Jammu, February 26
At a time when the entire country is discussing the Budget for year 2010-11 tabled in the Lok Sabha today, poor people are unaware of it and are busy with their daily chores. It may be the reason that they have no expectation from the government nor they have time to talk on the issue.

These people, who have not even got the benefits of much publicised schemes like BPL cards, subsidised ration, free education, are totally blank when asked for reaction to the Budget proposals.

After thinking for some time, Deena Nath, a resident of Nai Basti, Satwari replied, “What to talk of any hopes or reaction to the Budget? The government has failed to solve basic problems of those living below the poverty line. Even the schemes launched to provide subsidised ration have been pounced by some influential people.”

This correspondent visited shanties on the outskirts of Jammu and talked to a few poor families to get feedback on the Budget. The plight of these poor people presented an altogether different picture. In view of high inflation, these people with little sources to feed their families are finding life very hard. They have no option but to force their children to work or do labour to earn money.

“I have two minor sons and both are working in a brick-kiln. For us getting two square meals is a difficult task. How can we expect any relaxation from the government, which has not even issued BPL cards to provide us ration on subsidised rates,” said Dilawar Singh, a mason from Kabir Nagar, who has a family of five to feed.

Asked whether he knew it is unlawful to engage minors in any commercial establishments, he said, “Yes, I know my children are working illegally and we can be penalised for it. But this is our necessity. We have no option. How a poor person can feed the family of five with a monthly income of Rs 2,000.”

There are several other families facing hardships like Dilawar’s. “Can a poor man eat vegetables these days? Their prices have sky-rocketed and have made our life worse. Almost 75 per cent of our family income goes into buying vegetables and rest goes into arranging other grocery items,” said Vishal Mehra, who works as a peon in a private office.

He added, “If the government really wants to give some benefit to the poor, it should first control the prices of sugar, pulses and vegetables.”

Srinagar, February 26
Residents of the Kashmir valley have not given thumbs up to the Union Budget that was presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today.

The Tribune spoke to a cross section of people in Srinagar to know their views about the Budget and most of them said the Budget had nothing for them and would only increase the inflation.

“The Finance Minister has proposed a hike in the prices of petroleum products, which would directly have an impact on the prices of essential commodities which are already touching the sky,” Mohammad Ahraf of Srinagar said.

He said the Finance Minister should have taken steps to reduce the inflation as it had become difficult for the common man to arrange for two square meals.

Though the salaried class has welcome the hike in the income tax rebate, they have said it would provide more benefit to the people who earn more. “This Budget is for those who are already rich. There is nothing for the common man whose earning is less,” Khursheed Ahmed, a government employee, said.

Most people are against the hike in the prices of petrol and diesel as they say that increase in the fuel price would mean a bigger hole in their pocket.

“I recently purchased a new car, but now I feel that I might have to restrict its use as the soaring prices of petrol would cut a bigger hole in my already overburdened pocket,” Mohammad Aslam, a businessman, said.

The people have also not taken well the increase in the prices of cement and steel as they said these two products were in demand by the middle class, who had saved from their hard-earned money to construct a house.

“Now owning a house would again be a dream for a middle class. I was planning to construct a small house in the coming summers, but the increase in the prices of steel and cement would mean spending additional money to build a house,” Tariq Ahmed, a shopkeeper, said.

The people associated with fruit business, which is considered as the backbone of the state economy, said they wanted the government to decrease the prices of the oil used for apple trees, but the increase in the price of petroleum products would mean hike in the price of oil used for apple trees.

The people have also not welcomed the increase in the prices of television and new cars. “I was planning to buy a medium sized car, but after the Budget I came to know that car manufacturers have increased the prices. Now I may have to wait for some more time to fulfil my long-cherished dream,” Kulwant Singh, a government employee, said.

Jammu, February 26
The BJP today came out openly in support of the demand for granting amnesty to all those Sikh youths, who had left the country during militancy in Punjab.

The party, however, warned against making any comparison of Punjab militancy with Kashmir terrorism.

“As the movement for Khalistan, which started in early 80s, has completely died,the misguided Sikh youths should be given amnesty, provided they are ready to join the mainstream,” national president of the BJP Nitin Gadkari replied to queries of mediapersons when his attention was drawn towards the demand of Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal in this regard.

