Samadhan yojna to be effective from R-Day
Tribune News service

Dehradun, January 24
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna will dedicate samadhan yojna to the people on January 26. People can register their complaints online through this project. Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain reviewed the meeting on samadhan yojna at the Secretariat here today.

He also stressed on providing facility of registering grievances through mobile phones. He maintained that the facility would not only ensure transparency in government works but public problems would also be resolved at the earliest. Jain directed the officers to facilitate registration of complaints through call centres and the service be extended to BDOs, tehsildars and departmental officers.

It was apprised in the meeting that grievances relating to services provided by the state government, unnecessary delay, irregularities in the public authority offices, breach of law and government orders, irregularities in development projects or non-execution of development projects would fall under the definition of complaint. Matters pertaining to services under government service regulations would not come under this definition.

New proposals, demand to implement development projects in specific areas and matters out-of-government purview would not fall in the category of complaints. The complaints could be registered on the website samadhan.uk.gov.in.’

Complainants could keep their identity secret. The complaint could be registered at three levels, Principal Secretary/Secretary, Director/ Departmental Head/ Commissioner and District Magistrate. All of them would be provided with user Ids and login passwords through which they could access the grievances registered in their levels and take appropriate measures to resolve them. The grievances had to be resolved in stipulated time frame.

At the DM level, the complaints had to be resolved within 30 days. In case it is not done then complaints would be automatically transferred to the commissioner level. The commissioners have to address the problema in 15 days, and if not done, the complaint would be transferred to the Principal Secretary. He has to resolve the complaint in 45 days. In case it is not resolved, then the matter would be automatically transferred to the Chief Secretary. If the complaint is still not related to the level where it is registered, then it would be transferred to the respective level within 5 days of the registration of complaint.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretaries S Raju, Ranvir Singh, Secretaries Umakant Panwar, Vinod Fonia, SS Rawat, RC Pathak, AK Dhaundiyal and other senior officers.

Gurukul varsity felicitates Harish Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 24
Gurukul Kangri University today felicitated Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat for his contribution to society as a political activist, parliamentarian and a Union Minister serving in various portfolios.

The Registrar, Prof AK Chopra, honouring the minister cited his political life spanning four decades in which Harish Rawat became a parliamentarian four times and also suffered the same number of losses before becoming Union Cabinet Minister.

Chopra said the Union Minister should also look into making Haridwar an educational hub, particularly in restoring the past status of the university. In his address, Rawat lauded the dual role being essayed by the university, which is providing technical education along with Vedic values.

“Gurukul is a landmark educational institute, holding the mantle of traditional Indian education pattern. The need of the hour is to mingle traditional education with modern if we have to become a world power,” said Rawat.

Bringing to the notice of the Union Minister the affiliation controversy surrounding the university, Dr Pradeep Kumar Joshi of the information department said equating the university with money-oriented new institutes was a blot on Gurukul’s legacy.

Joshi said Gurukul had now been put in the grade C by the University Grants Commission, while Kashi Banarash Vidyapeeth, which was based on the Gurukul model, was a central university.

“Gurukul has what it takes to be a central university, though we do not rely on lobbying or funding. The main aim of our university is to impart moral-based modern education to students,” said Joshi.

University officials also handed over a memorandum of demands to the Union minister, in which making it a central university was a prominent one. Students’ union office-bearers of the university Mayank Pokhriyal and Bhoopendra Kumar also gave a memorandum to the minister in this regard.

Forest Dept comes in way of road construction
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 24
More than 3,000 villagers of the Danda Kaknai area of Champawat district are still travelling 28 km on foot to reach the nearest market at Sukhidhank. The construction of the road to their village has been stopped after 8 km due to a forest patch coming in between the road construction.

“Besides the problem of access to the nearest market din the absence of a road link to these villages, the villagers have been facing problems of drinking water, health and primary education,” said Bishen Singh, a villager from the Danda area.

