Udhampur, October 6
After the infamous Prankote and Dhakikote massacres of the minority communities, the Village Defence Committees (VDCs) were constituted in the militancy-plagued areas of Reasi district. Although a large chunk of population of the minority community already migrated to safe places, those who decided not to leave their native places were enrolled as VDC members and rifles and other ammunitions were provided to them. As the duty of these VDC members is to protect the entire village from militants’ attack, the authorities announced to give wages to VDC members so that they can earn their livelihood also.

Similar VDCs were constituted in the Pouni block of Reasi district. As this belt bordering Rajouri district, VDC members in this area have played a dominant role in checking movement of militants from Rajouri to Reasi. After the formation of the committees, wages were paid to the villagers for quite some time, but during the past one year, they have not been paid even a single penny by the authorities reason best known to those who are at the helm of affairs.

In the Pouni area, the VDCs have been constituted in almost all areas bordering Rajouri district, but the authorities are not recognising these VDCs and denying wages to them. Recently a meeting of all committee members of the Pouni block was held under the chairmanship of former sarpanch Bhagwan Singh.

The members expressed their anguish that salaries had not been paid to them for months together. They pointed out that when the militancy was at its peak, the authorities had themselves provided them weapons and assured to give salaries. They further informed that even salaries were paid to them initially for quite some time, but after that payment was stopped without any reason.

The committee members reminded the authorities that they had played a dominant role in repulsing a number of militant attacks in this belt, but instead of recognising their services, they had been humiliated by those who were at the helm of affairs.

It is pertinent to mention here that the concept of the VDC was introduced in Jammu and Kashmir when militants started targeting the members of the minority community living in the scattered and remotest areas. With the help of security forces, the VDC members were trained in handling arms and later they were provided weapons to protect their villages as it was difficult to deploy force at each and every hamlet in the remotest areas.

The VDCs have played an important role in controlling militancy, especially in Doda district from where migration of the minorities was almost stopped after the formation of such committees.

Despite being provided outdated weapons, the VDC members have repulsed scores of militant attacks. A number of VDC members have lost their lives while fighting with militants in Reasi, Udhampur and Doda districts.

(Photo on page 2)

Srinagar, October 6
A Human Development Report prepared by a group of academicians of Universities of Kashmir and University of Jammu presented to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on October 1 has analysed indices like Human Freedom Index, Human Security Index and Human Happiness Index for various districts of the state.

Academicians of both the universities worked on the report that has come out in two volumes. Volume one, consisting of 10 chapters, is based on discussion and analysis whereas the second volume consists of statistical tables, mainly based on primary data collected for the purpose of the report.

The report analyses the sectors like education and health and dwells upon poverty as well as capabilities of the state economy.

The report has studied the performance of various human development institutions in the state. It also studied the performance of the household level. The survey of 10,158 households touches upon almost anything and everything that has direct or indirect relevance to the human development.

The report comes up with the better Human Development Indices, besides the UNDP-HDI & GDI.

According to the report, Leh, Srinagar and Jammu districts are in the forefront whereas Kupwara district is at the bottom.

The recommendations lay emphasis on the growth rate of the state, ensure sustainability of low poverty incidence, involvement of private sector in infrastructure development, particularly roads, improving employment scenario by inducing educated youth to take up self-employment avenues, decrease subsidisation of higher education, improve quality of literacy and school education, and partially withdrawal of subsidy on public medicare.

On the occasion of the presentation of the report, Prof RL Bhat, University of Jammu, made a power-point presentation highlighting the main features of the report.

The report has been authored by Prof RL Bhat, professor of Economics and dean, Social Science, University of Jammu, Prof AS Bhat, professor and head, Department of Economics, University of Kashmir, Prof JR Panda, former professor and head, Department of Sociology, University of Jammu, Prof Jasbir Singh, professor and head, Department of Economics, University of Jammu, and Dr BA Bhat, senior research officer, Population Research Centre, University of Kashmir, Srinagar.

Jammu, October 6
Moved by the plight of poor parents who could not support their children a Shakti Nagar-based family has come to the rescue of one of their children by not only providing him with shelter but also looking after his education.

Kapil Kumar Gupta, a Shakti Nagar-based businessman, has come forward to help the poor parents

For the past six months, Sunil Singh(14), son of Ved Raj, a resident of a remote village in Udhmapur district, has been living with the family of Kapil Kumar.

