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From the Assembly
From the Assembly
No threat to Dalai Lama’s life, says SP
2 sworn in as additional HC judges
Report bares regional bias, says Dhumal
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Farmers hold protest
Waste management: SC norms being violated
Circuit bench at Dharamsala
Board limits seats for plus two science classes
Illegal construction stopped
5 houses gutted
Judge bereaved
Fire in toothpaste factory
Seminar on Domestic Violence Act
Four cells to curb drug menace
HAS sociology examination on May 7
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From the Assembly Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service
Shimla, April 3 The fiscal liabilities stood at 2.66 times of the revenue receipts, indicating the criticality of borrowings. The overall debt liability more than doubled from Rs 8,621 crore in 2000-01 to 17,432 crore in 2005-06 although the rate of growth of fiscal liabilities and their share in the gross state domestic product (GSDP) has been declining over the past three years. The internal debt of the government also increased from Rs 10,718 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 11,230 crore in 2005-06. The ratio of fiscal liabilities to the GSDP also increased from 63.4 per cent in 2000-01 to 77.87 per cent in 2005-06.The government guarantees for raising loans to various boards and corporation stood at Rs 3587 crore in 2005-06. The revenue expenditure comprised 89 per cent of the total spending in 2005-06, leaving very little for capital formation or asset creation. State finances were heavily dependent on central assistance which accounted for about 67 per cent of the revenue receipts. The only silver lining was that the rate of growth of fiscal liabilities was lower than the rate of growth of revenue receipts during 2004-2006, indicating an improvement in the capacity to sustain fiscal liabilities. However, the continued high interest payments indicated dependence on borrowings. As many as 3,774 trees valued at Rs 17.18 crore were allowed to be removed from the sanctuaries in violation of the orders of the Supreme Court. Ten districts, excluding two tribal districts, did not utilise earmarked funds of Rs 8.92 crore for creation of need-based village infrastructure in scheduled caste and scheduled tribe habitations and the amount was utilised for other components under the sampoorna grameen rozgar yojna. In six blocks of Shimla and Sirmaur districts, wage employment for 19,002 mandays was provided to foreign labourers, defeating the purpose of providing employment opportunities to rural poor of the area. The welfare department had not maintained the year-wise consolidated data for grant of social security pension in the absence of which grant of pension to the eligible persons could not be ensured. It failed to detect remittance of double pension of Rs 5.16 lakh in 813 cases due to defective maintenance of records of the pensioners. The implementation of the sarva shiksha abhiyan suffered because of non-release of adequate funds by the central and state governments during 2001-2006. There was only one teacher against the minimum requirement of two in 1,488, 1,273 and 1,478 primary schools during 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, respectively. A repair and maintenance grant amounting to Rs 38.80 lakh was incorrectly paid during 2002-2006 to 776 schools in Shimla district which had no existing buildings of their own. Besides, a repair and maintenance grant of Rs 19.85 crore was given without receipt of specific proposals from the village education committees. Out of Rs. 30 crore, awarded by the Eleventh Finance Commission during 2001-2005 for providing sewerage systems in Dharamshala, Hamirpur and Jawalamukhi towns, Rs. 5.13 crore was unauthorisedly diverted for other purposes.
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From the Assembly
Shimla, April 3 Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh maintained that the bill only elaborated the provisions of the existing law and laid down parameters for the constitution of temple trusts. There was nothing new in it for the BJP to oppose. He even proposed some amendments to accommodate the viewpoint of the BJP .However, the party stuck to its stand that the bill be withdrawn. The BJP members raised slogans in protest and staged a walkout when the bill was being passed. Opposing the bill leader of the BJP group P.K.Dhumal said the amendment to the existing act was unwarranted and the provision being incorporated would only enable the government to interfere in the religious affairs of Hindus. He said the government had not made any such law for the shrines of Christians, Sikhs, Muslims and other communities. Hindus should not be singled out and similar law should be enacted to regulate the shrines of other communities. The provisions of the bill would virtually reduce the temple trusts to a government department as the trusts would have to take approval for everything from the principal secretary, temples, and even "puja" and "rituals" would be performed as per the directives of the government. Virbhadra Singh said the government would consider enacting law to regulate shrines of other communities if the BJP regime in any state took the lead in doing so. The government had no intention to interfere in religious affairs of Hindus and the amendment bill had been introduced only to plug the loopholes and remove the shortcomings of the existing law on the basis of the past experience. To allay the fears that trust would dominated by officials he proposed an amendment which did not specify the number of officials. The trust would have a maximum of 20 members, including hereditary, non-hereditary, officials and non-officials. Earlier, there was no limit and some trusts had more than 60 members.
