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Whopping dividend After
the success in the literacy campaign that saw the state attaining the second position after Kerela, Himachal is now all set to become the first ‘fully banked’ state of the country. Thanks to the national drive for ‘total financial inclusion’. According to the data available with the Finance Department, all 12,13,276 lakh households in the state have been brought within the banking network. A house-to-house survey conducted by the district authorities along with banks staff has confirmed that there is no un-banked household in the state. Every household has a bank account. The total number of accounts far exceeds the number of households as expected. However, the department has asked the bankers to carry out a final validation of the data before making a formal announcement. The department went on an over-drive to achieve the goal bringing all the
The objective is to help develop the banking habit among villagers so essential in the era of e-governance. The government also plans to make payments under the rural employment guarantee scheme, provide subsidies and other financial benefits to the people through the banking channel to cut down delays and minimize the scope of corruption. More importantly, the government feels that better financial integration through the banking network will benefit the people in rural areas, particularly the farmers, as it will afford them easy access to credit. It will also help provide fillip to micro-financing and familiarise them with risk management products pertaining to life insurance and crop insurance. All this will eventually lead to higher credit take off and in turn improve the credit -deposit ratio, which continues to be very low despite the rapid growth in the industrial sector. With almost 90 per cent of population living in rural areas the agriculture sector holds the key to economic growth. In fact, credit in the agriculture sector had doubled to about 900 crore over the past three years and the credit–deposit ratio has been increasing by about five per cent since 2004 to reach 46 per cent. The size of annual credit plan for the next year has been increased to 2894.85 crore from Rs 2501.92 crore in the current fiscal. With every household in the state becoming a part of the banking network, credit-deposit is bound to improve at an accelerated pace. The government is also trying to secure maximum loans from the national bank for agriculture and rural development (NABARD) under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) scheme to boost the credit ratio.
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Here, all roads lead to school An
abiding sight in the Himachal countryside is school children of all ages — girls and boys — walking on their way to or from school. Even a casual visitor cannot fail to notice the educational activity, especially deep in the mountains where one does not expect to find anything, and yet there are schools, and schools that function. Often housed in frugal buildings with few facilities, the sincerity with which teaching and learning appears to be taking place in these schools is inspiring. Tom mats and broken blackboards do not affect the order within the classroom or the efforts to both teachers and pupils to deal with the learning process. While far from perfect, it is nonetheless striking to find that the teachers have not abandoned their posts and have come to school in time, and that the children are seated in an orderly fashion with books or slates in hand, struggling to learn. In 1951, the first post-Independence census showed Himachal’s literacy rate as 19 per cent. By 2001, it had gone up to 77 per cent, with male literacy at 86 per cent and female at 68 per cent. In the 15-19 age group, literacy rates were 95 per cent for females and 97 for males, second only to
Kerela, where the corresponding figures are 98 and 99 per cent, respectively. Of all the states, school attendance rates in Himachal in the 6-12 age group are the highest in the country. The distribution of educational performance in terms of gender and caste in also an impressive aspect of schooling in Himachal. In the 7-15 age group, not only are the aggregate levels of literacy very high, the gender gap (female literacy 94 per cent; male literacy 96 per cent) and caste disadvantage (SC female literacy 92 per cent; SC male literacy 95 per cent) have also greatly reduced. My fieldwork in Kullu district had many memorable moments of interaction with the people. One that has remained with me and is perhaps most telling of the Himachali situation involves a remark by a person in Naggar. When asked about the status of children in HP, he said very matter-of-factly: “Bacche to sanjhe hote hain — voh humare tumhare nahin hote. Unki zimmedari hum sabhi ki hai (children are communal — not yours or mine. We are all collectively responsible for them). Looking at the