J&K prepares note on package
JAMMU, Nov 21 — The team headed by the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitley, which has been invited to Delhi to discuss the financial crisis in the state with the Planning Commission and the Finance and Home ministries, has prepared a detailed note to convince the union government about the state’s need for an economic package.

Minister orders probe into Rs 1.70 cr land scam
KATHUA, Nov 21 — The minister of State for Revenue, Mr Safdar Ali Beg has ordered a probe into the Rs 1.70 crore land scam. Mr Beg has taken serious note of the fraudulent payments made in respect of land acquired for public and defence personnel.

Award for poet Majboor
JAMMU, Nov 21 — Noted Kashmiri litterateur Arjun Dev Majboor, has been selected for the Poets Foundation Award for 1998.

9 militants among 14 killed

SRINAGAR, Nov 21 (PTI) — Militants made an abortive attempt on the life of a senior police officer and engaged security forces in gunfights which left 14 people, including three securitymen and nine militants, dead and ten wounded in Kashmir valley since last evening.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Abdul Qayoom Manhas had a providential escape when militants attacked his cavalcade near Chunud village in Baramulla district of north Kashmir last night, an official spokesman said here today.

He said four escort personnel of Manhas were injured in the attack. The injured, Bora and Sabu of Central Reserve Police Force and Abdul Ahad and Ghulam Mohammad of Jammu and Kashmir police, were shifted to a hospital.

The militants attacked the police officer while he was returning from Nowpora area of Sopore, where an encounter with militants had broken out earlier in the day.

The militant group which attacked the police officer was confronted at Parraypora resulting in a gunfight. Two foreign militants, Khalid Aijaz of Pakistan and Taimur Afghani, were killed in the encounter. The body of a civilian was recovered from the debris of houses, destroyed in the encounter.

Security forces have eliminated 14 foreign mercenaries in Sopore during this month.

The security forces raided a militant hideout in village Nowpora yesterday which sparked off an encounter, in which the a self-styled chief of Al-Badar outfit, Asgar Bhai of Pakistan was killed and two securitymen, wounded.

In another incident in Baramulla, two persons were seriously injured when security forces allegedly opened fire at a moving mini-bus which was signalled to stop by the security forces, but the driver failed to stop at Hadipora area of Dalina last evening, official reports said here.

The reports said the mini-bus was on its way to Sopore from Badan Panzla when the incident took place. One of the seriously injured person, Fayaz Ahmad was rushed to Srinagar’s SMHS hospital for specialised treatment.

A defence spokesman said a foreign militant was killed in an encounter at Kanthpur village in Kupwara district of north Kashmir last night.

Another militant was gunned down by militants at Kiatshera village in Kupwara district in a separate encounter yesterday. The identity of the deceased militant could not be ascertained immediately, the spokesman said.

He said a big cache of arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants.

The body of a suspected militant was picked up in the Lolab area of Kupwara today, official sources said, adding the militant was reportedly killed in an armed clash with security forces.

The spokesman said unidentified gunmen shot at and seriously wounded a cable-operator at Bemina locality of Srinagar last evening.

The victim, Javed Ahmad Beigh was rushed to hospital here he is undergoing treatment. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, he said.

A report from Baramulla said extremists fired upon a patrol at Khurhama early today, resulting in the death of a soldier and injuries to others. Security forces immediately cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to nab the ultras.

Official sources said an encounter took place between militants and security forces at Parapora, Sopore last evening during which two extremists were killed. A civilian also lost his life and a house sustained damages in the incident.

J&K prepares note on package
From M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

JAMMU, Nov 21 — The team headed by the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary, Mr Ashok Jaitley, which has been invited to Delhi to discuss the financial crisis in the state with the Planning Commission and the Finance and Home ministries, has prepared a detailed note to convince the union government about the state’s need for an economic package.

The team has laid emphasis on retrospective application of the 10 per cent loan and 90 per cent grant with effect from 1969-70 under the special category state provision. The Centre had liberalised the pattern of the Central Plan assistance since 1990-91. The state government has argued that once Jammu and Kashmir is equated with the North-East in so far as central assistance is concerned, it will result in debt relief of about Rs 1275 crore.

The team has conveyed to the Union Finance Ministry that the state has already landed itself in a debt trap. The Centre has been informed the state government has taken certain harsh decisions with the result that the tax revenue has touched Rs 600 crore this year against Rs 294 crore in 1996. Since the tax rate had reached a saturation point, the state needed financial support when the Centre had not fulfilled its commitment to fund, the expenses incurred on the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission’s report which entailed an additional burden of over Rs 600 crore per year.

The power sector continued to put a strain on the state’s economy and till last year the power cash loss was Rs 650 crore a year. Now, it had been reduced to Rs 300 crore. As such, prolonged load-shedding has been ordered and to check peoples anger, it is necessary for the Centre to sanction a package in power sector too.

The Centre has suggested to the state to reduce the budgetary support to the public sector undertakings because it had touched Rs 82 crore against Rs 10 crore in 1989-90. The state government was planning various options to make these undertakings viable. These included the privatisation or closing of some units or clubbing of the enterprises. For the time being the state government has decided to reduce the budgetary support of each corporation on a tapering basis of 10, 20, 30 and 50 per cent. But the employees have started a clamour for it because most of the corporations cannot even meet the wage bills of their employees.

