Dehradun, January 20
Seeking strict implementation of labour laws and other employee benefits in Uttarakhand, the state unit of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) today took out a protest rally. As many as 30 employee unions affiliated to CITU took part in the rally. Holding banners, CITU members started from Gandhi Park and proceeded to the Chief Minister’s residence but could not proceed beyond Hathibarkala due to heavy police presence.

The protesters held that as per Uttarakhand Labour Commissioner’s instructions, contractual employees should get benefits at par with regular employees but the norm is hardly in practice in any department of the state.

“There are a large number of contractual employees working with government departments and, as per contractual labour norms, these employees must get leave and other benefits as given in the case of regular employees, but these norms are seldom followed,” said Bhandari, CITU state general secretary.

Satya Prakash, state president of CITU, called for convening of a meeting of the minimum wage committee in the state and sought interim relief till the time the meeting takes place.

He also demanded mobile kiosks for selling kerosene oil, LPG and other ration facilities for workers engaged in the unorganised sector.

Other speakers at the meeting alleged that work conditions at hydel projects were not conducive and labour laws were being implemented in the least.

The issue of extending the Sixth Pay Commission benefits to employees of various corporations was also in the thick of rhetoric as most speakers accused the state government of depriving the employees of various corporations of Sixth Pay Commission benefits. The protesters also resorted to large-scale sloganeering against the state government. 

Dehradun, January 20
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the third major political party in Uttarakhand, seems determined not only to expand its voter base but also to score its maiden victory from Haridwar in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Some leaders from other parties of the Dehradun and Tehri Lok Sabha seats will be joining the BSP at a function to be held here on January 23. The BSP has been slowly but steadily expanding its base in the state. The party showed its prowess in the first assembly elections held in the state in February 2002 by securing 10.93 per cent of the total votes that got them seven assembly seats in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

In the next assembly polls in February 2007, the BSP increased its vote share to 11.76 per cent of the total votes polled and secured eight assembly seats. Six of these were from Haridwar and two from Udham Singh Nagar district.

For the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the BSP has taken a headstart by announcing all its candidates for the five seats of the state. It is expected that the party will do well in the Haridwar and Nainital Lok Sabha seats since the party candidates are party legislators.

While, Narayan Pal, a two-time legislator from Sitarganj, has been announced as party candidate from Nainital and Shahzad, Leader of the BSP legislature Party in the assembly and legislator from Bahadarbad, has been named from Haridwar.

Out of total nine assembly segments in Haridwar district, the BSP has won six in the 2007 assembly polls. In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, BSP candidate Bhagwan Dass polled 1,19,672 votes by securing 24.62 per cent of the total votes polled and stood second. The party candidate from Nainital also secured 50,803 votes.

However, party big wigs are concentrating on wresting the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat from the Samajwadi Party that had won in 2004 on the plank of exclusion of Haridwar from Uttarakhand state.

The biggest worry of the BSP planners is the new delimitation. Under the new dispensation, three assembly segments of Dehradun district - Rishikesh, Doiwala and Dharampur - that were earlier with Pauri Garhwal seat will now form part of the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat.

While Dharampur is a new assembly seat carved out from Doiwala and Laxman Chowk assembly segments, the Rishikesh and Doiwala segments were won by the BJP in 2007 assembly polls.

With in aim to get popular support in these three segments of Dehradun district, Mayawati has been taking personal interest and has won over some of the political leaders who could make a difference in the elections.

Subhash Sharma, a former media spokesperson of Uttarakhand Congress, will be joining the party soon with several other leaders. Subhash Sharma has been active in politics for the past three decades with the Samajwadi Party, Congress and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal. Considered a good organizer, Subhash Sharma is expected to manage the election of BSP in Dehradun and Tehri areas.

Haridwar, January 20
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its endeavour to perform better in all five parliamentary seats in Uttarakhand, has started appointing election assistants and conveners in each of the 70 assembly seats for managing the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In this regard, a two-day training camp started here today in which the party’s assembly convenors and election assistants were briefed and given tips on their role.

Tirath Singh Rawat, state general secretary, BJP, inaugurated the camp.

He stressed on discipline and in understanding the psyche of voters.

“The key to the camp is to understand that what the public thinks and the problems it faces,” he said.

Tirath said, “Our focus is to win all five Lok Sabha seats. These appointees will act as a medium to connect with the voters.”

Present at the camp were 14 assemblies representatives, BJP district and city unit members and state party members.

Dehradun, January 20
In a setback to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, District Judge, Udham Singh Nagar district, has turned down the clean chit given to Arvind Pandey, BJP legislator from Bazpur assembly segment in the district, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a murder case.

District Judge KD Bhatt ruled that murder charges be framed against Arvind Pandey, his guard Jai Parkash and his cousin brother Kishan Pandey.

As per the prosecution, on the night of April 7, 2006, some armed persons entered the house of Rajkumar and shot dead his mother Moorti Devi. The police had charge sheeted Amar Pandey and Jagdish Pandey, both brothers of Arvind Pandey, in the case.

However, as it was alleged that Arvind Pandey was involved in the murder, the BJP legislator sat on an indefinite fast along with BJP leaders to put pressure on the then Congress state government.

The pressure did work and the then Chief Minister ND Tiwari referred the case for a probe by the CBI. The CBI in its report to the court absolved Arvind Pandey of all charges.

