Amendment to Zamindari Abolition, Land Reforms Act approved
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 12
The Uttarakhand Cabinet today approved amendment to the Uttarakhand Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, allowing conversion of land bought for the sole purpose of agriculture, economic, educational, tourism and housing activities to be used for other activities by paying one-time fee.

Beside, builders would be allowed to buy land for the construction of houses according to the housing policy of the state.

Bringing further relaxation and simplifying the purchase of land in Uttarakhand, the permission of sale and purchase of land would now be granted at the level of government. A committee would be set up headed by Commissioner, Infrastructure, to study such proposals and give its recommendations in three months' time. In his absence the Principal Secretary nominated by the Chief Secretary would be entrusted with the task.

The Cabinet also approved appointments of 100 contractual dental surgeons to posts lying vacant meant for allopathic doctors for a period of one year. The government also gave approval for the revision of medical college fee for MBBS and PG courses. Now those students who fill bonds to serve the state will have to pay the annual fee of Rs 4000. Earlier it was Rs 1,500, while those not filling the bond would now have to pay an annual fee of Rs 4 lakh per month. Earlier, it was Rs 2.20 lakh per month. For those desirous of doing PG and agreeing to fill the bonds to serve the state, the fee has been fixed at Rs 5 lakh (annual). Those filling the bonds will have to pay Rs 60,000 per year (instead of Rs 40,000 annually).

The government also announced composition scheme for those involved in the purchase of building material - bricks (manufactured outside the state), sand, gravel, pebbles and stone dust. Beginning from the new financial year in April, under the composition scheme (VAT ), Rs 40 per tonne has been fixed as rate for minor minerals and for bricks purchased from outside the state, the rate has been fixed at Rs 250 per 1000 bricks.

In a relief to the striking treasury employees, the Cabinet also announced payment of grade pay (15 per cent of the amount due to them) for employees and officers ( leaving bus drivers and fourth class employees) of Directorate of Treasury, Cyber Treasury Data Centre, Pay and Accounts Office (New Delhi)/ Treasury from April 2013. Besides, like other state offices, the treasuries would remain closed on second Saturday of the month.

The Cabinet approved raising of honorarium from Rs 200 to Rs 300 per day for home guards.

In view of the upcoming wedding season in April this year, the Cabinet approved extending deadline for wedding and banquet hall owners to comply by the norms laid down by the MDDA by May 31.

major Cabinet decisions Appointment of 100 dental surgeons okayed Relief announced for striking treasury employees Honorarium raised for Home Guards

Cong to speed up membership campaign in state
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 12
The state Congress has decided to speed up the membership campaign in the state. The party has also decided to expose misleading campaign unleashed by the BJP against the Congress.

These decisions were taken at a meeting held in Congress Bhawan, Dehradun, today which was presided over by state Congress president Yashpal Arya. En course the meeting, Arya asked the party office-bearers to speed up the membership campaign in the state. He said party needed to induct people who were sincere and committed to party ideology. He said the party would also appoint observer at the block and city levels in the entire state in order to monitor the workings of block and city Congress committees.

Arya also called upon party leaders to expose the misleading campaign unleashed by the opposition parties against the Congress government. He said he himself would be visiting far-flung areas of the state as part of preparations for the forthcoming three-tier panchayat and local bodies’ elections.

Taking party in the deliberations, state Congress vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana expressed happiness over the success of the Congress in the Karnataka local bodies’ elections. He hoped for convincing success for the party in the 2014 parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, the meeting also issued a show cause notice to Haridwar party president OP Chauhan for his recent anti-party statements.

Congress spokespersons Dhirendra Pratap and Rajiv Maharishi, general secretaries Vijay Saraswat, Kedar Singh Rawat and Santosh Kashyap, treasurer Brahmswaroop Brahmachari and MLAs Jeetram Arya and Vikram Singh Negi attended the meeting.

BJP protests MC ‘malfunctioning’
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 12
BJP activists staged a major protest in the city today against the 'malfunctioning' of the Municipal Corporation and other government departments.

The activists resented the problems of insanitation, non-disposal of garbage and delay in laying of sewer line. Due to shoddy work on the laying of sewer line, many accidents took place.

Led by women wing chief Anjana Chaddha, activists gathered at the city party office at Devpura and raised slogans against the MC, the Rural Engineering Service, the Ganga Pollution Control Board, the Jal Nigam and the Power Corporation.

Anjana said just 5 km of sewer laying work had not been completed in four months, while in other cities, hundreds of kilometres of similar work was carried out.

“The lackadaisical attitude of the nodal agencies concerned is shocking. Despite bringing it to the notice of the state government ministers and Haridwar MP Harish Rawat, no step has been taken,” said Anjana. The party workers burnt an effigy of the departments at Devpura Chowk.

