Tenders for designing murals inflated 4 times the original cost
Norms flouted to benefit contractor: Council EO
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, January 8
The present Municipal Council Executive Officer, Prahlad Singh Rawat, after investigations has found that the tenders awarded for the construction of six murals under the pretext of beautifying the town were inflated to exorbitant amounts, thereby flouting all norms in order to benefit the contractor assigned with the job.

The previous Executive Officer, Rohitash Sharma, conniving with a few ward members, had allegedly entered into an agreement with a contractor for six murals' construction on Mall Road amounting to Rs 6 lakh.

The present Executive Officer, Prahlad Singh Rawat, on receiving the complaint of financial embezzlement being purported in the tender award agreement, investigated the whole matter and found that no guidelines had been followed in awarding the contract. The price of the tender was exorbitant.

Prahlad Singh Rawat said that the investigation also revealed that the agreement was done without any basis and without looking into any technical feasibility aspect. When he compared the prices with the other departments, it was found that the tenders for the murals construction in Mussoorie had been inflated four times the original cost. "The actual cost of the work is around Rs 12 lakh but the previous officials in the council had entered into agreement at the cost of Rs 6 lakh with the contractor," said PS Rawat.

One of the Municipal Council members, Virendar Rawat, alleged that some members had inflated the prices of the murals to be constructed and were planning to share the booty along with the contractor.

He demanded that the department should conduct an inquiry into the matter of murals' construction along with that of tender awards of the computerised barriers on Mall Road so that the corruption in the council came to the fore and the perpetrators could be punished accordingly.

When questioned about his consent in the proposal passed in August, Virendar Rawat said that they were informed that the murals would not cost more than 15 lakh but agreed on the amount of Rs 46 lakh, flouting all guidelines, leading to rampant corruption. Rawat further added that some ward members had not even spared the holy shrine and were planning to usurp money from the construction of these murals in connivance with the contractor.

Executive Officer Prahlad Singh Rawat said that he was studying the file in great detail and had proposed to give only the actual amount, which came to Rs 12 lakh, to the contractor for the job done, thus saving much needed revenue of the council.

Horticulture can enhance farmers' income: Guv
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 8
Governor Aziz Qureshi today stressed the need to enhance the income of the farmers of the state. At a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor of the Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry, Dr Matthew Prasad, the Governor said horticulture was the most potential sector for the augmentation of farmers’ income in the state.

In this connection, he discussed about the measures being taken by the university for developing trained man-power for the development of horticulture in the state. The VC informed him regarding various programmes being taken up by the university for this purpose. Dr Prasad said the university was preparing students to become professionals in various disciplines of horticulture and forestry through several undergraduate and post-graduate courses.

The VC also said the university was imparting hands-on training to local farmers, equipping them with various skills of horticultural production, particularly for the hilly terrain. He said such short-term training was imparted at the university research farm as well as on the farmers’ fields. Special emphasis was given on training local farm women. The objective of such trainings was to enable farmers to adopt modern hi-tech horticulture production techniques as by implementing these techniques, the quality and productivity of horticulture produce would improve significantly, said the VC.

The Governor told Dr Prasad that a special drive to train local farmers in scientific cultivation of horticultural crops should be launched on a priority basis, as capacity building of local farmers, especially women, was the need of the hour.

In this context, Dr Prasad said the university had already taken up cultivation of high-yielding varieties of vegetable crops in the farmers’ field on an experimental basis. The objective of the experimental ‘Operation Veg’ programme of the university is to promote high-yielding varieties of vegetable crops in the region. He further said under this programme, the progressive farmers had been given seeds of high-yielding varieties free of cost.

The farmers are also being given training to grow such high-yielding varieties by applying a scientific package of practises developed by the university. 

Controversy erupts over issue of domicile status
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 8
An uncalled for controversy has risen on the subject of who should be given the original domicile certificate. Bad blood has been created between residents of hills and plains of the state as neither the Indian Constitution nor courts have given any verdict on the subject, said retired IAS officer SS Pangti in a statement issued here today.

