Shimla, June 16
Training guns on his bete noire Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh, a former Congress minister; Vijay Singh Mankotia today wrote an open letter urging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to order an impartial probe into all his acts of omission and commission as the Chief Minister of the hill state by a judge of the highest court of the country.

“Your own honesty and integrity notwithstanding, the credibility of politicians is at an all time low and one of your Cabinet ministers A. Raja is already in the thick of a major scandal. Sooner or later you will have to confront all allegations involving this other “Raja” who had virtually transformed the hill state into his personal fiefdom,” he asserted while lamenting that the Congress high command had turned a blind to all charges against his autocratic and despotic rule.

He cited that the audio CD allegedly containing conversations of Virbhadra, his wife Pratibha Singh and others, the theft of briefcase reportedly containing over Rs 1.5 crore, irregularities in allotment of Jhangi-Thpoan-Powari hydroelectric project, Himalayan Ski Village project, conversion of taxi stand into a hotel at McLeodganj, illegally holding of excess land and cases registered against six IAS officers and other instances in this regard. He also wanted to know why the present regime failed to institute legal proceedings against Virbhadra and his former private secretary against whom enough evidence had been collected.

Mankotia also accused Virbhadra of marginalising good leaders of merged areas by projecting dubious ones, and as a result today there was a comical array of political dwarfs strutting like puppets. The people of the merged areas had been reduced to second class citizens. He said he had been waging a battle again Virbhadra for the past 28 years and each time he went to the people’s court from separate platform, first Janata Dal and later BSP, the Congress lost the election.

Sounding despondent he said there were countless who felt that the crusade would be an exercise in futility but not to wage a battle against the wrongdoers was against the doctrine of “karma”.

Shimla, June 16
The Chief Commissioner, Gurdwara Elections, Justice H.S. Brar (retd), held a meeting with officers to review preparations for the SGPC polls in the state.

He said there was only one constituency in the hill state but the electorate were spread far and wide over seven districts. The process of registration of voters, which commenced on June 1, would conclude on July 15. He said he was informed by officers concerned that registration form, which was, in fact, a declaration by the applicant that he was a “sahajdhari Sikh” had already been sent to the designated offices. In the rural areas the forms were available with the patwaris and in urban areas with officers appointed by the deputy commissioners.

Since one patwari at times looked after six to eight villages and the distance involved was too long, he had issued instructions to them to distribute forms at pre-announced easily accessible venues for the convenience of the people. He said in case registration forms were not available, the applicants could get it typed in the prescribed format or even submit a hand-written document for the purpose.

Preliminary electoral rolls would be published on August 6 and claims and objections could be filed with the deputy commissioners up to August 31. Final rolls would be published by November 9, 2010, after which the commission would request the Government of India to notify the election schedule. While Himachal and Chandigarh had one seat each, Haryana had 10 and Punjab 185. There were 50 double-member constituencies, 20 for Scheduled Castes and 30 for women. Further, five of the seats reserved for women had been earmarked for Scheduled Castes.

In the last elections held in 2004 there were 15,407 electors, the highest number of 8,538 was in Una, followed by Solan 3837 and Kangra 1615.

Shimla, June 16
Executing a blue print for reaching out to the youth even in the remotest part of the country with BJP ideology and message is what newly appointed Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) national chief Anurag Thakur intends to do after picking up a team. He is expected to include top professionals from various fields in the team.

Having been handed over reins of the BJYM at the national-level, the two-time MP insisted that till you had people with clean image and a dedication to serve, betterment of the nation and society could not come about.

“It is by focusing on issues like unemployment, infiltration of Bangladeshis, drugs and wrong economic policies of the UPA regime that we intend to reach out to the rural youth so that base of the BJP could be widened,” he remarked before leaving for Spain as part of a delegation of Parliamentarians.

He said it was after holding consultations with senior leaders that he would pick up his team, which could have social workers, cricketers or professionals from any field. “With almost 65 per cent of the Indian population being below the age of 40, this section is definitely the most significant and can make a difference to the fortunes of the country,” he remarked.

Sensing that the responsibility entrusted on him was no mean task considering the fact that he had Rahul Gandhi as the archrival in the Congress, he said he would like to work in a low-profile manner.

