Shimla, November 9
Jubilant over induction of senior party leader JP Nadda in the Cabinet, the Himachal BJP burst into celebrations with party workers surging on the roads, dancing at the beats of drums, distributing sweets and firing crackers.

Within minutes after Nadda was sworn in as minister, his supporters gathered at the state BJP office at Chakkar and the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) here to celebrate the great moment.

Senior BJP leader and MLA from Shimla Suresh Bhardwaj, party spokesman Ganesh Dutt and several other leaders congratulated Nadda and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving this honour to Himachal.

Ganesh Dutt described Nadda as a dedicated soldier of the party who served the organisation dedicatedly for more than three decades and left his mark. His induction into the Union Cabinet would benefit Himachal as he had good rapport with the Prime Minister and had worked with him for several years.

“There is an eclipse over development in Himachal during the past two years and this position will change now and development process will gather pace”, he added.

Former Chief Minister PK Dhumal and former Union minister and MP from Kangra Shanta Kumar also congratulated Nadda and said it was a great honour for Himachal. The elevation of Nadda would open doors of development for the state, they added.

Besides, state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti, former ministers Rajiv Bindal, Mohinder Singh, Narendra Bragata and Jai Ram Thakur; Anurag Thakur and Virendra Kashyap, MPs, and many other BJP leaders, Himachal Lokhit Party leaders Mohinder Sofat, Shyama Sharma, Babu Ram, Mandyal and others have hailed the induction of Nadda.

Shimla, November 9
The induction of senior BJP leader Jagat Prakash Nadda into the Cabinet will strengthen the BJP in Himachal which was ousted from power in 2012 Assembly elections. Nadda is one of the few senior BJP leaders who is not involved in any controversy. His induction is seen as a calculated move to prepare grounds for the next Assembly poll to achieve Modi’s mission of “Congress-free” India.

Nadda was preferred over Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president Anurag Thakur for berth in the Cabinet as he is energetic and experienced and senior to Anurag. He was the BJYM president in 1991 while Anurag got that post in 2011 and Nadda had also remained a Cabinet minister twice in the state.

He has worked with dedicated workers in the ABVP and later in the BJYM and many of them are holding important positions in the government and the organisation. Nadda was out of state politics after his appointment as BJP general secretary and his supporters were demoralised but now he is Himachal’s face in the Union Cabinet and is expected to take interest in politics as well as development of the state.

“The developmental needs will be met as Nadda is well aware of the problems of the state,” his supporters claim.

Both Nadda and Anurag Thakur are from the Hamirpur constituency and Nadda’s Rajya Sabha term will expire in April 2018 while the Assembly polls in the state are due in December 2017. The generation change has taken place in the BJP at the Centre and the process of change will take place in states also and the party is propelling younger leaders to take up bigger responsibilities, a senior party leader said.

Mandi, November 9
The local unit of the BJP distributed sweets and burst crackers after party vice-president JP Nadda, who hails from the state, was today inducted into the Union Cabinet.

It was the maiden Cabinet expansion of the Modi-led NDA government.

Seraj MLA and former state president Jairam Thakur along with party office-bearers and workers joined the celebrations.

Jairam said swearing-in of Nadda as a Cabinet minister was a moment of pride for the state. He said the party had earlier given him responsibilities in the organisation and the Parliamentary Board.

He said Nadda’s induction into the Cabinet would speed up development in the state.

Solan, November 9
Builders in the Kasauli area are increasingly using narrow village roads to carry construction material, risking the lives of the drivers and damaging the roads.

In a recent accident which took place near Dharampur, a person sitting in a loaded tipper was killed and its driver was seriously injured. The incident exposed the risk involved in such activities as the roads have not been passed by the PWD. Since the road is not fit for plying any such vehicle, the insurance companies also create hassles in passing claim for damages.

Sunil Kumar, an insurance official in Solan, said if the road is not passed by the PWD for plying a vehicle, the claimant will face problems in getting the claim. Cases of drivers lacking a driving license yet seeking claim after an accident were coming to the fore every now and then but as per the rules, such claim is not permissible, he added.

