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Sixth Pay Panel Report
PDP seeks dole for unemployed
Dalits face social boycott here
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Snag in power station plunges Reasi into darkness
Helicopter service to Amarnath
flagged off
Petition against ex-CEO of Amarnath shrine board quashed
BJP councillors revolt in RS Pura
95 pc brick-kilns illegal in Jammu division
SPO succumbs to injuries
36 kg poppy straw seized
40 taken ill after feast
Summer vacation from tomorrow
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Sixth Pay Panel Report
Srinagar, July 22 The employees were demanding the immediate implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations, regularisation of daily wage workers and a raise in the retirement age by two years. The work in offices came to a standstill as the employees observed a pen-down strike this morning. The employees held rallies and protests in Sher-e-Kashmir Park and on the premises of Food and Supplies Department. Later, a large number of them held a protest at Lal Chowk raising slogans and impressing upon the government to fulfil their demands forthwith. Similar demonstrations were also held at various district headquarters across the valley, a spokesman for the employees here said. The employees have decided to continue the strike and protests tomorrow. They also threatened to continue the agitation in case the government did not concede to their demands. They also threatened they would march to Lal Chowk. Jammu: People had to face hardships as the work in most of the government offices in Jammu remained affected due to the two-day strike called by the Employees’ Joint Action Committee (EJAC). The EJAC has been demanding the implementation of the report of the Sixth Pay Commission in the state, as promised by Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather. Work in most of the departments remained affected, as a majority of the employees did not attend offices. The EJAC had given a call to all state government employees and workers to observe a two-day strike starting today, demanding the implementation of the report of the Sixth Pay Commission. Meanwhile, the members and representatives of the joint consultative committee of the state government employees of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions have also called for a strike tomorrow. The employees have given a nine-point demand charter to the state government and have threatened to proceed on an indefinite strike if the government backtracks on its promises. Udhampur: Working in the government offices was also affected in Udhampur on Wednesday. A large number of employees held protests at various places. Employees regretted that the government had been adopting delaying tactics in implementing the pay panel report. Though the government offices were open, the employees did not perform their duties. The employees staged a dharna outside their offices and shouted slogans against the authorities. The employees demanded that discrepancies in the pay band should also be removed and wages should be fixed as per the recommendations of the SL Bhat Committee. Employee leaders pointed out that most of the states in the country had already implemented the recommendations, but the state government was not serious about it. Reports from Reasi said the functioning in the government offices were also affected due to the strike. |
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PDP seeks dole for unemployed
Jammu, July 22 Addressing a meeting of senior party functionaries here today, Sayeed hailed the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan. While criticising the BJP leadership for opposing the resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue, he reminded that it was during the NDA regime that a composite dialogue process was started. “When the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had extended a hand of friendship towards Pakistani, tension was high on the borders as there was an eyeball-to eyeball situation”, he said. He said there was need to carry forward the peace initiatives and to expand the process of cross-LoC cooperation and trade in Jammu and Kashmir that would help create a new space for reconciliation in the region. "Indo-Pak cooperation is the key to resolving the region's problems” he said and called upon civil society in both countries to respond to the emerging challenging situation so that the peace process should be taken to its
logical end. The PDP also demanded a reasonable monthly sustainable allowance for the educated unemployed youth till he secures suitable employment. In a resolution passed in a special session of the party, the PDP expressed concern over the problems being faced by the educated unemployed of
the state. The party said the NC had promised to give a monthly stipend to the unemployed educated youth but nothing had been done so far. |
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Dalits face social boycott here
