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Govt depts defy CM Grievance Cell directives
Partner institutions await IGNOU reply on HC’s show-cause notice
STAFF SHORTAGE IN GOVT SCHOOLS |
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Once wanting to be BSF porter, now he’s a teacher at school he almost
quit
Activist writes to SHRC on rising accidents
Work diaries to be verified, coaches told
Devolution of powers to PRIs reviewed
CM launches National Rural Livelihood Mission in Ganderbal
MLA holds public grievances camp
Govt committed to development: Minister
School celebrates annual day
Never give in and keep striving, students told
SCC log win in T20 cricket tourney
Put reflectors on road dividers: Kamaal
Two persons, 7 cattle heads die in mishap
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Govt depts defy CM Grievance Cell directives
Jammu, January 30 The Grievance Cell— constituted in September 2009 to create opportunity for people to register their complaints and get details about the status, nature of disposals, progress and the action taken in this regard — seems to have been taken for granted by various government departments. They have failed to implement the announcements made while responding to the complaints. “A poor implementation of directives also raises a question mark on monitoring mechanism of the Grievance Cell. On the one hand, the authorities claim 90 per cent disposal of complaints related to various departments while on the other, these departments have failed to implement their own decisions with impunity,” sources said. Officials say the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell has received 18,754 complaints of different nature, pertaining to various departments so far. Out of this, 17,800 have been disposed of and 950 are still pending with various departments. “The state government has always tried to give an impression that the Chief Minister is himself monitoring the complaints received from the public. But, the follow-up action on the decisions taken by various departments is not satisfactory. Though the constitution of the Cell had brought some positive changes on the ground, an average implementation of its directives affects the system adversely,” sources added. Source also questioned the delay on the part of various departments in making a “suitable reply” with the Grievance Cell when they were asked about the complaints made by the public. “At the time of its constitution it was envisaged that complaints received in the Cell would be segregated, analysed and transferred to the departments concerned for reply and action will be taken within five days. The reminder for the pending complaints would go to the department concerned on every Monday. There are instances where the departments do not give satisfactory reply even after the lapse of two to three months despite various reminders,” sources added. Mubarak Gul, former advisor to the Chief Minister who used to review the functioning of the cell earlier, said, “Sometimes the departments require funds for the implementation of the decisions. And in such cases, they do face problems in effective implementation of decisions. If any decision pertaining to the public interest has not been implemented in letter and spirit, I will take up the issue in the Legislative Assembly in the ensuing Budget Session. The Cell has become an important tool for the public to register complaints with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and get positive response.” The cell is connected with 120 community information centres (CICs) in as many blocks and it receives the complaints on the Internet from 9.30 am to 5 pm on a toll-free number (1800-1807003). BB Vyas, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, said, “There may be some cases where the decisions were not followed by the departments. I will personally look into such cases.” |
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Partner institutions await IGNOU reply on HC’s show-cause notice
Jammu, January 30 The institutions said it was imperative for the IGNOU authorities to reply soon after court vacations so that students did not suffer. The Tribune had earlier reported that the High Court had issued a notice to Head of the Convergence Unit, IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi, to reply as to why proceedings not be initiated against him for disobeying the court directions. Despite the High Court directions to the Board of Management of IGNOU on September 12 last year to resume the admission process (for July cycle-2012) under the Convergence Scheme, the IGNOU authorities had asked the partner institutions to submit the list of admission for various programmes at its office. Ashok Khajuria, member of the All Partner Institutions of India (AAPI), IGNOU, said, “We thought the Convergence Unit (IGNOU) was in more hurry than us and they will submit the reply after court vacations. But unfortunately, it did not happen.” “It is not only the institutions that are suffering but the students who have already taken admissions for various programmes are raising questions about the credibility of the partner institutions. Some of the students are even demanding re-imbursement of fee claiming that they are not going to put their academic future at stake,” he added. Sources said the partner institutions were intent on meeting the HRD Minister to break the deadlock. Sources added that due to the ongoing chaos, the IGNOU Regional Centre, Jammu, also witnessed a steep decline in the number of admissions for undergraduate and postgraduate courses through distance education. |
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STAFF SHORTAGE IN GOVT SCHOOLS
