Shimla, November 24
The state BJP today ridiculed the statement of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh that there was no paucity of funds for developmental works and asked the government to release a whitepaper on the state’s financial health.

“The claim of the chief minister about sound financial health of the state is not only misleading and false, but a clumsy attempt to divert the attention of the people from the deteriorating financial position which is turning from bad to worse with each passing day,” party spokesman Ganesh Dutt said here today.

“To say that the financial position is bad is an understatement. In fact the state is passing through a severe financial crisis and even development works started during the BJP government have come to a standstill,” he said.

He said the debt liability of Himachal with a population of 68 lakh was Rs 35,000 crore, adding: “In the past 23 months, the state government has raised a loan of Rs 4,500 crore and yet the CM is claiming that the financial position of the state is fine.”

Dutt said the BJP was willing to help the state in getting funds from the Centre for development and take up the issue of “bankruptcy” of the state before it, but this could be possible only if the CM initiated talks with BJP leaders to seek financial help from the Centre.

Shimla, November 24
Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri today said the ruling Congress would urge the BJP to participate in the winter session of the state Assembly being held at Dharamsala so that public issues could be discussed in the House.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Agnihotri, who is also the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, said the government was keen that the seven-day winter session of the Assembly, scheduled to begin on December 5, was conducted smoothly. “There is a lot of business to be taken up, including some important Bills, so we will want that the BJP participates in discussions and debates and makes its valuable suggestions,” he said.

The monsoon session of the Assembly had to be adjourned abruptly in the month of August as BJP legislators had disrupted the proceedings of the House as they demanded a discussion on cases faced by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The stalemate continued and the government urged Speaker BBL Butail to adjourn the House.

Agnihotri said the government was proposing to set up an Information Technology Park, for which the Tata group was interested somewhere near Parwanoo, Baddi or Kalka, though no final decision had been taken so far. “We are yet to make up our mind on the final site, but the place will be decided depending on the suitability of the place from various aspects, such as connectivity and infrastructure facilities,” he said.

The minister said the government was considering to formulate a policy which would help in the revival of several closed mineral water plants at various locations in the state. “We want that mineral water made in Himachal is sold internationally and for this we are even willing to formulate a policy which would help in the revival of these closed plants,” he said.

Solan, November 24
After successfully managing the Hydrology phase-II project, the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department may now seek funds for its third phase from the World Bank.

The Hydrology phase-II project develops comprehensive hydrological data of groundwater in the state. The phase-III of this project will help assess crucial issues such as flood mapping and flood-risk mapping by adopting high-resolution surveys and remote-sensing imageries.

With stress on generating data for public utility, development of mobile applications, which can be put to use by the agrarian community and other users, is another of its key endeavours, sources in the IPH Department said.

Himachal was among the 13 states, where phase-II of this project was implemented since 2006. Now, since the project period ended in May this year, officials were now preparing the nitty-gritty of Hydrology phase-III project where funds worth Rs 125 crore would be sought from the World Bank.

The third phase of this project has now been extended to the Ganga and Bhramaputra basins and it covers the entire state, the sources confided.

An official of the IPH Department said: “Water resource monitoring and developing information systems by setting up automatic weather stations, rainfall and snow gauges are its key features. Issues such as discharge of water through rivers, their quality and level of groundwater and various water uses would also be covered in this project. This will help the officials in generating definite data about the availability of water in the state to facilitate future planning.”

Mapping of aquifers, which would help estimate the groundwater availability, had also been included and since its depletion in some industrial pockets had become a cause for concern, the project would help devise interventions to monitor its utilisation, he said.

The phase-II of the project had categorised various areas of the state vis-à-vis groundwater presence and six out of the eight assessment units in the state fell in the safe category, while Una district was categorised as critical.

Likewise, Kala Amb area in Sirmaur district was grouped in the over-exploited category.

With rains causing excessive damage in the state every year, strengthening institutions and capacity building of the department would also be undertaken to deal with issues such as flood preparedness, spillage managements and other water management issues.

Temporal earth observation products would also be set up for estimation of precipitation, snow cover and snow melt, soil moisture and land use patterns and this would help generate crucial data about water resources and provide short-term seasonal forecast of flood, flow, inundation and drought. The data thus generated would help the IPH Department in providing Public Domain Information Services which would make available annual yearbooks containing compilation of various data. 

