Dehradun, July 29
After taking charge as President of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), Trivender Singh Panwar made it clear that his party might reconsider the issue of continuing to be a part of the state government. “Soon a new working committee will be constituted which will decide whether we stay in the government or withdraw,” said Panwar.

The despondency of the UKD with the BJP stemmed from the fact that it did not do much on its nine-point agenda which it had kept before the BJP before extending its support to it, said Panwar.

“Many of our issues such as protection of ‘Jan-Jungle-Jameen’ of hill areas, proper implementation of the Forest Act, jobs to youth in industries were sidelined by the BJP. Barring Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar districts, the development in the rest 10 is blatantly being ignored. Our objective behind attaining statehood to bring wholesome development in the hill area went kaput”.

Panwar too minces no words in acknowledging the regression of the party, which once played a pivotal role in the formation of the state. “We were not good at the art of politics and lacked names like LK Advani and ample resources to carry forward the party into mainstream politics, which is why we floundered to build on our huge role to accord statehood to Uttarakhand and as a result lagged behind the national parties”.

According to him, the party’s decision to boycott the Lok Sabha elections in 1996 proved to be a historical blunder for its stunted growth in the politics.

The issue of shifting capital to Gairsain too has not given much mileage to the party. “We failed to connect with people, especially at the grass root level. But I’m sure this time around we will be able to garner massive support of people of Gairsain and entire state on this issue”.

Panwar also gave strong signals to arrest growing indiscipline on Garhwal and Kumaon regions in his party. “I am not bothered about what happened before I took over, but now onwards, be it a big or small leader, nobody will be spared from expulsion, if they show any streak of indiscipline.”

He made it clear that this Assembly election, the UKD will ride on the wave of failures of both the BJP and the Congress and, emerge as the only glimmer of hope. “Both the BJP and the Congress has indulged in open widespread corruption and ignored the welfare of people. The UKD will now play the role of the guard of the state”.

Talking of the party’s grand preparations for the Assembly elections, he said, “This time around we are going to take along women and youth of the state in a big way. We will prepare a workforce of 50,000 members in each district which means a total whopping number of 6.5 lakh members in the entire state by 2011. This way, we’ll cash in on the energy of newcomers and experience of old party members. We are going to travel all across the state from August 6. and thereafter, form a new working committee. Once that happen, we will start working on our agenda for the election.”

Haridwar, July 29
Reacting sharply on the poor civic conditions of Haridwar at the time of Kanwar season and the rains putting the city life out of gear, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Harak Singh Rawat has termed it as a total failure of the state government.

Rawat was in the city to visit of rain-affected areas, which suffered major loss in the past two week and also inspected the facilities being provided to the Kanwariyas, particularly in the mela area.

Blaming the state government for been not able to tackle the flood-like situation in the city, Rawat said it was a matter of utter shame that despite the Central government giving Rs 765 crore for the Kumbh, the city was reeling under poor civic facilities immediately after the completion of the Kumbh.

“It seems there is no governance in the state. While the Central has been allocation thousands of crores to Uttarakhand under varoius schemes, plans and projects, yet nothing is visible in reality,” said Rawat.

Lashing out at Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, the leader said the CM seemed to be betraying faith of both the Central government and the people of Uttarakhand. He said in the name of development the CM sought huge funds from the Centre, while only the bank balances of CM, cabinet ministers and other BJP leaders seemed to be filling, leaving development works for common public at bay.

He assured the public of taking up Haridwar issue in the upcoming Monsoon Session in the Assembly.

Dehradun, July 29
Congress resentment against the organisational elections in the party seems to growing further by the end of the day. The dissensions group has been working in a more organised way and has appointed district coordinators to take the election-related grievances to the party high command.

State Congress convener for redressal of complaints Kunwar Singh Negi has appointed district-level coordinators for compilation of grievances linked to the party organisational elections in the state.

Surendra Agarwal has been appointed coordinator for Dehradun city, Vipul Jain for Dehradun rural, Mahesh Negi for Almora, Dr Rakesh Gaur for Haridwar, Pradeep Bagwadi for Rudraprayag, Shri Narayan Ram for Pitthoragarh, Har Govind Bora for Champawat, Devi Singh Chauhan for Tehri, Ramchand Uniyal for Chamoli, NK Kapil for Nainital, Suresh Chauhan for Uttarkashi, Rajendra Shah for Pauri, Pushkar Jain for Udham Singh Nagar, Khazan Pandey for Haldwani and Pyarey Lal Himani has been appointed as coordinator for the Yamuna valley, Uttarkashi.

