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Provide top health facilities to people of remote areas: CM
Rawat’s nearness to Satpal’s brother raises eyebrows
Protest follows demolition drive at Lal Kuan
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CM requested to resume hydropower projects
Ban big dams, tunnels in state, Bahuguna urged
Teachers invent novel way of shirking duty
Stench of honour killing in girl's death
CPWD builds 2 km road stretch in Darma valley
Improve pattern of investigation, cops told
Floral tributes paid to Gurudev Tagore
3 snakes caught from tank, released in jungle
Relatives, forum activists protest arrest of rape accused
Meeting of engineers
One held with rare species of owl
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Provide top health facilities to people of remote areas: CM
Dehradun, May 7 Chief Minister Bahuguna, while reviewing the meeting of Medical and Health Department at the Secretariat here today, instructed the departmental officers to prepare the proposal of action plan to provide better medical facilities to the people of remote areas through National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and Planning Commission. He asked them to adopt experience of other states in this regard. Bahuguna revealed that he had discussed the issue with Union Health Minister and had received assurance of all possible assistance from the Centre. He disclosed that the Union Minister’s Uttarakhand visit was proposed on June 9. He asked the state’s NRHM officer to prepare a solid action plan with the help of officers from the Centre regarding requisite health infrastructures in the state so that issue could be advocated strongly before the Union Minister. Chief Minister Bahuguna, looking into the shortage of doctors in the state, also instructed the officers to prepare the proposal for taking services of private specialists as visiting doctors. He instructed the officers to ensure strict implementation of conditions under which every passing out doctors from government medical colleges have to render their compulsory service in the hill areas on rotation basis. He asked them to make 3 years compulsory service for male doctors and 2 years for female doctors. He also stressed on even deputing intern doctors in the hill districts. Chief Minister instructed the senior medical officers to personally visit Primary Health Centres and Community Health Centres on regular basis and expressed the hope that this would inspire junior doctors and motivate them. Chief Minister Bahuguna issued instructions to the DG, Health, to study the system followed by Central agencies in purchase and distribution of medicines and prepare proposal for the same. He also asked them to upgrade main hospitals, Doon Hospital and Base Hospitals as referral centres. He also instructed them to prepare a proposal on transfer policy keeping in mind the feasibility. Uttarakhand Health Minister Surendra Singh Negi said, “To meet the shortage of doctors in the state, especially in the remote places, 227 ayurveda doctors in the state can be authorised to prescribe allopathic medicines, but not before consulting the Medical Council of India.” He also suggested urging the Public Service
Commission to recruit doctors or make amendments in the departmental regulations to empower it to make direct recruitments of doctors. |
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Rawat’s nearness to Satpal’s brother raises eyebrows
Haridwar, May 7 Though Harish Rawat has been openly criticising Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and the Congress high command, he seems to be moving towards taking on Satpal Maharaj, who had supported Bahuguna’s candidature for the post of Chief Minister. Notably, in the past two months proximity between Harish Rawat and Bhole Maharaj has increased. It seems Rawat is making special efforts to have good relations with Bhole Maharaj, who is involved in social work and has spent more than Rs 200 crore on education to the poor and the health sector in more than 22 states. At present Harish Rawat is monitoring a three-day free medical camp being held at the Joint Hospital, Roorkee, in association with the Hans Foundation run by Bhole Maharaj. Harish Rawat even personally arranged for a team of expert doctors for the medical camp. As a testimony to the proximity between the two, the Hans Foundation has taken up several social works in Haridwar, parliamentary constituency of Harish Rawat, where Satpal Maharaj has his ashram at Prem Nagar and holds two programmes annually. Harish Rawat has been seen actively participating in several social programmes of the foundation along with Bhole Maharaj and his wife Mangla Devi. Speculation is rife that the growing proximity between the two may change the political scene in Pauri Garhwal, home constituency of Satpal Maharaj, in the General Elections in 2014. It is well known that Satpal Maharaj and Bhole Maharaj do not enjoy good relations and in the last Assembly elections it was rumoured that Bhole Maharaj may contest on a BJP ticket. In 2011, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had attended the inauguration of a hospital at Satpuli in Pauri and urged Bhole Maharaj to join politics. Meanwhile, Bhole Maharaj, while talking to The Tribune, denied that he had plans to join politics and said his growing closeness to Harish Rawat was for a good cause. Rajesh Rastogi, spokesperson for Harish Rawat, said their association with Bhole Maharaj should not be given political colour and seen through the prism of Satpal Maharaj. “Harish Rawat post-chief ministership episode has decided to give more time to social works like the clean Ganga drive and health facilities for the poor in which the Hans Foundation is playing a stellar role,” he said. |
