Dharamsala, February 25
Though there has been much talks about the promotion of tourism in the state, the rules for implementing the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Promotion and Registration Act 2002 are yet to be framed.

The Act was brought by the Himachal government in 2002 to streamline the policy for promotion of the tourism industry in the state. However, the rules have not been framed as yet.

The department of tourism has no power to regulate the hotel industry. The classification of hotels by the department was one of most vital components of the Act.

The classification could have acted as a guide book for tourists coming to the state. At present, the tourists are at mercy of unorganised travel agents for booking of hotels. Many times the tourists feel cheated as they are overcharged for facilities provided in private hotels. They also lodge complaints with the police or local authorities which brings a bad name to the state. However, in case the hotels are classified, the tourists can base their decisions of hotel bookings on that.

As per the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Act 1995 that has become redundant after the new Act was brought in 2002, criteria for classification of hotels were worked out. The classification was to be done as per the procedure laid down according to amenities and standards of accommodation available in hotels. For this purpose, an approval and classification committee was to be constituted.

Hotels were to be classified in categories ranging from A to E category. The A category status was to be accorded to hotels that obtained 80 marks as per the laid down criterion while the E category was to be granted to hotels who score less than 20 marks.

Under the procedure, 20 marks were to be awarded to hotels and restaurants for their location, availability of parking place and lawns for guests, another 20 marks for dining hall, lounge, 10 marks for lift for hotels having more than 3 storeys and bar, 25 marks for minimum carpet area standards for bedroom. The minimum carpet area for single bedroom was fixed at 100 sq feet, double bedroom 120 sq. feet and bathroom at least 30 sq feet.

Sources in the department said many tourists, especially those coming from foreign countries, had demanded that a classification criteria for registered hotels should be mandatory for their guidance. However, it remains to be seen how long the department takes to frame rules for implementation of the Act.

Shimla, February 25
Disappointed by the Railway Budget, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today said the raw deal handed out to Himachal had once again proved that the Centre was discriminating against the peace-loving states and going all out to help those states where terrorism was being encouraged.

Terming the budget as disappointing and contrary to the expectations of the simple, hard working and peace-loving people, he said they were being made to pay price for being peaceful and law abiding.

The successive Union Railway Ministers had been only watching the interests of their home states and not bothered about rest of the country. He feared that if the railway expansion was continued to be carried out on the whims and fancies of the ministers, the future of the country could be well imagined.

Shimla, February 25
With the Congress high command in no hurry to approve the list of members to be co-opted to the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), the constitution of the new state executive will be delayed further.

However, the state unit may be allowed to increase the size of the state executive and it may have more than 40 members instead of 36.

Party president Kaul Singh has taken up the matter with the high command and in all probability, he will be allowed to nominate five or six members in addition. The number of office-bearers, comprising vice-presidents, general secretaries and secretaries will not exceed 24.

The constitution of the new body is held up because of delay in induction of co-opted members. The list of members to be co-opted to make up for the shortfall in the representation of women and to accommodate some deserving leaders who failed to make it through the election process was submitted to the high command long back. Kaul Singh, who took over as PCC chief for the second consecutive time four months ago, has been pursuing the matter ever since. In fact, he was in Delhi yesterday and his latest visit has not been very fruitful.

In charge of party election Oscar Fernandes, who has to grant approval, wants to carry out the exercise along with other states many of whom have not even sent the lists. Moreover, so far executive has not been constituted in any state.

Kaul Singh, who returned from Delhi, today said the exercise to select the new team of office-bearers could be undertaken only after induction of the co-opted members which was likely to take some more time.

The party is keen on ensuring 33 per cent representation to women in the organisational set up but in Himachal, there is a huge shortfall as only 4 women candidates could make it to the PCC. Kaul Singh has submitted a list of 21 women candidates for induction to increase their representation to 33 per cent as per the policy of the party.

Rajgarh, February 25
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today said quality sports infrastructure was being created to channel youth in the right direction so that they would not fall prey to drug abuse.

He was addressing the sportsmen after inaugurating the 14th Dr YS Parmar Memorial All-India Volleyball Tournament, which is being organised by the Department of Youth Services and Sports, at Rajgarh. He declared the three-day tournament open by offering floral tribute to the first Chief Minister of the state, Dr YS Parmar. He announced Rs 50 lakh for the construction of a multipurpose sports stadium at Rajgarh.

