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Strike hits health services in Jammu
Employees continue strike
Boy’s Killing |
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Cong infighting intensifies
No justification for strike, says CM
Revised Pensionary Benefits
BJP, CPM condemn ESMA
Black Money
Fire destroys 6 thatched huts
Govt to launch drive against corrupt officials
Legislative Council passes 10 Bills
Lathicharge on refugees flayed
Inter-district Recruitment
Security forces intensify
vigil in Srinagar
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Strike hits health services in Jammu
Jammu, April 6 “As many as 20 students from Ancillary Medical Training School and 50 volunteers from the Indira Gandhi Education Society have been attending to patients in general wards,” Medical Superintendent of the hospital Dr Ramesh Gupta said. “Nearly 2,000 employees at GMC Hospital and its associated hospitals are off the job and have been protesting in favour of their demands,” president of the Medical Employees Association Pardeep Sharma said. The OPD ward at the main referral hospital of the region, Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, which draws nearly 1000 patients on daily basis, remained deserted today. While the inflow of patients has reduced, those already admitted have started leaving hospitals. “Surgeries have also been put on hold, while in the absence of nursing staff there is no one to administer drug injections. Even the laboratory tests and X-rays, CT scan and ultrasound had been deferred,” attendants at different hospitals said. In GMC Hospital alone, there are three operation theatres and at least 10 surgeries each have been conducted daily. However, the surgeries have also been deferred till the strike is over. Even those patients who have been put on oxygen have reportedly been suffering as in the absence of nursing orderlies, there is no one to replace or provide oxygen cylinders. Those coming from remote areas for treatment have been feeling cheated and harassed. “We have come from Ramban. But now we shall have to wait till the strike is over (April 12),” Mohd Rafeeq, who had come for the treatment of his ailing father, said. “People like us cannot afford to stay long here as we cannot afford accommodation or food for long,” he said. He appealed to the government that it should sort out the issues of hospital employees as early as possible. |
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Employees continue strike
Jammu, April 6 Though no protest or demonstration took place as the employee leaders went into hiding, the state government also did not go allout to arrest the leaders. “We will continue the struggle for our genuine demands. We were assured by the government that it would pay us full arrears. It has stabbed us in the back”, said a senior employee leader, who has gone into hiding to evade arrest. The effect of the strike was visible at the Civil Secretariat here. The usually crowded complex wore a deserted look and all offices remained close. Work in all government schools and offices at the block, district and divisional level remained paralysed for the second day. |
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BSF officer, constable chargesheeted
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, April 6 The boy, Zahid Faooq Shah, was shot dead allegedly by the BSF officer, which led to widespread protests across the Kashmir valley. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had taken up the issue with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, who had asked the BSF to conduct an internal inquiry. The departmental inquiry found the commandant and the constable involved in the killing and both were suspended. In the chargesheet, the police slapped Section 302 of the RPC on them. The two have also been charged under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 307 (attempt to murder). As the clerks of the court were on strike today, the CJM, who read and accepted the chargesheet, said it would be taken up for hearing on April 8. In its detailed chargesheet, the police said it had examined all records of calls made from the area where the boy was shot dead. The police also used the eyewitness account of the friends of the victim, who were present at the time of the killing. The footages of close circuit cameras in the area were also examined and they revealed that a BSF vehicle with an insignia of ‘hangul’ (red stag) was seen in the area. The vehicle had also matched with the vehicle used in the crime and the log book record of the vehicular movement from the company of the BSF that had its headquarters in the area where the killing of the boy took place.
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Cong infighting intensifies
Jammu, April 6 Leaders of one faction, who owe their allegiance to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, have charged the PCC chief with deliberately sidelining them and promoting their detractors in their respective constituencies. Today the PCC chief along with ministers belong to the party addressed a rally at Katra, but the function was boycotted by a majority of local party leaders as according to them, they were not taken into confidence while organising the rally. which was organised by Sardari Lal Dubey, a dissident leader, who had contested the last assembly election as a Panthers Party nominee against official candidate Jugal Kishore Sharma who is a known loyalist of Ghulam Nabi Azad. A majority of leaders, including district president, Reasi, Pritam Singh boycotted the function to lodge their protest. “We were not invited to the rally.So, it was not wise on our part to attend the function without proper invitation”, president of Reasi district Congress Pritam Singh told The Tribune. He said the local unit had earlier asked the party leadership that they would be informed in advance about the programme, but were kept in the dark. Sources in the party said that the pro-Soz faction had deliberately ignored them. Dubey, who organised the rally, is a known critic of Jugal Kishore Sharma. Although Dubey could not perform well as Panthers Party candidate, he was instrumental in the defeat of Congress candidate Sharma in the last assembly elections who lost by a narrow margin to BJP candidate Baldev Sharma. The sources further said that Sharma had written a letter to the party high command against the decision of the PCC chief to promote defectors in his constituency. He has also expressed his resentment through a letter against today’s rally which was organised by bypassing the local organisations. Similarly, district president, Jammu (Rural) Suman Bhagat was not informed about the rallies which were addressed by Soz on Sunday. Bhagat, a former minister, is also known for his closeness to the anti-Soz faction. |
