Pitthoragarh, March 27
Village pradhans in Pitthoragarh and Champawat districts are on a warpath against the state government, as they alleged that they had been deprived of all the powers in school management by an order of the government issued in February.

The gram pradhans of Champawat district on Friday boycotted the Block Development Committee (BDC) meeting and protested against the recent order of the state government regarding the removal of a gram pradhan from the school management committee.

The pradhans, along with the BDC members, did not return to the meeting even after the request made by the Block Development Officer (BDO) and the Chief Development Officer (CDO) of the district.

“The government issued an order in February and removed the pradhan from all the responsibilities in all the schools situated within the gram sabha, which is a violation of the sprit of the Panchayati Raj Act,” said Champawat district president of the Gram Pradhan Organisation AN Singh.

The gram pradhans of Pitthoragarh are also on a warpath opposing the government order that relieved the pradhans from the post of president of the school management committee. “Our district-level committee will meet on Sunday to decide on the action plan and after that we will start the agitation till the government calls back the resolution,” said Pitthoragarh district president of the Gram Pradhan Organisation Prem Chandra Punera.

“Whereas the 74th constitutional amendment promised to hand over 14 departments to the gram pradhans to strengthen the democracy, the state government snatched even the existent powers of the gram pradhans,” said Punera.

Haridwar, March 27
Women have taken up a noble initiative by taking on ills and malpractices prevalent in the society.A group of women have formed a society ‘Yuva Veeranganaye’ (young brave women), making only those women volunteer members who are found to be seriously taking the cause forward.

Lata Kumari, a volunteer, said the idea of them taking up social issues affecting society came after reading about such movements being carried out in various parts of the country and other parts of the world. Women have played a definite role in changing the social setup by taking forward such causes.

Veteran literati and social activist Kamal Kant Budhkar appreciated the noble mission and termed it as a positive sign. One of the volunteers, on the condition of anonymity, informed that prior to her marriage, she was told that her to-be husband was a teetotaller, but now after six months of her marriage she came to know that her husband drank on a daily basis. This had been affecting her married life.

“Last month, I could not afford to buy monthly ration, as all the money he earns as a labourer was spent on buying liquor. Since then, I warned him that I would leave him and would have no child if he continued to drink,” she added.

“Now, he even motivates me to convince other neighbourhood persons, particularly youth, to avoid the use of tobacco and liquor,” said the volunteer with pride. These activists also carry out rallies in various parts of the city as part of their social drive.

Nainital, March 27
As the time for the allotment of liquor vends across the state draws closer, the region has once again started witnessing public protests against the opening up of new vends and at various places for the closure of the existing vends. It is women who are leading the movement against liquor vends at most of the villages where the protests are being witnessed.

In Almora, there is a demand for the removal of the liquor vends from near the bus terminus. The protesters are seeking that these vends should be located elsewhere, as drunkards purchasing liquor from these vends cause a lot of nuisance for the common public, particularly women.

These vends sell both the country as well as Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and do a brisk business. The people of the Lamgarah region, who have been seeking removal of the vend from the main market in Lamgarah village have once again approached the district administration with a memorandum seeking addressal of their concern.

The women residents of the area have been demanding the closure of the liquor vend located in the main market and have written to the District Magistrate in the past to take immediate action on the request made by them.

In the letter written to the DM a few days back, they had mentioned that women face a lot of problems while going to the market. They are the targets of indecent behaviour by people in an inebriated state. They have pointed out that despite repeated pleas coming from them, the district administration has not taken steps to remove the liquor vends. They have threatened to launch an agitation if their demand goes unheard.

In Pitthoragarh, the women affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Pragatisheel Mahila Association have decided to hold a demonstration outside the office of the District Collector on March 28 to demand that liquor trade should not be encouraged in the state.

The protesting women said the government should focus on providing water, power, health facilities, roads and foodgrains to the masses instead of promoting liquor trade for earning revenue. Meanwhile, reports said the administration had decided not to allow opening up of new liquor shops in Pithoragarh district even as it aims to enhance its revenue by about 20 per cent.

In the Tanakpur area of Champawat district, women from Bastiya village have started dharna seeking removal of the liquor vend from their village. The dharna has been staged at the tehsil headquarters. Similar demands have also been aired from several other parts of the region.

Ironically, a large number of applications for the allotment of the liquor vends in the region are in the name of women. However, anti-liquor activists like politician PC Tewari said putting up applications in the name of women was a ploy of the liquor lobby to derail women’s movement against liquor.

