Dehradun, March 28
Even though educational scenario in the state, as put forward by the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)-2010 of the state, paints a satisfactory picture on the whole, but there is a considerable scope for qualitative improvement in it.

Governor Margaret Alva stated this after releasing the ASER-2010 at the Raj Bhawan auditorium here today. The Governor said the key findings presented in the report in terms of different parameters were revealing and generally encouraging. The Pratham Education Foundation, Delhi, had prepared the report.

Among other things, the Governor took note of the facts mentioned in the report that there were 98.3 per cent children in the 6-14 age group in schools in the state. Out of these, 68 per cent were in government schools and 29 per cent in private schools.

Moreover, the percentage of girls, who are out of school, was declining and stands at 9.7 per cent only. Language learning levels were, however, declining i.e. only 65.8 per cent children in class V could read level II textbooks.

In addition, paid tuition figures were declining, but 84.3 per cent of schools did not fulfil the pupil-teacher ratio, prescribed under the RTE norms. Multi-grade seating seemed to be the norm.

“It is also disturbing to note that 47.7 per cent schools do not have toilets for girls and 22.1 per cent schools have no provision for drinking water. But it is most gratifying to note that 95.1 per cent schools provided mid-day meals to students,” she said.

The Governor said the mid-day meals had been successful in increasing enrolment, attendance and retention of students in the primary school of the state and the state had achieved an impressive coverage of the schools under this programme.

Dehradun, March 28
Employees of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) held a meeting to review the decisions taken in the meeting of the Board of Directors (BOD) held on March 5 and the issues to be put up at the re-evaluation meeting of the BOD on March 30.

Informing about the outcome, Secretary, Managers/Supervisors Association, GMVN, Surender Bahukhandi said the BOD missed out referring any stringent action against three more employees who were promoted out of turn through unfair means.

He also talked of discussing the issue of absorbing the employees taken on must-roll after 2010 on the staff positions of the 40 tourist rest houses added after 1998 in the next meeting.

Along with this, the subject of absorption of the remaining 110 employees, who had been assimilated at various positions in different premises of GMVN against positions of marketing employee, of closed-down flash-door factory at Kotdwar would also be put across, he said. 

Dehradun, March 28
To cancel the obligation of presenting land documents of 1950 for caste certificates, members of the Jaati Praman Patra Banao Sangharsh Morcha resorted to a massive agitation at the Vidhan Sabha here today.

A large number of people gathered to stage protest against the state government. The protestors also handed over a memorandum to CM Ramesh Pokhriyal stating their demands. Speaking on the occasion, Lekhraj, convener of the morcha, “It is illogical to ask for land documents of August 10, 1950, as at that time most of the caste certificates were not being issued”. —TNS

Haridwar, March 28
While legislator from the Tehri Assembly segment Kishore Upadhyay is on silent protest, ie ‘maun vrat’, in the interim state capital Dehradun, lending their support to him Congress party workers too observed a one-day symbolic silent protest at the Ganga ghat here today.

Terming Upadhyay’s protest as being observed for people’s cause, the city Congress workers said the protest had emanated due to the anti-poor policies of the BJP-led state government.

Further they warned the government that if the demands specified by the Tehri legislator were not met, they would observe an indefinite hunger strike from March 31 onwards.

Adjacent to the Ganga, on the Alaknanda Ghat, the workers, led by Congress district working chief Furkan Ali, sat on a silent protest with fingers on their mouths and portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, the proponent of the non-violence mode of protest, beside them. They thus attracted the attention of passers-by, conveying their message easily without ear-shattering slogans and effigy-burning demonstrations which have become the norm of protests these days, irrespective of the party the political workers belong to.

While pointing to the harassment and exploitation of the common people, particularly those having affinity with the Congress, senior party leader Sanjay Chopra said BJP ministers and leaders were even trying to lodge false cases against Congress workers to lower their morale.

“Despite this (harassment), we are not going to be silent in exposing the corrupt governance of the BJP in the state, and we are getting an overwhelming response from all sections of society. The poor are with us and so are the Muslims, Christians, Scheduled Caste community and common masses in our protest,” voiced Chopra.

Among others who protested silently were Deepak Jakhmola, Madhukant Giri, Ashok Upadhyay, Sandeep Gupta, Harish Sawhni, Satya Narayan Sharma, Vimla Pandey and Asha Sharam.

Meanwhile, two Congress workers Bhoopendra Rajput and Ashok Baba, who were arrested by the police on the complaint of Haridwar Municipality Committee Executive Engineer BL Arya accusing them of vandalism, using derogatory casteism remarks and threatening his wife with dire consequences, were freed on bail today.

