Shimla, August 16
Implementation of the revised pay scales for employees in accordance with the recommendations of the Fifth Punjab Pay Commission will further strain the exchequer of the fund-starved state.

The committed liability on account of salaries and pension will rise steeply, the full implications of which will be reflected only in the next financial year. According to officers of the Finance Department, the total burden on account of salaries will increase from the current Rs 3,700 crore to about Rs 5,000 crore and the amount incurred on pensions will swell from Rs 1,200 crore to over Rs 1,700 crore. Consequently there will be no appreciable improvement in the financial health of the state, despite substantial increase in its resources by way of sale of free power available as royalty and buoyancy in tax collections after implementation.

Taking into consideration the normal increase, the impact in 20010-11 will be around Rs 1,000 crore, though the recurring annual burden will be Rs 1,000 crore. Since the state had already given 20 per cent hike by way of interim relief, the actual outgo will be less. The total arrears for the three years will come to around Rs 2,000 crore.

The increase in salaries will not be on a par with the employees of the neighbouring state, as the Himachal government is committed to follow only the pay-structure of Punjab government and not the allowances. The employees unions, which have been have been opposing de-linking of pay scales from Punjab all these years, are now talking about adopting central pay scales, which are better. The state employees confederation has already demanded allowances on the central pattern.

The government is confident that the 13th Finance Commission will take care of the additional liabilities and with its recommendations coming into force from the next financial year, the resource position will improve.

With the central kitty already under strain due to global slowdown, it remains to be seen to what extent it will be able to help the states. 

Shimla, August 16
Paucity of funds and land have emerged as major hurdles in implementation of the plan to end stray-dog menace in the “queen of hills” even as the local municipal corporation made a beginning in this direction by setting up the first dog shelter in the city today.

The shelter, with four cages to accommodate about 40 dogs, has been set up near the Darni ka bagicha. The action has been taken in compliance of the orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court which set a three-week deadline for the corporation to get rid of stray dogs.

The corporation had set up a the Stray Dog Birth Control Society in 2006 to sterilise dogs but even after operating 3,965 dogs, the problem persisted as evident from 43 cases of stray-dog bites reported over a period of three months.

The municipal corporation is preparing a plan in compliance of the court order comprising a special drive to catch stray dogs, sterilise them and keep in shelter homes.

According to estimates, the municipal corporation will have to remove an estimated 4,000 street dogs and create shelters to lodge them. It had already identified land near Tuti Kandi for the purpose and moved the case for obtaining clearance for its transfer under the Forest Conservation Act.

However, it requires over Rs 2 crore to construct dog ponds which is beyond its means. It has made a request to the state government regarding the same.

Further, once the shelters are in place, funds will be required to feed the dogs. According to officials, even if 2,500 dogs are kept in shelters, an amount Rs 2.50 crore will be required annually for feeding them.

Nodal officer for the mass sterilisation project and member secretary of the Stray Dog Birth Control Society Arun Sirkaik said over 90 per cent of the stray dogs had been operated and the population had been brought under control within the city. However, the peripheral villages were serving as nurseries for stray dogs multiplication as there was no birth-control programme for the adjoining areas. He said the society had Rs 30.70 lakh and it had already deposited Rs 7.80 lakh with the Forest Department for transfer of forest land.

Shimla, August 16
The government has decided to allow casual leave, maternity leave and other facilities to contract employees who will be regularised after putting in eight years of service.

Stating this in reply to discussion raised by Roop Singh (BJP) on the policy of employees recruited on contract basis, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said the decision to make all appointments on contract basis was taken by the previous Congress government in December 2003 and the recruitment and promotion rules of all departments were amended accordingly.

All direct recruitment was to be made on contract basis, but no comprehensive rules or policy was framed for the purpose. Appointment was initially made for one year, which could be extended for a maximum of two years.

The present government had addressed various issues and problems of the contract employees and taken required measures. They would now be entitled to 12 casual leaves in a year, maternity leave and after completing five years of service in a place would become eligible for transfer. The government was also strictly following the reservation roaster and proper recruitment procedure. The government was also allowing relaxation in upper age limit for regularisation on case-to-case basis.

He said it was not possible to make regular appointments because of financial crunch but the government would regularise more and more employees as the situation improved.

Raising the discussion, Roop Singh pointed out that contract employees performed the same duties as their regular counterparts but they were not provided any facilities. No uniform policy was being followed for their regularisation as a result of which there was resentment among them.

Shimla, August 16
District courts of Kullu, Dharamsala, Shimla and Mandi will be provided video conference facilities shortly to ensure speedy disposal of cases.

Stating this while addressing Chief Ministers and Chief Justices’ conference in New Delhi today, state Law Minister JP Nadda said the sub-jail at Bilaspur, district jail at Dharamsala, the central jail at Shimla and modern central jail at Nahan would also be provided with video conference facilities.

