Shimla July 30
Brushing aside the threats of agitation by students, the Executive Council of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) finally took a call on fee hike and put its seal on the recommendations of the Resource Mobilisation Committee (RMC).

The RMC had suggested fee hike based on the fee structure at Panjab University, Chandigarh, and other universities in the neighbouring states and more importantly the fee structure of Himachal Board of School Education and 10 per cent increase in fee per annum.

Insiders revealed that the fee could be hiked to about 50 per cent as the present fee at HPU was very less as compared to the neighbouring states.

HPU had not revised the fee for past several years, as it was a sensitive issue triggering protests from students. However, the authorities claimed that the fee would be lower than that in neighbouring states even after revision.

The long-pending demand of strengthening the pension corpus fund was also approved at the meeting.

The EC reportedly decided that the fixed deposits under different departments would be brought under the control of the finance officer and the interest paid of the corpus would be used as the pension fund.

However, the deposits would remain intact and efforts would be made to get more funds from the government every year to strengthen the fund, as the liability on pension would progressively increase due to increasing number of retirees.

The EC did not take any decision regarding students’ elections and decided to call a meeting of all principals to get feedback before making a final decision.

The SCA members met the EC members ahead of today’s meeting and submitted a memorandum opposing hike in fees, announcement of SCA election dates as per the recommendations of Lingdoh Committee and the consideration of SCA’s 12 suggestions given to increase university income without increasing the fees.

Students’ unions had already warned the university against any hike in fee. Now, the stage has been set for a major confrontation, as fee hike is inevitable and the government and the university are keen on doing so.

EC decides Authorities claim the fee will be lower than that in the neighbouring states even after revision The pension corpus fund will be strengthened The fixed deposits under different departments will be brought under the control of the finance officer and the interest will be used as the pension fund

Shimla, July 30
Facing acute staff shortage and financial crunch, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) may not be able to introduce the Rashtriya Uchhatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) at the post-graduate level, but is determined to continue it at undergraduate level.

The implementation of RUSA at the under-graduate level has invited sharp criticism from both college teachers and students, who are opposing RUSA and pressing to revert to the old system.

College teachers openly opposed RUSA and all major student organisations, including the ABVP, NSUI and SFI, are also up in arms against it. RUSA, which was implemented in a callous manner last year, has left students high and dry as the results of some of the courses haven’t been declared so far.

The teacher-student ratio which should be 1:30 is not being followed. Moreover, college teachers were not equipped to introduce the choice-based credit system (CBCS), as under the new system, with multidisciplinary subject options the number of subjects would increase from four to seven.

The academic session in colleges has already started and student unions have threatened to launch mass agitation from August 1 in case RUSA was not scrapped and with elections to the Students Central Association being round the corner, student unions are vying to oppose it tooth and nail.

Himachal was the first to implement RUSA and it adopted the new system even before the Union Government took a decision, but its main objective was to get grants and the situation had become so paradoxical that RUSA’s Project Approval Board (PAB) sanctioned Rs 82.64 crore for its implementation during 2014-15, but detailed plans and proposals for availing the grants were yet to be worked out forcing students and colleges teachers to protest it.

But, after Delhi University backtracked on its four-year graduate programme (FYGP) due to rigid stand of the UGC, students and teachers have been bolstered and are opposing RUSA more vocally.

Kangra, July 30
For improving the quality of teaching in management courses, the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) has signed an MoU with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, for the supply of case studies developed by IIM and development of faculty for the use of these cases for professional development of students.

The IIM will conduct a three-day workshop on “Case study and Case Writing” from July 31 at CUHP, Shahpur.

Mohinder Singh, faculty and organising secretary of the workshop, today said in line with the IIM-A, the School of Business and Management Studies, CUHP, had adopted a case study method for imparting knowledge, skills and conceptions to management students for instilling in them decision-making competencies.

He said 42 participants of the School of Business Management Studies and School of Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management, would attend the workshop. Its objective was to equip the participants with the knowledge and skills in writing case studies.

