Hamirpur, October 27
While the Central and state governments have enacted laws and legal provisions to stop quacks from treating patients but these seem to be little deterrent for unscrupulous people playing with the lives of public.

The recent arrest of two doctors with 'fake degrees' in Hamirpur district has exposed the presence of many such doctors playing with lives not only in rural areas but also in towns.

The Nadaun police arrested a medical practitioner for allegedly giving wrong treatment and medicines to two girls that resulted in their death. This 'doctor' did not possess valid degrees or invoices of the medicines stored in his clinic.

The allegations of wrong treatment of the girls by the medical practitioner came to light some time back when members of the Mahila Mandal of Kaihran made a complaint against the 'doctor' to the Nadaun SDM.

According to the complaint, the 'doctor' had treated two girls who later reacted to the medicines given to them and lost their lives.

Though this 'doctor'denied having treated these girls the absence of valid degree and proper documents for the medicines spoke volumes for his illegal acts.

After this complaint the Nadaun police booked the practitioner under sections 336, 419 and 420 of the IPC.

Later, the drug inspector also found that the medical degrees of the practitioner were fake and he was also not having valid invoices or bills for the medicines given to his patients.

A few days after this incident the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau (VCB) arrested a practising MBBS doctor allegedly having a 'fake' Himachal Pradesh University degree from Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla,.

Dr. Kuldeep Sharma, having a 'fake MBBS degree', was operating from the Housing Board colony in the middle of the town here.

In this case the 'doctor', who actually hailed from the Bada Badoh area of Kangra district, had been practising there for quite some time.

He was also on the panel of two insurance companies, Bajaj Allialanz and Reliance, issuing medical fitness certificates to people for insurance purposes.

While both these 'fake doctors' are facing legal cases in the courts these incidents have started a debate as to how effective are laws to prevent such unscrupulous persons from playing with the lives of people

In most of the cases such doctors do not maintain any records and registers about the patients treated or medicines prescribed to escape the arms of law.

"Such persons are taking advantage of the unawareness among public and the absence of medical facilities in the rural areas. People also blame the state government for not making any effort to keep a check on quacks."

Health Minister Rajiv Bindal brushed aside the issue lightly, saying that "the problem of quacks is like any other problem in society and they are dealt with existing legal provisions like other violators of law as patwaris demanding money for providing revenue documents etc."

Solan, October 27
Notwithstanding the mandatory 70 per cent employment clause, scores of industrial units in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area are conveniently bypassing this norm by merely completing paper formalities.

Investigations done by The Tribune revealed that the industrial units hoodwink the authorities in a planned manner. They complete the formalities of advertising their vacancies and even calling interviews but instead of providing employment as per the clause to local youth, they retain the resume and photographs of the candidates appearing for the interviews and show them as the hired employees while conveniently hiring staff from outside.

While local youth are not entertained beyond the interview stage their documents are suitably retained in the files to be produced before the officials when asked for.

The youth are not only denied an opportunity to work but some units are, as a strategy, shying away from recruiting local youth. Cases have come to light where NOCs are sought from the panchayats concerned on the promise of providing employment but once the certificates have been procured local youth are either transferred to other states or employed only on a contractual basis.

A senior executive of a new industrial unit, which initiated its operations recently near Nalagarh conceded that the technical workforce was outsourced from other units running in other states but the mangement was trying to meet the mandatory 70 per cent norm by providing training to the youth at their other units. He said they would fulfil this condition once they were fully operational.

However, a visit to the unit showed that the number of local youth was far less than the required number. Inquires revealed that they had retained the resume of those youth who had come for interviews and had enlisted them as their employees though some of those youths had later procured jobs in other units.

Though each industrial unit is supposed to get identity cards made from the labour officer concerned as soon as the unit comes in production, the norm is observed more in breach. Nalagarh labour officer PD Sharma said: “If we detect a violation of this norm,a unit can be booked under the amended rules of the Minimum Wages Act but since the monetary penalty is as less as Rs 1,000 units chose to evade this direction.” He added that all units had been issued standing directions to get identity cards made as soon as they initiate their production and “we provide them these cards within three days”.

Shimla, October 27
It was a journey down the memory lane for eminent director and producer Shyam Benegal as the film festival featuring some of his outstanding works in celluloid opened with the screening of "Manthan" at the historic Gaiety Theatre.

"There was no plan for making the film which ushered in the White Revolution by encouraging dairy farmers to form cooperative societies. He was given an assignment to produce two documentary films by Verghese Kurian, the man who paved the way for "Operation Flood" by replicating the Anand model on the success of dairy development in the cooperative sector. However, while working on the documentaries I came across some very interesting stories which deserved a full feature film", Benegal said while recollecting the making of his most acclaimed film.

