Dehradun, September 7
Employees and trade unions of various national and private banks, trade unions of both the CPI and the CPM, the Indian National Trade Union Congress, Uttarakhand Joint Trade Union, Centre of Indian Trade Union and Employees Union of SIDCUL, tea gardens, power sector, Jal Nigam, Jal Sansthan, Postal Department, anganwadi, ASHA organisation, defence industries, BSNL, Life Insurance Corporation and hotels participated in a one-day strike to press upon their demands, including minimum wages and other emoluments, effective public distribution system etc.

Elaborating on the basic demands of the union, Vijay Rawat, General Secretary (GS) of CPM, said, “We have demanded a tight leash on increasing prices of commodities, additional package for industries affected during the economic slowdown, effective enforcement of fundamental labour laws, constitution of a wage board and a committee to revisit minimum wages, to end the contract system, to provide basic financial and social security to employees and stop the public-private partnership system”.

While talking about the demands of the banking sector, the Uttaranchal Bank Employees Union General Secretary Jagmohan Mehdiratta said it was important to nationalise private banks, especially the ICICI, to publicise names of defaulters, include rural banks in sponsored banks and ban outsider agencies in banks.

He said the state was badly affected with the 5,000 employees going on strike and the banks got the maximum jolt with the transaction worth Rs 150 crore coming to a sudden halt.

The surprise element was the participation of the Congress Union. Jot Singh, Congress MLA from Mussoorie, fully advocated the employees’ rights for basic minimum wages and other emoluments such as Provident Fund, Social Security Fund etc.

KR Uniyal, who represented unions of Power, ATEC, Hotel and Tea Garden, said it was high time that the employees raised their voice against oppression meted out to them for years.

Purushottam Puri, GS of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, asked for a total ban on PPP mode of style of functioning which was against the interests of employees.

Ashok Verma, GS of Zila Chai Bagban Mazdoor Sabha, said that their wages, which remained static at Rs 2,229 for last eight years, needed to be revised after every five years.

Representing interests of women community in Anganbari, Janki Chauhan, GS said their salaries should be increased from Rs 3,000. She threatened to launch a protest at the Vidhan Sabha during the monsoon session.

Dharmanand Bhatt, GS of hotels, said their long working hours should be reduced. Krishan Guniyal, GS of unorganised sector, asked for proper regulation of 80 per cent employees who were employed through contract system in various organisations and departments.

Dehradun, September 7
The 12 ropeway projects worth Rs 350 crore started by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) in 2005-07 are moving at a snail’s pace because of which many projects are now being transferred from the Uttarakhand Development Corporation (UDC) to the Uttarakhand Infrastructure Project Company (UIPC) to expedite the progress of the projects. Construction work has not been started in even a single project till date.

The Muni Ki Reti-Kunjapuri Ropeway project in Tehri, costing Rs 49 crore, is being transferred from the UIPC to the UDC. This project, initiated in 2005, has merely submitted a report to the UTDB and held a meeting with forest officials in these five years.

Similarly, the Kasar Devi Almora Ropeway project in Almora, costing Rs 1.70 crore, is also being transferred in the same fashion. After merely submitting a preliminary report in the UTDB, the matter got stuck in settling land issues.

The third project, Snow View to Zoo in Nainital, worth Rs 20 crore, is also changing hands from the UDC to the UIPC for the simple reason that till date only the prelim report has been submitted in this project.

Two projects out of a total of four proposed got scrapped for being unfeasible.

The one in Pitthoragarh, connecting three sites, Dhwaj, Ancholi and Kapileshwar, and the second project from Chakrata to Tiger Fall in Dehradun were not found feasible, and thus dropped. For the rest two, Panchkedar Kalpeshwar Mahadev in Chamoli and Chanti, Dhobra and Pratapnagar in Tehri, launched by the Chief Minister, the work has been handed over to the UIPC. There is no tangible progress in these projects either.

In the case of the Munshyari-Khaliyatop Ropeway, a study report has been deposited to the UTDB. The UIPC is yet to submit a proposal regarding this project.

In the Surkunda Devi Ropeway project in Tehri, costing Rs 3.35 crore, merely a project report has been prepared till now.

The activity at the Rambara-Kedarnath project in Rudraprayag, costing Rs 70 crore, got slower after the Request For Question (RFQ) was cancelled due to the high rates put across, which were beyond the permitted parameters.

The UDEC is now again preparing a fresh RFQ. The Finance and Planning Department has also raised some questions on the RFP.

The Centre has released Rs 9 lakh for the preparation of the Detail Progress Report (DPR) of the Janki-Chatti-Yamunotri Ropeway in Uttarkashi, estimated at Rs 30 crore. The direction has been passed on to the officer concerned to acquire 1.7-hectare land. The District Magistrate has sent a proposal for Rs 86.18 lakh to acquire the said land. The project report for the the Barsu-Barnala-Dayara Ropeway of the same district has only been deposited till now.

