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Land laws not changed, says Bahuguna Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna addresses a press conference in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo : Vinod Pundir
One Year In Office
State has landed in a financial mess: Pant
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No land with Industries Dept for SIDCUL-II
BJP to oppose changes in Land Reforms Act
Ajay Bhatt, Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly (left), addresses a press conference in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
Move to get Kumaoni dialect included in Schedule VIII
Huge potential for skill-based industries in state
62 crew stations to check forest fires
Cong workers burst crackers
Demand for hike in minimum wages justified: INTUC chief
Africa, South Asia may face food crisis due to climate change: Experts
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Land laws not changed, says Bahuguna
Dehradun, March 13 Addressing a press conference, Vijay Bahuguna said the allegations were false and unfounded. "We have not changed land laws and the only decision taken by the Cabinet yesterday was regarding fixing a time frame for the processing of applications of the investors for land purchase as per prevalent laws," he said. Elaborating further, he said the purpose of fixing a time frame of 90 days for investors in permissible sectors was to encourage investment in the state and in no way be construed as change in land laws. Criticising the BJP, he said while his government was going all out to encourage investments in the state for rapid economic development of the state, the "It was during the previous BJP regime that Tata was not given land for Nano plant and forced to go to Gujarat," he alleged. Bahuguna said the BJP had been claiming the success of the Gujarat government in inviting investments but in Uttarakhand they were just doing the opposite. He also refuted the allegations levelled by Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt that industrial land was being sold to private builders at cheap prices. "It was a transparent bidding and auction process and no complaint has been made. If the BJP or anyone else has any complaint against the process, they are free to approach the court," he said. Meanwhile, he claimed that during his one-year tenure, his government had taken several important decisions regarding public welfare and important schemes were launched for all segments of society. "Efforts have been made to provide basic facilities like education, health and potable water to every citizen and a blueprint for all-round development of the state has been prepared with a view to ensuring balanced development in all areas," he claimed The government has taken an initiative in the sphere of e-governance and for redressing the grievances of the people, the Samadhan portal has been launched through which people can register their complaints online and the government will look into them timely. He said keeping in view the aspirations and sentiments of the people of the state, the foundation for a Vidhan Sabha bhavan was laid at Gairsain. The educated unemployed youth are being given unemployment allowance. The monthly pension of state activists has been raised from Rs 3,000 to Rs. 5,000.The government has taken several steps for the welfare of minorities, farmers, businessmen, youth, students, workers and servicemen. New sources of revenue are being tapped. For the state's annual plan 2012-13, the Planning Commission has approved Rs 8,200 crore which is Rs 400 crore more than last year's amount. Pension and scholarship amounts will be directly deposited to the accounts of the beneficiaries. A separate Minority Welfare Department has been constituted and an Urdu Academy will be set up soon. In areas with large populations of minorities, infrastructural development is being undertaken. Free cycles for students, student encouragement scheme and the CM's Shaadi Mubarak scheme for girls marriages will be introduced for minorities. Polytechnics, engineering colleges and schools on the CBSE pattern will be set up under the PPP mode, where 50 per cent seats will be reserved for SC students. Keeping in mind the welfare of sugarcane farmers, sugarcane price was announced by the government which is Rs 35 to 40 per quintal more than the previous year's price. The right of ownership and sale has been given to pattedaars of land pattas given to them under the Government Grant Act 1895. A relaxation on stamp duty on agricultural loans up to Rs 5 lakh has been given to farmers. The state government has released Rs 138 crore to pay arrears to sugarcane farmers. He said steps had also been taken to start work on the 300 MW Lakhwar and the 120 MW Vyasi Hydropower Schemes. The 330 MW Dhauliganga and the Gauriganga Hydropower projects have been approved by the Central Government. The spot billing system has been started for electricity consumers. A foundation has been laid for a terminal building at the Naini Saini airstrip at Pithoragarh. The terminal will be built at a cost of Rs.48 crore 19 lakh. The Centre has released Rs 150 crore to the state for interim relief to the disaster-hit Uttarakashi. The state government has provided Rs 20 crore for relief to people in Uttarakashi. The state government has also made a manifold increase in the compensation amount paid for the losses caused by natural calamities. A sum of Rs 150 crore has been given as compensation to people affected by natural disasters in Uttarkashi. In Dehradun, foundations for flyovers have been laid at ISBT, Balliwala Chowk and Bhandaribagh. Rudrapur, Kashipur and Roorkee have been made Municipal Corporations. The CM's scheme for encouraging girl students will be started which will provide free cycles to girl students in the plains and a fixed amount for girl students in the hills. With the help of the ONGC, the government will set up the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium and Mega Sports Complex in Dehradun. The foundation stone for the purpose has been laid, he said. An unemployment allowance is being given to the educated unemployed youth .Those who have passed intermediate get Rs 500, those who are graduates get Rs 750 and postgraduates get Rs1,000 per month. The upper age limit for getting into government jobs is now 40 years for people of Uttarakhand and 35 years for others. In Tehri, a foundation stone for Rajiv Gandhi Adventure Sports Academy has been laid. The Cabinet has given approval in principle to regularise the slum areas. Chief Minister Bahuguna said the decision to lower the VAT on liquor in the state was taken to check liquor smuggling from neighbouring states. "We will lose Rs. 40 crore but in the long run we are hoping to get Rs.150 crore from the liquor revenue by lowering the VAT on liquor," he added. See also page 4 |
