Dehradun, November 7
In a major setback to the Khanduri government of Uttarakhand, cabinet minister and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal leader Diwakar Bhatt today decided to quit his portfolio of food and civil supplies.

The minister is now left with the urban development portfolio. Convening a press conference at the Vidhan Sabha this afternoon, Bhatt announced since he had failed to perform his responsibilities as the state food and civil supplies minister, he had decided to give up the portfolio.

"While the Uttarakhand quota of foodgrains has been repeatedly reduced by the Centre and LPG is still being sold on the black market, it is evident that I have failed to provide any succour to the people and, thus, have decided to quit this portfolio on moral grounds," Bhatt told mediaspersons.

Bhatt directed his ire against the Centre alleging that that the state’s genuine concern for foodgrains was not being considered by New Delhi.

“The quota of foodgrains for the poor is steadily declining. Similarly, there is little cooperation from the oil companies to deal with the LPG scarcity,” he explained.

“ I had asked the Centre to give Uttarakhand the right to amend the public distribution system, he said.

The minister denied he was resigning due to pressure from the ruling BJP and claimed support of the CM. Without elaborating, he said he was not getting adequate support from the ruling and Opposition MLAs.

Asked whether he would also resign from the urban development portfolio, Bhatt said he would if he felt he was not doing justice to the worl allotted to him.

The sole Uttarakhand Kranti Dal representative in the Khanduri cabinet, Bhatt also made it clear that his resignation should not be linked to party support to the ruling BJP. “ We will continue to support the government whether in or oputside the government ,” he said.

Meanwhile, the working dal president, Kashi Singh Airy, who also holds quasi-ministerial post, said Bhatt’s decision to quit was a personal one and had nothing to do with the party.

Another senior leader Ved Uniyal said: “Bhatt always tried to ensure a better network of food supplies in the remote hill areas, but may have felt disappointed ”.

Bhagirathi Development Authority chairman BD Raturi said he was yet to talk to Mr Bhatt and ascertain reasons that had forced him to take the step.

Dehradun, November 7
To tone up the administrative machinery, eight teams of senior officers today conducted surprise inspection and found a number of employees absent in different government offices in the district.

On the instructions of district magistrate Amit Negi, who took charge on Monday, the teams checked the attendance of employees between 10 am and 11 am. The SDMs of all five subdivisions of the district and two additional district magistrates and a chief development officer were part of the inspection team.

According to sources, 14 officials were found absent in the office of National Highways, PWD, and nine in the office of the district forest officer.

The checking of the attendance register at the Sadar office showed eight employees absent and four in the office of the district food and civil supplies.

Absentees were also found in the Veterinary Hospital, Dehradun, and the weights and measures department.

Interestingly, the tehsildar of Vikas Nagar sent a note in his report on the objection raised by the block development officer (BDO) of Sahaspur over the competence of the tehsildar to conduct the checks.

The absence of four employees in the office was attributed to official tour assignment. There were nine, eight and six absentees in the offices of the power corporation, the Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan and the ST department at Mussoorie.

Negi told The Tribune that action would be taken against the erring employees as per rules. Surprise checking would be done frequently. Transparency and accountability in government departments would be accorded top priority.

For this, visiting hours for the public would be fixed in all offices. The officers would be asked to maintain a register of public grievances and ensure time-bound redressal.

Dehradun, November 7
Activists of different Hindu organisations today staged a dharna at Gandhi Park, demanding immediate arrest of murderers of Swami Laxmanand Saraswati and four of his disciplines in Kandhmal district.

The protesters submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Orrisa Chief Minister Naveen Patniak through District Magistrate Amit Negi.

A copy of the memorandum, released to the media, mentions that a week before the murder of the Swami , he had received three threat letters.

The letters were submitted to police officials and an FIR was lodged in this regard. “What is unfortunate is the fact that despite the police having been informed about the threat to the Swami’s life, no measure was taken to provide security to him,” the memorandum reads.

Mussoorie, November 7
Uttarakhand Governor, B.L. Joshi has said that the administrative machinery of the country could not be isolated from its social, cultural, political and economic environment. Rapid economic growth has led to a substantial increase in the quantum of work for bureaucrats.

Governor Joshi expressed his views while addressing the Valedictory session of the 105th Induction Training Programme for IAS Officers at LBS National Academy of Administration Mussoorie today. He congratulated all 40 participants from various states, who have been elevated to the Indian Administrative Service.

He said that the expectations have increased both in terms of speed and quality. "There is a need to have a managerial philosophy, a value system and an ethos in tune with the changing needs of our times. You have to have empathy towards minorities, women and SCs, STs and all such disadvantaged people who need support of the Indian state," he said.

He further added that officers operated in a society that has several inherited prejudices built into its social fabric and in this environment they have to become a beacon of change and lead by example.

Mentioning the recent upheaval in the world economy which has posed fresh challenges of governance he said, "Globalisation in an inter connected world is inevitable, but it should not be at the cost of the people".

Discussing local self governance, Governor observed that the soul of self-governance and empowerment is largely missing.

"As a civil servant you will have to yield space to these institutions and help them function more effectively," he said.

Expressing his concern over alleged ignorance of RTI Act, he said that Civil servants will have to reorient themselves to this reality and develop the capability to work in a more open environment, with more demanding standards of transparency and accountability.

He further said that it is expected of the All India Services that they will carry grassroots experience to the Centre and a national perspective to the States while working with these respective government. Governor gave away various prizes and certificates to the participants.

Haridwar, November 7
Anuradha Paudwal needs no introduction. She hit the Bollywood in 1973 with Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s “Abhimaan” followed by Subhash Ghai’s “Kalicharan”. Composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, she sang her first solo film song for the film.

Anuradha has won Filmfare and several other awards for contribution to the music industry. But “Aashiqui” proved to be a turning point in her career. After that, Paudwal became one of the leading female playback singers of Bollywood.

Anuradha Paudwal days is mostly into devotional songs these days. She performed at the Haridwar Mahotsav and the attention she received spoke volumes about her popularity. Paudwal doesn’t seem happy with the trend of remixes.

“ It’s all due to lack of good composers who can’t provide new and different music. So they fall back on the tried and tested compositions,” says Paudwal.

She is more into devotional songs. Was it a deliberate attempt? The singer said: “No it’s not so, but people like me sing more devotional songs and bhajans. Besides, I am also doing bollywood films, but it’s less comparatively.”

With several national artistes performing at Haridwar Mahotsav, people from nearby areas are also thronging to see the famed artistes and legends performing live.

Dehradun, November 7
Welham Girls School won the Dehradun Council School’s Association (DDCSA), Senior Girls Basketball Tournament played in School premises here today.

In an interesting final Welham Girls School defeated St. Thomas College by 54-30. Garima Singh of Welham Girls School won the most valuable players of the year award.

Shashi Bhangari of St. Thomas College was adjudged the most promising player. Principal of Hopetown Girls Murthy was the Chief Guest for the prize distribution ceremony.