Jammu, March 8
The authorities ultimately waked up from the deep slumber as more than 40,000 hectares of the area has been affected by yellow rust disease that has attacked wheat crops, especially in the irrigated areas. The government has decided to take some immediate steps to prevent this disease from spreading in other areas also.

The Tribune in its March 3 edition had reported about the spread of this disease in several parts of Jammu district, especially in the border areas of RS Pura. Now, this issue is being strongly raised by MLAs belonging to the rural areas. They are demanding that some immediate steps should be taken by the government to protect the standing crops.

Replying to the calling attention notice of BJP MLA Sukhnandan Choudhary regarding the spread of the disease, Minister of Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir admitted that there were reports of severe outbreak of yellow rust disease in all varieties of standing wheat crop in Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur and Reasi districts. He said the disease might be affecting some other areas in the Jammu region to a lesser extent.

“It is apprehended that in view of the prevailing weather conditions, the spread of the disease may assume an epidemic form unless necessary protection measures are taken on a war footing,” the Minister informed the Assembly.

Giving the details of the disease, the Minister said the disease was caused by wind-borne “urediospores” of “puccinia striiformis”. High humidity and low temperature provided the most favourable ground for the spread of the disease.

According to the data provided by the government, 25,000 hectares had been affected in Jammu district, 5,000 hectares in Samba, 5,000 hectares in Kathua, 4000 hectares in Udhampur and 1,000 hectares in Reasi.

As the agitating members were demanding immediate steps to stop the further spread of this disease, the Minister informed that teams of experts had been constituted, who were visiting the field areas to assess the extent of damage caused to the wheat crop.

Furthermore, teams of experts from the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Science and Technology and the Central Integrated Pest Management Centre had also been constituted to keep a vigil on the disease for remedial measures.

He further informed that technical advice in the form of handouts was being distributed among the farming community. Mir admitted that the situation demands emergency measures so that the standing crops was protected.

“The department has taken stock of the spread of the disease and a requirement of 25,000 litres of propiconzazole and similar fungicides has been projected by the Director, Agriculture, Jammu. 24,000 litres of these fungicides will be required in the first five most-affected districts and an additional 1,000 litre will serve as a buffer stock for being rushed to other areas as soon as such requirement is raised,” he said.

The Minister said the government had made an emergency intervention by sanctioning Rs 89.75 lakh on March 5 this year for providing 50 per cent subsidy on the supply of pesticides to the affected farmers.

Jammu, March 8
Even as the number of unemployed youth registered with the Employment Exchanges (EEs) has increased dramatically, the process of getting registered with the exchanges is on the decline as the government has not been able to give jobs.

“Recruitments through the employment exchange have vanished altogether as a result there has been a decline in the number of fresh registrations,” maintains an economic survey report by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics.

The report observes that in anticipation of the announcement of employment policy and state government’s invitation to the unemployed persons for getting registered with the EEs, the registration level had increased tremendously.

“The number of jobseekers registered with the EEs increased by 440 per cent in the past five years,” the report says, adding: “The total number of registered jobseekers at these centres has increased from 1,09,383 in 2006 to 5,90,611 by the end of November, 2010”.

It further maintains that all unemployed persons do not register themselves with the EEs and there is also a possibility that some of the registered persons may not be actually unemployed but only in search of better jobs.

The registration of illiterate persons has decreased but that of educated unemployed persons has increased, the report adds.

It maintains that the unemployment rate is 5.2 per cent (5.4 per cent among men and 3.5 per cent among women), which is on the higher side when compared with figures at the national level that is 3.1 per cent for men and 3 per cent for women.

It also lauds the role of training institutions like industrial training institutes and other such skill development centres and points out: “The rapid expansion of education has contributed to the mismatch between demand and supply in the labour market”.

“While the annual growth rate of population is 1.81 per cent, the literacy is growing at a rate of 2.1 per cent. The situation requires creation of ample opportunities in terms of employment avenues,” it says and maintains that as of now, self-employment and casual labour continue to play a key role in rehabilitation of the unemployed.

The report states that work opportunities have not kept pace with the increasing population of the state. “In the state, almost 70 per cent of the population is directly or indirectly associated with the agriculture and allied sectors,” it says and adds: “This 70 percent of the marginal workers have been contributing very marginally to the total production, thus giving rise to disguised employment in agriculture.”

Maintaining that the state remained in conflict situation for two decades, it cites the absence of desirable industrial growth and limited scope for absorption in the private sector that has rendered many people unemployed in the state. 

The villagers faced an acute shortage of water last summer and suffered hardships. This handpump would help the villagers overcome water shortage and provide them potable water.

The project was handed over to the villagers in the presence of Devraj Sharma, tehsildar, and Bhola Nath Sharma, BDO, Mendhar. A large number of civil dignitaries, villagers and Army officers were present on the occasion.

The project under the Romeo Force is one of the many projects undertaken by the Army and has drawn the local population closer to the Army.

Srinagar, March 8
Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon, divisional commissioner, Kashmir, has directed the deputy commissioners to take steps to check the menace of stray dogs and polythene in the Valley.

Dr Samoon has directed the officials to deal with rabid or mad dogs by issuing shooting orders. All SPs, SHOs as well as security forces have also been authorised to initiate action in case of such dogs. The measure has been initiated by the divisional commissioner to ensure the safety of the public in view of the recent incidents in which two persons died due to dog bites in Uri and Pampore.