The party workers also expressed resentment over the indisposed garbage, usage of polythene and contaminated water being supplied to various residential colonies.

Youth wing chief Harjeet warned of intensified agitation, if in the coming days, the issues raised by the party activists were not addressed.

Meanwhile, City magistrate JS Nambiyal said the road laying work was in progress on the dug-up sewer line, while garbage and polythene disposal is being done on a regular basis by the MC.

SP to politically utilise Dimple Yadav’s link with Uttarakhand
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 12
The Samajwadi Party has decided to felicitate Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav, Kannauj parliamentarian.

As Dimple Yadav is a native of Pauri Garhwal, the Samajwadi Party wants to politically utilise this aspect as well as to make its ideology and presence acceptable among hill voters of Uttarakhand.

In this regard a proposal has been forwarded via veteran Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, who told The Tribune that a verbal consent had been given by the duo.

He said as soon as the final programme gets an approval, the venue would be fixed. Most probably Haridwar will be the venue.

Confirming this, state vice-chief of the Samajwadi Party Naresh Chaudhari said Dimple Yadav was a daughter of Uttarakhand and the Yadav family had a deep connection with the state.

Chaudhari said passing of a resolution of the creation of the separate state of Uttarakhand by the then Uttar Pradesh Assembly during the government of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav as a proof that Yadav was concerned about the people of the hill state.

“We can win at least two seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha, Haridwar and Tehri Garhwal, as a substantial number of hill voters come in these two constituencies. Coupled with the hard work of party workers, Dimple Yadav can surely woo the voters,” said Chaudhari.

Asserting the need of a third force in Uttarakhand owing to the ill governance by the Congress and BJP, Chaudhari said only the Samajwadi Party could provide able governance on the lines of the current government in Uttar Pradesh.

Adding further, he exhorted the party workers to take up local issues with sincerity, as the public was fed up with lofty assurances of the Congress and BJP.

Meanwhile, Nirlesh Chauhan has been appointed in-charge of the Ranipur-BHEL Assembly segment by the Samajwadi Party’s executive working body. Accepting the responsibility, Chauhan assured the party office-bearers of working at grass-roots level to ensure that the party gets maximum votes from Ranipur Assembly segment in the Lok Sabha elections.

Directions to cops for Assembly session
Tribune News Service

Dehradun March 12
SSP Kewal Khurana gave briefing to police personnel with regard to the Assembly session which is going to begin from March 14. The SSP has constituted two teams which will ensure that people on protest do not damage public property or break the barricades in order to enter the Vidhan Sabha.

The Quick Response Team will be equipped with water cannons to stop the marching protesters from going ahead near the Vidhan Sabha. The companies which own mobile towers around the Vidhan Sabha bhavan have been directed to ensure security around the towers as these are often misused by protesters who at times climb up the towers to put pressure on the state government on their demands. Section 144 will also be imposed in the city, especially around Parade Ground, so that the agitators do not use it to assemble and make inciting speeches.

The barricades and traffic routes will remain as it was during last Vidhan Sabha session.

News Analysis
Bahuguna has no reason to be ecstatic at the end of his one-year rule
SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 12
For the Congress state government led by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, the completion of the first year in office on March 13 won’t be a reason of much joy. The expectations of the common people of the state who voted for the Congress government in last year's state Assembly polls for accelerated development stand belied. The recent assessment of the state government by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on March 8 by meeting grass-root party workers from all over the state and putting the Chief Minister and his state party chief Yashpal Arya on notice has also added to the gloom in the ruling Congress camp.

After a razor-thin victory over rival BJP in the Assembly polls and formation of the Congress-led government with the support of Bahujan Samaj Party ,UKD and Independents, the appointment of Vijay Bahuguna, the Tehri Garhwal MP, as Chief Minister created the first crisis when Union Minister Harish Rawat and supporter legislators revolted against the decision of the party high command. Finally, Harish Rawat was placated and his men adjusted in all the available political positions but the inbuilt fissures within the ruling Congress Party has it's reflection on the working of the state Congress government in it's first year.

The first two months of the new government got wasted in infighting that accompanied the appointment of Vijay Bahuguna as Chief Minister. Bahugun acted smart by making a BJP legislator resign from Sitarganj to enter the state Assembly. His landslide victory from Sitarganj to enter the state Assembly by a margin of 39,000 votes remains the only high point of his first year of rule. His victory catapulted him as a leader of the entire state as being a Garhwali, he dared to contest from Sitarganj in Kumaon region, a stronghold of his arch political rival Harish Rawat, and won by a thumping majority. However, he could not translate his political victory to his advantage as the state government lost it's way in governance. The massive destruction during the monsoon of 2012 in Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts added to the woes of the common people as governance was found totally lacking.

