New Delhi, August 12
In far-reaching judgment, the Supreme Court has asked the Himachal Pradesh Government to prescribe the salary structure for the teachers of unaided, recognised private schools at the earliest under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, keeping in mind Article 39(d) of the Constitution which stipulates equal pay for equal work.

A Bench comprising Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik issued the directive while disposing of a petition filed by teachers of the St Paul’s Senior Secondary School in the state seeking pay on par with their counterparts working in government schools.

Though the verdict is restricted to Himachal, it has thrown up a golden opportunity for teachers in such schools across the country to approach the respective state governments or the judiciary seeking similar benefit.

Interestingly, before issuing the directive, the Bench rejected almost all the contentions of the teachers who had approached the apex court challenging the High Court verdict. In the 20-page judgment, written by Justice Patnaik, the Bench also expressed its inability to direct the St Paul’s School to match the salaries and allowances of the teachers with that of their government school counterparts.

“In our considered opinion, the Division Bench of the HC has rightly held in the impugned judgment that the teachers of private unaided minority schools had no right to claim salary equal to that of their counterparts working in government schools and government-aided schools,” the Bench said, upholding the HC verdict.

The salary and allowances of teachers of a private unaided school “is a matter of contract between the school and the teacher and is not within the domain of public law,” the apex court noted further. It also rejected the contention that the salaries of all schools affiliated to the Indian School Certificate Examinations should pay their teachers salaries, which were comparable to the scales prescribed by the state Education Department.

Shimla, August 12
The government plan to make organic manure from the rotting stocks of apple procured under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) last season has gone awry.

The new apple harvesting season is at its peak but not a single bag of manure has been produced till date from over 55,000 tonne of fruit, which could not be transported from the collection centres last season. Initially, the entire stock was to be converted into organic manure through vermi-composting under the guidance of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, but inadequate availability of worms forced the authorities to use bacterial composting for bulk of the fruit.

The task was assigned to the Excel Industries, which specialises in solid waste management, for the supply of bacterial inoculum for speedy composting.

In the normal course vermi-composting takes three months and bacterial process is even faster but none of them seems to be working well, though the vermi-composting process is likely to be completed earlier. The government is set to suffer heavy losses due to rotting of apples as a record 1,11,000 tonne of fruit was procured out of which a meagre 10,000 tonne was processed and about 45,000 tonne sold in the market, leaving over 55,000 tonne to rot.

The government decided to convert the rotting fruit into organic manure but as is becoming evident now, only a small part of it will be composted. The HPMC is composting about 12,000 tonne out of which not even 1,000 tonne is being vermi-composted. The HIMFED is composting 18,000 tonne.

Senior scientist of university Dr GP Upadhyaya, who is overseeing the vermi-composting part, said composting was started in 45 pits for which 900 kg of worms were required by only about 80 kg was available.

Inadequate worms, along with low ambient temperature during winter, slowed down the process. However, he maintained that the activity was increased during summer and they were multiplying it and it may take a month or two more to complete the process.

This year, the crop is lean and hardly any fruit is being procured under MIS and as such there will be no apple for composting. Even otherwise, non-availability of cow dung and biomass (grass and farm waste), which is being brought from the neighbouring states, makes composting an uneconomical proposition.

Shimla, August 12
With a long weekend ahead, nearly 1,00,000 tourists are expected to make their way up to Himachal Pradesh. According to tourism department estimates, over 100,000 tourists, mainly from the plains of north India, are likely to visit the state during the three-day weekend that starts with Raksha Bandhan on Saturday and ends with Independence Day on August 15.

"Almost all our hotels are full well in advance. Of course, the extended weekend is always a holiday hit," Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) general manager Yogesh Behl said.

So get a homely room in a snug wooden cottage amid orchards and nature in a village. At present, the hill state has 359 homestay units, all in rural areas, with a room capacity of 969. Out of these, 119 alone are in the Kullu-Manali region. Kangra and Shimla districts have 45 and 33 units, respectively.

The most sought after destinations are Shimla, Narkanda, Sangla, Kasauli, Manali, Palampur, Dharamsala and Dalhousie, he said.