record of HP with respect of children it does appear that this “notion” or philosophy has wide acceptance in Himachali society and has been imbibed by the state as well. This is reflected not only in the schooling performance of the state, but also in its health achievements. According to the NFHS-II, HP’s infant mortality rate is 34.4; child mortality rate 8.3 and under-five mortality rate 42.4. All these figures are much lower than the All-India figures and second only to those of Kerala. Immunisation records are similarly impressive. While 83.4 per cent of all children aged 12-23 months have received all vaccinations, second to Tamil Nadu with 88.8 per cent. Only 2.8 per cent have received none, close third after Tamil Nadu with 0.3 per cent and Kerala with 2.2 per cent. The absence of disparities in HP is particularly impressive — 82.9 per cent of non-SC children and 82.5 of SC children are fully immunised. Even more noteworthy is that while 2.7 per cent non-SC children have received no vaccinations only 1.8 per cent of SC children are in a similar position. The state’s schooling revolution is an example of the complementarity between state action and social equality. On the one hand, the relatively egalitarian nature of social relations in Himachal has facilitated the universalisation of elementary education and helped to make schooling, especially at primary level, a policy priority, fostered the emergence of consensual social norms on schooling matters, reduced the social distance between teachers and pupils and facilitated community participation in the schooling system and on the other, the schooling revolution has been fundamentally a state initiative. Its common schooling system, which contrasts so sharply with the segmented schooling found elsewhere in India, has played a key role in sustaining the egalitarian features of Himachali society. In particular, it has virtually eliminated caste and gender discrimination in access to elementary education, guaranteeing basic opportunities that ultimately extend beyond the field of education to all citizens. (The writer contributed this piece to the Focus On Children Under Six report)
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Investors cheer train to Baddi Industrialists of the region have welcomed the approval granted in the Union Railways Budget for laying of a railway track connecting Baddi to Chandigarh. This has brightened the prospects of railways connectivity and consequent setting up of an inland container depot in the state’s prime industrial area. The absence of a railway link was a major damper in the setting up of an inland container depot (ICD) at Baddi. Opening of this depot will relieve the industry from recurring problem of shortage of trucks, AC containers and specially designed vehicles for transporting their finished goods. While this will solve the long-standing problem of containers, especially required for the increasing export oriented units. The announcement comes at a time when the central industrial package has been extended for three years. Though the announcement is yet bereft of any budgetary provision but investors are hopeful. The fact that a survey had already been carried out to lay this track, this approval is being seen as a step forward in this direction, said a government official.
The earlier announcements made in the railways budget had disappointed the investors as no budgetary provision had been made. The state has managed to attract an investment worth Rs 20,000 crore after the central industrial package was announced in 2003. The state government had been facing flak for its inability to plead its case before the Centre. It is interesting to note that the Prime Minister had announced the Baddi-Chandigarh rail link as a national project during his last visit to the state. The state government had therefore been banking on this announcement for this crucial project.
The ambitious Baddi-Chandigarh rail link will benefit the investors by reducing the distance by as much as 20 km. A
rail The state government had a tough time countering allegations of the Opposition for the lack of railways extension. The fact, that an earlier announcement made by the union railway ministry in 2004 to survey the area between Darlaghat and Parwanoo, had remained a mere announcement the government had been put in an embarrassing situation. This would have benefited the number of cement plants in the area. While Gujarat Ambuja Cements Limited and ACC are already having their plants here, another cement plant is being set up by the J P Group. The chairman of the Himachal chapter of CII Rajinder Guleria said it was a welcome step and they were hopeful of some earmarked funds for infrastructure development as well. Interestingly, a proposal to widen a section of the Kalka-Shimla railway track near Tipra had also not materialised earlier. This was despite the budgetary provision and even laying of a foundation stone by the then union minister Nitish Kumar. Residents feel the state was always given a raw deal due to the lack of proper representation. Both the BJP as well as the Congress are now jubilant at this announcement. The Congress MP Col (retd.) D.R.Shandil said he had taken up the case with the union minister a number of times. Even BJP’s state secretary H.N. Kashyap had written to the Centre to bring about some development in the railways, as it was shameful that whatever progress had been made was during the British Raj, he rued. |