"I discussed the matter with Kurian and tried to convince him that a feature film with such real life stories will be far more effective in sending the message across to the farmers. He agreed but expressed his helplessness in providing the money required for making a full-length film. We did not give up and ultimately decided to involve the five lakh dairy farmers who supplied milk to the cooperative federation twice a day, once each in evening and morning. We persuaded them to contribute the proceeds from the sale of milk for just one session, making the project possible."

However, the film turned out to be a roaring success and the farmers who agreed to collectively produce it earned many times more than what they had invested. Not only that it was used for promoting cooperative dairy farming across the world under the United Nations Development Project (UNDP), said a nostalgic Benegal.

He said he made many more successful films but "Manthan" would remain special to him as it was produced by five lakh farmers and ushered in the White Revolution, bringing prosperity to rural areas. During his long career he made all kinds of films but he had always tried to focus on contemporary socioeconomic issues and values honoured by society.

His latest venture "Well Done, Abba" was a comedy but it explored the serious issue of bad governance which was leading to slippages and corruption in the implementation of government programmes and development schemes at the grassroots. The film was based on three stories by different writers weaved into one.

Benegal does not approve of the film city projects being pursued by various states and maintains that these would prove to be white elephants. Such projects were required and succeeded only in states where films were made. The maximum number films were being made in Mumbai, followed by Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkota. Logically, Hindi films should have been made in UP, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and other Hindi-speaking states. However, the reality was that films in that a national language was being made in non-Hindi speaking states only because there was the required infrastructure and manpower.

It was true that many films were shot in the scenic locales of Himachal Pradesh but that was not enough to make a film city project viable. There has to be a huge and persistent demand for this kind of infrastructure to justify a film city project.

Palampur, October 27
The recent move of the state government to liberalise the sale of tea gardens in the Kangra valley has caused resentment among residents here, who have asked the government for a review.

Several voluntarily organisations, environment groups and panchyats have announced to protest if the government goes ahead with the move.

Till now, there is a complete ban on the sale of tea gardens in the state and permission for the sale is granted in selective cases by the Chief Minister. But the recent decision, if implemented, would open the flood gates and real estate developers would manage to buy big holdings for constructing housing societies, hotels, resorts etc. Few years ago, when tea growers approached the Himachal Pradesh High Court for the relaxation of ban on the sale of tea gardens, the court had refused to entertain the petition and upheld the ban.

Sources say the government took the decision under pressure from influential property dealers, who had already entered into benami land deals and wanted to make them legal.

Under the law, the permission for the sale of tea gardens could be only granted in special cases. However, even in the past, the government had misused these provisions and a number of persons with political support had managed permission overnight and sold their tea gardens. Many outsiders, including Tibetans, had succeeded in buying tea gardens and other property in the region.

Meanwhile, residents of Palampur and Dharamsala are worried over these developments. The Union government has also taken a serious note of the large-scale sale of tea gardens in the Kangra valley. In a communication to the state chief secretary, it has asked to initiate effective measure to check the illegal sale of tea gardens. Area under tea cultivation has been squeezing year after year. Section 7 A of the HP State Land Revenue Act prohibits the sale of tea gardens. A senior officer of the state revenue department said in cases where the owners of tea gardens had availed the benefits of the Act, they had been allowed to retain excess land than 30-acre prescribe limit, but they could not sell their holdings. He said as per law, the tea growers were only custodian of their holdings and the ownership vested with the state government. But it is a matter of surprise that even such tea growers had managed to get permission for the sale of tea gardens.

Dharamsala, October 27
Entering the premises of the 2nd Indian Reserve Battalion at Sokoh, here, is normally a silent and serious affair. However, from October 23 to 25, the place became alive with police personnel engaged in yoga exercises and dance.

The programme was conducted by psychologist and wellness consultant Swati Kumar along with motivational speaker and stress release expert Utsav Arora, under the aegis of an NGO, My Himachal.

Participants said they would cherish those days and use the knowledge gained there in making their life stress free. The positive and life-affirmative tips learnt in the three-day stress releasing and positive attitude workshop would go a long way for cops in serving the state and its people in a more effective and humane manner. The camp had received an excellent and overwhelming positive feedback from the participants, many of whom requested it to be either extended or be made a regular feature.

Policewomen like Kusum Rani and Amrita said they were under so much stress at one time that they had started thinking of leaving the force, but the camp had helped them in coping with it. Many felt that such camps should be held for all senior and junior level employees.

DP Sharma, IGP, after evaluating the activities and results during his interaction with Swati and Utsav, suggested that such camps should be organised in various parts of the state.

Swati said policemen worked under huge stress due to the expectations of public, media, government and their higher-ups. Besides, due to constant travel and transfers without any benefit of leave, their mental and family life was always under stress, thus hampering their work. “The police force is part of our society and its personnel need time to relax and recharge their energy and develop a positive attitude,” she added.

