Dehradun, June 21
With nine districts in the state not having any roads linking villages to the main roads, the Uttarakhand Government has made a suggestion to the Central Government to broaden the scope of the programme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

At a meeting held in New Delhi recently, the officials from Uttarakhand has asked the Central Government to take into consideration the unique geography of the state and include rural road connectivity in the works to be undertaken in the state.

“The requirement of rural road connectivity is important in the hills, especially the roads interconnecting the villages. It could be undertaken under the convergence programme,” said AK Rajput, Sate Coordinator, MGNREGA.

Besides, the long-standing demand of the state MGNREGA wing calling for an increase in the budget allocations for administrative works has not been met. The government has also been raising the demand for increasing the ceiling on the administrative costs in keeping with the geographical conditions of the state that requires more manpower.

However, MGNREGA stipulates that the administrative costs are kept to the minimum and the expenditure on staff is incurred from the stipulated 6 per cent expense limit on the administrative costs.

The officials point out that the limit on the administrative costs prevents the hiring of staff and the problem is acutely being felt in the districts of Bageshwar, Dehradun and Nainital, which are performing poorly in the implementation of MGNREGA. The districts of Chamoli, Pauri, Champawat have managed to perform exceedingly well since the launch of the programme.

This year (2011-12) the Central Government has sanctioned Rs 470 core for the implementation of the MGNREGA programme under the Act.

In 2010-11 the government was able to spend Rs 380 crore while the available funds were worth Rs 405 crore. Significantly, the total number of assets (ponds, channels, etc) that have been created since the inception of the programme is 29,749.

Dehradun, June 21
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said the statement of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh about invoking Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act if no action is taken against illegal sand mining in the Ganga has deeply hurt the state.

“I don’t think that he has said so. But, if he has said so then I will talk to him as it has hurt the sentiments of the people of the state,” Pokhriyal told reporters after the inauguration of the 41st All-India Police Science Congress at the FRI.

Pithoragarh, June 21
The Gorkha community residing in Pithoragarh district today demanded better educational and job facilities for its members. They also demanded SCs and STs status for them for getting the benefit of job reservation in the state.

“The facilities being given to the Gorkha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category after the community was categorised as OBC on November 15, 2003, by the state government are not enough to uplift the poor Gorkha families of the state,” said Krishna Bahadur Mall, president of the Gorkha Sudhar Sabha, an organisation of the Gorkha community living in the district.

Speaking at the first annual general meeting of the Gorkha Sudhar Sabha in Pithoragarh, the leaders of the community said though the government had categorised the Gorkha community under the BCs status, the facilities and the scholarships were being given to a few in the community as the survey of the Gorkha people has not been completed in the district as well in the state.

“We demand a complete survey of the community in the state and the poor students of all the categories of the Gorkha community be given scholarships at the primary, junior and high-school levels, similar to the ones given to the students of the SCs and STs categories,” said Mall.

“We demand the annual income criterion for the poor Gorkhas be raised from the present Rs 45,500 to Rs 1 lakh and also opening of hostels for the students from the community at every district headquarters,” he added.

“So far only 10 sub-castes of the Gorkhas in Pithoragarh and 42 in Dharchula subdivision have been identified whereas the actual number of the Gorkha sub-castes, which originated from Nepal and are living permanently in the district, is much larger,” said Mall.

Dehradun, June 21
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank expressed dissatisfaction over the arrangements made for the Char Dham pilgrimage at a meeting held with officials of various departments at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

The CM ordered the removal of the Engineer, Irrigation Department. He was angry at the shortage of water tanks and rainsheds on the route.

He directed the Head of the Department of Irrigation to inspect the related sites on the route within
15 days.

He also asked the Chief Secretary to hold a meeting with priests to develop mutual trust.

Sewerage was another issue on which he seemed unhappy and asked Jal Nigam officials for clarifications. Finding that small pouches of prasad containing products of the state had not been put on sale outside temples, he directed the Chief Secretary to make the Tourism Department to do the needful.

The CM also expressed anguish over officials not deputing doctors in a planned manner on the yatra route and also asked them to provide adequate number of oxygen cylinders and persons who were trained to operate these 
on the way.

Taking stock of hygiene, he said the district panchayat should be made responsible for the task. A part of their revenue should be spent on maintaining cleanliness. He also directed that horses/mules should be made available to pilgrims and the rent chart displayed at short intervals.

On the condition of poor roads, he directed the Principal Secretary, PWD, to assess the ground situation divisionwise and submit a report to him.

Nainital, June 21
Director, Tea Development Board (TDB), DS Garbyal, who is also the District Magistrate of Almora, has ordered the officials entrusted with the responsibility of promoting tea production to start planting tea plants in nurseries in accordance with the targets that have been set up.

He has also told the officials to make use of the funds available under the Special Component Plan (SCP), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), etc, for promoting tea plantation in the region. Garbyal has asked the officials to ensure that all the targets set up in this direction are met within the specified time frame.

At a meeting held at Almora yesterday, Garbyal pointed out that the prices of tea prepared at Ghorakhal had not been revised for the past three years. He has ordered the officials to start the process for revising the prices.

He has pointed out that the tea being produced at Almora must be packaged in an attractive manner. This would help in promoting Uttarakhand’s tea at the national and international levels. In addition to this, the Director of the TDB called for strengthening the supply network.