District coordinators will be holding consultations in their respective districts within a period of one week before submitting their report linked to irregularities to the state-level coordinators.

These complaints will be further sent to the party high command for their consideration.

Nainital, July 29
State Health Minister BS Bhauryal has called for blacklisting the contractors who are not executing road-building tasks on time after having put in low bids for completing the tasks.

Speaking at a evaluation meeting of the District Planning Board at Bhimtal today, the minister, who is also in-charge of Nainital district, said before a task to construct a new road was undertaken, officials of various departments like the Public Works Department (PWD), Jal Sansthan, Power Department, Pay Jal Nigam etc should have been consulted so that the roads need not be dug up again and again for execution of other tasks like laying cables and pipes.

The minister also expressed annoyance at various departments for not making plans and starting executing these despite money being released to them. He also called for the removal of encroachments of all types from public places.

Referring to the frequent damage and blocking of roads in the rainy season, the minister said emphasis must be laid on ensuring a smooth flow of traffic on all roads in the district.

Taking stock of the various schemes related to providing water, he called for an early completion of projects that were lying pending since the last financial year and pointed that people must be encouraged to undertake projects under the Sector Wide Approach (SWAP) mode.

Bhauryal also asked the officials of the Power Department to go in for early replacement of damaged electric poles and replacement of faulty transformers. He also called for early electrification of newly installed tube wells in the area.

Nainital, July 29
The Congress Lok Sabha members from Almora and Nainital have taken up the long-pending demands of the SSB-trained guerillas of the state with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Both Pradeep Tamta and KC Singh Baba have written letters to the Home Minister asking him to solve the problems of the affiliates of the Guerilla Warfare Organisation of Uttarakhand.

In the letter addressed to Chidambaram, the Members of Parliament (MPs) have quoted an order of the Nainital High Court that says: “That an appropriate representation should be made by the petitioners before the competent authority annexing the judgment of the Guwahati High Court which has been affirmed by the Supreme Court of India. If such a representation is made, the authority will be obliged to pass a reasoned and speaking order within three months from the date of production of certified copy of this order”.

The SSB-trained guerillas have been agitating for the past three years demanding that they should be given a permanent appointment along with pension benefits. They have also been seeking that the next of kin of the guerillas should be given an appointment in the event of their death and their dependents be given pension benefits.

In an earlier memorandum addressed to Chidambaram and state Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank which they had submitted at different district headquarters across the state on April 5 this year, they had pointed, “While our counterparts in the North East have been enrolled for jobs, we in Uttarakhand are on the verge of starvation”. They had underlined: “In our meeting with you on September 14 last year, we were assured of a solution to our problem but nothing has come of it as yet.”

The guerillas have been holding marches and have been sitting on dharnas in various district headquarters of the region demanding that while the aged be given pension, the younger amongst them be absorbed in the para-military forces of the country. They are also seeking that the widows of guerrillas be given a pension for their sustenance.

They have been questioning that if the government was not going to enroll them in any stable job, why did it train them.

After the 1962 war with China, the SSB had been constituted and asked to train bands of young men from villages on the borders. These men were supposed to be used for gathering intelligence on the developments on the borders.

A delegation of 10 persons from the Guerilla Warfare Organisation had gone to Delhi after meeting Nishank and Secretary (Home) Rajeev Gupta. They had also met former Chief Minister ND Tiwari.

On July 28 and 29 they met Tamta and Baba. They have represented their case to all Lok Sabha members from Uttarakhand along with Rajya Sabha member Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.

Dehradun, July 29
Getting beaten up in public and bearing humiliation is a part of police work and the police should learn to cope with such kind of situations, feels new DGP Jyoti Swaroop Pandey.

“What is there in getting beaten up? Even the police fighting in Maoists-affected states are dying. This is in our work system and we should learn to bear humiliation because the work of the police is not to fight, but to solve disputes,” said Pandey referring to public and police clashes in his first press conference after taking the charge of the DGP yesterday.

