Shimla, July 27
The state Cabinet today approved amendments to the rules for grant of permission for purchasing land in the state to non-agriculturists under Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Land Reforms and Tenancy Act to curtail discretion, plug loopholes and ensure that only eligible persons acquired land “within strict limits and after due diligence”.

According to the amended Section 38-A (a) (2) of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reform Rules, any non-agriculturist seeking to acquire land will need an essentiality certificate (EC) from the department concerned for all purposes other than a dwelling unit or a shop. The department will certify the eligibility and clearly state the land requirement according to the norms. No-objection certificates (NOCs) from all relevant departments and authorities, including local bodies, will also have to be obtained.

Permission to purchase land for a dwelling unit will be given only to a person living and working in Himachal Pradesh prior to 1972, persons working in Himachal Pradesh for over 30 years and duly recommended by the local body concerned, employees possessing bona fide Himachali certificate, gallantry or Padma award winners and persons who have achieved eminence in the sphere of health, education, culture, research, public service, sports and business on the recommendation of a committee of Principal Secretaries.

In the case of built-up houses and flats, Section 118 is not attracted in case of lease up to 99 years. Consequently many transactions are occurring for flats and storeys in buildings on a 99-year lease. These are registered at a fraction of the cost of transfer by sale. The amended rules will allow for transfer of such properties by sale provided they are registered with the Town and Country Planning Department.

The Cabinet decided to repeal the HP Pre-Emption Act, 2010, amend the HP Land Revenue Act to provide for service of summons by way of publication in newspaper, option of having mutation based on documents, entered and attested at the tehsil and sub-tehsil level instead of the patwar circle.

It also decided to amend the HP Ceiling of Land Holding Act to extend exemption from ceiling limit to IT parks, BT parks, tourism units, religious or spiritual organisations and bodies or organisations active in the sphere of education and sports.

The Cabinet also “considered” the HP Lease Rules to streamline and restrict these to public purposes of infrastructure, social and cultural activities and those with location specificity such as hydel projects and ropeways. The lease rates have been standardised at 5 per cent for a 99-year lease and 3.5 per cent for a lease up to 40 years, with a provision for periodic revision. Sub-lease of shops in bus stand areas and parking has been allowed.

It also approved amendments to the Registration Manual to do away with the requirement of an identifier where a person seeking to register a document possesses a photo identity card of a notified category and to prevent cash dealing by registration clerks in revenue offices to avoid embezzlement. 

Shimla, July 27
The one-man commission constituted by the government to look into land violations in the hill state since 2003 will shortly start its work with a tour of the biggest and politically most significant district of Kangra, where anyone can file a complaint in the form of an affidavit before it.

The issue of “benami” land deals and violation of Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act, 1972, and the Himachal Pradesh Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 2005, has become a hot political issue between the two main parties, the BJP and the Congress. It was in view of Congress allegations regarding violation of these Acts that the BJP regime had constituted a one-man commission headed by Justice DP Sood (retd) to probe all such cases.

Sources said the commission would visit Kangra on August 8 and 9, where anyone was free to make complaints regarding land violations by placing on record any irregularities in the form of an affidavit.

The commission would later verify the authenticity of such complaints by finding out the factual position from government records.

The commission would later visit other parts of the state as well so that anyone could freely approach it. The commission would look into all cases that have been approved between March 2003 and March 31, 2011, which would cover both the Congress as well as the BJP rule till now.

It would be interesting to watch whether the Congress or any of its leaders bring to the notice of the commission any complaints of land violations that are in their knowledge.

“Though we are not sure how effective the commission will be and if at all it was required, the Congress will bring to its notice cases that are in our knowledge,” said Kuldeep Pathania, Congress MLA and chief spokesperson for the HPCC.

The state government was keen on having the issue of land violations probed by a sitting judge of the high Court, but the task was assigned to a retired judge of the high court. In fact, the Chief Minister’s office received almost two dozen such complaints after Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal made a public appeal to bring all violations to the notice of the government.

The BJP, meanwhile, is hoping that by constituting the commission, it has been able to wrest the issue of benami deals from the Congress. Dhumal had appealed to everyone, including the Congress, to furnish details of any such violations.

