Shimla, May 15
The blatant abuse of Section 118 of the State Land Reforms and Tenancy Act by the Dhumal regime to allow outsiders to acquire land in the state will be the main plank of the Congress to accomplish the Mission 2012, the roadmap for which was finalised at the party meeting here today.

The party will submit a charge-sheet to the President of India to seek a CBI probe into various scams and scandals of the Dhumal regime.

It will organise a march to the Vidhan Sabha during the coming Monsoon Session to highlight the issue. It will also bring in the issue of private universities which are being seen as a ploy to facilitate transfer of large chunks of land to the outsiders as evident from the fact that most of them have come up in Solan district.

The two issues will figure prominently in the charge-sheet being prepared by the party against the Dhumal government. The charge-sheet will be submitted to the President of India and not to the Governor as has been the practice in the past.

It will also take care of the non-performance of the government on the development front despite all funds being provided by the UPA regime.

The party maintains that the state had been provided over Rs 25,000 crore for implementation of various flagship programmes of the Centre and other projects.

The party will hold a one-day conference at Palampur in June to educate the party workers about the issues to create awareness among the people about the acts of omission and commission of the BJP government.

National general secretary and newly appointed in charge of the party affairs Birender Singh, who presided over the meeting, said the party would seek information from the people about the scams and scandals of the Dhumal government before finalising the charge-sheet.

He said the new state executive of the party would be announced within 20 days. He had already discussed the issue with PCC chief Kaul Singh.

Shimla, May 15
Perceiving winds of change in the political landscape of the hill state, national general secretary of the Congress Birender Singh today gave a clarion call to party men to cash in on the simmering discontent among the people against the Dhumal regime to bring the party back to power.

Addressing the general house of the party here, he said the people were frustrated with the government and it was time that the rank and file worked hard to expose the corruption, mal-governance and non-performance of the government before the people and build a strong mass movement. He called upon senior leaders to sink personal differences and work in unison to oust the BJP from power.

He said the senior leaders would carry out road shows across the state moving in a single vehicle to project the united image of the party before the rank and file. He urged the workers to adopt an aggressive posture and take the BJP on issues like corruption and sale of the state’s land and other resources head on.

The poor performance of the BJP in the recent assembly polls to five states was a clear indication that the effort made by the party to make corruption an issue against the Congress had not worked. The people were aware of the firm action taken by the government against those involved in cases of corruption and they were not misled by the BJP’s propaganda.

Union Minister Anand Sharma underlined the need for maintaining discipline and cooperation among senior leaders.

Union Minister Virbhadra Singh suggested that the deserving party leaders, who felt sidelined, should be suitably accommodated to strengthen the organisation. He said he was not in race for the Chief Ministership and it was a matter to be decided by the party high command.

Leader of the opposition Vidya Stokes also emphasised the need for the leaders and workers to join hands and work relentlessly to regain power in the state.

Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh said the party was raising important issues in the Vidhan Sabha and outside and exposing the misdeeds and failure of the Dhumal government.

Dharamsala, May 15
The Chief Minister, who was here to inauguarate the first IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Dare Devils here today, said Dharamsala was fast merging as a sports city of Himachal. It would help promote sports tourism in the area and in coming years the city could emerge as a major sports centre for the Northern region.

He thanked the BCCI and the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) for organising IPL matches in Dharamsala. Dhumal said besides cricket, synthetic track was also being laid in Dharamsala for athletes.

Targeting Congress leaders, Dhumal said some vested interests were playing politics regarding the IPL matches which was unfortunate.

The state govenment had been organising such events rising above all such considerations and it was the shortsightedness of some vested interests that they were trying to play politics with cricket.

The Chief Minister said residents in the border villages of the state were registering themselves under Home Stay scheme in a large number, thereby giving a boost to the border tourism activities.

A number of houses had been registered under the scheme in the Spiti valley and Kinnaur district where people from different parts of the world had been travelling to experience the tribal culture.

He further said the state was poised to attract high-end tourists to visit different parts of the state and had also introduced heli-taxi services to such tourists. He further said there was no big airport in the state which could accommodate landing of huge passanger aircrafts. Efforts were being made to provide all required facilities to the tourists within the state.

Soon river rafting activities would also be started in Dehra and Nadaun. It would give a boost to adventure sports activities in the state.

Tasa (Chamba), May 15
Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today inaugurated a 33-KV power sub-station at Khushnagri near Tissa, constructed with an outlay of Rs 1.95 crore, in Churah subdivision of Chamba district.

The Khushnagri power sub-station will benefit around 70,000 people belonging to 138 villages of the difficult terrains, thereby eliminating the frequent problems of low-voltage.

The Chief Minister said the hike in petrol prices by the Central Government was an additional burden on people and the state would face a sudden increase in the prices of essential commodities as the transportation of goods would also be costlier.

