Srinagar, June 2
The much hyped induction of chief secretary, B.R. Kundal into the state Cabinet could not be held as scheduled today, due to various reasons raising speculations and indicating differences between the two main coalition partners.

Kundal, after having been tipped for induction into the Azad-led coalition ministry, had applied for premature retirement late last week. Consequently, senior most IAS officer (1974 batch), S.S. Kapur, was being elevated to the position of the new chief secretary ahead of the Assembly elections, scheduled later this year.

Officials said the oath-taking ceremony at Raj Bhawan scheduled had been postponed due to the late arrival of Chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad from New Delhi. However, sources did not rule out other “’political reasons” for the postponement of the ceremony indefinitely, while the Chief Minister was scheduled to preside over the related crucial meeting of the state Cabinet this morning.

Azad, who landed here today, was busy with other scheduled meetings.

“We have reservations as the issue is linked with the next chief secretary of the state”, a senior PDP leader said. The Congress leadership had not taken into confidence the main coalition partner, the PDP, before taking decisions on inducting B.R. Kundal into the Cabinet, he said. The PDP leader opined that the sudden deferment had raised speculations and the PDP was not happy with the issue. Certain objections had been also raised by some Congress leaders from Jammu, including Mula Ram and Suman Bhagat, it was learnt.

“It is for the Congress to decide” as it was linked to the next chief secretary of the state, the PDP leader opined. Even the PDP had not accepted the proposition of inducting Kundal into the state Cabinet.

Nagrota, June 2
With education authorities burying their head under sand Ostrich like, five children sustained injuries when a pillar on second storey of a private school collapsed this morning. The incident occurred at around 10.30 am.

Like any other working day children were attending their classes when a pillar made up of bricks on the second storey of Shastri Model Middle School caved in, injuring five children, one of them critically.

The school authorities in utter violation of rules have been doing construction work on the second storey of the school while conducting classes at the same time.

Soon after the incident a police party from Nagrota police station rushed to the spot and along with teachers and locals shifted the injured students to Government Medical College and Hospital at Jammu. However, nearly 40 other students had a miraculous escape in the incident.

“We were attending classes when a pillar collapsed and bricks fell on us,” said Neeraj Kumar, one among five injured students.

Students, who were sitting close to the pillar supporting under construction structure on the second floor of the building sustained injuries while others escaped unhurt, said a teacher pleading anonymity.

Soon after the incident frightened children started screaming and we rushed to the school, said Jagdev Singh, a local.

As the news spread like wildfire parents of the children from in and around Nagrota rushed to the school to know about well-being of their children.

The injured students have been identified as Komal Sharma and Rohit Rajput, students of fifth standard, Neeraj Kumar of seventh standard, Surinder Kumar and Rohit Sharma of third standard.

Though the Nagrota police has registered a case against the school authorities yet none had been arrested, informed a police officer.

When contacted, Director, School Education AK Raina said an inquiry had been ordered into the incident and within next two days report would be submitted to him by the Chief education Officer.

“If the school was found working in violation of the laid norms then its affiliation would be cancelled immediately,” he said.

Jammu, June 2
The internally displaced Kashmiri Pandit families of the Muthi migrant camp Phase-I have accused the concerned authorities of hobnobbing with certain elements in the allotment of one-room tenements vacated by the Kashmiri Pandit families, who recently shifted to two-room flats.

A deputation of the Muthi camp dwellers said, recently, the government through relief commissioner (migrants) allotted two-room flats to the militancy-affected families in Buta Nagar.

Though around 16 families from Muthi shifted to the new accommodation, their one-room tenements at Muthi phase-I had been allotted to certain people, who greased palms of the officials, alleged the deputation.

“There is a nexus between so-called leaders, middlemen and officials, who have been resorting to malpractice giving custody of vacated tenements after taking money from people, who doesn’t fulfil the criteria,” said a displaced Kashmiri Pandit pleading anonymity.

The families, which had shifted to two-room flats, had handed over the keys of their one-room tenements to the concerned official, but to their utter surprise, the possession of the vacated tenements had been given to outsiders, he added.

