Dehradun, March 14
Cases related to the pension and arrears of ex-servicemen continue to pile up in nationalised banks as the backlog has still not been cleared after it got blocked due to the fresh recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission in 2008.

Another reason doled out by bank personnel for the stuck-up matters is the highly complex and complicated detailing with regard to the positions of the officers and other ranks and other appendages that have to be taken into account to streamline the collective financial package to be given to them at the end of the month.

Representative of the Centralised Pension Processing Centre (CPPC) of the SBI said, “The problems of ex-servicemen’s pension cases crop up for two reasons. One was the sudden change in the entire pension and arrear packages due to the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission. The entire package of each one was reworked keeping the minutest details in view. The second was the convergence of all the cases regarding pension and arrears of Central Government employees and ex-servicemen of the whole country to the CPPC, Chandni Chowk. The system was bound to slow down”.

In view of the high number of ex-servicemen living in the state, a separate section was created in the SBI branch at Garhi Cantt that is manned by officer Manoj Sharma.

As per the figures provided by the District Soldier Board, Uttarakhand has 23,000 registered ex-servicemen, 2,998 widows, 123 war veterans, 104 widows of war veterans and 23 World War veterans.

“It took me a lot of time to really become conversant with the intricate tables of the pension and arrears of ex-servicemen. I have to keep track of the details other than their ranks and positions, such as of gallantary awards, war veterans, disability factor, widows, who are further categorised into war widows or World War widows, their age etc. Having mastered the trick now, I am able to deal with the complaints that I receive from ex-servicemen and at times solve them at my level only,” said Sharma.

He also asserted that a backlog was smoothly being cleared up with the system now finally falling into place.

However, Manager, Punjab National Bank, Sunita Diwan, who handles other banking transactions, along with salaries of the serving and pension cases of the ex-servicemen said, “Dealing with the salary or pension cases of defence personnel is quite intricate for someone who has nothing to do with these services. Therefore, for any query, if I contact the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pension), Allahabad, who is responsible for the release of any government order/corrigendum related to any change in salary/pensions of ex-servicemen, it is not responsive or accessible to the extent it should be”.

“The department does not give any contact numbers despite repeated requests, nor do they reply to the written queries before three to four months. If only they launch a helpline or give us their contact numbers, many queries can be sorted out within 5 minutes,” she added. Notably, the banks are paid just Rs 45 for each case to look after the cases of the ex-servicemen.

Dehradun, March 14
A two-week training programme “Combating desertification and climate change” for 25 delegates from African countries started at the Central Academy of State Forest Service here today.

Inaugurating the programme, Director of the Forest Education, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ajay Kumar highlighted the significance of the existing close and multi-layered relations between India and African countries. He also focused on the need of giving a new dimension to the relationship.

He stressed upon the need for formulating strategies to combat desertification and climate change asserting that the two were major manifestations of the same problem that had become a global challenge.

Principal of the Central Academy of State Forest Service Savita said the training programme was a part of India-Africa Forum Summit held in New Delhi in 2008, where it was decided to make environment sustainability as the key area of cooperation.

Course coordinator Kunal Satyarthi proposed a vote of thanks. Central Academy of State Forest Service officer Surendra Mehra and others were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, March 14
The Uttarakhand Rajya Andolankari Manch held a meeting to decide upon the issue of statehood agitationists. The office-bearers demanded to start the identification process of the agitationists once again and grant them facilities such as of free education, health and transport.

President Pradeep Kukreti said the reservation limit of 10 per cent for agitationists must be increased from August 2011 to 2020 and allocation of pension benefits to those who had spent one to six days in jail during the movement as well.

Refurbishing the tall claims made by the state government of providing 50,000 jobs to the unemployed, Kukreti said it should rather constitute a selection commission under the state government to prove its honesty in the matter.

He said, “The agitationists should not be divided into various categories, but put in the category of rajya niraman sainani.” He also sought a separate budget for them. Secretary Ram Lalkhaduri, councillor Ganesh Dangwal, Ambuj Sharam, general secretary Yashvant Rawat, DS Gusain, Ved Prakash Shjarma, Sohan and Rukam Singh Pokhriyal participated in the meeting.

Dehradun, March 14
A delegation, led by Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj, met Governor Margaret Alva with regard to the under-construction Devsari hydropower project falling in the territories of Deval, Thrali and Narayanbagad blocks of the Chamoli district here today. They demanded a public hearing on the issues pertaining to the hydropower project.

Satpal Maharaj urged the Governor to take opinion of local residents before acquiring their land for the project. He said, “The state government did not give any opportunity to local people to have a say on the matter of acquisition of their land, which has led to anguish among them and they have been sitting on a dharna for the past 41 days”.

Later, he spoke of getting assurance from the Governor on the cancellation of the acquisition process. The MP also expressed displeasure over the neglect of the agitations organised to get non-governmental schools to be included in the list of aided schools. 

