Shimla, September 10
In an all-out attempt to woo the powerful employee lobby, the state Cabinet today gave its go-ahead for post-based re-revised pay structures and grade pays to its employees from October 1, 2012. This is on the Punjab pattern, and comes barely a couple of months before the state goes to the polls. The decision will entail an annual burden of over Rs 550 crore.

The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister PK Dhumal today, also approved the introduction and implementation of the Assured Career Progression Scheme (ACPS) under three-tier system of 4-9-14 to all categories of employees with effect from August 27, 2009. This will benefit over 2 lakh employees. The minimum daily wage has been raised from Rs 130 to Rs 150 per day from September 1.

The Cabinet also approved the pay scale of Rs. 15,600-39,100 with a grade pay of Rs 5,400 to regular Ayurvedic Medical Officers and granted Senior Ayurvedic Medical Officers a grade pay of 
Rs 6,000.

Financial benefits have also been approved for Ayurvedic Medical Officers engaged under the Rogi Kalyan Samiti.

Judicial officers and retired judicial officers will get allowances with effect from January 1, 2006, in accordance with Justice Padamanabham Committee report.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for the pay scales and other revised service benefits to all teaching and non-teaching categories of officers in higher technical institutions in the state.

As per another decision, an award scheme will be introduced for technical employees engaged in various construction activities under which a cash award of Rs 51,000 and a letter of appreciation will be given. The Cabinet approved a wage of Rs 240 instead of a fixed monthly amount for such technical assistants in the Panchayati Raj Department.

It decided to enhance subsidy under the Horticulture Technology Mission for the Minor Irrigation Scheme from 50 per cent to 80 per cent and from 55 per cent to 80 per cent on construction of grading packing houses.

It approved a proposal to give ownership right to possession holders of constructed buildings within the limits of the Municipal Corporation, Shimla, by taking payment at the per square metre rate of Rs 1,000, Rs 900 per and Rs 800 for different areas.

It was approved to launch the Atal Scholarship Scheme to provide cash incentive of Rs 31,000 for students who secure admission in Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management.

Under yet another plan, named the Kalpana Chawla Scholarship Scheme, 2,000 topper girl students of plus-II will be given an annual scholarship of Rs 15,000 for three years for higher educational pursuits.

* Post based re-revised pay structures and grade pays for employees to cost Rs 550 crore annually
* Assured Career Progression Scheme under three-tier system of 4-9-14 to all categories of  employees from August 27, 2009
* Minimum daily wage up from Rs 130 to Rs 150 from September 1
* Subsidy under Horticulture Technology Mission for Minor Irrigation Scheme up from 50 per cent to 80 per cent
* Plan to grant ownership right to the possession holders of constructed buildings in Shimla 

What It Promises

* Strict enforcement of Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act to protect prime agricultural land

* Stronger Lokayukta to check corruption

* 95 per cent jobs for Himachalis in all industries

* Insurance cover for all above the age of 65

* Online security pension and old-age homes

* Steps to check wild animal menace and damage to crops

Solan, September 10
Lt Gen Gaurav Shumsher Jung Bahadur, a 1972 batch pass-out of Lawrence School, Sanawar, was elevated as the Army Chief of Nepal yesterday. Son of a former Major General, Bahadur had joined the school on March 1, 1962, in lower kindergarten.

The school recognised his leadership qualities as a house master’s comment in his final year pointed out: “As a prefect he displayed exceptional ability in handling responsibility. He has been forthright, firm, kind and sympathetic to juniors and won their confidence in full measure.”

Bahadur was a keen sportsman who actively took part in cricket, soccer, hockey, boxing, tennis and gymnastics. His leadership qualities were well-nurtured in the school environment where he headed the Himalayan House as its prefect.

Bahadur also won special prizes for band in 1971 as well as 1972. He also contributed to the annual school magazine. His love for cricket earned him a place in the school team and he was described as a stylish batsman.