“I, along with my team, will prepare a blue print so that the youth can be roped in and the BJP’s overall performance can be improved in the elections,” he said. Reaching out to the deprived lot in the farthest corners of the state would definitely figure high on my agenda, he added.

While disagreeing that the BJP had not done too well in the past, he said even now the party was ruling in more states than the Congress.

“We will impress on the youth to ponder as to why there are no jobs for them, why the economy is in such a bad shape and who is responsible for dividing the country along caste lines even in the 21st century,” he said.

Shouldering responsibilities of an MP, president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and now the national chief of the BJYM, he is confident that he can devote ample time to each arena as it was a great opportunity for him to deliver and enhance the party’s prospects at the national level.

Shimla, June 16
Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Chaudhary has urged the Centre to hike monthly remuneration of anganwadi workers and assistants to Rs 4,000 and Rs 3,000, respectively.

Speaking at the conference of Social Justice and Empowerment Ministers at New Delhi today, she also urged that a separate project be formulated for the hill state in accordance with latest guidelines of the government of India which could oversee its effective implementation.

She urged the government to release funds for construction of anganwadi bhawans and assured that the state government would contribute its share for the purpose.

She said the state had reserved 50 seats in Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies for women and launched the Beti Hai Anmol Yojna under which the government would deposit Rs 5,100 in the name of girl child born to BPL families. Besides, the girl child would also be provided scholarship ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 1,500 from class I to plus two.

Other schemes, including the Mukhya Mantri Bal Udhar Yojna and Mukhya Mantri Kanyadaan Yojna, were also being implemented in the state.

Social security pension of widows had been increased from Rs 200 to Rs 330 per month and a provision of Rs 25,000 had been made for re-marriage of widows.

She thanked the Centre for sanctioning additional anganwadi centre for Palampur Agriculture University.

Sundernagar, June 16
Six persons died and eight injured when a Tata Sumo rolled down into a 300-ft-gorge at Bada village in Gohar subdivision of Mandi district yesterday. The condition of driver Tulsi Ram is stated to be serious who has been referred to the IGMC, Shimla.

According to sources, 14 persons, mostly belonging to one family, had gone to attend Kamrunag fair yesterday. The ill-fated vehicle met with the accident when it was on its way back.

Four persons who died on the spot were identified as Chand Lal, his wife Dolma, Bhuma Devi, and Bhagat Ram (son-in-law of Chand Lal). They were all residents of Salyog village.

Hamirpur, June 16
State vice-president of the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Narender Attri has hailed the appointment of Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur as national president of the BJYM.

In a press release Attri said the appointment had delighted youths of the state and was also a matter of pride for the state. He said the BJYM would organise a grand reception on arrival of Anurag Thakur in town.

He said selection of Anurag Thakur for this post was recognition of his hard work, ability to lead the youths and his devotion towards organisation which became his merits and were also considered by the national leadership of the BJP.

Solan, June 16
The power tariff announced by the State Electricity Commission has left industrial and commercial consumers shocked with an increase ranging from 40 to 50 paise per unit. This was in contrast to the last year when per unit cost was reduced by 15 paise while this year the increase was exorbitant and in the range of 13 to 17 per cent for large industrial consumers.

Investors resented the notification of the tariff order with retrospective effect from April 1 as they felt the effect of increase for the period that had already passed was in no way recoverable from their customers.

Rakesh Bansal, convener, power reforms panel CII and general secretary Parwanoo Industries’ Association, said a major component of the tariff increase was due to implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and revision of pay scale and terminal benefits ordered by the state government translated to about 18 paise per unit.

He said it was not mandatory for the electricity board to implement the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission as had been observed by the Appellate Tribunal of Electricity in various judgments.

Prem Sharma, president, Nalagarh Industries’ Association, said the industrial belt of Parwanoo, Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh, Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib accounted for 63 per cent power share sold by the board within the state and comprised the most crucial revenue centre. Despite such high stakes, it was being serviced by merely 2 per cent of the total strength and complaints remained unattended.

Dharamsala, June 16
Residents of Rajiana village have alleged that a few revenue officials of the area have usurped land of the local government senior secondary school.

The residents have lodged a complaint with Kangra Deputy Commissioner RS Gupta.

They alleged that about eight marla land in their village was being used as school playground since 1930.

