Shimla, November 4
With no let up in the infighting within the BJP, the ruling party is losing out ground in the Jawali Assembly segment which may cost it dear. With the spat between Lok Sabha MP Rajan Sushant and Independent MLA from Nurpur Rakesh Pathania, who is a BJP associate member in the Assembly, many senior leaders are merely performing a formality in campaigning in the area.

The brash and aggressive nature of Sushant, who was an MLA from Jawali before he was elected to the Lok Sabha, has become another major irritant for the party.

Party sources confirmed that Sushant had already briefed the party high command, including Sushma Swaraj, about some BJP leaders, including a minister and Pathania, working against the interest of the party. “Even though Pathania is an Independent MLA, he is still close to the BJP and he too has already conveyed to the high command the brash behaviour of Sushant,” admitted a senior party leader.

Sushant, who was busy campaigning, could not be contacted but Pathania said he was working for the victory of the BJP candidate.

“However, the manner in which Sushant has been rubbing everyone the wrong way, it seems he is not keen that the BJP wins the Jawali seat,” said Pathania.

Despite the best efforts of BJP national vice-president Shanta Kumar, there is no let up in the bickering. Sushant is learnt to have publically said that after the results are out on November 10, he would seek action against some BJP leaders, including ministers.

His open remarks at public meetings in the presence of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal that the latter should distance himself from Nurpur MLA Pathania, has also made the position of the Chief Minister awkward.

Senior BJP leaders, including ministers who were campaigning in Jawali, admitted that the prospects of the party had been greatly marred due to the bickering. “We were in a winning position in Jawali till the day the candidate was announced and ever since, instead of gaining, we have lost out ground due to the public showdown between senior leaders,” said a senior BJP functionary.

With the Chief Minister too concentrating in Rohru during the last leg of campaign, it remains to be seen how the BJP fares in Jawali. The presence of BJP rebel Madan Sharma, elder brother of Sushant, in the fray, will certainly make a dent in the BJP vote bank.

However, with the BJP having the advantage of being the party in power, it remains to be seen which way the voter of Jawali sways.

Shimla, November 4
Personal integrity of individuals working in different positions is more important in curbing corrupt practices than various systems and mechanisms put in place by the authorities.

This was a conclusion of a panel discussion on the "Role of vigilance in PSUs" organised by the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam here yesterday. Chairman-cum-managing director H.K. Sharma said the public sector undertakings (PSUs) broadly worked on the laid down guidelines and rules and corruption was minimal. The work schedules were further bound by the time frames of completion and the activities of a PSU were monitored at various levels by different agencies. In SJVN, transparency in working had been maintained.

However, Managing Director, Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation, Tarun Kapoor asserted that despite rules and regulations corruption was rampant in many departments. He felt rules alone could not contain corruption.

It was not only in evaluating and awarding a work but also in getting it executed that laxity took place. A major cause of corruption in society was public tolerance of corrupt people as there was no social contempt for them.

Inspector general of police, vigilance, S.R. Mardi, was more frank in expressing views and said enforcement agencies at times failed to act against corruption because of lack of support from the people. The value systems in the country had eroded and the people also lacked the spirit of patriotism.

Worse, corruption had come to be accepted by the public as a normal phenomenon. Giving various examples of corruption in public life Mardi emphasised that "corruption will never make you prosper". There were many legitimate ways of making money, he added.

Director (Personnel), SJVN, R.S. Katoch, said a generalised allegation of corruption in the PSUs tended to severely affect the pride of its officers. The contribution made by PSUs to the national economy should be recognised.

Director (RICA) S.L. Sharma said economy was based on a continual development process in which the value systems pursued wealth as a goal of life. He maintained that only moral integrity would help in containing corrupt practices in various organisations of the system.

Chief vigilance officer K.C. Sadyal said corruption was widespread and deep-rooted phenomenon in the economy and the Central Vigilance Commission had been emphasising on e-governance to contain it. This could help in curbing the problem to a large extent.

Referring to the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, he said as a thrust on transparency and efficiency of e-evaluation of the tender documents would be gradually implemented.

Shimla, November 4
Unfavourable weather conditions over the past one year took a heavy toll of the apple crop with the total production declining by over 45 per cent as compared to last year.

