Shimla, April 26
While the expansion of the ministry and the appointment of chairpersons of boards and corporations may have to wait, the decks have been cleared for the reconstitution of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) following a meeting Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had with Central leaders in New Delhi today.

The Chief Minister, who is on four-day visit to New Delhi, had a series of meetings with Central leaders at which these issues were discussed. He met Congress President Sonia Gandhi last night and had a meeting with All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and state affairs in charge Birender Chaudhary.

HPCC chief Sukhvinder Singh and AICC secretary Anees Ahmad were present. According to sources, Virbhadra Singh briefed the AICC president about the political situation and the performance of the government over the last four months.

He reportedly sought clearance for filling the lone vacancy in the Cabinet and the induction of chief parliamentary secretaries to give representation to regions which were still unrepresented.

The issue of reconstituting the HPCC was discussed during the meeting with Chaudhary. It was impressed during the meeting that the General Election was drawing near and the reconstitution of the HPCC could not be cast aside.

When contacted, Chaudhary said the reconstitution was due as many office-bearers had joined government and a new HPCC chief had been appointed who had to make his team to run the organisation. He said other senior leaders like Vidya Stokes and Kaul Singh Thakur would be consulted while carrying out the exercise.

The sources revealed that the issue of appointment of chairpersons of boards and corporations had cropped up but nothing concrete had come out as the clearance had to come from the Congress president.

Sukhvinder Singh had stressed on rewarding with posts of chairperson district Congress presidents and other leaders who had been involved in party work. He had said preference should be given to leaders from districts which had no representation in the government.

Sukhvinder Singh had been made working president in place of Virbhadra Singh who had resigned as HPCC chief after taking over as the Chief Minister. He was appointed as the regular HPCC chief earlier this month.

Kullu, April 26
Even as four private airlines have not responded to the offer of the state government to operate flights to the state, the tourism establishment is irked at the plea of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation that Air India cannot resume flights due to operational constraints.

The ministry has failed to restore flights even after nine months despite consistent efforts of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh who is being backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the tourism establishment.

The Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation (DTCA) and the Manali Hoteliers Association (MHA) have received a 
letter from the Secretary with the Union ministry pointing out that it could not start flights due to operational constraints.

“We reject the plea as Air India has been operating smaller aircraft to Kullu four times week since September 2007. The flights were stopped abruptly from July 1 last which hit local cab operators as high-end tourist arrivals dipped,” said AR Thakur, MHA president.

The DTCA had tried to directly rope in four private airlines. “We have offered operating flights but private players have yet to write back to the government,” said Subhashish Panda, Commissioner for Tourism.

Travel agents and hoteliers said flights had been diverted to the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir which has more than 32 flights a week. The ministry was providing night landing facilities there, they claimed. A to-and-fro ticket from New Delhi to Srinagar was priced at Rs 8,500 as the valley got subsidised flights, they pointed out.

“We want Air India flights to Kullu at least twice a week. The tourist inflow may not increase but it gives leverage in the high-end tourism sector,” said Chander Bhandary, a hotel operator at Manali.

Panda said flights had no impact on tourist arrivals but there was no reason to stop air operations. “The government is trying to rope in private players and asking the Ministry of Civil Aviation to restore flights,” he added.

Shimla, April 26
The Union Ministry of Health will provide Rs 17 crore for creating modern infrastructure in nursing training institutes at Mandi, Chamba, Nahan and Kullu.

This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh after a meeting with Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at New Delhi today. He was accompanied by Health Minister Kaul Singh Thankur and Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri.

The Chief Minister said an amount of Rs 5 crore each would released for nursing institutes at Mandi, Chamba and Nahan and Rs 2 crore for the one in Kullu within a week.

Singh pleaded for enhancement of the Central assistance from the present Rs 155 crore per annum to Rs 205 crore per annum under the NRHM keeping in view the performance of the state in the health sector.

He informed the minister that the state had fully utilised the funds sanctioned during the last financial year. He said the Central funds were curtailed due to failure of the previous BJP regime to provide the state share which severely affected the implementation of various schemes.

He said the Congress had deposited the state share of Rs 25 crore which had not been deposited since 2007. He pleaded for liberal Central funding for various health programmes.

He said a separate website of the NRHM would be launched in the state to educate the people about various schemes launched under the programme and they could avail the benefits.

