Thoughts.. lies... and some honest rib

BJP government legalize corruption in Himachal

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:14:00 +0000

BJP government in the state now seems to be showing it’s true colors. It raised hue and cry over the corruption issue during state and central elections. Subhash Ahluwalia, Principle Secretary to the former Congress chief minister was arrested and subsequently suspended has been reinstated after his mentor became a central minister. The police during investigation found property worth 2.30 crore from him. No one in today’s government dares to ask from where did a civil servant amassed such huge amount of property.

In a shocking report, the BJP government is going to reinstate former drug licensing authority Sher Singh Thakur. He was caught with his pants down while on money collecting spree in Baddi. An amount of 4,88,500/ was recovered from him while he was “inspecting” the pharma units. Later property worth crores and 20 bank accounts were detected. This is how the state health minister has mentioned the whole issue.

Brushing aside any negative publicity this step would evoke, he said it was not the first case as officials in several departments had been reinstated until the court proved them guilty.

He added that even in the health department, various officers, including the then drug inspectors Kapil Dhiman and Nishan Sarin, were reinstated after being suspended briefly after being caught in corruption cases.

The background of this whole issue is very interesting. A minister in the state who represents the same district where these pharma units are located was pissed off with Sheru as he was demanding money from one of the units where this minister also had business interests. Sheru was unaware about the minister’s connection and went on terrorizing this unit. Finally a lesson was taught by getting him arrested red-handed.

So lesson taught, and finally this man will be back in office after making a ‘deal’. What if he was caught red handed? This man is still to be proved guilty in the court of law. BJP government has finally legalized corruption in the state. One can now openly indulge in corruption and still serve the same very government. Next step the government must ensure is to display a bribe chart in every office for getting the work done.

This is the real Ram Rajya, BJP been shouting all along. Was some one singing Bhey, bhukh aur bhrashtachar during elections!!!

Himachal again in news for all the wrong reasons

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:21:00 +0000

Himachal Pradesh is back in news, and trust me there is no reason to cheer. In the first incident 4 teachers have been booked for out sourcing their jobs in the remote Shilai area of Sirmaur. These teachers had hired other people to do their job while they were living and doing business else where. One of the teacher was running a shop in his village and the other teacher was running a coaching center at Paonta Sahib.

There seems to be no check and fear of the govt any where. Govt. job is now an open license for corruption. Outsourcing one’s job is a novel idea and I believe Himachal is the first state in the country where one can outsource his own job!! This is because the politicians are there to save the corrupt. Politicians everywhere have one point agenda, promote the corrupt and kill honesty. This way when the entire system becomes a tool in their hands these kings can rule the masses. No prizes for guessing why the state run schools are not able to produce good results in annual exams.

In the second incident, Himachal Pradesh PMT results this year again is in the news. Parents of unsuccessful candidates had alleged paper leak. 22 toppers in the PMT results are from a same coaching institute in Shimla which have raised suspicion. In the past, in 2006, Himachal High Court had ordered re-test and all 65 toppers in the first exam had scored poorly in the re-test. This had proved that there was a paper leak. The case is still in the court and no one has been punished as of now.

Himachal Pradesh University is a den of corruption. As such very little academic activities take place here. Students, teachers and staffers here are tools in the hands of the politicians. (again the bloody politicians!) Entire year student groups keep on fighting on petty issues making sure there is no credible academic atmosphere in the campus. In such background it is no big deal that papers have been sold. Last refuge of the Munna bhais of the world has become Himachal University.

Overall these incidents speaks of the level of governance in the state. This is just a tip of the iceberg. It is very easy for the politicians to promise moon during the elections but when it comes to delivering, the performance is zero. Government machinery is the biggest white elephant of this state. They all are here because of some push and pull and not of any competence. Anything the govt touches turns into $hit.

Himachal Police – Where is the policing?

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:12:00 +0000

Two recent incidents have exposed the state of policing in Himachal Pradesh. When the entire country is reeling from the affects of the Mumbai terror attacks and the police is supposed to be on high alert, policemen in Himachal Pradesh still do not understand the seriousness of the situation.

