Dehradun, March 11
The patriotic songs blaring from the loudspeakers installed around the stage set for the swearing-in ceremony for the new Chief Minister of the state appear out of place as the Congress Party is still grappling to pick up a name for the position of Chief Minister.

The administration has set the stage, mood and euphoria with one single stroke. Additional District Magistrate Vinod Suman reasoned, saying: “It takes time to make all the arrangements for the oath

ceremony of the Chief Minister. So the administration has done it’s duty in completing all the tasks related to the ceremony. Now oath ceremony can take place at any time.”

Seeing the precariousness of the political situation which may command an oath ceremony at any point of time, the administration certainly does not want to be caught off-guard. Suman, however, made it clear that the preparations made by the administration might not be the final as the choice of venue would very much depend on the new Chief Minister. “We have made our preparations to deal with any situation. If the new Chief Minister wants, the oath ceremony can be held at Parade Ground or wherever he desires so. The administration will make fresh preparations if it requires so,” he said.

He said there was nothing abnormal in this as even in the past, the preparations for the oath ceremony had been made well in advance. In the present scenario, it stood out in contrast as the ‘man for the covetedpost’ is missing on the stage.

He refused to comment on music being played on the stage. Some Congressmen who could be seen roaming around the stage added their bit with music to enhance the celebratory ambience.

The onlookers indeed felt intrigued to see the stage set, huge tent perched up, chairs arranged without any function being held on the spot for the rest of the day.

The agile and awakened voters of the city, who are keeping a tab with the political developments taking place in the state in connection with the race that is on for the post of Chief Minister, could be seen indulging in hot discussions on the subject while standing around the stage. In other words, the very scene of the stage encouraged animated discussions on the subject. Jagmohan Bisht, government servant, said: “The administration has literally set the stage for the

Congress to come out of its confusion over the subject and finalise a name as every one - from the administrative machinery to the public - is waiting for the suspense to get over.”

The security personnel too have taken over their positions in and around Parade Ground to guard the venue.

Nainital, March 11
If the change of guard at the political level in the state is here, can a bureaucratic reshuffle be far behind? It is obvious that once the new government assumes office, a major reshuffle in the bureaucracy is on the cards.

Even as the politicians are spending their time deciding upon the pertinent questions of who would be the Chief Minister and who would be the persons getting the ministerial ranks, the officialdom is rife with speculations about who would be sent where and who would be the ones who would be getting the plum assignments in the state.

In Uttarakhand, one of the issues that has come up in almost every meet organised by the intelligentsia and the civil society is that the bureaucracy in the state has been dictating terms to the politicians. It is being said that the bureaucrats are the real rulers in the state and in the absence of able political bosses the officials have been taking the people of the state for a ride and there is no one to take them to task for their attitude towards execution of developmental works. With the politicians not well versed with the functioning of the very departments that they are supposed to be running, dumping of their orders by the officials in the dustbins of the offices does not come as a surprise any more. The politicians have been unable to explain why the money that is allocated for various schemes year after year is not utilised.

Over the past five years when the BJP government was in power, two divergent ways of functioning by the political bosses was visible. While BC Khanduri as the CM was able to project his image as a leader who could effectively lead the bureaucracy towards performing the designated tasks, his rival within the party Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had proved to be a total failure on this account. Khanduri had proved this while handling the aftermath of the Rudrapur riots of October 2, 2011. He had managed not only to quell the communal violence from spreading but had managed to project an image that there would be no laxity in handling the issue on the ground. Nishank, on the other hand, had proved an absolute failure when it came to the repairs and rehabilitation works after the rain related disaster of 2010, particularly in th Kumaon region. In fact it was only after the return of Khanduri in September 2011 that conditions of some of the roads improved.

Dehradun, March 11
Residents of Gandhi Gram are irked over a poor condition of roads in the area as water and sewage pipelines are being laid down under projects taken up by Asian Development Bank and the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Mission. They rued that this work was also going on at a snail’s pace.

Area councillor Jagdish Dhiman said: “Sewer pipes are yet to be laid down in many areas. Due to the lack of coordination between the ADB and the departments concerned, the road repair work is very slow.”

Kamla Devi, a resident, said: “Though the authorities have dug up roads, sewage pipes have not been laid down so far due to which people are facing problems.”

Another resident, Salim Ahmad, said: “As there are many dairies in slum areas of this ward, small drains remain clogged with cattle dung. People also throw polythene bags filled with garbage in the drain. The entire area remains dirty because of these dairies, which should be shifted out of the residential area.”

Dhiman said: “Dairy owners waste a lot of water in bathing their cattle and cleaning up the place.”

Iqbal Makrani said: “My house is situated near the Bindal river. We are living in a constant fear as the embankment near my house had been washed away a few years ago. The new one is yet to be constructed.”

The councillor said: “The Congress-led government in 2006 had started the project of constructing embankments near Bindalpul at a cost of Rs 3 crore Though 75 per cent of theproject was completed, the rest of it was left midway when the BJP government took over. Now I hope that with the Congress all set to come back to power, the remaining work will be completed.”

Dhiman futher said the overall situation in his ward was satisfactory.

“I have got seven-eight transformers installed in the area. The problem of low voltage has also been solved.”

He further said: “Earlier the drains in the area were narrow owing to which the filth used to overflow on roads. But now most of them have been widened.”

Babita Saini, another resident, expressed satisfaction over the widening of the drains. She said, “Ever since the drains have been widened, the roads that used to remain dirty are now clean. It is a big relief for us.”