Shimla, April 19
At last Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, has carried out the long-awaited exercise to appoint Parliamentary Secretaries. He has been more than liberal appointing as many as 11 Parliamentary Secretaries in one go.

Yet many aspirants have been left disappointed. It could lead to discontent among those who feel that their claims have been ignored. As only two supporters of Ms Vidya Stokes, former Pradesh Congress Committee chief and archrival of Mr Virbhadra Singh, have been inducted, there is every possibility of factional fight within the Congress intensifying further.

Ms Stokes has already fired the first salvo, stating that merit has been ignored and that regional imbalances have not been taken care of while undertaking the exercise. She has also expressed confidence that the high command will take notice of it and take corrective measures.

Senior leaders like Mr Ishwar Das, Mr Sujan Singh Pathania and Mr Raghu Raj in particular feel disillusioned, even though the Chief Minister maintains that having remained ministers during their earlier terms, they are too senior for the position.

The people of Kangra have reasons to be disappointed as they were expecting induction of a minister from the district, which did not happen. Their hopes were not misplaced as all three ministers who were dropped during the downsizing exercise belonged to the district. They had to content with just two Parliamentary Secretaries.

However, the Chief Minister a shrewd politician, has chosen not to fill the lone berth of minister which fell vacant following the resignation of Ms Asha Kumari. Obviously, he wanted to keep something up his sleeves to strike the right political balance if the situation so demanded at a later stage.

Mr Virbhadra Singh has rewarded most of his staunch loyalists but obliged only two supporters of Ms Stokes, Mr Lajja Ram and Mr Harbhajan Singh, who have been made Chief Parliamentary Secretaries.

At a time when emphasis is on “downsizing,” the appointment of such a large number of Parliamentary Secretaries is bound to attract criticism. Moreso because under the new law, limiting the size of the ministry, a small state like Himachal Pradesh can have a maximum of 12 ministers.

Now, the state has 12 Parliamentary Secretaries as against 11 ministers. As such as many as 23 out of the 43 Congress legislators are holding the office of minister or parliamentary secretary. If the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are also taken into consideration, only 18 ruling party legislators are left without an office.

Technically, Parliamentary Secretaries are not ministers, but they virtually enjoy the status, perks and privileges of a minister. It is a convenient way to circumvent the law.

Shimla, April 19
The HP High Court has issued notices to the Centre and the state government on a petition filed by the Supreme Court Young Lawyers Association, praying that the investigation into the alleged land scam involving the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, be entrusted to the CBI.

The association has alleged that the inquiry conducted by the Additional Commissioner (Appeals) in this regard has confirmed that Mr Virbhadra Singh and his family members, in connivance with government officers, have violated land laws.

The petitioner also alleged that Mr Virbhadra Singh misused his official position to retain surplus land in violation of the various land laws.

The petitioner association impleaded Mr Virbhadra Singh, Mr Sanjay Gupta, IAS officer, the Editor-in-Chief of Tehelka weekly and the CBI as respondents in this case, but a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice L.S. Panta and Mr Justice K.C. Sood directed the Centre and the state government to file a reply within four weeks.

Shimla, April 19
Former Health Minister and BJP leader J.P. Nadda, today said the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, who had imposed professional tax had no moral right to appoint Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) and Parliamentary Secretaries (PS).

Addressing a press conference here today, he said that on the one hand the government was talking of generating resources by imposing professional tax and implementing VAT and at the same time was inducting CPS and PS.

“The appointments are nothing short of rape of the constitution as it defeats the very spirit of the constitutional amendment, brought about to restrict the size of the ministry,” he stated. Making political appointments like CPS and PS will once again act as a means to woo legislators, defeating the purpose of the amendment, he added.

Mr Nadda said it was surprising that the government had the money and resources to reward its MLAs with posts of CPS and PS but it had failed to tackle the grim unemployment scenario. “The expenditure on appointment of 12 CPS and PS will put a burden of almost Rs 2.64 crore annually on the state exchequer,” he said.

Mr Nadda said on the one hand the government talked of appointing professional directors as heads of boards and corporations to pull them out of the red and at the same time politicians were being offered these posts by the Chief Minister. “The BJP has decided to launch a public awareness campaign on issues like appointment of CPS and PS, imposition of professional tax and VAT which have only added to the woes of the common man,” he stated.

He said a meeting of the state level office bearers of the BJP would be held at Bilaspur on April 24 to chalk out the strategy to raise these issues amongst the public.

Mandi, April 19
Stray cattle on the Mandi-Manali highway, are a traffic hazard but the Mandi traffic police and the Municipal Council have expressed their helplessness to check the menace.

Every road, highway and lane is crowded with stray cattle. The Bhiuli bridge, Saketi bridge, Paddal bus stand, Bhiuli colony, Old Mandi, Saketi bridge, Samkheter, Chauhata Bazaar, Indira market, hospital and school roads are the worst hit.

