Nand (Nalagarh), November 23
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today hit out at the Congress for its alleged failure to check corruption and burdening the people with price rise.

Addressing public meetings at Nand, Doli and Saur in the far-flung hilly areas of the Nalagarh constituency during the second day of his tour, he said the two union ministers from Himachal had sacrificed the interests of the state to gain political mileage for themselves.

Illustrating his point, he said the curtailment of the central industrial package had reduced the scope of employment generation for the state’s youth apart from reducing the investment potential and little had been done to fight for this cause by the Congress.

The Chief Minister, who was received by large crowds in all places he visited, urged them to vote for Gurnam Kaur and said this would help them realise the dreams of former MLA HN Saini who had dedicated his life for the people’s cause.

The Chief Minister, while attacking the Congress on the issue development, said figures spoke for themselves and his government in its four-year tenure had installed 304 hand pumps as against 50 by the previous Congress government. His government had spent Rs 15.63 crore on setting up irrigation facilities as against Rs 6.79 crore spent by the Congress in five years. His government’s investment in providing drinking water facilities was as high as Rs 8.57 crore as against Rs 3.94 crore spent by the Congress.

He said all sections of society had benefited from improved health services, education institutes, CFL bulbs and free ambulance services. The performance of his government had been vindicated by 50 national awards bagged by the state.

State BJP president Khimi Ram, while attacking the Congress, said crucial issues like black money, corruption and price rise had affected the common man and they would get a befitting reply in the byelections.

Gurnam Kaur sought the people’s support on the basis of the developmental works carried out by her late husband HN Saini and said she would toil hard to ensure the area’s development.

Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta, MP Virender Kashyap, former MP Suresh Chandel and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Satpal Satti were among those present.

Nalagarh, November 23
Congress candidate Lakhwinder Rana is fighting a tough battle for ensuring his maiden victory in the Nalagarh byelection.

He is contesting his third election as the Congress candidate. He had earlier contested as an Independent in 2003 following the denial of the ticket by the BJP, who had then opted for HN Saini. This had made him leave the BJP. He, however, lost this election and fared at number three. He later joined the Congress and is at present the secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee.

Hopeful of registering a victory, he again jumped into the poll fray in 2007 as the Congress candidate but lost his second election by nearly 1,900 votes. He is now contesting his third election and interestingly is again pitted against a candidate from the family of HN Saini, which had made him leave the BJP.

The stakes are high for him and winning this seat is crucial as any loss can adversely affect his career with INTUC state president Hardeep Bawa emerging as another contender for the Nalagarh seat.

The 39-year-old Congress leader, while talking to The Tribune today, said he was seeking votes on the sympathy factor as he had lost two consecutive polls. He said the deteriorating condition of roads, lack of employment opportunities for the locals despite the presence of industries in Nalagarh and poor health facilities were the main issues affecting the constituency. He said no new schools had been opened in the area and development had taken a backseat.

He said he was asking the people to give him one opportunity as HN Saini had served them for over 13 years and Gurnam Kaur had little experience in comparison to his working.

He said people across party lines were showing sympathy for him as he had been working for them since the past several years now.

Shimla, November 23
Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh today said the “exodus” from the ranks of the BJP in the run-up to the byelections to the Renuka and Nalagarh Assembly seats was a clear indication that the party was on its way out.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he said the trend was more pronounced in Renuka where a former BJP MLA, Roop Singh, had joined the Congress and in every election meeting lower-rung leaders were deserting the party. Senior party leaders were annoyed over the decision to field a government officer, ignoring the claims of dedicated party men. He said the BJP had cut short the careers of many officers and non-gazetted employees’ leaders by making them resign from service to contest the poll and none of them could find feet in politics. The fate of the candidate from Renuka, Hridaya Ram, would be no different.

He said the Congress was also doing well in Nalagarh and its campaign received a big boost with former minister Vijayendra Singh, who had virtually quit politics, coming out in support of party candidate Lakhwinder Rana. On the other hand, the BJP had to send Health Minister Rajiv Bindal out of his home district of Solan as he had become a liability for the party because of his “deeds”.

Corruption was a major issues against the BJP and the party had been forced to replace its Chief Ministers in Karnataka and Uttarakhand because of it. The situation was no different in Himachal and senior BJP leaders had gone to Delhi to caution party president Nitin Gadkari that the party would be wiped out if no action was taken to curb corruption. He claimed that the Congress would win both seats.

The state Congress president came down heavily on BJP leaders for trying to malign the Congress using former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram and said they had no moral right to do so as Dhumal formed a coalition with the support of Sukh Ram in 1998.

The BJP leaders kept singing his praises for full five years and now they were trying to use his conviction as a an issue to whip the Congress which exposed its double face and immoral politics.

Chamba, November 23
This year, a one-day goodwill cricket match for the fourth time will be played between senior citizens of Chamba and Kullu on November 27 at Kullu under the aegis of the Himachal Pradesh Senior Citizens Sports Association.

Major SC Nayyar, who captained the first Himachal Ranji team, is the captain of the Chamba senior citizens team.