The Chief Minister could not reign in the bureaucracy. He rather became a tool in their hands as common masses suffered.

The second popularity test of the Congress government and particularly that of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna himself came in the Tehri Lok sabha byelection held in October 2012. Vijay Bahuguna launched his son Saket Bahuguna into active politics by managing party nomination for him from the seat which he himself represented. But he was in for a shock. The people of Tehri Lok Sabha seat rejected the Congress candidate. It was a personal defeat of the Chief Minister who worked whole-heartedly for the victory of his son. Although, the decision of the Union Government in withdrawing subsidy on LPG played an important role in the election outcome but the slack performance of the state government was decisive.

Chief Minister Bahuguna made another political move by holding a meeting of the Cabinet at Gairsain in Chamoli in the first week of November 2012. He tried to cash in on the sentiments of the people, particularly of the hills, who consider Gairsain as the capital of the new hill state since the statehood agitation days. Buoyed by the response of holding a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain, the Chief Minister announced to construct a new Vidhan Sabha building at Gairsain. The foundation stone of the new building at Gairsain was laid by the Chief Minister in January this year. In a bid to placate the people of the Terai region, he also laid the foundation stone of a new Vidhan Sabha building at Dehradun. But his political rivals, mainly belonging to the Harish Rawat camp, tried to pull the rug from under his feet by demanding Gairsain as the permanent capital of the state. The move was initiated by state Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, a die hard Harish Rawat supporter.

This put the Chief Minister in an embarrassing situation. He has been complaining to the high command but to no avail.

The state government can take credit for initiating a scheme to give unemployment allowance to the unemployed but this has not yet been effectively implemented. The state government has also set up a minorities' development ministry but there is nothing on the ground for the welfare of the minorities, except rhetoric.

On the power front, Vijay Bahuguna brought hope by proclaiming that he would start the stalled hydroelectric projects but as the year passed, there was no headway as the matter has been pending with the Union Government. The only silver lining has been the approval of the Lakhwar Vyasi project. The fiscal management of the state is in a mess as the state government could not spend even 40 per cent of the Budget as only 17 days are left for the end of the fiscal year. There was no improvement in the condition of roads and building infrastructure in various sectors, particularly tourism. The state government had made grand plans to develop Tehri lake as an international tourist destination but its implementation has yet to be seen.

To give a fillip to industries, the Chief Minister started an industrial estate at Sitarganj but it has been embroiled in controversy as Opposition BJP has been crying hoarse over the sale of land at Sitarganj and Haridwar to private builders. As far as ministers are concerned, most of the ministers, except two, made foreign trips with their favourites in the first year of the Congress state government.

Pithoragarh people urged to shun bottled water
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, March 12
A janyatra against exploitation of water resources reached Pithoragarh today and its organisers appealed to the people to boycott bottled water. They also urged the local residents to give taxes to the authorities for water supplied from local natural sources to them for domestic use and irrigation and to small and cottage industries.

Dr Shamsher Singh Bisht, convener of the yatra and president of the Uttarakhand Lok Vahini, addressed a meeting in the town on the second day of the 20-day janyatra against the alleged plundering of water resources. He said bottled water was a symbol of commercialisation of water and it was bound to deprive the common man of this natural gift. “The successive governments have deprived the common man of land in the name of creating special economic zones and now it is planning to repeat the policy with regard to water resources,” said Bisht.

Suman Sharma of the Aazadi Bachao Andolan said the governments were planning to remove the water subject from the state list and add it to the concurrent list to facilitate natural water of the country for commercial use by big industries. “The Water Policy of 2012 is the first step in this direction as it takes away the ownership of water from communities to give it to the governments,” said Suman.

The speakers said the governments on the one side had pledged in the 73-74th constitutional Amendments to give the ownership of natural resources to the people and on the other side it was gradually taking away natural resources from the people. “The governments have started giving away water resources to private parties by giving permission to companies to use river water for their own profit in the name of hydroelectric projects and bottling plants,” they said.

They added in the last 12 years since the creation of the state more than 12 lakh people had left their ancestral homes and migrated permanently to other places due to perpetual plundering of natural resources by private users and multinational companies. “These people in hill districts were not given a chance to better their economic condition by using natural resources available in the surrounding,” said Bisht.

The janyatra appealed to the people that by installing micro electric projects of 1.5 MW on nearby rivers and rivulets they could start using their water resources to make electricity for their own use. “If thousands of micro electricity plants are installed this way, the villages in the hill areas will become self-sufficient in electricity generation. The power thus generated can also be used for industrial production on a small scale. If the government denies this avenue to the hill people, civil disobedience is the only way out to get their rights,” said Bisht.