The government had increased the budget of the health sector by 22.6 per cent, whereas the average increase was only 10 per cent during the previous BJP regime.

He said the budget for Tanda Medical College and Indira Gandhi Medical College had been increased from previous Rs 7 crore to Rs 30 crore during the current financial year to strengthen the research and other infrastructural facilities.

He said the state had professionally qualified staff, fully competent to carry out public health responsibilities and there was no need for creating separate public health cadre in the state. He demanded that the Indira Gandhi Medical College be covered under the Prime Minister Health Security Scheme for upgrading the infrastructure and research facilities so that it could be brought on a par with the AIIMS, New Delhi.

Solan, April 26
Officials of the Industries Department today organised a job fair in the Kafota area of the Paonta Sahib subdivision of Sirmaur. As many as 50 candidates were issued appointment letters on the spot.

GS Chauhan, General Manager, District Industries Centre, who organised the fair, said this was the first-ever job fair organised in this remote area where three companies, Sheela Foam, Virgo Industries and Associates Non Oven, offered jobs to unemployed youth.

Chauhan said there were around 250 vacancies for which only 100 youth had come forward. A large number of youth were ITI students who were enquiring about the job availability in these firms once they passed out. The job aspirants were also made aware of the working of industrial units and various areas like manufacturing, packaging and human resource.

With the fair fetching on-the-spot jobs for nearly 50 youth, local residents were pleased with the job fair. Chauhan said such fairs would also be held in the future in those areas from where written requests would be received so that local youth could be provided jobs in various industrial units of the district. 

Shimla, April 26
The state government is in a quandary over the appointment of the new Director-General of Police (DGP) with no state cadre officer eligible for the top post, leaving open the possibility of getting an officer from another cadre.

Though DGP B Kamal Kumar is due to retire on July 31, the search for the new DGP has already begun. He is keen on getting an extension.

With none of the IPS officers of the Himachal Pradesh cadre fulfilling the mandatory condition of 30 years of service, some officers from outside are vying for the post.

An IPS officer hailing from Haryana serving in the Kerala cadre had met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh some time back and expressed his desire to serve as the DGP in Himachal Pradesh.

The latest addition to this list is Rajinder Singh Tayal, IPS officer belonging to Haryana serving in Assam. He met the Chief Minister in New Delhi a fortnight back.

“We are keen to bring an IPS officer hailing from Kinnaur who is serving in Assam but he is not interested in returning to his home state,” revealed a senior official.

Though the Centre can give relaxation in an officer with less than 30 years of service, the Department of Personnel and Training has indicated to the state government to try and get someone of its choice from an outside cadre.

This has not deterred the three seniormost officers in the state cadre from lobbying for the top post. The seniormost officer, Somesh Goyal of the 1984 batch, is currently on Central deputation.

The next in line, Sanjay Kumar of the 1985 batch, is serving with the North Central Railways in Patna. SR Mardi of the 1986 batch has joined the race as well. All of them have to complete 30 years of service.

The state government has sent a letter to the Centre requesting Sanjay Kumar’s repatriation. He is keen to return if made the DGP.

Goyal is keen to come back to Himachal Pradesh and has reportedly met the Chief Minister. Mardi is serving as the Additional Director General of Police with the CID.

Though ID Bhandari, serving as DGP (Home Guards and Fire Services), has completed 30 years of service, it is unlikely that the government will again give him the top post.

He and DGP Kumar are from the 1982 batch. Bhandari had been removed following the phone tapping controversy.

Shimla, April 26
The government is considering to set up an exhibition-cum-convention centre, preferably at Dharmasala.

Stating this while addressing a two-day open seminar of the Indian Exhibition Industries Association here today, Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma said Dharamsala would be suitable as it was an important town and a seat of Buddhism.

Sharma said trade fairs and exhibition played an important role in development of industry, trade, business and overall economy of a state. He said the brainstorming session on various facets of exhibition, concept, organisation, operation and management during the seminar would help to prepare a blue print for the future.

He invited experts from the field of trade fair to come and visit Dharamsala and explore possibilities for setting up of trade fair facilities.

He said trade fairs had helped many cities in Europe and South East Asia to develop the local economy rapidly.

Association president Rakesh Kumar, also the executive director of the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts and Director of the India Expo Centre and Mart, also spoke.

