Haridwar October 20
A first of its kind situation is being witnessed at the tobacco giant Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) located at SIDCUL. A major tussle is going on between agitating employees and company management on various issues with the production unit suffering heavily. The agitation is being carried out within the company premises due to which production work is on hold.

The issue started with the suspension of an employee on charges of trying to form union in the company unit. The matter has now escalated as more than 1,000 employees from different inter-ITC units are in support of the agitation till their demands were not met.

Employees have formed the Karmachari Mahasangh, which has been agitating with the support of several others. The sangh has demanded instant withdrawal of the suspension orders of the two employees along with a provision of Rs 8,000 as basic salary and an on par bonus of 20 per cent and an inquiry into the alleged harassment of labour employees by the unit management officers.

Trouble for the management has increased as several other city labour unions are supporting the agitation. The BHEL Labour Union, CITU, BSNL Employees Union, the Rajya Karmachari Sanyukta Parishad, the ATUC and several others are supporting to the ongoing agitation. The supporters have stated the ITC management has been exploiting the employees despite concession being given to the company under special industrial package since its establishment in Haridwar.

“This is a sheer violation of employee’s rights as company management is curbing the agitation by using suspension, termination and other pressure tactics. Those willing to support the agitation are being threatened of dire consequences by the company managers while their own employees are without food and shelter for past two days demanding genuine demands,” said trade union leader RP Jakhmola.

The management has refuted the claims of the employee’s termination by citing other reasons behind the whole episode, which are not being disclosed by the suspended employees. Though officially the local unit HR managers said they had apprised the company headquarters regarding the episode and all decisions would be taken by higher officials who would be visiting the Haridwar unit.

Dehradun, October 20
The government of Uttarakhand is committed towards working for the welfare of the Army personnel, and the government has taken many steps in the interest of the soldiers and their families. This was stated by Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank while addressing a gathering at a programme held at Sheeshambara, Sahaspur Block, to lay the foundation stone of a residential colony of the Army Welfare Housing Organisation today.

Dr Nishank said every family in Uttarakhand was directly associated with the Army, as on an average one member of each family was serving the country by working in the armed forces. He said Uttarakhand was the only state in the country where an ex-soldier block representative each had been appointed in all blocks with a view to working as a bridge between the District Soldier Welfare Offices and the soldiers living in the remote areas of the state. Besides, the facility of toll-free telephone was being provided only in the state in the whole country. The annual as well as the lumpsum amount given to the gallantry award winners of the state had been increased manifold.

The Chief Minister said a proposal for opening another Sainik School, like Ghorakhal Sainik School, had been sent to the Union government and about 9,000 ex-soldiers had got employment through the UPNL. The assistance given to the non-pensioner soldiers and soldiers’ widows of the Second World War had been increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000. The housing assistance grant given to the widows of the war martyrs and the discharged war-disabled soldiers had been increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

The computer training given to the ex-soldiers and soldiers’ widows had also been improved with a view to making it more fruitful for them. Scholarships to the students of Uttarakhand state studying in the Sainik Schools situated outside the state had also been approved. Uttarakhand is the only state in the country to have extended such a facility.

Dr Nishank said 23 soldier rest houses were being run in the state at present while six were under construction. Besides, process of land-transfer in 34 places was going on. “Orders have been issued to all District Magistrates and Commissioners for solving the problems faced by the serving soldiers, ex-soldiers, and their dependants on a priority basis,” the Chief Minister added.

The former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Major-Gen BC Khanduri (retd), said various steps taken by the government of Uttarakhand for the welfare of the soldiers would boost their morale. He said it was good to see that the government and the Army was concerned and committed to working for the welfare of the soldiers and their families.

MLA Ganesh Joshi said the government of Uttarakhand had taken one more step for the welfare of the soldiers and their families by providing land on cheaper rates for the construction of residential colony for the soldiers.

The Vice-Army Chief, Lieut-Gen PC Bharadwaj, thanked the Chief Minister for the steps taken by the government of Uttarakhand for the welfare of the ex-servicemen, soldiers and their families and appreciated the efforts being made by the state government in this direction.

