Dehradun, April 16
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has laid emphasis on developing infrastructure and generating livelihood opportunities for the people residing in five districts sharing the border with Nepal and China. Speaking at a meeting on internal security chaired by the Prime Minister in New Delhi today, he said that at least 37 incursions of Chinese forces were reported during the last five years in Uttarakhand, which shared 350 km with China and 275 km with Nepal.

Chief Minister Bahuguna said that all 34 development blocks of the five border districts with China and Nepal should be included in the Border Area Development Programme (BADP). Citing financial constraints of the state, Chief Minister Bahuguna advocated allocation of hundred per cent funds from the Centre for modernisation of the state police. He said that looking into the strategic importance and sensitiveness of the areas, sufficient infrastructure and telecommunication network should be enhanced so that a sense of security developed amongst local people. Considering the possible threats from other side of border areas, he stressed on strengthening of intelligence network and focusing more on the vigilance by Central Security Forces. He also raised concern regarding the threat posed by Moaists in Nepal who have declared kalapani in pithoragarh district as Nepalese territory and threatened to march towards it. He further said that the Young Communist League, a frontal organisation of Neplaese Maoists, has been very active in the border regions of Nepal and according to intelligence inputs have plans to get into border districts of the state.

Bahuguna, demanding cent per cent funds for the modernisation of the state police from Centre like in North-Eastern states, also suggested to include expenditures of newly established police posts and out-posts in initial five years in this programme. Bahuguna disclosed that expenditure of Rs 21 crore has been proposed for the year 2012-13 for the modernisation of state police. The CM said that Uttarakhand has been a leading state in implementing the Police Reform Act as directed by the Supreme Court. He revealed that Rapid Response Force has been set up to act against any terrorist attack, besides Special Anti-Terrorist Squad in all the districts. He said that the state government had already taken initiatives to establish separate units to look into law and order situation and investigation. A multi-agency centre had also been established in the state intelligence headquarters, which shared information with IB, ITBP, SSB, MI, CBI, CISF, Special Bureau and RPF. “To keep a close eye on anti-national elements and terrorists, 7 Special Terrorist Prevention Cells had been set up,” he informed. To check economic crime and for their effective investigation, a Special Task Force had been made nodal that shared information with various local branches of the banks. He disclosed that crime and criminal tracking network was also being developed in the state, putting special emphasis on computerisation. 

Dehradun, April 16
Employees of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) are incensed over the move of the top management on hiring five officers, four at Deputy General Manager (DGM) and one at General Manager (GM) level on deputation. They claim that officers senior enough to be DGM and GM are present in the UJVNL itself and are not being promoted. By bringing in people from outside, the management is superseding those who are waiting for their promotions.

It is important to mention here that there are eight DGMs in the UJVNL who are working in the capacity of GM but have not been designated as GM, nor are being paid the salary of GM. Two of them, NK Maheshwari and Rajiv Kumar are seniormost and are due for promotion to the post of GM. Actually they are also carrying the responsibilities of GM-level officers.

Rakesh Sharma, acting president, UJVNL Employees' Association, said: " The management must learn from it's past mistakes. It was in 2008 that the management had hired four Assistant Engineers (AE) on

deputation, despite the fact that there were officers available who were due for promotion for the position of AE. Two such officers from UJVNL, SK Singh and Sanjay Joshi, protested. Their case was referred to a departmental promotion committee (DPC). The matter has been lying in cold storage since then." Not only this, when the management promoted UJVNL employee PS Burfal as DGM (Civil), Vikas Bahuguna, AE, who was hired on deputation in 2008, went to the High Court, citing that he was superseded for the position of DGM despite being much senior to Burfal. High Court imposed a stay on the promotion order. Neither Burfal nor Bahuguna could become DGM. The matter of DPC got sealed with the court order.

Sharma said the management which has released an advertisement for the positions of four DGM and GM in the local dailies could easily adjust both the warring officers, Burfal and Bahuguna, who had been stuck with court order for subsequent promotion at DGM level.

There are other seniors, too, who would also fit the bill for the remaining two DGM-level positions. In a way, he alleged that the management does not need to hire people on deputation. It creates a sense of discord among employees.

Sources said the Managing Director (MD) wanted to bring in his own trusted associates in the department as he might not trust the officers of UJVNL.

