The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Saffron growers upset over 'bias' towards Valley Jammu, November 25 Saffron growers in the remote mountainous district of Kishtwar in the Jammu region claim they “grow the best saffron” but the “incentives go to Kashmiris”. According to a statement of the Agriculture Department, Rs 8.70 crore was distributed as incentive under the National Mission on Saffron (NMS) among over 1,800 growers in south Kashmir area where saffron is cultivated. Growers of the spice in Kishtwar in Jammu region are upset as they “did not figure in the list of incentive recipients”. Mohammad Ayub, a saffron grower in Pochhal village adjacent to Kishtwar, claimed lack of assistance by the Agriculture Department “though this area produces the best saffron not only in the state but also in the world”. Saffron grows once a year in September-October. The stigma of the delicate purple coloured flower is used as spice. “Our saffron is best because we pick the flower before sunrise... and that is one of the secrets of its quality, and the other factor is quality of soil,” Ayub said. Ghulam Mohi-ud-din also owns a saffron field in the area and shares Ayub’s feelings over the “apathetic attitude of government towards saffron farmers of Pochhal”. These farmers get about 2.5 kg to 3 kg of saffron from one acre of land. There is about 300 acres of land under saffron cultivation in Pochhal as against about 7,200 acres in the Kashmir valley. These farmers earn about Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh every year from saffron production. “You compare and see yourself...our saffron is better than that of not only Kashmir but also of Iran,” another grower, Ghulam Qadir Giri, said. “But the government is giving preferential treatment to Kashmiri saffron growers,” he said. RK Hiteshi, chief agriculture officer of Kishtwar, too, agrees with the growers, traders and locals. “This area produces one of the best quality saffron in the world,” he says. Hiteshi said: “The Agriculture Department is giving all possible help in saffron cultivation in the area, including training, holding camps, bore wells for irrigation, providing fertilisers, manures and procuring machinery.” The agriculture officer said Kishtwar was marked under the NMS and “We have prepared a plan of Rs 322.90 lakh under it which includes Rs 274 lakh for incentives to farmers.” The incentive of farmers is 70 per cent of the cost incurred on the growth of saffron. “The incentives will be paid to the saffron growers as soon as the plan is cleared by the government.” National Mission on Saffron is aimed at increasing productivity, maintaining quality and improving marketing facilities of saffron. Under the mission, Rs 372.18 crore will be spent over a period of four years, beginning 2010-11, in all saffron-growing districts of the state, including Pulwama, Budgam and Srinagar in Kashmir and Kishtwar in Jammu. The state produces 8.5 metric tonnes of saffron every year. — IANS
	PSG Act to bring transparency in state administration Tribune News Service Jammu, November 25 To ensure prompt service delivery to the people and reduce chances of corruption in the administration, the state government has introduced the Public Service Guarantee Act (PSGA) in the state and all the departments of public importance have been brought under the purview of the Act. The Act was passed by the state Legislature during the last Budget session at Jammu. It provides for the delivery of public services to the people of the state within a specified time limit and it has been operational in the state from July this year. The Act provides for right to the public service to every eligible person within the specified time limit in a transparent manner. An eligible person can demand performance of duties and functions in accordance with the Act. The public is empowered under the Act to hold the designated officer concerned accountable for any service deficiency. The Act also empowers people to seek compensation with respect to deficiency in service. Addressing a gathering at the Bishnah area recently, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said this initiative of the government was one among the first few legislations enacted by some states in the country. “We have amply empowered the people to receive the designated services under the Act within the prescribed time frame and made administration legally bound for the same,” he said. Omar asked the people to take the best advantage of the Act and get various public services delivered in the departments of transport, CAPD, power, revenue, PHE and housing within the prescribed time frame fixed for each service. Omar asked the panchayat members and other public representatives to be an important part in making people aware of their rights and powers to get specified public service delivery within the prescribed time frame. “You are the fastest medium to keep people apprised of their rights under the Act and also about the fine to be imposed on the officials for not delivering the service to the consumer within the prescribed time frame,” he added. “I have directed the departments of power, transport, public health engineering, consumer affairs and public distribution, revenue and housing which come under the ambit of the Public Service Guarantee Act, to install boards on the premises of their offices across the state in Urdu, Hindi and English giving details about the services and the time frame these offices are bound to provide to the people,” Omar said. “I have also told them to give details about the fine to be imposed on the erring official and the compensation to be paid to the consumers for not receiving the service within the stipulated time period,” he said.
