Shimla, August 4
Rich tributes were paid to late Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar, popularly known as “Himachal Nirmata” on his birth anniversary today.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was the first to pay tributes to his statue on the historic Ridge Maidan here. He was joined by his Cabinet colleagues, MLAs, councillors of local municipal corporation, senior officials of the state government and prominent citizens of the town.

The main function was held in the Vidhan Sabha Complex where the family members of Dr Parmar were also present.

While addressing the gathering, Dhumal said Dr Parmar was a visionary and far-sighted leader who laid a solid foundation for building a modern Himachal Pradesh at a time when the state had meagre resources and carrying out developmental activities was a difficult task. He promoted apple cultivation on the higher reaches of the state to strengthen rural economy which had indeed brought prosperity to the people. The state was poised to emerge as the “fruit bowl” of the country.

Not only that, Dr Parmar had protected the interests of the tribal people by banning purchase of land by non-tribal people in such areas. He said welfare and socio-economic uplift of the under privileged sections were the top priorities of Parmar and successive governments had been following the same policy. In fact, the state had been treading on the path charted by the founder of the state.

He said Dr Parmar knew what the common man expected from the government and framed the policies accordingly. It was for this reason that he ruled that state for about 18 years. His government was committed to realise the dream of Dr Parmar by making Himachal Pradesh a model state in all respects.

He also released two publications “HP Legislative Assembly — An Introduction” and Horticulture Special Edition of “Vidhanmala” on the occasion.

The State Congress Committee also held a function to at the Rajiv Bhawan to mark the occasion where party president Kaul Singh, vice-president Gangu Ram Musafir, general secretaries Mukesh Agnihotri and Sudhir Sharma, MLAs Harsh Wardhan Chauhan, Subhash Manglait, Yog Raj and Niraj Bharati, and other leaders were present.

Shimla, August 4
The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress continue firing salvos at each other even as the legal battle on the issue of illegal charging of commission from apple growers at Azadpur market in the Delhi High Court has entered the final phase.

The commission was being charged from the growers at the rate of 6 per cent even though the bylaws of the Delhi Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act were amended in 2000 to put the onus of payment of commission on the buyers.

The BJP had been blaming the Congress regime in Delhi for non-enforcement of bylaws all these years and soon after coming to power it filed a case in the Delhi High Court for its enforcement. The court passed an order on June 2, 2010, directing the Delhi government to enforce the law.

As the government failed to take any steps to implement the order, Horticulture Minister Narinder Bragta, who had been pursuing the issue for the past two decades, threatened to initiate contempt of court proceedings in the matter against the Delhi government. However, the Delhi government last week informed the court that the bylaws had been implemented. It had also asked the state government to file an affidavit within a fortnight giving its views on the matter.

In the meantime, the war of words between the two parties intensified. While the Congress dared the BJP government to get the commission being charged from growers as illegal, Bragta asked the Congress leaders to “explain their silence” in the matter and why they had not taken it up with their own party government in Delhi.

Not only that, Bragta blamed the Congress for causing the loss of Rs 550 crore to growers which had been paid by them over the past 10 years, ever since the bylaws were amended. He had written letters to top Congress leaders, including Virbhadra Singh, Vidya Stokes and Kaul Singh, to put pressure on the Delhi government and to also take up the matter for recovery of commission charged illegally from the growers.

The Horticulture Minister maintained that strike by “Ladanis”, who purchase apples, would not be allowed to affect the growers and the government would make adequate arrangements for the sale of their produce at markets set up within the state. He said already 50 lakh boxes of apple had been marketed.

Shimla, August 4
The Hallan-Majhat-Karjan Sangharsh Samiti, which is opposing the setting up of 1.5-MW power project on Haripur (Pakhnose) nullah in Kullu district, has accused the government of misusing state machinery to harass villagers.

Convener of the samiti Lal Chand Katoch alleged here today that villagers were being implicated in false cases at the behest of the private company and cases of theft had been registered even against women. The project, if allowed to come up, would spell doom for over a population of 15,000 of 19 villages in three panchayats as they would be deprived of their main source of drinking water and irrigation. Not only that, the nullah was one of the 40 streams identified for promoting trout fish and the project upstream would also affect the fish farm at Batahar.

He lamented that the district administration ignored their concerns and the sub-divisional magistrate did not record their objection and gave report in favour of the private company under pressure from the higher-ups in the government. The representatives of the committee had met Chief Minister PK Dhumal last month but there was no response. The government was on one hand spending hundred of crores of rupees to bring more land under irrigation and on the other depriving existing land of the irrigation facility. In the instant case over 60,000 bighas of fertile land would be affected.

The state secretariat of the CPM condemned the government for using state terror to dissuade the people from fighting for their genuine rights against private companies. It alleged that Continental Infra Tech Private Limited was in connivance with the state government criminally intimidating people. Once the water got diverted, the main drinking water and four irrigation schemes would become redundant.

The party asked the government to stop appeasing the big houses at the cost of the common people and accept their demands as sustainable development could not be possible without their support. The government had blatantly bent the law to extend a red carpet to private companies and similar kind of violations had occurred in Kashang and other hydroelectric projects.

Shimla, August 4
In a major administrative reshuffle the government today shifted 12 IAS and 20 state administrative service officers.

Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Food and Civil Supplies, Harinder Hira takes over as ACS, Industries, Labour and Employment; while ACS, Environment, Science and Technology, Sarojini Thakur will also look after Social Justice and Empowerment.

Principal Secretary, Training and Transport, TG Negi will hold additional charge of Director, HIPA; and Principal Secretary, Revenue, PC Kapoor has been posted as Principal Secretary, PWD.