However, he also maintained that not only the police, but the public also had the right to self-defence. “The use of force by the police should be done only when needed and that, too, should be minimal,” he added.

While on the spread of the Maoists activities in the state, Pandey said, “The Maoists came to light in 2004 and 2005 and training camps were also discovered at that time. They all were sent to jail. At present, it is to be found out that how much Maoism has floated in the state and to what extent”.

Replying to a question that only even single police personnel recommended by the state police complaint authority was punished, the DGP said the complaint authority could just recommend the names to the administration and was not authorised to decide the number of years of punishment. 

Dehradun, July 29
Three persons, who kidnapped five-year-old Vishwajeet demanding Rs 50 lakh as ransom, were sent to 14-day judicial remand by the CGM Court here today. Vishwajeet, who was also present at the court, was later handed over to his family.

Surender, driver of victim’s family, along with his two friends Sudama and Sonu, had kidnapped the child. Surender had one more accomplice with him who is still at large.

Vishwajeet, son of a Merchant Navy officer and grandson of former Bijnour BJP district vice-president, was kidnapped from outside St Joseph Academy on Monday. The family is a resident of Lord Krishna Residency on the Guru Teg Bahadur Road.

Vishwajeet had his birthday on Monday and had come with his mother to pick up his elder brother from St Joseph Academy. His mother Hemlata, while waiting for her elder son, went on foot to a nearby confectionery shop to buy cake for her son.

Dehradun, July 29
After long delays in the formulation of service rules, state Assembly employees have now decided to take to the path of agitation. They will be wearing black badges from Monday onwards as a mark of protest against the state government’s little interest in ensuring formulation of the Vidhan Sabha Service Rules.

The state government in 2008 had constituted the KL Phonia Committee to look into the concerns of state Assembly employees. The seven-member committee that included Parkash Pant and Kazi Nijamuddin had recommended prompt formulation of service rules for the state Assembly employees.

They today held an in-house meeting where it was decided to start black badge protest from Monday.

A senior Vidhan Sabha official admitted that while Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand were carved out at the same time when Uttarakhand was formulated, but had come up with the state Assembly service rules long back.

The agitating employees also pointed out that as per Article 187 of the Indian Constitution, the legislature would have separate service rules and could not be governed by any other service rules linked to other department.

The new service rules will make the recruitment process in the state Assembly more credible and foolproof, apart from ensuring better pay, perk and other amenities for these employees. There are a total of 230 employees working with the state Assembly.

Pitthoragarh, July 29
The celebration of the famous stone war fair at Devidhura in Champawat district this year looks uncertain as the zila panchayat, the body which organises it every year, has refused to do so on financial grounds. “Until we are promised to be given grant from the state government to organise the fair, the zila panchayat is not in a position to host the Devidhura fair,” said Prema Pandey, chairman of the zila panchayat.

The Devidhura fair, which is famous for its stone war demonstration since time immemorial, attracts lakhs of tourists from the state and all over the country. The fair this year falls on September 1.

“The zila panchayat, which is already bearing a financial loss after the Puranagiri fair this year when its finances were denied on the forest land causing 40 per cent loss, is not in a position to organise the Devidhura fair as after 2008, the state government did not release any money for its organisation,” said Rajesh Kumar, chief executive officer of the panchayat.

According to estimates prepared by the panchayat, it needs Rs 4 lakh to organise the stone fair this year. “The cost of providing electricity, sanitation and erection of the main spot, where the stone war is held every year, it needs more than Rs 4 lakh,” said Kumar.

After the panchayat withdrew its hands from organising the fair, the district administration is now facing the pressure to organise it instead.

“The fair attracts more than three lakh spectators every year. The district administration will talk to the zila panchayat to find a lasting solution in organising it,” said TS Martolia, SDM of Lohaghat.

“We have requested the government to grant us Rs 3 lakh to organise the fair to which the government has given its assurance. If the assurance comes into reality, the panchayat will organise the fair,” said the chairman.

Pitthoragarh, July 29
Despite the Uttarakhand government declaring 15 van panchayats of the Munsiyari region in this district authorised to extract the Himalayan wonder drug yarsa gumba (Cordycep sinessys) and nominating the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) as a nodal agency to purchase it from the panchayats, the ambiguity over the legality of its exploitation and marketing remains as the drug has no users in the Indian medical system. “We are purchasing this drug from farmers and selling it in open market through auction since last year. The clients come from the Delhi market mainly,” said a source of the nigam.

