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Mankotia for Cabinet berth from
Dhumal sees politics in appointments
BJP readies for Guler byelection
BJP councillors continue to gun for MC
7 kidnappings in 9 months, cops clueless
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Rao hints at sops for industrialists
Baba Balak Nath temple in danger
Repatriation of 775 Nigam staff to stay
Parliamentary team to meet Dalai Lama
Leopard skin worth 80,000 seized
Four fresh cases of scrub typhus
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Mankotia for Cabinet berth from lower HP areas
Dharamsala, September 13 While his supporters in Shahpur yesterday vociferously condemned his being axed from the Cabinet, Major Mankotia preferred to avoid making a direct comment but said he shared their sentiments that the lower Himachal region needed better representation in the state Cabinet. Talking to The Tribune here today, he said the districts of lower Himachal continued to be economically backward compared to other districts of the state. He said he would shortly meet AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, along with his supporters, and submit a memorandum, seeking earmarking of special funds for development works in these districts. “If a comparison is made with upper Himachal, the districts of lower Himachal, including Kanga, have very low per capita income and employment opportunities in the area is also abysmal. For instance, all the major power projects are located in upper Himachal region,” he said. He said although at present people from the area might not be in a position to stake a claim in the leadership of the state but the coming generation should be groomed in this direction so that one day even the Chief Minister should be from these districts. Earlier, at a rally organised at Shahpur to welcome Mr Mankotia by the Youth Congress, a large number of his supporters turned up to express their support to him. Those who spoke on the occasion condemned the decision of the state government to drop Mr Mankotia from the Cabinet and felt that this had been a discrimination against the Kangra district and its adjoining areas. “When the criterion for induction in the Cabinet had been spelt out beforehand and it was understood that those people, who give a lead to the party in the parliamentary elections would ensure their place in the Cabinet, we have reasons to feel cheated with the dropping of Major Mankotia. He is a leader of the masses and should be inducted back into the ministry,” said the supporters. |
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Dhumal sees politics in appointments
Shimla, September 13 Addressing a press conference here today, he said it was not possible that only a particular Assembly segment or area was producing the best teachers and pharmacists. “If the government has nothing to hide, it should make public the names of candidates selected as para-teachers, pharmacists and conductors along with their permanent addresses,” he said. The BJP leader said selections had been made mostly from constituencies of ministers and ruling party MLAs. “It is the youth who will be hit because of the signing of an MoU on fiscal reforms by the state government as there will be practically no job opportunities,” he said. He added that the Congress government had been exposed on the issue of the MoU, as it had finally admitted that it was not signed during the BJP regime but this year in May. Mr Dhumal said the BJP had not just opposed the MoU on fiscal reforms in the assembly but had also launched an agitation against it. “Now, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) will launch a statewide agitation against this anti-people agreement that the state has signed with the Centre,” he said, adding that protest rallies, demonstrations and dharnas would be held all over the state. Terming the Congress leaders and ministers as pseudo-secularists, Mr Dhumal said the Centre had adopted a wrong stand on the issue of population control and the unfurling of the National Flag. “I fail to understand that if the National Flag can be put atop cars of tainted ministers, why can a citizen of the country not hoist the flag at public places,” he quipped. “Instead of accusing the BJP of being communal on the issue of population control, it would be better if the government ensures strict implementation of the two-child norm, as has been done by China successfully,” he demanded. He suggested that rather than giving incentives to people going in for a small family, there should be disincentives for politicians as well as government officials, who do not adhere to the two-child norm. |
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BJP readies for Guler byelection
Nurpur, September 13 The meeting, which was presided by district BJP president and former minister Ramesh Dhawala, was attended by sitting and former MLAs, officer-bearers of the BJP and Yuva BJP units of the district. The state BJP general secretary, Mr Chander Sen Thakur, the state BJP Senior Vice-President, Mr Kirpal Parmar, and the state BJP organisation secretary, Mr Mahinder Pande, were also present. The meeting lasted four hours. Mr Thakur, addressing a press conference later, said the party would announce its candidate for the Guler Assembly byelection within the next two or three days. He said the only criteria to choose the party candidate was winnability. He said the party had chalked out its strategy for the byelection. “The entire party cadre in its full strength will be utilised to face the challenge of the official force of the ruling Virbhadra Singh government, which is imminent in the byelection,” he said. Talking about the poll plank of the BJP, Mr Thakur said unemployment was the major poll issue as the Virbhadra government had come to power on the promise of giving job to at least one member of each unemployed family. But by signing the MoU with the Centre, the government had closed all employment avenues. “The second issue is injustice and stepmotherly treatment being meted out to Kangra and the third is the hike in prices and inflation rate.” Mr Thakur charged the Chief Minister with ignoring the interests of Kangra district and removing four ministers from his Cabinet from the district under the pretext of downsizing the Cabinet. He denied infighting in the party on the party candidate and said the party would choose its candidate in a democratic way and the entire BJP from the grass-roots level to the top would back him. At the meeting, a large number of BJP workers came with ticket claimants. The state President, Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, was to meet them but could not come. |