Sadoh camp (Zero Line), July 22 Situated near the border in Samba district, Sadoh camp village was established for migrants who had to leave their property after Pakistan occupied a major chunk of land in the Chamb sector during the 1971 war. But even after 38 years the residents of this village are facing a social boycott from the members of the upper caste living in the periphery of the village. “The members of the upper caste still discriminate against us. They don’t allow us to construct a temple in our village,” said Sardar Chand, lamberdar of the village. Though the civil administration has constructed concrete streets in the village and it has the distinction of having the maximum number of solar streetlights, the village lacks basic amenities. There is no electricity, the water supply is erratic and the women folk have to face discrimination when they go to nearby villages to fetch drinking water. The village has no school and children have to travel a long distance to study in the school in other village, where too they have to face the ire of the students from the upper caste. “Though time and again we approached the authorities concerned for a school as our kids have to walk several kilometres, no action had been taken by the government,” said Das Kumar, another resident of the village. “The government sanctioned an anganwari centre for our village, but it was opened in the house of a Rajput, who does not allow our children to go there. When we objected to this discrimination, the entire village stood up against us,” said Sardar Chand. The villagers allege that the successive state governments have failed to give them employment under the Scheduled Caste quota and the same was being misused by the upper caste people. “Our graduates are without jobs and the jobs that are reserved for SCs the being pocketed by the upper caste people,” said Das Kumar. The residents of the adjoining Sadoh village say that the allegations levelled by the residents of Sadoh camp village were baseless. “Their allegations are totally baseless. When they migrated from Chamb, the government allotted eight marlas to each family. Now, the population of the village has increased and they do not have space for the construction of the temple,” said Kuldeep Sharma, head of Sadoh village. He added, “There is some religious binding that we have to follow and we won’t compromise on that.” Speaking to The Tribune, local MLA Yashpal Kundal, who also belong to the SC category, said, “The people in the area are in a minority and might be under pressure from some elements. So they have not come to me with their problems. But since the issue has been brought to my notice, I will take action.” |
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Snag in power station plunges Reasi into darkness
Udhampur, July 22 Sources in the Power Development Department (PDD) said the 33 KV power station which catered to the needsof most parts of Reasi district had developed a technical snag due to a downpour on Tuesday night. Reasi, Pouni, Arnas, Mahore and other areas plunged into darkness after the snag. PDD sources said besides the technical snag in the power station, some poles had also been uprooted in the storm, aggravating the situation. Due to non-availability of power, water supply was also badly affected. Most parts of this Kandi belt depend on power for supplying water in the mountainous region. |
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Helicopter service to Amarnath
flagged off
Srinagar, July 22 Meanwhile, Chhari Mubarak of Amarnath led by Mahant Deependra Giri was taken to historic Shankaracharya temple here this morning on the occasion of ‘Haryali-Amavasya’ as per the
age-old customs. Chhari-Mubarak is being taken to Sharika Bhawani temple, Hari
Parvat, here tomorrow. The mahant has welcomed this step, saying that this would help keeping the periphery of holy cave not only free from the noise pollution but would also help keeping ‘himlingam’ for a longer period and pilgrims would be able to have obeisance, who reach the holy cave in
‘Shravan’ month. The helicopter services between Baltal and the holy cave have also been rescheduled with effect from today, while the services from Baltal would also now land at Panchtarni. CEO of the board Vyas reiterated that this decision had been taken by the board in order to maintain the spiritual ambiance of the holy cave and to address the repeated complaints that the helicopter movements, close to the cave, impacted on the longevity of the ice symbol. Pawan Hans Pvt Ltd has announced an inaugural reduction in fare from Rs 12,000 per person (round trip) to Rs 10,000 per
pilgrim for the first five days after the commencement of the new service, Vyas said. Meanwhile, 4,637 pilgrims performed obeisance of the holy cave yesterday, the spokesman said,
added that 2,138 pilgrims left from the Baltal base camp and 1,347 from the Nunwan base camp this morning on their journey to the holy cave shrine. He added that another batch of 727 pilgrims left
from Jammu to the Pahalgam and Baltal base camps today. |
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Petition against ex-CEO of Amarnath shrine board quashed
Chandigarh, July 22 The tribunal held the decision of the J&K government of constituting a committee to enquire into the aspects of the remarks made by the former Principal Secretary to J&K Governor and the chief executive officer of the board during a press conference, as not justified. An IAS officer, Arun Kumar, had challenged his removal in the CAT. It must be recalled that in October last year, Arun Kumar had filed an application before the CAT stating that in June, while the preparations for the annual holy Amaranth yatra were on and the state government passed the orders for the diversion of Baltal and Domail land route to the board. The order was followed by a disinformation campaign, which led to a lot of hue and cry and protests in the Kashmir valley. On June 18, 2008, he as CEO of SASB held a routine press briefing about the preparation of the yatra. It was alleged that he made certain “offensive statements” that were criminal in nature and likely to create “communal disharmony” in the state. After hearing the arguments, the CAT bench held that the government ought not to have been touchy about the statement. CAT directed the J&K government to give him a position commensurate with his status and seniority.