Pangti, who was in the town in connection with the anti-corruption campaign, said in the statement that even on the subject of the cut-off year, which has been defined under the presidential order of 1950 for determination of SCs and STs, no date or year has been given to determine their status.

Pangti said that in its judgment, the Nainital High Court has also held that as the concept of original domicile has not been defined under any law, it is beyond imagination to hold a person not to be a resident of the state who was born from parents residing in that state before and after the creation of the individual state. “Article 5 of the Indian Constitution is being misinterpreted by some people. There is no mention of the original domicile in this provision of the Indian Constitution,” said Pangti.

The statement said that the agitators were wrongly drawing inference from the Hindi word, 'Rajyakshetra' defined in the Constitution, as this word means territory of state of India, rather than territory of any state in this context. “The article provides for citizenship and term related to nation, not to a province, thereof,” said Pangti in the statement.

Pangti said as the notification regarding SCs was issued for the state of UP in the year 1950, and for the status of STs in the year 1967, the state of Uttarakhand will have to follow those notifications for determining the status of SCs and STs, as the state originated from the state of UP through a reorganisation Bill passed by the Indian Parliament. "It is only on the status of castes or tribes that the presidential notification applies for residents on the day of the cut-off year. On the domicile issue of other castes, it does not apply,” said Pangti.

Pangti said that as the big number of hill people live in towns of other states, such controversy can create retaliatory reaction from the local residents of these regions or states. “As the migrated Uttarakhandis are living a good life in other regions of the country, such controversies would vitiate the atmosphere,” said Pangti.

Panwar mobilises UKD workers for January 10 statewide bandh
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 8
Rejuvenated by the Election Commission’s decision of granting status to the original Uttarakhand Kranti Dal to the Trivendra Singh Panwar’s faction, the party is now focusing on the statewide closure of all government and commercial establishments on January 10.

The statewide closure has been called on four points that comprise restoring of the cut off date for the domicile certificates for original inhabitants of the state to August 10,1950, not allowing promotion in reservation, giving 12 LPG cylinders to the residents of the hill state and waving off the newly levied taxes on commercial vehicles in the state.

To make sure the bandh is a success, UKD chief Trivendra Singh Panwar was in Haridwar district today to mobilise the party activists and holding meetings.

Later talking to The Tribune, Panwar lashed out at the Congress-led state government for being insensitive to the issues pertaining to the people of the state.

He said that original residents of the state residing here for decades felt cheated as the state government had extended the issuing of domicile certificates to November 2000 when the separate state of Uttaranchal came into existence.

“The interests of the inhabitants of the hill state are not being taken care of. People who come here for job purposes are being given domicile certificates which is directly affecting the benefits of the people,” said Panwar, who had contested the recently held Tehri Lok Sabha byelection.

On the issue of reservation in promotion, the UKD chief said this should be done in accordance with the directives of the apex court. He said the Congress government was doing this for electoral benefit only.

Reacting to media speculation over the rift between Uttarakhand Kranti Dal legislator Preetam Singh Panwar, who is the state Urban Development Cabinet Minister, the UKD chief said this time, the party was focusing on the closure on January 10.

The UKD chief also made it clear that he was open to other regional outfits trying to be a part of them but said no alliance would be made. Only those who are willing to merge their outfits with sincerity, honesty, dedication and loyalty towards the UKD are welcome.

AP Juyal, Kiran Mehta, Birendra Rana, Bal Singh Saini and Sarita Purohit were present at the meeting.

Party workers campaign for support in Mussoorie
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, January 8
Workers of the UKD (Panwar) today organised a protest in Mussoorie on the issue of permanent residency of the state. It also held a door to door campaign in support of the bandh call given by the party for January 10.

The party workers led by president of the UKD (Panwar) Garhwal Mandal Pramila Rawat met people and appealed to them to support the bandh by keeping their businesses close on January 10.

She said when the Supreme Court was clear on the permanent residency issue and had earmarked 1950 as the date for determining permanent residents of any state, the Uttarakhand government was playing with fire by announcing 2000 as the cut-off date for the purpose.

Pramila said the bandh call had been given on the issues of permanent residency, reservation in promotion for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and against the anti-people decisions of the Congress-led government in Uttarakhand.

