Jammu, March 28
Almost 20 years on, the 37.5 MW Purnai Hydroelectric Project in Poonch district is yet to be completed and the Power Department is still making a fresh detailed project report (DPR).

Minister of State for Power Shabir Ahmad Khan admitted in the Legislative Council here today that though the first DPR of the Purnai power project was cleared by the CEA in 1992, it was yet to be completed.

Replying to the clubbed questions of Murtaza Ahmad Khan of the PDP, and Javaid Ahmad Rana and Mohammad Rashid Qureshi of the NC, the minister said, “The total land required for the project is 1,278 kanals and 14 marlas, but so far the department has acquired only 454 kanals and 19 marlas.” However, he assured the Upper House that the project was on the priority list of the coalition government and Rs 37 crore had been spent on it. “The work of the review of DPR has been awarded to a consultant and is expected to be completed by April 15, 2011,” he said.

On supplementary questions by other legislators about the time-to-time estimated cost of the project, the minister said, “In 1992, the project was to cost Rs 177.93 crore, which increased to Rs 198 crore in year 2001 and to Rs 398.20 crore in 2009”.

Terming militancy as the major reason behind the delay in the completion of the project, the minister said, “The situation in the state was not good in those days, which further delayed the construction of the project”.

Dissatisfied by the minister’s reply, Javaid Ahmad Rana said, “I have the list of projects, which were started later than this project but were completed on the scheduled time. So, militancy could not be the reason for such a long delay”.

Meanwhile, Jehangir Mir of the Congress and Sheikh Ghulam Rasool of the NC also asked supplementary questions on the issue. Later, the minister assured the House that the Purnai power project would be completed this year.

Jammu, March 28
Legislators cutting across the party lines presented a united face in the Legislative Assembly today, as they unanimously supported the Bill to enhance the salaries and allowances of the sitting legislators and pensions of the former legislators. The Bill was moved by the Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar.

Except CPM legislator MY Tarigami, all other MLAs supported the Bill. Tarigami made it clear that his views were different from other members of the House.

Although the government had rejected amendments to the Bill proposed by some legislators, who had proposed that their salary be raised to Rs one lakh per month, the minister proposed to increase the salaries of the legislators by Rs 20,000 in the Bill.

In the Bill, which was tabled by the government in the last Budget session, it was proposed to enhance the salaries of the legislators from Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,300, but a majority of the members thought the proposed hike was not enough. As there was no consensus among the legislators, Speaker Mohammad Akbar Lone today convened a meeting of the leaders of various parties on the issue. Only after a threadbare discussion, all parties agreed on a 100 per cent hike in their salaries.

The salary of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been enhanced from Rs 45,000 to Rs 90,000, while that of a Cabinet minister from Rs 40,000 to Rs 85,000. The legislators would get the revised salaries from retrospective effect from September 2009.

Initiating a debate on the Bill, former Finance Minister and senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh supported the demand of the legislator for increasing their salaries. He even supported the proposal to enhance the salaries up to Rs one lakh. Beigh demanded a reasonable hike in the salaries and insisted that a period be fixed for the revision of the salaries of the legislators.

The Chief Minister also supported the decision of the government to enhance the salaries of the legislators. He, however, emphasised that some mechanism should be devised to consult experts for increasing the salaries of the legislators.

Jammu, March 28
The Legislative Assembly witnessed pandemonium over the shortage of ration again today as legislators cutting across the party lines grilled Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Qamar Ali Akhoon for the failure of his department to streamline the supply of ration in government depots. The legislators highlighted the shortage of ration in their respective areas and pointed out that the minister’s replies in the House about adequate supply of ration were incorrect.

As legislators one after another grilled the minister, Speaker of the Assembly Mohammad Akbar Lone came to his rescue. “The questions of the members relating to the CAPD Department cannot be replied so easily,” the Speaker observed and directed the legislators to ask the next question on the list of business related to other departments.

Earlier the minister, while replying to the question of Independent legislator Charanjit Singh, said ration cards to the families, which were left out earlier, would be issued after the completion of the Census 2011. He added that the government’s decision to provide 35 kg of ration every month to the above poverty line (APL) families would be regulated strictly. He said the survey of BPL families in all districts was going on under the chairmanship of the District Development Commissioners concerned and after its completion the benefits of welfare schemes, including concessional ration, would be provided to all such families in the state.

PDP legislator Abdul Rehman Veeri pointed out that the minister had said last year that 1.58 lakh persons were without ration cards. “I want to know what action has the government taken to provide them ration,” he asked. Veeri alleged that the government’s claims of supplying ration to the people had proved wrong.

Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) legislator Hakim Yasin also endorsed Veeri’s viewpoint. He said the ration was being supplied to the people on the basis of the 2001 Census and new ration cards had not been issued so far.

Akhoon said foodgrains being allocated by the Centre to the state under the targeted Public Distribution System as per estimated and projected population of the state by the 2001 Census. He said new ration depots on genuine requirements were opened by internal adjustment.

Srinagar, March 28
The excitement for the match has turned into a ray of hope for the people of Kashmir after Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gilani accepted the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to watch the semifinal of the cricket world cup between India and Pakistan, to be played at Mohali in Punjab on March 30.

The people in Kashmir have expressed hope that the cricket match that will be watched by the premiers of the two nations will pave the way for peace in the troubled region.

“It was a wise decision on part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to invite his Pakistan counterpart to watch the cricket match. We welcome Pakistan’s decision to accept the invitation,” said Farooq Ahmed, a postgraduate student of the University of Kashmir.

“We are hopeful that the cricket diplomacy will pave the way for the restoration of the stalled composite dialogue between the two nations and a peaceful and amicable solution to the Kashmir issue will be found,” said Shabir Ahmed, a Srinagar resident.

Experts in Kashmir have also welcomed the initiatives of the two nations and said the “cricket diplomacy” between the two nations would have far-reaching consequences. “The talks were stalled post the Mumbai attacks and the cricket diplomacy would pave the way for improving the relations between the two nations,” said Imtiyaz Farooq, a political science lecturer.

Meanwhile, the upcoming semifinal match between India and Pakistan has generated much excitement among the people of the Kashmir valley, as both teams have tremendous fan following here. “Since India defeated. Australia to play Pakistan in the semifinal, a debate is going on in the Kashmir valley as to which team will win the match. Even the supporters of both teams are posting their messages on the social networking sites,” said Amir Mir, a sports observer in Srinagar.

Even Chief Minister Omar Abdullah could not hide his excitement for the match and he tweeted, “Wednesday; Mohali: India and Pakistan. That has to be the match of the tournament. Can’t wait”.

Jammu, March 28
“It’s a sad day for cricket in Pakistan when a team has to be publicly warned by their Interior Minister not to fix the semifinal match,” tweeted Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the microblogging site, Twitter, today.

In the run-up to the clash between the titans of cricket in the world cup semifinal at Mohali in Punjab on March 30, Rehman Malik, the Interior Minister of Pakistan, warned the Pakistan cricket team yesterday that their telephone calls were being monitored and those visiting them were under surveillance. Pakistan had faced great embarrassment when a match-fixing scandal had surfaced in England last year.

“If I were in the Pakistan cricket team, I would tell the Interior Minister just where to keep his advice/warning. Which is to himself or at least not in the public domain like this,” Omar tweeted again.

Cricket fever has already gripped the sub-continent, but the semifinal clash between the two arch-rivals India and Pakistan at Mohali has added that extra zing to the game.

Meanwhile, the fans of the Indian squad performed a yajna at Rani Park today, praying for the victory of India in the semifinal match. “It would be a war of nerves between the two teams on Wednesday,” said Girish Sharma, a cricket fan, who along with another fan Vikram Singh, had organised the yajna here.

“More than 100 persons, including the National Conference’s women wing leader Vijay Luxmi Dutta, participated in the yajna,” said Vikram Singh.

“We want the Indian team to romp home convincingly, but at the same time we cannot underestimate Pakistan, our arch rivals in the cricket history. We still remember how Javed Miandad had turned the tables on us with a six on the last ball of the medium pacer, Chetan Sharma, in Sharjah, he added.

Jammu, March 28
Lt-Gen KT Parnaik, GOC-in-C, Northern Command of the Army, said yesterday that the strength of India lay in bringing normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and at the same time extending ‘moral and economic support’ to the people living in occupied Kashmir (PoK).

“We are bound by the Parliament resolution on the PoK that calls for its merger with India,” Lt-Gen Parnaik said in his keynote address during a national seminar on “PoK, its internal dynamics and externalities” organised by the Department of Strategic and Regional Studies (DSRS), University of Jammu.

The GOC-in-C, Northern Command, however, said stopping Pakistan’s interference in the state and weeding out terrorism were the prerequisites for a launching pad to achieve India’s aims and objectives. “We have to address the internal problems in J&K by respecting the aspirations of all the regions of the state,” he said.

Comparing Jammu and Kashmir with the PoK, the GOC-in-C said, “People in the PoK have no fundamental rights. Sectarian clashes are at its peak there,” he said. He regretted that while the state continued to be in the focus of the international community because of the dispute over it between India and Pakistan, surprisingly, the PoK and its northern areas had never been discussed at any international forum.

