Shimla, November 1
After several agitations and a protracted legal battle in the apex court, the hill state finally started getting its full share of power from the BBMB projects under the Punjab State Reorganisation Act from today.

The immediate effect is that the state gets an additional nine lakh units of power from today which will help ease the shortage during winter months. In all, the state will get an additional 450 million units to 500 million units annually which effectively means that the state electricity board will have much more power available for banking during the next summer. As a result, it will not be required to go for contra-banking next winter to meet the shortfall. The state will get about 100 million units during the lean winter months and about 400 million units during the summer.

The state was entitled to a 7.19 share under the Act but it has all these years been getting only an ad hoc share of 2.50 per cent in the Bhakra project and 15 MW in the Dehar project. It was not getting anything from the Pong Dam project. With the Centre virtually expressing its helplessness in enforcing the Act, the state moved the Supreme Court in 1996 and the matter was decided in its favour in September last. While the court gave six months to the Centre to calculate the arrears from 1996 to October 31, 2011, it directed the parties concerned to start giving the full share to Himachal from November 1 onwards.

Accordingly the BBMB has revised the schedule and the state’s share has been raised from 46 MW to 152.6 MW. The share in the Bhakra project has gone up from 31 MW to 84 MW and in the Dehar project from 15 MW to 56 MW. It has secured 42 MW from the Pong Dam project from which it was not getting anything so far.

During the winter, on an average, 7 lakh units to 10 lakh units of power will be available daily which will help mitigate the impact of the sharp increase in demand due to more industrial units coming into production since last winter. As against the peak daily demand of 218 lakh units last year, the consumption has already crossed 235 lakh units this year. The demand is likely be cross the 250 lakh unit mark during the peak winter. The winter shortfall has been estimated at 1,650 million units, 300 million units more than last year.

Dharamsala, November 1
The Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association has opposed the government move to increase the retirement age of teachers in medical colleges of the state from 58 to 63 years.

The press secretary of the association, Dr Shushil Sharma, in a press note issued here today, alleged that the move would block the channel for many Himachal Pradesh medical officers to serve in the two government medical colleges at Shimla and Tanda.

He said a policy was already in place for re-employing retired medical teachers on contract to overcome the problem of shortage of medical faculty at the senior level. So there was no need to increase the retirement age. The retired doctors working on contract could be removed as and when regular teachers were available. However, by increasing the retirement age, the government will block the promotional channel for state medical officers, the association alleged.

The medical officers’ association also demanded that the doctors serving in Himachal should also be given the “4-9-14” time scale on the Punjab pattern.

They also demanded the restructuring of the cadre at the directorate level. A post of the Director-General (Health) and posts of Director at all respective health departments should be created, it said.

Shimla, November 1
While a defiant Shanta faction is all set to announce the creation of a non-political anti-corruption outfit, which will tour the entire state, Chief Minister PK Dhumal today met party chief Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi, amid a virtual revolt by the dissident camp.

The Shanta faction will formally announce the creation of an anti-corruption body, with former MP Maheshwar Singh likely to be the convener of the outfit, former Speaker Radha Raman Shastri and former ministers Mahinder Singh Sofat and Shyama Sharma being members of the core body.

The body, likely to be named “Bhrashtachar Mukti Morcha”, will start touring the entire state within 15 days. Prominent dissidents, including Maheshwar Singh, Shastri, Sofat and HN Kashyap, today met at Shoghi near here to work out the modalities before the public announcement of their outfit tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Dhumal, who was scheduled to visit Nagpur on an invitation of Gadkari for a party function, is learnt to have met the party chief to apprise him of the dissident activities of the Shanta faction, which are damaging the party at a time when two byelections are due to be held shortly. He later left for Nagpur with Gadkari and other senior leaders, including Arun Jaitley.

