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Panchayats in Uttarakhand reel under corruption
Online registration of food licences begins
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Environmental Performance
DMs told to make log book of their visitors
Science Express showcasing biodiversity reaches Haridwar
CM unveils LED streetlight project in Mussoorie
MLA Dhami gets relief from High Court
Anti-Human Trafficking Cells lack infrastructure
Monthly camps fail to solve people’s problems
Ex-servicemen meet Qureshi
Agitating villagers launch fast
Alumni Association of Dolphin Institute declared registered
Civil defence training camp begins
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Panchayats in Uttarakhand reel under corruption
Dehradun, May 8 In Dehradun district alone, 17 cases of corruption have been registered against gram pradhans in the last couple of years. However, after temporary suspension, most of the gram pradhans have either got relief from courts or have been absolved of charges in the department reports. Of the 17 cases registered in different development blocks of Dehradun pertaining to misappropriation of funds, action has been taken under Section 95 (1) (g) of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1947. But in most of the cases, except for tempory suspension after issuing of show-cause notices under Section 95(1) (g), most of the gram pradhans were reinstated. “Strong anti-corruption measures are required even at the grassroots level, otherwise, these institutions will wilt under corruption. It is surprising why an official inquiry does not stand the scrutiny of courts as most of the gram pradhans have gone scotfree after the preliminary inquiry,” said Avdhesh Kaushal, Chairman of the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra. The maximum number of complaints has been registered against gram pradhans of villages falling under Chakrata and Kalsi development blocks. Around seven show-cause notices have been issued to gram pradhans on the basis of complaints lodged by villagers and the final report is awaited. A complaint was lodged against the gram pradhan of the Deriyon gram panchayat (Chakrata) for the diversion of funds under the SCP programme and the registration of 35 families under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employees Guarantee Scheme by making false entries in the family register when they were part of an undivided family. He was issued a show-cause notice and removed from the post. But the final inquiry report by the officials concerned absolved the gram pradhan of the charges and he was reinstated after a warning. In most of the cases, though the complaints were lodged by villagers against gram pradhans, a few of them went to court to seek relief. The gram pradhan of Buraswa village in the Chakrata development block was reinstated after the court orders. In the Raipur block, the District Panchayati Raj Officer, during a surprise inspection, detected irregularities in the construction of the CC path and issuance of bogus birth and death certificates allegedly by the gram pradhan of Raipur. The case is pending in the High Court.
17 cases registered in two years In Dehradun district alone, 17 cases of corruption have However, after temporary suspension, most of the gram pradhans have either got relief from courts or have been absolved of charges in the department reports The maximum number of complaints has been registered against gram pradhans of villages falling under Chakrata and Kalsi development blocks. |
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Online registration of food licences begins
Dehradun, May 8 He was speaking today at the launch of the online registration of food licences at the Chief Medical Officer's office here. The minister said the department had immense responsibilities and with a staff strength of just 25, its duties could not be discharged properly. He said after
Dehradun, the online registration of food licences would be started in the other districts of the state. Additional Secretary and Joint Food Commissioner Piyush Singh said through the online facilities, the food companies would be able to apply for
licences, pay the license fee and also receive alerts through SMS on their mobile phones about the status of their applications. As of now, a total of 22,000 food companies are registered in the state and the number is expected to increase when the online facility is extended in the other districts. |
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Environmental Performance
Dehradun, May 8 Uttarakhand has got the final environmental performance score of 0.6142 for 2012, thus getting the sixteenth rank among 35 states and union territories of the country. The Union Planning Commission’s concept, Environmental Performance Index (EPI), is meant to give an incentive through budgetary allocation to the states and union territories resorting to good practices towards environmental well-being that prominently includes factors like reducing air pollution, conserving forest, maintaining water quality and climate change. Uttarakhand, by the end of 2011, had topped the EPI list in the country. It had then attained a cumulative score of 0.8123, followed by Himachal Pradesh 0.7316, Chandigarh 0.7270, Sikkim 0.7149, and Andhra Pradesh 0.7147. Uttarakhand was then lauded for its efforts to preserve forests as well as increasing the forest cover. But by the end of 2012, the score of Uttarakhand has dipped to 0.6142 EPI, thus sliding down to the sixteenth position in the ranking. Andhra Pradesh now tops the list with 0.7898 and Sikkim has got the second place with 0.7478 EPI. The neighbouring Himachal Pradesh has maintained its ranking and has only got down from