Bicycle scheme for girls on cards
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 27
Along with creating a data bank for judging the status of women empowerment in the state, the Department of Women and Child Development is also planning to repeat the Bihar bicycle experiment for girls in selected districts of the state.

To prepare the databank, the department will soon conduct a survey for using six outcome indicators. The survey for the data bank would help the department evaluate the exact strength and reach of the schemes launched for improving the lot of the women. “We are in the process of finalising the agency that would undertake a survey on women’s accessibility to drinking water, economic status, educational status, number of deserted women etc,” said Amit Negi, Director, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

The department had undertaken a similar exercise in 2007, during which the Women and Child Society carried out the survey. “The data bank would also help us focus on new areas that were not covered under the ongoing schemes,” said Negi.

Meanwhile, the bicycle scheme for girls in the age group of 14-18 years hailing from the plain districts of the state would be launched as a pilot project in the selected district. “Girls in uniform cycling their way to schools carries with it a potent message to other girls who may have been deterred from pursuing education due to one reason or the other. We hope to connect with the parents as well through this scheme,” said Negi.

The exact nature of the scheme is still being worked out. The department may offer cash to girls for buying bicycles on the lines of the scheme being run in Bihar or provide cost-free bicycles. As the lack of independent mode of transportation is a major hindrance for girls in the rural areas, the scheme would spur the girls to complete their school education and also aspire for higher education.

To further encourage school going girls for pursuing higher education, the department is also supporting career-counselling sessions in districts of Dehradun and Nainital. In Dehradun district, the career counselling is also being conducted at the MKP College.

Heritage building status: Experts to examine HN Bahuguna's house
Tribune News Service

Dehradun April 27
The ancestral home of former Union minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna at Bughani village will be developed as heritage building without altering its original form.

On its premises, the literature, documents, clothes or all relevant material reminiscent of his life and political career will be displayed and secured. The tourists coming to the town will become conversant with his legacy and the local people will get employment from this step.

Uttarkhand Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar was asked to get the building examined from experts' committee which will have engineers from the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, and archeological experts.

A curator and attendant will be deputed immediately. The surrounding area will be beautified with park, huts and grand entrance.

Saint calls for people’s participation in clean Ganga projects
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 27
Chidanand Muni of the Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh, has called for ground-level work for cleaning the Ganga with the involvement of people from all sections of society. He said various clean Ganga projects being run by the government and social organisations were insufficient and workshops and even calls by saints had been ineffective.

Chidanand Muni was in Haridwar to attend various clean Ganga programmes. The revered spiritual guru has mooted an idea of having an environment police in Uttarakhand.

He told The Tribune that he was in touch with Uttarakhand Chief Minster Vijay Bahuguna in this regard and demanded a ban on polythene bags and penalty for those who threw sewage, garbage and filth into the Ganga. “Saints, women, youth and the media need to come forward and join the Central and state governments in the clean Ganga action plan. “The Ganga is regarded as mother and hence we can’t remain silent and keep polluting it,” said Chidanand.

He added he was in touch with scientists and environmentalists, who had been involved in mega hydroelectric projects, to make plans to clean the Ganga. These plans would be presented at the next meeting of the Ganga River Basin Authority to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Besides, Chidanand Muni is roping in various film actors, sportspersons and celebrities for the clean Ganga campaign. Bollywood actress Kajal Aggarwal has recently extended support to Chidanand Muni in his save Ganga efforts. A mega convention to be attended by film stars is being organised in Mumbai to spread the message of clean Ganga.

Meanwhile, at a programme titled ‘Ganga its Present Conditions and Solution’ organised at Ranipur on the eve of Ganga Saptami, Chidanand Muni called for a time-bound action and monitoring of funds allocated under the Ganga Action Plan, the Ganga River Basin Authority and other similar plans. He demanded that hydroelectric projects with safer technology be launched on the Ganga in the Garhwal hills so that the sanctity and the natural flow of the river was not affected.

Long-term strategy must to check migration: Kunjwal
Tribune News Service

Nainital, April 27
Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal has called for a long-term strategy to check emigration of youth from the hilly regions of the state.

