UP minister says Samajwadi Party will continue to back UPA 
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 4
Making it clear that despite Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav being pressurised by Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, the party will carry on support to UPA to make sure 'communal forces' remain away from coming to power.

This was stated by national general secretary of Samajwadi Party Rajendra Chaudhary, who is also a Cabinet Minister in Akhilesh Yadav-led Uttar Pradesh government.

In city here today while attending several public functions, Rajendra Chaudhary lashed out at Congress for resorting to pressure tactics, using Central Bureau of Investigation and other nodal agencies as tools to falsely implicate Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Chaudhary said that despite all this, Mulayam has made it clear to make sure communal forces are kept at bay.

The party will continue to support UPA in the coming days too till it finds an alternative third front option, or itself emerges as the third main national party in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Making it categorically clear that in no way Samajwadi Party will lend its support to BJP or any alliance involving BJP, he added that secular forces need to regroup to make sure communal parties do not get into power.

Recalling similar pressurising tactics opted by Congress when Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna emerged as a threat to Indira Gandhi in the 80s, Chaudhary said that now Sonia Gandhi is adopting same tactics to make sure Mulayam does not emerge as third front leader.

''Like HN Bahuguna, Mulayam will, too, give a befitting reply to Congress. He is a seasoned politician having followed closely Ram Manohar Lohia and HN Bahuguna. His vision is to provide a stable Union government and keep at bay communal forces,'' said Chaudhary.

Speaking on UP DSP Zia-ul-Haq's murder, Chaudhary said that CBI was doing its job and Akhilesh Yadav was quite concerned about improving law and order situation in UP.

He asserted that the media too needed to play a sensitive role during such cases. He called on the media not to tarnish the 'good governance image' of Akhilesh Yadav government on the base of one such incident.

On the upcoming three-tier local civic body elections in Uttarakhand, the Samajwadi Party leader said that the party is quite serious over making inroads into the hill state civic bodies.

For this, state party chief YS Sachan and veteran leader Vinod Barthwal have been given responsibilities to prepare a list of deserving candidates.

Voters in Pithoragarh, Champawat keep BJP, Congress guessing
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, April 4
While observers from BJP and Congress are busy taking stock of their respective candidates for urban bodies’ elections and are strengthening their support bases in seven urban areas of Pithoragarh and Champawat districts, the urban voters are tight-lipped about their choice in these two districts of the Kumaon region.

The possible candidates from BJP, Congress, SP, BSP and local outfit UKD have started sensing the mood of voters in these urban bodies by personal contact or by waging a poster campaign. “As we get into contact with a voter, he simply says yes to everyone,” said Madan Singh Mahar, a BSP leader in Champawat district.

“The town is going to elect the 9th chairman this time, but people are taking least interest as their major problems like those of land ownership and civic facilities to the town, specially of parking facilities, have not been solved by the past urban bodies,” said Bhagwan Singh Mahra, a senior Congress leader and former block pramukh in Lohaghat town of Champawat district.

For the first time election of Gangolihat nagar panchayat, over 9 candidates have presented their nominations from Congress Party before observer Ram Prasad Tamta today, according to sources. The same number of candidates will present their candidature from BJP as well. “We will send all the names to the high command to select a good candidate as the party has high hopes to win as it has done multi-faceted development in its one-year time in the state,” said Mahendra Singh Lunthi, Congress president in Pithoragarh district.

BJP observers have taken stock of the candidates' support bases in Champawat and Lohaghat and will assess the political situation in Tanakpur town tomorrow. “We have met almost all candidates in towns of the district and will send our report to the party high command for a final decision on the fate of candidates,'' said Jyoti Prasad Garola, BJP observer for Champawat district.

The Congress observers for all three urban bodies of Champawat district have finalised the list of possible candidates of the party for all three urban bodies in the district. “We have met every possible candidate in groups and privately to assess their political merits for candidature and have almost prepared the report of likely candidates in the district,” said Mathura Dutt Joshi, Congress observer for Champawat district.

“The Congress observers have heard the plus and minus points of likely candidates in Pithoragarh and Gangolihat towns and will visit Didihat and Dharchula tomorrow to take stock of the situation there,” said Mahendra Singh Lunthi.