Prof MR Dixit, IIM-A, will be the resource person for the workshop. During this workshop, he will prepare the participants with the help of case studies circulated in advance to the participants.

Shimla, July 30
Private universities and technical institutions in Himachal are in a fix following the dismissal of their petitions challenging admissions to technical courses on merit through the common entrance test (CET) conducted by the Private HP Technical University and regulation of admission and fee structure by state regulatory bodies by the High Court as a large number of sanctioned seats will remain unfilled.

The Himachal Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission has swung into action after the HC verdict and asked private universities to either recruit the faculty as per the AICTE norms for sanctioned seats or surrender the excess seats by August 30 next.

The technical institutions and private universities, who made admissions in violation of norms, would also be penalised as per the law as the government, while allowing erring institutions to retain ineligible students as “one-time measure” last year, had made it clear that regulatory and affiliating bodies would impose penalties on institutions, keeping in view the HC orders in the petitions file by the Private Universities Managements Association and the Un-aided Polytechnics Welfare Association.

The government contended that 16 private universities, one private engineering college, 12 bachelor of pharmacy private colleges, nine private management colleges and 25 private polytechnics exist in the state, along with 129 industrial training institute in the private sector, and to ensure that students were not subjected to multiple entrance tests and admissions to these institutions were made in a fair and transparent manner, the state decided that the HP Technical University would admit students to BTech in its constituent colleges and affiliated private engineering colleges through the CET.

The government, regulatory commission and technical university also brought to the notice of the court that a large number of ineligible candidates had been allowed admissions by these institutions and against total number of 6,520 seats in private universities in BTech courses, 3,200 candidates were admitted.

Universities also admitted 308 students in MTech, MBA, MCA, M Pharmacy and B Pharmacy courses, and failed to meet AICTE norms, while the technical university said the admission details were not being sent by these institutions despite repeated reminders and it reported that 1,490 invalid admissions had been made.

While the Private Technical Institutions Association admitted that 4,405 students had been admitted in BTech, Diploma, B Pharmacy, M Pharmacy, MTech and MBA courses without entrance test, the HP Technical Education Board said of 3,866 students admitted against 9,000 seats in 23 private polytechnics, 2,627 admissions were without PAT/LEET.

The average result of private polytechnics in the first year (2012-13) was less than 5 per cent and for senior classes, the result was around 15-20 per cent which exposed the inadequate infrastructure and faculty available with these institutions.

Shimla, July 30
Dismissing speculations about his ministers being at loggerheads or there being simmering discontentment among them, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said anybody was free to quit the ministry and only those who were keen to work should remain part of his Cabinet.

“Nobody has been compelled to be part of the Cabinet and as such they are free to quit as and when they wish to,” remarked Virbhadra when asked if unhappy Transport Minister GS Bali had threatened to resign. However, when asked about the resignation of Chief Parliamentary Minister (CPS) Rajesh Dharmani, he said it was an internal matter of the party.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he dismissed allegations that he was acting with political vendetta. “In fact, it is my predecessor PK Dhumal who introduced the culture of framing his political opponents in false cases by misusing the police and the Vigilance,” he said. He added that he was himself a victim of witch-hunting as two false cases of a sagar katha and CD were registered against him.

Virbhadra said he had no personal enmity with Dhumal, but each time he became Chief Minister, he tried to frame him in false and fabricated cases. “If he believes in democracy, he must accept the fact there will be a leader of the opposition, but Dhumal has always tried to crush his political opponents,” he alleged.

He said getting the allegations contained in the Congress chargesheet prepared by the state Congress while he was a Union minister was his moral responsibility. “The chargesheet against the BJP regime was prepared by a committee headed by Bali and being the Chief Minister, he is bound to get it probed,” he remarked.

He added that in some cases, investigations were on while chargesheet had been prepared and it was those named in it to prove their innocence.

The Chief Minister said he had cordial relations with the Centre and it was his duty to maintain these.

“I have already spoken with the Union Finance Minister and written to him that HP should be provided Rs 245 crore given as the Calamity Relief Fund,” he said. He revealed that so far only Rs 95 crore had been received from the Centre under this fund.