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vignettes When
vendors add the prefix Shimla to peas and capsicum, they mean to insist upon the quality of the products. The monkeys with the same prefix are no different. Doz, Kipling and Buck have used it to show their frolicking nature and meddlesomeness – the qualities that the monkeys should have to distinguish themselves from monks. Sir Edward Buck saw at North-Bank in Kaithu area that monkeys “daily visited the lawn tennis ground to warm themselves in the rays of the morning sun; the monkey children gamboling the while in playful quarrel and rough games.” And Kipling had once made an enquiry from Buck: “Do the monkeys still come into the upper bedrooms at North-Bank and take the hair brushes off the table?” I made a similar enquiry from an under secretary: “Do the monkeys still enter the Secretariat and run away with the all important files?” I recalled that in my times, monkeys were the only primates who could enter the Secretariat building without the prescribed permit and were said to have eloped with the files in which action was proposed against the defaulting official. The files proposing benefits remained safe. When I had asked my section officer the reason behind it, he had said, “Sir, bander sayaane ho gayen hain aur ab adrak ka swaad jaanne lag gaye hain!” (the monkeys have grown matured now and have started relishing the taste of ginger). I was stalled. I can never forget the changing expressions on the face of a gentleman who had climbed down the stairs of UCO Bank with a bundle of Rs 100 currency notes in his hand when suddenly a monkey jumped on him, snatched the bundle and perched himself comfortably on a branch in the nearest tree. The monkey, luckily, was not a mare that money could make him go. So he started tearing off note by note from the bundle and caused a money shower much to the relief of the gentleman. Sir Edward Buck, writing in 1904, had agreed that monkeys in the Lakkar Bazaar area had become a decided nuisance and were destructive pests in station gardens and did not improve upon the houses by jumping on their roofs. Today, H.L. Gandotra finds the treasured trees around his house at Chaura Maidan a pain in the neck. Each branch of these is a diving board for these hippety-hop happy monkeys as they jump on to his tin roof. RSS Chauhan, who lives at Chhota Shimla side, used an expensive gadget that emitted invisible rays to repel monkeys. The monkeys made use of their R&D resources and ultimately found a path untouched by the rays and entered the garden to plunder it with vengeance. So much for the intelligence of our ancestors! P.C. Thakur in Kaithu has left gardening since his Doberman began siding with the monkeys. Like politicians, he too got to know whom to patao and when. They have a weakness for members of the fairer sex too. On the Mall or elsewhere, they want to be in their company and share the contents of their bags. The women, however, do not ratify their flirtation and behave ‘un-Manekaian’. Where has that pedantic bandar of Kipling gone who had said? “I follow no man’s carriage and no, never in my life The denizens have been tolerating all this for the past hundred years and more. Sir Buck was so impressed by our patience and forbearance that he had said: “The native population of the station, however, accepts the position (nuisance and mischief of monkeys) with that quiet resignation for which the inhabitant of Hindustan is so famous.” The government, after all, has awakened to people’s distress call. It wants to attack the monkey-menace using a three-pronged strategy. First, to change the mindset of the people attaching religiosity to monkeys – no gur-chana offerings on Tuesdays — secondly, to grow wild fruit trees around towns and villages and last, sterilisation of monkeys. A building at Tutikandi belonging to the Wildlife Department has been converted into a hospital where laser sterilisation of monkeys with newly acquired equipment has been on since February 17. Do the service-deliverers know that monkeys have a high fertility rate and that in seven years, each she-monkey increases its race by a number more than one can shake a stick at? Tailpiece Here is a quote from Notes and Queries written in 1887: “The egotistical officer is like a monkey, the higher he climbs the more you see of his less attractive features (red bottoms with ugly pads).”