Pramila, speaking on the issue of spilt of the UKD (Panwar), said the allegation made by former UKD leaders that Trivendar Panwar had an autocratic style of working was baseless. She added leaders like Diwakar Bhatt were responsible for the split in the UKD and now the same set of leaders was crying for unification. She said all efforts to weaken the party would be thwarted. 

Janmanch Party backs UKD bandh
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 8
The Janmanch Party led by Rajan Todriya today extended support to the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) in observing a state bandh on Friday.

Todriya said the state government had totally failed in resolving the crisis related to permanent residence and caste certificate precipitated by the dubious stand of the government over them. He said his party would participate in the protests along with UKD to be held on Friday to fetch attention on these issues.

UKD president Trivender Panwar demanded 12 LPG cylinders for the people of the state, saying hill people could not waste wood fuel to keep their kitchen running. He said his party was getting support from a number of political parties and social organisations in holding the state bandh.

Panwar refused to speak on the conflicting statements coming from party MLA and state Minister Preetam Singh Panwar and the possible split in the party, saying that he wanted to focus all his energy on the state bandh at present, and would decide on these intra-party squabbles after that. 

Leaders boycott URM dharna

Dehradun, January 8
The dharna held by president of the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha (URM) TPS Rawat on the issue of permanent residence before the Vidhan Sabha today was boycotted by many senior leaders of the party. Rawat favoured the cut-off date of year 1950 and said those who were living in the state around that time should be considered permanent citizens of the state. He opposed the High Court decision on this issue, which was favoured by the state government where people living before November 9, year 2000, would be considered the permanent citizens of the state.

Senior rung comprising spokesperson PC Thapliyal, SS Pangti and a few others steered clear of attending the dharna.

Admn plans ‘Clean Doon, Clean Campus’ drive
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 8
The district administration has chalked out plans to keep the entire city clear of polythene and litter by Republic Day.

The drive has been named as 'Clean Doon, Clean Campus' since the campuses of schools, institutes and complex premises are also being given special attention under the drive. District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam said that restrictions would be imposed on usage of polythene bags, below 40 microns, after January 20, and the offenders, including traders and customers, would be issued challans. He issued directions to remove posters and pamphlets pasted on government buildings within one week.

Under the 'Clean Doon, Clean Campus' drive, Purushottam has divided the city into four zones, where the task in regard to the drive under east zone has been allocated to the Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Finance and Revenue, Jharna Kamthan, west zone to ADM, Administration, Archana Gaharwar, north zone, to City Magistrate Harak Singh Rawat and south zone to Additional Magistrate Ranjana Verma. Polythene eradication expert Vipin Kumar has been designated as the nodal officer.

Purushottam has directed Secretary, Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority, to provide him with maps of the areas falling under these zones. Similarly, the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) has been instructed to give data with regard to locations of the campuses of schools, institutes and hostels under these zones, whereby the dirty campuses would be selected and cleaned under the drive. The DM said separate sites would be selected in each zone where polythene would be collected after the drive got over. From these spots, the polythene heaps would further be transported by DMC trucks at Parade Ground, after which polythene bulk would be sent for recycling.

He directed all the officials to take along various sections of society on this drive to make it successful. He asked the City Magistrate to convene a separate meeting with the traders and inform them of the restrictions on the use of polythene after January 20. He said those who did not remove posters and pamphlets from government buildings would be sufficiently penalised. He also instructed officials to publish public message in newspapers to keep their surroundings clean. 

CM to lay foundation of House building at Gairsain on Jan 14
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 8
Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Vijay Bahuguna will lay the foundation stone of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly building (Vidhan Bhawan) on January 14 at Gairsain in Chamoli district.

Announcing this today, the Speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly, Govind Singh Kunjwal, said: “Earlier the UPA chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, was to inaugurate the building but her programme has been cancelled due to inclement weather. Now Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna will be inaugurating the building,” said Kunjwal.

He said that the National Building Construction Company Limited (NBBCCL) would undertake construction of the building.

