Jammu, April 15
Bashir Ahmad, a resident of Raipur Satwari, heaved a sigh of relief when he met an officer in the Revenue Department to sell his land to another person as government employees across the state resumed duties in all public offices today after the 12-day strike.

Bashir met The Tribune team in the Deputy Commissioner’s office holding documents. He was standing outside a room for a clerk to get some papers.

He told The Tribune that for the past 12 days he had been unable to sell his land as clerks were on the strike. “Thank God, the employees resumed duties today. I was unable to sell my land. I was in dire need of money, so I decided to sell my land,” he added.

Many others like Bashir, who were affected by the strike, were also relieved today after the employees resumed duties in hospitals, Civil Secretariat, colleges, schools and other government departments.

Earlier, patients, especially who had come from remote areas, had also to face problems as OPD services in the hospitals were affected due to the strike. Even employees cited a common reason to suspend their strike that people were facing harassment.

After visiting the Civil Secretariat, the Government Medical College and Hospital and the SMGS Hospital, it was observed that the buildings, which wore a deserted look during the strike, witnessed the usual hustle and bustle.

Meanwhile, a senior leader of government employees said the state government had released all employees throughout the state, who were arrested by the police during the strike. 

Jammu, April 15
Unscheduled power cuts have started here despite an announcement by Minister of State for Power Shabir Ahmad Khan that there will be no such curtailment this summer.

The minister,in an exclusive interview to The Tribune, had said before the onset of the summer that the government had devised a strategy to deal with power shortage and there would be no unannounced cuts.

However, unscheduled power cuts and low voltage supply have started causing problems to the people,especially at night. The worst effected are Nanak Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Rampura, Gandhi Nagar and Satwari. However, other parts of the city are also facing the problem.

Gandhi Nagar, which is considered a posh locality and a hub of commercial activity, has also started witnessing such cuts despite the fact that electronic meters have been installed there. While fixing the meters, the government had promised that there would be no power curtailment in the area.

There were three cuts in Nanak Nagar yesterday. The situation in other parts of the city was no better as the voltage was low and there were fluctuations.

“If this is the situation in April, then we can imagine how would be the power supply in the coming months”, said Vishal Mehta, a resident of Nanak Nagar. He added the season had just started and the government had failed to solve the problems of shortage and supply.

Harinder Singh, a local resident, said: “Yes, we are aware of power shortage in the state, but it should be the duty of the Electricity Department to inform the public in advance about cuts or power failure. If they inform us in advance, we shall be able to finish our works before the curtailment”.

He urged the government that there should be uniform power cuts in all areas.

However, a senior Power Department officer said the city’s demand had almost doubled as compared to the last two months, but there was no reason for worry. He assured that this summer would be no different from last year.

Poonch, April 15
Three international (ISD) telephone lines between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Poonch- Rawlakote route have been made functional by the district authorities to facilitate interaction between traders, a government officer said today.

“Three ISD lines have recently been made functional in order to facilitate traders between Jammu and Kashmir and their counterparts in PoK across the Line of Control (LoC) so that they can carry out their business dealings on barter system smoothly,” District Development Commissioner (DDC), Poonch, KL Khajuria said.

These ISD lines had been installed in the office of DDC, Poonch General Manager of District Industries Centre Munir Hussain and Trade Facilitation Officer PK Tikoo in the district, he said.

However, these lines have been kept under surveillance and the designated officials would be present during the conversation between traders of the Indian side to other side for security reasons.

The traders from PoK have, however, been directly talking to their counterparts in Jammu and Kashmir on business matters as the authorities in Pakistan had not restricted communication through ISD from their side.

The matter on opening of communication channels was earlier raised by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with the Centre to give boost to trade.

The Chief Minister had also informed the state Legislative Assembly that six telephone lines would be installed- three each from Poonch-Rawlakote route and Uri- Muzaffarabad route to facilitate trade between the two sides.

A traders meet between Jammu and Kashmir and PoK had been arranged at Chakan-Da-Bagh on April 20, he said, adding such meetings help them to settle their financial matters. — PTI 

Jammu, April 15
Responding to the state’s request, the Union Government has agreed to continue 33,000 metric tonnes per month of foodgrains quota to Jammu and Kashmir under the Open Market Scheme Domestic (OMSD) category to tide over its increased demand due to continued drought and 100 per cent takeoff of foodgrains from the government ration depots.

This will be in addition to the normal ration quota of 63,067 metric per month.

According to an official handout issued here today, this assurance was given by the Union Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar, to the Consumer Affairs, Public Distribution (CAPD) and Transport Minister, Qamar Ali Akhoon, at a high- level meeting held at New Delhi today.