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One Year In Office
Dehradun, March 13 Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna released the booklet at his residence in Dehradun in the presence of his Cabinet colleagues. He reiterated his government’s commitment to work for equal development of all regions of Uttarakhand. Bahuguna said backward areas need to be given emphasis to ensure a balanced development in Uttarakhand. He said collective efforts were needed to ensure speedy progress of Uttarakhand. He added in the last one year, his government had strengthened the financial position of the state by generating new revenue sources. The Chief Minister said it was only through collective efforts that the state could effectively face the new challenges of development. He added that his government was committed to betterment of the Dalits and the minorities. He said the state was implementing welfare schemes of the Centre with all sincerity. He recalled the sacrifices made by statehood agitators. “Dream of the statehood agitators are being fulfilled,” he asserted. Cabinet Ministers Indira Hridayesh, Surendra Singh Negi, Pritam Singh, Amrita Rawat, Dinesh Agarwal and Harish Chandra Durgapal, state Congress vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana and a large number of Congress leaders were present on the occasion. |
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State has landed in a financial mess: Pant
Pithoragarh, March 13 “Financial mismanagement has affected measures meant to check migration from the hill region as the government could spend only Rs 3,702 crore against the approved plan budget of Rs 4,259 crore till date,” said Prakash Pant, former Cabinet minister and senior BJP leader. He said the Bahuguna government had on the eve of completion of one-year rule had taken a decision to make change in land use from agricultural to commercial easy. “The state, which is facing an acute shortage of agricultural land, cannot afford such a decision,” said Pant. He added the government had also failed to handle finances properly as it had taken loans of Rs 4,948 crore in its one-year rule while the previous BJP government had taken Rs 3,792 crore loan in five years. “Even cash in hand with the government has reduced to Rs 516 crore from Rs 908 crore left by the previous BJP government,” he said. Pant said failure to increase revenue sources in the state was one of the biggest drawbacks of this government. “While this government could not impose water cess, failed to clear the mining policy to generate more revenue and could not impose entry tax on vehicles coming from outside the state, it has increased the price of LPG cylinder by Rs 21,” he added. Pant criticised Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s statement that his government’s biggest achievement was that it had made the state politically stable.
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No land with Industries Dept for SIDCUL-II
Dehradun, March 13 No doubt, for the Bahuguna government the one-year landmark is an achievement of sorts, more so when one recounts the struggle that continued after he was anointed Chief Minister. However, in the after glow of that achievement, one little technicality was forgotten that as long as the land is not transferred to the Department of Industries by any yardstick, SIDCUL-II is a mere pipe dream awaiting to take shape. So much so, the government issued a letter regarding the transfer of Sampooranand Shivir in Sitarganj to the Department of Industries only on February 25, 2013. A copy of the letter with The Tribune states that the land could only be transferred to the Department of Industries after payment of the fee to be deposited in the state coffers. "As of today, there is no land in possession with the department and no SIDCUL-II. We are several months away before the land gets transferred and the project starts rolling. There are other technicalities that have to be taken care of," said a top official. But this did not stop himfrom laying the stone, six months ago, at a site that hardly has any bearing of an industrial hub, and then claiming through advertisements and government propaganda machinery as a major achievement of the government. "Far from announcing schemes for the welfare of the people of the state, the Bahuguna government has been making announcements without carrying out any groundwork. In his bid to follow in the footsteps of former CM ND Tewari, Bahuguna announced SIDCUL-II without doing any homework. It would have been far better if his government had concentrated on inviting proposals on vacant plots that are still lying vacant in SIDCUL-I," said Ajay Bhatt, Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly. |
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BJP to oppose changes in Land Reforms Act
