Shimla, July 26
The Himachal government has ordered an inquiry into the grant of 51.51 bighas of panchayat land leased to the RSS-associated Himachal Shiksha Samiti in Ganki Sair village in Solan district following a demand by people to cancel the lease as it was against the norms.

The Deputy Commissioner, Solan, has been asked to hold an inquiry into the grant of lease to the Himachal Shiksha Samiti by the previous BJP regime in 2009. The samiti, which runs a school at Vikasnagar in Shimla, has started a middle school for the local children.

“On the basis of a complaint filed by villagers, we have directed the DC, Solan, to enquire into the matter to ensure that there has been no violation of the norms in the lease made in favour of the education society for a 99 years,” said Kaul Singh Thakur, Revenue and Health and Family Welfare Minister.

He said the DC and the revenue authorities had been asked to check the procedure adopted for giving the land on lease, whether the gram sabha was taken into confidence and permission was sought before leasing out the land.

He added that the villagers, in a representation, had demanded that the lease made under the HP Lease Rules 1993 should be cancelled as the land given to the samiti was primarily the grazing land.

The villagers had also objected to the obstruction being caused to the Salogra-Ashwini Khud-Chail link road due to the construction activity going on on the land.

Rajender Sharma, Sangathan Mantri of the Himachal Shiksha Samiti, said the lease had been given as per norms and all formalities completed. “The government is free to enquire into the matter but we completed all formalities, including getting an NOC from panchayat,”  he said.

He added that Rs 44,000 annual lease money was being deposited with the government and 27 children were enrolled in the middle school which would be upgraded.

Solan district has been the most-preferred destination for setting up of private universities, hotels, apartments and other commercial ventures by people from Himachal as well as outside. The Congress had criticised the previous BJP regime for granting approvals to 12 private universities.

In fact, the Congress had launched a major tirade against the BJP on the issue and alleged that most of these projects were actually real estate ventures in the garb of universities and educational societies.

The Congress government had cancelled the land lease made in favour of Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust near Kandaghat in the district sometime back.

The main contention in that case was that the land given to the trust had been donated by the erstwhile rulers of the Patiala royal family for setting up Indira Holiday Home for children.

Shimla, July 26
Himachal Pradesh today became the first state in the country to have the video-conferencing facility in all prisons which will not only come in handy for the prison department and the judiciary, but also enable the relatives and friends of inmates to interact with them.

Launching the facility, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said not only Indians, but foreigners also could avail this facility from any part of the world. It would help save time and money spent on travelling to prisons to meet the inmates.

He also launched a website of the Prisons and Correctional Administration Department through which computerised video conferencing facility was being provided in the prisons. He said prisoners had to be reformed while undergoing sentence so that they could lead a normal life after their release.

The Chief Minister said the government had taken many initiatives to reform the prisons and had declared one barrack each in six jails of the state as "Open Air Jail" at Kanda, Nahan, Solan, Mandi, Dharamsala and Chamba.

He said it was appreciable that some courts were also utilising the facility for granting judicial remand. — TNS

Shimla, July 26
The country is celebrating the Kargil victory but the brave soldiers, who made it possible by making sacrifices, have been handed out a raw deal. Their heroic exploits in the battlefield do not bring the same honours and financial benefits that accrue to sportsperson turning out a medal winner.

“It is sad that the administration forgot the two gallant soldiers from Palampur, Capt Vikram Batra and Capt Saurabh Kalia, who sacrificed their lives during the Kargil war. There was no one to observe their martyrdom day, except the family members”, said president of the Progressive People’s Group Shakti Singh Chandel, who has served the Army and participated in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars.

He said this was not the way to treat the martyrs and they would haven given a much better deal during the British era. Girdhari Lal Batra, father of Captain Vikram Batra, was unhappy that the tall promises made by the state government to take care of the families remained on the paper while father of Captain Saurabh Kalia had also expressed displeasure over the failure to bestow honour on the brave hearts. Unlike sport medal winners, gallantry award winners were not given any out-of-turn promotions or plots. For example, Kargil war hero and Param Vir Chakra awardee Lance Naik Sanjay Kumar got a citation from the President of India and a monthly war allowance of Rs 10,000 only. He was not given any promotion. The state government gave him Rs 24,000, Rs 1,50,000 in lieu of land allotment and an annuity Rs 4,500 (now increased to Rs 1,25,000), for 30 years only. With the amount to be given over three decades, the award winner could not even think of purchasing a plot.

