Hardiwar, February 6
Mission 2012 is generally associated with the state Bharatiya Janata Party’s mission to regain victory in the Uttarakhand Assembly elections. Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank particularly uses this term every now and then.

But now the Congress party has also termed Mission 2012 as the state unit’s prime motive urging party workers to gather and gear themselves to make sure that the party wins the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

In a meeting held at Jwalapur here today, state Congress vice-president Braham Swaroop Brahamchari blew the Mission 2012 trumpet in the presence of the newly added party workers from different political parties.

Brahamchari termed people’s unrest in the hill state as a clear indication of the report card of the BJP-led Government in the state which scored high marks in corruption, but would get red marks from the perturbed public.

On the ongoing panchayat elections in Haridwar district, an optimistic Brahamchari said people would repose their faith in the Congress-supported candidates in the tri-level panchayat election which would be a democratic indication for the ruling BJP Government which had put development on the back foot, with state cabinet ministers to red beacon accorded party executives busy in other things. Corruption cases were springing up like never before, he added.

Adding to the party’s winning chances in the panchayat elections and then the state Assembly elections, former State Women Commission chief Dr Santosh Chauhan said while campaigning in the villages, she had distinctly seen an anti-BJP wave which aided by the developmental vision of the Congress would make sure Mission 2012 was accomplished by the Congress only.

Lashing at CM Nishank’s repetitive statements of Mission 2012, city Congress chief OP Chauhan termed it as a lack of vision. He said real field assessment was in favour of the Congress which had stamped its authority in the previous parliamentary elections with all five parliamentary constituencies of the state witnessing Congress clean sweep.

Mussoorie, February 6
Mahila Congress members sounded the Assembly election bugle from Mussoorie by organising a two-day seminar that began in a hotel here today. The Mahila Congress leaders, led by their state president Sarojini Kaintura, deliberated on booth-level management for the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Kaintura, addressing the gathering, said all Congresswomen should now gear up for the elections and support the MLA in their region wholeheartedly if they wished the Congress government to be in power and provide respite from the misrule of the BJP Government led by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Kaintura advised the women workers to form booth-level committees earnestly and determine that the voters were brought to the polling booth so that they could cast their vote against the state government in the elections.

Kaintura, lambasting the state government, said it had failed on all fronts and development work had come to standstill under Nishank. She also said the main issue in this election would be of corruption and development and women were the main sufferers due to the faulty policies of the present government.

Kaintura, being critical of the state government, said the pro-poor policies initiated by the Congress Government in the Centre were not being implemented adequately by the state machinery which was deplorable.

The special invitee on the occasion, senior Congress leader Upendar Thapli, addressing the women workers, said it was sad that the seminar was being held to support the local MLA, but he was absent. Thapli also raised the issue of equal treatment to women leaders and providing them accolades on good work conducted from time to time in the party which was not happening yet.

Mussoorie Congress Mahila president Geeta Kumain informed the media that the two-day seminar was to create awareness among Congress workers and prepare them mentally for the Assembly elections which presumably would be held in November-December 2011. She also informed that Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat, along with local MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, would also grace the seminar tomorrow. 

Dehradun, February 6
Seeking fulfilment of goals that were the basis to the formation of the state, the Uttarakhand Janmanch will stage a Parvat Garjana rally in Dehradun on February 8.

Spokesperson for the Janmanch Lakhi Ram Bijalwan said the Garjana Rally was aimed to highlight the plight of the hill communities in the state. He said the purpose that led to the formation of the state was yet to be fulfilled.

Bijalwan reminded that the janmanch was an apolitical organisation and purely devoted to the cause of betterment of the hill communities. “We have nothing to do with any politics whatsoever,” he said.

Joining the issue, Kirti Chakra awardee Lt Col IS Rawat (retd) said the natives were fast losing jobs to outsiders, while their rights had also been taken over by mafia elements arriving in the state from Uttar Pradesh. —TNS

Dehradun February 6
Under the aegis of the Ganga Ahvaan, an organisation that strives for the conservation of the Ganga and the Himalayas, a day-long convention was held at DAV PG College here today. A large number of its members participated in the meeting and concluded on the same view of commencing a concrete drive in support of their demands.

While addressing the convention, Anand Pandey, patron of the project, enlightened the members of the project with the dilapidated condition of different districts of the state due to undergoing work of technological development.

