Shimla, December 2
Raising the age of superannuation of the faculty in medical and dental colleges, introduction of the Mukhya Mantri Grameen Parivahan Yojna, making rainwater harvesting structures mandatory in all planning areas and amendment to the Registration of Societies (Amendment) Act, 2011, by bringing sports societies also within its ambit were some of the important decisions taken by the state Cabinet here today.

The faculty members of government medical and dental colleges in the state now have four more years of service with the Cabinet approving the proposal of the Medical Education Department to raise their retirement age from 58 to 62 years in view of the shortage of teachers. The Cabinet met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister PK Dhumal.

Briefing mediapersons, Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu said approval had been granted to the Mukhya Mantri Grameen Parivahan Yojna to provide connectivity to rural areas and self-employment opportunities for the educated unemployed youth. Under the scheme, the Himachal Road Transport Corporation would operate bus services up to a focal point on various routes after which further connectivity to villages would be provided by small private buses for which permits would be granted to youths.

Allotment would be made on the basis of the highest state road transport tax. Vehicle owners granted permits would be covered under the special road tax. The concessional travel facility to various categories would be available on these services for which private operators would be eligible for financial incentives from the government. The incentive for 29, 22 and 17-seater buses would be Rs 2,200, Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,000 per month, respectively. It approved an amendment to the State Registration of Societies Act, 2011, to bring sports societies under it and raise the annual limit for the publication of the balance sheet from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

The Cabinet decided to implement the market intervention scheme for citrus fruits during the current season under which 54 collection centres would be established in different areas and B grade kinnow, malta and orange would be procured at Rs 5.85 per kg and C grade at Rs 5.25 per kg. The procurement price for “galgal” had been fixed at Rs 4.15 per kg. Procurement agencies would be paid handling charges at Rs 3.50 per kg and Rs 1.50 per kg for two categories of fruit. According to another decision, the rainwater harvesting system had been made mandatory for all planned areas by amending the State Town and Country Planning Rules, 1978.

The Cabinet approved the cancellation of an MoU with Himachal Indage Limited for setting up of wineries in Nagwain in Mandi district and Pragati Nagar in Shimla district forthwith. It accepted the bid of M/s Ropeway and Resorts Limited, Kolkata, for the execution of the Palampur-Neugal Ropeway Project in Kangra district. It granted permission for nine small mineral mines in the Neugal khad through auction. It granted approval to changes in elevation in respect of 17 small hydro-power projects as per the conditions laid down in the present power policy. It approved a proposal to open five polytechnics, one each in Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Kullu, Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts.

Kangra, December 2
Dr Anil Chauhan, Principal, DRPGMC, Tanda, today lauded the Cabinet decision to enhance the superannuation age of faculty members of Medical and Dental Colleges in the Medical Education Department in the state from existing 58 to 62 years.

Dr Chauhan, expressing his gratitude to the state government, said the decision would go a long way in the interests of medical students, patients, doctors and the people of the state.

He said the move would not only bring medical institutions in the state at par with other medical colleges of the country, but would also help medical institutes in the government sector here to get benefited by the experience of these senior doctors for four more years.

Shimla, December 2
People will not have to chase the elusive patwaris for the mutation of land and obtaining documents required for various certificates with the government making sweeping reforms in procedures and allowing the transfer of title at the tehsil level.

According to the amended rules approved by the Cabinet, it will be possible to carry out mutation at the tehsil office itself on the basis of the prescribed documents and it can be effected immediately. A land sale deed is registered if both parties agree. It will not only bring efficiency and transparency but also help prevent corruption at the grassroots.

At present the process of mutation is initated at the patwar circle and the entry in the revenue record concerning the transfer of ownership is made by the patwari. It is inspected by the kanungo concerned and the mutation is finally effected by the Tehsildar. The entire process takes quite some time and in many cases the mutation is not carried out for years.

Documents certifying the status of an individual as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, legal heir, bona fide Himachali and minority can now be issued by any officer right up to the level of Deputy Commissioner. The entire data pertaining to certificates issued by various officers will be available on the web and any document issued wrongly can be challenged.

The Cabinet has also decided to fix circle rates for determining stamp duty and registration fee for the sale and purchase of land in the state which will come into force from April 1, 2012. The exercise will be carried out annually and apart from the type of land, the distance from the road head will also be taken into consideration while determining the value. To make the exercise objective, the highest rate will be for the land adjacent to the road and it will decline as the distance from the road increases. There is no proposal to increase the rate and for the next year the rate will be worked out on the basis of the existing rates. The deputy commissioners will be empowered to moderate the rate in cases where there has been an unjustified increase.

