Shimla, June 25
The Himachal cabinet today approved a new policy for regularisation of part-time workers, allowed non-practising allowance to ayurvedic and veterinary doctors on par with medicos and gave the nod to the draft of the New Police Act.

The cabinet okayed filling of 2,400 vacant posts of JBTs by engaging Primary Assistant Teachers and fixed emoluments for trained candidates at Rs 3,412 and untrained at Rs 2,912 per month, to be made effective from July 1, 2007. It also enhanced the honorarium to 9,145, besides creating 6,493 posts of various categories in different departments.

Further, it approved a marketing intervention scheme for procurement of mango plants at Rs 4.08 for seedling and grafted at Rs 4.75. The draft New Police Act-2007 that was approved today would replace the Punjab Police Act of 1861.

The policy for part-time workers facilitates their alleviation to daily wagers on completion of 10 years of service as on March 31, 2006 for engaging them as regular daily wagers, irrespective of the availability of the posts, and recruitment process. The policy is likely to benefit 720 part-timers.

It increased the rate of honorarium of Panchayat Sahayaks (PS) from Rs 600 to Rs 2,340 per month, benefiting 3,037 PSs by making them whole time workers, tailoring teachers from existing Rs 700 to Rs 900 per month, village and panchayat chowkidars from existing Rs 500 to Rs 800 per month, putting an annual additional burden of Rs 4,48,50,240 on the state exchequer.

It decided to enhance the annual income ceiling from Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000 for appointment as aanganwari workers and helpers.

It removed the pay anomaly between the ayurvedic and veterinary doctors, bringing them at par with the allopathic doctors, providing them Non-Practising Allowance at the rate of 25 per cent of their basic pay and DA.

It decided to add ‘Nath’ community in the state list of OBCs on the recommendation of the State Commission for Backward Classes.

Further, nod was given to opening of new developmental blocks at Nankhari in Shimla district covering 17 gram panchayats, and Dharamshala in Kangra, covering 28 gram panchayats. It sanctioned 75 new veterinary dispensaries along with creation of necessary posts of veterinary pharmacists, besides upgrading the Ayurvedic Health Centre, Sulyali in Nurpur tehsil, Kangra district to 10-bed ayurvedic hospital along with 10 posts of different categories.

It approved creation and filling of 2,148 posts of teaching and non-teaching staff in the newly-upgraded 100 senior secondary schools.

It also upgraded two posts of senior architect to chief architect and sanctioned 174 posts of different categories in HIMUDA, 175 posts of panchayat secretaries in the rural development and Panchayati Raj department and granted permission to create and fill up 100 posts each of Punjabi and Urdu language teachers for 200 identified schools.

It also allowed filling of 75 posts of horticulture development officers, 86 posts of ward attendants in the IGMC and Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, 17 posts of lecturers in Sanskrit for the newly-opened government degree colleges, two posts of faculty in HIPPA and three posts of Technical Assistants (Geology) in Industries Department.

It approved 50 per cent promotion quota for lecturers and 50 per cent for the headmasters. The lecturers with eight years of service and headmasters having a total of 15 years of service and teaching experience would be eligible for promotions.

It sanctioned 12 vehicles for rural development department for further allocation developmental blocks of Bangana, Theog, Mashobra, Chhohara, Karsog, Seraj, Nirmand, Banjar, Pooh, Nichar and Bhawarna and two Boleros for Tourism and Civil Aviation Development.

Shimla, June 25
Rain in the afternoon cooled down the weather in Shimla and other parts of Himachal Pradesh with mercury plummeting by 5° C.

The day temperature which was 24.1° C fell by 5° C after the rain, met office sources said.

Shimla received 41.4 mm rain last night and this afternoon, sources said.

Rain was also reported from Sundarnagar (7.7 mm) and Dharamsala (12.4 mm) which resulted in fall of mercury by 4-5° C at the two places from 31.1 and 27.2° C, respectively.

While, Bhuntar recorded maximum temperature of 33.1° C, it was 25.3° C in Kalpa.

Kullu also witnessed a hot day at 33° C.

Met office director Manmohan Singh attributed the rain to western disturbance lying over Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining areas.

He forecast light to moderate rainfall at few places in the hill state in the next 24 hours. — PTI

Dharamsala, June 25
Responding to the news item ‘Babus in HP police get raw deal, await promotion for over 20 years’ published in the Himachal Pradesh edition of The Tribune on March 28, the Cabinet today decided to give promotional benefits to 98 employees of the executive clerical cadre of the state police.

