Palampur, June 12
Senior leaders of the state Congress met at Palampur today to devise the party strategy for Assembly elections scheduled in December next year. After a brainstorming by senior leaders the party decided to hold a series of rallies across the state and a march during the monsoon session to up ante against the BJP government in the state.

Strict action taken by the state party leadership against Virbhadra Singh’s supporters who raised slogans in his favour during the last meeting at Shimla failed to deter them here also. Considerable number of Virbhadra’s supporters reached the venue of the meeting and raised slogans in his favour. A few of them tried to force their entry into the venue but were placated by Himachal in charge Chaudhary Birender Singh.

Chaudhary said in the coming months the party would organise four major rallies and press conferences at Shimla, Mandi, Dharamsala and Hamirpur. The press conference at Shimla would be held by HPCC president Kaul Singh, at Mandi by Micro, Small and Medium Industry Minister Virbhadra Singh, at Dharamsala by veteran Congress leader Sat Mahajan and at Hamirpur by CLP leader Vidya Stokes.

In the rallies the Congress would target the present BJP government and make people aware about the achievements of the UPA Government.

The party has planned a major rally on June 26 at Baddi in Solan district in which party workers from all over the state would participate.

Chaudhary said the during the monsoon session of Himachal Assembly the Congress would organise a march from Solan to Shimla on foot. The party workers would expose the alleged corrupt practices of the state government during the march, he added.

While responding to queries of the media here, Chaudhary said the party would not project anybody as chief ministerial candidate during the next Assembly elections in the state. The prerogative would be left to the elected MLAs.

He also admitted to factionalism in the state Congress. The factions would, however, not make difference to winning prospects of the party, Chaudhary said.

Mandi, June 12
Farmers in the Sundernagar-Dhanotu stretch will lose about 300 bighas of their agricultural land for the 5.8-km-long Sundernagar bypass to ease the traffic congestion in the town on this stretch of the National Highway No. 21.

The Ministry of Surface Transport is executing the project on a priority basis as the NHAI has decided to convert the present Ropar-Mandi-Manali double-lane highway into a four-lane highway. This is being done to ease the traffic congestion on the highway and in Sundernagar, making a smooth flow of traffic to the Manali-Leh highway, sources said.

Though the local administration is about to issue a notification for acquiring 300 bighas, but farmers are opposing the move.

“Farmers will be ruined if they lose their land. The word is yet to spread about the move as farmers do not get good rates for their land, which has become scarce every day”, rued Devinder Thakur, a local farmer.

Sources told The Tribune that the bypass project, from Pung village to Dhanotu, would cost Rs 98.89 crore. The road would divert the main highway traffic as a big relief to the residents of the town.

Chief Engineer SK Marwah last month inspected the bypass and other projects and gave his final nod to the project.

Executive Engineer, National Highway, NK Kapila, said the DPR had been sent to the SDM, Sundernagar, for issuing of the notification for the land acquisition. The rates for the land are decided by the local administration and compensation was paid to land owners as per norms, he added.

SDM Vivek Chandel said the revenue papers had been sent to the ministry and the notification was yet to be issued. The land compensation cost was yet to be decided.

Mandi, June 12
Even after five months, the Education Department has yet to implement the high court order passed in January which directed the state government to give director of physical education (DPE) in schools the pay scale and designation of lecturer of physical education retrospectively from June 1, 2008, who fulfils qualification as laid 
down by the National Council for Technical Education (NCTE).

Even the Education Department sought a legal opinion in the case after the high court issued its judgment on a petition filed by the DPEs (Mukesh Manhas and others vs the State of HP). Legal opinion on March 15 advised the government to not to contest the high court order in the higher court and favoured that there was no harm if the DPEs were paid the pay scale of lecturers.

“However, Education Minister ID Dhiman referred the matter back to Education Secretary Srikant Baldi who asked for filing a leave petition application in the case on April 1,” revealed RTI documents available with The Tribune.

Sources said the government was in a bind as it would had to pay other DPEs the same scale under its policy “equal pay for equal work” and it had no ground to take its stand.

The Education Department observed: “They will have to release Rs 10,300 to Rs 34,800 pay scale to 150 DPEs that will incur an annual finance burden of Rs 15 lakh. The arrears with effect from June 1, 2008, will be deposited in the accounts of the DPEs on or before April 30, 2011.”

There are 1,209 sanctioned posts of DPE in senior secondary schools in the state out of which 150 DPEs fulfil the NCTE condition. The court has directed that if the government fails to give the scale they will pay all arrears with 12 per cent interest.

President of the DPEs association Dr Dinesh Jhagta said the Education Department had not implemented the order and the entire cadre was unhappy over the delay. “We have no option other than filing the contempt proceedings. We request the government to expedite and implement the order and give justice to the DPEs,” he added.

Shimla, June 12
The Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project will be extended to 102 more panchayats with the World Bank (WB) agreeing in principle to provide $45 million to cover the areas left out at the micro-watershed level and consolidation of the first phase to improve sustainability.

The proposal for the extension of the project has already been cleared by the Planning Commission and the Union Ministry of Agriculture. It is likely to be approved by the Department of Economic Affairs, after which it will recommend to the World Bank for funding.