Over 30 head of cattle have almost converted the Bhiuli bridge into a cattle pound , causing traffic jams and inconvenience to travellers on the Mandi-Jogindernagar and the Mandi-Manali highway. Some of the animals are sick and old and they get injured due to the speeding traffic. The cattle is abandoned by neighbouring farmers, reveal residents.

Cattle is also brought in trucks from Kulu, Bilaspur and Sundernagar and other places and are unloaded in the town at night, adding to the problems in the town. “We can not plant vegetables or flowers in the kitchen garden, as the stray cattle sneak in through the gates”, said Ms Bharti Kapur, a housewife, who lives in Bhiuli. “They feed on trash near the bus stand, college campus, and heaps of the junk on the roadsides in the town”, added Dr J.N. Chohan, from Mandi Zonal hospital.

The stray cattle almost brings local traffic to a halt every day, as traffic policemen are least bothered to chase them away.

The MMC president, Ms Suhsila Sonkhla, expressed helplessness saying that they had just one cattle pound that could accommodate not more than seven animals.

On the traffic hazard caused by the stray cattle in the town and on the highways, Superintendent of Police, Mandi, Mr Ajay Yadav said stray cattle was a big hazard. “Only municipal committees in towns are responsible checking the menace as they have cattle lifting machines. The police cannot do much under the Animal Act”, he said.

Shimla, April 19
With the objective of providing better connectivity, to scenic tourist spots in tribal and other far-flung areas, the state government will start a helicopter service linking 60 helipads all over the state.

The Tourism and Civil Aviation Department has drawn up an extensive plan where round-the-clock helicopter service would be available to places like Tabo monastery in Lahaul Spiti, Sangla Valley in Kinnaur, Bharmour in Chamba and to the interiors parts of Sirmaur district. Efforts are being made to start the helicopter service from this season itself.

With only three airports located in Himachal at Bhuntar in Kulu, Jubbar-Hatti in Shimla and Gaggal in Kangra district, tourists find it very inconvenient to travel by road to most of the places. Moreover, a very long holiday has to be planned as a considerable amount of time is spent on reaching these destinations by road. The state does have a good network of 60 helipads, where a helicopter service can be the most effective way of reaching.

The Tourism Department along with the state government is likely to hire two helicopters on lease basis. As per the proposal one will be a big chopper with a capacity of 25 seats and the other a smaller six seater. The helicopter service will be made available after chalking out different circuits, connecting a few places of tourist interest in one region.

“The Chief Minister, too, is very supportive of the idea and we are trying to work this out as a joint venture so that certain amount of flying hours can be utilised even by the state government and not just the Tourism Department,” said Mr G.S. Bali, Tourism Minister.

The Tourism Department is also working on the idea of using the helicopters for giving rides to tourists at popular destinations like Shimla, Kulu and Dharamsala so that they can get a bird’s eye view of the place during the peak season.

The Tourism Department has also speeded up efforts to finalise a site for setting up a Film City, as the state has beautiful locations, ideally suited for film shooting. During the recent road shows organised at Mumbai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad to attract industrial investment and promote tourism, the issue was discussed with film producers.aA site would be shortlisted either in the vicinity of Manali or Dharamsala as the film producers made the request for setting up of a film city in Himachal as this would make things easier for them apart from the state earning good money. During the summer, places like Shimla, Kinnaur and Manali are thronged by film units. Hence the setting up of a film city is being considered a financially viable idea.

Parwanoo, April 19
Alleging harassment at the hands of barrier staff engaged in collecting toll fee from vehicles entering Himachal Pradesh, a section of local people here have criticised the procedure.

An Army officer from Kasauli, Colonel Shrotri (retd), while blaming the levy of fee on Army officers said they had been exempted as per an apex court ruling. This, he claimed, was applicable even if they travelled in private vehicles in mufti.

He claimed that he had been made to pay Rs 30 each time he crossed the barrier. All efforts to protest this met with rude behaviour by those deputed at the barrier, he rued.

A section of local people, while abhorring the rude behaviour of the staff, said they had been made to complete a lengthy procedure, including an SDM’s certification, to get their annual passes renewed. The procedure was applicable only to new pass seekers, while those who already had an old pass could get it renewed without having to obtain an SDM’s certification.

Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner Geeta Singh while supporting their stand said the old pass holders were only required to get their passes renewed and only new ones had to go through the entire process of obtaining a certificate from the SDM. Despite this, barrier staff were adamant on getting fresh passes made.

As per the guidelines issued by the government, all residents who reside within 5 km of the barrier can get an annual pass after paying Rs 300, while others can have a quarterly pass after depositing Rs 450.

Each time a new contractor earns the rights to collect fee, residents have to encounter the problem.

Residents have demanded the streamlining of the system so that undue harassment could be avoided.