Mandi, November 24
Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh said work on 36 road projects under a Central scheme was underway in the Drang Assembly constituency. He said this while addressing a gathering during a prize distribution function at Government Senior Secondary School at Baalu in the district today.

He said Rs 63 crore was being spent on the projects, while 18 projects worth Rs 37 crore had already been completed.

He said Rs 2.33 crore had been sanctioned for the Farsh-Shakri road and the project report of the Tikker-Banihaar road had been prepared.

The minister also inaugurated four rooms of the school constructed at a cost of Rs 11 lakh and laid the foundation stone of an additional building of the school to be constructed at a cost of Rs 25 lakh.

Shimla, November 24
The sandalwood cultivation is emerging another source of income for farmers, besides traditional crops in Himachal, as it does not require any fertilisers and pesticides.

A farmer from village Thali in Sunni in Mandi district, Bhupram Sharma, who claims to have grown about 70,000 saplings of sandalwood in his nursery, says that the plant could be grown in a wide range of temperature varying from 5 degree to 45 degree. Being a parasite, the plant develops on other plants and grows along with these facilitating better utilisation of available land.

Maintaining that the sandalwood plant can be cut thrice in a lifetime, he said sandalwood fetched between Rs 6,000-Rs 16,000 while the oil extracted from sandalwood fetched Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per kg.

Keen to explore the possibility of sandalwood cultivation in lower parts of the state, the Himachal Government has sought inputs from Karnataka and the Centre on technical knowhow to encourage growers to take to commercial cultivation of sandalwood.

Some farmers had grown sandalwood in the lowers areas of Jwalamukhi in Kangra and some parts of Bilaspur but its commercial cultivation has not been experimented so far and Bhupram Sharma has taken a lead by his own initiative.

“The sandalwood plants have a very slow growth and it is only after 15-20 years that the returns can be expected. We cannot ask farmers to plant these trees without ascertaining the varieties which give good oil content so that the farmers get good income”, said a forest official.

There was a proposal for providing sandalwood saplings to growers free of cost by procuring these from South India and farmers were also to be imparted knowhow about the cultivation of sandalwood, he said.

Grow and earn

* A sandalwood plant can be cut thrice in a lifetime

* It fetches between Rs 6,000-Rs 16,000

* The oil extracted from sandalwood fetches Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per kg

Mandi, November 24
To provide better facilities to tourists, three complexes are being constructed in the district. This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam, presiding over a meeting here today.

He said the construction work at Jhiri, Ghatta and Jadol was under progress and it would be completed at the earliest so that the tourists could get food, washroom and other facilities. He said the complexes were being constructed by the Tourism Department.

Talking about MGNREGA, the DC said in the current financial year, Rs 61.48 crore had been spent on various development works under the scheme. He said rural development officials had been asked to speed up the work and maintain quality in the work.

The DC said they were making efforts to provide benefits of various government schemes to the people living in slum clusters and health check-up camps were being organised for them in the district. He said anganwari centres were providing food to the children living the slum areas and arrangements had been made to provide education to the children.

Una, November 24
The Una district unit of the State Pensioners Association has asked the ruling party in the state to fulfil its promise made in the election manifesto. The government had promised an increase of 5, 10 and 15 per cent pension to their cadre on attaining the age of 65, 70 and 75 years, respectively.

The demand was made during a meeting of the association at Senior Citizens Bhawan near the Municipal Park today.

The meeting was presided over by association president Thakur Madan Singh. State president of the association Ramesh Bhardwaj was also present. Association members also demanded that the increase be made in the basic pay and not be given as an allowance.

Madan Singh called upon the pensioners to submit their life certificates at the district treasury office because as per the department, 507 pensioners are yet to submit these certificates. Association advisor Prem Rajput complimented the members for contributing a sum of Rs 2,42,149 towards the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for rehabilitation works in Jammu and Kashmir.

The state president announced that the state-level Pensioner’s Day would be celebrated on December 17 in Una and invited pensioners from all over the state to the programme. 

Timing a conscious decision?

