The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Mandi bus stand project yet to get PWD nod Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service Mandi, January 24 Even though 60 per cent of the work on the Rs 17-crore new bus stand-cum-shopping complex on National Highway No. 21 in this town is complete, the highway wing of the state PWD has not given its nod to the project. The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC), which is constructing the bus stand, has swept the objections raised by the Ministry of Surface Transport and Highways (MoSTH) under the carpet, pushing the project without fulfilling the MoSTH conditions. The ministry in its letter (copy of which is available with The Tribune) issued on August 12, 2010, had raised three main objections to the bus stand project located on the NH-21 in this temple town. The proposed double-storeyed bus stand with shops covering the NH would be a traffic hazard through its entry and exit points and, hence, it is not permitted, the ministry stated. The ministry had asked the state PWD highway wing to leave 18-m wide corridor for traffic on the highway as the NH-21 was being widened into four lanes. This should have a sufficient width for widening the existing carriageway on either side of the bus stand. The MoSTH has asked the PWD to furnish the detailed drawings showing the bus stand, shops, road and taxi stand before the ministry could consider the construction of the same. The cost of the bus stand had been revised from Rs 13 crore to Rs 17 crore and it was also proposed to construct seven storeys. It would have a provision to park 18 buses at one time and would house 41 shops on the ground floor. The 60 per cent of the work was complete, said Vipin Kaul, executive engineer, HIMUDA. But far from addressing MoSTH objections, the whims and fancy of the state transport ministry ran supreme and construction on the bus stand took off brushing aside the MoSTH objections, charged Lawan Thakur, HP RTI Bureau, Mandi, who has procured copies of documents on the status of the project. Chief engineer (NH) SR Negi said the national highway stretch in front of the bus stand was being deleted as the fresh proposal was to construct a four-lane tunnel bypassing the bus stand section. “But we have asked the SE to submit a report on the MoSTH queries,” he added. MD, HRTC, Akshay Sood said he was not aware about the bus stand project as he had taken over as the in charge of the corporation in the absence of the present MD, who was on election duties in Punjab.
	Regional hospital faces shortage of specialists Balkrishan Prashar Chamba, January 24 Tucked in the vales of Chamba are the imposing edifices of the regional hospital. The hospital located at the district headquarter town of Chamba is a suitable place accessible to the population of the mountainous region of the town. Recently the hospital has been given a new lease of life. Having an infrastructure of three large buildings, sophisticated apparatus, operation theatres and round-the-clock emergency ward equipped with latest mod cons and all basic amenities is the regional hospital of town, but without any ENT specialist and gynecologist for a long time. The hospital faces a chronic shortage of specialists and requisite staff. Thankfully there is at present one MD specialist to look after a huge crowd of patients. The regional hospital enjoys the status of being one of the best hospitals perhaps in North India, thanks to the sincere endeavours of Chief Medical Officer Dr Rakesh Verma and his elder brother Dr Nagesh Verma who has retired from the post of Director of Health and Family Welfare Department, Himachal Pradesh, last year. The brothers continuously took keen interest in providing better health services to the people of Chamba despite all odds. They took the noble step when no specialist was interested to be posted in such a far-off mountainous region. “We always try to be easily available to the people seeking medical help,” says Dr Rakesh. The endeavours of the hospital’s “rogi kalyan samiti”, headed by the Deputy Commissioner as its chairman, has proved to be a boon, spending Rs 2.50 crore annually on various development activities in the hospital. For the rehabilitation of the inmates of leprosy hospital in Sarol on the outskirts of the town, the state government has recently sanctioned Rs 69 lakh for the construction of rehabilitation huts, said the CMO.
