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Nearly Rs 6 crore spent last year on residences of ministers, bureaucrats
Banks, varsities ‘under RTI purview’
Question Paper Leak
Amarnath Yatra arrangements reviewed
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Silk industry suffers heavy losses
Head constables promoted
Inter-district Recruitment Bill
Jail superintendent booked on wife’s complaint
Construction of Tenements
Pensioners to launch signature drive
PDP flays ban on Pak channels in Jammu
People urged to use water wisely
Proposal to shift bus stand hangs fire
Schools’ assn for reforms in elementary education
Gujjars seek state’s help for inclusion of Gojri in 8th Schedule
Family of man killed by Army shattered LeT supporter held, arms seized Varsity’s e-governance project reviewed
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Nearly Rs 6 crore spent last year on residences of ministers, bureaucrats
Jammu,April 25 Following Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s instructions, the National Conference-Congress coalition had initiated austerity measures to cut down lavish spending last year. However, official documents accessed by The Tribune have brought to the fore a yawning gap between words and deeds of the present regime. Topping the chart in expenditure (incurred on furniture, furnishings, renovation and repairs in 2009-10) was none else than Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, who showed empty coffers to more than 4.5 lakh state government employees, awaiting their arrears as per the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations. To spruce up Rather’s official and private residences, the Estates Department spent Rs 47.4 lakh followed by Technical Education Minister (Rs 44.05 lakh), Social Welfare Minister Sakina Itoo (Rs 30.27 lakh), Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir (Rs 29.61 lakh) and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah (Rs 25 lakh). The Estates Department, in total, spent Rs 504.49 lakh on Chief Minister Omar and his 22 ministers. Similarly,it spent Rs 74.99 lakh in 2009-10 on furniture, furnishings, renovation and repairs of official and private residences of 29 senior officers. Topping the senior officers in expenditure under the head is Chief Secretary S.S. Kapur on whom the government spent Rs 8.78 lakh followed by Rs 8.4 lakh spent on Manoj Dwivedi (Deputy Commissioner Jammu),IAS officer Sarita Chauhan (Rs 7.6 lakh) and Principal Secretary, Power Development Department, BR Sharma (Rs 6.62 lakh). In order to curtail the expenditure on the repair, renovation and upgradation of houses, furniture and furnishings allotted to ministers and officers, the government issued an order in the last fiscal year fixing a ceiling, but the same exceeded the limit. “Though the government fixed an upper limit, the expenditure exceeded because works were taken up before the order”,said a senior government functionary in a bid to justify the huge expenditure.
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Banks, varsities ‘under RTI purview’
Srinagar, April 25 “Banks and universities also come under the purview of the RTI Act as these are established by a law made by state legislature and are substantially financed by either the state or central governments,” Habibullah said. He was addressing a workshop on RTI, “Right to Information Awareness Programme-Cum-Workshop” at Pulwama here today. The workshop was organised by the Right to Information Movement in collaboration with the district administration of Pulwama and Action Aid International. The CIC said the RTI had enabled an era wherein the common man’s concerns were taken to the heart of all processes of governance. Dwelling upon the background of the Act, Habibullah said the idea of introducing the right to information regime was to enable the citizens of the country to thoroughly participate in the process of governance and not merely during the elections. This, he said, was vital and was in accordance with the democratic ideals of this country. Since the RTI had acquired the status of a Fundamental Right, thereby implying that all citizens of the country, including the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir, would have access to information from any public authority, “it would contain corruption, improve transparency and help in optimum use of fiscal resources for the betterment of the public”, he said. |
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Question Paper Leak
Miran Sahib (RS Pura), April 25 Rayaz Iqbal Tantray, DSP (Probationer), Miran Sahib police station, said: “Two wireless operators, namely, Manjit and Ajay, have been arrested in this case.” During the interrogation of the other accused, it was found that Manjit, a wireless operator with the Indian Reserve Police Sixth (IRP) at Channi Himmat, used to sell question papers at RS Pura, Bishnah and the Arnia areas,while Ajay, another wireless operator at Chadhwal police post in Kathua, used to sell question papers in the Kathua area. The DSP added: “We had laid a
trap for the four cops to find out their role in the scandal. While checking the cellphone details, the two cops were found to be in regular contact with the already arrested
persons.” Not only students, teachers and Board of School Education (BOSE) officers, but also some police officials seemed to be involved in the scandal, he further said. “We are also getting the help of the BOSE officials to expose the scandal,” Tantray said, adding that the involvement of some more cops would be disclosed only after getting some major evidence against them. The paper leak came to light when solved question papers were recovered from two students appearing in the Class X exam at New Gandhi Memorial College in Miran Sahib
