Nainital, April 24
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank has come under scathing attack from senior politician Munna Singh Chauhan and the state secretary of the CPI, Samar Bhandari, over the issue of alleged misuse of funds during the holding of the Kumbh Mela at Hardwar last year.

Referring to the issues raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General

(CAG) in its recently tabled report in the state Assembly, Chauhan said here today, “The Kumbh scam is the replica of the 2G Spectrum at the national level, which was also revealed before the country by the CAG in one of its report. Since the 2G Spectrum was a pan-India allotment, the funds involved were more, and in case of the Kumbh scam, the amount can be anything above Rs 200 crore.”

Both Bhandari and Chauhan have ridiculed Nishank for tom toming the holding of Kumbh as a major achievement of his government and going to the extent of demanding a Nobel prize for the same. Speaking at a meeting of the bank employees, Bhandari asked the audience, ”Nobel prize for what? The corruption involved?”

Chauhan, who was a BJP legislator from the Vikasnagar seat in the present government before he had gone on to quit both the parties and his seat in 2009, said the present rule in the state was nothing but “Ghotala Raj”. He went on to say, ”Since there is no shame left in the government, it is time for the people to take to the streets.”

Pithoragarh, April 24
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said here today that while the Uttarakhand Government had been working hard for the welfare of the people of the state, the Opposition is criticising his government without any logic, as they had no vision for the development of the state.

“The state created by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000, is still to realise its dreams and we have launched ‘the Atal Khadyaan Yojana’ to provide cheap food grains to the poor.

The state government has decided to give cheap rations to even the above poverty line (APL) ration card holders from the next month under which they will be given wheat for Rs 4 a kg and rice for Rs 6 a kg,” said Nishank.

He was addressing a public meeting after inaugurating the Kanalichina Mahotsava at Kanalichina, about 50 km from here, today.

The Chief Minister highlighted the developmental schemes being run by the BJP Government in the state and said the state was heading towards becoming an ideal destination for tourists.

“We intend to develop 51 places as international tourist destinations, including meadows and snow-capped peaks of the Himalayan region. The Tehri Dam lake is coming up as an international water sports destination in the country,” said Nishank.

The Chief Minister said Indian Cricket team skipper MS Dhoni belongs to Uttarakhand and the state had made him the brand ambassador to save the ecology of the state. “For the first time in my life I’ve watched the World Cup matches only to see the son of Uttarakhand in action,” said the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister said not only in the construction of motor roads but also in the sphere of the disaster mitigation, the BJP Government had done a remarkable work in the state. “Today, we are the number one state in the country in forest conservation and tourism as well as in the utilisation of medicinal herbs for which a scheme costing Rs 1,000 crore has been chalked out,” claimed Nishank.

Nainital, April 24
The remote area of Bauna-Lethang has been experiencing lopsided development over the past few years and has been consistently ignored by the government. This is the finding of a two-member team from the Nainital Parvatarohan Club comprising renowned photo artist Anup Sah and social activist Pradeep Pande that had visited the area in the past few days.

The study revealed that the past few years have witnessed the demise of the Primary Health Centre (PHC), Veterinary Centre, RFC godown, Public Works Department’s (PWD) Dak Bungalow and a wheat flour mill of the Gram Sabha on account of sheer ignorance by the government. The village with a population of 400 persons and 95 animals continues to be 7 km away from the road. The power supply had come to the village some years ago but vanished when the supply line was devastated.

The village happens to be disaster-prone area with constant sliding being witnessed. It is pertinent to point out that the famous surveyor Nain Singh and the person who scaled the Everest two times Lavraj Singh Dharamsaktu were from the same village.

The two members who undertook the journey to the area found that the natural resources are being exploited with impunity in the absence of employment and government sensitivity. It is on account of this phenomenon that birds and animals like satayor tragopan, musk deer, thar, bear and leopards have vanished from the forests.

