Kangra, July 29
Former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar’s dream project of constructing a bachat bhavan, shopping complex, coffee house and auditorium at the Tehsil Chowk in the heart of the town has been shattered, perhaps because of the political tussle within the BJP.

Two decades after the laying of its foundation stone, the state government has abandoned the idea and is searching for land in and around the town for it.

Addressing a press conference here recently, local MLA Sanjay Choudary listed the achievements of the Prem Kumar Dhumal government during its current tenure. He said it was decided to search for land for the project somewhere else.

Shanta had laid the foundation stone at a prime location at the Tehsil Chowk on November 28, 1992. The same day, he laid the foundation stone of the Kangra bus stand.

The Shanta-led BJP government was sacked by the Central government on December 15, 1992, following the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya December 6, 1992.

His dream project remained limited to the foundation stone till date and the site started being used as an illegal parking for vehicles and a garbage dump.

The Congress came to power and the BJP government led by Dhumal was elected to power in 1998 and 2008, but
this project remained unattended to till date by consecutive governments.

On July 17 last year, the foundation stone was found removed from the site and installed the next day when found in a garbage dump.

Shanta told the district authorities if the government was not constructing the project for paucity of funds, he would provide Rs 1 crore from his MP fund in four instalments, or else the stone be removed from the site.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner RS Gupta had said in July last year that the government had decided to construct the project at a cost of Rs 4.2 crore and that it would be funded by the World Bank.

He said this project, with parking space for 100 vehicles, besides a shopping complex for poor road vendors, a bachat bhavan, a standard and modern cafeteria and an auditorium, would be constructed at the site.

He said a commercial complex would be constructed on the top floor to accommodate banks and business centres to generate resources for the maintenance of this multi-crore complex.

Neither was Shanta's offer accepted, nor was the project constructed by the state government. Shanta refused to comment on the issue, but people close to him said politics was touching the lowest ebb.

Shimla, July 29
Faced with a ‘do-or-die’ situation, former Union minister Virbhadra Singh has convened a meeting of his loyalists here on August 1 to chalk out his future strategy even as the Congress high command continues its efforts to pacify him.

Sources in the Virbhadra camp revealed that the meeting would be attended by a majority of MLAs, former MLAs, leaders of frontal organisations and other leaders. Virbhadra would apprise his supporters of the talks he had with various Central leaders, from party president Sonia Gandhi to state party affairs in charge Birender Singh Chaudhary.

While closely watching the outcome of initiatives taken by the high command, the veteran leader would be weighing various options available. The future course of action would be decided after holding consultations with supporters.

Unhappy over the manner in which the high command had set up various committees for the ensuing assembly poll, Virbhadra had not minced words in criticising the approach of the high command on the issue. He expressed reservations over the appointment of PCC secretaries and the composition of the campaign committee, packed with some veteran leaders and some political non-entities.

He maintained that the exercise had been carried out without the application of mind. Things came to a head when he met party president Sonia and not only brought the issues to her notice, but also made it clear that he would not be able to discharge the responsibility assigned to him in such a situation.

He requested her to relieve him of all responsibilities. Thereafter, the high command had been busy pacifying him and a number of issues had been settled, with more clarity is needed on other issues.

Being the chairman of the committee, Virbhadra was keen to contest the poll while his detractors wanted that his wife Pratibha Singh be fielded. Insiders revealed that Virbhadra had already spoken his mind to the high command and it might not be averse to his entering the poll fray.

His other main demands were ticket allotment to candidates with good winning prospects and the appointment of a working president to assist Kaul Singh. He warned the high command that wrong selection of candidates could harm the party’s prospects. His main concern seemed ensuring maximum ticket allotment to his loyalists.

Clarity would be achieved as the process for ticket allotment got under way. The party had been working on a plan to declare nominees for 60 to 70 per cent of the seats where there was no dispute well in advance.

Shimla, July 29
The first phase of the Atal School Uniform Yojna has been implemented with the distribution of 9,28,365 sets of uniforms to students of government schools across the state.