The Tribune had highlighted the plight of the executive clerical cadre of the state police as they had been awaiting promotions for the past about 20 years. It may be mentioned that this special cadre was created in 1983 and 276 employees were recruited as executives for the English and accounts branches as clerks and accountants.

Since then, no recruitment was made in this cadre even as the total strength of the state police increased by over 70 per cent with the opening of hundreds of new police stations/posts. Further, the state government had banned these employees from taking any examinations for seeking even fresh appointment in the general cadre of the police.

Not only this, the present posting and placement of this cadre was also not in accordance with the police rules,1934. The rule clearly stated that any employee from this cadre posted on the seat of accountant should be of the rank of sub-inspector while the head clerk should be an inspector.

Now, these employees would be given fresh designations as per the police rules. The anomaly with regard to their placement and posting would also be solved, said a senior officer. As per today’s decision, the Cabinet had decided to upgrade 98 posts of the executive clerical cadre of the rank of head constable as ASI, 18 as sub-inspector and 20 as inspector, added the official.

Nalagarh, June 25
A couple were run over by an HRTC bus at the local bus stand last evening. The couple’s two-year old boy also sustained injuries.

The couple, Hassan Muhammed and Praveen Begum, were taken to the PGI, Chandigarh, in a critical state but they died. Altaab Raza, their son, was being treated at the local Civil Hospital.

The bus belonged to Nalagarh depot and was bound for Sai. The bus driver, who was apparently in an inebriated condition, could not start the bus and had asked bus passengers to push the bus to start it.

Passengers alighted and began to push the bus when it suddenly started and hit a traffic booth before running over the couple standing near the booth.

Solan, June 25
Hasan Din and Parveen Begum, both husband and wife were crushed to death, while their two-and-a-half-year-old son Raja was injured after they were crushed by an HRTC bus (HP-12-4067) near Nalagarh bus stand yesterday evening.

The police said driver Chet Ram could not control the bus probably due to some mechanical fault and it crushed the couple barely 50 metres from Nalagarh bus stand. The bus was bound for Buasini Sai from Nalagarh.

The couple was immediately rushed to the local CHC from where they were referred to PGI in a critical condition.The duo however succumbed to their injuries on the way near Panchkula.

Hasan Din was a truck driver. The accident has left the couple’s son orphaned. He sustained injuries in his arm.

The police handed over the bodies to their family members after conducting a post mortem. A case for rash and negligent driving has been registered against the driver.

Principal secretary, Forests, Ashok Thakur, said it was major breakthrough as parent rearing of birds in captivity could be achieved only if the eggs were hatched naturally.

Shimla, June 25
Senior officers of the Income Tax Department are of the view that the department should get a better hold on new emerging fields of business for a proper assessment of income and effectively check tax evasion.

These views were expressed during a two-day annual conference of directors-general of income tax (Investigation), chief commissioners of income tax (central charge) and directors-general of income tax (intelligence) from all over the country, which concluded at Fagu, about 20 km from here yesterday.

The participants held deliberations on various key issues relating to intelligence gathering, search and seizure operations and assessment of search cases.

P.K. Misra, member (Investigation), Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Finance, while inaugurating the conference said the discussions would help the departmental authorities and officials to carry out planning for some major policy decisions. It would also help draw up procedural mechanism for their implementation by the investigation wing of the department.

The conference also worked out the action plan for the investigation wing for the year 2007-08. Earlier, the department earlier focused on the professionals including doctors, jewellers and big traders for IT assessment.

Dharamsala, June 25
A villager was badly injured when a wild bear attacked him in Kareri village, Shahpur tehsil of the Kangra district, last night.

The victim, 32-year-old Janmej Singh, lost his left eye and received severe injuries on his head and upper abdominal area.

As per information available, Singh had taken his cattle for grazing where a wild bear attacked him. Another villager, who had also gone along with him, rushed back to the village for help.

However, Singh could not be found due to poor light and the search operation continued till the morning. Around 8 am today, Singh was found in an unconscious condition.

The injured was brought to the local Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College and Hospital from where he was referred to the PGIMER Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, the district Red Cross society extended a financial assistance of Rs 1,000 to the victim for medical treatment and assured that an ambulance would be provided to transport him to Chandigarh.

On the other hand, the village panchayat brought to the notice of the district administration that as many as 70 sheep and goats belonging to the victim had gone missing.

