Zila parishad members after taking oath in Shimla on Monday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

The Congress leadership has already accused the BJP regime of trying to lure the elected members to enable formations of their bodies in places where they do not have a clear majority.

14 take oath

BILASPUR: Deputy Commissioner Nandita Gupta administered the oath of office to all 14 elected members of the zila parishad at the Zila Parishad Hall here today. She exhorted all members to take care of the areas for which they were elected and said people had elected them with great expectations.

Those who took the oath are Indu Sharma (Pantehada), Ganga Devi (Lehadi Sarel), Anjana Sharma (Kutheda), Promila Devi (Patta), Poonam Kumari (Barthin), Vijay Kumar Kaushal (Ghandhir), Anita Devi (Kalol), Anoop Mahajan(Samoh), Rita Devi (Chandpur), Basant Ram Sandhu (Barmana ), Kuldip Singh Thakur (Suin Surhaad), Babu Ram Thakur (Jukhala) and Hoshiyar Singh Thakur (Behal).

Deputy Commissioner also said now the chairman and vice-chairman of the parishad would be elected on January 18 at 11 am in the Zila Parishad Bhawan here and all members must remain present at that meeting for this purpose. — OC

Solan, January 10
The ruling BJP bagged both top posts of chairman and vice-chairman in the Nalagarh and Solan Block Development Committees (BDCs) with all elected members unanimously electing BJP-supported candidates.

Since the BJP had managed to woo 33 of the 40 members, the Congress failed to even project any candidate for the two key posts. Thus, its seven members had little option but to support the BJP supported candidates.

Vandana Thakur and Balwinder Thakur have been elected as the chairman and the vice-chairman, respectively. This has created a history of sorts in the state where the BDC polls witnessed no contest.

Nalagarh MLA HN Saini emerged as the brain behind this achievement as he managed to muster support of 33 candidates leaving the Congress with a poor score of seven.

In the Solan BDC, since the Congress had no Schedule Caste woman candidate they were forced to back the BJP-backed nominees. Rita Devi was unanimously elected as the chairman by the 17 candidates, while Inder Singh Mehta was chosen as the vice-chairman. With the BJP having the support of the majority of nine candidates they managed to bag both the posts.

This was a humiliating defeat for the Congress which had captured both BDCs in the last term. This defeat showed lack of coordination in the Congress which did not even field any candidate for the vice-chairman’s post in Solan and rather supported the BJP candidate.

Its gain was limited to winning the post of chairman in the Solan Municipal Committee. Rather than consolidating its position after having lost all five Vidhan Sabha seats in the 2007 elections, the Congress appeared to be marred with factionalism, thus, leaving little scope for even fielding a consensus candidate.

Dharamsala, January 10
Political manoeuvring for the election to the posts of president in Block Development Committees (BDCs), that are formed by panchayat samiti members, and zila parishads has started. Though the elections were not held on party symbol, still both Congress and BJP have been claiming victory.

Former minister and Congress MLA GS Bali today paraded panchayat samiti members of his group at Nagrota Bagwan. He claimed that 18 out 20 panchayat samiti members from his constituency, Nagrota Bagwan, were from his group. In the Kangra constituency also, 18 out of 26 panchayat samiti members were from his group, Bali claimed.

Bali also alleged that the ruling party was trying to poach Congress panchayat and zila parishad members. He said he would file a case if any such act was taken by the ruling party. “Earlier also, the ruling party had tried to poach on panchayat samiti members and we had filed casest against them”, Bali alleged.

He also claimed that in Nagrota Bagwan and Kangra blocks, the Congress would easily capture the seat of president of the BDCs.

BJP in charge from Nagrota Bagwan Mangal Chaudhary claimed that three out of four zila parishad members were of the ruling party.

In Dharamsala, the BJP claimed that it had won majority seats of panchayat samiti members. Minister of Industries Kishan Kapoor claimed that the BJP had the support of 13 out 19 members in Dharamsala. It is for the first time that BDC is being formed for Dharamsala.

Meanwhile, panchayat samiti members were administered the oath by respective tehsildars in 15 blocks of the district today. The members of the zila parishad would be administered the oath on December 12.

The BDCs and zila parishads have a pivotal role in deciding utility of funds being provided by the Union government under various schemes. The funds cannot be utilised without their prior approval. However, since most of the members in these bodies do not participate in decisions actively, the real purpose of getting funds approved through them gets defeated.

Nurpur (Dharamsala), January 10
The much-awaited bridge over the Chaki river on the Punjab-Himachal border was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Surface Transport and National Highways Mahadeo Singh Khandela today.

The bridge that was in controversy due to delay in its construction was finally thrown open to traffic after inauguration by the Union minister.

The bridge is a vital link to Pathankot-Kangra-Mandi road. It is also used by the Army to reach Leh through Manali. The bridge on the Chaki had collapsed 3-years ago.

The basic reason for the collapse of the old bridge was illegal mining. The Chaki river, which originates from the border of Kangra and Chamba districts, is a rich source of gravel stone. About 300 crushers, both on Punjab and Himachal side, are thriving on gravel in the river.

Unchecked illegal mining in the area has resulted in a massive erosion in the Chaki that has threatened the basic infrastructure like bridges that have been constructed on the Chaki. Even the Army and Air Force authorities that have their installations along the Chaki have been writing to the authorities in Himachal and Punjab regarding the threat posed to them due to illegal mining in the river.

