Jammu, September 1
The CRPF today claimed that not even a single death had been caused by non-lethal weapons in Kashmir ever since the paramilitary force was equipped with these to deal with unruly mobs in the Valley.

The force had been recently provided 130 pump action .12- bore guns, a weapon, which causes injury, not lethal in nature.

Responding to queries after inaugurating a fair at the Group Centre here as part of the 42nd Raising Day celebrations, CRPF’s Jammu region IG AS Sidhu rubbished reports about deaths and lethal injuries being caused to protesters in Kashmir by non-lethal weapons.

“No death has occurred due to non-lethal weapons being used by the CRPF in Kashmir,” he said.

He, however, said some anti-national elements had been opening fire on the troopers which might have been inviting retaliatory action.

“But our jawans are properly trained in professionally handling the situation as well as non-lethal weapons. So, the question (of fatal injuries and deaths) doesn’t arise at all,” said Sidhu.

In the past two months of turmoil in the Valley, more than 65 persons have lost their lives.

The top cop appealed to the youths in the Valley not to indulge in stone throwing and instead focus on their career prospects.

They should concentrate on their academic pursuits rather than throwing stones, he said.

“We have no objections if they resort to peaceful protests, but we cannot allow them to vandalise public property and take the law and order in their hands”, he said.

On stray incidents of suicides and fratricides among CRPF jawans, he attributed the reasons to home sickness, family disputes, stress and challenging working conditions.

But reconciliatory measures in the form of counselling, yoga, recreational facilities and increased interaction between battalion commanders and jawans had yielded desired results, he said.

Earlier, Sidhu and his wife inaugurated a day-long fair and went around various stalls put up by the CRPF.

Srinagar, September 1
The state government has relaxed certain formalities under the Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for Youth to increase its reach to the maximum number of unemployed youths in the state.

Minister for Higher Education, Labour and Employment Abdul Gani Malik said here today that employment exchanges at the district level had been renamed as District Employment and Counselling Centres. The centres had so far registered 5.95 lakh unemployed educated youths, including students, in the age group 18-37. He said Rs 122 crore had been worked out as the annual financial requirement of the scheme. He added that Rs 76 crore had been made available to the centres.

Talking to newsmen, the minister said the government had waived the condition of land holding for giving Voluntary Service Allowance (VSA) to the unemployed youths.

Malik said the government had also reduced the age for eligible candidates from 28 years to 26 years. The VSA would now be disbursed to the candidates in the age group 26-37, he added.

Giving the details, Malik said the government had also increased the Rs 100 allowance (VSA) for all categories. He added the VSA would now be given in the range of Rs 600 to Rs 1,200, starting from matriculates to postgraduates and engineering and medical graduates.

The minister said the relaxation had also been given in the annual income slab, which had been raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.50 lakh. He said now 32,000 additional unemployed youths would come under the ambit of the scheme, raising the total number of eligible youths to 1.57 lakh in the state.

The Cabinet had earlier constituted a sub-committee headed by Minister for PHE and Irrigation Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir and Minister for Higher Education AG Malik as its members.

Jammu, September 1
Security forces resorted to a preventive fire in the forest area near Chapar Mohalla in the Sangiote area of Poonch district this afternoon.

Official sources said following an input about the presence of militants in a maize field, a joint column of the Special Operations Group, CRPF and the Army opened a preventive fire. However, there was no retaliatory fire from the field located in a thickly forested area.

After scanning the area, the security forces called off the operation around 6 pm.

Jammu, September 1
In the absence of recognition by the Dental Council of India (DCI), the career of 260 students of Indira Gandhi Government Dental College is at stake.

“The missing DCI recognition would leave us no better than quacks,” the students told The Tribune. “We have been studying here since 2004 and had no clue that the government college is without the DCI recognition,” they rued.

The then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had written to the then Union Health Minister, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, on March 31, 2008, requesting him to grant the DCI recognition to the first three batches of 58 students. Azad, in his letter, had specifically mentioned that deficiencies pointed out by a DCI team had been removed and hence, the recognition be accorded. He also mentioned that at no point of time, the council had categorically stopped Indira Gandhi Government Dental College from pursuing/imparting the BDS course.

Azad’s letter and his personal assurances to the aggrieved students failed to evoke the desired response and the problem continues to haunt them. In stark contrast to what Azad requested, the then Undersecretary in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Raj Singh vide a letter dated July 14, 2007, addressed to the college principal and Dean had stated that the permission was valid for one year and for admitting only one batch of students in the 2007-08 session.

A portion of the letter even reads: “The next batch of students will be admitted only after the renewal of the Centre’s permission for a second-year BDS course in the college”.

However, following frantic efforts by the state government, the then Undersecretary vide another letter dated June 12, 2008, had written to the DCI secretary to conduct an inspection in the college so as to confer it the recognition. “This issue has the approval of the Union Health Minister,” reads the concluding line.

Not only the first three batches but also four more subsequent batches were admitted, of course after aspirants appeared in the entrance exams duly conducted by the Board of Professional Entrance Exams.

