Dehradun, September 8
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will be launching an ambitious scheme linked to strengthening of van panchayats in Dehradun tomorrow.

Addressing mediapersons here, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr RBS Rawat said the Forest Department favoured more of people participation in the management of van panchayats and had taken strengthening of 350 van panchayats in the scheme for 2010-2011. He said the Chief Minister would be launching the scheme.

“The scheme will help in the creation of livelihood opportunities for the villagers,” the PCCF pointed out adding that the fund would be put to use in the scheme. He said the state Forest Department was committed to the strengthening of van panchayats and also aimed to link these to other development schemes.

He held that the department had been contemplating allowing van panchayats to go for exploitation of precious Yarsa Gumba and asserted that it would lead to increase in their earnings.

SS Sharma, PCCF, van panchayat, said eight Van panchayats that had played a commendable role in dealing with forest fires would also be honoured at the programme.

He said the programme would also witness the launching of the logo of van panchayat.

Sarpanches from various van panchayats will be attending the programme. They will also be imparted an extensive training.

Dehradun, September 8
“We are the ones who created this state. We are not thieves that security men would shut their gates on us. It seems that we committed a big mistake by creating this state as only the Chief Minister and the District Magistrate seem to be ruling over this.

“The Chief Minister does not listen to us. Despite prior appointment, the District Magistrate, too, slipped away from this place without meeting us. Do we old women have no work in the world that we will keep waiting for his return? Nevertheless, we too will not go back without meeting him, no matter how late it gets,” said Beena Bhatt, senior member of the Uttarakhand Mahila Sadbhavna Manch, an organisation of women fighters who fought for the formation of the state.

She was shouting at a bunch of police personnel and the District Magistrate staff for locking the gates on the women when they sought entry on the premises.

The pain of this group of 46 women, fighters of statehood, was evident, as they got fully drenched in the rain when the securitymen kept the gates closed. It was after they vehemently protested that the gates were open. Several among these were very old, in late 70s or 80s.

By the time they moved to the verandah and occupied the chairs laid down for visitors, they had lost their cool, which reflected in their frustration over many issues.

Parvati Payal, another freed statehood fighter, cribbed that despite having their own state, their children still did not have jobs, they were fighting for their rights, hydro-projects were closing down and so on.

Their affection and sense of belongingness for their state were palpable which is why they fumed at being ill-treated by those who are now living in the independent state.

Asha Kera, president of the organisation, informed about the reason of their visit, saying, “There should be a separate welfare policy, pension benefits and allocation of multi-purpose identity cards for the women who contributed to the 90 per cent of the struggle.

“Besides, the state government should constitute a core committee comprising representatives of statehood women organisations and other statehood strugglers”. She also asked for abandonment of a prejudiced approach adopted in enforcing all welfare policies released by the state government for the statehood strugglers.

The women in one voice asked for 10 per cent reservation to young children of the fighters while filling the 12,000 vacancies for government jobs. 

Nainital, September 8
Peeved at the absence of officials responsible for implementing the Rajiv Gandhi Vidyitikaran Yojana at a meeting held to address public grievances, District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli has asked Chief Development Officer (CDO) Deepak Rawat to issue notices to them.

The meeting to address the public grievances of residents of Majyuli village chosen under the Atal Adarsh Gram Yojana was held at Mahtoliya village in the Paharpani area located about 100 km from here. Bagauli asked the officials present at the meet to spend Rs 10,000 provided to them for sanitation purposes for cleaning the drains, water tanks and spraying disinfectants on the natural water resources. He also called for setting up dustbins in the Mahtoliya Gram Sabha area and said more money would be provided once these works were done.

Officials of the Power Department have been told to provide power connections to families falling in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category at the earliest. When people of Nadgal village raised the issue of a pedestrian path to the village being washed away in the rains, the officials were asked to prepare a proposal for building a new path as soon as possible.

Bagauli instructed that in the villages of Nadgal and Mahtoliya, jobs for conserving and collection of water sources, along with those aimed at preventing the erosion of land, be done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). He also warned that people who did not work under MNREGA despite getting job cards made this year stood the chance to have their job cards cancelled in the next financial year.

The residents of the region appealed to the District Magistrate to appoint a doctor at Paharpani. They also requested that alterations be made in the road being constructed through Kafrauli village so that there was minimum loss of agricultural fields. They called for a fresh survey of the proposed road. Bagauli instructed the officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) to hold consultations with the villagers and make a fresh proposal according to their convenience.

The officials of the Jal Sansthan were ordered to get the water supply lines to Nadgal cleaned within the fortnight so that people got a regular water supply. The villagers were asked to come up with a new proposal for a fresh scheme that could be executed under the Sector Wide Area Approach Programme (SWAP).

Bagauli instructed the officials of the Power Department to repair the electricity wires that were hanging dangerously across Mahtoliya village. He also asked the villagers to construct toilets in every household under the Total Sanitation Campaign and avail the benefits of the scheme.

When the issue of two old women not having got oldage pension since 2008 was raised before him, he asked the Social Welfare Officer to get the amount due to them disbursed within a fortnight. He also asked the officials to present a survey report on the irrigation facilities in Majyuli to him at the earliest.

