Shimla, February 2
With the high court taking a serious notice of the failure of the Forest Department to remove encroachments on forestland, the government proposes to confer more powers on forest officers.

The divisional forests officers were vested with the powers of collector for the purpose of removing encroachments in 1994, but the step had not yielded the desired results as evident from the high pendency of cases. In all about 53,500 cases of encroachment involving over 10,000 hectare of forest land were pending, some of which were more than 20 years old.

These included 41,083 cases involving 7,407 hectare of land in which the encroachers had themselves admitted that they were in illegal possession of forest land after the then BJP government brought out a policy for regularisation of encroachments in 2002. Another 3,384 cases involving over 495 hectare were pending with the revenue courts.

The Forest Department had on its own detected about 8,800 cases in which 1,570 hectare of forest land had been encroached. Forest officers have exercising the powers of collector, passed eviction orders in 4,400 cases, but the encroachments could actually be removed in only 2,131 cases and the land vacated was 867 hectare.

The illegal occupants filed appeals in the court of divisional commissioner which have been pending for long. The government now proposes to make the conservator of forests the appellate authority in place of the divisional commissioner. The proposal was under examination of the Law Department. The conservator of forests would not only be able to effectively monitor and pursue the cases, but could also be held accountable for any delay.

Since the encroachments on forest land could not be regularised under the Forest Conservation Act, it was time the government put in place an effective mechanism in place for their detection and immediate removal.

The field staff should be asked to file a monthly report on the status of encroachments in their respective jurisdiction. Failure to report encroachments should attract stringent punishment against the concerned field officials. Provision for automatic registration of FIR should be made if encroachment is not removed within a stipulated period.

Solan, February 2
The police is contemplating to seek permission from the court to perform narco analysis on suspended ADGP BS Thind, who was booked in a case of extortion and cheating at Parwanoo.

This would be the second such attempt of the state police where permission was being sought for narco analysis against senior officials booked in corruption cases. The court had earlier refused permission for conducting such a test on senior IAS officer Subash Ahluwalia against whom cases of disproportionate assets were under investigation.

The police had recently achieved a major success in getting Thind’s voice samples matched with an audio CD and senior officials said the narco analysis would help find corroborative evidence in the case.

This case was registered after Parwanoo-based businessman Ashok Mittal had made a written complaint with the local police alleging demand of several lakhs by the ADGP in lieu of getting his shop vacated at Parwanoo. The case had swung into limelight as it involved a senior official of the Police Department.

Mittal had furnished an audio CD allegedly having taped evidence of Thind demanding lakhs from him in lieu of getting his shop vacated.

Shimla, February 2
The joint forum of engineers and employees of the state electricity board has served a 42-day notice on the government to clear its stand on the issue of unbundling of the state power utility failing which it will resort to direct action.

It also urged the government to withdraw or suitably modify the notifications pertaining to creation and distribution of work to the State Power Transmission Corporation and make it a special purpose vehicle under the administrative control of the board. It decided to hold district-level rally in front of board’s headquarters on February 12. It will be followed by rallies and demonstrations in other districts.

The front expressed resentment over the fact that employees of the board were still being placed at the disposal of the power transmission corporation without obtaining consent.

The notification vide which works were entrusted to the corporation had also not been withdrawn despite an assurance by the Chief Minister that it would only take care of evacuation of power from various upcoming power projects.

It alleged the objective of promoting the corporation was to divest the board of the status of state transmission utility. It demanded that the board should be allowed to function as the state transmission utility as well as distribution licencee for generation, transmission and distribution. For the smooth functioning of the three units, it was essential that the board remained a unified entity.

Nalti (Hamirpur), February 2
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was on a one-day tour of Hamirpur district today.

Addressing a gathering during annual prize distribution function of Government Senior Secondary School, Nalti, he said, “Five crore persons will become jobless by the end of this year due to the wrong economic policies being followed by the UPA government.”

He said, “While there are many reasons for the present economic crisis in the USA, the main reason behind a similar crisis in India is the adoption of wrong economic policies by the UPA government.”

He said, “The Centre has always given financial benefits to the rich, although there is a need to give more funds to the poor living in villages of states like Himachal Pradesh.”

Talking about various steps taken by the state government to benefit people in the state, he said, “Our priority is to link every village with roads, provide quality education to every child, health care facilities to every needy and create enough job opportunities to make people self-reliant.”