In the first incident, 6 Nepalis were caught at Chandigarh, Sector-17 bus station carrying 12 gelatin sticks, 6 detonators, 2 Nobel D-Gel sticks and seven meter of fuse wire in the early morning hours on December 9. These people had traveled from Rohru in Shimla district and were headed to Uttrakhand. They traveled virtually unchecked a distance of 220 km in HRTC buses inside Himachal Pradesh. Nowhere there was any form of checking Had it not been for CRPF personals manning the sector-17 bus station these people would have left for their destination. Policing in Himachal Pradesh is the most cushy job. Unless there is a VIP duty with a minister coming in late, police stations are closed by 6 pm. In the recent past, Shimla had have a spate of day light burglaries. Numerous cars have been stolen from Shimla roads since there is no patrolling by the police after dark. Places like Main bus station, Sanjouli, Totu, Baleuganj are ruled by goonda elements in the night and there is hardly any security worth it’s name for the common man. Police gets into action mode only after any incident occurs. Till now Shimla has been free of any major criminal and terrorist activity but for how long? With such a lax security set up, criminals and terrorists can strike any time.

In the second incident, which has been kept away from major newspapers, a person was arrested by the Punjab Police from the Kotkhai area of Shimla district who had made this village a base for printing fake currency. A printer and computer was confiscated by the Punjab Police in it’s raid as has been reported in some Hindi dailies. This person was staying here as a surveyor of a electricity company for three months. Himachal Police was not aware of the raid done by Punjab Police. Now the police here has been dismissing the whole operation by Punjab Police as a hog wash. Kotkhai happens to be the constituency of a high profile minister in the present government and the police is probably hushing up the entire case. It has been reported that the accused here used to leave his keys with the owner of the house while going out and have meals at the owner’s house. How could the accused choose such far off place for his operation without the involvement of any local person cannot be dismissed.

Liquor mafia still rules the state. Only the names have changed after the present government took over. The activities are the same. Drug mafia is operating rampantly in the entire state. If an ordinary citizen can see all these things why can’t the police?? These are dangerous signals and a warning of the times to come. Unless the police starts some serious policing Himachal is not going to be safe. The police has to come out of the chor-sipahi mode of policing.

Bus accident at Kufri

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:08:00 +0000

Bus accident near Kufri at Shimla left 45 dead. Only 4 people survived the accident. As reported in the media, the driver was changing CD in a moving bus and failed to negotiate a curve. It has also been reported that the driver did not have a license to drive the bus at all.

As a policy, music system is not allowed in buses in the state. Only the state run HRTC adheres to this rule. Private bus operators give a two hoot and almost all private buses have stereos. The music system is kept near to the driver who while driving the bus keeps on changing the CDs. There is another menace of talking on mobile phones while driving. Both these activities are recipe for disaster while driving and putting lives in danger of the traveling public.

Most of the private operators have contracted their buses to a third party. The permit of the route is in the name of one person and the person who is operating and driving the bus is a different one. Most of the time these people do not have valid driving license. The owner is simply interested in getting the monthly fixed amount from the operator. During marriage season, most of these buses are hired for ferrying the entire barat during night and in the morning, same driver takes the bus to Shimla, posing grave risk to the passengers as he hardly gets any rest.

Now comes the role of state government. Regional Transport Authority is responsible for issuing permits for the bus, issuing driving license and to keep an overall check on these buses and is supposed to keep a tab through the office of Regional Transport Officer. The office of the RTO is a hot bed of corruption. If one has the capacity to pay, one can get anything done from this office whether it is in the rule book or not.

Firstly, bus permits are issued on political consideration and the rest by accepting bribes. Secondly, bus timings are fixed such that all private buses leave before the state run HRTC buses on the same route. One has to first bribe for getting a bus route permit and then to change the bus timings. Third, the operators offer bribe on per month basis to keep the RTO away from checking the buses. The RTO never checks the bus papers, the driving license of the driver, whether he is in a uniform, the bus has a music system, whether any tickets are issued to the passengers or not. In short, people working in the RTO have all the fingers in ghee and head in karahi.

