Dehradun, April 6
A sudden replacement of Mukhya Nagar Adhikari NK Joshi with Indu Dhar Bodai today created ripples in the Dehradun Municipal Corporation. This change is seen as a link to the tumultuous hoarding campaign going on these days which has affected the interests of many bigwigs and political shots.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli reacted to the development saying that it never happened that the Mayor had not been informed about the change in the bureaucratic setup of the Municipal Corporation.

The return of Bodai, who had once donned the mantle of MNA before Joshi took over and is considered to be close to the Congress lobby, which is working overtime to restrain Mayor from removing their hoardings, may lead to clashes of interests between both Bodai and the Mayor. This time at least, the lobby against the Mayor seems to have taken lead in making matter difficult for him, which do not seem to augur well for him in the days ahead.

In an attempt to show that he was unaffected by this abrupt change, Chamoli said: “Changes in the bureaucracy in the DMC are none of my concern as long as they do not hamper my work. If I am obstructed, then I would not sit silent and take the matter instead to the public.”

Understanding the involvement of influential people related to the state government in the whole plot, he said the obstructions in his way would be construed as state government’s unwillingness to promote actions aimed at public welfare. “We have three big tasks to do. First is the implementation of hoarding policy, second is the widening of Chakrota roundabout and third is to develop the Bindal area on the lines of the Sabarmati river area in Ahmedabad. Even on the matter of Chakrota issue, which is quite complicated and can not been resolved till date due to excessive political pressure, requires displacement of 250 persons. If the government shows its weakness before lobby pressures on the slightest provocation, then how will we be able to implement all these policies which have become imminent for the improvement of the dismal infrastructure in the city?” he asked.

The Mayor admitted that from the day one, he had been subjected to pressure tactics from all sides on the hoarding policy. “All attempts have been made from the very beginning that the hoarding policy did not pass in the board meeting. It took me three months to get it cleared. Then it was tried that the policy did not get published and turn into gazette. I also had to face lot of hurdles in carrying out anti-encroachment drive near the Ghanta Ghar area. It has now become a big challenge for me to take this drive to its logical conclusion.”

He repeated his resolution to complete this task saying his long experience in political struggle had equipped him to take such upheavals in strides.

He said he did not mind change in guard at the MNA level as Bodai was well conversant with the hoarding policy for being in position of MNA when the policy got through at the board level.”

Dehradun, April 6
The Dehradun Municipal Corporation today notified hoarding policy in the government gazette. Clarifying his position amid all kind of speculations that the policy should have been sent to the state government before being published in the gazette, Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli showed a copy of the UP Municipal Corporation Act of 1959 which says all the ‘subsections’ which come under section 541 will be published in the government gazette. He termed these speculations misleading and said the DMC adopted all amendments, which took place before 2000 in the UP MC Act.

Telling about his campaign to remove illegal hoardings from the city, Chamoli said: “In the first phase we removed hoardings which came in the 25-meter radius of roundabouts. This included spots from Ganta Ghar Chowk, Budha Chowk and Darshan Lal Chowk till Astely Hall. In the second phase, we would remove the hoardings which have been blacklisted for being wrongly placed on respective roads from April 8. In the third phase, hoardings on the rooftops of all buildings, including residential and commercial ones, will be removed.

“These hoardings not only obstruct the scenic hilly view but are also dangers to the safety of the passersby. For this, we would insert a public notice in newspapers so that public could be alarmed and remove these hoardings themselves before any action is taken.”

Now with the policy released in the gazette, he said the offenders who till now were taking the DMC campaign lightly and indulging in pressure tactics, would understand that the DMC meant business and had now become legally equipped to take any action against them.

The DMC will start removing illegal hoardings under the second phase from Thursday by taking over the route from Prince Hotel to Haridwar Road and Nainy Bakers Chowk.

Mussoorie, April 6
Residents of Mussoorie grieved the passing away of Dr Mulk Raj Dass, eminent touch therapy healer, today. He died after prolonged illness at Jupiter Hospital, Mumbai, yesterday around 12.45 pm.

Dr Dass was well-known in the town and patients came to him from around the country. Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola said that he was shocked to hear the news. He called Dr Dass “a blessing for mankind.” He offered his condolences to the family of the healer.

Senior BJP leader Roop Singh Kathait said that it was an irreparable loss not only for the town but the country as well.