Clarifying his position, MD, UJVNL, GP Patel said: "Those who are due for promotions will be promoted in the months of May and June. I am hiring people on deputation as we need more staff at the top level to handle a number of big and small hydro power projects which will be started soon. No injustice will be done with the employees or officers of the UJVNL."

Dehradun, April 16
For the implementation of 25 per cent quota seats under the Right to Education Act (RTE) for children up to the age of 14 belonging to the poor and disadvantaged families in government and private aided and unaided schools (but not in unaided minority institutions) uniformly in the state, the government has fixed a fees of Rs 1,383 per month per for reimbursement.

Though the state government has begun implementing the RTE Act, the contentious issue of the non-fixation of fees continued to vex the school authorities, which wanted immediate reimbursement of fees. “The recent government order fixing the monthly fees to be reimbursed on the basis of recurring cost will be implemented from the last session. The Finance Department has also released Rs 6 crore for the implementation of the provisions of the RTE Act. Besides Rs 150 per child per year too will be borne by the government as expenses towards books for primary classes and Rs 400 per child per year for children studying in above primary classes,” said RK Kunwar, Additional Project Director, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.

In order to ensure that private educational institutions comply with the government order fixing fees for reimbursement, the authorities concerned have clarified that in case a school charges less than Rs 1,383 per month per child, it will be reimbursed the actual fees amount. At the same time, if a school charges more than Rs 1,383 per month per child, it will reimbursed Rs 1,383 only.

The total number of students enrolled in schools in Uttarakhand under the RTE Act as on March 2012 is 15,485, with the maximum number of 4,412 students enrolled in Udham Singh Nagar, followed by 2,762 in Haridwar, 2,133 in Dehradun, 1,025 in Tehri Garhwal, 885 in Uttarkashi, 883 in Almora, 867 in Pauri, 638 in Nainital, 526 in Chamoli, 403 in Rudraprayag, 392 in Pithoragarh, 363 in Champawat and 196 in Bageshwar. 

Dehradun, April 16
Even as a third party evaluation found the fortified micro-nutrient wheat flour scoring marginally over the non- fortified wheat flour, the government has again asked the Education Department to zero in on the specific micro-nutrients missing in the mid-day meal programme given to 9 lakh children in Uttarakhand.

The fortified food containing micro-nutrients vitamin A, B and iron, under the World Food Programme, distributed under the mid-day meal scheme, was promoted in the state on a pilot basis to eradicate malnutrition. The fortified wheat flour was introduced as part of the pilot project in the districts of Chamoli and Tehri in 2006-2007. But the children, who did not like its odour, forced the state government to go for the third-party evaluation carried out by scientists of GB Pant Nagar Agriculture University.

“Two years back, the third party study found the fortified wheat flour marginally scoring over the non-fortified wheat flour in terms of nutrients. The evaluation was conducted in Tehri where the pilot project of fortified food was on and in Nainital district where the non-fortified food was being given to primary and upper primary class students as part of mid-day meals.

The study pointed out that the non-fortified food too contained micro-nutrients and overemphasis on the already present nutrients by way of fortification could have adverse impact on health and instead suggested for diversification of the mid-day meal,” said PK Bisht, Joint Director, mid-day meals.

Also, the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), under the aegis of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in its report on the fortified wheat flour had negated any significant benefits ascribed to it. According to the NIN, the fortified wheat flour might also interfere with the absorption of iron leading to toxicity.

Sources say with the agency putting pressure on the government to introduce fortified wheat flour meals in rest of the state, the Education Department is now making its own assessment of the nutritional value and micro-nutrient deficiency in the food served during the mid-day meal.

Dehradun, April 16
Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Food Processing and Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat, in a letter written to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, on the eve of the crucial Ganga River Basin Authority meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, suggested that bigger dams in the ecologically sensitive areas should not be built.

He said that during the past 11 years of it's existence, Uttarakhand state had no proper policy to exploit it's hydro-electric potential. He said that he was against bigger dams at the cost of environment but if these projects are feasible, then a proper scientific study should be done before giving permission for such project.

He advised the Chief Minister to raise the issue of “Green Bonus” for the border districts which are considered sensitive from the environmental point of view from the Centre. Secondly, the Centre should give power grant to Uttarakhand, and lastly, the border districts of the state should be declared as backward and the residents of these districts be given reservation in state services. Besides, special efforts should also be made to provide gainful employment to the people of these backward districts.