He said all procedural and codal formalities had been completed for the purpose and necessary infrastructure would be provided in the concerned court complexes in the minimum possible time.

Nadda said adequate steps had been taken for modernisation and computerisation of the courts and efforts were on to enhance its use in the judicial work.

Registry of the Himachal Pradesh High Court had taken up the matter of providing facility of Internet usage, e-mail based communications, electronic dissemination of information and use of digital signature with e-committee of the Supreme Court of India, he added.

A provision of Rs 20 crore had been made during the current financial year for development of infrastructure of subordinate courts in the state under which new court complexes and residences of the judicial officers would be constructed.

Steps had been taken to reduce arrears of cases and ensuring speedy trials. Two posts had been created in the high court, raising the strength of judges from 9 to 11, nine fast-track courts of additional sessions judges and 13 new courts of civil judges(junior division) had been established.

The high court was monitoring the progress of cases on monthly, quarterly and annual basis and it had framed norms for disposal of cases by subordinate courts.

He said six courts of civil judges (junior division) had been created and the total number of judges in subordinate courts had increased to 108.

The Law Minister said, so far, 6,957 litigants, including 2,465 women, had been provided free legal services in the state. The alternative dispute resolution mechanism was being encouraged in the state for providing speedy and cheap justice and three permanent lok adalats had been set up in the state.

So far, 4,612 lok adalats cases had been held and 71,458 cases settled in the state since 1990, he added.

Shimla, August 16
With an aim to promote Himachal Pradesh as a “herbal state” of the country, the state government has prepared a roadmap for large-scale cultivation of medicinal plants.

The State Medicinal Plant Board had prepared the roadmap and sent to the National Medicinal Plant board for approval, Health Minister Rajeev Bindal said, adding it comprised 67 varieties of 
medicinal plants which could be cultivated in the state.

According to the roadmap, state’s horticulture, forest and ayurveda departments would encourage farmers to grow herbs on their own lands, forests and herbal gardens of ayurveda, Bindal had told the state Assembly last week.

Eleven training programmes and 104 awareness camps in different parts of the state have been organised for farmers in the past one year.

The board had, on August 4, inked an agreement with yoga guru Swami Ramdev’s “Patanjali yogapeeth” according to which the latter would purchase herbs in bulk from authorised centres of the board. — PTI 

Dharamsala, August 16
Officials of some government departments are allegedly supplying wrong information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. As they are bound to provide information to applicants within one month, pending which they are liable to incur a fine of Rs 250 per day, they are sticking to the deadline.

However, in many cases, they are replying to queries in a casual manner, leading to dissemination of wrong information.

Two such cases have come to the notice of The Tribune. A resident of Bandi village, Gurcharan Singh, sought information under the RTI Act from the Forest Department. He has been carrying on a campaign against certain residents of his own village, who are allegedly felling trees for performing yajnas (religious ceremonies) at a local temple. He asked the Forest Department officials if certain trees had been felled in the village on the pretext of performing a yajna. The officials, in their reply under the RTI Act, maintained that no trees had been felled for performing a yajna.

However, Gurcharan Singh has got hold of proceedings of the local court in a similar matter in which the members of the temple committee of the village have admitted that they were felling trees for performing yajnas. In the proceedings, the villagers have stated that they use the branches of trees for performing yajnas and sell the rest of the tree for raising funds for the ceremony.

The statements given in the court clearly illustrate that either the Forest Department officials do not have any knowledge about the development or they are feigning ignorance about the entire matter by giving wrong information.

In another case, Ashwani Sharma, a Pong Dam oustee, sought information under the RTI Act regarding funds received from the BBMB by Pong Dam Oustees Development Agency (PODA). These funds are compensation for the common lands of oustees acquired for the Pong Dam reservoir. They are meant exclusively for the oustees.

The information was sought from the district collector, Kangra, and deputy commissioner, Relief and Rehabilitation. Interestingly, both agencies have given different answers to the same query. The office of the district collector has stated that from 1995 to 2007, about Rs 3 crore has been received from the BBMB under PODA funds. However, the deputy commissioner has informed that the amount received was Rs 1.5 crore. The land acquisition officer of the BBMB has, on the other hand, said that about Rs 5 crore, including interest on money, has been paid to PODA.

While talking to The Tribune, Ashwani Kumar alleged that the way various officials had quoted different amounts in the queries under the RTI Act illustrated how non- seriously they took the matter.

Bilaspur, August 16
The Himachal Pradesh State Employees’ Federation expressed gratitude to Chief Minister PK Dhumal for declaring implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission on the pattern of Punjab employees to Himachal employees yesterday. It further expressed confidence that if any class III or class IV category of employees would be adversely affected by this implementation, the government would immediately remove the anomaly and also benefit them as was earlier promised by the Chief Minister.

