‘Benami’ land deals threaten Kangra tea industry
Ravinder Sood

Palampur, September 11
The large-scale sale of tea gardens through ‘benami land deals’ in Palampur region has posed a serious threat to the existence of 150-years-old Kangra valley tea industry. It has become a matter of concern as hundreds of acres of land under tea vegetation have been sold in gross violation of the rules in the past few years. The back door sale of tea gardens has virtually turned into a big scam.

Despite the fact that there is a complete ban on the sale of tea gardens, the state government is liberally allowing outsiders and others to buy tea gardens in the valley for non-tea cultivation use, merely on political considerations. In few cases matter is already in judicial scrutiny.

It may be recalled that Section 7 of the Himachal Pradesh Land Revenue Act prohibits the sale of tea gardens in the state but in the past four years, the government has granted permission for the sale of tea gardens in dozens of cases, keeping aside the provisions of the Act. One wonders how the sale deeds have been registered in such cases.

As per the provisions of law, tea gardens or land attached to tea gardens cannot be sold without the permission of government as the owners of Tea Estates have availed the benefits under HP Land Sealing Act, as they were allowed to retain excess land than the prescribed limit of 30 acres, therefore they needed permission from the government to sell land under tea.

A senior officer of the state revenue department, while talking to The Tribune here said there was a complete ban on the sale of tea garden. He admitted that in past few years the government had misused these provisions and number of persons with political backings had managed permission overnight for the sale of tea gardens.

Large scale illegal land deals have also posed a threat to the environment of the region as most of the tea gardens are being converted into concrete jungles. The areas which were under tea till yesterday are being replaced with housing colonies, hotels, tourist resorts, shops and other religious places. The state government has become a silent spectator.

Educators get training under AIDS control programme
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, September 11
The Kangra District AIDS Control Society organised a special workshop, Celebrating Life, for youth educators from Red Ribbon Clubs (RRCs) of various educational institutions from the surrounding areas on the premises of civil hospital here recently.

The training programme equips youths with knowledge and skills for a responsible behaviour. The RRCs in educational institutions focus on responsibility through approaches like instilling self-esteem, values like caring for others and personality development.

The training programme was organised with an aim to developing abilities for positive and responsible behaviour among youth educators, who further lead the HIV prevention efforts through informed and responsible choices, thus emerging as role models among the youth.

Factionalism ‘afflicts’ Congress in Kangra 
Ravinder Sood

Palampur, September 11
Hardly two months are left for the state Assembly elections, the Congress in Himachal continues to be a house ‘divided’ as the party has miserably ‘failed’ to project a united image even on the eve of the Assembly elections. Despite best efforts of the party high command, the scourge of factionalism has ‘afflicted’ the party right down to the grassroots. Despite being the second largest political party in the state, the party has ‘failed’ to retain its identity as the main opposition party only because of internal ‘disputes’ of the senior party leaders.

The party has acquired all ‘ills’ today for which it criticised the rival BJP during its five-year stint in the government. Incessant infighting and indiscipline has shaken the very roots of the party and sapped its vitality.

The party high command also ‘erred’ by adopting ‘double standards’ in enforcing discipline. However, infighting has been continuing in the party unabated even though there is no tussle for leadership as Virbhadra Singh has all along maintained that he had no desire to become the Chief Minister of the state and he only wanted to oust the BJP from power. In a bid to "patch up" the differences between the leaders of the state, the high command has already made Virbhadra the PCC president.

The high command could not implement its strategy to bring all party leaders under one fold due to the irreconcilable differences between the rival factions. Fearing large-scale unrest in the party, it played safe and succumbed to the pressure created by Virbhadra. The only redeeming feature for the party is that there is the anti-incumbency factor and the ruling BJP is also plagued with internal infighting, which can bolster its electoral prospects in many seats.

Correction in records
Revenue Dept fails to end ‘stateless’ villagers’ ordeal
Lalit Mohan/TNS

Dharamsala, September 11
Another five years have passed and the term of one more government is about to end in the next two months. However, problems of residents of Lal Singhi village still persist. Even the present government has failed to make a small correction in the revenue records of the village that could have made them the residents of the state in revenue papers.

Himachal Pradesh was carved out of Punjab in 1966. Una that was a tehsil of Hoshiarpur district in joint Punjab was included in Himachal and was converted into a district. However, Lal Singhi village that is located just 1 km from the district headquarters is still a part of Hoshiarpur district according to the ‘farad’ (revenue paper indicating ownership of land) issued to the villagers.