Utsav mentioned that the modern society and education had a big imbalance as the race to accumulate more and more had made people prone to various diseases because the connection with self and nature was missing.

Folk theatre is indeed a powerful medium of communication and it could be effectively used for creating awareness among people on vital issues confronting them. This was amply demonstrated by the drama wing of the state Department of Information and Public Relations by its play staged during the interactive meet of stakeholders in the state capital on climate change.(See picture)

The play imaginatively used the mythological characters like Yamraj, Indra and Narad Muni to highlight the gravity of the problem of environmental degradation leading to a host of undesirable fallouts like global warming and climate change. The large number of “out-of-turn” deaths in the Mrityulok had the lord of Yamlok worried as there was no place to accommodate in either “Swarg” or “Nark”. Apprehending chaos in his Lok the Yamraj calls Narad Muni to know the reason why so many people are dying before completing their allotted life.

Narad Muni traces the root of the problem in Lord Indra , regulator of climate, , who has been denying timely rain and snow. However, Indra blamed it on the indiscretion of man who has destroyed environment in the name of development and he also makes it clear that the only remedy to stall the impending disaster is that every individual must contribute his lot for protecting the environment.

The play drew a wide applause from the representatives of panchayats, mahila mandals, eco-clubs , officials and other stakeholders present at the interactive session.

There was a woman standing quietly by the side of Lord Curzon when he arrived at Mumbai on December 30, 1898. She was five feet eight inches tall with narrow waist and thin hips, had large grey eyes, perfect oval face and her head was evenly poised on her slender neck. She was Mary Leiter Curzon, wife of the Viceroy of India. Bowled over by this image of sheer charm, an Indian Civil Service officer announced: "I suddenly realised why the Greeks had besieged Troy for so many years." She was the daughter of a Chicago millionaire and her marriage with George Curzon was solemnised not in England but in Washington (USA) on April 22, 1895.

Mary with her two daughters, Irene and Cynthia, reached Shimla in March, 1899, to pass the summer there. Shimla was still in the process of developing. Marian Fowler of 'Below the Peacock Fan' describes Shimla of those days thus: "The golden eagles had retreated to more remote areas; little dogs weren't carried off by leopards any more; there were fewer wild flowers on the hill slopes, for too many memsahibs had dug them up for their herbaceous borders.

But Simla, now known as 'The Abode of the Little Tin Gods' had acquired its great house." It had the Viceregal Lodge - more like a palace and less like a lodge. Its huge garden was managed by 40 gardeners and 10 more were employed to chase the monkeys away.

When George joined the family in mid-April, the number of servants attending upon the Viceroy and his family rose to 400. Shimla gave them their third child, a girl again although Curzon wanted a son. Alexandra Naldera was born in England in 1904. She was named Naldera, known for the golf grounds near Shimla, because she was conceived there, the place Lord Curzon immensely loved. The visage of Shimla changed for Mary as the years advanced. If it was amusing with houses on hilltops in 1899, then in 1902 she wrote:" No one knows how I loathe Simla and its cruel climate. I never feel well here."

An embarrassing phase for Mary was when her two sisters, Daisy and Nancy, arrived at Shimla from America in 1899. They had the American liberal habits and total disliking for being bound by the formality of the standards set by the British. Their longish courtesies to their brother-in-law, once in the presence of public, were like ridiculing the laid-down norms. The Viceroy, who was a no nonsense man, thought it disgraceful and dispatched them immediately to their rooms. Their apparel appeared 'vulgar' to Mary and their stay in Shimla for seven weeks was so heavy on her that she prayed daily for their quick return.

On the other hand, Mary had an excellent sense of clothing. She had the apt outfit for every social event . Embroidered by the best Delhi craftsmen, she wore peacock dress on the occasion of Delhi Durbar in 1903. In that dress, she carried her romantic appearance floating like a dream when she moved during the Durbar ceremony. A beholder proclaimed: "Such beauty is not given to one woman in a million". This gorgeous American woman was more racist than British women and nourished rather callous thoughts about Indians. She believed that they were a laughing stock and the most inferior. Her hobby was to collect anecdotes of Indians writing English and her scrapbook had many comical and stupid specimens like 'my busam (bosom) is yearning for jools (jewels)' written by a Raja. She died in England in 1906 and the inscription on her tombstone, inter alia, reads 'perfect in love and loveliness'.

Shimla, October 27
It is certainly a café with a difference and that too not a small one, considering it has been part of the imposing Viceregal Lodge, which has been a witness to several historical events like the colonial rule and Partition in 1947.

Bearing a unique name "Fire station café-cum-bookshop" the new attraction at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) is a must see for its distinctive style and flavour.

