Dehradun, March 24
A day after the revocation of his suspension by the State Assembly, Congress Tehri MLA Kishore Upadhyaya continued with his indefinite hunger strike outside the Vidhan Sabha building here today pledging to keep up his stir till all the issues linked to the welfare of Tehri got resolved.

“I will not end my stir till people of Tehri get justice,” said Upadhyaya while talking to The Tribune over the phone from the site of the dharna.

When asked whether eminent environmentalist Sundarlal Bahuguna had extended support to his cause, Upadhyaya said Sundarlal Bahuguna had visited him to give him his blessings.

Earlier in the day, Speaker Harbans Kapoor and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant met Upadhyaya urging him to end the stir. But, adamant Upadhyaya refused to budge. He said it was his right to protest for a just cause and he would continue to do so in a democratic manner.

Significantly, the Congress MLAs raised the issue of the Tehri MLA staging indefinite hunger strike outside the Vidhan Sabha during the zero hour this morning. The Speaker then said attempts would be made during the lunch hours to persuade Upadhyaya to end the stir. He also disclosed that Upadhyaya’s medical report was normal.

Upadhyaya, who had earlier staged an indefinite hunger strike inside the well of the House, was suspended from the House on Tuesday. He said the suspension was, however, revoked yesterday after Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat assured the House that he would ensure that such incidents were not repeated.

Dehradun, March 24
The District Soldier Board is inundated with umpteen cases of ex-servicemen who never bother to get their particulars updated with Part-II Order, an order certifying record of individuals in defence forces in their respective regiments/corps.

The widows of those who did not fill nomination column/forms can be seen running from pillar to post to get the claim of the pension and other emoluments entitled to them. The board, too, struggles to unravel many complications that arise out of similar negligence on part of the ex-servicemen.

President of DSB Anil Wadhwa said, “It becomes shocking when more than one wife comes to claim the pension and other monetary benefits after the death of the ex-serviceman to the board and it becomes quite burdensome for us to solve their knotted relations. Many give divorce, get remarried and have children, but do not take pains to update the information with Part II Order and the DSB. In such situations, they are taken aback when their children do not get benefits during education or jobs because of their own negligence”.

No wonder, the DSB also allocates monetary and other benefits to even widow daughters, which Hony Capt Vinod Nautiyal (retd) had no idea for several years, until he happened to meet coordinating secretary general, Uttarakhand Ex-services League, Col Madhav Mohan Kukreti, who apprised him.

Kukreti said, “The ex-servicemen have to be registered with the employment exchange and soldier board. The information regarding vacancies trickle down through the DSB and those who are registered with the DSB are only eligible to apply for them. Then the wife’s endorsement was not compulsory before 1986, which was why a heap of such cases are lined up where the ex-servicemen did not mention his wife’s name in the nomination form and after his death, his wife has to run around to get her the right of pension”.

“Such cases take more than a year to solve. These days, the joint account is permitted due to which in case of death of an ex-servicemen, pension automatically gets transferred to the wife after she submits the death certificate. An ex-serviceman should register himself, give his wife’s details and update of his children as well in the discharge book and PPO,” added Kukreti.

Kukreti also warned that two years ago, Part-II Order was banned. Those who did not give their updates with the occurrence could not avail the benefits during that period. Such bans have been announced from time to time and those who were not alert suffered maximum, though these bans were lifted after a few years. 

Dehradun, March 24
The police arrested over 20 dependents of the deceased in the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation for imposing a traffic jam near ISBT here today. The cops had to forcefully lift them to put them in buses.

The dependants had protested yesterday also demanding jobs. They had not vacated the road till the time they were allowed to meet the Transport Minister. However, the meeting with the minister did not yield any good result for them, following which they imposed a traffic jam for about an hour near the ISBT.

The police first asked them to leave the road, but they did not. The cops then had no other option, but to arrest them.

Circle Officer (CO) Shweta Choubey said they held a jam at the ISBT since their meeting with the Transport Minister was not successful. “We have arrested 20 of them to avoid law and order situation,” said the CO.

Mussoorie, March 24
Members of the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UPP), led by their Central president PC Tiwari, reached Mussoorie with their Parivartan Yatra that was flagged off on on March 23, martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, here today. The yatra converted into a meeting at the Gandhi Chowk.

Tiwari, speaking to the gathered audience, said the objective of the yatra was to reveal the true face of the two national parties, such as the BJP and the Congress, in the state. He said corrupt parties like the BJP, the Congress and opportunist Uttarakhand Kranti Dal had belied the dreams of the people who had sacrificed their lives during the formation of the Uttarakhand state.

He also said for the past 10 years, the BJP and the Congress had sold the resources of the state to mafias, builders, saints and multi-national companies in the name of development that had led to the marginalisation of the farmers, women, youth, Dalits and minorities in the state.

He said the BJP in the state and the Congress government at the Centre were mired in scams and, therefore, these two parties were not a suitable option.

Tiwari said the purpose of the yatra was to unite people of the state under the banner of the UPP so that an egalitarian, prosperous and strong Uttarakhand could be formed.

Central president, Garhwal, Jai Prakash Uttarakhandi, Central spokesperson Rajeev Kothari, Kuldeep Madhwal, Mahendar Dhaundial, Vijay Agarwal, Irshad Ahmad, Mangal Singh Panwar, Ashalal and others were present on the occasion. 

Dehradun, March 24
Short of one week for the next board meeting of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) aimed at the evaluation of the progress made on decisions taken in the previous board meeting on March 5, the board members have not moved an inch towards the implementation of these decisions.

