Bahuguna govt wins trust vote
BJP MLAs stage walkout
Tribune News Service

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna addresses mediapersons after winning the trust vote in Dehradun on Thursday. Tribune photographs

Dehradun, March 29
The Congress Government in Uttarakhand won the trust vote 39-0 after Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna moved a suo moto confidence motion in the Uttarakhand Assembly on Thursday.

Taking the floor test for the first time, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna claimed it was his moral duty to prove majority, as the Opposition did not have confidence in his government. He then called for division of votes, which left the Opposition BJP fuming. All the 31 BJP MLAs then walked out of the House.

“The Bahuguna government has tainted democracy, rules and regulations were not followed while deciding for the vote of confidence. The Speaker should have brought a formal proposal in the House, followed by a debate and then fixed time for voting through secret ballot,” said Harbans Kapoor, former Speaker and BJP leader.

Amid scenes of pandemonium, Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal immediately called for a voice vote and a head count; satisfied, he informed the House of Bahuguna government’s victory by 39 votes. All the 32 Congress MLAs, three Independent, three BSP MLAs and one UKD member voted in favour of the Bahuguna government. The nominated member from the Anglo Indian community also voted in favour of the Bahuguna government.

Later, speaking with media persons, Chief Minister Bahuguna said the BJP should start behaving like a responsible Opposition, “The BJP’s demand for a secret ballot is unjustified, whenever the trial of strength was undertaken at the Centre (27 times), it was never through the secret ballot,” said Bahuguna.

Earlier, participating in the debate on the motion of thanks, Congress MLA Navprabhat crticised the BJP MLAs for boycotting the House even when obituaries were being paid to senior BJP leader Devinder Shastri.

On the other hand senior Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat said the government should set up high standards of governance and make mandatory upon the ministers in the government to disclose their assets every year.

Vote-on-account passed

Dehradun, March 29
The Uttarakhand Assembly today passed a vote-on-account of Rs 7018.65 crore for the first four months of the next financial year. The government has made allocations for different departments for the next financial year, the maximum amount would go towards bearing the day-to-day expenses of the government. — TNS

BDO told to hold office in Takula, Someshwar
Tribune News Service

DS Garbayal, District Magistrate, Almora, inspects a police station. A Tribune photogrpah

Nainital, March 29
District Magistrate in Almora DS Garbyal has ordered the Block Development Officer (BDO) operating from Gananath to sit in Takula and Someshwar once every fortnight. This has been done keeping in view the poor condition of the roads connecting Gananath to Someshwar and Takula.

During an inspection of the Takula area on Tuesday, Garbyal was apprised of the poor condition of the road leading to the BDO office and it was pointed that the people face a lot of problems just approaching the office. Gananath is located in a remote part of the area where accessibility continues to be a major issue.

Garbyal has ordered that the BDO would be sitting at Someshwar and Takula once every fortnight and has asked the BDO to address the concerns of the people approaching him at the two places. The Sub Divisional Magistrates at Someshwar and Takula have been asked to provide a room to the BDO from where he would be operating once in 15 days. At the same time Garbyal has ordered that immediate steps be taken to get the road connecting Takula and Someshwar repaired. The road is in a bad condition and is under the purview of th Forest Department.

During his inspection at the BDO office, Garbyal asked the officials to take initiative in proper management of records. He took stock of the achievement under various schemes, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and asked the officials to ensure that the benefits of various schemes actually percolate down to the target groups.

At the same time he called for preparing projects aimed at generating employment at the village level so that the villagers do not have to emigrate in search of livelihood options. Garbyal asked Director,

Planning, DD Pant, to initiate employment generation efforts keeping in mind the topography of the area. He also suggested that the officials doing their job well must be rewarded. He also inspected the block development office being constructed at a cost of Rs 52 lakh.

During a visit to the tehsil office at Someshwar, the District Magistrate took stock of the disposal of complaints that are being received from the public. He ordered the officials to issue various documents like certificates and statements to the public within a fixed time frame.

Interacting with the police officials at Someshwar, he called for maintaining a strict vigil on the history sheeters in the area along with other suspectd antisocial elements. He also took stock of the police preparedness to deal with disasters and asked them to make use of the equipment issued to them for the purpose from time to time.

Liquor vends to be allocated by April-end
Tribune News Service

Nainital, March 29
Deviating from the norm, the allotment of liquor vends for the next financial year in the state is expected to be delayed by a month. Instead of the allotment being made in March end, the liquor vends would now be allocated towards the end of April.

Sources say that the administration has been compelled to delay the allocation on account of the delay in announcement of the new excise policy. With the formation of a new government in the state and the portfolio of excise and prohibition yet to be allocated, there have been delays.

According to sources, the people who had been allocated the liquor vends for the current financial year have been asked to operate them for another month after due calculations are made with regard to the revenue to be paid to the government for the additional one month.

Sources say that they would be paying 18 per cent extra revenue over and above what they were to pay for the scheduled one year allotment.