Jammu, January 30 These 526 schools, including 267 in Jammu division and 259 in Kashmir division, were upgraded during the academic sessions 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. Official sources revealed that the School Education Department accorded sanction for the creation of 526 posts of headmasters (one each in newly upgraded schools), 3,132 posts of subject postgraduate masters, would be created for these schools. "The department has also accorded sanction for the creation of 526 posts of junior assistant and lab attendant each for these schools," sources said. The schools were upgraded in all the 22 districts of the state and with the creation of these posts, the shortage of staff in upgraded institutions would be dealt with. The functioning of various government schools was badly hit due to the shortage of teaching staff in these schools. "Recently, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand - who is holding the portfolio of Education Department - had detached over 2,000 influential teachers with one stroke to bridge the gap between student-teacher ratio in government schools, especially in rural areas. This has been done from school level up to the Directorate Office," a source close to the development said. Nearly 18,000 posts of teachers had been lying vacant in government schools but a number of "influential" teachers had got themselves attached in offices or schools situated in towns and cities, which in turn, was adversely affecting the functioning in the institutions located in rural and far-off places. Sources further revealed that the department had also decided to activate the Village Education Committees (VECs) to monitor functioning of government schools at panchayat level. |
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Once wanting to be BSF porter, now he’s a teacher at school he almost
quit
During the first decade of the century, he could have fallen prey to the machinations of militants. But he approached the BSF unit in Poonch seeking to engage him as a porter. The BSF commandant instead chose him to be a part of Bharat Darshan tour and his rendezvous with the rest of the country changed his life. “The tour infused a fresh lease of life in me and bolstered my confidence. I returned from the tour and resumed my studies. Today I am a teacher in the same school where I wanted to quit studying once,” he said on the sidelines of BSF’s student reunion. He was overwhelmed by the progress in other parts of the country. The Rock Garden in Chandigarh inspired him to create a park in his native village with the help of other villagers and also takes children on tour to various areas of Poonch district. “Discipline within the BSF ranks in addition to meetings with prominent personalities ignited a spark inside me. During the tour, I decided to continue my studies,” he added. Ahmed, who is now father of two, expressed his gratitude to the BSF for bringing a positive change in his life. “Today I take children of my village on tour to Poonch district every month to show them places of importance so that their vision also enhances and they also become a productive part of the society,” he said. |
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Tributes paid to Gandhi on death anniversary
Jammu, January 30 Senior congress leaders said the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi was becoming more relevant with every passing day. “The entire world tries to learn a lesson from his life and principles. His philosophy holds key to peace and harmony. He taught non-violence and tolerance to deal with all issues confronting the humanity,” a party leader said. Dharampal Sharma said Gandhi lived a life full of principles and led the freedom movement against a mighty ruler based on the principles of ahimsa, truthfulness. The countrymen should follow his principles to have peace and harmony, he added. Prominent among those who attended the function were Gurmukh Singh, Ravinder Sharma (MLC), Om Chopra, Kuldip Raj Verma, Mehrajuddin Zargar, president Mahila Congress Indu Pawar, DS Langeh, KL Gupta, Mohammad Abdullah Nadaf, SR Sudhir, Jaswant Singh. The Jai Jawan Jai Kissan Development Committee also organised a function to pay tributes to Gandhi. Members of the organisation remembered his teachings. The volunteers also observed a two-minute silence as mourning. After paying floral tributes to Gandhi, Anil Sharma, the chairman of the Development Committee and sarpanch Jandrah Halqa said, “This is only because of his deeds and teachings that even after 65 years of Bapu’s death the entire world remembers and respects him.” Under the given circumstances, the nation must follow his way of living and thinking to come out of the cycle of violence, corruption, political instability and communalism, they said. |
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Activist writes to SHRC on rising accidents
Jammu, January 30 In his complaint, Deepak Sharma has submitted that the right to life of passengers was being violated because of the “uncaring and callous attitude” of the state administration. The authorities had not been able to ensure the safety of passengers and also failed to depute adequate number of vehicles on various routes, he wrote. “Passengers are being compelled to board overloaded vehicles in absence of adequate transport arrangements on roads. The administration has not been to provide timely medical care to victims in cases of mishap,” Sharma submitted. The activist alleged that an uncaring attitude of the government could be gauged from the fact that even after more than nine months of submission of its report by the House Committee of State Legislative Assembly, the government had not bothered to implement any recommendations. The committee was constituted to give recommendations to check the rising number of road accidents in the state. Official statistics reveal that around 4,500 persons were killed and 37,000 received injuries. Some of them were rendered handicapped in 25,500 road mishaps across Jammu and Kashmir in the past four years. The activist alleged that there was a serious lack of coordination between various government departments such as hospitals, traffic, ambulance, police stations and fire brigade etc. In case of any accident, this lack of coordination results in more causalities, he added. The activist through his complaint urged the rights commission to issue appropriate notice to the state government to establish “emergency accident relief centres” on highways at a distance of every 50 kilometre to provide emergency medical care and to stabilise the condition of accident victims. He also urged to launch an “emergency toll-free number and call centre where accident cases could be reported. This, in turn, would be connected to the emergency accident relief centres, hospitals, ambulances, police stations etc to provide timely medical relief to accident victims, he submitted. He also sought to issue notice to implementing the recommendations of the House Committee and to take necessary steps in this regard. |
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Work diaries to be verified, coaches told
