123 cr due from power consumers
SRINAGAR, Oct 15 — An amount of Rs 123 crore was outstanding as power tariff with consumers in Jammu and Kashmir at the end of the last financial year. The government has earmarked a target of Rs 223 crore to be recovered during the current financial year.

4 jawans killed in J&K

JAMMU, Oct 15 (UNI) — Pakistani rangers resorted to unprovoked firing from across the border last night, killing a Border Security Force jawan.

A BSF spokesman said here this afternoon that the firing at the Maljadha border outpost of Pargwal Sub-Sector of Jammu region continued well into the day. At about 0800 hours, BSF jawan Manu Singh sustained a bullet injury. He was taken to the army hospital at Jammu where he succumbed to his injuries.

It was not immediately known if the Rangers also suffered casualties in retaliatory firing, the spokesman said.

Two jawans of the Rashtriya Rifles were killed in an ambush by militants in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir last night.

A group of militants, armed with sophisticated weapons, attacked Rashtriya Rifles pickets in Marmut area of Poonch district. In the ensuing gunfight two jawans were killed.

Suspected militants lobbed a hand grenade on a police post at Bemina which missed the target and exploded without causing any damage. Another grenade lobbed by militants on a security force picket exploded on the roadside.

Militants attacked an army patrol party at Rajopora in South Kashmir late last night. An Army jawan and a counter-insurgent were killed. The militants escaped.

Congress worker Mohammad Yousuf was shot dead by militants at Badasgam in Anantnag district. The security forces shot dead two militants at Lolab and Marmath.

123 cr due from power consumers
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Oct 15 — An amount of Rs 123 crore was outstanding as power tariff with consumers in Jammu and Kashmir at the end of the last financial year. The government has earmarked a target of Rs 223 crore to be recovered during the current financial year.

An additional amount of Rs 200 crore was also outstanding with various security agencies stationed in the state. Out of which only some of the amount has been deposited by security agencies. There is also a dispute over the supply of power and recovery of tariff from other business establishments some of which remained closed during militancy.

These facts were revealed at a press conference by the Minister of State for Power, Mr Syed Abdul Rashid, said here today at a meet-the-Press programme organised by the State Information Department. The Managing Director of the Power Development Department, Mr A.K. Raina, was also present on the occasion.

Syed Abdul Rashid said while the cost of one unit of power was Rs 2.50, it was being supplied to the consumers at a minimum rate of only 50 paise per unit. "We cannot increase the tariff at this juncture as the consumers are already in tight economic position", the minister said. He added that steps were being taken to liquidate the debts which the state owes to the national grid which supplies major portion of power required in the state.

The Power Development Department has paid Rs 518.236 crore during the last financial year for buying power from various feeding sources like the NHPC, BBMB, NPC, PGC etc. The present year estimation on account of purchase of power is estimated at Rs 512 crore which may go higher with the trend of increased load during the first six months of the year, Mr Raina said.

The minister informed that there was a requirement of 5000 million units in the state against which only 900 million units were being generated in the state. To overcome the power scarcity four hydel projects would be completed by the year 2002 with a capacity of over 6000 million units. These projects include Uri-II and Kishan Ganga in the Kashmir region and Baghliar and Sewa-II in the Jammu region. There may be some delay in the completion of these projects due to the current financial crunch, the minister said.

There were 14 other power projects planned for this year and needed financial assistance.

An MoU has been already signed with regard to the four hydel projects — Kishan Ganga HEP (330 MW), Baghliar HEP (450 MW), Uri-II HEP (280 MW) and Sewa-II HEP (120 MW). These projects were expected to be completed within five to seven years of time, it was stated.

The minister said there was no proposal to increase the power tariff at present, but the load shedding would be increased from the present two-hour daily in Srinagar and other parts of the state. This is being done in order to overcome the scarcity of power due to the decline of water level in the hydel projects in the valley during winter months.

Rs 150 cr misused in J&K
Tribune News Service

SRINAGAR, Oct 15 — There has been a misappropriation of at least Rs 150 crore of the government funds in 40 departments of Jammu and Kashmir. The government has also detected financial irregularities involving Rs 100 crore over the eight-year-long militancy in the state.

This was disclosed by the State Finance Minister, Mr Mohammad Shafi, addressing a press conference here yesterday. He said these irregularities and misuse of funds were detected by the newly constituted the Directorate of Audit and Inspections which is continuing its investigations.

Similar views were expressed by the state minister, for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Mr Ali Mohammad Sagar, here early this week. However, he had not mentioned about the exact figures of the misuse of funds in his department. The department of Public Works and Roads and Buildings are the much talked about where the misappropriation of funds is known. Various bills drawn for having completed works in these departments exist only on papers, it is believed. Mr Sagar admitted that many such cases have been detected. He, however, gave instances of a few cases only.

Misuse of government funds at a time when the state was facing economic hardships due to an increase in security-related expenses, decline in income tax and sales tax revenue. The decline in power generation, led to buying power from outside the state. The decline in recoveries in various other sectors, including the forest sector, have led to the cash crunch in the state. Besides, these issues, the Centre has asked the state government to mobilise Rs 720 crore from its own resources.

In view of the figures given by the Finance Minister, the Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah's assertion that financial crunch was partly over, seems to be far from the facts. He said here on Monday that the Centre was keen on solving the problems of the state and in this connection he referred to the meetings of the Chief Ministers of northern states and his proposed meeting with the Union Home Minister in Delhi on October 22. The Finance Minister said the Centre has allocated Rs 450 crore this month to the state, while at least Rs 200 crore were released earlier.

The Finance Minister said several measures had been taken to revitalise militancy shattered economy and rebuild damaged infrastructure. The constitution of the Directorate of Audit and Inspections was a step in this direction, he added.

He said treasuries were being computerised in Srinagar and Jammu. Other treasuries were in the process of computerisation. These will be made on line and the Finance Department will get daily information to ensure financial discipline. Cash management committees too have been set up in all the districts.