Shimla, January 14
A medal-winning performance by a sportsperson is far more rewarding than the heroic exploits of a soldier in the battlefield. Even Param Vir Chakra, the highest gallantry award, does not bring the same honour, financial gains and other benefits that accrue to the winners of sport medals.

The hefty cash rewards, announced by the state government to the Commonwealth Games and the Asiad winners, have brought to fore this anomalous situation to light. A comparison of the cash rewards and other benefits being given to the heroes of the Kargil conflict and the recent medal winners is quite striking.

Subedar Vijay Kumar, who won 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal and 2 bronze, got Rs 41 lakh, Samresh Jung Rs 8 lakh for 1 silver and 1 bronze medal, Meena Kumari Rs 3 lakh for 1 bronze and Sonia Rai Rs 5 lakh for 1 silver medal.

Further, the Army gives two out-of-turn promotions to winners of sports medals. For instance, Arjuna awardee Subedar Vijay Kumar, who joined the Army as a soldier in 2001, had been given out-of-turn promotions in 2005 and 2008.

In comparison, the gallantry award winners are an ignored lot. For example, Sanjay Kumar, the hero of the Kargil war who was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, was not given any out-of-turn promotion. Even after 14 years of service, he is still a Lance Naik.

The Param Vir Chakra is the second highest award after Bharat Ratna but no adequate gains accrue to the winner, laments Shakti Singh Chandel, a former IAS officer, who also served the Army and participated in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars.

The Param Vir Chakra winner only receives an annuity of Rs 1.25 lakh which is not a big amount when compared to what the sports winners are getting.

The state government gave Sanjay Kumar a cash award of Rs 22,000 only in 1999 and another Rs 1,50,000 in lieu of allotment of land which is not enough to purchase one biswa of land, he points out.

Chandel has brought the matter to the notice of Chief Minister PK Dhumal and urged him to end this anomaly, besides taking up the matter with the Ministry of Defence which did not give any cash award or promotions to the gallantry awardee.

He has suggested that a one-time lumpsum grant of Rs 25 lakh to be given to Param Vir Chakra awardees should be extended retrospectively at least to cover the war heroes of the Kargil conflict. At the same time, they should be allowed to retain the existing benefit of annuity for the lifetime.

There is every reason for giving cash rewards to the gallantry award winners retrospectively as a war breaks out once in decades where sports events are held regularly.

Chandel points out that during the British days, gallantry award winners were given 10 to 50 acres of land the value of which would run into crores of rupees at current rates. 

One-time lumpsum grant of Rs 25 lakh to be given to Param Vir Chakra awardees should be extended retrospectively at least to cover the war heroes of the Kargil conflict. At the same time, they should be allowed to retain the existing benefit of annuity for the lifetime

Manali, January 14
The tourist town and its adjoining areas experienced a fresh spell of snowfall today, resulting in a considerable fall in the day temperature.

The entire Manali region was covered with a white blanket. The tourists, who have converged on the famous tourist hill station of Manali from all parts of the country, were delighted to see the town donning an impeccable white mantle.

The thick white layer covered the trees, roofs and the ground transformed the landscape virtually into a fairyland. Meanwhile, the tourists rushed to the Solang valley to see the fresh snowfall. Tourists were seen enjoying skiing, riding on horses and yak and throwing snow balls on one another and had photo sessions.

The ski slopes of the Solang valley also experienced a fresh spell of snowfall. The snow on the Solang ski slopes brought cheers and smiles on the faces of ski lovers who have come from different parts of the country to undertake in the basic skiing course.

Besides bringing joy, a fresh spell of snow on the Palchan-Solang road brought its share of miseries too. Due to thick layer of snow on the road, it became slippery and tourist had a difficult time driving their vehicles further to the slopes.

Palampur, January 14
In the absence of any check from the state government, the prices of vegetable and fruits have touched a new high in the markets of Palampur. Despite the fact that the Essential Commodities Control Act is in existence in the state, no step has been taken so far to control the prices of vegetables in Palampur.

Most of the vegetable sellers do not display the price list which is mandatory under the Essential Commodities Control Act. The retail price of tomatoes in the local market is Rs 60 per kg, whereas in the wholesale market, its price is Rs 30-35.

Likewise the wholesale price of onion per kg is Rs 30 and it is being sold at Rs 60 per kg in the retail market. Carrot is sold for Rs 20 as against it wholesale price of Rs 5-7 per kg. Senior officers have no reply to explain the reason for the big gap between the wholesale and retail price.

