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Anti-party activities
Congress, BJP pushed farmers into debt: CPM
Vote catchers, not crowd pullers, in demand
BJP sidetracking real issues: Dharmani
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Cong misleading people on price rise: BJP
Cong marginalised, claims ex-minister
Cong to appoint observers to monitor campaign
Cong a divided house at Jawalamukhi
Wads of currency warm up the hills
ESI medical college issue set to become poll plank
Anurag to file papers today
Govt termed anti-people
Cong party of ‘empty promises:’
CM
94 pc households covered under total credit inclusion scheme
No manufacturing date on ORS packets
Conservator of forests not to join purchase panel
Probe sought into road construction
Inquiry into gambling arrests ordered
One booked for fraud
1 killed in accident
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Anti-party activities
Hamirpur, April 19 Talking to mediapersons here last evening, he said, “Strict disciplinary action would be taken against party leaders found working against the party in the elections.” He said, “BJP leaders have become perturbed after the good show put by the Congress in Hamirpur on Saturday during the filing of nomination papers by Narinder Thakur. Chief Minister PK Dhumal and other leaders, who used to say they did not have to devote much time for campaigning in the constituency, have rescheduled their programmes.” Thakur said, “The BJP government in the state has failed to maintain law and order and the crime graph has moved up over the past few months.” He said, “Several important leaders of the Congress like AICC president Sonia Gandhi, AICC general secretaries Rahul Gandhi and Gulam Nabi Azad, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Central ministers and other leaders would visit the state to campaign for party candidates. A list of these leaders has already been submitted to the Election Commission of India.” The HPCC president said, “The cases of taking back rebel leaders into the party will be decided on merit.” Replying to a specific query, he said decision on the entry of Prem Kaushal and Manjeet Singh Dogra into the party would be decided in consultation with party leaders of the district. He accused the BJP government in the state of allegedly following anti-people policies and said the people would punish it by rejecting its candidates in the elections. |
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Congress, BJP pushed farmers into debt: CPM
Mandi, April 19 On the other hand, the CPM will fight to restore state’s share in pre-1990 projects, work for industrial development to employ youth and ensure that each farmer gets at least 25 bighas of land to sustain his family, CPM leaders said. Releasing the CPM manifesto-cum-appeal of the Left candidate Dr Onkar Shad, which has a concrete agenda on state issues, state-central and central issues, CPM general secretary Rakesh Singha said the BJP signed the MoU with the Centre in 1998-2003 and the Congress endorsed it, which cut down government jobs by 27 per cent today, resulting in unemployment for 20 lakh youths. Singha said the anti-farmers police pursued by the BJP and the Congress have pushed farmers (70 per cent of the population) into debt and agrarian crisis as the successive governments have cut down the state budget for them from 15.62 to 7.59 per cent in 2007, cutting down subsidies on fertilisers and seeds. Over 40 per cent villagers in Mandi are without link roads and the state has just 17 per cent irrigation facility as compared with national average of 34 per cent, he claimed. He said the farmers TD rights have been snatched and they face monkey and stray cattle menace and there is no natural calamities relief for them. The PTA teachers in remote areas run schools, dispensaries are shut down and health services are paralysed, they claimed. He said CPM would fight to restore special category status of Himachal as both the BJP and the Congress have failed to protect state’s interests as state share had been cut down from 9 to 3 per cent today. Singha, Dr Shad, Dr Kashmir Thakur and Tikender Singh claimed that the RTI, NREGA and one-third seats reserved for women were contributions of the Left at the Centre that have come as handy for the common man. However, the state government has not implemented NREGA effectively as the people are not getting their wages in time, they charged. |
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Vote catchers, not crowd pullers, in demand
Shimla, April 19 Although the presence of former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar at a rally at Palampur recently brought relief to party leaders, the wait for Virbhadra Singh to campaign outside Mandi still continues. Senior leaders in both parties admit that national leaders would come to campaign in Himachal after April 30, but the fact remains that they can pull crowds but not get votes for the candidates. Party men admit that political heavyweights like LK Advani and Sonia Gandhi can be crowd pullers, but smaller election rallies of state leaders are far more effective in converting crowds into votes. “We are not too keen to have film stars campaigning for our party as people come only to see their faces and not vote for the party,” they add. While BJP prime ministerial candidate LK Advani, national party chief Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi are likely to come here, but the candidates themselves are keen that maximum possible election meetings of Chief Minister PK Dhumal and Shanta Kumar are held. “Shantaji will be spending a minimum of two days each in Mandi, Hamirpur and Shimla, while he will devote more time in Kangra,” said Ashok Kapatia, convener of the state BJP media cell. While Advani, Modi, Swaraj and Rajnath will address election rallies, Arun Jaitley will hold special sessions with mediapersons, intellectuals and friends of the BJP to shape opinion in favour of the party. It is learnt that the state leaders are not to keen to have Varun campaign in the hill state. They are even averse to typical Modi-style campaigning, which, they believe, is not in tune with political culture of the state. |
