Jammu, April 18
Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said that the Centre should focus on the Delhi-Srinagar dialogue to find a solution to the Kashmir problem instead of involving so many parties in the process.

Umar Farooq, who was talking to mediapersons here after touring the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, said that the Hurriyat Conference has not yet decided whether it would participate in the second roundtable conference that has been convened by the Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh, at Srinagar next month.

He said primary focus of the Hurriyat was on a triangular dialogue involving India, Pakistan and Kashmiris. Hurriyat was not against a dialogue, but the Centre should have involved other parties in the roundtable conference only after the talks with the separatists had reached at a particular stage.

The dialogue process was initiated by the Hurriyat Conference during the NDA regime and these were carried forward under the present UPA regime when the separatists met the Prime Minister.

He accused India of not doing enough to restore peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has shown a lot of flexibility and India should respond to these gestures.

He suggested that a two-tier approach should be adopted for bringing peace in Kashmir. Firstly, India should concentrate on Kashmir and debate all the proposals, including "self-rule" and "joint control". Secondly, India and the Kashmir leadership should take steps to improve ground situation.

Laws like the Disturbed Area Act that provide more powers to the army and para-military forces should be withdrawn.

The Hurriyat has only one issue on its agenda at the moment that India should take concrete confidence-building measures and demilitarise Kashmir gradually. Piecemeal steps would not help restore confidence among the people.

The Mirwaiz said the Hurriyat would convene an inter-regional roundtable conference of all the five regions of J&K at Srinagar in July and the governments of India and Pakistan should facilitate it. Representatives from all the five regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh in India and Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Northern Areas across the LoC would be invited for the conference.

Being a bigger party, India has more responsibility than Pakistan for taking steps to restore normalcy in the state. He said that the Hurriyat was preparing a roadmap for a federal structure of the undivided state as it existed prior to August 15,1947.

The Mirwaiz said the Hurriyat would ask the governments of India and Pakistan to reopen the Poonch-Uri road via Hajipir to cut short the distance between the border belt and the valley to 32 kms. Work on the Moughal Road should also be expedited. Other Hurriyat leaders, Mr.Naem Khan, Moulvi Abbas Ansari, Mr.Bilal Lone and Aga Syed Hussain, were also present.

New Delhi, April 18
The healing-touch policy of the UPA government for Jammu and Kashmir went a step forward with the Union Cabinet today approving relaxation in the existing guidelines of a scheme to provide employment to people living below poverty line (BPL) in the state.

The Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY) was expected to benefit people in the BPL category in the state at a cost of nearly Rs 27 crore, Mr Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and Technology told mediapersons after the Cabinet meeting.

He said the reconstruction plan would be applicable only to the BPL people in urban areas and provide employment to them.The economically weaker sections and low-income group people would not be included as beneficiaries, he said.

''The reconstruction plan will be applicable to the Urban BPL ...and the funding will be in the ratio of 90:10 between the Centre and the state,'' he said.

The total amount of Rs 8.49 crore would be inclusive of administrative cost — Rs 0.6875 crore — for the implementation of the plan.

The total requirement of government funds is Rs 9.43 crore of which 10 per cent— Rs 94.37 lakh — would be contributed by the state government

Mr Sibal said the scheme was expected to provide rapid employment to the targeted beneficiaries in Jammu and Kashmir.

The project, providing employment to the targeted beneficiaries under the PM's reconstruction plan, would have a ceiling of Rs one lakh for individuals and Rs 10 lakh for a group of 10.

The subsidy would be enhanced to 30 per cent for all categories of persons, including SCs, STs and women.

A contribution of five per cent as a margin money by the beneficiaries would also be required, he said.

Mr Sibal said the targeted people would be given freedom to procure machinery and goods from the market for setting up the micro enterprises subject to verification by financial institutions.

Training and skill-upgradation would be permitted as a stand-alone programme without necessarily linking it to self-employment under the project and the maximum time limit for training would be 600 hours.

Meanwhile, in a bid to end a long-standing dispute over the Kishanganga project, India would now propose to Pakistan some modifications in the 330 MW hydro-electric plant in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr Sibal said though the earlier project was envisaged way back in 1994 but it could not be implemented in view of certain objections raised by the Pakistan authorities as it violated Section E of the Indus River Water Agreement between the two countries.

Hence, India has now decided to go in for the 330 MW hydel power project as it is already covered under the said section of the agreement and will not attract any objection from Pakistan authorities.

Srinagar, April 18
Though there has been a comparative decline in the number of violent incidents in the state, the government here has made a requisition of additional security forces from the Centre to meet its demands.

The requisition has be sought for events like next week’s Assembly byelections to four constituencies, possible infiltration of armed militants from across the border and the annual Amarnath yatra.

Addressing a press conference after reviewing the security situation with state officials in view of recent spurt in violence, Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal today said all preparations had been made to meet the situation.

He pointed out that the number of incidents, and not militancy, was on the decline.

“The good news is that there is good coordination” between the police and different security agencies in the state, he said.