The Army Welfare Housing Organisation CMD, Major-Gen S Narsimhan, said 665 houses would be made available in the residential complex spread on about 16 acres. He said some of these houses would also be kept under the Jay Jawan Residential Scheme. A community centre, shops, schools, etc, would also be made available in this residential colony in addition to other modern and latest facilities. He also said all proposed houses would be constructed on the concept of Green Building and facility of rain water harvesting would also be there in these houses.

MLA of Sahaspur Rajkumar, a former MP, Lt-Gen TPS Rawat (retd), army officers, ex-servicemen and their families in large number were also present.

Mussoorie, October 20
The infighting in members of the All-India Rahul Brigade has come out in the open. This was revealed in a press briefing held at the Press Club of Mussoorie today.

State president of the brigade Sunit Singh Rathore alleged that the ousted members of the brigade organised a function on the occasion of the brigade’s foundation day on October 18 fraudulently at Ramnagar as reported in the media in which they misled president of the state Congress Yashpal Arya and invited him as the chief guest.

Rathore said when Arya was apprised of the situation correctly, he informed that the members had written a letter to him on the old letterhead bearing the names of the fraudulent members.

Rathore, criticising the ousted members Mahanand Bhardwaj, Dhaneshwari Ghildyal and others, said he came to know about the alleged function only through the media and as the reports suggested that the members had also formed their own units in Kumaon which were not acceptable to the brigade at any cost. He added that this act of the ousted members was condemnable and severe action would be taken soon. He also informed that these members had been ousted by national president Rajendar Panchal and they were duly informed about it earlier, but despite that they had committed this fraud due to which the brigade was in quandary. Rathore said this act of these members would be considered unpardonable and an offence for which he had updated senior leaders of the brigade, including Rahul and Sonia Gandhi.

Rahul warned such members that they should not indulge in such frivolous activities and try to fulfill their personal agenda by misleading the person of the stature of the state Congress president. He said such members were projecting the Congress ideology in despicable way, which was unpardonable and not in the interest of the brigade. He further stated that the brigade was also planning to take course of the law against such members who had defamed the brigade and Rahul Gandhi.

On the other hand, the state president when contacted on the phone by Sunit Rathore said he was kept in the dark about the function and that was the reason he consented to attend the function of the ousted members. The brigade members were to donate blood and provide relief to the natural disaster victims.

Dehradun, October 20
The Uttarakhand Telecom Circle today awarded 11 of its employees for their excellent services.

Presenting the awards, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar praised the Telecom Department for honouring employees with excellent work performance. He said every employee was important, whether it was an officer or a class IV employee.

He said even the Chief Minister had called for honouring employees who had worked sincerely in rescue and relief works during the recent natural disaster in the state.

The Chief Secretary did not fail to mention how a mobile phone had saved the life of a woman who was buried under the debris.

Describing telecom services as great GDP driver, Subhash Kumar said telecom services had been contributor to development.

The awards carry Rs 20,000, a silver medal and a scroll of honour. Among those awarded included Shadab Ali, SN Uniyal, Dinesh Prasad Bangwal, Dharmanand, Anuradika, Hari Krishna, Shishir Rajpal, Rajeev Srivastava, Dheeraj Singh, Suresh Verma and Pradeep Kumar.

PK Gupta, Chief GM, Balraj, GM, Telecom District, and Manoj Pant, GM, Consumer Fix Access, were present. AK Mittal, General Manager, Administration, gave a vote of thanks.

Nainital, October 20
The recovery of the dead bodies of two residents of Bathuakhera village in Moradabad near the bank of a canal under the Paiga Post of Kashipur has sent shock waves in the area bordering Uttar Pradesh.

According to information, cousins, identified as Suresh and Ajab Singh, had left the village on a motorcycle on Monday night to purchase medicines from the Budhanpur village market.

The motorcycle belonged to a candidate contesting the panchayat polls in UP. On Tuesday morning villagers found a dead body lying on the bank of a canal and informed the Uttarakhand police. The identity card, found in the pocket, helped the police contact his family members who arrived at the spot and identified Suresh. Just as the corpse was being carried back to their native village, the family members stumbled upon the body of Ajab Singh lying in a paddy field about 100 metre away from the spot where Suresh’s body had been found.

