MLAs loyal to Harish Rawat skip CM's function
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 2
The groupism in the Uttarakhand Congress resurfaced today when three Congress MLAs boycotted Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna's function blaming the police for stopping them from meeting the CM. Vijay Bahuguna reached Pithoragarh on his first visit after becoming the Chief Minister.

“Some of our MLAs, including Harish Dhami, Mayukh Mahar and Narain Ram, had been stopped by securitymen from meeting the Chief Minister as it was pre-planned by those who wanted to prevent the Congress workers loyal to Harish Rawat from meeting the Chief Minister,” said Narain Ram, Congress MLA from the Gangolihat Assembly in the district. Congress workers also blamed the district organisation for not inviting them at the dinner hosted in the honour of the Chief Minister by a senior Congress worker.

The Chief Minister was welcomed by District Congress Committee office-bearers and government officials at the PWD Rest House where the Chief Minister later addressed party workers and held a Janata Darbar.

Supporters of Harish Rawat complained against Bahuguna supporters that that they did not turn up on the day when the Union Minister visited the district.

“The Congress workers aligned to Yashpal Arya had even boycotted the visit of the Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker when he visited the district,” said a Rawat supporter.

According to sources, all programme of the Chief Minister’s visit were given a final touch by district president of the Congress Mahendra Singh Lunthi and his supporters, who are considered Yashpal supporter and none of Rawat supporter was involved in it.

“We cannot spoil the dinner programme of the Chief Minister by inviting those who were not happy with his elevation as Chief Minister,” said Mahendra Singh Lunthi.

During the visit of Harish Rawat last week, one of his supporters and Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami raised the demand of dismissal of Mahendra Singh Lunthi from his post. “Harish Rawat supporters did not cooperate in making the CM’s visit a success and projected him a disputed Congress leader. The group only reached the airstrip to welcome the him formally,” said Mahendra Singh Lunthi.

According to the District Congress Committee sources, Harish Rawat supporters were not even invited by Ravindra Singh Bisht, who invited the Chief Minister for dinner this evening.

“We have old relations with the Bahuguna family from the time of Indira Gandhi when my brother Narendra Singh Bisht was the Congress MLA and father of Vijay Bahuguna Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna was the Chief Minister of UP,” said Ravindra Singh Bisht.

Bahuguna for development of border dists
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 2
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said here today that his government would develop border districts of the state on priority and was committed to having complete infrastructure facilities in the areas.

"Good infrastructure in the border districts will stop villagers from moving to the plains," said he. The Chief Minister was addressing people gathered here to attend his Janata Darbar on his first visit of the border district.

He was given many applications at Janata Darbar. Most of these applications were for demand of financial assistance from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

A delegation from Dharchula led by community leader of the tribal Bhotia community Padam Singh Raipa demanded the removal of restrictions imposed by Union Ministry of External Affairs on the Indo-Tibet border trade and opening of trade for Tibetan goats and livestock from the Lipulekh pass.

"We have also demanded to include some more goods on the list of the trade and the facility of foreign currency at Gunji," said Raipa.

The delegation of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (P) led by Kashi Singh Airy demanded that statehood activists should be identified at the village level and should be given state protocol on the lines of freedom fighters.

A delegation led by Vinod Karki of the Pankhu area demanded the construction of a road between Thal and Pankhu.

A delegation from the Baram valley demanded that the borders of the musk deer sanctuary should be away from villages so that the villages could be provided basic infrastructure.

A delegation from Munsiyari led by student leader Kailash Koranga demanded from the chief minister that the entire Munsiyari subdivision should be given a status of Schedule Tribe and all people residing there should be reserved for government jobs.

A delegation from Gangolihat demanded the reconstruction of Panar to Rai road and blacklisting of contractor, who allegedly left the road half way despite taking full payments of the work. A delegation of SSB guerrillas demanded jobs in state government and pension facilities for the old guerrillas.

BJP objects to CM ignoring Chufal during visit
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 2
The BJP has termed Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s visit to Pithoragarh as unfortunate and said that he did not honour his constitutional responsibility by not inviting the lone opposition MLA from the district to meet him. “The Chief Minister, who is well versed in the constitutional provisions, did not invite the local MLA and state BJP president Bishen Singh Chufal, thus violating the protocol,” said Suresh Joshi, general secretary of the BJP.

Joshi said as the Chief Minister did not invite Chufal the BJP had sent an e-mail to him demanding the release of Rs 18 crore sanctioned by the previous BJP government for the construction of roads in different parts of the district and sanctioned funds for the construction of the next face of the base hospital.

