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Tuesday,
May 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Virbhadra urged to stop harassment of BJP men Govt seeks report on
starvation death Probe on into HPSSB recruitment scandal Industries top in power arrears Large-scale transfers irk HP employees |
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Crackdown on poppy cultivation
Ensure quality of fuel, dealers urge govt Plan to identify
man-eater leopards Illegal
mining: HC issues notices HRTC to hire buses of private operators
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Virbhadra
urged to stop harassment of BJP men Shimla, May 19 Addressing at a press conference, here today, he said BJP supporters had been at the receiving end ever since the Congress came to power in the state. Employees were being transferred to remote areas and officers were pressurised for implicating BJP activists in false cases. Even advertisement were being denied to local newspapers on political reasons. Democratic norms have been disregarded and panchayat functionaries were being harassed or made to follow the ruling party. The government had even withdrawn the notification vide which the previous government had opened 300 schools on the demand of the people. He lamented that the Congress did not take the BJP into confidence in the matter of seeking financial assistance for the state. While Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee assured the state of liberal assistance to maintain the plan size. The Congress government did not even had the courtesy to invite Mr P.K. Dhumal, the leader of the BJP in the house, to the dinner hosted in his honour. He said while seeking special assistance, the state BJP leader also brought to Mr Vajpayee’s notice the vindictive attitude of the Congress government. |
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Govt seeks report on
starvation death Hamirpur, May 19 Sources told The Tribune here this evening that the Naib Tehsildar of Nadaun visited the house of Ms Gayatri Devi at Thaan today and gave a relief of Rs 2,000 to her. He had visited the house last night also and had recorded Ms Devi’s statement about the death of her daughter Kanta Devi. Source said that Ms Devi informed the Naib Tehsildar that since there was no food with the family, Kanta went to the forest and ate a fruit following which she became unconscious and later died in a hospital. When contacted, Mr Devesh Kumar, DC, Hamirpur, said the district administration was awaiting the report from its field agencies. Meanwhile, former BJP Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has expressed shock over the death of Kanta Devi due to starvation and the starvation-like situation prevailing in the house of Ms Gayatri Devi. There are indications that the district administration may send Ms Gayatri Devi’ family members to a destitute home. Manwhile, a number of social organisations have also demanded help for the family. |
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Probe on into HPSSB recruitment scandal Hamirpur, May 19 These employees were considered close to Mr Surendra Mohan Katwal, suspended Chairman of the board. The interrogation was conducted at the board office and the local Circuit House. The team may arrest Mr Katwal next Sunday or Monday and take him to Shimla for further interrogation. The 10 days’ notice to Mr Katwal ends on Sunday. Although no official information was given to the Press, there are reports that the SIT sleuths have made a major breakthrough in the case. There are indications that a few employees of the board have decided to turn government approvers. The team is likely to grill a former member of the board who had gone to the Himachal Pradesh High Court apprehending his arrest. He is related to a former BJP minister hailing from Chamba district. Sources in the state government told The Tribune today that the SIT sleuths were likely to interrogate a number of former aides of former BJP Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in connection with the recruitments made by the HPSSB. It is worth mentioning here that the former Chief Minister had clarified that he had not made any recommendation to the board about any selected candidate as it was authorised to make recruitments for the Class III and IV posts on merit.
