Shimla, January 6
Even after resigning from office after having lost the assembly elections former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has not reconciled to the “arbitrary actions” of the Election Commission of India and called for an amendment to the relevant Act to clearly define its powers and functions.

“During the recent poll the commission exercised its powers in a highly arbitrary and capricious manner, particularly in respect of imposition of the model code of conduct and its enforcement. At times, it appeared, as if it was out to implement certain agenda,” Virbhadra Singh said in an exclusive interview to The Tribune here today.

By recommending the dissolution of the House three months before the expiry of its term he had saved the state from a highly embarrassing situation created by the commission.

However, the lesson from the faux pas should not be lost, lest the commission landed other states in a similar situation. It was high time that the law was suitably amended to clearly define the powers and functions of the commission, he asserted.

This time the code of conduct remained in force for almost three months which stalled all development activities, pushing the state behind by at least six months. The advancement of poll was not a big deal as in the election year the government was mentally prepared for poll but it kept certain things for the last quarter to make the desired impact as part of the strategy, which went haywire.

He strongly disapproved of the statement of PCC chief Viplove Thakur that it was defeat of the government and not the party and said nothing could be more absurd. It would have been graceful on her part if she had owned her part of the responsibility and resigned as president of the party like he had done. He said “motivated and procured” statements of certain defeated candidates were being released against him and it was not difficult to guess who was behind the tirade.

Some of the candidates had come all way to Shimla to thank him for the effort he had put in their constituencies. It was disheartening that such baseless charges were being made against him by his detractors even after he tried his best to make the party victorious, campaigning across the state.

Virbhadra Singh is not exactly happy with the way Chief Minister P.K.Dhumal has started his second term in office and that he seems to be in undue haste while taking decisions. The decisions to raise the daily wage and the old age pension were laudable but as per rules all decisions which had a financial implication have to be approved by the Cabinet, which had not been formed so far.

He also disapproved of the move to hold the first session of the new Vidhan Sabha outside Shimla as it contravened the established tradition. It was a solemn occasion when newly elected members take oath and the Speakar and Deputy Speaker were elected.

He also expressed his unhappiness over the manner in which officers, particularly those in the Chief Minister’s office, were being en masse shifted to far-off places on lower positions by the new government.

These officers were posted by the government and had not been deployed at their request as such penalising them was grossly unfair. He advised Dhumal not to pay heed to the advice of junior officers who had their own axe to grind and review all vindictive transfers.

Solan, January 6
The change of government in the state has lit the hopes of the pharmaceutical industry for the annulment of a three-member licensing authority.

The system which had complicated the drug licensing system was introduced in March 2007 by the previous Congress regime. While the Himachal Pradesh Drug Manufacturers Association had sought an appointment with the Chief Minister, they were preparing to take up this crucial issue for redress.

The modification which had failed to serve any practical purpose had prolonged the drug licensing system. Despite stiff opposition from the investors, the previous government had failed to bring about any change in it. Though the authority had been directed to meet periodically to ensure smooth working, but weeks passed before it could actually meet.

A triple-member licensing authority had been formed which had been entrusted the task of first examining each proposal. This was later sent to the secretary, health, from whose office it proceeded to the Chief Minister’s office and finally it received the due license from the authority.

Earlier all such approvals were granted by the drug licensing authority itself and being a single channel the grant of licenses was quick.

While the state had become the lone state in the country where such a complex licensing system existed it had led to manufacturers shifting to other states like Uttranchal and even the strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir.

Investors rued that even though there was no provision to introduce such a system, the previous government had introduced it at the behest of certain bureaucrats who had allegedly misled the Chief Minister on the issue.

HP drug manufacturers association president R. K. Arora while hopeful of getting an appropriate redress into the issue from the BJP government said, “The modification had failed to serve any practical purpose as it belied any logic as to how a three-member committee could do any good to the system.

It appears that the former Chief Minister was misled on the issue and he therefore failed to see the damage it had done to the emerging industry in the state.

While as many as 200 pharmaceutical firms, who were exploring the possibility of investing in the state had left for other destinations, it had upset the expansion plans of the existing industry.”

