Shimla, February 24
A tug-of-war between Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Congress president Sukwinder Singh Sukhu continues over trying to get ticket for their nominees.

The party has failed to reach a consensus on the names of candidates to be fielded for four Lok Sabha constituencies.

Though the views of Virbhadra and Sukhu have been taken by the Central Election Committee at its meeting held almost a week back, the uncertainty over the final choice still continues. Barring Mandi from where the name of Pratibha Singh, sitting MP and wife of the Chief Minister, is the only one under consideration, there is still uncertainty on the other three seats.

The situation in Hamirpur is the most complex where the name of Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri has emerged as being the most formidable candidate. Though Agnihotri is reluctant and the Chief Minister too is not willing to spare him as he is his most reliable minister, it is learnt that his name is still under consideration.

The Chief Minister is keen on fielding Rajinder Rana, a BJP rebel who won as an Independent from the Sujanpur Assembly segment in Hamirpur. The name of Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, too is under consideration. "Winnability will the sole criterion while deciding candidates even if we have to field a minister or an MLA to ensure victory," said Sukhu.

He said deliberations had already been held with senior party leaders and the names of candidates would be announced shortly.

For the Shimla Lok Sabha seat, the Congress is likely to field sitting MLA from Rohru Mohan Lal Bragta. Though the name of Vinod Sultanpuri, Congress candidate who lost the election from Kasauli, is also doing the rounds, Virbhadra, who has considerable clout over the voters of Shimla Lok Sabha seat, is backing Bragta.

As far as the Kangra seat is concerned, the name of former minister and MP Chander Kumar was being considered almost final. However, with Union Commerce Minister Chandresh Kumari, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Jodhpur in Rajasthan, throwing her hat in the ring, the situation has changed.

While the Chief Minister is wholeheartedly supporting Chander, considering the connections that Chandresh has, the choice could fall on anyone. Though Chandresh, married in Kangra, has been an MLA from Thural and Dharamsala and also been an MP, she chose to contest the last Lok Sabha election from Jodhpur, her parental place.

The fact that BJP's candidates for the three seats of Kangra, Hamirpur and Shimla are almost certain, the Congress is keen to finalise its nominees at the earliest and start its campaign, in which the BJP has already got a head start.

Shimla, February 24
Assembly Speaker BBL Butail today constituted two Select Committees to whom the HP Lokayukta Bill 2014 and the Town and Country Planning Amendment Bill 2014 will be referred to before the Assembly deliberates upon these.

The House had decided to refer the two Bills to the Select Committee of the Vidhan Sabha during the recently concluded Budget session. Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, who also holds the portfolio of Law, will be the chairman of the Select Committee which will take a closer look at the Lokayukta Bill. Its other members will be Gulab Singh Thakur, former minister, and BJP MLA Kuldeep Kumar, Ajay Mahajan, Vijay Agnihotri, Karnesh Jung and Bamber Thakur.

Town and Country Planning Minister Sudhir Sharma will head the committee which will scrutinise the TCP Amendment Bill. Its other members will be Asha Kumari, Maheshwar Singh, Suresh Bhardwaj, BK Chauhan, Anirudh Singh and Sanjay Rattan.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, requesting the Speaker to refer the Bills to the Select Committee, had assured the House that the moment the reports were ready, a special session would be convened to discuss the Bills. 

Shimla, February 24
The BJP today criticised Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for allegedly calling the BJP a “gang” and asked him to refrain from using such words.

“The Chief Minister has lowered the dignity of the post and his repeated utterances are unbecoming of a Chief Minister,” state BJP general secretary MLA Rajiv Bindal said.

He said the Chief Minister must have seen the development in Solan during the BJP regime and quipped that that the “plaque with names of BJP members on development works” could be a reason for his anger.

Bindal said it was unfortunate that the Chief Minister, instead for tendering public apology for the derogatory remarks against BJP leaders during past three weeks, was further vitiating the political environment and bringing down the level of political debate.

Shimla, February 24
Under pressure to match the impressive gathering at Narendra Modi’s rally in Sujanpur, the Congress is getting its act together to ensure that the March 8 rally to be addressed by Rahul Gandhi in Dharamsala is a big crowd puller.

State Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has entrusted the responsibilities to all ministers and senior leaders, who are the office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), for the show.

“Neither are we competing with the BJP, nor are we setting any target for the rally as people come on their own to listen to national leaders,” said Sukhu, addressing a press conference here today.

