Under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) programme in Uttarakhand, Chief Electoral Officer Dr BVRC Purushottam on Monday handed over the enumeration form to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at the Secretariat. He said the Election Commission of India has launched the drive to purify and update electoral rolls. Enumeration forms will be provided to all voters across the state and digitised by booth-level officers through the BLO app within a month, up to July 7. Assistant Chief Electoral Officer Mastu Das as present. Earlier, Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) received the form at Lok Bhawan.
Congress slams ‘misuse of money on rehab posts’
Uttarakhand Congress chief spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni has termed the Pushkar Singh Dhami government’s fresh list of chairpersons and advisers a “political rehabilitation drive” for BJP leaders. She said a debt-stressed state, whose borrowings had risen from `44,583 crore in 2017 to nearly `1 lakh crore, was being asked to fund political accommodation while jobs, health, education and vacancies suffered. Dasauni sought a white paper on expenditure and gains from such appointments, asking whether posts in bodies like GMVN and KMVN were based on merit or loyalty. Congress, she said, would continue to oppose misuse of public money.
A mother’s wait of 46 years comes to an end
In Dauligaad village of Pithoragarh’s Berinag, an 85-year-old mother’s wait ended at her doorstep on Friday. Nandi Devi recognised a saffron-clad mendicant seeking alms as her son Buddhi Ballabh Upadhyay, who had disappeared 46 years ago at 15. The reunion left both sobbing, and villagers who gathered for blessings were wiping tears. Buddhi Ballabh said he worked on vehicles after leaving home, later lived in Haridwar and became a sadhu at a temple in Bikaner, Rajasthan, taking the name Budh Nath. He had come to receive ‘bhiksha’ from his mother’s hands, a monastic custom. He also asked about his late father, Tara Dutt.
Narendra sethi
Our correspondent in Uttarakhand
narendrasethi@newindianexpress.com