Dhumal draws up ‘dream plan’
SHIMLA, April 14 — The government has drawn up an ambitious plan involving an investment of Rs 92,000 crore to make Himachal Pradesh a prosperous and self-reliant state by the 2020.

Pain-free male contraception
NAHAN (HP), April 14 — To enhance men’s participation in the reproductive health agenda, no scalpel vasectomy, the new pain-free technique of male contraception, is being taken up in a big way in Sirmaur district of the state.

Paintings on snow-capped peaks
PALAMPUR: Sukh Dass, a 71-year-old man hailing from the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti of Himachal Pradesh, has dedicated himself to the realm of painting since his childhood.

More power for Panchayati Raj bodies sought
DHARAMSALA, April 14 — The Chairperson of the Kangra Zila Parishad, Ms Manbhari, has demanded that the income generated from the sale of liquor should be equally distributed amongst all panchayats so that there is no disparity.

Mandal welcomes sales-tax panel
BILASPUR, April 14 — The Himachal Pradesh State Beopar Mandal has welcomed the announcement of the Chief Minister that a state-level sales tax advisory committee, under the chairmanship of the Excise and Taxation Minister, will soon be set up in the state and representatives of the mandal will be included in it to solve the problems of the trading community.

JEs voice concern over attacks
SOLAN, April 14 — The Himachal Pradesh Junior Engineers Association has expressed concern over increasing incidents of attacks on their members assigned to checking electricity theft.

18 officers decorated
SHIMLA, April 14 — The Governor, Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, decorated 18 officers and personnel of the state police, fire services, and Home Guard and Civil defence with medals for gallantry and distinguished services at an impressive investiture ceremony held at Raj Bhavan here today.

Dhumal draws up ‘dream plan’
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, April 14 — The government has drawn up an ambitious plan involving an investment of Rs 92,000 crore to make Himachal Pradesh a prosperous and self-reliant state by the 2020.

The dream plan to take the state into the next millennium envisages the harnessing of the total identified hydel potential of 21000 MW, the raising of annual fruit production to 12.5 lakh tonnes and vegetable production to 10 lakh tonnes, promoting tourism, providing safe drinking water, basic health care and shelter to all.

The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, said it was possible to achieve the targets set under the plan. He hoped to realise it by involving the private sector on a large scale.

While the government would arrange Rs 17,000 crore through public sector investments, the remaining Rs 75,000 crore would come from the private sector. The government would create the necessary environment to attract private investment, he added.

Apart from hydel power and tourism sectors, priority would be given to infrastructure development, particularly in the rural areas. The state proposed to set up a rural infrastructure development fund (RIDF) at the state-level on the pattern of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to arrange institutional finance for the execution of irrigation schemes, construction of roads and other basic facilities necessary to encourage investment in the agriculture and horticulture sectors.

An area of one lakh hectares would be brought under irrigation and 50 lakh hectares under green cover, besides providing road links to all possible villages.

Roads were the life line of hill people and key to speedy development. Keeping in view this fact the government had decided to set up a road and infrastructure development corporation, which would raise the required resources. Besides, a $ 200 million project for the improvement of state highways had been submitted to the World Bank for seeking financial assistance. Another scheme involving an expenditure of $150 million for the construction of new roads in the rural areas, improvement of those important for development of horticulture and agriculture was also likely to be funded by the World Bank.

The government had also decided to restructure the technical courses in various institutions after studying the national employment market and consulting the local entrepreneurs so that the local youth of the state got quick employment. It also proposed to set up a multipurpose institute and eight new industrial training institutes soon to meet the increasing demand for trained manpower.

An advanced software technology park was also being set up to enable the youth to remain abreast of the latest technology which will help them in getting employment.

The state Tourism Development Corporation would be given a promotional role and a wholly owned subsidiary was being set up under it to look into the management of its hotels. The special purpose vehicles would be set up for specific tourism projects in which government would make a token investment in the shape of seed money and remaining 95 to 99 per cent investment would be arranged through institutional finance and open market. To begin with, Solang Nullah, Maharana Partap Sagar and a few ropeways had been identified for the purpose. An investment of Rs 500 crore is expected under this scheme which would help in creating high class facilities and attractions for tourists in the state.