While extending due honour to sportsmen, he said all outstanding sportspersons were awarded cash prizes worth Rs 67 lakh on the Statehood Day organised at Hamirpur on January 25. Apart from this, 3 per cent reservation was also being provided to such sportspersons in government jobs where 256 outstanding sportspersons had been given employment.

He said one of the unique achievements for the state had been the Agriculture Leadership Award which had boosted the morale of the farming community. This would help them make their traditional vocation a source of employment, he added.

JR Katwal, director of Youth Services and Sports, while speaking on the occasion said budgetary provisions for promotion of sports activities had been enhanced by over 70 per cent for the ongoing financial year.

MLAs of the district, deputy commissioner Meera Mohanty, SP Puneeta Bhardwaj were among those present on the occasion. 

Hamirpur, February 25
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) Junior Engineers and Additional Assistant Engineers Association has demanded the formation of a promotion policy by the state government. They have demanded at least two promotions during their tenure.

Raising the demand, state president of the association DS Dhatwalia said hundreds of posts of junior and assistant engineers were lying vacant in the HPSEBL, HP Power Corporation and Transmission Corporation, but the engineers were still working on the same posts for about 30 years and not being given promotions as they were getting retired from the same posts on which they were appointed.

He said it was strange that though their promotions would not put any burden on the state government as they were already getting equivalent scales, still they were denied promotions.

The association said though all power projects of the HPSEBL had been transferred to the corporation, management of the corporation was making excuses to fill the posts of JE and AE. The state government had failed in getting the agreements implemented in this regard singed on May 24 and June 10, 2010.

The association had also decided to hold its state executive meeting at Solan tomorrow to chalk out their future strategy since great resentment was prevailing among their members.

Kangra, February 25
The Jwalamukhi nagar panchayat chief had urged the state government to abolish house tax in the temple town of Jwalamukhi, besides advocating for granting a special status to the town.

He also demanded that the state government should chalk out a comprehensive plan for its development.

Anil Prabha, president, Jwalamukhi nagar panchayat, was speaking to mediapersons at Jwalamukhi today.

She said the state government should bear the financial burden of the nagar panchayat by allocating funds in the annual Budget.

Prabha said the state government should not dither on its part to shoulder its responsibility to bring this town on the historical map.

In spite of imposing taxes on the people, the government should come forward to bear the financial liabilities of the nagar panchayat, she suggested.

Prabha further said the town was attracting thousands of tourists everyday to pay obeisance at the shrine of Jwalamukhi. The nagar panchayat was concerned about providing facilities to the visiting pilgrims in order to boost the tourism in the right perspective.

She said mostly these pilgrims go back disappointed due to the failure of the authority to provide basic amenities to them during their stay in the town.

The main contradiction of the implementation of the plans and proposals was that they were merely prepared for the local people only, she said.

Shimla, February 25
The Himachal and the Uttrakhand Police will jointly launch an offensive against poachers and those involved in smuggling of leopard skin and other animal parts by routing the banned products through Uttarkashi to reach the markets.

There have been several such cases in the recent past when those involved in smuggling of animal parts, including leopard and bear hides, their teeth, claws and bones, routed the banned material by using the exit routes falling in Uttarkashi, which shares border with the Shillai area of Sirmour and the Chopal area of Shimla district.

Even though there are more cases of poaching in lower parts of Himachal, it is the Uttarkashi route which is being used by smugglers, as there is very little checking along these routes.

“The issue came up for discussion at the intelligence and security meeting of northern states here last week and now Uttrakhand and Himachal will jointly step up surveillance to check smuggling of these banned animal products,” said ID Bhandari, ADGP, CID.

Police officials admit that with other more pressing issues keeping it engaged, they are not able to really focus on checking poaching and smuggling of hides and skins. Himachal has a sizeable population of leopards and people often kill animals to sell their skin, claws and bones which are used for making traditional medicines and at times to meet the demand of those who use it for superstitious purposes.

They admit that there is far less checking along these routes in the Shillai and Chopal areas of Himachal, while the situation is even more relaxed on the Uttarkashi side. In fact in the Uttrakashi area, people rely a lot on trekking route, which helps in unhindered smuggling of animal products, which are in demand not only in India but also internationally despite a ban on the use of these products under the Wildlife Protection Act.

