 |
|
Cong misleading people on job issue, says Dhumal
Rs 13-crore dairy project for Kangra Speaker announces fund for link road |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Virbhadra, BJP MLA
trade charges Birth, death rates
decline in
HP UN body’s blueprint to contain terrorism Police yet to trace killers of infant LIC told to pay compensation Teachers hail move to increase JBT seats Beware of fake institutions, JBT aspirants cautioned School board serves notices
on private schools His son died before minister’s help reached him Dal (Amritsar) begins mobilisation drive
|
|
Cong misleading people on job issue, says Dhumal Hamirpur, January 18 In a three-page statement issued to the Press along with figures, he alleged that while 12 persons from outside the state were given jobs through HP Public Service Commission during the Congress regime between 1994-98, this number was just three during the years 1999 and 2000. He said in all 138 jobs were given by the commission during year 1994-2000 and most of the jobs were given purely on basis of regionalism. Quoting the figures, he said Shimla district had got the maximum selections in the HAS, HPS and state allied services jobs with 37 followed by Kangra with 20 jobs. Hamirpur had got 19 jobs, Mandi 13, Solan nine, Bilaspur seven, Chamba and Sirmaur four each, Kullu three, Kinnaur two and Lahaul and Spiti one. Similarly, the Congress Government had recruited 90 persons from Shimla district alone in the HP University during its last tenure out of total 217 posts that had been created. Following is the detail of other districts: Solan 28, Bilaspur 22, Kangra 19, Mandi 18 and Hamirpur 15. Moreover, in 1995, 635 persons were to be recruited in the department of police. The state government had sanctioned 144 posts to Kangra and 75 to Shimla districts. However, when recruitments were finalised, the share of Shimla district alone was 253. Mr Dhumal said Harsh Gupta and Abhay Shukla committees had also clarified that the Congress Government had given 4,854 jobs on chits and had violated the rules and regulations. Moreover, all these posts were neither notified through employment exchanges nor were advertisements given in newspapers. The BJP leader said the Chief Minister also gave jobs to 966 persons as water carriers only through his office. In all, the Congress Government had recruited 980 persons as water carriers. Mr Dhumal said during previous rule of the Congress, discrimination was also done with majority areas and people of lower hill areas of the state were ignored while giving them jobs as daily paid workers. Talking about the controversial HP State Subordinate Services Selection Board which was created during the BJP regime, he clarified that all jobs were given by the board on the basis of merit and Mandi district had topped the list with 1271 persons getting jobs. He alleged that jobs were still being given from the office of the Chief Minister on chits and DO notes and it was wrong to say that the BJP had discriminated in providing jobs to people of various parts of the state. |
|
Dhumal offers prayers at Balak Nath shrine Hamirpur, January 18 The couple spent an hour in the temple and the room where a permanent ‘dhoona’ of the Baba is in progress since time immemorial. After performing the puja and paying his obeisance at the cave, the couple left for Samirpur his native village. |
|
|
Rs 13-crore dairy project for Kangra Dharamsala, January 18 Most of the beneficiaries will be people living below the poverty line. The project will run for five years and a sum of Rs 8.63 crore is the central subsidy component while Rs2.88 crore is the state government share. The beneficiaries will have to contribute Rs 1.50 crore . A sum of Rs 3.50 crore from centre and Rs 1.15 crore from the state have already been received till March 2003. The Chief Minister today toured the Rajgir and Thural constituencies. He laid the foundation stone for Rs 15 lakh for police post and residence at Saliana in Panchrukhi . Addressing the gathering at Saliana, Mr Virbhadra Singh reiterated the commitment of his government to provide security to people and lauded the Kangra police for tracing murders. He said the police post at Panchrukhi has helped in checking crime in the area. The Chief Minister appealed to all political parties to rise above petty political considerations and desist from making law and order situations an issue. The Chief Minister faced a piquant situation in Rajgir where three different programmes were organised in different factions. He was welcomed at Rajpur by supporters of Mr Pritam Chand, a Virbhadra loyalist who had contested elections unsuccessfully last time was expelled from the Congress. He made a detour to Banuri where he was welcomed by the DCC president and Dr M. R. Goma and his
supporte Rs After laying the foundation stone for a police post at Saliana, the Chief Minister drove straight to Jaisinghpur but was persuaded by the Transport Minister Mr G.S. Bali, to attend the function of Priyadarshini School organised by Mr Rajesh Rocky, another Congress leader of the area. The Chief Minister also inaugurated the new block of the school at Patti. |
|
Speaker announces fund for link road Kumarhatti, January 18 Mr Gangu Ram Musafir Speaker of the HP Vidhan Sabha, while addressing a gathering at a programme of the Dalit Kalyan Sabha, Kurla Bagh at Johri Kurla village in the Kasauli constituency stated this today. Literate youths should opt for self-employment rather than running after government jobs, he said. The development of the rural areas was the top priority of the Congress government in the state, he asserted. Under the Rajiv Gandhi housing scheme 3150 new houses were being constructed in the state and out of which 2700 would be constructed in the rural areas. To strengthen the road network in rural areas, all remote villages in the state would be linked with motorable roads, he maintained. He announced a grant of Rs 1.50 lakh for the construction of the link road to Johri Kurla. A sum of Rs 80000 was announced by him for the construction of a community centre. Meanwhile, Mr Raghu Raj, sitting Congress MLA from Kasauli, has criticised the previous BJP government for ignoring the development of Kasauli. He announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh from his MLA funds for the construction of road to Johri Kurla. |