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Industry to help fight AIDS Prevention
of HIV/AIDs by educating the youth is the lone solution to fight this hitherto medically incurable disease. It is the socio economic ramifications of this disease, which worry the experts today. This disease, which is threatening to become biggest developmental challenge of all times requires an approach, which encompasses support from all sections of the society. These were the focus of a one-day awareness session on Strengthening Partnerships for a Safer Tomorrow organised at the Vardhman Textiles at Baddi by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Ashwany Sharma, vice president, Vardhman Group, while addressing staff members of Vardhman Group laid emphasis on the need to impart education and said that educating the masses was the only solution to prevent the rapid increase of the HIV/AIDS cases. The need to impart the workers with information base and complete knowledge on HIV/AIDS was a potent tool, which could serve as key to fight HIV/AIDS, he said. The industrial sector faced a severe threat as HIV virus targets a workforce, which is in its economic prime, he said. It is here that the role of the business community became crucial, he said. He also urged the workers to avail services being provided at the voluntary counselling and testing centres. Stress was laid on demonstrating leadership by acting as peer educators. Discussing on the CII’s initiatives in the area, he added that CII has taken up the mandate of catalysing industrial involvement in India’s social development agenda particularly regarding HIV/AIDS. CII’s work place intervention programme involves sensitising the entire work force, including workers, middle and senior management officers, including the CEOs. The CII-NDPL has set up a toll free 24x7 HIV/AIDS counselling help line no 1800180 2008 accessible from BSNL lines and 0172-2662172 from other lines to reach out to a larger populace. Dr N. K Gupta, District AIDS Program Officer, Solan said, “Complete understanding of HIV virus, practicing safe sex and taking necessary precautions is the only mantra to fight AIDS. Dr Gupta said that India has the maximum HIV positive cases. He gave a presentation on occurrence and prevention of HIV/AIDS infection. He highlighted and clarified the various myths and beliefs related to HIV/AIDS later while addressing the queries of the participants. Participants were also provided with information and education material. Summing up the session, Dr Gupta informed about the facilities provided by the state to address the problem, which has far exceeded it’s regime of being a mere health problem. He said it was an issue, which was threatening to become the biggest developmental challenge of all times. Complimenting CII’s efforts and initiatives in the crusade against AIDS, he urged one and all to join hands to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS. The prime objectives of the programme were to increase awareness amongst the workers and their families and to work towards reducing stigma and discrimination against people living with AIDS. The private sector has begun to realise the dangers that the pandemic can cause to economies. CII Himachal State Council jointly with HP State AIDS Control Society (HPSACS) is organising a series of workshop for sensitising more and more number of industrial workers and medical professionals. Two such workshops have already been organised at district Shimla for paramedical staff and for workers at Nalagarh and more workshops are proposed in other parts of the State.
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Paonta all set for Hola Mohalla The
six-day long Hola Mohalla fair of Paonta Sahib to mark the festival of Holi is held every year in the Municipal ground situated in front of the Paonta Sahib gurdwara. The tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh founded the
gurdwara in 1685 and the Hola fair is dedicated him. Lakhs of devotees from different parts of the country and abroad take a holy dip in the pious water of river Yamuna and pay obeisance to the tenth Guru. The fair would begin on March 1 this year. Religious ceremonies according to the Hola tradition would conclude on March 6. District administration, police and local municipal authorities have made arrangements for a peaceful conduct of the fair. Keeping in mind terrorist threats, the police has made tight security arrangements. Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee has also made arrangements for a comfortable stay of thousands of devotees inside the gurdwara. Traditionally, major Hola Mohalla celebrations take place at Anandpur Sahib, Hazoor Sahib (Maharashtra) and
Paonta. Hola Mohalla coincides with the Holi festival, which marks victory of good over bad, which is the real theme of Hola Mohalla. Guru Gobind Singh wanted to celebrate the traditional victory of the Holi festival in a martial style. He it is said imparted training in martial arts, use of arms, combat tactics and different methods of self-protection. Even before founding the Khalsa tenth Guru had laid the base for this during his stay at Paonta Sahib, where he gave Hola festival the martial form with trained soldiers displaying their combat tactics on the Hola fair ground, which later on became a rich tradition of the valley. On Hola Mohalla fair the guru held Kavi Darbars, in which dozens of poets from all sections and religions of society took part. During his stay at Paonta tenth Guru meditated on religion and social matters of country. According to Kulwant Singh Chowdhary, manager of the Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee during the fair gold palanquin made of 8 kg of gold will be kept at the gurdwara complex for the devotees to pay obeisance. An anonymous devotee donated the gold palanquin in memory of Kalpi Rishi. The Guru brought Kalpiu Rishi from Kalsi, in Uttrakhand in a golden palanquin to Paonta Sahib. Kalpi Rishi breathed his last at Paonta Sahib in the presence of the tenth guru. Chowdhary says a lot of development activities had taken place in the recent years in the gurdwara complex. In past two years 72 new rooms, 26 of ten-seater rooms, spacious underground parking and a big well-equipped langar hall had been added in the complex. Recently an automatic Chapati making machine has also been installed with a capacity of two thousand chapatis in an hour for the smooth running of round the clock langar. He said the entire gurdwara was being decorated tastefully with lights. Special arrangements had also been made to provide 24-hour langar, lodging and medical facilities for the devotees during the fair. As a Hola tradition visitors would watch wrestling bouts, cultural programmes, kavi darbar, dhahdi darbar, kirtan darbar, colourful nagar kirtan and flag hoisting ceremony during the fair, Chowdhary added.
