Srinagar, June 3
About 20 per cent polling was recorded in the Hazratbal Assembly byelection today that was held in a peaceful atmosphere with no untoward incident reported from anywhere across the constituency.

Chief electoral officer BR Sharma said here this evening that this bettered the voter turnout of 7.12 per cent recorded in the 2002 Assembly polls as well as 14.62 per cent recorded in this Assembly segment in the recent elections.

Sharma said these were tentative figures as the final figures would be available only after receiving presiding officers’ diaries from all the polling stations of the constituency.

He said the polling was by and large peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the constituency. “Some political parties registered a few complaints which, after verification, were found to be baseless,” Sharma said. He added the a communication plan was fully functional to check the smooth and hassle-free conduct of the byelection.

Sharma said the Election Commission had appointed an election observer to oversee the poll process. “Another 73 micro observers were also deployed at various polling stations to ensure a free and fair poll,” he said. There were no reports of EVM malfunctioning from any of the 119 polling station set up in the constituency, he added.

Sharma said 502 migrant Kashmiri Pandits also voted at Jammu and Udhampur polling stations. Of these, 500 migrants cast votes at Jammu, while only two Kashmiri Pandits voted at Udhampur.

He said the counting would be held at the NIT, Hazratbal, on June 7. The byelection to the Hazratbal constituency was necessitated after National Conference president Farooq Abdullah vacated it following his election to the Rajya Sabha.

Srinagar, June 3
State CPM secretary Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has asked the security agencies to refrain from using disproportionate force against peaceful protesters in Kashmir.

“It is the democratic right of the people to express their resentment over the poignant incidents like that of Shopian, and the peaceful protests should not be dealt with force,” he said.

Tarigami added that the excessive use of force on peaceful demonstrations being held against the Shopian incident fuelled the already-volatile situation.

“The reports that law-enforcing agencies have ruthlessly beaten up peaceful protesters, barged into residential houses and harassed civilians in many areas are appalling. The government should ensure that people are not traumatised in the name of law and order,” Tarigami stressed.

He appealed to the people to manage themselves the protests against human rights violations and “not let the political vultures orchestrate this tragedy for their petty politics.” 

Srinagar, June 3
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has asked the Power Development Department to study models of privatization for power distribution and come up with a concrete proposal for discussion by the Cabinet. He said privatisation of power distribution had worked successfully in states like Delhi.

Stressing the need for reforms in the electricity transmission and distribution system at a meeting to assess various models of privatisation for power distribution, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said time was ripe to create mass awareness about transmission losses due to theft and misuse of electric energy.

“A mechanism is required to be put in place to reform the system and save the state exchequer from power losses that have touched Rs 2,200 crore annually”, the Chief Minister said.

Asking power consumers to pay tariff in tune with their actual consumption, the Chief Minister said the government’s prime objective was to reduce the deficit on account of power generation and bridge the gap between availability and consumption. The meeting discussed various elements of privatization of power distribution and also dwelt at length about policy framework and options in this field.

PDD officials said the peak demand in the state during 2009-10 was estimated at 2,247 MW against availability of 1,545 MW, leaving a deficit of 702 MW. They said this deficit could be reduced substantially by plugging thefts and transmission losses. 

Jammu, June 3
The BJP is all set to rake up the issue of delimitation in the state, as its plea as a party to the petition filed by the Panthers Party to lift the embargo on delimitation has been turned down by the high court. The embargo on delimitation has been imposed till 2026 on the basis of a fresh consensus.

The court was of the opinion that it was the prerogative of the Assembly to challenge this provision. The BJP not satisfied with the high court decision wanted to build a consensus among all political parties to pass a fresh legislation on the issue.

Ramesh Arora, a party spokesperson, said, “After going through the judgement, we are of the opinion that the responsibility of the legislature to legislate on the subject becomes more necessary as the high court has put the ball in the court of the Assembly. We’ll try to build a consensus among all parties. But if we fail, we will approach the Supreme Court.”

“The regional domination should end as democracy is affected if delimitation is not done. It will also affect the basic feature of the constitution,” he said.

Arora also asked political parties, including the Congress, for support on the issue. The Congress had categorically stated in its election manifesto that it would go for delimitation and had endorsed the stand of the BJP. “All MLAs and the political parties have a moral responsibility to pass this legislation, as this judgement will not stand in their way and power to legislate on the issue. It is a matter of public concern and we owe to public to remove this discrimination.”

