Dehradun, February 20
Thousands of employees from several state corporations today proceeded on an indefinite strike demanding revised pay scales and allowances as per recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

Nikay Karamchari Mahasangh, a coordination committee formed by various corporations, had earlier given an ultimatum to the government.

While Transport Corporation, Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam went on strike today, the employees of Jal Nigam and Power Corporation will be joining the strike from February 25.

Power and water being essential services, the employees of these departments have decided to continue working till February 24.

However, on account of the strike by the Transport Corporation, the commuters had to face a tough time today, even as the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) wore a deserted look. “We have to go to Haridwar and are waiting here since morning. Now, we have decided to cancel the visit,” said Jatin and Sheefali, who are studying here in Dehradun. Notably, the Transport Corporation strike would result in a revenue loss of Rs 50-70 lakh daily.

Employees of around a dozen corporations had resorted to demonstrations and dharnas from a few months ago. However, the agitation was called-off after the government had assured to look into their demands. But with the Khanduri government making no announcement, after the cabinet meeting held on February 18, regarding the issue of giving salaries to the employees of the corporations as per the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission, the employees have resumed the agitation.

According to sources, before the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct, the Uttarakhand cabinet would be meeting once again on February 22.

By resorting to strike, the employees are trying to put pressure on the government in a hope that their demands would be accepted by the during the February 22 meeting.

Meanwhile, the Congress leaders have slammed the state government for its anti-employees’ policy. In a statement issued today on behalf of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Yashpal Arya, the party’s state media in charge Suryakant Dhasmana accused the BJP-led state government of ignoring the interests of employees.

“The teachers and corporation employees were waiting for the government’s response towards their demands from the past so many months, but the latter seems to be least bothered. Because of the strike by the teachers, the students are suffering. Likewise, the state will have to suffer losses of lakhs of rupees on account of the strike by the transport corporation,” he said while supporting the demands of protesting employees. 

Haridwar, February 20
With the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation employees on strike from last night, there were problems galore for persons who are dependent on state transport services for commuting.

The employees are demanding implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. The employees under the banner of Sanyukta Karmachari Morcha have threatened that until their demands are met, they will continue with the strike.

The protesters didn’t allow inter-state buses to ferry passengers at the Haridwar bus station. They parked buses at the main entrance to prevent the entry-exit of buses. Buses of neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab were not allowed to enter the bus station. Upon confrontation with some passengers, the protesters broke the window panes of the buses and held an agitation in front of the AGM’s office.

“Is causing inconvenience to common people the way to put forward one’s demands?” said an angry Suneeta Bharatiya, who was on her way to New Delhi. Many travellers were seen arguing with the agitators.

Foreigners were also caught up in the chaotic situation. Glauciam Camareo from Rio de Janeiro wanted to go to Rishikesh. She was shocked to see the ruckus at the bus station. “How can the government allow a basic service to strike work without alternative arrangement? This is not the India I envisioned,” said Glauciam. 

Dehradun, February 20
Noted environmentalist Prof GD Agarwal ended his indefinite fast in New Delhi today following an assurance by the Union power ministry that the work on the Lohari Nagpala hydroelectric project, which is being built by the National Thermal Power Corporation on Bhagirathi river upstream of Uttarkashi, would be stopped.

Agarwal had resumed his indefinite fast on January 13.

According to sources close to Prof Agarwal, the Union power ministry has given a written understanding that the work on the Lohari Nagpala project would be stopped following a meeting between supporters of Prof Agarwal and Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde last night.

Dr Ravi Chopra, a close associate of Prof Agarwal and chairman of Peoples’ Science Institute (PSI), a Doon-based voluntary group, said, “The decision of the Union Ministry of Power has been taken at the instance of the Prime Minister’s Office. This is a welcome decision. Earlier, the Prime Minister had taken the important step to designate the Ganga as India’s National River.

“The latest decision shows that the Prime Minister recognises the gravity of the demand to ensure that the Bhagirathi should be allowed to flow unhindered in its uppermost reach.

“We hope that the Government of Uttarakhand will be equally sensitive to the special reverence that Indians have for the Ganga and not resume work on its suspended projects,” Dr Ravi said.

However, the decision to stop the work on the Lohari Nagpala project will put a big question mark on the future of some of the big hydroelectric projects proposed by the Uttarakhand government.

The decision of the Union power ministry to stop work on the Lohari Nagpala project came the same day when Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) had given indications about restarting the work on the Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati projects shelved by the state government in July 2008 following the earlier indefinite fast undertaken by Prof Agarwal at Uttarkashi in June 2008.

He had demanded a ban on hydroelectric projects between Gangotri and Uttarkashi. While the state government shelved its projects, the work on the Lohari Nagpala project by the NTPC continued forcing Agarwal to resume his fast.

He had alleged that he was forced to resume his fast after waiting for six months for an appropriate response from the Central government on his demand to stop all hydro-electric projects on the Bhagirathi between Gangotri and Uttarkashi.