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No threat to Dalai Lama’s life, says SP
Dharamsala, April 3 Officials of the state police, state intelligence and Intelligence Bureau held a series of meetings during the past couple of days following unconfirmed reports of threat to the life of the Dalai Lama from the Lashkar-e-Toiba, a militant organisation active in the country. “We do not have any report of threat to the life of the Dalai Lama from any militant organisation. It has been reported in a section of the media and they know it better than the security agencies,” said Kangra SP Ajay Yadav. The Tibetan government-in-exile has kept mum and no one was ready to comment on the issue. However, a high-level meeting of the Tibetan government was held on Monday to discuss the issue, the details of which were kept secret. It was learnt that details of the meeting were provided to officials of the Intelligence Bureau and a report faxed to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for information. The security of the Dalai Lama includes special security personnel of the Tibetan Security Department in the inner ring, while the outer ring is manned by a company of state police led by a DSP. More than 100 police personnel have been deployed in his security by the state police. Another official of the state police on the condition of anonymity said there was no need to enhance the number of security personnel attached with the spiritual leader. It may be mentioned that some of the most rigorous search procedures were being adopted by the security personnel for anyone who came to meet him at McLeodganj, headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Bharat Khera said he was not aware of anything. “I have no concern with the security of the Dalai Lama,” he said.
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2 sworn in as additional HC judges
Shimla, April 3 Born on January 17, 1952, Kuldeep Singh did LL.B from Panjab University, Chandigarh, and enrolled as an advocate in 1975 and started practice at Nahan. He also practised in the district courts at Shimla and the high court and was designated as a senior advocate in 1999. He pleaded cases on constitutional, service, labour, motor accident claims and also company matters in the high court. He also represented, among others, the Himachal Pradesh Financial Corporation, Punjab State Electricity Board, HP State Electricity Board and the Indian Institute of Advance Study. Rajeev Sharma, born on October 8, 1958, was enrolled as an advocate in 1982 and was designated as a senior advocate in 2002. He practised primarily in constitutional and administrative law and service jurisprudence. He has visited almost the entire world to study the comparative constitutional laws of the various countries and to have feel of the culture and ethos of all the countries visited. Several dignitaries, including the chief secretary and judges were present.
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Report bares regional bias, says Dhumal
Shimla, April 3 In a statement issued here today, Dhumal said that it was clearly mentioned in the report that the fiscal liabilities of the government had gone up by 102 per cent as compared to 2000-01. Contrary to the claims of the government there was an overdraft of Rs 23 crore on13 days in 2005-06. "During the past five years the excess expenditure of Rs14,718 crore has been made by the government and since it has not been regularised it amounts to violation of Section 205 of the Constitution," he remarked. With the CAG report mentioning that single teachers ran over 1,500 primary schools between 2003 and 2006 exposed the false claims of the government in the education sector. "The fact that Rs 5.13 crore out of the Rs 30 crore approved by the 11th Finance Commission for sewage treatment plants in Dharamsala, Hamirpur and Jwalamukhi was diverted to other works not only violates the principle of fiscal discipline but also reflects the regional bias the government has towards the lower areas of the state," he said. Dhumal said that the identification of BPL families which had to be completed till March 31, 2007, had still not been completed. "The CAG report has adverse remarks even on the public distribution system and mentions that 16,300 metric tonnes of ration supplied to the people was of poor quality," he said.
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Farmers hold protest
Shimla, April 3 Farmers also submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, highlighting the gravity of the problem and the steps needed to be taken up immediately. The Kheti Bachao Sangharsh Samiti said if the government failed to find a solution to their problem they would hold demonstrations at all sub-divisional headquarters on June 5. The matter would also be taken up with the ministries of environment and commerce. They demanded that the government should change the export policy on monkeys. With almost 50,000 monkeys being exported every year there used be an automatic check on their numbers," said Onkar Shaad, convener of the samiti. He said under section 62 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the government should declare all such animals vermin who were causing damage to crops and make special squads to kill them. Under the employment guarantee scheme, the government must ask the Centre to include protection of crops from damage by wild animals. "In case the government is unable to take these steps, it should compensate the farmers for the damage to crops," said Shaad. If the government did not take effective steps to check the menace of wild animals, the farmers would be forced to intensify their agitation.
