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Friday,
July 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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BJP stages walkout Conclave to focus on strengthening Cong Row over inauguration
of project by Sonia DELIMITATION 10 lakh EVMs
needed for LS elections |
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Missing girls located, hunt on for ex-Major Man gets RI for rape Provide accommodation to courts, govt told
Govt assurance on monkey menace CITU’s threat to strike work
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BJP stages walkout Shimla, July 3 Trouble arose when Mr Rao said there was nothing against employees in the Budget and wanted to know why it was being termed as anti-employees by the BJP. At this Mr Dhumal pointed out that the MoU, which the government proposed to sign with the Centre, had many clauses which would affect the employees. Some members from the Treasury Benches remarked that the MoU was the gift of the BJP government. When Mr Dhumal stood up to speak on the issue, the Deputy Speaker, Mr Dharam Pal, did not grant him permission, provoking a walkout by the BJP group. Earlier, resuming the debate after question hour, Mr Sat Mahajan, Minister for Rural Development, set the tone for the day by referring to the allegations of corruption levelled against the Dhumal government by his own minister. He said the most shocking part of the whole episode was that the ministers were taken back into the Cabinet by Mr Dhumal. He said the tragedy of Mr Dhumal was that he lacked the courage to take decisions and during his five years in office, he earned the title of the “roll-back” Chief Minister. Citing instances, he said Mr Dhumal first hiked the power tariff and then reversed the decision. Similarly, he was opposed to raising of loans in principle, but on assuming power borrowed over Rs 10,000 crore to land the state in a debt trap. Mr Mahajan said the BJP was made to pay by the people for humiliating and handing out a stepmotherly treatment to Kangra district. Quoting an example, he said as many as 900 persons were given jobs from Hamirpur and only about 1100 from Kangra, which was four times the size of Hamirpur. Mr Dhumal even tried to create division among the people of merged areas in the garb of carving out new districts. His policy to regularise encroachments only encouraged the big sharks to illegally occupy government land. Referring to the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak
Yojna, he said while roads might not have reached every village, corruption did percolate down to the lowest level. He also referred to the alleged irregularities committed by Mr Venkaiah
Naidu, Union Rural Development Minister, in the allocation of funds to states under the scheme. It was, however, Mr Ram Lal
Thakur, Industries Minister, who made the most pointed attack on Mr Dhumal by bringing into discussion the functioning of the state cricket association, of which Mr Anurag
Thakur, son of the former Chief Minister, is the president. He said Mr Anurag applied for a petrol station from Jalandhar stating that he was a permanent resident of the place, but at the same time he became the president of the state cricket association as a bona fide resident of Hamirpur. He not only enrolled businessmen of Jalandhar as life members of the association with voting rights but also included players from Punjab in the Himachal Ranji Trophy team. In one instance, one of the team selectors himself came out to play in a match in Jammu. He cited several instances of irregularities committed during the BJP regime to benefit individuals. The Advocate-general was paid a fee of Rs 65,000 in a case when the rule allowed a maximum fee of Rs 10,000. No vigilance inquiry was ordered into the alleged corruption in purchases made for Tanda Medical College on the plea that it would create a bad impression on the Medical Council of India. The budget of the sports council was misused to oblige those connected with the
RSS, the VHP and other allied organisations. He was repeatedly interrupted by the members of the BJP. Mr Dhumal rose to clarify his position on the issue relating to his son. He said the son of a Chief Minister had the right to apply for a petrol station for which one only had to be an ordinary resident of the place. The repeated personal attacks by members drew the attention of the Speaker, Mr
G.R. Musafir, who asked them to refrain from making personal insinuations. Mr Ravinder Ravi (BJP) said the Congress, which promised to uproot corruption, was itself indulging in it. He alleged that a deal had been struck under which an organisation was allowed permission to purchase 376 kanals in Palampur under Section 118 of the Tenancy Act, which barred non-agriculturists from acquiring land in the state. He also alleged that the amount of the lowest tender for construction of a hospital building at Tanda was raised to benefit contractors. The initial amount quoted was Rs 35 crore, but after a deal it was hiked to Rs 50 crore. The land of the Nahan in foundry on Ludhiana had been sold for a song. Mr
B.B. Butail, Revenue Minister, denied that there was any land deal in Palampur and said the fact was that land was purchased by a Tibetan trust. |
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Conclave to focus on strengthening Cong Shimla, July 3 “While the focus will be on strengthening the party to make it effective to meet political challenges, the ‘manthan
shivir’ will also take stock of the electoral preparedness of the party for the ensuing Assembly poll in five states and the next Lok Sabha elections,” Ms Ambika
Soni, general secretary of the party, who was here along with Mr Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, to review arrangements for the mega event, told mediapersons. She said the brainstorming session had not been specifically convened with an eye on the elections but to address the larger issues confronting the party in the changing political scenario. It was basically a
