Jammu, March 18
While the state government has started holding high-level meetings to work out a road map to initiate action on the recommendations of the job panel headed by Dr C. Rangarajan, security forces felt that the recommendations, if implemented in right earnest, will go a long way in keeping unemployed youths away from militancy.

The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council headed by Dr Rangarajan on March 3 unveiled the much-awaited Rs 2,000-crore job plan for unemployed youth of the state. Under the job plan, the government aims at exploring the possibilities of job avenues to 1.50 lakh youth of the state in the next five years.

While the government has initiated the exercise to explore the possibilities of providing jobs to 1.50 lakh youth in the state, the security forces said the endeavour would go a long way in keeping youths away from subversive activities.

“Besides militancy, the state faces the problem of unemployment, which acts as a catalyst for unemployed youths to go astray. We have come across several instances in the past and even today, unemployed youths are lured into militancy in lieu of money,” said a senior Army officer.

Ultras captured in the past and those who surrendered in the recent times, particularly in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, admitted before us that they joined militant outfits just for the sake of money, he added.

The officer appreciated the initiatives of the present state government, which at the first instance introduced rehabilitation policy for the misguided youths and then at the same time tried to address the problem of unemployment.

“These initiatives (surrender policy and implementing job panel’s recommendations) will certainly go a long way in bringing normalcy and peace to the state,” he said.

Even Chief Minister Omar Abdullah admitted that the two decades of militancy in the state was feeding on the problem of unemployment, he said.

The officer, however, felt the need for implementing these initiatives in right earnest and in a transparent manner.

After Dr Rangarajan submitted his report to Omar Abdullah on March 3, Chief Secretary Madhav Lal has started holding high-level meetings to discuss and work out a road map to initiate action on the recommendations of the expert group.

In one such meeting on March 15, the Chief Secretary emphasised that most of the recommendations will primarily be implemented with market forces, keeping in mind the Public Private Partnership.

The government has to play the roll of a facilitator enabling the private sector to impart skills in the relevant trades and provide job opportunities to youth.

With a view to putting in place institutional framework to carry forward the recommendations of the Expert Group, it was decided that the Employment Department will be the Nodal Department and all concerned departments like Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Industries & Commerce, Housing & Urban Development, School Education, Higher Education, Technical Education, Information Technology will designate nodal officers within their department to facilitate time-bound action on the recommendations of the job panel.

A high-level committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary will be constituted to regularly monitor follow-up action on the Expert Group’s recommendations.

The skills relevant to the fast emerging sectors like real estate, service sector, IT and primary sector will be identified for imparting training to youth to enhance their employability in such sectors.

The meeting among other was attended by the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Commissioner-Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Commissioner-Secretary, Finance Department, Commissioner-Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Commissioner-Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Commissioner-Secretary, Higher Education, and Secretary, Information Technology.

Jammu, March 18
Residents of some areas in Sunder Bani tehsil of Rajouri have expressed resentment over the inclusion of their names in the voter lists prepared for the coming panchayat elections. They have demanded that their areas should be included in the municipal limits as per the notification of the chief electoral officer.

They have alleged that even after one year since the chief electoral officer had asked for the deletion of Lohara Kote and Bhajwal from the Panchayat area of Sunder Bani tehsil and inclusion in the municipality area, the required exercise has not been done by the local administration.

The residents said Bhajwal and Lowarkote, which are located at a close distance from the office of the municipality, could not be developed under the jurisdiction of a panchayat for all these years due to which they had been demanding delimitation of their areas into wards as per the provisions of the Municipality Act, 2000.

“Since panchayat elections have been declared, the people of Lowarkote and Bhajwal have been recorded in the voter lists,” said Ashok Kumar, a resident of Lohara Kote and apprehended that if they were not included in the MC limits, the areas would continue to be underdeveloped.

“Our area was never a part of any development process. We do not have concrete roads and other basic amenities,” he said.

A group of residents from Bhajwal said the joint chief electoral officer had directed the district election commissioner who happened to be the deputy commissioner of Rajouri in a written correspondence on March 19, 2010 for the delimitation of the areas into municipality wards.

Subsequently, the Rajouri panchayat officer wrote to the block development officer (BDO), Sunder Bani, for the deletion of voters residing in the notified areas, including Krishna Nagar of Lohara Kote, Vijay Nagar, Keshav Nagar and Laxmi Nagar of Bhajwal, but the same had not been done.

"In 2009, the Housing and Urban Development Department claimed Bhajwal and Lohara Kote as part of its areas of municipal committee,” said Mohan Lal Prashar, a resident of Mohra Kathanu and questioned the wisdom of the BDO for including the names of the residents in the voter lists prepared for the panchayat elections.

However, Sukh Pal Singh, BDO, Sunder Bani, said the two areas had been included in the panchayat electoral rolls as per the directions from the authorities.

GA Khwaja, district election officer (district development commissioner), Rajouri, said, “The residents of these areas can vote in both elections. If they participate in the panchayat elections they can also participate in the municipal elections in the days to come when the electorate gets shifted”.

Srinagar, March 18
The harsh winter chill is fading away, the brown and barren landscape is giving way to lively green and farmers are getting ready to again plough their fields. Spring has arrived in the Kashmir Valley, bringing with it some tourists and the hope that the months to come will be peaceful and prosperous.

As the gloom of the three-month winter transforms into brighter days, grassy fields and colourful blooms, it's time for new beginnings in every way, say residents of the picturesque conflict zone for whom clashes and violence have become a way of life for the past 30 years.

“The valley literally remains frozen during the winter months. All activities of life, including agriculture, come to a standstill here. Spring heralds the beginning of new life,” says Gull Rather, 45, a farmer in Ganderbal district.