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BJP sidetracking real issues: Dharmani
Bilaspur, April 19 This was stated by Congress district president Rajesh Dharmani and district spokesman Mast Ram Varma while addressing mediapersons here this afternoon. They said people of the district are fully aware of the stepmotherly treatment being meted out to Bilaspur district by the BJP government and the BJP cannot succeed in its attempt to woo them this time for any votes as earlier, as now these leaders stand totally
exposed. Dharmani and Varma said the BJP leaders, including Chief Minister PK Dhumal and its candidate Anurag
Thakur, did not told the people why the state government diverted funds meant for the modern synthetic track from Bilaspur to
Hamirpur. However, the construction of this track was stopped and why Rs 4 crore each provided by the ACC and Gujarat Ambuja for construction of public utility facilities at Bilaspur were diverted to Hamirpur and
Dharamsala. They challenged Anurag Thakur to come with a single achievement that he had done for this district and then demand votes from the people here. They said the district was purposefully ignored in the matter of opening medical, engineering and IT colleges, though all these facilities were sanctioned repeatedly for some other favoured districts. |
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Cong misleading people on price rise: BJP
Shimla, April 19 Spokesperson of the party Ashok Kapatia said the Congress and the UPA regime were silent on the soaring prices of foodgrain, vegetables and other essential commodities and only harping on the declining inflation. However, the truth about spiralling prices was that the rate of inflation in respect of food products had touched 11.63 per cent and the average rate for the past five years was 11.68 per cent, the highest over the past 10 years. The five-year rule of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre had been a story of “betrayal” of the “aam aadmi” in the name of which it had won the last election. The party undermined the public distribution system (PDS) through which essential commodities were supplied to the poor. The per capita availability of foodgrain through the PDS came down to only 37.267 million tonne in 2007-08 as against 74.328 million tonne in 2002-03. The much publicised schemes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Yojna were full of loopholes, but the UPA regime extended it to 330 districts in the second phase, overlooking the shortcomings that had come to fore in the first phase. This was done to merely to please party supremo Sonia Gandhi, he added. Only 13.5 per cent people got 100-day employment. The implementation of the scheme was better in the BJP-ruled states, which reflected the quality of governance. The Dhumal government made 1,915 appointments of secretaries and technical assistant in panchayats to ensure proper implementation of the scheme in the state. |
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Cong marginalised, claims ex-minister
Kangra April 19 Vidiaya Sagar and sitting MLA from here Sanjay Choudary were addressing a joint press conference here today. Both OBC leaders were critical of the Congress leadership for its alleged attempt to divide the state on caste basis. They lambasted the Congress for allegedly exploiting sentiments of OBCs at every elections without any major contribution towards their uplift. They highlighted BJP’s contribution for OBCs during party’s previous and present tenure. Vidiaya Sagar, BJP party in charge for the Kangra Lok Saba seat, said voters were disgusted over the unfair distribution of the MP fund by Chander Kumar during his current term as an MP. He alleged Chander Kumar had distributed 75 per cent of the funds in a particular assembly constituency keeping in mind his vested interests. He said former Union Minister Shanta Kumar, who is campaigning for the party in four states of the country, would start a regular campaign in this constituency from May 2 and expose misdeeds of the Congress. |
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Cong to appoint observers to monitor campaign
Shimla, April 19 The PCC is deputing observers at assembly segment level to keep the party informed about the campaign right down to the polling
booth level so that corrective action could be taken in time. The party candidates from Shimla and Hamirpur have already filed their nominations and the campaign will gather momentum after April 23 when former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and former minister and sitting MP Chander Kumar will file nominations from Mandi and Kangra, respectively. The party is also chalking out the programme for national leaders who will campaign here during for the final phase. Besides national president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, it has sought the services of Chief Ministers Sheila Dixit and Ashok Gehlot, union minister Anand Sharma and Moshina Kidwai. They will address rallies in all four constituencies of the state after May 5. Party general secretary Kuldeep Rathore said all leaders would be available as the state was slated to go to the polls in the last phase. In the meantime, the candidates and senior leaders of the party will hold election meetings. Each constituency has been divided into zones and committees have been set up to take care of campaigning.
