Himachal Confidential

Vacant chair or post?

Ordinarily,visitors to the office of the principal,Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College,Tanda cannot make out why the incumbent Dr Anil Chauhan does not occupy the principal’s chair. For the past 20 months,Dr Chauhan has been working from a chair placed beside the official chair that was earlier occupied by his predecessor Dr S. Sankhayan. The latter was placed under suspension last year,following the Supreme Court’s orders in the Aman Kachroo ragging death. Last month,Sankhayan was prematurely retired from the post,two days before his official date of superannuation. This,too,has not moved Dr Chauhan,who insists that he will not settle down in the official chair till the government regularises his appointment.

Posting blues

The HP government is desperately short of IAS officers. Recently,some officers were also denied permission to go on central deputation. Some IPS and IFS officers have also been picked up for key secretariat posts that were earlier occupied by the IAS or senior Himachal Administrative Services (HAS) officers. Those on deputation are persuaded to return to serve the state. When two officers – S. Roy and Sanjay Murthy – returned from central deputation,they were disappointed to learn that neither of them was being given a posting of significance.

Nonplussed by Hindi

The convocation ceremony of Himachal Pradesh University held last week had many firsts. It was the first time that there was no backlog of students from previous years for degrees. Also,it was the first time that the ceremony was conducted in Hindi. The office of the Governor,Urmila Singh,who is also Chancellor of the university,had given directions for use of Hindi keeping in view her ease. Although the ceremony was rehearsed a day in advance,students faced problems figuring out the names of their faculties translated to Hindi.