Members of the Parent-Teacher Association show the torn rug used by the students at Government Inter-College at Thatyur in Tehri Garhwal

Eminent social and health activist Sunil Sanon, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, and the then Rajya Sabha MP Shobhna Bhartaiya had jointly donated around 40 computers so that students from the poor strata could avail computer education there. But it was sad that the administration had failed to provide one permanent computer teacher. Sanon, aghast at such apathy, said that if the government could not prioritise health and education services for the people of the state, then what else could be expected from it.

Magna Devi, member of the Parent Teachers' Association, laments the fact that former Chief Ministers Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, BC Khanduri along with present CM Vijay Bahguna have landed their helicopters in the school playground on different occasions but have not taken any cognisance of the dismal situation here. “The road leading to the school playground that has been converted into a helipad for political dignitaries was constructed within a few days but officials have failed to improve the condition of the school that requires immediate attention,” added Magna Devi.

The parents and the residents of the area have warned that if the administration fails to take stock of the grim situation in the school, they will be forced to boycott the forthcoming byelections for the Tehri Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency, under which the area falls.

When contacted, the SDM, Narendar Nagar, SL Semwal, said that he was not aware of the situation as he had taken charge recently. However, the onus to rectify the situation fell on the Education Department and the administration would act only if they received any complaint in this regard.

When contacted District Education Officer Virendar Rawat said that he had also been appointed at the post a few days back and would look into the matter and then initiate any action. 

Mussoorie, September 10
BJP MLA Mahavir Singh Rangad from Dhanaulti and Ganesh Joshi from Mussoorie were felicitated for their outstanding contribution towards society by members of the Thauldhar Vikas Samiti in a small function held on hte Municipal Council premises today.

President of the samiti Chaman Nautiyal, speaking on the occasion, said the people of Thauldhar, who had a large presence in both constituencies, had helped the BJP to register victory in the recent Assembly elections.

He further said both Mahavir Rangad and Ganesh Joshi were doing a commendable job for which they were being felicitated today.

MLA Mussoorie Ganesh Joshi thanking the members of the samiti for their support said the BJP by fielding Maharani Raj Lakshmi as candidate for Tehri Lok Sabha bypoll had stuck to the tradition.

They further said now it was up to the people to elect the BJP candidate and send her to Parliament by a huge margin.

He hoped that the BJP workers and the people of the Tehri parliamentary constituency would play a major role in the victory of Maharani Raj Lakshmi in the coming bypoll.

MLA Dhanaulti Mahavir Singh Rangad also said it was due to the people from Thauldhar that he was able to win and was committed to solving the problems of the region on a priority basis.

He said the people were with the BJP in the Tehri Lok Sabha bypoll as they were fed up with the corrupt Congress government at the Centre.

Ganesh Joshi also assured the members of the samiti of resolving the housing problems faced by them in Mussoorie by proposing low income group hosing schemes soon.

The BJP vice-president from Mussoorie Mohan Petwal and other members Dinesh Badoni, Kushal Singh Rana, Vijay Ramola, Bharat Singh Rana and others were present.

Dehradun, September 10
Though the Caesarean delivery continues to be high among educated and urban women, now rural women are also not untouched by this system and, where ever possible, are increasingly seeking surgical interventions for child birth in Uttarakhand.

Though overall deliveries through surgery are high in the urban areas and in private hospitals, in many districts, the percentage of deliveries in private hospitals in the rural areas is way ahead compared to those in urban hospitals, said the recently released an annual health survey report.

“That the C-section trend is catching up in the rural areas of the state may be due to several reasons, including lack of information about its requirement. Since many doctors in private hospitals prefer doing Caesarean sections irrespective of the medical or non-medical needs, the ignorance of women and their family members is probably fueling the Caesarean rate,” said Dr Asha Mathur, consultant, Doon Female Hospital.

The health survey report (2010-2011) is based on a survey carried out in 248 districts in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

For instance, in rural hospitals in the districts of Almora and Champawat, the share of C-section in rural government hospitals was far less as compared to private hospitals.

