Seminar on health services held
KANGRA, Sept 3 — Devolution of administrative and financial powers to the district level and below is a major reform needed to improve health and the family welfare services in the district and in the state.

Virbhadra seeks white paper on recruitments
HAMIRPUR, Sept 3 — A former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, has demanded a white paper on the recruitments made by his and the present BJP government in the state.

Yamuna festival in October
NAHAN, Sept 3 The Yamuna Sharad Mahotsava has become a significant festival in the Paonta valley after Hola Mohalla.

HVC releases manifesto
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 3 — Setting up of an eco-development authority under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, priority to hydel projects and review of the policy to make recruitment to armed forces on the basis of population are the main highlights of the Himachal Vikas Congress manifesto released here today.

Mr Sukh Ram, President of the party, said the HVC which was contesting the Lok Sabha poll in alliance with the BJP endorsed the manifesto of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). However it had come out with its own manifesto to highlight important issues concerning the state which could be settled only with the support of the Centre.

He said the HVC's main concern was to save the Himalayas which were losing the green cover. It would press the Centre to set up an eco-development authority headed by the Prime Minister and having the Chief Ministers of various Himalayan states as members to implement a plan to save the hills.

The ratio of thermal and hydel power generation had dwindled in the country whereas in some advanced countries entire power generation was based on hydel projects.

The party underlined the need to make Manali-Leh highway into an all-weather road in view of its importance from the defence point of view by boring tunnels under the Rohtang, Baralacha and Khardungla passes. Besides the rail network would be strengthened and the Pathankot-Jogindernagar line upgraded to broad gauge and extended to Bhanupali via Mandi Sundernagar and Beri.

The party was against the import of consumer items under the open general licence and it would press the Centre to delete apples and hops from the list and provide reasonable time to growers and the fruit processing industry to upgrade technology so that they could compete with their counterparts in advanced countries. It promised to build a terminal fruit market at Nalagarh and to bring fruit under the crop insurance scheme.

Another issue included in the manifesto, was the demand for review of the present policy under which recruitment to armed forces was done on the basis of the recruitable male population. Small states like Himachal Pradesh which accounted for just ½ per cent of the country's population had been hit hard by it. The state's recruitment quota should be increased, he said.

Virbhadra's tenure was "dark period"
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 3 — Mr Suresh Chandel, President of the Himachal BJP, today said that the tenure of Mr Virbhadra Singh as Chief Minister was a dark period during which he did nothing except making tall claims and false promises.

In a statement here today he said that not a single MW was added to power generation in the state during the Virbhadra Singh regime. All projects remained only on paper.

Mr Virbhadra Singh announced a number of new hydroelectric projects and signed MOUS with various private parties. But not a single project approved during the period made any headway, he alleged.

Mr Chandel alleged that for narrow political considerations, Mr Virbhadra Singh deliberately scuttled the 2051-MW Parbati project and the Larji project only because he had differences with Mr Sukh Ram in whose parliamentary constituency these projects were located. His stand on getting Himachal's share in the Parbati project increased was just to delay the projects.

The state BJP chief said similarly the Virbhadra government's plan to establish cement plants at Sundernagar and Alsindi, Chamba, also remained on paper.

On the contrary, the BJP government in 1990 cleared the Darlaghat cement plant and ensured, that it was completed in a record time he claimed.

Mr Chandel said had the BJP government not been dismissed in December, 1992, the proposed cement plants at Chamba and Sundernagar would have been commissioned.

He alleged that Mr Virbhadra Singh befooled people on the false hope of an economic package from the Centre. On the other hand, the Dhumal government succeeded in getting Rs 300 crore from the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, within three months of coming to power.

MANDI, (FOC) — The Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has criticised former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for spreading canards that all development activities in the state had come to a halt.

Talking to mediapersons here last evening, Mr Dhumal asserted that facts could not be disputed, only verified. Eversince the BJP-HVC alliance government took over, the pace of development had accelerated and work on six hydle projects, which had been stalled or slowed down, had been started vigorously.