Virtually endorsing the demand of its coalition partner,the Shiromani Akali Dal Badal (SAD), Gadkari said there was nothing wrong in giving amnesty to those youths who were involved in the erstwhile Khalistan movement.

When asked why the BJP was opposing the same policy for misguided Kashmiri youths, Gadkari said terrorism in Kashmir had been engulfing one after another area of the country as there was no logic to compare this militancy with the erstwhile Khalistan movement.

“The militancy in Kashmir is a part of global terrorism so it should not be seen as an indigenous movement as it is supported and abetted by foreign countries,” he said.

Talking about the foreign secretary-level talks, the BJP chief said “We are least surprised about the talks that have produced nothing as talks and terror cannot go together.”

He, however, said the UPA government had decided to hold a dialogue with Pakistan due to the US pressure. “The steps taken under the US pressure have been threatening integration of the country,” he said. He observed: “This is weakening India’s strategic position and further emboldening the terrorists from across the border”.

Gadkari said: “The BJP believes that besides handing over those who are wanted in India for terrorism related crimes, dismantling of terrorist camps in Pakistan is a prerequisite of any meaningful talks with Pakistan.”

The BJP president observed that the root cause of the present problem in Jammu and Kashmir was Pakistan’s inability to accept this region as an integral part of India. He further said this state had suffered a lot due to ongoing militancy and cross-border terrorism.

The BJP chief said regional parties like the NC and the PDP had been raking up the issues of self-rule and greater autonomy to befool the people as these demands were simply political and bereft of any logic.

Srinagar, February 26
APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said Pakistan will continue its moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as it believes that Kashmir is the “ basic issue” between the two neighbouring countries.

Addressing a Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid here today, the Mirwaiz said he had been informed by the visiting Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Salman Bashir, about his country’s stand on the Kashmir issue.The Mirwaiz, who headed a delegation of theAPHC, met Bashir on Wednesday, a day before the Foreign- Secretary level talks in New Delhi.

“Pakistan believes that the basic issue between India and Pakistan is Kashmir and unless that is resolved, the situation in the region cannot improve”, the Mirwaiz told the gathering. During his meeting with the Pakistan Foreign Secretary, he had also been assured that the country would give top priority to the Kashmir issue during talks with India, Umar said.

Srinagar, February 26
A large number of devotees offered prayers on the eve of Id-i-Milad-un-Nabi (Prophet Mohammad’s birth anniversary) at the Hazratbal shrine here, while huge congregations were also seen in all other mosques and shrines across the valley today.

The devotees would be offering special night-long prayers on the occasion at the Hazratbal shrine, where a holy relic of the Prophet is housed. Similar night-long prayers would also be offered in other mosques and shrines across the valley tonight ahead of the auspicious occasion of the Prophet’s birth anniversary tomorrow.

Various arrangements have been made by the government for the transportation of devotees from different parts of the city and other parts of the valley to the shrine today and tomorrow. Special bus services have been arranged for the transportation to and from the Hazratbal shrine on the occasion, while the administration is closely monitoring the facilities of power and drinking water for the devotees at the shrines and mosques. Meanwhile, DGP Kuldeep Khoda today visited Hazratbal and took stock of the police arrangements in connection with Id-i-Milad-un-Nabi. He inspected the deployment of the police in the area to facilitate the people visiting the shrine.

Khoda visited the police camp already set up for the purpose at Hazratbal and held a meeting with the officers of Traffic, Home Guards and other wings of the police deployed there.

JAMMU: Governor NN Vohra has greeted people on the auspicious occasion of Id-i-Milad-un-Nabi.

In a message, Vohra described Islam as the religion of peace and said the holy day marks the birth of Prophet Muhammad, whose life was an embodiment of love, equality and brotherhood.

He hoped that the auspicious occasion would be the harbinger of harmony, brotherhood, peace, progress and prosperity in the state.

Jammu, February 26
The ongoing tussle between the Omar Abdullah-led NC and the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP turned ugly today with violent protests against the comic presentation of Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and Sheikh Abdullah on Facebook, a networking site.

