Assembly elections
More women turned out to cast vote
Rajeev Khanna
Tribune News Service

Nainital, March 21
The state Assembly elections held recently saw an increase in the turnout of women voters.

According to the Election Commission of India: "In Uttarakhand, there is an increase of 6.88 per cent in the turnout of women voters, which has increased to 68.84 per cent in 2012 from 63.81 per cent in 2007. It is higher than the turnout of male voters that is 65.74 per cent.”

The EC further said this was significant in view of the adverse gender ratio of voters in Uttarakhand, where it is 912 women to 1,000 men.

The EC said for the first time in the country, the problem of urban apathy had been handled with good effect. There is a marked increase in voter turnout in urban areas. Citing examples from the state, the EC said Haridwar had shown an increase in turnout of 20.6 per cent which had increased from 65.67 per cent in 2007 to 75.46 per cent in 2012. Similarly, Dehradun had shown an increase in turnout of 13.8 per cent which had increased from 58 per cent in 2007 to 67 per cent.

In Uttarakhand, the total voter turnout recorded was 67.89 per cent which was 6.15 per cent increase over the 2007 turnout when it had been 63.96 per cent.

The EC had come out with a new set of orders with regard to women voters in the recent poll in the five states, including Uttarakhand.

The EC had decided that two women voters be allowed entry to a polling station for the entry of one male voter.

This had been done in view of the fact that women electors coming to vote at polling stations have to attend many household chores.

In areas where there were a large number of purdahnasheen women, women polling officers were ordered to be appointed to carry out the duty of identifying the female voters.

Uttarakhand has been witnessing an increase in women participation in the political processes.

It is among the few states in the country where 50 per cent reservation has been introduced for women in the panchayat elections. In Nainital district alone, three of the elected legislators out of a total of six are women.

BSP MLA in Cabinet to reduce Cong dependence on PDF
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 21
By inducting the BSP’s Surinder Rakesh in his Cabinet, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has tried to reduce his government’s dependency on the Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) formed recently by three Congress rebels and one Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (P) MLA.

In the 10-member Cabinet, while the three members of the PDF comprising Harish Durgpal, Mantri Prasad Naithani and Pritam Panwar of the UKD(P) found a place, Dinesh Dhanai found himself cold shouldered.

With most vocal member of the PDF Dinesh Dhanai left out, the pressure exerted by the group through the front is expected to lessen and now there is a big question mark on the future of the non-political front formed out of necessity just after the swearing in of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

With no single party getting full majority, the three independent MLAs, one UKD (P) MLA and three BSP MLAs had emerged as the kingmaker. With the Congress getting support of the Independents and the UKD(P) MLA to form the government in Uttarakhand, the PDF had assumed an important role, but by inducting the BSP’s Surinder Rakesh in his Cabinet, Bahuguna has tried to strike a balance and evenly distribute the fruits of power among the Independents, the BSP and the UKD. To that extent, the importance of the PDF as a pressure group too has lessened.

“The Congress will be rule for the first time with the BSP, the UKD and the Independents in the state. It remains to be seen if the Bahuguna government will be able to successfully negotiate the pulls and pressures of his coalition but Dhanai’s loss has been the BSPs gain. The Congress can now for the time being safely bank upon the BSP, if one or the other member tried to ditch it,” said a senior Congress leader.

Sources say Dhanai, an MLA from Tehri, had announced his decision to vacate his MLA seat for Bahuguna, but he later backtracked. The sources say the constant shifting of stand proved his undoing. While some maintain that it was senior Congress leader and Union Minister for State Harish Rawat who prevailed upon the government not to induct him.

“We have conveyed our misgivings against the exclusion of Dhanai in the Cabinet and are hopeful that he would be given an important post in the Cabinet,” said Harish Durgpal, member of the PDF. 

NO BERTH GIVEN IN CABINET
Resesntment among Almora Cong men 
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, March 21
Congressmen and common people of Almora parliamentary constituency have expressed their resentment over non-inclusion of “even a single person” in the Cabinet out of eight Congress MLAs the constituency has given to the Congress in the recently concluded Assembly elections.

“Despite giving a majority of 8 seats out of a total 14 from the constituency, none of our members has been considered able to be a minister. It is a point of surprise for we all, who worked hard to make the Congress win,” said Prakash Joshi, a senior Congressman in Pithoragarh district.

