ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

HRTC is headed by Board of Directors, with Transport Minister, the Chairman, Managing Director is the Chief Executive of the Corporation. The operational jurisdiction of the Corporation is divided into four Divisions located at Shimla, Dharamsala, Mandi and Hamirpur and 23 Regions (Shimla Local, Shimla®, Taradevi, Rampur, Rohru, Recong-peo, Solan, Nahan, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Nalagarh, Dehra, Mandi, Kullu, Keylong, Sundr-Nagar, Sarkaghat, Baijnath, Palampur, Dharamsala, Pathankot and Chamba) located at different places in Himachal Pradesh.

Please visit H.P. (Dev Bhumi) to feel the presence of GOD.

Culture

People

Most of the people in Himachal depend on agriculture for livelihood। Many people derive their income from sheep, goats, and other cattle. Ninety percent of the people live in villages and small towns. Villages usually have terraced fileds and small two storey houses with sloping roof. The villages are mostly self-contained with a few shops to take care of basic necessities of life. Most villages have a temple, where people congregate for worship. In many parts of the Himachal the village Gods are carried on palanquins to village fairs. On Dussehra the largest congregation of village Gods takes place at Kullu.

The folk songs of Himachal Pradesh are full of charm। They are usually based on a religious or a romantic theme. People gather in a circle in village fairs and dance to the tune of these songs. The dancing is usually spontaneous during a village fair and is symbolic of the peace and joy of the people. In general people of Himachal Pradesh are honest, truthful, gentle, and good humored.

Most of the children study at government run public schools. There are many private schools at Shimla and other parts of Himachal.

Religion

Most of the people in Himachal are Hindus. There is a sizable number of Buddhists who live in Himachal. Hinduism practiced in the areas of Himachal that are closer to the northern plains is very similar to the Hinduism practiced in the plains.

Upper hill areas have their own distinct flavor of Hinduism. Their practice of religion combines the local legends and beliefs with the larger Hindu beliefs. The temple architecture has also been influenced by local constraints such as availability or lack of availability of certain construction materials. Most of the upper hill temples are made of wood and more similar to Pagodas in design.

Most of the people of Himachal who live in the areas that border with China are Buddhist. There are many beautiful Buddhist temples and pagodas in Himachal.

Post-Independence Period

The history of present day Himachal Pradesh in the post-independence era has been outlined below:

1.The Chief Commissioner's province of H.P. came into being on 15th April, 1948.

2.H.P. became a part C state on 26th January, 1950 with the implementation of the Constitution of India.

3.Bilaspur was merged with Himachal Pradesh on 1st July, 1954.

4.Himachal Pradesh became Union Territory on 1st November, 1956.

5.Kangra and most of the other hill areas of Punjab were merged with H.P. on 1st November, 1966 though its status remained that of a Union Territory.

6.On 18th December, 1970 the State of Himachal Pradesh Act was passed by Parliament and the new state came into being on 25th January, 1971. Thus H.P. emerged as the eighteenth state of Indian Union.

7.Himachal Pradesh has come a long way since then. It has seen a number of full-fledged governments which have led the state towards economic self-reliance.

Freedom Struggle 1914 to 1947

The people of the hill also participated in the freedom struggle. The highlights of the freedom movement in this tract are listed below:

1. Praja Mandal launched agitations against the British yoke in areas under direct British Rule.

2.In other princely states agitations were launched for social and political reforms. However these were directed more against the princes than against the British and as such were mere extensions of freedom movement.

3.The Mandi conspiracy was carried out in 1914-15 under the influence of the Gadhr party. Meetings were held in Mandi and Suket states in December 1914 and January 1915 and it was decided to murder the Superintendent and Wazir of Mandi and Suket, to loot the treasury, blow to up the bridge over Beas river. However conspirators were caught and sentenced to long terms in prison.

4.The Pajhota agitation in which the people of a part of Sirmour state revolted is regarded as an extension of the Quit India Movement of 1942.

5.Important freedom fighters of this state during this period included Dr. Y.S. Parmar, Padam Dev, Shivanand Ramaul, Purnanand, Satya Dev, Sada Ram Chandel, Daulat Ram, Thakur Hazara Singh and Pahari Gandhi Baba Kanshi Ram.

6.The Congress party was also active in the freedom movement in the hill state particularly in Kangra.

British Rule 1858 to 1914

The British territories in the hill came under British Crown after Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1858. The states of Chamba, Mandi and Bilaspur made good progress in many fields during the British rule. During the first World War, virtually all rulers of the hill states remained loyal and contributed to the British war effort both in thr form of men and materials. Amongst these were the states of Kangra, Siba, Nurpur, Chamba, Suket, Mandi and Bilaspur.

Revolt of 1857

The revolt or first Indian war of independence resulted due to the building up of political, social, economic, religious and military grievances against the British. People of the hill states were not politically alive as the people in other parts of the country. They remained more or less aloof and so did their rulers with the exception of Bushahr. Some of them even rendered help to the Britishers during the revolt. Among them were the rulers of Chamba, Bilaspur, Bhagal and Dhami. The rulers of Bushars acted in a manner hostile to the interests of British. However it is not clear whether they actually aided the rebels or not.

Anglo-Gorkha and Anglo-Sikh War

The Gorkhas, a martial tribe came to power in Nepal in the year 1768. They consolidated their military power and began to expand their territory. Gradually the Gorkhas annexed Sirmour and Shimla hill states. With the leadership of Amar Singh Thapa, Gorkhas laid siege to Kangra. They managed to defeat Sansar Chand, the ruler of kangra, in 1806 with the help of many hill chiefs. However Gorkhas could not capture Kangra fort which came under Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in 1809. After this defeat the Gorkhas began to expand towards south. This resulted in the Anglo-Gorkha war. They came into direct conflict with the English along the tarai belt after which the English expelled them from the hill states east of the Satluj. Thus British slowly emerged as the paramount powers in this tract.After the Anglo-Gorkha war the common border of the British domain and Punjab became very sensitive. Both the Sikh and English wanted to avoid a direct conflict, but after the death of Ranjit Singh, the Khalsa army fought a number of wars with the British. In 1845 when the Sikhs invaded the British territory by crossing the Satluj, the rulers of many hill states sided with the English as they were looking for an opportunity to settle scores with the former. Many of these rulers entered into secret communication with the English. After the first Anglo-Sikh war, the British did not restore the hill territory vacated by Sikhs to their original owners.