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Cong a divided house at Jawalamukhi
Kangra, April 19 Kaul Singh was accorded a rousing reception at Bhadoli bridge by the Congress workers led by Nardev Kanwar and was brought on a motorcade to Jawalamukhi. Kaul Singh on viewing a split in the block Congress first went to Rama Krishna guest house where Sanjay Rattan joined back the Congress fold along with his supporters. He then attended the Block Congress Committee meeting at the Aggrawal Dharamshala, which was organised by Nardev Kanwar. Sanjay Rattan, without his supporters, accompanied Kaul Singh to the meeting. On this occasion, BSP leader Ramesh Khaula, who unsuccessfully contested last Assembly polls, and LJP state spokesman Partap Rana joined the Congress. Despite split in the Congress at the block-level Kaul Singh urged for unity to defeat the communal forces.
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Wads of currency warm up the hills
Solan, April 19 The packet, according to both police as well as BJP sources, was handed over to a BJP leader at a private function in a local hotel by a stranger. While the unsuspecting leader is said to have not only accepted the packet but also opened it in the presence of the guests, including a photographer, BJP claims the leader was taken aback to find the currency notes. There is no law of course, barring donations to political parties. But the leader smelt a rat and surrendered the packet to the police. A Daily Diary Report was recorded by the police. With neither BJP nor the police willing to throw more light on the episode, it is snowballing into a controversy with the opposition blaming BJP for collecting donations from dubious people. A section of the BJP acknowledges that the incident is potentially embarassing and could make a dent into the party’s credibility. BJP leaders have been calling mediapersons to ensure that the incident is not reported or reported ‘adversely’.
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ESI medical college issue set to become poll plank
Solan, April 19 They have joined hands under the banner of the ESI Medical College Sangharsh Samiti to oppose the move. They are being supported by an NGO, Him Parivesh, several trade union activists and pradhans of various industrial unions. Samiti chairman Kultaar Singh, general secretary Khaminder Singh, president Daya Ram and others held a meeting here today to discuss the issue. They said the decision to shift the ESI medical college to Mandi from the earlier planned site at Baddi was an injustice to around 1.57 lakh labourers employed in the BBN area. They said it belied all logic as to how Mandi could be an apt location for an ESI medical college when lakhs of labourers were working in the BBN area that housed more than 70 per cent of the state’s industrial units. Taking the ruling BJP to task, the samiti said it was lamentable that four MLAs and one health minister could not safeguard interests of lakhs of industrial workers. They said the BJP had lost the right to seek votes from the BBN area and the issue would be a major poll plank against the ruling BJP in the elections. The samiti alleged the decision to shift the college, which was initially proposed to be set up at Baddi, to Mandi was politically motivated and it would fail to fulfil its actual objective. The college at Mandi would serve only a small population while lakhs of workers, who had been contributing towards the ESI scheme on monthly basis, would be deprived of the medical facilities. The samiti decided to mobilise the people concerned, including social workers, industrial labourers and the local residents, to unite for the cause and raise voice against the decision. They said rallies and public meetings would soon be held to garner public support on the issue. |
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Anurag to file papers today
Shimla, April 19 The event will being used by the party to demonstrate its strength by organising a rally to be addressed by top party leaders, including Chief Minister PK Dhumal, former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, in charge of party affairs in the state Satya Pal Jain and state BJP chief Jai Ram. Party candidate from Kangra Rajan Sushant will also file his nomination on the same day, while Virender Kashyap and Maheshwar Singh will file their nomination papers from the Shimla (reserved) and Mandi constituencies, respectively, on April 21. |
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Govt termed anti-people
Kangra, April 19 Disclosing this here today, Congress spokesman KS Pathania said the grant of pay scale to Central Government employees, waiving of farmers’ loans, creation and implementation of the NREGA and constitution of a national investigating agency for probing terror cases were some of the achievements of the UPA government. He described the one-year BJP rule in the state as a nightmare for the people and alleged that state government was working against what it had promised in its manifesto during the assembly elections. Despite a promise to have a transparent transfer policy, thousands of the employees were transferred by the government without any rhyme and reason, Pathania said. |
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Cong party of ‘empty promises:’
CM
Paddar (Mandi), April 19 Addressing a pubic meeting here, Dhumal claimed that the BJP in its 15 months’ rule had increased the SC budget from Rs 820 crore to Rs 1,262 crore, gave relief to 3 lakh employees and 1.5 lakh pensioners, and issued soil health cards to farmers, who were earlier ignored by the Congress. Dhumal was soft on Virbhadra Singh in his speech, but flayed Kaul Singh Thakur charging that he ignored people of Drang and Chauhar valley.
