The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Serve humanity like sant of Rishikesh: Haryana CM
Dehradun, September 8
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that it was the duty of all to propagate the high ideals of Brahmaleen Devender Swaroop Brahmachari, a revered saint of Rishikesh, so as to render selfless service to humanity, especially in the field of education and care of cows (gau sewa).

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda speaks at a function held in the memory of Devender Swaroop Brahmachari at the Jairam Ashram at Rishikesh on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Regional parties must unite to fight Cong, BJP: Diwakar Bhatt
Haridwar, September 8
The time has come for regional parties in Uttarakhand to come together to pose a major challenge to national political parties. Founder of the Uttarakhand Jan Kranti Dal (UJKD) Diwakar Bhatt said this while addressing mediapersons at the Press Club of Haridwar today.

New MPG College president may be decided with toss of coin
Mussoorie, September 8
The stalemate due to the equal number of votes obtained by two MPG college presidential candidates after the counting that was held on Friday has left election officials scratching their heads on who would be crowned as the next chief of the students’ council in Mussoorie.

Probe into lathi-charge on ABVP workers demanded
Dehradun, September 8
National secretary of the ABVP Ramesh Gariya has demanded a judicial inquiry into the police lathi-charge on party workers on September 6 after the results of the students’ union election at DAV PG College were declared.

ABVP national secretary Ramesh Garya addresses mediapersons in Dehradun on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

U’khand boys shine in Malabar River Festival
Dehradun, September 8
Uttarakhand boys gave an impressive performance in the recently concluded Malabar River Festival in Kozhikode, Kerala. Ayodhya Prasad was the star performer from the hill state and won three gold medals.

Dehradun diary
Political leadership playing second fiddle to bureaucrats?
Since the formation of the separate state of Uttarakhand, there have been allegations that the state is allegedly being run by bureaucrats and the state political leadership is playing second fiddle.

Development programme launched at Dolsi
Mussoorie, September 8
The Divine Light Trust, a non-profit voluntary organisation, launched its Swami Yoganand Integrated Rural Development Programme at Dolsi village in Jaunpur development region of Tehri Garhwal district today.

IIT-Roorke organises workshop for specially abled students
Haridwar, September 8
As part of the social initiative, the Indian Institute of Technology-Roorke, organised a workshop for the "specially abled students." The workshop concluded at the IIT-Roorke campus on Saturday.

Medical students hold awareness rally on eye donation

Dehradun, September 8
An awareness rally was conducted by students of the Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences (SGRRIMHS) and Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital as a part of the eye donation fortnight that began from today.

Doctors and medical students of the Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical Education and Research hold an awareness rally on eye donation in Dehradun on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Bhatt concerned at recovery of bodies from Kedarnath
Dehradun, September 8
The Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly, Ajay Bhatt, has expressed concern at the recovery of bodies from the Kedarnath area. In a memorandum submitted to Governor Aziz Qureshi, Bhatt said the recovery of bodies from the ridges of mountains in the proximity of Kedarnath amply revealed that the state government had made no efforts to promptly save pilgrims in distress.

3 of family die as car falls into rivulet
Pithoragarh, September 8
Three persons of a family died last evening on the Haldwani-Almora highway. The incident occurred when the car in which they were travelling fell into a rivulet which was around 150m from the road near the Garam Pani on the highway.

