Shimla, March 28
With no solution in sight to overcome the shortage of specialist doctors, the government is considering requisitioning the services of retired doctors, besides private practitioners, to provide quality healthcare.

The Health and Family Welfare Department has prepared a list of the super-specialties where there is an acute shortage of doctors. With super-specialties in the state hospitals, including Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) being in a nascent state, the patients have to depend on hospitals outside Himachal.

“Though the posts will be re-advertised, we are considering seeking the services of retired specialists, besides preparing a list of good private specialists, to provide good healthcare under private-public partnership,” said a senior health official. The modalities are still being worked out so as to ensure that the offer is acceptable to the private practitioners while being financially viable for the government.

The faculties, which have been hit badly by the shortage of doctors include neurosurgery, urology, nephrology, microbiology, chest and TB and ophthalmology. This, in turn, affects medical services in the health institutions, including the IGMC here.

It is for this very reason that the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has also not been able to take off in the real sense. Despite the Centre’s condition of having six specialists at any first referral unit (FRU), the government is struggling hard to even depute three specialists. The shortage of doctors in the departments of radiology, pathology, forensic medicine, biochemistry, anatomy, psychiatry, physiology and microbiology is also affecting the quality of health services. The shortage in certain faculties has even put the government in trouble with the Medical Council of India (MCI) as there are insufficient qualified doctors in some departments at the two medical colleges. “Many of these health institutions have been upgraded but due to a shortage of specialists they are not able to deliver quality specialised services,” admit health officials.

“Despite advertising these posts of doctor time and again, we have not been able to get specialists. So, we will now seek the help of retired and private specialists,” he said. The Health Department is still working out the modalities for seeking help of private practitioners.

As a temporary solution to the problem, the Health Department even organised short-duration courses in radiology and gynaecology for MBBS doctors so that they could handle more cases. 

Shimla, March 28
With the lid having blown off the fake bank security scam in the PWD, the banks concerned have initiated action to wriggle out of the situation and safeguard their financial interests. Further revelations in the scam point towards a nexus among contractors, engineers and bank officers who connived to enable petty contractors, who neither had the financial capability nor requisite experience, to secure big contracts.

The PWD upgraded a large number of favoured contractors from class “D” to Class “A” and advanced crores of rupees to them against fake and unauthorised bank guarantees. Engineers had no qualms in accepting bank guarantees issued from even non-existent branches. The most striking instance pertained to UCO Bank in which three bank guarantees amounting to Rs 18 lakh issued in the name of its Panjot branch, which did not exist, were submitted in Kalpa division.

In fact, out of the 42 bank guarantees aggregating over Rs 10 crore issued from different branches of UCO Bank, only nine involving an amount of Rs 1.32 crore could be confirmed. These included five guarantees for Rs 1.12 crore issued by the Palampur branch submitted in Nirmand division. In all the branch had issued 17 guarantees amounting to Rs 5.14 crore, followed by the Rohru branch (nine guarantees for Rs 1.98 crore), Sangri (seven guarantees for Rs 1.40 crore) and Anti (six guarantees for Rs 84 lakh). The bank management has initiated action against the guilty officers.

Sources revealed that the favoured contractors were advanced about Rs 130 crore against fake guarantees in March, 2007, alone to show expenditure at the close of the financial year. Further, there were cases where an advance was given against machinery but no machinery was actually purchased. In some cases the contractors have vanished without completing the work. The department has been put in a spot as the work completed is not worth even 50 per cent of the amount advanced.

Meanwhile, the state cooperative bank, which has issued the maximum number of such guarantees along with UCO Bank, has inserted a public notice in newspapers informing all concerned that the unauthorised bank guarantees issued in favour of contractors by some unscrupulous branch managers stand cancelled forthwith. It has asserted that it will not be liable in any manner for these irregular bank guarantees issued without sanction of the competent authority and in violation of the rules and procedures.

Bank guarantees have also been issued in the name of Punjab National Bnak, the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank and other banks. The department has now directed all executive engineers to confirm the bank guarantees from the issuing officers and the next controlling officer.

Shimla, March 28
The government proposes to grant permits for plying maxi-cabs to unemployed youths on uneconomical routes.

Stating this during question hour in the state assembly transport minister Krishan Kapoor said today that the HRTC had been incurring heavy losses as it was operating bus services on uneconomical routes just to fulfil its social obligation. The situation became worse over the past five years as the previous Congress government granted indiscriminate permits to private operators. Certain favourite private transporters were allotted time to ply bus services ahead of HRTC buses.

