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Villagers fear famine-like situation in Himachal’s Bara Bhangal as they run out of food-stock
Kangra: Over 800 villagers and 400 shepherds in Bara Bhangal village in Baijnath Tehsil of Kangra district are facing a threat of starving to death, as the district administration has not supplied ration to the area since August 2017.
Not only the humans but also their livestock is also at risk as shepherds are not receiving salt for animals, which is a necessity.
The Ghumantu Pashupalak Sangh of the State has also taken note of the ongoing acute shortage of foodgrains/commodities in Bhangal and submitted a memorandum regarding this situation to the district administration.
As per the locals, the region was disconnected from rest of the district after a gigantic landslide in April 2018 that obstructed the pathway from the side of Kangra. A patch of about two to three kilometres is covered with debris and rocks.
Bara-Bhangal, one of the remotest and toughest areas of Himachal to access, is located at a height of approximately over 8,000 fts. The remote area does not have any major pathways to the rest of the district. One of the pathways is from Bir and other from one from Chamba district. Both of them include trekking about 80 kilometres on foot.
During winters, the shepherds and several villagers move to Bir and await summers to return to Bara Bhangal. The region witnesses heavy snowfall in winters, therefore, the district administration used to send food supplies on mules through a 70 kilometres long trek from Bir that passes through Thamsar pass in the Dhauladhar mountain range. It was done every year before the arrival of monsoon.
This year consignments of wheat, mustard oil, rice, pulses etc. were dispatched for Bhangal in mid-June. However, the mules were stranded in Plashak as the footbridge was also washed away June.
The last supply was made in August 2017 before it was disconnected in April. The shepherds and villagers had been commuting by putting their lives at stake.
The people had been requesting the district administration to revive the path to Bhangal or construct an alternative pathway at the earliest as they have almost run out of supplies. The villagers and shepherds are paying exorbitant charges for basic commodities.
Over 400 shepherds are now stuck in Bhangal and the supplies they had carried with themselves have now exhausted. They are paying as much as Rs. 50 to 60 per kg for salt due to administration’s failure to take any urgent steps to make this year’s supply,
said a local and social activist.
The Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Sandeep Kumar, however, maintained that the region has adequate stock. If the DC is to be believed, the problem would be dealt with in a couple of weeks.
When asked about the delay in re-establishing connectivity with the region, another official of the district administration said the trek could not be attended due to bad weather, occasional landslides, sinking portions of the mountains, and shooting of rocks.
The area falls under a Sanctuary and no work on alternative paths could be initiated because the Wildlife Wing of the State Forest Department has not given an approval to do so. The Department was asked to confirm the cost for the same but no reply was received till date, says the district administration.
When asked why helicopter services were not used in such an emergency, the official replied that foggy conditions did not allow it. It’s hard to believe that the helicopter did not receive even a single window of a few hours since April.
On the other hand, the villages and shepherds are facing a very critical situation and are awaiting action from the administration.
Meanwhile, the local legislator was said to have met the Chief Minister regarding the same issue, but no statement in relation to it was released so far.
Shimla-Himachal Pradesh Government employees working in different departments before January 3, 2022, would be given a higher scale at par with other employees on completion of two years tenure of regular service. A higher pay scale was also announced for the Junior Office Assistants (IT) on completion of two years of regular service.
Chief Minister Jairam Thakur made these announcements during the Karamchari Maha Sammelan of the Himachal Pradesh Non-Gazetted Employees Federation at the hotel Peterhof on Sunday.
He appreciated the role played by the employee especially frontline workers in the battle against the pandemic.
He said most of the government employees in the state have been given revised pay scales and on average, every employee has got the benefit of a 12 to 15 percent salary hike. There has also been an increase in the pension of about 1.50 lakh pensioners of the state. The financial benefits of Rs. 7801 crore have been given to state government employees and pensioners from the year 2018 to 2022. The pensioners who retired before 2016 are getting the benefit of a 15 to 20 percent increase in the pension while around 40 thousand pensioners who retired after 2016 would be benefitted soon, he said.
He said the daily wages were Rs. 210 in the year 2017 which has been increased by the present state government to Rs. 350. Similarly, 12 per cent interim relief annually has been provided to government employees and pensioners during the present government’s tenure. He said the Himachal government has provided Dearness Allowance to its employees and pensioners on the lines of Punjab and Central governments from the due date. The Punjab government has given only 5 percent interim relief to the employees while the Himachal government has provided 21 percent interim relief to its employees.