Prof Agarwal said that he had interrupted his indefinite fast, which began on June 13, 2008, on a written assurance by the Centre on June 30, 2008, that a mutually acceptable solution would be found on his demand of conserving the Gangotri-Uttarkashi reach in its pristine form and flow within three months.

The Central government had formed a High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) to look into the demands of Prof Agarwal. The committee was to submit its report within three months.

The HLEG reportedly recommended that 16 cumecs of water should be allowed in the Bhagirathi at all times, but this did not satisfy the professor.

He had raised objections on the HLEG terming it as a farce and a conspiracy to destroy ‘Mother Ganga’ for petty gains.

He said that shortcomings, anomalies and serious lack of needed competence in the HLEG were pointed to the Union government through various letters but were ignored.

Dehradun, February 20
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has advocated the linking of Uttarakhand to the eastern freight corridor. The CII has also recommended that an Inland Container Depot (ICD) be created in Roorkee (Iqbalpour area), which has emerged as one of the largest industrial hubs in the state, and the same should be linked to the freight corridor at Saharanpur.

The suggestions came up during the CII annual green award 2009 function organised in Dehradun today.

The annual review of Uttarakhand for year 2008-09, which was released on the occasion, mentions that movement of raw material into the state and finished goods out of the state is mainly by road.

“The traffic on roads and highways is bound to increase manifold in the coming years; once the industry reaches the production stage. Hence, we recommend that an ICD should be should be built in Roorkee and be linked to the freight corridor at Saharanpur,” said Rakesh Oberoi, Chairman of CII Uttarakhand State Council.

He said Saharanpur should be made a halting station on the corridor. “This would provide the industry in and around Haridwar a cheaper alternative for the movement of goods and would immensely reduce the traffic congestion on roads. As RITES has been working on the proposal for the freight corridor, a feasibility study for the above proposal could be entrusted to RITES itself,” he said. Oberoi added that this would also benefit the tourism industry, as once the roads are decongested travel time between Delhi and Haridwar would be reduced.

The chairman of CII Northern Region Salil Singhal, said CII members have adopted four ITI’s in Uttarakhand under the Government of India scheme in public-private partnership mode. “Besides, on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front, CII Uttarakhand also signed a MoU with environment NGO - Friends of the Doon Society (FODS) - for CSR interventions at village Rasulpur (Haridwar).

CII and FODS are working together towards improving the quality of the life of villagers by focusing on interventions related to education, skills, enterprise, healthcare and environment,” he said. Later, Singhal conferred the CII annual green award 2009 to Kalyan Singh Rawat, the man behind the Maiti movement in Uttarakhand. Singhal also released Uttarakhand@75, a vision document for the state for the next 15 years, which has been prepared by the CII. 

Dehradun, February 20
A bizarre case of a woman with three husbands, each laying claim on her, has put the Dehradun administration in a fix. So much so that the administration has been unable to enforce the orders of SDM Haridwar that had said that the girl was free to decide about her future.

Besides the three husbands, the parents and uncle of the girl, 19-year-old Banu, who belong to the Gujjar community, are demanding that she be handed  over to them.

As of now, Banu is locked up inside the Dehradun Nari Niketan (a home run by the state social welfare department) and all her claimants are spending anxious moments waiting outside the gate, not ready to give up.

Although Banu could not be contacted, an employee of the Nari Niketan, who wished not to be named, said she was in touch with Shazad, her last husband, and may decide to go with him.

On the other hand, family members of Banu allege that she was already married with a boy from the Gujjar community of Ganidi Khata, Lal Dang, Haridwar, and then subsequently sold off by Nafis who posed as her father.

“We do not accept her marriage to a boy outside our community and have come to take her back,” said Taz Bibi, Banu’s mother, who is camping outside the Nari Niketan since the last two days along with other family members.

“Banu was abducted by Nafis in 2007 and allegedly married off to Jawed, his son. Later, we discovered her clothes and thought she had drowned. Then she was allegedly sold-off to Ayub, Nafis and finally married to Shazad,” her family charged.

“We had lodged a complaint at Shyampur police station when our daughter was abducted. Now we want her back,” said Abdul Gani, Banu’s father.

Fearing that Banu would go with Shazad, her parents have brought along other leaders from their community to add weight to their claim.

Meanwhile, the State Women’s Commission has not shown any interest in the case, “We can only intervene if there is a written request and so far we don’t have one,” said Sharda Sharma, secretary of the commission. 

Dehradun, February 20
Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) ideologue Suresh Joshi recently repudiated the claims that the RSS was adding a saffron tinge to the health policies of the state.

“We are concerned about the deteriorating health of our citizens and are discouraging too much reliance on the power of modern medicines for which several rupees are being spent, though it has side-effects too. Whereas, the Indian system of medicine stresses on removing root cause of the disease,” Joshi added.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the national conference, ‘Bhartiya Swasthiya Chintan’ . Believed to be the man behind the campaign that is encouraging the BJP-ruled states to adopt a holistic health policy, Joshi is credited for laying the foundation way back in 2006 in Bhopal, where the first Bhartiya Swasthya Chintan was held.