The fire station attached to the then Viceregal Lodge, residence of the Viceroy of India and seat of the summer capital of the British, was built in 1940, much later than the main structure came up.

Lying in a state of abandon, the fire station has been done up very artistically and converted into a café while retaining its original look in the form of buckets, fire trolleys and helmets displayed on one side.

One side of the café has books and publications, including those ones brought out by the IIAS, while the other side houses the café.

"The place has so much history attached to it that practically everything lying here can be used to depict the turn of events that shaped the future of our country," says Abha Narayan Lamba, a conservation architect from Delhi who has been associated with restoration and conservation of some major historical structures.

She along with her associate, Krishna Iyer, worked tirelessly to do up the place in the most aesthetic way so as to retain the historic flavour and serve the purpose of a café. A much-needed place on the sprawling campus of the IIAS, which still evokes the imperial aura of the colonial era, will prove to a major attraction for all.

Rather than just providing refreshments to the people, it will give them insight into the history attached with the imposing structure which has been the residence of great men like Lord Mountbatten and his charming wife, Edwina, who practically shaped India's destiny.

The three walls of the café have been conceptualized on three themes- Partition, history of the Viceregal Lodge, and vignettes of the Raj. Each wall has some rare pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Mountbatten and other freedom fighters.

The wall depicting the history of Viceregal Lodge shows how and when the building came into being and the material used for it came from various parts of the world, including Burmese teak. It also shows the coming into being of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies in the presence of President S. Radhakrishnan.

The wall with vignettes from the Raj gives a peep into the days of Raj when there were imperial dinners, ballroom dancing and other activities involving high-ranking British officers and the memsahibs.

Henry Irwin was the architect of the Viceregal Lodge, located on the Observatory Hill. Completed in 1888, the tower's height was increased later by Lord Curzon. Local grey sandstone and light blue limestone was used with iron girders, beams, and trusses. Built on a high 331-acre site, this mock Tudor or baronial-style building is visible from far down the hillside, and was intended as a proud symbol of British Raj.

Nurpur, October 27
Owing to the inability of the local Municipal Council (MC) to pay its monthly power bill to HP State Electricity Board (HPSEB), the town would go without street lights in the days to come.

Inquiries reveal that the MC owes Rs 30 lakh to the HPSEB on account of outstanding electricity bills. Though the latter has already served notice to the council in this connection, the MC has expressed its inability to pay even the current monthly bill of street lights. The board is all set to disconnect power supply to the streetlights in the town. According to Lalit Kumar, the issue has recently been discussed at a meeting of the MC and it was resolved that owing to the poor financial position, the street lights bill would not be made.

RK Mahajan, president of the MC, clarified that the MC was getting Rs 62 lakh as annual grant-in-aid out of which Rs 60 lakh were being exhausted in the salaries of the council staff and workers. He urged the state government to either bear the salary of the staff or enhance the grant so that development activities were not hit. He also informed that the MC had dues towards residents to the tune of Rs 16 lakh on account of rent and house taxes.

Meanwhile, SK, Sarotri, SDO, HPSEB Nurpur subdivision, said the authorities would be left with no option but to disconnect the power supply to the MC street lights, if it failed to pay the bill. He informed that the MC had stopped making payment of bill two months ago. He added that the higher authorities had been requested to give permission to disconnect power supply to the street lights.

Chamba, October 27
Out of 85 appointments of doctors made by the state government recently, 14 doctors have been posted particularly in Chamba district, including three doctors in the regional hospital Chamba. The posting of 14 doctors in the district would mitigate the long-pending dearth of doctors in the length and breadth of the district.

Stating this here today, Dr VK Pathak, Joint Director, Health. Himachal, said the regional hospital Chamba at the moment had a specialised team of 17 doctors while five posts, including that of the ENT specialist, had been lying vacant for a long time. But the recent appointments of doctors would definitely fill certain positions of doctors, Dr Pathak claimed.

Meanwhile, the state health department had issued orders to the ENT specialist of civil hospital in Nurpur for his deployment at the regional hospital of Chamba, who would be camping for a week's time in a month as 'visiting specialist' for the check-up of patients suffering from ear, nose and throat ailments in the district, Dr Pathak revealed.

Dr Pathak said the CT scan unit of the local regional hospital, which was lying defective for about two months, had been set right and put into operation again by the computerised tomography (CT) scan engineer a few days ago; adding that earlier the poor patients of the far-flung mountainous terrains had to face a lot of hardship moving out of the district for carrying out CT scan investigation incurring huge expenses.

Dr Pathak asserted that round-the-clock emergency medical services had been commenced in the regional hospital where at least one doctor had been positioned on duty for the facility of the people of this alpine region.