The BJP kickstarted its election campaign with an impressive show at Sujanpur on February 16. Now the Congress will have to work overtime to mobilise people for the show. The maximum participants are expected from Kangra, Una, Hamirpur, Bilaspur and Mandi districts. HPCC general secretary Harbhajan Singh Bhajji has been made the co-coordinator for the rally.

Newly elected Rajya Sabha MP Viplove Thakur has been made in charge of Dehra, Jaswan and Jwalamukhi segments. Agriculture Minister Sujan Singh Pathania and HPCC general secretaries Harshwardhan Chauhan and Sunder Thakur have been assigned Fatehpur, Jawali, Nurpur, Indira and Shahpur constituencies.

Former minister Ram Lal Thakur and Sunil Sharma, both HPCC general secretaries, will look after Palampur, Baijnath, Sulah and Jaisinghpur. Transport Minister GS Bali and Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma along with Harsh Mahajan will mobilise people from Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan and Dharamsala.

Ministers Vidya Stokes, Dhani Ram Shandil and HPCC vice- president Gangu ram Musafir and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Vinay Kumar have been assigned Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts. 

Una, February 24
Transport Minister GS Bali today announced a cut in fares for buses plying in the district. The new fares will not be applicable to inter-state buses, Bali told mediapersons here. The reduction in fares ranges between 20 per cent and 50 per cent on 23 routes.

Bali said a local bus service would soon be introduced, which would run within the 10-km radius of Una city at a fixed fare of Rs 5. This bus would also cover the government college.

The minister announced that a project worth Rs 50 crore had been envisaged to provide better security to women passengers and this had been sent to the Union Ministry of Surface Transport for funding from the Nirbhaya Fund.

Under the project, CCTV cameras would be installed at all bus stands. Buses would also be covered in the second phase. Reiterating the commitment of the government to recruit women conductors in public transport buses, he said women should come forward to register their names.

The minister said when the Congress government took over, the HRTC was under a debt of Rs 387 crore. However, he said the liability of Rs 200 crore had been paid. Moreover, the HRTC had earned Rs 55 crore revenue last one year.

Bali announced that the HRTC management had been allowed to provide contract services. The move would not only generate additional revenue for the corporation, but also provide competition to private operators. He said the process of recruitment of drivers on contract basis and bus assistants would be initiated soon, adding that 500 new buses would be inducted.

Bali said he had ordered to stop construction work on the new HRTC workshop in Una since the site in Rampur village was 7 km away from the main bus stand and every trip from workshop to the bus stand would cost Rs 200.

Una, February 24
Yusuf Khan, a farmer, who runs a mushroom cultivation farm at Nangal Salangri village, 8 km from Una, has made use of coco peat instead of the traditionally used wheat or rice straw as a medium for the cultivation of mushrooms.

Khan, a postgraduate in plant pathology, claims that while coco peat has increasingly been used in the cultivation of vegetables, it has been used for the first time for mushrooms.

Dr RC Sharma, Director, Research, University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, and Dr Dharmesh Gupta, a mushroom scientist at the university, officially visited the mushroom farm to study the intervention.

“The innovation promises to reduce the cost of mushroom cultivation medium from the existing Rs 60 to Rs 50 per bag,” he said.

The coco peat medium takes a week to prepare, in contrast to wheat or paddy medium, which takes about 11 days.

Dr Gupta said crop yield in coco peat was also better than wheat or paddy straw. He informed that coco peat, which is beaten and sieved coconut husk, is washed to remove contaminants. Its water-holding capacity of 600 to 800 per cent and a pH of 5.7 to 6.5 make it an ideal-growing medium for plants.

He, however, said more research needed to be done towards exploring the possibilities of using the spent medium for vermin composting, as manure.

The scientists said Khan’s intervention was creditable and promised to fetch a better profit margin to the farmer, while keeping the sale price of the edible commodity intact, adding that the technology should be replicated.

They informed that coco peat was readily available in the open market in Chandigarh and if a substantial quantum of demand arises, outlets can be opened in Himachal Pradesh too. 

Una, February 24
Transport, Technical Education, Food and Civil Supplies Minister GS Bali today announced that the Government College here would have Wi-Fi facilities.

He was speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day Jashan-2014 cultural programme organised by the College Student Central Association (CSCA) on the campus.

