|
|
|
|
|
Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary Row
Farmers turn to CBI against cement firm
Local growth fund policy to result in unequal benefits
Lokayukta a blunt weapon in fight against graft
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Govt okays industrial projects worth Rs 762 cr
Baddi units’ poor fire preparedness no burning issue for govt
NIT to promote academic exchange programmes
Students suffer as nurses refuse to vacate hostel
Power board staff seek enhanced grade pay
Kisan Manch to start campaign against corruption
Vivekananda’s teachings ‘more relevant now’
Scrub typhus cases reported
Seepage ruining books in library
CCTVs to keep tabs on cyber cafes
Youth commits suicide
|
|
Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary Row
Dharamsala, September 11 The president of a farmers’ association from the area, Ajay Jasrotia, said farmers of Chhota and Bara Bhangal wanted their forest rights restored. The farmers from the area had been using forests in their surrounding areas for livelihood for ages. Since almost all 15 villages in Chhota and Bara Bhangal are located in remote forests, the people of the area depend on them for wood for constructing houses, fuel and fodder for their animals. “However, since the declaration of the Dhauladhar wildlife sanctuary in 1999, all forest rights of the villagers have been taken away. Forest officials do not allow the villagers to take away even grass from the forest land. Without the restoration of forest rights, the restoration of a 135 sq km area will not be of much consequence to the villagers,” he said. Inquiries by The Tribune revealed that the farmers of Chhota Bhangal lost their forest rights due to insensitivity or error on the part of bureaucrats who identified the land for the creation of the Dhauladhar wildlife sanctuary before 1999. At the time of the acquisition, the officials who identified the land for the wildlife sanctuary also had to list the forest rights of local residents. The farmers also erred in getting their forest rights listed. They are, however, alleging that they did not have the knowledge regarding the bureaucratic procedures and it was the duty of the officials concerned to protect their rights. In the case the officials who identified the land for the wildlife sanctuary had listed the forest rights of Chhota and Bara Bhangal residents, the farmers of the area would not have lost their rights over the forest produce in their respective areas. Deputy Commissioner Kangra, RS Gupta, who has now been made the Collector for identifying 37 sq km land that would be included in the Dhauladhar wildlife sanctuary in lieu of the 135 sq km area that has been excluded, said he would be listing the farmers’ rights. “However, I can list the farmers’ rights for only 37 sq km area for which I have been made the Collector,” he said. He said he could not do anything to restore the rights of farmers in the area that had already been included in the Dhauladhar wildlife sanctuary. The farmers maintained that they had even represented the case for restoration of their forest rights before a committee of the Union Ministry of Environment that visited the area for a survey. About 15,000 residents of Chhota and Bara Bhangal, that have been declared backward areas of Kangra district, have been protesting for the past 19 years against the inclusion of their villages in the Dhauladhar wildlife sanctuary. They even boycotted the last parliamentary elections. Forests as Livelihood
Farmers of Chhota and Bara Bhangal have been using forests in their surrounding areas for livelihood for ages. Almost all 15 villages in Chhota and Bara Bhangal are located in remote forests, and villagers depend on them for their livelihood. They are demanding that their forest rights be restored |
|
Farmers turn to CBI against cement firm
Sundernagar, September 11 It was alleged in the complaint (66 pages, including annexure) by Lalit Sen, secretary of the samiti, that officers of Harish Cement Company were cheating the farmers of the area and forcing them to sell land
to the company at throwaway prices. It was further alleged in the complaint that officers of various government departments were helping the cement company in grabbing the land. Many times the matter was brought to the notice of various authorities, but no action was taken. The state government had signed an MoU to set up a cement plant near here in 1995. The local residents have been opposing the decison of the government to set up a plant near Sundernagar, but various governments of Himachal Pradesh have been supporting the cement plant which will be built up in the thickly populated area, on agriculture land and very near to wildlife. So the public is left with no option but to challenge the decision in the High Court of HP. Interestingly, the environmental clearance and various land notifications under the Land Acquisition Act were quashed by the Green Bench of HP High Court, but even then the government accorded permission to the cement company to purchase land directly
