Shimla, October 18
The cabinet here today approved the release of 5 per cent interim relief to the state government employees from this month and 10 per cent enhancement in the existing social security pension of Rs 300 per month to all eligible categories.

The state cabinet took these decisions at its meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

It also gave its approval to the policy of allotment of self-identified power projects in the state up to 25 mw.

It directed the power department to follow “single window clearance system”
for obtaining speedy clearances for the independent power producers (IPP) from
various agencies.

The cabinet also approved the allotment of 60 mw Tidong-II power project to the HP Power Corporation Limited with the condition that the government would not stand guarantee or release any subsidy.

It was also decided that in all those cases where upfront premium amount had
not been received but orders for the enhancement of capacity had not been
issued, the enhancement would be allowed under the new policy of 3 per cent
additional royalty only.

However, the upfront premium received would be treated as “Security Deposit”
and would be refunded to IPPs without any interest after the commissioning of
power projects.

It approved the leasing out of government land to 100 mw Sorang Power Project in Kinnaur district at the rate of Rs 1 lakh per bigha.

The cabinet approved the starting of the new “Environment Fund” in the state, for which voluntary donation would be accepted by the government.

The cabinet granted approval for the filling of 170 posts in various departments
and corporations.

It approved the revision of cement transportation rates for lifting the same to various destinations of government departments and public sector undertakings.

It also granted its approval for the regularisation of only B.Ed qualified contract lecturers and teachers under the control of the higher education and elementary education department who have completed a minimum of eight years service on March 31, 2008.

It also gave its approval to the amendments to the rules made under the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1975, for simplifying the procedure for the transfer of land to industrial units to give boost to industrial investment in the state.

It gave its consent to sign a tripartite Supplementary Memorandum of Understanding involving the government, Vivekanand Medical Research Trust, Palampur, and Jaiprakash Sewa Sansthan, Delhi, to co-opt the Jaiprakash Sewa Sansthan to achieve the objectives of the Vivekanand Medical Research Trust for setting up a superspeciality hospital and a medical college in Palampur.

Dharamsala, October 18
The Simbal Khola village panchayat of Kangra district has bagged the Nirmal village award for achieving set standards under the National Sanitation Mission.

Deputy commissioner Kangra K.K. Pant today handed over a appreciation letter, medal and a cash award of Rs 1 lakh on behalf of President of India, Pratibha Patil, to the village sarpanch Shakuntla Devi.

Shakuntla Devi, while speaking on the occasion, said 209 families were residing in five wards of her village.

All families had developed personal toilets and left the habit of answering the nature’s call in the open.

The deputy commissioner, while speaking on the occasion, said till date, 40 panchayats in the district had achieved totals sanitation targets by constructing personal toilets for all.

By the end of the current financial year, the administration planned to complete the scheme in 150 villages of the district.

The panchayats achieving targets under the scheme would be given an award of Rs 10 lakh at the state level, Rs 5 lakh at the division level, Rs 3 lakh at district level and Rs 1 lakh at the block level.

Chamba, October 18
The bodies of four persons who were reported to have been trapped in the blizzard on October 15 afternoon near the Saach Pass, situated at an altitude of 4,413 m, were extricated today.

They were on their way to Killar from Chamba and were caught in the fierce blizzard just 300 m below the Saach Pass towards Killar, the sub-divisional headquarters of Pangi valley.

The deceased were identified as Dhyan Singh, ex-serviceman and resident of Udaan village, Sanjay Kumar, a resident of Sahli village, Devi Singh of Seri Bhatwas village and Dev Dutt, a resident of Kuthal village. All villages fall in Pangi tribal valley.

Giving this information over phone, G. R. Bharti, resident commissioner of Pangi, told The Tribune this afternoon that on October 15, snow started falling when about 23 persons were crossing over the Saach Pass to Killar.

These included 18 persons, who avoiding the risk, went back in two vehicles and reached Killar safely via Jammu and Kashmir route linking the Pangi area.

On October 16, a Gurkha, named Penba, due to his strenuous efforts, reached Killar and gave information to the resident commissioner of Pangi and the police about the four persons left behind and suspected them to have been trapped in the blizzard.