A section of investors however opined that, “The constitution of the three-member committee, which comprised the licensing authorities of the south and north zone as well as the local drug inspector, had created misgivings about the intension of the government”.

Malana (Kullu), January 6
Life has never been so harsh for over 2,500 Malana residents. The fire-hit 160 families have been fighting for survival as the village is cut off from the rest of world after it experienced more than 20 inches of snow. It is still snowing in the entire valley.

This in turn has badly hit the rehabilitation work as the supplies of warm clothes, blankets and quilts could not be airdropped due to bad snowy weather conditions swept by a biting cold wave.

Malana is famous all over the world as a hotspot of high-quality hashish, better known as “Malana cream”. The villagers had objected to the construction of a hydropower project and a road-link. They are now terming the fire tragedy as the curse of Jamlu Devta.

The fire-hit families are fighting for life in the freezing cold and have taken temporary refuge in over 100 houses that survived the blaze yesterday. The loss due to fire is estimated to be worth Rs 20 crore, officials said.

Monetary and material help in terms of blankets, quilts and essential commodities announced by the Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal could not reach the village as it had been cut off from the rest of the world due to bad weather conditions.

The villagers have yet to come to terms with the “worst ever trauma of their life”. People could be seen collecting bits and pieces of their belongings thrown around the smoldering, charred heaps of ash.

People in Malana who otherwise celebrated snowfall as part of the Phagli festival in February, stared at the snow with moist eyes, looking hopelessly at the charred remains of their houses, the age-old temples, Jamlu Devta, his property of gold and silver and cash worth crores of rupees, which was now lost forever.

Though the subdued silence had descended on the Malana valley, internal chaos and trauma still traumatise their minds, as over 900 fire victims were struggling to get a square meal and shelter to protect them from the chilling cold.

“We are five brothers and have five to six children each, but we have lost everything in the fire”, rued a moist-eyed Daulat Ram, former vice-pradhan and a fire victim. “Each villager has 20-30 head of sheep and goats and cows and calves. They are languishing to die in the open as we can not provide them with fodder nor shelter to save them from the freezing cold,” added Jivan Ram, another fire victim.

The himalayan task before the fire victims is how to rebuild their charred houses. Officials led by Baldev Thakur, SDM, Kullu, had been monitoring the relief and rehabilitation of fire victims here.

The officials distributed ration to the villagers and distributed Rs 5,000 to those who had lost their houses in the fire and Rs 3,000 to those whose houses were damaged partially.

Thakur told The Tribune that snowfall had complicated the problem. “The fire erupted from the dry fuel wood or haystacks in the lower part of the village. Over 160 families have been rendered homeless. It is difficult to erect tents in this weather”, he added.

The Everest Company, executing the Malana project near this village, distributed bread, biscuits and others eatables to the villagers today. Helicopter services to air-drop warm clothes, quilts and others materials could not be taken due to heavy snowfall in the Malana and Parbati valleys.

Solan, January 6
The state is facing the worst ever power crisis with nearly 25 per cent power shortfall occurring on an account of lack of power generation in the 2,700 MW central power grid.

Power controller for the State Electricity Board Sunil Grover, while expressing a concern at the bleak power scenario, said: “It is an extraordinary situation as the generation of power has been adversely affected due to lack of liquid fuel supply. The imported fuel has failed to reach in time, due to delay in shipment of cargoes, forcing us to effect power cuts in the industry.”

Though efforts were on to buy power even if it was available at higher cost from other states like Chhattisgarh, but since there was a little spare power available, the situation appeared to be bleak. If no power arrangement comes through, we would be forced to effect some cuts even for domestic consumers” said the power controller.

He said there was a shortage of nearly 40 lakh units in the State. The power production had reached the lowest frequency of 48.6 per cent in the central grid that supplies power. There was no shortage of power production on any other account, he asserted.

With nearly 25 per cent shortfall in power availability, the industrial areas are facing the brunt of power cuts extending for as long as three hours. These cuts have not only offset the production targets of industries, but have adversely affected the machineries of various units.

This forced the state electricity department to initiate power cuts of as much as three hours per day. So grim was the situation that there were restrictions even on peak load hours, and no new applications were being entertained from the industry for peak hour relaxations.

