Shimla, August 23
The much-awaited Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institution (Regulatory Commission) Bill, 2010, could not be passed in the Assembly today as the government decided to refer it to the Select Committee of the Vidhan Sabha as suggested by Congress legislators.

In view of the fact that several private universities and professional colleges had either come up or were in the process of being set up in the hill state, the BJP regime was keen that the Assembly passed the Bill so that the proposed regulatory body could come into force. Permission was granted by the government to several universities, including seven in Solan district alone, and need for a regulatory mechanism was being felt to protect the rights of students.

“The government is in no haste to get the Bill approved though it is being felt that a regulatory mechanism to monitor the setting up of private universities and colleges should be constituted at the earliest,” said Chief Minister PK Dhumal.

He said the proposed Act would help keep a check on admission, research and examination process.

“The fact that Himachal has taken a lead in enacting this kind of a legislation, it becomes imperative that it is a fool-proof Act. Hence, it is only appropriate that it be referred to the Select Committee for further scrutiny,” he remarked.

Earlier, Education Minister ID Dhiman tried to convince Congress members with regard to qualification of the chairman and two members of the Regulatory Commission.

“The Act does not specify that the members would only be from the field of education as it could be anybody with higher learning, from medicine, legal or other field,” he said.

He, however, agreed to a suggestion by BJP’s Suresh Bhardwaj that though it was not possible to bring schools under the ambit of this Act, an amendment in the earlier Act to regulate schools was required to check their fee structure which was, in a few cases, very exorbitant.

Congress members Kaul Singh Thakur, GS Bali, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Kuldeep Pathania and BJP legislator Suresh Bhardwaj also talked on the matter. Thakur and Sukhu said since admissions were already over, the Act would, as it is, come into force effectively from the next academic session.

Pathania pointed out that the provision of allowing former member of the Regulatory Commission to be a part of private institution after two years once his tenure got over was against basic ethics of the legislation.

Shimla, August 23
Chief Minister PK Dhumal said today that the government would come down heavily on those involved in “benami” land transactions as precious agricultural land could not be diverted for any other purpose except for development projects.

In reply to a query by Congress MLAs Anil Sharma, Kaul Singh and Gangu Ram Musafir during the Question Hour in the Assembly, he said most of the permissions granted by the government pertained to power projects, industries, hotels, educational institutions and residential complexes.

He explained that though 121 cases of “benami” transaction had been detected in the state, it was not possible to pinpoint the culprit in each case. “Cases where land is in the name of someone else with huge investment for hotel or other project by someone else can only be detected by the Income Tax Department,” he said.

He said 609 permissions had been granted to non-Himachalis for purchase of over 618 hectares of land.

Dhumal assured the House that in case any specific complaint was made, the government would probe into it thoroughly.

Meanwhile, Kaul Singh pointed out that the government should make some provision so that the culprits could be booked as land mafia was very active, especially in Solan district.

Musafir, while pointing out that a lot of illegal land transactions were taking place under the garb of “power of attorney”, said a few legal provision must be made to check it.

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu of the Congress diverted the attention of the government towards ill-effects of use of oxytocins and poisonous chemicals for ripening of fruits and vegetables.

In reply, the Chief Minister said checking was being done under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. However, it was not possible to ban such chemicals as this was under the purview of the Centre.

In reply to a query about sale of power and the mode adopted by the state raised by GS Bali of the Congress, Dhumal said this was being done through the Power Trading Corporation (PTC). “Even though the rates were lower for various reasons, selling it through the PTC ensures timely payment,” he said.

Meanwhile, The House also passed the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Allowances and Pension of Members) Amendment Bill, 2010, to provide more facilities for free transit by rail, air and road to members and former members of the Assembly.

With the House passing the Bill, the pension of former MLAs with a five-year-term would also be enhanced from the present Rs 10,000 to Rs 14,000 per month.

The House also approved an amendment in the HP Maintenance of Parents and Dependants (Amendment) Bill, 2010.

Manali/Keylong, August 23
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned all records pertaining to supply and consumption of diesel and petrol used by the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) wing of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) working on the Deepak Project. It maintains the 473-km-long Manali-Leh stretch up to Serchu.

The CBI team caught GREF engineer Vikalp Purohit red-handed at Koksar selling diesel illegally.

Acting on a specific complaint, a CBI team member posed as decoy contractor, struck a deal and bought 800 litres of diesel allegedly from Purohit, the Koksar in charge, after paying him Rs 23,000.

