Dehradun Nov 23 PTI Intensifying their agitation for the dissolution of the Devasthanam Board a group of Chardham priests gheraoed the official residence of Uttarakhand Agriculture Minister Subodh Uniyal here on TuesdayThey also staged a dharna outside the ministers residence and performed shirshasana headstand to press their demand for the withdrawal of the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Act 2019Uniyal met the protesters and asked them to wait till November 30 after which a major decision about the board could be takenPriests of the Chardham -- Kedarnath Badrinath Gangotri and Yamunotri -- have long been demanding the dissolution of the Devasthanam Board that they see as an encroachment upon their rightsConstituted during the chief ministership of Trivendra Singh Rawat the board is mandated to run the affairs of 51 temples in Uttarakhand including the ChardhamSoon after taking over former chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat announced during Kumbh that the temples will be removed from the boards control But he had to step down before he could keep his wordThe priests under the banner of Chardham Teerth Purohit Hak Hakookdhari Mahapanchayat will also gherao the state assembly during its winter session starting December 7 in GairsainThe protesters said they will take out an Akrosh rally from the Gandhi Park to the secretariat here on November 27 and observe it as a black day The state cabinet had given its nod to the creation of the Devasthanam Board on November 27 2019Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has constituted a high-powered committee to look into the issue and thrash out a solution that is acceptable to all stakeholdersThe committee has already submitted its interim report to the state government but Dhami said a decision will be taken after it submits the final report PTI ALM DIV DIV

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], November 15 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party National President JP Nadda arrived on a two-day trip to Uttrakhand on Monday.

New Delhi [India], October 9 (ANI): Union Minister of State for the Ministry of Jal Shakti Prahlad Singh Patel on Saturday claimed that every house in Uttarakhand will have piped water connection by 2022.

Dehradun Sep 24 PTI The Uttarakhand Cabinet on Friday gave its approval to payment of revised dearness allowance to the state government employees The state government employees and pensioners will get the revised DA with retrospective effect from July 1 Cabinet Minister Subodh Uniyal told reporters The Cabinet gave the nod at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami Dhami had lifted the freeze on payment of DA to the state government employees on August 25 and increased it from 17 to 28 per cent The state government employees will get the revised DA with arrears As many as 160000 government employees and 150000 pensioners will benefit from the decision The Cabinet also decided to substantially lower VAT charges on aviation turbine fuel from 20 per cent to 2 per cent Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia had recently suggested reducing VAT charges on ATF saying it will help boost air connectivity and revenue It also decided to make head constables out of constables entirely through promotions rather than through an examination The Cabinet also decided to allow contractual teachers in seven engineering institutes of the state to work from October 2021 to March 31 2022 The state government will meet expenses worth Rs 383 crore to be incurred on payment of their remuneration Uniyal said PTI ALM RDK RDK