the Scheduled Castes. The Section 9 (1c) of the Act lays down that the reserved constituencies should be well spread in different parts of the state and located as far as practical, where the proportion of their population is comparatively large implying the primary consideration should be that the reserved constituencies were located in different parts of the state. However, in the proposals a large cluster of segments is proposed to be reserved. For instance, Solan, Kasauli, Renuka, Pachhad, which are contiguous, are to be reserved. Similarly, Rohru, Rampur, Kinnaur, Ani, Karsog, Nachan and Halh also present a spectrum of reserved constituencies. In Kangra two of the three reserved segments are in one sub-division. The commission had confined delimitation within the district on the plea that Article 170 (2) of the Constitution debars it, which is not true. The article only says that as far as possible the boundaries of these districts should not be disturbed. The commission was taking conflicting positions. While interpreting the phrase “as far as possible” in case of the two provisions which was “inexplicable”. It remains to be seen what steps the commission takes to restore its credibility which has taken a severe beating due to the allegation of the political leaders and parties that the whole exercise was being manipulated by the government. |
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Relief for Parbati oustees okayed Kulu, December 1 He said the relief had been enhanced by between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 for the homeless and landless. He added that it would be a one-time grant in addition to the assessed cost of the land and property. He said the administration had identified 24 families as landless, 39 as homeless and 523 other eligible families for the grants, besides 64 families for employment. Giving details of the Rs 1000-crore Rohtang Tunnel project, the Deputy Commissioner said doubts about the approach road to the south pothole of the tunnel had
been cleared. The work could be carried out in three phases — from Manali to Palchan, from Palchan the Solang Valley, and from Solang Valley to the south pothole of the tunnel. The first-phase road was with the Border Road (GREF), which would be widened and strengthened. The portion between Palchan and the Solang Valley, which was with the PWD, had been transferred to the BR (GREF) and the mutation had been done. Sites for a helipad, stone crushers and residential quarters had been identified and earmarked, the Deputy Commissioner added. He said the Solang ski-lift installation had been cleared. The Rs 7-crore project had been given to a private entrepreneur and it would be completed within 18 months. It would give a boost to winter tourism to the area, the Deputy Commissioner added. A total of 102 bighas had been allocated to the Department of Tourism at Baragran Bihar for developing a golf course. The Special Area Development Authority for Manikaran, Rohtang and Malana had been constituted in the district. To maintain eco-friendly tourism, a comprehensive plan had been chalked out for Rohtang Pass and Solang Valley. The Deputy Commissioner said a penalty of Rs 50 and Rs 150 had been fixed for littering on the mountains for an individual and a shopkeeper, respectively. Eco-friendly bags would be given to all tourist vehicles going to Rohtang and Solang Valley. All shopkeeper, paragliders, photographers, dhaba owners and people others involved in tourism would be registered and parachutes would be checked before registration and safety measures would be considered. Mr Nazim said Rs 1 crore had been allocated to the district for drought relief. The Departments of Irrigation and Public Health and Horticulture, SDMs, BDOs, local bodies and panchayats had been entrusted with the job of providing relief to the farmers. |
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Mukhya Mantri Path Yojana launched Shimla, December 1 While a provision of Rs 10 crore was made for the scheme this year, the Chief Minister has made it clear that there will be no paucity of funds for the scheme. Himachal Pradesh is the first state in the country to come out with such a scheme. Under the scheme, paths in rural areas will be constructed and priority given to such paths, which will help provide access to motorable roads. Tiny villages, which have at least 10 to 15 houses, will be covered on a priority basis. Further, a minimum of 11 per cent of the total allocated budget of a district shall have to be spent in villages having significant Scheduled Caste population. The paths are being completed within 3 months from the sanction of the budget. The Deputy Commissioners have been asked to monitor the scheme, while the state Planning Department is taking care of the budgetary provisions and overall monitoring. The scheme ensures the participation of the gram panchayats and the gram sabhas in the process of approving the roads to be included in the scheme. |
