Centre: Speed up implementation of schemes for women
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 2
Despite the allocation of funds by the Central Government, the Uttarakhand Government has been laggard in implementing the Sabla scheme and the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY).

The Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Krishna Tirath, has written to Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank pointing out that both schemes are not being given top priority by the government.

Nor are they being implemented in letter and in spirit of the programme, as outlined by the Central Government.

She has also sought an action plan for implementing the schemes by September, 2011, from the state government. The Central Government had released funds for the scheme in 2010-11, after the state government had conducted the baseline survey for the scheme in December, 2010.

But, the nutrition and non-nutrition services are yet to commence, pointed out the minister in the letter. She has also warned that unless concrete measures are taken on an urgent basis, the schemes may not take off in the state. The Union Minister has mentioned the visit of Joint Secretary (Union Government) in July to the districts of Haridwar and Dehradun and pointed out the “lacunae in the progress of both the schemes”. The implementation guidelines for the schemes have not reached the field units, despite the ministry issuing guidelines in April, 2011.

Meanwhile, the state government has cited the man-power crunch as the reason for a slow implementation of both the Centre-funded schemes.

“The ministry has been informed about the acute shortage of anganwari workers in the state for the implementation of the ICDS programmes. Out of the 1,124 sanctioned posts, 518 posts are lying vacant. Besides 8,000 posts of anganwari workers are also lying vacant,” said Hemlata Dhondiyal, Secretary, Women Empowerment and Child Development (Uttarakhand).

It may be mentioned here that the Sabla scheme aims at empowering adolescent girls in the age group of 11-18 years by improving their nutritional and health status and also upgrading their life and house skills. While the IGMSY scheme is a conditional maternity benefit scheme. 

Cong for development of deer sanctuary villages
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, September 2
The Pithoragarh Congress today pledged to fight for all the 111 villages where the development works have come to a standstill after their incorporation into the Askot Musk Deer sanctuary notified in 1986.

“After Satpal Maharaj, MP from Pauri Garhwal, raised the issue in the Lok Sabha on August 25, the local Congress leaders have now become hopeful to win this fight of the villagers,” said Mathura Dutt Joshi, a senior Congress leader.

According to the notification issued on July 30, 1986, a total of 310.50 sq km of civil and agriculture land besides 289.43 sq km of reserve forest land had been incorporated to raise the sanctuary for musk deer, an endangered species of deer.

After the notification, all the developmental works in the villages of the area have come to a halt. The local administration under pressure of the villagers mooted a proposal to reduce 604 sq km of land mainly situated in the valleys, to the empowered committee of the Supreme Court. “But the empowered committee instead of reducing the area, increased it further to 2,200 sq km, therefore reducing the possibility of the development of these villages,” said Joshi.

The district Congress Committee has decided to start a campaign in the area to make the villagers aware of the efforts the party is doing to get them relief.

“More than 55,000 population of all 111 villages, situated in the valleys where the musk cannot survive, is still waiting 15 motor roads proposed by the Congress government during ND Tiwari’s regime in the state. Two hydro-electric projects of 750 mw are also not in a position to proceed further,” said Bahadur Singh Parihar, a resident of Baram village in the sanctuary area.

“We want the areas above 15,000 feet be included in the sanctuary area and the valley areas be exempted as all these 111 villages fall in the valley areas,” said Mathura Dutt Joshi, who claimed to have submitted the documents concerning the difficulties of the villagers of the sanctuary area to Satpal Maharaj to raise the issue in the Lok Sabha.

“Last year, when the Forest Department had counted the musk deer in this area, they found that only 96 musk deer were there, all at the altitude of 15,000 feet and above. This should be enough indication that the lower valleys are uselessly being incorporated in the sanctuary,” claimed Joshi. 

Nanda Devi fest begins on a colourful note
Tribune News Service

Nainital, September 2
The 108th Nanda Devi Mahotsava in the Lake City got off to a colourful start from the Ram Sewak Sabha amidst a cultural extravanza marked by an excellent performance of the traditional Chholia dance. The function was attended by people from all walks of life, including the top brass.

The inauguration function of the mahotsava also saw a team being dispatched to Bhagat Khamari village near Mangoli, located at a distance of about 20 km, which has been chosen for bringing the banana tree from which idols of goddesses Nanda and Sunanda would be carved out. The team would return to Nainital tomorrow. There would be religious events and festivities in the town over the next week.