For the Mussoorie-Dehradun ropeway (Purukul to Mussoorie), worth Rs 8 crore, the land has been cleared last year. Around 7.174 and 0.108 hectare land had been acquired and for 10.9,560 hectare private land, Section 4 has been enforced. But now it is being amended to convert the figures into 7.174 hectare.

In the Mussoorie-Kempty Falls, the Shrinagar-Pauri Ropeway Project (Rs 40 crore) at Pauri and the Rani Keth Chobtiya Ropeway in Almora (Rs 75 crore), all started in 2006-07, the matter has moved from the DPR to the proposal sent to the Central government.

Because of a single bid in the Thuligad-Purnagiri Ropeway, worth Rs 17 crore, the project has been pushed for a second round of tenders.

This project started in 2006 has registered somewhat a good progress in comparison to others, as the stages of the DPR, proposal to the Centre and the RFP have been completed.

For the Rishikesh-Neelkanth Project, worth Rs 33 crore, the RFQ cancelled for citing higher rates is being revised. The RFP is lying with the Financial and Planning Department that has sought a few queries in the project.

Five years down the line, only this much headway has been made in these projects which were started with a huge hype, claiming to transform the tourist scenario for once and all.

Mussoorie, September 7
Trade unions in Mussoorie organised a huge rally in support of the nationwide strike called by CITU and other trade unions in the city today.

Workers from various restaurants, hotels, schools and other institutions marched shouting slogans against the government in the state and Centre.

The rally culminated at the Gandhi Chowk where trade union leaders addressed the gathering criticising both governments for failing to implement the minimum wage plan.

Sunil Kumar, leader of the Mazdoor Sangh, said governments were playing with the right of the workers in the name of labour reforms. This wouldn’t be tolerated at any cost, he said.

Sunil Kumar added that the Uttarakhand government had determined the minimum wage for workers in private sector vide GO no 758/Viii 228 labour/2001 dated 28 April 2005 which was full of anomalies and needed to be rectified, but nothing had been done so far.

The state government has not even formed an advisory committee. This shows its callous attitude towards workers, he added.

Trade union leaders demanded immediate implementation of the minimum wage. The other demands were that a worker’s salary should be around Rs 8000 per month. The annual increment should be around 5 per cent and the housing allowance should be 25 per cent.

Newly constructed guest houses and schools should also be incorporated under labour laws. The leaders alleged that various English medium schools were exploiting workers by given them meagre salaries in the name of charity organisations while they were charging huge fees and donations.

Construction workers demanded a minimum daily wage of Rs 275 and for mason around Rs 350. The Sobhan Singh Group of Workers held the rally separately. This group is opposed to the old trade union in the town from the last elections.

Haridwar, September 7
The repercussions of the nationwide strike called by various trade unions were felt in district with official work being adversely affected.

People were perturbed due to the one-day strike which was called by various organisations to register their resentment against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) -led Central government’s policies and rising inflation.

With banking, insurance, industries, share market, small traders and vendors joining hands, the impact of the strike was felt throughout the Integrated Industrial Estate.

Employees of many industrial units participated in the strike while many cases of stopping of trucks were reported. This affected the ferrying of industrial goods.

As in these industrial units, there are no specific registered unions, so employees and workers couldn’t come out openly to join the protest. Organisations involved in the strike went ahead with different protests of their own. The Uttaranchal Bank Employees Union, BHEL Unit Employees Union and CITU gathered under one banner and took out a massive rally in the city.

Two companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary had been put on alert throughout the day in case the situation got out of control of the local police.

Employees and members of labour unions gathered at the Bhagat Singh Chowk with red flags in hand raising slogans against the UPA government’s policies.

At Devpura Chowk, bank and insurance employees joined in. Traffic got halted as union leaders addressed agitators in large numbers.

Uttaranchal Bank Employees Union state vice-president NB Kapoor lashed out at the UPA’s policies that have left India on the threshold of unemployment, price rise, instability, unrest among employees and poor.

Issuing a warning to the Central government, Kapoor said that this was only a symbolic strike, but if their demands were not met soon, then a bigger protest was sure to follow which eventually would destabilise the government.

Small traders, including vendors, marched from the City Magistrate’s office in a huge rally towards Upper Road criticising the Centre for its anti-poor policies which has left common man reeling under numerous problems.

Leading the Small Scale Traders Association, Sanjay Chopra said that though on the one hand, the Central government has chalked out various social welfare schemes, yet on the other, big industrialists and capitalists are being encouraged.