The government has also decided to impose penalty for failure to renew registration of vehicles after 15 years. The penalty for transport vehicles will be Rs 1,000 for a delay of 30 to 90 days, Rs 2,000 up to 180 days and Rs 3,000 beyond six months. Similarly, the penalty for non-transports vehicles will be Rs 500, Rs 1,000 and Rs 1500 in the three respective slabs. In case a new vehicle is not registered within the stipulated period, the penalty will be Rs 500 up to 30 days, Rs 1,000 up to 90 days and Rs 2,000 up to six months with an additional Rs 100 per day thereafter.

Shimla, December 2
Accusing the Congress of hatching a criminal conspiracy to deny the OBCs their due, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia today warned that a nationwide agitation would be launched in consultation with leaders of all political parties against the move to give reservation to Muslims, who were being viewed as a major vote bank.

Togadia, international secretary-general of the VHP, said here today that the consequences of such a proposal to provide reservation to Muslims from the 27 per cent OBC quota could have serious consequences. “Within a week’s time, we will prepare an action plan in consultation with senior VHP leaders and spiritual heads so that a campaign against the proposal can be launched right from the village level,” he warned.

He said in case the situation became serious, the responsibility would be totally on the Congress-led UPA regime.

The VHP leader said when there was no provision for reservation based on religion, the proposal was only aimed at garnering support among the minorities. “The proposal to provide reservation to Christians from the existing reservation being given to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) was also part of the vote bank politics and minority appeasement policy being pursued by the Congress with an eye on the poll. He said the proposal would provide 24 per cent reservation to Muslims, who just constituted 12 per cent of the population.

The firebrand leader said when Muslims from OBC communities were already getting reservation in jobs, there was no need for separate reservation for them. “We intend to take our campaign to every school and college of the country to awaken the Hindus against such a divisive step which must be opposed tooth and nail by everyone unitedly or else there could be a threat to national unity,” he urged.

Togadia went to the extent of saying that when Muslims “blackmailed and exploited” leaders of all political parties, there should be a rethink on the rights they enjoyed in India like other citizens. “When Hindus in Pakistan still do not enjoy all the rights, there should be a serious rethink on the same issue in India as we cannot tolerate their sympathy towards terrorists and anti-national forces,” he said.

Shimla, December 2
Hearing on the petition filed by Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh seeking quashing of the FIR registered against them in the alleged CD case could not be completed today before the state high court and has been adjourned for December 23.

The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice VK Ahuja today partly heard the petition and posted the matter for December 23 for further arguments on the joint request of the parties.

The FIR was registered by the State Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau on the basis of an alleged CD purported to contain the alleged voices of Virbhadra Singh and Pratibha Singh with some other persons.

Today the counsel for the minister argued the matter on various legal aspects of the case before the court and contended that the alleged case registered against the petitioners would amount to the abuse of the process of law as the same had been registered after 20 years of the alleged offence.

It was further contended that the case registered against the petitioners has no basis in law. There is no evidence about the date and time of recording of the alleged conversation.

In their petition, former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife alleged that the investigating agency was acting under the influence of political bosses, therefore urged the court to direct to conduct the inquiry by an independent investigating agency like the CBI.

They said the case had been registered on the basis of a CD whose origin is not known. Vijay Singh Mankotia had released the CD during the Lok Sabha byelections. In the CD, Virbhadra was allegedly heard referring to some monetary transactions while talking on phone with IAS officer Mahinder Lal, who has died. 

Shimla, December 2
The postmortem report conducted on the body of Pawan Sharma, who died while in custody in the Boileauganj police station has termed it as a case of suicide.

The autopsy report, along with the videography, has been submitted to the judicial officer probing the case and a copy of it has been provided to the police. It is reliably learnt that the report has mentioned that it was a case of suicide as no signs of torture could be established on the body. The police had yesterday said that he had committed suicide by hanging from the window with a blanket.

The postmortem report will also be sent to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) along with the videography of the procedure undertaken to ascertain the cause of the death. Sources said except for the marks on the neck resulting due to hanging, there were no other injury signs on the body.

