MeraPahad Community Of Uttarakhand Lovers

राम रमापति कर धनु लेहूँ खैन्चेहू चाप मिटे संदेहू   (Ram Ramapati kar dhanu lehoon, khainchehoo chaap mite sandehoo)

राम चरित मानस मैं सीता स्वयंबर की एक चौपाई है जिसे हम बचपन मैं इस प्रकार पड़ते थे  . राम रमापति कर धनु लेहूँ, खैंचहु चाप मिटे संदेहू.  यह चौपाई बालकाण्ड के २८४ दोहे की सातवीं पंक्ति पर है. इधर मैं जब बाल कांड पढ़ रह था तो मैंने पाया  कि खैंचहु चाप कि जगह  खैन्चेहु मिटे  मोरे संदेहू लिखा है खैन्चेहु  के बाद चाप शब्द नहीं  है.  चाप के माने प्रत्यंचा या धनुष कि डोरी होता है. मैंने कुछ साल पहले गीता प्रेस गोरखपुर को पत्र लिखा परन्तु सही जबाब नहीं आया. राम भक्तों से निवेदन है कि क्या सही है बताएं वैसे तो राम कथा कैसे ही कह  लीजीये  राम का नाम लेने से मतलब है, फिर भी जिज्ञाषा शांत होना आवश्यकीय है (D.N.Barola)

Jalali ( Almora) - The non functioning Block
 
 During the visit of Chief Minister of undivided Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati had declared two districts, while addressing a Shilpkar Rally at Almora on 4 September, 1997.  Bageshwar and Chamoli were declared as Districts and Jalali was declared as a Block. Both the districts came into existence and Jalali Block was also inaugurated by Deepak Krishna Verma, the then District Magistrate Almora on 8 April, 1999. Thus the 34 year old demand of the people was met. A sign-board was also put up in the Sahakari Samiti Building from where the Block office started functioning. The District Magistrate deputed an Assistant Development Officer (ADO) as in-charge Block Development Officer (BDO), Jalali. And the office of the BDO, Jalali started its normal functioning. The Administration also asked the Rural Engineering Service (RES) Department to prepare necessary estimates for the construction of the office building of the Block Office.  However this achievement of the people of Jalali lasted hardly for less than two months. Within two months the Block Office was closed down and since then the people of Jalali call it a non-functioning Block. Today, believe it or not Jalali is a non-functioning Block.
 
    Some times back however three MLAs belonging to the different political parties met at Jalali to support the demand of the people for Jalali Block. The meeting had an overwhelming participation of the people specially the women. Bharatiya Janta Party MLA Surendra Jina, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, MLA Pushpesh Tripathi, whose party is a participant in the Government and Congress MLA Karan Mahara shared the same dais and vowed to fight for the establishment of Jalali Block.  They promised to raise the issue of Jalali Block with one voice in the ensuing Vidhan Sabha session of Uttarakhand commencing from 3 March, 2008.
 
    Jalali is a junction of three Blocks, viz. Dwarahat, Bhikiyasen and Tarikhet. The distance of Dwarahat from Jalali is about 25 Kms, Bhikiyasen is about 54 Kms. and Ranikhet is about 35 Kms. away. The proposed Jalali Block has 7 Naya Panchayats, viz. Takulti, Pali, Jalali, Daula, Era, Paithani and Sagneti with about 65 Village Panchayats. Interestingly the BJP and the Congress both recognize it as a Block from the organizational point of view. The BJP has a Mandal (Bloc) Committee in Jalali and the Congress has a Block Congress Committee at Jalali.
 
The Block Sangharsh Samiti, President, Jagdish Budhani and the BCC President Digpal Singh Bisht both are highly optimistic about the creation of Jalali Block in view of massive participation of the people in the recent meeting which had the support of all the MLAs of the area, irrespective of party affiliation. They have decided to lead a delegation of the people of Jalali after observing the outcome of the efforts of the three MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha. They are now determined to fight a long drawn battle for the accomplishment of the Block.
 
Today however all the promise of the public representatives have proved to be promises only and the people are once again talk of fighting another battle to restore the functioning of Jalali-The non-functional block.(D.N.Barola)

Young generation getting addicted to correction fluids.


Eraser Packs


Cigarette smoking to some extent is becoming a thing of the past by the young generation and now they are finding it more convenient to use the correcting fluids, whiteners or glue for their highs. Last Thursday a student Mohit, 17, who was a student of class 12 died after inhaling excessive quantity of glue. He was found lying dead amidst the bushes just adjacent to Central School, FRI, Dehradun. Studies show that inhalants’ use among young teens is on the rise. Huffing-inhaling or sniffing paint, thinner, glue, aerosol deodorizers and other gases are the most common forms of drug abuse among school students. There are hundreds of products easily available at stationery shops and in the houses that are being used by beginner drug addicts.

The issue was prominent one raised by senior citizens at the Visitors’ Week celebrated by the Police in January, 2008. The citizens participating in the Week wanted the Police to check this menace. Reports suggest that students have become victims of this intoxicant to such a level that they are purchasing the same at much higher prices. The Police shared the feelings of the citizens and it was decided that the Police would try to persuade the shopkeepers not to sell this material to the students and young children.  Since pencil erasers are also available now, the shopkeepers would be requested to sell these pencil erasers.  The then Head of the GSM Civil Hospital, here, Dr.P.S. Kuwarbi, when contacted, said that the correcting fluid thinners currently used with correction fluid include bromopropane which could be absorbed in the body by inhalation through the skin and by ingestion. It affects the body by evaporation very quickly. Repeated or prolonged contact with the central nervous system could result in decreased learning ability and psychological disorders. It causes dizziness, drowsiness, headache, nausea, dry skin, abdominal pain, burning sensation and in extreme cases unconsciousness. It also has adverse affects on the reproductive system and is also believed to cause cancer.