Last year Himachal took some concrete steps to check illegal mining in the river. The Himachal government has banned mining in the Chaki in its territory. However, in the areas bordering Punjab, illegal mining is still taking place.

The new double lane bridge that is 520-metre-long and has been constructed at a cost of Rs 36.5 crore is now open for traffic. The engineering department said the bridge could resist a mild-intensity earthquake. However, they were not sure if it could withstand illegal mining in the area.

Minister Khandela said during the current financial year, the Union government had given Rs 982 crore for various national highways and Rs 84 crore for 20 bridges in Himachal.

PWD Minister Himachal Ghulab Singh and Minister for Industries Kishan Kapoor were also present on the occasion.

Shimla, January 10
A delay in allotment of Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to dealers registered under the State VAT Act and the CST Act is likely to affect the Excise Department’s plan to fully computerise its functioning.

Initially, the task of assigning TIN to the registered dealers was to be completed by June 30 last year. However, only a small number of dealers could be covered by the stipulated date as a majority of those, who applied for it, submitted incomplete documents, while others did not apply at all.

The department was forced to extend the deadline for March 31, 2011. Keeping in view the reluctance of traders to furnish complete information sought through the “fact sheet”, the department adopted a lenient approach, particularly regarding furnishing of sureties, so that TIN could be issued at the earliest.

The step helped in expediting the process but it may not be completed by the revised deadline as only about 40,000 out of the over 60,000 registered dealers have been issued TIN.

Commissioner of Excise and Taxation J.C.Sharma has appealed to the traders to complete the formalities at the earliest as they will not be able to avail the facility of e-payments and e-returns until they assigned the TIN. He said the main purpose of the “fact sheet” was to have an updated data about the dealers, like ownership, change of premises and kind of business activity being pursued, which was in their interest.

The switchover to e-tax administration will make life easier for dealers as they will not have to visit various offices for depositing tax and filing returns. An e-payment portal has already been made available for remitting taxes. The total switchover will not only eliminate human interface but also ensure speedy settlement of cases.

Procurement of goods, particularly from outside the state, will become much easier once TIN is assigned to the dealers as details could be traced on its basis through the web portal TINXSYS created by the Centre. The department will be in a position to prevent leakage of revenue and malpractices in business by keeping of track the transactions.

TIN is similar to PAN (Permanent Account Number) of the Income Tax Department with a standard 11-digit format and it will facilitate smooth switchover to new GST regime proposed for implementation from the next year. 

Shimla, January 10
Asserting that corruption in high places was becoming a serious threat, national chairman of the Anti-Terrorist Front Maninderjit Singh Bitta demanded enactment of a legislation to debar persons occupying sensitive posts like Chief Justice of India and Chief Election Commissioner from taking up any assignment after superannuation.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he said the posts of Chief of Army Staff, Director of the CBI, Director of the IB and CVC should also be covered under the legislation.

He said some recent scams had put persons occupying such top posts in the dock and it was becoming quite evident from the fact that the government was using post-retirement assignments to influence the incumbents. The credibility of all four pillars of democracy, including media, and constitutional authorities had been severely undermined and the common man was fast losing faith in the system which did not augur well for the country.

He said his front, which was so far focusing on terrorism and issues relating to internal security and defence, would now campaign against corruption and it had decided to observe January 30, Martyrdom Day of Mahatma Gandhi, as Anti-Corruption Day.

Bitta lamented that the main political parties were engaged in game of one-upmanship and in the process real issues were being ignored.

He demanded fast track courts like military courts to ensure expeditious trial of those involved in terrorist activities. The government should take an early decision on carrying out the sentence awarded to Kasab and Afzal Guru by the apex court as inexplicable delay was sending wrong signals.

Kullu, January 10
The Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh has decided to hold elections to the sixth Bar council of the state on June 18.Stating this here today, Bar council chairman Naresh Sood said the sixth Bar council would have 20 members as against the present 15 members.

He said the number was increased keeping in view the increase in the total number of advocates to 6,600 in the state under the Advocates Act, 1961.

Sood said the final electoral rolls would be published between April 3 and 18. Nominations would be accepted from May 23 to 26 while the scrutiny would be done on May 28. The last date of withdrawal would be May 30.

The polling date has been fixed as June 18 and counting will be done at Shimla on June 26, he added.

The chairman of the Bar council further said to adjudicate upon an election dispute an Election Tribunal had also been constituted.

The term of the present Bar council will expire on June 28, he added. 

Shimla, Janaury 10
Members of the State Bank of India (SBI) Officers’ Association here today staged a protest against the autocratic, negative and non-cooperative attitude of the authorities at Chandigarh Circle office of the bank.

Deputy general secretary of the association Hardev Garg said the management was not holding the meeting of the circle negotiating committee at stipulated intervals and pending issues were not being resolved. In the absence of any transfer policy, decisions were being taken unilaterally and no security had been provided to unguarded branches.

Further, no monetary compensation was being provided for the staff working on Sundays and holidays and salaries of officers under transfer were being withheld. Action was not taken on even the issues decided in the last meeting of the circle negotiating committee.

The association would hold a demonstration on January 18, followed by a one-day token strike on January 24 and two-day strike on February 14 and 15.

If required, the association would give a call for an indefinite strike in March.