Jammu, March 17
A recruitment rally was organised by the Navy for the entry into the technical and non-technical sailor cadre today.

Hundreds of aspirants gathered outside the Army Recruiting Office to appear for the written examination, after which they have to appear for physical and medical tests.

An officer said: “The recruitment rally organised by the Navy would continue for two days as the rush of aspirants is very encouraging. The exact figures of the aspirants who appeared for the examination could be reveled only tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the aspirants who came from far off areas alleged that they were informed that the test would be conducted in the early hours, but they had to wait for several hours before the exams could commence.

After the initial technical hiccups, the exam was held. Navy officials said they were elated to see the response of the youth to the recruitment rally in Jammu region.

Jammu, March 17
Mystery surrounding the missing goods from a house at VIP quarters of the Estates Department in Ved Mandir Enclave area ended today as the ex-minister and former Congress MLA, Jugal Kishore, has admitted that he had taken the goods and agreed to return the same.

Following a news report published in The Tribune that several goods, including air conditioners, refrigerator, TV set, ceiling fans, coolers, room heaters, mattresses, curtains, bathroom fittings and sanitary wares etc, are missing from the house number 1 of the quarters, the department concerned today agreed that it was a mistake on part of the chowkidar as he did not take care of goods while they were being taken away.

The house was earlier allotted to ex-MLA and minister Jugal Kishore who lost Assembly election from the Reasi constituency in 2008, and at present, Advocate General of the state MI Qadri has been living in the same accommodation.

“The Estates Department has changed my accommodation from Ved Mandir Enclave area to its quarters in the Gandhi Nagar. Since both the accommodations belong to the same department, I had taken the goods. I will return whatever goods the department concerned asks me,” Jugal Kishore said, adding that the media is needlessly creating an issue out of it.

Deputy Director Estates Arun Manhas said: “The ex-minister has agreed to return the goods of the department. The ex-minister was out of station when the household goods were shifted from the quarter.”

When asked whether the department was going to initiate any criminal proceeding against the accused, he said, “Our prime concern is to retrieve the things and the ex-minister is willing to return them, so the department won’t file any complaint against him.”

Srinagar, March 17
Even as residents of Bomai village near Sopore in north Kashmir have threatened mass migration after March 20, there is no decision yet on shifting the Army camp located in the village. Local people for the past one month are demanding the shifting of the camp following the death of two youth in Army firing on February 2.

The killing of youth triggered large scale protests for about two weeks, prompting the civil administration and the Army to probe the incident. The protests ended after the Baramulla district administration assured the protesters that the Army camp located in the village would be shifted within two weeks.

Bomai villagers had given a two-week deadline ending March 20 for shifting the camp and threatened to migrate en mass if their demand and the administration’s assurance were fulfilled.“There has been a delay in arriving at a decision”, district officials admitted.

The district administration has already submitted its fresh report to the government for ending the stalemate. The officials believe that there was no need to have an Army camp in the village, as four other Army camps were already existed in the area. A CRPF camp is also located in the area, thus making it “highly militarised”, the locals complained.

The then District Magistrate in his inquiry report submitted to the government has reportedly indicted Army personnel for the killing of the two local youth. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would take up the issue with Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram during his visit to the state tomorrow.

A defence spokesman here today declined to comment on the issue.

Jammu, March 17
Most of the former ministers and MLAs are putting up in government houses in Jammu despite having lost the Assembly elections.

As per the norms, the legislators are entitled to government accommodations and other facilities for the term they have been elected. After that they have to vacate the houses within 15 days.

It has been reliably learnt that most of the former MLAs and ministers are living in the quarters of the Estates Department for the past several years.

Former Congress MLA and Minister of State for Tourism Jugal Kishore, who was earlier living in a government house in the Ved Mandir Enclave area, has now been allotted a government accommodation at Gandhi Nagar by the Estates Department following his defeat in the Assembly elections from Reasi in 2008.

Asked over the phone as to how he could live in a government house after losing the elections, Jugal said, “There are several others who have been allotted three to four government houses at different places even after losing the general elections.” However, he did not disclose the name of such legislators.

According to officials of the Estates Department, most of the former legislators have a backlog of dues, including house rent, water and electricity bills etc. “No legislator leaves house after losing elections. At the most, they are shifted to some other accommodation of the department,” said an official of the Estates Department.

The official further revealed that to get a “no due certificate” that was mandatory for pension, every legislator was bound to clear the dues. “So most of them clear their dues at that point of time only,” he said. He, however, did not disclose the names of defaulting politicians.

“MLAs and ministers are not ordinary people. We cannot ask them to vacate the official accommodation at once.
Most of them leave at their own,” said Director, Estates, Khursheed Ahmed Shah. He added that former legislators had been allowed to live in government houses due to security and other reasons. 