The examinations in the university will start on November 27. Students are preparing for exams and the university will close for winter vacation thereafter. Sources said in such conditions, it would be difficult for the expelled students to muster support against the expulsion order. The Vice Chancellor was also waiting for his appointment for the second term, sources said.

Shimla, November 24
The Screening Committee headed by Chief Secretary P Mitra today met to decide the issue of promotion of three senior IAS officers to the post of Additional Chief Secretary.

It is the second time that the committee met to decide on the issue of the promotion of three IAS officers — Tarun Sridhar, Principal Secretary (Revenue and Forest); Narinder Chauhan Principal Secretary (Public Works Department) and PC Dhiman Principal Secretary (Education). The committee, whose other members include Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Vineet Chawdhry and Principal Secretary (Personnel and Power) Sushi Negi, had earlier met on October 22.

It is learnt that the committee whose recommendations would be sent to the CM for final approval agreed to promote Sridhar and Chauhan.

In case of Dhiman, the government has decided to keep his promotion on hold in a sealed envelope.

The government has already given prosecution sanction to Vigilance Bureau against Dhiman in a case pertaining to HPCA. The Cabinet had sanctioned three more posts of ACS in October this year. However, the issue had been hanging fire as the issue of prosecution sanction against Dhiman was being deliberated upon. All three officers belong to the 1984 batch and it is for this reason that the government had decided to give the rank of ACS to all three. With the approval of two more names for being appointed as ACS, their total number will go up to seven. The five ACS are Deepak Sanan, Ajay Mittal, Vineet Chawdhry, Upma Chawdhry and VC Pharka.

Meeting outcome

* The panel agreed to promote IAS officer Tarun Sridhar Principal Secretary (Revenue and Forest) and Narinder Chauhan Principal Secretary (Public Works Department) to the post of Additional Chief Secretary

* In case of PC Dhiman, who is Principal Secretary (Education) right now, the government has decided to keep his promotion on hold in a sealed envelope

Shimla, November 24
The Himachal Pradesh Forest Range Officers’ Welfare Association has demanded that the government should revoke the suspension of the two forest officials in connection with the felling of trees on a private land in Anandpur panchayat near the Tara Devi temple.

They said no forestland was involved and the field staff took cognizance of the felling when it came to their notice on November 14. They said the suspension was illegal under the Land Preservation Act as the staff had lodged the complaint in time, filed the damage report and seized 83.5 cubic meter wood from the temple premises.

The role of the police has come under scanner as Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) has bailed itself out from the Tara Devi felling case as the area falls in the Anandpur gram panchyat, which is outside the municipal limits.

The forest beat guard, deputy ranger and range officer, Mashobra, had lodged the complaint with the Boileuganj police station on November

14, when the felling of 7 deodars, 63 non-timber oaks, four kainth trees and 403 saplings of fuel wood, kainth, faja came to light, they claimed.

“But the Boileuganj police station (West) wrote back on November 20 to the deputy range office saying that the police cannot take action as the land was private,” said the members of the association, citing a letter written by the police station in charge, which was received by the deputy range office on November 20.

The felling of trees was a premeditated move in which power-chain saw machines were used, which made detection difficult, as it happened inside the boundary of a private land, they said.

“When the forest staff could not trace the owner, Parvinder Kaur, they called property consultant Praveen Sharma several times. He came on November 19 but by that time the staff had done all formalities to put up a challan in the court,” members claimed, citing documents.

“The suspension of staff members should be revoked immediately as it is wrong, one-sided as it has been done without ascertaining the facts on the ground, as no forestland is involved and there are thousands of private properties which the field staff simply cannot guard,” said Pawan Kumar, general secretary of the association.

Meanwhile, the clamour to book actual culprits in the Benmore case is also gaining momentum. But strangely neither Tara Devi private landowner nor the Benmore plot owners have lodged the FIR so far.

The incident involving the felling of 32 small poplar and saru trees in Benmore’s green belt took a new turn as the benami landowner has learnt have told the Municipal Corporation that he would lodge an FIR as the trees were cut without his knowledge.

“The government should book the actual culprits by lodging an FIR in the Benmore case as well. It is strange that the owners in both cases are feigning ignorance in the felling of trees,” said Tikender Panwar, deputy mayor, Shimla, adding that the city forest is looked after by the Forest Department.

