Dehra (Kangra), January 13
As many as 18 projects of roads and bridges at an estimated cost of Rs 15.57 crore in the Jwalamukhi Assembly segment of the district were being implemented during the current financial year.

The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, said this while addressing a public meeting here today on the ninth day of his winter sojourn to the lower districts of the state after inaugurating an ayurveda hospital constructed at a cost of Rs 1 crore.

He also laid the foundation stones of a sewerage scheme for the subdivisional headquarter to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.17 crore and a mini secretariat building to be constructed at a cost of Rs 2 crore.

The Chief Minister said the percentage of literacy in the state was just 21 per cent in 1966 when the hilly areas of the Punjab were merged with Himachal Pradesh but now it had reached 78 per cent, which was remarkable. He said the Census villages of the state had been electrified way back in 1987-88 while the state had only six of its villages electrified at the time of its reorganization.

He said the living standards of the people had also improved tremendously and were far better than many states of the country. The high literacy rate had opened new vistas of employment for the people, which reflects through their living standards.

He said there was no shelterless family in the state. The per capita income, which was only Rs 240 in the 1948 had increased to Rs 30,138 in 2006.

Kangra, January 13
A former Union Minister and founder trustee of the Vivekananda Medical Research Trust, Mr Shanta Kumar, said at Palampur yesterday lambasted the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, for misleading people and indulging in petty politics.

On being asked that the Chief Minister, during his winter sojourn at Palampur, had stated that the VMRT, a government-run trust, was converted into a private one, Mr Shanta Kumar described it as unfortunate. He said the foundation stone of the Vivekananda Medical Research Trust Hospital was laid in 1992. It functioned for six years (1992 to 1998). After that the government did not spend even a single paisa on it. On the contrary Rs 5 crore, which the ACC group had promised to pay to the VMRT, was diverted to a college named after Vivekananda at Gumarwie.

He said the ACC was allegedly pressurised by the government to divert Rs 5 crore meant for the VMRT to this college. After this incident the VMRT dissolved the trust under the presidentship of the health secretary and formed a new one.

He said under the Indian Trust Act the government had no right to seek account details and the Chief Minister must be aware of it.

Barotiwala, January 13
Workers of Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) unit here went on strike today. The prime cause behind the strike was termination of service of a unit worker who belonged to Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. Over 400 workers of unit sat on dharna outside the units’ main gate in support of the worker. Rajesh, the sacked worker, told mediapersons that he was handed over the termination letter by the company management in the morning without citing any reason.

Rajesh was employed with HLL in the dispatch department for the past one-and-half year. He did his best to know the reasons behind his sack but failed. The other workers of the unit also tried to find the reasons for Rajesh’s termination from the local management but failed. Finally they announced a strike in the unit and started raising slogans against high-handedness of the management.

As per a company spokesman, the workers went on strike without any notice. The spokesman said production was abruptly stopped and no proper shutdown was done. Workers of the first shift entered the factory in the morning but refused to work. The company explained to the workmen that their action was illegal and they should commence work and discuss the issues with the company”.

The spokesman further stated that the immediate cause for this illegal strike seemed to be the termination of service of a workman due to his unsatisfactory performance. “It was a practice all over the country that workmen were required to undergo a probation period. In case of the company here, the probation period was six months. This was as per the letter of appointment.

As per the spokesman, since the setting up of the unit here in August 2004, the company had taken several steps to provide better service environment and amenities at work. It had provided workers opportunities to develop their skills and every possible care had been taken to ensure the safety and well-being of each employee. HLL had more than 40 factories all over India and in all the locations it enjoyed harmonious industrial relations and the issues concerning employees were always resolved bilaterally in an atmosphere of mutual trust, the spokesman added.