Shimla, March 30
Himachal Pradesh University came under scathing attack in the Vidhan Sabha today with Pradesh Congress chief Kaul Singh alleging blatant violation of rules, statutes and established procedures by the Vice-Chancellor who was on the verge of completing his term.

Turning the heat on the government during a debate on cut motions, Kaul Singh drew attention to the fact that the Vice-Chancellor was not following the lawful procedure while taking matter to the Executive Council (EC) for extraneous reasons.

Citing the example of the last meeting, he said an item pertaining to transfer of teaching posts from one department to other was included in the agenda on the basis of a letter of one of the nominated members even as interviews had been held for filling the posts.

As per the laid down procedure, it should have been routed through the Board of Studies, the faculties concerned and the Academic Council before putting up before the EC. Even members of the EC were kept in the dark about it and the action of the Vice-Chancellor was illegal and smacked of foul play.

He alleged that the unsavoury exercise to shift posts to the physics department, which already had the required number of professors, associate professors and assistant professors, was aimed at rewarding some favoured candidates who had appeared in the recently held interviews.

The university had been downgraded from “A” to “B” grade mainly because the Vice-Chancellor was not following the statutes and rules.

Earlier, he had appointed a candidate, who was not even qualified to apply for the post, as the controller of examination.

He drew the attention of the government to the fact that over 17,000 posts of teacher in the interior areas of the state were vacant and asserted that the areas which faced persistent shortage of staff should not be removed from the list of the backward panchayats.

Replying to the debate, Education Minister Ishwar Das Dhiman said the issues pertaining to the HPU would be looked into. He said at present 10 private universities were functioning in the state and out of the remaining nine for which “Letter of Intent” had been issued, two have backed out.

The budget was passed after rejecting the cut motions by voice vote. The relevant appropriation bill authorising the government to spend Rs 18,956.38 crore from the consolidated fund of the state was also passed.

Una, March 30
A road diversion on the Una-Amb road near Jhalera village that is being constructed by Longjian, a Chinese company, was washed away after rain yesterday evening.

The washed away diversion has established the fears being expressed by farmers of the area.

The village panchayat, Jhalera, had written to the DC against the poor construction of the road diversion. The villagers had alleged that company officials had put just two pipes for clearing of water out of the rivulet over which the diversion was being constructed.

They had expressed fears that in case of heavy rain, the pipes would not able to handle heavy flow of water in the rivulet. This may result in diversion of the rivulet waters and inundation of their fields.

However, the company officials maintained that the rivulet did not receive much water in summers and so there was no need for extra pipes.

Yesterday night, a heavy rain, however, proved that the villagers’ fear was right. The diversion was washed away and pipes put for clearing water were taken away by flush of strong water current. The villagers alleged that had the diversion not been washed away, the water of the rivulet could have diverted and entered their fields.

The executive engineer supervising the construction of the road said he had already passed directions in this regard. “I have directed the company officials to put at least four pipes to clear water in the rivulet. Till the company officials put four pipes, they would not be allowed to dismantle the existing bridge.”

The delayed construction of the Mehatpur-Amb road is a continuous harassment to commuters. Sources here said as per the rules, the company had to keep at least one lane of the road working. However, the company officials had dug up the entire road turning it into a nightmare for the commuters.

The executive engineer said the company officials had been asked to expedite the construction of at least one lane of the road. He also said more signs and reflectors would be put in place to guide the commuters passing on the road in night.

Shimla, March 30
The project for improvement of a 45-km stretch on the Mehatpur-Una-Amb road implemented at an expenditure of Rs 126.50 crore is likely to be completed by June 2012.

Stating this while reviewing the progress of major road projects, Chief Minister P.K.Dhumal said here today that in all 10 projects, the total road length of 436 km were being constructed by the Public Works Department at a cost of Rs 1002.37 crore.

He said the Una-Barsar road measuring 45 km had achieved the completion of 52 per cent and it was likely to be completed by December 2011. The work on the 46 km Barsar-Jahu road was being expedited and it would be completed by March 2012 while the 15.5-km Jahu-Kalkhar road connecting Hamirpur and Mandi districts would be over by October this year.

