Dharamsala, September 20
The national vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Shanta Kumar has said the government has ignored the advice of the Parliamentary Standing Committee by allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Shanta Kumar, who was chairman of the committee on FDI in the retail sector, said all 30 members were unanimous on not allowing FDI in the retail sector in India.

The said eight members of the committee were Congress MPs and they had opposed FDI in the retail sector as well during proceedings. It was strange that the government had totally ignored findings of the committee, he added.

He said that instead of bringing back the black money of the country from foreign bank accounts, the government was taxing the common man beyond limit.

As per reports of the Global Financial Integrity, India had the maximum black money in foreign bank accounts, he said. The organisation had high credibility and was referred to by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech, he added.

Shanta Kumar alleged that Rs 240 crore was being siphoned off from the Indian economy and deposited in foreign bank accounts every 24 hours across the globe.

The UN Convention Against Corruption Treaty has made it illegal for 69 tax-haven countries to keep money stolen from other countries, he said.

Under the treaty, the US had already secured the names of its 19,000 citizens who had deposited black money in Swiss bank accounts and secured a penalty of $700 million from Swiss banks which had black money from the US, he said.

Despite being a signatory to the UN treaty against corruption, India was not even demanding its black money back from Swiss banks, Shanta Kumar claimed.

He alleged that the government was not taking any steps to bring back the black money from foreign bank accounts because the maximum defaulters were Congressmen and their senior leaders.

Shanta Kumar further alleged that there was no need to impose taxes on the common man if the government recovered the money siphoned off in the 2G, coal block allotment and Delhi airport scams.

He pointed out that the entire budget of India was Rs 12 lakh crore. As per a report, the three scams accounted for about Rs 5 lakh crore, he added.

Shanta Kumar praised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for withdrawing support to the government. She had taken the decision in the interest of the country, he said.

Asked about indications that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar might support the government, Shanta Kumar said there were no differences in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Due to the present state of affairs in the country, mid-term elections were imminent and there was no alternative except the NDA before the people, he added.

Dharamsala, September 20
Despite his best efforts, Independent MLA from Nurpur and associate member of the BJP Rakesh Pathania does not seem to have secured the favour of national vice-president of the BJP and Rajya Sabha MP Shanta Kumar.

Shanta Kumar, who was in Dharamsala today, was asked if Pathania would be accommodated in the party before the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Shanta Kumar bluntly said the BJP was not an inn where anybody could come in and go out at any point of time. This clearly indicated that Shanta Kumar had not softened his stance against Pathania.

Pathania had won as an Independent in the last Assembly elections after being denied the party ticket. In the recent past, he was seen trying to get close to Shanta Kumar.

He reportedly attended Shanta Kumar’s birthday celebrations in Palampur and held a meeting with him. Shanta Kumar is likely to call the shots during party ticket allotment in the politically sensitive Kangra district.

Shanta Kumar seems to have softened his stance against Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Ravi and former Health Minister Rajeev Bindal, who were in the firing line of Shanta Kumar and his loyalists earlier.

Asked if he had differences with the state party leadership over accommodating them, Shanta Kumar today said there were no differences in the BJP.

Referring to differences over accommodating Ravi from Jwalamukhi, he said the matter would be sorted out at an appropriate time.

He said the image and winning prospects were the two criteria on which candidates of the BJP would be decided for the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Asked if the position of the Congress had strengthened after Virbhadra Singh was made Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president, Shanta Kumar said it might have improved a bit in the state, but this could not compensate for the loss due to its policies at the national level.

Referring to allegations against Vivekananda Medical Research Trust (VMRT) that it had been sold to the JP Group of Industries, Shanta Kumar said no changes had been made in the original constitution of the VMRT.

The VMRT did not have funds for bringing up a super-speciality hospital in Palampur and it had requested the JP Group of Industries to help it out, he added.

The JP Charitable Trust had joined the VMRT in bringing up the super-speciality hospital, but had not changed its original nature, he further said.

Shimla, September 20
Even as the plea of the state government for getting back the possession of the Annandale ground from the Army is pending before the Arbitrator, the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) is issuing a notice to the Army to evict over nine bighas of land under its possession.

The MC is taking the plea that the Army authorities are in illegal possession of nine bighas and four biswa of land as the 20-year lease period for this land had expired. It was in May 7, 1955, that the land was given on lease by the MC to the Army for a period of 20 years but ever since there was no renewal of the lease.

The notice is being issued under the Public Premises Act, terming the possession by the Army as illegal.

“We are issuing a notice to the Army to evict over nine bighas that the MC had given on lease as the lease expired way back in 1975,” said MP Sood, Municipal Commissioner. He said the notice was ready and being vetted by the legal cell of the MC.