Hamirpur, July 30
Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal has urged the Centre to allocate Rs 100 crore for starting work on the Bhanupalli-Manali-Leh railway line.

Dhumal took up this matter with the Centre to start work on this project on the pattern of the North-East railway network.

Attacking the functioning of the state government, Dhumal said, “The transfers of state government employees are going on despite ban and certain politically powerful people close to the ruling party are effecting large scale transfers for extraneous consideration.”

Dhumal said, “Even employees are being transferred as punishment to distant places.”

Dhumal also criticised the state government for allegedly patronising the sand mafia in the border areas of the state.

He said, “Certain powerful people have been permitted to extract sand and gravel in the area on the borders of the state but common people are facing acute shortage of building material.”

Shimla, July 30
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today congratulated Vikas Thakur for winning the silver medal in the weightlifting competition (85 kg category) of the 20th Commonwealth Games (CWG), being held at Glasgow. He announced Rs10 lakh reward to Vikas for his achievement.

The Chief Minister said the government was endeavouring to promote sports in a big way and efforts were being made to provide better infrastructure at grassroots level. He announced that a cash incentive of Rs 20 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 6 lakh would be given to the winners of gold, silver and bronze medals in individual events during the games, he added.

He said Vikas would win many more medals in the future international events.

Nurpur, July 30
Panic gripped residents of remote Nayangal village near Kotla in Jawali subdivision when a landslide hit the village yesterday just after nine months’ gap.

As many as 11 more houses have fallen in the danger zone at the village and three families have been shifted to safe places with the help of local Trilokpur gram panchayat.

In October last year, a landslide had hit Dhar-Soldha village situated on the hill top of Nayangal village, due to which 10 houses had collapsed rendering seven families homeless, who were yet to be rehabilitated.

But now, the land has started sliding at Nayangal village again. The Dhar-Soldha village land too has started sinking since Monday night. A visit to the affected village reveals that the houses of Sushma Devi, Manmohan, Kushal, Khem Raj, Subash, Dharo, Chhota Ram, Roshan Lal, Raghunath and Jaram Singh were under constant threat. These residents have been spending sleepless nights for the past two nights.

Meanwhile, local gram panchayat pradhan Rajinder Guleria, naib tehsildar, Kotla, Sat Pal and local former MLA Harbans Rana rushed to the affected village yesterday and managed to shift three families of Manmohan Singh, Sushma Devi and Raghunath Singh to safe places to avoid any untoward incident.

Sat Pal said he had reported the matter to the Jawali SDM, adding that people living near landslide affected area in the village had been cautioned not to go near that area. He said he would visit the affected village to review the situation.

Palampur, July 30
Train services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar remained disrupted for the second day today following landslides and damage caused to railway track and culverts by heavy rain and flash floods last week.

This has inconvenienced hundreds of passengers, particularly students and daily commuters, who frequent between Ranital and Pathankot.

At present, there are no direct train services on the 120-km Pathankot-Jogindernagar railway track. However, Northern Railways has partially restored train services between Koparlahar and Paprola. Train services between Paprola and Jogindernagar are still erratic.

The Railways today cancelled two trains between Koparlahar and Paprola track for technical reasons. A spokesman of the Northern Railways told mediapersons that all efforts were being made to restore train services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar at the earliest.

He said a team of engineers and field staff were working round-the-clock to repair the track.

The British had laid down this railway track in 1932, which passes through 33 stations linking all important and religious towns of Kangra and the parts of Mandi district.

The condition of the railway track between Pathankot and Jogindernagar has gone from bad to worse in the past 10 years, as the Railways has no funds to repair and maintain the track.

Several small and big bridges are on the verge of collapse. The retaining walls on the tracks have developed major cracks.

Shimla, July 30
It was a pathetic sight at Katardhar village where eight persons, seven belonging to one family, died in an accident which took place at Katardhar on the Basantpur-Kingal road yesterday as the bodies were brought to the village after post-mortem.

