H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Engineer-in-Chief ‘favoured’ to continue on post
Allowed to get date of birth changed
Solan, January 28
The manner in which the date of birth of an Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department (PWD) has been changed to enable him to continue on the top post for another eight months has once again exposed the state government.

Fresh snowfall in HP
Shimla, January 28
The higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh, including the tribal areas of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi, experienced intermittent snowfall today while the adjoining valleys were lashed by isolated rains and strong winds.

BJP destroyed revenue record, says minister
Nahan, January 28
“During its five-year rule in Himachal the state BJP almost destroyed the Revenue Record of the state”.

‘Scrap Baspa II hydro power project’
Shimla, January 28
The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRAP) today demanded the scrapping of the agreement signed by the state government with the Jaiprakash group for the execution of the 300 MW Baspa II hydro electric project.

MRI machine at IGMC
Shimla, January 28
Patients from the state will no longer have to travel outside Himachal Pradesh to get an MRI test done as a latest machine has been installed at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here.

Sewage work causes inconvenience
Solan, January 28
Residents of the town have been put to a great inconvenience by the callous attitude of the Irrigation and Public Works Department which has been unable to restore the roads after laying sewage pipes.

Land allotment to homeless okayed
Shimla, January 28
The state Cabinet today decided to allot two biswas of land in rural areas and one biswa in urban areas to identified homeless, landless and deserving people in the state.

Forest land diversion: relief for states
Shimla, January 28
In a major relief to the states, Centre has decided not to recover the net present value in cases of diversion of forest land for projects involving public welfare under the Forest Conservation Act.

Engineer-in-Chief ‘favoured’ to continue on post
Allowed to get date of birth changed
Ambika Sharma

Solan, January 28
The manner in which the date of birth of an Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department (PWD) has been changed to enable him to continue on the top post for another eight months has once again exposed the state government.

The officer concerned, Mr S.P. Negi, was not only elevated to the post of Engineer-in-Chief in November 2005 bypassing seniority but also no opinion from the Law Department was sought to affect this change barely two months before being promoted. While the Himachal Pradesh financial rules clearly state that such a change could be effected within two years of joining government service, the said official moved his case as late as after 34 years of service.

Interestingly, the date of his birth was mentioned as February 28, 1948, in various seniority lists during his 34 years of service and he never found the need to get it amended till now. A perusal of the records available with The Tribune revealed that a seniority list issued on September 15, 2000, and another list issued in January 10, 2004, showed the date of his birth as February 28, 1948. A case for changing this date to October 28, 1948, began as soon as the former Engineer-in-Chief was due to retire in October 2005.

Senior officials in the Personnel Department revealed that they had refused to consider the case as it was moved 34 years after joining service. Further, he was directed to settle the matter within his department as the case had been moved in individual capacity as Chief Engineer. The officials said such cases were supposed to be considered within two years of joining service. Not only is a committee constituted for the purpose, but also it takes into accounts crucial documents like school leaving certificate, municipal committee documents, horoscope, etc., to judge the veracity of the case.

The official was granted change in the date of his birth as per corrigendum No. PBW(A)B(9)3/2002 issued by the Principal Secretary (PWD) on September 14, 2005, which stated that the date of birth be read as October 28, 1948, instead of February 28, 1948. No committee was formed to look into the matter.

The Secretary (law), Mr S.S. Thakur, when asked in this regard, said a government employee could move a case for a change in date of birth within two years of joining service. Such a change could also be effected by an order of a tribunal if a correction had been sought thorough a petition. Referring to this case, he said only the PWD Secretary could explain how this change had been brought about. The Secretary PWD was not available for comments.

The state government had earlier exempted him from passing the departmental exam, which was a pre-requisite for being promoted as a executive engineer. This exemption too was granted in 1996 but with retrospective effect from 1984 blatantly bypassing existing rules. Further, he was promoted as Chief Engineer after having put in two and a half years of service as Superintending Engineer as against the requirement of minimum five years laid down in the Recruitment and Promotion rules. Even a pending vigilance case against him did not deter the state government from promoting him, which maintained that seniority could be bypassed for capable officers.

Fresh snowfall in HP

Shimla, January 28
The higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh, including the tribal areas of Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Pangi, experienced intermittent snowfall today while the adjoining valleys were lashed by isolated rains and strong winds.

However, minimum and maximum temperatures in mid and lower hills, including the state capital, registered a significant increase even as the sky remained overcast.

The minimum temperature rose to 8.5°C in Shimla, six degrees above normal, while maximum temperature rose to 15.5°C. The maximum temperatures at Sundernagar and Bhuntar rose to 19.1°C and 15.1°C while minimum temperatures were recorded at 2.5°C and 1.4°C.

The higher reaches in Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Pangi and Bharmaur saw a fresh spell of snowfall, with 10 to 15 cm of snow recorded till noon. The tourist resort of Manali was lashed by rains along with strong icy winds.

The high mountain passes — Rohtang, Kunzum, Saach and Chansel — remained closed due to heavy snow and are unlikely to open before April/May.

The Hindustan-Tibet national highway remains closed beyond Rekong Peo due to snow and landslides but vehicular traffic was normal on other state and national highways.

The Baspa Hydropower Project Stage-II (300 mw), remained shutdown for the eighth day today. Boulders had slid down to the switchyard site. — PTI

BJP destroyed revenue record, says minister
Our Correspondent

Nahan, January 28
“During its five-year rule in Himachal the state BJP almost destroyed the Revenue Record of the state”.

