IEP DEHRADUN,

IEP Dehradun September 24, 2022

Uttarakhand Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has welcomed the Vidhan Sabha speaker Ritu Khanduri’s decision on the recommendation of the high level committee to cancel ad-hoc appointments made in the Assembly from 2016 to 2021. Dhami said that the Assembly and State government are united against corruption. It will be recalled that earlier when the questionable appointments to various posts in the Vidhan Sabha had come to light, the chief minister had clarified the stand of the government and had requested the Assembly speaker for a probe into the questionable appointments. Khanduri then formed a high level committee and directed it to complete its inquiry in a time bound manner. In its report, the committee recommended that 150 appointments in 2016, six in 2020 and 72 in 2021 should be cancelled. The CM said that the government is working with a commitment to ensure good governance and that no type of corruption will be tolerated. He said that after irregularities were found in Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) and other recruitment exams, the government transferred these exams to the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UKPSC) to ensure transparency. The examination process is underway with focus on maintaining transparency with the commission having issued the calendar of examinations in the first stage. Dhami took stern decisions after receiving complaints about malpractices in exams organised by UKSSSC for various class C posts. In the UKSSSC paper leak case, 41 accused persons have been arrested so far while chargesheet has been filed against 18 accused. Further, judicial remand of 21 accused under the Gangster Act has also been approved. Dhami stressed that the government will not allow injustice with the State’s youth. He exhorted them to work hard and prepare enthusiastically for recruitment exams.

IEP DEHRADUN,

September 24, 2022The findings of the expert committee set up by the Assembly speaker Ritu Khanduri on the controversial backdoor appointments in the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha have put the role of former speakers of the Vidhan Sabha under a cloud. On the recommendation of the committee, the speaker Ritu Khanduri has cancelled the ad hoc appointments made during the tenure of her predecessors Prem Chand Agarwal and Govind Singh Kunjwal. Interestingly both Agarwal and Kunjwal were consistently claiming that the appointments made by them in Vidhan Sabha were as per the rules which the expert committee has rejected after conducting an investigation. Out of the two, Agarwal and Kunjwal, the former is now the cabinet minister holding Finance, Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development portfolios in Pushkar Singh Dhami cabinet. Pressure is now mounting from all quarters on Agarwal to leave the cabinet position on moral grounds. The minister is currently on a study tour of Germany with a team of officers of Housing and Urban Development department. Sources state that CM Dhami, who has maintained a stand of zero tolerance for corruption and has ordered STF probe into the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) paper leak case which is successfully unearthing the case, is also under pressure to act against Agarwal. As per the findings of the committee 78 appointments were made by Agarwal during his tenure. Out of them 72 appointments were made in December last year just ahead of the imposition of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) due to Assembly elections. Citing the GO of department of Personnel on ban on ad hoc appointments, the then Finance secretary Amit Singh Negi had refused to release the budget for the new appointments in Vidhan Sabha. Interestingly the salaries of these employees were released on March 30 this year, a day after Prem Chand Agarwal took charge of the finance portfolio. Both Agarwal and Kunjwal had claimed that the Uttarakhand High Court (HC) had approved these appointments. The fact however is that the HC had issued a stay on regularisation of the employees appointment on an ad hoc basis in Vidhan Sabha. The Pioneer in its edition of September 4 had carried a report- ‘Former Speakers claim on clean chit by High Court on VS appointments false?’- on this claim of the former speakers and had mentioned that the HC had not approved the appointments in Vidhan Sabha.

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.