“To reach the subdivisional headquarters at Tanakpur, they have to travel 165 km by road after trekking 8 km on foot from their village via Lohaghat as the nearest road is 28 km on foot from their village. If this road is constructed, we will be able to reach the the Tehsil headquarter by walking 28 km,” said Bishen Singh.

The villagers have been agitating for years for the construction of this road, but despite assurances given by politicians and administrative officials, the forest clearance have not been given beyond 7 km on this 35 km road. “Even former Chief Minister BS Kosiyari, who had visited the area in the last elections, had promised speedy forest clearance, but nothing has happened till date,” said the villager.

According to the villagers, the villages of Danda, Kaikanai, Durga Pipal, Mathiabanz, Buram and Kathoti are the worst sufferers due to non-availability of road to the area. “The villagers have commercial surplus of various crops, spices and fruits, but the surplus crop can enhance their economic status only if a road is constructed,” said Bishen Singh.

Champawat administration officials said they were trying their best to get the road beyond Dhura constructed up to the last village of the area. “Last month I met the PWD secretary in Dehradun in this connection and talked to him. He said the process of the forest clearance on this road is being given priority,” said Jaswant Singh Rathor, SDM of Tanakpur, sub-division, Champawat district.

Champawat District Magistrate Sridhar Babu Addhakhi has decided to camp for a few days in the Danda Minar area in February.

Special grant for Sanskrit institutes demanded
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 24
Former Vice-Chairman of Sanskrit Academy, New Delhi, Krishan Chand Semwal, today laid stress on popularising Sanskrit on a large scale.

He was speaking at the opening session of the All-India Convention on Sanskrit held at the Uttarakhand Sanskrit Academy here today.

Semwal cited the need of making Sanskrit popular among the younger generation. He said Sanskrit was the mother of all languages, which conserved the rich heritage and culture of the country.

He cited the contribution of educational institutes in the state to the Sanskrit language. Rawat said Sanskrit was the second official language of Uttarakhand and there were many educational institutes in the state where scholars from around the country were seeking education in Sanskrit.

The newly crowned Vice-Chancellor of Uttarakhand Sanskrit University, Prof Mahaveer Aggarwal, emphasised that more of such Sanskrit-based conventions, seminars and other events should be held.

Former Chairman of the Municipal Corporation Satpal Brahamchari called on the Centre and the UGC to give special grant and impetus to the Sanskrit-based educational institutes. A large number of Sanskrit academicians, poets and scholars from around the country are taking part in the convention.

Mahant Rishiwaranand Maharaj also graced the occasion. 

Say no to open defecation, get incentive of Rs 9,600
Neena Sharma/ TNS

Dehradun, January 24
Now persons belonging to the Economically Weaker Sections in Uttarakhand have reason to bid goodbye to the habit of open defecation as after the merger of the Swajal's Total Sanitation Programme and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme/Act (MGNREGS), an incentive of Rs 9,600 will be given to those who have opted for latrines.

Since the Central Government allowed merger of MGNREGA with different departments, there have efforts to forge a partnership where the labour and material component is being taken care under MGNREGA, enhancing the financial kitty.

Under Swajal, the encouragement amount of Rs 5,100 is already being given to BPL cardholders who opt for latrines. But since the merger of Swajal and MGNREGS, the scheme is expected to reach a larger section of people with an enhanced financial reward.

“Now, the farmers possessing less than one hectare of land, widows, handicapped and members belonging to the SC and ST communities too will be in line for receiving the incentive after opting for the latrine facility. Under MGNREGS, the incentive amount of Rs 45,000 as an encouragement will also be paid," said Vinod Fonia, Secretary, Department of Rural Development.

The scheme will be beneficial in the hills as most of the farmers in the state are marginal and can be encouraged to quit open defecation. However, the scheme that was launched seven months back is not being promoted vigorously by pradhans and as such since its launch, there is not much awareness among the villagers.

"The incentive will directly be transferred to the account of the beneficiaries and all work would be on rolls, thereby increasing accountability. After merger with MGNREGS, the labour and the material component ratio would have to be adhered. This will encourage greater accountability and reduce the role of the pradhan to the bare minimum," said Fonia.