Since the land was located on road head and was valuable, certain revenue officials posted in the area changed the entries in the revenue papers to usurp the land. They are now in the process of taking over the school land. In case the land is taken over, the school would be bereft of the playground facility, they rued.

The Deputy Commissioner has assured the villagers that an inquiry would be conducted into the allegations levelled by them.

Dharamsala, June 16
Poor patients, it seems, are at the mercy of nature in Himachal Pradesh. The case of Salochana Devi, a poor resident of Galua village, is living illustration of the fact.

Salochana Devi is a widow and facing complete renal failure. She is supporting a family of two children and mother-in-law, working as a labourer despite serious ailment. The only remedy to her ailment is time-to-time dialysis, a medical technique, in which blood is filtered with an external mechanism as kidneys have failed to function. The other option is kidney transplant that is a difficult option for the poor patients.

However, in the entire area there is no dialysis facility available. Even the super specialist hospital of the region, Tanda medical college, does not have dialysis facility.

The sources in the health department told The Tribune that some affluent renal failure patients had got their own dialysis machines. However, no government hospital in the region had the facility that could help the poor patients.

The patients like Salochana Devi are paying through their nose to get, what is nowadays a common treatment. They either have to go to the PGI, Chandigarh, or private hospitals in Punjab for dialysis.

Salochana Devi while talking to The Tribune said she could not afford to die due to lack of treatment as she had an old mother-in-law and two small children to support. ‘I arranged about Rs 8000 per month with donations from some philanthropists of the area to get dialysis done at the PGI every month.’

Certain BJP leaders of the Nagrota Surian area are now trying to get help from the CM’s relief fund for Salochana to mitigate her woes.

The CM has been helping such people in distress through his relief fund.

The medical experts when contacted by The Tribune said the numbers of diabetes patients had been increasing in the state due to lifestyle changes.

Due to diabetes, the numbers of patients facing renal failure is also increasing. The government should get dialysis machines installed in at 
least the major hospitals like Tanda medical college so that the poor patients could get treatment at affordable rates.

Sundernagar, June 16
A deputation from Behali village yesterday met Mandi SP Sonal Agnihotri and demanded a fair inquiry into the death of Gita Devi (26) whose body was found hanging on May 26 at her house in Pung locality here.

According to residents of the village, Gita’s body was found hanging in her bathroom under mysterious circumstances. The police has started an inquest proceeding only pertaining to the death but neither interrogated people who were pointed out by the parents of the deceased nor arrested them for reasons best known to them.

They further pointed out that the investigation was faulty and demeaned that the culprits be arrested for Gita’s death. They also claimed that Gita was murdered but the police had turned it into a suicide case. A large number of residents of Behali village accompanied the parents of the deceased and met the Mandi SP. The villagers were annoyed over the slow pace of investigation into the case and demeaned action against the accused who were responsible for the Gita’s death.

The SP assured them that fair investigation would be conducted into the case and persons responsible for the Gita’s death would be arrested soon.

Solan, June 16
Baba Ramdev today said his saffron robe had become his biggest enemy as multi-nationals (MNCs) were gunning for him after he raised voice against the harmful effect of several drugs being sold by them.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said it was lamentable that more than one crore young children were afflicted with type I diabetes which was a side effect of drugs taken to cure high fever, typhoid and several other ailments. These facts had emerged after a study and there was an urgent need to conduct a detailed research on this subject, he added.

He said since the issue was not congenital, it warranted immediate attention. He emphasised that increasing use of pesticides, fertilisers and genetically modified food was causing changes in the DNA structure which was an alarming development and needed to be checked at the earliest.

The yoga guru, while dismissing controversy over the grant of land lease for his Sadhupul-based pharmacy centre, said it was baseless to attribute motives behind a novel task which would benefit economically weaker sections besides the general public. He said it was a petty issue involving a small patch of land and should not be politicised.

Dwelling on the significance of adopting yoga as a way of life, Baba Ramdev opined that lifestyle diseases like stress, diabetes, hypertension, etc., could be averted by adopting it. He said the chief minister would inaugurate their Sadhupul-based pharmacy centre on June 19 and this would serve needs of the local community.

Reiterating his desire to contest the polls, he said they would enroll five lakh activists in 600 districts across the nation and would contest on all parliamentary seats. While ruling out alliance with any political party, he said they would support any party whose MPs did not have criminal background.