For attracting high class tourists the existing airstrips at Shimla, Gaggal and Bhuntar were being improved. The matter had also been taken up with the Centre for the construction of an airstrip at Bilaspur. The possibility of constructing a bigger airstrip in the state to facilitate landing of large aircrafts like the Boeing was also being explored.

Work on the Nangal-Talwara rail had been restart and a provision of Rs 8 crore had been made in this year's Budget for the purpose. Besides, Rs 2 crore had been allocated for the Kalka-Parwanoo broad gauge rail line projects. The Satluj Valley Rail Corporation was being set up in the state to undertake work on the Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri rail line on the pattern of Konkan Railway.

The government had formulated a new transport policy with a view to ensuring better transport facilities to the people in the state. It provided for exemption of tax for five years to the private transporters for plying buses on uneconomical and 'kutcha' routes, having no bus service or single bus service.

The government also proposed to set up an institute of hotel management and catering in the state so that trained manpower was available within the state.

A health system corporation was being set up to arrange institutional finance for the construction of buildings and procuring latest equipment. To provide specialised health care facilities, the government had taken a policy decision to upgrade all district hospitals in the state to zonal hospitals while two districts hospitals of Nahan and Hamirpur had been upgraded last year and five district hospitals of Chamba, Una, Solan, Bilaspur and Kulu were being upgraded this year. One nursing college and three nurses' schools would be opened in the state soon so that more girls in the state were able to get employment.

More powers were being given to Panchayati Raj institutions to accelerate the process of development at the grassroots level. An eight-point strategy had been adopted to make these institutions self dependent so that they could meet developmental needs themselves. They had been allowed to utilise the money collected on account of land revenue and cess on liquor for development works. The panchayats would now construct all primary schools and other panchayat-level buildings.

Panchayats had also been authorised to supervise and inspect the working of primary schools and tailoring schools and anganwaris, so that they worked with more responsibility. For giving financial autonomy to the panchayats, the government proposed to carry out amendments in the Panchayati Raj and Municipal Acts in accordance with the recommendations of the First State Finance Commission.

Steps were afoot to bring qualitative and quantitative improvement in education. A 'Sarswati bal vidya sankalp yojna' was being launched in the state from today under which 13,612 new rooms would be constructed for primary schools within the next three years after which every school in the state would have a minimum of three rooms. It was unfortunate that out of 10,484 primary schools in the state at present, 1964 did not have even a single room and 1713 were having only one room.

The "Ambedkar meritorious scholarship scheme" under which as many as 1000 students belonging to the Scheduled Castes were being provided free education at the plus one and plus two level and given a scholarship of Rs 10,000 each under the 'Ambedkar meritorious scholarship scheme'. The scheme had been expanded to cover OBCs from this year. Another scheme Dr Sarvpalli Radhakrishnan Utkrishth Chattar-viriti Yojna would be started from this year. Under which scholarship of Rs 25,000, Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000 would be given to those securing the first, the second and the third position, respectively, in the entrance tests for various professional courses every year.

The government was committed to providing efficient, transparent and responsive administration to the people. To ensure that development work in the tribal areas did not suffer for want of staff, the government had decided to create a "tribal and difficult areas sub cadre" and the single line administration in Kinnaur district which was abolished by the previous government, had been re-introduced.

Paintings on snow-capped peaks
From Ravinder Sood

PALAMPUR: Sukh Dass, a 71-year-old man hailing from the tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti of Himachal Pradesh, has dedicated himself to the realm of painting since his childhood. Dwelling in the lands of gods and goddesses and in the lap of the Himalayas, the artist has cherished his love and devotion for painting without any consideration for publicity and monetary benefits.

Sukh Dass, who is a retired teacher, never had any formal education or training in the field of painting. But he always remembers with gratitude the deep impression left on him by the great artist Sobha Singh.