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Fire station building in a shambles The
only fire station of the Sirmour district, located opposite the court of the district and session’s judge is housed in a century old decrepit building. The electric fittings are getting peeled off as rainwater from the roofs keeps dripping, making the workers lives miserable, groan the firemen who are forced to work under such hazardous circumstances. This building once used to house a club for the high officials of the Nahan foundry. The fire brigades stationed at this site are as old as 20 years and need urgent replacement. These fire tenders have exhausted their life span and often break down for want of frequent repair. Having the capacity of 4500 litres of water storage, two fire tenders have gone deficient to undertake the emergency orders. One fire brigade can only store 2000 litres of water and has to even supply water at odd hours, says an official on condition of anonymity. In order to extinguish fire, rare quantity of foam, sand, powder, bulk of water is used by the firemen to carryout the fire extinguishing operations, says D V Verma, the District Fire Officer. The regular employees are devoid of accommodation and are living far away from the site of the fire station. In the emergency hours, the need for short distance accommodation becomes very important. The adjacent land for construction of staff quarters will suffice but awaits sanction of requisite budget. The acute shortage of staff has crippled the functioning of the institution. Against the sanctioned strength of 16 firemen, there are only eight regular employees. Besides only eight home guards were available to assist the regular workers. This strength of eight, are untrained, says Sohan Singh, daily wage driver. The staff members have suggested that Rajgarh, Kala Amb and Sarahan should be provided with independent fire service stations because it takes many hours to reach Rajgarh via Solan. Resentment also prevails among the daily-wage workers who were not even called in the interview held for regular firemen despite their experience in handling the extinguishing operations at odd hours. “The callous attitude of the district administration should be held accountable, for paralysing the aptitude,” says Sohan Singh a driver working on daily wages. R.C. Negi could not be contacted for comments.
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Power project threatens ecology A
private
hydro power company of Andhra Pradesh executing a 15 MW hydro-power project on Neugal Khud has allegedly adopted an insensitive attitude towards environmental issues and poses a threat to the ecology of the area. The company has been fined a sum of Rs 38, 000 for illegal felling of trees. With the indiscriminate cutting of the trees to make way for the project, the flora and fauna of the area and natural water channels are being destroyed in the process. Residents have begun protesting against the power company and are demanding suspension of the construction work on this power project. Protesters allege that it had completely disturbed the ecology of the region and damaged a dozen irrigation channels and drinking water supply schemes feeding to over two lakh people living in the lower areas of Palampur. A deputation from the adjoining villages of Palampur met Naresh Sharma, executive engineer of the irrigation and public health department recently and urged him to intervene into the matter so as to protect the natural water sources from dying. Joginder Kumar deputy chief of the gram panchayat of Surad village, where the project is coming up said if early measures were not initiated to put a check on the indiscriminate cutting of the hills there could be a serious drinking water crises in the villages of Surad, Sulaha, Thural and as well as lower areas of Palampur in the coming summer season. Santosh Kumar another resident of Surad village alleged that the company was dumping entire debris in Neugal Khud, which is a major source of water for the Palampur region. Senior officials of the department admitted that the very existence of many natural water channels was under threat because of the reckless cutting of hills and dumping of debris in the Neugal Khud near Bundla village. A senior official of the department revealed that they had already served a notice to the management of company last month to stop the construction work but they had not responded and continued with the illegal cutting of hills and dumping of the debris. Protesters to the project also allege that more than half a dozen irrigation and drinking water supply channels had already been damaged due to the dumping of debris in the Neugal Khud. The company had also axed hundreds of trees. The company was to deposit a sum of Rs 1.5 crore with the forest department under the Catchments Area Treatment (CAT) scheme; however, so far, the company had deposited only fifty lakh rupees in this regard. The government had given a sanction for the felling of seven hundred and thirty trees only to the company and the job work was allotted to the Himachal Forest Corporation. However, the company axed hundreds of trees more than the permissible limit. Admitting that the company had illegally axed hundreds of more trees, a senior official of the forest department said it had slapped an approximate sum of rupees 38 thousand as fine to the company.
