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BJP govt has burdened common man: Cong
Activists of the Congress and the CPI scuffle with the police in Shimla on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Amit Sharma
Grant-in-aid to PTAs will continue: Dhumal
9 killed as bus falls into gorge
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Governor, CM
express grief
Mandi Sangharsh Samiti holds protest
Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh offers juice to a member of the Mandi Medical College Sangharsh Samiti to end his fast in Shimla on Tuesday.
A Tribune photograph
Winter games conclude at Solang
Some of the participants of the Himachal Winter Games Championship; and (right) one of the winners. Photo by writer
Road tax relief to benefit transporters only
Board warns pvt schools
Centre okays four-laning of
Solan-Shimla NH
Govt not to tolerate injustice: CM
SJVN pays Rs 82.5 cr to Centre
Road plan approved
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BJP govt has burdened common man: Cong
Shimla, February 17 Senior Congress leaders, including HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur, former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and CLP leader Vidya Stokes, addressed party workers at the “Jan Aakrosh” rally organised at Ambedkar Chowk in Chaura Maidan here today. Thakur said all decisions taken by the party in its one-year rule had burdened the common man. “Immediately after assuming power, the BJP hiked the bus fares by 25 per cent, water cess by 25 per cent and power tariff by 20 per cent, making the life of the common man miserable,” he said. The Congress chief said the BJP, which was claiming to have completed 80 per cent of the promises made in its election manifesto, had not honoured its commitment of setting up circuit benches of the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) at Dharamsala and Mandi. On the contrary, the tribunal set up by the Congress to redress grievances of the employees had been wound up. “About 3,000 PTA teachers have already been removed while remaining will be shown the door after the Lok Sabha elections,” he said. Virbhadra Singh said people were fed up with the anti-people and anti-Himachal decisions taken by the government. “The public is fed up with the manner in which they are functioning. Although it is a democratically elected government, the day is not far when public will throw them out of power,” he said. He exhorted party workers to fight against the oppressive rule of the BJP, which had always tried to get political mileage by dividing people of the state along caste and regional lines. Speaking on the occasion, CLP leader Vidya Stokes said the Dhumal regime was misleading the people by taking false credit for the schemes and projects of the Congress-led UPA regime. “It has become a government of merely announcements and inaugurations,” she said. |
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Grant-in-aid to PTAs will continue: Dhumal
Shimla, February 17 Replying to an issue raised by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh during question hour in the Assembly today, he said as per the policy for PTA teachers framed by the Congress regime, there was no provision for their being absorbed in regular service. “Till the problem of shortage of teachers in schools continues, the grant-in-aid will be provided by the government to meet the salary of PTA appointees. Rather than continuing as PTA appointees, it is in their interest to get regular appointment as thousands of posts of teachers are being filled,” he
said. Virbhadra Singh sought clarification from the government whether any policy had been formulated for PTA appointees. “Will the government clarify, if these PTA appointees will be regularised or they will be thrown out despite having requisite qualification,” he said. The issue was raised in the House as Subhash Manglet of the Congress demanded that the vacancies of teachers in his Chopal area should be filled. In reply to a query by Mahender Singh of the
BJP, PWD Minister Gulab Singh said inquiry into the bitumen scam was still on. “Immediately after assuming power, the government ordered a vigilance probe into the matter as it formed part of the BJP
chargesheet. Investigations held so far have revealed that 10 PWD divisions had received less bitumen supply than what was ordered. Once the inquiry is complete, strict action will be taken against the guilty,” he said. In reply to a query by GS Bali of the Congress regarding use of substandard bitumen and other building material by the contractors, the minister said all material was taken from reputed firms like ACC, Ambuja and the Steel Authority of India. “Even then, care will be taken to ensure that the contractors do not use substandard building material,” he assured the House. Revenue Minister Gulab Singh Thakur informed the House that all deputy commissioners
(DCs) were directed on February 11 to assess the damage caused due to prolonged dry spell. “Once the information is received, a detailed report will be sent to the Centre for seeking assistance and initiating relief work,” he said. Roop Singh Thakur of the BJP had raised the issue.
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9 killed as bus falls into gorge
Una, February 17 DC Padam Singh Chauhan and SSP N Venu Gopal reached the spot immediately to oversee the rescue operations. The SSP said the driver of the ill-fated bus lost control on the vehicle while negotiating a sharp curve and it rolled down into the gorge. Four persons were killed on the spot, while two died on way to the hospital. They were identified as Daulat Ram, Sunny, Sikender, Karta Ram of Singha village and Dhanu Ram and Gian Chan of Vineybal (Punjab). According to information, three seriously injured persons were taken away by their relatives to Malpur village in Punjab for treatment. However, they also succumbed to their injuries. They were identified as Avtar and Ram Chand (both residents of Singha village) and Satish, a resident of Fatehpur Sahib (Punjab). The injured were taken to the Haroli Primary Health Centre, the Zonal Hospital, Una, and the District Hospital, Hoshiarpur, for treatment. The DC said a grant of Rs 1 lakh each had been given to the next of kin of the deceased while the injured were given Rs 10,000 each. He said the government had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident. |
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Governor, CM
express grief
Shimla, February 17 Dhumal in his message prayed for peace of the departed souls and wished speedy recovery to those injured. He directed the administration to ensure prompt relief to the
affected families.