Under the Rs 64-crore scheme, all students of Class I to X are to be provided with two sets of uniforms free of cost.

The scheme was launched on May 9 and the government had set a target of supplying the first sets of uniforms within 90 days, but the job has been done in 75 days. Besides uniforms, students are also being provided with Rs 100 as stitching charges. The supply of the second sets of uniforms will be done soon.

As many as 9,27,205 students, who are at present enrolled in government schools, of whom 4,63,680 are boys and 4,63,525 girls, are the beneficiaries of the scheme.

The government recently announced the Elementary Meritorious Scholarship Scheme for elementary students of government schools under which the District Institute of Education and Training would be the designated agency for conducting scholarship eligibility test at the district level.

A separate list of students ranking first and second will be prepared at the block level on the basis of which two top-ranking girls and boys of Classes VI, VII and VIII, each, will be selected in each block.

A total of 12 such scholarships will be given in each of the 124 education blocks in the state, thus benefitting 1,488 meritorious students.

An annual scholarship of Rs 800 will be given to selected students and for continuation of the scholarship in the next class, they will be required to pass the examination with at least B-Grade. The government will spend Rs 12 lakh per annum over this scheme.

The government had earlier introduced the Ambedkar Meritorious Scholarship Scheme under which 4,000 meritorious students of Class XI and Class XII are getting an annual scholarship of Rs 10,000 each and the Thakur Sen Negi Meritorious Scholarship Scheme under which 400 meritorious students of the Scheduled Tribes’ community are availing a scholarship of Rs 11,000 each. All girl students are being imparted free education up to the university level.

Dharamsala, July 29
Around 4,000 students from the state have taken admission in technical colleges outside Himachal Pradesh while engineering colleges in the state have had very few admissions this year.

Sources in the Himachal Pradesh Engineering Colleges Association told The Tribune during the recently concluded counselling for students conducted by the Himachal Pradesh Technical University that only 1,000 students appeared for admission for the 6,000 seats available in the state.

Many students who had applied for admission after filling in forms for appearing in counselling did not turn up. The university authorities had sold 3,000 forms for the 6,000 seats, but many students did not turn up for admission.

Owners of engineering colleges in the state, who were feeling the heat, were blaming the university for failing to create a good image about colleges functioning under it. They alleged that the university took Rs 1 lakh for each college for conducting counselling, but a few private engineering colleges had failed get even a single student.

Experts blamed poor infrastructure in certain engineering colleges for the poor image of technical education in the state. They alleged that students were opting for engineering colleges in adjoining states, especially Punjab, as colleges there were established and were offering incentives to students in the form of scholarship and assured placement.

Students from the state were, in certain cases, being lured into admission at engineering colleges in adjoining states on false promises by middlemen, who were being paid hefty commission for the purpose.

Managements of private engineering colleges were now to trying to seek government help to save the hefty investment in the state. In case engineering colleges became unviable, investors could not use the land purchased for any other purpose for at least 25 years.

The state government had forced the authorities of all engineering colleges and private universities to enter such a clause before opening the institutes.

The sources also said the recent judgement of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, barring students with compartment from taking admission in higher classes, had also affected admission at engineering colleges. Engineering colleges used to give provisional admission to such students earlier.

Certain experts alleged that the state government had allowed more colleges to be opened in state than the potential or availability of students. Those who invested in such projects were now feeling the heat.

Managements alleged that they had opened colleges in the state with the view of attracting students to the serene environment in the state, but statements of politicians had destroyed the image of the state as an educational hub. No other state had defamed its own technical colleges more, they alleged.

Chamba, July 29
The eight-day Minjar fair got off to a colourful start here today, with its inauguration by Speaker Tulsi Ram by hoisting the Minjar flag at the Chowgan.

Speaking on the occasion, he said fairs and festivals went a long way in preserving our cultural heritage, which was the identity of Himachal Pradesh.

He said the fair was not only based on emotions, but also on the age-old traditions of this region, replete with abundant scenic beauty.