|
|
Virbhadra, BJP MLA trade charges Dharamsala, January 18 The function which started more than three hours late witnessed some tension when Ravi expressed his wish to address the gathering. Snubbing him, the Chief Minister asked him to join the Congress first, Mr Ravinder Singh walked out of the meeting in a huff and held a parallel meeting in the ground. Both sides traded charges against each other. While the BJP MLA levelled charges of corruption and regionalism against Mr Virbhadra Singh government, the Chief Minister listed the “misdeeds” of the Dhumal government and also gave details of corruption in the SSSB , the HPU and recruitments in health and other departments. However , no untoward incident was witnessed. Apart from the Chief Minister , Ms Chandresh Kumari , Health Minister Maj Vijay Singh
Mankotia, Tourism Minister, also addressed the gathering. The Chief Minister also inaugurated, the Rs 35 lakh Kosri-Chhatru water supply scheme and also laid the foundation stone for a PHC at
Jalag. He was given a warm welcome by the people. |
|
|
Birth, death rates decline in HP Shimla, January 18 The birth and death rates have declined to 21 and 7, respectively, which were much lower than the national average. Similarly, mortality rate has come down to 54 per 1,000 as against the national average of 66 per thousand. The child mortality rate stood at 13 per 1,000 as compared to 20 for the country. The state had done rather well in the implementation of the family planning programme and the fertility rate has been constantly on the decline. As per the national health survey, the total fertility rate was close to 2.1 percent, the goal set by the national population policy for 2010. The reproductive and child health programme has also ensured better mother and childcare in the rural areas. As many as 97 per cent of the deliveries were being handled by trained persons, out of which 40 per cent deliveries were being conducted by health professionals and 57 per cent by trained birth attendants. The state has a network of institutions to deliver the healthcare to the people at their doorsteps. There is one institution for a population of 2,738 as against the national average of 5,401 and the norm 3,000 for the hilly and tribal areas. Similarly, one primary health centre catered to a population of 12,832 as compared to average of 2,43,427 for the country and the norm of 80,000 to one lakh for the hilly areas. On average, a patient has not to travel more than 4 km to reach a health sub-centre and 7 km for a primary health centre. As many as 1,360 doctors, 1,308 nurses and 4,812 paramedicals are rendering services to the people. |
|
|
UN body’s blueprint to contain terrorism Shimla, January 18 A beginning was made in this direction at the recent meeting of the Commonwealth heads when the United Nations Associations of the member countries also passed a resolution demanding a ban on trade in small arms, he told The Tribune. It also called for sanctions against the countries, which indulged in the trade of such arms. The WFUNA will raise the issue and build opinion to put pressure on the government for passing a resolution at the United Nations to this effect. Mr Srivastav does not agree that the United Nations has become ineffective in preventing wars. The glaring failures like the Iraq notwithstanding, it is playing an important role to ensure global action in vital issues confronting the world. Today fewer people are killed in wars and more people die of hunger or fall victim to terrorist activities, he points out. The United Nations was more active during peace and addressing issues like water scarcity and development of neglected area. He said year 2002 was declared the year of mountains to focus on the problems of developments faced by such regions. Similarly, 2003 was the year of water, which is becoming increasingly scarce and could pose a serious problem in the next 25 years. The federation through its affiliated associations in 110 countries is helping implement the programmes of the United Nations by ensuring people’s participation. Later Mr Srivastav, who is also the secretary-general of the Indian Federation of United Nations Associations, presented the charter of recognition to the Himachal Pradesh United Nations Association. Ashok Ranjan Basu, president of the association, said that the focus of the association would be on environment related activities. Mr C.P. Mahajan, secretary-general, of the association, will organise seminars and debates to educate people, particularly the students on the functioning of the United Nations Organisation. |
|
|
Police yet to trace killers of infant Kangra, January 18 Lt-Col
K.D. Dhiman, a resident of the area, alleged that Tushar whose father was working in Dubai had come to his maternal uncle in Reqnarladh village on January 2. He was playing with a child on the evening of January 3 outside the house from where he was allegedly kidnapped. Lt- Col Dhiman said that the Panchayat Pradhan was approached who suspected that the child might have been lifted by some wild animal. He said on January 4 and 5, the police cordoned off entry points to the village and the villagers decided to carry out a house-to-house search with the help of schoolchildren and the police. Lt Col.