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Mandi Sangharsh Samiti holds protest
Shimla, February 17 Led by president of the samiti Sunder Lohia, the activists said they would now gherao the ministers and ruling party legislators who visited Mandi. “The government must withdraw the notification inviting setting up of green-field projects, whereby government hospitals at Mandi, Una and Hamirpur are to be attached with private hospitals,” he said. Lohia said the government must open a medical college at Mandi as all pre-requisites were already in place. “A 500-bedded zonal hospital is already there and 147 bigha land is also available for the setting up the medical college. Why is the government shying away from its responsibility?” he said. Opposing the move of the government to privatise health services, he said this would be against the interest of the common man. “Dhumal had promised while addressing a public meeting at Seri Manch in Mandi that in case the BJP was voted to power, budgetary provision would be made for the medical college, announced earlier by the Congress,” he said. The samiti reiterated its resolve to continue its agitation against the privatisation of health services. “Services like various tests and X-rays in hospitals are being privatised and appointment of doctors and nurses is being done through the Rogi Kalyan Samitis,” he said. CPM leaders Rakesh Singha and Sanjay Chauhan joined the protesters. Others who were present on the occasion included core group member Paras Ram, Kundan Thakur, Des Raj Sharma, Kushal Bhardwaj and Bhupender Singh.
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Winter games conclude at Solang
Manali, February 17 The concluding function was presided over by Kullu Deputy Commissioner M Sudha Devi at Manu Rangshala. She gave away prizes to the winners this evening. Manali SDM Rajeshwar Goel, president of the Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association RC Negi and officials from the mountaineering institute were present on the occasion. The results: giant slalom: (boys, 15 to 19 yr): Utashan Chand (Manali Ski Association) 1, Tashi (YMWSC Palchan) 2, and Jeet Ram (Nag WSC, Solang) 3; (girls, 15 to 19 yr): Pooja (YMWSC, Palcha) 1, Sonia Thakur (Manali Ski Association) 2, and Poonam (Manali Ski Association) 3; (boys, 13 to 14 yr): Chandan Sethi (YMWSC, Palchan) 1, Narayan Thakur (Nag WSC, Solang) 2, and Mayank (Himalayan Ski Club, Vashisht) 3; (girls, 13 to 14 yr): Varsha (Manali Ski Association) 1, Bhuvneshvari (Dev WSC, Ruwar) 2, and Tenzin Dolma (AB Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports) 3; (boys, 11 to 12 yr): Dheeraj Thakur (AB Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports) 1, Dinesh Thakur (Himalayan Ski Club Vashisht) 2, and Anil Thakur (Nag WSC, Solang) 3; (girls, 11 to 12 yr): Pratibha (YMWSC, Palchan) 1, Suman (Manali Ski Association) 2, and Saijal Thakur (WSC, Manali) 3; (boys, 10 yr and below): Vinay Vyas (Manali Ski Association) 1, Abhishek (Nag WSC, Solang) 2, and Saurav (YMWSC, Palchan) 3; (girls, 10 yr and below): Ishani (WSC, Manali) 1. Nordic cross country 10-km free style (men): Chandermani (Nag Winter Sports Club, Solang) 1, Bhola Ram (YMWSC, Palchan) 2, and Dinesh (YMWSC, Palchan) 3; 10-km free style (women): Deepa Thakur (YMWSC, Palchan) 1, Nisha (Manali Ski Association) 2, and Kirna (Manali Ski Association) 3. Giant slalom (men open): Deepak Thakur (Palchan) 1, Narender Thakur (Dev WSC, Ruwar) 2, and Kapil Thakur (YMWSC, Ruwar) 3. (open women): Jai Dai (Nag WCS, Solang) 1, Deepa Thakur (Palchan) 2. Snow board (men): Sonam Dev (Manali Ski Association) 1, Mehar Chand (Manali Winter Sports Club) 2, and Hem Raj (Nag WSC, Solang) 3. President of the Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association RC Negi said about 180 skiers from all over the state participated in the championship. The all-round best trophy was won by the YMWSC, Palchan.