Earlier, senior citizens of Chamba have been playing goodwill cricket matches with Mandi, Suket and Nahan since 2007 and the Chamba team has been victorious continuously all three times.

Major Nayyar, spokesperson of the HP Senior Citizens Sports Association, said such goodwill matches were to strengthen the mutual bonds of affection and fraternity, thereby rejuvenate the physical, mental and spiritual health of senior citizens.

Moreover, these matches would go a long way in reviving the age-old traditions and uniting the players with the cultural reminiscences of the alpine regions of Himachal Pradesh, Major Nayyar further said.

“It is evident from the annals of erstwhile hilly states of Chamba, Mandi and Suket that during the olden days of princely states, rajas used to have friendly exchanges of cricket matches amongst themselves,” Major Nayyar revealed, adding that for this purpose the rajas had developed cricket pitches popularly known as Chowgan.

Major Nayyar said the HP Senior Citizens Sports Association would try to organise such matches at the national level too.

The association urged the state government to incorporate the cricket matches of senior citizens in the official sports calendar of the state.

Shimla, November 23
A former MP and now a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Col Dhani Ram Shandil (retd), has said China, which has virtually encircled the country by creating a network of rail lines, highways and air strips close to the border, posed a major security threat to the country and it must be addressed on a priority basis.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said as the in charge of northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur he was frequently visiting the border areas and was aware of the buildup along the border and also in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Colonel Dhani had been apprising the party high command, particularly president Sonia Gandhi, of the developments and required measures were being taken by the government to meet the challenge.

He said steps were afoot to strengthen the basic infrastructure like roads and rail tracks to improve connectivity along the border and the survey of Manali-Leh rail line was in the final stages. The effort would be to get it executed in a time-bound manner.

Colonel Shandil (retd) added that the country was also facing internal threats from separatist forces.

Dharamsala, November 23
A six-member Central Government team will start its visit to Himachal tomorrow for assessing the damage to public property due to the monsoon this year. The team will first assess the damage to public property in Kangra district.

The Kangra district authorities have submitted a report of damage worth Rs 89 crore to public infrastructure due to the rains this year.

Sources said the visiting team would be headed by Bhagwan Shankar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, and five other members from the departments of Finance, Planning Commission and the Ministry of Surface Transport.

Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, RS Gupta said the team would visit the Mand Maini and Indora areas of Kangra district tomorrow. About 8,000 people were displaced from the Mand Maini area in Kangra district this year due to a rise in the water level of the Beas. Floods in the Beas also caused extensive damage to roads and other public infrastructure like office buildings in the area.

On November 25, the team would visit Kakeri and McLeodganj areas in Kangra district to assess the damage to roads. Many roads in Kangra district were washed away due to the monsoon.

The sources said the team was on a five-day visit to the state. After Kangra, the team members would visit Kullu district and stay at Manali for a day.

Thereafter, they would have a meeting with the state authorities in Shimla. While leaving for Delhi on November 27, the team members would also visit Solan district, the sources said.

The Himachal government has claimed damages worth about Rs 350 crore on account of the damage to public property due to the rains this year. The maximum damage was caused to the road infrastructure in the entire state.

The cash-starved PWD is heavily relying on a helping hand from the Union Government to revive the road network, damaged in the state due to the monsoon.

However, Opposition leaders have been blaming “poor quality construction” for the damage to roads in many areas of the state.

The PWD has also started an inquiry to ascertain the reasons for the damage to roads in certain cases.

Shimla, November 23
The State Electricity Regulatory Commission has come out with a proposal to determine feed-in-tariff (FIT) to help the state electricity board procure energy from small hydropower projects at affordable rates and enable independent power producers (IPPs) to take advantage of renewable energy certificates (RECs).

Initially some IPPs signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the board for the supply of power at the regulated rate of Rs 2.95 per unit but now they are reluctant to do so as the cost of generation has increased subsequently. The commission has already carried out an exercise to work out the FIT based on the average cost of procurement, which comes to Rs 2.23 per unit. Thus, with the FIT in place, the board will get power at a much lower rate while the actual returns to IPPs after availing the benefit of RECs, currently fetching Rs 1.80 per unit, will be in excess of Rs 4 per unit.

Chairman of the commission Subhash Negi has held a series of meetings with senior officers of the board and representatives of the IPPs in this regard. He said the board had been asked to come out with a draft PPA based on the FIT for the purpose. The main concern of the commission was to ensure that the IPPs sold their power to the board so that the state and its people benefited from the small projects.

According to the proposal, the IPPs could avail the benefit of RECs in the initial five to seven years, the period when they require more funds to service debt, and thereafter continue to supply power to the board at the FIT tariff. Under the renewable energy framework, it is obligatory for the distribution companies to procure a minimum defined percentage of renewable power. In case of shortfall or inability to meet the obligation, the companies have to purchase RECs. If the obligated entity fails to do so, it is liable to a penalty to be imposed by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, depending on the shortfall of units and the forbearance rate.

Since the board was already procuring more power form renewable sources than stipulated it would not require to purchase RECs and the IPPs would have to sell these outside the state. However, the board would benefit by procuring power at a lower tariff.

