Only one doctor for 10,000 patients in Bageshwar dist!
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, August 25
A shortage of doctors in the hill districts of the state has hit medical services badly.

According to a survey carried out by the People's Union of Civil Liberty (PUCL), it has come to the fore that in Bageshwar district, there is only one doctor for 10,000 patients, which is a major cause of concern.

“Against the 76 sanctioned posts of doctor in 28 hospitals of Bageshwar district, there are only 23 doctors,” said Nanda Ballabh Bhatt, state vice-president of the PUCL.

Sources said in Bageshwar District Hospital against 26 sanctioned posts of doctors, only 10 were working at present.

Chief Medical Officer, Bageshwar, Dr Chandra Bhatt said, “We have an acute shortage of doctors in 27 other hospitals of the district where 53 posts are lying vacant.” There were 13 primary and 14 government hospitals in the remote parts of the district, but were not in a position to give required services as the number of doctors working there was meagre.

The CMO further said, “These hospitals are not even capable of providing basic medical services to patients.”

Nanda Ballabh Bhatt said instead of filling the vacant posts of doctor in the hospitals situated in the remote parts of the district, the government was transferring doctors from the district.

Nanda said they would launch an indefinite agitation if doctors were transferred from the district.

Reservation in promotions unacceptable: UKD-P
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 25
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal-(Progressive) today termed reservation in promotions as unnecessary and uncalled for.

As part of the statewide protest, the UKD-P activists staged a demonstration at Bhagat Singh Chowk here and criticised those propagating reservation in promotions.

Party leaders termed the high court decision on the issue as landmark and the one that would fill the gap created by the reservation policy in the country.

Uday Ram Semwal, central secretary of the Labour Cell of the UKD-P, said reservation was introduced to bring the suppressed, minority and backward classes of society to the mainstream. “Even after 65 years of Independence it is a shame that we have not been able to get rid of reservation in government jobs,” he added.

“If reservation is given in promotions too, able, genuine and worthy employees from the general category will definitely suffer. It may also create differences among the employees and affect the working efficiency of the general category employees,” said Semwal while addressing party activists.

City chief of the youth wing of the party Lalit Mamgain accused politicians of using reservation for garnering votes. These leaders were interested only in winning elections rather than overall development of those sections of society which took benefits of reservation. The party also extended support to the joint Sangarsh Samiti of Employees, which is staging an indefinite agitation at the Roshanabad district headquarters against reservation in promotions in government jobs.

Bal Singh Saini, Aadesh Marwadi, Anil Pokhriyal, Bhagwat Prasad Dimri, Saurav Dhiman, Gobind Aggarwal, Vijay Shiv Dutt, Satya Prasad, Vivek Sharma, Gobind Aggarwal and Khem Chand Thakur were among those who took part in the protest. 

State gets Rs 250 cr Central package
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 25
Union Commerce, Textile and Industries Minister Anand Sharma today announced a Rs 250 crore package for Uttarakhand, which includes spice parks, textile park, sheep and wool improvement schemes.

The spice parks would be set up at Sitarganj (10 hectares) and Majrigrant (15 acres) at a cost of Rs15 crore to be provided by the Centre. The land would be provided by the state government, said Anand Sharma, while speaking with media persons today.

He also said the Centre would extend financial assistance of 40 per cent or maximum of Rs 40 crore for the proposed textile park, and Rs1 crore assistance for sheep and wool improvement schemes in Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts.

"We are also willing to assist the state in skill development schemes to be introduced in Dehradun, Roorkee and Haldwani. A total of 15,000 youths would be imparted training in the next five years under skill development scheme on which the state would incur a budget of Rs 100 crore, of which 75 per cent would be borne by the Central government," said Sharma. Further, he also accepted the demand for setting up a international trade and convention centre at Pantnagar to be built on public private partnership.

Besides, the minister assured of providing financial assistance to the tune on Rs 10 crore for setting up cold storage and processing units in the state.

However, the minister evaded questions on reviving the industrial package in the state. 

Natural Disasters
Relief in death cases hiked to `3 lakh: DM
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, August 25
The Uttarakhand Government has increased compensation given to victims of natural disasters from this year, District Magistrate, Pithoragarh, CMS Bisht said here today.

Bisht said Rs 3 lakh would now be given to the nearest family member of a person who died in a natural disaster. In case a person received more than 80 per cent disability in a natural disaster, he would be given Rs 1.50 lakh as compensation and on disability less than 80 per cent Rs 1 lakh would be paid. However, if a person was seriously injured, he would be paid Rs 20,000 and if he remained hospitalised for at least one week he would be given Rs 10,000 for treatment.

He said the government had also increased the compensation given for repair of houses damaged in natural disasters. A compensation of Rs 1 lakh would be paid for a fully damaged pucca house while Rs 63,000 would be given for a partially damaged pucca house. However, in case of a kutcha house was damaged, Rs 32,000 would be paid as compensation.

