A view of Gyuto Monastery at Sidhbari. The 17th Karmapa, Ugyen Trinley Dorjee, has been staying here since 2000 when he came to Dharamsala.

Snow, rain lash region
Shimla/Manali, February 15
Wintry conditions held sway over the state as rain and snow continued to lash the region for the third consecutive day today.


A fresh spell of snow envelopes the tourist town of Manali on Tuesday. Photo: MC Thakur

Dharamsala, February 15
The 24-kanal land of Gyuto monastery, where the 17th Karmapa, Ugyen Trinley Dorjee has been staying since 2000 when he came to Dharamsala, was vested in the name of government today. The tehsildar of the respective area effected the mutation in this regard.

Though Karmapa is staying in Gyuto monastery, it is owned by the Central Tibetan Administration, which is a wing of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The total area of the monastery is about 50 kanals. The mutation of 26 kanals was vested in government earlier.

Persistent queries over the issue by newsmen even peeved the Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal. He had been maintaining that vesting of property of Gyuto monastery was nothing unusual and was a routine actvity carried out by the revenue officials. He then asked the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, RS Gupta to clear air over the matter.

The DC said that the mutation effected today was just an upgradation of the revenue record by officials concerned. The land of Gyuto monastery has been declared as benami by various deputy commissioners through orders passed from 2002 to 2008.

As per policy brought about the state government in 2005, the Tibetan government-in-exile had also declared Gyuto, along with 72 other properties, as benami. Now that the land has been vested in government as per revenue records, the Tibetan government-in-exile can move proceedings to get it on lease by depositing 10 per cent of the market value of land. The land of Gyoto monastery was purchased in the name of Dili Ram who has expired and Prem Singh.

The counsel of Tibetans RS Rana, when contacted by The Tribune, said: “The mutations effected today are a blessing in disguise for us. I had been trying to get these mutations effected for the past many years. Now that the mutations have been effected, we can move a case for getting the land back on lease from government as per the policy adopted in 2005.”

He also admitted the Tibetan government-in-exile might find it difficult to deposit the 10 per cent of market value of land as declared in the 2005 policy adopted by the Himachal government.

We had recently got the 10 per cent market value of Norbulingka monastery, another benami establishment, assessed from competent authorities. It came to about Rs 80 lakh. For getting the monastery land on lease from the government, besides Rs 80 lakh the Tibetan government-in-exile would also have to deposit 2 per cent registration fee.

Chandigarh, February 15
Following the retirement of the present Chief Information Commissioner at the end of the year, the state government must choose his successor from a panel as recommended in the RTI Act and not mechanically elevate a retiring bureaucrat to the position. Himachal Pradesh currently has one CIC and one Information Commissioner, both of whom are former bureaucrats.

The demands were raised by the Himachal RTI Activists’ Federation. The representatives of the federation chose to address the media here. The federation, said federation chairman R.M. Ramaul and general secretary M.S. Kalra, was concerned at the dilution and distortion in the state of the empowering Act. The CIC and the Information Commissioners should be persons of eminence in public life with a wide knowledge of and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management etc., said Ramaul.

While there is no restriction on the number of words that can be used in putting questions in the assembly, the federation noted, the Himachal Pradesh government was about to amend the RTI Act and place a ceiling of 240 words on each question. Even the existing rules, framed in 2006, are faulty, claims the federation, and requires RTI applicants to submit separate applications for each year, for which information is sought. If information is being sought about a public servant, under these rules separate applications are required to be asked for each year of his tenure.

The federation noted with alarm that the state government had declared officials right from the subdivisional level to the HQ as Information Officers. An applicant, under the rules, is required to exhaust the entire chain before he or she can approach the Information Commission. “It takes years to complete the process” and defeats the purpose of the Act, claimed T.C. Gupta and C.M. Mathur, who also addressed the media.

They demanded that hearings of the Information Commission be held in tehsils and district headquarters and not just in the state capital. When the CIC and the IO can claim TA and DA for their travel, it is illogical to force the RTI applicants to travel all the way to Shimla at their own expense for the hearing, the activists added. “How do you expect a person from Kinnaur to do so, especially in the winter season when major parts of Himachal remain cut off from Shimla due to heavy snow?” asked Ramaul , who felt that video-conferencing could be tried out for the hearing.

RTI activists in the state have been receiving threats from officials, who feel threatened by RTI applications, they claimed. The bureaucracy has come together, they alleged, to thwart the process of implementing the RTI Act in the state.