from farmers. The cement company has filed an SLP before the Supreme Court which is pending disposal. Now the samiti has knocked the door of the CBI against the government officials. According to Devki Nandan Sharma, president of the samiti, Shimla office of the CBI, has forwarded the compliant to the
Director, CBI. |
|
|
Local growth fund policy to result in unequal benefits
Shimla, September 11 More so, as the new policy provides for cash transfer in lieu of free power to all families under a panchayat, including those who have not lost their land, houses or other assets. For instance, in the 66 MW Dhaula Sidh Project about 3,250 families spread over 14 affected panchayats will get the benefit. The project will generate 247 million units of electricity annually, of which 24.7 lakh units will be available for distribution to the affected panchayats. Even at a sale rate of Rs 4 per unit, each family will get a meagre Rs 3,000 annually. The actual number of affected families are only 427 and they will get the same amount, which will be a grave injustice. It will be a different story in a sparsely populated district like Lahaul and Spiti, having just 7,500 families, where projects with aggregate capacity of 3,400 MW are being constructed. In all, these projects will generate 1,600 crore units of electricity annually and accordingly 16 crore units available under the LADF will fetch Rs 64 crore at Rs 4 per unit. Thus even if half of the panchayats (4000 families) are affected, each of them will receive a whopping Rs 1.60 lakh annually. The main reason for this anomalous distribution of benefits is that the new policy ignores the ground reality that high capacity projects are located upstream in thinly populated high hills where much less people are affected and submergence of land is also minimal. In contrast, downstream projects in densely populated have low capacities, affect large populations and submerge vast tracts of land. The national hydropower policy provides for 100 units of electricity per month to each project-affected family in kind or cash for a period of 10 years which will translate into a financial benefit of Rs 4,800 annually at Rs 4 per unit. It also lays down that the state government must divert 1 per cent of the 12 per cent free power available as royalty to the LADF, in addition to 1 per cent being provided by the power developer. However, the government is quiet on this front. Moreover, treating the affected families, which lose land, houses, other assets and livelihood, on a par with other residents of panchayats is fraught with danger as in most cases only a few families, mostly along the banks of the river, are affected. |
|
Lokayukta a blunt weapon in fight against graft
Shimla, September 11 Worse, with the government not bound to take action on its recommendations, its findings are conveniently ignored. While almost 90 per cent of the complaints are closed, a few cases in which charges are found to be true, the Lokayukta can only send his findings and recommendations to the competent authority which has to report back the action taken within three months. If the Lokayukta is not satisfied with the action taken, he can only make a special report to the Governor, which is presented in the Vidhan Sabha, and the matter rests there. How seriously the recommendations of the Lokayukta are taken can be judged from the fact that of the 13 reports sent to the competent authority from 2006 to 2009, action has been taken only in one case pertaining to 2008. On an average, 45 to 50 complaints are received every year and barring a few on which action is recommended, the rest are closed. The year 2010 started with a backlog of 99 complaints and 45 complaints were filed during the year taking the total number to 144. Of these 53 were decided, reducing the number of pending complaints to 91. While 49 complaints were closed, action was recommended in four cases. Himachal was only the second state in the country after West Bengal to set up the institution of the Lokayukta on June 1, 1983, and Justice TVR Tatachari was the first incumbent. However, it has proved no deterrent and corruption in high places has become the order of the day. The competent authority conducts its own inquiry and more often than not allows erring officials to go scot-free. For instance, if action is recommended against a constable, the Secretary, Home (the competent authority), sends the report to the DGP and at times it ends up with the SHO concerned who finds no substance in the charges. Thus, under the existing system, the findings of a Chief Justice of the high court could be summarily dismissed by as low a government functionary as an SHO of the police. This is the fate that recommendations for action against the officials found guilty by