The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

210 schools face closure
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 31
Over 120 schools opened under the Education Guarantee Scheme have closed down by now, while the remaining 210 are on the verge of closure as there are very few children enrolled with these.

The scheme was launched with much fanfare in 2002 to ensure that every child above the age of five, especially children from economically weaker sections, got education. A total of 331 school were opened in various parts of the state.

The absence of a full-time director of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has severely affected the implementation of the scheme in urban and border areas. Twenty-five mobile schools were also opened for children of communities like “Gaddis”, “Gujjars” and others who lived like vagabonds.

Taking serious note of the huge dropout number of children enrolled with these schools, the secretary education has issued directions to the staff to get these children back to school.

As per a survey conducted by the SSA authorities, there were around 4,000 children who were forced to work at a tender age and hence could not attend school. The 331 schools under the EGS were specially opened for these children most of whom worked at dhabas, hotels, shops and even as ragpickers.

Those closely associated with the SSA point out that providing these children with free books, uniform, and free education cannot serve the purpose completely. “Till these children are provided hostel facility, their parents or contractors with whom they are working will not allow them to attend school, which they term as a wastage of time,” said an SSA employee.

Many others say the Departments of Social Justice and Empowerment and Labour talks of stopping child labour but this will not be possible till the children are provided hostels.

They cite examples that schools where almost 50 children had enrolled in the beginning are left with only six children.

What remains to be seen now is whether the state government will be able to meet its objective of getting all children enrolled in schools by 2010.

Ex-servicemen, villagers plan stir against Army
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, August 31
Subedar Major B.R. Gurang (retd) served in the Indian Army for more than 30 years. However, now, as a village pradhan, he is being forced to agitate against the Army. Besides Gurang, 66 other families of ex-servicemen and other residents of Chandmari village are planning an agitation against the Army authorities here.

The ex-servicemen alleged they still considered themselves as disciplined soldiers. However, they were being forced to agitate as the authorities concerned had turned a deaf ear to their grievances.

The villagers plan to block traffic on the Dharamsala-McLoedganj road tomorrow against the Army decision to block the only passage leading to their village.

A survey of the area revealed that the Army authorities had already erected iron pillars on the only pathway to the village. After fencing, about 3,500 residents of the village and its surrounding areas would not have any direct link to the main road.

If the iron pillars installed by the Army authorities were fenced, the village school would lose its ground. The temple, the cremation ground, the local water source and the ayurvedic dispensary would be cut off from the village.

The villagers alleged they had requested to the Army authorities to spare the school ground and the pathway, which had been existing for more than a century, from fencing. Petitions have been moved at all levels. The deputy commissioner and the local minister have also been approached to help them out, but to no avail.

Besides Chandmari village, a Dalit colony would also be adversely affected due to the fencing. Today, residents of the colony did not allow labourers of the contractor to raise pillars near their houses. The Dalits, many of whom serve with the local Army establishment, said they were allotted the land in the area by the government. The Army was blocking their only path to the main road. If the Army authorities went ahead with their plan, their children would not be able to go to the local school and they would have to climb a mountain to reach the main road.

On the other hand, the Army authorities said the land belonged to them and it needed to be fenced.

The residents are also agitated over the move of the Army authorities to raise several kilometre long walls in the Yol area. They said there was no need to raise such huge fences. These were bound to create problems for the local people.

Industrial areas to have better roads
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 31
The government has decided to earmark separate funds for maintenance and improvement of roads in industrial areas and develop alternative routes to ease traffic congestion in view of difficulties being face by industrialists.

Roads in various industrial areas have been in bad shape because of poor maintenance. To begin with, a sum of Rs 5 crore has been allocated for the purpose by the Public Works Department. The amount will be utilised for repair and maintenance of roads in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt and the Kala Amb industrial area.

The work will be carried out in partnership with industrial units concerned. The India Cements Company, which is setting up a plant in Chopal, will bear 50 per cent of the cost of widening the Lal Dhank-Paonta-Rajban-Rohru road. Initially, a 40-km road stretch is being widened for which the company has already given Rs 1 crore.

Alternative roads will be developed in areas plagued with traffic congestion due to cement plants. The important road links proposed include Sundernagar-Ghagas (via Kangu and Dehar), Parwanu-Barotiwala and Swarghat tunnel with a 19.5-km stretch of new road.

Secretary (public works) Balram Sharma said a new national highway was being proposed from Ghanoli Nalagarh to Shimla (via Ram Sehar, Jabbar, Hatti) to ease traffic congestion in the Baddi-Nalagarh belt and on the Shimla-Chandigarh highway.

Roads in the state, which are being widened under a Rs 1,345-crore World Bank-funded project, would be developed-like national highways by raising plantation and implementing soil conservation measures. The horticulture wing of the department was being strengthened for the purpose and executive engineers had been appointed to head the wing comprising four sub-divisional engineers and 15 junior engineers. Adequate funds would be made available for the purpose.