Manali, July 27
A majority of the residents of the Vashisht panchayat and other residents in the valley have demanded that the state government should scrap the controversial 1 MW “self-identified” power project on the sacred Jogni Fall, which is a pilgrimage spot for the locals. A natural beauty spot of the “Incredible India campaign” fame, Jogni Fall is a major tourist attraction.

“The project on this stream will kill this tourist spot and hurt the religious sentiments of the local people”, say the residents.

Irate villagers have accused both the company and Himurja of desecrating the “pindis”, stone images of “Jognis” at the sacred site.

“The villagers have lodged an FIR against the company, demanding scrapping of the project,” said Gupt Ram, a “kardar of Jognis”.

They resented that Himurja had not terminated its agreement with the company, signed in August 2006, despite the micro project being opposed by a majority of the villagers. “The agreement clearly stated that if the project is opposed by villagers of the affected panchyats, Himurja reserves the right to cancel the agreement,” the villagers asserted, showing a copy of the agreement.

The company kept the people of the Vashisht panchayat in the dark while it took an NOC from a handful of people of the Goshal panchyat, they alleged. “It did not take an NOC from the Vashisht panchayat”, said vice-president of the Vashisht panchayat Mani Ram.

The villagers of both panchayats have “traditional rights” over the catchment area of the Jogni Fall. “The hot bath springs in Vashisht and the Jogni Fall are the cultural heritage of the area that conserve drinking and irrigation water sources,” said AR Thakur, a retired DIG, who lives at Vashisht village.

A former member of the electricity board and resident of the valley, Harinder Thakur, said the project authorities were playing with the religious sentiments of the people just for the sake of 1 MW of power. Though the company maintains that it has obtained an NOC, the Chief Executive Officer, Himurja, Harsh Mittar, said the company had not obtained an NOC from both the panchayats.

“The company has sought an injunction from the Kullu court. However, if the gram sabhas oppose the project, it will be cancelled as the government policy is clear on the self-identified project,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kullu MLA Govind Thakur led a delegation of residents to Shimla and apprised Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal of the sanctity of the Jogni Fall. The Chief Minister reportedly assured them that the government respected their sentiments and would take appropriate action in this regard soon.

Shimla, July 27
While the Forest Department is yet to take action against alleged violation of the state policy by ecotourism projects, the Tourism Department has challaned two major eco-tourism units for carrying out activities in contravention of the State Tourism Development and Registration Act.

The action was taken after carrying out inspections which revealed violation of various provisions of the Act. While Aamod Resort at Shoghi had been running some cottages without registration since May 29, 2011, the Sanawar Nature Camp at Moti Kuna had been in operation without registration since December 2009.

Although the Forest Department is the nodal agency for ecotourism, it is mandatory for the ecotourism units to get registered under the Act and carry out operations as per its provisions.

There were other violations by Aamod Resort like failure to display the rate list. However, it was also found that it was charging the tourists “almost 50 to 60 per cent of the approved rates”. It is a clear indication that the promoters have got approved rates which are on the higher side, says Director of Tourism Arun Sharma. The matter will be looked into by the department.

There is a provision for compounding the offences for which a fine up to Rs 1,000 per day can be imposed for continuous violation. The government has recently made a provision for disconnecting the power and water supply to the erring units in case of serious violations. Sharma said his department could take action only under the Tourism Development and Registration Act and it was for the Forest Department to look into the violations pertaining to the ecotourism policy and issues whether such units should be given a liquor bar allowance were the responsibility of the Forest Department.

He said during the current tourist season, about two dozen other hotels and tourists resorts, including a five-star unit, in and around Shimla had been challaned.

Dharamsala, July 27
Due to the non-availability of land, the state government has failed to take optimum benefit of a central scheme to provide houses free of cost to the urban poor.

The Union Government is providing liberal grants for providing free houses to the urban poor. It has floated two schemes - the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) and Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) - under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

In Dharamsala, the Union Ministry had sanctioned 300 houses for the urban poor and about 80 per cent grant for constructing these houses was to be provided by it. Sources said a grant of Rs 10 crore had already been sanctioned for the project.

However, in the past two years the local administration has failed to find even 10 kanals of land for constructing the houses. The sources said the district administration was now trying to find a piece of land in the vicinity of Dharamsala.

The sources said in Shimla, three projects had been sanctioned under the BSUP. However, HIMUDA had started work on just one project and was constructing 176 houses under the BSUP. The work on the other two sanctioned projects had not started as the land allocated for it had 60 per cent gradient. Land having more than 45 per cent gradient is not recommended for constructing houses.