Hamirpur, April 26
In a major setback to the state, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has turned down the proposal to open a bulk supply store of the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) in the state.

Its has reportedly found the land, identified at Barnoh, unsuitable for the purpose. The proposal to open a bulk supply store was mooted by the MOD, a few months ago, to supply goods to about 50 Canteen Stores Department’s of the area and had asked the state government to identify a piece of land for the purpose.

The state government had identified a piece of 22 acres of land at Barnoh in Una district and had informed the MOD in this regard after which their team had inspected the area.

However, the MOD has found the land unsuitable, calling it a flood-prone area and has rejected the proposal.

A letter in this regard has been sent to the Sainik Welfare Department, Hamirpur, from the Quarter Master General (QMS) a few days back.

At present, all supplies for the Canteen Stores Department canteens in the region are being brought from the CSD bulk stores at Jalandhar, Pathankot and Ambala.

The opening of the bulk supply store would have helped in procuring certain items like refrigerators, washing machines and big items like cars, which generally were procured directly from New Delhi or Ambala as many dealers were not authorised to supply these in the area.

About Rs 40 crore was proposed to be spent on creating infrastructure for the Canteen Stores Department supply store by the Central Government in which about 100 persons were to be employed.

The DC-cum-Director of the Sainik Welfare Department, Ashish Singhmar said, “The state government would take up this matter at the civil military meeting being held on May 6 in Shimla between the Chief Minister and the Army authorities and would submit fresh proposal by identifying a suitable piece of land.”

Dharamsala, April 26
The defunct contributory pension scheme of the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCC) dominated the proceedings of the annual general meeting (AGM) of the institute held in Dharamsala today.

Bank employees and directors demanded to restore the pension scheme in the bank. The scheme had gone defunct due to alleged mismanagement.About 200 pensioners of the bank were not getting pension since April 2010 due to imbroglio.

The contribution pension scheme in the bank was started in 1998. At that time, it was decided that the bank would contribute Rs 50 lakh as the corpus fund, the interest for which would be used for the pension scheme, while the capital investment would remain in the name of the bank.

Employees had to contribute 1.5 per cent of the basic salary, but the contribution was later raised to 2.5 per cent. Though the scheme was started in 1998, the bank management decided to extend benefit to its employees, who retired since 1988. The only condition was that the employees, who retired at that time, had to contribute 1.5 per cent of the basic salary received from 1988 to 1998 along with an interest of 10 per cent per annum.

It was also decided that the pension would be paid to the employees as par with government employees. However, the authorities, who were managing the fund at that time, did not calculate the pitfalls in the scheme.

Sources said one of the employee who retired before 1998 contributed his share of Rs 22,000 towards the pension scheme and, on the same day, took away Rs 38,000 as the pension commutation. Besides, the employee was also taking a pension of more than Rs 5,000 over the last 12 years.

With such anomalies, the result was that the bank was left with no funds to pay pension to its employees. The affected employees also moved the High Court against the stoppage of their payment.

Newly elected Chairman Jagdish Sapiya said the bank still had Rs 8.67 crore in its pension corpus fund. Besides, the board has decided to include the Employee Welfare Fund worth Rs 25 crore, available with the bank.

The Registrar, Cooperative Societies, has allowed to include 3 per cent of the annual profit of the bank in the pension scheme. The employees would contribute 28 per cent of the total amount for the same.

As per the formula worked by the bank in consultation with pension scheme experts, the bank would be able to give pension ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 12,000 per month to its employees, he said.The chairman said he would take the new pension scheme to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for approval.

Bilaspur, April 26
Senior Congress leader and party state general secretary Ram Lal Thakur has ridiculed the BJP and its state general secretary MLA Randhir Sharma for launching a two-day “Paidal Yatra”.

The BJP is protesting against the bad condition of the road on the National Highway No. 21 (Chandigarh-Manali) here in the district.

Talking to mediapersons at the Circuit House here today, Ram Lal Thakur, who is also chairman of the state planning development and 20-Point Programme Implementation Committee, said the road had been worst since the last four years of the BJP rule and it continued to be so all these years. Despite all demands, requests and representations of the Congress and other organisations, the Dhumal government wasted all the funds allocated by the Centre and allowed this road to get from bad to worst without any repairs.