Experts say the scheme in its latest avatar has become attractive and much of the cost that has gone towards construction of the toilets could be recovered through the financial reward.

Pithoragarh residents threaten to stall water supply to officers’ homes
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 24
Volunteers of the Pithoragarh Jan Manch, an organisation of local people, have threatened to stall water supply to the houses of officers of the district administration tomorrow if normal water supply to all localities is not ensured by that time.

“The administration officers in the district are getting 24-hour water supply while the people are getting only one third of their drinking water quota,” said Bhagwan Singh Rawat, convener of the Pithoragarh Jan Manch.

Rawat said during a visit to local colonies he realized there was an acute shortage of water in some colonies which were getting water supply for one hour on every third day. “Bajeti, New Bajeti and PWD Colony are getting water supply on every third day while colonies like Bhadelbara, Sarswati Vihar and GIC are getting insufficient drinking water for the last one year,” said Rawat.

“We have decided to stall water supply to the officers’ houses till they come forward to resolve the drinking water problem of the people,” he said.

According to information given by the Pithoragarh Jal Sansthan, the town having 20,000 families needs more than 13 million litres of water daily while it is getting only 5 million litres from all three schemes. “In the absence of new schemes for the town the department can only pluck leakages to save the maximum amount of water being supplied through these schemes,” said VK Mishra, Executive Engineer, Pithoragarh Jal Sansthan.

The manch leaders said if the water shortage continued the town would face a severe drinking water crisis in the summer this year. To prevent the impending crisis from happening, the people had started alerting the administration.

Local Congress MLA Mayukh Mahar said he was trying to resolve the water problem in the town and had approved three mini tube wells which would start operating in the coming months. “Besides the tube wells, we have purchased two new water tankers to supply water in the town,” said Mahar. 

Make voting mandatory: Jain
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 24
Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi today called on people to exercise their right to vote in order to elect a healthy, impartial and progressive government .

The Governor was speaking as the chief guest at a function held at Raj Bhavan on National Voters' Day.

He spoke about the several decisions taken regarding voting rights to Indians during the British rule (just a miniscule percentage of Indians had the right to vote).

The Governor said only when India became a republic in 1950, all people of 21 years and above were given the right to vote.

He said the credit of reducing the minimum voting age from 21 to 18 went to the late Rajiv Gandhi. The Governor appreciated the efforts of the chief election officer and her efficient team as they had ensured peaceful and fair polling in the state.

The Governor read out the oath of the Election Commission and all present repeated it after him.

Thirtysix booth-level officers were honoured with certificates by the Governor for excellent work. Ten young voters were given Voter I-cards by the Governor in a symbolic gesture. The Governor also released an election diary.

Uttarakhand Chief Election Officer Radha Raturi said it had been decided in 2011 that January 25 would be observed every year as National Voters Day as it was on this day that the Election Commission was constituted in 1950.

She said Uttarakhand had 65,60,000 voters and 99 per cent of the voters had been given I-cards and the remaining would get them by the end of the year. She said 87,900 voters had registered as first-time voters.

Chief Secretary Alok Jain was the special guest on the occasion. He appealed to all to participate in the electoral process. He said it was important to make voting mandatory. District Magistrate BBR Purushottam delivered the vote of thanks.

Centre allows quarrying in Gaula river
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 24
The effortsof Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna have borne fruit as the Centre gave the permission for quarrying in the Gaula river in the state. He had been advocating strongly to the Centre for it.

Bahuguna said quarrying would start very soon. This would also provide employment to local people and problems faced in construction work due to the shortage of construction materials would also be resolved.

Bahuguna expressed gratitude towards the Forest and Environment Ministry for understanding the problem of Uttarakhand and giving permission for quarrying.

He said the state was committed to adopting scientific quarrying of its natural resources. He said balance between development and environment would be maintained. Bahuguna said the officers concerned had been directed to ensure that no irregularities took place in mining. He said the permission had been granted for 10 years.