	Cong charges govt with ignoring development work Jai Kumar Bilaspur, January 24 The District Congress Committee here has condemned the “anti-people” policy of the state government in totally ignoring all development work and schemes in the district. It also criticised the government for stopping ongoing or approved and sanctioned projects of the earlier Congress government. The District Congress president Santosh Dhiman said that the government has stopped construction of the synthetic track at the Luhnu Sports Complex, it has also failed to complete construction of Government Degree College buildings at Jhandutta and Jukhala, though funds were provided for these projects during Congress rule. She said that not a single rehabilitation plot has been allotted to any Bhakra dam oustee here in town though former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had earmarked land for 254 plots at the Transport Colony in the town. She said construction of Berry Dadollan bridge, despite its foundation stone being laid earlier by former CM Virbhadra Singh has not been started though four years had passed. Work on construction of the Baghchhal bridge, which was halfway through , has also been stopped . She said bad condition of all roads including National Highways, unprecedented power hike, drinking water and transport fare rates, neglect of bus stands including those at Bilaspur and Ghumarwin, persisting mismanagement prevailing at Regional Hospital here etc were some of the issues which would be highlighted during the ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ being launched by the district Congress in the district soon. Dhiman said that the BJP leaders of the state are making a noise on alleged corruption of central leaders but it was totally ignoring the corruption being spread by its own leaders in the state.
	‘Construction of snaan grah wastage of funds’ Our Correspondent Kangra, January 24 An ill-conceived project of constructing a “snaan grah” near Acchra Kund on the banks of the Banner river had proved to be a hole in the government exchequer and resentment prevails among the residents here over such arbitrary wastage of public funds without any utility. The Bajjreshwari Temple Trust decided to construct a “snaan grah” for women at the cost of Rs 20 lakh. The state tourism department was involved in funding the project and work was left half the way by the contractor after spending Rs 23 lakh. The project was in a deficit of Rs 3 lakh without any sign of its completion anywhere in sight. Residents alleged that the government money was practically thrown away just to benefit someone close to the corridors of the present government. Er PR Agnihotri, a retired XEN, said the project was not technically viable and was merely wastage of the government money. Legendary King Puroo and his queen Apsra were childless and once Apsra visited the spring and had a bath and the couple had a son. The spring was named Apsra Kund after the queen. It later got changed to Acchra Kund. Surprisingly, Acchra Kund, where the water falls from the top of a hillock, was visited by thousands of childless women every year with a belief that they would become mothers after taking bath there. The women, as a part of the tradition, leave their clothes near Acchra Kund but Trust was no way interested in cleaning the shrine and heaps of clothes were scattered near it. Residents here ask if the women prefer to visit Acchra Kund with a hope to become mothers, then why artificial springs were constructed away from the Acchra Kund. The authorities have now started feeling caught up in a web by wasting Rs 23 lakh practically for nothing and Deputy Commissioner of Kangra RS Gupta and SDM, Kangra, Viney Kumar, recently inspected the site. The project had no source of water, practically covered from all sides and without any utility had left many questions to be answered by the authorities. Nalinder Ghautam, state president of the Shiv Sena, had demanded a high-level probe by retd High Court Judge in this project and the concerned authorities found involved in the wastage of funds be brought to the book. He also demanded that people responsible for conceiving the idea for draining the government’s funds for vested interests should be booked under the criminal law.
	Hand over care of stray cattle to panchayats: NGOs Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service Mandi, January 24 Though the Animal Husbandry Department has failed to solve the increasing menace of stray cattle, NGOs have asked the government to hand over the “care of stray cattle and the gaushala management to the respective gram panchayats where cows are roaming in the open in many towns of the state”. In a fact-finding mission launched by members of the Civil Society of Farmers, an NGO, here yesterday, it was found that there were over 40 stray cows in the Mandi-Gutkar-Ner Chowk area on the highway. Some of them were dead and some were shivering in the winter chill. Des Raj Sharma, a member of the NGO who had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister PK Dhumal on the stray cattle menace during the recent padyatra of farmers, said: “The government should allocate funds to gram panchayats for taking care of the stray cattle. All the government-run schemes seem to be on paper only as we found that most stray cattle roam in towns, urban centres and on highways.” Sharma said the registration of the cows’ scheme was yet to take off as the cattle continued to be abandoned by villagers after they found them useless. According to the 2007 Animal Census carried out by the department, there are over 37,346 stray cattle in the state. Out of this, just 4,185 stray animals, mainly cows, are kept in gaushalas, while 33,000 animals roam in towns and on national highways feeding on garbage. The government has planned three gaushalas at Lari Barota, Solan and Thakurdwara, which will accommodate over 700 stray cattle. Three cowsheds at Kangra, Thana Kana and Jangna are also being upgraded to accommodate 50 cows each, said government officials. Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, Ashwani Gupta said the government was involving NGOs in the management of gaushalas as the government had no funds for the purpose. The DCs had been asked to allocate funds from temple trusts for the management of gaushalas in each district. Officials added that there were NGOs and trusts that were generating vermi-compost and selling milk in the market to generate extra income to run gaushalas. Leaving cows as stray was an offence under the new registration of animal schemes.