The Theog-Hatkoti-Rohru raod, one of the major road projects in the apple growing areas, was estimated at Rs 228.26 crore and was being completed on a priority so that major portion of the road could be ready before the onset of the apple season.

The Chief Minister said the Kumarhatti-Nahan-Sarahan road would facilitate smooth plying of vehicles not only to Sirmour but also to Uttrakhand. The 24-km Dramman-Sihunta road was to be completed by the end of the year. 

Shimla, March 30
The amount spent on providing security to Tibetan spiritual leaders - the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa - continues to be a secret.

A legislator's attempt in the state assembly to get the information from the state government today proved futile.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal launched a scathing attack on the Central Government for not providing timely information on the amount spent on the two Buddhist leaders' security and said it had so far failed to reply in this regard.

"It's the inefficiency of Central Government officials not to provide us information despite our repeated requests," Dhumal said while responding to a question of Kaul Singh Thakur of the Congress on how much money is being spent annually by the Central and state governments.

He said as a number of Central security agencies were also involved in their security, it was difficult to estimate how much amount was being spent.

The Chief Minister, while speaking at the Chief Ministers' conference on internal security in Delhi on Feb 1, had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clarify whether the Tibetans settled in Himachal were "exiles or our guests".

The Chief Minister had also requested the Central Government to fully reimburse the expenditure being incurred on security of the Dalai Lama and the 17th Karmapa Lama, Ogyen Trinley Dorje.

"At present, only a small part of the expenditure is being reimbursed by the External Affairs Ministry in case of the Dalai Lama while the entire expenditure on security of the Karmapa is being borne by the state," he said. — IANS

Solan, March 30
Peeved at the attitude of treasury officer PS Dhamta for putting petty objections in various bills, the HP non-gazetted employees federation today held a gate meeting outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office here and demanded immediate removal of the officer.

The federation led by its president Purshottam Guelria later handed over a memorandum to ADM KC Chaman for being forwarded to the Chief Minister resenting the official’s behaviour.

About 300 employees from various departments, including the IPH, the PWD, the revenue, the DC office, the Food and Civil Supply, the Health, the Co-operative, the Public Relations, the Welfare, the Animal Husbandry, ITI, the Agriculture, the DRDO, etc, assembled in strength outside the DC office and expressed resentment against the behaviour of the treasury officer.

The federation said the officer was given enough time to mend his behaviour and even the DC had directed him in three meetings of the joint advisory committees to mend his ways but it yielded no result. The issue was even brought to the notice of the district treasury officer but it yielded no result, claimed the federation. The employees said the plethora of petty objections which were not even financial were pointed out on every bill and this delayed their clearance for months.

The federation pointed out that the officer had earlier too indulged in such behaviour when he was posted at Kasauli and he was transferred from there following such complaints. An investigation conducted by the Finance Department had then pointed out that he should not be posted in sensitive places.

The federation demanded his immediate removal from this place failing which the employees had threatened to intensify their stir. They also raised slogans against the officer.

The federation has also forwarded a copy of the memorandum to the Health and Ayurveda Minister, chief secretary, principal secretary (finance) and district treasury officer. 

Hamirpur, March 30
The Public Works Department (PWD) has introduced e-tendering system for awarding contracts. After introduction of this system, all tenders above Rs 1 lakh will be invited and allotted online.

All bids for carrying different works through contractors will be offered through e-tendering which will bring an end to manipulative pooling system to break the monopoly and put a stop to the use of strong-arm tactics by some contractors to grab the works.

The system will plug chances of leakage of information and in future negotiations with contractors before awarding the works will be held online.

This step has been welcomed by a large number of contractors, especially registered companies and contractors operating from other states since local contractors in many cases used to obstruct buying of tender forms and their submission in the PWD offices to maintain their monopoly.

All works related to World Bank schemes, the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana and CRF schemes awarded by zonal and circle offices are already gone online. Now the department has introducing e-tendering in divisional offices also.

The Public Works Department has also involved NIC to develop software for maintaining measurement books by JEs online, carrying calculation through computer software and preparing running bills automatically by the click of a button.

