HPSEB justifies action
SHIMLA, Jan 20 — In a panic reaction to the threat by the Congress that it would launch a stir, the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board has come out with statistics to justify the undeclared increase in power tariff.

Five drowned in Gobind Sagar
BILASPUR, Jan 20 — Five persons — Inder Singh of Dadibhadi village of Gehadwin area near here and his friends Raju and Bablu of Bangana and Asha Singh and Tarsem Lal of Gurdaspur — are said to have drowned in Gobind Sagar at Jeori-Pattan Ghat, about 45 km from here, on the night of January 17 when they were crossing the lake in a boat.

HPSEB justifies action
From S.P. Sharma
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Jan 20 — In a panic reaction to the threat by the Congress that it would launch a stir, the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) has come out with statistics to justify the undeclared increase in power tariff.

A spokesman of the HPSEB claimed that the power tariff in Himachal was lower than that in the neighbouring Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh.

The Congress had announced it would launch an agitation against the hike in the power tariff.

The spokesman did not give any reason for the increase in the power tariff with retrospective effect from September 1 and why the step was kept secret from the public and the press.

It is worth mentioning that the consumers came to know of the hike only when they received "inflated" electricity bills this month.

The BJP-HVC combine government headed by Mr P.K. Dhumal has come under severe criticism for resorting to "backdoor methods" to raise funds for the cash-starved state. What is being criticised is not the percentage of increase in the tariff itself but the manner in which the exercise affecting lakhs of consumers was conducted.

The spokesman claimed that the HPSEB had to resort to an increase in the power tariff with effect from September 1, 1998, due to a sharp increase in the cost of various inputs, including revision of pay scales of employees, and also to bridge the gap between the average cost of power and the sale rate.

Against the average cost of power of about Rs 2 per unit, the board's recovering cost was about Rs 1.53 per unit before the revision of the tariff. even after the revision, the HPSEB would be recovering about Rs 1.81 per unit and still losing 19 paise per unit.

The spokesman said there had been no increase in rates for domestic supply consumers falling in the consumption slab of 1 to 45 units per month. Such consumers constituted about 65 per cent of the total domestic supply.

The hike was 15 paise and 30 paise per unit for the consumers in the slab of 46-150 and 151-500 units. Those domestic consumers using more than 500 units per month would have to pay 55 paise per unit over the pre-revised tariff of 70 paise per unit.

BJP still a divided house
From Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, Jan 20 — Despite tall claims by the BJP leadership, the factionalism within the party was clearly evident at the state Executive meeting of the party here yesterday.

The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, and the BJP leader, Mr Shanta Kumar, along with other senior ministers and MLAs attended the meeting. The loyalties of the ministers and MLAs were clearly evident as they chose to remain in two watertight compartments, each headed by Mr Dhumal and Mr Shanta Kumar.

As Mr Shanta Kumar left the Circuit House for the venue of the meeting, he was flanked by his staunch supporters, Mr Krishan Kapoor, Mr Vidyasagar, Mr Ravinder Thakur and Mrs Shraveen Thakur. While Mr Shanta Kumar sat in a separate room with his supporters, the Chief Minister sat in the drawing room of the Circuit House, meeting people. The Health Minister, Mr J.P. Naddaa, the Education Minister, Mr I.D. Dhiman, and the Horticulture Minister, Mr Narender Bragta, sat with the Chief Minister.

One thing was clearly reflected at the meeting: That Mr Shanta Kumar's flock is intact and he still has the support of a large number of members of the working committee. "There is no doubt that Mr Shanta Kumar's hold over the party is immense, even though Mr Dhumal has become the Chief Minister and Mr Suresh Chandel, the party President." admitted a staunch Dhumal loyalist.

Though Mr Shanta Kumar hosted a dinner for Mr Dhumal on his arrival to Kangra, the bitterness between the two rival factions remains the same. There have been a number of decisions of the Dhumal Government, which have caused resentment amongst the Shanta loyalists. Initially, the Chief Minister had expressed his disliking for the practice of the winter move to Kangra. It was in this connection that he even converted the Kashmir House, where the Chief Minister used to reside during the winter sojourn, into a hotel. It was under pressure from the supporters of the Shanta camp that Mr Dhumal was compelled to change his decision.

"The discontinuance of the practice of the winter move would have had serious repercussions for the party, specially in Kangra, as the Congress would have exploited the issue fully," admits a party worker. The complete disinterest shown by the Government regarding Apollo Hospital, to be set up in Holta, near Palampur, was also causing resentment amongst the MLAs from Kangra, a majority of whom are Shanta loyalists.

It was on account of the pressure mounted by Shanta loyalists that the Chief Minister had to relent. Some MLAs of the Shanta camp are annoyed with Mr Dhumal for not inducting them into the Cabinet . They allege that they were being discriminated against simply because they are aligned with Mr Shanta Kumar.

