States report : Himachal Pradesh

Dhumal for CBI probe into
insurance scam
From Our Correspondent

Former Chief Minister and BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal today demanded a high-level probe into employees’ insurance scam in the state. He said only a CBI probe could bring out the truth.

It was a matter of grave concern that the state government was shielding the officers involved in the scam and had initiated no action against them, he rued.

Talking to mediapersons at Sujanpur Tira, 30 km from here, Mr Dhumal said it had been established that against the wishes of employees, the government forced them to have an insurance cover from a particular company with an aim to benefitting the company.

This year again the government hired the same company and allocated the job of employees’ insurance despite the fact that the company was already mired in controversy, he alleged.

He said last year the installment of insurance per employee was Rs 120 but now the same had been reduced to just Rs 70. He asked for government’s clarification on the excess amount charged last year and whether it would be refunded or not.

He said the state government had not allocated any funds for sewerage scheme in Hamirpur and hence its construction had not been completed.

Also, no funds had been sanctioned for an indoor stadium at Sujanpur Tira even though the Chief Minister had publically committed to providing funds, he added.

Mr Dhumal said his party would continue to oppose the setting up of ski village in Kulu district because the government had failed to take care of the interests of the people while initiating the project. He said the project would ruin the ecology of the region as it would lead to large-scale deforestation.