Cabinet approves revival of 5,000 posts of teacher
Backlog of SC, ST posts to be cleared; Asha workers to get weightage
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 8
The Uttarakhand Cabinet late last night approved a proposal to revive around 5,000 posts of teacher that were earlier abolished. However, the teachers recruited against these posts would be posted in remote and border areas on priority.

The Cabinet also gave nod to a proposal to clear the backlog of posts meant for the Scheduled Castes (SC), the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and the Other Backward Communities (OBC).

To give an impetus to education, the Cabinet also approved the setting up of Rajiv Gandhi Abhinav residential schools in each block of the state. These schools would admit students from class I to VIII and teach English as a compulsory subject.

Further, Accredited Social Health Activists (Asha workers) employed in the Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare would get 15 per cent weightage in direct recruitments in the department. At present around 11,086 Asha workers are employed in the Department of Medical Health.

In a big relief to MLAs, the Cabinet decided to withdraw the government order of last year that allowed only 20 per cent of the unspent MLA local area development fund to be carry forward to next year as un-proposed amount. Every MLA in the state receives Rs 2.50 crore as local area development fund, but as most of the amount remained unspent the government headed by previous Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna issued an order mandating that the unspent amount had to be surrendered. However, now the MLAs would be able to carry forward the entire unspent amount.

Other decisions approved included amendments to the Nagar Nigam Act (1959) and the Nagar Palika Act, 1916, regarding the nomination of members to municipal boards and municipal corporations by the state government.

According to the amendments, the government would be able to nominate at least five and a maximum of 14 members to the corporations and at least three and a maximum of nine members to the municipal boards. The reservation policy would be followed in this regard and members of the SC, ST, OBC, and minority communities and women would be given due nomination in the municipal corporation and boards.

CM inaugurates host of projects in Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 8
Chief Minister Harish Rawat inaugurated a host of development and welfare projects in Haridwar today. He laid the foundation stone of the Employees State Insurance Corporation hospital at SIDCUL, and inaugurated four medical diagnostic centres, 22 medical dispensaries, six flood safety projects, and one irrigation project.

He gave the go ahead to the extension of production capacity of the Milk Production Centre at Shikarpur and upgrading of 9.3 MW Mohammedpur hydroelectric house at Laundara during his maiden visit to Haridwar as Chief Minister. Oscar Fernandes, Union Minister for Highways, Transport and Labour, accompanied him.

Rawat said people’s trust could be gained only through the development of the hill state, which is still in its nascent state even 14 years after its creation.

He laid the foundation stone of the Shikarpur Milk Production Centre to be built at a cost of Rs 4.17 crore. He said there was a large scope for milk production in the state and the sector could provide employment to local villagers.

Fernandes announced a plan to construct an alternative national highway from New Delhi to Haridwar via Purkaji, Bihari Gadh and Lakshar. This highway would ease traffic congestion on the National Highway-54.

Uttarakhand Minister for Labour Harish Chandra Durgapal, Khanpur legislator Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion, Piran Kaliyar Sharif legislator Furkan Ahmed, Ranipur-BHEL legislator Aadesh Chauhan, Director General, ESIC, AK Aggarwal, District Magistrate Nidhi Pandey, Mayor Manoj Garg, former State Women Commission Chairperson Santosh Chauhan, city Congress unit president OP Chauhan, and a large number of Congress activists were present at the function.

CM, Speaker convince BJP legislators to end dharna
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 8
The BJP legislators, who were staging a dharna in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, relented after Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal met them late last night. The BJP legislators had staged the dharna in support of their demand for the withdrawal of alleged false cases against BJP legislator from Rudrapur Rajkumar Thukral.

However, the Chief Minister refrained from giving any assurance to the BJP members and urged them to withdraw their dharna and hold talks with him. He expressed his inability to pursue the matter as it was sub judice. The Leader of the Opposition, Ajay Bhatt, said the BJP members withdrew their dharna following an assurance from the Speaker that he would look into the matter.

“We have ended our protest in deference to the Speaker’s desire but we will again demand the withdrawal of cases registered against Thukral on Tuesday when the House reconvenes. We may even contemplate bringing a privilege motion. There are hosts of options we are considering,” said Bhatt.

Meanwhile, the BJP city unit staged a protest today and burnt an effigy of the state government at Clock Tower for its failure to withdraw false cases against Thukral.

Led by Neelam Sehgal, president of the party city unit, party leaders and workers raised slogans against the government for slapping false cases against the MLA and the Chief Minister’s failure to honour his promise made on the floor of the House to resolve the issue amicably. “The Congress-led government has gone back on its promise and the people will give it a befitting reply in the 2014 parliamentary elections,” said Sehgal.

She added the city unit would hold protests all across the state if the government did not to take steps to withdraw cases against the MLA immediately.

Without power for eight months, villagers threaten to block water supply to Dharchula
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, February 8
Residents of five villages in the Tawaghat area of Dharchula subdivision have threatened to block the water supply to Dharchula town if the authorities concerned did not act immediately to repair the electricity lines damaged in the natural disaster last year. Five villages in the area have been without electricity for the last eight months.

“We have decided to resort to this step as the board examinations are round the corner and our children are not able to study due to lack of power supply,” rued Surendra Singh, a resident of Gasku village. Residents of Jilkot, Galanti, Khet, Pangla and Gasku villages, near Tawaghat town, have been without power since last year’s natural disaster.

Surendra added: “We have decided to block the water supply line to Dharchula town at its source in Galanti village so that the administration gets a taste of its own wrong doings.”

The villagers alleged that they had been agitating for the last six months and had held a protest outside the Sub-Divisional Magistrate’s office on January 29, but the administration had not paid heed to their problem.

Another villager said, “If the electricity supply is not resumed before the board examinations, our children’s future will be destroyed.”

Champawat potato farmers face seed crunch
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, February 8
Potato farmers in Champawat district are facing seed crunch, thus adversely affecting the sowing of the crop.

Over 1,500 potato farmers in 36 localities of Champawat district are disappointed because the Horticulture Department has not made potato seeds available to them. “Till last year, the farmers used to get potato seeds in January, but this year the entire cultivation process has been disturbed as the department has not supplied potato seeds to the farmers,” said Devendra Kapri, a potato grower in the Khetikhan area of the district.

Sources in the Horticulture Department said seed growers have sold their stocks in the open market instead of giving these to potato farmers. “The seed growers have given only 1,000 quintals of identified seed to the department even though we needed over 3,500 quintals of seed this year,” said IA Khan, Director, Horticulture, over the phone from Dehradun.

Khan said the department had given the F-2 category potato seed to the seed growers to develop it into a certified seed for sowing. The seed growers sold their stocks in the open market this year as they got lucrative prices. A large stock of potato seeds in the Munsiyari region, which is a major region of seed growers, was destroyed in the natural disaster last year. “We have arranged to provide to the farmers potato seeds from Kashipur and Rudrapur. The supply of seed will arrive in 15 days,” he added.

“Moreover, the department gives Rs 1,650 per quintal while we sold the seeds in the market at Rs 2,200 per quintal this year,” said Nain Singh, president of the Potato Seed Growers’ Association in Munsiyari.