Delegation of saints meets Governor over demolition of Birla Ghat portion
Tribune News service

Dehradun, April 4
Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi met a delegation of saints led by Mahamandaleshwar Ramsharanji Maharaj of Shri Panchdarshanam Juna (Bhairav) Akhada here today.

The Governor broke their seven-day fast by offering them laddoos and water.

The saints had come to request the Governor to take appropriate action in the matter of the demolition of a construction on the Dukharan Hanuman Mandir Birla Ghat by the Haridwar administration on March 14. They had been on a fast in protest against the administration action.

The Governor assured the saints that he would soon visit the akhada and try to ensure that it remained as it is.

He honoured the saints and said they were the ones who showed society the path of peace and brotherhood. Society should look after them. The saints presented him with a 300 years’ old painting of Har-ki-Pauri. 

IAS officers transferred
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 4
In a bureaucratic reshuffle, seven IAS officers have been transferred in Uttarakhand.

According to a state government communiqué, RK Sudhansu will now be the Kumaon Commissioner. He has been relieved off the posts of Secretary Programme Implementation, Panchyati Raj, Re-organisation Commissioner, Secretary, School Education, and Project Director, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.

Similarly, Kunal Sharma, who was the Commissioner, Garhwal, has been transferred. He will now be the Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, Irrigation and Cooperatives, and Commissioner, Food. Subhardhan will be new the Kumaon Commissioner. He has been relieved off from the post of Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, Irrigation and Cooperatives.

Hemlata Dhoundhiyal has been transferred from the post of Commissioner, Kumaon, and will now hold the post of Secretary Secretariat Administration, Re-orgaanisation and Panchayati Raj.

Radhika Jha has been made the Additional Secretary, School Education, and State Project Director, Sarv Shiksha. She has been relieved off the post of Additional Secretary, Forest and Environment.

Principal Secretary, Planning, Forest and Environment, External-aided Projects S Ramaswami has been given additional charge of Principal Secretary, Programme Implementation.

Additional Secretary, School Education and Sanskrit Education PS Jangpangi has been given additional charge of Director General School Education and State Project Director Rajkiya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.

Nabard to focus on construction of schools, health centres in state
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 4
In 2013-2014, the focus of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) focus would be on filling up the infrastructure gaps in districts through construction of schools, primary health centres , warehouses and slope stabilisation in Uttarakhand.

“The gap filling exercise in terms of setting up infrastructure would be started in the districts identified with the help of the government, for which Rs 500 crore has been earmarked for the new financial year,” said Deputy General Manager (CGM ) S. Selvaraj,at a press conference today.

He said that this year a new initiative of accrediting the godowns in the state through Central Government bodies would be started. “This would ensure the fulfilment of norms and help in attaining the objective of enhancement of productivity and increased returns for farmers. The issue of warehouse pledge receipts would also help the farmers avail the benefit of loans from the banks,”said Selvaraj.

He said that under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), funds would be sanctioned for carrying out plantation and mesh binding activity to strengthen the area which is prone to slips and stone falling.

Further, the focus would also be on the development of a modal village in each of the district complete with cent per cent coverage of Kisan Credit Card (KCC), Ruay cards, farmer clubs and Self Help Groups (SHGs). “We are promoting livelihood opportunities for the rural people by promoting marketing of products made form traditional resources. Parts from the Indian butter tree (Churya) that grows in the hills is now being used for preparing agarbati and dhoop,” said Selvaraj.

Shedding light on the activities undertaken by the bank during 2012-2013, Selvaraj said that loan amounting to Rs 1090.33 crore was disbursed to the government of Uttarakhand, producer organisation Primary Agriculture Credit Society (PACS) and refinance to banks.

Land finalised for NIT at Sumari: Principal Secy
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 4
 “We have finalised land at Sumari for establishing the NIT and soon the matter will be discussed with the Union Human Resource Development Ministry,” said Rakesh Sharma, Principal Secretary, Department of Training and Technical Education, while listing out the achievements of his department at a press conference here today.

Due to the non-availability of sufficient land at Sumari the Central government had suggested to the Uttarakhand government to look for land in the plains of the state. The matter had even vexed the residents of Sumari who even launched an agitation.

Further the government sanctioned the first installment of Rs 350 crore for the construction of a permanent building for the IIM at Kashipur, the construction of which would be completed within 15 to 18 months. The Institute is at present being run from a temporary building. “A decision has also been taken to establish a small campus of the IIM (Kashipur) for starting the Executive Development Programme in Dehradun. The campus will be set up in 10 acres on the campus of Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU),” said Sharma.