In contrast, Subedar-Major Vijay Kumar, who bagged a silver and other medals in shooting during the Commonwealth Games, had been rewarded with three out-of-turn promotions within 12 years service in the Army, first as Havaldar, then as Naib-Subedar and now as Subedar-Major. The Army gave him Rs 30 lakh and the state government Rs 1 crore and also an expensive plot in a city. Earlier, he had been given Rs 41 lakh for winning medals in shooting, Chandel said.

He said he had written to the Union Defence Minister to set up committees at the national and state levels to lay down protocol for observing the martyrdom day of the war heroes. The panels should go into historic details of the benefits given to the warriors in the pre-Independence era and draw a comparison of what they were being given now. A comparison with the benefits accruing to sports medal winners should also be drawn and recommendations to be made to bring the gallantry award winners on a par with them.

the comparison

* PVC awardee Lance Naik Sanjay Kumar got a citation from the President of India and a monthly war allowance of Rs 10,000 only. The state government gave him Rs 24,000, Rs 1,50,000 in lieu of land allotment and an annuity Rs 4,500 (now increased to Rs 1,25,000), for 30 years only.

* C'wealth Games silver medallist Subedar-Major Vijay Kumar got three out-of-turn promotions within 12 years' service in the Army. The Army gave him Rs 30 lakh and the state government Rs 1 crore and also an expensive plot in a city

Chamba, July 26
The district administration is all set to hold International Minjar Fair from July 28 in Chamba town. The eight-day-long fair will be inaugurated by Governor Urmila Singh. On the concluding day of the fair on August 4, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will be the chief guest of the carnival procession.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Chamba Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kadam Sandeep Vasant, who is also the chairperson of the fair committee, said the Government of India had accorded the approval for organising the regional SARAS (Sale of Articles of Rural Artisans’ Societies) Fair-2013 during the Minjar fair.

The DC said special emphasis had been laid on the sanitation during the fair and for this, temporary toilets had been constructed by the Sulabh Shauchalaya.

The DC said this year, a stall for Aadhaar cards had also been set up in the exhibition.

Regarding cultural programmes, which form the mainstay of the Minjar festivity, he said Mamta Sharma, Daler Mehendi, Javed Ali and prominent quwals had been invited to give musical performances. He said folk artistes of the region would also have a major role to play during the festivity.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kulwant Singh Thakur said as part of keeping a vigil during the fair, the police had beefed up security arrangements on the border checkpoints along the neighbouring states and CCTV cameras had been set up at 15 vulnerable locations in the region.

Moreover, 250 police personnel have been deployed for the smooth conduct of the fair. 

Mandi, July 26
Six vendors, three women and three men, locally called Gujarati vendors, were taken into preventive custody when they turned aggressive after a Mandi Municipal Council team tried to prevent them putting up their stalls on the roof of Indira Market.

The district administration has allotted them a slot at Chenju Ki Naun and at Bypass to sell the rags. But today they shifted their stalls to the roof of the market and refused to leave the spot and wrestled with the team and tehsildar, Mandi.

They blocked the road in protest and resisted their eviction carried out by the council team. They pleaded that they were not able to sell their products as the slot was outside the main town.

The police was called in to maintain the law and order. The protesting vendors refused to budge and the police took the vendors into custody as they threatened to commit suicide in their bid to blackmail the police and council team.

The police said they would be produced tomorrow before the executive magistrate. — TNS

Solan, July 26
Residents of Dharampur have heaved a sigh of relief after receiving an assurance from Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh that the Dharampur bazaar will be excluded from the proposed four-laning of the national highway.

This assurance follows a meeting of a delegation of the locals led by Pradesh Congress Committee member and pradhan of Chewa panchayat Ramesh Chauhan last evening.

Chauhan said they explained to the Chief Minister that the proposed fourlaning would affect scores of families whose business establishments and houses were located on the highway.

Even an earlier proposal to widen the bazaar had been reduced from the proposed 45 metre to 29 metre, keeping in view a large number of shops and houses which would have been dismantled with the move.

