H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

HP Assembly dissolved
Shimla, January 29
The Himachal Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan, today dissolved the Himachal Vidhan Sabha on the recommendation of the state Cabinet. A notification to this effect was issued under Article 174(2b) of the Constitution this afternoon. The present government has been asked to continue till an alternate arrangement is made.

CPM to gherao former panchayat secys
Shimla, January 29
The state committee of the CPM has criticised sacked panchayat secretaries of Punjab for supporting the BJP in the ensuing Assembly elections in the state.

54 Chamba booths hypersensitive
Chamba, January 29
The paramilitary forces deployed on the borders of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh adjoining the terrorist-affected pockets of Jammu and Kashmir have been geared up to step up surveillance in view of the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.

Winter surcharge collected, govt orders flouted
Nurpur, January 29
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) in Nurpur division collected winter surcharge 25 paise per unit from consumers despite the state government having strapped it last year.

Factory workers go on strike
Bilaspur, January 29
The HP Forest Corporation-controlled Resin and Turpentine Factory Workers Union today started an indefinite strike in the factory at Raghunathpura, crippling the work.

HP Assembly dissolved
Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 29
The Himachal Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan, today dissolved the Himachal Vidhan Sabha on the recommendation of the state Cabinet.

A notification to this effect was issued under Article 174(2b) of the Constitution this afternoon. The present government has been asked to continue till an alternate arrangement is made.

The Cabinet, which met in New Delhi today under the chairmanship of Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, took the decision to avoid a possible constitutional crisis which would have cropped up due to non-convening of the winter session. The monsoon session of the Vidhan Sabha concluded on September 2, 2002, and with the government deciding to skip the winter session, there was no other way the constitutional requirement of convening the session before the lapse of the six-month period could be fulfilled.

The elections to the Vidhan Sabha will be held on February 26. The counting of votes will take place on March 1 and, as such, the new House will not be in place to fulfil the requirement of holding a session within the stipulated period.

It would have been a constitutional crisis without an implication but it would have shown the government in poor light and sent wrong signals. The crisis would have lasted only for a couple of days till the constitution of the new Assembly. As the elections have been notified, there is no possibility of holding a special session. Under the circumstances, the government has no option but to dissolve the House to pre-empt the emergence of any such situation.

It is not for the first time that the state has faced such a crisis. In 1971, a special one-day session of the outgoing Assembly had to be convened to fulfil the constitutional requirement. Polling was completed on March 8,1972, and it was not possible to hold the session before the expiry of the six-month period on March 16.

The outgoing Assembly was constituted on March 12 and, as such, it still has one and a half months to go. There were only 64 members in the 68-member House at the time of dissolution.

While two BJP ministers, Mr Mansa Ram and Mr Prakash Chaudhary, had resigned last week from the House to join the Himachal Vikas Congress, two seats which fell vacant last year due to the death of two Congress legislators Ram Lal and J.B.L. Khachi, have not been filled. The BJP has 33, the Congress 26 and the HVC two members in the outgoing House, besides one Independent and two unattached members.

CPM to gherao former panchayat secys
Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 29
The state committee of the CPM has criticised sacked panchayat secretaries of Punjab for supporting the BJP in the ensuing Assembly elections in the state.

The party expressed sympathies with the retrenched employees but warned them against playing in the hands of the BJP. It condemned the Punjab Government for sacking the panchayat secretaries, adding that it was the natural fallout of the policies of the Centre. All efforts to favour the BJP would harm their interest in the long run. Ironically, the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh had abolished the posts of panchayat secretary and created the posts of assistant secretary, who would be appointed by panchayats on a petty honorarium.

The CPM also threatened that they would be gheraoed at various places if they acted as a puppet of the BJP.

The CPM alleged that the BJP-led governments in the state and at the Centre had proved to be an unmitigated disaster for employees. The government had moved ahead with its agenda of downsizing the existing departments and encouraging corporatisation and privatisation. The expenditure reforms committee had recommended freezing of recruitments, awarding works to private sector, corporatisation of all basic services, reduction of staff strength by 20 per cent over the next five years and implementation of voluntary retirement scheme in phases.

The Dhumal government had speedily privatising essential services. Many departments had been awarding contracts to private agencies. The Department of Health had been ruined. The most recent example was the recruitment of paramedical staff on contract in Tanda college. The contractor once again happened to be from Jalandhar, the CPM alleged.

The CPM reiterated the slogan of “jail or jalandhar” for Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, which would be its main plank in the election.

54 Chamba booths hypersensitive
Our Correspondent

Chamba, January 29
The paramilitary forces deployed on the borders of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh adjoining the terrorist-affected pockets of Jammu and Kashmir have been geared up to step up surveillance in view of the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.

The Chamba district police chief, Mr Ajay Yadav, said here today that out of the 54 hypersensitive polling stations in Chamba district, 42 were located on the border with J&K.

Of the five Assembly constituencies in the district, four — Bhattiyat, Banikhet, Rajnagar and Chamba — would go to the polls on February 26 in the first phase and the elections to the fifth snow-clad Bharmour tribal constituency would be held in the second phase scheduled for June when the snow melts.

The battalions of the Himachal Armed Police, India Reserve Battalion and Indo-Tibet Border Police are on their toes to combat any untoward incident.

Winter surcharge collected, govt orders flouted
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, January 29
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) in Nurpur division collected winter surcharge 25 paise per unit from consumers despite the state government having strapped it last year. There is resentment among consumers here against for not following government orders. Enquiries reveal that the state government had imposed winter surcharge in 2000-2001 and collected it in that year . Following public outcry the government had withdrawn the surcharge from 2001-2002 winter onwards. The HPSEB authorities reportedly were not clear whether winter surcharge was to be collected from November to December 2002.

Factory workers go on strike
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, January 29
The HP Forest Corporation-controlled Resin and Turpentine Factory Workers Union today started an indefinite strike in the factory at Raghunathpura, crippling the work.

Addressing a general house meeting union general secretary Sunder Ram declared that the employees had resorted to this action as the management had failed to comply with the promise to regularise the services of the daily wage workers.