Officials of the state Housing Department said they were trying to identify alternative sites for the two other projects sanctioned for the urban poor in Shimla.

The sources said the Centre had sanctioned eight projects under the IHSDP for constructing houses for the urban poor in various towns, including Baddi, Solan, Parwanoo, Nalagarh and Sundernagar. However, work at Solan had also not started as suitable land had not been found for the project.

The Union Ministry had shortlisted Shimla city for the implementation of the BSUP.

However, other towns and municipal councils can also apply by sending detailed project reports for for constructing free houses for the urban poor under the IHSDP in their respective areas. 

Mandi, July 27
The Mandi Deputy Commissioner has served a show-cause notice on Daan Singh, pradhan, Darwar gram panchayat in the Dharampur block, under Section 146 as to why he should not be suspended after “the action-taken reports submitted by the Sarkaghat SDM and BDO, Dharampur, detected misuse of panchayat funds worth Rs 4.70 lakh.”

The inquiry conducted by the DC on the directions of the high court has also found the pradhan, secretary, JE, panchayat sahayak and takniki sahayak guilty in the case as they allegedly submitted the forged bills to hush up the matter.

Though the pradhan accepted his fault and has deposited Rs 2.67 lakh in the panchayat against the affidavit filed in the HC, over 12 complainants charged that action is yet to be initiated against district officials, including the police, as they sat on the complaints for over 11 months and did not initiate probe in the matter.

They confessed that they did not call the tender for the supply of cement, sand and bajri and made entries in records as per their own estimates rather than on the basis of the actual sale and purchase of material.

The panchayat claimed it bought 3,650 bags of cement but submitted forged bills, the probe said.

The complainants, Bhupender Singh, Anant Ram, Birbal Saklani, Capt Mahajan Singh and others, who had moved the HC, welcomed the action taken by the DC. But the DC is yet to take action in the 15 other complaints of the Badu and Kharvasra wards in Dharampur.

The complaints submitted to the HC said the officials did not take action as they were allegedly being pressurised by the Dharampur MLA and the Transport Minister. The then BDO, Dharampur, Tara Chand, was chargesheeted in this connection as well.

Though the DC was on study leave abroad, Sarkaghat SDM Kishori Lal said he had joined recently and was not aware about the case pending in the HC. But the BDO and the SDM submitted separate action-taken reports to the DC as directed by the HC.

Meanwhile, the pradhan has been asked to submit its reply to the show-cause notice by July 31. The role of the police and district officials is under HC scanner in connection with the case as they did not take any action at the behest of the minister, sources said.

Hamirpur, July 27
Activists of the ABVP from this district today held a demonstration against corruption at Hamirpur.

Hundreds of activists, including a large number of girls, marched from Government Postgraduate College, Hamirpur, raising slogans against corruption at the Centre, carrying placards in their hands, passing through the bazaar up to the Regional Hospital here.

They said, “Congress leaders have become a symbol of corruption and a large number of corruption cases have been unearthed during the current regime of the UPA government.”

“ABVP activists have always been in the forefront in the fight against corruption and participated in movements against the issue launched by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. They have never retreated from fighting against the menace,” the ABVP leaders said.

They also questioned the lacklustre attitude of the Centre in bringing back black money from foreign countries.

State president of the Youth Against Corruption and state secretary of the ABVP Nitin Vyas said the ABVP would hold chakka jam on August 9 to highlight the issue and continue its crusade against the same.

District president and organising secretary of the ABVP Balwinder and Rakesh Walia, respectively, also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the district unit of the SFI had criticised the ABVP for adopting double standards on the issue.

In a press statement, district president Anil Mankotia and district secretary Jasvir Singh said, “While the ABVP has launched a campaign against corruption, its leaders are silent on the involvement of BJP leaders in corruption cases in the state and at the national level.”

The SFI has also accused several former ABVP leaders for their alleged involvement in corruption cases.

DHARAMSALA: ABVP workers today organised a protest rally in Dharamsala town against corruption and raised slogans against the UPA government. They demanded that the Centre should issue an ordinance declaring black money as national property. They further demanded that floating warrants should be issued in the name of people who had deposited black money in banks abroad.