Dr Mulk Raj Dass was born on December 10, 1945, in Jagraon, Punjab. He did his bachelor’s degree in chemistry, zoology and botany in 1967 and completed his masters in 1969 in physical chemistry.

He then headed for a diploma in physical chemistry from Imperial College, London, in 1975. Then, he did his PhD from the London University in 1975. He practiced as a scientist at the Max-Planck Research Institute at Berlin in Germany.

He discovered his ability to heal with a touch in 1997 when his colleague’s wound healed after he tied a bandage around it.

His colleague noticed that as Dr Dass tied the bandage, the wound got cured and he felt no further pain. After that, Dr Dass checked his ability with a few more patients and these proved successful.

Senior BJP leader from Mussoorie Vijay Ramola said the void created by the demise of Dr Mulk Raj Das would not be filled in many years to come.

Dr Dass’ body will be brought to Mussoorie tomorrow to perform the last rites.

Dehradun, April 6
A complaint cell set by the State Education Department will be active soon to curb the malpractices carried out by public schools in the city.

The complaint cell of the Education Department was set up after a large number of complaints were received from parents regarding harassment in the matters of fee hike, books and uniforms by public schools.

The complaint cell of the department has started receiving complaints from the parents and proposed to start a drive to curb the menace of fee hike in several public schools.

“With the commencement of the new academic session, we are at a receiving end. The schools are increasing fees according to their own whims and fancies making holes in our pockets. We are worried with the 20-25 per cent hike in the fees structure and in a dilemma as to whom to approach for assistance,” a parent complained.

“But now, we have filed a written application to the complaint wing and they have promised to make a probe in the matter. Rakesh Kunwar, president of the committee, has assured us to provide justice and will take effective measures against the institutions who will be found guilty,” the complainant added.

Several leading ICSE and CBSE schools in the city continued with the fee hike and have made it mandatory for parents to purchase uniforms and books from a recommended shop. Parents alleged that schools came up with new methods every academic year to make profits from them.

Dr D Kumar, general secretary of the Parents Federation, said, “The federation has raised the voice against rapid fee hikes in private schools as well as schools compelling parents to purchase books and uniforms from a particular shop. We have also approached the complaint committee as well as the Education Directorate and will fight against the malpractices till we get justice”.

Another affected parent of a St Joseph School student apprehensively told The Tribune that many parents were in a state of dilemma, whether to complain about the institution or not. “Though we are having a tough time dealing with the school crisis, we are also afraid to reveal our identity for the sake of our children,” said a parent on anonymity.

“Last year, note books purchased from the authorised dealer of the school were not brought into use. Rather the teachers asked pupils to maintain separate thick registers for mathematics, science, Hindi and English to do the exercises. The complainant also went looking for books at Universal Book Depot and could not avail the books, and that left her with no other choice except buy books from the school only,” she added.

When contacted Rakesh Kunwar, president of the committee, said, “We have started getting complaints and the committee has already begun with the first round of investigation. The parents can surely contact us for any assistance. For the later verification and legal assistance, the complainants need to give their complaints in writing, with their name as well as contact number mentioned on it. Then only, we can help those parents in crisis”.

“On receiving the compliant, we will thoroughly investigate and look into the matter. We will collect data of the school of which we have received complaint from and would then submit report to the Directorate. And if still nothing gets materialised then we would not hesitate to go to the court for justice,” he added.

The federation has also put forth the collected data of the fee hike in public schools.

Dehradun, April 6
ICFAI University, Dehradun, organised its annual alumni meet, “Constantum 2010” on its campus here today. Around 60 alumni members of the Science and Tech Department attended the alma-mater event.

The members participated in various activities during the function and shared their experiences. An interactive session regarding the placements, internship activities, identification of possible avenues of institute-industry collaboration, technology exchange and impart of valuable guidance for their prospective future was also held.

Prof GP Srivastava, Vice-Chancellor, IUD, was the chief guest who inaugurated the meet. Professor Srivastava congratulating the alumni for their achievements and bright future. Dr RC Ramola, Dean, FOS, and Mr Anuj Jalote, president of the ICFAI Alumni Association, assured students of all-possible help for their future and growth of ICFAI University, Dehradun.

On the occasion, alumni chapters were also launched in important cities of the country starting with Delhi (NCR). The alumni were hosted to a lively cultural evening filled with musical performance and great fervour. The programme began with a Ganesh prayer. The event was organised by Dr GS Brama and Vivek Singh, student coordinator.