Srinagar, March 17
The PDP has taken exception to the “latest round of accusations and obnoxious remarks” of former Governor Lt-Gen SK Sinha (retd) against the party and its patron and former Chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

The former Governor, according to a report from New Delhi yesterday, had traced the PDP’s links with the Lashkar-e-Toiba, and accused the Mufti of acting as a spokesperson of militants during his tenure as Chief Minister between 2002 and 2005.

A PDP spokesman said the party’s agenda was clear and it did not matter “if people of Lt-Gen Sinha’s thinking endorse it or not”. The problems facing Kashmir were the result of a thought process that is represented by Lt-Gen Sinha (retd) and his cohorts, the spokesman added.

“They want to see Kashmir as a colony rather than a place inhabited by self-respecting people, who need to be treated with dignity and given the economic and political space that they deserve as a right and not as a concession”, he said.

“The party has no reason to be apologetic about its agenda based on the concept of self-rule, especially after its endorsement by people across the state and a resounding approval in the recent elections,” he added.

The spokesman said the healing touch policy of Mohammad Sayeed proved to be a turning point in Kashmir’s history and the party stood by its demand for monetary and other assistance to all the victims of violence, including the families of slain militants. “The widows and children of the killed militants have committed no crime and their welfare should be a genuine obligation for the state”, the spokesman said. He pointed out that except for people of Lt-Gen Sinha’s perverted logic this was a universally accepted principle.

Referring to the PDP proposal for having a Governor elected by the state legislature, the spokesman said though many Governors sent to the state were men of outstanding capabilities and distinction, exceptions like Lt-Gen Sinha (retd) had brought the high office into disrepute.

He said it was unfortunate that the former Governor had turned the state’s Raj Bhawan into a den of conspiracy and communalised its functioning.

Commenting on the provocative anti-Muslim remarks of the BJP candidate from Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, Varun Gandhi, the spokesman said Varun was the younger face of Sinha. The streak of rabid communalism runs right across the Sangh Parivar to which both belong. “As if to emphasise their solidarity”, the spokesman pointed out “both had chosen the same day for baring their fangs”.

“During the Assembly elections people had voted for mainstream leaders for the settlement of their local grievances and not for the settlement of Kashmir issue”, he said. 

Terming the Kashmir issue as a universal reality, Hakeem Yasin urged the central government to start a dialogue with separatist leaders to find out a lasting solution to this long-pending issue. The former minister said the four-point proposal of former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf could prove beneficial. 

Jammu, March17
The number of school-going children is declining in the state as the mid-day meal scheme started as an attraction, has failed to achieve the aim.

The scheme launched in September 2004 in the state has failed to achieve results in the number of enrolments in government schools. As per the report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), there has been a constant decline in enrolments in schools during the past four years.

The main objective of the scheme was to increase the enrolment of students at the primary level, but despite the increase in attendance rate in schools, the enrolment of students has decreased from 10,01,081 students in 2005-06 to 9,75,954 students in 2006-07 and further declined to 9,32,972 students in 2007-08, the CAG report says. The decline is between 6-32 per cent.

The CAG report points out that the Department of School Education, which is the nodal agency for the implementation of the scheme, has not prepared an annual comprehensive work plan and budget for execution of the mid-day meal scheme. The annual work plan and budget should contain the details of management structure, implementation process and the monitoring process for the implementation of the programme.

The CAG report also indicts the state government for lifting excess allocation of 2,234 metric tons of foods grains from the Central government during 2004-07 by way of submitting the inflated figures of enrolments which were far less than the actual numbers. During 2004-05, one lakh students were shown enrolled but the government could not show the details of these enrolments, the CAG report says.

He said counsellors belonging to New Delhi, University of Kashmir, Islamic University of Science & Technology, Institute of Management and Public Administration (IMPA), Wigan and Leigh College (WLC), National Institute of Technology-Hazratbal, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) etc. are taking part in the programme.

During the eviction process, senior officials of the security wing were present, they added. However, Abdul claimed that he had been putting up on six Kanals and three Marlas of the land from the past over three decades and never ever the department served him any notice. He claimed that the land belonged to him. — TNS

Srinagar, March 17
The government today suspended eight teachers after they were found absent from duty in Baramulla and Pulwama districts. 

The teachers were suspended following a surprise visit by senior officers to various offices, including government-run educational institutions in Sopore and Tahab areas of Baramulla and Pulwama districts, respectively.

At Girls High School, Arampora, in Sopore, six teachers were found absent from duty and placed under suspension with immediate effect, the spokesman said.

He said Joint Director (Elementary Education), Kashmir, paid a surprise visit to Girls Middle School, Zasoowa in Pulwama district and found two teachers absent from duty. Both teachers have been placed under suspension. — PTI