He announced to appoint BMO at Galot, give Rs 5 lakh to complete roof of the examination centre at Nalti School and adequate funds for the completion of school playground and construction of a forest rest house at Ser Baloni.

Education Minister ID Dhiman, MP Anurag Thakur and some MLAs also spoke on the occasion.

Dhumal also laid the foundation stones of the Gehri-Dat bridge, a book depot of the HP education board near Hamirpur besides attending a seminar organised by HP Agriculture University and Doordarshan Kendra, Shimla, at Gasota.

Shimla, February 2
Taking note of the initiatives taken by the state in the field of climate change and carbon neutrality, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has invited Chief Minister PK Dhumal to speak at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit being organised from February 5.

The invitation has been extended to Dhumal by director general of TERI Prof RK Pachauri. The summit is being organised at Delhi from February 5 to 7.

The summit will be attended by a galaxy of leaders from all over the world along with professionals from the government, business and industry, research and academicians. The focus will be on the challenges being faced in attaining sustainable development worldwide.

An official spokesperson said in view of the importance of reaching a strong and effective global agreement on climate change at the “Conference of Parties” at Copenhagen in 2009, the theme of the summit is “Towards Copenhagen: An Equitable and Ethical Approach”.

He said the state government was considering signing an MoU with TERI to cover areas like research and development, capacity building, impact assessment studies and training.

Dharamsala, February 2
The government would construct five new bus stands at Mandi, Nalagarh, Baddi, Hamirpur and Bilaspur on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the State Bus Stand Administration and Development Corporation held here today.

The meeting was presided over by Kishan Kapoor, minister for transport and urban development.

Though the government has decided to construct another five bus stands on BOT basis, it was not clarified what measures have been taken to prevent incidents like Mcleodganj bus stand project. This project was also allotted to a private contractor by the previous government under BOT scheme.

However, the contractor violated the norms and approved plans for the project right under the nose of the officials of the Bus Stand Corporation and town planning officials. The violation in building norms and encroachment on forest land invited severe indictment from the Supreme Court that stayed the project. The special empowered committee of Supreme Court has even recommended the demolition of hotel structure constructed under BOT project and even imposition of Rs 1 crore fine on the state government.

The committee headed by the Chief Secretary that was recently constituted by the state government had also observed that lot of changes in the existing bus stand building are required to make it viable for the bus stand that was real purpose of the project.

The minister said that the work of Tutikandi bus stand in Shimla was progressing at full swing and would be completed very soon. Besides, the plan has also been envisaged to construct and renovate bus stand at district, sub-divisions and block levels on commercial basis.

The minister said in the last financial year the bus stand corporation had earned a profit of Rs 85 lakh. In the current financial year’s last quarter the corporation had earned a revenue of Rs 5.17 crore. Out of this Rs 4 crore have been spent on improving the basic facilities at the four major stands of the state.

He also said that the construction work of the bus stands at Jawali, Rampur, Arki and Santoshgarh towns would also be completed very soon.

Besides, the work for construction of bus stands at Swarghat, Chamunda, Jaisinghpur, Aani, Sundernagar, Chirgavan, Thoeg, Parwanoo, Nadaun, Nerva, Jubbal, Baijnath, Baniket, Dalhouise and Sandhol will also be started very soon.

Dharamsala, February 2
The government has issued an instalment of 7 per cent dearness allowance (DA) for the employees of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation from July, 2008.

An announcement to this affect was made by Minister of Transport and Urban Development Kishan Kapoor here today.

The minister said about 8,500 employees and 220 pensioners of the corporation would be benefited by the decision. The arrears for the period from July to November, 2008, would be deposited in employees’ provident fund accounts, he added. They would be paid DA in cash with effect from December, 2008. The pensioners would get DA arrears in cash.

Shimla, February 2
Accusing the BJP of indulging in politics of character assassination, the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief Kaul Singh Thakur said ordering of vigilance inquiries was just an election gimmick of the ruling party.

Talking to mediapersons here on Saturday after presiding over the meeting of the State Election Committee, he said the BJP was indulging in character assassination by making false allegations against the Congress leaders. “In case the BJP is so serious about holding probe into various allegations it should handover the inquiry to the CBI,” he said.

He said the people in the state were completely disenchanted by the BJP rule within one year. “The achievements of the UPA regime during the last four years and the anti-people policies of the Dhumal regime will be highlighted during the Lok Sabha polls,” he stated.