Meanwhile, the fresh allocations that would be made for the next financial year would be for a period of 11 months only so that the standard practice gets resumed from the financial year ahead.

Sources also revealed that Nainital is expected to join Dehradun and Hardwar as the districts where the revenue generation from liquor is set to cross Rs 100 crore mark.

Only two Champawat roads out of 13 cleared for construction
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, March 29
Rural folks in Champawat district are a bit disappointed as out of 13 roads proposed in interior parts of the district, only 2 have been cleared of the environment formalities by the concerned ministry, making other interior villages wait one more year to get motor road in their villages.

“ We would be able to start tendering process in only two roads of two and five km each for coming year as other 11 roads could not get forest clearance,” said a state PWD official in Champawat.

According to PWD officials in Champawat, the department will soon start tendering process in 2 km long road from Sipti to Sirar and 5 km long from Ritha to Binwal, as these have been cleared by the ministry from environment objections. “Three other roads, Lateli-Bamangaon,Champawat to Kimtoli and Sukhidhank to Medar are on the last phase of forest clearance,” said the PWD official

“Other motor roads, including 47-km-long Champawat to Tamli, at Indo-Nepal border, have not yet received the digital map from the clearance office. Due to this delay, nearly 60 km long motor roads proposed in the district under various schemes could not be constructed in the coming year, leaving the villagers of these interior parts to travel to the Champawat market on foot," said PWD technical wing in charge in the division, Dr Anupam Rai.

The villagers in interior parts of Tamli block, 52 km from the Champawat district headquarter, have given an ultimatum to the administration to link their area with motor road, for which the villagers are waiting for the last 40 years, after the Champawat was integrated with Pithoragarh district much before being declared as separate district in the year 1997. “Due to non-clearance of 8 km long portion from Tamli to Simiauri by the Ministry of Forest and Environment, this vital road, able to link interior parts of the district, with the mainstream, could not be activated, leaving more than 100 villages at Indo nepal border, 50 years back from the district mainstream, “said Purushotam Joshi , former block Pramukh of Tamli block.

Same story has been cited about the 31 km long Sukhidhank to Medar road , the construction of which has stopped after 10 km as a big patch of forest came on the way. “The forest clearance is taking time in this road, which could connect, if constructed, most backward but fertile areas of the district to the Tanakpur market, giving them prosperity out of their own agricultural produce, “ said Mahesh Chaurakoti, resident of Medar village, on this proposed road. 

Ignorant of RTE Act, school fails class VI student
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, March 29
The father of a Class VI student of Convent of Jesus and Mary Hampton Court School, near Jhoola Ghar in Mussoorie, have alleged that the school authorities have intentionally failed their son in the annual exams as he had opposed the charging of an exorbitant amount in the name of educational tour. He added the school in the process violated the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

The school management admitted that a student, Yashodhan Singh Petwal, failed as he performed poorly in all subjects. They said they were not aware of the Right to Education Act, 2005, which mentioned that no student should be failed at the elementary level.

The aggrieved parent, Pushkar Singh Petwal, told mediapersons that the school authroites were refusing to admit his son, a student of Class VI, as he had failed in the annual exams this year. Yashodan had fallen sick and, therefore, he could not attend classes regularly. But the school authorities did not listen to any of his pleas and refused to promote Yashodan.

Petwal further alleged that the school authorities harboured a grudge against him as he had opposed them on the issue of charging an exorbitant amount for an educational tour and forcing the parents to sign a consent letter of relieving them and the tour operator of any responsibility in case of an untoward incident. They to avenge themselves failed his son.

He said the school authorities forced the parents to sign a consent letter and in case of default on this count they demanded penalty from the parents.

The school management told The Tribune hat it had failed Yashodan as he did not perform well in a number of subjects and his parents were informed about his progress. It said if students were passed despite their poor performance, they would fail in higher classes. when questioned about the Right to Education Act that restrains any school from failing students of class 1 to VII, the school authorities showed their ignorance about it.

Additional Director, Education, Rajendar Rawat said the RTE Act clearly stated that no student could be stopped from being promoted to a higher class at the elementary level (Class I to VII) and if any school flouted the norm it would be punished.

He added that the parents should send in written complaint to his office so that action could be initiated against the defaulting schools.

Other parents also said the authorities of Convent of Jesus and Mary Hampton Court School had been harassing their wards and charging an exorbitant fees in the name of education.

Steps afoot to ensure smooth flow of traffic during Char Dham Yatra
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 29
The traffic police in Haridwar has started preparations for ensuring smooth flow of traffic during the forthcoming Char Dham yatra.

As there is only one multi-parking lot near Har-Ki-Pauri in the city, the traffic police is emphasising on using this space round the clock during the yatra period to reduce rush at the nearby parking lots.

SP, Traffic, Dr Kiran Lal Shaw today inspected the Deen Dayal Upadhyay parking lot, which was opened during the Mahakumbh in 2010.

Shaw assessed the parking facilities and inspected the monitoring room at the parking lot. This parking lot could accommodate 900 four-wheelers at a time.

