Shimla, May 7
Queering the pitch for his party’s government, belligerent BJP MP Rajan Sushant today threatened to launch a public movement in case Chief Minister PK Dhumal did not resign within 15 days and also sought details of the direct and indirect funding provided by the JP company and other corporate houses to the HP Cricket Association (HPCA), headed by Anurag Thakur, MP.

“I demand that the inquiry into the irregularities in the JP cement plant be handed over to the CBI as a state police officer cannot submit a report indicting the Chief Minister, ministers and senior officers,” said the suspended BJP MP, known for his utterances against the BJP regime in Himachal. While taking both the Congress and the BJP to task over their role in favouring the JP company, he said Dhumal had committed a greater crime by regularising the illegality done by the previous Congress regime and this was no different than the 2G scam and the allegations levelled against Yeddyurappa in Karnataka.

Lauding the historic judgment by the high court, Sushant said the judiciary had rendered a great service to the people of the state by indicting the JP company and those waging a crusade against corruption. “I want to warn officials in Himachal that they should grant clearances to such projects on the directions of the Chief Minister and ministers only if they give it in writing or else they will have to face the music,” he said.

The BJP MP from Kangra said in case the list of funds received by the HP Cricket Association, headed by Anurag Thakur, son of the Chief Minister, from corporate houses was not released, he would make public all such information. “The Chief Minister cannot absolve himself of the blame as the committee headed by the Chief Secretary could not have reversed the decision of the previous Congress regime of not allowing thermal power without directions from Dhumal,” he said.

Asked if he would bring the matter to the notice of the BJP high command, he said the corrupt did not have any party, so he would launch a crusade against all the wrongdoings of the BJP regime in Himachal with public support. “When I was the Revenue Minister, we had brought a policy for the regularisation of encroachments by nine lakh people, but the Chief Minister seems to be more concerned about the JP company rather than the people who have elected him as they are not as resourceful as the big corporate house,” he alleged.

Solan, May 7
Asserting that the high court judgment in the JP cement plant case was a vindication of their stand on the “prevalent corruption in the state”, the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) today said it would submit a memorandum to the Governor on May 21 requesting her to dismiss the government.

Party leaders said they would request the Governor to exercise powers under Section 356 of the Constitution and recommend the dismissal of the state government to the President. A dharna would also be organised outside the Governor’s office on that day where the party’s youth wing would especially help mobilise the youth for this cause.

Party leaders, including its president Maheshwar Singh, spokesman MN Sofat and senior leader Shyama Sharma, who took out a rally at Kandaghat today, said the state government should resign owning moral responsibility after the high court judgment.

He added that the high court decision on the JP cement plant had proved that the state government was favouring corporate groups and builders from Punjab and Haryana by selling the land of the state to them.

A workers’ meeting was later organised at Kandaghat where senior leaders addressed the workers.

Party spokesman MN Safat denied rumours regarding talks with BJP leaders for rejoining the party and said their sole aim was to provide a viable option to the people, who were fed up with both the BJP and the Congress.

Hamirpur, May 7
State spokesman for the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee Deepak Sharma has accused Chief Minister PK Dhumal of allegedly selling the interests of the state at the hands of JP Industries.

He said: “Despite the thermal plant at Bagheri (Nalagarh) being turned down by the previous Congress government in 2006, this project was given the go-ahead by the present regime in violation of environment and ecology norms of the state and allowed to run the project without obtaining required clearances and now Dhumal is just beating about the bush by levelling allegations against Congress leaders.”

Making a scathing attack on the state BJP, the Congress spokesman alleged that JP Industries had been the “main financer of the ruling party in the state and there are reports that 500 hoardings of the HP Cricket Association, headed by Anurag Thakur, Dhumal’s son, are being installed by the JP group.”

Sharma added that: “A big scam has taken place in the purchases made by the Animal and Industries Department of the state and purchases were being made through the State Wool Federation and details in this regard are being gathered through RTI information after which this issue would be exposed.”

Shimla, May 7
Terming the high court verdict on the JP cement plant a vindication of the BJP government’s stand, Chief Minister PK Dhumal today asserted that the court orders were in line with the action taken by it.

Stating this at a press conference here, he said the government was in favour of taking action against the errant officers with whose connivance irregularities were committed by Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL). The court had also stated that and set up a special investigation team for the purpose. The government would also carry out its own inquiry in addition and take appropriate action against those found guilty. It would also look into the matter regarding re-employment of some government officers by the company after retirement.

