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Services of 55,000 daily wage earners to be regularised
Kashmir’s hospitality industry expects good season
First journalism college to come up in Jammu |
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Jammu DIARY
Jammu migrants to go on fast from Mar 28
Army sets up computer training centre at Trahagam
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Services of 55,000 daily wage earners to be regularised
Jammu, March 20 When members asked whether it was a fact that most of the daily wagers of various departments despite the completion of seven years of service have not been regularised so far, the minister said daily wagers engaged prior to the imposition of ban on January 31, 1994 were eligible for regularisation in terms of SRO 64/94. He said the cases of 55,604 daily wagers had been cleared for regularisation and only 3,501 cases were pending. “The cases of the remaining daily wagers will be considered for regularisation,” he said and added that departments concerned were advised to furnish full details of these engagements so as to enable the Cabinet Sub-Committee constituted by the government to look into the extent of problems related to daily workers. “Since the departments furnished inadequate information, they were again requested to furnish the references of officers who engaged these daily wagers, which is still awaited. As soon as the relevant information is received on the subject in full, the Cabinet Sub-Committee is expected to deliberate on the issue and finalise its recommendations,” the minister said. Regarding delay in wages paid to daily wagers, the minister said for the payment of wages of daily wagers, the Finance Department provided funds in full in respect of daily wagers engaged prior to 1994 and those whose number was not in dispute for one reason or the other. Regarding criteria being adopted by the government to regularise daily wagers, the minister said only those daily wagers were eligible for regularisation who had completed seven years of continuous period of working as daily wagers. “Besides, according to a government order, only those daily wage earners will be eligible for the regularisation of services who were engaged on or before 31-01-1994,” he said. Furthermore, daily wagers should not be a retiree employee from any state or Central government department. |
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Kashmir’s hospitality industry expects good season Srinagar, March 20 According to industry estimates, tourist arrivals in the Valley can break the all-time record and more than 20 lakh visitors are expected this year. “As Kashmir remained peaceful last summer, the response from intending tourists has been tremendous. It is hard to get bookings in star-category hotels,” Mohammad Umar, a travel agent, said. The participation of tourism players in various fairs across the country during the winter had played an important role in the unusually high bookings for this year, he said. “The travel trade players from the rest of the country have also helped as they have been selling Kashmir as a destination like they used to do before 1990 (eruption of militancy),” he said. Even high-end hotels like Taj Vivanta and Lalit Palace, located on the banks of the Dal Lake, are expecting a packed summer. “I had to make advance payment in January for booking a room in one of these two hotels for a guest arriving in April,” Burhaan Yaqoob, a travel agent, said. On its part, the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has urged the state government to take steps to ensure that visitors leave with a good impression. In a memorandum to the state government, the KCCI has asked the authorities for ensuring sanitation and hygiene in the city and smooth movement of traffic during the peak season, while also urging taxi drivers to wear uniforms with name badges. Minister of State for Tourism Nasir Aslam Wani recently chaired a high-level meeting to take the stock of arrangements. “We had a successful tourist season last year and will pool in efforts and put in place a joint mechanism to ensure better results this year,” he said after the meeting. “A quick response mechanism will be put in place,” he said, adding that hassle-free arrivals of tourists at Jammu and Srinagar airports and entry points at Lakhanpur and Lower Munda would be ensured so that tourists were not made to wait for long hours. “The Tourism Department will coordinate with airline carriers to shorten the stay of visitors at the airport after their arrival,” he said. “Free porters will be engaged for the shifting of luggage and two more buses will be operationalised for luggage transit from the first drop airport gate to the terminal,” Wani said. He also asked the private players to identify people indulging in fleecing or cheating and said by doing this, a bad name is given to the entire tourism fraternity of the state. Meanwhile, Farooq Ahmad Shah, Director Tourism Kashmir, has warned of stern action against those black sheep in the hospitality sector who were bringing it a bad name through unethical practices. — PTI |
