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Monday,
August 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Elementary education plan launched in state State to have Waqf Board, says minister Governor advocates change in ‘unviable’ laws Ex-minister accuses govt of vendetta
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Little relief provided, rue villagers Hold special
girdwari, says Dhumal Rs 90-lakh project
for herbal plants Three-year jail for Food and Supplies Inspector Health centres ‘without’ doctors Gramin Bank staff to begin fast Arrest of contractor demanded Two cheated of Rs 2.50 lakh Minjar fair concludes
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Elementary education plan launched in state Shimla, August 3 The government has launched a Rs 500-crore “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” (SSA) project, under which requisite infrastructure will be created and by 2007 all children in the 6 to 14 age group will be enrolled. Besides opening new middle schools, the existing ones will be strengthened and alternative schools will be provided to those who could not attend regular schools. The SSA is also a step towards bridging the gender and social disparities at elementary level of education by focussing on education of girls, children belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and those who could not afford education because of poor economic status. The Abhiyan is being implemented in all districts of the state and a sum of Rs 20.18 crore had been spent on it up to June 30. The Government of India has sanctioned Rs 110 crore under the annual work plans to the state during the current financial year for the purpose. It will be utilised to provide free text books to all girl students, school grants, teacher grants, learning equipment in those schools which have not been covered under Operation Blackboard. The construction of 1500 class rooms with all amenities has already been approved to provide three rooms each in 500 middle schools of the state. The programme is being implemented through district institutes of educational training (DIETs). The Deputy Directors of Education in the districts and Principals of the DIETs have been designated as District Project Coordinators and District Project Officers, respectively. The Deputy Commissioners of the respective districts have been made ex-officio chairpersons of the SSA at the district level. |
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State to have Waqf Board, says minister Dalhousie, August 3 The Education Minister said the state government would make efforts to generate employment for residents of border areas in the Bhandal-Kihar valley in Chamba district. She said the people living in border villages of the district had been affected due to militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. The Education Minister said the daily wages for youhts of the Salooni and Chural border sectors, who had been working as special police officers
(SPOs) to assist the security forces, would be enhanced from Rs 51 to Rs 65, adding that the proposal would be okayed in the next meeting of the state cabinet. Similarly, the case of permission for felling trees on private land would be reinstated in the next cabinet meeting, she said. The Education Minister directed the revenue authorities to identify suitable land for opening a degree college in Salooni and said relief would be given to Gujjars and other farmers whose livestock had died of diseases in the area. |
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Governor advocates change in ‘unviable’ laws Nahan, August 3 Mr Kokje was speaking at a women legal awareness camp, organised at Rajgarh by the Manav Seva Sansthan, Shimla, and the Vidya Niketan Education Society, Rajgarh, in association with the State Women Commission. The Governor asked the people to urge their representatives to initiate required changes in such laws, which had become unviable with the passage of time. He added that shortcomings in the law were rarely discussed in Parliament and state Assemblies as discussions there largely focused on development and social problems. Mr Kokje supported the idea of making the registration of marriages mandatory. He suggested that marriage insurance or a similar fund should be created by the Nation Commission for women or some suitable agency to give immediate relief to deserted women and their children. He said an amount could be deposited in the fund at the time of marriage to create social security and confidence in women. Chairperson of Nation Commission for Women Purnima Advani stressed upon the need to allocate a separate budget for creating legal awareness among women. Chairperson of the State Women Commission Malvika Pathania and more than 12 social workers also spoke on the occasion and projected problems faced by the women in the area. |
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Ex-minister accuses govt of vendetta Mandi, August 3 Welcoming the inquiry, he demanded it should be extended to the “ongoing large-scale bunglings” in the PWD and other departments. He also demanded that the Kandhpatan-Kasual link road and works done through the discretionary quota of Rajya Sabha member Anil Sharma be brought within the ambit of investigation. He alleged that the present government had given the contract of the building of Tanda Medical College to an outside company at an inflated rate of Rs 50 crore instead of Rs 35 crore. He said the government would now retrench labourers and warned that a state-wide agitation would be launched if this was done. |
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Little relief provided, rue villagers Lalani (Palampur), August 3 This reporter who visited the village this morning was told by villagers that despite their repeated requests, the administration had failed to press JCB machines into service to extract the bodies. Relatives of victims said the administration was telling them to forget about the bodies, as it would be difficult for it to extract these from the debris. They said four years ago, three persons were killed in flash floods in an adjoining village, and their bodies were recovered after four days. But this time no one in the administration was taking the mishaps seriously. Although there are six Cabinet ministers from the district, no one has bothered to visit the village so far. Chief Minister Virbhadara Singh was scheduled to visit the village today, but had to abandon his plan due to inclement weather. The affected families complained that so far only six blankets and ration for one week had been give to them. No tents etc had been installed in the village. There is no drinking water available in the village. The panchayat pardhan said that drinking water supply pipes had been washed away in the flood. |
