3 of family charred to death
KULU, Dec 3 — Three persons of a family were charred to death in a devastating fire that broke out around 3 a.m. today at Upper Mohal village, about 5 km from here.


Congress Councillor resigns
SHIMLA, Dec 3 — Discontent over the election of Deputy Mayor in the Congress-controlled Shimla Municipal Corporation came to the fore when Mr Sohan Lal, a Congress Councillor, resigned from the party today.

Himachal Speaker calls on Governor
SHIMLA, Dec 3 — The Himachal Speaker, Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, today called upon the Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, and presented to him some of the publications brought out by the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat.

Small savings scheme to cover 35 villages
DHARAMSALA, Dec 3 — In order to encourage savings in rural areas the Small Savings Department, has launched the "bachat gram" scheme under which all families in 35 villages of Kangra district will be covered.

HP to focus on "thirsty fields" in 2000
HAMIRPUR, Dec 3 — The Himachal Government has decided to observe year 2000 as year for providing water to thirsty fields to raise the foodgrain production.

HP to bring out White Paper
DHARAMSALA, Dec 3 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has said the government will bring out a White Paper to show it is the Virbhadra Singh regime which is responsible for the present financial crisis in the state.

Separate ministry for STs, SCs sought
SHIMLA, Dec 3 — The Himachal Minorities and Social Welfare Parishad has urged the government to carve out a separate ministry to look after the welfare of tribesmen, Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes.

HP's free legal aid
PALAMPUR, Dec 3 — The Himachal Government has decided to bring more poor people under the cover of free legal aid.

Defeat due to partymen, says BJP MLA
NURPUR, Dec 3 — Mr Rakesh Pathania, local BJP MLA and Vice-Chairman, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, in a statement issued today, held his party's detractors responsible for the defeat of the BJP-supported candidate from the Rehan ward of Zila Parishad in subdivision byelection which was held on November 30.

3 of family charred to death
From Our Correspondent

KULU, Dec 3 — Three persons of a family were charred to death in a devastating fire that broke out around 3 a.m. today at Upper Mohal village, about 5 km from here.

The house owner, Yog Raj, was, however, saved by Pawan Sharma, who dared to enter the house which was up in flames and managed to push Yog Raj out from one of the rooms. It was learnt from the villagers, that when he entered another room to save the children and wife of Yog Raj the floor gave way and he was also injured. Yog Raj suffered head injuries and has been admitted to the district hospital here, where his condition is stated to be critical.

The dead have been identified as Vasudhra (60) and her grandchildren Khushboo (8) and Saurav (5). The loss was estimated to be Rs 9 lakh.

The fire, according to Mr Anurag Garg, SP, could have occurred due to a short circuit. The Himachal Fire Services in-charge said the cause had not been ascertained as the fire started from the staircase.

Mr Karan Singh, Minister of State for Primary Education, rushed to the spot along with the district authorities and supervised the relief operation. Mr S.R. Thakur, ADC, said Rs 50,000 was given as relief. In addition, two tents, 12 blankets, two tarpaulins and ration for one week were provided to the fire victim. Mr Maheshwar Singh, MP, and Mr Satya Prakash Thakur, a former minister, also expressed their grief and condolences to the victim.

Congress Councillor resigns
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 3 — Discontent over the election of Deputy Mayor in the Congress-controlled Shimla Municipal Corporation came to the fore when Mr Sohan Lal, a Congress Councillor, resigned from the party today.

The aggrieved Councillor a strong contender for the post, accused Mr Virbhadra Singh, Leader of the Congress Legislative Party, of betraying the Scheduled Castes by not honouring his promise to give the post of Deputy Mayor to the candidate who returned with the highest margin of votes.

He said the former Chief Minister had been ignoring the weaker sections and Backward Classes. His "faulty" policies and "feudal attitude had spelt doom for the party in the state.

Mr Sohan Lal alleged that the outgoing Mayor and Deputy Mayor had hatched a conspiracy to deprive a Scheduled Caste candidate of the post.

He said the Balmiki Sabha and its affiliated organisations would hold a meeting to finalise an action programme for a statewide stir against the Congress. He said Mrs Jaini Prem had got the Mayor's post under the women's quota under the roaster system and not as a Scheduled Caste member.

Mr Sohan Lal expressed dissatisfaction over the functioning of the corporation and demanded an inquiry into Rs 1.60 crore construction scam and the felling of green trees. He demanded immediate dissolution of the corporation and holding of fresh elections.

Several Scheduled Caste leaders, including Mr Nirmal Kumar and Mr Rajpal, president and secretary, respectively, of the Balmiki Sabha and Mr Sukh Dev, secretary, State Local Bodies Employees Union, have expressed support for Mr Sohan Lal.

Himachal Speaker calls on Governor
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 3 — The Himachal Speaker, Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, today called upon the Governor, Mr Vishnu Kant Shastri, and presented to him some of the publications brought out by the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat.

