IEP DEHRADUN,

September 24, 2022Ordering an inquiry to investigate the role of the secretary of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Mukesh Singhal in the whole issue, the speaker Ritu Khanduri has suspended him. The Vidhan Sabha secretariat had issued an advertisement in the year 2021 to recruit 32 employees to various posts. A written examination was held on March 20 last year but its result has not been declared yet. For this examination the selection of Lucknow based agency RSM Technosolutions was made. Interestingly this agency is under scanner for its role in the paper leak case of UKSSSC. The committee found that a payment of Rs 59 lakh was made to this company within two days of submitting bills last year. Singhal’s role has been found suspicious in making this payment. He has also been accused of getting undue promotions during the tenure of Prem Chand Agarwal as speaker. Khanduri said that she would undertake many reforms in the Vidhan Sabha secretariat which include right sizing of the employees, e – office and e-Vidhan Sabha. She said that necessary changes in the process of promotions and service rules would be made in the Vidhan Sabha.

IEP DEHRADUN, September 24, 2022

In a landmark decision, unprecedented in the history of Uttarakhand, the Assembly speaker Ritu Khanduri has cancelled 228 appointments in the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha. The speaker has sent a proposal to the Uttarakhand government to cancel these ad hoc appointments made in the year 2016, 2020 and 2021.

Though no action has been taken in the appointments made prior to 2011, the speaker however has sought legal opinion on these appointments which are permanent in nature. Khanduri has also cancelled 22 appointments done through the Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Kalyan Nigam Limited (UPNL) in the Vidhan Sabha.

Acting on the recommendations of the three-member expert committee, the Assembly speaker has also cancelled the process initiated by her predecessor Prem Chand Agarwal for recruitment to 32 posts in Vidhan Sabha and suspended the Vidhan Sabha secretary Mukesh Singhal. On September 3, Khanduri had appointed a three member committee headed by former bureaucrat DK Kotia to investigate the controversial appointments made in Vidhan Sabha during the tenure of speakers in the past. On late Thursday night the committee handed over the 214 page report to the speaker.

 Acting swiftly the speaker took a decision on Friday to cancel 150 ad hoc appointments made in the year 2016 (speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal), six made in the year 2020 and 72 in 2021 (speaker Prem Chand Agarwal). Khanduri announced her decision in a press conference in Vidhan Sabha on Friday afternoon. The speaker said that on September 3, she had promised that she would not hesitate to take a strong decision in the interest of the State and would try to fulfill the aspirations of the youngsters of the State. She said that the expert committee has found gross irregularities in the ad hoc appointments made in the Vidhan Sabha in the year 2016, 2020 and 2021 and has recommended their cancellations.

IEP DEHRADUN, September 24, 2022

The three-member committee headed by DK Kotia was given a time of one month by the speaker but the committee submitted its report in only 20 days. The report submitted by the committee has 214 pages and few annexures. 

The committee found that no selection committee was set up for making the ad hoc appointments, no advertisement was issued, no competitive examinations were held, the names of eligible candidates were not sought from the employment exchange and no applications were invited. 

It found that the appointments were made on individual applications. The committee in its report quoted that violation of right to equality given in article 14 and 16 of the Indian constitution occurred in the process as the eligible interested candidates were not given an opportunity. In its report the committee said that the department of Personnel in a GO dated February 6, 2003 had issued a stay on all ad hoc, contractual and daily wages appointments in the government departments and the appointments in Vidhan Sabha were made in violation of this order. The speaker praised the members of the committee DK Kotia, Surendra Singh Rawat and A S Nayal for the hard work they put in to submit the report before time.

IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 23

At a time when thousands of cattle have been afflicted by lumpy skin disease (LSD) in Uttarakhand with the department concerned evidently failing to curb the spread of the virus, the State’s Animal Husbandry minster Saurabh Bahuguna chaired a meeting to review the situation on Thursday. With the virus already having afflicted thousands of cattle and having caused the death of hundreds of cattle, the minister released standard operating procedure (SOP).