As a result the total liability of the corporation increased from Rs 153.12 crore in March, 2003, to Rs 203.37 crore in December, 2007. The corporation was given a grant of Rs 267 crore, besides reimbursements amounting to Rs 34.28 crore over the period.

The present government had increased the bus fare by 25 per cent to help improve the financial position of the HRTC and taken other steps to cut down expenditure and improve efficiency. The hike in fare would fetch an additional revenue of Rs 54 crore annually.

Health minister Rajiv Bindal informed Gangu Ram Musafir that 152 posts of ayurvedic chikitsak were vacant. The process had been started for filling 85 posts half of which would be filled by making batch-wise recruitment. The Virbhadra Singh regime appointed only 14 ayurvedic chikitsaks from 2003 to 2007 as against 471 by the earlier Dhumal government during 1998-2003. Not only that the Congress government closed 13 dispensaries in the tribal areas and opened only five new ones during the past five years whereas the Dhumal government had opened 154 dispensaries during its five-year term.

Palampur, March 28
The special audit team constituted by the HRTC has detected a scam in the Palampur depot pertaining to buses given on hire to the Congress for Sonia Gandhi’s rally held in Dharmsala on October 30, 2006.

It was learnt from the HRTC sources that in October 2006, when Sonia Gandhi visited Dharmsala, the party had hired 38 buses from the HRTC depot here for the rally, but the Congress deposited no payment in the HRTC account, whereas, under rules, the HRTC had to receive the hire charges in advance. The audit party in its report had pointed out that over Rs 90,000 was to be deposited in the HRTC account, but neither the Congress paid this amount nor any officer of the HRTC dared to ask the party to make the payments till date.

Enquiry made by the Tribune further revealed that the buses were given on hire to the Congress on the directions of higher authorities from Shimla. It is also learnt that the regional manager was asked to provide the buses immediately and payments would be made in due course.

Later on, no office-bearer of the Congress came forward to make the payments. In December 2007, when the Congress was voted out of power in the state then the scam came to the notice, of the HRTC MD.

He ordered special audit of the Palampur depot and detected the scam. The audit team had also detected another scam in the same depot, it is learnt that HRTC provided three special buses to a private party from Palampur to Delhi on July 27, 2006.

In fact these buses were provided as special buses, but in the HRTC record per passenger, tickets were issued instead of making full payments on both way causing a net loss of Rs 90,000 to the HRTC. No body in the HRTC was ready to tell as to why per passenger tickets were issued and charges were not taken from the Congress.

The audit team had submitted its report to the managing director of the HRTC at Shimla and Dharmsala HRTC divisional manager. The officials of the HRTC at Dharmsala were tight lipped and no one was ready to disclose any fact to the media.

However, a senior officer of the HRTC at Shimla admitted that irregularities had been pointed out by the audit team and net loss of Rs 2 lakh was caused to the HRTC.

Shimla, March 28
Locals Tibetans today shaved their heads in protest against the religious oppression unleashed in Tibet to express solidarity with their brethren suffering Chinese atrocities back home.

Over 50 Tibetan youths got their heads shaved as a mark of protest against the Chinese repression on the innocent people of Tibet. The youth have been holding protest on The Mall, evoking a lot of public support.

Under the banner of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress and the Women Tibetan Association, the Tibetans have been holding hunger strikes and other forms of protest to keep their freedom struggle alive and impress upon the international community to extend support for the Tibetan cause.

A photo exhibition has been put up depicting the sad state of affairs in Tibet. Special videos being received directly from Tibet are also being shown to the public. A signature campaign has also been launched which will be sent to the UN, seeking its intervention on the grim affairs in Tibet.

The Tibetans have decided to involve even their children in the freedom struggle from now onwards to send across the signal to China that the movement will continue by the next generation as well.

Shimla, March 28
District and Sessions Judge R.L.Raghu today granted interim bail to former chairman of the Himachal Board of School Education B.R. Rahi till March 31.

Rahi’s role has come under the scanner with former Congress minister Singhi Ram claiming that he had handed the plus two certificate of his daughter to the then chairman of the board. Rahi is likely to be questioned again by the Vigilance Bureau. In fact, Vigilance sleuths had interrogated Rahi on Wednesday. Meanwhile, S.K. Malhotra, who was private secretary to Rahi during the latter’s tenure as the board chairman, was arrested here today. Malhotra had been summoned by the Vigilance for interrogation in the forged certificate case.

Shimla March, 28
The Chief Justice of HP High Court, Mr Justice Jagdish Bhalla, has expressed concern over the increasing pendency of cases in the courts and has advised judges to concentrate on early disposal of cases by adopting new tools and techniques.