Meanwhile, the family of Pawan, who was cremated in his native village near Charabra today, said since they were busy with his last rites they could not collect a copy of the postmortem report. “Today we were busy with Panawn’s cremation and it is only after obtaining a copy of the autopsy report tomorrow that we will be in a position to decide our future course of action,” said Gopal Sharma, Pawan’s cousin brother.

Pawan was arrested by the police on November 30 night in a snatching case and had been lodged in the Boileauganj police station. However, before he could be produced before a magistrate, he was found hanging from the window of the toilet in the police station yesterday morning.

The police said there were 31 cases of snatching, burglary, theft and kidnapping against Pawan in Shimla, Solan, Bilaspur and Mandi districts.

Mandi, December 2
NGOs and caretakers of over 500 special children participating in the two-day state-level sports meet today accused the organising committee of “turning the meet into a mere formality governed by chaos” at the Paddal Maidan here today.

Narrating their woes to The Tribune on the sidelines of the sports meet inaugurated by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Virender Kanwar, caretakers of special children rued that they did not get proper uniform and participation.

There was a total chaos on the ground as no one know what was happening where, they charged.

Hem Lata Pathania, who runs the Himalayan Viklang Kalyan Sanstha in Mandi, said, “We did not get uniform for our six children in the age group of 9-12, who won six gold medals in the district meet.”

“Children are staying in chill on the ground till late evening as we did not know where to stay tonight,” she lamented.

Not only this, the organising committee made one hearing impaired child run with mentally challenged participants in a 100-m race, she charged.

“We have lodged a complaint with the committee, but the reply of officials that they would not allow quarrelsome NGOs in the tournament, was shocking,” she resented.

KP Sud, principal, Ashraya, Delhan, Una, charged that there was no proper screening of children competing in events as no one was checking their medical certificates.

“Children with a higher percentage of deformity were being made to compete with children with lesser percentage of the same.”

He said he brought his team of three children for the first time, but were not allowed to participate today.

“The tournament remains a tournament for officials not for the special children as it was more or less a formality spending lakhs of rupees in the name of special children,” NGOs further said.

There were various officials representing departments of Youth Services and Sports, Social Welfare, District Sports, Education and Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan on the occasion.

The chaos that marked the event showed that the officials, including NGOs, who are also receiving grants from both Centre and the state, give a damn to prepare and train these children for the event.

There are NGOs who do not have trainers for the special children as the funds meant for trainers are gobbled up by them, said inside sources.

Meanwhile, Director, Youth Services and Sports JR Katwal claimed that no one had brought any complaint to his notice over the mixing up of events. All events are organised as per rules.

“We have a committee to screen children, check documents and give uniforms to them,” he claimed.

“We have organised the event with the cooperation of NGOs and other departments. Over 500 children are participating in the event, he added, dismissing the allegations by NGOs.

Kangra, December 2
Over 23,000 schoolchildren studying in government schools in this district were suffering from various diseases with 7,910 children found anaemic due to malnutrition.

Stating this here today, Kangra chief medical officer KS Dogra told The Tribune that 57,263 students of 3,002 schools were examined by doctors during the second phase of the Chief Minister Students Health Programme, which started on July 1 and concluded on November 30 last.

He said students were examined in 81 cluster camps in which 7,910 students were detected as anaemic due to malnutrition and 1,998 students were suffering from skin diseases.

The CMO said 9,006 students had dental ailments whereas 2,781 students had been suffering from eye ailments. He said 1,473 students had been detected with ear, nose and throat ailments and 144 students were handicapped in these schools.

The 234 students of these schools were suffering from mental ailments and need immediate medical attention, the CMO said. Dr Dogra said 4,189 cases from these cluster camps were referred for specialised treatment out of which 49 children were found suffering from heart diseases.

He said most of the students living below poverty line were found anaemic as they were devoid of the balanced diet and 23,595 schoolchildren studying in government schools in this district were suffering from one or the other disease.

Dr. Dogra added that the programme was conducted in government schools only and private schools would be touched only when the school managements ask for the same. The CMO said during the first phase of the Chief Minister Students’ Health Programme, which concluded on June 30, 2011, out of the targeted 651 targeted camps, 620 camps were organised.

Nurpur, December 2
Local MLA Rakesh Pathania while ridiculing the demand of state Congress general secretary Ajay Mahajan for issuing a White Paper on fund utilisation on the proposed cricket stadium at Nurpur, asked the latter for knowing the ground realities before making such a demand.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, he clarified that around Rs 1.25 crore was lying with the state Youth Services and Sports (YSS) Department earmarked during the previous Congress regime, which had proposed merely an athletic track under the Central-sponsored scheme.