This fair is held across the region comprising Nainital, Bhawali, Bageshwar, Almora and Ranikhet. It concludes on the eighth day of the Bhadrapad month of the Hindu calendar known as Nanda Ashtami.

Legend has it that the two sisters of King Nand named Nanda and Sunanda, believed to be incarnations of Goddess Parvati, were going to a temple. On their way, they came across a buffalo which was actually a demon and started troubling them. To escape the demon, the two sisters took shelter in a banana grove. As the demon tried to enter the grove, Goddess Bhagwati appeared and slayed him. The fair of Nanda and Sunanda is held every year to mark the mythological event.

According to another legend, in a mahayagya organised by King Daksha, his daughter’s (Goddess Parvati) husband Lord Shiva was insulted. Feeling humiliated, she immolated herself. Lord Shiva got annoyed and started roaming in the Himalayas carrying her half-burnt body.

The places where her organs fell became places of pilgrimage and are known as Siddhpeethas. It was at Nainital that her eyes had fallen. The place was initially known as Naynatal and the term later got distorted into Nainital. It is in this Siddhpeetha that Parvati’s incarnations Nanda and Sunanda are worshipped.

Court stays hike in transit fee for timber
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 2
While maintaining status quo, the Allahabad High Court gave stay in the petition filed by the Doon Timber Merchant Welfare Society against the UP government’s decision to raise the transit fee by 5 per cent on the purchase value of the goods. The transit fee earlier was fixed at Rs 500.

The drastic hike in the fee infuriated the timbre merchants in the city. They were not ready to pay heavy tax for the small stretch, which falls in Uttar Pradesh, through which they have to pass while going from Garhwal to Kumaon or vice-versa.

After getting relief from the high court, the merchants have also withdrawn their boycott over the timbre auctions in the state.

President, Doon Timber Merchant Welfare Society, Manjeet Singh Flora said, “We have got temporary relief from the stay order given by the high court, though the final decision is yet to come. The court has maintained that in case, the merchants have to abide by UP’s decision, even then they will not have to pay the dues of the earlier days.”

It is the prior planning of storing enough wood stock for four months in advance, which has come handy to the timbre merchants.

Flora said, “Every year, we store timbre stock for four months of the rainy season because the timbre supply from the jungles get reduced during this time and the roads remain blocked for days together. It just so happened that the UP order came at such a time when we were prepared for the lean season. Due to this, the boycott did not affect our business as such.”

Managing Director, Uttarakhand Forest Corporation, Anil Dutt stated a loss of Rs 15 crore to the corporation due to the boycott. 

Manifesto: Cong intellectuals to hold deliberations
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 2
The intellectual cell of the Uttarakhand Congress will be holding a day-long workshop in Dehradun on September 4. The recommendations, which will be deliberated upon at the workshop, will be put before the party high command for their inclusion in the manifesto of the party.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, state president of the cell DS Mann said the workshop to be held in Dehradun on Sept 4 would be inaugurated by state Congress President Yashpal Arya in the presence of Opposition Leader Harak Singh Rawat and members of Parliament Satpal Maharaj and Vijay Bahuguna.

Mann said the speakers at the meeting will be discussing the core issues affecting the state like challenge of unemployment and problems and opportunities in the tourism and other sectors. “We have people who are experts in these sectors. They will be putting forward their point of view on the subject and finally their recommendations will be sent to the party high command in the state,” Mann said.

He said the cell had units at each and every district of the state and pointed out that the cell had held a number of meetings in different districts in the state to generate opinion in favour of the Congress.

Mann is also a member of the Election Manifesto Preparation Committee of the Congress.

Lokpals for MGNREGA programme selected
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 2
Having dragging its feet for the past two years, the Uttarakhand Government today completed the selection procedure for the appointment of Lokpals for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) programme in all the districts of the state.

However, the appointment would take place after the health examination and police verification are done.

At a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar today, the names of Kaustubanand Pandey (advocate) for Almora, Krishan Chand Punetha for Champawat, Ajay Kumar Gupta and Anup Prakash Bhardawaj for Haridwar, NK Kandpal for Nainital, Narender Singh Kandari for Rudraprayag and Vimla Kauthiyal for Pauri Garhwal have been selected. For Dehradun JR Lapad, Tehri Padam Singh Negi, Bageshwar Bandhidhar Joshi and for Udham Singh Nagar Amarnath Sagar have been selected.