Postings at RTO are given to the ‘chosen’ ones of the government and the money such collected is shared at the top level. In such scenario, public safety is the least concern of the government and the operators. The government shows some concern for a few days after an accident occurs and once people forget about the whole incident, things are back to ‘normal’ after a couple of days.

The rot is in the RTO system of governance. Once this be cured their will be some sort of order on Himachal roads. Till then people will keep on dying in bus accidents.

Himachal Govt - Penny wise Pound foolish - II

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:35:00 +0000

For scores of Himachalis, the govt. has made sure they will not be able to savour the tasty and hygenic sweets prepared by the Milkfed. For the past five years, Milkfed has been preparing sweets on Diwali and being sold from outlets of HPMC, HPTDC and others. These sweets were easy on pocket and there was a guarantee of being prepared hygenically and no artificial colors and chemicals were added. The sweets were a big hit among the common people and one had to place orders in advance to avoid disappointment at the last moment.

This had created a big dent in the sales of private sweet shops and some of them had forced the then govt to have the samples tested in a labortary where it passed the tests. This year with the change in govt, which happens to have a reputation for being close to the traders, have simply ordered Milkfed not to prepare sweets at all thus benefitting the private sweet shops directly. Milkfed in the past 5 years made a profit of over 30 lakhs by selling these sweets. This is just a fraction of business Milkfed has done as it used to prepare sweets just for Diwali period only. Imagine the profits and turnover had this become a year around business.

Milkfed is barely able to maintain its existance because of very limited scope of activities. Above all it is a straight loss for the people of state who will not be able to buy qaulity product this festive season and will be at the mercy of local halwais who sell sweets made from adultrated khoya. In past there has been sting operations in UP - Delhi area from where khoya is procurred for making sweets and entire product is synthetically produced with loads of chemicals thrown in. This seems to have consent of the top boss in Himachal as Milkfed comes directly under his control.

Here is another business which has fallen to the greed and profit making of few individuals. The sufferers being the masses who will now buy adulterated sweets. Before I wish Happy Diwali to the readers, a word of caution, stay away from sweets this Diwali for the sake of your and your dear ones health!!

Himachal Govt - Penny wise Pound foolish

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:40:00 +0000

One fails to understand the logic behind the proposed move of HP Govt to raise a corpus fund of 40 crore and invest in stock market which will be utilised in dispensing pensions to retired employees of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board. (HPSEB) The wishfull thinking is that the amount will grow to 100 crores and the state will then foot the pension bills of retired employees.

How detached our policy makers are from the real world can be judged that they seem to be unaware of the overall downturn in the stocks globally. The timing of this decision is all wrong with the bull turning into a mouse these days. People are running away from Dalal Street and our 5 year Gods are investing 40 crores into those very stocks. 40 damn CRORES!!!

The entire deal is being done in a very hush-hush manner. Govt has not come out with any details. Which company / stock broker is going to manage the funds is still unknown. What is the track record of the firm and how it was chosen has not been made public. Above all what is the hurry to invest in stocks at this point of time is beyond anybody's guess. This is a major policy decision. BJP in it's election manifesto had nowhere mentioned that it will revoke pensions of all retired employees and instead look for a stock option.

It seems there is more than what is coming out in the news. Anyone investing in stocks and mutual funds must be aware that the broker/agent are offered 2% comission by the companies and the brokers in return offer 1% back to the customer. Now this is unaccounted money meaning no receipt for the same is offered. 2% of 40 crores comes to a staggering 80 lakh and someone could be making lots of money on this entire deal. This possibly explains the hurry to invest into stock market in the present murky scenario.

Retired people are at the twilight of their lives and with rising cost of living and now possible uncertainity of pensions the going will be very tough for these people. With the young having moved away from Himachal in search of jobs most of the elderly retired people are living all alone. Pension is the only income which they have to support in today's tough times. The govt need to understand it is the people in flesh and blood which it is dealing with. Squandering money at an all time low stock market with no proper mechanism and no knowledge of the functioning of stock markets is a foolish decision. Stock market is nothing short of gambling and above all the party in power never asked for a mandate to take such major policy decision. The Govt. has to stop acting like God! People will not miss the possible 80 lakh angle to this whole affair!!