Reacting to the boycott of the Chief Minister’s programme by Congress MLAs, the BJP general secretary said if the MLAs of the ruling party were being stopped by the police, how common people could expect security under the Congress regime.

ITBP to be given land for headquarters in Rishikesh: Bahuguna
Tribune News service

Dehradun, May 2
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has said the government would provide land to the ITBP for its frontier headquarters in Rishikesh. He made this announcement during the flagging-off ceremony of a river rafting expedition of the ITBP in Rishikesh yesterday.

The Chief Minister extended his greetings on the golden jubilee celebrations of the ITBP and said the force had done an appreciable job in adventure activities like river rafting and mountaineering. He added the ITBP was also doing a commendable job in search and rescue operations during natural calamities and accidents.

Bahuguna described the expedition as laudable as its aim was to make the people aware of cleanliness of the Ganga. He said the government had also launched a Treatment Plant Scheme to maintain the cleanliness of the Ganga.

Expedition team leader DIG SS Mishra said the ITBP was celebrating its golden jubilee year and to make the occasion memorable, a river rafting expedition ‘Ganga Punardarshan’ was being held in the Ganga form its source at Gomukh to Gangasagar in the Bay of Bengal.

“The expedition team will pass through five states and 30 major cities. Its aim is to acquaint the people with the activities of the ITBP and instill a sense of adventure among the youth so that they were encouraged to join the force. The expedition also aimed at creating awareness about the need to ensure cleanliness of the Ganga and the conservation of its eco-system. The team is also helping in campaigns like Clean Ganga implemented by the National Ganga River Basin Authority,” he said. The team would complete the expedition in 58 days covering about 25,000 km, he added.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister felicitated the winners of a painting competition organised by the ITBP to publicise the campaign. Those present on the occasion included Chief Principal Forest Conservator Dr RBS Rawat, Additional Director General SS Sandhu, IG, ITBP, VK Upreti, IG (Training), ITBP, VK Maurya, DIG Sanjay Gunjiyal, MD of the GMVN Ranjit Sinha, officers of the ITBP, besides students of various schools.

Plea to set up vigilance units in various depts
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
A delegation of the Provincial Police Services Association, Uttarakhand, led by its president Jaswant Singh, met Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna here today.

During the meeting, the delegation urged the CM to consider their demand of setting up vigilance units in the Uttarakhand State Power Distribution Corporation, the Uttarakhand State Power Transmission Corporation, the Uttarakhand State Power Production Corporation, the PWD and the Transport, Education, Finance, Publicity, Labour and Employment, Urban Development and Agriculture Departments.

Members of the delegation maintained that the measure would ensure honesty and transparency in these departments.

The representatives also apprised the CM about the proposed post of office-bearers in the structure of vigilance units.

The Chief Minister, appreciating their efforts in the direction of eradicating corruption in the departments, gave them an assurance that their proposal would be considered.

He asked the Principal Secretary (Home) and the DGP to prepare concrete proposals in this regard.

In another charter of demand, Jaswant Singh, also the president of the Uttarakhand Police Gallantry Medal Awardees Welfare Association, sought yearly and a one-time grant to bravery award winners of the Uttarakhand Police on the lines of those being given to the gallantry award winners of defence forces.

He informed the Chief Minister that various gallantry award winners of police force like President's Police Medal for Gallantry, Police Medal for Bravery and Prime Minister's Life-saving Medal were still not included in the list which debarred the medal winners from receiving the amount.

The Chief Minister gave an assurance to them to look into their demands and asked the Chief Secretary, the Principal Secretary (Home) and the DGP to do the needful.

Hridayesh calls for better tax collection system
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
State Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh has called for better tax collection system to generate revenue. The minister said instead of implementing new taxes, proper collection of the existing taxes should be ensured.

She said "mafia raj" would not be allowed to flourish in the state and asked officials to recover taxes without any fear.

The minister, while chairing a meeting of the Commercial Tax Department at Vidhan Sabha, instructed to maintain better coordination between the administration and the department.

She said with the help of the District Magistrates, the process of tax collection could be improved. “Till the practice of tax evasion is stopped, the state's financial condition cannot be improved,” she said.

The minister further said the district with the maximum tax collection would be felicitated. She advocated simplifying the tax paying process. The minister said the owners of banquet halls were charged 5 per cent tax for the rent above Rs 10,000. However, they avoided presenting the exact profit.