Jammu, June 3
Nearly 300 poor families of the Chhara community, comprising mostly women, staged protests at Rajeev Nagar here today against a Gujarati conman, Dr Ashok Jadeja, who they claimed duped them of their hard-earned money to the tune of Rs 70 lakh.

Though the agitators, mostly women, burnt Jadeja’s effigy and also tried to disrupt traffic on the Kunjwani-Sidhra road, the Narwal police thwarted their attempt.

At least 300 families from the Chhara community living in slums on the outskirts of the city in the Narwal area claimed that Jadeja of Ahmedabad had duped them of lakhs of rupees.

“We invested our hard-earned money in a hope that he will get our money tripled,” said Kamlawati, a woman in her 60s.

I mortgaged my jewellery and invested Rs 60,000 in a hope to get hefty returns so that I could marry off my daughter, she said. Another woman claimed that she had invested Rs 70,000 that she had collected by selling vegetables. Shouting slogans against Jadeja, the women demanded that their money be returned at the earliest.

Mohan Lal, another protester, said, “We apprised Congress MLA Raman Bhalla of the fraud and he assured us of every possible help to get our money back.”

“We do small-time jobs like selling vegetables, sunglasses, flower pots, vases and other handmade products,” he said.

The Congress MLA had asked the SSP, Jammu, to take up the matter with his counterpart in Ahmedabad to get our money back, Mohan Lal said.

However, Sajjad Parvez, Narwal police post in charge, pacified the agitating people and they dispersed after staging protests for nearly two hours.

“The community handed over a list of 110 claimants, who have invested Rs 40,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh each with the Gujarati conman,” said Parvez, adding that “they have come mainly from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh”. However, no case had been registered so far, he added.

The community members claimed that in total they had invested around Rs 70 lakh with Jadeja.

It may be stated here that several families from the Charra community have settled in slums in Railway Colony, Maratha Basti, Bahu Fort, Rajeev Nagar, Qasim Nagar, Channi Himmat and Trikuta Nagar.

Jammu, June 3
A CII delegation led by chairman of Jammu and Kashmir state council Sanjay Puri met B S Dua, director, industries and commerce, Jammu, and apprised him of some issues plaguing local industry.

Puri said copper recycling units in Jammu were becoming unviable by the day and unless immediate steps were taken, 150 such units providing employment to over 10,000 might soon close down.

In order to make these units viable, Puri recommended a reduction in customs duty from 5 per cent to zero per cent on copper scrap, exemption of 4 per cent special additional duty on copper scrap, increase of excise refund from 15 per cent excise charged as has been done in the case of other industries where raw material does not have incidence of excise.

Puri highlighted the excess power bills being charged from the industrial units and recommended that the tariff bills be only considered by dividing the factor of 0.85 as the power factor.

Puri also briefed Dua about certain government departments not following the price purchase preference instructions. This was against the spirit of the price purchase preference to be given to local state entrepreneurs

Other issues highlighted included round-the-lock functioning of Lakhanpur toll post, abolition of entry tax being counter-productive, removal of nexus of agents at Lakhanpur and the ISO certification of DICs.

Dua said the problems highlighted would be considered on merit.

Srinagar, June 3
Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) has decided to allocate a specific share with regard to the registration of Amarnath pilgrims to travel and tour and hotel industries of the state.

This decision was taken to address the requirements of travel and tour and hotel industries for facilitating the travel of groups and ensuring enhanced participation and stake-holding of the local tour and travel operators in the Amarnath yatra, an official spokesman said here today. Similarly, a modest share, to begin with, would also be made available in the booking of helicopter seats.

The decision follows a meeting of Governor NN Vohra with the representatives of the hotel and travel industries on May 23 and his earlier discussions with Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora.

The SASB shall earmark a daily allocation of 200 yatra registrations each to the recognised travel and tour operators, and a daily quota of 50 registrations each to the hotel industry in both divisions.

Further, the SASB shall provide facilities through Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in Katra for 100 registrations per day for group tourists. A spokesperson for the board has advised the associations to work out modalities with regard to the utilisation of the earmarked allocations to the group tourists to facilitate their visit to the holy cave shrine as part of the overall tourism packages being offered.