Sukh Dass was here recently in connection with an exhibition of his paintings. At Shimla, I had an opportunity to have a glimpse of the creations of the painter and also got apprised of his philosophy of the art. At the first glance it appeared to me that I was standing before the paintings of Nicholas Roerich. This reminded me of some lines of an article, "A Miracle Beyond the Habitable World," on this painter published in a journal of the Roerich Society of Germany which reads as under: "We sat there spellbound surrounded by the paintings of a simple man in the farthest corner of Indian Tibet and wondered what had drawn him to the Nicholas Roerich."

"The beauty that he expresses in everything," was Sukh Dass's answer. His own paintings show his deep love for the mountains and snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas, which seem like a different world. His pictures are like a discovery, "a world beyond the habitable world".

For me it was an opportunity to peep into the personality. The few words which I exchanged with the painter are as under:

Q: When did you start painting? Did you take any formal education in the field of painting.

A: No, I had no formal education or training for painting from any institution. I started painting when I was a child studying in the primary standard.

Q: Since you had no formal education in this field, how could you pursue and cherish this art so honestly and beautifully? Who influenced your art?

A: I well remember one incident of my childhood when I was studying in Class 6. We used to walk 4 to 5 km to reach our school. There was in our school a teacher who had interest in painting and art. One day the teacher told us that a famous painter, Roerich Sahib, had come to Keylong, the district headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti. In those days Nicholas Roerich was known as an American Sahib in the area. The teacher told us that his paintings were famous throughout the world. This was the one incident which kindled my tender mind and I also started painting on his lines. Though I could not paint like him, his paintings inspired me more and more about the realm of art. After completing schooling, I took up the teaching profession as my formal career. Thus, both art and teaching went side by side complementing each other.

Pain-free male contraception

NAHAN (HP), April 14 (UNI) — To enhance men’s participation in the reproductive health (rh) agenda, no scalpel vasectomy (NSV), the new pain-free technique of male contraception, is being taken up in a big way in Sirmaur district of the state.

In a pilot initiative, the state government plans to hold NSV camps in the district, the most backward in HP, to bring men to the forefront in an area where they have been traditionally neglected.

Encouraging spousal communication has not been dealt with in previous family welfare programmes. But an integral component of the Sirmaur project is to break through socio-cultural barriers and men’s perceptions and fears on vasectomy through an innovative communication strategy by which medical officers speak directly to the client through counselling sessions.

These sessions are being integrated into overall services, creating an opportunity for clients to get clarification on their doubts and fears on vasectomy directly with the provider, says Dr Manmeet Kaur, project’s coordinator, here. Launched in June last year, project is a joint collaboration between the Central and state governments and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The first NSV camp was held in Poanta Sahib in the district in November last year and, according to health workers, was very successful. "A total of 83 vasectomies were done. Prior to this, there were no cases of vasectomy as the trend is for women to go for tubectomies’’, says Mr K.R.Barwal, Health Educator at the Civil Hospital, Poanta Sahib.

Ramlal Bhatia (29) opted for NSV as he felt spacing methods were not foolproof. A clerk in the Forest Department with two sons aged one and a half years and four months, respectively, Ramlal favoured the new male contraceptive procedure after learning it was painless and risk-free.

"My wife wanted to go for tubectomy but I dissuaded her. It was easier for me to get NSV done’’, he says. "It took about 10-15 minutes. I just felt the prick of the injection and nothing after that’’.

Ramlal’s decision is a welcome step in a social environment which focuses almost exclusively on female sterilisation at the cost of modern spacing methods which give women the freedom to exercise their contraceptive choices. This gender discrimination is apparently reflected in the approach of the medical fraternity.

According to a surgeon, who asked not to be named, doctors sometimes feel easier doing tubectomies rather than vasectomies because if the former procedure is unsuccessful, as has happened in the past, women do not take action against the offending doctor. But in vasectomies there is an apprehension of the man retaliating if things go wrong as happened some time ago when a doctor was taken to court by a male patient.

But others dismiss this as a much smaller component of a larger problem. Aside from the fact that the family planning programme has no specific emphasis on men, a major drawback is the lack of trained doctors or surgeons, especially in the interior and backward areas, to perform vasectomies.