Constructions are going on in every nook and corner of Kasauli. The builders, apart from transporting sand, gravel, bricks and heavy machinery, were also transporting tonnes of iron on a daily basis. While some were widening the existing roads on their own, others were risking the lives of drivers by luring them with extra amount.

Since the police do not check the movement of vehicles on roads not cleared by the PWD, the builders have a free run by indulging in all sorts of violations.

Cases of vehicles overturning on such narrow roads and drivers plying vehicles in a drunken state have become the order of the day, confided sources working at such construction sites.

With no government department owing responsibility to check plying of vehicles on unfit roads, the life of drivers is continuously at risk.

Mandi, November 9
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his Cabinet colleagues will attend the wedding of Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s younger sister Arpita Khan.

Arpita is all set to marry her long-time boyfriend Aayush Sharma, son of local MLA and Rural Development and Animal Husbandry Minister Anil Sharma and grandson of former Telecommunications Minister Sukh Ram.

The wedding will take place in Hyderabad’s Royal Falaknum Palace on November 18. Aayush is also eyeing a career in Bollywood.

Arpita, a budding fashion designer, is the adopted daughter of Salim Khan and Helen and the youngest among the Khan siblings.

A source close to the family said the Chief Minister and the Cabinet ministers had agreed to attend the gala wedding.

The source said the family had also extended the invitation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi to attend the marriage.

A few days ago, Salman Khan had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The family of the groom had invited nearly 100 dignitaries, including Governor Urmila Singh. The bride’s family had invited more than 300 personalities, including Bollywood actors, top businessmen, corporate honchos and politicians.

Sources said the wedding would be a lavish affair as Salman Khan had already spent Rs 2 crore on the booking of the 7-star hotel.

The high-profile marriage will follow a grand reception in Mumbai on November 21.

The family members and relatives of the groom will leave for Hyderabad on November 16-17.

Una, November 9
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today inaugurated the three-day state level Sombhadra Mahotsav on his arrival in Una. He led a procession from the Circuit House in an open jeep.

The procession included well-decorated camels and horses, while traditional musical instruments such as tammaks and drums lent an air of festivity to the atmosphere. Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihori, Chairman of the State Finance Commission Kuldip Kumar, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman of the Festival Organising Committee Abhishek Jain also accompanied the CM.

Since the CM was to fly to Delhi, the procession did not reach Indira stadium, the venue of the festival, but terminated at the bus stand chowk. Virbhadra Singh was to be the chief guest at the first cultural night with Punjabi singer Sarabjeet Cheema as the main artiste. Government departments, voluntary organisations and local industrialists have put up stalls at the festival venue.

Earlier, the CM laid the foundation stone of a building block of a flood-monitoring centre at Ghaluwal village on the banks of the Swan river. The building will come up at Rs 84 lakh.

Once complete, the centre will be equipped with satellite link and other electronic surveillance equipment such as radars to provide advance information about the rainfall and quantum of water in the Swan and its tributaries. The cost of the equipment is estimated at Rs 2.5 crore.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh addresses investors in Ahmedabad on Saturday

Shimla, November 9
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh told investors in Gujarat that Himachal Pradesh had taken a lead in development and urged them to contribute in developing infrastructure besides setting up units in the state.

Addressing a meeting of investors organised jointly by the government of Himachal Pradesh and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in Ahmedabad yesterday, the CM said they sought assistance of Gujarat entrepreneurs to develop roads, construct tunnels, participate in the state’s development, open ski resorts, construct ropeways and contribute in infrastructure building, said a press statement here today.

Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri urged the investors to come for expansion and set up their additional units in the state and share their valuable experience with them.

He said Gujarat units were already investing more than Rs 4,000 crore in the state.

He said the Indo-Rama textile industry intended to invest Rs 300 crore in textile sector in the state. He said the proposals would be cleared in 90 days.

Una, November 9
Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur today said he would soon initiate a project of ‘Youth Knowledge Banks’ in all the 17 Assembly segments of his constituency.

Addressing a public meeting at Basal village, 8 km from here, the MP said each such centre would be equipped with 50 computers and internet facility to link youth with the schemes and programmes of various Central ministries and departments.

These centres would also provide computer education and on-line information to the youth on career guidance and employment generation, he added.