	Constitute squads to maintain attendance in offices: Samoon Srinagar, November 25 Asgar Hassan Samoon, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, has directed all deputy commissioners and heads of departments of the Kashmir Valley to constitute checking squads in their respective jurisdictions to maintain proper attendance in government offices during winter months. The divisional commissioner also informed that the government has invested powers to panchs and sarpanches that they could check attendance in most vital public service departments like the Public Health Engineering, Power Development Department and Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department. The divisional commissioner office, Kashmir, has provided a helpline in this regard where panchs and sarpanches could register their complaint regarding attendance of employees in these three departments. — TNS
	Rare surgery performed at Beerwah hospital Tribune News Service Srinagar, November 25 A rare surgery was performed in Sub-District Hospital recently at Beerwah in Budgam district of central Kashmir for the first time. An official spokesperson said the surgical team comprised Dr Nasreen, gynecologist, Zahoor Hamdani, surgeon specialist, Asim Laherwal, general surgery, and Showkat Gul, theatre assistant. The Anaesthesia team comprised Bashir Ahmad Khan (BMO) and Arif Vakil, specialist, Anesthesia. A 4.5-kg and 20x15-cm ovarian tumor was successfully removed from the patient, Haseena (30), hailing from the Aripanthan Block, Beerwah. The patient was admitted to the hospital on November 21 and the surgery was performed on November 22 with utmost competence and was a giant leap forward in an attempt to improve health care facility in rural areas. In spite of minimum resources, the surgery was a success. This surgery is a first-of-its-kind performed in the Beerwah block. Such a surgery was possible only because of close coordination and help by theatre supervisor Mir Abdul Qayoom. Meanwhile, the attendants of the patient, overwhelmed by the efforts of the staff, donated 25 pairs of surgical gloves to the BMO for poor patients.
	Kashmir: Home away from home for 6 lakh winged visitors Hokarsar Bird Reserve, November 25 This premier wetland in Srinagar is in the prime of its beauty these days - it is host to more than 6,00,000 migratory birds, with the numbers swelling with each passing day. Each year, thousands of migratory birds leave their summer homes in Russian Siberia, The Philippines, Eastern Europe, China and Japan, flying thousands of miles by navigating their long arduous journeys through instinct, to reach their winter homes in the Valley. By the middle of this month, more than 6,00,000 migratory birds, including greylag geese, mallards, gadwalls, garganeys, pochards, grebes, wigeons, shovellers, teals, coots and pintails, have reached this bird reserve. “We have around 4,000-5,000 greylag geese in the reserve this time and more are arriving each day,” wildlife warden (Wetlands) Rouf Zargar said, adding that his department had formed special anti-poaching patrols to check illegal hunting of the birds outside the reserve. Bird hunting was banned in Jammu and Kashmir in 2001. “We have seized many weapons of poachers who have been produced before the courts for the offence. Bird protection has to be a communal effort and all of us have to understand that our survival is directly linked to the well-being of wild animals and birds around us,” the warden said. Encouragingly, some migratory bird species like purple moorhens have started living inside this bird reserve as residents. “We have around 50,000 purple moorhens in the reserve this time. They lay eggs inside and bring up their chicks,” said Muhammad Ramzan, a forester at the reserve. “Initially, they used to be migratory in nature, but for the past six years, they have changed their habits and live as resident birds here.” Ramzan also spotted scores of cormorants. “The cormorants are basically birds of passage. They live here for a short time after their arrival. They will soon fly out to the Indian plains where they spend the winter months”. “They will again spend a part of their time in this reserve in the spring before flying out to their summer homes,” said Ramzan. Displaying their mutli-coloured plumage, the birds fly in systematic patterns, creating a mesmerising