In Champawat, no C-sections were performed in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 in the government hospitals, but this was not the case in private hospitals where atleast one out of 10 deliveries was C-section.

According to conservative estimates, on an average, a C-section delivery in private hospitals in major cities costs anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 80,000 depending on the hospitals and the facilities whereas a normal delivery costs somewhere around Rs 20,000 to Rs 60,000.

Though the survey is silent on the reasons for the growing trend for C-section, experts say that pregnancy complications apart, lack of knowledge and labour pain associated with normal deliveries are also among various reasons for women to go under the knife.

Interestingly, on the positive side, the C-section trend indicates increasing institutionalised deliveries both in rural and urban areas which the government is also promoting through its Janani Surkasha Yojana.

Dehradun, September 10
The Uttarakhand government today conducted Department Promotional Committee meeting paving way for the promotion of 9 PCS officers to the special category pay scale of 37,400-6700 grade pay 8,700.

The DPC today recommended the promotion of selected PCS officers Surinder Narayan Pandey, Vinod Kumar Suman, Yugal Kishore Pant, Ranvir Singh Chauhan, DS Gabarayal, Atul Kumar Gupta, Vishnu Singh Dhanik, Rajiv Shah and Surya Mohan Nautiyal.

Among those promoted is an officer belongs to the SC and one to the ST community and they have not been given the benefit of promotion but their selection is on the basis of merit. Under the PCS special category pay scale, a total of 20 posts exist, out of which three posts have been filled and 17 are still vacant.

The DPC meeting was conducted by Principal Secretary DK Kotiya, Secretary to the Chief Minister Surinder Singh Rawat, Additional Secretary (personnel) Arvind Singh Hayanki. — TNS

Dehradun, September 10
Summer Valley School and Carman School won their respective quarter-final matches today and reached the semi-finals of the 8th Gardner Silver Jubilee Inter-School Basketball Tournament for Girls– 2012 at St Thomas College here.

Summer Valley School defeated St Judes’ School 29-14 while Carman School defeated Wynberg Allen School by 12-06.

St Thomas College and Convent of Jesus and Mary are the other two teams that have reached the semi-finals.

Dehradun, September 10
The swimming competition was held at Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) from September 8 to 10 and a total of 34 events were conducted. The cadets broke five college records.

The swimming competition was introduced in the college in 1922 and since then it was won by the Pratap section 23 times, the Ranjit section 22 times, the Shivaji section 29 times and the Chandragupta section seven times. The Inter Section Swimming Competition is held annually in the first week of September.

The details of winners this year are as follows:

Juniors: 400 m freestyle: Cadet Omkar Dalvi (6 min 55 sec);

4x50 m freestyle relay: Chandragupta section: 2 min 30 sec.

Seniors: 100 m freestyle: Cadet Sourabh Thorve (1 min 3 sec);

200m breast stroke: Cadet Karan Raj Sohi (3 min 12 sec); 200m back stroke: 3 min 18 sec.

Cadets Chetan Kumar, Akash Ghose, Sai Ganesh, Shantanu Shukla, Kartikya Anand and Omkar Dalvi won gold medals for their sections in their respective category while cadets Sourabh Thorve, Taral Chanchani, Karan Raj Sohi

Shashank Dhaiya and Shailesh Naik won medals in the senior category. The individual prizes were as follows:

Most Upcoming Swimmer: Cadet Ambuj Sen Patra;

Best Paddler: Cadet Atul Tiwari;

Best Swimmer (juniors): Cadet Sai Ganesh;

Best Swimmer (seniors): Cadet Karan Raj Sohi;

The overall standings of the sections were as follows:

IV--Ranjit (518 points)

III--Shivaji (547 points)

II--Pratap (583.5 points)

I--Chandragupta (644.5 points)

Col Pankaj K. Kumaria, Commandant RIMC was the chief guest for the evening. He praised the cadets for their swimming standards and encouraged them to continue improving and break their own records. Other dignitaries present were Lt Col Ambarish Tiwari, Administration Officer, RIMC, CS Vishwakarama, vice principal, RIMC, Lt Pinku

Haiekem and PK Sharma. The event was organised and conducted by PN Naik. —TNS