HIMACHAL PRADESH

Rs 318 crore for water schemes in Bhattiyat

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Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania has said that the government had made a provision of Rs 318 crore to be spent on drinking water, Irrigation, flood control and sewerage schemes in the Bhattiyat Assembly constituency of Chamba district during this financial year.

Pathania said this while presiding over a meeting of officers of the Jal Shakti Department at the Dalhousie Circuit House recently to review the implementation of various departmental schemes.

This scheme would ensure uninterrupted drinking water supply to a Population of around 28,000 in 318 rural settlements of 20 panchayats, he said. The drinking water project would be completed within the next two years, he added.

Religious sect may get nod to sell land gifted by followers

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The Himachal Government could allow a religious sect to sell the land gifted by its followers in relaxation of the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972 as the matter will be considered by the Cabinet tomorrow.

Sources confirmed that the issue of amendment to the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972 will be dwelt upon by the Cabinet as the agenda has been prepared by the Revenue Department for consideration. The followers of the sect have gifted land in mall chunks at various places which the management wants to dispose of even though the revenue laws do not permit it.

The Himachal Government, in relaxation of the Himachal Pradesh Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972 had in August 2012 brought in a legislation, allowing religious and charitable institutions to own more than 150 bighas land by inserting Section 5 h(i) provision. As such many of the sects possess excess land which has either been purchased or donated by people at various places in Kangra and Shimla.

Will promote state as all-season tourist destination, says Sukhu

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Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that efforts would be made to promote and develop Himachal as an all-season tourist destination and Kangra as the tourism capital of the state.

Kangra district has beautiful Dhauladhar Mountains, famous shrines and scopefor adventure activities

There is a proposal to construct an international standard golf course at Pragpur village and beautification of Palampur

There is also a plan for a high-end resort, 24-hour tourism village, modern roller skating rink and a wellness centre

180 hectares identified at Bankhandi for a modern zoo to be built at a cost of Rs 300 crore

Under the Nai Rahein Nai Manzilein scheme, works worth Rs 20.59 crore being carried out in Kangra

Adventure tourism to be promoted at Pong Dam by introducing houseboats, cruises, yachts and water Sports

Himachal Pradesh’s ‘Veerangna on Wheels’ to fight crime against women

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Himachal Pradesh Police has launched a programme under which female cops at all the 135 police stations of the state have been provided two-wheelers to respond to thecrime against Women.

‘Veerangna on Wheels’ has been initiated under Nirbhaya Scheme and for this women help desks have been set up at all the 135 police stations.

Last year, 1,654 cases of crime against women were registered in the state while in 2019, total 1,640 cases were registered.

SJVN to enter power trading business

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The Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam will enter power trading business as the (CERC) has granted the trading licence to SJVN Limited for inter-state trading of electricity.

The SJVN meets the requirements of the Act and the Trading Licence Regulations for inter-state trading licence, said Chairman and Managing Director, SJVN, Nand Lal Sharma in a release issued.

The trading licence had added another feather to the SJVNs cap, giving a big boost to its business and the SJVN would now trade electricity generated by any companies, he said.

Hamirpur 3rd cleanest rural district in country

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Hamirpur has been ranked the third cleanest district in the country in the rural category and the first district in the state in the Swachh Bharat Mission rankings declared by the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation today.

The Jal Jeevan Mission envisages to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual tap connections to all households in rural India by 2024.

Deputy Commissioner Debasweta Banik said under the drinking water and sanitation programme, all gram panchayats of the district had implemented source sustainability measures as mandatory Elements. She said these included recharge and reuse water sources through management, conservation and rainwater harvesting.

She said under the Jal Jeevan Mission, community participation was ensured and elements such as information, Education and Communication were best used for the success of the programme in the district. During the survey, every aspect of the mission was evaluated and was based on the feedback of people of the respective gram panchayats, the DC added.

Himachal Cabinet gives nod to fill 2,322 posts to bolster water schemes

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The Cabinet gave nod to the Jal Shakti Department to fill 2,322 posts of different categories under Departmental Para Workers Policy to effectively manage 486 drinking water and 31 Irrigation schemes in the State.

The Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur here today, also decided to create and fill 401 posts of different categories in trauma/tertiary care centre in Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) and Super Specialty Bloc, Chamiana of IGMC Shimla for its smooth functioning and to provide specialized Health care facilities to the people of the state. Besides, 328 posts of different categories on outsource basis would also be filed.

The Cabinet gave its nod to revised scheme for interest subvention on WORKING CAPITAL loan for hospitality with a view to ensure that tourism unit operators could get easier access to working capital at interest rates lower than the prevailing market rates.

The revised scheme provides for interest subversion of 75 per cent in the first year and payment period has also been increased to five years. Some other categories like ropeway and travel agents have also been included in the new scheme.

The Cabinet decided to include the families under National Food Security Act (Priority Households Category) where death occurred due to Covid pandemic. The guidelines for identification of Priority Households under National Food Security Act, 2013 issued on August 1, 2013 would be relaxed to give them immediate relief and such families would immediately be included by Gram Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies under National Food Security Act (PHH category) by simply getting Covid death certificates of such persons who died due to coronavirus.

300-km rural roads to be built by year-end

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As many as 300 km roads connecting 20 panchayats will be constructed by the end of this year. As a result, 3,576 panchayats will be connected by roads. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had made this announcement in the Budget proposals presented on March 4. As many as 3,556 of 3,615 panchayats have already been connected by roads.

A target has been set to connect 20 more panchayats located in far-flung areas and having a difficult topography in the current financial year. With this, only 39 panchayats will be left without road connectivity.

The number of panchayats increased from 3,226 to 3,615 after re-organisation and of these, 3,556 panchayats have been connected by roads. Besides, 1,200 km of existing roads will be upgraded under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and 23 new bridges will be constructed.

A sum of Rs 4,373 crore has been provided in the Budget for the construction of 1,060 km of motorable roads, 2,065 metalled roads, 75 bridges and cross drainage on 990 km of roads during 2022-23, increasing the total length of motorable and mettaled roads to 40,000 km and 34,000 km, respectively.

A proposal for the construction of 45 roads of 440 km length at an outlay of Rs 552 crore has been proposed under the PMGSY-III and their DPRs will be sent to the Union Government for approval by June this year.

In a first, ‘natti’ dance performed in Canada

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For the first time in HISTORY, natti of Himachal Pradesh was performed in Canada at Parliament Hill in Ottawa by the Himachali Pravasi Global Association (HPGA) during celebration of Hindu Heritage Month.

Natti, a folk dance, was performed by Shivani Rathod, Shikha Verma, Neha Sharma, Simran Singh, Priti Kalia, Vasundhra Bhardwaj, Punam Guleria, Ashish Guleria and Jatin Kalia.

The HPGA is a non-profit organisation with an aim to help the Himachal-based immigrants and students to understand the culture of the new country which they have chosen as their new Home.

Himachal Pradesh high court says need to establish if Pahari has own script

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TheHimachalPradeshhigh courthas said directions could not be issued to the to declarePaharias an officiallanguageof the state unless it was established on record that Pahari (Himachali) language had its own script and that a common Pahari dialect was spoken throughout the state.

The HC said this while disposing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition which sought directions for the state government to declare Paharias an Official Language of the state.
The court set the petitioner at Liberty to approach the department of language Art and Culture of Himachal Pradesh, with his demand for undertaking a research to promote a common Pahari (Himachali) nuclear language structure and nuclear Tankri script.