However, the Army has paid the lease amount for the MC land at the rate of Rs 819 per annum and later at an enhanced rate till December 17, 1981, with arrears.

The claim of the MC for getting the land back could be weakened by the fact that it continued accepting the lease money even after the lease had expired in 1975.

The dispute over Annandale intensified after the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) demanded that the possession of the ground be given back to the government as the lease had expired.

The HPCA along with other sports bodies had launched a movement to get back the ground so that a multipurpose sports complex could be made at the site.

The MC is issuing the notice to the Army on the ground that the arbitration case before the Divisional Commissioner, Shimla, pertains to the land owned by the district administration and not its nine bighas of land, which was under illegal occupation of the Army.

The arbitration case filed by the government before the Divisional Commissioner is now listed for December 6 as the last hearing could not take place on September 10.

The Army has been seeking time so that it is able to procure all the documents from the Defence Ministry and the Union Home Ministry.

Shimla, September 20
Firing another salvo at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief Virbhadra Singh today alleged that the Dhumal government had betrayed schoolchildren by delaying free uniforms by two years under a scheme funded by the Centre.

Taking strong exception to advertisements regarding free uniforms for schoolchildren, he said the BJP government failed to use the Central assistance of Rs 84 crore for free uniforms in 2010-11 and 2011-12, depriving schoolchildren of free uniforms for two years.

The PK Dhumal government owed an explanation to the people and it should apologise to schoolchildren and their parents for delaying their rightful due, he asserted.

The government became hyperactive during election year in implementing the free uniform scheme and splashing advertisements in newspapers and television channels about it, he added.

Dhumal and the Education Minister were guilty of cheating schoolchildren and were morally bound to make good the loss of Rs 128 crore caused to them by the delay, he said.

It was time former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reminded Dhumal of his ‘rajdharma’ of being truthful to the people, he further said.

The HPCC president accused the government of misleading the people of the state by renaming the scheme under the Right to Education Act as the Atal Free School Uniform Yojna.

The Central Right to Education Act, 2009, entitled schoolchildren to free uniforms, notebooks, textbooks, stationery, schoolbags, scholarships and transport, he pointed out.

The BJP government notified the rules on March 5, 2011, after a delay of a year, he said. It not only lost Central assistance of over Rs 42 crore for 2010-2011, but also deprived schoolchildren of free uniforms, he added. It did not claim the Central assistance of Rs 42 crore during 2011-12, he said.

Virbhadra Singh alleged that the government had surrendered over Rs 300 crore meant for education during 2008-2011, including Rs 37 crore meant for capital expenditure for schoolrooms, toilets and drinking water facilities and Rs 265 crore of revenue expenditure meant for recruiting teachers.

The ratio of capital expenditure to total expenditure in the education sector came down from 20 per cent in 2006-07 to 5 per cent in 2010-11, he pointed out.

According to the National Education Development Index, the state slid from third position to fourth in 2006-07 and down to 17th in 2007-08, he stated.

Mandi, September 20
The district administration has today directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to lay the terracing on the slope of the landslide-prone area behind damaged houses.

It has also told the department to explore the possibility of an alternative route for heavy vehicles on the Mandi-Katola road providing safety to residents hit by recent landslides.

The affected residents complained that the PWD had not cleared the debris as no vehicle was sent to lift the same from the spot.

They have lodged an FIR demanding action against the erring contractor and the PWD staff who had raised a retaining wall of substandard material that collapsed due to heavy rain, damaging 14 houses in the Jawahar Nagar locality on Tuesday.

ADM, Mandi, Pankaj Rai said they had directed the PWD to provide safety to residents.

Bilaspur, September 20
The scrub typhus fever has been spreading in this district with great speed though medical and health authorities are fully awake to the situation and have already taken precautions to ensure that all cases are immediately detected and treated on time.

Earlier, reports had said three patients who were referred from the Regional Hospital here to the IGMC, Shimla, had died there. They were Tara Chand (44) of Naina Devi, Suman Kumari (29) of Jhandutta and Kashmira (40) of Ghumarwin.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) DR Sehgal said here today that this year of 390 patients with suspected scrub typhus fever 55 tested positive.

He said these patients were treated fully, except three patients of complicated nature who were referred to the IGMC, Shimla.

He said the disease spread by the bite of mites which flourish on mice in bushes near houses of villagers. The disease could be avoided by keeping the surroundings clean and also by spraying insecticides near the houses.

The CMO said the main symptoms of the disease were high fever, ache in joints and the entire body and shivering.