Pachmarhi-type conclave in which certain far-reaching decisions like providing 30 per cent representation to women and 20 per cent to minorities and Other Backward Classes were taken. Similarly, the report of the ethics committee was also discussed after which the party President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, directed party men to practise austerity and also evolved a transparent system for raising funds. The session would start with the inaugural address by Mrs Gandhi on July 7 and conclude with her valedictory speech on July 9. In the intervening period, there would be discussions on five working papers prepared by as many groups of senior leaders. |
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Row over inauguration
of project by Sonia Shimla, July 3 The project has been in news for the supplementary power purchase agreement
(PPA) signed by the state electricity board with a generating company, bypassing the State Electricity Regulatory Commission
(SERC) a day before the counting of votes for the Assembly elections. Subsequently, the commission stayed the operation of the
PPA. The PPA, which spells doom for the board, had not only been criticised by various organisations but also senior leaders of the Congress like Mr Kaul Singh and Mr Sat Mahajan in the Vidhan Sabha. It was being compared to the Enron agreement. As per the
PPA, the board will purchase power at Rs 3.36 per unit and sell it at a much lower rate of Rs 2.20 per unit, incurring a loss ranging from Rs 125 crore to Rs 140 crore annually. The Congress had during the elections promised to review all agreements to safeguard the interests of the state but it did not show this inclination in the case of the Baspa Project. The party seems keen to inaugurate it even though the SERC has stayed the
PPA. The BJP is opposing the inauguration of the project by Mrs Sonia Gandhi for a different reason. It wants the project to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who has generously helped the state. Mr Randhir Sharma, party spokesperson, said it would set a bad precedent as she was not holding any government office. Moreover, there was no rationale in bringing Mrs Sonia Gandhi to commission the project, as she had no role in facilitating its execution. |
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DELIMITATION Shimla, July 3 Justice Kuldeep Singh, Chairman of the commission, told newspersons here today that a fresh exercise carried out by the commission on the basis of provisional figures of 2001 census indicated that number of Assembly seats in the Kangra district would be reduced from the existing 16 to 15, whereas that of Kulu district would increase from the existing three to four. He said there was no significant change in the percentage of population in districts, though each Assembly constituency, on average, would now represent a population of 89,381 as against about 75,000 on the basis of the 1991 census. The delimitation proposals finalised earlier by the commission, when the exercised was deferred, had also presented a similar scenario. He said the exercise was carried out on the basis of set parameters and in a transparent manner there was no room for manipulation. Justice Kuldeep Singh said that the basic unit for delimitation would be the patwar circles and the Assembly constituencies would not be spread over two districts. Similarly, a panchayat would also not be spread over two constituencies. He said the total number of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats would remain unchanged at 68 and four, respectively, but the number of reserved seats could change. The exact position would be known only after caste-wise data was available. The three-member commission yesterday held meetings with the representatives political parties and associate members to elicit their views on the exercise. It was decided that unlike the aborted delimitation process this time during the fresh exercise the first working paper would be prepared in consultation with the associate members. While the exercise would continue the delimited constituencies would be notified only after the 2004 Lok Sabha poll. |
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10 lakh EVMs
needed for LS elections Shimla, July 3 Addressing a press conference here today he said in all 10 lakh EVMs were required for the elections. Six lakh machines were already available with the commission and it had placed orders to procure another four lakh machines which would be delivered before the poll if held as scheduled. He said the Election Commission would consider holding the poll in the tribal constituencies, which were snow bound during the winter, along with the rest of the state or even earlier. Referring to the recent assembly poll in the state, he said out of a total of 408 candidates who contested 33 had not submitted details of their election expenditure. Notices had been issued to them. In accordance with the norms the regional parties which polled less than 6 per cent votes were derecognised. |
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Three shops gutted Hamirpur, July 3 The cause of the fire is not known. However, it is believed that it was due to a short circuit. A resident saw flames coming out of one of the shops and raised the alarm. He also rang up the fire brigade and the police, which reached the site within 20 minutes of the incident. Three fire engines were pressed into service. Mr Rakesh Kumar, Fire Officer, said had the fire not been controlled in time, the entire town would have been engulfed. He praised the local people for the co-operation extended by them to extinguish the fire. However, the efforts of the fire brigade and the local people failed to save the goods inside the shops. All three shops were fully insured. Shop owners ruled out sabotage. The police has registered a case. Meanwhile, prominent traders toured various parts of the town and collected donations for the fire victims. The collected money will be distributed among all three shop owners. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, a former Chief Minister, has expressed shock over the fire incident and has asked the state government to provide immediate relief to the fire victims. |
