Modi’s rally: Police scan Parade Ground with mine detectors
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 12
In the wake of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's "Shankhnad rally" here on December 15, police teams today scanned the Parade Ground with mine detectors. The police have taken eight ground-penetrating radars from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology to look for any hidden thing in the ground. These machines were today used by the police in checking the rally venue.

Following a bomb blast at Modi's Patna rally, police officials are not taking any chance. Teams of the Uttarakhand Police, the Gujarat Police and intelligence are camping in and around the Parade Ground. Three suspicious Kashmiri youths were also detained by the police and taken to the Dhara police post. They were questioned about their whereabouts.

Home Secretary Om Parkash, IG (law and order) Ram Singh Meena and Dehradun SSP Kewal Khurana also inspected the Parade Ground and gave instructions to police teams. A quick-reaction team comprising 16 police personnel has also been formed.

Ground-penetrating radar pressed into service

A ground-penetrating radar (GPR), an important tool in semimetal studies, is being used to track any possible underground object at the Parade Ground here in the run-up to the December 15 rally of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Geoscientists from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology reached the rally venue this morning and started the survey work.

A GPR machine being used for the purpose has a capacity to track any solid metallic object to a dept of 20 m underground.

The institute uses the machine to study glaciers, particularly in case of the mapping of glaciers. The issues of crevasses and other local hazards are easily addressed through these GPR machines.

However, scientists were tight-lipped to divulge much of the details owning to security reasons and said they were doing so on the instructions of the administration.

Sources said such a machine had never been used during public rallies. However, taking into account blasts in Patna during Modi's rally, security officials are taking no chances.

Hectic efforts on to ensure large crowd at Modi’s rally
Tribune News Service

BJP MLA Swami Yatishwaranand, along with women’s cell district president Sanjana Sharma, mobilises support for party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s December 15 rally, in Haridwar on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

Haridwar, December 12
The district BJP unit is making all efforts to ensure the maximum participation of people at the much-awaited ‘Shankhnad’ rally of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at Parade Ground in Dehradun on December 15.

Three-time BJP legislator from the city segment Madan Kaushik has held a number of ‘nukkad’ sabhas to generate awareness about the rally among the people.

Kaushik in his address at the Chandracharya square said the people of the country see Narendra Modi as an able prime ministerial candidate and this fact had been proved in the Assembly election results in four states recently.

BJP legislator from the rural segment Swami Yatishwaranand led a motorcycle rally of young party workers that passed through major intersections of the city.

He said there was a pro-BJP wave in the country and about 20,000 party workers and common people from Haridwar would attend the rally at Parade Ground. Party legislator from the Ranipur-BHEL segment Aadesh Chauhan said the Dehradun rally would be watched nationwide as this would be Modi’s maiden rally after the Congress drubbing in the Assembly elections in four states.

District BJP president Kuldeep Gupta claimed that more than 300 buses had been booked for ferrying party workers and people to Parade Ground while additional buses were being requisitioned from Uttar Pradesh. Interestingly, most of the buses available in the state have been booked for the rally by the party units of other districts.

To ensure there is no shortage of vehicles, the conveners of the rally have also booked a large number of school buses. District president of the BJP women wing Sanjana Sharma expressed hope that a large number of women would take part in the rally from the district. 

Shankhnad rally will be a big hit: BJP leader
Tribune News Service

BJP general secretary and state in charge for the party affairs Radha Mohan Singh addresses a gathering in Haridwar on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

Haridwar, December 12
BJP general secretary and state in charge for the party affairs Radha Mohan Singh said today that the ‘Shankhnad’ rally of their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Dehradun on December 15 would be a big hit and it would set the tone for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

He reviewed the preparations for the rally and said Parade Ground in Dehradun, where Narendra Modi was slated to address the rally, would witness a record crowd.

He said, "People are fed up with the Congress rule and its debacle in the Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections bears a testimony to it. It is only the BJP that can ensure corruption-free governance."

He also lauded the efforts of five BJP MLAs from the district Madan Kaushik (city), Swami Yatishwaranand (rural), Aadesh Chauhan (Ranipur-BHEL), Chandrasekhar Bhattewala (Jwalapur) and Sanjay Gupta (Lakshar), and Haridwar Mayor Manoj in mobilising support for the rally to make it a success.

On infighting in the party, he said it was found in every party.

However, he added in the larger interest of the party they had come together to make the rally a success.