Based on information handed to him by the officials, the minister said that so far a total of 20,505 cases of the disease had been registered in Uttarakhand out of which 8,028 cattle had been reportedly cured and 341 had died. He said that the recovery rate is currently 40 per cent while the fatality rate is 1.6 per cent. Regarding the vaccination of the cattle, the minister said that the government has appointed nodal officers to monitor the status of the disease. He said that the State has about six lakh doses of the vaccine out of which 5.80 lakh have been distributed in various districts. Further, the State government has placed an order for four lakh more doses. He said that every person rearing a cattle should get the animal insured so that they get adequate compensation even if the animal dies.

He said that people can call the toll free number 1800 120 8862 to get information about the disease. Releasing the SOP, the minister opined that all will have to be aware of lumpy skin disease.

 He said that cattle in Haridwar and Dehradun are most affected by the disease with 11,350 registered cases in Haridwar and 6,383 in Dehradun. The minister further averred that the Central government has provided vaccination and funding related assistance on time. Animal Husbandry secretary BVRC Purushottam, Information director general Banshidhar Tiwari and other officials concerned were also present in the meeting.

IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 23

The Forest Research Institute (FRI) director Renu Singh stressed on the importance of DNA fingerprinting in the management of insect-pests and disease in the forest ecosystem. She said this while speaking as the chief guest in a webinar on molecular interventions in plant pathology and entomology organised by Forest Protection division of the institute of Thursday. The webinar was attended by more than 100 participants online/ offline. Addressing the participants, Indian Agricultural Reseach Institute principal scientist Vinay K Kaliak informed about insect pest problems in agriculture crops and forest trees, available options to combat them, failure of synthetic insecticides and potential of native isolates of entomopathogenic bacteria in insect pest control. Other scientists and subject experts from various institutes also expressed their views on the occasion.

IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 23

A two-day national seminar on development experiences of Uttarakhand would be organised in Doon University on September 23 and 24. Organised by the Department of Economics, Doon University, discussions on two decades of development experiences of the state would be made in the workshop. More than 100 academicians and policy experts would participate in the seminar which would focus on identifying strategies and reorienting development priorities in the state in coming years. The Head of Department of economics R P Mamgain said that the seminar aims at offering a platform to discuss the perplexing issues pertaining to inclusive development of Uttarakhand, besides assessing the progress made so far in terms of ensuring decent livelihoods to labour, and their right to live and work with dignity.

IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 23

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reviewed the reconstruction works in Badrinath and Kedarnath virtually.  Uttarakhand Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami attended the meeting virtually from the secretariat. Modi took an update of the works in Kedarnath and Badrinath and said that the number of pilgrims visiting these shrines would increase considerably in the future. Stressing on the need for developing the areas near Kedarnath for spiritual tourism, the PM said that these areas need to be developed. He said a plan to develop Vasuki Tal, Garud Chatti and Lincholi as destinations of spiritual tourism should be prepared. The PM also said that a plan for developing the area around Badrinath as a model should be prepared. He suggested that Mana village and nearby areas should be developed as rural tourism destinations. 

The PM opined that a good model of economy can be developed by promoting local culture and products. Dhami said that the reconstruction works in Badrinath and Kedarnath are being executed at a fast pace under the guidance of PM Modi. He said that all works would be completed by December 2023. Dhami said that more than 35 lakh registered pilgrims have visited the Char Dhams this year. 

The chief secretary SS Sandhu gave a presentation on reconstruction works in Badrinath and Kedarnath. He said that in Kedarnath, the work of the first phase has been completed and in the second phase 21 works of Rs 188 crore are being undertaken, out of which three are completed and six would be completed by December. Sandhu said that a target to complete remaining works till July 2023 has been taken. He said that the work of Sangam Ghat would be done by June 2023 and work on Ishaneshwar temple would complete within a month from now. Sandhu told the PM that all works as per the master plan would be completed by December 2023. He said that work in Badrinath shrine is also being done at a fast pace as per the master plan. 

The work in Seeshnetra Lake and Badrish Lake would be completed in three months and the work in river front development would be completed by June 2023. The union Culture secretary Govind Mohan informed that setting up of an orientation centre in Sonprayag, Chintan Sthals at Rambada, Chotti Lincholi, Badi Lincholi and Channi camp, Shiv Udhyan in Kedarnath and Kedarnath Saga museum at Kedarnath are the works which the ministry of culture is undertaking. Officer on Special Duty (OSD) department of culture Bhaskar Khulbe, secretary tourism Uttarakhand Sachin Kurve, deputy secretary government of India Mangesh Ghildiyal were present on the occasion. 

IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 23

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that wrong and illegal appointments in the Vidhan Sabha secretariat should be cancelled. Interacting with the media persons after his return from New Delhi on Thursday, Dhami said that he has also conveyed his opinion to the Assembly speaker that the appointments if found improper should be cancelled. He said that when the issue of controversial appointments in Vidhan Sabha came up before him, he immediately requested the speaker to conduct an inquiry into these appointments. Made ahead of the submission of the report of the expert committee, the statement of the CM Dhami assumes significance. The committee set up by the speaker Ritu Khanduri to investigate controversial appointments in Vidhan Sabha is expected to submit its report on Friday. The expert committee was set up on September 3 and it has been asked to submit its report in a period of one month. Headed by former bureaucrat DK Kotia, the three member committee comprises former IAS officers Surendra Singh Rawat and AS Nayal. The report of the committee is being eagerly awaited in Uttarakhand because the fate of hundreds of employees appointed during the tenure of different Speakers in the past is dependent on it. The report of the committee and the action taken on its recommendation could also decide the political future of finance, urban development and parliamentary affairs minister Prem Chand Agarwal. The committee is investigating 72 appointments made during the tenure of Agarwal. Similarly the appointments made during the tenure of former speakers Govind Singh Kunjwal, Yashpal Arya, Late Harbans Kapur and late Prakash Pant are also under the scanner.

IEP DEHRADUN

Taking a leaf out of the book of its neighbour Himachal Pradesh, the Uttarakhand government is also planning to levy a green cess on private and commercial vehicles entering the state. The Uttarakhand Transport department is working on the proposal and the Transport minister Chandan Ram Das is likely to present the proposal in the next cabinet meeting.

The transport department currently imposes green cess in the State for road safety but it is only on the purchase of new vehicles. It presently collects entry tax from the commercial vehicles of other states entering Uttarakhand. Eliminating the collection of entry tax, the green cess will be levied on all vehicles except two-wheelers after the execution of the plan. The cess will be imposed on vehicles with the help of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed in almost every entry point of the State, as per the officials. These cameras will help the department to detect all vehicles entering the State and help in recovering the cess.

The whole system of paying cess will be online and the department is already working on developing software for the same. The deputy transport commissioner Sanat Kumar Singh informed that the department is preparing a proposal to present it to the government for approval. The officials will also consider some provisions for the frequent visitors to the State to pay quarterly or annual charges to the department or some exemption in certain cases.

He stated that the department is working on various factors while preparing the proposal like how much cess must be levied on the vehicles. He said that lakhs of people including pilgrims and tourists visit the State every year and the green cess collection from such visitors will increase the department’s revenue. The collected revenue will be spent to improve road safety considering accidents occurring at several vulnerable locations across the State.

IEP DEHRADUN

Taking a leaf out of the book of its neighbour Himachal Pradesh, the Uttarakhand government is also planning to levy a green cess on private and commercial vehicles entering the state. The Uttarakhand Transport department is working on the proposal and the Transport minister Chandan Ram Das is likely to present the proposal in the next cabinet meeting.

The transport department currently imposes green cess in the State for road safety but it is only on the purchase of new vehicles. It presently collects entry tax from the commercial vehicles of other states entering Uttarakhand. Eliminating the collection of entry tax, the green cess will be levied on all vehicles except two-wheelers after the execution of the plan. The cess will be imposed on vehicles with the help of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed in almost every entry point of the State, as per the officials. These cameras will help the department to detect all vehicles entering the State and help in recovering the cess.

The whole system of paying cess will be online and the department is already working on developing software for the same. The deputy transport commissioner Sanat Kumar Singh informed that the department is preparing a proposal to present it to the government for approval. The officials will also consider some provisions for the frequent visitors to the State to pay quarterly or annual charges to the department or some exemption in certain cases.

He stated that the department is working on various factors while preparing the proposal like how much cess must be levied on the vehicles. He said that lakhs of people including pilgrims and tourists visit the State every year and the green cess collection from such visitors will increase the department’s revenue. The collected revenue will be spent to improve road safety considering accidents occurring at several vulnerable locations across the State.