Expressing his concern over the present scenario with regard to the health, education and other basic amenities, Kunjwal said concrete decision-making was the need of the hour and government should work for it.

He was speaking to mediapersons during a visit to his native district of Almora today. Calling upon the people to rise above the party politics to address the concerns of the state, he claimed that the successive governments had failed to realise the aspirations of the people who had demanded a separate state.

Giving an example of Himachal Pradesh, the Speaker called for emulating the development model followed by that state. He said some concrete decisions had to be taken while making sure that there was no compromise on the quality of works.

Stating that the scarcity of drinking water is a major challenge for the state at this point of time, he said schemes should be prepared while keeping in mind the distinct geographical traits of the areas. At the same time, the purpose should be to benefit the maximum number of rural persons through new schemes.

He promised to take up the issues pertaining to the holistic development of the state in the state Assembly.

Kunjwal asserted that a beginning had to be made to desist the people from emigrating to the plains in search of livelihood. He said new avenues of self-employment had to be created for the local youth and at the same time, the officialdom would have to change its functioning and establish a new work culture.

On the issue of a large number of drinking water schemes lying defunct, Kunjwal said such schemes needed to be revived.

Champawat farmers fear wheat yield may drop
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, April 27
Farmers of Champawat district are worried that they may lose rabi crop this year in the non-irrigated hills of the district due to late rain at the time of the sowing and cold weather conditions at the time of ripening of the crop. The wheat production in the hill areas of the district is likely to go down.

“As late rain at the time of sowing of the crop and cold weather conditions at the time of ripening have affected the wheat crop, the farmers of the hill areas of the district should be compensated by the state government,” said Prakash Garkoti, sarpanch of Garkot village.

In Champawat district, except the Terai region of Tanakpur and Banbasa, the whole area under wheat cultivation falls in the hills. “Of the total 14,849 acres under wheat cultivation in the district, 10,400 acres is in non-irrigated hill areas and the crop here is most likely to get damaged due to late rain,” said a source in the Agriculture Department in the district

“The wheat yield is likely to be affected this year due to late rain and cold weather conditions at the time of ripening of the crop,” said the source as the weather department reported a minimum temperature of 7.5°C on Thursday.

Farmers in the district said they had reduced area under wheat cultivation due to late rain. “Due to late sowing, I reduced area under wheat crop from three acres to one acre this year,” said Dungar Singh Mahar, a farmer of Mudiyani village in Champawat district. The farmers in Garkot and Goli villages in the district have a similar story to narrate.

District agriculture officer, Champawat, AK Upadhyaya agreed that the rabi crop had been affected in the district this year. “During inspection in the Lohaghat, Barakot and Champawat blocks, our team found that the wheat crop had been affected,” said Upadhyaya.

Joshi: CM misrepresents facts about BJP rule
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, April 27
State BJP general secretary Suresh Joshi has said Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna is making immature statements as he is not being given correct information by the bureaucracy. “The Chief Minister is not being given proper information concerning the achievements of the BJP government in the state as he is presenting wrong data,” said Joshi while addressing a press conference here yesterday.

Joshi was commenting on the Chief Minister’s statement that during the five-year BJP rule the pace of development in the state had remained stagnant. “When the Planning Commission of India has admired the state thrice and also released an appreciation fund of Rs 1,000 crore during the five-year rule of the BJP, how Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna can say that the BJP government did not work,” asked Joshi.

“When ND Tiwari was the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand during 2002 to 2007, the state was at the 22nd position in the country with regard to the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana, but during the BJP rule it was placed third,” said Joshi.

“The Chief Minister is not giving correct facts in a bid to play down the achievements of the BJP government. He is not even mentioning recognised facts about the state,” said Joshi. He added that Bahuguna while making statements about the state should give an impression that he was a mature politician.

Community policing to be introduced in hills
Tribune News Service

Nainital, April 27
Director-General of Police (DGP) Vijay Raghav Pant said here today that the department was all set to introduce the concept of community policing in the hilly terrain.

Pant was talking to mediapersons after a meeting with the top brass of his force from the entire Kumaon region. He said the concept of the rural community policing in Japan was being analysed for the purpose.

