44 panchayats get Nirmal Gram Award
CM appeals for clean villages
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 28
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri gave away the Nirmal Gram Awards to 44 Gram Panchayats at a function held at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) auditorium here today.

On the occasion, he congratulated the Gram Pradhans of the award-winning Gram Panchayats and appealed to them to make Uttarakhand clean and pure in accordance with the culture of “Dev Bhoomi”.

Khanduri said the effective dissemination of message of sanitation from the award-winning panchayats would inspire other Gram Sabhas to follow their example. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, the Chief Minister said, “India is a country whose soul resides in the villages and his dream is to keep India clean.”

He said the award programme would go a long way in disseminating the message of sanitation for realisation of Gandhiji’s ideals and objectives in an effective manner. He said due to inadequate number of lavatories in a few villages, the women had to face a lot of inconvenience.

“Collective efforts are required for doing away with the situation”, he said.

On the occasion, the Chief Minister called upon all award-winners as well as those present in the function to take along with them the message of fostering awareness among the people to keep the rural areas free from dirt and pollution. He also expressed the hope that the state would be able to achieve the 100 per cent mark in the sanitation sector within the near future.

Reminding the people that they had a duty to perform in keeping the villages clean and dirt-free, he called upon the 44 award-winning Panchayats to maintain the status of the honour that had been bestowed upon them.

“This is important to inspire the neighbouring villages and raise awareness among them on the importance of maintaining a clean and dirt-free environment,” he said.

Earlier, the Chief Minister lit a ceremonial lamp to inaugurate the Nirmal Gram Award distribution function in the FRI auditorium, which was organised jointly by the Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission of the Department of Drinking Water of the Union Ministry of Rural Development, and the Swajal Project of the Drinking Water Department, Uttarakhand.

The Chief Minister gave away the Nirmal Gram Awards for the year 2009-10 to 10 Gram Pradhans of Almora, 5 from Haridwar, 3 from Nainital, 1 Gram Pradhan each from Rudraprayag and Pauri Garhwal, 4 from Dehradun, 3 Gram Pradhans each from Champawat, Tehri, Chamoli and Bageshwar and 2 Gram Pradhans from Udham Singh Nagar. Besides, he also felicitated Gram Pradhans of Pithoragarh, Almora, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Chamoli and Bageshwar by presenting a shawl to each of them for having received the Nirmal Gram Award from the President.

Vidhan Sabha Speaker Harbans Kapoor said sanitation was an important aspect of a progressive and a healthy society. Uttarakhand Minister of Drinking Water Prakash Pant said the government had initiated a number of meaningful efforts to promote health and hygiene in all villages of the state, through the Nirmal Gram Award programme.

He said the government efforts were directed to make available facilities and public conveniences in every village of the state such as public lavatories and management of solid waste.

Swajal Director Kapil Lal said the Central Rural Sanitation Programme was launched in 1986 primarily with the objective of improving the quality of life of the rural people and also to provide privacy and dignity to women. A sanitation level of 86 per cent had been achieved in Uttarakhand and under the campaign, 6,46,831 lavatories, 2,702 in schools and 202 Aanganwaris lavatories had been constructed.

He said while 44 Gram Panchayats had received the awards for the year 2009-10, a total of 291 Gram Panchayats had been proposed for awards for the year 2010-11.

Govt gets Rs 100 cr for areas affected by Tehri project
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 28
The Uttarakhand Government has received Rs 100 crore in the form of special assistance amount out of Rs 103 crore extended to it for the infrastructure development of the areas affected by the Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation (THDC) project.

A cheque for Rs 100 crore was presented to the state chief secretary Subhash Kumar at his office at the Secretariat here today by the Chief Managing Director (CMD) of the THDC RST Sai. The state has earlier already received an amount of Rs 3 crore.

The state government had taken a strong initiative regarding this with the Centre. Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri had also discussed the issue a number of times with Union Minister of Power Sushil Kumar Shinde and had explained the viewpoint of the state on the issue to him. Besides, Subhash Kumar had also held discussions with the cabinet secretary and the Union Power Secretary and had put forward the issue to them in detail. It is as a result of the sustained efforts of the state government that the Union Power Ministry finally directed the THDC management to do the needful.

The chief secretary said the amount of Rs 100 crore would be spent on rehabilitation of the villages affected by the Tehri Dam Project, and developing other infrastructure facilities there. An amount of Rs 41.44 crore would be spent on the repair work of the damaged bridge of Chinyalisaur, the Ghunti-Ghansali Bridge and the Dobrachanti Bridge. Besides, an amount of Rs 41 crore would be spent on rehabilitation of Rolakote village, which is affected by the rising water level of the Tehri Dam. The amount would be spent in providing basic amenities like electricity, potable water, and roads, to the people of Rolakote. Other than this, Rs 8.63 crore would be spent on necessary amenities in Shiwalik Nagar and Rainakote.