The CBI summoned Purohit today at Shimla for interrogation. However, they failed to arrest him as he managed to get anticipatory bail. He told the CBI that he would be present as and when he was needed in the case.

According to R Upasak, SP, CBI, “We have verified the allegations that the GREF engineer was selling diesel on demand and investigations are on. We have asked the GREF to produce all records of supply of diesel and petrol, its consumption and the machineries in which it is being used.”

The CBI is also probing into other allegations that GREF used its machineries sparingly during its six-month-long working season, but hefty payments were made to contractors at the end of every working season.

“The CBI is also probing into other allegations that condition of the Marhi-Rohtang-Koksar highway remains pathetic despite crores of rupees being spent in the name of maintenance, widening and construction of culverts and clearing of snow every year,” according to sources.

However, GREF engineers rubbished these allegations, claiming that the cost per kilometre of double lane in the Rohtang area was close to Rs 3 crore.

“It is the most adverse life-threatening climate zone to work in as work lasts for three to four hours due to heavy load of traffic,” they explained.

Over 1,000 oil tankers take diesel and petrol supplies to border roads area and each oil tanker has to carry 10 rounds in a season, catering to the needs of the BRO and the Army.

Meanwhile, BR Chanana of the BRO vigilance department, said they had instituted an inquiry into the matter and would fix the charges. “We have a proper procedure for initiating legal proceedings against the guilty,” he added.

SS Pathania, SE, (works), Deepak Project, said Purohit had been summoned by the CBI. “I am not aware about the allegations as the vigilance takes care of such cases,” he added.

Deepak Project chief engineer ID Mathur and GREF Commander SK Doon could not be contacted as they were away to the headquarters to monitor the restoration work on the Shimla-Kinnaur-Kaurik National Highway-22 in the Pooh sector. 

Dharamsala, August 23
Uncertain government policies are hampering the development of micro-hydel projects in the state.

According to sources, in the past 12 years, the Himachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency (HIMURJA) has sanctioned about 600 micro-hydel projects. Out of these, just 26 have been commissioned as yet.

As per policy of the state government, most of the under 5 MW micro-hydel projects have been sanctioned to state residents. The total generation capacity of sanctioned such projects is about 700 MW.

Though the projects have been sanctioned to state residents, they have failed to construct them in the past 12 years. The reason behind it is procedural maze and lack of finance.

As per the laid-down procedure, clearance has to be sought from departments of Fforest, PWD, IPH, Fisheries and local panchayats even for micro-hydel projects.

The average cost of constructing a hydel project ranges from Rs 8 to Rs 10 crore these days.

The common people, who have been allotted the project, fail to generate such huge financial sources for bringing up hydel projects. The state government has no policy to provide finance to state residents for bringing up the projects.

In the recent past, the state government asked Kangra Cooperative Bank to finance the projects. The proposal was, however, turned down by NABARD.

Another option for state residents is to sell equity to out-of-state residents. However, it has allowed just 49 per cent equity for outsiders in projects sanctioned to state residents. No investor from other states is ready to invest without majority holdings in the projects.

The sources added that there is no definite policy regarding cancellation of such projects allotted to Himachal residents.

Had there been a clear policy regarding the time period to be allowed for commissioning of micro-hydel projects, they could have been re-allotted to other bidders who were in a position to bring them up.

A few micro-hydel projects in Kangra district have come in direct conflict with locals. The projects are proposed on small streams that are being used by local population as traditional water sources for drinking and irrigation purpose. The locals have been complaining that erection of such projects has damaged the traditional irrigation channels and polluted drinking water sources.

The government has to devise definite and affective policy for micro-hydel projects to make it beneficial for both the residents and state.

Solan, August 23
With incidents of snakebite cases on the rise, the demand for anti-venom serum has suddenly shot up in the region. This proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Kasauli-based Central Research Institute (CRI) which was now able to sell off its stock to various states.

The institute had almost 20,000 vials in its stock, but it managed to sell off almost half of its stock to Jammu and Kashmir. Since the rainy season leads to a sudden rise in the cases of snakebite, the demand for the vaccine also shoots up. The serum had been manufactured prior to suspension of its manufacturing licence but it failed to be sold off.

Since the institute’s manufacturing licence was revived in February this year, it was in the process of re-starting all its manufacturing processes. However, as some stock of the serum was already available with the institute the first priority was to sell it off before initiating fresh manufacturing process.