BJP mahila morcha exhorts locals to attend Modi’s rally
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 12
Workers of the Bharatiya Mahila Morcha held a scooter rally here today to exhort residents to participate in the rally of BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narinder Modi on December 15 and make it a success. The scooter rally was flagged off by BJP state in charge Radha Mohan, while Ahmedabad Mayor Meenakshi Patel was the special guest on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Gujarat's State Water Resources Minister Nanubhai Vanani, while addressing mediaperson here today, said a 182 metre tall statue of unity dedicated to Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, known as the ‘iron man of India,’ would be erected on the banks of Narmada river. Envisioned by Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi, the task would be completed through collective efforts of men and women of the country.

He said, “The statue of unity would be built by the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust and the government of Gujarat on a public-private partnership mode. It is the nation’s tribute to the man who unified India and continues to inspire even today.” A budget of Rs 2,062 crore had been earmarked for the project, whose foundation was laid on October 31 this year, he added.

“Along with the construction of the statue that would take at least five years, the message of unity will be sent in every part of the country. As part of this campaign the old farming tools and mud from all villages would be collected from across the country to be used for the statue,” said Nanubhai.

A unique marathon “Run for Unity” would be orgnised on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, which falls on December 15. The marathon will be held simultaneously at 565 places, including Haldwani, Rudrapur, Kashipur, Roorkee, Haridwar and Dehradun.

A suraj petition will also be submitted on the same day by the people, which would be kept at the venue of statue of unity.

Leaders from Gujarat, including Dr Kiratbhai Solanki, MP, Praveen Bhai, MLA, Punam Chand Parmar Principal Secretary, Gujarat government, and others will also be present during the event. 

Cong-led state govt has failed on all fronts: ABVP
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 12
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has alleged that the Congress-led state government has failed to address the issues of people in hill districts. While addressing mediapersons at the ABVP office here today, state secretary Devendra Rana said whether it was providing basic or technical education, transfer policy of teachers, corruption in education sector or setting up of higher educational institutes in hill districts, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna-led coalition government had failed on all fronts.

Opposing the recent move of the Chief Minister to set up campus of Tehri Garhwal-based Shri Dev Suman University at Selaqui (Dehradun), Rana said this had been done to facilitate the stay of the Vice-Chancellor and other higher administrative officials in the city so that they could manage university affairs from Dehradun.

“We all know that a majority of state’s educational institutes are in plains. We also know the sorry state of affairs of education in the hill districts. The government is playing anti-hill stance in a veiled way. Schools, colleges in the hill districts are devoid of teaching staff and other facilities,” said Rana. Keeping in mind the hill and rural areas status of education, more colleges should be opened in these areas, he added.

He said out of the 79 colleges in the state, 15 don’t have their own buildings and function from rented or makeshift buildings. ABVP divisional working committee vice-president Naveen Pant said the Congress government had also raised the annual fees of the government run state Medical Colleges from Rs 15,000 (which was fixed by ex-CM BC Khanduri) to Rs 45,000. The ABVP also strongly condemned Rs 15,000 fee hike in BEd colleges of the state.

Pant said the decision of the state government to opt for public-private partnership was also depriving the poor students from getting good and affordable education as private institutes charged huge admission and annual fees.

Rana also announced names of the Haridwar-based members, who were recently inducted in the divisional working committee. Following have been inducted into divisional working committee: Sanjeev Chaudhary (state sub general secretary), Bhairav Dutt Pantolla (state Sanskrit convener), Gaurav Sharma (educational divisional convener), Sumit Chaudhari (state technical convener), Pulkil Arya (medical education convener), Arvind Chaudhari (departmental convener), Gaurav Giri (sub convener), Dushyant Rana (district president), Amardeep Chaudhari (district convener) and Lokesh Pal as district sub convener.

Govt, BJP lock horns over road construction
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 12
A war of words has erupted between the state government and the Opposition BJP on the issue of replacing the BRO with the PWD for the construction of certain roads in Rudraprayag district.

A strong votary of the BRO, former Chief Minister BC Khanduri termed the cancellation of road repair orders as a deliberate attempt to starve the BRO which has experience and expertise. "Something is fishy. The BRO was not paid its dues for several months. As a result, the organisation could not take the repair of roads," said Khanduri.

However, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said," We have taken over only a few stretches of roads from the BRO following complaints from the local people. The roads will be repaired by the PWD," said Bahuguna.

