Despite huge budgets, depts report meagre spending
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 6
Despite a hefty annual budget of Rs 8,212.60 crore this financial year, almost all government departments are struggling to spend their outlays.

Of the Rs 8,212.60 crore plan outlay, 64 departments have been able to spend only Rs 1,831.92 crore by October this year.

The Public Works Department with a sizeable outlay of Rs 1,170 crore was able to spend Rs 303.29 crore. The Department of Panchayati Raj was allocated Rs 107.32 crore but it could spend only Rs 98 lakh.

The PWD and the Panchayati Raj Department have been consistently lagging behind in spending plan outlays. Almost every year, the story is the same. The government does not have adequate manpower to prepare plans. Ideally, the government should go for realistic planning and not announce ambitious outlays that continue to remain unspent. The PWD receives the largest share of the annual budget but the outcome is usually poor. The work on road construction comes to a halt during the winter and the monsoon. Hence, there is less days for work during the winter and the monsoon, said Indu Kumar Pande, a former Finance Secretary.

But what is worrying is the lack of concerted effort towards making amendments and making realistic budget estimates so that there is no overlapping between outlays and expenditure.

The Department of Forestry was allocated Rs 218.29 crore but it had spent only Rs 12.39 crore. The Labour Department spent only Rs 4 lakh out of Rs 7.66 crore, while the Department of Agriculture spent Rs 5.50 crore out of Rs 175.65 crore allocated. The Department of Horticulture and Sericulture was allocated Rs 74.05 crore but it spent Rs 4.05 crore while the Department of Medical and Health Services spent Rs 99.57 crore out of the Rs 301.47 crore plan outlay by October this year.

“We have been monitoring expenditure of the departments since the beginning of this financial year, but several of them are lagging behind. As we faced an election last financial year, the departments could not spend the money allocated to them,” said MC Joshi, Additional Secretary, Finance. 

No CBI probe into Ponty murder case, CM to Pritam
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 6
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has rejected the demand made by his Cabinet colleague Pritam Singh to order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the murder case of Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep Chadha last month and the alleged links of politicians and bureaucrats with Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, a prime accused in the case.

Uttarakhand Food Minister Pritam Singh has written a letter to the Chief Minister to recommend a CBI probe into the murder case.

Reacting to the demand, Bahuguna said here today that since the case was outside the jurisdiction of Uttarakhand, there was no point in seeking a CBI probe.

“Since these two murders took place in New Delhi, we cannot recommend any CBI probe,” Bahuguna said. The Chief Minister also said he had not got any information regarding any alleged links of some politicians and bureaucrats with the murder case.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Police has written a letter to the Delhi Police calling for due intimation whenever it carries raids in certain hideouts in connection with the Ponty Chadha murder case.

“We have sent a letter to the Delhi Police asking them to inform us when they carry raids in Uttarakhand. We have told the Delhi Police that the Uttarakhand Police should also be taken into confidence,” said Inspector General (Law and Order) RS Meena.

RLEK’s appeal to Assembly on power projects
Tribune News service

Dehradun, December 6
Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a voluntary organisation which had been fighting for re-starting the stalled hydroelectric project in the state, has appealed to the members of the Uttarakhand Assembly to pass a unanimous resolution with immediate effect to order the functioning of the stalled hydropower projects.

In a statement, the organisation expressed shock at the fact that even during the Assembly session power failures were witnessed. It said that the entire northen India, including Uttarakhand, which was billed as an energy state, has been facing an acute power crisis.

The Uttarakhand state government had to purchase more than Rs 700 crore of power from its meagre resources, and that was also not enough as per the requirements of industries and citizens. It was evident that in the current winters, the power crisis was going to be much more severe.

“It is a clear signal to our elected representatives sitting in the Vidhan Sabha that they should not blame each other but pass a unanimous resolution, expressing deep anguish at the suspension of functioning of the hydropower project. The House should unanimously call upon the state government as well as Central government for immediate resumption of the hydropower projects' functioning,” the statement said.

To achieve 100 per cent rural electrification in the state of Uttarakhand, having a large potential of generating hydropower, the state government as well as Centre must acquire an NOC from the Pollution Control Board as well as from the Forest Department. In most of these projects more than 50 per cent work had already been completed and thousands of crores had been spent. The work on these projects provided much-needed employment to local people, thus minimising migration.

Irrigation staff demand equal work distribution
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 6
Employees of the Irrigation Department sat in protest in support of their demands today. They decided to hold talks with the head of the Department tomorrow. Their main demands include equal distribution of work in all the 68 divisions.

