Junior high school teachers hold a protest in front of the Uttarakhand Assembly in Dehradun on Tuesday.A Tribune photograph

Dehradun, April 26
Three agitators of the Junior High School Shikshak Sangh, who were on fast against the state government for non-fulfilment of their demands at the Vidhan Sabha in Dehradun since April 19, were today sent to hospital on health grounds.

“Nearly a week has passed but the government has paid no heed to our demands,” alleged Surat Singh Negi, general secretary of the union, who has now replaced the ailing strikers at the state Assembly.

The teachers have demanded the cancelling of the service termination orders issued during the process of upgrading of schools and giving them promotion.

As a mark of protest, members of the sangh went on an indefinite strike in the state from Monday.

Junior high schools in Uttarakhand remained locked following their protest today.

The strike is hampering studies.There are around 4,200 high schools in the state out of which 373 have undergone upgradation. The upgradation has deprived about 3,500 teachers of promotion while posts of 750 head teacher have been abolished.

The teachers have threatened that their agitation will go to the “next level” if their demands are not met at the earliest.

Jagat Singh Negi, president of the sangh, said the state government had terminated their jobs on the ground of upgrading of junior high schools in the state.

He said, “In spite of us being more qualified and experienced, we have been replaced by LT teachers at junior high schools. We are demanding the cancellation of our service termination orders issued during the process of upgrading the schools.

Dehradun, April 26
Uttarakhand forest officials have failed to nab the Dwarikhal man-eater, a leopard that killed a boy in the area almost a week ago. On April 20, a boy, who was returning home from school in the Dwarikhal area of Pauri Garhwal district, was mauled by a leopard hidden in the bushes. His half-eaten body was later found by his friends, who were looking for him.

Under intense pressure from the villagers, the office of the Chief Warden, Wildlife, declared the leopard man-eater, and gave orders to shoot it down. Since then, a team of forest officials has been camping in the region, but has so far failed to locate the leopard.

A few days back, hunters, who are part of the team, sighted the wild cat and fired at it, but failed to hit the target. Narendra Singh Lansdowne, Divisional Forest Officer of the Dwarikhal area, said that hunters had sighted the leopard on Sunday and even fired shots at it, but they missed the target. He also said the hunters failed to keep track of the man-eater, as it sped away into the forest.

Meanwhile, the forest officials have asked the villagers to remain alert and not to venture into the forests under any circumstances. Narendra Singh said the villagers had been repeatedly asked to keep away from the forest area, particularly before daybreak and sunset. He, however, did not deny the fact that the villagers still took to forests for their daily requirements. 

Dehradun, April 26
In a quarterfinal encounter, the Himalayan Cricket Academy (HCA) beat the Institute of Technology and Management (ITM) by four wickets to enter the semifinals of the Beehive Twenty-20 cricket tournament at Matawala Bagh here today.

ITM won the toss and chose to bat first. However, the batsmen of gave a dismal performance as the whole squad was bowled out for 96 runs in 15 overs. Abid (14), Nadim (14) and Sagar (14) were the main scorers.Varun Negi of the winning team scalped four wickets. Whiel Shekhar took two.

Batting second, HCA scored 101 runs in 17 overs losing six wickets. Varun Negi (29) and Vijay Singh (27) were the principal scorers. For ITM, Shahazad took three wickets.

Dehradun, April 26
The tourist season is about to begin on May 6 with the opening up of the shrines of Gangotri, followed by the opening of the Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines, respectively, but the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) has not started its preparations for the same as yet.

The transfers of the managers and other employees supervising the tourist rest houses (TRHs) in and around these locations during this period is still awaited, so is the sprucing up of these TRHs with new furnishing and repairs.

All the important policy matters are pending in the absence of the Managing Director, A Santhiyal Pandiyan, who had been sent on the election duty to Andhra Pradesh for more than 15 days. No officiating MD has been deputed to take charge in his place.

