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Assembly Session
Bill draws flak
CM defends decision on fund
US Nagar farmers seek repair of roads, canals
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Medical College Admissions
SSB installs metal detectors to check smuggling
70 families live in fear
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Assembly Session
Dehradun, September 29 Before adjourning the House indefinitely, the government also allowed a hike in the MLA Local Area Development Fund from the present Rs 2 crore to Rs 2.5 crore per annum. As soon as the Bill was moved for discussion, MLA (independent) Yashpal Benam and Pushpesh Pant of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) questioned the sincerity of the government in introducing the Bill that had “many flaws and was contrary to the expectations of the people”. The Speaker of the House, Harbans Kapoor, then referred the Bill to the Select Committee. When the House convened in the morning, the Congress members continued with their demand for a CBI inquiry into the alleged corruption cases that had come to light during the tenure of the present BJP government, forcing the Speaker to call for three adjournments. Later when the House reassembled, the supplementary budgets of different departments were passed. The committee of the House formed to resolve the issues pertaining to issuing of caste certificates to the members of the SCs, STs and OBCs also tabled its report. However, the UKD member, Om Gopal Rawat, objected to some of the provisions in the report that he termed as “anti-hill”. This led to a heated discussion between him and the suspended member from the BSP, Kazi Nizamuddin. They almost came to blows with each other but for the intervention of the Opposition members. Earlier, three minutes’ silence was observed in the memory of senior Congress leader and former legislator Yogamber Singh Rawat who passed away in May. |
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Bill draws flak
Dehradun, September 29 “After spending Rs 8 crore and 11 years that saw both the Congress and the BJP governments coming to power, the devolution of powers at the grass-roots level according to the 73rd amendments remains elusive,” said Avdhash Kaushal, Chairperson, Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra. He said the government’s Panchayat Bill proposes to remove the Pradhan through a simple majority instead of the two-thirds majority, which is dangerous. “This provision will destabilise the Panchayats and make the Pradhans puppets in the hands
of politicians,” said Kaushal. He said part (3) of the 73rd amendment states that an election to a Panchayat shall be completed before the term of the existing Panchayat is over. “It has been put in the central Panchayati Raj Act to avoid the appointment of administrators to take advantage,
but the Bill tabled by the Uttarakhand government has kept all the provisions of administrators which is unconstitutional,” the Chairman of the RLEK said. Further, till now, the chairmanship of the DPCs is given to the designated ministers which is unconstitutional and the major lacuna of the Bill recently tabled is that it is
completely silent on this issue. There is no mention of who shall be members and chairpersons of DPCs and what shall be their powers. |
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CM defends decision on fund
Dehradun, September 29 While speaking with mediapersons today, the Chief Minister said the proposal to hike the MLALAD fund to Rs 2.50 crore per annum was put forward by his predecessor, but he also added that the Uttarakhand Government would not like to follow in the footsteps of the Bihar Government and scrap it altogether. “In this instance, the Bihar Government cannot be a yardstick for us,” said Khanduri. |
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US Nagar farmers seek repair of roads, canals
Nainital, September 29 Addressing Chief Development Officer (CDO) YK Pant, the farmers have sought that the cleaning and lining works of the canals in the rural parts of the district be taken up on a priority basis. Executive Engineer (Irrigation) DS Kachwaha said the works on this front were being carried out and efforts were being made to ensure that there was water right up to the tails of the canals. The farmers have also demanded that the kisan Samitis in the area be strengthened and transportation cost for manure be raised. The farmers also drew the attention of the officials to the bad condition of the National Highways and the pathetic condition of the Bhakhra bridge. Instructions were given instantly for addressing the issue. The roads around Kitcha and potholes on other roads would be repaired within a week. Pant has asked the officials to address the concerns of the farmers on a priority basis. He has ordered Pollution Control Officer SS Rana to collect the samples of water from rivers flowing in close proximity to the industrial hubs of Rudrapur, Kashipur, Sitarganj and other areas for getting them tested. The official has also been asked to furnish a report on the findings by the time the next meeting with the farmers is held. The farmers also raised the issue of their pending dues to be paid by various government sugar mills. They were told that the first instalment of Rs 15 crore has been received from the government and would be disbursed soon. |