They also demanded that the control over 11 divisions of the Irrigation Department, which were enrolled under Prime Minister Sadak Rojgar Yojana (PMSRY), should be shifted from the PWD to the department. President of the Employees’ Association of the Irrigation Department Ramesh Ramola said: “Since these are our divisions and our employees who are working under PMSRY, thus the administrative and financial control of these works must be given to the Irrigation Department rather than the PWD. The state government should also acknowledge the department as an independent working agency and hand over the PMSRY projects independently to it, without associating it with the PWD or other departments.”

He said they had been demanding merger of Minor Irrigation with the Irrigation Department for many years. “According to Administrative Reform Report submitted in 2007, both the departments, Minor Irrigation and Irrigation Department, must be merged together. As far as the issues with regard to seniority or promotions of officials and employees of the Minor Irrigation are concerned, which they fear will get affected once they came in the fold of Irrigation Department, the state government can create a separate wing of Minor Irrigation within the structure of Irrigation Department. This way their concerns will also be safeguarded,” he added.

While referring to twin projects, Arakot Tyuni and Tyuni Plasu, which will have officials/employees of Irrigation Department, Ramola sought a clarification about the way the workforce of the department would be absorbed under UPVANN.

He said the electrical and mechanical work of hydropower projects which once was handled by the department but was now handed over to Uttarakhand Jal Vidhyut Nigam should again be entrusted to the Irrigation Department. 

Dharchula villagers face foodgrain shortage
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, December 6
About 3,000 residents of three villages in the Nachni area of Dharchula subdivision in Pithoragarh district are facing an acute shortage of foodgrains. The situation has arisen as ration shops there are not getting foodgrain supply in time because the road linking the villages with the rest of Dharchula has remained closed after it was damaged during the monsoon this year.

“The road from Masuria Kanda to Hokra village, which was damaged due to heavy rain in July this year, has not been repaired yet. The delay has caused foodgrain shortage as vehicles carrying food items are not reaching the villages,” said Harak Singh, a social worker of the area.

According to the villagers, more than 3,000 people are living in Hokra, Gola, and Khoyam villages in the district. These villages are not getting government ration in time due to the damaged road. “These villages are situated at heights and receive snowfall during the winter. If the snowfall happens in the near future, these will be cut off from the rest of the district for more four months,” said Motima Devi, gram pradhan of Hokra village.

“Today, we gave a memorandum to the SDM, requesting him to open the road immediately. If the administration fails to do so before the snowfall cuts off the villages, we will start a dharna at the subdivision office at Munsiyari,” said Lila Devi.

Power, fuel crisis grips Kumaon
Our correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 6
Kumaon residents are facing a fuel crisis. Besides, industrial production and power situation have been hit in the rural areas. Electricity cut remains in force for five hours per day. The unavailability of kerosene in rural areas of various districts across the region has compounded the problem.

“The power crisis in Haldwani city is worse. The supply in the town remains cut off without prior information,”said Naveen Mishra, Executive Engineer of the Power Corporation.

According to sources, villagers are also facing a fuel crisis as ration shops are giving only 1.5 litres of kerosene oil to card holders, which is not sufficient.“Formerly, this quota was 5 liters per card, which has been reduced to 1.5 liters now. Even this reduced quota was not available in the months of April and May this year,” said Ramesh Pandey, president of the Adarsh Rationing Dealers’ Welfare Society at Haldwani.

The 3-hour power cut per day is affecting industrial production in Rudrapur. “The quota of kerosene, which has been reduced from 5 liters per card to 1.5 liters recently, has hit the poor in a big way,” said Ajay Tiwari, president of SIDCUL Entrepreneur Welfare Society at Rudrapur.

The hill districts of Almora, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar and Champawat are facing a crisis of fuel and power.

Vedanta convention in baba’s memory at Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 6
Saints from various parts of the region today participated at the Vedanta convention held in the memory of Tahth Vale Baba in Haridwar.

Tahth Vale Baba is revered for his spiritual-religious knowledge and contribution to society through social causes.

This year on the 23rd memorial function, a Vedanta convention was organised in which saints shed light on the life of the saint as well as various spiritual aspects.

Swami Nirmal Chetan Maharaj known as Vedanta Kesari said Tahth Vale Baba had spiritual powers and by just getting blessings of the saint, life of many a devotees changed.

Chetan Maharaj urged the saints to follow the path of Tahth Vale Baba and devotees to adhere to the pious living style of the saint.

He also pointed out that by remembering the saint with true devotion, the Ganga also fulfils one’s wishes as Tahth Vale Baba had practised meditation for quite a long time.

Mahamandaleshwar Swami Shyam Sundar Das said a large number of devotees were getting spiritual bliss through Tahth Vale Baba as he had the spiritual power.

