Circulation of Objectionable Pamphlets
28 printing units raided
Tribune News Service

Nainital, December 16
Launching a hunt for those involved in printing and circulating the objectionable pamphlets against Rudrapur legislator Tilak Raj Behed on Wednesday, the police has initiated a series of checks at the printing presses in the district.

According to sources, police officials have been carrying out checks at various printing units while minutely scanning paper, font and ink used for printing. The purpose is to tally the three with the pamphlets that have been seized by the police following the complaints of the circulation of derogatory pamphlets.

It is learnt that Thursday evening saw the police resorting to simultaneous checks at 28 printing units in the town and its adjoining areas. There are 68 printing units in the district. The police is also in the process of gathering information from all printing units in the district and has warned the owners of the units not to publish anything defamatory or objectionable that might lead to disturbing the peace in the area.

The police has also registered a case against those responsible for publishing and circulating the pamphlets. They were able to confiscate 76 such pamphlets. However, no arrest has been made in the case as yet.

The police and the administration had stepped in the nick of time to prevent another round of turmoil in the town on the issue of the unprecedented communal riots witnessed on October 2 that had left four persons dead and scores injured, besides there being massive damage to the infrastructure.

The issue has the potential to flare up as communal polarization might help certain elements just when the state is about to go to the Assembly polls.

The trouble had started on Wednesday when some elements had distributed pamphlets that had objectionable content against the sitting Congress legislator Tilak Raj Behed. Sources say that the pamphlets had held him responsible for the flaring up of the communal strife in the town on October 2.

This had led to a massive protest by the Congress men in the town which could have led to the worsening of the situation. However, timely intervention by the police and resilience shown by Behed and his supporters helped bring the situation back to normal.

Low priority given to roads, facilities in border areas
Poor utilisation of funds by BJP Govt
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Improving rural connectivity by spreading a network of roads and providing facilities to villages in the border areas continue to be accorded the lowest priority by the BJP Government in Uttarakhand, leading to poor utilisation of funds earmarked for the pradhan mantri gram sadak yojana (PMGSY) and the border area development programme (BADP).

Despite setting a target of building 650 km of roads under the pradhan mantri gramin sadak yojana, the government has just about managed to build a mere 257 km of roads. Against the available funds of Rs 39,744 lakh, only Rs 10,551 lakh were spent, completing a mere 27 per cent of the works earmarked under the PMGSY till November for this financial year. The PMGSY programme is a Central Government-funded scheme.

“The progress under the scheme has been slow due to absence of environment clearances as a majority of the roads fall under the forest area, and environment clearance from the Central Government is required,” said Vijaya Barthwal, Rural Development Minister.

If the non-existent roads in the villages speak volumes about the BJP Government’s “reluctance” to spend money where it is needed most, five years down the line the government has even has made a mockery of Border Area Development Programme (BADP).

Against the available budget of Rs 4037 lakh till November this year, the government managed to spend only Rs 666 lakh. According to the terms of the programme, the amount sanctioned under the programme would lapse with the model code of conduct coming into place shortly. The Central Government-sponsored scheme stipulates a share of the Centre and state in the ratio of 75:25.

The BADP is under way in the districts of Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Champawat, Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar. The BADP was started during the Seventh Plan with the twin objectives of promoting balanced development in sensitive border areas.

Allocations are made for carrying out programmes under education, health and rural development for the earmarked districts. The Central Government-sponsored scheme has several checks and balances. In 2009-2010, the Central Government had not released funds after the state government failed to utilise the funds properly.

Schemes launched by Nishank shelved
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Though it has been three months since the regime changed in Uttarakhand, the ripples continue to be felt in the everyday functioning of the state. The biggest casualty has been the programmes announced by former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Some of the schemes launched by Nishank have been relegated to the background and instead the schemes announced by Chief Minister BC Khanduri during his previous tenure between 2007-09 have been dusted and brought to the fore along with the announcements made by him since taking the reins once again in September.

The subjectivity and perceived bias is visible even during the evaluation meetings of the announcements made by the Chief Minister. The secretaries of different departments are asked to compile progress from the period 2007-09 and of the last three months only.

“All the schemes announced by the former Chief Minister have been dropped like hot potatoes at least in the day to day functioning in the portals of power,” said a senior official.

BSP confident of winning over 10 seats in Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 16
For the first time since the creation of Uttarakhand, the Bahujan Samaj Party seems to be in a good position in the Haridwar rural Assembly segment.

Owing to the party fielding an honest and upper caste candidate Gulshan Arora, the party hopes to open the account by giving a stiff fight to rival parties, the Congress and the BJP.

Talking to The Tribune, Gulshan Arora specified on the methodology of his election campaign and other core issues at his residence.