Doon’s gay community in state of shock
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 12
The Supreme Court's decision restoring the Constitutional validity of Section 377 of the IPC, under which homosexual acts are a criminal offence punishable with life term, has come as a shock for the gay community in Dehradun.

"The decriminilisation of Section 377, IPC, by the Delhi High Court four years ago was a small step for ending discrimination against the transgender people. But the latest ruling is a huge setback,” said a member of the community, adding, "In the past four years, health issues of trangender and gay people have received some acceptance from society and healthcare professionals.”

Another community member said with the efforts of the Uttarakhand State AIDS Control Society and other organisations, they were encouraged to come to the mainstream for accessing treatment for HIV/AIDS and find their place on voters' lists.

Sanjay Bisht, programme coordinator, target intervention, (USACS), said “Oppression at the hands of society has forced gay people to hide their identity. They are forced to ignore their health problems. But as health professionals, it is our duty not to exclude them while dealing with their health problems, including providing treatment for HIV/AIDS, as they fall under the high-risk group.”

“Over the years, I have witnessed a large-scale mobilisation of transgender people in other parts of the state. But in Uttarakhand, it's only during elections that we see an active member of the community coming to the centre stage. In Chhattisgarh, there have been efforts to set up a helpline and even ensure that the community is able to access social welfare schemes,” said Dr Pratibha Sharma, a psychologist. 

Statehood agitators block traffic
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 12
In protest against the non-acceptance of their demands, statehood agitators today staged a protest demonstration at Prince Chowk and also blocked traffic.

Earlier, they gathered at Shaheed Sthal in the morning, from where they took out a a match towards Prince Chowk.

Raising anti-government slogans, the protesters said till date, no special status had been accorded to the statehood agitators.

The statehood agitators are demanding that they be given Rs 5,000 pension, government jobs and the dependants of the agitators who are above 40 years of age should also be given a job.

Jitender Singh Chauhan, Pramila Rawat, Chandra Sundriyal and Yashoda Rawat were prominent among the protesters.

Govt fails to implement child protection scheme
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 12
Despite pressure from the Central government, the state government continues to dither on the implementation of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

Fed up with the apathy of the state government, Chairman of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) Ajay Setia has written to the state Chief Secretary to take immediate steps for the implementation of the scheme.

Due to the failure of the state government in implementing the ICPSP and the Juvenile Justice Act, the interests of the children, are not being taken care of. Under the ICPS, the Central government has sanctioned Rs 3.33 crore in July this year, but the funds have remained unutilised as the committees have not been formed. Similarly, the government has failed to implement the Juvenile Justice Act as it continues to remain under the control of the Department of Social Welfare.

The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) is a centrally sponsored scheme aimed at building a protective environment for children in difficult circumstances.

Nonchalant attitude

Under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme , the Centre had sanctioned Rs 3.33 crore in July this year. However, the fund remains unutilised as committees have not been formed. Similarly, the government has failed to implement the Juvenile Justice Act as the Department of Social Welfare is yet to take a call on it. 

Sanitary workers gherao MNA’s office
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 12
Perturbed at the non-fulfillment of their demands, a group of sanitary workers, on a call given by the Uttaranchal Swachkar Karamchari Sangh, today gheraoed the office of the Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA) and submitted a memorandum to him.

The sanitary workers staged a protest at the Dehradun Municipal Corporation and raised slogans against the MNA and the corporation. The protesters said they had informed the MNA about their problems but to no avail. They threatened to boycott work if their demands were not met within 24 hours. They said the services of the daily wage workers in the DMC should be regularized.

It was stated in the memorandum submitted to the MNA that besides regularising the services of the daily wage workers, the salary given to them by the Mohalla Swachta Samiti should be increased to Rs 235. There should also be no interference from the president or the secretary of the Samiti in their work.

The protesters also demanded plots at reduced prices and promotion to educated sanitary workers, besides timely payment of salaries before the 10th day of every month. 

Dr Pangtey is new DG (Health, Family Welfare)

Dehradun, December 12
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today approved the elevation of Dr JS Pangtey to the post of Director General (Health, Medical and Family Welfare).

His name was cleared at a Departmental Promotional Committee (DPC) meeting held yesterday, but the Chief Minister's approval could not be taken as he was away.

The government was forced to conduct the DPC after the Nainital High Court quashed the appointment of Dr GS Joshi, who was made officiated DG bypassing several doctors who were much senior to him. — TNS

Champawat traders block highway over new taxes
Our Correspondent

Roadways staff to hold protest today
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 12
The Uttarakhand Roadways Employees’ Union will stage a protest at the State Transport Corporation headquarters in Dehradun tomorrow against the privatisation policy of the Transport Department.