on March 26. A case under Sections 409, 109 and 353 of the RPC and Section 5 of the Prevention of Unfair Means Examination Act has already been registered by the Miran Sahib police in this incident. |
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Amarnath Yatra arrangements reviewed
Srinagar, April 25 Giving the details, the commissioner said 2.75 lakh yatris had darshan last year and various departments had provided facilities to them. Twelve sub-stations, besides eight DG sets would be set up this year. The meeting was informed that power up to Baltal had been restored and the rest of the work would be completed next month. In order to improve voltage, a receiving station would also be set up at Gagangeer for which an allocation had been made by the Sonamarg Development Authority. Regarding health facilities, it was informed 21 camps and 27 ambulances would be pressed into service for which 108 doctors and 220 para- medical personnel would be put on duty. It was informed that 2500 quintals of firewood would be made available at five halting stations. Regarding drinking water, the meeting was informed that 20,000-meter pipeline was being laid for yatris each year while a road would be ready before the yatra commenced. Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir Zone, Farooq Ahmad reviewed the security arrangements in connection with the yatra.Officers of Anantnag police and local district formations attended the meeting. Emphasising the need to have a close liaison between the state police and the security forces deployed for the arrangements, the IGP impressed upon the officers to ensure close co-ordination at points and places of public dealing. |
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Silk industry suffers heavy losses
Jammu, April 25 Last year, Jammu and Kashmir produced 805 MT of cocoon. The farmers earned Rs 8 crore, while the industry did a business of around Rs 4 crore. On the flip side, the state government spent around Rs 38 crore for the maintenance of the department, which was established by Maharaja way back in 1905, under non-plan expenditure that included disbursement of salaries and other expenses. Additionally, there was a planned expenditure of nearly Rs 4 crore for the development activities. The non-plan expenditure for 2010-11 has been fixed at Rs 441.94 crore for the department. The state has 22,000 silk farmers, besides 20 yarn producing and weaving industries. Major challenges faced by farmers are the stagnant minimum support prices for the past 12 years and import of raw silk from China on cheaper prices. Moreover, silkworms are prone to infection while a silk farmer is always at risk to life and limbs while chopping branches from mulberry tree. “While chopping off branches from mulberry if one accidentally gets injured, there is no official assistance. Additionally, in case the silkworms get infected, the entire hard exercise goes waste,” Bansi Lal, a silk farmer, said, adding that “Every time cocoon rearing is not profitable.” Presently, both government-run yarn factories in Jammu and Kashmir are closed. While Jammu has private-yarn factories, Kashmir has traditional weavers and, therefore, weaving factories too. Ashish Gharu, owner of Sheela Textiles Udhyog and Angels Silk Udhampur, said: “There are only 3-4 reeling units in Jammu, while 13-14 have lost to Chinese monopoly in the silk yarn market. But there is improvement with the imposition of anti-dumping tax.” He said: “Only those yarn factories survived that provide supply to the (only) government-run weaving factory at Rajbagh in Kashmir.” He added: “Incentives should be given to farmers, besides inviting big industries from outside for setting up more reeling units.” Officials say that just 25 per cent of the total raw silk is being treated in the state and rest of
the produce is purchased by traders from West Bengal and Karnataka. Nevertheless, director, Sericulture, Mohammad Ashraf Khan said still there was a silver lining as the state produced more superior biboltine raw silk in north western states. “Our state can fill the gap between production and demand for silk in India. India produces 17,000 MT of raw silk (yarn) annually, while its consumption is 25,000 MT. There remains a gap of 8,000 MT,” he said. He added: “We expect that our
production will record increase this year.” “If the indigenous cocoon is processed here only, the annual business could be more than Rs 25 crore,” he said. The minimum support price for this year has been fixed at Rs 210 per kg for A grade produce against previous rate that was Rs 180 per kg. However, the prices for B grade and C grade produce remain Rs 135 and Rs 120 per kg, respectively. “Despite huge subsidies and schemes, young entrepreneurs are unresponsive,” he said. He added: “If they take to sericulture, they have tremendous scope.” |
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Head constables promoted
Jammu: A total of 142 head constables of Jammu zone have been promoted ASI in the pay scale of Rs 5,200-20,200+grade pay of Rs 2,800. Five ASIs and 26 head constables of the executive police were given higher standard pay scale in pursuance of SRO 14 of 1996. —
TNS |
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Inter-district Recruitment Bill