They died just 1.5 km short of their destination as the ill-fated bus fell into a 400-m-deep gorge. All bodies have been identified and handed over to family members.

Mohan Lal (22), Asha Devi (27), Reeta Devi (28), Hemant Kunj (7), Mata Devi (21), Chandrawati(48) and Mohan Lal (26), all belong to one family, while a school teacher Sanjay Kumar (38) from Bilaspur, his wife Kanchan Sharma (34) and four-year-old son Sujal Sharma lost their lives in the accident. Two other teachers who lost their lives are Sanjeev Kumar (38) and Manoj Kumar (40) from Bilaspur and Mandi.

Deceased Rita Devi and Hemant Kumar were wife and son of Deep Prakash, who sustained serious injuries, while Chandrawati, wife of Bhaskaran of Dumehar, was seriously injured. Another woman Kaushalya was of Khob.

The other deceased included Indra Himral (51), Kamal Kant (23), Paras Ram (80), Geeta Ram (37), Bhumi Chand, Kameshwar, Sabir Alam (29) and Ali Akbar (22). The condition of four out of five people admitted to IGMC here is stated to be critical.

Witnesses said the accident took place when the driver tried to save a car coming from the opposite direction.

Shimla, July 30
The two ramshackle workshops of the Himachal Roads Transport Corporation (HRTC) at Tara Devi are nothing more than “jugaad workshops”, where HRTC mechanics somehow manage to put the ailing HRTC buses back on the roads for public transport.

“Jugaad engineering” is the buzz word among HRTC mechanics, fitters and helpers, who work overtime here in wretched condition, managing to “breathe some life into the sick public transport system”.

The workers at these workshops do not get enough genuine spare parts and lack modern tools - there are tools being used by workers since the time of the British as the HRTC has not bothered to upgrade these.

The gear box, engines and assembly workshop room reek with engine and gear oils and carbon and machinery junks, which have changed the hall beyond recognition. The overworked workers wrestle with the rush of buses moving in for repair work at the divisional workshop from eight different HRTC depots daily.

In the regional workshop compound, the workers face leaking roofs and pools of muddy oily waters inside the workshop, engine and cushion rooms. “We have been working here like animals for the last 30 years as working condition are the worst,” rued senior workers, pointing out the junkyard of outdated tools, discarded spares and pools of mud and oily slush in the workshops.

There are just four mechanics for the 20 engines that need repair each month. There are helpers who put in more than 25 years and retire as helpers.

The HRTC needs skilled mechanics but is adjusting workers even from PWD, revealed insiders. Shimla division has about 700 buses, but only seven mechanics, 15 fitters and most of the buses enter the workshop after 5 pm and they have to work overtime, they rued.

The workers are concerned with the safety of the passengers, considering the recent spate of road accidents involving HRTC buses. “We have to ensure that the buses are put back on road by jugaad even if we do not get enough spare parts on time”, they confided.

Tara Devi workshops are no isolated cases. The plight of the Dhalli workshop and other in the state is no different, if not worse, revealed insiders. HRTC needs 800 more drivers and the same number of skilled mechanics to run the fleet of over 2,200 buses safely, revealed sources.

The workshops are the backbone of HRTC, but no one has ever paid attention to improve the working condition, tools and make the genuine spare parts and enough strength of the mechanics available, they revealed.

The HRTC has a large army of managers from work managers, deputy regional, regional, divisional, who have little work. But the staff of drivers and mechanics, the backbone of the public transport corporation, remains inadequate as new recruitment has not been done since 1996, admitted senior managers.

Anil Sen, Regional Manager, HRTC, said the corporation had okayed a plan to modernise the workshops. “We need more mechanics and drivers, but the corporation is aware of it”, he added.

Palampur, July 30
The Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department has been facing serious financial crisis in Palampur.

In the absence of funds with the executive engineer and non-payment of bills of contractors, most of the development activities have come to a standstill.

Official sources confirmed that there are liabilities of over Rs 2 crore, payable to about 100 contractors, who have already executed the civil works in the department. These contractors have been visiting the office of PS Dhanotia, Executive Engineer, IPH, Palampur, daily for release of payments.