	Haldu area villagers to boycott LS poll Say demands of roads, medical facilities, high schools not met in last 5 years Our Correspondent Pithoragarh, September 8 As many as 25,000 villagers of the Haldu area have decided to boycott the coming Lok Sabha elections scheduled for next year as their basic demands of road connectivity, medical facilities and education up to high school have not been met by the government in the last five years. Facing problems in day-to-day life created by lack of medical facilities, insufficient educational facilities and lack of road connectivity for generations, even after Independence, the villagers of the Haldu area bordering Nepal in Pithoragarh subdivision of the district, are gradually leaving their ancestral villages and settling down near the places having essential facilities near the district headquarters or in the Terai region. The Haldu valley comprises more than two dozen villages which are still 15 to 20 km away from motorable road. The villagers said they had been demanding the construction of 15-km road to their village from Kwetar village near the district headquarters, but to no avail. “We have been learning from our fathers that the construction of this road was announced by the then CM, but we are still waiting for the road to come up,” said Shamsher Singh, a resident of Taremiya village. The villagers said that more than 25 per cent of village families had fled the area and settled elsewhere, mostly in the Terai area, due to these difficulties. “Had there been road connectivity, the villagers would not have left as this is a prosperous area from the point of agriculture and horticulture,” said Shamsher Singh. Not only lack of road connectivity of up to 20 km creates the problems, but also lack of school education beyond class VIII and health centre also results into migration from the area. “ Despite the government’s announcement to make the villages situated on international borders, stable by providing basic facilities there, our area has not been given even a single facility of health, high school or road connectivity in the last 12 years of the state formation,” said Ram Singh, another villager from the Haldu area. "While financially able villagers have settled in Pithoragarh district headquarters to further the education of their children, less able villagers have gone to the Terai region to continue with occupation of farming. The poor and schedule caste communities are still in the village,” said the villagers. The villagers said that they have decided to boycott the Lok Sabha elections next year for second time consecutively as they boycotted last Lok Sabha elections as well.
	2,000 Cong men attend workshop on Food Security Bill Tribune News Service Dehradun, Sept 8 Union Minister for Surface Transport, Road and Highways, Oscar Fernandes today described the Food Security Act as UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s dream project. He said it was meant to ensure that no mother goes to sleep on an empty stomach due to shortage of food. Addressing a workshop for the Garhwal division Congress workers on the National Food Security Act in Dehradun, Fernandes said the Food Security Act would give true independence to the poorer classes as envisaged by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. He had said a true independence should include social justice and economic independence. He said the Congress leadership was with Uttarakhand in its hour of grief. He said both Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited Uttarakhand and were concerned about the relief and rehabilitation in the disaster-affected areas. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna expressed gratitude to Oscar Fernandes for his support towards providing assistance to the disaster-torn Uttarakhand. He said the state was undertaking speedy relief works and preparations were complete for the start of worship at Kedarnath on September 11. He also urged Oscar Fernandes to use his offices to ensure speedy construction of hill roads by the Border Roads Organisation. Congress president Yashpal Arya said the Food Security Act had come as a respite for Dalits and other downtrodden sections of society. Congress vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana said the UPA government's pro-people policies would bring it in power for the third time consecutively. He disclosed that over 2,000 party workers were attending the day-long workshop on the Food Security Act. Congress Uttarakhand in charge Sanjay Kapoor and Uttarakhand Congress general secretary Vijay Saraswat were prominent speakers at the inaugural session of the workshop. The party’s Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj was conspicuous by his absence.
	Serve humanity like sant of Rishikesh: Haryana CM Tribune News Service Dehradun, September 8 Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that it was the duty of all to propagate the high ideals of Brahmaleen Devender Swaroop Brahmachari, a revered saint of Rishikesh, so as to render selfless service to humanity, especially in the field of education and care of cows (gau sewa). Hooda was speaking as the chief guest at the “Shrandhanjali Sabha” of Gurudev Devender Swaroop Brahmachari at Shri Jai Ram Annkshetra Trust in Rishikesh today. Describing service to humanity as a part of the Indian culture, the Chief Minister said Almighty gives strength to realise the dreams of founder of Shri Jairam institutions, Devender Swaroop Brahmachari, who spent his entire life to serve the humanity. These institutions have made tremendous progress and are playing a significant role in the areas of education and health. Hooda said he was closely associated with the trust as he was born again at this place about 13 years ago when he miraculously escaped from massive flow of the Ganges. At