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Internal conflict
Disability not a deterrent for this young man
CRPF’s vacation of indoor stadium welcomed |
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Tea with The Tribune
Model clusters growth plan introduced in rural areas
Non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits
rue govt apathy
Srinagar diary
Road accidents claim more victims than militancy
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Kashmiri women at the receiving end
Afsana Rashid
Srinagar, January 22 There has been a change of role for fairer sex and in many cases women have assumed the role of being principal breadwinner. Psychologically, they’ve been traumatised and death of a few expectant women due to the lack of antenatal care in the initial years of militancy, as reported by Dr Abdul Rashid Malik, former deputy director, Health “In early 90s, a few deaths of expectant mothers have been reported for the want of antenatal check-up as they couldn’t make it to hospital due to cross firing, crackdowns and search operations. Situation became grim, particularly during the former state governor’s reign. George Fernandes, the then in charge, Kashmir affairs, was apprised of the situation by senior health officers,” said Malik. The former deputy director said people, especially women, were on lookout for psychiatrists. “Since psychiatrists were not available in requisite number, they had to look for alternatives that lead to suicidal tendencies among them. Young widows and half-widows (the whereabouts of whose husbands are missing since years), who had to feed their children single-handed, were the worst sufferers”. Dr Hameedullah Shah, Head of Department, Psychiatry, Government Medical College, Srinagar, said women directly affected by conflict have fallen prey to post-traumatic stress disorders leading to depression. “Emotionally, women are more susceptible and under stress. Most of the times, they are apprehensive about the safety of their male members,” said Shah, adding, “Anxiety, body ache and irritable attitude have been commonly observed among them”. Hundreds of families turn to faith healers for solutions to psychiatric problems. A few years ago, middle-aged Hajra Bano couldn’t cope with certain problems. “My husband and children gave up, my mother didn’t. She took me to a faith healer and I recovered,” said Hajra, a resident of Budgam. “Usually, people with psychiatric problems approach me. They are possessed by supernatural forces,” shares 80-year-old Ghulam Mohammad Mir, a faith healer, locally known as ‘babba’. He claims to treat them by offering drinking water, piece of wood (chandan) to burn and holding common feast (bandhaar). Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Margoob, a leading psychiatrist of the Valley, said faith reinforces immunity. “Spiritual component is essential for any healing. Even the WHO and other credible organisations emphasise healing through spirituality. Unfortunately, it got hijacked by those who aren’t remotely associated with it”. “Many women after losing their sons turn chronic patients. These are the situations where you expect pills to do nothing. I salute the resilience of women under such circumstances,” said Dr Mushtaq. He said coping with the inherent mechanism of confronting traumatic situation is missing. “Women in the rural areas used to assemble at ‘yaarbal’ (riverside where they generally used to fetch water) and interact with each other. Families used to go for outing, but these things are missing now, which aggravates the problem”. No credible data is available on the number of women suffering from psychiatric problems, he added.
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Disability not a deterrent for this young man
Jammu, January 22 Romesh Kumar (30) of Kullain in RS Pura is an inspiration of its own. Undeterred by his physical disability, he would come paddling to the local market to ferry garlands on a tricycle, given by the Department of Social Welfare. But these days he is conspicuous by his absence from the city and is confined to the four walls of his home. Of late, while at home he accidentally lost his balance and fell down breaking his hip-bone. Now, its very challenging for him to earn a living and has to stay indoors till he recovers. To earn his living, he is in need of a motorised vehicle. “For surgery and other medical expenses, I had to spend Rs 60,000. Now, I have nothing left with me,” he rued and said these days he was bedridden, without any source and
sustenance. “The government is spending so much on self-employment schemes, but I did not ask for any favour from them and established myself on my own,” he said adding that in extreme weather, due to his disability, it is not possible for him to carry on his business and therefore, requested for a motorised vehicle so that he can resume his business with double vigour”. Having a possession of a small tract of two kanals, Romesh cultivates flowers, preferably marigold, and sells them off in the local market. Before he fractured his limb, it fetched him nearly Rs 800 per day, and even more during festival and marriage season. Instead of selling just flowers, he used to go to nursery, collect flowers and bring them back to make garlands. “Through this small effort, I want to realise the dream of establishing myself in flower business. I want to excel in this field. The Department of Floriculture as well as the Flower Growers Association has been the continuous source of encouragement and support,” says a confident,
Romesh. President of the Flower Growers Association, Tajinder Singh said he had brought the issue into the notice of the Social Welfare Minister. “The government should appreciate him for self-employment and self-sufficiency. Such people should be encouraged and he must get a motorised vehicle forthwith,” he asserted. |
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CRPF’s vacation of indoor stadium welcomed