The Congressmen in Almora are sore over the district not given representation in the Cabinet of Vijay Bahuguna. Almora was represented by Govind Singh Kunjwal in the Tiwari government of 2002, and Ajay Bhatt during the caretaker government of 2000 onwards, and by Ajay Tamta in the ex- BJP government of the state. “This time Almora has given three seats to the Congress by wresting the Dwarahat seat from the UKD and retaining the Almora and Jageswar seats by Manoj Tiwari and Govind Singh Kunjwal. Whereas Kunjwal is being considered for the post of Speaker, Almora has been denied a ministerial berth for the first time after the creation of the state,” said Bittu Karnatak, president of the town area Congress committee, Almora.

Pithoragarh district has also been bereft of ministerial berth this time. The district has seen its golden days of power in the state of Uttarakhand. Former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari is based in the district for the last 40 years and high profile minister in the Khanduri ministry Prakash Pant also hails from the Pithoragarh Assembly constituency, besides Uttarakhand BJP chief Bishen Singh Chufal, who was also a minister before becoming the BJP chief. He hails from Didihat Assembly constituency of the district. “But these are not the bases of our demand of inducting our MLA as minister in the Bahuguna Cabinet. Our only base is that we have this time ended the 10-year BJP domination from Pithoragarh Assembly seat, and we want our MLA tob be rewarded,” said Mukesh Pant, a fieryYouth Congress leader from the district.

The people of Bageswar are also in a mood to demand reward for their newly elected MLA from Kapkot, Lalit Farswan, as, according to them, after defeating Cabinet Minister Balwant Singh Bhauriyal and finishing BJP domination of the last 10 years, Farswan needs to be rewarded as he also wiped out the political influence of Bhagat Singh Kosiyari, the BJP big shot. “We have been represented by Ram Prasad Tamta in the Tiwari government and by Bhauriyal in the BJP’s time. But now we have been neglected despite snatching one seat from BJP in the Assembly elections,” said Prakash Bhatt, a Youth Congress worker in Kapkot Market.

The people of Champawat have also been waiting desperately for the Cabinet berth for the second time Congress MLA from Champawat seat, Hemesh Kharkwal, who snatched the Champawat seat from BJP and had also won the seat in 2002 Assembly elections. “Hemesh has become victim of Harish Rawat drama this time as due to Rawat episode, the Congress high command wanted to please Thakur MLAs from Kumaon to save the government and in this row, the caste and regional balance, which would have given Kharkwal a Cabinet berth, has been forgotten,” said Dinesh Pandey, a local journalist in Champawat district headquarters.

Bahuguna assured of more power supply during Charar Dham yatra
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 21
Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has assured Uttarakhand of additional electricity supply to overcome power shortage in the state during the forthcoming Char Dham yatra.

Shinde gave this assurance at a meeting with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna in Delhi today. The Chief Minister had sought 150 MW for the next three months which was also the peak time of the Char Dham yatra. Shinde agreed to consider the matter on priority.

Bahuguna also urged the Union Power Minister to use his influence for providing Uttarakhand 25 per cent of the total benefits derived from the Tehri dam project. He said, according to the State Reorganisation Bill, asset distribution had been done on the basis of the location of the asset and thus Uttarakhand should get 25 per cent benefit from the Tehri dam.Chief Minister also told Shinde that his government wanted to take forward new power projects in the state by consensus. 

Officials told to use total budget money for development works
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, March 21
Chief Development Officer, Pithoragarh, Ashok Kumar has given an ultimatum to officials of various departments responsible for the development of the district to achieve the targets of development works and budget utilisation up to March 25.

“The budget be used with total transparency, giving priority to expenditure related to the construction of new drinking water schemes and upgrading of old ones, as Pithoragarh district witnesses a drinking water crisis every summer,” said Ashok. He was reviewing the district plan for the current financial year at a meeting at the district headquarters today.

Ashok said of the 31.68 crore district plan, the departments concerned had spent Rs 26.47 crore till date. The spending under the plan should be speeded up to achieve the targets of the district.

“Besides the district and state plans, the Centre-sponsored projects have also recorded spending less than the assigned budgetary targets for the district during the year. Under the Rs 124.20 crore state plan, the departments concerned have spent only Rs 73 crore,” he said. 