Many tourists have already started arriving in this border state this year and locals hope the valley will be peaceful so that livelihoods remain unaffected. Horticulture, tourism and handicrafts, the three mainstays of the valley's economy, took a serious beating last summer because of the unrest that saw 110 people being killed in clashes with security forces. The movement of trucks carrying apples, pears and other fruits to terminal markets from the Valley also suffered as irate mobs jammed the Srinagar-Jammu national highway for days without end.

“Tourist flow, which had started in right earnest, came to an abrupt halt after June last year and this resulted in huge losses to hoteliers, taxi drivers, houseboat owners, handicraft dealers and travel agents,” says a senior tourism department official.

The tourist season had started well last year, with 7.5 lakh tourists, including 4 lakh pilgrims for the Amarnath shrine, coming to the Valley till June. That was when trouble broke out between local youths and security personnel. And Kashmir businesses saw their fortunes literally frittering away.

“More important than everything else is the education of our children which took the worst beating last year,” says a concerned parent.

Senior hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who spearheaded the summer unrest last year, told the media recently that there would be no indefinite strikes in the Valley in future.

“Unless the Indian security forces act in a manner which causes loss of public life and honour, we will not call for any prolonged strike here. But the world must know that calling for strikes is an extremely unpleasant step we are forced to take because all other means of peaceful protest are prevented by the Indian security forces,” Geelani asserted.

What people want is a modicum of normalcy.

“The separatist campaign and mainstream politics can continue alongside each other, but this must not throw normal life haywire,” says a college teacher.

“We cannot afford a repeat of the disaster we have faced last year so far as the educational atmosphere is concerned. More important than anything else is the education of our children that took such a beating last year," adds Abdul Majid, 42, a parent here.

As schoolchildren jostle against one another to get into their buses in summer capital Srinagar, Kashmiris pray that peace is something they can rely on, not just a fragile state of being threatened by the slightest winds of trouble.

“The basic problem (the Kashmir dispute) must be resolved so that peace is not so fragile. Life must also be allowed to continue. One might sound like a fool saying this, but that is what ultimately says the truth about Kashmir,” says Abdul Samad, 69, a village elder in Ganderbal. — IANS

Srinagar, March 18
A function to felicitate successful participants of a three-month certificate course in computer aided design and drafting (Auto CADD) with the collaboration of CADD Centre, Srinagar, and other courses was organised by the Directorate of Life Long Learning (DLL), University of Kashmir, here, recently.

The directorate also organised a free study material distribution camp yesterday in which a large number of students participated. Experts in the field updated and informed the students about the latest trends and services with respect to the trade. The directorate distributed free study material among enrolled students for the course. The directorate organises numerous short-term vocational courses to empower youth with technical skills the initiatives for which the DLL has been appreciated widely.

Prof. S Fayyaz Ahmad, registrar, University of Kashmir, who presided over the event, lauded the efforts of the directorate in reaching out to the youth and providing them skill-based training to empower them. “The university is committed to address the intellectual needs of the society and I am glad that through innovative courses provided by the directorate, we are able to empower our youth, elders and women,” he said.

He asserted that in today’s world, knowledge was the most powerful tool. “Only knowledge can help a person succeed in the competitive world of today. One should be after skills and innovative ideas. Then alone can one succeed,” he added.

Prof AM Shah, controller of examinations, University of Kashmir, stressed on the need to have more courses under the aegis of the DLL. “Our young generation needs to be made aware of various avenues that are available for them and the DLL can play a crucial role in this regard by conducting more of such career oriented and vocational courses”. He said, “This will help them create a niche for themselves in the market and in society”.

Prof. Ghulam Mohiuddin Bhat, head, University Scientific Instrumentation Centre (USIC), congratulated the directorate on the formulation of such job-oriented courses. “The youth should yearn to become job-providers rather than job-seekers and I am happy that DLL is making the youth an asset for society,” he said. Earlier, Prof Nilofer Khan, director, DLL, while welcoming the guests, said the directorate was committed to empower the youth. “The DLL carries out multidimensional courses and programmes reaching out to the people, particularly at grass-root levels”.

Srinagar, March 18
Students of Kashmir University‘s Media Education Research Centre (MERC) met prominent media personalities during their 10-day tour to New Delhi, which concluded last week.

A group of 27 fourth-semester students visited several media institutions and organisations, besides interacting with media barons, during the trip.

The students visited CNN-IBN, News X, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, The Times of India, Tehelka, Outlook, Riverbank Studios, UNI, PTI, AJK Mass Communication Research Centre of Jamia Millia Islamia, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, APEEJAY Institute of Mass Communication, Electronic Media Production Centre (EMPC), IGNOU, Delhi Media Centre for Research and Publications, Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), and other institutions. They also interacted with more than 70 mediapersons

At a special gathering organised at the Press Club of India, senior journalists shared their personal experiences with the students. During this interaction, students raised queries regarding the coverage of Kashmir by the national media, job opportunities in media organisation and other issues.

The media students also visited the Press Galleries of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST) and Lok Sabha Television Channel (LSTV) where they interaction with KS Sachidananda Murthy, Resident Editor ‘Malayala Manorama’ and Chairman, Press Advisory Committee, Lok Sabha.

Besides, students also met Asaduddin Owaisi, MP, a leader of the ‘All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen Parliamentary Party’ in Lok Sabha, and Mehboob Baig, MP, South Kashmir .

Vice-Chancellor of Kashmir University Riyaz Punabi said this tour provided an excellent opportunity to media students to interact with prominent journalists.

“This is for the first time when students have met people from the media and other shades of life. These trips enhance the skills of students and such endeavours should continue in future to broaden their vision and scope for placement,” the VC said.