He added that in the coming years both Sumari and Kashipur would become centres of growth, thus changing the economy of these places.

Shama termed polytechnics and ITIs as the backbone of technical education in the state and said the focus was on strengthening 55 polytechnics and 93 ITIs (13 of which were established in 2012-2013) by increasing the number of seats and filling vacant posts of teacher.

The Department also launched the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQI) in engineering colleges at Pant Nagar, Pauri and Dawarahat and for which Rs 30 crore was sanctioned.

Sharma said the earmarking of 300 acres for setting up the National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Sumari, the construction of a permanent building for Kashipur-based Indian Institute of Management (IIM) along with strengthening of polytechnics and ITIs were some of the initiatives taken by the Department of Training and Technical Education in 2012-2013.

He added in the new financial year the department would focus on setting up constituent engineering colleges under Uttarakhand Technical University in Uttarkashi and on the Nepal border. 

Bahuguna opens Kandisaur tehsil
Tribune News Service

Dehrdaun, April 4
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today inaugurated the newly created tehsil of Kandisaur (Thauldhar) in Tehri and announced several development schemes for the area.

He laid the foundation stone of four potable water schemes and said an ITI would be set up to provide skills to the youth of the area. He said Rs 10 crore would be provided for repair of roads. The Chief Minister said the government was committed to the development of remote and border areas of the state.

He said a suspension bridge would be built and a degree college set up in the region. He said the government was making efforts to ensure that girl students did not drop out of school.

Revenue Minister Yashpal Arya said it was an important moment for the area as it had now become a tehsil.

Education Minister MP Naithani said the Sports Academy and Engineering College at Tehri was a gift from the government.

He said 11 pumping schemes would be started in the area and several schools would be opened. MLA of Dhanaulti MS Ragar informed the Chief Minister about various problems the area.

District Magistrate of Tehri Garhwal Ranjit Kumar Sinha, SP J Khanduri and several other eminent people were present at the function. 

Posts in UTU sanctioned after 4 years
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 4
Principal Secretary, Technical Education, Rakesh Sharma today admitted that after a delay of more than four years, the Department of Technical Education managed to sanction all posts for Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) and also approved the Rules and Regulations for the university.

He said the delay was not due to a rumour of tiff he had with the Vice-Chancellor of Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU), Dr DS Chauhan.

“The government is all for the autonomy of the VC, the Controller and the Registrar but they should be able to work within the frame work of the government policies. Moreover, we wanted to prepare a policy for the university that was not a copy of Uttar Pradesh but was framed keeping the needs of the state and great deal of time was spent on consultations,” said Sharma while speaking with mediapersons.

He also said the Department of Technical Education was all for giving due representation to the people of the state for various posts in the department.

Dinesh oversees development works 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 4
State Minister for Planning Dinesh Aggarwal launched the development works related to repair and improvement of approved roads in the city at Sidharth Palace Wedding Point on Saharanpur Road yesterday.

He said the roads dug up by Asian Development Bank agency for laying the sewer lines had posed inconvenience to the local public. This was the reason the task of repair and improvement of roads was handed over to PWD, which would complete it by June this year.

He said a fund of Rs 30.40 lakh to repair roads behind Niranjpur Sabji Mandi, Rs 43.24 lakh for roads in Chaman Vihar, Rs 83.58 lakh in Chaudhary Colony and Rs 35.50 lakh for Brahmanwala Rochipura had been sanctioned, besides many other such sanctions for different areas in this regard.

He called upon people to vote for the candidates of Congress who would fight civic polls in the Dharampur Vidhan Sabha area this year.

He said: ''There are 11 wards in Dharampur area where candidates would fight for 11 seats. Out of these one has been kept general and three reserved.'' He said they would have to go by the party decision in fielding any candidate for these seats. He said that the public should also honor that decision.He assured that his first priority was the development of their region and redressal of their grievances regarding basic requirements. 

Students’ Union programme at SGRR College
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 4
On the first day of the Students’ Union programme organised by SGRR PG College, college students presented a cultural programme depicting the state culture.

The programme was inaugurated by Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli by lighting a camp.

Manglesh Dangwal mesmerised the audience with his folk songs.