The BJP adopted this strategy only with an intention to blame the Central Government, though the Centre provided crore of rupees every year to the Dhumal government for its annual repairs. Thakur said the MLA should explain the steps he took to maintain the road during the tenure of the BJP since he was the MLA in this very constituency.“Now when the Central Government has provided funds worth Rs 4.33 crore for its immediate repairs and has agreed to provide additional Rs 12 crore for its surfacing at instance of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Sharma has started this drama of foot march to wash off his old sins of omission and commission on the issue,” he alleged.

He said the patch work of this road would start from May 4 and be completed at the earliest.— OC

Dharamsala/Palampur, April 26
To plan strategy for effective management of weeds, a two-day national-level group meeting of 72 scientists from 22 centres under the All-India coordinated research project on weed control was inaugurated at CSK HP Agriculture University, here today. Scientists will deliberate on the progress made during the past one year and jointly discuss ways and means to control out of place obnoxious plants which drastically reduce crop yields.

Vice-Chancellor SK Sharma exhorted scientists to think out of box to control weeds for increasing crop yields. He said it was important to produce quality and weed-free crops otherwise our exports were likely to be rejected by foreign countries as had happened in the past.

He informed the participants about the mechanism to check impurities in the imported crops and grains.

AR Sharma, director, Directorate of Weed Science Research, Jabalpur, said weed control technologies were being constantly refined to face new challenges. He asked the scientific staff to put extra efforts for transfer of useful technology and concentrate in their research endeavours for better results.

JS Chauhan, director, Directorate of Rapeseed and Mustard Research Institute, Bharatpur, cautioned scientists about some new weeds which had entered the crop system.

SP Sharma and PK Sharma, Director of Research and Dean, expressed their views on weed management strategy. They said the presence of weeds increase crop production costs and adversely affect quality and environment.

Department of Agronomy head and organising secretary Dinesh Badiyala said a project on weed control in the university was operational for the last three decades.

Three booklets on weed control by Suresh Gautal and SS Rana were released by the chief guest and three other booklets were also released to mark the occasion. NN Angiras, a retired weed scientist, was also honoured.

Kangra, April 26
When politicians fail to play their role in providing basic amenities to people, social and religious organisations are forced to come forward to address their grievances.

Such an example was set in this temple town yesterday when Swami Virendranand Giri approached SDM, Kangra, Ajit Bhardwaj to remove encroachments along the state highway in the town. He also urged the SDM to regulate the traffic in the town.

Swami Giri, state president, Sanatan Dharam Matth Mandir Sureksha Samiti, said the police had failed to regulate the traffic on the Guptganga road and the state highway.

He said the road connecting the Tehsil chowk and the Guptganga was witnessing frequent traffic jams, causing inconvenience to pilgrims and patients on way to the DRPGMC, Tanda.

Swami told the SDM that heavy vehicles should be stopped from plying on the road and the entry of buses, carrying pilgrims, should adopt the bypass route.

He said the bypass road was not being used properly, which was putting a heavy burden on Kangra roads. He added that the encroachments from the Tehsil chowk to Birta were adding to commuters’ woes.

He said rash and negligent driving by the youths had encouraged girls and women to violate traffic norms.

Meanwhile, the SDM said the authorities would construct speed-breakers on the state highway to curb rash and negligent driving.

Kangra, April 26
The Central Government had attached highest priority to poverty alleviation and was working purposefully to improve the quality of public system and delivery of public service for employment generation and rural prosperity.

Stating this here today, Dr Pardeep Kumar, Head of the Department of Economics, MCMDAV College, Kangra, who is also a life member of the Indian Economic Association, said during the Sixth Five-Year Plan eradication of poverty was given top priority and till the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan by 2017 the government wanted to bring down the level of poverty by 10 per cent.

Dr Pardeep said according to the latest economic survey, the poverty ratio was 29.8 per cent during the 11th Five-Year Plan by 2010. He said the government was making earnest efforts to reduce poverty.

He said in order to combat poverty the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), a multi-pronged strategy for poverty reduction in a time-bound manner by providing sustainable livelihood through various means to rural population below the poverty line, was launched on June 24, 2010. He said the primary goal of the mission was to saturate mobilisation of poor communities into self-help groups in a time-bound manner and learn and in due course of time, upscale productive partnership between people and government institutions.

He said the budget for the NRLM in the 11th Five-Year Plan was Rs 16,400 crore and the target was to create 10 lakh self-help groups during the last two years of the 11th Plan. He said the proposal was to impart training to 17 lakh poor youth for skill development.