Elated at the news of his elevation, school Headmaster Praveen Vashist said, “Bahadur’s taking over as the Army Chief of Nepal will serve as an inspiration for students to join the armed forces and excel in their field.”

Vashist, who congratulated Bahadur after his elevation, said he attributed his success to the good values inculcated by the school during his 11-year stay here.

He said Bahadur while reminiscing a line from the school song, “Somebody’s got to stop the rot and why not you...” had ascribed his success to the ethics infused in the students through the rigorous yet comprehensive all-round development of a child in the school.

The school’s comprehensive curriculum which stresses on extra-curriculum activities as an inherent part of the study enables students to hone their skills in subjects of their choice. He was an NCC sergeant and the best gymnast of his batch.

Vashist, who was also his contemporary in the school, said the spirit of adventure led him to take part in hiking expeditions which were in addition to his interest in various arts and dramatics.

His school reports describe him as a bundle of varied talents, full of self-confidence and poise.

Palampur, September 10
Beopar mandals of Palampur, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan, Jwalamukhi, Pragpur and Dehara Gopipur in separate resolutions yesterday demanded the restoration of the office of Commissioner of Income Tax-Appeals (CIT-A) at Palampur.

The office had been closed by the Income Tax Department which had jurisdiction of appeal over matters of eight districts in the state.

Ved Parkash Sharma, president, Kangra Beopar Mandal, said all the beopar mandals of the district had passed separate resolutions to this effect which had already been sent to the Finance Minister and Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, New Delhi, requesting an immediate intervention. He said all branches of the beopar mandals of the district had urged the CBDT chairman to reconsider this decision and take care of the interest of taxpayers who had been adversely affected by attaching the north zone of the state with CIT(A), Solan, thus causing hardship to them.

Copies of the resolutions which were released to the press said there was adequate workload with the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Palampur, and, hence, the CBDT should immediately restore this office keeping in view of the problems being faced by the taxpayers who had to visit Solan or Parwanoo to represent their appeal cases.

The Taxation Bar Association, Kangra, had also demanded the restoration of the office of CIT(A) at Palampur. A memorandum to this effect was also presented to the Chief Minister during his visit to Kangra.

Nurpur, September 10
As many as 20 students of Hans Raj Memorial Senior Secondary School, Rehan, near here, were injured, five of them seriously, when the minibus taking them to the school met with an accident today. The overloaded and speeding minibus belonging to the school hit a roadside tree at Bharal leading to the accident.

Local residents started the rescue operation and called the 108 emergency ambulance service to shift the victims to nearby health institutions.

BM Gupta, Block Medical Officer, Indora, said the 20 victims were admitted to the primary health centre at Rehan. Out them five were referred to the Civil Hospital, Nurpur.

The minibus, on way from Dehri to Rehan, was carrying 35 students against its capacity of only 16 passengers. DSP Rajinder Jaswal said the police had arrested bus driver Babu Ram of Garan under Sections 279 and 337, IPC, and 184, Motor Vehicle Act. He said only two of the victims with serious injuries had been admitted to the Civil Hospital.

The mishap once again highlights that most private schools openly flout the Apex Court guidelines on the overloading of school buses in Nurpur and Jawali subdivisions. The regional transport authorities have not challaned any school for such violations over the past six months. Residents have been demanding that overloading of school buses must be checked. 

Bilaspur, September 10
A three-day auto fair organised by Hindi daily Divya Himachal in collaboration with over a dozen automobile distributors concluded at Raura Sector yesterday.

Some 100 vehicles, including latest luxury cars in the price range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, were put on display during the fair. Manoj Jamwal, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Ghumarwin, presided over the function.

Jamwal urged the distributors to give proper verbal and written instructions to their customers regarding traffic rules and strict observance of the same. He requested the customers to be careful while driving.

The DSP handed over keys of a number of vehicles to their respective owners.