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94 pc households covered under total credit inclusion scheme
Shimla, April 19 Out of the total 12.1-lakh households in the state 11,19,330 households, about 94 per cent, have already been covered by providing credit facility through instruments like kisan credit cards, general credit cards, revolving loans and term loans. The target of 100 per cent credit inclusion will be achieved by the end of June. The objective of the total credit inclusion was to ensure that the poor, particularly farmers, got loans without having to submit documents and going through a time-consuming procedure followed by banks for providing credit. They will not have to look towards moneylenders for their petty needs. So far 2,81,520 households have been given kisan credit cards and another 1.78 lakh revolving credit facility. The rest have been covered through self-help groups (SHGs), self-employment schemes or extended term loans for various purposes. The government is insisting on banks to provide flexible instruments so that credit to certain limits could be availed by the poorest of the poor without going though the routine procedure. The credit linkage of SHGs has almost reached 100 per cent level and a majority of the members are availing individual credit. The average credit per member comes to Rs 4,625. The process of micro-enterprise development will not only increase the per capita credit but also bring larger number under the self-employment fold in the rural areas where employment opportunities are minimal. The RBI has been impressed with the state’s achievement and it has decided to use it as a crucible for technological innovations. It has decided to introduce biometric credit cards for villagers and mobile ATMs on experimental basis. Banking correspondents will move around in the rural areas with hand-held devices through which transactions will be carried out using biometric cards. A technology committee has been set up to implement the scheme in Mandi and Kullu districts as
a pilot project. |
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No manufacturing date on ORS packets
Kangra, April 19 The ORS packet weighing 22 gm with total osmolarity 245 per litre was manufactured by an Indore-based laboratory and supplied to the state government hospitals and dispensaries for onward distribution to the needy patients. ORS is being used in the treatment of dehydration due to diarrhoea and cholera. It proves effective only if it is used well before the expiry date. Medical experts suggested that no expired medicine should be used for the treatment of a patient, as it would otherwise endanger the life of the patient. The ORS packet mentions expiry date as 15 months from the date of manufacture. However, there is no manufacturing date mentioned on the packet. Surprisingly, these ORS packets were even without the batch number. Health Minister Dr Rajeev Bindal expressing concern ordered an immediate inquiry into the matter. He said it would be looked into where the fault lies and how this ORS lot was accepted by the health authorities without any manufacturing date. Principal secretary of the Health and Medical Education Deepak Shanan said it was surprising how these ORS packets reached the final outlet and assured that he would look into the matter. What was intriguing that none of the health department authorities pointed out this till date and no one knows since how long this ORS lot was being used. Two journalists, who started inquiring into the matter from the Health Department and the state government, pointed out the lapse. |
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Writ of mining mafia continues to run large
Larji/Banjar, April 19 Fishermen and local residents who have fought to declare Tirthan as an “exclusive fresh water trout habitat” alleged that some officials are hand-in-glove with the organised network of mining mafias operated by certain stone crusher owners and contractors over the years in the river. Certain influential stone crusher owners have constructed the illegal link roads linking the Tirthan river bed to ferry extracted boulders. Out of the four crushers located on the Mandi side of the Tirthan: one is run by Abhishek Thakur, son of the BJP Sundernagar MLA and former forest minister, while two others are run by Balbir Malhotra and a retired SDO in the name of his wife Kaushalya Devi. On the other hand, the fourth crusher is run by one Vijay Kumar and is located on the right bank of Tirthan which is under the Kullu mining officer. However, his mining lease has expired. “We have served him a notice to shut down the crusher,” claimed Chaman Lal, mining officer, Kullu. Mandi mining officer Punit Guleria claimed that Abhishek Thakur had got sanction from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) as it lies on forest land, while the other two crushers run by Malhotra and Kaushlaya Devi are located on the private land and have secured lease from Kullu side. Conservator of forests, Mandi division, BD Suyal said mining at the river bed is banned, but it had not been brought to his notice. The approval for the stone crusher and link roads is given by the MoEF and we will take penal action in case of violation, he said. Director, Fisheries, BD Sharma claimed that it was not brought to his notice that trout habitat was being destroyed by illegal mining. The Mining Department controls mining, as there is no provision in the Fisheries Act, he claimed.