He said the Centre had increased the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG many times in the past also, thereby putting people, especially the poor, in deep trouble. He said the Centre should reconsider the hike of Rs 5 per litre.

Talking about the hydel power projects coming up in the state, Dhumal said the interests of local people would be safeguarded, but they should also co-operate with the power projects. He said Himachal Pradesh would be the first state in the country which was signing an agreement with the World Bank for carbon credit. The state would get the carbon credit benefits for the generation of eco-friendly power in the state, he added.

The CM said with the construction of 33 KV power sub-station at Khushnagri, five 11 KV feeders of local Tissa, Tarela, Sai Kothi, Jhajjakothi and Devikothi had been taken out, adding that the power reliability would now be enhanced to the consumers of this far-flung area.

Last evening, after laying the foundation stones of Rs 5 crore government degree college building and Rs 1.15 crore BDO office at Bhanjraru in the area, the Chief Minister said his government was committed to the overall development of the state with special emphasis on remote areas.

Shimla, May 15
Accusing ministers in the BJP regime of patronising “land mafia”, HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur said the Congress would come out with the details of all these shady deals in the form of a chargesheet to expose the leasing out of prime land.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, he alleged that over 1 lakh bighas of land had been leased out to outsiders, including private universities, by the BJP regime till now. “At least three ministers are conniving with the land mafia to enable permissions under Section 118 in violation of the norms which the Congress will expose through a chargesheet before the Assembly polls,” he added.

He said the government should not allow apartments in and around Shimla as the civic amenities were already under tremendous strain.

“The BJP regime is compromising on corruption issues and officers with doubtful integrity are occupying important and sensitive posts,” he added. He demanded that it was the duty and responsibility of the BJP regime to register a case against its MP from Shimla Virender Kashyap who was facing alleged corruption charges.

He added that the ruling party’s own MP from Kangra Rajan Sushant had levelled serious corruption charges against his own government which was an indication of the state of affairs in Himachal.

Dalhousie, May 15
The state Election Commission has notified the elections of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) of Pangi subdivision of Chamba district, Udaipur and Keylong subdivisions of Lahaul-Spiti district and for zila parishad constituencies of Spiti subdivision of the Lahaul-Spiti district.

According to an official communiqué issued by the EC on Friday, the nomination papers will be presented on May 24, 25 and 26 (between 11 am and 3 pm). The papers for the posts of gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and zila parishad will be filed at the places and before the officers appointed by the district election officers (panchayat).

The papers will be scrutinised on May 27. A candidate can withdraw his candidature on May 30 before 3 pm. The list of contesting candidates and symbols allotted to them will be prepared on May 30 immediately after the time of withdrawal is over. The list of polling stations will be published on or before May 24.

The poll, if necessary, will be held from 7 am to 3 pm on June 10 in first phase and on June 12 in the second phase.

The counting of votes for the members, up-pradhan and pradhan of gram panchayats will be taken up immediately after the polling is over at the gram panchayat headquarters. The counting of votes for the members of the panchayat samiti and the zila parishad will be taken up on June 14 at 8.30 am at the respective block headquarters.

Shimla, May 15
The Union Urban Development Ministry has pulled up the state government for the tardy progress and non-execution of urban housing and other infrastructure development projects here for which over Rs 35 crore has been provided under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

DS Negi, Director, National Building Organisation (NBO), Union Urban Development Ministry, held a meeting with Urban Development Minister Mohinder Singh, Principal Secretary, Urban Development, Manisha Sridhar, Director, Urban Development, Purnima Chauhan, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, AN Sharma and other senior functionaries here.

Negi is learnt to have expressed displeasure at the inability of the MC to expeditiously take up work on urban housing projects for which almost Rs 26 crore was sanctioned under the JNNURM in March 2007. He even went to the extent of saying that in case the state was unable to spend the money, it should either surrender it or transfer it to some other scheme.

The work has not even begun on the 252 dwellings, which were to come up under Ashiana-I at a cost of Rs 9.99 crore for the urban poor. Similarly, Rs 14.01 crore had been sanctioned for the construction of 384 houses under Ashiana-II for the urban poor. Work on only 176 dwellings has been started by HP Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) under Ashiana-II.

Sources pointed out that the delay had been caused in construction of these houses as suitable land could not be found and later HIMUDA expressed its inability to construct at the selected site in Sanjauli due to steep slope.

“It is only about a fortnight back that the Secretary, Urban Development, has directed that the remaining dwellings for the urban poor will now be made by the MC,” said a senior official.

Shimla is one of the 63 cities, which has been included under the JNNURM where liberal funding is provided by the Union Urban Development Ministry for urban infrastructure development in the select towns. This includes setting up of a modern solid waste management plant, houses for the urban poor and rejuvenation of existing water supply schemes.