Talking about the ongoing membership drive of the BJP, Anurag said the facility of on-line membership offered by the party would boost the campaign. People were showing great interest in becoming members of the party, he added.

The MP said in a short span of about five months, the NDA government had succeeded in bringing down the prices of petroleum products and initiated steps in checking corruption. Flagship programmes such as cleanliness drives had been embraced with great enthusiasm by the citizens.

Anurag thanked Prime Minister Modi for giving the state a representation in the Union Cabinet. He congratulated Rajya Sabha member JP Nadda for his elevation.

The MP addressed a series of public meetings in Jhalera, Basal, Teuri, Ghandawal and Ajnauli villages of Kutlehar Assembly segment. Kutlehar MLA Virender Kanwar was also accompanied the MP.

Una, November 9
The BJP has demanded that the state government should begin the implementation of pending projects in Una and Kutlehar, the two Assembly segments represented by BJP MLAs in Una district. He said the foundation stones of some projects were already laid during the BJP regime.

State party president and Una MLA Satpal Singh Satti today said after two years in power, the state government had still not initiated work on the construction of a new bus stand at Una. He said the stone for the bus stand was already laid at the Himachal Road Transport Corporation depot in the city, which has to be shifted to a new location.

The BJP chief said there had been no progress on the Bangana-Bhota tunnel project, the foundation stone for which was laid by former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal. After the tunnel project was complete, the distance between Una and Hamirpur would be reduced, he said.

Satti said while the Congress repeatedly promised construction of a bridge over the Gobind Sagar reservoir between Mandli and Lathiani in the Kutlehar segment, there has been no talk on it during the last two years.

He said a water sports complex in the Gobind Sagar reservoir was also mooted. But the government was mum over the project that aimed at promoting tourism in the region besides providing employment opportunities to the locals.

The BJP leader rued that developmental works had come to a standstill in most parts of Una district, while almost all development was diverted to the Haroli segment.

Mandi, November 9
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) has sought a special package for the state to tide over the financial crisis.

CPM state secretary Rakesh Singha addresses a press conference in Mandi on Saturday. Photo: Jai Kumar

Due to poor planning and wrong policies of the successive governments, the state was facing severe financial crisis, said CPM state secretary Rakesh Singha, while addressing mediapersons here yesterday after a two-day convention of the party.

He said to come out of the crisis, the state government wanted to pass on the burden to the public in the form of VAT. If the state government was serious in tackling the crisis, then the Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and MLAs should first surrender their facilities, he added.

Singha said the Central government must give a special package to the state to end the present crisis, as the state government needed money to pay salaries to its employees.

He said no serious efforts were being made by the successive governments to get its claim of around Rs 4,000 crore against its share of the electricity generated by three Bhakra Beas Management Board hydropower projects.

The Supreme Court had awarded the claim of 7.19 per cent share in the three projects in favour of Himachal Pradesh. He said now the amount would have increased to nearly Rs 5,000 crore.

Condemning the Union Government for proposing changes in the Land Acquisition Act, he said there were 6 lakh hectare cultivable land in the state and out this, 1 lakh hectare had already been submerged in the dams built for power projects. He said they would oppose any amendment in the Act as it would encourage real estate activities and farmers would be rendered homeless.

He said the BJP was following the policies of the previous UPA government and wanted to transfer cash directly into the account of the beneficiary to put an end to subsidies under a clause of the WTO.

He said the CPM would oppose any changes in the labour laws and 11 trade unions had joined hands and they would organise a protest in Delhi on December 5 against the proposed amendment.

Shimla, November 9
Popularly known as the “Himalayan apple man” among farmers in England, Laxman Thakur, a progressive orchardist from Nandpur, will explore latest high-density orchards and rootstocks in Italy and England.

By doing this, he aims to bring the latest technology to farms in the apple belt here, which is currently reeling under a crisis.

Laxman, who remains unrecognised for his contribution to the promotion of latest technology in promoting the apple industry in the state, is the only member of the prestigious International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA) from India to attend study and training programme in Italy from November 16 to November 22.

IFTA, a global body of progressive farmers, has 618 members, out of which 397 are from the US, 118 from Canada, 17 from Australia, 13 from New Zealand and only one from India.