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BJP councillors continue to gun for MC Vice-President
Mandi, September 13 The Mandi district BJP President, Mr Dile Ram, and Vice-President Jay Ram Thakur, a BJP MLA from Chaichyot, called a meeting of all five pro-BJP councillors here and asked them to withdraw their names or face action. Except for Mr Anil Kapur, who is also a member of the district executive, all others attended the meeting. Sources in the BJP camp revealed that the four councillors argued that Mr Vaidya had “not come up to their expectations.” But their real target was Mrs Sonkhla in a game plan chalked out by the so-called pro-Congress lobby led by Mr Pushap Raj, a former MC President. “They have joined hands because they want ultimately to unseat Mrs Sonkhla. She is not toeing the pro-Congress line and Mr Pushap Raj wants a weak woman candidate (the seat is reserved for a woman) so that he can run the show at will,” said some councillors. Seven councillors, including four from the pro-BJP camp and three from the party in power, led by Mr Pushap Raj, who runs a mining business in the district and claims to be a supporter of the Virbhadra camp in Mandi, had submitted a no-confidence motion to the DC last week, demanding the removal of Mr Vaidya in the 13-member house. |
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7 kidnappings in 9 months, cops clueless
Palampur, September 13 Official sources say so far this year seven children have been lifted in Kangra district — five from the jurisdictions of Baijnath and Palampur police stations and one each was kidnapped in areas under Dehara Gopipur under Kangra police stations. Despite repeated visits of aggrieved parents to police stations and senior officers, there is none to tell them about the progress made in the cases. A team of Tribune reporters visited one of the affected parents at Sagoor village, 10 km from here. Their son Vivek (10), who was studying in class V, has been missing since August 20. An FIR was registered at the Baijnath police station, but the police has failed to make any headway in the case. The parents have been moving from pillar to post but there is none in the district administration to listen to them. There is widespread resentment against the state government in the region. Mahila mandals of adjoining villages have been organising protest marches against the failure of the police to trace Vivek. The Baijnath police yesterday resorted to cane charge to disperse the women and other protesters staging a dharna in front of the police station. Several women told mediapersons that they were manhandled by the police. Mr Onkar Thakur, DIG police (NZ), said he was not satisfied with the way the Baijnath police had handled the cases. He assured the villagers that he would personally look into all these cases and appropriate action would be taken against the erring policemen. There has been a sharp increase in the cases of murder, rape, kidnapping and theft in the district. Minor crimes have also gone up in the district in the past six months. Over 12 cases of major theft were reported in different police stations of the district in the past two months. In most cases, the police has failed to trace the culprits. |
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Irate villagers disrupt traffic
Palampur, September 13 Police sources said the villagers, including women and children, from adjoining villages started assembling at Baijnath in the morning and at about 11.30 a.m. they sat on the highway. By afternoon over 1,000 persons were sitting on the highway. Despite heavy rain, protesters continued the dharna. Mr Sandeep Kumar, Subdivisional Magistrate, Baijnath and DSP Umapati Jamwal tried to persuade the villagers, but in vain. The villagers were demanding a high-level probe into the incident of kidnapping in the area and action against the Baijnath police who had failed to arrest the culprits. Later in the afternoon, the Superintendent of Police, Kangra, reached the spot and assured the protesters of action against the erring policemen. On the assurances of the SP, the villagers lifted the day-long dharna and the vehicular traffic was restored. |
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Rao hints at sops for industrialists
Solan, September 13 He said the issue was being discussed with the industrialists and traders in the state whose advice and aid would be welcomed. A campaign had been launched to educate traders till the tehsil level, he said. While allaying fear of incurring revenue losses after introduction of VAT he said the Central Government had avowed to provide financial aid to bail out the state from such losses. While 100 per cent aid in lieu of losses would be extended in the first year it would be 75 and 50 per cent, respectively, in the next two years he added. With a view to provide the much needed boost to industrialists investing in the backward and rural areas he hinted that certain incentives were being worked out in the new industrial policy of the state. The policy, he said, would be finalised by November. Accounting for about 86 per cent of the state’s revenue, various departments, including the State Forest Corporation, HRTC, etc. had accumulated revenue liability of Rs 1,500 crore in the state. While the non-government sector accounted for a mere Rs 550 crore the pending revenue, mainly from the government departments, would be recovered in a phased manner, he added. The state government had introduced a pension scheme to benefit two lakh pensioners where an amount of Rs 50 crore was disbursed through money orders, he informed. Modalities of distributing the money through anganwadis and panchayats were being worked out to save the Rs 4 crore incurred on money orders. As many as 2,600 anganwadis and 1,800 nutritional centres for children, in the age group of 1-3 years, had also been opened in the state, he added.
