Shimla, Aug. 28 -- Accusing the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) for alleged irregularities in allotting 70 shops in Shimla and Kinnaur, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday staged a walkout. BJP members raised the demand for vigilance or judicial investigation of the matter, while agriculture minister Chander Kumar rejected all the allegations outrightly, stating that the allotment of shops has been done in transparent manner under the prescribed procedure, following which the BJP staged walkout saying they are not satisfied with the answer. The commotion started when during the Question Hour the issue of allotment of shops in APMC, Shimla, and Kinnaur was raised by BJP MLA from Dharamshala, Sudhir Sharma. Replying to query, agriculture minister said applications were invited for 34 shops in Prala, 28 in Shilaru, and eight in Totu, and allotments were made to eligible persons as per norms. "After a detailed inquiry, no irregularities have been found in the allotment, and making vague allegations without proof and specific instances is being done by the opposition merely to make headlines," the minister said. Despite repeated assurances by the agriculture minister that he would look into the allegations if specific instances were given, a dissatisfied Opposition indulged in sloganeering and left the assembly. BJP MLA from Naina Devi, Randhir Sharma, alleged large scale irregularities in the allotment of shops in Shimla and Kinnaur. "The inquiry was a mere eyewash, and the matter was hushed up, and allotments were not cancelled. Applications of only those persons who were to be given shops were kept, while others were rejected. A total of 133 applications for 70 shops had been received," said Sharma. Meanwhile, BJP MLA from Chopal, Balbir Verma said shops that were given at marketing yards Rs.50,000-60,000 rent 10 years back have been given away for a mere Rs.5,000 to Rs.6,000 rent. Condemning the walkout by the BJP, parliamentary affairs minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said the shops were given out at prices higher than the fixed base price of Rs.4,500. "If somebody does not qualify the eligibility criteria, how can shops be given? You cannot make vague allegations of irregularities, so you must provide specific instances," he said. He said that during the previous BJP government, land was sold at throw away prices. Chauhan said that during the BJP regime, HPMC land was sold at a throwaway price and a Rs.3 crore cardboard factory at Gumma was sold for a mere Rs.90 lakh. While talking to media, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur alleged, "APMC's shop allotment process is marred with corruption. When we raised the matter in the House, instead of ordering an inquiry, the minister started justifying the allotments. Shops at low rents have been given to favourites, ignoring others." In wake of increasing complaints pertaining to the road projects of National highway Authority of India (NHAI), Himachal Pradesh assembly speaker Kuldeep Pathania called a meeting of a high-powered committee on Thursday to resolve issues. Addressing the house, Pathania said the meeting had been called in wake of the issues regarding NHAI road projects being raised repeatedly by the MLAs in the assembly. Pathania said senior functionaries of NHAI, the public works department; the chief secretary and the director general of police (DGP) will attend the meeting. "The directions to be issued under various enactments will be done after the meeting. Hopefully, we will be able to address issues raised by legislators and provide relief to people," Pathania said. Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma raised the need for proper traffic management and diversion of traffic on blocked roads due to landslides across the state during Zero Hour. "In the absence of proper traffic management and timely information, hundreds of vehicles queue up on roads which are blocked. Prior information and traffic diversion by the police can help regulate traffic and avoid inconvenience to commuters," said Sharma, adding that toll tax must also not be charged on these four lanes, which have suffered huge damage. In a statement in the assembly, PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh had pointed out that, in view of NHAI being a Government of India undertaking, the state government has no control over it, even though information is being sought from them from time to time. He added that NHAI was presently working on 800 km of road construction projects in Himachal. "We are working in close coordination with NHAI, but road connectivity, wherever there are vulnerable sections, is getting disrupted due to landslides. It is a matter of concern that it is taking 12 hours to travel between Kullu-Mandi, which is adversely hitting farmers, fruit and flower growers," the minister said....