The activists also sought a special law which should be formulated to bring non-governmental organisations under the provisions of Prevention of the Corruption Act and commercialisation of education across the country should also be stopped.

MANDI: While state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur today had a closed-door meeting with NSUI leaders of the district here, ABVP activists staged a protest march in the town and raised slogans against corruption at the Centre.

Leading the protest march from the Paddal ground to the DC office, the ABVP activists demanded action against the UPA government. They also submitted a memorandum to the government.

Shimla, July 27
Maintaining that all the policies of the Dhumal regime were tailored to facilitate the “sell out” of state resources, Congress general secretary Ram Lal Thakur said the latest move to convert land given on lease into freehold was another step in this direction.

Addressing a press meeting here today, he said after allowing outsiders to acquire huge chunks of land in the garb of opening private universities, the government had proposed to convert the land provided on lease into freehold.

The main objective of the proposal, based on the recommendation of the committee set up under Revenue Minister, was to raise financial resources for the government. If the financial position of the state had become so precarious that it had been forced to sell the land, then the government should go for open auction to get maximum price rather than framing policies to facilitate transfer through the backdoor. He said all previous governments and Chief Ministers, right from Dr Y.S. Parmar to Shanta Kumar, had tried their best to protect state’s vital resources and economic interests, but the present Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal had virtually put the state on “sale”.

While private universities were allowed to acquire land without any limit, the Patanjali Yogpeeth of Swami Ramdev had been given 96 bighas of forest land in violation of the Forest Conservation Act.

BJP leaders had been misleading people on the issue of Section 118 of the Land Reform and Tenancy Act. He urged the government to provide information about the total quantum of land non-agriculturists had been allowed to purchase in the state.

Thakur alleged BJP spokesperson Randhir Sharma had levelled baseless charges against Union Minister Virbhadra Singh only to divert attention of the people from the land scams of the BJP regime.

Shimla, July 27
Expressing concern on the recent death of labourers in a cloudburst at Dhoondi, near Manali, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has sought reply from the state government; Border Roads Organisation, Manali, and Garg & Garg Construction Company, who is the contractor for the Rohtang Tunnel Project.

While passing these directions, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Karol further directed the state authorities, including the Kullu DC, Manali SDM, Secretary (Labour), Kullu SP, Meteorological Department and the chief engineer of the project, to file separate affidavits over the deaths of several labourers due to flash floods caused by cloudburst at a construction site near Manali on July 20.

The Bench passed this order on the petition filed by Jagdish Vats alleging that the lives of labourers could have been saved had the administrative machinery been alert and prepared to provide necessary relief and rescue equipment and manpower and if the state had implemented the proposal of the Met Department to install Doppler Radars.

The petitioner submitted that flash floods had struck a construction site where makeshift sheds and tents were provided by the contractor to accommodate labourers engaged in construction of a snow gallery to connect the Rohtang tunnel from the road leading to the tunnel.

He said most projects in the state were vulnerable to natural calamities, but the authorities concerned “rise from a deep slumber only when a disaster occurs and then go again in a slumber mode”.

The petitioner prayed that immediate steps be taken to remove labour colonies in hazardous locations across the state and shift these to safer locations and ensure strict implementation of the Labour Laws.

Dharamsala, July 27
Senior Congress leader and MLA from Nagrota Bagwan celebrated his birthday with fervour in his constituency. The birthday celebrations created a festive mood in Nagrota town.

Thousands of people gathered at the Gandhi ground in Nagrota to attend a medical camp organised on the occasion. Medical specialists from the AIIMS, the PGI and the Fortis Hospital examined patients free of cost.

Famous playback singer from Bollywood Mamta Sharma and famous music composer Jatin (of Jatin-Lalit fame) performed for the people who had come to attend the birthday celebrations of Bali.

Bali had also arranged for elephant and camel rides to keep visitors entertained during the function.

Eatables and sweets were also distributed free of cost, which attracted a large numbers of locals to the function.

Bali said the large attendance at the birthday celebrations illustrated the kind of love people of his constituency had for him.

Bali has been celebrating his birthday in Nagrota Bagwan for the past 10 years. He has been elected from the constituency three times in a row.

Bali’s detractors, however, said people came to the event because of free sweets and Bollywood artistes. “It is not the real measure of Bali’s popularity,” they said.