Summary:
DHARAMSHALA: Issue of Pong Dam oustees is likely to crop up again ahead of parliamentary elections as the Rajasthan government has rejected the claims of about 5,442 oustees.Sources said that the claims were rejected in a meeting of high powered committee on Pong Dam oustees at Delhi on November 2. On the other hand, Himachal maintained that it had submitted all the claims.The left out oustees include those whose lands were acquired for construction of the dam. The committee, comprising representatives of Himachal, Rajasthan and the Centre, was set up to resolve the issue of compensation to left out oustees..HP additional chief secretary Manisha Nanda, who attended the meeting on behalf of Himachal government, admitted that the Rajasthan government rejected the compensation claims. Landless oustees were to be allotted houses and plots in Rajasthan. “We have made our point that these claims were genuine,” she said.The committee has also apprised the Rajasthan government about the recent order of the Himachal Pradesh high court that Himachal should provide land in state to left out Pong Dam oustees and Rajasthan should pitch in the cost of land.Sources told that Rajasthan maintained that out of 16,300 oustees recognized by Himachal, it had not received the claims of the 5442 oustees and was not liable to pay any compensation to them..