Ashwini Pandit, chief organiser of the event, said companies sold vehicles worth Rs 2.75 crore in three days during the fair which was the largest sale in the state in any auto fair so far.

Tata Nano got the maximum response as five Nano cars were sold on the spot while advance bookings were made for five others. Ashoka Leyland trucks were also sought after. Three-wheelers were much in demand during the fair. A number of cars in the Rs 5 lakh price range were sold.

Customers wanted to know if some popular models were coming in diesel variants in the near future. 

Shimla, September 10
Lambasting the BJP government for taking false credit by renaming centrally sponsored schemes, HPCC president Virbhadra Singh said today that the much-publicised Atal Swasthya Sewa Yojna was part of the Emergency Response and Transport System Scheme of the Centre under which 4,500 ambulances were operating across the country in 22 states carrying over 20,000 patients daily.

He said the UPA government had introduced the scheme in 2005 on a pilot basis under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Today it was providing emergency services to nearly 45 crore people of the country involving an expenditure of nearly Rs 600 crore per year made available by the Centre and the figure was likely to increase to Rs 900 crore in the current fiscal.

Impressed by the success of the scheme, the BJP government renamed it as the Atal Swasthya Sewa Yojna. It was a matter of concern and shame that allegedly a kickback of Rs 7.24 crore was involved in the purchase of ambulances.

The state government was trying to take credit by publicising it to mislead voters.

He asserted that the state government had ruined and destroyed health services in the state and schemes like Atal Swasthya Sewa, Matri Sewa Yojana, Janani Surakhsa Yojna and Mukhyamantri Vidayarathi Swasthya Yojna were the part of the NRHM.

The fact was that the expenditure on social development sectors as a percentage of total expenditure had come down from 25 per cent in 2006-07 to 11 per cent in 2010-2011 and for health sector it had come down from 10 per cent in 2006-07 to 8 per cent in 2010-2011.

Further, 89 per cent of the Central grant for opening of ayurvedic dispensaries remained unutilised and 189 dispensaries during a sample check by CAG were found without electricity or water. An amount of Rs 30 crore released for ayurvedic systems of medicine was also not utilised.

Shimla, September 10
Taking a serious note over the issue of non-collection of motor vehicle tax by government officials, the HP High Court has summoned the Principal Secretary (Finance) before the court on October 15. The court has also sought an explanation from him on what action has been taken against those officers who were apparently guilty of grave dereliction of duty in not collecting motor vehicles tax, both from on and off road buses.

The court has further directed him to explain whether there is any system available in the government to monitor the collection of revenue, with reference to the collection of the motor vehicle tax. The court has also directed him to file an affidavit in this regard explaining as to what are the revenue arrears pending in excise tax, value added tax etc.

During hearing of the petition, it transpired that the state has not been collecting state road tax and many vehicles were plying without paying the same. No serious steps were being taken to collect the tax.The court also noticed that despite several directions, issued by the court and periodic monitoring also, there was no satisfactory progress.

The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary passed the order during the hearing of a petition filed by Ram Partap accusing the authorities of discriminating against him regarding the collection of taxes.

The petitioner, who is a private bus operator in Solan, had alleged in his petition that other bus operators also did not comply with the time table issued by the Regional Transport Authority, Solan. The petitioner stated that due to this gross violation he was suffering monetary loss every day.

Shimla, September 10
Members of the State Electricity Board Employees Union staged a dharna during lunch hour across the state in support of their demands. The main protest was held in front of the Vidyut Bhawan Complex, headquarters of the board, here today.

Kuldeep Singh Kharwara, president of the union, said the state government had failed to manage the affairs of the power distribution company as a result of which its financial position had deteriorated. The company was outsourcing work because of staff shortage, yet its the losses were mounting, he alleged.