This system will revolutionise the system of preparing a running bill for any work since JEs and accounts staff is accused of doing this work at their wishes causing a lot of harassment to contractors and some of them even demand money for doing the work.

Chief engineer of PWD NL Sharma said, “We are training our staff in all divisions and contractors for acclimatising with the e-tendering system and after May onwards all tenders above Rs 1 lakh would be awarded through e-tendering.” 

Shimla, March 30
As many as 475 posts of driver and other machinery operators will be filled shortly in the Public Works Department.

Stating this here today PWD Minister Gulab Singh said that a one-time relaxation had been given in educational qualification to the employees working on temporary basis as drivers for promotion, subject to fulfilment of other eligibility conditions.

The Minister said the total number of vehicles in the department, including other machinery, was 1,754, while only 1,279 posts of driver and operators had been created. By filling these posts the department would be able to ensure proper utilisation of the machinery. 

Hamirpur, March 30
Though the state government has been making claims about improving road conditions during the past some time, Badsar-Shahtalai road leading to famous shrine of Baba Balak Nath at Deoth Sidh has been in a poor condition for the past many years.

About 14-km patch on which thousands of devotees travel daily has many potholes, making the pilgrimage quite troublesome.

The tarring on this road had almost damaged at many places long ago and repairs on the road have not been undertaken.

During the famous chaitra month festival, lakhs of devotees from Punjab and other places visit Deoth Sidh to pay obeisance at Baba Balak Nath shrine every year.

The temple trust also receives huge donations worth several crores of rupees every year and a major portion of which is being spent on the development of the area to create facilities for the devotees.

This road has many bumps and narrow curves leading to long traffic jams and slow movement of vehicles.

The heavy dust on this road is not only a big irritant for the passengers but is also spoiling the environment and has become a nuisance for the local residents.

Sometime back, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, after visiting the place, had also shown his concern over the poor condition of the Badsar-Shahtalai road and had directed the Public Works Department to improve the condition of the road in view of a large flow of devotees to Baba Balak Nath shrine.

Executive engineer, PWD division, Badsar, RP Verma said, “The work on Badsar-Shahtalai road was stuck up due to a court case which had been cleared now and tenders for renovating this road will be invited in May.”

Shimla, March 30
Cases of mandatory environment clearance are piling up due to failure of the government to constitute a new State-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and State-level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC).

The term of the three-member SEIAA headed by AK Goswami expired in October last and the SEAC also completed the term at the same time. However, almost six months have passed since the new bodies, which are notified by the Government of India in consultation with the state, have not been constituted.

It is learnt that the state government has already sent the proposal for setting up new bodies but these had not been notified by the Centre so far. In absence of the bodies, the clearance has to be sought from the Central EIAA and EAC. While those pursuing big projects are approaching the central bodies, small entrepreneurs are facing problems. They have no option but to wait for the constitution of the new bodies.

Apart from new projects, a large number of ongoing projects, particularly those involving renewal of mining leaser or other licences, have been affected. Stone crushers are the worst hit as these have to get the mining lease renewed after every five years. According to sources, over 100 stone crushers have not been granted consent to operate by the state pollution control board as these have not been cleared by the SEIAA.

The SEIAA grants approval on the basis of the SEAC, which examines the projects before giving its nod. The categories of projects for which environment clearance is mandatory include cement plants and other mining projects, hydropower plants, bulk drug manufacturing projects, irrigation and roads projects.

Nurpur, March 30
The elected representatives of panchayati raj institutions from Nurpur development block and supporters of local MLA Rakesh Pathania today jumped into the support of their leader in the wake of war of words between Kangra MP Rajan Sushant and Pathania.

Over three dozen Pathania supporters today organised an emergency meeting on the residence of Pathania at Jachh near here in his absence and strongly condemned the outbursts of Sushant against Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and local MLA Rakesh Pathania. The meeting was presided over by the chairperson of Nurpur block development committee, Abhilasha Kumari.

The BJP MP had recently demanded narcoanalysis of state leaders, including Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on corruption issue. In retaliation, MLA Pathania had organised a press conference against Suhshant.