Before leaving for England Laxman, who is also the chairman of Ecohorts, Nandpur, said: “The IFTA invite is a great honour. We will attend the study and training programme in Marcon and Mestre in northern Italy from November 16 to 22. Then we will visit the latest high-density pear and apple plantations and get training in new techniques on how to grow fruit plant nursery and how to make wine as well.”

The IFTA members would get an opportunity to see the latest varieties being grown and propagated in the world’s finest fruit growing areas.

“The visit will provide an opportunity to interact with progressive fruit growers from 21 other countries,” Laxman said.

Talking about his mission, he said the visit would prove beneficial in enhancing the knowledge of fruit growers in Himachal as Ecohorts would hold interactive sessions with farmers.

Laxman set up spur variety orchard in the 1980s long before these were raised elsewhere in the belt. He will also meet “English apple man” John at Cant, in the outskirts of London.

“We will visit the Broadale Varietal Centre for apple cherries and pears, which has about 4,000 rootstocks and visit the Mailing Research Station, which pioneered rootstocks in the world,” he said.

IFTA, established in 1958, is a body of progressive growers to promote an understanding of nature and use of dwarf fruit trees through research, education and dissemination of information.

“It also provides funds for research projects through IFTA Rootstock Research Fund,” Laxman said. He has attended several farmer-to-farmer training programmes in Europe and China before.

Shimla, November 9
If all goes well, the state government as well as Pipfruit New Zealand may soon ink a multilateral deal on specific apple replant diseases (SARD), development of small apple nurseries, investigation and improvement of apple fruit yield.

A two-member delegation, led by Naidine and Pipfruit Chief Executive Officer Alan Pollard, met Horticulture and IPH Minister Vidya Stokes on Friday and discussed the issue threadbare.

The government has sought the Law Department’s legal opinion on the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PiPfruit company.

As per the proposed MoU, the state sought to set up programmes to identify ways to address SARD problems at the old orchards of the apple belt, mainly in Kotgarh, the state’s oldest apple kingdom, sources said.

The Pipfruit delegation claimed that they had evolved ways to replant old orchards. They said they harvest apple from January to April and average apple yield per hectare was as high as 67 metric tonne (MT) in New Zealand, the highest in the world, and there were orchards, where the yield went as high as 120 MT.

The MoU seeks to set up small nurseries for farmers in the state for replantation, investigation and improvement of apple yield, which remains as low as 8 MT per hectare.

Under the farmer-to-farmer programme, farmers would visit the orchards in New Zealand for exposure visits to learn the techniques on how to replant new orchards on old sites, sources who attended the meeting, said.

The company would establish the plant and research programme with Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry University, Solan, they said, adding that technical exchange programmes would also be held.

The meeting was chaired by Vidya Stokes and attended by HPMC vice-chairman Prakash Thakur, managing director JC Sharma, director, research, Dr RC Sharma and director, horticulture, Gurdev Singh.

Solan, November 9
Numerous commercial projects in Solan district appear to be adding to the ecological imbalance as a large number of trees are being felled for these projects.

A visit to Kasauli reveals that scores of resorts, hotels and flats are coming up, especially on the Dharampur-Kasauli and Garkhal-Jagjitnagar roads, where hillocks have been flattened and in the process hundreds of trees have been felled.

Each project has to seek an essentiality certificate (EC) from the department concerned where a permission is given for two years to complete a project. It was observed that in several such projects, ECs have lapsed and the ventures are still incomplete. Though a builder is suppose to seek renewal of such ECs, with no official procedure in place to check such cases, builders were having a free run. There is little official monitoring on its construction after the permission.

Several flats constructed in Barog are lying vacant as they are bought by outsiders who visited the area barely for a few weeks every year. Many flats are being built as owing a cottage or flat in the hills has become a fad with people from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana.

Dumping of muck by building projects too has become a cause for concern as no permission is sought to dump muck in an authorised site and this was choking the seasonal nullahs and water schemes, leading to disputes among the villagers and the builders.

Officials of various departments avoid queries as to why new constructions are being allowed when the existing ones fail to accommodate adequate people.

An official said since permissions under Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, are given by the state government, field officials have little role to play other than fulfilling the formalities.