The government had regularised the cement plant set up on unauthorisedly occupied land after imposing a penalty as many people had purchased trucks and started other economic activities and the closure of the plant would have affected their livelihood. The court also took note of it and imposed a huge penalty of Rs 100 crore on the company instead.

Dhumal said his government did not give consent for setting up a coal-based thermal plant and only permitted a bio-mass-based plant in consonance with the policy announced by the Centre to promote renewable energy.

Giving chronological details of the case, he said an MoU was signed with JAL during the Congress regime on July 9, 2004, and the Single Window Clearance Authority gave nod to the project on September 16, 2004. The cost of the project was initially projected at Rs 90 crore to circumvent the requirement of environment clearance and the Congress government had agreed to it. The intention of the party was clear as the MoU was signed without even specifying the location of the project and it was the root cause that it managed to unauthorisedly occupy land.

Referring to the allotment of village common land to the company, Dhumal said the Village Common Land Vesting and Utilisation Act was amended in 1981 by the then Congress government to convert it to the allotable pool, but the amendment was quashed by the high court and the Supreme Court had stayed the decision. Dhumal said he would direct the officers concerned to apprise the court of the latest development in the case.

Bilaspur, May 7
Himachal Kisan Manch state chief convener and former MLA Krishan Kumar Kaushal has hailed the state high court judgment on the Bagheri power plant of JP Industries and called it “historic” as this will prove helpful for lakhs of villagers of the state.

Talking to mediapersons at the Circuit House here today, Kaushal, accompanied by some kisan leaders, state CPI secretariat member Pravesh Chandel, district secretary Ram Lal Sharma and Himachal Lokhit Party state joint spokesman Kesh Pathania, said this judgment had sent shivers down the spine of such anti-social elements who were out to grab maximum possible land and exploit natural wealth of the state that could be within their reach, thanks to their collaboration with greedy politicians.

Shimla, May 7
Sanjay Chauhan and Tikender Singh Panwar, CPM candidates for election to the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor in the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC), today filed their nomination papers along with 18 other candidates contesting for posts of councillor.

The CPM candidates took out a procession from AG Chowk and marched towards the Deputy Commissioner’s office to file their nomination papers. The CPM has fielded 18 candidates while in the remaining seven wards, it is likely to support like-minded people.

Madhu Sood of the Congress, who has once again emerged as the party’s choice, also filed her nomination papers today. Sood, who is facing stiff opposition from her colleagues for being fielded when the post of Mayor is in the open category, is facing an uphill task. She had been elected Mayor by the Congress in the last elections when the contest for the post of Mayor was not direct and it was reserved for women.

With today being the second day of nominations, a total of 42 people have filed their papers, including 38 for posts of councillor from various wards. They include Sanjay Chauhan (CPM), Madhu Sood (Congress) and Karam Chand Bhatia for the post of Mayor. Tikender Panwar (CPM) filed his nomination for the post of Deputy Mayor today while Atul Vohra had filed his papers for the same post on May 5.

The BJP’s candidate for the post of Mayor, Dr SS Manhas, a non-political figure, will be filing his nomination papers tomorrow as he returned from the UK late last night only. Being a prominent surgeon, who has also remained the head of the surgery department at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), he is a popular face among the people.

It is for the first time that directs elections are being held for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The entry of Dr Manhas into the political arena has made the contest interesting. Now it remains to be seen how he manages to put up a show against political players like Sood and Chauhan.

Shimla, May 7
Come Assembly elections and the issue of new districts starts haunting the faction-ridden BJP with a section of the leaders clamouring for the dismemberment of Kangra, the most populous and politically most significant district in the state.

The party seems to have learnt no lessons from the fiasco on the issue during the 2003 poll when its leaders raised the matter to a feverish pitch and “came to grief”. As the issue created a vertical divide in the party, the intervention of the delimitation commission provided it an escape route and the exercise was stopped. However, to send a clear message to the electorate that it was serious about the move, the government not only decided in principle to create seven new districts but also posted additional deputy commissioners so that they could take over as deputy commissioners after the poll.

The main argument was that the decision would enable the party win the elections. However, the party not only suffered a massive defeat at the hands of the Congress but even lost all seven Assembly seats where the headquarters of the proposed new districts were to be set up. These were Palampur, Nurpur, Sundernagar, Karsog, Sarakaghat, Rampur and Rohru. With the Assembly elections due at the end of the year, some BJP leaders of Kangra have again raked up the issue and an orchestrated campaign has been launched. As expected, it has found an echo elsewhere in the state and people from Rampur, Rohru, Karsog and some other parts are also demanding new districts.

