Shimla, March 24
In order to reduce the losses of the HRTC and provide employment avenues to the youth, the government will start a scheme of giving tax-free routes for plying maxi-cabs on the uneconomical and less-traffic routes in the rural areas.

Replying to a query by Vipin Parmar (BJP), transport minister Kishan Kapoor said there were several routes where there were less commuters and plying HRTC buses there was proving uneconomical.

“The scheme of granting routes for plying maxi-cabs which can ferry six to eight persons will help provide employment to the educate jobless youth and at the same time reduce HRTC losses,” he said. He said the youth would be given incentives for this.

Kapoor said against a cost of Rs 23.43 being incurred by the HRTC on plying buses per km, the income in return at some places was between Rs 1 and Rs 2.

Independent MLA Rakesh Pathania said if both the HRTC as well as private bus operators avoided plying buses on uneconomical routes, who would provide transportation to the poor people in remote areas where there were no other transportation means.

PWD minister Gulab Singh announced that an independent agency would probe the purchase of diesel by the PWD wing at Pangi in Chamba from the Lahal petrol pump in Bharmour.

“It appears that this was done under political pressure as the petrol and diesel had to be bought from Chamba and not Bharmour, located 54 km away,” he said.

In reply to Roop Singh Thakur (BJP), the minister informed that the petrol pump belonged to Amit Kumar, son of Thakur Singh Bharmouri.

He said a total of 34,690 litres of diesel was bought for Rs 10.93 lakh from this petrol pump between April, 2007, and February, 2008.

In reply to Des Raj and B.K. Chauhan of the BJP, education minister I.D. Dhiman said the government would make functional all schools notified by the Congress without budgetary provision.

Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal said some schools opened by his regime before 2003 had been de-notified by the Congress regime.

Between March, 2003, and January, 2008, 221 primary schools, 1,099 middle schools, 495 high schools and 664 senior secondary schools had been opened and upgraded

Health and family welfare minister Rajiv Bindal said 250 posts of doctor and 1000 para- medical posts would be filled institution-wise to overcome the problem of staff shortage in health institutions, especially in rural areas.

Moreover, the modalities for private-public partnership to engage private specialists were being worked out.

Shimla, March 24
Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh attended the Assembly for the first time today since the session started on March 4.

Seated beside CLP leader Vidya Stokes, the former Chief Minister quietly listened to the discussion in the House except on one occasion.

He asked health minister Rajiv Bindal if the government would appoint the doctors selected by the Public Service Commission to which Bindal said they had already been appointed.

All this while when the Assembly was in session he was away to Kerala and Madhya Pradesh on personal visits.

In fact, he was conspicuous by his absence at the district-level Congress public meeting held at Nahan in Sirmaur district yesterday.

With Stokes being the CLP leader and Viplove Thakur heading the party, Virbhadra has not been given any major responsibility by the party high command.

In fact, he has already said that he would not be available for the Congress rally in Shimla as he had some other engagement.

During the debate on cut motions on the Health and Family Welfare Department, Virbhadra Singh reacted sharply when the health minister said that the notification for opening a government medical college at Mandi had been issued by the Congress regime after the announcement of elections.

In response to this statement the former Chief Minister said his Cabinet had taken a decision in this regard much earlier.

The former chief minister left the House around 5 p.m while the debate on cut motions moved by opposition members was on.

Shimla, March 24
Health minister Rajiv Bindal announced today that henceforth institutionalised filling up of vacancies would be done so as to ensure that health institutions, especially in the remote and far-flung places, were not hit by staff shortage.

Replying to the debate on cut motions on the Health and Family Welfare Department initiated by Harshwardhan Chauhan, Thakur Kaul Singh, Kuldeep Pathania, Vidya Stokes and Surinder Bhardwaj, he said the government was equally concerned about the problem of vacancies of doctor and other para-medical staff.

“The advertisement for various posts will now be done institutionwise so that people in remote areas are not denied quality health services,” he announced.

He added that the institutionwise list of vacancies had already been prepared. This measure, he added, would go a long way in ensuring staff presence and prevent transfers to choice stations after getting appointments.