Lt-Gen Parnaik said despite the fact that the PoK was a part of India, we had never interfered in matters relating to Pakistan. “On the contrary, Pakistan continues to meddle in J&K,” he said.

The GOC-in-C said the Chinese presence in the PoK was a matter of concern for us. “The construction of the Korrakoram road in 1963, linking the PoK and the northern areas with China has given that country considerable gains in Gilgit and Baltistan. “It poses a military challenge to us,” he said.

Jammu, March 28
National Conference (NC) legislator Ajay Sadhotra locked horns with Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir over the issues of the farmers in the Legislative Council here today. Sadhotra, who was the Minister of State (MoS) for Agriculture in the previous NC government, did not miss any opportunity to grill Mir in the House.

During Question Hour today, Sadhotra again targeted Mir after the latter had replied to his question. Replying to a question on the basmati export policy when Mir informed the House that the total quantity of basmati sent outside the state in 2010-11 was 2,19,928 quintals but failed to give the details sought by Sadhotra. On this Sadhotra targeted the minister saying, “The minister has provided the details about the quantity of basmati sent outside the state but failed to give the names of countries to which the produce was sent. This means there is something fishy”.

Mir reacted in a diplomatic way to this charge saying, “The member (Sadhotra) tries to be pro-active farmers and we all should be that”. However, dissatisfied with the minister’s reply on all issues, Sadhotra said, “If the minister does not have the proper information at this moment, he can give it to me outside the House too. But he should not give such a reply here”.

Disturbed by Sadhotra’s remarks, Mir said, “The member has not asked this point in his main question and it is a supplementary question. Still I can give the details, as the officials have now provided me the information”.

This is not the lone incident when Sadhotra has tried to grill the Agriculture Minister. Earlier too, when the minister was replying to a question relating to the Agriculture Department in the Upper House, Sadhotra had targeted him a number of times.

Jammu, March 28
Avinash Rai Khanna, BJP’s Rajya Sabha member from Punjab and converner of the Human Rights Cell of the party, has termed the Congress-NC regime in the state as most insensitive government in the country.

Interacting with mediapersons after visiting various groups protesting in Jammu, Khanna said the present state government was non-serious in solving the problems of the people, especially of refugees living in different areas.

The BJP national president, Nitin Gidkari, has deputed Khanna to prepare a report on the condition of refugees living in different areas of the Jammu region. “I am really shocked to know that people have been agitating here for the last more than a year, but the government is not serious about solving their genuine problems,” he said, pointing towards the woes of Doda migrants. He mentioned that the court had also given directions to the government in this regard, but nothing had been done so far.

While pointing towards the woes of West Pakistan refugees, Khanna expressed surprise that these helpless people were denied citizenship rights despite that they were living in India for the last 62 years. “This is the height of injustice,” he observed. The BJP would take up the issue at all levels, so that these refugees get justice. He also lashed out at the so-called human right organisations for maintaining silence over the woes of West Pakistan refugees living in the state.

Khanna demanded that some yardsticks should be adopted to give justice to the militancy-affected people. He said militancy-affected people of the Jammu region should be treated on a par with their counterparts in the Kashmir valley.

Srinagar, March 28
A delegation of students called on the Principal, Government Medical College, Srinagar, Prof Shahida Mir, here the other day and expressed apprehensions about the holding of the All India Common Entrance Test at the undergraduate level.

However, Prof Mir informed the delegation that there was no such proposal of holding the national-level test for the students of the state this year. The students appreciated the government’s decision of not holding the national-level test for MBBS candidates of the state.

This year also, the state Board of Professional Entrance Examinations would conduct the test for students of the state as per past practice, an official spokesman said.

Jammu, March 28
Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir said in the Legislative Council here today that since 2007 no farmer in the Jammu region had been paid compensation under the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme.

In a written reply to a question by BR Kundal of the Congress, Mir said, “The National Agriculture Insurance Scheme was introduced in 2002 and implemented in 2004-05 across the state. So far 1,387 farmers of Jammu, Poonch and Udhampur districts have been paid compensation (claims) under the scheme. These farmers were paid compensation for damage caused to their paddy and maize crops during 2005-06 and 2006-07,” he said.

As per the reply, 28,317 farmers were registered under the insurance scheme and 42,183 hectares were covered from 2004 till date.

Mir said the objective of the scheme was to provide insurance cover and financial support to the farmers in the event of any damage to their crops suffered due to natural calamities, pest attack and diseases. “Besides, the scheme also provides help to the farmers in stabilising farm incomes, stipulate the primary production of food crops and oilseeds,” he added.