According to Pitthoragarh District Forest Officer (DFO) Nishant Verma, 15 van panchayats of Munsiyari are gathering this drug from meadows at a height of 9,000 to 13,000 feet and selling it either to the Beshaj Sangh or the KMVN. “But no van panchayat from the Dharchula region where this drug is collected has been authorised by the government to collect it as most of the meadows there fall under the Askot Wildlife Sanctuary,” said the DFO.

Chandra Singh Negi, researcher from the Department of Zoology, PG College, Pitthoragarh, says the drug has a link from field gatherer to the consumer living in the China or Korean peninsula. “As per our studies, this herb is collected during the months of May and June by almost 400 families of 19 villages of Dharchula, Munsiyari and Chiplakot meadows and sold to well-off people from local villages. Thereafter, these secondary collectors sell it to contractors based at Dharchula and Munsiyari towns on advance payment, who further sell it to Tibetan brokers who trade it illegally either from Nepal or legally from Delhi. These international brokers sell the consignment of yarsa gumba to international pharmaceutical companies mostly based in China and Hong Kong,” says Negi.

Yarsa gumba, which is also known as “bu” in Tibet is found only on the 1,000-mile Tibetan plateau running between western China and Nepal. Tibetan nomads after sensing its international demand in China after 1993 are extracting it in large quantities every year and earning sometimes nearly Rs 50,000 per week during the months of May and June. “In China the centre of the yarsa gumba (Indian local name) trade is in Qinghai province and the Golong area where this herb is collected from all over the Himalayan region and traded internationally,” said Negi, quoting western media sources.

The miracle properties of yarsa gumba, which contains vitamin B12, mannitol, cordycepic acid, ergo sterol and 25 to 32 per cent cordycepin-3, deoxyandenosine, according to Negi’s research, has been useful for Chinese and Tibetans from centuries in boosting stamina, endurance, lung capacity, kidney function and of course aphrodisiac capacity of its user. “In recent times this drug became known to the rest of the world when Chinese women athletes broke international records in nine track and field events in 1993 World Athletics Championship and credited it to the use of yarsa gumba,” said Negi.

“The KMVN is not in a position to purchase the consignment of yarsa gumba from van panchayats of Munsiyari because they demand advance money which we are not in a position to pay,” said PS Bora, marketing officer, KMVN, adding that the nigam has purchased 8 kg of yarsa gumba in 2007-08 and thereafter it is being purchased by Beshaj Sangh (co-operative of herbal farmers) and auctioned by the Uttarakhand Van Nigam. “Due to this confusion in the trade of this costly fungus, the cases if this herb’s smuggling often surface when the primary collector or contractor tries to sell it to the potential clients from international market, which is a crime under 26 Forest Acts,” said Bora.

Haridwar, July 29
The women’s unit of the state Congress showed unity by coming on one platform yesterday. Talking to the media here, newly appointed city women chief Vimla Pandey said in her regime women cell would not only focus on political issues, but also on social issues that affected women at large.

Former state Women Commission chief Santosh Chauhan pointed that the women cell had been working towards socio-political issues.

The unity of the women party leaders was displayed with almost all district leaders present at the occasion, including former city chief Anju Dwivedei, state unit secretary Rama Chaudhari, Meera Raturi, councillors Karuna Sharma, Pinki Sharma, Veena Kapoor, Suman Aggarwal, Usha Sarkar, Asha Saini, Grace Kashyap, Babita Dhandriyal, Kalavati Devi and Subhadra Aggarwal

Dehradun, July 29
Uttarakhand unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has accused the ruling BJP of being slow in the utilisation of budget amounts.

Addressing newspersons in Dehradun, Manoj Dhyani, Uttarakhand General Secretary of NCP, said the BJP government had fared badly in the utilisation of funds. He said while the Centre had approved a budget of Rs 6,080 crore, the state government in the first four months of the current financial year had failed to utilise even a penny from this staggering budget. He said there was a tendency to put most of the budget to use during the last months of financial year, which led to unmindful expenditure.

The NCP leader also alleged that eight BJP leaders who were holding ministerial rank positions were putting unnecessary burden on state exchequer.