Solan, January 11
Expressing the need to shift the state’s capital to another suitable place in view of its recent categorisation to seismic zone VI, Mr P.K.Dhumal, a former Chief Minister said today that Shimla could be retained as a token capital.

He said the issue acquired significance as Shimla was already facing a heavy burden of concrete structures which were detrimental to hill architecture. The bigger offices could be shifted to Dharamsala to any other suitable place which would be equidistance to far-flung districts like Chamba and Sirmaur, he added.

Addressing mediapersons here today enroute Shimla after being awarded by the Indian International Friends Society, Mumbai, he thanked the organisation for bestowing him this honour.

Addressing mediapersons later he said the Congress Government had been misleading people on the issue of the state’s financial condition. He said during his five-year tenure loans had remained at Rs 5433 crore which the present Congress Government had surpassed in its merely 18 month rule to Rs 6774 crore. While this proved that wasteful expenditure was at its prime during the present government little austerity measures were being followed.

He said this vicious circle of borrowings has set in Himachal during the earlier tenure of the Congress Government in 1993-1994, when a Kala Amb-based firm presently running an engineering college, was used for obtaining loans for the state.

While spelling out measures to reduce the non-plan expenditure of the state he said state’s forest wealth could be gainfully used to earn crores. Advocating green feeling he said it alone could generate revenue worth Rs 300-400 crore annually. The levy of generation tax on hydel power projects and water cess which was a mandate of a hill state could be levied if consensus was generated with the Central Government. Decrying the reduction of central industrial package’s exemptions to five years he said it had adversely affected the growth of industries in the state. He advocated the formulation of a specific policy for the industrial labour and an increase in its minimum wages so that criminals from other sates were not employed as labourers.

Nurpur, January 11
Reacting sharply to the accusation made by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh that former Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) Rakesh Pathania had misused official funds to the tune of Rs 45 lakh during the BJP regime, the latter has dared the CM to prove the charges or face legal action.

Mr Pathania, former MLA, while talking to mediapersons here last evening termed the allegations totally false, baseless and mischievous.

The Chief Minister had levelled the allegation of the misuse of HPTDC funds in public meetings during his one-day visit to the Nurpur assembly constituency last week. He had asserted to recover the misappropriated amount from Mr Pathania.

Mr Pathania warned to file a defamation suit if the Chief Minister failed to prove the charges. He alleged it was Mr Virbhadra Singh who had misutilised HPTDC assets for his personal benefits during his last term as the Chief Minister by converting the profit earning ‘Kashmir House’ into the Chief Minister’s residence.

“It had caused huge loss to the HPTDC”, he added. He said it was the Prem Kumar Dhumal government that had restored the valuable asset to the HPTDC when it came to power in March 1998. He claimed that during his tenure as the Chairman of the HPTDC, 17 new assets were created in the state. He opposed the privatisation of the HPTDC units.

He said the Chief Minister’s visit to Nurpur was a farce and it had disappointed the people. He said development had come to a standstill in the Nurpur area during the past 21 months of the Virbhadra Singh’s regime. He said Mr Virbhadra Singh had inaugurated those bridges that had been either completed or sanctioned during the period of the P.K. Dhumal government.

Mandi, January 11
With an aim to redress the grievances of residents, including the pending revenue cases, the office of the divisional commissioners has got more power. The state government has learnt to have revived the office in order to make the administration more responsive to the needs of the people.

The divisional commissioners were rendered useless when the BJP came to power in the state.

Now, the Congress government has reissued the notification giving them more power to supervise schemes and projects, inspect the government offices and expedite the revenue cases pending in the office. They would also listen to the people’s grievances, revealed official sources.

In the Central divisional office, 500 revenue cases are pending of which Mandi and Hamirpur have over 200 each, Kulu and Bilaspur 40 each and Lahaul-Spiti 6 cases, said officials.

“My priority is to dispose of these cases as early as possible”, said Mr K.J.B.V. Subramaniam, Divisional Commissioner, Mandi division. “We will inspect the employment exchange and jail at Hamirpur tomorrow and will convene a meeting of Revenue Officers,” he said, talking to The Tribune after assuming office here.

Mr Subramaniam said he would review the works and projects taken up by various government departments. “The idea is to provide a responsive administration to people under the fresh initiative”, he added.

Palampur, January 11
The Palampur Citizen Council and the Palampur Welfare and Environmental Protection Forum have expressed concern over the plight of Sorabh Nagar and Vikram Batra Marg, both these which were named after Kargil martyrs, Captain Sorabh Kalia and Capt Vikram Batra (PVC). Both organisations said the condition of other roads of the town was also not good.

A joint press note issued here today said despite assurances by the Chief Minister last year, no steps had been taken for the development of various localities in the town.

All roads leading to Sorabh Nagar are in bad shape. The roads dug up for laying telephone cables and water supply pipes are yet to be repaired.

Both organisations have urged the Chief Minister to look into the matter and ask the district administration to take necessary steps.

