Shimla, September 24
The advent of cellular phones may have revolutionised communication, especially in a hill state like Himachal, but the postal department has virtually been plunged into a financial crisis with its revenue taking a nosedive.

Majority of the 2,300 post offices in the state are running in a loss. It may sound incredible but the fact is that the post offices in rural areas have not even able to recover an earning of 15 paisa against one rupee spent by the government.

Absence of corporate houses and business establishments in Himachal has further added to the woes of the postal department. The irony is that the main task of the postal department has been reduced to distribution of telephone bills of people, which has hit their services the most. The post offices are mainly dealing in government post and delivering mobile phone bills.

With the BSNL alone having touched a figure of 10 lakh mobile phones in Himachal, postal services have been a major casualty. With people now more into the habit of sending SMSes or making brief calls, writing letters is more or less a thing of the past.

Humera Ahmed, chief post master general of the Himachal circle, admitted that the mobile-phone culture was the main reason for people giving up the habit of writing letters.

“Since in metros there is so much corporate work, postal services are not affected to that extent. However, in rural areas, post offices have very little revenue,” she admitted.

She said according to the proposal at the national level, post offices could start some new schemes, including sale of some products of local people. Citing an example, she said one could order Assam tea or books and other publications of Baba Ramdev through post.

With Himachal having almost 10 lakh mobile phones besides land phones, sale of stamps and envelopes has automatically gone down. Incidentally, Himachal is amongst the top ranked states as far as tele-density is concerned. With a population of over 65 lakh, having 20 lakh mobile phone connection and a sizeable number of land phones, business in post offices has been hit severely.

Chail-Chowk (Mandi), September 24
The Rs 1.60 crore marketing yard that Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today inaugurated here describing it as new market facility for local farmers in the Baggi-Chail Chowk-Gohar area, has exposed poor quality of construction, more particularly in the market’s compound which has sands giving in even to pedestrians.

Though the local administration and market committee officials took the CM straight inside the building which was spruced up with flashy lights and sanitary works, the market compound under the “red carpet” told a different story.

The Tribune team found that the surface of the compound was laid hurriedly with poor quality work. Grains of sand were uprooting from the surface, as sand was not cemented well.

Behind the market yard building, drains were blocked and full of muddy water.

The workers blamed the contractor for not applying proper mixture of sand and cement in construction, more particularly in the “market compound around the yard”.

The market yard has nine shops, a market platform, grading and packaging room, a rest room, with facility for opening of the bank outlet for the farmers.

The Chief Minister said the market yard would give a boost to small and marginal farmers.

Meanwhile, Ved Parkash, chairman, market committee, was not available for his comments. 

Gohar/Chail Chowk (Mandi), September 24
Chief Minister PK Dhumal said the state government would launch the NABARD-aided Rs 300-crore Doodh Ganga scheme involving 50,000 self-help groups (SHGs) for uplifting the income of small and marginal milk producers in Mandi, Solan and Sirmaur districts on the birth anniversary of Pt Deen Dayal on September 25. The government will also launch Rs 363.37-crore rainwater harvesting schemes in 11 districts in the state, he added.

Addressing a public meeting here after laying the foundation stone of a lift drinking water scheme near Gohar and inauguration of the Rs 1.6 crore marketing yard at Chail-Chowk during the concluding day of the eight-day Khyor mela here, Dhumal said Doodh Ganga scheme would be launched in three districts then it would be extended to other districts as well.

He added that government in its bid to come to term with the climate change would launch the Rs 361. 37-crore rainwater harvesting scheme so that rainwater was tapped for local use and irrigation in 11 districts. Rs 140 crore has been sanctioned and it aims at boosting agriculture which is facing alternative drought and heavy rains, hitting farmers’ economy in the state, he added.

He made a dig at the Centre for not recognising supreme sacrifices that farmers and soldiers of the state have made. For developing dams like Bhakra and Pong at the cost of fertile farmers’ land in lieu of not even inch of irrigation facilities. “The Centre should give Himachal its recognition and due like it is doing to other big states,” he asserted.

He said Rs 2.63 crore collected by the Mandi market committee would be spent on local development in the area on roads and other facilities. Chail Chowk yard will provide marketing facilities for locals, he added.

Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the opposition was silent after the CM included three ministers from Mandi and started the ESIC medical college and IIT in Mandi. The present government focused on villages which have 90 per cent population in the state, he added.

Shimla, September 24
The HP High court has held that teachers appointed by the parent teachers associations (PTA) are discharging public duty in the educational institutions of the state and the government has deep and pervasive control over such teachers, hence the orders against such teachers or association are amenable to writ jurisdiction of the high court. The PTA was purely a non-political body but discharged a duty of great public importance, it said.

It may be mentioned here that more than 6,000 teachers across the state were appointed through the PTAs under the government policy from 2006.

A Division Bench, comprising acting Chief Justice RB Mishra and Justice Rajeev Sharma, observed that the state government’s plea that the PTA was merely a private arrangement was erroneous. The Bench added that the PTA was purely a non-political body but discharged a duty of great public importance. The court held that the appointment of teachers through the PTA was an exception and not a rule.

This order came on a bunch of petitions pending before the high court challenging the orders passed by the deputy commissioners. The state government had constituted committees to look in to the complaints against the teachers appointed through PTA.

The state government, in reply to these petitions, raised objections that the writ petitions of the teachers appointed through the PTA were not maintainable.

The court rejected the state government’s plea and held that such petitions were maintainable.

Kullu, September 24
Partiality adopted openly in the district-level science quiz conducted by the National Council of Science and Technology (NCSTC) held on September 19, has left students unhappy. This was alleged by the principal and students of the Brahmrishi Mission School, Jarar of Bhunter, in a press release here today.