On the demands of the college authorities and the CSCA, he announced four solar lights and a drinking water cooler to be installed on the campus.

On the demand for an auditorium, the minister said since the Education Department was with the Chief Minister, he would take up the matter with him, but made a commitment that the demand would be considered sympathetically.

He also announced a grant of Rs 50,000 to the organisers of the cultural items towards the promotion of art and culture.

Earlier, college Principal Dr SK Chawla welcomed Bali, who was accompanied by Omkar Sharma, former Vice-Chairman of the Agro-Packaging Corporation, and Deepak Lath, member, Road Transport Authority. NSUI district president Karan Sharma, CSCA president Ajay Kumar, Assistant Commissioner SK Parashar and college vice-principal PS Chandel were also present.

Shimla, February 24
Sanjay Chauhan and Satyam Kainthala bagged gold medals in snow board and skiing, respectively, on the concluding day of the two-day Snow Board and Skiing Championship organised by the HP Snow Board Association at Kufri, 15 km from here, today.

Chairman of the association Dev Raj Kashyap said about 40 persons participated in the events, but there were more entries for snow board as compared to skiing.

In the children’s category, there were only four entries. Ujwal Negi bagged the top position. In the open categories, Shubham and Rajita stood second and third in the skiing event, while Shubham and Avtar Singh won the silver and bronze medals in the snow board championship. 

Kangra, February 24
A five-day training programme on GIS and remote sensing coinciding with the science week was inaugurated at the Shahpur University campus here today.

The training programme has been organised by the Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP).

CUHP pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof Yoginder Singh Verma said experts from Intergraph, USA, would provide a comprehensive training about the basics and applications of remote sensing and GIS techniques for Environment and Natural Resource Management.

Prof AK Mahajan, Dean, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, briefed about the importance of remote sensing and GIS for environment and natural resource management. The duo highlighted the contributions of Nobel laureate Sir CV Raman in Indian Science.

Nurpur, February 24
A festival, Techno-Mania 2014, was organised on the premises of the Vaishno Group of Colleges (VGC) at Thapkor near here yesterday. It was aimed at exploring talent in technical, culture and arts.

On the occasion, Punjabi singer Sherry Mann regaled students who constituted a major part of the audience. His presentations like “Chandigarh waliye…”, “Yaari da wasta…” and “Bhul jayi na…” were enjoyed by students.

Varun Gupta and Rahul Pathania, directors of the group, presented trophies to meritorious students and those who participated in the function. 

Una, February 24
A number of small unauthorised colonies are coming up in Una district. The fact has been admitted by the Town and Country Planning Department in reply to an RTI query.

Paramjit Singh Pamma, an advocate, in an RTI query to the Town and Country Planning Department had asked for the list of colonies approved by the Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) or the Town and Country Planning Department in the district.

In reply to the query, the department has maintained that no colony has been approved as on February 12, 2014, in the district.

Interestingly, the Town and Country Planning Department has maintained that no coloniser or owners have colonises approved in Una district.

There is a demand for plots in Una district as many people from Punjab want to settle in Himachal Pradesh because of cheap power rates.

A large number of illegal colonies have come up around the town. The illegal colonisers have openly brought down hillocks and developed colonies over them. Some of the illegal colonies are using the infrastructure of a government colony in Rakkar.

Due to an illegal colony, the sewage treatment plant of Una, that was raised spending crores of public money, has been rendered useless.

Paramjit Singh said he had been witnessing colonies coming up in rivulets in Una district. Developers had either encroached upon the rivulets or diverted their path. “I wanted to know how the Town and Country Planning Department can allow such colonies to mushroom in Una,” he said.

However, the reply of the Town and Country Planning Department has revealed that all colonies being brought in and around Una town are illegal.

Paramjit said he had asked for information regarding the trees felled by colonisers to construct colonies in Una district. The query was posed as many hillocks having green trees have been razed in Una district for bringing up colonies along the Nangal-Una road.

However, the Town and Country Planning Department has evaded the query by stating that the matter pertains to the Forest Department.

Seema Sharma, a social activist, said the Town department had restricted itself to issuing a notice to illegal developers.

Interestingly, the Power and IPH Departments have to get a no objection certificate (NOC) from the Town and Country Planning Department before issuing power and water connections in illegal colonies.