The new NSV technique also requires specialised training and the Sirmaur project is addressing this aspect. "The first activity of the NSV project was to train surgeons in NSV and conduct camps. To promote the new technique we undertook extensive media campaigns including posters, wall paintings, advertisements, melas and folk plays’’, says Dr Manmeet.

The success of such campaigns is evident from the positive response it evoked at the first NSV camp in the district, she says. However, male involvement in reproductive health is much more than merely accepting a male method of contraception. The objective is to bring a change in men’s behaviour and attitudes, she adds.

More power for Panchayati Raj bodies sought
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, April 14 — The Chairperson of the Kangra Zila Parishad, Ms Manbhari, has demanded that the income generated from the sale of liquor should be equally distributed amongst all panchayats so that there is no disparity.

Ms Manbhari said as per government decision, Re 1 from the sale of each liquor bottle will be given to the panchayat where the vend is located. "This is bound to lead to disparity as in certain panchayats there are no vends, and, on the contrary, demand will be made for opening of liquor shops in every panchayat," she stated.

Demanding the strengthening of the Panchayati Raj institutions, she said the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA), must be under the control of the Zila Parishad. She added that the Congress had taken this decision to give more powers to the parishad, but the BJP regime had once again handed it back to the district administration. "The panchayats should be treated as constitutional bodies, and we need to rise above political considerations to strengthen them," she urged. She said if the DRDA was under the control of the parishad, it would be more effective and bring benefit to a large number of people, resulting in an overall development.

Ms Manbhari said the Zila Parishad Chairperson should be given the power to write the annual confidential report of the district administrative officers as they were directly linked with the people and their elected representative.

Mandal welcomes sales-tax panel
From Our Correspondent

BILASPUR, April 14 — The Himachal Pradesh State Beopar Mandal has welcomed the announcement of the Chief Minister that a state-level sales tax advisory committee, under the chairmanship of the Excise and Taxation Minister, will soon be set up in the state and representatives of the mandal will be included in it to solve the problems of the trading community.

Addressing reporters here today, mandal state President Hemchand Sood thanked the Chief Minister for accepting the long-pending demand of the mandal. He said advisory committees should also be formed at district levels in consultation with the state mandal and meetings of the state and district committees should be held regularly to solve traders difficulties.

Mr Sood also welcomed reduction of sales tax on several item and putting it on par with that prevailing in the neighbouring states.

JEs voice concern over attacks
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, April 14 — The Himachal Pradesh Junior Engineers Association has expressed concern over increasing incidents of attacks on their members assigned to checking electricity theft.

Mr L.C. Gupta, President, Solan zone of the association, told newspersons here today that one of their colleagues, Mr J.K.Gupta, was assaulted at Balera village of Arki subdivision in the district recently when he went to a house to conduct a surprise check regarding alleged theft of power.

Mr L.C. Gupta said if the government did not provide adequate security to the field staff, junior engineers would stop checking power thefts.

18 officers decorated
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, April 14 — The Governor, Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, decorated 18 officers and personnel of the state police, fire services, and Home Guard and Civil defence with medals for gallantry and distinguished services at an impressive investiture ceremony held at Raj Bhavan here today.

Police medal for gallantry was presented to Mrs Meena Rani, widow of Mast Ram, Head Constable.

Mr Balvinder Singh Mahal, sub fire officer, Dharamsala, was decorated with the Fire Services Medal for Gallantry.

Mr B.L. Pandit, Inspector General of Police, received the Police Medal for distinguished service.

The recipients of President's Home Guards and Civil Defence Medals for distinguished service were Mr V.S. Thapa, retired DIG, Prisons and Mr J.S. Thakur, Deputy Commandant General Home Guard.

Police medals for meritorious services were presented to Mr I.D. Bhandari, DIG, Northern Range, Mr Om Parkash, Inspector, Sirmaur, Mr Jagannath, Inspector, Palampur, Mr Dalip Singh, Inspector, Bilaspur and Mr Dulo Ram, Head Constable, Kangra.