Some of these leaders said they had been compelled to take such a drastic step as they had no say either in the party or the government. “We are not just being ignored but humiliated and belittled within the party and the government despite having such a long association with the party,” said one of them. He added that by raising their voice of dissent, they wanted to send a clear signal that they were not part of the government’s decisions, some of which they did not approve of.

They said the main objective behind forming a body despite their own party being in power was that corruption had become a major issue, which needed to be addressed. “Corruption has no caste, colour, creed or political leaning. Anyone, including those from the Congress or the CPM, are welcome to join us in our crusade,” they said.

Leaders belonging to the Shanta camp are likely to visit the entire state as part of their battle against corruption. They will also raise other issues concerning the common people, which their own government has failed to address.

As such the infighting within the ruling BJP is likely to intensify in the coming days as the dissidents, who boycotted the state executive meeting here yesterday, want to take the battle among the public and create pressure on the government.

Dharamsala, November 1
The recent fissures in the BJP that are now escalating into major infighting in the ruling party arose from petty issues. Sources said most sitting MLAs and ministers who are leading “a sort of revolt” against the state government were sore over the alleged interference by leaders of the Dhumal faction in their respective constituencies.

This all started with the Palampur Assembly constituency in Kangra district that is represented by Parveen Sharma, a loyalist of former Chief Minister and national vice-president of the BJP, Shanta Kumar. IPH Minister Ravinder Ravi, representing the Thural Assembly constituency, which was declared reserved in the delimitation of constituencies, allegedly started taking interest in the Palampur Assembly constituency.

The Shanta group and Ravinder Ravi were at loggerheads on many issues in Palampur. The issue of a nursing college operating in Palampur was the first such issue. Initially the nursing council ordered the closure of the college due to certain discrepancies. Members of the Shanta group wanted action against the college. However, the management of the college was allegedly supported by the IPH Minister that led to differences between the two groups.

The Palampur local MLA got a government gas agency opened in the area. However, allegedly under pressure from the Dhumal faction, once again the private gas agency operator managed to retain most of the areas in Palampur.

The issue of transfer of officers in the respective constituencies of ministers and MLAs belonging to the Shanta faction was another bone of contention between both groups.

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Ramesh Dhawala recently had a tiff with Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal over the transfer of an Executive Engineer from his area. Contractors from Ramesh Dhawala’s constituency went to the Chief Minister and protested against the transfer. This increased the chasm between the Chief Minister and Ramesh Dhawala.

Minister for Industries Kishan Kapoor, who is also a member of the Shanta faction, was also sore at certain officers being posted in his constituency without his consent. Kishan Kapoor and the Minister for IPH had a tiff over the establishment of an IPH rest house at Dharamsala.

The BJP MP from Kangra, Rajan Shushant, also launched a tirade against the Chief Minister over the venue of a programme in his constituency. The Chief Minister had organised a “Prashasan Janata Ke Dwar” programme in the area of Rajan Shushant. The programme was changed at the last moment reportedly due to the advice of district officials who were suspecting rain. However, Rajan Sushant felt that the programme was changed at the behest of another Dhumal loyalist, the Independent MLA from Nurpur, and he started a campaign against the state government on the issue of corruption.

Shanta Kumar is also allegedly sore over the non-completion of his pet Vivekananda Hospital project that is being set up by JP Industries. The sources said he was allegedly sore that the state government was not pressuring the JP Group of Industries to complete the project.

Shimla, November 1
Alleging that the BJP government has been handing out a stepmotherly treatment to Shimla, the opposition Congress today demanded a White Paper on employment provided in the district.

Former MLA of the party Rohit Thakur said here today that roads in the district were in bad shape, educational institutions and health centres were without staff and various public services, particularly passenger transport, had virtually collapsed. The dismal state of affairs was reflected in the poor performance of the district in the implementation of the 20-point programme. It was at the top in 2007 and had slipped to the bottom over the past three years.