Dehradun, March 14
Vijay Bahuguna, MP from Tehri Garhwal, has assured the shopkeepers, who were affected due to the widening of roads, that they would be relocated. He met the shopkeepers of Lansdowne Chowk, Indra Market, Tibet Market, Pant Market, Darshan Lal Chowk and Tehsil Chowk today.

Bahuguna also inspected the old bus stand where the administration wanted the shopkeepers to settle down, but due to the MDDA they were not able to get the place.

He said, “When the space is available in the centre of the city, the shopkeepers should not be sent to the places like Chuna Bhatta”.

The MLA further stated that he would take up the matter with the Uttarakhand Chief Minister. 

Haridwar, March 14
Holi with flowers, popularly known as ‘phoolon ki Holi’, is the USP of the way it is celebrated in the city, particularly in ashrams and maths.

Siddhpeeth Sidhashram celebrates the festival as ‘Holi mahotsava’ under the aegis of spiritual guru Yogeshwar Pushpnandan Maharaj. Everyone was showering flower petals on each other. Artistes also performed Raslila depicting famous Braj ki holi.

Two hundred kg flowers were used in the Holi and ashramites, devotees and people in a large number participated in the celebrations with fervour.

Addressing the gathering, Yogeshwar Pushpnandan termed the Holi festival as an occasion of ‘siddhis’, love and brotherhood. The programme began with bhajan performance by noted devotional singer Rajesh Angira. Devotees from England and Dubai, too, arrived on the occasion. They were quite enchanted by the flower holi played at the ashram.

NRI Surendra Kaur was quite elated at the way Holi was being played on the ashram premises and termed it as a perfect example of the religious diversity of India.

Dehradun, March 14
Officials of MDDA RAMKY ISBT LTD are running from pillar to post to get the licence for starting a food court in its mall, namely City Junction. But, the company has to wait for the same. Reason, the licensing authority, the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) refused to issue the licence to the company after a senior health officer found a lot of filth spread all around the place. The corporation has asked the company to make proper arrangements to get the filth cleared.

Sources said the company paid no heed to the suggestion of the DMC and kept on visiting high-profile people. While it had managed to get other licences, it failed to get the licence for the food court.

Recently, the senior health officer, who visited the site, found the company had no arrangements to dispose of the waste. He even challaned the company for littering the place with the filth.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Kailash Joshi, Health Officer, said: “The project head of the company visited me today and told me that the company is ready to pay the charges to the corporation for picking the filth.”

“When I visited the site I found that the company had not cared to dispose of the garbage and its employees were throwing the waste in the surrounding areas. We have asked them to pay the fees so that the corporation can make arrangements for collecting it or else they can throw it at an earmarked place,” he added.

Sultan Singh Rai, project head, MDDA RAMKY ISBT LTD, said: “We are ready to pay the fees to the corporation for clearing the filth. If it failed to provide us dustbins, we would buy ones ourselves.”

Nainital, March 14
Hoteliers and restaurant owners of Nainital have joined in the efforts of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) to persuade the Union Finance Ministry to withdraw the budgetary proposal pertaining to the introduction of service tax of 10.3 per cent on room charges for hotels charging more than Rs 1,000 per night and 3 per cent on the air-conditioned restaurants that have the permit to serve liquor.

A spokesperson of the Nainital Hotel and Restaurant Association (NHRA) told The Tribune, “The association has joined hands with all the organisations opposing the move of the Centre, as this is bound to have a negative impact on the hotel and restaurant trade in the region, besides proving to be a dampener on the efforts to promote tourism”.

The hoteliers said, “We understand that the purpose of the service tax is to bring the services that are not taxed into the tax net. But in our case, the state governments are already levying a luxury tax on hotel rooms, which is as high as 12.5 per cent and Value Added Tax (VAT) on restaurants, which ranges from 12.5 per cent to 32.5 per cent. The additional service tax will tantamount to double taxation”.

“The resultant impact on room tariffs will put the country at a distinct competitive disadvantage as a tourist destination vis-à-vis its South Asian peers. These proposals, if implemented, will deal a serious setback to the ambitious target of the Tourism Ministry of attracting 10 million foreign tourists annually by 2020. Similarly, the proposed tax on restaurants will not only depress the consumer demand, but also significantly add to the already onerous compliance burden, particularly for smaller establishments,” they said.

Hotelier Ved Sah told The Tribune, “This decision is bound to have a detrimental impact. Why will a tourist look for Indian destinations, when he gets a better deal going to Malaysia and Singapore?”

He further pointed out that once this tax was implemented it was to be recovered from the customer’s pocket only. This would lead to the tourists thinking twice before taking a domestic holiday package.

A delegation of the FHRAI is learnt to have already raised the matter with the Union Tourism Ministry and is now preparing to meet the Finance Minister on the issue. At the local level, the NHRA is trying to galvanise support from all the persons associated with the tourism sector on the issue.