Jammu, April 25 Unlike other parts of the country, all Gujjars residing in Jammu and Kashmir are Muslims and a section among them is annoyed with political parties for not protecting their interests when the controversial bill was passed in the Assembly. The Gujjars in the state have been enjoying the status of Scheduled Tribe (ST) and section among them were demanding that like Scheduled Tribes (STs), they should also be exempted from the purview of this controversial bill. After passing of this bill, a candidate can apply for government job only in his own district, but the SCs are exempted. “Like other reserved categories, we have decided to fight the battle of Gujjars, as they are also victim of the wrong policies of the coalition government,” BJP state president Shamsher Singh Manhas said. He said the BJP was the only party that had strongly opposed the bill, and it would effectively take up the case of Gujjars on the streets. He said discrimination was meted out to the Gujjars due to the attitude of their community ministers who failed to protect their interests. After passing of the bill on April 9, the BJP has started giving special attention to the Gujjar-dominated belts of twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri. Instead of roping in leaders of this community, the BJP, as part of strategy, has decided to target educated Gujjar youths. The BJP president claimed that a large number of Gujjars had been coming forward to join the party, as there was feeling among them that only the BJP could protect their interests. The BJP leadership has released that the party can strengthen its base among this section of Muslims due to the prevailing resentment among them. The BJP leadership is very much aware that the party could not further spread its base in the Jammu region without roping in Gujjars and Bakerwals. Recently, some Gujjars activists had joined the BJP and more are likely to join in the days to come. |
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Jail superintendent booked on wife’s complaint
Jammu, April 25 A senior police officer said Shabeena Shadab had filed a complaint alleging that her husband Saleem Beg, a jail superintendent, had thrown her out of the house a few days ago and beaten her. The complainant is mother of three children. A case under Section 498-A of the RPC has been registered against the accused. SP City Randeep Kumar said: “We have received the complaint and a case has been registered. We are looking into all aspects of the case.” |
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Construction of Tenements
Jammu, April 25 How efficient the government is in its functioning could be gauged from the fact that the deadline for completion of the construction work of tenements at Jagti has been extended for the third time now. These tenements were scheduled to be completed by December 2009, but the government could not complete them in time, due to which the next time limit of their completion was earlier fixed as May 2010. The government has failed to meet this deadline, too, and now it is said the project would be completed between August-October this year. The migrants living in the Mishriwala, Purkhoo, Muthi and Nagrota camps were living with great enthusiasms and hope of getting allotments in Jagti township since December 2009, which could be measured from the fact that some described this township as the “homeland” and some the “Habba Kadal” of Kashmiri Pandits. This enthusiasm has now dimmed due to the delay in completion of the township. “There is no question of allotment of flats at this time, as the work is still going on,” said the relief commissioner Vinod Koul. Talking to The Tribune, executive engineer of the project, at Jagti, Ravinder Kaul said though the companies engaged for the construction of the project have completed almost 70 per cent construction work. “The reason for delay in completion of the construction of these tenements is due to various factors like incomplete electric fittings, laying of water tap connections and other sanitary works,” he said. Koul said around 3,000 flats would be ready by August this year, whereas the entire project is likely to get completed by October 2010. “The work is going on as per schedule,” he added. Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Raman Bhalla said the government has extended the time period of completion of whole project by October 2010 in order to maintain the quality of the work. Explaining the reasons for extension of deadline yet again, the minister said, “Quality of construction will have been compromised in making haste in the completion of the constructions. We will not compromise the quality of work. That is why the deadline has been extended again.” However, the minister said the allotments would be done on lucky draw basis after the project is completed. The old aged, diseased and widows would be given first preference during the allotment of the tenements. |
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Pensioners to launch signature drive
Jammu, April 25 They criticised the delaying tactics of the government in solving the problems of pensioners and employees of the state. “We are struggling from the last one year. The government should be fair and rational in dealing with our problems, otherwise the working class in the state will evolve a strategy to give a tough fight to the coalition government in the local bodies and panchayat elections,” they added. The pensioners have also announced to launch a massive signature campaign for the dissolution of the Legislative Council, which according to them, was merely a burden on the exchequer. |