Party workers, aided by Small-scale Vendors Association members, welcomed the duo terming the case to be a false one. They alleged that they had been implicated on the directions of local legislator Madan Kaushik.

Treasurer of the association Bhoopendra Rajput said their fight against corruption would continue.

Haridwar, March 28
With Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank presenting a surplus Budget to lure voters ahead of the state Assembly elections scheduled for early next year, women leaders of the Congress termed it as a deliberate attempt to hide the failures and non-governance of the BJP Government in the state.

Women wing workers of the Congress, led by daughter of Union Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat and secretary of the state women Congress Anupama Rawat, took to the streets protesting against the Nishank-led Government. They highlighted the work that needed to be done in disaster-affected regions, which, even after more than six months, was still awaiting relief.

Lashing out at Nishank’s propaganda that lays blame on the UPA Government at the Centre for inefficiency on part of the state government, Anupama said the double standards of the CM were evident. “Nishank sought a huge amount from the Centre, but he tried to take credit for it when it was allotted. He also went to the media and claimed it as his own effort and also accused the Congress Government of not providing enough money,” she added.

Former Chairperson of the Uttarakhand Women Commission Dr Santosh Chauhan lamented that the state government had failed to provide basic facilities, infrastructure with only the coffers of the BJP-RSS leaders getting filled. She pointed out that with subsequent successful rallies in interim capital Dehradun by the Congress, the public mood could be gauged with anti-incumbency set to dethrone the BJP Government paving way for another Congress regime in the state.

City party chief Vimla Pandey said the development work being carried out in the state was due to the efforts of the five Congress MPs and generosity of the Congress-led Central Government.

While Kisan Congress state chief Poonam Bhagat said the Congress would return to power, as people have witnessed corruption, lack of development, fake claims in the past four years of the BJP governance. 

Dehradun, March 28
On the fourth day of the ‘Pol Khol’ campaign at Mussoorie, senior leader of the Garhwal Mandal of the UKD Pramila Rawat apprised people of the area about the purpose of the campaign and listened to the problems of villagers on the way to the hill town.

The residents of the villages voiced their collective grievances against unemployment, poor traffic regulations, pathetic state of roads, degradation of the education system and crisis of drinking water. Suman Devi, Shashi Kant, Jagdeshwari Pandwar, Bhupender Singh and Sanjay Singh accompanied her. —TNS

Mussoorie, March 28
The plan of the zila panchayat of Tehri Garhwal to introduce eco-tax on vehicles and individual tourists has met with stiff opposition from villagers around the area.

Speaking to mediapersons at Mussoorie, the villagers, led by former pradhan of Siya village Prem Singh Panwar, said, “The zila panchayat officials conniving with some private players were conspiring to sell off the Kempty barrier and introduce eco-tax, which will be levied not only on the vehicles, but individual tourists also in the name of ecology preservation”.

Panwar further said the zila panchayat president was also involved in this dubious deal and instead of carrying on with the previous arrangement, was conniving to award contract to certain Ganpati Associates, an organisation that did not belong to the state.

Panwar informed that more than 10,000 tourists visited the Kempty Falls on a daily basis, especially in the peak season, and if this arrangement was approved, there would be chaos in the area leading to long traffic jams.

He also said the introduction of the eco-tax would also lead to decrease in the number of tourists at the Kempty Fall, which would also raise the question of unemployment for the locals. The villagers demanded the repeal of this ‘draconian’ tax in the region, keeping the larger interest of the state and tourists in mind.

On the other hand, zila panchayat official Shoorvir Singh Raturi said one such proposal had been received by the panchayat, but had not been approved and as the government had not sent any notification, the question of selling the barrier did not arise.

He refuted the villagers’ claims that he was also conspiring with the outside agency and said no contracts had been awarded so far. He, however, said the panchayat was facing cash crunch and forced to raise the revenue on its own. Therefore, the need to levy eco-tax was being felt on urgent basis.

He quoted the example of Mussoorie and Dhanolti and said if eco-tax could be levied in these towns/areas, then why not at the Kempty Falls.

The villagers have said if there demand of revoking the tax was not met, they would protest against it.

Kishan Singh Panwar, Sardar Singh, Jagat Singh Panwar, Jai Pal Singh Rana, Sabbal Singh Rana, Rajesh Kumar, pradhan, Kempty, and Vikram Singh were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, March 28
Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) plans 10 to 12 branches in Uttarakhand in the next financial year.