Dehradun, March 13 “The intentions of the Bahuguna government are not honourable, the way the Cabinet gave approval to the amendment in the Act speaks of a deep-rooted conspiracy to sell agriculture land of the poor farmers at a throwaway price to the builders and profiteers," charged Bhatt. Addressing a press conference today, Bhatt said as responsible Opposition, we will raise this issue and not allow the amendments to be passed in the House. In the last Assembly session too, we managed to force the government to send the Bill prepared by the Department of Transport to the select committee," said Ajay Bhatt. Terming the tenure of the Bahuguna government a total failure, he said false promises were made to the people. "But enough is enough, we will not allow the government to carry on with the charade and expose the Congress government in the House tomorrow. Outside the House, our party will launch a campaign against the government at the block level and district level,” he said. Adding that the party was eager that the House runs its full course, but at the same time, the party MLAs would not hesitate to raise their protest in case attempts were made to silence them during question hour, said Bhatt. He also charged the Bahuguna government with initiating the Bhati Commission only to settle scores with the BJP. "The commission did not take versions of those accused but hastily submitted a report. In fact, the BJP had already dismissed two officers involved in the Terai Seed and Development Corporation scam," he charged. Lamenting the government's lack of interest for a drive, Bhatt said the government had failed to follow up on the three gas projects that were okayed by the BJP government. GAIL has already laid the pipelines and further action was required from the government's end but it failed to take charge. The Rs 3.5 crore project was now in the limbo, he said. |
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Move to get Kumaoni dialect included in Schedule VIII
Pithoragarh, March 13 Revealing this at a meeting in Haldwani, Bisht said to know the status quo of the Kumaoni dialect in literature and creativity, a two-day literary and cultural seminar would be organised in Almora soon, which is considered the cultural and literary centre of the Kumaon region. “The seminar organised by the Sahitya Academy will have a range of old and modern writers as speakers on the subjects of their choices. The deliberations will be held and the academy will then take a decision on whether the Kumaoni dialect has the potential to be recognised as a language in the Schedule VIII of the Constitution or not,” said Dr Bisht. Bisht said the study of ancient copper plates (tamrapatras), idols, statues and records of ancient statues would also be studied before preparing the report for the academy. “Besides these, the folk artistes, local filmmakers, writers and subject specialists will also be consulted before giving a final shape to the report,” he added.
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Huge potential for skill-based industries in state
Dehradun, March 13 Speaking at the seminar on export promotion from Uttarakhand, Poojari said: “As traditional manufacturing activities cannot be initiated in the state, I see a huge potential for the state in the field of skill-based industries and agriculture-based products,”
he said. While the industrialists have been exporting pharmaceuticals and agriculture-based products such as rice, Uttarakhand has limited inventory of export items. To that end the DG also emphasised that the purpose of his visit was to elicit the views of businessmen, before the annual EXIM policy of the country. In order to encourage export climate in Uttarakhand, the assistance has come in the form of nine projects, including building of Common Testing Facility, Electronic, IT Park, ICD in Haridwar and Pantnagar, a Central affluent treatment plant at Haridwar, cyber tower and STPI Park. “Between 2002-2013 a total outlay of Rs 57.79 crore was made, out of which Rs 36 crore was released and Rs 33 core spent,” said Poojari. During the interaction session, the focus of the businessmen was on poor infrastructure and power cuts and abolition of mandi tax imposed by the state. To this the Director of Industries Shailash Baiguli said that the Uttarakhand government was in talks with IOC and GAIL for providing options to tide over the power shortage during winter months, faced by the industries. However, M.Rafeeque Ahmed, president of Federation of Indian Export Organisation, said that in Tamil Nadu the power availability was proving problematic in Tamil Nadu since the last nine months. He urged businessmen to join hands to find a solution to their problems. President of the Industries Association of Uttarakhand Pankaj Gupta said that there was utmost need to set up a state-level body for export promotion. He also urged the DG to initiate process of setting up a tool factory in Uttarakhand and laboratory for testing medicines in the state. Later,Governor Aziz Qureshi delivered the valedictory address and said that there was need to tap the agriculture and horticulture potential of the state. |
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62 crew stations to check forest fires
Pithoragarh, March 13 Talking to mediapersons after a meeting attended by the District Magistrate in this connection at Pithoragarh yesterday, Divisional Forest Officer of Pithoragarh said the fire committees constituted earlier would be activated. Awareness programme against the forest fires would be run in 10 villages in the district. “We have also decided to establish fire watch towers at every range by this month,” said the forest officer. The DFO said every crew station would have five or six employees who would keep a watch on the forest fires round the clock. “The highest number of 11 fire stations will be established in the Gangolihat range which reported highest fire incidents last year. It will be followed by Didihat where a number of 10 fire stations will be established. The ranges of Berinag, Munsiyari and Pithoragarh will have nine stations each, while Dharchula will have the minimum five fire stations as this range has less forest cover due to the Alpine region in upper valleys.