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Baba Balak Nath temple in danger
HAMIRPUR: The Dhar Sidh forest area adjacent to the world famous Baba Balak Nath temple at Deotsidh in Hamirpur district is fast turning into a jungle of concrete.
This temple is visited by about 50 lakh followers of Babaji every year from within the country and without. Baba Balak Nath is the incarnation of Lord Kartikeya, a son of Lord Shiva. There is a holy cave at Dhar Sidh, where people offer their respects and “roats” to Babaji, seeking his blessings. A lot of new buildings have come up in the Dhar Sidh forest after the Baba Balak Nath temple was taken over by a government-owned trust in 1987. However, the increased construction activity atop the hill by the temple trust and in the lower part of Deotsidh by local people has endangered the temple. The temple complex has seen many landslides atop the Babaji’s cave from the Bharat Hari temple side. Patchwork was immediately undertaken and retaining walls were also built just adjacent to the cave to save it from further landslides. If the construction activity was not controlled, even a minor earthquake may play havoc here. A huge stone recently gave way and fell into a nearby ditch from under the foundation of a building owned by the Mahant of the temple. Sensing danger to the building, immediate repair work was undertaken to control the damage. A visit to the temple complex and Deotsidh revealed that construction atop the Dhar Sidh area had been going on unabated these days. A five-storeyed inn is nearing completion. A huge tower of the Department of Telecommunications and a forest rest house have also come up speedily in the Dhar Sidh area. Mr Devesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Commissioner of the Temple Trust, denied any knowledge of landslips near the temple complex. He promised to get the matter probed. However, one of the officers justified the ongoing construction work, saying that everything was going on as per approved plans. |
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Repatriation of 775 Nigam staff to stay
Shimla, September 13 The issue was discussed at length at the meeting of the board of directors of the Nigam held at Delhi at which representatives of the government of India, Mr Anil Kuti and Mr Mrityunjay Saho, were also present. According to sources they conveyed their displeasure over the inordinate delay by the state government in signing the agreement for the execution of the Rampur project and its reluctance to assign more hydroelectric projects to ensure gainful utilisation of the board staff. While underlining the need to settle the issue expeditiously and amicably, they firmly maintained that no more time could be given as the Nigam could not afford to pay Rs 2 crore per month to idle manpower indefinitely. The representatives of the state wanted the Nigam to review its decision to repatriate the board staff en mass. They sought some more time, emphasising that the state was keen to resolve the differences and sign the agreement at the earliest. Mr Kuti and Mr Saho, both joint secretaries, said that it would not be possible to review the repatriation orders but said that the staff would not be relieved for the time being. However, they made it clear that the repatriation would start if nothing concrete emerged. Mr Y.N. Apparao, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Nigam, expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved during the next meeting between the Union Secretary for Power and the Chief Secretary of the state to be held at Delhi on September 17 or 21. He also maintained that to retain all the surplus employees at least three or four more projects should be assigned to the Nigam. Besides the allotment of more projects, the Centre and the state have disagreement over the service conditions of the staff to be taken from the board. The Centre wants that the board staff should be permanently absorbed in the Nigam and there should be no deputation as it created administrative problems due to different terms and conditions of service. But the state maintains that the option of deputation should be kept open. |
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Parliamentary team to meet Dalai Lama
Dharamsala, September 13 Also, an Italian parliamentary delegation comprising members from the Italian Parliamentary Group for Tibet, having a membership of more than 160 MPs from all political parties in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Italian Parliament, will visit here tomorrow. The delegation led by Mr Gianni Vernetti, President of the Italian Parliamentary Group for Tibet, will be here for three days. The Assembly of the Tibetan People’s Deputies has already announced that it will organise a conference of all parliamentary groups for Tibet in Italy next year. |
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Leopard skin worth 80,000 seized
Solan, September 13 The local youths are the car’s owner, Rajeev Kumar, hailing from Barra village in Kumarkatti, Ved Prakash of Bhopali village and Vijay Kumar of Anji village. |
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Four fresh cases of scrub typhus
Shimla, September 13 An official spokesman here said the state government was keeping a strict vigil over scrub typhus and other contagious diseases in the state and a special cell had been set up in the Directorate of Health was monitoring the situation.
— PTI |
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