Despite a complete ban on killing of these animals and sale of their body parts, there is still no dearth of those wanting to wear clothes, shoes, belts, bags and other fashion accessories made out of real animal skin. 

Hamirpur, February 25
While headmasters and principals of government schools in the state have been deployed by the HP Board of School Education (HPBSE) on examination duties for the coming board examinations, people have raised eyebrows over this decision.

The HPBSE has reportedly deployed principals and headmasters of government schools on the examination duties by appointing them coordinators and centre superintendents for these exams. Many people accused a few of them of favouring their students during exams.

This matter was later dragged to the High Court and the Supreme Court of India.

Though the High Court had put a blanket ban on deployment of any staff member, from the head of the institution to the lowest staff, barring them from the examination duty, this order was put on hold by the Supreme Court of India.

The main contention of the people opposing the deployment of the staff of the school is that there are chances of the staff helping their students in the exams since the performance of the teachers is evaluated on the basis of results.

On the other hand, the board authorities argue since there is a large number of female teachers in the staff, it is very difficult to send them to other centres out of station and examination cannot be held without putting them on the examination duties due to shortage of the staff.

Secretary of the HPBSE Prabhat Sharma said, “The High Court decision barring the school staff from examination duties has been stayed by the Supreme Court and we have deployed government school principals and headmasters as coordinators for private schools.”

The matter of appointing them as centre superintendents in government schools would be looked into.

Mandi, February 25
Over 215 devis and devtas will participate in the week-long Mahashivratri festival here on March 3.

Apart from featuring Bollywood playback singers like Kailash Kher, Javedi Ali, Punjabi singers Gurdas Mann and Sarabjit Channi, the festival will stage a national exhibition of art and craft at Paddal Maidan.

The festival will feature state’s top pahari and traditional performers on March 4. A hasya kavi sammelan will be organised on March 6.

Kailesh Kher will enthral the audience on the concluding night of the festival on March 8. Apart from state artistes, cultural troupes from different states will perform to give a varied taste to the audience.

The Paddal Maidan will feature sale-cum-exhibition of art and craft from various states, wrestling, marathon meet, competitions for children and dramas.

Dr Amandeep Garg, president, Mahashivarari Mela Committee-cum-DC, Mandi, said:“The committee has made all arrangements for the festival for which it as a budget of Rs 90 lakh. We will provide wooden “Sihansan” (seat) for 44 devtas for their safe camping in the Paddal Maidan.”

He said Chief Minister PK Dhumal would be the chief guest during the first traditional procession, “Raj Madhav Jaleb”, on March 3, while the Governor would be the chief guest during the concluding procession.

PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur would be the chief guest during the middle procession on March 9, he said. Garg said the devis and devtas would start arriving here on March 1 onwards.

Bilaspur, February 25
Dr Jitender Saxena was elected president and Dr Anupam Badhan general secretary of the district unit of the HP State Medical Officers’ Association in the annual general house meeting presided by Dr Narender Sankhyayan here today.

Dr Satish Sharma was elected vice-president, Dr Nishant Acharya additional secretary and Dr Anupam Sharma finance secretary, while Dr Dhiraj Sharma, Dr Arvind Tandon and Dr Sanjay Chandel were elected as state representatives. Dr Rishi Tandon was elected press secretary. Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer Dr Sudershan Sharma was elected patron of the association.

Dr Akaant, Dr Nikhil, Dr Sunil Sharma and Dr Ajay Chauhan were elected as members of district executive committee. Dr Ashwini Sharma, Dr Kamal Atwaal, Dr Kuldip, Dr Supriya Atwaal, Dr Yuvraj Shouri and Dr Jasvir Singh were prominent among those who attended the meeting.

Shimla, February 25
A former IAS officer of the Himachal cadre SS Negi died last night following protracted illness.

Negi, hailing from Kinnuar district, was a 1971 batch IAS officer. He breathed his last at PGI last night, where he was undergoing treatment for the past one week. He was 68.

He retired as principal secretary after holding several significant positions during his three-decade long service span. He also remained a member of the State Administrative Tribunal after his retirement from service.

His cremation was attended by large number of people here today. He is survived by his wife and three sons.