Land Row
Hindu bodies hold victory rally
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 31
Activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and the BJP organised a victory rally to celebrate the restoration of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board.

They burst crackers and distributed sweets. The huge response to the countrywide stir launched by Hindu organisations forced the government to reverse its earlier decision, he maintained. They held the UPA government responsible for the turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir and said precious lives could have been saved and unnecessary hardship avoided had the government reviewed the flawed decision at the very outset.

District president of the BJP Ganesh Dut said for once the solidarity of nationalist forces had forced the government to give up its policy of appeasement of minorities at the cost of majority.

It was a victory of faith over and national interests over divisive party politics.

The rally was organised under the banner of the Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti.

HPU council defers decision on mutual funds
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 31
The executive council of the HPU yesterday deferred a decision on the report of the inquiry held into the issue of investment of Rs 3.4 crore GPF money in mutual funds.

The report was tabled before the council by vice-chancellor Sunil Kumar Gupta. However, it was decided that the matter would be discussed thread bare in the next meeting before a final decision was taken.

It was felt that all details and circumstances under which permission had been sought from the council to make the investment should be presented in the next meeting before a final decision was taken in that regard.

It was during the tenure of last vice-chancellor Anil Wilson that a sum of Rs 3.4 crore out of the GPF money was invested in mutual funds. The present VC had ordered an inquiry into the matter.

In some of the other decisions taken by the council, it was decided to enhance the daily allowance of sportspersons from Rs 50 to Rs 75 and refreshment charges from Rs 10 to Rs 15. The council also decided that in future all vacancies of teachers would be filled through regular appointments rather than on contact basis. It also approved the recommendations of the Academics Council, which met here on August 23.

As a step towards transparency, the council decided that in future all decisions taken by it would be put on the website of the HPU so that anyone could access them.

The council also approved promotions of two teachers under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) for the posts of reader in the Departments of Yoga and Fine Arts.

TD Rights
Kisan Sabha to hold protests today
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 31
The state committee of the Himachal Kisan Sabha will hold demonstrations tomorrow at block-level across the state to highlight the plight of farmers whose traditional forest rights had been curtailed due to an interim order of the high court that imposed a ban on allotment of trees under the timber distribution (TD) rules.

President of the Sabha Tikender Panwar said the protesters would also submit memoranda to the officers concerned. These would be addressed to the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. The difficulties being faced by farmers due to the interim order of the court would be highlighted in these memoranda.

The sabha would also submit a representation carrying signatures of people collected by its activists during a month-long campaign. Panwar said the ban had virtually restricted the entry of farmers into forests for collecting fuel wood, fodder, herbs and even for grazing animals.

There had been innumerable instances where the sickles of women who ventured into forests for collecting fodder were confiscated. Even for the burning of corpse the villagers are forced to buy wood from the corporation.

The sabha has also decided to represent the affected farmers in the court and become a party to the ongoing case on TD rights.

Zila parishad chief ‘removed’
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, August 31
Santosh Dhiman, chairperson, and Hoshiar Singh Thakur, vice-chairman of zila parishad, have been “removed” from their posts. Out of 14, nine members voted against them in a meeting of the zila parishad here on Friday. Dhiman and Thakur are also prominent Congress party leaders.

It is interesting to know that four members, who voted against them, belonged to the Congress, four from the BJP and one is rebel Congress leader Bamber Thakur.

Though both Santosh Dhiman and Hoshiar Singh Thakur had resigned from their respective posts on Wednesday and submitted their resignations to the deputy commissioner here, the nine members, who had earlier given a notice of “no confidence” against them, on Friday unanimously passed removal resolution.

The Congress members who voted against the two are - Bimla Chaudhury, district youth Congress president; Anjana Dhiman; Kuldip Dhiman; and Attar Singh Dhiman. Bambar Thakur has declared himself as an independent though he had won the zila parishad election as a Congress party leader.

Congress party members who absented themselves from the meeting and expressed solidarity with Santosh Dhiman and Hoshiar Singh Thakur are district Congress party spokesperson Jitender Chandel, Mast Ram and INTUC state general secretary Bhagat Singh Varma.

Nand lal, district panchayat officer and ex-officio secretary of the zila parishad, said the vacancies would be filled by an election in the next meeting that has been fixed for September 3.

‘Private industries not adhering to labour laws’
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, August 31
The state unit of the INTUC, a frontal organisation of the Congress, has alleged that private industries set up in the state were not adhering to labour laws. They alleged that the private sector was not adhering to the condition of providing 70 per cent employment to the locals.

It criticised the Labour Department for not taking any action against the violators.

Rajnesh Sharma and Ramesh Saini, the general secretary and vice-president of the state unit of the INTUC, respectively, in a joint statement here, urged Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal to take a serious note of it.