Principal Veena Sharma said during the final round, only two teams were in the fray and the last question was to decide the fate of the teams. It was a visual round.

The team was asked to identify picture of a scientific instrument within 30 seconds. All was fine except a blunder, “the name of the instrument was written on the picture itself”. The principal said her team protested against it and urged the organisers to change the question. But to their disappointment the quiz master, instead, announced the other team as the winner. 

Shimla, September 24
The 64 dental doctors whose contractual services have been terminated by the state government have decided to move court since they feel as to why they should be made to pay for the fault of the selection panel and faulty norms.

Addressing a press conference here today, the joint secretary of the Himachal Dental Officers Association, Priyanka Kanwal said since the government had decided not to renew the contract of all 64 dental doctors they had no option but to seek justice through court. Their appointment had been made by the government in 2006-07 when the Congress was in power.

“When the same government renewed our contract twice then there is no justification of terminating it now, considering the fact that we gave up our practices to get government jobs,” she quipped. Kanwal along with other office-bearers said the decision was very unfortunate as it would have an adverse impact on contractual appointment of doctors.

“At a time when the state is facing shortage of doctors, the decision to terminate our contact will send a very wrong signal and doctors from outside will be very hesitant to come to Himachal,” they said. They added it was not just in the appointment of doctors but in all other government jobs being made on contractual basis that there will be problems.

They also questioned the pick and choose policy adopted by the government in not renewing their contract. “When the same criterion had been adopted for the selection of 72 MBBS doctors then why is that their contracts have not been terminated,” they asked. They said it was for the first time that the contract of government employees had not been renewed.

They urged the government to reconsider its decision as the 64 doctors had wound up their practice or given up other jobs to be in the government sector. “Most of us do not have any other option but to remain in government jobs so the authorities must reconsider its decision and all us be allowed to continue,” they urged.

They also criticised the decision of the government to make fresh appointment of dental doctors through Rogi Kalyan Samitis.

Shimla, September 24
The state electricity regulatory commission has advised Asian Development Bank (ADB) consultants to explore the possibility of incorporating underground substations in the proposed Rs 4,500-crore transmission master plan to help overcome the constraints of space in the difficult hill terrain.

The seven-member team of the ADB, which is providing financial and technical assistance to the state for fine-tuning the master plan for evacuation of over 12,000-MW power from hydroelectric projects, is in the city to hold consultation with concerned agencies to give final shape to the plan. The ADB is also providing an assistance of $6 lakh to the state power transmission corporation to fine tune the master plan. The team headed by Geoff Stott has already held meetings with the chairman of the state electricity regulatory commission and the state power utility.

The commission apprised the team of the space constraints in the precipitous mountainous terrain with high hills and narrow valleys affording a narrow corridor laying the transmission network. It is imperative that the system should be designed for superior conductors with three to four times higher capacity to avoid multiplicity of transmission lines. The ADB, which is providing a loan of Rs 4,000 crore to the state power corporation for execution of four major hydroelectric projects, is keen to see the transmission network completed in time to facilitate evacuation of power.

The problem of space was acute in tribal Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts and parts of Kullu. The involvement of the ADB in finalisation of the plan would ensure that advanced technology was used and it would also be helpful for the state in securing funds for implementation of the master plan. In the first phase transmission lines were proposed be laid for projects scheduled for completion from 2010 to 2014 and the total cost was estimated to be Rs 2,260 crore.

The state had drawn flak from the Central Electricity Authority for the tardy progress on the transmission network front, which was leading to a situation where projects were nearing completion without the required system for evacuation of power in place. The master plan had not taken care to ensure that there was no crowding of lines in the narrow valleys. There was not enough space on the ground to lay multiple lines and the state Forest Department had also made it clear that it would not allow felling of trees for the purpose. 

Solan, September 24
With little fear of being nabbed by the police, undaunted couples continue to flock guest houses located enroute Shimla on the Parwanoo-Shimla NH-22 to execute nefarious activities.

In one such incident, the Parwanoo police nabbed three couples, including a serving doctor, Dr Kumud, working with Government Medical College, Sector 32, Chandigarh, along with a married woman Balvinder Kaur who was working as a sweeper in the same hospital, from a private guest house last evening.

Parwanoo SDPO Ramesh Pathania, while giving this information, said two more couples, including Rajesh Kumar, who worked as a system analyst at Baddi-based Timex Watches, was caught with his colleague Sonia who hailed from Pinjore. The police also arrested one Devinder Singh who hailed from Sector 32, Chandigarh, along with a woman Jyoti who had come from Ludhiana in search of a job.

Police officials said a tariff of Rs 250 had been charged for each room and no proper entry was made in the authorised register. A case under Section 41(2) 109 of the CrPC was registered against them and they were produced before the Parwanoo Assistant Commissioner who later bailed them out.

This was the second such incident which had occurred in this private guest house in a span of less than two months as a similar incident had taken place last week at a nearby guest house. The police, in a bid to tighten the noose around such nefarious persons who brought defame to the area, had stepped up its drive to check such activities.

While the NH-22 had earned the dubious distinction of being a proliferating ground for such disgraceful activities where outsiders, after spending few hours in one of the several guest houses, conveniently slipped back into the neighbouring Pinjore and Chandigarh, some guest houses solely thrived on such business.

It was surprising to note that married women, in a bid to make easy buck, often indulged in such activities on a regular basis. Also the frequent arrival of couples from the industrial area of Baddi proved how infamous these guest houses had become.