The residents of the village have not been able to sell their land as the original record of the village was lost after Una was merged in the hilly state. The residents, even after more than 46 years of formation of the state, have not been able to either divide their land or get it demarcated.

In the recent past, the government allowed registries of land in the village. However, still the mutations of sold land are not effected as the original record is not available. Since the land has also not been divided between families, frequent disputes mar the development of the area.

After the villagers raised a hue and cry over the matter, the previous government made efforts to locate the records by sending teams of revenue officials to Hoshiarpur district but to no avail. Thereafter a new record was prepared. However, the newly prepared record was not accepted or implemented.

The present government also issued directions to prepare a record of the village according to actual occupations. However, officials of the settlement office apprehend that this also might not solve the problem. They said actual possessions were already disputed in the village. It is necessary to take consent of the residents before making ground possession permanent, pending which litigations regarding land will only pile up.

Despite all the work in progress, it is unfortunate that the Himachal Government or officials of the Revenue Department have not been able to prepare new records of just about 3,600 hectare land in the village to settle the problems of the residents permanently. The five- decade delay in solving the problem can be attributed to the inefficiency of revenue officials or their unwillingness to resolve the issue as it makes people dependent on them. The settlement officials here blamed the first Deputy Commissioner of Una for failing to procure the record of the village from Hoshiarpur.

The Deputy Commissioner, Una, KR Bharti, said the new record had to be prepared by the settlement office. He said new records prepared twice had been rejected.

Lack of record is also leading to encroachments on government land in the village. Had the record of village been available, the government could have revived the old Una-Amb road, sources in the village said. A villager said if they were part of Hoshiarpur district, then section 118 of Land Tenancy Act that bars Himachal agriculturists from selling land to outsiders should not be applied to them.

Functioning of medical college trust under a scanner
Ravinder Sood

Palampur, September 11
With the admission of a writ petition against the functioning and formation of Vivekananda Medical College and Research Trust (VMRT) in the Himachal Pradesh High Court, the functioning of VMRT has come under a scanner.

A double bench of the high court has admitted a writ petition against the functioning and formation of the VMRT at Palampur. The court had given six weeks’ time to the respondents to file a reply.

Bhuvnesh Sood, a local resident, has alleged a number of irregularities in the working of the trust and its “failure” to provide super-specialty health services as committed to the people. Despite collecting donations of Rs 25 crore, local residents were “cheated”. He has appealed to the state high court to order a high-level probe and direct the state government to take over the trust and its assets.

The foundation stone of the controversial VMRT was laid in 1992 by Shanta Kumar, when he was Chief Minister of the state.

Earlier the VMRT was a joint venture of the Himachal Pradesh Government and the Apollo Group of hospitals, who had to run this institution through a trust. The state government had given 40 acres of land free of cost to the trust, on a token lease of Re 1. The Apollo Group had already left this project long ago. Later the state government also withdrew from the project.

In 2000, another new trust headed by Shanta Kumar was formed to execute this project. During this period, the trust received donation of over Rs 25 crore from public for the setting up of a super-speciality hospital in Palampur. However, the trust failed to set up a super-speciality hospital here.

In November 2008, Shanta Kumar signed another MOU with Jay Pee Group of industries as the new partners. The trust was reconstituted third time and the trust deed was also amended in accordance with the suitability of Jay Pee by inducting 18 trustees, 12 from the Jay pee Group and only six from the old trust of Shanta Kumar.

Surprisingly land measuring 40 acres, all half-completed buildings valuing Rs 60 crore were also handed over to the Jay Pee Group free of cost who committed to set up a super-speciality hospital-cum-medical college in the town within two years.

Resentment prevails among local residents as Jay Pee made no efforts to complete this project. Despite his commitment of two years, the project failed to come up even after the expiry of four years. Later in July 2012, Jay Pee only agreed to start a non-super-speciality hospital with 55 beds keeping in view Assembly elections due in the state.

Bhuvnesh Sood has stated in his petition before the high court that public had donated Rs 25 crore only for a supper-speciality hospital with a trauma centre and not for a small 55-bedded hospital. He brought to the notice of the court that the donors were feeling cheated. 

Forum protests high margin of profit on generic drugs 
Our Correspondent

Palampur, September 11
The Palampur Welfare and Environment Protection Forum (PWEPF), at its meeting held here today, expressed grave concern over the high margin of profit being charged on the sale of generic drugs in the region. The forum said there was a huge difference between the cost price and the maximum sale price (MRP) of generic drugs. Most of the chemists were selling generic drugs only on MRP earning a high margin of profit up to 2,000 per cent since there was no check on the part of the government.