Kangra, November 9
The Bajjreshwari Temple Trust has allocated funds for getting the road, connecting the temple, reconstructed. The road had been in a dilapidated condition for the last six years.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Kangra, and Assistant Commissioner, Temples, Ajit Bhardwaj today said the road, which was under the local Municipal Council (MC), could not be repaired for want of funds.

Bhardwaj said the road was important as it connected the temple with the main national highway and was being used for VIPs, physically-challenged people who reached the temple by four-wheelers to pay obeisance, besides other devotees who avoided the stairs. He said the road was being used by patients visiting Mission Hospital at the hilltop.

The SDM said in view of the inconvenience faced by people, pilgrims and patients, the trust decided to get the road reconstructed at a cost of Rs 12 lakh by the PWD. The trust had contributed Rs 9 lakh for the project and the remaining Rs 3 lakh was given by the Kangra MC.

Una, November 9
Under the Centrally sponsored National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), aimed at poverty alleviation of rural families, the Una district has begun its grassroots level activities of forming self-help groups (SHGs).

Chetna Khadwal, project officer of the District Rural Development Agency, said Una was one of the five districts selected for implementation of the mission in the first phase. While activities had been launched in all the five developmental blocks, Haroli had been selected as ‘intensive block’ where all mission activities would first be undertaken and later replicated in other blocks.

Khadwal said a team of trainers from the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyoijna, situated in Bareilly district of UP, had arrived here for a 45-day ‘training of trainers’ programme. The team had selected two panchayats, Pandoga and Panjawar, where the SHG members were being given 15-day training on socio-economic empowerment through collectives.

She said six panchayats would be covered by the visiting team during their 45-day programme and after that, the local trainees will continue with these trainings in the remaining panchayats. Under the mission, all economically weak families of the villages were eligible to become members of SHGs.

Mandi, November 9
The Red Cross Society organised an awareness camp for residents of a slum cluster here yesterday.

Migrant people with a team of the Red Cross Society in Mandi on Saturday. Photo: Jai Kumar

The camp was organised under the guidance of Dr Snehal Kadam, who informed people about health hygiene and management of waste.

She said a toilet and a bathroom would soon be constructed and a solar lighting system installed so that students could study under its light.

She urged dwellers to send their children to school and anganwari centres and get the benefits of schemes launched by the government.

She asked pregnant and feeding women to get vaccinated from time to time. A team of doctors would examine slum dwellers within a week during a free medical check-up camp and medicines would be provided free of cost to them by the Red Cross Society, she said.

Society secretary Dr OP Bhatia said a survey conducted in the cluster stated that 99 members of 20 families were living in the area and were illiterate, but their children were studying in government schools. He said they were making arrangements for those children who could not go to school.

Dalhousie, November 9
MLA Asha Kumari today stressed the need for enrolling more people as Red Cross members to take up more good work in society.

She lauded the efforts of the district Red Cross Society in helping in all healthcare activities and exhorting people to make it a mass movement.

This was stated by Asha Kumari while speaking on the occasion of a district-level Red Cross fete organised by its local unit here today.

“Selfless service should be the motto of every person,” she said, adding that for the purpose, charitable organizations, such as Red Cross Society, should be financially fortified.

She said the mission of the society was to initiate humanitarian activities.

Earlier, Asha Kumari visited stalls put up by various schools and other organisations for generating income for the society. She gave away certificates to lifetime members and those who contributed for organising the fair.

Chamba Deputy Commissioner M Sudha Devi, who is also the chairperson of the society, detailed activities being carried out under the auspices of it.

Former MLA Gandharav Singh, SDM Malok Singh, Medical Superintendent of the local Government Hospital Bipin Thakur, senior officers of different departments, heads of educational institutions and local citizens were present on the occasion.

Kangra, November 9
The stakeholder workshop on “Earthquake Resistant Measures and Disaster Management” under the three-day national workshop on “Status of Natural Hazards in Himachal Pradesh” was organised by the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences of Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) here today.

CUHP Vice-Chancellor YS Verma said passing knowledge from science to the stakeholder was an important aspect, but one should not be casual in dealing with natural hazards.

