Shimla, November 18
With six lakh excess people than the actual population of the state receiving subsidised ration, the Food and Civil Supplies Department has started registering police cases to stop the misuse of the public distribution system (PDS), meant for weaker sections of society.

During the past few days, FIRs have been registered against four persons who were holding multiple cards, which is against the norms. The campaign to detect fake and multiple ration cards, whose number is over 1.50 lakh, is being pursued vigorously by the authorities.

“We had made an appeal through a public notice to the people to surrender any bogus ration cards and had given given them one month’s time, after which we have started registering FIRs as we want to detect all the persons who are holding bogus cards,” said Ramesh Dhawala, Food and Civil Supplies Minister. He said though the population of the state according to the 2011 census was 68.56 lakh, but on record 74.53 lakh people were receiving ration through fair price shops.

The minister said the FIRs had been registered in Mandi, Una and Shimla districts and the campaign would continue in case people did not surrender these ration cards. He added that the huge gap of six lakh excess recipients of subsidized ration was too huge, resulting in a major shortfall.

During the past one year, the department has been able to detect 8,900 ration cards which are not valid as either the holder is dead or has been transferred out or there are multiple cards in one family’s name. “All those who have failed to surrender such ration cards will be dealt with firmly as there should be no misuse at any level,” said Prem Kumar, Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies.

The total number of ration card holders in the state is 16.31 lakh which includes 11.17 lakh above poverty line (APL), 3.16 lakh below poverty line (BPL) and 1.97 lakh Antodya (poorest of poor) families. The number of Annapurna card holders, who are given 10 kg of rice free of cost every month, is 31,046.

Mandi/ Udaipur, November 18
Raising “go back Moser Baer, go back” slogans, tribesmen of the Udaipur-Tindi region of Lahaul-Spiti today boycotted a public hearing, saying no to the 404 MW Saili hydropower project on the Chenab river on the grounds that project will eliminate over one lakh small and big trees, submerge 25 hectares of fertile private land, 296 hectares of forest land and 15 houses in the proposed 25-km long and 80-metre-high dam of the project.

The project will also affect Salgot, that has emerged as a mini-Manali in the landlocked Pattan valley, villagers resented.

Officials of the team, including Udaipur SDM Sachin Panwar, the DFO, Lahual-Spiti, the regional engineer from the State Pollution Control Board and managers from Moser Baer were greeted by tribals wearing black badges at the public hearing conducted today at Vanmu village near Udaipur town.

The tribesmen said the present form of the dam would turn this green and fertile cold region into a desert.

They said the company and the officials kept them in the dark as the capacity of the project had been raised from 304 MW to 404 MW by increasing the altitude of the dam from 2,600 metres to 2,606 metres towards Udaipur town. “We will not allow any private land and trees to be submerged in the dam,” they asserted.

Over 250 tribals reached the venue and boycotted the public hearing and raised slogans against the company.

The villagers alleged that the company and the officials deliberately conducted the public hearing in freezing temperatures in the snowbound Lahaul-Udaipur even as the 13,050-foot-high Rohtang Pass had been declared officially closed on October 31. The company wanted to avoid widespread protests against the project.

The DFO said, “It is just the first step as the Forest Department is yet to count the trees and the land to be submerged in the dam. We will hold a joint inspection shortly.”

Shimla, November 18
The state Cabinet today gave its nod for exploring the possibility of developing an aerial ropeway transportation system for carrying apples from the main-growing areas to prospective markets through private sector participation.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the state Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister PK Dhumal. It has been decided to initially get a pre-feasibility study in the area conducted by appointing a consultant through open competitive bidding by the Himachal Pradesh Infrastructure Development Board.

In the first instance, the study may be limited to the major apple-growing areas of Shimla district and the scope of terms and conditions of the assignment would be finalised by the board in due course of time.

The Cabinet also granted approval to the Himachal Pradesh Public Services Guarantee Rules, 2011, aimed at providing time-bound notified services to the people by different departments by maintaining transparency, accountability and responsiveness in administration.

The rules guarantee delivery of notified public services to the citizens and penalty for officials in case of delay or non-delivery of services in critical departments such as Health, Forests, Panchayati Raj, Revenue, Industries, Irrigation and Public Health, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Social Justice and Empowerment, Home (Fire Services), Power, Urban Development and Town and Country Planning.

The Cabinet approved the guidelines under Section 13(1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, to simplify the admission procedure of educational institutions and ensure that all schools follow a system of random selection to class one or pre-primary with no interviews or test of the children or parents.

It proposes that there shall be no profiling of the children based on parental educational qualifications and the policy be placed by the school in the public domain, given wide publicity and explicitly stated in the school prospectus.

It was also decided that all private educational institutions up to the middle standard shall now be recognised by the Education Department instead of obtaining affiliation from the HP Board of School Education. The renewal period for recognition shall be of five years on payment of annual fee of Rs 500.

It was decided to extend the date for submission of the annual returns under the Himachal Pradesh Value Added Tax Rules, 2005, to November 30 to facilitate traders in filing their returns.

Mandi, November 18
Unfazed by his conviction by Special Judge RP Pandey in Delhi sessions court today, former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram (85) and his son, Anil Sharma, a Congress Mandi Sadar MLA have taken the decision in their stride saying, “We will make an appeal in the high court against the order.”