Stupid Breaking News on Indian Television

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:21:00 +0000

My love for media is not entirely lost. Here is a link for a Breaking news on India TV. You won't believe what sort of rubbish is being thrown out. Take a look

Foot licking Himachal media

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:18:00 +0000

Himachal has newspapers rolling out in dozens. The media scene is dominated by Hindi newspapers followed by a miniscule English newspaper circulation. One thing is common among all sections of newspapers, foot licking the govt. Be it anyone, no newspaper has the balls to write against the wrong doings of the govt. Every newspaper is busy out doing each other in manipulating news in the govt favor and blocking embarrissing news and views.

Consider this, a major tragedy happened at Naina Devi shrine which was a direct result of mishandling on part of the govt as there were no adequate facilities for the people coming in. The govt was caught unaware at all levels as it has not even appointed an officer incharge responsible for managing things at the shrine, what to speak about other facilities for the public. 146 people died 'officialy'. More than the people killed in the terrorists blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad combined. What did our media do? NOTHING!!! Beleive me, nothing happened on the media front. Routine statements from the govt and a few 'human interest' stories of a person found alive among the dead. No newspaper dared to challenge the govt on its absolute mismanagement where it had an opportunity to fry the balls of the govt. The story has been removed from the papers all together as if nothing ever had happened.

Amar Ujala happens to be one of the largest circulating Hindi daily in Himachal and what is the pet project of this newspaper - remove restrictions from sealed roads in Shimla and let the vehicle ply on these roads freely. The newspaper recently carried a report on this issue equating it to the restrictions during British Raj. Well what it did not mention in its report that their office is right next to Ritz cinema which falls under the restricted road and the paper must have been paying heavy fees for permits to ply vehicles on the restricted road from US Club area.

Shimla city retains it character as there exists sealed roads. Imagine the havoc if vehicles were allowed to move freely on these roads and on the Mall. Plus we Shimlaites look damn fitter and smart because of all the walking involved during the day. How can the Amar Ujala staff relate to this city exclusivity as most of them are outsiders and simply doing a 'job' here. They have no sensitivity for local ethos.

Media has failed to highlight and educate people on issues related to the state's welfare. They don't write about the poor conditions of road in the state, failure of public distribution system in villages, absence of medical facilities in rural areas and above all the true scenario of the industrilisation of state. Himachalis are not getting jobs in Baddi area. Bigger investments like Ski Village are still in limbo. In fact Ski village is one such issue which can fill up tons of newspaper space about it viability or non viability. No journalist have ever taken pain to bring out the real picture. They just publish the views of the govt or the opposition leaders. That's it!

One of the major drawback of the region wise reporting of the Hindi newspaper is one does'nt know what is happening in the neighbouring district. People have been blocked off the news from the state and this serves the interest of the govt as well as the papers too in terms of circulation. Another major reason for the fall in journalistic standards is most of the bureau chiefs are non himachalis. These are the people who decide what needs to be published. They cannot relate to the ground realities and are just concerned about pleasing the govt and to remain in the good books.

Plainly speaking, Himachal media is contended with foot licking of the govt of the day!

The Naina Devi mishap

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:31:00 +0000

146 is the official count of the people who died in the Naina Devi stampade on Sunday. As usual, it was a complete Ram Bhrose attitude of the adminstration at the venue managing crowds. As per the reports coming in the media, the police which was meant for controlling crowds was missing from the scene. The leaders of the whole clan whether from the ruling or the opposition parties have been expressing there condolocens, grief, sorrow in abundance. Once the dust settles down it will take time for the families to sunk in the loss they have suffered.