Information gathered from the local market revealed that 80 per cent vegetable sellers do not display the price list. In the past two years, not even a single vegetable seller was fined by the food and supply department for the violation the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act in the town.

However, SDM Ratten Gautam, said necessary steps would be taken to check the prices of vegetables. He would ask the food and supply inspector to visit the shop and submit a report to him.

Solan, January 14
With the Centre set to constitute a central drug authority (CDA) for drug licensing and regulatory system, the voice of dissension has started pouring in from the industry.

Opposing the proposal on the basis that it would lead to concentration of powers in the hands of the Centre, the Himachal Drug Manufacturers Association (HDMA) has given a representation to the Chief Minister and urged him to take up the issue.

HDMA president Sanjay Guleria, while terming it against the policy of decentralisation being adopted by the Centre, said it would lead to delay thus harassing the industry.

With inadequate infrastructure, lack of accessibility and manpower available with Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation offices in Delhi and other zonal offices, the applicants will face inconvenience in filling and processing their applications, filing appeals against the order of the licensing authority as these issues will be addressed by the zonal offices.

Since the CDA will recruit fresh manpower to manage the zonal offices, their lack of experience will cause problems and this will render the experienced staff in the states workless.

The industry has stressed that the creation of excise duty-free zones had brought investment worth crores to Himachal but these units will shift back to areas near the zonal offices for convenient handling of licensing issues.

Dharamsala, January 14
A draft proposal, prepared by the Department of Forests for creating new posts and increasing the cadre strength, has created resentment in middle and lower cadre officers of the department.

The officers are feeling that the policy is inclined to benefit the high-ranking officers at the cost of middle and lower cadre forest officials.

Sources here told The Tribune that the higher officials of the Forest Department had prepared a policy for creating additional posts of principal chief conservator of Forest (PCCF), Additional PCCF, Chief Conservator and Conservator. At present, the cadre strength of the Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers in the state is about 100. Under the policy being framed, it is proposed to be increased to 116.

Among all these categories, chief conservators is a new category of officers. It has been proposed that the chief conservators will look after work in forest circles that is being looked after by conservator-level officers.

The proposal has created a flutter in the conservator category officers. The conservators allege that they have been promoted as conservators after a long time. If the draft policy is accepted by the state government, their role in the department will once again be reduced to the DFO level.

It is like posting a chief engineer on the post of an executive in the department, said a peeved conservator-ranking officer while talking to The Tribune. While chief conservators will assume the charge of conservators, they would encroach upon the jurisdiction of divisional forest officials and further.

The sources here told The Tribune that the time promotions being granted in various government departments were creating top heavy bureaucracy. Under this policy, the officers in various government departments were promoted taking into account the number of years they had served rather than the need in the department.

In the Forest Department, while there is a shortage of staff, the department is having sufficient numbers at PCCF, Additional PCCF levels. The department has a problem of finding jobs for high-ranking officials. The sources also said the increased burden of work had been made the basic justification for the draft policy.

The lower and middle ranking forest officials have also resented that the new policy has not been circulated among them. The policy is likely to be presented before the government for approval.

Shimla, January 14
All developmental blocks in the state will be provided video-conferencing facility to enable prompt interaction between representatives of the panchayati raj institutions and senior officers in the state and district headquarters.

This was stated by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, while releasing the “Primers”, booklets containing guidelines for newly elected representatives of the panchayati raj institutions here today.

He said the government had provided the required equipment, which was being installed and tested for the two-way connectivity. The system would go a long way in saving time and money as the elected members would not have to undertake long travels to district and state headquarters for meetings.

He underlined the need for regular training and updating of “Primers” to keep the elected representatives updated about the latest rules.

The Primers included, “Hamara Shasan Hamare Haath” (gram sabha), “Hamara Vikas Sabke Saath” (gram panchayat), “Vikas Ki Raah Par Hum Saath”, (panchayat samiti aur zila parishad), “Samajik Ankekshan” (MNREGA) and “Vikas Path”. These will be provided to the newly elected representatives so as to enable them to discharge their duties and responsibilities effectively.

Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Jai Ram Thakur gave details of the training schedule prepared by the department for the newly elected representatives which would be completed in a phased manner in four months. He said efforts were being made to make training facilities available to women representatives at block level, keeping in view their domestic responsibilities. 

Shimla, January 14
A man and his son were killed when their car met with an accident near Pungrish Nullah on a link road near Kotkhai.

According to the police, 36-year-old Juhar and his 11-year-old son, Aryan, were killed when their car skidded off the road due to snow. The mishap took place on a link road today afternoon, killing both. They were on their way to Shimla when the accident took place.