the Lokayukta after investigations meet quite often. Thus, it is hardly surprising that the Lokayukta has served little purpose all these years. There have not been many complaints against political leaders occupying high offices mainly because of a provision under which the complainant is required to file an affidavit. Since the complainants are not sure whether or not the charges against ministers and others in high positions will be proved, they avoid filing a complaint on an affidavit as they could be proceeded against for making false charges. The complaints against important politicians often fail on technical grounds. It is a different story in states like Karnataka where the state Vigilance Department is under the Lokayukta and it has its own police station. The last incumbent, Justice Bhawani Singh, who completed his term on May 5 this year, underscores the need for providing more teeth to the institution by vesting in it powers to take suo motu cognisance of cases of corruption, conducting investigations and prosecuting the guilty officials. It is better not to enact a weak law and leave the issue of corruption to be taken care of by the police and courts, which exercise investigatory and adjudicatory powers under the laws. Powers apart, the office of the Lokayukta has not even been provided with adequate staff. While the Lokayukta has been pleading for a full-fledged investigating agency headed by an Inspector-General of Police, the government has given only a Superintendent of Police, a station officer and a sub-inspector. In all 49 posts have been sanctioned of which eight have been vacant continuously. The Lokayukta wanted almost double the posts with a strong investigating agency comprising 25 police, 3 forest and revenue officials. How lokayukta is appointed
The Lokayukta is appointed by a three-member committee comprising the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of High Court for a term of five years. He will not be eligible for reappointment thereafter. Only judges of the Supreme Court and Chief Justices of high courts are eligible for the post. The Lokayukta cannot be a member of Parliament or a legislature of any state and shall not hold any other office of trust or profit or be an officer of a co-operative society and shall not be connected with any political party or carry on any business or practice any profession and accordingly before he enters upon his office. Chronology
|
|
Govt okays industrial projects worth Rs 762 cr
Shimla, September 11 The authority which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal gave the nod to six new industrial proposals and 20 expansion proposals which will generate employment for 3,787 persons. The major proposals included the Rs 188-crore project of Mahavir Spinning Mills at Baddi and Rs 40-crore unit of PME Power Solutions. Dhumal said the response of investors was encouraging, despite the withdrawal of the Special Industrial Package last year. He said record industrial expansion had taken place during the earlier regime of 1998-2003 and the present government from January 2008 onwards and many multi-national companies had set up their units in the industry-friendly and pollution-free environment of the state. The objective of setting up the State Level Single Window Clearance and Monitoring Authority was to create a forum where all authorities concerned were available to discuss issues relating to different departments. He said polluting and power-intensive units were being discouraged and of late high water-consuming projects had been directed to incorporate a recycling system into their plants to ensure optimum use of water. Dhumal underlined the need for rainwater harvesting systems in every industrial unit. He directed the departments concerned to ensure that the policy of mandatory 70 per cent employment to Himachalis was implemented in letter and spirit. |
|
Baddi units’ poor fire preparedness no burning issue for govt
Solan, September 11 Several lives have also been lost in fire incidents in the last few years in the BBN belt alone. Though an investor is supposed to procure NOCs from various departments before initiating production but procuring an NOC from the
fire department is not compulsory. The investors therefore do not invest adequately in fire-fighting equipments with units even lacking fire hydrants and adequate water availability on
their premises. An analysis of the fire incidents which have taken place in the BBN in the last few months showed that the industrial units had not procured any NOC from the fire department. Baddi SP Gurdev Chand Sharma admits: “The cases where industrial units have been found to be lacking in fire-fighting equipments and there has been loss of life, the managements are liable to face action for being negligent and putting at risk the lives of its employees. Though there is no mechanism to make fire certification mandatory but lack of it has