Claiming the upcoming Assembly election as the one which will fetch the party more than 10 seats in the Haridwar constituency, Arora said that he had been working at the ground level both with party workers and public with sincerity.

“The public mood is against the Congress and the BJP as both have created scams and corrupt governance at the Union and state. People want a change with able governance. The BSP in Uttar Pradesh is the prime example. Mayawati has shown that she doesn’t allow corruption at any level,” said Arora.

He also termed the Maha Kumbh scam as a major deterrent for the BJP to regain it’s two Assembly seats in Haridwar district. Infighting within the Congress will further boost the BSP’s clean governance image, he asserted.

Pointing out that with the BSP declaring it’s candidates quite early, Arora said that this would boost the party’s penetration in rural areas, which are the most neglected ones and need development on the ground level, and not “meagre assurances.”

Party state chief Suraj Mal said that party had declared Arora as candidate owing to his honest, dedicated party worker image and also keeping in mind the ongoing anti-corruption wave in the country.

Withdraw Lokayukta Bill: CP (ML)
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 16
The state unit of the CP (ML) today called upon the state government to withdraw the Lokayukta Bill passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly, as, according to the party, it is an instrument in the hands of the powerful to protect the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats in the state from the clutches of the law.

Briefing the media after a district-level convention of the party held here on Wednesday, the newly elected district spokesperson for the party, Govind Kafalia, said the party wanted the Bill be withdrawn in the interests of common people of the state as it would increase corruption in the state. “The Lokayukta Act will give the impression that corruption is being checked but actually it will be protecting the corrupt,” alleged Kafalia.

According to Kafalia, 23 resolutions were passed at the convention, including seeking a salary package of more than Rs 11,000 for all anganwari and Asha workers in the villages of the state and a law to give government job to one member of each family in the state. “The party also felt that the agriculture needs to be given special attention in the state and every landless family should be given minimum an acre for cultivation,” said Kafalia.

According to the district spokesman, the state should make laws to ban big dams in the state and bring in laws to protect the agriculture from the menace of wild animals. “The party wants that small hydroelectric schemes in the state be brought under the control of the village Panchayats and all government land near villages should be allocated to the nearby villages,” said the party spokesperson.

“Our party feels that anyone who talks of third front without Left parties is without political understanding of the state because the Left parties are out to give revolutionary alternative to the people of the state whereas the third front partners have started talking of participation in the government after the election,” said Kafalia.

Need to facilitate voter participation: CEC
Tribune News Service

Nainital, December 16
Officials involved in conducting the coming Assembly poll in Uttarakhand along with their counterparts from other states that are going to the polls over the next couple of months attended a day-long initiative of the Election Commission of India (ECI) named the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme in Delhi. The purpose for organising the initiative was to increase voters’ participation in the poll.

Besides, the officials entrusted the job of conducting the elections, there were around 50 other participants from official media departments like All-India Radio, Doordarshan, Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity (DAVP), Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP), Song and Drama Division and partner agencies like the Nehru Yuvak Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), National Service Scheme (NSS), National Cadet Corps (NCC), etc. This was the first time a workshop was organised on SVEEP, in line with the commission’s recent policy to seek greater participation of citizens in the electoral process. The workshop finalised an action plan for enhancing voters’ participation in the coming elections.

The workshop was inaugurated by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, Dr SY Quraishi, in the presence of Election Commissioners VS Sampath and HS Brahma. In his address, Dr Quraishi underlined that with increased and informed participation in elections, the quality of representation would improve. This may obviate the need for any “Right to Recall”. He asked the Chief Electoral Officers of the states to ensure the citizens’ Right to Franchise, by means of registration and voting at the time of elections. He highlighted the voter turnout records in the recent Assembly elections following a concerted voter-education drive by the commission.

The CEC observed that there was an urgent need to overcome hindrances to voter participation like youth indifference, gender gap, urban apathy and enrolling voters from the weaker sections. The commission is, therefore, adopting social marketing strategies for focused intervention, which are also cost-effective. Dr Quraishi underlined the importance of forging a close partnership with the media departments along with the youth and education organisations for achieving maximum participation.

Sampath emphasised the facilitation measures needed for improving voter turnout. In his address, Brahma mentioned about the positive impact of the messages from the national and regional icons in reaching out to the youth and the excluded population in the recent elections.

According to a spokesperson for the ECI, “It also emerged from the workshop that the private media should take a more pro-active role in voter awareness campaigns.”

All schools to get basic facilities by Dec-end

Dehradun, December 16
By December-end all the High Secondary Schools in Uttarakhand will be able to get water, electricity and toilet facilities in Uttarakhand.

“Out of the 17,142 schools, 227 are without water and 187 without toilets. There is no electricity supply to as many as 6,881 schools. These schools will be provided these facilities by the end of December,” said Subash Kumar, Chief Secretary, today.