K.D. Dhiman said on the recovery of the body the police was again approached to get a dog squad to trace out culprits but without any response from the police. Colonel Dhiman alleged that the postmortem was to be done at Dhera Sub Divisional hospital when somebody rang up the doctors not to carry the postmortem and the body was shifted to Dharamsala. He demanded a CBI inquiry. Mr Satish Kumar, father of
Tushar, said that he was informed by his brother-in-law on the phone about the kidnapping when he was in Dubai. He said that the police was not taking much interest in the inquiry. Ms Nirmala Devi, a relative of the deceased child, threatened that if the government failed to hand over the case to the CBI they would be forced to leave for Delhi to hold dharna outside the Human Rights Commission and the Prime Minister’s office. Mr Vimukt Ranjan, DSP,
Dhera, said that the police department had no dog squad in the Northern Zone and the postmortem was carried out by the forensic specialists at Dharamsala. He said that he along with the police reached the scene of kidnapping and after recovery of the body a case under Sections 302 and 365, IPC, was registered and efforts were on to bring out the truth. He said no arrests had been made. |
|
|
LIC told to pay compensation Sundernagar, January 18 The husband of complainant, Sunil Kumar, was insured with the insurance company for an amount of Rs 50000. Her husband met with an accident on March 9,2001, at Dhanotu Chowk near here, and died on January 28,2002. The complainant had asked for a claim with the LIC in this regard. The corporation paid only the basic sum of Rs 50000 to the complainant but declined the double accident benefit on the grounds that the husband of the complainant had not died within 180 days after the accident. As per the policy of the corporation, if person died within 180 days of the accident, only then the double accidental benefit is payable. The complainant had filed a complaint before the consumer forum against the repudiation of double accidental benefit. As per the LIC, the claim was repudiated as per clause of 10(b) of the policy, as the husband of the complainant had died after 10 months after the accident so the claim was repudiated. The forum held in its order that the condition in the policy as per which the claim was repudiated was against the public policy under Section 23 of the Indian Contract Act as life and death cannot be controlled by a human being, so the repudiation of claim was deficiency in service as provided under the Consumer Protection Act. |
|
|
Teachers hail move to increase JBT seats Chamba, January 18 In a joint statement Mr Anil Nag, general secretary, HPSLA and Mr Suman Kumar Minhas state executive member of HGTU said the decision would further expand employment avenues in the state and provide an opportunity to thousands of aspirants to compete for the JBT posts. He added that it was indicative of the fact that the state government was deeply concerned about the basic infrastructure in primary schools. Both the union leaders said the teachers were directly involved in the field of education and the teaching fraternity felt that the decision of the state government to increase the number of JBT seats was largely in the interest of unemployed educated youths and would also largely benefit the general public of the state. |
|
Beware of fake institutions, JBT aspirants cautioned Dharamsala, January 18 Mr Rahi referred to advertisements in a section of the press about admissions to one such college of Kulu and stated that the institute was neither recognised nor authorised to admit students for JBT course. He advised admission seekers to contact School Board authorities before taking admission in any non-government institution. He said the Board cannot be responsible if students join such admissions after paying hefty sums. He said the HP Board of School Education was finalising modalities for fresh admissions to 1800 students to JBT classes and the information would be made public through newspapers. |
|
|
School board
serves notices on private schools Nurpur, January 18 He informed that the board would conduct surprise checks to ensure that private schools follow the board’s guidelines to impart quality education in the state and added that the board would not compromise with the interests of student community. Terming the ill-equipped private schools as ‘shutter schools’, Mr Rahi reiterated that the board would not allow such institutions to flourish in the state. “The board had received 351 applications of private schools seeking board’s recognition out of which 66 had been rejected for not fulfilling board’s norms,” he added. |
|
His son died before minister’s help reached him Mandi, January 18 On the advice of villagers he approached IPH Minister Thakur Kaul Singh for help. The minister recommended financial assistance from the Red Cross funds. While the minister’s order was held up in bureaucratic formalities, his son (Kunju) died for want of treatment. |