Prof Ravi Jee, Vice-Chancellor, University of Medicine, Michigan, US, shared his experience in the field of disaster management. Prof AK Mahajan of CUHP said the construction of high-rise buildings in the Dharamsala area could prove to be disastrous in the near future if over a 6-magnitude quake struck in the region.

Dr Ashok Kumar of the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, spoke on how a new building could be constructed in a quake-prone region.

Prof Chandan Ghosh of the National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi, and Dr OP Mishra spoke on the subject.

The function was organised in association with the district administration and the local Rotary Club. Dr VK Mahjan of the Rotary Club welcomed the participants.

Shimla, November 9
The non-teaching employees of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) are on the warpath these days.

The coordination committee of non-teaching employees, spearheading the agitation, has accused the university authorities of being non-serious about implementing their demands.

Three-time elected member of the Executive Council Chaudhry Waryam Singh Bains along with two other non-teaching staff members are on a dharna in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office.

The major demand of the non-teaching employees for a substantial hike in the budgetary support to the university by the government has not even been considered, and the demand for filling over 600 posts of teacher and non-teaching employees is hanging fire, they said.

The retiring employees are not being paid their full dues due to an acute financial crunch and the secretariat pay is not being accounted for pensionary benefits.

Waryam demanded that the decisions of the council be implemented in letter and spirit and a legal and an RTI cell be created, besides strengthening the pension corpus fund, computerising departments and branches and abolishing the prevalent system of outsourcing services.

Creation of the posts of a joint registrar and an additional registrar as well as of additional posts in various categories of non-teaching staff, reservation for wards of employees in various departments of the university, regularisation of contractual employees and grant of annual increment to them are some of the other demands of the employees.

He said a meeting between Registrar Mohan Jharta and representatives of the coordination committee was held on September 24, but none of the decisions had been implemented, forcing the employees to resume the agitation.

There was no policy on the transfer of employees. Shortage of residential accommodation was a perennial problem and the redressal of grievances of the library staff, construction division, healthcare, laboratory staff, technical and driver/security staff was nowhere among the priorities of the university, he said.

The other demands include framing of a permanent transfer policy, recruitment and promotion rules, acquisition of land for the extension of university campus, safeguard of old records of the examination wing, regular meeting of the Employees’ Grievances Redressal Committee as well as the recruitment and promotion committees of different categories and provision of a retiring room and community centre for employees and visitors.

However, HPU Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai, when contacted, said all demands which were in his domain had been accepted, while the demands pertaining to resource mobilisation and hike in budgetary support had been referred to the government.

Dharamsala, November 9
Two new colleges opened by the present government in Kangra district continue to face infrastructure and staff shortage problem.

The academic session of Nagrota Surian and Khundian colleges began this year, but both colleges are presently running basic graduation in arts courses. More than half of the academic session for the first year has passed, but the state government has failed to appoint teachers here.

In the recent past, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had also directed the Education Department to appoint teachers in the new colleges.

After the orders were issued, the authorities concerned transferred some teachers here. However, most of them again got their transfers cancelled. Nagrota Surian Government College is running from one room that too taken from local senior secondary school.

The Kundian college near Jawalamukhi is also facing acute dearth of teachers and is being run from a building taken from local government school.

Most of the new government colleges opened are without any teacher or infrastructure. Four such colleges in Kangra and Chamba districts are a clear illustration of the fact.

The present government started two new government colleges at Nagrota Surian and Kundian in Kangra district and Saluni and Tissa in Chamba district.

In Nagrota Surian, the new government college has started from one room of the local government senior secondary school and has nearly 100 students.

The students coming from surrounding rural areas are in a maze, as they took admission in BA or other streams offered by the college, but there was no teacher to teach them.

Even teachers sent to the college have to take turns to teach students as there is just one room rented out from the local government school in the name of infrastructure with the institution.

At Kudian college in the Changar area of Jawalamukhi Assembly segment classes started from one room taken from the local government senior secondary school and students here do not even have a toilet facility.

Sources said the government asked local authorities to arrange funds for the buildings of the new colleges. However, authorities have expressed their inability to provide funds for the colleges.

Haripur Guler Government College in Kangra district was opened by the previous BJP government. Though the college was established about six years ago, the institution does not have its own building. There is acute shortage of faculty and infrastructure. The college offers arts courses only.