Usually, the department granted permissions to continuous process industries to run their units during the peak load hours from 6:30 to 9:30 pm every day at a higher cost than the usual, but with a sharp decline in the power production, no new applications were entertained for such relaxations, board officials said.

The investors, who rued this situation, said, “It was unfair. Why the board was not buying power during these lean months to deal with the shortage? The board’s plea that power was available at a higher rate cut no ice, and it had already included rate of Rs 6.25 paise per unit during these lean months in their tariff plan.

“In addition to the scheduled cuts, there were power tripping for nearly 3 to 5 times in a day. This adversely affected the machinery and affected the production of batches. Though we have kept DG sets ready for meeting with scheduled power cuts, but such tripping do more damage to the continuous process industries.”

Shimla, January 6
The Himachal Pradesh Employees Confederation has urged the government to review all recruitments made by the Congress regime, particularly those made through the Parent- Teachers Associations in which merit was ignored.

Addressing a press conference here today general secretary of the confederation Vinod Kumar said the previous regime had provided jobs to favourites on political consideration, ignoring deserving candidates. The BJP government must do justice with those who were at the receiving end during Congress rule.

He also demanded a white paper on the financial position of the state which had deteriorated under the previous regime. He assured that the employees would cooperate with the new government keeping in view the financial constraints.

The employees’ leader urged the government to grant recognition to the confederation which was the only organisation which voiced the grievances of employees and also took on the Congress government on the issue of corruption. Its leaders were victimised only for this reason.

He urged Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal to make the bureaucracy accountable and take effective steps to restore work culture in government offices which had gone for a toss under the ousted regime.

The confederation would soon submit a memorandum containing various issues raised by it during Congress rule.

Shimla, January 6
The hill state reeled under severe cold following widespread snow and rain over the past 24 hours.

The higher reaches of tribal areas of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti had been having incessant snow since last evening. The other high and mid-hill areas of the state were experiencing intermittent snow and rain. Kalpa had recorded 15 cm of snowfall and Keylong 12 cm by the evening.

The Pangi valley and the higher ranges of Chamba had 25 cm to 40 cm of snowfall. The Dhauldhar and Pir Panjal ranges were also covered by a white mantle.

Narkanda recorded 15 cm of snowfall by the evening while the Rohtang pass, Hatu peak and Churdhar had received 30 cm to 50 cm snowfall. The Solang nullah had 20 cm of snowfall but Manali had only mild snow.

Lower Kalpa recorded a minimum of -1 °C and maximum of 0.6 °C. Bhuntar had a minimum of 4.8 °C and maximum of 14.3 °C while Shimla had a low of 4.5 °C and a high of 10.3 °C. The lower hill areas had light showers with Sudnernagar having 6 mm and Dharamsala 3 mm of rainfall.

Kangra, January 6
Lecturers of the 95 per cent aided colleges in the state have urged Chief Minister P. K. Dhumal to redress the genuine problems of this cadre on priority basis as the functioning of these colleges was adversely affected due to the alleged callous attitude of the previous government.

Samresh Lohia and Dr C.P. Kaushal, general secretary and president of the HP 95 per cent Aided College lecturers’ Association respectively in a joint statement here yesterday expressed concern over the inordinate delay caused by the previous government headed by former Chief Minister Virbhdra Singh in the release of the grant-in-aid to 95 per cent aided colleges.

They said that there were budgetary provisions of Rs 5.64 crore for the grant-in-aid to these colleges for the current financial year but not even a single penny was released by the government for the purpose, till there was a change in government.

They said that grant-in-aid was being utilised by the concerned college managements for the salaries of their staff through the government treasury.

They demanded that the Chief Minister, who himself had been a lecturer for 15 years, should initiate process to fill up vacant posts in these colleges in the larger interests of the student community, as colleges like DAV College Kangra and Kotkhai, St. Bede,s College Shimla and M.L.S.M, Sundernagar, were facing acute shortage of the teaching and non-teaching staff.

The two leaders criticised the previous government for opening new colleges recklessly in the state on one hand and on the other hand ignoring the existing colleges. Welcoming Dhumal for assuming his office as the Chief Minister, Lohia and Kaushal said the association had pinned hopes in him for the redressing of their grievances.