In the presentation, the faces of the three Abdullahs were superimposed on the poster of the film,” 3 Idiots”. When a newspaper website broke the story this afternoon, the NC workers took to the streets in the old city. The police restored to a lathi charge to prevent the protesters from causing damage to public property.

Later, the NC workers and leaders, led by Finance Minister AR Rather, addressed a press conference and demanded an unconditional apology from Mehbooba Mufti, accusing her of playing cheap politics.They said she would be responsible for the violence.

Rather said Mehbooba had admitted circulating the posters in the said news report. Rather later added that the government was not encouraging violence. “Omar ordered the police to lathi charge his party workers. He has appealed to all to maintain calm, but Mehbooba Mufti has to apologise,” he said. Rather also threatened to sue Mehbooba and the person who had posted the comic posters.

Meanwhile, Mehbooba has denied the allegations. “Let the government find out who has posted the posters. I am not the creator of these,” she said.

She added she saw the posters only after the protests, and she could not help but laugh at the turn of events. “Catoons are made of politicians many times. One should take it in one’s stride and not cry like a child,” she remarked.

She said she received many forwarded SMSes in a day and did not remember which SMS the said news report was talking about.

Udhampur: Workers of the National Conference (NC), Udhampur unit, today held a demonstration here today and demanded that PDP president Mehbooba Mufti should be expelled from the Assembly for making objectionable remarks against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, his father and grandfather.

The workers led by unit president Rajeash Gupta raised slogans against the PDP chief for the insulting remarks and burnt her effigy. They were incensed that Mehbooba behaved in an irresponsible manner by levelling baseless allegations against Omar on the floor of the Assembly, besides disrupting its proceedings.

Jammu, February 26
With a spiralling 72 per cent transmission and distribution losses in the electricity deficit state, the rural areas would be soon brought under the ambit of metered electricity supply.

So far, the half-hearted installation of tamper-proof electronic meters under the Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) has failed to check rampant power pilferage. Hence, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had decided to start afresh, a senior official in the Power Development Department (PDD) said. Now the department had been asked to ensure 100 per cent metering in the state so as to check rampant power pilferage, he added.

It may be stated here that the previous PDP-Congress regime (2004) had embarked upon the ambitious project to bring down the Accumulated Transmission and Commercial (AT&C) losses to nationally accepted statistics of 18 to 20 per cent from 72 per cent.

“Following the instructions of the Chief Minister, who holds power portfolio also, the department has restarted the process of installing the electronic meters in urban areas, which were left un-metered,” he said.

The official also divulged that a proposal to cover the rural areas with metered electricity supply was also under active consideration of the government.

“It may take a fortnight or a month for us before we start installing tamper-proof meters in the rural areas,” he said.

The cash-strapped state, which has cheapest power tariff in the country, continues to lose crores of rupees every year because of power theft.

Sources in the PDD said, so far, only 45 per cent metering had been done in the state and remaining 55 per cent was yet to be done. The PDD has installed nearly 3.50 lakh electronic meters in the state, out of which over 1.50 lakh devices were installed in Jammu and 1.88 lakh units were installed in the Kashmir valley.

Interestingly, the Chief Minister has decided to ensure 100 per cent metering in the state, no new technical staff has been engaged by the PDD since 1981.

“After 1981, no technical staff has been engaged by the department and to aggravate the problem, 60 per cent of those engaged way back in 80s have retired,” an employee said.

He also divulged that there was a difference between the samples and the devices supplied by Genus Meters Rajasthan and TTL Noida, the two companies roped in by the department.

Jammu, February 26
Two members of a family were killed in a fire that broke out due to an LPG cylinder blast in a shop at Vijaypur in Samba on Wednesday night.

The police said the deceased had been identified as Bhupinder Singh and his cousin Pawan Kumar of Vijaypur.

Jammu, February 26
The final phase of the Display-Your-Talent 2009-10, being conducted by the Department of Students Welfare, Jammu University, concluded today with a creative dance (solo) event.

According to a statement issued here, Poonam Kumari from Government College for Women (GCW), Parade, got the first prize for her excellent presentation entitled ‘Global Warming’, whereas Neha Jamwal from the Business School of the university bagged the second prize for her presentation ‘Save Jungles’.

The third prize was won by Shifali Goswami from the GCW, Gandhi Nagar, for her presentation ‘Let Me Dance’.