It was also learnt by the team that the herbs collected by the villagers are being procured at very little price and the past few years have witnessed excessive procurement of yarsa gambu or “keeda jadi”, the performance enhancing fungi that has earned a reputation as desi Viagra. The villagers go out for weeks together in search of this fungi and during this period they make excessive use of firewood procured from rhododendron trees and juniper hedges. The quest for this fungi that has been fetching a very high price has also been resulting in conflict among the villagers.

The apple orchards for which Bauna village was known have almost vanished in the absence of proper technical assistance to the horticulturists. The team also found that the education setup is also in a pathetic state. It was found that people are sending their wards out for education despite being extremely poor. The school in Bauna village has just one student in class eight and the total strength is that of five students.

According to Anup Sah, “It is important to impart education to the local population with a view to conserving the environment of the area. This area can be developed as an eco-tourism destination and the government must make a clear policy with regards to this so that the local people also enjoy the fruits of development while conserving the environment.”

Dehradun, April 24
The former president of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and former chairman of HILTRON (Hill Electronic Corporation Limited), Kashi Singh Aeri, has opposed the efforts of the state government to close down HILTRON and incorporate the employees in other government departments. The purpose, he said, was to making quick money by selling off the 32 immovable properties of the corporation.

Registering his displeasure in a press conference here, Aeri blamed the bureaucracy for playing it the issue up. “In one year, five secretaries have been transferred from HILTRON because they had aired depressing views about the corporation and talked of closing it down. They have their eyes set on hoarding government money and also properties of the HILTRON,” he said.

He also voiced his doubts that the government to do away with the organisation that has been over the years dangling between no profit and no loss position. He said: “There are many other corporations that have been incurring losses of hundreds of crores, but the state government has never talked of shutting them down. I fail to understand why the government is bent upon closing down HILTRON.”

Aeri’s resignation from the chairmanship of HILTRON was accepted on February 28 due to the withdrawal of the support of his party to the state government. In his three-year tenure as HILTRON head, the government had never made any such attempt. “All my efforts to get more work for HILTRON failed time and again. The corporation, which initially was established to manufacture electronic items in the hilly region, was later attached with the IT sector and entrusted with the task of providing computer literacy or skills to the youth of the region,” he blamed.

The move of closing the organisation down would be a big jolt for the 70 communication and learning centres operating throughout the region. “The youth in the remote hill pockets are getting cheaper education in computer studies and employment opportunities as well. The closure of HILTRON would prove to be a big setback for them. Therefore, I will urge the Chief Minister and Secretary (IT) to provide more teeth to this promising organisation,” Aeri stated.

Dehradun, April 24
Uttarakhand Opposition leader Harak Singh Rawat has sought a CBI probe into all the alleged scams that have taken place in the state under the present BJP rule.

In a statement issued today, Rawat said while the Kumbh scandal topped the lists of scams committed by the BJP government, the CAG report had pointed out that out of Rs 600 crore provided by the Centre to the state for Kumbh, a staggering amount of Rs 300 crore was siphoned of by the BJP party leaders in the state.

Rawat also criticised yesterday’s BJP National Minorities Convention in Dehradun. He said the BJP was shedding crocodile tears for the Muslims, while there have been accusing fingers on their top leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for genocide of Muslims.

At another Women’s Congress meeting in Dehradun, Lakshman Chowk MLA Dinesh Agarwal said women were the most neglected lot in the state ever since the BJP came to power in Uttarkhand. He said this despite the fact that women had been at the forefront in the state agitation.

Agarwal yet again accused the state BJP government of providing a step-motherly treatment to the constituencies represented by Congress MLAs. 

Dehradun, April 24
Senior Congress leader Dhirendra Pratap has urged Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to immediately provide security to Wakf Board member and former Chairperson of the Uttarakhand Bar Council Razia Beig, who had been allegedly threatened by Social Welfare and Minority Affairs Minister Matbar Singh Kandari for raising her voice against corruption in the board.

In a statement issued here, Dhirendra Pratap said Beig had raised certain important corruption cases against the Wakf Board Chairman, Haji Rao Sharafat Ali, with documentary proof and hence there seemed to be no reason for the Minister to “threaten” Beig.