Briefing mediapersons, SR Kapoor, secretary of forum said despite the fact that the Essential Commodity Price Control Act was applicable in the state and all type of drugs were covered under this Act, the Act had authorised the government to fix the maximum margin of profits even in the sale of drugs, the Act had also given powers to District Magistrate to initiate action against defaulters. He said in the present scenario, there was none who could initiate action and save thousands of residents from over charging.

Most of the markets in the state were flooded with generic drugs, which were prescribed by doctors working in government hospitals. Though generic drugs were cheaper, the MRP gave a high margin of profit to chemists -- up to 3,000 per cent.

Meanwhile, a senior officer of the state Health Department told The Tribune that the department could not initiate any action against the chemists as overcharging did not fall in their purview; only the district magistrate had the power to check the menace. 

Cong accuses BJP of favouritism
Alleges allotment of illegal contracts to BJP MLA’s son
Jai Kumar

Law & order situation in Palampur causes concern
Ravinder Sood

Cong protests illegal allotment of contracts

Bilaspur, September 11
Led by Congress leader and former MLA Biru Ram Kishore, a large number of Congress men staged a demonstration against the “illegal allotment of contracts” to the son of the local BJP MLA by the PWD and the IPH Department and demanded an immediate action against the contractor and the MLA. 

Addressing a rally at Barthin, 40 km from here, recently, Dr Kishore, former nagar parishad chairman of Talai Prithi Chand Dhiman and block Congress president Om Parkash Chandel said BJP leaders were accusing Congress men of corruption and trying to befool people since they themselves were openly defying all rules and indulging in corruption. — OC

Nullah passes through private premises of senior citizens
Our Correspondent

New Ghaghar bridge on NH-21 to be completed soon
Jai Kumar

Falling prices, few buyers make state ‘financially powerless’

Cyber Security
Increasing use of Net also raising threats
Dharam Prakash Gupta/TNS

Hamirpur, September 11
A workshop on Conduction of Cyber and Information Security was held recently at Government Polytechnic College, Hamirpur.

The workshop was organised jointly by the cyber security division of the Resource Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Mohali, and ISEA project, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, to provide basic information about cyber crime and security systems to check various threats posed while using Internet.

Apoorav Sharma and Daveet Singh of CDAC, Mohali, were the main resource persons at the workshop, which was attended by more than 300 students and faculty members of the college. The experts said due to the growing use of the Internet and its services, it is now a part of all spheres of life. Since commercial transactions, e-governances, social networking and communication applications etc are being made through Internet, the threats are also increasing from its use, they added.

ASI permits completion of mini-secretariat building 
Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, September 11
The Archaeology Survey of India (ASI) has granted permission to complete the construction of Rs 3.30-crore multi-storeyed mini-secretariat building at Nurpur. The construction had been stalled about two years ago. The work had been stopped in the wake of the amended Ancient Monuments and Archaeology Sites and Remains Act (2010).

The Archaeology Survey of India has permitted that the construction of the multi-storeyed building of the mini-secretariat, Nurpur, be resumed. Photo by writer

According to information, the ASI has given permission to the local administration through the Director, Language and Culture Department, who has further forwarded it to the Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM), Nurpur, Rakesh Verma. Verma, while confirming this permission, said the permission letter was further sent to the Public Works Department authorities, the executing agency, for further action. He said the ASI had accorded the permission in public interest.

The ASI had restricted any alteration, repair of existing structures and new construction activity within a radius of 100-300 metres from protected monuments just after enforcement of its amended Act. The construction and furnishing of the mini-secretariat building, which was near completion, was stopped by the ASI authorities as it was situated within a restricted area.

The mini-secretariat, having a capacity of accommodating around 18 government offices, was proposed 16 years ago by former minister and local MLA, the late Sat Mahajan. Its foundation stone was laid by the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in January 2004 but its construction could not begin for years together. As the construction of the building was near completion, the pending permission of the ASI had become a bottleneck in its commissioning. The local civil authorities applied for requisite permission through the Director, Language and Culture Department, Shimla, and it took as many as 19 months to procure it.

MK Minhas, the executive engineer, Public Works Department, Nurpur, said the contractor who had undertaken the construction had been directed to complete furnishing of the building forthwith.