Jammu, January 30 Coaches were directed to get their work reports done on the new performa. Sources said it was found that coaches were not preparing their work diaries on regular basis and there was no mention of players as to whom they were imparting training. The authorities took note and immediately issued a circular on March 14 last year, mentioning that coaches of their trainees should only be registered members. The circular said in any case, any
coach enters the name of the non-members in the list, stern action would
be taken against him under rules. Sources said majority of the coaches took it lightly and continued with their routine task of imparting training to the non-registered players. Sources said the non-members were not those, who had taken fresh admissions but it were those sportspersons, who had already bagged medals in national and international championships, besides representing the state in various championships at higher levels. “We are not going to tolerate this indiscipline among the coaches, who are not bothering to listen to our instructions. They have crossed all the limits. From now on, the erring coaches will now get ready for the punishment if they fail to strictly follow the instructions,” a senior sports council official said. “All the officers concerned have been directed to inform the coaches of the respective centres
to be vigilant in future,” he added. “The department will also not tolerate indiscipline from the players, who are making mockery of the rules and regulations of the sports council even after the strict instructions were issued. The motive behind issuing new cards or renew them is to streamline the admission procedure and also to know how many players are registered in which discipline,” the officer said. |
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Devolution of powers to PRIs reviewed
Reasi, January 30 Assistant Commissioner Development Rakesh Badyal, chief medical officer Dr Des Raj Mengi, chief education officer Tarsem Lal, other officers of line departments and sarpanches and panches were present in the meeting. Specified functions devolved to panchayats by all 14 departments, including Agriculture, Animal and Sheep Husbandry, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Education, Fisheries, Forests, Health and Family Welfare, Horticulture, Industries and Commerce, PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control, PWD, Revenue, Rural Development and Social Welfare were reviewed during the meeting. Working and schemes of the entire departments were discussed and feedback was taken from the panches and sarpanches in the meeting. The ADDC exhorted upon the officers of line departments to identify the schemes as specified in the government order for the empowerment of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the state in consultation with the sarpanches and panches concerned so that instructions of the government should be complied in letter and spirit. The ADDC said members of PRIs should create awareness about the programmes and policies of the government for the development of rural areas. He asked the officers of various departments under the PRIs to work with coordination and dedication so that the people of the rural areas could be benefited. |
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CM launches National Rural Livelihood Mission in Ganderbal
Srinagar, January 30 “My report card is before the people of the state and they have to give me a certificate,” the CM said while addressing a public gathering organised to witness the launch of the scheme. Ganderbal, where the scheme was launched, is the constituency of the Chief Minister. He said people of the state would judge his performance as the Chief Minister, while those from the Ganderbal Assembly Constituency, would judge his performance as an MLA in the 2014 state assembly elections. The roll out of prestigious National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) under the local name ‘Umeed’ is targeted at alleviating rural poverty and bringing economic welfare in rural households. The Chief Minister said poverty alleviation through a befitting mechanism has been a focused area during the past four years of his government and the NRLM was yet another initiative in this regard. The Chief Minister said the Centrally-sponsored NRLM was sanctioned for four blocks but by his persuasion at the Central Government, one block in each district, was being sanctioned to be covered under the first phase of the programme. |
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MLA holds public grievances camp
Reasi, January 30 The MLA said the government was committed to provide all basis amenities like drinking water, medicare, electricity, roads and education for the development and upliftment of rural masses. He said various schemes have been initiated by the government for benefit and welfare of the people in the district and asked the implementing agencies concerned to create awareness among the people about these schemes. Malik said for improvement of electricity network in the district, a plan has been submitted to the Government of India for approval. He announced two youth hostels for the poor students at Sungdi and Bagga, which would be constructed at the cost of Rs 45 lakh and 55 lakh, respectively. Various demands were put forth by the people on the occasion, including improvement of Chassana to Sarchod road, up gradation of sub-centre at Sungdi, opening of sheep and animal husbandry centres in the area, approval of pending old age pension cases, timely payment of MNREGA wages, issuance of ration cards as per the 2011 census, implementation of Haryali project in the area, engagement of local labourers in various government infrastructure development works in the region, availability of timber at reasonable rates, proper distribution of Kerosene and speedy execution of the PMGSY roads. |
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Govt committed to development: Minister
Srinagar, January 30 The minister, on his maiden visit to the constituency after being inducted into the Council of Ministers, visited various hilly, remote and inaccessible areas, including Bagtoor, Kanzalwan, Taribal and Chorwan villages of Gurez and took stock of essential commodities, availability of fuel and firewood, besides snow clearance works in these areas. The minister addressed series of public gatherings at various places and said the government was committed to equitable development of all the three regions of the state. He said the government believes on sustained action rather than false promises and in this pursuit, several welfare flagship programmes have been launched in the state.