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Protest follows demolition drive at Lal Kuan
Nainital, May 7 Reports coming from the town say that 200 structures, some of them pucca, were razed by the Railways authorities on Saturday. This was followed by a massive protest and the affected people went on to block the national highway passing through the town for four hours. The situation became further complicated on Sunday when attempts were made by some elements to link the death of Krishna Mohan, who was suffering from leprosy, with the encroachment removal exercise. Stepping in, local legislator Durgapal took up the matter with the local administration. He stated that the government was serious about relocating the families who lost roofs over their heads in the exercise. He asked the District Magistrate Nidhi Mani Tripathito relate what was being done in the matter. Tripathi stated that there was a proposal to build 200 residential structures under the Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana and the land for the same was being identified. "We have to see that only those who are the genuine claimants get these house," she said. Replying to a query raised by The Tribune, she said, "The drive was carried out after persuading people to vacate the illegal structures and they did vacate the structures voluntarily. There was no conflict while the operation was carried out." Sources say that arrangements for providing food and shelter to the dislocated people are being made at the local gurdwara. The Railways has been carrying out anti-encroachment drives in the area for the past few months. The Railways authorities say that there are large tracts of land belonging to the institution that are under encroachment in the Kumaon region. In the past, top officials had been expressing surprise over the fact that the illegal structures that had come up on the railway land had been provided facilities like roads, power and water. The Railways has plans to develop Lal Kuan as the gateway to Kumaon. The railway station is being spruced up and more facilities are being added. The gauge conversion plan between Bareilley and Lal Kuan is almost over. |
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CM requested to resume hydropower projects
Dehradun, May 7 Kaushal threatened that a large number of supporters of hydroelectric projects would start a mass movement from May 21 if the state government failed to resume these projects. Kaushal wrote a letter to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to bring to his notice that while the state government owned hydropower projects, namely Palamaneri and Baironghati and the Centre owned Lohari Nagpala hydropower projects were stopped by the previous BJP government and the Union government, respectively, under pressure from politicians and religious bodies. In the meantime, the NGRBA was formed but it was yet to take a decision with regard to the three projects. Meanwhile, GD Agarwal, now called Swami Sanand, again started agitating to pressure the Central and state governments to abandon other hydropower projects in Uttarakhand purely on religious grounds. There are about six power projects, namely Vishnuga Peepal Koti, Himjyoti, Alaknanada and others, which were projected to start supplying electricity by this year. These projects were never stopped by any court or by the NGRBA. The work was stalled temporarily on an assurance by Union minister Sri Parkash Jaiswal to Agarwal that a decision in the matter would be taken by the Prime Minister at the meeting of the authority on April 17. Kaushal further stated in the letter that the Chief Minister was also present at the meeting of the authority and there was no order to continue the temporary ban on these projects. He reminded the Chief Minister that the delay in resuming these projects was escalating their cost. The state government was buying 150 MW for Rs 700 crore and it was not enough to meet the power demand of the state. As the work on the power projects has not been stopped either by court or the NGRBA the onus to restart them was on the state government. “I request you to be kindly issue directions to restart the Vishnugad Peepal Koti, Himjyoti, Alaknanada and other hydropower projects, which were stopped on Agarwal’s insistence, Kaushal said. |
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Ban big dams, tunnels in state, Bahuguna urged
Pithoragarh, May 7 “This may be compensated by constructing small hydroelectric projects on the rivers of the state and linking them through a grid,” said Radha Behn, convener of the meeting. More than 12 sarvodaya workers from across the state attended the meeting, she added. The mandal also urged the government to formulate a water policy that could enhance the natural water sources of the state so that every resident could have required water supply. “The construction of tunnels on perennial rivers of the state is also making ground water to either change its route or disappear,” said Radha Behn. The president of the mandal, Suresh Bhai, said the state executive of the organisation would meet in Dehradun on May 17 to chart out the future strategy to save the rivers. It would thereafter meet the Chief Minister to apprise him of the decision of the mandal. “We will request the Chief Minister that the state can be self sufficient in power generation by using irrigation canals and flowing water streams of the state and handing over their management to the nearby villages,” said Suresh Bhai. Meanwhile, it was also decided at the meeting that volunteers of the mandal would organise a ‘Jan Jagaran Yatra’ from Uttarakhand to New Delhi in November to make the people aware of the threat to the rivers of the state. |