spectacle over the skies in the reserve. “We also host ruddy shelducks in the reserve. The migratory bird is known for its capacity to fly high,” said the warden. “All the migratory birds leave the reserve in the evening for feeding in the Wullar Lake and other water bodies, but with arithmetical accuracy, they return in the morning to spend the day in the safety of the reserve.” The birds feed on water chestnuts and wild grass, but when the water bodies are frozen during the extreme winter cold, the Wildlife Department arranges special paddy meals for them. “We feed huge quantities of paddy to the birds during the extreme winter freeze as their body temperatures prevent freezing of small pools of water inside the reserve, where they remain huddled during the days of freeze,” he said. “We have to maintain a 60-40 per cent balance between water and grass inside the reserve. If there is overgrowth of grass, we employ labourers to cut it. While the birds need water for swimming, feeding and mating, they lay their eggs in the grass of the reserve,” the warden said. “An encouraging development during the past some years has been that some of the mallards that came here earlier only during the winter months to ward off the extreme winters of their summer homes have also started staying back to breed inside the reserve,” said the warden. Located just 14 km from the city centre Lal Chowk on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Highway, many residential areas have come up around the reserve. “This is a potential danger to the delicate eco-system of the reserve. Although the boundaries of the reserve are well marked, the discharge of affluent from these habitations, noise pollution and the unavoidable human interference are worrisome,” the warden added. — IANS
	Drug and food control dept crackdown on chemists lauded Tribune News Service Srinagar, November 25 In its drive against the chemists not adhering to the provisions of the Drug and Cosmetic Act, the administration has launched a vigorous campaign sealing at least 34 such medical shops in Srinagar city during the past few days. More such medical shops were also sealed in other major towns of the Valley, including Anantnag, in south Kashmir. Meanwhile, the J&K Chemists and Druggists Association has supported the action taken by the Drug and Food Control Organisation against the chemists not adhering to the provisions of the Drug and Cosmetic Act. This was stated by the president and members of the association when they called on Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Asgar Hassan Samoon here recently. The association said there were no spurious drugs in the Valley, as had been highlighted in the media. The Drug Control Department had suspended licences of 34 chemists in the past few days for either selling expired medicines or not issuing cash bills to the customers, irrespective of whether the customer demands the bill or not and absence of the qualified person in the chemist shop. In certain cases, batch numbers were not being recorded and medicines were being dispensed without prescription. In three cases, action had been taken for selling medicines which had been banned by the Drug Controller General of India. It was informed that out of the total trade of Rs 600 crore, the Valley consumes medicines worth Rs 400 crore annually. The association urged the Divisional Commissioner to issue instructions to the State Pharmacy Council not to issue any new retail licences unless the person was qualified. The Divisional Commissioner directed the chemists to treat their work as service to the nation and not livelihood. The chemists were directed to maintain the record of the drugs sold to customers by issuing cash memos with batch number and expiry date, irrespective of whether the customer demands it or not. No medicine should be sold without prescription and in case any chemist was found indulging in touting, their licence would be cancelled. The Divisional Commissioner directed that henceforth, no new retail licence would be issued unless the person was technically qualified for the same. There are reports that some companies are offering incentives to doctors so that their substandard products could be sold. The Divisional Commissioner said a vigil would be maintained and any doctor found indulging in such activity would lose his licence.