— TNS |
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Sociology dept holds alumni meet at JU
Jammu, January 30 University of Jammu Vice-Chancellor Mohan Paul Singh Ishar was the chief guest on the occasion and congratulated the faculty, staff and students of the department for organising the meet. He said the alumni were the real assets of the institute and their experiences provide important inputs. Earlier, Abha Chauhan, head, Department of Sociology presented the welcome address and thanked all the participants for sparing their time and also gave a resume of the achievements of the department during the past years. A brief documentary was also shown to the audience highlighting the activities of the department since its inception. The students of the department presented various cultural items and the alumni from Class I to XII batch were also felicitated on the occasion. Meenakshi Kilam, director, Directorate of Internal Quality Assurance, JK Sharma, special secretary to Vice-Chancellor, faculty members, staff and
students were also present on the occasion. |
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School celebrates annual day
Jammu, January 30 The function began with the lighting of traditional lamp followed by Saraswati Vandana. Principal Romesh Gupta highlighted the achievements of the students in academics, sports and extra-curricular activities. He said the institution was trying to inculcate moral values to make them a responsible citizen of the country. Students presented various colourful cultural items to mark the occasion. The chief guest said it was the endeavour of the government to provide education to every citizen of the state. |
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Never give in and keep striving, students told
Jammu, January 30 “Books are good but there is no substitute to practical experience. So keep dreaming and fulfill them with grit and determination,” said Krishna. The IG aptly advised them to have a strong will power to overcome challenges of life. “There is no need to remain shackled by psychological barriers,” he said and asked the students to chase their dreams in right earnest. He asked them to empower themselves and broaden their vision with the help of computer technology. The BSF Jammu Frontier DIG, JS Oberoi, on behalf of the IG, assured the gathering that every year the BSF would take girl students on such tours. “It would be a permanent feature from now onwards,” said Oberoi. Earlier, Harleen Kour from RS Pura, Qamar Din from Poonch, Tahira Choudhary from Rajouri, Rehan Nawaz from Poonch, Sher Singh from Rajouri, Abhilash Choudhary from RS Pura, Abhinav Khajuria from Rajouri and other students shared how such tours taught them communal harmony and brotherhood.
— TNS |
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PG Arts win Inter-Collegiate Cricket trophy
Jammu, January 30 Sunil Sharma was the top scorer with 79 runs with the help of eight fours and two sixes. Taqdir Singh (31), Chander Kiran (28) and Rahul Sharma (19) were the other notable contributors. For the PG Law Science Department, Rahul Bandral and Gokul snared two wickets apiece while Ajay took one wicket. In reply, PG Law Science was all out for 113 runs in 18.3 overs. Gokul waged a lone battle by playing a fighting knock of 33 runs. For the PG Arts, Dilawar Singh and Sunil Dutt took two wickets whereas Amit and Sukhwinder chipped in with a wicket apiece. The match was officiated by Raman Kumar, Saleem-ur-Rehman and Manu Khajuria. |
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SCC log win in T20 cricket tourney
Jammu, January 30 Batting first after winning the crucial toss, SCC batsmen made full advantage of wayward bowling by KCC bowlers. Openers Sahil and Anup played shots at will by dispatching bowlers to all corners of the ground with the utmost ease. Sahil contributed 45 runs while Anup made 32. SCC accumulated 178 runs for the loss of four wickets in the allotted 20 overs. For KCC, Rohit and Kashyap shared two wickets apiece. Chasing a stiff target to win, KCC batsmen were in trouble straight way as they lost early wickets. Sohail was the only batsman who showed some guts. He played a fighting knock of 56 runs, including six hits to the fence. Abhay (16) and Rocky (22) also tried their best to achieve the target during brief stay at the wicket but after their dismissals, the whole team was bundled out. For SCC, Naresh was the chief destroyer with a five-wicket haul while Rishu took three wickets. The match was officiated by Amit Kumar, Rajesh Sambyal and
Narottam. |
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Put reflectors on road dividers: Kamaal
Jammu, January 30 The NC leader said the government had earlier announced to install reflectors on the road dividers in Jammu. He appealed to the Jammu Municipal Corporation
(JMC) to complete the drain of Hari Market at the earliest and put up appropriate caution signs to the link roads both from Shalamar and Raghunath Bazaar so that motorists could be prevented from getting
trapped. — TNS |
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Two persons, 7 cattle heads die in mishap
Batote, January 30 The bodies of driver Mohd Sadik of Kansi Talwara in Reasi and Liaqat Gujjar of Seni Kothi in Jammu were taken out with the help of Red Cross volunteers and police. The injured was taken to the District Hospital, Ramban. An eye witness said seven cattle heads also died in the accident. |
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Jammu, January
30