“Small traders like us are being ignored and this has made our future uncertain. We are suffering due to the pro-multinational and capitalist policies of the Centre,” he said.

Besides the SBI, no other banks witnessed any transaction posing problems for the customers. Similar was the situation at offices of the LIC, BSNL and both units - CFFP and HEEP - of BHEL.

Elaborate security arrangements had been made by the district police with heavy deployment of police personnel at the rallies and at major venues like BHEL.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Janmayjay Khanduri was made in charge of the BHEL with heavy deployment of the local police ensuring peaceful conduct of the strike.

Dehradun, September 7
In the backdrop of scuffles and discrepancies, the polling for college students council was held at DAV PG College here today. With some cases of fraud voting, 5,617 votes have been cast today.

Since morning, the college campus was abuzz with students thronging to cast their votes for the college students council. Dancing on the tunes of dhols (drums) and loudspeakers, students jam-packed the locations of Karanpur, EC Road and DL Road. In spite of the recommendations from the college election body for barring further election campaign, students witnessed canvassing of their representatives within the premises even today. The crowd outside DAV was seen trying to canvass maximum in the last hour of the polls.

The college administration and the deployed cops were on their toes today. They were on vigil to conduct free and fair polling at the college. There were 22 booths set up within the campus with chief proctor along with a team of 22 faculties to keep a check throughout the elections. The entire administration was on high alert too with proper checking of the identity of voters at the entrance.

The contestants were seen meeting students personally in the college, while supporters of both parties, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), with the luxury of a large budget have provided voters with vehicles to come to the polling booths.

Amid the hovering crowd, shopkeepers at Karanpur also kept their shops closed for the entire day to avoid chaos by college students, but opened these in the evening.

Rakesh Verma, chief election officer of DAV, informed that 34 per cent votes had been registered today for 11 posts of the college students council. “The total number of voters have come out to 5,617, out of which 1,767 had been cast by girls and the rest 3,850 by boys”.

It is also been learnt that a case of scuffle was witnessed during the polling session where a student was taken to a hospital. Denying any such mishap, Verma said, “The entire procedure of voting went off peacefully with no sign of ruckus or untoward incident inside the campus today. Some two-three students were caught by the police for casting fake votes, but were later released with a warning”.

The results of today's polling will be declared tomorrow, September 8.

Mussoorie, September 7
Mussoorie Palika ward members treading on the path shown recently by Members of Parliament in increasing their own salary also demanded a fixed honorarium or salary in the Board meeting.

Ward members cited the example of Landour Cantt Board where the honorarium amount is given to the members. All members seemed united on the issue.

Palika President OP Uniyal said it was a sensitive issue and would be decided in the next Board meeting. The Mussoorie Municipal Board also gave nod to organising the Autumn Festival this year too. It was decided that the festival would be organised in October after the culmination of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

According to the Palika president, this year president of Tourism Committee Sushil Agarwal would head the committee and give a final report on the dates and modalities within 15 days. The Autumn Festival is held annually in Mussoorie, but last year several irregularities had been reported in the media in which certain organisations had allegedly embezzled funds on the pretext of the festival tender distribution.

It was also decided in the meeting that the Palika would conduct a tree plantation drive on its land. The Board also decided to hire five technical and experienced linemen to attend streetlights in the town.

Regarding the Town Hall construction, several members suggested that the Palika should construct the Town Hall with its own money, to which ward member Sushil Kumar objected and said the Town Hall construction required finances amounting to Rs 10 crore which it was unable to dole out.

Hence, it was decided that the Town Hall would be given either on lease or in a joint venture where all powers were vested with the Palika.

Chief Secretary NS Napalchayal had refused the proposal and directed the Palika to construct the Town Hall with its own resources. It was also decided that the Palika would buy one Ambassador car for the Palika President as the previous one was stolen near New Delhi.

Sushil Agarwal, Kedar Singh Chauhan, Executive Officer Rohtash Sharma and others were present on the occassion.

Dehradun, September 7
Two persons were arrested while attempting a theft at the house of a Vijaynagar resident, Raipur, last night. The police claimed it nabbed the two in a raid following information of a theft attempt.

However, sources said thieves were arrested by the family of the house after they heard some sound of persons in their house. The family members after catching them started shouting, following which neighbours also rushed to nab the two.

Residents thrashed them and called up the police. The cops arrested them and put them in a lockup. Mani Ram, in whose house the theft was attempted, runs a shop.

The thieves have been identified as Ahmed and Manoj. The police said it had recovered a stolen phone from their possession. 

Dehradun, September 7
St Joseph Academy, Col Brown School and Carman School, Dalanwala, won their respective quarterfinals during the Senior Council Football Tournament underway at St Joseph Academy here today.