Penba was then hospitalised in the community health centre Killar and later discharged from the hospital, the resident commissioner said.

He said yesterday, a team comprising 25 persons, local youths and kin of the
missing people launched a joint rescue operation by clearing snow from the
road by pressing into service a JCB along with PWD labourers and extricated
the bodies near the Saach Pass.

The resident commissioner said that an immediate relief of Rs 20,000 each to the next of kin of the deceased had been provided, besides government vehicles to transport the bodies to their native villages after carrying out autopsy of the bodies at Killar Civil Hospital.

In his report sent to the state government, the resident commissioner stated that when these persons were about to cross the Satrundi police check-post, the whereabouts of these persons were not recorded.

Since the weather was going to be rough and snowy, these passengers should
have been advised accordingly not to cross over to the Saach Pass, but officials
at the check-post did not adhere to the instructions, the resident commissioner
pointed out.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Vidhan Sabha speaker Tulsi Ram, who represents this area, have condoled the death of the four persons.

Solan, October 18
In a visible embarrassment to the ruling BJP, the no-confidence motion moved by the BJP ward members of the BDC Nalagarh against their own president Soma Devi was not only defeated, but it backfired when the president joined the Congress and retained her seat.

The BDC members submitted a no-confidence motion against both the president and vice-president Sant Ram before the district panchayat officer (DPO) on October 7.

Such a situation arose after Soma Devi, who had an arrangement to remain
president for half the term while vacating the latter half for Narinder Kaur,
refused to submit her resignation.

This prompted the members to move a no-confidence motion against her. The DPO had fixed today’s date for voting where the vice-president was removed as 22 members polled against and 17 in his favour while one vote was rejected.

The poll for the president was, however, marred with controversy with the
DPO initially announcing 19 votes in favour of the president as against 21
polled against her.

He, however, later clarified that since two votes of the 21 polled against the
president had been rejected so there were 19 votes in favour as well as
against the president.

This led to a tie and hence the motion to remove the president was defeated.

Zila Parishad chairman Ram Kumar, who was jubilant at having romped home the key post for his Congress party, said though both the BJP MLAs from Doon and Nalagarh, Vinod Chandel and H.N. Saini, respectively, tried to intervene in the poll process, they managed to get the top post for their party.

This was despite the fact that it was the home turf of BJP district president
H N. Saini.

The BJP MLAs, however, later told mediapersons that the DPO had acted as a poll agent of the Congress and had deliberately rejected two votes on flimsy pretext to benefit the Congress.

Later, the SDM directed the Electricity Department to immediately disconnect
electricity supply so as to rule out any possibility of the crusher from operating
surreptitiously again.

Shimla, October 18
Supreme Court Judge Justice S.B. Sinha today said that the idea behind having a mediation centre was to bring about not just a judicial but social transformation by getting to the root of the problem which had given rise to a particular dispute.

Inaugurating the Mediation Centre at the high court here, he said even though a pendency of 54,000 cases was not too high, but for a state like Himachal Pradesh even this figure was alarming, as people here were not inclined towards creating conflict and clash.

He added that the pendency in the district courts, too, was 1.42 lakh cases, which again was not on the higher side.

He said it would be the duty of the mediators to facilitate and bring about the two parties to the negotiating table while remaining impartial, impersonal and, above all, maintaining secrecy so as to have the faith of all concerned.

“A conflict may arise due to various factors like ego, misunderstanding and ignorance but at times even for the simple fact that a person is aware about his own rights but ignorant that others too have a right,” he opined.

Expressing concern over a UN study which ranked India 177th out of a total
178 nations in the enforcement of contract, he said it is for this very reason
that the general impression was that getting a contract enforced in India was
next to impossible.

“Visualising the changing global scenario we need to do a lot to ensure that maximum possible foreign direct investment is made in India,” he said.

He said we often talk of our fundamental rights and other things, but why cannot we let a person have the right to self determination where he can choose a method for resolution of his dispute,” said Justice Sinha.

“We are not aiming to resolve all disputes at mediation centres, as that is not
our aim but even if we are able to settle 25 per cent of the cases, it is a big
achievement,” he remarked.