Director of the CRI Dr Mani said since the expiry date of the serum was in 2011 we were endeavouring to first sell off the existing stock. Information had been sent to all states about availability of the serum with the institute but demand only poured in from Jammu and Kashmir.

Explaining the reasons for the limited demand, Dr Mani said the serum available from private manufacturers was priced around Rs 400 while their product cost Rs 500. This gap in the price led to lesser purchases from this public sector institute though its demand was overwhelming across the nation. He added that till fresh demand poured in they could not manufacture any more serum.

He informed that no demand had come from even Himachal and, therefore, they had sent information to various state governments about its availability at the institute.

With nearly 83 cases of snakebites emerging in the district itself in the current rainy season one could estimate the demand for the serum. It was, however, worth mentioning that since the victims of snakebites were usually poor people they could not afford private treatment and thronged government hospitals.

Director Health Dr Vinod Pathak said the government institutions were well-equipped with anti-rabies vaccine and anti-venom serum and requisite refrigeration facilities were provided for proper storage, right from the level of Community Health Centre.

Shimla, August 23
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today entrusted the task of inspecting the damaged Ambedkar Bhawan in Daya village of the Shillai Assembly constituency to the Deputy Commissioner, Sirmour, and said the cost of the repair work would have to be borne by the contractor.

The issue, which had rocked the House last week and led to heated exchanges between Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Chaudhary and Shillai MLA Harshwardha Chauhan, was raised by the legislator in the House today after the Question Hour. He presented photographs of the damaged structure and newspaper clippings in this regard before the House seeking action against officials of the department who had tried to mislead the House as the structure was on the verge of collapse.

The Chief Minister said he fully agreed that there should be no misutilisation of government funds and had sought a report in this regard from the department. “The retaining wall of the structure gave way due to heavy rains on July 6 which the contractor repaired and later the PWD executive engineer and tehsildar inspected the site and reported that the building required some more repairs,” he added.

On the insistence of the MLA that action be taken against erring officials who had tried to mislead the House, the Chief Minister assured that in case there was evidence in this regard the government would not hesitate to do so as nobody had the right to misuse government funds.

HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur also demanded that action be taken against officials who were trying to misguide the House. “It is a very serious matter as it involves public money and nobody has the right to take the issue lightly,” he pointed out.

Kullu, August 23
A cloudburst over Tharaman village in Kullu district caused a flash flood, damaging several houses and roads in the region.

“Around 3.30 am there was a cloudburst. Due to heavy flow of water we had to vacate the village at night,” said Amar, a local resident.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Kullu RK Purthy said so far there were no reports of human casualties and assessments of the damage was being conducted.

“Due to the cloudburst, a lot of boulders and sludge have come down and they have damaged the road badly. The tehsildar
and naib tehsildar are doing recce of the area,” Purthy said.

After the incident, local residents of Tharaman, Grahan, Bradha, and Juani Ropa villages left their houses in a hurry.

Several vehicles were also saved due to quick action by local residents.

Villagers are worried about their crops, as this is the harvest season. — ANI

Shimla, August 23
Chief Minister PK Dhumal said today that the Himachal government would take up the issue of checking of overloaded trucks carrying pilgrims in Himachal to avert mishaps and also consider not providing any compensation to those killed in such accidents, whether Himachalis or outsiders.

The Chief Minister was replying to a call attention motion moved by Kaul Singh Thakur of the Congress in the Assembly with regard to precious lives being lost in road accidents in the state.

He pointed out that the government must take strict action to check overloading, bad condition of roads, vehicle fitness and medical health of the drivers.

Dhumal pointed out that the state government, in case of mishap of outside vehicles within Himachal, was providing compensation to families of the deceased despite the state’s poor financial situation. “In future, we will not provide compensation to families whose members die in mishaps in overloaded trucks in violation of the Motor Vehicle Act and other such legislations, whether they are from Himachal or outside,” he stated.

He said human life was very precious and nobody wanted that people should die in accidents. “When trucks are used to ferry passengers, especially pilgrims in hundreds, accidents are bound to happen. Hence, we will ask the authorities in Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring states to check such vehicles at the entry points,” he said.

Kaul Singh said there should be strict checking by the police and other agencies and nobody should be allowed to take liberty as fatal accidents in Mandi and Shimla had indicated that there was no check.

Earlier, Transport Minister Mohinder Singh assured that stringent checking would be undertaken to ensure that buses were in good condition and there was no overloading.

