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EC upholds HVC merger with Congress
MoU signed with HRTC on reducing losses
Mass resignation by gram panchayat
38-cr biotechnology park sanctioned
Anganwari workers hold protest
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Fire reduces 85 jhuggis
to ashes
Naib Tehsildar in Vigilance net
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EC upholds HVC merger with Congress
Shimla, April 3 Mr Sukh Ram, then president of the HVC had merged his party with the Congress on the eve of the last Lok Sabha poll. However, a splinter group of the party termed the merger as illegal and claimed that the party continued to exist. Mr Desh Raj Sharma and Mr Karam Chand Bhatia, claiming to be the leaders of the real HVC, challenged the merger of the party before the Election Commission. Mr Sukh Ram produced evidence before the commission to prove that the two leaders were not even primary members of the party and, therefore, they had no locus standi to claim as president and general secretary of the splinter group. After going through the record and documentary evidence, the commission held that the HVC had merged with the Indian National Congress under Section 19-A of the Representation of People Act and it ceased to exist as a separate political entity. Thus, the name of the party has to be struck off from the list of political parties on the record of the commission. The “telephone” symbol, which was reserved for the party, would cease to be an election symbol. |
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MoU signed with HRTC on reducing losses
Shimla, April 3 As an instant reward for signing the document, the government stepped up the annual grant-in-aid to the fund-starved corporation from Rs 27 crore to Rs 48 crore. The corporation, which has been perpetually in the red, had accumulated losses to the tune of Rs 335 crore by March 31,2004. The corporation, in turn, will reduce the its existing fleet of 1700 buses to 1500 buses by March 2007. The private buses attached by the corporation will be besides the specified strength. Accordingly the strength of the staff will be reduced for which a voluntary retirement scheme has already been put in place. Since As many as 594 employees, including 200 drivers, have sought retirement under the scheme, downsizing will not be a problem. While the MoU focuses on improving the financial health of the corporation, its provisions will have implications for the entire passenger transport sector. It provides for rationalisation of the special road tax (SRT), which was introduced to check tax evasion but it ended up as a resource demobilisation exercise. Initially, the SRT was imposed on the basis of 60 per cent occupancy, but with private transporters mounting pressure on the government it was brought down to 20 per cent during the BJP regime. The MoU lays down that the SRT rate will be imposed on the basis of actual survey of occupancy in buses. The survey will be conducted twice-during the peak season and lean season. Further, the concessional travel facility being provided by the corporation to various categories of passengers will be either discontinued or will be made mandatory for the private operators to provide the same facility. The government will have no role in deciding the bus fares once the proposed public tariff commission was set up. In the meantime, the transport department will carry out the necessary spadework indexing bus fares with the diesel prices. The reduction in fleet and downsizing of staff will not affect the operations of the corporation as it could attach more private buses. It has already attached about 60 private buses, which is a more economical proposition than having its own fleet. For instance , it is paying from Rs 12.50 to Rs 13.25 per km per bus to the owner for the attached vehicles, whereas the expenditure on plying its own buses came to over Rs 20 per km per bus. |
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Mass resignation by gram panchayat
Nurpur, April 3 They alleged red tape in the department had forced them to put in their papers. “All development activities in the panchayat have come to a standstill,” they alleged. Significantly, this gram panchayat falls in the native assembly segment of the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister, Mr Sat Mahajan. The Panchayati Raj Department had suspended the gram panchayat pradhan, Ms Suraksha Devi, on January 24, 2004, for allegedly committing irregularities but so far the authorities concerned had failed to frame charges against the pradhan whereas it was required to do so within six months of the suspension. The suspended pradhan has alleged that she was suspended with the motive of victimising her politically. Meanwhile, the local BDO, who was contacted twice for getting the official version, was away on official tour.
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38-cr biotechnology park sanctioned
Shimla, April 3 As per a communication received from the Department of Biotechnology, the park will be set up near Nauni in Solan district at a cost of Rs 38 crore. The sanction has been accorded on the basis of the report of an expert team which visited the state and inspected the site last month. The park consisting of two parts — the incubator for providing common facilities and the industrial cluster — will be spread over 134 acres. The Government of India will provide Rs 9 crore for the purchase of equipment, whereas the state government will spend Rs 7.60 crore for providing land and core infrastructure. Entrepreneurs will invest the remaining Rs 22.11 crore. Facilities will be provided for tissue culture, cultivation and processing of medicinal and aromatic plants and bio-fresh technology to extend the shelf life of fruits. The funds will be released to the society for the promotion of bio-business and bio-technology. The society will invite bids from entrepreneurs for the implementation of the project which will be completed in two years. |
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Anganwari workers hold protest
Palampur, April 3 On a call given by the H.P. Aganwari Workers and Helpers Union, hundreds of workers from all over the state participated in the two-day state-level convention, which was organised to chalk out the further course of action. Addressing the convention, Ms Prem Kumari, state president of Aganwari Workers Union demanded that the Bal Vikas Pariyojna should be upgraded as full-fledged department and all employees working in this pariyojna be regularised with immediate effect or they should be given minimum wages as per the labour laws. Addressing the convention, Mr Devki Sharma, general secretary of the union said all employees working in the Bal Vikas Pariyojna in the state should be given annual increment at par with other employees of the state. She also demanded increase in the charcoal allowance, separate allowance for the preparation of mid-day meal, vaccination programme and for working in the anti-leprosy campaign. She said despite their repeated meetings with officials of the State Welfare Department, Ministers and MLAs, nothing has come out yet.
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Fire reduces 85 jhuggis to ashes
Nalagarh, April 3 The total loss was estimated at around Rs 12 to 15 lakh, said police officers. A majority of the jhuggi-dwellers were from Darbhanga district in Bihar and a few from the Itawa area in UP. The labourers had been staying in these jhuggis for over five years. The Naib Tehsildar, Nalagarh, rushed to the spot and supervised the rescue and relief operations. Local people offered water and food to the affected labourers.
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Naib Tehsildar in Vigilance net
Nurpur, April 3 According to the Superintendent of Police of Kangra, Vigilance Department, Mr R.S. Negi, the accused had allegedly demanded the amount from the complainant for registration of eight marla of land which the complainant had purchased at Harchakian. Following the complaint lodged by the complainant, the Vigilance Department acted and laid a trap to nab the accused red-handed. The accused was arrested and produced before the Special Judge at the district headquarters on Saturday. |
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