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Cong workers burst crackers
Dehradun, March 13 Spokesperson for the state unit of the party Direndra Pratap said the one-year tenure of the Bahuguna government in Uttarakhand had been full of achievements. He said the laying of the stone of Assembly building at Gairsain was historic and termed the decision as a tribute to the martyrs of the statehood movement. He said providing unemployment allowance to jobless youths had been another major milestone for the government. Congress general secretary Vijay Saraswat, however, flayed the BJP for "misleading" the people. Uttarakhand Women Congress president Sarojini Kainthura greeted the Chief Minister for successfully completing one year in office. He said the state was experiencing speedy development. The Mahanagar Congress, too, organised a seminar at Congress Bhavan. Speakers urged party workers to ensure a landslide victory for the Congress in the 2014 parliamentary elections. Congress Mahanagar, Dehradun, vice-president Deep Vohra said the Congress government’s one-year rule in the state had been satisfactory. Meanwhile, Youth Congress workers, led by Arun Chamoli, took out a two-wheeler procession, which started from the Yamuna Colony ground and concluded at Congress Bhavan. Arun Chamoli said the state was witnessing all-round development. |
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Demand for hike in minimum wages justified: INTUC chief
Mussoorie, March 13 He said their demand for an increase in the minimum wage rate was justified and he would apprise the Centre and state government for its speedy implementation in order to reduce exploitation. He said he would demand for equal rights for the contractual labour in the state. Speaking to the INTUC members, Sundriyal said they would have to fix their role in the party organisation so that the country’s largest workers’ organisation was able to regain its lost glory. He blamed former executive body members of the INTUC for its deplorable condition and said the interests of the workers would be kept in the forefront in the new body of the organisation. He said the Congress was sensitive to the problems of the workers in organised and unorganised sector and he would ensure to fight for their cause in accordance with the law. He added a membership drive would be held so as to strengthen the Congress and ensure its victory in the Lok Sabha elections. He assured that the Congress would e win in all five parliamentary seats. The new executive body of the Garhwal region was also announced. Sudhir Dobhal was declared president of the Youth INTUC, Kamal Rawat district resident of Tehri, Bharat Singh Rana INTUC Mussoorie president and Karamvir Sesodia president of the Dehradun unit. |
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Africa, South Asia may face food crisis due to climate change: Experts
Dehradun, March 13 The workshop was attended by scientists, academicians, mediapersons, civil society representatives of grassroot
organisations. Several key topics in climate change were presented and discussed, including coastal systems, forests and biodiversity, water, mountain ecosystems, agriculture, food security and soil conservation. Dr Suman Sahai, plant geneticist, activist and also head of the Gene Campaign, said as the world struggled with successive food crises and turbulence marked the countries that suffered from endemic hunger, there was the new factor of global warming and climate change to contend with.
Climate change and its impact on agriculture and food production were being properly understood only now, as its anticipated impacts were being felt in agricultural ecosystems across the world. Dr Sahai opined that the developing countries in the tropics were more susceptible to climate change damage than the temperate countries and the worst impacts of climate change on food production were anticipated in Africa and South Asia.
For India where agriculture remained largely monsoon dependent, disturbances in the monsoon could have grave implications for food and water security. She further said with the faltering monsoon, the food security as well as the livelihood security of large parts of the population would be affected adversely. Dr Sahai also highlighted the effects of climate change on the rainfall patterns and said the changes in the rainfall patterns and temperature regimes would influence local water balance and disturb the optimal cultivation period for particular crops, known as Length of Growing Period (LGP). Dr Sahai was of the view that the pest profiles would also change when climate changed and farmers would have to cope with new pests.
An early warning system should be put in place to monitor changes in pest and disease profile and predict new pest and disease outbreaks. She said to cope with the impact of climate change, the need to act with urgency was being felt with attention towards mitigation and adaptation procedures to climate change. Emphasizing on the need for sustainable agricultural development, Dr Sahai said indigenous knowledge should be taken in consideration while framing the policies at central and state levels for combating climate change effects in the country.
The other participants also discussed other key topics such as forests and biodiversity, water, mountain ecosystems, agriculture and food security and soil conservation in perspective of climate change and shared their experiences with each other.
They laid stress on using constructive advocacy to influence policy formulation for ground water conservation, land use, and protection of traditional agricultural methods and local varieties of grains, fruits and vegetables. A consensus emerged during the workshop on strengthening resilience, building the adaptive capacity and reducing vulnerabilities among the affected persons due to climate change.
Vinita Shah, president, Uttarakhand Organic Commodity Board, former chief secretary of the state RS Tolia, nodal head Uttarakhand action plan on climate change Jairaj, Aajeevika head Jyotsana, Anmol Jain and others were present on the occasion. |
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Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has refuted the Opposition's allegations that his government has amended land laws to facilitate the land use changes in
the state. Addressing a press conference, Vijay Bahuguna said the allegations were false and unfounded.
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The Uttarakhand BJP will oppose tooth and nail any attempt to bring amendment to the Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act that is aimed at benefiting business houses, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Ajay Bhatt has said.