The associations in both regions will also get 15 seats each, on daily basis, for further utilisation by their members/stakeholders.

It may be recalled that besides on line registrations, the SASB has an arrangement with Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited for the advance registration of pilgrims across the country through its 110 designated branches.

The board spokesperson has also appealed to the recognised associations of the travel and hotel industries in both divisions to work out modalities for the full utilisation of the earmarked allocation of 500 registration slips and 30 helicopter seats per day.

Jammu, June 3
Veteran journalist Balraj Puri, convener of the People Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), today demanded that the Justice MRA Ansari committee report on the 1989 anti-Sikh riots in the Jammu region be made public.

Addressing a press conference along with activists of the Sikh Progressive Front, Puri demanded that findings of the probe be made public. Fourteen Sikhs were killed when a mob attacked a peaceful gurpurb procession.

Puri protested against the non-payment of full compensation to those who suffered monetary losses and damage to properties or businesses. He said trouble was created by a handful of fanatics, who attacked the procession near Purani Mandi. Blaming the administration for the massacre, he added the attack was preventable.

“The attack was preplanned as the entire administration seemed to be paralysed and the government did not come forward. All phones in the city were disconnected,” Puri alleged. He said if the report was not released along with the action-taken report taken by the government, the PUCL would try to procure a copy of the report and make it public to mobilise public opinion for its implementation.

Jammu, June 3
Panthers Party leader and former Education Minister Harsh Dev Singh has ridiculed the statement of School Education Minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed of holding teachers solely responsible for the poor performance of students in various schools and announcing to demote and prematurely retire the teachers in the affected schools.

He said rather than shifting the entire blame on the teachers, the School Education Minister should do a bit of self-introspection and critically study the working of the department so as to ascertain the reasons for poor pass percentage.

Pointing towards the plight of government schools, he said acute staff shortage, particularly in the schools in remote areas, coupled with poor infrastructure and negligible facilities were responsible for the poor results.

He said there were instances where schools in the rural areas did not have even 10 per cent of the sanctioned strength with hardly any science lab or lab equipment to provide practical training to the students.

He pointed out that over a dozen high and higher secondary schools in his constituency had not been provided even a single lecturer or master grade for the past three years and 100 per cent vacancies existed in such schools.

He said under such circumstances, the teachers could not be made scapegoat for the failures of the government, especially when over 15,000 posts of teachers were lying vacant in various educational institutions of the state.

Harsh Dev said another unfortunate aspect of the case was the non-adjustment and non-posting of about 2,000 teachers, who were selected by the Service Selection Board (SSB) last year.

He said the services of such teachers could have been utilised and same could have given at least a bit of respite from acute deficiency faced by the schools.

Jammu, June 3
Prof Ved Kumari, Department of Law, University of Delhi, while delivering a lecture on ‘Women and Law’, said: “Law and jurisprudence are masculine and discriminatory toward women.”

Prof Kumari in the lecture, which was organised by the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP), University of Jammu, here, said: “The promulgation of gender-sensitive laws and the appointment of a woman or gender-sensitive judges will not resolve the problem of discrimination. A strict implementation of the gender-sensitive laws is required. This depends on the political will of society.”

“Unless and until the consciousness of the society is improved, mere legislation cannot resolve the problem of gender discrimination in law,” he said.

Prof Deepshikha Kotwal, head of the Department of English, stressed the importance of women making their own choices regarding their public and private life.

“A lot of gender-sensitive laws have to be enacted in various fields, and to achieve real legal equality between men and women more efforts are needed,” she said.

Students, scholars and faculty members of various departments attended the lecture and participated in the discussion.

Rajouri, June 3
The Pakistani troops allegedly fired more than a dozen rounds in Sawjian sector in Poonch today.

Army sources said the Pakistani troops fired at least 12 rounds from their Cobra post on the Indian post manned by the BSF troops between 11 am to 11.45 this morning in Sawjian sector in Poonch.

The sources said though the Pakistani troops resorted to unprovoked firing on the Indian post, the Army exercised maximum restraint and didn’t retaliate. There were no reports of loss to human lives and property in the firing.

Jammu-based Defence Spokesperson Biplab Nath denied the reports of ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops.