Ruling Congress, Opposition Congress
With BJP cutting a sorry figure as the Opposition, Congress has been acting both as the ruling as well as the Opposition parties in the state. The recent tussle between the ruling faction and the organizational faction of the Congress has brought the matter to the fore. The state Congress president Kishore Upadhyaya brought a serious charge that the ruling faction is looking down upon the organization with around one thousand letters voicing organizational concerns being thrown in the backburner. Chief Minister Harish Rawat took up the matter with alacrity, saying that things were being promptly addressed. However, BJP is engaged in the effete round of raising graft charges from time to time despite knowing that the same hardly cuts ice with the common people. There seems to be the dearth of the edge in the saffron punches. Despite Ajay Bhatt who is the also the leader of the Opposition being made the state party chief, things have not looked up a bit for the saffron camp. They are flexing muscles by flaunting the fact that they are running the mighty Centre. But such bravado sans a credible leader leading the charge from the front might prove counter-productive with the state approaching the great democratic engagement 2017.
Idling away the morning of life
There is a growing refrain that the students are turning lethargic as they are not being made to do physical work in the schools- both public and private. They come by buses or vans and leave the same way. They hardly walk. They are less hungry and eat junk food whenever hungry. They are not being engaged in cleaning works in the school. The much- touted Swachhh Bharat Mission has been reduced to construction of toilets in the school premises without any role being assigned to the students. Gone are the days when the students used to clean the classrooms and the schools every Saturday. The fallout of these things is that the students are gaining weight and turning idle in body. This is affecting their mind too. It is growing sloth. Observers say that the state government has a role to play in ridding the students of the love of idleness that is eating deep into their body and mind alike. They say that as the state government has vowed to make Uttarakhand open defecation free state by 2018-19 the students of both private and government schools should be involved in the mission. Such kind of venture would not just help them keep physically and mentally agile but would beget a sense of emotional belonging to the larger family they belong to. Would the state government heedIJ
CMO flouting CM's order
Strange though it may sound, the Chief Minister Harish Rawat's order is being ignored by Chief Minister's Office (CMO). This despite the fact that CMO is meant to have the CM's orders executed on the ground in assistance with different departments. Take for instance the broad day light murder of Dr SK Singh on April 20 following which the doctors went on strike across the state. CM intervened to defuse things. He ordered that the deceased family would be given Rs 50 lakh as compensation. Besides, he ordered his widow being provided with accommodation and a government job. Accordingly, he cleared the files too. But CMO returned the file by reducing the compensation amount to mere Rs one lakh. Ironically, the doctor used to draw a salary of over Rs one lakh. Now, his widow has been left in the lurch. The doctors are disheartened too by the lack of commiseration of CMO. If the same mindset continues the doctors would opt out of the government jobs. If this happens it would further aggravate the suffering of the common people who throng the state-run facilities. Would CM intervene againIJ