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Farmers demand hike in sugarcane MSP
Haridwar, September 29 Also concession on supply of electricity by waiving 50 paise per unit and probe into the disparity in pro-farmer schemes run by the state government were sought by the agitating farmers hailing from Haridwar, Laksar, Roorkee, Bhagwanpur and Narsain blocks. Submitting a memorandum to district magistrate R Senthyl Pendiayan, Garhwal division chief of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Sanjay Chaudhari said despite contributing to the economy of the state, the farmers were a neglected lot. “Almost every year, we have to take to agitation as the state government fails to fix the sugarcane support price as per the market rate and our need. Besides, the cost of power supply is also high while agriculture-related scheme benefits are not reaching us,” said Chaudhari. Protesting peasants also warned that if their demands were not met, they would be forced to step up their agitation. |
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Demand for Road Link
Pithoragarh, September 29 “The markets and offices of the town remained partially closed as almost all the political parties supported the
bandh,” said Rudra Singh Panda, a senior BJP leader from the area. “After 11 years of the creation of the state, the people of more than 24 villages, which are situated across the Gori river, have been forced to travel 20 km or 30 km to reach the nearest town and the market of
Munsiyari,” said Lalit Singh of Ucheti village. According to the reports received from the subdivisional office, all the government offices, schools, colleges and commercial establishments remained partially closed. “We had taken full precautions about any untoward incident and deployed sufficient number of police personnel but the bandh remained peaceful,” said JS
Rathor, SDM, Munsiyari. The villagers alleged that the problems created due to the lack of a road link in the area are so grave that it is not only affecting education of the local children studying in standard VIII and above but also putting a burden on the people coming to Munsiyari town for any essential work. “When the entire state is taking advantage of the 108 emergency medical service, we, the residents of 12 villages situated across the Gori river, are seeing our expectant women die due to the lack of basic medical facilities. We have to carry our sick on beds or in palanquins to the main road,” said Lalit Singh, a resident of Ucheti village, 30 km from Munsiyari town. |
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Medical College Admissions
Nainital, September 29 With this latest revelation the number of students that had secured admissions through foul means to the college in this session has gone up to 16. Official sources say the admission of all these students is set to be cancelled. Eight such cases had earlier come to light in the second week of this month and their admissions had been cancelled promptly. The available 16 seats are to be filled by those students who had been in the waiting list but ironically these admissions are to be made on Friday itself as according to a Supreme Court order, no admissions can be made to a medical college after September 30. The risk of a large number of seats going vacant looms large. In a startling case, eight instances of students using foul means to secure admission to the college had come to light earlier this month when the first forensic report was received by the college authorities. It was found that the entrance exams were taken by one person and it was someone else who had turned up at the time of counselling for admission. |
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SSB installs metal detectors to check smuggling
Pithoragarh, September 29 According to an SSB official, more than 3000 Nepali citizens have been crossing the border bridges. It is five times more than the normal rush. It is learnt that they have to reach Nepal on the occasion of Dussehrra, which has a special significance in Nepal. “Not only the outflow but the inflow of the Nepali citizens to seek work in Indian establishments during the months of autumn has also increased,” said BS Tolia, Commandant of the SSB at Dharchula. He said the force had already installed CCTV cameras at the Dharchula bridge and such cameras were proposed to be installed at Jhoolaghgat this year. “After the water flow decreases in the river Kali in the autumn season, the smuggling activities are likely to increase. The installation of the CCTV cameras will also help in curbing these activities,” he added. According to SSB sources at the border, the Nepali residents of three districts of the far western Nepal- Darchula [Nepal], Batairi and Dadeldhura, are crossing the border in remarkable number daily. |
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70 families live in fear
Mussoorie, September 29 The SDM of Ghansali, Anil Garbyal, visited the area and found that several houses had been affected due to the continuous subsidence occurring in the area due to the incessant rains. According to the villagers, the houses developed cracks during the rains and sunny days led to widening of these cracks that range from one to two feet. The villagers have demanded that they should be shifted to some safer place.
— OC |
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