“Out of the total interim relief amount given to the employees and pensioners amounting to about Rs. 6500 crore, Rs. 3500 crore has been paid during the tenure of our government” added the Chief Minister.
He said that the state government has increased the government contribution for NPS employees from 10 percent to 14 percent benefitting more than one lakh employees. The NPS employees are being given the benefits of retirement and death gratuity at par with employees falling under the old pension scheme. The government has also increased the upper limit of death gratuity from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh.
The Chief Minister said the state government has also increased the honorarium of para-workers working in various departments. The salary of outsource workers has been hiked by Rs 1,500 per month.
Non-Gazetted Employees Federation President Ashwani Thakur thanked the Chief Minister for providing various financial and other benefits to different categories of government employees.
New Delhi-The Centre has issued a notification to the States informing that the provisions of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005 will not be invoked in the country after March 31. The Union Health Ministry said that the use of face masks and following hand hygiene will continue.
It implies that most of the Covid-related rules and restrictions would end.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued the notification which said that the decision was taken following the overall improvement in the situation and the preparedness of the government in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, local authorities and State police can still invoke fines and criminal cases against persons violating COVID-19 norms under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a senior government official said.
The DM Act was invoked on March 24, 2020, due to the pandemic
“Over the last seven weeks or so there has been a steep decline in the number of cases. The total caseload in the country stands at 23,913 only and the daily positivity rate has declined to 0.28%. It is also worth mentioning that with the combined efforts, a total of 181.56 Cr vaccine doses have been administered,” the notification said.
“I would like to mention that in view of the nature of the disease, we still need to remain watchful of the situation. Wherever any surge in the number of cases is observed, the States/UTs may consider taking prompt and proactive action at a local level, as advised by MoHFW (Health Ministry) from time to time,” the notification said.
The Indian government had issued various guidelines and measures for the first time on March 24, 2020, under the Disaster Management Act to curb the COVID-19 situation in the country, which have been modified several times thereafter.
India currently has 23,087 active COVID-19 cases and recorded 1,778 new cases and 62 deaths in the last 24 hours. The daily positivity rate has also declined to 0.28%.
Shimla-A meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet was held on March 20, 2022, under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
The excise policy for the financial year 2022-23 was approved. Approval was also given for the renewal of retail excise vends in the state for the financial year 2022-23 at the renewal fees of 4% of the value of unit/vend.
The State Government said that wants to enhance the government revenue and curb the smuggling of country liquor from the neighbouring states by a reduction in its price.
The brands of Country Liquor will be cheaper as license fees have been reduced. This will help in providing good quality liquor at a cheaper rate to the consumers.
In the new excise policy, the 15% fixed quota of country liquor for manufacturers and bottlers to be supplied to the retail licensees has been abolished. According to the government, this step will give the retail licensees to lift their quota from the suppliers of their choice and further assure the supply of good quality country liquor at competitive prices. The MRP of country liquor will be cheaper by 16% of the existing price.
In this year’s policy, the Gaudhan Vikas Nidhi Fund has been enhanced by Re.1/- from the existing Rs.1.50 to Rs.2.50.
The fixed annual license fee of Bars has been rationalized by abolishing the area-specific slabs of license fee. Now throughout the State, there will be uniform license slabs based upon the room capacity in hotels.
Rates of the annual fixed license fee of Bars in the tribal areas has been reduced considerably.
Further, all the above stakeholders will have to install CCTV cameras at their establishments as it was made mandatory for them.
Wholesale vends and retail vends, the penalty provisions under the H.P. Excise Act, 2011 have been made more stringent.
An end to end online Excise Administration System would be established in Himachal Pradesh, the government said.
HP Government estimates a collection of Rs 2131 crore revenue during the year, which will be Rs. 264 crores higher than the financial year 2021-22 – growth of 14% in state excise revenues.
The Cabinet also gave its nod to amend Himachal Pradesh Disaster Relief Manual-2012 to include deaths due to biting of honey bees, hornet and wasps, accidental drowning and deaths due to accidents of vehicles (including land, water and air) under this Manual.
The Cabinet gave its approval for filling up 11 posts of ‘A’ Class Tehsildar in Revenue Department through direct recruitment on regular basis through Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission.
HP State Toll Policy 2022-23
The HP Cabinet also gave its nod to HP State Toll Policy for the year 2022-23 which envisages auction cum tender for all the toll barriers in the State. During the year 2021-22, toll revenue has registered a growth of 20 percent of the previous year’s revenue.
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