Urbanisation, changing climate make ASI job difficult
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 21
Preserving monuments and heritage sites from the onslaught of rapid urbanisation and diverse climatic conditions continues to be a difficult task for the Archaeology Survey of India (ASI), which celebrated its 150th anniversary last year.

While the impact of the damage wrought by the nature can be checked, it cannot be permanently arrested. Temples and heritage sites, mostly carved out of stone, located in the mountainous regions have to endure long periods of snowfall and wind and those located on sea shores or near riverbed face threat from calcification and leaching.

“Temples and caves located in Uttarakhand have to bear the brunt of vagaries of the weather that includes heavy snowfall and rain. As these temples are made up of stone structure clamped together with the help of iron, it undergoes expansion and even rusting. Recently, we had tried to replace the iron clamp with steel,” said DN Dimri, superintending archaeologist (Dehradun circle).

Dimri said while rapid urbanisation could not be stopped, its impact on the monuments could be lessened by constant monitoring and reducing human activity around them. “After the Supreme Court ruling, a group of experts was asked to analyse the carrying capacity of the Taj Mahal so that the movement of the tourists could be restricted. This would go a long way in restricting the footfalls of tourists,” said Dimri.

He further said the Taj Mahal was not facing any imminent threat as some reports had indicated about one of its minaret’s leaning dangerously to one side. “Due to the sensitivity shown by the Government of India and the vigilant Supreme Court, regular monitoring of the Taj Mahal is undertaken. In fact, the report presented jointly by the Survey of India (SOI) and the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, in 2007 had said there has been no change in any of the minarets since 1947,” said Dimri who was also superintending archaeologist (Agra circle).

He said glass pieces had been affixed in different places inside the mausoleum that alert archaeologists. “Any change, if at all, occurring in the structure of the Taj Mahal is first picked up by the glass that are bound to crack,” Dimri added. 

7 women officers to scale Mt Everest
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 21
Seven women Army officers that include a Doonite will scale the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, starting tomorrow.

These Army officers are part of the Army Women Everest Expedition 2012 that has a total of 22 members which also include 10 Army men to support the women's team in climbing the peak.

The expedition, which has five out of this 22 members from Uttarakhand, is headed by another Doonite Col Ajay Kothiyal.

The expedition, which was flagged off by Army Deputy Chief Lt Gen Ramesh Halgali in Delhi a fortnight back, holds much significance as the Army women team for the first time is climbing Mount Everest from the traditional South East Ridge.

Doonite Captain Namrata Rathore, who is the member of the team, keeps high hopes from the exhibition.

“Mt Everest Expedition 2012 is the next opportunity for me to prove myself to the whole world that I am no less than anyone else when it comes to mountaineering”, said Namrata, who did her schooling from Kendriya Vidhyalaya-FRI and higher studies from DBS College, Dehradun, before getting selected for the Army.

An avid mountaineer and Doonite Col. Ajay Kothiyal is leading the exhibition. He disclosed that after an arduous shortlisting through selection-cum-trail camps in Siachen Glacier and Manali, 16 lady officers were initially selected. “Further, they were put to test through sub-zero temperature in super altitude, the difficulty further accentuated by extreme environmental odds. Finally, seven lady officers and eight men as part of the climbing team and seven members for the base camp were finally selected”, he said.

Col Kothiyal said his team members were a committed lot and are into the expedition with firm resolve. “Postponing their domestic commitments, including marriage, learning Nepali language for better interaction with sherpas, bringing change in strictly followed religious rituals like stopping fasting and converting from vegetarian to non-vegetarian for high calorie intake are just a few examples of their focused resolve to achieve their goal”, Col Kothiyal pointed out.

He said he was hopeful for the success of the expedition. Hav Praveen Thapa, Sub Prabhu Dayal Bisht, Sub Tej Pal and Sub RS Jalal, all from Uttarakhand are also part of the team.

CS for proper implementation of Krishi Yojana

Dehradun, March 21
Chief Secretary Subash Kumar today asked officials to ensure that the Rashtriya Krishi Yojana (RKY) was implemented properly in the state. He also asked the officials to prepare plans of flagship programmes so that these were implemented on time.

While chairing a meeting of officials today he said the Rashtriya Krishi Yojana could help the farmers access government schemes that could prove beneficial during the lean farming period.