Congratulating the people, the Speaker hoped that the fair might head to gaining its prominence at the international level and bring all-round development, with a bumper crop.

He declared Minjar sports tournaments open amid the singing of the ‘kunjari malhaar’, which were seasonal folk songs of this region.

He later inaugurated an exhibition set up by government departments and non-government organisations. Local MLA BK Chauhan and former minister Mohan Lal were also present.

Chamba Deputy Commissioner Sunil Chaudhary, also the chairperson of the Minjar Fair Celebration Committee, accompanied by other officials and residents, offered holy ‘minjars’, the golden hue of maize blossom, at the Lakshmi Narayan and Raghuvira temples.

The fair was held in ‘sawan”, which heralded the beginning of ‘kunjari malhaar’ folk songs. It would conclude on August 5, with the immersion of ‘minjars’ in the Ravi.

Besides Punjabi singers and other artistes from outside the state, folk artistes from different parts of Himachal Pradesh would perform during the fair.

Mandi/Naggar, July 29
Chief Secretary Sudripta Roy today said Indian and Russian trustees of the International Roerich Memorial Trust (IRMT) at Naggar will hold a meeting in September to sort out pending issues, which include the setting up of a proper museum and cultural complex to house the Urusvati Scientific Research for Art and Cultural Centre for Children and deviation, if any, in the allotment of funds and plan.

Talking to The Tribune after reviewing the progress of the inventory of the museum being set up by the joint eight-member team from the ICR in Moscow and Himachal Pradesh today at Naggar, the Chief Secretary, also a member of the 17-member IRMT, said, “Work is in progress. We need to sit down to set up a proper Roerich museum and cultural complex there. We are calling a meeting of the trust in September, inviting both Russian officials, including those with the Russian Embassy, and Indian trustees, including officials with the Ministry of External Affairs.”

Roy said a society had been set up under him to oversee the construction work at Naggar. “We are monitoring activities at the IRMT and ensuring that the cultural complex with hilly architectural style is set up with the help of Russian architects as well. It will have the Urasvati Scientific and Art Research Centre and Cultural Centre for Children,” he added.

He said they were awaiting a report from the Centre on the matter dealing with foreign affairs. He was accompanied by Kullu Deputy Commissioner Amitabh Awasthi and the Director, Art, Language and Culture. He interacted with the eight-member team from the ICR in Moscow. Former curator Elena Adamkova was also present.

Bilaspur, July 29
The 10-day Shravan Ashtami Navratra fair concluded at Mata Naina Devi shrine, 95 km from here, last night. At least 10 lakh devotees from all parts of the country paid obeisance to the deity.

Reports said though most devotees were from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, there was quite a good sprinkling of devotees from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Temple officer Sukhdev Singh Thakur said Rs 1.39 crore was offered to the deity by devotees till July 27 while 333 gm and 400 mg of gold and 37 kg and 812 gm of silver was offered during this period.

Reports said Deputy Speaker Rikhi Ram Kaundal and local MLA and BJP spokesman Randhir Sharma, accompanied by Deputy Commissioner-cum-temple commissioner Ritesh Chauhan and Superintendent of Police Santosh Patial, visited the fair to supervise it and ensure that everything passed off peacefully.

While Additional District Magistrate-cum-mela officer Darshan Kalia, SDM Rohan Thakur and senior police officers were on almost 24-hour duty at the fair complex, other district officers received praise from local residents for smooth arrangement without any hassle, including arrangements for drinking water, power, rations, 24-hour medical assistance and law and order.

During the first few days of the fair, several devotees had complained of losing money, pockets and belongings at the hands of pickpockets.

There was no complaint after the police swooped down on some suspicious characters from outside the state.

The failure of the temple management to have proper arrangements for keeping and safely returning shoes of devotees was one of the major faults. Hundreds of devotees had lost their shoes almost every day in the mix-up where shoes were being piled up, reports said. 

Kangra, July 29
A burns unit will be set up at a cost of Rs 85 crore at the DRPGMC in Tanda so that patients with severe burn injuries can get super-specialised treatment.