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No justification for strike, says CM
Jammu, April 6 “People in general and those living on the border have to bear the brunt of wars and suffer a lot”, he said and urged Pakistan to take measures to stop infiltration and help improve the relations. On employees’ strike, Omar said it had no justification as the government had already fulfilled their maximum demands,including implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and bearing an additional load of Rs 1800 crore for enhanced salaries during last year. “The government needs Rs 4200 crore for paying the arrears and steps are afoot to generate resources for this purpose. We do not want to impose additional taxes on people for paying arrears to the employees”, he said. Indicating that in the ensuing local bodies and panchayat elections 33 per cent nomination of women would be converted into reservation, the Chief Minister said it had been observed in the Municipal Corporation elections that women candidates winning polls had better represented their constituencies. “We want to encourage women to participate in polls and contribute in a much bigger way”, he said. On the inter-district recruitment Bill, Omar said certain people were bent upon creating confusion among the people and added his government would safeguard the interests of all sections. “We do not believe in conferring any benefit on any section at the cost of other, but our objective and endeavour is to protect the rights of all”, he asserted. |
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Revised Pensionary Benefits
Jammu, April 6 He gave this assurance to a deputation of the Association of Retired Senior Scientists/Associate Professors of the university, which called on him at Raj Bhavan here today and submitted a memorandum containing their demands. These included the urgent grant of their revised pensionary benefits on the same pattern as that for the pensioners from SKUAST, Jammu, in terms of the latest orders issued by the State Finance Department, pursuant to the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations. The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of the university, observed that the demands would be taken up with the Vice- Chancellor of SKUAST-K for immediate redressal. The deputation comprised Roshan Singh, J. S. Mangal, O. P. Pikhan, Roop Raj Sharma, Kehar Singh Kanwal and K. L. Vaid. |
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BJP, CPM condemn ESMA
Jammu, April 6 Former state president of the BJP and MLA, Jammu East, Ashok Khajuria condemned the decision of the state government to invoke ESMA to crush the employees’ genuine movement. He termed the government decision as undemocratic and unconstitutional and warned that ESMA would not only complicate the already complex situation, but would also add to the problems of common people. Khajuria said the government had been consistently hoodwinking over 4.5 lakh employees and misleading them instead of meeting their genuine demands and ensuring the smooth functioning of the government offices in the state. Sham Prasad Kesar, regional secretary of the Jammu Regional Committee of the CPM, expressed anguish over the invoking of ESMA. “Invoking ESMA is a draconian move, which is bound to create confrontation between the employees and the government,” he said. He further said the government instead of resorting to this draconian law should have evolved a strategy to sort out the employees’ issues by holding fruitful negotiations with their leadership. The CPM urged the state government to take immediate steps to approach the Union government for the arrangement of funds for the payment of the Sixth Pay Commission’s arrears to its employees. It also appealed to the Union government to provide funds on this account to resolve the problem. |
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Man caught with Rs 53.9 lakh
Archit Watts Tribune News Service
Jammu, April 6 The Railway Police further said during a routine checking the accused was found carrying a huge sum of money in a bag. “The man failed to produce any identity card. He even could not disclose the source of money,” said Yashpal, SHO, railway station. The SHO further said the accused had not proved his identity as yet. However, he denied any hawala connection or fake money racket. “We have checked the money and are also taking the help of income tax officials to make a breakthrough in the case,” said Yashpal. He added, “It might be a case of black money as all other theories did not bring any result.” Yashpal said the accused had revealed his name as Pankaj Rastogi and was a resident of Delhi and dealer in jewellery. He said the accused had disclosed that he had come to the city yesterday to purchase a showroom. But after reaching here an advocate told him that an outsider could not purchase any immovable property in the state due to Article 370. He further said the accused frequented Jammu as he had some business connection in the city. A case has been registered. Vijay Kumar, SSP, Railway Police, said, “No one from the family of the accused has contacted us.”