Demanding a thorough probe, the aggrieved Kashmiri Pandits said: “We want to know under what norms these tenements have been given to the people, that too, when the relief commissioner has not cancelled their allotments as yet.”

They asked relief commissioner Vinod Koul to devise a proper and transparent plan to allot the quarters to the deserving migrants.

Aggrieved families said: “Some leaders of the camp in connivance with the officials and employees were allegedly taking money from outsiders to allot them vacated one-room tenements without any authority.”

However, despite repeated attempts the relief commissioner could not be reached for his comments.

Jammu, June 2
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today came down heavily on the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board for introducing a system of “paid darshan” at one of the most venerated shrines in the country.

In a meeting held here, parishad members said the shrine board’s move reminded them of ‘jajia’ imposed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. They said they would not tolerate any such step and sought its immediate withdrawal.

The VHP also lashed out at the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board for its alleged decision of installing a figurine of Lord Shiva in front of the cave shrine. They alleged that the decision didn’t conform to Hindu traditions. They said various rituals had to be performed daily wherever a statue of god/goddess was installed. However, in this case, the board should explain how it would ensure the same for the remaining 10 months of a year when the cave shrine was not accessible.

Srinagar, June 2
State DGP Kuldeep Khoda and IG S.M. Sahai today pinned up ranks of nine policemen who have been promoted out-of-turn for their work, especially in anti-militancy drive.

Speaking at a function, Khoda complemented the promoted police officials and said the out-of-turn promotion was in recognition of the work of the officials for working to eliminate the militancy from the state.

He said the police was now doing surgical operations with minimum collateral damage. He hoped that the police would continue with its zeal and it was because of the efforts of the security forces that situation was gradually returning to normal.

Srinagar, June 2
The Jammu & Kashmir Bank today announced a net profit of Rs 59.8 crore for the quarter ending March, which was an annual rise of 32 per cent. Chairman Haseeb A. Drabu said today the bank's profit for the financial year 2007-08 was Rs 360 crore, a 31.1 percent growth over the past year.

He said the results were keeping in view the bank's long-term target of doubling profit in three years and revenue in five years. He said the bank's total turnover had risen to Rs 474.75 billion, a jump of 12 per cent over the last fiscal. “They are performing better than other banks, most of whom are growing at 20-25 per cent,” he said.

Drabu, who has served in the Planning Commission and is also the economic advisor to the state government, said his bank's policy to maximise its impact in the state had paid off. “We will be a bank of universal needs for our customers in the state, while of specialised needs in the rest of the country,” he said.

The bank would offer a niche customer group in other states and issue different products like loans suited for different agriculture and horticulture produces.

The state accounts for 47.11 per cent of the total business of the bank but gives it a whopping 72.59 per cent profit. While Delhi accounts for 17.99 per cent business and 13.9 per cent profit and Mumbai 17.76 per cent business and 10.95 per cent profit, he said.

Drabu said the bank's gross NPA had come down to Rs 485 crore against Rs 501 crore ,while net NPA was Rs 80 crore against Rs 307 crore, less that 1 per cent of the total revenue, which was better than most of the banks.

Gundla (Dhansal), June 2
Though the state government claims to have provided electricity in almost all villages of the state, residents in many villages of Dhansal division, burn a “dilli” (a special firewood) to illuminate their houses.

The residents of Ghamghir village in Bhamyal burn wood to light up their houses, as even after 60 years of Independence, electricity has not reached this village.

“We are living in a dark age, as more than 60 years have passed since Independence, but still we haven’t been provided with electricity supply,” Kamal, a resident of Ghamghir village, said.

He added, “Leaders come here and make false promises. Nobody is bothered to provide us with basic facilities like electricity. We are living in a dark age.”

Around 65 to 70 families inhabit this village which is situated amidst thick forest in Dhansal division. “Though the village is not far from the winter capital, people continue to suffer due to the non-caring attitude of the state government,” the villager said.

“In my entire lifetime, I have never seen electricity and now I feel that I won’t be able to see it in this lifetime,” another villager said.

The residents also said they had not fitted wires in their houses as they did not have electricity wire fittings. “We know that electricity won’t ever come to this village. So we haven’t undertaken wire fittings. We only burn wood to illuminate our houses,” another villager said.

