Visa rules take Chinese off apple belt road project,Himachal govt upset

Apple is a perishable product,so time for transport is critical. The existing state highway is narrow,full of potholes and prone to long traffic snarls. Sometimes it takes as long as 10-12 hours to cover a distance of 100 km. This particular belt contributes to 40 per cent of total apple cultivation in the state. And every year,crop worth Rs 1200 crore is wasted due to delay in transportation. So everyone was happy to see work in progress on this new road, said Lekhraj Thakur,president of the Himachal Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.

But this joy was shortlived. Work on the project was stalled in the last week of September. A letter to all state Home Secretaries on August 10 stated that foreigners who are coming to India for executing projects/contracts cannot continue to work on business visas beyond September 30 and would need employment visas. Enumerating provisions of the Visa Manual,the letter also stated that requests for employment visas for jobs for which a large number of qualified Indians are available should not be considered and under no circumstance should employment visa be granted for routine or ordinary jobs.

The Himachal government is upset over this decision which led to the departure of a workforce of 80 Chinese. This is critical to our economy. The Centre should have at least consulted us before taking such a decision. The entire country is using our apple produce but no one is sparing a thought for the loss suffered by our farmers, said Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

Earlier this month,P C Kapoor, Himachals Principal Secretary PWD,met Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and requested for either extension of business visas or grant of employment visas to the Chinese workforce. Since grant of visas for all 80 people may not be possible,we have actually prepared a list of around 10 Chinese engineers whose cases we have requested be dealt on priority basis, said Kapoor. Last week,Chief Secretary Asha Swarup wrote a letter to the Union Home Secretary,requesting clearances for these ten people.

It is not as if this company leaves,we will simply give the project to a new company. The project was approved under a World Bank scheme. Himachal got road projects worth Rs 1365 crore,the largest ever in the states history. Any cancellation or fresh allocation would have to involve World Bank approval, said Kapoor.

When The Indian Express spoke to the companys legal representative in Shimla,he said: In consonance with the government directive,all the Chinese working on the project left in the last week of September. The work hasnt stopped,but its pace has been severely affected. The work on the project started in June 2008 and we were to complete it by June 2011. It was very much on target.

Chief Minister Dhumal said: The project was awarded in a fair manner. We called for open bids,in consultation with the World Bank and selected the best company. The company has a good record of executing road projects elsewhere in India. The latest list submitted by us for 10 workers includes only the engineers and managers whose contribution is vital for the project.