Panwar said: “While the government has asked the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, to conduct the inquiry in the case, the police should lodge the FIR in the Benmore case as well, where 32 trees were cut illegally in the green belt, as the benami owner has told them that the trees were cut without his knowledge.”

Nurpur, November 24
NCC cadets of Government Senior Secondary School organised a cancer awareness programme to celebrate NCC Day at Raja Ka Talab near here today.

Members of the NCC troupe, affiliated to 2 HP (i) Coy, Dalhousie, also held a rally to educate masses on the dreaded disease.

Dr Opendra Sharma, former subdivisional ayurveda medical officer, briefed about the disease. “Cancer is a deadly disease which is caused due to uncontrolled growth of the cells and forms from the extra mass tissue known as tumour. The loss of apoptotic nature by the cells in their metabolic pathway leads to cancer. Cigarette smoking, tobacco and alcohol intake and a poor diet lead to cancer,” he said.

“Those working in chemical factories, nuclear reactors, drainage system and mining are most prone to cancer,” he said. The number of cancer cases would likely to increase fivefold in India by 2025 and at present, around 6 lakh persons suffered and succumbed to this dreaded disease annually in the country, he said. Associate NCC officer Rahul Dev Kaushal while briefing the gathering said early detection of cancer was essential as it was curable in the initial stages in many cases.

Shimla, November 24
Four persons were killed, while another sustained serious injuries, when the vehicle they were travelling in rolled into 200-m gorge near Lalan village in Nankhari area of the district, 80 km from here, today.

The vehicle (HP 52 A 6467) was on its way to Shimla from Nankhari. Two persons died on the spot, while two others succumbed on their way to the hospital. The deceased are Pujan (17), Shiksha Thakur (44), Govind Thakur (45) and Bir Chand (70), while Thapu Devi (60) was rushed to the Primary Health Centre, Rampur, from where she was referred to IGMC, Shimla. A case was registered. — TNS

Shimla, November 24
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today issued notice to the Chief Secretary on the issue of large-scale use of the harmful oxytocin vaccine in milk, fruits and vegetables.

Besides Chief Secretary, the court issued notices to the Principal Secretary (Health), Director of Health Services, Director (Food & Civil Supplies), state Drug Controller and the Drug Controller General of India, directing them to file their replies by January 8.

The order was passed by a Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, on a petition taken up suo motu by the court as public interest litigation on a news report published in a vernacular daily.

It was stated in the news paper that the use of oxytocin vaccine in milk, vegetables, fruits and non-vegetarian products was on the rise and it had harmful side effects.

The vaccine is used to increase the milk production of milch cattle, enlarging the size of vegetables and fruits and to improve their colour and shine. The news item had also reported that there is a large-scale production of oxytocin in the pharmaceutical hub of the state in Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh.

Encroachments in Shimla

The Himachal Pradesh High Court issued notices to the Chief Secretary on encroachments in the Lower Bazaar area of Shimla.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan passed these orders on a petition taken up suo motu by the court as public interest litigation on a media report.

The court also issued notices to the Principal Secretary (Home), Principal Secretary (Revenue), Director General of Police, Superintendent of Police, Commandant, Home Guard & Fire Services, Deputy Commissioner, Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner and the Chief Fire Officer.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court directed them to file their response with the status report within a week and listed the matter for further hearing on December 3.

A newspaper had reported that during a joint mock drill conducted recently by the Fire Department and the Municipal Corporation, it was found that it was almost impossible for the fire brigade vehicles to reach a spot on fire on time due to the encroachments and “overhanging projections” in the lower bazaar. 

Court seeks reports

* The High Court has directed health officials to file their replies on the use of the harmful oxytocin vaccine in milk, fruits and vegetables by January 8

* Fire officials, MC authorities, senior cops have been asked to file their response on encroachments in the Lower Bazaar area of Shimla within a week and the matter has been listed for further hearing on December 3

Shimla, November 24
The high court has directed the HP State Electricity Board to count the service of the employee on the contract basis for the purpose of retiral benefits.

The court passed this order on a petition filed by an employee, Veena Devi, alleging that the HP State Electricity Board had not counted her service on the contract basis for the purpose of pensionary/retiral benefits after the regularisation.