Shaw told The Tribune that the five closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at the parking lot were functioning well, with round-the-clock monitoring being done from the control room.

He said to check activities of anti-social elements the driver of every vehicle would be required to produce his identity card and photograph at the gate of the parking lots. Many drivers had been found involved in criminal activities in the past.

A loudspeaker set has also been installed at the multi-parking lot for making necessary announcements regarding right parking and educating the tourists about traffic rules at regular intervals.

The SP, Traffic, along with Inspector, Traffic City, Devendra Dabral earmarked various points, intersections and encroachment on the national highway near Har-Ki-Pauri, where traffic jams occurred regularly.

An anti-encroachment drive would be carried out in the city soon, particularly on the national highway leading towards Har-Ki-Pauri.

Shaw is also holding meetings with teerth purohits, traders, bus owners, Sumo and Vikram union operators and the local people for ensuing smooth traffic movement in the city during the yatra period.

“As Haridwar has narrow roads and lanes leading to Har-Ki-Pauri, be it Upper Road, Moti Bazaar road or the Chandighat-CCR stretch, we cannot ensure smooth flow of traffic only by launching an anti-encroachment drive. For this, we need support of the local people and other organisations related with pilgrimage and tourism. Hence, these meetings are being called where we first seek suggestions from the stake holders and then respond to these,” said Shaw.

Almora candidates told to furnish poll expenses details by April 4

Nainital, March 29
All those candidates who contested the Assembly poll in six seats in Almora district have been asked to furnish the details of their election expenditure by April 4.

This was conveyed to the contestants as well as their chief election agents at a workshop organised at the district panchayat office on Tuesday. It was underlined that as per the Election Commission of India (ECI) norms, the contestants have to furnish the required information within 30 days of the counting of votes. It was also stated that the names of those not furnishing the expenditure details would be sent to the ECI.

During the day-long exercise, senior official AD Shukla revealed that 47 persons had contested the poll from the six Assembly constituencies in the district and none of them had furnished the expenditure details. The purpose of the workshop was to help the candidates file the details sought by the ECI.

Another official Dr GS Khati pointed out that the details should be furnished by filling a form and getting it duly attested. The details that are to be furnished include expenses incurred on campaign in the form of processions, rallies, distribution of handbills, posters, use of fuel and advertisement in the media etc. — TNS

Man arrested for wife’s murder
Tribune News Service

Nainital, March 29
The police in Kashipur area of Udham Singh Nagar have arrested a man for having murdered his wife on March 23. It is alleged that the accused Radhe of Ganganagar village had strangulated his 22-year-old wife on being persuaded to do so by his sister-in-law Shashi with whom he was having an affair.

It is learnt that Radhe and Kusum had been married in 2009 and they have a 15-year-old daughter.

It was during a recent visit to his in-laws place in Madhowala in Rehad area of Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh that Shashi had expressed her liking for him.

Thereafter, the two took their relationship further and Shashi recently spent 18 days at Radhe's house.

Sources say that on the evening of March 22, Shashi repeatedly called Radhe to persuade him to get rid of his wife. On the night intervening March 22 and 23, he allegedly drugged his wife Kusum and then strangulated her. He later allegedly hung her body from the roof of the room and came out from the ventilator after bolting the room from inside. The next morning he broke the door and told his neighbours that his wife had committed suicide.

However, his in-laws charged him with having killed Kusum for dowry.

It was during the course of investigation that the police came to know about the numerous telephonic conversations that had taken place between Radhe and Shashi. During sustained interrogation, he broke down and confessed to have murdered his wife. It is learnt that Shashi is still absconding.

Senior Congress leaders in Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Virbhadra Singh, senior Congress leader and Uttarakhand in-charge Birender Singh and Union Minister for State for Agriculture and Food Processing Harish Rawat were in Dehradun to oversee the trust vote, held today in the Uttarakhand Assembly in Dehradun.

The leaders held a meeting with the MLAs in the morning and also watched the proceedings from the visitors' gallery, when the trust vote was held.

Meanwhile, after boycotting the Assembly the BJP MLAs held a dharna outside the Assembly entrance and raised slogans against the Congress government.

Former chief minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank criticised the Congress government for abandoning democratic values.

“In the 2007 election the BJP had not reached the majority mark, even though Congress was way behind us; the first thing we did was to go for the trust vote,” said Nishank.

5 villagers booked for felling trees

Mussoorie, March 29
Forest officials from the Mussoorie forest range apprehended five villagers from Almas village for felling rare deodar trees in the Batwaldhar region of Dhanaulti forest last night.

They were booked under forest laws and fined around Rs 25,000.

Subdivisional Forest Officer, Mussoorie, Komal Singh said they had been receiving several complaints about some persons cutting rare deodar at night for the past few days.

The department then laid a trap and apprehended five villagers and seized an axe, wood saw and around Rs 1,500 from their possession. They have been let off after stern warning. — OC