Mata Laxmi Golani added that Baba always sacrificed for others and lived a simple life despite having a large number of followers.

The Vedanta convention concluded in two sessions in which among others Swami Vijyanand , Swami Jagdeesh, Santosh and members of Guru Charanuragi Samiti Sanjay Batra, Rachna Mishra, Bhagat Maharaj addressed the gathering.

Protect rivers, sadhus request Governor
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 6
A delegation of sadhus led by Swami Mukteshwaranand, chief coordinator of the Ganga Sewa Abhiyan met Governor Aziz Qureshi at Raj Bhavan today and submitted a memorandum drawing the attention to the need for protecting the Ganga, the Bhagirathi, the Alaknanda and the Mandakini.

The swami expressed concern at the damage being caused to the purity and free flow of the holy river. He said dams and mining were causing pollution and degrading the quality of “Gangajal”. He requested the Governor to direct the government to take measures to protect the Ganga in its natural form for posterity.

The Governor said the Ganga was a life-giving river and all efforts would be made with the cooperation of the saints and the public to preserve its purity.

Woman hurt in black bear attack; boars damage crops
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, December 6
A woman has been injured in an attack by a Himalayan black bear near the Garur market of Bageshwar district while incidents of attack by wild boars on crops and human settlements have been reported from Champawat district.

“Prema Devi (28) was badly injured when a wild bear attacked her while she was working in her fields near the Garur market in Bageshwar district on Wednesday afternoon,” said Janardan Lohumi, a BDC member of the Garur block.

Lohumi said four schools were situated near the place where the bear attacked the woman. “Had the bear sneaked into any school, it would have proved disastrous for children of four schools situated nearby. Moreover, due to the winter students were sitting in the sun at the time the bear attacked the woman,” he added. “Forest Department officials caught the bear as it was trapped in a shop by a shopkeeper in the Garur market,” said Lohumi.

In Champawat district, wild boars have not only damaged crops in villages in the areas adjoining to forests but also killed a man and injured eight others in the last two years. “The number of wild boars has increased to more than 3,000 in the last few years. The wild boars in herds are damaging precious commercial and off season crops of the villagers mostly during night,” said AK Upadhyaya, District Forest Officer (DFO), Champawat.

Upadhyaya said of the seven forest ranges in the region, Champawat, Lohaghat, Bhingrara, Devidhura and Kali Kumaon were badly affected due to wild boar attacks. The boars had virtually forced the villagers to flee their homes or abandon agriculture. “While Guman Singh was killed by a boar at Mau village in the Kali Kumaon range on January 13 this year, incidents of wild boar attacks had been reported from Barakot, Pamda, Seel, Chamrauli Mudiyani, Ban Lekh, Dhaun, Sukhidhank and Mudiyani villages,” said the DFO. 

SSP orders removal of barricades
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 6
SSP Kewal Khurana has ordered removal of barricades wherever these were causing inconvenience to residents living around the Vidhan Sabha, where the winter session is going on. Due to barricades and diversion of traffic, the residents of localities such as Dharampur, Shastri Nagar, Ajabpur Kalan and Nehru Kalan faced massive problems throughout the day. Those who were to commute towards ISBT, Haridwar Road, Rispana Pull and EC Road remained stuck in traffic jams.

Schoolgoing children remained stranded during morning and afternoon hours. Similarly, others, including the elderly persons, had to pass under the barricades to cross the roads. After evaluating the problems, Kewal Khurana today gave the order for relaxing traffic norms.

Power regulatory panel member takes oath of office
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 6
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain administered the oath of office and secrecy to newly appointed member of the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission KP Singh at the Secretariat here today.

Earlier, KP Singh was in the Central Electricity Regulatory Authority and the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission. The Chief Secretary hoped that his experience would be of great benefit for Uttarakhand. He laid emphasis on organising awareness campaign to make power consumer more aware.

CS Sharma had already taken over as member of the commission. It may be noted that besides, the Chairman, there are two members in the ERC. Jagmohan Lal is already posted in the capacity of Commission Chairman. The tenure of the Chairman and members are for three years.

Manpower shortage at medical college
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 6
The problem of manpower shortage at Veer Chander Singh Garhwali Medical College is expected to be addressed once the Medical Education Service Rules and Regulations are finalised.

So far the government has appointed the faculty in the college on a contractual basis. But this practice has discouraged doctors who are looking for permanent government jobs.

At the last Cabinet meeting the government had approved the administration set up of the Medical Education Directorate. These included one post of Director, two each of Additional Directors and Joint Directors. The Finance Department is yet to approve the appointment of four Deputy Directors.