He said the Indian Vaidyas needed to be confident about their own system of medicine and should not feel inferior to the allopathic doctors, “In our zeal to give acceptability to ayurved doctors, we have taken several steps that have only harmed the interests of the Vaidyas, while the traditional ones have been pushed out, the others are practicing allopathic as well as ayurveda, when they don’t need to do so. We are saying that ayurveda is a complete practice and separate yardsticks should be established for it and the practice should not be judging solely by the standards of western medicines,” said Suresh Joshi.

At the end of the three days of brainstorming during the Bhartiya Swasthiya Chintan, in which 80 representatives from 18 states participated, four important recommendations were passed comprising: Inclusion of health education in school syllabus, developing teachers as ‘arogya mitars’ who then spread the message of good health, Indian age-old traditional practices be given recognition by 2015 for which complete with infrastructure be developed by the state government, spiritualism be included for general well-being and adoption of a holistic and a cafeteria approach in which different systems of medicine are brought under one roof.

Besides, Arogya Bharti, an NGO, has been asked to take a lead in constituting a National Advisory committee for implementing the recommendations. The NGO is expected to hand over the recommendations to the state government in two months time. 

Dehradun, February 20
Punjabi community in Dehradun will be felicitating Tehri MP Vijay Bahuguna on Sunday as city will be voting to elect the Tehri constituency representative, for the first time, in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“Punjabi community members here keep high expectations from Vijay Bahuguna, who is known for carrying development work in the region,” said Devendra Singh Mann, head of the intellectual cell of Congress.

He said the community here would be voting to elect Tehri MP for the first time thus, they was enthusiastic to support Bahuguna.

He said the MP had been instrumental in facilitating B 2 status for Derhadun apart from ensuring a survey for a railway line from Dehradun to Vikasnagar. He said the long-standing demand for constructing Lachchiwala fly-over has also received Centre’s approval due to Bahuguna’s efforts.

Referring to achievements of Bahuguna, DS Mann said his contribution for the betterment of the region was unparallelled and the state would be immensely benefit if he gets another term. 

Dehradun, February 20
Doon Hawk clinched the 2nd PN Dhasmana Memorial Hockey Trophy defeating DAV (PG) College in a one-sided final.

Being played at Parade Ground, the final today saw Doon Hawk register a thumping 6-1 victory over DAV (PG) College.

Tayyab and Nadeem were the star performers for Doon Hawk as they struck two goals each.

Doon Hawk came with a good strategy into the final and were on the offensive right from the start.

They scored the first goal in the fourth minute through a penalty corner scored by Tayyab.

DAV (PG) College came up with the equaliser in the eighth minute of the game through Sharad Negi.

DAV College’s celebration did not last long as Doon Hawk team struck their second goal in the 11th minute through a brilliant field goal by Saleem.

The scoring did not stop here for the Doon Hawk team as Nadeem struck another outstanding goal for his team after dodging two defenders and taking a powerful strike to score in the 21st minute.

He then scored in the 25th minute to make it 4-1.

In the 30th minute, Tayyab scored his second goal making it 5-1 at halftime.

The second half saw one goal for Doon Hawk which was struck by Pankaj in the 55th minute.

Haridwar, February 20
Students were awarded medals and certificates at the ongoing three-day athletics event being held at the SMJN College.

In 100m, Aman Kumar came first followed by Mohammed Suhail and Amit Kumar. In women category, Alka Saini emerged victorious defeating Sangeeta Roy and Poornima.

In 200m Alka Saini won her second consecutive gold medal outscoring Poornima and Babli.

In the shot-put event Preeti Sharma gained first place, Indu Bala stood second and Poornima had to content with third position.

While Aarti Sharma was given the Best Female Athlete of the college award for bagging a gold and a bronze in the Inter-University Athletics meet in Hemwati Nandan Bahuguana Garhwal University Sringar.

While in the Inter-University Basketball and Judo Championships medallions Alka Saini, Preeti Sharma, Sandeep Kumar, Pramod Kumar, Sangeeta Roy, Hemlata Verma, Aman Kumar, Kamal, Pankaj Behal and Rani Verma for Judo were felicitated at the function.

State Education Minister Madan Kaushik said sports is a tool for good health, mind and personality development which bodes well for the nation.

Recalling his college days, Cabinet Minister said, “In those times it was Uttar Pradesh and opportunities were not much.

But today there are umpteen opportunities and just hard and dedication work is needed.”

Minister also announced to sanction Rs 20,00000 for building a sports stadium at the SMJN college ground.

Present were Mahant Triyambaki Bharti,Mahant Bilkeshwar Giri, Dr. SK Batra, Dr. Sanjay Maheshwari, Dr. JC Arya, Dr. Manoj Sohi, Dr. Nalini Jain, Dr. Nisha Singh among others.