that time, he had got a chance to meet people in the ashram and he came to know that Devendra Swaroop Brahmachari had selflessly dedicated himself to serve the mankind. Not only this, he also served those who had migrated to Kurukshetra during the partition of the country. It was because of the efforts of Brahmachari that many institutions had come up in Kurukshetra, Delhi, Haridwar and Rishikesh as prominent centres and were serving people. The Chief Minister said the Jairam Trust had made a significant contribution to rehabilitate and serve the affected pilgrims and their relatives during the recent devastation which had occurred in Uttarakhand. It is a matter of happiness that the ashram has been working for the promotion of education, propagation of Sanskrit education and serving of cows. Speaking on this occasion, Brahmswaroop Brahmachari said his Guru had led a simple life and had never encouraged hypocrisy. He had always worked for the promotion of education, health and Sanskrit language. The institutions set up by Devendra Swroop Brahmachari to serve the mankind were flourishing. He also thanked Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who offered to provide all possible help to the victims of Uttarakhand devastation. Paying tributes to Devendra Swroop Brahmachari, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Phool Chand Mullana said theJairam Trust was serving the humanity in a big way. He said during the Uttarakhand devastation, Hooda himself visited the area and provided all help to the victims. Apart from announcing immediate relief of Rs 10 crore, the government had also adopted a number of villages for rehabilitation, he added. Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Sharma said India’s culture was associated with saints. The saints had also shown path of progress and prosperity to all during any kind of adverse situation. The Jairam Trust is moving on the path of service to the mankind shown by Brahmaleen Devendra Swroop Brahmachari. Those present on the occasion included MLA Rishikesh, Prem Chand Aggarwal, Roorkee MLA Pardeep Batra, former Delhi Minister Mangat Ram, a number of saints and trustees from different religious institutions and a large number of devotees.
	Regional parties must unite to fight Cong, BJP: Diwakar Bhatt Tribune News Service Haridwar, September 8 The time has come for regional parties in Uttarakhand to come together to pose a major challenge to national political parties. Founder of the Uttarakhand Jan Kranti Dal (UJKD) Diwakar Bhatt said this while addressing mediapersons at the Press Club of Haridwar today. Bhatt said he was working towards this goal and had formed a committee that would try to generate a consensus among the rival factions of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) and other regional outfits. Bhatt, a former legislator from the Devprayag Assembly segment, said the UKD had not lived up to the aspirations of the local people after the creation of Uttarakhand in 2000. He added many leaders didn’t take right decisions at an appropriate time, harming the prospects of the party. Asked about the possibility of the merger of his party with the UKD factions led by Trivendra Singh Panwar or Kashi Singh Airi, Bhatt said the people of the state wanted a strong-unified UKD and all factions should come together. He took a dig at both Congress and BJP saying during the 13 years’ rule of these parties Uttarakhand had seen only corruption and ill-governance. Asked whether he would contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Tehri Garhwal or Pauri Garhwal or Haridwar, the former state Cabinet minister said he would take a decision in this regard if people and his party workers wanted to do so.
	New MPG College president may be decided with toss of coin ABVP, NSUI candidates obtained 229 votes each Tribune News Service Mussoorie, September 8 The stalemate due to the equal number of votes obtained by two MPG college presidential candidates after the counting that was held on Friday has left election officials scratching their heads on who would be crowned as the next chief of the students’ council in Mussoorie. According to sources, the college administration is considering all possibilities available to them, including coin toss, to determine the clear cut winner among the two candidates. The two candidates who contested for the post of president namely Neeraj Sajwan from the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) group supported by former student leader Megh Singh Kandari and Jaipal Rawat from the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) group obtained 229 votes each, thus resulting in a tie for the post. In the wake of such decision, the college administration may even name both candidates as the president for six month each in order to satisfy both sides equally. Ganesh Saili, a former professor of MPG College, said there had been several precedents in students’ politics in the past where two presidential candidates have been found with equal votes and have shared the tenure for six months each. Many former students also are of the opinion that the best way is to draw a lottery and decide the presidential candidate accordingly. However, not all students agree on such a move and have clearly stated that they would oppose any such attempt vehemently. The Megh Singh Group NSUI candidate, Neeraj Sajwan, said the clarity on who is the outright winner in the recently concluded elections should be determined first then only they will sit for any talks on who will be the president for the first six-month term. On the other hand, the ABVP has also drawn its swords and are of the view that their candidate Jaipal Rawat had the legitimate right to be the chief of the college students’ union as other candidates who have won the elections are from his party.