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PDP flays ban on Pak channels in Jammu
Jammu, April 25 In a joint statement issued here today, PDP general secretary Balbir Singh and party MLC Murtaza Khan have flayed this “arbitrary” decision of the state government. The PDP leaders said there was no reason to ban airing of these channels in Jammu as such channels were not telecasting anything provocative or wrong. Some of the channels banned by the government were rather telecasting programmes for strengthening peace and communal harmony among cross-sections of society. They pointed out that some of the channels, which were banned by the authorities, were telecasting purely religious programmes to educate people about religion so there was no logic in this decision. “Religious sentiments of the people have been hurt due to the decision of the government to ban some channels which telecast only religious programmes and teachings,” they added. They warned the government against taking such decision and observed these actions would further increase alienation of the people. “In a democratic system, people are free to watch any programmes and channels, and the decision of the government to curtail constitutional rights of the people will prove counter productive, they said.” |
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People urged to use water wisely
Jammu, April 25 Addressing series of public meetings in the Vijaypur Assembly segment, Minister for Industries and Commerce SS Slathia, accompanied by Minister for Forests Mian Altaf Ahmad called upon the people to use water judiciously, as the groundwater level was depleting day-by-day and the prevailing dry spell that has not only affected the water bodies but also affected flora and fauna of the state. Slathia said the government was sincere in providing regular water supply to the people for drinking purposes and also trying to explore possibilities for the preservation of existing water bodies in the different Kandi areas for the use of animals. The minister said eight tube-wells have already been provided to cope up with the water scarcity in the area and one more tube-well would be provided soon in the area. He said the government was committed to ensure availability of the essential commodities at ration depots, adding that ways were being looked into for free ration to the drought hit areas on priority basis. Mian Altaf Ahmad urged for preservation of different water bodies that were very vital in the present dry spell. |
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Proposal to shift bus stand hangs fire
Jammu, April 25 The Birpur site was identified for inter-state bus terminal, Khanpur (Nagrota) for Poonch and Banihal buses and Paloura for Poonch and Chhamb. At the same time, the infrastructure developed at the cost of Rs 13.86 crore in Khanpur, 8 km outside Jammu, to house nearly 450 non-functional buses was yet to be released. These buses have been occupying huge space, due to which the functional buses have been forced to park outside, adding to the congestion of the roads. Enquiry by The Tribune revealed that around 400 buses were being accommodated in the present bus stand, out of which around 150 buses were functional. The president of the Bus Stand Shopkeepers Association said around 250 non-functional buses
were parked inside the bus stand. “The government should immediately shift the non-functional buses to the Khanpur bus stand and should make the present bus stand as main terminal point,” added the president. However, he said the government should not shift the entire bus stand from present location, as it would affect the livelihood of the business community. Talking to The Tribune, Transport Commissioner Sayad Mohammad Fazlullah said the proposals to shift the entire bus stand from present location to identified sites and non-functional buses to Khanpur were still in the pipeline. He said the proposals got delayed due to political interference and protests raised by the business community. The commissioner said before giving the proposal a practical shape, the government would consider all demands of the business community of present bus stand. “There will be no effect on their employment,” said Fazlullah. He added, “In the valley, at Jahangir Pur bus stand, the government faced similar situation, when the bus stand was shifted. There also, the business community protested against the government, but later, they were accommodated at the new location by providing shops to them and now they are happy.” |
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Schools’ assn for reforms in elementary education
Jammu, April 25 In a statement here today, the association said a uniform system of child education should be enforced all over the country. “The age of four for children for entering the schools should be legalised and declared mandatory all over the country and there should be only one-year KG class”, it said and added, “a uniform syllabus should be prescribed for classes like nursery, KG and first standard”. It further said a provision for providing quality milk for maximum number of children should be considered at the national level. — TNS |
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Gujjars seek state’s help for inclusion of Gojri in 8th Schedule