Allowing the petition, a Division Bench comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Sureshwar Thakur directed the electricity board to count the services of the petitioner on the contract basis as a clerk/typist for pensionary benefits.

It further observed that “The board cannot be permitted to exploit the situation by not regularising the services of the incumbents rendered on the contract basis for years together and, thereafter, not counting the services for the purpose of pensionary/retiral benefits after the regularisation.”

The Division Bench further observed that “The services by the petitioner as contract employee cannot be obliterated.”

Shimla, November 24
Right to Information (RTI) activists, including tribals, in the harsh cold desert of Spiti have demanded that the Forest Department should properly utilise Rs 5.12 crore that has been given for the development of the cold desert biosphere reserve in the Spiti region by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. Funds are cornered by contractors there and poor tribals get peanuts, they say.

The wildlife wing of the Forest Department in the Spiti cold desert biosphere has chalked out a plan for involving local tribals, including schoolchildren, so that funds are channelised properly this time.

But tribals, NGOs and RTI activists demand that contractors’ mafia in Spiti should kept be away so that actual poor people get stakes in development. “Many a big project worth crores of rupees was sanctioned previously for the Spiti valley under different departments, but these projects were not implemented properly,” said BR Kaundal, a RTI activist, who worked as Additional District Magistrate, Spiti subdivision, at Kaza in 2008. “I found that a large chunk of funds was misused by different departments,” he observed.

“About Rs 35 lakh was spent on plantations by the Education Department for providing education to only 407 students studying in 11 senior secondary schools in the Spiti area,” Kaundal said.

“We suggest that instead of running the schools and spending crores of rupees on infrastructure, it will be better if the government shifts all students to Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya being constructed a cost of Rs 30 crore at Lari between Kaza and Samdoh,” Kaundal said. “These poor tribal students get quality of education at Navodya Vidyalayas as the standard of education in government-run schools in Spiti is very poor,” he said.

There are many other departments in Spiti where money is spent only on papers and the government is also aware of it, Kaundal said. “The vicious nexus between departments, contractors and local politicians should be broken, only then will tribals be benefited,” he said.

Tourists come here but face problems as roads are in bad shape, electricity supply erratic and telecom connectivity poor, rues Ramesh, a hotelier.

Spiti-ecotourism plan:
Divisional Forest Officer, Wildlife, Rakesh Sharma said they had drawn up a comprehensive plan to involve villagers from all panchayats under the eco-tourism project. The Kibber and Chandratal wildlife sanctuaries, Pin Valley National Park to increase sources of livelihood for local residents, pasture, pond and path development, involvement of schools, check dams, promotion of chamurthi horse and yak for tourism-related activities have been included under the plan, he added. 

Shimla, November 24
The non-teaching employees of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) are uncertain of getting their retirement dues on superannuation.

They have urged the authorities to ensure that the employees who have served the university for 35 to 49 years are not harassed unnecessarily.

“The superannuating employees are not being paid retirement benefits such as gratuity, leave encashment, commutation and arrears, and a large number of employees, who retired in the past three years, are yet to get their full dues,” Hiteshwar Thakur, President of Joint Coordination Committee, said.

The senior employee leader and four-time elected member of the Executive Council, Chaudhry Waryam Singh Bains, who is retiring on November 30 next, has asked the university authorities to treat the retired employees, who are also senior citizens, with dignity.

Waryam Singh has also raised the issue of anomalies in Pension Payment Orders (PPO) and pointed out that the secretariat allowance has not been included in the PPO and asked authorities to issue revised PPO honouring its commitment to include the secretariat allowance as part of the pay for grant of retirement benefits.

In a letter addressed to the university authorities and the chief minister, he said: “I have served the institute for almost 42 years and in case 
the Pension Payment Orders (PPO) are not in consonance with the relevant instructions, decisions and rules, it will be illogical, immoral and totally unjustified.”

Cautioning the university authorities, he threatened to resort to “Gandhigiri”, dharna, hunger strike and fast unto death for seeking justice.

All these issues have been discussed in the meeting of the Employees’ Grievance Redressal Committee (EGRC) on August 21, 2014, and the same was notified on September 8, 2014, to include secretariat pay in the PPO of the retirees by holding talks with Local Audit Department (LAD), he said.