Though the apple season officially came to an end on October 31, stray trucks carrying fruit are still moving out of the state. In all 1.20 crore boxes have been exported out of the state and another five lakh boxes have been stocked in cold stores by private companies like the Adani within the state.

The procurement under the market intervention scheme has been only 913 tonne as compared to 45,500 tonne last year. Allowing for 10 per cent consumption within the state, the total output is likely to be 1.40 crore as against 2.56 crore last year.

Weather conditions remained adverse all thorough as there was hardly any snow, considered white manure of orchards, during winter in the apple belt. The region experienced a prolonged dry spell from October 2008 to June this year. Even the monsoon was erratic and inadequate. The lack of moisture in the soil and atmosphere affected the quality of fruit which lacked in both size and juice content.

However, what the growers lost in terms of production was more than made up by consistently high market prices through the season. There was no glut of fruit in the market at any time and the prices of all varieties were almost double than last year. Some superior grade royal variety from Kinnaur were sold at Rs 3,200 per box and the average return for the produce from the tribal area for different grades of fruit ranged between Rs 200 and Rs 2500 per box. The rates of royal delicious variety from various parts of the state hovered around Rs 1500 per box as against Rs 800 per box last year.

Even the emerging markets within the state ensured good returns and in this season more than 25 per cent of the total produce was disposed of in these markets.

An encouraging feature was that buyers from far off states like Kerala, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra have started coming to the state to buy the produce. The shift of apple business from a few arhtiyas in Delhi to various markets within the state will save growers from getting fleeced and will also reduce their transportation costs.

Shimla, November 4
Fruit growers of the state have urged the government to close the apple carton factory at Pragatinagar and instead set up a modern controlled atmosphere store (CAS) for the benefit of apple growers.

Adviser of the state fruit and vegetable growers association C L Negi said there was no point in reviving the sick unit with its obsolete machinery as apple cartons were available in market at reasonable rates. In fact, the factory which was set up to introduce cartons to help replace the wooden packing boxes to save forests had fulfilled its purpose. The cartons had been accepted by the growers as a number of private units had also come up. Even otherwise the unit was only meeting 25 per cent of the total requirement and incurring heavy losses.

He said that it would be appropriate if the government set up a CAS which would ensure better return to the growers who could store their produce and sell it during off season.

Negi urged the government to arrange fertilisers for the growers as the apple crop had been harvested and it was time to use fertilisers. He also wanted the government to take appropriative action against Himfed and the HPMC, the two public sector undertakings which had failed to pay the arrears of growers on account of procurement of fruit under the market intervention scheme even after it released Rs 18 crore to them for the purpose.

However, he maintained that there was no shortage of pesticides, insecticides and other inputs. 

Kullu, November 4
Villagers of Mohal, Pirdi, Nareni, Jarad and Badah submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the Deputy Commissioner here today, demanding immediate shifting of the Indian Oil depot from Mohal.

They said the depot on the National Highway was in a populated area that had five schools (Cambridge, Trinity, Arunouday, Mother Touch Play School and DAV). The memorandum said since the depot did not have a pipeline connection, trucks brought petroleum products from Ambala and remained parked outside the depot for days together.

The memorandum stated the truck operators cooked their food on stoves, smoked cigarettes, making the situation more hazardous. The HPSEB high-tension wires crossing over the depot were also against the norms.

The villagers further pointed out that the IOC neither had an adequate fire-fighting system nor a foolproof security system. Above all, there was the Himachal Pradesh PWD coal tar mixture plant next to the depot.

Arun Sharma, director of a five star hotel at Mohal, said the IOC should immediately shift the depot to a safer place. He said the IOC should also have the public liability insurance (PLI) for this depot.

Bhoj Chand Thakur, an advocate at Ptrdi, said the district had a small fire-fighting unit. The fire tenders might not be equipped with the requisite foam for eventualities like that of Sitapur.

Anil Kant, a villager living near the depot, said the depot did not have a proper security system. The rear grill-gates were never guarded and the security staff was not trained for any emergency as the staff posted for security was hired from a private company.

R K Sood, manager of the depot, said the total capacity of the depot was 2600 kilolitres but the consumption in the region was about two to three truck a day and that was why they did not keep much stock.

He admitted that the security was with private people and the depot had a total of seven security personnel giving round-the-clock duty on a rotation basis. The fire-fighting systems were fitted but had to be manually switched on, he added. 

