Taking serious note of the delay in transfer of Benami land deal cases, Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh said that all such land deals should be vacated and all such properties be vested under the control of the government. He also directed to initiate strict action against the defaulters.
He was chairing the meeting of Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Superintendents of Police (SPs), to assess the law and order situation in the State here today.
He said that the district administration should act quickly on such land deals as the State government was committed to take action on violations of section 118 in general and Benami transactions in particular. He said in some districts there was merely lip service, rather than any substantive action.
The Chief Minister also directed to speed up the process of investigations, and to ensure that the culprits did not go scot-free due to delay in investigation process. Further, those representing the government in various courts also require pulling their belts up as the delay in trial in the courts leads to acquittal of the criminals. He said there was dire need to speed up the dealing of the Court cases so that justice could be provided to the affected persons at the earliest.
The Chief Minister also took a serious note of the cases of illegal mining in the bordering areas of the state and said that whoever may be involved in the illegality, the police and the district administration should come down with a heavy hand on such people. He asked the Deputy Commissioners and the SPs to exercise greater vigilance in such matters and take strict action against the violators under the law and no flaw should be left.
Referring to the drug business flourishing in bordering areas of the State, the Chief Minister said that the drug traffickers should be dealt with strictly. He said that it was being observed that the drugs were being supplied in various forms in bordering areas of Una and Kangra districts which needed to be totally stemmed out. “If not tackled earnestly and with a heavy hand, it could lead to very adverse affects on our youth and future generations”, he said.
He also directed the deputy commissioners to ensure 70 percent jobs to the youth in the Hydel Projects functioning in their districts as there were qualified youth possessing technical qualification and others too who were skilled or unskilled.
The Deputy Commissioners discussed various issues pertaining to their districts, mostly cornered by their own grievances like inter-departmental co-ordination issues, delay in court matters, shortage of Patwaris and other revenue staff in the districts and Forest Clearance hurdles etc.
The Chief Minister directed them to apprise him of the progress on implementation of the State government’s decision of granting land to houseless and landless, the functioning of PDS system, the revenue cases of partition and mutation which were disposed off and pendency if any. He said that the DCs and SPs were the fulcrum of the district functioning and they had key responsibility of looking after welfare of the people and address their grievances besides providing them protection.
“I am quite concerned about the complaints related to demarcation, mutation and Partition which are being delayed”, he said and directed the DCs to tone up the revenue administration in their districts.
The Chief Minister also directed that the Conductors, Drivers, Tyre-men, Technician should be recruited from the very places of same transport region. He also said that the PDS shops could also be expanded for other goods to give wider choice to the public.
The Chief Minister also directed to clear pendency of allotment of Nautor land.
He also sanctioned two satellite phones for Lahaul and Spiti district to the police besides a Bus and another vehicle for Pooh.
Shimla Police gets two Traffic Police Stations
The Chief Minister also gave his nod for setting up Two traffic Police Stations at Shimla and posting DSP to head the Narcotic cell. He also agreed for providing two small cranes for smoothening the traffic system and directed that the 20 percent of challaning amount be given to Home department for further distribution to the Shimla police for meeting out the expenses of traffic lights etc.
The Chief Minister said that the procedure of taking surety bonds for housing subsidy, inter-caste marriage and other welfare schemes should be done away with and the undertaking was enough in such cases.
He also took a serious note of the well to do families getting their names registered under BPL list. He said that there were many instances wherein it had been found that the near and dear ones of the Pradhans get their name enrolled in BPL list. The Chief Minister directed the Sub Divisional magistrates and Tehsildars that they should keep a check on such practice in their own jurisdiction. He also directed the Home department to look into the issues of the police pertaining to disposal of recovered illicit liquor which is stored in the storehouses.
Earlier, he released a coffee table book of the Police department
There was also a demand for ordering Drug Inspectors for keeping an eye on the chemists selling unsubscribed synthetic drugs.
It was discussed to hand over the security of Gaggal airport to CISF rather than to HP Police. It was also revealed in the meeting that the safety and security Audit of all Hydel Projects was being done in Kinnaur so as to assess the loss being caused by these projects, if any, to the habitations.
Shri Virbhadra Singh thanked the DCs and the SPs for the valuable inputs and directed that the meeting should be made an annual affair as the district administration plays a pivotal role in upholding the law of the land in the state honestly and with objectivity by taking the development initiatives and welfare policies forward in the right earnest.