	Farmers made aware of knowhow Balkrishan Prashar Sahoo (Chamba), January 24 A group of about 50 farmers, including women, of outlaying areas of Kolka, Bhalka and Priungal villages of Chamba district, has been able to visit the famous temple of Shri Chandrashekhar Mahadev at Sahoo village for the first time in their life, thanks to the “exposure tour” to the Sahoo area organised by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Most of the farmers had not yet seen Sahoo village, and it was a rare occasion for them to see this village set in the picturesque setting, the temple and the works done by the popular Sahoo panchayat. During their exposure visit which concluded recently, the farmers were taken to the Paryavaran Chetna Kendra situated at Sahoo village where they were apprised of the activities of the centre like the library, computer centre and laudable works done on the environment. The farmers also had the opportunity to see the nursery of fodder and other valuable plants grown by the Forest Department, in addition to playhouses set up in the area. Head of the kendra Rattan Chand talked to the farmers and made them aware of the activities undertaken by the kendra, besides the watershed programme which had helped saving land from erosion by constructing check dams and planting fodder and other plants. He also explained in detail the works done by the Sahoo panchayat and the kendra bringing the village on the tourist map of Himachal Pradesh. The exposure visit will go a long way in bringing farmers closer to one another and opening up new vistas of know-how about the farming for them.
	Himachal diary Snow leaves trail of problems in Shimla, other towns The weather has cleared up after almost a forthnight in the hill town. A long spell of snow, which paralysed life in most of the parts Shimla, Kullu and Chamba districts, has calmed down, but the woes of the people are yet to get over. The roads are being cleared, but with slippery conditions, particularly during the morning hours. The power supply has been restored but continues to be erratic and unstable. The state had good snowfall earlier this month after a long time, as a result of which the administration had hard time restoring the roads. The rock-hard ice needed heavy machinery for its removal. Even after removing snow, the authorities had to spread sand and earth to cope with the slippery conditions. The public works department had to procure several truck loads of sand for the purpose and still there have been fatal vehicular accidents and instances of pedestrian sustaining injuries after slipping. The Shimla Municipal Corporation was late in procuring sand this season and it had to use earth for the purpose initially. The layers of sand and earth spread over trodden snow provided respite from the slippery conditions, but now people have to cope up with muddy roads overflowing with slush. The long spell of inclement weather interrupted the ice-skating season and there has been only a couple of sessions since January 7. However, with the weather clearing and mercury still hovering around the freezing point, the lovers of the winter sports are hoping to have at least three to four weeks of skating. RKMV Principal honoured Principal of the Rajkiya Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (RKMV), Shimla, Naresh Mahajan, has been conferred the “Best Educationist Award” by the International Institute of Education and Management , New Delhi, for his outstanding achievements and remarkable contribution in the field of education. It was largely due to his efforts that the RKMV has been identified by as the “College With Potential For Excellence (CPE)” by the University Grant Commission (UGC). He brought a revolution in the college in the areas of teaching, research, administrative and co-curricular activities as a result of which the college has achieved the CPE status and sanctioned a grant of Rs 1 crore for the college. Other student organisations expressed their happiness for the honour given to the Principal. “The honour will encourage me to do even better and realise the potential seen by the UGC by making the institution a centre of excellence,” Mahajan said after receiving the award from former Governor Bhisma Narayan Singh at a public function in New Delhi. Mahajan has received several other honours for his contribution in the field of education. Recently he was presented the “Innovative Education Administrator -2011 Award” by the Himalayan Society For Promotion of Commerce and Management Activities (HPCMA). Earlier he was honoured by the Charu Castle Foundation, Ghaziabad, for providing excellent administration to the college and undertaking welfare activities. He owed his achievements to the sound policies of the government and the