The Lokpal office would present the report of the their office 
to the Chief Secretary and state nodal officer of the MGNREGA.

Ex-servicemen oppose 2 road projects
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 2
The Members of the Uttarakhand Poorva Sainik Evam Ardh Sainik Sangathan today submitted a memorandum to the Dehradun District Magistrate to be forwarded to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. They have requested Nishank to stop the construction of two roads at Jhagra village and Banshiwala as the villagers of the area have been opposing both the road projects. They have alleged that the Sahaspur MLA is forcing the PWD to construct the road.

The president of the organisation, Lt-Col Ganga Singh Rawat, said the proposals made by the MLA regarding the construction of the two roads are against the wishes of the villagers as they did not want them. He said Banshiwala area falls on both the sides of National Highway-72 and a bridge had been constructed over the road, which made easier for the villagers to reach Jhagra using the bridge. By taking the bridge route they have to cover only a distance of 2.5 km to reach Jhagra while the proposed road route would increase the distance to 3.5 km.

He stated that the construction of the road could even damage the houses and other buildings constructed under the Indira Aawas Yojna.

As regards the proposed road at Jhagra, Rawat stated that none of the Jhagra resident used that route. 

Kumaon in grip of festivities
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, September 2
The entire Kumoan region would be in the grip of festivities in the next week, as the festivals to worship Nanda Devi and Gaura begins today.

“While the people of western part of Kumaon, mainly Almora and Nainital districts, worship Nanda Devi, the deity of erstwhile Kumaon kings of Almora, the people in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts worship Gaura-Maheswar and celebrate the festival of their wedding on “Ashtami” falling on September 5 this year,” said Dr Ram Singh, a leading regional historian of the area.

“The Nanda-Sunanda festival has begun today at Almora where the statues of Nanda and her sister Sunanda will be carved out of sacred banana tree on September 4 and the worship of the Nanda Devi will begin,” said Manoj Verma, organiser of the festival in Almora this year.

State BJP chief and local legislator Bishen Singh Chufal inaugurated the Nanda Mahotsava, at the 61-year-old Nanda temple in Didihat today. The four-day festival will incorporate, besides Nanda worship by the Johari community, cultural programmes by teams from different parts of the state and exhibitions of various government schemes.

“The Nanda festival was started by the people of Johar valley 61 years ago, when some of their families settled in Didiha town. Since then, the Nanda festival is being organisd in Didihat every year,” said Dusyant Singh Pangti, organiser of the festival.

Seven-day Nanda festival was inaugurated by Prema Pandey, chairperson of Champawat Zila Panchayat, at ancient Baleshwar temple in Champawat today. The three days’ Gaura-Maheswar festival also began today in Pithoragarh district and some parts of Champawat district, with the ritual of soaking of five sacred grains to be offered to the Gaura-Maheswer on “Asthami” day.

“The festival of worshiping Gaura-Maheswar is older than that of Nanda Devi worship as the Nanda worshiping began in the Kumaon region in the 16th century when the Kumoan kings brought Nanda from Garhwal, but the festival of Gaura-Maheswar is two thousands years old. It was conceived at the time of the Kunida kings, who ruled the area before the Katyur kings, from 2nd century BC to 7th century AD,” said Ram Singh.

GMVN Joint Employees Association formed

Dehradun, September 2
Employees of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) have separated from the Joint Employees Association of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) and the KMVN and formed a new set-up, the GMVN Joint Employees Association.

The new set-up comprises the GMVN Employees Organisation, headed by Purushottam Puri, the GMVN Employees Association, headed by ND Kothari, and the GMVN Managers/ Supervisors Association, headed by BD Petwal.

While ND Kothari has been appointed president of the GMVN Joint Employees Association, SP Pant and SP Khankrieyal have been appointed vice-presidents. Other members of the new working committee have also been appointed

Earlier, Purushottam Puri had been leading the joint association of all organisations of the GMVN and the KMVN. Kothari said: “My top priority is to get the services of 1,200 contractual/daily wage employees of the GMVN regularised. The matter has been pending for long despite an announcement made by the Chief Minister regarding the regularisation of their services long ago.” He further said he would remove four officials who have been appointed through fraudulent ways. These include Rahul Sharma, Executive Engineer, who was promoted on August 15 despite Lokayukta’s orders of an inquiry into a fraud committed by him, Satpal Gandhi, who was promoted out of turn to Accounts Officer, and Company Secretary Krishanand Sharma. — TNS

UKD hopeful of third front formation
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 2
The possibility of the formation of a third front to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state has brightened following the resignation of senior ruling BJP leader Lt-Gen TPS Rawat (retd) from the party.

