Shimla, April 16
Having consulted the party high command on the much-awaited appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries in New Delhi today, the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, is likely to reward the probables on April,18.

It is reliably learnt that Mr Virbhadra Singh met senior party leaders in New Delhi today to discuss the issue. He is learnt to have got the names approved to be appointed as Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries by the central leadership.

Names of the MLAs likely to be made Chief Parliamentary Secretaries include Mrs Anita Verma, Mr Sujan Singh Pathania, Mr Harshwardhan, Mr Harbhajan Singh Bhajji, Mr Tek Chand and Mr Thakur Singh Bharmouri. Both regional as well as caste factors will be borne in mind before the appointments are made.

By appointing former minister, Sujan Singh Pathania as Chief Parliamentary Secretary, the Chief Minister wants to give representation to not only Kangra but also to the dominant Rajput community which constitutes almost 25 per cent of the total population in Kangra. During the downsizing of the Cabinet, two Rajput leaders, Major Vijai Singh Mankotia and Mrs Chandresh Kumari, were dropped, leading to resentment among the community.

At present the only two ministers from Kangra in the Cabinet are Mr Sat Mahajan and Mr G.S. Bali. The Congress has had to face a lot of criticism about discrimination with Kangra district as the BJP has been trying to encash the issue by saying that all the three dropped ministers, Mr Mankotia, Mrs Chandresh Kumari and Mr B.B.L.Butail, belonged to Kangra.

Moreover the district’s representation in the Cabinet got further reduced after the IPH Minister, Mr Chander Kumar, was elected to the Lok sabha. Inducting Mrs Anita Verma, too, is being considered politically significant as she hails from Hamirpur which is the home district of BJP leader and former Chief Minister, P.K. Dhumal.

Names of Mr Lajja Ram, Mr Jagjivan Pal, Mr Sudhir Shrama and Mr Surender Kaku are doing the rounds for being appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries. With these appointments, Mr Virbhadra Singh hopes to give more representation to Kangra district, in view of the limit on the size of his ministry.

Despite the Congress having completed two years in power in Himachal, the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, Parliamentary Secretaries Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of boards and corporations has not been done. The Chief Minister, despite saying that the appointments will be made shortly, kept putting these off amidst speculation every now and then.

Dalhousie, April 16
The ousted families of Thein Dam (now Ranjit Sagar Dam) have urged the Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to review the situation and take up the matter with the Punjab Chief Minister for providing jobs to the left-out ousted families of Thein Dam belonging to Dalhousie tehsil of Chamba district.

According to information from authoritative sources, the Thein Dam Project was undertaken by the Punjab Government on the Ravi in Pathankot tehsil of Gurdaspur district adjacent to Dalhouse tehsil during the year 1977 with its cost of about Rs 330 crore which on completion in the year 2000 escalated to approximately Rs 3800 crore. About 13,348 acres of Jammu and Kashmir land and 11,405 acres of Punjab and 1,226 acres of Himachal Pradesh land was submerged with the construction of this project.

It is an admitted fact that 537 families belonging to Dalhousie tehsil had paved the way for the construction of this project, but oustees of Himachal Pradesh were ignored and their grievances remained unsolved. At every stage, the Punjab Government assured the Himachal Government to provide jobs to one person of each affected family in addition to financial assistance. Out of the 537 ousted families, only 312 families had so far been given jobs leaving 215 families in the lurch. The project had now started generating power and contributing revenue to the state exchequer.

As per Clause 3 (a), (b) and (c) of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) singed on July 13, 1998, it was agreed by the Punjab Government to provide financial assistance in addition to jobs to one member of each affected family.

Chamba, April 16
The Himachal Pradesh Government is making all out efforts to popularise ‘panchkarama’, an ayurvedic system of treatment used in our country since centuries for the treatment of major ailments like neuro-muscular diseases, cervical spondylosis, arthritis, migrane and prostrate enlargement.

According to Dr Dinesh Kumar, an official spokesman of the state Ayurveda Department, the state government had decided to impart training in ‘panchkarma’ to doctors working in different parts of the state. He said panchkarma therapy was being provided in ayurvedic hospitals at Bilaspur and Paprola in Kangra district.

The spokesman further said he had already requested the state Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to help in introducing “panchkarama” in other ayurvedic hospitals. The one including in Chamba in the state. He said district ayurvedic hospital in Chamba would get priority in this regard.

The spokesman informed that a herbal garden at Jogindernagar was being developed and more than 200 species of various medicinal plants were being conserved in the herbal garden. This garden was conducting various research activities for developing agro-techniques of medicinal plants and species of tulsi, akarkara, safed musli, aswagandha, vanafsa, lajvanti, mandook parni, chitrak, bhringraj and bhuni amla. Jogindernagar herbal garden.

“The Chief Minister is contemplating to modernise the existing pharmacies at Jogindernagar, Majra and Paprola and stress would be laid on enhancing the capability and capacity of the Drug Testing Laboratory at Jogindernagar”, Dr Dinesh Kumar added.

Shimla, April 16
Himachal Pradesh has sought the strengthening of television and radio network in the border areas to counter propaganda by neighbouring countries so that the people can be educated and informed about issues of national importance.

This was stated by the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, at the State Information and Public Relation Minister’s Conference in New Delhi, today.

“Keeping in mind that the electronic media of the neighbouring country is very strong, we need to strengthen our network to face its onslaught effectively,” he stated.

He said due to the inaccessible and difficult terrain, most of which is snow bound, the reach of print media is very limited and it is only through radio that one could reach out to the maximum number of people.

He requested the Centre to sanction 2000 DTH dish antennae for the remote and tribal areas to ensure proper Doordarshan coverage in the left out areas as the existing 53 transmitters were proving to be insufficient.

Mr Agnihotri said at present only 62 per cent of the population and 42 per cent area were being covered through the electronic media. He added that 20 transmitters had been sanctioned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting under the ninth Five Year Plan and work was underway at 10 places for its installation.

He said the infrastructure at Shimla Doordarshan should be strengthened to meet the local needs, apart from providing an OB Van to ensure live coverage of issues. 

Kulu, April 16
A one-month-old bear cub was captured by one Thakur Dass at Janal village, about 16 km from here, on Thursday. Mr Dass informed the Forest Department about the cub.

The cub was brought here yesterday and the forest officer, Mr H. B. Kathuria, confirmed that the cub was healthy and taking milk. The cub has been named Ramu.

Mr Kathuria said the cub might have separated from its mother. He added the cub would be sent to the Rewalsar zoo today.