The illegal colonies that are mushrooming in Una district, besides damaging the ecology of the area, are taxing the natural resources. Many blocks in Una district are facing acute decline in underground water due to unplanned development. 

Nurpur, February 24
A gang of burglars looted Rs 19.45 lakh from an ATM of Punjab National Bank (PNB) at Indora in the subdivision on Saturday night.

As per information, the bank branch had loaded the ATM chest with cash on Friday night. Before committing the theft, the burglars sprayed black fluid on the camera of the CCTV installed in the ATM to conceal their footage. They used gas welding in cutting the ATM chest.

Yesterday morning local residents found the ATM broken and informed the police. Kangra Superintendent of Police Balbir Thakur and Nurpur DSP Manoj Joshi, along with the local police, rushed to the spot and inspected it. A forensic team from Dharamsala also visited the spot and collected evidences.

Reports said a similar theft had been committed in an ATM of PNB at Mukerian (Punjab) bordering Himachal Pradesh on Saturday night.

DSP Manoj Joshi said a case under Sections 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code had been registered in this connection. He said the police had started investigations. He did not rule out the possibility of the involvement of an inter-state gang in this theft.

Kangra, February 24
Residents and sports lovers have expressed concern over the deplorable condition of the local municipal stadium.

They staged a demonstration against the Municipal Council authorities. They said the stadium had turned into a dumping yard.

Narinder Trehan, who led the protest, said residents had given an ultimatum to the municipal authorities that the stadium should be cleared of dumped material within a week and a proper drainage system be evolved so that rainwater goes out of the stadium.

They sought proper sanitation and cleanliness on the premises of the stadium. Protesters handed over a memorandum to the executive officer of the Municipal Council. This stadium has become a dumping ground with municipal and local authorities remaining as a mute spectator to the deplorable condition of the stadium.

Chamba, February 24
The government has set in motion 14 projects under the District Watershed Development Agency (DWDA) towards generating self-employment among landless and poor families in Chamba district. Work on these projects is underway and is giving pragmatic results, Chamba DC Kadam Sandeep Vasant said here yesterday.

Vasant said a sum of around Rs 24.5 crore was being spent on these projects. He said environment conservation activities were on under these projects over an area of 90,415 hectare.

The DWDA had been operating in seven development blocks and 104 panchayats of the district, the DC stated.

He said the training programmes were being conducted for check dam preparation, land treatment, water resource management, water harvesting management, water storage, afforestation, plantation of horticulture plants, creation of self-employment avenues and skill development.

Solan, February 24
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has placed 40 drugs in a new category, Schedule H1, while excluding them from the present Schedule H category.

These drugs commonly fall under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

In a bid to curb indiscriminate prescription of antibiotics and its increased resistance, especially in tuberculosis, the DCGI has introduced a new provision of Schedule H1 which will curb their easy over the counter availability.

Medical practitioners say the resistance to antibiotics was leading to problems such as multiple drug resistance tuberculosis, extensively drug resistant tuberculosis and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

A notification based on the recommendations put forth by the Drug Technical Advisory Board of India (DTAB) was issued recently which has made it mandatory for the drug manufacturers to carry a boxed-label warning on the packaging that these drugs should not be sold without prescription issued by a registered medical practitioner and self-medication of the drug preparation is dangerous.

The new norm also makes it mandatory for chemists and druggists to maintain sales register and retain the physician’s prescription copy as a proof of drug sales. In a bid to ensure its strict compliance, the government will issue a notification to direct all chemists and druggists to comply with the Ministry’s regulations.

While it remains to be seen how the new norm is implemented in letter and spirit, it was worth mentioning that the increased resistance of antibiotics has become an added challenge for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The ministry had, therefore, referred this case to its technical advisory division to work out a mechanism to curb this increased practice. 

Dalhousie, February 24
The state government is according added priority for the speedy development of the backward and hard areas of the state to ensure their development at par with other areas.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh stated this while addressing a public meeting at Chowari in the Bhattiyat Assembly constituency of Chamba district today.

Earlier, he laid the foundation stone of the 10.4-km Patka-Hathi Dhar road to be constructed at a cost of Rs 5.16 crore. This road will benefit more than 1,000 population of distant Druma areas other sub-villages. He also laid the foundation stone of the remodelling flow irrigation scheme for Chowari at Trimath. The scheme to be completed at a cost of Rs 4.22 crore will benefit people of the Chowari Nagar Parishad and Kuthar and Jatrun villages.