“The ground on which this track had to be built is still in the name of the Kangra Deputy Commissioner and before transferring this land in the name of the YSS Department any stadium construction cannot be possible. I have initiated the land transfer proceedings and after four years’ concerted efforts this land transfer sanction is now in the final stages,” Pathania asserted. He alleged that the previous Congress government had fooled the youth of the area for many years over constructing the cricket stadium.

The MLA said after the land transfer, an MoU between the YSS department and the State Cricket Association would be signed and the latter had to build a modern cricket stadium-cum-shopping complex within maximum six months. — OC

Mandi, December 2
The recent high court order directing the Municipal Council, Mandi, to demarcate all the 57 illegal constructions on the government land in the town has sent panic waves among 50 members of affected families. The affected families today declared a war against the council, charging that “no big encroacher was touched as the council has been selective in supplying a list of encroachers to the high court in this town”. Panic prevailed among residents as the HC has appointed BR Kaundal, Assistant Commissioner, to oversee the action against encroachers.

The team assisted by officials of the council has already evicted seven small encroachments on the government land.

“Out of the remaining 50 cases listed by the council, we have demarcated 19 cases so far. After the demarcation process is over, we will submit the report to the HC”, Kaundal said. Terming the anti-encroachment drive as selective, over 50 families, affected by the high court order, today formed a Sangharsh Samiti to contest the list prepared by the council, which was further submitted to the HC.

They challenged the list charging that the council has been selective in preparing the list of encroachers on the government land as no “big shark was included in the list”.

Samiti’s legal adviser Narender Guleria and secretary Shyam Sunder charged that 50 families have been targeted by the council. They have invested their hard-earned money to build their homes, the officials claimed.

In fact, there are over 100 more such cases, not just 57 encroachments in the town, but the council has not included them as they enjoy protection, they charged. Guleria claimed that the samiti would file a petition in the HC after gathering information.

“We have inputs that 80 per cent of the houses in this town are unauthorised,” he claimed.

Executive officer of the council Urvashi Walia said: “Over 57 cases of encroachments on government land have come to our notice.” There were over 788 other cases of unauthorised constructions , she added. She said the present cases pertain to encroachments only as the HC had appointed special commissioner for the same. “We have the list of encroachments and nobody will be spared,” she claimed.

Shimla, December 2
The creation of an agency for the scientific validation and certification of organic produce, introduction of diploma courses in organic agriculture in the two farm universities and providing support services to farmers for the switchover are the main features of the policy approved by the government to boost organic farming in the hill state as part of its efforts to promote sustainable and environment-friendly agriculture and horticulture.

The hill state has vast scope for organic farming and there are some landlocked pockets in the interiors like Pangi and Dodra Kwar, where organic farming is being carried out traditionally. However, in the absence of scientific validation and certification, the produce cannot be marketed as “organic”. The farmers of such remote pockets will gain immensely with the creation of an accredited certification agency as the “organic” label will enhance the market value of their produce.

Farmers will not be made to switch over to organic farming in one go. They will be encouraged to substitute chemical fertilisers with organic manure in a phased manner to improve the fertility of the soil and maximise circulation of plant nutrients. Cadres of scientific manpower with a thorough knowledge of organic agriculture will be built up for which scientists of the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, and the Chaudhary Sarvan Kumar University of Agriculture, Palampur, will be carrying out exhaustive research in organic farming, besides introducing diploma and certificate courses in organic agriculture.

Incentive-based schemes for farmers will include subsidy on inputs like seeds, organic manure, bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides for strengthening organic resource base, capacity building through trainings, exposure visits, trials on farmers’ fields and support for adoption technologies like vermi-composting and preparation of organic inputs at farms.

While the Himachal Organic Farmers Forum has already been set up, the private sector and NGOs will be encouraged to join hands to form a state-level non-government body for the organic sector. It will be an advisory body to steer and monitor the growth of organic farming.

Standardisation of technologies of organic farming for different categories of crops, farmers, farming systems, resource bases and agro-ecological zones, selection and breeding of suitable varieties for organic farming, development of nutrient management protocols with rotations, nutrient management strategies and on-farm input management with locally available resources, organic-compliant plant-protection measures, identification of suitable varieties from the existing pool of crops and varieties for optimum output, integration of animals with cropping systems and development of appropriate machines, tools and machine-driven, bullock-driven devices will be pursued on the technological front.