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Teachers invent novel way of shirking duty
Mussoorie, May 7 According to the public representatives and the parents of the students, the eight government teachers, allegedly taking advantage of the fact that the school is situated in the remote area and rarely visited by the monitoring authorities, have divided the working days among themselves in such a way that they do not have to attend the school regularly as their turn comes only after eight days. In this way the teachers avoid coming to the school on regular basis and also ensure that they receive salary for the whole month by signing the attendance register for all working days. The biggest sufferers in this alleged arrangement are the students, who in the absence of complete teachres play in the field the whole day. The students are lagging behind in studies and have to wait for the turn of the teacher for the respective subject in which they are facing problems for eight days. Kshetra Panchayat Sadasya, Anita Jawari, alleged that the teachers are playing with the future of the poor students of the area as most of them are unable to make any sort of alternative arrangement of tuitions for themselves. She also said that the authorities are yet to take any action against the teachers despite several reminders. Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi, during his visit public grivance meet at Kyarkuli in Mussoorie yesterday, assured that he would direct the concerned authorities about the matter and ensure that all teachers attend the school on regular basis. |
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Stench of honour killing in girl's death
Nainital, May 7 But the family members and villagers have been sitting at the grave site and not allowing the police to dig the grave. A case against 29 persons, including the family members of the victim, has been registered in the
matter. Amina, alias Soni, of Bazpur village was having an affair with Ashfaq of the same village and was allegedly murdered on Saturday. Her family members had gone to bury the girl. There are reports that
her family members were against the match and in the past, the two had tried to elope on four occasions. There are reports that suggest that Soni’s parents had recently left her
with a relative in Agra but she came back on Friday to Sultanpur Patti and approached the police. The police had informed her parents and had
facilitated her departure to the Doraha post where Ashfaq had turned up. The two had decided to get married on Saturday and she was handed over to the members of her
family. However, she was found dead under suspicious circumstances the next day. This led Ashfaq to lodge a complaint with the police alleging that the girl had been murdered. Talking to The Tribune, Nainital DGP DJ
Ghildiyal said, “It is a law and order issue. We are persuading the people to allow extraction of the dead body from the grave so that the post-mortem examination can be conducted.” |
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CPWD builds 2 km road stretch in Darma valley
Pithoragarh, May 7 “After the road is complete, the villagers of the Darma valley as well as trekkers bound to the Panchchuli base camp will be facilitated,” said a CPWD spokesman. The villagers said after the 30-km difficult portion of the road between Sobla to Bongling was complete, it would be constructed till Tidang, the last security post along the China border in the valley, in the coming years. “The CPWD has called tenders for the construction of a 10-km portion of the road from Bongling to Sela, and the work could start in the coming months,” said Krishna Singh Firmal, a resident of Fimal village of the Darma valley. The entire 70 km road from Tawaghat to Tidang along the China border in the valley was likely to be completed in seven years if the pace of the work remained slow, said Firmal, who was also a contractor of the road project. The government has started the construction of three vital roads along the China border in three high Himalayan valleys of the district. These comprise a 75 km road from Garvadhar to Lipulekh in the Byans valley, another from Dhapa to Milam in the Johar valley of Munsiyari subdivision being constructed by the Border Roads Organisation and a road between Sobla to Bongling in the Darma valley being constructed by the CPWD. “The construction of the three roads is in progress and they are likely to be completed by 2016. Though we have constructed a major portion of the roads in the high Himalayan valleys, the delay is being caused due to hard rocks in lower valleys,” said a BRO official. |
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Identification of Anonymous Bodies
Dehradun, May 7 He said the identification of bodies was a vital step in the direction of solving cases related to their deaths. He expressed concern over the identification of mere 25 bodies out of 216 found in the entire