Srinagar, January 22 After militancy erupted in the state 20 years ago, the CRPF occupied the complex, putting a tab on most of the indoor sports activities in the valley. “The indoor stadium in Srinagar is only one of its kind in the Srinagar city, but due to its occupation by the CRPF, sports lovers in the valley had to face various hardships,” said GM Wani, district sports officer, Srinagar. Wani said the complex was constructed in late 1970s and was inaugurated by the then chief minister Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah and for some years it witnessed hectic sports activity. “Various indoor games like martial arts, badminton and volleyball were played in the complex and it was very popular among athletes of the valley,” Wani said. After the CRPF’s occupation of the complex, very little sports activities used to take place due to strict security measures and frequent frisking of players by security personnel, he added. The complex has not been renovated for the past 20 years and there is a need to restore its glory. “As the building has been vacated, there is a scope of its renovation. The building has started crumbling down and it could take more than two years to completely renovate the complex so that sporting activities could be restarted,” Wani said. He said the department of sports had requested the government to release funds so that renovation work could be started. “The work can be done within six months to two years, but it depends on the government as when and how much funds they sanction. The complex needs a complete overhaul,” Wani said. Meanwhile, local sports lovers have also expressed happiness. “It is a good news for the players of the valley. Now they can get a place to practice even during winters so that they can compete with outside players. The government should turn it into one of the best indoor stadiums of the country so that tournaments of state and national level could be held here,” said Amina a badminton player. |
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Tea with The Tribune
In a tete-e-tete with The Tribune, Kamleshwar Mishra, divisional traffic manager, Railways, talked about challenges faced by the Railways and the recent decisions taken for the benefit of passengers
Two students, Sanna Mir and Anam Zahoor of KC Public School, also joined The Tribune team with their varied queries.
Mishra has recently taken over as the divisional traffic manager of Jammu.
Following are the excerpts: Jupinderjit Singh (JJS): First and the obvious one, Jammu railway station presents a shabby look despite the fact that it is one of the most revenue generating stations? Kamleshwar Mishra: The railway station was made 50 years ago with space for far less passengers. The passenger as well as train traffic have increased manifold. Moreover, due to a lack of facilities outside the railway station, pilgrims put up on the platform, further aggravating the situation. Anyways, all that will be a thing of past soon. The Railways has decided to privatise the sanitation work. Tenders have been floated and hopefully, in the next two to three months, the work would start. Ashutosh Sharma: Why don’t you allow vehicles to drop passengers at the main entrance leading to the platforms? Due to this, passengers, including women and the elderly, already tired of journey are seen carrying heavy luggage.
KM: Because of security compulsions we can’t allow vehicles up to the main entrance. Giving concessions might be misused. Since multiple security agencies are involved, it is difficult to make changes immediately. But yes, old passengers should be given relaxation. I will take up the matter with the agencies concerned. Ravi Krishnan Khajuria (RKK): There doesn’t seem to be enough space for anything on the railway station, including trains, vehicles and passenger facilities. KM: Two new platforms would come up soon and two new rail lines are being laid. The problem of halting the train outside the station would end with this.
A proposal has been forwarded to the higher-ups to remodel the existing yard. We are awaiting nod from the Railways headquarters and once we get a go-ahead, all these new schemes may take shape within next six months. Dinesh Manhotra (DM): We have been hearing for several months now about new platforms. The Railways has not initiated any step to shift oil and gas depots and the FCI godown away from the station even as they pose a grave security threat. KM: Certainly, we have plans to shift oil and gas terminals to Vijaypur. The oil companies have already identified a place near Vijaypur for shifting their depots there. The FCI authorities are also contemplating shifting their stores to Udhampur. It will take some time. Sanna Mir (student): I belong to Kashmir. When would I be able to travel in the dream train to Kashmir? There were so many surveys conducted but still none could foretell the problems that have been delaying the laying of the railway track. KM: After conducting surveys, the Railways did start the work, but tectonic disturbance after the earthquake and the difficult topography of the Himalayan state has created some problems. For instance, a tunnel on the Jammu-Katra track collapsed. Though I can’t comment on timeframe for the completion of Kashmir rail link, hopefully the Katra link would be completed by December this year. SM: Even work on the
Jammu-Pathankot rail line is delayed. KM: Work is going on war footing. We are trying to finish it by the end of this year. Once done, Jammu-Kathua distance can be covered in one hour. SM: World over customer care is improving. Employees are becoming more polite and humane, but not of the Railways. KM: Since we introduced an enquiry number 139, things have started improving and we do have a customer care institute as well in Delhi where the Railways have made it mandatory for the TTEs to undergo a 15-day module. Under this module, the TTEs are being trained to remain polite and humane towards passengers. However, at the same time working constraints can’t be overlooked. I suggest you should sit on the other side of the window also to see how people behave. Some passengers even abuse Railways staff, particularly booking clerks, but I have requested my staff to remain polite even if someone gets rude. Anam Zahoor (AZ): Why are there inadequate ticket/reservation counters at the railway station? There is no separate queue for women? KM: See, it is again because the railway