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First in notifying grazing rights to tribals
Female foeticide
World Population Day observed
Valley resonates with sainthood
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Evidence of early human habitation found in Kargil
Rather lays stress on
synergy of science, business
Jammu diary
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First in notifying grazing rights to tribals
Jammu, July 12
Elsewhere, it is the proper implementation of the Act or the amendments suggested to it that are being debated, but the state is still mulling on whether the Central Act was to be adopted in the state or it should have its own Act. The latest effort made in this direction was when a private Bill on J&K Forest Rights Act was scheduled to be tabled in Assembly in March this year. It could not come up for discussion and is likely to be discussed in the next session sometime later this year. The state has to have its own act as it holds special status as per Section 360 of the Indian Constitution. Every act passed by Parliament has to be approved and passed by the J&K legislature first. The Forest Rights Act, 2006 itself mentions in the beginning “applicable in all over India, except Jammu and Kashmir”. MLA from Rajouri Zulfikar Choudhary had listed the Act, though its fate would be known only after the debate. The Forest Department officials, wishing not to be quoted, do not seem in its favour, “The Act proposed by the MLA is just a copy of the Central Act. It calls for ownership of the forest land, which is not acceptable.” The perusal of both the Acts reveals that few words like panchayat in place of gram sabha and some dates of implementation have been changed. The Central Act calls for inclusion of a representation from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, while J&K proposed act calls for inclusion of representation from the ST community in the expert committee to decide the critical wildlife habitat. Also, the Central Act is in force since December 13, 2005, while proposed date for J&K is February 1, 2009. The cut off date is to identify the “other forest dwellers”, who resided on or were dependent on forests for three generations up to that day. The tribals, including mainly the Gujjars and the Bakerwals, wait for the Act to come up, but it seems their wait would be endless. The forest officials stressed that ownership of the forests was not wanted as the tribals can use the forest in any way they want, “But they cannot be permanent settlers. Then, they would raze down trees and go for cultivation. That cannot be allowed.” Javed Rahi, secretary, Tribal Foundation, the main organisation fighting for tribal rights said the Central Act should have been extended right away in J&K as well. “The above Act is implemented in all the states of India, except in Jammu and Kashmir. Here, more than 95 per cent of nomadic Gujjars are landless, shelterless and deserve dwelling rights on forest lands which they are using as traditional inhabitants since centuries,” he said.He said forests were the only home of lakhs of nomadic Gujjars in J&K and the extension of the Forest Rights Act to the state will have a far-reaching and positive impact on the state’s tribal economy and will definitely redress the “historical injustice” committed against Gujjars and Bakerwals. He said it was wrong that the tribals would destroy forests, “They have been protecting forests against mafias, land grabbers but as per laws available, till date protection of forests by any community is illegal in J&K, which is unjust, bizarre and against the tribal rights. Explaining the historical injustice, he said, “During the Dogra era, the state had granted the Gujjars forest rights, but later with the establishment of the Forest Department after 50s, the same were snatched by the successive governments and we are just demanding the restoration of our rights on forests.”
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Female foeticide
Jammu, July 12 Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma, as part of the ongoing campaign against female foeticide, has announced to give Rs 25,000 as prize to the ASHA worker who will give information about any case of female foeticide. Addressing a function at Jammu, Sharma appealed to the people to help curb the menace. “The recent census figures are an eye opener for all of us. We have to give a serious thought to this issue and take corrective measures to improve the sex ratio”, he added. He asked the people, particularly ASHA workers, to create awareness among the masses against female foeticide and gender inequality. He called for close coordination between the Health Department and field functionaries to extend medical facilities to the people, especially those living in the rural and far-flung areas. He said ASHA and other field functionaries can share common platforms by holding seminars, workshops and awareness camps to educate the masses at gross-roots level. The minister lauded the endeavour of the health authorities for supplementary healthcare facilities to the civil population across the state. He said ASHAs and other field authorities are doing excellent work in the field of health and other social sectors under the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM). Assuring necessary logistic support to the field functionaries for carrying out different social activities in the state, the Sharma said the government was keen to promote healthcare in collaboration with organisations willing to render cooperation. He suggested that doctors and block medical officers of the Health Department should also be invited in seminars at the block level which could prove beneficial for both the organisations in improving the capabilities of manpower. He also called upon the medicos to render the services with dedication and a missionary spirit and upholding the medical ethics at all costs. He said doctor’s paramount job was to save the life of his patient.