range in the last one year of which nine cases were registered under murder. Gunjyal has directed the police personnel to prepare a report which would further be approved by a Circle Officer (CO) in carrying out investigation regarding the anonymous bodies. The CO will need to be present on the crime scene for investigation and gather information about the cause of the death. As per the instructions, the skull of the corpse should be preserved if the body has decomposed. The skull will help in reconstructing the face through superimposition method by experts. The bones or any organ of the deceased too will be preserved to match the DNA, if any clue or development takes place at a later stage which may help in cracking the
mystery behind the death. He said such bodies could also be handed over for anatomical examination and dissection to medical colleges or hospital under the Police Regulation Act. Besides this, the information regarding anonymous bodies will now be made available on Uttarakhand Police website- www.uttarakhandpolice.co and another website pertaining to CBI, hobsc1@cbi.gov.in and similar websites in various other states. With regard to the anonymous body of a foreign citizen, the information will immediately be passed on to the
Superintendent of Police/Foreigner Registration Office. From these sources, the offices of the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police and the Ministry of
External Affairs too will be apprised of the deaths of foreigners. |
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151th birth anniversary
Mussoorie, May 7 Local historians Gopal Bhardwaj, Jaiprakash Uttarakhandi and others gathered at Tilak Memorial Library and offered floral tributes to the eminent poet on the occasion. Gopal Bhardwaj, speaking on the occasion, said that with this the celebration of the 150th year of birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore also completed today. Bhardwaj further said that the contribution of Tagore to the Indian literature has been immensely valuable and the youth of the country should read his works to understand his philosophy and ideals that are relevent even today. He also informed the media that Rabindranath Tagore also graced Mussoorie with his presence in 1939 and stayed as the invited guest of Raja of Kasmanda and as he was also an eminent painter, he captured the beauty of the town on canvas and gifted the painting to the Rajmata of Kasmanda. Another historian Jaiprakash Uttarakhandi said that with the advent of liberalisation the works of such authors have taken a back seat and it was necessary to revive them through discourses and other functions so that youth of country also is aware of the literary heritage that exists in the country. |
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45 huts demolished in Doon
Dehradun, May 7 The team did not face much opposition, as it was equipped with adequate police force along with women constables. A couple of small-time leaders tried to intervene but they were warned by the team not to interrupt in the anti-encroachment operation, and, they preferred to stay away thereafter. The operation, which started at 11, continued for close to four hours. |
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3 snakes caught from tank, released in jungle
Dehradun, May 7 Singh was called by forest officials to catch the snakes from the house of Dr Dharmendra. The snakes were lying coiled in the safety of the tank, which had recently been emptied for cleaning purpose. Since it had only one cover and the snakes too were slippery and quite aggressive, the expert team of Singh and his associate had to struggle for half an hour to take them out. Singh said had the tank been in operation, the snakes might have died in a short time. There was no room available to slip out of the tank either.
— TNS |
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Relatives, forum activists protest arrest of rape accused
Dehradun, May 7 The protesters termed the rape charge against Arvind, a resident of Ogal Bhatt in the Claimontown area, as fictitious. They said the tenant, who had not paid rent for the past two years, was trying to settle scores with Arvind by accusing him of raping his daughter. Arvind, who has retired from the Army, runs Mayur Restaurant at Saharnpur Chowk here. Arvind’s sister Kavita Bhatt also accused Station Officer, Claimontown, MK Saini of conspiring with the tenants in the case.
— TNS |
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Meeting of engineers
Dehradun, May 7 The directions were given to announce dates for receiving applications so that the interested people could avail of the opportunity by furnishing the required documents. Meanwhile, a team of MDDA officials in the presence of the police also sealed construction being carried out on the second floor of the hostel building of Mahant Indresh Hospital today.
— TNS |
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One held with rare species of owl
Pithoragarh, May 7 “After getting information from a source that a youth is heading towards the town with an owl in his possession, SOG members along with forest officials reached at Panda farm and arrested the youth and the light red-coloured owl. The youth was identified as Jagjiwan Singh of Khakot village, near Didihat subdivision,” said an SOG spokesman. He has been arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act and handed over to forest officials for further investigation.
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