Meanwhile, state president of HP Government recognized and 95 per cent Aided School Employees Association Rajinder Kumar Sharma here demanded that Dhumal should come out with a clear cut policy regarding these schools and redress their grievances regarding irregular 95 per cent grant-in-aid to these schools.

Mandi, January 6
Chocked with slushy potholes, craters and stinking toilets, the inter-state bus terminus managed by the HRTC here is in dilapidated condition. It is a trying time for the passengers including tourists, who board and un-board the HRTC and other private buses daily. Visit to the bus stand and the passengers not only face fumes and dust and vehicular exhausts, but they also have to face the place littered with potholes, craters, boulders and heaps of dirt.

From the entrance to the exit point, the entire bus stand has become an ordeal even for normal passengers leave alone children and old and infirm passengers as they have to walk through the potholes and craters that can break their limbs in the night hours as there is no proper system of lighting, complained passengers.

“In the dry season like this, at the bus stand, there are plumes of dust. In the rainy season, one can not cross the pool of water as the movement of buses splash dirty water on the passengers”, complained Sachin and Anurag, students at the nearby post-graduate college, who travel daily in HRTC buses. “I have sprained my feet and such things are common here,” added Anurag.

The dilapidated toilets are in a poor condition and stink emanate from them. These are unusable and passengers are forced to answer the call of nature in backyards of the old ram-shackled building which can collapse any time, complained passengers.

Even tourists have to brave not only the stink at the bus stand, but they take back bitter memory of the unhygienic and pot-holed bus stand back home from Mandi, considered to be the gateway to the tourist destination of Kullu-Manali every day.

“The stall owners in the bus stand hardly bother to conserve cleanliness and passengers are fed with unhygienic snacks as there is no body to look after the cleanliness at the bus stand”, rued Savita Thakur and Gunjan, the passengers, who were waiting for the bus to Chandigarh. “Mandi is a central place but the temple town does not even have a proper bus stand, rued Rohit Katyal and Anupma Katyal, tourist couple from New Delhi, who were on their way back home. The HRTC chief general manager Rajiv Gupta said they were making a temporary arrangement to make the bus stand healthy for the passengers.

Dharamsala, January 6
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and party stalwart Shanta Kumar today left for New Delhi to finalise the list of legislators to be inducted in the state Cabinet in consultation with the party high command. After taking stock of the relief operation at Malana village, the CM reached Palampur. He then left for New Delhi with Shanta Kumar.

The prestige of former ministers Hari Narain Singh Saini, Ramesh Dhawala and Kishan Kapoor seems to be at stake because these Shanta-loyalists had levelled serious allegations against Dhumal during the previous BJP regime.

Whether they would be inducted into the ministry this time had become a matter of debate in political circles. Saini had reportedly managed to restore relations with Dhumal through Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s mediation. Sources close to Saini say he had met Dhumal twice in the past few days and vowed to work cordially this time. Therefore, his chances of being inducted into the Cabinet have increased. Most of the newly elected BJP legislators had also reached New Delhi to lobby for ministerial berths. Dhumal had fixed January 9 as the date for the oath-taking ceremony of ministers.

Bilaspur, January 6
The All Party Bhakra Oustees Rights Protection Committee here has welcomed Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s declaration that the government would solve the problems of oustees which had been pending since the past 50 years.

Addressing mediapersons committee general secretary Jai Kumar said the state-level Bhakra Oustees Rehabilitation and Advisory Committee presided by the Chief Minister should be revived. He said a special officer be deputed to solve the problems of oustees within a time-bound schedule and this officer should not be given any other duties except settling issues concerning oustees.

The committee has urged that a proper definition of rehabilitation be decided and all oustees families be given a proper economic package for their economic rehabilitation, while faster development of all oustees’ colonies, including Bilaspur town, should be ensured under a master plan. He said apart from bringing some government offices to Bilaspur, Gobind Sagar should be developed in to a tourist resort.

The committee also demanded that two new sectors be created with a new Bilaspur township and the encroachment on government land, which was earlier done under compulsion, be regularised. It also demanded that Bilaspur be exempted from house tax and Berry-Darolan bridge be connected with Khairiyan.