He added that the success rate of mediation was as high as 70 per cent so far.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Jagdish Bhalla said that mediators would have to play a crucial role in resolving disputes by taking both parties into confidence so that society can benefit at large.

“Both parties must have respect and faith in the mediator with no trace of suspicion, which alone can render the entire exercise futile,” he remarked.

Justice Bhalla said the mediators would be given training to handle the task of mediation. Justice Surjit Singh and Justice D.D. Sood also spoke on the occasion.

Shimla, October 18
Raising its voice again the injustice and inhuman treatment being meted out to the striking PTA teachers, the Global Human Rights Council has issued legal notices to the chief secretary, superintendent of police and additional SP on the PTA issue.

Addressing a press conference here today, the chairperson of the council, Arvind Thakur, said the notices had been issued to chief secretary Asha Swaroop, SP R.M. Sharma and additional SP Mahender Singh.

“They have been asked to give their reply within 30 days failing which a petition will be filed in the Supreme Court,” he said.

He said in case of PTA teachers the government had thrown all norms to the winds, which had forced the council to issue notices to the authorities.

“Instead of resolving the issue through mediation and talks, the government
has decided to adopt a path of confrontation, which will only aggravate matters,”
he remarked.

He said despite the fact that notices had been issued, the council was still open to talks in case the government is willing to do so.

“How can the government and the police unleash a reign of terror on the peaceful demonstration of the PTA teachers as it is their constitutional right to express their resentment,” he said.

He said the government had violated the guidelines laid down by the Supreme
Court in dealing with teachers on their arrest, which were not followed in case
of the PTA teachers.

Meanwhile, the striking PTA teachers today said they would chalk out their strategy at their state-level meeting to be held here on October 20.

The president of the PTA teachers association, Vivek Mehta said the government was hell-bent on crushing their agitation.

He said the PTA association could move court on the issue of stopping government grant to the PTA’s in various schools.

Bilaspur, October 18
Six members of the nagar parishad, belonging to the BJP and Congress here, have virtually revolted against their leaders and respective parties and submitted a joint notice of no-confidence against nagar parishad chairman, who is a Congress leader, and also nagar parishad vice-chairperson, who is a BJP leader.

Reports here said that signatories to this no-confidence motion are Manjeet Kaur, Aashish Dhillon, Nand Kishore, all BJP activists, K.L. Surehali and Tara Azad, both Congress party leaders, and Anil Kishore of the BSP.

They have given a representation to the deputy commissioner Devesh Kumar, saying both chairman and vice-chairperson have been obstructing the development of their wards and have lost their confidence.

A meeting of the nagar parishad would be summoned soon to consider the situation.

Kamlender Kashyap, nagar parishad, chairman, was president of the District Youth Congress till recently and he resigned to make way for another incumbent.

Nagar parishad vice-chairperson Rajni Sharma is a BJP leader and a former BJP Mahila Morcha district president.

The parishad has 11 members and six members are sufficient to remove both these persons from their posts with a simple majority, thus forcing occupation of these posts by other leaders of their choice.

Application forms for this interview can be obtained from any office of the home guards in the district.

Nahan, October 18
With the recovery of a 17-year-old minor girl of Nariwala village, under the Paonta sub-division, from Gurgaon, tension in the Paonta area has eased.

The police has arrested the alleged abductor Gulzar from Missarwala village, hailing from the Paonta area.

The matter of abduction of the girl of the Bahati community, which dominates the population in the Paonta Doon assembly segment, had emerged as a sensitive issue for the past one week after people came to know that persons belonging to the Muslim community had allegedly abducted the girl.

Tension further increased when residents of area also picked a Muslim boy, demanding release of their daughter.

Sources in Nariwala village said that DSP Paonta V. S. Thakur had to camp
in the village.

He held several round of talks with the villagers and defused the tension by
releasing the boy.

He assured the villagers that every effort would be made to recover the minor girl.

Sources said the police dispatched at least eight parties to raid the possible hideouts of the abductor in Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Baddi and Haryana.

Ultimately in the wee hours today, the Paonta police zeroed in on the abductor in Gurgaon and recovered the girl safely by arresting Gulzar from the spot.