Dehradun diary
Political leadership playing second fiddle to bureaucrats?

Since the formation of the separate state of Uttarakhand, there have been allegations that the state is allegedly being run by bureaucrats and the state political leadership is playing second fiddle.

These allegations again came to the fore when ministers belonging to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Independents charged that bureaucrats were not showing them due respect or listening to them. The ministers gave vent to their feeling in the last Cabinet meeting and it is believed that tempers ran high.

A BSP minister charged that when he went to the office of the Chief Secretary, he did not stand up to greet him and continued to talk with those present in his room.

It is common knowledge that the state is being run by a powerful bureaucrat during the present Congress dispensation led by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. The said bureaucrat has been a favourite of all the Chief Ministers -- whether it was a Congress or BJP government in the state.

The problem with Uttarakhand is that being a part of earlier Uttar Pradesh state, it has allegedly not only imbibed the corrupt work culture of the state but also inherited the corrupt bureaucracy from the mother state. Whil allegations and counter-allegations are levelled by the political classes against each other, there is not a murmur of protest against the wrongdoings of the bureaucrats in the state.

It is believed that most of the ministers are "inexperienced, incapable and handicapped by their lack of knowledge, particularly of the English language, and thus completely dependent on the bureaucrats."

While the political masters get just a pie, the bureaucrats who obliged them in the getting their works done, eat the whole cake.

At the time of formation of the state, there were allegations of misappropriation of funds by the officials involved in making preparations for the new state capital. An inquiry was instituted, but no action was taken against anyone. Due to alleged lack of strong political leadership, there is little hope for the common people of the state. The poor and marginal people from the hills have been migrating for the past more than a century. The exodus again started after the natural disaster that hit the hill state in June this year.

Politician-bureaucrat-contractor nexus would allegedly continue to rule the roost even during these hard times as more than Rs.10,000 core would be pumped in by the central government for relief and rebuilding of the state in the aftermath of the unprecedented disaster.

Bad news for Cong

It is bad news for the Congress in Uttarakhand where the dream project of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to revive the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress, has turned sour.

This is the seventh time in a row that the NSUI has been convincingly defeated by the rival Akhil Bharatiya Vidayarthi Parishad (ABVP) in two prominent colleges of state capital — DAV College and DBS College.

In 2008, Rahul Gandhi had decided to revive the frontal organisations of the Congress at the grass-roots level. He chose Uttarakhand state as an experiment to start inner democracy in the frontal organisations and held elections for the various units, starting from colleges to the districts and finally at the state level.

Working hard, he paid several visits to the state during the period and interacted with college and university students and exhorted them to join the organisation. He supervised the elections that took place for the first time. His presence motivated a large number of youngsters to join the organisation across the state. But since then, the situation of the state NSUI has deteriorated.

Office-bearers of the state NSUI allegedly started behaving in a manner giving the impression that they were even above the senior Congress leaders of the state since they had been handpicked by Rahul Gandhi. The message that went at the grassroots level was negative. Since then, the fortunes of NSUI has gone dramatically down as it had lost in most of the bigger colleges and universities of the state in all these years.

On the other hand, the ABVP, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, did well in the students’ council poll across the state.

Plagued by factionalism and favouritism, the state unit of the NSUI has not been able to motivate or attract students. The council election in DAV College, Dehradun, was marred by infighting in the NSUI. The choice of the candidates led to allegations of favouratism. Swati Negi, a candidate who had been working hard for the post of president of DAV College, was denied nomination and fought as Independent, ensuring the defeat of the official NSUI candidate.

Senior Congress leaders, including Saket Bahuguna, took a keen interest in the DAV College student council elections, but failed to read the writing on the wall. With the Lok Sabha elections not far, the poor showing of the NSUI does not abode well for the party.

— SMA Kazmi

Development programme launched at Dolsi
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, September 8
The Divine Light Trust, a non-profit voluntary organisation, launched its Swami Yoganand Integrated Rural Development Programme at Dolsi village in Jaunpur development region of Tehri Garhwal district today.

Members of the Divine Light Trust distributed blankets, kitchen kit and solar lights on the occasion. Schoolchildren were given uniforms and school bags by the trust.

Director of the trust Dr Sunil Sanon said the focus of the programme would be on a balanced mix of tribal agro practices and appropriate modern technology, health hygiene, education and disaster mitigation and management training.

Under healthcare and hygiene, the project envisages to ensure potable water supply in the village, time management by promoting use of pressure and solar cookers, minimising pressure on forest covers for fuel, conserve healthy tribal agro-practices of the Aglar valley and introduce some of the modern technologies of the agro-pastoral practices, value addition of the rural organic produce, networking with marketing outlets (specially for organic food produce), promotion of right to education and skilled trainings.

The trust plans to introduce natural disaster mitigation and management by promoting formal training of youth, appropriate surface interventions in the village.

"The trust will be installing lightning conductors to avoid natural disasters in the span of three years," added Sanon.