station was not designed to deal with heavy rush of passengers. But we are trying to streamline its functioning. We do have a separate counter for senior citizens, journalists, women and legislators. Still, I would recheck why there is no separate queue for women. AS: Fog during winters delays arrival and departure of trains besides becoming a factor responsible for accidents. Is there no solution? KM: The Railways has already tried an anti-collision device but that was not very foolproof. Having said that, we have plenty of options for safe and smooth running of trains in any weather like small detonators, whistle blowers and patrol staff to help the drivers. During foggy weather conditions, a small detonator explodes as the train approaches near a station to alert the driver, who in turn reduces the speed. Besides, railway tracks are being patrolled round the clock to avoid any mishap. To take stock of the situation, I recently travelled in an engine at midnight. The visibility was poor. Still, the train did not lose much time in reaching Kathua. However, it took me four hours to return by road. Sunaina Kaul (SK): You have joined here recently. What was your most shocking experience after assuming the office? KM: The enquiry window was not up to my expectations but now there is a system in place. Archit Watts: What new things have you started after assuming the office? KM: I like to meet everyone on the ground level and developing relations with them. The aim is to create self-confidence with the ground staff. The other fact is face-to-face interaction with those who generally hesitate to meet any senior officer. I think by developing these kinds of relations, workers can better communicate their message to me and it is helpful for me and the department too. JJS: We heard that you were shocked to know there was no disaster management system here? KM: How do you know that? Yes, there were some issues. But now we are well-equipped and prepared to meet any eventuality. DM: Resentment is brewing among residents of Udhampur after the Railway authorities stopped inter-city train. What are the reasons? KM: The train has not been discontinued permanently. Due to prevailing foggy conditions, we have decided to stop this train for the time being. The service would be restarted after the weather improves. |
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Model clusters growth plan introduced in rural areas
Swankha (Samba), January 22 “It is for the first time in the history of the country that a cluster of more than 12 villages adjoining each other have been selected to be developed as model villages”, disclosed Minister of Rural Development Ali Mohammad Sagar while laying foundation stone of the scheme along with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Sagar informed that the earlier state government was solely dependent upon the Centre for developing some villages as model village, but now this system has been introduced by the state authorities to make the villages self-sufficient as far as development and infrastructure is concerned. He said as a part of the experiment, for the first time 12 villages have been accorded sanction to be developed as model villages. He exuded confidence that this experiment would yield encouraging results and the same scheme be implemented in other parts of the state. Keeping in view the sanctity of the village where the famous shrine is located, residents of this belt were demanding a comprehensive development package for the area. Although a number of schemes were earlier introduced and implemented to provide facilities to the devotees who come from different parts of the country, locals were demanding a comprehensive package for the overall development of this area. Thousands of devotees visit the shrine every year, but due to the lack of infrastructure in the adjoining localities, people most of the time faced hardships. Decision of the government to declare Swankha and adjoining localities as model village has fulfilled the long-pending demands of the people of the belt. Located in the Vijaypur block of Samba district, Swankha and 11 other villages were accorded sanction to be developed as model village under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP). With an estimated cost of Rs 6.50 crore, this entire belt would be developed as the model region and all villages would be provided each type of facility. “For the past two decades, we have been demanding a comprehensive development package for this belt and ultimately the government has fulfilled our demand,” said Deep Singh, a resident of Than. Residents of all 12 villages, including Swankha, were delighted after the laying of the foundation stone. “I am thankful to the Chief Minister and the Rural Development Minister for providing model status to 12 villages of the area,” said Surjit Singh Slathia, local MLA and Industries Minister in the Abdullah’s cabinet. Abdullah, while reiterating his government’s commitment to accelerate developmental activities in the remotest and far-flung areas, candidly admitted that his government could not develop villages on par with Jammu and Srinagar cities, but adequate facilities would be provided in the rural areas. |
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Non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits
rue govt apathy
Srinagar, January 22 The number of KPs living in different pockets across the valley is stated to be around 2,800, according to a census conducted by the KPSS. Their number was estimated at around 17,000 during early militancy when the then Pandit leader HN Wanchoo taken up the issue of the welfare of the community. The continued violence prompted several others to move out of the valley for employment opportunities and education. “The leaders talk about secular character. We have kept it alive”, said Ganjoo, a retired teacher of Hindi from the University of Kashmir. “Those who migrated to Jammu or other parts of the state got support from the government, but those living here have suffered a lot along with the majority community,” he added. He pointed out that it was difficult for members of the community to get a ration ticket “as if we are not residents of this place”. “I have to prove myself that I am a resident of this place because we cease to be in government records. We do not even figure in the list of migrants in Jammu or elsewhere”, he said. As a result, the educated youth of the community are not getting job opportunities in the government sector, he and his colleagues opined. There are around 250 educated youth waiting to get jobs with least opportunities in Kashmir. “These young people prefer to move out of the valley to earn their livelihood”, said another Kashmiri Pandit. Ganjoo said its leaders had been meeting various political leaders and putting forth the issues and problems but no attention was being given. Sanjay K Tickoo, president of the KPSS, said the Apex Committee on KPs constituted by the government had assured that 600 jobs would be reserved in the new package for the non-migrant Pandits living in the valley, but these were denied. The Central Government had announced a package of 6,000 jobs to the KPs as part of their rehabilitation. The KPSS has also been impressing upon the Central and state governments to protect their “identity” i.e. ancient temples etc in the valley. “The step-motherly treatment has forced us to take all socio-religious centres along with their moveable and immoveable property under the KPSS,” Tickoo stated. |
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Results just a click away
Reports about the declaration of results for the Class XII examinations held in early December last had been making rounds here for the past many days. The State Board of School Education authorities had also been getting frantic calls from their friends and acquaintances, enquiring about the results. The results were finally declared on Wednesday. This time, however, the candidates did not have to go after finding the result gazettes in educational institutions or newspaper offices. It was only a click away on the Internet. But, most of the candidates had to wait for many hours to view their results as the service was not easily available. The problem was solved only after the authorities concerned got frantic calls to rectify the system and make the availability of results easy. It was a unique experience this time for those who had passed these examinations decades ago. Chinese lights flood market
Amid reports of the Chinese incursion in Jammu and Kashmir, people continue to get attracted by Chinese-made lights and torches that have flooded the markets here (See
picture). Chinese lights of various sizes and types are seen finding ready buyers in markets of Srinagar. Even during the evening, vendors are seen using these China-made lights to sell their products. Greengrocers in the city too use these lights in the evening. "These China-made lights are good for hawkers like us who cannot afford an electricity connection, and these are economical and portable," said Abdul Aziz, a hawker at Amirakadal bridge. "Though these lights are use-and-throw items, these selllike hot cakes as they serve the purpose," said Abdul Rashid, a salesman of these Chinese torches. Safe drinking water
People often demand safe drinking water to end their health hazards. In order to provide safe drinking water to people of the valley, the government has taken up upgradation of many water supply schemes in Kashmir. Even then people continue to protest against the non-availability of safe drinking water. The situation during the summer is grim. the situation is not that good in the winter either. A special monitoring cell and investigation unit is required to be created at the state headquarters for monitoring water supply to ensure quality. Unfortunately, no such unit has been set up at the state level. Safe drinking water still remains a dream in many areas while others witness inadequate supply. In far-off places, women still continue to travel some distance to fetch river water for domestic consumption. (Contributed by
Ehsan Fazili, Tejinder Singh Sodhi
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Road accidents claim more victims than militancy
Srinagar, January 22 As many as 85 civilians were reportedly killed and 235 injured last year in 485 militancy-related incidents. According to the police, the number of deaths in road accidents in 2008 was comparatively lower. About 5,326 road accidents killed 950 persons in 2008, say the records. Rough and bad roads, drivers' negligence, poor geometry of roads, inadequate maintenance of roads, hill terrains, overloading, weather conditions and the drivers' state of mind are believed to be the reasons responsible for such accidents. Widening and smoothening of roads and erecting crash barriers are some of the measures recommended to minimise road accidents. The state has witnessed tremendous growth in the number of vehicles over the past one decade, which has brought in its wake an increase in the volume of traffic and road accidents. As per the police statistics, the number of registered vehicles in Kashmir province rose from 89,000 in 1999 to 1.40 lakh in 2003. The number of road accidents during the same period has been recorded as 1239 in 1999 and 2248 in 2003. The figures further suggest that the number of traffic offences in Kashmir province rose from 49,511 in 1999 to 62,227 in 2003. "The total fine realised from offenders was Rs. 69.95 lakhs in 1999 and Rs. 1.35 crore in 2003," said the police. As against 6.01 lakh registered vehicles across the country in 1961, the number rose to 3.20 crore
in 2001. "The number of road accidents in the country rose from 39,000 to 3.94 lakh during the same period. The number of persons killed in road accidents showed
an increase from 4,500 in 1961 to 80,000 in 2001." |
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Famous all over the country for the most revered shrine of Baba Sidh
Gouria, the border village of Swankha comes into limelight as for the first time 12 villages adjoining this one have been declared as model clusters. Swankha is located in the centre of all other villages.
Earlier as a part of the Centrally-sponsored scheme, a single village was declared as a model village, but the new concept of declaring some clusters as model village has been introduced for the first time.