The DGP said, "I want to bring in a qualitative difference in the policing in the hills vis-a-vis the policing in the plains. The emphasis is on strengthening the policing in the hills."

He further said a multi-pronged strategy was being devised for the purpose. The DGP said they were mulling putting up pickets at entry and exit points of all towns to check theft and instill a sense of security among people.

DGP honours cops with cash prizes
Tribune News Service

Nainital, April 27
The visit of the newly appointed DGP of the state Vijay Raghav Pant to Nainital was marked by distribution of cash prizes to members of his force who had shown courage and the presence of mind on duty in dealing with two major instances of crime that were reported from the Kumaon region in the last fortnight.

In the first instance, the police had been successful in arresting four miscreants who were trying to flee with a car that they had stolen after shooting at its driver near Naynagaon on the Haldwani-Nainital road on April 20.

The accused were nabbed when the vehicle overturned

after it had crashed into three barriers erected by the police the moment they had come to know about the incident.

The DGP disbursed Rs 20,000 among the members of the team comprising Inspector Pramod Kumar, Senior Sub-Inspector Daulat Ram, Sub-Inspectors Sanjay Kumar, Chetan Rawat and Ravindra Singh Negi along with a team of constable consisting of Ram Lal, Narendra Singh, Raja Ram, Alok Kumar, Puran Nath, Hridayesh Kumar and Narendra Yadav.

In the second instance, a police team from the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Almora and the police station in Dwarahat had shown alertness and the presence of mind to nab a student of Bipin Chandra Tripathi Engineering College at Dwarahat who had allegedly killed his roommate following a minor tiff. The police had not only managed to solve the case within two days but had also ensured that peace prevailed on the college campus following the discovery of the body of the murder victim.

The DGP disbursed Rs 10,000 among the team of personnel comprising Inspector Thakur Singh Adhikari, Sub-Inspectors Jagdish Chandra Tewari, Prakash Singh Mehra and constables Pramod Singh, Harish Kohli, Sandip Singh, Suresh Chandra, Deepak Chauhan and Prakash Chandra Bhatt.

Chain snatchings rise in Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 27
As six incidents of chain snatching had taken place in the city in the past few days, the working of the police is being questioned.

Broad daylight chain snatchings in congested and busiest markets have shocked the people on the so-called effective policing being touted by district police officials.

Last week, a teacher was wounded by chain snatchers at Ranipur mod, Chandracharya Chowk, last week which is the busiest commercial hub of the city.

This incident was a daring one as a police check post was just 15-20 metres away from the spot, while the CCTV cameras installed at the intersection have been lying defunct for weeks.

It's also came to light that a woman chain snatcher is also active who aided two other chain snatchers in carrying out the crime.

SSP Arun Mohan Joshi told TNS that the police was taking the incidents in the city seriously and all police officials had been directed to take necessary steps.

Joshi added that patrolling had been increased and more number of CCTVs were being installed, while those which were not working were being repaired.

Circle officer, city, Shahjahan Javed Khan said police officials had been directed to remain in touch with the local people and beat policing was being revived, which was initiated a year ago during the tenure of the then SSP Sanjay Gunjiyal, now DIG Dehradun.

Meanwhile, a delegation of women met SSP Arun Mohan Joshi today at his Roshanabad office expressing their concern over the rise in chain snatching incidents as well as other crimes.

Lions Club donates tricycles
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 27
Keeping in with the social work being done by Lions Club of Haridwar, today 35 tricycles and 10 wheel chairs were distributed free of cost to the needy in a function organised here at Sukh Narayan ashram in Haridwar.

These tricycles-wheelchairs were handed out by chief guest former Cabinet Minister and Haridwar legislator Madan Kaushik.

He lauded the efforts pitched in by the members of the club.

Acknowledging the fact that the club has been doing charitable works for a long time, Kaushik said helping poor and needy brings satisfaction.

Chief of the Haridwar Chapter Neelu Khanna said the total cost of these wheel chairs was about Rs 3 lakh, which has been generated by the club members on their own.

Varun Sharma, secretary of the club, said they would donate more wheelchairs.