Stating this, local MLA Sanjay Choudhary, who was the chief guest at a state-level sensitisation-cum-advocacy seminar at the Government Polytechnic College here yesterday, said the workshop, under a pilot project on the prevention of burn injuries, called for a multi-spectral response.

Dr Ramesh Bharti, head of the department of surgery and in charge of the burns unit, said a burn was an injury to the skin or other organic tissues, primarily caused by heat, radiation, radioactivity, electricity, friction or contact with chemicals.

Dr Yadu Lal, director of the Central Health Education Bureau, New Delhi, who presided over the function, said the rate of child deaths from burns in many high-income countries was over seven times higher than in low-income and middle-income countries.

He said the high risk for women was associated with open-fire cooking or unsafe cooking stoves, which could ignite loose clothing. Open flames used for heating and lighting also posed risk, he added.

Chief Medical Officer KS Dogra said India was topped in cases, with 70 lakh burn injuries. He emphasised that most burns were preventable.

He said non-fatal burns were a leading cause of morbidity, including prolonged hospitalisation, disfigurement and disability, often resulting in stigma and rejection.

District health officer Jitender Saxena elaborated on correct first-aid in case of fire and tips for its prevention in daily activities.

Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Bharti said they would develop a multi-sectoral and effective burn prevention plan. He said schools would be involved in increasing awareness on prevention and correct first-aid.

ICDS district project officer SK Choudhary was honoured for his leadership in health activities. Ruby of the Central University bagged the first prize in the declamation contest.

Nurpur, July 29
Congress factions, led by ex-president of the local Municipal Council Rakesh Mahajan and Rahul Gandhi’s ardent supporter Manoj Pathania, organised a joint show of strength here today to claim the Congress ticket for the coming Assembly elections before party observer for Kangra district Ghulam Mohammad Mir.

Supporters of the ticket claimants, who pleaded and supported their candidatures, also put their grouse in one voice against local Congress leaders for ignoring them in the party organisation and sidelining them in party affairs.

Mir had to intervene when supporters of the ticket claimants tried to target local leaders by naming them.

He advised them to give their views only on issues - why the Congress lost in this Assembly segment in the last elections, how the party could win the forthcoming Assembly poll and who would be a suitable candidate.

Ticket claimants Manoj Pathania and Rakesh Mahajan told the party observer that they had been sidelined by the local Congress leadership because they were the ticket claimants during the last Assembly poll.

After hearing the grouses of ticket claimants and their supporters, Mir said he would identify all dedicated and senior Congress workers of this area who were annoyed due to certain reasons and seek pardon from them on behalf of AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi in the days to come. “Apart from assessing the party’s rank and file for the party ticket, I will try to consolidate it in this Assembly segment. All workers should leave personal egos and get united to bring the Congress to power in the state,” he maintained. Mir asserted that the party high command would not afford rebels in the poll fray at any cost in the Assembly poll.

He assured ticket claimants and their supporters that he would submit his impartial survey report to the party high command under no influence or pressure.

Mir had already convened a meeting with Congress workers of the local block unit along with ticket claimant state Congress general secretary Ajay Mahajan, who had contested last Assembly elections also from here on July 25.

Mir has scheduled a second meeting today to hear other ticket claimants.

Bilaspur, July 29
Nikhil Kumar (4), son of Pawan Kumar of Katheda village of Bhoranj tehsil of Hamirpur district, got drowned in a khad (rivulet) while his mother was washing clothes on the banks of the khad in Androli village under Chhatt gram panchayat of this district last evening.

Sonu, the mother of the deceased, was living with her parents in this village.

Reports said Nikhil, who was playing near her mother, was found missing after sometime and was suspected to have fallen into the khad.

Later, the body of the boy was fished out from the rivulet by Vidhi Chand, his maternal grandfather, and other villagers. He was rushed to Ghumarwin Civil Hospital where he was declared brought dead. The police has registered a case and investigations were on. Meanwhile, tehsildar Shashi Pal Sharma disbursed an amount of Rs 10,000 as immediate grant to the family.