A number of contractors told The Tribune that they had already completed the works and their bills had also been passed and entered the measurement books, but the executive engineer was not making their payment under the pretext of certain technical reasons and financial crisis as no letter of credit (LoC) was issued to him by the chief engineer for making such payments.

Dhanotia admitted that there were liabilities of over Rs 2 crore due and their bills had also been passed. He stated that technically and legally these payments could not be made as these works had already been shown completed in the papers and their project completion reports (PCR) had also been sent to higher authorities by his predecessor, therefore he had detained the payments.

He said out of these, the major liabilities pertained to maintenance works which had no budget at present and were awarded and executed by the contractors without budgetary provisions.

Dhanotia said he had already apprised his seniors and sought guidelines for making such payments. If additional budget was allotted by the government, only then he could make the payments, he claimed.

However, contractors refuted his claims. They said it was an internal matter of the department to show these works completed in the papers and sending its report to the government, but practically such works were still underway, which could be verified by visiting the respective sites. These facts were already in the notice of the chief engineer and superintending engineer, who had inspected these works from time to time, they added.

Meanwhile, Ashwani Gupta, Chief Engineer, IPH, said he had called for a detailed report from the executive engineer, Palampur, so that facts were ascertained. However, he denied that there was a financial crisis and clarified that the state government had allocated adequate budget to Palampur division.

There could be some technical reasons which had withheld the payments of contractors. As soon as the report of the executive engineer was received in his office, he would initiate further action, Gupta added. 

Shimla, July 30
The state government today warned transporters, commission agents and growers to follow the 22.5 kg standard carton norms. But the Agricultural Marketing Board Committee (APMC) has yet to get tough at the Parwanoo barrier entering Chandigarh and Delhi markets.

Horticulture Minister Vidya Stokes after reviewing implementation of the standard carton norms, laid all rumours to rest saying that the government would impose the standard carton ordinance and would take penal action against the violators.

To enforce this standard carton for apple packing this season, the government has inserted a sub-clause amending the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture and Horticulture Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2005 and the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture and Horticulture Produce Marketing (General) Amendment Rules, 2006 for the standard carton, she asserted.

Arhtyas are misguiding farmers to go for overgrading cartons to fetch good prices in the markers, revealed farmers, expressing apprehension over the new 22.5 kg standard carton regulation.

The APMC together with the state Excise and Taxation Department and the police have yet to gear up its machineries at the Parwanoo barrier where the overloaded trucks are still finding easy access to the Chandigarh and Delhi markets.

There are farmers who plead that on an average they have small-sized fruit having no proper shape and colour. By putting this fruit in the 22.5 kg cartons will put them in losses in the sense that they have to buy extra cartons that in turn incur extra cost on labour and transport, feared Sachin Chauhan, an orchardist from Maroag, Chopal.

Allaying fears of the orchardists, Vice-Chairman, HPMC, Prakash Thakur, who is also an orchardist from Kotgarh, said the farmers should not be misguided by the rumours and fears of losing markets being spread by the vested interests. The standard packaging would benefit the farmers, he asserted.

Managing director, APMC, HS Baveja said there was no question of any relaxation in 22.5 kg standard carton packaging as they had constituted a special cell to enforce the norms. They would challane transporaters and impose the penalty on the violators, he warned.

Kangra, July 30
A seven-day national workshop on “Construction and Standardisation of Research Tools” held at the Dronacharya PG College of Education, Rait, culminated here on Sunday.

Chief guest K Singh of Panjabi University, Patiala, said, “A teacher has to be a learner throughout his life and students should be such who are able to challenge their teachers and take them towards excellence.” He said the sharing of knowledge led to its generation and collective wisdom enabled a country to progress. He emphasised on the real efficacy of the research process.

Vishal Sood, IGNOU, HPU, elaborated on the steps of standardisation of a research tool.

Principal PK Sharma welcomed the guests and executive director BS Pathania proposed a vote of thanks.