He said: “About 79 per cent of the population of the state relies on natural water resource, but the proposal of making river passages through tunnels under the water energy scheme will arise problem from the locals resulting in dry riverbeds. Similarly, a power generation project running at the Himalayan region is causing pollution while damaging the forests and hills”.

However, in the meeting, the members of the Ganga Ahvaan released a memorandum to the Prime Minister, demanding cancellation of the work of power generation projects immediately. They have also demanded enforcing the corrective measures at the damaged sites according to the Himalayan policy without any delay. 

Dehradun, February 6
Members of the state Congress Committee staged a protest in support of their demands at the Gandhi Park here today.

They shouted slogans against the negligence of the state government in providing basic civic amenities to the public. To press for the demands on the administration, the protesters gave a memorandum to the Governor of Uttarakhand.

However, they have demanded repair of Doiwala roads, increasing the number of beds at the Doiwala community health centre and providing financial assistance to the disaster-affected people.

Dehradun, February 6
As many as 700 employees of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) got their salaries of November and December, 2010, in January this year only, because of the lengthy process of sanction, which they have to seek from the Managing Director after every three months to get continuation of their work. Since it takes two to three months to clear the files regarding sanction, the employees continue to get their salaries smoothly only for five to six months, after which they have to wait for another two to three months to get their salaries as per the fresh order.

Few favoured employees have got themselves exempted from the scrutiny of sanction because of their proximity to the MD or General Manager. This has led to frustration among the rest. Navin Kumar, one such employee, said, a year ago, the MD had sent a notice naming quite a few employees and stating that since they have worked for seven years, they were exempted from the sanction process. The decision was taken at 81st and 83rd Board of Directors meeting.

These privileged lot were Anil Kumar, son of Surat Ram Nautiyal, vice-president of Char Dham Vikas Parishad, Santosh Badola, Treeza Arnest, all considered to be personal staff of the higher-ups. DL Shah, GM, Tourism, wrote that since these people had been working for seven years, they did not need permission of six months.

The recent trigger was exemption given to BS Rawat, driver of company secretary Mahesh Ramola, personal staff to GM working since 2002, Mukesh Kukreti, working since 2001 and Anand Singh Gusai working since 2002. Both are personal staff 
of Anil Nautiyal, president of GMVN. Kailash Kothari complained that there were numerous such employees who had been working for more than 10 years but still they were tied up with sanction process. And there were those who got themselves exempted would now automatically get salary on salary slips.

Dehradun, February 6
The body of Prabhjot Kaur, who had drowned in the Ganga yesterday while trying to save her friend from drowning, couldn’t be recovered even on the second day of the rescue operation in Rishikesh.

The police said the rescue operation was on and they had checked about 8-km stretch of the river, but couldn’t find the body. “Our rescue team has been looking for the body since yesterday, but has not been able to find it yet,” Rajesh Shah, Station House Officer (SHO) of the Lakshman Zhula police station, said.

“There are some very deep and dangerous areas where it is not possible to dive. We have also checked the barrage here as sometimes bodies get stuck there, but to no avail. We are now hoping that after bloating, the body will start floating on the surface,” the SHO added.

Meanwhile, heart-rending scenes were witnessed on the banks of the river where the rescue operation was going on. The distressed members of the family of the girl waited in anticipation that her body would soon be recovered.

The SHO said the girl’s father and uncle had come from Kapurthala, Punjab. Her father is a businessman, while mother is a homemaker. The body of Kerala native Sajmal Abdul Salam was recovered yesterday. It was handed over to his family today.

Sajmal, while posing for a picture, had fallen into the Ganga yesterday. His friend Prabhjot, who extended her hand to save him, also drowned as the flow of the water swept both of them.

The two, students of Aeronautical Engineering Institute, Joli Grant, had come with their other college mates for a picnic at Goa Beach.

Dehradun, February 6
Uttarakhand Tehri Garhwal Congress MLA Kishore Upadhyaya has questioned the logic of the state BJP Government behind holding of the Tehri Mahotsava.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Congress MLA Kishore Upadhyaya said there was no justification in celebrating Tehri Mahotsava, when people of Tehri were suffering from government apathy. He said the issues linked to Tehri dam oustees were still to be resolved.

He said the state government was not serious to address the concerns of people of Tehri. He announced that a dharna would be staged inside the House during the forthcoming Budget session of the Uttarakhand State Assembly.

Upadhyaya also reminded that the Tehri Municipality chairperson had passed away hardly a few months back and celebrations of the Tehri Mahotsava was totally uncalled for. He said the Congress would not tolerate this injustice to people of the state.

