Dehradun, September 12
The significance of setting up the Uttarakhand Child Rights Protection Commission (UCRPC) and later notifying the rules for the same has been lost in the delay caused in the appointment of the chairperson and other office-bearers.

Five months ago, the Department of Women Empowerment and Child Development had notified rules for the commission with the hope that it would soon begun functioning and deal with the issues of child rights on a priority basis. However, that was not to be.

The constitution of the UCRPC, which would also monitor the implementation of the RTE Act, is to be headed by a chairperson whose term will be for a period of two years. It would also comprise six members hailing from different fields, a secretary (a retired IAS officer), a joint secretary on deputation, a law officer and other staff members to man the office of the panel.

“I think the process will be further delayed with the change of the Chief Minister,” said Aditi Kaur, a child rights activist.

The issue of the protection of child rights continues to be ignored in the state with the government now prevaricating on the issue of appointments. At present, there is no panel to address children’s grievances. The state government had disbanded the State Child Development Board and constituted the Uttarakhand Child Rights Protection Commission in its place.

A year after the enactment of the RTE Act, the implementation of various provisions under the legislation remained merely in record books. The RTE Act makes the local authorities grievance-redress agencies and the panel (UCRPC), an appellate body at the state level. In this context, it is necessary to establish the modalities through which child rights under the RTE Act are protected and violations can be dealt with.

The commission will also take up the cases of corporal punishment and even hold public hearings. 

Dehradun, September 12
As part of his campaign to highlight the plight of Himalayan people and press for a separate Himalayan policy that could target the sensitivities of the hills, Dr Anil P Joshi, an eminent social scientist and founder of the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO), presented a charter of demands to the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders here today.

During his interaction with the BJP leaders, Dr Joshi said there was no provision in the Indian democracy that voters get a chance to highlight their demands to various political parties.

Joshi said he had taken the initiative to present a “People’s Charter” to various political parties before the state Assembly elections.

Dehradun, September 12
With inflation affecting most of the people in the country, the milk prices in the state capital are again to be increased likely. The high on protein milk is likely to be dear soon by Rs 2.

City dairy owners said meetings of the federation on increasing the price of packaged milk were still going on after which the prices would be hiked in a day or two. Full cream milk price was likely to be increased to Rs 40 from Rs 38. While other category of milk can see a hike of Rs 1 or Rs 1.50 per litre.

Expressing displeasure over the constantly rising milk prices, Rekha Bisht, a housewife, said, “It will be the fifth time in a year when the prices of packaged milk will be increased. The soaring prices of milk are compelling us to lessen the intake of milk and other milk products.”

Informing about the packaged milk rates, Devendra Uniyal of Shiva Dairy on New Road said, “The per litre price of Anchal, Reliance Dairy Life and Gopaljee Full Cream Milk currently is Rs 38, Rs 36 for standard, Rs 30 for toned milk and Rs 28 for double toned. While the per litre price of Mother Dairy Full Cream milk is Rs 37 and Rs 35 for toned milk.

He asserted that the price hike was due to the increase in the input cost which the company itself levied. “Although, the price hike of milk had affected the sale at our dairy two months back, initially, but now customers are gradually adjusting their necessity,” he added.

He also opines that the new rates will be applicable in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and some parts of Himachal Pradesh in a day or two.

Also the price hike of milk would adversely affect the price of other milk products like butter, curd, mawa, paneer, cream and cheese subsequently.

However, the price of loose milk sold by the dairies will also be increased as they also work on a co-operative pattern, sourcing produce directly from farms and supplying them to consumers. 

Dehradun, September 12
In the absence of the BCCI affiliation to Uttarakhand, the talented cricket players of the region continue to play under other states’ team.

In a latest development this month, four girls, who were getting training at the Little Master Cricket Club, Dehradun, have made it to the Punjab state under-19 girls cricket team while one has been selected to represent Punjab in school nationals making the state proud.

Addressing a press conference, club president Narender Shah said, “This is a proud moment for us that girls from the hilly state have made a place in the Punjab team.”

What adds to glory is one among the four girls. Sneha Rana has been named captain of the Punjab squad. Other selected girls are Neelam Bisht, Pooja and Rekha Dhoundiyal and Kavya Badoni (school nationals).

All have taken admission to schools in Amritsar.

Shah told the media that the girls had come from the hilly area and were selected during a camp by their club by Kiran, the coach. The girls were later trained at the club and later they made it to the Punjab team.

“Five is a big number for a club. We have about 100 players who are being trained here and we are giving our best to hone their skills to make them a good cricketer,” Shah added further.

He said Sneha was also offered a job from the Railways but she refused as she wanted to study and play at present. 

Dehradun, September 12
The Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) is indifferent to the problem of illegal rehris in the state capital. Despite the fact that it has started the drive for removing illegal rehris, it seems to have failed to serve the purpose. The vendors come back once the team of the DMC leaves the place.

According to the DMC data, there are only 1,500 rehris that are legal as they have been issued the licence. Due to the increasing number of the rehris, the DMC has stopped issuing the licence, which means that most of them are illegal.

Moreover, the licence is provided to move around the city and not to stand at a particular place but most of the vendors have spotted a place where they reach early morning and stay till late evening, making it difficult for the people to move freely.

On the orders passed by Mayor Vinod Chamoli, officials carried out raids and seized many illegal kiosks, which had now been lying in its store since September 1. The drive was to be carried out for sometime but it has been stopped as of now.

The drive was stopped due to the strike by ministerial employees.

“The drive that had started on September 1 continued till September 9 only. We will again start the drive once the orders are passed,” HS Rawat, Associate Executive Engineer, DMC, told The Tribune.

