Large-Scale Transfers, Postings
Cong urges EC to probe matter
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 30
Uttarakhand Congress Legislature Party’s spokesperson Kishore Upadhyaya has appealed to the Union Election Commission to take note of rampant transfers undertaken by the Khanduri government in Uttarakhand in the past few weeks.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Updhayaya said a complaint has been lodged with the Union Election Commission regarding the illegal transfer of senior IAS, IPS and PCS officers in bulk just three or four months before the Assembly elections in the state.

“No government has the right to transfer all Indian Service officials before they complete a tenure of two years at their current postings,” Updhayaya said. “Such a large-scale transfers and postings are also violative of the Supreme Court orders in this regard besides entailing un-necessary burden on the public exchequer,” Updhayaya added.

He accused the BJP government of indulging in the large-scale transfers and postings purely with a view to posting and adjusting pliable officers in preferred locations and to create uncertainty and fear in the minds of honest officials.

Updhayaya said the Union Election Commission had been requested to get this matter investigated and all postings and transfers, which have been done in violation of the three-year posting norm and where there are no grounds for shifting of an official, should be reversed.

Responding to queries, Updhayaya said the Khanduri government lacked courage to fight corruption in the state.

DA hike for staff, pensioners

Dehradun, September 30
The wait has ended for state employees expecting the release of DA with Chief Minister BC Khanduri giving his approval in this regard.

The disbursement of DA is expected to burden the state as it will now have to make provision of about Rs 18 crore per month towards the payment of the dues. Principal Secretary, Finance, Alok Jain said Khanduri had given approval for increasing DA by 6 per cent for all state employees and pensioners. The hike will be applicable from January 1, 2011. Similarly, under the non-revised category, DA has been raised from from 103 per cent to 115 per cent. It will be applicable from January 1 2011. The pending arrears of DA for the period January 1, 2011, to September 9, 2011, will be deposited in the Public Provident Fund. Pensioners will be made cash payments of the same. — TNS

Land Rights to Bengali Families
CPM to approach Khanduri
Rajeev Khanna
Tribune News Service

Nainital, September 30
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership has decided to once again approach the Chief Minister, Major-Gen Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri (retd), on the issue of giving back the land holding rights to about 1,000 Bengalis residing in Sitarganj and the adjoining areas of Udham Singh Nagar.

Talking to The Tribune, state General Secretary of the CPM Vijay Rawat said these Bengali families had migrated to this part of the country in 1947 from East Pakistan after Partition. They had been given small tracts of land as compensation at that point of time.

According to Rawat, “Over the years, because of various obvious reasons, the land has fallen into the hands of the moneylenders and certain other people. Legally, this land could not have been transferred to any other person.”

This has had an adverse impact on the families of the original landowners who have not only fallen in debt traps but have also been marginalised economically.

“We have been taking up their cause and have been seeking that the land be given back to them. When it was pointed out that they had borrowed money and their inability to pay back had led to moneylenders taking over these tracts of land, we had suggested a formula of computation of land returns and making the payment to the moneylenders while letting the borrower be the owner of the agricultural land,” said Rawat.

The CPM leadership had approached General Khanduri on this issue during his earlier tenure as the Chief Minister. “He had promised to get the issue resolved. Now that he is back, we will be approaching him again. Frequent change of bureaucrats at the district level has further complicated the scenario as newcomers do not much about the issue. But, since the present District Magistrate (Dr BVRC Purshottam) has been around for some time, there should be no problem,” he underlined.

Meanwhile, the CPM has once again raised the issue of grating the SC status to about one lakh people residing in Uttarakhand who fall in the social segment of “namo shudras”. These people too had come from East Bengal during Partition.

“They were recognised as SCs in West Bengal when they came here and were given the due status. In Uttarakhand, their issue had been taken up by the first interim government in the state and it was resolved that they would be accorded a similar status here but despite the government resolution nothing has been done in this direction so far,” said Rawat. He told The Tribune that the CPM would be taking up this issue with General Khanduri once again. He has pointed out that certain forces have been stonewalling the attempts to give the “namo shudras” their due rights in the state.

Power Crisis
UPCL breaks power banking pact
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 30
Power shortage in the state is so severe that Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) has to break power banking deal with BSES for 100 MW for the month of September. Sources though claimed the power banking arrangement was not much affected except for the past two days.

The power crisis precipitated mostly due to the closure of the Singoli hydroelectric project owing to a fault and a drastic reduction in the share from the Central pool.

Managing Director, UPCL, Anil Kumar Jain, said: “We had struck a banking deal with the BSES for 100 MW seeing the power generation in the state going surplus for the past few weeks. But we got a major setback when the share from the Central pool fell down from 12 MU to 6 MU drastically a couple of days ago.

“The status of the Singoli project also made matters worse for us. In such a situation, we probed the possibility of power purchase from outside sources also but that was costing us Rs 6.5 per unit. The purchase would have proved to be much costlier than paying the trifle penalty for the withdrawal of the power banking agreement. Therefore I opted for the latter,” he added.

Power generation which was surging high at 23 MU or 24 MU had for the past few days dipped to 19 MU to 20 MU with heavy rainfall coming to a halt. It became difficult for us to meet the daily demand of 28 MU in the state.

Meanwhile, power cuts in the city have made life miserable for the residents. A 10-hour power shutdown in Kumaon made Chief Minister BC Khanduri pull up the officials of the UPCL.

