Ministers, MLAs fly to Haridwar

N To take holy dip in river Ganga during Kumbh

Raipur, March 27, 2010

Chief Minister Raman Singh this afternoon led a 68-member group of MLAs, comprising 51 from the ruling BJP and 17 from the Opposition Congress, on a six-day visit to Haridwar's Kumbh Mela and the national capital.

The group, including Speaker Dharamlal Kaushik, ten ministers and 40 other legislators from the BJP, left for Dehradoon by a special plane. The MLAs, accompanied by their kin, will stay at Haridwar before leaving for Delhi tomorrow evening.

All the legislators are scheduled to visit Rashtrapati Bhavan the following day, informed Assembly Secretariat sources said.

Prominent Congress MLAs who preferred to stay away from the trip organised by the Speaker included Leader of the Opposition Ravindra Choubey, ex-minister Nand Kumar Patel, Dr Shakrajit Nayak, Dharmjeet Singh and Shiv Daharia. The other seniors MLAs of Congress including former chief minister Ajit Jogi, Renu Jogi, Mohammad Akbar and Amitesh Shukla had already refused to go along with the ministers and legislators of the ruling party.

According to information, the CM is scheduled to meet President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP leader LK Advani, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Surface Transport Minister Kamal Nath before returning home on April 1.

On March 30, the CM is scheduled to attend a programme where Indian Olympic Association and the Chhattisgarh Olympic Association will sign a tripartite agreement with the state government pertaining to hosting the 37th National Games in the state.

The Congress MLAs who went on Haridwar tour are Premsai Singh, Kuldeep Juneja, Mahant Ramsundar Das, Kawasi Lakhma, Tamradhwaj Sahu, and Agni Chandrakar including eleven others.

 

Mutton shops to remain close today

Raipur, March 27, 2010

Raipur: Mayor Kiranmayi Nayak has informed that the mutton shops in all the 70 wards would remain close on the occasion of Mahavir Jayanti on Sunday. She said according to instructions of Urban Administration Ministry the municipal’s sanitation inspectors would keep an eye on mutton shops on March 28 and would immediately seize the items of those mutton shops which would remain open on Sunday.

Liquor shops cannot open sans municipal NOC: Mayor

RMC to charge NOC fee for liquor service

Raipur, March 27, 2010


Mayor Kiranmayi Nayak has said that no liquor shops can be opened in the city without municipal’s No Objection Certificate (NOC).  The RMC will also charge NOC fee from the bars, liquor shops and hotels where liquor is being served, Nayak said.

She also cautioned the liquor shop owners that the municipal would take punitive action against them if any drunkard would cause inconvenience to the common mass in front of their shops. She further said that the liquor shops would be responsible for the proper sanitation of their ambience. Similarly, no kiosks would be allowed to be raised near the liquor shops, she added.

Nayak said the RMC would issue NOC to only those liquor shops, bars and hotels who would comply with the municipal norms. They will also have to submit affidavit in the RMC mentioning the area and location of their shops besides the document related to the ownership or rental status of the shops.

The municipal has categorized liquor service in four types according to which Rs one lakh NOC fee will be taken from the country and foreign liquor shops annually, Rs 1.5 from star hotels where liquor is served, Rs one lakh from bars, Rs 10,000 from those who would arrange liquor service in parties and functions and Rs 50,000 from clubs.

PWD constructs 2014 buildings in 5 years

Raipur, March 27, 2010

The Public Works Department (PWD) has constructed 2014 buildings in past five years. The PWD officials informed that the department had constructed 921 hospitals, 70 college buildings, 173 middle school buildings, 88 hostels and ashram hostels, 311 houses for teachers, three polytechnic college buildings, 11 stadiums and mini stadiums and 437 other government edifices in five years. Besides, the department is also constructing roads and bridges, the officials further informed.

Now info about kerosene oil distribution thru SMS

Raipur, March 27, 2010

Chief Minister Raman Singh has informed that soon people would know about the distribution status of kerosene oil through Short messaging Service (SMS). Singh informed that the government had made a provision of Rs 1.22 crore in its budget to computerise the distribution process of kerosene oil under Public Distribution System (PDS).

With the commencement of this facility, any person can register himself free-of-cost with the official website of the Food and Civil Supplies Department. After registration, he would regularly get information about the position of kerosene tankers from depot to relevant ration shop through SMS.

Singh said Chhattisgarh was the first state in the country that has done computerisation of PDS and has loaded the complete information about 10,518 fair price ration shops including the card-wise details of over 36 lakh cardholders registered with them.

Presently, the department is providing all the information to the registered cardholders through SMS about the supply of ration materials including rice, wheat and sugar including their quantity and about the type vehicle in which ration is being sent along with its registration number to maintain transparency in PDS, Singh said.

 

‘People taking interest in Kamal Vihar Yojana’

Raipur, March 27, 2010

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Raipur Development Authority (RDA) Amit Kataria has informed that the people are gradually taking interest in Kamal Vihar Yojana. “A number of land owners arriving during hearing of claims and objections at RDA are urging the authority to quickly start the project so that they could get properly developed plots,” Kataria said.

The land mafias are engaged in illegal plotting of several acres of agricultural lands which they purchase from the farmers at low rates, he said. Later, the land mafias make plots of 1000, 2000, 2500, 4000, 5000 and 10,000 sq ft area and sell them to the people at high rates, he added.

The land mafias actually act as middlemen for farmers and buyers who commence various attractive schemes for their target customers like providing plots in installments, Kataria said. Some middlemen adopt the route of lottery system in which the buyer whose name comes during the monthly draw is exempted from further paying the installments of the plot, he added. However, the middlemen charge the development fee from that particular buyer, he said.

These middlemen never leave any evidence during land buying and selling process and always ensure that the registration of the plots be done directly in the name of the buyer, Kataria said.

When the RDA brought Kamal Vihar Yojana, these middlemen became cautious and they started creating rumours about project that it was not for the benefit of the common mass, but in vain as people are gradually becoming aware about the project, he said.

Kataria has appealed from the people that to ensure that the lay-out of the plot the wish to purchase should have been approved by the authorised official.

Govt deceiving people: Cong

Raipur, March 27, 2010

Opposing the RDA’s Kamal Vihar Yojana, the Congress has alleged that the government was conspiring to subtly acquire the people’s land. The PCC general secretary and spokesperson Ramesh Varlyani blamed the government for ramification of land mafias in the state and said that it kept protecting them for five years and now it wanted the small landowners to learn the lesson of public participation.