The Mayor said they would continue the drive as they need the city to be kiosk-free. “If the officials had stopped the drive, I need to talk to them as I don’t want any illegal kiosk on the road since they help in increasing traffic jams,” he maintained and added, “The team has till now visited the posh areas, including Clock Tower, Rajpur Road, Chakrauta Road and other main areas and seized more than 100 rehris. There is need to visit the same areas again as more vendors have come back there. Once we are able to finish these from the main area of the capital city, then we will move to other places. We are not even giving back the rehris to the vendors,” he said.

He further maintained that they were trying to search for a place where these vendors could stand permanently.

Dehradun, September 12
Though the contract with Mahajan Imaging Centre Private Limited, which is running the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Centre at the Doon District Hospital, will end only in 2014, the hospital authorities have started feeling jittery about the proposition of running the equipment the annual maintenance cost of which is close to $ 2 lakh. This when the equipment is still under the warranty period.

“Though we are not paying for the maintenance, the way the entire setup requires maintenance on and off, to maintain it in the long run will be an extremely costly affair,” said Dr BC Pathak, Chief Medical Superintendent, Doon Hospital.

As of now, the centre is being run under the public-private-partnership mode.

The Health Department has tied up with Mahajan Imaging Centre till July, 2014, and the charges fixed for the MRI scan by the hospital managing committee is Rs 3,500 per body part, less than what is being charged at private hospitals. It is a big draw for above poverty line (APL) patients, who prefer the government hospital to private clinics. The MRI scan is undertaken for hips, thighs, brain, etc.

According to the memorandum of agreement signed between the government and the private party, the patients having the BPL cards receive treatment free of cost while the APL patients pay Rs 3,500 per case, charges similar to what prevailing at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Further, the authorities have also been jolted by the expenses incurred on buying the film for the MRI scan which is now being reimbursed by the hospital. “This is a kind of a hidden charge as the private player was able to prevail upon the Directorate-General, Health and Family Welfare, to pay an additional amount for films used for non-BPL patients. Though it was never part of the memorandum of understanding,” said Dr Pathak.

Troubled by the absence of funds, this arrangement alone is proving to be costly for the hospital. “The memorandum papers were sent to us and our views were never considered while signing the it,” added Dr Pathak.

Dehradun, September 12
Chief Minister BC Khanduri today paid homage at the Martyrs’ Memorial located at the Collectorate here. On the occasion, the Chief Minister appealed to the people to lend a helping hand in making Uttarakhand an ideal state. He also expressed gratitude to the people of the state for extending their support.

Khanduri said his first priority would be to check corruption and help resolve the problems of the people. 

Nainital, September 12
The controversy over the government’s move regarding establishing Uttarakhand’s first Ayush gram on the premises of Bhawali Tuberculosis (TB) Sanitarium has taken a new turn with some social activists and residents of Bhawali stating that they will approach the courts if any move is made to do away with the facilities at the sanitarium.

The matter is all set to snowball into a major issue with BC Khanduri back in the Chief Minister’s chair as the polls approach.

Activists have also stated that the government must come clean over the depleting infrastructure and the proposed chest institute that had been announced during the regime of former Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tewari for which expensive machines had been acquired.

Talking to The Tribune, Sanjay Verma, a social activist who recently resigned from the Congress, said, “We have sought important information pertaining to the sanitarium. There have been machines worth crores that are lying unused. We just want that the sanitarium should be used to its optimum capacity for the welfare of the people. There should be technicians available for at least three days in a week so that the poor TB patients are provided with some succour.” The sanitarium was renamed as Kamla Nehru TB Sanitarium in 2006 and the government had announced that a major chest institute would be developed there. Sources point out that some machines procured for the facility have gone out of order on account of sheer negligence.

Verma along with other activists, including Tarun Joshi, N. Kandpal and Harish Bhatt, has underlined that they will not hesitate to go to the courts in the matter. They claim that the machines that were procured were to the tune of more than Rs 3 crore and these are not being put to use for reasons ranging from lack of manpower to absence of the required infrastructure.

It was on August 22 that former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank had laid the foundation stone of the controversial Ayush gram amid protests by Congress activists on the sidelines of the function.

Those opposing the move said that their struggle for preventing the sale of sanitarium land to private players would continue.

After laying the foundation stone, Nishank had claimed that the proposed Ayush Gram would be developed as per international norms and developed in the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

The development of Ayush Gram on the sanitarium premises has become a contentious issue with the Congress and even the local residents being radically opposed to the project. Congress leaders have been charging the state government with selling of land belonging to the sanitarium at a throwaway price. The Congress leadership has been saying that about 10 acres of prime land in Bhawali comprising 1.5 acres belonging to the sanitarium and 8.5 acres to the Revenue Department has been sold off at a very cheap rate to a private group comprising three buyers.

The land had allegedly been sold off to cosmetic giant Emami, Chevron Hotels and Swami Chinmayanand Saraswati.

The BJP on the other hand has been contesting that the government had taken a conscious decision in a transparent manner to lease out approximately 10 acres of land near the existing sanitarium for 35 years. It has claimed that the land that is being leased out is a wasteland which the government wants to develop as an international medical tourism destination.

It has also been claiming that the functioning of the sanitarium will not be disturbed.

Dehradun, September 12
DAV Public School routed Moravian Institute 49-13 during the ongoing Gardner Silver Jubilee Inter-School Basketball Tournament for Girls under way at St Thomas’ College here today.

Ashima topscored with 12 points in the win. In another match, Doon International School defeated Summer Valley School 33-24 with the help of Milan who scored 10 points for the winning side. In the third match, Welham Girls School thrashed Wynberg Allen School 56-15. Biya topscored with eight points for the Welham team. Meanwhile, three matches will be played tomorrow in the competition.