Calling upon the officials and the tea growers to work in co-ordination, Garbyal said the government was committed to conserving the tea estates that had come into existence before Independence and was also trying to develop new ones. He has suggested that MNREGA should be used to encourage people in rural areas to take up tea cultivation. His opinion is that this would help in curtailing migration of the youth from the state.

He has told the officials from the tea gardens at Kausani, Ghorakhal, Nauti and Champawat along with those from the Soil Testing Laboratory at Bhawali to show more interest in promoting tea cultivation in the region.

Almora had been a major tea-producing area during the British era. However, a lack of interest on the part of the administration and inability to adapt to the market realities led to the production going down. In the recent past, efforts were made once again to revive the industry.

Dehradun, June 21
City president of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Trivender Singh Panwar faction) Bahadur Singh Rawat said at a press conference at the party office on Tuesday

that the UKD would hold a convention to identify and honour statehood strugglers at Jain Dharmashala in the city on June 26.

He said, “We have made a list of the statehood strugglers wardwise and have also asked people to do so at their own level by corroborating the evidence with the signatures of two witnesses. We will submit the list to the District Magistrate and the Chief Secretary. If they refuse to include the names given by UKD , we will stage a protest.”

Rawat said,“Our party saw the struggle from close quarters and hence has the authority to acknowledge the actual and worthy agitators.”

Besides Rawat, central vice-president Shakti Sthal spoke against the Forest Act and said this law was adversely affecting development in the hills such as construction and the widening of roads. Sthal said they were

holding a dharna against it at Muni ki Reti at present which would turn into an indefinite fast on June 24 if the state government ignored their pleas.

Dehradun, June 21
Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has emphasised the need to bring children from the weaker sections of society into the mainstream through creative activities.

Alva visited Bal Bhawan of the State Council of Child Welfare at Nanurkheda last evening. During her visit, she also took note of various activities being undertaken at the bhawan. She also visited a crèche that is being run on the premises of the bhawan.

The Governor, also the Chairperson of the Uttarakhand State Council of Child Welfare, interacted with the children during which they told her about their hobbies and interests.

She also interacted with the beneficiaries of the computer training programme, which is being conducted there as a part of the summer camp, and appreciated computer skills acquired by the children.

On the occasion, the Governor expressed the need for the Dehradun Bal Bhawan to be developed on the lines of the Delhi Bal Bhawan and gave instructions to officials to increase the strength of the staff.

She said it was important for the children to receive training in computers, arts and music, along with their studies, so that they became self-reliant.

The Governor praised the clean and green environment of the Bal Bhawan, which was built with the ONGC’s assistance and was inaugurated in October 2008. She instructed that the computer training session be held for a minimum period of six months.

Conducting an on-the-spot inspection of the Bal Bhawan premises, the Governor directed the General Secretary to initiate immediate action for linking the Bal Bhawan premises to the main road through the adjoining campus of the Directorate of Education.

On the occasion, the Governor also planted a sapling on the Bal Bhawan campus.

Pithoragarh, June 21
Suresh Joshi, general secretary of the Uttarakhand unit of the ruling BJP, has charged the state Governor Margaret Alva with behaving like a “Congress general secretary” and crossing her constitutional limits.

Reacting on a statement made by Alva questioning air safety in the state and earlier on the death of Swami Nigmanand, Joshi said the Governor should think about her constitutional status before issuing any statement.

Joshi said the BJP categorically denied all the allegations levelled by the Governor and if need arose, it would take recourse of the constitutional provisions against the Governor.

“While the nation is in the process of finalising the draft of the Jan Lokpal Bill, the statements of the Governor on the state government will be considered as an attempt to scuttle the move on the Bill,” he said.

Interestingly, while talking to some media persons during her visit to Bal Bhawan in Dehradun on Monday evening, the Governor has questioned the safety of helicopter services in the state.

Earlier, following the death of Swami Nigmanand, Alva, in a statement, had said the state government should conduct an impartial inquiry in the light of allegations being levelled against it. Her statement put tremendous pressure on the state BJP government, forcing it to recommend an inquiry by the CBI into the circumstances leading to the death of Swami Nigmanand. It is for the first time that a ruling BJP leader has openly come out against Margaret Alva.

Dehradun, June 21
A unit of the Army has been sent to the Naxal-infested region of Chhattisgarh for training purposes. This was revealed by Gurudas Kamat, Minister of State for Home Affairs, here today on the sidelines of the 41st All-India Science Congress.

The minister told media persons that an Army camp had been set up in that region and a unit of the Army had been sent there. However, he maintained that they were deployed there only for training commandos in the jungle warfare.

The Army is setting up a special training centre at Abuihmad, Narayanpur district, from where the Naxals steer their activities. 

Nainital, June 21
The biggest agony that has come with the deluge of tourists to the Lake City over the past few days is the parking problem. Despite making tall claims and preparing a detailed road map to tackle the problem, the menace not only persists but has also grown manifold, simply on account of the gross mismanagement that is coupled with “the servicing of certain vested interests”. The result has been an absolute chaos on the roads, which has made even walking down the roads a nightmare.

A portion of the KMVN parking that started caving in even before being used at Sukhatal in Nainital, and (right); the newly constructed parking site that is being repaired again. Photos: Kamal Jagati