They demanded that money be provided to the victim who belongs to a BPL family.

Till the filing of this report, Singh was yet to be taken to Chandigarh.

Dharamsala, June 25
The district administration of Kangra has failed to implement the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995, as a result of which viewers across Kangra are deprived of regional news and other programmes being broadcasted by the Doordarshan from its regional station at Shimla.

Besides, the cable operators are also not showing the two main satellite channels of the Doordarshan— DD-1 and DD-2, on the prime band thus violating the Cable Act.

According to Section-11 of the said Act, it is mandatory for every cable operator to run two main channels of Doordarshan— DD-1 and DD-2, including one of the regional channels.

Though the Cable Act clearly specified that any violation of the Act would invoke penal action, including confiscation of the operator’s equipment and imprisonment up to six months, a large number of operators in the district were still avoiding the transmission of DD channels preferring transmission of other more revenue-generating channels.

This was partly happening on account of laxity in the attitude of the district administration authorities, which were the implementing agencies as far as the Central Acts and ordinances are concerned, and partly due to the DD authorities failing to take any notice of the large-scale violation of the Act.

Deputy director of Public Relations Department Rajendra Rajan, who has been empowered by the state government for the implementation of the Cable Act said that he had brought the matter to the notice of the district magistrate during the past two years. It may be mentioned that there are about 38 cable operators throughout the district registered with the state government.

He said the cable operators were illegally charging a fixed amount of Rs 300 to Rs 500 from the consumers at the time of giving them the new connections, apart from the monthly rent as there were no uniform rates in the district.

Palampur, June 25
The increasing number of stray animals in Palampur town and the adjoining areas has become a matter of serious concern.

Despite repeated requests to the local SDM and the Municipal Council no steps have been initiated to check the menace. Stray animals were not only causing inconvenience to the common man and local shopkeepers but also resulting in fatal accidents.

A man recently lost his life near Paror when a cow hit his motor cycle on the Pathankot- Mandi national highway. More than 12 persons lost their lives in road mishaps caused by stray animals in the district in the past one year.

Sabzi Mandi and lower areas of the town have more concentration of stray animals. These animals can be seen rummaging through heaps of garbage, waste fruits and vegetables in these areas.

Many times garbage is not removed for days together, inviting more and more animals to the town.

During his last visit to the town Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had assured the residents that the government would initiate steps to check the menace by shifting all stray animals to the “gow sadan” but nothing had been done so far.

Ajit Baghla, president of the Palampur Municipal Council, said the council had no funds to set up a “gow sadan” in the town.

Though employees of the council carry these animals in trucks and leave them away from the town many times, they manage to come back.

If funds were allotted to the council, it would set up a home for the stray animals, he said.

Nahan, June 25
A large number of people living in the far-flung rural areas of Sirmaur district are not aware of the welfare schemes.

Hundreds of people complain about not getting BPL (below poverty line) and IRDP (Integrated Rural Development Programme) facilities, Vinod Kumar, general secretary of the local unit of the BSP said.

Those having links with rural politicians have managed to register their names in the BPL and IRDP lists.

It was found that the names of well-off persons vis-a-vis needy and poor ones had been incorporated in the BPL lists in many villages like Khodri Majri, Sarsoo, Nauhra, Sarva, Fandi, Bodiwala, Badana, Millah, Taproli.

A fresh survey on the BPL and IRDP lists has been demanded to include those left out of these lists.

Various facilities like free transportation to hospitals in emergency cases, cheaper ration items and concessions to the school-going children are admissible to beneficiaries included in BPL and IRDP lists.

Shimla, June 25
Pensioners of specified time scale categories who retired before January 1, 1996 are distressed over the latest notification issued by the government.

It denies them the benefit of the recent decision that the minimum pension would not be less than 50 per cent of the revised scales, irrespective of the date of superannuation.

In a representation to the Chief Minister here today, they have stated that as per the notification, pension revision cases would be considered according to the “first schedule” that specified the revised pay scales of general categories only.

It was not understood how the formula of general category was made applicable to the category of specified departmental pay scales.

Consequently, the pensioners who retired before January 1, 1996 would not get the pension benefit of revised pay scales.

Thus, it means that there would be no benefit to most of the pensioners and, in fact, recovery would be affected from those to whom arrears of pension revision had been already paid.

They urged the CM to look into the matter and ensure that all the pensioners were given pension benefits of the revised pay scales.