The state has demanded an interim package of Rs 1,000 crore which will allow it to start work on development projects. Work on such projects had been suspended during the past one and a half years because of the cash crunch. The state government has agreed to accept the reimbursement of security-related expenses in instalments, but from now onwards the expenses be reimbursed immediately, failing which the state government had to bank on overdrafts from Jammu and Kashmir Bank which had touched about Rs 800 crore.

In fact, the Chief Minister’s recent threat that he will quit, if funds are not given to his state is the result of his worry over his failure to meet people’s aspirations.

Informed, sources said the Centre had accepted several demands of the states team, but it had decided to release additional funds in instalments and the second instalment would be released after it was satisfied with the utilisation of the funds released in the first instalment.

Minister orders probe into Rs 1.70 crore land scam
From Our Correspondent

KATHUA, Nov 21 — The minister of State for Revenue, Mr Safdar Ali Beg has ordered a probe into the Rs 1.70 crore land scam. Mr Beg has taken serious note of the fraudulent payments made in respect of land acquired for public and defence personnel. The minister has taken exception to reports that payments have been made to persons who were not entitled to receive such payments.

Grave irregularities committed by the top bosses of the Jammu and Kashmir Co-operative Central Land Development Bank during the acquisition of land for Patwar Chak Sohna Noopa in Kathua in violation of the Land Ceiling Act has resulted in excess payment of Rs 1.47 crore. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in his report, has referred to the misappropriation of funds and other irregularities committed by the revenue officials while disbursing compensation to land owners.

Land measuring 1,754 kanals was requisitioned by Army at Chak Sohni Noopa in Kathua tehsil in 1965 on hire basis. It was sought to be acquired by Defence Estates Officer, Pathankot in June, 1978. Process for acquisition was undertaken by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kathua under JK requisition and Acquisition of Immovable Property (RAIP) Act and formal declaration by state government in 1989.

A report by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India said memorandum of compensation assessment was issued by the DC in April, 1991 for Rs 5.44 crore. Of this amount, Rs 4.97 crore were paid to the land owners from January, 1991 to March 1997. This included Rs 1.47 crore paid to legal heirs of an owner from January 1991 to April 1992 as 80 per cent compensation for 584 kanal and seven marlas of land, the report added.

The owner had total land holding of 1,529 kanals till June 25, 1976 when he died. The land stood in the name of the deceased up to January 14, 1980 when mutation of inheritance was attested in revenue records. An inquiry was initiated by Deputy Commissioner Kathua in January 1993 on the basis of a complaint. Investigations revealed that the deceased owner was in possession of land in excess of the ceiling limits of 182 kanals prescribed under the Jammu Kashmir Big Landed Estates Abolition (BLEA) Act, 2007 Svt and 132 kanal under Jammu Kashmir Agrarian Reforms (AR) Act, 1976.

Releasing compensation to the legal heirs of the owner, the officials ignoring law also failed to take any cognizance of the BLEA and AR Acts whereunder the excess land in the possession of the owner was to be reverted to the state. Apart from this, land measuring 306 kanals and two marlas has previously been acquired from the same owner from 1962 to 1991 and an amount of Rs 24.07 lakh released as compensation to him. The report said the whole information was available with the Collector despite that the process of compensation was finalise without enforcing the prescribed ceiling limits. In July 1993 an order was passed by Deputy Commissioner Kathua withholding the balance 20 per cent payment to the heirs. The order also sought action by the Revenue Department for ascertaining the land which was to revert to the State under provisions of BLEA and AR Acts.

It was, however, observed in the audit that no action had been taken in the matter till September, 1998. The reasons for maintaining silence over the issue were also not mentioned, the report added. Why the state land was not acquired by the Revenue Department is a mystery which the government had not bothered to unfold. Sources, however, said the Revenue officials hatched a conspiracy by showing the state land in the name of the owner and joined hands with the latter's legal heirs to swindle lakhs.

The report said that the failure of the Revenue Department to take cognizance of the ceiling law and verify that the land for which the compensation was being paid did not belong to the State government, resulted in undue payment of Rs 1.47 crore. Surprisingly, action to ascertain the total recoverable amount paid as land compensation in respect of balance 1,169 kanal and 15 marlas had also not been taken upto October, 1998.

Award for poet Majboor

JAMMU, Nov 21 (PTI) — Noted Kashmiri litterateur Arjun Dev Majboor, has been selected for the Poets Foundation Award for 1998.

Author of 15 books, Majboor will be conferred the award carrying a gold medal, a cheque of Rs 50,000 and a citation at a function in Calcutta on December 20 this year, a foundation release said here today.

Born at Zainapora village in Kashmir’s Pulwama district on August 16, 1924, Majboor started his poetic career in 1955 with "Kalame Majboor (Kalidas’s "Meghdootam" in Kashmiri language).

His famous works include "Aman Ta Sindagi" (1956), "Leaves of Chinar", "Kulyat Lala Lakhman", "Dash Harar", "Rahul Sankrityayan Padi Samayik", "Waves" and "Teol".

He has also won the Sahitya Academy Award, All-India Radio Award, Maithili Sharan Gupt Samman, J and K Cultural Academy Award for his contribution to literature.