Dehradun, December 15
The Uttarakhand Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank reviewed the progress made by various departments under Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (STP) in Dehradun today.

En-course of the deliberations, the Chief Minister expressed concern over slow pace of progress linked to the plan in Minor Irrigation Department. He directed Secretary Minor Irrigation to release sanctions after presenting the utilisation certificate of works done.

Secretary Minor Irrigation Amarendra Sinha however informed the meeting that owing to the non-availability of utilisation certificate, remaining budget of Rs 12.57 crore, could not be released.

Reviewing the progress of Public Works Department, CM directed the Secretary PWD sought prompt and proper utlisation of budget. He also reviewed the progress of Power, Potable Water, Dairy Development, Irrigation, Education, Tourism, Panchayati Raj, Culture, Technical Education and other departments.

The Uttarakhand Social Welfare Minister Matbar Singh Kandari, State Minister Khajan Das, Chief Secretary NS Napalchyal, Principal Secretary to CM Subhash Kumar and other senior officers were present during the meeting.

It may be recalled that those villages and wards having more than 40 per cent population of scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled castes (ST) get benefit of schemes under SCSP and STP. Under it 2,140 villages are scheduled caste dominated and 552 villages are scheduled tribes dominated. In urban areas, 75 wards are identified as scheduled castes dominated and eight wards dominated by scheduled tribes. Basic amenities, including potable water, link roads, electrification, education, health etc are being provided to these villages under the plan.

Dehradun, December 15
With residents protesting against the Health Department’s move to house the post-mortem unit at Bhrahmawala in Kargi, the issue has been snowballing into a major issue day by day. For the past three days, the residents have been protesting against the construction of the unit that was recently started in a thickly residential area.

Today, Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli, along with health officials and a team from the Dehradun Corporation, inspected the area and held talks with the residents. As a result, the work on the unit has received a setback and will only resume once the tempers are cooled or an alternative arrangement is made.

With great difficulty, the Health Department was allocated 700 sq metres at Kargi by the corporation. Earlier, the department’s proposal to shift the unit from Chander Road to a suitable place had hit a roadblock in the absence of a suitable site away from residential complexes.

Once Kargi was earmarked, there were problems galore too as the Asian Development Bank was also allocated the same place for setting up a treatment plant.

“The issue was resolved as we shifted towards the bank of the river, but now it seems the residents of Kargi are not happy with the idea and have raised objections. A sum of Rs 12 lakh has been allocated for the construction of the post-mortem unit. But, the work will only start once the problem is sorted out,” said CMO GC Bounthiyal.

The residents of the area along with councillor of the area Rakesh Maurya are now opposing the move. “Already there is a school and a temple, the post-mortem unit will spoil the sanctity of the place,” said Maurya.

The transfer of the unit from Chander Nagar is pending for the past two years.

Dehradun, December 15
Agitated members of the Uttaranchal Bank Employees Union and All-India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) held a protest at Astley Hall in front of the Central Bank of India here today. They raised slogans against the government’s policies of merging of banks.

During the protest, the union members gave a notice to the authorities concerned that 4,000 employees and bank officials of Uttrakhand will go on strike from tomorrow (Dec 16). The association is demanding the government to put a halt on the decision of the merger and reviving the leftover issues of the banks and their employees.

The main issue of the protest was the closing down of the State Bank of Indore and merging it with the State Bank of India. The shutting down of the institution is resulting into transfers and retrenchment of employees.

Prominent members of the association present at the protest were SS Rajwar, president of AIBEA, Jagmohan Mehndiratta, secretary, RK Gairola and BP Sundriyal.

Dehradun, December 15
A large number of Uttarakhand Congress workers today held a march from Jantar Mantar to Rail Bhawan in New Delhi to demand the immediate laying of a rail line in Garhwal from Rishikesh to Karanprayag.

The march was jointly led by Uttarakhand Congress leaders Dhirendra Pratap, former minister Mantri Prasad Naithani, former legislator Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri and Uttarakhand Congress Committee Vice-President Satendra Barthwal.

The Congress workers who went from distant parts of the Garhwal region were addressed by their leaders who included Ganesh Godiyal, Jagmohan Singh Negi, Pritam Singh, Vinod Bhatt, Pravesh Rawat and others.