P Mitra, who has been holding additional charge of Principal Secretary, Industries, takes over as Financial Commissioner, Appeals; and Sanjay Gupta, who has been awaiting posting, goes as Divisional Commissioner, Kangra, at Dharamsala, vice Onkar Sharma who takes over as Director of Industries.

Secretary, Revenue, JP Singh has been posted as Director of Vigilance-cum-Secretary, Home; and Additional Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Sandeep Bhatnagar goes as Special Secretary, Education.

Newly inducted officer KS Vasant is posted as Block Development Officer (BDO), Shilai, and his batch mate Ashish Singhmar takes over as BDO, Bhawarana.

Registrar of Consumer Dispute Tribunal GK Srivastav has been posted as Special Secretary, Personnel; and Additional Deputy Commissioner, Solan, Rakhil Kahlon is Managing Director of Jogindra Cooperative Bank. Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Bilaspur, Beli Ram goes as Joint Secretary, State Public Service Commission; while Gopal Chand, who was awaiting posting, takes over as Joint Secretary, Revenue.

Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO), Civil, Kullu, DL Kalia has been posted as ADM, Bilaspur; and Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner KC Chamana goes as ADM, Solan.

SDO, Civil, Nichar, Sanjay Sharma has been transferred as Regional Transport Officer (RTO), Hamirpur; while Joint Secretary, Training, DK Gupta, goes as Registrar, Consumer Dispute Tribunal.

Joint Secretary, Personnel, Ashiwini Kumar has been posted as Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Headquarters. SDO, Civil, Sundernagar, RK Gautam goes as SDO, Civil, Ghumarwin, vice Sumit Khimta who takes over as Additional Director, Elementary Education, Shimla.

SDO, Civil, Chamba, Sandeep Nagi is shifted as Assistant Commissioner to Deputy Commissioner, Kangra; while SDO, Rampur, Rajiv Kumar is Assistant Commissioner (Protocol) Parwanoo.

SDO, Solan, vice Arun Kumar who takes over as RTO, Solan, in place of SC Saklani who has been posted as SDO, Solan. Vivek Chandel goes to Sundernagar in the same capacity.

Jispa (Lahaul), August 4
The Dalai Lama’s proposed four-day-long visit to this hamlet here from August 17 has rekindled the hopes of pea and potato farmers and public at large in the landlocked valley as Buddhist associations have asked the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to improve the pathetic condition of the Manali-Keylong highway between Marhi-Rohtang-Koksar under the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to make the spiritual guru’s visit safe and comfortable.

These organisations, including members of the Lahaul Potato Society, have urged the MoD to ask the BRO to improve the road condition to facilitate the visit of the Dalai Lama to Lahaul.

The Dalai Lama will arrive at Kais Gompa in Kullu on August 16 and leave for Jispa, official residence designed specially for him a few years ago.

Dr BS Raval, a member of the Buddhist committee, said the BRO should improve the road condition so that the spiritual head of Tibet could travel safely by road.

“The Dalai Lama will inaugurate the Rs 1 crore “chorten”, a Buddhist landmark that marks the presence of Buddhism in the valley, at the Rohtang Pass on August 17,” devotees said.

Member of the Lahaul Potato Society Azad said they welcome the Dalai Lama even as the pea season was at its peak in Lahaul. “The farmers have been facing a lot of problem in transporting peas from Lahaul to Kullu markets for the past month as landslide at Rahni Nullah is yet to be stabilised for traffic by the BRO”.

The trucks get struck for hours on the Koksar- Rohtang-Marhi section of the highway, rotting the peas. As a result farmers are not getting good returns, they rued.

Though a section of Buddhist associations in Kullu-Manali are pressing the government to provide helicopter to fly the Dalai Lama, farmers and residents of Lahaul want that he should travel by road so that his visit may help in improving the pathetic condition of the highway.

BRO chief engineer ID Mathur said he would direct the BRO commander to ensure smooth passage to the Dalai Lama’s visit, but have not received any intimation so far.

The widening work on the highway between Manali and Serchu will be complete by 2013, while we hope to complete the Koksar-Rohtang stretch by 2011, he added.

Shimla, August 4
Taking serious note of the misleading statement by Congress leaders on the issue of charging commission from apple growers, the BJP said today that it was their government which had moved court on the issue to protect the interests of the growers.

BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt said the Congress was trying to mislead the people on the issue.

“In fact it is the Congress government led by Sheila Dixit which is solely responsible for allowing charging of commission when the court has already given the verdict in favour of the growers,” he said.

He said in case the Congress leaders were so concerned about protecting the interests of the growers then why do not they take up the issue at their own level or else move court for contempt proceedings.

“The Congress cannot mislead the people by doing lip service and making hollow promises when the real culprit for the commission being charged is the Congress government in Delhi,” he added.

Dutt said the Congress was trying to make a non-issue into an issue as they did not have anything to say against the BJP regime which had done good work during its two-and-half-year rule.

Mandi, August 4
Though the state government has appointed ombudsman under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MNREGA), not even a single Lok Adalat has been held by it for MNREGA complainants, charging “irregularities and fund bungling”.

The complaints are piling up in the BDOs and DCs offices in the state despite notification to this effect was issued on December 11, 2008. It was alleged that complaints had been piling up in each district as no Lok Adalats were held.

Mandi RTI bureau president Lawan Thakur said they had filed more than 50 complaints in the district, but none remained redressed so far as no Lok Adalat was being held in the state.

The Supreme Court had ruled that the state should hold Lok Adalats to give justice to the MNREGA complainants.

However, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Jai Ram Thakur dismissed the allegations and stated that the government had already appointed ombudsman in seven districts and would appoint more in other districts as well. — TNS