Shimla, November 4
A former president of the National School Games Federation of India C.L.Negi has demanded stern action against the Delhi unit for including overage players in the kabaddi team and bullying other teams during the national games being held at Dharamsala.

Negi who remained associated with the federation in various capacities for 40 years , including 12 years as president and eight years as general secretary, said the Delhi team not only fielded overage players but even put policemen in place of students and its coach also forced the Punjab team to withdraw its objection at ‘pistol point’. — TNS

Mandi, November 4
Despite efforts by the college to put up a good show, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) youth festival, that started here today with a “Kargil patriotic song”, turned out to be a low-key affair as not more than 29 college teams out of the state’s 71 colleges, turned up for the four-day-long show at Vallabh Postgraduate College.

The participants attributed the low participation to lack of motivation on the part of the college managements and the HPU’s youth affairs wing which failed to motivate students to take part in youth activities like skits, mime and dramas across the state.

“Even students are not interested in participating in such events as they tend to be lost in wayward activities rather than focusing on creative pursuits,” commented teachers.

Despite the fact that the youth festival was held here, there were just five colleges out of 11 colleges in Mandi district who had sent their teams for participation.

Most of the teams came from old colleges, with new colleges registering no participation, revealed the checklist of participants published by the organising committee.

Addressing the gathering during the inauguration, OP Sharma, director, education, said the organising committee should ensure grater participation of youth in the festival. The youth get an opportunity to brush their talents through such events, he added.

The state had achieved 20 per cent participation of youth in higher education and the department was aiming at 50 per cent target, which was still quite less than over 75 per cent recorded in the advanced countries, he said.

He said that the department was spending Rs 60 crore on basic facilities and other infrastructure in 71 colleges in the state. “The IT labs are being set up in 26 colleges and add-on courses are being encouraged among students to enhance the value of their degrees,” he claimed.

Principal Kusum Bakshi, while welcoming the participants, said youth now had the opportunity to hone their talents in dramatics and skits as the historic Gaeity Theatre in Shimla and even Mandi offered a platform to the budding artistes.

The team from the PG centre, Shimla, enacted a one-act play, “Kahan se kahan aa gaye hum”, which was a satire on the eroding social values set in the present day system.

Sunil, of “Sa re ga ma” fame from Sundernagar, sang the inaugural patriotic song devoted to the Kargil heroes on the occasion.

Mandi, November 4
The state government after delaying the process by a year to house Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, in temporary accommodation has finally started the process of handing over the HPTDC-run Mandav hotel, PWD rest house and part of the complex of the local Vallabh postgraduate college to the institute so that it can begin its next academic session (2010-11) from here.

The government is under pressure to speed up the process to provide the requisite infrastructure as its dilly-dallying attitude was sending a negative signal to the Central government. The Centre had asked the state government to house the prestigious institute in Mandi till its new campus came up at Kamand.

The first batch of over 120 students -- 40 each in electrical, computer and mechanical engineering -- has started its session from IIT, Roorkee, which is Mandi IIT’s mentor institute this year. The IIT team had demanded temporary accommodation in Mandi last year, but the process got delayed.

The Director, IIT, Mandi, SC Saksena, told that The Tribune that it had got a good response from the Himachal government, which had asked them to take over the temporary accommodation. “We will do the renovation and set up labs first. We will never compromise on quality as per IIT mandate,” he added.

The ABVP, however, has been opposing IIT’s move to conduct classes from Vallabh postgraduate college on the ground that this would displace college students.

College principal Kusum Bakshi said the IIT would invest Rs 9 core in upgrading the existing infrastructure on the campus that would make the college one of the best colleges in the state. “College students will not be displaced from the campus as we are asking for the immediate alternative for students on the campus,” she added.

The Director, Education, OP Sharma, asserted that the government would create additional eight lecture halls for college students. “We will not hand over the new buildings to the IIT till we have alternative arrangements for college students on the campus,” he said.

Dalhousie, November 4
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will soon start a “surfing centre for Internet facilities” along with a customer service centre here which will facilitate tourists hailing from the country and abroad to this picturesque global hill station.

This was stated by Anil Kaushal, chief general manager, telecommunications, BSNL’s Himachal circle, here today while inaugurating the newly constructed “doorsanchar bhawan” which has been built at an estimated cost of Rs 1.30 crore. He said the surfing centre and the customer service centre would be provided under one roof.