Pitthoragarh, September 8
Acting on an FIR lodged on August 10, the Pitthoragarh police has exposed a big job scam spread across Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Haryana. Unemployed youths were being duped on the pretext of getting them jobs in the Railways.

“The persons running the scam had their headquarters at Siliguri in  West Bengal and duped many unemployed youths of crore of rupees,” said Nilesh Aanand Bharare,  SP, Pitthoragarh.

“When our officer went to investigate after the lodging of the FIR under Sections 420 and 406 last month, he found that the suspects collected Rs 4-6 lakh from the aspiring youths for jobs in the Railways and transferred the amount to Siliguri where our team found sufficient proof of money being sent to these accounts,” said SP Pitthoragarh.

“After the money reached Siliguri, the head of the group withdrew it immediately. Our team found no money in the accounts,” he said adding that the kingpin of the  group was Babblu Yadav. “Vishnu Kant Sharma, Anil Yadav, Ravi Kumar and Sameer Kumar used to run the gang and withdraw money from the accounts.

“Our investigating team found a hotel at Siliguri where the head of the group, Babblu Yadav, stayed for  three months just to manage the money being sent from other states,” said the SP

He added that Babblu was a resident of Bakhtiyarpur of Saharsa district of Bihar. “We have arrested Babblu Yadav and Anil Yadav from Bakhtiyarpur police station at Nainpur village,” he said.

According to the Pitthoragarh police, Vishnu Kant Sharma’s real name was Praveen Kumar and he hailed from Bhagalpur. He would introduce himself as Assistant  Personnel Officer of the Railways  at Siliguri.

In connivance with a railway accountant at Siliguri, the accounts office of the Regional Manager of  the Railways was kept open with  the help of two railway employees - Tushar Kanti Dey and  Rajendra Pashwan.

On non-working days, these men used to introduce candidates to the ‘fake’ Regional Manager and took the remaining money after issuing fake appointment letters to the candidates.

“The candidates would get to know about the scam only when they reached the assigned Railways office to join duty,” said the SP.

“So far, nearly 50 youths from Jammu and Kashmir, 20 from Punjab, 20 from Uttar Pradesh, 20 from Haryana and 40 youths from Uttarakhand have been duped by this gang, he said.

Haridwar, September 8
The Uttarakhand unit of the All-India Hindu Personal Law Board came into existence exactly a year back, yet in its short span of tenure it has worked commendably in varied fields, particularly those related to the registering of rivers, temples, pilgrim centres, trusts and stopping encroachments on these as well as propagating the Indian culture.

To commemorate the occasion, a function was held at the Town Hall here wherein members of the board as well as dignitaries from a cross-section of the society participated dwelling on the role and mobilising the network of the board.

Lauding the efforts of the Uttarakhand Board Working Committee, state Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik said a majority of the people belonging to the Hindu society would get attached with the board giving a right message to the country.

Kaushik said, “The way the Hindu Personal Board is working is quite commendable as it’s bringing the Hindu society under one roof. These efforts definitely will be bringing peace and development not only in the state, but also in the country and bringing world peace,” said Kaushik.

Informing that the board had been formed in over 13 states, including Uttarakhand, national president of the board Dr SS Yadav said the board was doing effective work in these states and efforts were in the right direction to establish units in rest of the 16 states.

“We are getting a tremendous response while more and more people are getting affiliated with the organisation and it’s in the best interests of the Hindu society that this board is formed all over the country to protect the interests of the society and spreading of Hinduism, Hindi language and development of Hindustan,” said Dr Yadav.

Noted residents were also felicitated with honorary awards with Som Dutt Khshetriya, who has been working on the Ganga conservation, being conferred the Hindu Ratna Award. Ram Moorti Veer was given award in education sector, Neelam Sehgal for social services, Madan Kaushik for politics, Dr Vijay Garg in medical field and KL Dutt for conservation of the Hindus at the function.

Those who graced the occasion were state vice-president Krishan Pal Chauhan, state secretary Puja Bhati, Ashok Gupta, Amardeep Jayaswal, along with representatives of Shiv Sena, Jat Mahasabha, Veer Sawarkar Yuva Sangathan, Uttarakhand Sikh Federation, Vaisya Samaj, Uttaranchal Press Club, Industries Association of Uttarakhand and others.

Among other issues that the All-India Hindu Personal Law Board has been taking up are to revive the Gurukul tradition of education, Vedic rituals, spreading peace, love, harmony among society people, researches on religious epics, maintenance and management of Hindu temples, pilgrims as well as their security, eradicating various ills-affecting Hindu society, halting the spread of westernised-immoral culture, to organise under one banner all Hindus living in the Indian territory as well as in foreign countries and providence of education, particularly for womanhood.

Haridwar, September 8
Urging people to take a pledge to protect the environment as they alongside take vows to save national integrity, religions and culture, former Union State Home Minister Swami Chinmayanad said, “By this way alone we can save our country and the whole world as environmental conservation is the need of the hour”.