The employees are now becoming fidgety and suspicious regarding the sincerity of the board members. They are meeting on March 27 to decide on the next course of action.

Member of the Manager/Supervisors Association Surender Bahukhandi said they were keeping a close watch on the moves of the management to see if it did something to implement their decisions.

“The entire management is sleeping over the issue of annulment of high-level appointments, which it declared with great gusto. They should have announced the cancellation and forwarded it to the state government by now. Their delaying tactics is getting on our nerves now,” he said.

Vice-president of the Employees Association of the GMVN SP Pant seemed equally angry about the inaction of the higher-ups on the issue of regularisation of 375 employees against the pending vacancies.

General Manager UC Kabadwal expressed his helplessness in not being able to do anything on the issue, citing his busy schedule in the Budget Session these days.

Vice-president Raghunath Singh Negi appeared unaware about the state of affairs in the GMVN, but assured the members to look into these issues with a fresh approach.

Dehradun, March 24
Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has said at a time when the human race is caught in a race for western culture and materialism and is deviating from its cultural roots, an initiative to bring about sanity in the society through education must be shouldered by teachers and students of Sanskrit.

Delivering her address as chief guest at the 3rd convocation of Uttarakhand Sanskrit University at Haridwar today, the Governor said it was through the medium of Sanskrit that humanity could be united together.

“Sanskrit is a language that can bind humanity; and is not merely a means for communication within a society. Most profound principles relating to human existence and virtually every sphere of human activity were given expression to, through Sanskrit. Sanskrit perfectly depicts the social order of the day and offers clues to historical developments within society. A Sanskrit scholar, therefore, understands the world better than most others", she said.

The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the university, said it was a matter of pride and joy that students of this university had graduated in a language that was considered the soul of India and the crowning glory of its heritage for thousands of years. The Governor said, “Widely recognised as the mother of all Indian languages, it has also gained prominence internationally, for its scientific nature and use. In Sanskrit lies protected and secured, the essence of Indian culture. It was in recognition of these facts that Sanskrit was declared the second regional language of Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand is the first state in the country to do so”.

The Governor said linguists and scholars from within the country and abroad had acknowledged the vast treasure trove of the Sanskrit language and literature, as well as its scientific legitimacy. “The grammar of Sanskrit has attracted scholars the world over and research studies are presently being conducted in its various streams. The opinion that Sanskrit is the best language for use with computers is fast gaining ground. International scholars have acknowledged the scientific validity of Ashtadhyayi, the well-known treatise on Sanskrit grammar, written by the great sage Panini,” she said.

The Governor said the concepts and principles seen in the present-day mathematics and astronomy were hidden in the compositions and treatises of many early Sanskrit scholars of the country.

At the convocation ceremony, the Governor and Chancellor also conferred the title of Maha-Mahopadhyaya (The Great Teacher) on Dr Pushpa Dixit, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and academician who has singularly contributed to the growth of Sanskrit through innovative research on its grammar as expounded by Panini, the great Sanskrit grammarian and logician.

In her address, the Governor profusely quoted from the Upanishads and the Vedas, as well as renowned educationists such as Dr S Radhakrishnan, to highlight the importance of education as a tool to mould young students into good citizens and human beings. “I am glad to know that under the tutelage of the Vice-Chancellor, fresh graduates have taken a vow to think and act righteously and desist/refrain from anything that is unlawful and unjust. Our country can be built not with bricks and stones, but with brains; not with money but with enlightenment. If we do not educate our people, we cannot claim to be a civilized society,” she said.

“These ideals which have been held dear by educationists from the days of the Upanishads to the present times, have yielded results not only in terms of mass education, mass motivation and mass enlightenment, but also in terms of the flourishing of individual personality,” she said. She called upon the graduates and postgraduates of Uttarakhand Sanskrit University, who received their degrees today, to forge ahead in their academic efforts and excellence in the spirit of the message enshrined in the Vedas, viz, “Preach knowledge and wisdom till the end of life”.

On the occasion, the Governor also gave away gold medals and degrees to the award winners.

Earlier, the Governor was accorded a ceremonial welcome upon her arrival at the BHEL auditorium, the venue of today’s convocation ceremony. Accompanied by the Vice-Chancellor of Uttarakhand Sanskrit University Dr Sudha Rani Pandey and others, she lit the ceremonial lamp to mark the commencement of proceedings.

Dr Pushpa Dixit delivered the convocation address. Those who were present on the occasion included members of the Board of Management and the Academic Council, faculty members, students and their parents.

Dehradun, March 24
To ameliorate the ever-growing problems of the city’s litigants and get their Civil Court matters decided in the District and Session Court, a mega Lok Adalat will be inaugurated by Justice Altamas Kabir, senior judge of the Supreme Court of India, tomorrow morning. Justice Baren Ghosh, Chief Justice, Nainital High Court, Justice Tarun Aggarwal, VK Gupta, District and Session Judge, and senior judges, advocates and government officials will be present on the occasion.— TNS

Dehradun, March 24
The state government is speedily implementing the Grameen Green Bank project in the state, Uttarakhand Civil Supplies Minister Diwakar Bhatt informed the Assembly yesterday. The project came into implementation in the state in 2009-10 as a pilot project. He said the pilot project had been presently undertaken in Uttarakashi, Tehri and Dehradun districts and is meant for banking rice.

While Naugaon, Purola and Mori have been taken up in Uttarakashi and Chakrata in Dehradun, the Thatyur area has been taken up in Tehri district.

Diwakar said there were 1,200 beneficiaries under the ambitious scheme that was meant exclusively for BPL families. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant held that the Centre and state both had 50-50 share in bearing the expenses of the pilot project.