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TOI : PUNE: As young Monali Acharya burst into tears recounting the struggles her family of waste-pickers had to endure to educate her, the resonance of her sentiment echoed in the auditorium. When she requested the parents present on the occasion to let their children study, the significance of the message took a different dimension.

Monali was one among the many children of waste-pickers who were felicitated on Wednesday for excelling in their studies despite all odds by Kagad Kachra Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP).

The annual program, called ‘Jyoti Savitrichi Lekra’ in the memory of visionary couple Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule, saw 186 students being awarded for their academic excellence this year.

Another achiever, Rupali Sathpute, who is studying electronics at the city-based Industrial Training Institute (ITI), earns her fees by selling insurance cover.

“The women in the audience may recognise me because I keep telling them to fill-up the insurance forms whenever I meet them,” she said by way of introduction. “But these women are very nice. Though they don’t understand my instructions, they keep asking me the same questions over and over, until they understand it,” Rupali added.

Taking the stage as a mother of three children, all of whom have excelled in academics, Suman More recounted how she collected waste to educate her children and saving money by going hungry. “But it has now paid off. Don’t let your children become waste-pickers. Educate them,” she implored her co-workers.

Vidya Bal, a prominent feminist and social activist, was the chief guest for the occasion. She urged children present to ensure that they do not forget their parents’ sacrifices in their quest to climb up the professional ladder. “As waste pickers, you must realise the importance and value of the work you do. If you don’t feel proud of your own self, no one will give you the…More

TOI : PUNE: Villagers who fail to build toilets in their homes may not get loans if they fail to take corrective measures.
In an effort to render the Nirmal Gram Yojana more effective, the district administration has taken serious steps like stopping allotment of 7/12 land extracts, registration rights and sanctioning of loans for the villagers who do not construct toilets at home.

The administration has also decided to appoint a dedicated officer for every village which is yet to implement the scheme. The decision was made at a high-level meeting of district officials on Tuesday for setting up a plan for effective implementation of schemes like Nirmal Gram, dispute-free villages and cleanliness drives.

Addressing the media after the meeting, district collector Chandrakant Dalvi said, “The administration has taken a decision that all the schemes will be implemented with the collective efforts of the revenue department, zilla parishad and the police. Earlier, the work was divided among the departments. However this year, all the departments will monitor all the schemes.”

“Over 5.66 lakh toilets are expected to be built in the district under the scheme. Out of this, nearly 70 per cent work has been completed. However, the work on construction of more than two lakh toilets is still pending which will be the target area,” he said.

Dalvi told that out of total 1,401 gram panchyats, 570 have adhered to the norms of the Nirmal Gram Yojana. B…More

TOI : PUNE: When the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) approved its highest ever annual budget of Rs 2,221 crore for the financial year 2008-09 it created history. The budget for 2009-10, however, is likely to be less generous. Against the backdrop of the ongoing economic crisis, the mantra this year is ‘slim and healthy’.

Speaking to TOI on Wednesday, municipal commissioner Pravinsinh Pardeshi said that the annual budget for 2009-10 will not incorporate projects which the civic body will not be able to complete within the
financial year.

“There is a need for strict financial discipline. Presenting big budgets and making mammoth provisions doesn’t work. We are working on many road projects for four and five years when it is possible to complete them within a few months. The main reason for pending of works is insufficient provision. We plan many projects and divide funds and are not able to complete any project on time,” said Pardeshi.

He added that this would also help the civic machinery to concentrate on important projects. “As of now the machinery and the manpower is divided and diverted to many projects at one time. To avoid this we should keep a fixed target and put in all efforts to achieve it,” said Pardeshi.

He pointed out that many ambitious projects are announced in the budget and provisions are made. “But these works never start and the procedure to divert funds from these projects to other projects is tedious. In my tenure at the PMC I have not been able to start major road projects, I’m just concentrating on completing old road projects.”

Meanwhile, the PMC’s chief accountant Virendra Jadhavrao fears that if the appropriate provision for pending works is not provided it will affect the budget for 2009-10. Jadhavrao’s report before the standing committee taking review of income and expenditure of the civic body…More

TOI : PUNE: Lt Col Prasad Purohit and treasurer of Abhinav Bharat, Ajay Rahirkar, who were arrested by the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) investigating the Malegaon bomb blast case, were batchmates in the same city college for their degree course in commerce and shared an interest in sports.

Documents and souvenirs at the college revealed that Purohit took admission in the college in 1989 in the junior college section. He studied there till 1993. Rahirkar was in the same batch. However, both of them did not clear all the subjects the first time they sat for their second year bachelor of commerce (SY B Com) exam.
When contacted, the principal of the college said that he did not remember the students or recall anything about them.