Eraser Bottles

The young generation has been using it by inhalation through the handkerchief or polythene bags. The use of these intoxicants needs to be curbed. These organic solvents are psychoactive when deliberately inhaled. Such solvents are common inhalants for adolescents due, in part, to the fact that they are inexpensive in comparison to other recreational drugs and because they are available at every stationery shop. Use of correction fluid as inhalant can cause the heart to beat rapidly and irregularly, which can even cause death.  This is what probably happened in the case of Mohit. 

In order to deter the abuse of the inhaler an unpleasant smell is added to some brands. At Ranikhet, the banks of the Ranee Jheel, here, are favourite haunts of such substance abusers. Empty correcting fluid and whitener bottles can be seen spread over a large area here. The menace of these intoxicants can be halted only with the active cooperation of the Police, the guardians and the Shopkeepers who sell these goods. The Government should also ban these intoxicants; instead the pencil erasers should be available in the market. The students should be educated about the ill effects of the intoxicants. With the cooperation of Police, guardians, shopkeepers and the students this menace can be curbed to a great extent.(D.N.Barola)

Multi-Party System & One Party System


    In an International Conference held in India Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh spoke about the desirability of a one party system in place of the Multi-Party system. He was apparently advocating the one party system in view of his  experiences in the matter of nuclear deal. He felt so helpless that he uttered words like; this is not the end of life. In fact the debate on this matter was a subject of introspection even when the Bharatiya Janta Party led National Democratic Alliance was formed. NDA was a combination of different political parties with contradictory ideologies. The question was how to run the Government of different ideologies. The Common Minimum Programme was devised as a uniting factor. The Government was made responsible to work for the implementation of the Common Minimum Programme.  But the experiment could not be favourable. The combination of different political parties with varying demands made it impossible for the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Bajpai to run the Government, though some how the Government could last full five years.  The experience of the Congress led United Progressive Alliance is equally unpleasant.  Keeping this in mind, the former President of India Abdul Kalam also initiated a debate on the Multi-party system. However the debate could not make much headway.
 
    There is no doubt that the present experiment of the Multi-party system is not encouraging. But this is also a fact that during the Multi-party rule India has made tremendous progress in various fields. The Sen* has been booming, the prosperity level has been increasing, and there is glut of all kinds of consumer goods. India is lagging on certain fronts, but the overall picture of the economy is good. Multi-party rule also hits at the root of any likely dictatorial tendencies which may develop in one Party rule. People argue that the one party rule would tantamount to the subversion of democracy. People should have freedom to select the party of their choice. Others argue that the democracy and responsibility are the two parts of the coin. Without responsibility democracy cannot function.  There has to be a certain curtailment of democracy to make the democracy work efficiently. It is a fact that some years back the elected Members of Parliament had the liberty to choose any Party of their choice even after being elected. But their liberty had to be curtailed by amending the Constitution according to which they were disallowed to change the political parties. The Law has further been changed to provide that any M.P. or MLA desiring to change the Party is required to first resign and then he can seek re-election to the seat resigned by him, if he likes, though I feel that the law should have also provided for some terminating authority in case of the elected representatives of various legislatures for their acts of omission and commission.
 
    In a Multi-party Government the regional parties play a crucial role. Sometimes a small political party with few MPs is instrumental in keeping the Government at a fix. The recent example of Indo-US deal is a pointer to this all. The Left with insignificant numbers was able to harass the Government by threatening to bring down the Government every now and then. Such a step did put the Government in an awkward position in the eyes of the International community. In the case of the Nuclear deal the dilemma before the PM was that in the International community India’s position was becaming humiliating. The image of the country was retarding.
 
    I personally feel that broadly speaking there are three distinct schools of thought. There is school of thoughts which propagates the Left thinking, another is that propagates the Right thinking and the third is the Centre with a slight leaning towards the Left or the Right.  In Western Countries invariably there are two party systems. In USA or England there are two Party systems. In Britain which has a Prime Ministerial form of Government, the Leader of the Opposition is considered to be the Prime Minister-in-waiting. There is no instability in these countries. India experienced the worst type of instability when the Government of Atal Behari Bajpai lasted only 13 days and then 13 months.  It was a dubious record of governance for the largest democracy of the world, where the elected representatives behaved so irresponsibly that the Government could last 13 days only.
 
    The suggestion about the desirability or otherwise of the Multi-party system deserves consideration.  In fact earlier the Bharatiya Janta Party wanted a total overhaul of the Constitution. But the idea did not find favour from the various political parties. Today mainly two political parties, i.e. Congress and the BJP are being affected by the indiscriminate growth of regional parties. These small Parties are eroding the very base of both the National political parties. In case this haphazard growth is not checked, it will not be far that both the Parties would be reduced to the status of smaller Parties. India needs two National level parties, with National outlook at the Centre whereas smaller parties may cater to the States. If such an arrangement can be made the National Parties will be able to work in the larger interest of the Nation as a whole with long term objectives in mind, whereas the regional parties may look to the interest of their respective States.(D.N.Barola)

mai Badoala ji ki batoo se sahamt ho ki
Ranikhet ko District ka darzaa diya jayee aur yaha par Nagar Palikaa banyii jayee