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World Population Day observed
Srinagar, July 12 Commissioner secretary, Health and Family Welfare, GA Peer, was the chief guest, while director, Information and Public Relations, Khawaja Farooq Renzushah and district development commissioner, Meraj Ahmad Kakroo were the guests of honour. On this occasion, director, Health Services, Kashmir, Mohammad Saleem, Director, Family Welfare, Rakesh Khajuria, Principal Women’s College, Prof Jolden, chief medical officer and number of ASHA workers, students and medical officials were present. Peer said due to population explosion, people were facing number of problems. He said if the increasing rate of the population could be stopped, people could have better medicare, education and the economic condition and the living standard of the people would improve. He further said those countries,
which succeeded in curbing the population explosion, had progressed tremendously. Renzushah said due to population explosion, new challenges had taken birth. He said we had to make every effort to provide best education to our children so that they could compete with others at national and international levels. Kakroo stressed that women had to play an important role for a better society. Meanwhile, Department of Health and Family welfare, Kargil, organised awareness camp on this occasion. The camp was inaugurated by minister for CA&PD and Transport, Qamar Ali Akhoon. Chief executive councillor LAHDC Kargil, Kachoo Ahmad Ali Khan, executive councillor, Health, Punchok Tashi, MLA Zanskar, Feroz Ahmad Khan, MLC Kargil, Aga Syed Ahmad Rizvi, deputy commissioner/CEO LAHDC Kargil, M Raju and others including, councillors, sarpanchs, panchs, doctors, ASHA workers and large number of people were present on the occasion. Akhoon emphasised to adopt small family norms by consulting the experts. He added that the foundation stones of AMT School, Kargil, and a 200-bed hospital would be laid soon. Kachoo told about benefits of small family to control the population explosion. Five different types of stalls on immunisation, counselling, exclusive breast feeding, care of mother and child and family planning were installed for awareness of the ASHA workers and general public. |
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Valley resonates with sainthood
Jammu, July 12 The highly revered saint, Swami Mast Bab, has chosen his guru’s ashram in the hilly and remote village of Hushur in Budgam district of Central Kashmir. With an active support of his disciples, the ashram is again buzzing with activity after the local Muslims
extended a helping hand in its renovation. “It is a great moment for all of us that Swami Mast Bab is back,” said Ghulam Ahmad, a social activist of the area. Ahmad said a number of attempts were made all these years by anti-social elements to desecrate the ashram. “Every time, they failed in their nefarious designs. We have vowed to maintain the sanctity of the place where Swami Nand Lal, a great spiritual Guru of yesteryears, also used to worship,” Ahmad said. The reopening of the ashram had rekindled a ray of hope among Kashmiri Pandits that they now had a reason to visit Kashmir. Moti Lal, a disciple of Swami Mast Bab, who recently visited Kashmir, said apart from renovating the ashram building, a new temple had also been constructed and a ‘Shivling’ had been installed in the complex. He said with the active
support of the locals, the area had been demarcated and a new road had been constructed
to facilitate the people to visit the ashram. Water and electricity connections had also
been provided by the local administration. Sanjay Kumar, another disciple, said bedding and lodging facilities had been provided at the ashram so that people could stay there to seek blessings from the saint. “Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits, either working or on visit to Kashmir,
tour Hushur village every Ashtami,” he said.
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Evidence of early human habitation found in Kargil
Jammu, July 12 “For the first time, the evidence of human habitation more than 3,000 years ago has been found in the upper Himalayan region, near Mulbekh, about 40 km from Kargil on the Leh-Srinagar highway,” said Prof RK Ganjoo, Director, Institute of Himalayan Glaciology from the Department of Geology, JU, who headed the team. Ganjoo said, “In the first week of the month, we found hearths used by early human for lighting fire on the banks of the Wakka river in Kargil district of the Ladakh region.” “These were mostly transit camps where the fire was lit to cook food and to escape from the harsh winter,” Ganjoo added. It was a Central government project for finding traces of early humans in the Ladakh region after similar discoveries were made in Tibet around 10-12 years ago and the Karakorum area about 2-3 years ago. “The survey of the Ladakh valley which started last year proved successful and the final report will be submitted at the end of the month to the ASI,” said Prof Ganjoo. Ganjoo said a team of seven, including the regional director of the ASI office in Bhopal, SB Ota, excavated a number of places and were able to search the hearths built by cutting natural slopes of the mountains as old as 3,000 to 4,000 years. Giving details about the hearths, Prof Ganjoo said, “Interestingly, flat blocks of sandstone were used by the early humans as floor around the fire place.” Samples from the hearths and the surrounding areas have been collected by the team for further scientific studies to investigate the type of wood used for burning the fire and remains of food material consumed by the early man, he added. “Our report will definitely give a new impetus to the geo-archaeological research,” Ganjoo said. Besides Prof Ganjoo, the team included Ota, RK Dwivedi, Chandrakant Bhandarkar, SK Goswami, Tsering Phunchok and Sonam Spalzin Bangkolok, all from the ASI.