I wonder why nothing works in Himachal? Everything we have here is in the state of doldrums. We have a thriving tourism industry but the taxi wallas and the coolies acting as guides make sure that every tourist is ripped off once stepping into our 'Dev Bhumi'. We have one of the largest fleet of transport buses in Himachal and HRTC happens to be the life line of Himachal in terms of transportation but try boarding a bus from any bus stand in the state and you find some of the filthiest bus stations in Himachal. Even Lalu's train stations shine in front of our bus stations. Take the case of hospitals. The IGMC in Shimla is a nightmare to get into. Your pockets get picked when you are standing in front of the receipt counter. The level of cleanliness is dismisal in the wards. The conditions of toilets is worth not mentioning and the behaviour of docs, better left to discuss for some other day!

We acheived statehood in 1970, full 38 years back. By now the system and processes would have been perfected. We still are goping in dark. Public convenience and safety seems to be the last priority on the adminstration list. Our politicians behave as 5 year Gods! They seem to have no vision. Simply interested in enjoying the fruits of ruling the masses. They know, after the next election they will be back in power so why bother about bothering about people's problems!

System defeats woman. Ends her life

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:53:00 +0000

Here is an example of the system making life impossible in the state. A poor woman committed suicide in a police officer's office in Baijnath. This woman was engaged as an Anganwari worker and was being paid a meagre salary of a few hundred rupees which was her lone source of income. With the change in govt. in the state, the new BJP govt. in its zeal to undo everything the previous govt had done, removed her from the job forcing her to end her life.

The govt of the day must be proud by having blood of an innocent poor woman on its hand. Equally proud must be the minister of social justice in our state who also happens to be a woman. It must be great to play god. Judge, Jury and Jallad all rolled into one. The 'system' must have brushed her death as another freak incident. Imagine the frustration to end one's life for 938 rupees per month. This is where the people who elects it govt. has been pushed to.

A new Governor- again

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:39:00 +0000

Reports tickled in late evening that Himachal has a new Governor. Some politico from Maharahtra has been appointed a new governor. The office of the governor is a big drain on the state. The previous one was too fond of visiting every nook and corner of Himachal. I think he must have visited almost all temples in Himachal. Nothing wrong with that except all this sair spata is borne by the natives. The state has to support the entire staff associated with this post and being a governor of a state like Himachal, there is steady stream of relatives, friends, friends of friends dropping in. Of course all these are announced as state guests and they have a field day being guest of the state.

States like Himachal should not have a seprate Governor and a governor of Haryana or Punjab can share this responsibility. We natives won't mind that. For us a Governor means someone shooting off in a black Merc with black tainted wind screens and sirens ablaze. We never get to see him and he never walks up to the people.

Attack on Indian Embassy in Kabul

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:11:00 +0000

Monday attack on Indian embassay in Kabul saw death snatching away the Defence Attache, a senior diplomat and 2 security persons. Two of the dead were from Himachal. Brig RD Mehta, Defence Attache was from Shimla while ITBP constable Mr. Roop Singh belonged to Mandi district. It was really tragic to hear such ghastly news. Brig Mehta had studied from St. Edwards School Shimla and was an authority on many languages besides Tibetian, Chinese and Pushto languages. His family resided in the Keleston area near Bharari.

Constable Roop Singh hailed from Dhaban village of Sadar tehsil in district Mandi and was a part of the ITBP responsible for security of the Indian mission in Kabul.

Makes me really sad such men of valour had to die in a far off land but also makes me proud that Himachalis are in fore front for laying there lives for the nation. I salute these two brave men and pray the govt. looks after their families well.

Do we really care

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:06:00 +0000

There was a lot of hue and cry when the petrol prices were increased. It seemed that our world was coming to an end as we were supposed to pay 52/ for a liter of petrol. Few weeks down the line everything seems to be normal. I don't find any decrease in number of vehicles on road. There is no change in number of tourist vehicles coming into Shimla. Every morning during rush hour I see a mile long traffic jam. This brings to another interesting question, where does all the money is coming from. I suppose even if petrol was to be sold at 100/ per litre even then there will be no let up in number of vehicles.

Do we have deep pockets or the money is coming through unlawful means. I guess the going rate of getting things done in offices must have also gone up. Something to ponder but do we really care!