He said constant and active monitoring by the government was helping to achieve the target by December-end.

“We have also undertaken a survey of 100 schools that are located at a certain height and are therefore away from the water source and estimates for 50 schools have already been prepared. By December we will be able to provide toilets at all the schools,” he said while reviewing the progress of the project at a meeting.

He said in villages of Pithoragarh and Bageshwar where electricity had not reached so far the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) had been asked to make arrangements for power supply to these villages. — TNS

CPI activists demand food security

Haridwar, December 16
On Food Security Day, the Communist Party of India (CPI) activists demanded food security from the Centre.

At a meeting at Bhagat Singh Chowk, CPI activists said as per the Constitution, safeguarding of financial rights was specified, but by merely making laws, the government could not step back from its duty.

“The providence of food to poor people should be done at the government-run fair price shops at subsidised rates and if possible, free of cost. Millions of tonnes of food grains are lying in food stores of which a major portion gets wasted,” said comrade Munirka Yadav, vice chief of the CFFP Employees Association.

Raees Alam of the district CPI unit pointed out that the aim of the World Food Day was to heighten public awareness about the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

Communists also took strong objection to respective Union Governments bifurcating the people in the BPL (below poverty line) and the APL (above poverty line) brackets. The government should take steps to ensure that poverty is vanished from the country. For that a methodical economic and social approach was needed, which the subsequent governments lacked, remarked comrade Prakashi Devi. — TNS

More tomatoes, less returns for producers
Tribune News Service

Nainital, December 16
Tomato producers around Haldwani are facing a problem of glut in the face of a bumper produce of the local variety.

Sources say that the farmers are fetching a very low price for their produce that is not enough even to cover their harvest and transportation charge.

With the result, the produce is either being dumped in the Gaula river or being fed to stray animals. With the farmers not getting more than Rs 1.50 per kg in the wholesale market, the scenario is dismal.

Most of the farmers have stopped harvesting the produce in the hope of prices taking an upturn. However, this has led to the rotting of the produce in the fields itself.

Despite the bleak scenario, the markets are witnessing huge arrivals which reports put at 20,000 quintal on a daily basis. With the supply exceeding the demand, a large quantity of this is ending up as fodder for stray animals. A large quantity is also being dumped in the Gaula river.

The production of the local variety of tomato has been massive in areas like Chorgaliya, Ramnagar, Kaladhungi, Kotabagh and Haldwani. This variety is said to be more juicy and sweet in taste. However, the flaw associated with it is that it perishes very soon. In the absence of proper food processing infrastructure, the glut is leading to the losses for the farmers.

Despite the glut, the irony that is visible in the retail market is that the produce is still being sold at Rs 10 per kilogram. This is once again a pointer to the flaw in the chain of supply that ensures good returns for retailers and middlemen while the farmer continues to be at the receiving end.

The farmers are now pinning their hopes on a good return for the hybrid variety crop that will start reaching the markets after a few days.

Sale of Chinese goods ‘threat to economy’

Dehradun, December 16
Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli today said the increasing use of Chinese products was a matter of concern for the country.

Addressing a workshop organised by the Himalaya Parivar, a non- government organisation in Dehradun, Chamoli reminded that while 80,000 square kilometres of the Indian territory was still in the Chinese possession in the aftermath of the 1962 war, Chinese were now trying to destroy the Indian economy by flooding the Indian markets with its products.

Another key speaker Suryanarayan Jha said India had failed to strengthen its borders with China. He said China had been repeatedly troubling India. “It shows Arunachal as part of China and continues to irritate India on one pretext or other”, he said. — TNS

Road blocks hit tourism in Almora
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 16
Road blocks caused by natural disasters in 2010 cost Almora dearly as the tourism trade in the town was affected and the temple city witnessed meagre tourists compared to those of last years, according to Tourist Department officials today.

The natural disaster affected not only the highways linking the town with the nearest railway station, Kathgodam, but also the roads from the town to various tourist destinations affecting the distribution from the tourism to these tourists spots.

According to tourism department sources, the flow of tourists which has shown an upward trend in the year 2000, suddenly decreased in 2010 as the natural calamity hit the Almora district and most of the roads, including the main highway from Haldwani to Almora, had remained closed for months. A number of tourists from across the country increased from 1,30,129 in 2000 to 1,85,298 in 2009, but it suddenly came down to 1,79,158 in 2010, the year Almora was hit by the natural calamities.

“This trend continued in the current year as the Haldwani-Almora highway was affected by the recent landslide at Jaurasi on the highway, despite the opening of the highway after 10 days. The danger of sudden sliding predicted by geologists is scaring the tourists and they are avoiding the tours to this town,” said KP Nainwal, a tourist agent in the town.