Demanding a probe into the working of the Wakf Board, Dhirendra Pratap said people committed to honesty were solidly behind Beig and Kandari should offer a public 
apology for his “misconduct” with the eminent lawyer.

He also asked the SSP of Dehradun to register an FIR against the minister.

Dehradun, April 24
Application forms for the delayed session of BEd course (Garhwal University) are expected to come by the end of the month.

Counselling for the course is scheduled to be held in August after an entrance examination is conducted in June. This was stated by Sunil Agarwal, secretary of the Association of Self Financed Institutes, Uttarakhand.

In a press conference at his office yesterday, Agarwal said: “The session of the BEd course has been delayed by about an year. We had written to the university in this regard. The forms will be out this month and then an entrance test will be conducted in June and later on counselling will be held in August.”

He took exception to Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank’s statement that no more B.Ed colleges would be opened in the state.

“Not allowing more B.Ed colleges to be opened is not the solution as the students can go to out of the state and that would be a loss of both quality education and money. Every year about 10,000 students go to neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Himachal Pradesh for pursuing the course,” he added.

Agarwal also advocated opening of an education university in the state. “We will send the proposal to the government,” he said.

Nainital, April 24
The demand for metalling of a 10.50-km stretch of road in Udham Singh Nagar district is fast snowballing into a major contentious political issue. With the opposition parties along with the sitting legislator, Narayan Pal, of the BSP lending their support to the villagers agitating for the metalling of the Sitarganj-Aldeco State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal (SIDCUL) Industrial Park stretch, the ruling BJP government is on the defensive.

The villagers from Sisauna, Baruabagh, Vamanpuri, Kalyanpur etc. are agitating for the redressal of their demand and have even started a hunger strike on the issue. Friday afternoon saw Pal from the BSP, Ram Nagina Prasad from the Congress and Dilip Singh Dhami from the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) reaching the site where the hunger strike is on and expressing their support for the demand being raised by the villagers. The agitation is also being supported by the various social groups in the area. The agitators have been stating that without proper road infrastructure, there is no possibility of industrial development in the region. They have been stating that the dilly-dallying approach of the state government with regard to the metalling of the road is only adding to the problems of the people residing in the area.

Coming out in support of the agitation, the Haldwani-Chorgaliya-Sitarganj Bus Union has announced that it will resort to a traffic blockade on April 24. According to reports, a defensive state government has promised to start the metaling work on the stretch of the road from Monday.

Cabinet minister Bansidhar Bhagat has expressed his displeasure over the delay in the work and has ordered the officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) to start metalling work from Monday. Reports also state that the metalling work on the road was stopped after the contractor did not receive the money for 4.5 km of metalling that he had done. The agitators on the other hand say that they would call off their agitation only when the work starts.

Haridwar, April 24
The two-day national executive meeting of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) concluded here today. Delegates from all over the country took part in the meeting. A resolution was passed by the association’s executive committee demanding a national vendor policy as per the directives of the apex court.

Arvind Kumar Singh, national coordinator of NASVI, in his address said that a letter had been sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to implement the national vendor policy on the lines of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

The Tribune spoke to some of the delegates about their views on the steps needed to improve the living standards of vendors and hawkers.

Champa Ben, a delegate from Gujarat, said, “The governments need to view us with dignity, particularly taking into account the service we provide to the society despite odds against us. Consumers in our country are deeply linked with small-scale trading of which street vendors and hawkers form a major part, which can’t be neglected.”

“The implementation of the National vendor policy should be done as per the Supreme Court’s directives prior to June 30, as then only, the million vendors across the country can be provided security cover, specialized vending zone and their living standards will improve,” said Pallavi Singh, a delegate from Bihar.

Sanjay Chopra, an Uttarakhand delegate, was of the opinion that the government in the state was delaying the vendor policy deliberately. “Uttarakhand government is delaying the vendor policy deliberately in the state owing to tough hilly terrains as well as bowing down to big industrial units set up here, so that their trade doesn’t get affected.”

A delegate from New Delhi, Anuradha Verma said that street vendors should be provided with life insurance cover by the government.