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SHIMLA DIARY Ironically, it is not some hardliner BJP leader who is at the receiving end of Christian organisations, but chief minister Virbhadra Singh, who is being
labeled as anti-minority for enacting the Freedom of Religion Bill. The All-India Christian Council (AICC) has threatened to challenge the Bill in the High Court while accusing the chief minister of encouraging ‘fundamentalist forces’ like the Bajrang Dal, RSS, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Shiv Sena. The AICC went to the extent of saying that by passing the Bill, the state government had also humiliated UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi as the latter is opposed to all anti-conversion Bills in the country. On the other hand, the rank and file of the Opposition, the BJP, who feel that the passing of the Bill was a must, is congratulating Virbhadra Singh. In fact, the BJP has retaliated by saying that they will not allow forced conversions and the Freedom of Religion Bill in no way prevents willing conversions. Dr. Rajiv Bindal, state vice-president of the BJP, said this party could prove that conversions were taking place with allurements. Alleging that the Bill could be misused like POTA, Dr John Dayal, secretary-general of the AICC, said such Bills were not only against the minority communities of the country, but also against the Constitution of the country. Claiming that similar Bills had yet to be signed by the governors of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Dayal said the Himachal Pradesh governor had signed the Bill in three days and this was enough reason for the AICC to go to the High Court. However, the chief minister has received accolade from his colleagues in the BJP who have welcomed the Bill. BJP unites With Assembly elections in the state due within a year’s time, the faction ridden BJP is trying to put its act together by forging unity. All senior leaders, including former union minister Shanta Kumar, former chief minister P.K. Dhumal, state BJP chief Jai Ram Thakur and his predecessor Suresh Bhardwaj, are now ensuring their presence at all party functions and meetings. All of them got together here on Sunday to chalk out the strategy to take on the Congress and pave way for the return of the party to power. The bickering and factionalism which came to the fore in the run up to the state party chief elections sent a very negative signal and demoralised the rank and file of the party, especially at the grass-root level. The party had to delay the party chief elections on several occasions as each faction had its own candidate. Now it remains to be seen how long the top brass of the party can put up this united show.
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Chinks in mela management The
weeklong Shivratri fair that concluded in the temple town of Mandi on February 23 has exposed chinks in the management of the show. Besides, the mela also received bouquets and brickbats from the culture cynics. This time Bajantris, the musicians who accompanied each procession of the devtas, demanded their share of the cake. The Bajantris belong to the dalit communities, but they do not get proper lodging facilities and representation in the mela, the musicians rued. There are over 500 bajantris as each devta procession has 5-15 of them. They have been toughing it out since time immemorial as they belong to the dalit community, says Santa Ram, a bajantri. “They should get funds from the cultural committee as an honorarium.” Missing artisans Festival crowds also missed crafts and artisans coming from the village at the trade fair at Paddal Maidan. Except for a few artisans there were no village craftsmen exhibiting cottage and bamboo wares at the Paddal Maidan. Rag traders from outside selling junk to simple villagers dominated the trade fair. The mela committee leased out plots worth Rs 40 lakh to contractors at the Paddal Maidan, who sold it further to make a profit. Even a raddiwala was paying Rs 100 a day to the contractor in a corner. From toys to ladies suits, you find junk and rags at the stalls. People buy it because it was cheap. There is none to keep a quality watch on as to who was selling what, rued Raksha Kapur. No hygiene The Paddal Maidan was turned into a junkyard. There were no checks on stall owners to maintain cleanliness. Rappers, plastics though banned was littered the whole venue of the mela. The mela committee has deputed tractors and dumpers but they care to pick the trash only when Shobha Yatra passed from the Madain, not otherwise. Mela committee did not organize any competition among stall owners aimed at improving health and hygiene during the