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First journalism college to come up in Jammu
Jammu, March 20 Official sources confirmed that the department had located a land for the college in Nagrota and all official formalities for the college had been done and the construction work of the college would start soon. “The academic session of the college may start this year only. Till the time the building will get ready, the session will run in some temporary accommodation,” the sources confirmed. There was a long-pending demand for the Department of Mass Communication at Jammu University and the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had announced in 2007 that soon there would be a new department in the university for students who want to pursue courses in journalism. Kashmir University has a Department of Mass Communication where 35 students pass every year. But Jammu could not get it. “Initially the intake of students will be less but eventually it will be developed as it is in Delhi. The college was offered the old building of the Public Service Commission but somehow it could not fulfill the criteria,” the sources said. He informed that the courses in the college at Jammu would be on the same pattern of Delhi and the students had to undergo a test for the admission. |
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Jammu DIARY
Sources in the Jammu Municipal Corporation said efforts were on to take time from Union Health Minister and ex-CM Ghulam Nabi Azad for unveiling the statue. He is yet to find time for it. It seems the local administration has failed to find any other person of stature for the purpose. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is from the family of Sheikh Abdullah, who led the Praja Mandal movement against the Dogra ruler. It is unlikely he would pay tributes to the Dogra ruler by unveiling the statue. Though the last king’s son, Dr Karan Singh, and grandson Ajatshatru are present in the country, they do not seem to have been contacted for doing the honours. Mahraja Hari Singh was the one who chose India over Pakistan in 1947. New projects announced,
old forgotten As the state hails the announcement of Union Minister for Health Ghulam Nabi Azad for sanctioning 12 hospitals for Jammu and Kashmir to be built at a cost 232 crore, the exiting projects in the state are still lying in limbo. The Health Minister had already released the first installment of Rs 45 crore for the new mega project in the health sector but the much-needed super-speciality hospital that has already missed the three deadlines is likely to miss the fourth deadline also, i.e. March 31. However, the government claims that the 12 new hospitals are expected to be completed within a period of two years without declaring the completion date of the existing projects. Act of
distancing After the exposure of the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) funds scam recently, some self-styled leaders, who were earlier claiming to the associated with the cricket body, are trying to wash hands of it. A senior leader, who earlier claimed with pride that he was actively associated with the JKCA, is now clarifying that he was never associated with it. The leader, who was attending a function at Jammu University, was asked by a group of residents and mediapersons about the ongoing controversy in the JKCA. He swiftly reacted, “I never remain associated with the JKCA. I don’t know what is going on in the JKCA?” Not only politicians, even some other prominent citizens, who earlier boasted about their connections with the JKCA, are maintaining a distance from the same. Members of the Legislative Assembly and the Council not just create noise and din, they make funny comments also. Rafiq Shah, the only MLC of the Jammu Kashmir National Panthers Party, expressed resentment when the Question Hour was over just before his question had come up in the list. He shouted anti-government slogans and termed the government’s approach as undemocratic. He claimed whenever his question is up for listing, either the House is adjourned at that moment or the Question Hour ends. MLC from the ruling NC, Devender Rana, known for his sense of honour rose in his support saying, “Shah is the only tongue here among the 29 teeth, so I request he should be given priority”. Indo-Pak match ‘shuts’ Jammu It was an unusual visit to the ever-busy markets of the temple city. Shutters were down, traffic was thin and almost all the roads in the other parts of the city wore a deserted look. The city recently observed a complete shutdown over unrest in the border town of Rajouri. ‘Sunday markets’, which generally create hustle-bustle, were small in numbers. It seemed that shopkeepers might have continued with their shutdown call. All these observations, however, came untrue within no time when one of the cricket lovers shouted and cheered the fall of wicket of Pakistan Cricket team opener Nasir Jamshed, who was caught by Irfan Pathan in the one-day international cricket match at Dhaka during the Asia Cup. The bandh-like situation was the reflection of craze and fever of cricket match between two titans of the Asian countries. (Contributed by Jupinderjit Singh, Sonika Raina, Dinesh Manhotra, Varun Suthra & Arteev Sharma)