pro-active role of the those involved in the administration of education, right from former principal secretary Shrikant Baldi, Director OP Sharma and ex-Vice Chancellor of the HP University Sunil Gupta. Writer invited to conference in Uzbekistan Gurmit Bedi, a prolific writer, has been invited to the 5th International Hindi Conference to be held at Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan. Curretnly posted as the district public relations officer, Hamirpur, Bedi will attend the conference to be held from June 24 to July 1 along with Ashok Gautam, another writer from Solan. A communication in this regard was recently sent by the international co-coordinator of this programme, Jai Prakash Manas, the editor of Pandulipi magazine. Bedi has won the Himachal Sahitya Academy Award for his poetry collection ‘Mausam Ka Takaza’. He has written three novels, three collections of satires and published a collection of short stories besides contributing articles for leading daily newspapers. A large number of writers, critiques, scholars, teachers, journalists, poets and intellectuals will participate in the conference, which aims at promoting Hindi language through cooperation of Hindi writers by strengthening their fraternity and exchange of ideas. Literary works of writers will also be debated during the conference which will mainly discuss issues like popularisation of Hindi language and extending linguistic fraternity and fostering culture and study-based tourism. Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta
	vignettes 82 pc youth ‘dissatisfied’ with present leadership by Shriniwas Joshi I was in Solan recently to talk to about 500 youth on “We the people of India shall perform our duties and strengthen the nation” (see photo). The function was organised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra, Solan. Ira Prabhat, its coordinator, emphasised upon the demographic dividend that gives a “youth bulge”, which helps the country by providing abundant supply of workforce which increases the per capita output. Six youths, who expressed their views on the topic, were Manish Lattu, Hari Das, Shweta Kanwar, Sunita Sharma, Ishana Rajput and Sushil Dutt. “I could infer from their talks that the youth today is depressed and distressed with the affairs in the country. Their addresses had the tone of despair. I place before the readers the result of a survey conducted in 12 states of India by the youth from the youth”. The first question was: “What is the biggest problem faced by modern India?” The top score was earned by corruption and lack of leadership and political will. To the second question does the present crop of politicians and the political system instill confidence in you, 95 per cent of the youth replied in the negative. With 63 per cent youth voting for seeing a hunger-free India in times to come and 85 per cent believing that India could be greener, they seem to rely upon their planning abilities. A challenge lies ahead for the youth leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Anurag Thakur because 82 per cent youth are not satisfied with the current youth leadership. When asked: “Do you find betrayal of political class in tackling the issues of price rise and inflation?” In reply, 78 per cent voted in favour. On the question of India being corruption-free ever, there was a little gap with 51 per cent thinking that corruption will stay in the country while 49 per cent said it would wipe out in future. With such a scenario, the anguish among youth is understandable. But who is responsible for all this? Are these not the youth themselves? A survey of youths in the age-group of 15-24 reflects that they spend 49 per cent of the time on entertainment channels, 18 per cent on movies and only 6.8 per cent on news, including Bollywood news, and hardly 1.1 per cent on information-related channels. It is conclusively visible that a majority of the youth today has a little interest in serious matters. There is a lack of commitment and dedication. One can achieve success by 90 per cent hard work and 10 per cent inspiration and most of the youths today want to make a quick buck, without doing labour. Sunita Sharma in her address in Solan had advised the youth to change their mindset, to bring in holy thoughts so that “we put the country before self”. Virender Kashyap, MP from Shimla Parliamentary Constituency, delivered an energetic speech telling the youth their duties, besides the fundamental ones given in the Constitution, in building the nation and also coaxed them to shake the elected representatives if they ever find them sleeping over the matters. Tailpiece “To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early or be respectable.” — Oscar Wilde