Dehradun, March 27
The Maidan Kranti Dal (MKD) has decided to launch a statewide stir on April 17 to press upon their demand for the inclusion of three districts of Uttar Pardesh- Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Bijnour-in Uttarakhand.

Party President Naresh Kumar said the state in its present status was incomplete in its geographical topology and financially feeble which was why it had always been dependent on the Central Government for assistance and unable to stop migration of youth from hill pockets. He asserted that after the assimilation of these districts, the state would become prosperous in industries, agriculture and finance.

He also ruled out the probability of selecting Gairsain as the summer capital and demanded the five-member committee constituted to consider this issue to be repealed.

Nainital, March 27
The issue of proposed removal of encroachments in Gularbhoj in Udham Singh Nagar has become a contentious issue. The encroachments are to be removed from 6 am on Monday on the orders of the Uttarakhand High Court.

The administration has been facing resistance from residents of the region who are to be evicted despite the administration claims that the affected people will be rehabilitated in 11 hectares of land at Kopa village.

The administration has made it clear that it will abide by the order of the High Court. In a meeting held in Rudrapur on Saturday, District Magistrate (DM) BVRC Purshottam took stock of the arrangements made for the encroachment drive and made it clear that those creating hurdles for the administration during the drive would be dealt with sternly.

A heavy deployment of the police force has been made in the Gularbhoj area. The area has been divided into sectors and magistrates have been given charge of these sectors.

Executive Engineer with the Irrigation Department DS Kachwaha has been directed to make arrangements for encroachment removal machines and labour, while officials of the Jal Sansthan have been asked to maintain a proper supply of drinking water in the area.

Dr Purshottam has asked the officials in charge of the various banks, institutions and offices to relocate their offices elsewhere. He pointed out that these offices had not been relocated despite notices being issued to them. The DM made it clear that the officials would be responsible for any loss to the government property incurred in these offices.

The people residing on the ‘forest land’ in Gularbhoj have been demanding that the encroachments be removed only after proper arrangements for their relocation have been made. According to them, there were about 500 families that would be displaced by the operation. 

Mussoorie, March 27
On the final day of 15th National Convention of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Seva Pratishthan held at the gurdwara premises at the Gandhi Chowk, Shiv Kumar Asthana was re-elected unanimously as the national president of the pratishthan here today.

Asthana thanked the members on the occasion and outlined the course of action for the year. Emphasis was laid on celebrating various festivals falling according to the Hindu calendar, such as Basant Panchami, Holi Milan etc. and connecting them with the social activities.

Asthana said programmes like distributing fruits and sweets among the poor should also be considered. It was also decided to republish the magazine that would propagate the philosophy and thoughts of Pandit Upadhyaya among the masses in the country, along with the work carried out by various units.

The chief editor of the magazine said he would require the support of all the members in the publication of the magazine. Earlier, BJP state president Bishan Singh Chufal also attended the convention and offered floral tribute on the portrait of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.

Chufal, addressing the gathering, said the members should fulfil Upadhyaya’s dream of serving the society. The pratishthan also felicitated 15 members from across the country on the occasion.

Speaking on the sidelines of the convention, Chufal lambasted the Congress MLA for sitting on dharna outside the Vidhan Sabha and said it was nothing, but an election gimmick.

Chufal stated that if the Congress MLA was so concerned about the welfare of the Tehri constituency, he should go and work among them and not create ruckus at the Vidhan Sabha.

Haridwar, March 27
Three-day international seminar on ‘Indigenous techniques in psychotherapy- concept and applications’ concluded at Dev Sanskriti University here today. Experts dwelt upon various aspects of psychological and mental therapies in the various sessions of the seminar.

Speaking at the concluding day, Uttarakhand Open University VC Prof Vinay Kumar Pathak said, “Only Indian psychology can provide full remedy in which the programmes and courses charted out by the Haridwar-based Dev Sanskriti University can prove to be of immense help.

Various research papers were presented at the seminar. Manisha Amrite of Dev Sanskriti University got the first prizefor her paper presentation. Four hundred research papers were read out in the three-day seminar.

Dehradun, March 27
The book “The Fabric of Our Lives: The Story of Fabindia,” narrating the story of Fabindia that turned 50 this year was released here yesterday.

Director Madhukar Khera released the book at the Fabindia store in the presence of family members of John Bissell, the founder of Fabindia. Khera said Bissell was his guru and mentor who laid the foundation of the company.

He said the book explored the company’s genesis and its exciting growth against the backdrop of India’s evolution. It illustrated how Fabindia created a significant business relationship with artisans, who had shaped the way the company had evolved.

Radhika Singh, the author of the book, read out a few excerpts from the book.