He said the Congress government had virtually stalled work on Larji Project, which fell in the constituency of Thakur Kaul Singh, former Vidhan Sabha Speaker. "We have started round-the-clock work on this project which will be completed in a few years. Malana hydle project was given by our government to a private party and it is likely to be completed within tow-and-a-half years", he said.

The Congress government had delayed the execution of several projects like Chamera II, work on which was taken up after 11 years by the BJP government. Similarly, work on Shanan stage III was not taken up for over a decade.

Replying to a question, he said the CBI, which was investigating various charges against Mr Virbhadra Singh, had seized several documents pertaining to gross violation of land ceiling and revenue laws and the state had appealed to the Supreme Court against the award of compensation of crores of rupees of the land vested in the government.

He ridiculed the Congress for seeking votes in the name of stability. Congress leader alleged that Pakistan dared an intrusion, because Delhi had a weak government. Mr Dhumal asked who created instability and weakened the government time and again and burdened the country with elections.

Holy town that stinks
From Bijender Sharma

JAWALAMUKHI: The recent rains played havoc with the civic amenities in this town. Potholes have developed on a number of roads and in certain localities there is no road worth the name. Though the town's upkeep is the responsibility of the Nagar Panchayat and a part of the town looked after by the Jawalamukhi Temple committee, little seems to have been done by the authorities.

The population of the town is about 15,000 and a number of tourists come here daily. The roads damaged by the monsoon Dehra Road, Mandir Road, Shamsan Ghat Road, Kangra Road and most interior roads. At the bus stand and main bazaar, the roads are in immediate need for repair. Even the roads leading to Hoshiarpur and the temple are in bad shape. Many lanes and by-lanes are still covered by slush.

Heaps of garbage have become part and parcel of life in the town. A little rain is enough to carry the garbage to the door-step of a house. The Nagar Panchayat has no place to dump the garbage and at present it is being dumped behind the bus stand, which has exposed residents of the area to disease. Thus, pilgrims come to the holy town are greeted by stink.

Mrs Anil Parbha, head of the Nagar Panchayat, said they were making the residents sick and forcing them to fall a prey to gastroenteritis , malaria, and viral diseases as they had no funds to provide them a hygienic environment. The government was indifferent to their pleas to improve sanitation, she added.

At present the civic body has 20 garbage dumps while its requirement is for 40 dumps. A number of vehicles to lift the garbage should be provided. Besides, the strength of sweepers is about 20 while the panchayat requires at least 30 more sweepers to cover the entire town.

Mr S.S. Chambial, executive officer of the Nagar Panchayat , who is also SDM of Dehra, said the priority was to get mechanical equipment for cleanliness, a place for dumping garbage, repair of drains and street lights. Many colonies that had sprung up without authorisation and these added to their problems. The civic body had an acute shortage of staff.

"With a budget of only Rs 20 lakh at our command, it is difficult to cope with problems," he added.

On the other hand, residents allege that they have to live in sub-human conditions as the Nagar Panchayat members never give a thought to their problems.

However, Mr Sharma said the district planning board has not allocated any funds for the town's development for several years.

With heaps of garbage piling up, insanitary conditions prevailed at Indira Colony, Mandir and Kangra roads and behind the bus stand. Stink emanates from these areas and it becomes difficult for people to pass through.

Without sewerage facilities, the drains in the town remains choked after a spell of rain. As the diameter of the drains is too small to carry a heavy discharge of sewerage, rain water remains stagnant for months together.

In and almost all localities, street lights are either missing or out of order and during the night, cyclists and pedestrians face difficulty owing to darkness.

Jawan cremated with military honours
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, Sept 3 — Amar Lal (24) of the 12 Sindh Horse, who laid down his life while flushing out militants at Chat village of Doda district of J&K on August 31, was cremated with full state and military honours at his native village Maryun, under Kishangarh sub-tehsil of this district today.