Most of the new government colleges are a result of announcements made by politicians just before the Lok Sabha or Assembly polls to attract the electorate.

Even the colleges that were started decades ago in Himachal such as the Government College, Shahpur, are still without any proper infrastructure or facility.

Hamirpur, November 9
International seminar on ‘Striving for Excellence in Institutions of Higher Education’ was inaugurated at the Trisha College of Education here yesterday.

Prof Romesh Chander Kaundal, Chairman, Department of Education, HPU, said private institutions had failed to implement norms set up by the government and universities to achieve excellence in higher education.

He said major governing bodies, including the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), had failed in enforcing their recommendations in private institutes.

“The enrolment of students in higher education has increased from 17 to 19 per cent. It is alarming that the enrolment in government institutes has increased only by 7 per cent, whereas it is 12 per cent in case of private institutions,” he said.

Prof Harbans Rana, Head of Education Department, HPU, said it was unlawful to deny higher education to deserving students who could not afford to pay fees. The formation of an internal quality assurance cell in the institutes of higher education could make a difference.

NK Sharma, convener of the seminar, said HPU should develop a grading system of institutions, so that institutes could strive to maintain their standard.

Shimla, November 9
A person was killed and two others were seriously injured when the pick-up van they were travelling in collided head-on with a private bus coming from the opposite direction near Signapore on the Shimla-Rampur road, 85 km from here.

The van carrying chickens was on its way to Jhakri when the accident occurred. The deceased, identified as Sunil Kumar (23), was driving the van. Injured Bhagat Ram and Om Praksah were rushed to the nearby Community Health Centre, police sources said, adding that a case had been registered.

Nurpur, November 9
A dream project of former minister and Congress stalwart late Sat Mahajan, who represented Nurpur in the state Assembly, a cricket stadium is still a distant dream for the town. Its foundation stone was laid by the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on January 16, 1990, with an estimated cost of Rs 14.84 lakh.

The project, proposed thrice within the past 24 years, has remained on papers and became a public mockery in the lower Kangra region. During Assembly elections, it remained a major poll issue between contesting candidates but failed to take shape, dismaying sports persons of the region.

Initially, its foundation stone was laid at the Chogan Army camping ground but with the efforts of Sat Mahajan, when he was Kangra MP, its ownership got transferred to the HP Government in January 1998, eight years after its foundation laying ceremony.

On August 13, 1996, a few months before the by-election of the Nurpur Assembly constituency, the Public Works Department (PWD) re-installed its foundation stone with a new plaque and old foundation stone laying date.

Nowadays, the stadium site is being used for dumping building material.

A lot of anguish is brewing among sports lovers of the area over the unprecedented delay in the construction of the stadium.

The stadium was re-proposed and the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had sanctioned funds of Rs 1.83 crore in 2006. The construction started but with the change of government in December 2007, the work stopped.

The then local MLA Rakesh Pathania took plea that the previous government had proposed only a 400- metre athletic track. He transferred the proposed land, measuring 24,821 square metre, in the name of the State Sports and Youth Affairs Department in February 2012. A new, well-equipped cricket stadium was again proposed during the previous Dhumal regime, with an estimate cost of Rs 4.50 crore, for which the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) had signed a MoU with the government.

But with the change of guard again in December 2012, the long-awaited project was shelved after Virbhadra government’s opposition to the HPCA’s activities across the state. The chief minister, during his visit to the town on March 5 last year, had announced to annul the lease-cum-MoU undertaken by the PK Dhumal government with the HPCA.

For the time being, the proposed stadium, hanging fire since 1990, seems nowhere on the ground. Meanwhile, the demand to construct a bus stand on the proposed land has started gaining momentum.

Ritesh Mahajan, general secretary of Nagar Sudhar Sabha, said land for the proposed bus stand, on the premises of the old veterinary hospital at Chogan, was falling short. The government should construct it on the stadium land as it is a vast ground that could accommodate a full-fledged modern bus stand-cum-shopping complex. “Virbhadra Singh had also sanctioned a parking lot in the town last year for which requisite land could not be identified. The lot can be constructed at the proposed site of the bus stand,” he suggested.