The Centre has also agreed to restore and regulate the sugar quota of 7,000 metric tonnes per month to the state to meet its requirements.

Union Agriculture Minister also assured Akhoon of outright support and assistance for construction of food storage godowns in various areas of the state to enable stocking of surplus foodgrains to meet its requirements round the year. Akhoon strongly pleaded for enhancing the BPL ration quota at the rate of 24 per cent to Jammu and Kashmir against existing five per cent quota adding that the population of the state had increased manifold during the last 10 years when the Census was conducted in 2001.

Pawar assured that the demand of the state in this regard would be considered only after the final BPL lists were made available by the Planning Commission. Akhoon thanked the Centre, particularly Pawar, for continuing additional ration and sugar quota to the state.

Jammu, April 15
Adviser to Chief Minister Mubarak Gul has called upon government functionaries to work with utmost dedication for the early redressal of the problems and development needs of the people.

He said this while inspecting the functioning of the Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell on the instructions of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

During the inspection, he was told by officials that since its inception, the cell received 9,512 representations, of which 7,848 cases have been disposed of and forwarded to the departments concerned for immediate necessary action.

The Adviser appreciated the functionaries of the cell for their hard work and efficient performance.

He also instructed them to deal with deputations and individuals in a polite manner and ensure that all representations, forwarded by the cell, have been taken up appropriately by the quarters concerned.

Later, he met with several deputations and assured them that all their grievances would be looked into.

Former MLC and National Conference leader Bhushan Lal Bhat also called on the Adviser and pleaded for providing adequate drinking water, healthcare and uninterrupted power supply to all Kashmiri migrant camps located at Jammu during summer. He also demanded setting up of Summer Secretariat in Jammu during darbar move with permanent positioning of a senior cabinet minister.

Jammu, April 15
The state government transfered seven officers with immediate effect today.Tassaduq Jeelani, Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Development Authority, Sonamarg, has been transferred and posted as Chief Executive Officer, Urban Development Agency, Kashmir, in place of Bashir Ahmad Sofi, who has been posted as Deputy Director, Local Bodies, Kashmir.

Gazzanfer Ali, Assistant Commissioner (Development), Kulgam, has been posted as Secretary, State Social Welfare Board, in place of Dr Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din, who has been posted as Special Assistant to Minister for Roads and Buildings and Mechanical Engineering Departments.

Mushtaq Ahmad, Deputy Secretary, Forest Department, has been transferred as Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Development Authority, Sonamarg, in his own pay and grade. Abdul Aziz, SDM, Sopore, has been transferred and his services placed at the disposal of the Rural Development Department for further posting. Mohammad Ahsan Mir, Development Officer, Handicrafts, Srinagar, has been posted as SDM, Sopore.

Srinagar, April 15
A three-day training programme for prison officers on “Human Rights and Prison Management” organised by the Academic Staff College of the University of Kashmir, in collaboration with the regional branch of the IIPA, began here today.

On the occasion, Inspector- General of Police, Kashmir, Farooq Ahmad said, “I feel that jails, like other institutions, should be put under civilian control.”

He stressed upon the need to develop programmes that would help prisoners lead respectable lives when they return to their society after they complete their sentence.

In his inaugural address, IIPA vice-chairman, J&K regional branch, AM Watali shared the need to incorporate a legal basis to reform prisoners.

“Words like rigorous imprisonment should be removed from the jail statutes as they do not go well with the idea of treating the prisoners in accordance with human rights,” he said.

He suggested that voluntary organisations must come forward to help prisoners by organising medical camps, computer literacy training programmes and other such positive steps.

Programme coordinator SM Afzal Qadri stressed on the need to organise such programmes as “the prisons have now been replaced by the notion of being correctional institutions and as such, the prison officers need to be informed about how to reform prisoners.” 

Jammu, April 15
The security forces last evening busted a hideout of militants in a jungle in Kishtwar district and recovered arms and ammunition.

A defence spokesperson said troops of the Rashtriya Rifles busted the hideout in the Tandar forest in Kishtwar district and recovered two UBGL launchers, 10 UBGL rounds, a Chinese grenade, one RPG round, one detonator, 20 rounds of AK rifle and one safety fuse. Sources claimed that Lashkar-e-Toiba’s district commander Dawood Ahmed had been using the hideout before being shot dead last month.

Jammu, April 15
The Peoples’ Revolutionary Movement (PRM) today criticised the Central Government for ‘neglecting’ and snatching the ‘rightful due’ of the people of the state.

According to a statement issued here, PRM leader Rajinder Jamwal said the Central leadership, including the ruling party, had always neglected and undermined the state.

He asked the government to clear its stand on the appointment of local incumbents for the Jammu Central University.