P R A D E S H
Friday, March 12, 1999
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H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
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Friday, March 12, 1999 |
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CM defends appointments
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 Plans to improve tourist flow CHAMBA, March 11 — The district-level Tourism Development Committee has decided to restrict the entry of vehicles from the Bus stand to the Museum and the Hospital during peak hours on a daily basis with a view to facilitate tourists walking around the plaza here. |
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Tibetan
school staff for better service conditions |
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CM defends
appointments SHIMLA, March 11 — The Himachal Vidhan Sabha today passed the Motion of Thanks on Governor's Address rejecting amendments moved by the Opposition by voice vote. Replying to the four-day debate on the motion Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal refuted the charge of saffronisation of educational institutions and regional discrimination levelled by the Opposition. Defending the appointments of the Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University and chairperson of the state Education Board, Mr Dhumal said his government followed the same procedure, which was followed by the previous Congress regime. Referring to the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor he said a search committee headed by the Chairperson of University Grants Commission was constituted and the final nominee was selected from the panel recommended by it. He said while his government appointed a Professor of the university as Pro-Vice-Chancellor, the Congress government gave the post to an ad hoc lecturer. Similarly, a senior Professor was made Chairperson of the State Board of School Education. The Chief Minister denied any role of the government in the removal of the Vice Chancellor of the Horticulture and Forestry University and the Principal of Regional Engineering College, Dr L.R. Verma, the Vice Chancellor had been on leave for over 12 years and he was recalled by the parent Himachal Pradesh University. Similarly, the Principal of engineering college was on deputation from the State Power Board and was called back after completing four years. Regarding the appointment of Dr K.C. Malhotra as Chairperson of the Subordinate Services Selection Board, Mr Dhumal said Dr Malhotra was first appointed as Vice-Chancellor by the Virbhadra Singh government but now the Opposition was seeing "saffronisation" behind the appointment. He said the Congress should not be scared of "saffron" colour as it symbolised sacrifice. At this he was interrupted by Mr Virbhadra Singh, leader of the "Opposition, who said at present saffron had become synonymous with a particular ideology which was dangerous for the secular character of the country. Regarding the Congress criticism of the BJP for taking support of Sukh Ram's HVC to form the government, Mr Dhumal reminded the party how its leader Mr Narasimha Rao converted his minority into majority. He denied the charge of discrimination on regional consideration and alleged that it was the previous Virbhadra Singh government which discriminated against certain areas showered favours on some others. Quoting figures of the funds allocated to various districts under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund Scheme of NABARD, Mr Dhumal said while Sirmaur and Chamba were given only 0.29 per cent and 0.61 per cent of the total allocation, Shimla district got the lion's share of 40.33 per cent. Similarly in the disbursement of funds under the Additional Sectoral Decentralised Scheme was discriminatory. While Shimla district which accounts for just 11 per cent of the population received 44 per cent of funds Kangra, the biggest district, with 22.71 per cent population got only 15.83 per cent. Similar was the plight of Mandi, Bilaspur, Chamba, Sirmaur and other districts. He said the Governor's Address reflected the achievements of the government on various fronts. Record apple procurement was made under the market intervention scheme, the turnover of the HPMC had increased from Rs 24 crore to Rs 29.52 crore, and mango had been included under the support price scheme. A number of new schemes had been launched. He denied that the power tariff was hiked on the sly and said the board was competent to revise the tariff on its own. Earlier, participating in the debate Mr J.B.L. Khachi of the Congress launched an attack on Mr Sukh Ram, the HVC leader, who moved the Motion of Thanks. He said it was the obsessive desire of Mr Sukh Ram to become the Chief Minister of the state which drifted him away from Mr Virbhadra Singh and he had no role in widening the gulf. The speech made by Mr Sukh Ram, he said, was deplorable and in bad taste and reflected the declining standards of debates in the House. Mr J.P. Nadda, Health Minister reminded the Congress that while in power it evaded a debate on the state of affairs of Himachal Pradesh University which he wanted to raise. He said the charge of saffronisation of university was misplaced, the present government was only trying to clear the mess created by the previous government to restore academic standards. He said the provision of
Rs 8 crore made in the rail Budget for taking up projects
in the state was a big achievement of the Dhumal
government. |
Government
'misusing' dam oustees' fund NURPUR, March 11 — The Himachal Pradesh Pong Dam Oustees Committee president, Mr Hem Chand Garg, and the general secretary, Mr L.R. Bhardwaj, in a joint statement here yesterday alleged the Dhumal government was indiscriminately misusing the Pong Dam Oustees Welfare Fund (PDOWF) raised during the regime of the previous Congress government by means of the compensation of shamlat land acquired during the construction of Pong Dam. They pointed out that this fund was aimed only for the welfare activities of the oustees. The government on the other hand had been spending money on the construction of the office-cum-residence of the Deputy Commissioner, Relief and Rehabilitation. Recently, his office had been shifted from Talwara to Raja-ka-Talab in the Jawali Assembly constituency. The government had also bought a Tata Sumo for the DC (R&R) through this fund. The oustees' leaders pointed out that as many as 1.26 lakh oustees had been residing in eight Assembly segments of Kangra district. A majority of them were from Nurpur, Jawali and Guler segments, but the government was going to spend Rs 80 lakh only in Jawali at the cost of other segments. They alleged the government was misleading the oustees by publicising distorted facts regarding the rehabilitation of the oustees. They lamented the DC (R&R) had failed to allot land even to a single oustee. They said the shifting of the DC's Office to Raja-ka-Talab from Talwara was also of no use as the oustees could not get justice owing to the non-cooperation of the Bhakra Beas Management Board authorities. The oustees' leaders asserted Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal's announcement regarding setting up of three new revenue courts for early disposal of oustees' cases was also an eyewash as the tehsildar (revenue) at Nurpur, Dehra and Jawali had already been delegated the official powers of Collector since 1997. They urged the Chief