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Waste management: SC norms being violated
Solan, April 3 Around 30 pharmaceutical units have come in operation in and around the town. Majority of these are functioning on rented premises. Though a few firms have put up such boards, these neither fit the minimum size nor are regularly updated as required. The apex court gave these directions in connection with a civil writ petition in 2005 and it had sternly directed all states to make its compliance mandatory. It was aimed at apprising an individual entering any such unit premises about the hazardous waste being emitted by the unit and thereby ensuring safety. At least 12 pharmaceutical units are located on the NH-22, including Shoolini Pharmaceutical, MMC Healthcare, Solan Drugs, Remed Healthcare, Chimak Pharmaceuticals, Zeta Laboratories, SBP Pharmaceuticals, MDC Pharmaceuticals, etc. Only a few have installed such boards and even those who have done so do not bother to update information on these. Officials of the pollution control board said they had taken up the issue seriously with these units. Though they had been given adequate time to install such boards, the poor compliance would now lead to stringent action. They said as most of these units were located on residential premises, it was difficult to ensure compliance of norms. In a glaring irregularity, a pharmaceutical unit had come up on one of the floors of a hotel at Kumarhatti. While the hotel was also running illegally, the existence of a pharmaceutical unit was a serious violation of the town and country planning norms.
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Circuit bench at Dharamsala
Shimla, April 3 Stating this while replying to the call attention motion of Kuldeep Pathania and Vijay Mankotia in the Vidhan Sabha today, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the government had been pursuing the matter for setting up a bench for the past quite sometime and reference had been made to the high court three times since 1999. Every time the matter had been considered by the full bench of the high court, which reiterated that there was no need for a separate bench at any place other than Shimla. He said now that the members were keen on having a circuit bench, if permanent bench was no possible, the issue would be again taken up with the high court. He said it was a matter to be decided by the high court. The government would come into picture only if there was positive response from the high court. He said government would provide necessary infrastructure at Dharamsala as and when required. Pleading for a separate bench, Kuldeep Pathania and Vijay Mankotia said there was huge pendency of over 26,000 cases in the high court and thousands of litigants from Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur and Una districts could not move the higher court as they did not have money to go all the way to Shimla. With the high court having a full strength of nine judges for the first time, it would not be difficult to spare one or two judges for the circuit bench, they added.
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Board limits seats for plus two science classes
Dharamsala, April 3 The deteriorating quality of education in private schools affiliated to the board has been a cause of concern in recent years. It can be judged from the fact that the board was forced to abolish all examination centres in private schools following increase in cases of copying. Earlier, the board has also introduced a new grading system for private affiliated schools under which these will be divided into three categories (A, B and C) in accordance with the period of their existence, performance and the infrastructural facilities available. A few schools not fulfilling the already existing norms with regard to infrastructural facilities had also been prohibited from conducting fresh admissions in the science stream, he said. He said the admissions to science stream had been cancelled in two private schools in Bilaspur, one in Chamba, three in Hamirpur, 15 in Mandi, two in Kullu, three in Kangra, one in Solan and one in Una districts. There were a total of 154 senior secondary private schools affiliated with the board, out of which 126 had been allowed to admit students in the science stream of these classes as per the quota of seats, added Rahi. In the recent years, private schools had been criticised for their admission procedures agitating the minds of educationists, parents and all those concerned with education. The board's decision to fix the quota of seats in science stream in private senior secondary schools was likely to go a long way not only in improving the quality of education but also making the managements of such schools more responsible towards provide better infrastructure, claimed the chairman of the board. It may be mentioned that the state was recently adjudged as number one in India with regard to the quality of education being provided to students at the school level.