“The pension cases cannot be decided or finalised against the spirit of prescribed rules and instructions and guidelines in this regard. However, it is also settled law to calculate pension of employees on the basis of last pay drawn,” he said, adding that the university must honour the established practices and abide by relevant rules.

Pointing out that the retirement benefit are not paid for months together, resulting in mental harassment, he said the issues and non-payment of leave encashment – gratuity - commutation – arrears was a major issue which must be sorted out before the employees demit office.

Mandi, November 24
Residents of Kabhla village in the district today met Superintendent of Police Mohit Chawla and demanded the arrest of four persons involved in an assault case.

Villagers and relatives of Jitender Kumar, who was allegedly attacked by four drunk persons near Chail Chowk on November 22, demanded immediate arrest of the accused. Jitender, a clerk in a bank, said he along with his friend Deepak Sharma, was coming back from duty in Deepak’s car and when their car suddenly stopped. He said four people coming from the opposite side started hitting him. Jitender sustained serious injuries in incident.

Kangra, November 24
An interactive session was organised by the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management of the School of Business and Management Studies, Central University of Himachal Pradesh in Shahpur here today. 

Prof Ravi Shanker of the IIT-Delhi, said students should focus only on those areas or subjects where they have in-depth knowledge. — OC

Nurpur, November 24
Resentment is brewing among residents of Kotla town and its surrounding gram panchayats over the non-fulfilment of the sanctioned post of doctor in the Primary Health Centre (PHC) for over the last one year.

The Kotla PHC has been catering to the needs of a population of around 40,000 of 14 gram panchayats under Nagrota Suriana development block in Jawali subdivision. Only a single nurse and a pharmacist are looking after thousands of people. At present, one nurse, one pharmacist and one dental surgeon are posted here. Even Class IV and safai karamcharis are not available in this PHC.

Patients of this area have to travel 25 km to reach the Nurpur Civil Hospital for their treatment. In emergency cases, patients have a tough time to reach the hospital. As per information, Diwan Vishan Dass of Kotla had donated land to run a medical treatment trust here in 1926, which had been taken over by the government to establish this PHC. Residents of the area lamented that the state government had upgraded the PHC of Shahpur, 20 km from Kotla, to the Community Health Centre (CHC).

The PHC had been opened after many years of the Kotla PHC.

Yog Raj, pradhan of the Kotla gram panchayat, urged the state government to fill vacant posts in the PHC so that medical facilities could run smoothly in the area. He said he had taken up the demand of upgrading his PHC to CHC several times with the government, but no heed was paid to this demand.

“Recently, I met Union Health Minister JP Nadda in Delhi and put this demand before him. The minister has assured us of taking necessary steps to meet longstanding demands of people,” he asserted.

In this connection, Dr Neerja Gupta, Block Medical Officer, Gangath, said she had taken up the issue of vacant posts in the PHC with high-ups and this problem was likely to be solved in near future.

Mandi, November 24
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) will construct a 4,200 mt capacity godown in Mandi, the largest in the state. KB Negi, Area Manager, FCI, said the Dehradun-based regional office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests had given approval to construct the godown on 12 bighas in the Kangani forest area near here.

The construction of the godown, which would cost nearly Rs 12 crore, would start soon after the demarcation of the land, he said and added that the FCI had just the 200 mt capacity godown in the town.

In lieu of damage caused to the flora of the area, Rs 2.23 lakh had already been deposited with the Forest Department so that it could plant saplings on 24 bighas in an adjoining area.

With the construction of the godown, foodgrains would also be supplied to the neighbouring Kullu district and the tribal areas of Lahaul and Pangi. It would also generate employment for local people, Negi added.

So far, the FCI had three godowns in the state, including Karga in Lahaul, Hamirpur and Kullu with the total capacity of 1,670 mt, 1,670 mt and 1,100 mt, he said and added that the Mandi godown would be the largest in the state 
with the total capacity of 4,200 MT.

Una, November 24
An eye camp was organised by the Road Safety Club for drivers at the Una bus stand today. Additional Superintendent of Police Virender Singh, while inaugurating the camp, said it was very important for drivers to have a good eye sight as poor vision was reported as one of the reasons for road accidents, particularly during the night.