Mr Thakur also apprised the Governor about the legislative history of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha and gave a brief background of the Council Chamber building, housing the Legislative Assembly secretariat. The Governor was also informed in detail about the functioning of the various Vidhan Sabha committees.

The Speaker also talked about various issues and matters, which were likely to be discussed in the winter session of the Vidhan Sabha, commencing from December 9, for which notices had been received both from the government and the members. He also imformed him about various other activities and projects undertaken by the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, including the computerisation of its functioning.

The Governor appreciated the fact that Himachal Pradesh had already enacted the state Official Language Act, vide which Hindi had been declared the official language of the pradesh and that Vidhan Sabha was conducting all its proceeding in Hindi.

Small savings scheme to cover 35 villages
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Dec 3 — In order to encourage savings in rural areas the Small Savings Department, has launched the "bachat gram" scheme under which all families in 35 villages of Kangra district will be covered.

Disclosing this, the Additional District Magistrate, Mr B.R. Jamwal, said this was a massive rural saving campaign, in which all families in these 35 "Bachat Grams" will be encouraged to save. These 35 villages have been chosen from the 13 blocks from all over the district.

Mr Jamwal, said "Sanchayika" was another important scheme, which motivated students to make small savings. Under this scheme 1.22 lakh students from 377 schools had already saved a sum of Rs 16.55 lakh.

The small saving schemes in the district are getting very good response and the saving is expected to exceed to set target of Rs 72.79 crore for the current year. The saving amount was likely to be over Rs 90 crore. Kangra district had made a humble beginning with the small saving scheme when it was started with a sum of Rs 10 crore.

At present there are1168 agents under the small saving scheme in Kangra district, including 400 active agents under the Mahila Pradhan Kashetriya Bachat Yojna. There are 18 PPF agents in the district. Women agents in the district have collected a sum of Rs 7.31 crore till October, 1999. Under the pay roll scheme, 566 groups have been formed and practically all government and semi-government offices have been covered. As many as 47,000 employees are members under the pay roll scheme and the average collection is Rs 1 crore per month.

Mr Jamwal, ADM, who is also the small savings Co-Ordinator said 60 per cent coverage of the business community had been done and the average earning of each agent on account of commission was between Rs 15 to 2,000 per month and 30 per cent agents were earning more than Rs 10,000 per month.

Several development schemes have been launched in the district with the help of the share money being received by the district administration out of the total collection. Bachat Bhavans have come up at Dehra, Fatehpur, Palampur, Nurpur and Dharamsala, which provide space for holding seminars, and meetings and also earn revenue. The emphasis is also being laid on public utility schemes apart from promoting educational, social, cultural and economic activities. Grants are also being given to Mahila Mandals and Yuvak Mandals from the money collected under small saving schemes.

HP to focus on "thirsty fields" in 2000
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Dec 3 — The Himachal Government has decided to observe year 2000 as year for providing water to thirsty fields to raise the foodgrain production. The last two years saw the overall development in the field of road network, the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, said, while addressing a gathering at Bairi village, about 30 km from here, today.

Earlier, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of the double-storeyed building of the primary health centre at Jangelberi, the third PHC building to be constructed in the Bamsan area.

The Chief Minister said the main endeavour of his government would be to help farmers, and the poor to stand on their feet. He said from roads to thirsty fields would be the slogan for the next year. The government would do its best to help the farmers who formed the backbone of any nation.

He said the government was also planning to set up a major maize-based industry at a central place in the district to save the maize-growing farmers from the clutches of middlemen. He said once the industry came up, it would help farmers of Kangra, Hamirpur, Una, Chamba, Mandi, Kulu and Bilaspur districts.

Mr Dhumal challenged the former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to test his popularity among the masses by quitting his seat and seek re-election from Rohroo. He claimed that the BJP government was for the overall development of the state and the charges of discrimination were baseless.

He flayed Congress leaders for misinforming people on various issues by going to the Press and demanding a "White Paper" on the financial health of the state. He announced that the state government would release a "White Paper" on the financial health of the state in the coming session of Vidhan Sabha.

Mr Dhumal said the state government had decided to have a medical check-up of all school-going children and under the first phase of the programme children of Hamirpur district would be covered.

He announced that the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, would lay the foundation stone of the 2051 MW power project costing Rs 1200 crore on December 12. Mr Vajpayee would also address a public meeting at Kulu, the Chief Minister added.

Mr Ravinder Ravi, the HP Minister of State for Technical Education and Mrs Urmila Thakur, Parliamentary Secretary, also addressed the gathering.

Himachal to promote leisure boating
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Dec 3 — With a view to generating employment opportunity and promoting tourism, the state government will encourage "leisure boating", in three major lakes of Himachal.