She asked the DMs to hold a meeting with the owners of banquet halls. She instructed the Secretary (Finance) to explore the possibility of fixing tax on banquet halls as per their area.

The minister also laid emphasis on giving more attention to the collection of luxury tax and making amendments to the Sarai Act. She asked the DMs to ensure 100 per cent registrations of hotels and guest houses.

She asked the officials to concentrate more on the collection of taxes from cable TV networks and river rafting companies. The meeting was attended by Secretary (Finance) Radha Raturi, Commissioner (Commercial Tax) Saujanya, Chamoli District Magistrate SA Murugeshna, Uttarkashi DM Rajesh Kumar, Haridwar DM D Senthil Pandian, Dehradun DM Ravinath Raman and Pauri DM Chandresh Kumar.

Eco-philosophy chair in Pant university soon
Tribune News Service

Pantnagar, May 2
The Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar is all set to establish an eco-philosophy chair. The proposed chair is expected to be established at the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities of the university.

According to the Director (Communications) of the university, Dr Vir Singh, "The board has approved the establishment of the chair and it will soon be set up.”

According to him, "Eco-philosophy encompasses ecological consciousness, ecological thinking, ecological ethics, ecological responsibility, ecological values, ecological wisdom and ecological justice. The university represents the ethos of Indian culture that is the agriculture. The university also represents the Himalayan culture and is committed to the ecological and socio-economic development of the region. Himalayan people for centuries have been cultivating ecological philosophy. Ecological movements that emerged from the Himalayas have been instrumental towards sensitising our policy commitments towards environmental conservation. The university is replete with such experiences.”

It is being pointed out that the establishment of the chair will strengthen and enhance the humanistic ethos and philosophical foundations of the whole university. It is further underlined that the university could become a centre of this kind of enquiry for the whole of India as well as Asia.

According to Dr Singh, “As the university is situated close to the Central Himalayas, it has an obligation to help maintain the ecological balance and health of the entire Himalayan region. Furthermore, as the university has completed 50 years of its illustrious development and academic excellence, it will be another feather in its cap.”

Above all, the establishment of the chair will not incur any extra expenses as a philosopher from the department of environmental science can lead the chair. It is expected that the first opportunity to do so might be given to Dr Singh.

The proposal for setting up of the chair underlines, "Biodiversity-based agriculture practised in India for millennia is a true representative of eco-philosophy. When ecological ruins are being witnessed by the whole civilisation and climate change is advancing towards culmination, need for eco-philosophy becomes natural for healing the earth, ecosystem restoration and sustainable development.”

'VHP to fight pseudo secular forces
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 2
International general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Praveen Bhai Togaria has said the parishad will fight the pseudo secular forces in the country which are preventing the Hindus from uniting by faking threat of Hindu terrorism. Togaria was at Lohaghat in Champawat district to attend a personal function.

New Almora DM inspects development works
Tribune News Service

Nainital, May 2
Newly appointed Almora District Magistrate Akshat Gupta, while taking stock of development works being carried out in the district, has laid emphasis on mitigating the water crisis.

At a meeting yesterday, the DM said the maximum impetus needed to be given to water preservation and conservation. He ordered that immediate steps be taken to repair water schemes lying defunct so that water could be supplied through them.

He directed officials that they must make the optimum use of the funds allocated to them for various projects and ensure that these projects were completed in a time-bound manner and without any compromise on the quality of works.

Addressing officials of the Social Welfare Department, he sought a status report regarding the pension being paid to the beneficiaries to ensure that none of them was deprived of the facility.

He said a meeting would be convened to discuss the other schemes being run by the department soon. The new District Magistrate has asked officials of the Health Department to regularly inspect the facilities that were being extended to the rural areas under the National Rural Health Mission. He emphasised upon the need to extend the required facilities to the rural areas at the earliest.

Officials of the Education Department have been told to prepare lists of the schools in the district along with the number of students and the teachers posted in each one of them so that the issue of recruitment of teachers can be taken up with the state administration.

The District Magistrate has also called for a plan to change the faulty electricity poles in the rural areas.

Posts Under NHRM
Applicant accuses health society of giving him less marks
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
An applicant has charged the Uttarakhand Health Society under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) with awarding him less marks in an interview held for three posts of programme officer-urban health, programme officer-school health and programme officer-reproductive and child health on November 4, 2011.

The aggrieved candidate, Devender Kumar Budakoti, had approached Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and the Principal Secretary, but to no avail.