They also demanded the release of 5 per cent interim relief and instalment of dearness allowance to the employees of the Boards and corporations in the state. They demanded rendering of jobs to the dependant of the deceased under kith and kin policy.

INTUC leaders said the organisation would soon launch a special drive to enrol employees as the members of the INTUC.

Rs 2 cr for relief work in Bihar
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 31
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has sent a sum of Rs 2 crore for carrying out relief and rehabilitation work in flood-hit Bihar.

In a message sent to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Dhumal has expressed sorrow over the huge loss of life and property due to floods and conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved families.

He said the people of Himachal Pradesh were firmly behind the people of the Bihar in their hour of distress. The unprecedented floods in the state had caused havoc, damaging crops, houses and infrastructure, he said.

He said the people of Himachal Pradesh would extend all possible assistance to help bring back normalcy in Bihar.

Meanwhile, a local NGO, Ashadeep, has started a drive to collect funds and medicines for the flood-affected people of Bihar.

4 honoured for helping cops
Our Correspondent

Chamba, August 31
The police department has rewarded four persons of Chamba district for helping it in solving some of the recent theft cases. The step forms part of the community policing scheme launched by the Himachal Pradesh Police Department sometime ago.

ASP D.K. Choudhary said the scheme had brought awareness among the masses and they now straightaway coming forward to provide first-hand information about various criminal activities taking place in their areas.

Home delivery of LPG for Army staff
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, August 31
Rupa Sharma, president of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), Rising Star Corps, inaugurated the LPG home delivery facility from the local gas agency.

The agency is being run as a welfare measure for serving Army personnel, ex-serviceman and civilians working in defence establishments at Yol cantonment.

The president AWWA said the agency was established in 1989.

Narinder Thakur likely to join Cong
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, August 31
Narinder Thakur, prominent BJP leader from Hamirpur, and son of former BJP stalwart Jagdev Chand Thakur, is likely to join the Congress. Interestingly, both father-son duo had opposed the Congress for many decades.

Sources from close quarters of the leader said all formalities for taking Narinder Thakur into fold of the Congress had been completed and official announcement in this connection would be made soon.

Though Narinder Thakur has avoided making direct reply to queries in this connection, he has given indication of joining the Congress.

Talking to The Tribune, Narinder Thakur said “Talks are going on and I would make an official statement in this connection in a day or two.”

‘Buyer’ of royal property held
Tribune News Service

Mandi, August 31
The Mandi police yesterday arrested Khub Ram, the main kingpin in the multi-crore benami royal property deal, after three months when the deal came to light. He was produced before the CJM court, which remanded him police custody for three days.

According to the police, the main suspects in the deal, Sanju and Subhash, advised Khub Ram to avoid his arrest. The police arrested Khub Ram from Shimla and brought him here yesterday.

Khub Ram was a waiter at a convent school in Shimla. The police had registered a case of benami property against Khub Ram, including DRO Mandi and Sanju and Subhash last month.

SP Mandi M Chander Sekhar said the police investigation into the case had been expedited. “We are trying to arrest both Sanju and Subhash in the case as they had been underground ever since the case was registered against them.

Meanwhile, the police is also putting together all linkages in the benami property case and murder of Tek Chand, whose body was found from Sundernagar canal after a month he had gone missing on July 3 from the town. The police expect to solve the murder mystery and the benami deal case.

2 unidentified bodies found
Our Correspondents

Solan/Nahan, August 31
Body of an unidentified girl was found lying on the side of the NH-22, near Chakki-Ka-Mor, on the Kalka-Shimla Highway this evening.

Parwanoo DSP Ramesh Pathania, who visited the spot after receiving the information, said, “Prima facie, it appeared to be murder case as a handkerchief has been found stuffed inside the mouth of the girl. A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered, and the body was sent for a postmortem.”

Meanwhile, in another incident, the police today found a body of an unidentified person near Court Complex Chowk in the heart of Paonta town. Deceased was in saffron clothes and seen in the town for the past few days. The police has ruled out any foul play in his death.

Man sets wife on fire
Our Correspondent

Kangra, August 31
Rajnesh (35) set his wife on fire and then self-immolated himself at his residence in Janankhar village of Arela panchayat falling under the Kundian police post today.

DSP Omapati Jamwal said Chandresh, unmarried sister of Rajnesh, last night consumed poison and, later, was rushed to Dr R.P. Government Medical College, Tanda, in a critical condition. Jamwal said this resulted in commotion in the family and Rajnesh set his wife, Seema, on fire.

Rajnesh died of severe burn injuries at Dr. R.P. Government Medical College at Tanda this afternoon and his wife was struggling for her life in the same hospital. He said a case under Sections 498- A, 307 and 34 of the IPC was registered and investigation was in progress. He said the body of Rajnesh was handed over to his relatives after the postmortem.