|
|
Dal (Amritsar) begins mobilisation drive Dalhousie, January 18 Talking to mediapersons here today, Dr Ajit S. Bhardwaj, state president of the Himachal unit of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) said the poll strategy would also be drawn up at a meeting under the chairmanship of Mr Simranjit Singh Mann. Dr Bhardwaj said his party had set a target of enrolling 10,000 members in each district. The party had also decided to establish its ‘young wing’ in the state. Dr Bhardwaj said the main poll plank of his party would be development and eradication of unemployment among the educated, skilled and unskilled youths of the state. Dr Bhardwaj said his party would work for the inclusion of ‘Pahari language’ in the Constitution. He informed that Mr Mann had already made an appealed to Parliament to include the ‘Pahari’ language in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. Dr Bhardwaj said Mr Mann had also taken up the issue of the setting up of a Tibetan university at Dalhousie with the Union Government which would go a long way in the learning of Tibetan language, culture, history, herbal medicines and Buddhist form of religion prevailing in Tibet. |
|
|
1 killed, 9 hurt in mishaps Mandi, January 18 One person was killed and three were injured when their jeep rammed against a tree at Ghatasani near Jogindernagar on the Mandi-Pathankot national highway. The driver reportedly lost control over the vehicle. The deceased has been identified as Suresh Kumar (16) of Bilaspur. By a sheer coincidence, a Maruti car fell into a gorge at the same spot while negotiating a sharp curve. Four persons were injured. All of them had a providential escape. According to the driver, the road was slippery due to rain and the vehicle skidded and fell into the gorge. The injured were admitted to a Jogindernagar hospital by a local Congress leader who was incidentally present on the site. In the third incident, a couple was injured when their scooter was hit by a car near Naulakha on National Highway 21 near here. The car driver fled away from the scene. |
|
|
Woman attacked
by leopard Mandi, January 18 She displayed exemplary courage and freed herself from the clutches of the beast. She was, however, seriously injured and received multiple injuries on the neck and other parts of the body. She has been admitted to the local Regional Hospital and is said to be out of danger. According to reports received from Janjheli, leopards have created panic there and attacking domestic animals. In Sarkaghat division also, the big cat is making humans and animals its prey. Dev Raj of Khuti village was killed by a leopard in May last year. A brave mother snatched her 11- month-old daughter, Neha, from the claws of the leopard who was hiding in the verandah) of their house in September last. On December 12 last year, 18-year-old Shibu was killed by a bear near his Bagi village in the Kautala valley. |
|
|
5 villages face water shortage Mandi, January 18 Mr Suresh Chandel and Mr Gulaba Ram, president and general secretary, respectively, of the Krishi Vikas Sabha said that three of the four water pumps of the lift drinking water scheme were non-functional for the past three years. The lone machine lifting water also stopped working last week causing water crisis in the area. They said another gravity drinking water supply scheme had also become non-functional because its pipelines were damaged by the PWD eight months ago during the construction of a road. They said they had sent representations to the Chief Minister and IPH Minister requesting them to redress the problem.
— OC |
|
CM to unveil statue of Maharana Pratap Dharamsala, January 18 Sculptor Sunil Gautam was given the responsibility of making it by the Language and Culture Department of Himachal Pradesh. The Director of the Department, Dr Prem Sharma, said the bronze statue had been made at a cost of Rs 9 lakh. |
|
Ex-serviceman held for fraud
Dharamsala, January 18
According to the complaint lodged by Ms Pathania Subedar Nirmal Singh had collected Rs 45,000 each from her nephews Mukesh and Ramesh and had promised to get them jobs with M.E.S. He also handed over to them appointment letters which were found to be fake. A case under Sections 420/467/468/471 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the Subedar. |
|
|
1400 take para conductors test
Hamirpur, January 18 There are 300 posts of para conductor in the state.
Mr Anoop Rana, Regional Manager, HRTC, Hamirpur, said the selection would be done on the basis of written test, practical test and interview. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Former Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal today charged the Congress and Chief Minister Vir Bhadra Singh of spreading a rumour against him and the party on the issue of jobs given to the people during the BJP regime.