The minister said the scheme was jointly sponsored by the Central and state governments and it was being implemented on the seasonal basis.

Udhampur, March 28
Public Health Engineering and Irrigation Minister Taj Mohiuddin informed the Legislative Assembly today that the government had received the technical clearance for augmenting the water supply scheme to Katra town to ensure adequate drinking water for the pilgrims of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.

As per an official press note issued here, the minister said the scheme of Rs 47.55 crore for the purpose was cleared by the CPHEEO and the Technical Wing of the Union Urban Ministry and Rs 50 lakh as the state’s share was released during 2008-09 in anticipation of the approval for the project by the Centre. Of this, Rs 35 lakh had been advanced for the purchase of material and Rs 15 lakh was spent for the purchase of land and the boundary wall of the land for the proposed filtration plant at Dansar, he said, adding that the sanction for the project from the Central government was awaited.

The minister said till the project envisaging lifting of water from Dansar was sanctioned, the state government had approved a short term plan of Rs 79.38 lakh for pumping 1.50 lakh gallons of water per day from three new tube-wells to existing sump at Jhajjar. He added that the work was in progress and expected to be completed by the end of this financial year.

Srinagar, March 28
The women wing of the National Conference (NC) has asked women to participate in large numbers in the forthcoming panchayat elections in the state.

Addressing a party meeting here today, the president of the NC women wing, Shamima Firdous, said, “We have to come forward and participate in these elections. We cannot miss this opportunity”.

She added, “There are only a few women members in the Legislative Assembly and there is just one woman Cabinet minister. We want more women to come forward so that we have more women ministers”.

Shamima said more women should take part in politics and contribute to the overall development of the state.

Jammu, March 28
National Conference (NC) legislator TS Wazir, during a discussion in the Legislative Council today on the state’s land, said the land owned by Jammu and Kashmir outside the state in “Hindustan” had been encroached upon.

Wazir said, “It is an important issue related to the state’s property, which is out of the state in ‘Hindustan’, and the encroached upon land should be retrieved.” While some legislators laughed away Wazir’s remarks, others termed it as a sensitive matter. Although no one from the Opposition, the PDP or the Panthers Party, spoke on the issue, Minister of State for Finance Manohar Lal reminded Wazir that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and the member should not speak in such a manner.

Manohar Lal said, “Our state is part of India. As Wazir has said in his speech that it is out of India, he needs to be corrected”. The minister assured the House that the government was in the progress of getting the state’s land freed from encroachments everywhere outside the state.

Immediately after the discussion there was a lack of quorum in the House, as only nine members, including the Acting Chairman, were present.

Leader of the House RS Chib raised an objection that the House was functioning without quorum, following which Micky adjourned it. Micky directed the legislators to be serious in attending the proceedings of the House or face action.

Jammu, March 28
Reiterating its demand for the installation of escalators at the Jammu Railway Station, from the Taxi stand to the platforms for elderly passengers, the Citizens Forum has decided to take legal recourse to get the same done.

At a meeting held here today under the chairmanship of forum president RK Chadha, the forum unanimously resolved to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court seeking directions to the Railway authorities to install escalators at the Jammu Railway station.

It was decided that RK Chadha would file the PIL through senior advocates SS Anand Lehar and DK Khajuria, who are also the members of the forum.

The PIL will also seek for necessary facilities at the railway station, including engaging of adequate number of coolies and public utility services at all platforms.

The meeting observed that the forum had already written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, demanding the installation of escalators in one of the busiest railway stations of north India, but there had been no response so far. Hence, the forum decided to take legal recourse in the matter.

Hundreds of passengers reach the Jammu railway station every day on their way to Mata Vaishno Devi. In the absence of escalators, old passengers and women travelling alone find it difficult to reach the platform with their luggage to board the train.

The forum has also demanded attaching of a pantry with the Jammu-Sarai Ruhalla (Delhi) train. It rued that the train, which originates from the Jammu station, did not have the facility of a dining car, which put the passengers to inconvenience. Even drinking water was not available anywhere.

Jammu, March 28
Panthers Party legislator Mohammad Rafiq Shah sought strict action against the killers of two children, who were found dead in Kupwara on Saturday last, while speaking in the Legislative Council here today.

Showing copies of newspapers in the Upper House during Question Hour, Rafiq urged the acting chairman, Arvinder Singh Micky, to ask the government to give a reply on the law and order situation.

He again raised the issue during Zero Hour, expressing sympathy with the families of the deceased.