Chinmayanad was speaking at a religious function at Jai Ram Ashram held to commemorate the sixth death anniversary of Guru Devendra Swaroop Brahmachari here today. The day was marked as Smriti Diwas with saints participating in large numbers from the city and Rishikesh, while devotees from across the country attended the commemorative ceremony.

Ot the occasion another former Union State Home Minister ID Swami also highlighted the role of a religious guru in one’s life and termed Guru Dev Devendra Swaroop Brahamchari as an angel human being and paid floral tributes to the revered guru.

Chief of Jai Ram Ashram Peethadheeshwar Braham Swaroop Brahamchari on her spiritual religious guru Devendra Swaroop Brahamchari said in life every problem’s solution could be attained by the blessing and remembrance of his or her guru.

On the occasion present among others were Dr Shyam Sunder Das who presided over the event, Mahant Mahendra Singh, Vyas Hari Chetnanand, Mahant Rajendra Da, Baba Hatyogi, Mahant Kedar Puri, Mahant Kamal Das, Mahant Panch Deva Nand, Mahant Mohan Singh, Mahant Vinay Saraswat, Mahant Satpal Brahamchari and Mahant Balbir Singh.

Devotional songs were also presented with Pawan Godiyal singing the Ganesh Vandana followed by Saraswati and Radha-Krishna bhajans.

Deputy Inspector General of Mela Police Alok Sharma also attended with family the devotional song evening.

Dehradun, September 8
A commemorative programme to mark the International Girl Child Day was held at MKP (PG) College here today. The programme was a collaborative effort of the women's cell of MKP College and The Rotary Club, Dehradun.

To ensure an auspicious beginning of the programme, the proceedings began with the lighting of the lamp.

The chief guest of the ceremony was Ravendra Mantriwal, PCS, District Protection Officer, accompanied by Rajwar, Deputy Director, Directorate of Higher Education, Dehradun.

The programme was conducted under the adept guidance of Principal, MKP College, Dr Indu Singh, who delivered the welcome speech followed by an introduction of the Inner Wheel Club by Shail Dhingra.

The topic of the day related to the girl child was introduced by Inner Wheel Club who also presented very relevant power point presentation was given by Dr Balodi, convener of the women cell. The presentation was followed by a question-hour session wherein many serious queries related to the issue were raised.

The vote of thanks was delivered by Asha Srivastava, president of the Rotary Club.

Haridwar, September 8
Perturbed after facing apathy and neglect from the police, two sisters Jaya and Jyoti Bhatia have threatened self-immolation if the police fails to find their brother who has been missing under mysterious circumstances for the past three months.

The incident falls under the Kankhal police station wherein an auto-rickshaw driver named Teetu Khurana, a resident of Pahari Bazar, was last seen on June 6. Family members of Teetu complained at the police station, but after almost three months the police has failed to trace any evidence of his disappearance.

Initially, Teetu’s wife had lodged a police complaint, but later Teetu’s mother filed another complaint against her daughter-in-law Anita and three other suspects of having a hand in the abduction of her son.

Aggrieved by the delay which, according to family members of Teetu, is due to sheer negligence and indifferent attitude of the police authorities, the two sisters have openly declared to commit self-immolation if the police fails to get any substantial evidence of their brother by September 17.

Pointing that their brother’s case has been handled poorly with the police favouring the suspects, Jaya said for the past three months they had met Kankhal police officials as well as other district officials numerous times, but no heed had been paid to their complaint and grievance.

“If by September 17 the police fails to produce some evidence or shed some light on the matter, we will go in for self-immolation at the Kankhal police station itself as we fear our brother’s life is in danger and has been deliberately conspired by his own wife,” said Jaya.

Meanwhile, regarding this whole episode, Kankhal police officials said the allegations of laxity and being bias were baseless and uncalled for. “The police has taken up the case on priority and the family members should support us and not create hurdles by deviating our attention or pressurising us by such unlawful acts,” said Naveen Chandra, SHO of the police station.

Notably, yesterday Shakti Tyagi, union president of Shravan Nath Math Jawaharlal Nehru College, had attempted self-immolation in broad daylight at the college gate.

He too wanted the police to take stern action against the accused named in a police complaint at Jwalapur police station for beating up an ABVP executive member. He was arrested and later freed on bail by the City Magistrate, but these two incidents have made the social atmosphere tense in the city.

Nainital, September 8
Two residents of Rudrapur were killed when the car in which they were travelling had a head-on collision with a Delhi-bound bus on the Rampur Road yesterday afternoon. The deceased have been identified as 24-year-old Farman and 26-year-old Dhirendra. They were on their way to Haldwani to provide their services to a client. They were into the business of repairing generators. Their co-passenger Rajendra was seriously injured and is being treated in a hospital in Haldwani.

According to sources, the impact of the collision was such that the car took a U-turn and the bodies of the two victims got entangled in the damaged vehicle. They were taken out with the help of metal cutters.

The bus carrying 35 passengers also slid about 50 m after the brakes were applied before it got off the road. Luckily it did not overturn. Barring a small child, none of the passengers was injured and they were put onto other buses for their further journey.