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Illegal construction stopped
McLeodganj, April 3 Following which, the Kangra DM Bharat Khera has recently served a notice under Section 39 of the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning Act-1977 on the local divisional manager of the Transport Department to restore the land to the condition existing before the development work took place within one month from the date of service of the notice. The Transport Department is the executing authority for the project. As per the details available from the local office of the Forest Department, a 0.48-hectare land was diverted by the Forest Department for constructing a bus stand the permission of which was given by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in the year 2001. Another piece of land measuring 0.093 hectare was also reserved in the year 1997 for constructing a parking space, the permission of which was also given by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The entire project is being constructed by the state transport department under the Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme through M/s Prashanti Surya Constructions, a local company. The company instead of sticking to the construction work of the bus stand and the parking space had also raised a multi-storey building above the parking space without any permission from the ministry of environment. Four months back, the state government had forwarded another request to the Union Government to grant permission for constructing a commercial complex above the parking place so as to make the whole project economically viable, however, this request had been turned down, revealed sources in the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The DM had also asked the Transport Department ‘to demolish the development made in contravention of the provisions of the Act and rules. The DM has also asked the local executive engineers of the state electricity board and the Irrigation and Public Health Department not to release any service connections of power and water, respectively, to the violators. The further construction work on the hotel has been stopped. Finally, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests denied permission to the state government for the change of land use for constructing a hotel on this prime location falling under the reserve forest area.
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5 houses gutted
Bilaspur, April 3 A loss of Rs 6 lakh has been ascertained. Namhole naib tehsildar Devraj Bhatia rushed to the spot and distributed a preliminary grant-in-aid of Rs 5,000 to each family. A short circuit is suspected to have caused the fire. Two houses were destroyed at Jaroda village near Ghumarwin. These houses belonged to Kalan Devi and Braham Das. Ghumarwin naib tehsildar has provided Rs 5,000 each as an immediate aid to each family.
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Fire in toothpaste factory
Nahan, April 3 Factory GM Hem Raj Thakur said inflammable material used in the manufacturing of toothpaste and toothpowder caught fire. Water was used by workers to extinguish the flames. Raw material mainly SLS powder worth Rs 10 lakh was destroyed. He said the machinery of the factory was saved with the efforts of the workers. Three big industrial fire incidents had been reported in the Kala Amb industrial area in the past four days.
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Seminar on Domestic Violence Act
Shimla, April 3 A seminar on creating awareness about the Act was organised by the department of social justice and empowerment here today. More than 150 participants, including NGOs, representatives from mahila mandals, panchayati raj institutions and officials of the social justice and empowerment attended the deliberations. Minister for social justice and empowerment Rangila Ram Rao inaugurated the seminar. After holding deliberations with the participants on various issues the department will evolve a mechanism for its effective implementation. The key role in the implementation of the Act will be played by 338 supervisors, who have 25 anganwaris each under them. The effort is to ensure that women right at the village level can seek protection against domestic violence close to their homes.
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Four cells to curb drug menace
Shimla, April 3 Till recently, it was only Kullu district, which had a narcotics cell. Keeping in view the problem in Kullu and Manali, which have emerged as the two nerve centres for cultivation, trafficking and all other drug-related activities in the state. However, with Chamba, Mandi, Sirmour and Shimla districts emerging as potential drug growing areas, the police has decided to expand its network and have four separate narcotics cells. The narcotics cell in Kullu district has not been wound up and plans are there to revamp it. “Seeing the increasing problem of drug cultivation and its trafficking in some other districts besides Kullu, we will shortly have special narcotics cell in the four districts of Chamba, Mandi, Shiml and Kullu,” said CID IG I.D. Bhandari. He added that the main objective of these cells would be intelligence collection. Reports of some villages emerging as the new drug cultivating areas in Chamba, Shimla, Mandi and Sirmaur districts have added to worries of the police. Reports say that some people of Bharada and Tikrigarh in the Tissa area of Chamba, Giankot, Pulbahal, Rajgarh and the Nerwa area in district Sirmaur and parts of Chopal area in district Shimla have taken to farming of cannabis on a commercial scale. Some time back even the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had directed the state police to undertake sustained campaign to check the growth of the drug menace. Matter of concern: Mankotia Raising the issue in the Assembly Vijay Singh Mankotia expressed concern over the increasing drug menace, which had brought a bad name to the peaceful hill state. It was important to take timely steps as drug mafia was linked to terrorist and thus was a serious threat to the peace of the state. The government would also keep a close watch on the foreigners who overstayed as some of them did get involved in the drug trade. Some even got married to the local boys and girls just to extend their stay. There had been instances of foreigners going missing in the Kullu valley, which would attract serious notice.
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HAS sociology examination on May 7
Shimla, April 3 According to the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission, this examination was to be earlier held on May 2. However, the venue and timings as indicated on the admission letter already sent would remain unchanged.
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