Mussoorie, April 6
The new education system under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) called Maitri Shiksha is going through tough times due to the inefficient management by the state Education Department.

The education system was introduced in government schools of the state to provide relief to students, but instead, it has created more problems in conducting free and fair annual examinations in schools.

Parents have alleged that the new education pattern introduced by the government called the District-Level Annual Examination System is only serving the bureaucrats and senior officials financially. It is leading to sheer wastage of the taxpayer’s money and jeopardising the career of students.

Many instances of the inefficient working of the Education Department surfaced recently in Mussoorie.

According to the newly introduced system of central evaluation for district-level annual examination, it was decided that question papers for classes I to VII will be distributed at the district level and not by the schools.

To make it easy for students, they were to write the answers in the booklet containing the questions.

According to Sheetal Singh of Class VII, in the mathematics paper, which was held on March 27, a part of the science question paper had been punched inside the mathematics paper. The booklet, which was supposed to have 16 pages, contained only 10 pages.

The helpless school management arranged for the photocopy of the question paper and the exam began with a 30-minute delay.

Such was the confusion that Radha, another student, ‘forgot to answer 
few questions’.

The Tribune has also learnt that in some schools like the Sanatan Dharm Inter College, question papers did not reach the centre and the school management had to prepare a fresh question paper and conduct the examination in a jiffy. A similar problem occurred at Dudhli village, Bata Ghat and other government schools in the vicinity of Mussoorie.

Under anonymity, teachers of various schools informed that at many centres, the question papers were either not complete or did not arrive at all due to the inefficiency of the state Education Department.

Iqbal, Principal, Rajkiya Uch Prathmic Vidyalaya, Kulri, accepted that this problem had arisen on many instances.

He informed that the District Education Officer had brought the question papers and distributed them in the school. After the problem came to light, he hurriedly directed the staff to get photocopies of the remaining question paper. As a power cut had been imposed in the area, it led to a delay of 30 minutes in the examination.

Parents and teachers, without coming to the fore, were critical of this new system of conducting examinations and have alleged that this was an exercise just to siphon off money being granted under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and other projects.

Mathematics teacher Ram Sharan (name changed) said that the whole exercise was an eyewash and new system was nothing but a means to embezzle the government funds by bureaucrats and senior officials in the department and to benefit printers of the question papers or booklets.

On the other hand, officials of the state Education Office were of the view that there was nothing wrong with the system and it was working properly.

They opined that government teachers were raising the issue as their right to judge students from lower classes has been snatched by the department.

A batsman faces a delivery at the Second Late Shri Hukam Singh Under-17 Cricket Tournament in Dehradun on Tuesday. A Tribune photograph

For Tigers, Rahul picked two wickets and Umang and Sunny chipped in with one wicket each.

Play Boys, Medical College triumph

Sardar Bhawan Singh Medical College registered an easy seven-wicket win over SIP Rangers in the Day-Night Softball Cricket Tournament being organised by the Khalanga Cricket Association on the PRD Grounds on Tapovan Road.

Batting first SIP Rangers scored 47 runs in 15 overs after winning the toss.

Except Vishal (10) none other batsmen could even score a double-digit figure.

Medical College achieved the target easily. Shiker (14) and Karan (12) were scorers.

In the second match, Play Boys trounced Harvinder XI by seven wickets. 

Dehradun, April 6
The Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) got the better of Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE) by five wickets in a Pool B league match of the ongoing Central Government Employees’ Welfare Coordination Committee (CGEWCC) Cricket Tournament being played at the Survey’s cricket stadium here today.

The IRDE opted to bat first after winning the toss. Its opening batsmen Vipin (21) and Manish (14) started well but couldn’t raise their respective scores as both were bowled out soon. However, first down batsman Deepak shouldered the responsibility well and struck 57 unbeaten, including nine boundaries.

Vedwal and Ravinder went for duck. Later, Seemant (34) made a valuable contribution to his side. The IRDE set a target of 160 runs in the allotted 25 overs at the loss of nine wickets. Pradeep of the IIP scalped the most wickets. He took four wickets in five overs giving away 28 runs.

In reply, IIP’s batsmen put in combined efforts to ensure their team’s win. Parvez (37), Rajesh (27), all-rounder Pradeep (34) and Pankaj (23 not out) were main scorers for the IIP. The team achieved the target in 23.4 overs losing five wickets.

For the bowling side, Gapender captured three wickets while Vedwal and Ravinder pocketed one wicket each.