“I assure the members that within six months we will try and fill all existing vacancies,” he said.

He said the decision taken by the Dhumal regime in its earlier tenure with regard to converting the state cadre into a district cadre of certain posts in the Health Department had been rescinded by the Congress regime.

He defended the move of the government to open a medical college at Mandi in the private, and not the government, sector.

“The government can open a medical college if it is able to shell out Rs 200 crore and it would not be wise to open it in haste without budgetary provision the way the Congress had done at Tanda in Kangra,” he said. He said the government issued the notification after elections had been announced.

Earlier, Thakur Kaul Singh had urged the government to reconsider its decision of not opening a government medical college at Mandi. He said land had been identified and a 500-bed hospital already existed there.

Vidya Stokes said when doctors and other trained staff were available why was there delay in their appointment. She urged the government to let over 7,000 Asha workers continue as they were doing a good job in the rural areas.

Harshwardhan said that institutions in rural areas had been badly hit due to vacancies. He urged the government to ensure that doctors and other staff stayed at their places of posting so that patients did not suffer.

Citing examples of doctor’s negligence in treating patients, he said, stern action should be taken against the guilty.

In reply to the cut motion on education services, minister I.D. Dhiman said the Congress regime had opened schools and colleges without making budgetary provision or creating infrastructure.

He said a lot of irregularities had been made in the appointment of PTA teachers. “The inquiry committee report is with us and after examining we will take the final decision,” he said.

Shimla, March 24
The government today sought two weeks from the high court for reconsidering the matter pertaining to setting up of Himalayan Ski Village at Manali.

After considering the prayer of the state, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Jagdish Bhalla and Mr Justice S.S. Thakur adjourned the matter for April 9.

Being one of the biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the country, doubts had been raised on the environmental damage that the project would cause in the area.

While in opposition, the BJP had raised a lot of objections on the manner in which the Congress regime had granted initial approval to the project.

Their contention was that it was not acceptable to them in the present form as it would also harm the local culture.

Two PILs were filed in the court against the setting up of the mega project on the ground that the construction activity would impact the environment and local culture of the Manali area.

The petitioners had also challenged the initial approval granted to the project by the then Congress government.

Shimla, March 24
Union minister of state for communication and information technology Shakeel Ahmed has said that the postal network in the country will undergo complete modernisation and further expansion under the 11th plan.

The proposal to set up a postal bank was also at an advanced stage and a final decision on the matter was likely shortly.

He was addressing a press conference here today. Despite the advent of e-mail, courier services and other modes of communication, over 72 per cent of the people in the country were still dependent on postal services, he said.

Unfortunately, the postal network did not get due attention during the 10th plan as a result of which the process of opening new offices came to a halt and even recruitments were also stopped.

The UPA government had taken the necessary corrective measures under the 11th plan, he added.

All post offices in the country would be computerised at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore to provide efficient services to the people. New staff would be recruited as per requirement.

Under the e-governance plan, 1 lakh community services centres, one for each panchayat across the country, would be opened.

Local panchayat functionaries would be provided training to run these centres. Students could also avail themselves of these services. The project would be completed by March, 2009.

Referring to the proposal for setting up a postal bank, he said the committee constituted by the government in that regard had already submitted its recommendations and the issue had been discussed at various levels.

The matter was now with the Finance Department and final decision would be taken soon.

He said the telecom network was undergoing phenomenal growth in the country following the entry of private players.

The fact that 80 lakh new phone connections were added in a single month early this year gave a clear indication of the surge in the sector.

The BSNL still had 39 per cent share and it hoped to improve it in the days to come. Tenders had been invited for 4.5 crore new telecom lines, he said.

Replying to a question, he said the BSNL had deferred its plan to bring an IPO for now.

Shimla, March 24
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has emphasised the need for enhanced funding by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to double the irrigation network over the next five years.

Delivering the inaugural address at the state credit seminar, 2008-09, organised by the bank here today, he said agriculture had been adopted as the thrust area by the state government for the financial year.