Children are the worst sufferers as in the absence of electricity, they cannot study in the evening and at night.

“Most of the children fail because they don’t have electricity to study during night. To reach school, they travel for 10 to 15 km daily. By the time they reach home, it gets dark and they cannot do their homework,” Surinder Koul, headmaster, High school, Gundla, said.

Repeated attempts to contact the MLA concerned from Nagrota proved futile.

Meanwhile, various villages of Dhansal division, which fall under Jammu district and are situated at a distance of few kilometers from the district headquarters, lack basic facilities like potable water, electricity, healthcare facilities and road connectivity.

Most of the villages in Dhansal division do not have any water supply and residents have to walk for hours together to get water from a sole hand pump outside the government middle school, Dhami. “This hand pump was installed a few months ago when some ministers had to visit this place,” said Billu of Dhami village.

The situation is worst at Gundla village, where residents are not so lucky to get a hand pump installed and have to rely on natural resources. “The state government never bothered to provide water to us. We don’t have any other source of water here, so we have to rely on natural sources. This water is not good for health as residents use this for the purposes like drinking and washing of clothes,” said Rakesh of Gundla village.

Various villages in the division even still don’t have proper road connectivity.

Residents here rue that the successive state governments never bothered about their development. However, officials blame the residents of the villages for delay in developmental work.

“The residents don’t want their RBA status to be revoked so they put hurdles in undertaking developmental works here,” said a state government official.

Bhaderwah, June 2
Rekindling a ray of hope among inhabitants of this mountainous belt, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has announced that work on the Bhaderwah-Chamba road, which was suspended 15 years ago due to militancy and paucity of funds, would be resumed soon.

This project, if completed, would provide the state its first-ever direct access with Himachal Pradesh. It would also provide an alternative highway to reach Kashmir without using the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway, which is the country’s only surface link with the state.

Locals residents, who alleged that construction of the road was stopped due to “political reasons”, had lost hopes of the completion of this “dream project”, which would have proved as a lifeline for people of this mountainous belt.

While inaugurating the Bhaderwah campus of Jammu University, the Chief Minister announced that the Centre had also sanctioned Rs 80 crore for the completion of this road, which would give boost to tourism and local economy, besides generating employment opportunities for unemployed youth.

This road project would help attracting tourists visiting Himachal Pradesh to Bhaderwah via Chamba. The 66-km Bhaderwah-Chamba road is important even for strategic reasons. It would reduce the state’s dependence on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, which is prone to landslides. Furthermore, this vital road link has enormous economic potential because of the rich natural resources in this region.

Known all over the country for its Rajmash, farmers of Bhaderwah have to bear huge transportation charges to sell their product. “We sell Rajmash at Rs 25 per kg and the traders sell the same at Rs 60 a kg in the market”, said Ravinder Kotwal.

Jammu, June 2
With the soaring up of the day temperature, incidents of fire have been on the rise with each passing day. To control this, the fire and emergency department has equipped itself to deal with the increasing number of fire incidents in the region.

The department which is fast heading towards modernisation, has purchased five new state-of-the-art fire dozers, besides, refurbished eight old tenders to deal with any emergency.

G.A. Bhat, director general, fire and emergency department said, “We are fully equipped to deal with any eventuality and the department remains alert to handle any emergency.”

He added, “Grass and crops easily catch fire as people stack the dry harvest crop. We have been repeatedly telling farmers to stack them loosely.”

Though the department is “marred” by the shortage of manpower, Bhat said the shortage had not attained an alarming proportion.

“As there have been no new recruitments in the recent past, the shortage of manpower comes when some of the staff retires, while some die. But still we have sufficient staff at our disposal,” Bhat said.

To check increase in the incidents of fire, the department has also asked the government to implement the National Building Code.

The code would empower officers of the department to take action against the owners of those commercial buildings that averted fire safety norms. The department has written to the state home department to implement the National Building Code in the state.

While the Union home ministry has made it mandatory for all states to implement the code, the department has sought an Amendment in the Jammu and Kashmir Fire Force Act, 1967, for the purpose.

In the absence of the code, the department cannot take action against violators and can only make recommendations to commercial establishments to adopt safety norms.