Pathania supporters, while taking a serious note of outbursts of Sushant, have appealed to the BJP high command to intervene and show him the door from the party for creating indiscipline and launching a tirade against his party’s own government in the state. 

Mandi, March 30
Backing hill farmers on their traditional right to choose seeds of their choice in the Draft Seeds Bill proposed to be introduced in Parliament, the state government has affirmed that it will not compromise on farmers’ right to plant and propagate the traditional varieties of seeds.

It will not allow the state farmers as guinea pigs for testing the genetically modified seeds or foods varieties.

The Agricultural Department has sought representations from different farmer organisations on the proposed Seeds Bill doing the rounds in the country. Bihar has opposed the Seeds Bill and wants safeguards for farmers and Himachal has opposed the growing of the BT Brinjal and genetically modified seeds or foods till they are tested and found suitable for hill farmers.

The Draft Seeds Bill, proposed to be introduced in Parliament soon, seeks to replace the Seeds Act of 1966. The Centre is seeking state’s objections to the draft Bill, which is addressing the changes that has taken place in the seed industry ever since.

Farmers from the Himachal Kisan Sabha said they opposed the Draft Seeds Bill proposal to hand over the seeds breeding to the profit-making seed companies. “This will deny the right of the farmers to choose the seeds of their choice as they will be forced to buy only the hybrid seeds from the multinational companies that in turn will wipe out the traditional varieties from the state”, said Bhupender Singh, a kisan leader.

President, Himachal Kisan Union, Yudh Chand Saklani said the Seeds Bill would mortgage the farmers’ right to choose the seeds to the multinational companies. The government should protect their rights to use traditional varieties, he added.

Farmers said the proposed Bill should protect the provisions of the Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Rights Act and the Biodiversity Act. The seed owners should not be allowed to double the period of protection of the seeds from present 15 to 30 years or so as proposed in the Seeds Bill, they commented.

Shimla, March 30
The Rs 365 crore World Bank-funded Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project will be the country’s first public sector scheme to secure carbon credits through carbon sequestration under the Clean Development Mechanism.

As per the Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement approved by the state Cabinet, the World Bank will buy 3.5 lakh temporary certified emission reductions (tCERs) for plantations raised over 4003 hectares in the first phase covering the period 2006-2018 period depending on the growth of biomass.

If the growth is good, the state could avail the benefit of another 1 lakh tCERs. This became possible after Spain has committed to purchase tCERs from the World Bank. While the exact rate of purchase will be known at the time of signing the agreement, it is likely to range between $ 4.5 and $ 5 per tCER and accordingly the farmers in 177 gram panchayats of 10 districts will receive around Rs 2,000 per hectare annually.

The project will help sequester 8,28,016 tonne of carbon in all over a period of 20 years ending on 2025. Additional chief secretary Sudipto Roy said the agreement to be signed in Shimla in April would be a big achievement as the Kyoto Protocol under which the benefit of carbon credits is available was valid up to 2012.

If it survived, the state could sign a fresh agreement for sale of carbon credits for the next 20 years beyond 2018 which could fetch higher returns depending on the carbon market.

A redeeming feature is that the World Bank has agreed to make the purchases retrospectively from 2006 which means that the project will fetch over Rs 10 crore over a period of 13 years.

Under the scheme, 25 selected species, including fruit and medicinal plants like mango, fig and aonla, which not only have a good capacity of carbon sequestration but also help regulate the hydrological cycle, have been planted.

Carbon credits for well-maintained plantations could be claimed up to 60 years. If the plantations are in a good shape the farmers will have the option to extend it twice to avail the benefit up to a total of 60 years.

Originally, about 10,000 hectares of non-arable and degraded forestland was to be brought under the green cover but it had to be pruned to just 4,003 hectare after the government came out with a new definition of a forest. It says that a patch of 500 sqm or more with woody growth of more than two-metre height and 15 per cent density is a forest.

The project was formulated on the basis of earlier definition under which the growth of five metre height or more and 30 per cent density was deemed to be a forest.