Dharamsala, July 30
The Industries Department has planned a new industrial area at Kandrori village, on the border of Kangra district, near Pathankot. The Department has identified a 72-hectare land in Kandrori and sent the case to the state government for notification. The idea is to attract industry in the fringe areas of the state adjoining Punjab.

However, the experts are of the view that this industrial area might also face the Army clearance bottleneck. The Kandrori village is near the Army ordinance depot. A steel plant of SAIL is already facing similar problem.

SAIL had brought up a steal moulding plant, making an investment of about Rs 300 crore, in the village. The plant was planned here during the stint of Virbhadra Singh as Union Minister for Steel. However, when the construction of the plant was almost complete, the Army authorities found that it was in 900-metre periphery of their ordinance depot and could not be allowed.

Despite the best efforts of the government, who had lobbied for making the plant functional with the Union Ministry of Defence, the Army has not yielded on its stance and has not given the No Objection Certificate (NOC) for making the plant functional. In fact, the Army has taken action against the officers who were posted in the area when the construction of the steel plant was started.

Sources here said seeing the scenario, the state Industries Department should first obtain an NOC from the Army before bringing up the industrial area.

Om Prakash Jariyal, General Manager, Industries, Kangra, said the place where the industrial area has been planned in Kandrori is far away from the steel plant. He, however, said the Army NOC had not yet been taken for the new industrial area. “I will take up the issue with the relevant authorities,” he added.

The Army rules do not allow any type of construction within 900-metre periphery of their ordinance depots. However, most of the areas in Kandrori and Damtal, that fall within striking distance of the ordinance depot, are thickly populated. The area also has private industries, which came up without giving two hoots about the ordinance laws of the Army.

However, since the industrial area is being brought up by the government, it has to adhere to rules so that public investment in the area does not go waste like the SAIL plant.

Kangra has many other areas adjoining to Punjab where the industrial areas can be developed. Despite being the biggest district of the state in terms of population, the district has no major industrial project.

Shimla, July 30
The special relaxation given by the government for allowing the grant of nautor (government) land to landless people or those having very little land in tribal areas, will benefit more than 20,000 persons in Kinnuar, Lahaul-Spiti, Pangi and Bharmour.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Deputy Speaker and Kinnaur MLA Jagat Singh Negi said those who had applied for nautor land since 1998 would get relief as no land allotment had been made after 1998 under the Nautor Rules, 1971.

“The special relaxation given in the Forest Conservation Act by the Governor for a period of two years will pave way for the disposal of long pending applications for nautor land,” said Negi.

Dispelling apprehensions that all forest land was demarcated protected forest (DPF), he said there was ample land which was available in the form of unprotected forest in Kinnuar as well as in Spiti.

“The decision will not only help people who have less than 20 bighas of land to get a maximum of up to 20 bighas addition land, but will also expedite the development works which have been delayed for want of forest clearances from the Centre,” he added.

He said there were around 10,000 applications for nautor land in Kinnaur district.

Una, July 30
Chairman of the State Finance Commission and Chintpurni MLA Kuldip Kumar today expressed concern over reports that various industrial units in the state were not following norms of providing employment to 70 per cent Himachalis.

Presiding over a district level 20-Point Programme review meeting at Bachat Bhawan, he directed the Labour Department and the district administration to ensure that the laid down norms were followed.

Kuldip Kumar said as per the available records, a sum of about Rs 20 crore was lying unutilised by gram panchayats. These grants pertained to various developmental works sanctioned for the panchayats. He said out of these, Rs 3 crore was lying unutilised for the past five years.

He asked the Rural Development officials to ensure that these works were initiated by the panchayats within the next two months else the grants would be withdrawn.

Reviewing the allocation of funds for the construction of dwellings to people living below poverty level, Kumar said 355 houses were being constructed under the Indira Awaas Yojana and the Rajiv Awaas Yojana during the current financial year.

He directed the Food and Civil Supplies Department to ensure that every fair-price shop had proper display boards outside with updated stock position of each essential item. 

Bharmour, July 30
To give a boost to van mahotsavs, Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri planted a sapling of an ‘acroot’ in the Kalighori forest in the Holi tribal terrain of Chamba district today.