The college now has 260 students in seven batches, but fewer teachers, a major deterrent for not getting the DCI recognition.

“Though the DCI had conducted a series of inspections since 2004 and relaxed the faculty criterion to three professors of dental surgery from six, we still don’t have a single professor and the principal’s post is lying vacant too”, the students said.

The principal of Government Medical College, Dr Rajinder Singh, had been holding the additional charge of principal ever since the incumbent, Prof MR Sharma, retired on April 30, they added.

Jammu, September 1
Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma today said that the government was taking preventive measures to check gastroenteritis and declared that after fixing responsibility, strict action would be taken against the guilty for the outbreak of the epidemic in Doda.

“Accountability will be fixed against the guilty with evidence,” said the Minister while addressing mediapersons here today.

The government had also formulated a long-term policy to check waterborne diseases like diarrhoea and gastroenteritis.

Advising people to drink boiled water only, he said under the long-term policy, models of neighbouring states would be adopted to ensure the quality supply of potable water to people.

The Minister has directed the Drug and Food Control Organisation and the Jammu Municipal Corporation to randomly select 30 per cent samples of the total potable water body sources and send them to the laboratory for testing their quality.

As a preventive measure to check the waterborne disease, Sharma said the Public Health and Engineering (PHE) Department had been directed to provide quality drinking water to people.

The minister had also directed officials of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) to implement the sanitation and fogging drives more effectively in the city.

He directed officials of the JMC that while carrying on the sanitation and fogging drives, more concentration should be paid to low-lying areas, where water remains stagnant for long time.

Sharma claimed the PHE Department had not detected any case of dengue whereas only one case of malaria was detected so far.

“Geeta Devi (40), hailing from Majalt tehsil of Udhampur, was diagnosed with malaria. Samples of Sapna (22) of Doda and Meena Bakshi (50) of Nowshera were detected negative for dengue. Their samples have been sent to Delhi for reexamination,” said Sharma.

Showing concern for the sale of adulterated food items, particularly synthetic milk, in the market, Sharma said more funds would be demanded from the government to strengthen the Drug and Food Control Organisation and to upgrade the sample testing laboratory.

However, the minister stated in Doda district he had asked the PHE Department to submit a status report within 10 days of the funds allocated and utilised by them for ensuring safe water supply in the district.

While giving clarification, the Minister said, “I have asked the PHE Department to submit the status report of funds allocated to them for providing safe drinking water to people and for urban development. I have not mentioned about the diversion of funds, as reported by the media.”

Srinagar, September 1
Though the turmoil in the Kashmir valley has badly affected the annual academic calendar of Kashmir University, the institution has taken some measures to cover much of the syllabus.

“Some classes have almost covered their syllabus while some have not. For those who haven’t covered their syllabus, we hold extra classes whenever possible,” Showkat Shafi, Assistant Dean, Students Welfare, Kashmir University, told The Tribune.

He said owing to the continuous strikes and curfew in the Valley, the academic calendar had been severely affected, putting the future of more than 5,000 university students in jeopardy.

“The Vice-Chancellor, Dr Riyaz Punjabi, has taken some steps to help the students make up for the lost time. This year we have cancelled the 15-day summer vacation and the two-month winter vacation. So, whenever there is no curfew, the students can come and attend classes,” Shafi said.

He said the examinations of various semesters had been postponed so that the students got ample time for preparations.

As the faculty of all departments could not attend the university during the strikes, the Vice-Chancellor had asked the library to function round-the-clock so that the students could avail of the facility and use as many reference books as possible to cover their syllabus. “The students can borrow the books of their choice from the library during night as well,” Shafi said.

“The Vice-Chancellor has taken many steps to save the academic year of the students, but he needs the active support of everyone in the university so that the students don’t bear the brunt of the turmoil in the Valley,’ he said.

Srinagar, September 1
The curfew was relaxed in the entire city and other major towns of the Valley following an improvement in the situation today.

Shops and business establishments reopened after four days of shutdown. There was a heavy rush in markets in view of the ongoing holy month of Ramzan. Educational institutions and banks were also open while the attendance in government offices was normal.

However, the curfew restrictions which were imposed in Anantnag yesterday following the death of a youth in police firing in the Sherbagh area on Monday continued today.The situation in the town remained tense with demonstrations being held there.

Meanwhile, a group of primary school students today protested against the 80-day-long agitation in the Kashmir valley, saying it was denying them the right to education.

Dressed in their school uniforms and holding placards, nearly 20 students from Ganderbal held a demonstration here, demanding an end to the ongoing agitation, on the ground that it had marred their learning process.

A political activist, Farooq Ahmad Ganderbali, who was accompanying the students told reporters that the agitation in the Valley was spoiling their future.

"Students in the Jammu region don't face any disruption and study without any hindrance, but our wards are suffering immensely," he said. However, Ganderbali's statement did not go down well with an onlooker who pushed him.