Disclosing this, the Secretary, Tourism and Home, Mr Ajay Prasad, said this would be a collaborative effort between the Tourism Department and those youth, who had undergone a basic course in water sports. "After the modalities are worked out, we will start with leisure boating at Pong Dam, Gobind Sagar Lake at Bilaspur and at Dehra Gopipur by mid January," he said.

"Seeing positive response to helicopter sight-seeing at Tabo and Kinnor Kailash, we thought of starting a new experiment to attract tourists at the three lakes in the state" he said, he adding the departments of Forest, Fisheries, Sports and Tourism would be involved in the venture, which had already been launched at Bilaspur.

Mr Prasad, said the government had received a good response and over 10 men and women had come forward to join hands with the government. The boats, life saving jackets, wireless sets and other equipment would be provided by the government and the profit would be shared equally by the Tourism Department and the youth.

Mr Prasad, said this was an innovative scheme being started by the Tourism Department, so that the lakes in the state could be promoted as major tourist destinations. The Tourism Department would arrange package tours and upgrade facilities at the three lakes.

HP to bring out White Paper
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Dec 3 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has said the government will bring out a White Paper to show it is the Virbhadra Singh regime which is responsible for the present financial crisis in the state.

Talking to newspersons at Kangra yesterday, he said it was due to financial mismanagement during the Virbhadra Singh regime that the state was passing through a financial crunch. "It is because of the loans raised by the Congress government that we have to pay a sum of Rs 750 crore as interest annually," he stated. He regretted that the Congress, which could not get a single penny from the Centre during its regime, was today criticising his government.

Mr Dhumal said in order to strengthen the economy of the state the government would focus on hydel generation and tourism promotion. "I am confident that during the next 10-15 years Himachal would emerge as a model state, having mobilised its own resources," he stated. He said the shortcomings during the past 40 years of Congress rule could not be removed within a short span and it would take some time.

Commenting on the Congress allegations of frequent transfers being made by the government, he said though there was no fixed transfer policy the government would ensure that all emploees got to serve in tribal areas. Regarding the hike in bus fires, he said this had been done by all governments and would help in improving the condition of the buses.

Separate ministry for STs, SCs sought
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 3 — The Himachal Minorities and Social Welfare Parishad has urged the government to carve out a separate ministry to look after the welfare of tribesmen, Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes.

Mr Rajeshwar Negi, President of the parishad, met the Chief Minister here today. He pointed out that the existing ministry of Social and Women Welfare was in no position to effectively implement the ever-increasing number of schemes for the uplift and empowerment of women and weaker sections.

He suggested that the ministry be bifurcated into two, one looking after the welfare of tribesmen, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and minorities and the other welfare of women, children, the aged and the handicapped.

He also demanded setting up of an advisory council for social regeneration to formulate, monitor and implement welfare schemes.

Mr Negi said the offices of the Additional Deputy Commissioner at Kaza and Pooh and Resident Commissioner at Pangi should be wound up as these did not serve any important administrative function. Similarly, offices of Block Development Officers in tribal areas were redundant under the single-line administration.

Other demands of the parishad included raising of widow and old-age pension from Rs 120 to Rs 500 per month, setting up of a "revolving" fund for financing welfare schemes and extension of integrated child development services schemes to far-flung rural pockets.

HP's free legal aid
From Our Correspondent

PALAMPUR, Dec 3 — The Himachal Government has decided to bring more poor people under the cover of free legal aid.

Under the scheme, funds have been allocated to different districts. The District Session Judges and the Deputy Commissioners of the respective districts have been asked to identify those eligible under the scheme. Under this scheme, free legal aid will be given to those living below the poverty line. Besides, women who have been deserted by their husbands will also be given free legal aid to fight divorce cases.

An official spokesman said here today that panels of advocates had been made districtwise out of which the applicants could choose their lawyers besides legal expenses, the government would also bear the charges of court fee etc. All applications in this context could be sent to the District and Session Judges or the Deputy Commissioners of the respective districts. Applications given to the SDMs and SDJMs would also be entertained. Legal aid boards would be constituted in all districts.

Defeat due to partymen, says BJP MLA
From Our Correspondent

NURPUR, Dec 3 — Mr Rakesh Pathania, local BJP MLA and Vice-Chairman, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, in a statement issued today, held his party's detractors responsible for the defeat of the BJP-supported candidate from the Rehan ward of Zila Parishad in subdivision byelection which was held on November 30.

In this byelection the Congress-supported candidate, Mr Anil Kumar, won with a margin of 1458 votes. The BJP rival, Mr Thuru Ram, got 1392 votes.

Mr Pathania alleged undercutting by the BJP leaders in this byelection. He said he had filed an apeal with the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, who was the Returning Officer for this byelection, because this election was held on the basis of the voters list of 1995 in lieu of the voters' list of 1998. As a result young voters attaining the right to franchise after 1995 were deprived of their right to cast votes.