Apple growers suffered losses to the tune of Rs 700 crore last year as they could not send their bumper produce to the market due to bad roads, some of which remained closed for weeks together. The government failed to provide requisite funds under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana. The lack of funds affected the maintenance of roads and as a result there was a sharp increase in the number of accidents.

The government had over the past four years closed down 150 middle, high and senior secondary schools in the district and the closure of another 200 primary schools was on the cards. No new bus service had been introduced and on the contrary some old services had been discontinued, causing hardships to the people. Hardly any jobs had been provided.

The government had diverted Rs 13 crore sanctioned by the Centre for Shimla under the JNNURM to another district and it required the intervention of the high court to undo the decision. Further, Shimla district had been kept out of the Rs 321 crore Japanese-aided crop diversification project.

Hamirpur, November 1
The management of Sainik School, Sujanpur Tihra, is pinning hopes on the Chief Minister’s visit to the school tomorrow for enhanced financial aid from the state government for the school.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal is visiting the school tomorrow to be the chief guest at a function being organised by the school on its raising day and for the annual day function.

The school, which used to get an annual grant of about Rs 50 lakh per annum from the state government till 2005-06, had been getting only Rs 2 lakh per annum as aid after this period.

The school management gets about Rs 3 crore per annum from the Ministry of Defence, which is mainly used for paying salaries to the school staff and meeting other expenses.

Sainik School, Sujanpur Tihra, is one of the prestigious schools of the area, which was established in 1978 and has a record of sending about 400 boys to the NDA and an equivalent number to medical colleges. Its alumni are occupying top positions in various fields.

The money received as grant from the state government is utilised for the maintenance of the school, for giving scholarships to students and other activities.

Many state governments have been giving liberal grants to Sainik Schools established in their areas. The Nagaland government, for instance, gives Rs 70 lakh, the Punjab government Rs 3 crore and the Harayana government about Rs 13 crore.

Even the Minister of State for Defence, during his visit to the school a few years ago, had asked the state to give liberal grants to Sainik School, Sujanpur Tihra.

The Principal of the school, Gp Capt Surender Singh, said, “We have been requesting the state government to enhance the financial grant to the school and have even met the Chief Minister in this regard.”

Mandi, November 1
The Trained SSB Volunteers’ Berozgar Sangh staged a protest march in this town here today seeking framing of a state policy for Special Security Bureau (SSB) volunteers along the lines of Manipur and Uttarakhand by passing a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha to take the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which governs the SSB volunteers in the country.

Thousands of volunteers today staged a rally from the Bhima Kali temple to the DC office in support of their long-pending demands.

They raised anti-government slogans as it has been a matter of bread and butter for over 15,000 SSB volunteers, including 4,500 women volunteers.

Addressing the volunteers, state president of the sangh MP Bhardwaj said they had been protesting for their rights since 2001 when the Centre suddenly closed all the three SSB volunteers training centres at Shamshi in Kullu, Kusumpti and Sarahan in Shimla districts.

But the state government never took up the matter with the MHA despite repeated requests for framing a state policy for SSB volunteers, he resented.

Bhardwaj said they met Chief Minister PK Dhumal on October 22 requesting him to bring in a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha for framing a state policy for volunteers, but there was no development on that front.

Uttarakhand has also passed a resolution and framed a state policy after the Guhati High Court gave verdict in favour of the SSB volunteers. But nothing has been done in Himachal, they resented.

The protesters said the SSB volunteers have also been adjusted in paramilitary forces as per the high court verdict in Manipur. Meanwhile, they submitted the memorandum to the Chief Minister, the Governor and the President through the DC.

Solan, November 1
With a view to reducing the incurring losses on account of supplying water at subsidised rates, the local Municipal Committee (MC) today decided to install meters by December 15 in Solan.

Pawan Gupta, vice-president of the committee, said the move had been necessitated as the annual loss of supplying water had gone up to Rs 2 crore. As against the revenue of Rs 1 crore they had to pay Rs 3 crore to the IPH for supplying water to the town.