	Baddi unit gets FICCI quality award Ambika Sharma Solan, January 24 The Baddi-based Elin Appliances was awarded the FICCI Quality System Excellence in the small-scale category in New Delhi. Arun Maira, member, Planning Commission, and chairman, Quality Council of India, bestowed this honour on the unit management. The management comprising directors Kamal Sethia, Sanjeev Sethia, unit manager JS Kang and Sumit Verma received the award in New Delhi on January 19. Elin Appliances was chosen from among 100 units which had sent their entries for this platinum award. Set up in 2008 the unit management believes that safety, health and sustainable growth of an enterprise were co-linked with the work environment and facilities provided by the management, said Kang. He said: “Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intension, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution. It represents the wise choice of many alternatives.” Throwing light on various quality endeavours, Kang said: “Various certifications, including ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004, are complied and apart from this, adherence to international quality standards is also done. Our company is audited by Philips Holland & SGS certification body for Sustainability UAT-534. Follow-up audits are being conducted by Philips India team. This has helped us add the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award, 2009, for excellence to our list of recognitions”. The unit has attained ISO 9001:2000 certification since May 2005 and this has been upgraded to ISO 9001:2008 as per the certification done by STQC, Ministry of Information and Technology. With a view to ensuring optimum quality standards, the unit has a well-established EMS which is certified as per ISO 14001:2004 standard. Under this policy, efforts are being made to create awareness about the adverse effects of various business activities on environment. As a step towards achieving this, environment friendly and efficient technologies are used in the production area and all packing and storage material are reused.
	Panel on standard cartons for apples set up Tribune News Service Shimla, January 24 The state government has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Dr Gurdev Singh, Director, Horticulture, for recommending the use of the standard universal carton for packing apples in Himachal Pradesh. An official spokesperson said here yesterday that the managing directors of the HPMC, HIMFED and the HPSAMB would be the official members and the Senior Marketing Officer, Horticulture, the member secretary of the committee. Besides, there are 12 non-official members, including CL Negi, adviser, State Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, and Kamal Nathta and Harish Chauhan, president and general secretary of the association, respectively. He said the committee would give recommendations on the use and standardisation of the universal carton, standardisation of pulp trays, issues related to grading and packaging within one month. The meeting of the committee would be held on February 2 in Shimla.
	Students, varsity staff discuss fee hike issue Tribune News Service Shimla, January 24 Representatives of student outfits, employees and the teaching community deliberated upon the issue of fee enhancement at the round-table conference convened by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) here yesterday. Even as no consensus could emerge on the issue, everyone expressed concern over the adverse impact that the move would have on students from the weaker sections of society. They said even if a hike was made, there must be some mechanism to exclude students from the weaker sections as the enhancement in fee and other charges would make education unaffordable for them. Majority of them were of the opinion that the authorities must explore other options for resource generation as a major hike would make education unaffordable for a large section of students. Another viewpoint was that if a hike has to be made, the facilities should also be improved. Member of the executive council Waryam Singh Bains said since the report of the Resource Mobilisation Committee was prepared before five years, some enhancement could be made keeping in view the price hike. He added that it was wrong to link fee enhancement with salary and pension of employees.
	Ambulance Day observed Our Correspondent Nurpur, January 24 The 108 ambulance service observed Ambulance Day here recently. The Operations of Free Emergency Response Ambulance Service in Kangra district gave the Best Ambulance of the Year Award to the Nurpur Ambulance in Kangra district. Tarun Sikka, operations executive, Kangra and Chamba, said the Nurpur Ambulance was given the award out of the 17 ambulance services in Kangra district.