Obituary
Sat Mahajan 
True representative of the people 
Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, September 11
The residents of the entire Nurpur area have been in mourning ever since the demise of veteran Congress leader Sat Mahajan who dominated Kangra politics for over five decades.

Late veteran Congress leader Sat Mahajan (left) having discussions with former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. A file photo

People’s love and affection towards this leader of the masses reflected during his last rites held on September 2. Hordes of people from all walks of life and leaders across the political spectrum thronged to pay their last respects to the departed leader.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal and PCC chief and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had a tough time attending his funeral due to the huge rush of people and thousands of vehicles’ parked on the road leading to the cremation ground.

Mahajan who rose from the ground level as a simple and dedicated Congress worker climbed the ladder of political success with his political stewardship and approach. He started his political career by getting unanimously elected as the president of the Nurpur municipal committee first time in 1954 followed by four consecutive terms, before contesting his first Assembly election in 1972.

He represented the Nurpur area in the Assembly in 1977,1982,1985,1993 and 2003 and nursed this Assembly constituency. He remained cabinet minister for three terms in the Thakur Ram Lal and Virbhadra Singh cabinets in 1982, 1985 and 2003.

He provided maximum government jobs to the unemployed youths of his area for which he faced criticism from his own party. He remained PCC chief for three terms.

He had cordial relations even with his political opponents and was equally respected by all. He got elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Kangra parliamentary constituency by defeating BJP stalwart Shanta Kumar in 1996. He also got an opportunity to represent the nation at the UNO. He always shared the credit of his political achievements with the people of his area.

He worked with three Congress chief ministers YS Parmar, Thakur Ram Lal and Virbhadra Singh. He had personal rapport with top leaders in the party high command like late Prime ministers Indira Gandh, Rajiv Gandhi and the AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi. He retired from electoral politics before the last Assembly elections in 2007 to boost the political career of his son Ajay Mahajan. His son and state Congress General Secretary Ajay Mahajan said that he was committed to serve the people of his area like his father. 

vignettes
Forgotten stories of Mashobra
by Shriniwas Joshi

Mashobra, the name originated from ‘mheensho ra obra’, a shed for buffaloes, in local dialect.The shed transformed itself into a love nest for Jawaharlal Nehru and Lady Edwina Mountbatten, wife of Viceroy Lord Mountbatten during their trip to Mashobra in 1947. Pamela, the daughter of Edwina, in her book ‘India Remembered’ corroborated about Nehru and Edwina’s reported romance taking roots when they, with family and friends, were at Mashobra. She wrote, “…towards the end of the 15 months we spent in India, the immediate attraction between my mother and Panditji blossomed into love.” I, like many of you, believe that it was platonic love.

Mashobra was only a wayside village in 1850 when Lord Dalhousie built the historic Hindustan-Tibet road and gradually developed into a place where a piece of land was coveted by big wigs (see photo). Edward Buck writes in ‘Simla: Past and Present’ in 1904: “During the last few years Mashobra has been steadily growing in favour as a popular week-end resort, and a number of delightful villas are now dotted among its beautiful pine and oak forests. In May and June the heat and dusty roads of Simla are always trying, and both then, and in late September and October, when the climate is superb, Mashobra houses are in great request, and innumerable are the picnics which are held in the maiden-hair clad forest glades.”

The most publicised picnic held in Mashobra woods was on June 25,1862, when Sir William Mansfield, the Commander-in-Chief, accused Capt ES Jervis of misappropriation for his own use 100 bottles of sherry, 61 of champagne, 88 of claret, 114 of beer and also a bottle of pickles while these were fraudulently shown as used in picnic. A trial jocularly known as ‘Pickles Court Martial’ was held. The jury for the trial was Brigadier-General Brind, as President, assisted by seven Colonels, four Lieutenant-Colonels and three Majors besides a Captain appointed as prosecutor and a Major as judge advocate. Captain Jervis, who had protested against the court-martial and did not attend the trial, was ably defended by William Tayler, and was finally acquitted by the court of dishonest misappropriation. He was, however, sentenced to dismissal from the service for insubordination, but was allowed to rejoin for one day, so that he got superannuation benefits.