The locals, who had registered their objections before the SDM, Solan, said it was surprising how this proposal had again been cropped up as according to a meeting held with officials of the state government and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on November 20, 2010, it had been decided to exclude the bazaar area and work out an alternative route which would affect a few houses.

Chauhan said the Chief Minister had directed the Project Director of the NHAI to consider this view and ensure that the Dharampur bazaar was excluded from the proposed four-laning of the NH-22.

While thanking the Chief Minister, locals residents, including Anil Kalra, Ashok Goel and others, said the NHAI officials should undertake a survey to assess the possibility of carving out a bypass where the locals would assist them in finding an alternative route, excluding the Dharampur bazar and the Sukki Jori area.

Mandi, July 26
Rashmi Devi, 91, bed-ridden for six years in a dingy room at Kehar village in Balh today got a fresh lease of life. A high-level team of the state woman commission rescued her and rehabilitated her in the old age home at Bhangrotu in the presence of entire village and her two well-placed sons.

The old woman, who was rescued by the women commission, in her room in Mandi on Friday. A Tribune photograph

As the team of the woman commission and a social welfare official under police protection entered Rashmu Devi’s room, it was surprised to see that she kept dry pieces of a bread under her pillow. The room is stinking with human excreta and urine as she had almost been locked there like a prisoner, the team found.

“The family members gave me food sometime and even beat me up. I cannot move from the bed nor do I die”, she narrated her tale of woes to chairperson, state women commission, Dhaneshwari Thakur and team members.

The room is worse than the cowshed with no proper ventilation. There were insects and lice almost everywhere in the room of the old woman, who had been seeking death from God. The team acted on a complaint from the villagers. The panchayat pradhan, several villagers, including her two sons, supported the move to shift her to the old age home at Bhangrotu, Dhaneshwari told The Tribune. They had given in writing to shift her as they could not see her in such a condition, she added.

Rashmi Devi’s husband died six years ago, who also lived with her like a prisoner. But she could not take care of herself as she was weak and old, said Dhaneshwari.

"What is shocking is that her two sons - Raghubir Singh, a retired deputy director from the Animal Husbandry Department, and Murari Lal, a lawyer in Mandi- are mute spectators to the sad plight of their mother. They have raised big houses in front of the old abandoned room they chose for their mother", the team observed.

“But we will registered a case against the family members responsible for Rashmi Devi’s plight”, Dhaneshwari asserted.

Hamirpur, July 26
The Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department, Hamirpur, has failed to connect a water storage tank with the water supply scheme even after a year of its construction.

The department had constructed a water storage tank near Jhaniara village to provide drinking water to the panchayats of Jhaniara, Chowki and Dahudi.

The storage tank was to be linked with the Lohngi-Muthan water supply scheme and drinking water to thousands of villagers was to be provided after the implementation of this scheme.

Constructed at a cost of about Rs 20 lakh, the water storage tank was completed about a year back and was ready for linkage with the water supply scheme.

The department had even proposed inauguration of the water scheme a few months back but the proposal hangs fire since then.

Pradeep Thakur, a villager, said, “Though the department had constructed the storage tank to supply drinking water to thousands of residents of the three panchayats, it has still not linked it with the scheme for the reasons best known to them.”

He said, “Even some tentative inauguration dates were decided but the residents are still waiting for the implementation of this scheme.”

Assistant Engineer, IPH, Amin Chand, said, “There was a problem of electricity to connect the storage tank with the Lohngi- Muthan water supply scheme but now we have solved this problem and it would soon be connected with the scheme to provide drinking water in the area.

Dharamsala, July 26
Prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Dr Lobsang Sangay inaugurated a health check-up camp organised at Nagrota Bagwan on the birthday of Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Technical Education and Transport GS Bali.

Speaking on the occasion, Sangay said such endeavours help in providing necessary medical aid to the poor. A bone density check-up was also conducted during the camp.

Organisers of the event said about 3,000 patients were treated during the camp. The camp would continue tomorrow.

Hamirpur, July 26
Sainik School, Sujanpur Tira, has been selected by the Ministry of Defence to host the North Zone Inter-Sainik Schools sports competitions being held from July 29 to August 3.

As many as 360 players from Ghorakhal (Uttarakhand), Nagrota (J&K), Kapurthala (Punjab), Kunjpura (Haryana) and the host school will take part in the competitions.