Hamirpur, February 24
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal feels the need for rewriting history. Speaking at the annual prize distribution function of Subhash Chander Bose Postgraduate College here today he said “though Mahatma Gandhi had played a very significant role in Independence of our country, people like Subhash Chander Bose also gave impetus to the freedom movement and their role should also be incorporated in our history.”

Dhumal said: “I am very clear even though a student may have to travel a few miles to attend a college he should get adequate staff to teach him but the previous government opened a large number of colleges without any staff. In a college at remote Kilad no other staff was appointed except for seven peons were appointed.”

Talking about the transfer policy Dhumal said “there should be no mid-session transfers but employees should realise that when soldiers from the state have always remained in the forefront in laying their lives for protecting the borders of the country why employees shirk from serving outside their districts.”

About the economic condition of the state Dhumal said the state had just Rs 3,000 crore at its disposal but had to incur expenses worth Rs 8,500 crore.

The Chief Minister also appealed to the people to contribute generously to the CM’s Relief Fund and condemned the “misuse of the CM Relief Fund by the previous government for political reasons”.

He announced Rs 47 lakh for the construction of a library, Rs 37 lakh for repairing tin roofs of the college. He assured that the government would make every effort to start an IT block and indoor stadium in the college.”

Government Polytechnic, Badu, would be upgraded soon and get Rs 2.5 crore under an MoU signed with the Centre.

Later, prizes were distributed among students of the college.

Nurpur, February 24
She has been living in this dilapidated makeshift mud house for over three-and-a-half decades, ever since being displaced by the Pong Dam project in Kangra district.

But Jai Daiye (80) is not alone in her suffering as about 5,000 displaced families are yet to be properly rehabilitated after being uprooted in the year 1972 from their homes by the Pong Dam built on Beas river to meet the water needs of Rajasthan.

However, their dying hopes for a settlement have been rekindled after the new Prem Kumar Dhumal government recently took up their case with its Rajasthan counterpart.

About 20,722 families of 339 villages of Kangra district were ousted to facilitate construction of Pong Dam, considered as the largest man-made water body in the country.

Left in the lurch, these Pong Dam oustees have been living in miserable conditions on the banks of the lake in Nurpur, Jawali, Guler and Jaswan areas of Kangra sans the basic civic facilities.

“I was forced to marry off my two daughters in this mud house only as I had no money to hire a better accommodation to host the barat,” Jai Daiye told PTI.

“We have been discarded by our relatives who hesitate visiting these unhygienic dwellings,” said Meera Devi, her neighbour.

One of the oustees Hari Ram (79) said they have to fetch drinking water from a far-off place and have to keep awake at night during winter and rainy seasons to fend for themselves.

However, Himachal Pradesh revenue minister Gulab Singh Thakur, who went to Jaipur earlier this month as an emissary of the Dhumal government to discuss the issue with its Rajasthan counterpart, said resolving the issue on a priority basis was the state government’s commitment.

He said after his visit to Jaipur, the next round of talks has been proposed between the Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan next month.

Expressing sympathy for the dam oustees, Thakur blamed the Congress rule in the hill state for their plight.

“The Congress has ruled the state for long and they were in power when the matter arose in the early 70s. The past Congress regime shed only crocodile tears over the pitiable condition of the oustees instead of doing anything sincerely to better their lot,” he told PTI.

While, Thakur sounds optimistic about delivering justice to the dam oustees, the hapless families wait with bated breath for their woes to end. — PTI

Solan, February 24
A team of Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau led by SP A.P. Singh today confiscated assets worth crores during a day-long raid conducted at the Kotla Nullah residence of Sher Singh Thakur, state drug licensing authority, who was arrested on Friday under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A team comprising DSP Bhagmal, inspector Babita Rana Pal, and Mahavir Singh and other officials from Solan and Shimla conducted a thorough search in his Kotla Nullah residence. The officials added that a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act pertaining to disproportionate property assets as well as Specific Corrupt Practices Act would be registered after estimation of the entire property.

Though no exact amount of the valuables could be estimated till the filing of this report as the raid which started in the morning was continuing till the filing of this report but sources added that his assets could well run into crores. Sources disclosed that recoveries included several bank passbooks, which had lakhs of money deposited either under his name or under the name of his wife Neelam Thakur as well as his two daughters. In addition to this a number of fixed deposit accounts were also found whose amount ran into several lakhs.

