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Electronic ration cards to be linked to Aadhaar cards
BJP draws wrath of Cong leaders
Development of tribal areas priority: CM
Indoor stadium to be constructed in Mandi
Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anil Sharma inaugurates an inter-college athletic meet at the Paddal Ground in Mandi on Saturday. Photo: Jai Kumar |
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Viceregal Lodge to stay closed on Mondays
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Electronic ration cards to be linked to Aadhaar cards
Shimla, November 16 Addressing a press conference here today, Food and Civil Supplies and Transport Minister GS Bali said a Rs 14-crore project for issuance of electronic ration cards was in the final stages of approval from the Centre. “Once we are through with the process, we will link it to Aadhaar cards in order to check pilferage and use of ration cards by others,” he said. He admitted that there were a lot of gaps in the public distribution system (PDS) as the number of ration card "beneficiaries" in the state was more than the actual population. “It is due to this reason that we are streamlining the whole procedure to make it more foolproof,” he said. Bali added that all the Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders would now be able to get full ration and at the same old rates. “This decision of the government will put an additional financial burden of about Rs 35 crore on the state exchequer, taking the total subsidy on ration to Rs 267 crore,” he said. He said the Virbhadra Singh regime had to bear the burden of an additional Rs 100 crore as a "liability left behind by the BJP government" as subsidy on food items. The Food and Civil Supplies Minister denied reports that there was a shortage of subsidised food items in ration shops. “To cross-check these reports, I made a surprise visit to 12 of the 54 fair price shops in the state capital today and found that all the items were available,” he claimed. The minister announced that the Food and Civil Supplies Department had decided to constitute two flying squads to check the quality and availability of food items under the PDS. The minister said the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) had registered an increase of Rs 15.50 crore in revenue during the past two months. “Since I became the minister, the revenue of the HRTC has gone up by Rs 39 crore and the per km mileage of buses, too, has improved from 3. 41 to 3.56,” he stated. He said with the improvement of a single point in mileage, the HRTC saved a total of Rs 50 lakh. |
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BJP draws wrath of Cong leaders
Shimla, November 16 They dismissed the accusations as totally false and fabricated. They said that it was Dhumal who brought the politics of vendetta and victimisation of opponents to the state. They reminded the BJP leaders that during his first tenure from 1998 to 2003, Dhumal had unleashed a personal vendetta against Virbhadra Singh and false cases were registered against him, including the Sagar Katha case, in which he came out clean from the Supreme Court. “The Dhumal government did not stop here and submitted a 32-point charge sheet against Virbhadra to the CBI for investigation. However, after a thorough inquiry, the CBI gave a clean chit to him on all charges,” they remarked. The ministers said in spite of all the false cases and inquiries against him, Virbhadra never resorted to politics of revenge on coming to power. “Not even a single case was registered against any political opponent during the Congress government as Virbhadra believes in clean and healthy politics,” they stated. They further said inquiries were opened against almost all top Congress leaders and they were unnecessarily harassed for full five years and false and fabricated cases were registered against Virbhadra. “The BJP sensationalised the CD case to malign the Virbhadra’s image and draw political mileage, but the truth prevailed and the false cases failed the test of law and justice,” they said. They advised the BJP leaders to shun the politics of character assassination and mudslinging and think before pointing the finger at others. |
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Development of tribal areas priority: CM
Shimla, November 16 “Nine per cent of the total budget has been allocated for the Tribal Sub-Plan that had helped in improving the socio-economic level of the tribal people,” he said. Virbhadra said Rs 2,052 crore had been proposed for the 12th Five-Year Plan 2012-17 and Rs 369 crore had been allocated to the state under the Tribal Sub-Plan during the current fiscal. It is about 11 per cent higher than the previous year. He said Rs 385.99 crore had been allocated under the non-plan for the tribal areas development. He said Rs 53.66 crore was being spent on roads and bridges, Rs 69.70 crore on education and health services, while Rs 15.82 crore had been provided for irrigation and drinking water schemes for the tribal areas in the current fiscal. The Chief Minister said the state government had provided Rs 25 crore to the Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner for rehabilitation of the rain-affected people. Apart from it, Rs 30.55 crore had been given for the repair of roads, Rs 14.78 crore to the IPH Department for the repair of drinking water and irrigation schemes, Rs 5.80 crore for the restoration of electricity, Rs 13.39 crore to the Agriculture Department and Rs 7.14 crore for the Horticulture Department. |
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Indoor stadium to be constructed in Mandi
Mandi, November 16 The minister said the state government was trying to improve basic sports facilities in the state. He said Paddal Stadium, a badminton hall and a swimming pool had been set up in Mandi. The flooring work at a cost of Rs 50 lakh was under way at the badminton hall, he said. Expressing his concern over low participation of athletes in the meet, Sharma said, "It is a matter of concern that out of 80 colleges in the state, only athletes from 32 colleges are participating in the meet." The minister asked sports teachers to motivate students to take up games in order to wean them away from social evils. He said Dev Sadan would be constructed near the Paddal ground to house sportsmen. Three hundred athletes - 220 boys and 80 girls - are participating in the
athletic meet. |
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Patel project: BJP MLA seeks Cong’s cooperation
Shimla, November 16 Addressing a press conference here today, Jai Ram, who has been appointed the state convener of the state-level committee for the Sardar Patel project, said even the Congress government could not underestimate the contribution of the Iron Man post Independence. He sought cooperation of the Congress in making the project a success. He said, “It is owing to his efforts that the princely states got united to pave way for the formation of a strong democracy, for which the nation will remain indebted to Sardar Patel.” Jai Ram said earthen pots filled with mud from across the villages of Himachal would be sent for the construction of the memorial and statue of unity. |
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Mandi, November 16