At present, the Rs 337-crore project is being implemented in 272 micro-watersheds spread over 602 panchayats 42 blocks and 10 districts of the state. The areas falling between altitudinal limit of 600 m and 1800 m are being covered.

However, the areas were not being covered in continuity at the micro-watershed level as some areas were left out which affected the overall outcome of the project in containing degradation and improving the resource base, the main objective of the project. For instance, villages in one bank of a nullah were covered and those on the other areas upstream were excluded. The authorities impressed upon the bank that for sustainable development, the entire micro-watershed had to be covered.

The extension project for the new panchayats will be of three years and run concurrently with the consolidation phase. Additional Chief Secretary Sudipto Roy said even after the final nod from the World Bank, it would take some time to complete codal formalities and the actual implementation could start only from the next financial year.

Shimla, June 12
With elite tourists giving a go-by to the state, the tourism sector is not contributing much to the economy despite the phenomenal growth with over 1.32 crore tourists, almost double the native population, having visited the state in 2010.

With a growth of 17 per cent, the tourist arrivals are set to cross the 1.50 crore mark this year. However, the contribution of the sector to the gross state domestic product (GSDP) has been a dismal 6 to 6.5 per cent. The main reason for the fast-growing sector making a relatively low contribution is that the high-spending tourists account for only 7 to 8 per cent.

As per studies conducted by the Tourism Department, the average spending per tourist comes to around Rs 900. The number of foreign tourists is also increasing, and last year 4.54 lakh foreigners thronged the state. But the average spending of Rs 3,000 was on the lower side.

Moreover, the average stay of the visitors varies from 2.5 to 3.5 days, which is very low. The rush of tourists adds to the woes of the local people as they have to put up with unending traffic jams, shortage of water and parking space and, above all, spiralling prices in tourist destinations.

The only way out to make tourism an engine to propel the state’s economic growth is to shift from “mass tourism” to “class tourism”, the focus has to shift from sheer numbers to quality of tourists.

Director, Tourism Department, Arun Sharma says that the government has already carried out a comprehensive exercise to identify the gaps in infrastructure and products which are keeping high-end tourists away from visiting the state. It was working on a plan to double the contribution from the tourism sector to the GSDP to 15 per cent over the next five years.

The new concepts like “Har Ghar Kuchh Kahata Hai” and “Har Gaon Ki Kahani” are aimed at increasing the average stay of visitors, he said. Early this year, the heli-taxi scheme was introduced for the convenience of high-end tourists who do not have time to travel to the interior areas by road.

The state has already got a Rs 5-crore project sanctioned from the Centre to develop a rural tourism circuit, which is the first in the country, and a Rs 32-crore project for developing wayside facilities at 30 places.

Shimla, June 12
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has sanctioned a special grant of Rs 20 crore to the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Development Authority (BBNDA) for improvement and maintenance of roads and creation of basic infrastructural facilities in the industrial belt.

He said although the improvement and maintenance of the national highways was a responsibility of the Centre, the state had to intervene keeping in view the problems being faced by the industries of the area due to the increasing volume of traffic. The government had created a separate authority for the BBN area to ensure speedy expansion of infrastructural facilities to ensure smooth plying of the loaded vehicles in the industrial area.

He said the authority had already been provided with adequate budgetary allocation for providing road and other civic amenities in the area to ensure their proper maintenance.

Dhumal said the state had also requested the governments of neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana to improve and maintain roads, leading towards the industrial area, falling within their jurisdiction which happened to be the entry and exit points for the heavy vehicular traffic of the industrial area. 

Palampur, June 12
For the first time, the Horticulture Department has succeeded in growing apples in lower hills of the state between the height of 3,000 feet and 4,000 feet. So far, apple was grown only in upper areas above the height of 4,000 feet in Kullu, Mandi, Shimla and Kinnaur districts only.

With the efforts of the Horticulture Department, now apple can be grown in the lower hills, particularly in Dhauladhar hills comprising Palampur, Dharamsala and Jogindernagar regions.

A senior officer of the department said commercial cultivation of apples in the lower hills, particularly Kangra, Hamirpur and parts of Mandi districts, would boost the economy as it would be a major cash crop. The state government had already given its approval for commercial cultivation of apples in the lower hills.

He said the experiments conducted by the department in this regard in its Palampur horticulture farm had proved to be a great success and had given a big boost to horticulture experts.

He said a variety of apple “spur apple” imported from the USA was found most suitable in lower hills of the state. Experts working in this field for the past three years have recommended this variety for commercial cultivation in lower hills.

The Horticulture Department has decided to distribute 5000 plants of apples to growers in lower hills of the state this year.

Shimla, June 12
The meritorious students who excelled in Class X and XII examinations of the CBSE, ICSE and Himachal Board of School Education were honoured with JRPD Memorial Annual Awards by the Indus Medical Foundation (IMF) here today.

The ceremony was organised to mark the Foundation Day of the IMF and to encourage and motivate the students to do well in studies.

Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Bhim Sen gave away the prizes which carried a cash reward of Rs 5,000 along with mementoes and certificates.

Madhu Sood, Mayor, Shimla Radha Raman Shastri, a former minister, trustees of the IMF and other prominent people were present.