Sources further disclosed that the documents of land deals in Solan, Shimla and Mohali were also recovered. Large number of electronic items was recovered from his residence, which included costly imported watches, which were priced at around 2.5 lakhs, three laptops and an equal number of web cameras.

Sources said no jewellery was recovered and it was being estimated that it could be stacked away in bank lockers. A team of nearly 15 officials recovered silverware of nearly 2 to 3 kg.

Since the entire staff was present for this raid here his other properties at Una could not be searched today disclosed officials. Earlier, the team recovered cash of around 15 lakh last evening from his residence.

Shimla, February 24
The state continued to experience scattered snow in the higher altitude areas of the tribal districts and rain in the lower areas of the state during the last 24 hours, the Met office said.

Scattered places in the tribal districts of Chamba and Kinnuar experienced mild intermittent snow for the fourth day today, while overnight light showers lashed a few places in Kangra district.

Overcast conditions were also prevailing in Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti and a few districts in the lower areas of the state due to the presence of a weakened western disturbance lying over the adjoining state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Met office said Kalpa in Kinnaur district experienced 13.4 mm, 0.5 cm snowfall at Bhuntar and 0.5 mm rainfall at Sundernagar.

The sky was partially cloudy over Shimla and other adjoining areas throughout the day today following which minimum and maximum temperatures dipped by about two degrees as compared to yesterday.

The minimum temperature in the state capital fell to 4.6°C as compared to 6.7°C recorded yesterday, while the maximum temperature stood at 12°C as against yesterday’s 14.5°C, it said.

Sundernagar, Bhuntar and Kalpa recorded night temperatures of 9.7°C, 7.8°C and -2.9°C respectively and day temperatures of 20.7°C, 20.6°C and 17.4°C respectively, the Met office added. — UNI

Shimla, February 24
The HP University Non-teaching Employees Union has expressed concern over the worsening financial health of the university and urged the authorities to revise the fee structure to generate its own resources and also seek enhancement in the annual government grants.

President of the union Waryam Singh Bains said here today that at present the entire budget of about Rs 50 crore available from various sources was being utilised for the payment of salaries, pension and other committed expenditure and there were hardy any resources available for development activities. The university was facing financial crunch Almost 25 per cent of the teaching and non-teaching posts were vacant.

He said the situation could be improved only if the government increased the annual grant-in-aid from the existing Rs 30 crore substantially. Besides, the university must revise its fee structure as recommended by the resource mobilisation committee which would enable it to raise an additional Rs 6 to Rs 7 crore. At present, the fee and other charges of the university were much lower that even those of the State Board of School Education. The universities in the neighbouring states had revised the fee and other structure many times.

He also demanded the appointment of a full-time registrar and the process for appoitments and promotions be speeded up. The amendment to the University act to incorporate section 35A was mainly responsible for delay in appointments. There was no need for the section and it should be withdrawn to protect the autonomy of the institution.

He drew the attention of the government to the fact that the failure to implement the decision to upgrade the certain non-teaching posts and settle the disputes related to pay fixation were causing resentment among the staff. He urged the Chief Minister and the Vice-Chancellor to address these matters on priority as the employees were getting restive.

Solan, February 24
With the Sixth Pay Commission on the anvil, the Indian Air Force is hopeful of getting a sizeable hike in pay 2 to 2.5 times.

Though a projected hike of 4 to 5 times has been demanded jointly for the first time by the armed forces, but there is hope of a sizeable hike disclosed Air Marshal P.K. Barbora, AOC-in-C, western Air Command, while interacting with The Tribune at the Kasauli Air Force Station recently.

He expressed optimism of the Indian Air Force undergoing a sea change in the next 10 years, when it would see tremendous inductions as well as advent of new technologies.

He, however, said since the youngsters were shying away from joining the Air Force, it had to be ensured that the quality of life here was improved.

While it was for the first time that they were going in for campus interviews, efforts were afoot to make available second careers available for them, who had exhausted their best in the service.

The Air Force has recently hiked its stay in the normal stations from the earlier 3 to five years. When quizzed about this sudden change, Barbora said it was aimed at ensuring that the trained manpower was put to good use and they were not shifted after being trained in a particular technology.

He however added that postings for difficult station like Leh, Thois, Avantipur, etc., continue to remain the same, as they are hard postings.

He also expressed optimism of women being allowed to fly as fighter pilots but said there was no need really for them to do it right now.

Illustrating his point he said that a country like Israel, which is at war most of the time even does not have women pilots.

He also negated the need to ground MIGs, which had been frequently crashing and said that their accident rate had come down drastically and barely 4 accidents had occurred in the last about a year and it was either a mechanical defect or lack of experience, which at times led to such crashes.