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Rather lays stress on
synergy of science, business
Srinagar, July 12 Emphasising the need for a workable mechanism to transform the existing innovations into commercial products, Rather has called for higher interaction between the academia, Research and Development labs and the industry to enable successful commercialisation of the technological innovations taking place in the country. Rather stressed the need for synergising the world of science and business by assisting the innovators in accelerating their technologies in the global markets. Besides about 150 participants from the state, including heads of various departments, professors, research scholars and young entrepreneurs the workshop was attended by the Director, FICCI, Nirankar Saxena, and Director, TDB, PS Raju, an official spokesperson said. Rather said the state had rich talent in the field of Science and Technology which needs technical know-how about right commercial strategies for innovative technologies adding that funding remains a concern in ensuring that the fruits of our R&D efforts get converted into commercial products and services. He hoped that the workshop at Srinagar, third in the series after New Delhi and Mumbai, would prove fruitful for various stakeholders and participants. Rather said the enhanced plan allocations and increased government spending together with the executive actions taken during the last about two and a half years had already started showing results by way of sustained improvement in state’s GDP and per capita income. “Apart from improving the infrastructure, particularly in the field of communication, power generation, tourism and education, the state is steadily taking cognisance of innovative ideas, including PPP module for implementation of various economic projects and adaptation of Information Technology on a mass scale,” Rather said. He said the state government, like the TDB, had also instituted Innovations Awards to encourage and promote innovative ideas and to adopt them for the benefit of business, industry and community at large. He said the state IT Department was working in close association with NASSCOM to promote gainful and rewarding employment for the youth in the IT sector. The minister said all these initiatives of the state government would require, in due course, adaptation of innovative ideas and new technologies, especially those specially suiting to the fragile eco-system of our state. The minister hoped that during this workshop, the TDB would be providing ample opportunity to all the stakeholders, including planners, prospective entrepreneurs, experts and researchers, to present their technology/project reports and to have one to one interaction with its officers so that they could avail soft loan funding up to 50 per cent of the total project cost at five per cent simple interest rate and may even claim a component of equity and /or, in exceptional cases, grants meant for this purpose as per TDB schemes. Niramkar Saxena and PS Raju assured to bring all the government schemes at the doorsteps of the innovators and offered financial assistance for accelerating the development and commercialisation of indigenous technology as well as imported technology for wider domestic applications. |
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Monsoon brings cheers
With the ongoing monsoons and dip in temperature, a special smile can also be seen on the faces of automobile mechanics. Their business increases as during the rainy season, the vehicles normally breakdown on the roads. Whenever you come across any automobile mechanic, you would hear him saying, “Thanks monsoon!” Polythene
clogging drains
Monsoon brings cheers for many, but it exposes the tall claims of the municipal corporation. Despite a ban on polythene in the city, heaps of plastic bags have clogged the drains. It results in overflowing of water on the roads during rains. The MC has to use sewer-lifting trucks for clearing waterlogged drains (see photo). If only the MC had acted in time, the residents would have enjoyed the
rains more. (Contributed by Archit Watts and Jupinderjit Singh) |
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Jammu, July 12
With the ongoing monsoons and dip in temperature, a special smile can also be seen on the faces of automobile mechanics. Their business increases as during the rainy season, the vehicles normally breakdown on the roads. Whenever you come across any automobile mechanic, you
would hear him saying, “Thanks monsoon!”
But since then, it is a long and unending struggle for the tribals to get rights on forests in this troubled state, which is yet to recover from wounds of the Partition and militancy. While the Central Government went ahead with enacting several laws for the benefit of tribals with the latest being the Forest Rights Act 2006, Jammu and Kashmir is struggling for answer to the big question as to who owns the forests - the tribals or the government?