Speaker Kunjwal said that the Chief Minister will lay the foundation stone of the Secretariat for Vidhan Sabha, transit hostel for legislators and officers and houses for employees at Saliyani Bend in Gairsain. Later, a public meeting would be held at Rajkiya Inter College. 

Students suffer due to power cuts; parents threaten stir
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 8
The parents of the students, who are preparing for the board examinations in Champawat district, have threatened to launch an agitation against the government for its failure to supply regular electricity supply. According to them, due to more than seven-hour power cut every day these days, the students preparing for the Uttarakhand high school and intermediate board examinations, which are due in March, are not able to study properly.

“Besides the seven-hour power, one-hour rostering is also being done daily, mainly during study time of the students,” said Dinesh Bagauli, spokesperson for the Parents Association from Lohaghat subdivision of the district.

The parents said even officials of the Electricity Department were not being informed in advance about hours of power cut and the control room was enforcing electricity cuts on its own without considering the interests of the consumers.

“While local businessmen have suffered great losses due to continuous power cuts during the last two months, now the students preparing for the board examinations are at the receiving end. They will have to suffer lifelong if the government does not take cognisance of these unscheduled power cuts,” said Himesh Kalkhuria, a BJP leader in Champawat district.

A delegation of Munsiyari residents today met the District Magistrate, Pithoragarh, and demanded regular supply of electricity as this remote border subdivision was witnessing more than nine-hour power cuts daily. “Not only the local traders and students are suffering due to power cuts, but also local offices are finding hard to function in the absence regular electricity supply,” said Rudra Singh Panda, leader of the delegation and a BJP leader in the area. 

Strengthen telecom system: Jain
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 8
Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain has laid emphasis on maximum utilisation of science and technology for the development of the state. He was speaking at a meeting of the 7th governing body of the Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC) at the Secretariat here today.

He directed the officials concerned to modernise the land records based on the global information systems and also to strengthen the telecommunication system to meet natural disasters affectively. He said space science could also be used to check forest fires.

Director, USAC, Dr MM Kimothi, said the centre was developing digital data base, school mapping, wet land, snow and glacier information system and Nanda Raj Jat portals.

He said works were being undertaken in the field of land record programme, space-based information system for planning, search of water resources, underwater quality mapping, snow and glacier study, climate change study, integrated water harvesting and monitoring, forest and environment study, agriculture, medicinal plants study and disaster risk monitoring.

Kimothi said the USAC was linked to the National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, Space Application Centre, Ahmadabad, ISRO, Bangalore, Forest Survey of India, Wadia Institute, Dehradun, and many other renowned institutes.

Cops on toes to check smuggling
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 8
Due to the low flow of the Kali on the Indo-Nepal border these months in Champawat district, SSB and special operation groups of the police have become alert to avert any attempt of smuggling from across the border.

According to police sources, the present flow of the river, which forms the Indo-Nepal border in the districts of Pithoragarh and Champawat, has reduced to 4000 cusecs at present which is to decline further as the unprecedented cold conditions in the region are freezing water sources of the river.

“Smugglers of charas and wildlife organs become more active these days as the water level of the river goes down,” said GS Martolia, DIG of the Pithoragarh range.

According to the DIG, the police in connivance with SSB are patrolling on the illegal routes to Nepal on the border with the district of Pithoragarh and Nepal as the smugglers become active on these routes during this time of the year.

“As the Kumbh mela will be held at Allahabad this year, the demand of charas has increased. Thus the smugglers on the Nepal border have became active to fulfil the demand,” said the DIG.

The police said a special operation would be conducted till April as after that, the river evel starts increasing due to melting of snow. “After April, we will have to focus on suspension bridges on the river as the smugglers take this route due to increased waters in the river,” said the DIG.

42 kg charas seized
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 8
The police today seized 42 kg of charas near Almora town and arrested three persons, including a Nepalese, Pithoragarh DGP GS Martolia said here today. “Our police team from Dharanaula followed a car, which was on its way from Almora to Haldwani. The car was overtaken near Dharanaula Thana and The police recovered 42 kg of charas, which was probably being brought from Nepal,” he said.

“Two of the arrested persons are from UP. The culprits were carrying the haul to Haldwani from where it was to be given to other persons,” he said.