The need to bill the water as per utility had arisen after MCs were directed to maintain benchmarks as prescribed by funding agencies failing which their aid could be affected.

In Solan, domestic consumers had been paying Rs 70 per connection while commercial consumers were charged Rs 200 for the same.

There were around 8,000 connections in the town and the MC paid Rs 1,375 per 1,000 litres to the IPH for supplying water. As much as 70 lakh gallons to 80 lakh gallons of water was supplied per day in Solan.

Gupta said the step would also check the wastage of water as the people failed to check the excess flow of water. With scores of paying guest (PG) accommodations coming up in the town, it was also observed that owners used to pay domestic charges for making commercial use of water for PG accommodations.

This apart from increasing the utility of water on a single connection, was also a violation of the domestic water connection. Installation of meters would help the MC get adequate funds to foot the bill and escape from the incurring losses of crores.

Installation of meters would also discipline indiscriminate users like private hospitals and pharmaceutical units in the town, who had been paying a nominal charge for bulk use of water.

Solan, November 1
The Baddi police today impounded two JCB machines and six trucks belonging to Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh that were involved in an illegal mining operation at Barotiwala.

Gurdev Chand, SP, Baddi, said they had received information regarding illegal mining on a forest land and managed to nab these vehicles from the spot located near Alembic Chowk in the Export Promotion Industrial Park at Barotiwala.

He said large-scale mining was going on allegedly at the behest of a local resident, Gurpal, and the material was being taken to Zirakpur, Punjab.

The indiscriminate digging of land had been going on with the help of JCB machines and trucks engaged in this activity were using various escape routes to carry the material. A case under Forest Conservation Act and Mines and Mineral Act, has been registered against drivers.

Since each truckload of material fetched anything between Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 in Zirakpur where a large number of housing and commercial projects were coming up, illegal mining was thriving in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh area.

Though 58 trucks and seven JCB machines had been impounded in the past two months by the Baddi police, it was the lure of easy money that compelled these people to indulge in this activity.

None of the trucks had paid any tax for operating in Himachal and the police is now exploring the possibility of involving the transport authorities for evading tax.

Kangra, November 1
Students affiliated with the Students Federation of India (SFI) held a 24-hour dharna outside the premises of the MCM DAV College here today in protest against the alleged privatisation and commercialisation of education by the BJP-led state government.

Abheshiek Chandel, president, SCA MCM DAV College, and SFI campus secretary said the state government was trying to privatise and commercialise the educational system which would not be in the larger interest of the student community.

He said the dharna was to highlight the trauma the students were facing due to the wrong educational policies of the government. He said though the ABVP had been criticising the privatisation and commercialisation of the education in the state, yet most of the BEd colleges were run by people linked with the ABVP.

The SFI leader said if the state government did not take steps to protect the basic educational system, the SFI would agitate and even move the court to protect the interests of the state.

He said 91 per cent students after Class XII failed to get education due to the commercialisation of the educational institutions. He said only 7 to 9 per cent students succeeded in getting higher education, thus putting the wards of poor people, who had a daily income of Rs 70-75 and comprised 75 to 77 per cent of the state population, in the dock.

Bilaspur, November 1
With the death of Suresh (32) of Seehdha village at the PGI, Chandigarh, now the death toll in the Bandla road accident on October 24 has risen to 30. Chief Medical Officer Sudershan Sharma said here today that Suresh succumbed to his injuries last night after remaining under treatment for about a week.

Congress party state general secretary and former Forest Minister Ram Lal Thakur has held the state government responsible for Suresh’s death alleging that the government failed to make proper arrangements in time for his treatment at the PGI and the youth died for want of funds worth Rs 60,000 immediately required for his operation. He charged the government with misleading people by declaring that it had arranged “totally free treatment” of all accident victims.

Thakur said Prem Lal, father of the deceased, had told him that a government functionary had only handed him Rs 3,000 in cash at the PGI and that was all given to him in the name of “government taking full responsibility for free treatment of accident victims”.