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Missing girls located, hunt on for ex-Major Nahan, July 3 The police said when the retired Major came to know that a case under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC had been registered against him at the Rajgarh police station and a police party had been dispatched to recover the girls from his house at Shimla, he told the Shimla police that his father had died and he was going to Hardwar. After recovering the girls, their medical examination was conducted at Indira Gandhi Medical College at Shimla. According to their medical reports both girls had been raped. The girls were being brought to
Rajgarh. |
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Man gets RI for rape Dharamsala, July 3 According to the prosecution, on August 6, 2001 the woman had taken her cattle for grazing in a forest near the village when Inderpal, who was searching for his mules, finding the woman alone, tied her hands and raped her. She was injured while resisting the attack. The woman reported the matter to the Kotla police post and a case was registered at the Shahpur police station under section 376 of the IPC. Finding the suspect guilty of the crime, the judge awarded the punishment and in case of non-payment of the fine, he shall undergo on further imprisonment of six months. Meanwhile, the police has arrested Shashi Kumar of Band Vihar village under Palampur subdivision in connection with the rape of the same village. A case under section 376 of the IPC has been registered against the suspect at Palampur. |
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Provide accommodation to courts, govt told Shimla, July 3 The directive was issued by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice Roshan Lal Khurana on a petition which alleged that the district-level courts in the state were either running from dilapidated buildings or the courts had no accommodation at all. The state government in reply averred that arrangements for the Kasauli court were made in the forest rest house, Garkhal, but the forest authorities declined to hand it over to the judiciary. It was also averred that the government was hiring a building for establishing a court at Nadaun. The Bench directed the government to established the Kasauli court before September 30 at the forest rest house and directed the Finance Department of the government to release Rs 5 lakh for providing furniture. In case of the Nadaun court, the Bench directed the Deputy Commissioner, Hamirpur, to ensure that the accommodation for this court was provided before September 30. The Bench directed the government to file an affidavit of compliance of this order before October 6, the next date of hearing. Meanwhile, the high court yesterday directed the state government to come with concrete proposals regarding providing adequate accommodation to the courts and facilities to judicial officers as per the directions of the apex court. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice Roshan Lal Khurana observed that it was unfortunate that in each district court more than 2,000 cases were pending and people were not getting speedy justice due to shortage of judicial officers and back of infrastructure for the judiciary. The Bench observed that the trial courts were overburdened. The Bench directed the Advocate-General to discuss the issue with the authorities concerned and come out with concrete proposals to solve this problem, or the court would pass appropriate orders. |
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Student slaps teacher
Solan, July 3 Teachers refused to go to the classes and demanded action against the student, following which the Principal issued written orders expelling him. The Principal, when contacted, refused to divulge the details but confirmed that he had expelled the student. He stated that he had sent a peon to inform the student’s parents about the incident. |
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Govt assurance on monkey menace Shimla, July 3 Intervening during question hour, he said it was a difficult problem to tackle as religious sentiments of people were involved. The monkeys could not be eliminated like other animals. He said the other alternative was to sterilize them. The government intended to use the newly developed vaccine, which was being tried in Hong Kong, for the purpose. The Chief Minister informed Mr Harsh Wardhan that the previous government had not paid the due of apple growers procured under the market intervention scheme. Of the Rs 7.95 crore arrears, Rs 6.23 crore was payable to the growers and Rs 1.71 crore to HIMFED and the
HPMC, which handled the produce. |
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CITU’s threat to strike work Shimla, July 3 Mr Rakesh Singha, state president of CITU, in a press release here demanded the arrest of those responsible for the murder of Ashok Kumar, president of the Gammon India Workers’ Union, on June 20. He said if the state government failed to arrest the culprits by July 7, CITU would strike work in all hydel projects in the state. Meanwhile, Mr Tikender Singh Panwar, state DYFI president, said privatisation had led to criminalisation, especially of the construction industry. |
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