Dehradun, April 18
The reluctance of ministerial rank BJP leaders to tender their resignation despite reminders has put the newly elected Bahuguna government in a piquant situation, which is keen on accommodating its own party leaders.

After 61 BJP leaders, who were made heads of various committees, corporation and government bodies, submitted their resignation, it was assumed that the remaining, too, will do the same. But that has not happened so far. Twelve ministers are still holding on to their seats, thus forcing the Urban Development Department to issue notices to five more leaders today about their term having been ended with the swearing-in of the new government.

“Notices have been issued to five ministerial rank holders who were made heads of various outfits under the Urban Development Department. As a normal practice, these leaders should have tendered their resignation as soon as the new government was sworn-in. These posts are not constitutional,” said Vinod Fonia, Secretary Urban Development.

The department has issued notices to BP Makwana, Chairman, Uttarakhand Safai Karamchari Ayog, Vice-Chairman Ajay Rajwar, RS Saini, Vice-Chairman, Nagairiy Paryavaran Sarakshan Samiti, Ashok Tripathi, Vice-Chairman, Mela Pardikaran, and PS Dhami, Vice-Chairman, Shahri Vikas Anusharan Parishad.

Among the constitutional posts, chairman of the SC and ST Commission Chanar Ram and Vice-Chairman Suresh Rathore, who were appointed for a period of three years, have not been issued notices.

“Ours is a constitutional post and my term will end in January, though it is up to the Chief Minister to decide upon our continuation on these posts. But the Governor had recently issued a letter to ensure that the sanctity of the appointment and the termination of constitutional posts was maintained,” said Rathore.

Besides this, Chairman of the women’s commission (statutory body) Sushila Baloni, the Chairman of the Uttarakhand Child Rights Protection Commission and the Chairman of the Minorities Commission have not been issued notices so far.

During the BJP government’s rule, a total of 96 BJP leaders were appointed heads of different committees, corporations and authorities as most of them could not be accommodated in the Cabinet. Now Congress are waiting to get these posts.

Dehradun, April 18
The workers of Rockman Industries Limited and Satyam Auto Component Limited, who were released from jail last night, gathered at the Parade Ground today, from where they held a march to the Secretariat.

They staged a dharna outside the Secretariat for sometime, which was peaceful. Shweta Chaubey, circle officer, Dalanwala, said no one among them was on fast or in a serious health condition, so there was no need to use police force on them.

Nitin Kumar, a leader of the employees’ union, said representatives of the companies reached the city this morning. “The SP (City) had arranged talks between workers and the managements and the latter have agreed to increase the salary of the workers by Rs 2,000 and reinstate the suspended ones. However, the managements are not ready to reinstate the dismissed workers. But we are determined to have them back on roll in the companies,” he said.

He further said these workers had been released under pressure as they had refused to call off their fast. He said if their all demands were not met, they would again launch indefinite fast from tomorrow. Meanwhile, the police is upset at the way workers of Haridwar-based factories have chosen Dehradun as their venue of protest. DIG GN Goswami said there were many workers’ union which were at loggerhead with their management in the industrial area of Selaqui or Haridwar. They would, too, do the same and Dehradun would become the epicentre of protests.

Dehradun, April 18
Chairman, Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra, Avdhesh Kaushal sat on a dharna today at Gandhi Park in protest against the state government’s delay in starting the stalled hydel power plants in the state.

He also warned that if within seven days, the work had not been started on these power plants, then he along with other citizens would hire engineers to complete the pending work on their own.

He also sympathised with the local residents of Vishnu Ghat and Pipal Koti who have threatened of self-immolation if the ban on the construction work on the hydel power plants, being built in their region, was not lifted.

People were now scared of losing jobs if the projects were closed down. They had also made up their mind to disrupt Char Dham yatra by blocking the highway connecting Badrinath, Kedarnath and Hemkunt Sahib to express their anguish on the issue.

The high-profile meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister, where no decision was taken on the closed hydro-power projects in Uttarakhand, he said the PM had invited only seven sadhus, along with their three representatives which included one from Rajasthan, another from Aligarh and the third one without any root in the state. Therefore, they could not be expected to think in the interest of the state. He said the delay in starting these power projects would result in high escalation in the project cost.

Dr Dhirendra Sharma, a veteran scientist, Prof A.N Purohit, a former Vice-Chancellor of Garhwal University and Paripoornanad Painuly, ex-MP and freedom fighter, also reached the dharna site to extend support to Kaushal.

Dr Dhirendra Sharma, a veteran scientist, said in the times of technology, logical thinking and progress of the state had to be considered a top priority. Members from the CII and other academicians were of the opinion that matters of national interests should not be compromised and these power projects on which so much of money had already been spent should immediately be started.

Dehradun, April 18
Contractors boycotted the tender process for the new development works by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) today.

They demanded the reimbursement of pending payment of Rs 2.50 crore to them.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli confirmed the clearance of cheques for Rs 1.86 lakh for the contractors.

Confusion prevailed over the matter till the evening.

Mohammad Sami, contractor, said, "We got Rs 50 lakh around Diwali out of Rs 1 crore. Then we were handed over work worth Rs 2 crore. Of these, not a single penny has been paid to us since then."

Shiv Kumar, another contractor, said they paid from their pockets for all expenses initially which was later reimbursed 
to them.

It was now no longer possible for them to arrange for finance from their sources if the reimbursement was not made in time.

Mohan Singh Rawat, contractor, said they were told repeatedly that the cheques for January and February were ready and would be given along with those of March.

He said they had always been taken for a ride by the administrative setup of the DMC.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli on the other hand burst upon the contractors saying they had been issued works worth Rs 11 cr each year of which if a payment of Rs 2.5 got pending, it should not be made a big issue.

He, however, also affirmed of keeping cheques for Rs 1.87 lakh ready to be disbursed among them.

It was later when councillor Dr Vijender Pal took up the matter with the accounts section, he got to know that the cheques were kept ready but were not distributed among the contractors.

Dehradun, April 18
The University of Cambridge International Examinations successfully conducted its first Principals’ Forum (Regional Network Forum) at Unison World School here today.

A total of 14 delegates, including Principals and Directors of Cambridge-affiliated schools in and around Dehradun, attended the meeting. The session started with a welcome address by Veena Singh, Principal, Unison World School, who shared her views regarding the growing popularity of Cambridge curriculum worldwide. It was an interactive session chaired by Andrew Sortwell, Regional Manager, South Asia.

The session included recent updates from Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) like the setting up of a National Advisory Council of India. Important issues pertaining to college admissions both abroad and India were also clarified.

The training of teachers was a major issue which invited many queries and the guests were able to share their doubts and suggestions. The session concluded with a memento presentation by Veena Singh.

Dehradun, April 18
Saagwan House won the Shri Rohitash Singh Memorial Boys Super 8’s Inter-House Cricket Tournament by defeating Shivalik House in The Heritage School six-a-side cricket tournament.

Saagwan House won the toss and decided to ball first. In the first inning, Shivalik House scored 35 runs at the loss of four wickets. Saagwan House scored 37 runs at the loss of 7 wickets. In the second innings, Shivalik House scored 39 runs at the loss of one wicket. In the end, Saagwan House won the match taking their score to 38 runs. The umpire of the match were by Kapil Gulati and Vijay Rawat. Anubhav Vohra of Saagwan House was adjudged the man of the match for scoring 20 runs. The next match will be played between Monal House and Mandakine House on Thursday.