Shimla, July 8
The state Cabinet today approved a policy for the takeover of government-aided private schools, which were receiving 95 per cent of the salaries as grant, to end dual control.

The policy provides for total takeover of the institutions where the management agrees to hand over all assets like buildings and land along with the staff to the government. In case the managements have reservations in transferring the assets, only the staff will be taken over and thereafter the institutions will not be eligible for any further grants from the government.

After the takeover, the staff will be placed in the initial pay scale, but the salaries will be protected by granting personal pay. There are 40 such schools in the state which receive Rs 11.50 crore as grant from the government. Of these, the managements of 19 schools have already expressed willingness to hand over both assets and liabilities.

The Cabinet also decided to provide 8 kg of wheat and rice per person to all ration card holders residing in the tribal areas and the backward areas of Dodra Kwar and Bara Bhangal instead of 35 kg per family from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012. It also approved the Protsahan Chhatravriti Yojna for students travelling a distance of over 5 km daily to attend government schools from their permanent residences. The students travelling from 5 to 8 km will get Rs 200 per month, while those covering more will get Rs 300 per month. The scheme is likely to benefit 22,500 students. It increased the monthly remuneration of the tailoring and embroidery teachers serving at gram panchayat-level centres from Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,400 per month.

It accepted the recommendations of the committee constituted to fix the transportation rates for carriage of cement from various plants and approved a rate of Rs 27.20 per quintal for a distance of up to 40 km and Rs 68 paise per quintal for every additional kilometre.

It decided to constitute a Cabinet sub-committee to recommend amendments to the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Rules, 1975. Headed by Revenue Minister Gulab Singh, the committee will have Ravinder Ravi, IPH Minister, Kishan Kapoor, Industries Minister, Rajiv Bindal, Health Minister, Jai Ram Thakur, Rural Development Minister, and Mahender Singh, Transport Minister, as members.

The Cabinet approved an amendment to the Part-Time Water Carrier Recruitment Policy, 2009, to fill 966 vacancies in the Education Department on a monthly remuneration of Rs 1,200. It gave nod to recommendations of the committee constituted on use of red and blue lights on vehicles to also allow the Additional Commissioner and the Joint Commissioner of Income Tax to use the red light on their vehicles. It approved in principle the financial model, concession period, bidding parameter and RFP for construction of bus stands under the PPP mode and also the amended plan for the upcoming ISBT Complex at Tuti Kandi, Shimla.

Shimla, July 8
Having rolled out a number of initiatives aimed at environment protection, the state is ready with its environment policy, which is likely to be placed before the state Cabinet for approval.

Various aspects of the environment policy have already been discussed at a secretary-level meeting of senior officials of the state government. “We are ready with the policy which will be placed before the Cabinet for approval shortly,” confirmed Additional Chief Secretary (Forest) Sudipto Roy.

Roy said the Department of Environment had specially designed a software which would help elicit public opinion. “A form having about 300 queries will be put up on the website of the department so that the opinion of the general public, experts and environmentalists can be solicited on the proposed environment policy,” he stated. They can register their objections as well give in their suggestions with regard to environment protection.

“We have prepared sectoral guidelines for high-footprint sectors like energy, industry (cement) and road construction as these are the areas where we need to take utmost care,” said Nagin Nanda, Director, Environment.

The environment policy, which is an exhaustive 5,000-page document, has been prepared over a period of two years after taking into account various aspects focusing on sustainable development.

Himachal has already taken several steps aimed at environment protection. In fact, it is the first state in the country which has sough carbon credits for these initiatives from World Bank.

To create awareness about environment protection, there are over 2,000 environment clubs in the state right up to the village level.

Shimla, July 8
The government is considering to set up a medical university in the state to help produce the best professionals in various disciplines in medical science.

Stating this while speaking at the annual function of Government Dental College here today, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College and Hospital at Tanda was being developed on the pattern of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences to provide better medical services. The number of MBBS seats had been increased from 50 to 65.

Similarly, in the IGMC, Shimla, the number of seats had been increased to 100 and the number of postgraduate seats in different disciplines from 39 to 112, which would go a long way in producing medical specialists.

The Chief Minister said the government had sanctioned 72 posts of dental surgeon for which the recruitment process would be started soon. He said all-out efforts would be made to develop the college into a centre of excellence and suitable land would be identified for construction of hostels.

The Chief Minister also released the annual college magazine, “Eruptions”, to mark the annual day and gave away prizes to those who excelled in various spheres.

Solan, July 8
An 11-year-old boy, Damanpreet, was killed while he was travelling with his parents in a car. A landslide caused a big boulder to roll down from a hill hitting the child who was sitting on the front seat of the car on the NH-22, near Parwanoo, this morning.

The incident occurred when Manjeet Singh from Rajpura, along with his wife Gurmeet Kaur, and Jagtar Singh and his wife Jagwinder Kaur and their two daughters, were on their way to Rajpura when a big boulder fell on their Ford Icon car (PB39E 5000).

The car’s steering wheel was severally damaged and Damanpreet was hit straight with the boulder causing head injury. Since the movement of vehicles had halted for a while and the car was lined up after a bus on the highway, the car failed to move anywhere for defence when the boulder fell.