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Valley caught in whirlpool of narcotic drugs Srinagar, March 20 Faqooq is a drug addict, one among thousands in need of urgent help in the Valley today. Farooq’s woeful tale speaks for itself. “It was in 2007 when I was first offered a few “magical” drops from a bottle containing codeine phosphate syrup by one of my classmates. That time I was in class XII. I savoured it and with my friend supporting my taste for it by continuously providing the syrup to me, that, too, without any financial gain, I got addicted to the drug and that was it! After one month, when not having that drink resulted in painful days and nights with my body shivering and craving for the drug, my friend stopped his charity. Now I had no option but to arrange money and buy the drug.” Farooq said the drug was easily available at the local chemist, but he charged exorbitant rates. By the time his family got to know about his addiction, the situation was already out of hand as the boy’s addiction had reached a level where he would drink more than 14 bottles a day. “My family rushed me to a de-addiction centre in 2008 where I was treated for a few months and then discharged,” said Farooq. But destiny had something else in store for Farooq. In 2009, Shopian village witnessed a massive agitation against alleged rape and murder of Asiya and Neelofar. Farooq, too, became a part of these protests and unfortunately came in contact with his old friends who now promoted addictive drug injections near the main bus depot. They used a potent mix of painkillers and sedative injectables. Farooq fell into the trap of the addiction again, this time for the injections. He was admitted to the de-addiction centre and was diagnosed with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Positive. Farooq is not a case in isolation in the Valley. Narcotic drugs are not only available but also cultivated in huge amounts in the Valley the Afghanistan way. According to an official data, in 2010 the police destroyed illegal narcotic crops spread over 8831.5 kanals, while in 2011, 7,444 kanals were destroyed in the Kashmir Valley. In 2011, a huge quantity of charas, fuki, brown sugar, opium, bhung, poppy straw and cannabis were seized from different locations in the Valley. The police recovered 6,519 bottles of intoxicating medicines, 8,827 intoxicating tablets/injections and 2,760 capsules. As many as 263 cases were registered under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act, 317 persons were arrested and 182 convicted, while 37 others were also detained by the police in the same year. Over the years, excise and police officials have launched several drives against the illegal cultivation, but the notorious trend doesn’t seem to stop. “Every year only a portion of land with narcotic crops attracts action by the police, Excise and Revenue Department authorities,” said a senior police official. “So what I mean to say is that if 7,000 or 8,000 kanals of narcotic crops was destroyed last year, one can only imagine the total “real” area under such crops,” the official pointed out. Experts say, besides, being a hardy crop, charas grows easily, requires no inputs, no manpower and not even irrigation. Illegal crops like bhung are no longer wild crops as they have now replaced the traditional cash crops. And all this transpires despite having several laws against this crime. The cultivation of bhung, poppy and other such narcotic crops is an offence under Section 18 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985. The sale and purchase of such drugs is also an offence under Section 15 of the same Act. This Act is required to be enforced by different states according to need on the ground. However, Section 10 of the Act empowers state governments to permit and regulate possession and inter-state movement of opium, poppy straw, and the manufacture of medicinal opium and the cultivation of cannabis. Kashmir is witnessing a case of illegal cultivation and illegal trade. With one feeding the other both cultivation and circulation are flourishing supported by the silent, unseen hands, obviously the powerful ones. “The situation here clearly points to a nexus in place, which not only overlooks the cultivation of these crops but also facilitates its movement across and beyond the state borders,” said an official in the Excise Department. He further pointed towards the difficulty in estimating the percentage of land actually under the cultivation of narcotic crops as being an illegal activity no survey had been conducted on it so far. Blaming patwaris for misleading the government on this count, IGP, Crime Branch, Raja Ajaz Ali, said: “It's the