He said the Congress governments had always given preference for the overall development of Chamba district which consisted of remote and tribal areas and during the last one year the district had witnessed speedy development.

Virbhadra said with the consistent efforts of the successive Congress-led governments, the state today had emerged as a role model of development in the country. He said the Congress-led UPA government had launched various ambitious schemes and the state government had been a front-runner in implementing all these schemes to benefit the common man.

Blaming the BJP for indulging in misleading people for the sake of political mileage, he said they were even misusing the name of Sardar Patel who was a Congress leader. He said BJP MLAs had boycotted the Budget session of the HP Vidhan Sabha which showed that they were not concerned about the welfare of the state and the people they represented.

Dalhousie MLA Asha Kumari said the present state government under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had taken path-breaking initiatives to ensure the welfare of every section of the society.

Former MP Chander Kumar said the state had witnessed an all-round and accelerated development since the present government came into the power.

Among others, Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Chairman, State Pollution Control Board, and Kewal Singh Pathania, Vice-Chairman, State Forest Development Corporation, were present on the occasion. 

Chamba, February 24
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today announced that that a new bus stand would be constructed near the Sheetla bridge in Chamba town by demolishing the old jail structure which had been shifted to Rajpura village. The construction of the new bus stand was a long-pending demand of people of the town which would help in decongesting Chamba and ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

The Chief Minister made this announcement while addressing a mammoth public meeting here today. He said adequate finances were being ensured for strengthening health, education and road network all over the state.

He announced the upgradation of seven high schools at Shillagharat, Gagla, Saach, Mangla, Kumharka, Dhulura and Kolka to senior secondary schools; of Kurena and Banjal middle schools to government high schools; and of Kurtha-Dhar, Fatehpur, Gadrad, Bunjal-Deewankhana, Daroga and Tipra primary schools to government middle schools. He announced a new primary school for Kali village in the Pilyur gram panchayat.

He said the Government Postgraduate Degree College, Sultanpur, Chamba, would be completed soon.

Virbhadra said Chamba was one of the oldest towns of the state which had distinct culture and customs. The millennium celebrations of the town were organised by the Congress government in 2006 and various colleges opened here. The government would fill up the vacant posts of doctor in the district, he added.

Among others who spoke on the occasion were Forest Minister TS Bharmouri, former minister Asha Kumari and former MP Chander Kumar.

Bharmour, February 24
Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri inaugurated the office of the newly created sub-tehsil at Dharwala in Chamba district today.

Speaking on the occasion, the Forest Minister said with the opening of the sub-tehsil office at Dharwala, 40,000 people of 21 non-tribal panchayats falling in the Bharmour Assembly constituency would get the facility of their day-to-day work pertaining to their revenue activities.

Bharmouri announced that a mini-secretariat would be constructed at Dharwala so that people could get all the facilities under one structure.

The minister said to solve the parking problem at Dharwala, Rs 26 lakh had been sanctioned by the state government and orders issued to undertake the construction of a parking lot. 

Shimla, February 24
The state government is committed to the welfare of ex-servicemen and serving soldiers of the state and the annuity to different gallantry award winners was enhanced in the current Budget.

This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while presiding over the Sainik Welfare Fund meeting here on Saturday.

Virbhadra said the last meeting of the Sainik Welfare Fund was held in 2005 and no meeting was conducted thereafter.

He said 52 families of martyrs of Operation Vijay in Kargil had been given an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each, 17 injured soldiers ex-gratia on account of their disabilities, while 38 dependents of martyrs had been provided employment and nine injured soldiers discharged from the Army had been re-employed.

The Chief Minister said a corpus fund of Rs 2 crore had been established for the War Museum at Dharamsala and services of expert architects would be taken to make it attractive and beautiful.

He said busts of state's valiant soldiers who had won prestigious medals right from the British Army period till recent times would be installed. The names of other martyrs would be inscripted in the museum, he added.

The committee gave ex-post facto approval to the expenditure incurred (Rs 3,94,68,400) from July 2005 to January 2014. The balance amount (Rs 4,73,94,411) was available with the CM's Sainik Welfare Fund for further expenditure.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Col Dhani Ram Shandil, who holds the portfolio of the Sainik Welfare Department, welcomed the CM, other official and non-official members at the meeting and detailed them about various activities being carried out under the CM's Sainik Welfare Fund and the financial assistance given under this fund. 