its earlier second rank to the third rank now. It has 0.7414 EPI. Madhya Pradesh stands fourth with 0.7334, Maharashtra fifth with 0.7167, Odisha sixth with 0.7118, Gujarat seventh with 0.6944, Karnataka eighth with 0.6851, Tamil Nadu ninth with 0.6616, Meghalaya tenth with 0.6524 and Chhattisgarh has the eleventh rank with 0.6478 EPI. Chandigarh that was third in the last EPI ranking has now got the thirteenth position with 0.6433 EPI. Assam is at the fourteenth position with 0.6426, Kerala fifteenth with 0.6311 and Uttarakhand is sixteenth with 0.6142 EPI. Delhi has the 32nd rank with 0.4246 and Lakshadweep stands last with 35th rank and has an EPI score 0.2925. With 65 per cent of its geographical area under forests, Uttarakhand has has been for long demanding Green Bonus from the Centre in lieu of its environment conservation efforts. The state has maintained that while its forests provide oxygen and water resources to the country, it does not get any direct benefit by such a contribution made by it towards environment conservation. On the contrary, the Forest Conservation Act hampers the developmental works in the state. |
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DMs told to make log book of their visitors
Dehradun, May 8 He held a video-conference with the commissioners of Garhwal and Kumaon and district magistrates of the state here today. He said the details of staff leaving for the headquarters on Fridays must also be recorded. He told the DMs that they must see to it that officials came to office in time and stayed in office throughout their duty hours. The CS reviewed the work being done in the divisions and districts. He said at least four days in a month, the DMs should tour remote areas. The people and tehsil-level officials should know when the DM was arriving. He said the touring DMs should review the working of schools, hospitals and offices on their way. He told Commissioner of Garhwal Suvardhan to ensure that arrangements were in place for the Char Dham and Nanda Raj Jat yatras. The Chief Secretary also sought details of development works in the districts of Kumaon from Kumaon Division Commissioner
R.K.Sudhanshu. |
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Science Express showcasing biodiversity reaches Haridwar
Dehradun, May 8 The train was formally welcomed by Dr Rakesh Shah, Chairman, State Biodiversity Board, Uttarakhand. Dr Shah appreciated this innovative awareness tool that is helping people to understand India’s rich biodiversity. He said every species on this earth was unique and had great value for the ecosystem as well as the human beings, hence all must care about biodiversity. The Science Express is a mobile exhibition mounted on a specially designed 16-coach AC train, travelling across India since October 2007. After the successful tour across India in four phases, this iconic train is running since 2012 as 'Science Express - Biodiversity Special (SEBS)' - a unique collaborative initiative of the Department of Science and Technology and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The SEBS-2013 edition was flagged off from Delhi Safdarjung on April 9 to cover more locations in order to benefit a wider audience. During its journey till October 28, it will travel to 62 locations across India. The state-of-the-art exhibition aboard the SEBS aims at creating an awareness on the biodiversity of India, climate change and similar issues among various sections of society, especially students. Of the 16 coaches of the SEBS, eight supported by the MoEF are dedicated to showcasing the myriad biodiversity spread across the bio-geographical zones of India. These include the trans-Himalaya and the Himalayas, the Gangetic Plain, North-East India, the desert and semi-arid zone, the Western Ghats, the Deccan Peninsula, coasts and islands. The exhibition also covers other facets like marine, coastal, forest, microbial, agro-biodiversity and their linkage with livelihoods, besides the challenges of conservation. The eight coaches showcasing India’s rich biodiversity have been conceptualised and designed by the Centre for Environment Education with expertise from knowledge partners across the country. The Science Express Biodiversity Special train is stationed at Haridwar railway station platform number 9 till May 10. It is open to all from 10 am to 5 pm. There is no entry fee. |
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CM unveils LED streetlight project in Mussoorie
Mussoorie, May 8 Bahuguna after unveiling the project said the local bodies and the state government alike had the responsibility of providing basic amenities to the people and the tourists at all major tourist destinations and the unveiling of the LED streetlight project here was a step in that direction. He said emotional attachment of government officials with the people of the state was necessary for qualitative development. He added by just considering the government job as part of daily routine the project envisaged could not be implemented forcefully. Hence, the officials concerned should gear up The Chief Minister said there were several projects under various state and central plans but to implement these at the grass-roots level one required determination and sincerity, which was missing among some officials at the state level. He added that the state had the capacity of harnessing around 700 MW of alternative energy and the government would work towards this goal without delay. Speaking about development projects for Mussoorie, Bahuguna said as the town was an important tourist destination a systematic and planned development module was needed and the MDDA was working in this direction diligently. Efforts would be made to solve the parking, drinking water supply and housing problems of Mussoorie through financial assistance from the Central government, he said. Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat, who was present at the function, said the LED streetlight project had begun earnestly from Mussoorie and it would be implemented in whole of Uttarakhand. She added the Tourism Department in assistance with UREDA was ready to light the Mussoorie-Dehradun road using solar energy. She said alternative sources of energy should be demanded considering the shortage of power in the country. She appealed to the people to come forward in using solar energy as it was a much cheaper source of energy. Amrita referred to the parking problem in Mussoorie and said land had been made available to the department and the work on developing parking for tourists would begin soon. She also said that the department would make an effort in providing drinking water, parking and Lavatory facilities on priorty basis at all tourist destinations of the state. Amrita said the ropeway project from Purkul to Mussoorie would provide a new dimension to tourism in the state. LED lights are being installed here as part of an initiative by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd—a joint venture of NTPC, Power Finance Corporation, Rural Electrification Corporation, PowerGrid Corporation of India and UREDA, in order to facilitate the implementation of energy-efficiency projects. More than 500 streetlights covering all main streets of Mussoorie like Mall Road, Camel’s Back Road, Company Garden, King Craig, Barlowganj, Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy, Picture Palace, Landour, Jharipani, Jhula Ghar, the Kempty Fall route and Library have been installed so far. The overall size of the energy-efficiency market is estimated at Rs 74,000 crore. The project, first of its kind in Uttarakhand, is an attempt to integrate newer technologies in civic amenities for the benefit of the public. LED streetlights are expected to save a substantial amount of public money as lesser consumption of electricity will result in lower electricity bills. The Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi, Municipal Council president Manmohan Singh Mall presented a demand letter to the Chief Minister highlighting the problems of the town.
Lighting up
LED lights are being installed here as part of an initiative by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd—a joint venture of NTPC, Power Finance Corporation, Rural Electrification Corporation, PowerGrid Corporation of India and UREDA Vijay Bahuguna said the local bodies and the state government alike had the responsibility of providing basic amenities to the people and the tourists at all major tourist destinations and the streetlight project was a step in that direction Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat said the LED streetlight project would be implemented in the whole of Uttarakhand |
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MLA Dhami gets relief from High Court
Pithoragarh, May 8 Dhami’s advocate Vijay Bahadur Singh Negi said the high court also ordered that if the MLA presented himself before the Didihat court on May 20 the non-bailable warrant issued against him would stand cancelled. “The single Bench of Justice Alok Singh has given me time till May 20 on the ground that the summons issued by the Didihat court on several occasions could not reach me and because I have shown respect to the High Court,” said Dhami while speaking this correspondent from Nainital. The court of Judicial Magistrate in Didihat had issued a non-bailable warrant against Dhami in a criminal case of 2007 when he could not present himself before the court after it had issued summons to him several times. “The court had also reprimanded police officers of the district for their failure to arrest Dhami. It subsequently issued orders for the attachment of the property of the culprit and fore fetching of the bond amount furnished in the Dhami’s favour on March 23. “The munsif court had ordered him to be present in the court at its Munsiyari camp on April 4, but Dhami again failed,” said a source in the Didihat court. |
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Anti-Human Trafficking Cells lack infrastructure
Dehradun May 8 He said the cell did not have place to set up office. Hence they have been allotted some space in the police control room in their respective districts. Two cells have been constituted in Kumaon and two in Garhwal. The one in Banbasa, district Champawat in Kumaon, has been formed to cater to cases pertaining to other two districts, Pithoragarh and Bagheshwar. The area is considered sensitive for being close to Nepal where incidents of trafficking of women take place regularly. The second cell in Kumaon is in Haldwani. This cell focuses on anti-trafficking development taking place in Almora , Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar. Third is in Kotdwar which attends to cases from the entire Pauri Garhwal range. Fourth at Haridwar receives cases from Haridwar as well as Dehradun. There is an office of anti-trafficking in police headquarters, Dehradun, headed by Sailal. Sailal admitted that the cells were short-staffed. There is one sub-inspector, two constables and one lady constable in each cell. It is difficult to imagine how a team of four police personnel, equipped with a motor cycle can track the highly complex nexus and network of human traffickers in two to three districts. At this Sailal said the team would have to rely on the local police for that. DGP Satyavrat Bansal has expressed his displeasure at the inertia among the members of the cell. He has directed Inspector General, CBCID, Deepam Seth, to send a report on the progress status of all the four cells. Sailal said the staff of each cell has been directed to compile a list of missing children/girls in the last five years. |