proved dear in case of fire incidents.” Though thousands of industrial units have been set up in the BBN area after the 2003 Central industrial package, little has been done by the state government to enforce this norm. A government committee headed by the CEO, BBN Development Authority, had inspected industrial units in 2009 after a major fire incident, and had declared nearly 30 per cent of the industrial units unsafe as they lacked the requisite fire preparedness gear but, again, no action was taken to improve the system. The committee which had inspected 720 industrial units had also pointed out that another 5 per cent of the units had been found to be highly vulnerable as they lacked even the basic fire-safety equipment. While blaming the units for adopting a casual approach, the committee had concluded that a vast majority of the units examined had failed to get a permanent fire-safety certificate and continued to run on provisional certificates. The report had recommended filling of all pending posts in the fire department, besides making available more staff and equipment in view of the large industrial expansion after the 2003 industrial package. The recommendations, however, have remained on paper alone. |
|
NIT to promote academic exchange programmes
Hamirpur, September 11 The NIT has already signed MoUs with foreign universities of four countries under the academic exchange programme. The NIT authorities have proposed an interactive workshop with representatives of these universities and institutions in which details regarding the exchange programmes will be discussed. After this interaction with experts, specific programmes to prop up international and national collaboration for enhancing teaching and research will be finalised. The foreign universities, with which the NIT, Hamirpur, has signed MoUs are the University of Technology, Sydney ( Australia), Sheffield Hallam University, the UK, four universities from Finland which are Helsinki and Oulu universities, the Tampere University of Technology and Tampere University. The other universities are the Laura University of Applied Sciences, Finland, and Alliance of four universities (A- 4U) Barcelona, Spain. The NIT has signed MoUs with 25 institutions under the academic exchange programme, some of the prestigious institutions within the country are the Commonwealth Science & Technology Academy of Research, Chennai, Solar Energy Centre of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and the IIT, Mandi. The exchange programme will be extended to faculty members for sharing professional expertise for teaching and research, including student exchange programmes. |
|
Students suffer as nurses refuse to vacate hostel
Dharamsala, September 11 It was found that staff nurses of the college were accommodated only for the first time before the beginning of the new session of nursing students. But now, ignoring repeated notices being served by the administration on them, staff nurses were still occupying rooms of the Ravi Hostel. Medical superintendent (MS), Tanda Medical College, Dr BS Sood, said: “Repeated notices have been served on these staff nurses from the warden of the hostel, Principal, DRPGMC, and administrative action will be taken against them if they fail to vacate the hostel in a week.” According to sources, at least 82 staff nurses are staying in the hostel built exclusively for Government Nursing College students. Despite the ratio of one-room-for-one student, two students are being accommodated in one room and one separate room is being occupied by staff nurses. “Our studies suffer with the presence of the nursing staff here as they work in shifts and do not have any burden regarding studies,” said a hosteller. Hostellers also fear ragging behind closed doors. Alternative accommodation arrangements had been provided to these nurses in the boys’ hostel which was vacant, but they were reluctant to shift there as they want separate rooms and not a dormitory, the MS stated. Meanwhile, the Principal of the nursing college was not available for comments. |
|
Power board staff seek enhanced grade pay
Shimla, September 11 Alleging that the bureaucracy was grossly violating the provisions of the scheme as well as agreement, badly affecting the service conditions of employees, general secretary of the union H L Verma said a meeting of the central executive committee had been convened on October 3 to decide the action plan. Over 700 members from all over the state would attend the meeting. The employees were sore over the inordinate delay in release of enhanced grade pay and allowances on the pattern of Punjab as a result of which the employees were losing out Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,500 per month. The service conditions and issues relating to the employees on secondment with the state transmission utility and the generating company were hanging fire and no concrete mechanism had been evolved for disbursal of pension as committed in the restructuring scheme, causing uncertainty among the 22,000 employees and 12,500 pensioners. |