Both deceased were in their early 30s and had been hit with blunt objects on their heads and attacked with sharp-edged weapons on their necks and throats.

The police is still trying to determine the cause of the murder. The reasons being cited for the murder include robbery or politics. It is believed that the two were killedin Uttar Pradesh and later their bodies were dumped in Uttarakhand.

Dehradun, October 20
The 9th Annual Convention of the Uttaranchal Power Employees Association concluded here today. Chief general secretary of the association KR Kashyap said a government order had been sent by the Secretary, Power, to the state government as per the agreement done with the Power Officials Joint Coordination Committee under which junior engineers and assistant engineers, who had been given two or three increments from the date of their recruitment from January 1, 2006, to March 31, 2009, would be given pay package according to the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations. He also hoped that they might not need to go for a protest as they had been promised a resolution of their other demands by October 25.

He presented the annual progress report. A resolution was also passed at the meeting, which says the three power corporations should be merged by making the UPCL a holding company. The Secretary, Power, should be made its chairman and Assistant Managing Director. For the vacant positions of junior engineers, technicians grade-2 and I, a list of power candidates as per their seniorities should be released soon. The contractual employees should be provided equal work equal pay who must also be regularised against the vacant posts.

The vacancies with regard to clerical posts must also be filled. The relaxation should be given for promotions, all grants should be re-examined and the arrangement of giving different salary package to employees working in border districts should be reintroduced. The TA/DA allowance for the hilly terrains should be amended. The civil and electrical work of all electrical sub-institutions should be completed, similarly repair work of all departmental buildings should also be expedited. The offices for Srinagar Mandal and divisions should be built and the Kolagarh mandal office should be relocated on the 18 EC Road.

A 21-member zone committee’s elections were held where patron RS Rawat, president Pradeep Kansal, acting president Devender Sharma, secretary MN Nautiyal, additional secretary HC Sharma, treasurer Kirti Ram Nautiyal, organisation secretary BS Kumai, Yogesh Pandey, Sanjay Kumar and BK Dhayani were elected unanimously.

Pitthoragarh, October 20
The Pitthoragarh police has now started investigating the Nepal connections of Munir Khan who was arrested yesterday with his women accomplice in Haldwani while carrying counterfeit currency worth Rs 1 lakh and some explosive material being brought from Pitthoragarh.

“Though the case is investigated by the Haldwani police, the Pitthoragarh police is trying to trace if Munir has any connection in Nepal, from where the fake Indian currency is being diverted towards India by ISI miscreants,” said Nilesh Anand Bharane, SP, Pitthoragarh.

According to the primary investigations by the Haldwani police, the explosives were said to have been collected from contractors working with the BRO in Pitthoragarh and fake currency was bought from a trader in Kasipur by Munir, reportedly to settle old rivalry with one Salim Khan, also from Pitthoragarh.

“We have files of not only old rivalry and police cases between these two persons in Pitthoragarh, but also the connections of Munir with various crime locations as he remained a police informer for many years,” said the SP.

The Pitthoragarh police has raided the residence of Munir, the said conspirator, who managed all that illegal material, including explosives drugs and fake currency in the Bolero Jeep owned by his rival Salim.

“At the first raid in Munir’s residence, we could not get any objectionable material, but now our teams are raiding the locations from where he used to operate sometimes as a contractor or a supplier,” he said.

Dehradun, October 20
Agitated over the black marketing of gas cylinders in the city, Harish Virmani, president of the Mahanagar Congress Committee, Dehradun, has said if the government failed to take action against them, they would come on the roads to agitate.

At a meeting organised at the Congress Bhawan here today, he said they were receiving several complaints regarding the non-delivery of gas cylinders, and the gas agencies were avoiding residents due to non-availability of cylinders.

Virmani said when he himself tried to talk to the owner or the manager of Himani Gas Agency, no one attended his call and the staff failed to provide a satisfactory reply. He further added all agencies were treating their customers alike.

Talks regarding the same had been going on with officials, but the administration had failed to curb the menace.