Dr Samoon has also requested the public to help the administration in identifying rabid dogs. The video conference was also attended by director, health services; director, animal husbandry; regional wildlife warden; representatives from SMC and Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA); faculty members of veterinary sciences, SKUAST-K; chief medical officers; chief animal husbandry officers; and administrators of the town area committees.

Dr Samoon, who has been monitoring the steps taken to control the menace of stray dogs, instructed the SMC and town area committees to take immediate measures for the sterilisation of all male stray dogs.

The divisional commissioner, however, clarified that the shooting orders should be valid only for mad or rabid dogs and in no case, should any non-rabid dog be shot.

He directed the director, health services, to ensure the availability of anti-rabies vaccine in all districts and provide the same free of cost to the affected persons. He also directed the deputy commissioners to constitute SPCA in all districts and sign MoUs with the Animal Welfare Board of India to facilitate the receipt of assistance to deal with the menace.

Dr Samoon directed them to utilise the services of NYK volunteers by arranging rallies to create awareness about the menace of polythene and stray dogs.

Highlighting the importance of the ban on polythene, the divisional commissioner said Jammu and Kashmir was the first state in the country to pass an Act against the use of non-biodegradable waste.

It was informed that the faculty of veterinary sciences has deputed six interns to SMC for conducting sterilisation of stray dogs. Dog catchers have also been developed by them. SPCA members have suggested the development of dog sanctuaries, for which the Srinagar DC has been asked to identify land measuring around 10 kanal in Srinagar in the first instance which can later be replicated in other districts.

Jammu, March 8
It seems that the people have no interest in watching the proceedings of the state Legislative Assembly and the Council, the two Houses where policies decisions are taken, as most of the seats in visitor galleries remain unoccupied. The lesser participation of legislators and the “issueless” Opposition might also have acted as dampener.

Gone are the days when the visitor galleries were full of the people. Now, either the seats remain vacant or are used by journalists. Security measures could be another important reason behind the less strength of visitors in these galleries.

Before entering any of these Houses, a person is frisked seven times. Besides, getting a visitor pass is also a challenging task as one needs recommendation from any member of the House for this purpose.

“Earlier, I used to go to watch the proceedings of the House, but with the passage of time, the issues and style of debates have changed, which no more attracts me,” says Rakesh Kumar, a businessman, adding that managing a pass has also become a difficult task due to security reasons.

Various practices are adopted by neigbouring states to keep the people informed about the functioning of the legislature. Besides other measures, it has been learnt that schoolchildren are invited to watch the proceedings of the state legislature.

But in J&K, the scenario is different as the Legislative Council having the visitor gallery with a capacity of 62 persons, is visited by only four-five persons. The situation is same in the Legislative Assembly.

An official in the Legislative Council Secretariat says whosoever approaches them and fulfills the conditions, they issue a pass to him to enable him to witness the proceedings of the House.

Srinagar, March 8
Minister of State for R&B and Floriculture Javaid Ahmad Dar recently visited Nishat, Botanical Garden, Tulip Garden, Children’s Park Rajbagh, Shalimar to take stock of the work going apace for making these gardens ready for visitors.

At 6 terrace Tulip Garden, the Minister was informed that as many as 15 lakh Tulip bulbs would be ready this year for visitors, while Rs 40 lakh were being spent on the lake development and Gate Plaza of Botanical Garden.

The Minister was further informed that Rs 60 lakh and Rs 10 lakh were being spent on the water body and a portion of the water channel of Nishat and another water body outside Shalimar Garden, respectively.

The Minister directed the Floriculture Department authorities to prepare a comprehensive plan for the development of gardens and parks in the Valley to boost the tourism and its related sectors.

Jammu, March 8
VM Koul, director (personnel), Power Grid Corporation of India, who was on a three-day visit to Jammu, visited various locations in the city where Power Grid is undertaking its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

Koul visited the Naveen Shiksha Kendra run by the Swara, an NGO, with the help of Power Grid at Channi Himmat. This school has children mainly from the slum and weaker sections of society. He also visited SOS School at Channi Himmat and the school for mentally retarded children at Channi Rama. Power Grid is spending approximately Rs 30 lakh for these three institutions under its CSR activities during the current financial year.

Koul interacted with the management of these institutions and held detailed discussion about the functioning of the schools.

He highlighted various projects being undertaken by Power Grid under its CSR activities. He assured that Power Grid would provide all help to these institutions. Koul was accompanied by IR Kidwai, PC Pankaj, SC Singh, AK Shrivastava and Stanle Methew.

As a majority of the members in the Legislative Assembly know Urdu, BJP MLA from Jammu East Ashok Khajuria deliberately uses typical Hindi terminology to confuse the members.

Sometimes even Mohammad Akbar Lone, Speaker of the Assembly, gets confused over the typical Hindi used by BJP members. This prompted PDP MLA from Darhal Choudhary Zulfikar to intervene and urge the Speaker to ask the BJP member to use either Urdu or English and easy Hindi.

“As I neither know Urdu nor English, I can speak only this type of Hindi”, replied Ashok Khajuria and asked the members to arrange a Hindi tutor.

Not caring two hoots for ban

Even though Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Mohammad Akbar Lone has imposed a ban on carrying mobile phones in the House, members are usually seen fiddling with cellphones (See photo). With most of the MLAs wanting to keep themselves updated about the developments all over the world, they are seen using Twitter or Facebook during the proceedings of the House.