Fake Universities

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:49:00 +0000

This is the admission time and students are looking for various avenues outside the state. Here is a list of fake universities as mentioned by the UGC for its 2007 notification

Bihar
1 . Maithili University/Vishwavidyalaya, Darbhanga, Bihar
Delhi
2. Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi (UP) Jagatpuri, Delhi.
3. Commercial University Ltd., Daryaganj, Delhi
4. United Nations University, Delhi
5. Vocational University, Delhi
6.ADR-Centric Juridical University, ADR House, 8J, Gopala Tower, 25 Rajendera Place, New Delhi-110008/14, J.D.Road, Kolkata-700012.
Karnataka
7.Badaganvi Sarkar World Open University Education Society, Gokak, Belgaum (Karnataka)Kerala
8.St. John's Univesity, Kishanattam, KeralaMadhya Pradesh
9.Kesarwani Vidyapith, Jabalpur (M.P)Maharashtra
10 .Raja Arabic University, NagpurTamil Nadu
11.D.D.B Sanskrit University, Putur, Trichi, Tamil NaduUtter Pradesh
12. Mahila Gram Vidyapith/Viswavkiyalaya, (Women's University) Prayag, Allahabad (UP)
13. Indian Education Council of U.P., Lucknow (UP)
14.Gandhi Hindi Vidyapith, Prayag, Allahabad (UP)
15. National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy, Kanpur
16. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose University (Open University), Achaltal, Aligarh (UP)
17. Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya, Kosi Kalan, Mathura (UP)
18. Maharana Partap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya, Pratapgarh (UP)
19.Gurukul Vishwavidyalaya, Vrindavan, UP.

Students are advised to refer to the websites of UGC (www.ugc.ac.in), the AICTE (www.aicte.emet.in) and DEC (www.dec.ac.in) to verify and satisfy themselves of the list of the recognized Indian Universities/Institutions before joining or taking admission in various courses.

Firing in Shoghi factory

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:25:00 +0000

An unfortunate incident. One person was killed and several injured when a group of workers surrounded the offices of Supermax factory and the private guards opened fire, threatening the secuirty personel. The politicians have been showing rosy picture all these years of all the industries coming into the state. With industries there has to be discipline. There is no work culture in the state and the work force still believes strongly in Unions. There has been lot many cases in Baddi where strikes have happened because of the union problems. Himachalis are second best to the Bengalis in forming a union. No sooner 4 Himachalis meet, a union appears. Himachal must be having largest number of unions. You name it we have it.

High time we people realise days of Unions, Laal Jhanda are over. It is an extremely competitive market and unless we devote our energies in constructive actions, the industries would migrate else where and whatever little opportunities we are getting would be lost. Migrating for Himachalis is a big problem as we tend to have weather problems in case we go and work in plains. What would be the quality of life there. Unions and leaders are not going to feed us. They are here to raise passions.

The earlier we wake up to the reality, the better.

Are we happy with Shimla town?

noreply@blogger.com (Shimlaite) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:24:00 +0000

Having lived in Shimla for ages, I feel disheartened the way Shimla town has developed into. It looks like a ghost town. There are no civic amenities and whatever little amenities are available, are in the VIP areas where the IAS and the big boys of the state live. What to talk of parks and play grounds, there is no walking space in the city left to walk comfortably. One doesn't get any clean water through out the year. Clean water.. one doesn't get water through out the year. No sanitation worth its name in the city. The roads are clogged with all sort of vehicles. No parking space for cars. See the condition of roads in the city. They look pathetic. Even roads in Bihar are better than ours. No offence meant for Bihar though. While Laloo promised roads as smooth as Hema Malini's cheeks, Shimla roads look like Ompuri cheeks. The list is endless.. Even the clean air, of which we were proud once is now missing.

To make a start, Shimlaites have to reject the present set of people who govern the city. In every elections, people vote on regional lines and not on performance. Congress have been winning for so long but has done nothing for the city. Give new people a chance. New people have fresh ideas. After all what we have got to loose!!