The Forest Minister appreciated the efforts of the staff of Chamba Forest Circle in the reclamation of muck-dumping sites on the banks of the Ravi.

Later, a public function was held on the premises of Government High School, Deol, where Bharmouri addressed a gathering of local Kuleth, Deol, Nayagran, Holi, Kuthed and Lamoo panchayats.

Speaking on the occasion, Bharmouri urged the Forest Department to raise fodder and fruit plants to supplement the food for monkeys in the state.

Earlier, Chief Conservator of Forests ARM Reddy gave information about the ongoing activities of the Forest Department. 

Dharamsala, July 30
Kewal Singh Pathania, vice-chairman of the Forest Corporation, today launched a tree plantation drive of the Mid-Himalayan Project for Dharamsala zone near Chari.

While talking to The Tribune, Pathania said this year about Rs 90 crore was being spent under the project in the state. Since the project started in 2006, about Rs 600 crore had been spent on the project, he said.

He further said in the plantation drive under the project this year, 11 lakh trees would be planted in the Dharamsala region including Kangra, Chamba, Mandi and Hamirpur districts. In Dharamsala zone alone, 2.23 lakh trees would be planted on 209 hectare.

Pathania has issued an appeal to people of the state to plant a sapling in memory of their loved ones this year.

Regional Director of the project, Pawnesh Kumar, while talking to reporters said the project had helped improve the livelihood of thousands of people in rural areas.

Una, July 30
The Una Forest Department today confiscated four truckloads of wood at the Gagret barrier, which was reportedly being smuggled to Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. The logs belonged to species which are banned for transportation out of the state, while the permit issued to the forest contractor mentioned species which were open for inter-state transportation.

RK Dogra, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), said when the staff posted at the Gagret forest check post checked the permit issued by Palampur DFO, it did not match the species in the trucks. He said the vehicles, along with the wood, have been confiscated under Sections 41 and 42 of the Forest Act and sent to the forest police post, situated in Tatehra village.

The DFO said the confiscated trucks bear registration numbers HP 68B 0722, HP 68A 4743, HP 56 4449 and HP 72 0887. A case has been registered against contractor Mohan Singh and truck drivers Ajay Singh, Shashi Kumar, Lekh Raj and Ravinder, he added. 

Shimla, July 30
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today released a book “A World Within- A remarkable story of coping with a parent’s dementia” authored by Minakshi Chaudhry, here today.

Chaudhary, a writer and a former journalist has penned more than 10 books. Her latest release is a touching saga of how age-related disease Alzheimer changes the very relationship of a parent and child. “The person who always remained the bedrock of your strength and whom you always looked up to all your life becomes a pale shadow of his past, struggling to cope with his condition, thereby bringing a complete change in the relationship,” says Chaudhary.

She said it was a very sensitive story, the story of a man dying in slow motion.

“It is a story of a man building bridges to nowhere as he loses his memory, struck by the deadly Alzheimer’s disease,” she said about her book.

However, there was another aspect of the book, she said: “When the drama of life ends, you will have nothing, today is all that you have, enjoy life. With tears there is laughter and amidst confusion there is clarity that life must go on and we must flow with it.”

The book reflects on the ailments of dementia and Alzheimer’s, which have afflicted a sizable number of elderly people. The book emphasises the need for dealing with such situation with love, care, attention and proper handling as it is a social problem which is likely to become grave with life expectancy going up.

Chamba, July 30
To give a facelift to post offices in the remote district of Chamba, the Department of Post Offices has implemented the National Cleaning Drive of Post Offices, in true letter and spirit. Starting from the head post office, Chamba, early this month, almost the entire district has been covered.

Giving the information here today, RS Rana, Superintendent of Post Offices, Chamba Postal Division, said the drive was launched by the Department of Posts, Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, on July 9.

“The aim of this special cleanliness drive is to make the post offices spotless, presentable and welcoming,” Rana stated.

He said the main emphasis had been laid on cleaning up the condition of post offices functioning in the tribal terrains of Holi and Bharmour.