His body was flown from Doda to Kasauli where it was kept for a few hours to enable people to pay their last respects.

Col H.S. Gill placed a wreath on the body on behalf of the chief of the General Staff. While Col G.S. Hundal represented the General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command.

Deputy Commissioner, R.D. Dhiman and P.W.D. Minister Mohinder Singh placed wreaths on behalf of the Governor, Ms V.S. Ramadevi, and the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, respectively. Wreaths were also placed on behalf of the 12 Sindh Horse by Col B.K. Joshi and on behalf of the DGP the, SP, Mr Rakesh Aggarwal.

Mr Arun Sen, Deputy Chairman, Zila Parishad, Mr Virendera Kashyap, Chairman, State Marketing Board, Mr Raghu Raj, MLA from Kasauli and SDM, Rakesh Dhiman were among those who paid floral tributes to the soldier.

Mr Jagdish, Amar Lal's elder brother lit the pyre.

He is survived by his wife and a four-month-old daughter.

Seminar on health services held
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, Sept 3 — Devolution of administrative and financial powers to the district level and below is a major reform needed to improve health and the family welfare services in the district and in the state. This was suggested at a two-day seminar organised by the district Health and Family Welfare department Training here. The seminar concluded yesterday.

It was suggested at a two day seminar that reducing the infant and the natal mortality rates required setting up First Feferal Units, which can handle medical emergencies. Participants said hospitals which were to provide this service did not have the required trained personnel, operation theatres, equipment and other facilities.

The seminar was attended by the CMO, Kangra the programme and block medical officers of the district, representatives of the state and central Health and Family Welfare Departments and several NGOs. International donor agencies like the European Commission and UNICEF were also represented at the seminar.

Virbhadra seeks white paper on recruitments
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Sept 3 — A former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, has demanded a white paper on the recruitments made by his and the present BJP government in the state. He said, it was essential in view of the report submitted by a senior bureaucrat in which the BJP government claimed to have found that gross irregularities were committed during his (Virbhadra) four years rule while recruiting persons in various governments and semi government departments.

Addressing a press conference here last night, he said after the reports of the white paper was published recruitments done by both the governments should be verified by a sitting Judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

He alleged that the report of the Shukla Commission was one sided, and issued under pressure from the ruling party. He asked the Chief Minister to make public details of the jobs, names of the person, their departments and under whose orders these jobs were given to them as mentioned in the report and added that the government was making attempts to implicate him and his party.

The former Chief Minister, alleged that the government had given thousands of jobs on the basis of personal recommendations. The Kangra Central Cooperative Bank recruitment case and the employment of at least 3,700 daily wage labourers only in Dharampur PWD division of Mandi district were enough to prove that these jobs were given by violating all norms.

Mr Singh described the government led by Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal as highly inexperienced one. The Chief Minister was immature and had no practical knowledge of the administration and he was taking wrong decisions under the influence of coterie, he alleged.

He said that the BJP government had gone bankrupt and was taking loans from the public and other financial institutions through the HPSEB and HP State Forest Corporation.

Yamuna festival in October
From Our Correspondent

NAHAN, Sept 3 The Yamuna Sharad Mahotsava has become a significant festival in the Paonta valley after Hola Mohalla.

This three-day festival attracts large number of people organised on the bank of Yamuna river on the occasion of shard purnima to celebrate "Ras Leela" of Lord Krishna, the mahotsav starts with Yamuna pooja.

This year the festival would start from October 22 in Paonta Sahib. According to Mr Rahul Anand, SDM Paonta Sahib and head of organising committee exhibitions, sports activities, cultural and other variety programme would be organised during the festival. The administration would hold an exhibition of cattle of good breed for the benefit of farmers.

The festival got attention due to the fine performance of "thodda nritya" by the Hati tribe people of the district in the festival. "Thodda" is a war technique of Hati tribe which they used to defeat the enemy with the help of bows and arrows.