He said had the government provided the requisite amount for his operation immediately, Suresh would not have died leaving behind a young widow, two little children and parents weeping endlessly for their bread earner who worked as a daily wager.

He said another accident victim Vanita Devi, admitted to the IGMC, Shimla, and had been on ventilator, was operated upon today morning. Her family had spent Rs 45,000 on this operation alone. The government should tell people whether it had given this amount to the family or not, or told it “to keep the receipts for future recovery from the government”.

Ram Lal urged the CM to ensure that the expenditure of the victims was borne by the government in all hospitals so that the families were not left to fend for themselves .

He said if the Accident Relief Manual did not provide proper funds for such eventualities, the CM’s Relief Fund should be liberally utilised.

Shimla, November 1
The Himachal police today brought Aman Chaudhary, the accused in the murder of 96-year-old man Amba Dutt Dhanta, to the state capital after taking him into custody from his native place in Bihar.

Superintendent of Police Sonal Agnihotri said the accused would be presented in the court tomorrow. “He is still being interrogated though he has confessed to having committed the murder,” said Agnihotri.

The police is likely to undertake the accused identification parade tomorrow so that the taxi driver with whom he travelled from Shimla to Kalka and Chandigarh could identify him. This will enable the police to have witnesses who saw Aman flee from Shimla after committing the crime.

Aman, hailing from Bhagalpur district in Bihar, had been sent from Mumbai by Dhanta’s son-in-law who is a retired police officer. Aman murdered Dhanta and fled with Rs 12 lakh within three days after his arrival in the town.

The police succeeded in tracking him down with the help of the taxi driver who ferried him to Chandigarh and whom Aman had given a call from his mobile after leaving Shimla.

Hamirpur, November 1
The All-India Mahila Congress has decided to hold a national-level conference of women from tribal areas in New Delhi in December, in which AICC president Sonia Gandhi will be the chief guest.

Addressing mediapersons here today, national president of the Mahila Congress Anita Verma said tribal women from across the country had been invited for the conference and the Mahila Congress would honour those who held the elected posts of the MLA and the MP from tribal regions.

She said the Mahila Congress would also hold rallies in states where Assembly elections were scheduled for the next year and big rallies had already been planned in Uttarakhand and Punjab. Anita added that a conference would also be organised in the state soon. — TNS

Nurpur, November 1
Residents of Pandrer gram panchayat of this sub-division are up in arms against the liquor vend being run at Thana village. The local gram panchayat and gram sabha have passed resolutions demanding the shifting of the vend as it had been opened near government primary and middle schools and amidst the populated area of the village.

Copies of the resolutions have been submitted to the Chief Minister and the Kangra Deputy Commissioner.

Villagers alleged that persons who used to consume liquor here were using abusive language and spoiling the atmosphere of the panchayat under the influence of alcohol.

Kamlesh Kumari, pradhan of the panchayat, said earlier too the panchayat had passed resolution in this connection in January this year, but the Department of Excise and Taxation had turned down the demand of shifting the vend under the pretext of the delay in passing the resolution.

She added that the panchayat and the gram sabha had now passed fresh resolutions on time and submitted to the department.

Hamirpur, November 1
Kuldeep Sharma, SP, Hamirpur, yesterday reviewed security arrangements in the district in a meeting held with the district Intelligence Bureau, the CID and the security branch.

Taking stock of the security arrangements of vital installations like the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, All India Radio, bus stations and Baba Balak Nath Temple at Deotsidh, the SP asked the security agencies to ensure full-proof security arrangements at these points. The security arrangements at two important bridges of the district connecting with Kangra district at Nadaun and Sujanpur were also reviewed.

The SP has directed SHOs to ensure registration of migrant workers in police stations and also maintain a record of such workers leaving after completion of works.

He also emphasised the need of strengthening village temple committees to check theft cases in temples.