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Industries
top in power arrears Solan, May 19 The revenue comprises more than half the collection of the entire circle which also includes four other districts of Sirmaur, Rampur, Nahan and Rohru. Figures viable from the electricity department indicate that an amount of Rs 1012.44 crore is pending as arrears from the industries alone in district Solan. Not only this another amount of Rs 699.99 crore is outstanding against the Irrigation and Public Health Department. The district also accounts for the highest outstanding arrears from the notified area committee in the form of Rs 28.35 crore which again is the highest in the southern circle. Chief Engineer (Commercial) Mr D.N. Bansal when asked about the high outstanding power tariff stated that following decision of the high court in mid 2001 where the consumers were directed to approach the dispute settlement committee of the electricity board after payment of 50 per cent pending arrears. This instead of paving way for a smooth settlement of the cases led to an unprecedented rise in the number of cases received by the dispute committee. Some consumers made it a regular practice to approach the committee by depositing 50 per cent of the arrears. It was observed that while the total industrialists who approached the committee was less the number of times each party approached the committee was enormous bringing an overall increase in the cases of outstanding industrial arrears. Since the concentration of industries is the highest in Solan it brought a corresponding increase in the number of such cases here. The rise in such cases in the dispute committee has made the settlement process slower than anticipated. As many as 100 cases were received by the committee in the last about two months. The fact that such cases were first referred to the consumer forum the to high court and finally to the consumer settlement committee has caused some delay in their speedy settlement. |
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Large-scale transfers irk HP employees Palampur, May 19 Various employees’ unions alleged that most of the transfers ordered by the government were politically motivated and intended to harass the employees appointed during the previous BJP rule. Most of them had been transferred to tribal areas, these alleged. Though the new Congress government had announced earlier that it would order minimum number of transfers in the state, yet it had not stuck to its world. A number of employees have been shifted before the completion of their three years’ tenure at one place. Long queues of government employees can be seen outside the residence of ministers and MLAs to get their transfer orders cancelled. Official sources said a Kangra minister had recommended transfers of more than 4000 employees from the district. The employees complained that they were not in a position to shift their families at this stage because of the new session had already begun in the schools and shifting would affect the education of their children. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has expressed concern over the large-scale transfers in different departments. He has asked his Cabinet colleagues not to indulge in this practice and devote their time to development programmes. The transfers have not only caused inconvenience to public and employees, but also resulted in huge burden on the state exchequer. The state government has to pay lakhs of rupees as travelling allowance to the transferred employees.
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Crackdown on poppy cultivation MANDI: The biggest-ever crackdown has been launched by the Department of Customs, Amritsar, against the cultivation of opium poppy in the Chuhar valley of this district. On April 25, a 60-member contingent of the Customs Department, including armed personnel, descended on the valley and set up its control room at Jhatingri at a height of 6000 ft. The operation was launched next day. It will continue till the entire crop is destroyed, says Mr K.N. Bhardwaj, Superintendent, Customs, Kulu. During a visit to the valley it was observed that almost every household had grown opium poppy on large tracks of their cultivable land. The crop was so extensively grown that in some villages 90 to 100 per cent land was under opium poppy. As the area is backward with poor medical services, village elders also reportedly used opium with herbs as a medicine, particularly for the children. Intriguingly, for the past three years, people have switched over to poppy cultivation on a large-scale. It is learnt that opium mafia motivated the farmers to grow poppy by assuring them good returns. They reportedly supplied to them hybrid seed and money for raising the crop. The villagers, however, did not disclose the identity of the mafia. They admitted that people from the plains collected their produce. They also said that they only produced poppy seed and never made opium. The farmers were not aware that cultivation of poppy was an offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Two days after the Customs authorities started the operation the state police and the Narcotic Control Board, Chandigarh, launched a parallel drive to destroy the poppy crop. Mr Satinder Pal Singh, SSP, Mandi and Superintendent, NCB, Chandigarh, Mr Om Prakash, led the operation. As the teams of the Customs, the police and the NCB advanced deep into the valley they were stunned to see large areas under poppy crop. Their initial estimate that they would finish the operation within a fortnight or so proved wrong. As they trekked from one village to the other they found large poppy cultivation ahead. Some members of the teams were down with fatigue while others fell ill in the hostile weather. So far the poppy crop has been destroyed in Dharmed, Dharmed Gallu, Thaltukhod, Silbadhani, Karsed, Kungad, Suad, Graman, Tikkar, Kampana, Kased, Bhulang, Ghatian, Briyan, Jhallan, Tarsen, Bajgan, Shamli, Mulin, Singhdhar, Bhangdag, Adhong, Kshamti, Markhan, Karsiyan, Sahum, Khundra, Deodhar and Korteng. The Customs officials feel that the chuhar valley had perhaps the largest poppy cultivation in the country and to destroy it was an uphill task. They had maintained in the beginning of the operation that the twin objective of the operation was to destroy poppy and to educate people that opium production was against the law. Now they realise that to destroy the whole crop was not that easy. The Commissioner, Customs, Mr R. Bhattacharya, who also visited the valley, has issued an ultimatum to the growers through revenue officials and Panchayati Raj institutions that the farmers should destroy the poppy crop within three days failing which proceedings could be initiated against them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. According to the British Foreign Office, Asia could soon become one of the main consumers of drugs. The recently formed European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction is a step in the right direction which should be emulated by other nations of the world.