The government had asked scientists to prepare specific irrigation plans for every district where efficient minor, mini and micro-irrigation schemes could be set up to achieve the objective of expanding the irrigation network.

He said Nabard funding was of utmost importance to execute the plan speedily since the state had kept employment generation and creation of self-employment avenues for rural youth at their doorsteps on top of its agenda.

He said investment requirements could be worked out on a public-private partnership model with emphasis on rainwater harvesting and recharging of groundwater.

He also released the “state focus paper” prepared by NABARD for Himachal Pradesh for the coming financial year and appreciated the endeavour of the bank in carrying out deep study of different sectors.

Solan, March 24
Even as the officiating DCC president has announced his new team, a question mark has arisen over his own appointment.

The issue came to the fore after former chief minister Virbhadra Singh told mediapersons here yesterday that the appointment of officiating DCC president Shiv Kumar was unconstitutional.

According to Singh, it was mandatory for a person to be at least an elected member of the DCC before being appointed its president.

While efforts were afoot to put up a new team that would rejuvenate the party and forge unity ahead of the parliamentary elections, the move appears to have suffered a setback.

It appears that all efforts of the central leaders to unite the party have ended in a fiasco with the two warring factions led by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and PCC chief Viplove Thakur failing to put up a united front.

The old body of the DCC was dissolved on February 2 soon after the humiliating defeat of the party in the district in the Vidhan Sabha elections where the Congress had lost all five seats to the BJP.

The issue had generated much hype as being part of the Shimla parliamentary constituency, the district was considered a bastion of the Congress.

Interestingly, all five block Congress committees, specifically responsible for their respective constituencies, have not been dissolved while the DCC was made to bear the burnt of the debacle.

Kullu, March 24
Nine shops were gutted in a devastating fire last night at Khokhan Road, Bhuntar, small township near, Kullu-Manali airport.

The official estimate of the loss was initially assessed at Rs 30 lakh while the victims were claiming the loss to be above Rs 50 lakh.

The fire tenders from the airport were pressed into the fire fighting operation that saved the adjoining shops.

People thanked the airport authorities for providing help, as the loss in the fire could had been much more as the fire tenders from Kullu reached late because Bhuntar does not have its own fire station.

People of the tiny township demanded that their long pending demand to open a fire station at Bhuntar might be looked into.

They submitted their demand to the government through Khimi Ram Sharma, local MLA and deputy Speaker Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha.

He assured them that the matter would be taken up immediately and expressed his sympathies with the victims and assured all possible help.

Former minister Satya Prakash Thakur also expressed grief over the fire incident and thanked the airport authorities for their help at such eventualities.

Meanwhile, the district administration had distributed Rs 2,000 each to the sufferers as immediate relief.

Nurpur, March 24
Following a tip off the local police today nabbed a missing culprit, who was declared as a proclaimed offender (PO) by the local additional chief judicial magistrate on December 14, 2007.

According to the police, a case had been lodged against Vipon alias Balkar, resident of Jatroon (Bhatiyat) in Chamba district, under Sections 279, 337 and 338 of the IPC, in connection with a road accident in 2003, vide FIR number 229/2003.

The SHO had sent a police team to arrest the PO this morning against whom a case was undertrial in the court.

The police has claimed that the PO was nabbed under a special statewide police drive against anti-social elements.

Hamirpur, March 24
The Sawmill Owners and Workers Union has expelled its president and few other office-bearers for alleged financial irregularities.

Addressing a press conference here today, office-bearers from all six blocks of the district said, “Union president Braham Dass, finance secretary Ghanshiam and organising secretary Onkar had been expelled from the union for embezzling union funds worth Rs 6 lakh. It was decided to continue Kashmir Singh as an adviser of the union.”

Union secretary Dharam Singh and adviser Kashmir Singh Thakur said, “The union has also fixed dates for holding fresh election in all blocks.”

The elections in Hamirpur block would be held on March 29, Sujanpur Tihra on March 30, Bijarhi on April 6, Tauni Devi on April 11 and Nadaun on April 16.