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Road tax relief to benefit transporters only
Solan, February 17 The special relaxation in SRT for the rural routes would benefit the transporters, both the HRTC as well as private operators, as they would have to pay no tax for plying buses on routes other than the state and national highways. These routes contributed nearly 50 per cent of the total routes in the state. The transporters had up till now been pleading lack of viability for plying buses on the lesser-viable rural routes hence few came forward to take the initiative leaving the HRTC to ply on the non-profitable routes. The measure, however, appeared to have been taken solely to benefit the transporters. It was interesting to note that while calculating the SRT on the rural routes approximately 6 paise per km per seat formula was worked out. This formula further helped calculate the fare of a route. Now while the SRT has been relaxed the fare remained the same giving transporters an unfair gain. Enquires revealed that the state exchequer received revenue worth Rs 50 crore annually by way of SRT alone. This relaxation while leading to revenue loss of anything between Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore annually would benefit a small section of the transporters. It had also helped to bail out the HRTC, which had been reeling under a financial mess. Officials in the Transport Department opined that if the government was actually serious in enhancing more rural routes it should have brought about a corresponding reduction in the fare charged on these routes as well. The HRTC alone contributed SRT worth about Rs 12 crore annually. This measure would help provide the state-owned corporation some succour. |
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Board warns pvt schools
Chamba, February 17 Speaking to mediapersons here yesterday, Gupta disclosed that the board was planning to enhance honorarium of the staff to be deployed in the examination and evaluation centres of the board’s examinations to be held in March. As many as 40 evaluation centres for the March examination had been set up in different parts of the state which would work under surveillance of the chairman, secretary and other top officials of the board, Gupta revealed. He said in order to check mass cribbing in examination centres, accountability would be fixed on the staff deployed in the respective centres. Cancellation of examination of any subject as a result of mass copying, entry would be made in the “annual confidential report” of the staff on duty in the concerned examination centre. “The board is contemplating to introduce Sanskrit and yoga as subjects initially from the classes VI, VII and VIII from this academic session,” Gupta said; adding that these subjects would also be introduced up to class XII. He said with the introduction of these subjects the students would get comprehensive knowledge about the culture of the state. Books relating to these subjects would be provided under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, he added. |
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Centre okays four-laning of
Solan-Shimla NH
Shimla, February 17 He said it was during the NDA regime that the scheme to link all state capitals with a four-lane highway was initiated. “While approval for
four-laning of the national highway from Kalka to Solan had been granted, but the road beyond Shimla had been left out,” he said. He said his government had raised the matter with the Centre at a meeting in Delhi on May 27, last year, and now the approval had been received. “A sum of Rs 535.7 crore will be spent on four laning the 40.7 km stretch between Solan and Shimla, making the journey better and faster,” he said. He also informed the House that the Centre had agreed to provide Rs 178.56 crore for covering the left out houses in the seven districts of
Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur, Mandi, Shimla and Kangra under the Rajiv Gandhi Gram Vidyutikaran
Yojna. He said the money would help cover the left out houses and 30 per cent of the total amount would be received shortly. |
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Govt not to tolerate injustice: CM
Shimla, February 17 In reply to debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address in the Assembly today, he said Himachal’s interest were ignored by the Centre during the previous Congress regime. “Owing to its political compulsions, the previous Congress regime could never fight for state’s rights,” he said. However, his government would fight for the rights of the state at every level, he proclaimed. Participating in the debate, HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur said the BJP regime had let down the people of Mandi by
withdrawing the notification issued by the Congress for the setting up of a medical college in the
government sector.
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SJVN pays Rs 82.5 cr to Centre
Shimla, February 17 On account of the equity participation of 75 per cent in the corporation, a dividend cheque for Rs 82.5 crore was presented to Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde by Chief Managing Director HK Sharma. He said it was due to the efficient silt and machine management measures adopted by the company that the generation during the period was 250 million more than the MoU targets given by the ministry. |
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Road plan approved
Dalhousie, February 17 In an official communiqué issued here today, local MLA Renu Chadha said the construction work of this road would be undertaken soon adding that with the construction of this road, the remote villages would be linked with the outer world. She said people from these interior villages of Suri panchayat, which includes Suri, Maira, Jisla, Kilod, Jakhral, Gumra and Luhani, remained deprived of the road facility since Independence, but would now benefit with the construction of this road.
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battle for supremacy in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress today lashed out at the BJP regime in the state for “anti-people” decisions taken by it during its one-year rule.
Nine passengers were killed and 18 injured when a private bus (PB-01-3858) carrying a marriage party from Singha village in the Santokhgarh constituency to Basuhi village in Punjab fell into a gorge around 35 km from Una today.
The Mandi Medical College Sangharsh Samiti staged a demonstration outside the Assembly here today. Members of the samiti were demanding opening of a government medical college at
Mandi. They were also protesting against the privatisation of health services by the Dhumal regime.
The three-day Himachal Winter Games Championship organised by the Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association concluded at Solang ski slopes, 13 km from here, today.