He also demanded release of Rs 295 crore as a special grant to the board in accordance with the directions of the state Electricity Regulatory Commission and the conversion of Rs 800 crore payable to the government into capital investment grant. Besides, suitable financial assistance be provided in view of the huge cumulative loss. Sincere steps be taken to settle the payment of Rs 468 crore due to the board on account of the expenditure on the survey and investigation of the projects allotted to various government agencies and private companies. He also demanded that the BBMB share be provided to the board on Bus Bar Rates and 12 per cent royalty being charged on the power houses of the board be waived to provide additional financial liquidity.

Other demands included that in view of a sharp decrease in staff and a multi-fold increase in consumers and infrastructure recruitment of employees at the lower induction level, the posts of technical and commercial staff be filled without delay. He said the organisation urgently needed 6,000 employees to run it smoothly.

Hamirpur, September 10
More than 300 Class IV contractual employees of various state government departments, who were debarred by the Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Board (HPSSSB) from taking a computer typing test after clearing a written test, are up in arms against the decision. The aggrieved candidates have decided to meet the Chief Minister and take up the issue.

These employees had applied for promotion to Class III posts under the LDR scheme in March and had cleared the written test conducted by the HPSSSB on August 17. They were called to appear for the computer typing test scheduled to be conducted on September 8 and 9 at Hamirpur.

To their shock and surprise, the staff posted at Government Polytechnic College, Badu, to conduct the test, asked them to leave the hall saying that they were not eligible for the Class III posts.

The candidates, who had reached the centre from far-flung areas, have alleged callous treatment on part of the government.

Sadik Ali, who had come from Chamba, said, “The state government had invited applications from Class IV employees under the LDR scheme to give us promotion in March through our departments and only the eligibility condition prescribed at the time was five years of job experience.”

“Later, the HPSSSB had conducted a written test to fill these posts, which 980 candidates had qualified for the 772 posts and were asked to appear for the computer typing test, but were not allowed to do so,” he alleged.

The HPSSB had debarred these candidates on the pretext that only regular employees were eligible for promotion to Class III posts, and contractual and those working on daily wages were ineligible.

HPSSSB Chairman JK Chauhan said, “We conducted the recruitment process as per the recruitment and promotion rules laid down by the state government for Class III posts and these candidates inadvertently appeared in the written test.”

Mandi, September 10
The Project Engineers’ Association today warned the state government that if any outsider was appointed Managing Director (MD) of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL), they would move the high court against the same.

They said only the senior-most engineer of the HP cadre should be appointed MD as had been the case in the past.

In a communication to The Tribune, the association termed the recent interview conducted for the MD’s post as a “ploy to induct a particular, pre-selected person serving in any company”. “We oppose the decision tooth and nail and will never tolerate the same,” they warned.

In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, a copy of which was also mailed to The Tribune, the project engineers suspected that the move was an eyewash as interviews for the post of Director (Civil) were called one month before the interviews for the MD’s post. “Usually, senior position should have been filled first,” they said.

Besides, applications were shortlisted for interviews for the post of Director, Civil, including bureaucrats, electrical and civil technical experts, in the interview committee.

There was no technical expert and three bureaucrats ran the show, which smacked of a foul play, they said.

The NTPC, NHPC, THDC and even private companies did not consider persons without experience in hydro and tunnelling, they said.

Some of the candidates called in the second lot had been kept out of the group of shortlisted candidates for the posts of Director, and project engineers, putting in 30 years in service, were ignored as they did not have the master’s degree, they charged. They urged the CM to intervene in the issue. They said they would have no option other than moving the high court against the HPCL.

Mandi, September 10
Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Thakur will inaugurate a three-day Bharat Nirman Public Information campaign at Sundernagar tomorrow. It will get feedback from the public on Centrally sponsored schemes.

Conducting officer Tara Singh said the feedback of people regarding the implementation of various schemes would be collected and sent to the Central government. There would be about 25 exhibitions and stalls on the various Central schemes being organised by the PIB and media units of the I & B Ministry. — TNS