Dharamsala, February 15
The Himachal cabinet today back referred draft rules made by the education department to implement the Right to Education (RTE) in the state.

The sources available here told The Tribune that under proposed draft rules the schools up to eighth class would now be under the Department of Education. They would be granted recognition by the department of education. Earlier, the schools were granted recognition by the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education.

Under the proposed rules it has also been decided that for recognition of middle school up to eighth class the school must have at least 25 students in class fifth. They also proposed form advisory panel under the education minister to implement the RTE.

The draft rules also stated that the only a student of 14 years of above can appear in the Class VIII examination privately in exams conducted by the school education board. All students below 14 would have to go to school.

The draft rules were back referred as cabinet wanted changes in them.

In another major decision, the cabinet approved the amendment of articles of association of the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. It fixed the minimum number of directors of the corporation at nine and further authorised the organisation to avail the loan from the Asian Development Bank to the extent of Rs 3500 crore for execution of various hydro-electric projects.

The cabinet also decided to frame the Himachal Pradesh State Energy Conservation Funds Rules, 2011 to implement the provisions of Energy conservation act 2011.

Kangra, February 15
Chief Minister PK Dhumal dedicated the newly constructed residential complex named as Vivekananda Doctor’s Residence to resident doctors of Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, in Kangra this evening. The complex is constructed at a cost of Rs 9.5 crore.

Speaking on the occasion, the CM said the college campus was coming up as a self-contained and well-equipped complex, meeting all requirements of the serving medical and ministerial fraternity.

He said the newly constructed two bed room-flats would provide best residential services to resident doctors.

Dhumal said the newly constructed 64 flats would be allotted to the resident doctors so that they all were conveniently housed in one building within the college campus. He also listened to the grievances of the people and issued directions to the authorities concerned to redress the same. Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Ramesh Dhwala, Health Minister Rajiv Bindal, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Chaudhary, local MLA GS Bali, MLA Sanjay Chaudhary, former MP Kripal Parmar, Principal Secretary (Health) PC Dhiman and the college staff were among those who were present. — OC

Solan, February 15
A probe has indicted the management of an industrial unit, Himalayan International Private Limited, based at the Gondpur area of Paonta Sahib for violating labour laws, the Labour Department has recommended its case for prosecution under the Factories Act, 1948.

The probe was conducted after the Deputy Commissioner Meera Mohanty directed the labour officer (LO) to conduct an inquiry. On February 9, a mishap had led to the death of one labourer and injured six others in the premises of the unit.

The labour officer PD Sharma told The Tribune that the labourers had neither been issued any identity cards nor had been registered with the labour department by the labour contractor. He was operating without any license and had 44 labourers working under him. As per the norms, every principal employer and contractor is supposed to get registration and obtain a license from the labour officer for operating.

The report also recommended that the Factories Inspector (FI) should visit the unit and assess its safety aspect, although this inspection is mandatory prior to the issuance of a license to the unit.

The mishap had occurred when a metal rack holding heavy bags of compost gave way. The weight shifted on the adjoining racks that fell one after the other on the labourers working near it. According to the initial inquiry, the SDM Paonta Sahib had asserted that the racks were loosely piled up and appeared to be of inferior material. While it was being ascertained whether they were fit to hold the compost bags, the FI would also ascertain if the norms and formula laid down for such racks was followed with respect to their height and weight.

The labour officer said since initially a show-cause notice was issued to the unit and they were directed to explain their stand on violations within seven days. But since the unit had failed to respond the case has been forwarded to the Labour Commissioner for seeking prosecution under the Factories Act, 1948.

The unit would also face action under the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, as it was supposed to issue identity cards to its employees within three days.

Hamirpur, February 15
The mortal remains of soldier Jagdev Singh ( 25), who was killed in a landmine blast on Saturday in Nagaland, were consigned to flames in his ancestral Gabba village in Hamirpur district today with full military and civil honours.

Jagdev, who was serving in the 20 Jack Rifles in Nagaland, was on a petrol duty when he stumbled upon a landmine and was killed. The deceased has left behind his mother, wife and a 10-month-old child. A large number of villagers, Hamirpur SDM Pankaj Raj, DSP Anjani Jaswal and several political leaders paid tributes to the soldier and participated in the last rites.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal in his condolence message has expressed his heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family and said the sacrifice made by Jagdev would always be remembered. — TNS