It has been almost a month since Pandiyan left Dehradun, because earlier he was sent to West Bengal for the same reason. Then after a gap of few days, he went to Andhra Pradesh. His absence will prolong for another 15 days. General Manager of the nigam UC Kabadwal said he came to the office after every few days to do his regular work, as he was holding additional charge, and a demanding one of Assistant Secretary in the Food Department.

Personal Assistant to GM P Ranawat said: “Each year, we would finish buying new set of crockery, furniture and other furnishing items for our TRHs wherever these are required before the commencement of the yatra season. But, all these works are pending as the sampling and final selection of the products are done by the MD only. Similarly, there are complaints against some of the managers of TRHs, who are needed to be replaced with those having a good track record, but even that process has delayed.”

The strike of the employees of the GMVN and the KMVN is going on. Vice-president of the Joint Associations of GMVN/KMVN Employees SP Pant said: “All the managers and employees of all the TRHs throughout the state are on strike. Nobody seems keen to resolve it. Principal Secretary Rakesh Sharma has passed the buck to the MD, despite knowing that the latter is not in town.

Sharma claims to have deputed Additional Secretary Nitish Kumar in his place but he was never seen on the premises, nor did he attend to any work. The entire functioning has gone haywire here in the absence of the MD.

Dehradun, April 26
Villagers from the Dhanaulti area, who sat on a dharna at the Uttarakhand Forest headquarters yesterday, demanding the completion of the sanctioned roads in their areas, have now announced to sit on an indefinite hunger strike from April 28, if their demand was not responded to by the Forest authorities in the state.

Former Block Pramukh of Thauldhar, Joth Singh Bisht, said the villagers would continue their agitation to press for their genuine demand. He said that with large forest areas in the hills, construction of roads had become tough due to the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act that strictly disallow construction of roads in any part of the forest area.

Villagers from Kyulagi, Bhasikoti, Bamrari, Baada, Bor Gaon, Barnu, Echoni, Dang Gusain, Kot, Badwal Gaon, Lavni, Neyree and Sarot took part in today’s protest.

Dehradun, April 26
MKP (PG) College and Welham Girls’ School (A) scored one-sided semifinal wins to qualify for the final of the Welhams’ Invitational School Hockey Tournament here today.

The final is scheduled to be played at 3.30 pm tomorrow.In the first semifinal, Welham Girls’ School (A) outplayed Welham (B) 4-0. Ananya (eighth minute), Shweta (12th), Madhavi (39th) and Vedika (48th) scored for the winning team.

MKP (PG) College blanked Moravian Institute 6-0. Mamta (10th), Varsha (11th), Pooja (17th), Karishma (24th), Neena (33rd) and Kavita (39th) scored a goal for MKP. Moravian Institute seemed like a spectator in front of its rival.

Dehradun, April 26
Demanding the release of the youngest political prisoner, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, revered as the 11th Panchen Lama, scores of Tibetan men, women and monks held a candle march in the city on his 22nd birth anniversary yesterday.

They filed past the city, accompanied by monks carrying placards condemning Chinese actions before collecting at Gandhi Park here.

“It is his 22nd birth anniversary today and several years have passed since the Panchen Lama and his family were whisked away by the Chinese authorities who have targeted our religious gurus to break the Tibetans, but we continue to demand his release,” said Tsering Lamo, president, Tibetan Women’s Association (Rajpur).

“He is not being allowed to meet any outsider and there is no information about his whereabouts,” said Tsering Yangzom, senior member of the Tibetan Women’s Association.

According to Tibetan Women Congress president Tenzing Dolma, the Panchen Lama was kidnapped by the Chinese authorities and human rights watchdogs have called him the world's youngest political prisoner. 

Dehradun, April 26
International air pistol shooter Dilraj Kaur was conferred Rita Sharma Memorial Award by the Dharatal Sanstha at a function held at MKP (PG) College here today.She was given a citation and a shawl. Chief guest on the occasion Ravinder Jugran, former Chairman of the Uttarakhand Andolankari Samman Parishad, gave away the award to here.

This honour has given me confidence to do well ahead in life. I am determined to make not only my state but the entire nation proud with my performance in coming days, she said after receiving the award.