With widening of road under way since the past over a year the stretch of highway, near Timber Trail Resorts, has been converted into a single lane where uphill and downhill traffic moves alternately. This had caused a traffic jam and instead of rushing the injured child to Parwanoo, a distance of 2 km, the family had to come to the Dharampur Community Health Centre, located at a distance of over 20 km, where the child was pronounced dead.

Though huge boulders had been falling on passing vehicles every now and then, the police had failed to register any case of negligence against the construction company. IG (South) Ashok Sharma said he had directed the Solan SP to register a case against the construction company as landslides were triggered due to the activities undertaken to widen the highway.

Chamba, July 8
Heavy rain in the Bhattiyat region of Chamba district wreaked havoc resulting in the death of a person and damage to “Shanidev” temple. The rain let to a deluge in the Kalam khud last evening, according to the reports in the district headquarters today.

The reports said an IPH chowkidar, Gandhi Ram, who was on duty, was washed away in the flood in the Kalam khud.

However, the body of the deceased had been recovered, it said.

A “shanidev” temple had been damaged as a result of the huge landslides triggered alongside the hill, the report further said, adding that a tractor crossing the road was also damaged.

A team of officials rushed to the site to carry out relief operations and to assess the losses caused by the flood following the downpour, an official said.

Chamba, July 8
To improve the facilities for tourists during transit, the Department of Tourism (DoT) has come forth with a proposal to set up amenities alongside highways and country roads that connect tourist destinations. One such destination has been identified at Satrundi on the Chamba-Killar (Pangi) highway.

The wayside amenities’ scheme envisaged providing facilities along the vast stretches of highways in the rural areas where wayside amenities are sparse or non-existent. Besides, the standards of facilities on highways can also be upgraded. Stating this here today, District Tourism Development Officer Rohit Rathour said a proposal with regard to setting up of wayside amenities at Satrundi, a picturesque spot situated in a wooded area below the Saach Pass had been drawn. The proposal was in the pipeline and would be cleared soon, he said. The Chamba-Killar highway passing through the Saach Pass at an altitude of 4,413m connects the mountainous Pangi tribal valley. — OC

Shimla, July 8
Himachal will strongly plead its case for restoration of the special industrial package before the two arbitrators appointed by the Supreme Court on July 15 in the case in which Punjab had moved the apex court against the grant of the package to HP along with other hill states.

With a substantial decline in the share of the industry to the state domestic product (SDP) since the central excise duty concession was phased out on March 31, 2010, Himachal will plead its case strongly so that the other concessions that it will enjoy for another two years are not withdrawn on Punjab’s demand. Even though Haryana had not moved court against the grant of the package to HP, the statements of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda are being cited by Punjab in its favour.

“We will put forth our case strongly before the Supreme Court arbitrators as the withdrawal of the central excise duty concessions has impacted us adversely,” said Harinder Hira, Additional Chief Secretary (Industries). She said the share of the industry to the SDP had declined from 14 to 11 per cent since last year when the concession was withdrawn.

Earlier Himachal too was contemplating moving the Supreme Court against the withdrawal of the industrial package granted to it but now it has decided to plead its case through its lawyer and senior industry officials before the two arbitrators in New Delhi on July 15. Besides Himachal, the other hill states of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and some north-eastern states will also put forth their arguments in defence of the continuation of the package.

Hira said since it was more than a year since the central excise duty concessions were withdrawn, the Industries Department would undertake a survey to assess its exact impact. “The fact that Himachal provides uninterrupted power supply in sharp contrast to Punjab is one of the main reasons why entrepreneurs prefer Himachal and not because of the package,” she contested. She said it was wrong on the part of Punjab to say that its industry had shifted to HP.

The central excise duty concession given under the special industrial package in 2003 was phased out last year. However, the two other components - income tax concessions and central investment subsidy - will continue till 2012 and 2013, respectively.

Even though the industry has come up in Himachal in the fringe areas only, several pharma, textile and engineering goods units have come up in the state, especially in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial estate.

Shimla, July 8
With student clashes becoming the order of the day, the police has decided to depute additional force on the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) campus and check the entry of all outsiders in hostels from where major violence erupts.

To prevent any further student clashes and discuss the security arrangements, district police chief Sonal Agnihotri today held a meeting with Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai. “I have handed over a list of 199 students who have been found to be indulging in violence repeatedly and are involved in various cases over the past five years, recommending that they should be expelled,” he said.

He said he had asked the Vice-Chancellor to take steps aimed at maintaining internal discipline, which were essential to ensure that the academic atmosphere was not vitiated.

“We have decided to have temporary barriers in every hostel jointly with the hostel security staff to ban the entry of any outsider, at least till the the elections to the students’ body,” he said.

Agnihotri has also urged the VC to ensure that the students do not openly flash their badges as it creates fear and mounts tension among student outfits.

“The HPU would implement the orders of the high court in letter and spirit to maintain peace on the campus,” said Bajpai. Despite there being a ban on holding of dharnas and rallies within 200 metres from the library and sticking posters on places other than the designated area, students are violating these norms with impunity.

Meanwhile, the 25 activists of the SFI and 13 of the ABVP, arrested by the police in connection with the clashes that took place at Court Shera college, were today remanded in judicial custody till July 11.