Earlier, he inspected the Air Force station and met officials, including the station commander Group Commander T.L. Verma.

Shimla, February 24
Terming the previous regime as a government of mere announcements, health minister Dr Rajiv Bindal said recently the Congress had always taken the people for a ride by making false promises.

Dr Bindal said the Congress government had announced the opening of a government medical college at Mandi after the election code of conduct had come into effect. “If the government was so serious in its commitment of providing the best medical facilities to the people then it should have opened the medical college when it came to power,” he said.

Dr Bindal said the announcement when the elections had already been made without any budgetary provision was only aimed at wooing the voters at the time of elections. He also ridiculed the statement of former Congress minister Rangila Ram Rao in which he condemned the BJP for not deciding against the opening of a government medical college in Mandi.

The minister said the BJP would not only ensure the setting up of a private medical college at Mandi but also ensure that it is equipped with the latest facilities and equipment. “I would advise the Congress leader to honour the public verdict and not make false propaganda, as people are no longer willing to be swayed by false promises,” he remarked.

Sundernagar, February 24
A team of officials from various departments and representatives of Harish Cement Limited conducted an inspection of of 40 bighas of land at Chambi-Khatrwari village, near Sundernagar, for setting up a conveyor belt to carry material from Keran lime deposit to the Khatrwari-Chambi area, where the proposed cement plant would be set up, on February 20.

The length of the land stretch would be more than 2 km while the width will be 50 feet. Most of the land needed for the purpose is agricultural land.

A visit to Chambi village revealed that the most of local resident were against the setting up of the conveyor belt. According to them, it would be a constant source of nuisance for hundreds of houses situated in the vicinity. They were also annoyed over the attitude of the authorities as none had asked them whether they were willing to give their land for it or not.

The farmers have appealed to the Chief Minister to direct the authorities concerned not to be so obliging towards the cement plant authorities and not to interfere in their land holding as they were not willing to give their land for it.

Various organisations have decided to take out a procession tomorrow against the decision of the government to set up a cement plant near Sundernagar.

Kangra, February 24
Non-baridar priests of the Bajjreshwari Devi Temple today alleged that there were irregularities in the sharing of evening offerings between baridar priests and the temple trust which caused loss to the exchequer.

The allegations were levelled by Narinder Nath, Kailash Nath and Ashok Himachali at a press conference. They said the government took over the temple in 1986, five members of the baridar group resolved in the presence of SDM Tarun Shridhar and tehsildar Laxmi Dutt on February 10, 1988, that the evening offerings of the temple would be distributed between baridars and the trust on 50-50 basis.

The trio alleged there was no approval of the resolution by the DC. In 1991, the government decided to have 60:40 share between the temple trust and the priests. However, the temple authorities continued to distribute the evening offerings on 50-50 basis, resulting in loss to the tune of lakhs to the government. They demanded a high-level probe in the irregularities and recovery of the government money.

They said the government-controlled shrines of Naina Devi and Chintpurni were governed by the same rules and the distribution of offerings was being done in 60-40 ratio. They alleged money pilferage was also being done in the name of ‘pancahyti’ (serial No. 37 of the baridar list). The entry has been now deleted from the list, but it had already had its impact.

They said details of the accounts of ‘panchayti’ had not been submitted to the government despite the direction of the SDM, who looks after the temple. Baridar priests had been claiming that the money received in the name of ‘panchayti’ was being utilised for religious functions and community welfare.

The trio alleged families of Kalia Ram, Paray Lal and Leelawati (widow of Rukhmai Dutt) were deliberately deprived of their baridar rights on the pretext that they were not legitimate hereditary priests and that a court had given a verdict against them.

They alleged there was neither any such court verdict nor they were illegitimate hereditary priests. They charged the administration of being in connivance with priests. Despite repeated requests to the SDM and the DC, they had not got justice, they said.

They said 28 non-baridar priests would call on Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal on Tuesday to seek his intervention into the matter.

Nahan, February 24
A truck abandoned five critically injured oxen on the bank of the Yamuna near Bata Mandi village in the Paonta area early today.

Villagers noticed this around 8 a.m. and rushed to save the injured oxen. While one succumbed to multiple injuries this morning, the other four were fighting for survival under veterinary care.

Veterinary doctor Rohit Sharma said that the ox had died due to severe internal and external injuries. The Paonta police has registered a case under the Cruelty Against Animals Act.