	Cong MP expresses concern over increasing road mishaps Jammu, November 25 Congress MP from Udhampur-Doda Constituency Chaudhary Lal Singh blamed the police and other departments concerned for their failure in keeping a check on the increasing number of road mishaps. While addressing a public gathering at Kathua recently, Lal Singh, referring to the guidelines of the apex court, said the court had made it a necessity for automobile dealers to give two helmets free with a two-wheeler vehicle. “These people usually don’t give helmets to the two-wheeler buyers, which further results in mishaps and loss of life,” he said. He also mentioned a few instances where the motorcyclists were not wearing helmets and lost their lives. “These people lost their lives just because the police and other departments concerned have failed to perform their duties. Had they arrested the automobile dealers for not following the guidelines of the Supreme Court, the lives of these people could have been saved,” Lal Singh said. — TNS
	srinagar DIARY Drive against co-ed coaching centres As the annual examinations have come to an end and new classes have started in schools in the Kashmir valley, the race for attending coaching classes, particularly for preparations for Class X and XII examinations, have begun. A large number of students, both boys and girls, are seen converging around coaching centres in many areas of the city where a number of teachers have established coaching centres offering various subjects. The authorities here had launched a drive against unregistered coaching centres last year, particularly against those working during the office hours. This was to ensure the presence of the teachers in their respective schools during office hours. However, the authorities failed to do the needful, even as some of these centres had been sealed for sometime. This year, the drive has been launched not against such practices, but against co-education classes for the teenagers. The police seems to gear up for ensuring separate coaching classes for boys and girls in order to avoid incidents of eve-teasing outside the coaching centres. The police had also faced tough time to tackle such menace outside the coaching centres during the winter months last year. Polythene menace Despite many drives being launched by the government against the use of polythene in Srinagar or elsewhere in the Valley, the menace has not come to an end. Not only consumers carrying polythene carry bags were fined, but also shopkeepers selling stocks and others items in such carry bags were fined. After the initial fuss over the issue, the campaign had died down and polythene bags have again resurfaced here (see pic). Though huge sum of money has been spent on creating “awareness” against the hazards of polythene, the problem persists as the production and supply of polythene goes unchecked. (Contributed by Ehsan Fazili)
	Minister reviews functioning of PHE Department Ehsan Fazili Tribune News Service Srinagar, November 25 Minister for PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control Taj Mohi-ud-Din reviewed the progress and status of the PHE Department at a meeting held here recently. He was briefed about the targets fixed and achieved during the financial year. He was told that presently out of Rs 160.61 crore, Rs 91.17 crore have been incurred till date. The concerned engineers of Kupwara, Handwara, Baramulla, Sopore, Budgam, Chadoora, Srinagar, Pulwama, Pampore, Shopian, Bijbehara, Anantnag and Kulgam gave detailed presentations in the meeting about the schemes under progress/targets achieved till date. The minister directed the engineers to ensure speedy completion of the ongoing schemes and fulfil targets within the stipulated time. He was informed that there are 32 schemes under the NRDWP (National Rural Drinking Water Programme) in Kupwara-Handwara divisions out of which 10 schemes have been targeted for 2011-12, while 9 schemes have already been completed during the financial year at a cost of Rs 10.54 crore. The minister was further informed that in Baramulla out of 104 schemes under the NRWDP at the cost of Rs 184.49 crore, 23 schemes have been targeted for 2011-2012, while 17 schemes have been completed during this financial year. The meeting was informed that 63 schemes are in pipeline in Anantnag-Bijbehare divisions, while 14 schemes were targeted for 2011-12 which would cover 44 habitations and 45,813 persons. The meeting was also told that two schemes of Srinagar city are under progress. Besides, 1,000 pump sets were functional for providing adequate water supply to the people. It was told in the meeting that in Bandipora, out of 39 schemes, 19 schemes are under progress at the cost of Rs 28.70 lakh, while targeted 9 schemes would be completed by ending March 2012. It was further stated that in Budgam, under the NRDWP 54 schemes are under progress, while 31 schemes would be completed by ending March 2011 at the cost of Rs 60 crore. The meeting was also told that in Pulwama out of the total 88 schemes, 28 schemes were targeted for 2011-2012 and an amount of Rs 18.60 crore out of Rs 22.82 crore have been incurred till ending November.