The sources said the power shutdown in the Kumaon region also prolonged due to the nonchalance of the officials in rectifying faults at many places. Those erring officials had been asked to swing into action quickly and provide relief to the residents.

Pankaj Kulshreshtha, Assistant General Manger, Uttrakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam, said they hoped for the power generation situation to improve once again with drizzling occurring in some parts of the state.

Army chief presents Colours to 85 Armoured Regiment
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 30
The Chief of Army Staff, Gen VK Singh, awarded Colours to the 85 Armoured Regiment at Roorkee today.

The presentation of Colours, also known as “Nishan”, is a martial legacy which is centuries old and is awarded to the units of the armed forces in recognition of valour and hard work displayed by them over the years. This rare honour was bestowed upon 85 Armoured Regiment in due recognition of the dedicated and meritorious service rendered by it since its raising on October 1, 1976. The 85 Armoured Regiment is a premier unit of the Indian Armoured Corps, which has participated in all Army operations since it was raised.

The regiment also has to its credit the honour of receiving one Shaurya Chakra, three Sena Medals, 11 Chief of Army Staff Commendation Cards and 22 GOC-in-C Cards in recognition of the hard work and sacrifices made by their valiant soldiers.

The hallmark of the ceremony was the immaculate mounted parade of 19 T-72 tanks and five jeeps rolling past the saluting dais in perfect unison. The parade was commanded by Col Atul Bhat, Commandant, 85 Armoured Regiment.

“The Army and the country is proud of you and you have received the ‘Nishan’ in recognition for your valour and dedication of duty towards the nation both during war and peace,” said General Singh who also released a special day cover on the occasion.

The event saw the presence of various distinguished serving and retired Army as well as civilian dignitaries along with their families.

Leading from the front
A firm believer in the personal integrity of persons at the helm, Justice MM Ghildiyal, Lokayukta of Uttarakhand,
talks to Neena Sharma on the effectiveness of
the institution of Lokayukta in the state

A year ago, Justice MM Ghildiyal, Lokayukta of Uttarakhand, had thrown a spanner in the works of the Uttarakhand Government that had finalised a candidate for the post of Upa (deputy) Lokayukta without consulting him. The government was then forced to drop the proposal.

Justice Ghildiyal, who was appointed in 2008 for a period of six years, has also managed to get land allocated for building a permanent office at Jogiwala Bypass. As of now, the office continues to function from the rented premises.

A firm believer in the personal integrity of persons at the helm, ultimately making a big difference to the functioning of the Lokayuktas, he is also in favour of bringing in amendments to the existing law. These, he says, are desired to make the institution more effective in combating corruption and addressing public grievances. The following are excerpts from an interview with him recently.

Q: How effective is the institution of Lokayukta in Uttarakhand in combating corruption and bringing in transparency in governance?

A: The Uttarakhand Lokayukta is one of the weakest in the country. We have adopted the Uttar Pradesh (1975) Act that is quite weak. If the Uttarakhand Government drafts its own act or make necessary amendments, it can become an effective tool for ensuring administrative transparency and accountability. From time to time, suggestions to improve law have been made. In 2004, during a conference of Lokayuktas in Dehradun, these were proposed, but ultimately it rests on the legislature and the government to act upon them. By calling for amendments I am not seeking powers for myself, but let’s not make the Lokayukta’s office a mere decorative piece.

Q: You mentioned about the drafting of a new law or making amendments to the existing one. Can you elaborate on them?

A: These are only suggestions. In fact there should be uniformity in all Acts that have been enacted in the states. According to the provisions in our state’s Act, the Lokayukta has a separate investigation wing, but the statutory powers for search and seizure available under under the CrPc and which were essential for proper investigation are not covered. Such powers have been conferred on the institution in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and a few other states. Here, a three- member wing is manned by a Deputy Inspector. Do you think he will be able to take action against a senior IPS officer against whom a complaint has been registered?

Q: Recently, during your meeting with Governor Margaret Alva, there were reports that you had mentioned that none of the recommendations have been accepted by the government made by your office.

A: I would not like to be drawn into any controversy. I can only say that the office had made 15 recommendations last year and 10 this year, but the government is yet to take any action. Since 2006, no annual report prepared by the Lokayukta has been tabled in the Assembly.

Q: Has there been any complaint against the conduct of politicians or numerous corruption scandals that have rocked the state. Did corruption cases pertaining to the past government and the present dispensation come to you?

A: Nearly 70 per cent of the complaints received by the office are related to grievances like a delay in the payment of pension, the non-issuance of promised pattas and the alleged failure of officials to do their basic duties and other matters. The Lokayukta can only act on the basis of a documentary proof presented by the complainant and not based on hearsay. I think awareness is lacking. I have now started hearing complaints in the districts by holding camps. Recently, we held camps at Chakrata and Haridwar and will now organise in Munsiyari and Dharchula soon.

Woman found murdered
Tribune News Service

Nainital, September 30
A woman was found murdered in the Kafligaur area of Bageshwar district. The victim’s body was found in the Bohala forest in Nandigaon village.

The body was first spotted by villagers, who reported the matter to the revenue police.

Loot is suspected to be the reason behind the crime as the jewellery she was wearing had also been found missing. The deceased has been identified as Bhagwati Devi (29) of Kathani village.

According to information, she had gone to her sister-in-law’s house in Basoli village on September 27 to participate in a function. The incident reportedly took place when she was on her way back home the next day. It is being suspected that more than two persons were involved in the incident.

She is survived by her husband, Balam Singh, and three children.