Minister not to politicise the issues relating to the
problems of the Pong Dam oustees. |
Plans to
improve tourist flow CHAMBA, March 11 — The district-level Tourism Development Committee has decided to restrict the entry of vehicles from the Bus stand to the Museum and the Hospital during peak hours on a daily basis with a view to facilitate tourists walking around the plaza here.The committee has directed the police to enforce these orders with immediate effect. This decision was taken at a meeting of the committee held at Chamba under the chairmanship of Mr K.Sanjamurthy, Deputy Commissioner, this week. The committee has also asked the local municipal council to take suitable steps for the cleanliness and beautification of Chamba town, especially its verdant chowgan, the main shopping complex and the precincts of ancient temples and monuments, in the ensuing tourist season. The committee has also directed the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department to complete the ongoing sewerage scheme of the town. The Divisional Tourism Development Officer (DTDO) has informed the committee that with regard to construction of toilets at Bharmour and Devidehra land had been acquired and approval from the Director of Tourism had been sought. Approval had also been sought for toilets at Chamba and Dalhousie. To check overcharging by hoteliers and the quality of foodstuff in Chamba district, officials of the Tourism Department had been asked to make sporadic checks. The committee had directed the SDMs of Chamba and Dalhousie to fix taxi rates and adhere to fixed rates. It had also been decided to take up the construction of a taxi stand near the office of the Superintendent of Police, Chamba, to avoid congestion in the town. The committee has
requested the state government to introduce De-luxe buses
from Chamba and Dalhousie to other important towns and
start sight-seeing tours. |
A victim of
Chinese violence DHARAMSALA: As if being an orphan was not enough for 18-year-old Pema Tsomo, she was raped by six Chinese policemen in Lhasa. Guilt and remorse for what has happened to her has made her to plunge into the Tibetan freedom movement. Pema, who is presently housed at the Tibetan Reception Centre in Mcleodganj, is still undergoing treatment for her mental and physical injuries. While recalling those terrifying moments, she says that her story is only one of the many cases of sexual abuse of Tibetan women by the Chinese police. "My mother died for want of proper care and medicines, when I was just three months old, and it is my foster parents, who brought me up", she said. After receiving formal education for six years she was not permitted to go for higher studies. "The Chinese compelled all the pretty Tibetan girls to work as glamour pieces in hotels, and I too was one of them. After a while I was thrown out, as they felt that I was too short," said Pema. Her foster parents took serious exception to her working in a hotel and were not too kind to her later. She then decided to leave for India and continue her studies in Dharamsala. As luck would have it she was arrested through the Nepal border. She was kept in detention for almost two months, as she was carrying photographs of the Dalai Lama. "I was stripped naked and buckets of cold water were thrown on me, after which I was confined to a dark room," she said with tears welling her eyes. Undeterred by all this she resolved that she would go to Dharamsala. She then decided to escape from the Kailash side, along with four other girls. Unfortunately, she was once again arrested, along with the other girls. She along with others was beaten up by the police. When she regained consciousness she discovered that she was lying in a pool of blood. She was told by other girls that she had been raped by six cops. "I just couldn't move and pleaded them to take me to hospital," she said. Even at the hospital, the policemen kept a pistol behind her to stop her from telling the truth to the doctor. After receiving treatment for one week she along with her friend, decided to escape. The third time luck was on their side, as they reached the Nepal border safely. At the Tibetan reception centre in Nepal, we were given food and treatment, from there we proceeded for Dharamsala," she said. Though she is extremely happy to be here, but is still suffering from a number of ailments. Due to the beating given to her by the Chinese police, her ribs have been fractured and she has suffered internal injuries. The Director of the
Reception Centre in Mcleodganj, Mr Tashi Norbu, said all
this has had a very adverse impact on Pema. "She is
still being treated, not only for physical injuries but
also for psychological problems," he revealed. |
Tibetan
school staff for better service conditions SHIMLA, March 11 — Employees of the Tibetan schools run by the Ministry of Human Resource Development are demanding improvement in their service conditions. They have been working on a temporary basis for the past about 40 years and their service conditions are unsatisfactory. A joint press note was issued here yesterday Mr P.N. Pandey, president, and Mr Lalit Katre, secretary of the Staff Welfare Literary Association of the Tibetan Schools Employees of the schools observed black day on March 8 to protest against the high-handedness of the authorities. They alleged 107 Indian
employees working in 24 Tibetan schools were penalised by
the authorities some time ago. |
One dead in
mishap SUNDERNAGAR, March 11 — One person was dead while another was seriously injured when a tourist bus collided with a scooter on a bridge on National Highway-21 near Dhanotu yesterday. According to the police, the incident occurred when a bus (DL-1P-5629) coming from Mandi collided with a scooter. The pillion rider, Hamid, a resident of Dinak village, fell into the BBMB canal and was feared to have been drowned. Maskin who was driving the scooter was seriously injured. He has been admitted to the Civil Hospital Sundernagar and is stated to be in a serious condition. The police has registered
a case against the driver of the bus, who is absconding.
The bus has been impounded. |
Work-charged
staff paid "in time" HAMIRPUR, March 11 — Payments to daily paid and work-charged employees in Tounidevi division of the Public Works Department have been made and there is nothing due to them. This was claimed here today by a spokesman of the department. He said that payments were made in time. However, he failed to mention the exact date of payment of salaries to the staff. The district president of
the NGO federation had alleged that salaries to staff
were not made in time by the department. |
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