mela. Sarkari agenda The government exhibitions were promoting only the government agenda many alleged. HP public relations and information, irrigation and public health, electricity board, social welfare, Himurja and other officials were there to provide insight about government schemes. But an odd sarkari babu or two deputed to the stalls were neither informative nor inclined to answer the queries of the visitors. Kudos for Army Army recruitment branch Mandi and 9th Corps Yol camp held weapon exhibition and a free polyclinic for eye check up, which evoked a good response. The polyclinic examined over 3000 ex-servicemen. The recruitment office stall provided valuable inputs to the inquisitive youngsters and parents who wanted to know about the Army and how to get into it. Bouquets Besides, the fashion show at the Seri Manch evoked protests from culture cynics, but made the youngsters very happy. Many rue that the Seri Manch was a cultural stage and not ramp for the cloth merchants to promote their wares, underdressed models. Committeespeak The “cultural nights” staged at the Seri Manch were also criticised as rowdy youngsters grabbed the stage. The cultural nights also received brickbats for local artistes and their wards complaining that a major chunk of the money was spent on artistes from outside. The local artistes got peanuts. “Abhijit, Mikka, Udit Narayan were paid lakhs, but local artistes were ignored,” retorted a veteran.
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Food & Supply Dept headless Government’s
failure to fill up the post of the District Food and Supplies controller here, hoarders, hoteliers and entrepreneurs of nearby industrial areas are having field day. The earlier controller retired two months ago. Sources say without a head, it is difficult to apprehend the people who are openly indulging in malpractices. The over-riding powers to conduct trials and levy fines, are exclusively rested with the district controller. There is a widespread resentment as most of the residents are surviving on one LPG cylinder. “With three children my gas cylinder gets over after 16 days. How do I survive the entire month?’ says Suresh Chandel of Samsher Ganj Maholla. LPG cylinders meant for domestic consumption is being sold for commercial purposes, hence the shortage is man-made. “In connivance with the authorities of the Food and Supplies, Civil Supplies and gas agencies, the distributors are selling them for more profit,” said Rakesh Thakur, a teacher. The shortage of LPG fuel has hit the common man. “Sweets shops are seen using cylinders meant for domestic use without any apprehensions of imminent raids of the Food and Supply Department,” said a Bank official. On contacting, Rupinder Thakur, director, Civil Supplies, said, “We are doing our best, however, we cannot satisfy everyone. If there are loopholes we will try to eliminate the grievances of the consumers. He, however, claimed that consumer services were still far better than any other town.” R.R. Negi, area manager, Civil Supplies, said he was not empowered to carry out such raids.
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As
many as 500 students received prizes from the irrigation and public health minister Kaul Singh Thakur at the 58th annual prize giving function of the Postgraduate Vallabh Government College, Mandi, on Saturday. Addressing the students Thakur said law classes at the college would begin soon. A grant of Rs 30 lakh has been given for the library building of the college for its completion.
— TNS
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No rooms, staff for prosecution department The
office of the prosecution department at Chamba is nowadays falling into bad days. The office is functioning in a portion of an old structure consisting of three rooms. The lack of official and residential accommodation and shortage of staff are major stumbling-blocks to the smooth working of this office. These three rooms are hardly accommodating the offices of five officers that include the district attorney, two deputy district attorneys, two assistant district attorneys and their skeleton staff. Not only this, there is also a great dearth of staff. The entire office is being run by a senior assistant, three clerks, two peons and one part-time peon. Moreover, all officers and their staff are residing in rented accommodations as they have not been provided with the official accommodation so far, the official sources reveal.
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A six-day camp for training special athletes from Himachal, Haryana, Uttrakhand and Delhi in alpine skiing to enable their participation in the Special Winter Olympic games was held at Narkanda.