Palampur, July 29
The Palampur Municipal Council (MC) has taken a major decision to shift over 100 fruit and vegetable vendors from the national highway near a local gurdwara.

Balwant Singh Thakur, president of the council, told mediapersons here today that these vendors had become a major traffic hazard resulting in frequent traffic jams and accidents on the highway, therefore the council had proposed to shift them to a place near the Income Tax Office where sheds were being constructed by the council to accommodate them.

He said nominal rent would be charged from them by the council. Several social organisations of the town had time and again demanded removal of encroachments by these vendors from the highway by shifting them to any other place.

In the past two years, the local administration could not take any decision because of political pressure and Assembly elections due by the end of this year. Now, it had provided them alternate space. They would be shifted near the Income Tax Office by August 15.

The council had also announced to shift the local taxi stand near the new bus stand. However, taxi operators were not keen to move to the new site.

The Palampur Welfare and Environment Protection Forum (PWEPF) had welcomed the decision of the council to shift the vendors from the national highway.

KB Ralhan, spokesman for the PWEPF, said the decision would benefit local residents.

Mandi/Manali, July 29
The progress in the Rs20-crore beautification master plan for the Manali mall has been shoddy, creating a lot of hassles for visitors in this tourist town.

Chief Secretary Sudripto Roy today pulled up the contractor and officials for the undue delay in the work and directed the local authorities to take action against him in case he did not expedite the work by putting in more workers.

Members of the Manali Hoteliers Association (MHA) had raised the issue with the government during the meeting of the District Tourism Council at Manali recently.

“The contractor has been delaying the beautification work on the grounds that he is not getting stones and other material, which is his problem, but tourists and local residents are suffering,” said MHA president Gajender Thakur.

Taking note of the MHA’s complaint, the Chief Secretary today detected a rather slow, but shoddy, progress on the work. He pulled up the contactor and directed the local authorities, including the Kullu Deputy Commissioner, to take penal action against him.

It was found that the contractor had deviated from the original master plan and was allotting more space for the flowery decoration on the divider.

This could shrink the space for visitors walking on both sides of the mall, creating a claustrophobic condition during the peak season, said hoteliers.

During the inspection, it was found that the contractor has deputed only a few workers on the project, which should have been completed by now. Because of the slow pace of work, the project might not be completed by November.

The local BJP was pressurising the contractor to complete the work before the election code of conduct was imposed in the state. They wanted to take the credit for the master plan, which was launched during the tenure of the current regime, insiders said.

On the other hand, the contractor pleaded that he was not getting stones in time, which was delaying the work. “We are going by the work plan monitored by the PWD and the local administration,” he claimed.

The Chief Secretary said the contractor would not be allowed to deviate from the original master plan and the government would take penal action against him. “He will lay the stones and tiles, fountains and paths, benches and other embellishments as approved in the plan,” he asserted.

Chamba, July 29
Residents of Chamba from across the district belonging to different walks of life irrespective of any political ideology today have come on a single platform and formed the “Chambial Sabha Chamba” which is a non-political organisation. A former minister, Asha Kumari, is the patron-in-chief of the sabha.

The chief objective of the sabha is to bring Chamba on the path of progress.

Addressing a joint news conference here today, sabha president Dharam Malhotra and general secretary Anil Singh Jandrotia said the district was rich in natural resources like hydroelectricity, forest wealth and tourism, besides its cultural heritage. Efforts would be made to strive for linking the region with airway, railways and national highway so that tourism could be promoted in the region.

“The picturesque region of Chamba requires much-needed fillip to boost the thriving tourism industry in a big way,” they asserted, adding that they would pursue all the issues of the district.

They felt that Chamba had so far remained neglected as there were no medical and engineering institutions in the district and have resolved to wage a crusade to achieve their rights.

They demanded that since Chamba had a vast hydropower potential, residents of the district should be given free electricity.