The regional manager of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation, Vivek Kumar, was also present. On the occasion, eye sight of 67 drivers, including those of State Transport, taxi, auto-rickshaw and tempo, was checked. The Rotary Club Greater and the Himotkarsh Parishad also participated in the camp. 

Una, November 24
Potato growers in Una district have a bumper crop this year as harvesting is at its peak. During the rabi season, the cash crop is cultivated twice a year and farmers, who have just harvested their produce, are already busy sowing the next crop.

Brij Mohan of Bhadsali village, who cultivated potato on 100 kanals, said the harvest was good this time and even the market rates were attractive. He said procurement agents were directly contacting farmers and lifting the produce from the fields, further cutting the transportation cost to the farmers.

Another cultivator Ravinder Mankotia of Panjawar village, who had sown the cash crop on about 60 kanals, said though the cost of seed was high, good weather led to a bumper harvest and there was no major outbreak of any disease.

He added that the potato was sent to markets in Delhi and Punjab.

Deputy Director of the Agriculture Department HS Rana said collectively, two rabi potato crops were sown on about 1000 hectares of land in the district, most of which is irrigated. He, however, said the high cost of potato during the last many months had motivated the farmers to increase the area under cultivation, adding that this year, an additional 50 to 100 hectares had been brought under potato cultivation by the farmers in Una district. 

Shimla, November 24
Ajai Srivastava, a disability rights’ activist and Chairman of Umang Foundation, yesterday accused the state government of gross violation of orders of the High Court regarding the implementation of the new policy for conducting examinations for persons with disabilities. He threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against the government if no positive action to implement the policy was taken by December 3, the International Day for Disabled.

“On a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea filed by me, the High Court had directed the government and other respondents on January 7, 2014, to pass ‘appropriate’ orders within eight weeks on the reliefs sought by the petitioner. But even after 10 months, nothing concrete has been done,” he said.

Unfortunately, constitutional and statutory bodies like the HP State Public Service Commission, State Board of School Education, Agriculture University, Palampur, Horticulture University, Solan, and Departments of Higher and Elementary Education, had failed to implement the policy framed by the Government of India. Only Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) had implemented the orders, he said.

“It is a matter of shame that persons with disabilities are not given equal opportunity and full participation as per the law and a complaint has been sent to the Governor and the Chief Minister in this regard, seeking action against the erring officers”, he added.

Hailing the new policy as revolutionary, Srivastava said it ensured equal opportunity for the disabled persons and had to be implemented in all academic, competitive and recruitment examinations. The new policy waved off the pre-conditions of qualification for the writer and accorded an additional hour to disabled persons.

Earlier, it was necessary for the writer to be one class lower from the examinee. Now, the onus will be on the invigilator to ensure that no malpractice takes place. Apart from this, the blind and other eligible disabled candidates will get one hour extra in an examination of three hour duration and 20 minutes extra in a paper of one hour. They would be given choice to use braille or computer or recording of answers in examinations, he stated.

He further added that it will be the responsibility of examination-conducting agency to provide writers to the blind and other eligible disabled candidates if they do not wish to bring one for themselves. The examination conducting agency will prepare a panel of writers at district and state level, keeping in view the requirement, and remuneration will also be paid to all the writers by the respective agencies.

The procedure to allow writers has also been simplified in the new policy and no fee shall be charged from any candidate availing the services and preferably such candidates will be made to sit on the ground floor in separate rooms, he said. 

Kangra, November 24
Rai Bahadur Jodhamal Kuthiala, a philanthropist, was remembered on his 133rd birth anniversary yesterday. Floral tributes were paid at his statue on the premises of the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda.

Students, faculty members, technical staff, office-bearers of an NGO and the SCA of the DRPGMC, along with Principal Anil Chauhan and Padma Shri Dr Kshama Metre, National Director, CORD, gathered near the statue of Jodhamal.

Dr Chauhan said Jodhamal was instrumental in starting a TB sanatorium at the hospital, inaugurated on May 21, 1958, by the then President Dr Rajendra Prasad. He had donated 650 kanal at Tanda for the sanatorium. It was because of Jodhamal’s contribution that the Tanda medical college was here, he added.

Dr Metre stressed on learning how to give without anybody knowing about it and how to receive with gratitude. She requested all to learn from the life of Jodhamal.