Una, February 24
The Una Forest Department seized two trucks of timber being smuggled from near the Forest Department barrier at Pandoga on Saturday.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) RK Dogra said the two vehicles loaded with timber had crossed the Pandoga barrier without producing valid documents, but the forest officers chased and brought them to Una.

The Divisional Forest Officer said one of the trucks was carrying forest produce from Dhakian village, while the other was loaded at Jaswan Kotla. They were proceeding towards Hoshiarpur district in Punjab.

He said some documents had been recovered, adding that they were being verified to confirm the identity of the truck owners.

Dogra said the Forest Department team comprising Range Officer Rahul Sharma, Block Forest Officer Gurmit Singh, Deputy Ranger Gurmit Singh, guards Rohit, Dev Raj and Kapil, besides driver Ramesh Kumar had chased the vehicles.

DFO Dogra said the recovered wood included logs of mango, kail and kamal species.

Forest officials' meeting tomorrow

The DFO said an inter-state meeting of forest officials from Himachal Pradesh and Punjab would be held on February 26 at Panjawar Rest House here to check the increasing incidents of forest produce smuggling.

Dogra said forest officials from HP, including DFOs from Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Dehra, Nurpur, Nalagarh and Una, along with their Punjab counterparts from Dasuya, Hoshiarpur, Garhshankar, Ropar and Mohali would be present to chalk out the plans. He said the meeting was planned on the Chief Minister’s directions during his Una visit recently.

Solan, February 24
BJP’s Solan mandal on Saturday sat on a dharna against deficient power supply in the town.

BJP leaders, led by BJP’s mandal president Ravinder Parihar, protested against the poor power management. He said as against the demand of 32 kVA, merely 28 kVA power was being supplied, leading to frequent unscheduled power cuts.

Parihar said health services were deteriorating at the Regional Hospital where there was scant staff to cater to an outdoor patient rush. He said the indifferent attitude of the state government in providing better health services was adding to their hardships.

BJP’s Kasauli MLA Dr Rajiv Sehzal said the Congress was playing politics by first closing the degree college started by them during the BJP regime and then going in for the inauguration of a new building at Mandodhar.

He said since the BJP had already selected this site during their tenure for constructing a building of the only college in the Kasauli constituency, the move aimed at gaining political mileage.

He lambasted the Congress for removing the names of Banasar, Narayani and Pratha panchayats from the list of backward panchayats merely because people had given lead to the BJP. He said since these pancahyats were located in the backward areas where the terrain was tough and connectivity was limited, it was unfair to deprive them of the benefits of the backward area.

Sehzal said the government had failed to ensure the timely repair and maintenance of roads.

Solan, February 24
The state government has targeted revenue generation of about Rs 996 crore in the new excise policy for 2014-2015 where excise duty has been increased by 4 per cent for various types of liquor.

The new policy was cleared by the state Cabinet on Wednesday.

In a bid to stall the mushrooming growth of distilleries which fails to be productive and leads to revenue loss, the government has fixed their quota and they would be required to sell a minimum quantity of liquor.

Sources in the Excise and Taxation Department said the move would help phase out uncompetitive entrepreneurs and curtail unfair practises.

The new policy had also enhanced the licensee fee of about 500 bars in the state from the existing Rs 35,000 to Rs 75,000.

It would be mandatory for them to procure liquor from the nearest vend, the sources added.

In a major relief to retailers, their mandatory quota has been scaled down from 100 to 80 per cent. There were about 1,815 vends and 572 bars.

The license fee of 572 bars has been enhanced from 12 to 15 per cent. They will now pay fee in the range of Rs 35,000 to 1.27 lakh.

The new excise policy has, however, drawn flak from traders who felt the state government should have allotted vends on a fresh basis.

Since no fresh allotments have been made ever since 2007-2008, the monopoly of selecting a few is dominating this lucrative trade.

While fresh allotments would have earned revenue worth few crores in lieu of application fee and revision of reserve price of existing vends, the state government appears to have chosen to renew the existing licensees in view of the impending parliamentary elections.

Since the value of several vends has increased manifold in the past seven years due to developmental activities going on in their periphery, failure to invite fresh bids has led to substantial revenue loss.

Since the reserve price of existing vends can’t be enhanced beyond a marginal amount, the state government has clearly lost revenue by failing to go in for fresh allotments.