Interacting with mediapersons, PK Anand, Executive Director of the bank, said already surveys had been conducted across the state, including places like Joshimath, Kashipur, Gadarpur and Sitarganj. Earlier, Anand opened its 960th branch at Doiwala, Dehradun. Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli was the chief guest at the opening ceremony.

Manjit Singh, General Manager, Delhi, and GS Kanwal, GM, PSB, Dehradun Zone, and former senior PSB officer Amarjeet Singh Bhatia were present at the conference. 

Dehradun, March 28
The Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation Employees Association staged a dharna in support of their three-tier demands viz. upgradation of technical and clerical staff from Class IV to Class III, according to the designation and salary structure of logging guard/depot guard to chowkidar category, and raising the pay-scale bar of clerks from Rs 4,500-7,000 to Rs 5,000-8,000 as reportedly done in other government departments.

Addressing the gathering, president of the association Santosh Yadav said it was sad that the state government seemed the least bothered about their ongoing protest for the past six days.

“We have been making the demands since 2001 and the then Chief Minister, too, registered our demands in his manifesto in 2003, but has been done so far. If no action is taken soon, we will start statewide agitation from March 31, for which the state government will be responsible,” he said.

President of the Rajya Nigam Karamchari Mahasangh Dinesh Bhandari said the bureaucrats gave them hollow assurances of speedy disposal of their problems whenever they went on agitation, but did nothing.

General secretary Ravi Pachauri questioned the efficacy of the management of the corporations, which were left bereft of any power to take decisions on their own, and thus, the decisions forwarded by them to the state government remained in the limbo forever. He sought the strengthening of the management structure, so that they could expedite the issues related to corporations and employees.

Pithoragarh, March 28
Though women in the Kumaun region are on agitation against the annual auction of liquor shops at several places, a large number of them have also applied for liquor shops across the region. “The auction of liquor shops will be held on March 29,” said Excise Department sources.

“In Pitthoragarh district, out of the 1,320 applications for two liquor shops, 44 women have applied, including the shops for country-made liquor,” said District Excise Officer KP Pathak.

In Munsiyari and Berinag, women groups have been opposing the opening of liquor shops. While women groups in Bastia, Barakot and Champawat have been up in arms against the opening of new liquor shops, 57 women are among the 810 applicants for liquor shops. In Bageswar, out of the 1,033 applicants, 15 women have applied, said the sources.

The women groups in these districts have expressed concern over this tendency of women and said, “In a male-dominated society, the inner will of women cannot prevail. She is still bound to act according to the will of her male family members. The applications in the names of women are actually the handiwork of male members of the family, who to get the liquor shop by the process of auction, use the names of women in the family without consulting them,” said Prema Basera, president of the Mahila Jagriti Manch, an agitating group at Devalthal village in the district. 

Nainital, March 28
Residents of Gularbhoj heaved a sigh of relief as the Udham Singh Nagar administration has postponed its proposed encroachment drive, which was to be held from today morning.

According to officials, the drive will be carried out after April 5. The postponement has been made in the light of the ongoing board examinations. District Magistrate BVRC Purshottam decided to carry out the drive after the examinations were over.

Encroachments on about 30 acres of forest land were to be removed following an order of the Uttarakhand High Court. The administration had made all the preparations for initiating the encroachment drive, but it was postponed last evening.

The administration has been facing resistance from residents of the region despite the claims that the affected people will be rehabilitated on 11 hectares of land at Kopa village located some distance away.

The administration had made it clear that it would abide by the orders of the HC and any attempts to derail the encroachment drive would be dealt with sternly.

Small-time politicians have been trying to get political mileage out of the issue.

According to people residing in the encroached areas in Gularbhoj, there were about 500 families that will be displaced by the operation.

Dehradun, March 28
Two 13-year-old kids of class VII were caught by the police for stealing two Activa bikes in the city. They would park the vehicles near their houses and each one would tell his parents that the vehicle belonged to the other, thereby confusing the identity of the actual owner.

According to the police, the two were arrested after information from their neighbourhood about their suspicious activities. The police checked the two bikes and found them to be without number plates.

Following this, the boys were questioned by the police and later arrested when their involvement was established into the thefts. The two boys told the cops that they had stolen an Activa from the Jhanda Mela three days ago.

They had found the scooty unlocked and took it away with them. They stole another Activa from near the Connaught Place. They said they took away the bikes just to roam around in the city.

Both are students of a reputed school of Dehradun. One of them is a resident of Anand Chowk, Tilak Road, and the other a resident of the Connaught Place.

One boy’s father is working at Bal Vikas Kendra, while the other’s father is running a garment shop at the Paltan Bazar.