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Monthly camps fail to solve people’s problems
Pithoragarh, May 8 The same situation was evident when a few people came to take part in the camps, organised by the authorities at Champawat, Tanakpur, Pati and Lohaghat subdivisions today. “Though the number of officers present during the camp was 24, the number of complainants was only four in Champawat district headquarter as villagers did not turn up for the redress of their complains at the camp,” sources said. According to source, two complainants in Lohaghat and one in Pati subdivision came for redress of their problems. According to the source, villages raised many problems like the lack of educational infrastructure, irrigation facilities, permanent resident certificates and welfare pensions for elderly during the camps at different places. “Villagers at most of the places raised problems such as the lack of drinking water.” said Sridhar Babu Addhakhi, District Magistrate, Champawat. Meanwhile, the villagers said the Tehsil Diwas served no purpose as officers did not follow their complaints and forget their complaints after a camp. “We have been demanding the installation of hand pumps at our village for a long time, but we could not get the hand pump despite repeated assurances by officers,” said Pitambar Joshi, a resident of Kaneri village in Lohaghat subdivision. “The officers show positive signs only to please the District Magistrates, who sometimes remains present at these camps,” said Pitamber Joshi. Moreover, officers from some of the departments remained absent during the camps. “We have sent reports regarding the absence of these officers in the camp to the district administration,” said JS
Rathor, SDM, Tanakpur. |
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Ex-servicemen meet Qureshi
Dehradun, May 8 They demanded that an officer of Brigadier rank or of an equivalent rank from the Air Force and Navy should be placed as the CMD of UPNL. They demanded that an inquiry be ordered into the allegations of irregularities against former CMD AN Bahuguna. The Governor assured them that the government would be directed to take action on the various points in the memorandum. Several other eminent people and representatives of organisations met the Governor. |
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Agitating villagers launch fast
Pithoragarh, May 8 They alleged the district administration and public representatives had failed to fulfil their genuine demands. “Five elderly persons from the area namely Chanar Ram, Hayat Ram, Madan Singh Karki, Dhan Singh and Trilok Singh sat on a fast-unto-death today as part of the second phase of the agitation,” said Dinesh Arya, coordinator of the agitation. Earlier residents of 22 villages held a public meeting at Pankhu. They said despite 33 days of their agitation, neither administrative officials nor any public representative visited them. Dinesh said villagers also held a procession in the Pankhu market before sitting on indefinite fast today in support of their demands.
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Alumni Association of Dolphin Institute declared registered
Dehradun, May 8 Shailja Pant, Principal, congratulated all the members of association that included Rajiv Ranjan Singh (president), Manisha Nanda (vice president), Deepti Warikoo (secretary), Ritu Singh and Aditya Swaroop (treasurer), Shan-e-Mohd, Vinod Dhatawalia, Abhay Yadav, Paramita Sarkar, Samiksha Minocha, Rupesh Kumar Deo and Inderjit Kaur. An oath ceremony of all members was held. Pant said the association would be committed to work for the betterment of passed-out and present students of the institute. Arun Kumar, Director, said the association would regularly conduct such programmes which will ensure an interaction between the old and the new students. A data base of all students will be prepared and it will be available on the website of the institute.
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Civil defence training camp begins
Dehradun, May 8 Inaugurating the camp, Principal DAV (Intermediate) College AK Srivastava said civil defence kept much importance in one’s life, particularly when it comes to facing disasters of any kind. Srivastava said civil defence was effective both in times of war and peace. He called upon the youths to take to civil defence training in a big way. Assistant Deputy Controller, Civil Defence, Dehradun, Satish Kumar, said civil defence training in schools and colleges was meant to create a reserve force for the country. Civil defence master trainer Anil Verma on the occasion informed the participants about air raid signals, high explosive bombs, atomic, biological and chemical weapons. Post Warden Major Premlata Verma and other civil defence instructors, apart from a large number of students were present on the occasion.
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Uttarakhand Health Minister Surinder Singh Negi today said that for a better functioning of the State Food Safety Authority, the Uttarakhand Government would soon strengthen the newly created department.
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna unveiled the LED streetlight project at a function at Mussoorie today to make towns of Uttarakhand energy efficient.
Bahuguna after unveiling the project said the local bodies and the state government alike had the responsibility of providing basic amenities to the people and the tourists at all major tourist destinations and the unveiling of the LED streetlight project here was a step in that direction.
Dehradun, May 8