Hamirpur, August 23
A government office in the state, though closed officially a few years back, is still functioning without any official work. The only work this department is doing at present is disbursing salaries and dealing with the affairs of its employees.

The office of land consolidation with consolidation officer (CO) at Hamirpur was established on January 1, 1969, and two other CO offices were also set up at Amb and Bilaspur, besides office of director land consolidation at Shimla.

Since major work of land consolidation was going on in Kangra, Una, and Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Mandi, Sirmour and Solan districts at that time this office was established at Hamirpur, being a central place.

Later, offices of assistant consolidation officers (ACO) at Hamirpur, Amb, Dehra, Dharamsala, Mandi, Bilaspur and Haroli were also established.

After completion of main work of consolidation, the state government decided to wind up the land consolidation work and adjust its staff in the Revenue Department.

A few years ago, the other major work of this department that of deciding appeals against cases pertaining to land consolidation was also transferred to respective divisional and deputy commissioners.

At the time of decision to wind up, out of 569 employees of different categories who were working in the department, majority of them were adjusted in other departments.

The process of adjustment of remaining employees in the Revenue Department could not be completed as appeals related to their seniorities etc were filed in the HP High Court by them and stay was obtained on further adjustment.

However, about 100 employees are still employed with this department though there is no work for them except routine work of drawing salaries; leave sanctioning and such other employees-related works.

A monthly salary bill of about Rs 25 lakh is being drawn by the Hamirpur office of consolidation officer only, besides other establishment costs and salary bills.

The director of land consolidation said, “The state government decided to wind up this department a few years back and there is no work with the department at present.

However, after transfer of power of the Appeals Department, it stands closed. However, adjustment of employees is pending due to the high court orders. In fact, recently miscellaneous appeals have been filed in the high court in this connection.”

Palampur, August 23
Baijnath and Paprola areas of Palampur region have been experiencing heavy rain since morning, thereby disrupting normal life. Vehicular traffic, power supply and telecommunication services have adversely been hit, causing great inconvenience to the public.

Vehicular traffic on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway remained suspended near Sabzi Mandi for six hours this morning following damage caused to a culvert. Long queues of vehicles were seen stranded on the road. Vehicles carrying relief supplies to Leh victims were diverted via Kalu Di Hatti.

A landslide also disrupted traffic near the IPH rest house. Palampur town and its adjoining areas remained without water as drinking water supply lines suffered extensive damage near Bundla due to landslides and heavy boulders.

However, later in the evening, water supply was partially restored.

Many residential houses in the town suffered extensive damage because of rain. Rainwater entered many houses and several families were shifted to safer places. Fire fighters were also pressed into service to drain rainwater.

Palampur SDM Ratten Gautam, while talking to The Tribune, said a number of residential houses and public property suffered heavy loss in the region because of rain. Meanwhile, revenue officials have been deputed to assess the loss.

Shimla, August 23
In a landmark judgment, the HP High Court has held that all Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) and Land Acquisition Officers (LAOs) of the state are not eligible to act as Commissioner under the Workmen Compensation Act unless they have the requisite qualification prescribed under the amended provision of the Act. As per the Act, only those officers are eligible who have an experience of being a gazetted officer for five years as well as educational qualification and experience in personal management, human resource development and industrial relations.

The issue was raised by advocate Janesh Gupta by filing a petition wherein he had urged the court to direct the state government to appoint Commissioners under the Workmen Compensation Act in view of the amended provision of the Act which came into force on January 18, 2010. The petitioner mentioned that the state government had issued notification for appointment of Commissioners on

August 22, 2005, whereby the state had appointed all its SDMs as Commissioners within their respective jurisdiction. 

Solan, August 23
With a view to providing clean drinking water at public places, including dhabas, hotels and sweet shops, the district health authorities have directed these establishments to install water purifiers on their premises.

The move assumes significance as scores of cases of water-borne diseases have been reported from the state in the current rainy season. A direction in this regard was today passed on by Chief Medical Officer Dr Ashok Tagra and Medical Officer KBL Shrivastava.

District Food Inspector Satish Thakur later inspected all such premises located in Solan town and explained the significance of installing water purifiers. He said this small effort could go a long way in checking various water-borne diseases in the district and once successful it would be replicated in other parts of the district as well.

Thakur said it was more important to educate people about the ill effects of drinking water stored under unhygienic conditions as this would help bring about the required transformation. — OC