Jaunsari singers Surendra Rana, Babu Ram Sharma and Reshma Shah presented Jaunsari songs. Jaunsari song ‘Sarlo Pani Bhari Gagri Jamuna Kinara’ was liked by students. 

Sarv Samaj opposes govt order on caste certificates
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 4
President of the Uttaranchal Sanyukt Sarv Samaj Sangthan Kunwar Japinder Singh in a press conference yesterday flayed the state government for issuing the alleged flawed government order (GO) over the critical issues of caste certificate and permanent residence.

He said the government stand on these issues would be the reason for its debacle in the civic poll. He also declared the names of two candidates for the post of chairman in civic poll, BK Virdi for Vikas Nagar and Billo Valmiki for Mussoorie. Singh said soon his party would declare the names of other candidates against other seats as well.

He said, “This GO has not mentioned anything about those 32 lakh citizens of the state who settled here after 1985, the cut off date stipulated in the GO for caste certificate. The government left out all of them.”

He said this mistake on the part of the state government would cost it dear in the civic elections. “The manner in which the Congress government rushed to issue the GO exposed its intention to take benefit in civic poll. On the contrary, the Congress will suffer on the account of big lacunae left in the GO,” he said.

He alleged that the state government for creating rift among people of the state. “Until now, the Congress government had been dividing people of plains and hills on the sensitive issue of caste as well as permanent residence. Now by drawing line of 1985, it has further created chasm between people of plains as well. People will not forgive the Congress for this.”

He said his party would continue to fight on these issues until the government declared November 9, 2000, cut-off date to accord all constitutional rights to people of the state.

This GO has not mentioned anything about those 32 lakh residents of the state who settled here after 1985, the cut-off date stipulated in the GO for caste certificate. The government left out all of them.

— Kunwar Japinder Singh, president of Sanyukt Sarv Samaj Sangthan

Van to spread legal awareness flagged off
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 4
A mobile legal van was launched in Haridwar district today to generate awareness and spread information about legal rights among the rural people.

This van would provide basic information about laws to villagers, particularly poor people, on their doorsteps. District Judge KD Bhatt launched the van provided by the Nirbal Nirdhan Vidhik Sahayta Samiti at Roshanabad.

Bhatt lauded the initiative and said it was important to provide legal knowledge in rural areas as only then the suppression of the poor and the downtrodden could be stopped.

“Everyone has the right to legal knowledge and legal aid. In India, rural areas report a large number of legal cases and the mobile legal van could prove of immense benefit there,” said Bhatt.

Civil Judge Chandramani said providing legal aid to the poor was a noble cause and many poor litigants did not know how to avail of the legal aid. This was a matter of concern, he added.

Rajesh Rastogi, advocate of the District Legal Help Committee, said they had been providing free and affordable legal aid to poor people of the district. We would launch more such legal vans in the coming years, he added.

Swami Rishiwaranand, Manohar Bhatt, Pappu Singh Chauhan, Sangeeta Bhardwaj, Rajesh, Chandan Thakur, Rajkumar Soni, Mohammed Haneef, Mukesh Ahuja, Nand Lal Thakur, Rajbeer Singh, Dhannjay Chaturvedi and Gurbaksh Singh were present on the occasion.

Medical institute awaits approval for starting PG courses
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 4
The management of Veer Chander Singh Garhwali Government Institute of Medical Sciences is awaiting the letter of permission (LOP) from the board constituted in place of the Medical Council of India for starting postgraduate courses.

The institute has already received the preliminary approval from the Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) for starting the courses and everything now hinges on the final letter of permission.

“We are making preliminary preparations for starting postgraduate classes in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, microbiology, pharmacology, forensic science and community medicine as the first batch of 74 MBBS doctors will be passing out shortly,” said a senior official.

The state government is keen on starting the classes from the coming academic session so that the 74 interns, who will be passing out shortly, have the option of taking up postgraduate studies.

Helpline for parents of school kids
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 4
District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam has started a helpline, where the parents of schoolchildren can register their complaint against any school.

The DM said he had noticed that the parents of children studying in government and semi-government schools kept making rounds of schools with regard to problems of their children.

However, the school authorities did not respond. He said now parents could call at toll free number 18002582581 to register their problems. He have them an assurance that their problems would be addressed on a priority basis.