The moot question is whether there is any need or justification in creating new districts on administrative grounds, given the precarious financial position of the state.

There was little justification for new districts even in 2002 and over the past decade Himachal has emerged as the top state in the country in e-governance, e-services, roads, education and health infrastructure. If new districts are to be created at all, then Kangra does not fit the bill, as it takes less than two hours to reach the district headquarters from any corner, except the landlocked Chhota and Bara Bhangal, which have scant population.

Shimla, May 7
Even if an exercise to create new districts is to be carried out, the first step is to constitute a committee or commission for the purpose which will decide the parameters for the creation of new administrative units, ascertain the views of people, invite claims and objections and also work out the financial implications, which could work out to be anything between Rs 30 and Rs 50 crore per district.

With the poll round the corner, there is little time for carrying out the exercise. Moreover, the Election Commission has already published the district-wise electoral rolls with the cut-off date of January 1, 2012, which will be the basis for conducting the poll. The process of addition and deletion of names of voters will continue. The creation of new districts could be objected to by the Election Commission of India at such a late stage.

Solan, May 7
Water remains a scarce commodity in Solan town with voltage fluctuation adversely affecting proper lifting of water under the Giri Potable Water Scheme.

As the setting up of an independent substation has been delayed, the scheme is being run through ad hoc electricity arrangement from a 33-KV line at Solan ever since its inauguration in April 2008.

“Voltage fluctuation has affected at least 40 per cent of the lifting work and this has adversely affected the water supply to the town,” said Executive Engineer, IPH, JS Chauhan. He said rationing of water was being done as per the availability.

With several areas of the town failing to receive water for two days, the municipal committee was now trying to distribute some water to these areas, said the Executive Engineer of the local municipal committee.

Though the scheme was inaugurated in 2008, it is yet to be connected through a dedicated substation. The work had been awarded to a contractor earlier who had backed out and this had forced the transmission wing to invite fresh tenders. This had delayed setting up of the substation by as many as four years though the IPH Department had deposited its cost of Rs 14 crore in 2008 itself.

SE, Transmission, VK Singh, however, said the contract to set up the substation had been finally awarded and the work was likely to be completed by December.

The IPH Department had suffered immensely due to this delay as its machinery developed snags several times due to abrupt high voltage, leading to costly repairs worth lakhs. The electricity board was not only charging the due water bill from the IPH Department but it had given no concession despite earning lakhs on the Rs 14 crore deposited with it since 2008.

Chamba, May 7
The chain hunger strike of unemployed trained junior basic teachers (JBT) of the district entered the fourth day today.

The hunger strike was launched by the Unemployed JBT Teachers Association in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here from May 4.

The unemployed teachers were protesting against the government’s apathetic attitude towards them as they were demanding jobs.

They were adamant that they would continue their strike till the Himachal Pradesh Government accepted to their demands.

Nurpur, May 7
The incident of a devastating fire which had gutted a wholesale shoe shop M/s RL Mahajan Traders at Jassur, near here, on Wednesday night has taken a new turn when the local police acting on the complaint of shop owner Satish Kumar arrested Suresh Sharma, landlord of the shop, on Saturday evening. The former alleged that the accused had set his shop on fire with a motive to get it vacated. The police had lodged an FIR under Section 436, IPC, against him.

Intriguingly, local shopkeepers yesterday jumped in support of the arrested landlord. Up in arms against his arrest they held a protest demonstration in front of Nurpur police station. The agitating shopkeepers alleged that the landlord had been framed in a false case.

Meanwhile, Anju Bala, landlord’s wife, alleged in a complaint submitted to the police that the landlord and his family members had been thrashed by some persons from Pathankot who had come in support of the fire victim on the night when the fire broke out in the rented shop. The landlord was produced before the judicial magistrate on Sunday and remanded in police custody until May 8. 

Bilaspur, May 7
A team of officials, led by Inspector, Excise and Taxation, Vikram Pal, has detected Value Added Tax (VAT) evasion on tobacco goods worth Rs 1.20 lakh and imposed penalty worth Rs 30,000 on trader Udham Singh of Hamirpur. The case of tax evasion was detected at the Suharghat barrier, 42 km from here on the HP-Punjab border,recently.

Excise and Taxation Officer Som Dutt Sharma told mediapersons here that these tobacco goods named “golden khaini” were kept hidden underneath other kiryana goods in a truck and could only be detected as the staff checked all goods kept in the truck thoroughly.