patwaris who are playing a big role in the whole mess. Every year they have to present annual report to the Revenue Department in which they have to mention which land is under what cultivation. But instead of highlighting the area with narcotic crops, they put on record the cultivation of wheat or paddy on paper; as a result we are unable to know the actual land under the narcotic crops,” Ali said. The problem doesn't end here. When somebody is booked under the NDPS Act, the person arranges for a fraudulent report about his land from the patwari and is set free by the court. Alarmed by the phenomenon, the state government is working on two tracks to get rid of the illegal crops: first, try and convince farmers to switch over to alternative crops, and second, destroy the existing crops, the IGP said. “We have asked the Agriculture Department to form a scheme of alternative crops which can be sown in place of illegal crops. Once the Centre approves it we will go to the farmers and try to convince them to switch to these cash crops,” said Ali. Like Farooq, we have the cases of Fayaz and Usman (names changed) - both of them fell prey to the addiction in their teenage. According to a renowned psychiatrist of the Valley, Dr Mushtaq Margoob, people between the age group of 16-30 years were more vulnerable to this menace. “In Kashmir, about 3.8 per cent of the population is addicted to opium-related substances, which is the highest in the world defeating Iran which has an abuse rate of 2.6 per cent. More than 2 per cent of the total Kashmiri population abuses cannabis while 1.07 per cent of the total populace consumes benzodiazepines, 0.7 per cent people consume alcohol. About 24.5 per cent people consume cigarettes, while 10.63 per cent use other forms of smoking,” said Margoob on the basis of his studies on drug abuse. — ANI |
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Jammu migrants to go on fast from Mar 28
Katra, March 20 Jammu migrants, mostly from Mahore and Rajouri, also alleged that the district administration had already ordered the withdrawal of water and power supplies from the colony and it had been suggested that they should leave the colony as the entire district had been declared militancy free by the security authorities concerned. Jahdev Singh, president Talwara Migrant Committee, said migrants at Talwara were only entitled to cash assistance of Rs 400 per head with an upper limit of Rs 1,600 per family, besides rations, including 9 kg of flour, 2 kg of rice and 10 litres of kerosene per month and cash assistance of Rs 300 per head of cattle. “It was not possible for us to return to our native place with these facilities as at we have almost lost everything there,” he said. Officially, nearly 1,200 families from the Jammu region have been classified as militancy affected migrants. Prittam Singh, another migrant staying at the Talwara camp, said: “Even though the SC had directed that these migrants should be given every facility enjoyed by the Kashmiri migrants, we do not even get half of the relief provided to those from the Valley”. Nearly 900 odd-families comprising 2,500 persons are presently putting in shabby and pitiful condition. This habitation is also devoid of modern facilities, including potable water and electricity. The migrants alleged that they had never received regular relief assistance from the administration and at times after months of delay, relief was provided to them.
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Army sets up computer training centre at Trahagam
Srinagar, March 20 A computer training centre was inaugurated at Trahagam, which has been established under Sadhbhavna, a Defence spokesperson said here recently. A first-of-its-kind, the centre will work in collaboration with Kashsoft Computers (APTECH Ltd), a renowned institute affiliated to the Ministry of Communication and IT, Government of India. The centre will conduct courses recognised by APTECH and DOEACC. The centre will also provide free computer education to SC, ST, Pahari and OBC students. According to the spokesperson, the local students and the youth of the nearby areas of Trahagam appreciated the Army for providing such facility which would ensure career enhancement of the youth of the remote areas.
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Jammu region camping at Talwara have decided to go on an indefinite fast in front of the DC’s office, Reasi, from March 28 to protest against the government’s failure to implement the Supreme Court ruling asking the authorities to provide them relief on a par with those from the Kashmir Valley. 
As part of its Sadbhavana exercise, the Army has set up a computer training centre at remote Trahagam area in Kupwara district located close to the Line of Control
(LoC).
It is over a month since the first-ever life-size statue of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler of the state, was installed near the Tawi Bridge (see photo). It still remains unveiled as no VIP seems to have time to unveil it.