Dehradun, April 16
On the eve of a crucial meeting of the Ganga River Basin Authority in New Delhi, the Matu Jansangathan, a voluntary organisation of the state, has appealed to the Prime Minister, who is heading the authority, to spare the Ganga from the devastation that will be caused by hydroelectric projects.

The organisation also demanded that all environment and forest clearances to all hydroelectric projects on the 'Bhagirathi Ganga' and the 'Vishnupadi Alaknanda Ganga' as well as all their tributaries should be repealed.

It was also urged that a comprehensive credible and independent study on the impact of hydroelectric projects should be conducted.

The organisation said the terms and conditions of conducting this study should be made public and peoples' organisations, environmentalists and social activists should be made the part of the report making process.

The Matu Jansangathan said the recent "Study on Assessment of Cumulative Impact of Hydropower Projects in the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi Basins up to Devprayag" done by the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, was incorrect and should be abandoned immediately.

Vimal Bhai, convener of the Matu Jansangathan, appealed that all the hydroelectric projects should be stopped on the Ganga till an independent study was complete and the 130 km area from Uttarkashi to Gangotri be immediately declared as eco-sensitive zone. 

Dehradun, April 16
US Agencies for International Development (USAID) has envisaged keen interest in Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education’s Research Programme and has ventured to support in the capacity of building scientists of ICFRE in the areas of forest ecology, climate change, tree breeding and genetics.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting between USAID delegation and ICFRE held in Dehradun on Saturday. While USAID delegation comprised Jermy Gustafson, Clean Energy and Environment office officials, Sounutri Das and Verghese Paul, Senior Forestry Advisers, USAID, the ICFRE team was headed by Dr. V.K. Bahuguna, Director General, Indian Council of Forest Research and Education.

The USAID delegation, working on Indo-US Climate Change Programme, showed keen interest on the recently finalised All India Coordinated Project (AICP) on Climate Change of ICFRE, which includes field studies on impact of climate change, mitigation and adaptation. The delegation also sought information about India Forestry Congress held at New Delhi in November, 2011, which registered participation of 750 delegates, including policy makers, researchers, field practitioners and self-help groups.

It was decided during the deliberations to further strengthen the collaboration and ties between USAID and ICFRE and to work on mutual area of interest in solving the issues of research and capacity building related to forest biodiversity, climate change towards achieving the goal of sustainable forest management. Omkar Singh, Deputy Director General (Education), Sandeep Tripathi, DDG (Research), and Saibal Dasgupta, DDG (Extension) also were present during the deliberations. 

Dehradun, April 16
Waking up to the absence of proper storage space for storing ration earmarked for mid-day meals, the Uttarakhand government will build permanent rooms for storing ration in schools. The design for the storage that would double up as kitchen-cum-storage space is already being worked out. 

"Earlier, the ration was stored in temporary sheds that could not guarantee complete safety during the inclement weather. Now with the Central government agreeing to provide 75 per cent grant to the state government, the construction would start soon," said R.K Kunwar, Additional Project Director, SSA. —TNS

Dehradun, April 16
Pratibha Dance Institute organised a dance competition here yesterday. The competition was conducted in three categories.

In category A, Priya Jain stood first while Ayushi got the second position. In category B, Rishab Kumar and Aditi Kashyap stood first and second, respectively. In category C, Radhika attained the first place followed by Vansh who got the second position.

The chief guest on the occasion, Miss Doon Puja Naithani, said extra cirrucular activities were an important part in developing the overall personality of children.

Youngsters perform at a dance competition in Dehradun; and (right) a young contestant. Tribune photos

Dehradun, April 16
Seventh Dehradun District Karate Championship concluded here yesterday. In the seven-nine category (boys), Mohit stood first followed by Sidharth and Anant, who got second and third positions, respectively. In the 10-11 category (boys), Harsh got the first position and Akshat and Nishant got the second and third positions, respectively.

Two girl players during a Karate tournament at the Parade Ground in Dehradun. A Tribune photograph

In the 12-13 category, Laksham, Sarthak and Vikas got the first, second and third positions, respectively.

Chief guest on the occasion District Sports Officer Dharmendra Bhatt gave away the prizes to the winners. He appreciated the efforts made by the District Karate Association for the promotion of Karate in Dehradun.

A total of eight schools from Dehradun participated in the championship.