However, Rajkumar, son of the deceased, gave evidence to the court about the alleged presence of Arvind Pandey at the scene of the crime.

The judge, finding merit in the evidence, ordered that the case be registered against legislator Arvind Pandey.

Arvind Pandey has remained in the thick of controversies and was allegedly involved in many criminal cases ranging from murder, attempt to murder, rioting, illegal confinement, trespass and assault on public servants. Already nine criminal cases are pending against him in various police stations of Udham Singh Nagar district. The District Judge has directed him to appear before the court on February 12.

Interestingly, all senior state BJP leaders had come to support Arvind Pandey after the incident in 2006. Former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari had approached the then Chief Minister ND Tiwari to demand a CBI inquiry into the matter.

Senior BJP leader and Uttarakhand Water Resources Minister Matbar Singh Kandari had gone to Bazpur to offer juice to Arvind Pandey to end his indefinite fast on the gate of the police station following the announcement of a CBI probe into the incident in 2006.

Roorkee, January 20
As many as nine persons received injuries in a head-on collision between a state corporation bus and a truck here today.

According to the police, the accident occurred at about 11.30 am near a private engineering college on the Roorkee-Haridwar national highway, four km from here, when a Roorkee depot bus (UA08 S 7521) coming from Rishikesh collided with a truck.

The bus driver, Anil Kumar, is stated to be critical. The injured have been admitted to the civil hospital here. The police has impounded both vehicles. 

Dehradun, January 20
Grappling with financial crisis, the state is pinning high hopes on the 13th Finance Commission for the much-needed central funds under the non-plan grant, as its fiscal position over the next five years will largely depend on this. The commission is visiting the state from January 27.

During its two-day second visit to the state since Uttarakhand’s creation in 2000, the commission will take stock of the prevailing financial condition of the state and various steps being mooted by it to meet the fiscal challenges between the years 2010-15 before making its recommendations. The state government will submit a memorandum of its financial requirements projected for this period to the commission.

Although the finance department officials declined to divulge the exact projection of required funds as contained in the memorandum, sources said the government would try to get the maximum funds to compensate pre-devolution non-plan revenue deficit.

As compared to last time, this deficit is estimated to be much higher. For the period between 2005-10, the projected deficit was Rs 15,780 crore but as per recommendations of the 12th Finance Commission the state got Rs 5,114 crore. This time, the state will present its case with a focus on increase in the committed non-plan expenditure mainly on account of revised salaries, pensions and repayment of interest on loans.

As of now, the government is grappling to generate resources to meet the extra burden of Rs 1,400 crore to be paid as revised salaries and arrears on the recommendations of the Pay Commission. This way the total annual salary component comes to Rs 4,000 crore. The amount required annually as pension is also estimated to be around Rs 1,150 crore.

Another big worry is to pay Rs 1,200 crore annually on repayment of interest. “All I can say is that the future condition depends on how much non-plan grant is recommended by the Finance Commision,” said finance secretary LM Pant.

For final allocation of statewise funds, the 12th Finance Commission based its recommendation on the devolution criteria containing weightage given to factors like population, income, area, tax effort and fiscal discipline.

During the past, the finance commissions have tended to assign much higher weightage to population and income as compared to other factors. “This has important implication for a state like Uttarakhand that has a large area under forests, higher operational cost for providing services, deficient infrastructure and is far away from the main markets,” added Pant.

Dehradun, January 20
Uttarakhand Khiladi Sangharsh Morcha members today submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate demanding shifting of the newly created Vikram stand from the Parade Ground, an important venue for sporting activities in the state.

The irked sportspersons, who staged a protest at the district headquarters, threatened to intensity the agitation if the demand is not met

The Morcha members, comprising baseball, basketball, hockey, football, hockey, cricket, handball and boxing players, took out a rally from the district sports office, Parade Ground, and to the DM’s office. They also raised slogans against the district administration.

The rally was led by president of the Morcha Jasvinder Pal Singh and former city Congress president Lal Chand Sharma.

For the past one month, the practice session of players, particularly those from cricket and baseball disciplines, has been disturbed due to movement of Vikrams in the ground.

The players also complained of air and noise pollution at the Parade Ground.

Dehradun, January 20
An unbeaten half-century by Manish helped Garhwal Sporting register a five-wicket win over Rao Cricket Academy at the 57th District Cricket League at Survey Stadium here today.

It was a fine start for Rao Cricket Academy as three of its top batsmen contributed immensely to the team total.

The opening pair contributed 86 runs in 13 overs.

Opening batsman Amit Kumar smashed 69 runs off just 62 balls hitting 10 fours and one six.

Anil Pal supported him well on the other end to hit 29 runs.

After Anil was dismissed in the 14th over, it was Sharad who helped the team reach the 200-run mark by hitting a fine half-century.

For Garhwal Sport, Rahul claimed three wickets in his eight overs.

Jakheer, Jaiprakash and Yaspal took two wickets each.

Chasing a target of 203 runs, Garhwal Sport had to struggle hard for runs in the initial stages.

Jakheer hit 41 runs off 43 balls and set the momentum for his team’s victory.

Manish chipped in with a fine half-century to see his team achieve the target with five wickets in hand.

For Rao Cricket Academy, Vipin, Saurav and Amit took two wickets each.