The news of conviction has catapulted Sukh Ram to the centre stage once again from his political oblivion since 2007, when he publicly took “sanyas” from active politics at Kolti, his home town in Mandi Sadar.

Sukh Ram was in the centre stage of politics in the state when, after the suspension of the Shanta Kumar government in 1992-93, he pulled strings as a Telecom Minister in the Narsimha Rao ministry and made a bid to become the Chief Minister in 1993.

But it was foiled by Virbhadra Singh, who had majority of MLAs with him. In the meantime, the CBI tightened its noose around him, pushing slowly Sukh Ram to a corner.

But he staged a comeback with a bang in 1998 when he became a king maker in the minority Dhumal government, keeping Congress out of power.

His party - Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) - in 1998-1999 won five seats at a time when his political career was eclipsed by a series of scams as the CBI had bayed for his blood after making alleged cash seizures at his residence here.

It was because of Sukh Ram that Dhumal formed the BJP-HVC combine government in Himachal in 1998-03. But the HVC died a natural death midway when it disintegrated and his right hand, Mohinder Singh Thakur, revolted against it. But he had already launched his son Anil into politics making him a Rajya Sabha MP and also Sports and Forest Minister in the HVC-BJP government.

Sukh Ram rejoined the Congress in 2002-03 and fought the state Assembly poll and became the Congress MLA from Mandi Sadar.

Sukh Ram has been confined to Delhi since the three different cases have been pending against him. He rarely comes to his native town Mandi and recuperate at his apple orchard in the Snor valley, which is looked after by his son Anil.

In 2009, Sukhram was held guilty of possessing disproportionate assets worth Rs 4.25 crore.

“He wakes up early does yoga and meditation and is in good spirits. We have decided to move the higher court in the case,” said Anil Sharma, who has taken over reins of Sukh Ram’s empire here.

His daughter and another son are living abroad.

Meanwhile, the CBI’s special court judge today found Sukh Ram guilty in a 15- year-old case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120 B, IPC, of giving undue favour to a cable company when he was a Telecom Minister in the Narsimha Rao government in 1998. The judge is likely to announce the quantum of punishment tomorrow.

Bir (Palampur), November 18
Andrew Jorgen, a paraglider (pilot) from Norway who went missing after taking off from Billing since Wednesday, was traced about 70 km from here trapped in high hills.

Information gathered by The Tribune said Jorgen flew from Billing on Wednesday morning but because of weak thermals and bad weather he lost his route and failed to land near Palampur and trapped in the hills near Bhujling village at the height of 9,000 ft from the sea level in the opposite direction.

On Thursday morning, the local administration immediately came into action. A 15- member rescue team from Palampur, along with police personnel, was deputed to locate Jorgen.

Later in the evening, his location was detected with the help of the GPS system installed in the glider.

The team made all efforts to reach the site near Bhujling village but all in vain.

Since the Norway embassy was also in touch with administration and Jorgen had also an insurance cover, the embassy contacted the insurance company who provided a helicopter to the rescue team, which was pressed into service to recover him from the high hills.

This evening, Jorgen was rescued with the help of a helicopter and was brought to Palampur. He was admitted to the local civil hospital.

Jorgen said because of the poor air pressure he lost his route as glider failed to get strong thermals.

He was trapped in the dense forest and spent the whole night in the forest in the freezing temperature as there was no house nearby. However, the GPS system installed in the glider remained active throughout the night and the next day also, which saved his life. Meanwhile, his mobile phone went off in the absence of network.

In the past also three pilots had lost their lives in such incidents in the Billing valley.

Joel kithen, a Russian pilot, is missing for the past 10 years. The body of Galaxy, another Russian pilot, was traced after six months last year. Yudin, another pilot from Ukeren, lost his life last year while landing near Palampur.

At present 16 fliers were taking off from Billing daily, but because of the inclement weather, poor thermals and low air pressure they were losing their routes and being trapped in different forest areas.

Despite the fact that the state government is well conversant with the situation, it has not initiated any steps for safety of pilots and they were still allowed to fly even in odd conditions.

Nurpur, November 18
Following directions from the Superintendent of Police, Kangra, an FIR under Sections 323 and 330 of the IPC has been lodged at the police station against an assistant sub-inspector and two head constables of the same police station for allegedly torturing and causing physical injury to an accused, Ganesh, alias Baba, during interrogation in a case in September.

Following a complaint lodged by the accused’s wife, Anita, the SP visited the police station on Wednesday and after a preliminary inquiry directed that a case be registered against the police personnel.

The police had arrested Ganesh on September 8 in a an attempt-to-murder and rape-bid case from Baranda Kut village. The accused allegedly injured the victim seriously by slitting her neck and looted her earrings. A case under Sections 307, 354, 201 and 376/511 of the IPC had been registered against him. After remaining in police custody, the accused was sent to judicial remand by a court.

Meanwhile, his wife Anita submitted a complaint to the SP on September 22 alleging that the third-degree method was adopted by the police during interrogation.

Daljeet Thakur, SP, Kangra, confirmed that a case had been registered against the three police personnel. He added that an inquiry in this connection had been entrusted to the local DSP.