These allegations were made by the Revenue, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister, Mr Sat Mahajan, at a press conference in Circuit House here on the Republic Day.

Mr Mahajan said in districts like Una, the Revenue Department was facing an uphill task in preparing latthas and Musavis as the old record had been destroyed. He alleged that the Revenue Department was a victim of wrong policies of the BJP Government. He alleged that the BJP encouraged encroachment on government land and now the government was duty-bound to remove all such encroachments on government and forest land. He alleged that the maximum cases of encroachment reported so far were related to the BJP regime.

Mr Mahajan claimed that the Congress had swept the panchayat elections and had captured more than 75 per cent seats.

Mr Mahajan announced that every panchayat would be computerised and very soon all panchayats would be linked to the Chief Minister’s secretariat. He also announced that Panchayat sahayaks and technical assistants would be appointed in every Panchayat. Every development block would be given at least three Junior Engineers to assist panchayats in the implementation of development 

‘Scrap Baspa II hydro power project’
Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 28
The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRAP) today demanded the scrapping of the agreement signed by the state government with the Jaiprakash group for the execution of the 300 MW Baspa II hydro electric project.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Bimal Bhai, member of SANDRAP, said seeing the power purchase agreement (PPA) signed between the state government and the Jaiprakash group, the project was likely to put a heavy burden on the public. “As per the agreement the government has to purchase power from the project at a rate of Rs 7 per unit which is very high and since the government will not be able to sell it further at this cost, the state is bound to face financial loss,” he said.

He said a close examination of the tariff application indicated that the company had charged all kinds of costs in the project, including higher than approved capital cost, cost due to damage on account of the July 2005 floods, 16 per cent guaranteed return on equity and other such components.

Mr Bhai said the company had not even prepared the catchment area treatment (CAT) plan whereas this should have been done along with the compensatory afforestation before work on the project began. “Since the company had so far not paid the CAT plan money in case of the Karcham-Wangtoo power project till now, they should not be allowed to carry on work at this project also,” he demanded.

The member said in case of the Karcham-Wangtoo project, no- objection certificate from the panchayat had not been obtained and the locals had not been taken into confidence which had led to a lot of unrest in the area. He said the government must ensure that the rehabilitation of all affected families should be done properly as a large number of people had not got their due.

Mr Bhai said the people of the state could raise all these issues and protect their rights by raising the matter before the HP Electricity Regulatory Commission by February 8 or else the public would have to bear the burden of costs for the project.

MRI machine at IGMC
Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 28
Patients from the state will no longer have to travel outside Himachal Pradesh to get an MRI test done as a latest machine has been installed at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here.

The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, dedicated the Rs 7 crore machine to the people of the state on Republic Day.

Being one of the latest and most sophisticated machines, only 10 premier medical institutes of the country have this equipment.

With the installation of the machine, the people of the state will be able to get specialised health care and diagnostic facilities. The machine is equipped with the latest whole body scanning, spectroscopy, cardiac and coronary imaging and mammography facilities, which will help in early detection of cancer, cardiac diseases and brain strokes.

The MRI facility would be made available free of cost to the patients belonging to the IRDP and BPL families. The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of an auditorium, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 9 crore at the state medical college.

Sewage work causes inconvenience
Our Correspondent

Solan, January 28
Residents of the town have been put to a great inconvenience by the callous attitude of the Irrigation and Public Works Department which has been unable to restore the roads after laying sewage pipes.

The plight of residents of Ward No. 7 is particularly appalling as barely a few inches of space has been left to move after the stairs leading to the populated Kargil Colony were broken without a thought to the movement of passersby. The way has not only become rickety for women and children, but residents also rue that they are being put to great hardship during the night. 

Land allotment to homeless okayed
Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 28
The state Cabinet today decided to allot two biswas of land in rural areas and one biswa in urban areas to identified homeless, landless and deserving people in the state.

The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, chaired the Cabinet meeting here today. Only those landless and homeless people would be entitled to this free land whose income limit did not exceed the one prescribed for IRDP beneficiaries. Besides, the income limit, which is the main criterion, other conditions would also apply for allotment of land, both in the rural as well as the urban areas.

The one biswa land would be given to deserving people in suitable sites earmarked within the urban limit. The gram panchayats would be entrusted the responsibility of carrying out selection of the eligible persons.

The Deputy Commis-sioner in the district will be the competent authority to allot land to the eligible and deserving persons.

The Cabinet also sanctioned 14 posts of various categories in the Ayurveda Department on contract basis to strengthen the Drug Testing Laboratory at Jogindernagar in Mandi district.

The Cabinet decided that the Assembly session would begin from February 20 and continue for a month.

Forest land diversion: relief for states
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 28
In a major relief to the states, Centre has decided not to recover the net present value in cases of diversion of forest land for projects involving public welfare under the Forest Conservation Act.

Himachal Pradesh, where hundreds of hectares of forest land is diverted every year for such projects, will be a major beneficiary. Hitherto, net present value was being charged at the rate of Rs 5.8 lakh to Rs 9.2 lakh per hectare depending on the density of trees. Over the past two decades over 6,000 hectares have been diverted and the Public Works Department alone has paid over Rs 31 crore for diversion of forests for 253 road projects.

The states had been strongly pleading against imposition of net present value for projects concerned with public welfare.