Addressing mediapersons here today , federation state president Ram Singh thanked the Chief Minister for announcing implementation of 6 per cent dearness allowance (DA) which was due since January this year.

Meanwhile, HP Government College Teachers’ Association, led by its state general secretary Dr Suresh Kumar Soni and other state office bearers --- Ashok Thakur, Pravin Ranaut, HS Parmar, OP Sharma and Satish Chandel, also greeted and welcomed declaration of implementation of the UGC pay scales to all university and college teachers of the state and said that this declaration was “historic”.

The State Rajkiya Prathmic Shikshak Sangh also welcomed the decision of the government and said the Chief Minister once again had proved that he always kept difficulties of employees in mind. This declaration would help state employees meet challenges of ever-increasing price rise of essential commodities in these hard times, they added.

Paul Sharma, prominent state leader and district organising secretary of Sangh Dev, said arrears of the pay scales since January 1, 2006, and also of the dearness allowance should be paid in cash with salary of the month of August. 

Nurpur, August 16
One person died and 20 got injured when a truck carrying them fell into a 100-foot-deep gorge at Sunara near Fatehpur 
yesterday.

According to reports, the truck was carrying 40 villagers of Hatli village, who were returning after attending a state-level Independence Day function held at Fatehpur in Jawali subdivision. While nine seriously injured persons were referred to Tanda Medical College, 11 were rushed to CHC, Fatehpur.

The local police has registered a case in this regard.

Kangra, August 16
State health authorities are seeking permission from the Centre for entering into the second phase of outbreak prevention and further elimination of measles, which according to

the WHO is the fifth major killer among children under five years of age in the world.

Disclosing this, Dr Sulakshana Puri, director, Health Services, Himachal Pradesh, today told The Tribune that analytical studies to estimate the measles vaccine efficacies had recommended MMR at the age of 16-24 months and the first dose to be administered at nine months of age under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) in the state.

She added Surender Nikhil Gupta, epidemiologist of the Regional Health and Family Welfare Training Centre, had stressed on the second shot of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccination in the state on the basis of the research work conducted and scientific papers published in the international journals to eliminate measles outbreaks.

The director also emphasised that state could not go on its own with the MMR vaccination programme without seeking permission from the central government.

She said the state was doing well in reducing the measles mortality and transmission. While the all-India measles immunisation coverage stood at 42.2 per cent (National Family Health Survey-1), 50.7 per cent (National Family Health Survey-2) and 58.8 per cent (National Family Health Survey-3), more than the WHO/UNICEF goal of the 50 per cent, Himachal Pradesh’s coverage rose from 95 per cent to 103 per cent from 2001 to 2006.

She said, “Our state can enter proudly in the list of developed countries where elimination phase of measles has taken over successfully.”

Dr Surender Nikhil Gupta said in the country, Delhi had higher vaccine coverage since it had taken the lead and initiative of the two dose schedule of measles and MMR at nine months and at 15 months of age, respectively. He said Goa, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu reached 84-88 per cent coverage whereas Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh achieved coverage of more than 70 per cent.

Dr Gupta said in this hill state, while the reported measles vaccination coverage was exceeding 95 per cent and tallying with calculated vaccine efficacies, there was visible shift of the measles/rubella towards the higher age group, i.e., above five years of age.

Dr Gupta underlined that as the first dose of measles vaccination was only 85 per cent protective, there was likelihood of the progressive accumulation of the small number of the susceptible over the years. So as to neutralise the number of the susceptible accumulating in the community, second dose of the MMR was necessary. 

Kangra, August 16
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) today demanded interest-free loans and liberal financial aid from the state government for doctors in the private sector for helping them set up their super-speciality hospitals to serve the needy people.

Dr SK Nanda, president of the state unit of IMA, today raised the demand during a one-day Continuing Medical Education (CME) Programme organised at DRPGMC, Tanda.

Dr Nanda said super-specialty doctors, who belonged to the state, were eager to return for serving the people. Therefore, they should be provided with necessary facilities by the government in the larger interest of people.

Dr Anil Chouhan, principal of DRPGMC, in his valedictory address as chief guest on the occasion, said a high-level team of the Union Health Ministry, during its recent visit to Tanda, had offered the required infrastructure and machinery for super-speciality departments in the college, but had said the state government would have to arrange for specialists.

Dr Chouhan suggested doctors should not be competitive but complement each other to take the profession to new heights.

Interestingly, Dr ML Babu, founder and former HoD of the neurosurgery department of Government Medical College, Jammu, offered his services to DRPGMC, Tanda, in order to serve the needy people of the hill state.

Later, Dr Chouhan told the media that he would take up matter with the state government for setting up of the neurosurgery department on priority so that accidental and other cases of head injures could be treated here itself.

Doctors from within and outside the state attended the day-long CME programme. They deliberated on latest trends, techniques and developments in the medical field.