“One day his father came to my shop and requested for a job. He went on crying, saying that he has no source of income to feed his four daughters and two sons. Though I could not offer him any job I promised him that I would take care of one of his sons,” said Kapil Kumar Gupta. After a few days the mother of the child handed him over to Kapil Kumar.

The parents of Sunil, who now studies in the eighth standard with the elder son of Kapil in a local school, is grateful to the Gupta family for their act .

“Sunil was a bright child. He was studying in a government school in Tikri but we could not make arrangements for his proper studies. Since he has come to live with Guptas now we are sure that his future is in safe hands,” said Ved Raj, father of Sunil.

“My father had no job. At times when we had to go without food but now the uncle and aunty take care of everything, treating me like their own child,” said Sunil Singh.

Manu Gupta, wife of Kapil Kumar, who teaches Sunil along with her own son, Nityam, at home says that Sunil is a bright child and if provided with proper care he would one day make his name.

“He wants to be a doctor and we would see how much help we could provide him in the long run to achieve his dream,” said Manu Gupta.

Srinagar, October 6
While the PDP has launched a public debate on its self-rule formula, the main plank of its election campaign last year, it has also given out that the party, having the second largest number of seats in the Assembly, keeps an eye on the developmental side. It was made clear when PDP patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, representing the Anantnag constituency, sought a total revitalisation plan for major historic towns, Anantnag, Baramulla and Sopore.

During his visit to his constituency recently, Mufti regretted the measures initiated by the previous coalition governments had been denied the focus and attention needed to complete them in time. Mufti said the city of Srinagar, along with towns like Anantnag, Baramulla, Sopore and some other urban centres, represented a distinct cultural mosaic which needed to be preserved by providing modern civic amenities without  disturbing their traditional character.

He said the initiatives made by his government needed to be carried forward as funds were no more a problem with the Centre’s open-ended JNURM taking care of all requirements.

Referring to the projects started in Anantnag town by his government, Mufti said the establishment of a university campus, a 300-bedded hospital and a major shopping centre was aimed at an integrated development of the area. Urging the Union government to speedily implement the four-laning plan of the National Highway, the former Chief Minister said the project had been put on the back burner after 2006 which meant problems for a large number of people. He said the lack of follow-up from the state government was one reason for delaying the project beyond the two bypasses in Jammu and Srinagar and the Jammu-Lakhanpur section.

Mufti said while the highway should be upgraded to the most modern standards for obvious reasons, it was necessary to provide a flyover at the busy Khannabal intersection.

He reviewed the Rs 46-crore Water Supply Augmentation Scheme and desired the work to be started soon.

He said the scheme would provide a long-term solution to the water woes of Anantnag town, which, in spite of being home to a number of water sources, had been deficient in potable water.

He also demanded addition of some more streams to cater to the growing needs of students. He said faculty at the campus needed to be strengthened. At the hospital site, Mufti was informed that only Rs 7 crore had been allocated for the construction of the medical facility against a projected requirement of Rs 58 crore this year.

He expressed hope that the government would substantially increase the allocation for the current year.

Buddhal (Rajouri), October 6
It was a wait of about four years for 80-year-old Amro Devi, whose five of family members were slaughtered by militants over a land dispute with their neighbours of another community. A local court ordered death sentence to the militant who was instrumental in the gruesome killing. Amro Devi, a resident of Rajnagar is presently putting up in Buddhal along with her surviving family members. She lost her husband Munshi Ram, two sons - Hans Raj and Rajinder Kumar - grand son Soba Ram and grand grand-son Sudesh Kumar, after militants slaughtered them on October 9, 2005.

On October 1, 2009, Principal Sessions Judge Rajouri Subash Chander Gupta awarded death penalty to a guide of militants, who committed murder of five persons of a family.

According to the police, on October 9, 2005, at about 7:00 pm a group of militants entered into the house of Munshi Ram and murdered five persons by slitting their throats. The militants were taken to the house of Munshi Ram by their guide Muhammad Taj of the same area.

“I still recollect that fateful night when militants slaughtered my husband, my two sons, grand son and grand grand son over a land dispute with our neighbours who were having good contacts with militants. They left behind three widows, including me and widows of my two sons and four of my grand children. They should have killed us also as we don’t have any male members in the family left now”, said Amro, with tears rolling down her wrinkled face.

“Is this the Jehad? Killing people and snatching the livelihood of people who have nothing to do with any of their militant activities”, she added. “I know my family members will not come back but at least our wait for justice has finally bore fruit. Even other militants responsible for killing our family members had already got justice from God as all of them were killed by security forces”, says Amro.