The council also invited the attention of the Chief Minister towards the condition of Vikram Batra Marg. I

t asked the government to order high-level probe into various repair and maintenance projects undertaken by government authorities.

The press note said the Deputy Commissioners of all districts should be directed to personally supervise projects named after martyrs otherwise people would lose faith as regards government declarations made during the Kargil conflict.

Mandi, January 11
The angry depositors today demanded that the state government should appoint a full-time administrator for the bank and book all habitual defaulters immediately as Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd. Mandi (UCBL) was heading for a liquidity crisis.

Airing their grievances and concern over the mismanagement of the bank over the years today at the general body meeting of the depositors the with the Registrar Cooperatives and bank administration here today the depositors demanded that the administration should take legal action against the over 260 defaulters mainly two big contractors who owed over Rs. 50 lakh to the bank.

“The government should book all those bank officials and the members on the board of Directors who have brought the bank to such a pass, demanding that the fresh panel of bankers be made as the part of the crises management team so that the bank is brought back on the rails”, suggested Mr T.L. Vaidya, a depositor, and a member of the Citizen Council, Mandi.

“The habitual defaulters should be booked, speeding up the recovery from them within a strict time frame.

The staff should be cut down as the salary bill of the bank is over Rs. 3 lakh a month through VRS or so”, he suggested.

The depositors said the bank officials who liberally sanctioned loans, flouting all norms should attach the property of the defaulters and the guarantors and they should be made accountable for the lapses on their part. “The bank officials and the Deputy Registrar and other officials are equally responsible for bank’s soaring crisis as they ignored the directive of the RBI from time to time, hiding the facts from the depositors and giving almost free hand to the defaulters”, said the irate over 237 depositors who attended the meeting with the officials in an open house organised by the bank’s part-time administrator Mr Pankaj Lalit Sharma, who assumed the office after the RBI dissolved the UCBL’s nine members board of directors two months ago.

Giving their suggestions the depositors said the depositors, whose FDs had matured and needed money for house, education and health should be given money. “The bank should identify such cases and should adopt a soft attitude”, they suggested.

Giving the latest position of the bank Mr. Lalit said as the bank had received no deposits and the depositors had been withdrawing money and the bank was heading for the liquidity crisis. “The stands at 20 per cent, 12 per cent down from what it was last month. It still stand at Rs. 1.83 crore”, he informed. Informing the steps that the new administration has taken to restore depositors’ confidence, Mr Lalit said that the bank had recovered money from 64 defaulters. Twenty five.

Registrar cooperatives, Mr Laxmi Kant Sharma, told the depositors that losses to the bank started from 2002 onwards as some irregularities were committed while giving loans. “We seek a proposal for the revival and defaulters and the bank officials will be dealt with strictly as per the law”, he ensured the depositors.

Shimla, January 11
As a long-term measure to contain the growing monkey menace, the Forest Department is exploring the possibility of sterilising male monkeys in selected urban areas, using the laser technique.

The technique has been successfully used in western countries to perform vasectomy and other surgical procedures on wild animals.

The department was finding conducting vasectomy operations on a large number of animals a difficult proposition. It involves an incision, which would take a week to heal.

The laser technique is almost like key-hole surgery during which there is virtually no bleeding. Only two days of post-operative care will be required. Mr A.K.Gulati, additional Chief Conservator of Forests, said the department had a veterinary expert, Dr Sushil Sood, who has undergone training in treating wild animals in England.

Dr Sood said that the had already started correspondence with manufacturing companies in this regard.

As per the latest census there are 3,17,115 monkeys in the state, of which 85,784 are male.

The population of urban monkeys is about 5,000, while another 9,500 are located around various temples in the state. The department will focus on urban area monkeys.

According to officials, a minimum of 2,000 monkeys will have to be sterilised to put an effective check on their growth.

Mandi, January 11
The Mandi MP, Ms Pratibha Singh, today assured the residents of the Dharampur constituency that she would take up the issue of Doordarshan tower to be installed there with the Doordarashan authorities in New Delhi so that people get the facility soon.

Addressing a series of meeting and inauguration of the middle school at Ghanal and the new school building in the Dharampur constituency, about 90 km from here today Ms Pratibha Singh said she would expedite the proposal for the setting up of the Doordarshan tower here so that people could see television channels here.

She added that the Sandhol-Gadidha road would be completed soon. She also announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for primary school building at Sandhol, Rs 2 lakh for school ground, Rs 1 lakh for Kothwara and Rs 2 lakh for the playground at Sidhpur.

Hamirpur, January 11
Over one dozen jhuggies on the banks of the Beas were reduced to ashes at Nadaun last night. A kerosene lamp that fell in one of the jhuggies was stated to be the cause of the fire.

Property worth Rs 80,000 including clothes and ration, was destroyed in the fire.

SDM, Nadaun, Rakesh Dhiman visited the spot and gave cash relief of Rs 1500 each to the affected families.