|
Sanawar school wins quiz contest
Shimla, September 11 In all 16 selected schools participated in the competition from all over the country and after a gruelling 40-question preliminary round, teams of Welham Boys School, Dehradun, Mayo College (Boys), Ajmer, Vivek High School, Chandigarh, Daly College, Indore, Lawrence School, Sanawar, and Mayo College (Girls), Ajmer, succeeded in making it to the final round. The quiz comprised six brain-rattling rounds categorised as Global Choice, World Watch, World Vision, First Aid World, Lateral World and World Clues with questions based on choice, oral, visual, crossword, audio and video and clues, respectively. There was a medley of questions in the highly competitive event which saw the host school clinch the coveted trophy in a tie-breaker with Vivek High School by a margin of a solitary point (138-137). The winning team comprised Manveer Singh Sandhu, Pitambar Yadav, Parichay Jain and Ayush Gupta. Vivek High School, Chandigarh, Mayo College (Boys), Ajmer, and Mayo College (Girls), Ajmer, were the first, second and third runners-up, respectively. Welham Boys School, Dehradun, and Daly College, Indore, were awarded the first and second consolation prizes, respectively. Prateek Shankar of Mayo College (Boys), Ajmer, was adjudged as the winner of the screening test. |
|
Kisan Manch to start campaign against corruption
Bilaspur, September 11 This was stated by Himachal Kisan Manch chief convener and former MLA Krishan Kumar Kaushal while talking to mediapersons at the Circuit House here recently. Accompanied by half a dozen top state leaders of the state manch, including state chief spokesman Kesh Pathania and Rajiv Sharma and Vinit Gauttam, Kaushal said there was no doubt to anybody regarding large number of Congress party leaders being corrupt and being dragged to jails by the Supreme Court and some awakened citizens, but now it was also conclusively proved that the BJP was not second to anyone in this field. Kaushal praised Anna Hazare’s efforts in bringing awakening among
the masses regarding rampant corruption. He said the Himachal Kisan Manch would start a campaign to expose such corrupt practices of leaders of both the main parties throughout the state and start a “Bhrashtachar Virodhi Rath” from Gwaal Thai near Naina Deviji within a week and bring honest leaders to come together to form a “third political alternative” to both these parties. |
|
|
Vivekananda’s teachings ‘more relevant now’
Kangra, September 11 The function was organised by the local branch of Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, to commemorate the historic speech delivered by Swami Vivekananda in the world religious conference on September 11, 1893. She said Swami Vivekananda had expressed apprehension 118 years ago that religious fanaticism would “soak the earth in blood”. Rehka Deva, joint general secretary, Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, who was the guest of honour, stressed the need for the youth to follow Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, which would keep them close to their cultural roots and religion. |
|
|
Scrub typhus cases reported
Bilaspur, September 11 The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Sudershan Sharma, said so far around 20 cases of suspected scrub typhus fever had been reported at the Regional Hospital here. He said patients contracted the disease through field mice and such cases were mostly reported during September and October. He said six scrub typhus cases under treatment at the Regional Hospital here and all patients were out of danger. The CMO urged villagers to take special precautions against this fever by wearing shoes while going out to their fields.
— OC |
|
Seepage ruining books in library
Mandi, September 11 The reference section is nothing but a pool of dirty water, courtesy the leakage of water. “It is suffocating here as there is seepage and books emit a mouldy smell,” rue students sitting in the library. A part of the library stores broken furniture, adding to its shabby look. |
|
CCTVs to keep tabs on cyber cafes
Chamba, September 11 The SP, Chamba, Madhu Sudan Sharma, said the police had gathered the addresses of all cyber shops functioning in the district. The police was also working on various strategies relating to cyber crime, the SP said. The police was maintaining “zero tolerance” so far as drug-trafficking was concerned, the SP said. |
|
Youth commits suicide
Kangra, September 11 He was taken to Sandol Hospital from where he was referred to the Tanda medical college. He died late last night in the hospital. The police has started investigation under Section 174 of the CrPC. The body was sent for a
postmortem.
|
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