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Conservator of forests not to join purchase panel
Chamba, April 19 In his memo without quoting any salutation written to the Chamba Deputy Commissioner, the conservator of forests has requested that either the Divisional Forest Officer (headquarters) or the concerned DFO be made the member of the district purchase committee under the “backward area sub-plan”. “Conservator of forests is not nominated as member in this order,” he stated in his memo. Meanwhile, ADM BR Kaundal said owing to incomplete district purchase committee, the works relating to purchase of material could not be executed and the funds earmarked for the purpose under the sub-plan had been lapsed. In another instance, the Bharmour Divisional Forest Officer has declined to be appointed as “sector officer” under the sector magistrate of the naib tehsildar rank and assistant returning officer who is from the state cadre and junior in rank to an officer of the Indian Forest Services like him. In his recent communication, the Bharmour DFO has
requested the district election officer-cum-district magistrate to exempt him from the
election duty in honour of the orders of the Election Commission and general principles of the
administration.
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Probe sought into road construction
Hamirpur, April 19 The construction work and entire process of the Saloni-Deothsidh road, being constructed by a contractor under the Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) under Badsar division of the district, ‘has come under scrutiny since this is being undertaken on the basis of changed DPR on higher cost for lesser work’, by the department. The department had prepared a DPR a few years back to improve this road with an estimated cost of Rs 3.57 crore through which this 24 km stretch was to be widened, provided with retaining wall and culverts etc in all about two dozens such works, besides tarring the road. Interestingly, the department awarded the work to a contractor on changed DPR for Bitumen Macledo (BM) for Rs 3.75 crore without including any other work mentioned in the original DPR. The insiders tell, ‘this has been allegedly done to give financial benefit to the contractor who is a favorite of an influential person in the government.’ Congress Sewa Dal State spokesman Naresh Lakhanpal who has demanded a high-level probe in the construction of this road said, “While at other places 50 mm tarring is getting done at the cost of about Rs 1500 in this case it is getting done at double the rate and work is also not being monitored.” Executive engineer of the PWD, Badsar division, RP Verma said, “This work has been given for BM on amended DPR and I can not comment beyond this.”
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Inquiry into gambling arrests ordered
Kangra, April 19 The four who were arrested under the Gambling Act approached District Police Chief Atul Fulzele alleging that the raid in the Donga Bazaar locality of the town on April 12 in which the gamblers slipped from the scene ended up arresting nine innocent persons. They alleged that the bail bonds were got signed by the police from all nine persons, but the next day they came to know through media only that four were booked and remaining five were let go. SSP Atul Fulzele said he had ordered an inquiry into the matter and if any police official was found involved in this matter action would be taken against him. |
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One booked for fraud
Bilaspur, April 19 Superintendent of Police Kuldip Sharma said here yesterday that the police was searching for Joginder Singh, a junior assistant in the Civil Supplies Corporation office here, who was said to have gone missing since March 30. According to reports, Joginder Singh of Chatt village in this district had attended the office up to the afternoon of March 30, but suddenly gone missing since then. Family members of Joginder have also lodged a missing report in a police station. As Joginder Singh continued to remain absent from the office for several days together without any information or application, the office got suspicious and deputed a committee of officials to investigate if all charge under him was intact. But the committee was surprised when it was found that stocks to the tune of Rs 10 lakh were missing and were not accountable any where. |
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1 killed in accident
Chamba, April 19 The deceased was later identified as Kyoom Khan of the Kihar area of the district. A case has been
registered. — OC |
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