Sai apprised the chief secretary that work on the hydropower project was getting affected due to the non-transfer of the 20,000 acres of land in Pipalkoti, mainly because the land in question is a forest land. The chief secretary immediately directed Garhwal Commissioner Ajay Nabiyal and Chamoli District Magistrate Ranjit Sinha to resolve the issue on an expeditious basis. He said as per the decision taken recently by the state government, land ownership rights would be given along with the depositing of the forest land compensatory amount. He said following the Cabinet’s decision on the issue, a government order had also been issued. According to the order, the THDC would now get the ownership rights. This has cleared the way for 444 MW of electricity generation by 2016. The CMD said 200 MW of electricity was being produced from two units of the Koteshwar dam. This would be increased following the installation of two more units in the near future. Besides, detailed project reports of two projects at Malari and Jhilum on the Dhauli Ganga river, a tributary of the Alaknanda River, have been sent to the Government of India. Work on these would begin only after an approval is granted to these two projects, he said.

Resolutions passed on rebuilding of gurdwara
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 28
A meeting of representatives of the Sikh community hailing from various gurdwaras, institutions and political parties was held here today to discuss the reconstruction of Gurdwara Gyan Godhri.

The meeting, which was headed by Sardar Sukhev Singh Namdhari, chairman of the Uttarakhand Minority Commission, and Sardar Gurdip Singh Sahota, member of the 15-point Programme Committee, passed four resolutions in this regard.

The members in the first resolution agreed on building the gurdwara at the Ranipur turn near the bank of the Ganga at Haridwar as suggested by the Uttarakhand Government in year 2002.

Since the land falls into the territory of the Irrigation Department of the Uttar Pardesh government, they will request the UP Government to transfer the land to the Gurdwara Samiti.

In their second resolution, they built a consensus on erecting a holy ‘Nishan Sahib’ at the controversial Scouts & Guides office at Har-ki-Pauri in Haridwar, as per the decision taken by the National Minority Commission.

In the third resolution, they agreed to give both tasks to Gurdwara Gyan Godhri Samiti which was constituted in 1993. The executive committee of the body would also be expanded for the purpose.

In their fourth resolution, the members condemned the intrusion of people from outside the state.

Those who participated at the meeting included chairman of the Gyan Godhri Smiti Harjit Singh Dua, Congress leader Harpal Singh and president of Gurdwara Race Course Harbhajan Singh Anand. 

CPM demands talks with Khanduri
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 28
State members of the Communist Party of Marxist (CPM) have demanded talks with Chief Minister of the state with regards to the agitations going on in the state.

While lending his support to the agitation, state secretary Surender Singh Sajvan slammed the state government for its adamant attitude because of which hundreds of employees were agitating on roads. He demanded the state government to fulfil the demands of the employees of Basic Teacher Course and reinstate the expelled employees of ONGC Women Polytechnic.

On the issue of domicile certificate, he said the procedure of obtaining the domicile certificate should be simplified and orders given by former Chief Minister ND Tiwari should be accepted as the yardstick for issuing the certificate. He slammed the Centre for opening up a retail sector for foreign markets.

The meeting was attended by state secretary Vijay Rawat, Virender Bhandari, Indu Naudiyal and Anant Akash among others.

FDI against small traders, farmers: UKD(P)
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 28
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Pawar) today opposed the UPA’s decision of allowing 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector.

The party has decided to hold protests and launch an awareness drive in all districts of the state, to make the puiblic aware of the repercussions the decision would have on the Indian economy, small farmers and traders.

A meeting was held at the party’s city office on this issue with party leaders condemning the decision of the Union Cabinet and described it as a direct influence of western powers on the Indian governance.

Central chief of the labour cell of the party Rana Ranveer Singh said as 90per cent of the India’s total retail business was in the unorganised sector, the entry of foreign mega retail giants would almost leave the sector unemployed.

He added that the decision would directly or indirectly affect almost 40 million people.

“Small retailers are at the risk of being eliminated by the pricing and marketing policies of the multinational giants as each one has a track record of the anti-competitive policies, be it Wallmart,Tesco or Carrefour,” said Uday Ram Semwal, secretary of the labour and farmer cell.

The party has also decided to corner the Congress on the issue ahead of the Assembly elections in the state by carrying out mass awareness programmes in all the districts of the state, exposing the nexus between corporate and Congress leaders.

District party chief Adesh Marwadi said, “Pol-Khol, the exposing campaign, will be launched to expose the anti-common man stance of the UPA government. Alongside, the BJP’s dual standard will also be exposed as it is stalling the parliamentary session proceedings, which in turn is hampering the passing of several bills that will only affect the development of the country.”

Present among others were central working committee members Lalit Mamgain, Anil Pokhriyal, Lalu Ram, Rishi and Ballabh Chamoli.