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Panchayati Raj bodies get role in healthcare Una, December 1 He said now onward panchayat-level Parivar Kalyan Slahakar Smiti would be headed by the gram Panchayat Pradhan as Chairman of the health centre while a woman health worker would work as Secretary. In case the woman health worker was not available, a male health worker would work as Secretary, the Panchayat Pradhan would have power to look after the health centre and would be the overall in charge of health programmes. Later the minister inaugurated building of a hospital at Chintpurni constructed at a cost of Rs. 91 lakh. |
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Shastra chief removed Kulu, December 1 Mr Nakul Khullar, vice-president of the society, in a press note released yesterday stated that the general house of the society, had got the society’s bank account with Punjab National Bank, Nagar, sealed on November 19. The SDM, Manali, has directed the DSP, Manali, to hold an inquiry into the matter. Dr Wangmo said a few people had been trying to shelve the charity mission of providing quality health services to the rural folk for their selfish interests. She said a hospital was being established at Ghudor for the benefit of the tribal people of Lahaul and Spiti district. |
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‘Separatist isn’t terrorist’ Shimla, December 1 This was the crux of the lecture delivered by Mr Urmilesh, a senior journalist and researcher, at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study here today. He said dubbing all the voices of political dissent as terrorist was not fair. It only complicated the problem. For instance, Yasin Malik, chairman, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was a separatist demanding total independence for the state but he could not be branded as terrorist. Such leaders and organisations could be dealt with politically. Free and fair poll in the state was a fitting “rebuff” for them. The ongoing violence, difficult topography put severe constraint on journalists doing spot coverage. Thus, they rely on the statements of security forces and terrorists. As a result true picture of happening was not presented. He said mediapersons should carry their own investigations and analysis and bring out a correct picture of the situation in the state. Mr Gobind Thukral, a senior journalist and fellow of the institute, said the Indian state had yet to graduate to a nation state in the true sense. It was plagued with a plethora of problems which could be better addressed with the support of media. Journalists had no option but to work hard for facts in the Kashmir like scenario to restore the credibility of media. |
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Vacant posts in Agriculture Dept hit farming Nurpur, December 1 Farmers who would earlier get farming inputs like seed and fertilisers at their doorstep are now facing inconvenience as they have to visit the Nurpur subdivisional headquarters to meet their requirements. According to information, there are eight posts of Agriculture Extension officer (AEO) in this block out of which four at Rehan Sadwan, Panjhara and Khanni Pargana have been lying vacant for will over a year. Similarly, two posts of Agriculture Development Officer (ADO) are also lying vacant. The ADO posted at Nurpur is reportedly on medical leave and the other at Rehan on meternity leave. Mr Ramesh Kalia, BJP Kangra district delegate and Sadwan gram panchayat pradhan has urged the Chief Minister to fill these important field posts in the larger interests of the farmers. |
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Family fights over leader’s legacy Hamirpur, December 1 The fight is between Mr Narendra Thakur, the middle son and Ms Urmil Thakur, the eldest daughter-in-law of Thakur, for his political legacy. Ms Thakur is the wife of Mr Bhupinder Singh, District Agriculture Officer at Hamirpur. Ms Thakur won the Hamirpur Assembly seat in the 1993 elections and Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal appointed her Parliamentary Secretary. Mr Narendra Thakur had earlier lost the Hamirpur seat to Ms Anita Verma of the Congress after the death of his father. Mr Thakur was removed as Hamirpur district BJP chief after the 1993 elections as he remained inactive during electioneering. He came to prominence when he started a tirade against the Chief Minister under the garb of ‘mitra milan’. Mr Thakur organised a function at Patlander recently, where the party dissidents denounced the Chief Minister for “ignoring” Mr Thakur. The party workers decided to field him from the newly created Sujanpur Assembly constituency against Ms Thakur. Mr Thakur has since been suspended from the party for launching a campaign against the leaders and the organisation in the name of ‘mitra milan’. He said he would meet the party high command to state claim to the party ticket. |
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World AIDS Day observed Bilaspur, December 1 NAHAN: A rally and competitions marked World AIDS Day here on Sunday. Students of Degree College and the ITI, participated. Winners in various categories were given prizes. KULU:
The NCC, the NSS and the Zonal Hospital took out a rally on AIDS awareness here on Sunday. Slogan-writing, drawing, painting and declamation contests were also organised. |
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