He also sought district status for the Pratapnagar region of Tehri. He said as the Pratapnagar region had been fully cut off after coming up of the Tehri reservoir and must be converted into a full-fledged district.

Dehradun February 6
In their second convention, the Uttaranchal Bank Employees Union (UBEU) elected new members for their working committee for three years. They are Parvin Shah as president of the Nainital unit, NB Kapoor, president of the Haridwar unit, Rajen Pundir, president of the Dehradun unit, Jagmohan Mehndiratta, general secretary, Dehradun, RK Gairola deputy general secretary, BP Sundriyal, treasurer, Anil Kumar Jain and 10 others were chosen assistant general secretaries and KL Bhatt office secretary for Dehradun.

The elected representatives of nationalised banks participated in the convention. Various speakers spoke on different problems the country was facing at present. Rajen Nagar, president, UBEU, drew attention on the inflation, saying that the index of food products had already crossed the mark of 17 per cent. Unemployment was surging like never before.

Joint Secretary DD Rastogi talked of ill effects unleashed by some undesirable changes made in the banking sector.

NK Bansal, president of UP branch of the union, spoke on the long series of scams which had hit the entire country, and the black money stacked in foreign banks by some politicians. Samar Bhandari talked of land scam of Rishikesh, in which the state government was involved. Virender Bhandari also addressed the corruption issue in the country and called upon people to get united to eradicate it. 

Nainital, February 6
District Magistrate, Udham Singh Nagar, BVRC Purshottam has asked officials to expedite the utilisation of funds sanctioned for the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).

At a meeting held in Rudrapur yesterday to evaluate the implementation of the scheme in the district, Dr Purshottam said works to be done under the scheme must be prioritised by the officials and they must go for on-the-spot verification.

He asked the Block Development Officers (BDOs) to make use of the engineering staff available in their areas and ensure that maximum works aimed at checking the washing away of land by rivers and floods are executed under the scheme.

He also said Employment Guarantee days be observed to generate more awareness about the MNREGA in rural areas.

The District Magistrate also took stock of the progress being made under the Atal Adarsh Gram Yojana and ordered that the works being done in the villages under the scheme must be prominently displayed on a board in these villages.

He ordered Chief Development Officer (CDO) YK Pant to chalk out guidelines with regards to sanitation in these villages in the next two days. The BDOs have been asked to ensure the distribution of residential facilities to the beneficiaries of the Indira Awas Yojana in a transparent manner.

Dehradun, February 6
The Ladpur gram panchayat, Raipur block, Dehradun, today honoured and facilitated upcoming English poet Sanjeev Sharma and famous international player Kavaljeet Kalsi at a function held today.

Uttarakhand Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and block pramukh, Raipur block, Khem Singh Pal felicitated them with flowers and a shawl. Sanjeev’s and Kavaljeet’s fathers were also honoured on the occasion.

Chief guest of the function Trivendra Singh Rawat said such upcoming personalities worked as the guiding force for the present and future generations.

Khem Pal said such literary and sports personalities played a very vital role in forming an ideal society. Sanjeev recited and explained some of his poems. Kavaljeet offered his services to the state and society in making sportspersons of the future.

Gram pradhan Kapil Bohra, advocate Ravi Singh Negi, pradhan Anoop Goswami and BJP mandal president Veer Singh Chauhan also expressed their views.

Up pradhan Rajdeep Thapa, Kavindra Semwal, Ganesh Tiwari, Sanjiv Choudhary, Dinesh Kemwal, Pradeep Nigam, RP Tyagi, Rishbh Tyagi, Rajeev Sharma, Kishore Sharma, RK Chamoli, Chanda Sharma, H Kaur, Mukesh Rawat and Rajendra Solanki were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, February 6
Jal Andolan scientist Dr Anil Prakash Joshi has demanded immediate release of agitators who had been arrested for protesting against the under- construction hydroelectric project in Rudraprayag district.

Two locals, Jagmohan and Sushila Bhandari, who have been agitating against this project were arrested on January 30 by the local administration.

In a letter to the state Chief Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Joshi regretted that the two who stood for the rights of locals and demanded protection of environment were arrested on the death anniversary of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.

He also demanded that the effect of Singoli-Bhatvadi project on environment should be studied by some independent agency like IIT Roorkee or Wadia Institute and till then the work on the project should be stopped.