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Govt has failed people, says Dhumal Inquiry
reports politicised: BJP Students, staff demand VC’s ouster Market network being strengthened, says CM HP Govt
to introduce adolescence education |
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Traders seek
alternative sites Plan to set up more trauma centres 16 lakh youths jobless in HP Awareness
needed to check heart diseases
Workshop on
English
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Govt
has failed people, says Dhumal Mandi, November 16 Addressing a press conference at the local Circuit House, he lamented that the promises made by the Congress to give employment to at least one person of each family at the time of elections had not been kept. “It has played a joke on unemployed youth. Now, it is advising them to forget government jobs and grow vegetables or get involved in some other self-employment ventures”, he said. Expressing concern over the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the state, he said during the past eight months, 200 murders had been committed in the state, besides a large number of cases of rape and burglaries. He alleged that the entire government machinery was engaged in political transfers and witch-hunt. Political opponents were being implicated in false cases. Mr Dhumal said all development works had come to a standstill for want of funds. Asked to comment on the episode of the Vice-Chancellor, he said he did not favour anyone. Let the CBI investigate the matter and if anyone is found guilty, he must face the music. He asserted that the affairs of the university should be investigated right from 1987. Opposing the recent destroying of crops of poppy flowers and cannabis in the state, he said farmers of Himachal should be allowed to grow these crops for commercial purposes as was being done in MP, UP and Rajasthan. In Himachal, it was being grown on a small scale. He said when a resolution was moved in the Vidhan Sabha calling upon the Centre to grant permission for growing these crops, the BJP supported it and it could be passed because the Congress opposed it. |
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Inquiry
reports politicised: BJP Shimla,
November 16 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the Congress leaders were even mentioning the appointments made when it was in power during 1994-98 as irregular just to defame the BJP leaders. He cited the example of the appointment of the wife of one of the spokespersons of the BJP in this regard. He said the Congress, which was demanding action on these two reports, should first act on the reports of the Harsh Gupta Committee and the Avay Shukla Committee. Besides, action should also be taken on all previous reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General in which glaring irregularities had been pointed out in regarding loans by the previous Congress government. He alleged that the government had revised the bus fare to benefit the private operators and the state transport authority had so far not approved the revised fare.
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Students, staff demand VC’s ouster Shimla, November 16 Various students and employee’s bodies had been demanding a probe into the matter for the past almost a year but they never suspected his personal involvement to the extent revealed in the special audit. They are unanimous in their opinion that the image of the institution had been damaged beyond repair and there could be no redemption as long as the tainted Vice-Chancellor continues in the office. Those heading the “temples of higher learning” are supposed to be the role models for the students and teachers alike. But the tragedy of the university is that the person at the helm has virtually become the epitome of corruption and nepotism, laments Feroz Khan, a student of the Department of History. Echoing same views, Aman Gupta, an MBA student, wonders what kind of influence a person accused of such glaring financial irregularities will leave on the students. “It came as a big shock to most of the students as academicians holding such coveted post are held in high esteem”, said a visibly upset Manju Chaudhary who is pursuing her doctorate in Hindi. Her friend Jyoti, a postgraduate student, is no less distressed and maintains that immoral conduct on the part of a Vice-Chancellor is unpardonable. What has anguished teachers and students the most is the conduct of the then Governor, Dr Suraj Bhan, who had been all along accused of protecting Dr Sharma. Dr Rajinder Chauhan, president of the Congress Teachers Cell, terms the emergence of nexus involving the Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor as the most unfortunate development for the university. The government must initiate criminal proceedings against Dr Sharma as a deterrent action. All three students bodies — the ABVP, the SFI and the NSUI, want immediate sacking of the Vice-Chancellor on the basis of the two inquiry reports. Mr Ravi Mehta, state
secretary of the ABVP, said the reputation and autonomy of the university had been the main casualty in the entire episode. Mr Trilok Bhalooni, an SFI leader, demanded that Dr Sharma should be arrested and barred from entering the
campus. The decision of the Governor, Mr Kokje, to refer the inquiry reports to the executive council for further action has not been appreciated as it would only perpetuate the prevailing uncertainty. For now, the campus is anxiously waiting for the meeting of the council to be held on November 24 at which the fate of Dr Sharma was likely to be decided. |
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Market network being strengthened, says CM Shimla, November 16 Addressing growers and market committee members after inspecting the marketing yard at Dhalli here on Friday, he said 92 per cent of the state’s population was dependent on agriculture for livelihood. Keeping this in view, the government had given special attention to strengthening the marketing infrastructure. He urged the marketing committees to take steps to make themselves viable and an effective instrument for providing remunerative prices to growers. The Chief Minister said the Sanjauli bypass would be constructed on priority to ease traffic in the area. The national highway from Shimla to Theog was being widened. All panchayats in the state would be connected with road in next three-four years, Thereafter, the endeavour of the government would be to provide connectivity to all villages. The Chief Minister said the state government would strengthen the marketing network in the state to ensure that growers were not exploited by middlemen. He said Himachal was the “apple state” of the country and efforts were afoot to make it the fruit bowl of India. Mr Raj Krishan Guar, Agriculture Minister, said the marketing network was being expanded to meet the requirement of growers. |
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HP Govt
to introduce adolescence education Shimla, November 16 The schoolchildren will be given education about proper growth process and personal hygiene and also informed about HIV, AIDS and drug abuse. The population education programme has made a remarkable headway in institutionalising population education in schools through curriculum and material development at all stages of school and formal education. The introduction of adolescence education at the plus two level within the framework of the population education programme has been agreed upon by the state government. Moreover, the decline in sex ratio as per the 2001 census is a serious concern and calls for a concerted action plan to lay stress on the issue in school curriculum. This is one of the key areas which need attention to make the population education programme, especially the adolescence education programme, more effective in its reach to targeted groups in schools. The Ministry of Human Resources Development has sanctioned a sum of Rs 60 lakh for Himachal Pradesh to carry out various activities from 2003 to 2007 for adolescence education in the state. As many as 28 books have been brought out under this project and the emphasis of material production is on adolescence education. Advocacy material on the subject for boys, girls and parents has been prepared separately. The audio material in the form of radio talks and audio cassettes of folk songs have also produced. For the successful implementation of the programme, the population education cell (PEC) has undertaken a number of in-service training programmes for creating a resource base at various levels. As many as 22,775 teachers, heads of institutions and other education officials at block and district levels have been trained. A number of activities like question box, group discussion, value clarification, role play, ease study, debate, drawing and painting, skit, quiz and observance of international days are being conducted in schools. Material development on various themes of population education has been done as per the needs and requirements of students, teachers and parents. Teachers and educational functionaries have been covered through the in-service training programme.