The host team scored an easy 5-1 victory over St Jude in the first quarterfinal. Abhishek scored a brace (15th and 20th) in the win of St Joseph. While Arya (fifth), Prabhanshu Gairola (28th) and Jovin Mathew (59th) netted a goal each.

Waynebarret (58th) was the lone scorer for the losing side. Also, Col Brown School defeated Guru Nanak Academy 3-0 in the second quarterfinal. Surashek P (15th), Anant Soni (50th) and Naveen Gairola (60th) shone in the win of GNA.

Whereas Moravian School lost a good fought battle to Carman School, Dalanwala by 1-0. Nitesh Dangwal (48th) fashioned the win of Carman helping it saving the semifinal seat. Meanwhile, in a pre-quarterfinal GRD Niranjanpur knocked out Doon School 1-0. Anurag (48th) scored the lone goal.

Dehradun, September 7
The fifth day of the RIMC Soccer Cup saw tremendous skills, zeal and enthusiasm in the boys. The results of the matches held on the fifth day are as follows:

1. Assam valley School Vs Army School Clement Town.

Result : AVS won 1-0. Scorers: Dilun-1.

2. Welham Boys Vs Asian School. Result: WBS won 2-0. Scorers: Kishlay-1, Shantabhya-1.

3. Tibatan Nehru memorial Vs The Doon School.

Result: TNM won 2-1. Scorers: Kalsang-1 (TNM), Dorjee-1 (TNM), Udav -1(DS).

4. RIMC Vs St Josephs Academy. Result: RIMC won 6-4. Scorers: Ayush-2 (RIMC), Aman-1 (RIMC), Guninder-1 (RIMC), Nelson-1 (RIMC), Surya-1 (RIMC), Rana-1 (SJA)

Dophen-1 (SJA), P Ganesh-1 (SJA) and Mathew-1 (SJA).

The highlight of the day was the match between the RIMC and the SJA in which the first half was overwhelmingly dominated by the SJA, who had a lead of 2-0 over the hosts. The match took a drastic turn in the second half when RIMC earned a free kick outside the penalty area then a penalty which was successfully converted in a goal by cadet Ayush, thus creating new hopes for the RIMC.

After a few minutes, cadet Aman Kumar successfully converted a beautiful pass by cadet Arjun into a goal, thus levelling the score. A series of attacks and counter attacks followed. The match ended a blunt 2-2.

In the penalty shootout, the RIMCOs exhibited their mental toughness by successfully scoring four out of the five penalties where the SJA lacked putting the ball inside the post.

The star player of the day was cadet Surya Prakash, RIMC goalkeeper, who not only walled the RIMC post but also scored the deciding goal in the penalty shoot out.

The semi finals of the RIMC Soccer Cup will be played tomorrow. The schedule of the matches is as follows: 1.RIMC Vs AVS 2.WBS Vs TNMFS .

Dehradun, September 7
Shri Guru Ram Rai (SGRR), Balawala, beat SGRR Bombay Bagh 6-5 in the tiebreaker round in a hard fought knock-out match on the first day of the SGRR CBSE Sahodaya Complex Inter-School Football Tournament here today.

Both two sides put up a splendid performance to have their stake in the tournament as both scored three goals each. Rajat struck a hat-trick for Bombay Bagh scoring in the 30th, 37th and 40th minutes.

Ankit Bisht (22nd), Vikram (50th) and Vikas (55th) scored a goal each for the Balawala team. After the match ended on 3-3 in the stipulated time, penalty shoots were taken. Only Rajat and Ashish could find the target in penalty shootouts for Bombay Bagh while Rajbir, Alkit and Vikas scored for Balawala to help their side win.

The SGRR Nehru Gram drubbed SGRR Race Course 3-0 in another match. Ashish (12th, 42th) and Sandeep (23rd) scored in the win.

Also, SGRR Shastradhara posted one-sided win over SGRR Bindal 4-0. Akash Mal (15th and 52nd) scored a brace while Rahul (22nd) and Abhay Thapa (35th) netted a goal each to guide their team to an easy victory.

Meanwhile, SGRR Shaspur did not reach for its scheduled match against SGRR Talab and the latter got walkover.

Dehradun, September 7
Sambhu Prasad Mamgai and Deepak Kumar paired to beat Sunil Joshi and Man Singh 29-12 in a lucky double match of the Bar Association Carrom Tournament that began today on the district court premises.

In another lucky double match, Harender and SS Mehra defeated Ram Singh Rawat and SC Gairola 29-12. While in the last closely contested match, Rajender Kumar with Ajay Bisht beat Suresh Joshi and Vivek Joshi 29-26.

All the matches were played on a knockout basis and the teams that won the matches today entered the second round of the tournament. During the competition the matches will be played in three different categories namely singles, doubles and lucky doubles.