Dr Venu Sanon and Satyendar Singh, a industrialist, were also present on the occasion.

IIT-Roorke organises workshop for specially abled students
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 8
As part of the social initiative, the Indian Institute of Technology-Roorke, organised a workshop for the "specially abled students." The workshop concluded at the IIT-Roorke campus on Saturday.

With the collaboration of the International Copper Promotion Council of India (ICPCI), a total of twenty three students participated in the workshop.

The workshop titled “Anushruti”. The students who are deaf and dumb and fall in the age group of 18-23 years, were imparted tool making and metal crafting techniques by the experts. The aim of the workshop was to enrich the students with real world vocational education, so that they could get employment by using these skills.

Copper artist Gaurav Bharadwaj said it was the first of its kind exposure for these students, who showed their talent and willingness to learn the crafts. He added that covering mirrors, lighting’s, wall panels, doors, sculptures and other aspects of the crafts were taught.

“The students were given training to explore the interesting copper gliding technique and in designing creative skill sets, which they learned with dedication and interest,” said Bharadwaj.

The vice-chief of the building construction wing of the ICPCI said they organise such workshops on regular basis for the specially abled children, though "Anushruti" was quite a different one, owing to the enthusiasm of the trainee students.

“These students are now not less then the other normal students. They are open to learn new things and their products are as creative and interesting as expert designers. It is quite important to communicate with them and give them confidence and skills so that they give the desired results,” he added.

The head of the ICPCI, Anasuya Banerji, said the students attending the “Anushruti” had an innate talent and potential. The workshop gave them exposure, which they imbibed with full dedication. “Hopefully, the skills and confidence they took from here will change their life surely in a positive manner,” added Banerjee.

The students were presented with the participation certificate and the copper mementos. They would be given further training to learn more techniques in the near future.

Notably, “Anushruti” is a school wing of hearing impaired students in the IIT-Roorkee campus. It was established on November 11, 1989. It has now grown into a full-fledged school with classes up to 12th standard. The education to the students is being provided via NIOS board examinations.

Medical students hold awareness rally on eye donation
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 8
An awareness rally was conducted by students of the Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences (SGRRIMHS) and Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital as a part of the eye donation fortnight that began from today.

The rally was organised by the eye department of the institute. Students, doctors and nursing staff of SGRRIMHS and Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital participated in the rally to spread the message “Everyone can lighten the dark life of someone by donating eyes after death.”

The Vice-Chairman of the SGRR Education Mission, Prof SP Thapliyal, while flagging off the rally, urged the students to ensure their constructive role in nation building.

Dr Sanjeev Kumar Mittal, head of the eye department, explained the role and importance of eye donation and motivated the youth that they should come forward in ending the myths and misconceptions in the society. He said an eye donation centre was actively functional in the eye department of the hospital and those interested for eye donation were welcome to contact the department. The students participating in the rally were carrying banners and placards carrying the messages of eye donation.

A poster-making competition was also organised on the occasion in which medical students, Purnima Sharma and Neha Mittal, were awarded the first prize jointly, Shelly and group got the second prize while the third prize went to Priyanka Negi and group.

The rally commenced from the premises of Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital and went up to to Lal Pul before returning back to the hospital.

Bhatt concerned at recovery of bodies from Kedarnath
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 8
The Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly, Ajay Bhatt, has expressed concern at the recovery of bodies from the Kedarnath area. In a memorandum submitted to Governor Aziz Qureshi, Bhatt said the recovery of bodies from the ridges of mountains in the proximity of Kedarnath amply revealed that the state government had made no efforts to promptly save pilgrims in distress.

“These pilgrims, whose bodies have now been found in mountains, died of hunger and fatigue. This evidently reveals that the state government has failed to act in time and save these people,” Bhatt said.

He added it was strange that the Uttarakhand Government had asked a blacklisted company like EPIL to conduct cleanliness operations at Kedarnath.

On the recent lathi-charge on ABVP activists outside DAV (PG) College here on Friday last, Bhatt said the Congress-led government was perturbed at the landslide victory of the ABVP in the students’ union election in the college. It ordered a lathi-charge on the ABVP activists, which was uncalled for.

Bhatt alleged that the law and order situation had deteriorated in the state and the Vijay Bahuguna government was taking no steps to check the rising graph of crime, particularly in Dehradun.