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Fire destroys 6 thatched huts
Jammu, April 6 Ghulam Nabi, son of Hazra Begum, said destiny had snatched everything from him and had rendered his family homeless.He said he along with his family had migrated from Banihal in 1994 when militants killed his father, Khuda Bakash. He said:” We lost Rs 20,000, clothes and utensils of my mother who was living in a separate thatched hut”. Feroz Din was another victim of the incident who also suffered a huge loss. Meanwhile, Choudhary Nazakat Khattana, provincial president of the Gujjar Youth Association, demanded financial assistance for the fire victims. |
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Govt to launch drive against corrupt officials
Jammu, April 6 “Besides several measures already adopted, the government will also consider empowering the District Development Boards with constituting sub-groups to evaluate and monitor the schemes under implementation in the districts,” Omar said in a written reply in the Legislative Council today. Official records of the General Administration Department revealed that nearly 390 cases had been registered with the Vigilance Organisation and the Crime Branch in the past five years, which put a big question mark on the working of government officials. A total of 185 cases have been challaned in court by various government agencies. The issue came to the notice of the House when Vijay Bakaya and Khalid Najib Suhrawardy raised a number of questions regarding corruption and demanded a reply from the Chief Minister. Terming corruption as a matter of grave concern, the Chief Minister said graft adversely affected the delivery of public services. He said: “In the past five years, conviction has been awarded to the accused in 38 cases in the state and 21 officials, including two beneficiaries, have been convicted .” Omar further said 11 cases were pending for want of prosecution sentence. After the completion of the House proceedings, a senior official of the General Administration Department told The Tribune that a number of points were being discussed to launch a massive drive against the corrupt officers in the state. Meanwhile, Abdul Gani Vakil demanded a reply over the Gulmarg land scam unearthed by the vigilance in 2008-09 and what was the progress of the case with the names involved in the scam. In his reply, the Chief Minister stated that the vigilance had registered a case relating to illegal vesting of ownership of land in Gulmarg to certain private individuals. He further said the case was in its advanced stage of investigation and the names involved in the scam would be known only after the completion of the investigation by the Vigilance Organisation. |
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Legislative Council passes 10 Bills
Jammu, April 6 Some of the important bills passed in the Council included one relating to bring total reforms in the power sector. This bill aims at privatisation of the power sector. This bill was moved in the Council by Minister for Finance Abdul Rahim Rather on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is holding the power portfolio. Another bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Finance Commission Act 2006 was also moved by Rather, while Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar moved the bill providing for the constitution of the State Vigilance Commission to inquire or cause inquiries to be conducted into the offences alleged to have been committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act by public servants. Panthers Party member Syed Mohammad Rafiq Shah staged a walkout on this bill. |
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Lathicharge on refugees flayed
Jammu, April 6 “Instead of listening to their grievances, the government resorted to police action, which is condemnable,” senior vice-president of the organisation RK Raina said. President of the organisation AN Vaishnavi said: “The state government under the leadership of Omar Abdullah has failed to solve the problems of common people, particularly refugees and migrants.” The organisation also asked as to why the long pending bill regarding preservation of shrines and temples in Kashmir was not introduced in the Assembly by the governme. —
TNS |
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Don’t deny rights of weaker sections in Bill: Panthers Party
Tribune News Service
Jammu, April 6 Addressing a joint press conference with party legislators, Panthers Party leader and MLA, Ramnagar, Harsh Dev Singh said that he had proposed amendments to the Bill to protect the interests of weaker sections. Speaking about his amendments to the proposed Bill, he said, “SCs shall be entitled to a reservation of 8 per cent in every district and the division of the state, notwithstanding, the district or division of their residence shall not be a bar for applying or seeking appointment with respect to those districts in which SCs population does not exist.” The Panthers Party leader further warned that they would not allow the government to deny the weaker sections of society their constitutional rights. Party MLA from Udhampur Balwant Singh Mankotia flayed the government for adopting delaying tactics in issuing Dogra certificates to the residents of the Jammu region. He asserted that the Panthers Party would not rest till this demand was fulfilled. Meanwhile, leaders of the Panthers Party today visited Bakshi Nagar police station and met arrested refugee leaders. They flayed the authorities for using brutal force against poor refugees, who were holding a peaceful protest for their long pending demands. The Panthers Party leaders urged party chairman Bhim Singh to take up the case of refugees in the Supreme Court for appropriate action against those responsible for using such brutal force on aged people.
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Security forces intensify
vigil in Srinagar
Srinagar, April 6 Passenger and private vehicles are being stopped at various places on the connecting roads and the national highway to Srinagar and passengers and luggage are being thoroughly checked. To keep it a secret, the frisking points are chosen randomly and the Army and police personnel frisk passengers by asking them to come out of their vehicles. “There are inputs that ahead of the shifting of the civil secretariat to Srinagar from Jammu, militants are planning a major terror strike in Srinagar city. So, we have intensified vigil and are frisking people as part of that,” a senior police officer said. The Army too had warned that the militants were planning to launch a major attack in the city so as to show their presence and boost the morale of their cadres. “There are around 280 to 300 militants active in the valley and they are desperate to launch an attack. We are fully prepared to thwart their designs,” Brigadier General Staff of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Brigadier Gurmeet Singh said. The frisking has also been increased in the wake of the arrest of a government employee a few days ago while he was carrying a large quantity of arms and explosives in a bus. The explosives were meant to be used by militants for an attack in Srinagar city. “We cannot take a chance with security. We have intensified frisking in the city,” said the police officer. On way to Srinagar from Baramulla, Army personnel conducted surprise checking of vehicles at two places. Meanwhile, people complained that they were being subjected to hardships due to intensified frisking by the security forces. “Our vehicles were stopped at two places when we were going to Srinagar from Baramulla. We told them (security personnel) that we had undergone frisking at one place, but they did not listen and we were again asked to come out of the vehicle for frisking,” said Ghulam Hassan, a resident of Baramulla. |
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Even as the state government invoked ESMA on Monday, the Civil Secretariat Employees (Non-gazetted) Union today extended its strike till April 13.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said the thaw in the Indo-Pak relations and peace on the border was in the larger interests of the people.
Addressing a public gathering in the border village of Marh, Omar said conflicts and wars never yielded positive results but added to human miseries and made the situations complex.
Jammu, April 6