College documents showed that both Purohit and Rahirkar performed well in sporting activities. They participated in weight-lifting, swimming and water polo and represented their college in sports tournaments.
When asked about their friendship, Rahirkar’s brother Nilkantha refused to comment and claimed that his brother was innocent.

“My brother is innocent and we will prove this in the court,” he said. “As the matter is pending before the court, I don’t want to comment. We will talk to the media at the appropriate time.”

Meanwhile, Rakesh Dhawade’s family members told TOI that they had been permitted to speak with Rakesh at the Nashik court. The family first denied meeting him after his arrest by the ATS, but later said that “special permission” was sought for the meeting.

Dhawade is an antique arms collector and has a collection of over 2,000 weapons and arms. He has also set up a museum at his residence on Sinhgad road where ancient weapons are displayed.

He has travelled extensively in the country and abroad and gives expert advise on identifying antique weapons. Dhawade was also a…More

TOI : PUNE: The crime branch, Pune, arrested six people including two men and four women on charges of allegedly running a commercial sex racket.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team nabbed Anukumar Bhola Singh (25) and his driver Praveen Madhav Pethwadzakar (25), both residing at Nanded phata on Sinhagad road in Shivajinagar on Wednesday night. The men and four women had arrived in a Maruti 800 and were waiting for prospective customers on the road near Rahul Talkies around 10.30 pm.

Singh, who originally hails from Mumbai, had rented a flat for the women at Nanded phata and had been running a commercial sex racket for the last three months.

PSI Ashok Bhaskar Jadhav has registered a case against the six people arrested under relevant sections of the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act Act (PITA) with the Shivajinagar police station.

Additional commissioner of police (crime) Rajender Singh on Wednesday said that the police would submit a proposal to the district collector in order to seal the flat at Nanded phata on Sinhagad road under section 18 of the PITA.

The flat was being rented out by Singh. If the property is sealed it will deter people from renting out their premises to those likely to misuse it,” he said. “Five months ago, the police had submitted a similar proposal to the collector in a similar case and now we are pursuing the matter.” B…More

TOI : PUNE: Calling the door-to-door vaccination drives held by private organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGO) illegal and life threatening, a civic official has appealed to citizens not to fall prey to the offers.

City-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar brought up this issue on Tuesday, following which the civic body made it clear that private vaccination camps should only be held at hospital set-ups.

“Private organisations and NGOs need to take authorisation from the municipal corporation, before holding such drives,” said D D Chandakkar, deputy health official, PMC.

The PMC’s immunisation drive is an ongoing process. Anybody requiring a vaccination can approach a nearby civic hospital. Even registered medical practitioners are allowed to administer such vaccines at their respective clinical establishments, said Chandakkar. However, no NGO or registered private body can do it on their own, he added.

“Private organisations include vaccines of hepatitis B, rubella, typhoid in their door-to-door drives. They offer these vaccines on concessional rates and people fall prey to such tactics. Housing societies on fringe areas are their prime targets,” said RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar.

When contacted, Santosh Nawale, an expert in preventive medicine and a director of the Ratnaprabha Medical Foundation and Research Centre (RMFRC), which is a registered body under the charity commissioner and conducts such camps, said, “We submit the annual audit to the charity commissioner.

Moreover, all the vaccines used in the camps are WHO approved. And, as long as we ensure that required doses of a vaccine are given within a stipulated time-frame, it is perfectly legal.” Chandakkar, however, refuted such claims. “A charity commissioner approves a body as an organisation, but that does not include approval for conducting vaccinations, which do not fall under his purview.” B…More

TOI : PUNE: In an unusual posture to achieve targets under the government’s ‘Nirmal Gram’ project, the Pune district administration has warned that those villagers, who did not have toilets in their houses, would be deprived of loans and benefits under various welfare schemes.

As many as 870 villages in the district did not have toilets for every family and thus remained unlisted as ‘Nirmal Gram’ (Clean Village), a project being implemented by the authorities aggressively.

To avail of welfare schemes, a certificate of having a toilet in the house will be needed, Pune collector Chandrakant Dalvi told reporters.

A joint meeting of district officials, Zilla Parishad office bearers and police authorities headed by the Pune collector Chandrakant Dalvi told reporters that it was also decided not to issue the land ownership certification of revenue department under section 7/12 to those villagers who failed to comply with the directive on having a toilet in the premises.

Dalvi who said it was a question of “changing the mindset” of villagers who were apathetic in having toilets for their houses despite various schemes to facilitate them.

The next deterrent being mulled over by the authorities was to deny provision of foodgrains on the ration card to the “defaulters”. This would be done after getting nod of the state government, the collector added. B…More