The District Magistrate said the government had also revised the compensation given for the livestock killed in natural disasters. According to the new rates, Rs 16,000 as compensation would be paid for the death of a milch animal while Rs 15,000 would be given for the death of an animal used for carrying load. If a person lost his essential clothes and utensils in a natural disaster he would be paid Rs 2,700 immediately as relief, he added.

Bisht said the state government had also increased the compensation given for the loss agriculture land in a natural disaster. According to the new rates, if a farmer lost more than 50 per cent of crop in a natural disaster, he would be paid Rs 3,000 per hectare as compensation for un-irrigated land and Rs 6,000 per hectare for irrigated land. However, if a farmer lost cultivable land he would be given Rs 25,000 per hectare to reclaim it, he added. 

CII delegation meets Anand Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 25
A delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) met Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textile Anand Sharma here today.

Chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh, Revenue Minister Yashpal Arya, senior officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Government of India and the state government were also present on the occasion.

A wide range of issues, including infrastructure, incentives for promoting industry, power, skill development, green bonus and tourism were discussed at the meeting.

Anand Sharma and Bahuguna welcomed further investments into the state and assured the delegation of steps to make the environment more conducive for investments and PPPs.

CAG addresses IAS officer trainees
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, August 25
Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai, on his visit to Mussoorie, addressed the IAS officer trainees undergoing mid-term career programme at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) yesterday.

Rai addressed the gathering of around 90 officers on the premises of the institute. Speaking on the issue of corruption, he said the officers should work towards the development of the country while remaining under the framework of the law and constitution.

He further said corruption had emerged as a major problem in the country. He advised the IAS officer trainees that in order to deal with the issue of corruption, the officers, who were considered the backbone of country’s administrative machinery, should remain honest and work with integrity.

Rai also said the people of the country had become aware of their rights because of the Right To Information (RTI) Act and Citizen Charter.

Travelling Literature Festival
Reading sessions held at Jaswant Modern School
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 25
On the first day of Ghummakkad Narain-Travelling Literature Festival, reading sessions and creative art classes were organised at Jaswant Modern School here. Many eminent writers and creative artists interacted with students during the sessions.

Dinesh Chamola, noted Hindi writer from Dehradun, read out his stories to the students and discussed issues that concern them. Chamola is also the Deputy Director of the Indian Institute of Petroleum. Rajendra Upadhyaya, a Deputy Director, News, All India Radio, another well known name from the Hindi literary world, talked through his poetries.

Sanjana Kapoor and Adarsh from the Amar Chitra Katha magazine came from Bangalore to conduct the session as a tribute to Uncle Pai. They created stories with children and drew characters from Tinkle magazine, Supandi and Shikari Shambhu. Sanjana is a storyboard writer with Amar Chitra Katha and Adarsh, an artist.

Priyanka Bhattacharya, a writer, and Shaguna Gahilote, festival co-director and head of literature, British Council, conducted book reading and film screening session. Movies Beauty and the Beast and Finding Nemo were screened.

“Today when the festival has come back to Dehradun, teachers tell us how more children now use library and get books issued. Parents tell us that children now buy more books and have their own collection. This is what makes us happy that three years down, the festival is achieving its goals,” said Gahilote.

“I have recently come back from the Edinburgh Book Festival and similar activities are conducted there. I am glad that we can offer the same to our children in Dehradun. The only difference is that there, people are willing to pay Rs 1,000 for an one-hour session and here we have to go out and convince people to come forward,” added Gahilote.

Tomorrow the festival will go to primary government schools to conduct sessions for the underprivileged kids and launch the well known author Amish Tripathi's hindi edition of a book on Nagas.

The festival is in its third year and is dedicated to the work of Thakur Vishva Narain Singh, a well-known writer and journalist from Dehradun.

Earlier former President APJ Abdul Kalam and MP Shashi Tharoor had addressed the festival. This year, the festival was inaugurated by Nandita Das, actor, director and Chairperson of the CSFI. The festival started with a cross-border peace workshop with students from Pakistan.

5 poachers held; leopard skin seized

Dehradun, August 25
Five poachers were arrested and a leopard skin was seized from them on the Rishikesh-Haridwar road under the Motichoor range of Rajaji National Park yesterday.

In a joint operation, officials of Rajaji National Park and the Uttarakhand Special Task Force intercepted a car on the Rishikesh-Haridwar road. On search of the car a leopard skin was seized. Five of the six persons travelling in the car were arrested, while one managed to escape.

Initial interrogation of the arrested persons revealed that they had obtained the leopard skin by poaching from the Kotdwar region of Garhwal. — TNS

MP warns officers against complacency
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 25
Pauri Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj today told government officials to be sensitive towards the concerns of the people and warned them against complacency. He presided over a meeting of the Tehri district vigilance and monitoring committee at New Tehri district today.

He said the Central government schemes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, National Rural Health Mission, Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana and Rajeev Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme must be speedily implemented in the region.