Inaugurating a three-day regional meet of judges of seven high courts of the northern region, Justice Bhalla said, while disposing of the cases the judges should not forget that parties get a fair, just and reasonable opportunity to present their case before the court and there was no departure from tenets of natural justice.

The meet is being organised by the National Judicial Academy in collaboration with the High Court of Himachal Pradesh and HP State Judicial Academy from March 28 to 30.

The meet is being organised to train judges and to enhance their capability for timely delivery of justice.

As many as 120 judges of seven high courts of the northern region, Himachal, Punjab and Haryana, J&K, Delhi, UP, and Uttarakhand are taking part.

Mr. George, director, HP Judicial Academy said in the meet, the main thrust would be on managing time and achieving timeliness, quality of justice and responsiveness of justice. He further said the judges from Supreme Court and high courts would address the participants.

Mr Justice D.D. Sood, judge of the HP High Court delivered the welcome address and Dr. Mohan Gopal, director, NJA, thanked the dignitaries.

Hamirpur, March 28
The indefinite fast started by the Himachal Pradesh Computer Teachers’ Association continued for the second day today at Gandhi Chowk here.

The association, which held a demonstration here on Thursday had converted their 24 days old relay-huger strike into indefinite fast to press their demands.

Five teachers Kuldeep, Ramesh, Virender, Vishal and Suresh are continuing the indefinite fast at Gandhi Chowk. Hundreds of computer teachers from throughout the state had assembled here on yesterday and raised slogans and later marched through the market of the town carrying placards in their hands.

Later they held a rally at the DC Office and submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the Hamirpur DC.

Addressing a press conference, president and general secretary of the association Ramesh Dogra and Santosh Pathania said, though they were engaged in providing IT education in schools for more than 7 years yet they were getting a meager amount of Rs 2,760 per month, while the companies were earning several crores at their cost.

They have urged the state government to take over the IT education in its own hands and eliminate the companies and engage them on contract basis.

Shimla, March 28
Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal said today it was on the basis of performance and development works undertaken by his previous government that people of Himachal voted the BJP to power this time.

Reacting sharply to the statement of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh he said that having bitten the dust in the elections these are utterances of a frustrated politician. “Having got the popular mandate of people of the state, our government is now committed towards fulfilling the promises it made to the people in the BJP election manifesto,” Dhumal said.

He said one could not attribute the BJP victory to factors like the BSP playing spoilsport, national BJP leaders election campaign or wrong distribution of Assembly tickets. “Fed up with the rampant corruption and nepotism, the people realised that the BJP would provide good governance and protect their interest, the way they did it earlier between 1998 to 2003,” he added.

He said rather than getting diverted by certain off the cuff remarks by some leaders, the government was focusing on development works. “We appreciate the positive attitude of the Congress in the Assembly so these kind of remarks are best ignored,” he said. He added that such remarks are not even liked by members of the Congress itself.

Countering the Congress claims that it was their agenda that the BJP government was fulfilling, he said during its five-year rule the Congress did not make an increase of even a penny in the social security pensions. “It was during my earlier tenure that a hike from Rs 150 to Rs 200 had been ordered, belying Congress claims,” he said.

He said the Congress had miserably failed to deliver that is why people voted them out of power.

Bilaspur, March 28
Led by zila parishad member Chaman Thakur, parents of the deceased girl, Reena Kumari, and a deputation of villagers from Sui village met SP K.K. Indoria here last evening. They expressed their belief that Reena Kumari was forced to take her life by her in-laws. The deputation said she had died at her in-laws house after consuming some poisonous substance.

Reena’s father Prem Lal said she got married seven years ago and he was informed about her death only after her postmortem examination had been completed.

Prem Lal alleged that though the marriage between his daughter and Kashmir Singh was the result of a love affair between the duo yet they never opposed it But she was never allowed to visit her parents and was also beaten, maltreated and tortured by her husband and in-laws.

Meanwhile, the police has registered an FIR.

Sundernagar, March 28
In an incident, the thieves took away Rs 3 lakh along with a cash chest from the office of Mohindra Finance Company, Ner Chowk, last night.

The police said the theft was noticed in the morning when the staff noticed that the cash chest was missing. Interestingly the weight of chest was about 800 kg and it was kept on the second storey. It was found that the thieves had taken the chest by breaking the shutter of the building.

The police has registered a case under Section 457, 380 of the Indian Penal Code at the Balh Police Station on complaint of the branch manager.