By Gajendra Singh Negi
Derailed discourse
The pathetic Pahad versus plain debate appeared to overshadow serious discussion on the achievements, challenges and roadmap for the future during the recent special session of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha. It was appalling to observe the members who vied with one another in stooping to low levels while debating on the contentious subject. Comments such as stopping the water of the rivers going to the plains and pointing to the antecedents of leaders such as Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Harish Rawat who were sent to the Lok Sabha by the people of Haridwar was in bad taste for the people of the State who were expecting a more mature and healthy discourse on environmental and developmental aspects of the State in the Vidhan Sabha. Instead of wasting their energies on the divisive issue, the members should have utilised the opportunity to raise the problems of their areas and contribute in creating an effective plan for the future of the State.
Champion Chamoli
BJP veteran Vinod Chamoli deserves kudos for effectively raising the issues of Mool Niwas (domicile) and land consolidation in the house during the special session of Vidhan Sabha. In absence of any law, there is no provision for grant of domicile status to the residents in Uttarakhand which has resulted in an influx of outsiders in the small Himalayan State which has created a strain on its meagre resources. Similarly, in absence of land settlement (which has not been done since 1965), the work on land consolidation in the mountainous areas of the State is pending due to which government’s measures to encourage farming and horticulture in mountainous areas have not yielded positive results. By raising these issues Chamoli circuitously pointed fingers at his own party which is holding reins of the power of the Himalayan State from the last eight years with its leaders boasting of having a triple engine government in the State. In doing so, Chamoli may have hurt his chances of finding a ministerial assignment in the Dhami government but has definitely won the hearts of the people of the State.
Angry babu
It seems that the Primary Education director of the State has made it a habit of losing his temper at the slightest of provocations. In a video going viral on the social media, the officer is seen trying to approach menacingly towards a woman – claiming to be a journalist in the video- who was accompanying a group of diploma in elementary education (DElEd) trainees at the State Education directorate and was filming the arguments between the officer and the trainees. The trainees had gone to the director with a plea of postponing the recruitment process of primary teachers in order to make them eligible for the appointment. The director lost his cool amid the arguments and was literally pushed back by some of the employees of the department when he was trying to enter into a physical brawl with those arguing with him. Incidentally, it is not the first time the officer, who is on verge of superannuating from service, has lost his cool while dealing with those who had come to his office.