Kangra, July 29
Most of the demands of students of MCM DAV College, Kangra, were addressed by the college management recently following a meeting between the Principal and student representatives of the college.

Neelam Mahajan, Principal of the college, said most of the issues had been already settled and the remaining were addressed to the satisfaction of the students on Wednesday. She said a canteen on the campus, which was closed earlier, would start functioning.

She also said first-aid facilities had also been initiated and would be available to the students during college hours. Neelam said the management was eager to provide basic facilities to the students, but financial crunch of the college was at times becoming an obstacle in achieving the target.

She said efforts were on to generate funds to provide more facilities to the students. She clarified that Shanta Kumar, MP, had sanctioned Rs 10 lakh from his fund for the construction of a conference hall on the college campus, while the budget for this project was Rs 45 lakh. She told the students that it was because of this financial constraint that work on the project was not started.

Neelam said she, along with her staff, was trying to provide conducive and congenial academic atmosphere to the students to have better academic results. She said due to these efforts students of the college had achieved good positions in the HPU examination, the results of which were declared recently. She said Palavi, B Sc part-I non-medical student, got the second position in the university securing 91 per cent marks.

Bilaspur, July 29
Suresh Chandel, three-time MP from the Hamirpur constituency and a former BJP state president, who is now national vice-president of the BJP National Kisan Morcha, has pointed towards the deteriorating condition of peasantry in the country. He has demanded that the Central Government must immediately come out with a comprehensive national farming policy for the development of farming and profitable returns for farm produce.

Talking to mediapersons and giving figures to substantiate his statement, Chandel said it was on the basis of progress and development in farming that a country like China was going ahead and challenging even the best of economies of the world today and India would be wiser to learn from this neighbour.

Chandel said: “Ours is a vast country with varied climates and the vagaries of weather at the present time has made farming uncertain and most of the time, unremunerative”.

He said it was during the tenure of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that some scientists and technical experts had proposed the linking of rivers of the country so that this challenge of a strange weather could be successfully met and farming was made a successful and remunerative profession.

He lamented that despite the directions of the Supreme Court to ensure funds for the implementation of this river linking project, the government was just sleeping over it and raising the bogey of shortage of funds.

He said the National Kisan Morcha would organise a national-level demonstration and a dharna at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on August 21 in support of their demands, which would be addressed by national BJP president Nitin Gadkari and a former party national president Rajnath Singh among other top leaders.

Palampur, July 29
Residents of Jaisinghpur, one of the sub-divisional headquarters of Kangra district, today lodged a protest against the failure of the state government in filling up three vacant posts of medical officer at the Community Health Centre (CMC), Jaisinghpur.

Residents said Jaisinghpur hospital was the only hospital which looked after the medical care of over 55 panchayats of the Changer area, but all three posts of doctor were lying vacant here resulting in huge inconvenience to local people.

They said despite tall claims made by the state government, nothing had been done to improve the health services in this remote corner of the state.

Earlier, there was only one doctor who was looking after the OPD. He also had been shifted, and now Class III employees and dental doctors of the hospital were running the affairs.

Though the matter was brought to the notice of health officials, neither any doctor was posted nor was someone sent there on deputation.

Ravinder Thakur, IPH Minister and MLA from Thrual, said the government had already ordered the Kangra CMO to depute a doctor immediately at Jaisinghpur hospital.

Bilaspur, July 29
Five-month-old infant Sooraj was stolen in wee hours today while he was asleep with his mother Ruby at an inn in Kaulan Wala Toba, near Naina Devi, about 100 km from here.

Reports said Ruby was asleep with her three children when he was stolen. She also had a five-year-old son and a thr-year-old daughter.

She was accompanied by another woman at the inn. The affected family, of shopkeeper Ram Vilas, hailed from the Bajri Basti at Kankhal in Hardwar district of Uttarakhand.

The police registered a case and started an investigation. Ram Vilas had come with his family to Naina Devi for business and had set up a shop there during the ‘Shravan Ashtami’ Navratra fair.