Mashobra, during the British time, enjoyed the reputation of letting villagers mingle with Sahibs once a year. It was in the glade of Sipur just below Mashobra where a fair was held in the month of May. The Sahibs from Shimla would land up at Gables for their elevenses and proceed to the fair. Elevenses, in UK and Ireland, are snacks that are similar to afternoon tea but eaten at 11 in the morning. Gables, initially, was a residential accommodation, raised by Gilbert Campbell in 1866. He lived here for several years and then sold it to Mrs Martin Towelle who converted it into a hotel. Lord Lytton, who was Viceroy of India from 1876 to 1880 liked the place and regularly rented it to live with his family here during the summers. In 1878, a Swiss couple, Hotzs, arrived in Shimla and started acquiring hotels. Mrs Hotz formed The Hotz Trust that purchased Gables in the early 20th century. Gables, today, is totally renovated and owned by Club Mahindra (see photo).

I would not be fair to Mashobra if I do not quote the lines of Pankaj Mishra, the author of ‘Temptations of the West’ and other books, who first came to live in Mashobra as a tenant in the outhouse of a building owned by the late Diwakar Dutt Sharma, originator of a Sanskrit journal, Divya Jyoti, from Shimla. Pankaj writes: “Almost 20 years ago, shortly after India’s protectionist economy was liberalised, I moved to Mashobra, a small village in the North Indian hill state of Himachal Pradesh. The rent on my cottage was low. Food was cheap; the climate, mostly good; and — an unexpected bonus in India — the air and water were clean.” Today, he is disturbed by the so-called modernisation of Mashobra.

Tailpiece
“The rhythms of life in the village (Mashobra) were slow — revealingly, the big clock in the local post office never worked. Shops closed for long siestas during summer months.” — Pankaj Mishra

Himachal diary
Stray dog menace in Shimla increasing by the day

Stray dogs can be seen moving all over the state capital, including the posh Mall Road (see photo). The situation turned worse after the animal birth control and anti-rabies programme (ABCARP ) ran into rough weather due to lack of adequate facilities for operating the animals. Till March 2011, as many as 5,724 dogs had been sterilised covering almost 80 per cent of them. The issue came under the scanner of the high court as animal rights activists approached the court. In the meantime, the municipal corporation suspended the programme and started construction of a new centre for the purpose, which will take a long time to come up.

The corporation was also facing problems in feeding the dogs kept in the shelter as it had to spend a lot of money on feeding the animals. Moreover, dogs captured from various parts of the city were also kept there along with those brought for sterilisation operation. It has been decided to involve some NGO for proper management of the dog shelter.

With the intervention of court, a Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been formed. It will work in collaboration with the animal welfare board and the municipal corporation for the implementation of the ABCARP.

President of the society Vibhuti Sharda agreed that the problem of stray dogs was aggravating and said the effort would be to resume the programme at the earliest. So far the municipal corporation had not given any date for the completion of the new centre. In case there was a delay, the society would urge it to carry out the required improvements in the existing centre and resume sterilisation.

It had now been made clear that the centre would be used only for keeping the dogs for pre-operative and post-operative care. The stray dogs will not be captured and brought here. Once the ABCARP resumed sterilisation of dogs, it would be a continuous process and go on till the problem was contained.

Roads in bad condition
The Public Works Department has been drawing flak for the bad condition of roads in the state. The quality of road construction has been a matter of concern and often demands for inquiry are also made.

The department has not decided to evaluate 56 roads in the state for quality of construction. As many as 15 engineers have been assigned the task of monitoring the quality and they have been asked to submit their reports by end of the current month.

Apart from poor quality of construction, lack of adequate maintenance has also been a major reason for the bad condition of roads. While new roads are being constructed by raising loans from the World Bank and NABARD, not much attention is being paid to maintenance of the fast-expanding road network. In fact, the state government does not have adequate funds for the job.

Lobbying for party ticket
Hectic lobbying is on in major political parties for grabbing the ticket for the ensuing Assembly elections. While most of the aspirants bank on the support of the state leaders for securing the ticket, some use the high command route which, as was evident during the 2007 elections, is far more effective in case of the Congress.

At least three candidates, Sanjay Rana (Thural constituency), Prakash Karad (Arki) and Nand Lal (Rampur), who were the nominees of the high command, succeeded in securing tickets rather easily. It is another matter that two of them lost the election.

This time again a former security officer of Sonia Gandhi, Thakur Prem Nath, is in line for the Congress ticket from Jogindernagar constituency where PWD Minister Gulab Singh (BJP) is well entrenched. However, Prem Nath hails from a political family and his father, Ramnath, had been president of the state Congress. He is himself secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee.

He has already met Virbhadra Singh along with his supporters and assured him that he would upstage the BJP. He said he hailed from the Lad Bharol area of the segment which accounted for about 70 per cent of the votes and thus stood the best chance.

(Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi)