Shimla, June 23
As many as 1,65,890 green trees were given to right-holders under the timber distribution rules (TD) in the state from 2002 till June, 2006, when the high court granted stay on allotments on public interest litigation.

The full-grown trees virtually given free were worth over Rs 550 crore. The main causality were the valuable species like deodar, kail, fir, spruce and chil. The maximum number of 59,660 deodar trees were allotted. It was followed by chil (50049 trees), kail (33,640), fir and spruce (6,791) and broad-leaved (15,950). On an average about 90,000 to one lakh cubic metre of standing volume of trees was being allotted annually to the right-holders.

The high court stay order has, thus, over the past two year saved over 70,000 trees from the axe. The trees were still being allotted at the rates fixed during the forest settlement in 1873 more than 135 years ago. The TD rates were fixed at 20 to 25 per cent of the market rate at that time . The market rate has since increased by several thousand times but the TD rates have not been revised accordingly. The ratio of TD rates to the market rates for deodar which was 1:5 about 100 years ago, has gone up to 1: 9000, in case of chil (pine) it is up from 1:8 in 1867 to 1: 5,000 and for kail to 1 : 30,000.

The wide difference in the TD rates and the market rates was mainly responsible for the misuse of the facility and even those who did not require timber got trees sanctioned and sold these to builders. Influential people have been misusing the facility primarily meant for the rural poor for bona fide use like building a modest house or for carrying out repairs. This was the main reason for filing the public interest litigation.

Large-scale removals from the forests on account of TD allotments had been taking a heavy toll on forests. The dense forests (with over 40 per cent canopy cover in the state) have fast degenerated into open forests. In fact, the area under dense forests had started declining.

Now that the matter is before the court, the department once again proposed to rationalise the TD rates by linking these to the market rates, restrict the quantity of timber and regulating the periodicity of grant of trees more stringently and even supplying converted timber to the right-holders instead of tree to save forests.

Shimla, June 23
Demanding withdrawal of the inquiry into their appointment and regularisation of services, thousands of PTA appointees all over the state today went on strike, affecting studies in many schools, especially in the remote areas.

Hundreds of PTA appointees today staged a rally here today, raising anti-government slogans. Five PTA teachers sat on a relay fast close to the state secretariat which will continue indefinitely. They also distributed pamphlets about the injustice being meted out to them.

Vivek Mehta, president of the State PTA Teachers Association, said after teaching for six years in schools there was no justification in holding an inquiry into their appointments. “Our services should be regularised, a proper PTA policy be made and the inquiry being conducted into our appointment must be withdrawn immediately,” he demanded.

He said that the PTA teachers were open to a dialogue with the government but in case they are not called for talks, they would be forced to intensify their agitation. “We have been teaching in schools at one sixth the salary being given to permanent teachers, so it is totally unjustified to look into our appointments now,” he said.

Mehta claimed that the functioning of 70 per cent schools in the state had been affected and once information about the strike reaches the remote and far-flung areas, all schools would be affected. He claimed that over 220 schools, including 48 in Shimla, 16 in Sirmaur, 82 in Chamba, 12 in Kinnaur, 14 in Kullu, 15 in Solan 17 in Mandi, 31 in Kangra, 10 in Bilaspur, nine in Una and four in Hamirpur were solely being run by PTA appointees.

He also disputed the statement of the director, secondary education, that the PTA appointees had gone on strike without giving a prior notice. “We had gone to meet the director but he was not available and so we gave notice for the strike by getting it received in the central diary,” he said. He said that there was great resentment among the 15,000 PTA appointees and the government would be responsible in case they adopted an aggressive path. He said imposing new conditions on the PTA appointments was totally wrong when they had been appointed by the previous regime as per rules.

Shimla, June 23
Confronting the BJP on the issue of price rise, state Congress general secretary Kuldeep Rathore alleged today that the Dhumal government was deliberately not reducing VAT on petroleum products as it wanted to make inflation an issue in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll.

Addressing mediapersons here he said keeping the prices high in the state and blaming the UPA regime for it was part of the BJP’s election strategy finalised at the two-day meeting of the party at Manali. Chief Minister P.K Dhumal had rejected the demand for reduction in VAT and this had now been endorsed by the state executive.

Instead of blaming the Centre the BJP should apprise the people of the steps it had taken to contain prices. The fact was that it had done nothing and it was only trying to make political capital out of the issue. It was common knowledge that the unprecedented hike in the prices of crude oil was responsible for the current rise in inflation, affecting not only India but the entire world.

The situation was much worse in the USA, China, the UK and other European countries where inflation had touched record levels. Some countries were facing a food crisis. The UPA was alive to the problem and union finance minister P.C.Chidambaram had even raised the matter at the World Energy Conference in Jeddah, calling upon the oil producing countries to hike output.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had been in irregular touch with the Prime Minister and the finance minister and on her direction the Congress-ruled states had reduced VAT on petroleum products. What has prevented the Dhumal government from taking similar steps? he asked.

Rathore termed the BJP meeting at Manali a damp squib, at best an exercise in sycophancy with the participants singing the praises of various leaders. The BJP should have come out with a practical plan to contain price rise like reduction in taxes and crackdown on hoarders.

He said the BJP government had also failed to make the necessary arrangements for supplying apple cartons to growers who were being fleeced by private parties. The state agencies like the HPMC and the Agro-Industries Corporation had not procured any cartons, leaving the growers at the mercy of private companies.

He blamed the administration for the violence during the Shoolini fair and said it reflected the incompetence of government machinery. He supported the agaitation launched by PTA teachers, saying that they deserved a fair deal from the government as they had provided services when there was an acute shortage of teachers. 

Shimla, June 23
Food and civil supplies minister Ramesh Dhawala said today that due to the reduced rice quota received from the Centre, the APL, BPL and Antodaya families would be provided 15 kg of rice and 20 kg of wheat per family under the public distribution system (PDS) from next month.

He said the BPL and Antodaya families were being given their full quota of foodgrains without any shortage.

Dhawala said that when LPG cylinders when purchased directly from wholesale gas distributors by the consumers, the hiked carriage from Rs 10 to Rs 25 would not be charged. Besides, an additional subsidy of Rs 8 would be given to them on each cylinder. He asked the LPG dealers to provide the additional subsidy of Rs 8 to consumers failing which stern action would be taken. 

Solan, June 23
DIG (south range) Pardeep Kumar today said a case has been registered against the protesters who blocked the national highway near Dohri Dwal and broke windowpanes of some vehicles after the death of a youth during the Shoolini fair.

The DIG, who was in the town today to review the situation after yesterday’s violent incident, told mediapersons that he had directed police officials to deal sternly with miscreants indulging in such acts and in case they failed to do so, action would be taken against them. Nearly 25 persons had been booked for blocking the highway.

Inquires revealed that despite more than 300 policemen being deployed in the town, the carrying of weapons could not be checked. In the recent case, a khukri was used to kill the youth. There were also reports that policemen deployed at the control room indulged in drinking after the culmination of the cultural night on that day. Moreover, no police arrangement was put in place after midnight. It was primarily the lack of patrolling that led to the incident, sources said.

The DIG said the forcible taking away of the body from the mortuary of the hospital by the deceased’s relatives was a lapse on the part of the police. This hampered the conduct of a post-mortem examination and the body was cremated without following the crucial investigative procedure.

He said it was unfortunate that the relatives later paraded the body through the streets of the town. It was tantamount to dishonouring the body, he said.

A case has been registered under Sections 297, 353, 341, 147 and 149 of the IPC against the mob for assault, rioting, wrongful restraint and dishonouring the body. While the police was identifying the people involved in the act through pictures and video footage, at least five of them had been booked for these offences.

A local court today remanded four youths in police custody till June 27 in connection with the murder. Ankush, a minor, was taken to Shimla for producing him in the Juvenile Justice Court.

Shimla, June 23
Irrigation and public health minister Ravinder Ravi, transport minister Kishan Kapoor, and BJP MLA Renu Chaddha have ridiculed the statement of state Congress president Viplove Thakur that the Dhumal government was making merry on the funds provided by the Centre and said such irresponsible utterances did not behove a senior leader like her.

They said the claim of Rs 350 crore as central assistance being made by Thakur was an exaggeration. The fact was that the Centre had sanctioned Rs 129 crore under the calamity relief fund, out of which nothing has been received so far.

In 2007, out of Rs 72 crore sanctioned for floods, only Rs 22 crore were given and remaining Rs 50 crore were left to be adjusted against unspent balance of previous years when the Congress was in power in the state. They said Thakur should have verified the records before making false and misleading statements in the Press.

The Congress government left a huge debt liability of Rs 22,930 crore on the state. The Centre had discriminated against the state in development and the Congress was responsible for financial mess in the state.

Referring to the price rise, they said the UPA was solely responsible for the high inflation, which touched its highest level in the last 13 years.

They rejected the charges that the BJP government was running a transfer industry in the state and asserted that it was the previous Congress government that transferred lakh of employees and victimised them.

Meanwhile, ministers in the Dhumal regime, Thakur Gulab Singh and Narender Bragta along with legislator Suresh Bhardwaj today said the Virbhadra government had been shown the door by people, as it did nothing concrete except making announcements.

Reacting to the allegations levelled by MP Pratibha Singh, the BJP leaders in a statement issued here said she was trying to mislead the people by making false, mischievous and politically motivated statements.

“The people have lost all faith in the Congress and will oust it from power in the coming Lok Sabha elections,” they said. The UPA regime had failed to check price rise and by increasing the prices of LPG, petrol and diesel, they had further made things difficult for the common man, they added.

Sundernagar, June 23
The Balh police has arrested Harish Thakur, a teacher of Jangehali government primary school in connection with an obscene MMS. The arrest has been made under Section 67 of the Information and Technology Act. The accused was produced before the Mandi Judicial Magistrate yesterday and remanded in police custody for four days.

According to the Mandi SP S. Chandersekhar, the accused was earlier arrested under Sections 292, 293and 294 of the IPC on June 3 as a delegation of Dadour residents met police officials and informed them that an obscene MMS was being circulated in the area.

After the registration of a case, the accused was arrested. As the offence was bailable, he was released on bail. During the investigation, it was found that the act of the accused also attracted provisions of the Information Technology Act and the offence under those provisions was non-bailable. So, the accused was arrested again yesterday.

The MMS showing the accused and a woman indulging in obscene activities came into circulation around a month ago. Later, it was found that the woman in the MMS was a married woman from Balh valley. She was on training as a physical training instructor and the accused was working as a teacher in Jangehali school. The husband of the woman had also filed a compliant with the police.

The Mandi SP said the investigation was on in the case.

Dharamsala, June 23
Illegal mining of slates is continuing in the mountains of Khaniara and Dari villages near Dharamsala despite a high court directive. The activity is causing severe damage to the ecology of area.

The Mining Department recently intercepted three truckloads of slates mined illegally from these areas. A fine of Rs 6,500 was imposed on the persons concerned after which they were allowed to take away the material. However, the offence is not compoundable since mining has been banned in the area following a high court directive. Hence, the Mining Department should have confiscated the material and the trucks that were carrying it illegally.

District mining officer Madan Lal admitted that they had intercepted three truckloads of slates and imposed a fine on those doing so. When asked about the high court orders, he said, “Now orders have been passed to register cases of theft against illegal miners.”

“In the last two months, the department has imposed fine in 50 such cases. These included three cases of illegal slate mining from Khaniara mines,” he added.

Sources say, illegal mining is generally carried out by local people in connivance with inter-state traders of slates. The material is generally transported to other areas in the night. Many residents of Khaniara and Dari villages have been indulging in this activity.

Earlier, almost all houses in hill areas used to have slate roofs. Although people have now started constructing RCC houses, the demand for Khaniara slates still persists. The demand has grown in lower areas where it is now used for beautification of outer walls in houses.

The mining in the area was totally banned in 2000 following orders of the high court. This rendered many labourers of the area jobless.

Vikrami, a resident of Dari who was earlier involved in mining as a labourer, said, “Most of us do not know any other work.” However, he admitted that many of his friends were clandestinely engaged for slate mining by influential persons. They mine slates in the higher reaches and bring these down where these were taken to various cities in trucks.

Bilaspur, June 23
Kunjan Sharma of Government Senior Secondary School, Ghumarwin, was declared first; Ashwani Sharma of Government Senior Secondary School, Moresingi, was declared second; and Neha Devi of Government Senior Secondary School, Bharari, was declared third; among juniors in declamation contest organised by the Department of Information and Public Relations on “Prohibition” at Kapahada, about 40 km from here, on Friday.

Among seniors Asha Devi (GSSS Ghumarwin), Shilpa (GSSS Bharadi) and Pooja (GSSS Moresingi) were declared first, second and third, respectively.

District PRO Amar Singh Thakur said here on Saturday that in spot-painting competition among junior section Amita Kumari (GSSS Ghumarwin), Ashwani Kumar (GSSS Kupwada) and Kapil Dev (GSSS Chatt) and among senior section Champa (GSSS Bharadi), Dhesaj Sharma (GSSS Moresingi) and Manpreet Singh (GSSS Ghumarwin) were adjudged first, second and third, respectively.

In slogan writing Neetika, Gaurav and Vinay among juniors and Jyoti, Rama Devi and Pankaj were declared first, second and third, respectively, among seniors.

Bharmour, June 23
In a move to provide medical care at the doorsteps of the tribal people living in the rough terrains of mountainous subdivision of Bharmour, the administration today organised a medical camp at the Chobia panchayat here.

A team of doctors headed by Bharmour additional district magistrate (ADM) N.K. Lath held the medical camp at Chobia and examined as many as 150 patients.

The ADM said free medicines were provided to the patients on this occasion.

Shimla, June 23
The state government has decided to institute “Maharishi Valmiki Sampuran Swachhata Puraskar” to motivate the panchayati raj institutions(PRIs) to step up their efforts in the implementation of the total sanitation campaign.

S.K. Baldi, secretary, rural development, said the cleanest gram panchayat at the block, district, divisional and state levels would be awarded every year under the scheme.

The gram panchayats which had become free from open defecation and had provisions for solid waste disposal facility for both individuals and communities, waste water disposal and water harvesting facility would be eligible for the award.

The “cleanest” gram panchayat would be awarded a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh in each block while the reward would be Rs 3 lakh for the cleanest gram panchayat in every district with less than 300 gram panchayats whereas two gram panchayats in every district with more than 300 gram panchayats would also be awarded.

The cleanest panchayat at the divisional and state levels would be receive a reward of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively. The awards would be given on August 15.