Srinagar, September 1
While the statement of the National Conference(NC) President and Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy,Dr Farooq Abdullah, made in the Lok Sabha last week has been criticised by separatists, the NC and the opposition PDP are also at loggerheads.

On his arrival here from New Delhi, the NC leader,while expressing concern about the plight of poor tradesmen who were deeply affected by frequent strikes, squarely blamed the PDP for the trouble.He lamented that young boys were being “instigated by elements working behind the curtain for regaining lost power” in the state and the suffering of the people was a result of clandestine conspiracies. “They have started a campaign against me and always try to mislead the people through their agents”, he commented, and made it clear that during his speech in Parliament, he said the Government of India “should not rule the land, but learn to rule the hearts of the people”. The PDP, he said, was actually orchestrating the present violence for the sake of power.

Reacting to this, the PDP regretted Dr Abdullah’s continued efforts to ridicule the sentiments of people by linking their struggle with power politics. Senior party leaders and former ministers, Mohammad Dilawar Mir and A R Veeri,MLA, said the NC was trying to divert attention from the painful ground situation in Kashmir by accusing the Opposition of engineering protests.

Political observers say Dr Abdullah,who represents the Srinagar-Budgam constituency in the Lok Sabha, in his speech did not mention anything about the ground situation in Kashmir where 64 youths have died in the violence since June 11.

On the other hand, BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi had been clear in his approach when he observed that people in Kashmir wanted “Azadi, not jobs”, the observers opined. An MP from Hyderabad, Assad-u-din Owaisi, had also expressed concern about the human rights violations and innocent killings, they felt.

Poonch, September 1
Chief Secretary SS Kapur today emphasised upon the district officers to ensure timely completion of development projects being executed in the district under different state and centrally sponsored schemes.

Kapur was addressing an officers’ meeting at Poonch. Principal Secretary, Planning and Development, Khursheed Ahmed Ganai, Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Dr Pawan Kotwal, Secretary, General Administration Department, Mohammad Sayeed Khan, District Development Commissioner, Poonch, KL Khajuria, SSP, Poonch, Manmohan Singh and other senior officers of the district attended the meeting.

Kapur issued instructions for the release of Rs 2 crore for the purchase of land required for constructing the mini-secretariat’s building at the Poonch district headquarters for which 22 kanals had been identified.

He asked the officers to prepare detailed project reports for the development of the new bus station, construction of university campus and modern record room in Poonch. He also directed for the submission of a project report regarding the construction of a tehsil office at Mandi, which is being constructed at a cost of Rs 3.38 crore and Rs 80 lakh had been utilised on the project till date.

Meanwhile, Kapur released Rs 30 lakh in favour of the Power Development Department for providing a power network to the displaced persons of Kirni village situated along the LoC.

He said the construction of 8-km road link to Kirni village in Poonch town would be taken up soon.

The meeting was told that Rs 68.67 crore had been approved for the district during the current year, of which Rs 402 crore had been spent on the execution of various development works.

Jammu, September 1
Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Raman Bhalla has said the coalition government was fully aware of people’s problems and it was making concerted efforts to provide all basic amenities on their doorsteps.

The minister was addressing a large gathering after launching Rs 35.40 lakh works at Khawas Khan village in Miran Sahib here this morning.

Bhalla said the government had sanctioned Rs 35.40 lakh for the construction and upgrading of internal lanes and drains, besides a link road from Khawas Khan village to the cremation ground, construction of a waiting shed and a pathway at the cremation ground. He asked the Roads and Buildings Department to immediately start the works and complete these in the stipulated time frame for the benefit of general masses.

Jammu, September 1
Customers of BSNL in Colonel Colony and Sector 3 of the Talab Tillo Bohri area are a harassed lot as their landline connections have been lying dead for the last one month.

The customers have been facing a lot of inconvenience and have demanded immediate restoration of the services.

Talking to The Tribune, Ashok Koul, a customer, said, “We have not been able to communicate with our near and dear ones for the last one month because our BSNL landline phone has been non-functional.” Koul added: “Besides the landline connections, Internet has also not been functioning for a long period.”

Rajnder Bindroo, another customer, said their BSNL phone stopped functioning on July 29 and since then they had been unable to communicate with their relatives residing in other parts of the country.

The residents alleged they had filed complaints thrice with the BSNL offices at Bahu Plaza and Rani Park, but nothing had been done by the officers concerned.

“We complained thrice to the BSNL, but the officers concerned said they could not do anything as the fault was not internal but external,” said Bindroo. Shiban Ji Zadhoo, a Colonel Colony resident, said, “One of the officers said the landline service in our area had been affected because of some technical fault. He assured us that he would check the fault and get the services restored, but till now nothing has been done.”

Hemant Mahay, Deputy General Manager, BSNL, Jammu, said the landline phones of some customers of the locality had been non-functional because of the ongoing sewerage work being carried out by the Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA).

“The construction agency is using JCB machines for the work, due to which the underground telecom cable has got damaged at many places.” Mehay assured that the phone services would be restored immediately.