According to sources, not only domestic tourists but the foreign tourists are also avoiding this cultural centre of Kumaon due to the natural disaster in 2010. The number of foreign tourists, which was 5,103 in 2009 reduced to 4,681 during last year.

This number has crossed 5000 from 2004 onwards and had reached 6098 in 2006. The number of tourists was highest in 2009 which has started declining since then.

Bhawali-Almora road opened to traffic during day time
Tribune News Service

Nainital, December 16
The authorities have once again opened the Bhawali-Almora National Highway for vehicular movement. However, the movement of traffic on the stretch will take place only during the day and the road will be closed during the night time. This has been done to prevent any untoward incident in the wake of the possibility of yet anothe landslide.

Officials have stated that there will be no vehicular movement on the stretch from 6 pm to 6 am and the vehicle drivers have been warned to be very careful while moving on the road even during the daytime.

The road had been lying closed for the last 10 days following massive landslides, which also saw some huge boulders coming down.

Keeping this stretch of the road open ever since the rain-related disaster of September 2010 has been an arduous task for the administration. The road has witnessed a series of rock and mud slides over the last 15

months. These slides have been taking place round the year while posing a grave risk to the life and property.

The present landslide had taken place at Jaurasi. Following direct intervention by District Magistrate at Nainital Nidhi Mani Tripathi, a survey was carried out by experts in geology and a report is to be submitted to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) at the earliest so that a long-term solution can be found to the recurring problem. Tripathi had asked the NHAI officials to remain present while the survey was being conducted and the repairs carried out.

During the survey, the experts also mulled over the possibility of constructing an alternative road on the left bank of the Kosi river.

However, the final decision would be taken only after the survey reports are analysed by experts. Over the last 10 days, the traffic to Almora had moved through an alternate route via Ramgarh and Nathuakhan. Some vehicles were also going via Ranikhet.

Experts share experiences on climate change
Our Correspondent

Dehradun, December 16
A state-level workshop on “Enhancing adaptive capacities and resilience of poor climate and socio-economic changes” was held at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) auditorium in Dehradun yesterday. It was held under the aegis of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Uttarakhand Organic Development Board, and Ajivika, yesterday.

Village communities, scientists, NGO workers and members from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal, shared their experiences on climate change, its impact and coping mechanism required for adopting various adaptive techniques to improve livelihood in the hilly region of the state.

The programme coordinator of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) project of ICIMOD, Dr Dhrupad Chaudhry, and Anmol Jain, consultant from ICIMOD, informed the participants that a multi-level process called “adaptation learning highway” is being adopted in order to assess the vulnerability of the mountain communities.

The speakers also felt that the policy makers should formulate strategies through informed decision making at different government levels with responsive governance mechanism.

The farmers from various hill districts also provided their valuable suggestions. They demanded that their major concerns such as inadequate adaptive capacity of support agencies (including government), the need for specific weather forecasting, risk management at the farm level and dissemination of information from various departments on right time should be addressed so that they could benefit and ensure safety of their communities much before any disaster caused by climate change occurs in their respective regions.

The chief guest on the occasion was former Chief Secretary RS Tolia. He said the identification of related issues by individual departments and formulation of specific strategies was important for enhancing the adaptive techniques among the communities. He also emphasised on separate policies for the plains and hill districts of the state as both the regions had different climatic concerns. Representatives from the agriculture and insurance sectors, Animal Husbandry Department and Horticulture Department were also present.

The coordinator of the workshop was Director of the Uttarakhand Organic Development Board Vinita Shah. She thanked the participants and hoped that all the concerns raised at the meting will get the attention of the policy makers of the state.

Woman Cong leader’s charge
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 16
While the Congress high command is trying its level best to prevent factionalism within the party and unrest among its leaders, the woman district chief of the Haridwar unit has accused a fellow party leader of using abusive language against her. The allegation has caused a furore within the party.

Kiran Singh, who is working chief of the woman wing of the Congress from Haridwar district, has accused a fellow leader of casting offensive remarks on her during the padyatra that was taken out in Gadmirpur, Anneki, Shivalik Nagar and Salempur villages.

She said the fellow leader, who had recently joined the party, questioned her and other women members who were taking part in the padyatra and later used derogatory words against her.

“I had never thought such a behaviour towards me by a seasoned politician and if he has such disrespect for a fellow woman party executive, then one can easily imagine what he thinks of common women,” said a dejected Kiran who is seeking ticket from the Shivalik Nagar-Ranipur segment.

Political observers termed the controversy as a result of a tussle for ticket as both the politicians are vying for ticket from the same Assembly segment. Meanwhile, many leaders present on the occasion denied hearing any abusive words and termed the leader’s remarks as “witty” ones taken in wrong perspective.

Anupama Rawat, flag-bearer of the padyatra in the Haridwar constituency, said not much should be read between the lines as these were only rival parties which had blown the matter out of proportion.