The Congress chief said the people were already fed up with the harsh decisions taken by the BJP regime, which includes removal of PTA teachers, enhancement of bus fares and other such decisions, which had affected the common man very badly.

Kaul Singh said the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress would take a final decision on the candidates to be fielded for the Lok Sabha elections only at its meeting scheduled for February 8 so that a clear picture could emerge.

He said the Congress would perform very well in the LS polls.

Dharampur (Mandi), February 2
The district Congress charged that the BJP workers forced health officials on pulse polio duty here yesterday and misused government machinery during Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s visit that concluded here today. They said the visit had widened the rift between Dharampur BJP MLA Mohinder Singh and Dhumal, as Dhumal rejected most of the demands put beforehim by the MLA here yesterday.

Spokesperson for the Mandi parliamentary constituency and Dharampur Congress leader Chander Shekhar here charged that the BJP misused government machineries and forced certain pro-BJP heath workers to attend the rally deserting the pulse polio booths at several places.

“The CM rejected all demands made by the MLA in the public meeting here yesterday. This has shown that the BJP MLA has failed to protect the interests of the people of Dharampur,” he claimed.

He said Mohinder Singh had demanded an IPH division, upgrade of community heath centre to a first referral unit (FRU), a police station, an animal husbandry hospital, tehsil for Dharampur from the CM, but his demands were rejected. Instead CM announced to open an ITI and tehsil at Sandhol, he added.

Shimla, February 2
To ensure that the ruling BJP is able to take its tally of the Lok Sabha members up from the present strength of one, the top leadership of the party has begun the exercise to take back old colleagues who had deserted the party at the time of assembly elections, a year ago.

Talks have already been held with the central leadership about taking back rebels and a final decision in that regard is likely to be taken shortly. Leaders, who contested against party nominees and were expelled for anti-party activities, are also likely to be re-inducted into the party.

Not only efforts are being made to pave the way for re-entry of those who were expelled from the party, damage control is also being undertaken to quell infighting.

State party chief Jai Ram Thakur last week met party leaders from Kullu district, who had virtually revolted against the nomination of Maheshwar Singh, who is now the official BJP nominee from the Mandi seat.

With the threat of open dissidence by state BJP secretary HN Kashyap, who was denied the ticket from Shimla seat, remaining open, the party is keen to placate him as well. “Talks have been held by some leaders with Kashyap and I am confident that he will finally relent as he is a senior party functionary who will work in the interest of the BJP,” said Thakur.

The possibility of Roop Dass Kashyap from Kasumpti and Vikram Jaryal from Chamba being taken back is also high.

Kashyap on the other hand said either the party should change the candidate or else he would contest the election. “Even if HN Kashyap decides not to contest the election and extends support to Virender Kashyap, the damage has been already done as he will only perform a formality and not work whole heartedly for the official candidate,” a senior party leader said.

The fact that Shimla has been a traditional stronghold of the Congress is a cause for worry for the BJP. “Although we have the advantage of being the ruling party that has four years to go, the Kashyap row will cost us heavily and probably make all the difference,” admit BJP leaders.

Since the performance of the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections will be a reflection on the performance of the Dhumal regime, the Chief Minister also wants that the party is able to put its best foot forward and wrest at least two more seats from the Congress, besides the Hamirpur seat.

Solan, February 2
The state government is preparing the nitty-gritty of constituting a Construction Workers Welfare Board, which would help watch the interest of this vulnerable section.

The move follows the enactment of Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Working Conditions) Act, 1996, which has made it mandatory for the state governments to constitute such boards to overlook the welfare of this unorganised section.

This would make it mandatory for all such buildings to deposit 1 per cent of their construction cost which were not covered under the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948, and Mines Act, 1952. However, residential buildings where cost is less than Rs 10 lakh would be exempted. But in case the number of labourers employed in any single day of a year exceeds 10 they would be liable to pay the cess.

Labour Commissioner BR Verma said the process was underway to work out the constitution of this board and subsequent committees.

“Since the work is of casual nature and there is lack of basic amenities, long working hours, lack of health care and little welfare measures, the cess so generated would be deposited in the board and would help the state government initiate some welfare schemes for this sector,” Verma informed.

There had been a spurt in the construction activity, especially in the industrial areas of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh. Thousands of labourers employed at these sites are at the mercy of the labour contractors and have little monetary security to fall back in case of accidents. There have been cases when the labourers have suffered permanent disabilities due to accidents at construction sites.