Rawat has formed the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha and hinted at forming an alliance of like-minded parties in the Assembly elections.

The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar faction) is upbeat over the development and hopeful of the formation of a regional front of like-minded parties to provide the third alternative to the voters in the state.

“It is a good news for us that a charismatic leader like TPS Rawat has left the BJP. Since he is heading a non-political party now, we want him to first float a political party and to come up with the issues on which he would fight the elections,” said Trivendra Singh Panwar, President of the UKD (Panwar faction).

The insiders, on the contrary, gave strong feelers that Panwar, along with his senior party leaders, had been vigorously working to develop an understanding for the elections with the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha floated by Rawat. The party was keeping it secret unless a concrete agreement among both is reached.

The UKD (Panwar) is also trying to have an understanding with another BJP rebel Munna Singh Chauhan, a former legislator whose wife Madhu Chauhan is Dehradun Zila Panchayat Chairperson. Informal talks are also under way with parties like the CPI, the CPM, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal and other social groups, according to party sources.

Panwar emphasised that his party had been approaching other political parties and groups on the basis of issues.

BJP flays Cong for atrocities on agitators
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 2
The state BJP has asked the Congress to seek forgiveness for its connivance with the then Samajwadi Party (SP) government of Uttar Pradesh towards inflicting atrocities on the supporters of the statehood movement.

In a statement issued today, Dr Devendra Bhasin reminded that the Congress-led government was instrumental in conniving with the then SP government at Uttar Pradesh towards hurling atrocities on the Uttarakhand people during separate state agitation.

He said while the state agitators faced police bullets in Khatima, Mussoorie and Rampur Tiraha incidents, the Congress at the Centre remained mute spectators to these tragic incidents.

Bhasin strongly criticised Union Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat’s previous day’s statement, in which he lambasted the Chief Minister for getting himself included in the state agitators list. “The Congress must get its facts straight. First of all, no such state agitators’ list has been released and two journalists, who were active state agitationists, have already been identified,” Bhasin said.

He categorically held that the BJP workers not only actively participated in the statehood movement, but the party, when at the Centre, was also instrumental in creating the separate state. 

Blood donation camp held
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 2
A blood donation-cum-awareness camp was organised at Laundara, Roorkee, today. It was jointly organised by the Indian Red Cross Society and the Indian Oil Corporation.

The camp was inaugurated by Joint Magistrate, Roorkee, Saween Bansal.

He said even a unit of blood was as a lifesaver for the needy person and if all of them realised this fact, various lives could be saved, as then there would be no dearth of blood in hospitals or blood banks. Besides the local people, employees of the Indian Oil Corporation also donated blood.

Dr Urmila Vohra, Superintendent of the Civil Hospital, Roorkee, along with her team, helped in conducting the blood donation camp. 

Horticulture varsity VC meets Governor

Dehradun, September 2
Dr Mathew Prasad, first Vice-Chancellor of newly established Uttarakhand Horticulture and Forestry University (Pauri Garhwal), today made a courtesy call on Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva. During the meeting, the Governor sought a detailed information from the VC regarding the syllabi of the university’s courses, its plans and priorities.

She said women in the hilly areas played an important role in agricultural activities. To make women’s role in agriculture more productive, courses should be run to train them in food processing and other value-addition processes.

She said women should be given special training in mushroom production, orchid farming, shawl-making from Ram Bans fibre and in preparing nurseries to help the Forest Department. She said making coal from pine needles was another activity in which women should be encouraged to participate. Dr Prasad informed the Governor that a programmes to train women in food processing would be run at the village level. — TNS

NCC trek to Hemkunt Sahib starts

Dehradun, September 2
Under the aegis of the NCC Directorate, Uttarakhand, the All-India NCC Trek to the Valley of Flowers and Hemkunt Sahib organised by the NCC, Dehradun, commenced yesterday. The trek will be on till September 17.

A total of 500 cadets from all over India have come to participate. The cadets are divided into two batches of 250 each. The participating cadets were addressed by Brig SN Yadav, DDG, NCC, Uttarakhand, during the opening ceremony of the trek at Bripur Cantonment, Dehradun. He said: “Through such activities, we try to encourage national integration by getting the cadets of different states together for a single event.” — TNS