He said that a total of Rs 44,795.00 lakh had been spent under the institutionally- funded schemes (World Bank and other outside institutions). Out of this a total of RS 31,449.48 lakh have been spent (70 per cent). These schemes include the watershed programme, education, health systems and others. — TNS

Jewellers stage march against double duty
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 21
Agitated over the refusal by the Central Government to scrap the budgetary proposals of doubling the basic customs duty on gold import and imposition of excise duty on unbranded jewellery, gold traders in the city took out a massive march here today.

A large gathering of jewellers holding placards and banners marched on Rajpur Road which was started from Gandhi Park and passed through the Clock Tower and Orient Chowk.

The protesters under the banner of the Jewellers Association of Uttaranchal also burnt the effigy of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and brought the traffic of the city to a halt during their demonstration.

According to Bipin Berry, president of the association, “Doubling of the import duty on standard gold from 2 to 4 per cent and on non-standard gold from 5 to 10 per cent will affect the business and endanger the existence of small jewellers in the country.”

“It will also make the already-costly gold ornaments pricier. It will hit the lower and middle class group to buy the yellow metal, which they hold as an asset to be encashed in the worst circumstances,” he added.

The jewellers all across the country have extended their strike as an indicative protest against the proposal of the Central Government and demanded its rollback.

Meanwhile, the city witnessed a jam-like situation here at the busy Rajpur Road today due to the protest march taken out by gold jewellers.

The police had a tough time streamlining the traffic. To avoid inconvenience, the four-wheelers were diverted from Orient Chowk to Church Road due to heavy rush of shoppers and footpath vendors on Rajpur Road. Traffic personnel were giving traffic instructions at the Clock Tower.

Two-wheelers and four-wheelers were not allowed in Paltan Bazar while the vehicles moved at a snail’s pace with long queues of vehicles held up in a jam on Chakrata Road and at Darshan Lal Chowk. 

ABVP holds protest against fee hike by public school
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 21
Under the drive against the commercialisation of education, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a demonstration in support of their demands at the District Magistrate’s office here today.

Demanding to put a check on the whimsical behaviour of public schools with students and their parents, party workers handed over a five-point memorandum to him to discontinue the practices of selling books, stationery and uniforms on the school premises and irrational fee hikes.

According to Anshul Chawla, a member of the ABVP, “We oppose the activities of the public where parents and children are compelled to purchase stationery and uniforms from stalls set up within the school campus.”

“Previously, we found many public schools and brought it to the notice of the city administration. This year too, we have initiated a drive to stop these malpractices in schools so that education could be rendered to everybody, equally but not as a burden,” he said.

The ABVP workers have also demanded that the annual fee hike at every school should be examined, entrance test of students should be stopped at the primary level and admission fee should be charged only at the time of admission, but not in every academic year.

However, DM Dilip Jawalkar has assured to take action in this issue.

Sports meet at FRI varsity kicks off
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 21
Forest Research Institute University’s 11th Annual Sports Meet began today.

Inaugurating the meet, the Director General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, and Chancellor, FRI University, Dr V K Bahuguna, said sports held much importance for keeping onself physically fit.

Dean FRI University Dr Ramesh K Aima said the competition in indoor and outdoor games like cricket, volleyball, basketball, carrom, chess, badminton, table tennis and various athletics events would be held on the university campus.

He said the students of the university had been divided into four houses Sal (M.Sc. Wood Science and Technology), Teak (M.Sc. Forestry), Pine (M.Sc. Environment Management and M.Sc. Cellulose and Paper Technology) or Sandalwood (Ph. D. and Research Scholars and students of Post Master Diploma courses) for the meet and would be competing individually as well as for their houses.

The meet will conclude on March 26.

Halex (B) beat Health Dept in cricket match
Tribune News Service

A batsman in action in a match during the 60th Dehradun District Cricket League in Dehradun on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph

Dehradun, March 21
Halex (B) won by 7 wickets against the Health Department team in the 60th District Cricket League match here today.

Batting first, the Health Department team piled up 143 runs. Ashish scored highest 70 runs. Ranjit Mann of Halex (B) took 5 wickets in his 5 over spell. Batting next, Halex (B) easily chased the target, thereby ensuring a 7-wicket win for itself. Prashant scored 61 runs while Jatin contributed valuable 43 runs. Mohammed Yusuf took 3 wickets for the Health Department.

Shivalik will take on Doon University in tomorrow’s match.