“I had applied for all the three posts but was not selected. I filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and got the assessment sheets and the details of marks given to me. Despite my credible experience in India and abroad on different health projects, I was give three out of the total 20 marks under for experience and two out of 25 marks for communication skills, thus making a mockery of the entire evaluation process,” said Budakoti.

He termed the appointment of various programme officers in the society under the NHRM as fallacious and said, “The Uttarakhand Health Society had made a mockery of the selection process for projects that are meant for the benefit of the people.”

CPI (ML) first state convention on May 13
Tribune News Service

Nainital, May 2
The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)/CPI (ML) has prepared a blueprint for its first state convention scheduled to be held on May 13 and 14 in the Gauzazali area, Haldwani.

According to state in charge of the party Raja Bahuguna, “The convention will focus on the politics of ‘loot’ being promoted by the Congress and the BJP in the state along with the rights of the masses with regard to land, forests and water resources. The convention will also draw a plan to take forward the Left movement in the state.”

The CPI (ML) leadership will review its performance in the state over the past three decades and discuss its achievements and failures. A road map will also be prepared to take forward the movement of labourers and farmers in the state. The convention will begin with a seminar on “Challenges faced for making a corruption- free and mafia-free Uttarakhand”. CPI (ML) national general secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya will be the main speaker.

Leaders from other Left parties will also address the participants.

Member of the Central Committee of the party Dhirendra Jha will be the observer of the event, which will see the election of the first state committee and general secretary.

Expedite development process: Chief Secy
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
Senior administrative officers of the Secretariat congratulated new Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain here today.

The Chief Secretary urged them to expedite development process in the state and told them that everyone has to work with team spirit for the development of the state.

He said the sensitiveness and accountability ought to reflect in the works of the government and the administration. “People have great expectations from us and we have to live up to them,” he said.

The officers of various departments and leaders of workers’ unions assured the Chief Secretary of their support and cooperation.

Shiv Sena flays CBI action against mahant
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
The Shiv Sena has castigated the alleged crackdown of the CBI on Devender Dass, Mahant of the Sri Guru Ram Rai Education Mission and Darbar Sahib.

State president, Shiv Sena, Gaurav Kumar in a press meet, criticised the Congress for this step. He questioned the Congress for what it had done against those education institutions which were understood to be running nefarious activities.

He also slammed the CBI saying that it had become a caricature and must be named as Congress Built Investigation instead. While deploring its credentials, he said the CBI never delivered justice through its investigations and could not be believed to be conducting a fair probe even in this case.

He cautioned the state government that if it did not stop its action against the mahant, then they would come out on road and launch an agitation.

Welham girls to take on modern school in final
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
Welham Girls’ School (Blue) will take on Modern School, Barakhambha, in the final of the 6th Welham Girls’ School All-India Golden Jubilee Basketball Tournament being played in Dehradun.

In the first semifinal, Welham Girls’ School (Blue) beat Motilal Nehru School of Sports 67-32 in a one-sided match. Ridhima of Welham Girls scored 17 points.

In the second semifinal match, Modern School, Barakhambha, beat Woodstock School, Mussoorie 49-16. Madhu of Modern School, Barakhambha, scored 49 points.

Earlier in the day, Modern School, Barakhambha, beat Hopetown Girls School 30-17 with Megan of Modern School scoring 10 points.

Regularisation of 5 engineers flayed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
Members of the Uttarakhand Diploma Engineers Mahasangh have deplored the regularisation of those five diploma engineers by officials of the Uttarakhand Mandi Parishad who had been transferred from Uttar Pradesh to Uttarakhand.

District president of the association EV Joshi said the transfer of these five engineers were executed by then Deputy Director SS Parmar by passing all norms required for such procedures.

He said the department had taken undue benefit of the instability in the state government. He cited the case of many deserving diploma engineers who were much senior and should have been regularised first.

Chief Secy, others meet Alva
Tribune News service

Dehradun, May 2
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat, Principal Secretary Vinita Kumar, Uttarakhand Open University Vice-Chancellor Dr Vinay Kumar Pathak and Sanskrit University Vice-Chancellor Dr Sudha Rani Pandey were among those who met outgoing Governor Margaret Alva at Raj Bhavan here today.

Other important people who visited her were Vice-Chancellor of the Uttarakhand Forestry University Dr Mathew Prasad and ONGC Director DD Mishra.

Representatives of several women organisations and bhojan matas from primary schools also met the Governor. The visitors kept arriving till late evening. The Governor thanked all of them for coming to meet her.