“The Pangi tribal region of the district has also been covered under this drive,” he said.

He said other activities included under the drive were weeding out records as per guidelines, repair and removal of extra and all unserviceable furniture, equipment etc.

Sukh Nand with his sister, who are among the oldest patients from Rampur undergoing treatment at the hospital. Photo: Ambika Sharma

Solan, July 30
With the district administration bent upon shifting 20 leprosy patients from Mandodhar hospital to the old building of the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Dharampur to provide accommodation to the newly announced degree college, the patients today raised slogans and went on strike in the hospital demanding a permanent place for the hospital.

Since the old building of the CHC will be acquired for the four-laning project, this place only provides a temporary abode to them.

Patient Sukh Nand from Rampur who stays here with Darshan Lal from Mashobra, Prago Devi from Nohradhar, Champa Devi from Kumarsein and Ganga Ram from Chopal, said they were not against opening of the college but they should be given a permanent place.

With a majority of them having been deserted by their families, this hospital has been providing shelter to them.

They rued that since the people discriminated against them, it would be difficult to live in Dharampur.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had laid the foundation stone of the new college in this hospital on February 23, days before the model code of conduct came into force. A sum of ~5 crore was also announced for construction of its building in the hospital complex.

Officials of the Education Department, including the Principal of the local degree college, who also holds the charge of the newly announced college at Dharampur, the Public Works Department, the SDM, etc, have already inspected the site to explore the feasibility of holding classes from the current academic session here.

Kullu, July 30
Barinder Thakur, Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Kullu and Chairman, Sub-divisional Legal Services Committee, presided over a legal literacy camp at Naggar village, 25 km from here, yesterday. Apprising the masses about their legal rights, he urged them to settle minor disputes at panchayat level to save time and money.

Legal aid clinics, equipped with para-legal volunteers, would be opened in all panchayats to assist people on legal matters. A lawyer would also be available on Tuesdays at these clinics, to give masses important legal information, he added.

Barinder said the weaker sections of society, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, children, handicapped, differently-abled and individuals having less than ~1 lakh annual income were entitled to get free legal aid. The application procedure was very simple and masses should utilise this facility.

Anurag Prarthi, president, Kullu District Bar Council, apprised the gathering about the legal aspects related to domestic violence and the Motor Vehicles Act. Advocate Rajeev Sharma talked about the various laws related to women and children.

Advocate Tej Singh Thakur gave information regarding the fundamental rights and duties. GC Bainse, Block Development Officer, Naggar, highlighted the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and other schemes. ASI Sandeep Pathania apprised the masses about the legal aspects related to the police procedures.

Chamba, July 30
The Sports Training Centre (STC), Chandigarh, clinched the Minjar Trophy by defeating Meerut 2-1 in the final match of the Women’s Hockey Tournament organised by the International Minjar Fair Sports Committee here today. The STC has won the championship for the second time in a row.

Sandeep Vasant, Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, gave away the prizes to the players and the participants.

Organising secretary of the association Sanjeev K Sharma said the women hockey tourney was introduced in the fair in 2009. Since then the presence of topnotch players of different teams of North India such as the Sports Authority of India, Dharamsala, Sports Training Centre, Chandigarh, GND University, Amritsar, Khalsa College, Jalandhar, Engineering College Yamunanagar, Meerut University, Himachal-XI, Delhi-XI had played in the Minjar hockey championship.

To nurture the local talent, the Chamba District Women Hockey Association (DWHA) also invited local teams from Government Senior Secondary Schools Udaipur, Holi and Chamba as well as Government Post-Graduate College, Chamba to be the participants of this event.

Nurpur, July 30
A CID team from Dharamsala, led by Assistant Sub-Inspector Tibbati Ram, arrested Krishna Devi and recovered 400 litre of illicit liquor from her possession. The accused belonged to the Sansi community.

According to DSP CID Badri Singh, the raid was conducted following a tip-off and a case under the Excise Act has been registered against the accused. She was produced in the court today and remanded in police custody.