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Ensure quality of fuel, dealers urge govt Shimla, May 19 The two-day meeting of the managing committee of the federation which concluded here today, pointed out that the dealers were being penalised for poor quality of petrol and diesel but the companies supplying the products never ensured the quality at the lime of delivery. The dealers were made to accept the supply on the basis of the density of product whereas during inspection samples were tested for octane value and boiling point. The committee passed a resolution urging the government to install instruments like octane tester and marker system so that dealers could satisfy themselves regarding the quality of product being supplied to them. Such gadgets had already been introduced in other countries for maintaining quality. It also called for applying quality standards uniformly to the companies along with dealers. The quality of the product should be checked at the refinery, particularly at the terminus, before distribution. Mr Ashok
Bhadwar, President of the federation, who chaired the meeting, said that the indiscriminate opening of filling stations had affected profitability and keeping this in view the federation had demanded increase in commission from the 2 to 5 per cent. There were already about 20,000 filling stations in the country and another 10,000 were being set up. He said the rates of petrol and diesel should be revised once in every three months to protect the dealers against losses due to price fluctuation. He also opposed disinvestment in the oil industry as the country could face problems in procuring supplies during emergency situations like war. The issues concerning Himachal Pradesh were also discussed. Mr Bhadwar said that the federation was keen to have an agreement with the state Tourism Development Corporation for booking accommodation and providing other information to tourists through the network of dealers. The dealers would not take any commission on bookings and the discount available would be passed on to the customers direct. He said he had already discussed the issue with authorities concerned and an agreement could be signed shortly. The federation was also considering to sell fruit products manufactured by HPMC through its dealers. Mr Sukumar
Chandel, President of the Himachal Petroleum Traders Association, said that state was losing tax revenue due to higher rates of sales tax in comparison that Punjab. The dealers were losing business. In some petrol stations in Una the volume of trade had come down due to the imposition of entry tax. Besides, the oil companies were not reimbursing the amount due to them on account of shrinkage, which was being recovered by them from the consumers. |
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Plan to identify
man-eater leopards Mandi, May 19 The Conservator of Forest, Mr Avtar Singh, said here today that people were being advised go to forests in groups and abstain from entering jungles after dusk and before dawn. They have been requested to immediately report to the nearest forest officials whenever they sight a leopard in the vicinity of a habitation. He said in many cases people have been attacked in the morning hours while answering the call of nature on the banks of rivulets. Schoolchildren would also be educated about the safety measures to be adopted against leopard attacks, he said. |
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Illegal
mining: HC issues notices Shimla, May 19 There were allegations that for extraction of sand and grit, illegal and unscientific mining is being done with the connivance of the Mining Department. Mr
Chief Justice Vinod Gupta and Mr Justice A.K. Goel, while dealing with
another public interest litigation directed the Secretary Home,
Pollution Control Board and Deputy Commissioner, Mandi to file a reply
within two weeks. In the complaint it was alleged that in the Joginder
Nagar area, people are polluting the Gugli river by throwing dead
animals etc. |
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HRTC to hire buses of private operators Shimla, May 19 The step, he said, would enable the corporation to cut down its staff. The corporation would also appoint 200 drivers and 150 conductors on contract basis to reduce the expenses on account of overtime, which amounted to over Rs 10 crore annually. The corporation had decided to purchase 30 mini-buses for local areas and about 12 buses for the tribal areas. He said the steps taken by the corporation to improve efficiency had led to increase in fuel mileage.
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Kangra
summer festival ends Dharamsala, May 19 On the concluding day Revenue Minister
B.B.L. Butail was the chief guest while local MLA and Health and Family Welfare Minister Chandresh Kumari presided. Artistes from local musical clubs, and Information and Public Relations Department presented dance and song programmes. |
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HP board class XII results today Kangra, May 19
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Nadaun
nagar panchayat chief Hamirpur, May 19
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Minor raped Nurpur, May 19 According to the police, the girl had taken sheep to a forest for grazing when the accused committed the crime. The girl was taken to the local Civil Hospital. The boy has been arrested and taken to the Juvenil Justice Court, Una.
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3 die in mishap Shimla, May 19
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