The economist said if the NRLM was implemented in various states effectively, the levels of poverty would reduce. He said the poverty ratio in India was 29.8 per cent while in Himachal Pradesh it was 9.5 per cent, Punjab 15.9 per cent and Haryana 20.1 per cent. 

Bilaspur, April 26
A she-goat of farmer Prem Lal was killed by a leopard at Pheti Dhar Ropa village in the Karlotti area of Ghumarwin subdivision here last evening.

Reports said the leopard attacked the goat when Prem’s wife Manorama was serving water to other cattle. The goat was tied with a rope outside the cowshed.

The leopard attacked the goat, lifted it away to several yards.

As Manorama raised the alarm, several villagers rushed to the spot, making the carnivore run away from the place, leaving the goat dead.

Forest officials have assured Prem of a suitable compensation for this loss.

Nurpur, April 26
A protest demonstration against the police and Block Development Officer (BDO) took an ugly turn when the agitating demonstrators suddenly turned violent and thrashed the BDO, his superintendent and accountant, who had been figured in the FIR for abetting to commit suicide.

Dissatisfied over the ongoing inquiry into the mysterious suicide of the deceased Vinod Kumar, son of Maan Singh of nearby Khazan village, hundreds of villagers and relatives, led by former local MLA Rakesh Pathania, raised slogans and marched in the town.

Sources said no police was deputed notwithstanding pre-information of the protest demonstration today. Sushil Chowdhary, BDO, Nurpur, was caught by the agitators for severe beating, but rescued by Pathania.

The demonstrators were demanding arrests of all the four accused alleged by the father of the deceased in the FIR registered under Section 306 of the IPC, following intervention of the IG police Rakesh Aggarwal on April 22.

Pathania, who was leading the demonstration, alleged that the deceased, who was an employee of the watershed project in the office of the BDO, had fallen prey to a deep political conspiracy and the culprits were enjoying political patronage.

He also alleged that the police was hushing up the serious circumstances that forced the deceased to commit suicide on April 17. He rued that the police was not acting on the suicide note found in the pocket of the deceased.

Meanwhile, after the protest demonstration and beating of government employees by the protesters, the police rushed to the spot.

Talking to the mediapersons, ASP Suresh Kumar Sharma said the BDO and his staff members, who had been allegedly beaten up by, were kept in the police station only for their security. After their medical examination and complaint of the BDO, a case under Sections 147, 149, 452, 332, 353, 506 and 34, IPC, has been registered against former MLA Rakesh Pathania, parents Maan Singh and Beaso Devi and other family members of the deceased,” he informed.

The ASP said after the preliminary investigations, an FIR had been registered against four persons, including BDO, superintendant and accountant, and they would be arrested as soon as the police would get some concrete evidences relating to the case. 

Bilaspur, April 26
The Ghumarwin police has earned the praise of people as it succeeded in arresting the alleged culprits of a theft case here yesterday. The police has also recovered some of the stolen articles from them.

Sources said dental surgeon Reena Pathania’s government quarter was burgled at Harlog on the night of April 15-16 and thieves had decamped with valuables and jewellery worth several lakhs. She was not at home when the incident took place.

DSP Anjani Jaswal had formed a team of police officers to trace the culprits. A team led by ASI Avtar Singh, PSI Tapender Singh, Head Constable Pratap Singh and constables Vidya Sagar and Ravi Kumar managed to arrest two of the accused. The accused have been identified as Hukam Ram of Maani village and Khoob Ram of Rahi village, Mandi. Both the accused have been sent to the police remand by the court.

The police has also recovered valuables, including electronic gadgets, stolen from the dental surgeon’s quarter. It has also recovered the vehicle used for the theft.

Nurpur, April 26
A man, identified as Harjeet Singh of Chhatroli, was reportedly kidnapped in broad daylight this morning at Jassur near here. According to the police, following a complaint of Shamiru Devi, wife of the victim, four persons identified as Shamu and Sunder of Kathal, Gobinder of Bharmolli and Atul of Thangar, came in a Santro car (HP 54-0301) and Maruti van (PB 08-7498). After beating Harjeet, they kidnapped him.

A case under Sections 363, 323 and 34, IPC, has been registered. A personal enmity is stated to be the cause of abduction.