Jammu, April 25 Gujjars observed that being an oldest and ancient language of South Asia, Gojri requires urgent preservations and indispensable propagations on priority. In a social gathering of Gujjars, organised by the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation, the community members impressed upon the state and Centre to “be fair and just” with them and stressed upon initiation of instantaneous steps for inclusion of Gojri into the list of Indian languages. Secretary of the foundation Javaid Rahi, while speaking on the occasion, stated that the demands by various organisations of Gujjars for the inclusion of Gojri was still pending with the Centre since 1991, which was adversely affecting the development of tribal culture of the Gujjars. He impressed upon the Gujjars residing in more than 11 states of India to chalk out a common plan and struggle in collaboration for inclusion of Gojri in the Indian Constitution, as this language has played an iconic role in construction of our distinct tribal identity. Rahi said Gojri has a strong case for its inclusion in the list of official languages, as in the light of the recommendations of the Sitakant Mohapatra Committee constituted by the Government of India to examine the cases of 38 languages recommended by various authorities for inclusion in 8th Schedule, and was the most deserving language of India to be categorised under the Constitution. |
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Family of man killed by Army shattered Kellar (Shopian), April 25 Kalas who used to earn his livelihood by selling firewood in the local market was mistaken for a militant and killed when he reportedly tried to escape from a spot where the Army had laid a cordon after getting information about the movement of militants. “Now, the family is shattered.Who would take care of his nine children,” asked Shabir Kalas, elder brother of the deceased. The Tribune team had to trek several km to reach the house where a large number of relatives and local residents had gathered to console the family. “He was the only breadwinner of the family and used sell firewood.On the fateful night, he had gone to sell the firewood when on his way back home, he was killed by the Army,” said sobbing Shammem, widow of Ghulam Kalas. She alleged that after being challenged by the Army, he had said shouted that he was a civilian and not a militant, but “the Army did not care and fired at him”, she said. Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti also reached the village to console the family.Speaking to The Tribune, she said that her party would organise a mass agitation to press for the withdrawal of Army and the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA). “Had there been no special powers with the Army, they would have thought twice before killing this innocent man.A few days ago, they killed a 70-year-old man and dubbed him a militant,” Mehbooba said, and added:“From tomorrow, we would hold a massive protest demonstration to ask the government for demilitarisation and revocation of AFSPA”. Asked why the demand was not raised when the PDP was in power, she said: “The situation at that time was not so conducive, but we disbanded the Special Task Force and did not implement POTA here”. She criticised the NC-led coalition government for “its failure in controlling the incidents of human rights violations”. When asked that the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said that there were far more violations in the PDP tenure then during the term of the present government, she said: “During our tenure, we never shirked away from our responsibilities and took action against those who were involved in such crimes.But in the present regime, the perpetrators of crime go scot free.” |
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LeT supporter held, arms seized
Srinagar, April 25 The overground worker has been identified as Ghulam Qadir Mir of Bawan. “Four UBGL grenades and 22 rounds of AK ammunition were seized from his possession,” a police officer said. —
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Varsity’s e-governance project reviewed Srinagar, April 25 KU Vice-Chancellor Riyaz Punjabi presided over the meeting held in the backdrop of the week-long management development programme for various college principals. Joint secretary of the ministry Shankar Aggarwal, while lauding the directorate for its progress in the e-governance project, said, “It is heartening to see that the varsity has been able to implement its e-governance applications successfully. The fact that the admission process was fully streamlined via e-governance is an accomplishment for the university.” He assured the university of full-assistance under the national e-governance scheme in terms of e-infrastructure. “The success story of the university will be put on the official website of the Government of India and will also be circulated in the national press,” he added. Commenting on the state data centre, he expressed hope that the colleges of the state would be put on the centre’s database before it would be fully implemented by September 2011. The VC thanked the ministry for its generous support and laid stress for executing the e-governance at college level, too. |
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Srinagar, April 25
The net annual earning of silk farmers and business of silk factories during a year is 3.5 times less than the total annual expenditure of the state’s Sericulture Development Department.
With the cocoon marketing set to start, silk farmers, besides yarn reeling and weaving units, are “down and out” as many factories have been closed for import of cheaper yarn from China, while farmers consider cocoon rearing — their subsidiary activity — a gamble.
Jammu, April 25
Kellar
(Shopian), April 25