General secretary of the union KP Singh told a press conference in Dehradun today that 3,600 employees working in the state roadways through outsourcing were facing exploitation at the hands of the company that had been outsourced most of the jobs of driver and conductor.

He said the company had collected Rs 9.5 crore as ESI amount but did not deposit it with the department. He added after tomorrow's protest the roadways employees would stage a chakka jaam on December 17. Ashok Kumar and DN Shukla were other office-bearers of the union who attended the press conference.

Gayatri Parivar sends relief aid for Uttarkashi fire victims
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 12
The Akhil Bharatiya Gayatri Parivar, Shantikunj, has sent relief aid for the fire victims of Sunkundi village in Uttarkashi.

Thirty-three families were displaced in a major fire accident at Sunkundi village a week ago. Taking cognisance of the incident, Shantikunj president Dr Pranav Pandya decided to provide relief aid to these affected families.

As a result, a six-member team has been sent to the village with relief aid. Led by Mahesh Rathore the team is carrying ration comprising wheat, rice, sugar, milk powder packets, spices, stoves, utensils, woollen clothes, blankets, sarees, baby clothes and other essential commodities.

Shantikunj spiritual guru Shail Jiji expressed concern for the affected people and said helping those in need is humanity. She urged the relief team members to work with dedication, like they do meditation, as helping the needy was equivalent to praying to God.

It is already providing free of cost homes and school rooms in flash flood-affected Uttarkashi and the Kedar Ghati region.

Notably, the Shantikunj family had also run two free food eateries for the flash flood-affected pilgrims and administration personnel deployed at Kedarnath and Licholi village. It on a daily basis served food to about 500 persons.

Neglect of disaster-hit people human rights violation
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, December 12
A workshop to discuss the human rights issues in the state was held under the aegis of BJP Pradesh Manavadhikar Parakosht in Mussoorie today.

The general secretary of the Mussoorie unit of the BJP, Kushal Singh Rana, said the people were facing difficult times even six months after the disaster as the state government had not provided shelter and food to them. It had turned a blind eye towards their condition, which was gross violation of human rights.

A member Sunil Sonkar said a few members of the Khatik community had ostracised him, which was an encroachment upon his human rights, and had boycotted his family through an illegal diktat recently. He demanded that the Human Rights Commission should provide him justice by directing the state officials to intervene in the matter.

The co-convener of the BJP state human rights cell, Vijay Ramola, alleged that the government had failed to address the human rights issues in the state. Its failure to locate people who had disappeared during the mid-June disaster was an example of its lackadaisical approach.

Ramola said the human rights cell would collect the data of all such violations of human rights in the state and submit it to the state Human Rights Commission for speedy action.

Panchayat polls before Holi: EC
Tribune News Service

Election Commission Chairman Suverdhan addresses mediapersons regarding panchayat elections in the state. A Tribune Photograph

Dehradun, December 12
The State Election Commission (EC) yesterday said it was committed to completing the elections to the three-tier panchayati raj system in the state before Holi (March 17) next year. The Election Commission’s announcement differs from the schedule prepared by the state government. In a reply to court orders, the state government had said it was in favour of holding the panchayat elections in February.

“We will be able to complete the panchayat elections before the festival of Holi next year. The State Election Commission will submit the schedule before the Nainital High Court on December 27,” said Suverdhan, Chairman, State Election Commission, while speaking to the reporters here.

He said the process of revision of voter lists would take at least a month after which the commission would hold the elections. The commission also held a meeting with electoral officers of eight districts today to take stock of the preparations underway.

Tableau to showcase herbal wealth

Dehradun, December 12
After three years a tableau from Uttarakhand displaying its herbal wealth will take part in the Republic Day parade in New Delhi next year.

As part of the 13 tableaus selected from 27 states, Uttarakhand’s tableau will be based on the theme of medicinal herbs and plants.

It was stated in a press note issued here today that following a presentation by Assistant Director of the Information Department KS Chauhan before an experts’ committee of the Union Defence Ministry, the tableau from the state having a theme “Herbs” was selected for the parade.

The idea behind the tableau is to showcase and publicise the herbs and medicinal plants available in the state. It may be recalled that this is the sixth time that the tableau of the state has been chosen for the coveted parade. — TNS