DP Bhatia of Clarke’s Hotel in Shimla: "We have 100 per cent occupancy for two days. Those who've made the bookings are mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. On Independence Day, they will depart." Director Tourism Arun Sharma said for those who want to enjoy rural tourism in a homely atmosphere, staying in homestay units is the right option.

"Some of the homestay units are located amid scenic beauty. Their location is available on the official website of the state tourism department," he said. "— IANS

Nurpur, August 12
The rail traffic on the Pathankot-Jogindernagar line has been suspended after the torrential rain washed away the central pillar of the railway bridge near Kandwal.

The water of the Chakki rivulet, which was flooded after the torrential rain, washed away the central pillar of the bridge on the Punjab side late this evening collapsing one span of the railway bridge.

According to information, two pillars in the jurisdiction of Himachal Pradesh have also get weaken and waiting for further collapse.

Local MLA Rakesh Pathania immediately rushed to the spot and alerted railway authorities. The technical staff team of the Railway Department, which also arrived on the spot, started examining the situation and stopped the railway traffic on this narrow-gauge line.

Shimla, August 12
The HP High Court today set aside the order of the National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) quashing the environment clearance (EC) granted to Lafarge India for establishing a cement plant at Alsindi in Karsog.

The court also held void the environmental clearance granted by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) to the company for setting up a cement project.

A Green Bench comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjay Karol sent the matter back to the EAC with directions that it should direct the sub-committee to visit the site and submit its report to it and decide the matter afresh after considering the report.

While passing this order, the bench observed “the member of the Appellate Authority in fact did not act as an Appellate Authority but as if he was the person who was to decide what was good or bad. Instead of deciding appeals on the basis of material before the EAC, he started collecting evidence on the site, which he should not have done especially without giving adequate opportunity to the parties. Furthermore, he not only collected the evidence but also used his site inspection alone as a ground to quash the order of the EAC.”

It also expressed its dissatisfaction over the recommendation of the EAC for granting EC and observed that “It may be true that the EAC has accepted the report of the sub-committee constituted by it for inspecting the site but it appears that while doing so it did not even consider the fact as to what was the impact of the members of the sub- committee not visiting the mining area.

Shimla, August 12
Keen on shaking off the tabooed sex worker label, as many as 730 women from poverty stricken families have volunteered to be part of the “Women in Moral Danger” scheme, which will impart them technical knowledge to make a respectable living.

To be launched by the state Welfare Department, the Sex Workers Rehabilitation Scheme, which was approved by the Cabinet on August 8, has been re-christened as “Women in Moral Danger” scheme. The change in nomenclature had to be done so that women come forward and gain from the scheme.

Sources said 730 women have expressed their willingness to be part of the first phase of the pilot project to be launched shortly in the hill state. The survey undertaken by various voluntary organisations associated with the State AIDS Control Society has indicated that there are around 10,200 women in the state who are into the flesh trade, primarily for economic reasons.

Surveys by various agencies, including the Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (HPVHA), in the past too had indicated that many women from poor economic backgrounds had been pushed into prostitution. In the survey, it had been pointed out that majority of the tourist destination, including Shimla, Kasauli, Kullu-Manali and Solan had become hubs of organised flesh trade.

Besides the tourist destinations, some of the industrial centres too had gained notoriety for organised flesh trade. The AIDS control society and the Welfare Department would jointly execute the scheme, which will provide help hapless women gaining self-employment opportunities by way of skill development and vocational training. 

Kangra, August 12
Two persons were killed and 14 were injured in three different road accidents in the Kangra valley during the past 24 hours, the police said here today.

Dehra SDPO Manmohan Singh said Arun Kumar (27) of Haar Metha village was killed on the Dehra Bridge when his scooter was hit from behind by an unknown vehicle late in the night leaving him dead on the spot. He said it seems that two or three vehicles might have crossed over the body.

He said in another accident a 36-year-old teacher was killed when his motorcycle collided against a HRTC bus coming from the opposite direction on a sharp curve near Dhaliara falling under the Dehra police station late in the night.

The DSP said the deceased was identified as Ravinder Dhiman of Rakkar Badohli village. Dhiman was on his way home when his vehicle collided with the HRTC Bus.

In another incident, nearly 14 bus passengers were injured today when a private bus dashed against a hillock at Bhanotu. Kangra District Police Chief Deljit Singh said today that the injured were rushed to the nearby hospital.