Shimla, November 23
The government is likely to accede to the demand of the sizeable Nepalese population, constituting a significant workforce, especially in the apple orchards of the state, to grant them ration cards which could entitle them to subsidised ration, being disbursed through the public distribution system.

In response to a request made by the Akhil Bharatiya Nepali Samaj to provide subsidised ration to them, the Department of Food and Civil Supplies has asked them to furnish the details of their total population residing in Himachal. With the proposed Food Security Act by the Centre being in the pipeline, it will be the responsibility of all state governments to provide ration to even migrant labour.

“We have asked representatives of the Nepalese population in Himachal to furnish details of the exact number of their countrymen who are residing here,” said Prem Kumar, Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies. He added that the government would look into their request and take an appropriate decision.

The number of Nepalese in Himachal as per the figures with the Home Department is 36,312. In their request made to the government, they have pleaded that since the Tibetan population, enjoying a refugee status in India, is also being provided subsidised ration by way of special permits issued to them, their case is fully justified. The number of Tibetans as per records in the state is 33,878.

Besides the Tibetans who are getting subsidised ration, a total of 48,080 migrant labourers, registered with the government, are being given subsidised kerosene by way of temporary ration cards issued to them. “Since under the Food Security Act, we will have to provide cheap ration to all, so we might as well accede to the demand of the Nepalese who undoubtedly render valuable service by providing labour, which is getting scarce by the day,” admitted a senior official.

Prem Kumar said with the computerisation of the public distribution system (PDS) next year, along with the five-yearly renewal of ration cards, the excess number of ration card beneficiaries would be removed.

There are a total of 16,31,804 ration card holders in Himachal of which 1.25 lakh cards are in excess. In fact, the government is providing ration to 74.50 lakh people whereas the total population of the state as per 2011 census is 68.5 lakh. The government is keen on plugging this excess population so that the target population gets the benefit.

Chandigarh, November 23
A day after the body of Abhishek Kapoor, son of a senior IAS officer, was found in room No. 501 of the Himachal Bhawan, the police questioned Abhishek’s friends who had visited his room on the day of the incident.

SHO, Sector 26 police station, Chandigarh, Inspector Prakash said friends and staff of the bhawan were questioned regarding the incident.

The police said the preliminary investigation suggested that it was a natural death. However, they claimed that the actual cause could only be known after the autopsy report was received.

“As the two friends and the bhawan staff are being questioned, we are waiting for the autopsy report based on which the actual cause of death will be ascertained,” Prakash added.

Abhishek was the son of PC Kapoor, Principal Secretary of Tribal Development of Himachal Pradesh.

He allegedly consumed liquor in the company of two of his friends who dropped him in his room at about 2 am yesterday and left afterwards. He was reportedly drunk.

Shimla, November 23
Expressing serious concern over the issue of non-implementation of labour welfare laws in the state by government agencies, the state high court has issued a series of directions to various government and enforcement agencies for the proper implementation of all labour laws.

The court has directed the chairmen of all district legal services authorities to engage the services of para-legal volunteers, who have been trained under the Legal Services Authorities Act for a survey regarding the implementation of labour laws in industrial, commercial and other establishments.

The para-legal volunteers shall be directed to hold a survey regarding the implementation of the minimum wages in shops and commercial establishments in the state and with regard to the maintenance of registers on payments to employees. The court also directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Labour) to take steps to disseminate information in a proper manner through the print and electronic media regarding the minimum wages available to employees in shops and commercial establishments and the overtime allowance available to them, in case they are required to work beyond the stipulated hours of work.

The court passed this order on a public interest litigation.

Kangra, November 23
Floral tributes were paid to Rai Bahadur Jodhamal today on his 130th birth anniversary on the premises of the DRPGMC, Tanda, and his statue was garlanded in the college park named after him.

Students of the college, faculty members and other staff gathered in the park when Principal Anil Chauhan garlanded the statue of philanthropist Jodhamal.

Dr Chauhan lauded the contribution of Jodhamal, which helped in setting up of the medical college at Tanda.

He said Jodhamal was born on this day in 1881 at Haroli village of the princely estate Kuthiala, at present situated in Una district.

“Jodhamal donated 600 kanals of land at Tanda to the government for constructing a TB sanatorium,” Dr Chauhan said.

The foundation stone of the sanatorium was laid by the then Governor of Punjab, Chandu Lal Trivedi, on October 28, 1952. It was inaugurated by the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, on May 21, 1958, and named after him as Dr Rajendra Prasad TB Sanatorium.

The sanatorium was upgraded to Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC) on October 23, 1996, and the DRPGMC and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital at Tanda became functional because of the contribution of Jodhamal.

The institute was going to be a super-specialised institute in the near future for which construction had already started.

Dr Chauhan added that though Jodhamal died on October 9, 1961, his contribution was producing young medicos even today.

On the occasion, Lanco Foundation, Thalla Bharmour, started an initiative to provide scholarships amounting to Rs 20,000 each to four meritorious students of the college every year. The first cheque of the series was handed over to Shivani Bakshi by the Principal.