They raised slogans demanding the immediate construction of the rail track, for developing tourism and also for the safety of the border areas close to China.

Later, about 50 important leaders led by Garhwal Congress MP Satpal Maharaj met the Union Railway Minister of State KH Muniyappa at Rail Bhawan and presented a memorandum.

According to Dhirendra Pratap, Muniyappa heard the delegation patiently and assured that he would make efforts to fulfil the aspirations of the hill people.

He also said that he would fix a meeting of Satpal Maharaj with the Prime Minister and the Union Rail Minister for finalising the mega project worth Rs 4,000 crore. 

Dehradun, December 15
Yogendra Khanduri, a member of the AICC, has strongly reacted to the statement of CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank made at Ranchi accusing Congress leaders of amassing huge wealth in Swiss banks.

In a statement issued today, Khanduri asked the CM to at least provide him names of those Congress leaders.

“By not making the fact public simply means that you are making an allegation without any verified proof, motivated with petty politics of damaging the image of a responsible party,” Yogendra said. — TNS

Dehradun, December 15
Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) today asked the police officials of the district to remain ever vigilant in their respective areas.

All the station head officers (SHOs), investigation officers (IOs) and beat constables of the Dalanwala area were present at the meeting.

The Investigating Officers were asked to give detailed information of the cases they were dealing with. The SSP Abhinav Kumar gave important directions to the IOs and also chided them for unnecessarily delay in solving the cases.

Dehradun, December 15
A resident of Pleasant Valley, Dehradun, was booked for allegedly cheating a man of lakhs by selling property, which was not registered.

A complaint was lodged in this regard at the Rajpur police station by Aamini Dutta, wife of the victim, BL Dutta, yesterday.

She alleged that Nobat Singh Rana had sold a property to her husband at Doon Vihar Jakhan on December 12, which was not registered.

She further added that when they approached the accused again for their money, which they had paid to buy the land, he denied paying back the amount.

Dutta is a native of Delhi and had come to the city to buy a property.

Nainital, December 15
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has called for setting up of a farmer commission. Spokesperson for the party Rakesh Tikait said at Kashipur yesterday that the commission is the need of the hour to protect the interests of the farming community, which was the most exploited.

He said farmer representatives should be made members of the commission.

Tikait also sought an equal subsidy on seeds for the farmers of both hill and plain regions of the state. He also warned the Centre against any move to import sugar, stating that if such a step was taken the imported sugar would be destroyed. 

Dehradun, December 15
The Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Vichar Manch held a gathering to pay homage to Sardar Patel on his 60th death anniversary here today. Prof SN Sachan, president of the manch, along with workers of various national parties, paid tributes to Patel.

The members of the manch garlanded a statue of the leader at Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Park located at the GPO, Clock Tower. Another reason for holding the gathering was to start a movement against the division of the country into more states.

Sachan said: “We have gathered here to remember Patel. We can’t see the sacrifices made by him at the time of freedom struggle go in vain with the division of the country into more and more states”.

“We request our government to work more on bonding the relationship with other countries as well as maintaining the unity within India,” he added.

Prominent persons present at the gathering were BJP councillor Jeevan Singh, Kunwar Singh Yadav (Congress), Chaudhary Prem Singh, Manoj Patel, Pratap Singh Rana, Rup Kumar Tyagi, Ajit Singh and Avtar Singh. 

Dehradun, December 15
A written and physical test for various posts in the Air Force was conducted by the Central Airman Selection Board here today.

As many as 2,500 candidates thronged the recruitment rally. The tests are being conducted for ground training instructor (GTI), Indian Air Force police (IAFP) and auto- technicians.

The candidates, who pass these tests, will go for an interview and a medical test tomorrow at the Police Lines grounds here.

The tests were conducted for the candidates of Uttarkashi, Dehradun, Tehri and Rudraprayag. On December 17, candidates of Chamoli, Haridwar and Pauri will appear for written and a physical tests.

The selected candidates from these districts will appear for interview and medical test on December 18.

The officials said that the response from candidates has been great. They are also expecting a good number in the second batch tomorrow.