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Hold special
girdwari, says Dhumal Hamirpur, August 3 Talking to mediapersons here, he said the government was taking anti-youth decisions. Mr Dhumal expressed grief over the death of many persons due to heavy rain and floods. He demanded holding of special girdwari in the state to assess the crop and property loss. He flayed the Chief Minister for handing over the chargesheet submitted by the Congress against the BJP government to the Vigilance Department for probe. |
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Rs 90-lakh project
for herbal plants Mandi, August 3 He said the extraction of herbs had proved a good source of income for the villagers and added that 8,658 quintals of herbs were extracted last year. Launching a plantation drive in the district on the occasion of the 54th district-level Vanmahotsava at Ropi village in Jogindernagar subdivision today, he said 1101 hectares would be brought under the green cover in the district during the current rainy season by spending Rs 1.14 crore. |
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Three-year jail for Food and Supplies Inspector Nahan, August 3 The court ordered Mr Ujagar Singh to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years with fine of Rs 5000, and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and pay fine of Rs 2000 under Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Both sentences will run concurrently. The accused was posted at Shillai as Inspector and received wheat supply of 233 quintals 25 kg 220 gm in August and September, 1995, from a Central godown. He was transferred to Kaja and was relieved in absentia on September 29, 1995. As he did not submit any record of stock to the department, on the order of Deputy Commissioner Sirmour a committee of officials broke the lock of the Shillai Godown but no record or wheat was found there. In February 1996, accused deposited Rs 64,292 in the Government Treasury which was Rs 44,371 less than the cost calculated by the department which was assessed at Rs 1,08,663, as per department market price. Accused had also shown rest of wheat distributed to the depot holders but depot holders of the area did not accept this claim. |
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Health centres ‘without’ doctors Chamba, August 3 He claimed that 37 posts of doctors, 48 pharmacists, 52 nurses, 27 laboratory technicians, five operation assistants, 74 male health workers, 61 female health workers, 37 Class VI employees and 32 safai karamcharis were lying vacant in the district. Mr Thakur, who himself is an employee of the Health Department, alleged that the government had failed to post specialists at Bharmour, Pangi, Chowari and
Tissa. |
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Gramin Bank staff to begin fast Mandi, August 3 The general secretaries of the two bodies, Mr Kushal Rana and Mr Narender Sharma, said they had to take this decision because of the “evasive attitude” of the management towards their genuine demands. They alleged that employees and officers of the bank were being victimised and discriminated against. They lamented that the working had deteriorating to such an extent that the bank, which had the distinction of achieving the second position in the country for its performance, had now been relegated to the 16th position. They attributed this the “anti-employee attitude” of the management, who, they said, had lost the confidence of staff. |
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Arrest of contractor demanded Hamirpur, August 3 In a statement yesterday, the party said that when those who had purchased the cement were arrested, the persons who had sold the cement to the arrested persons should also be arrested. The party alleged that the police was taking no action against the contractor due to his links with the ruling party leaders of the state and the district. The party would launch an agitation if the contractor was not arrested. The police here had arrested three persons of the Debrehra village of the district for purchasing government cement from a person stated to be a government contractor. |
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Two cheated of Rs 2.50 lakh Nurpur, August 3 The complainants alleged that the accused, who claimed to be a Captain in the Army, took Rs 2.50 lakh in advance. He promised that their sons would get recruitment letters. They said that they had met the accused many times but he made excuses every time. Mr R.P. Jaswal, SHO, admitted that a complaint had been received by the police but an FIR would be registered after a probe. |
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Minjar fair concludes Chamba, August 3 Earlier, a shobha yatra passed through the main markets of the town and converged on the right bank of the Ravi for the immersion ceremony. Meanwhile, Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was to preside over the concluding ceremony of the fair, could not do so due to bad weather. |
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Dhiman denies expulsion from party Hamirpur, August 3 Talking with reporters at Jahoo, about 40 km from here, he admitted that notices had been issued to these persons and their replies were awaited. If the replies were found satisfactory, no action would be taken against anyone, he said. |
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MC members take oath Chamba, August 3 The members included Mr
D.N. Pardesi, Mr Jagdish Handa and Mr Yoginder Sharma. The Minister for Animal Husbandry, Mr Harsh Mahajan, was also present on the occasion. |
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Six held for picking pockets Bilaspur, August 3 The SP, Mr M. Chandershekhar, said here today that Rs 4,219 had been recovered from their possession. |
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