The induction of Mr Shanta Kumar into the Union Cabinet is also a contentious issue. It could lead to major developments within the party. The reported moves being made by the Dhumal camp to stall the induction of Mr Shanta Kumar into the Union Cabinet, by circulating the name of Mr Maheshwar Singh, MP from Mandi, could also spell trouble for the Chief Minister.

Though outwardly all seems well within the BJP, but there is a lot of discontentment among the Shanta loyalists over a number of issues over which the two rival factions remain divided.

Five drowned in Gobind Sagar
From Our Correspondent

BILASPUR, Jan 20 — Five persons — Inder Singh of Dadibhadi village of Gehadwin area near here and his friends Raju and Bablu of Bangana and Asha Singh and Tarsem Lal of Gurdaspur — are said to have drowned in Gobind Sagar at Jeori-Pattan Ghat, about 45 km from here, on the night of January 17 when they were crossing the lake in a boat.

Sub Divisional Magistrate Roshan Lal Rana said here today that the Administration had summoned four divers from the Bhakra Control Board and also sought help of the Mountaineering Institute at Manali for finding the bodies. Families of the deceased would be given Rs 50,000, he said.

Inder Singh worked at a factory in Kapurthala and had brought his friends with him for attending a marriage of one of his relatives in his village. Finding no boatman on the ghat, the men reportedly untied a boat and consequently died in the mishap.

Employees oppose new savings plan
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Jan 20 — The Hamirpur District Non-Gazetted Services Federation has opposed the new pay-roll scheme for small savings launched by the state government recently.

According to Mr Prem Chand Verma, district president of the federation, the scheme was anti-employees and would affect them.

He told mediapersons here today that certain senior officers were misguiding the Chief Minister and his ministerial colleagues and compelling them to take "anti-people" decisions. He said employees would be compelled to launch a stir if the scheme was not withdrawn.

Mr Verma flayed the government for not releasing allowances as per the recommendations of the new pay commission. He asked the government to follow the Punjab pattern strictly as their pay scales and other benefits were linked with the scales announced by the Punjab Government.

He said it was not understood why the government had imposed a ban on the withdrawal of amount from the employees' provident fund account. He demanded that the order should be rescinded as money deposited under the GPF was the genuine right of employees.

End stagnation, urge JEs
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, Jan 20 — The state executive body of the Himachal Pradesh Junior Engineers Association, which met here today, urged the Chief Minister to concede their long-standing demands.

Briefing newspersons Mr Chattar Paul, state President of the association said resentment prevailed among junior engineers working in the IPH and the PWD as several of them had been stagnating at the same post for 30 years.

He said the executive committee had met the Chief Minister at Sundernagar in this regard and had been assured by him that their demands would be accepted .

The association has demanded that all vacant posts should be filled to deal with stagnation.

NGOs' team submits memo to CM
From Our Correspondent

MANALI, Jan 20 — A delegation of the Himachal Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers Federation, Manali Block, met Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on his visit here recently. In a press statement here, Mr Shiv Chand Thakur, general secretary said a memorandum was submitted to the Chief Minister, urging him to increase house rent allowance, CA, to provide residential accommodation, an NGOs' bhawan at Manali, removal of anomalies in the revised pay scales of MPW employees and winter allowance.

The delegation also urged the Chief Minister to extend recognition to Lady Willingdon Hospital, Manali, for reimbursement of medical expenses as the hospital was equipped with every kind of medical facility while the Government Health Centre at Manali lacked in medical facilities.

Carnival to promote Himalayan art
From Our Correspondent

MANALI, Jan 20 — Mr R.D. Dhiman, Deputy Commissioner, Kulu, and Chairman of the Winter Carnival Committee, Manali, has announced that the carnival will be a six-day and focus on the western Himalayan folk art from next year.

He was presiding over a meeting of the representatives of various government and non-government organisations here yesterday. He said the main object was the promotion of domestic and foreign tourists during winter months in the Kulu valley.

During the six-day carnival, folk dancers from different parts of the Himalayan region would perform for two days exclusively. During the other four-day, variety cultural events will be performed by artistes of other states.

He said a detailed proposal of carnival would be forwarded to the Government in 20 days to constitute a new Winter Carnival Committee as the Chief Minister has announced to celebrate it as a state-level festival.

Wolf kills 37 sheep, goats
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Jan 20 — A wolf entered a shed in Kwaring village of Lahaul-Spiti district and killed 37 sheep and goats on Monday.

According to Mr Rigzin, owner of the shed, said the wolf attacked the animals during night. He said although sporadic incidents of attack on cattle were common, it was for the first time that such a large number of animals had been killed in a single incident.

Mr Ram Lal Markanda, Minister for Rural Development, said the affected family would be given due compensation. Mr K.D. Lakhanpal, SDM, Keylong, has sent a team to assess the loss.