DSP V. S. Thakur, who was away to Solan, confirmed that there was tension between two communities, which was handled successfully.

He said Gulzar was a person with a criminal background and was married, having
two kids.

In this connection, a case under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC had already been registered against him and after medical examination of the girl, Section 376 would be added if report confirms rape.

He thanked the residents of Nariwala village for trusting the police and maintaining communal harmony.

Shimla, October 18
Having remained admitted to the cardiac care unit (CCU) at the Indira Gandhi Medical College last night, IAS officer Subhash Ahluwalia was today again discharged from the hospital by the medical board even as he remained in the casualty.

Ahluwalia, who has been remanded in the police custody till October 20, has been in the IGMC since his arrest on October 8.

Complaining of chest pain, high blood pressure and sugar level he did not leave the hospital yesterday even though the medical board discharged him.

Surprisingly, the medical board today again discharged him despite the fact that he spent the night in the CCU.

His family members insisted that he was still not in a condition to be discharged
from the hospital.

It is reliably learnt that an application has been moved by Meera Walia, wife of
the bureaucrat, seeking permission for her husband’s treatment at a good hospital
outside Himachal Pradesh.

The matter is likely to be taken up on October 20 when the officer’s police
remand gets over.

Ahluwalia was booked by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in a dispropor-
tionate assets case and had been questioned by cops even while in the hospital.

The Vigilance has been seeking his discharge and more time for questioning the bureaucrat about the deposits in his bank accounts and the source.

Shimla, October 18
Despite geographical constraints and other handicaps due to difficult terrain the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) would be overshooting most of its target for schemes under pension and group schemes for the unorganised sector.

Addressing a press conference here today, the Senior Divisional Manager of the LIC, L.C. Meena said that every year the LIC celebrated this month as social security month to create awareness among the public about the social security schemes floated by the Himachal Government as well as the Centre.

“The organisation is there not just to make profit but also to shoulder its social responsibilities,” he stated.

He said that currently the Mahatma Gandhi Bima Bunkar Yojana, the Kendriya Bhed Palak Bima Yojana, the Jan Shree Bima Yojana (pertaining to 45 different occupations), the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana, the Handicraft Artisan Bima Yojana, Anganwari Workers and the Helpers Bima Yojana and the Khadi and Village Industries Bima Yojana were in operation in the hill state.

Asserting that all schemes are partially financed by the central government, the Himachal Pradesh Government and the LIC of India, Meena said that 21,000 lives had been covered under the Jan Shree Bima Yojana, 3000.

Mandi, October 18
After its successful launch in Kullu district, the PNB will launch the rural “mini bank” scheme- Financial Inclusion through Technology (FIT)- for poor villagers living in remote pockets in Mandi district tomorrow.

The bank will extend this “mini bank” facility in other four districts soon.

Talking to The Tribune here today, circle in charge, PNB J.R. Sharma said remote villagers in the district who have no access to banking facility would not get the banking facility at their doorstep from tomorrow.

“They will open their bank accounts with zero balance under this scheme”.

Sharma said over 5,500 accounts have already been opened under this scheme in Mandi district. PNB chairman Chakrovorty would launch the scheme formally here tomorrow, he added.

Talking about the success of the scheme, Sharma said the PNB had successfully launched the scheme in Kullu district, where remote poor villagers in the district are reaping the benefits of banking at their doorsteps.

Over 40,000 bank accounts under the scheme have been opened till date, he said.

He said the PNB’s business correspondent executing the FIT scheme is Sino company based in Mumbai.

“The company is setting up “Paus machine”, a mini bank, at a central place of a cluster of remote villages where villagers can avail the banking facility at their doorstep”, he added.

The company takes a photograph and fingerprints of the zero-balance account holder and issues him/her the “barometric smart card” that he/she can use just like an ATM card.

The account holder is then issued the passbook and he can deposit and withdraw money at the “mini bank”, manned by the company.

Sharma said that apart from Mandi and Kullu, the PNB would extend this banking facility for remote villagers in Kangra, Hamirpur, Kinnaur and Una districts for which the PNB is the lead bank in the state.