The trader could not show any legal documents of its purchase or payment of required taxes etc and was charged spot fine and penalty before the truck was released under Section 34(7) of the HP VAT Act.

He said this was second big consignment of tax evasion of tobacco goods which had been caught on this barrier by the excise staff as earlier in December also a similar consignment worth Rs 3.50 lakh of non-branded bidis and cigarettes were being carried without paying any tax etc. The trader was charged Rs 1.5 lakh as penalty in that case.

Sharma said during the current financial year, the excise staff on this barrier had caught several tax evasion cases and imposed total penalties worth Rs 9.25 lakh to defaulter 611 traders and shopkeepers within this month.

Dharamsala, May 7
The police has registered cases under Section 420, IPC, against various truck unions of Kangra district.

Cases have been registered against truck unions for forcibly imposing illegal tax on trucks of other areas operating in their respective jurisdiction.

Truck unions used to impose tax called “parchi” in the local language on any truck that operates in their self-declared jurisdiction. Amount ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 150 is charged from each truck. The amount collected through this illegal tax amounts to lakhs in the district. The imposition of tax is also a violation of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act.

Diljeet Singh Thakur, SP, Kangra, said the cases had been registered against the Maranda Truck Union, Haripur Truck Union, Kangra Truck Union, Dehra Truck Union, Jwalamukhi Truck Union and Nagrota Bagwan Truck Union.

The case has been registered on the directions of the state high court after receiving a complaint from Shiv Gramin Flour Mills in this regard.

The complainant had alleged that the said truck unions had been collecting illegal tax from them from October 30, 2010, to May 20, 2012, against the directions of the high court.

Solan, May 7
Members of the Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association (HPMOA) have resented the transfers of vice-president Yash Pal Ranta from the eye bank at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, to the Regional Hospital, Nahan, and of Dr SL Sharma as Deputy Director from the post of Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Shimla.

In a press note here, association president Sushil Changer and general secretary Jiva Nand said it was unfortunate that the Principal, Indira Gandhi Medical College, had not posted Dr Ranta in the eye bank as per the directions of the Secretary, Health, but transferred him to the Regional Hospital, Nahan.

They added that the transfer was unfortunate as the doctor had been trained in eye banking and keratoplasty from All-India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) and a number of eye donations had been received in the Indira Gandhi Medical College ever since he joined there though it had been functional six months earlier.

Similarly, Dr Sharma too had been made to pay the price for raising his voice against increase in the retirement age of teachers in the medical college as it was hampering the promotional avenues of young medical officers.

The association said Dr Sharma’s tenure as Chief Medical Officer had been the shortest. It alleged that this was an attempt to weaken their association.

They said they had requested the Chief Minister to revoke the transfer orders of these two officers. 

Sundernagar, May 7
While allowing three complaints pertaining to wrong and exorbitant bills of electricity, the Consumer Forum, Mandi, has directed the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) Ltd Senior Executive Engineer and the Subdivisional Officer to issue fresh bills to consumers and also to pay compensation and the cost of litigation.

Shyam Lal, Kusum Kumar and Roshan Lal, all residents of Sambal village in Sundernagar received exorbitant bills of electricity. All of them paid the amount and challenged the bills before the Consumer Forum separately.

The stand of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board was that the bills were issued due to a clerical error and the forum did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the complaints.

The forum held that the complaints were maintainable before it. It observed that when the bills were wrongly issued, why did the authorities not take steps to correct the bills. The act of the officials amounted to deficiency in service as provided under the Consumer Protection Act and penalised the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board.

The forum allowed Rs 2,000 as compensation and Rs 1,500 as the cost of litigation to Shyam Lal and Kusum Kumar Lal (separately). And it allowed Rs 1,500 as compensation and Rs 1,000 as cost of litigation to Roshan Lal.

Khairi (Dalhousie), May 7
The annual day celebration-cum-prize distribution function of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Chamera-I, was held on its premises at the Khairi project colony yesterday.

Janardan Choudhary, General Manager, Chamera power station-I, was the chief guest. Prabha Choudhary presided over the function.

PK Langer, Chief Engineer (in charge), Sewa power station-II, another Chief Engineer Vineet Diddi, other dignitaries and parents were among those present.

Earlier, Principal of the school Meena Kulshreshtha presented the annual report.

Cultural programmes like Rajasthani folk dance, Sufi folk dance, Himachali natti, Hindi natika and Marathi folk dance were presented by students. In his keynote address, Janardan Choudhary applauded cultural programmes presented by students which he said was “educative and value-based”.