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People take holy dip during solar eclipse
Jammu, July 22 Though in the morning the sky remained overclouded, followed by heavy rains, a large number of devotees thronged the Har-Ki Paudi temple to take the holy dip in the Tawi river that is considered as the daughter of Sun God. “It is a ritual that during the solar eclipse one should take bath in the holy rivers and perform special prayers so we have come here for the same,” said Ashok Kumar, a resident of Jammu. A priest at the temple said in order to keep the bad omen emanating from the negative vibes created by the solar eclipse one should take a dip in the holy water. The heavy rain that lashed the region kept many people indoor and they could not see the rare celestial movement. |
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BJP councillors revolt in RS Pura
RS Pura, July 22 They are sure of winning support of two more independents in the MC, which has total 13 members, comprising of seven from the Congress, three from the BJP, two independent and one from the National Conference. The protest against chairperson had been simmering for the past two months ever since he got funds of Rs 6 lakh. BJP councillor Ritu Sudan says, “The chairperson always reserved a big amount for his own ward and gave the rest to others in bits and pieces citing frivolous reasons. It did not happen once but each time the funds allocation was made.” She also said of his unfair approach, she had to bear wrath of residents of our wards. “I could not get the work done on a big nullah which flows through my ward, all due to paucity of funds. This has put me in tight spot before public,” she added. Bhushan Dogra refuted all these allegations clarifying that he never indulged in any kind of misappropriation of funds. He also alleged that he took Sunita Chabra along. |
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95 pc brick-kilns illegal in
Jammu division Jammu, July 22 Sources said the action came after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently got a survey done from the Revenue Department, the SPCB and the CID about the illegal brick-kilns. The Kiln owners are now making a beeline to the SPCB office for the registration and strict adherence to environment protection. Official sources said there were as many as 258 brick-kilns in the region alone, but just 10 complied with the rules set up by the SPCB.
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SPO succumbs to injuries
Srinagar, July 22 Mohammad Shafi was attached with the special operations group of the state police and had suffered multiple injuries. He breathed his last at SHMS hospital in Srinagar last night. Sub inspector Sethi Ram had died yesterday. Two other injured cops, including a CRPF jawan, continue to remain hospitalised. Militants had fired a grenade into the SOG camp in Shopian from a rifle and it exploded near a group of SOG personnel. The police believes militants have strengthened their foothold in the area of late, benefiting from the long strike over the alleged rape and murder of two women. A group of militants has descended in Shopian from the Poonch-Rajouri belt crossing the Pir-Panjal range which divided the two regions. |
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36 kg poppy straw seized
Udhampur, July 22 During routine checking at Kud cops intercepted a truck with a Punjab registration number. While checking the vehicle, cops found two packets full of poppy straw, communally known as ‘bhukki. Both inmates of the vehicle, Madan Lal and Shalinder Pal of Punjab,
were arrested. Investigation revealed that they had purchased the consignment from a supplier of south Kashmir for smuggling it to Punjab. A case has been registered. Interestingly, Shalinder Pal was earlier too arrested in a similar case just a few months back but was later released on bail. |
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40 taken ill after feast
Srinagar, July 22 Health officials said today they developed intestinal trouble after having meals at a village where the weeding was performed. They suspect that the meat used for a multitude of non-vegetarian items might have turned bad in these summer days. The condition of hospitalised persons is largely stable except for five or six persons who required intensive treatment. “We are looking into the matter and will begin criminal action only when we find evidence that someone was culpable for it,” a police official said. |
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Summer vacation from tomorrow
Srinagar, July 22 The institutes remain closed during the peak summer for a short period in Kashmir every year and the peak temperature in the valley has currently been hovering around 33 °C for the past few days. Any default on the part of private schools in observance of the vacation schedule would invite punitive action, including derecognition.
— TNS |
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