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Traders seek
alternative sites Shimla, November 16 Mr Liaquet Ali, president of the society, said poor hawkers had been earning their livelihood by selling fruits, vegetables and other items for the past several decades and dislocating them would deprive them of their source of earning. He said the hawkers respected the orders of the high court, but it was the responsibility of the government to provide alternative arrangements so that they did not face any hardships. He said there were about 1,200 hawkers, of which about 190 had been there for the past over 45 years. They had been regularly paying the fees charged by the local municipal corporation and as such uprooting them after such a long time was inhuman. |
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Plan to set up more trauma centres Mandi, November 16 Over 100 delegates from North India participated. Experts exchanged views on the rapid changes which took place in their profession in the past few decades. Thakur Kaul Singh, who was also the Health Minister, said the management of bone tumours, mapping of human genome, providing pain relief and improving quality of life of people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis was successfully being done in India. The minister called upon the doctors not to leave government hospitals and continue to serve the people of the state with a missionary zeal. He said the government was planning to set up trauma centres in all regional hospitals. Dr Harish Behal, president of the association, highlighted problems being faced by the orthopaedicians in government hospitals. |
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16 lakh youths jobless in HP Mandi, November 16 Addressing the 12th state conference of the SFI, Mr Rai lamented that the government had failed to make changes in the system of education. Consequently, students were facing unemployment. He said Himachal alone had 16 lakh unemployed youth. He said the SFI would observe a nationwide strike against the economic and education policies of the NDA government on December 11. Mr Kushal Bhardwaj, state president of the DYFI, demanded that the unemployed youth of Himachal be given jobs in the state power projects. |
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Awareness needed to check heart diseases Dharamsala, November 16 Ms Chandresh Kumari said the alarming rise in heart ailments among the youth and children needed to be studied in detail and proper treatment provided to them. She said many children suffering from heart ailments failed to get timely medical attention as they belonged to poor and lower-middle classes. She said Jan Chetna was doing a commendable service not only by organising heart care awareness camps, but also by extending a helping hand to the blind and sick. She assured all help to NGOs coming forward in providing better healthcare to the people of Himachal Pradesh. Welcoming the chief guest, Dr Pruthi said youngsters were becoming more prone to heart diseases, and due to lack of awareness they ignored the early symptoms, which proved fatal in many cases. Accepting the request of the state Health and Family Welfare Minister, he announced that all child patients referred through the state Health Department or Jan Chetna would only have to pay nominal charges and the hospital would provide accommodation free of cost to the attendants of the patients in Jalandhar. Jan Chetna convener Kanwar M.P. Singh said Jan Chetra was working for the poor and needy. Despite inclement weather, more than 200 registered themselves for examination at the camp. |
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Sarsa bridge likely to be completed by March NALAGARH: A new bridge across the Sarsa may soon become a reality for the people of the area commuting daily on the
Nalagarh-Bharatgarh road. With the Public Works Department having finished 65 per cent of the construction, officials are hopeful of completing the Rs 7.61 crore project by March. The people had been facing problems ever since the old bridge partially collapsed in 2000. The problems were compounded especially during the rains when water level rose dangerously and made driving through the khud-bed risky. Four persons lost their lives this monsoon when flash floods swept away a bus. With no alternative, the commuters would use the khud bed as route to reach Ropar from Nalagarh. The technical investigation of the bridge conducted by the Public Works Department revealed that loose strata of the khud with less core recovery coupled with weak foundation had led to the collapse of the bridge. The report also highlighted the fact that indiscriminate extration of stones along the foundation of the bridge had also contributed to the collapse. The department recommended that the foundation should be placed at a depth of 22.08 metres and the piers should be placed at 16.66 metres in case of abutments. The old bridge had a 2.5 to 3 metre-deep foundation. The report was sent to the state government with recommendation of a proper budget for initiating work on the new bridge. The then Chief Minister, Prof P.K. Dhumal, laid its foundation stone in May 2001 but with no funds, the work could not begin. It was only after Nabard sanctioned Rs 684.90 lakh in 2002 that the work could start. With Rs 3.80 crore having been spent on laying seven piers and three of the total eight spans, more than 65 per cent of the work has been completed, the Superintending Engineer, (PWD), Mr D.P. Sharma, said. The 346-metre bridge has eight spans, each 19 metres deep.
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Workshop on
English Hamirpur, November 16 Mrs Tara Chadha, who teaches in I.P. University, New Delhi, was the chief guest. Talking to reporters, Mrs Chadha said the workshop would go a long way in improving the standard of English in Hamirpur schools. Earlier, Prof R.C. Lakhanpal, Managing Director of the school, welcomed guests. |
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