The constitution of such welfare boards would help provide some provision for immediate assistance in case of accidents, old age pension, loans for construction of house, financial assistance for education, to meet medical expenses, maternity benefits etc.

Bilaspur, February 2
Twentyfour Congress leaders of the district have taken exception to the ordering of a vigilance inquiry by the government against state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur. They said Thakur had done nothing to justify any such probe.

In a signed statement issued here today Congress leaders namely Rattan Lal Maratha, Ram Prakash Dhiman, Ranjeet Kashyap, Kuldip Chandel, Rajneesh Sharma, Dinesh Thakur, Vijay Thakur, Rattan Singh Varma, Pravin Chandel, Hem Raj Thakur, Basant Ram Sandhu and Ramesh Thakur etc, all present or ex-party office-bearers and even members of the zila parishad and panchayati raj institutions, said if the government had courage then it should handover both the chargesheets which the Congress and the BJP have presented to the CBI Governor for a high-level inquiry and then the BJP leaders and people of the state would know the real situation where these BJP leaders, who were trying to harass the opposition leaders, themselves stand in the matter of corruption.

They said this inquiry is the result of the BJP being shaky and faltering in coming parliamentary election and it is one of the propaganda campaign which it wants to start through its controlled police officers against the Congress leaders, but Congress men would never allow this scheme of the BJP to succeed.

They warned that they would be forced to launch a statewide agitation if such objectionable and undemocratic machinations against the Congress leaders were not immediately dropped.

Dharamsala, February 2
Vivek Rana, a resident of Una district, was employed as a mathematics teacher abroad around a year ago.

After the present BJP government took over, he came to know about a statement of CM Prem Kumar Dhumal that 514 TGT teachers selected during the party’s earlier stint in power would be given job in the state. The lure of job in the home state motivated Vivek to come back to India. A year has passed since then and he is still waiting for an appointment letter from the government.

There are many persons like Vivek who are waiting for their appointment letters, as promised by the Chief Minister.

The BJP government during its previous stint from 1998-2003 had selected 514 trained graduate teachers (TGTs) through the Staff Selection Commission. In a statement made in the Vidhan Sabha during the winter session, the Chief Minister had alleged that despite the fact that the said candidates were selected following due procedure, the Congress government did not allow them to join duty. He said the present government had recruited all the said 514 TGTs (selected in 2002).

However, many candidates said jobs had been provided to only 267 TGTs (medical category), while 247 TGTs belonging to the non-medical category were still uncertain about their future. They said the government had not issued them appointment letters so far despite a statement by the CM in the Vidhan Sabha.

They have demanded that the government should also issue them appointment letters as per the statement given by the CM.

Meanwhile, Director (Elementary Education) Sanjay Chaudhary declined to comment 
on the issue.

Kangra, February 2
In order to provide structural facilities in the educational institutions in the state, besides doing progressive development in the educational system, the government would spend Rs 2,094 crore during the current financial year.

This was stated by Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Ramesh Dhawala in his presidential address on the annual day function of Government Senior Secondary School (Boys), Jawalamukhi, today. He said the sate had 7.1 per cent literacy rate in 1948, which had risen to more than 80 per cent now and the state was counted one among the best literate states in the country.

He said under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Rs 144 crore were to be spent on elementary education in the state this year. The minister announced two additional rooms, a toilet, besides Rs 1.5 lakh for construction of the boundary wall of the school.

A cultural programme was also presented on the occasion and prizes were distributed among the students.

Nurpur, February 2
In order to redress problems of the shepherds in the state the State Wool Federation has launched a programme “Government on doorsteps of shepherds” here today. The function was presided by chairman of the federation Trilok Kapoor.

Presiding over the function, which was attended by a large number of nomadic shepherds from lower Kangra district comprising Nurpur and Jawali subdivisions, Kapoor said the programme had been launched in the state for the welfare and socio-economic uplift of the shepherds.

He informed that the state government had recently submitted an Integrated Sheep Wool Project of Rs 7.08 crore to the Central Wool Development Board for its clearance, which would usher wool producers in a new era.

He also pointed out that the State Wool Federation was setting up special helpline at Shimla for the benefit of shepherds. “In order to redress their problems the shepherds can lodge their complaints and problems through this helpline,” he added.

On this occasion Kapoor distributed free medicine kits among nomadic shepherds meant for their livestock.