Distance learning has given new meaning to education: Governor
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 28
State Governor Margaret Alva said today that information and communication technology was powering open and distance learning as never before.“Open and distance learning has given a new meaning to education,” adds Alva.

Inaugurating a two-day international conference on “ICT-initiatives, policies and governance” organised by Uttarakhand Open University at Doon University, the Governor, through the medium of videoconferencing, said: “This conference is aimed at the convergence of open and distance learning and information and communication technology.”

She said information and communication technology had revolutionised the transfer of knowledge and information and changed the old parameters of learning. “One need not ask anyone about anything. It’s just a click away,” the Governor said.

The Governor said with universities opting for the use of technology for education, the open and distance learning acquired a definite edge over its traditional counterpart. “The winner at the end of the day is the learner who has a choice whether to join a conventional place of learning or opt for open and distance learning,” she said.

Alva also stressed the need for creating a network of institutions and resources, first at the state level and later at the national level.

Among those present on the occasion were Prof Girijesh Pant, Vice-Chancellor, Doon University, Prof Asha Kanwar, Vice-President, Commonwealth of Learning, Prof RC Joshi, Chancellor, Graphic Era, and Prof Durgesh Pant.

Man fakes robbery to escape bank notices
Tribune News Service

Nainital, November 28
Investigations into the alleged robbing of a managing director of a plastic factory on the Bazpur-Kaladhungi road on Saturday night have revealed that the incident had been faked by the complainant.

The probe has led to the revelation that the complainant had come up with the idea to submit a fake complaint to escape notices coming from a bank for the repayment of the loan taken by him, which he was unable to do.

Suresh Kamboj had told the police that he along with his foreman, Satvir, was returning to his factory in Naya Gaon from Bareilley when the incident took place near Gadappu.

In his complaint, Kamboj had alleged that he had stopped his car on seeing an injured woman gesturing for help when he two masked persons came up to him and robbed him of Rs 5 lakh at gunpoint. Later, they fled into the forest along with the woman after threatening Kamboj and his foreman.

The police team investigating the matter became suspicious as both Kamboj and his foreman had changed their statements frequently. Sustained interrogation led to Kamboj spilling the beans.

Kamboj is learnt to have taken a loan of Rs 65 lakh from a bank and his inability to repay it led him to concoct the story of his having been robbed. 

Speed up work on Ramnagar bus stand: Minister

Dehradun, November 28
Transport Minister Banshi Dhar Bhagat gave directions to speed up work on the underconstructed bus stand at Ramnagar and begin construction of Srinagar, Kashipur, Rudrapur bus stands.

He directed officials of the Transport Department to compete all formalities related to the Sitarganj bus stand and shifting of the RTO office from Almora to Haldwani. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Transport, S Ramaswami, Transport Commissioner RC Pathak, Managing Director, Uttarkhand Transport Corporation, Shailash. — TNS

Lokayukta Act BJP’s political stunt, says Congress
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 28
Uttarakhand Congress spokesperson Surender Aggarwal has accused the state BJP government, headed by Chief Minister BC Khanduri, of using the recently passed Lokayukta Act as a political stunt keeping the coming Assembly elections in view.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Aggarwal alleged that the Chief Minister, in a hurry to get the act passed, did not even allow a public debate as promised by him earlier.

He said the Lokayukta Act passed by the state government had powers to investigate the judicial officers, which was against Article 262 of the constitution that gives these powers only to the High Court and the Supreme Court of India. He further said Section 7 (subsection 7) of the Act states that any action against any secretary or above officials will be taken with the consent of the chairman and two other members of the Lokayukta.

On the question of penalty of Rs 1 lakh if any complaint with the Lokayukta was found false, Aggarwal asked whether such a provision had been discussed in the public domain.

Talking about the transparency of the state BJP government regarding the Lokayukta Act, Aggarwal said the Act had not been uploaded on the official website of the state government for common people to read its provisions. He also questioned the state government on the fate of the present Lokayukta in the state.

“The state government should at least give the 56 alleged scandals of the previous Congress regime and 419 scams of the present government to the present Lokayukta, who has powers to investigate about the conduct of the bureaucrats and ministers,” he added. 

Dr Bisht gets award

Nainital, November 28
The Vice-Chancellor of the Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Dr BS Bisht, has been honoured with the Academic Excellence Award - 2011 for his outstanding contribution in the field of education.

The award was received by Dr Bisht during the 19th Dewang Mehta Business School Awards ceremony at Mumbai on November 26.

The ceremony was attended by top dignitaries from technology and management institutes of the country at Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai. The award is given by Hindustan Unilever and Canon Hexaware Tech for outstanding contribution, talent and leadership role in education in the country. Dr Bisht dedicated this award to the students, staff and all associated farmers of the university. — TNS