Kailash Devi, younger daughter-in-law of Amro Devi, said “When our family members were killed by militants, politicians and bureaucrats used to come to us to console us. The government gave us Rs 1 lakh and then forgot us. The government has dual policy for Kashmiri migrants and migrants from Jammu province”.

They, however, failed to explain as to this family is not getting any sought of relief as Kashmiri migrants are getting.

Jammu, October 6
Local consumers seemed to have paid no heed to the appeals of the Power Development Department to use electricity judiciously "If a bulb of 100 watts could be replaced by a CFL of 20 watts it could save 80 watts," said PDD Chief Engineer Ajay Gupta. As the system was overloaded, the department had to resort to unscheduled power cuts.

"People need to be aware that as there is a huge difference between production and consumption of electricity, they have to make judicious use of electricity," Gupta said. As per official figures, the total production of electricity in the state is between 1300 MW to 1400 MW against the requirement around 1800 MW, forcing the department to go for unscheduled power cuts.

But industrialists rue that due to unscheduled power cuts they have to face losses worth crores. "In the past one week, the industry in the Gangyal area suffered a loss between Rs 4 and 5 crore due to the unscheduled power cuts," said Tejwant Singh Reen, chairman of the Federation of Industries, Jammu. On an average the industrial areas in Jammu have to face unscheduled power cuts three to four times a day, rendering raw material put in machines for processing useless in the absence of electricity.

"We want only eight hours of power supply and have asked the PDD to impose cuts when the industry is non-functional like during lunch hours, but cuts are imposed at peak hours," Reen said. 

Jammu, October 6
Booklovers having a keen interest in spiritual and religious subjects are having great time in the ongoing book fair at Gandhi Bhavan, near the Secretariat. The fair, organised by the Gayatri Sansthan, started on October 2 and would end on October 11.

The unique feature about the fair is that 700 books written by a single writer, Shri Ram Sharma Acharya- who has to his credit 32,00 volumes of books, have been put on sale.

The books on display have a variety of subjects ranging from spiritual and social uplift, self-refinement, Ayurveda, besides queries related to life and death. 

Jammu, October 6
Organic and herbal products, which have caught the fancy of people, are available at the khadi exhibition put up at Kachi Chawni to commemorate Gandhi Jayanti.

Be it the juice of amla, bitter gourd, neem or aloe vera, all are available here. Similarly, herbal creams and shampoos, too, have been put on sale. Diabetic patients can purchase crushed powder of various herbs.

Tara Chand, salesperson, informed that it was for the first time that they were selling gold facial cream which had gold crushed in the cream.

While there is not much variety in book category, one can pick up the “Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi”, “Nature Care” and “Gita Pravachan” by Vinoba Bhave.

People, who are fond of wearing khadi, silk and cotton, can pick running material, sarees of different varieties such as patola, katha, jackets in silk and cotton, bedsheets and carpets woven with embroidery. The exhibition will remain on till January 31.

Jammu, October 6
Hospitals in the region face an acute shortage of ambulances. There are just 400 ambulances, including at least 50 mini ambulances, for 23 old and 142 newly constructed primary health centres , besides 10 district and several sub-district hospitals

Official sources revealed that at least 60 condemned ambulances were lying in the Health Department's workshop at Nagrota for want of repair owing to scarce budgetary support. "Kashmir division has an annual budget of Rs 1.25 crore whereas Jammu division gets only Rs 25 lakh for maintenance and repair of ambulances," sources divulged.

However, the uneven budgetary allocation is despite the fact that roads in the Jammu region are more prone to accidents, especially in the hill districts like Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Poonch.

"The same ambulances are used to ferry dead bodies to their respective homes from hospitals. There are not many ambulances that are in good condition with inhouse facilities, including life-saving drugs and other such equipment."

"Drivers of these ambulances are a worried lot as they are made to work for extra hours. There are 100 vacancies of driver in the entire region," said , Anoop Singh, president of the Driver, Cleaner Union of the Health Department.

"Drivers in Sunjawan, Bishnah, Akhnoor and Pogwal etc are compelled to perform duty round the clock," he said, adding that were at least 40 drivers engaged under contract at a meager salary of Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 per month."

"We had mooted a proposal for filling the vacancies and increasing the repair and maintenance budget with former Health Minister which will now be sent to the government," he added.